Julia Child - The Way to Cook - Recipe 3 - Fish Soup

I have been trying to incorporate more fish in our diet and since we've been trying to loose weight, I really can't justify eating it fried or breaded all of the time. So, when I found The recipe for Soupe de Poisson in Julia's book The Way to Cook, I thought that it was something that I could try. For this recipe, I did quite a bit of modifications for both lack of ingredients and for lack of time. I found an on line version of Julia's recipe here and below, I have written out my version of what I did:

Soupe de Poisson - Quick Style

2 T olive oil
1 c sliced onion
2 T pre-chopped jarred garlic
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 8 oz. bottle clam juice
4 c water
1/2 t thyme
1/2 t fennel seeds
1/2 t turmeric
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
2 lbs frozen pollock fillets (no need to thaw)

I put all of the ingredients except for the fish in a four quart capacity pressure cooker. After it got up to heat and began rocking, I let it rock for about 20 minutes. I then quick cooled it in the sink under cold water to release the pressure and added the 2 lbs of still frozen pollock fillets, placed the lid back on the pot and brought it back up to rocking again and let it rock for 2 minutes.

I served this over freshly made brown rice. Yum. And yes, I received the official "Are-there-any-seconds?-DH-seal-of-approval!

Happy eating!

Julia Child - The Way to Cook Recipe 2 Beets

I promise that I am not going to go all Julie & Julia on you and make every recipe in this book and make you read about it. I am certainly not "cook" enough to do that job. However, it is fun to try out new recipes now and then -- especially with vegetables. My usual ways of preparing them is either steam them or slice them and eat them raw. Occasionally, I go out on a limb and will bake a winter squash in the oven with butter on it. (Sorry, I don't mean to go all wild and crazy on you.)

Only a couple of pages away from the Hominy dish was a recipe for Grated Sauteed-Steamed Beets. I love beets! They are one of my favorite things. My mother used to pickle them herself when I was a kid and I ate the by the jar. The recipe is easy - only four ingredients and takes but a few minutes to cook. But unless you have a Mouli Julienne or a food processor it is a bit of work to grate up the beets. I did not have any red wine vinegar as was called for in the recipe, so I substituted cider vinegar. I used 3 Tbls butter and I was pretty heavy handed with fresh ground pepper, but I liked the spiciness of the finished product.

I served it along side a Spencer Cut Rib Eye Steak. The DH gave it his "Yeah-I'd-eat-it-again" seal of approval. I found an on-line version of the recipe here at healthy-beets.com. So, let me know if you try it.

I need to get a better plate for pictures if I'm going to keep blogging about food.

Happy Eating!

Julia Child - The Way to Cook

My DH is a book freak. If there is a book store in the area, he wants to stop in to look around. So this past weekend we were going past Half Price Books and the DH had to stop. This time however, I was the one to find a book to bring home: Julia Child's The Way to Cook. This, her seventh book, is a collection of over 800 recipes. I just had to have it.

So when I couldn't sleep last night, I picked up this huge door stop of a cook book and started to read recipes. I found one that was not only simple but the ingredients were cheap! So guess what we had for dinner?! Hominy Sautéed with Butter and Herbs on page 340. I only had dried herbs on hand so I guess in Julia Child's world, I must have cheated, but it was pretty good anyway!

I did find an online copy of the recipe here if you want to try it. If it is worth anything, my husband's comment was that he would eat it again -- and then he took seconds. I guess I will cook it again!

Now to find something else just a little different from what we usually eat. I think I saw a recipe for brussel sprouts in that book last night...

Happy cookbook reading!

A Gem from a Used Book Store

My dear husband has a deep love of books. His very favorite thing to do is go to book stores -- this is often our date night activities. Either we spend hours and no money or we spend hours and come home with some lovely prizes. But it is best when we find a used book store and can dive into shelves of books that we may have never seen before. Recently, we went to a local used bookstore and I went straight to the sewing/knitting area. The gem I brought home was Every Sewer's Guide to the Perfect Fit by Mary Morris & Sally McCann. This book, published in Australia in 1997, gives detailed instructions on how to take measurements exactly and then adjust a store bought pattern to accommodate those measurements.

Morris and McCann state that: "Good fit is characterized by a garment that follows the shape of the body with no indication of stress or wrinkling; the shoulder; the curves at the neckline, armholes, hips, and waistline following the natural contures of the body without either binding or gapping; and the length of the sleeves and hems being smooth and consistent around the entire width and falling at the most flattering point." The wonderful thing about the book is that is shows you how to achieve that "good fit" step by step.

Good measurements are the basis of a good fit and this book gives great pictorial instructions on how to get exact measurements. In fact, before reading this book, I didn't know that you took all of these measurements! But the best part was the instructions on how to make adjustments to off-the-shelf patterns. In the past, I have made adjustments, but they have not always worked out and I often did not like the results. But the adjustments suggested in this book look logical and easy. I cant wait to make adjustments to my own patterns!

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to go to the next level in their own sewing. Making an outfit from a ready-made pattern will be so much more satisfying when the results are great!

Happy sewing!

Knitting a zombie: No guts, no glory | OregonLive.com

Another interesting knitted object turned up in my in box today! This blogger knitted her own zombie after reviewing a copy of Knit Your Own Zombie  a book by Fiona Goble. While I am not really interested in actually knitting a zombie of my own. I think that I wouldn't mind having the book -- just for the novelty of it.

ENJOY the article and Happy Reading!

Knitting a zombie: No guts, no glory | OregonLive.com:

'via Blog this'

You Can't Read Just One. . . .

I know. . .another book! Don't I have enough patterns? When am I ever going to find time to do all of them? Isn't that just an extravagance? Well, yeah, I do have enough patterns. No, I may never find time to knit all the patterns. Maybe it is extravagant, but when you buy one book on line, you might as well buy a second or third so that save on postage and handling overall. (OK, that is a reach, but let's not get distracted.)

One + One Scarves, Shawls & Shrugs edited by Iris Schreier is full of beautiful neck and shoulder wear. Lately, I have been looking for knitted items to wear all year which will dress up a plain blouse at work and this book fits the bill. With seven scarves, 9 cowls and capelets, 8 shawls and wraps, and 5 shrugs there is something for everyone in this book. But these patterns are not for the faint of heart -- there are only three "beginner patterns" and 2 "easy patterns" in the collection. The techniques offered in the book include provisional and mobius cast-ons, carrying yarns (as many of the patterns alternates between two yarns), short rows (for those sock enthusiasts among us) and adding beads to your knitting. There is little boring about this book!

For me, some of these patterns such as the Cashmere Bolero or the Peekaboo Shrug would end up being gifts for my daughter as they seem to be too youthful for my own taste. But I can easily see myself wearing the Striped Mobius, the Asymmetric Shawlette or the Lacy Textured Cowl.

Half the enjoyment of owning a book like this is reading the patterns. I once knew someone who liked to read recipe books but never really cooked. At least I knit once in a while.

Happy knitting!