Apologies to anyone hoping forlornly to find menus posted last Thursday. Our home internet has been playing hide and seek, disappearing for hours at a time. I’m pretty sure that it does this periodically to remind us of how important it’s become.
(Internet, be warned, if you play this game too long, I may remember that I’m quite capable of living a full and happy life without you, and hoist you on your own proverbial petard)
Saturday: As I write, one of our wandering children is sleeping,down the hall, in her old bedroom. And she's asked for protein- great big slices of protein- the sort her budget can rarely accommodate. So, tonight it’s
eye of round roast, one of the few cuts of beef that I can be certain of preparing well. The magic trick? this great recipe: I'll be serving that alongside another of her faves, risotto. I'm starting with this recipe:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/risotto-with-butternut-squash-pancetta-jack-cheese-10000000701075/ and adapting it by using cooked bacon instead of pancetta, and some pumpkin instead of butternut squash.
I mentioned last week that one of my favorite cooking pumpkins is everywhere this time of year- for 30 cents a pound at Kroger, and $11 each at Whole Foods, where they know that these things aren't just Halloween decorations. Here's what I bought:
Look for this lovely grey blue color, and try to find one without very deep ridges- it makes peeling a little easier. I'm going to be trying one of the small pie pumpkins too; I'll let you know which has the most flavor.
Sunday: Chicken breast is on sale here, and in Charlotte, so another night of protein as the star of the show. I'll pound the chicken, and rub on a nice curry powder mixed with a little salt and sugar, then pan fry it in some olive oil and butter. With that we'll have another of the girl's faves, Thai coconut soup. And, because she's been a little anemic, a little spinach, stir fried with garlic till it's just wilted.
(this is a pretty forgiving recipe, as you'll see if you read the comments. No fresh lemon grass? Sub powdered, or a pinch of lemon zest. I'll be leaving out the shrimp, and maybe subbing tofu. And, unless we have curry paste in the fridge, and maybe we do, I'll stir some curry powder into some melted butter instead)
Monday: The Great State Fair of Texas is on, and maybe, maybe, maybe we can go today!!!! If that doesn't happen (cue the chorus of disappointed sighs) I'll be thin slicing the leftover beef and stir frying it with peppers and onions for fajitas. As the meat sizzles around in the hot pan, I'll add some chili powder, a little salt, and a few drops of liquid smoke. Yum! Avocados are on spectacular sale here, and sort of on sale in Charlotte, so some nice guacamole with nestle onto those plates too.
Tuesday: The girl heads back to school today, so dinner will be easy enough to allow me plenty of time to mope. Leftover chicken from Sunday night gets sliced thin and placed on top of a salad I'm copying from Cantina Neo in Asheville, NC. Here's a pic to use instead of a recipe:
that's salad greens, red onions, avocado, mango, queso fresco and chicken. No affordable mangos? Try subbing peeled orange slices. the dressing tasted like a mix of lemon, olive oil, honey & cilantro.
Wednesday: If there's any roast beef left, today it has to go. It'll go out in a nice broccoli stir fry, since broccoli is on sale here and in Charlotte. No beef left? No problem. Shrimp's on sale in Charlotte (again!) as is chicken. My mistakes with stir fry have happened when I got in a hurry and put too much meat, veg, whatever, in the pan at once. Things are at their stir fried best when they cook very fast in a very hot pan. Put in too much of anything and the temperature drops, and pretty soon you've got a pan of liquidy stuff simmering on the stove. Nice, but not as nice as a proper stir fry. Use a bottled sauce, or stir up this one:
Thursday: An amazing sale on Tilapia in Charlotte, and a decent sale price here too, so we're gonna go with Tilapia and an avocado salad. I know, this is the 3rd appearance of avocados this week, but really! I love them, they're super nutritious, and this week, they're $1 each! And when before next summer is THAT going to happen again? (they're $2.50 each in Charlotte, which is very sad indeed. a different salad then, maybe). Cook and extra piece of fish, you'll use it tomorrow
Friday: If you cooked extra fish on purpose, or just have leftovers, use them tonight. I'm posting recipes for pan-fried fish cakes and fish tacos, because I just haven't decided yet which one to do! The inner monologue goes like this..." Fish cakes would be something new and different around here, but we already know we like fish tacos, and I do have those tortillas that need to be used..." you get the picture...
These are two new recipe websites for me- expect to see them again soon; they both look great!
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