Tamale Pie

Posted on June 19, 2009 by Veronica

Did you know that Campbell’s has a “Fiesta Nacho Condensed Soup?” I didn’t, until I made my friend, Katy’s, mother’s tamale pie, which calls for it. As soon as I tasted it, I knew I had to try it in other things to have some fun with it.

You know that slightly spicy cheese & tomato dip (I think it’s made with Velveeta & Rotel) that people bring in crockpots to potlucks & serve with tortilla chips? Well, that is what the soup reminds me of! And at 120 calories/half cup–I can guarantee you it’s a calorie bargain compared to the Velveeta dip (you’d get less than half as much Velveeta dip for that many calories).

After making the tamale pie….

I bought a few more cans and made nacho appetizers (which we turned into a meal)….

And then whipped up some nacho tacos (just replace the cheese with the heated soup)

As for the tamale pie, it was very good (everything was good, but this blog is about the pie so I’m concentrating on that). It will definitely be a recurring meal at our dinner table. I’m almost embarrassed to say it’s the best thing I’ve eaten in a few weeks b/c it’s so simple to prepare & doesn’t that sort of mean I’m a bad cook if I can’ t make something from scratch that tastes better? Oh well, I don’t care!

Honestly, I don’t know if the best thing about it is how easy it is to make, how tasty it is, or that it’s Weight Watchers friendly. That’s right, people! You can have a big slice of beefy, cheesy, cornbread topped pie without feeling guilty!!! Now how’s that for a winner?

Tamale Pie

Recipe courtesy of Katy R.
Serves 6

1 lb. lean ground beef (I used bison, so mine was lower in cals than what is stated below)
1 pkg. taco seasoning (or 3 tablespoons homemade)
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can nacho cheese soup
1 can corn, drained
1 box of Jiffy corn bread
1 egg
1/2 cup milk (I used skim)

Brown meat & drain off any fat. Stir in taco seasoning, Rotel tomatoes, and can of corn. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour into 13×9 baking dish that has been coated with cooking spray & spread nacho soup over the beef. Mix Jiffy mix with the egg & milk & spread over the nacho cheese soup. Bake at 425 until cornbread is brown on top, about 15 minutes.

Serve with a salad and you are good to go!!! *Heads up to Moms: this dish is very kid friendly!

Nutrition Facts (prepared with lean ground beef & skim milk)
Per Serving
436 Calories
15.2 g Fat
6.9 g Saturated fat
113 mg Cholesterol
835 mg Sodium
42.9 g Carbohydrates
2.8 g Fiber
12 g Sugar
31 g Protein
*9 Weight Watchers Points

Based on a 2,000 calorie diet, one serving provides
15% Vitamin A
14% Vitamin C
17% Calcium
25% Iron

______________________
Update 7/15/09

I made this again today, but this time added a cup each of quartered and sliced zucchini and yellow summer squash, along with a cup of diced onion. This really bulked up the filling layer and it was no less tasty. There is no end of variations on this recipe, I’m sure–I think beans would be a wonderful addition or even replacement for the meat.

1 Comment

Posted in Lighter Fare, Main Dishes, Mexican and tagged cheese, fiesta, nacho, nachos, Pie, soup, taco, tacos, tamale. Bookmark the permalink.

Brown Sugar Bacon Waffles

Posted on June 14, 2009 by Veronica

I ran across a recipe entitled “Brown Sugar Bacon Waffles” on Joy the Baker’s blog and immediately knew I was going to have to try it. Bacon caramelized with brown sugar and stirred into waffle batter?? Oh yeah, I’m there. But if the title isn’t enough to convince you, I will impart a portion of her blog (which I heartily agree with):

“These waffles need to be made now, tonight, first thing tomorrow morning, or whenever you get hungry… now? They’re that good.”

Brown Sugar Bacon Waffles

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

For the Bacon
10 slices of bacon
1/4 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with non stick cooking spray and line with foil. Arrange bacon in a single layer on the baking sheet. Sprinkle generously with brown sugar. Place in the upper third of the oven and bake until sugar is caramelized and bacon is brown and crispy, about 10 to 15 minutes. (I used some super thick, big bacon slices so I only used five and had to cook them 20 minutes.) Remove from oven. Immediately remove bacon slices using a pair of tongs. Work quickly or they will stick. Place them on a cutting board (not paper towels, they’ll stick!) to cool before chopping. Once cool, chop the bacon into bite size bits and set aside.

