News-Record.com

I've been slack about posting the last few days, as I've been on my deathbed. (At least, my minor cold made me feel like that at times.) So, for those readers who have sent me e-mail: I'm finally going to get to it in the next couple of days.

Beth sent me a lasagna recipe, probably in response to my recent post about a disappointing experience I had. (I have to say, the turkey pepperoni substitute she mentions intrigues me.) She had this to say:

"This recipe has never failed me and I've made it since I was in my teens. My hubby and in-laws won't eat anyone's but mine anymore. I use jarred sauce because in the baked recipe, it actually tastes "fresher" than homemade. Enjoy!!!"

A fifth-grade class in North Dakota has put up a Web site about a unit they did on Alaska and its native peoples. From that site, I give you the recipe for Eskimo Ice Cream, from the Eskimo Cook Book prepared by the students of Shishmaref Day School in Shishmaref, Alaska.

"Grate reindeer tallow into small pieces. Add seal oil slowly while beating with hand. After some seal oil has been used, add a little water while whipping. Continue adding seal oil and water until white and fluffy. Any berries may be added to it."

Saturday afternoon I actually had time to cook before going into work, so I decided to try a recipe I had found a while back for Frittata with Potato and Prosciutto.

Why have I never made a frittata before this? It's so easy, and it now tops my list of Quick and Easy Recipes that Use Stuff Around the House.

Besides being really easy to cook, the best thing about frittatas is that you can substitute ingredients very easily. No prosciutto sitting around? Diced Canadian bacon or ham would work very well with this recipe. Last night I made another fritatta, this time adding a handful of chopped mushrooms and diced tomato in the last couple minutes of cooking the potato and onion mixture. Very good.

Tip: In the recipe I linked to, there are a couple of things that aren't clear. You should remove the lid when putting the pan in the oven. Also, I found that putting the pan on the bottom rack yielded a more pleasing golden brown color to the top of the frittata -- as opposed to an almost burnt dark brown when on the the top rack.

Steven Seagal has created his own energy drink, called Lightning Bolt.

When you get past the idea that there are already too many of these "energy drinks" on the market, you realize that the hype on the Web site might be a bit ... exaggerated.

From a press release:

"Lightning Bolt is the first energy drink made from 100% natural juice."

I bet the makers of Jamba Juice and essn would probably disagree.

But then, we already knew that Steven Seagal has been given to lies and exaggeration before:

"In various early interviews, Seagal has hinted that he has worked as a bounty hunter and an operative for the CIA, although these statements have later been revealed to have been lies by Seagal buying into his own hype. Seagal has also claimed to have been involved with the Japanese and American mafia but this was also later to have been revealed to be a lie by Seagal."

One bit of truth? The best movie Seagal ever made was Executive Decision.

At work, half the time I can't buy a canned soda because the machine wants exact change, which I rarely have. So I end up with 20 ounces of bottled soda, which I almost never finish. I take the bottle home at the end of the night, put it in my fridge, and promptly forget about it until it goes flat. I keep telling myself I just need to pour it down the drain instead of putting it in the fridge every night, but that goes against my need to not waste stuff. Which I still end up doing.

So then I come across this article, which gives us 10 ways to use up flat cola. Apparently it's good for cooking things such as brisket, beef jerky and molded salad. Who knew?

Of course, if you Google "uses for coca cola", you get 1,240 hits. Some of the tips I read seemed to be a bunch of hooey -- I can't really believe that rubbing Coke into your skin will give you a better tan. But I have read in several places that Coke can be used to clean an engine block or rust off your chrome. Considering the bad things Coke can do to your stomach, I believe it.

So I'm researching for a post about fair food, and it occurs to me that I wouldn't want to heat any oil in my house to 375 degrees to fry stuff because of the risk of harm to my skin and/or home. Then I'm reminded that hot oil was used as a medieval defensive weapon. And I wonder, do you think they fried their funnel cakes or blooming onions in it before they poured it on their enemies? And then I'm reminded what a sick puppy I am.

By the way, in honor of football and Tom Brady tonight, I give you a link to a football-shaped slow cooker.

Check out the Big Link while you're here.

I notice that Mike over at the Bargain Blog has tracked down a deal on chicken breasts.

The Whole Foods Market Web site has a wonderful recipe for Sonoma Chicken Salad that I adore. Being me, however, I had to change it up a little -- I substitute for the celery and pecans.

What happens when CTU's Jack Bauer meets Iron Chef Chen Kenichi? Bauer's got one hour to save his souffle and protect his country. The clock is ticking on the longest hour of Jack's life.

We got into a discussion tonight at work about the difference between these two deep-fried wonders of the midway.

I found this handy article from the St. Pete Times, which explains what each one is.

