<p>Hope this isn’t a thread killer, but does anyone have a really delicious tofu recipe? I have one with ground pork, but my H won’t eat pork.</p>
<p>Bethievt - You can adapt just about any pork or chicken recipe to tofu. One trick is to freeze the tofu to makes it chewier. I have often substituted tofu into a chicken casserole recipe. You can also use tempeh, which is a more substantial soy product. I really like using tempeh. I just served it last week as a BBQ hoagie for PSU tailgate and my carnivore step-daughter and husband wolfed it down. I will be happy to share BBQ sauce recipe if you would like.</p>
<p>The kale is GORGEOUS at our farmers market. So we now have an enormous bunch of kale for the the two empty nesters.</p>
<p>Tonight: Counter Kerry Kale from an old book called Greene on Greens (but I will make the instructions shorter) bacon AND butter? no wonder it was good.</p>
<p>6 strips bacon
2 T unsalted butter
1 clove garlic minced
1/4 C chicken stock
1 lb. kale, stems removed, roughly chopped
3 medium potatoes peeled, diced. (We used red potatoes and did not peel)
1 T red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
chopped parsley</p>
<p>Saute bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels, crumble, and reserve
Cook garlic on low heat in butter and 1T bacon dripping approx 3 min. until golden. Add stock and kale. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Cook, covered 5 min.
Stir in potatoes. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated (about 15 minutes). Add vinegar and salt an pepper to taste.
Add crumbled bacon and parsley.</p>
<p>I’m glad I started the talk on Kale! It’s really more versatile than I realized. Tonight I made a Frittata for dinner. I roasted onions and tomatoes and then added Kale separately after it had been steamed. Let the frittata bake in the oven with cheese on top, served with garlic bread…everyone loved it, not too much left over! :)</p>
<p>Last night I made “mashed Cauliflower” instead of mashed potatoes. Everyone ate that too! It’s fun to experiment and I’m finding that “they” will eat it (and enjoy it) even if it’s healthy for them! ;)</p>
<p>I’ve been trying Rachel Ray’s recipes from Week in a Day. I spent Sat. cooking three of her recipes. We just had the third one tonight for supper, and I some left for lunch tomorrow. I love to cook but hate having to do so after working all day, and I get so tired of just a plain meat, veggie, salad dinner. So far, I’ve tried the veal/spinach stuffed eggplant, chicken/veggies in apple cider/maple sauce, and tomato/mushroom sauce with gnocchi.</p>
<p>I made a Haricot Vert salad from Sheryl Crow’s cookbook. So easy and really tasty.
Haven’t made it yet , but I recently discovered Wheatberry salad , which I assume is the same as tabouli …from the olive bar at my grocery store…paired that with the haricot very and it was very good…maybe even worthy of my daughter’s vegetarian diet</p>
<p>mafool, I was afraid to own up to this but frequently put bacon in our kale. Delicious!</p>
<p>As DH and i get older we seem to like the deep dark green veggies more and more.</p>
<p>bethievt, I agree about using tofu as a substitute in any recipe calling for boneless, skinless chicken breasts or pork chops. Using a familiar sauce the family already likes is a good way to introduce a new protein.</p>
<p>Brands of tofu vary. You might like one brand, or one variety, much more than another. You just have to taste them and see. This one is my favorite because it comes in extra-firm silken tofu. Most brands only carry the silken texture in a soft tofu, and all their firm varieties are nubbly-textured, like Havarti cheese. Silken extra firm, when browned, becomes chewy on the outside and creamy on the inside: </p>
<p>[Tofu</a> (White / Plain)](<a href=“http://www.morinu.com/store/page3.html]Tofu”>http://www.morinu.com/store/page3.html)</p>
<p>It was a hit! Definitely a keeper. :)</p>
<p>So today I am doing a very simple dinner. Got a fresh organically raised turkey breast on sale. Put it in the crock pot with just a little bit of water. Making mashed potatoes (real ones) with Hunts roasted turkey gravy and frozen mixed organic vegetables from Costco. Oh . . . and a can of cranberry sauce. Nice and simple and easy.</p>
<p>I tried this recipe for oatmeal blueberry muffins for a brunch I hosted this morning - just like the reviews say, they came out great. </p>
<p>[Oatmeal</a> Muffins Recipe at Epicurious.com](<a href=“http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Oatmeal-Muffins-361819]Oatmeal”>http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Oatmeal-Muffins-361819)</p>
