|
|
 Beef Pot Pie Total time: 2.5 hours.
1 lb beef, cubed
1 medium onion, sliced or diced
1 medium-large potato, cubed and cooked (about 1 cup)
1 carrot, sliced or diced (optional)
1/2 cup of peas (optional)
1 1/2 cups beef broth (about 1 can)
3 T olive oil
3 T flour
1 T seasonings (3 tsps, any way you like it)*
Empanada Dough or other savory pastry dough
In a small dish or plastic bag, mix flour and seasonings. Coat beef cubes in flour mixture.
In a skillet, cook beef and onion in oil until beef is browned and onion is tender. Add broth to the skillet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Uncover; stir in any remaining vegetables. Cook until heated through.
Spoon meat mixture into a greased 9-in. pie plate or 4-cup baking dish and cover with pastry dough. Be sure to make a slit in the top to release steam. OR — Spread half your pastry dough across a pie plate for the bottom crust, spoon mix on top, and cover with remaining dough (or cheese or mashed potatoes or breadcrumbs or crackers).
Bake at 375 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until pastry is lightly browned on edges. If you’re doing a bottom crust and a top crust (pot pie!), increase bake time to 1 hour.
Let cool 10-20 minutes before serving.
* Today I’m using Durkee chicken seasonings. If you don’t already have a “mixed” seasoning, you could try salt (1 tsp), black pepper (1 tsp), paprika (1/2 tsp), garlic powder (1/2 tsp). Or make up your own; you just want a 1:3 ratio of seasoning to flour.
 Plum and Ginger Chutney Total time: 10 minutes, depending on your fruit.
Adapted from “Pureed Fresh Mango-Ginger Chutney” in 1000 Indian Recipes, by Neelam Batra.
1 pound of plums, washed, peeled, pitted and diced
1 Tbsp peeled and minced fresh ginger root
2 Tbsp lemon juice (or lime)
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro, including soft stems
1 serrano pepper, minced with seeds
salt and pepper to taste
Mash the plums with a fork or potato masher to make the fruit as smooth as possible.
Mix in all the remaining ingredients.
Keep up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
Some of the Daring Cooks used a plum chutney with their September Challenge, which made me want to try it, too. Then a friend brought me some fresh plums from her tree, and I knew it was meant to happen. I didn’t use the same recipe as the other folks, though. I love my book of Indian recipes, and I like to make them adapt!
The original recipe calls for mashed mango, and suggests mixing in 1/2 c yogurt or substituting peaches, plums, nectarines, pineapples or other soft fruit in place of mango.
 Vegetable dosa with coconut curry sauce The Daring Cooks‘ September challenge comes from Indian Dosas from the reFresh cookbook by Ruth Tal and Fresh Restaurants.
This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don’t be afraid to make a full batch. Can substitute potatoes for chickpeas.
Total time: Approximately 30 minutes.
5 cloves garlic
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)
2 medium hot banana chilies, minced
2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground
1 TBSP (8gm) oregano
1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)
1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric
4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)
½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste
1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.
2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.
Shown here served inside Instant Flour Dosas, topped with Coconut Curry Sauce.
Total time: 20 minutes.
1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour)
½ tsp (2½ gm) salt
½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder
½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder
½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)
¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water
cooking spray, if needed
1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.
2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.
3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.
Total time: 50 minutes.
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
½ (2½ gm) tsp cumin, ground
¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)
3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder
3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)
3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth
2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk
3 large tomatoes, diced
1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.
2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.
3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.
4.Let it simmer for half an hour.
Total time: 20 minutes.
This recipe works best if you have a sandwich maker.
~ 4 bread slices
~ 2 eggs
~ 1 tsp vanilla extract
~ 1/4 c milk
diced ham (I like to cook ham slices first, and then dice it)
cheddar or a mix cheese (shredded is my preference, but sliced works as well)
powdered sugar
Fix your mixture of eggs, vanilla and milk to your preference for French Toast. Coat one side of the bread and place wet side down on the sandwich maker. Pile on the cheese and the ham. Dip another slice of bread on one side only. Place the undipped side on top of the meat and cheese, and close your sandwich maker. Let it ‘cook’ to your desired doneness.
