I've been experimenting with recipes to take on our camping trips with us, to keep from having to buy quick and easy convenience foods to make some parts of camping easier.
Now, everyone has seen those plastic bottles of Bisquick pancake mix -- add water, shake, and pour. These are WONDERFUL for camping, but not cheap, and certainly not healthy. I found an old Bisquick cookbook which had campfire flapjacks in it, which involved Bisquick, cornmeal, and water, and tried those out last weekend. This weekend I tried something just a bit different, and they came out So Good. This'll be the mix I bring with me camping.
Whole Grain Campfire Pancakes
1 1/4 cups lowfat Bisquick
3/4 cups wholegrain instant hot cereal (Hodgson Mills)
sprinkling of nutmeg (to taste)
heavy sprinkling of cinnamon (to taste)
1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cup cold water
fresh blueberries or chocolate chips
Heat a cast iron pan over medium flame until warm. Spray with non-stick cooking spray (spray just before each set of pancakes).
Mix Bisquick, whole grain cereal, and spices together until well-mixed. Add water until desired thickness of pancake batter. I found a little thinner batter made it cook through better. But the thicker batter puffed up really nicely.
Scoop out onto hot pan. Sprinkle either blueberries or chocolate chips onto pancake as the first side cooks. Wait until edges dry out, then flip and finish off. Serve hot!!
On Friday, Kevin brought home a new toy. Admittedly, it wasn't an expensive one, but we are now the proud owners of a $79 gas smoker.
And of course, that meant we had to go play with it Right Now.
We picked up a center cut brisket and read through various recipes we could find for smoking a center cut. Then we promptly set them all aside and made up our own.
And oh... oh... it was GOOD.
The Rub
6 Tbsp kosher salt
1/2 c loosely packed brown sugar
4 Tbsp granulated garlic
2 tsp cayenne
3 tsp cumin
4 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
3 Tbsp onion powder
Mix all ingredients together and then generously rub all over the brisket. We used all of the rub, and laid it on quite thick.
The Mop Sauce
1 12 oz can beer
12 oz apple grape juice
3 Tbsp horseradish mustard (Beer & Brat mustard)
3 Tbsp raspberry chipotle sauce
3 Tbsp minced garlic
3 tsp salt
Whisk together and mop brisket generously.
The Smoker
Setup the smoker with water for the liquid, and soaked chunks of Mesquite for the wood. Fire up the gas and get the smoker running around 190 degrees -- it'll take some fiddling to keep it there throughout the process. Smoke the brisket for 3.5 to 4 hrs, mopping every hour. At that point, wrap it in foil and smoke for another 3.5 to 4 hrs, for a total of 7-8 hours, or until the internal temperature of the brisket reaches 190. Let it sit for 20 minutes afterwards to rest.
Carve the brisket against the grain in very thin slices. Serve with bulky rolls and the dipping sauce.
The Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup water
3 Tbsp chopped garlic
3 Tbsp horseradish mustard
3 Tbsp raspberry chipotle sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp butter
cornstarch to thicken
Stir together all ingredients through raspberry chipotle sauce. Heat to boiling and reduce by 1/2. Add butter and stir until melted. Thicken with cornstarch, and serve as a dipping sauce.
I was daydreaming up this recipe while at work. It didn't work out quite like I wanted, so I'm definitely making some changes next go-round.
Multigrain-Sesame Crusted Pork Loin
Stir together
3/4 cup multigrain hot cereal mix (I used one from Hodgson Mills)
1/3 cup black sesame seeds
1 tsp five spice powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ginger powder
3 Tbsp brown sugar
Rub one pork loin with olive oil, then coat with above mixture. Dip coated pork loin in beaten egg, then coat again with mixture. Grill over low indirect heat until done.
Next time I'm going to lower the amount of brown sugar and add more ginger to the coating. I'm also going to marinate the loin first in something with ground ginger, chopped garlic, and white wine and rice wine vinegar. Some salt. No soy -- it'll be too overpowering.
We had leftover chicken from the grilled bird, so today's idea was a sudden craving for risotto. This recipe came out different because I had trouble getting the fresh wine open (I broke an opener on it *sighs*) so I didn't have it available for the deglaze. Honestly, I believe that's what made the recipe, in the end.
