Three more recpies

Time for a few more requested recipes.

Beef and Bean Enchilada Casserole

Serves 4

½ pound lean ground beef
½ cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 can (15 ounces) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (4 ounces) diced green chili peppers
1 carton (8 ounces) sour cream or light sour cream
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
8 6-inch corn tortillas, cut into 1-inch wide strips
1 can (10 ounces) enchilada sauce or one can (10½ ounces) tomato puree
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
Cilantro sprigs (optional)
Hot chili peppers (optional)

IN a 10 inch skillet cook the ground meat, onion, chili powder, and cumin till the onions are tender and the meat is no longer pink. Drain off the fat and cool.

Stir the pinto beans and the undrained chili peppers into the meat mixture. In a medium bowl stir together the sour cream, flour, and garlic powder until well blended.

Place half the tortilla strips in the bottom of a shallow 2 quart baking dish. Top with half the meat mixture, half the sour cream mixture, and half the enchilada sauce. Repeat layers. Bake covered in a 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with cheese, and bake 5 minutes more. Garnish with cilantro and chili pepper if desired.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

You can make this up to a day ahead and chill in the refrigerator. After making the sour cream mixture, store it and the meat mixture in containers. When you’re ready to serve, assemble as described above and bake for 45 minutes instead of 30.

If you double the recipe (say for a potluck), use a 3 to 4 quart baking dish and bake for an hour. Using the tomato puree instead of the enchilada sauce will cut down on the spiciness of the dish if that is a concern for you.

Shredded Beef with Pickled Peppers

Serves 8

1 2½ to 3 pound boneless beef chuck pot roast, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup chopped onion
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon instant beef bouillon granules
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
½ teaspoon dried basil, crushed
½ teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic, or 2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup chopped pepperocini (Italian pickled peppers) or other pickled peppers
8 hoagie buns, rye buns, or Kaiser buns, split and toasted
6 ounces sliced Swiss cheese

In a 3½ to 4 Quart crockery cooker combine the meat, onion, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon granules, oregano, basil, thyme, and garlic. Stir to mix.

Cover and cook on low heat about 10 hours or on high heat for 5 to 6 hours. Stir to break up meat cubes. Stir in peppers.

Cook, uncovered, on High heat for 30 minutes more, stirring often to break up the meat.

Using slotted spoon, place meat mixture on bottom of toasted buns. Top with cheese. Broil 4 inches from heat about 1 minute or until cheese melts. Add top of buns.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

You can serve the meat juices in small cups with the sandwiches for dipping if you want.

Spicy Beef Pitas

Serves 8

1 pound thinly sliced cooked beef
½ cup picante sauce
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup olive oil or cooking oil
1 tablespoon snipped fresh cilantro or parsley
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon cracked black pepper
4 large pita bread rounds, halved
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 medium avocado, sliced
¼ cup crumbled feta cheese (1 ounce)

Place sliced beef in a plastic bag in a bowl and set aside. For marinade, combine picante sauce, vinegar, oil, cilantro, garlic powder, and black pepper in a medium bowl. Pour over beef. Seal bag: marinate in the refrigerator for 4 to 24 hours, turning the bag occasionally

When ready to serve, drain and discard the marinade. Divide beef among pita halves. Add tomato, avocado, and feta cheese

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes form the Hare

For a quick side dish, cook a package of cheese stuffed tortellini as directed on package. Drain and cool, then toss with strips of sweet pepper, slices of red onion, olives, and Italian dressing

A trio of recipes.

Here are a few more of the Ox requested recipes for you to peruse and prepare as you see fit.

Sassy Beef in Tortillas

Serves 15

2 pounds lean ground meat (beef, chicken, pork, or turkey)
1 cup chopped onion
1½ cups shredded carrot or butternut squash
1 cup finely chopped green sweet pepper
1 can (14½ ounces) diced tomatoes
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/3 cup light raisins
1/3 cup catsup
3 tablespoons steak sauce
2 tablespoons quick cooking barley
1 tablespoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
15 8 to 9 inch flour tortillas

In a large pan or Dutch over cook the meat and the onion until the meat is no longer pink and the onion is tender. Drain off any fat

Stir in carrot or squash, sweet pepper, undrained canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, raisins, catsup, steak sauce, barley, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce heat.

Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Uncover and cook 10 to 15 more minutes or until the mixture has reached the desired consistency.

Spoon about ½ cup of the meat mixture over tortillas. Fold in half, then fold in half again.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

You can freeze this mixture for up to three months once it’s cooled down after cooking. To reheat, you can either cook a container over medium low heat until thawed and heated through, stirring occasionally, or you can transfer the mixture to a microwave safe bowl and cook on 70% power (medium high) stirring occasionally. For a 1 cup portion the microwave will take about 6 minutes to thaw and heat: 2 cups will need 10 or 11 minutes.

Instead of spooning this onto tortillas, you can use it as a topping for baked potatoes, spaghetti, or spaghetti squash.

Three Bean and Beef Stew

Serves 6

8 ounces boneless beef chuck, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic, or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 cups water
1 can (16 ounces) diced tomatoes
½ cup dry red wine, or 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar plus 1/3 cup water
1/3 cup tomato paste
¼ cup snipped fresh basil, or 1 tablespoon dried basil, crushed
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
4 carrots, cut into ¼ inch pieces
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 ounces) great northern or navy beans, rinsed and drained
1 package (9 ounces) frozen Italian style green beans
Fresh sprigs of basil (optional

In a large pan or Dutch oven, brown beef cubes with onion and garlic in hot oil until meat is brown and onion is tender.

Stir in water, undrained tomatoes, wine (or vinegar and water), tomato paste, basil, brown sugar, dry mustard, salt, and pepper. Stir in carrots. Bring to boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer 1¼ hours.

Stir in green beans and simmer 8 to 10 minutes more or until meat and beans are tender. Stir in canned beans and heat through. Serve in bowls, garnishing with sprigs of basil if desired.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

To make this ahead, after simmering for 1¼ hours, stir in canned beans. Transfer the pot to a sink of ice water to shill quickly, stirring occasionally. Transfer the mixture to freezer containers and store for up to 3 months.

To prepare frozen stew, transfer a portion of the stew to a large pan and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally to break mixture up. Stir in half the green beans (depending on portion size – 2 portions in 1½ quart containers are recommended). Reduce heat and simmer, covered, about 10 minutes or until beans are tender.

Along with the soup, you can serve a tasty bit of bread. Brush 6-inch Italian bread shells with olive oil, then top with thinly sliced onions that have been cooked in a little oil until brown. Sprinkle crumbled blue cheese over all and bake in a hot oven for about 10 minutes or until heated through. Cut into wedges to serve.

Parmesan Chicken and Broccoli

Serves 6

1 cup parboiled (converted) rice
½ cup sliced green onion
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon bottled minced garlic, or 1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2¼ cups milk
1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, cut up
1½ cups loose pack frozen broccoli
½ cups grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup diced fully cooked ham
2 tablespoons toasted sliced almonds

Cook rice according to package directions: remove from heat and stir in half the onion. Rinse the chicken and pat dry.

In a large skillet, cook chicken, Italian seasoning, and garlic in hot oil over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink, turning once. Remove from skillet, reserving drippings.

For sauce, cook remaining onion in skillet with reserved drippings until tender, adding more oil as needed. Stir in cornstarch. Add all the milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until slightly thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat and stir in cream cheese until nearly smooth. Remove from heat, stir in broccoli, Parmesan cheese, and ham. Cool the sauce.

Spread rice into a greased 2 quart rectangular baking dish. Arrange chicken over rice and season with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over chicken. Back casserole, uncovered, in a 350 degree F oven for about 10 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with almonds.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

You can make this ahead and freeze it for up to 4 months. After spooning the sauce over the chicken, cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and freeze. The night before serving, move the dish from the freezer to the refrigerator to thaw while covered. Bake the thawed casserole, covered, in a 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with almonds, then back for 20 to 25 minutes more or until heated through.

Black Bean and Salsa Noodle Soup

For everyone looking for a quick and tasty soup recipe for the winter months, I can readily recommend this one.

Black Bean and Salsa Noodle Soup

Serves 6

3 cans (14 to 15 ounces each) vegetable broth
1 jar (16 ounces) salsa
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
1 package (5 ounces) Japanese curly noodles, or 5 ounces spaghetti
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon pepper

Heat broth to boiling in a large pot. Stir in remaining ingredients and reduce heat to medium. Cook 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until noodles are tender

Source: Super Sides in Seconds, © 2004

Notes from the Hare

I like a slightly heartier soup, so I double the black beans in this recipe. I leave the noodles out on occasion as well, depending on mood.

A sprinkling of cheese is pretty tasty on to of this soup, if you are so inclined.

Something for the Canines

Ox here - Christmas isn't that far away and for those of us who have canine (and feline) chilluns I thought it would be really cool to have something for the mutts that we could actually afford. My mother-in-law, being of the same mind, gave me this recipe. I admit I have not as yet tried it out, mostly since I have only recently received it. When I do, I will make sure and let you all know just how it turned out. And, as soon as I find something for the kitties I will also be sharing that with you.

Dog Biscuits

4 c. flour
3 c. oats
4 tsp. vegetable oil
1 egg
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1 beef boulion cube
2 c. warm water


SHAPE AS YOU WANT!

Bake at 300* oven for 1 hour. Makes about 48 biscuits.

