ALBONDIGAS SOUP 02/25/2010
 Here is the soup...complete but not cooked.  The onions and celery have been cooked, the broth is in and so is the tomato sauce.  Add in Taco seasoning...  Add in meatballs...  Add in potatos and cook till done...about 20 minutes on medium heat. Albondigas Soup (Mexican meatball soup) 1 lb meatloaf mix, rolled into balls 1 in dia. (see meatloaf mix) 1/2 cup miniature carrot pieces 1 stalk of celery sliced 2 baking potatoes, large dice 1 onion sliced 2 trays of broth, or two cans chicken stock (see broth recipe) 1 small can tomato sauce 1 package Taco seasoning Put a small amount of oil in bottom of pot. Add onions, celery, saute till translucent. Put broth, tomato sauce, water if needed, Taco seasoning in large pot. Heat to boiling. Add meatballs, carrots and potatoes. Simmer 20 minutes, till potatoes and meatballs are cooked through. Serves 4. Serve with salad and cornbread. 1 Comment MEAT LOAF MIX 02/23/2010
 This is an ALMOST finished pot of Mexican meatball soup. OR...Albondigas Soup. It is easy to make and wonderful to eat on a cold night with some cornbread. Years ago, I worked in a 4-color House. It has to do with printing, but before it goes to press. We did all the color-separations for a series of cookbooks by Sunset. The company sent us a bunch of different cookbooks as a gift. I got to take about 20 cookbooks home for free. One of those cookbooks was called "Make-a-Mix" cookbook. It had many "mixes" like meatloaf mix, pancake mix, salad dressing mix, and several recipes for each "mix". I liked the idea of being so versatile. It has stuck with me ever since. My meat loaf recipe makes meatballs. Meatballs make spaghetti and meatballs, meatball sandwiches, Mexican meatball soup, Meatloaf, Shepherds pie, and Lasagna, to name a few. You can change the spices to make it Italian or Mexican. Also, you can make big batches of the stuff and freeze it for a quick meal later. This is good when you get the meat on sale. Sometimes the stores put London Broil on sale real cheap. If you ask the butchers, they will grind the London Broil for you. It is hamburger with VERY little fat. Fat is where the flavor is. So spices help. That means this type of meat needs to be used for other than hamburgers...they would be really dry. Chili, bolognese sauce, meatballs work the best. Especially if you add a little ground pork. So, today I show you meat loaf mix. THEN I can show you the other recipes. The Lad loves my meat loaf. It is one of the few things he will eat as a left-over.  MEATLOAF MIX 1 pound of ground beef 1/2 pound pork sausage 1 medium onion, diced med-small 1 stalk celery, diced 2 cloves garlic, put through a garlic press 2 eggs, mixed well 2/3 cup instant rice salt and pepper NOTE: Instead of rice, you can use crackers, bread crumbs (either the packaged type or make your own) and you can soak in some milk...about 1/2 cup. It makes it more moist. Also...it gives you a little flexibility about what you can use to "bind" the meat loaf together. You can use cereal too. Like Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, Corn, Wheat, or Rice Chex...just crush them up a little first. I love recipes that are flexible! Mix all ingredients well by hand. Meatloaf: Spray a square pan with non-stick spray. Press meat mix in pan. Form it so it is all about the same height and make a seperation around the edge of the pan. Pour on a small can of tomato sauce to cover the top. Bake in 350 degree oven for 1hour and 15 minutes. Serves 4 adults. I bake some potatoes at the same time and serve with a salad. The Lad loves this very dinner. Double Pie Crust 02/19/2010
 Here are some little pie crust cups that are a very versatile conveyance of yummy goodness. They can be filled with sweet or savory deliciousness. Chocolate cream, lemon pudding, coconut cream, butterscotch, chicken, beef, or turkey pot pie filling. You are only limited by your imagination. They are big enough to share if you only want a little "taste" and if you want more, it is a Big bite...for one.  Start out with 2 cups of flour, sifted, 1 teaspoon of salt, 2/3 cup of shortening (I prefer King Arthur All purpose flour and Crisco shortening), and 2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter. NOTE: This is my favorite pastry blender. The wire type is better than the type that has thick metal bent over. The wire type is much easier to clean. It is indispensable in making pie crust because it really blends the fat and flour into small pieces, which are needed to make flaky crust. You can also use it to make excellent deviled eggs. (Recipe to come soon.) Another note: To make really flaky crust, you need to keep all your ingredients very cold. So I put my flour in the freezer, and my shortening in the fridge. The water needs to be very cold also, so put it in the freezer, use water that has been in the fridge, or put ice in some water.  