Cheddar Potato Broccoli Soup

This was something I decided to do to use up the baby red potatoes, 2 heads of broccoli and 1 head of cauliflower we had in the fridge that needed to be used.   Turns out today was a good day to do it, too, because it looks like it might rain at the moment.  Anyway, it's a super simple recipe that gives great results.  I think I will try this again sometime!

Cheddar Potato Broccoli Soup

1 or 2 bunches of broccoli, chopped into small florets
1 head of cauliflower, chopped into small florets
1/2 lb red or russet potatoes, diced
1 stick of butter
1/3 c flour
1 small onion, diced
1 or 2 c sharp cheddar cheese (if you get it pretty sharp it will flavor enough that you don't need as much)
1  12 oz can evaporated milk
3 cans chicken broth or stock (about 6 cups)
1/2 tsp salt
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 tsp onion powder

Melt butter in a large saucepan or stock pot.  Add onions and cook for a few minutes until they are tender. then add your flour.  Add the first 2 cans and stir well til the mixture thickens.  Add your evaporated milk, then your broccoli and cauliflower and potatoes, and the other can of broth and stir well to combine.  Stir in the cheese til it melts and combines with everything else.  Simmer on medium heat til potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Then add your seasonings, simmer another 5 minutes and then serve warm with some of your favorite bread.

Spanish Rice

This was something my mom usually did from a box, but I decided to do from scratch today just because we needed to use up some leftover taco meat from last week.   It was pretty simple, generally the same method as the box Mom used, but I used my own ingredients.  This is a one skillet meal, no need for extra veggies or meat or carbs, because everything is in there.  Quick, cheap, and so flavorful.

Spanish Rice

1 1/2 c white rice
2 tbsp butter
taco seasoning, about a teaspoon
about a teaspoon of onion powder
1 can diced tomatoes
2 1/2 c water
leftover taco meat, about a cup or so. (or you could use 1/2 to 1 lb ground beef and half a can each of corn and black beans)

Melt the butter in a medium large skillet.  Add the rice and cook together for about 2 minutes, the rice should start to turn golden.  Add onion powder and taco seasoning and stir well to coat rice.  Add your tomatoes and water and taco meat, and then cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.  Serve hot with grated cheese if you wish.

Mustard Rosemary Garlic Marinade

Ok kids, this is the amazing recipe that my grandparents used to use on lamb every Easter when I was a kid growing up.  Papa would get a boneless leg of lamb, butterfly it, and then marinate it in this fabulous mixture for a few days before grilling it perfectly and serving it with delicious roasted potatoes and other amazing food.  Yep, I have grandparents that double as gourmet cooks.  Probably where my mom got her love of cooking, and maybe where I adopted it from too.  So you can thank Grandma and Papa for this one, and maybe me too, just for sharing.  It's meant for lamb, of course, but you can use it for chicken too (the ingredients go really well with the flavor of chicken, too.  And I can't afford lamb right now, so that's what it ended up on here...)

Mustard Rosemary Garlic Marinade

1 small onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 c extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c lemon juice
1/4 c rosemary, chopped
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp mustard seed, or course ground mustard
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

This makes a lot of marinade, so you might want to downsize it a bit if you aren't doing the whole leg of lamb.  As I said before, it's made for a 8-9 lb leg of lamb, boneless and butterflied.   So if you want to make chicken, it would probably be delicious on a whole chicken, or on LOTS of chicken pieces.  :)

Just mix all of the above ingredients in a large ziplock bag, add the meat, and then mash it around and place in the fridge for a day or so before cooking.  If you are doing lamb, Grandma says to grill the meat 10 minutes per side, after bringing it to room temperature.  If you are cooking a whole chicken, cook it like you would a roast chicken.  If you are doing boneless skinless chicken breasts, pound them thin before you put it in the marinade, and then fry it in a bit of oil in a saute pan.  Slice thin and serve with the roasted potatoes posted previously.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

We had some crazy weather yesterday so we decided to switch the plans on the menu.  So last night I made stuffed acorn squash, and tonight Jeff is cooking on is outdoor wok, a recipe which will be posted tomorrow.  Some of you may remember I posted a stuffed squash recipe a couple years back from Alton Brown's reportoire on Food Network's website (which can be found here).  This time I kind of took inspiration from him but made up my own recipe as I went along.  I am sorry I dont have a picture this time, I forgot to take one last night, and Jeff took the rest of it to work today for lunch.  I will work on finding a picture for you, or you can look at the one Alton has with his, by clicking on the link provided.