For the Waffles

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cups vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups buttermilk

*If you don’t eat bacon, try adding 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon to the batter. Yum!

Set up your waffle iron on a level surface and turn on to preheat.
In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar. Whisk to blend. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, buttermilk and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold. Once almost fully incorporated, add the bacon bits. Stir. Try not to over mix the batter or the waffles will become tough. It’s OK if a few lumps remain in the batter.

Cook according to your waffle machine instructions.

Recipe source: adapted from Joy the Baker

Serve with real maple syrup and strawberries. And a side of fried eggs & more bacon if your cholesterol count could use a little boost.

3 Comments

Posted in Breakfast and tagged bacon, brown sugar, waffles. Bookmark the permalink.

Orange Couscous with Chicken

Posted on June 11, 2009 by Veronica

Although couscous looks like a tiny grain, it’s actually a form of pasta.

Couscous is a primary staple throughout the Maghreb, in much of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. It is also popular in the West African Sahel, in France, Spain, Madeira, in western Sicily’s Province of Trapani, as well as in Greece, Cyprus and other parts of the Middle East. It is particularly popular among Jews of North African descent such as the Berber Jews, and is eaten in many other parts of the world as well.

My first couscous experience was in the traditional Moroccan style. Well, nearly traditional. My friend, Margo, is an American married to a man from Morocco and his sister taught her to make the couscous dish she prepared that night. So as far as I know, the recipe was traditional–but it wasn’t served in quite the traditional way.

In Morocco, the entire meal is put onto a giant platter and plunked down in the middle of the table (table optional, actually!). Then everyone digs in with their fingers. It is quite a sight to behold. These people literally scoop their bare fingers into the food, lick them clean and then put their fingers back in for more. Excuse my squeamish American standards of etiquette & cleanliness, but I can barely tolerate watching this spectacle and I’m not about to participate. Lucky for me, she provided our group with spoons. Have you ever tried eating a chicken leg with a spoon?

But I digress. The experience was unique and I thoroughly enjoyed it so I decided to venture out and buy couscous to incorporate into my own meals.

This one is mostly savory with a little sweet from the oranges. You can save the liquid from the oranges to pour over the top of your dish in case you find you prefer more sweetness (like I do). It may be just my particular taste, but I really enjoy the brightness that the parsley imparts.

Orange Couscous with Chicken
6 Servings

3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water
3 tsp. chicken bouillon granules (or 3 cubes)
6 oz. uncooked whole-wheat couscous
12 oz. shredded cooked chicken breast
1 3/4 cups drained canned mandarin orange sections (about 2 small cans)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

In a large Dutch oven, combine orange juice, water & bouillon; bring to a boil and make sure the bouillon completely dissolves. Remove from heat; stir in the couscous. Cover, let stand 10 minutes.

Add chicken, 1 1/2 cups of the orange sections and the parsley to Dutch oven; stir to combine. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes, until heated through.

To serve, arrange couscous mixture in large serving bowl; garnish with the remaining 1/4 cup orange sections & a bit of parsley. Plonk it on the table and tell everyone to dig in. Or, if you prefer, divide it among six plates that are lined with an optional lettuce leaf and provide forks. I prefer the latter.

Per Serving
243 Calories
2.3 g Fat
.6 g Saturated Fat
48 mg. Cholesterol
66 mg Sodium
32.5 g Carbohydrates
2.2 g Dietary Fiber
9.1 g Sugars
22 g Protein
22% Vitamin A
78% Vitamin C
3% Calcium
8% Iron

If you don’t have access to local chicken that has been raised humanely, you could always make this vegetarian by using Quorn’s Chik’n Tenders or Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Chik’n Strips (both found in the freezer section). To go completely vegetarian, sub veggie bouillon granules as well. KitchenBitch tells me there’s an awesome low-sodium vegetable bouillon called Organic Gourmet.

3 Comments

Posted in Lighter Fare, Main Dishes and tagged chicken, couscous, orange, parsley. Bookmark the permalink.

Fish Tacos

Posted on June 6, 2009 by Veronica

Back when I was preparing to make that Razzcherry Pie, I was browsing other recipes that included both raspberries and cherries in pie filling and ran across this one. Minstrel Boy’s main blog theme is music but he also enjoys cooking (he’s a truffle maker too), so he puts up a recipe every now and again. I questioned his method of refrigerating the pie two hours before baking and that started us chatting a little. He saw my shrimp tacos blog and shared the link to his fish tacos. I am always up for something new and although fish tacos aren’t exactly new to me, I’ve never had one where the fish was fried, or with cabbage, or with ranch dressing (particularly not with a ranch dressing this unique), so I figured I’d try them out. They are the best I’ve had to date, so I thought I spread the word!

