Sunday Sup: Lazy Curry

December 18, 2016December 5, 2016 ~ tahenryauthoress ~ Leave a comment

This recipe has been modified so many times I am not sure of it’s original parentage, but I suspect it was a Rachel Ray recipe many, many moons ago. I used to do all my cooking from Rachel Ray recipes. And to be honest she only ever let me down once. That’s a pretty spectacular track record.

So Lazy Curry:

Thinly slice a sweet onion or two if you really like onions. Toss them into a pan with fat of your choice over medium heat.

While the onions caramelize, quarter, then chop a couple of zucchini. Toss them into the pan with the onions, stir everything.

Sometimes I add eggplant. If you want to go that route, dice an eggplant and add that to the pan. It just depends on how lazy I am feeling. I never peel the eggplant first.

When everything is soft and slightly browned, add 2-3 cups of chicken stock. You don’t want soup here, just enough to cook down into a saucy mess. Now stir in 2-3 large tablespoons of Patak’s curry paste. You’ll know how much when you smell it. Now add 2-3 large tablespoons of Patek’s mango chutney. Match the amount of paste you put in. Now a huge handful (or three) of golden raisins. Stir. img_20161129_090134

Add some chopped up chicken. Again I used precooked when I am being super lazy or grill my own when I have a bit more effort to expend.

Stir it occasionally for 5-10 minutes until the chicken is warm and the sauce is thick and rich.

Serve over rice or with naan. Your call.

Sunday Sup: Stuffed Chicken

December 4, 2016November 24, 2016 ~ tahenryauthoress ~ Leave a comment

I don’t know where I got the idea for this one. It was definitely one of those “what’s in the house?” moments. Where I throw various things together and hope it tastes good. What you never do that? Liar. LOL
Next week’s recipe will be another “What’s in the house?” recipe and it happens to make an excellent side dish for this one.

Stuffed Chicken wrapped in Bacon

Start the oven pre-heating to 425.

Mince a couple of shallots. Add them to some EVOO in a medium skillet over medium ish heat. Roughly chop some mushrooms, I like Crimini, add those to the pan as well. Stir occasionally.

Microwave half a bag of frozen chopped spinach, or a box one, until the frozen is mostly knocked off. Add to the shallots and mushrooms until the mixture gets wet and then dry again. Continue to stir occasionally.

In the mean time butterfly your chicken breasts, four of them. If you know how skip to the next item, if not read on. Lay the chicken breast on the cutting board flat side down. Grab the little flap and cut into it slowly from the inside out so that when you are done the flap is still attached to the breast but lays flat on the cutting board. Now you should have a big obvious mound. Cut from the middle out, dividing it in half so that when you are done, that piece is still connected but lays flat.

If the veggies aren’t dry yet, get down a baking dish, spray with oil, I like EVOO. Get out a package of bacon, open it, and loosen up the pieces.

Ok turn the heat off the veg. Add goat cheese to the pan, to your taste. I like it cheesy, so I add 5-6 ounces of goat cheese. Stir the cheese around until it melts slightly from the residual heat and you get a gooey mess. You don’t want it so melted it starts to separate or is hard to handle because next you’ll be putting it in those chicken breasts.

Get your assembly ready. Grab a chicken breast in one hand, put a spoonful of filling in the middle. Flop the chicken over on itself to make a chicken “taco.” Wrap the taco in two slices of bacon. Nestle it down into the pan. Sorry about the pic, I don’t have an assistant and somehow having only two hands wasn’t enough. LOL

Slide the pan into the oven for 35 minutes.

Then up it to broil, high, for five more minutes so your bacon gets crispy. Now I’m hungry again.

Sunday Sup: Potato Leek Gratin

November 27, 2016November 14, 2016 ~ tahenryauthoress ~ Leave a comment

This is another recipe with uncertain origins. I found it on my recipe shelf, scribbled on a note card. I am sure I got it somewhere sometime. It’s one of the hubs fave things. But even he recognizes that more than a couple of times a year is too much.

Potato Leek Gratin

Preheat your oven to 400.