Put the fat in a big bowl.  Add flour and salt.  Take the pastry blender and work the fat and flour together. It is important to work fast so it doesn't warm up too much. You need to blend it into very small pieces. Do it now, because after you add the water, the less you work it the better. Otherwise it gets tough.  This is how it should look when you are done. Crumbly, little pieces. Now would be the time to add the water. Six to seven Tablespoons of ice cold water. I use seven Tablespoons because of my altitude and the fact I live in the desert. Start out with six and if it seems too dry add the last one. This is important because you can add but you can't take it out.  Here is the dough. This is a recipe for a double pie crust which means you have enough for two pieces, either two pies or a top and a bottom crust. This is half the recipe. As you can see, I have it on a floured surface and it is an oblong shape. I want it oblong because I am making smaller crusts than a normal pie. I don't want the dough to be tough so I want to "work" the dough as little as possible from now on.  Roll the dough to a little more than 1/4 inch thick, and long enough to make three circles per 1/2 crust recipe. I am using a cereal bowl for a cutter.  This is a extra large muffin tin that I have turned upside down and sprayed with non-stick spray. I molded the crusts around the cups and cut off any crust that hangs over too far. You don't want the crusts to touch. They will puff up a little.  Bake them in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes...until they are nice and brown. They pop off from the muffin tin easily and then I cool them on the rack. Fill them with whatever makes your skirt fly up. These got chocolate pudding. A few days later. Then we ate them up as fast as we could. That is why there isn't a picture. Maybe next time. Double Pie Crust 2 cups of flour 1 tsp salt 2/3 cup shortening 2 Tab butter 6-7 Tab ice water Blend fats, salt and flour till it is small pea size pieces. Add water and mix just till incorporated. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness or a little more. Fit to pan (either cut for these muffin cups, or a regular pie tin). Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or till golden brown. Cool and fill with whatever you want. Enjoy! *-------------------* As an after-thought...it came to me that you can use a cookie cutter to make smaller circles and use the really small muffin tins the same way. (the 24 muffin size). Then you can put your "filling" in a piping bag and squirt it in the cups. THAT will stop any of that messy business going on outside the pastry cup. This makes it nice to take to a party as a "dish to pass" and displays well on tier plate, serving dishes. BEEF STEW 01/27/2010
 I bought some stew meat, about a pound, and cut off the stuff I don't want to eat, fat, gristle. Then I threw a little flour, salt and pepper on top and stirred it around to coat.  Put about 2 Tab. of oil. I used canola oil. Heat and add meat to brown. Cook in batches till all is brown.  Now you can cook the onion you chopped or the garlic you crushed in the pan. Cook till tender. Deglaze the pan. You can use wine...or broth...or both...or water. I like to use wine and broth...it adds so much more flavor. Add about 4 cups of liquid. I then peel and cut up to large baking potatoes, some baby carrots, about half a bag. Put the meat back in and cook till meat is tender. About 30 minutes. Add in frozen peas and heat through...if you want. Take two heaping tablespoons of corn starch and a little water and make a slurry. Pour into broth and heat till it boils. Boil 1 minute to get out pasty taste. Now, you can mash some potatoes and put stew on them, or noodles, or make a pie crust and make pot pies. Or make some biscuits to sop up the gravy. Very vesitile non-recipe, KABOBS 01/25/2010
