Potato Salad

I wonder how many bowls of potato salad were made over the Memorial Day weekend. Doesn't everyone love potato salad? Don't you think it is one of the defining dishes of summer? And there must be an infinite number of recipes for it. I have eaten many delicious potato salads, but this is the one I love best and the way I always make it.

The recipe is from my vintage Betty Crocker's Cookbook. I know people make fun of Betty Crocker, but Betty Crocker helped me learn to cook. The book is full of simple and straightforward recipes, using common ingredients. I am much more adventurous as a cook now, but there are a handful of recipes I always go back to this book for, and potato salad is one of them.



The secret to this recipe is the marinating of the potatoes in Italian salad dressing for at least 2 hours. I use russet potatoes which act as little sponges for the dressing and become incredibly flavorful. I have learned, from the oodles of times I have made this, to be careful when boiling whole, unpeeled russet potatoes--if they are boiled too vigorously, they will split open and become water logged. Simmer them slowly and patiently, it will be worth the wait.

Light & Crisp Baked Egg Rolls

I bought a small pork loin on sale, roasted it, and had some leftover. As I contemplated what to do with it next, I knew I wanted to include a lot of vegetables. I can only take so much meat. I suddenly thought of egg rolls. I used to make egg rolls rountinely but haven't in years. So, egg rolls it was.
If you don't have any leftover pork roast, you can fry a couple of pork chops to chop up, or you can use shredded chicken, or shrimp, or forget any kind of meat at all and use some mushrooms. Or not.

Because they are baked and not fried these egg rolls are light and crisp, almost like biting into phyllo. Also they are surprisingly tasty the next morning, cold. Not anything like leftover, soggy, and heavy fried food.

Egg Rolls
1 1/2 cups shredded roasted pork
1/2 head Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, grated
4 or more scallions, sliced
2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. grated ginger
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes, or to taste
Soy sauce, to taste
Eggroll wrappers
1 egg, beaten
Gomasio or sesame seeds, optional

Combine pork, cabbage, carrots, scallions, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle with soy sauce to taste.



Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Generously oil a baking sheet.

With an eggroll wrapper on a cutting board, one corner toward you, place a mound of the stuffing onto it and roll up.






Brush on some of the egg to seal the edge.


Place on oiled baking sheet, brush with the beaten egg, and sprinkle with Gomasio, or sesame seeds.

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

The Life of a Meat Loaf

There's no telling where some of my menu planning ideas and inspirations will come from. Some are based on great sales at the grocery store. Some are based on yearnings and memories from the past. Some are based on items I have on hand and reworking leftovers. Some are inspired by another blog, a magazine, or a cookbook. Whatever combination of forces were at work, I decided to make a meatloaf.

I am going to give a recipe, which is really a guideline or map. Making a meatloaf is not like baking a cake. The ingredients are very flexible and it should be fearless. The recipe calls for fresh bread crumbs but I had a couple of leftover croissants and diced them up instead. The recipe does not call for bell pepper, but I had half a red one on hand, so I chopped it up and added it to the mix. The recipe asks for milk, but I had some heavy cream leftover from a dessert, so I used it. I had a couple slices of leftover cooked bacon, so crumbled it over the top before adding the topping. Oh, and I had a few tablespoons of chili sauce and added that for kicks. I think you get the idea.

House Meatloaf
1 1/2 lbs. ground sirloin
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup milk
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 medium onion, finely diced
1/2 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. mustard
2 tsp. worchestershire sauce
1/4 cup fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Topping
1/2 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp. mustard
2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Combine all ingredients except ground sirloin and mix well. Crumble and mix in the ground sirloin but do not overwork. Place the mixture into a greased loaf pan, smooth the top, and spread with topping mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes.



The next day we had meatloaf sandwiches. Buttered whole wheat bread, a generous slice of cold meatloaf, sliced Vidalia onions, crisp lettuce. Yum.

On the third day, I still had some meatloaf--we are only two people after all. That's when I came up with the kooky idea to make a meatloaf pizza! I had a leftover baked potato in the fridge and decided to slice it on the pizza as well. It came out very tasty if I do say so myself.

Back in Business

My computer had been wonky for a couple of weeks, then it crashed. Oh no. I tried to be a big girl about it and not panic. I kept reminding myself that it is just a machine. It's not like a family member got sick, it is just a machine. I found other things to do. I finished one book and started another. I did plenty of cooking, as usual, and photographing. But the fact of the matter is that I was pretty darn sad about it and realized how dependent I have gotten on the thing.

Through my husband's genius and perseverance, Old Peculiar II (that is my computer's name) is purring again, with no loss of data. Yay! Thanks, honey, you are brilliant.

My husband has a very busy schedule, and I know there were other things he needed/wanted to do, like cut the grass, for one. This is what the back of our yard looks like. It doesn't bother me, in fact I think it's pretty, but it does bother Pritchard Parker. I hope it doesn't rain this afternoon so he can get that done, then he'll feel better too.

Did you make clover chains when you were a child?

Goldy's Curried Chicken Salad

I love reading. I read many books I consider serious fiction or literary fiction, books which invite me to think seriously about life, books which cause profound emotional responses, and books I learn from, especially about other cultures.

But now and then I enjoy a book which I have always referred to as a palate cleanser. A book for sheer entertainment without that much effort on my part. A book which focuses on narrative and plot, a page-turner, if you will. And I also enjoy these as audio books while driving.

A genre I especially enjoy, while cleansing my palate, or settling my mind and emotions, are the Gourmet Mysteries. A few authors I can name are Robert B. Parker (love those Spenser novels!), Rex Stout, Nancy Fairbanks, and Diane Mott Davidson.

I just finished a Diane Mott Davidson audio book featuring caterer and amateur sleuth Goldy Schultz. The recipes in Ms. Davidson's books are featured at the end of her books. Because I was listening to the book, I didn't get exact measurements for Goldy's Curried Chicken Salad, but I did jot down all the ingredients (I think) as soon as I got back in the house. So here is my interpretation.

Goldy's Curried Chicken Salad
4 - 5 cups shredded roasted chicken
1 small red onion, finely diced
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
1 can pineapple tidbits, drained
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp. mango chutney
Juice of 1 lime
1 Tbsp. best quality curry powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Salted Peanuts

Combine chicken, onion, oranges, pineapple, and raisins. In a separate bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, mango chutney, lime juice, and curry powder for the dressing. Fold the dressing into the chicken mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Chill the salad for several hours, or best overnight. Adjust seasonings if necessary and serve with salted peanuts.