"Turkey" Pressure Cooks Artichokes - Simple IS Better

Before I married my lovely wife, (a.k.a. "Turkey"),  more than 40 years ago, I had never eaten an artichoke (in fact, I had tried to avoid foods with the word 'choke' in them).

One of our wedding gifts was a Presto Deluxe pressure cooker in the lovely 70's color of Avocado Green and stenciled with animals, vegetables, and kitchen implements (shown at the bottom). A pressure cooker was also something I was unfamiliar with. Our kitchen growing up didn't have one, but my lovely wife knew just what to do — read the directions, follow the recipe guide — things I rarely do! One of the first and best uses of the new device is artichokes! We used to eat these regularly as our daughters grew up, and they loved them too. Don't confuse these with the canned or bottled stuff in the grocery store. These take real work to cook & real work to eat them right, but man, are they worth it.

 If you have never eaten a whole artichoke, a brief anatomy lesson is on the right, alongside  the required bowl of melted whole butter required to enjoy each petal. One may say that anything dipped in a bowl of butter is good, and I won't argue with that, but the act of peeling, dipping and then scraping the bit of artichoke flesh dripping in butter left on the petal is unique. I am a bit of a purist and butter is all I need, but my wife does like a bit of lemon on hers. And once you devour all of the petals, remove the thin purply covers, you get to the choke, which is aptly named, but once you remove it you are left with the heart.

Yes, the heart is what every one wants, bottles, or cans, and there is a reason—It is like butter coated smoothness, and then it is gone😒.

In the past, I have recommended frozen artichoke hearts, and they are fine, but the experience of eating them freshly cooked by my wife is light years bond those! Obviously, you can't have hers, but try them in your pressure cooker or instant pot or even in a steamer basket!

Earl Cooks Artichoke Hearts With Zucchini & Yellow Squash

This is a dish where the preparation takes longer than actual cooking time, which is  a nice change. For this dish you will need:

 —Artichoke Hearts

 —Zucchini

 —Yellow Squash

 —Butter

 —Salt & Pepper

 —A Veggetti Pro or other other spiralizer. What is a SPIRALIZER you ask? 

It is a kitchen tool that turns firm vegetables into spirals, like the zoodles you find in the grocery stores. There are several versions including professional versions, or attachments to your stand mixer. But for under $15 you can have one and save yourself the cost of buying the store made zoodles for 3 to 4 times the price of the ones you make. 

Don't buy the Veggetti, buy the
Veggetti Pro

A note here. The "Veggetti", a cheaper version is too much work and often doesn't work. Buy the pro version. You get more blades and less wrist work. You will thank me later.


On with the dish...
...as my picture shows, I turned a zucchini and a yellow squash into ribbons. This was just for fun. If you don't have a spiralizer, chop them or slice them to your liking. 

Now for the artichoke hearts. We have found Trader Joe's frozen artichoke hearts a winner. They do not have the bad texture and preservative taste of canned or bottled. I recommend keeping several bags on hand for quick and easy side dishes. 

Place the artichokes in a good sized sauce pan with a stick of butter. Our favorite way to eat artichokes is by dipping them in melted butter, so I was trying to mimic that experience with this dish. (My wife also like hers with lemon, but I don't like to interfere with the buttery goodness). Once the artichokes are heated to temperature, add the 2 kinds of squash. This will certainly need some fresh cracked pepper, and maybe salt. The squash is a blank canvas in a way, and can be seasoned as you like, but I did not want to coverup the artichoke in mine. Alfredo would go well, as would Parmesan, so make it your own!

"Turkey" Bakes Homeade Bread but Asks me to NOT post it

Before you think I went against my wife's (a.k.a. "Turkey") wishes, I got her permission to take a couple of pictures. Each week or two I am treated to her marvelous bread and mostly banished from our kitchen, until the miracle emerges from the oven piping hot and ready for butter. This week, a minor mistake was made with the recipe. I say minor because it tasted fine but my wife felt it didn't look good enough because a problem with the temperature in the oven,  (probably due to something I did). 