 This is The Lad giving his approval on dinner. I bought a fillet mignon roast the other day for real cheap. After I trimmed the silver skin and waste off, I had several odd shaped pieces left over. So...I decided to have kabobs.  I had a partial bag of pearl onions. When they are frozen like this...the outside gets a little tough. So...I run warm water till the onions thaw enough so I can "slip" the outside skins off by pinching the onions with three fingers.  Here is my broth recipe in ice cube form. I just want a little broth to cook the veggies.  Here are the veggies...the onions and baby carrots.  This is a little less than a pound. 3/4 pound maybe. I cut it in chunks that were small. The veggies are already cooked the just need to be warm. I also used 2 small cans of whole peeled potatoes.  I poured some teriyaki sauce over the meat just till the oven was hot and the sticks were soaked for 1/2 hour.  Sticks soaking.  Since the veggies were cooked...it was easy to put on the sticks. As you can see, I alternated the meat, onions, and potatoes on some of the sticks. These were broiled in my oven on high for about 3 1/2 minutes. Then I turned the sticks over and broiled for another 3 1/2 minutes. The Lad and I "killed" these by ourselves. SAUSAGE POTATO SOUP 01/19/2010
People have been asking for my recipe for the Olive Garden sausage potato soup. So I thought I would put it up today.  I like to use these. The store brands are OK but this is what I use if I can get it. Especially if they are on sale. That is just how I roll!  Then I take a big onion and chop it up in a medium dice. Now...I also chop up bacon into small slices. I do that by taking 5 slices stacked up on each other and slice 1/4 inch pieces...or just a little wider. I put the bacon in the pan and brown it up a little...then I throw in the onion and cook down till translucent.  Now I take a sharp knife and slice open the casing on the sausage...  ...and peel it off. Then I cut it in small pieces and throw it in with the bacon/onion goodies.  Stir it all around and let it cook down a bit. It doesn't need to be too brown.  This is when I add 2 cloves of garlic that I put through my garlic press. I do it now so the garlic won't burn. Burnt garlic tastes bad!  While that is cooking wash up two large baking potatoes, cut in quarters, and slice in 1/4 inch slices (or a little thicker). No need to peel (unless you want to).  You can also chop up the kale. I love kale! I will be growing it in my garden this year. To clean kale, fill your sink with water and put your kale in a colander and swish it around to loosen any dirt. It will fall through the colander. Then shake off the water. Take each leaf and fold it in half, length wise. You can then cut off the rib down the middle or pull it off. Then chop it in small pieces. By doing this...the kale will cook evenly.  At this point...if you are worried about "FAT" you can put this mix through a sieve or colander to drain off some of this fat. Personally..I think it "carries" a lot of the flavor so I leave it in...for now.  Add in two cans of chicken broth. I always look for the kind with NO MSG!!! MSG be duh Debil! (Name that movie...sort of)  To add another layer of flavor...I add in a whole ice tray of my broth recipe. Once the broth has melted add in the potatoes and cayenne pepper. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 10 minutes then add the kale. Cook about 7 minutes more and add a cup of heavy cream. At this point do not boil...just stir it in and heat through. I would say this recipe serves about 6 good size bowls. I like to put big croutons on top.  Now would be the time to put it in the fridge and chill it...the fat will harden on top and would be easy to pick off....If you want less fat. That way the flavor is all in the soup...AND very yummy. Sausage Potato Soup 5 slices of bacon cut in small pieces 1 large onion, medium dice 1 pack of Italian sausage, casing removed, chopped in small pieces 2 garlic cloves, pressed 2 cans of chicken broth...no MSG 1 ice tray of my broth OR 2 more cans of broth or water 2 large baking russet potatoes 1 large bunch of kale 1 cup of heavy cream OR milk Cayenne Pepper of red pepper flakes to taste (optional) Salt and pepper to taste Start to brown bacon...then add in onion and sausage. Then garlic. Once that is mostly cooked, add in broth(s) and potatoes. Cook about 10 minutes. Add kale and cook for 6 more minutes. Add cream and cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste...heat through. Serves 6 hungry people. BAKING QUEEN!!! 12/17/2009
