Aunt Karen's Chocolate Pie

I haven't gotten a chance to make the pie yet, but here's the recipe so that it is safe and easy to find. I have eaten the pie on several occasions & have helped to make them for a previous Thanksgiving.

~Beat 2 egg yolks and set aside.

Combine in saucepan:

3 tbls. corn starch

3/4 cup sugar

4 tbls. cocoa

1/2 tsp. salt

~ Mix together.

~ Gradually stir in 2 cups cold milk

~ Turn on burner - moderate heat.

~ Stir constantly until thick.

~ Simmer one more minute.

~ Stir small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks.

~ Stir egg yolks into hot mixture.

~ Cook one more minute stirring constantly.

~ Turn off heat.

~ Stir in 3 1/2 tbls. butter.

~ Add 1 tsp. vanilla.

~ Stir.

~ Sit entire pan in cold water.

~ Stir.

~ Change water as necessary.

~ Once cool, pour into already pre-pared/baked pie shell.

Ta da - PIE!

Cornbread

This recipe turned out pretty well, so before I lose it:

Preheat oven - 375 degrees.

Melt one stick of butter [1/2 cup] in your baking pan.

Swish around, coat the sides of the pan, and dump butter into mixing bowl...reserving a small amount in baking dish [tbls.]

Now add the rest of the ingredients in order - stirring/whisking before adding the next item.

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups self-rising cornmeal

[or 1 cup cornmeal, 1cup flour, and 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda]

1/2 tsp. salt

Pour into pan and cook 30-40 minutes or until top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when stuck in the middle.

The cornbread turned out moist, slightly sweet, and savory.

Mac & Cheese

The recipe comes from a restaurant back in Louisville, Lynn's Paradise Cafe, and was featured in an episode of Oprah as one of the host's most favorite mac & cheese. It has since evolved with each new batch. I've made it with a variety of cheeses. The recipe calls for sharp cheddar [Vermont white, to be specific] but I've tried smoked gouda, salsa jack, pepper jack, and various cheddars all to good results. The best seems to be a blend of sharp cheddar, velveeta, and then a little something with more flavor...not enough to overpower, just enough to add a little something extra.

Another change that I have made from the original recipe is exchanging half & half for the evaporated milk. First of all, the recipe calls for a quart and it was impossible to buy evaporated milk at the grocery store and come up with an even 32 oz. I was always a little short or had too much. When I was short, I would use half & half to make up the difference. Lately, I haven't been happy with the flavor of the evapo milk and had started to use less and less with more cream instead. This last batch I made with half & half ONLY and it was the best yet. I assume you could even use the fat free half & half if you were so inclined.

Now, I do not like baked mac & cheese when the pasta is complete mush. Yuck. One pasta that I have found that holds up well and stays el dente is Barrilla's pasta plus. It's multi-grain and has an extra amount of protein and healthy stuff in it yet doesn't taste like cardboard. It comes in elbows, rotini, penne, and bow-ties, any of which would be suitable for this dish. And, if you convince yourself that the pasta is GOOD FOR YOU, you won't feel so bad about eating this decadently delicious dish. It is still important to undercook the pasta by several minutes. I used rotini this time and cooked it for 6 minutes of the recommended 10-11. When adding the noodles to the boiling water, make sure to add a generous amount of salt as this is the only time you'll get a chance to season the pasta. Strain the noodles and give them a cold water rinse to stop the cooking process and then set them aside.

As for the butter in the recipe...in one place it says you should melt 2 oz [half a stick] plus a little for the pan and then another 2 tbls. for the topping. I make it simple: melt a stick of butter in your baking dish. Just throw it into your oven as it's preheating. Small chunks will melt better and quicker...just don't overdo it. We want the butter creamy melted not oily. Swish it around in the dish to butter the edges then pour half in a small bowl for the topping and half can go into your mixing bowl.

Next, add the eggs [recipe says 4 - I used 3] and give them a whisk. If your eggs are cold out of the fridge, this may make the butter congeal. But that's OK...just whisk until you've got small bits throughout. This could be avoided by adding the butter last and if you want to dirty up another bowl, that's fine with me. Now, mix in the half & half...not all of it, but start with about 3/4 of the quart and whisk. To season the mix, I always add several dashes of worcestershire, a good squirt of yellow mustard, a dash of season salt [less salt if you are using a salty cheese such as smoked gouda], and then several cracks of fresh ground pepper. Whisk and set aside.

