I don’t know about you, but I am EXTREMELY picky when it comes to eggs at breakfast – be it fried or scrambled. With a good fried egg, I want the white fully set, with the yolk bright and runny. As for scrambled – they MUST be cooked through without being dry or rubbery. I’m no expert when it comes to eggs, I just know what I like, what my family will eat and what works for me.
Continue reading “Picky About My Eggs”Cheese Enchiladas to Spice Up Friday Night
Here it is, the third Friday of Lent, and even something as simple as a grilled hot dog is beginning to sound pretty good right about now. So let’s spice up the night with a little something from Mexico.
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Mile-High Hoagie Style Sub Sandwiches
This isn’t so much a recipe for Sub Sandwiches – that’s open to so much interpretation anyway. This is more a walk down memory lane.
Growing up as we did, family vacations were mainly “road trips” – pile all the kids in the back of a station wagon with a mattress (for napping) and lots of coloring books – and off we went. Mom and Dad took turns driving. No one wore seat belts or took any precautions to insure the safety of the children. We crawled around in the back of the family wagon, watching the world whisk by. Our destinations were usually to visit other family members – uncles and aunts and cousins living in other states. Stops consisted of gas stations and truck stops (to refill the thermos of coffee). Restaurants? Who needed a restaurant when you could pack sandwiches. Granted, a mile-high sandwich would have been unheard of – we ate baloney or PB&J sandwiches. Highways were two-lane roads winding through the country side. The folks would spot a safe place to pull over, usually near a meadow or other “picnic” spot. They would pass out the paper plates and fetch cold sandwiches from the stash in the cooler. We’d chow down, watch the nearby wild life and stretch our legs. Dad would whip out the Brownie Camera to capture the moment and then we’d all pile back into the wagon and off we would go. What a grand time we had! When our children were younger, we’d pile into the family car and head out. We had the advantage of fast food for cheap burgers. Other than that, the road trips were pretty much the same. Today, highways are speed traps. Meadows are fenced off. And everyone is strapped into the car, making it impossible for the kids to crawl about. But then, kids of today have video players and hand-held electronics and no one is looking out the window as the car whisks down the freeway. Even on vacations, we are all “plugged in”, with no sing-a-longs or conversations. How sad.
This fond memory gave way to another. Once upon a time, when our kids were just teenagers, we took road trips just like those I remembered. The only real difference was my kids were strapped into the back seat, all safe and sound. No station wagon, no mattress, but the joy of family time remained the same.
As I listen to the wind howling outside today, I am reminded of another cold winter day over twenty years ago. It was very cold and wet President’s Day Weekend, and our little band planned a get away to Lake Tahoe. Hubby worked for a company that owned a beautiful cabin near the lake. It was one of the perks for Corporate Officers, and Hubby was a Vice President. That particular President’s Day Weekend was one of the worst for traveling. Rather than take our passenger car, Hubby decided to take one of the company’s King Cab pickups with four-wheel drive. While Hubby went off to fetch our transportation, I was left in charge of packing. As I packed our suitcase with heavy sweaters and winter jackets, I also watched the weather updates. Chain requirements were in effect less than forty miles from our home – that was low, foothills low. Outside a frigid rain pounded against the roof. When Hubby returned, not only did I have suitcases at the ready, I had a small cooler packed with sandwiches, a thermos of coffee, one of hot chocolate and a pile of blankets. Hubby frowned. After all, the drive was just over a hundred miles – only a few hours. What in the world did we need with blankets and food? Half way up the mountain, avalanches blocked any thought of a retreat. A little further up the mountain, and more avalanches prevented any forward momentum. No turning back, no going forward. We were stuck. Let me tell you, Hubby appreciated the warm drinks, cold sandwiches and comfort of blankets! Twelve hours later, the roads were cleared and we reached our destination.
To this day, I like to pack sandwiches to take on the road. Not the Bologna sandwiches of my childhood – but big, meaty sandwiches. The sort of sandwich you can have for dinner on a warm summer night.