If you are doing this from the Bountiful Basket we got over the weekend, this recipe will use both your acorn squash and your spinach.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

1-4 acorn squashes, depending on size.  Ours was big this time, so I just did one.
1 c cooked rice
1 c pork sausage
2 c chopped spinach (if fresh.  if frozen, only 1 cup) rinsed and shaken dry (or squeezed dry if frozen)
4 oz sliced white button mushrooms
1 tbsp butter (you may need 2 or 3 if you are making multiple squashes)
Optional ingredients: parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup), toasted pine nuts (about 1/4 cup)

Cut the tops off your acorn squash(s), and scoop out the seeds.  Cut just a little bit off the bottom, just so the squash sits flat on the bottom of your baking dish (only about 1/4 in or less).  Set aside.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a skillet, brown and crumble your sausage.    When sausage is fully cooked, add your mushrooms and cook til they are slightly browned and cooked all the way through.  Add the rice next, stirring til combined well, and then add the spinach, which will probably seem like it's way too big for the pan. Don't worry, it will wilt into everything and shrink quite a bit.  After the spinach has wilted, add your optional ingredients if you choose.

Put half the butter in the bottom of the squash and then fill the cavity with the stuffing, then place the other half of the butter on top, and then top with the top of the squash.  Place in preheated oven and bake for 1 hour.  If you have extra stuffing, you may also bake that for about 15 minutes just before you are ready to take out the squash.

You will know when its done by sticking a fork in it.  It should be soft, but not mushy.  Quarter the squash, and then serve hot.  No need for veggies or meat because its all included.  Enjoy!

Mini Meatloaf, Baked Potatoes, and Asparagus

That's what we had for dinner tonight.  It was pretty good, so I think I will blog it for you all.  You can always use the same recipe to make a big meatloaf (or rather, normal sized meatloaf), I just had a husband who wanted what he called "pub steaks."  So I did my best and it was more like meatloaf, I just didn't add bell peppers or mushrooms or other things I sometimes add to meatloaf.  I should clarify that when I make meatloaf, it's never really a specific recipe.  It's more like whatever I have in the fridge that I think will be good in it, which means anything that tastes good with beef.  Sometimes I will even do half sausage and half ground beef....it just depends on my mood and what I want it to taste like...  So here is tonight's recipe.

Baked Potatoes

(not really a recipe, but we adopted this method from Alton Brown from Good Eats on Food Network and we will never go back)

1 potato per person eating (I did a few extra to make fries or hashbrowns with later)
olive oil
coarse ground kosher sea salt

Wash and poke potatoes with a sharp knife or fork.  On a cookie sheet or baking sheet, place your potatoes.  Pour a little olive oil on each one, and then rub it all over the potato, and then sprinkle the salt to cover all sides.  Place baking sheet in a 400 degree oven, and bake for an hour.  The result will be tender fluffy potato inside, and a nice crisp crusty peel....yummy!

Mini Meatloaf

1 lb ground beef
1/2 a white onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced finely
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 c oatmeal or plain breadcrumbs
1 egg
1/2 tsp dried rosemary

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl (I use my hands, but you can also use a spatula or something).  Shape into mini loaves or little football shapes, and place on a greased baking sheet.  Bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees.

Asparagus

1 bunch of asparagus, ends snapped off
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced fine
salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
juice of half a lemon
1/4 c water

Over medium high heat, heat olive oil.  Add your asparagus and then your garlic.  Saute just til asparagus is almost bright green.  Add your water, and then the dijon, along with the salt, pepper, and lemon juice.  Continue to cook til asparagus is bright green and water is fully absorbed.  Serve hot with baked potato and your mini meatloaf.

Roast Chicken, Take Two

Okay, I know I posted roast chicken already, about 2 weeks ago, but I made it again tonight and it turned out much better this time.  So I am going to post the better recipe tonight.  I hope you don't mind the redundancy. the other recipe is good too, just this one was better.  And I found a better cooking method too.  So here we go...

