Eat Drink and Blog » avasmommy

Marilou’s Casserole

avasmommy — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:32:08 +0000

I’m sure when this recipe started out it had a proper name, but I have no idea what it is. I call it Marilou’s Casserole after my beloved late Aunt Marilou who was my second, and sometimes first mom growing up. She made it for us countless times during my childhood. This is grub…good old fashioned comfort food. It’s not pretty, but it’s warm, filling and delicious. Serve with a salad and some warm garlic bread and you have a feast fit for any cold winter night, or anytime you need some food love.

1 lb ground beef
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp ketchup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 ½ cup uncooked macaroni
2-3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef, drain. Put back in pan, add the tomato, onion, bell pepper, Worcestershire, and ketchup, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil, then turn down heat to medium and let simmer for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook macaroni until done, pour into casserole dish, and mix with the cream of mushroom soup. Add in meat and sauce mixture, stir to combine and then top with the shredded cheese. Put into 350 degree oven for 30 min, or until mixture is bubbly and cheese is melted.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

avasmommy — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:00:16 +0000

If you’ve never made your own tortillas, you are missing out. These flour version are super easy to make and far, far superior to the store bought variety.

Tortillas

2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup of shortening or lard
2/3 – ¾ cup of VERY hot water

Mix flour with salt and baking powder. Using your hands mix in the shortening or lard until the mixture becomes a coarse even meal. Mix in 2/3 cup of water adding all at once, and knead for two minutes, or until the dough has the consistency of a stiff bread dough. If dry and crumbly, add water; if too moist, add a few tablespoons of additional flour.

Cover the dough and allow it to rest for 20 minutes. Heat a skillet or griddle over medium high heat until hot enough that a drop of water immediately sizzles and evaporates. You will be rolling and cooking each tortilla rather than rolling and cooking all of them.

Pinch off a piece of dough the size of a golf ball, and dust your hands and dough ball with flour. Place the ball on a lightly floured surface and flatten the ball with your hands into a ½ inch thick circle. Then using a rolling pin roll it twice in the same direction. Keep rolling, turning the dough 90 degrees each time, until you have formed a circle 1/8” think and 8 to 9 inches in diameter.

Immediately place it in the hot skillet and cook it for 30 to 45 seconds, or until bubbles begin to form on top. If the tortilla puffs into a pillow, push it down with a spatula. Turn and cook 20 seconds, remove with a spatula, and keep warm by placing it in a tea towel and covering it with the towel.

Roll and cook remaining dough the same way.

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

avasmommy — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:00:22 +0000

1 Pound of chicken tenders or the same amount of breast meat that has been pounded thin.
1 Pizza crust (Thin works best but you decide what you want)
1 Red onion, sliced thin
1 Small bunch of fresh cilantro
1 small Bag of low-fat mozzarella cheese
1 Small round of gouda cheese. (Shred it up!)
1 Bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce.

Saute the chicken breast in a skillet until done, browned on the outside. Chop into bite size pieces.

Take pizza crust and spoon on the bbq sauce. Sprinkle with the chicken, onion and finally the shredded cheese. Bake at 425 until cheese is all melted and bubbly, and crust is done. Usually about 15- 20 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped fresh cilantro.

This is a complete and utter rip off of a pizza by a well known pizza place that will go un-named, but it rhymes with Malifornia Dizza Snitchen.

Garlic and Herb Croutons

avasmommy — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:15:25 +0000

I was reminded of these today by a Twitter friend, who was munching on croutons for a snack. They are way better than any store bought crouton, and are so easy to make, you will never go back to the bagged version again. Throw them in a Ziploc when you are done, and they will keep for a long time. Very few of these ever make it to a salad in my house, as they are perfect for munching.

