Sunday, January 31, 2010

Adam Cooks: Hearty Cabbage Skillet Supper

Adam found this in the local newspaper, but here's a link to the recipe from a local TV station.



Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 package (16 ounces) coleslaw or 6 cups finely shredded cabbage
¼ to ½ cup chicken broth
1 apple, peeled if desired, diced
4 precooked sausages
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper

Directions:
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add onions. Cook, stirring often, until onion softens, about 3 minutes. Add cabbage, ¼ cup of the broth and apple. Cover; reduce heat to low. Simmer 5 minutes.

Stir in caraway seeds, salt and pepper to taste. Arrange cooked sausages over cabbage. Add more of the broth if needed. Cover; cook 5 minutes. Uncover; cook until broth is reduced, about 2 minutes; do not let vegetables burn.

Comments:
Adam's on this new health kick so he thought this might be a good, healthy dinner option. He made this himself and it turned out pretty well. He used turkey sausage to up the healthy factor. I'm not a fan of cabbage and could have done without the caraway (yuck!) but overall, a success. Whatever makes him happy...

Weekly Menu 1/30 through 2/5

Saturday 1/30 - Hearty Cabbage Skillet Supper (Adam's making dinner)

Sunday 1/31 - Cornmeal Oven-Fried Chicken

Monday 2/1 - Adam's on his own - I'll be going straight from work to bells

Tuesday 2/2 - The Adirondacker Burger

Wednesday 2/3 - Chicken Taco Burgers

Thursday 2/4 - Spaghetti Carbonara

Friday 2/5 - Out - an early birthday dinner with my dad and Cheryl

Polenta-Topped Pork Patties

From Everyday With Rachael Ray



Ingredients:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
2/3 cup instant polenta
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 1/2 pounds ground pork
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions:
1. In a large, ovenproof skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, season with salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl; reserve the skillet.

2. In a small saucepan, bring 2 1/3 cups water and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil. Whisk in the polenta, lower the heat to medium-low and whisk until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cream, remove from the heat, then stir in the cheese; season with salt and pepper and keep warm.

3. Preheat the broiler. Add the pork and parsley to the onion; shape into four 4-inch-wide patties. In the reserved skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the patties and cook, turning once, until browned, 6 to 7 minutes. Spoon the polenta on top and broil until golden, about 5 minutes.

Comments:
Not too complicated, although the polenta was a lot runnier than I expected so it didn't quite turn out as pretty as it should have. The bland, kind of creamy flavor of the polenta was nicely offset by the pork burger. I'm not a fan of pork, but this was ok. Not sure it will stay on the rotation, but not a total disaster either.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Weekly Menu 1/23 through 1/29

Saturday 1/23 - Leftovers. We went out to lunch with my dad and Cheryl.

Sunday 1/24 - Bacon Cheeseburger Buns

Monday 1/25 - Turkey & Black Bean Tostadas

Tuesday 1/26 - Polenta-Topped Pork Patties

Wednesday 1/27 - Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Turnovers

Thursday 1/28 - Beef Kebabs with Yougurt Sauce

Friday 1/29 - Tilapia Club Stacks

Monday, January 18, 2010

Turkey (or Chicken) Schnitzel with Tots and Apple-Cranberry Sauce

From Everyday With Rachael Ray



Ingredients:
4 cups frozen puffed potatoes, such as Ore-Ida Tater Tots
4 mcintosh apples, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 cup apple cider
1/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries (a generous handful)
Flour, for coating
2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (about a palmful)
About 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 turkey breast cutlets, pounded 1/8 inch thick
Salt and pepper
Vegetable oil, for frying
4 lemon wedges

Directions:
1. Bake the potatoes according to package directions until golden and crisp.

2. In a large saucepan, bring the apples, cider and cranberries to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and cook, mashing the apples into a sauce, for 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, place the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs on 3 separate plates. Season the breadcrumbs with the poultry seasoning and nutmeg. Season the turkey cutlets with salt and pepper and coat them in the flour, then in the egg, then in the breadcrumbs.