Peaches and Cream

Now that work has died down a good bit, I should be able to update a bit more regularly. For tonight, I’ll post a desert recipe that I made once for Ox and her husband and which Ox asked for yesterday

Peaches and Cream

Serves 6

½ of an 18 ounce package of sugar cookie dough
1 can (16 ounces) sliced peaches
9 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cup sugar
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch round pan. Press the cookie dough evenly into the prepared pan. Bake until dough begins to set, roughly 5 minutes

Rain the peaches, reserving 2 tablespoons of juice. Arrange pieces over crust, leaving space between slices.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add reserved peach juice and egg. Beat until smooth.

Spread cream cheese mixture over peaches. Bake until firm, about 25 minutes. Cool before slicing.

Source: Easy Everyday Cooking cards

Notes from the Hare

You could use canned pineapple instead of canned peaches if you want.

Three Cheese Spaghetti Pie

Every now and then you find a recipe that just sounds odd, but has a good chance of tasting pretty good. Sometimes it’s a picture of the recipe, or the name of it. It was definitely the name with last night’s meal

Three Cheese Spaghetti Pie

6 ounces spaghetti, cooked, drained, and rinsed with cold water
1 large egg, separated
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ pound ground beef
1 ¼ cup spaghetti sauce
¾ cup Ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9 inch pie plate with cooking spray.

Combine spaghetti, egg white, and Parmesan cheese in a medium bowl. Press the mixture into the pie plate to form a pie shell

Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the beef. Cook, stirring frequently, until beef is brown and crumbly – roughly 5 minutes. Drain and return to skillet, then stir in spaghetti sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes and set aside.

Combine Ricotta, egg yolk, parsley, and ½ cup mozzarella in a medium bowl. Spread mixture into spaghetti pie shell

Spread meat sauce over cheese mixture. Top with remaining mozzarella. Cover pie with foil. Bake for 35 minutes, removing foil during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Let stand before serving.

Source: Easy Everyday Cooking cards

Notes from the Hare

Taste-wise this reminds me of lasagna.

You could substitute cottage cheese for the Ricotta and grated Romano for the Parmesan.

For a lighter meal, exchange the beef for ground turkey and 2 egg whites for the yolk. You could also use low-fat cheeses.

You can use the spaghetti pie crust for other meals – simply prepare the pie shell as above and fill it with roast chicken, pork, or beef.

Five-Spice Pork Sandwiches

There hasn’t been as much time to work on recipes of late as I would like, sadly – but now that I have a few moments in between trying to get everything to just calm down a bit, might I present Five-Spice Pork? It is very yummy.

Five Spice Pork Sandwiches

1 2 ½ to 3 pound pork shoulder roast
1 cup apple juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 ½ teaspoons five-spice powder
6 to 8 kaiser rolls, split and toasted
1 ½ to 2 cups shredded Chinese cabbage

Trim any excess fat from roast. If necessary, cut roast to fit into a 3 ½ or 4 quart crockery cooker. Place meat in cooker

For sauce, combine apple juice, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and five-spice powder. Pour over roast.

Cover and cook on low heat setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on high heat setting for 5 to 6 hours.

Remove roast from cooker. Remove meat from bone; discard bone and fat. Using two forks, shred the meat. Serve meat on toasted rolls with Shredded cabbage.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

You can serve this au jus by skimming the fat from the juices and spooning the juice into small bowls, supplying a bowl of juice with each sandwich.

Five-Spice powder should be in the Oriental section of your grocery. IF you can’t find it, you can make your own.

Combine all of the following:

3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
6 star anise or 2 teaspoons aniseed
1 ½ teaspoons fennel seed
1 ½ teaspoons whole szechwan peppercorns or whole black peppercorns
¾ teaspoon ground cloves

in a blender. Cover and blend to a fine powder, then store in an airtight container.

A pair of beefy recipes

Updates are kind of sporadic here at the Inn – I’m having a lot of instances of “so little time” lately. So now, while I have some time, here are a couple more recipes that Ox asked me to post.

Beef Burgundy

Serves 6

1 10 to 11 ounce can condensed golden mushroom soup
¾ cups burgundy
¼ cup quick cooking tapioca
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
¼ teaspoon pepper
3 medium carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large onion, cut into thin wedges
1 ½ pounds lean beef stew meat, cut into ¾ inch cubes
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, halved
Hot cooked noodles

In a 3 ½ to 6 quart crockery cooker, stir together soup, burgundy, tapioca, thyme, and pepper. Add carrots and onion. Top with stew meat and mushrooms.

Cover and cook on low heat for 8 to 10 hours or on high heat for 4 to 5 hours.

Serve over hot cooked noodles.

Beef and Barley Soup

Serves 6

1 pound boneless beef chuck pot roast, cut into ¼ to ½ inch cubes
7 cups water
1 cup chopped onion
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 tablespoons instant beef bouillon granules
½ teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
½ teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed
½ teaspoon dried basil, crushed
½ teaspoon dried pepper
½ cup pearl barley, or 1 cup quick cooking pearl barley
1 10 ounce package mixed frozen vegetables

In a Dutch oven or heavy pot, combine beef, water, onion, celery, bouillon granules, thyme, marjoram, basil, and pepper. Bring to boiling. Stir in pearl barley (if using) and return to boiling. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. (If using quick cooking barley, add during the last 20 minutes of cooking.)

Stir frozen vegetables into soup. Cook, covered, for 10 minutes more or until meat, barley, and vegetables are tender.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

For the Beef and Barley soup, you can add more flavor, color, and nutrition by stirring in ½ of a 10 ounce package of frozen spinach with the other frozen vegetables.

Something Different, 5 GREAT RECIPES

HUG RECIPE 2 people 4 arms 2 hearts A touch of love A pinch of humor A sprinkle of gleeExtend arms and wrap them around each other. Clear your minds, take a good look at each other, then pull yourselves together and mix well. Serves 2.
----------------------------
RECIPE FOR CHILD RAISING 1 c. Proverbs 22:6 1 tbsp. Proverbs 19:18 Dash of Proverbs 23:13 Pinch of Ephesians 6:4 1 teaspoon Proverbs 3:5 1/2 c. Titus 2:3 though 7Mix all the ingredients, add a pound of persistence, 1 cup of love and whip until right consistency.---------------------------------
FOR A GOOD LIFE

1 c. good thoughts
1 c. kind deeds
1 c. consideration for others
2 c. sacrifice
3 c. forgiveness
2 c. well-beaten thoughts

Mix thoroughly. Add tears of joy, sorrow and sympathy for others. Fold in 4 cups of prayers and faith to lighten other ingredients and raise the texture to great heights of honest living. After pouring all this into your daily life, bake well with the heat of human kindness. Garnish with lots of love. Serve with a smile. Enjoy!
----------------------------------
RECIPE FOR A HAPPY HOME
2 pinches of tenderness
3 c. of love
5 tsp. of happiness
1 qt. of patience
6 oz. of faith
3 tsp. of forgiveness
4 c. of understanding
1 barrel of laughter

Mix love and happiness, add faith. Blend in understanding, patience and tenderness. Add forgiveness. Toss in laughter with HUGS all around. Generously serves the whole family.
----------------------------------
RECIPE FOR LEFTOVER FRIENDSHIP

Fold two hands together
And express a dash of sorrow
Marinate it overnight
And work on it tomorrow.
Chop one grudge in tiny pieces
Add several cups of love.
Dredge with a large sized smile
Mix with the ingredients above.
Dissolve the hate within you,
By doing a good deed
,Cut in and help your friend,
If he should be in need.
Stir in laughter, love, and kindness
From the heart it has to come,
Toss with genuine forgiveness
And give your neighbor some.
The amount of people served
Will depend on you,
It can serve the whole wide world,
If you really want it to.

Salad, Soup, and Sandwich

It’s been a little longer than I expected it to be – my apologies.

Hare here. I got sick not long after posting the Swiss Steak Café recipe. Then I went home for a weekend, and then work got busy, and life got busy for a bit – at any rate, I’m back.

And I make my return with more requested recipes – today I drop off a salad and a sandwich and a soup to make up for the lack of updates on my part.

I don’t know that I’d recommend serving all of these together, per se, but they do sound tasty.

Spinach Salad With Chicken and Fruit

Serves 4 to 6

6 cups fresh spinach (about 8 ounces)
¼ cup salad oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon Dijon style mustard
½ teaspoon poppy seeds
1 11 ounce can mandarin oranges, chilled and drained
1 ½ cups cubed cooked chicken or turkey, or two 5 ounce cans chunk style chicken, drained and flaked
2 cups strawberry halves or cantaloupe cubes

Rinse and tear spinach. Cover and store in refrigerator.

For dressing, in a screw top jar combine oil, red wine vinegar, orange juice, mustard, and poppy seeds. Cover and shake well. Chill up to 24 hours.

When ready to serve, in a large salad bowl combine spinach, orange sections, chicken, and strawberries or cantaloupe. Shake dressing and drizzle over salad: toss to coat.

Hot Apple and Cheese Sandwich

Serves 4

1 medium apple
4 English muffins, split
2 tablespoons creamy Dijon-style mustard
4 slices Canadian bacon
4 slices Swiss cheese
1 tablespoon margarine or butter

Core the apple and slice crosswise, forming rings. Spread mustard on one side of muffin halves

To assemble, top 4 muffin halves with a slice of bacon, 1 or 2 apple rings, a slice of cheese, and the remaining muffin halves. Spread margarine lightly on the outside of each sandwich.

Heat a large skillet or griddle. Cook sandwiches over medium low heat about 5 minutes, or till toasted. Turn and cook 4 to 5 minutes more or until toasted and cheese starts to melt.

