Blueberry Fool

Yesterday was a hectic day, on top of being a zombie day.  This makes for a great combination that my sister loves.  Some of our featured activities were throwing an (already falling apart) dresser out of the second story of the barn, and deflating a yoga ball in socially awkward ways (me sitting on it and encouraging my sister to lay over me so we make a plus sign...she wouldn't do it though).  It was also the day we did the family party for Nathan and my mom, who share a birthday.  We always have 2 desserts at our family party.  Nathan had army cake, which was just cake with army men and army jeeps on top, engaged in an epic battle scene, designed by my cake boss husband.  He used brown sugar for the dirt, just like on Cake Boss.  This is what my mom's dessert was, at my suggestion.  We have a bumper crop of blueberries right now (at least for our family) so had plenty on hand to make this, and she loves blueberry stuff.  I made a blueberry fool several years ago, but it didn't turn out as good as this one.  It was back when I was new to cooking.  I didn't save the recipe, or the cookbook it came from.  So I googled it and found this recipe from Food Network.  It's supposed to have lemon juice and lemon peel, but I know that's just if you want to cut the sweetness of the blueberries, which I did not.  So I left those out, but I will still list them in the recipe in case anybody else wants to follow it to the letter.

Blueberry Fool
2 cups blueberries
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Shortbread or wafer cookies, for serving

Make the blueberry sauce: Heat 1 1/2 cups blueberries, 1/4 cup sugar and the salt in a saucepan over medium heat until bubbling. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the blueberries are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest and juice; remove from the heat. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup blueberries and let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Beat the heavy cream in a bowl with a mixer or whisk until soft peaks just begin to form. Beat in the vanilla and the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Gently fold all but 1/3 cup of the blueberry sauce into the whipped cream. Divide among glasses and top with the remaining blueberry sauce. Serve with cookies.

So I like my cream more whipped than soft peaks, so I beat it just like I do when I want whipped cream for pie or whatever, then mixed the cooled blueberries in.  My sister did the blueberry part, because she didn't trust me around hot appliances at that point in the day.  The dessert came out so great, like blueberry mousse (at least the texture of mousse).  We did have (store-bought) shortbread cookies with this, but I don't think it added anything...it was just so yummy by itself.  We stored the leftovers in the freezer because I remember my mother in law saying that you can't just refrigerate leftover whipped cream because it will separate.  I am going to eat it soon.

Grilled Breakfast Sandwiches

This is my second recipe from Back of the Box Cooking.  This is a recipe I feel like I should have been able to make up on my own, without a recipe.  The featured ingredient here is cinnamon raisin bread.  I did not have to buy this to make the recipe, because I had some in the freezer already (because I go to the Friehofer Bakery Outlet every 2 or 3 months to stock up on bagels, english muffins, emergency bread (store bought bread I only use when I have fallen behind in my bread machine bread making, or when the bread machine breaks and I have to wait a long time to get another one), and maybe some donuts...

Grilled Breakfast Sandwiches
2 tbsp butter, softened
8 slices cinnamon raisin swirl bread
4 slices cheese (we used Swiss I had left over from another recipe)
16 thin slices Granny Smith apple (I was able to get enough from just one apple)
4 slices bacon, crisply cooked, cut in half (and one piece of breakfast sausage if your husband doesn't like bacon)

Make these like you're making grilled cheese sandwiches.  I could give you the long explanation that the recipe gives you, but I think we all know how to make grilled cheese.

Very good.  Very very good.  Easy.  Like I said, I feel like I should have been able to think of that without someone having to tell me.  But I can't think of everything, I guess.  We had these with scrambled eggs.  Definitely a delicious easy meal.  Which we had for supper even though it's breakfast food.

Turkey and Bean Burritos

At last, near the end of August, I am starting the cookbook my mom gave me for Christmas last year.  It is called Back of the Box Cooking-30 Minute Meals.  I thought, from my first glance at the cover, that it was going to be mostly recipes with prepackaged mixes as the first/main ingredient.  But you know what they say about judging books by their covers.  In this case it has a literal application.  The brands featured range from dairy to bread to vegetables.  And a lot of the time, the thing they want you to buy can be subbed for a cheaper thing.  The ingredient this recipe features is the yogurt.  They took that one thing and built this recipe around it, I think to be an alternative to sour cream.  