4. In a large skillet, heat 1/4 inch vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the cutlets 2 at a time and fry, turning once, until deep golden and cooked through, 5 to 8 minutes. Serve with the lemon wedges, potatoes and apple-cranberry sauce.

Comments:
Pretty simple, although I used chicken instead of turkey. Adam helped with the pounding of the chicken. He always likes doing that - male agression or something. He really whacks them good... The cranberry-apple sauce was really good. It gets pretty sweet, even with no added sugar, and is a nice alternative to ketchup for the tater tots.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Weekly Menu 1/16 through 1/22

Saturday 1/16 - Leftovers

Sunday 1/17 - Turkey Schnitzel with Tots and Apple-Cranberry Sauce

Monday 1/18 - Hot Ham & Cheese Sandwiches

Tuesday 1/19 - My monthly meeting - Adam's on his own

Wednesday 1/20 - Gnocchi with Bacon

Thursday 1/21 - Buffalo Popcorn Chicken Bites

Friday 1/22 - Fish & Fries (from a box)

6-Layer Breakfast Casserole

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
6 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, ground
1 package Jimmy Dean Hot Roll Sausage, cooked, crumbled, drained
1/4 cup jalapeno pepper, 1/4 dice
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin, ground
4 slices bread, cut in half

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Mix the eggs and heavy cream in a bowl with the salt and pepper. In a separate bowl, place the sausage, jalapeno pepper, cheese, garlic and cumin. Place 1/3 of the egg mixture in the bottom of a 2-quart baking dish. Place a slice of bread in the dish. Place 1/3 of the sausage mixture on the slice of bread. Repeat layering until last slice of bread is on top. Add the remaining 1/3 of sausage ingredients evenly across the top slice of bread. Bake in oven for 15 minutes.

Comments:
First of all, these are not the directions that are found in the magazine. The directions and corresponding picture do not match and I found it very confusing. I ended up using a 1 1/2-quart baking dish and could only fit bread 2 layers high. Also, 15 minutes? Ha. More like 45. The eggs don't set in 15 minutes at such a low heat. After about half an hour I cranked it to 425.

Aside from the crappy directions, this wasn't bad. Nice kick from the jalapenos and sausage.

Oriental Beef & Broccoli

From Better Homes & Gardens Simple Slow Cooker Recipes (also seen here.)



Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds boneless beef round steak
6 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 medium onions, cut into wedges
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1 3/4-oz envelope beef gravy mix
4 cups broccoli florets
3 cups hot cooked rice

Directions:
1. Trim fat from meat. Cut meat across the grain into 1/2-inch strips. Set aside. In a 3 1/2-to 4-quart slow cooker place carrots and onions. Add meat, ginger, and garlic. In a small bowl stir together water, soy sauce, and beef gravy mix. Pour over mixture in cooker.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours (or on high 4-5 hours.)

3. If using low-heat setting, turn to high-heat setting. Stir in broccoli. Cover and cook about 15 minutes more or until broccoli is crisp-tender. Serve meat mixture over hot cooked rice.

Comments:
I really like the flavor of this recipe. It reheats well and doesn't get soggy like you might think. Adam still isn't its biggest fan, but he ate it without comment this time.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Mom's Turkey Meatloaf

From Ellie Krieger via The Food Network (also seen here.)



Ingredients:
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup skim milk
1 medium onion, peeled
2 pounds ground turkey breast
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, stir together the oats and milk. Thinly slice 1/4 of the onion and set aside. Finely chop the remaining onion. In a large bowl combine the turkey, oat mixture, chopped onion, bell pepper, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, salt and a few grinds of pepper. Mix just until well combined.

