donna's daily dish

donna's meals on wheels

9/29/2016

Last evening for supper I prepared the Bell & Evans Air-Chilled Whole Chickens. I roasted it in the oven seasoned with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and poultry seasoning. I melted a half of stick of butter to get a nice golden skin. Using the convection oven setting on my stove, the small chicken was done in about an hour.

To go along with the chicken, I prepared a butternut and apple side dish recipe that I picked up at Delicious Orchards many years ago. The fragrance of the apples baking in the oven filled the kitchen with the scent of autumn. For the apples that the recipe calls for, I use Granny Smith. In fact, last November my husband and I were invited to a turkey fry and I brought this side dish along as something different and it was well received.

There was a bit of chicken left and some baked squash and apple casserole. I have a small supply of take out containers in which I put leftovers for my very grateful aunt. I'm sure she'll enjoy this meal.

beignets

9/28/2016

Recently my son-in-law had an opportunity to go to New Orleans for a friend's bachelor party. While the rest of the group was recuperating from the previous evening, my son-in-law strolled through town to sample what New Orlean's is famous for....beignets. So in exchange for a batch of my homemade chocolate chips, I received beignets.

My package was delivered on Sunday afternoon and immediately I had to dip into the bag to try them. They were heaven, a richer version of Italian zeppoles. On Monday, when the photo was taken, the beignets were already a day old. Not knowing what they would look like after I zapped them in the microwave, I took the picture above. I don't know if I'll ever make them, but I certainly enjoyed them while they lasted. Southern Living Magazine provides step by step instructions on how to make beignets.

beef, its what's for supper

9/27/2016

In my earlier post, I told you about the sale ending today at Whole Foods on boneless beef sirloin steaks. The butcher today was very nice when I asked him where I could find the steak. He told me he was cutting them right now and to come over to the glass (the cutting room is glass enclosed) and select the steak I wanted. I told him it was just for two people. He sliced a nice portion of beef that was perfect for two people.

fresh tomato sauce

9/23/2016

Note: I had a technical problem in tweaking the recipe index. I'm in the process of redoing it, so please be patient. If there is a recipe you can't find, email me and I'll pass it along to you.

I was feeling rather ambitious when I decided to cook 25 pounds of plum tomatoes for fresh tomato sauce for future use. I started making the sauce Monday afternoon after work. Using an old scale that my late mother-in-law gave us, I weighed off 6 pounds of tomatoes per batch in which to make a double batch of tomato sauce. I used both a in a six and eight quart pot. I was able to make six, half gallon containers, which I'm storing in a friend's freezer.

Needless to say Monday's night's dinner was spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce.

cream of cauliflower soup

9/22/2016

Recently, my daughter gave me a small head of cauliflower as she was going away and didn't want it to go to waste. I've done roasted cauliflower, but I wasn't in the mood for that. What I was craving, was a creamy soup. In my recipe folders I have a recipe for Cream of Cauliflower Soup that I picked up years ago at Delicious Orchards. It's basically a two pot recipe. However, I goofed and did it all in one pot, but it worked out perfectly fine.

shrimp and grits

9/22/2016

I apologize for being behind in posting to my daily blog. However, life just gets in the way sometimes. It's not for a lack of cooking, that's been going on.

Ending tonight are Whole Foods weekly specials. I was able to take advantage of them. There were three great items that got my attention for purchase; they were the BELL & EVANS Air-Chilled Whole Chickens, which are regularly $3.29/lb. on sale for $1.99/lb. and U.S.A. Boneless Beef Sirloin Steaks at $8.99/lb. for a savings of $5/lb. In reviewing the Whole Foods app this afternoon, I noticed that they no longer had on sale the USA wild caught shrimp at $8.99/lb. However, I did purchase some last week when the sale began as I had a craving for cheesy grits.

buttermilk waffles

9/17/2016

I received a text message from my daughter the other evening that a friend of her and her husband's needed my waffle recipe. It seems that when he makes his waffles, the waffle is splitting when he opens the machine.

It just so happened that I had buttermilk in the refrigerator and to save this poor guy from having to have unsightly waffles, I made waffles for breakfast this morning.

cheesy meatloaf with bacon and herbs

9/16/2016

I love kitchen gadgets and different kinds of cooking tools. For example, one summer sale at Williams-Sonoma, I purchased a small grill top smoker. I used it only once this summer. I'll blame the 90 degree plus days as the reason I didn't use it as much. Another gizmo I purchased was a steel grill meat loaf pan. I believe my husband talked me into this one. It has an exterior pan with an open bottom and an insert that is perforated metal. Thank goodness I have a small kitchen and limited storage, otherwise I would have even more gadgets!

one pot chicken dinner

9/13/2016

I like one pot suppers because it makes preparation and clean up easier. Also, recipes done in one pot build upon layers of flavor. Recently, since the weather was a bit cooler, I dug through my recipes to find a one chicken dish that was in the January 2001 issue of Gourmet Magazine. The recipe is Spanish-Style Chicken with Saffron Rice or Arroz con Pollo.

burger taste test

9/13/2016

Finally, we had our hamburger tasting last Saturday night. My brother was down overnight and my son and his girlfriend were part of the tasting too. We sampled Vrola 6 oz. USA choice cut hamburgers (85% lean) that I purchased from Delicious Orchards, LaFrieda Original Blend burgers (flat iron, brisket and short rib beef from American Black Angus Beef) and Schweid & Sons C.A.B. All American Burgers (made with certified Angus beef both) purchased at Shop Rite at Wall Town Center.