Italian Sausage

While looking for a hockey game on TV, I came across a channel in our guide that I did not know we got. If you're looking for evidence our civilization is doomed to failure, look no further than your DirecTV guide. Dogs now have their own channel. DogTV is exactly what the name suggests it is. I remember hearing about this on the radio a few years back, and I can't believe it's survived this long. DogTV, the channel for your pooch, runs constant footage of stuff dogs might like. For example, right now, I'm watching a dog wander around a field sniffing the ground. The dog eventually sits and lays down. Sometimes, random animals will be on screen, like a goat or a horse or a cow. Other times, it is just nice scenery. At all times, relaxing spa music is playing in the background. I'm not sure what this is like for dogs, but for me it's like watching a hypnotic screensaver. It's a challenge to have this on and to stay awake. Most of the time, Ellie doesn't notice it's on. But right now, she's actually watching it! While Ellie seems to like it somewhat, Connor loves it! He loves the animals!

Hard to tell, but Ellie is watching her stories.

Yesterday, I made a batch of Italian sausage. We've made this before, and lately I've been using it for breakfast burritos. It's pretty easy to make, as long as you have a meat grinder. We have a grinding attachment for our KitchenAid that has come in handy. If you don't have a meat grinder, then in the words of one of my Indian stats professors explaining that if we do not yet understand the material, I do not know what to say for you. Get one! Totally worth it.

Now, I don't make links, just the sausage. So if you want to make links using the hog casings, you're on your own. The recipe calls for 3 lbs pork and 0.5 lbs pork fat. I've never been able to get pork fat in the store, so usually, I just get a 3.5-4 lb (a little more if there's a bone) piece that seems to have a good amount of fat in it.

Like I said, I've been using this for burritos. I've made the burritos using regular old jimmy dean sausage and it is just not very good by comparison. I highly recommend you try this out.

Makes 3.5 lbs

3 lbs boneless pork shoulder blade
8 oz pork fat
1.5 tbsp fennel seeds
4 tsp salt
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp hot pepper flakes
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper

1. Cut pork and pork fat into 1-inch cubes and place in a shallow container. In a small bowl, combine fennel, salt, garlic, hot pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, and black pepper; sprinkle over pork. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes to facilitate grinding. With coarse grinding plate, run pork and fat through grinder (speed 4 if you have a kitchen aid). Return to freezer for 15 minutes. Run through the grinder again into a bowl.

Thai-Style Sea Bass

Steph and I recently both purchased bicycles. I've been wanting to get one since we moved here. This is the shortest commute I've ever had and it's almost completely flat. So I figured I should be biking to work more. If I drive to work, it's mostly on a highway with a gravelly shoulder, so when I bike, I stick to residential side roads. There is one stretch right before I get to base where I have to get on the highway. At this part, I wait until there's a very large gap in cars and then I go, riding as fast as I can until I can turn right onto base. Often when I'm riding, especially when I'm riding fast, I feel as though I look like this:

 

 

When I actually probably look like this. 

But I get to work in about half an hour which is pretty good I would say.

A few days ago, we tried this interesting sounding dish. I was immediately skeptical when it called for putting fish directly on the grill, since as I've lamented before, grilling anything besides burgers or steaks seems to go poorly for me. I normally grill fish in foil and it works out well. However, this turned out very good directly on the rack. We used grouper instead of sea bass, since we couldn't find that one around here. I thought the grouper was delicious. And the sauce was really good too. We were a little short on lime juice so we had less of the sauce, but it was stronger. Also, we didn't have rice noodles, so we used linguine. This didn't take much time either, you just have to remember to marinate the fish.

Connor says: "I love this!!! I love the fish, I love the noodles! Buzz, try this it's amazing! Ellie, try this! Mom I love this! I love you guys! You're the best." I'm pretty sure that's what he was trying to say.

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients:

4 5- to 6-ounce fresh or frozen skinless sea bass fillets
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup lime juice
2 tbsp fish sauce or soy sauce
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tbsp minced fresh garlic
2 cups hot cooked rice noodles or rice

1) Thaw fish, if frozen. Rinse fish; pat dry with paper towels. Measure thickness of fish. Sprinkle fish with salt. Place fish in a large resealable plastic bag set in a shallow dish; set aside.

2) In a small bowl stir together lime juice, fish sauce, sesame oil, sugar, ginger, crushed red pepper, and garlic. Pour half of the marinade over fish in bag; seal bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for 60 minutes, turning bag occasionally. Chill remaining lime juice mixture.

