Hidden Valley Ranch RETRO

*Lately I've become disenchanted with bottled salad dressings. They just seem so overly gummy, oily, and stale. They sit in the door of the fridge like bad relatives: you don't like them, but you feel obligated to hang on to them.
*I remembered reading about the history of Hidden Valley Ranch, which was originally a POWDER, that you mixed with buttermilk. It was only after the rancher that invented it, sold the rights to some conglomerate, that it was reformulated for shelf life in a bottle.
*So, while at the store, I looked for, and found, the powdered kind. In fact there were 3 kinds of Hidden Valley Ranch: Buttermilk, Regular, and Dip Mix. Not wanting to purchase buttermilk, I grabbed the regular, which requires milk and Mayo (Hellman's of course).
*It mixes up easily enough, and has to chill to thicken. But the TASTE is so much better! The texture is not gummy and oily. And you don't get all those preservatives and such. Granted, the stuff only lasts in your fridge for 3-4 weeks, but with something this good, that's not a problem. Can't wait to get some real BUTTERMILK and try the original.
*All the 'old relatives' went into the trash, and I'm sticking with this dressing. Do a Google on Hidden Valley Ranch, and get some history. I think it's cool that the biggest dresssing in the history of human kind came from a guy, not a food conglomerate with billions to spend on research and focus groups.

Japanese Ramen Noodles

Last weekend my brother came over for a "Tampopo Party". He and I both really enjoyed the movie and have talked about getting together and making some noodles while watching the movie for a while.

Well, we finally did just that.

I got some of the ingredients around and Brett brought over some Sake and of course..you gotta have some pineapple!

The dough recipe we used consisted of:

155 grams cake flour

25 grams ap flour

110 grams club soda

6 grams vegetable oil

We mixed all ingredients together and started working the dough. You have to knead the dough for quite some time. You actually work it until it is feeling more like clay than bread dough.

We had thought about doing "hand pulled" noodles, but opted for using the pasta roller instead.

The noodles weren't perfect, some of them stuck together. But, I just think that is what makes it "home made":)

For the broth, I used sesame oil, garlic, ginger, chicken base, and soy sauce. I had used a recipe I found, but it ended up being super salty from all the soy, so I added more chicken base to level it out some. The garlic, ginger and sesame still came through quite well.

I garnished the soup with green onions, a little nori mix, and some chicken that I had cooked with chinese bbq seasoning.

The noodles turned out great. I must say, I think we did a great job for our first time. They were light with a bit of "give". And I was pleased with the broth as well.

We also made up some eggrolls. I had a cabbage/ground beef mixture that I rolled up. It wasn't anything traditional, but they turned out ok. It filled the "fried food" need. My big mistake was that I rolled them the night before. I completely didn't even think about the "moisture" factor. Silly me. And they were falling apart the next day. I had a few wrappers left and rerolled some of them, and the rest didn't completely fall apart.
So, ramen noodles, egg rolls, sake, and Tampopo. Very nice!

Risotto - the first time

Well, I purchased some risotto rice and followed the directions. This is how it turned out. The rice was a little chewy, but not crunchy and it was creamy. Never having had risotto before, I don't know if it turned out right or not. I used white wine and chicken broth and stirred constantly while the rice cooked, adding the chicken broth a little bit at a time. Then at the end I added the parmesan cheese. The flavor wasn't bad, but it wasn't heavenly either. Guess I will have to keep trying.

Cooking in the PM era

-It was a stunning thought that caught me by surprise. Hungry for leftovers, I was slapping a good size hunk of roast, with included gravy, onto a plate, destined for the microwave. I remember this dish, when it first came out of the oven.... moist, a little pink in the middle, a masterpiece. I also remember the last time I nuked some roast beef..... hard, tough, dry, but hot. And then the thought hit me! Why not cook it on the stove, in a pan, like the old days. I almost felt rebellious, a bit archaic, like those guys who continue to wear wind-em-up pocket watches. But I let the thought develop in my head, and it led to a new moment in my day.
-In the 'pre-microwave' days (PM era is about pre-1970), we had to heat leftovers in the oven, or in a pan. Then you had to add water, nurse it so it wouldn't burn, and wait. And wait. If you had a pound of burger to defrost, you did it in a pan, turning and scraping to your heart's content, until you had it all cooked. It was the only option if you wanted to eat, and then microwaves changed all that. Technology made us all smart, and who could resist the marvel of instant leftovers? Only a fool would wait over a hot stove for the same food.
-By the way, did you know the first microwave was built in 1947, installed in a Boston restaurant, was 6-ft tall, weighed 750 pounds, was water cooled, and cost $5,000? You'd have to like popcorn a lot to drop that kind of dough in 1947.
-So I did something I hadn't done for 40 years: I put my leftovers in a pan, added water, put the heat on low, and waited. It felt good to wait on food, like I was respecting the cow or something. I even added some extra minced onion for variety, knowing it had time to cook in.
-After 15 minutes, my reward was great: roast as good as the first time, and gravy better the second time around. Does anybody remember doing popcorn on the stove?

