I served it over mashed potatoes which I think helps. The Hubs and L really enjoyed it and we had enough for lunch tomorrow. YAY!
Keeping this one short - try it!!!!
Enjoy - Be well!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Beef Bourguignon
I channeled my inner Julia Childs for this dish - well, actually, I got the recipe from Clinton Kelly on The Chew (my new favorite talk show!). I remember this from Julie and Julia as being a difficult dish to make. I didn't find it difficult at all, just took a while to get it cooking and then it has to simmer for a couple of hours. I'm not going to item by item the recipe but would highly recommend everyone try it. I have been trying to make a good beef stew for years, this one may take a while but this is it - I won't try another one!
I served it over mashed potatoes which I think helps. The Hubs and L really enjoyed it and we had enough for lunch tomorrow. YAY!
Keeping this one short - try it!!!!
Enjoy - Be well!
I served it over mashed potatoes which I think helps. The Hubs and L really enjoyed it and we had enough for lunch tomorrow. YAY!
Keeping this one short - try it!!!!
Enjoy - Be well!
Spaghetti Squash Fritters
YUM! I've made spaghetti squash in the past, roasted and shredded it then added sauce as if it were spaghetti. The hubs wasn't a fan so I didn't make it anymore. Oh but then I saw it on The Chew (a cooking talk show) and decided I needed to try it again. So very glad I did!
It takes a bit of time to make because you have to roast the squash and let it cool before you can make the fritters. Once the squash is cooled, shred it with a fork on to a towel an wring it out well to get out as much water as possible. Combine the squash with one egg, 4 oz of crumbled blue cheese, some flour, orange zest, a green onion (including the white portion), nutmeg and sage (I forgot the nutmeg and don't have any sage). I fried in a shallow pan of canola oil and put on a paper towel lined plate to drain, sprinkled with coarse salt and more orange zest. They were soooo good!
I had a bit of a conundrum though, what was I supposed to do with the remaining blue cheese, green onion and the orange? The Hubs sauteed some thin chicken breast, when it was close to being finished, we added the onion, some of the blue cheese and orange slices (I peeled the orange with the knife and sliced). He degalzed the pan with some nice white wine. This carried the flavors of the fritter over to the chicken.
I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious dinner turned out!I highly recommend you try the fritters - the exact recipe can be found at: http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Michael-Symon-Spaghetti-Squash-Fritters
Enjoy - Be well!
It takes a bit of time to make because you have to roast the squash and let it cool before you can make the fritters. Once the squash is cooled, shred it with a fork on to a towel an wring it out well to get out as much water as possible. Combine the squash with one egg, 4 oz of crumbled blue cheese, some flour, orange zest, a green onion (including the white portion), nutmeg and sage (I forgot the nutmeg and don't have any sage). I fried in a shallow pan of canola oil and put on a paper towel lined plate to drain, sprinkled with coarse salt and more orange zest. They were soooo good!
I had a bit of a conundrum though, what was I supposed to do with the remaining blue cheese, green onion and the orange? The Hubs sauteed some thin chicken breast, when it was close to being finished, we added the onion, some of the blue cheese and orange slices (I peeled the orange with the knife and sliced). He degalzed the pan with some nice white wine. This carried the flavors of the fritter over to the chicken.
I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious dinner turned out!I highly recommend you try the fritters - the exact recipe can be found at: http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Michael-Symon-Spaghetti-Squash-Fritters
Enjoy - Be well!
Potato Corn Chowder
I am a fan of a really good soup - that has not always been the case! I got a ton of recipe cards in the mail a million years ago. One night I couldn't decide what to make for dinner so I went through the cards and found one for a potato soup that calls for something like three medium potatoes, ham and cheese. Yeah, not my idea of a good soup - I really don't like ham (or bacon) in my dishes unless I'm eating ham for dinner.
Needless to say, I modified the recipe! I use five to six potatoes, depending on the size, cut them into 1" pieces that I bring to a boil and cook to almost done - I like them to be a bit on the firm side so they will hold up during the remainder of the cooking time. I reserve a cup of the potato water before draining. I use the same pot - melt butter and saute an onion then add flour to make a roux - at this time you would add any seasoning you'd like, for example; chili powder, paprika and cyanne pepper to make it south west style. Add in the potato water, 3 cups of milk, the potatoes and a table spoon of sugar (I use a packet of Truvia). Bring that up to a boil and add a bag of frozen peas (I use the steam fresh bags). Bring it back to a boil, reduce to a simmer and add a cup of shredded cheese. Let it simmer for 30 minutes but make sure you stir it pretty often because the cheese will sink to the bottom and not really mix well - sometimes I add it at the very end, just before I serve it. Too keep consistent with the recipe - to keep the Hubs and L happy - to bake some bacon to top the soup.
Love this soup! It's very versatile and really good the next day.