Sausage Vegetable Soup

Serves 8

1 pound bulk Italian sausage
2 14 to 15 ounce cans beef or vegetable broth
2 14 to 15 ounce cans Italian style stewed tomatoes
1 ½ cups water
1 15 ounce can cannelline or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3 potatoes, cut into ½ inch cubes (about 3 cups)
3 celery stalks, sliced
1 large onion, cut into thin wedges
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic, or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced

In a 4 ½ quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, cook sausage till crumbly and browned. Drain off the fat.

Add broth, undrained tomatoes, water, beans, potatoes, celery, onion, and garlic. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 25 minutes. Stir in zucchini and boil soup for 5 minutes more.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

The soup (or any leftovers) can be frozen for up to three months. To do so, remove the soup from the heat immediately after adding the zucchini and allow it to cool, then transfer to freezer containers (a pair of 2 quart containers are recommended). When you’re ready to serve, transfer one portion of soup to a large saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes or until hot, stirring occasionally to break up the mixture.

Easy Alfredo Sauce

Hello, this is OX. Yeah, I know, it has been a while since I've posted anything here. The novel I was working on is finished and I am quite happy to say that come the 26th it will be mailed out for its try at acceptance. In the mean time, I am really doing a good amount of cooking and just realized that everyone should know how to make an easy Alfredo sauce which is wonderful over pene pasta or linguini especially.

The really strange problem is that there really aren't any measurements to be had so, good luck.

1. Use as much milk or evaporated milk or cream as you would want the amount of Alfredo sauce to be into a skillet on the stove on medium heat. This is most important - DO NOT BOIL THE MILK/CREAM/EVAPORATED MILK!

2. Depending on the amount of milk/cream/evaporated milk you have, put in about 6 tablespoons of butter in and let the warming milk melt the butter.

3. Once the butter is melted, season it with salt.

4. Add in Parmesan cheese. It will take a good amount, so two cups isn't out there. Stir this in until the mixture is thick and creamy. Don't stir it hard, just let the mixture do all the work for you. It doesn't matter if the Parmesan cheese is fresh grated or from a nice box. Before taking it off of the heat, add garlic. Make it as garlicy as you would want, then pour it over pasta you have prepared.

One note I would like to make: Don't use sweetened condensed milk because that makes it way too sweet and you have to work with it a lot to make it less sweet.

So, enjoy!

Swiss Steak Cafe

More requested recipes – this one involving the crock pot, steak, and coffee.

Swiss Steak Café

Serves 4

1 ½ pounds boneless beef round steak, cut ¾ in thick
1 tablespoon olive oil or cooking oil
2 onions, sliced
1 cup strong coffee
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic, or 2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
½ teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
2 tablespoons water
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Trim the fat from the round steak and cut into 4 serving sized pieces. In a 12 inch skillet, brown the meat on all sides in hot oil. Drain off any fat.

Place onion in bottom of a 3 ½ to 6 quart crockery cooker. Add meat. Combine coffee, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves, and oregano. Pour over meat and onion.

Cover and cook on low heat for 8 to 10 hours, or on high heat for 4 to 5 hours.

Remove meat and onions to platter and keep warm. Measure 2 cups of the cooking liquid and pour into a small saucepan. Discard bay leaves. Combine water and cornstarch and stir into saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Serve sauce with round steak.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

I must admit, I’ve never considered using coffee as an ingredient before, but this sounds very tasty.

Turkey Loaf with Pesto

Continuing with our requested recipe extravaganza, we come to an interesting way to use some ground turkey – not so helpful for Thanksgiving leftovers, but it might be interesting to try once.

Turkey Loaf with Pesto

Serves 4

1 egg
¾ cup soft rye bread crumbs (about 1 slice)
¾ cup shredded Provolone or Mozzarella cheese (3 ounces)
3 tablespoons beer, milk, or water
2 tablespoons purchased pesto
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 pound ground turkey
Shredded Provolone or Mozzarella cheese (optional)

In a large bowl, combine egg, bread crumbs, the ¾ cup shredded cheese, desired liquid, pesto, nutmeg, and pepper. Add turkey. Mix well. Form into a loaf and place into an 8x4x3 inch loaf pan.

Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until meat is no longer pink.

Remove from oven and transfer loaf to a platter. Top with additional cheese if desired. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

Don’t want to use the oven for some reason (and given the temperatures around here, I can understand)? Make the loaf in your crock pot. Assemble as above, then place the loaf in the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or on high for 4 to 5 hours. To make moving the loaf easier, form three long strips of folded aluminum foil and place them under the loaf in a spoke like fashion. Lift the ends of the foil to place the loaf in the crock pot, then leave them in there to take it out with later.

Ginger and Molasses Beef Stew

I made this last night – it’s not on the list of requested recipes, but it was pretty tasty. Tart and kind of sweet, but not overpoweringly so.

Ginger and Molasses Beef Stew

Serves 6 to 8

2 pounds lean beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tablespoon cooking oil
4 carrots, sliced
2 medium parsnips, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 ¼ inch slice fresh gingerroot, or ½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ cup quick cooking tapioca
1 16 ounce can diced tomatoes
¼ cup vinegar
¼ cup molasses
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ cup raisins.

In a 10 inch skillet, brown the meat a third at a time in hot oil. Drain off any fat.

In a 3 ½ to 6 quart crockery cooker, place carrots, parsnips, onion, celery, and gingerroot (if using). Sprinkle tapioca on top of vegetables. Place meat in cooker. Combine undrained tomatoes, vinegar, molasses, salt, pepper, and ground ginger (if using) and pour over meat.

Cover and cook on low heat for 9 to 10 hours, or on high heat for 4 to 5 hours.

Stir in raisins. Cover and cook 30 minutes more.

Remove slice of gingerroot (if used) before serving.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

This was very good stew. I’m not sure what my thoughts are on the parsnips – this was my first time eating them – but as a whole the stew works. It was tarter than I expected (probably because I used apple cider vinegar), and not as sweet as I perhaps expected, but this plus some biscuits made for an excellent meal.

Cincinnati-Style Chili

Another recipe request from Ox – this time something she thinks her husband will enjoy.

Cincinnati-Style Chili

Serves 8

1 ½ pounds ground beef
2 large onions, chopped
3 8 ounce cans tomato sauce
1 cup water
½ ounce unsweetened chocolate, cut up
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 bay leaf
1 dried red chili pepper, or ¼ teaspoon ground red pepper
Hot cooked spaghetti
Chopped onion (optional)
Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
1 15 ounce can kidney beans, warmed and drained (optional)

in a 4 ½ quart Dutch oven, cook ground beef and the 2 chopped onions until the beef is no longer pink. Drain off any fat.

Add the tomato sauce, water, chocolate, chili powder, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, cinnamon, cumin, salt, garlic powder, allspice, clove, bay leaf, and red chili pepper or ground red pepper. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes, or until desired consistency. Stir once or twice.

Remove bay leaf, and, if using, the red pepper. Serve over spaghetti and, if desired, top with onion, cheese, and / or beans.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

I’ve never had Cincinnati Style Chili before, so I haven’t a thing to add here.

Filipino Chicken

First and foremost - Cajun Pot Roast? Is very good. My crock pot only took about 8 hours to prepare it, but that wasn’t a big concern for me. I tweaked the rice a little by adding a shot or orange juice to it before it cooked and served it up with a can of corn. The sauce / broth it creates, with the celery, onion, and tomatoes was absolutely delicious.

Secondly, let’s keep things going this week with a n interesting looking chicken recipe.

Filipino Chicken

Serves 4

8 chicken thighs (about 2 pounds)
1 tablespoon cooking oil or olive oil
1/3 cup water
¼ cup white vinegar
¼ cup soy sauce
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic, or 2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons sliced fresh red chili pepper, or ¼ cup toasted shredded coconut (optional)

Remove skin from chicken: rinse and pat dry with paper towels. In a 10 inch skillet, brown chicken thighs in hot oil on all sides. Drain off fat.

Add water, vinegar, soy sauce, bay leaves, garlic, and pepper to skilled. Stir gently. Bring to boiling and reduce heat. Cover and simmer 30 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is tender and no longer pink. Transfer chicken to platter and keep warm.

Bring liquid in skillet to boiling. Boil uncovered for 3 to 5 minutes or until reduced to about ½ cup. Skim off fat. Remove and discard bay leaves. Drizzle juices over chicken. Sprinkle with sliced chili pepper or coconut if desired.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

As a serving suggestion, cut up and cook about a pound of fresh broccoli until crisp-tender (I imagine you could use frozen broccoli prepared to package directions as well). Drain. Stir together 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, and a sprinkling of sesame oil. Toss this with the hot cooked broccoli.

Mediterranean Beef Stew

Continuing with our requested recipes, we start the week with a nice looking beef stew.

Mediterranean Beef Stew

Serves 8

2 pounds boneless beef chuck pot roast, cut into ¾ inch cubes
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups beef broth
1 16 ounce can diced tomatoes
¼ cup quick cooking tapioca
¼ cup balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 medium onions, cut into thin wedges, or one 16 ounce package frozen small white onions
3 cups peels sweet potatoes or butternut squash
2 cups pitted prunes
Hot cooked couscous or brown rice

In a 4 ½ quart Dutch oven, brown the meat cubes a third at a time in 1 tablespoon hot oil, adding more oil if necessary. Drain off any fat. Return all meat to Dutch oven. Stir in broth, undrained tomatoes, tapioca, vinegar, honey, cinnamon, garlic powder, and pepper. Bring to boiling, then reduce heat.

Cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Stir in the onions and sweet potatoes or squash. Cook covered for 20 to 30 minutes more or until meat and vegetables are tender.