Roast Chicken

1 whole chicken (not the little fryers, but the ones in the shrink wrap marked "young chicken")
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
3 or 4 sprigs of rosemary, leaves stripped from stems
1 tsp garlic powder
3 sprigs fresh thyme, stripped from stems
1 or 2 carrots cut into sticks
1 onion, sliced thin
celery stalks, cut into sticks

A day before you plan to roast the chicken, remove from shrink wrap, remove neck and gizzards, and place in a large gallon sized ziplock bag, and add oil, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, garlic powder and thyme.  Mash the bag together and get the mix to coat the whole chicken.  Place bag on a large plate into the fridge and marinate for 24 hours.  Flip bag over 12 hours into the marinade.

Be aware, this recipe takes about an hour and a half to complete cooking.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  When ready to roast, place veggies in the bottom of a 9x13 cake pan.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and some salt and pepper.  This will serve as your "roasting rack" and also helps you get good flavors for your drippings to turn into some tasty gravy.  Place the marinated chicken on top of veggies, and pour all of the marinade on top of the chicken.  Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, and then drop the temperature to 350 degrees.  Continue to roast an additional hour, and then remove from the oven and let rest 10 minutes.  Carve  and serve.

Oven Fried Chicken

I forgot to take a picture of this one, so we will have to wait til the next time I decide to do this again to get the picture posted.  I made this to go with our collard greens tonight, and it was a hit.  Super easy to make, and tasty.  You should try it!

Oven Fried Chicken

3 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts, each cut in half, rinsed and patted dry
1/2 c all purpose flour
1/2 c cornmeal
1 tbsp cajun seasoning
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 c vegetable or canola oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a 13x9 baking dish, pour your oil--you should have about 1/4 to a half inch in the bottom of the pan.  Heat for about 10 minutes.  Combine flour, cornmeal, and seasonings in a large ziplock bag (just add everything and then seal and shake the bag).  Add chicken and shake til all pieces are well coated.  Using tongs, place the chicken in the oil and bake for about 15 minutes.  Flip the chicken pieces over and bake again for another 15 minutes.  Check to make sure pieces are fully cooked all the way through, and serve hot with your favorite dipping sauce.

Chicken and Dumplings

Alright, for some reason I have been craving these for a bit, and they seem to be a famous comfort food.   I remember Mom didn't make them very often when I was a kid, but I remember liking it a lot when she did.  There are a couple of ways of making this recipe, and I chose to use the way Mom used to.  The alternative way is to roll out your dough and cut it into squares and pour all of your chicken and veggies in a casserole pan and then place your biscuit dumplings on top of it all and bake it.  My mom just makes basically a thickened chicken soup and then drops biscuit dough into the pot with the soup.   So that's the approach I used this time.  I hope you enjoy this tasty winter comfort food!

Chicken and Dumplings

3 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
1 onion, diced fine
3 carrots, diced fine
3 medium potatoes, diced
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 quarts chicken STOCK (not broth, there's a bit of a difference, which I will go over at the bottom of this post)
1 tsp each of poultry seasoning, sage, and thyme
salt and pepper

2 1/4 c Bisquick or other biscuit mix
2/3 c milk
(you can also make homemade biscuit dough if you like.  my recipe is posted here.)

Melt butter in a large saucepan or stock pot.  Add onions and saute til translucent.  Add celery and carrots and continue to cook.  Sprinkle flour over veggies and stir till veggies are coated well.  Pour in your chicken stock and then stir;  add potatoes and chicken, and bring to a boil, then simmer on medium heat for about 10 to 15 minutes--till the chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender.  Add seasonings, and stir.

Mix your biscuit mix and milk together til you get a soft dough, but don't over mix.  Roll lightly into balls, and drop dumplings into your soup mixture, and then let cook for 5-10 minutes.  If you need to test them, take one out and cut it in half, it should look like bread inside but still have kind of a moist outside.

