Double Cherry Upside-Down Cake

I found a recipe for Double Cherry Upside Down Cake in the July Issue of Cooking light. You will need: 2 Tbsp Butter 1/3 cup brown sugar 2 cups pitted fresh cherries (Rainier was recommended, I used Royal Anne) 2 cups pitted fresh cherries Bing 1.5 cups of all purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp baking soda 3/4 cups granulated sugar 6 Tbsp butter, softened 3 Tbsp canola oil 1.5 tsp vanilla extract 2 large eggs 1 cup fat-free buttermilk 1. preheat Oven to 350 degrees 2.Coat a 9-inch spring form pan or cake pan with 3-inch sides with cooking spray. Line the bottom of the cake pan with parchment paper. If using a spring form cake pan, wrap the outside of the pan with tightly with a double layer of heavy duty foil. 3. Drizzle the melted butter over parchment in bottom of pan; sprinkle with brown sugar. Arrange cherries in a single layer over brown sugar. Place pan on a baking sheet lined with foil. 4. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda, stirring with a whisk; set aside. Place granulated sugar, softened butter, and oil in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 3 minutes). Beat in Vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to oil mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture (batter will be thick). Spread batter evenly over cherries in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 5.Reduce heat to 325 degrees (do not remove cake from oven). Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a wooed pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Loosen cake from edges of pan with a knife; invert onto a platter. By the way, the recipe gave instructions for extra wrapping of foil on the cake pan and the sheet. My cake only had a small amount of oil that made its way out of the pan. This was for our Father's day celebration. That is why I didn't have a photo of our cake. It had already been half eaten when I realized the I didn't get it.

We are growing Japanese Greens in our garden again this year. We have used a net cover to keep out the bugs that like to lay their eggs on the under side of the leaves.

Besides the Japanese mix we are growing baby bok choy and Swiss Chard in the same box.

I found this recipe in the magazine, cooking light. I am sharing part of a recipe, the cooked greens with coconut-curry vinaigrette. 8 ounces Soba Noodles 4 cups coarsely chopped greens, including bok choy, spinach, chinese mustard, or what ever you like. 1/2 cup coconut milk 2 Tbsp lime juice 2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce 1 Tbsp rice vinegar 1 tsp honey 1/2 tsp ground black pepper 2 Tbsp peanut oil 1 Tbsp chopped ginger 1 1/2 tsp Madras curry powder (We don't use curry because my husband doesn't like it) Combine coconut milk, juice, soy sauce, vinegar, honey, and pepper in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cook noodles according to package direction.

Cook chopped greens in boiling water for 1 minute, to wilt greens. Drain, rinse with cold water, drain again.

Heat the peanut oil in a small skillet. Heat ginger stirring quickly. Put the noodles in a serving bowl, top with wilted greens, and sauce, toss until mixed. Add the Ginger. Enjoy with your main dish.

Potato and Root Vegetable Mashers

There is a chef in Boise who does a short spot on the radio every week. One week, Chef Doughty stated that we tend to only eat 15 or so vegetables regularly, but there are actually 4 times that amount (I'm writing this from memory, it is the principle that is important!). I have been trying to increase the variety of veggies in my diet.
This recipe is one I found in Cooking Light magazine, March 2012. I have put potatoes and sweet potatoes together before, but this recipe called for turnips as well. We grew turnips in our garden last year, and liked them. They are kind of sweet or mild tasting.

This recipe serves six by their measurements, so I tailored the quantities a bit.
4 medium Yukon gold potatoes
1 sweet potato (I had a nice fat one)
2 turnips (I think they were large about 3-4 inches diameter)
2 Tbsp Butter (yes I used it)
1/3 cup sour cream (I opted for plain yogart)
1/4 cup 1% low fat milk (funny since they used butter and sour cream!)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Peel and dice the vegetables and put in a large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil.

Cover the pan and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain the water into another pan and cool.
My mom always saves the potato water and uses the broth for gravy or soup stock.

Add the remaining ingredients. I served the sour cream (yogart) on the side since Ed doesn't like sour cream on potatoes. You don't have to mash the veggies very much, they are already soft.

This recipe was tasty, fast and easy to make, and you will have leftovers for another night.

Stir Fry Vegetables with Noodles

I tried a noodle that I found in the vegetable section of our grocery store. I like it for a quick dinner. I had fresh vegetables on hand like baby bok choy and mushrooms.

I had some corn that I froze from this summer, as well as roasted red peppers that I also had in the freezer.

I had a small amount of Pork Roast that we had for dinner the previous night. The noodle package recommended shrimp or sea food.

These are the noodles. I had to heat them in Hot water, but I think they are already partially cooked or not dried like ramen noodles.

I stirred the vegetables while the noodles cooked, 3 minutes.

