Long Lake Days

Ten days at the lake. The first time we've ever stayed that long. 

The tractor is in the shop. It's rained a lot. So farm work is on hold. 

He fished.

I knitted.

We celebrated our anniversary.

Had a little socially distanced family time.

Not close enough for hugs, but it was good to see them.

Mailed a new pumpkin hat to this little pumpkin.

Savored the last of these warm evenings.

Spotted an eagle in the yard at the lake.

And we said goodbye to September.

 

Sheet Pan Sausages & Vegetables with Mustard Sauce

 

Are you tired of making the same ol' things for dinner? Do you desperately feel the need to make something new? But you really don't want to spend much time in the kitchen? That is how I feel much of the time. I figured this recipe was worth trying after I saw it on Instagram a couple of weeks ago. But I was NOT prepared for how good it would be. And how crazy easy it was. I did not have the exact ingredients of the original. So I used what I had on hand, following the author's cooking directions. This summer has been all about cooking with what you have in your kitchen.

The recipe I'm posting here is my version. And we loved it just like this Please take a minute and read the original. It will give you some ideas to tweak it to suit you. (Follow "thewholecook" on IG for more good ideas.)

The recipe called for fully cooked chicken sausages sliced into circles. I'm sure it meant big sausages. I had a box of fully cooked chicken sausage breakfast links in the freezer. They are so small that I added them to the pan whole—and still frozen.  I actually went back and pulled the box out of the trash after we ate to make a picture of this so I would remember what I used. This was the first time I had tried these sausages. It was another item of an online grocery order that was an experiment. A successful experiment!

For my version of this recipe, I used potatoes. I had a bag of tiny red potatoes in the pantry...so tiny that I didn't even cut them. Except for a couple of the larger ones. (I could have cut regular potatoes into small chunks.) This was delicious. So delicious that I've already made it again. I'm happy that I didn't have the exact ingredients. It could not have tasted better! The sauce was so good that Daddy-O wants to make more to put on other things. 

Mid-afternoon I washed the broccoli, trimmed the florets and left them to dry until it was time to cook. I roast a lot of vegetables. They need to be dry to get that good brown color that is the hallmark of roasting. If there is much water left on them from washing, they will steam.

Then about a half hour before we wanted to eat, I turned the oven on the preheat. While that was heating, I got out the baking sheet, lined it with parchment paper (I like the precut sheets). Then I proceeded with the recipe. Twenty to twenty-five minutes in the oven and everything on the sheet perfectly cooked. If you use different vegetables, you need to think about whether they will all cook at the same time. Or adjust accordingly.

For my gluten-free friends, this meal fits the bill made just as I did it. Here is how I made this:

SHEET PAN SAUSAGES & VEGETABLES with MUSTARD SAUCE

        adapted from The Whole Cook

1 box (10 links) fully cooked chicken maple breakfast sausages

1 or 2 broccoli crowns, cut into florets

1/2 (1.5 lb) bag of tiny red potatoes (or cut larger ones into small chunks)

Olive oil for drizzling

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

Easy Mustard Sauce

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (from a jar)

Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 425º. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix together salt, pepper, garlic, oregano and basil in a small cup.

Spread sausages and vegetables in a single layer on baking sheet. (There is no need to measure veggies. Just make them fit the pan.) Drizzle vegetables with oil and use hands to toss to coat them. (I did not put oil on the sausages.) Sprinkle with seasoning mix. 

Put pan in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until everything is done. (I didn't stir or turn anything.) While sheet pan is in the oven, stir together the mustard sauce ingredients. 

Divide sausages and vegetables in individual bowls and drizzle mustard sauce over all and serve.

This recipe probably should feed three people—if one of them is not Daddy-O. But there were two of us here and the only thing left from what you see in the pan was a little bit of broccoli. I did not have any kind of side dish with this and maybe I should have. For us, it was truly a one pan meal.

Remember, you do not want to overcrowd the vegetables in the pan or they will not properly roast. Maybe I could have squeezed a little more on the pan, but not much. I'm adding the chicken breakfast links to my next online grocery order. I might even get two boxes this time. 

