Here's What's Cookin' -

July 24, 2014

Smashed Herbed New Potatoes

Serves	6
Prep time	15 minutes
Cook time	20 minutes
Total time	35 minutes
Meal type	Side Dish

Smashed potatoes are quick and easy, and a nice variation for new potatoes.

Ingredients

2-3lb New Potatoes
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
3 tablespoons Butter or Ghee
1 teaspoon Fresh Rosemary (chopped)
1 teaspoon Fresh Thyme
2-3 cloves Fresh Garlic (minced-optional)
Salt and Pepper (To taste)

Directions

Step 1
Boil potatoes about 10 minutes--don't overcook, they shouldn't be mushy.
Step 2
Chop herbs and garlic (if using).
Step 3
Mix chopped herbs and garlic with oil and melted butter.
Step 4
Drain potatoes.
Step 5
Toss potatoes with half of oil, herb mixture and add salt and pepper to taste.
Step 6
Place potatoes on a baking dish lined with wax paper and smash each potato with the bottom of a coffee mug. If they're sticking to the mug, place waxed paper over them before smashing.
Step 7
Drizzle the remaining oil and herb mixture over the potatoes and bake at 450 for about 10 minutes (just enough to crisp them up).

Note

As with most of my recipes, there are many ways you can vary this and still have a delicious side dish. Use whatever herbs you have on hand that you prefer. Fresh are better, but you can use dried thyme if that's all you have. I wouldn't use dried rosemary, but you can try mint or dill or whatever you like (but don't use garlic if you use mint--those don't go together, yuck!).

Make sure you have enough of the oil mixture to coat the potatoes or they can be too dry. And don't over boil, they should be slightly hard when you smash them, as you'll be cooking them for another 10 to 15 minutes.

These are delish!

February 22, 2014

Roasted Swiss Chard w/ Feta and Parmesan

Roasted Swiss Chard

Print recipe

Serves	6
Prep time	20 minutes
Cook time	25 minutes
Total time	45 minutes
Allergy	Milk
Meal type	Side Dish
Misc	Serve Hot

Ingredients

2 bunches Red or Rainbow Swiss Chard
2 drizzle Olive oil
2 sprinkles Salt and Pepper
1 small Onion (I use sweet Maui) (diced-should be about 1/2 cup)
2 cloves Fresh garlic (minced)
1 handful Shaved Parmesan cheese (About 1/4-1/2 cup)
Feta cheese crumbled (About 1/4-1/2 cup)

Directions

Step 1
Wash chard and dry well by blotting or spinning in salad spinner.
Step 2
Remove stems and dice them.
Step 3
Dice onions and garlic and mix with the stems.
Step 4
Toss stems and onion garlic mixture with salt and pepper and olive oil to coat them, and spread on a baking sheet, and bake at 375 for about 10 minutes.
Step 5
Chop the washed leaves, while the stems are cooking, and mix them with a little olive oil and salt and pepper to coat them.
Step 6
Remove the stems from the oven, scrape them from the pan, and redistribute them on the bottom of the pan.
Step 7
Spread the chopped leaves on top of the cooked stems, and sprinkle feta and parmesan over the top.
Step 8
Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.

Note

I know it's surprising, but I'd never made swiss chard before. Then one day I was visiting my cousin, Bonnie, and her husband, Tom, asked if I wanted some chard from his garden. I said, "sure", thinking he'd walk back in with a bunch or two. But no, he walked in with a plastic garbage bag full of chard.

So I had to figure out what to do with all of it! I know this may not be the most healthy way to consume chard. But it's definitely the most delicious!

February 21, 2014

Grandma’s Chili con Carne

By Alison, February 21, 2014

Alison’s Chili con Carne

3 lbs lean ground beef

3 lbs top sirloin (trimmed and cubed) or stew meat well trimmed

3-28 oz cans of tomatoes--at least 1 diced and two others of any combo of tomato sauce, puree or crushed :

1-28 oz can Tomato puree or sauce

1-28 oz can Crushed tomatoes

1-28 oz can Diced tomatoes

3-4 TB chili powder—brands vary as to spiciness—chipotle will be spicier. I use 3TB regular chili powder like Gebharts, or Grandma's (yes, that's actually the brand name-it's not MY grandma's), and then I add 1 TB of chipolte to up the hotness factor, but don't use chipolte if you don't like it too hot. If you like it really hot, also add 1/2 tsp of cayenne.