Garlicky Chicken & Broccoli Risotto
Shred remains of 1/2 roasted chicken (mix of white and dark meat). Set out 1/2 bag of frozen broccoli florets. Shred about 2 c parmesan cheese and set aside. Setup a pan with 3 cans of low sodium chicken broth, and let simmer, covered.
Heat saute pan and drizzle olive oil to coat the bottom. Scoop in 2 heaping tablespoons (I use soup spoons!) of minced garlic. Stir for about 30 seconds, then add 1 cup risotto and stir until translucent.
Deglaze the pan with about 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar. Add in two scoops of the heated broth, stir.
Add in the spices -- about 1/2 tsp each of dried thyme, dried rosemary, and about 1 tsp dried sage. Stir in.
Keep adding broth and letting simmer until it is absorbed, then repeat until all of the broth is gone. About halfway through add 1/4 cup white wine (like the Riesling reviewed earlier today). Before adding the last round of broth, stir in the broccoli and chicken -- it will heat through while the last round of broth is simmering to done.
When all broth is absorbed, stir in 1/4 cup butter until melted. Stir in parmesan cheese, and add freshly ground pepper to taste.
Makes four main servings.
This is a quick rub I pulled together the other night to throw a chicken onto the grill.
Paprika Chicken Rub
Mix together with a mortar and pestle:
1 Tbsp onion powder
2 tsp granulated garlic
2 Tbsp paprika
2 tsp dried thyme
2 small handfuls, crumbled dried sage
1 tsp kosher salt
Drizzle the whole chicken with olive oil and rub into the skin, then pour on the rub -- I used about 2/3 of it for our chicken. Grill on the first side for 30 minutes, then flip and grill for 40 more minutes over indirect heat with the grill running about 300-350 degrees.
Poor Kevin is stuck on cooking duty while I've been having some pain-issues. I am such a lucky woman to have a wonderfully creative husband!
Sesame Lemon Broccoli
1 lb frozen broccoli cuts
1/4 - 1/2 tsp sesame oil
splash lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Stir fry broccoli in very hot wok with a tsp or two of peanut oil. When it is finished, toss with sesame oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper.
Kevin needed a quick side dish to go with a turkey filet mignon, so he made this (and the broccoli that follows).
Garlic & Parmesan Pasta Salad
~ 3/4 pound pasta, cooked
1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh grated parmesan cheese
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 t garlic powder
1 t onion powder
Toss cooked pasta with olive oil. Add parmesan, garlic and onion powders and toss. Add red wine vinegar to taste. Salt and pepper to taste.
On Thursday night Kevin was presented with a defrosted pork tenderloin. I suggested throw a rub on it and toss a couple of smoking canisters onto the grill, and this is what he came up with.
Sweet Pork Loin Rub
4 parts brown sugar
2 parts chili powder
1 1/2 parts paprika
1 salt
1 garlic powder
1/2 onion powder
Mix spices together in the above ratio. You can make extra and store it in a jar for next time. Rub the outside of the tenderloin generously with the rub before putting it on the grill. Turn it down to indirect heat and low for about 30-40 minutes, with smoke going. We used cherry chips this time.
Still playing with the experiment of Kevin trying orange squashes and sweet potatoes. This recipe was deemed "too sweet" by the husband, and "too sour" by the daughter. I personally loved it.
Balsamic Glazer Winter Vegetables
1 bag diced mixed winter vegetables (about 2 cups)
< >< >< >< >includes sweet potato, turnip, carrot, squash
1/4 c water
1 T butter
1 T light brown sugar
1/4 c water + 1/4 c balsamic vinegar
Heat wok to very hot. Coat with safflower or other high smoke point oil and stir fry small diced vegetables for about five minutes. Add water and let sizzle away until water is gone. Toss with butter and sugar until both are melted and vegetables are glazed. Add mixed water and balsamic. Let stew and sizzle for a minute or two, then slide vegetables up the side and let sauce reduce in the center. Once reduced to a glaze, toss it all back together again and serve.
The last time I ordered meat from my food service (Colorado Prime, if you're curious... convenience and good packaging are the good things), I added a flank steak to my order.
On Thursday, when I was looking through the freezer for dinner, I pulled this flank steak out and tossed it into the fridge to defrost. On Friday evening I added a marinade, with the intent of doing something fajita-ish on Sunday night for dinner.
