A Pressing Issue

I love garlic. I like it in any shape way or form. And recently I am learning to embrace it more in its raw state. Bad breath...deal with it.

But I also have this lovely garlic press I purchased on a gift card from Bed, Bath and Beyond that was given to me a year or so ago. Wow, this garlic press. Take the time ladies (and men) to invest in a quality press, you will not regret it.

But I learned something recently about a garlic press. And yes, you can and should learn soemthing as often as you can. That is the joy to reading other blogs. I got this tidbit from Pioneer Woman. Man can she cook up a storm. I think she invented comfort food, right behind Paula Deen that is.

So here is the little piece of information I took away from her blog today:

"If you don't have a garlic press, no worries. You can mince it up. If you do have a garlic press, I have a tip for you. Don't peel the garlic. There's no need to. Just pop it in there and press. The skin will stat in the press and clean garlic will come right through."

Did you just read that? One less step I have to do in the kitchen. I was laboring over cloves of garlic at a time by slaving away at removing their skins...OK , maybe a slight exaggeration, but you know what I am talking about. So slave no more people. you can press away and still save some time in the kitchen.

Uba AKA Grape

Uba( Oo buh): Spanish word for grape.

How can I begin to call myself the Cooking Lady when I cannot even tell the difference between fresh and old grapes. Well today I got a crash course from dear ole hubby.

We were sitting at lunch and had a bowl of grapes in front of us. It was mix of green and red seedless grapes. My husband then began to tell me and my daughter how he liked older grapes when he makes fruit salads at work, for they are easier to pull off the vine. So I asked him how did he know the difference between old and fresh grapes. I mean come on, he is a produce clerk and has been for over 10 years. I think he has a heads up on some of thee inside tips.

He picked up a vine and asked me to pick off a single grape. It popped off easy schmeazy. Then he asked me to pick a grape off the green grape vine. Whoa, what a difference. I had to tug at it. That mean they were fresher.

Also, if your vine is greener, then it is fresher as opposed to a vine that is slightly turning brown. Not rotting mind you, just starting to turn. And all this within a ten minute time frame. Who knew?

Baked Lemon Pasta

I love this lady. She is a real cook and no frills as well. This is some kitchen you would want to be sitting in with a cup of coffe and some coffee cake. And this woman does not mess around with pre-packaged crap, she is the real deal. I swear if I am ever up her way, I will pitch a tent on her front lawn and just hang out there. If you do not know who I am referring to, it is the Pioneer Woman. And man she is someone worth checking out. And even for us veggies, she has quite a bit to offer and things can be vegetized. So go check her out and see what you can see


1 pound thin spaghetti (make sure you have 1 pound or it will be to soupy)
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
2 cups sour cream (I used yoghurt and it was OK)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste if desired
Plenty of grated Parmesan cheese (We were out and still did fine)
Flat leaf parsley, chopped
Extra lemon juice
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook spaghetti until al dente.
In a skillet, melt butter with olive oil over LOW HEAT. When butter is melted, add minced garlic. Squeeze lemon juice into the pan. Turn off heat. Add sour cream and stir mixture together. Add lemon zest and salt. Taste, then add more salt if necessary. Pour mixture over drained spaghetti and stir together, then pour spaghetti into an oven safe dish. Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes. (Don’t bake too long or the pasta will dry out.) When you remove it from the oven, squeeze a little more lemon juice over the top. Top generously with Parmesan cheese, then chopped parsley. Give it a final squeeze of lemon juice at the end. Serve with crusty French bread and a simple green salad.

Guacamole

There is nothing more simple and delicious and flavor absorbing than avocados. I was a late bloomer in learning their fabulous flavor. I was in my early 40's when I came around to eating this little green balls of fantasticness. But a good recipe eluded me. Yes every region has thier own distinct flavor and spices. But I was looking for a basic recipe which I could eventually elaborate on. Well I found just the recipe. I found it here, at Avocado Central , and with a name like that, how could you go wrong? You can't. This is simple, easy and more like a side dish for me. I can now eat this with anything, or nothing. Thee only thing I have left to do is go out to the garden, cut back some cilantro and we are good to go. Yippee!



