Troubles with the internet and with my motivation but not with the goal. I am still eating better and on a more regular basis. Only had pasta for one dinner and one lunch out – both times, small portions. Limited the stops at the local hamburger joint. Not yet bored with the food supply in the refridgerator – but recognize that I will have to shop again soon, but so far with a minor exception for the fish (below) the food I bought the first weekend is still lasting. Groovy.
So let’s attempt to catch up … From Thursday evening through Sunday, I ate a good number of left overs courtesy of the previous week’s cooking. OK – Friday night was all about popcorn and movies (“Pretty Woman“ just never gets old). Saturday? For the life of me, I don’t remember eating other than it was a late, late lunch – early dinner and I believe I turned left-over pork loin into a pork-salad loaded into a pita. enough with the vague memory and on to the current cooking.
Salmon in the pressure cooker — (followed by 15-Beans under Pressure):
Ingredients: (you’re going to love this) one salmon steak, 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 4 mushrooms, 1 tablespoon honey & 1 of molasses (substitute maple syrup for honey and molasses), dash of tamari.
Process: stupid easy! place the salmon on a rack in the pressure cooker and add the 1/2 cup of water and dash of tamari. Close the lid and start the cooking! Once its up to pressure – lower the heat as low as you can go and set the timer for 6 minutes. Use a cold water pressure release. Remove the fish when the pressure is off – it tried to fall apart on me, so I just lifted out the rack, fish and all. Return the pan to the heat and add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil to reduce the liquid. The mushrooms will be done by the time the sauce thickens up.
Plated the fish on a bed of spinach – poured the hot sauce over both and topped with some left over beets (FINALLY – the beets were ready to eat) … not too many beets or they will overwhelm the delicate fish.
Tonight — 15-BEANS UNDER PRESSURE – more complicated. OK, actually not yet done … but you see that below:
First – at least 4 hours of soaking – I opted for almost 24 hours soaking in the fridge. (Soaking is important for reduction of the side-effects many suffer from beans … ‘nuf said, just do it.) Drain and rinse the beans under cold water, discarding any shells or floating objects. Rummage through the freezer for any pre-made stock. In the pressure cooker, saute some onions, celery, peppers & any other aromatics you want to add in oil or butter. NO SALT or ACIDITY AT THIS POINT! The onion cooking takes a little watching and stirring – if there are brown bits forming on the bottom, add a little water and deglaze the bottom. Once the onions are translucent (go darker if you want an earthier flavor) add the beans, 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter (keeps the foam down – use bacon fat or another fat if you choose), add the stock — have at least 2 inches of liquid above the level of the beans, I added water to reach the desired level. Fill no more than 1/2 full. Put on the heat – once pressure is reached – turn the heat as low as you can while keeping pressure and set the timer to 12 to 16 minutes. At our elevation – I picked 15. Remove from heat at the “DING” and allow the pressure to release by the natural method. Don’t know how these will taste yet – took forever for the pressure to dissipate – I ate a pimento cheese pita sandwich for dinner. I’ll report on the beans tomorrow.
UPDATE: Beans = Awesome. No salt in the cooking. Perfect as a starter for soup or as a stand alone. Freezer bags already filled.
John’s in Kathmandu now – still quiet around here, but I am quickly getting used to that. A weekend and Monday without Football! Oh yeah! … oops.
LizzardLaw 