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Best Scalloped Potatoes Ever!

November 7, 2017 by eboyle Leave a Comment

Best Scalloped Potatoes Ever!

These Scalloped potatoes are so easy and perfectly cooked every time. Precooking the potatoes in the pressure cooker for just 4 minutes ensures the potatoes are evenly cooked. When I have baked scalloped potatoes in the oven starting with raw potatoes, the finished dish was a disappointment. The potatoes in the center never cooked through completely.

Once the potatoes are precooked, the slices are layered in a casserole, napped with a béchamel sauce and topped with cheese. A half hour in the oven and they are hot, bubbly and ready to be devoured.

Eggplant Parmesan in the Slow Cooker

July 27, 2017 by eboyle Leave a Comment

Eggplant Parmesan in the Slow Cooker

This Eggplant Parmesan is an all-time favorite at our house. It is a fantastic vegetarian main dish and leftovers heat very well. It does take some prep work (salting the eggplant removes the bitter taste) but then it cooks for two hours in the slow cooker unattended. Then you can sit back and relax! However, if you happen to live with a carnivore like my husband, who does not count anything vegetarian as a proper meal, you have 2 hours to prepare “the meat”.

The Big Change

November 16, 2016 by eboyle

The Big Change

Over the past 10 days I have been neglectful of my blogging but it is because of new and exciting things happening in my life. After practicing medicine for 30 years in a Christian Health Center in Pittsburgh, I left my dear patients and coworkers to take some much needed time off. That was 4 months ago. Jim and I had two wonderful vacations in the late summer/early fall. My plan was to take the summer off and after our trips were over, I would get down to the serious work of figuring out where God was calling me next.

Too young to retire

It was surprising to me how many people assumed I was retiring when I left the Health Center. The 4 months off was very healthy for me. It was a time of peaceful reflection, and reaffirmed how much I love patient care. The longer I was off, the more I was longing to get back to the practice of medicine. However, much as I love the work, I want to do a bit less of it and be able to enjoy time with my family and friends. An opportunity came up to join my husband’s practice, and care for patients at a new office in Ellwood City. We are taking over the reins from a physician who practiced there for 45 years and recently retired.

My first day was November 7th and predictably the day before I started I had my usual pre-change meltdown. This is my pattern before any big change. It is irrational. I knew once I started I would be fine but I always experience these jitters before a new school, job, role.

The first day was not without challenges, one of the biggest being going back to a paper record (a temporary situation). Much as we complain about computers, being on paper makes one realize how much we depend on on-line tools to deliver quality care. One day before I had even started at the practice, I was whining about being on a paper record. Jim said to me:”That’s it! You are fired!” He said I got this very sad look on my face and cried out: “But I haven’t even started yet!” Luckily he reconsidered and I am now happily back to caring for patients in Ellwood City.

Ellwood City is a little town about an hour Northwest of Pittsburgh. It is very different atmosphere than my previous inner city practice. I feel like I have gone back to a gentler, simpler time and place. The patients are very gracious about the change of doctors and I think I will be very happy there. I have survived another big change with God’s grace and the patience of my very loving husband.

The Challenge- Day 18

November 7, 2016 by eboyle

The Challenge- to use up all the food in the house- Day 18

Food used: 1 package boneless, skinless chicken breasts (from freezer). Leftovers from dinner party over the weekend including Roasted Garlic and Butternut Squash Cassoulet, Scalloped Potatoes and Creamed Cabbage

Today was a day of rest. I reheated the leftover side dishes (see Kitchen tip for leftovers) Cooking the chicken breasts with some Teryaki sauce in the pressure cooker is a snap. The chicken takes all of ten minutes in the pressure cooker.

One of my favorite teriyaki sauces is Stonewall Kitchen Sesame Ginger Teriyaki Sauce.

