Easy Red Beans and Rice

Long a comfort food from down south, Red Beans and Rice also has a bit of history attached to it.  Ham was the traditional Sunday dinner (or supper as they often called it).  Back then Monday was also often called "Washday" as it was the day all the laundry was done..   For the ladies of the house, a pot of beans, with the leftover ham bone and spices added for flavoring, was an easy Monday dinner that wouldn't take a lot of attention away from getting the washing done. They could assemble the ingredients and let it simmer while they attended to the laundry.

I don't know about you, but a ham is not a traditional Sunday dinner at my house.  As a matter of fact, we probably only have ham 2 or 3 times a year.  This can be a problem since various ham & beans recipes, especially Red Beans and Rice, are among my favorites. I've come up with this recipe which has a bit of flavor but is not overly spicy, as traditional Red Beans and Rice is actually rather mild and served with a bottle of hot sauce so everyone can adjust the octane level to their own desires.

Be sure to read all the way to the bottom.

Let's go!

1 pound package dry red beans
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound Andouille (Cajun Sausages, or hot links)
White Rice

Sort and rinse the beans as per the package directions. Place in the pot with the onion and garlic, add enough water so the beans are covered by about 1-1/2".  Add the red pepper flakes and black pepper and stir.  Bring to a boil, the lower the heat until it is at a simmer.   Simmer for about 2 hours.  Slice the sausage on an angle into pieces about 1/2" thick.  Add to the pot and return to a boil.  Once at a boil, again lower the heat to a simmer for about an hour.

While the pot is simmering, cook a couple cups of rice per the package directions.  I like to use Chicken Broth instead of water when making the rice.

When the beans are cooked and ready, serve over rice. You can garnish it with a fresh parsley sprig or with green onions for a "fancy look" if you like.

As an aside, corn bread or biscuits are great with this dish!

This is a real basic recipe.  You can add additional spices such as parsley, thyme, bay leaf.  You can add chopped ham or bacon crumbles if you want more meat.  You can add diced bell pepper and/or chopped celery.   Try different ways until you find the recipe you like and make it your own!

Minestrone Soup ... Oh Yeah!

Perhaps you've heard about the recent series of storms we've had here in CA.  Basically 3 separate storms over a 5 day period.  When it's cold and raining (or even just cold) I like a good bowl of soup or stew and some fresh  baked bread.  With the weather we had, I thought a nice bowl of Minestrone would be good.  Minestrone is one of those soups which has bunches of variations.  None of them are wrong, they are all adjusted to the individual tastes of the cook.  My recipe started as one from printed on the back of a box of pasta some 20+ years ago and I've changed it and refined it over the years.  Will it still be the same 5, 10 or even 20 years from now?  I doubt it.  :-)  I change stuff constantly.  But here is the "now" version for your enjoyment.

1 lb top round steak, cut into 1" pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
1/2 lb baby carrots
2 small potatoes cubed
1 15oz can dark red kidney beans, drained
2 slices of bacon
1 8oz can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
2 quarts beef broth
1 cup dry pasta (I use mini-penne)

In a large pot or dutch oven, cook the bacon until crispy, remove the bacon and set it aside to cool.

In the bacon grease brown the beef and onions until the beef is browned and onions translucent (3 - 5 minutes, stirring often) Add the garlic about 1 minute before the others are done.

Add the beef broth and tomato sauce stirring well, add the Italian seasoning and stir again.  Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer and let it simmer for an hour.

Return to a boil, add the carrots and potatoes. Simmer for another hour or so until the carrots are cooked.

In a small saucepan place the dried pasta.  Ladle out enough broth only to cover the pasta.  Bring this to a boil and cook for the time directed on the pasta package.

While the pasta is cooking crush the bacon slices (you thought I forgot about those, didn't you?) into bacon bits.  Add those and the kidney beans to the soup and return to a boil. Turn down to a simmer for 10-15 mins.

When the pasta is done drain the broth back into the soup and keep the pasta separate.

To serve put a small amount of pasta in the bottom of the bowl and ladle soup over it.

Garnish with Parmesan Cheese if desired.

Serve with warm bread or rolls as desired & Enjoy!

Twinkie lovers, take heart!