Turkey and Bean Burritos
1 tbsp canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced (omitted)
1 cup shredded turkey (I used browned ground turkey)
1 (14 oz) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes, drained
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (omitted)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup plain yogurt
6 10-inch flour tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Heat oil in skillet to medium-high.  Add onion, garlic, and jalapeno and saute until onion is clear, about 5 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium and add turkey, tomatoes, lime juice, cumin, cayenne, and cilantro.  Let simmer for 5 minutes.  In small bowl combine black beans, rice, and yogurt; set aside.  On flat surface, place 1/2 cup turkey mixture in center or tortilla and 1/2 cup of beans and rice mixture.  Add 1/3 cup cheese to each burrito.  Fold left and then right side of tortilla over filling.  Roll up unfolded sides.  Cut in half and serve with salsa.

Okay so I left out the yogurt all together.  I thought I wouldn't like that creamy factor in my burritos.  So what I did is combined the beans and rice with the meat and tomato mixture, and put about 3/4 cup on each burrito, and then sprinkled with cheese.  I got 6 burritos out of it.  I thought they were pretty good.  Emma took hers apart because she was afraid of the tomatoes.  And Nathan had just the ground turkey and rice on his plate, from before they ever became burrito filling.  But Steve, Sam, and I liked them.  I do like enchiladas better though...so overall a good debut recipe from this cookbook.

Panko Chicken and Pasta with Garlic Oil

These are the last two recipes I have marked in this Simple & Delicious.  I hope a new one comes soon.  I realize I could just scan the internet for recipes, but I like having something to hold that I can write on, dog ear pages (even though I HATE that in any other kind of book, it is acceptable in cookbooks and cooking magazines), rip out recipes that are good, etc.  The chicken recipe came with  a recipe for homemade fresh marinara sauce, but I didn't make it because I already have a sauce recipe that I make that I like, and none of the kids would have liked marinara with fresh tomato chunks in it, they just like ketchup or barbecue sauce with their chicken fingers--which is essentially what this is, homemade chicken fingers.  Sam had his with hot wing sauce.  My sister in law left a bottle of it behind when she was here, and that kid has been putting it on everything.  I bet you are thinking "not everything."  But you would be almost wrong.  He hasn't put it on his breakfast cereal yet, but that's about it.

Panko Chicken
1 egg
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp minced fresh parsley (I used 1 tsp dried)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Dash salt and pepper
1 lb chicken tenderloins (I used boneless chicken breasts I already had, cut into strips)
1/4 cup olive oil (I needed way more)

Beat egg in shallow bowl.  Combine bread crumbs, flour, parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper in another shallow bowl.  Dip chicken in egg, then roll in crumb mixture.  Cook chicken in batches in oil in a large skillet over medium heat for 2-3 minutes on each side or until juices run clear.  Drain on paper towels. 

Pasta with Garlic Oil
8 oz uncooked spaghetti (we used bow ties)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup jarred sliced mushrooms (omitted)
1/4 cup sliced ripe olives (omitted)
2 to 3 tsp minced fresh basil (I used 1 tsp dried)
2 to 3 tsp minced fresh parsley (I used 1 tsp dried)
1/8 tsp garlic salt
1/8 to 1/4 tsp pepper
shredded parmesan cheese

Cook spaghetti according to package directions.  Meanwhile, saute garlic in oil in a large skillet.  Stir in the mushrooms, olives, basil, parsley, garlic salt, and pepper.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Drain spaghetti; place in serving bowl.  Pour sauce over pasta and toss to coat.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

The chicken was nothing exciting, but it was good.  Everybody liked it.  The pasta was great.  It tasted so good.  We are definitely having the pasta again, and will probably have the chicken again too.  Easy yummy supper, which is the best kind.  

Taco Shepherd's Pie

Sometimes my Simple & Delicious magazine (and I DO feel like it's mine...) will have a feature where you cook a bunch, and eat some right then and freeze the rest.  I love doing that because I love having my freezer stocked for zombie nights.  So that's what caught my eye on this recipe.  Plus it seems like something we would really like.

