I usually just boil my sprouts and cover them with butter and lemon juice, but I thought I'd try something differen: roasted ones.
You'll need:
Brussel Sprouts (enough for two servings or however many you want, it really doesn't matter how much)
Salt (to taste, I like half a teaspoon, nice and salty!)
Pepper (1/8 teaspoon or however much you like)
Juice of one lemon
1 TBS butter or olive oil (or any other kind of oil/fat you prefer)
Wash and trim the brussel sprouts, then put them in an oven safe dish for baking, I used my cast iron skillet.
Add salt, pepper, and butter, put it all in the oven at 350 degrees Farenheit for about five minutes, then give it a good stir to coat the sprouts well. Bake for about 20-25 more minutes until the sprouts start to get a bit crispy and are cooked, put a fork in one to see if it's tender crisp if you're not sure.
Enjoy!
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Easter Dinner
Stuffed Chicken
Broccoli with Cheddar Cheese Sauce
Mashed Potatoes
Stuffed Chicken:
One whole roasting chicken
1/2 loaf of bread for stuffing, cut into cubes (see bread recipe below)
1 carrot, chopped fine
1 tsp sage
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup cranberries
Mix the bread cubes, water, butter, cranberries and spices in a bowl, then stuff into chicken's cavity.
Put in pan, or on a cookie sheet, it doesn't matter in an oven at 350 for an hour and a half or two, depending on the size of your bird, and yes, use a meat thermometer!!! It must be 180 degrees Farenheit to be safely cooked to eat. Put the meat thermometer into where the stuffing is, and I also check the temperature by the thigh bone, too.
This takes about 10 minutes at most to prepare, there's really no excuse not to cook at home from scratch!
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
BREAD:
2 tsp yeast
2 TBS sugar
1 cup warm water/room temperature
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 TBS butter or olive oil
I confess, I use a bread machine to do my mixing, but since bread rises at it's own mystifying rate, I don't let the machine cook it for me, I just let it do the mixing. Once it's mixed (about an hour, go watch half a movie while you wait), I take it out and put it into a well greased bread pan, throw a wet washcloth over it and kill another hour taking a nap, painting my nails, whatever, right? When it's twice the size you started with, bake it for about 25 minutes on 350 F. You can smell it when it's done, usually right before your timer goes off, and it'll have a nice golden top to it. Stick a butter knife in it, it should come out "clean" with no gooey dough sticking to it. mmmm, fresh bread.
It takes about 5 minutes to put the ingredients into a bread maching bucket. yeah. That's it. and it's WAYYY cheaper and tastier than store bought bread. You're welcome.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
BROCCOLI WITH CHEESE SAUCE:
One bunch/head of broccoli
1 block of cheddar cheese, grated or cubed. yes, you can actually grate your own cheese. Think of it as excercise!
2 TBS flour
2 cups milk
2 TBS butter
1 tsp salt
I cut the stems off the broccoli bunch (before I even take off the rubber band if it's store bought) then put them cut stem side down in a steamer basket over some water. Turn it on low, go have a 20 minute phone call, or better yet, make the cheese sauce).
That took what, all of one minute? Not even!
Cheese sauce:
It's a basic white sauce with melted cheese in it. Put 2 TBS butter in a pan on the lowest heat setting, let it melt, then add the flour and mash it together. Now very, very slowly, add the milk while you're mixing it all together. I use a tiny wire whip and sort of mash it together as I stir CONSTANTLY at this point. Once the milk is in, turn up the heat and bring it to a boil while stirring constantly or you'll get lumps. Add your cheese, and stir while it melts. oh, nom!
Pour over your broccoli in a nice serving bowl.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
MASHED POTATOES:
ok, if any of you have used the boxed kind, please, never, everrrrrrr do it again, promise? this is SO easy!
Potatoes, how many is up to you, I usually do three - five.
1/2 cup of butter (or bacon fat if you've got it)
1 cup milk if you have it, or water if you don't (enough to get the potatoes nice and mashed)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white or black pepper
(diced onions optional)
Cut up any kind of potatoes, one, two, five, whatever, however many you want to eat, ok? put them in a pan with water to cover them. Bring to a boil. Yup. Boil that water! You can do this, and I do it at the same time as the broccoli is cooking, they take about the same amount of time, and boiling water could not be less work, really. About 20 minutes or so, stick a fork into a potato chunck, it should slide in easily, if not, boil them more. Try again in five or ten minutes and when they're soft, drain them in a strainer, and put them back in the same pan you boiled them in, toss in your butter, salt, pepper and anything else you want in there (like bits of bacon?). Use a potato masher to mash them up. They SHOULD have lumps, and it takes about two minutes.
Prep time: two minutes
mash time: two minutes
Entire time spent on potatoes: about five minutes.
Enjoy!
