Entrees

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Peperoncini porkchops

Peperoncini Porkchops

Ingredients:

1 12 oz jar Peperoncini peppers, undrained
4-5 cloves, garlic (more or less depending upon your fear of vampire attack)
Olive oil
2-4 Thick cut porkchops, preferably bone-in
1-2 shots brandy or balsamic vinegar
1 loaf french bread

Directions:

Take 8 peppers from the jar and cut off the stems. Half or quarter them, remove the seeds and set aside.  Leave the jar of peppers out.  If you’re going to be suing brandy in this dish, now is also the ideal time to pour yourself a snifter to sip on.

Chop the garlic as finely as you can.  Heat up a big frying pan and just enough oil to cover the garlic over low heat.  Add the garlic and be careful to not let it burn.

Add the chops to the garlic and oil and sear on both sides.  Don’t let them cook. You just want them white on each side. When both sides are seared, turn them over onto the original side.

Scatter the peperoncini peppers over the top of the chops.  Now reach for that jar of peppers and pour a big helping of peperoncini juices in there. Not enough to cover them, but enough to get the liquid maybe about halfway up the sides or a little more.  About a half the juice in the jar usually works out well. Throw your shot or two of brandy or balsamic vinegar in.

Cover the frying pan and let them cook, making sure to turn the cops at least once. Thick chops can go for about 4-5 minutes; allow less time for thinner chops.

Unless you like a really messy plate, serve the juices on the side as a sauce along with hunks of the bread for dipping. 

Friday, March 23, 2007

Tracy’s Awesomest Chicken & Salsa

I may be biased but this is the bestest ever chicken concoction I have ever concocted…

6-8 chicken breasts
1 jar of salsa
2 - 3 cups shredded cheese (don’t matter what kind)

A NOTE BEFORE CONCOCTING:
Now this may just be me, but chicken breasts are icky unless you put them in a pot of water and boil them a bit to get all the ickyness out of them. So yeah, that’s what I do before baking.

DIRECTIONS:

Place chicken breasts (pre-cooked or not, that’s up to you) in an 9x13 oven pan. Pour salsa over the top of the chicken breasts, to cover. Top with shredded cheese.

Cover lightly with foil.

Bake at 300 for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

Kinda quiche

They used to say that real men don’t eat quiche.  That’s okay though because this isn’t really quiche, but it’s close enough and takes almost no time to prepare and can be modified to use up whatever you’ve got in the fridge.  It’s also rather good as a cold lunch if you have leftovers.

Ingredients:

10 oz Frozen spinach, thawed and drained
8 oz Grated cheddar cheese (or any other firm, grateable cheese.  I like pepperjack. It counters the richness of all the diary)
2 cups Cottage cheese; curd size and fat content is your choice
2-3 handfuls Diced ham
4 Eggs
6 Tbs Flour
1/8 1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
Salt, pepper and other spices to taste

Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9” pie pan with cooking spray.  Turn on your cooking tunes or, since this is so fast to prepare, tune the tv to Springer.

Take a big-ass bowl. Add the spinach, cottage cheese, ham and grated cheddar and mix well. Make sure you break up all the wads of spinach or you’ll wind up with great soggy gobs of of it in the pie when you take it out of the oven rather than an evenly distributed taste treat.  Definitely not a taste or textural sensation, biting into wet, congealed spinach I can tell you.

Beat the eggs and whatever spices you choose to use together and add to the cheese spinach and cottage cheese mixture. Spread your flour over the top of the whole mess and fold it all together with your trusty spatula (note: the original recipe called for adding the flour to the beaten egg and spices before it’s all dumped into the big bowl, but that gave me a disgustingly lumpy mess that might have made a swell wallpaper paste but would have been hell on earth to fold evenly into the spinach/cheese mixture. If you wish to do it that way, more power to you, but don’t come running to me if you have to throw it out and start over.)

All done

Pour the whole mess into the pie pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until yummy-smelling and browned on top.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.  Don’t stress if you go over though.  There’s no crust to burn and there’s enough moisture in it that it won’t dry out even if you let it bake for an hour. 

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Roasted chicken with tomatoes and garlic

This is really easy to make, but it looks and tastes impressive enough to serve to company.

4 chicken leg quarters or 4 each thighs and legs
Kosher salt
pepper
1 bunch basil, chopped
1 pint grape tomatoes
3 roma tomatoes, quartered
1 head garlic, broken down into cloves and peeled
1 Serrano chili, chopped fine
5 or 6 new potatoes, sliced
Olive oil

preheat oven to 350. Season chicken with pepper and kosher salt, then place into baking pan or dutch oven.

Scatter tomatoes on top of chicken, followed by the garlic, basil, chili pepper and potatoes. Drizzle olive oil over top and mix ingredients up, making sure to get at least some of the tomatoes and garlic under the chicken.

Bake uncovered for 1 1/2 hours. The chicken skin should be crispy and meat cooked through.

serve as is, reserving some of the garlic cloves to spread on bread if desired.

Variations: Omit potatoes. Serve chicken with noodles on the side, using cooking broth as a sauce.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Pressed smoked turkey sandwich

Two hot skillets work kind of like a sandwich or panini press to make a perfectly toasted and pressed sandwich. No extra expense to buy and one less gadget to find space to store.