3) Drain fish, discarding marinade. For a charcoal grill, place fish on the greased rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium coals. Grill for 4 to 6 minutes per 1/2 inch thickness of fish or until fish begins to flake easily when tested with a fork. (For a gas grill, preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium. Place fish on greased grill rack over heat. Cover and grill as directed.)

4) Serve fish with rice noodles. Drizzle the remaining lime juice mixture over fish and noodles.

Zesty Skillet Turkey

Today was a notable day. As I mentioned in my last post, it's NCAA tournament time. I have mixed feelings about this time of year. I love the tournament, but with it comes spring and unlike Steph, I do not like this season all that much. Spring just reminds me that summer is near. In fact, today, for the first time this year, we are running our air conditioner. And thus begins my 7 month futile quest to stop sweating. It's still reasonable here...it was in the 70s today but was so humid that it felt a bit warmer. I'm really not looking forward to people saying how great it is outside at 85 and sunny. If 85 were so great, our thermostat would be set at 85. Ugh. I miss Colorado. It's supposed to snow there tonight. And probably again in April and May. I guess I shouldn't complain. I never have to do anything in the heat except walk to and from my car. Although they haven't turned on the A/C in my office yet. But when they do, it works wonderfully.

Today was also notable because Steph took Connor's smash-cake pictures for his 2nd birthday. (I will not spoil it by posting pictures.) It went great, he had a blast! I feel like his 2nd birthday is just a formality since Connor is already clearly 2. This kid is all over the place. Sprinting all around the house, moving his chairs to get his own water or better yet, the flashlight. Chasing the dog around with the flashlight, tackling and jumping on the dog, throwing stuff, yelling no, and my favorite, brushing his teeth at all hours of the day. We have to have a 2-year-old in the house or else this picture would make no sense:


Either we are participating in a scavenger hunt, or Connor left his toys on the island.

This is a flashlight, a comb, and a digital thermometer. This picture was taken in our kitchen. At one point today, Connor ran around with each of these items. At one point, he ran around the house taking the temperature of EVERYTHING. Himself, me, Audrey, the dog, the cabinets, the drawers, the pantry, the dishwasher and inside the freezer.

Tonight, we had Zesty Skillet Turkey Chicken. This was pretty good, but was REALLY easy. The hardest part was finding turkey breast tenderloins in a grocery store around here. We never did, so we used 2 chicken breasts halved horizontally. This meal took almost no time to prepare and cook! I recommend it if you have very little time and some thawed chicken.

Connor says: I will eat all the couscous, with my hands preferably. I need the carbs for energy since I will battle the dog next!!

Zesty Skillet Turkey

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 turkey breast tenderloins, halved horizontally

1 cup salsa

1/4 cup raisins

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup quick-cooking couscous

1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Directions

1. In a large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Add turkey; cook about 2 minutes per side or until brown. In a medium bowl stir together salsa, raisins, honey, cumin, and cinnamon. Add to skillet. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 to 12 minutes or until turkey is no longer pink (170 degrees F).
2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan bring the water and salt to boiling. Stir in couscous. Cover; remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving. Serve turkey and salsa mixture over couscous; sprinkle with almonds.

Chicken and Dumplings

Alright, time for slacker Ken to start throwing some more recipes up here. We've been trying a lot of new dishes and the world needs to know dangit. But first things first. The tourney is here!!! Yayyyy. This is my favorite weekend of the tournament. The first two rounds. This is when all the cool stuff happens. A couple of big shots get knocked off early. I'm looking at you (and laughing) Ohio State and Duke. And a couple of no-name teams score some big upsets. As of now, Dayton is putting up a good fight against Syracuse. Hope springs eternal for a team to come out of nowhere and win it all! But they never do :( Just think about those two years when Butler went to the final game, only to lose to Duke (blah) and UConn (barf). Boring!!! Maybe I'm just bitter since my favorite team (Gonzaga) has never been to a Final Four. Part of me really wants to see a Gonzaga or a Wichita State or a Butler win the whole thing just to stick it to those rent-a-teams full of NBA-bound freshmen (Kentucky). But another part of me wishes they'd change the tourney altogether. Make it like one of those European soccer tournaments where lots of teams enter, but the better they are, the later they enter. So let's have like 120 teams enter, but the better your team is seeded, the more bye rounds you get. I completely understand this would make Cinderella stories all but impossible, but I think it would be more interesting and would place more value in the regular season.