Butter a nice medium bordering on large casserole dish.

Start a large pot of water to boil.

Peel and cube 3 large russet potatoes. Throw them in the water as you go even if it’s not boiling. Keep an eye on the pot though, you only want to par boil, 2-3 minutes at most.

In the mean time, crescent two medium-large leeks. Rinse thoroughly. Melt 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat. Add the leeks. Stir occasionally until softened.

The potatoes probably need draining now. Drain them and toss them into the buttered dish.

Now that the leeks are soft, turn the heat down to halfway to LO, add 2 tbsp flour. If you’re going gluten free I like tapioca starch for this recipe, it gives a nice thick sauce. Stir until incorporated and a little cooked, 2-3 minutes.

Turn the heat back to medium and slowly add 2 cups half and half while stirring. Once incorporated you can change to stirring occasionally. Bring to a boil, slightly lower heat to maintain a simmer for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Add 1/2 c Parmesan cheese, 1 c shredded Gouda, 2 tbsp Dijon mustard. Stir until thick and combined. Pour over potatoes. Top with more shredded Gouda to taste.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, golden brown and yummy.

Sorry about the pic, my FIL was here and the boys totally dug in. My husband was like, “It’s a good thing you made so much steak or I would have totally eaten all the potato stuff.”

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Sunday Sup: Quiche

November 6, 2016October 9, 2016 ~ tahenryauthoress ~ 1 Comment

This is another recipe from my childhood that I have played with over the years. Ham quiche. I don’t make it often, because hello calorie bomb, but every now and then the hubs gives me the big sad eyes and asks if it’s too soon for quiche. LOL. He’s a big man, he can consume a calorie bomb and keep on smiling.

Ham Quiche

Preheat your oven to 375.

Dice a small sweet onion. Toss into a skillet to saute in olive oil.

Chop 6-8 mushrooms depending on size. Add to pan.

Dice some ham steak. Add to pan.

While this all caramelizes a bit, put a couple of store bought pie crusts on a baking sheet. If you’re an over achiever who makes their own pie dough, what the heck are you doing at my site reading how to make quiche? Post your own superior recipe in the comments. LOL

Where was I? Oh yes, crusts on a sheet. Take a 1/4 of a block of cream cheese and squish it up semi flat. Lay the pieces in the bottom of a pie crust, sprinkle with a mix of shredded cheese. Repeat with the other crust.

Add Worcestershire sauce to the meat mix in the skillet, give it a good stir to coat the ingredients. Give it a minute then remove from heat. Spoon the meat and veg mixture into the bottom of crusts. Make a nice layer 1 inch thick.

In a medium bowl, crack 5 eggs, add a splash oh half/half, whole milk, or cream. If you have only nonfat milk in your house skip this step and add an extra egg. Whisk til creamy. Pour into a crust. Repeat for the other crust.

Use the other half of the block of cream cheese, divide between the pies, smooshed and laid on top of the egg mixture. Top liberally with more shredded cheese.

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Bake for 50-60 minutes on average. Start checking at 45 to be sure. When the pies are all brown and domed up and a knife stuck in the middle comes out clean, they’re done.

Sunday Sup: Kitchen Sink Peppers

October 30, 2016October 30, 2016 ~ tahenryauthoress ~ 3 Comments

I’m not sure where this one came from initially, but my friend Christine made a version of it for dinner for me once. I super liked it so of course I had to start playing with it.

Kitchen Sink Peppers

Bell Peppers, you need 4-6 of different colors, unless you like your peppers monochromatic, then whatever.

vegetables.

meat.

cheese.

Yep, it’s that easy.

Preheat your oven to 375.

Pull all the odds and ends of veg you have in your fridge out. Chop, peel, etc.

Pull out some ground meat, chicken, beef, pork, sausage, turkey, it doesn’t matter.

Brown the meat with the veg.

Cut your bell peppers in half and scoop out the seeds, rinse and then dry your peppers, otherwise soggy filling, ick.

Grate the cheese of your choice, or use pre-grated. Whatever. I don’t judge.

