A loves McSkillet burritos but doesn't love that a) he has to go to McDonald's to get one when we live 30 minutes from the closest one and b) they cost $3-$4. Solution: we make our own and have a stash of skillet burritos in the freezer which take only a couple minutes to heat in the microwave and cost less than $1 each. We keep a whole box of breakfast items in one of our freezers (I have 3 freezers plus the one on the fridge), and this is a staple along with waffles, pancakes, and muffins. When I buy the eggs, block cheese, tortillas, and sausage patties at Sam's Club plus the potatoes and enchilada sauce on sale at the grocery store, these cost $0.85 to $0.90 each. Sorry that some of this is a little vague - that's the problem with coming up with something all on your own!
Copy Cat Skillet Burritos
12 eggs
3 regular size cans enchilada sauce
4 medium (fist sized) potatoes, baked and cooled
12 sausage patties
4 cups shredded cojack or cheddar cheese or cheese to taste - make sure you don't put on too much or you won't be able to shut the burrito!
12 burrito size flour tortillas
12 paper towels
2 gallon freezer bags
Thicken the enchilada sauce by simmering gently until it is reduced by 1/3 and is about the consistency of barbeque sauce.
Scramble the eggs.
Dice the potatoes into bite size pieces.
Cut the sausage patties in half.
Lay out a paper towel. Lay a tortilla on the paper towel. In a line down the middle of the tortilla, leaving an inch and a half or so of room on either end, start the layers. Two sausage halves laid end to end, then a single line of potato pieces, 1/4 cup of scambled egg, 2-3 T thickened enchilada sauce and 1/3 cup shredded cheese. Fold one side over the line of filling, then fold in the ends to seal in the line of filling, then roll over to form a burrito. Repeat the wrapping procedure with the paper towel around the burrito.
Continue the process 11 more times to make a total of 12 skillet burritos.
The burritos can be put directly into gallon freezer bags. To reheat, microwave for 2 minutes or so on high straight from the freezer. You'll need to experiment a little with your own microwave to figure out the exact timing.
Have fun and enjoy one of A's absolute favorites!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
If At First You Don't Succeed.....
Feedback on crabapple jelly and pineapple jam: crabapples and crabapple juice might have a lot of pectin but it still takes a heck of a long time to cook to gelling point and I will *not* be doing a pineapple jam recipe without added pectin again (it was the one in the Ball Blue Book). I am re-affirming very loudly that I am not a fan of no pectin added jams and jellies. With a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old, they take too darn long to cook and require too much attention. On a brighter note, the crabapple jelly is a stunning red color, beautifully clear, and bursting with a warm, spicy flavor. The pineapple jam is a jar of captured sunshine, warm and bright in flavor and hue. I'll just be looking for variations on the recipe that keep the flavor and color but speed up the process!
While checking out crabapple recipes after we had done the jelly, I did find a recipe for crabapple butter that used the pulp from having made the juice (to make the juice: cover the tiny little crabapple with water and simmer for 20-25 minutes, then drain through cheesecloth). Being the type of person who doesn't like to compost anything before I must, I leaped at the chance to use the pulp before putting it on the compost pile. I milled the big bowl of pulp I had set aside and came up with 12 cups of crabapple sauce. I did have to add a few cups of water to it as I was milling, as it was fairly dry. I stirred together in my 6 qt crockpot the crabapple sauce, 4 cups white sugar, 2 T orange juice concentrate, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, and 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg. It's cooking on low from mid-afternoon until bed time tonight, and I'll stir it a few times. At bed time, I'll turn it to warm if it's simmering and let it do it's thing until morning. When I get up tomorrow, it will be ready to can, and I think I'll get 14 jelly jars (14 cups) of crabapple butter. Judging by the smell, it should be a warm, spicy, sweet-tart spread that can't help but make one think of fall. And now the pulp that is left can finally go to the compost pile.
While checking out crabapple recipes after we had done the jelly, I did find a recipe for crabapple butter that used the pulp from having made the juice (to make the juice: cover the tiny little crabapple with water and simmer for 20-25 minutes, then drain through cheesecloth). Being the type of person who doesn't like to compost anything before I must, I leaped at the chance to use the pulp before putting it on the compost pile. I milled the big bowl of pulp I had set aside and came up with 12 cups of crabapple sauce. I did have to add a few cups of water to it as I was milling, as it was fairly dry. I stirred together in my 6 qt crockpot the crabapple sauce, 4 cups white sugar, 2 T orange juice concentrate, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, and 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg. It's cooking on low from mid-afternoon until bed time tonight, and I'll stir it a few times. At bed time, I'll turn it to warm if it's simmering and let it do it's thing until morning. When I get up tomorrow, it will be ready to can, and I think I'll get 14 jelly jars (14 cups) of crabapple butter. Judging by the smell, it should be a warm, spicy, sweet-tart spread that can't help but make one think of fall. And now the pulp that is left can finally go to the compost pile.
Saving Some Summer
I love preserving food. I mean, really, who doesn't? I take all of my extras and stash them for later. What's not to like?! The beauty of canning for me is that I get to save some of my summer and fall bounty to eat in the depths of winter when all the world outside my windows is cold and white. Jams and jellies that glow in their jars like rare jewels and glisten on foods, beckoning the gourmand to taste, to savor as the flavors slide across the tongue, some comforting and some dancing, all making your senses dance and hum in excitement. Syrups sliding from jars and across breakfasts, ice creams, desserts, adding their rich flavors. Pickles and relishes sitting bright and refreshing in their jars, waiting to zing the palate and add zip to a meal. Stewed tomatoes as rich and fragrant as when they were freshly picked from the garden. Fruit sauces just waiting to grace the table with their gentle sweetness. The list keeps going, and all of it is right there in my pantry!
Today's canning is a combination of summer bounty and hey-it's-on-sale. First, I'm going to do pineapple jam. Being in the Upper Midwest, pineapples are definitely not part of my summer bounty, but they are on sale for $2.99 each, so I picked up a few and am making pineapple jam, a favorite of C's and something I love to put on ice cream. The summer bounty part comes into play with the second canning item: crabapples. A friend has a crabapple tree that is ready to pick, so I'll be picking crabapples and then experimenting. I've never done anything with crabapples, so it will all be new. My plans: crabapple pie (will freeze some if the trial pie turns out nicely) and crabapple jelly, and possibly crabapple juice to use later in other recipes, crabapple cordial, and crabapple butter. We'll see what we get!
Since nothing I'm doing today is a recipe I've done before, I'm going to wait until tomorrow to post recipes and the verdict on each one. Meanwhile, I have a day in the kitchen ahead of me!
Today's canning is a combination of summer bounty and hey-it's-on-sale. First, I'm going to do pineapple jam. Being in the Upper Midwest, pineapples are definitely not part of my summer bounty, but they are on sale for $2.99 each, so I picked up a few and am making pineapple jam, a favorite of C's and something I love to put on ice cream. The summer bounty part comes into play with the second canning item: crabapples. A friend has a crabapple tree that is ready to pick, so I'll be picking crabapples and then experimenting. I've never done anything with crabapples, so it will all be new. My plans: crabapple pie (will freeze some if the trial pie turns out nicely) and crabapple jelly, and possibly crabapple juice to use later in other recipes, crabapple cordial, and crabapple butter. We'll see what we get!
Since nothing I'm doing today is a recipe I've done before, I'm going to wait until tomorrow to post recipes and the verdict on each one. Meanwhile, I have a day in the kitchen ahead of me!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
More Crockpot Dinners
First, let me say that the swiss chard recipe I posted yesterday was quite good. It isn't something I'll crave, but I'll heap a big serving on my plate when it's served at dinner! The only other thing I did was to add the garlic when I added the swiss chard stalks to ensure that it didn't burn. It was a very nice dish, made all the tastier that I felt guilt free even with the bacon and bacon grease because there were so many greens and they are so good for you!
Now today is turning into a hectic and very difficult day between meet 'n' greet at the school this afternoon, story time this morning, and S's autism coming out to show itself due to the overstimulation of grandparent visit and school starting. I'm going simple and pulling out the crockpot to make some classic hamburger bbq. We'll probably eat ours rolled up in tortillas (those tortillas really hold everything in!), and A will probably spread nacho sauce on his too. Add some carrots, celery sticks, green onions, and a handful of chips, and I'm calling it dinner. Even nicer: I will freeze leftover bbq in 1/2 cup portions which will be a super quick heat and eat later!
Hamburger BBQ
3 lb lean ground beef (use slightly more if using fattier ground beef such as 73/27 or even 80/20)
1 large onion, chopped
3 6-oz cans tomato paste
9 T ketchup
2 tsp worcestshire sauce
3 tsp prepared yellow mustard
3 T brown sugar
3 T cider vinegar
3 tsp tabasco sauce
optional: 1-2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
Brown the ground beef and drain the fat. Add in the chopped onion and cook just until the onion is softened.
Put all ingredients in a crock pot and stir to combine. Cook on low for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. It can stay in the crockpot for many hours safely, making this a great party, potluck, or on the go food!
This recipe is modified from a sloppy joe recipe on www.Recipezaar.com.
Now today is turning into a hectic and very difficult day between meet 'n' greet at the school this afternoon, story time this morning, and S's autism coming out to show itself due to the overstimulation of grandparent visit and school starting. I'm going simple and pulling out the crockpot to make some classic hamburger bbq. We'll probably eat ours rolled up in tortillas (those tortillas really hold everything in!), and A will probably spread nacho sauce on his too. Add some carrots, celery sticks, green onions, and a handful of chips, and I'm calling it dinner. Even nicer: I will freeze leftover bbq in 1/2 cup portions which will be a super quick heat and eat later!