Taco Shepherd's Pie
1 pkg refrigerated pie crust (or top & bottom crust from your own recipe)(I actually skipped the pie crust steps because I never use crust for shepherd's pie...only for pot pie, and I didn't want to confuse my mouth)
6 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 lbs lean ground beef
14 green onions, chopped (white portion only)
1 1/4 cups water
2 envelopes taco seasoning
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
2 tsp garlic powder (that seemed like too much; I only used 1)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese (I used 4 cups shredded Mexican cheese)

Roll out pastry to fit two 9-inch deep dish pie plates.  Transfer to pie plates; flute edges.  Line unpricked pastry with double thickness of heavy duty foil.  Fill with dried beans, uncooked rice, or pie weights (this is so you don't get bubbles in the crust when it bakes).  Bake at 450 for 8 minutes.  Remove foil and weights; bake 5 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.  (Do you see how much time and work I saved by skipping the pie crusts?)

Place potatoes in a Dutch oven and cover with water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until tender.  Meanwhile, cook beef and onions in a large skillet over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.  Stir in water and taco seasoning.  Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is evaporated.  Spoon into pastry shells.

Drain potatoes.  Add the milk, butter, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Mash until smooth (I had to add a few instant potato flakes because 1 cup of milk was too much milk).  Spread over meat mixture.  (I added a layer of corn before the mashed potatoes because I always put corn in my shepherd's pie, and corn is good with mexican stuff, too).

Sprinkle one pie with half of the cheeses.  Cool.  Cover and freeze for up to 3 months.  Bake remaining pie, uncovered, at 350 for 35 minutes.  Sprinkle with remaining cheeses.  Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through and cheese is melted.

To use frozen pie:  Thaw in fridge overnight.  Remove from fridge 30 minutes before baking.  Cover and bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hrs.  Uncover and bake 10-15 minutes longer or until heated through.

My original plan was to make one of these to eat and one to freeze.  Then our plans changed and we wanted to take the kids out to Family Date Night (which was fun--Ground Round).  Then my neighbor's back went out and she was practically immobilized.  So I made these, froze one, and gave her the other one.  So I can't even tell you (yet) if this was a good recipe!  If anyone tries it and wants to give feedback, please do.  I will update when we eat the frozen pie.  Well, we won't eat it frozen.  You know what I mean.

Grilled Pork Chops with Peach Sauce

We had this with the salad recipe that I just posted.  What I liked about this recipe is that you don't do anything to the chops but grill them, and then add the peach stuff later.  This is good when you have picky children. 

Grilled Pork Chops with Peach Sauce
2 cups frozen unsweetened sliced peaches, thawed and chopped (they say you can also use canned peaches or fresh peaches, peeled and chopped)
2 tbsp apple jelly
1 1/2 tsp minced fresh tarragon or 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
4 bone-in pork chops
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Combine first five ingredients in a small saucepan.  Cook and stir over medium heat for 3-4 minutes or until jelly is melted.  Remove from heat and set aside.  Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper.  Grill over medium heat for 4-5 minutes on each side or until a thermometer reads 145.  Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.  Serve with compote (which is apparently what you made in step 1).

The pork chops themselves were fine, of course.  Just pork chops.  The sauce was okay.  A couple of the bites were quite spicy, which wasn't my favorite.  I didn't think the peaches were overly flavorful, either (I used frozen).  Definitely the best part of this meal was the grilled romaine.  Not keeping this one; I have lots of other recipes for the grill that I like way better.

Grilled Romaine with Swiss

We had this with the Grilled Pork Chops with Peach Sauce, which I will post separately.  Both recipes are from Simple & Delicious.  We had this Tuesday night, which was a very zombie night for me, but Steve did most of the hard work; all I did was get everything ready.  I knew the little kids wouldn't like this, I didn't even give them any.  So I halved this recipe and Steve, Sam, and I split it.

Grilled Romaine with Swiss
2 romaine hearts, halved lengthwise
1 tbsp olive oil
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/3 cup prepared raspberry vinaigrette dressing
1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Brush romaine with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Grill for 30 seconds on each side.  Transfer to platter; drizzle with dressing.  Sprinkle with cheese, cherries, and walnuts.

This was so good!  I knew it would be when I saw the picture.  Of course this recipe only makes sense to make if you are already using the grill, because it would be silly to heat the grill up to cook for only 60 seconds.  We will definitely have this again, but next time I am going to use pecans and shredded parmesan.  Yummy yummy.