What great stories you can tell about how these hens got flat. Flattened "Highway" chicken cooks evenly on the grill. Put potatoes wedges "chips" on the grill at the same time, and have a BBQ feast!
So, a few weeks ago I was at the market and there was a package of Uncle Ben's Taco rice in the Manager's Special section. I thought, hey, why not? It might be good. I prepared it according to package directions on Tuesday. When Spane tasted it, he made a face. I tasted it, and I made a face, too. I even put Tapatio on it, and sour cream, and it still tasted like dirty, old socks. Mind you, I've never tasted dirty, old socks, but I imagine they probably taste like that rice - horrible. Moral of the story, don't by Uncle Ben's flavored rice.
After that debacle, I was determined to make good Mexican rice, but my stove, Bertha, is on the fritz. I had to find another way to make it.
I also had a pork loin roast, and I wanted to marinate it, but, it too, could not be roasted in Bertha. I had to find another way for that as well.
I was thinking today that school is going to start soon, so it is time to start making quicker dishes, eat dinner earlier, and get Spane to sleep earlier. That way, going back to school will not be such a big adjustment.
Our dinner tonight reflected a holiday dinner, but was much simpler, and not any where near as much food. Having a ham steak lets you get a nice thick slice of ham, with the bone if you like the marrow like I do, without having to buy the whole ham.
Did you know that the long, red skinned, orange fleshed vegetables Americans call yams are in fact sweet potatoes? They are. I like the orange sweet potatoes a little bit more than I like white sweet potatoes. They have more sugar and are moister than their whiter cousins. Even though American grocers label them incorrectly, they are not even distantly related to yams.
When I was a little girl, my mother would get sweet peas in their shells, and we would sit and shell them. The peas never made it to the stove, though, we ate them as we shelled them. I have yet been able to find big fat sweet peas like those, but I did find some with smaller peas, whose shells were still soft enough to eat, and I used those.
I also had some lovely peaches in the refrigerator, ice cream and a new jar of rose preserves. I made Peaches Raleigh for dessert.
I love mushrooms, and lately, I have been finding nice big ones at the local corner store. I picked up six of them and decided to wait and have them stuffed for our meatless Friday meal.
The Nesco is the perfect appliance to cook them, as they do not dry out, and can steam in wine. Clean up is a snap, and your kitchen does not heat up.
Chicken Croquetas Croquettes are very tasty and make a great appetizer. They are also a wonderful way to use up leftover chicken. If you're tired of chicken salad, this is the way to go.
I love living in Glendale and having all these small fresh vegetable grocery stores. Today, I happened to go to two different stores, and one had giant mushrooms, and the other, Edna's had small, heart-shaped red peppers. Both were just the size for stuffing.
Scrambled Burger Quiche is my take on one of my favorite meals. Many years ago, we used to go to a restaurant that had something called Scrambled Burgers. I loved them, being a mixture of ground beef, spinach, onion, and cheese. I thought that combination would make a wonderful quiche.
What's on Your Plate
This quiche takes the beef, mushroom, spinach, and cheddar of a scramble burger and bakes them into a blind-baked crust with a savory custard. It serves eight, can be made the night before, and reheats well for breakfast, brunch, or dinner.
I remember when the wonderful movie Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe came out in 1991, and I wanted to try fried green tomatoes. It was not until 1993 that I was able to get a hold of green tomatoes to make the dish, and again in 2009.
When I was at the corner store, there was a big box of beef steak sized beautiful green tomatoes. I bought two, and I'm going back for more. Those tomatoes were wonderful!
