Thursday, May 28, 2009

Texas Chili Made Easy

And they were not kidding. This was so so easy and fast. And it tasted really good, as good as if you tried all day. It's from my sister's cookbook BH & G 365 Last Minute Meals. I am starting at the front of the book and making my way through, like I always do. This book has 4 sections for the 4 seasons, the first one they have is "Fall." So these might not always be good recipes for summer but I am stubborn and don't like to skip around in a book. Plus with the summer we've been having so far....you see my point. But yesterday was a nice rainy chilly (ha ha) day so it worked out well.

Texas Chili Made Easy
12 oz ground beef (I used a whole pound because that's how I freeze them, in one pound pkgs)
1 15 oz can pinto beans, undrained
1 cup bottled salsa
1/2 cup beef broth
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
sour cream, optional

In a large skillet cook the ground beef over medium heat until brown. Drain off fat. Stir undrained beans, salsa, beef broth, chili powder, and cumin into meat in skillet. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Spoon into bowls. If desired, top with sour cream (we did not. I topped ours with shredded mexican cheese that I had in the fridge already).

This was not at all spicy, although I used mild salsa. So if you like it spicy you could buy spicier salsa. Steve, Sam, and I lapped this up. Emma had to be forced to eat it. Nathan had Froot Loops. Definitely a keeper. We had this with cornbread which I made from the recipe on the corn meal box.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Barbecued Beef Sandwiches

Starting a new cookbook!! Hooray! This one is the cookbook my mom gave my sister for Christmas last year. It has some good recipes in it so Jess is letting me use it. It is another Better Homes and Gardens one, 365 Last Minute Meals. We had this for lunch yesterday along with the potato recipe posted previously.

Barbecued Beef Sandwiches
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 medium onion, sliced and separated into rings
12 oz beef stir fry strips (these are not precooked)
2/3 cup barbecue sauce (I love Sweet Baby Ray's)(that is not a paid endorsement, I just really really like that barbecue sauce)(if Sweet Baby Ray's would like to pay me to endorse them, I would not be averse to that. Ha ha)
1 tsp lemon juice or vinegar
4 hoagie buns, split and toasted
3 slices pepper jack cheese or monterey jack cheese, quartered (I just used plain old sandwich cheese because I don't like spicy stuff, and I daresay pepper jack would be spicy)

In a large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook onion about 3 minutes or until tender. Add beef strips. Cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes or until meat is slightly pink in center. Stir in barbecue sauce and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until heated through, stirring occasionally. Spoon beef mixture onto hoagie bun bottoms. Top with cheese and bun tops.

Again, Steve and I thought these were fabulous and the kids didn't. For the little ones, I didn't put them on the bread, just cut up some of the meat. For the rest of us, we had them on buns. The only thing I would suggest is cutting the beef strips in half before you cook them, because you would take a bite of the sandwich and a whole beef strip would fall out. Amusing, yes, but also messy. Also this would never have made enough for four adults to eat. I was fairly skimpy with the amount I put in each sandwich so that I would have enough to put some on the kids plates. And, there was a lot of sauce, the sandwiches were very drippy. So I think you could have at least a whole pound of beef stir-fry strips and not increase the amount of barbecue sauce and still be fine. I'm not sure if they sell them in 1 pound packages or not, but I am going to find out. This whole meal was one Steve and I thought was delicious and the kids just didn't care for. So save it for company and give the kids PB&J and tots.

Cheesy Garlic Potato Gratin

We had this for lunch yesterday. Steve had the day off since it was Memorial Day (a big shout out to my dad, a veteran). I had to work 3-11 though, so we had lunch be the big meal for yesterday since I was home. This is the last recipe from the cookbook my mom gave me for Christmas, the Better Homes & Gardens 5 Ingredient Favorites. There are 2 soup recipes in there that I want to try but I am waiting for fall because it is not good soup weather right now. Anyway I think a few times growing up we had these kind of potatoes from scratch, but my usual experience with them is from a box by Betty Crocker. Not that I'm knocking Betty. I just wanted to try making them from scratch.

Cheesy Garlic Potato Gratin
1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold or other yellow potatoes, thinly sliced (about 5 cups)(I didn't peel them, because Betty doesn't either...I remember dehydrated potato skins being on the dehydrated potatoes...but I did scrub the potatoes before I sliced them)
1/3 cup sliced green onion
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese (6 oz)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup whipping cream

In a greased 2 qt baking dish layer half of the potatoes and half of the green onion. Sprinkle with half each of the cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper. Repeat layers. Pour whipping cream over layers in dish. Bake, covered, @ 350 for 1 hour. Bake, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes more or until potatoes are tender and top is golden brown.

