Grandson

Spent yesterday with my not-quite-four-year-old grandson.  The daughter and her IB tried to go to the movies (the showing was sold out!) and were gone all afternoon so Grandson and I got to play together uninterrupted for hours!  He's getting so big!

I also got to feed him dinner.  He's gotten a bit picky lately so I never know if he will eat what I cook.  I played it safe this week and made Spaghetti and Meat Sauce. 

Tomato Sauce

1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped onion
3 -4 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce (Hunts)
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes  (or 1 large can crushed tomatoes)
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/8 tsp (heavy pinch) cardamom

Cook onion in olive oil until translucent.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Pour in tomatoes, rinsing cans into pot.  Stir in herbs and cardamom.  Pour in a big glug of red wine.  Simmer for 1 hour or so until desired consistency.  Add meatballs, browned ground meat or sausage of your choice. 

Serve over pasta, include in lasagna.  Just a good, all round red sauce. 

The cardamom is a vital ingredient.  It really takes the sauce over the top to wonderful.  I put some in by accident one day and really liked how it turned out. 

My grandson really like his dinner and actually cleaned his plate!  :-)

Snow!

What do you make for dinner when it looks like this outside?

Why, chili, of course!

Meat Chili

1 pound ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 15oz. can diced tomatoes

1 150z. can tomato sauce

1 tbsp oregano

1 tsp basil

3-4 tbsp chili powder

salt

pepper

Cook onion in a little olive oil until transparent.  Add garlic and cook one more minute.  Add beef and brown.  When meat is cooked, pour in tomatoes and add spices.  Rinse out cans with water into chili pot.  Cook 3-4 hours.

Add beans, macaroni, spaghetti, whatever suites your taste.  Top with cheddar cheese to serve.  Crackers optional!  :-)

Can be made as mild or as spicy as you like by varying the amount of chili powder and/or adding red pepper flakes.  I put Tabasco in mine in my bowl as my hubby doesn't like anything spicy. 

Yuk!

Sorry for the lack of posts recently.  My third attack of stomach flu made me quite quit food for a few days but I seem to be better now and I hope I will not have to deal with this particular bug again!  Every dish in the house went through the dishwasher so I hope I got the bugger!!

Now, where was I?

Ah, yes, dinner.

Tonight, I had the priviledge of feeding my not-quite-four-year-old grandson.  He used to eat anything and everything but has become a bit picky, mostly to annoy his mom, I'm sure.  However, eggs, cheese, potatoes and sausage are OK with him so tonight: fritatta.

Fritatta

4 potatoes, peeled and shredded ala hash browns
3-4 ounces pizza topping sausage
4 - 6 eggs
2 cups shredded cheddar
olive oil
milk

Heat olive oil in large skillet.  Add shredded potatoes, separating them into four quarter-shaped piles.  Press into skillet with spatula.  Cook potatoes until crispy, turning once.

Beat eggs with milk.  Pour over potatoes.  Sprinkle with sausage.  Cover and cook 3 to 5 minutes.  Flip and cook on other side until eggs are set.

Spread top with cheese.  Cover and cook til melted. 

By splitting the potatoes into quarters at the beginning, it is much easier to flip the parts over when needed.  I usually start out on high heat and turn it down to medium when I add the eggs.  The pizza topping is from Gordon's Food Service and is about half soy, half pork.  Since I'm mildly allergic to pork and it upsets my stomach if I eat too much, this is just fine with me!!  :-)  I use it on pizza, too. 

My grandson loved this and ate most of it.  Even my extremely picky daughter liked it!  Wow!

Dessert

Paula Deen's Chocolate Chip Pie!!

The one on the right has no nuts; the one on the left has walnuts, which Mr. Picky doesn't like.  The recipe called for 3 cups of chocolate chips but I had only 2 cups but I had a cup of butterscotch chips so I used those, too.  Very tasty!!

Ingredients

Pie:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup (2-sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups chopped walnuts, optional

Whipped cream:

• 2 pints (4-cups) heavy cream
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 (9-inch) pie plates; set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat in the vanilla. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, and mix until fully combined. Fold in the 3 cups chocolate chips and, if desired, the walnuts. Divide the dough between the prepared pie plates and smooth the tops with a spatula.
Bake about 30 minutes or until pies are golden and slightly firm to the touch but still soft. If the pies begin to darken too much before they are baked through, cover with foil and continue baking. Let pies cool completely on a wire rack.
While the pies cool, whip the cream and confectioners' sugar until soft peaks form (tips curl). Fold in the chocolate chips. Refrigerate whipped cream until ready to use. Spread the whipped cream over the pies and serve.

And a 9" pie pan even fits in a Ziplock bag!  No stale pie tomorrow!  :-)

Yum!

Got my hair done yesterday evening.  My hairdresser lost her salon to the bad economy last year so she makes house calls on a few of her clients.  I just love her!  She does a wonderful job on my hair and we've become friends over the years.

She was at my house late enough that it was time for dinner before she was done.  I knew this was going to happen so I was prepared.  I had made Cheddar Bacon Potato Soup late in the afternoon.  It was finished and waiting the cheese and bacon before eating.  She got my hair painted and we ate soup while my hair processed. 