Hamburger BBQ
3 lb lean ground beef (use slightly more if using fattier ground beef such as 73/27 or even 80/20)
1 large onion, chopped
3 6-oz cans tomato paste
9 T ketchup
2 tsp worcestshire sauce
3 tsp prepared yellow mustard
3 T brown sugar
3 T cider vinegar
3 tsp tabasco sauce
optional: 1-2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
Brown the ground beef and drain the fat. Add in the chopped onion and cook just until the onion is softened.
Put all ingredients in a crock pot and stir to combine. Cook on low for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. It can stay in the crockpot for many hours safely, making this a great party, potluck, or on the go food!
This recipe is modified from a sloppy joe recipe on www.Recipezaar.com.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Meeting Our New Dinner Guest: Swiss Chard
I freely admit that I am adventurous when it comes to my food. We eat a wide variety of ethnic dishes, and I'm not afraid to play in the kitchen, creating new dishes on the fly. I extend this to my garden. This year, I have growing in my garden three foods I've never even tried before let alone grown before: swiss chard, fennel, and kohlrabi. The fennel is still growing and doesn't look quite like I've seen it at the farmer's market, so we'll let that one go a bit longer. The kohlrabi looks ready but also looks like it can both grow a bit more or sit in my fridge to be used another day. The swiss chard is ripe for the picking, though, so it's on the chopping block for dinner.
I've grown rainbow swiss chard, which has some stunning color to it: bright, glowing yellow, delicate light green, and deep ruby red stems topped by dark green crinkly leaves. This was a filler vegetable for me; I have room around my still young and growing blueberry bushes in the blueberry bed, so I scattered a dollar packet of rainbow swiss chard seeds around the bushes and let them do their thing. Now I'll harvest some of the swiss chard stalks and leaves, leaving the center of the plant so that it will grow more and I can harvest again in a couple weeks. The leaves can be used as a spinach substitute or even a cabbage substitute, and the stalks can be used much like asparagus. Swiss chard is very high in Vitamin A, calcium, and iron, so this is a great vegetable to eat besides lovely and easy to grow.
Now for recipes. I admit, I have no idea what I'm doing. I'll also admit - even though it might shock readers of this who are fans of them - that I'm not a fan of the Food Network show *Down Home with the Neelys.* Sorry, but there it is. Their mannerisms drive me bonkers. Nothing personal, as I'll show by next statement. I often like the vegetable recipes they have, such as their roasted broccoli and cherry tomato recipe, so I'm going to give their swiss chard recipe a whirl around the dinner plate. You can find it, complete with a picture that I find uninspiring, on www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/patrick-and-gina-neely/swiss-chard-recipe/index.html but I'm also including the simple recipe. To go along with this quick swiss chard dish, I'm going to do a couple more tried and true dishes (general rule of thumb here: serve something you know like along with the complete mystery recipe), namely herbed pork chops (rub pork chops with herbs, sear in a hot skillet with a little olive oil, cook until not pink in center), rolls, and fresh tomato slices from the garden. Even if the swiss chard is a flop, we'll still have pork chops, rolls, and tomatoes!
Swiss Chard
2 large bunches Swiss chard (I have no idea how much this is, so I'm going to go with a few big handfuls from my garden)
1 T olive oil
4 strips thick sliced bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces (I'll use pre-cooked bacon from my freezer, crumbled, and some of the strained bacon grease I keep in a jar in the fridge, using 2 T bacon grease in the recipe where it says to saute the onion and garlic in the bacon fat)
1 large onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
Slice te stems into 1" pieces and reserve. Stack the chard leaves into a pile. Roll together into a bundle and slice into 1/2" ribbons.
Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the bacon and saute until browned, rendering the fat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent. Add chard stems, cook for 3-4 minutes, then season with salt and pepper.
Begin to add the chard ribbons in batches. Once the chard wilts down, add the next batch, stir occasionally until completely tender, about 5 minutes.
Recipe from *Down Home with the Neelys* from Food Network.
I've grown rainbow swiss chard, which has some stunning color to it: bright, glowing yellow, delicate light green, and deep ruby red stems topped by dark green crinkly leaves. This was a filler vegetable for me; I have room around my still young and growing blueberry bushes in the blueberry bed, so I scattered a dollar packet of rainbow swiss chard seeds around the bushes and let them do their thing. Now I'll harvest some of the swiss chard stalks and leaves, leaving the center of the plant so that it will grow more and I can harvest again in a couple weeks. The leaves can be used as a spinach substitute or even a cabbage substitute, and the stalks can be used much like asparagus. Swiss chard is very high in Vitamin A, calcium, and iron, so this is a great vegetable to eat besides lovely and easy to grow.
Now for recipes. I admit, I have no idea what I'm doing. I'll also admit - even though it might shock readers of this who are fans of them - that I'm not a fan of the Food Network show *Down Home with the Neelys.* Sorry, but there it is. Their mannerisms drive me bonkers. Nothing personal, as I'll show by next statement. I often like the vegetable recipes they have, such as their roasted broccoli and cherry tomato recipe, so I'm going to give their swiss chard recipe a whirl around the dinner plate. You can find it, complete with a picture that I find uninspiring, on www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/patrick-and-gina-neely/swiss-chard-recipe/index.html but I'm also including the simple recipe. To go along with this quick swiss chard dish, I'm going to do a couple more tried and true dishes (general rule of thumb here: serve something you know like along with the complete mystery recipe), namely herbed pork chops (rub pork chops with herbs, sear in a hot skillet with a little olive oil, cook until not pink in center), rolls, and fresh tomato slices from the garden. Even if the swiss chard is a flop, we'll still have pork chops, rolls, and tomatoes!
Swiss Chard
2 large bunches Swiss chard (I have no idea how much this is, so I'm going to go with a few big handfuls from my garden)
1 T olive oil
4 strips thick sliced bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces (I'll use pre-cooked bacon from my freezer, crumbled, and some of the strained bacon grease I keep in a jar in the fridge, using 2 T bacon grease in the recipe where it says to saute the onion and garlic in the bacon fat)
1 large onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
Slice te stems into 1" pieces and reserve. Stack the chard leaves into a pile. Roll together into a bundle and slice into 1/2" ribbons.
Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the bacon and saute until browned, rendering the fat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent. Add chard stems, cook for 3-4 minutes, then season with salt and pepper.
Begin to add the chard ribbons in batches. Once the chard wilts down, add the next batch, stir occasionally until completely tender, about 5 minutes.
Recipe from *Down Home with the Neelys* from Food Network.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
House Guests Gone, Now for Canning!
Now that my house guests have come and gone, it's back to cooking and blogging. Today's topic: canning. I'm going to be doing a good bit of canning over the next two months, so now's a good time to start talking about what's being planned. First of all, I can because I love knowing that I have good, homemade, often homegrown or locally grown food in my pantry. I also love that I save loads of money doing this and rarely need to worry about food recalls!
Friday we celebrated Christmas with the kids' grandparents who never get to see them at the holiday, so we had a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Not one to let anything go to waste, I of course made turkey stock from the carcass by combining the carcass, a bag of celery ends, onion peels, and garlic peels from the freezer, and enough fresh, cold water to cover in my 18 qt roaster oven (like a huge crockpot). Turn to 400 for a couple hours to get things going, then turn down to 250 and simmer from Friday evening until after lunch on Saturday. Turn it off, let it cool a little, then use a slotted spoon to scoop out most of the solids and put them into a bowl to discard. Finally, scoop or pour stock through a colander and into Rubbermaid containers to get the last of the solids. Then all of it (three containers!) went into the fridge for a chill. Tomorrow, I will pull them from the fridge, scrape off the fat which has floated to the top and congealed, then heat it again in my large crockpot and pressure can my turkey stock - I should probably get 10 pint jars! It is a lovely deep golden brown color and so fragrant that I can hardly keep from dreaming of making turkey noodle soup! You can certainly do this and freeze in portion sizes that are good for you, but I love the convenience of having it canned and have the ability to do it, so I choose to pressure can it instead.
My wild chokecherries that grow between a couple of my pastures are ripening and should be ready in a couple weeks. I'm making plans on what to do with them since I've never had chokecherry anything and this is a grand experiment!
Another grand experiment: corn is in and prices are falling on locally grown corn, so I'm going to be hitting up friends for their corn cobs when they are freezing cut corn kernels. My plan: make corn cob jelly and corn stock. I know, you are thinking I am incredibly odd, but the corn cob jelly is supposed to have a delicate honey-like flavor which sounds so very nice, and the corn stock is supposed to be a wonderful addition to things like chicken corn soup, corn chowder, vegetable soup, herbed rice, and anything else that can use a light, slightly sweet, slightly corn-flavored broth. I'm game to try it with something that otherwise will be tossed on the compost pile!
Ripening soon: wild plums to make into wild plum jam and pears to make into all sorts of things! The tomatoes are starting to ripen too. I've heard that I can core my tomatoes and put them in the freezer as they ripen to wait to can them until I have enough for a batch of salsa or stewed tomatoes or whatever, and an extra bonus besides "holding" my tomatoes safely is that when they thaw, the skins slip right off so that I don't have to blanche the tomatoes to peel them. Fantastic! Hmmmmm, my thoughts are now wandering towards salsa, stewed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and homemade barbeque sauce. I'm also thinking about trying a trick I heard for a use for the tomato skins - put all the tomato skins and seeds into a discard bowl and then spread them on dehydrator trays (the kind used for fruit leather, not the open ones!) and dry. When dry, put through the food processor and make a tomato powder which can be used to thicken soups and stews or as a seasoning. Yippee, another food otherwise destined for the compost pile leaps back into my kitchen!
