Jenny's Beef???

Jenny (non meat eating daughter) sent this recipe today

It sounds wonderful

Rump Roast

We had this for dinner tonight. I don't eat the meat, but the veggies and juice was sooo good over rice. Easy to make:

Combine 2 cups water, 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup vineger, 1/2 cup soy sauce, salt, pepper, ginger, celery salt, garlic powder. Pour over rump roast in crockpot. Add lots of veggies (broccolli flowers, celery, baby carrots, mushrooms).

Cook on low about 8 hours.

Serve over rice.

We had this meal with some corn on the cob and french bread.

Yummy!

Easy Mexican Fiesta

We went all out for a Cinco de Mayo theme night this week and it was a hit! I made some cheesy chicken enchiladas and spanish rice and served it with refried beans and homemade quacamole. My new trick for making chicken recipes fast and easy is to have a stash of shredded chicken in the freezer. I buy the Costco rotisserie chickens and shred the chicken as soon as I get it home and keep in frozen in freezer bags.



Chicken Enchiladas

3 chicken breasts cooked and shredded

4 oz can green chilies

1 can green chili enchilada sauce

2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese

8 oz lowfat cream cheese

8 10" tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix chicken, cream cheese, chilies and 1 cup of the cheese in a bowl.

Divide the mixture onto the tortillas and roll up and set in 9 x 13 baking dish.

Pour enchilada sauce over the top and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake 30-45 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Spanish Rice

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups medium grain rice
4 cups chicken stock
1 heaping Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp salt

Brown rice in olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook until onions are softened.
Add stock, tomato paste and salt and stir until combined. Simmer until rice is cooked through. Turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes.
*check the instructions on the rice package for the proportions of liquid to rice and make sure you use the proper amount of stock.

Dutch pancakes

There is a special pancake place we go to every time we are in Suriname called Panekoken and Poffertjes - two kinds of special Dutch pancakes.

We love them!

I noticed this pan on the Williams Sonoma website for another type of Dutch pancake - called Ebelskiver. It looks so fun, especially for kiddies.

Has anyone ever tried them?

Addictive Tomato Soup

"My new favorite addictive taste"

That was Dad's response to this easy soup I put together tonight

There's no exact recipe

Here's what I did:

Sauteed in olive oil: half a large onion, a small pepper and three cloves of garlic - all chopped.

While cooking, added hot pepper flakes (generous pinch), dried basil (about 1/2 tsp) and dried oregano (about 1/4 tsp).



Poured in 2 cans chopped tomatoes and 1 can chicken broth





Added pepper to taste plus a couple teaspoons sugar (I used brown)

Simmered 15-20 minutes

Took off heat and stirred in 1/2 cup cream

Simmered 15 to 20 minutes

Ate with crusty fermented european bread (I'll post that recipe someday)

Cook Yourself Thin

I flipped on the TV today and came across a new cooking show - Cook Yourself Thin. It's kind of fun.

They feature someone who wants to lose some weight and revamp some of their favorite high calorie recipes.

Today they made over spaghetti carbonara taking it from about 1500 calories to 600 or so. I've never made that because of the scary raw eggs but it looked yummy.

They used bacon instead of the ham - sauteed it first, removed the oil and left the drippings, and then used olive oil to saute the onions.

Home Baked Hamburger Buns

We whipped these buns up for a farewell hamburger feast with the Staleys when they visited last January. We can get Omaha burger patties here in Trinidad.

I don't think I have ever had a better tasting hamburger.

This is from the old Betty Crocker's Breads Cookbook, 1974 (the book cost $2.50)

The recipe is actually for Double Quick Dinner Rolls (also very good). I used the hamburger bun variation.

1 pkg instant yeast
1 cup warm water
2 Tbs sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg
2 Tbs softened shortening (or butter or oil)
2 1/4 cups flour

Mix yeast, sugar and salt into 1 cup flour. Add egg, shortening and water. Mix until smooth. Stir in rest of flour and mix until smooth. Let rise until double (about 30 mins). Stir down and spoon into 12 greased muffin cups, fulling each about 1/2 full. Let rise until batter reaches top of cups. Bake 400 for 15 minutes

Makes 1 dozen rolls

Hamburger Bun variation

Increase flour to 2 3/4 cups. After stirring down batter, turn out unto floured surface. Divide in 12 equal parts. Shape each part into a smooth ball. Place about 1 inch apart on greased baking sheet. Let rise until double (20-30 mins). Beat 1 egg yold and 1 Tbs water slightly; brush over buns (opt). Sprinkle with finely chopped onion, sesame seed or poppy seed (opt). Bake as directed.

Cheap and Easy

Time magazine gives six ideas for gourmet family meals for under $10

Check it out here

Sunday night soup and bread

Who needs more than this?

Chicken Vegetable Soup




Honey Whole Wheat Bread




And a chunk of Edam cheese



Recipes:

Chicken Vegetable Soup

See this earlier blog post - but I skipped the tomatoes and green beans


Honey Whole Wheat Bread

2 pkg instant yeast
2 tsp salt (or less)
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 to 4 cups white flour
2 cups warm water
1/4 cup soft butter

Put 2 cups ww flour, salt and yeast in mixer bowl (easiest if you have a mixer with a dough hook). Mix dry ingredients. Poor in warm water. Add butter. Mix until smooth. Add remaining cup of ww flour and white flour until dough forms a sticky ball. Either mix with dough hook or turn unto counter and knead until smooth and elastic. Let rise until double. Punch down. Form into two loaves and place in greased bread pans. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until golden and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pans and cool on a rack.