Friday, July 30, 2010

7-29-10 Spaghetti Already!!!


Typically Romantic Thursday calls for a more exotic dish, but we’ve had a busy week and Italian sounded good (plus we already had bread and chianti!!!). Tonight we are opting for something simple, tasty, and easy to prepare.

What you’ll need:


1 lb. of lean hamburger
1 can of tomatoes
1 can of tomato sauce (two if you like it more tomato-ey)
1 package of spaghetti seasoning w/mushrooms
1 package of spaghetti ( I prefer regular not thin)
Fresh mushrooms
1 medium-size white onion
Marinated artichoke hearts
Parmasen cheese - grated
Tami’s mystery tasty salad
French bread
Reduced-Fat Butter (or substitute)
Garlic Powder
Ruffino Chianti table wine


Chop ¼ of onion in to small chunks and set aside. Spray large Calphalon with Pam and turn on medium heat. Open Chianti and allow to breath. Brown hamburger meat and crumble. Empty browned hamburger meat into colander and rinse (really cuts down the fat!!!). Return hamburger to skillet and add can of tomatoes, can of tomato sauce, chopped onions, 1 cup of water, and spaghetti seasoning and bring to a boil. Cook on medium heat for 25 – 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Add chopped mushrooms with 15 minutes of cook time remaining. Drain marinated artichokes and slice half of jar into quarters; add to spaghetti. Save remainder for Tami to add to mystery salad. Pour Chianti and drink toast!!!


Fill 5 quart Calphalon sauce pan to half full with water. Add pinch of salt and bring to boil. Drop spaghetti into boiling water and reduce heat to medium high. Cook spaghetti for 8 – 9 minutes. Drain and rinse in colander, then toss.


Slice French bread to suit on thickness and spread with Land O’ Lakes Reduced Fat Butter or Smart Squeeze, then dust with garlic powder. Broil at 500 degrees until brown on edges; remove.


To serve, start with noodles to suit, add spaghetti sauce, and dust with grated parmesan cheese. Top off Chianti, add Tami’s top-shelf salad, and toasted bread.
Eat, drink, and enjoy!!!
BC

Thursday, July 29, 2010

7-28-10 West Texas Jerk Chicken


We are big fans of crock pot meals and this one is another easy one. Make sure you allow enough time…other than that, simple and quite tasty!!!

What you’ll need:

Four chicken breasts
Stubb’s Barbeque Sauce (Original)
Dale’s Steak Seasoning
Fresh black-eyed peas (straight from Mom’s garden…she shelled them for us…shizzle!!!!!!!)
Frozen crinkle-cut fries
Salad to suit (as previously mentioned, talk to Tami about the salad)
Hamburger buns (can substitute flour tortillas as a wrap…also good stuff!!!)
Barefoot Cabernet Sauvignon table wine

Trim all the fat and any skin off the chicken breasts first because it’s healthy and the skin/fat are nasty!!! Line crock pot with a Reynolds Slow Cooker Liner (these things are the bomb!!! no mess crock-pot clean up…smmaaarrrrtttt!!!!) Add 2 cups of water, 3 tablespoons of Dale’s Steak Seasoning , and add chicken breasts. Top chicken breasts with black pepper. Set crock pot to cook for 4 hours.

Take the baggie full of black-eyed peas that Mom has conveniently shelled and add to 5 quart Calphalon sauce pan. Add 4 cups of water and salt to taste. Cook for a very long time (at least two hours) on medium low heat. Add water as needed to keep them from drying up. In the last 30 minutes, taste frequently to make sure they are getting close (and because they are gonna be smelling REALLY good!!!!) Allow to simmer on low heat while everything else is wrapping up.


Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place frozen crinkle-cut fries on cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Go outside with dogs for about 10 minutes and Tami has magically created the salad upon your return. Check french-fries and open wine….drink a toast!!!

Remove the chicken breasts from the crock pot and place in large mixing bowl. Scoop about 1 cup of the broth from the crock pot and add to bowl. Pour in ½ cup of Stubb’s Barbeque Sauce and smash all this together for about 3 minutes (top off wine if needed) until chicken looks like this:


To serve, warm the buns in microwave for 20 seconds and top with jerk chicken. Top with more Stubb’s Barbeque Sauce (if you went to Texas Tech in my era, no description of Stubb’s Sauce is required). Serve black-eyed peas with slotted spoon. Crinkle-cut fries should be consumed with lots of ketchup. Add salad and dressing to taste.
Eat, drink, and enjoy!!!
BC

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

7-27-10 Brian's Sausage Stuff In A Bowl

Note sad, hungry dog on right!!!
Tonight’s fare is really back on the healthy path!!! This is a takeoff of something I saw in the paper recently and we leverage all the fresh, free, or available veggies we have in the fridge already to make it all yummie!!!