Okay, enough about canning. Stay tuned for school lunch plans, because school starts on September 1!
Friday we celebrated Christmas with the kids' grandparents who never get to see them at the holiday, so we had a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Not one to let anything go to waste, I of course made turkey stock from the carcass by combining the carcass, a bag of celery ends, onion peels, and garlic peels from the freezer, and enough fresh, cold water to cover in my 18 qt roaster oven (like a huge crockpot). Turn to 400 for a couple hours to get things going, then turn down to 250 and simmer from Friday evening until after lunch on Saturday. Turn it off, let it cool a little, then use a slotted spoon to scoop out most of the solids and put them into a bowl to discard. Finally, scoop or pour stock through a colander and into Rubbermaid containers to get the last of the solids. Then all of it (three containers!) went into the fridge for a chill. Tomorrow, I will pull them from the fridge, scrape off the fat which has floated to the top and congealed, then heat it again in my large crockpot and pressure can my turkey stock - I should probably get 10 pint jars! It is a lovely deep golden brown color and so fragrant that I can hardly keep from dreaming of making turkey noodle soup! You can certainly do this and freeze in portion sizes that are good for you, but I love the convenience of having it canned and have the ability to do it, so I choose to pressure can it instead.
My wild chokecherries that grow between a couple of my pastures are ripening and should be ready in a couple weeks. I'm making plans on what to do with them since I've never had chokecherry anything and this is a grand experiment!
Another grand experiment: corn is in and prices are falling on locally grown corn, so I'm going to be hitting up friends for their corn cobs when they are freezing cut corn kernels. My plan: make corn cob jelly and corn stock. I know, you are thinking I am incredibly odd, but the corn cob jelly is supposed to have a delicate honey-like flavor which sounds so very nice, and the corn stock is supposed to be a wonderful addition to things like chicken corn soup, corn chowder, vegetable soup, herbed rice, and anything else that can use a light, slightly sweet, slightly corn-flavored broth. I'm game to try it with something that otherwise will be tossed on the compost pile!
Ripening soon: wild plums to make into wild plum jam and pears to make into all sorts of things! The tomatoes are starting to ripen too. I've heard that I can core my tomatoes and put them in the freezer as they ripen to wait to can them until I have enough for a batch of salsa or stewed tomatoes or whatever, and an extra bonus besides "holding" my tomatoes safely is that when they thaw, the skins slip right off so that I don't have to blanche the tomatoes to peel them. Fantastic! Hmmmmm, my thoughts are now wandering towards salsa, stewed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and homemade barbeque sauce. I'm also thinking about trying a trick I heard for a use for the tomato skins - put all the tomato skins and seeds into a discard bowl and then spread them on dehydrator trays (the kind used for fruit leather, not the open ones!) and dry. When dry, put through the food processor and make a tomato powder which can be used to thicken soups and stews or as a seasoning. Yippee, another food otherwise destined for the compost pile leaps back into my kitchen!
Okay, enough about canning. Stay tuned for school lunch plans, because school starts on September 1!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Crazy in Love with Pizza Kits and Leftovers
It was a rough few days to wrap up the week last week, but I'm back!
Friday night was family movie night, complete with pizza, french fries, and green bean fries. Yes, green bean fries. We went bold and daring and tried a copy cat recipe for TGI Friday's famous green bean fries. In one word - yum! I waited to post until I had also tried freezing and reheating them. I can now say that they freeze easily (just toss into a bag and freeze, no need to flash freeze, they don't stick together), and while they come out kind of rubbery when reheated in the oven, they turn out quite nicely when deep fried again for a minute or two straight from frozen. I used homegrown green beans and wax beans, water and beef base instead of the chicken broth, soy milk and Eggbeaters for the wash, and whole wheat bread crumbs. Here's the link for the recipe as I found it, but it can also be found in the top secret recipes book by Todd Wilbur, which by the way is generally a very good recipe book: www.recipesecrets.net/forums/recipe-exchange/19114-t-g-i-fridays-crispy-green-bean-fries.html. I will be making plenty of these green bean fries with my fall crop of green beans, wax beans, and burgundy beans, which I can then fry up in a couple minutes and love all winter long!
The other part of dinner was pizza, and I am in love with pizza kits, a true convert. I cook down plain tomato sauce in my 6 qt crockpot until the thickness of pizza sauce, then cool and bag in 1 1/4 c. measures in sandwich zipper bags. Squeeze the air out, seal, lay flat on a cutting board, and freeze. I bag 2 cups of shredded mozarella in another sandwich bag, seal, and freeze. A good handful (about 2-3 oz) of sliced pepperoni goes into a snack bag and then frozen. All of those parts go into a gallon freezer bag. About half of those gallon freezer bags also have added to them a ball of pizza dough tightly wrapped in plastic wrap. When I am planning on pizza, I pull one of the complete kits out of the freezer the night before and let it thaw in the fridge for 24 hours. Roll out the dough into an 18" pizza pan, spread the sauce, sprinkle the cheese, lay out the pepperoni, and bake for 12 minutes at 450 degrees. When I'm not so planning but want pizza, I pull out a kit without dough, thaw the sauce, mix up the dough of choice, the proceed as usual. Doing kits this way and buying the ingredients in bulk at Sam's, the cost of an 18" pepperoni pizza is $2.34. The cheeseless version that I eat costs about $0.75. I love pizza kits!
Now for making leftovers on purpose. Most people run from leftovers like the plague, but I'm embracing them! We're having venison kabobs for dinner tonight, and while the charcoal is hot, we're grilling up 4-5 lb of venison that has been marinated in garlic balsamic vinaigrette. We can freeze this grilled venison, which can be thawed in the fridge and warmed for dinner with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies, sliced thinly and placed on top of a bed of salad greens, diced and put into an omelet or fried potatoes, sliced thinly and put on top of pizza with onions and peppers, the list goes on! This will be a big time saver, plus it will maximize the expensive charcoal. Leftovers can be absolutely wonderful!
Friday night was family movie night, complete with pizza, french fries, and green bean fries. Yes, green bean fries. We went bold and daring and tried a copy cat recipe for TGI Friday's famous green bean fries. In one word - yum! I waited to post until I had also tried freezing and reheating them. I can now say that they freeze easily (just toss into a bag and freeze, no need to flash freeze, they don't stick together), and while they come out kind of rubbery when reheated in the oven, they turn out quite nicely when deep fried again for a minute or two straight from frozen. I used homegrown green beans and wax beans, water and beef base instead of the chicken broth, soy milk and Eggbeaters for the wash, and whole wheat bread crumbs. Here's the link for the recipe as I found it, but it can also be found in the top secret recipes book by Todd Wilbur, which by the way is generally a very good recipe book: www.recipesecrets.net/forums/recipe-exchange/19114-t-g-i-fridays-crispy-green-bean-fries.html. I will be making plenty of these green bean fries with my fall crop of green beans, wax beans, and burgundy beans, which I can then fry up in a couple minutes and love all winter long!
The other part of dinner was pizza, and I am in love with pizza kits, a true convert. I cook down plain tomato sauce in my 6 qt crockpot until the thickness of pizza sauce, then cool and bag in 1 1/4 c. measures in sandwich zipper bags. Squeeze the air out, seal, lay flat on a cutting board, and freeze. I bag 2 cups of shredded mozarella in another sandwich bag, seal, and freeze. A good handful (about 2-3 oz) of sliced pepperoni goes into a snack bag and then frozen. All of those parts go into a gallon freezer bag. About half of those gallon freezer bags also have added to them a ball of pizza dough tightly wrapped in plastic wrap. When I am planning on pizza, I pull one of the complete kits out of the freezer the night before and let it thaw in the fridge for 24 hours. Roll out the dough into an 18" pizza pan, spread the sauce, sprinkle the cheese, lay out the pepperoni, and bake for 12 minutes at 450 degrees. When I'm not so planning but want pizza, I pull out a kit without dough, thaw the sauce, mix up the dough of choice, the proceed as usual. Doing kits this way and buying the ingredients in bulk at Sam's, the cost of an 18" pepperoni pizza is $2.34. The cheeseless version that I eat costs about $0.75. I love pizza kits!
Now for making leftovers on purpose. Most people run from leftovers like the plague, but I'm embracing them! We're having venison kabobs for dinner tonight, and while the charcoal is hot, we're grilling up 4-5 lb of venison that has been marinated in garlic balsamic vinaigrette. We can freeze this grilled venison, which can be thawed in the fridge and warmed for dinner with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies, sliced thinly and placed on top of a bed of salad greens, diced and put into an omelet or fried potatoes, sliced thinly and put on top of pizza with onions and peppers, the list goes on! This will be a big time saver, plus it will maximize the expensive charcoal. Leftovers can be absolutely wonderful!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Whole Foods Cooking
So many people are intimidated by whole foods cooking, and that's a real shame because it's really quite easy. True, purist whole foods cooking says that you should be cooking with ingredients in their natural state - grinding wheat berries for wheat flour, using fruits and vegetables and meats starting as single entities, etc. I, like many others, have a more relaxed approach, and it is simply this: cook with as many basic ingredients as you can and for things that others make, go with simple ingredients or at least ones that you can pronounce and recognize. Think of it this way. A cheese pizza can easily be whole foods cooking. Mix up the dough yourself using flour, yeast, water, and sugar (each of those ingredients can't be broken down any further). Top with basic tomato sauce (not pizza sauce but basic tomato sauce, I put a huge can in my crockpot and cook it down to thicken it but it's still just tomatoes) and any herbs that you wish. Cheese on top - basic mozarella is only a few ingredients - and you have a whole foods pizza. Think of how many other things are whole foods cooking: tossed salads without store bought dressings or croutons, both of which you can easily make yourself. Just about anything you made from scratch was whole foods. Rice, tomato sauce, ground beef, some herbs, and bell peppers, and you have stuffed peppers which are also whole foods. Fajitas, homemade refried beans, scrambled eggs and fresh fruit, grilled steaks with a baked potato and corn on the cob, oatmeal, all are examples of whole foods cooking. Think of how people cooked 50, 60, 70 years ago, before so many convenience foods had a lot of mysterious ingredients. Make snickerdoodle cookies from scratch, and you've baked a whole foods snack that is preservative free, dye free, and naturally flavored. This is so easy that it's scary! I dare you to try it. You'll get hooked, and you'll love the results.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Change in Plans!
