No Knead Whole Wheat Rolls

I love homemade bread. Ok, who am I kidding? I love bread. Period. This recipe is so great because, start to finish, it only took about an hour. This was the first recipe to pop up when I googled "whole wheat rolls." It came from another blog: http://realmomkitchen.com

1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1-1/4 cups warm water (110° to 115°)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. molasses
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Italian seasoning (You could probably leave this out if you’d like)

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the remaining ingredients. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes (dough will be sticky). Do not knead. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

2. Stir dough down. Fill muffin cups coated with nonstick cooking spray half full. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 8-12 minutes.

3. Bake at 375° for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yield: 1 dozen.

Review - Excellent! If you omit the Italian seasoning these would be great breakfast rolls as they are slightly sweet from the honey and molasses. 

Low Fat Caesar Salad Dressing

I'm cheating a little this week. This isn't a new recipe. My mom gave it to me years ago. I think it came from Cooking Light, but don't quote me on that. It's a wonderful dressing. I love Caesar salads, but won't eat them because of the fat content in the dressing. This dressing has very little fat and it comes from the olive oil, so it's the good, heart-healthy fat. 

1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed

3/4 tsp. anchovy paste

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 tsp. lemon juice

3 tsp. red wine vinegar

1 tsp. Worcestershire

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/4 cup plain, non-fat yogurt

Whisk together all ingredients. Toss with romaine and grated Parmesan cheese right before serving. 

Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich

A friend introduced me to Ree Drummond's Pioneer Woman blog. LOVE IT! She refers to her husband as Marlboro Man and this is, as the title suggests, his favorite sandwich. 

1 large onion 

1/2 cup butter
2 pounds (to 3 Pounds) Cube Steak
Lawry's Seasoned Salt
½ cup Worcestershire Sauce
Tabasco Sauce
4 whole French/deli Rolls 

Instructions

Slice onions and cook in 1/4 stick butter until soft and light brown. Remove and set aside.

Slice cube steak against the grain. Season with Lawry’s. Heat 2 tablespoons butter over high heat (in same skillet) until melted and beginning to brown. Add meat in single layer. Cook one side until brown, then flip and cook until brown, about a minute on both sides. Add 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce, 5 to 6 shakes Tabasco, and 2 tablespoons butter. Add cooked onions. Stir to combine.

Butter halved French rolls and brown under broiler.

To assemble, lay bottom half of French roll on plate. Place meat mixture, followed by a spoonful of juice from the pan. Top with other half of roll, cut in half, and devour!

Review - These sandwiches were incredibly easy to make. I really enjoyed them. I think I sliced the meat a little too thick, which made it hard for Josie to eat. Little mouth needs little bites. My only complaint again comes from my cookware. I need (not want, need) a cast iron skillet. My non-stick Calphalon is not cutting it anymore. Oh to dream....

Here's the link to Ree Drummond's website. Everything about it is fabulous. She's incredibly witty. Her recipes are great. The pictures will make you drool.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/

Black Eyed Pea Soup in the Slowcooker

1 pound dried black eyed peas
1 pound spicy sausage
6 cups chicken broth
1 yellow onion, diced
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
4 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Tabasco sauce

Soak your beans overnight. Drain and pick out the undesirables (broken, discolored beans) in the morning.

Use a 5 to 6 quart slowcooker. Add diced vegetables and beans to slowcooker. Add sliced sausage. Pour in broth, and stir in Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for about 6. Before serving, use a stick blender to smash up about 1 cup of beans. If you don't have a stick blender, scoop out 1 cup of beans, blend them in a traditional blender, and add back to the soup. Don't blend too much---just enough to get the broth thicker and creamy-looking. Add Tabasco sauce to taste.

Review - Wonderful winter recipe. But it's spring time right? Ok, I'll admit it. Even though I'm posting this under Week 12, I really made it weeks ago. I've lost track of what I made when. I'm just proud of myself for keeping up with my resolution and it's almost April. Go me! Back to the soup...Josie called this "black eyes," which in toddler talk came out sounding like "black guys." Jay and I got a nice chuckle out of hearing our 2 year-old say, "I want more black guys." Mature, I know.

