I love eating outside, and in the spring, summer and fall we eat outside all of the time. I was planning a picnic, but we ended up eating these at home, which was probably a good thing considering how messy they are. I used this recipe for BBQ ribs and it was very easy and very, very good. I didn't even change the recipe for once.
With a tall cool glass of a strawberry drink I mixed up for something different. All I did was mix some strawberry syrup with water until I liked the taste. Super simple.
We had friends over a couple of nights ago and made pork chops on the grill. We are having a heat wave in Wisconsin right now, and it is too hot to cook inside. I kept it simple and just put salt and pepper on both sides of the pork chops. Then my husband, the grill master, put them over indirect heat for 20 minutes and about 4 minutes per side over direct heat. I also cut up some russet potatoes and put them in a foil pouch with some sea salt and olive oil. Those went on the grill over direct heat, for about 30 minutes. Added some popovers and salad. Good friends, good food, very wonderful time.
The next night we cut up the remaining pork chops and made sandwiches with the leftover hamburger buns. Potatoes again. Nice cool meal for a beautiful night.
I am going to use the pork chop bones for a stock. I just need to use the burner on the side of the grill and it rained today. That was really nice for cooling things down a bit, but it was still too hot to cook outside. Tomorrow. I think that I will make some kind of cold soup. Hmmm....
The whole family loves ham, and there is something about the smell of ham baking in the oven on a cold day that is magical. Of course, it stays cool in Wisconsin a lot longer than in other places, and I fixed this a month or so ago - sorry again for the delay, it has been a crazy upside-down spring around here. So, for the first night we had ham, baked potatoes, bread and salad. I hardly ever take pictures of the salad, but we eat it almost every night. We buy the big boxes of organic mixed greens at the grocery store when we can't get it locally, and we will start buying it locally again very soon! Our local grocery stores don't carry it in the big boxes and the small bags are so expensive, but since my husband works in Madison, he stops at a grocery store that is right across from his office, and they carry it. I have often noticed that I can buy bulk so much cheaper in bigger cities. So - when you are taking an outing to a larger city - stock up! I buy rice, olive oil, salad and sometimes cereal there. Oh - and some really great specialty cheeses. We have some great cheeses at the cheese house in town here, but they have some really great ones in Madison from all kinds of wonderful cheese makers from Wisconsin. I highly recommend Crave Brothers (Petit Frere) and any of the Carr Valley cheddars. Mmmm. There are not cheese that you just eat. They are cheeses that you savor in small amounts. They are too expensive to do otherwise, but make a great (and healthy!) treat.
I am very lazy about making hams. I usually stick them in my dutch oven (still frozen if I haven't been organized enough to thaw them out in the fridge first). Then I turn the oven on to 225 or 250 and let it go for a couple of hours or so. About an hour and a half before I am ready to serve it, I turn the oven up to 350 and stick in some potatoes. I just scrub them, rub them with a bit of butter and stick them in. Then everything can come out at once. Easy peasy! This served four adults and two kids and there were still leftovers!
The next day we still had company and so I made fried ham sandwiches for lunch. This was very easy too. You slice the ham into 1/4 slices or so and put them into a dry frying pan. You don't need any additional fat - there is enough on the ham. Cook at medium heat until warmed through and beginning to brown. While you are waiting for them to cook, you can slice the bread and toast it (if desired) spread bread with mayo and add some cheese slices - we like muenster or cheddar. Put the ham slices on top of the cheese, top with some lettuce and you have got a wonderful simple sandwich.
We also fried up some potatoes in another pan. This was simple too. I just added some ham fat to the pan, then scooped the leftover baked potatoes out of their skins (and I am sure that you know by now that I made potato skins out of them!) and tossed them in too. I cooked them until warmed through and starting to get crispy too, on medium-high heat. This served eight adults and four children for lunch. And we still had the bone and a little bit of meat left. So what did I make? All together now: SOUP!
I made the U.S. Senate Bean Soup again, with only a couple of modifications. I just used the ham bone (with attached meat) and trimmings instead of the hock/shank. I still ended up with about a cup and a half of meat after picking everything apart after simmering it for a couple of hours. We soon had more company, and this soup served four adults, plus the two kids, and then just the four us for two more meals. I usually serve it with bread. Enjoy!
Super Simple Basic Recipee #2 Mashed Potatoes, Baked Potatoes and Oven "Fries"
OK, Laura and I seem to be moving forward on a potato thing, but you cannot get much thriftier than basic potatoes. There are a good source of complex carbohydrates and vitamin C (especially if you eat the skins). Here are some super good, super simple ways to make them.