Sprinkle a pinch of cheese in the bottom of a pepper, add a layer of meat/veg combo, add a layer of cheese and press it all down. Another layer of meat/veg and a final layer of cheese. Squish it all down nice and firm.

Put the stuffed peppers on a parchment lined sheet and bake them until soft. 20-30 minutes. It’s pretty much your call.

I literally use whatever is about.

Italian sausage with carrots and onion, topped with mozzarella.

Ground turkey with mushrooms, spinach, and shallots.
You could even get snazzy: ground lamb with zucchini and goat cheese.

But tonight I had nothing much at all in the house.

So ground beef, onions, frozen spinach, and jalapeno jack cheese. Yummy!

Make yourself at home.

Sunday Sup: Pizza Pasta

October 16, 2016October 1, 2016 ~ tahenryauthoress ~ 3 Comments

This one is actually all mine. LOL. More or less. It came from my fave pizza that I make at MOD. But MOD is expense and I have to drive there and it’s far and I hate traffic and….So this pasta was born.

Chicken Pesto Pasta

I use a lot of “easy” food in this so that it’s a quick go to meal. You could do it all homemade and fresh, if you have the time and desire. I do when I do and when I don’t, I don’t. I’m not giving much in the way of quantity here because a lot of this is to your taste and scales easily. Feel free to add or subtract based on your family’s taste.

Chop bacon into a skillet, brown. (1/2 pound maybe)

Start a pot of water to boil.

While the bacon cooks, thin slice a couple of shallots or a red onion (if using an onion cut your slices in half), chop up some marinated artichoke hearts.

Remove the bacon from the pan. Add the onion of choice. Give it a couple of minutes, then add the artichoke hearts.

While they brown, chop a bag of sliced precooked chicken breast. (1 lb, I get mine at Costco. You can of course use any chicken leftovers you have laying around, or cook some fresh if you have the time.)

When you’re done chopping the chicken, the veggies are probably almost nicely browned, toss in whole roasted garlic cloves(I get mine from Whole Foods). Give it a minute then remove the veggies.

Add the chicken to the pan.

Add pasta to the boiling water. I use Edamame pasta(Gluten free and HIGH protein), which has a short cook time, 3-4 minutes. If your pasta has a long cooking time no sweat. The chicken will wait.

Stir chicken until warm, pour pesto on the chicken until well coated. Again I use Costco Genoa pesto. You can make your own. I rarely do, but then I’m lazy. LOL.

When your img_20160924_151754 pasta is done, drain it and toss it with garlic parm butter. Get it nicely coated. Now add your bacon, pesto covered chicken, and veggies. You can add a little parm cheese to the top if you like.

It’s warm and tasty and makes great left overs. And if I use all the prepared stuff, I can whip this up in 20 minutes.

Sunday Sup: Cheeseburger Pie

October 9, 2016September 25, 2016 ~ tahenryauthoress ~ 1 Comment

In our house there are winter meals and summer meals. But this one, the hubs asks for year round and almost every week. I’m not sure why the obsession but since it’s tasty, warm, and I can make it super low carb for myself with almost no extra effort, I indulge him.

The original comes from Emily Bites but of course I changed it. LOL You can see her version here.

Cheeseburger Pie

Preheat your oven to 375. Spray a pie plate and a couple of additional ramekins with olive oil. (use two pie plates if you got them and no one wants low carb.)

Pour a defrosted bag of hashbrowns (the fam likes the TJs ones the best) into a bowl. Add a three count of olive oil and 6 grinds of sea salt. Mix together with your hands. Press the hashbrowns into the prepared dishes. Leave a couple of small ramekins without hashbrowns for low carb. img_20160923_145104

Plunk them down on a cookie sheet and slide it into the oven. Cook 35 minutes.

Dice a sweet Hawaiian yellow onion, small size and small dice. Saute for five minutes in light olive oil, careful how much oil you use at this stage because when the onions are a little brown you’ll add 1 pound ground beef to the pan. Break up the meat. Add some Worcestershire sauce and McCormick’s Montreal steak seasoning to the pan to taste.