Enjoy - Be well!
Needless to say, I modified the recipe! I use five to six potatoes, depending on the size, cut them into 1" pieces that I bring to a boil and cook to almost done - I like them to be a bit on the firm side so they will hold up during the remainder of the cooking time. I reserve a cup of the potato water before draining. I use the same pot - melt butter and saute an onion then add flour to make a roux - at this time you would add any seasoning you'd like, for example; chili powder, paprika and cyanne pepper to make it south west style. Add in the potato water, 3 cups of milk, the potatoes and a table spoon of sugar (I use a packet of Truvia). Bring that up to a boil and add a bag of frozen peas (I use the steam fresh bags). Bring it back to a boil, reduce to a simmer and add a cup of shredded cheese. Let it simmer for 30 minutes but make sure you stir it pretty often because the cheese will sink to the bottom and not really mix well - sometimes I add it at the very end, just before I serve it. Too keep consistent with the recipe - to keep the Hubs and L happy - to bake some bacon to top the soup.
Love this soup! It's very versatile and really good the next day.
Enjoy - Be well!
Calzone
It's been a while and I was supposed to make a video of me cooking the calzone, that, however, is proving to be difficult to do - a lot of balls in the air right now!
I am still cooking though! I got a recipe from a magazine to make feta and cream cheese stuffed chicken (for another day), then I have a recipe from our church cookbook that was for calzones, with chicken and veggies, which gave me the idea. I take the feta/cream cheese mixture add a bag of mixed veggies (I buy the steam fresh, cook in the microwave) and cooked chicken finely chopped and combine it in a bowl - needs to be a good size bowl because this makes quite a bit of filling. Your supposed to use 1/2 cup of feta and 2 Tbs of cream cheese, I don't - I use quite a bit more of both to make the whole mixture creamer. Remember to let the cream cheese come to room temp otherwise, it will be hard to mix though the hot veggies will soften everything.
Once all the ingredients are combined, I roll out a can of Pillsbury thin crust pizza dough, spread out the mixture - evenly, then use a second can pf thin crust pizza dough for the top, you can brush melted butter on top or PAM to make the crust brown up. I bake it for 15-20 minutes on a 375 oven.
This makes a very large calzone - really too big for the three of us - so it's good for a pot-luck or a large group event. I have make the same mix and instead of making one big calzone, I made a perogie type appetizer. For those, I use pre-made pie crust (also Pillsbury), unroll it and cut to the size you want, from there, put a small scoop of the mix in the middle and fold the dough over or top with a second same size piece, use an egg wash to keep the dough sealed and bake 20-25 minutes on a 350 oven. Follow the baking time on the package.
Enjoy - Be well!
I am still cooking though! I got a recipe from a magazine to make feta and cream cheese stuffed chicken (for another day), then I have a recipe from our church cookbook that was for calzones, with chicken and veggies, which gave me the idea. I take the feta/cream cheese mixture add a bag of mixed veggies (I buy the steam fresh, cook in the microwave) and cooked chicken finely chopped and combine it in a bowl - needs to be a good size bowl because this makes quite a bit of filling. Your supposed to use 1/2 cup of feta and 2 Tbs of cream cheese, I don't - I use quite a bit more of both to make the whole mixture creamer. Remember to let the cream cheese come to room temp otherwise, it will be hard to mix though the hot veggies will soften everything.
Once all the ingredients are combined, I roll out a can of Pillsbury thin crust pizza dough, spread out the mixture - evenly, then use a second can pf thin crust pizza dough for the top, you can brush melted butter on top or PAM to make the crust brown up. I bake it for 15-20 minutes on a 375 oven.
This makes a very large calzone - really too big for the three of us - so it's good for a pot-luck or a large group event. I have make the same mix and instead of making one big calzone, I made a perogie type appetizer. For those, I use pre-made pie crust (also Pillsbury), unroll it and cut to the size you want, from there, put a small scoop of the mix in the middle and fold the dough over or top with a second same size piece, use an egg wash to keep the dough sealed and bake 20-25 minutes on a 350 oven. Follow the baking time on the package.
Enjoy - Be well!
Friday, October 21, 2011
Back to work :-/
It's been a while since I posted - I've returned to work this week and well, am not the happiest person but as I keep telling myself, "if I want pretty things and a roof over my head NOT made of cardboard, I must work!".
Having said that, tonight I am making calzone for dinner. How is that healthful meal, you ask, I'll tell you - I make it with canned thin crust pizza dough, chicken, veggies, cream cheese and feta cheese. This is very easy and I'll go into more detail later - this was just a little tease to make you hungry!
I am planning on making potato/corn chowder on Sunday and hope to record it for my next how to meal. As for make over dishes, I made Paula Dean's Red Velvet Cake (as cup cakes) and frosted it with a cream cheese frosting recipe I got from Splenda. They were very tasty! I love Paul Dean, she has a new cookbook out and is currently on a book signing tour, hope I can meet her if she comes this way!!