Drain the noodles. Add to the vegetables. Stir to mix the noodles and vegetables.

Grilled whole fish

This is a recipe from Splendid Table with Lynn Rosetto Casper.
We used a pretty large fish, and increased the cooking time to
8 minutes per side and feel it could have had a few minutes
longer. It was adventure-some and tasted really good. After
dinner we cut the fish into serving sections,and froze 6 portions
to use for future dinners.
The fish had a subtle smokey flavor.

Your Basic Whole Grilled Fish Strategy

Your Basic Whole Grilled Fish Strategy

Chris Schlesinger, John Willoughby

From License to Grill, by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby.

THE NINE-STEP PATH TO GRILLED WHOLE FISH NIRVANA

Choose the right candidate and make sure it's really fresh. If you're grilling one whole fish per person (which is the best plan), you should look for fish that weighs between 1-1/4 and 2 pounds. Any larger than that, and you'll have trouble flipping them.

Start with a big hot fire and let it die down, catching it just as it turns from medium-hot to medium.
Make sure your grill grid is hot and clean. The best way to do this is to put the grid over the coals just after you light the fire, scrub it well with your wire brush, and then leave it on as the fire heats up and dies down.

Oil the fish very lightly before you grill it, and make several horizontal slashes about 1" deep in the sides of the fish -- these will help it cook more evenly and also make it easier to tell when the fish is cooked properly.

Lay the fish over the fire and don't fool with it for 4 or 5 minutes. You want a good sear to form between the fish and the grill, which makes it easier to turn when the time comes.
After 4 or 5 minutes, use your tongs to sort of worry the fish free of the grill surface, Don't turn it at this point, just clear it from the grill.

Continue to cook on that first side as long as possible, until it's just in danger of getting overdone on that side. At that point, roll it over gently ­ don't flip it, just roll it, as you would a sleeping bed partner. This is the only time you'll be turning the fish.
If the fish should rip apart when you are moving it, it's time to bail. Get a spatula, lift the pieces off the grill and onto a baking sheet, and finish it in a 350 degree oven, It will still taste great, but the presentation is going to suffer.
To check for doneness, probe around in the slits you made in the side of the fish. The flesh should be almost completely opaque with just a hint of translucence. Remove from the grill and eat immediately: you have arrived.

Marco Polo Short Ribs

 This recipe is a crock pot recipe, but I cooked it in the oven because it was a weekend and I had time.  The prep isn't long, but the cooking time is about 4 hours.  I'll tell you at the end why I liked it better than the crock pot.

 The title comes from the addition of tomato sauce and ginger, plus horseradish.  The flavors work great together.  Ingredients:
4 lbs beef short ribs
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 cup beef bullion or water
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 onion sliced
2 TBSP prepared horseradish
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp ground ginger (or fresh grated)
2 TBSP cornstarch

 Brown the ribs on all sides, add sliced onions, and sauce.  Bake in oven heated to 350, then turn heat down to 325 or 300. The ribs were not frozen at all so I turned the heat down.  But if they were still thawing out I would have opted for 350 degrees.

 Bake for 2-3 hours.  The ribs will start to shrink and you can then add potatoes, and carrots.  Cook another hour or two.  When the potatoes are done and the fat on the short ribs has shrunk and made a transparent layer over the juice, remove the dish from the oven.

 Put the potatoes and ribs in a serving dish.  Then laddel the clear fat off the pan juices.  Make gravy with the cornstarch, water and pan juices.

Enjoy your tender meat!

Cajun Style Fish Steaks

This is really good for fish. Use Cod or Halibut or your favorite!
Serves four (or how many steaks you use)

Ingredients:
4 cod,halibut steaks each weighing about 6 oz
2 Tbsp plain yogurt
1 Tbsp lime or lemon juice
1 garlic clove crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp mustard power
1/2 tsp cayenne powder
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano
Peanut oil

1 Rinse fish and pat dry on absorbent paper towels. Combine the yogurt and lime juice and brush lightly over both sides of the fish.

2. Combine the garlic, cumin, paprika, mustard powder, cayenne, thyme and oregano. Coat both sides of the fish with the seasoning mix, rubbing in well. I might have put the yogurt on a bit heavy. So I didn't rub too hard but made sure that all areas of the fish were covered.

3. Brush a ridged grill pan or heavy frying pan with a little peanut oil. Heat until very hot. Add the fish and cook over high heat for 4 minutes or until the underside is well browned.

4. Add more oil if necessary and turn over and cook for another 4 minutes or until the steaks have cooked through. I had my burner set on 7 and 4 minutes was just right. The steaks were about 1 inch thick. There is a large spine bone in the center which needs to get hot.

Serve immediately.
The "expert" sporting my new Apron!