Taco rice?

For breakfast, we had leftover scones, bananas and Greek yogurt.

For lunch, daughter requested rice. I put some in the steamer with chili powder and fresh cilantro from the garden.

Then in my skillet I put about a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oiland a teaspoon butter. I threw in frozen corn, the taco meat I made in March (thawed via the microwave)and the last of the black beans I have cooked.

Pesto ravioli primavera

I started a cream sauce while browning beef kielbasa (which I divided into four segments and froze three of them) but I never got the cream sauce done... So, I made this:

- about 1.5 cups diced beef kielbasa
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons flour
- about 2 tablespoons garden fresh dill
- 1 large leave sorrel
- about 7 basil leaves
- 2 cups peas
- 2 cups cauliflower, carrots and broccoli
- 2 packages trader Joe's ravioli

I put the butter in my Le Creuset skillet and browned the meat. I carefully pushed the meat to the side, added the oil, and incorporated the flour as if I were going to start a cream sauce. I added all the herbs.

Meanwhile, I cooked the ravioli and added the vegetables so it could all cook at the same
time.

The sauce smelled so fragrant I opted not to make the cream sauce after all. The family ate it all.

And the etcetera of the week

The other day I tried to make some beef with red wine sauce. Like a simplified version of beef burgundy because I didn't have any stock. It didn't work. It ended up as beef (which was good) in red wine stock (not as good but edible).

But the leftover meat was great in this salad today:
Greens, shredded carrots, emmental cheese, meat and cabernet vinaigrette.

My mother-in-law brought the Lebanon bologna earlier this week.

Rabbit with Sage and Lemon (Lapin à la sauge et au citron)

I bought a three-pound rabbit at the farmers market today. I thought I'd make 2/3 of it, but half fit better in my pan. I got the idea of making rabbit from my Venez Dîner C'est Prêt cookbook that Jessica brought me from France.

Now, I didn't read the recipe very closely and so it took me a while to realize I needed a beer, and not just any beer but a "bière blonde" (blonde beer).

The recipe suggests that one rabbit will feed four people.

Ingredients
1 rabbit cut in "morsels" (the butcher cut mine in four center sections and each leg)
1 lemon, not juiced
4 cloves of garlic, whole, in the "skin?"
8 fresh sage leaves
1 bottle of blonde beer
12 black olives
salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 410 degrees.
Arrange the rabbit (I only used half the rabbit) on a platter and salt and pepper it. Place in baking dish with the lemon in quarters (I sliced into eighths). Add the sage leaves and the cloves of garlic.
Add the beer.
Cook one hour, adding the olives at the mid-point. Cook until the meat is tender and the sauce caramelizes. If it cooks too quickly, add more beer. If it doesn't reduce enough, return to the oven.

I'm serving with broccoli sautéed in garlic and olive oil and fresh pineapple.

The rabbit disappeared. I think my daughter could eat two pounds of rabbit meat by herself. Tender, moist, but like buffalo wings-- a lot of work to get the meat off the bone.

The sauce had a lot of flavor for how simple it was.

Spinach-Herb-Apple Meatloaf and simple mac n cheese

My husband's three favorite foods are meatloaf, macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes. I have never made mashed potatoes so I went with the other two options for a fantastic Father's Day dinner. This will be one of those posts where I give you the original Betty Crocker recipe and then my own variation.

Betty Crocker's Macaroni and Cheese
7 ounces macaroni, prepare according to package instructions
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion chopped
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups milk
8 0unces of your favorite cheeses

Preheat oven to 375. Heat butter in three-quart saucepan over medium. Cook onion in margarine about three minutes. Stir in flour, pepper and salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until mix is bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. After one minute remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted. Add macaroni and stir until coated. Pour into ungreased 1.5 quart casserole. Bake about 30 minutes until bubbly and light brown.

Angel's Macaroni and Cheese with Chives
My instinct says this will be one of my blandest mac and cheese batches ever.
WAY TOO MUCH macaroni
3.5 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons fresh chives from the garden
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon fresh ground four peppercorn blend
1/2 teaspoon idiozed sea salt
2 tablespoons organic ranch dressing
4 cups milk
8 ounces extra sharp cheddar
3/4 cup grated parmesan and romano
2.5 cups broccoli

(See directions above and use chives instead of onion. Add broccoli into pasta as your stirring the noodles into the sauce.)

Betty Crocker Meat Loaf
1.5 pounds ground beef, pork and turkey
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup breadcrumbs or 1/4 cup quick cooking oats
1 egg
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1 small onion chopped
1 tablespoon worchestershire sauce

Heat oven to 350. Mix everything but ketchup. Form loaf and place in pan. Spoon ketchup over the top. Cook 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

Angel's Apple-Spinach-Herb meatloaf
1/2 pound ground beef from the farm (will make a very greasy meatloaf)
1/2 cup milk
2 cups garden fresh spinach
1 cup apple, peeled with a potato peeler
2 tablespoons garden fresh parsley
2 tablespoons garden fresh oregano
3 tablespoons fresh parsley
1/2 cup homemade breadcrumbs
1 egg
Ketchup for the top

I loved the spinach-apple meatloaf. Every bite was different. Though I wasn't keen on the ketchup on top

Klein Farm

Lots of people go to Klein Farm for the cheese... I go for milk.