To make these tacos, you’ll need

Cod or some other meaty deepwater fish
Buttermilk
Fry coating: I used 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp garlic powder & 1/4 tsp. cayenne whisked together in a shallow bowl–you’ll need more if you’re making lots of fish
Queso fresca, crumbled (I used shredded cheddar b/c I’m a “gringo heathen”–lol)
Shredded cabbage
Diced tomato
Large 5-6″ corn tortillas (I had small ones and couldn’t fit much in them)
Good ranch dressing*
Lime wedges (optional)

Cut your fish into bite-sized chunks and soak them in buttermilk overnight.

Dump a bunch of oil in a skillet–about an inch high–enough to cover the fish once dumped in. While it is heating to 360 degrees, remove your fish from the buttermilk and coat it with the flour mixture. Once the oil is hot, put the fish in and enjoy the delicious smell of fish frying. The fish will cool down the oil, so I turned it back up to high once it was in. It didn’t take long–just a few minutes–remove once the fish is golden brown. Let them drain on a paper towel lined plate. Discard the oil. No need to wipe out the skillet-you’ll be using it again soon.

Stack your tortillas five at a time and wrap in a damp paper towel, then microwave on high for 50 seconds. Take them one at a time and put some fish chunks in, fold it over and put as many as will fit in your skillet. Once the heated side is firm enough to hold it’s shape, turn over and repeat on the other side. Once done, layer on the cheese, shredded cabbage and tomato, then “hose it down” with that good ranch dressing (*recipe below). I also squirted some lime juice over mine and that was wonderful.

Minstrel Boy’s Good Ranch Dressing
1 packet Good Seasons instant Zesty Italian Mix (I used a generic Italian dressing mix)
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup buttermilk
Mix & serve

I served mine with Green Rice & some mixed vegetables. It might sound strange, but this dressing (which is sooo wonderful, by the way–you’ll need to add more buttermilk if you actually intend to use the leftover for dressing b/c it’s thick like dip) tastes really good on top of green rice. Try it! Oh, and we used about three times as much dressing on the tacos as what is pictured–it was that good.

3 Comments

Posted in Main Dishes, Mexican and tagged cabbage, fish, ranch dressing, tacos. Bookmark the permalink.

Green Rice

Posted on June 5, 2009 by Veronica

I do not really like Spanish rice, but I do love Mexican food, so I’m always looking for alternative side dishes to complement my Mexican meals (let me know if you have some!). I started making this green rice about four years ago and every one that has tried it raves about it and immediately tries to figure out what’s in it b/c they’re always expecting broccoli when they look at it and are surprised by the slightly spicy, garlicky & cilantro taste. It is a very nice complement to any Mexican dinner, but I really like to serve it with my creamy chicken enchiladas along with a salad. It does take a while to make, so I usually save it for special occasions or days when I have an extra hour to prepare dinner.

Green Rice pictured with Fish Tacos

GREEN RICE

3 cups fat-free chicken broth or water
2 poblano peppers, stems & seeds removed
1 jalapeno pepper, stem & seeds removed (use latex gloves so your skin doesn’t get burned during handling)
1 bunch (at least 1 cup) chopped fresh cilantro leaves, divided in half
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 onion, finely diced
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 cup brown rice
½ tsp. salt

Combine the broth and peppers in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, and then partially cover and simmer gently over medium to medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Pour the mixture into a food processor or blender*, add 1/2 of the cilantro and process to a smooth puree. Set aside.

Wipe the pan clean, add the oil, and heat over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the rice and cook for 1 minute.

Stir in the warm broth mixture & the salt. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Start checking on it about 30 minutes to make sure there is still enough liquid. There should be enough, but add more broth as needed. Also, the rice will start sticking to the bottom toward the end of cooking so when most of the liquid is absorbed, you’ll have to stir it every few minutes to keep the bottom from scorching. This makes the rice creamy–almost like a risotto in texture. Once the rice is tender, remove from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes, covered. Stir in remaining cilantro and serve.

*Remove the center part of your blender lid before turning it on so that the steam has somewhere to escape once the internal pressure increases. If you don’t do this, your blender lid will blow off & you could be badly burned (as I have on two separate occasions). It works best to start the blender on low and slowly increase the speed, that way nothing sloshes out through the open hole at the top.

