The Pig and I

It occurred to me you guys might've wondered what we ate while we were camping. So I thought I'd post it today. Thursday: Seared scallops in a butter/white wine/lemon/caper sauce; grilled lemon halves were served on the side Shallot and Chanterelle risotto (similar to this , but with white wine as well, way more shallots and only chanterelles) Friday: Bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast Sandwiches for lunch (I was making a huge lunch for 50 other people, recipe posted below) Steaks, potatoes simmered with onion and rosemary in butter, Sarah's grilled onion soup (the onion soup I will be making again soon; it was so simple and amazingly delicious, so I'll post the recipe at that time) Saturday: Bacon and Matzot Brei (I'll post my recipe for this at some point too, if someone will remind me) for lunch (we woke up late) Hebrew National hotdogs with lemon onions (recipe follows) for dinner Sunday: Pasta and meat sauce for lunch Seared beef salad ...

Okay, I lied. This isn't really a pasta salad. I just couldn't think of another name. It seems I kind of spaced bringing two bags of salad, some radishes, a pound of feta (!!!!) and a few other things to our camping trip. Oops. Sadly, I also forgot some asparagus which died in the fridge while we were gone. That part really bummed me out, as I looked forward to eating it. Life goes on though. We ate so well on our camping trip that it reminded me how much I miss eating home cooked food. As evidenced by the definitive lack of posts, I haven't been cooking a ton. Tonight though, I'm dealing with a house full of camping gear strewn about and don't want to spend tons of time on a meal. Plus, we ate meat literally twice per day for four days straight, so I really needed a bit of a break from it (though in fairness, who gets tired of bacon?). Which means we're having yet another pasta. Are you tired of these? Shockingly, I'm actually not. I thawed some frozen bean...

Sorry to have been away so long, once again. Finals, finals. And now preparations for our annual camping trip (we leave Wednesday and return Tuesday). It's been a zoo around here, really. We've been eating a lot of junk because of all of this, but tonight I just wanted something simple and homemade. I had some beans I'd made in the freezer, and a bit of ham fat as well, so I thawed them and threw this together. Hope you enjoy! 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 cup onion, cut into half moons pinch salt 2 cups kidney beans 2 cups water 1/2 - 1 teaspoon cayenne or Cajun spice mixture 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce 1/2 - 3/4 cup ham fat and/or skin (salt pork or bacon will work as well) Heat oil. Add onion and salt, and fry lightly. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for one hour. Serves 2.

I just want to say that I do not make my couscous properly. I make it the super-fast American way. Mostly I make couscous on days when I am really in a hurry, though this one took slightly more time than the usual. Hope you enjoy! 1/2 cup sliced celery 1/2 cup sliced onions 1 cup diced, peeled eggplant 2 tablespoons olive oil pinch of salt handful sliced sun-dried tomatoes 1/2 preserved lemon, diced 1 tablespoon capers 1 3/4 cup chicken broth (or vegetable) 1 1/3 cup couscous large handful pepitas In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the salt, onions and celery and fry until the onions start to brown. Add eggplant and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes, preserved lemon, capers and chicken broth, then bring to a boil. Add couscous and stir well. Cover and remove from the heat; let sit for 7 minutes. Fluff and stir in pepitas. Serves 2-4.

More simple food today. I made another huge vat of meat sauce , and now I'm just waiting until after my test tomorrow to can it all. With all the time that stuff takes to cook, I wanted to just have something simple for dinner, with a flavour profile that's not hugely complex. I had cooked some beans ahead (chick peas, pintos and kidneys) and froze all but 2 cups of the pinto beans. I'd like to eat those a little more often. Anyway, rambling aside, a nice batch of refried beans sounded really good, and even better in tacos. Hope you enjoy! Rice: 1 cup rice 1 3/4 cups chicken broth pinch salt 1 tablespoon lemon juice Combine rice, salt and broth in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover. Cook 10 minutes, then turn off heat and let rest, covered, 15 more minutes. Fluff rice and mix in lemon juice. Beans: 2 cups pinto beans approximately 1/2 cup cooking liquid or water 1/4 teaspoon each: ground cumin, black pepper, seasoned salt, regular salt 1...