Orange Bars

I was curious as to whether I could use oranges to bake something like lemon bars. Here's the results. I was fairly pleased. 

For the Crust:

1 1/2 sticks of butter

2 cups of flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Filling:

2 large oranges (1 cup of orange juice)

2 cups of granulated sugar

1/3 cup of flour

4 eggs

2 egg yolks

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the baking pan. Mix the ingredients for the crust to make a nice simple shortbread crust. Line the bottom of the pan with the shortbread, and line about a quarter inch up on the sides. Bake for twenty to twenty five minutes. 

For the filling, first zest the oranges. Juice the oranges. You need 1 cup of orange juice. Whisk the eggs, sugar and flour. Slowly whisk in the orange juice and zest.   Pour the filling in top of the crust. Bake for thirty to thirty five minutes. 

When finished, garnish with a light layer of powdered sugar sprinkled on top. 

Some thoughts:  I used California oranges. The taste was fine. But I prefer tangelos because the taste is more intense. The problem is that tangelos have a short season, usually the end of the summer. The next time they are in season, I may try this again with the tangelos. 

For an extra kick, you may want to add a little bit of salt to the filling. 

Melomakarona - Honey Cookies with Walnuts

Tomorrow is immigrant day at my daughter's school. She plays the role of a Greek immigrant as her project. For extra credit, she made a Greek cookie.

The cookie is called melomakarona. They are honey cookies with walnuts.

The recipe is here:  

http://greekfood.about.com/od/cookiescakes/r/Melomakarona-Spiced-Honey-Cookies-With-Walnuts.htm

The cookies are delicious. Her classmates are in for a treat. 

Simple Pho: Take 2

Ok. I'm not afraid to admit it. My last attempt at pho was not very good. This is take two, and the kids say it's much better. 

Ingredients:

64 oz. beef broth

Two 12 oz. packages of frozen Vietnamese beef balls

5 star anise 

6 whole cloves

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 

1/2 large white onion

1 glove garlic, minced

2 inch piece of ginger, sliced in half

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons fish sauce

Thai basil for taste

Pepper to taste

Making this is simple. Bring the broth to a simmer. Add the anise, cloves, and cinnamon. Add the beef balls. Dice the onion. Add to mix. Add the ginger halves. Add the garlic. Add the soy sauce and fish sauce. Let simmer until the beef balls are thoroughly cooked. Add Thai basil and pepper for taste.

Serve in a bowl over rice noodles. 

The kids liked this, but said it was a tad salty. Next time, I'll lighten up on the soy sauce. The better course is to make your own beef broth from the bones. But that would take much longer. 

More Thanksgiving Baking

This morning's Thanksgiving baking adventure was apple crisp. I've posted a recipe on this blog before:

http://kovatchcooks.blogspot.com/2014/01/apple-crisp.html?m=1

Here are some photos of quality daddy/daughter time:

Mmm. Need to make sure we save room after the turkey. 

Thanksgiving Baking

We spent the afternoon baking lemon bars in preparation for Thanksgiving tomorrow. 

I've posted a link to recipe before. To those who missed it: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/classic-lemon-bars-recipe.html

Looking forward to spending time with the extended family tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving all!

Pepper Steak with Sour Cream

I'll admit. I was shooting for Beef Stroganoff in the crock pot. What I got wasn't quite Beef Stroganoff. But it was pretty good. 

Stew Beef

1/2 onion

1/2 green pepper

1 clove of garlic

Baby carrots

1/4 cup beef stock

8 oz sour cream

Salt

Pepper

Cumin

Dice the onion and green pepper. Mix with the carrots. Place in the crock pot with the beef stock and sour cream. Add the garlic, minced. 

Dice the beef. Season with salt and pepper and a dash of cumin. Put in crock pot. 

Cook at low for about six hours. 

I ate it over rice. But, if you serve with rice, you may need to add soy sauce to the rice. The taste resembled the pepper steak I remember loving so much when I went to a Chinese restaurant as a kid. 

Cinnamon Orange Beef Stew

Still trying to develop a repertoire of crock pot meals. Today, I wanted to use up some of the tangelos I bought. So I looked for orange beef stews recipes. Here's the result. 

1 package beef chuck

Juice and rind of 1 orange

1/3 large white onion, chopped

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 cup beef broth

Baby carrots

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon celery seeds

Basically, combine everything in the crock pot. Put on low. Cook all day. I put it in around 7:30. We ate around 4:30. 

Personally, I think the orange taste was diluted. I would likely reduce the beef broth next time. My daughter, however, loved it. 

