Comfort food for when you not feeling so hot

Was not feeling so hot today, sort of leftover problems from my lithotripsy a couple weeks ago. Sharp edged gravel making new excursions in pain for me. So I made this. It's pretty cool, and really pretty easy. Ten minutes prep, then cook about 45 minutes and it can be pretty impressive. Mine didn't make the turn, but hey, was feeling crappy. Try it out anyway, a couple fried real pasture raised eggs and whole wheat toast and it's great comfort food.

Slice thinly six Yukon Gold potatoes. Slice some bell

peppers and a half a big onion. Heat some olive oil, about a quarter cup, in a big saute pan. As it heats, place half the potato slices in a spiral into the bottom of the pan. Season with pepper, salt if you desire and then spread out the sliced onions and peppers. Season again

with pepper and now would be a nice time to add some fresh rosemary leaves. I didn't, I felt crappy remember. Then just use the rest of the potatoes to make another spiral to cover the onions and peppers. Cover and lower to medium low. Cook about 25 minutes and

then just check the bottom of the potatoes and if well browned, then remove from heat and place large plate over the pan. Quickly turn it over and the potato mix should plop down onto the plate. Gently slide the potato mix back into the pan and cover, cook about ten

minutes on medium low, then remove the cover and raise the heat to medium. To make the top really crispy, you can put the saute pan under a broiler and crisp it up. Serve it with anything really. Had I felt better I

would have made some salmon cakes, but the eggs were nice. And the pictures show how uneven mine came out, but you get the idea, it can be a pretty impressive dish.

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Recipes here on my blog

When I began this blog I had no idea it would continue for so many years. A lot to say about our world, and quite a few interesting recipes in there as well. Here I have listed them, click on the title to go to the recipe.

Ribs, potatoes, asparagus -  Done in a very cool way

Vegetarian Tacos -  Actually pretty cool, any one can eat these and get that spicy fix

Mushroom Avocado Curry - Spicy, flavorful, what else can you want out of life. Vegan too

Potato Swiss Chard Hash - I find that I now make this about every other week it's so good in the morning

Comfort Food - Sort of a pinwheel potato pan fried vegan wonderkind dish of epic flavor

Smoked Salmon    Basics on how to prepare salmon

Stuffed Rolls  Meat and cheese stuffed whole wheat rolls

Heartiest Soup Ever    Vegan soup with Rye, Lentils, and Brown Rice

Pigs in a Blanket  My version of football food

Cajun Delights  Cajun inspired potato cakes and a nice Cajun gravy

Baking Little Bits of Delight part 2  My health cookies

Baking Little Bits of Delight  Whole wheat rolls stuffed with sausage and eggs, a breakfast miracle

What the heck is wrong with you Chef Roy  New healthy versions of British classics

How I eat my steak  Yes, the vegetarian ate steak. And a wonder it was

Weird, but ever so delicious   My version of healthy and Cajun chicken and waffles

Italian Sushi - Fusion Cooking the Chef Roy Way    Sounds weird, it isn't

Meat Cake   Yeah, this one is a wonder, meatloaf that looks like a layer cake

Fusion Cooking    Corned beef stuffed chilies, hey, I said it was fusion

Cooking like a Pro   Some recipes from a catering job I did, bacon wrapped meatloafs, lasagna rollups

How to ferment your bread  More basic bread

Healthier Healthy Food part 5  A series on how to get the most our of food
Healthier Healthy Food part 4
Healthier Healthy Food part 3  
Healthier Healthy Food part 2
Healthier Healthy Food

 Chocolate Lasagna Recipe   Sounds odd, but it is ever so delicious

Food, Good, Bad, Scary. A few recipes, meatballs, savory cheesecake, salads, arroz con pollo

Breakfast should never be dull or boring   Some pretty cool things

Tapas Time   Some of my favorite little bites

Ravioli Recipes   Ravioli are easy to make, Lobster, Chocolate and Scallop ones

It's all about sex  Not really, it's about vegetable selection

Brown Rice, Kale, Mushrooms and Cod   Yeah, I love brown rice

Vegan Bacon Greens  Yes, greens so good you will believe they really are made with bacon

Ribs  Yep, it's about ribs

Lasagna Rollups   actually very elegant

A recipe for every gourmand   Eggs poached in salsa

Stuffed Rattlesnake  Just a fun thing to make, no rattlers, chicken. They taste the same right?