Stir in prunes and heat through. Serve over couscous or rice.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

Nothing today, ladies and gentlemen.

Citrus Marinated Flank Steak

Moving on with the requested recipes, we find a pleasant little marinated steak recipe that I think sounds pretty good. Hopefully I can get the grill out soon and give this a whirl.

Citrus Marinated Flank Steak

Serves 4 to 6

1 1 to 1 ½ pound beef flank steak
1 cup Citrus-Spice Marinade
1 medium orange, sliced
Crushed peppercorns

Score the meat on both sides by making diagonal cuts at 1 inch intervals on the surface. Place in a plastic bag in a shallow dish: add the marinade and the orange slices. Seal the bag and turn to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 6 to 24 hours, turning the bag occasionally.

When ready to serve, remove the steak from the bag, reserving the marinade. Grill on an uncovered grill directly over medium coals to desired doneness, allowing 18 to 22 minutes for medium. Turn and brush with reserved marinade heavily halfway through grilling time.

To serve, slice the meat diagonally across the grain into thin slices. Sprinkle with pepper.

Citrus-Spice Marinade

Makes 2 cups

1 cup orange juice
1/3 cup lemon juice
¼ cup cooking oil
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ teaspoons bottled minced garlic, or 3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¾ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

In a screw top jar, combine all ingredients. Cover and shake well to mix. Store in refrigerator.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare.

Sounds good, doesn’t it?

And you’re right – the marinade recipe makes twice as much marinade as needed for the steak. The solution? I see two

1) The omnivorous option – you can use marinade as a dressing for a light salad, like some mixed greens with bits of feta cheese and some walnuts.

2) The carnivorous option – you make more steak.

We’ll pick this back up on Monday – have a great weekend everyone.

Three more things to do with Brown Mushroom Sauce

So what else can you do with the Browned Mushroom Sauce? Here’s three recipes that call for a portion of the sauce (one portion being 2 2/3 cups of sauce).

Turkey-Mushroom Baked Potatoes

Serves 4

4 medium baking potatoes
Cooking oil (optional)
1 2 2/3 cup portion Browned Mushroom Sauce, thawed
2 ounces process Gruyere or process Swiss cheese, cut up
2 cups chopped cooked turkey or chicken (10 ounces)
1 small red sweet pepper, cut into strips (optional)
1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley (optional)

Scrub potatoes and pat dry. Prick with a fork. If desired, rub with a small amount of cooking oil. Bake in 425 degree F oven for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tender. (alternatively, cook the potatoes in a microwave on 100% [ high ] power for 13 to 16 minutes, rearranging once.

In a 3 quart saucepan, heat thawed Brown Mushroom Sauce to boiling. Add cheese: Stir until cheese is melted. Add turkey or chicken and heat through. Cut potatoes open and serve turkey mixture over potatoes. Top with sweet peppers and parsley if desired.

Chicken and Mushroom Fettuccine

Serves 4

8 ounces fettuccine or linguine
2 cups small broccoli flowerettes
1 2 2/3 cup portion Browned Mushroom Sauce, thawed
2 tablespoons dry cherry or beef broth
6 to 8 ounces cooked chicken or smoked chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces.
Fresh thyme sprigs (optional)

Cook pasta according to package directions, adding the broccoli flowerettes during the last 4 minutes of cooking. Drain, cover, and keep warm.

Meanwhile, in a 2-quart saucepan, heat thawed Brown Mushroom Sauce just to boiling. Add sherry or broth, then whisk until sauce is smooth. Stir in chicken and heat through. Serve over pasta and broccoli. Garnish with fresh thyme if desired.

Cheesy Vegetarian Lasagna

Serves 6

9 no-boil lasagna noodles, or regular lasagna noodles
1 2 2/3 cup portion Browned Mushroom Sauce, thawed
1 15 to 16 ounce can butter beans or great northern beans, drained
½ cup chopped red or green sweet pepper
1 egg, beaten
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (8 ounces)
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (4 ounces)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons snipped fresh basil, or 2 teaspoons dried basil, crushed
¼ teaspoon pepper

If using regular lasagna noodles, cook according to package directions.

In a 3 quart saucepan heat the thawed Brown Mushroom Sauce to boiling. Remove from heat. Stir in beans and sweet pepper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine egg, 1 cup cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, Parmesan cheese, and ricotta cheese. Stir in basil and pepper and set aside.

Lightly grease a 2 quart rectangular baking dish. Place 3 cooked lasagna noodles on the bottom (or 3 no-boil noodles). Top with one third of the mushroom sauce and half of the cheese mixture. Top with 3 more noodles, another third of the mushroom sauce, and the remaining cheese mixture. Top with the last 3 noodles and remaining mushroom sauce.

Bake, covered with foil, in a 375 degree F oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with remaining cup of Cheddar cheese; return to oven. Bake, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes, then cut into squares to serve.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

And there you have it – three more things to do with the Browned Mushroom Sauce.

It might just be me, but if I was serving the Cheesy Vegetable Lasagna to some of my vegetarian friends, I’d probably make the Browned Mushroom Sauce with vegetable broth instead of beef broth. I’m not sure about the milk / cream / half and half, though – although, unless I was dealing with a total vegan I probably wouldn’t have to worry about it.

As an accompaniment to the Lasagna (or any lasagna or Italian dish, I would imagine), cut on 16-ounce loaf of Italian bread in half horizontally. IN a small bowl, stir together the following:

2/3 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
½ cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 tablespoon pesto – purchased is fine

Spread this over the cut sides of the bread. Place the bread, pesto side up, on unheated rack of a broiler pan. Broil 4 or 5 inches from the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle with lightly crushed red pepper. Cut diagonally into 2 inch slices. Makes about 14 slices.

Browned Mushroom Sauce

As promised – A mushroom sauce. This one actually has a couple of additional recipes that it is a key ingredient for – I’ll be posting those in the next few days, most likely.

Browned Mushroom Sauce

Makes about 8 cups

1/3 cup cooking oil
¼ cup all purpose flour
3 tablespoons margarine or butter
6 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
¾ cup onion, chopped fine
¾ teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
3 cups beef broth
1/3 cup cornstarch
3 cups milk, half and half, or light cream

in a large (4 ½ quart) Dutch oven, combine oil, flour, and margarine. Cook and stir over medium heat until golden brown.

Stir in mushrooms, onion, thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir until onion is tender.

Combine beef broth and cornstarch. Add to mushroom mixture along with milk / half and half / light cream. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Cook 2 minutes more.

Divide into three 2 2/3 cup portions in freezer containers: seal, label, and freeze

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

Sadly, the book says nothing about how long the sauce will keep

The book recommends you thaw your sauce in one of these four ways.

1) Transfer a portion of sauce to a microwave safe bowl. Micro-cook uncovered on 30% power (medium-low) 8 to 12 minutes. Stir once

2) Place one freezer container of sauce in warm water for 1 hour

3) Transfer one portion of frozen sauce to a heavy saucepan. Heat covered over medium-low heat for 15 minutes or until thawed, stirring occasionally

4) Let one portion of sauce thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

Lamb Mushroom Loaf

Ox knows several people who enjoy lamb, so she’s always on the lookout for a lamb dish that sounds good that she can surprise them with – something tasty that they have probably never tried, if possible. And if it happens to be something she can prepare in advance, all the better – and this recipe has a good chance on delivering on both fronts.

Lamb Mushroom Loaf

Serves 8

8 ounces fresh mushrooms
1 medium onion, cut up
2 cloves of garlic, quartered, or ½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg, beaten
1.4 cup milk
¼ cup couscous
2 tablespoons finely snipped fresh basil, or 1 ½ teaspoons dried basil, crushed.
2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 pounds lean ground lamb (or beef)
sliced fresh mushrooms (optional)

In a blender container or food processor bowl, blend or process the 8 ounces of mushrooms, the onion, and the garlic until very finely chopped.

In a bowl, stir together the egg, the mushroom mixture, milk, uncooked couscous, basil, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Add ground lamb. Mix well. Shape the meat into one large loaf, or into 8 individual loaves.

TO FREEZE: Wrap loaf or loaves in heavy duty aluminum foil. Seal, label, and freeze up to 4 months.

TO THAW: A day before serving, place frozen loaf on a plate in the refrigerator. Let stand in refrigerator overnight to thaw. Remove foil before baking.

Place loaf (or loaves) in a shallow baking pan. If desired, press additional sliced mushrooms into the top of the meat.

Bake in 350 degree F oven for 45 to 50 minutes for large loaf, 30 to 40 minutes for individual loaves.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

If you have a loaf or bread pan, you can use hat to shape the meat into a loaf. Or you can freehand it, which is what Ox and I tend to do.

As a serving suggestion, you can get some mushroom sauce from the store to serve with the meat. Prepare the sauce, then spoon it over slices of the loaf on toasted French bread. Add a couple of vegetables and the meal is complete.

Don’t like powdered mushroom sauce? Stop in tomorrow – we’ve got you covered.

Oven-Fried Herb Chicken

Here’s another request from one of my cookbooks. Neither Ox nor I have tried the Cajun Pot Roast yet, but Ox assures me that she’s going to try it out after her husband gets paid again.

In the meanwhile, who doesn’t love fried chicken? Or something that is at least close to fried chicken, like this?

Oven-Fried Herb Chicken

Serves 6

2 ½ to 3 pounds meaty chicken pieces
2/3 cup cornflake crumbs
1 teaspoon paprika
¾ teaspoon garlic salt or onion salt
½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
½ teaspoon dried basil, crushed
½ teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
½ teaspoon pepper

Remove skin from chicken if desired. Rinse the chicken, but don’t pat dry.

