Recipes from Our Budding Life, Okie-fornia style

Hi, I never hardly ever cook from a cookbook and frequently cook by creating my own recipes from what I have at home.  I never write them down and then cannot re-create them when they are spectacular.  I wanted to share my healthy spaghetti that I conjured up this week along with a recipe that is my go-to for group dinners and guests. It is perfect to try right now for those of you that have been able to grow tomatoes this year.  Our drought and heat have prevented us from picking ONE tomato but we are keeping the vines alive for when the weather breaks and we should then be able to harvest tomatoes.

I want to tell you a little history about me and my cooking style so that you will realize if you read my blog about recipe's you will see that I cook southern (Okie) sometimes, I cook gourmet sometimes, and I cook Italian sometimes, and sometimes I cook stuff that belongs in no category!

I was raised by a family that had ALL emigrated from Oklahoma to California during the dustbowl.  They brought their foods and cooking styles to California with them and so their kind of food was all that I knew growing up.  Favorite childhood meal, Pinto Beans, Fried Potatoes, Green Onions, Sliced Tomatoes and Cornbread.  My Dad's favorite dessert was cornbread crumbled in milk and eaten with a spoon.  I came from a group of unbelievable cooks on my Momma's side (my real Mom who passed away when I was 7).  My Mama (grandmother) could make yeast rolls, cinnamon rolls and chocolate rolls that melted in your mouth.  My Aunt Kay makes the hands-down best potato salad I have ever had in my life. My Momma and my Papa both made excellent pinto beans and fried potatoes.  My Mama ate rather odd stuff but that's for another blog.  Mama could fry a steak in a cast-iron skillet that was tender and juicy and tasted like heaven. My sister does spectacular things with a chicken and everything that she cooks sings.  My brother can grill the most unbelievable succulent juicy tri-tip, halibut...you name it, he is a whiz at outdoor cooking.

BUT, when I married, my husband that I married (it didn't stick) told me that he hated "Okie" food and that he was going to eat at his Italian partner's house until I learned to cook like Irma, his Italian partner's wife.  For five years I studied at the kitchen stove of one of the best cook's I have ever encountered.  Irma never cooked by recipe, always cooked whatever she had and by how it looked and every single thing you ever put in your mouth in her kitchen was remarkable.  Donald (The Donald, ex-husband) said that Irma's secret was her seasonings and he was right.  He thought she used dried seasonings but she grew all of her own herbs.  Her husband didn't let her drive until a few years before I met her and so there we were out in the middle of farmland needing to grow our own herbs. She taught me everything about growing and cooking with herbs and how to make a wonderful meal in 30 minutes or less.  You see when farmers who work 15-20 hours a day and have no schedule, they expect their food on the table when they walk in, at least our husbands did.  I will always be thankful to Irma Buoni for sharing everything with me and listening to me for that 5 years. Long story but the Donald would call me 20 minutes before he started home and would give me his desired menu for dinner and it had to be on the table when he walked in the door or else he refused to eat. 

I had Okie and Italian under my belt and so after Donald and I separated, a friend invited me to gourmet cooking classes and I fell head over heels in love.  The chef teaching was from Israel and had a fabulous Mediterranean Restaurant and I took a year or two of classes from him.  My dear friend Lisa and I, then decided that we would have a cooking day once a month and we would look through Bon Appetite, Gourmet Magazine, Cooking Light and any other foodie mag and would find tough recipe's that we were afraid to tackle alone and did them together.  Usually sucessfully but sometimes not worth repeating.  Over time, I will share those recipe's that were so noteworthy that I dream about them.