Serve warm.  You don't need any side dishes or anything for this because its kind of a one pot meal.  Makes it even better, not so many dishes to wash.  :)

NOTE:  When you see or hear the word stock versus the word broth, it basically means cooked down more.  So the flavors of stock are more concentrated and have more depth.  I am going to post my recipe for homemade chicken stock next, so check it out.  You can also buy stock at the grocery store in quart sized containers.  Yes, it is more expensive than broth because broth is faster to make and generally just made from chicken bones, rather than veggies too.

Roast Chicken with Roasted Parsnips and Sweet Potatoes

Okay, so tonight was about using a chicken I bought a few days ago and the sweet potatoes and parsnips that came in my Bountiful Basket.  It took twice as long as I expected, so next time I will start earlier.  Anyway, it turned out well, so here is my recipe so you can try it too.

Roast Chicken

1 whole chicken
1 onion, peeled and cut into medium wedges
3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
olive oil, salt and pepper
1 can chicken broth

Rinse chicken well and pat dry with a paper towel.  Rub with olive oil over whole thing and then sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper and maybe some sage if you have some.   Place breast side up on a roasting pan rack, and then stuff the cavity with half the onion and all of the garlic.  Spread the rest of the onion and the carrots onto the bottom of the pan and then pour the can of chicken broth over it.  You'll use the broth to baste the chicken every 20 minutes.   Set oven to 450 degrees, and place chicken in oven for 10 minutes; reduce heat in oven to 350.  Bake for 50 minutes.  Raise heat again to 450 and bake another 15 minutes.

Roasted Parsnips and Sweet Potatoes

3 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
5 sweet potatoes peeled and cut into chunks
1 clove garlic, smashed and peeled
1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Set oven to 450 degrees.  Place parsnips, sweet potatoes, garlic, oil, butter, and salt and pepper in some aluminum foil on a baking sheet.  Fold into packet and then bake for 1 hour.

Serve chicken with sweet potatoes and parsnips and carrots and onions.  :)

Beef Pot Pie

We had this for dinner tonight when my sister and brother in law came for dinner.  I took some ideas from Joy of Cooking, but mostly just inspiration and came up with my own filling.  It will definitely be a repeat though, we all liked it.   I will first give my pie crust recipe, also used in my Apple Pie recipe.  Here goes...

Beef Stew

Pie Crust

(for pot pie recipe, you will need two batches of the below recipe. But just to be careful, I always do pie crust one batch at a time.  Maybe I am paranoid, but pie crust is one of those finicky things that I am extra careful about.)

2 1/2 c all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp cold butter
3/4 c cold shortening
6-8 tbsp cold water

(Make sure the butter, shortening, and water are COLD.  Very important.)

Sift flour and salt together (YES, this is important too.  Helps keep it light and flaky)  Add butter and shortening, and cut in with a pastry blender til butter and shortening and flour form small pea shaped lumps.  Add cold water, a tablespoon at a time, but using half of them during the first addition (4 tbsp first, then mix lightly with a fork, and then add the rest one at a time til the dough forms and comes together just barely).  Do not over mix, and once it combines, divide in half, and carefully form (DO NOT KNEAD) into 2 discs and wrap tightly with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least one hour before rolling out.

Stew Filling

2 lbs stew meat, but I would halve the pieces so they are smaller, and therefore mix into the veggies more evenly
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
1/4 c worchestershire sauce
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp chopped rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
pinch sage
1 c finely chopped carrots
1 c finely chopped onion
1/4 c flour
2 c diced potato
1 c finely chopped celery
other things you can add or substitute: sliced mushrooms, peas, corn, or whatever other veggies you like.

Marinate the beef in the balsamic vinegar, oil, worchestershire, and herbs for at least an hour, would be better if you did for 2 hours (right about the time you start making the pie crust).  After marinating for a good amount of time, dump the meat and marinade into a large skillet over medium high heat.   Cook til cooked all the way through, and then add onions, carrots, and celery.  When carrots are tender (they are the crunchiest veggie in the mix), sprinkle flour over all of it, and stir to combine.  Add potatoes and about a cup or so of water, and simmer for approximately 20 minutes.  Potatoes do not need to be fully cooked, because they will finish in the oven, but you do need to take some of the edge off them so they are done at the same time as the pie crust.

