Tamale Pie

Tamale Pie

 Serve cut fancy
or rustic, your choice

Ingredients for filling: 
1 1/3 pound of ground beef (I like the 15% fat beef)
1/2 sweet onion-chopped
1 shallot-chopped
4 ounce can of diced green chilies
2-15 ounce cans of diced tomatoes
8 ounce can of garbanzo beans
2 tbsp cocoa
1 tsp salt
1/4-1/2  tsp pepper
2 tsp rosemary
2 tsp dill
l 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp onion flake
1 tbsp oregano leaves
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1-2 sereno chilies diced (optional-if you like it hot)
olive oil


Ingredients for the topping:
1 3/8 cup flour
5/8 cup of corn meal
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
3 tbsp sugar

First, prepare the filling.  It's basically a chili recipe but a little different.  Since it is topped with a corn bread mixture, I have lessened the beans to adjust so that there is not too much starch.

Start by heating up your dutch oven or saucepan, add some olive oil, and saute the onions, and shallots.  When caramelized after a couple of minutes, add the ground beef.  Stir and turn until brown, add the other ingredients for the filling.  Bring to a low boil, and turn down heat, and simmer for 30 minutes to 2 hours.  The longer you simmer, the more development of flavor.

Then cool for 20 minutes.  Fill up your baking dish about 2/3 of the way with the filling.   I then put into the refrigerator covered with cling wrap.  My husband works varying hours so I often prepare ahead, and cook later when he arrives home.


Next prepare your topping.  I would recommend if making everything ahead of time, that you wait until the last minute to put the topping on the filling, just before placing in the oven.  The topping will stay nice in the refrigerator for hours after the topping is mixed.

Start by soaking the cornmeal in the milk for about 15 minutes, this will take out some of the hard crystals in the cornmeal.  Next mix up the rest of the ingredients for the cornbread topping.  This is an easy mix, you can do so by hand.  Cover with cling wrap and put into the refrigerator until ready to bake.

Spoon out the cornbread topping onto the chili base prepared earlier.  Try to spread it out
some what evenly as you spoon it out.  It should fill it perfectly. 

Bake at 400 degrees F for 35 minutes.  Cool 5 minutes. 

You can use a ring mold to cut it and make it pretty, or it is also very good just served rustic.  It was yummy.



                              

Vegetable souffles

Souffles-5 kinds

 Parmesan and Sharp Cheddar Souffle

 Cauliflower and Cheddar Souffle

 Mixed Summer Squash, and Cheddar Souffle

 2 Souffles-1 zucchini, and 1 corn off the cob

Cheese Souffle 

This can be made me many kinds of additions:

Vegetable Souffles-Zucchini, Corn, Mushroom, Cauliflower, whatever you like

1/4c (1/2 cube) margarine or butter

1/4 c all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp dry mustard

dash of red pepper-opt

l cup milk

l cup shredded cheddar cheese

3 eggs, separated into the yolks and whites

1/4 tsp cream of tarter

    Heat oven to 350 degrees F. butter ( or use a good spray) a 4 cup souffle dish or 1 quart casserole, even 4 smaller souffles can be made.  Make a 4 inch band of alum foil and butter one side and place, buttered side in, around the dish, securing at the top.  (this will keep in the mix as it rises.)  Next you'll make the rue.  Heat margarine in 2qt saucepan over low to med heat until melted. Stir in the flour, salt, mustard and red pepper.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly (maybe a min or two)- then remove from heat and add the milk.  A whisk works best. Return to the heat and boil and stir l minute.  You'll see it start to thicken, stir in the cheese until melted, remove from the heat.  Beat egg yolks on high speed until thick and lemon colored, about 3 minutes, stir into the cheese mixture.  **

Clean out the bowl so no yolks are remaining.  Then dry and add egg whites and cream of tartar to bowl and beat on high speed until stiff but not dry.    Take about a 1/4 of the egg whites and add to the cheese and egg yolk mixture to lighten it up.  Then carefully transfer cheese mix to a bowl for folding. Then add the whites.  You are trying to keep the air in it.  Folding is a way of mixing that you take a spatula or large spoon into the center of the bowl and stir to side of bowl & lift it up and mix over to the top of the mix, spin bowl a little and do again until completely mixed.  When you're through, carefully pour into your prepared dishes. Bake uncovered until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean.  I usually don't test mine so they don't deflate, cook 50-55 minutes-yummy, and serve immediately.  You'll want to look in on it, but try to resist at least the first 20-30 minutes, the oven remaining a constant temp. is crucial.  (I have this with Thanksgiving dinner often)

** This is a super versatile recipe.  You can change it for your own preferences.  I like cheddar cheese, it has enough flavor to hold up-any cheese should be ok.  Also I often add grated raw zucchini just before the egg white are added or fresh corn off the cob etc.  They cook well and taste great.  Note-they will rise up higher without the vegetables added, especially those containing a lot of moisture like zucchini but the taste is awesome and the texture is very nice.