My friend Jane asked me ages ago why I use minced garlic from a jar so much. I told her it was because it was easy. Now I can give her another reason. I made this mustard sauce two days after I made tzatziki sauce with fresh minced garlic. The taste of the raw garlic was a bit much...as in the taste lingered in my mouth all day. 

Jane is right. It's not hard to mince fresh garlic. And for cooking, it does give you more flavor. But when it's stirred into something that doesn't need cooking, the jarred kind takes the edge off of it. No tasting garlic for hours. Everything has it's best use. 

Last Of The Summer Tomatoes

Tomato Bruschetta

Actually I'm not sure if the tomatoes are winding down or not. The rest of the garden has nearly fizzled out. We are getting one or two okra pods at a time. Still a couple of cucumbers every few days. The occasional pepper is found. The squash is gone. But the little grape tomatoes are hanging in there. We might still have these little jewels until frost. Time will tell.

I have used them in so many ways. All good. I've made the pasta with tomatoes, basil and fresh mozzarella about once a week. I've sliced them into salads. I'm marinated them with the garden cucumbers in balsamic vinegar (dark or white) with a good shake of whatever seasoning blend is at hand. I've skewered them with fresh basil and mozzarella balls and drizzled them with seasoned olive oil. I've made salsa. I've slow roasted them more than once and stashed some in the freezer. I've even lined up tiny slices on sandwiches. A little hard to eat but tasty.

And then one more recipe came across my computer screen. It was so simple. Slice the tomatoes and sliver the fresh basil. (We are also loaded with basil in the garden.) Add a little olive oil, salt and pepper. And scoop onto grilled bread. Oh. My. Goodness. It tastes like summer.

When I got home with my grocery order pickup I discovered they had made a rare mistake. My order included a container of grape tomatoes that I didn't order. MORE tomatoes! But these happened to be assorted colors. I doubt it would really affect the taste, but the yellow and dark red tomatoes mixed with our red ones did make a beautiful photo.

This was the most delightful light lunch for two on the screened porch. Sometimes it's hard to beat simplicity. I'm now looking forward to making it again—soon—for an appetizer. It was absolutely delicious.

TOMATO BRUSCHETTA

grape or cherry tomatoes

fresh basil leaves

extra virgin olive oil

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Italian loaf or other sturdy bread, cut into 1/2-inch slices

Cut tomatoes into halve and/or quarters. Slice fresh basil leaves into fine slivers. Stir tomatoes and basil together in a bowl and sprinkle with olive oil, then salt and pepper. Toss to mix. Set aside while grilling bread.

Heat a cast iron skillet (or other heavy skillet) over medium-high heat. Brush bread slices with olive oil. Grill bread in hot pan, both sides, until golden brown. Spoon tomato mix onto grilled bread and serve immediately.

1 cup tomatoes and 1/4 cup slivered basil made enough to top 4 to 5 slices of bread.

 

Paddling Toward Fall

It is absolutely amazing to have a weekend with moderate temperatures and low humidity. That is not the norm where we live. So we took full advantage of it for extra outdoor time over the long Labor Day weekend.

It was just the two of us. This one of us (that would be me) is getting tired to not seeing family. But that is our current state. We are beyond thankful for this spot that is not far from the farm so that we get a change of scenery. 

If you know me in real life, you know that I am not usually a seeker of outdoor activity. I love knitting and reading and playing piano. I can sit still like a champion. But years ago we invested in kayaks for our lake house. At that point we didn't know anyone else on our lake with kayaks. When friends from out of state came to visit, they brought a pair and we discovered how much fun they were.

When paddling kayaks we can get into spots that are not accessible any other way. We see things that we would miss otherwise. The water in this habitat is way too shallow for a boat. It only takes inches for the kayak to glide over the water.

Times change and now there are so many people who have embraced flat water recreation. So we can watch kayaks, the occasional canoe, and paddle boards moving up and down our cove. Yes, there are still plenty of boats and pontoons, but the vessels with paddles are gaining on them. For once, we were ahead of a trend.

 

Pizza In A Flash

We got home from the lake with a dab of leftover coleslaw and some cheese. That was about it. Daddy-O asked for scrambled eggs for supper that night. But I had a real craving for pizza. Back in the old days (before the pandemic) we would order pizza from a local place every few weeks. That hasn't happened since March. A couple of weeks ago I made homemade pizza with a yeast dough and homemade sauce. Delicious.

