Hamburgers & French Fries

Sacred cows make the best hamburger.
~Mark Twain

I just grilled up some burgers tonight.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

It makes me mad when I go to all the trouble of having Marta cook up about a hundred drumsticks, then the guy at Marineland says, "You can't throw chicken to the dolphins. They eat fish." Sure they eat fish, if that's all you give them. Man, wise up.
~A Deep Thought, by Jack Handey

This is quick to prepare, but because it has such a nice French name, it seems like haute cuisine. I used Healthy Choice Deli smoked ham slices wrapped around the swiss cheese - wrapping the cheese up tightly keeps it in the chicken instead of it leaking out.

The Recipe

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
12 pieces thin-sliced ham
4 slices swiss cheese
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375
Slice chicken breasts almost in half and pat dry
Beat the eggs in a bowl big enough to put the chicken pieces in
Mix the bread crumbs, cheese, and salt and pepper (to taste) in a container large enough to put the chicken pieces in
Put 3 slices ham and 1 slice swiss cheese into each breast and close back up
Dip the breasts one at a time into the eggs drenching both sides
Place them in the bread crumb mixture, coating generously
Cook uncovered in oven safe dish for 45 minutes

Served with:
Forbidden Rice (a.k.a. Black Rice, the Emperor's Rice)
Blanched fresh Broccoli Florets

Ratings
***1/2 Seconds on everything. Favorite element: Forbidden Rice
**** Went for seconds on the chicken. Favorite element: Blanched broccoli
*** YUM! Chicken!

My notes: I'm not crazy about the black rice (I'm such a peasant!). I've tried preparing it 2 different ways and am just not convinced that it's better than good old basmati.

Random Post to Address Dieting

Why Blog about meals?

So far, I'm not losing any weight...

...but I'm not using the right pencil either ;-)

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.
~Erma Bombeck

Good food, good wine, good company. I love Thanksgiving! I have been cooking thanksgiving dinner for 17 years or so, with a few years excepted for various reasons. It is my favorite holiday - it reminds me how much I have to be thankful for :-) Most of the family comes for dinner. Here are some pics:

The Menu:

Turkey
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Cranberry Relish
Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Bean Casserole
Creamed Corn
Dinner Rolls

I stuffed and cooked a 23# bird (Butterball) - it was just enough for our crowd of 13. The stuffing was traditional herb with some chopped onion and celery - prepared with chicken broth and butter.

Mashed potatoes, I boiled apprx 15# of potatoes and mashed them with butter and heavy cream, salt and pepper (yes, if you want the most delicious mashed potatoes, you have to use cream and real butter.)

Mom brought the cranberry relish, made with cranberries, orange, sugar, and a secret ingredient.

Sweet potato casserole - yams mashed with orange juice, brown sugar and walnuts, topped with marshmallows.

Green bean casserole - french style green beans, cream of celery soup, topped with french fried onions.

It was delicious!

Spaghetti & Meat Bulbs - Quick and Tasty

Those who forget the pasta are condemned to reheat it.
~Anonymous

A quick and easy dinner tonight because I spent most of the day prepping what I could for tomorrow's big dinner, cleaning my good dishes, polishing the silver, shopping for last minute items etc. Thanks Mom for all your help!

I call it spaghetti and meat bulbs because that is what Ryan used to call meat balls when he was a wee one. It was sooooo CUTE, I've always said it ever since.

The Recipe

Ingredients:
1# Spaghetti noodles
A jar of Barilla Pasta sauce
15 frozen meatballs
Grated parmesan and mozarella cheese
Preparation:
Add spaghetti to boiling water
Boil 10-12 to desired consistency
Heat the meatballs in a pan over medium heat, or in the microwave
Drain noodles and return to pot
Add pasta sauce, meatballs, and cheese
Stir over low heat far about 5 minutes

Serve with 5 cheese Texas toast and fresh greens salad

Round Steak

The only time to eat diet food is while you are waiting for the steak to cook.
~Julia Child

Quick and easy dinner tonight - beef and potatoes. The guys all like a bit of beef from time to time, so I try to indulge them ... from time to time.

The Recipe

Ingredients:
1 good size round steak
1 onion
3-4 potatoes
Several baby carrots
Salt & Pepper (to taste)
Worcestershire sauce
Thyme

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375
Place round steak in an oven safe pan
Splash a few times with worcestershire sauce and sprinkle with thyme
Peel and slice the onion and put in a layer over steak
Cut the potatoes into large pieces and tuck into the pan around the steak
Tuck the carrots in too
Salt and pepper
Add about 1/3 cup of water
Cover with foil and cook for 35-40 minutes
Remove foil and cook for another 10-15 minutes

My notes: I like to use the baby carrots because they are already peeled and are the right size. We call them care-OTTES.