** Do Ahead TIP : This can be made ahead of time.  Don't do the egg white and cream of tartar until the last min. but the cheese mixture and veg can be done ahead and refrigerated.  Simply remove from fridge about l5 min to bring to room temperature and you're good to go./ Let me know how they turned out for you.

Chicken Pot Pie

 Chicken Pot Pie

-3-4 boneless, skinless, chicken thighs ( or any leftover roasted chicken or poultry.)
-l/2 head of garlic (or several cloves)-this is optional if you like garlic-roasted-explain later
-carrots, peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
-celery cut into bite size pieces
-onion cut into bite size pieces ( I like sweet onion)
-Green giant frozen baby peas
-homemade crust or-(my quick version is ready made crust by Pillsbury-roll out kind-great every time and easy )  I do prefer homemade crust, I'll put that recipe up another time, but this recipe has a lot of steps, so I often use the already made kind for this recipe.
-l/4 cup of margarine or butter
-1/4 cup of flour
-1-2cups of milk ( I usually use the 2% we have on hand)
if you want a white sauce-use milk,for a chicken stock- use chicken bullion-l cube or 1 tsp per cup of water.
-salt, pepper, (optional-garlic powder, dill, rosemary-maybe 1/2 tsp of each)
-1 egg

ok now, each of these steps can be done differently, but this is my best recipe. I watched a test kitchen show I love and then tried it this way, much better.
If your crust is frozen, (it freezes fine), defrost at room temperature for a few hours, if refrigerated, ready to go.
Chicken is much better when not cooked in the liquid.
Roast chicken in the oven. If skinless, boneless chicken thighs, 375 for 30-40 minutes should be good, until the juices run clear and not red-ish. When done, cut into bite size pieces. If  leftover chicken etc. just cut up and you're ready with that ingredient.

Garlic can be roasted at 375, but I suggest my usual for it.350 degrees for 35 minutes. Take the head of garlic, cut off the top leaving each clove with an open top side. On top, 1 tsp of olive oil, salt and pepper. (again, dill and garlic powder are a nice add). When done, grab with a paper towel from bottom end and gently pop the garlic out. I have pics of garlic heads and cloves in my recipe pics.

Clean and cut your vegetables into bite size pieces.
Then saute them in a fry pan until almost done-stick a fork in one and eat it, if almost done. stop, that part is ready.
Meanwhile take out the frozen pea package to the counter to soften a little, these will go in no cooking first.  Fresh peas are very good too. 

Next we make the sauce or gravy. In a pinch- Franco American canned gravy is ok but here is another good way.
Melt the butter and add the flour, (making a rue), stir and cook 1 minute. Add the milk or the stock liquid and whisk or stir until no lumps and it thickens. At this stage you can add salt, pepper, garlic powder, dill, rosemary.

ok, now we're ready to assemble. Not necessary, but I prefer to non-stick spray my pie pan, then unroll l of the pieces of dough. Place in bottom of pan (if you want a bottom crust). Place a little bit of the sauce in the bottom, Then scatter a little bit of each of the ingredients so that all served get some of each of the items. cover with remaining sauce. Then place the top crust on.  To be pretty, pinch the dough every inch or so between your fingers. Then slit the top a couple of times to let it vent. You can refrigerator at this state and cook later in the eve.-do it all the time.  Baste with an egg wash on the crust for extra nice browning (optional). Stir the egg a little, then brush on the crust. Then cook at 425 for 45-50 min. until crust is golden brown. Enjoy.

Roasted Potatoes

Roasted Potatoes

 Served with baked chicken and baked asparagus


 2  large potatoes, salt, pepper, rosemary, olive oil, butter

 Wash potatoes and slice lengthwise in thirds.  No need to peel them, the best nutrients are in the skin of vegetables often.

 Cut the 2 smaller ends into 2 and the centers into 3 strips. Place onto a baking pan.
You now have perfect large wedge cut fries for roasting if you prefer.

     
chop into chunks,    salt,                     pepper,                   rosemary,           olive oil, and      2-3 tbsp butter.

