In the Kitchen

For various reasons, I've been on a kitchen kick lately. I'm taking cookbooks to bed to read before lights out, I'm perusing lots of food blogs, and I'm actually spending quite a bit of time in the kitchen trying new things.  

Last night I tried a new recipe using broccoli and we found it quite tasty--and different.  I had the last of some fresh broccoli in the fridge that needed to be used, and a rundown of the recipe told me I had all the other ingredients.  We were having tacos for supper, so for a brief moment I pondered the addition of something so not Mexican (can tacos really be called Mexican?), but then I threw caution to the wind and went with it.  It was delicious and we ate every last morsel.  So what was it? Roasted Marinated Broccoli and you can find the recipe by clicking here.  

A few weeks ago I made chicken fajitas for supper and decided to make my own refried beans.  I checked my Pressure Perfect cookbook by Lorna Sass and found a recipe for Sub-limey Refried Beans and once again, I actually had all the ingredients.  (I've been more adventuresome at the store, too, and actually had limes in my fruit basket.)  I pressure cooked a pound of pinto beans and followed the recipe.  They were excellent in the fajitas, but then we love lime on them--it makes the flavors sing.  :-)  I froze the leftovers and used them in the tacos last night.  They froze well and the lime flavor was still evident.

Another recipe which met with great approval recently was for Cranberry Pork Loin.  The recipe comes from Judy over at Patchwork Times and is also a pressure cooker recipe.  I served it with a big bowl of homemade mashed potatoes and it was delicious!!  You can find that recipe here.  Judy has lots of good recipes so you might want to click on her Recipe link in the blog header and check out others.  

Right now I have a loaf of San Diego Sunshine Bread working in my bread machine.  It makes the most fabulous French toast, so that's what we'll be having for breakfast in the morning.  Yum!!  I'll use Eggbeaters and almond milk for the dipping mixture, so it'll be a healthy breakfast in spite of the syrup we'll use.  The recipe comes from the original Bread Machine Magic published in 1992 by Linda Rehberg and Lois Conway. It is my go-to bread machine cookbook and I've never been disappointed.  

And last, in kitchen news, a new food processor has come to live with us.  Back about 1980, Dan bought me an inexpensive GE food processor and in spite of it's low pedigree, it's been a trooper.  However, the last few times I used it, I noticed it didn't seal well anymore.  After almost thirty-three years, it was time to replace it.  I did some checking online and I had one picked out, on sale even.  Then yesterday we drove to Costco and lo and behold, there was one on the shelf.  With Dan's encouragement, into the cart it went.  I had fun setting it up and watching the accompanying video when we got home.  It's an 11-cup Cuisinart, not the biggest, but perfect for us.  

The old one had already been tossed in the garbage can, but I just dug it out for a commemorative photo with its replacment.  Quite the size difference!

I haven't used it the new one yet, but perhaps tomorrow I'll whip up some pizza dough and see how it does; it even has a special dough button.  Last year's garden was a bust, but I'm hoping I'll be running many zuchinni through this summer to replenish our relish supply.  And maybe make a few loaves of zuchinni bread.

Meanwhile, what's up in the kitchen tonight?  Roasted Brussel sprouts!  They're in the oven now, and here's where I got the recipe.