Now I am with Will and he is an amazing cook.  He has been a single father for 12 years and loves to eat so he has taught himself to make really yummy food that is filling and fast.  He also runs a MEAN smoker and so my friend Judy and I want him to start a BBQ biz selling at our store called "Smokin Hot Daddy's BBQ".....he says he will smoke briskets, pork and ribs and even wants to try making a pastrami (be still my heart) but will not wear a wife-beater shirt that says that.  Meat, beans, crockpot, rice, etc., are his baileywick and he does it perfectly. I have already learned so many recipe's from him but haven't written them down but will start sharing them with you from now on.  MMMMM.....MMMMM...MMMMM I am thinking of his brisket and ribs smoked with persimmon and hickory.  He buys all of the groceries that I cook and does all of the shopping so I make what I have because I HATE to go to town.  I am perfectly content to stay home and get a surprise everytime he buys me groceries.  I always feel like a rich woman when he buys groceries for me and brings them to me.

Ok, now to one of my favorite recipe's of all time. 

Garlic Scented Tomatoes

1 head of garlic - 10-12 cloves of garlic smashed (smash them on your cutting board with your knife)

2 Tablespoons Kosher salt (it doesn't work with normal table salt, invest in the Kosher and you will never go back)

1/4 to 1/2 Cups Red Wine Vinegar (it has to be red wine vinegar)

Optional choose one or all of the following or leave them out, your choice

Red onion sliced in rings

Bell Pepper juliened

Basil strips (stack your basil leaves in a stack, roll them like a cigar and slice them in ribbons across the leaves from top to bottom)

Mozarella cheese

To Steep the Garlic:

Crush all of the garlic and put into the bottom of a coffee mug or fancy glass dish but a coffee mug works fine. You don't even need to peel or chop the garlic because you won't be eating the garlic. I frequently smash and put skins and all in the cup.

Put the two tablespoons of salt on top of the garlic.

Pour enough red wine vinegar over the salt and garlic to completely cover the garlic.  It can take 1/4 to 1/2 cup. 

Give a little stir and set the cup out of the way on your window sill or on your counter out of the way.  Let it steep at room temp at least 2 hours but overnight is the best.

Prepare your platter

Slice tomatoes and arrange them on a pretty serving platter

leave them plain or add any combination of the optional items that you wish.

IMMEDIATELY before serving, and I mean IMMEDIATELY pour the vinegar that is scented with the garlic and salt over the veggies on the platter.  You will die when you taste these tomatoes.  In the dead of winter you can buy store bought tomatoes and put this on them and it makes them taste like vine-ripened summer tomatoes.  There's no fat added so it's healthy.  You can re-use the garlic two or three times by adding new salt and vinegar but replace it when it loses it's pungency.

Ok, now for a recipe I made up this week:

Healthy Cheap Simple Fast Spaghetti

1 roll Italian flavored turkey sausage

2 large onions diced

2 cloves garlic minced

2 bell peppers diced

2 stalks celery sliced

1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil to saute veggies in

1 package button mushrooms sliced (Portabellas would be nice too)

1 Can Hunts Garlic and Herb Spaghetti Sauce (Will says that its the only store-bought sauce that doesn't have unhealthy added ingredients and it's only $1.00 per can)

1 - 2 pounds whole wheat spaghetti noodles ]

Kosher Salt

Pepper

In a large pot, place enough water to cover all of your spaghetti and give it room to swim around.  Add two palmfuls of kosher salt.  It's the only opportunity you have to flavor your noodles. Bring to a boil and add your desired amount of spaghetti and stir around so that the noodles don't stick.

While the water is heating up and the noodles are cooking, in a LARGE skillet put olive oil in and add onions to saute on medium heat.  Using your spoon spread the onions in an even layer on the bottom of the skillet/pan and allow them to cook until you see them starting to brown, about 15 minutes, it takes patience but it's worth it.  Add the bell pepper, garlic, celery and mushrooms, stir often and cook until they soften.  Cut open the roll of sausage and break up the turkey sausage over the veggies with your hands like you would ground beef.  Using your spoon incorporate the veggies into the sausage and cook stirring around until the sausage is nicely browned.  Add the can of spaghetti sauce and bring to a simmering boil.  Drain noodles and place in serving bowl, pour sauce over noodles and toss, if you like you can shave or shred some fresh parmesan cheese over the top and serve!

Guilt free spaghetti eating for sure.