I was busy this morning, the temperature shot up this afternoon, and I suddenly realized that my bread baking plan wasn't going to work - the heat would definitely over-rise the dough. On to plan B. It's always good to have a plan B.
Got a Jamaican Jerk marinated turkey tenderloin out of the freezer to thaw, and planned on grilling it. A was playing with the kids, and I was doing some cooler evening quick gardening, including some bean picking, and the grill didn't get started. Plan B for the cooking too. Sear in a hot cast iron skillet on both sides, then put in the oven at 400 for about 20 minutes, aided by one of my favorite kitchen gadgets - a thermometer timer. Plug the meat thermometer on its cord into the timer, set the desired temperature on the timer, insert the probe into the meat, snake it through the oven door opening, close the oven door, and keep an eye on the meat temperature as it bakes, with the added bonus of the timer beeping when it reaches the set temperature. Love this thing!
The rest of dinner, with our summer heat finally having arrived, is onions, green beans, and wax beans sauteed in a little bacon grease and topped with crumbled bacon. Bacon grease in the fridge and cooked bacon in the freezer makes this side dish a 15 minutes wonder of color, texture, and flavor!
You think the plans never change on an accomplished cook? Ha! An accomplished cook is not marked by fool-proof plans but by the ability to switch quickly to a different plan!
Got a Jamaican Jerk marinated turkey tenderloin out of the freezer to thaw, and planned on grilling it. A was playing with the kids, and I was doing some cooler evening quick gardening, including some bean picking, and the grill didn't get started. Plan B for the cooking too. Sear in a hot cast iron skillet on both sides, then put in the oven at 400 for about 20 minutes, aided by one of my favorite kitchen gadgets - a thermometer timer. Plug the meat thermometer on its cord into the timer, set the desired temperature on the timer, insert the probe into the meat, snake it through the oven door opening, close the oven door, and keep an eye on the meat temperature as it bakes, with the added bonus of the timer beeping when it reaches the set temperature. Love this thing!
The rest of dinner, with our summer heat finally having arrived, is onions, green beans, and wax beans sauteed in a little bacon grease and topped with crumbled bacon. Bacon grease in the fridge and cooked bacon in the freezer makes this side dish a 15 minutes wonder of color, texture, and flavor!
You think the plans never change on an accomplished cook? Ha! An accomplished cook is not marked by fool-proof plans but by the ability to switch quickly to a different plan!
Hot Summer Days
We're having company arrive in one week which means housecleaning for me, I have peaches that I bought on sale to make more ginger peach jam at the end of the week, our very large yard needs to be mowed, my garden needs to be weeded, and on top of it all, the forecast says 90 for the next three days, a veritable heatwave here in the Upper Midwest. What's a cook to do?
Dinner is going to be light fare but a family meal. I'm going to troll my garden, looking for ripe vegetables. I know that green beans and wax beans are ready. If I'm lucky, some cherry tomatoes will be ready too, and maybe a zucchini or some radishes. I think a kohlrabi is ready to go too. I have a hankering to try my hand at French bread, so I am tackling Phoebe's French Bread on Bread-Net, one of my favorite bread recipe sites: www.reciperascal.com/frenchbr.html. My rough idea is to pick some veggies and roast them with a little olive oil, a little spice in a 425 degree oven on a jelly roll pan. Cherry tomatoes, beans, and zucchini are "soft" and will all roast in 10 minutes. Radishes, potatoes, and onions are hard root vegetables and take 45 minutes. Just because of the heat, I'm opting for the short roast time. I'll thaw some pork chops, rub them with a mix of pepper, salt, thyme, and garlic, then brown them in a skillet with some olive oil and butter, cooking about 5 minutes per side for 1/2" thick chops. Warm french bread, roasted vegetables, and herbed pork chops will make a quick, easy, and lovely summer dinner!
Dinner is going to be light fare but a family meal. I'm going to troll my garden, looking for ripe vegetables. I know that green beans and wax beans are ready. If I'm lucky, some cherry tomatoes will be ready too, and maybe a zucchini or some radishes. I think a kohlrabi is ready to go too. I have a hankering to try my hand at French bread, so I am tackling Phoebe's French Bread on Bread-Net, one of my favorite bread recipe sites: www.reciperascal.com/frenchbr.html. My rough idea is to pick some veggies and roast them with a little olive oil, a little spice in a 425 degree oven on a jelly roll pan. Cherry tomatoes, beans, and zucchini are "soft" and will all roast in 10 minutes. Radishes, potatoes, and onions are hard root vegetables and take 45 minutes. Just because of the heat, I'm opting for the short roast time. I'll thaw some pork chops, rub them with a mix of pepper, salt, thyme, and garlic, then brown them in a skillet with some olive oil and butter, cooking about 5 minutes per side for 1/2" thick chops. Warm french bread, roasted vegetables, and herbed pork chops will make a quick, easy, and lovely summer dinner!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Another Split Family Dinner
It's Tuesday again, which means A coming home at 5:30 so I can dart out the door to my part-time job, all resulting in a split family dinner. The crockpot is our solution once again! Two small children isn't going to stop us from having complex grown-up foods, but we do try to integrate something into each meal that everyone will eat, often a bread or a fruit since our kids are iffy on the meats and vegetables. Tonight's dinner: turkey brats with spaghetti sauce, peppers, and onions.
I have loads of turkey sausages and turkey brats in the freezer that need to be used (they are over a year old). Digging through my very cold freezer, I found the bag of brats but the bag of sausages was buried under some chicken pieces, so I'm opting to use the brats. I have fresh peppers in the fridge, but I also have some sliced peppers and onions in the freezer that I'd like to replace with this year's crop, so those are getting used instead. Brown the brats, then put brats, onions, peppers, and jar of spaghetti sauce in a 4 qt crockpot, stir gently to combine, then cook on low for 6 hours. I'll serve with fresh rolls for sandwiches for A and me and the kids can eat with peanut butter and jam for dinner unless they are adventurous enough to try the main course. Round out with applesauce, carrots, and celery sticks, and we'll manage yet another split family dinner!
I have loads of turkey sausages and turkey brats in the freezer that need to be used (they are over a year old). Digging through my very cold freezer, I found the bag of brats but the bag of sausages was buried under some chicken pieces, so I'm opting to use the brats. I have fresh peppers in the fridge, but I also have some sliced peppers and onions in the freezer that I'd like to replace with this year's crop, so those are getting used instead. Brown the brats, then put brats, onions, peppers, and jar of spaghetti sauce in a 4 qt crockpot, stir gently to combine, then cook on low for 6 hours. I'll serve with fresh rolls for sandwiches for A and me and the kids can eat with peanut butter and jam for dinner unless they are adventurous enough to try the main course. Round out with applesauce, carrots, and celery sticks, and we'll manage yet another split family dinner!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Filling the Freezer
Oh no, my freezer inventory is getting low! This realization struck me this weekend, and now I'm going to have to do something about it, especially with school coming up in 3 weeks. I didn't get to the venison meat pies last week, so that is high priority today. Here's the rest of my game plan, which I'll put into action over the next two weeks.
Bake cookies, probably chocolate chip cookies and molasses sugar cookies, flash freeze, and bag. When I need a few cookies, say for S's school lunch, I just pull them out of the freezer bag, put them into a container and pop into the lunch bag. By lunch time, they will be thawed and just as fresh and soft as when first baked. I'll do this with some brownies too, and maybe rice krispie treats.
Hamburgers, both cooked and raw. I'll form the patties, and 1/4 lb patties will be grilled or baked, then cooled, flash frozen, and bagged, but the bagging is a little different. Put one hamburger in a sandwich bag with one regular size hamburger roll, then put several bags into a gallon freezer bag. When we need a quick burger as we run out the door, it takes 1 - 1 1/2 minutes to heat the burger and about 15 seconds to heat the bun in the microwave. For the raw burgers, I'll make gourmet 1/3 lb burgers, mixing in flavorings. There are hundreds of recipes out there, here's one such website: http://www.cheese-burger.net/tag/gourmet-burger-recipes. These cost a pretty penny at the store when you can find them (really can't here in the Upper Midwest), but they cost very little to make them yourself and really liven up burger night.
Meatloaf, uncooked. I'll just mix, form, and flash freeze a couple of meatloaves, then bag in gallon freezer bags. When we want meatloaf, I'll pull one out of the freezer the night before, put it in a baking dish, and let it thaw in the fridge, then bake as usual.
