What Have You Been Eating Lately?

I have been trying some different foods of late, many of which do not require a recipe. I hope this gives you some new ideas on what to serve your family. Since we are at the height of corn season, here’s a great way to use any leftover corn on the cob.

Ingredients:
2 eggs for every large ear of corn
1 Tbsp. milk
1 cooked ear of corn removed from cob
Salt/Pepper
Almost any other herbs or spices (smoked paprika, chipotle, dill, basil, chives, etc.)
Handful of slightly steamed spinach, optional
1/2 cup cheese, optional
Well, you get the idea…just use your imagination!

This souffle just has corn, eggs, and milk. Served with encrusted haddock topped with chives and chive blossom and a petit tomato salad.

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat the eggs until light and fluffy. Add 1 Tbsp. milk and any other ingredients. Place in a well greased custard cup and bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed and slightly browned. Let it cool slightly (it may deflate a bit) and then run a knife along edge of custard cup and pop out the souffle. This is not a true souffle since we are not using flour to make a roux and also does not cook at the higher oven temp of a classic souffle, but it is a very easy substitute and close enough that I call it souffle! Serve as a light lunch on bed of greens or as a side dish with dinner. It is also delicious for breakfast.

This time I used both spinach and cheese and served with baked ham and roasted cauliflower and garlic.

Here’s another dish that really doesn’t need a recipe, but I will tell you how I prepared it. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Squeeze fresh lemon juice on your sole. Lightly salt and pepper. I used white pepper so it would not spoil the clean ‘look’ of the fish. Make a simple bread stuffing with fresh bread crumbs, butter, a little fresh sage. Place about 1 Tbsp. of stuffing in the center of the sole and gently roll the fish around it. Top the sole with a drizzle of lemon oil and bake for about 6 to 8 minutes until just done. I served topped with fresh chives on a bed of broccoli puree. To make the puree: Steam broccoli until fork tender. Drain and place in a food processor (blender also works, but the texture is not quite as good). Add 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and blend until you get desired consistency. The puree may need thinning with a little olive oil. The carrots are just julienned, steamed until crispy tender, and drained. Return the carrots to the pan. Add 1 big tablespoon of butter, a little honey or agave nectar and sea salt. Swirl around and let sit until you are ready to plate. To make the presentation a little fancy I tied the carrots into bundles secured with chives.

I was grocery shopping for my Dad a few weeks ago and bought these lamb kidneys by mistake. I thought I was getting him liver. I have had lambs liver before (It is very popular in Ireland. Also delicious!), but never lamb kidneys so decided to cook it up as you would liver. First remove the sinewy parts in the center of the kidney and any silver skin by carefully sliding a sharp knife just under the skin and pulling off. Rinse kidneys well. Pat dry and dredge with flour, salt/pepper, a little onion powder and tiny amount of garlic powder.

Put a tablespoon of butter and splash of olive oil in a pan and get bubbling hot. The olive oil keeps the butter from burning. Place the dredged kidneys into the pan and cook for about 5-7 minutes per side. Do not overcook the kidneys or they will get dry, but don’t undercook either or they will be bloody when you cut into them. I tried them both ways and the perfect way is just cooked through.

Once you get over the idea of eating the kidneys of a lamb it really is yummy with just a subtle hint of lamb flavor.

There is a reason you have never heard of blueberry waffles. What a mess I made of my waffle iron, but I do have to say the waffles were absolutely scrumptuous! I started with a basic waffle recipe.
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
5 Tbsp. butter
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk*
1 large (or 2 small) eggs
* If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, add 1 Tbsp. of freshly squeezed lemon juice to 1 cup of regular milk and shake well.

Preparation:
Preheat waffle iron. Spray with PAM or other cooking spray. Sift flour with baking powder and soda, and salt. Melt 5 Tbsp. butter and in a separate bowl whisk together melted butter with buttermilk and egg(s). Stir butter mixture into the flour mixture until smooth. The batter will be fairly thick. At this point I added about 1 cup of beautiful fresh blueberries and cooked as you would a regular waffle. Two things happened: First, the cooking time was much longer than usual because the blueberries released their juices and slowed things down; and Second, as the sugar was released from the blueberries they burned and stuck to the waffle iron. Fortunately the burned pieces stayed on the waffle iron and did not damage the flavor, but it did make one big mess! Next time, I will try making a blueberry syrup and adding to the fully cooked waffle.

I am closing on a very sad note. My dear Dad passed away on July 2–just one day shy of my folks 67th wedding anniversary and what would’ve been my Mom’s 88th birthday. I believe Dad is at peace and now happily reunited with my Mother. I love you both very much.