Starches

Brussels Sprouts & Cauliflower Gratin

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Why is it that when I post something other than desserts I feel like I am becoming a health nut? It’s not that I don’t ever cook veggies or salads, but it just isn’t as much fun to read about Brussels Sprouts or Cauliflower as it is chocolate, cream cheese, whipping cream or brownies, unless you are truly a Veggie Tales fan! But for all you folks out there that think that you have to get all of your veggie servings in every day, maybe this recipe will make you smile. I hope it does, after I post it, I am going to finish baking chocolate chip cookies for us to munch on tonight while we watch Black Lists…hum…should we snack on Cauliflower or cookies? Get my point?

4 cups fresh cauliflowers’

4 cups fresh Brussels sprouts, quartered

4 bacon strips, chopped

1 large sweet onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 cups milk

2/3 cup half & half cream

1 teas salt

1/4 teas pepper

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan & Romano cheese blend

Place cauliflower and sprouts in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Cove and cook for 2 to 3 minutes crisp-tender; drain.

In a large skillet cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain reserving the bacon drippings.

Sauté the onion and garlic in drippings until onion is tender. Stir in flour until blended and whisk in milk, cream, salt and pepper stirring so gravy does not form lumps. Bring to a low boil and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Stir in cauliflower and sprouts which have been drained. Then stir in bacon. Transfer to a greased baking dish. Cover and bake in preheated 375 oven or 15 minutes. Combine bread crumbs and cheese. Uncover veggies and sprinkle cheese-bread crumb mixture over top and bake uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Soups

Potato Bean Stew

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When a friend of mine called the other day to tell me how great this soup was, I almost didn’t even write the ingredients down, as it sounded like something that I probably would never make. How glad I did. She found the recipe from Trisha Yearwood’s website. She had made it and said it was delish!  When I told Randy the ingredients, he informed me that I could make it, but he would just pick out the lima beans. I did just make it and Randy didn’t pick out anything. In fact, he kept saying, “this is really good, I’m glad you made it.” So here it is. It makes a great cool weather meal with cornbread!

5 small red potatoes, peeled and chopped in small pieces

2 carrots, pealed and slices

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tables olive oil

1/2 small purple onion, diced

1 can Rotel Mild Tomatoes & Green Chilies

1/2 of a 16 oz bag of frozen lima beans

1 (32 oz) box chicken broth or vegetable broth

1 (14.75 oz) can cream style corn

In a Dutch oven, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is tender. Add rest of ingredients and add salt and pepper to taste. Place in preheated 350 oven and bake for 2 hours or until potatoes and carrots are tender.

Chicken · Soups

King Ranch Chicken Soup

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Windows are open, more apple cakes are in the oven and looking through the newly delivered Southern Living magazine, this soup caught my eye. Our adult kids love King Ranch Casserole, but never thought about transforming it into a soup. Thank you Southern Living, that’s why we love you!

2 tables butter

1 cup chopped yellow onion

1 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

2 (10 3/4 oz) cans diced tomatoes and green chiles

1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of mushroom soup

1 (same size) can cream of chicken soup

5 cups chicken broth

1 (1 1/2 to 2 lb) whole deli-roasted chicken, skin removed and meat shredded

1 teas dried oregano

1 teas ground cumin

1 teas chile powder

8 ((6 inch) fajita size CORN tortillas, cut into 1/2 inch strips and then halved *(I like mine fried crisp in a little oil instead of leaving them soft, which if you do this, you can do this by frying the strips in hot oil and drain on paper towel while soup is cooking before adding at the end)

Garnish: salt, shredded cheese and cilantro

Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions and peppers and sauté 6-7 minutes or until tender.

Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Stir in diced tomatoes, cream of mushroom soup and cream of chicken soup; combine thoroughly. Stir in broth and next 4 ingredients.

Still on medium-high heat, cook until soup is begging to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, about  minutes. Stir in tortilla strips and simmer  2 more minutes. Add salt to taste and garnish as desired.

makes about 4 quarts

Cakes · Chocolate

Moulton Chocolate Cakes

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These great little custard cup chocolate lava cakes are the easiest to prepare and every time I serve them, people are so excited to be eating something that tastes like they get when visiting a great steak house dessert. I didn’t remember to take a picture before serving them last night to friends, but the empty plates told me that they loved them!