Mile-High Hoagie Style Sub Sandwiches
6 Hoagie rolls, 6″ each
1 Tablespoon Olive oil
1 Tablespoon Red wine vinegar
1/4 Teaspoon Italian seasoning
12 slices provolone cheese
12 slices Deli Ham
12 slices Soft Salami
12 slices Deli Turkey
12 slices Deli Roast Beef
2 sliced tomatoes (see note)
1/4-1/2 head shredded lettuce (see note)
1 Small Red Onion, sliced into thin rings (see note)
Split rolls. Sprinkle liberally with olive oil. Lightly sprinkle vinegar and season roll with Italian seasoning.
Place sliced tomatoes and onions on bottom of roll. Layer cheese and meats on top of onions. Top sandwich with shredded lettuce.
If desired, serve with potato salad, macaroni salad or chips.
Note: If packing the sandwiches for later, pack the sliced tomatoes, shredded lettuce and onions into separate bags. Wrap sandwiches in plastic wrap, then place into bags. Finish assembling sandwiches when ready to serve. This will keep the vegetables fresh and crisp and the sandwich won’t get soggy.
Authentic Spicy Spanish Rice
This recipe didn’t come from a cookbook (that I know of) or a website out there somewhere. At least that’s not how it came to be in our house. The original recipe is handwritten on a piece of yellow paper, tucked away for safe keeping. It is, in my opinion, as authentic as it gets.
Buttermilk Pan-Fried Baked Chicken with Pan Gravy
On a beautiful Sunday, I wanted to serve up a real Southern meal – perfectly fried chicken, a mountain of fluffy mashed potatoes smothered in down-home pan gravy, sweet corn on the cob and fresh from the oven buttermilk biscuits. This was a supper that would make my Okie ancestors proud!
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Simple Hasselback Potatoes
When you think Hasselback Potatoes, imagine Baked Potato meets French Fries, or Roasted Potato. It’s like having your cake and eating it too. Crisp on the outside like a French Fry, fluffy on the inside like a baked potato. Likewise, a Hasselback Potato can be topped with butter, sour cream and chives much the same way. You can even add some cheese and crumbled bacon if you like, or season them with a mixture of garlic and herbs much like you would for roasted potatoes.
TGIF – Black Bean Soup
Winter this year somehow got away from me. I hadn’t gotten around to making our wintertime favorites – such as soups – as much as I had wanted. Spring seemed to come early, with unseasonably warm days. The orchards all around us began to bloom. Early bloom in crop country is a bad thing. Bees aren’t out buzzing about, which means no pollination, which means no crops. We live in an agricultural area. There are a lot of orchards nearby, mainly producing nut crops. Lots of walnuts and almond trees all around us. Our house sits on what was once a large almond farm. What isn’t orchard land is cattle land – mostly dairy farms.
Early blooming can be extremely stressful for trees, especially if temperatures are mild one day then plunge the next – as is the case this year. When this happens, new growth is shocked by the sudden freeze and could be damaged.
Fruit and flower buds are especially vulnerable. If they’re hit by cold temperatures after flowering, they may not be able to bloom again later in the year because they’ve already exerted their energy. As I sit on my back patio with my hands wrapped around a warm cup of cocoa, I cannot help but worry about this year’s crop and the toll it will take on my neighbors whose livelihood depends upon Mother Nature behaving as she should.
At least I can take comfort in knowing I haven’t completely missed soup weather.
While I haven’t made this soup in a while, it’s one of our favorites. I snagged it from one of those copy-cat sites. Gotta admit, it’s a darn good pot of soup. Kiddo and I like to garnish the soup with some chopped jalapeno for a little extra kick, but that’s purely a personal preference.
It’s a little messy to make – taking a pot, a blender and a crock pot, but there’s plenty of down time to clean up the kitchen. The soup is flavorful and filling. If you’ve got some left over; drain the liquid and smash the beans for some awesome black refried beans. These make a great filling for bean burritos. So it’s like getting two meals in one.