Okay that's enough of that. I can feel Steph yawning. A couple days ago, we found this gem in the better homes and gardens book. It looked like a legitimate recipe to try and I've never made dumplings before so why not? The recipe calls for "meaty chicken pieces." We used mostly thighs but threw in a cut up breast half too. The dumplings were fairly simple to make and they turned out amazing. My favorite part of the meal. We had to buy shortening for the dumplings, since we never use it. I don't understand shortening. Is it good for you? Is it bad for you? And why don't I need to refrigerate it? That seems weird. I was tickled when I read on the side of the can: "Not to be used as a spread." Um...ew.

Connor says: "Like Dad, I love the dumplings. Buzz Lightyear likes them too. We're less enthusiastic about the chicken but we'll eat that too, only if you let me sprint around the house after every bite."

Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds meaty chicken pieces (breast halves, thighs, and drumsticks)

3 cups water

1 medium onion, cut into wedges

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried sage or marjoram, crushed

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 bay leaf

1 cup sliced celery (2 stalks)

1 cup thinly sliced carrots (2 medium)

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

1 recipe Dumplings

1/2 cup cold water

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Skin chicken. In a 4-quart Dutch oven combine chicken, the 3 cups water, the onion, salt, sage, pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 25 minutes. Add celery, carrots, and mushrooms. Return mixture to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 10 minutes more or until vegetables are tender and chicken is no longer pink (170 degrees F for breasts, 180 degrees F for thighs and drumsticks). Discard bay leaf. Using tongs, rearrange the chicken pieces so they rest on top of the vegetables.
2. Meanwhile, prepare Dumplings. Spoon dumpling batter into six mounds on top of the chicken. (Do not spoon batter into the liquid.) Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 12 to 15 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into a dumpling comes out clean. Do not lift cover while simmering. With a slotted spoon transfer chicken, dumplings, and vegetables to a serving platter; keep warm.
3. For gravy, pour 2 cups cooking liquid into a large measuring cup. Skim fat from liquid; discard fat. Pour liquid into the Dutch oven. Stir the 1/2 cup cold water into the flour; stir into the liquid in Dutch oven. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Serve gravy over chicken, vegetables, and dumplings.

Dumplings

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons shortening

1/2 cup buttermilk

 

Directions

1. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add buttermilk, stirring just until moistened.

Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo

The hiatus is over!! I was so happy to return Tuesday. In case you missed it, I have been immersed in a work project for the last several weeks. It culminated in a two and half week trip to North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. Our team, composed of people from Louisiana and the aforementioned locations, was supposed to take off on Wednesday the 12th of February, but was delayed until the following Sunday. We spent Monday and Tuesday in North Dakota, then got set to fly to Montana on Wednesday. Well the military aircraft we had reserved broke and we couldn't get another one until the following Tuesday. This was unacceptable to those running the show, and flights from Minot, ND to Great Falls, MT were few and far between, so off we went to the local Amtrak station. On Thursday, we took this train (which was actually really fun) from Minot to the bustling metropolis of Havre, MT. From there we got a bus from the base to take us the rest of the way to Great Falls. We spent Friday and Saturday in Montana then flew a chartered jet (I think a general somewhere freaked out when his team of 70+ Air Force folks had to resort to Amtrak) to Cheyenne. We were in Wyoming for the rest of the time. I enjoyed all the places we were at, but Cheyenne was the best. Our hotel was old and decrepit and possibly haunted. But it was in downtown and literally surrounded by places to eat. Among other things, we had a fantastic coffee shop, a bagel shop and a brewery, all of which are impossible to find in Shreveport.

As nice as it was to be near these nice places to eat and to get to see snow again, I missed my family greatly, and I was soooooo happy to get home. And now that this project is wrapping up, I will be able to try a few new things in the kitchen. Tonight, I wanted to try something different from that nolacuisine.com website that I love so much. If you want to try some AUTHENTIC cajun/creole recipes, this is the place to be. The red beans and rice recipe is just about perfect and their shrimp etouffe is wonderful. But we haven't tried their gumbo yet. We have a Shreveport Gumbo recipe from my dad, but this one is way different. I was under the impression that gumbo was another word for okra, so I was surprised that this recipe didn't have any okra in it. Also, no shrimp. This one was chicken and andouille. This guy has a recipe for his own andouille, but we just buy our own from the local cajun meat market, Bergeron's. We used chicken thighs like he recommends, but we used boneless. The end result was amazing. I have never been disappointed by anything on this website. We served this with the creole rice also found on the site.

