Karma Karma Karma-lized Onions

I have been craving chicken parmesan the last few days, and then voila!  Melissa Clark writes a column for the New York Times ("All the News that Fits, We Print) extolling the homey virtues of alla parmagiana dishes.  Feels like a sign from God, or at least Lidia Bastianich.

Today has been the Grand Opening for the Kissimmee Lakefront, and judging by the number of motorcycles zooming up and down this street, it has been well-attended.  Living and working as close to the beautiful, revitalized lakefront as I do, I can enjoy it anytime.  Of course, living as close to the lakefront as I do, I am able to hear the entire live concert from upstairs without leaving the comfort of my home. For a moment there, I thought they had set up in my parking lot.  Since I don't care much for crowds, this turned out to be an ideal way to enjoy the music.  Also the Magic were losing - AGAIN - this time to the Dallas Mavericks, despite us having some terrific players like Nikola Vucevic, Victor Oladipo, and Elfrid Payton.  I could not spend another minute in front of the television.

The news has been horribly depressing with reports from the Middle East and continuing attacks from those murderous Islamic terrorists in ISIS, but one tiny little glimmer of hope came from an article in the sports section.  Yes, it looks like the head coach, Jacque Vaughn, is about to be fired.  Now I don't wish unemployment on anyone, but the truth of the matter is that he has done an absolutely horrible job, and finally someone in Magic's management woke up, smelled the coffee, and noticed the vast banks of empty seats in Amway Center.

Back to the chicken parm ... I don't have a recipe for chicken parm.  I'm not sure there is such a recipe.  Chicken parm is one of those instinctive Italian recipes that is all about the method rather than the ingredients.  You bread the chicken using flour, eggs, and bread crumbs.  You fry it.  You layer it with tomato sauce and cheese.  You shove it in the oven.  That's Italian.

Of course, it helps if you know to pound the chicken a bit ... and to make sure the oil is hot enough so that the crust seals around the chicken, rather than falling off into the pan - and the sauce should be simple and a bit acidic - and the quality of the cheese you use really matters, and it might be worth your while to hand-grate the Parmigiano-Reggiano, and to hand-tear the fresh mozzarella.

Or I could be a pal and give you the link to Melissa Clark's recipe archive at the New York Times and you can check out her recipe (well, she calls it a recipe).

Speaking of recipes, that's not a hiccup in the title.  We're doing caramelized onions again, but with a slight twist.  Since I expect this batch to come out even better than last week's, I wanted to share it onblog.

And that's about all I will be cooking today.  We met family at Perkins for a late breakfast, and while the company was very pleasant, and the service was good, the kitchen was slower than a crippled turtle and the food was just meh.  We ran a few errands, and I ran out of steam, so I passed on the food shopping, but not before we made an appointment for Rob to get his eyes checked, and a few purchases for me.

I don't know if I was more excited about the chocolate or the new crockpot.  The spiffy new crockpot, 9 x 13 inches just like the perfect casserole dish, just the right size and shape for lasagna and eggplant parm.  And the new flavors of chocolate ... all tucked away now in my little upstairs fridge.

Oh, and the onions?  Forget the onions.  Came out the same.  Good and sweet.  Maybe I will get around to incorporating them into a risotto.  Tune in tomorrow.

Zucchini Carrot Breakfast Muffins

1/31 - "Thirty days have September, April, June, and November, all the rest have thirty-one" ... okay, that helps.  I slept so late into the day today, I wasn't sure what day it was.  I was kind of hoping Super Bowl was over, but it turns out to still be Saturday.

While it seems that fibromyalgia and chronic pain syndrome, its first cousin and my personal demon, are all about pain, there is actually a panoply of symptoms, including sleep disturbance.

Last night and all the way into this morning I had that sleep disturbance thing going on, waking up every hour.  So when I finally got to the point where I could sleep undisturbed for a few hours, my final wake up time was too embarrassing to mention.  Let's just say it was later than usual.  I tried to eat something, but then I heard about the beheading of the Japanese hostage by ISIS, and I threw up.

It seems to me that this is World War III we are living through.  It may not look like the Big One or the Great War, but it feels like it.  There is a world-wide enemy out there, taking over large portions of sovereign nations, striking at targets all over the globe.  True, these are not the Axis powers of the last century. but these Islamic terrorists are as set on world domination and ethnic cleansing as Hitler and the Nazi government. That's all I can say right now.  The President never listens to me anyway.

There was nothing left to do but bake those zucchini carrot muffins I had been wanting to try all week.  I was inspired by some of the recipes I saw online and came up with a version that I thought would best showcase the zucchini and carrots I love, sweet or savory.

Zucchini Carrot Breakfast Muffins

1 - 18.5 oz. package spice cake mix
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 extra-large egg
1/2 cup chunky applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup shredded zucchini (squeeze out most of the excess liquid with paper towels)
1 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup golden raisins

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Place 12 paper liners into the wells of a cupcake tin.