1 tsp roasted cumin (or regular if you don’t have roasted)

2 T garlic powder or 5 cloves fresh minced garlic

3-4 TB smoked paprika

½ brick Achiote Mayan spice—approx 2 oz-dissolve in small amount of hot water

2 small cans roasted green chilis

Salt to taste -1-2 TB

Brown the meat, and drain off the fat. My crockpot also has a setting to brown, and I usually brown the steak in the crockpot while I'm browning the ground beef on the stove, but you can brown both on the stove. Just make sure you drain the fat off before adding to the crockpot.

Add all the other ingredients together. Combine with the browned meat.

Simmer minimally for 4-5 hours on low on the stove, stirring regularly, or in a crockpot on high for 5-6 hours. You need to cook it long enough for the chunks of steak to be tender. After about 4 hours taste it, and adjust seasoning—adding salt or more chili powder if needed, if you want it smokier add more smoked paprika, if you really want it spicy, add cayenne in small increments—1/8 tsp at a time.

The Achiote is available at Mexican markets like Vallarte, it comes in a small box. If you can’t find it, leave it out and it’ll be ok.

During the last hour of cooking begin preparing the garnish (which is crucial to an excellent chili). Chop cilantro, jalapeño, onion, and make sure you have shredded cheese, sour cream and tortilla or fritos chips to serve with the chili.

Alison’s Chili con Carne

Ingredients:

3 lbs lean ground beef

3 lbs top sirloin (trimmed and cubed) or stew meat well trimmed

3-28 oz cans of tomatoes–at least 1 diced and two others of any combo of tomato sauce, puree or crushed :

1-28 oz can Tomato puree or sauce

1-28 oz can Crushed tomatoes

1-28 oz can Diced tomatoes

3-4 TB chili powder—brands vary as to spiciness—chipotle will be spicier. I use 3TB regular chili powder like Gebharts, or Grandma’s (yes, that’s actually the brand name-it’s not MY grandma’s), and then I add 1 TB of chipolte to up the hotness factor, but don’t use chipolte if you don’t like it too hot. If you like it really hot, also add 1/2 tsp of cayenne.

1 tsp roasted cumin (or regular if you don’t have roasted)

2 TB garlic powder or 5 cloves fresh minced garlic

3-4 TB smoked paprika

½ brick Achiote Mayan spice—approx 2 oz-dissolved in small amount of hot water–

It’s available at Mexican markets like Vallarte. Try to find one without food coloring. If you can’t find it, leave it out and it’ll be ok. See my note below if you can’t find this, you can make it yourself, although I haven’t tried to yet–but I’ll post the ingredients below and you can let me know what you think.

2 small cans (4 oz) roasted green chilis or one large can (7 oz)

Salt to taste -1-2 TB

Brown the meat, and drain off the fat. My crockpot also has a setting to brown, and I usually brown the steak in the crockpot while I’m browning the ground beef on the stove, but you can brown both on the stove. Just make sure you drain the fat off before adding to the crockpot.

Add all the other ingredients together.

Combine with the browned meat.

Note: See my note below if you’d like to make you’re own achiote.

Here’s what you’ll be serving:

December 4, 2013

Turkey Pot Pie

The Best Recipe For Those Thanksgiving Leftovers!