The most amazing thing? My daughter ate one round of steak as steak, then ate a round as a fajita, with cheese and a flour tortilla -- I took this is a success!!
Red Wine Flank Steak Marinade
1/2 c red wine
1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 t salt
1 t worcestershire
2 T minced garlic
1-2 T balsamic
several drops chili oil
Mix ingredients and add to ziploc bag. Seal in flank steak and marinate for 48 hrs.
Grill steak on hot grill for 3 minutes per side. Remove and wrap in foil and let rest while stir-frying onions and peppers.
Serve with flour tortillas, sharp shredded cheese, sour cream, and a salad dressed with garlic salt, onion powder, fresh cracked pepper, olive oil and red wine vinegar.
For lunch the next day, layer leftover salad, leftover onions and peppers, and leftover steak. Sprinkle with cheese and sour cream, and sprinkle a bit of feta on for a sharp flavor.
Two meals, one steak. Mm, yum!
Next time I think I'll back off to 1/3 c wine instead, and increase the salt, worcestershire, balsamic and chili oil in the marinade. I was also looking for a little something on the outside of the steak, so I think I need to develop something to sprinkle on just before tossing it onto the grill.
I'm sick. And since I don't drink tea, generally, a recommendation was made to drink hot lemon water. Which was getting boring.
Another friend recommended something spicy, but I couldn't handle the spice. But I wanted something to clear my head.
So the following was born this morning.
Lemon Ginger Not-Tea
1 T lemon juice
pinch of ground fresh ginger
pinch of wasabi powder
hot water to fill the mug
Stir well and enjoy!
When I travel to Ambercon in Detroit each year, I share cooking duties with Jenn and we cook in the hotel room for a couple of the nights of the convention. The room itself comes with a microwave and small fridge, and we usually bring in cooking implements and crockpot. Past years we've brought an electric wok, but due to my poor packing skills last year, it didn't come this year.
So the challenge is, come up with something healthy, nutritious, easy, and can be cooked with the available tools. My entry for this year was a crockpot risotto.
I looked through some crockpot risotto recipes I found online, and reviewed some thoughts I'd had one this once before inspired by a FoodTV episode which talked about doing risotto for a large crowd. And I determined that I could do it, but it would need to be a two phase process and came up with this recipe.
Shrimp & Arugula Risotto
1 T oil + 1 T butter
1 onion, finely chopped
2 T chopped garlic
1 1/2 c arborio rice
1 c white wine (I used a riesling)
4 cans chicken stock (I used low-sodium)
4 T butter
1 1/2 to 2 c freshly grated parmesan
1 bunch arugula, washed and chopped
cooked shrimp to taste
Heat two cans chicken stock in a pan until simmering. Cover and set on a back burner. [NOTE: If cooking it straight through, use four cans at this point.]
Heat pan for risotto to medium and add oil & butter. Sweat onion and garlic together, then add rice and saute lightly until translucent. Add wine and stir until wine is absorbed by rice.
Add stock by the ladle, stir, and let simmer until absorbed until chicken broth is absorbed (all if parking it, enough for proper consistency if cooking completely).
At this point, if parking it to finish in the crockpot later, spread out on a sheet pan to cool and then package for the fridge.
To complete later, empty started risotto into crockpot. Add two cans of broth and set on high for three hours (turn to low if it looks like it needs it).
When the broth has been absorbed and the risotto is done, stir in butter, parmesan, arugula, and shrimp. Use an amount of shrimp that seems good for 5-6 servings (it all depends on how much people like shrimp *grins*).
Serve with salad or vegetables on the side.
NOTE: I made this exactly as above. Next time, I will use only one can of stock in the crockpot portion instead of two, and will likely heat it for a bit less time (maybe on low instead of high). The two cans resulted in a more porridgish consistency than I wanted. On the other hand, now that I know how to do it, I'll definitely be doing it again with other recipes until I've determined exactly how to do it right!!
It's been a while since I've updated, I know. I missed several unique recipes that Kevin created last week, unfortunately, since he doesn't update here himself. Ah well.
This recipe was inspired by opening my downstairs fridge to get a glass of water, and noticing the bit of smoked gruyere there, just waiting to be used. And I was searching for something to do with chicken.
And so this recipe was born.
