Beef Stew Biscuit Bake

I can be ridiculous, and sometimes be a slave to myself, my schedule, and my meal plan.  This recipe is just one example of that.  When I am working through a cookbook, I like to make everything in there that I'm going to make, not save certain things for different seasons, because I either want to put the cookbook back in my cupboard (for the really good ones that I want to keep and potentially pass to Emma someday) or put it in the Goodwill bag (for the ones that had a few good recipes but not enough to keep the whole book).  I write little notes in the margins (like my mom does) so years later Emma will have little notes from me about the recipes.  At any given time I have 1 or 2 cookbooks that I'm going through, as well as the latest Simple & Delicious magazine.  I have over half of a shelf of cookbooks that I haven't started working through yet.  So I feel sometimes like the pressure is on to get through a book so I can start on the next one. 

Every two weeks I plan my meals.  If I have a meal planned for a certain day, there have to be huge circumstances to get me to change the order around, because I usually plan based on when I've bought the fresh meat and veggies (to be used soon after the shopping trip) vs. the canned veggies and frozen meat (to be used closer to the end of the two weeks).  Examples of when I would change a meal plan--1. Earthquake (which has never happened but I anticipate that would throw a wrench in the gears).  2. Unexpected friends coming over, requiring a reworking, but the fellowship is worth it.  3. Husband wants to take me for a date, which I will do, but first have to agonize over the meal planning calendar to make sure I still use up my fresh ingredients.  Aren't you glad for this glimpse into my head?? 

At the end of last week, we had a heat wave.  It was something like 90 degrees with 95% humidity.  Unfortunately for me, I had planned Beef Stew Biscuit Bake during my meal planning several days prior, without consulting a weather forecast.  I do have a (somewhat flimsy) theory that when it's 100 degrees out, it doesn't matter if your oven is on or not, your kitchen will be hot.  But who wants to prepare and then eat beef stew on a hot day?  Apparently we do.  So on Saturday, after a hot afternoon at a park for a friend's birthday party, we came home and I made this.  The kids had two friends over, who looked askance at me when I said "beef stew" in reply to the kids' question "what's for dinner?"  But after I explained that I did not want to throw the meat away, or freeze it, I wanted to use it up, they appeared to understand.  This recipe is from $5 Dinner Mom.

Beef Stew Biscuit Bake
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 lb beef stew meat (I used 1 1/2 lbs because I have found her recipes to be lacking in the meat dept)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small onion, diced
4 carrots, peeled and chopped (I used a big handful of matchstick carrots)
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
Salt & pepper to taste
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Biscuit Topping:
2 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
4 tbsp butter, melted
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large ovenproof pot or Dutch oven, warm the oil over medium-high heat, then brown the stew meat.  Stir in the garlic, onion, carrots, tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper.  Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 8-10 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and garlic powder.  Then whisk in the melted butter and milk.

When the batter is mixed, sprinkle the shredded cheese over the bubbling stew and then pour the biscuit batter over the top (mine kind of plopped out in the center and then was hard to spread...next time I will plop big spoonfuls over it so it will be spread out more).  Transfer the pot or Dutch oven to preheated oven and bake for 20-24 minutes, until the biscuit crust has baked through and begun to turn golden on top.

Using heavy duty oven mitts, carefully remove the pot from the oven and let cool slightly before serving.

Everyone liked this!  Even though it was beef stew on a hot summer day.  Our two visitors both remarked on how good it was and cleaned their plates.  My kids of course picked out their favorite parts, but overall they liked it.  Steve and I did, too.  Even though I doubled the meat, there was still plenty of "stew" to it (not too thick, I mean).  This one's a keeper, although next time I will not purposefully plan this during a heat wave.

Rosemary Chicken with Red Potatoes and Green Beans

It's getting hot out there!  We just got back from Florida, and it's a nice feeling to step outside and have it be HOT!  It's nice that it cools down at night, too, though, so we don't have to roast, since we don't have central AC.  This is a good day to throw something in the crock pot.  We had to run errands this afternoon over by Texas Roadhouse.  I love the smell of that place.  It is enough to make me change my mind about spending $$ on food, but not if I already have something yummy in the crock pot.  On another subject, have you ever seen or read Rosemary's Baby?  Scary stuff.  I usually think of that when I use rosemary.  This recipe is from $5 Dinner Mom.

