Sorry for the slow blog lately

Things just got really really crazy in our house. I should be back later tonight we a few more recipes and I'll try to keep up after that.

Dressed up French Green Beans

Dressed Up French Green Beans

4 cups frozen French style green beans
2 tablespoons crumbled cooked bacon
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Cook green beans according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Drain beans; add bacon mixture and gently stir to coat.

Salisbury Steak with Gemelli

Salisbury Steak with Gemelli

1 egg

1/2 cup soft bread crumbs

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1 pound ground beef

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

Hot cooked gemelli or spiral pasta

In a large bowl, combine the egg, bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, pepper, and garlic. Crumble beefo over mixture and mix well. Shape into four patties.

In a large skillet, cook patties in oil over medium hgih heat 5-7minutes on each side or until meat is no longer. Remove and keep warm.

Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons of drippings. Saute mushrooms in drippings until tender. Stir in flour until blended . Gradually stir in the broth, ketchup and worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Return patties to the skillet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 3-4 minutes or until heated through. Serve with gemelli.

Cheddar Soup

Again another recipe from Cook's Illustrated. I changed the recipe only slightly by using potatoes in the recipe. I added one potato chopped. However I also think this recipe needs a very sharp cheese or maybe a combination of some other cheeses. I'm still thinking about what type of cheese to use next time. I also added some green onion to the top of the soup right before serving.

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion , minced (about 1 cup)
1 medium carrot , minced (about 1/3 cup)
1 small rib celery , minced (about 1/4 cup)
1 medium clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 1/2 cups half-and-half
1 bay leaf
pinch cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons dry sherry
12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese , shredded (about 3 cups)
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
Table salt and ground black pepper

1. Heat butter in large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium heat until foaming; add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add carrot, celery, and garlic; cook until garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add flour and cook, stirring to coat vegetables, until mixture begins to brown on bottom of pot, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in chicken broth and half-and-half and add bay leaf. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until vegetables soften, about 10 minutes.
2. Off heat, add cayenne and sherry; cool soup for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in cheese and thyme; season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Multi grain dinner rolls

I found this recipe in Cook's Illustrated magazine and we have love this recipe both for bread and rolls.

6 1/4 ounces 7-grain hot cereal mix , 1 1/4 cups

20 ounces boiling water (2 1/2 cups)
15 ounces unbleached all-purpose flour (3 cups), plus extra for dusting work surface
7 1/2 ounces whole wheat flour (1 1/2 cups)
4 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tablespoon table salt
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds, (unsalted)
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats

1. Place cereal mix in bowl of standing mixer and pour boiling water over it; let stand, stirring occasionally, until mixture cools to 100 degrees and resembles thick porridge, about 1 hour. Whisk flours in medium bowl.
2. Once grain mixture has cooled, add honey, melted butter, and yeast and stir to combine. Attach bowl to standing mixer fitted with dough hook. With mixer running on low speed, add flours, 1/2 cup at a time, and knead until dough forms ball, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes; cover bowl with plastic and let dough rest 20 minutes. Add salt and knead on medium-low speed until dough clears sides of bowl, 3 to 4 minutes (if it does not clear sides, add 2 to 3 tablespoons additional all-purpose flour and continue mixing); continue to knead dough for 5 more minutes. Add seeds and knead for another 15 seconds. Transfer dough to floured work surface and knead by hand until seeds are dispersed evenly and dough forms smooth, taut ball. Place dough into greased container with 4-quart capacity; cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled, 45 to 60 minutes.
3. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray two 9 by 9-inch baking pans with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and cut in half crosswise with knife or bench scraper. Cut each half into thirds, then into thirds again, to make 18 even sized pieces of dough. Gently roll each piece in circular motion to make round, then roll one side of dough in oats and place in baking pan, oat side up. Repeat to fill both baking pans with nine rolls each. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise until almost doubled in size, 30 to 40 minutes. (Dough should barely spring back when poked with knuckle.) Bake until internal temperature registers 200 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove rolls from pans and cool on wire rack before serving, about 2 hours.

Fry sauce

A novelty from Utah but it's quite tasty. Great on burgers, chicken sandwiches and french fries. This is another recipe that you can cater to your preferences.

1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup ketchup (or bbq sauce)
2 tablespoons pickle juice (leave out if using bbq sauce)

Mix together and serve.

