Barking with the Spuds

There is a combination sure to please, or at least put fear into the hearts of those who built homes along a golf course.

Today we got to help them find the cat. The lady and another carnie were wandering around the campground, looking under RVs, including ours, for about an hour after they'd hooked up to pull out. When they brought out the garden hose and started spraying into the wheel wells, Dad figured out the cat was missing and had a sneaking suspicion he knew exactly where it was. So he goes outside, opens up the engine compartment of our coach, and sure enough there's a cat perched atop the Cummins ISM450 staring back at everyone. They were very impressed and offered him a job as an A&S man but he declined. Something about it affecting his golf swing.


Guess what we had for breakfast??? BUUUUUURRRRRPPPPPPP!

Bentley

We are now in Kentucky and when we first got here, the only thing cooking was US! Dad and the campground owner had to replace all the parts of the 50 amp hookup before we could get air conditioning. We were twice baked spuds!

While chewing on some of the dental chews, I mean caribou haunch, that we got in Maine, I just reminded Mom that she was quite remiss in posting some of the recipes we got to smell (and in many cases, taste) while on this trip.

Since we'll be otherwise occupied with our chewing, I've authorized her to post on the blog to help update everyone.

The Empress Ree

Buttermilk Pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (flour through salt) in a large bowl, and make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk, oil, and egg; add to flour mixture, stirring until smooth.

Spoon about 1/4 cup batter onto a hot nonstick griddle or nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray. Turn pancakes when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked.

Yield: 9 (4-inch) pancakes (serving size: 1 pancake)

To make BLUEberry pancakes, sprinkle fresh BLUEberries onto batter after you first spoon it onto the griddle or skillet. We learned to do this from Alton Brown - it helps you evenly distribute the BLUEberries and prevents the pancakes from turning lavender).

CALORIES 99 (26% from fat); FAT 2.9g (sat 0.8g,mono 0.9g,poly 1g); IRON 0.8mg; CHOLESTEROL 25mg; CALCIUM 69mg; CARBOHYDRATE 14.9g; SODIUM 211mg; PROTEIN 3.2g; FIBER 0.4g

Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2000

---

Pasta with Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallots

3 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
8 shallots, peeled and halved lengthwise (about 1/2 pound)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
4 ounces uncooked pappardelle (wide ribbon pasta) or fettuccine (Mom likes whole wheat fettuccine)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 475°.

Combine the squash, sugar, 2 1/2 teaspoons oil, salt, pepper, and shallots in a jelly roll pan; toss well. Bake at 475° for 20 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in sage.

While the squash mixture bakes, cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Place cooked pasta in a bowl. Add 2 teaspoons oil; toss well. Serve the squash mixture over pasta. Sprinkle with cheese.


Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 3/4 cup pasta, 3/4 cup squash mixture, and 1 tablespoon cheese)

CALORIES 248 (29% from fat); FAT 7.9g (sat 2g,mono 4.5g,poly 0.8g); IRON 1.4mg; CHOLESTEROL 5mg; CALCIUM 137mg; CARBOHYDRATE 39.4g; SODIUM 713mg; PROTEIN 7.1g; FIBER 5.2g

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2001

---

Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza

Dough:
1 teaspoon sugar
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
3 cups all-purpose flour (about 13 1/2 ounces), divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray

Topping:
1/2 pound turkey Italian sausage (about 2 links)
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
(Mom substituted a 10 ounce packaged of chopped spinach and 2 diced roasted red peppers for the 'shrooms since Aunt Sue doesn't like mushrooms)
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) preshredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese

To prepare dough, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water in a large bowl; let stand 10 minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 1 cup flour and salt to the yeast mixture, stirring with a whisk until well combined. Stir in 1 3/4 cups flour, stirring until a dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of remaining 1/4 cup flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel sticky).

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let stand 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375°.

To prepare topping, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Remove casings from sausage. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add sausage and onion; cook for 5 minutes or until sausage is browned, stirring to crumble. Drain; set sausage mixture aside.

Return pan to medium-high heat. Add mushrooms (or spinach and red peppers if using those instead); cook 5 minutes or until moisture evaporates, stirring frequently. Remove mushrooms from pan, and set aside.