Transfer the mixture to a 9 by 13-inch baking dish and shape into a loaf about 5 inches wide and 2 1/2 inches high. Pour the tomato sauce over the meatloaf and sprinkle with the sliced onions. Bake for about 1 hour or until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees.F.

Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 to15 minutes before slicing.

Comments:
I halve this recipe since it's just the two of us and two pounds of turkey is a lot. It works out pretty well. I've made this quite a few times and it always turns out. This time I made some mashed red-skinned potatoes and boiled up some edamame to go with it since meatloaf kind of begs to be paired with carbs. Yum.

Salmon Delight Burgers

From Everyday With Rachael Ray



Ingredients:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
Salt
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
1 pound salmon fillet, skinned
3 large eggs, 2 hard-boiled and sliced
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 brioche rolls, split and toasted
1 bunch baby spinach (about 2 cups)

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt and mint; season with salt. In a medium bowl, add the cucumber and sprinkle with salt; let stand for 15 minutes, then transfer to paper towels to drain.

2. Meanwhile, slice the salmon lengthwise into ¼-inch-wide strips, cut in half crosswise, then cut into ¼-inch pieces. In a medium bowl, beat the raw egg with ½ teaspoon salt. Stir in the salmon.

3. In a large, nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the salmon mixture in 4 mounds; gently press to form 4 patties. Cook, turning once, for 6 minutes.

4. Place a salmon patty on each roll bottom; top with 2 tablespoons yogurt-mint sauce, some cucumber, sliced hard-boiled egg, spinach and a roll top.

Comments:
I left out the yogurt-mint sauce since Adam didn't want it. I also tried to halve this since I wasn't going to eat it, but I ended up with a lot less salmon meat than I thought I would after I skinned it so the burger itself ended up very eggy. I even drained a lot of the egg off through my fingers as I put the meat in the pan to cook, but it still ended up kind of sad-looking. Oh well. He ate it. Even though I screwed up the hard-boiled egg thing again. It's kind of pathetic that I can't get an egg to a decent hard-boiled state. I suppose if I liked them I'd have more of an incentive to figure it out...

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Corn Bread Taco Bake

From Taste of Home



Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 can (15-1/4 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 package (8-1/2 ounces) corn bread/muffin mix
1 can (2.8 ounces) french-fried onions, divided
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in the corn, tomato sauce, water, green pepper and taco seasoning. Spoon into a greased 2-qt. baking dish.

Prepare corn bread mix according to package directions for corn bread. Stir in half of the onions. Spread over beef mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle with cheese and remaining onions. Bake 3-5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted and a toothpick inserted into corn bread layer comes out clean.

Comments:
Very simple, quick dish to put together. Kind of made a mess in the oven though - tomato sauce splattered as it baked. Guess who's cleaning the oven this weekend?

Anyway, good combination of textures. Adam preferred the top layer to the corn/beef mixture. I'd have to agree. There was some funky aftertaste going on. Not sure whether it was my ingredients or the preparation. Would probably try this again.

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Chorizo Quiche

From a special section of Everyday With Rachael Ray



Ingredients:
Nonstick Cooking Spray
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1/4 tsp salt
8 tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cubed
6 ounces raw chorizo, casings removed
5 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups grated Emmenthal cheese
1 cup diced boiled potato

Directions:
Spray a 9" glass pie dish with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the flour and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse to form a coarse meal. With the motor running, add 6 tbsp cold water in a slow stream, processing until the dough comes together. Then gather the dough into a ball and transfer to a floured surface. Roll out to form a 12" round, then transfer to the prepared dish. Crimp the edges to make a decorate border, removing any excess dough. Freeze for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425. Line crust with foil and fill with uncooked dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and beans and continue to bake for 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove and let crust cool completely, but leave the oven on. Cook the chorizo in a dry, medium-sized heavy saute pan over medium heat for 8 minutes, or until dry and crisp. Let the chorizo cool on a paper towel-lined plate. Whisk eggs, milk, and cream in a large bowl. Mix in the chorizo, cheese, and potato. Pour mixture into the crust. Bake for 35 minutes or until the filling is puffed and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Serve hot or at room temperature, cut into wedges.