Now it's time to prep the cheese. If you have grated cheese, you are ready to move on to the next step. If not, we have to get the cheese into tiny bits. Velveeta is impossible to grate, so you'll have to cut it into small chunks unless you can find velveeta crumbles [with the refrigerated bags of cheese] in your grocery. I use about 1/2 of a 1 lb. block. I also had an 8 oz block of salsa jack cheese that was too crumbly to eat with crackers, so I crumbled it up and mixed with the velveeta. To this I added about 1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar for a total of 3 cups of cheese...give or take.

Time to assemble. Layer approximately 1/3 of your pasta in the bottom of your buttered baking dish. [Lynn recommends a 9" X 13". I used a deep 10" round.] Now add approximately 1/3 of your cheese. Repeat. Repeat again ending with cheese as your top layer. Using your hands, give the top layer a little push to get everything all settled in your pan. Now pour the egg and cream mixture over your layers. The cream should come just about all the way to the top with just enough room for you to get it to the oven without slopping it over the sides. If it doesn't, add more half & half straight out of the carton until it does. Cover with foil and pop into a preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.

Once it's in the oven, put the topping together. Remember that bowl of butter we set aside earlier? Add enough panko bread crumbs to it to soak it all up...about a cup, add a little more if you need to to absorb all the butter after giving it a good stir. Panko are japanese breadcrumbs and it's another place where the original recipe and I differ. I prefer panko in most recipes and they have become widely available even in mainstream grocery stores. To that, add aprx. a 1/2 a cup of parmesan cheese. I salt this mixture with a little season salt but that is optional. Add a few cracks of black pepper and stir and set aside until the 40 minutes is up.

Carefully remove the foil [dish will be very hot, and remember how heavy it was?] and evenly distribute the topping. I have to remove the entire dish from the oven to do this, but I suppose not everyone will have to do so...just be careful. Cook uncovered for an additional 20-25 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Yum.

If you are fortunate enough to have left-overs, reheat cold mac & cheese by cutting it into squares. Then dip the sides in a bit of panko and fry in a bit of butter or oil.

Decadent.

Ingredients:

1 lb. Barrilla Pasta Plus - elbows, rotini, penne, bow-ties

3 cups [+] of your favorite cheeses

Velveeta [part of the above mentioned 3 cups]

3 eggs

1 qt. half & half

1 stick butter

panko or other bread crumbs

parmesan cheese

salt, pepper, mustard [optional], worcestershire [optional]

CheeseSteaks

Yum...

These sandwiches were quick and easy to throw together and were delicious.

1 pkg (almost a pound) of thin sliced top sirloin

2 Arnold Italian Rolls [These come in a package of 4 which is perfect for us & also make good garlic bread]

Slices of Smoked Provolone Cheese

Celery, onion, & garlic

First, chop the veggies nice and fine and then prepare the sofrito [fry until soft in a tiny bit of butter] adding a couple of cracks of fresh ground pepper & a sprinkle of sea salt. Then remove from skillet and set aside.

Next, I ran the knife through the thinly sliced beef cutting it into strips and then the other way shortening the pieces. Get the skillet good and hot and add a little oil or butter if necessary...I still had oil from my sofrito and didn't need more. Add beef and let sear lightly. Add veggies back in to skillet and stir. Once the beef was cooked to my liking, I lowered the heat and then I divided it into two roll-sized rows and topped with 2 pieces of cheese each & a sprinkle of parmesan. I added a little oregano to mine, but none on Jeff's. Now, open the rolls and place over the top of each row and let the cheese melt for a minute or 2. The only trick now is getting the first sandwich flipped over and out of the pan...a large spatula and my fingers did the trick. The second sandwich was easier...just place a plate over it and turn the whole skillet over. I guess with a big enough plate, I could have removed both sandwiches using this method.

Tada...yummy CheeseSteak Sandwiches!

Chili

I made a really good batch of chili [since the weather got chilly] and would like to remember how I did it. I didn't want to have left-overs for days, but I did want enough for dinner, Jeff's lunch the next day, and chili dogs for a couple of lunches for me. The amount seems to have worked out perfectly and the chili turned out thick and meaty.

Ingredients:

1 can beef broth ***NOTE - WILL ADD CAN OZ's LATER

1 lg. can diced tomatoes

1 small can tomato sauce

2 cans of kidney beans

3-4 stalks of celery

1 med. onion

4-5 cloves of garlic

2 (+) lbs of ground beef

Various spices:

cumin

chili powder

seasoned salt

onion powder

garlic powder

oregano

black pepper

chili powder blend

First dice the onions, celery, and garlic. Then sauté in a good sized pan in a bit of oil with salt and pepper. I used bacon grease because I had it, but any oil will do. Add beef and partially brown, but do not cook all of it all the way through. Add chili powder and cumin in gracious amounts while cooking the meat. Now add liquids and tomatoes. Rinse beans and add. Stir and let simmer.