The following is from nolacuisine.com:

http://www.nolacuisine.com/2006/02/20/chicken-andouille-sausage-gumbo-recipe/

Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo Recipe

1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
4 Tbsp Creole Seasoning
1 Cup Onions, diced
1/2 Cup Green Bell Pepper, diced
1/2 Cup Celery, Diced
1 1/2 Cups Andouille, sliced
3 Tbsp Garlic, chopped
6 Cups cold Chicken Stock
3 Fresh Bay Leaves
4 Chicken Thighs, seasoned liberally with Creole Seasoning
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
Hot Sauce to taste
Kosher Salt to taste, if necessary
2 Tablespoons Italian Parsley, chiffonade
1/4 Cup Thinly Sliced Green Onions
Creole Boiled Rice
Fresh French Bread

Bake the chicken thighs in a 350-400 degree oven until brown.
Mix your onion, celery, and bell pepper together: The Holy Trinity.
Heat the oil in a cast iron dutch oven over medium heat. Whisk in the flour to make a milk chocolate Roux (making a Roux). Add the Andouille, 1 Tbsp of Seasoning, and 3/4 of the Holy Trinity, cook, stirring often, for about ten minutes or until the vegetables soften. Add the cold stock, the remaining 1/4 trinity, remaining seasoning, and Garlic. Bring to a Boil. Bring this down to a simmer, add the baked thighs and let it go for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally. About 10-15 minutes before you’re ready to serve, remove the Chicken from the bone and add the meat back to the pot. Add the Worcestershire, Hot Sauce, and 1/2 of the Green Onions. Serve with Creole Boiled Rice, crusty French Bread, and a good cold beer (I like Dixie or Abita Amber).
Garnish with green onions, and the parsley.

* I prefer Chicken Thighs for my soups and Gumbos. It’s the misunderstood portion of the bird, which is fine by me because it keeps the price down. I get them bone in, then Cartel wrap the bones and stick them in the freezer for stock. I’m like a Vulture when it comes to bones for stocks, my freezer looks like the Catacombs (animals only of course).

This makes about 3-4 Main Course Servings

Tex-Mex Skillet

If this food blog were a New Years resolution, I would have failed miserably. However, if this were a January resolution, I would've done great. So many great posts in that month. And very few thus far in February. And this will be my last one until March, sadly. After a four year hiatus, I am finally forced to go TDY again. A beautiful winter-time tour of this nation's three missile bases in North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. As a self-proclaimed cold-weather person, I am excited. As an owner of exactly 0.0 items of cold-weather uniform gear, I am not so excited. I guess I'll have to do what I do down here in the summer:  suck it up in between the car and the building. Of course by the time we get to Cheyenne, where we'll spend the last 9 days of the trip, it'll be in the 50s and sunny (far warmer than we have it now).

Weather aside, I'm sure it will be a rewarding and fulfilling trip, but I am not looking forward to being without my family. I am sure going to look forward to Steph's daily update to her photo blog, which nearly brings me to tears every night when I'm sitting in our own living room. At the hotel, people are going to hear me sobbing from the hallway. When I get back, Audrey will have just turned 4 months and Connor will be in his last month of being a one-year-old (though he's gotten a jump start on the terrible twos).

Tonight, Steph made Tex-Mex Skillet since I was still at work. It's a yummy dish that looks relatively easy to make, but I'll have to take Steph's word for it. It involves using ground pork, which gave us a chance to use our kitchen aid meat grinder! And it had some of my favorite ingredients (I'm looking at you green chiles and monterrey jack, although I think she used cheddar). We served it with warm flour tortillas and I added hot sauce.

Makes 4 servings

8 oz ground pork
4 oz bulk chorizo or lean ground beef
1 10 oz can diced tomatoes and green chiles
1 cup frozen corn
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1 cup uncooked instant rice
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese or monterrey jack
Flour tortillas, warmed (optional)
Sour cream (optional)

1. In a large skillet, cook pork and sausage until meat is brown. Drain fat; discard. Stir in undrained tomatoes, corn, water, and pepper. Bring mixture to boiling.

2. Stir uncooked rice into skillet. Remove skillet from heat. Top with cheese. Cover and let stand about 5 minutes or until rice is tender. If desired, serve meat mixture in flour tortillas and top with sour cream.