3 Comments

Posted in Lighter Fare, Mexican, My Favorites, Side Dishes and tagged cilantro, green, jalapeno, Mexican, pobano, rice. Bookmark the permalink.

PMS Pie

Posted on June 5, 2009 by Veronica

When you start screaming at the pot of water because it hasn’t boiled yet, then start slamming drawers while searching for your pasta server, and eventually start throwing utensils on the kitchen floor and then start grabbing things off the counter with intent to break as many of them as possible…you know it’s time to make this pie. You can tell your friends that it’s Five-Layer Toffee Pie but you and I both know it’s just a cure for PMS.

*Warning: this sucker is RICH so cut into small slivers if you are not actually suffering from PMS. Otherwise, this pie serves one.

PMS Pie (AKA Five-Layer Toffee Pie)

1 store-bought Oreo cookie crust (or make your own)
2 cups dulce de leche*, room temperature
1 (8-oz) container Cool Whip, thawed
1 (8-oz) bag toffee bits (you won’t use the whole bag but you’ll need something to sustain you until the pie is assembled)

Sprinkle some toffee bits over the bottom of the crust, spread the dulce de leche over it, sprinkle on some more toffee, spread on the Cool Whip, and then top it off with more toffee.

It’s best to refrigerate it overnight so that the dulce de leche firms up but if you’re thinking about taking a meat cleaver to the back of your neighbor’s head for parking in front of your driveway again, by all means–dig in immediately!

*You can find dulce de leche on the Mexican foods aisle at your supermarket in a can the size of sweetened condensed milk. If you can not find any, click here for my favorite method for preparing it at home..

3 Comments

Posted in Pie and tagged dulce de leche, Pie, pms, toffee. Bookmark the permalink.

Cake Decorating Competition

Posted on June 2, 2009 by Veronica

I work for the US Postal Service Remote Encoding Center, and this month we’ve officially been open for 15 years. They had no budget to throw a celebration, so they came up with some cute and, in this case, genius ideas to throw one on the cheap.

Today was their birthday cake decorating competition, which totally eliminated the need to buy a celebration cake (there were 5 cakes just for our shift & mine serves 150)! Isn’t that smart? All they had to do was round up some items they got for Christmas and didn’t want and put them in a basket for a prize! Genius.

I started working on my cake last Thursday, going with the idea that immediately came to mind of a three tier cake with a red, white and blue theme since those are the colors in the USPS logo. I started with the topper since it wouldn’t be perishable. I made 30 red, white and blue stars by outlining them with royal frosting on waxed paper & filling them in with color-flow icing. After they dried hard, I hot-glued them to cloth-covered floral wire and bent them into shape to make it look sort of like an explosion or fireworks.

I used 9 boxes of cake mix, 36 eggs, 3 cups oil, 8 lbs powdered sugar and 1 1/2 tubs of shortening to make this cake. It makes me shudder just to think about all that shortening.

Once all 6 cakes were baked (two per tier), I sandwiched each tier together with some of that artery-clogging white frosting and spent almost an entire day trying to get the frosting on the outside as smooth as possible. For me, the frosting is the hardest part. I choose simple decorations and they don’t take long, but it’s really hard for me to get perfectly smooth frosting. I eventually have to beat down my perfectionist tendencies into submission b/c I’ve discovered that the frosting will NEVER be perfectly smooth and even if it is, I will inevitably stick a finger (twenty times) into the frosting after it has been perfected. This time was no exception.

Bottom tier after first icing:

And after the last–as good as it gets:

Once the tiers were as smooth as they were going to get, I let them dry a little in the refrigerator and then brushed edible glitter over the surface. This proved useless b/c after adding the swirlies, you couldn’t even see the glitter. Oh well.