Broccoli with Cheddar Cheese Sauce
Mashed Potatoes
Stuffed Chicken:
One whole roasting chicken
1/2 loaf of bread for stuffing, cut into cubes (see bread recipe below)
1 carrot, chopped fine
1 tsp sage
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup cranberries
Mix the bread cubes, water, butter, cranberries and spices in a bowl, then stuff into chicken's cavity.
Put in pan, or on a cookie sheet, it doesn't matter in an oven at 350 for an hour and a half or two, depending on the size of your bird, and yes, use a meat thermometer!!! It must be 180 degrees Farenheit to be safely cooked to eat. Put the meat thermometer into where the stuffing is, and I also check the temperature by the thigh bone, too.
This takes about 10 minutes at most to prepare, there's really no excuse not to cook at home from scratch!
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
BREAD:
2 tsp yeast
2 TBS sugar
1 cup warm water/room temperature
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 TBS butter or olive oil
I confess, I use a bread machine to do my mixing, but since bread rises at it's own mystifying rate, I don't let the machine cook it for me, I just let it do the mixing. Once it's mixed (about an hour, go watch half a movie while you wait), I take it out and put it into a well greased bread pan, throw a wet washcloth over it and kill another hour taking a nap, painting my nails, whatever, right? When it's twice the size you started with, bake it for about 25 minutes on 350 F. You can smell it when it's done, usually right before your timer goes off, and it'll have a nice golden top to it. Stick a butter knife in it, it should come out "clean" with no gooey dough sticking to it. mmmm, fresh bread.
It takes about 5 minutes to put the ingredients into a bread maching bucket. yeah. That's it. and it's WAYYY cheaper and tastier than store bought bread. You're welcome.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
BROCCOLI WITH CHEESE SAUCE:
One bunch/head of broccoli
1 block of cheddar cheese, grated or cubed. yes, you can actually grate your own cheese. Think of it as excercise!
2 TBS flour
2 cups milk
2 TBS butter
1 tsp salt
I cut the stems off the broccoli bunch (before I even take off the rubber band if it's store bought) then put them cut stem side down in a steamer basket over some water. Turn it on low, go have a 20 minute phone call, or better yet, make the cheese sauce).
That took what, all of one minute? Not even!
Cheese sauce:
It's a basic white sauce with melted cheese in it. Put 2 TBS butter in a pan on the lowest heat setting, let it melt, then add the flour and mash it together. Now very, very slowly, add the milk while you're mixing it all together. I use a tiny wire whip and sort of mash it together as I stir CONSTANTLY at this point. Once the milk is in, turn up the heat and bring it to a boil while stirring constantly or you'll get lumps. Add your cheese, and stir while it melts. oh, nom!
Pour over your broccoli in a nice serving bowl.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
MASHED POTATOES:
ok, if any of you have used the boxed kind, please, never, everrrrrrr do it again, promise? this is SO easy!
Potatoes, how many is up to you, I usually do three - five.
1/2 cup of butter (or bacon fat if you've got it)
1 cup milk if you have it, or water if you don't (enough to get the potatoes nice and mashed)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white or black pepper
(diced onions optional)
Cut up any kind of potatoes, one, two, five, whatever, however many you want to eat, ok? put them in a pan with water to cover them. Bring to a boil. Yup. Boil that water! You can do this, and I do it at the same time as the broccoli is cooking, they take about the same amount of time, and boiling water could not be less work, really. About 20 minutes or so, stick a fork into a potato chunck, it should slide in easily, if not, boil them more. Try again in five or ten minutes and when they're soft, drain them in a strainer, and put them back in the same pan you boiled them in, toss in your butter, salt, pepper and anything else you want in there (like bits of bacon?). Use a potato masher to mash them up. They SHOULD have lumps, and it takes about two minutes.
Prep time: two minutes
mash time: two minutes
Entire time spent on potatoes: about five minutes.
Enjoy!
Steak and eggs
Who doesn't love steak and eggs? It's usually pretty pricey in restaurants, so I decided I could do it at home for a LOT less.
Ingredients:
one or two eggs, however many you want to eat
1/3 of one New York Strip Steak (get a whole one at a good meat counter and have them slice it into three pieces and wrapped separately)
Warm up your skillet, add some butter or lard or bacon fat or whatever you enjoy, put the steak in on one side, crack your egg on the other, the steak is thin enough it'll cook through in about the same time as it takes to cook an egg over medium.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
one or two eggs, however many you want to eat
1/3 of one New York Strip Steak (get a whole one at a good meat counter and have them slice it into three pieces and wrapped separately)
Warm up your skillet, add some butter or lard or bacon fat or whatever you enjoy, put the steak in on one side, crack your egg on the other, the steak is thin enough it'll cook through in about the same time as it takes to cook an egg over medium.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy!
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Pheasant
A new aquaintance gave me a bag of Pheasant breasts recently, which is a very rare treat - I haven't had Pheasant in over 20 years. It's very delicious as I recall!
To cook them, first I rinsed the breasts, drained them, and put them in a preheated (on low) cast iron skillet with my very best olive oil, some fresh rosemary, and some minced garlic.