Return pan to medium heat; add 1 teaspoon olive oil. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds or until lightly browned, stirring constantly. Add tomato paste; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in oregano, fennel, and tomato sauce; simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce mixture is slightly thickened.

Coat a 12-inch cast-iron skillet with remaining 1/2 teaspoon oil, and sprinkle cornmeal over oil (or use a 12-inch round shallow baking pan like a stoneware one if you don't have a skillet, it just might not end up as crusty). Place dough in skillet, gently stretching edges to evenly coat bottom and sides of pan. Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over the bottom of dough; top evenly with sausage mixture and mushrooms. Top mushrooms with sauce mixture; sprinkle Parmesan over sauce. Bake at 375° for 40 minutes or until crust browns and topping is bubbly (stoneware might require more time) . Let pizza stand 10 minutes before serving.


Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

CALORIES 323 (22% from fat); FAT 8g (sat 3g,mono 2.8g,poly 1.4g); IRON 3.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 35mg; CALCIUM 156mg; CARBOHYDRATE 46.1g; SODIUM 694mg; PROTEIN 16.7g; FIBER 2.9g

Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2005

---

Tabbouleh

Copyright, 2001, Barefoot Contessa Parties!, All rights reserved

1 cup bulghur wheat
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/4 cup good olive oil
3 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (start with 1 1/2 tsp)
1 cup minced scallions, white and green parts (1 bunch)
1 cup chopped fresh mint leaves (1 bunch)
1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (1 bunch)
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and medium-diced (that's the European kind that comes encased in plastic)
2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place the bulghur in a large bowl, pour in the boiling water, and add the lemon juice, olive oil, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Stir, then allow to stand at room temperature for about 1 hour.

Add the scallions, mint, parsley, cucumber, tomatoes, and the pepper; mix well. Season with additional salt, to taste (Mom says she never needs to add any extra), and serve or cover and refrigerate. The flavor will improve if the tabbouleh sits for a few hours.

---

Sesame Noodles

1/2 cup sesame seeds (black sesame seeds work well here, too, or a combo for color)
1 lb whole wheat linquini
4 teaspoons rice vinegar
10 teaspoons soy sauce, low sodium
4 teaspoons honey
4 teaspoons sesame oil
1 bunch scallions


If using white sesame seeds, toss the seeds in a dry pan over high heat until they look golden brown, and tip them into a bowl to cool

Bring a large pan of water to a boil. Put in the pasta and cook according to package instructions until tender but not mushy. Have a bowl of iced water waiting to plunge them into after draining.

In the bowl you are going to serve them, mix the viegar, soy sauce, honey and oil.

Then finely slice the scallions and put them into the bowl with the cooled, drained noodles and mix together thoroughly before adding the sesame seeds and tossing again.

Leave the sesame noodles for about half an hour to let the flavors develop, if possible.

These are good topped with chopped up cooked chicken or beef, especially sate, if you want to make a meal of it. Add a little chopped crunchy romaine lettuce, too, to make it extra-refreshing as a meal salad.

---

Upside-Down Apple French Toast with Cranberries and Pecans

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence, 2008

French toast:
4 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 loaf challah bread, cut into 1 inch-thick slices (Mom says any fluffy, tender crust bread works)

1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 cup light brown sugar, plus more for sprinkling, divided
4 Granny Smith apples
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Confectioners' sugar, garnish, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a flat dish, crack eggs and add milk, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Whisk until well combined then lay challah slices in mixture to coat and absorb it all, turning occasionally.

Peel and core apples and slice into eighths.

Set a 10-inch skillet, seasoned cast iron if you have, over medium heat. Add the butter and 1 cup sugar and cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar has melted and caramelized, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and gently whisk in the heavy cream. Sprinkle in the pecans, dried cranberries and gently press in the apple halves so there is a flat surface. Lay soaked slices of challah over the top so it is completely covered - you should be able to arrange the large slices and small slices so there are no gaps. Sprinkle the top with some brown sugar and place into the preheated oven. Bake in the middle of the oven for 40 to 45 minutes until the top is golden and puffy.