Chocolate-Mint Pinwheels

Steph here--

For the Super Bowl we were having a few friends over so we decided to make a lot of yummy food and get all our broncos decorations ready! I always find these great ideas for food and decor on pinterest and decide to challenge myself to re create the same. Most of the time it turns into a pinterest fail and never quite turns out the same, but this time I feel like it actually turned out pretty good. I'll start off by showing you some pictures of our set up.

Most of the decorations I printed out on card stock paper and cut them myself. For example the snack trays that we served the chips and salsa in were printed on card stock paper and I cut, folded and taped them to make them into trays. The individual goody bags were also card stock paper cut and taped to snack size ziplock bags.

Chocolate-Mint Pinwheels

Ingredients

1

cup of butter, softened

1

cup of granulated sugar

1

teaspoon of baking powder

1/4

teaspoon of salt

1

egg

1

teaspoon of vanilla

2 1/4

cups of all-purpose flour

2

ounces of semisweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled 

1

cup of layered chocolate-mint candy baking pieces **andes mints probably would work best**

1/4

teaspoon of peppermint extract   **i just used mint extract, not sure if it alters the taste at all**

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add 1 cup granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until mixture is combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour.
2. Divide dough in half. Stir melted chocolate into one dough portion. Stir chocolate-mint baking pieces and peppermint extract into remaining dough portion. Divide each dough portion in half. Cover dough and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or until easy to handle. ***I took mine out after one hour and it was still a little to soft, might be better to let it chill for a little longer***
3. Roll each peppermint dough portion into a 9-1/2x6-inch rectangle on a piece of waxed paper. Roll each chocolate dough portion into a 9-1/2x6-inch rectangle on waxed paper. Invert one chocolate dough rectangle on top of one peppermint dough rectangle; remove top layer of waxed paper. Roll up dough. Discard waxed paper. Pinch dough edges to seal. Wrap dough roll in plastic wrap. Repeat to make a dough roll with remaining chocolate and peppermint dough rectangles. Chill dough rolls in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours or until very firm.**we chilled it overnight
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheets; set aside. Unwrap dough rolls; reshape, if necessary. Cut dough rolls crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices.  Place slices about 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.
5. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are firm and just starting to brown. Transfer cookies to wire racks and let cool
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Oven-Barbecued Chicken

Ever since Connor could form the syllable, he has said the word "dog" every single time he sees one, even on TV. I'm fairly certain it was his first word. This, like many things Connor does, is heartwarming and adorable. Except for when those sad, manipulative ASPCA commercials come on. The volume was down, so we couldn't hear Sarah McLachlan singing "Angel". Lucky for us, Connor was on the ball.

"Dog!!!"

"That's right Connor, that's a dog, good j...."

"Dog!!!"

"C'mon Connor these dogs are sad and making me feel gui..."

"DOG!!!!!"

"Wahhhhhhh!!!! I'm so sorry!" sob, sob, sob "We should donate! Get my phone Connor. Let's donate all of our money! Hell, let's just open our own abandoned dog hostel!!! Those poor creatures!!!!"

Tonight we had Oven-Barbecued Chicken, which should be renamed "Amazing Barbecue Sauce." After all, every non-chicken ingredient in the recipe is used for the sauce. For the chicken, we used boneless thighs and breast halves (cut in half because they were gigantic). The sauce was a little harder than our normal homemade BBQ sauce, but we prefer this version. It was much more flavorful. I accidentally used light brown sugar instead of dark; this might have made it thinner than advertised, but still good. We are going to serve this sauce with our ribs we're making for the Super Bowl. Speaking of which, serve this meal with a side of Fat Tire, because Go Broncos! 

Connor says: I will eat this chicken, but only with ketchup. Also, I will commandeer that bread on your plate.


Makes 6 servings

4 lbs meaty chicken pieces (breast halves, thighs, drumsticks)
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp salt
1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup molasses

1) Preheat oven to 375. Skin chicken. Arrange chicken, bone sides up, in a foil lined 15 x 10 x 1 baking pan. Bake for 35 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, for sauce, in a large saucepan cook onion, garlic, and salt in butter over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add paprika, chili powder, crushed red pepper, and black pepper; cook and stir 1 minute. Add 1 1/2 cups water, vinegar, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce; bring to boiling. Whisk in tomato paste and molasses until smooth. Boil gently, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes or until sauce is thickened and reduced to about 4 cups, stirring occasionally.