Scalloped potatoes. I will use 8x8 pans for our scalloped potatoes because that's a good size for our family. Line the pan with plastic wrap or double thickness foil with lots of extra on the ends, then grease the plastic wrap with shortening or spray with nonstick spray. Layer in sliced potatoes, sliced onions, shredded cheese (nondairy cheese for us with my dairy allergy!), medium white sauce, then repeat all the layers one more time. Put in the freezer, and when frozen, pull out of the pan, wrap the long ends of plastic wrap over the top, and put in a gallon freezer bag. To cook, I'll pull this out of the freezer, pull off the wrap, put it back in the pan I originally froze it in, and let it thaw in the fridge, then bake for an hour at 350. Some people have experience with the raw potatoes blackening, but for some crazy reason I have not. One solution is to blanche the potato slices - drop in boiling water for a minute, then drain. Another solution is to par-bake (half bake) or fully bake the dish then freeze it. If you do that, remember to use double thickness foil and not plastic wrap!
We're out of convenience foods like onion petals, boneless buffalo wings, and armadillo eggs, but I'm probably going to have to do some canning this week, so those will have to wait for another day!
Scalloped Potatoes for an 8x8 pan, double recipe for a 9x13 pan
1 lb potatoes (about 3 medium), cleaned, peeled, and thinly sliced
1 recipe medium white sauce, warm (recipe follows)
1/2 onion, thinly sliced or chopped
1 c. shredded Colby cheese (I really like cheddar almond or rice cheese for nondairy)
Layer 1/2 of all the ingredients in a greased or lined 8x8 baking dish - potoates, then onions, then cheese, then white sauce over top, then repeat.
Cover and bake for 1 hour. Uncover and continue baking until nicely browned, about 15 minutes.
Medium White Sauce
2 T all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper or black pepper
2 T butter or margarine
1 c. whole or nondairy creamer (going to be trying this soon with soy creamer!), warmed
In a small bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and pepper, then set aside. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Gently whisk in the flour, salt, and pepper until the mixture is perfectly smooth. Whisk in a small amount of the warm milk until smooth, continuing to cook over low heat. Cooking this mixture is what will get rid of any flour or glue-like taste! Continue to slowly whisk in the warm milk until all of the milk has been added, then continue to cook over medium-low heat, whisking slowly/gently but constantly, until the mixture thickens and it is just under boiling, approximately 8 minutes. Especially when using milk and not an alternative, do not let the mixture boil!
Recipe from *The Blue Ribbon Country Cookbook* by Diane Roupe.
Bake cookies, probably chocolate chip cookies and molasses sugar cookies, flash freeze, and bag. When I need a few cookies, say for S's school lunch, I just pull them out of the freezer bag, put them into a container and pop into the lunch bag. By lunch time, they will be thawed and just as fresh and soft as when first baked. I'll do this with some brownies too, and maybe rice krispie treats.
Hamburgers, both cooked and raw. I'll form the patties, and 1/4 lb patties will be grilled or baked, then cooled, flash frozen, and bagged, but the bagging is a little different. Put one hamburger in a sandwich bag with one regular size hamburger roll, then put several bags into a gallon freezer bag. When we need a quick burger as we run out the door, it takes 1 - 1 1/2 minutes to heat the burger and about 15 seconds to heat the bun in the microwave. For the raw burgers, I'll make gourmet 1/3 lb burgers, mixing in flavorings. There are hundreds of recipes out there, here's one such website: http://www.cheese-burger.net/tag/gourmet-burger-recipes. These cost a pretty penny at the store when you can find them (really can't here in the Upper Midwest), but they cost very little to make them yourself and really liven up burger night.
Meatloaf, uncooked. I'll just mix, form, and flash freeze a couple of meatloaves, then bag in gallon freezer bags. When we want meatloaf, I'll pull one out of the freezer the night before, put it in a baking dish, and let it thaw in the fridge, then bake as usual.
Scalloped potatoes. I will use 8x8 pans for our scalloped potatoes because that's a good size for our family. Line the pan with plastic wrap or double thickness foil with lots of extra on the ends, then grease the plastic wrap with shortening or spray with nonstick spray. Layer in sliced potatoes, sliced onions, shredded cheese (nondairy cheese for us with my dairy allergy!), medium white sauce, then repeat all the layers one more time. Put in the freezer, and when frozen, pull out of the pan, wrap the long ends of plastic wrap over the top, and put in a gallon freezer bag. To cook, I'll pull this out of the freezer, pull off the wrap, put it back in the pan I originally froze it in, and let it thaw in the fridge, then bake for an hour at 350. Some people have experience with the raw potatoes blackening, but for some crazy reason I have not. One solution is to blanche the potato slices - drop in boiling water for a minute, then drain. Another solution is to par-bake (half bake) or fully bake the dish then freeze it. If you do that, remember to use double thickness foil and not plastic wrap!
We're out of convenience foods like onion petals, boneless buffalo wings, and armadillo eggs, but I'm probably going to have to do some canning this week, so those will have to wait for another day!
Scalloped Potatoes for an 8x8 pan, double recipe for a 9x13 pan
1 lb potatoes (about 3 medium), cleaned, peeled, and thinly sliced
1 recipe medium white sauce, warm (recipe follows)
1/2 onion, thinly sliced or chopped
1 c. shredded Colby cheese (I really like cheddar almond or rice cheese for nondairy)
Layer 1/2 of all the ingredients in a greased or lined 8x8 baking dish - potoates, then onions, then cheese, then white sauce over top, then repeat.
Cover and bake for 1 hour. Uncover and continue baking until nicely browned, about 15 minutes.
Medium White Sauce
2 T all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper or black pepper
2 T butter or margarine
1 c. whole or nondairy creamer (going to be trying this soon with soy creamer!), warmed
In a small bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and pepper, then set aside. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Gently whisk in the flour, salt, and pepper until the mixture is perfectly smooth. Whisk in a small amount of the warm milk until smooth, continuing to cook over low heat. Cooking this mixture is what will get rid of any flour or glue-like taste! Continue to slowly whisk in the warm milk until all of the milk has been added, then continue to cook over medium-low heat, whisking slowly/gently but constantly, until the mixture thickens and it is just under boiling, approximately 8 minutes. Especially when using milk and not an alternative, do not let the mixture boil!
Recipe from *The Blue Ribbon Country Cookbook* by Diane Roupe.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Friday Night Fajitas!
It's Friday night, and we're going to have a party with our tastebuds! The weather is cool and rainy today, but that is not deterring us at all from having a great summer time Tex-Mex feast worthy of any restaurant but costing less for the whole meal than what we would pay for one person in a restaurant. Plus, maybe I can talk A into making his signature mojito recipe to go with it!
Dinner tonight is chicken fajitas, black bean and corn salad, pico de gallo, and Spanish fried rice. This will be an incredibly sensual experience - the amazing mixture of flavors, colors, textures, and shapes will inevitably seduce all of our senses and make for an intensely satisfying meal. The smooth texture, shape, and taste of the flour tortillas wrapped around the long strips of brightly colored peppers and onions and the tender slices of chicken, along with the mild taste of the tortillas wrapped around the explosive flavors of the fajita mix. The black of the black beans, the bright yellow of the corn, the bright red of the tomato, the flashes of deep green of the cilantro and the jalapeno, the sharp white of the onion are a visual prelude to the symphony once the salad hits the tongue but the lime, pepper, garlic, and cumin are surprising notes that lie in secret only for your mouth to discover them. The red tomato, white onion, green cilantro and jalapeno, and more of that lime, pepper, and garlic in the pico de gallo add an extra crescendo of flavor on top of the fajitas. The dry, warm, slightly rough texture of the Spanish fried rice with its subtle flavors balances the more outrageous flavors of the salad and the pico de gallo. Top with creamy guacamole, cool and smooth sour cream, and the gentle bite of the cheese. Wash it down with mojitos that lull your senses, calm your senses, refresh your palate with its lime and mint. Watch out, because tonight is looking like a night destined to stimulate the senses and lead to some definite overindulgence of dinner!
The fajita meat was in my freezer, and I pulled it out to thaw yesterday. I often keep sliced peppers and onions in the freezer to go with the meat; they aren't as tender crisp but when money is tight and produce prices are high, it's a great substitute. Sadly, I had to purchase tomatoes because mine are not yet ripe, but if you have a garden, many of tonight's ingredients can come straight from your garden no matter what growing zone you're in (I'm a 4, almost a 3!) - tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, garlic, corn, black beans, cilantro. As it is, I started soaking the black beans yesterday, I have the peppers and the cilantro, the corn is from the freezer, the rice has been bought bulk, same for the tomato sauce. This is a very inexpensive and pretty easy meal with the barest of planning!
Chili's Fajitas
1/4 cup lime juice
2 T olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts or skirt steak
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced or wedged
Combine all ingredients except vegetables in a quart or gallon zipper bag (whichever size is appropriate) and seal. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and preferrably for 24 hours, or freeze and thaw in the refrigerator when needed.
Grill meat over medium heat for 4-5 minutes per side (can also broil or pan fry but best results are from grilling). Let the meat rest for a few minutes, then slice into thin strips.
Place a little oil in a skillet over medium high heat and saute pepper and onion slices until tender crisp and lightly browned. If desired, sprinkle a little lime juice and pepper over them when done cooking.
Toss together the meat and the vegetables. Serve with soft tortillas, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, and shredded cheese.
Copy cat recipe for Chili's Fajitas, source misplaced!
Emeril's Pico de Gallo
1 1/2 c. seeded, diced tomatoes
1/4 c. diced red onion
1 T diced jalapenos
1 T minced garlic
2 limes, juiced
2 T chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and serve. I like to let this sit for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to marry. This is one of our all time favorite recipes - I'm thinking of trying to grow a tomato plant inside the house this winter along with my herbs and lettuce just so we can have good pico de gallo when the snow is falling!
