Touch of Summer

The weather today gave us hope. Hope for an end to this long, long winter. So for supper tonight I made something I saw on "Everyday Italian" the other day. I think the show was done in the summertime because she had some fresh heirloom tomatoes. I had some "on the vine" from WalMart, but you can bet I'll be making this again come summer - and probably before.

Giada cut her tomatoes into 1/2" thick slices and arranged them on the serving plate. Then she mixed some soft goat cheese with cream to thin it out. I used fat-free half and half. No amount to give you, just keep mixing it in little by little until the cheese is creamy. Dollop on top of the tomato slices.

Then Giada put a bunch of fresh basil and fresh mint in the food processor to chop it up, then drizzled in about a cup of olive oil. This she spooned on top of the dollops of cheese.

I simply plucked some fresh basil leaves from my plant (that has stayed alive all winter and I love it!) and made a chiffonade. Sprinkled over the cheese, and added a teeny drizzle of olive oil.

We both sprinkled with some salt and pepper.

This was very tasty and I'm thinking the leftover cheese will be used to make it again tomorrow for lunch.

Seven Things

My friend Maisie tagged me to post seven things about me on this blog. I did a post of seven general things on Play for a Moment, so this one will be geared toward food and cooking. Let's see what I can share...

1. The first time I remember cooking was when I was 4 years old. I'd been invited to eat supper with the neighbors and their mom handed me a can of biscuits to open and put on the pan. I'd never seen those before and when the can popped open, it startled me. I don't remember anything else about that meal, just the biscuits.

2. After Mom went to work full-time, Tonita and I were responsible for making supper and washing the dishes each evening. Mostly whoever cooked had to do the dishes - we tried having one cook and one wash, but that caused some problems with one thinking the other was using too many dishes to cook. :o) We usually traded off each week.

3. We also did the grocery shopping. On Saturday morning Mom would leave a signed check on the table before she left for work. One or both of us would walk to the grocery store downtown (only about 6 or 8 blocks away), do the shopping, pay for the groceries with the check, then call Dad to come pick us up. We pretty much bought the same kinds of things each week, and our limit to spend was $50 for a family of seven.

4. I don't consider myself to be a picky eater, but like everyone, there are things I don't care for. Some things I never thought I would like, but as an adult I found I do, are asparagus, lamb, caviar, broccoli, cauliflower.

5. My Royal Prestige stainless steel cooking pans were purchased from a salesman I met at Village Inn when I was waitressing. He was staying there and making sales calls in the area, and asked if he could come to the house and talk to me about this stainless steel cookware. Since Mom and Dad had a set of waterless pans, I knew the benefits of owning my own. I was 18, Tonita was 17, and we each bought a set from him. We're both still using them. Oh, and that salesman? He was a young college student, and was incredibly handsome. It was not a problem to listen to him talk about those pans. :o)

6. With a few exceptions, I don't like sweet on my meat or my vegetables. No glazes, thank you. I will eat barbecue sauce, but I'm kind of a snob. I like K.C. Masterpiece Original.

7. I learned to cook by making basic, inexpensive dishes at home. I did take Home Ec, and learned a few things there, but before I went to my first class, here's what my mom told me, "The teacher will have her ways for you to do things that are different than we do here. You need to just do it her way in class, then you can do it our way at home." :o)

The Meal of Love, Kinda

I had already purchased the ribeye steaks to cook for Valentine's Day before Pioneer Woman posted her four-part "Meal of Love" tutorial on her cooking blog. I hadn't planned on the garlic mashed potatoes, but she reminded me of our love for them, so that's what I made.

We did not, however, pan-fry the steaks. Just couldn't do it. So Greg went outside in the 18 degrees (above zero, though) weather and grilled those babies. I just sprinkled them with a little Lawry's. I also sauteed half a pound of mushrooms (wiped clean, sliced thick) to put on top.

[I never used to want any seasoning or topping on my grilled meat (except burgers, of course), but thanks to my new best friends Tyler Florence (I wish he'd come cook for me, I wish he'd come cook for me, I wish he'd come cook for me - I said it three times, think it'll come true?), and Alton Brown (Greg's hero), I know now that seasoning is not evil. Seasoning is good - over-seasoning is not, and we won't discuss how I know this...]

So I made the garlic mashed potatoes - roasted three heads of garlic in the oven, used real butter and fat-free half and half, oh, and some salt. Seasoning potatoes is a good thing, too. Who knew?

This photo doesn't show the salad or the wine. Just a regular salad. The wine was a Merlot-Cabernet blend from Columbia Crest Winery in Paterson, WA, very near the wineries we visited while on vacation in Seattle. It was just dry enough for Greg, and not too dry for me, and really went well with the steaks.

The photo does show the whole grain ciabatta roll - we like the "take and bake" type from the grocery store bakery section. We just tear it up and then dip in a little olive oil with fresh-cracked black pepper. Good and good for you.