As you can see, it looks great, at least to me, and it tastes even better! If you have never had fresh baked bread slathered with butter, almost too hot to handle, you are missing one of the great taste treats in life.

I managed to catch a slice before the heat melted the butter. As you can see, it appears perfect and tastes even more perfect. I think for the first several slices, nothing more is needed but butter. "Turkey" likes hers with some creamed honey too. It turned out great and she gave me permission to post these lovely images which she was worried were not going to turn out right, but from dough to buttered slice everything tastes perfect.

Earl Cooks Spaghetti Squash With Bacon, Butter & Parmesan

Spaghetti Squash is a favorite around our house, especially for "Turkey" (a.k.a. my wife). Over the years I have made it in many different ways, (it can even be microwaved), but my favorite way to cook it is to oven roast it.

These gems have much going for them, not the least of which is shelf life. They will last weeks after you buy them. Some treat them just like spaghetti, and ladle a nice meat sauce over them, but my wife likes them almost without anything. Tonight I am going to amp it up a bit with lots of butter, grated Parmesan and chunks of bacon.

My Zwilling J.A. Henckels 10" Slicing Knife
My mom found at a thrift store.

Step 1: The most difficult part of  cooking these is cutting them in half. I start by cutting off the stem end removing just enough of the squash to make a sturdy, flat area. I then stand it up on that flat part on my cutting board. Cutting it this way does two things 1.) It presents less resistance to my knife blade and 2.) it allows me to exert downward pressure on both sides of my LONG knife blade. This requires a very long and very sharp knife. I have a knife that I think my mother found at a thrift store years ago. It is the only one I trust and one of the few that are long enough. I find that serrated blades don't work for this application. REMINDER: NEVER, EVER place your fingers UNDER the blade! Once halved, simply remove the seeds with a large metal spoon, I used a serving spoon. scraping out any remaining fibers.
Step 2: Prepare the  freshly grated Parmesan and bacon bits. Set them aside for later.

Step 3: Preheat your oven to 350℉. Place your squash halves onto a baking sheet. I use a non-stick ¼ sheet pan. You may want to line yours with aluminum foil for easier clean-up. Coat the inside with olive oil and season. I used seasoning salt and Lawry's Seasoned Pepper. Season yours to taste, but I think ALL squash needs lots of pepper. After seasoning, add 2 tablespoons of REAL butter. Now gently turn them over, facing down on the sheet pan. Cook for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, flip them up, brush any butter or oil back on the  flesh side and cook for 15 more minutes.
Step 4: Remove from oven and flip so the flesh is up and add your bacon chunks and top that with Parmesan, reserving some for finishing. Place back in the oven for another 15 minutes or so or until flesh is soft and cheese is melted.
Step 5: Remove from the oven, and with a fork gradually scrape the flesh from side to side. It will come off in long spaghetti-like strands (hence the name). Top with reserved cheese and maybe even more butter & pepper (as my top picture shows). This goes great with garlic bread and can be eaten as a main course, (like we did), or as a side dish. "Turkey" even took some for lunch the next day!

Earl Cooks Easy Double Leek & New Potato Soup - VEGETARIAN

No, this is not a mistake! I made and ate something VEGETARIAN! We are meatatartians in our house. We eat salads and vegetable sides, but most meals are truly meat based. We will have a steak dinner consisting of just the steak.

Now you know a bit about us, I wanted to eat something with no meat. I chose a leek soup made with 2 leek components.

I started with one of my favorite soup starters Knorr's Leek Recipe Mix. I prepare this according to package directions. I then added frozen sliced leeks from Trader Joe's, which are great to keep on hand (for this and many other dishes). Bring it back to a high simmer and allowing it to cook down to thicken the broth. While the broth thickens, I diced new potatoes from a can, which I added after the soup thickens. Don't forget to seaason well..
 I finished it off with half a cup of low-fat sour cream.