3) Turn chicken bone sides down. Brush 1 cup of the sauce over chicken. Bake for 10-20 minutes until chicken is no longer pink. Serve with some of the remaining sauce. Store the rest of the sauce in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Shortcut Shrimp Risotto

This dish was super easy to make. Came in handy since I got home late, and Steph didn't get a chance to start it. I was happy to cook again! It's been a few days. Just mix the first four ingredients, boil, reduce heat and simmer for a while. Stir in remaining ingredients and heat until warm. I'm not sure if you noticed, but none of the ingredients below add any kind of salt. We added our own after the fact and I used hot sauce. Yum.

Connor says: I really enjoyed the frozen peas prior to dinner, but once cooked, not so much. Love the rice though! The shrimp is weird and new and I'm not in to it.


Makes 4 servings

2 14-oz cans reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/3 cups arborio rice or short grain rice
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
1 tbsp snipped fresh basil or 3/4 tsp dried basil, crushed
1 10-12 oz package frozen peeled, cooked shrimp, thawed
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1) In a large saucepan combine broth, rice, onion, and dried basil, if using. Bring mixture to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 18 minutes.

2) Stir in shrimp and peas. Cover and cook for 3 minutes more (do not lift lid). Stir in fresh basil, if using. Sprinkle each serving with cheese.

Busy-Day Beef-Vegetable Soup

Second of two for tonight.

Makes 4 servings

1 lb boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces

3 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

2 small potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)

1/2 tsp dried thyme, crushed

1 bay leaf

2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 cup frozen peas

1) In a slow cooker, combine beef, carrots, potatoes, and onion. Sprinkle with thyme and 1/2 tsp salt. Add bay leaf. Pour undrained tomatoes and 1 cup water over mixture in cooker. 

2) Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8-10 hrs or on high-heat setting for 4-5 hours. Discard bay leaf. Stir in frozen peas. 

Three-Bean Tamale Pie

Gonna post two tonight; here's the first of two...

Makes 8 servings

1 cup chopped green sweet pepper (1 large)
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 15-16 oz can kidney beans, rinsed, drained and slightly mashed
1 15-16 oz can pinto beans, rinsed, drained and slightly mashed
1 15-16 oz can black beans, rinsed, drained and slightly mashed
1 11.5 oz can (1 1/3 cups) vegetable juice
1 4-oz can diced green chile peppers, undrained
1 1/4 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1 8.5 oz package corn muffin mix
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (2 oz)
1/4 cup snipped fresh cilantro or parsley
Salsa and/or sour cream (optional)

1) Preheat oven to 400. Grease a 3-quart rectangular baking dish; set aside.

2) In a large skillet cook sweet pepper, onion, and garlic in hot oil until tender. Stir in kidney, pinto, and black beans; vegetable juice; undrained chile peppers; chili powder; and cumin. Heat bean mixture through and spoon into prepared dish.

3) Prepare corn muffin mix according to package directions; add cheese and cilantro to batter, stirring just until combined. Evenly spoon corn muffin mixture on top of bean mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes or until golden. If desired, serve with salsa and/or sour cream.

Upside-down Pizza Casserole

Work has been super busy, so I didn't get home in time to cook. Superhero Steph managed to whip up this delightful dish all while dealing with two cranky kids. It was great!

We used hamburger meat, but Steph wants to try it again with sausage instead. Neither of us likes mushrooms, so we left that out. Steph added green pepper and jalapeno and it ended up great! The biscuits on top were a nice touch.

From what I hear, Connor loved it except for the green pepper part.

Makes 5 servings

1.5 lbs lean ground beef or bulk Italian sausage
1 15-oz can Italian-style tomato sauce
1 4-oz can sliced mushrooms, drained
1/4 cup sliced pitted ripe olives (optional)
1 to 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese or four-cheese pizza blend (4-6 oz)
1 10-oz package refrigerated biscuits (10 biscuits)

1. Preheat oven to 400. In a large skillet cook beef until brown. Drain fat; discard. Stir in tomato sauce, mushrooms, and olives (if using). Heat through. Transfer meat mixture to a 2-quart rectangular baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese.

2. Flatten each biscuit with your hands. Arrange biscuits on top of cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 15-17 minutes or until biscuits are golden.

Shrimp and Chicken Jambalaya

We enjoyed this meal after a nice day trip to Natchitoches, a town south of here known for its historical significance. It is also the home of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame (Shaq and ???), the site of Northwestern State University, and most importantly, the place where they filmed Steel Magnolias. For those who've never heard of it, don't try to pronounce it. It is inexplicably pronounced Nack-a-dish. It is unclear why this pronunciation was chosen. It brings back fond memories of Idaho, which is home to a town called St. Maries which is either misspelled or is named after more than one St. Mary.