Garlic and Herb Croutons
1 loaf sourdough bread
1 to 1 1/2 sticks butter
4 good size garlic cloves, minced
1-2 tbsp italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Cube the bread. Melt butter in large sauce pan or small-ish stock pot. When butter is melted, add in the minced garlic and turn off heat. Stir in italian seasoning and toss in bread. You may have to do this with only half the bread at once, depending on the size of your loaf, repeating the process for the other half. Toss bread well to coat and spread out in an even layer on a sheet pan. Put in oven and let bake until golden brown and toasted. In my oven this takes about 60 minutes. Depending on your oven, you may want to start checking on them around the 40 min mark.

Let cool and enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Brownies

avasmommy — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:30:04 +0000

If you are a milk chocolate person, shield your eyes. There is none to be found here. Although I suppose you could substitute regular cocoa powder and semi-sweet chips, if you are into that sort of thing. But I don’t want to know about it.

These brownies are best when warm right out of the oven.

Dark Chocolate Brownies

Preheat oven to 350

Grease a 9X13 pan

3/4 cup Hershey’s Dark Cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup butter, melted, & divided
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour (all purpose)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 package of dark chocolate chips

In a large bowl, stir together cocoa and baking soda. Add 1/3 cup of the melted butter. Add the boiling water and stir until thickened. Then add sugar, eggs, remaining 1/3 cup butter and stir until smooth. Add flour, vanilla and salt and combine completely. Stir in 3/4 of the chocolate chips. Pour batter into pan, sprinkle remaining chips on top.

Bake 30-35 minutes.

I take these out before they are completely done, that way they are a little bit gooey inside.

Not Your Mama’s Potato Salad

avasmommy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:00:15 +0000

I’ve had dozens of requests to put this recipe up here. Ok, so I’ve only had 2. But still, if you are having a BBQ (and 4th of July is coming up soon) this is a sure-fire crowd pleaser. Even non-potato salad loving people have raved over this. It is best to make at least a few hours ahead, overnight is even better.

Potato Salad

4 lbs red potatoes
1 cup mayo
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup Creole or whole grain mustard
Salt & pepper to taste
Pinch of garlic powder
Pinch of onion powder
2 bunches green onions (use the green part only)
1 package of bacon, fried crisp and crumbled

Cook potatoes in salted water JUST until tender (Don’t let them get to the falling apart stage). Drain, and let cool.

Mix up the mayo, sour cream, mustard and spices. In large bowl, toss with potatoes, crumbled bacon and sliced green onions. I have been known to toss in a little shredded cheddar too.

Chill and serve.

Notes:

Measurements are approximate. I really don’t measure much when I cook. Yeah, I’m one of those.

Also, if you are making this up ahead of time (which I recommend, because the flavors will have time to “marry”) put the crumbled bacon in just before you serve it. Otherwise the bacon gets limp and soggy. Unless of course you like that sort of thing. In which case, you are dead to me.

Smoky Chicken & Cranberry Pasta

avasmommy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:30:02 +0000

My husband and I love to eat out and try new places. A neighbor of ours won a free dinner to a new place in town a couple of years ago and invited us to go along. We enjoyed a pasta dish they had so much that I decided to go home and recreate it. (at the time it wasn’t on their regular menu.)

What ensued was a dish even better than the one they served us.

1 lb penne pasta
2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and then sliced into strips
4 oz of smoked cheese, shredded ( I use Gouda, but any good melting cheese will do)
2 tsbp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 15 1/2 oz can chicken stock
1 pint heavy cream
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
salt & pepper to taste

Boil pasta until al dente, drain, set aside.

In large saute pan, melt butter and then add flour. Cook until just barely getting some color, about 2 – 3 minutes. We’re making a roux, which is a fat/flour mixture that will help to thicken our sauce.
Add in chicken stock slowly, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. The add the heavy cream, and let simmer for a couple of minutes. You’re really just getting everything heated up. Then add in the shredded cheese, whisk until all melted. Add in the dried cranberries and cook just until they begin to plump up a bit. Take off the heat, add in the drained pasta and sliced chicken, stir to combine.

Garnish with the chopped hazelnuts and enjoy!