Roll out your pie dough and place a layer of crust in the bottom of your pie dish or dishes (you can use these to make personal sized pies, or 2- 9 inch pies).  I put a crust in the bottom and on the top because I LOVE pie crust.  Fill the prepared pie dish with the stew mixture, and then top with another crust, and bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour for 2 pies, or 25 minutes if you do personal sized pies.

Serve with your favorite veggie, or just by itself.  One personal sized pot pie covers all of the major food groups, so you're good to go if you just eat that.  Enjoy!!

Pork Fried Rice -- Using Up Leftovers

So I had all of the leftover pork from the night before sitting in the fridge and I needed to use it up in some creative way so the family would eat it, and so it wasn't like eating the same thing over and over again.  So here is what I did....I added some veggies, diced up the pork, and stirred in all of the veggies, the apples, and the onions with some of the leftover rice I had served with it.  Turned into sort of a stir fried rice thing...and it was pretty good.  So enjoy!

Pork Fried Rice

1 1/2 c diced leftover pork tenderloin
Leftover juices and apples and onions from tenderloin
1/2 c carrots, diced fine
1/2 c corn
frozen peas would work in this too...whatever you have around.
3-4 c steamed rice, depending on how many people you are serving

In a skillet or wok, heat a bit of olive oil.  Add the pork, and cook til warmed and slightly browned.  Add carrots and apple/onion mixture, and keep cooking til carrots are tender.  Add rice and corn and whatever other veggies, and keep stirring til all mixed well and rice is heated through.  Serve warm.

Pork with Apples and Onions

This has to be one of my favorite ways to serve pork, and I thought since apples are in season right now, why not make it for dinner tonight?  It's in the broiler right now...and while I still remember what I did, I will tell you how to make it.

Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Onions

1-2 pork tenderloins
1/2 tsp each of coriander, cumin, turmeric, ginger, and cloves
1/4 c salt, plus a pinch
1 tsp pepper
1/4 c brown sugar
4-5 medium to small apples, cored and sliced very thin
1 large white onion, sliced thin
2 tbsp butter
1/2 c apple juice or cider

About 2 hours before you plan to start cooking, mix together the spices, salt, pepper, and brown sugar in a large bowl.  Once you have blended everything well, place pork tenderloins into the bowl and coat well with your rub mixture.  Let sit in fridge for 2 hours.

Place tenderloins in a roasting pan and cover with all of the leftover rub (which will now be liquidy from the pork juices and sugar).  Melt the butter in a large skillet, and then sweat your onions in the melted butter.  Add a little salt and once your onions are tender, add your apples to the skillet.  Add your apple juice after a bit of cooking and just cook the apples to barely tender.  Dump this mixture over the top of your pork, and then broil pork for 15 to 20 minutes, flipping over halfway through.

 Let the meat rest after taking it out of the oven and then slice into 1/4 inch slices.  Serve with either potatoes or rice and your favorite vegetable.

Pasta with Ricotta and Peas

This recipe idea was inspired from watching Rachael Ray one morning and it sounded pretty good to me.  Simple and tasty.  I love ricotta cheese, and the fresh taste of peas, so it just seemed like a winner.  I am not sure if my husband liked it, but I sure did.  I hope you like it as much as I did.

Pasta with Ricotta and Peas

1 lb box of uncooked pasta, any shape that will hold sauce well (something with grooves or a tubular shape)
1 c frozen peas
1 1/2 c ricotta cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp seasoning salt (I like McCormick's or Lawry's, but it's up to you)
1/2 tsp thyme
Parmesan cheese, to taste, and then for topping at the table

Cook pasta to pkg directions.  While cooking pasta, heat peas in microwave til thawed and warm. In a large mixing/serving bowl, mix the ricotta and spices together til cheese is softened and it is well blended (if you use a whole milk ricotta it tends to be thicker, you need to mash it to get the right consistency; if you use part skim it should just need a light mix).  Just before draining the pasta, reserve about 1/2 c of the cooking water in a mug or something.  You'll use that to loosen things up and make it more like a sauce than coated with cheese.  Drain the pasta, and then dump it over the cheese mixture, add peas and stir well.  Add parmesan cheese if you like, and stir again.   Enjoy!

What do you do with ALL of that ZUCCHINI?!