By not cooking the meat all the way through, the meat broke up and cooked in the liquid with excellent flavor and texture results.

I wanted the chili to slow cook for several hours, but I didn't want to leave the propane on the entire time so I would simmer and stir for about half an hour and then cover the mix and let it sit for up to 2 hours. Then turn the heat back on and simmer and stir. After the first rest period, I added more seasoning - garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, black pepper, season salt, and oregano.

After the second rest period I added several dashes of balsamic vinegar. Stir and simmer. Turn off and cover.

Before reheating for the final time, Jeff and I both tasted it and I added more cumin and a touch of salt. I also added just a touch of water.

We ate the chili topped with some shredded cheese and Premium mini saltines.

Lo-Mien

This weeks veggies came with baby bok choy, shitake mushrooms, ginger, and green onions which I thought would make a perfect stir fry. Instead of serving it with rice, I opted to turn it into a lo-mien instead.

The most time consuming part is prepping all the vegetables so, I poured myself a cocktail and got started.

Because I was serving the dish with noodles, I wanted the cut on the vegetables to imitate the shape and length of the noodle...so, everything [bok choy, green onions, carrots, mushrooms] got cut into long thin strips and then set aside. I had already purchased top sirloin that was already cut into long thin strips for stir fry.

I also very finely chopped 2 cloves of garlic and set aside separately.

Next, I pulled a small nub off the fresh ginger, peeled it, and finely diced it as well.

Now time for the sauce. The great thing about stir-fry/lo-mien sauces is that you mix them up cold in a separate bowl. This allows you to experiment add add seasoning to your taste. I started with a beef bouillon cube [crumbled] and about a 2 cups of water. Next, I added several dashes of soy sauce, several dashes of balsamic vinegar, a generous splash of sesame oil, and a great Hoisin Garlic [Soy Vay]sauce I found at the grocery. I had looked at recipes on the internet before going to the store and they all seem to variations of similar ingredients: soy sauce, some sort of vinegar, sesame oil, and then something sweet such as plum sauce or hoisin. Some had wine or sherri as well. So, use what you have available...our grocery had no plum sauce or hoisin so I considered myself fortunate when I found the Hoisin Garlic sauce oddly located over the frozen chicken.

Next, I added half my minced garlic and the ginger and gave it a big stir.

Now, you can taste and add whatever you want but remember to keep the sauce LIGHT because it is going to flavor your entire dish. A heavy sauce now may taste good on your finger, but will totally overpower the delicate flavor of the veggies. If you over do it now, just add some water. Once you've achieved the flavor you were looking for, add a generous tablespoon of corn starch and give it a whisk.

***NOTE: In hind sight, I should have mixed the sauce first so that it would have had more time to let the flavors meld and for the ginger to infuse it's flavor.

The last thing that needs to be prepared is the noodles, so go ahead and get them ready according to package directions erring on the side of under cooked in order to keep them al dente.

Now, you are ready to put everything together. First heat up a heavy skillet or a wok on medium high heat. Once hot, add a small amount of sesame oil and give that just a second to heat. Now add the beef and the remaining minced garlic. After a few seconds, give everything a stir. Cook for just a minute longer, and then remove meat from skillet and return skillet to the flame to re-heat. Add a touch of oil. Give it a second. Now add the veggies. Give them a minute and then a stir. Vegetables should remain some-what crisp. Now, add your sauce and bring to a quick bubble...it's that bubbling that thickens the sauce. Reduce heat & add the noodles. Give it a good stir and you're ready to serve.

Ingredients: Various veggies, soy sauce, vinegar, hoisin, garlic, sesame oil, corn starch, meat of choice, noodles [lo-mien noodles, linguine, or spaghetti] - I used Tinkyada white rice spaghetti - see Boat Noodles.

MMMmmmm....

We had the yummiest dinner last night: fried chicken livers, mashed potatoes and gravy, & kale seasoned with carrots, purple onion, and bacon.

Jeff fried the livers because a.) I don't like to touch them or get egg and flour on my fingers, and b.) because frying is one of the things he does best. You've heard of KFC [Kentucky Fried Chicken], but have you been fortunate enough to have JFC [Jeff Fried Chicken]?