When done, allow to cool for 2 to 3 minutes then invert onto a large plate. Dad says to do this CAREFULLY and maybe OVER THE SINK since it's VERY HOT and JUICY. Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired, and serve.

Chef Florence's Note: if your cast iron skillet is not seasoned, the cranberries will react with the skillet and turn black.

---

Greek Burgers
or
1 lb ground beef, bison, etc. (the folks prefer bison or grass-fed beef)
salt, pepper, or Dizzy Pig Raising the Steaks (Montreal-style) seasoning to taste
1/4 C packed, crumbled feta cheese
2 Tbsp olive tapenade (preferably kalamata)
fresh farm tomato (not that mealy, crappy supermarket kind)
ciabatta rolls, sliced in half thickness-wise or crusty artisan bread slices

Shape the burger into 2 HUGE or 3 normal patties that match the ciabatta roll or slice shape and season both sides.

Slice the tomato.

Mix the feta and tapenade, roughly 2 parts cheese to 1 part tapenade to make a burger topping. For 2 HUGE half-pound burgers, Mom uses 2 tablespoons of tapenade and 1/4 cup packed, crumbled low to non-fat feta. Not to worry, when she makes them this big she and Dad split one and save the other to reheat for lunch the next day).

Grill the burgers. Right before they are done, put the bread on the grill just long enough to get marks on both sides. Assemble burger on grilled rolls/bread with the feta/tapenade mix and a slice of tomato. These will probably need to be cut in half to handle. Enjoy!

(Mom says you can make your own tapenade by chopping some kalamata olives, a little fresh thyme, capers, and garlic together into fine crumbles and add just enough olive oil to help it bind together. You can add a minced anchovy if you like and you have them.)

---

Herb-Crusted Pork Tenderloins

(Mom got this recipe from our friend Rebecca Laschinger who served it at a dinner party they went to without us)

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons herbes de Provence or dried Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 (1- to 1 1/2-lb.) pork tenderloins, trimmed

1. Combine first 5 ingredients. Rub mixture evenly into pork. Place pork in a large shallow dish or large zip-top plastic freezer bag. Cover or seal, and chill 2 to 4 hours.

2. Place pork on a wire rack in a lightly greased shallow roasting pan.

3. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°, and bake 20 to 30 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in thickest portion registers 155°. Remove from oven, and cover pork loosely with aluminum foil; let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings

Southern Living, DECEMBER 2006

---

Portobello "Philly Cheese Steak" Sandwich

Recipe courtesy EatingWell.com

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
4 large portobello mushrooms, stems and gills removed, sliced (Mom says you can add some thin sliced, cooked steak if you want)
1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano or 2 teaspoons dried

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 ounces thinly sliced reduced-fat provolone cheese
4 whole-wheat buns, split and toasted

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until soft and beginning to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, bell pepper, oregano and pepper and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are wilted and soft, about 7 minutes.

Reduce heat to low; sprinkle the vegetables with flour and stir to coat. Stir in broth and soy sauce; bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat, lay cheese slices on top of the vegetables, cover and let stand until melted, 1 to 2 minutes.

Divide the mixture into 4 portions with a spatula, leaving the melted cheese layer on top. Scoop a portion onto each toasted bun and serve immediately.

---

Roy's Chocolate Souffle

Mom made this for Dad's birthday "cake". She says the overnight chill is very important so plan ahead

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate together. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and cornstarch. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and yolks together. Add the butter/chocolate mixture to the sugar mixture and whisk thoroughly. Stir in the eggs and whisk just until smooth. Place in the refrigerator overnight.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spritz 4 8 ounce ramekins with cooking spray and divide batter between ramekins.

Bake on the top oven rack for 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Mom says you can just do 2 ramekins one day and save the batter for a couple of days to have souffle another time.

---

Grandma K's French Onion Soup

3 yellow onions, sliced thin
3 cloved garlic, minced
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
3 cans beef consomme
3 cans water
3 beef bouillion cubes
3 Tbsp "worchestershire" sauce
3 dashes hot sauce

Crusty bread slices, toasted
slices of swiss, leerdammer, provolone, fontina, muenster, monterey jack or other melty cheese (combinations work well, too)

Saute the onions and garlic in the butter until onions are very soft and starting to caramelize. Stir in the flour until well-incorporated. Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 1/2 hour.