Beef Stew with a Tomato Soup Base

Continuing with the theme of crock pot meals, I offer this take on beef stew. It is based on my mother's meat loaf recipe. So far, I got high praise from my teenager. 

Ingredients:

Beef chuck, diced

2 cans of Campbell's Tomato Soup

1/4 cup mustard

1/4 cup ketchup

1/3 large white onion, chopped

1/2 pepper, chopped (honestly doesn't matter of green, red, yellow, orange or purple - but if you wanted heat, a jalepeno, chili or habenero pepper would do nicely)

Baby carrots

4 potatoes, peeled and diced

Spring each of rosemary, thyme and basil (I used purple basil)

Salt and pepper to taste. 

The recipe is very simple. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Put everything in the crock pot in the morning before going to work. Cook on low. Eat when you get home. 

In this case, I cooked the stew for a good 10 hours before I ate any. 

Pulled Pork

The school year is upon us. With sports, scouts and church activities, time is crunched. So, to make life easier, I am going to do a lot of crock pot, or slow cooker, cooking. That way, when I'm getting the kids ready in the morning, I can just spend a few extra minutes throwing ingredients in the crock pot, set it on low heat, and let it cook all day. 

Today's dish: pulled pork. 

Ingredients:

3 pound pork shoulder

1/2 white onion

2 cloves garlic

1 1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup apple vinegar

3-4 fresh tomatoes

A few mustard seeds.

For the rub (sorry, I eyeballed these):

Brown sugar

Bread crumbs

Nutmeg

Cumen

Paprika

Salt

Pepper.

To start, cut up the onion. I didn't cut it too fine, since I'm just looking for flavor. Put in the crock pot with the ketchup and vinegar. Press the garlic, and add to the crock pot. Slice up the tomatoes and add. Turn on low heat. Throw in just a fee mustard seeds. 

Mix the rub together. Spread over the pork shoulder. Put the rest of the run in the crock pot moisture. Put the pork in the crock pot. Cover. I put aluminum foil over the pot before I put the lid on. 

Cook for 8 hours. In my case, I put it in before 7:00am. The kids will be home by 3:00pm. 

Easy Pork Ball Pho

Continuing with the theme of Vietnamese style cooking, my daughter asked for pho. This was my first attempt, and as I've said before, I am still learning. 

Ingredients:

1 package (8 oz.) frozen pork balls

2 cans (4 cups) beef broth

1/2 inch ginger

1/4 large yellow onion

1 clove garlic

1/2 teaspoon fish sauce

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

3 sprigs Thai basil

2 springs fresh cilantro

Salt and Pepper

Rice noodles

Dice the ginger and onions. Put the garlic in a garlic press. 

Put the broth, soy sauce and fish sauce in a large pot. Add the ginger, onion and garlic. Bring to a slow simmer. 

Season the pork balls with salt and pepper. In a bowl, add the basil and cilantro. 

Once the broth is at a simmer, add the pork balls. Cook for about 30 minutes. 

Add boiling water to the rice noodles. Place the noodles in a bowl once softened. Add soup. 

Now, I made the rookie mistake. I put the noodles in the soup straight from the package. They soaked up the broth. Not bad if you want the noodles to have that broth taste. But, I had less broth. So, I added water and a little soy sauce. 

My daughter didn't think it was bad. But I'd do the rice noodles differently. Plus, we bought the really thin noodles. I think next time, we will do the thicker noodles. 

Another "mistake" was that I left the soup on low heat while we ate. The broth reduced more, so there was very little soup. But, since I had made the Vietnamese style pork chops, I just added the noodles to the bowl with the remaining pork chop.  I left it for my teenager when he came home. He praised the dish while eating it. (It's so gratifying to cook for a teenage boy!)

Vietnamese Style Pork Chops

After a little break from cooking, tonight we did a little Vietnamese style cooking. My daughter like pho. Personally, I'm not much of a pho fan, so I made myself Vietnamese style pork chops. 

Ingredients:

2 pork chops

6 tablespoons soy sauce

4 teaspoons vegetable oil

4 teaspoons brown sugar

1 clove garlic

1 thin slice of onion

A dash of cumin

A dash fish sauce

Salt and Pepper

Thai basil

Preheat the oven to 405 degrees. 

Season pork chops with salt and pepper. Mince the clove of garlic. Dice the onion into small pieces. Mix the soy sauce, oil, sugar, garlic, onion, cumin and fish sauce in a bowl. Pour over the pork chops. Let marinade for at least 1/2 hour. 

Chop a few sprigs of Thai basil. Mix in with the pork chops. Put in a small pan. Cook for 25 minutes. 