Rosemary Chicken with Red Potatoes and Green Beans
3 rosemary sprigs
2 lbs bone-in chicken thighs (it didn't say to remove the skin so I kept it on)
6 small red potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
1 small onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt & pepper to taste
1 lb fresh green beans, stems removed

Using a sharp knife, crush the leaves of the rosemary sprigs (this allows the aromatic oil to release as it cooks).  Place the rosemary sprigs around the edges of the bottom of a 5-quart or larger slow cooker.

Arrange chicken in bottom of slow cooker.  Spread the potatoes and onions over the chicken.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

Cook on low for 8 hours (I did high for 4-5 hrs because I didn't throw this all in the crock pot until after lunch).  When 1 hour remains in cook time, place green beans on top of vegetables in crock pot to steam them.  Cook for remaining hour (I did 30 minutes since it was on high).  4 servings.

 This came out so good!  It even looks good in the crock pot, which is rare for a crock pot recipe.  You could faintly taste the rosemary in all the ingredients, but it wasn't overpowering.  I already copied this one into my keeper book.  But next time I make it I will double it.  This was exactly 4 servings, so that dinner mom is not kidding.  The 4th chicken thigh I split between the two youngest, but both of them would have liked more of the chicken.  And all that's left over are a few potatoes and 5 green beans, and we like leftovers in this house.  So plan accordingly if you have little carnivores like we do.

Honey-Grilled Tenderloin

This is from the Southern Living 2000 Annual Recipes I am picking my way through.  I have a George Foreman grill with removable plates that perhaps you have heard me rave about, and so I knew that even if the weather did not permit Stevie to grill this outside, I could still make it.  This recipe has sesame oil in it, which I bought a while ago for a recipe and am really enjoying using.  It has quite a strong flavor, and very yummy.  And a very light texture.  Yum.

Honey-Grilled Tenderloin
1 1/2 lbs pork tenderloin
1/4 cup lite soy sauce (I used regular)
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp honey
2 tsp sesame oil

Make a lengthwise cut down the center of the tenderloin(s) to within 1/4 inch of opposite side; press to open.  Combine soy sauce, garlic, and ginger in a shallow dish.  Add meat.  Cover and chill 3 hours, turning meat occasionally.  Stir together brown sugar, honey, and sesame oil.  Grill meat, covered with grill lid, over med-high heat 20 minutes, or until 160 degrees, turning occasionally and basting with honey mixture.  6 servings.

I did end up making this inside.  It smelled great and tasted great.  We had this with a potato salad recipe that I found years ago that does not contain my nemesis, mayo (blech).  A very yummy meal.

Quadruple Chocolate Chunk Cookies

This is the second recipe I marked from the latest Simple & Delicious.  I would not have made this cookie, but Sam was thumbing through the magazine while we were driving and he begged me to make them. To avoid a sugar coma in our family, I made them for home fellowship.

Quadruple Chocolate Chunk Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa (I did a bit of research on this and ultimately ended up using the Nestle cocoa powder I already had on hand, which is natural-process)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup white baking chips, chopped (I didn't chop them)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, chopped (I didn't chop these, either)
1 cup chopped Oreo cookies (about 10 cookies)(I did chop these)
1 Hershey's cookies and cream candy bar (1.55 oz), chopped (really???  but I did buy, and chop, this)

Preheat oven to 375.  In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture.  Stir in remaining ingredients.

Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased baking sheets.  Bake 6-8 minutes or until set.  Cool on pans 1 minute.  Remove to wire racks to cool completely.  Store in airtight container.

Okay, the dough was pretty good.  I love cookie dough and I usually consume an amount sufficient that the baked cookie looks unappealing to me, at least that day.  However, in the interest of research, I did eat a baked cookie at home fellowship.  To me, there was way too much going on in that cookie.  I suspected I would feel that way, but I thought the kids there would all like them.  A fellow mom tried one (and then perhaps another), also in the interest of research, and we determined that the Oreos were too much.  All the other things, okay.  But the Oreos pushed it over the edge.  As much as I like research, I will not be making this recipe again, sans Oreos, to see if we were right. 

Chicken Fajitas

I just got my new Simple & Delicious last week, and I was disappointed that I only marked two recipes to try from this issue.  This was one of them, and the other one is a cookie recipe I'll be making for home fellowship on Friday.  There was a really gross-looking recipe for fish with avocado sauce, and in the picture it looked like a baby had been near it, if you know what I mean.  But this chicken one sounded good so this was supper on Tuesday night.