In a plastic bag or bowl combine cornflake crumbs, paprika, garlic salt or onion salt, poultry seasoning, basil, oregano, and pepper. Place chicken pieces, one or two at a time, in crumb mixture. Shake or turn to coat evenly. Place chicek pieces, skin side up, on a rack in a shallow baking pan so the pieces do not touch.

Bake uncovered in a 350 degree F oven for 40 to 50 minutes or until chicken is tender and no longer pink. Do not turn during cooking

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

The breading can also be used for oven-fried fish using a 425 degree F oven and allowing 4 to 6 minutes of cooking time per inch of fish.

Cajun Pot Roast

Recently, Ox and I had a chance to sit down and go over one of my many cookbooks to see what recipes we wanted to put up – well, we went over what I had in the cookbook that she was interested in getting, and agreed that putting them up here would be the easiest solution.

We’ll start with a crock pot recipe that we both think sounds very tasty.

Cajun Pot Roast

Serves 6

1 2 to 21/2 pound boneless beef chuck pot roast
2 to 3 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 14 ½ ounce can Cajun style or Mexican style stewed tomatoes
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
¼ cup quick cooking tapioca
2 gloves garlic, minced (or 1 teaspoon of the bottled minced garlic)
Hot cooked rice

Trim the fat from the roast. Cut the roast so that it will fit into the crock pot. Rub the meat with the Cajun seasoning. In a large skillet, brown the meat on all sides in hot oil.

In a 3 ½ to 4 quart crock pot, combine undrained tomatoes, onion, celery, tapioca, and garlic. Place the meat on top of the vegetable mixture.

Cover and cook on low heat for 10 to 12 hours, or on high heat for 5 to 6 hours.

Slice the meat and serve with the sauce over rice.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

If you are using a slow cooker instead of a crock pot (or crockery cooker, if you prefer), the cooking times will be too long and will need to be adjusted. I can’t venture a guess as to by how much you’ll need to adjust the cooking times, however.

Leftovers can be used in sandwiches later on. Shred the meat with a pair of forks and heat through in a skillet. Serve on hard rolls with slices of tomato and green onion. The mixture can be frozen for up to three months as well – thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.

Instead of buying cajun seasoning, you can make your own by combining 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons seasoned salt, ½ to ¾ teaspoon ground red pepper, and ½ to ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper.

Chunky Southwestern Gazpacho

Ox forwarded this to the Inn’s e-mail box – and it sounds pretty tasty. I might give this a try this weekend sometime.

Chunky Southwestern Gazpacho

1 medium cucumber, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 can (14 1/2-oz) chili style chunk tomatoes
4 cups low sodium vegetable juice, refrigerated
1 can (15-oz) black beans
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. bottled minced garlic
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce, more to taste

Peel cucumber, cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and discard seeds. Cut cucumber into bite size pieces; put them in a large bowl. Seed green pepper, cut into bite size pieces. Place in bowl with cucumber. Peel and finely chop onion; add to bowl. Add tomatoes with juice and vegetable juice. Rinse and drain black beans; add them to bowl. Stir in vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and hot pepper sauce to taste. Serve at once or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes from the Hare

I’ve never had a cold soup before, so this should be interesting.

The Wedding Menu

Ok – yesterday I mentioned a wedding menu. Here is the spread that is hoped for

3 or so meat dishes
2 or 3 salads
vegetable trays
fruit tray or fruit salad – something with fruit
a vegetarian dish for the vegetarians
a green bean dish
rolls and / or bread
wedding cake (kind of a duh, but I figured I’d list it for sake of completeness)
dessert tray – cookies, candies, mini-cupcakes, things like that
punch (there are at least a couple people coming that are in AA, so this will be a non-alcoholic wedding. Also, nothing raspberry – the bride can’t stand raspberry)
soda for those who want no punch

Also, I believe the budget I quoted yesterday is also for the disposable plates, cups, and flatware, so this is supposed to get pulled off for around $500, lets say.

I would like to do this. I believe I’ll have time to take care of it from a job perspective – nothing huge is planned for the next few months, and my projects should be done by mid September at the latest, as things stand right now. I’ve found some recipes that will probably work (like the green beans with basil vinaigrette I posted yesterday). But to be honest?

Never catered a wedding before. Never cooked for 100 (or so) people before either.

So any suggestions or advice would be welcome.

Oh Yeah - Before I forget.

I’ve got a wedding to cater. Possibly.

I say possibly because I don’t know what my workload is likely to be in the months leading up to the wedding – namely September and October, as the ceremony is the 29th of October – and I don’t know if I can pull it off with the budget provided. I’m looking at feeding 100 people (80 to 100, according to the bride) on about $600.

Can it be done? Maybe. I don’t know this for certain, mind you, it’s just what I keep thinking in the back of my head – it is entirely possible to do this, I just need to figure out how to do it.

A green bean dish was requested by the bride, along with everything else. I was looking over my recipe list and found this one, which might work for the meal very well, depending on what else goes on the table.

Green Beans with Basil Vinaigrette

2 pounds fresh green beans, washed and trimmed
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 small sweet onion, sliced
1/3 cup sliced almonds

Place beans in a large pot and pour in just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook for 8 - 10 minutes or until beans are crisp-tender. Meanwhile mix together vinegar and next five ingredients and mix well. When beans are done combine with onion and pour vinegar mixture over, then toss to coat and sprinkle with almonds.

Notes from the Hare

I might post the bride’s suggestions for the various dishes later this week – anyone who has suggestions is welcomed – make than encouraged – to drop Ox and I a note.

Four New Orleans Recpies

Success!

I haven’t been able to get the ilovenawlins website at all, but I did find an alternative.

While I was looking through the Farmer’s Market in the French Quarter, I spied some packs of something called “voodoo seasoning.” I snagged a couple of packets so I can see what it’s like. The description on the package is that you can use it as a salt substitute, but I have a couple of other ideas.

Anyway – I figured that I’d best find someplace that sells voodoo seasoning if I decide it’s a good thing to keep on hand, which is where I found Bolner’s Fiesta. And a little poking around the site reveals that they have almost each of the specialty spices and seasonings in the recipes I have on my shipping bag.

So – without further delay…

Creole Gumbo

Serves 12

1 cup butter
1 pound ham
½ pound smoked sausage
½ pound hot sausage
1 pound shrimp
4 crabs
1 large onion, diced
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons Cajun spices (like this one)
1 pint oysters and oyster liquid
2 tablespoons file` (like this, I believe)

Fry onions in butter until light brown. Add garlic and flour. Fry until the flour is deep, dark brown. Add spices and parsley flakes. Fry sausage and ham.

IN large pot add the flour mixture, meats, and crabs. Fill pot with water. Cook approximately 2 hours and add shrimp when it is almost done. Serve over rice.

Blackened Red Fish

Serves 2

2 pieces raw red fish (any type of fish)
1 ¾ stick of butter
Cajun Blackened Spices or Blackened Redfish Spices (like this stuff here)

Dip fish in melted butter. Sprinkle both sides with Blackened Spices. Place in hot skillet and cook until charred. Use remaining butter for serving.

Creole Okra

Serves 8

2 pounds okra
1 diced onion
1 clove garlic, diced
½ pound smoked sausage
½ pound hot sausage
½ pound ham
1 pound shrimp
1 can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
4 crabs
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon Cajun spices (like this one)

Fry the okra in oil until it flakes. Add onions, garlic, spices, parsley flakes, tomato sauce, and cayenne pepper. Fry ham and sausage (in a large pot in which you will cook the okra). Add crabs, and water and boil for approximately 1 hour. Add shrimp and cook for approximately 20 minutes.

Cajun Jambalaya

Serves 12

1 cup rice
½ pound shrimp
1 onion, diced
½ clove garlic
1 can tomato sauce
½ pound ham
½ pound smoked sausage
1 ounce Jambalaya Spices (like this stuff)
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

Fry ham and sausage and place in large pot. Fry onions and garlic. When onions are light brown, add tomato sauce and spices. Fry for approximately 20 minutes, then add to meat along with 2 cups of water for each cup of rice (include the tomato sauce in this measurement) Let simmer for approximately ½ an hour. Add shrimp. When all the liquid is absorbed, lower heat and cover pot. Let it cook over low heat until rice is tender.

Notes from the Hare

These are copied pretty much exactly from the bag they were printed on.

I have one more, but I need to find a barbecue shrimp sauce before I post that one.

Blueberry Salsa Salad

Ok, being unable to pull up the ilovenawlins website is really starting to bug me.

I’ll spend some time this week looking for other places where you can find a spice blend like what they offer there. In the meantime, I present a recipe for a salad that I thought sounded like it might be pretty tasty.

Blueberry Salsa Salad

Serves 6

1 large fresh orange
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 medium sized green or red apples, diced
½ cup chopped sweet onion
2 tbs chopped cilantro
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
3 tbs apple juice
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 tbs granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
10 ounces tender baby greens (spring mix from bags)
16 ounces of low fat cottage cheese, or 4 ounces crumbled Gorgonzola
Black pepper

Peel and section orange, then cut sections into small pieces. Place into a large bowl and stir in blueberries, apples, onion, and cilantro.

In small bowl, whisk vinegar, apple juice, oil, sugar and salt. Pour dressing over blueberry mixture and stir gently to coat. Let stand 10 minutes.

Arrange baby greens on 6 salad plates. Spoon blueberry mixture over greens. Spoon remaining dressing evenly over salads. Top with cheese and black pepper if desired.

Source: Cooking Light Magazine, July 2003

Notes from the Hare

I will find alternatives for those spice blends, dagnabbit…

Spice woes and a salad

I still can’t get that site to come up.

