Food Friday and let’s have Nachos!

English: Nachos as served on a Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise in New York, New York, USA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This seems to be a must at all parties held in the Southwest.  For some reason, if this cheese sauce is not available, the party seems to be lacking.When I was a teenager in the 70′s (oops), I had always assumed Chile con Queso meant the chili beans you put on a hot dog with some cheese sauce.  I learned years later that chili meant beans with meat and chile meant exactly that—spicy peppers.

To all you Texans–no, I’m not from New York City…

1 (32 ounce) block of a Processed Pasteurized Cheese, (again, it does not have to be name brand).

Butter

1 small onion, peeled and finely diced

1 small tomato, washed and finely diced

5 Jalapeño peppers or a similarly spicy pepper

Milk

Stem and wash the chile peppers, then finely dice the peppers.  Finely dice the onion and the tomato and add to the Jalapeño peppers.

Chop the Processed Pasteurized cheese into 1×1 inch squares.  Place the cheese into a crock-pot, which has been set to low heat.  Add approximately 1 cup of milk to the cheese.  Stir and cover the crock-pot.

In a heavy skillet on low heat, melt a tablespoon of butter.  Add the finely diced Jalapeño peppers, the tomato, and the onion.  Lightly sauté until the onion becomes transparent and the Jalapeño peppers (if you use those) become a dull olive green.  Pour the ingredients of the skillet, with the butter, into the crock-pot.  Stir until well mixed and cover.

Check on the cheese sauce roughly every 1/2 hour, stirring, until the cheese is melted and creamy.  Keep the cheese on warm until serving time, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.  Keep an eye on the cheese sauce because it will burn around the edges of the pot.

All depending on how you like your cheese sauce, you may add more milk to taste.  Stir before serving.  Serve hot with tostadas or corn chips.

This should feed a small army and you can always make a bowl without the peppers for the kids.

This is another simple family recipe from Gather Around My Table, available at:  http://www.amazon.com/Gather-Around-My-Table-ebook/dp/B007XY8J8Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339445379&sr=8-1&keywords=gather+around+my+table

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Food Friday and what’s on your weekend menu?

There’s a point during the year where I’m tired of the heat and want the cold to come, then the opposite happens during the winter.  The spring season has been beautiful this year, our winter has been minimal, at the heat is a welcome change from the chill.

Besides celebrating my granddaughters (yes, 2 girls!) who have birthdays this weekend, I’m up for making something cool and refreshing for the dinner table.  This particular recipe is one of my family’s favorites:

Shrimp and Crabmeat Salad

2 pound cooked, deveined shrimp

1-pound lump crabmeat

1/2 cup chopped avocado

1/8 cup minced onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-teaspoon parsley

1-tablespoon cocktail sauce or hot sauce

1-cup mayonnaise

1-teaspoon lemon or limejuice

1 head of lettuce, washed and shredded into bit size pieces

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together.  Chill for 2 hours, serves about 15 people.

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It’s Food Friday!

Image via Wikipedia

I salute all of you that are braving the freezing temperatures back East and hope sunshine will be soon headed your way.  I thought I would share with you a recipe that is frugal and satisfying for the entire family.

When the weather is cold, I enjoy serving a delicious and hot plate of Spaghetti for the family.  I tweaked this recipe a few years ago, while learning to stretch a few pounds of hamburger while on a strict budget.  It can still bring down the house, and is simple to make with basic ingredients most of us have in our pantry.

3 lbs lean ground hamburger meat or lean ground turkey

3 washed, peeled and diced carrots

3 washed, trimmed and diced celery

2 Tablespoon of chopped garlic

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

Cook the meat on low heat in a large Dutch oven, crumbling the meat as it browns.  While the meat cooks, wash and finely dice the carrots, celery, and onion.  When the meat longer pink, drain the excess oil and add the chopped carrots, celery, onion and garlic.  Cover and continue to cook on low heat for a half hour or until vegetables become soft.

Then add:

2 cans tomato paste

2 Tablespoon powdered chicken bouillon

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 Tablespoons of dried Italian seasoning

Garlic Powder

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups of water

Stir the tomato paste, chicken bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, garlic, salt, and pepper into the ground beef mixture.  Slowly add 2 cups of water, stirring well to blend everything, then cover.  Continue to cook, covered, for four hours on a very low simmer.  Stir the meat sauce occasionally to prevent scorching and to incorporate the flavors.  (This can also be done in a crock-pot set on low for six to eight hours)

After the allotted time has passed, sauté in a separate pan:

1 Tablespoon of butter, melted

2 Tablespoons of flour

Stir until the mixture resembles a fine paste, and then slowly add:

2 cups of water

Continue stirring on medium-low heat until the mixture comes to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook at a slow simmer for 3 minutes.  This flour and water sauce will thicken to the consistency of a thick gravy.

Slowly add the gravy like mixture to simmering spaghetti sauce.  Stir continuously until the mixture is well blended and begins to thicken, and then stir for an extra two minutes.

Simmer the spaghetti sauce, stirring occasionally, for an additional half-hour.

Season to taste again before serving over pasta.  Serve with salad and a good, fresh French bread and a salad.

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Food Friday and Roasted Potatoes are on the menu

Image via Wikipedia

I love a simple recipe, one where I can cook everything without pulling out any more pots than necessary.  This is one of those delicious sides that can be thrown in the oven with the pork roast!

Roasted Potatoes and Vegetables

Ingredients

 

2 lbs potatoes–boiled until fork tender but NOT SOFT

1 green, yellow, and red pepper–washed, stemmed, seeded, and diced
1 onion–diced
3 Tablespoons minced garlic

1 Tbsp dried Italian seasoning
5 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp butter, melted
Salt and pepper to taste

(For a side note–occasionally I add chopped bits of precooked carrot to this!)