Next was the logo, which I was loathe to do. I am NOT an artist and I always cringe at the part of decorating when it’s time to put a picture on the cake. My usual trick (I trace the picture with clear piping gel onto waxed paper and press that onto the cake, leaving a clear impression which I can trace) didn’t work b/c the glitter created a non-stick surface, so I had to use a toothpick to draw the logo & writing onto the cake. I was NOT going to just go for it with that navy blue frosting bag–that would have been a disaster with nothing to trace! Well, even with my toothpick drawing I didn’t do much better and ended up with this:

After much lamenting and trying to convince myself you really could tell it was an eagle if you looked hard enough, I finally decided to use white to cover up the blue in the places it shouldn’t be–essentially “erasing” my mistakes with white frosting. And to my relief, it came out perfect:

I decided to insert the dowel rods before going any further. Large tier cakes need support, so you insert dowel rods that are even with the surface of the cake to support the cake above, so not all the weight is on the bottom cake. Oh, and I should mention that each tier of cake should be resting on a cardboard circle or the dowel rods won’t do any good–the cake will just sink into them and leaving you with a sort of cake-implosion. The cardboard rests on the dowel rods beneath and supports the cake above.

I measured the length needed by inserting a rod into the middle of the bottom two tiers and marking it with a pencil. Dennis cut them to size and after inserting them around the hole in the middle, I placed rounds of parchment paper over them, slightly smaller than the cake that would be placed on top. This keeps the cardboard from sticking to the cake below it–so the frosting isn’t ruined during serving.

Next I swirled & dotted red onto the bottom, white on the middle and blue on top. (Yes, we did have to empty our shelves to keep the cakes in the fridge–everything went into a cooler or thrown away. I’m so happy the cake’s gone so we can buy groceries!)

Phew! Time to stack them. I put hot glue onto the disposable base and quickly centered the bottom tier over it and let it fall into place. Then I repeated with the other two tiers, minus the hot glue part.

I sharpened a long dowel rod and forced it down through the middle of the entire cake to stabilize it during transport. I left it a little higher than I usually would b/c I intended to cover it so it really didn’t matter. I also covered the cardboard edges beneath the tiers by piping a star border in the corresponding colors.

Then I pushed a hollow plastic dowel rod over the wooden towel rod and let it go all the way down to the bottom of the first cake. This provided a place to stick the “stem” of my star topper.

Next came the tricky part. Transport! My wonderful husband agreed to wake up super early to drive so I could sit in the back seat with the cake. Since the car seat slants toward the back, I rolled up old (clean) towels to provide a flat surface for the cake.

I was barely able to carry it out, it was so heavy. But I did it b/c there’s no way I was going to let anyone else touch my cake.

As you can see, the surface wasn’t QUITE flat, so I had to shove my hand under the back and hold it in an awkward position during the drive.

All highways and roads that I usually take to work are under heavy construction and the thought of using them was enough to give me colonic spasms. Too many curves, too many potholes–and all one lane so that if Dennis went as slow as I wanted him to, our lives would actually be in jeopardy each time we came to a stop b/c surely at least one of those angry people trailing behind us would be willing to put a cap in him just to get him out of the way.

So we took a very convoluted route that was blessedly smooth and only left me screaming “SLOW DOWN!” about five times. Every little bump had my heart jumping into my throat as I watched the cake shudder and wobble and bob up and down–even with me holding it in place and my arm aching with the strain (my left was shoved under the cake and slightly lifting the whole time, while I held the topper in a vase in my right hand to keep it from jostling too much b/c the stars were fairly fragile).

What usually was a 15 minute drive was doubled by the longer route and my insistence that he go 5 mph at every turn. And even then, I was screaming, “DENNIS!” The poor man. I had him just as tense as I was. We were both ecstatic when we finally pulled into the REC parking lot.

Although we brought a flat dolly to bring it inside, once it was in my arms, I was unwilling to set it down–too afraid of what might happen after we’d got it this far–so I carried it all the way into the building and to the break room. My arms & hands were trembling with the effort and with relief once it was safely on the table. I messed up the frosting swirlies a little when I put in the birthday candles b/c I couldn’t stop shaking, but it wasn’t noticeable.

Still shaking, I admired and took pictures of the other cakes.

USPS Jeep Cake

Flip-Flop Cake

Candyland Cake (2nd place)

Computer Cake (3rd Place)–we work on computers all day so this one was really clever and appropriate.

Cake table

For all this effort and stress, I was awarded first place and got to choose from three gift baskets. Two were stuffed with candy and I went with the third labeled “Pamper Yourself” b/c it didn’t look quite as fattening as the others.