If you have broiler-safe bowls, ladle soup into bowls, top with a slice of toast and cheese and broil until cheese melts. Otherwise, put toast topped with cheese on a greased sheet pan and broil until cheese melts, then CAREFULLY use a spatula to transfer cheesy toasts onto bowls of soup.

Soup is even tastier when it's reheated as leftovers. Just make fresh cheesy toasts.

There isn't much to report about the stay. We hung around the coach the first day while the folks went to tour wineries. Apparently they were only slightly impressed and both headed straight for the big bottles of water, aspirin, and antacids when they got back, something about yet another state that can't make good red wine. We did notice a few bottles of Riesling go into the rack, though, so it must not have been all bad.


Our next stop is just an overnight in a state that's round on both ends and "hi" in the middle as we work our way towards Kentucky. I hear it's the BLUEgrass state - awesome!

Today the folks took us along for the day and we explored the Waterbury area of Vermont and boy did we hit the mother load!

I wonder how butter tastes on cider doughnuts????

We arrived in central Vermont on Sunday, staying at Lake Champagne campground in Randolph Center. Our site has a great view of the surrounding countryside - there are no sites in front of us so it's a wide-open view.

The folks spent yesterday a little ways down south, shopping at their favorite Vermont places. They started at the King Arthur Flour Baker's Store, where you can find everything that's listed in the catalog and then some. Mom always buys lots of cool baking things and ingredients there and she didn't disappoint. I'm not sure if they sell the Kong Squeaker balls there but one came back for the Puppy.

After that, they headed to where their favorite cheddar is aged, hand-waxed, and sold at Sugarbush Farms in Queechee. They get several pounds of this cheese every year, and have done so for 7 or 8 years now. It all started with some aged cheddar. Each year, the cheese is older and this year the blocks they got are 96 month old. That's older than any of us! Mom always rations it throughout the year, well all we get are scraps but I've seen her walk off with some big chunks! That is some SHARP cheddar! Sugarbush also does maple sugaring, and we also saw a jug of syrup and hot pepper jelly go into the pantry.

They also went to Co-Op, or as Jill the GPS calls it, "Company Op". It's a cooperative-owned food store in New Hampshire that sells lots of yummy things, like organic veggies, naturally-raised meats, local products, and has especially tasty local, organic, artisan breads and lots of cheese. One of the cheeses they picked up was a locally-produced and smoked mozzarella that we hope to see on some pizza soon. They also brought home a snack called "Just Veggies", freeze-dried crispy, crunchy veggie bits with nothing else added. We're glad they saved us each a little bit - they were sooooo..... tasty and snackadacious. And they had a natural sweetness, just like me.

To protect all this dairy product they also bought a frozen block of Scrapple and some frozen spinach to use as ice packs. That seemed to work pretty well and now we might get to have Scrapple twice on this trip.

We're not as enthusiastic about the spinach. More "Just Veggies", please!

Ree

After several days of only getting to watch our cousins splashing in the lake, I finally got to test-swim my new PFD. It was so cool! I paddled and paddled and went nowhere fast, probably because Dad had me tethered with the leash, but at least I finally got to get wet. The Puppy Floatation Device makes me float like a cork and lets me move as fast as Michael Phelps. If the dog paddle was given its due and recognized as a Olympic swimming style I'd be going to Beijing! I also snuck out the door once and tried to skinny-dip, but Dad was as fast as me, so I didn't quite get to go swimming unaided. Maybe next year.

The folks also went to one of their favorite pizza places, which is here in Rangeley. It's where they first had super-thin crust pizza, even thinner than NY style, topped with the spicy goodness of pepperoni and pepperocini peppers. It sure smelled good when they brought the leftovers home. Maybe there will be crust in our future.

The last week has found us in Rangeley, Maine. It's in the western mountains of the state and is so far north that we are halfway to the north pole! I think this is where Santa RV’s since we caught a glimpse of him going into his cool RV cabin. We wanted to blog about it earlier but there was no internet available there. Well there was something called ‘dialup’ but we are not sure what that is and it sounds suspiciously like it might require thumbs to operate, an issue that has caused us difficulties in the past.