Scallops Fra Diavola

Publix has something in their seafood section called "scallops fra diavola" and it is pre-packaged, pre-prepared bay scallops with diced tomatoes, green peppers, onions, and seasoning. I picked up some the other day after a friend here in the harbor gave them a good review. They come with cooking instructions [bake, I believe.] that I quickly disregarded. I wanted to serve them them with a white sauce or a buerre blanc over pasta. It seems to me like a better idea than pouring jarred pork gravy on them as before mentioned friend said he was going to do.

Oh, and just so such a travesty could not occur, I made friend some white sauce for his scallops that he could take back to the boat and heat up.

And now, so friend can make his own sauce and put up the pork gravy...

[Step away from the gravy, Dave, and no one gets hurt...]

White Sauce:

First dice up some onions, celery, garlic, and carrots...how much depends on how many you are serving.

On medium-low heat saute diced veggies with a pat of butter & a splash of olive oil until soft.

<~~~Hey! I just found out that this has a name! Soffrito! I do this for a lot of recipes so it's nice to be able to call it something.

Next, add a bit of flour...1 tbl. for one serving, 2 tbls. for 2...

Stir.

Now stir in some milk...you could use cream, half & half, or whatever - I'm using skim because that's what I have. If using a heavier liquid I would cut the amount of flour or eliminate it all together. How much depends once again on how many you are serving. One serving 3/4 cup...2 servings a cup & 1/2...

Sauce will thicken as it starts to bubble, but keep it low - there's no need to bring to a hard boil.

If too thick, add more liquid.

Remove from heat and add parmesan cheese. Aprx. 1/4 cup for 1 serving...1/2 cup for 2...

Stir. Now season to taste.

When I removed the sauce from the heat, I actually dumped mine into a small bowl...just for the time being. Then I wiped the skillet, returned it to the burner, added a touch of olive oil, and then sauteed the scallops. Once the scallops were done, I returned the sauce back to the skillet and gave it just a minute or 2 to reheat. Just before serving, you should "mount" the sauce...sounds dirty, doesn't it? But, "mounting" the sauce or monter au buerre simply means that you add a bit of butter at the end...it adds flavor and improves the texture. Now pour over pasta and add a piece of garlic bread.

Next time, I think I'll pass on the pre-packaged "fra diavola" and just go for the bay scallops. The pre-packaged stuff has green peppers in it that I would prefer to leave out and because the scallops are wet with the "fra diavola" preparation, it's impossible to get a sear on the scallops. So, I'll be adding my own veggies and trying it again...but I might not have attempted my own if I hadn't tried the Publix version first.

Stuffed Cabbage

Since I brought home a head a cabbage, I felt compelled to try making stuffed cabbage rolls. I've never made stuffed cabbage before so I consulted the internet for some recipe ideas. Eek! I found all the recipes to be quite daunting with a 3 hour prep time and an intermediate skill level. Intermediate probably means I have to measure something...double eek! Also, all the recipes called for raw ingredients, raw meat, & 1/2 cooked rice, but I wanted to use the left-over rice from last night's dinner as well as the left-over black beans & squash. HMMMMmmmm...I guess I'll just have to wing it.

So, all the recipes said to boil the head of cabbage whole and then peel off the leaves as they are cooked. Sounds to me like a perfect opportunity to burn myself. Instead, I peeled off leaves and steamed them 2 at a time in a round shallow pot of simmering water. Looks like I did 7 leaves. I put them aside to cool.

Next, for the filling I preheated a skillet [actually, the same shallow pot that I steamed the leaves] then added a bit of olive oil, ground turkey, 2 cloves of garlic, and a 1/4 of an onion [diced]. Stir occasionally and cook until done. Easy enough. Next, I removed the pan from the heat and stirred in my left-over veggies and rice and a generous handful of shredded cheese and let the whole thing cool. Less than 1/2 an hour invested so far...ah, ha!

Now to stuff the leaves. Lay one leaf on a clean plate or surface. Put a nice big scoop of filling in the middle, but towards the stem end. Now roll, tuck in the sides, and roll some more...tada. Move the finished roll to an appropriate size baking dish. Eye up your filling and evenly distribute it to the rest of your leaves. Roll, tuck, roll, repeat. I'm still coming in at under an hour and that's with drink breaks and cooling time. Take that, internet recipes!

Now, I need some sauce. So using the same shallow pot and the one useful tip I got off the internet...mix together 1 can of Campbell's tomato soup [no water], a chicken bouillon pack [I replaced the bouillon cubes that the dog ate with Herb-ox sodium free chicken bouillon packs], a can of petite diced tomatoes w/ can liquid, and several dashes of balsamic vinegar. Stir and pour over the top of the cabbage rolls. Place in a preheated oven, 350 degrees for 35 - 45 minutes. Yummy.

