Greek Salad on a stick

For Deborah and Jeff's annual garden party, I decided to create a recipe based on a picture I tore out of a magazine. the original picture showed red onions, black olives, feta cheese and cherry tomatoes. I went to the farmer's market with that in mind and stopped off at Eliki's stall for my favorite feta. I told the guy what I had in mind and he had me taste test both black and green olives as well as roasted sweet red peppers. Sold!

So on each skewer I had a chunk of red onion, a chunk of good feta cheese. a grape tomato, a black olive, a chunk of red pepper and a green olive. I decorated the tray with fresh oregano. In a jar, I mixed together the juice of a home grown lemon, some olive oil, and some dried oregano, along with several grinds of pepper and sea salt. I poured that over just before serving. It was very well received--only a single skewer was left, and I pawned that off on someone so that I could take home the fabulous 99 cent store tray I served it on.

Deborah has many interesting friends and there was lots of good wine, good conversation, and tasty food.

Summer Squash

When I lived down south, summer or yellow crookneck squash was commonly served. Around here, it's mostly only gardeners who do much with summer squash. But I saw some at the farmer;s market today, and dragged out this old recipe, which I call Mrs. Rush's Squash Souffle, because I learned it from a lady named Mrs. Rush in Auburn, Alabama when I lived there. My husband really liked it, and my daughter, who thought she hated yellow squash, declared it good. I agree.


Mrs. Rush's Squash Souffle

4 cups (1 lb.) yellow squash cut into small pieces
1 small onion, finely chopped (maybe a cup?)
1 cup fresh white bread, torn into small pieces
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 egg beaten
3 T. whole milk or evaporated milk or half-and-half cream. (use nonfat at your own risk)
2 Tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces
2 tsp. bacon fat (saved from previous bacon cooking. or cook bacon to have on the side, if you don't have any bacon fat. Or maybe cook 2 strips of bacon and crumble them in?)
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Cook squash in lightly salted boiling water till tender. Drain out well in a colander. Put squash in a 2 qt. casserole dish and mash with a fork. Add uncooked onions and all other ingredients and stir well. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. It doesn't puff up like a souffle, but it does firm up and brown nicely. Makes 3-4 servings (about 4 cups total.)

Sukiyaki in the Summer

We recently discovered the joys of Wagyu beef, and decided to try it in sukiyaki. Usually we only make sukiyaki in the winter, but it's been a cool summer and besides, we discovered the joys of wagyu beef!



What is wagyu? The word means simply Japanese beef, and it's actually a breed of cattle indigenous to Japan. The Japanese, although they didn't begin eating beef till the mid 19th century, have raised it to a fine art. But the most surprising thing about wagyu is that it is naturally low in saturated fat and high in monounsaturated fat. Usually monounsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature, while saturated fats, like butter and lard, are hard or at least solid at room temperature. Well wagyu beef, if you leave it at room temperature for a short time, almost begins to melt.



And in your mouth? It does melt.

The vegetables are also yummy: enoki mushrooms, shirataki (sort of noodles), nappa, green onions, tofu, bamboo shoots.

Unfortunately, I was too busy cooking and eating to take any pictures of the finished sukiyaki. But trust me, it was good.

Very good Semi-Homemade Pizza

1 package Trader Joe's Plain pizza dough
1 container Trader Joe's pizza sauce (used less than half)
1 lb. Trader Joe's part-skim low-moisture shredded mozzarella cheese (used 1/3 or less)
1 pkg. Johnsonville Italian Sausage (not hot) (used half the package)
1 small can mushroom stems and pieces
1 can sliced black olives
1 onion, cut in half and sliced thin
1 green pepper sliced thin
olive oil Pam

Rest dough for 20 minutes per package directions. Use gravity to stretch it into shape. Spray pizza pan with olive oil Pam. Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Remove sausage from casing. Put a small amt. of olive oil in fry pan and break up and saute sausage meat. When sausage is almost done, add green peppers and mushrooms. At the very end, mix in onions and black olives and turn off heat.

Spread sauce onto dough. Sprinkle with cheese. Top with all ingredients. Bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes.

Exceptionally good Supreme pizza! Trader Joe's pizza sauce has some herbs and oil in it and is really tasty. Their dough makes a nice 12" size pie. I haven't tried the herb dough, but it also seems like a good plan--maybe bread sticks?

Somen Salad

Somen Salad is a great choice for a hot night. The noodles can be cooked in just 2 minutes, early in the day, and the whole meal can be assembled and refrigerated several hours before you eat. It looks so festive that it makes a great party dish, as well. More than 20 years ago, I received this recipe from my husband's co-worker, who was from Hawaii

Somen Salad

14-16 oz. package somen noodles, cooked for 2 minutes in boiling water, then cooled
shredded iceberg lettuce
3 slices ham, chopped
2 eggs, scrambled
1/2 a kamaboko, chopped (fish cake) or krab sticks
2 stalks green onion, chopped
1 Japanese cucumber, chopped
1 Tbsp benishoga (red pickled ginger)

Dressing:
2 Tbsp. sesame seed
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup corn oil
3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce

Spread cooled somen in 9 x 13" pan. Garnish with remaining toppings. Shake dressing up in a small jar and pour over.

These ingredients make enough for a party-sized serving, although in that case the dressing should be doubled. For a family of 3 next time, I will use the 8 oz. package of somen noodles, and keep the other ingredients and dressing as stated in this recipe. We added miso salad dressing as we ate it, which was delicious!

Pineapple Fried Rice

This turned out to be delicious!

1 pineapple, cut lengthwise, cored and chopped
8 oz. chicken tenders, cut into small pieces
5 oz. fresh shrimp, shelled and cut into pieces
1/2 an onion, chopped
3 green onions chopped
1 Tbsp curry powder
Thai fish sauce
soy sauce

Mini Cheesecakes

made for friends