So, Steve and I LOVED these!! Alas, none of the kids liked them at all. So I guess this would be a grown-up side dish. I think the next time I make these will be when we have dinner guests or something, so the grown-ups can have this and I'll make like tater tots for the kids. Of course if Karen comes over she will eat the tots instead because she loves tots. But mostly the adults would like these, I think. Definitely a keeper. We had these with Barbecue Beef Sandwiches, which I will post separately.

Monday, May 11, 2009

All-American Loaded Burgers

If your idea of "All-American Burgers" is one that sets the grill on fire and has the men in your life very frustrated, this might be the recipe for you...we had our friends the Potters over for lunch after church yesterday and Steve wanted to grill. This recipe was in the latest Simple & Delicious (May/June 2009) so I decided to make them. Usually I just mix hamburger with Lipton onion soup mix when we are grilling, but I thought this would be a good one to try, and the picture looked so yummy. So...

All-American Loaded Burgers
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup italian salad dressing
2 eggs, beaten
2 lbs ground beef
6 kaiser rolls, split

In a large bowl, combine the bread crumbs, onion, salad dressing, and eggs. Crumble beef over mixture in bowl and mix well. Shape into 6 patties. Grill burgers (here's where it started to go to pot), covered, over medium heat or broil 4 inches from the heat for 5-7 minutes on each side or until meat thermometer reads 160 and juices run clear. Serve on rolls with whatever toppings you want (we had the usual toppings plus those yummy french fried onions. Karen and I ate half of them before the men even came in with the "burgers"). 6 servings

Okay so Steve wanted me to make these burgers thin and big, so that when they cooked and shrank they wouldn't be too fat in the middle. So I did that and ended up with 8 burgers. He took them outside. I don't know what he did here but he came back in 5 minutes later and said "we had a big fail." Apparently they fell apart. They tried to put the remaining pieces into 4 bigger burgers. We thought, okay, we have enough stuff (tater tots, pasta salad, potato salad, chips) that it's okay if every adult gets one burger and the kids just have hot dogs. So they went back outside. At this point there was apparently some kind of fire wherein Steve lost most of the hair on his left forearm and Patrick got holes in his jacket. At this point he came back in and said that there was no fat in these burgers and they are just burning up. I referred him to the salad dressing and eggs in this recipe. He was like, well whatever they are just burning (good thing we had company or it may have come to fisticuffs. Hee hee). At this point Karen and I began making chicken patties in the oven to replace the burgers. We were still in good spirits. 5 more minutes later and he brought in the plate of yummy looking grilled hot dogs, and pitiful looking pieces of burger. Patrick, Karen, and Steve all tried some. They had their buns, and put like 3 to 4 pieces of burger on each bun. I bet the men just wanted to eat that which had caused them so much trouble. They would not let it get the best of them. Karen thought the picture looked good too and she wanted to try them. I abstained. Those that ate them said they were good, but I think it goes without saying that we are not having these again. Steve, trying to be diplomatic, was all "let's stop experimenting with burger recipes and just do hamburger next time." Fine, but that is not what he is paying me for. I like to try different burger recipes and make sure we are getting the best one. This was apparently not it. Additonally, last night at church I was explaining what happened to our friends B Autumn and B Rad, and B Rad suggested that, after you make the patties, you refrigerate them for a little while so they can firm up. This might be a good idea. You can try it if you want, I know we won't be doing this one again.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Toasted Ravioli

Okay so the Olive Garden has this lovely appetizer called Toasted Ravioli. Last I knew, you could only get them as part of an appetizer combo they have, with like chicken fingers and their equivalent of mozzarella sticks. I always get them, but first I always have a battle with myself to ponder if I SHOULD get them, because if you get an appetizer for your meal you have to pay extra for the salad and breadsticks, which can be tricky if you are not eating with your whole family who would provide enough breadsticks that you could squeak by eating one or two of theirs without your server noticing (not that I am advocating stealing breadsticks because I am not. Someone at your table is getting them anyway). But no matter who I'm with, I end up getting the appetizer combo because the Toasted Ravioli is SO good. I have always wanted to be able to make them, so I was very excited when I saw this recipe in the Better Homes & Gardens 5 Ingredient Favorites cookbook. I was hoping they would be similar to the OG's because then I would not have to spend so much money to get them.

Toasted Ravioli
1 9 oz pkg refrigerated cheese ravioli (I used meat ravioli, because this is what OG uses and I like them way better anyway)(plus I used frozen ravioli because it's cheaper, and you have to cook them anyway so I don't think it really matters)
1/2 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs (I ended up needing like a whole cup)
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce

Cook ravioli by pkg directions. Cool slightly. Place bread crumbs in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish combine egg and milk. Dip cooked ravioli into egg mixture, then roll in bread crumbs to coat. Place ravioli on greased baking sheet. Bake, uncovered, @ 425 for 15 minutes or until crisp and golden. Meanwhile heat spaghetti sauce in a small saucepan until bubbly. Serve warm ravioli with sauce.

