A new take on Cauliflower Bake

 1 head cauliflower, cleaned and cut into florets and cooked (bring to a boil then simmer until fork tender then drain)
 1/2 cup butter or margarine or to taste
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese or to taste
Leftover red pepper and green onion, about 1/2 cup of each

My version of Cauliflower Bake is a simple vegetarian dish that combines cooked cauliflower with some melted butter or margarine, bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. This time I had some left over chopped red pepper and green onion that I wanted to use up so I just added it. I sprayed a glass pyrex dish with canola oil, covered it with tin foil and heated it in the oven for about 20 minutes while the chicken breasts were finishing cooking.

The pepper and green onion dresses the dish up nicely. One suggestion is to not put too much red pepper as the taste will overpower the other flavours.


Note: Traditional Cauliflower polonaise is similar to this recipe except that the butter is slightly browned and the bread crumbs are then added to the browned butter. Some recipes call for chopped hard boiled eggs.

You could serve this with:
Shake and Bake Chicken Breast
Potatoes mashed with sour cream or baked potato (maybe twice baked)
Cauliflower Bake
Green Peas
A bit of sliced tomato for additional colour
Top it off with some low-cal soy ice-cream for dessert

Pork Casserole/Stew

Languishing in the freezer were four or five pork butt steaks. I wasn't certain what I wanted to do with them in order to feed 8 or 9 people. After some thought I decided on a sort of pork stew. I partially defrosted the steaks but left them partially frozen, enough to make cutting them easier. I cubed the pork trimming off some of the excess fat. Then I tossed the pieces in flour that had been seasoned lightly with a steak seasoning. Next fried the meat in a heavy bottomed stainless steel pot in a bit of hot oil. While the meat was cooking a bit I chopped 2 onions, 4 or 5 carrots, 4 celery stalks and one medium turnip. When the meat was partially browned I added the vegetables and sauteed the mixture for a few more minutes. Then I added 2 cans of Campbell's french onion soup and 2 cans of Campbell's wild mushroom soup and 4 cans of water. I heated the mixture until it was hot then dumped the whole thing in a roaster pan, covered it snugly with tin foil and put it in a 350 degree oven for about 1 hour then 325 degrees for a second hour.

I made some tea biscuits and served the stew in a bowl ladled over a boiled potato. I think it turned out very well. The meat was very tender and the dish had good flavour. Next time I would increase the carrots for a bit more colour.


Note: You could substitute just about any other cut of pork in this recipe.
For 4 servings I would cut the recipe in half
This would be a good slow cooker recipe 
Pork...The Other White Meat 

Turkey Drumsticks

While wandering though the aisles of the local grocery store today I noticed, in the meat cooler, turkey drumsticks. Two in a package for around $2.60. I'm thinking it's a pretty good deal but I'm not sure just how I'm going to cook them. When I got home I searched a few recipes online but didn't see anything that caught my fancy. After some thought I decided to baste them with pesto.

I washed the breasts and dried them off a bit. What this really means is that I shook the excess water off. I trimmed the loose skin off then put them onto a pie plate and slathered a heaping tablespoon of bottled (store bought) pesto all over them. I put just enough water in the pan to wet the bottom and covered the whole thing snugly with tin foil. Into the oven for about 2 hours at 325 degrees F. I did not uncover them the whole time and in fact forgot they were in the oven until I could smell them.  I took them out and carefully removed the tin foil and set them to rest for 10 or 15 minutes. I had already eaten dinner so I just sampled them. Gotta say that they are more than good, in fact kind of awesome. They turned out very moist, tender and juicy with a very gentle hint of the pesto. I think if you do not have pesto you could use a salad dressing or BQ sauce and it would be fine. 

It could be eaten torn with some rice or noodles or a traditional style turkey dinner or served cold with  a chunk of dark bread, pickles and potato salad if it's too hot to cook.

A few pics from a Potluck Dinner

Last summer we had a couple of really good dinners with a group of seniors I work with. One of the dinners was a "Bring Your Own Steak or Whatever" and the other one was a good old country pot-luck supper.

Both presented  great evenings filled with good food, conversation and company. One guest brought an amazing array of fresh vegetables from their garden, yellow and green beans, freshly dug new potatoes and tomatoes that actually tasted like tomatoes. A couple of the ladies had a practiced hand at baking turning out fresh pies and blueberry cake.