That’s bothersome for one specific reason – every recipe on my shopping bag calls for a specific spice blend. Cajun Seasoning you can futz with – most groceries sell a Cajun seasoning blend. The other seasoning mixes, however, are not so readily available, I think.

Bit annoying, that.

In the interim, I present a quick salad recipe that Ox sent me via e-mail. I’m not big on salads, but every now and then I find one that might be tasty, like this one.

Orange-Jicama Salad.

Serves 4

4 cups jicama, peeled and julienned
2 oranges, sectioned
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste

Mix the jicama, orange sections, and chopped coriander in a bowl.

Whisk together the remaining ingredients, toss with the jicama-orange mixture, season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.

Notes from the Hare

According to the e-mail this recipe was in, jicama is “a crunchy and sweet root vegetable common to Latin countries.” I saw a few in Kroger the other day. Each jicama was about the size of a grapefruit, with a light brown skin. They looked somewhat like a potato to me, and gave a little when squeezed. I’m not sure how to tell if a jicama is ripe and ready to eat, though.

Recipe from New Orleans - Red Beans

I wandered the French Quarter on Memorial Day with Lia and Linn, my hostesses. One of the niftier spots in the Quarter I didn’t even know was there – the French Market.

For those who don’t know, the French Market is a huge open air marketplace. Half of it is set up for various flea market type vendors – jewelry, handcrafts, pens, t-shirts, and other assorted random items. The other half is a farmer’s market, which I did not get to wander around enough.
In the middle of the farmer’s market, there is a spot called (I think) N’awlins Cajun and Creole Spices, selling just that – plus hot sauces. According to the decorated bag that they give you at the counter, they have hundreds of hot sauces and Louisiana spices. On one of the narrow sides of the bag, they list some of the spices and such they have to offer. On the other narrow side, recipes.

I’ve been trying to bring up their website all week, but I haven’t had any luck yet – so if anyone wants to give it a try, you should be able to get to it here. I’ll keep trying myself, and if I need to edit the link I will.

In the meantime – straight from the side of my shopping bag, here’s a recipe for Red Beans.

Red Beans

Serves 8

1 lb red beans
1 large onion, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
Celery
1 lb smoked sausage or hot sausage
2 tablespoons Cajun season

Rinse beans and remove bad ones. Fill large pot with the beans and add water to cover. Let this boil for approximately 1 hour, adding water as needed, and add seasoning and parsley flakes. Let beans cook until soft, then add onion, garlic, celery, and sausage along with some butter. Cook on low until creamy and serve over rice.

Notes form the Hare

Not surprisingly, they recommend N’Awlins Cajun Seasoning.

This is copied pretty much word for word from the bag – so I’m not sure how much celery they suggest or how much butter. Once I get to their site I’ll nose around and see if there’s another recipe and make adjustments to this one.

Monster Cookies and a Quick Hello

I wasn’t as adventurous with my meals as I could have been – when the opportunity arose for boiled crawfish I balked, since I’m not a big fan of seafood outside of shrimp (and when I was later informed that crawfish are basically big shrimp, well, I really kicked myself). And I passed on the fried alligator on a stick since it was lunchtime anyway and my hostesses and I were heading to a small café not far away – then passed on both the fried alligator appetizer and the alligator sausage po’boy in favor of the sampler plate with gumbo, red beans and rice, and jambalaya.

But that gives me something to try when I go back, right?

I did come back with a few things to try though – most notable being the Voodoo Seasoning.

The ingredients list doesn’t sound too terrifying (except for the “spices and herbs” part, which is followed by some specific spices and herbs) and they recommend sprinkling it on vegetables when grilling. I want to play with the supply I have and see what I come up with. For some reason I have “Honey Voodoo Chicken” floating around in my head

Until I do play with the seasoning, I leave you with some particularly yummy cookies. I’ve got a few recopies that I managed to bring back with me from New Orleans, so I’ll start posting them later in the week, along with a couple of links to sites for spices you can get online.

First, though – Monster Cookies.

Monster Cookies

3 eggs
½ cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon corn syrup
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ cups peanut butter
4 ½ cups oatmeal
2/3 cup chocolate chips
¼ pound plain M&M’s

Beat the eggs, then cream with butter and sugar. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Drop on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes (large cookie) or 10-12 minutes (smaller cookie).

Notes from the Hare

These are, without a doubt, one of my personal favorite cookies.

When I make these, I use a hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar, and a wooden spoon for the rest. It gets pretty hard to stir after a short while, especially since this doesn’t make dough, per se, more of a mixture that bakes well.
When I do small cookies, I generally use a ½ tablespoon for the drops. Larger cookies would be a tablespoon, or a heaping tablespoon.

Main Course: Mu Shu Pork

1 pound boneless pork loin cut into thin one-inch strips
3 tsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. dry sherry
2 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. fresh grated ginger
2/3 cup water
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. chicken flavored bouillon
2 Tbsp. butter
4 eggs, beaten
1 medium onion, sliced in thin strips
2 cups Chinese cabbage (napa) sliced very thin
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
4-oz. water chestnuts, drained and sliced thin
8 tsp. hoisin sauce
8 flour tortillas

Combine pork strips, soy sauce, sherry, sugar and ginger in a bowl. Mix well and allow to marinade in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight. In another bowl, combine water, cornstarch and chicken bouillon and mix well. Melt butter in large flat frying pan on medium-high heat. Pour eggs in frying pan and swish pan around so that the eggs evenly coat bottom of pan. Cook eggs for about 3 minutes or until done, turning once. Remove eggs from pan, place on plate and cut into thin strips. Add pork and marinade to pan and cook on medium high heat while stirring until done (about 4 minutes). Add onion and cook for about 2 minutes. Add cabbage, bean sprouts and water chestnuts and cook for about 2 minutes or until just crisp-tender, stirring often. Add cornstarch mixture and cook and stir until thickened. Add eggs and stir to combine all ingredients. Spread one tsp. of hoisin sauce on each tortilla, top with about 1/2 cup pork mixture, roll up tortilla and serve.

The Skinny: Use low sodium soy sauce and your favorite sugar and egg substitute. If you cannot tolerate alcohol just leave out the sherry. We use fat free tortillas and they are just great. You should be able to find hoisin sauce in the oriental section of your grocery store.

Tossed Broccoli

1 pound broccoli
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. fresh grated ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. red pepper flakes (the kind you sprinkle on pizza)

Wash broccoli and cut florets into bite-sized pieces. Peel off the tough skin from the stalk and cut the peeled stalk into thin slices. Steam broccoli for about 3 minutes or until just crisp-tender. If you don't have a steamer, put broccoli in boiling water for about 3 minutes until crisp-tender. With either cooking method, drain broccoli when done and immediately immerse in cold running water to stop cooking process. It is very important with this recipe that the broccoli remain crunchy and not cook too much and become soft. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, sugar, and rice vinegar and stir until sugar dissolves. In a large frying pan or wok, heat sesame oil, then add ginger, garlic and pepper flakes and stir-fry for about 10 seconds while stirring constantly. Add the soy sauce mixture and cook for another 30 seconds while stirring. Pour sauce over the broccoli in a large bowl and mix well. Let broccoli cool in refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight. Serve cool or at room temperature.

The Skinny: Use low sodium soy sauce and your favorite sugar substitute.

Appetizer: Egg Drop Soup

3 and 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 Tbsp. water
1 tsp. corn oil
2 Tbsp. scallions, minced
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
6 cups chicken broth
2 Tbsp. rice wine
1 cup frozen peas
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 tsp. sesame oil

Combine cornstarch and water and blend well. Heat corn oil in large pot and then add scallions and stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Add the soy sauce, chicken broth and rice wine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly add the cornstarch/water mixture while stirring constantly to avoid lumps and continue to cook also while stirring constantly until soup thickens. Add the peas and remove from heat. Slowly add the beaten eggs by pouring them in a thin stream around the edge of the pot to form streamers of egg. Gently stir in the sesame oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

The Skinny: Use fat free chicken broth. We have never made egg drop soup with egg substitute but it may be worth a try.

One Bowl Chocolate Fudge

I like fudge.

Mom never made a lot of fudge, mainly because it always took a while to make and she and I were the only ones who would eat more than a piece or two. So when I found a little recipe booklet with a one-bowl microwave fudge in it – well, picking that up was a no brainer.

One Bowl Chocolate Fudge

Depending on how you cut it, this makes 4 dozen pieces of fudge.

2 8-ounce packages semi-sweet baking chocolate
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 ½ cup chopped nuts (optional)

Microwave chocolate and condensed milk in a large microwave safe bowl on HIGH for 2 to 300 minutes, or until the chocolate is almost melted, stirring halfway through the heating time.

Stir until chocolate is completely melted.

Stir in vanilla and nuts (if using). Spread into a greased 8-inch square pan. Refrigerate until firm and cut into squares.

Notes from the Hare

Know what I really like about this recipe? It’s modular. Observe.

Rocky Road Fudge

Add 1-cup miniature marshmallows with nuts and vanilla.

Peanut Butter Fudge

Omit nuts. Drop ½ cup peanut butter by teaspoonfuls on top of fudge. Swirl with knife.

Peppermint Fudge

Omit vanilla and nuts. Stir in ½ cup coarsely crushed peppermint candies.

Coconut Nut Fudge

Add 1-cup flake coconut, toasted, with vanilla and nuts. Garnish with additional coconut.

I’ve added M&M’s to it as well, with good results.