Bacon, Tomato, Onion Sandwich

Homemade bread, toasted. Buttered. Layer on sliced onion, sliced, very ripe tomatoes from your garden, and crisp bacon. A little mayo, salt, and pepper. Sorry no pictures. They wouldn't do this sandwich justice.

Peasant food

It is not that appealing to look at, but boy does it taste good.
I made this dish a week or two ago because I had some cabbage to use up. And I ended up really liking it. I mean, I was craving more of it later that night and the next day.
Now, maybe it was just me, who knows? I can be a bit odd. But, my husband did like it too...just not as much I am sure.
But, there is something to be said for just straight forward, simple food.
Ground beef, cabbage, green peppers, onions and herbs. Oh, and some tomato sauce.
Now, the recipe calls to use a wok. I do not own a wok, so I used a skillet, which seemed to work well enough. And I highly recommend making sure you have the herbs to throw in. I made it today with just basil, and I feel like it was missing something.
But, the dish is just in the middle. Not too heavy, not too light. It is not too wet, but not too dry. It has a nice balance of flavor between the cabbage, tomato, and herbs.

My only complaint, is that I didn't have any good crusty bread to eat along with it. That would have been nice to sop up the remaining juice in the bottom of the bowl.

If you want cheap good food, this would be it. Makes great leftovers too.
Oh, and I did not opt to put any cheddar cheese on it. I didn't really find that fitting.

GROUND BEEF & CABBAGE SCRAMBLE:
1 lb. ground beef
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 c. cabbage, shredded
1/2 sm. green pepper, diced
1/2 sm. onion, finely diced
1 tbsp. snipped fresh parsley (1 tsp. dry)
1/4 tsp. each basil & thyme
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 tsp. sugar
Shredded cheese, if desired
READY: Combine prepared vegetables with herbs.
SET: Work on high heat.
GO: When wok is hot, stir-fry ground beef until lightly browned (4 or 5 minutes). Move up on holder shelf. Stir-fry vegetables, half at a time (2 minutes), moving up on holder shelf. Turn heat to medium. With baster or spoon, remove fat drippings from wok. Add tomato sauce and sugar; heat to boiling. Return meat and vegetables to bowl of wok; simmer together 2 to 3 minutes. Before serving, sprinkle with shredded cheese if desired. 4 to 5 servings.

Butter basted Pork Chops

My hubby doesn't particularly like pork. I go on kicks. Sometimes I crave it, and other times I want nothing to do with it. Not sure why. And not just chops...even pork other ways, the loin, or bbq, or ribs. I just go up and down with it.

Anyway, I had a loin in the freezer that I thawed out. Mark's biggest pet peeve about pork chops, is that they often get dried out and tasteless. Granted...this does happen a lot. Well, sometimes I will make a gravy to solve this issue for him, but this day I wanted to try something a bit different.

I cut the loin in to chops. I tried to cut them on the thick side. I seasoned them with salt and pepper. I heated up a little oil in my pan until it was nice and hot. I seared the chops on both sides in the oil.

I added some butter and some fresh sliced garlic. I basted the pork chops in the pan with the butter. I just kept spooning the butter of the meat and let the meat cook a bit longer and let the butter get a bit brown. I cook my pork about medium. I like it a little pink. My husband likes it this way too, but I know some people don't agree with that. I added some fresh chives at the last minute for a little aroma.

The pork was good. I can't say great. While I was eating it, I was wondering what was one more thing I could do to add to the dish. I think a cream reduction might just set it off. But, if you are looking for a simple, moist, to the point dish. This would be it.