Overnight Oatmeal

1/2 cup steel cut oats
1/2 cup pearl barley
4 1/2 cups water OR 2 cups apple juice and 2 1/2 cups water
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dried fruit
spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg)

The original recipe calls for using a 2-quart slow cooker, but I only have a 6-quart, so I just plopped a smaller casserole dish into the slowcooker. Voila. Smaller slowcooker.

Grease inside of stoneware or casserole dish. Add all ingredients into dish. Stir. Cover and cook overnight for 8 hours. Stir once or twice while cooking. If you have a newborn, like I do, getting up once or twice at night to stir shouldn't be a problem.

Review - I ate WAY too much of this oatmeal! It was so good. I'd never made steel cut oats before. The texture is wonderful. I chose raisins as my dried fruit, because it's all I had on hand, but I'd like to experiment with other fruits (cherries, cranberries, etc.). 

Second Review -  I've made this several times now with different seasonings and dried fruits. My favorite has been dried apricots, with all spice and cinnamon and topped off with a little honey and soy milk.

Jambalaya

1 lb. peeled and deveined shrimp, uncooked
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. cooking oil
2 cups chicken stock
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
8 ounces andouille or kielbasa sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch slices
3/4 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 bay leaf

In a large skillet cook onion, celery, pepper, and garlic in hot oil until tender. Stir in chicken broth, tomatoes, sausage, rice, and seasonings (thyme through bay leaf). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Stir in shrimp. Return to boiling. Simmer, covered, about 5 minutes until shrimp are opaque and rice is tender.

Review - Fast and easy and everyone liked. It was a tad too spicy for Josie. I think I was a little heavy handed with the red pepper flakes. I love one dish dinners!

Chicken Picatta

I combined two Food Network recipes for this dish: Ina Garten's and Giada De Laurentiis's.

2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and then cut in half
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 extra-large egg
1/2 tablespoon water
3/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper.

Mix the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the egg and 1/2 tablespoon of water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add 2 pieces of chicken and cook for 3 minutes. When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes. Remove and transfer to plate. 

Melt 2 more tablespoons butter and add another 2 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add the other 2 pieces of chicken and brown both sides in same manner. Remove pan from heat and add chicken to the plate.

Into the pan add the lemon juice, stock and capers. Return to stove and bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. 

Return all the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to platter. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and whisk vigorously. Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley.

Review - Everyone loved it (toddler included)! My only complaint came from my cookware. Since I was using a non-stick skillet, there were no lovely brown bits to scrape up. This made me sad.

Pork Steaks Braised in White Wine

1 tsp. dried sage leaves, crumbled
1 tsp. dried rosemary leaves, crushed
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp. salt
fresh ground pepper
2 center-cut loin pork chops
2 Tbs unsalted butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup dry white wine

In a small bowl, combine sage, rosemary, garlic, salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Mix into a paste. Press small amounts of mixture firmly onto both sides of each steak and let sit for at least five minutes (I rubbed the marinade on the steaks in the morning and let them sit all day, covered in the fridge).

In a heavy skillet, melt the butter with the olive oil over moderate heat. Place the steaks in the hot oil and butter and brown for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Use tongs to turn the meat. You don't want to pierce the meat with a fork. You will loose the natural juices. Add all but a small portion of wine to the skillet. Cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook the steaks 15-20 minutes (depending on thickness), turning occasionally. When chops are tender, remove from pan to serving platter. Add the remaining wine to the skillet and again deglaze the pan. Pour sauce over chops and serve.

Review - These were really good. The original recipe called for pork chops, but I had pork steaks in the freezer, so that's what I used. The garlic can be increased by a lot. Isn't that true of almost all recipes?