With the shutdown of Hostess Brands lovers (addicts?) of Twinkies are reportedly stocking up on their favorite junk food.  If you can't find any, or get a big enough stash, here is a copycat recipe from Top Secret Recipes.  Enjoy!

Teriyaki on the Fly

I got some chicken out this morning and decided to marinate it in teriyaki sauce for dinner.  The only problem was I didn't have any teriyaki sauce and didn't want to have to run to the store. In perusing recipes online I did my usual of taking a bit of this and a bit of that and I came up with a pretty good sauce! Normally I marinate chicken for a day, this one was only marinating for 6 hours.  It still had good flavor and I think would be even better if it had been allowed to marinate for a full day.

About the ingredients; Miren, a sweet Japanese rice wine, is usually used.  I didn't have any so I used Marsala instead.  I think any sweet wine would work.  Rice vinegar was called for which I had.  If I hadn't had it I would have used either wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar or plain distilled vinegar. For the sweetener I used honey, you could use white or brown sugar if you don't have honey. Oil, I used olive.  I think you could use whichever you wanted or have on hand, even butter if that's all you got.

Here we go!

1/2 Cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 Cup Sweet wine
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon honey

Place all items in a small saucepan and bring just to a boil, stirring often.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temp. (You can put it in the fridge to hasten this process).  Stir it one more time and pour over the chicken. I used 4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts, placed them in a 1 gal ziplock baggie and turned it a few times during the day.  Note that these were frozen at the start so were kept on the counter-top to defrost and marinate at the same time.

The chicken breasts were baked for 25 minutes at 350*F and came out good.  I am looking forward to trying this again when I am able to marinate them overnight in the fridge as I usually do.

Enjoy!

Easy Drop Bicuits

To go along with yesterday's Basic Stew Recipe, I thought I'd post an easy recipe for drop biscuits. It's pretty similar to what you'll find on the box of any baking mix, like Bisquik or Pioneer Brand. If you have a box of baking mix you really don't need this post. If you don't, read on and then add a box to your grocery list when you pick up the stew items.

2-1/2 cups baking mix
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 425*F

Mix the baking mix (BTW, I prefer Pioneer Brand) and mix in a bowl until just mixed.  Don't overdo it.
Grease a muffin pan and spoon equal amounts of your biscuit batter into each cup. (about 1/3 of a cup)
Bake for about 12 minutes, until light brown on top.

Enjoy!

Basic Beef Stew

It amazes me how many people I've talked with that love beef stew but don't have the slightest idea of how to make it.  I've had folks say they looked up directions but it looked too complicated.

"Dredge in flour? Brown in oil?  How do I do that?"

I am here to the rescue with a basic recipe that requires no dredging, digging, oiling, browning or even stirring (if you don't want to stir it, that is).

Basic items:

1 to 1.5 pounds beef stew meat
1# package of baby carrots
3-4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into eighths
1 medium onion chopped (or 1 cup of frozen chopped onions)
1 clove of garlic chopped (or 1 teaspoon of chopped garlic from the jar)
Beef stock (about 2 quarts)
Salt
Pepper

Optional items:
1/2 cup or so of diced bell peppers (any color)
1 - 8oz can of corn, drained
1 - 15oz can of black beans, undrained

Take the beef out of the package and rinse it off, place it in a 6 quart Dutch Oven and add beef stock to cover.  Bring it to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Let it simmer for about an hour, a little longer is ok if you're busy.

Then add the baby carrots (after taking them out of the package), potatoes, onion, garlic, a pinch of salt and a couple of ground pepper. Also add the bell peppers if you're using them. Add enough beef stock to cover and return to a boil.  Turn down heat to a simmer again, and let it cook for about an hour, or until the potatoes and carrots are done.

Add the cans of corn and beans at this point, if you are using them, and if needed more beef stock to keep everything covered.

Let it simmer for about 20 minutes and then it is ready to eat!

If you're using a Slow Cooker, it's even easier.  Remove everything from the packages, put it in the slow cooker, pour in enough beef stock to cover everything, put the lid on it and turn the heat on the low setting for 6 - 8 hours.  How hard is that?

Baked Ziti (Sort of)

Baked Ziti is an Italian comfort food.  Just about everyone has their on way of making it, with their favorite ingredients.  This recipe is a baked "Ziti" recipe, but tweaked as I am in the middle of a VERY BUSY stretch, without a lot of time to cook. As a result, most of what is used in this recipe comes from a jar.