Ingredients: Big outer leaves of 1 head of cabbage - I used 7 and it was more than the 2 of us could eat [TIP: Use the rest of the cabbage for coleslaw], 1lb ground turkey, onion, garlic, cooked rice & left-over veggies, shredded cheese, 1 can Campbell's tomato soup, chicken bouillon, vinegar.

Pork, Black Beans, and Rice

Today, I bought a boston butt pork roast and when it came time to start dinner, Jeff preformed his magic on it, popped it into the handy, dandy rotisserie and set the timer for 75 minutes...set it and forget it!

Now for the veggies...

In a medium sized covered dish, I combined 1 peeled, cleaned, and diced delicata squash [a.k.a. sweet potato squash], 1 cup chicken bouillon, 1 can black beans, 1/2 an onion - diced, 1 sprig celery - diced, 1 sm. apple - diced, 1 carrot - diced, 2 cloves garlic - minced, a crack of fresh ground black pepper, and a sprinkle of cumin. Cover and let the heat from the rotisserie cook everything. Stir occassionally.

Once that was all settled, I cooked us a small amount of rice [3/4 cup] and just let it sit - covered.

When the 75 minutes was up on the pork, we set it on "no heat rotation" for 15 - 20 minutes to let the meat rest before carving.

Just before serving, I added the juice of 1/2 a lime & a handful of minced cilantro to the rice.

The pork turned out juicy and flavorful and the vegetables made a great, savory side dish w/ the rice.

Ingredients: Pork roast, 1 can of black beans, chicken bouillon, celery, onion, garlic, delicata squash [a sweet potato would have worked also], carrots, rice, lime, cilantro

Breakfast for Dinner

I love having breakfast for dinner. We do it quite often. The fare is different from time to time. Sometimes there's pancakes. Sometimes there's gravy. This time, it was bacon, corned beef hash, biscuits, and eggs. I did something a little different with the hash and just wanted to make a note of it. Hash comes in a can and I am pretty sure it's not good for you at all...this particular one was Hormel brand.

To start with, I fried the bacon and set it aside. I poured most of the grease into a cup and set it aside as well. Then, I very finely chopped a sprig of celery, a 1/4 of an onion, and 6 baby carrots and added the mix to the frying pan in the remaining bacon drippings. Sautee on low heat until soft. Celery and onions should be slightly translucent. Push the veggies to the edges of the pan, turn up the heat [medium high], add a little of the reserved bacon grease, then add the hash...you'll have to smush the hash out around the pan because it will be can shaped. The secret to good hash is to cook it until it starts getting crispy. This requires a lot of flipping and smushing. So, keep flipping and smushing [both technical terms] until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed and the hash is browned on top and bottom. Flip out onto a paper plate to absorb some of the access grease. Cover to keep warm while you cook the eggs.

The addition of the extra veggies, gives us the illusion of eating healthier and by adding to the volume, it makes the hash a little less salty. Plus, it added some really good flavor. Yum.

Ingredients: I can corned beef hash, celery, onion, baby carrots, 1/2 lb. bacon, can o' biscuits, eggs

Beef in the Rotisserie

We did turkey. We did chicken. It was time for beef. I did a little research on the internet about what cut of beef would be best in the rotisserie and then was greatly disappointed in my choices at the grocery. I chose a London Broil, although that seems to have become a somewhat generic label. It is supposed to be a cooking method not a cut of meat. This particular one also said it was "Top Round" and with my limited knowledge I decided that was my best option. Something from the loin or the rib would have provided a more marbled piece of beef thus resulting in a more tender and juicy finished product. Next time, I'll shop around.

As soon as I got it back to the boat, I started prepping the meat. First I rinsed, then patted it dry. Laid it on a large piece of aluminum foil & drizzled it with a little olive oil. The piece was pretty lean, almost no marbling, and I thought the oil would help in my cooking process. Next I gave it a dash or 2 of worchestershire sauce. Then generous sprinkles of lemon pepper, sea salt, garlic & onion powder. Flipped it over and repeated on the other side. Then I sealed it up in the foil and placed it in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Usually, Jeff is in charge of "skewering" the meat on to the rotisserie aparatus, but he was resting so I thought I'd try my hand at it...And promptly stabbed said hand with said rotisserie aparatus. It only bled a little, and more importantly - none on the meat, but now I know WHY he's in charge of that particular aspect.