Klein Dairy sells their homemade cheese, yogurt and raw milk. We've probably been going there for as long as my daughter has been around and they keep expanding their products, and they work with other farmers and bakers to have yummy stuff. I'm going to investigate a CSA through them.

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. I did one years ago thanks to my colleague Lisa at the Chronicle. You buy a share and the farmer gives you produce every week, whatever is harvested. I swear that's why my daughter is a good eater, because we exposed her to everything when she was one...

But today we bought a half-gallon of milk, a yogurt for me to eat right away, a larger container of the smoothie-yogurt in strawberry banana, brown eggs, three packages of ground beef, one package of beef cubes and one package of bacon. $33.

We're at the midpoint of the month and I've now spent about $11o on food.

Cheesesteaks

The other day I had a craving for cheesesteaks. My husband went to the story and spent $26 on creamer, coffee, salad, deodorant and cheesesteak supplies.

It looks like the $7 of cheesesteak meat will make 2 dinners. The fancy rolls he bought were $3 for 6. We added block cheddar cheese and seasoned our own sauce with herbs and Franks Red Hot Buffalo sauce.

The daughter and mommy both asked for seconds.

Open Faced Meatball Broccoli Garlic sandwiches

I took the meatballs I made last night and made strange sandwiches for dinner. I cooked the leftover meatballs in plain tomato sauce with some four-color pepper and italian seasoning. While they simmered, I melted some butter (about 1/3 of a stick) and added a tablespoon or two of garlic powder and a teaspoon of parsley. I took the last few slices of the homemade French inspired cheesy bread and slathered on the butter sauce.

I broiled the bread until the edges got crispy, then I pulled them out of the oven and covered them with tiny bits of fresh broccoli. On top of the broccoli, I piled the sauce and then two meat balls. Finally, I sprinkled on grated cheddar (liberally) and returned it to the oven to bake.

Broccoli Meatballs

Since I went to the store today and we have a selection of food available, I let the child select tonight's fare. She picked spaghetti and meatballs. I don't think I've ever made meatballs, but that does not dissuade me.

I opened up my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook (can't go wrong with Betty for the good old American meat staples). Spaghetti and meatballs is on page 227. Of course, I had to adapt it.

The process is simple: mix all ingredients, shape into 1.5 inch balls and bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes. The yield of Betty's recipe is 20. Mine is about 17.

Betty's Meatballs
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 egg

Angel's broccoli meatballs
3/4 pound ground beef
1 cup fresh broccoli, cut small and cooked lightly
1/2 cup homemade breadcrumbs
about 1/8 cup ketchup
about 1/8 cup creamy Italian salad dressing (plus an extra squirt for good measure)
1/2 salt
1/2 four color pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon pizza and pasta seasoning
1 teaspoon parsley
1 teaspoon honey
1 egg

At a preliminary taste test, 20 minutes in, the meatballs taste good. They weren't the color I would have liked, so I put them in for five more minutes... and the bottoms caramelized.

Midday recount

For breakfast this morning... Oh, wait, I didn't have breakfast. Well, maybe I did if you count the graham crackers at 8:30. My daughter had watermelon at 7:30 and graham crackers and chocolate soy milk with me.

I'm concerned with her getting enough liquids in this hot weather, so I "made" her drink one of my bubbly cherry lemonades at 10. That's when I made myself the rest of the Dole salad from last night, though we ate all the good toppings so I just poured a bunch of grated asiago over it and then added the remaining ginger dressing. It was fabulous.

At 11, my husband and daughter had a real picnic on the college quad, with crackers and leftover lebanon bologna and port salute cheese, a banana and a 100% juice box. Then they played some quad golf.

When I got home from class at noon, I brewed some green tea to ice later. I then packed a glass bottle (20 ounces?) with ice cubes and water for the little one. AND I gave her the rest of the watermelon.

Now, I'm finally sitting down to eat some homemade bread and port salute cheese, with a glass of diluted lemonade.

Pork with Apples

Since I've worked so late all week, and I have a house full of groceries, I opted to make the family a nice hot lunch. This is one of those rare occasions when we use the big plates. I scrubbed and baked the sweet potatoes, with plans to serve with butter and cinnamon sugar.

Now I will post the recipe for Pork with Apples as I copied it from recipeZaar, but I'll note how I changed it.

Glazed Pork with Apples

8 servings

2 tablespoons oil;

8 boneless pork chops 1/2 inch thick (I used two, but sliced them into stir fry type pieces);

1 cup apple juice;

1/2 cup brown mustard (I used 1/4 cup imported French honey dijon and 1/4 cup brown);

1/2 cup brown sugar;

1/4 teaspoon fresh rosemary, crushed (I forgot the rosemary this time);

2 apples sliced;

I also add raisins.

Heat oil in skillet over medium-high. Cook pork jobs about five minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to boil and reduce heat to medium. Simmer, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes, until sauce thickens and pork finishes cooking.