The taste is very similar to the pork and rice dish I get at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant. I like to serve it with sticky rice. 

Potatoes Au Gratin with Vegetables and Chicken

What's my inspiration for a dish?  Well, as a home cook sometimes the honest answer is that I've got stuff in the fridge that I have to use before they go bad. Such is the case this week for this take on potatoes au gratin. 

Earlier this week, I had a guest over for dinner and I baked some potatoes. When I went to the store I noticed that five russet potatoes cost the same as a five pound bag of russet potatoes. So now I've got about three quarters of a big left. I also had half a yellow bell pepper. My son loves his fried chicken. But he doesn't always finish all of it when I buy ten or more pieces.  

When you have leftovers like this, a casserole seems like a good choice. As long as you have milk and cheese on hand, a casserole is easy enough to do. Plus, I always have fresh rosemary and thyme in my garden (my favorite herbs).

Since I had a pot luck church luncheon coming up, potatoes au gratin seemed a good base. 

Ingredients:

5 Russet Potatoes

2 1/2 Cups Milk

2 Cups Mexican Cheese Blend

1 Stick of Butter

1/2 Cup Flour

Sprig of Rosemary

Sprig of Thyme

Frozen Vegetables

1/2 Yellow Bell Pepper

Red Onion

2 Fried Chicken Thighs

Salt and Pepper to Season

Preheat oven to 350. 

Make a roux. Melt butter in a medium sauce pan and medium low. Add flour slowly. Add salt and pepper. 

Slowly add milk. Dice rosemary and thyme. Add to the roux. Add the cheese slowly. Leave enough cheese the garnish the top of the dish before putting it in the oven. 

Cut the potatoes to 1/4 thick slices. It takes about 5 to line the bottom of a pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper over them. 

Dice pepper and onion. Now, the last time I made potatoes au gratin, I found the onion overpowering. So I only used about a half inch cross-slice from the main onion, and diced it. Sprinkle pepper and onion pieces over the potatoes. 

Next, layer a little but of the roux over the potatoes. Add a layer of the vegetables. At this point, I added some more bell pepper pieces.

Remove the skin from the chicken thighs. Take the meat off the bone. Dice the meat finely. Add to the dish with the vegetables. (My dogs enjoyed the leftover fried skin.)

Add another layer of potato slices. 

Spread the remainder of the roux over the top. Sprinkle the last of the cheese, some more pepper and rosemary pieces over the top. 

Bake for 1 hour. 

Pork Chops Baked with Apple and Baked Potatoes

Had a friend over for dinner. This was originally planned as a cook-out. But with thunderstorms in the forecast, we moved it inside. For an inside meal, I thought pork chops were a better choice than brats. 

I started with the baked potatoes. I took Russet Potatoes. Washed them well, using a brush. Poked about eight homes in each with a fork. Rubbed olive oil on the outside and sprinkled sea salt over them. The oven was set at 350 degrees. I put a cooking sheet on the bottom rack in the oven, and the potatoes on the too rack just over the cooking sheet. These baked for an hour. 

For the pork chops, I seasoned with salt and pepper. I had 3 pork chops for this recipe. In a measuring cup, I mixed 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 2 cups apple juice and a tablespoon of brown mustard. I sliced half an onion into small pieces, minced three gloves of garlic, minced about a teaspoon of fresh rosemary, and diced half a yellow pepper. I placed all of these under and over the pork chops in a pan. I then poured the apple cider mixture over the pork chops. This was tipped off with two diced apples. The oven was already at 350. I put the pork chops in the oven about half an hour after the potatoes started. They cooked for forty minutes total. 

In the meantime, my daughter is not a fan of my apple pork chops. So I prepared separately one pork chop, seasoned with salt and pepper, mixed in with onions, garlic, bell pepper slices, rosemary and olive oil.  This also cooked at 350 at the same time as the apple pork chops. 

All in all, I was happy with the meal and with the company!  Next time, I may add more mustard. 

Learning to Make a BLT

My youngest has been wanting to learn to make a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. So, his mother took the opportunity tonight to get the ingredients and teach him. 

Here he is carefully cooking the bacon. He's very meticulous.  He wants to do it just right and to be safe about it. 

His mother also showed him the safe and correct way to slice a tomato. He did very well. 

I got him some fancy lettuce from the garden. He put the sandwich together, cut it and then acted like a waiter when he served it to his mother, our neighbor who happened to stop in at the right time and myself. 

Proud of my boy. Especially since he doesn't like tomatoes and didn't eat the BLT sandwich himself. He specifically wanted to do this for others. 