You’re gonna need:

1 Hillshire Farms Turkey Smoked Sausage (really not bad….read the label and compare to standard smoked sausage)
1 box of Rice-A-Roni (I’m such a gourmet!!!) flavor of choice – Tami likes beef  ;-)!!!
Fresh squash (Karen's garden!)
Fresh Asparagus
Cut okra
Red potatoes
Corn-on-the-cob (we still have it....gonna eat it!!!)
Blackstone Merlot table wine


Light the grill and set to medium heat. Cut the squash and potatoes into chunks (see pic above). Start these in the steamer first and cook for at least 30 minutes (longer to suit texture pref). Add corn-on the cob and cut okra after 5 minutes of steaming (25 minutes cook time). Make the Rice-A-Roni according to the directions on the box (they’ve been coaching how to do that a lot longer than I have). Once finished, stir, replace cover, and remove from heat. Throw the sausage on, open the wine, and drink a toast!!! Flip the sausage three times over 20 minutes cook time. Remove from grill and set aside. Add asparagus to steamer with 13 minutes to go.


Top off the wine glass if empty.  Slice the sausage into ½ inch pieces and then quarter.  To serve, start with layer of Rice-A-Roni in a bowl, add steamed veggies, and sausage; then toss. The steamed okra, while you may think grody (sp?), actually really ties all the flavors together with a rich finish. Very easy meal to make and you can substitute the veggies based on season and availability (i.e. what’s in the fridge).
Eat, drink, & enjoy!!!
BC

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

7-26-10 Sour Cream Beef Enchiladas W/ Black Beans


OK, OK, so we went a little overboard with the gravy this weekend. It’s a new week and with that, back to healthier eating! Tonight we are having Sour Cream Beef Enchiladas. These are easy to make and great when re-heated for leftovers the next day.

Stuff you’ll need:

1 lb. of lean hamburger meat
1 package flour tortillas
1 can of diced green chiles
¼ of a medium sized white onion
I can Old El Paso Mild Green Chili Enchilada Sauce
1 lb (16 oz.) of Fat Free Sour Cream
1 Package of Lawry’s Taco Seasoning
2 cups of grated mozzarella or cheddar cheese
1 can Ranch Style Black Beans
Tortilla Chips
Hot Sauce
Limes
Tecate Beer in bottles


Chop onion in to small chunks and set aside. Spray ten inch skillet with Pam and turn on medium heat. Open first Tecate. Brown hamburger meat and crumble. Empty browned hamburger meat into colander and rinse (sounds gross but really cuts down the fat!!!). Return hamburger to skillet and add 1 cup of water. Add chopped onions, green chiles, taco seasoning, stir, and bring to boil. After 10 minutes, stir in sour cream and cook for an additional 15 minutes (save a little sour cream to use as dollops to top black beans). Remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8 x 12 Pyrex dish with Pam. Fill flour tortilla with meat and add shredded cheese (I like a LOT of cheese but cuts the healthy factor a bit). Typically will hold 4 – 5 enchiladas per dish. Drizzle on green enchilada sauce to suit. Top with shredded cheese and sprinkle with paprika. Heat in oven for 15 minutes.


While waiting for enchiladas to bake, slice lime in half and quarter. Rub edge of lime around top of beer stein and salt. Drink ice-cold Tecates with limes squeezed in and eat chips (try the Tostitos with a Hint of Lime) and hot sauce. Heat black beans in microwave until steaming.

Serve enchilada, black beans with dollop of sour cream, chips, hot sauce, and more Tecate!!! You will like these and easy to double quantities for bigger crowds (or freeze for future consumption!!!).
Eat, drink, and enjoy!!!
BC

Monday, July 26, 2010

7-25-10 Chicken-Fried Chicken, Fried Okra, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, & Corn


OK, so remember that we describe our meals as fairly healthy. After a tough weekend working at the lake house, we decided Sunday afternoon called for some good comfort food. We settled on chicken fried chicken, fried okra, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, and biscuits!!! This is not for the faint of heart and only prepare if you are really hungry and willing to make a HUGE mess in the kitchen!!1

You’re gonna need:

Chicken breasts
Potatoes
Cut okra (unbreaded)
Canned corn
Canned biscuits
Flour
An egg
Low-fat milk
Salt/pepper/season salt to taste
Cooking Oil

Peel the potatoes and boil them for 25 minutes. Drain water, add 2 tablespoons Smart Squeeze, salt, pepper, and mash em’ up!!! I use a hand-masher as I make an even bigger mess with an electric mixer.


