Saturday, November 8, 2008

Chili with Flat Tire Toppers

Yet another one by Rachael. It's excellent, we have it all the time in the winter!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 poblano peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
2 pounds ground sirloin
1 medium onion, chopped
3 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons grill seasoning
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 chipotles in adobo, chopped, plus 1 tablespoon of the sauce
1/2 cup steak sauce
1 cup beer
1 cup beef stock
1 (28-ounce) can crushed fire roasted tomatoes
1 package corn muffin mix (recommended: Jiffy, made to package directions for corn pancakes, listed on the side of the box)
Softened butter, for greasing a griddle
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin, half a palm full
2 scallions, chopped


Heat the extra-virgin olive oil in a medium soup pot over medium high to high heat. When oil smokes, add the sliced poblanos and char them a couple of minutes and scoot them off to the side of the pan and add meat. Break up beef and brown it a couple of minutes then add the onions and garlic. Season the meat with grill seasoning, Worcestershire and chipotles in adobo. Cook until onions are tender, 5 to 6 minutes more, then stir in steak sauce and beer. Cook beer off for 1 minute then add stock and tomatoes and reduce heat to low.

Heat a nonstick griddle pan over medium heat. Butter the griddle then pour in batter to make 3 3/4-inch corn pancakes. Season beans with cumin. Top each poured corn cake with a couple tablespoons of black beans and a little chopped scallion. Flip cakes when bottoms are deeply golden and cook another 1 to 2 minutes on the opposite side. You should be able to make 6 cakes in 2 batches.

Top bowlfuls of the chili with flat tire toppers and serve.

Oven Chicken

This is another one of our favorites. It's definitly NOT a good one if you are calorie counting or on a diet, but it is fabulous!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter or margerine
1 onion sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 tbs dried basil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
8 chicken thighs (bone in)
1 cup frozen spinach, thawed
8 oz linguini noodles
1 jar alfredo sauce
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 400. Place butter in baking dish and melt in oven. Once melted, remove and stir in onions, garlic, basil, and pepper. Place in the chicken and turn to coat. Bake for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, warm alfredo sauce in a sauce pan. Add spinach and pepper to taste. Once chicken is cooked, remove chicken from the sauce. Pour alfredo sauce into the baking dish and stir to combine. Serve over noodles with the chicken.

Tai Garlic Chicken

This is a modified Rachael Ray recipe, and we love it! It has a few ingredients you may not have, but trust me it's worth the extra buck to get them and try this one, it's really good. Spicy though, so not for the kiddos!

Ingredients:

2 tbs fish sauce
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 lb soba noodles
3 tbs wok oil
1/2 cup diced onion
8 cloves garlic minced
1/2 lbs chicken breast tenders
1 cup fresh torn basil

In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup water with fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar and red pepper flakes. Stir and set aside. Cook noodles. Heat wok or large skillet over medium/high heat. Add 2 tbs oil, onion and garlic. Stir fry for 3 min then transfer to a bowl and set aside. Add last tbs of oil to skillet and cook chicken. Put sauce mix, onion mix back into wok and cook for 2-3 minutes together. Remove pan from heat and toss in noodles and basil. Serve.

Welcome Fall!

It's finally gotten cold here! I, for one, amd glad to shove all of my shorts and tank tops to the back of the closet and bring in the sweaters! Welcome to a new week, have a yummy one!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Pumpkin Hummus Pizzas

Friday Potluck -
Our mom's group is having a Pumpkin Potluck on Friday. I tried to scroung up a pumpkin recipe that is not a dessert, and I came upon this recipe for Pumkin Hummus Pizzas on Allrecipes.com and thought I'd give it a try. Not sure if I'm going to make my own pumkin hummus, or just buy plain and stir in pumpkin and seasonings, but I'll post the recipe for both ways.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil, or as needed
2 pounds onions, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 pound bacon
10 pieces flatbread
5 cups pumpkin hummus
3 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and cut into matchsticks
5 cups shredded fontina cheese


Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions; cook and stir until they turn soft and begin to turn golden brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in the brown sugar, and continue cooking and stirring until the onions are deep brown, about 10 minutes more. Pour in the balsamic vinegar, and simmer until the vinegar has reduced and become syrupy.
Meanwhile, place the bacon in a large, deep skillet, and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until crisp and evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain the bacon slices on a paper towel-lined plate then crumble and set aside.
Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
To assemble the pizzas, spread each piece of lavash with 1/2 cup of pumpkin hummus and place onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle with about 1/4 cup of the caramelized onions. Top with some of the apple and crumbled bacon. Finally, sprinkle with 1/2 cup of fontina cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven until the pizza is hot and the cheese is bubbly and golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Pumpkin Hummus