I got the book, What About The Big Stuff?, Dove Caramel Chocolates (with Christmas ornaments on the box–yeah, remember what I said about the leftover Christmas junk?), Avon foot lotion, chamomile tea, Warm Sugar Vanilla body lotion (which I believe is one of BBW’s holiday lotions) hot cocoa mixes (yeah, more Christmas leftovers–who drinks/buys cocoa in the summer?) some yummy votive candles, Burt’s Bees cuticle oil, Nifty Nuthouse (it’s a local place) mixed nuts, a luxury eye mask that I just might use b/c it’s sooooo soft, Garnier face-cleansing towelettes and (get this) a bar of soap from a hotel (the Hyatt). I’m not complaining–I love everything and am very grateful–but I just think it’s pretty hilarious how they didn’t try to hide the fact that they were regifting old Christmas rejects (and hotel soap!). I would have at least removed the chocolates from their box and put them in a nifty new container.

Anyway, the real prize–and the only reason I entered the competition–was to win…and I did! So I’m happy. I don’t think I’ll be putting myself through that again, though–I really feel like I’m done with cake decorating. I’m way too anal to bear it. But I like to contradict myself so be watching out for my State Fair cake come fall. ;)

19 Comments

Posted in Cake & Frosting, Tips & Tricks and tagged cake decorating, competition, REC, Remote Encoding Center, tiered cake, tips, USPS. Bookmark the permalink.

Emu Stew

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Veronica

After I posted about the benefits of bison, my friend Erin recommended I try ostrich because, like bison, it is similar in taste to beef but much lower in fat. So I was thrilled to find emu for sale at the farmer’s market last Saturday. Not ostrich, but close enough! Since I already have 3 lbs. of ground bison in the freezer, I opted for the stew meat, which was $6.50 for a pound. I also bought a nice leg bone for Jessie. As you can see, they were also selling the egg shells and they also had the feathers & beauty products made from the rendered fat. I loved that they weren’t wasting any part of the animal.

Since I bought stew meat, I decided to make STEW of all things.

After thawing it out in the fridge, I put the meat into my crockpot from 1980 (seriously, it’s probably older than that) and dumped in all the broth I’d stockpiled in the freezer for the last six months–there was beef, turkey and chicken. I didn’t care–it all went in the same pot. I don’t cook meat a lot and I don’t cook a lot of it at once, so I didn’t have a ton of broth–it all added up to maybe four cups. I chopped up garlic, tarragon and sage from my Dad’s garden and added some fresh rosemary from the farmer’s market, set it on low and let it cook for 24 hours. In a normal crockpot, it would have been done in probably 8 but this is a crazy retro crockpot that cooks on super low and takes forever. Which is a good thing when it comes to low-fat meats like bison and emu–you want to cook them low and slow or they will get tough.

Today, after the meat had cooked 24 hours, I drained the broth off and put it in a stock pot. I turned it on high and dumped in chopped potatoes, carrots, onion & half of my package of baby portabellos with a teaspoon of salt. Oh, and some more fresh herbs–including oregano now that I have it, along with some dried thyme and basil. I forgot I had fresh basil. :(

After that cooked for ten minutes (turning it down to medium once it started to boil), I added in chopped red, green & yellow peppers, the rest of the shrooms, and chopped asparagus. After that cooked five minutes I stirred in some frozen peas, corn & green beans and a can of drained tomatoes. After stirring in the meat, it was time to eat!

I realize most people would have put the veggies in the crockpot along with the meat, but I never do this. I hate it when soup is all one color and looks dreary. I like my vegetables to be colorful and still have some life in them so I never leave the crockpot in charge when it comes to vegetables. With soups/stews, I usually put the slower cooking veggies in first, like potatoes and carrots, and quicker cooking veggies like peppers & tomatoes in at the end. I do cook the onions longer b/c I don’t care if they’re mush–they’re just there for flavor b/c you can’t see them anyway and cooking them longer renders the most flavor. And I divided the mushrooms b/c I wanted the flavor to really infuse the stew so I cooked half longer and half later so that they weren’t as “well done.” I like to add frozen veggies at the end so that they’re cooked with the residual heat of the stew while they’re cooling it down to a more acceptable temperature. The meat goes in last after the burner is off so that the amount of cooking time added to the meat is negligible.

I served the soup with the terrible dinner rolls I made last night. They’re really dense (I added too much flour) so they were perfect for sopping up the broth. It was the best stew I have ever had and I seriously couldn’t tell I wasn’t eating beef. Neither could Dennis. Slow-cooking made it perfectly tender, and we loved all the flavor-packed vegetables and the herbalicious aroma.

With all the vegetables I added, this made enough stew for six big servings, which is really stretching that pound of meat and making it worth every cent! Plus, preparing it the way I described, will give you a huge bowl for 271 calories! Now that’s the kind of meal I SHOULD be eating on a regular basis.