Turkey Pot Pie

Print recipe

Serves	6
Prep time	20 minutes
Cook time	40 minutes
Total time	1 hour
Meal type	Main Dish

Put your holiday leftovers to use in this delicious and easy Turkey pot pie.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons Butter
1 small onion (chopped)
2 stalks celery (chopped)
3 carrots (chopped or one bag Trader Joe's Parisienne carrots, thawed)
2 cups chicken or turkey broth
1/2 teaspoon Salt and pepper (may need more)
3 heaped tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)
1/2 cup frozen corn (thawed)
1/2 cup frozen peas (thawed)
2 cups cooked turkey (shredded or cut into cubes (I prefer shredded))
2 cups mashed potatoes
1 prepared pie crust (thawed)

Directions

Step 1
Melt 2TB butter in large saute pan, add diced onion, celery and carrots. Saute 4-5 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Step 2
Add 2 cups chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add Salt and Pepper--you'll adjust this to your taste later.
Step 3
Add 2 TB flour (I like to use Wondra for sauces and broths as it doesn't lump) and stir well. Then stir in fresh parsley, if you don't have fresh, use 2 TB dried.
Step 4
Add corn and peas to broth.
Step 5
Add turkey and simmer 2-3 minutes. Taste the mixture now and add more salt and pepper if desired.
Step 6
Spray baking dish with oil and layer mashed potatoes over the bottom of the dish.
Step 7
Pour vegetable and turkey mixture over the top of the mashed potatoes.
Step 8
Unroll dough (or remove from pie tin if it's frozen in a pan).
Step 9
Grate fresh nutmeg over vegetable and turkey mixture. If you don't have whole nutmeg, sprinkle about 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg over the mixture.
Step 10
Press prepared crust over mixture and remove excess dough hanging over the edge of the baking dish.
Step 11
Cut 3-4 slits in the top for steam to escape, and place baking dish on cookie sheet in case of spillage. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, remove and cover edges of crust with foil to prevent burning, reduce heat to 350 and bake another 20-30 minutes until the top of the crust is golden brown.

Note

This recipe is very adjustable. Pot pies usually have cubed potatoes which you can add to the broth and simmer for 5 or 6 minutes until tender, and then go on to the next steps. However, I was trying to use my Thanksgiving leftovers which consisted of mashed potatoes, turkey and a frozen pie crust. I added celery and onions and frozen veggies (peas, corn and parissiene carrots-because that's what I had in my freezer) to my leftovers to make a delicious pot pie. You can use whatever frozen or fresh veggies you like and have on hand. Also, if you don't like nutmeg, use other seasonings like sage, thyme, poultry seasoning, or even oregano. Mix these in with the parsley or leave out the parsley all together. The point is to use your leftovers and what you have on hand, and not have to make a special trip to the store. Unless of course, you're really excited about making turkey pot pie from scratch, then by all means go to the store and duplicate this recipe exactly. It did turn out delicious!

September 1, 2013

Fire Roasted Peaches

Fire-roasted peaches

We roasted peaches in the fire pit at our cabin while watching a meteor shower a few weeks ago.

These were simple! Cut the peaches in half and remove the pits, brush both sides with a little melted butter and maple syrup and place them on a barbque safe tray.

Place the tray over a low flaming area in your fir pit (or on your barbecue). Turn once or twice to evenly roast.

Slice and serve over ice cream or drizzle with a little more maple syrup, or caramel sauce and chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts. Yummy!

August 20, 2013

Alison’s Italian Turkey Sausage Soup

Soup–8-10 servings

Ingredients:
• 2-28 oz cans diced tomatoes (I use petite diced, but either size is good)
• 2-32 oz box chicken broth
• 2 cups water or a third box of chicken broth (not always necessary-depends how muh it cooks down)
• 2 packages (usually 5 per package) Italian turkey sausage –Jennie-O makes both of these, I use one spicy and one mild, but you decide per your taste, some people don’t like spicy. Sometimes I use Trader Joe’s Italian chicken sausage when I don’t feel like going to more than one store—and it works fine.
• 1 small/med onion diced (about 1 cup)
• 4-5 minced fresh garlic cloves (or 1-2 T minced garlic from a jar)
• 3-4 Zucchinis sliced and halved or quartered
• 1 red, orange or yellow bell pepper diced (or half of each color)
• 1 package white or crimini mushrooms, washed and sliced in half
• 2 TB Basil
• 1 TB Oregano
• 1 TB Salt (or to taste)
• 1 tsp black pepper (or to taste)
• 1 tsp crushed fennel seed (optional)

If you want to simplify spices, or if you don’t have the above, just add 2-3 TB Italian seasoning and salt and pepper.

