Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Beef, Beans, and Chard
Monday, March 29, 2021
Black Bean Sauce for Pasta
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion diced
2 or 3 good sized garlic cloves diced
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes (I use Kirkland)
1 15 oz can black beans (also from Costco)
1 teaspoon salt
1 table spoon dried basil
ground black pepper as needed
A couple dashes of Tabasco
Instructions
Dice onion and garlic and saute' in olive oil in a sauce pan
Add the entire contents of the can of black beans into the sauce pan (do not rinse the beans)
Add the can of diced tomatoes and bring to a simmer
Add salt, basil, pepper and tabasco
Simmer the sauce for 20 to 30 minutes.
Serve over pasta.
Optional step: After the pasta has been drained, stir in a quarter of the sauce and cook on low for a minute or two as you mix thoroughly to coat the pasta with sauce. Serve with additional sauce on the pasta.
Saturday, December 26, 2020
Thanksgiving Dinner
This is not really compete but I'm posting anyway. It covers what we did this past Thanksgiving
(revised Jan 26, 2021)
Turkey
Ingredients:
14 lb Turkey
Stuffing (see below)
Cooking bag
Flour
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350F
Rinse turkey thoroughly and dry with paper towel.
Remove and rinse giblets and set aside giblets.
Stuff turkey and place in cooking bag along with giblets and 2 table spoons flours.
Insert digital thermometer in the stuffing prior to sealing the bag.
Poke several holes in the bag with a fork.
Start roasting the turkey at 350F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 F
Roast until the turkey is 180 F, or the stuffing is 165 F (which ever happens last.). Assume about 3 1/2 hours for a stuffed 14 pound turkey. (Note: the 18 pound turkey I cooked several weeks later was also done in 3 1/2 hours. What can I say.)
Stuffing
Ingredients:
8 cups dried white bread cut into cubes
2 cups Mushrooms sliced
2 teaspoons Tarragon
Heaping cup celery
Heaping half cup onion
1 Egg
7 tables spoons butter
1/2 table spoon salt
3 table spoons milk
Instructions
Dice onions and celery keeping them separate.
Place dried bread cups in a large bowl and mix with tarragon salt and pepper.
Sauté onions and mushroom until soft and reduced, add celery and continue to sauté briefly
Mix sautéd vegetables with bread by hand.
Beat egg with milk and add to the bread.
Mix thoroughly by hand.
Place in cavity of turkey.
Remaining stuffing can be baked separately in a covered greased casserole dish. Bake at 325F for 60 minutes or until 165F.
Mix the two batches of stuffing (The portion from the turkey will be very moist. The portion cooked separately will be relatively dry. Mist together they are just right)
Cranberry Sauce
Several versions used. See earlier post for a unique version. Canned cranberry sauce is perfectly OK as well.
Green Bean Casserole
Ingredients:
2 cans of cut green beans
1 can of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup.
1 1/3 cups French's fried onions
Directions:
Follow directions on French's Fried Onions can
Sweet Potatoes (Draft)
can of sweet potatoes
brown sugar
butter
Mashed Potatoes (Draft)
Peal cut into quarters and simmer until soft (usually about 50 minutes)
Mash with butter and cream as prefered.
Gravy (Draft)
Ingredients:
Turkey drippings
Water from boiled potatoes
Corn starch or flour
Instructions:
Draft
Pasta alla Vecchia
We had something like this at a bed and breakfast in Liguria some years back. The recipe makes a main course for two people.
Ingredients
250 grams spaghetti pasta
1+ tablespoon olive oil
Ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive pate'
8 oz cherry or grape tomatoes
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
Directions
Slice tomatoes in halves (if acidic, add a bit of sugar and mix with tomatoes)
Make pasta per package directions
Drain pasta leaving a bit of pasta water and reserve 1 table spoon of pasta water.
Add olive oil and toss until lightly coated
Add olive pate' and mix well.
Mix reserved pasta water with ricotta then add to the spaghetti and mix well.
Add ground pepper and salt.
Serve.
Thursday, December 24, 2020
Another Stir Fry Sauce
I wanted something dark brown and a little thicker. Thick is easy. Just add corn starch.
Ingredients
8oz beef broth or bullion
1/8th cup fish sauce
1/8th cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/8 cup sesame oil
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Ground black pepper as needed
(A little brown sugar would have been a good idea. I add that net me. Maybe a teaspoon.)
Corn starch as needed
3 cloves garlic diced
Any vegetables and/or meat you want (this is a good way of getting rid of odd amounts in the fridge. Just make sure everything is still in good condition.)
Instructions
Add a couple table spoons of oil to a wok and add the diced garlic. Bring up to temperature and brown the garlic slightly. Then add your other vegetables.
While the vegetables are frying.
Add red pepper flakes.
Add ground pepper to your taste.
Mix all the liquid ingredients above into a large measuring cup and stir well. When the vegitables are approaching the desired texture, stir in the liquid sauce and allow it to come up to temperature.
Then added corn starch a bit at a time until the sauce has thickened slightly (a bit viscous but not a paste).
I generally fry meat separately and add it to wok at the end.
Serve over rice or scrambled eggs.
Friday, November 27, 2020
Plum Sauce
Plume Sauce
For use as a glaze for pork or as a sauce for stir-fry.
Ingredients
About 10 plums (prune plums or similar)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions:
Pit and cut up plums
Simmer plums in a sauce pan with a splash of water.
Once the plums are starting to cook down, stir in sugar, salt and cayenne pepper.
Continue to simmer on low until the sauce has the desired constancy.
Let cool and refrigerate until needed.
Sunday, November 15, 2020
Fall Beef, Carrots and Tarragon
Came up with this on a very cold, wet, and extremely windy Nov 15, 2020. Queen Bee said it was one of my best.
1 lb Beef stew meat
1 to 2 table spoons vegetable oil
1 Large onion
4 to 5 Carrots
3 Celery stalks
1 Teaspoon Provence Herbs
1/2 Teaspoon Tarragon
Salt
Pepper
1 Cup hot water with Beef bouillon(or Better tThan Bouillon)
1/2 to 1 cup Sherry
1/2 cup Sour Cream
Instructions:
In an oven safe skillet...
- Slice and brown onion in oil
- While onions are browning, clean and slice carrots and celery into 1/4 inch pieces.
- Remove onions from skillet and add beef. Brown lightly.
- Add onions, carrot, and celery. Continue to sauté for about 5 minutes.
- Add Provence Herbs and Tarragon. Add a paper and salt as desired.
- Add bouillon, cover and place in oven at 350 F.
- Bake for about 2 hours, adding Sherry as needed to maintain liquid. (Check and stir at 20 minute intervals)
- After 2 hours, remove from oven and place on range top. Let cool about 5 minutes, than stir in sour cream. Turn on burner to low for a few minutes while continuing to stir the sour cream into the mixture.
Serve over mashed potatoes or noodles.