Chicken Fajitas
1/4 cup lime juice (I bought 2 limes and it was just enough)
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp canola oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (I left this out)
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp liquid smoke, optional
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (I used 3 and the marinade amount was still fine)
 Filling:
2 tsp canola oil
1 medium onion, julienned
1/2 red or green pepper, julienned
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp lime juice
4 tortillas, warmed
salsa and sour cream for serving, optional

In a large ziploc bag, combine first eight ingredients; if desired, add liquid smoke.  Add chicken; seal bag and turn to coat.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Drain chicken, discarding marinade.  Grill chicken, covered, on oiled grill rack (or George Foreman grill) over medium heat for 4-6 minutes on each side or until thermometer reads 165.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add onion and pepper; cook and stir 5-7 minutes or until tender.  Stir in soy sauce and lime juice. 

Cut chicken into thin slices; add to vegetables.  Serve with tortillas and, if desired, salsa and sour cream.

Two of the chicken breasts I did cut and add to the vegetables.  The third one I saved out for my picky children.  I did marinate and grill it, but then instead of adding it to the onions and peppers, I just cut it and put it into a tortilla with shredded cheese for Emma, and just by itself on a plate for Nathan, who does not like tortillas.  Everyone liked it.  The lime juice was quite yummy.  Omitting the cayenne pepper made it be not spicy at all, so everyone could enjoy.  I think this will be one I save and make again.  Depending on what kind of wrap you use, this could be gluten free, too, so I will also put it in that category.

Apple-Maple Turnovers

This recipe came out of the magazine my mom gets, All You.  For a magazine that I don't care for and just thumb through for the coupons, I get a surprising number of recipes from it...this one starts with puff pastry, which is expensive (something like $4.50 for 2 sheets).  You could double this recipe, but I used the other sheet of it to make Chicken Bacon Tart, which is one of our favorites.  We had this on a Sunday afternoon and it was a very nice afternoon treat.

Apple-Maple Turnovers
2 tbsp butter
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 tbsp sugar, divided
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 tbsp milk

Melt butter over med-high heat in a medium skillet.  Add apples and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and beginning to soften, 5 minutes.  Stir in 2 tbsp sugar and maple syrup.  Cook, stirring, until apples are soft but not falling apart, and liquid is syrupy, 1-2 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl and let cool completely (ain't nobody got time for that...I just let it cool mostly).

Preheat oven to 400.  Line a baking sheet with parchment.  Unroll pastry and cut into 4 squares.

Place 1 piece of pastry in front of you so that a point faces you.  Spoon apple mixture over half, leaving a 1/2-inch border.  Fold over to enclose filling, forming a triangle.  Press edges with a fork to seal.  Repeat with remaining pastry pieces and apples.  Place on baking sheet, brush with milk, sprinkle with remaining 1 tbsp sugar.  Bake until puffed and golden, 20-22 minutes.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.  Serve warm.

This came out perfect!  When I was younger my parents used to buy these Pepperidge Farm fruit turnover things, and these tasted just like that.  When we start harvesting our blueberries this year, I'm going to make them again, with blueberry filling.  I am sure someone somewhere has a homemade recipe for the crust, but I really liked how the puff pastry tasted.  

Turkey and Corn Enchilada Casserole

Another easy-sounding one from $5 Dinner Mom.  Today Sam started swim lessons in Hampden, so I put this casserole together after lunch, and Steve just threw it in the oven when he got home from work, and when we got home from swim lessons, it was ready to eat. 

Turkey and Corn Enchilada Casserole
15 oz can crushed tomatoes (I could only find 28 oz cans of this, so I put 2 cups in this recipe and froze the rest to use in another recipe)
1/2 small yellow onion, finely choppped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 pound ground turkey, browned and drained (I used a whole pound because I've found with this cookbook that if I only put the amount of meat that she says, nobody is happy)
15 oz can corn kernels, drained (I used 1 cup frozen)
15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
10 corn tortillas (I used flour because we infinitely prefer them)
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 9x13 glass casserole dish with cooking spray.  In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except cheese and tortillas.  Place 5 tortillas in bottom of the casserole dish, covering the bottom and overlapping the tortillas (I actually only needed 4 to do this).  Spread the turkey mixture over the tortillas.  Sprinkle with half of the cheese.  Top with remaining tortillas (again I only needed 4) and sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake in preheated oven 25-30 minutes or until the cheese begins to turn golden.

This was good, but not great.  And Nathan only picked out the turkey, black beans, and corn. Emma mostly only ate the tortillas and cheese, and a few pieces of the turkey under our specific direction.  Sam & the adults ate all of it, and it was good, like I said, but I have other recipes similar to this that I liked way more.