Ingredients:


1 3/4 cups dry garbanzo beans (or 2 cans)
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
5 fluid ounces lemon juice
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup tahini paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
salt to taste


Place the garbanzo beans into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 8 hours to overnight. Or, bring the beans and water to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Once boiling, turn off the heat, cover, and let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse before using.
Place the soaked garbanzo beans into a large saucepan and cover with several inches of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the garbanzo beans are tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Once cooked, refrigerate the beans and liquid until cold. (**You can skip all this and use equal amounts of canned beans, if you'd like)Drain the garbanzo beans, reserving the cooking liquid. Place the beans and 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking liquid into a blender, and puree until a smooth paste forms. Add the pumpkin puree, lemon juice, olive oil, tahini, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Cover and puree again until smooth. Use additional cooking liquid as needed to achieve a smooth consistency. Season to taste with salt.

If you'd like to do it the cheater way:

32 oz plain pre-made hummus
1 15oz can pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Stir together to combine

Feedback:
Well, we had an unexpected funeral come up today, so I didn't get to go to the potluck. But I still had all of the ingredients, so I assembled the pizzas early and took them to my friends house for her to share at the potluck. From what I hear, they were good! I didn't get to try them (or any of the other yummy pumpkin stuff!). Next time!

Garlic Ranch Pizza

Wednesday Dinner-
Super easy and yummy! And cheaper than ordering it in!!

Ingredients:

1 large pizza dough - whatever is your fave-homemade, frozen etc
3/4 cup ranch dressing
2 cloves garlic
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup cooked crumbled bacon
1 cup chicken, cooked and cut in strips
3 tomatos sliced

Mix ranch and garlic together and spread onto pizza dough. Sprinkle some cheese and then top with bacon and chicken. Sprinkle a little more cheese, then add tomatos. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.


Feedback:
This was okay. I have another chicken pizza recipe that I like better. The dough didn't cook all the way in the time listed, but if you cook it much longer the cheese would start to burn. I think I'll just use my old standby next time!

Bean and Beef Pie

Tuesday Dinner-
This is an excellent recipe. My mom found it in one of her Taste of Home magazines years ago and has been making it ever since. The kids love this stuff! There are kind of alot of ingredients. But I usually keep alot of this on-hand, so it's not too bad on the wallet!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
2 garlic cloves, minced
11.5 oz can bean with bacon soup
16 oz salsa
1/4 cup cornstarch
15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup sliced scallions
1 Tbs parsley
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
16 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/4 cups cheddar cheese
2 - 10" deep dish pie pastries (in freezer section)
Sour cream

Preheat oven to 425.
In skillet, cook beef and garlic. In a large bowl, combine soup, 1 cup salsa, cornstarch, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper - mix well. Fold in beans, cheese, onions and beef mix. Pour into one of the pie crusts. Top with the other pie crust and carefully lift off the pan from the top. Push edges to seal. Cut slits on top. Bake for 30-35 minutes, top with sour cream and salsa and serve.

Feedback:

We ended up going out to dinner Tuesday night, so no pie. But I have all the ingredients, so I'll throw it in next week. We love it!

Meatball Subs

Sunday Dinner-
These are really easy for my husband to throw together. And the kids just eat the meatballs.

Ingredients:
Frozen meatballs
Spaghetti sauce
Sub bread
Provolone cheese slices
Grated Parmesan Cheese

Place meatballs and spaghetti sauce in a crockpot and cook on low for 4-5 hours. When done, place 4 meatballs in sub bread. Top with sliced provolone and place under broiler for 3 minutes to melt and toast. Top with grated parmesan. Serve with spaghetti.

New week!

The new weekly menu has been posted. They are having leftovers tonight, we have a few selections. It doesn't happen too often around here! There's also a night where hubby will just be using the filet mignons we got from Omaha Steak, so no recipe for that day either. And a day I'm making a recipe I have already posted.

Check out the menu in the side bar, and also the poll for what holdiay recipes you would like to see, as we head into the season of potlucks and family gatherings. I hardly ever make dessert, I make a huge mess when I bake. So I almost always bring a side dish or an appetizer to any kind of potluck. So let me know what you're looking for new recipes for and I'll start digging through my recipes!

Have a great week!