Herbed Chicken Wrapped with Gruyere and Parmesan
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup Blooming Onion Horseradish Sauce
salt
pepper
1 tsp Auntie Arwen's Elegant Herb mix
1/2 c shredded parmesan
1/2 c shredded smoked gruyere
Flatten chicken breasts between plastic wrap. Brush each breast with horseradish sauce. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and herb mix. Spread with mixed parmesan and gruyere.
Roll each piece of chicken and tie with string. Sear for 1 minute on each side, then place in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.
I served this with cheesy rice (which didn't come out perfect, so that recipe will come another time when I've gotten it right) and broccoli. The chicken was tasty -- I could taste all the layers -- and wonderfully melty in my mouth. A definite keeper.
Kevin and I have been going through a lot of stress lately, and the cooking has dropped to a near minimum. Add in that we've just about run out of meat in the freezer (and the new food order from Colorado Prime doesn't arrive until this coming Thursday -- they sort of lost us when we moved *sighs*)... well, we've been really lax on the cooking.
We're trying to pick back up and be better. Kevin's taken to stir-frying our vegetables, which adds a lot of flavor without adding a huge amount of fat. And tonight we needed something really quick (because we've done a LOT today and are exhausted) so we grabbed the 90% lean burgers from the freezer and a bag of French cut green beans and stared at them.
Less than 20 minutes later we were eating, and it was GOOD.
This meal depended on a lot of random things precooked in the freezer, or in the bread drawer. It was hearty and yummy, and wasn't just hamburgers and beans.
Burgers, with No Buns in the House
4 1/4 pound 90% lean burgers (frozen)
4 slices cheese
6 slices bacon (precooked, from the freezer)
8 slices whole wheat Italian bread (from the bakery)
condiments to taste
Place bacon slices between paper towels and put on plate in microwave. Heat for one minute and press grease away afterwards, while the burgers are grilling.
Fire up the grill and let get hot. Cook the burgers, 4 minutes per side for rare, 5 minutes for medium. Remove from grill, put cheese on top to melt. Drop bread onto grill and quickly toast both sides.
Butter bread (if desired) and make burger with burger, cheese, bacon, and add condiments as desired.
The crunchiness of the toasted whole wheat Italian adds a really hearty feel to the burger, and the bacon feels decadent. Truth to be told, I used fat-free cheese (I know, I know) and very little fat otherwise, so the bacon was a lovely treat. And I always take as much grease off before I freeze it, so I knew it wasn't that unhealthy.
Stir Fried Green Beans w/ Sesame and Almonds
1 bag French cut green beans
1/4 slivered almonds
1 tsp oil for stir fry (such as safflower or peanut)
1 tsp sesame oil
salt & pepper to taste
Heat the wok to hot. Add safflower and sesame oil. Add green beans and stir fry until crisp-tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Meanwhile, heat a small non-stick skillet to hot. Toast the slivered almonds. Add to green beans at the last minute.
Mm, yum!!!
I'd been wanting to make a good saffron risotto for a long time. And I just *adore* risotto. Love it, love it. It is one of my winter comfort foods. I planned to develop one and serve it for Christmas, since I'd served the green risotto for Thanksgiving and didn't want to repeat.
However, with the move and everything, I sort of skipped the "develop it" phase and went straight into Christmas eve with complete experimentation. Thankfully, it worked out!
Saffron Risotto
4 cans chicken stock
1 cup arborio rice
1/4 tsp plus 1/4 tsp crushed saffron threads
1 cup sweet white wine
2 Tbsp garlic
1 to 1 1/2 cups freshly grated hard cheese
butter
olive oil
Put the chicken stock in a covered pan and heat to simmering on the back of the stove. Add 1/4 tsp of saffron to the simmering broth.
Coat the bottom of the pan for your risotto with a couple teaspoons of olive oil plus 1 tablespoon butter. Add garlic and dry rice; stir until rice is translucent and toasted. Deglaze pan with white wine.
Add two ladlefulls of chicken stock to pan. Add rest of saffron to pan. Stir, let cook simmering until stock is absorbed. Keep repeating with rest of stock until it is all absorbed and risotto is creaming.
Constant stirring isn't necessary. Keep the temp on the pan low, and gently simmering, and keep an eye on it as you do other things. Trust me, it'll work out wonderfully.