You can use any variety of chocolate you want – milk, semi-sweet, white, dark, etc – but if you plan on making peppermint fudge using white chocolate, it will turn pink (especially if you ground the candies in a blender instead of smashing them on the counter, producing a fine peppermint powder). Still tasty, it just looked a little odd at Christmastime. For Valentine’s Day, though, it would be perfect.

Spiced Chicken Breasts

Hello all, Ox here. Sorry I haven't been posting much of late, but I have been quite under-the-weather. No, it wasn't my stomach so, all is well in the kitchen, except for dirty dishes. Have you ever noticed how the dishes never really get done. They all seem to be clean for a max of an hour and then something gets dirtied again. Oh, well, thus is the life of anyone who plans on eating and does the cooking as well!

Here is a recipe I found off of Arcamax. I am trying it tomorrow and it just simply sounds devine, so I thought I would share.

Spiced Chicken Breasts

CalorieKing.com

Serves: 4 person(s)
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 8 mins

Enjoy this simple chicken dish - with a touch of spice!

Suggestions: Sambal Oelek is a chili paste available from markets and Asian foods stores.

Chicken needs to marinate for several hours.Uncooked marinated chicken suitable to freeze.

Ingredients: 2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp sambal oelek
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
14 oz skinfree chicken breast fillets (4)

Directions: Combine chicken fillets, garlic, ginger, sambal oelek, turmeric, cumin, rind, sauce and sugar in bowl. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight. Chicken can be grilled, barbecued or pan fried. Cook on one side for 5 minutes, turn and baste with marinade; cook for further 5 minutes. Serve with a salad or steamed vegetables.

Microwave Directions: Combine chicken fillets, garlic, ginger, sambal oelek, turmeric, cumin, rind, sauce and sugar in bowl. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight. Place chicken in single layer around edge of a shallow microwave-safe dish, brush with marinade mixture. Cover and cook on HIGH 4 minutes. Give each fillet a half turn, cover, and cook on HIGH a further 4 minutes. Stand 5 minutes, sprinkle with coriander. Serve with a salad or steamed vegetables.

Variations: Serving suggestions and garnishes not included in nutritional analysis. Author: Family Health Network

Nutritional Info(Per Serving)
Calories: 153 cals
Kilojoules: 640 kJ
Fat: 5.0 g
Carbohydrates: 5.0 g
Protein: 22.0 g
Cholesterol: 90.0 mg
Sodium: 60 mg
Saturated Fat: 2.0 g
Fiber: 0.0 g
Calcium: -
Total Sugars: -

Note: A dash indicates no data is available.

I don't know about this one

Ever find a recipe that looks pretty good – but upon preparation, its not all that good?

I tried this one a while back, and the flavor combination just didn’t work for me. I’m not entirely sure what it is – I left the mushrooms out since the basket I picked up was a bit slimy, which isn’t good from what I’ve been able to gather (actually, I was kind of relieved – mushrooms are not one of my favorite things). The dish looked pretty good, mind you. The taste just turned me off.

I present this here in case anyone wants to give it a shot. Just because the flavor combinations didn’t work for me doesn’t mean they won’t work for somebody.

Pizza Fish Fillets

Serves 6

1 ½ pound fresh or frozen haddock, cod, or orange roughy fillets, ½ to ¾ inch thick
Nonstick spray coating
½ teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
12 ounces spinach fettuccine
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
¼ cup water
1 8-ounce can pizza sauce
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Thaw the fish if frozen and cut into 6 serving size pieces. Spray a 2-quart rectangular baking dish with nonstick coating. Place fish in baking dish, tucking under any thin edges so the fish cooks evenly. Sprinkle the fish with lemon-pepper seasoning.

Bake uncovered in a 450 degree F oven until fish just flakes easily with a fork (about 6 to 9 minutes per ½ in of thickness). Drain off any liquid.

While fish is baking, cook fettuccine according to package directions. In a medium saucepan, cook mushrooms, green pepper, and onion in the ¼ cup of water, covered, for about 5 minutes or until just tender. Drain and add pizza sauce. Heat through.

Serve fish on fettuccine. Spoon sauce over fish. Sprinkle with cheese.

Source: What’s for Dinner? From Better Homes and Gardens Books, Inc. © 1995

Notes from the Hare

Like I said, this did not work out for me. If anyone tries it, let me know what you think.

Cinnamon Apple Dumplings

It has been a while, hasn’t it?

Work hasn’t been taking up all my time this last week or so – travel has. I went to Kentucky to visit with Ox and her husband and celebrate Pascha with them – it’s the Easter celebration in the Orthodox Christian church. Since it is the end of the Lenten fast (which is a no meat fast at the minimum – Ox and her husband gave up most dairy as well, I believe), after the services on Saturday night there was a potluck banquet / feast. It was a fun and enlightening trip, and actually kind of relaxing considering how much time we spent running around. I would guess that was because Ox and I spent most of Saturday in the kitchen.

We cooked a lot of food. I myself made two pans of quick fudge and a batch of cookies. Ox made bread – a good sweet bread, to be exact – which took a little while to do, so some of the things she had hopped to fix were kind of pushed aside. Admittedly, so was my original idea, since I had wanted to cook a few batches of 40 Cloves and a Chicken but couldn’t find enough good-looking whole garlic to get the cloves I would need. Ox’s husband made this soup that he learned to make from somewhere, which was very tasty soup, but good luck getting the recipe out of him.

I’ll put the fudge and cookie recipes up a little later. For today, though, Ox has a request.

A few days before I went down, a new cookbook came in the mail, which I have not looked through very much as of yet. It’s specifically for small meals – one or two servings at the most – and it came with a little dessert booklet that had a recipe Ox asked me for. Since I forgot to give it to her while I was visiting, I’ll post it here for everyone.

Cinnamon Apple Dumplings

Serves 2

1 cup all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
3 tablespoons ice water
2 medium tart apples
3 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Half and half cream

For the Sauce:

1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons red-hot candies OR ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon cornstarch
2/3 cup water
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
Additional half and half cream, optional

In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. With a fork, stir in the water until the dough forms a ball. Roll out on a floured surface to a 14 x 7 inch rectangle, then cut pastry in half.

Peel and core apples. Place one on each square of pastry. Combine sugar and cinnamon and spoon into apples. Moisten the edges of the pastry and gather around the apples. Pinch and seal. Place dumplings into an ungreased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, or a shallow 1 ½ quart baking dish. Brush with cream.

In a small saucepan, combine the first five sauce ingredients (sugar, red-hots, cornstarch, water, and butter) and bring to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Boil for 3 minutes. Pour sauce between dumplings.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and apples are tender. Serve warm with cream if desired.

Source: Desserts for One or Two, from Reiman Media Group, Inc. © 2003

Notes from the Hare

Nothing today – I haven’t had a chance to try this out yet.

This Should Not Taste Good

Some recipes just shouldn’t taste good.

It’s not that the final result is something that tastes absolutely vile and repugnant. It’s just…when you look at the ingredients, or at the final product, you want it to taste horrible so you never have to consider making it again.

This is one of those recipes.

My nephew can’t cook a lot of stuff. He can do meat very well, having worked in a barbecue restaurant, but not much else. So, my sister (his aunt, not his mother) got him this cookbook for “guys.” It’s actually not a bad book, all in all. Most of the recipes are based around pre-packaged or canned foods.

It’s called A Man, A Can, A Plan. It’s broken down into sections – ham, chicken, pork, beer. And SpaghettiOs.

Yes. SpaghettiOs Which is where the recipe I mentioned comes from.

SpaghettiOs Western

Source: A Man, A Can, A Plan from Rodale Books, © 2002

Serves 2

2 cans of SpaghettiOs, 15 ounces each.
1 can black beans (16 ounces), rinsed and drained.
2 tablespoons shredded cheddar or Monterey jack cheese.
2 green onions, sliced thin
1 tablespoon chili powder

Dump all ingredients except the cheese into a large skillet. Cook uncovered on medium heat, stirring occasionally. When heated through, sprinkle with cheese and cook until cheese melts.

Notes from the Hare

I usually add more chili powder. But then, I like things hot.

My nephew claims this isn’t really a recipe. It’s “improvising.” I’ll buy that.

Baked Porkl Loin Chops with Orange Rice

Not much to say today. It’s been a quiet day at work, and I’d be looking forward to going home more if the kitchen wasn’t badly in need of a good solid cleaning. I’m looking at a night of elbow grease, sponges, and Soft Scrub. Imagine my joy.

I’m not even planning a big dinner tonight. But for anyone wondering what to do themselves, might I offer this tasty sounding morsel?

Baked Pork Loin Chops with Orange Rice

2 pounds pork loin chops
1/2 cup flour
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups wild rice, cooked
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. grated orange rind

Place flour and salt and pepper in a bag and coat each pork chop. Heat oil in a skillet and brown pork chops and onion.

Meanwhile cook rice according to manufacturer's instructions except replace 1/2 cup of the required water with orange juice. When rice has finished cooking, place in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish and stir in onion, pecans, lemon juice and grated orange rind. Place pork chops over mixture and bake covered for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

Notes from the Hare

Nothing today. Although, I suddenly have a hankering for monster cookies…

Pan Glazed Chicken with Basil

Wow.

I’ve really gotten out of the swing of updating things. Not just here, mind you – my personal journal is looking kinda sparse of late too.

It’s not even that I’m swamped with things at work at the moment, either – right now things are very calm. I’m just…well, being lazy. My apologies.

I’m following up the Fruit and Nut Fried Rice with something a little less weird – namely a chicken recipe I found…somewhere. I have no idea where I found it originally. But it does sound pretty tasty.