4 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate (I had a bar of bittersweet chocolate and used that and they turned out awesome)

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 tables red wine (I used orange chello as I didn’t have red wine last night)

1 teas vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

6 tables flour

1/4 teas cinnamon

Powdered sugar or ice cream for topping

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Grease 4 custard cups

Microwave chocolate and butter for 1 minute and then stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in wine (or any liquor flavor you might like, even amaretto is good),vanilla and powdered sugar. Whisk in eggs and yolk. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spoon evenly into cups and place on a baking tray. Bake in preheated oven for about 14 minutes. Centers will still be a little soft and jiggly. Loosen edges and turn out onto plates and sprinkle with powdered sugar or top with ice cream.

*It is so easy to use a big cookie dough scoop to fill the custard cups

Salads

La Orange Grande Brussels Sprouts Salad

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While living in Pasadena, CA (and every time we go back to visit), I had to go to La Orange Grande and have this salad. The other day, I began to think that maybe it could be found on-line and so it was. This salad is just the best. For those of you who think you don’t like Brussels sprouts, think again, people eat this without knowing they are eating Brussels Sprouts. The flavor is so mild and the cheese, cranberries and almonds just take it over the top. At the restaurant, they always ask if you want crumbled bacon on top…do they really need to ask?

Mustard Vinaigrette:

2 tables honey

1 1/2 tables Champagne vinegar

1 tables fresh lemon juice with pulp

1 1/2 teas lemon zest

1 1/2 teas whole grain mustard, more as desired

1 1/2 teas minced garlic

3/4 cup light olive oil

Sea Salt & pepper

Salad
1 pound Brussels sprouts

1 tables dried cranberries

1 tables dried blueberries

2 tables toasted whole almonds, preferably California or Spanish Marcona (which I get at Costco)

3 tables mustard vinaigrette

1 ounce Manchego cheese, shaved using a peeler

Make the dressing:

In a large bowl, whisk together the honey, vinegar, lemon juice and zest, mustard and garlic. Continue whisking while slowly drizzling in the olive oil until the oil is thoroughly incorporated. Season to taste with the salt and pepper, and brighten the dressing as desired with a little extra mustard and vinegar. Chill well before using. This makes about 1 cup of dressing , which is more than needed for this salad recipe but stays great in fridge, covered for a week.

Salad

Peel the leaves from the Brussels sprouts, discarding the core. In a large pot of boiling water, blanch the Brussels sprouts leaves just until they are a vibrant green and barely tender. Drain immediately and place in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking of the leaves. Drain and dry well. You should have about 3 cups of leaves.

In a large bowl, toss the sprouts, cranberries, blueberries, almonds and just enough of the vinaigrette to lightly moisten

Mount the salad on a plate and top with the cheese shavings. Top with crumbled crisp fried bacon if desired.. I desire!

Serve immediately!

*Courtesy of the LA Times and La Grande Orange Cafe

Daily Thoughts

Whistle While You Work

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This is probably one of the saddest days of my life. After going to the Texas State Fair yesterday, which happened to be “Seniors Get in Free Day”, it just went downhill from there. As we walked in the gates of the Fair, some young whipper snapper handed both Randy and I a “get in free” ticket, without even asking if we were seniors! How dare he! How does he know that maybe I just wasn’t able to get in all my beauty rest, which would account for the bags under my eyes? Maybe, just maybe, I am prematurely gray and maybe, I might still be carrying some of the baby fat that accumulated while pregnant. Just because we walked in with a camera around our necks, wearing our matching Hawaiian shirts, does not mean that we should automatically be considered “seniors”. I could just not leave this alone. After walking around for 3 hours at the fair in 96 degree weather, both of us were totally worn out. But if we left now, our kids and friends would all think, “poor things, they are getting old, they just couldn’t hack the heat and all the walking, so they didn’t even stay long enough to justify the $15 parking” So I made Randy find us a seat in a shady area and told him that we were going to sit there for a couple of hours and not give our kids the satisfaction that they were right when they all told us that we needed to wait for it to cool down and then possibly think about renting one of those little scooters. They would never know that we sat the entire last 2 hours we were there. Besides, we hadn’t had a chance to people watch lately, and my, what our eyes beheld. More body piercings, tattoos and fat ladies wearing patterned leggings that one should have to see in a 5 hour period. But we did acknowledge on the way home that maybe, we have finally grown up a little and find other things a little more fun now, rather than walking around the State Fair, eating food that raises our cholesterol count to a number that is higher than our bank account savings; things like sitting in an air conditioned movie theatre eating popcorn. Or maybe sitting in our lazy boy recliners watching Blacklist. After all, our feet don’t hurt at all after those activities.

