Cabbage Roll Stew

10/21/15

Fall is here and all the cooking channels are starting to show recipes for stews and soups. The Backyard Produce box this week was full of veggies just made for a hearty stew as well. I had a small batch of Napa cabbage so decided to try and find something hearty to put it in. Think this mash up of recipes is a keeper. Joe loved it and we ate the pot ourselves! Sorry kids, no leftovers to share this week.

1 lb ground beef
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
1 head Napa cabbage, washed and coarse chop
2 cups chicken broth
1 28 oz can of plum tomatoes, mashed
1/2 cup uncooked rice
3-4 cloves of garlic, grated
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp mustard
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dill
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp chili flake or red pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Large dutch oven style pan is the best bet to make this a true one pot meal!

In bottom of pan, drizzle olive oil and brown and crumble the ground beef. Add carrots, onions and cabbage and cook for a few minutes. Once cabbage starts to wilt, sprinkle with the paprika, dill, allspice and chili flake. Stir well and cook about 5 minutes. Add in tomatoes, chicken broth, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Grate in the garlic and mix. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 30 minutes. Add the rice and cook for another 20 minutes. The rice will absorb up some of the liquid and thicken the stew!
Salt and pepper as needed. 

I served this with saltine crackers, delicious! 

This pot was enough for 4 large soup bowls.

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Cajun slow cooker roast

9-21-15

Had a couple of London Broils and decided I wanted to use the slow cooker but wasn't in the mood for a traditional pot roast. Looked through the cupboards and this is what I came up with!

2 London Broil roasts, cut into 3 or 4 pieces (depends on size) I used 1.25 pound pieces and cut them into 4's
1 onion peeled and sliced
4 carrots peeled and sliced
12 new potatoes, scrubbed and halved
1 can cream of celery soup 
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 cups beef broth
3 cloves garlic, grated
olive oil
Cajun spice (I use Tony Chacheres) 
salt and pepper

In skillet, heat couple tablespoons of olive oil. Rub all sides of the London Broil with some olive oil then rub all over with the salt, pepper and Cajun spice (can cut into pieces before rub or after). Brown all sides in the heated olive oil. 

In crock pot, place onions on bottom, layer carrots next and then potatoes. Sprinkle potatoes with salt and pepper then place browned meat on top.

In skillet used to to brown the meat, add beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, cream of celery soup and garlic. Scrape up bits from bottom of pan and mix thoroughly. Pour into crock pot. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours or low for 8 hours.

This should serve at least 4 people. When I do these crock pot roasts, I love to use half and place other half in freezer container or freezer bag for a time saving quick meal that I can reheat and serve in a matter of minutes! 

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Roasted Root Veggies

9/11/15

Backyard Produce sent me a beautiful batch of root vegetables but I only had a few of each so decided to combine them up with some others I already had on hand and turned them into this gorgeous feast! 

3 small beets, washed, peeled, diced
3 medium Yukon potatoes, scrubbed, cubed (feel free to peel if not a skin fan)
2 medium turnips, peeled, diced
1 medium onion, peeled, chopped
garlic, minced, I used about 1/3 of a bulb
5 carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 cup white wine
2-3 tbsp olive oil (drizzle over all the veggies, use a bit more or less to taste)
2 tsp thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Toss all the vegetables & the garlic into a 13x9 pan, add in salt, pepper, thyme & olive oil the mix well.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, take out & give it a good stir. Add a 1/4 cup of white wine; put back in oven for another 15 minutes. Take out & stir again. Add the last 1/4 cup of wine and put back in for another 15 minutes.

Just before serve, toss with another sprinkle of salt and pepper!

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Mediterranean Chicken

7/21/15

Remembered eating something similar to this on an adventure with my daughter and so I gave it a try. The end result was pretty close to what I was envisioning!

2 chicken breasts
1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 can green olives, (I put in mini chopper)
2-4 cloves of garlic, grated 
1/2 cup white wine or chicken stock
olive oil
rosemary
basil
oregano
salt and pepper

Butterfly the chicken breasts, brush with olive oil, salt and pepper both sides and then saute in large skillet with a few tablespoons of white wine. Cook 6-7 minutes on each side until cooked through. Set aside on plate and let rest. Once rested, cut into bite size cubes.

Add garlic to the pan drippings and stir, then add onions and celery. Let cook for 3-4 minutes, until onions start to soften up. Add the tomatoes and 1/2 cup of white wine or chicken stock. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp each rosemary and basil. Stir and let simmer for 15 minutes.