Saturday Night Sampler Platter

The first law of dietetics seems to be: if it tastes good, it's bad for you.
~Isaac Asimov

Sometimes, when dining out, I'll order the sampler platter from the appetizer selection. It's always a nice selection of tasty sounding food and usually more filling than anything else on the menu. The appetizers at most restaurants are deep fried - yes, that makes them tasty, but it also makes them much of a sameness. I only fried the (pre-packaged) cheese sticks tonight. The wings were prepared in three styles so as to suit all tastes.

The Recipes

Chicken Wings - 3 Styles
Ingredients:
3 lbs chicken drumettes
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup melted butter
Worcestershire Sauce
Tabasco
Cayenne Pepper
Salt and pepper
Your favorite barbecue sauce

Preparation for 3 different Chicken Wings:
Hot Wings:
Mix 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup white vinegar, 1/4 cup melted butter, 3 generous splashes Worcestershire Sauce, 2 splashes Tabasco (more or less to taste), 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less to taste), 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper
Marinate chicken drumettes in this mixture for 1 hour.

Hot Barbecue Wings:
Mix 1/3 cup favorite barbecue sauce, 1/4 cup white vinegar, 2 splashes Tabasco (more or less to taste), 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)

Barbecue Wings:
1/2 cup your favorite barbecue sauce

Preparation for ALL Wings:
Place drumettes (including the marinated hot wings) on a cookie sheet and BROIL for 12 minutes
Remove wings from broiler, re-heat oven to 350 degrees
Place drumettes in oven-safe pans
Cover 1/3 (the marinated) wings with the rest of the marinade
Cover 1/3 with the hot barbecue sauce
Cover 1/3 with (plain) your favorite barbecue sauce
Bake for 25-30 minutes

Serve with celery and bleu cheese dressing

Olives:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup fresh large green olives (pitted, no pimento)
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
1/3 cup Olive Oil
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp basil
Garlic (to taste)
Preparation:
In a saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat
Add garlic, pepper, thyme, and basil to oil and stir until you can smell the wonderful aroma
Add olives and sauté for 5 minutes

Cheese Sticks
Prepare according to package instructions (I fried these in vegetable oil, but oven cooked is also good for this type of pre-packaged food stuff).

My notes: The wings were great - texture was perfect! Could have used more heat, though. It's hard to sample the hotness when vinegar is in play - next time I make wings I will add the vinegar last so that I can assess the heat of the wings more accurately. I wasn't sure about the olives when I started, but ... YUMMY!

I also served parmesan bread sticks with the platter.

Food Thoughts

Bear in mind that you should conduct yourself in life as at a feast.
~Epictetus

Friday is pizza night (recipe here) so no new recipe today.

Thanksgiving! It's my favorite holiday. I cook a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner for the whole fam.

This is a very funny commercial:

Maple Bacon Bake

He who goes to bed hungry dreams of pancakes.
~Proverb

The Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups Bisquick
1 tbsp sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup maple syrup (Or Miz Butterworth's)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
8-10 slices cooked bacon crumbled into pieces
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Mix the Bisquick, sugar, eggs, milk, syrup, and 1/2 the cheese in a mixing bowl

Bake in 13x9 inch pan in 450 degree oven for 15 minutes
Take out of oven and sprinkle the rest of the cheese and the bacon on top
Return to oven and bake for 5 minutes
Cut in slices and eat like a pancake (add butter and syrup)

Taco Night!

You know how I feel about tacos. It's the only food shaped like a smile.
~Danielle Sanchez

Taco dinner tonight. Not much re: 'gredients and prep. I use taco seasoning packets to spice the meat, pre-packaged shells and tortillas...

Chicken and ground beef, soft and hard taco shells. Toppings: shredded cheddar cheese, salsa, tomato, avocado, lettuce, black olives, sour cream, jalapeno peppers.


No ratings for this Dinner Tonight - everyone loves tacos, especially with the options of chicken or beef, soft or crisp, top as you like.

For this dinner, and aprx 90% of any other recipe I blog that includes chicken, I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I pick them up at Costco - 99% fat free, no hormones, no preservatives. They are packed 2 chicken breasts/pack in lots of 6, very reasonably priced.