STEP 1:
Start tomatoes, chicken broth, onion, garlic and herbs/spices cooking into a low boil.

STEP 2:
Wearing disposable kitchen gloves (I don’t like getting it under my fingernails), push/pull the meat out of the sausage casing to form bite size sausage “meatballs”. Let them drop directly into the boiling pot of tomatoes and broth. Let boil for about 15-20 minutes so meat is cooked through.

STEP 3:
Add the rest of the vegetables (zucchini, bell peppers, mushrooms).

STEP 4:

Reduce heat and simmer for at least

an hour for the tomatoes to break down and all the flavors to combine. I like to let it simmer for 2 hours on low, with a lid loosely covering it. You can also transfer it to a crockpot at this point and let it simmer on low for 3-4 hours. I prefer to cook the meat thoroughly before transferring to crock pot. My cousin made this soup with pork Italian sausage instead of turkey, and put all the ingredients in the crockpot on low all day. She ended up in the hospital with food poisoning!

My advice: don’t cook meat in the crockpot on low, ever! Unless you pre-cooked the meat thoroughly before transferring to the crockpot.

STEP 5:
Check liquid volume and add more broth or water, if it reduces too much while simmering. And add more salt and herbs to your taste.

STEP 6:
Serve garnished with parmesan cheese (crucial) and fresh basil if you have it.

TIP:
You can also add other vegetables that you like, green beans are good. And to turn it into an Italian Wedding Soup, you can add spinach (chopped) and pasta (precooked al dente (under cooked) smaller pasta, like a shell, or farfalle, or fusilli, at the very end).

This entire recipe can be adjusted as to quantity of ingredients. More veggies, less sausage, more or less liquid. Although the sausage and vegetable quantities are accurate, I don’t actually measure any of the other ingredients (spices or liquids) and just add them until I reach the desired flavor and thickness. So add more liquid once you’ve added all the other ingredients and you see how thick or thin you want your soup ( I prefer a “stoup” – thick soup, more like a stew) but tastes differ, so you decide! And taste it as to quantities of herbs and spices.

August 11, 2013

Massaged Kale Salad for Ciera

Since it was Ciera’s idea that I start this blog, the first recipe I’m posting is the one she wanted: Massaged Kale Salad with Mango and Avocado. Here’s Ciera with her sister, Jenna, her cousin, Alex (my son), and their cousin, Jack!

Kale is one of those super nutritious foods that isn’t so tasty unless prepared properly! Of course you can cook it, similar to spinach, but you get more benefit if it’s raw.

Raw kale is quite tough and bitter. The remedy for this (and other things) is massage (takes the tough and bitter out of lots of things)!

Here’s what you’ll need for the kale salad: Kale; Oil (olive or sesame oil); either one lemon or lime, salt and pepper; either pine nuts or pumpkin seeds; one mango and one avocado; and a little honey:

Remove stems by grasping with one hand and sliding leaves off the stem. Wash kale and dry it in a salad spinner, or blot dry with a towel:

Chop kale into bite size pieces:




Place kale in bowl, and add about 1-2 TB olive or sesame oil, couple shakes of salt, and juice of 1/2 a lemon or lime:

Massage for a couple minutes until kale reduces by about 1/3 to 1/2 the amount you started with:

Slice mango down both sides as close to the pit as possible:Then score it vertically and horizontally, being careful not to score through the skin:

Take a grapefruit spoon and remove the diced mango from the skin, and add to salad.

Slice and dice the avocado the same way you just did the mango:

You don’t need to make much dressing, as the kale is partially dressed already (oh my!) from the massaging. Place about 2 TB of whichever oil you used to massage the kale (olive or sesame) into a bowl. Add a couple cranks of fresh, coarsely ground pepper, a couple shakes of salt, the juice of the other half of the lemon or lime you used for massaging (about 1 TB or less), and a squeeze of honey (you can leave this out if you’re watching your sugar intake, and it’s still delish!). Whisk this together and taste it, adjusting salt, pepper and honey to your taste.

