Oven Roasted Vegetables

An easy way to draw out the flavor of vegetables is to oven roast them. Most root vegetables cook up using this method very well. The vegetables caramelize and develop a pleasant depth of flavor. I use a variety of vegetables in combination. Some of the possibilities are:

Onions
Celery
Carrots
Sweet potatoes
White potatoes
Rutabagas
Parsnips
Turnips
Zucchini
Winter squash such as acorn

The vegetables should be roughly cut up into medium sized pieces. I don't peel white potatoes, but everything else I do peel. When using zucchini, cut them into larger pieces than the other vegetables as they take less time to cook. Put all the vegetables onto a shallow baking pan. A jelly roll pan works well. Sprinkle olive oil over vegetables and mix them well to cover. Add pepper, salt and garlic powder. Roast in a 400 degree oven for about an hour, turning vegetables over once about halfway through the cooking process, until vegetables are browned and soft.

They make a great accompaniment to roast chicken, pork or beef.

Salt-Cured Salmon Salad

Salt curing will reduce the size of the fish and concentrate the flavors. As long as the fish is rinsed very well with plenty of cool water after it is cured, it won't be overly salty in flavor.

• 1/2 lb. fresh skinless, boneless salmon fillet
• 1 cup pickling or Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 medium head Napa cabbage
• 1 lime
• 2 Roma tomatoes
• 4 green onions
• 1 small clove garlic

Combine salt and sugar. Place half of the mixture onto a large piece of plastic wrap, making sure to spread it out to a size as large as the piece of fish.  Put fish on top, place rest of salt and sugar mixture on top of fish. Wrap the fish with the plastic wrap and place in a large plastic bag. Place bag ont oa plate and put in the refrigerator and let cure for at least 24 hours.

After fish is cured, remove from bag and unwrap over the sink. The plastic will be full of liquid that has been leeched out of the fish by the salt.  The fish will be dry and hard when it is properly cured. Rinse repeatedly under cool water to remove as much salt as possible.  Don't skimp on the water, take your time and make sure all the salt is removed or the fish will be too salty and spoil the dish.

Mince garlic and place in the bottom of a large bowl. Chop the Napa cabbage up and place in bowl along with garlic and toss until mixed. Cut up green onions fine and dice the Roma tomatoes. Add to cabbage in bowl.  Cut up salmon into thin strips and add to bowl. Add the juice of the lime and a little black pepper, toss until all ingredients are well mixed.

Cow Pie Cookies

A simple, easy and quick recipe that makes a really good chocolate cookie. It's the perfect dessert to go with a good mess of Cowboy Beans!

• 1/2 cup room temperature butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup walnut pieces
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well.  In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Slowly add flour mixture to the sugar and egg mixture,  mix until well blended. Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips.

Drop spoonfuls of batter onto greased cookie sheet, and bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing. Substitute unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts instead of the walnuts for a great taste variation. Cocoa powder is cocoa solids minus the cocoa fat or cocoa butter.

Cocoa solids hold all the chocolate flavor, are low in calories and carry all of the beneficial antioxidants that have been found to help prevent many diseases.   The solids and fat are separated by pressing, which can lead to an acidic taste tin the chocolate.  Solids that have been produced by the Dutch process are less acidic and have the traditional brown color associated with chocolate.

Pan Fried Potatoes

There's hardly anything better for a side dish than pan fried potatoes.  I like to cut the potatoes in varying thicknesses. That way there is a variety of textures to the dish, as the thinner cut will cook quickly and almost melt away while the thicker cut will cook slowly and become mealy on the inside and golden brown on the outside.

This is a great dish to cook in a cast iron skillet.  Cast iron distributes the heat more evenly and doesn't cool down as much when food is put into a hot pan.