At the end, remove from heat and stir in 2-4 tbsp butter (to taste) and the grated cheese. It will be a bright yellow color, and will have a nutty flavor with a hint of something in the afterbite that I think must have been the saffron.
I purred as I ate mine. Very rich. Very yummy.
Cook 1/2 pound pasta while making the sauce. If this can be called a proper... sauce. It's more of a "stuff to toss with the pasta" thing.
5 slices cooked bacon
1 ham steak
2 tsp olive oil
2 Tbsp white wine
1 large onion
2 Tbsp garlic
1 bag chopped spinach
2/3 c grated cheese
additional fresh olive oil
Chop the bacon and toss it into a heated pan to start rendering out the fat and crisp up more. Add the ham, and toss it all together until the ham is slightly browned and the bacon is crisp. Remove to a pasta bowl and set aside.
Add the olive oil and wine to the pan and deglaze. Toss in the onion and garlic and sweat until translucent (I'm sure shallots would work well, too). Toss with spinach, cook until warmed through.
Toss the ham/bacon back in and toss it altogether, adding a bit of fresh olive oil until it has a bit of liquid to it (only another few teaspoons, really). Toss in the grated cheese and toss together with cooked pasta.
Presented with a snow day, two children, and a full time job still to be done, I decided that the crock pot would be my friend.
Kevin had put a beef roast in to defrost, so I figured to turn it into pot roast. The verdict was that it came out well. I think I let it cook a little too long -- I would've been happier with it being a bit less dry. Also, the water in the recipe will be replaced with red wine the next time around. I was just too much in a rush this morning to go grab a new bottle to open up. I will also increase the amount of raw ginger.
Pot Roast in Apples, Onions & Ginger Sauce
1 beef roast, approximately 2-3 pounds
1 large onion, diced
1 sweet apple (Empire), diced
1 tart apple (Granny Smith), diced
1/4 cup ginger preserves
1 tsp ground fresh ginger
1/4 tsp hickory seasoning
1 cup water
Place all ingredients except roast in crockpot and stir together. Nestle the roast down into the other ingredients until it rests on the bottom of the crockpot. If there is fat on one side of the roast, either trim it off (if you want to avoid having to skim it later) or place it fat side up to help baste the roast.
Cook on low all day. I ran it for about 10 hrs. Next time I'd prefer to try to keep it to about 7-8 hrs on low, tops.
You may say this is cheating. But these came out SO good with a sharp lemony taste and just enough sweet and a brilliant little bite at the end. I'll definitely make them again. I might actually use more ginger next time. If I'd had the shredded ginger, I would've used that.
Lemon Ginger Cookies
1 box lemon cake mix
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
zest of 1 lemon, minced
1 tsp ground fresh ginger (I get it from a jar -- SpiceWorld)
1/4 cup candied ginger
Preheat oven to 325. Stir together first five ingredients. Stir in candied ginger. Drop by teaspoonfuls (small scoop) onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 8 minutes. If you use a medium scoop, bake for roughly 15 minutes.
If you want to add a fancy finish, frost with a dollop of vanilla frosting just before serving.
Tonight, Kevin and I played the time honored game of "rescue that sauce!" We also proved once again something we already knew. We each cook well. But we cook far better when we work together.
When I walked in the door from work, he was fishing through the freezer seeking something to make for dinner. He'd already put a beef roast in the fridge to defrost for later this week, but he needed something for Right Now.
He came up with boneless, skinless chicken breasts -- our staple. He told me he planned to pan sear them, and make some sort of a sauce. I pointed out the white Bully Hill wine, and the new mustard we'd gotten yesterday (and the blooming onion sauce). Then I headed downstairs.
When I came back up, he had the chicken in the pan, searing up a storm. The oven was preheating so he could finish them off, and sitting next to the stove was his planned sauce, already mixed together (white wine and the blooming onion horseradish sauce). He then got everything into the oven and headed off to do something. So when the pan was ready, I started the sauce.
This was when the problem started. The blooming onion sauce had curdled in the wine. Ew! We started whisking and throwing things at the problem and in the end, we had an amazingly good pan sauce that wasn't a bit broken.
Seared Chicken with Horseradish Sauce
The Chicken:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 4-6 oz each
oil (we used peanut oil)
salt
pepper
Preheat oven to 350. Heat a cast iron pan to hot. Rub the chicken with oil, salt and pepper. Place chicken in pan and immediately cover with spatter guard. Cook for four minutes on each side, then place pan in the oven for 8 minutes.