Strawberry Lemon Bars

I see cooking as experimentation. So, when I asked my cousin what to bring to a barbecue and he responded some cooking with the Kovatches, I figured it was time to try something. I chose strawberry lemon bars. 

I used a Food Network recipe as my base. You can find it here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/classic-lemon-bars-recipe.html

I followed the directions for the crust to a tee. I won't reprint it here. All I say is to check on the oven after 20 minutes. In my case, a small part of the crust did burn. 

As for the filling. I followed it with these changes. I added five sliced strawberries. I also used the zest of about three lemons.  After mixing the eggs, flour and sugar, I put the lemon juice, strawberries and lemon zest in a small blender, and then added it to the filling. It seemed very watery, so added some more sugar and flour. I poured the filling into the crust and baked at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. 

In all honesty, the filling is tart. I personally like the tartness. Others may find it overwhelming. Next time, I think is reduce the amount of lemon juice and zest to account for the strawberries. 

My plan is to serve over vanilla ice cream. 

Hot Wings

From yesterday's barbecue.  I was amazed at just how simple this was. 

To make the Buffalo sauce, simply mix equal parts hot sauce and a dairy product. I used Frank's Hot Sauce and buttermilk. 

You can make it fancier by adding slices, like garlic powder.  

I let the wings marinate for a few hours in the fridge. Then, I cooked them in the oven at 400 degrees. First for 25 minutes. Then rotating the wings with tongs. Then for another 20 minutes. 

I had ranch and blue cheese dressing on hand. 

These wings were a hit at the barbecue. 

Pomegranate and Date Molasses Chicken Wings

I heard about this recipe in the Washington Post, and I had to try it out:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/recipes/roast-chicken-pomegranate-and-date-molasses/14037/

I started by marinating the chicken. The marinade is fairly simple to make. The proportions are:

1/2 Date Syrup

1/4 Pomegranate Molasses

1/4 Olive Oil

A splash of soy sauce.

I thought that finding the ingredients would be difficult. I was pleasantly surprise to find them easily in my local Asian supermarket. The chain here is called LA Mart. I go to the one in Springfield, VA, near Bob Evans. 

Mix the marinade. Let the wings marinate overnight. Then, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cook for 25 minutes. Use tongs to rotate. Cook for another 20 minutes. 

My oldest and I found these delicious. We also used it as a marinade for pork chops. 

Chicken Legs with Barbecue Rub

I've been experimenting for a few weeks on the best way to cook chicken legs on the grill. My conclusion:  don't. 

So, we are preparing for a barbecue, and I wanted to cook legs.  I decided to cook the legs the night before in the oven and then to heat them up on the grill before serving. 

For those of you who need exact quantities, you're going to hate me. I didn't bother. 

First, marinate the chicken in a brine. This brine was diluted apple cider vinegar with salt and sugar. Mostly water. They sat for about eight hours in the fridge. 

For the rub, the main ingredient was brown sugar. But, I also used bread crumbs, paprika, cumin, nut meg, onion powder, ground ginger, pepper and salt. 

I preheated the oven to 425. Coated the legs, and baked for 20 minutes. Using tongs, I turned the legs over. Turned the heat down to 400. Then cooked for another 25 minutes. 

Taste great tonight. I put then in a aluminum pan with a cover for the night. I made sure to collect as much of the drippings and put them in the aluminum pan as I could. Tomorrow, the plan is to hear them in the aluminum pan over low heat on the grill until warm. 

Barbecue Chicken Rub

This is tonight's dinner. You can see the quickles from earlier. The rice is no big deal: white rice with Parmesan cheese. But, the teenager was enamored with my chicken. I was inspired by watching Robert Irvine try to save a barbecue restaurant last night. Here's my take on a barbecue chicken rub. 

First, marinade the chicken. I used a simple brine: equal parts water and vinegar with sugar. I soaked the chicken and let it sit in the brine for a few hours in the refrigerator. 

Here's the rub (see what I did there?):

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 1/2 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon breadcrumbs

1/4 teaspoon crushed mustard seeds

1/4 teaspoon celery seeds

1 tablespoon crushed sea salt

1 1/2 tablespoon black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Mix the rub. Rub it over the chicken. Place in a pan. Cook 25-30 minutes. Turn over. Cook another 25-30 minutes. 

The whole family gave this thumbs up. Must have done something right. 

Quickle

Pickles take a long time. And to be honest, I have yet to make pickles that kept their crunch. 

So here's an idea on getting that pickle taste, in just an afternoon. 

The idea is to soak cucumber slices in a vinegar and sugar brine for just a few hours. 