Pre-heat oven to 350ºF.

Peel potatoes.  Cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

Mix potatoes, green peppers, and onion in mixing bowl.  Add oil, garlic, italian seasoning, salt and pepper.  Toss to coat thoroughly.

Arrange mixture in a single layer in a casserole dish or cookie sheet. 

Bake for 30-45 minutes

Serve immediately.

 

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Food Friday and who wants to eat chocolate cake with me?

Image by motti82 via Flickr

In January, my husband and I went for our physicals.  The news wasn’t good–to say the least.  I found out I have high blood pressure and cholestrol(the hereditary one) that would kill most people, he’s diabetic and needed to lose 75 lbs.   So, with our new medical conditions in mind, we both went on a diet. Salads, portions of meat the size of the palm of your hand, no sugar, no sweets, and no soda of any kind.  Fine, I believed we could do this together…

The DH has done great–in the last 3 months, he’s lost 30 lbs. He doesn’t have cravings, he sleeps like a baby, and he proudly shows me how much weight he’s lost every time he steps on the scale.

I’ve lost 5 lbs.  I’m miserable, cranky,  and  feel like I’m dying. 

Dieting is the ugliest word in the English language.  I hate this diet–I’ve spent decades refining my bad eating habits, which I learned from my parents. Cream cheese and bacon will cure everything that ails you, and a creme filled pastry is God’s way of saying the world is good.

 I’m having dreams of everything I’ve denied myself, and I swear that it is interfering with my weight loss! **grin**

 I dream of Krispy Kreme donuts, smothered in chocolate and filled with whipping cream;I long for a good greasy burger, loaded with fried onions and mayonnaise, the bun toasted in the burgers oil;Dairy Queen–give me one of everything! Subway–your Spicy Italian whispers seductive words to me every time I drive by the store!  I’m beginning to feel like a Gabriel Iglesias joke–you know the one where his girlfriend says ‘talk dirty to me, Gabriel’ and he whispers in his sweet voice….chocolate cake….. (If you don’t know who Gabriel Iglesias is, check him out on YouTube!)

Speaking of chocolate cake–here’s one for today that is delicious, decadent, and oh-so-naughty!

Double Fudge Coke Cake

1 cup Coke (no diet soda here!)

1/2 cup of oil

1 stick of butter

3 Tbsp. cocoa

2 cups of sugar

2 cups of all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup of buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

In a sauce Pan, Bring soda, Oil, butter, and cocoa to a boil, mix the sugar, flour and salt.

Pour in the boiling liquid and beat well. Add the eggs, Buttermilk, soda, and vanilla and beat well. Pour into a greased and floured sheet cake pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Frosting

1/4 lb. of butter

3 Tbsp. of cocoa

6 Tbsp.  milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 to 1 C. chopped walnuts

1 lb. confectioners sugar

In a saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa, and milk, and heat until the butter melts, Beat in the remaining ingredients, and Spread on the hot cake and cut.

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Food Friday and we’ve done gone Cajun

Image by jeffreyw via Flickr

As everyone knows, I’m counting down the days until Mardi Gras.  (It’s just around the corner!)

I love the wonderful food from Louisiana and the wonderful ambience that is found in that beautiful state, and today’s delight is something  you’ll all love:

Red Beans and Sausage: 

2 lbs of red kidney beans, picked over, and washed

1 large onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 Tbsp. Minced garlic

1 lb chorizo or other spicy sausage, chopped

1 lb bacon, diced

1 bay leaf

Salt, pepper to taste

 

When ready to prepare, add everything but the sausage to the pot and cover with water.  Beans must stay covered with water during the entire cooking process.  Bring to a low boil, stirring, and then reduce the temperature to a low simmer and cover.  Cook for about 2 hours, and do remember to check the beans for enough water, and stir.

When tender, mash 1 cup of the cooked beans and return the mixture to the pot.  (This will thicken the pot juices) 

Season with salt and pepper, add the sausage, and heat until the sausage is cooked through.

Don’t make this too watery or too thick!

Serve over steamed rice.

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Food Friday and—are you ready for Mardi Gras?

Image by The Marmot via Flickr

For me, the first sign that spring is in the air is the start of Mardi Gras.  Happening on March 8th this year, I’m all in gear for great food from that beautiful state, as well as some toe tapping music.  For the next few Fridays, the recipes will come from the gorgeous state of Louisiana, to get everyone in gear for the season.

Just to perk things up, I’ve added some New Orleans heat for those of my friends that are still stuck in the cold.

Jamabalaya

2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts—cut into 1 inch cubes

2 lbs. chorizo sausage or equally spicy sausage, sliced

1 lbs. of kielbasa, cut into slices

1 (28 ounce) can petit diced tomatoes with juice

2 stemmed, washed, and diced jalepenos or substitute one can of Ro-Tel

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 large onion, chopped

1 c. of Spicy V-8

2 large green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped

1 c. chopped celery

1 c. chicken boullion

2 tsp. dried oregano

2 tsp. dried parsley

2 tsp. Tony Chachere’s Cajun seasoning

1 tsp. hot sauce

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

2 lbs frozen cooked shrimp without tails

Directions

In a crockpot,  mix the chicken, chorizo, kielbasa, tomatoes and juice, the V-8,  jalepenos,  onion, green bell pepper, celery, and broth. Season with oregano, parsley, Cajun seasoning, hot sauce, pepper, and thyme.

2.Cover, and cook for 8 hours on Low, or 4 hours on High. Stir in the shrimp during the last 30 minutes of cook time.

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