Once in the bowl, I added a pat of butter and fresh ground pepper, both are almost required for any tasty soup. I used crackers, but a nice crouton would be tasty too (I used croûtons on the leftovers).
As an add-in, I suggest scallions on top or chives or parsley. My wife, ever-the-meatatarian,  chose diced, baked ham. Bacon crumbles would also be good!

Earl Cooks 2 Dishes and a Snack for a Christmas Feast at Daughter #2's House - The Snack

This time of year is about holiday traditions. It is also the first Christmas since our mom's passing. My daughter #2 wanted to celebrate our mom's life this Christmas and I thought that was great!

One of those traditions from my youth was Mom making the original Chex "party mix" for a toy party she was hosting at our house in the late 60s, much like the Discovery Toys or Tupperware parties. They had the coolest toys to demonstrate, and as a young boy, I hoped one of them would be mine. It never happened, but what I do remember was watching Mom make the mix. The recipe was from the back of the 1966 Chex box. Every other “original” recipe I've found is not how it was then and not how she made it. A version is still on the boxes today, but I have always loved the original. 

The ad (pictured here) is a bit small so I will list the ingredients & Instructions here with the modification I make to enhance the flavor to match my memories, and I think it makes it closer to what mom made.
CLICK BELOW FOR RECIPE(S) and a printable version

Earl Cooks Bone-In New York Strip Steak

Bone-In New York Strip Steak with Applewood Smoked
Bacon Mashed Potatoes with Cheddar Cheese

One of the great benefits of the holiday season is all of the food! Turkeys, Hams, Holiday Roasts, Cheeses, Nuts and many others cover the pages of the grocery store ads at prices that seam almost reasonable. But it's the holiday and what kind of holiday would it be if we didn't overspend a little on those we love...foods that is. In pursuit of this goal, I asked my wife a.k.a. "Turkey" if she would prefer a holiday roast or steaks. Without hesitation, she said "steaks!" Our butcher (the meat department at the chain grocery store) was offering a good deal on New York Strip Steaks so I bought too many!

In my effort to never do anything the same way twice and make cooking more challenging I thought I would try a new approach to cooking these bone-in New York strips.
—I began by preheating my cast iron skillet in my oven set to 450℉
—I then seasoned my steaks using just ONE type of seasoning, McCormick's®  Grill Mates® Montreal Steak Seasoning on both sides. I should mention here that I allowed them to come to almost room temperature out of the fridge.
— When my pan was hot I removed it from the oven and turned the oven setting DOWN to 250℉. I placed my seasoned steaks into the hot pan and returned the pan to the oven. The steaks seared just a bit, but I was not searing this right now. That comes later.
—After 30 minutes have passed, turn the steaks over and reduce the heat to 225℉,
—After the hour has passed, remove the pan from the oven and remove the steaks from the pan for just a moment.
—Crank the heat up under your cast iron skillet as high as you dare. Drizzle some olive oil in and return the steaks to the skillet.
—Sear the steaks on both sides to establish a nice crust. Turn as needed with tongs. Yes, you can turn them more than once, but you may not need to. The searing takes about 5 minutes or 2½ minutes per side. I might mention here that "Turkey" like her meat WELL done. Most of you may not, but take that into consideration.

I prepared some mashed potatoes to accompany our steaks and topped both with a generous pat of butter and fresh cracked pepper. These steaks were just shy of  1 pound and I ate the whole thing, plus my potatoes. Turkey had her leftovers for lunch the next day. All told, it was a success and our butcher did a fine job with the meat😁.

Earl Cooks Chicken Teriyaki & Rice from Freezer to Plate

I have cooked Freezer to Plate meals before. This one interested me because rather than pasta, it had rice as the base. You may remember that the pasta was undercooked in my previous trials so I thought rice might work out better. I sure wish mine looked like the one on the package! I followed package instructions, although I did bake it a bit longer because the breasts were so large my wife thought they may be turkey, not chicken. I assured her they were not but cooked it a bit longer to make certain it cooked through.