"The name funnel comes from the technique used to make the cakes -- the batter is poured through a funnel into hot oil.

"Funnel cake batter, which is similar in consistency to pancake batter, is poured into the oil in a circular pattern and then fried until golden brown. When the lacy cake, about 8 inches around, cools just slightly, it is adorned with a variety of toppings, the most popular being powdered sugar or fruit toppings such as apple or strawberry.

"How is a funnel cake different from an elephant ear, another deep-fried fair staple? The elephant ear is fried, flattened dough inspired by the fry bread of the American Indians of the West and named for their big ear shape. Navajo fry bread is served sweet, with powdered sugar or honey, or savory, with chili con carne or cheese on top."

Sigh. Now I'm craving one, and I'm stuck at work.

So this article from Taiwan News Online alerted me to the cookbook, "101 Things To Do With Ramen Noodles," by Toni Patrick. The article includes a few recipes from the book, one of which involves adding beer to ramen noodles. Sounds like a college student's dream. Ramen nachos, though? I might have to pass.

Amazingly enough, there is more than one cookbook available at Amazon for all your Ramen needs. In fact, Amazon is packaging Ms. Patrick's book with "Everybody Loves Ramen," a reference that quite possibly nobody will get in 20 years. But then, I'm not a fan of Ramen or Ray Romano.

I hadn't seen the Discovery Channel's Go Ahead, Make My Dinner before, but after making a recipe from the one I watched the other night, I'll probably be tuning in again soon.

The premise of the show is that two chefs compete to solve a different kitchen dilemma each episode. They have half an hour to create as many simple dishes as possible, then the dinner-challenged guest picks a winner and tries the recipe out at home. The only bad thing? The losing recipes are not posted online, even if they look good.

The episode I watched involved pork loin, and my husband seemed really interested in the winning recipe, which was spice-crusted pork medallions with mustard sauce. A few nights later, I made it for dinner, and it was pretty good -- my husband really enjoyed it. (It was also fairly easy, which is always a plus!)

A friend of mine online alerted me to this recipe for Fluffy Walnut Apple Muffins, which sounds divine. I have a couple days off coming up, and I've been feeling in the baking mood, so these might be next on my list.

She added a 1/4 tsp. of nutmeg in the first step, and used 1/4 cup of butter and 1/4 cup of applesauce instead of the called-fo 1/2 cup of butter. You can usually substitute applesauce for your butter/oil/fats in a recipe -- and it's better for you and tasty! Not to mention that the pectin in applesauce will keep your bread/cake/muffins moist longer.

Off-topic: By the way -- are you allowed to call someone your friend if you've never met them in real life? I talk to some people online all the time, but I'll probably never meet them. But saying "friend" is kind of weird, too. Hm.

While you're here, check out the Big Link!

Here are a few of my favorite places to go for cooking tips and recipes.

Food dictionary at Epicurious.com: Recipes, tips and a great reference guide for those terms and techniques you've never heard of before.

The Cook's Thesaurus: Tips, terms and food substitutions.

Tomatilla!: "Cooking, Life, Books and Words -- sometimes with recipes." Also a great listing of food blogs.

Slashfood.com: Just a fun blog with food-related links.

After watching CSI: Miami tonight, I felt compelled to make a post involving cheese. Horatio had it turned up a notch, and apparently the director thought if the camera shots were pretty enough, I would forget that the script was nonexistent. There weren't even enough bad puns to make it worth it.

Anyway, moving on. Goat-cheese Stuffed Zucchini Pancakes is a recipe I tried on my husband a couple months ago, and it turned out to be pretty good. It wasn't a hit when I first mentioned it, however.

Mike over at the Bargain Blog found a great deal on ground turkey, so he requested a turkey burger recipe. Here's one of the better-looking ones I've found.

Turkey Burgers with Tomato Corn Salsa:

"Replace rich beef with low-fat turkey, as in this recipe, and you risk creating a drier, less flavorful burger, a burger unworthy of the name. Here I've countered the moisture problem with vegetables. The sauteed onion and red pepper in the burger and the salsa on top of the burger make up for any dryness in the turkey. The Creole seasoning, in combination with the salsa, makes up for turkey's relative lack of flavor."

Ground turkey facts from Cooking Light:

-- If the label says "ground turkey breast": The leanest (about 3% fat), white meat only, no skin.
-- If the label says ground turkey": White and dark meat with some skin, about 10% fat (similar to ground round).
-- If the label says "Frozen ground turkey": Usually all dark meat with skin, about 15% fat, similar to ground sirloin.

Ever wonder why your Cheerios clump together in the bowl of milk? Dominic Vella has your answer.