But y'all, it was time to eat! There surely wasn't time for yeast dough to rise. So it was the perfect time to try the quick little pizzas that Jamie Oliver's son Buddy, (age about 12) made on Instagram last week. This is not a new recipe. I've known about the dough for a long time but I never tried it. Buddy is in the UK so his measurements are in grams. He used 350 grams of self-rising flour (2-3/4 cups) and 250 grams (a little over 1 cup) plain yogurt. And he made 8 little pizzas for his family of five. I did not need 8 little pizzas. 

I also remembered that Skinnytaste made one with flour and yogurt. I looked up her version online. And then while I was still at the computer I started looking at other peoples flour/yogurt pizza crust recipes. There are lots of them. I discovered there is no absolute when it comes to the flour to yogurt ratio. I found recipes that called for...

        Self-rising flour    Plain Greek Yogurt

   2 cups                      1 cup 

1-3/4 cups                   1 cup

   1 cup                        1 cup

1-1/3 cups                   1 cup

1-1/2 cups                   1 cup

Skinnytaste, well known food blogger and cookbook author, used equal amounts of flour and yogurt. Jamie Oliver, famous TV chef and cookbook author, coaching his son, used about twice as much flour as yogurt. This just tells me that you don't need to be afraid of this dough. You can adjust by adding a little more flour or a dab more yogurt if the first stir up is too sticky or too dry. If you read assorted recipes, some talk about a sticky dough. Buddy Oliver's was a sturdy dough. One lone recipe added a tiny bit of olive oil to the dough. Another brushed the rolled out dough with oil. Some seasoned the mix with garlic powder or onion powder. You just need to play with this one. I am going to try some different flour/yogurt proportions to see how they work. 

Next time I might increase the yogurt a little, and at some point might even try the equal flour/yogurt amounts to see what happens. I was happy to have a jar of pizza sauce here. Don't mind making some but this was quicker. It only took a few minutes to stir up this dough and get it oven ready. While it was cooking, I made scrambled eggs for Daddy-O. In close to 15 minutes we were ready to eat. I don't often do the short order thing around here, but both the pizza and eggs were quick and easy. We were both happy with our suppers.

Here's the way I made mine last night. It hit the spot! 

QUICK CHEESE PIZZA

1 cup self-rising flour (I used White Lily)

1/2 cup fat-free Greek Yogurt (I used Chobani and I needed a little more)

pizza sauce (I used a jar of Rao's pizza sauce)

shredded mozzarella

shredded parmesan

Preheat oven to 450º. 

Pour any liquid off the yogurt. Add flour and yogurt to a bowl and stir to mix. Once it starts to clump, use your hands to finish combining. I had to add about a teaspoon of extra yogurt to get my dough to hold together. Turn dough out on to a lightly floured surface and press out and fold over several times until dough is smooth. Use a rolling pin and roll dough very thin. Place on a non-stick pizza pan or baking sheet. Top with sauce, cheeses and add any other toppings desired.

Bake on lower rack 10-12 minutes until crust is lightly browned.

This amount of dough could have been divided to make two individual pizzas. I only made one medium pizza. To be perfectly honest, I nearly ate all of it by myself. The Rao's sauce was particularly good. I'll buy that again for sure.

Some things to keep in mind: 

• You can also use full fat Greek Yogurt. Just make sure to use Greek--not Greek-style.
• If the dough is too dry, you can add a bit of water to help it stick together. I added a little more yogurt instead. 
• The thinner you roll the dough, the crisper the crust will be. You can suit yourself and have it crisp or a little softer. 
• Don't use too much sauce or your pizza might be soggy.
• The leftover slices (I didn't eat ALL of it) were not nearly as good the next day. This pizza is best eaten fresh baked. 
• Some internet versions use plain flour and add baking powder and salt instead of self-rising.
• There are many other ways to use this dough. Just Google "2-ingredient dough."
• If you have younger grandchildren, make this together with them. Or do it via Zoom like I'll do. It's easy enough.

Now. Do you need a cheery minute this week?  Eight cheery minutes to be exact. Go watch Buddy make pizzas!