Ingredients
4 ripe avocados, peeled, seeded
1 tsp ground cumin
1 ripe, medium Roma tomato, seeded, diced
½ Cup minced sweet white onion
2 serrano chilies, seeded, minced (we had none)
¼ Cup chopped cilantro leaves
4 Tbsp fresh lime juice (we used lemon juice)
Hot pepper sauce, sea salt, white pepper to taste(we used sriracha...sparingly!)

Instructions
Cut avocado in large chunks and mash coarsely in large bowl with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and blend gently - leaving some small chunks is fine. Taste and adjust seasoning with more pepper sauce, salt and pepper if desired."

Catsup Sauce

This is a great sauce and can be use don anything you use BBQ sauce with, but I put it with the Tofu stick in the previous post. Easy schmeazy, and will keep in the frig if there is left-overs. We had a little bit left over. Try it, but be warned, it has a bit of a bite due to the ginger in the recipe, but oh so good in my book.

3/4 cup water
1/4 tomato paste
2 T maple syrup
2 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 t pureed fresh ginger (I used my micro plainer)
1 T minced fresh parsley (right out of the garden sha-BAM)
Cayenne pepper to taste (maybe a pinch)
Salt and pepper
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Whisk together the water, tomato paste, maple syrup, lemon juice and ginger in a small pan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly and cook for 1 minute. Let cool. Add the parsley and season with cayenne and salt.

I did not heat this dressing, but would definitely do it next time. It definitely would have thickened it up a bit, but the flavor rocked all the same.

Another great dish from Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook.

Oven - Crisp Tofu Sticks

I am beginning to experiment with tofu these days. And so far so good. But I know so many folks would not even try the stuff. their loss in my opinion. Is it exactly like meat? No, but I am OK with that. It has its own distinct quality and an animal did not have to give its life for my meal. But before I start sounding preachy, let me just say this this dish is do-able for sure. Try it and see what you think.

24 ounces firm or extra-firm tofu (water-packed, not aseptic or silken) drained
1/3 cup fine cracker crumbs ( we used flour instead)
2 T cornmeal
1&1/2 T salt free seasoning (We used Paula Deen's House Seasoning, homemade of course)
1/2 t ground chipotle or chili powder (I used 1/4 t)
1/4 salt
Olive oil cooking spray or mesquite oil cooking spray
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Drain tofu and wrap in paper towel for 10-15 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 F. In a shallow bowl, mix together the cracker crumbs, cornmeal, seasoning, chipotle or chili powder and salt. Set aside. Spray a large wire cooling rack with oil. Cut each block of tofu into 12 sticks about 3 inches long and 3/4 inch thick. Dredge each stick in the crumb mixture and place the sticks on the wire rack. Spray them with oil. Bake until crisp and brown, about 35-45 minutes. Serve the tofu sticks warm with ketchup sauce (recipe coming soon) drizzled on the top or served on the side.

Thee only thing I did differently and would next time follow the recipie with is the way I cooked it. I put my tofu in a baking dish, so it did not get crispy and crunch. Tasted great all the same, but would follow the directions to the letter next time. Great dish and will make it again for sure.

We can thank Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook for this one. Good times.

French Dressing

Well I have a few new recipes. I tried out about three today, so get ready. This first one is a dressing recipe. It is my goal to be bottle dressing free here soon. I am, but my hubby still purchases bottled dressing. Go figure. This is one I snagged from How it all Vegan. Imagine that. Easy, simple and I had all thee ingredients, already. I plus in this house. So enjoy, but may I make a suggestion? Double this recipe, not because it is delicious, which it is, but because it barely covered 3 salads and we always go for seconds in this house.

1 clove garlic, minced ( I put mine through a garlic press, much better)
1/2 t salt
1/4 t dry mustard
1/4 t paprika
1/4 t pepper
1/4 cup flax oil or olive (we used olive)
2 T vinegar (we used apple cider)
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In a small bowl, whisk together all thee ingredients. Serve over a nice green salad.

I did not change much of anything, and this is definitely a KEEPER for sure. Make and go be a rabbit.