Hope you enjoy!
TGIF – Black Bean Soup
Ingredients – Soup
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup diced white onion
3/4 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced carrot
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
2 tablespoons minced garlic
4 (15 ounce) cans black beans
4 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon finely chopped Jalapeno
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon hickory liquid smoke
Ingredients – Garnish
1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 Cup chopped green onion
1/2 Cup sour cream
Chop onions, celery and carrots. Set aside. Mince garlic. Set aside. Dice bell pepper, set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium/low heat.
Add onion, celery, carrot, bell pepper, and garlic to the oil and simmer slowly for 15 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Keep temperature low to prevent browning. If the garlic burns, it becomes bitter.
While the vegetables are simmering, pour the canned beans into a strainer and rinse them under cold water.
Measure 3 cups of the drained and strained beans into a food processor with 1 cup of chicken stock.
Puree on high-speed until smooth. (Make sure the lid is secure!!!)
When the vegetables are ready, pour in the pureed beans, the whole beans, the rest of the chicken stock, apple cider, spices and liquid smoke.
Bring mixture to a boil, then transfer to a crock pot and simmer on LOW for 2-3 hours.
Ladle soup into terrains, garnish with cheese, green onions and sour cream as desired.
This soup goes really well with warm corn bread. Perfect for a lazy evening’s supper.
Golden Malted Waffles from Scratch
What seems like a million years ago, way back in a prior life, Hubby, Kiddo and I were once globe-trotters. Road trips, air planes and hotel stays were part of the norm. One thing about life on the road, you get to eat lots of different things – especially breakfast. One of the more popular breakfast selections are those do-it-yourself waffles.
Continue reading “Golden Malted Waffles from Scratch”Fettuccine Carbonara – An American Interpretation
For those of you not familiar with Carbonara, this is a pasta dish that hails from Rome, Italy. It is traditionally made using eggs, Italian Cheeses (Romano or Parmesan or other fine Italian cheese) and Pancetta (Italian Bacon) that is tossed in a Spaghetti Pasta. The more modern renditions use Fettuccine, my preferred pasta. If you were to order this dish in Italy, cream and garlic would not be a part of the recipe, but outside Italy these ingredients have been incorporated to create a creamy, flavorful “sauce”. As a lover of all things containing creams and garlic, my Carbonara includes these non-traditional ingredients. Some people have even taken to adding peas or broccoli to their Carbonara. Personally, I don’t if for no other reason that I want to stay as close to the traditional dish of Rome while still satisfying my desire for cream and garlic. But hey, that’s just me.
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Country Corned Beef Hash and “Dirty” Fried Eggs
It’s another beautiful Sunday. My guys have been busy trimming, pruning and generally cleaning up the yard. We have both a large backyard and spacious side yard. The two are separated by a chain-link fence. Along the entire back fence are trees – all in need of a little TLC. One of those trees is an almond tree, planted back when all this land was part of an almond orchard. The side yard is just dirt with planter boxes. Come spring, the side yard will be transformed into our garden. Last year we had tomatoes. This year – who knows? A great deal will depend upon the return of the drought to our state and the cost of water.
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Teriyaki Meatballs – Crock Pot Style
One day a coworker came to me on a Tuesday and said “Rosie, we’re having a potluck on Thursday. Bring whatever you like.” Total panic. OMG – one day to plan a dish, one day to make the dish – what to do? What to bring?
African Craved Beef Stew with Fries and Crusty Bread
I wish I could remember just where it was that I first discovered this recipe. I wanted to give credit where credit is due, but I couldn’t find the original site. Portuguesecooking.com has a very similar recipe, which was adapted from a recipe by Patrick Fish of South Africa. My original source for the recipe also included stories about the origins of African Craved Beef Stew, and there were none on portuguesecooking.com.