Homemade Mashed Potatoes (makes 2 very large servings)
*1 pound potatoes (any non waxy type such as russets, idaho, yukon gold etc. Not small red potatoes which are better for cold potato salads). Peel skins and cut in quarters. Place in lukewarm water in a medium saucepan with about 1/4 tsp of salt
*Boil on the stovetop about 25 minutes...maybe a bit longer until a fork easily goes through a potato chunk
*While the potatoes are cooking, get the rest of the ingredients together:
1/3 cup milk, 1 tablespoon butter and salt (to taste..add last). Get something to mash the potatoes with initially and your hand held mixer out.
*When the potatoes are done, quickly drain the water (you don't have to be religious about every drop), add the milk and the butter and smash the potatoes a little to break up the big pieces. Then beat them with your hand held mixer until smooth. Add 1/2 tsp salt initially, more later if you want.
*Serve immediately
This is just the super simple basic recipe. You can easily double, triple, quadruple this recipe. You can add a bit more milk or butter. You can replace the butter with a tablespoon or so of cream cheese (this reduces the saturated fats by quite a bit) or you can add several tablespoons of shredded cheddar cheese. You can add a tablespoon of shallots, fresh chives, parsley or green onions at the end.
You can use this basic recipe to refill Laura's hollowed out skins for twice baked potatoes. Carefully remove the insides leaving 1/4 inch of potato and skin and use the mashed potato recipe to refill the skins. Rewarm at 350 F. for 20-30 minutes.
Baked Potatoes
This is why we always eat the skins!!
*Scrub the outsides of a baking type potato (non waxy types) under cool water
*Dry them well, poke several holes in the potatoes with a fork
*Pour a little canola oil into your hand and oil the surfaces of the potato, then roll in salt (I really like coarse or kosher salt)
*Bake for 50-60 minutes in a 350 F oven
(This is also a special way to make twice baked potatoes)
Oven Fries
*Allow a medium sized potato per person, minimum
*Scrub the outsides of your potatoes under cool water
*Cut in half lengthwise, then cut the halves lengthwise. You will now have four pieces which you will slice lengthwise in half again.
*Place in warm water for 10 minutes (this makes the outsides crispy)
*Remove from water and dry with a clean towel
*Toss with 1/2 tablespoon or so of canola oil per potato and lay out in a single layer on a cookie sheet.
*Sprinkle with salt (I really like coarse salt)
*Bake 400 F for about 15-20 minutes
I love these. They have no artificial preservatives, no saturated fat and taste divine. Coarse salt really does taste better on these and can be found in your grocers , usually labeled kosher (least expensive) or specialty (most expensive) Many times, it's the little things that make the difference!!!
For this I have to thank Simply Recipes. Without the beautiful photography on that blog, I may not have made these and that would have been a shame. I, of course, had to put my own spin on these.
Here is what I did:
1. Bake some potatoes - I usually use Russet potatoes, wash them, dry them and smear them with a tiny bit of butter. I have found the easiest way to do this is take a baggie on my hand, pinch off a bit of butter and proceed to rub it all over the potato (or pan - if I need to grease a pan). I know that many people pierce their potatoes with a fork to keep them from exploding, but I come from a potato growing family and we have never had that problem. I bake them at 400 for about 45-60 minutes, or at 325 for as long as I feel like it. :o) It is completely possible to over-bake potatoes, and I have done it a few times, but the insides are fine, it is just the skins that aren't so tasty anymore.
2. Serve as baked potatoes. My family doesn't usually eat the skins of their baked potatoes anyway, so this doesn't matter. You could also cut them in half and scoop out the flesh for mashed potatoes, or hash, or a number of things.
3. Scoop out any remaining flesh, and save for another purpose. I scoop almost all of it out instead of leaving a 1/4 inch or so like most people because I like the skins to be crunchy. My skins also don't look nice and neat like Simply Recipe's, but they are still very tasty!
4. Heat up the oven to 450 degrees. Place skins on a rimmed cookie sheet. Brush or spray with olive oil - or whatever oil suits you - on both sides.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crunchy, flipping halfway through.
6. Take out of oven and top grated cheese and if you want, some crumbled ham, bacon, chicken, whatever you like. Put back into oven until cheese is bubbly - a couple of minutes.
7. Remove and serve with sour cream and BBQ sauce. At least, that is what I like to have it with!
8. Enjoy the oohs and ahhs from your family and friends.
We are trying to help new/inexperienced cooks. Please let us know if you have any questions! No question too basic. If you want to know, chances are there is someone else out there who has the same question. Ask!
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