Cover the chicken breasts in wax paper and pound flat with a meat hammer and set aside. I use both sides of the hammer…seems to make the crust stick better. Mix ½ cup of fat-free milk with egg and whisk until blended. Pour a bunch of flour on a plate and stir in a pinch of pepper, salt, and paprika. Heat ½ cup of cooking oil ( I use Canola) in large skillet on medium heat. Dip chicken breast in egg/milk mixture and coat with flour. Dip in milk/egg mixture again and back in flour (can I just say repeat???). Carefully add chicken beast to hot grease. Cook 4 – 5 minutes per side flipping three times until golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Drain most of grease from pan, leaving maybe 2 tablespoons. Then scrape loose all the “crusties” and add three forks of flour. Allow flour to brown like roux and then add 1 ½ cups of fat-free milk. Salt/pepper to taste and reduce to allow gravy to thicken.


Add ¼ cup of cooking oil to 10 inch skillet on medium heat. Place two cups of cut okra in mixing bowl and add two tablespoons of corn meal and one tablespoon of flour. Toss in bowl repeatedly. Add slowly to grease and stir in skillet. Sprinkle a handful of the remaining corn meal/flour mix from the bowl on top of okra in skillet. Stir occasionally for 12 – 14 minutes until corn meal starts to brown. Remove and drain in bowl lined with paper towel.


Preheat oven to bake at 425 degrees. Place canned biscuits on ungreased cookie sheet for 8 – 10 minutes until browned. Drain canned corn and add to microwave-friendly bowl. Heat on high setting in microwave until steaming.

Serve up the chicken-fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and biscuits and cover with gravy. I also top off the gravy with seasoned salt so that my tongue is numb later and I am thirsty until the next day. Add fried okra, corn, and dig in!!!! Goes well with iced tea or Diet Dr. Pepper over ice.
Enjoy and we'll head to the gym tomorrow!!!
BC

Sunday, July 25, 2010

7-24-10 Mom's Homemade Biscuits & Sausage Gravy!!!!

Sorry for the delayed posting. We headed down to our lake house for the weekend. As previously stated, our goal is always to be reasonably healthy. We normally observe this M – F and enjoy our weekends. That said, in honor of being at the lake, it is the weekend, and we were pretty good most of the week, I give you…Mom’s Homemade Biscuits and Sausage Gravy!!! My 83-year old Mother has made homemade biscuits all of my life every Friday morning.  I think everyone in our family savors these time-honored treasures. Mine will never be as good as Mom’s even with her recipe, but here goes my best effort to honor my Mother!!!

Stuff you’ll need:

1 ½ cups flour
3 Tablespoons of shortening (Mom uses butter-flavored Crisco)
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
¾ cup of milk
Jimmy Dean Reduced Fat Sausage (don’t tell Mom we use reduced fat)
Land O’ Lakes Reduced Fat Stick Butter
Mom's Homemade Strawberry Preserves (sorry, these are very hard to come by!!!)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt 1 tablespoon of shortening on a small cookie sheet (really need a biscuit pan!!!) in oven. Mix all ingredients thoroughly with spoon in mixing bowl to form dough. Knead 6 – 7 times on flour-covered cutting board and flatten by hand to ¾ inch thickness. Cut biscuits using cookie cutter. Wad up remaining dough to make one last SUPER biscuit!!!! Remove pan from oven. Drag cut biscuits through melted shortening and flip over, spacing evenly on pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 16 -18 minutes until brown.


Cut sausage in ¼ inch thick patties. Melt 1 tablespoon of Land O’Lakes Reduced Fat Butter in cast-iron skillet (no Calphalon at the lake) on medium heat and cook sausage for 6 – 8 minutes to suit. Remove sausage and add 2 tablespoons (about three forks) of flour to remaining grease and allow to brown for 1 minute (like make roux) still on medium heat. Add 1 ¼ cup of milk and boil until gravy thickens. Salt and pepper to taste. Make sure to scrape all the goody off the bottom of the pan before transferring gravy to bowl!


Another tip from over 50 years of eating these biscuits…if any of them remain after breakfast, open them with a fork and add a pat of butter and allow it to melt. Consume these biscuits later in the day with crunchy peanut-butter and a Dr. Pepper (ok, these days it’s a Diet Dr. Pepper, but you get the idea).



I hope you enjoy these as much as my family has for all these years….may Doris Cook’s Homemade Biscuit legend live on in your family as well!!!
Enjoy!!!
BC