While the meat browns, put a 1/3 c of mayo, 1/4 brown mustard, decent shake of paprika, and one tiny diced pickle into a bowl and stir. Use a big bowl. Dice a tomato or 1/4 a couple of handfuls of grape and cherry tomatoes, toss into the dressing bowl.

When the meat is done browning, let it cool a bit. Just before the oven beeps add the meat to bowl of dressing and tomatoes and stir until well incorporated. Add the mixture to the prepared hashbrown “crusts”. Top with shredded img_20160923_204532 cheese of choice. I’m lazy so I use a pre-shredded four cheese blend. Slide the pan back into the oven for ten minutes.

The boys decimated the pie plate before I could get a pic, so you get the bowl with a wedge removed. LOL

Sunday Sup: Baked Oatmeal

October 2, 2016September 25, 2016 ~ tahenryauthoress ~ 1 Comment

Sometimes I think my kiddo is pretty weird. He doesn’t like much fruit except berries. He LOVES berries. So when I found this recipe on How Sweet It Is, he initially said ick. Peaches.

But then I mentioned I could make it with Blueberries and it was on like donkey kong.

If you want to see the original recipe, click here. What follows is my bastardization…

Baked Blueberry and Cream Oatmeal

Turn your oven to 350, preheat.

Put 1/4 cup of good butter in 2 quart baking dish.

Slide the dish in the oven. Yes. Put it in. All will be well.

Now in a big bowl measure 3 cups oats, 1/2 c coconut or maple sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and a dash of nutmeg. Stir.

In a little bowl whisk together 1 & 1/2 c whole milk, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla (more or less).

Add the wet to the dry.

Add a generous amount of frozen blueberries (raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, or even peaches).

Remember that dish in the oven, yep, check on it. Your butter should be just about melted and your oven should be just about 350 now.

Add the bowl of glop to the butter dish, stir.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden.

My kiddo likes it with whipped cream.

If you compare the two recipes, you’ll notice I change or remove all the cane sugar products. They don’t agree with me.

Sunday Sup: Red Beans

September 25, 2016September 19, 2016 ~ tahenryauthoress ~ 2 Comments

For quite some time now various friends have been after me to write a cook book. I always reply I’d have to call it Other People’s Recipes I Play Around With. LOL. So not happening. So instead I’ll give you this, the Sunday Sup. Once a week I will post a recipe, explanation, and pics of something I made recently. Maybe it will entertain you. Maybe it might even feed you.

Red Beans

This is a bastardization of my mom’s creole red beans and rice recipe. I rarely talk about my mom on here but it has nothing to do with her cooking.

If you have the time, throw a pound of dried kidney beans into a pot of water and let them soak over night. The next day before you start the actual cooking, scoop out the floaters (they’re bad) and dump the water. If your husband demands this recipe at the last minute, you can substitute four cans of kidney beans, rinsed instead.

TO the beans add: img_20160918_140951

-3 large onions (2 giant or 4 medium work just as well) diced. What do I mean by diced. Cut it in half, make 6 slices per half, then 6 slices the other way.

-one green bell pepper, diced

-3 celery stalks, diced

-1 lb andouille sausage, chopped

-2 fat meaty ham hocks (depending on where you live they might be called pork hocks.)

-2 quarts of water.

Bring the mess to a boil, then cover and simmer for 3 hours, stir every 30 minutes. Two hours if you used canned beans.

Mash 1/4-1/3 of the beans against the side of the pot. Cook 45 more minutes.

Add hot sauce to taste. Traditionally this should be Tabasco. Use what you have on hand and to your family’s taste preference. Cook 30 minutes more. img_20160918_170752

When it’s all thick and gooey try to pull the ham hock bones. Mine is less thick because canned beans don’t go starchy enough, still tastes good. Oh, and warn your family it’s impossible to get all the bones so chew carefully.

Serve over rice, traditionally.

But since I ain’t in Lu-si-anna, I serve mine over corn bread.