Brine:

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar 

Sea salt to taste

I used 2 Persian cucumbers, which are short and thin. I sliced them into 1/4 inch portions. Put the cucumber slices in a bowl, poured the brine in the bowl and sprinkled crushed sea salt over them.  Then put then in the refrigerator for a few hours.  Serve as an appetizer or a side dish. 

Pasta and a Feta Cheese Based Alfredo Sauce

A Friday in Lent and I'm looking for a non-meat dish. Why not pasta with an Alfredo Sauce?  Great!  But I have a twist on it. I know that the main cheese used in an Alfredo Sauce is Parmesan. But years ago, I developed this sauce using Feta cheese. 

Step 1:  cook up your pasta. 

Step 2:  the sauce

2 teaspoons butter

1 teaspoon flour

4 ounces Feta cheese

1/4 pint cream

2 teaspoons white wine

2 teaspoons Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

In a sauce pan, make a roux with the butter amend flour. Medium low heat. Add a dash of salt and pepper. Crumble the Feta cheese into the pan. Slowly add white wine. Then cream. Then Parmesan cheese. Add more salt and pepper to taste. 

Parsley is a good addition to this. So are vegetables like asparagus. 

Spread sauce over pasta to serve. 

Chicken Tetrazzini

Billy informed me that he no longer likes chicken thighs. What's a father to do with the leftover thighs from Roy's?  Chicken tetrazzini!

Now, some of you will cry blasphemy.  I am not a mushroom fan, so I leave out the mushrooms. Here are the ingredients I used:

3 chicken thighs from Roy's

1 pound spaghetti

4 teaspoons butter

4 teaspoons flour

Salt and pepper

1 onion

1 clove garlic

1 cup white wine

1 cup chicken broth

The juice of 1 lemon

2 cups milk

1 cup Parmesan cheese

2 cups shredded cheese

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables

Set the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook up the spaghetti.

Dice the onion and garlic into small pieces. I poured the wine into a measuring cup and added the juice of the lemon. 

In a very large pot, melt the butter over medium low heat. Add the onion and garlic. After letting the onion cook a little, add the flour to make a roux. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Slowly add the milk. Then the wine and lemon juice. Slowly add the Parmesan cheese. Slowly add the chicken broth while, then the shredded cheese.  Once you have a nice creamy sauce, add the chicken and vegetables. By this time, the spaghetti should be done. Add the spaghetti. Pour the mix into a large Pyrex pan. Top with a thin layer of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Mango Peach Applesauce Pork Chops

Yesterday I wrote about using Mott's blueberry applesauce to make a vinaigrette. Well, blueberry wasn't the only flavor I bought. I also bought mango peach applesauce. 

Now, I'm sure the Mott's people don't want to hear this, but alone this stuff is horrid. But like a frugal dad, I hate wasting food. Then I thought, mangos are sweet like oranges. Maybe I can modify the orange sauce by adding the mango peach applesauce. 

First, cook up your meat. In this case, I had pork chops defrosted. I cooked them in olive oil with garlic and peppers. I also cooked up some spaghetti, but rice is a good substitute. 

Then, take 2 cups (the little tubs they come in, not a measurement) of mango peach applesauce, 1/4 cup white wine, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon ginger and salt and pepper to taste. I also added some orange pepper. I mixed all of this in a glass and set aside.   

In a sauce pan over low medium heat, I started a roux, 2 teaspoons butter, 2 teaspoons flour and salt and pepper. Once I had the roux, I slowly added the mango peach applesauce mix. I stirred and let the mix boil down a little. 

I put the spaghetti on a plate, then a pork chop and covered with the sauce. 

The taste is very similar to the orange sauce. But there was a definite mango kick. All in all, I was pleased and happy I had an alternate use for this applesauce. 

Blueberry Applesauce Vinaigrette

Ever buy something at the grocery store for all the right reasons, but still regret it? Giant had a sale on Mott's applesauce, including mixed flavors. I wanted the kids to have more fruits and vegetables in their diet. Plus, I knew that they like things like blueberries, mangos and peaches. So I bought the exotic flavors. Well, we got the groceries home, and nobody liked them. So what's a dad to do?  Throw them out and waste food and money?  No. Taking a lesson from Food Network's Chopped, I decided to transform them. The first experiment: blueberry applesauce vinaigrette. 

Start with a container of blueberry applesauce. Add 1/4 cup vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar, but you can use any type), 1/4 cup oil, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly. 

And that's it. Spread it over your favorite garden salad. And now you have not wasted a bad food purchase.