Product Review: We are big garlic lovers in this house. I have to plug my newest kitchen gadget that was a Christmas gift from my dad: the Kuhn-Rikon Epicurian Garlic Press. This thing is amazing! You don't even have to peel the cloves, just pop them in and squeeze. It's a breeze to clean too. It has a lifetime warranty, so you'll never need to buy another garlic press. Ok, my PSA is over.

Chicken Enchilada Chili

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups prepared enchilada sauce
2 chopped celery stalks
2 (14.5 oz) cans tomatoes with seasoning
2 (15 oz) cans pinto or kidney beans, undrained (or 1 cup dried pinto beans, soaked overnight)
1 onion, diced (or 1 tablespoon dried, minced onion flakes)
1-2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin

Pour enchilada sauce and canned tomatoes into the bottom of a 6 quart slow cooker. Add beans, celery, onion and spices. Stir to combine. Place chicken on top.

Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or until flavors have combined. If you are using dried beans, you may need to cook longer to fully soften the beans. Shred chicken.

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream, if desired.

Review - This was good. I'd never purchased canned enchilada sauce before, so I just bought the cheapest (store brand) can I could find. I think the flavor was too mild and didn't have near enough spice. Next time I'll make sure to buy a better brand of enchilada sauce and taste it to make sure it's got enough kick to it.

Chile Verde

4 lbs. chuck roast or pork shoulder/butt
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 small onion, diced
10 tomatillos
1 (4-ounce) can diced chilies
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juices
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. sage
1 Tbsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Trim fat from roast and place in stoneware. Add diced bell pepper and onion. Finely dice tomatillos or use food processor and pulse. Add chilies and tomatoes to slow cooker. Add garlic and seasonings. Add cilantro to the top of the meat. If your slow cooker releases a lot of steam, place a layer of foil over the top and then cover with the lid. Cook overnight on low, 8-10 hours. Shred with a fork. Let sit on low/warm all day so the meat absorbs the juices. Serve with tortillas, rice, pepper jack cheese, and sour cream.

Review - Really good! Definitely cook over night. You'll wake up to a kitchen that smells wonderful. The meat was very flavorful and was incredibly tender and juicy.

Tamale Pie in the Slow Cooker

Filling
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 (15-ounce) can corn, drained
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 cup diced onion
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cornbread Topping
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
dash of salt
1 egg

Use a 4 quart slow cooker. Spray the insides of your stoneware with cooking spray. Dump in the filling ingredients (cheese too) and stir well to distribute the spices. You will not be able to stir this again, so make sure the spices are not clumped together. In a separate bowl, mix the topping ingredients. Pour over the filling and spread batter evenly. Cook on low for 4-7 hours or high for 2-4 hours.

Review - This was good, but the cornbread topping almost doubled the filling. Either cut the cornbread topping in half or double the filling. The consistency of the cornbread was fabulous! It was incredibly moist. Next time I make this I'll add some bell peppers and shredded chicken.

Chicken baked in Olives, Capers, and Lemon

This is another fabulously easy Donna Hay recipe (thank you Cindy).

6.5 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved

1/3 cup small Ligurian olives (I used Kalamata)

2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

2 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed

2 tablespoons olive oil

sea salt and cracked black pepper

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Preheat the oven to 425. Combine tomatoes, olives, lemon rind, capers, oil, salt and pepper and place in the base of a baking dish. Place the chicken on top and spoon a little of the olive mixture over to coat. Bake for 20 minutes, turn the chicken once halfway through. Serves 2

Review - Awesome!!! I doubled everything because I wanted leftovers. Jay's exact words were, "This is a keeper." The flavor combination was wonderful and fresh. This would be an excellent summer dish served with a salad. I served it with rice and green beans.

Beef Stew

I found this on Allrecipes.com. I don't know who Kyle is, but his stew could use some work. This recipe yields ten servings. I cut everything in half and it made plenty for a family of four with leftovers.