Pan Fried Potatoes

5 or 6 medium to large sized russet potatoes
1 large or 2 medium onions
2 teaspoons garlic powder
6 pieces of bacon or Canadian bacon
3 TBSP butter
3 TBSP olive oil

Peel potatoes and onions. Slice both into varying thicknesses, keeping in mind the thicker the piece the longer it will take to cook.  A mandolin works great for this, but I use my poor man's mandolin (pictured to the left). Strictly low-tech, but it gets the job done. I have no idea where I got it, but it works quite well. It's adjustable and can slice very thin to very thick. And it may look innocent enough, but the blade on the thing is very sharp.

Heat large skillet. Dice bacon and fry until crispy. If using Canadian bacon, it won't take as long to cook.  Drain all or some of the bacon fat out of pan,put in olive oil and butter. When butter and oil have heated through, put in potatoes and onions. Cover potatoes and onions with the oil and butter by turning the potatoes.  Add garlic powder, salt and pepper, and turn over potatoes some more to mix.  Let potatoes cook over medium high heat, turn every five minutes or so. don't have the heat too high.  Really good fried potatoes can take awhile to cook, depending on the thickness of them. When potatoes start to get brown and are cooked through, serve immediately.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Waffles

A great from-scratch recipe for waffles that can also be used for pancakes.  Buttermilk adds a unique flavor to these waffles.  Traditional buttermilk was the liquid that was left over after churning butter, but modern cultured buttermilk is made by the addition of lactic acid bacteria. This bacteria thickens the milk and gives it a tart taste. Modern cultured buttermilk is much thicker than traditional.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Batter

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup regular flour
• 2 cups scalded and cooled buttermilk
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1/4 cup regular milk
• 1/4 cup salad oil
• 2 TBSP sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

In a large bowl, combine buttermilk and flours. Beat until well blended. Let sit for 30 minutes, or cover and place in refrigerator overnight.

Beat together eggs, milk and salad oil. Add to flour mixture and stir until blended. Combine sugar, salt and baking soda. Stir into batter until well blended and let stand for 5 minutes. 

Coconut and Chocolate Macaroons

This recipe is quick and easy with a minimum of ingredients and a maximum of sweet flavor. 

3 cups shredded sweetened coconut
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 bag (4 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine  coconut and flour. Add vanilla and condensed milk to coconut mixture and blend well. It will be very thick and sticky. Add chocolate chips and blend until combined well.

Drop spoonfuls of mixture onto an oiled cookie sheet.  I like to leave them rather gnarly. That way  when they cook there will be differing degrees of doneness, from crispy around the edges to chewy in the middle. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until they are brown around the edges.  The chocolate chips may be omitted to make plain coconut macaroons.

Coconut facts:

• The first documented mention of the word coconut in English was in 1555
• The name coconut was derived from a Portuguese word that means monkey face from the three indentations in the end of it
• The coconut is not a nut at all, but a seed

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Another sweet memory from my youth! This recipe is pretty easy, as it uses a boxed yellow cake mix and canned pineapple. Of course you can substitute your favorite yellow cake from scratch recipe if you wish and fresh pineapple.  I make this recipe in a 10" cast iron skillet and it works great.

• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 can pineapple rings
• 1 small jar maraschino cherries
• 1 box yellow cake mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Put the cast iron skillet on medium heat, and place butter and brown sugar in it. When both have melted, place pineapple rings on the bottom of the skillet, and cut the rings in half and line the sides of the skillet standing up on edge. Put a maraschino cherry in the center of each pineapple ring.

Prepare the yellow cake mix per the instructions on the box, but substitute all or part of the water called for with pineapple juice from the can of pineapple rings. Pour the cake batter over the pineapple rings in the skillet and place in oven.  Cook for length of time suggested on the cake mix box, and use the toothpick test to make sure it is done. Insert a wooden toothpick into the center of the cake and when it comes out clean the cake is done.

When done, remove the cake and run a butter knife around the edges to loosen the cake from the skillet. Let cool for at least 10 minutes, then comes the trickiest part of the whole recipe; turn it upside down on a serving platter.