An afternoon at the Farmers Mkt...

So I take off to the Farmers Mkt around noon to pick up a few of my favorite items such as a couple of loaves of onion dill bread, some hot sauce from Scotty B's (who wasn't there today) and assorted veggies and fruit from my regular vendors. I walked 6th St. in front of the Warner Grand Theater and stopped by the various vegetable tables to see how I can resupply my larder. At one table, the young lady had a basket of pickling cucumbers that immediately caught my attention. I've been thinking about making homemade kosher dills with my canner and couldn't pass up this opportunity to purchase these beautiful cucs that were on display. So I did. I bought around 20 cucumbers not quite sure what I would do with them or when. I continued my stroll down the street making a few more purchases and headed home. I showed Gloria what I had bought and got her opinion on how and what I should do with these pickles. After some discussion and a little research I headed for the store for some fresh dill and a couple of other ingredients, came home and got to work.
This is what I did...

I took the cucs and gave them a good scrub in the sink and let them drain.

I then trimmed and quartered the cucumbers and set them into a dish.

I washed my canning jars and lids. I chopped my fresh dill and garlic to put into the bottom after I sterililized the jars before packing with the sliced cucs.

I packed each jar with cucumber spears nice and tight with the garlic and dill sprinkled in the bottom.

Each jar was then filled with the pickling brine made of vinegar, water and spices known only to me. Muhahahahahahahahaha!

I took the filled jars, put the seals and lids on properly and submerged them in the canner for a five minute bath.

This is the final product sitting on the counter. These can be eaten in 24 hours but the flavors really develop after about two weeks. The jars of pickles can be stored in the pantry for a year and it's better to serve them cold because they'll have more snap when you eat them. I'll try to stay out of them for a few weeks but I make no promises. Anything could force me to open a jar and try them out Thanks for checking this out!
Caseman

On the menu tonight... Enchilada Casserole

This casserole I created years ago was born out of necessity mainly due to the fact that I wanted enchiladas one night but it was too much work with all of the rolling of tortillas and major assembling of ingredients. I streamlined the process by using all my favorite enchilada components and just layering them in a deep oven proof bowl or baking dish and putting them in the oven to bake. I'm going to share this recipe with you and I hope you give it a try and enjoy it as much as I do. Twenty minutes prep time and forty minutes in the oven and you're ready to eat. Here we go! Follow the bouncing ball and play along...

List of ingredients:

3 lbs. ground beef of your choice
1 28 oz. can Las Palmas Mild Red Enchilada Sauce ( or whatever brand you have)
1 dozen regular size corn tortillas
1 small bunch green onions
1 15 oz. can whole large black olives
3 cups (as needed) grated cheddar cheese ( really, whatever you like)
1 ripe avocado
Spices for the beef: cumin, garlic powder, chili powder and salt n pepper.
(the spices are arbitrary at best. You can use whatever you like and whatever you have in your pantry. Even if it's just salt n pepper as most of the seasoning comes from the can of sauce anyway. Be bold!)

Preparation:

Coarsely chop the olives and green onions and reserve in seperate bowls.
Grate your cheese and set aside.
Peel and slice your avocado and set aside.
Saute your ground beef with your added seasonings in a skillet until fully cooked. Drain beef if needed. Extra liquid in the casserole will make it soupy.

Assembly:

You are going to make 3 layers in this casserole. Take off the lid on the sauce can and spoon a couple of tbs of sauce into the bottom of the baking dish to moisten. Lay down some corn tortillas to cover, overlapping where necessary. Spoon some sauce to cover the tortillas and add a layer of ground beef. On top of the beef you'll sprinkle a third of the green onions and a third of the olives and on top of that a third of the grated cheese. Liberally spoon some sauce onto the beef layer through the cheese. Cover the cheese with another layer of tortillas and repeat two more layers the same way. ( Note: on the second layer, add the slices of avocado for a creamy surprise in the middle). When you are finished assembling the casserole you may want to add a bit more grated cheese for the top. Again, liberally spoon the sauce over the top and put it in a preheated 350 degree oven for around 40 minutes. When it's done it should be hot and bubbly around the sides. Let it sit for 10 minutes to cool and it will cut better for you when you serve. It also makes fantastic leftovers! Any leftover sauce can be saved or frozen for later use. One more thing... The sauce will pool in the bottom of your baking dish once it is cooked so spoon some of the mixture over the top of each serving and dollop with a touch of sour cream. Delicious!

So there it is... A pretty basic casserole that yields a ton of big flavor.
I hope you enjoy this meal and you can send me a message if you have any questions that I can help you with. Enjoy!
Caseman

I Remember...