The rotisserie says for "Rare Roast Beef" to cook for 19 minutes a pound. This is probably fine for a rounder, thicker cut of meat, but was a little too long for the london broil. It still turned out pink through out the center, but I would have prefered it to be a little more so. I thin sliced the meat and it was tender and delicious. We used it on sandwiches all weekend. The cold sandwiches with lettuce, tomato, advocado, and jarlsberg cheese made a great late-night supper, but the best was the hot sandwiches with sauteed onions, celery, and garlic & melted provolone cheese on crusty hoagie rolls with a side of steaming au jus to dip.

Oh, and remember those sweet potatoes that I wasn't sure how to make edible?

I got to thinking about other vegetables that I don't eat...I don't like okra, for example...but I love it fried!

So...

I sliced the potatoes real thin, and Jeff fried them up. We sprinkled them with season salt and pepper and they tasted great.

Wrapping It Up w/ Burritos

We're getting to the bottom of the barrel with our box of veggies so I wanted to make a dinner that could wrap up all the loose ends and the little bits of stuff we have left. Why not burritos?
First, I cooked 3/4 cup of basmati rice and set aside.
Next, I chopped broccoli, baby carrots, onion, celery, garlic, & cherry tomatoes.
The vegetables need to be precooked slightly which you could do several different ways...saute slightly in a skillet, steam briefly in the microwave, or in my case, I drizzled the veggies with a bit of olive oil and popped the tray in the toaster oven.
[The propane tank was outside on the grill otherwise I would have just sauteed everything on the propane stove. I was preheating the oven for some bread anyway and thought it was a good use of energy to "roast" the veggies.]
I added a bit of chopped chicken breast [saved from the rotisserie chicken] and the cooked rice to the mix and gave it a good stir.
I greased an 11 x10 pan [toaster oven size] and preheated the oven to 375 degrees.
I wanted my burritos to turn out crispy, so to roll them, first I put a few drops of olive oil on a plate and smeared it around. Then I placed one tortilla [10 inch] on the plate, coating the underside with the oil. I used 1/3 of my filling mixture and topped it with a bit of cheese. Then I rolled it, not bothering to tuck in the ends, and placed it flap side down in the pan. Repeat, repeat, for a total of 3 burritos. Then into the oven for about 30 minutes or until crispy. Top with a bit of grated cheese and cook for another 5 minutes.
We like ours with some sauce on top...Old El Paso Enchilada Sauce is what I had on hand. Heat separately [microwave or saucepan] and pour over burrito to serve. Add salsa and sour cream [optional] or any other toppings you like.

Ingredients: leftover veggies & meat, rice, tortillas [10 inch or "burrito" size], enchilada sauce [optional], salsa [optional], sour cream [optional]

Banana Fig Bread

After all the veggies had been made into burritos, I still had 2 bananas & 3 figs left...all of which were on the overripe side. So, I added them to a Betty Crocker Banana Nut mix. I chose this mix because it has a recipe on the box for adding a banana.

Since I was using a non-stick baking dish, I just mixed everything in the dish itself....save on clean-up.
First, I mashed the banana with a fork [right in the dish] then I chopped the figs and added them.
Next, I added 1/4 cup vegetable oil...I figured that could count as "greasing" the pan. Then 2 eggs. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of milk, but since I had 2 bananas I cut it to 1/4 cup. Add the mix and stir until just blended. Get any batter off the edges & above the "batter line" so that it doesn't burn and then into a preheated 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.

The bread turned out fabulous!
Moist and delicious....
....And I don't have any rotting fruit going to waste.

Rotisserie Chicken to Derby City Chicken Salad

It seems that as of late, most of my meals have a dual purpose...not only are they dinner, but also serve as lunch the next day. I find it difficult to cook just the right amount for 2 people & we don't do well with the same thing all over again as left-overs...so this new strategy seems to be working out pretty well.

I bought a 5 lb. chicken at the grocery. Jeff skewered it then sprinkled it up with a salt & pepper citrus blend and then popped it into the rotisserie for 13 minutes a pound plus 10 minutes for warming up. Once again, I utilized the heat from the rotisserie to cook my veggies by placing a pan on top[as seen in picture]. This has to be one of the easiest dinners ever and the chicken turned out beautifully crisp on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside.

Once the chicken had cooled, I stripped all the meat off of the bones. It's much easier to do it then than after it's been refrigerated. What we didn't eat for dinner goes into a tupperware and then into the fridge for tomorrow's chicken salad.