So that was it - our own little "meal of love". We didn't do dessert since we went to the movie and Greg had popcorn. :o)

Catching up

I have cooked and served a few new things in the past few weeks, and all have been delicious. Here's my new favorite way to eat tilapia:

Sautéed Tilapia with Parmesan Crust
(Kayln's Kitchen)

Tilapia fillets, one per person
mayonnaise, about 2 tsp. per fillet (use real Mayo)
grated Parmesan, Mizithra, or Asiago cheese
olive oil
salt/pepper to taste
Pride of Szeged Fish Rub (optional, but very good)

Preheat broiler. Season fish fillets on both sides with salt, pepper, and fish rub if using. Heat heavy frying pan, add olive oil, then sauté fish until lightly browned on both sides and not quite cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per side. Turn carefully and do not overcook, since it will be cooking a little more under the broiler.Take fish out of frying pan and put in ovenproof dish which will fit under your broiler. Spread mayo on the top of each fish filet and top with Parmesan cheese. You want the top of the fish to be well covered with cheese. Broil until cheese is browned and melted, about 4 minutes. Serve hot, with lemon slices if desired.

(*Note to Ben - I'm SHARING my favorite tilapia recipe...)

You can see that I served steamed brussels sprouts with this. After steaming, I tossed lightly with a smidge of olive oil and sprinkled them with toasted walnut pieces. I admit to thinking for my entire life that I didn't like brussels sprouts, but these were SO GOOD. My horizons, they are broadening. :o)

Final temptation

All of the Christmas goodies (what few there were) are gone from the house now. Except the ingredients for one of my favorite things, Rice Krispie bars. We didn't get them made last weekend with everyone here. They've called to me all week, but I knew if I made them, I'd consume them. So, since I was scheduled to work at the theater last night, and there were teenagers and men also working, I went ahead and whipped them up yesterday afternoon to take to work with me.

However, there was still half a package of chocolate almond bark leftover and I didn't want that in the cupboard, calling to me every month. :o) So I melted that bad boy down and dipped the RK bars into it. I've done this in years past for Christmas treats and they are SO good! Makes them taste like a candy bar. Those boys WOLFED them down and I forgot to take a photo before I offered them to the masses.

The recipe for the RK bars is on the marshmallow bag: 1/4 C butter, 1 package mini-mallows, 8-ish cups RK's. (I like to use just a tad less RK's than the recipe calls for so they're nice and chewy.) I microwaved the butter to melt, tossed the mallows in the butter and microwaved those just until soft, then mixed with the cereal.

Let them cool and set up before cutting and dipping into the warm, gooey, melted chocolate. Mmmm...

TIP: You don't have to get your hands all greasy to pat these out into a pan. Just dip a fork in cold water and use it to pack the mixture down in the pan. I learned this many years ago from a Head Start parent when we made RK bars on a home visit.

Simple holiday appetizer

Just a yummy cracker spread with cream cheese and topped with a small piece of smoked salmon (from Seattle). Easy and delicious. Yum!

"The" salmon recipe

I posted this recipe last year in my other blog, but now I have a photo, so I thought I'd put it here. I call it "the" recipe because while we have had plenty of wonderful salmon cooked other ways, so far this is my favorite. We prefer wild caught salmon, but if that's not an option, we'll use the farmed stuff from Sam's club. Both taste great cooked this way. Enjoy!

(Oh, and you really need to use FRESH dill in this.)

Salmon in Phyllo


2 lbs. Salmon fillet, skinned and boned and cut into 8 portions


Juice of one lemon


1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill


Salt and pepper to taste


8 sheets phyllo dough


4 tablespoons butter, melted


1 teaspoon Dijon mustard


1 egg yolk


1 tablespoon heavy cream


Fresh dill for garnish


Creamy Dill Sauce (recipe at end of post)



Marinate salmon in lemon juice and dill for about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; rub the spices in well. This can be done several hours ahead of time.


Preheat oven to 375F. Take a sheet of phyllo dough. Combine melted butter and mustard and brush lightly over the phyllo. Put a strip of salmon at the long end of the dough. Fold phyllo over salmon and roll up. Two inches from the end of the sheet, tuck the sides in toward the middle. Finish rolling and place roll on buttered baking sheet, seam side down.Repeat with remaining salmon strips. This step can be done an hour ahead and refrigerated.


Combine egg yolk and heavy cream and brush pastry with this egg wash.


Bake until phyllo is puffed and browned, about 5 to 7 minutes.


At serving time, put pastry on a heated plate, garnish with dill and serve.


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Creamy Dill Sauce


2 T. dry white wine


Juice of 1/2 lemon


2/3 c. heavy cream


2 T. chopped fresh dill


1 T. Chopped fresh parsley


Salt and pepper to taste
Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the wine and lemon juice; bring to a boil. Add the cream. Simmer until well combined and cream has reduced slightly. Stir in the dill and parsley. Taste for seasoning.


This sauce is excellent with all sorts of fish. Makes about 2/3 c. sauce.