In case you don't know, these boxes contain a sauce and in this case, rice with some veggies. They are meant to be used with frozen chicken breasts. They offer 5 different varieties. Pictured is mine after completing the cooking. The chicken is nicely cooked if a bit on the pale side. The sauce slid off the breasts and didn't add any color to the chicken. My challenge here, again, is the starch. Some was cooked and some was crunchy. Again the failing is the side dish. I am going to take their idea and translate it into a recipe where I control the individual cooking of the ingredients. As you can see these breasts are HUGE! This is a 9x12 baking dish, and only 2 breasts fit. I could have sliced them and made them look nicer in the baking dish, but I was kinda hungry. Here is the plated result with butter and fresh cracked pepper added. I should point out that  I was able to make 2 great meals with the leftover chicken which I will post later. I even used the unevenly cooked rice. It could just be my almost 30+-year-old stove. I would recommend you try it and judge for yourself. It is far superior to any microwave solutions you may be tempted to try!

Earl Cooks Riced Cauliflower & Pulled Pork

In an effort to add more veggies to our diet that are good for weeknight meals, I discovered frozen riced veggies awhile back. The three I see most often are cauliflower, broccoli, and sweet potatoes. These are more expensive than their non-riced counterparts but are great for a quick side dish. But tonight, I am going to turn the lowly cauliflower into the main event! I found in my deep freeze the last of the smoked pork I saved from Captain Len's, and inspiration began.

First I took riced cauliflower, from Boulder Creek, and microwaved per package instructions.

Riced Cauliflower, Diced Yellow Onion, Pulled Pork,
Seasoned Pepper,  Fresh Ground Black Pepper & Butter

While that cooked, I diced a yellow onion and prepared the pork. I seasoned the onions with seasoned pepper and added butter to sauté. To the onions, I added the smoked pork to warm through. I then added the riced cauliflower. (You may want to DRAIN for quicker cooking). Combine onions, pork, and cauliflower together and let any liquid cook away. Shave some Parmesan and cover. The cheese should melt right into the other ingredients, and you can serve it up! I topped our servings with a nice bit of butter. This would also be good topped with parsley or with some Cajun/Creole seasoning. It needs a lot of seasoning because cauliflower seems to be a black hole for salt & pepper.

Earl Cooks Keta Salmon with Spinach & Sliced New Potatoes

I am gradually learning more about salmon the more I buy and cook it I saw some on sale the other day marked wild caught Keta Salmon in a dill butter, so I grabbed some. Wild caught and sustainably

Keta or Chum Salmon - Male

harvested, sounded good to me but I didn't know what 'keta" was. Keta salmon is second only to the king in size and inhabits waters throughout the Pacific Northwest. It has an unattractive nickname "chum" salmon. It is relatively neutral tasting. 
The salmon was frozen with 2 fillets vacuum packed and included the dill-butter sauce in on the fillets, which were skin on and about 6oz. each.The instructions are to defrost in the fridge and cook on the grill or in the oven. This was my first time, with these fillets, so I selected the oven.

 I started by seasoning the tray, not the potatoes. It is hard not to over season potatoes and I didn't want that. I then placed the sliced potatoes on the seasoning and drizzled some EVOO over the top. Then while the oven preheated, I put the tray of potatoes in and roasted them until the oven was hot. and covered them with the leaf spinach. I used caned but defrosted frozen would also work

 Once the oven was hot, I placed the fillets on a small baking sheet I hat sprayed with non-stick pan spray. Shown here with the dill butter sauce poured on top.





Here is the finished plate. I added a bit of butter to the spinach-potatoes as well as to the salmon. By the time my camera took the shot, it had melted to the side.
Results:
The salmon was good, although the dill-butter sauce was too mild and the potato-spinach side dish was underwhelming. I will definitely be cooking keta salmon again! Next time on the grill or stove-top though!