I also had some No Knead Bread in the fridge from last week.  I sliced it and put it in the toaster oven to toast and have with the soup.

I stirred in the cheese and bacon, let everything melt together.  I served it in my large Ikea cups and simply put the bread on a Chinet plate with the butter dish nearby with a knife.  We're pretty casual at home.

She absolutely loved the soup!  She even asked for the recipe!  The most I can hope for from Mr. Picky is "Not bad."  He never really likes anything so it's quite nice to feed someone who actually appreciates what I do.  She raved over that soup.   :-)

The bread toasted nice and crispy.  One of the things I like about No Knead Bread is the crust.  Not only is it good the day you bake it but it crisps right up again when you reheat it!  It never resembles store-bought bread in any way.  It's crispy, chewy, and has huge holes in it; very rustic. 

This is the recipe I use;  http://www.breadtopia.com/basic-no-knead-method/

Having Le Creuset casseroles is very helpful.  Santa brought me another one so I have a huge one and a smaller one I can't wait to try the bread in.  It has to sit for 18 hours to proof so maybe I'll start some tomorrow...

Cheddar Potato Soup with Bacon

• 4 bacon slices (I usually use 5 - 6)
• 1 large onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 pound potatoes (4 - 6)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (1 can and cut back on water to 1 cup)
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 6-7 fresh sage leaves
• 2 cups grated sharp Cheddar (about 8 ounces) (I use 3 to 4 cups of cheese)

Chop bacon and in a large heavy saucepan cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp. Transfer bacon with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain, reserving fat in pan.

While bacon is cooking, chop onion. Peel potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Cook onion in reserved fat over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add flour to onions and cook about 2 minutes to brown slightly.  Stir in water and broth.  Add potatoes and sage.  Simmer mixture 5 - 10 minutes, or until potatoes are just tender. Add wine and simmer 1 minute.  Add crumbled bacon, stir.

Reduce heat to low and gradually stir in Cheddar (do not let boil).

Serve with more cheese on top. 

Careful with the amount of liquid or will be runny. 

I make my bacon in the oven so there's no spatter mess all over my stove top.  375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.  Nice and crispy!

Dinner

Smoked Turkey Hot Browns

Hot, smoked Deli turkey on a split croissant with cheddar cheese sauce, bacon, and tomato. 

Stole the idea from a restaurant in a Lazarus department store back in Indiana.  The cheese sauce is home made and definitely not a diet food:   ;-)

1 stick butter
4 tablespoons flour
garlic powder, to taste
salt and pepper
2 cups milk
4 - 5 cups shredded cheddar

Melt butter in sauce pan.  Add flour and cook until lightly browned, 2 or 3 minutes.  Add garlic, salt, and pepper.  Whisk in milk.  When milk starts to thicken, add cheddar and stir with whisk until melted.

Pour over tomato-topped turkey on split croissant rolls.  Top with bacon.

Also good on vegetables, for nachos, mac and cheese, etc.  Just a good all-round cheese sauce.

Food!

My political blog has become 'polluted' with too many non-political posts so, I decided to make a place for myself to talk about my other passion, food!

I love to cook.  If I were healthy, I'd be in culinary school right now.  A friend and I are considering taking a class at a local place on pie making.  That should be fun!

What I intend with this is to update, hopefully regularly, with cooking ideas and recipes as I use them.  Dinner is my daily 'foe'.  My husband, who is quite a picky eater, refuses to give me any input on what to cook or how I did.  "Not bad."  is the best I can hope for in feedback.  And that's not really enough information, ya know?  So, maybe if I can get some readers, y'all can give me the feedback I need and I can get better at what I love to do! 

So, first post:  What's for dinner tonight?

Quesedillas made from home-made picadillo and Mexican cheese mixed shreds.  Unfortunately, my local Giant Eagle doesn't carry queso fresco.  Aldis does, GE, not so much.  So, as I didn't have time to go to another store on New Year's Eve, I bought what I could find that was as close as I could get. 

   I made the picadillo last March from a huge brisket.  We buy half a cow every year and I never know what to do with the brisket.  I heard about picadillo on Food Network and decided to try making my own.  It's delicious!  And way too much to eat in one sitting so I froze it in one pound packages.  That's enough for a meal or two, depending on what I do with it. 


Get out the big skillet, heat it with a little EVOO.  In goes a nice, big, flour tortilla to heat.  Flip it and put several spoonfuls of picadillo on half and cover the whole thing in cheese.  Put on the lid and let 'er get nice and melty with a toasty bottom.  Flip non-meat side over the meat, transfer to a cutting board for slicing.

Arrange on a plate and spoon fresh salsa over top. 

Yum! 

Even Mr. Picky liked them!  :-)

Plans for the week:

• Meat sauce and fresh pasta
• Mexican chicken
• Smoked turkey Hot Browns
• Cheddar Potato soup
• Fritatta
• Fried chicken cutlets with pesto linguine
• Chili (no beans)
• Chicken soup
• Beef Vegetable soup

I need to get some pasta flour and some pizza sausage for the fritatta at GFS.  I have what I need for everything else. 

My chief limitation is my own energy or lack thereof.  I have a heart condition that limits me considerably. 

We'll see how I do this week!!