Check for doneness, and remove to a plate and keep warm.
The Sauce:
1/3 c wine + water to make 1/2 cup
1 T butter
2 heaping Tbsp Rothschild's blooming onion sauce
1/3 c sour cream (until thick)
Add wine to hot pan to deglaze over medium heat. Stir in butter until melted and combined. Whisk in blooming onion sauce and raise heat to medium-medium high (you want a good bubble, but not burning). Add sour cream (I used light) by the spoonful and whisk thoroughly until you reach a decent consistency. I added two heaping soup spoonfuls.
Spoon sauce over chicken and serve. Makes four servings.
The first time I ever made risotto it came out horrible. I hated the stirring stirring stirring. I got it all stuck to the bottom of the pan. It didn't come out creamy and wonderful and nice... it came out gluey.
I decided risotto was not going to be in my repertoire.
Then I was watching 30 Minute Meals one day, and Rachel Ray made risotto. I decided then and there that if she could do it, I could do it.
And since then, it has become one of my favorite foods. And because both Kevin and I adore spinach, this particular version is the one made most often (originally from Rachel's version, but slightly modified in my hands because I do it from memory now).
Green Risotto
3 cans chicken stock
1 can worth of water (roughly 2 c)
1 1/2 c rice (arborio preferred, but not necessary)
1 cup white wine (I prefer a slightly sweet wine)
1 onion or two shallots, chopped
2 Tbsp chopped garlic
1 bag frozen chopped spinach (partly defrosted)
1/4 c butter
1 - 1 1/2 c grated hard cheese (mix asiago, parmesan, romano...)
Put stock and water into a covered pan and set on back of stove. Heat until boiling, then turn down and keep at a very low covered simmer. Set out a ladle.
You'll need a large skillet. It does *not* need to be non-stick. Set it on the burner and turn heat to medium to warm it up. Once warm, add a Tbsp of olive oil. Put in onions and garlic and cook until translucent.
Add rice. Stir and cook until it becomes slightly translucent. Add wine; stir and let bubble until it is almost fully absorbed.
Now comes the repetitive part. Ladle in two scoops of broth (recover the broth), and stir. Let it bubble away until the liquid it almost absorbed. Repeat process until all the liquid is gone.
That's it. No stirring constantly. Just keep the heat high enough that the liquid is bubbling, but low enough that it's not bubbling away and is getting to be absorbed by the rice.
Once the last ladle is in, add the spinach and stir it all around. Let heat through while the last of the liquid is absorbed.
Remove from heat. Add butter and stir until melted and the risotto is creamy. Add grated cheese and stir thoroughly. Taste to see if more salt is needed (not usually because of the broth and cheeses).
I've had a suggestion of adding tomatoes -- I'm still not sure, but that's me -- I'm just not fond of tomatoes in my risotto. If tomatoes were added, it would be a very pretty Christmassy food.
Simple recipe, adapted from one Kevin's grandmother once served. I say adapted because I didn't write it down at the time, and I went by memory on Saturday and just hoped it came out okay (which it did).
Please note, I used sugar free jam. It could be all-fruit, or regular jam. I think the all-fruit or sugar-free tastes best. If you don't like apricots, I suspect other flavors might work well too (I'm tempted to try raspberry).
This was very popular on Saturday and only the tiniest bit remained. I've been told I need to experience the sweet/hot sensation of doing much the same thing with jalapenos and I'm very much looking forward to it.
Sweet & Spicy Cream Cheese Spread
1 jar sugar free apricot jam
3 Tbsp prepared horseradish
1 block cream cheese
Mix 1/2 jar jam and horseradish together. Microwave just about 20-30 seconds to get it all mixed together. If you want to let flavors marry, stop here and put it in the fridge overnight. Rewarm it before continuing.
Center the block of cream cheese on a plate. Add the rest of the jam to the warm mixture; pour over cream cheese.
Serve with crackers.
The nice thing about cooking for an army for the houseparty last weekend is that I don't really need to cook this week. I just need to repurpose all the leftovers. And thus we come to lunch.
This particular salad joins four different sets of leftovers -- spiral sliced ham, salad greens, broccoli garlic salad, and antipasto platter.