Comments:
Pfft, who am I kidding? Frozen pie crust, for sure. I even remembered to take it out of the freezer yesterday so it was all ready for me. Go me! This was pretty simple to assemble. We don't have raw chorizo readily available so I just took the pre-cooked stuff, cut it into small pieces, and crisped it up in a pan. I subbed mozzarella for the Swiss also. I probably should have cooked it a little longer (the middle was still a little runny), but we were hungry. :)

Sunday, January 03, 2010

Red Onion, Potato, and Goat Cheese Pizza

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
7 ounces fingerling potatoes (about 5 potatoes)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 medium red onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 (13.8-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled goat cheese
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Place potatoes in a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes or until just tender; drain. Cool slightly; cut potatoes crosswise into 1/4-inch slices.

3. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan, and sauté 8 minutes or until tender.

4. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to a 14 x 10–inch rectangle. Sprinkle cornmeal over a large baking sheet; place dough on baking sheet. Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over dough. Arrange potatoes and onion over mozzarella; top evenly with goat cheese and garlic. Bake in lower third of oven at 450° for 15 minutes or until browned. Sprinkle with thyme; cut into 12 pieces.

Comments:
I couldn't find any fingerling potatoes so I used some small red potatoes instead. This was really good. The sweet onions and the tangy goat cheese - Yum! I think 15 minutes might have been a little long to cook it, but that could also just be my oven.

Potato-Apple Latkes

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
6 cups shredded peeled Yukon gold potatoes (about 2 pounds)
2 cups shredded Gala or Honeycrisp apples (about 2 medium)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2.25 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1/2 cup)
6 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 teaspoon turbinado or granulated sugar

Directions:
1. Combine potatoes, apples, and 1 teaspoon salt in a colander. Let stand 20 minutes, pressing occasionally with the back of a spoon until barely moist. Combine potato mixture, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Add flour to potato mixture; toss well to combine.

2. Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons oil to pan, swirling to coat. Add potato mixture in 1/3-cupfuls to pan to form 4 latkes; flatten slightly. Cook 6 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove latkes from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure 3 more times with remaining oil and potato mixture. Sprinkle latkes evenly with sugar.

Comments:
I halved this recipe and ended up using 1 large and 3 small potatoes and one apple to get to the four cups I needed. I let it sit over a bowl, smooshing it every so often for 20 minutes. It was nowhere near "barely moist" so I hauled out my tea towel and wrung it out a la frozen spinach. If I had known that I would have saved myself 20 minutes. Oh well. I'll keep it in mind for next time.

Anywho, I felt kind of guilty since I cooked this traditionally Jewish fare in bacon grease. Is that weird? Mine took about 5 minutes per side before they started to burn a little.

Adam really liked them, which is good since he picked the recipe out. They were ok for me, but seemed a little heavy. I'd still make them again though.

Tortellini (or Ravioli)-Shrimp Caesar Salad

From Taste of Home



Ingredients:
2 cups frozen breaded popcorn shrimp
1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini
8 cups torn romaine
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/2 cup creamy Caesar salad dressing

Directions:
Prepare shrimp and tortellini according to package directions. In a large salad bowl, combine romaine and tomato; drizzle with dressing and toss to coat. Drain tortellini; toss with salad. Top with shrimp.

Comments:
I swapped out the popcorn shrimp for some plain old regular shrimp that I cooked in a skillet. I thought I had tortellini, but it was actually ravioli. Same thing, right? I omitted the tomato since Adam doesn't like them and I made some Caesar dressing instead of using the store-bought stuff I had because, say it with me, "Adam doesn't like it." He liked the shrimp, wasn't crazy about the dressing. I had plain romaine with the dressing. And some tortilla chips. I know, I'm weird.

