• 12May

    NRD: Super Nachos

    Matt was out of town yesterday, and I wanted to make a quick and easy meal for supper. The last time we were at my in-laws’ place, we had nachos with meat and cheese, and the kids loved it. I decided to make that.

    It’s really not all that difficult. Prepare some ground beef as if you were making tacos, using your favorite spice blend (packed or scratch doesn’t matter as long as you like it). Put a layer of tortilla chips on a microwave safe plate or in an oven-proof dish. Sprinkle 1/3 to 1/2 (depending on whether you’re doing two or three layers of chips) of the taco meat on the chips. Sprinkle sharp cheddar or a Mexican blend of cheese over that. If you want to put salsa in, put little dots of it over the ships. You don’t want to do too much salsa or the chips will turn into a soggy mess.

    Put on another layer of chips, and repeat with meat and cheese (and salsa). If you’re doing three layers, repeat the process a third time.

    Once your nachos are assembled, put them in the microwave or oven until the cheese has melted. If you want, you can then garnish it with finely sliced green onions, cilantro, or whatever else floats your boat.

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  • 31Mar

    Chicken & Cheese Breakfast Muffins

    After some experimentation, I’ve come up with a recipe that I like. I started with the Best Ever Muffins recipe, and added diced cooked chicken, cheese crumbles, and bacon. The basic batter is sweet, rather than savory, so I added some garlic powder. They turned out pretty good, and Matt takes one with him to work.

    This recipe makes 6 jumbo sized muffins.

    Chicken & Cheese Breakfast Muffins

     
    2 cups all-purpose flour
    3 teaspoons baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    3/4 cup white sugar
    2 teaspoons garlic powder
    1 egg
    1 cup milk
    1/4 cup vegetable oil
    1 cup diced cooked chicken
    1 cup cheese crumbles
    1/2 cup bacon

    Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and spray the jumbo muffin tin with no-stick cooking spray.

    Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, garlic powder and sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. In a small bowl or 2 cup measuring cup, beat egg with a fork. Stir in milk and oil. Pour all at once into the well in the flour mixture. Mix quickly and lightly with a fork until about half mixed.

    Add in chicken, bacon and cheese and stir until all the dry ingredients are moistened. The batter should be lumpy.

    Divide the batter equally between the six jumbo muffin cups and abke for about 25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

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  • 02Mar

    Chili Cheese Fondue

    Sorry about the lack of postings for the past week. It’s not that we haven’t been eating – because we most certainly have – but things have been a bit crazy. I’ll be using this week to catch up on recipes and so on.

    This Chili Cheese Fondue recipe is based on the Chili con Queso Fondue recipe by Rachel Ray. All I can say is darn, this is good! I served this with tortilla chips, pretzel rods, and celery and carrot sticks. Next time, I’ll switch slices of red and green bell peppers and omit the pretzels. The peppers might be a better match, providing better support for the chili flavor in the fondue.

    The recipe below makes a nice light meal for two adults and two kids, or a good appetizer for four to six adults.

    Chili Cheese Fondue

     

    2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
    1 small onion, finely chopped
    2 cloves garlic, grated
    1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
    2 tablespoons butter
    2 tablespoons flour
    1 cup chicken stock (eyeball it)
    Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
    2 – 3 drops liquid smoke
    1 can tomato sauce (7 – 8 oz)
    1 tablespoon chili powder
    2 cups leftover meat (steak, chicken, pork – whatever you’ve got), chopped or shredded up into bite-size pieces

    Suggestions for Dipping: Tortilla chips, Veggie sticks (bell peppers, carrots, celery – whatever you like), pretzel rods

    In a medium-sized saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. (If your fondue pot can be used on the stovetop, you can cook everything in that.) Add the onion, garlic and jalapeño pepper and sauté until the veggies are tender, 5-6 minutes.

    When the veggies are soft, add the butter. When it’s melted, add the flour and cook for one to two minutes, stirring constantly. Whisk the chicken stock into the butter-flour mixture, adding salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium and cook until thickened, a couple of minutes.

    Add the meat and cook until heated through. Mix in the shredded cheese and simmer until all of the cheese has melted, about 1 minute. Add the tomato sauce and chili powder and simmer until slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes.

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  • 21Jan

    Latin Mac & Cheese

    With the weather being so cold here in the Midwest for the past couple of weeks, I received requests for meals that are warm and stay with you for a while. Homemade mac & cheese is one of these, but as usual, I wanted something with a twist. Rachael Ray’s Cubano Mac & Cheese fit the bill. I made some changes to it to suit the ingredients I had on hand. The original recipe calls for deli sliced ham, which I didn’t use. Not because I don’t like ham, but because I had about a pound of Latin pork shoulder (recipe in The Joy of Cooking). It turned out pretty good, though too spicy for us. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup of hot sauce. That’s just too much for my stomach to handle, and Matt said he liked it, but it was too spicy for him to enjoy a lot of it at once. That said, I will be making it again with less hot sauce.

    Latin Mac & Cheese

     
    Serves 4-6

    Ingredients

    * 1 pound whole wheat elbow pasta
    * Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    * 3 tablespoons butter
    * 3 tablespoons flour
    * 1 cup chicken stock
    * 2 cups milk
    * 1/4 cup hot sauce
    * 1/4 cup yellow mustard
    * 3 cups Swiss or Gruyere cheese, shredded, plus additional for topping
    * 1/2 cup pickles, chopped
    * 1 lb cooked Latin-style pork shoulder, chopped (around 1/4″ sized pieces)
    * A handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped

    Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring it up to a boil to cook the pasta. Once at a boil, add some salt and the pasta and cook it until al dente.

    While the pasta is cooking, heat a large pot over medium heat and add the butter. When the butter melts, add the flour, stir until it’s all mixed together and smooth, and cook about a minute. Whisk in stock, milk, hot sauce and yellow mustard, and bring up to a bubble. Stir in the cheese in a figure-eight motion, reserving enough to sprinkle on the top of the casserole, until it’s all melted. Fold in the pickles and ham, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

    When the pasta is done, drain it well and combine with sauce.

    Serve with a nice salad.

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  • 11Nov

    Ari’s Cheese Salad

    To say Ari can be picky and stubborn about what she eats is putting it very nicely. When she finds a new food, or food combination, she will eat, it’s a cause for celebration. She created this recipe last night, and I thought I would share it with you. :)

    Ari’s Cheese Salad

     

    Take one big handful of shredded lettuce and put it on your plate. Take one small handful of shredded cheese and sprinkle it on top of the lettuce.

    Eat with a fork.

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