My Mom is haunting my thoughts in the last of these early morning hours that I'm spending at work. Wisps of memories, videoclips of her life, and uncomfortable feelings of shame when she admonished me for acting the fool are playing in my head. I'd do anything for just one more call from Pop around 3am that Mom has slipped out of bed again and he can't get her up.
I would call my sister, Kennedy, pick her up around the corner from me and jam to the house on Leland St. to put Mom back into bed.

We'd get there and there she'd be, sitting on the floor at the side of the bed with a sheepish grin on her face, unhurt, with plenty of ideas and opinions on how to get her up. As her legs got weaker over the years it became difficult to lift her up without hurting her. We had to call the Fire Department a couple of times to help us and they gave us some techniques on how to lift her safely. Ultimately, she was put back into her bed. After she was settled I would go sit with Pop in the living room. He would sit there with tears in his eyes feeling helpless as he watched the love of his life slowly slip away from his grasp.

Pop and I have had many a candid conversation during these years and he left nothing unsaid, no feeling unshown. We all struggle with our loss every day. Fighting the good fight against depression, lonliness and the thought of what might have been under different circumstances. Pop lost the love of his life, his partner and the one person he shared his life with.
I think about this and my own goomers. My love, my partner, the person I chose to share my life with me. I'm as grateful as I can ever be to have this Teutonic warrior woman at my side. With a sword in one hand and a book in the other she takes my back, whatever the situation, to protect me with her life. A very unslfish act, even when I am my own worst enemy.
I got to watch Mom and Pop set the example. I know how to execute the plan.

Christmas time, vacations or just everyone crowded around the table in that tiny kitchen, with Mom at the stove cooking a meal, are the thoughts I'm having right now. Not a second of every hour of every day do I forget who she was or what she means and how she guides us through this physical plane until our time here is finished and we can all sit around the table once again.Eating, laughing and being the family she raised us to be.

A little therapy...

I spent the night at work taking care of the things that I do. Early this morning the clouds settled in and covered everything in a fine drizzle that reminded me that it's not quite Summer yet. Cool and breezy, we have yet to experience the hot weather that is coming our way in the near future.

I do a lot of thinking when I work nights and it's a time when I like to put words to paper. A short story about the dingos or a poem that helps me remove my angst. I haven't written much lately so I thought I would try and see if anything would flow. I thought of my life and my home and where I stand in this maelstrom of crap we call life. I've had a recurring visitor to the yard who rather exemplifies my feeling of serenity when I'm at home with my family. I sit on the patio and watch this big boy drink at the fountain or take a bath while surveying all that is his. He's a beauty for sure and he knows it. This was what I choose to write last night.

Crow

Glistening black, ashine in the sun
authority rests in his caw.
Majestic and piercing, he stares from the limb
a breadcrust gripped tight in his claw.

Owning the yard, whats in his domain
all that lies under the wing.
He looks down his beak
at the dogs in the yard,
professing that he is the king.

Alone in this world, searching the sky
for a love who would never then part.
He lifts off to the wind
to continue his quest
crying out to consider his heart.

Surfin' Dogs of San Diego

This is a video I found that I thought you all might like. I would like to train the dingos to surf. It's inherent in their downunder sensibilities but it's hard to even get those two near water, especially at bath time. So i'll continue to expand the vast horizon in Dingoville. But I won't hold my breath...

Getting started

Welcome to my blog, Caseman The Cook. I hope to entertain you with stories of my domesticated pair of wild dingos, make you hungry with mouth watering recipes that I'll share, discuss some of my favorite books and music and post beautiful pictures of where I live in San Pedro, California. As I relax this morning with my brood of dogs and cats and enjoy a cup of joe, I contemplate this last weekend filled with a lot of overtime at work, my beautiful Eggplant Tomato Casserole I made last night and my next online Scrabble move that I'll make against my worthy opponent, Charlene, up in the Seattle area. This afternoon I go into work early for a 16 hour shift that'll finish up at dawn tomorrow morning. As Summer begins there are a lot of my coworkers out on vacation and not enough bodies to fill those spaces. For me, working ot is more of a courtesy and helping out then anything else. I would prefer to be at home with my family having a cold one and sitting in the spa. My wife Gloria and I enjoy living in our little beach house overlooking the harbor and Saddleback Mountain that you can see on a clear day looking East towards the sunrise. If this blog piques your interest then we are off to a good start. It'll take some practice getting used to this whole new venture of writing, entertaining and figuring out all the tricks of blog navigation. Who knows where this is going. Stick with me and we'll enjoy the ride together.