Black Bean and Corn Salad
2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, rinsed and drained
2 c. seeded, diced tomatoes
1 1/2 c. freshly cooked corn or frozen corn, thawed
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
1 c. diced red onion
1 c. chopped red bell pepper
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
3 T vegetable oil
1/4 c. lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
freshly cracked black pepper to taste
In a large bowl, mix together the first seven ingredients.
In a small bowl, whisk together the last six ingredients. Pour enough dressing over the salad to coat.
Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight to allow the flavors to marry. Serve at room temperature.
Recipe is from *The Big Book of Potluck* by Maryana Vollstedt. This is a new, untried recipe for me, so no promises, but it looks good!
The Spanish fried rice recipe is from a great website of Tex-Mex cooking, and it includes step-by-step instructions that I just cannot improve upon! www.cooking-mexican-recipes.com, use the Spanish fried rice link on the left side!
Dinner tonight is chicken fajitas, black bean and corn salad, pico de gallo, and Spanish fried rice. This will be an incredibly sensual experience - the amazing mixture of flavors, colors, textures, and shapes will inevitably seduce all of our senses and make for an intensely satisfying meal. The smooth texture, shape, and taste of the flour tortillas wrapped around the long strips of brightly colored peppers and onions and the tender slices of chicken, along with the mild taste of the tortillas wrapped around the explosive flavors of the fajita mix. The black of the black beans, the bright yellow of the corn, the bright red of the tomato, the flashes of deep green of the cilantro and the jalapeno, the sharp white of the onion are a visual prelude to the symphony once the salad hits the tongue but the lime, pepper, garlic, and cumin are surprising notes that lie in secret only for your mouth to discover them. The red tomato, white onion, green cilantro and jalapeno, and more of that lime, pepper, and garlic in the pico de gallo add an extra crescendo of flavor on top of the fajitas. The dry, warm, slightly rough texture of the Spanish fried rice with its subtle flavors balances the more outrageous flavors of the salad and the pico de gallo. Top with creamy guacamole, cool and smooth sour cream, and the gentle bite of the cheese. Wash it down with mojitos that lull your senses, calm your senses, refresh your palate with its lime and mint. Watch out, because tonight is looking like a night destined to stimulate the senses and lead to some definite overindulgence of dinner!
The fajita meat was in my freezer, and I pulled it out to thaw yesterday. I often keep sliced peppers and onions in the freezer to go with the meat; they aren't as tender crisp but when money is tight and produce prices are high, it's a great substitute. Sadly, I had to purchase tomatoes because mine are not yet ripe, but if you have a garden, many of tonight's ingredients can come straight from your garden no matter what growing zone you're in (I'm a 4, almost a 3!) - tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, garlic, corn, black beans, cilantro. As it is, I started soaking the black beans yesterday, I have the peppers and the cilantro, the corn is from the freezer, the rice has been bought bulk, same for the tomato sauce. This is a very inexpensive and pretty easy meal with the barest of planning!
Chili's Fajitas
1/4 cup lime juice
2 T olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts or skirt steak
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced or wedged
Combine all ingredients except vegetables in a quart or gallon zipper bag (whichever size is appropriate) and seal. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and preferrably for 24 hours, or freeze and thaw in the refrigerator when needed.
Grill meat over medium heat for 4-5 minutes per side (can also broil or pan fry but best results are from grilling). Let the meat rest for a few minutes, then slice into thin strips.
Place a little oil in a skillet over medium high heat and saute pepper and onion slices until tender crisp and lightly browned. If desired, sprinkle a little lime juice and pepper over them when done cooking.
Toss together the meat and the vegetables. Serve with soft tortillas, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, and shredded cheese.
Copy cat recipe for Chili's Fajitas, source misplaced!
Emeril's Pico de Gallo
1 1/2 c. seeded, diced tomatoes
1/4 c. diced red onion
1 T diced jalapenos
1 T minced garlic
2 limes, juiced
2 T chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and serve. I like to let this sit for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to marry. This is one of our all time favorite recipes - I'm thinking of trying to grow a tomato plant inside the house this winter along with my herbs and lettuce just so we can have good pico de gallo when the snow is falling!
Black Bean and Corn Salad
2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, rinsed and drained
2 c. seeded, diced tomatoes
1 1/2 c. freshly cooked corn or frozen corn, thawed
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
1 c. diced red onion
1 c. chopped red bell pepper
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
3 T vegetable oil
1/4 c. lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
freshly cracked black pepper to taste
In a large bowl, mix together the first seven ingredients.
In a small bowl, whisk together the last six ingredients. Pour enough dressing over the salad to coat.
Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight to allow the flavors to marry. Serve at room temperature.
Recipe is from *The Big Book of Potluck* by Maryana Vollstedt. This is a new, untried recipe for me, so no promises, but it looks good!
The Spanish fried rice recipe is from a great website of Tex-Mex cooking, and it includes step-by-step instructions that I just cannot improve upon! www.cooking-mexican-recipes.com, use the Spanish fried rice link on the left side!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
What do I do with the leftovers?
It's a perfect storm for kitchen trouble right now: pay day which means a trip to the grocery store and a trip to Sam's Club, ripening produce in the garden, and a fridge full of leftovers. There is nothing wrong with leftovers, but I'm going to need that fridge space in a couple days! Hello, freezer!
Tonight's dinner will be omelets using the leftover grilled venison from Monday. There are a few marinated mushrooms floating in the jar in the fridge, and we'll slice them and stuff them in the omelets too, freeing up even more fridge space. Tuesday's chili will be portioned into rectangular 1 cup snack containers and stacked in the freezer; tomorrow I'll pop the chili "bricks" out and put them two to a quart bag and put back in the freezer - I even have toddler shoe boxes that will hold them upright. Last night's venison tips in gravy is going to be a little more work. I have a desire to have meat pies in the freezer again, so I'll thin the gravy slightly with a bit of broth, pull the chunks of meat into bite size pieces, add in sliced carrots, chopped onion, diced baked potato, frozen peas, and heat it all to get the gravy moving. No recipe because it's all tailor made for each cook and done by feel. Roll out pie crusts to fit foil individual pot pie pans (the secrets to the pie crust: use lard, a basic crust recipe, and roll out between sheets of plastic wrap so you aren't incorporating more flour which toughens crusts!). One recipe for a double crust 10" deep dish pie crust will make four pot pies with double crusts (crusts on top and bottom). Assemble, freeze, wrap well in foil, and label. When we want meat pies, we pull out of the freezer, preheat the oven to 350, and bake for an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. I know every single thing that went into them, they are homemade, and they are convenience food - fantastic!
On a side note from yesterday's post, the cake was wonderful! Moist, firm, flavorful, and easy. I highly recommend it!
I'm also planning tomorrow's dinner already. We'll have chicken fajitas on a Friday night - perfect! I keep BL/SL (boneless skinless) chicken breasts in Chili's copycat fajita marinade in the freezer. I will pull a bag of this chicken out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to thaw today, and tomorrow evening I will have thawed chicken that has been marinating as it thaws. More to follow tomorrow!
Tonight's dinner will be omelets using the leftover grilled venison from Monday. There are a few marinated mushrooms floating in the jar in the fridge, and we'll slice them and stuff them in the omelets too, freeing up even more fridge space. Tuesday's chili will be portioned into rectangular 1 cup snack containers and stacked in the freezer; tomorrow I'll pop the chili "bricks" out and put them two to a quart bag and put back in the freezer - I even have toddler shoe boxes that will hold them upright. Last night's venison tips in gravy is going to be a little more work. I have a desire to have meat pies in the freezer again, so I'll thin the gravy slightly with a bit of broth, pull the chunks of meat into bite size pieces, add in sliced carrots, chopped onion, diced baked potato, frozen peas, and heat it all to get the gravy moving. No recipe because it's all tailor made for each cook and done by feel. Roll out pie crusts to fit foil individual pot pie pans (the secrets to the pie crust: use lard, a basic crust recipe, and roll out between sheets of plastic wrap so you aren't incorporating more flour which toughens crusts!). One recipe for a double crust 10" deep dish pie crust will make four pot pies with double crusts (crusts on top and bottom). Assemble, freeze, wrap well in foil, and label. When we want meat pies, we pull out of the freezer, preheat the oven to 350, and bake for an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. I know every single thing that went into them, they are homemade, and they are convenience food - fantastic!
On a side note from yesterday's post, the cake was wonderful! Moist, firm, flavorful, and easy. I highly recommend it!
I'm also planning tomorrow's dinner already. We'll have chicken fajitas on a Friday night - perfect! I keep BL/SL (boneless skinless) chicken breasts in Chili's copycat fajita marinade in the freezer. I will pull a bag of this chicken out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to thaw today, and tomorrow evening I will have thawed chicken that has been marinating as it thaws. More to follow tomorrow!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Quick and Easy Comfort Food
Comfort food is different for every person. For me, it usually involves roasted meat, mashed potatoes, and/or gravy. Boiled pot pie in all its Pennsylvania Dutch glory, Thanksgiving dinner, meatloaf with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and savory beef gravy, roast beef crusty brown on the outside and juicy on the inside with creamy mashed potatoes topped with herbed gravy made from the drippings, baked meat pies with flaky golden crusts that I split open to reveal a steaming concoction of rich gravy, chunks of roasted meats, and bright vegetables. Of course, a comfort food meal for me absolutely must include a baked dessert - no fruit salad need apply for a comfort food meal! Creamy brown pumpkin pies that ease across your tongue, apple crisp with crunchy sweet topping and tender sweet apples underneath, cobblers that melt in your mouth and make you swoon, even a fabulous chocolate cake, moist but full bodied, subtle in its underlying flavors like cinnamon but with rich chocolate seducing your tastebuds.
