Carved Pumpkin and Pork Chops

Several kids commented on the pumpkin, it's inspired by The Scream. It was much easier this year.  Partly due to me practicing cake decorating and making other food decorations.  A Y shaped peeler and a fine knife are key. The knife I used was about 2" x 3/8" blade, thin and flexible. The key was starting out with a plan. In this case, The Scream. I cut the eyes, nose and mouth then carved the creaseas around the face. and finally the ears. The hair is inspired by Medusa, really I was just trying out the spiral corer or whatever it is. Also I cut the access hole in the back, which made everything much easier. It took about two hours overall.

I spent all afternoon doing the pumpkin so dinner was pretty basic.  I put

1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

in the mortar and crushed all the lumps. Then in a plastic bag and shook the chops individually to coat them. Ordinary mashed potatoes topped with sour cream and artificial bacon bits. Broccoli and carrots steamed and finished in butter and extra virgin olive oil.  The chops were fried but I could have sprayed them with oil and BBQ'd them. Fern's home made ketchup is the condiment.  Dinner was good, not great, but  good. Young people noticed my pumpkin, that's an achievement!

Honey Garlic Pork Tenderloin

I'm still exhausted from wrapping the BBQ shelter in storm vinyl but I did manage to cook dinner. Our friend and volunteer gardener Kevin gave us a honey garlic marinated pork tenderloin. He got a deal on two and was going to freeze one but decided to give it to us instead. So I just sliced it up and put on the BBQ. I steamed some broccoli and made plain white rice.  I put soy sauce on my rice, Fern had his plain. The broccoli was finished in extra virgin olive oil and butter on the stove. I didn't make the marinade but it tasted of garlic and honey so that might have been all there was to it. It wasn't bad. I wouldn't drive across town to get it, again.

On a bad day, that's what we eat. Life isn't so bad.

Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Icing

This is my second attempt at a chocolate cake from scratch.  The first one I just didn't like.  This one I found on the net somewhere, I was looking for something with more eggs and less baking soda.  I'm hoping more egg yolks will make it moister.

Scratch Chocolate Cake

1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk

Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the Vanilla and eggs. Sift and beat in the dry ingredients.  Add the milk. Bake at 350º 35-45 minutes.

I used two eight inch round pans.  I turned a pan upside down to use as a guide and cut a round of parchment paper for the bottom of each pan. Then I sprayed oil on the sides of the pans and coated them with flour.  Then I put the round parchment in the bottom and poured the batter in. To get the cakes out of the pans I only had to run a butter knife around the edge and the cake fell out of the pan. Be sure to take the paper off before icing the cake!

This cake had only two layers so I didn't need all that much icing.

Buttercream Icing.

1 cup soft butter
2 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp milk

Cream the butter, which means beat it till it becomes soft and creamy. Slowly add the sifted sugar/cocoa     so the mixture remains creamy.  Once all the sugar and cocoa powder is in add the vanilla and drip milk in till it's a spreadable consistency.  If it's too thick it will tear the cake instead of spreading.  If it's too thin it will run down the cake and look terrible. Experience is the best teacher here so I just do my best. This is also my first attempt at decorating.  There are actually four roses on the cake as well as the swirls. The roses drooped a bit because my icing is just a touch too thin.

The cake was nicer than the last one but still a bit dry.  I'll research a bit and see if maybe adding 1/4 cup of oil will moisten it up.

Update: I just researched it a bit and the ratio of butter/sugar to flour/egg is already as far to the moist range as it should go. So the most likely reason that it was a bit dry was that it was over baked.  I tested it with a toothpick at 35 minutes and it came out with a few crumbs so I baked it 5 minutes more. What I didn't know was that the cake will continue to cook after it comes out of the oven. If I had taken it out at 35 minutes it would have finished cooking out of the oven and not become dry.

Savory Paprika Chicken

Same recipe as the other night.  Pound the chicken flat to double in size and liberally coat with

Savory Paprika Rub


1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt

Fry in plenty of oil.

The rice was done with half chicken stock, half water and a pinch of salt.  The carrots and broccoli were steamed then finished in the pan with butter and extra virgin olive oil.

Once again, delicious taste and easy preparation.  I prepped and cooked this meal in half an hour.

Halibut with Lemon Sauce and Borscht

I went to the store a bit late looking for fish or pork.  I found two pieces of Halibut packaged yesterday and marked down to less than half price to clear. We're having Halibut! Lemons were on for .99 so a bought a couple extra and I already had cauliflower. Potatoes, fish and cauliflower is going to make a pretty bleak looking meal.  Cauliflower on beat greens and borscht on the side? Sounds good, I bought some beets and sour cream.