First of all, maybe it should be called "Baked Pasta", as I seldom use Ziti.  Click here for an explanation of Ziti. I usually use Penne Pasta, and that is what I used in this recipe. You can use Ziti, Penne, Mostaccioli, Rigatoni, in a pinch you could even use Spaghetti noodles.  Whatever you like, or what you have on hand.


This will make one 9X13 pan or two 8X8 pans.

On to cooking! You'll need:
1 pound of ground beef
1 small onion, chopped up
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 15oz jar of Alfredo Sauce (I used Classico Creamy Alfredo)
1 24oz jar of Pasta Sauce (I used Classico Cabernet Marinara)
1 - 1# package of Penne pasta
Parmesan Cheese

Place about 4 to 6 quarts of water in a large pot and start it to boiling.

Brown the ground beef in a medium skillet.  When it is about halfway browned, add the onion and allow it to cook with the beef. When it is almost done add the garlic and mix it in well for the last minute or two of browning. Drain well and set aside.

By now the water should be boiling. Add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the package.

Drain the pasta and put it in a large bowl.  Pour the Alfredo Sauce over it and mix it in well. Place a tiny bit of the red sauce in the bottom of your baking pan(s) and use it to cover the bottom of the pan(s).  Mix the rest in with the pasta. Add the meat mixture and mix well.  Spoon the mixture into the pan(s) and level the top.  Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese over the top.

Place in a cold oven, turn it to 350*F and cook for 25 minutes, including the warm up time.

Let it cool for about 10 minutes before serving.  The whole recipe will serve 8 - 10.

It goes well with a loaf of Sourdough or Faux Sourdough bread.

This is one 8 X 8 pan, the other is in the freezer for another day!

If you liked this post, please join my site using the link to the right.  If you didn't like it, please join anyway.  Maybe I'll get lucky and post something you like soon!  :-)

                                                  

Applesauce-Pumpkin Bread

If you made a loaf (or 2) of my Pumpkin Bread you'll notice this recipe is almost the same.  I use vegetable oil instead of butter, cut the amount of oil in half and add some applesauce.  In the Pumpkin Bread recipe I said you could use 1 cup sugar (or more, to taste).  In this recipe stick to 1 cup, no more, due to the sweetness of the applesauce.

 Try it, I think you'll like it!


1/2 of a 15oz can of Pumpkin (Approx 1 Cup)
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup apple juice (use water if you don't have juice)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice mix

You can add a half teaspoon of salt.  I don't add salt to many things, but you decide for yourself.

Preheat oven to 350*F.  Grease a loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients (the wet ones).  Mix together with your mixer until well blended.

In another bowl, Add the remaining ingredients (the dry ones) and mix well with a wire whisk.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing as you go.  Continue mixing until blended.

Cook for 60 mins at 350*F or until a toothpick or sharp knife inserted comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan for 10 - 15 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Fall is here.  In my part of CA that means 80*F days and 50*F nights.  LOL!  Believe it or not, we do get fall colors and such, the leaves should start turning any week now.  You know it;s fall when the stores are putting out Christmas items before Halloween and the grocery has displays of pumpkins.

I'm not going to go into cooking your pumpkin so you can use the meat to make bread, but I am going to share a good recipe for pumpkin bread.  This recipe will make one loaf, I know a lot of recipes make 2 (or more) loaves, but why make more then one until you've tried it?  You may want to make adjustments so make it one loaf at a time until the recipe is unique to you and your tastes, then double (or triple or quadruple) it for more loaves at once.

Here we go! You'll need:

1/2 of a 15oz can of Pumpkin (Approx 1 Cup)
2 eggs
1/2 cup softened butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar (a little more is ok to suit your tastes)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice mix

You can add a half teaspoon of salt.  I don't add salt to many things, but you decide for yourself.

First, get your oven preheating to 350*F.  Also get out your loaf pan, either an 8.5 X 4 or 9X5.

Take a large bowl and add the softened butter to it.  A neat trick I got from TheRedheadRiter is to use the paper from the cube of butter to grease the pan.  Rub the paper over the inside of the pan and the butter left on it will grease your loaf pan.  Great tip, Red!