<p>This summer my daughter and I browsed cookbooks in anticipation of her move to off-campus housing. I liked [Amazon.com:</a> Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Express: 404 Inspired Seasonal Dishes You Can Make in 20 Minutes or Less (9781416575672): Mark Bittman: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Bittmans-Kitchen-Express-Inspired/dp/1416575677/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_6]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Bittmans-Kitchen-Express-Inspired/dp/1416575677/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_6) for her for a couple of reasons: the book is organized by season and the recipes don’t take a lot of time while encouraging flexibility and improvisation. The only drawback is that a number of the recipes are pricey for someone on a student’s budget. This week she made this recipe and declared Mark Bittman her hero!</p>
<p>Curried Coconut-Butternut Squash Soup (she used Buttercup Squash)
Cook two cups of chopped squash in a few tablespoons of vegetable oil, along with an onion, a teaspoon of cumin, a half teaspoon of cinnamon, and a teaspoon of curry powder (or more to taste). Cook the vegetables and spices until the onion is soft, about three minutes. Add five cups of chicken broth or water and a cup of coconut milk; bring to a boil and cook for about six minutes or until the squash is tender and easily pierced with a knife. Serve the soup topped with fresh cilantro and crusty bread or a scoop of rice.</p>
<p>I used to try different mac and cheese recipes until finally deciding it was too much work and too much fat in the diet…especially considering the fact that the kids preferred Kraft. </p>
<p>Then one night in a pinch for dinner I microwaved leftover noodles with shredded cheddar on top. The kids loved it! They also liked flour tortilla baked with shredded cheddar on top (DH and I added refried bean, lettuce, and salsa).</p>
<p>Salt-Crusted Bronzini
I know. I hadn’t heard of it, either. It’s a beatiful Mediterranean fish, equivalent to sea bass, baked whole and encased in a meringue of eggwhite and kosher salt to keep it moist and fresh. Inside the gutted cavity, you stuff lemon and fresh thyme, then lather the whole fish top-and-bottom with this meringue of beaten eggwhite/kosher salt folded together. Before serving, you crack off the meringue and the fish skin comes off with it.</p>
<p>Wish me luck; am trying it tonight. I was in our local Wegman’s and a young lady behind the seafood counter saw me pondering these impressive fish. By the time she’d finished describing how delicious they were, I bought them and took her advice to research the recipe on Wegman’s website, which led me to this Youtube:
[wegmansfoodmarkets’s</a> Channel - YouTube](<a href=“Wegmans - YouTube”>Wegmans - YouTube)</p>
<p>I hope to present it with my best Marlon Brando/Godfather imitation. “DIS is Bronzini. He sleeps with the fishes.”</p>
<p>^^ Yum, yum! I’m making a pot of Crab Corn Chowder kicked up up with 2 tsp of white pepper and 1/2 tsp of cayenne tonight. Saturday is soup night at our house in the fall and winter and salad night in the spring and summer. I’ve not seen that fish yet, but I’m going to look for something that will work just so I can “try” the recipe.</p>
<p>Momofthree, you’re going to mention Crab Corn Chowder and NOT leave a recipe!!! Is it clear brothy or creamy brothy???</p>
<p>Creamy and decadent… it’s a dump soup and the canned soups make it a “lazy” meal and I have to remember to buy those since I typically don’t have canned soups but it makes fast for a Saturday.
2 cups milk (I have skim in the house)
2 cups of half and half
4 oz cream cheese
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can condensed tomato soup
1/2 cup sherry
1 to 2 tsp of white pepper
1/4 tsp of cayenne (or more to taste)
a couple potatoes boiled and cubed
a bag of frozen corn
2 Tablespoons of chives
1/2 - 3/4 lb of lump crab meat
I dump everything in order, but don’t add the crab meat until the cream cheese is melted. I don’t use any salt because typically the canned soups are salty enough and I boil the potatoes in salted water.</p>
<p>momofthreeboys – just call it “crab bisque” and serve to company. Sounds brilliant!</p>
<p>Wow, sounds really good and easy! Besides the half and half not TOO terrible healthy wise…I am alcohol delinquent - is sherry a type of wine or not? Any substitutes for it? (I do have a bottle of white wine in the house just for cooking. :)</p>
<p>White wine will work if you want to add wine. Sherry has a distinctive taste and is generally grouped with the “desert wines” like port on the shelves. This would probably taste absolutely great without any wine or sherry.</p>