I call my chicken salad "Derby City Chicken Salad" because that's what the Kroger deli calls theirs, and theirs is what my recipe is based on. The salad contains: chicken [of course!], celery, pecans, grapes, and mayo and it is delicious. Sometimes I add a bit of onion to mine & always a few cracks of fresh ground black pepper. This time, instead of grapes, I cut up an apple [because I needed to use the apple] and I liked it better. All the ingredients are proportioned to taste and according to how much chicken you have...2 sprigs of celery, a handful of nuts, etc. Dice everything to about the same size pieces and mix together. Err on the side of caution when adding the mayo...you can always add more, but it's harder to take away if you get too much.

Chill for a couple of hours and it's good to go! Great for sandwiches or wraps & fabulous on crackers.

Ingredients: 1 Whole Chicken, various seasonings, celery, pecans, grapes or apples, onion [optional], & mayo.

BBQ Ribs

Country-style pork ribs are a great thing to fix on the grill. They do not require boiling or any other pre-cooking like a lot of other types of ribs and are quick and easy.

Early in the day, prep the ribs by rinsing and patting them dry.

Next, sprinkle both sides with your seasonings of choice. I used garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and zatarain's cajun seasoning [season salt].

I had a half bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's Chipotle Honey BBQ sauce in the fridge. To it I added a 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of white vinegar...I would have preferred apple cider vinegar, but I didn't have any. You don't want to thin your sauce too much, so just add enough vinegar to make it a nice marinade consistency. I also added 2-3 dashes of liquid smoke. I gave it a shake, put the ribs in a ziplock bag, and poured most of the sauce in as well. Save a small amount of sauce and set aside. Seal the bag, squishy all around until the sauce is distributed evenly, and return it to the fridge until you are ready to grill.

When you are ready, preheat the grill on high. Once hot, throw the ribs on and reduce heat to medium-low. Flip after 10 minutes and re-baste with the reserved sauce & cook another 10.

Let the ribs sit tented w/ foil for 5 minutes before serving.

We had ours with steamed broccoli topped with cheese & garlic texas toast.

Ingredients: 2lbs of country-style ribs, misc. spices, BBQ sauce, vinegar - preferably apple cider, broccoli, cheese, texas toast*

*Note: Publix sells Pepperidge Farm Texas Toast in the bread isle...butter and season it yourself! So much better than the frozen versions. Keeps better, too since I don't have a freezer.

Rotisserie Turkey

Last nights dinner was rotisserie turkey breast. Publix has a great selection of turkey products and one of the things they offer is a half turkey breast - bones in but not frozen. So, with the arrival of the rotisserie, I purchased a bit of turkey and Jeff seasoned it up. He used the last of our garlic lemon herb seasoning, black pepper, and season salt. Then popped it in the rotisserie. The directions say to cook turkey for 10-12 minutes per pound and our half breast weighed in at almost 3 lbs. Because the rotisserie does not have a preheat feature, we compensated by setting the timer for 45 minutes instead of 30 - 36. Once the cooking time was over, we set the machine to "no heat rotation" to let the meat rest.

Then slice and serve. The leftovers make great sandwich meat.

We had our turkey with poached brussel sprouts w/ cheese and mashed potatoes. The rotisserie puts out enough heat to cook the sprouts by placing a pan on top of it. They actually make a warming dish for this purpose, but any pan will do. I used a chicken bouillon cube with enough water to cover the bottom of the pan. I cut 10-11 sprouts in half and placed them cut side down in the liquid. Cover and let them steam. In the last 10 minutes of cooking time for the turkey, I topped the brussels with velveeta cheese. Cover and let the cheese melt. Next, I brought 2 cups of water to a boil for the mashed potatoes...Idahoan Buttery Golden Selects [formerly Buttery Yukon Gold] to be exact. If you haven't tried these instant potatoes, you really should...they are GOOD...especially this variety. Just follow the directions on the pack.

Tada....dinner!

Ingredients: Turkey, various seasonings of choice, fresh brussel sprouts, chicken bouillon cube, velveeta cheese, 1 pack instant potatoes

Serves 2. Cook time 45 minutes.

Hard-Boiled Eggs

Sounds simple enough, but I always have a hard time peeling my eggs. Eggland's Best says:

Hard-cooked eggs may be difficult to peel if they are very fresh. This is because an egg shrinks inside during storage, which pulls the inner membrane away from the inside of the shell. For this reason, a hard-cooked egg will peel more easily if it has been stored for one or two weeks before it is cooked.

I doubt my eggs are too fresh coming from the grocery store and all so, it must be my cooking method.

This is how they say to cook the perfect hard-boiled egg:

Bring eggs to room temperature then place the eggs in room temperature water; bring to a boil then turn down to a low boil for 12 minutes. Quickly chill the eggs in ice cold water before peeling.