Baked for 35-45 minutes  at 350 degrees F until brown and crisp outside and soft inside.

Why buy Kosher salt if you're not Jewish? or Popcorn salt if you don't eat popcorn?

Why buy Kosher salt if you're not Jewish?  and 
     Why buy Popcorn salt if you don't eat popcorn?

    Well this was a new one for me that I learned on accident.  I have been buying Kosher salt for years for the difference in taste and the larger crystals of salt that add some interest to some recipes. 

I recently purchased some popcorn salt by mistake.  I haven't actually ever bought it before, and was trying to just buy regular morton's table salt. 

Well, for starters, it is much, much smaller crystals that regular salt.  Don't do what I did and put it into your usual salt shaker as it will almost pour out-oops.  Luckily it wasn't done over what I was cooking so nothing was ruined. 

Courser larger crystals of salt in the Kosher salt are nice for adding on top of dishes last minute as they are being served where you want to taste the salt a bit. 

Regular table salt I use in quite a few recipes, disolves well, etc.

Popcorn salt is super fine powdered salt.  It adhears well to popcorn, fries, etc., and sticks well to the dishes.

NOTE:  A teaspoon of table salt contains more salt than a tablespoon of Kosher or sea salt.

Store now has 1000's of new items !

Store now has 1000's of new items !
Check it out, every spice, rare herbs and vegetables, vegan, kosher, ethnic specialties, and ready made treats.  You can get it all here.
I included some of my favorite cookbooks that I have used
and abused over the years with kitchen splatters-oops. 

Strawberry Ice Cream

 Strawberry Ice Cream


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cream
2 1/2 cups milk ( I use 2% fat)
1-2 tsp lemon juice
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 pint strawberries-remove tops, and slice and chop into small pieces- 2 cups
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp. lemon juice

Instructions Mix the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla in a small bowl. Use a fork to squish the berries, and allow the berries to macerate for 30 minutes. Stir in the cream and milk. Add the maserated strawberry mixture. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to instructions.

Pork Botana, soft and crunchy tacos

 Pork Botana Tacos, with pork shoulder
 I served the pork as homemade tacos including lime, Roma tomatoes, lettuce, cheddar cheese and a new way to make your tortillas both soft and crunchy and lower calorie at the same time.
Playing with garam masala spice again. :)/ Also found a new way to have fried shells without the frying.
I am making my usual pork botana, but added garam masala, smells yummy.
Botana is basically a braised pork and then it is baked on high heat for a few to crisp up some of the edges. I'm serving with lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream, and lime as pork tacos.

 

Ingredients:

• 4-5 pound pork shoulder (can be made with pork loin, but shoulder holds up to the oven baking at the end better. Besides, you remove the extra fat at the end anyway, so why not get some of the flavor
• 1-lime
• 2 Roma tomatoes
• lettuce
• cheddar cheese-1-2 cups 
• tortillas-a new way to make your tortillas
• 2 Bay leaves
• 4-7 cups of chicken broth-enough to cover roast in liquid (Note: some stock powers contain msg)2 tbsp onion flake
• 1 tbsp coriander
• l tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tbsp garam marsala
• 1-4 ounce can of diced green peppers

 This is a large spice ball. I use it for bay leaves and other whole spices.  That way you get the flavor and don't have to fish them out of the broth.

    

Add 4 cups of the chicken stock and the herbs and herb ball, all the pork, and enough extra stock to almost cover the pork. Cover and bring to a lower boil, simmer.  Simmer for 3-3 1/2 hours until meat easily pulls apart. 

                            
Using a slotted spoon, remove the meat from the braising liquid         Discard the fat.
onto a baking pan.  Use a fork the pull the meat apart a little, and
remove the fat.

  Bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees, and bake for 25 minutes.
While the meat is cooking, prepare and place the tortillas in the oven to crisp.

   
I found a new way to "fry" my tortillas. For years it's been, what do we want, soft
tacos or crisp? and had to decide. This is cool as it's both.

Brush both sides of your tortilla (flour shown), and place into a taco holder (oven safe holder) and bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  They end up soft taco like on the bottom, and crispy along the tops, a super nice compromise, gets you both tastes.

   
Cheddar Cheese,    Limes,           Roma Tomatoes,  Sour Cream with Pepper and Dill

 Lettuce or cabbage adds a nice green too.  

Pork Botana                                                                                 Finished Botana tacos.

Taco Bar