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Blueberry Pancakes from Scratch and Communing with Nature
For our family vacation a few years back, we decided to take a trip without a plan – with the exception of some train tickets and a place to stay the first night on the road (a Saturday – didn’t want to take any chances), nothing was carved in stone.
We took an old steam engine out into the “wilds” of Nevada. The highlight of our train ride was to see the untamed horses roaming the hillsides.
Returning to California once more, we headed north, up through the central part of the state, all the way to the Oregon state line. From there, we began heading west, toward the coast. Northern California has some of the most beautiful giant redwoods. The plan was to drive south, visit as many “forests” as possible while making a huge loop back home. Wherever the wind took us, whatever struck our fancy – that was the plan. We even managed to take in a jet boat ride up the Klamath River to view Eagles and other wildlife along the river. We had picnic lunches and simply enjoyed the views. No schedules, no plans, just the open road and all the time in the world to stop and smell the roses.
One morning we had breakfast in Garberville – near Avenue of the Giants. It was a lovely cafe with a very “French country” feel. And the blueberry pancakes were unbelievable. While Hubby and Kiddo took advantage of the warm maple syrup and sweet, creamery butter that accompanied the pancakes. I found them so delicious, I didn’t want to distract from the bursting blueberry flavor.
Upon returning from our trip, I began to crave those awesome pancakes. It wasn’t just that there were blueberries in the pancakes, the berries seemed to float at the top of the light little cakes. Then one night when sleep evaded me, I turned to the telly in search of something mindless to watch. Surfing the channels, I paused on a cooking show featuring Blueberry Flapjacks. What struck me most was that the blueberries weren’t folded into the batter but rather placed on top of the jacks as they cooked. Now mind you, I was channel surfing – I’m sure they gave a reason for this – but I missed it. One thing I did notice was that by putting the blueberries on top of the cakes as they cooked, one had better control over how much blueberry each cake received – and every cake was sure to have plenty of berries. And those berries seemed to float!
Since then, whenever we want a little something extra special on Sunday mornings, I’ll whip up some pancakes bursting with blueberry goodness.
Now you could use Bisquick (or your favorite mix) and skip the upper portion of this recipe. That’s entirely up to you.
Ingredients – Pancake Mix from Scratch
8 Cups Flour
1 1/4 Cups Nonfat Dry Milk Powder
1/4 Cup Baking Powder
1 Tablespoon Salt
2 Cups Butter Flavored Crisco Shortening
Pancake Mix: Combine flour, milk, baking powder, and salt in a very large bowl. Cut in shortening until it resembles coarse cornmeal. Store in tightly closed covered container in a cool place. Makes about 10 cups. This will make 5 batches of pancakes.
Ingredients – Blueberry Pancakes
2 Cups Dry Bisquick Pancake Mix (above)
½ Cup Buttermilk
½ Cup Water
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice (optional)
2 Tablespoons Butter, melted (cool to touch)
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and spun dry
Place Bisquick pancake mix into the bowl of a mixer. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, water and egg. Add to Bisquick mix. Add sugar and lemon juice. Mix just until blended. When pancake batter is complete, gently fold in melted butter.
Heat griddle to medium heat. Lightly butter griddle. When hot, ladle pancakes to desired size. Sprinkle each cake with blueberries, pressing in slightly. Cook until bubbles break and bottom is golden. Flip, press down gently (some of the berries will burst open) and continue to cook until golden. Transfer to serving platter. Serve with whipped butter and syrup.
Super Easy Refried Beans Two Ways
Sharing my recipe for Nacho Taco Boats yesterday got me to thinking about the perfect side for just about anything Mexican – Refried Beans!
Canned Green Beans made Better
Does anyone remember the Bruce Willis-Matthew Perry film from 2000 – The Whole Nine Yards? The exact line in the film escapes me now; but the jest of it was that Canadians put mayonnaise on their burgers. Bruce Willis was complaining that there should be a law against it. What does he know.
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Welcome to Rosemarie's Kitchen 