Fried Chicken, Red Beans & Rice

If God grants me longer life, I will see to it that no peasant in my kingdom will lack the means to have a chicken in the pot every Sunday.
~Henri IV of France

I don't usually fry chicken but I came across a recipe over the weekend that is based on Popeyes secret recipe. I'm not a huge fan of most fast foods, but I always liked Popeyes and have not lived near one for over five years. So I decided to give the recipe a try. Please note: the recipe calls for a cut up fryer but I used boneless skinless breasts.

The Recipes

Fried Chicken
Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
6 cups vegetable oil
2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp white pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp paprika
3 eggs
Preparation:
Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium heat
Combine the flour, pepper, salt, and paprika in a shallow dish
Beat the eggs into another shallow dish
Check the oil temp by dropping a pinch of the flour mixture into it - if it sounds and looks like it's frying, the oil is ready
Dip the chicken breasts first into the eggs and then into the flour mixture (coat generously)
Place the chicken into the oil (CAREFUL!) and fry for 20-25 minutes until it is a deep golden brown
Use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken and place it on several sheets of paper towel

Red Beans & Rice
Ingredients:
Lrg can of Progresso Red Beans (19 oz)
1 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
4 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
3-4 cups cooked white rice
Preparation:
Heat the beans over medium heat in a pot
Add the pepper, paprika, butter, salt, and garlic powder
Use a fork to smoosh the beans against the side of the pot
Let beans come to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently
Remove from heat
Add rice to beans

Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter (soft)
1 tbsp sugar
1 egg
6 tbsp buttermilk
2 tbsp club soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups biscuit mix
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Mix all the ingredients
Knead until smooth
Turn out dough on floured surface
Pat into 1" thickness
Cut into biscuits (about 2" diameter)
Place on greased cookie sheet
Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown

Serve with cole slaw, salad, or cooked greens

Ratings
**** Chicken is very good, save some red beans and rice for lunch tomorrow
***1/2 had seconds on chicken and biscuits
*** YUM! Chicken!
(dinner guest) **** Everything tastes so good!

My notes: The chicken was really good. I will use this method for frying again. The red beans and rice was okay, but not as good as my regular recipe starting with dry beans. The buttermilk biscuits were ta-asty! I'm thinking of making them for Thanksgiving if they taste as good after being refrigerated for one or two days.

PIZZA Night!!

“Believe it or not, Americans eat 75 acres of pizza a day.”
~ Boyd Matson

Friday is pizza night at our house. I make it myself - it's much better than frozen or or delivery. It isn't a long and involved process, I use a pre-mixed crust and a jar of pizza sauce, but I know all the ingredients are fresh, and it is not greasy like delivery pizza. I use fairly high quality mozzarella cheese and fresh grated parmesan, and that makes a real difference. (When I downgrade the cheese, everyone still likes the pizza, but they don't rave about it.)

The Recipe (makes 2 12" pizzas)

Ingredients:
3 boxes of Jiffy pizza crust mix
1 1/2 cups hot water
Olive oil
1 jar of pizza sauce
1/3 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
3-4 cups grated mozzarella
3/4 cups grated cheddar
Toppings (I usually make one pepperoni and one cheese pizza)
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425
Mix the crust mix and water and let "rise" for 7 minutes
Grease 2 12" pizza pans with olive oil
Knead the dough about 15-20 times and divide in half
Press the halves evenly into the pizza pans (I pour a little olive oil on so the dough doesn't stick to my hands, plus the olive oil on the crust prevents the sauce from making the crust soggy)
Sprinkle crust with parmesan cheese
Put in the oven for about 5 minutes
Take out the crusts one at a time
Use 1/2 of the sauce, and cheese on each one, and add any of your other favorite pizza toppings
Return to 425 oven for about 12-15 minutes until cheese is melted and lightly browned

Ratings:
***** Everyone loves pizza night!

My notes: You will get spoiled if you start making your own pizza at home instead of ordering out - it really is better. Plus, it's not really that much effort if you use the shortcuts that I use. Special Plus - EASY CLEAN UP!

No Recipe Tonight

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.
~J. R. R. Tolkien

We are having warmed up potato soup :-)

Here is some food news for thought instead:

New York's $25,000 dessert sets Guinness record

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A day after New York City came up with a $1,000 bagel, a local restaurateur unveiled a $25,000 chocolate sundae on Wednesday, setting a Guinness world record for the most expensive dessert.

Stephen Bruce, owner of Serendipity 3, partnered with luxury jeweler Euphoria New York to create the "Frrozen Haute Chocolate," a blend of 28 cocoas, including 14 of the most expensive and exotic from around the globe.