Hamburger buns

Okay so I've been looking for a hamburger bun recipe so I can make my own. I found this recipe on Allrecipes and it looked so good. However I did not make this recipe following the one on allrecipes.com and that was a big mistake. Somehow I messed up the recipe in my quest of making it more nutritious and the buns were dry and not very tasty. Again I am telling myself not to play with a recipe until I try it as written first. I'm not even going to list how I screwed this recipe up but I went ahead and posted a picture of my failure. I'll update the next time I make the recipe with a better picture.

1 cup milk
1 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) envelope active dry yeast
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water

Combine the milk, 1 cup of water, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil then remove from the heat and let stand until lukewarm. If the mixture is too hot, it will kill the yeast.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour and yeast. Pour in wet ingredients and stir until the dough starts to pull together. If you have a stand mixer, use the dough hook to mix for about 8 minutes. If not, knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover and let stand until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough and divide into 12 portions They should be a little larger than a golf ball. Make tight balls out of the dough by pulling the dough tightly around and pinching it at the bottom. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. After the rolls sit for a minute and relax, flatten each ball with the palm of your hand until it is 3 to 4 inches wide. You may want to oil your hand first. Set rolls aside until they double in size, about 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Mix together the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of water in a cup or small bowl. Brush onto the tops of the rolls. Position 2 oven racks so they are not too close to the top or bottom of the oven.

Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove the rolls from the oven and return them to different shelves so each one spends a little time on the top. Continue to bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until nicely browned on the top and bottom.

Beef stew

This isn't a recipe that is exact or set in stone. I make it different each and every time I make it. If you don't like an ingredient sub something that you like. You can make it in the crock pot or on the stove.

Stew meat- however much you want and whatever type of cut you want

dredge the meat in flour and fry until brown

add one onion-sliced

6 carrots-chopped

celery-chopped

4 potatoes- chopped

2 cloves of garlic-chopped

mix with meat.

add liquid until everything is covered. I use a mixture of beef broth, water, and tomato juices. You can also used can tomatoes.

Cook on low heat 4-5 hours, either on the stove or in the crock pot. I use bay leaves for extra flavor. Use whatever spices you like. I usually use garlic salt and pepper.

You can also use oatmeal, barely, quinoa, or bulger for extra nutrients and to thicken.

I know this isn't a recipe that's easy to follow because its more of personal recipe.

Chili

Someone posted this recipe on pinchingyourpennies website and I had all the ingredients needed to make this chili so we gave it a try. It was actually really good. I used dried beans that I precooked instead of canned beans. I also only used about 1/2 lb of ground beef. We topped the chili with cheddar cheese, green onions, and sour cream. I served cornbread muffins with the chili.

Fannie Flaggs Chili (Whistle Stop Cafe)
2 lbs. ground beef (I only use 1 lb.)
2 medium onions chopped and peeled
3 cloves of garlic - minced
3 C. beef broth
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
2 14 oz cans diced tomatos - undrained
3 T uncooked oatmeal
1 tsp. salt
1 T sugar
1 T chili powder
1/8 t cheyenne pepper or hot sauce
3 cans beans - mix and match kinds (I cook mine from dry the morning of in the slow cooker.)Cook beef, garlic, and onion until browned. Add all ingredients but beans. Bring to a boil. Simmer 40 minutes and then add beans. Simmer partially covered for 20 minutes. Serve.

Beef and Cheddar Potpie

From Rachel Ray's Spetember 2007 magazine. This was okay but not something I think we'd make again anytime soon. I didn't really like the topping but the meat filling was really good. I think I'll use the meat filling as a basis for a goulash and see if I like it better.

6 tablespoons butter, chilled
1 small onion, chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
28 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup beef broth
salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (8 ounces)
1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8 by 12 inch baking dish and set aside. In a large skillet, heat two tablespoons butter over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened but not browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the beef and cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and beef broth and season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has cooked off, about 20 minutes. Pour into the prepared baking dish and spread evenly.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, blend in the remaining 4 tablespoons butter and the cheese until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in the milk and stir quickly with a fork to form a dry, shaggy dough. Gather the dough together and knead lightly in the bowl. Transfer to a floured work surface and roll or pat into a large, 1/2 inch thick round. Using a 3 inch cookie cutter, cut out 8 biscuits. Gather the scraps of dough, form into a new round and cut out more biscuits. Continue until all the dough has been used.

Place the biscuits on top of the beef mixture as close together as possible and bake until lightly browned, about 35 minutes.