So, being an LDS member who has been encouraged to have a garden since I was born, zucchini has always been the curse from September.  It's a doorbell ditch gift that nobody celebrates.  We always had to find inventive ways to use it before it went bad.  So this is how Mom came up with this recipe...she was trying to find other ways to get her kids to eat the stuff.  Oddly enough, even though I didn't like zucchini as a kid, I like it now, and this recipe has A LOT to do with it.   I hope it has the same effect for you!

Zucchini Fritters

5-6 c shredded zucchini, squeezed dry (the stuff holds a lot of liquid, needs to be wrung out after you shred it)
1 c breadcrumbs
1 c parmesan cheese
1 tbsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
pinch each of salt and pepper
2 eggs
1/2 c flour

Mix all ingredients together until well combined.  Heat griddle over stove top or use electric stove.  Grease it well, and then spoon the zucchini mixture like pancakes onto the griddle, and cook until golden, then flip.  I recommend heating the oven to about 175 degrees, so they stay warm while you cook them all.  You'll have to do them in batches of about 5 at a time.  Makes about 25 medium sized fritters, or 40 small ones (for snacks or party appetizers).

Serve warm with ranch dressing, cream cheese, cottage cheese, or just butter and salt and pepper.

Meatballs and Biscuits

This one is a Prows family favorite that my mother in law, Cathy, makes all of the time.  My husband and all of his siblings really enjoy it, and I thought I would give it a bit of a face lift if you will.  The traditional recipe is based in basic meatballs, cream of mushroom soup gravy, and biscuits.  I decided to make homemade mushroom gravy, and upgrade the meatballs a bit, and take it to a different level.  Happily, the family enjoyed them and I was complimented on them and asked for the recipe.  I share it with all of you here!

Meatballs and Biscuits

I will start with the meatballs, then move to the gravy, and then move on to the biscuit dough....

1 1/4 lb ground beef
3/4 lb lean pork sausage (usually the size of the Jimmy Dean Lean tube)
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
1 c breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 tsp each garlic powder and onion powder
1/2 tsp dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix meats with all other ingredients til well blended.  Form into balls about a 1/2 inch thick, and place in a greased 13x9 in. baking dish, and bake for about 25 minutes.

While Baking Meatballs, make...

Mushroom Gravy

1 lb mushrooms, sliced
1 can chicken broth (about 2 cups)
4 tbsp butter, plus 1 more (separated from each other)
3 tbsp flour
1/2 c milk
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce

Melt 1 tbsp of the butter in a skillet, then add mushrooms.  It will look like a lot, but they generally shrink when sautéed.  Cook them til they are about half their original volume.  While this is going, melt the other 4 tbsp of butter in a medium saucepan.  Add flour to the melted butter, and whisk.  It will be still kind of thin, not as thick and dough like as when I make a white sauce.  Add chicken broth to the butter mixture, and stir till all lumps are out of your roux.  Add milk and whisk well.  Add worchestershire, and stir well, and then add mushrooms (at this point, ditch the whisk and use a wooden spoon or something).  Simmer on Low for the rest of the time til the meatballs are done baking the first half of the time.

While simmering gravy and still waiting for meatballs to finish, make...

Biscuit Dough

2 c all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
7 tbsp COLD butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 c milk

Blend dry ingredients together with a fork.  Add butter, and rub in with fingers or cut in with pastry blender.  Add milk and continue to mix with hands.  Dust with more flour and then roll out to 1/4 inch thickness, and cut with biscuit cutter.  Should make about 12 biscuits.

Lastly, pull out the meatballs from the oven, and pour the gravy on top of the meatballs.  Top with biscuits, and bake another 20 minutes.   By then, the meatballs should be fully cooked and the biscuits will be golden on top.  Takes a bit longer because you're baking the biscuits at 375 instead of 425, but you don't want to burn the gravy and meatballs while baking the biscuits.  When you take it out of the oven, just to keep the top of the biscuits softer, it might be good to brush or rub butter on the top of the biscuits.

Enjoy!