The dessert, spelled with two Rs, is infused with 5 grams (0.2 ounces) of edible 23-karat gold and served in a goblet lined with edible gold. At the base of the goblet is an 18-karat gold bracelet with 1 carat of white diamonds. The sundae is topped with whipped cream covered with more gold and a side of La Madeline au Truffle from Knipschildt Chocolatier, which sells for $2,600 a pound.

It is eaten with a gold spoon decorated with white and chocolate-colored diamonds, which can also be taken home.
More

Quiche - 2 Variations

How you spell quiche?
Well you don't spell it son, you eat it!
~from the movie Sixteen Candles

Quiche Lorraine is a classic French recipe, from the Lorraine area of France. It has become popular throughout France and the world. There are many variations on the basic idea. Tonight, we had two.

The Recipe
Quiche
Ingredients:
2 deep dish pie crusts (I use frozen)
8 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
8 oz shredded swiss cheese
4 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp ground mustard
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Splash of worcestershire sauce
Salt & pepper to taste
8 slices cooked bacon, crushed into small bits
1 large sliced tomato
1/2 tsp basil
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400
Bake frozen pie crusts for 12-14 minutes, until light brown
Reduce oven temp to 350
Whisk eggs, milk, salt, pepper, mustard, worcestershire sauce, and cayenne pepper in large mixing bowl
Stir in cheese, and bacon
Add half of mixture to one pie crust
Put the sliced tomatoes in a layer on the bottom of the other pie crust and sprinkle with the basil
Pour the remaining mixture on top
Place both quiches on a large cookie sheet and bake for 40-45 minutes

Serve with:
Salad of fresh greens

Ratings:
***1/2 - very tasty
*** - like the bacon quiche, not the tomato quiche
*** 1/2 - doesn't like the crust
(dinner guest) **** - very good

My notes: you can't go wrong with all this good cheese!

Honey Pork Chops & Apple Sauce

“There is poetry in a pork chop to a hungry man.”
~Philip Gibbs (NY Times 1951)

The sprouts and apples I used in preparing this dinner were the last fresh produce from the local Farmers Market. The Market runs on Sundays from May until October and I try to pick up my produce for the week there. I like to shop local when possible, and you cannot beat the great taste of truly fresh fruits and veggies!

The Recipes

Pork Chops
Ingredients:
Boneless pork chops (1/serving)
Honey
Salt & pepper to taste
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375
Arrange pork chops in a shallow glass pan
Salt and pepper to taste
Drizzle honey over the chops
Bake for 30-40 minutes depending on the thickness of the meat

Apple Sauce
Ingredients:
6 medium size apples
Apple crisp mix (available at the grocery store)
1 stick butter
Preparation:
Peel apples and slice into bite-size pieces
Layer into a shallow glass pan
Sprinkle generously (or less generously as you prefer) with apple crisp mix
Slice butter evenly over the top
Put it in the oven where it can cook right alongside the pork chops (about 25 minutes)

Sides
Fresh brussel sprouts (boiled for about 5 minutes) with butter melted on them
White rice (I usually make rice in the microwave)
French bread

Ratings:
*** -good overall.
*** - thought the apple sauce needed to cook longer, but overall a very tasty meal.
** - finally tried the apple sauce and thought it was like dessert.

My notes: Pork and apples always go well together, so the meal was a success. Rice is a good side for this meal. The brussel sprouts were delicious! I think next time I do oven baked chops I will add some ginger and maybe some grated orange rind or lemon juice with the honey to liven up the flavor a bit.

Remember, Remember, The Fifth of November - Potato Soup

"I live on good soup, not on fine words."
~Moliere

In England in 1605, a plot was hatched to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Guy Fawkes, Britain's most notorious traitor was caught and confessed to the "Gunpowder Plot." Ever since, bonfire night has been an English tradition.

Hot food and drink is customary - baked potatoes (delicious if cooked in the embers of the fire), treacle toffee and toffee apples, and drinks of hot soup and cocoa.

This year, we celebrated The Fifth of November American Style.









The recipe

Leek & Potato Soup

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
3 leeks
8 cups water
8 chicken bouillon cubes
8 (good-sized) potatoes
2 carrots
2 stalks celery hearts
3/4 cup heavy cream

Preparation:
Peel the potatoes
In a big soup pot: melt butter over medium heat
Slice leeks thinly (about 3/4" into green) and sauté in butter
Add water and bouillon and bring to a boil
Add potatoes, carrots and celery hearts
Cover and simmer for 1 hour
Remove from heat and blend until smooth
Stir in cream

This is a ***** family favorite - even Cordell likes my potato soup :-)

My notes: This soup is even better on the second day (warm over medium heat without bringing to a boil). It can also be served cold (vichyssoise).