Toast 2 TB pumpkin seeds or pine nuts for a minute or two, watching so they don’t burn!

Add pumpkin seeds or (pine nuts), and dressing to kale, mango, and avocado. Toss salad:

And serve!

August 1, 2013

This House Rules!

These are the rules posted on the refrigerator in my kitchen. Included on the actual rules on my fridge, are the names of the teens who have been caught offending each rule. Contrary to the effect I thought that would have (shame them into compliance) the teens who show up here, check to see if they’ve made the “offenders” list. And are proud of it! Hmmm, may have to re-think this–however it does get them to read my rules, and when they have “offended” and found themselves temporarily banned–they can’t claim they didn’t know the rules.

THIS HOUSE RULES!

Welcome! We love having you here as our guest. To make sure you don’t piss me off and get yourself banned, this is how things roll around here:

DRUGS: Don’t even think about it. Zero tolerance. Don’t show up here under the influence! This is a banning offense! And I do know what it looks like when you’re high!
ALCOHOL: Adults only! Minors are not allowed to play in the liquor cabinet. Don’t show up here drunk and then call your parents to come pick you up, thus giving them the impression you got drunk here (you know who you are)! And if you throw up in my back yard, hose it off!
SMOKING: If you’re 18 or older and must smoke cigarettes: patio only; use an ashtray; and clean it when you’re done! I don’t want to clean your butts! And please air yourself out before coming in so you don’t stink up my house!
REGARDING GIRLS: Nothing you wouldn’t do in front of me. Don’t make me spell this out! Just because I overheard you guys discussing blow jobs doesn’t mean they don’t count! (“Shhh! Shhhh! You’re mom’s coming downstairs”–too late I already heard the topic of discussion.) So don’t bring it up in my earshot unless you actually want my lecture on STD’s and having respect for girls! Which clearly some of you need to hear! And girls–you know who you are–stop pinning each other down and giving random, tacky hickeys to each other–I’m running out of arnica!
PIGGINESS: I have a housekeeper, I’m not yours! Clean up after yourself! Put your dishes in the dishwasher. Throw away your trash–jeesh!
CRASHING HERE: If you sleep over, make the bed or I’ll make Alex do it! Because we know he ALWAYS makes his bed!
SHHHH…IT’S LATE: If you’re up late or coming in late, be considerate: don’t slam doors, etc. Then I won’t know what time you really got home! If you wake me from a sound sleep, I’m pretty sure I can’t be held responsible in a court of law for what I do to you. Turn the lights off and lock the doors if you’re the last one up.
GAMES & DVDs: Put them away for the next person to use. Don’t make me pick up after you—you guys aren’t 3 anymore, stop acting like it!
THE FRIDGE: I love to feed you, but check with me before raiding my fridge, I might be planning a meal with that item. And Pleeeeze clean up your kitchen messes! Did I mention I’m not your housekeeper?

Let me know if I need to clarify any of the above or add anything to the list–Thank you for helping to keep our house user friendly! Love, Mom

Here's What's Cookin'

Apricot Marinated Grilled Chicken

Kale Salad Ingredients

Italian Turkey Sausage Soup

Italian Sausage Soup Ingredients

Kale Salad

Smashed Herbed New Potatoes

Smashed Herbed New Potatoes

Ingredients

Directions

Note

Roasted Swiss Chard w/ Feta and Parmesan

Roasted Swiss Chard

Ingredients

Directions

Note

Grandma’s Chili con Carne

Grandma’s Chili con Carne

Turkey Pot Pie

Turkey Pot Pie

Ingredients

Directions

Note

Fire Roasted Peaches

Alison’s Italian Turkey Sausage Soup

Massaged Kale Salad for Ciera

This House Rules!

What’s Cookin’ Today

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