Combine the cake mix, spices, eggs, applesauce, and oil in a large bowl, and with a wooden spoon, mix well.  Add the zucchini and carrots, mix to combine, and finally stir in the raisins.

With an ice cream scoop, divide the batter among the 12 cups.  Place in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the top of the muffin springs back when gently pressed.  Also, a toothpick should come out clean when stuck into the center of a muffin.  Remove the muffins to a rack to cool completely.

These are good with butter, or plain, but I want to try them with cream cheese.  Everything tastes better with cream cheese.

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up - Picadillo Stuffed Red Peppers

1/27 - Nowhere as dramatic as falling down a flight of stairs, nonetheless my mobility has been compromised by whatever this thing is.  Syndrome, disorder, disease, condition, whatever - I have no will nor energy to move from where I sit, cross-legged, praying for relief.  I type a few words, I stop, my head droops.  Rinse, repeat.  I have to get to the office.  I have obligations to fulfill, deadlines to meet.  What kind of terrible joke is this?

My doctor says I am depressed.  He must have meant I am more depressed than usual, because I've been chronically depressed since I was fourteen years old.  It's been a very long time,  however, since the depression has interfered with my daily functioning.  Better living through chemistry, my friends.

When I cook, when I knit, I can push some of this away.  Great ideas, but I cannot cook and draft a petition at the same time.

Somehow I made it into the office.  There were times I felt panic rising.  I was overwhelmed.  I was underwhelmed.  I was determined.  I was relieved.  I made it through the day.  I finished a non shelter petition.  I made good progress on a TPR petition.  I set up two witness lists for trial subpoenas.  I checked my email.  I survived.

Best of all, I got to visit with Terry, who is recovering from surgery.  Thank you, Brenda.  You helped to make my day.  I stepped outside my own self involvement and thought about somebody else's welfare for a while.  It felt good.  It felt normal.

When I got home, I felt well enough to move along in my cooking.  Last night the pork loin, remaining after the pork chili verde, was divided into three substantial roasts, about 3 pounds of each.  Two of these were dry rubbed and wrapped tight for the freezer.  The last pork loin roast was also seasoned, then refrigerated overnight.  Tonight, I sauced that baby with the good stuff from Jimmy Bear's and put it into the oven.  I also prepared the stuffed red peppers, at least up to a point.  That's the recipe I'd like to share now.

I've been making stuffed green peppers since my friend Vicki shared her recipe when we were suite mates in college.  Never you mind how long ago.  Anyway, the way I make them now makes me think of them as "Jewish" peppers, because I cooked them in a sweet and sour tomato sauce, similar to what I would use for stuffed cabbage.

This recipe is totally inspired by Paula Deen, and to my mind that makes them - or at least her original recipe - "Southern" stuffed peppers.  I threw in a few Spanish elements, turning it into something resembling picadillo, with sweet, dark raisins, and briny green olives.  I don't know if that qualifies my version as Latino or Cubano, but the best thing about making stuffed peppers is that the filling can be just about anything, a direct reflection of your cooking creativity and the contents of your home food stores.

4 large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, seeds and excess white membrane removed
1 1/2 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 packets Goya Sazon con Culantro y Achiote
1 - 8.8 oz. package Uncle Ben's Ready Rice, Spanish Style
salt, black pepper, granulated garlic
1 - 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup (generous) dark raisins
1/2 cup pimento-stuffed green olives, cut in half crosswise
1/2 cup jarred salsa con queso dip
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 - 8 oz. package sliced Monterey pepper jack cheese (8-10 slices)

In a large skillet over medium heat, begin browning the beef, breaking it up as it cooks.  Add the onion, garlic, and Sazon, and cook until the onions become transparent.  Add the rice (without heating up), and cook for a few minutes to let the rice soak up some of the pan juices.  Add the salt, pepper, granulated garlic, undrained tomatoes, and raisins, and cook a few more minutes so that the raisins begin to soften.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the remaining ingredients.  Let the mixture cool to room temperature before using it to stuff the peppers.

Or, you can do what I did and remove the filling to a covered bowl and refrigerate overnight.  It will be easier to scoop out the filling and place it into the peppers, and I also wanted to give all those flavors a chance to come together and sing Kumbaya before the final re-seasoning.

The next day, I adjusted the refrigerated filling to taste, which meant more sour cream, another packet of Sazon, salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and cilantro.  You may find it fine the way it was.  Taste and judge for yourself. I then filled the pepper halves with the mixture, piling them nice and high without packing the peppers too tightly.  I placed the stuffed peppers into two aluminum baking pans, and carefully poured in about 1/4 inch of water on the bottom of each pan.