Recycling Leftovers

So the other day I made enchiladas--both chicken and beef.  My chicken version can be found here, and the beef version is very similar. I just use red sauce instead of green, and I substitute ground beef in place of the chicken.  And because I use ground beef, I don't crock pot it, I do it on the stove.  Anywho, I had leftovers of both chicken and beef this last week and needed to figure out what to do with all of them.  Perfect timing, too, because today, I was facing brain block when it came to making dinner.  So I made this...quick, easy, and pretty much mostly done before I started....

Tamale Pie

4 c of leftover beef enchilada filling, recipe follows
1 1/2 c cornmeal
1 1/2 c all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 c milk
6 tbsp melted butter

Enchilada filling
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, finely chopped
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 small can red enchilada sauce
8 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Brown the ground beef in a skillet, break into pieces as it cooks. Add onion, continue to cook.  Add corn, beans, and enchilada sauce, and simmer for 5-10 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Pour leftover enchilada filling into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.  Mix together flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt,  and baking powder.  Add milk, egg, and then lastly, stir in the melted butter.    Basically, you're making cornbread batter.  Pour this batter over top of the enchilada filling mixture, and bake for 25 minutes.  Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, and whatever other toppings you enjoy (I liked guacamole on it too).

Enjoy!

 (If using the filling for enchiladas, I usually double the beef and use the large can of sauce, and then of course, stuff and roll the enchiladas.  In this case, just use the amounts above and then follow the directions.  Because I had this already made and leftover, I just dumped what I had left into the pan.)

Cous Cous Stuffed Bell Peppers

Okay, so I was chatting it up with my friend Amie on Gmail chat (she lives in California, so we keep in touch that way), and she was telling me what she made for dinner that night.  You know me, I like to get ideas from others and try all kinds of new things.  Well, she had made stuffed red bell peppers that night.  Easy enough, I've had it before.  But get this...she stuffed them with cous cous!  Hooray for that Moroccan carb I love so much!  She gave me the basics and I took it from there....and we had them for dinner last night.  Super tasty, and I hope you enjoy them too!

Cous Cous Stuffed Bell Peppers

1 box flavored cous cous, any kind
1/2 to 3/4 lb pork sausage (Amie used turkey sausage I think, and I used the lean jimmy dean stuff, whatever works)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed and chopped very finely
any other veggie you like.  mushrooms would have been good, but I didn't have any
4 sweet bell peppers (I used red, but you could use orange or yellow as well.  Green ones are a bit more bitter, so I stay away from those for this)

Cut the tops off your bell peppers and then gently remove the ribs and seeds.  Set aside.  Brown your sausage and break into small crumbly pieces, and then add garlic and onions and whatever else you like to the mix.   Remove from heat when veggies are tender.  Cook the cous cous according to the pkg.  Generally it says to boil the water with some oil or butter and seasoning packet, then add cous cous and remove from heat and cover.   Let it steam for 5 minutes, then fluff it with a fork.  Add to your sausage veggie mixture, and then stuff your peppers, and then top it all off with some parmesan cheese.  In a square baking dish, place peppers evenly spaced (one in each corner, generally) and then add about 3/4 c water to the pan to keep them from burning (releases steam into the oven, and therefore doesn't roast your peppers).  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Enjoy!

**Note** My mom says she generally parboils her peppers first, but I kind of liked that I hadn't this time.  Makes them a bit more crisp and I like the added texture.  You can do that if you like them a bit softer.  All you have to do is bring your water to a boil and then toss in the peppers until they turn a bright red or yellow or whatever color your pepper is, then pull them out.  I like my bell peppers more on the raw side, and everything inside the stuffing is cooked, so it's a personal taste thing.

Marinated Broiled Pork Chops with Curry Spiced Oven Fries

Alright, I will be honest, lately I haven't been cooking a lot.  We have been very busy because my husband Jeff graduated with his Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree on Saturday (yes, I am bragging, its a big deal for us!).  Most of the nights last week I haven't had to cook because we have had a lot of potluck dinners and celebrations.  My husband has been cooking the last couple nights, and now it came to my turn.  We had pork chops tonight, and they were pretty tasty.  We're trying to eat out of the freezer as much as possible because we are moving in a couple weeks.  So this is something quick I came up with from the pork chops we had defrosted.  I include the oven fries recipe as well as how I boil my corn --my mom taught me, and it turns out perfect every time! Maybe this will make up for lost time.

