The Conservative Buckeye

Cucumber Salad with Red Onion and Aged Balsamic Vinegar and EVOO.

It was Delicious and easy to make and well healthy I think lol.

Bon Apetit
CB

So it is Sunday which means Church and then cook a dinner with the family. So we decided it might help to get the kids involved in prepping the dinner. So they tore the ends off the Fresh Green Beans and snapped them in half. What follows from that point is one of the best dinners we have had in a long time and we have had some good ones lately.

Fresh Green Beans with Baby New Red Potatoes and Smoked Ham Hock.

We snapped the green beans and put them in a pot with the potatoes and Red Onions and Ham and filled it up with water. Stewed that on the stove for about 2 hours. It was Delicious needless to say. Eli hates green Beans with a passion and even he said they were good. Deanna said they were the best she ever ate.

That was just our side dish vegetables for the night too lol.

Main Dish was Meatloaf……… but before you say no way that is good let me tell you about it.

I took some olive oil and put it in my best saute pan then I dut up some red onion with a shallot and fresh garlic and sauteed them till they started to turn translucent then I chopped up some Baby Portabella Mushrooms and added them to the hot pan. I sauted that for a bit then added it all to a 50% of each ground beef and ground pork……. cooked it until all the fat came out and drained it off.

Needless to say it was the best meatloaf I have ever had and I am a fine connoisseur of meat shaped into square pans.

Be adventurous, step outside your culinary box, try something new today is my new motto.

Bon appetit

We ventured into the world of the specialty salad……

Organic Baby Arugula, Fresh Grape Tomatoes, Mozzarella Balls, Alfalfa Sprouts, Sea Salt, and Balsamic Vinegar. It turned out really good in my opinion but I doubt my family agrees. They weren’t a big fan of the Arugula but I enjoyed its peppery tartness.

We had Burgers off the grill with the salad. Turkey and garden vegetable and Black Nugget Beef Burgers.

Overall I thought it was a very good dinner and definately worth giving a try.

Bon Apetit
CB

Honestly if you havent at this point in your life tried to use Coconut Milk in a savory (not sweet) meal you are missing out on a wonderful complex flavor.

Many different cultures use the coconut milk in cooking other than deserts. Like India, Thai, Chinese, Hawaiian, Islander, and so on. If you are intimidated by trying a new flavor profile I strongly recommend trying a Thai restaurant ASAP. Go for any of their curries and 99% of the time it will have coconut milk in it.

Last night I made a Coconut Mango Chicken Curry with rice and scallions and water chestnuts. It is one of my families favorite new meals and something we have once a month at least. Try using coconut milk and I promise you will see smiles on the faces of the people eating your food every time.

Bon Apetit
CB

Grilled NY Strip Steak with just Sea Salt and Crushed Black Pepper.

Mashed Purple Cauliflower

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Dinner was good but not great. I was missing something and I never figured out what sadly.

Tomorrows dinner has lots of promise though stay tuned for the info tomorrow night.

Bon Apetit