Month: August 2014

Lee Hongs Cucumbers

My ex-wife and I have been making this simple salad for years! I have not thought about it much for several years until It came to me when I bought some nice English cucumbers in Mexico. Until today I never thought much about what the difference was between the different varieties besides the shape. This is what I found…

Definition: a variety of cucumber that is generally sweeter than the regular, common cucumber. It is longer, sometimes a bit thinner, and has very tiny seeds. In contrast, a regular cucumber has many large seeds, which can contribute to the bitter flavor.

As for Lee Hong…I have not a clue! Before summer ends, give this a try!

Heres the simple recipe DO NOT USE REGULAR CUCUMBERS!!!

Lee Hong’s Cucumbers
“I got this from the Best of Bridge cookbook. It is a real hit at BBQ’s as well as a side dish on a hot summer day. I make a big batch because people always want to take leftovers home! Tastes even better the next day, but the cucumber will be a bit wilted, but doesn’t affect the taste. Enjoy! Edited to include: You can also add some fresh dill weed to the dressing. It adds a nice flavor. Edited June 2011 to include: You can also try using Splenda in place of sugar. It doesn’t alter the taste too much. I have successfully used it in place of sugar. It depends on your taste buds.”
Ingredients
o 1 tablespoon salt
o 1 long English cucumber, sliced very thin ( do not use short green cucumbers)
o 6 tablespoons sugar
o 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
o 1 Spanish onion, thinly sliced
o 8 tablespoons white vinegar
o 6 tablespoons water
Directions
1. Slice cucumbers as thin as you can.
2. Arrange cucumber slices in a bowl in layers, salting between layers. Sprinkle the cukes with salt, don’t over salt them.
3. Let stand 2 hours.
4. Rinse with cold water until no salt remains. Make sure you rinse salt out of cukes extremely well or the salty taste will stay.
5. Drain well and pat dry.
6. Thinly slice red onions and break apart rings.
7. In a separate bowl, mix sugar and oil, then add vinegar and water.
8. Add more sugar or vinegar if not sweet or sour enough.
9. It should have a nice tangy taste.
10. Add onions and cucumber to vinegar dressing.
11. Mix well.
12. Cover and refrigerate for a couple hours, stirring frequently to blend flavors.
13. Serve with steak, chicken, at a BBQ or with a deli style sandwich!

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Soup Bowl Stew

Another classic dish from my cooking courses way back when. This is so easy, even  one of your kids could make it with supervision.

Soup Bowl Stew

35 meatballs bought at the store

15 oz. stewed tomatoes

1 cup small onions

1 can whole potatoes and the liquid

8 oz. any kind of vegetables (can be frozen)

1 tsp. chili powder

1 cup water

1 beef bouillon cube

Combine all ingredients on the stovetop. Heat to boil. Simmer 10 minutes. Serve.

Angela’s Artichoke Dip

Angela’s Artichoke Dip

Scouring through my previously published recipes I noticed that I had never posted this recipe! Angela was a great friend of our family and especially my oldest daughter. She was a lot of fun to be around and certainly enjoyed her wine. Unfortunately she passed away a few years back way too soon! Her memory lives on in this recipe.

Combine the following –

8 oz. cream cheese softened

1 cup of mayonnaise

1 package of Knorr vegetable soup mix

Blend in the following –

1 package fresh spinach chopped

1 – 19 oz. jar drained marinated artichoke hearts chopped

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Spread mixture into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Serve with your favorite crackers.

Fennel Pork Chops

Fennel Pork Chops

Thanks again to our friend Stefano who used to have a great cooking show, I was encouraged to buy his cookbook “In the Kitchen With Stefano (available at Chapters and Indigo). Looking for something different to do with pork chops, I found this. We served them with grilled asparagus.

4 thick cut bone-in pork chops

Salt and pepper.

2 tbsp. fennel seeds crushed

2 garlic cloves chopped

¼ cup olive oil

 

Preheat grill to medium high OR use a frying pan on medium.

Season chops with salt and pepper and evenly coat with the fennel seeds and garlic. Drizzle with olive oil.

Place chops on grill for 4 to 5 minutes or the same in your frying pan. Turn and grill/fry for 4 to 5 minutes longer, depending on whether or not you like your chops pink in the middle as we do.

Salted Caramel Nut Brittle

While visiting with my grand kids up north, they were into Salted caramel nut in vanilla ice cream. I promised my granddaughter I would send her this recipe which she could make and then mix in with any vanilla ice cream. This one’s for you, Maddie! First a little history about sea salt…

Sea salt is salt produced from the evaporation of seawater. It is used in cooking and cosmetics. It is also called bay salt or solar salt. Like mineral salt, production of sea salt has been dated to prehistoric times. Some cooks believe it tastes better than salt from mines. However, there is little or no health benefit to using sea salt over other forms of sodium chloride salts. (Wikipedia)

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup water

1 cup toasted nuts – hazelnuts, almonds or any combination, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon sea salt

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Place sugar and water in a medium saucepan and stir to combine. Cook over medium high heat without stirring, until mixture starts to brown, about 14 minutes. Gently swirl the pan until the mixture is an even, deep amber color, about 1 minute.

Immediately remove the pan from heat and quickly stir in nuts and sea salt. Pour onto the prepared baking sheet, spreading in an even layer, and let cool. Once cool, break into small pieces and spoon over the vanilla ice cream!