5 Comments

Posted in Lighter Fare, Soups & Stews and tagged emu, stew. Bookmark the permalink.

Fresh Corn Chowder

Posted on May 24, 2009 by Veronica

Take advantage of the abundant fresh corn available and cook up a double batch of this delicious chowder, freezing half for a simple meal this chilly fall or winter.

Fresh Corn Chowder
Serves 6

8 medium-sized ears of corn
4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken broth
2 medium-size red skin potatoes (about 3/4 pound), cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 tsp minced fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Cut kernels from 4 ears of corn (about 3 cups of kernels); set aside. Working over a bowl, grate remaining 4 ears of corn on the large holes of a box grater. Scrape pulp from cobs (about 3/4 cup) using the dull side of a knife; set aside.

2. In a large pot over medium-high heat, cook bacon for about 6 minutes or until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper-towel-lined plate.

3. Add onion to pot and cook for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until golden brown. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add flour and stir constantly for 2 minutes.

4. Whisk in chicken broth. Add potatoes, thyme, milk and grated corn and pulp. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Using a potato masher, press down on the chowder about ten times.

5. Add whole corn kernels, bacon and heavy cream and cook an additional 5 minutes or until corn is tender but still crunchy. Stir in salt and pepper. Ladle chowder into bowls. Top each serving with 1/4 cup shredded cheddar.

Honey Bun Cake

Posted on May 21, 2009 by Veronica

It’s the height of spring here in Kansas and today was our warmest yet, 84 degrees. I had the day off for a routine doctor appointment so I got to enjoy a bit of the sunlight today, and had enough time to try out a few of the recipes I’ve gotten from fellow foodies.

Since I had a bit more time in the morning than I usually do, I actually cooked breakfast rather than dumping it into a bowl. I chose to make the French Toast that my friend, Kimberly, posted on MySpace (you can get it here), which has brown sugar and nutmeg in the batter with cinnamon sprinkled on top. It was delish! Next time I will add vanilla and possibly some orange zest. I love French Toast!

French Toast with melted butter (ate it as soon as the syrup was on):

I stopped at my Mom and Dad’s house to drop off some eggs (I have a local supplier) and Dad was out back so I went to go see what he was up to. He had just picked some garlic and was cleaning it off to give to his girls (I’ve got two sisters). Like how he’s labeled for easier identification?

Dad loves to be outdoors and chat, especially now that he’s not working, so he kept me there as long as he could, showing me around his “garden.” I put that in quotes b/c it’s not a traditional garden, by far. In any case, I was glad to stay, glad to feel the sun, glad to smell the herbs & weeds and soil, glad to spend some time with my father for no particular reason. (He had a stroke last October, leaving him without the ability to read, and although I visit once or twice a week–it’s usually b/c I have to fill his medicine container, read to him and pay his bills….Mom doesn’t do any of this b/c…well, she’s a long story.)

Here’s what I meant when I said his isn’t a traditional garden. In this photo, there are so many things to notice that you really don’t see anything.

This is his garden–a mishmash of scattered herbs, dead poppies, weeds, grass, all lined with concrete blocks with toilet lids & rocks on top and a compost pile in front.

I asked him to show me where his garlic was and he pointed to about seven different places. I thought the funniest one was amongst the iris. You probably can’t see it, but the tops are thinner than the iris leaves.

He also has comfrey, which you can make tea with to help heal broken bones (I used this when I broke my tailbone):

Horseradish (the big leaves behind all the grass, garlic & various weeds)

A goji plant (he says he’s the only one in KS that has one but I wouldn’t believe him unless he actually had to travel to China to get it)

And, thinking of our dinner tonight, I picked some tarragon:

And some sage:

I had a good chuckle over the “volunteer” squash and broccoli plants that had cropped up in Dad’s old compost pile (right next to the new one–ewwww!)

Here’s a close-up of the broccoli

And over what Dad considered “lawn decorations,” like the toilet tank lids (some broken) and his seashell collection in the bowl of an antique sink.

I call him “Alta reincarnate” when I see stuff like this b/c his mother (Alta) would never throw anything away and used a lot of crazy stuff like this to decorate with (including plastic soda bottles). He’s also got an old cement mixer & toilet in his yard. I do like these huge chunks of glass, though:

Oh yeah, and laughed a little over the lamb’s quarters too:

Apparently this is just a weed but can be eaten. He didn’t plant them, they just sprung up as weeds do, but since he’s got so much Alta in him, he’s going to eat them b/c otherwise it would be “wasting” (wasting weeds!?!). Oh no, I just realized I do the same thing with food–I can’t waste it! It’s in my blood! But I don’t know if I’d be eating weeds.