Friday, January 01, 2010

Weekly Menu 1/2 through 1/8

Saturday 1/2 - Tortellini-Shrimp Caesar Salad

Sunday 1/3 - Red Onion, Potato, and Goat Cheese Pizza

Monday 1/4 - Leftovers - I've got one last Christmas Party to go to

Tuesday 1/5 - Chorizo Quiche

Wednesday 1/6 - Corn Bread Taco Bake

Thursday 1/7 - Skillet Spaghetti

Friday 1/8 - Salmon Delight Burger

French Onion Soup Mac & Cheese

From Ultimate Recipe Showdown on The Food Network



Ingredients:
Topping:
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Bechamel Sauce:
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk or half-and-half
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces Gruyere, grated
3 ounces mozzarella grated

French Onion "Soup":

2 tablespoons butter, plus 1 tablespoon (or nonstick spray)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 large white onions, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons honey
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup dry sherry
2 cups beef stock
8 sprigs fresh thyme leaves
1 pound pasta, cooked al dente (elbow macaroni, ziti, or fusilli work well)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Topping: Combine bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese in a small bowl and set aside.

Bechamel Sauce: Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter over low heat in a medium saucepan. Add the flour and stir to combine. Stir constantly, for about 3 minutes. Increase heat to medium and whisk in the milk or half-and-half, adding a little at a time and cook until thickened, about 4 to 5 minutes. Lower heat, season with the salt and pepper and add Gruyere and mozzarella cheeses. Stir until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Set aside.

French Onion "Soup:" Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter and olive oil over medium-high heat in a large saucepan. Add onions, cover, and cook 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove cover, add garlic and honey, and continue to cook uncovered, stirring frequently, until onions are caramelized, about 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and a generous amount of pepper. Remove pot from heat and add sherry. Return to heat and stir to remove browned bits from bottom of pan. Reduce sherry by half, then add stock and thyme and cook until almost all liquid is evaporated. Remove from heat.

Grease a 3-quart baking dish or casserole with the last tablespoon of butter or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Combine cooked pasta with onion "soup" mixture and bechamel sauce, and stir well to combine. Transfer pasta to baking dish and sprinkle with bread crumb/Parmesan topping.

Bake until top is golden brown and cheese is bubbly, about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving.

Comments:
This one's pretty labor-intensive so don't plan this for a weeknight. I started grating cheese and slicing onions at around 4:30 and it came out of the oven just after 6:30. Fortunately it's pretty tasty so it's (almost) worth the effort. It still kind of amazes me how sweet onions get when you cook them a while. This makes a whole ton of pasta so either halve the recipe or plan to have leftovers. We'll see how it re-heats tomorrow.

On an unrelated (kind of) note: Hey, Food Network - your website sucks.

Carne Asada Taco with Avocado Pico de Gallo

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 medium)
1 (1-pound) skirt steak, trimmed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
Cooking spray
1 cup diced seeded plum tomato
1/4 cup diced onion
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon diced seeded jalapeño pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 cup diced avocado (about 1 medium)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
8 corn tortillas
Lime wedges (optional)

Directions:
1. Combine 1/4 cup juice and steak in a shallow dish. Sprinkle cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and red pepper over both sides of steak. Cover and marinate in refrigerator 3 hours.

2. Heat grill pan over high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add steak to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand at least 10 minutes. Cut steak into 1/2-inch pieces.

3. Combine tomato and next 5 ingredients (through garlic) in a bowl. Gently stir in avocado and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

4. Heat tortillas over gas flame 15 seconds on each side or until charred on edges. Divide steak evenly among tortillas. Top with pico de gallo. Serve with lime wedges, if desired.

Comments:
Adam cooked the meat on the grill outside, our avocado was questionable so I tossed it, but other than that I pretty much stuck to the plan (minus the cilantro, flour tortillas rather than corn.) It was too spicy for me, but Adam loved it. Typical.