Basically, it sounds like what happens on a waterbed. (Get your mind out of the gutter.) When you put one Cheerio in the milk, it creates a dent in the surface. When you put another Cheerio in, it creates its own dent, and when they get close enough, they fall into each other. Just like when you and your sweetie get too close and roll together on the waterbed.

Try a sample of the Big Link.

It's starting to get dark a lot sooner, which means cold weather is just around the corner. Which also means I'll soon be putting my grill into storage mode until the sun and warmth returns. In that spirit, here are two recipes from readers you can use before it gets too cold.

From Chip Atkinson, we have a steak or chicken marinade that could be used indoors if you don't want to crank up the grill.

"Great for any meat. After cooking the meat, we heat it up and use it as a gravy ..."

Atkinson Marinade
3/4 cup of Vegetable Oil
1/4 cup of Soy Sauce
1/2 cup of honey
1 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp Garlic Sauce
1 Tbsp Ginger
3 green onions

Either blend or whisk all ingredients except onions vigorously. You may have to do so twice to prevent separation. After blending, chop up the green onions and mix them into the marinade.

Ed. Note: If you want to use some of the marinade as a gravy, reserve it beforehand. Marinade that you have used to flavor raw meat might not be safe to use, even if you heat it up. Better safe than sorry!

****

This next one is a rub recipe that is perfect for fajitas or tacos. (Disclaimer: It was sent to me by my husband's aunt :-)

Spice Rub
1/4 cup coarse salt (kosher or sea)
1/4 cup coarsely ground black pepper
1/8 cup paprika
1 1/2 Tbsp. pure chili powder
1 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
1 Tbsp. dried thyme

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix. This rub worked very well for 2.5 lb. roast from a sirloin tip cut. Chris grilled it over indirect charcoal for about 40 min. Internal temperature was 140 when he pulled it off (Ed. note: Internal temperature should be at least 160 degrees to be safe.); it rested for about 20 min. He cut it into small cubes for tacos. However, it would have been great cut into strips for fajitas.

Have your own great recipes you'd like to share? Send them my way.

I could have told you this one before I even answered the questions. What kind of food are you? Take the quiz and post your results here.

You Are Italian Food

Comforting yet overwhelming. People love you, but sometimes you're just too much.

So am I too much sometimes? :-)

This recipe is a new favorite for me and my husband. It's inspired by a recipe handed to me by Herb Everett -- and being me, I had to change it up a bit. It's quick and easy, and it's a comfortable, filling meal.

Prosciutto and Pesto Pizza Sandwiches

8 slices of a sturdy Italian bread
4 or more slices of prosciutto
1.5 cups of grated mozzarella
3/4 cup Miracle Whip or mayo
1-3 Tbsp. basil pesto

This is a delightful recipe that I found on a message board, no source given. If anyone can alert me to where it came from, I would love to give the person credit. I made only one small change -- instead of 1.5 cups of canned pumpkin, I went ahead and used the whole 15 oz. can.

This recipe turns out a very moist cake with a nice pumpkin flavor. The icing might have been a tad too sweet for me, but I've never been a big icing fan. I brought it in for a co-worker's birthday, and everyone else seemed to like it well enough. I had at least three people request the recipe almost immediately. And my co-worker kept the cake protectively at her desk and threatened anyone who tried to take more than one piece.

This isn't food -- this is art. I am just in awe at the masterpieces this person has created using just a knife and some watermelons.

I'm about to reveal my inner geek with this post, but I am so working on this cake on my next day off.

Katamari Damacy is a funny little video game where you use this giant ball to roll things up, then the ball is thrown into the cosmos to become a star. Strangely addicting, not to mention it just makes me happy. And I'm not the only one.

From an article on mtv.com about the Katamari craze and another person who has baked a Katamari cake:

"Kris Garland, an artist in Seattle, decided to bake a Katamari cake. "I was thinking in terms of structure rather than taste," she said, noting that the spherical shape of a Katamari posed a baking challenge. Garland decided to bake two hemispheres, merge them, ice the spongy sphere and apply cupcake tops for the Katamari's signature bumps. She wound up with a five-pound cake and posted the photos online (at Flickr.com)."

As the King of All Cosmos might say, "We are moved to tears by the size of this thing."

Laurie over at ...slowly she turned has posted some great tips for preserving basil. She tells you how to go about freezing the basil in ice cube trays for future use.

"You have delicious and handy cubes of basil to toss into a sauce, soup, or stew, or to thaw out and mix into bread, butter, cream cheese, meatballs..."

Want to use up that basil or rosemary you have sitting around right away? Infuse some olive oil with your fresh herbs and create a great-tasting oil you can use in almost any recipe for extra flavor.

The Seasonal Chef also has five other ways you can use up that extra basil you have sitting around.