Marinated Pork Chops with Roasted Garlic paste

3 bone in pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick), defrosted
1/3 c Virginia Brand Vidalia Onion Vinaigrette dressing (yep, the same stuff as for the pasta salad)
5 cloves garlic
1 tbsp dried rosemary
salt
olive oil

I store my meats in freezer ziplock bags, so I just added the dressing to the chops into the bag and mashed the bag til all the meat was coated.  You can use a bowl, but I find the meat gets more evenly coated if you do it in the bag. Set that aside for about 20 minutes.  Probably would be even better if you did it the night before.  While that marinates, smash cloves of garlic with the side of a large, sharp knife.  Mince it after smashing and then add salt and rosemary and keep mincing til paste-like.  In a roasting pan, drizzle some olive oil, and then place marinated meat into pan.  Top chops with garlic paste, and place in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Curried Oven Fries

5-6 medium potatoes, sliced or wedged into about 8 pieces per potato
2 tbsp olive oil
seasoning salt, curry powder

After washing and slicing potatoes, toss in a large bowl with oil and seasoning.  Place evenly on a cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Should be browned on the outside and slightly crispy.

For the corn, fill a large pot with water and bring to boil.   Once water boils, add corn and set timer for 5 minutes, then remove from water.  Will still be crisp, and have good texture, and be very sweet.  I like to just add butter and salt and pepper.  Perfect!

Cinco De Mayo Calls for Tacos!

So I know this is a simple thing and not really much of a recipe, but I thought I would post it anyway.  I posted the shredded beef tacos in the past here.  But here is the cheater version made with hamburger meat.  Jeff and I will do this when we don't have a roast to cook, and we want tacos anyway.   They taste great and we usually have some ground beef on hand.  I hope you enjoy.

Ground Beef Tacos

1 lb ground beef
3 tbsp taco seasoning
1/2 c water
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can corn, drained
2 c cooked white rice
2 tortillas per serving
Sour Cream, Salsa, Cheese, lettuce, tomatoes

Brown and break up ground beef in skillet, and then add seasoning and water and stir to coat meat.  Simmer over high heat for about 10 minutes, then add beans and corn.  Continue to cook.    Heat tortillas in a different skillet til they are still soft but slightly crispy on the outside.  Layer tacos with rice, meat and toppings.  Enjoy!

Pork Tenderloin with Honey Balsamic Sauce

This is actually a recipe I snatched when I went to visit a place called Cox Honeyland (Logan friends--go check it out), which is located on the highway that leads into my little town in Cache Valley.  I bought a HUGE-MUNGOUS container of pomegranate infused local honey (which my husband and I absolutely love to spread on toast) and it came with a free recipe...I thought I would try it.  We loved it, and I hope you all enjoy it too!

Pork Tenderloin with Honey Balsamic Sauce

2 pork tenderloins, washed and patted dry
1/4 c paprika
1/4 c salt
1/4 c black pepper (I would reduce this, its pretty strong!)
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp ground chipotle pepper (I actually used about a half tsp of cayenne because I couldn't find chipotle in my grocery store, turned out fine, but chipotle has a smokier flavor.)

Sauce/Glaze
1/3 c seedless raspberry jam
1/3 c dijon mustard
1/3 c balsamic vinegar (I used the pomegranate kind)
1/3 c raspberry honey (again, I used the pomegranate because that's what I had)

Blend together spices to create a rub for the meat.   Apply half of the rub to each tenderloin, coating well.  Let rest for an hour til meat comes to room temperature.  Grill tenderloins ten minutes per side on a BBQ grill at medium high heat.  While tenderloins are cooking, combine glaze ingredients in a small saucepan and stir over medium high heat until it just barely begins to simmer and ingredients are smooth and combined well.  Remove from heat.  When tenderloins are done grilling, slice into 1/4" to 1/2" slices, and fan out on plate.  Spoon glaze over top of meat.

Serve with your favorite vegetable or salad and I would recommend potatoes.   We made fries.  It was delicious!

Very peppery...be careful if you have picky eaters or those that don't like a bit of heat.  Personally, next time I think I would reduce the pepper by half.