Tuna Pie  Not what you might be thinking  Prickly Pear

Desert Foraging    Some fun stuff to make and eat that literally grows in our backyards

Healthy and Delicious  they are called 'behoon' and are the Dutch version of Egg Foo Yung

Healthy Bread   Info, recipe and interesting concepts

Ever have a HOT Date?  Yeah, I know what you were thinking

Fermented Food   how to make your own sourkraut kimchee type of goodies

Chocolate Ravioli   By itself here, elsewhere with other ravioli recipes

That little old tamale maker, me   Some picts and instructions with ideas on flavors

A trash bag   the basis of pretty much all great cooking

Piloncillo Chipotle   A very unique concept of mine

Olive Stuffed Whole Wheat  sort of a theme with me

Ketchup   make your own that is free of poisons and sugars

Cajun Fusion   garbanzo waffles and seafood ettouffee

Real Mayonnaise   The secret to making the good stuff with no poison added

Whole Wheat Rolls   Basic bread dough info

Carbonara Lasgna   a big big fav with my son and the guys at the cigar shop

Healthy Cookies   love love love them


Basics on Shopping and getting the most for your money at the store

Making Smoked Salmon, step one for the ultimate feast

I picked up some salmon from Kenny the FishHugger on Sunday. Matt's home from the hospital and so I plan on a very nice meal for him. Today was the first step in making the stuff. Of course this being the preliminary step it is a nice way thing to have the knowledge of how to make because you can make all kinds of cool things once you learn to make your own smoked salmon, and really anything else as well. It's easy, and smoked salmon makes fantastic salad for incredible sandwiches, or put into omelletes, or stuff into jalapenos that you cored and then stand them in a pan and roast them. Or, like what I will do tomorrow when the salmon is cooled and I feel better, Smoked salmon and red onions stuffed into red pepper ravioli in a smoked mushroom and creamy Riesling sauce.

Anyway, check out Kenny and his family at the Roadrunner market on Saturdays and at Ahwatukee on Sundays. Or look

at his website at KENNY    Once you have the salmon, thaw it and rinse well. Then the hard part comes, remove the pin bones. If you rub a finger along the flesh from the head end to the tail end, you will feel little bones sticking up. Take your hemostat left over from holding roaches back in the sixties, or well, last week depending on the individual. Or tweezers work as well. Anyway, latch on, and pull it up and toward the head end. Repeat until they are all out. Then place the fish into a pan and if you need to cut into smaller pieces now is the time, after you removed the pin bones. Now is when you can get creative, sprinkle the fish with herbs or spices of your choice. I know, dill is traditional, but I am not a fan of dill, it's kind of nasty. But lots of black pepper for a simple one, or add a bunch of taco seasoning, Italian stuff, or just think about it and do something that exemplifies your personality. Me, some weird crap man, but usually pretty tasty.




After you slather the spices on, pour on some sea salt and give a nice coating of salt. Stick in the fridge for a couple

hours. Or, here's an idea, leave in the fridge for a day and a half. Then rinse and serve as Gravlax, one of my favorite ways to serve salmon. Sort of semi-preserved and the texture is fantastic. Anyway, after sitting for a couple hours, rinse the salt, dry and stick into the smoker. If you have one. I have one, and use it all the time. And I'm a vegetarian so if you're a meat eater, you should get one. I also have a stove top smoker that is pretty cool and works well for small things. And they are reasonable in price. Any way, smoke them. A short time and you will have nice full juicy flesh. A long time and you will have the dry some what leathery hard version. Either way, the stuff is great for making a wide variety of very cool dishes, and stayed tuned for the ravioli recipe coming up.

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