Kyle's Favorite Beef Stew

3 pounds cubed beef stew meat
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
4 large potatoes, cubed
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 cups boiling water
2 (1 ounce) envelopes onion soup mix
3 tablespoons butter
3 large onions, quartered
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 cup burgundy wine
2 (6 ounce) packages fresh button mushrooms, halved
1/4 cup warm water
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Toss the beef, flour, and salt in a sealable bag until the beef is coated. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Combine the beef and Worcestershire sauce in the skillet; cook until the beef is evenly browned on all sides; transfer to a slow cooker, but do not clean the skillet. Add the carrots, potatoes, parsley, and pepper to the slow cooker. Combine the boiling water and soup mix in a small bowl; add to slow cooker.

Melt the butter in the skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onion and garlic in the melted butter until soft; transfer the onion and garlic to the slow cooker and return the skillet to the heat. Combine the wine and mushrooms to the skillet; cook until the mushrooms begin to absorb the wine; pour the mixture into the slow cooker.

Place the cover on the slow cooker and set to High; cook for one hour. Reduce heat to Low and cook until the beef is fork-tender, 6 to 8 hours. Whisk together the warm water and cornstarch; stir into the stew; cook uncovered until stew thickens, about 15 minutes.

Review - Nothing special. It tasted like regular beef stew. I'm not sure all of the extra steps (browning the meat, sauteing the onions, etc.) really made that much of a difference in the flavor. I'm pretty sure it would have tasted the same had I just thrown everything into the slow cooker. I'll probably save this recipe only because I don't already have a beef stew recipe. Hopefully by the end of this year I'll have found a tastier replacement.

Cougar Gold Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 1 ½ quart baking dish. Bring 6 cups water to a rolling boil in a medium saucepan with 1 ½ tsp salt.

Add 2 cups elbow macaroni (8 ounces) and cook just until tender.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce. You will need the following:

2 1/4 cups grated Cougar Gold
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups whole or skim milk

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. While whisking, gradually add the flour and milk. Stir in the following:

1/2 medium onion, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp sweet paprika

Simmer at a low temperature for fifteen minutes, stirring often. Remove pan from the burner and stir in 1½ cups of the Cougar Gold. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the cooked macaroni. Pour about half of this mixture into your baking dish and sprinkle half of the remaining cheese over the top. Pour on the rest of the mixture and top off with the cheese.

For a final touch melt 1 T butter and toss it with ½ cup fresh breadcrumbs. Sprinkle this mixture on top of your casserole and bake for 30 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs are golden.

Serves 4-6 main-course servings; 8-10 side-dish servings

Review - This was ok, but a waste of Cougar Gold, in my very humble opinion. The flavor of the cheese was completely lost and overall, the dish was fairly bland. I've yet to find a macaroni and cheese recipe that lives up to my expectations. For now, I think I'll stick to the blue box variety.

If you're interested in ordering a tin of Cougar Gold cheese, here's the link: http://www.wsu.edu/creamery/

Pork Steaks with Brown Sugar Apples

4 pork steaks (1/2- 3/4 in. thick)

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp. chopped sage

2 red apples, sliced

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp. butter

Place pork, oil, vinegar, and sage in shallow dish and set aside. To make the apples, press slices into brown sugar. Place butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat and cook apples for 2-3 minutes each side or until golden and soft. Set aside and keep warm. Place a frying pan over high heat. Drain the pork and cook for 3-5 minutes each side or to your liking. To serve, place pork on plate with apple slices and steamed green vegetables. Serves 4.

Review - The flavor of the marinade was wonderfully simple. When I make this again, I think I'm going to double the olive oil and balsamic vinegar and let it reduce to make a sauce (thanks for the tip Lisa). Jay wasn't crazy about the apples, but he's not a big fan of any fruit/meat combo. I thought apples and pork were customary everywhere, but I guess not if you're from Texas. Josie took a few bites of the pork. I served with polenta and peas. I liked the alliterative quality: pork, polenta, and peas.