To the  large bowl add the pumpkin, eggs, water and vanilla.  Mix well with your mixer.

In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking soda and spice mix. Also the salt, if used.

Use a whisk to mix them until well mixed.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones, mixing as you go.

When totally blended, pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake in the oven for about 60 minutes, until a sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool.

At this point you can sprinkle a little powdered sugar over the top if you like.

Let it cool for another 10 to 20 minutes, then slice if you want to try it warm with a little melted butter.

As you can see, I was too anxious and didn't let it cool enough before slicing so it crumbled a bit at the edges.  It still tasted great!

Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix

Today I'm going to give you an easy way to make your on Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix. I'm going to give you an easy to mix batch that I and my family like.  It's cheaper to mix your own, and you can tailor it to your tastes!
There are several variations of this on the internet, obviously I like mine the best.
On a final note, the next few posts will tell you why I'm posting this today!  ;-)

This is easy to remember, 3-2-2-1-1 and the acronym CANGC. (Cangood).  It deciphers as
3 Parts Cinnamon
2 Parts Allspice
2 Parts Nutmeg
1 Part Ginger
1 Part Cloves

The spices are all ground, of course.

So now you don't have to buy the overpriced pre-mixed little jar in the store, you can make your own with items you probably already have on hand.

If you're itching to try it out, make up a cake using my Basic Cake Recipe and add 2 tablespoons of the Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix.  :-)

Easy Applesauce Cake

Want something a little different? Not sure what you have to make a good dessert?  Here's a simple cake you can throw together quickly if you have some applesauce and a couple basic spices.

Start with the Basic Cake Recipe

To the dry ingredients:
Substitute brown sugar for the plain sugar in the recipe.
(if you already added plain sugar, don't sweat it)
Add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Add 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

To the wet ingredients:
Omit the vanilla
(again if you already added, don't sweat it)
Cut oil to 1/4 cup
Add 1 cup applesauce.

That's it!  Follow the mixing and baking instructions in the
Basic Cake Recipe and enjoy!

Southwestern Tater Tot Casserole

It feels somewhat strange to post a recipe like this after one about the veggies, but comfort food has a place too!  Also, this is a great recipe for tailgating, picnics, anytime you're on the go.  Make it up ahead and heat it at your destination.  All together it takes about 45 - 50 minutes.

You need:

1# Ground Beef
16oz jar of  Salsa
14oz bag of Southwestern Veggie Blend
8oz  Velveeta Cheese cut in small pieces
30oz bag of tater Tots
2 medium size flour tortillas

Grease two 8" square pans with butter
Arrange tortillas on bottom of pan and about 1 inch up the sides
(Cut to fit)
Brown the ground beef in a large skillet, drain off the fat
Add the salsa and the veggies, mix well
Place the Velveeta on the top of the meat mixture
As the mixture warms, stir in the cheese
Stir often until the cheese is totally melted and mixed in
Pour over tortillas into the pans and level with spatula
Arrange tater tots 1 deep over top of mixture
Cook in 350*F oven for 30 mins
Let set for 10 mins before serving

This is a recipe that is great for tailoring to how you like it.
Line the bottom with tortilla strips instead of tortillas
Use turkey or pork instead of beef
Choose your poison of salsa: mild, medium, hot or "OH NO!" LOL
Use whichever veggies (or none) that you like
EXPERIMENT!  HAVE FUN!

To Cook or Not To Cook (The Veggies, that is)

In a Google+ post by Michelle Mangen yesterday about cauliflower, we kicked back and forth a bit about eating this particular veggie.  In her post she linked to an article about the benefits of raw cauliflower. She had commented about not liking raw cauliflower at all, and that led me to look up a few things about cooking, particularly steaming, veggies versus eating them raw.

Livestrong, the blog partner of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, had this interesting article on the nutritional content of steamed vs raw vegitables.

Basal Science Clarified had this article asking "Are Raw Vegetables Healthier Than Cooked Ones?"

After reading them both, I'm of the opinion that while both ways are good for you, I'm going to stick with steaming things like broccoli and cauliflower.  And pouring a little queso on them too!  ;-)

BTW, you can also follow Michelle on Twitter @mmangen