Enjoy - Be well!
Having said that, tonight I am making calzone for dinner. How is that healthful meal, you ask, I'll tell you - I make it with canned thin crust pizza dough, chicken, veggies, cream cheese and feta cheese. This is very easy and I'll go into more detail later - this was just a little tease to make you hungry!
I am planning on making potato/corn chowder on Sunday and hope to record it for my next how to meal. As for make over dishes, I made Paula Dean's Red Velvet Cake (as cup cakes) and frosted it with a cream cheese frosting recipe I got from Splenda. They were very tasty! I love Paul Dean, she has a new cookbook out and is currently on a book signing tour, hope I can meet her if she comes this way!!
Enjoy - Be well!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
B, L, T and P soup - in a bread bowl!
Dinner, last night, we really enjoyed a B, L, T and P soup - Bacon, Leek, Tomato and Potato soup - which I served in toasted bread bowls. I got the recipe from the Food Network website, it's a Rachel Ray dish.
I changed it up just a bit. The recipe called for cooking the bacon in the soup pot and then cooking the veggies in the bacon fat and olive oil...I didn't do that. I baked the bacon and used it as a garnish. This is one to make again and again, however, I would add my own twists to it. The bacon added a needed flavor but we feel the soup needs a boost - the next time I make it, I think I'm going to skip the bacon but add some turkey kielbasa. We thought chicken wouldn't hold up so well but a sausage would the kicker is, I don't like sausage.
A few suggestions for making soup - any type - unless you make your own stock (who has time for that?) use reduced sodium stock; if the soup calls for canned tomatoes (as this one does) use reduced sodium. You can always add more salt but once it's there, it's there. I'm not a salt person and have recently started cooking with sea salt - it makes a huge difference. Having said that, I want to be in control of how much salt I eat - and especially the hubs and kids.
The bread bowl...well, that was simply a small hefty roll of bread I bought at the bakery in the super market. You'll want to get one that is crusty on the outside but has soft inside. I sliced off a small portion of the top, making a lid, and scooped out a good amount of the inside making a vessel to pour the soup in - keep some bread in the bowl to absorb the broth. From there, I baked the bowls and lids in a 375 degree oven for about 10 minutes to make the nice and toasty. Once everything is done, I poured the soup into the bowls and added more broth so the bowl didn't absorb all the broth.
Left overs - yep, we had left overs! The hubs took a huge bowl to work, a couple pieces of bacon and two slices of chibatta bread. I had a smaller bowl (considerably compared to his...) with a few pieces of the left over bread bowl middles and a few thin, almost thick shreds, of extra sharp cheddar cheese - I skipped the bacon. It was really good, almost thinking it was even better today than yesterday.
A very satisfying dish to say the least! Makes the hamburgers we're having tonight seem boring....wah-wah-waaaaaaaaaah! ;-)
Enjoy - Be well!
I changed it up just a bit. The recipe called for cooking the bacon in the soup pot and then cooking the veggies in the bacon fat and olive oil...I didn't do that. I baked the bacon and used it as a garnish. This is one to make again and again, however, I would add my own twists to it. The bacon added a needed flavor but we feel the soup needs a boost - the next time I make it, I think I'm going to skip the bacon but add some turkey kielbasa. We thought chicken wouldn't hold up so well but a sausage would the kicker is, I don't like sausage.
A few suggestions for making soup - any type - unless you make your own stock (who has time for that?) use reduced sodium stock; if the soup calls for canned tomatoes (as this one does) use reduced sodium. You can always add more salt but once it's there, it's there. I'm not a salt person and have recently started cooking with sea salt - it makes a huge difference. Having said that, I want to be in control of how much salt I eat - and especially the hubs and kids.
The bread bowl...well, that was simply a small hefty roll of bread I bought at the bakery in the super market. You'll want to get one that is crusty on the outside but has soft inside. I sliced off a small portion of the top, making a lid, and scooped out a good amount of the inside making a vessel to pour the soup in - keep some bread in the bowl to absorb the broth. From there, I baked the bowls and lids in a 375 degree oven for about 10 minutes to make the nice and toasty. Once everything is done, I poured the soup into the bowls and added more broth so the bowl didn't absorb all the broth.
Left overs - yep, we had left overs! The hubs took a huge bowl to work, a couple pieces of bacon and two slices of chibatta bread. I had a smaller bowl (considerably compared to his...) with a few pieces of the left over bread bowl middles and a few thin, almost thick shreds, of extra sharp cheddar cheese - I skipped the bacon. It was really good, almost thinking it was even better today than yesterday.
A very satisfying dish to say the least! Makes the hamburgers we're having tonight seem boring....wah-wah-waaaaaaaaaah! ;-)
Enjoy - Be well!
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