All is right with the world

after an eternity my Refigerator is alive again! (its been awhile actually just been busy with Life... it creeps up on ya)

I managed to pry one of my Dear Mom-in-law's recipes that everyone requests from her fingers... well okay i just said 'Hey mom, can i have the recipe for Paklava?'

a quick note: Paklava...with a P, its Armenian. not to be confused with Greek Baklava

Regionality aside, this stuff is delicious and it Never lasts hehe

Mam-ma's Paklava

1 Package Phyllo Dough, 16 oz
1 pound walnuts, Chopped
1 pound unsalted butter, melted

For Syrup
¾ C water
1 C sugar

Lay out phyllo dough, cover with damn cloth to avoid it drying out while working.
Brush bottom of pan with melted butter. Lay first sheet of phyllo dough, brush with butter; Continue for 5 sheets then sprinkle walnuts. Continue until finished.

Cut into 1” diamonds, bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes
pour remaining butter into pan to make 'sizzling' sound
in a pan combine sugar and water, let boil for 2 minutes then let cool

bake another 15-20 minutes, drain off excess butter by removing one corner piece and tilting pan.

Pour syrup over paklava, let cool and watch it disappear!!

living in the zombie appocalypse

For the past month I have been without a refrigerator. This has been an interesting challenge. What the hell to make without the miracle of refrigeration and the soggyness of icechest.
Turns out my abilities in this arena are limited. Especially with me also attempting to limit salt intake (canned foods are sneaky on this)

While I do now now have a mini fridge to keep some essentials in (quart of milk, butter) its still living in a mostly unrefrigerated world. And making me angry because the leftovers are wasted; with the summer heat I'd rather not risk food poisoning.

So....what am I living on?

Canned chilli, pasta with fresh yellow squash, ramen...yes the college staple jazzed up with veggies and canned broth vs packet. Canned chicken which smells like tuna...seriously. rice and nori. It's been...not fun.

Bahn Mi: grilled pork vietnamese sandwiches

a successful trip to the .99 cent store i managed to score
Persian cucumbers
bag of key limes
white venegar
bottle of lemon juice concentrate

the night before i made a pickle.
1/2 c concentrated lemon juice
1/4 cup white vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
1 c water.
2 tablespoons sea salt

nuked in a measuring cup until warm enough for sugar and salt to dissolve.

In the pickle:

1/4th of a small head of cabbage, sliced thin
2 carrots
4 green onions cut lengthwise
cilantro
1 tablespoon dried minced garlic
1 peeled hunk of ginger.... smushed
4 radishes cut thin
1 persian cucumber*, sliced thin

cram vegetables in an old pickle jar (lid optional. i lost mine)
slowly fill jar with pickling liquid until completely covered. you may have to scoop the garlic from the bottom of the measuring cup. stick in the fridge.
the meat:

pork 'picnic pack' (why the heck does the store never put shoulder or butt etc??)
only used one of the hunks. roughly 1 1/2 pounds

in a large bowl

2c soy sauce
3 key limes sliced thin
1/8 c lemon juice
cilantro
green onion
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon coriander
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil

throw the chunk of pork in the bowl, cover and stick in the fridge.

go to bed ^.^


turn pork in the marinade so both sides soak in the love.

get the grill ready, giving the coals a good half hour to be really hot. place pork directly at the hottest spot of the grill, cover and let cook for 15 minutes. turn and let cook another 15 minutes. check for doneness, yours may cook faster or slower depending on size/shape

let stand for 5 minutes then slice thinly. toast hoagie rolls on the grill (why waste hot coals) drain pickles into a bowl for easier assembly.
put mayonnaise (miracle whip will taste funny) on the buns, then stack pickles and meat. serve and enjoy!

i didnt make it... but i liked it

ordered in a pizza with my girl friend and watched Futurama, played with the boys and talked about her cats (really!)
ordered a pizza from the local Oggies. i hadn't eaten their stuff before. it was really yummy!!

as for dinner, lastnight we had chicken nuggets and tater tots... i know gourmet stuff there... but neither of us was doing too good.
tonights dinner...

either beef tacos or stir-fry beef and vegetables...

Monday night, stormy weather

whenever its windy and stormy and in generally Nasty out my mind turns to that wonderful creation... Soups and Stews. yummy!

One of the first things my Dad ever taught me how to cook was how to put together a chicken soup. its filling, stretches and best of all, pretty cheap to throw together to boot!

But tonight... poultry just isn't what i'm wanting. im wanting Beef. so im going to head off to the store to pick up what i need.


This is whats going in the pot:



Beef chuck roast
Beef bones (whatever i can find, leg, ribs.. something for that boney deep flavor)
carrots, celery and onions (finally running low on onions! my little boys like to play with them. anything round shaped is either a 'ball' or an 'appo!')
Parsley
mushrooms
potatoes (probably red-skinned)

garlic
salt, pepper, olive oil,and red wine ive all got

the beef shank

Beef Chuck Roast. only using one of them from this twinpack. the other one might become chilli...

cut all the meat from the bone

browning the meat. i didn't use any oil for the shank since it had a good amount of fat in the meat.

nicely browned. dont worry about cooking it all the way through. its all about getting that nice crustyness on the meat. work in batches until all the meats browned. try not to overcrowd it.
set aside the meat in a bowl then add all the veggies except the potatoes and the mushrooms. turn the heat to a medium low and just let em do their thing. the liquids from the onions and celery will start to pull up all the burned pan stuff, which is a good thing! after the onions are nice and limp i added 2 cups of red wine (apothic red if you cared to know. didnt care much for it to drink but to cook with it works!) and 2 cups of water. plus 2 tablespoons of beef base and the beef bone. add in the meat and potatoes (4 medium-large ones) and the herbs. put a lid on it slightly cocked and walk away for 3 hours (your patience will be rewarded!)

5 minutes or so before you serve it add the mushrooms and some fresh parsley.
tada dinner for 4 people for a couple of days!