Obviously, today is a day that I'm feeling the need for some comfort food! I don't have the time for boiled pot pie or even baked meat pies and I'm out of baked meat pies in the freezer, darn it. No thawed turkeys, chickens, or beef roasts hanging out in my fridge, either. Things aren't looking good for me! Then inspiration hits: my crockpot and the venison pieces in my freezer can make beef/venison tips and gravy and the mashed potatoes in my freezer can be reheated to go with them. I still have green beans and wax beans in the fridge from my harvest the other day, and I think roasting them will be a great side dish. Now for dessert.... I came across a recipe for vegan raspberry mocha cake the other day, and that sounds made to order for decadent but easy dessert. In fact, the recipe even looks like I can freeze 1/2 the cake for eating later - cut into serving size pieces, flash freeze, bag or put into a freezer container, then get them out to thaw when I want. Convenience comfort food I've made myself using whole foods, no artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners, no preservatives, a fraction of the price, and no worries about my food allergies. I love it!
Beef/Venison Tips
1/2 c. flour
1 tsp salt (I prefer kosher salt for its cleaner flavor)
1/2 tsp - 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 c. beef broth/stock (I use 2 tsp beef base from Sam's Club + 2 cups boiling water, which costs pennies and tastes great)
Worcestershire sauce to taste, at least 1 tsp and up to 1 T
2 tsp tomato paste (can substitute in ketchup, but I prefer to use the less sweet, whole foods option of tomato paste)
2-3 lb cubed red meat - beef sirloin tips, beef stew meat, venison chucks, etc.
Optional: 1/2 c. chopped green onions and 1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
Thickening paste: 3 T flour or cornstarch + 1/4 cup dry red wine, water, or broth (cool, not hot!)
Combine the flour, salt, and pepper and toss with the meat cubes to coat thoroughly. Place in a crockpot. If using green onions and mushrooms, add those.
Combine beef broth, worcestershire sauce, and tomato paste. Pour over everything in the crockpot, and stir well. Cover and cook on low setting for 7-12 hours. Crockpots vary, so check after 7 hours for doneness!
One hour before serving, turn to high setting. Make the thickening paste by stirring together the flour/cornstarch and the liquid until smooth, then stir into crockpot. If you add flour or cornstarch to a hot liquid, it will clump. Mixing it into a cool liquid first results in a thickener that doesn't clump.
Mashed potatoes from the freezer: make extra mashed potatoes, then portion the cool mashed potatoes into quart or gallon freezer bags (1 cup is a nice individual portion, and you can do 1 cup portions in sandwich bags and then put two sandwich bags in a quart bag or several into a gallon bag). I like to lay them on a cutting board and press flat, freeze, then I can stack them easily or stand them on end, plus they are only 1/2" thick or so which speeds up reheating. Reheating takes only minutes in the microwave.
Roasted Green Beans
Experience has made it possible for me to throw any roasted vegetable together. General rule of thumb: 1 lb vegetable (green beans, asparagus, radishes, onions, brussels sprouts, cauliflower) + 2-3 tsp olive oil + 1/2 tsp kosher salt or sea salt + 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper. Roast at a high temperature such as 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Times vary for each vegetable because of size and initial crispness. Green beans, wax beans, and asparagus take about 8 minutes, while brussels sprouts take closer to 45, cauliflower takes about 25. Vegetables can be placed into a gallon zipper bag with oil and seasonings poured in on top, bag closed, shaken, then poured into a shallow baking pan that can accommodate the vegetables in a single layer.
Vegan Raspberry Mocha Cake
3 c. flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. cocoa
1/4 c. oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 T vinegar dissolved in 1/4 c. water
3/4 c. strong brewed coffee or espresso (I've added 1 tsp instant coffee to 3/4 c. regular coffee)
3/4 c. raspberry preserves (I'm using homemade red raspberry jam, but I don't see why seedless raspberry jelly couldn't be used for those who hate the seeds!)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 cake pan or two round cake pans (guessing on this one since the recipe didn't give a pan size, just said "cake pans").
Mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, and cocoa in a large mixing bowl.
Slowly incorporate into the dry mix the oil and vanilla, then the vinegar in water, coffee, and raspberry preserves. When batter is well mixed, it will be smooth and creamy.
Pour into prepared cake pan(s) and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean with no cake/batter clinging to it.
Cool before frosting or sprinkling with powdered sugar.
Recipe from http://vegetarian.about.com.
Obviously, today is a day that I'm feeling the need for some comfort food! I don't have the time for boiled pot pie or even baked meat pies and I'm out of baked meat pies in the freezer, darn it. No thawed turkeys, chickens, or beef roasts hanging out in my fridge, either. Things aren't looking good for me! Then inspiration hits: my crockpot and the venison pieces in my freezer can make beef/venison tips and gravy and the mashed potatoes in my freezer can be reheated to go with them. I still have green beans and wax beans in the fridge from my harvest the other day, and I think roasting them will be a great side dish. Now for dessert.... I came across a recipe for vegan raspberry mocha cake the other day, and that sounds made to order for decadent but easy dessert. In fact, the recipe even looks like I can freeze 1/2 the cake for eating later - cut into serving size pieces, flash freeze, bag or put into a freezer container, then get them out to thaw when I want. Convenience comfort food I've made myself using whole foods, no artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners, no preservatives, a fraction of the price, and no worries about my food allergies. I love it!
Beef/Venison Tips
1/2 c. flour
1 tsp salt (I prefer kosher salt for its cleaner flavor)
1/2 tsp - 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 c. beef broth/stock (I use 2 tsp beef base from Sam's Club + 2 cups boiling water, which costs pennies and tastes great)
Worcestershire sauce to taste, at least 1 tsp and up to 1 T
2 tsp tomato paste (can substitute in ketchup, but I prefer to use the less sweet, whole foods option of tomato paste)
2-3 lb cubed red meat - beef sirloin tips, beef stew meat, venison chucks, etc.
Optional: 1/2 c. chopped green onions and 1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
Thickening paste: 3 T flour or cornstarch + 1/4 cup dry red wine, water, or broth (cool, not hot!)
Combine the flour, salt, and pepper and toss with the meat cubes to coat thoroughly. Place in a crockpot. If using green onions and mushrooms, add those.
Combine beef broth, worcestershire sauce, and tomato paste. Pour over everything in the crockpot, and stir well. Cover and cook on low setting for 7-12 hours. Crockpots vary, so check after 7 hours for doneness!
One hour before serving, turn to high setting. Make the thickening paste by stirring together the flour/cornstarch and the liquid until smooth, then stir into crockpot. If you add flour or cornstarch to a hot liquid, it will clump. Mixing it into a cool liquid first results in a thickener that doesn't clump.
Mashed potatoes from the freezer: make extra mashed potatoes, then portion the cool mashed potatoes into quart or gallon freezer bags (1 cup is a nice individual portion, and you can do 1 cup portions in sandwich bags and then put two sandwich bags in a quart bag or several into a gallon bag). I like to lay them on a cutting board and press flat, freeze, then I can stack them easily or stand them on end, plus they are only 1/2" thick or so which speeds up reheating. Reheating takes only minutes in the microwave.
Roasted Green Beans
Experience has made it possible for me to throw any roasted vegetable together. General rule of thumb: 1 lb vegetable (green beans, asparagus, radishes, onions, brussels sprouts, cauliflower) + 2-3 tsp olive oil + 1/2 tsp kosher salt or sea salt + 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper. Roast at a high temperature such as 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Times vary for each vegetable because of size and initial crispness. Green beans, wax beans, and asparagus take about 8 minutes, while brussels sprouts take closer to 45, cauliflower takes about 25. Vegetables can be placed into a gallon zipper bag with oil and seasonings poured in on top, bag closed, shaken, then poured into a shallow baking pan that can accommodate the vegetables in a single layer.
Vegan Raspberry Mocha Cake
3 c. flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. cocoa
1/4 c. oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 T vinegar dissolved in 1/4 c. water
3/4 c. strong brewed coffee or espresso (I've added 1 tsp instant coffee to 3/4 c. regular coffee)
3/4 c. raspberry preserves (I'm using homemade red raspberry jam, but I don't see why seedless raspberry jelly couldn't be used for those who hate the seeds!)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 cake pan or two round cake pans (guessing on this one since the recipe didn't give a pan size, just said "cake pans").
Mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, and cocoa in a large mixing bowl.
Slowly incorporate into the dry mix the oil and vanilla, then the vinegar in water, coffee, and raspberry preserves. When batter is well mixed, it will be smooth and creamy.
Pour into prepared cake pan(s) and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean with no cake/batter clinging to it.
Cool before frosting or sprinkling with powdered sugar.
Recipe from http://vegetarian.about.com.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Thank Goodness for Freezers and Crockpots!
Creamy grain with splashes of brilliant red and flashes of tart sweet flavor laced with cinnamon. Golden brown and buttery outside and soft, feathery, pale on the inside. Slightly sweet, medium dark hot liquid smoothing across my palette. I call it all breakfast! Oatmeal with soy milk and spiced cranberry preserves stirred in, parker house rolls reheated from the freezer, hot blueberry-peach rooibos (red) tea, all made in under 10 minutes and a recipe for keeping me going through the morning! Even better, the kids have chosen breakfast from the freezer too - waffles for S and pumpkin pancakes for C. Every time I make waffles, pancakes, or muffins for breakfast, I freeze them and bag them so that I can pull them out any time and have hot breakfast in under a minute from the microwave. Tip: use a large cutting board or even a baking sheet, and place all of the items you want to freeze, such as muffins, on it and then place in the freezer. When they are frozen, you can safely put them all in a bag without them sticking together! This is called flash freezing.