Pan Glazed Chicken with Basil

Serves 4

4 Skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
½ Teaspoon Salt
¼ Teaspoon Ground pepper
2 Teaspoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespons Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tablespoons Honey
2 Tablespoons Chopped Fresh Basil, or 2 Teaspoons Dried Basil

Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in large skillet. Add chicken. Cook for 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn chicken and cook for 6 minutes longer, or until chicken is done.

Stir in vinegar, honey, and basil. Cook an additional minute

Notes form the Hare

Nothing today, I’m afraid. I haven’t had a chance to try this one yet.

Chocolate Chess Pie

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup butter
1 5-oz. can evaporated milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1 9-inch pie shell

In a saucepan, melt chocolate, add butter and melt. Add evaporated milk, eggs, vanilla, sugar and flour and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Pour into pie shell and bake at 375 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes.

The Skinny: Use fat free evaporated milk and your favorite egg and sugar substitute.

The Hare Experiments, part 1

I come to you today, with an idea.

It is a good idea, I believe. A tasty idea. An acquired taste, I will grant you. But still, I believe this to be a good idea.

Fruit and Nut Fried Rice.

I like rice. To carry this to a further extension I like Asian food in general. I’m not an accomplished chef, just an enthusiastic amateur, a cook who enjoys making foods and occasionally has an idea that he chooses to play with.

Some time ago, I was looking through the cabinets. I had rice. I had soy sauce. There were a couple of eggs. I had a seasoning packet I had found in the grocery for fried rice. My original idea was to get some chicken and have chicken fried rice. But the chicken was frozen, and I was hungry, and it was late in the day and I hadn’t eaten.

Then I saw pineapple. And dried cranberries. And sliced almonds.

And I had an idea.

I’ve been toying with the recipe for a while now. I’ve tried different mixes of fruits, different nuts. The results have been mixed. Some things work well, others don’t.

Here, then, is my first iteration of my recipe. I’ll probably play with this more and more, trying to get my favorite combination of fruits and nuts integrated together into a pleasing whole. But for now, here is how it stands.

Fruit and Nut Fried Rice

3 tablespoons oil or butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups cold cooked rice
1 cup pecan pieces
1 cup almond slivers
2/3 cup dried cranberries (a 3 ounce package, roughly)
¾ cup pineapple tidbits
2 large eggs
¼ cup pineapple juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon grated orange rind
salt and pepper to taste

Start by heating a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil and let it heat for about 30 seconds. Add the garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the rice and continue stir frying for 1 minute.

Add ginger, cumin, orange rind, and soy sauce. Continue stir frying and add almonds, pecans, cranberries, and pineapple. Add the pineapple juice and stir fry until the juice is absorbed.

Push the rice mixture to the side. Add the last tablespoon of oil, followed by the eggs. Scramble the eggs for one minute, or until almost set, then stir the eggs into the rice mixture to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

Notes from the Hare

This is still pretty rough. The spices are ok, but I’m not entirely sure I’m happy with them. The pineapple juice is also a question in my mind.

I’ve made this with almonds, pecans, cashews, and peanuts. Peanuts I usually sprinkle on the finished product. I’ve toasted the nuts in the skillet before adding the rice and I’ve added them cold as in the recipe above. Dried cranberries seem to work very well, as do pineapple – but then, I like these fruits specifically, so I can be called biased.
There will be additional iterations of this, as I make it again and again and refine things a little more. If anyone has a suggestion for this recipe, by all means let me know.

Stuffed Potatoes

Hello folks, it has been a while since I, the Ox, have checked in with anything interesting to put forth. I was looking through different recipes and wonderin' what to fix next for dinner this week when I came upon this in my e-mail of all things. So, yesterday, for lunch, I made a very simple version to feed 1 of this particular potato thing and found myself quite filled, happy, and rather enjoyed the lunch. Do try it. It is most enjoyable and quite yummy!


Stuffed Potatoes

6 servings

As it can be difficult to coax your loved ones into eating five helpings a day of vegetables (as nutritionists recommend), this recipe cleverly incorporates broccoli into a baked potato, without using a lot of fat. Broccoli is an excellent source of fiber and cancer-fighting antioxidants. Potatoes are a universally loved vegetable loaded with vitamins C and B-6, potassium, and fiber. You can make the stuffed potatoes ahead and reheat them when everyone is ready to eat.

3 large baking potatoes
3 stalks broccoli
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-2 tablespoons rice milk or soy milk (or whole milks works well too)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Scrub the potatoes and make shallow cuts around their middles to make it easier to cut them in half after baking. Bake the potatoes at 400 degrees until soft, usually 1 hour, depending on size of potatoes.

Meanwhile, cut the ends from the stalks of broccoli and peel some of the outer skin off to make the stems more edible. Steam the broccoli until crunchy-tender and bright green. Drain and chop fine.

Cut potatoes in half and scoop out the insides into a bowl. Add the salt, olive oil and just enough rice or soy milk to allow you to mash the potatoes into a smooth paste. Add the Parmesan cheese and the chopped broccoli and mix well.

Pile the mixture back into the potato shells, arrange on a baking dish and heat them to desired temperature.

Nutritional Information:
Per serving:136 calories4 g total fat (1 g sat)2 mg cholesterol24 g carbohydrate5 g protein4 g fiber250 mg sodium

The Hare Returnes - With Vegetables

Finally!

I do apologize for the lengthy lack of recipes. On occasion my day job gets incredibly busy, and the last couple of weeks have been exactly that.

To celebrate my return to the kitchens, I present you with two vegetable dishes tonight. The first is a quick and simple salad that showed up in my in-box a while back. The second is for vegetable kabobs. One of my friends asked if I could find one for him

Oriental Cabbage Salad

Serves 2

1/4 small head green cabbage
1 1/2 scallions, chopped
1 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

Combine the cabbage, scallions, oil, and vinegar. Toss well and chill until ready to serve. Add the sesame seeds and toss again before serving.

Source: my e-mail inbox...Originally from teh South Beach Diet, I believe.

Grilled Vegetable Kabobs

Serves 8

2 zucchini, cut into 2" chunks
2 yellow squash, cut into 2" chunks
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, cleaned
2 red and green bell peppers, cut into 2" chunks
2 medium red onions, cut into wedges
2 ears sweet corn, cut into 2" chunks
16 whole cherry tomatoes
8 ounces teriyaki sauce

Wash vegetables except mushrooms. Brush mushrooms clean. Prepare vegetables according to recipe. Cook corn in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Toss vegetables in teriyaki sauce. Thread vegetables onto skewers. Place on grill over medium-hot heat. Baste occasionally with teriyaki sauce. Grill 20 minutes or until tender.

Source: www.cooks.com

Notes from the Hare

Nothing specific about the food this time – I’m just glad to be back.

North African Vegetable Stew

Still pretty busy, but Ox asked for this one specifically, so I present one of my favorite vegetable dishes thus far.

North African Vegetable Stew

Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 cups loosely packed parsley sprigs
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon paprika
1 ¼ cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1 lb. small new potatoes, unpeeled
3 medium carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 small turnips, peeled and quartered
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 package (10 ounces) frozen baby lima beans
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped green olives
2 garlic cloves, minced

Heat oil in a large heavy pot or nonreactive Dutch oven over medium heat until hot. Add onions and cook 8 to 10 minutes or until golden, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, in a blender or food processor, combine parsley, lemon juice, paprika, and ¼ cup of broth. Process until almost smooth.

Add parsley mixture to onions and mix well. Add potatoes, carrots, turnips, salt, pepper, and remaining cup of broth. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook 30 to 35 minutes, or until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.

Add beans, olives, and garlic; stir to mix. Cover; cook an additional 8 to 10 minutes or until beans are tender. If desired, garnish with additional chopped parsley.

Source: The Best of Cooking Pleasures, Vol. 1 © 2001 Cooking Club Of America

Notes form the Hare

This is very good served with rice – you could also serve with couscous.

When I made it the first time, I used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

Fillet of Beef in Red Wine Mushroom Sauce

Hello, Ox again. This is a dish with several variations I've made different times. If fillets are too expensive, a good roast of size can be used, steaks of good thickness, and your imagination all work well with this. It is good with and without the red wine. In serving, some good red wine is very tasty such as Asti Spumanti Cold Duck, my favorite! The wine has just a little sweetness to it and the sparkle of the wine just adds to the main course.

Main Course: Fillet of Beef in Red Wine Mushroom Sauce

6 - 8 beef fillets
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. paprika
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup dry red wine (optional)
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 - 2 Tbsp. flour
1 cup beef broth

Rub fillets with salt, pepper and paprika. Heat skillet to medium-high heat and cook fillets for 4 - 5 minutes per side or until desired doneness is achieved. Remove steaks and place them on a plate and cover to keep them warm. Heat oil in the skillet and saute onion, garlic and mushrooms until tender. Add wine, Worcestershire sauce, flour and beef broth and simmer for several minutes until mixture thickens. Stir the mixture while heating to keep the flour from forming lumps. Pour over fillets and serve. If you prefer not to use alcohol in your cooking you may omit it here and add 1/2 cup more beef broth instead. The Skinny: Leave out the red wine and use low fat beef broth. Baby New Potatoes with Chive Vinaigrette 2 pounds baby new potatoes, washed thoroughly 1/3 cup olive oil 1/3 cup red wine vinegar 1 Tbsp. fresh chives 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 tsp. ground cumin 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper In a medium saucepan, boil potatoes until tender. Drain off water. Combine olive oil, vinegar, chives, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper in a cruet and shake well. Pour over potatoes just before serving.

The Skinny: This dish is already healthful because you are using vinaigrette rather than butter.