After returning home, I remembered that I had a doctor appointment this morning and it was in a building that is located right behind our house. This morning I told Randy that I will see if my feet still work after yesterdays excursion and will walk to the Doctor’s office. After he picked himself off the floor, he handed me the insurance cards and said, “go for it”. I did. Feeling pretty spiffy and good about myself walking instead of driving, I looked over to the building being constructed that I would have to walk by and thought to myself, “oh this is good, I know what happens when ladies walk by construction workers, and this will be so good for my ego.” So I put a spring in my step and get my cell phone out to help me look cool and start walking past when it happened.

Nothing! Not one whistle. So thinking that maybe they were just busy, I slowed down just to be sure they saw me, but nothing. Not one whistle. As I walk through the door of the dermatologist, I think  to myself that he will have a positive word telling me that my skin looks pretty good for 65, causing my head to swell, just a bit. But the only thing the little 15 year old Dr said, was, “you know at your age, you really should be checked every year”

I hand the kindergartner receptionist  my Medicare Care and walk out. OK, I bet the construction workers have had their coffee break by now and are really awake, so I walk by expecting some whistles. All I can say is they are the most dedicated brick layers I have ever seen. Not one head turned, I thought surely allowing my music on my cell phone would draw a little attention, but I guess guys aren’t into Barry Manilow. I would have settled for one of them whistling a song,

Note to self, stay away from State Fairs, Dermatologist and construction sites, they are not good for my self-confidence!

Think I will confine my activities to dark movie theatres, where it’s too dark to see the wrinkles and bags under the eyes and funerals, where if you are alive, you are looking good!

So

Meats · Soups

Green Chile Beef Vegetable Soup

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I cooked lunch for a meeting today. Thinking that maybe, just maybe it might be cooler weather, I planned on making a pot of soup. But as the day dawned, it became apparent that it was going to be in the 90’s. Was too late to change the menu, so soup it was. We were just going to have to turn down the air conditioning and pretend that we lived up north and because it was Oct, it should be cool. The soup ended up really so good and all of the ladies absolutely loved it. It is just a little different than most veggie soups because of the added green chile enchilada sauce that is added.

1 package of thinly sliced round steak, cut into tiny cubes

1 large can (about 20 oz) crushed tomatoes

1 small can of mild green chile enchilada sauce

1 small can mild green chiles

1 can Rotel Tomatoes with chiles, mild

1 onion, chopped

1 cup of chopped celery

2 green bell peppers

1 bag of cubed butternut squash

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 cup of chopped carrots

1 can cut green beans, drained (not French style)

2 cups cabbage, chopped small

1 small zucchini, cubed

1 small yellow squash, cubed

1 regular size can of navy beans, drained

2 teas chopped garlic

1 regular size can of beef broth

1 to 2 cups water

In 2 table olive oil, brown chopped beef with onion until all meat is browned. Add the celery and bell pepper, salt and pepper to taste along with the garlic. Saute the mixture until the onions, celery and pepper is softened. Add all of the tomatoes, enchilada sauce, green chiles and broth. Add all the rest of the ingredients, except water.  You can add more water if needed if it cooks down more than you would want. I used about 1 cup of water. Season to taste with salt and pepper and cook in crock pot on low all night or in a heavy pot in oven for about 3 hours at 325, or until all the veggies are tender and sauce is a little thick.

Served this with green chile cornbread and fresh apple cake. Was a great lunch!

for the cornbread, I used a package of Martha White yellow corn bread mix and just added a small can of mild green chiles,1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese and made them into muffins. The fresh apple cake is on the blog!