Okay, so breakfast is under control. Lunch will be sandwiches. Dinner is my next problem. Tonight I work at 6, so A will eat with the kids while I have to eat earlier. What to make that A won't have to fuss with the moment he comes in the door, especially since he's not an avid cook? Often the solution is something from the crockpot, and tonight is no different. It's only supposed to be 75 degrees today, and we have the added wrinkle of tonight C is supposed to be having her first sleepover at a friend's house down the road, so I want something that can sit in the crockpot and still be good at 8:00 if that is when A finally gets to eat. My solution today is chili. I'll do our all-time favorite recipe, which also happens to be one of the healthiest recipes I've ever had. It is also a recipe that can be almost completely done locavore (eating local foods) and is definitely whole foods. No health mysteries, and it meets the needs for my dairy and egg yolk allergies and the Feingold diet we try to do for S's Asperger's Syndrome. Also, the greatest beauty of chili is that it freezes well and can be used in a variety of ways. I will freeze leftovers in 1 cup portions using those plastic re-usable snack containers then popping them out and putting two to a quart freezer bag. The frozen chili can be reheated and mixed with nacho cheese for a dip, put on top of baked potatoes, used to make chili fries, or eaten just as a bowl of chili.
S and C are picky, so S might eat the chili and C won't. As usual, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, rolls, and applesauce will be offered. Whenever I make fresh rolls, I put the extra ones in the freezer, so the family has a variety of rolls to choose from for dinner tonight.
Best Bean Chili
1 lb lean ground beef or turkey
1 1/2 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped green pepper
2 tsp minced garlic
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
*Note: I mix and match 2-3 cans of beans, using kidney, pinto, black, butter, northern, etc.
3 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes with green chiles or 3 cans diced tomatoes and 1-2 small cans diced chiles
2 T brown sugar
1 T unsweetened cocoa powder
2 T chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
Brown meat in a skillet, adding onions, pepper, and garlic and cooking for 5 minutes more.
Place all ingredients in a 6 quart crockpot and cook on low for at least 5 hours and up to 12 hours.
Recipe from the Bean Education and Awareness Network (B.E.A.N.).
Okay, so breakfast is under control. Lunch will be sandwiches. Dinner is my next problem. Tonight I work at 6, so A will eat with the kids while I have to eat earlier. What to make that A won't have to fuss with the moment he comes in the door, especially since he's not an avid cook? Often the solution is something from the crockpot, and tonight is no different. It's only supposed to be 75 degrees today, and we have the added wrinkle of tonight C is supposed to be having her first sleepover at a friend's house down the road, so I want something that can sit in the crockpot and still be good at 8:00 if that is when A finally gets to eat. My solution today is chili. I'll do our all-time favorite recipe, which also happens to be one of the healthiest recipes I've ever had. It is also a recipe that can be almost completely done locavore (eating local foods) and is definitely whole foods. No health mysteries, and it meets the needs for my dairy and egg yolk allergies and the Feingold diet we try to do for S's Asperger's Syndrome. Also, the greatest beauty of chili is that it freezes well and can be used in a variety of ways. I will freeze leftovers in 1 cup portions using those plastic re-usable snack containers then popping them out and putting two to a quart freezer bag. The frozen chili can be reheated and mixed with nacho cheese for a dip, put on top of baked potatoes, used to make chili fries, or eaten just as a bowl of chili.
S and C are picky, so S might eat the chili and C won't. As usual, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, rolls, and applesauce will be offered. Whenever I make fresh rolls, I put the extra ones in the freezer, so the family has a variety of rolls to choose from for dinner tonight.
Best Bean Chili
1 lb lean ground beef or turkey
1 1/2 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped green pepper
2 tsp minced garlic
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
*Note: I mix and match 2-3 cans of beans, using kidney, pinto, black, butter, northern, etc.
3 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes with green chiles or 3 cans diced tomatoes and 1-2 small cans diced chiles
2 T brown sugar
1 T unsweetened cocoa powder
2 T chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
Brown meat in a skillet, adding onions, pepper, and garlic and cooking for 5 minutes more.
Place all ingredients in a 6 quart crockpot and cook on low for at least 5 hours and up to 12 hours.
Recipe from the Bean Education and Awareness Network (B.E.A.N.).
Monday, August 3, 2009
Cooking on an August Monday
The garden is slow this year because we've been struggling to hit 80 degrees, but the green beans and the wax beans are doing just fine and have arrived! Use or lose it, so I guess we're having beans for dinner. This is how most of my meals start out - I have lots of this or I need to use up that, and a meal builds around a specific element. Today I picked a couple quarts of green beans and wax beans, and I know that the meat we have the most of in the freezer is venison, so it's looking like venison and beans are my two elements for the day!
I saw a recipe the other day for a tossed salad that used a raspberry vinaigrette and candied pecans, and I think I can adapt that to go with steamed beans. Okay, we have a plan! I'm going to steam a combination of golden wax beans and bright green beans, then drizzle with fruit vinaigrette and sprinkle candied pecans on top. In fact, I have some cherry vinegar that has been steeping in the cabinet for almost a month now, so I should be able to make a simple dressing using cherry vinegar!
Now what to do with the venison? I retrieved from the freezer two pieces totalling 2 lb 13 oz so that I can have some leftover venison for another use later this week. One piece is definitely thicker than the other, so I'm going to thaw them in the microwave, then cut the thicker piece in half to make three equal thickness pieces. I'm going to marinate it in a simple balsamic garlic vinaigrette then we'll grill them tonight.
The kids aren't much for eating meats, and they are pretty picky about vegetables, so we need a third part of our meal that they'll be happy to eat. Tonight, I think that will be a new recipe: soft honey dinner buns, recipe courtesy of http://www.cookingbread.com/. They sound great, and the kids will be quite happy to spread jam across them and eat a couple. I'll get some veggie in at lunch time and let dinner be bread and fruit!
Add in some homemade applesauce from the pantry, a variety of homemade pickles and jams, and this should be a tasty, well balanced, and easy meal! The colors should be wonderful, too: the deep brown of the outside of the venison plus the pink tinted interior, the gently glowing wax beans with the brilliant green beans topped off with the rich nut pieces and the vinaigrette, the beautiful golden rolls, the bright colors of the jams and of the pickled carrots, garlic, and cucumbers. Crayola should never hire me to name crayons - they'd all be food colors!
Cherry Vinaigrette
1/4 c. cherry vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper
Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. Makes about 3/4 cup. Recipe from *The Big Book of Potluck* by Maryana Vollstedt.
Candied Pecans
1 T. butter or margarine
1 T. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. pecan or walnut halves (I'm using pieces because that is what I have)
In a small skillet over medium heat, melt butter and then stir in brown sugar. Add nuts and stir. Cook about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Dry on a piece of foil and separate so they won't stick together. Cool and store in an air-tight container. Makes 1/2 cup. Recipe from *The Big Book of Potluck* by Maryana Vollstedt.
Balsamic-Garlic Vinaigrette
2/3 c. olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T red wine vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
Whisk together all the ingredients in a bowl. Makes about 1 cup. Recipe from *The Big Book of Potluck* by Maryana Vollstedt.
I saw a recipe the other day for a tossed salad that used a raspberry vinaigrette and candied pecans, and I think I can adapt that to go with steamed beans. Okay, we have a plan! I'm going to steam a combination of golden wax beans and bright green beans, then drizzle with fruit vinaigrette and sprinkle candied pecans on top. In fact, I have some cherry vinegar that has been steeping in the cabinet for almost a month now, so I should be able to make a simple dressing using cherry vinegar!
Now what to do with the venison? I retrieved from the freezer two pieces totalling 2 lb 13 oz so that I can have some leftover venison for another use later this week. One piece is definitely thicker than the other, so I'm going to thaw them in the microwave, then cut the thicker piece in half to make three equal thickness pieces. I'm going to marinate it in a simple balsamic garlic vinaigrette then we'll grill them tonight.
The kids aren't much for eating meats, and they are pretty picky about vegetables, so we need a third part of our meal that they'll be happy to eat. Tonight, I think that will be a new recipe: soft honey dinner buns, recipe courtesy of http://www.cookingbread.com/. They sound great, and the kids will be quite happy to spread jam across them and eat a couple. I'll get some veggie in at lunch time and let dinner be bread and fruit!
Add in some homemade applesauce from the pantry, a variety of homemade pickles and jams, and this should be a tasty, well balanced, and easy meal! The colors should be wonderful, too: the deep brown of the outside of the venison plus the pink tinted interior, the gently glowing wax beans with the brilliant green beans topped off with the rich nut pieces and the vinaigrette, the beautiful golden rolls, the bright colors of the jams and of the pickled carrots, garlic, and cucumbers. Crayola should never hire me to name crayons - they'd all be food colors!
Cherry Vinaigrette
1/4 c. cherry vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper
Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. Makes about 3/4 cup. Recipe from *The Big Book of Potluck* by Maryana Vollstedt.
Candied Pecans
1 T. butter or margarine
1 T. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. pecan or walnut halves (I'm using pieces because that is what I have)
In a small skillet over medium heat, melt butter and then stir in brown sugar. Add nuts and stir. Cook about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Dry on a piece of foil and separate so they won't stick together. Cool and store in an air-tight container. Makes 1/2 cup. Recipe from *The Big Book of Potluck* by Maryana Vollstedt.
Balsamic-Garlic Vinaigrette
2/3 c. olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T red wine vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
Whisk together all the ingredients in a bowl. Makes about 1 cup. Recipe from *The Big Book of Potluck* by Maryana Vollstedt.
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