Add chicken and oregano; stir thoroughly! Cover and let simmer another 15 minutes.

When ready to serve add the chopped green olives.

Prepare a package of no yolk egg noodles per instructions on bag. Add to chicken, stir, and serve. We added some shredded Italian cheese at the table, yum!

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Loaded Potato Salad

5/25/15

I kind of invented this on the fly! I'd either read or watched something about loaded baked potato as the basis for a potato salad and for some reason it stuck with me. I was planning to bring potato salad to our Memorial Day/Birthday party bash with friends and family so what better way to try out a new recipe?

2-3 pounds red or new potatoes, diced. Cook ahead so can cool off before mixing salad.
1/4 cup bacon bits (I make mine)
1/2 cup white onion, spring onion or chives, diced fine
small container (8 oz) sour cream
couple tablespoons of mayo
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used sharp)
salt and pepper to taste

For the potato, I usually scrub and leave the skin on.

Fill stockpot with water, add the potatoes, bring to a boil then cover and let simmer for about 15 minutes. I drain into a colander and then put them in a covered bowl in the fridge overnight. I'm sure just a hour or so in the fridge to cool them off would be fine.

1/3 package of bacon, fry up nice and crispy, drain on paper towel, cool, then smash into bacon bits. 

Judi's tip of the day: I cut packages of bacon into thirds and freeze them. When I want to make bacon bits or for other recipes only calling for a few slices of bacon, ta-da! No need to thaw, throw in pan over medium heat and bacon breaks into short slices that cook quickly and don't curl!

I like to mix the salad in a large mixing bowl and then transfer to a smaller bowl for serving.

Mix together cooled potatoes, bacon bits, onion, about 1/2-2/3 container of sour cream, few tablespoons of mayo, salt and pepper to taste. Depending on amount of potatoes may need to add a bit more sour cream and mayo. Once you have taste to where you want it, add shredded cheese and stir gently. Transfer to serving bowl and keep refrigerated until ready to use. If serving outside, keep in mind that sour cream and mayo don't last long in heat!

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Organizing and a disclaimer!

4/24/15

Trying to make the blog a bit easier to navigate so made pages for the main categories that I think recipes would fall under. 

Started off with:
Appetizers
Breakfast
Dessert
Main Dishes
Side Dishes
Soups & Stews

I'm fairly confident that I'm going to be needing to do some tweaking to get this properly organized and am open to any and all suggestions. 

Each recipe title is the link to the printable version. To make following the recipes easier, the print link is strictly recipe, none of my ramblings and no photos! If you want those you'll have to go to the post itself! I'm trying to make them a bit more step by step with some extra pictures.

I should insert a disclaimer here, I cook for fun and flavor and don't keep track at all of the health side of things! If you need calories, counts, or specific dietary information my blog and recipes are not going to include any of that info! The majority of my meat comes from a local grocery store with a butcher on site and most of my veggies and fruit come from a once a week Backyard Produce delivery service. I use fresh herbs when I have them and dried herbs the rest of the time. My cooking oil of choice is some form of Olive but I do have some recipes that use Canola or Vegetable oil.

My daughter yells at me all the time that she doesn't have time to use all the fresh stuff. I do have the time (which is why I cook so much extra to send home with her) but if you don't have time there is nothing wrong with using canned sauces or veggies! Myself, I'm a huge fan of Seeds of Change bags of rice and the occasional bag of Ore Ida fries!

Key Lime Pie

4-10-15

Had a ton of folks commenting on the Instagram photo so figured the least I could do was share the recipe! Your choice, with whip cream or strawberry glaze...

9" graham cracker pie shell
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup Key West lime juice (I used from a bottle)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 can whip cream
I added lime zest from a fresh lime to the top

I used a whisk to mix the egg white to create a wash and then with a pastry brush "painted" the pie shell and pre-baked it at 375 degrees for 5 minutes. Let the shell cool before you put the filling in. Turn oven down to 350 for baking the pie.

For the filling:
Combine the egg yolk, milk, vanilla and lime juice. Mix until smooth and pour into the pie shell. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Cool for another 15 minutes and then refrigerate. 

Top with whip cream and lime zest when ready to serve. 

Store any uneaten pie in the fridge!

Instead of whip cream, try strawberry glaze!

To make glaze:

Clean and quarter a pound of fresh strawberries.

Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tbsp corn starch and 1 cup water. Add to strawberries and cook over medium heat, stirring often. Takes about 20 minutes or so to cook down and thicken. 

Let cool and then top pie.

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