Place the pans into a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes.  Remove the pans from the oven, and carefully place one slice of the pepper jack cheese on top of each stuffed pepper.  Return to the oven for another 25 to 30 minutes until the cheese is melted and starting to brown, and the peppers are tender.  If you like to check the temperature as I do, the interior should read about 140 degrees.  With a slotted spoon, remove from the baking dish onto a dinner plate.  Garnish with some more chopped cilantro.

You will never consider stuffed peppers to be boring again.

Too Many Notes

1/29 - Robert bought a new bathroom scale and I don't like it ... yet.  The older I get, the less I appreciate change.  Change of any kind just contributes to my cognitive overload, and that's not a good thing.  Too much to process.  Too many notes.  Here I am trying to simplify my life while all around me the world is swirling like a whirling dervish.

The new scale weighs in 4/10ths  of a pound lower than the old one, so you would think I would be happy, but it feels like cheating, and besides, I'm not trying to lose any more weight.  The old scale has recorded my ups and downs since the morning of my gastric-bypass surgery.  I like continuity, and the fact that the old scale is finally dying from advanced old age and perhaps even extreme overuse doesn't change that fact.

Here in my world, we are in transition.  Translation: new judge.  This happens every two years or so, and for someone like me, who gets rattled over a new bathroom scale, that is much too often.  Since I have been practicing almost exclusively in the juvenile division since 1992, that's a whole lot of change.  Especially as juvenile court seems to have become a traditional first assignment for a newly elected or newly appointed circuit court judge.  Every new judge who has ever come on this bench has their own ideas about how to improve the way the courtroom runs.  That's natural, I get it.   I always try to roll with the punches as I endeavor to follow the new judge's paradigm.  Most of the time I am successful, and the judge is relatively happy.

But it's a lot of change.  I can't emphasize that enough.

1/30 - Just because the past two days were bearable doesn't guarantee today will be relatively pain-free.  Au contraire, my frere ... today's discomfort is a full-body experience.  Still, I am grateful for my ability to function in the office and in court, and I did manage to get quite a bit done during those two days.  When I have good days, I feel guilty about what seems to me to be my never-ending bitching about this ache or that pain, especially when I have so many people close to me who are dealing with real medical issues like cancer, multiple sclerosis, kidney failure, cancer, diverticulitis, cancer (damn cancer) ... and then I have a bad day and I remember this is  a real medical issue that can land me flat on my back and render me useless, or at the very least, stupid.  Today my mind is blessedly clear.  The pain, however, which was mild when I started the day, has escalated alarmingly.  Hurts to stand, hurts to sit, hurts when my very small dogs jump against me to greet me.  My head hurts, my eyes hurt, and my arms don't bear speaking about.  Today's pain I blame on the environment of change in which I find myself immersed.   Too many stressors.  Too many notes.  Maybe too many dogs.                      

As the work week winds down, my mind is wandering into the food zone.  I have pork loin and stuffed red peppers, pork chile verde, and even some lasagna all cooked up in the refrigerator.  Gotta strike a balance but also have to remember that there are no chicken wings available in the entire state of Florida.  Super Bowl weekend.  Since I don't get football, and have no reason to cheer on either of these teams, I can look for another part of the chicken.  Perfhaps the thighs.  I don't think chicken thighs are symbolic of Super Bowl Sunday.  Unless you wrap them in bacon.  Anything wrapped in bacon is a Super Bowl food.  I think there is some Federal law that addresses it, perhaps one of those Executive Actions the White House is so fond of proclaiming.

Pork Chili Verde

I've been making white chili in the crockpot for many years.  Light and delicious, made with chicken and sweet peppers and fresh jalapenos.  This recipe is also light - and green - but it is made with chunks of tender pork and has a refreshing, citrusy undertone from a full pound of fresh tomatillos.  Both of my green chili recipes are soupy rather than stew-like, which is how we like them, but you can certainly cut back to one can of chicken broth for more of a traditional chili texture.

1 - 1 1/4 pound boneless lean pork, in one inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup Goya sofrito (tomato base), plus 2 tablespoons
1 large onion, halved and sliced
1 pound fresh tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed, and chopped (don't skip the rinse, tomatillos are sticky once the husks are removed)
1 - 15 oz. can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 - 15 oz. can chili beans, rinsed and drained
1 - 7 oz. can diced mild green chiles
6 large cloves fresh garlic, sliced
kosher salt, coarse ground black pepper
1 tablespoon cumin
Raging River Five Pepper Blend, to taste (or cayenne, or a few drops Tabasco)
2 - 14 oz. cans chicken broth
1/2 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro, chopped

To prepare this, in a large skillet brown the pork in the olive oil, then add the 1/4 cup of sofrito and cook for a few minutes.  Add the onion to the crockpot, then pour the pork and any cooking juices over them.  Add all of the remaining ingredients, except the cilantro and the two tablespoons of sofrito, to the crockpot.  Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, stirring and checking to re-season after 2 hours. Add the cilantro, reduce heat to low, and cook for another 10 minutes.  Stir in the remaining sofrito, taste and re-season accordingly.