I started out breading these with tongs, because I didn't want to wait for them to cool slightly since Sam had a Cub Scout meeting tonight. But doing it with tongs was very time consuming, and after 2 raviolis, I was like, they can't be THAT hot, so I commenced to using my hands. Well, they were pretty hot, but I found that if I picked one up and real quick tossed it into the egg mixture, that cooled if off enough so that it didn't burn me when I moved it to the bread crumbs and dragged it around. So there's a good tip for you if you make these. Emma and Nathan didn't like them (I know, shocking) but the rest of us did. Of course they weren't quite Olive Garden, but I'm pretty sure they fry theirs and I just baked mine. These are probably healthier. These might make a good appetizer for a party or something, maybe. Or just for supper. We had ours with garlic bread and a salad (another gasp. But it was a salad kit.). Definitely keeping the recipe.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Herb Vegetable Medley

Well I couldn't find the three vegetable blend that this recipe called for that would have made it a "medley." We just had it with green beans. So I guess we could call it "Herb Green Beans" or something to that effect.

Herb Vegetable Medley
1 pkg (16 oz) frozen waxed beans, green beans, and carrots
2 tbsp water
1/4 to 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 to 1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp white wine vinegar (I don't have any of this so I just left it out)

Place vegetables and water in microwave safe bowl. Cover and microwave on high for 9-11 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Meanwhile, combine the thyme, basil, salt and pepper. Drain vegetables; drizzle with oil and vinegar. Sprinkle with seasoning mixture and toss to coat.

So these were good, even though Nathan declared them "yucky" and would not eat even one. The rest of us gobbled them up. The seasonings were a nice change. A keeper too. A good day, overall, I would say...at least recipe wise!

Pork Chops with Blackberry Sauce

This was our main course for tonight. My parents have absconded with Emma to Boston for 2 days, so it felt weird to be cooking and eating supper without her. She wouldn't have liked this anyway, I don't think, so maybe it's just as well that I made this tonight. Although I didn't put any sauce on Nathan's so I could have done the same for her...Anyway this is from the same issue of Simple & Delicious, May/June 2009.

Pork Chops with Blackberry Sauce
4 bone-in pork chops
1/4 cup seedless blackberry spreadable fruit
3 tbsp ketchup
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp A-1 steak sauce

Broil chops 3-4 inches from the heat for 4-6 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 160. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the spreadable fruit, ketchup, garlic, and mustard. Bring to a boil. Combine cornstarch and steak sauce until smooth. Gradually stir into pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with pork chops. 4 servings.

So you may notice a theme with these recipes, which is that they use a lot of prepared ingredients like canned pie filling and "spreadable fruit" (essentially jam). It's why they're so "Simple" I guess, because you do not have to grow, deseed, and process your own blackberries to make this sauce. Basically you are making a kind of barbecue sauce to go on these. It was quite tasty, really. Definitely one I will keep. Plus now I have a whole jar minus 1/4 cup of blackberry jam so I'll have to use it somehow. We had this with the vegetable recipe that was on the same page which I'll post next...

Blueberry Ice Cream Tart

I made this this afternoon and we just had some of it. I liked the sound of it because it only has a few ingredients, though I did have to buy most of them. But Steve likes blueberries so I thought we would try it. It's from the newest Simple & Delicious, May/June 2009.

Blueberry Ice Cream Tart
1 1/2 cups crushed vanilla wafers (about 45 cookies)(don't get the multi-colored ones, that would look so gross)(just a tip)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 qt vanilla ice cream, softened
1 can (21 oz) blueberry pie filling

In a small bowl , combine wafer crumbs and cinnamon; stir in butter. Press onto bottom of a greased 9-inch springform pan; set aside. (If you think a regular pie plate will be big enough for this, you would be wrong. I do not have a springform pan. I started out with a regular pie plate and just the wafer crumbs took up almost half of it. I thought to myself "this will never work" so I transferred the crumbs to deep dish pie plate. Still doubtful but it's all I had to work with...the filling still spilled out a bit...froze to the freezer...) Place ice cream in large bowl (this brings up another point...it is a fine line between "softened" ice cream and "melted" ice cream and I'm not sure I know where that line is); gently fold in pie filling. Spread over crust. Cover and freeze until firm. Remove from freezer 10 minutes before serving. Remove sides of pan (obviously this only applies if you actually have a sprinform pan. It is hard to remove the sides of a stoneware deep dish pie plate). 12 servings.

So even though this doesn't have real blueberries and is cheating bad, it was still pretty good. I bet you could pass this off as a good Maine seasonal dessert, as long as no one asked you for the recipe...then you'd have to either lie to look good or confess that you used canned blueberries...I am certainly not advocating lying, I'm just saying. You could say it was a family recipe that you couldn't give out (they don't have to know how long it's been in your family). Anyway it was good, I think we'll keep this one. And perhaps I will find a springform pan at a yard sale this summer.