Butternut squash
By Catherine Haug, Dec 4, 2020; image, right, from Wikimedia CommonsBy Catherine Haug, Dec 4, 2020
I’m getting quite a collection of squash soup recipes, but this one sounds just too good to pass up. Especially because it uses Honeycrisp (or Gala) apples, and I have a Honeycrisp tree. And my favorite nuts: pecans!
See also: 1. Soups & Stocks Menu Continue reading
Butternut squash
By Cat, Nov 2020 (photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)
In fall/winter, I love to make hot soups, and squash soup is one of my favs. I just found this one today in our local Daily Inter Lake newspaper (originally from the Chicago Tribune). The original uses sweeter-types of squash such as honey-nut, butternut or pumpkin, with leeks, sweet onion, garlic, red chili pepper, chicken or other broth/stock, heavy cream, and accented with smoked turkey. I’m not a big fan of turkey, but I like the idea of some kind of smoked meat; the first that came to mind is smoked salmon.
I tested the recipe 11/13/20, and declared it delicious (see testing near bottom of page). I really think using smoked salmon instead of smoked turkey was an excellent choice. Several of my friends sampled it and thought it delicious too, especially with the smoked salmon.
See also: 1. Soups and Stocks; 2. Winter Squash (About) 3. Winter Squash: How to Tell When It’s Ripe; 4. Hot- or Cold-Smoked Salmon (About) 5. Herbs and Spices (About) Menu Continue reading
Cat’s spice rack
By Cat, Dec 8, 2017, a redo of Aug 2007 posting (Photo, right, by Cat; photo below from Wikimedia Commons)
NOTE: This posting is a redo to fix an error. See also the redo for “Blends.”
“Curry” gets its name from the curry tree, native to India and Sri Lanka. It can be used alone, or more typically mixed with other spices. In India, these mixes are ground right before using, to provide maximum health and flavor benefits, as the spices used in curries have amazing anti-inflammatory (e.g., turmeric) and anti-oxidant activity (e.g., cinnamon, garlic and rosemary). see GreenMedInfo articles (24) for more on this.
Curry leaves & fruits
For ground spices, I highly recommend grinding your own for each recipe, because they lose much of their anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activity with time, once they are ground. This practice is dominant in East-Indian kitchens; I use my Revel electric spice grinder (made in India), as in photo, below, from Amazon.
By Cat, August 5, 2020 (Photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)
Chinook Salmon
I was intrigued by a White Wine-Poached Salmon recipe by Linda Gassenheimer in today’s Daily Inter Lake (originally from the Tribune News Service (1)). When I searched the internet for the recipe, the first one that came up was “Salmon gets fresh flavor from lemon, garlic,” which is served with pasta (from the Tribune News Service on Jan 20, 2017).
The White Wine-Poached Salmon recipe came up as a recipe originally from her book, Delicious One-Pot Dishes, and reprinted by the Tribune News Service: Diabetes Quick Fix.
So I include my adaptation of both her recipes, here since they both include salmon and white wine. I’ve not yet tested either recipe.
BBQ Chicken on Grill
by Catherine Haug, August 2020 (image, right, from Wikimedia Commons)
A Gochujang Glazed Grilled Chicken recipe in our local Daily Inter Lake newspaper (originally from the LA Times (2)) got my attention because of the gorgeous photo that looks like it was grilled with BBQ Sauce (similar to the photo, right), and because I’d never heard of gochujang sauce and was intrigued.
I am not familiar with gochujang sauce; All Recipes (3) refers to it as “Korean chile paste;” Yummly (4) refers to it as “red pepper paste.”
I also found the introductory information that accompanied the recipe (2) helpful, and I highly recommend reading that before giving it a try. However, that info does not include brining the chicken; instead, “you season the chicken [pieces] all over with salt and pepper, then turn to evenly coat in the marinade, while massaging the mix into the meat. Let stand while the grill heats, turning occasionally.”
I’ve not yet tested this glazed chicken, nor gochujang sauce recipe. When I do test it, I will brine it before marinating and grilling the chicken pieces. Brining helps the meat to retain moisture, especially for breast meat. Of course, you can skip that and simply salt the chicken as in the original recipe, but it may lose some of its moisture.
Wild Muscovy Duck
By Cat, July 2020 (Photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)
I finally found a frozen duck breast at my local grocer and just had to buy it; now I get to decide what recipe to use. I love duck with any kind of fruit sauce, so I’ve decided to give this recipe a try, since I LOVE plums.
It uses plum preserves, and of course, it’s best to make your own (for the healthiest ingredients). I’ve chosen a recipe from Epicurious (5) that makes about 1½ cups preserves (from 1 lb dried plums); it is quick and simple, and the end product can be frozen rather than canned.
I’ve included my test recipe for the plum preserves (using dried plums/prunes) below the duck recipe. If I like the results, I may move the full recipe to its own page.
By Cat, 2019 and ongoing
Initially, the bulk of the information on this page was from Lee Euler of Awakening From Alzheimer’s, via email. I’ve since added other items not from Lee; if the item doesn’t list a different source, it is from Lee’s email.
The original post, Nutrition: Foods and Supplements, was getting too long, so I’ve broken it down into two separate posts: Foods and Supplements (this posting). I may also need to divide each of them again, as each is still too long.
Wild Muscovy Duck
By Cat, July 2020 photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons
I have not made this classic French dish for years, not since the late ’90s in Portland. My housemate at the time also loved to cook, so we took turns every Sunday, making a special dinner. It had become a sort of “contest;” but that ended the last time I made this dish. I put my all into it, and it was so worth it, when he declared I was the winner, as we ate our last bites.
The recipe requires a fair amount of detail and time, but so worth it.
See also: 1. Poultry, Fowl Main-Course Menu; 2. Brining Poultry; 3. Dressings Menu (to choose a vinaigrette for a side salad) Continue reading
Wild Muscovy Duck
By Cat, July 2020; ; photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons
This is another recipe from when I lived in Portland; I recorded it on a recipe card, where I found it the other day when looking for a recipe for my frozen duck breast. I believe I made this one year for dinner on Christmas Day, and it must have been delicious or I would have tossed the recipe card.
The original recipe for the pilaf uses white rice, but I far prefer to use wild rice, because unlike regular rice, it is not contaminated with arsenic. I provide both versions here, as the method for cooking the rice differs by type. NOTE: wild rice is not a true rice, but rather rice-like seeds from a plant that grows in shallow water, a common home for ducks. From Wikipedia:
“The plants grow in shallow water in small lakes and slow-flowing streams; often, only the flowering head of wild rice rises above the water. The grain is eaten by dabbling ducks and other aquatic wildlife.
I now live in NW Montana, where it can be difficult to find a whole duckling unless you are a hunter. But I can find frozen duck breasts, so that is what I will use to test this recipe.
I’ve not yet tested this adaptation of original recipe.
Wild Muscovy Duck
By Cat, July 2020; photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons
I purchased a frozen duck breast, skin-on, a few months ago, and now I want to do something with it. It’s been years since I’ve cooked duck, but it is one of my favorite meats when I eat-out.
I don’t know the original source of this recipe, and I don’t recall the last time I made it, but because I still have my handwritten recipe card, I’m certain I loved it. And I definitely love wild rice.
I’ve not yet tested this adaptation of original recipe.