12 minutes seems like a long time to me, but Martha Stewart concurs and her directions are the same.

I guess I'll go boil some eggs now.

Balsamic Chicken & Kale

With the arrival of our first box of veggies from Annie's Organic Produce, it's time to utilize what's in the box...using the most perishable items first.

I stopped at the grocery and picked up some boneless, skinless chicken breasts then headed back to the boat to unpack the veggies.

I had some balsamic vinaigrette in the fridge, so the first thing I did was rinse the chicken and threw it in a bag with a generous amount of the salad dressing. Then back in the fridge for an hour or so...longer is better.

In the meantime, I chopped 4 cloves of garlic & slightly more than half the bundle of kale.

I also chopped 2 green onions and some parsley and set aside...gotta use them. They're in the box!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees...bake setting on the toaster oven.

Cook the chicken for 10 minutes, then flip it for another 10. Let rest for 5 minutes.

Once the chicken was in the oven, I started heating 2 tbls. of bacon grease in a skillet on medium heat...threw in the garlic and gave it a couple of minutes to soften and flavor the oil. Next I threw in the kale...gave it a stir...then threw in a cup of water with a chicken bouillon cube [crumbled]. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Now remove lid, increase heat slightly, stir occasionally, and cook for another 5 minutes to reduce liquid. At this point, I added half the green onions to the skillet.

I plated one chicken breast and a generous amount of kale for each of us...then sprinkled the kale with balsamic vinegar, and topped plate with parsley and green onions. Salt & pepper to taste, or in my case a dash of zatarain's. This would have been good with a portion of rice or mashed potatoes as well...even better would be to top the kale with some crumbles of bacon.

Ingredients: 2 boneless chicken breasts, marinade of choice [optional], kale, green onions, parsley, garlic, bacon drippings or olive oil, balsamic vinegar [et al]

Serves 2. Cook time 20 minutes.

Recipes and such...

I started this blog so I could keep a record of the things I cook...it is mostly just a personal reminder of what I've done, what worked, and what turned out well. I also hope to be able to look back on it when I need to come up with something good for dinner. That being said, I don't know if I will do well at writing recipes to share with others.

I don't measure.

But, we'll give it a shot.

If you use one of my recipes, please comment on how it turned out and if you did anything differently.

If something is questionable or problematic, please feel free to email me about it @ mistyart11@gmail.com.

Flank Steak

Today I bought a piece of flank steak...a little less than 2 lbs. As soon as I got it home, I rinsed it off, patted it dry, placed it on a large enough piece of aluminum foil to wrap the meat completely, and then squeezed 1/2 a lime on both sides of the meat and set aside.

Then in a small bowl I made a rub using:

1 beef bouillon cube; crumbled...the secret ingredient!

1 tbl. garlic powder

1 tbl. onion powder

1 tbl. black pepper

1 tbl. lemon & herb seasoning

1 tsp. chile powder

1 dash zatarain's cajun seasoning (season salt); optional

Stir until mixed together, or put a lid on and give it a good shake.

Note: I did not measure any of the above ingredients. Look at the amounts more as a guideline. If I said tbl., I used quite a bit. If it says tsp., then I used only a little. The lemon & herb seasoning I had on hand and I thought it would compliment the lime, but would not be necessary. It contains quite a bit of salt, so I kept any additional to a minimum...plus the bouillon adds salt as well.

Next, working on ONE side of the flank, I sprinkled 4-5 drops of liquid smoke and spread them over the surface with my fingers. Then I sprinkled 4-5 drops of basalmic vinegar and spread that with my fingers. Then I sprinkled 1/2 the dry rub and spread evenly across the meat.

Now flip it over and repeat all the above steps on the other side.

Now wrap it all up and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

When it comes time to cook, preheat your oven...now, here you have to know your own oven. I am using a toaster oven. I set it on broil and 450 degrees. My rack is aprx. 3 & 1/2 inches below the heating element...so set yours accordingly.

Unwrap the meat and place on a broiling pan or shallow baking dish.

We like our red meat to be medium rare, so I cooked the steak for 10 minutes on the first side and only 8 minutes on the other. Go by look and smell. If you like yours burnt, then just cook it longer.

Let sit for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

I used a sharp knife and made thin, diagonal slices. Flank steak can be tough and chewy, so getting a good thin slice is important.

Look here if you aren't quite sure which way to cut it.

I served the slices with basmati rice and lima beans.

The left-overs became a cold steak sandwich for Jeff and a steak, blue cheese, & baby greens salad for me.