Using the recipe in Joy of Cooking as a model, I started the soup first.  I peeled and diced a small onion, a carrot and 3 beets.  I sweated the onion and carrot first then added the beets and covered the lot with beef stock. Add a bay leaf and simmer for 20 minutes then add 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon vinegar, a cup of shredded cabbage and salt to taste. Simmer 15 minutes more then serve with a dollop of sour cream on top.

I put potatoes on to cook for mashed and got the cauliflower prepped and in the steamer.  I wanted a light seasoning for the fish so I put a tsp of onion powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp turmeric (optional) and 1 tsp salt in the mortar and broke all the lumps up.  I seasoned both sides of the fish and put it in a hot frying pan.  I watch the color of the meat change from translucent to white as it cooks.  When it is about half way up I turn the fish over.  The second side takes less time to cook.

The lemon sauce was straight forward.  A tablespoon of flour and one or two of oil.  Make a slurry and cook off the flour taste.  Remove the pan from heat and whisk in chicken stock till it is a thin sauce.  Add the juice of half a lemon, a pinch of salt and put the sauce pan back on the stove.  Add more stock as the sauce cooks and thickens.

The beet greens I decided to use the stems and leaves so I just chopped up the lot and put it in the steamer. The stems didn't cook through and were bitter so next time I'll discard them. When they were steamed I drained them and put them in the pot with a little butter, salt and extra virgin olive oil.

I plated the greens then the cauliflower on top and the fish and potatoes on the side. Lemon sauce over the fish and cauliflower. Fern thought the fish was delicious, I thought it was good but not quite delicious. It might have been better without the turmeric. For vegetables I would use beet greens and carrots next time. The borscht was very good but a bit too much food.

Poultry Paprika Chicken Breast

"This is delicious!" Fern said before I even took this photo.  Once I sat down he asked, "Did you find this somewhere or come up with it yourself? It's delicious!"
"I came up with it myself."

I started by boning the chicken breasts. It's actually quite easy to do if I start with a bone in chicken breast and a professionally sharpened knife. Hold the knife perpendicular to the high point of the breast bone. Slide the knife tip down the bone to the rib cage. Slide the knife along the breast bone, scraping the meat off.  The knife will slide along the cartilage just as well, if I cut into it I just find the edge again and keep going. Then use the ribs as a guide to scrape the meat off the rib cage.  Cut the tendons holding the meat to the shoulder bone. Finally, cut out the wishbone which extends from the shoulder joint to the breast bone. Feel around to find it all, it may be in two pieces or may be missing. Peel the skin off and I've saved 50% on the cost of  the meat. Plus I use the bones to make chicken stock for sauces all week long, saving even more money.

I put a breast in a plastic bag, unsealed skin side down and flattened it with a mallet till it was about double in size. In another plastic bag I put my seasoning.

Poultry Paprika Chicken Seasoning

In a mortar or small bowl put:

1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt

Use the pestle or back of a spoon to break up lumps. Put in a plastic bag.

Coats two, maybe three breasts.

I shake each breast in the bag then lay it on a board and spray both sides with oil so I can BBQ it.  The oil will be in the pan if I'm frying it. I give it 2 minutes, rotate, 2 minutes turn over, 2 minutes rotate, 2 minutes and they're done to get nice grill marks.

The rice is plane white basmati with salt and a teaspoon of oil. Carrots and broccoli were steamed then finished over low heat in extra virgin olive oil with a little butter and salt and pepper. Simple and simply delicious.

Beef Tenderloin

The plan was to have frozen prawns unless something really good popped up.  I walked past the fish counter, nothing there.  The Angus beef, what's that? Two large pieces of Angus beef tenderloin marked down more than half to clear. We're having steaks!

I seasoned the steaks with my beef rub and sprayed them with oil. The BBQ was warming up for them. (I put a clamp work light above the BBQ which made it much nicer to work in the dark of winter.)

Beef Rub


1  1/4  tbsp paprika
1   tbsp kosher salt
1   tsp garlic powder
1/2   tsp ground black pepper
1/2   tsp onion powder
1/2   tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/2   tsp dried oregano
1/2   tsp dried thyme

Simple mashed potatoes finished with butter and milk.  Carrots and broccoli done in the steamer then run under cold water to stop cooking.  Later warmed in the pot with butter and extra virgin olive oil.

The gravy was 1 tsp flour and 1 tbsp oil mixed to a paste and cooked till it begins to brown.  Then taken off the heat and beef stock added till it's a thin sauce.  Back on the stove and add a dash of Worcestershire Sauce and half an ounce of red wine, some black pepper and a dash of salt.  I also added 1/2 tsp each of ground onion and ground garlic. Simmer gently.  

The steak on the BBQ I did 2 minutes, rotate, 2 minutes, turn over, 2 minutes, rotate, 2 minutes and they're done. If I had gone 15 seconds longer on each sear and they would have been perfect. 

It was a delicious meal, simple and easy to prepare and it didn't break the bank!