Repeat with remaining bread slices.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve with scrambled eggs.
This recipe is completely off the top of my head. I had it once at a nice diner that no longer exists, and while craving it like a pregnant woman, I just created the recipe.
 Slow cooked pulled pork sandwich Total time: 6.5-8 hours.
1 lb pork
1-2 cups water (may or may not be necessary)*
3 cups barbecue sauce
Makes 4 really big sandwiches (assuming the sandwiches are on hamburger buns).
I didn’t actually measure any of this. I made the barbecue sauce while boiling some pork on the stove in 1 quart of water. I poured out about half the remaining water and put the rest in the crockpot with my barbecue sauce and the pork.
Cook on high for 6-8 hours, periodically “mashing” the pork pieces with a potato masher.
Shown here on an onion topped potato bread roll.
I had this on high for 5 hours before I realized I had just way too much liquid. Ended up boiling it in a frying pan for 10 minutes to burn off some excess water.
* Whatever the case, you want just enough total liquid to cover your pork while it’s cooking in the crockpot.
Total time: 15 minutes.
1 onion
1 tomato
4 cloves of garlic
1 jalapeno
1/2 c ketchup
1/4 c red wine vinegar
1/4 c mustard
1/4 c dark molasses
1/4 c Worcestershire sauce
2 T lime juice
2 T brown sugar
1 T vanilla extract
2 tsp ground chipotle
2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp celery seed
1 T vegetable oil
On medium-high heat, cook onions and garlic until golden brown (about 8 minutes). Add tomato and jalapeno and cook for 2 more minutes. Puree vegetables and remaining ingredients in blender or food processor until smooth.
 Chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting Total time: 1 hour.
Adapted from the Devil’s Food Cake Cockaigne recipe found in the Joy of Cooking. Makes two 9-inch round pans.
5 ounces semisweet chocolate (about a cup!)
2 cups cake flour
1 cup milk, divided in half, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs, separated (means separate the yolks and the egg whites), room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup water, room temperature
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla, room temperature
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat the oven to 350.
In a double boiler, cook and stir chocolate, 1/2 cup milk, brown sugar and 1 egg yolk until smooth and thick. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift or mix together baking soda, salt, and flour. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat butter until soft. Add sugar and mix until smooth. Beat in the other two egg yolks one at a time until smooth.
Add about 1/3 of the flour mix to the butter mixture. Mix until smooth. Add the vanilla and water, mix until smooth. Add another 1/3 of the flour mix, mix until smooth (see a pattern here?). Add 1/4 c of milk, mix until smooth. Add the remaining flour mix, mix until smooth. Add the remaining milk, mix until smooth.
Stir in the chocolate mix (until smooth!!).
In a separate bowl, whip two egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold them lightly into the cake batter.
Bake in greased pans about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Shown here with cream cheese frosting (3/4 c powdered sugar, 4 T cream cheese, 1 T heavy cream).
I always use semisweet chocolate morsels when I bake cookies, so that’s what I had on hand. The original recipe calls for 2-4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate and an additional 1/4 cup white sugar.
I realized *after* I mixed everything together that I don’t own 9 inch round cake pans… so I used my brownie pans instead.
Total time: 7-12 hours.
4 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
2 lbs Round Steak, Chopped/Cubed
8 Slices of Bacon (Thick cut)
1 Large Onion, Chopped Finely
Mushrooms (as much as you want!)
Peas & Carrots (optional)
1 Dill Pickle, sliced & diced
3 Tablespoons Cooking Oil (We like EVOO)
3 Cups Beef Broth
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup water
Cook steak, mushrooms, onions, peas & carrots in oil till cooked and sauteed. Cook bacon in separate pan till crispy; crumble the bacon and add to meat mixture. Simmer for about 5 minutes; drain if applicable. Add mustard till dissolved. Place mixture in crock pot, add broth and cook on high for 6 hours (or 10-12 on low). Once done, mix flour and water until smooth, then slowly add to thicken mixture.
Best served over Egg noodles… mmmmm
|
|
Leave a comment