Anywho, this is a nice jambalaya that is relatively easy to make. We used creole boiled rice from nolacuisine.com rather than the brown rice. I think that made a huge difference. It was a very good meal. It reminds me of my dad's Shreveport gumbo, but without okra and tomato juice.

Connor says: Yum!!!! I am going to eat most of my plate, then demand to sit with Dad, and then do laps around the house because I AM EXCITED!!!!!! I do not want to go to bed, but I am exhausted. I will sprint from room to room until you convince me it's actually bedtime.



Makes 4 servings


2 tsp olive oil

	1 medium uncooked onion(s), sweet, chopped (about 1 cup)
	1 medium green pepper(s), chopped (about 1 cup)
	8 oz uncooked boneless skinless chicken breast(s), cut into bite-size pieces
	29 oz canned stewed tomatoes, undrained
	12 oz uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
	1 tsp Italian seasoning, dried
	1 tsp hot pepper sauce
	4 cup(s) cooked brown rice

Instructions

• Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and pepper; cook, stirring, until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
  
• Stir in chicken; cook, stirring, until chicken is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
  
• Stir in remaining ingredients, except rice; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are cooked through, about 5 minutes.
  
• Stir in rice; continue cooking until liquid is almost absorbed and rice is thoroughly heated, about 2 minutes. Yields about 2 cups per serving.

Super-Easy Slow Cooker Three-Bean Chili

Tonight, we had red beans and rice. And since I've already posted about that, I will simply remind you that it indeed is fantastic and you must try it!

I'll take this opportunity to write about another recipe we had this weekend. On Friday, we had Super-Easy Slow Cooker Three-Bean Chili. Having "Super Easy" and "Slow Cooker" in the the title is redundant. We chose this recipe because it makes a lot and we were having Steph's parents in town. It certainly made a lot. Seemed like I bought 50 cans of beans for this. Luckily, it was really good, and we now have a bunch of leftovers. Very easy chili recipe. It's vegetarian, if you're in to that kind of thing.

Connor says: Beans!?!? Beans?!?!


Makes 10 servings

	1 large uncooked onion(s), minced
	1 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s), minced
	30 oz canned black beans, rinsed and drained
	30 oz canned kidney beans, rinsed and drained
	30 oz canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained
	30 oz canned diced tomatoes, with chilies
	15 oz canned tomato sauce
	1 1/4 oz spiced seasoning mix, chili variety
	14 oz frozen corn kernels
	1 Tbsp fresh lime juice, or to taste
	1/2 cup(s) cilantro, fresh, minced

Instructions

• Combine onion, garlic, beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce and seasoning mix in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat for 2 to 3 hours (or low heat for 4 to 6 hours). Add frozen corn during last hour of cooking. Stir in lime juice and cilantro just before serving. Yields about 1 1/3 cups per serving.

Baked Chicken Chiles Rellenos

To the six snowflakes I saw falling today...thank you. I have to recognize the nice cool days when they happen because if I took time to point out the hot ones, I'd get demoralized. However, it is nice to be somewhere that "cold" days are really not that cold. We just received news this evening that I may be spending a couple of weeks in February traveling for work to Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota. Go check out the ten-day forecast for Minot, ND and six snowflakes don't seem so bad.

Tonight we made some delicious baked chicken rellenos. These are similar to the Chicken Kiev we made a while back. If you want to check out the recipe below, go for it, but just know we did almost everything differently. We used 3 giant chicken breast halves rather than 6. We also used diced green chiles rather than whole. And we used shredded cheese instead of sticks. They were really good. The salsa on top was a nice touch. I think I liked the Chicken Kiev a little more, but this was pretty good.

Connor says: I am not up for trying something new tonight. I don't want this breaded chicken. Instead, I'll take my breaded chicken nuggets from the freezer.

Makes 6 servings

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tbsp cornmeal
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 egg lightly beaten
1 tbsp water
1 4-oz can whole green chiles or whole jalapeño peppers, rinsed, stemmed, seeded, and halved lengthwise (6 pieces total)
2 oz Monterey Jack cheese, cut into six 2 x 1/2 inch sticks
2 tbsp snipped fresh cilantro or parsley
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp butter or margarine, melted
1 8 oz jar green or red salsa

1) Place each chicken breast half between two pieces of plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, pound chicken lightly into rectangles, 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Discard plastic wrap.