First things first, proper storage of the salad leftovers defines how long they last. We put the greens into a ziploc bag and carefully squeezed out all air. The tomatoes had been served separately, and we put them into a separate bag, then tucked it into the first so they didn't get misplaced.
Last night I put the greens and tomatoes into a large container for work.
Over the top I layered several slices of spiral sliced ham. I love spiral sliced hams -- I've got the bone saved for split pea sludge next week, and I've still got potatoes I can scallop. And my kids love it, as do I.
So, we've got greens and protein, but we're still pretty bland. Next thing I raided was the broccoli garlic salad. This is a simple salad -- take the leftover broccoli cuts and put them into a tupperware container. Sprinkle lightly with olive oil and add a healthy amount of chopped garlic. Salt and pepper to taste, then let marinate. The longer it marinates, the more yummy it gets. So I added some of that over the top of the rest.
Finally, I hit the antipasto platter. Grabbed roasted red peppers and artichoke hearts, both of which had originally been packed in water so neither is very oily.
Salad complete, I dressed it simply with olive oil (very little) and balsamic vinegar (lots -- I like vinegary salad dressings). As I'm eating, I can see I should have sprinkled on some garlic salt, but that's the only thing missing. Or perhaps some freshly grated parmesan cheese.
In Summary...
Mixed baby greens with spinach
Smattering of chopped cucumber
Tomatoes
Spiral sliced ham
Artichoke hearts
Roasted red peppers
Broccoli garlic salad
EVO, balsamic, garlic salt, parmesan
Faced with a refridgerator full of leftovers, we had no desire to eat any of them in the original form that they were created (lots of recipes to post over the course of this week). So, we took the bag of the last of the turkey, and used that to make a homemade turkey soup.
Our usual soup is based off of and liberally adapted from the soup from How to Cook Without a Book.
We started with 6 cups of homemade seasoned turkey stock (now there's a recipe I couldn't post because um... I don't remember what I threw in. Suffice to say, we made about ten cans worth (20 cups) of stock. Mm, yum!).
Sautee one chopped onion and a heaping tablespoon of chopped garlic in a small amount of olive oil. Add approximately 1 cup leftover green beans, and 1 cup chopped carrots. Sautee until onions are starting to soften.
Add stock, and leftover cooked turkey (maybe 2 cups chopped?), and a can of diced tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper to taste. Add two bay leaves, one small handful crumbled dried sage leaves, 1/2 small handful crumbled dried savory leaves, and 1/2 small handful crumbled dried Greek oregano (I had fun drying spices this past summer).
Two large handfuls of noodles (we've been using whole wheat egg noodles for the extra fiber and healthy factor).
Makes four very very good sized helpings. Serve with crusty bread or croutons for a hearty meal.
I was walking through the grocery store, thinking about the houseparty I was planning, and brainstorming Friday's dinner. I had already planned on a crockpot pulled pork recipe, and was considering lasagna. As I walked down the pasta aisle, a brainstorm occurred, and I wondered if it would work. So of course, I had to try it out.
Turkey Carbonara Lasagna
a Deb Atwood original
2 jars Classico roasted garlic alfredo sauce
1 box Barilla lasagna noodles
10 oz package sliced baby portabello mushrooms
shredded cooked turkey (enough for one layer)
4 1/2 c shredded part skim mozarella
1/2 lb bacon cooked crisp and crumbled
Assemble lasagna as follows in lasagna pan, leaving 1/2 inch gap around all sides.
Spread sauce on bottom of pan. Put in one layer of noodles.
Spread sauce over noodles. Layer with half the mushrooms and 1 1/2 cups of mozarella. Add another layer of noodles.
Spread sauce over noodles. Add one layer of shredded turkey. Sprinkle bacon over turkey. Add 1 1/2 cups mozeralla over bacon. Top with another layer of noodles.
Spread rest of sauce over noodles. Place mushrooms in a single layer and top with rest of mozarella.
If you want to assemble ahead and cook later, stop at this point. Continue when ready to cook.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add about 3/8 to 1/2 inch deep hot water to pan in the 1/2 inch gap around the lasagna -- this is to help steam the no-cook noodles since the alfredo sauce doesn't have a lot of liquid.
Cover the pan with heavy duty foil, and bake for 1 hour. Let sit for ten minutes to set after it comes out, then slice into 20 servings and enjoy