Today I started baking for Christmas. Actually, I started baking yesterday. I have 20 loaves of zucchini bread. I also have 2 batches of hot pepper relish and 1 of pomegranate jelly. I want to make Mom's date cookies and some more rice Krispie squares. They never last long enough. I still need to make banana bread and pumpkin bread. Then just a couple of apple pies and I might be done...but you know how that turns out...you always wish you had made more. I guess I have enough zucchini left to make 16 more loaves. If I can squeeze it in I would like to make a couple of batches of cinnamon rolls. My friends, neighbors, and family will be so pleased. What is it you need to bake for the holiday season? Sugar cookies, ginger bread houses? I just like the way the house smells when you are baking....it smells full of love. Just the way I love it!!! HOT PEPPER RELISH TUTORIAL 12/16/2009
 This is how my hot pepper relish looks after I have processed my peppers. The trick to getting good relish is HOW you process the peppers. First, you have to pick nice peppers. No blemishes, or wrinkled skin, and they need to be real clean.  As you can see...I have picked a variety of colors and degrees of sweetness and hot. What you need at the end is 4 cups of processed peppers per batch of relish. These are clean. I have my Grandma's turkey roaster pan holding these. That is lots of peppers. I would say about 10 pounds.  Then I sit down at my work station. First I cut off one end....  ...then I cut off the other end.  Then slice it down the side and open up That is when I cut it in chunks, take out the seeds, and take out the ribs. This is important because it is a more porous part of the pepper and will float to the top (and look ugly). To do a good job on the ribs (and the seeds in some of the peppers) I like to use a melon baller.  The baller has two sizes. I use the big side on the bigger peppers and the small on the small peppers. It just fits better. The round edge of the baller digs a little deeper and gets more of the rib out.  This piece is nice and clean...no white ribs.  Here is the top piece. See what it looks like?  This is what it looks like when you clean it good. No White stuff.  When I get to the hot peppers...I am a wuss...I put on gloves! I cut the stem end off and cut them in half. Then I scoop out the seeds and ribs.  This is not a perfect example...but it is still good. To be efficient I clean the sweet peppers first, put on gloves, cut the hot peppers and then seed them. It just goes faster to use one tool and then the other. Once they are clean...I run them through my old fashioned meat grinder. The kind with a crank handle. I have seen them at Wal Mart. I like this to chop up the peppers...it makes the texture nice. I use a hand grinder for most of my jams and relishes. Once it is ground up I strain it a little.  Then I drain off the juice. I think I started this to keep the sauce of the relish more clear. I put ALL the peppers in a bowl and stir them real well. You need to mix the hot and sweet Peppers so they are evenly distributed. At this point I sometimes measure out 4 cups per batch and store them in plastic bags. Not more than till the next morning...we want them fresh. Then it is made like the recipe on the pectin box. It doesn't set...it just gets thick. This is how I prep my peppah relish! This stuff is great. Or at least I hope you think so. Sweet Potato Pudding 12/09/2009
 This is an old recipe that I think BFF gave me. I just love the crunchy top. So let's get started.  Here is what you need... 4 cups peeled and shredded sweet potatoes 4 beaten eggs 1/3 cup of orange juice 1/2 cup melted butter 1/2 tsp ground cloves 1/2 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp salt 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup chopped pecans bake @ 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Mix eggs....  with 1/3 cup of orange juice...  and 1/2 cup melted butter. Sometimes I only use 1/4 cup butter....just cause I can.  Mix into the egg mixture, brown sugar and the spices.  Mix in 4 cups of shredded sweet potatoes. Put in greased casserole dish. Put pecans on top. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 1 hour.  Here it is ready for the oven.  Here is the loving spoonful! I like to make this to go with a ham...or at Thanksgiving with turkey. I also like to put crushed pineapple in here instead of the orange juice...same amounts. I would like to encourage you to play with your foods. What is the worst that could happen? You might have to throw it out...or you could start a new tradition. Be brave. Blew it! 12/08/2009
I just posted stuffed mushrooms on my NEWS page...what is up with that? Anyway go check it out. It is a good recipe. |