Stonewall Kitchens Teriyaki Sauce

Creamed Cabbage

November 4, 2016 by eboyle Leave a Comment

Creamed Cabbage:

I was looking for something to do with ¾ of a head of cabbage. Since everything is better with a little cream added, I googled Creamed cabbage. Up came this recipe for creamed cabbage and it was indeed suprisingly delicious, the name given to the recipe by its creator. Also very simple and vegetarian. So many recipes for cabbage want to add ham or bacon. This recipe just lets the cabbage be the star. I did not have fresh ginger so I used ground ginger with good results. I also did not carmelize the cabbage as in the original recipe, but sautéed it until the leaves were wilted and tender.

The Challenge- Day 17

November 4, 2016 by eboyle

The Challenge- Day 17

Food used: 3 package boneless beef short ribs (from the freezer); Williams Sonoma Peach Whiskey Chipotle braising sauce, 3/4 head cabbage, CSA green beans, CSA apples

Menu: Braised Boneless Beef Short Ribs, Scalloped Potatoes, Creamed Cabbage, Steamed Green beans, Roasted Garlic and Butternut Squash Cassoulet, Slow Roasted Plum Tomato Salad, Apple pie

We had a crowd over today for dinner, about 10 people in all. As usual I put my pressure cookers to good use for the beef short ribs and to pre-cook the potatoes before baking the scalloped potatoes.

Photos are courtesy of my best friend Debbie.

Apple Pie

Scalloped Potatoes

Roasted Garlic and Butternut Squash Cassoulet

Beef Short Ribs

Creamed Cabbage

Roasted Garlic and Butternut Squash Cassoulet

November 4, 2016 by eboyle 2 Comments

My daughter, Kristen, was vegetarian for a time in college. One year, when she was home for Thanksgiving, she was following a vegetarian diet. Being a physician, I always worried that she was not getting an adequate amount of protein. This dish was the protein part of her Thanksgiving meal. I found the recipe in a Cooking Light magazine, and I still have a tattered copy of the recipe that I use often. The recipe called for pancetta but I left that out on behalf of my vegetarian. It is very yummy, healthy and perfect for a vegetarian main dish. It is a bit of a project but well worth the effort.

Kristen is now dating Arian, a vegetarian. She likes to eat meat but does not like to cook it I STILL worry about her and Arian getting enough protein. Some things never change! Dishes like this one satisfy the protein and vegetarian requirements in a delicious way.

Toll House Chocolate Chip Pie

November 3, 2016 by eboyle 1 Comment

Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Pie:

This pie is a must every year for Thanksgiving, along with the pumpkin pies. It tastes like a chocolate chip cookie in pie dough. It is best served warm with a big scoop of ice cream. If you are my husband, you gild the lily with chocolate syrup and a few extra chocolate chips. This is actually his approach to nearly any dessert: put a serving of dessert in a bowl (cookies, cake, pie of your choice), top with ice cream, chocolate syrup and a few chocolate chips. Enjoy!

Aunt Eileen’s Sweet Potatoes

November 2, 2016 by eboyle Leave a Comment

Sweet Potatoes with streusel topping:

Every year we celebrate Thanksgiving with my husband’s family. His sister Gail hosts the holiday at her home in Harrisburg. Everybody contributes to the spread and the sweet potatoes are one of the dishes I always bring. Our nephew Philip used to say these sweet potatoes were like getting to eat dessert at dinner. He would order sweet potatoes when they were on the menu at a restaurant, hoping to get something similar. His response was always the same: “these are not like Aunt Eileen”s!”.

I clipped the recipe for the sweet potatoes from a Bon Appetit magazine years ago. I don’t like the usual marshmallow topping so I use a streusel topping I found in the Frog Commissary Cookbook.

The Challenge- Day 16

November 1, 2016 by eboyle

The Challenge- Day 16

Food used: rack of lamb and lamb loin roast (from freezer); Arborio rice for risotto, Plum tomatoes, Tom Douglas Tangy Tamarind Barbecue Sauce (sold at Sur La Table)

We had good friends over for dinner on day 16 of the challenge. Other than buying a veggie, I had everything I needed either in the pantry or the freezer. Two outstanding recipes from today’s menu: Slow roasted plum tomatoes and Rack of Lamb recipe (which also worked for the Lamb loin roast).