On the way home, I stopped at Food For Thought for some local ground bison. The Whole Foods by us ran out and hasn’t had it for a while (it’s just a local store, not a part of the big chain) so I took advantage of being uptown to stop at the health-food store I grew up with. It started out in this rinky dink little place (where it says Central Food Mart)

And then moved across the street to this larger location (though probably still laughably small by big-city standards).

I didn’t take many pictures, but this is an adorable store with lots of fascinating things for sale–they’re not just about the vitamins and gluten-free products. I liked this one, though I managed to refrain from purchasing (I prefer poking my enemies with real pins):

Here’s their organic produce section.

I headed home with four pounds of bison and actually took time to prepare myself a decent (late) lunch rather than slapping a sandwich together. I had a Morningstar Farms Hickory Barbecue Riblet (it’s actually meatless) with what has become my new favorite side dish–green bean salad (recipe here).

Instead of making my own vinaigrette, I just use Kraft Sundried Tomato Vinaigrette and sprinkle on some dried basil. It might not be as delicious as originally intended, but I love it. And I love the riblets too–they’re the bomb. They have a really meaty texture and are kind of like shredded brisket that has been compacted.

I’ve been wanting to make Tucky‘s Honey Bun Cake ever since she posted her Mom’s recipe for it on a bulletin, but I haven’t had the time until today. I headed out to get some sour cream and then whipped it up into two shallow pans b/c I wanted to keep one and give the other away. Doing it this way, there wasn’t quite enough batter to cover the filling layer, but it still worked out and baked up nicely.

For dinner, I made Sweet Bacon Chicken Wraps (recipe here) using my friend Kim‘s idea of leaving the breasts whole and adding in herbs between the chicken and bacon (and then I couldn’t help sprinkling it over the top too). This is where Dad’s sage & tarragon came into play, and I also added some basil and rosemary.

If I hadn’t used fake chicken breasts, this would have probably killed me, but I only suffered a mild aneurysm. Thank goodness for fake poultry! This was so incredible, it’s almost enough to make me try it with real chicken. Brown sugar and chili pepper on bacon-wrapped chicken–what could be wrong with that?! And if you’re wondering why I would bother using fake chicken if I’m going to use real bacon, then you’ll have to ask b/c I don’t feel like getting into it (and you are probably better off staying out of my head, anyway).

As good as dinner was, we could hardly wait to clear the table for dessert–the sweet cinnamon smell was calling to us!!!! I served up two therapeutic-sized slices and we gobbled it up in silence–the only sounds being our forks scraping the plates. Then we both looked at the rest of the cake and then looked at each other. And smiled. I nodded and served us up another slice. Then the cake seemed to be a little bit crooked so we evened it up with a thin sliver. And then another. The cake is more than half gone now, but I’m consoling myself with the fact that if I’d made the cake in one pan, only a quarter of it would be gone. Is there something wrong with me for thinking that a quarter of a cake isn’t that much? :)

All in all, a very nice & relaxed day (even the Dr. visit wasn’t bad–he was very happy that I’ve lost 15 pounds–and we parted with our usual hug) and the cake was…well, the frosting on the cake (though it might have undone some of my weight loss efforts)! To make the ending as sweet for you as it was for us, I’ll leave you with the Honeybun Cake recipe, compliments of Tucky & her dear Mother.

Honey Bun Cake

BATTER:

1 box yellow cake mix
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 (8-oz) container sour cream
MIX WELL

FILLING:
1 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon
MIX WELL

ICING:
1/2 cup milk
3 cups powdered sugar
MIX WELL WITH MIXER

TO PREPARE:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×13 pan. Pour HALF the batter into the pan and sprinkle with filling. Pour remaining batter on top and bake at 350 degrees for 40 min. While cake is hot, poke holes in the top of the cake with a fork and then pour & spread icing onto the cake. Chill and serve!

*Veronica’s Notes: I used two disposable 12.25×8.13×1.13 pans and divided everything between them. I did double the icing, but that wasn’t necessary. Also, I served it at room temperature and it was delicious. I’m chilling it now to see if it’s better that way b/c I think the cake is still in need of some trimming.