Daily Thoughts

Decorating With Shams

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Attended a ladies luncheon today which was just like being in a tea room! The hosts’ home was decorated to the hilt with candles which she had painted in Mod Podge and then rolled in cinnamon or ground coffee beans. She had found quilted pillow shams which she used as table runners. When the ladies were going around admiring all the Fall décor, we began to ask her about the table runners which held such beautiful Fall decorations. Her response was such a great idea to keep in mind. When she goes to Home Goods, Dillards or other stores which carry linens, she goes to the clearance aisle. When they have shams which don’t have a pair, they are always marked down really low and she buys them to use as table decorations. What a great idea. Below are pictures of how she used them and what a awesome way to display seasonal decorations.

The food was amazing and the sweet time of fellowship with the 9 ladies gave us all a wonderful memory to take with us before a most busy time of year begins. Thank you Ms Perfect Host and thanks for so many great decorating ideas!2015-10-13 12.58.182015-10-13 12.59.36

Desserts · Holiday Fare

Pie From Paula… Salted Caramel Pecan Pie

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Is it any wonder why one item on my bucket lists is to meet Paula Deen? She continues to give out these great recipes that just make you drool when you read the ingredients. I don’t know if I will ever get to meet her, but will continue to make her recipes, just in case I do, I want to be able to tell her how many of her recipes became some of my favorites. This one is at the top of the list. Taken from my new Cooking with Paula magazine*

*2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup butter

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 teas sea salt

1 pie crust (I have to deviate just a bit on this item) She calls for refrigerated pie crusts. If you don’t make your own, buy the box of Betty Crocker pie crust mix. It is $2.09 and makes two crusts. All you do is add water to the mix and roll out. It is really so simple and they are so much better than refrigerated. Trust me on this!

3 large eggs

2 cups pecan halves

In a large skillet, stir together sugar, 1/2 cup water and corn syrup. Cook, without stirring, over medium-high heat for 8 minutes.or until mixture turns a deep honey color. Immediately remove from heat, and stir in butter until melted. Gradually stir in cream and salt until mixture is smooth. Pour mixture into a medium bowl and let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350.

On a lightly floured surface, roll crust to a 14: circle. Transfer crust to a 9″ pie place, pressing into bottom and up sides. Fold edges under and crimp as desired. Whisk eggs into cooled sugar mixture until well combined and stir in pecans. Pour pecan mixture into crust.

Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until center is set. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Daily Thoughts

A Southern Sunday Afternoon in Wylie, TX

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This morning after church we decided to go on an adventure. A friend of ours has just bought a house in Wylie and had told us that we needed to go explore the historic downtown area and eat at one of their restaurants. So that is exactly what we did. We came home, changed clothes, put on flip flops and headed to Wylie, Texas. What a charming little town it is. We decided to stop in at the Ballard Street Café. Oh my goodness, what a place.  I have to tell you that, the chicken fried gravy with mashed potatoes, green beans, vegetable beef soup was well, hum…how do I say this, “it put Babe’s Restaurant to shame.” Seriously, it was just awesome. Their biscuits are Angel biscuits, made with yeast and as light as a biscuit could be. They even had peach jam and sweet tea to die for.

The minute we walked in the door, everyone began to stare at us, as we were about the only ones in there that didn’t know everyone, but the waitress called us honey and we immediately felt at home. She brought us sweet tea and checked on us as if we had been at a 5 star restaurant. Peter Pumpkin ordered eggs, gravy and chicken fried steak with biscuits. He was in heaven. We have found out place. As we sat outside on the bench waiting to hear our name called to be seated, the wind was gently blowing and the shade made us feel that we were in Mayberry! There are two other restaurants there that we are now excited about going back and trying, an Italian one and one with a huge porch with a swing to wait until you can get a table. That one is called, A Taste of Home! What a great little community. It was so great to see people sitting around tables, just coming in from church. We could tell, because they had their ironed blue jeans and fancy boots on. No one was texting or on their phones. Since I wanted to fit in, I only pulled my phone out once to check us in on Facebook! Didn’t have the nerve to take a picture of my chicken fried steak, would have made me look like an outsider. So we decided to just take the memory with us and plan on our next visit out when we won’t eat so much that we can’t order a piece of their homemade (made fresh daily) pies! Was a lovely afternoon and have a great new place to take friends or family coming in for a Texas visit. We have both decided that when we go back, we will go in boots, not flip flops, allowing us to look a little more like “town folk”!

A great little Sunday afternoon adventure!