2 slices bread
1/4 pound sliced smoked turkey breast
1 or 2 slices Provolone cheese
Olive oil
Assorted vegetable to taste (tomatoes, onions, pickles, etc)

Heat two cast iron skillets over medium-high heat. When good and hot, remove both skillets from heat. Spray or brush one side of a slice of your bread with olive oil before placing oiled side down in skillet # one.

Layer sliced turkey onto bread and place your condiments or toppings onto turkey and top with slices of cheese. Oil the other slice of bread and place on top of sandwich.

Place skillet #two on top of sandwich and let stand for 4-5 minutes and you can hear the cheese sizzle as it melts.

Remove the top skillet (you may need a spatula if you didn't get oil onto all the bread) and place sandwich on plate.

Enjoy!

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Fast ‘n’ tasty chili

1/4 cup olive or canola oil
6 garlic cloves, chopped
3 green peppers, 1/2 inch squares
2 medium onions, chopped fine
3 Tbsp Chile powder (I like hot, myself)
1 Tbsp ground cayenne pepper
2 pounds groudn beef
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 cup beer
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 Tbsp dry oregano
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 Tbsp salt

Put on some music (I like some grooveable tunes like George Clinton, but to each his own) and crack open a bottle of beer for yourself. Make a toast to the the grub you're about to cook up.

Heat a medium-sized dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic, green pepper and onion. Sweat veggies until onions are transparent (not browned), maybe 2-4 minutes. Take another drink of beer. Add Chile powder and cayenne. Saute for another minute or two. Add ground beef and saute until browned (about 7-12 minutes), breaking up with a spoon or spatula. Stir in the remaining ingredients and simmer until thick (about 20 minutes or so). Take a break from dancin' 'round the kitchen and stir occasionally.

Serve over rice, with some garlic toast and yes, another beer.

Variations: for a little extra kick, substitute fresh italian sausage for some (or all) of the ground beef. It doesn't appreciably add to the fat. If you like your chili chunky, use one 15 oz can of both crushed and diced tomatoes.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Hominy and Jalapeno Frittata

A frittata is a fancy omelette that is not turned or flipped, rather, it is finished off in the oven. A great thing to do at the oven stage is to add some cheese to the top. For this recipe, add more peppers if you like it hot.

Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chopped red onion
- 2 Jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
- 1 can yellow hominy, drained
- 6 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3 TBSP Butter
- 2 TBSP Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large oven-safe skillet, heat the oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onion and peppers and pinch or two of salt and pepper. Sautee until very soft then add the hominy. Continue to cook for 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs and milk together in a bowl. Add the egg mixture right into the skillet and cook until almost set. Slide the skillet into the oven and cook for a few minutes until all the egg is set up.

Slide the frittata out onto a large plate and cut into wedges. Serve with bacon, ham, or other various pig-based meat product.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Easy Turkey Meatloaf

2 lbs ground turkey
1 pkg onion soup mix
1/4 cup of Heinz 57 Sauce
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 pkg snack cracker crumbs
salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and milk. Add the turkey, soup mix, Heinz 57 Sauce, snack cracker crumbs, and seasonings. Mix well.

In a large casserole dish, pat the meat mixture into a loaf. Bake, uncovered, in a 375 degree oven for 50-60 minutes or until center is cooked thoroughly.

Makes approximately 16 servings.

Friday, March 12, 2004

Chicken-Cheese-Spinach Lasagna

1/2 c margarine
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 c flour
1 tsp salt
2 c milk
2 c chicken broth
2 c shredded mozzarella
1/2 c parmesan cheese
1/2 c onion
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
Lasagna noodles
2 c cottage cheese
2 c cut boneless chicken
1 pkg frozen spinach*


Melt margarine and add garlic. Stir in flour and salt. Cook stirring constantly until bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in milk and broth. Heat until boiling, stirring constantly. Stir in mozzarella cheese, 1/2 c parmesan, onion, basil, oregano, pepper. Cook over low heat until cheese is melted. Spread cheese sauce in 9x13 pan, top with noodles. Spread 1/2 cottage cheese over noodles. Repeat sauce/noodle/cottage cheese. Top w/chicken, then spinach and more sauce. Add last layer of noodles and then remaining sauce. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Cook covered @ 350 for 1 hour.

*Because the spinach is frozen, you have thawed it out first, and squeeze it dry.

Donna's Note: I used 1 large container Ricotta mixed with 2 eggs in place of the cottage cheese and I used both pecorino romano as well as parmesan--both fresh shaved.

This recipe courtesy btezra

Thursday, March 04, 2004

Savory Stuffed Peppers

6 lg green peppers
1 lb ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 (12 oz) can whole corn
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1/4 cup A1 steak sauce
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Remove tops, core, and seeds from peppers. Rinse. Pat dry.

Brown ground beef and onion in large skillet. Drain on paper towels. Place back into clean skillet. Mix in corn, tomato sauce, A1, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Simmer on medium heat for 6 minutes. Stir often.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place green peppers in baking dish. Spoon mixture into peppers, filling them to the top. Do not overfill. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Makes 6 servings.

Wednesday, March 03, 2004

Mexican Cornbread

1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 can CREAM corn
1 small can diced green chiles
1 lb. hamburger meat
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown the hamburger meat and drain off the fat. In a large bowl, prepare the cornbread mix according to the box, then add the whole can of cream corn, the can of chiles, and the hamburger meat. Mix it all up, and pour into an 8X8 pan. Sprinkle the cheese on top, and bake for 30 minutes or so - until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serve with salsa and sour cream, or just eat it plain. Yum!

*Note: This recipe freezes really well.

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