I really want to enjoy the flavor of the meat so I'm only going to add a bit of fresh ground black pepper on top when they're cooked through.
While they're gently and slowly cooking, I'm boiling some redskin potatoes and steaming some kale and onions to have on the side.
I hope you can come across some wild Pheasant to, and enjoy it as much as I'm about to!
To cook them, first I rinsed the breasts, drained them, and put them in a preheated (on low) cast iron skillet with my very best olive oil, some fresh rosemary, and some minced garlic.
I really want to enjoy the flavor of the meat so I'm only going to add a bit of fresh ground black pepper on top when they're cooked through.
While they're gently and slowly cooking, I'm boiling some redskin potatoes and steaming some kale and onions to have on the side.
I hope you can come across some wild Pheasant to, and enjoy it as much as I'm about to!
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Pork chops with rice
I wanted to make something easy and fast tonight; some nights we're a little more tired, right? So, tonight, it's Pork chops with rice.
Ingredients:
Pork chops, thin or thick cut, one per person you plan to feed
1 cup rice
1 qt tomatoes
1 1/2 cups water
1 tbs basil
1 tsp rosemary
salt & pepper
one onion, chopped
Heat your skillet, and rub the fatty edge of the pork chop on the heated surface to grease it. Brown both sides of your chops (while browning, chop your onion). When your pork chops are browned on both sides, place, still quite raw, on a plate to the side. Turn heat to low, and put rice, tomatoes, water, basil, salt, pepper and onion in pan, then carefully lay your browned pork chops on top. Put a lid on it and let it just barely simmer for 30 minutes, turn the heat off, let rest for ten. I discovered that it's really delicious with soy sauce drizzled over it when you're ready to eat it, but that's optional. Makes great leftovers, too!
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
Pork chops, thin or thick cut, one per person you plan to feed
1 cup rice
1 qt tomatoes
1 1/2 cups water
1 tbs basil
1 tsp rosemary
salt & pepper
one onion, chopped
Heat your skillet, and rub the fatty edge of the pork chop on the heated surface to grease it. Brown both sides of your chops (while browning, chop your onion). When your pork chops are browned on both sides, place, still quite raw, on a plate to the side. Turn heat to low, and put rice, tomatoes, water, basil, salt, pepper and onion in pan, then carefully lay your browned pork chops on top. Put a lid on it and let it just barely simmer for 30 minutes, turn the heat off, let rest for ten. I discovered that it's really delicious with soy sauce drizzled over it when you're ready to eat it, but that's optional. Makes great leftovers, too!
Enjoy!
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Breakfast Hash Browns with Egg
A classic that you can make for two people for under $2 in less time than it takes to drive to McDonald's.
Ingredients:
butter or lard
three potatoes
onion
salt & pepper
egg
optional: garnish (I used a piece of basil for the photo)
Put a large cast iron skillet on the stove and turn the heat on medium. Now get your ingredients ready:
Rinse three potatoes, and cut them in half, lay the cut sides down. Cut each half into thin slices and hold each slice in place as you go, don't let it fall apart into pieces, (like when you cut an onion so you don't cry from the exposed flesh giving off fumes that make your eyes tear up). Now turn the halves 90ยบ and repeat the slicing. You'll wind up with nice matchstick pieces in just a few minutes. Do the same to your onion.
Put two tablespoons of butter or lard (not the kind with preservatives, get it from a local farmer) in your skillet and put the potatoes and onion in. Stir it like a stir fry for half a minute, then go make your coffee or tea. Read the news for five minutes, stir it again.
It'll cook fast because you sliced everything thin and small, it's all about surface area (chemistry class, woo!): the more surface area, the faster things cook. :)
When your potatoes are soft enough to eat, take them from the pan and put them on a plate. Now crack an egg in your pan, and cook it how you like it, scrambled or fried. When it's done, put it on top or to the side of your potatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper if desired.
Enjoy!
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Salsa
I admit it, I'm lazy. If technology can make it faster, I'm all for it. With that said, I use my blender to make my salsa.
Ingredients:
•1 qt of tomatoes •1 large onion (I prefer vidalias for this, but any kind will do)
•1 clove of garlic
•1/4 tsp cumin
•1 jalepeno (seed it if you want it less hot)
•1 whole dried chipotle or 1/4 tsp dried
•1/2 tsp salt
I find that cutting the onion into quarters before putting it in the blender helps.
Put all the ingredients in a blender and puree. Pour into a bowl and eat with your favorite chips. I prefer organic blue chips.
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
•1 qt of tomatoes •1 large onion (I prefer vidalias for this, but any kind will do)
•1 clove of garlic
•1/4 tsp cumin
•1 jalepeno (seed it if you want it less hot)
•1 whole dried chipotle or 1/4 tsp dried
•1/2 tsp salt
I find that cutting the onion into quarters before putting it in the blender helps.
Put all the ingredients in a blender and puree. Pour into a bowl and eat with your favorite chips. I prefer organic blue chips.
Enjoy!
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