2) Preheat oven to 375. Line a shallow baking pan with foil; set aside. In a shallow bowl combine flour, cornmeal, salt, and cayenne pepper. In a second shallow bowl combine egg and water.

3) Place a chile pepper half on each chicken piece near an edge. Place a stick of cheese on each chile pepper. Sprinkle with cilantro and black pepper. Fold in side edges; roll up from edge with cheese and  chile pepper. Secure with wooden toothpicks.

4) Dip chicken rolls into egg mixture to coat; coat all sides with cornmeal mixture. Place rolls, seam sides down, in prepared baking pan. Brush with melted butter.

5) Bake, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove toothpicks. Meanwhile, heat salsa; serve over chicken.

Texas Style Casserole

Tonight, we made some yummy Texas-Style Casserole. I'm not entirely sure what makes this Texas-Style, but it's very similar to a breakfast casserole we make out of our BHG cookbook. This recipe uses turkey sausage instead of ham, and it adds corn and peppers. The result is just as good.

Connor says: I will only eat the potato portion of this. Oh, Dad, I see you got yourself some bread and butter to go with it. I will freak the heck out until you give me your bread. No! I will not eat any more potatoes until you give me your bread!!!!! BREAD!!!!!!!!!

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 spray(s) olive oil cooking spray
• 2 cup(s) frozen hash brown potatoes
• 1 cup(s) frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 1 cup(s) frozen pepper strips, thawed
• 8 oz uncooked turkey sausage(s), thinly sliced
• 1 cup(s) fat free skim milk
• 2 large egg(s)
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 3/4 cup(s) low fat shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a medium square or rectangular baking dish with cooking spray.
• Place potatoes and then vegetables in baking dish; top with sausage.
• In a small bowl, beat together milk, eggs, salt and pepper; pour over sausage and then sprinkle with cheese.
• Bake until casserole is hot and cheese is browned, about 45 minutes. Cut into 6 pieces and serve.

Weeknight Salmon Cakes

After a few nights off it's finally time for me to post a recipe. Thanks to Steph for contributing the delicious bell pepper nachos this weekend! I've been slacking. However, you didn't miss all that much. We've been slumming it lately with hot dogs and fajitas. (And just so you know, once the Shreveport Chipotle opens up, I will no longer have any need to cook my own meals.) There wasn't as much ambition as usual to get a nice meal together what with the big playoff games going on. I couldn't be happier with the end result! The Broncos against the Seahawks! I'm pulling for the Broncos, but if they lose, I'll be happy for the Seahawks, my actual hometown team (and by hometown, I mean geographically closest NFL team to northern Idaho). I'd be happy for the Seahawks even after that nincompoop terrifed Erin Andrews after the game with his pro-wrestling-esque hollering. Although, before you judge the entire Seahawks organization for that, know that each team (and probably congress) has its own fair share of players (members) who would be more than happy to shout similar nonsense when someone directs a camera at their faces.

On a lighter note, I saw this work of genius today...

Copyright 2014 Steph's Facebook Page

 

Tonight we made Weeknight Salmon Cakes, though technically, it's still the weekend. These are a lot like crab cakes, but with salmon, and they are delightful! I was happy to have salmon...Steph normally doesn't like it, but she said she really liked these. Unfortunately, we had to use dried basil, because there's a shortage around here.

 

 

Connor says...not interested. But I will have a whole bunch of that rice you made with it.

 

 

Makes 4 servings

 

1 lb fresh or frozen skinless salmon filets

3/4 cup soft bread crumbs

1 egg white

1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion

2 tbsp chopped roasted red pepper

1 tbsp fresh basil

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup mayo

1/2 tsp paprika

1/8 tsp black pepper

 

1) Thaw fish, if frozen. Rinse fish; pat dry with paper towels. In a food processor or blender combine half of the salmon, the bread crumbs, egg white, green onions, roasted red pepper, basil and salt. Process or blend until combined. Chop the remaining salmon into 1/2 inch pieces. In a medium bowl combine salmon mixture and chopped salmon (mixture will be soft). Shape salmon mixture into four 3/4 inch thick cakes.

 

2) Preheat broiler. Arrange cakes on a greased foil-lined baking sheet. Broil 4 to 5 inches from heat for 14-18 minutes or until done, turning once halfway through.

 

3) Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine mayonnaise, paprika, and black pepper. Serve salmon cakes with mayo mixture.