Week #52: A New Year’s Feast

We made it!  Fifty-Two meals in 2011!  First, we’d like to thank everyone that’s followed out blog & encouraged us throughout the year.  We accomplished our goal of learning new recipes & growing a chef’s!  We’ve had so much fun this year & we hope that you guys have too!

So, for our lucky new year’s dinner we smoked a pork loin (this thing was HUGE…as Buddy Valastro would say!) I made a seafood appetizer & we enjoyed some champagne cake for dessert!

Appetizer -

Paula Deen’s ‘Shore is Good Seafood Dip’

If there’s one thing I’ve learned this year, it’s that you can’t go wrong with one of Paula’s recipes! Coming from Florida, I’ve really wanted to learn how to make a phenomenal seafood dip with shrimp & crabmeat so that was one goal I set for myself this year.  Her dip can feed an army, so if you need to cut this recipe down a bit, feel free!

Ingredients:

• 2 TB butter
• 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• Half of a can of cream of shrimp soup
• 1 cup mayo
• 1/2 ground fresh grated Parmesan
• 6 oz can of crabmeat
• 6 oz shrimp (fresh or canned)
• 1/2 tsp of ground white pepper

Preheat oven to 325.  Melt the butter in a skillet & add the pepper, onion & celery; saute for 2 minutes.  In a bowl, combine soup, crabmeat, shrimp, mayo, parmesan & pepper.  Stir the sauteed vegetables into the seafood mixture & pour into an 8×11 baking dish.  Bake for 30 minutes & serve warm with crackers or bread.

  

This dip was sooooo good!  It would be perfect for any party!

The rest of the dinner was pretty simple….

It was a beautiful weekend in Nashville!  It was warm & sunny so we decided to use the grill.  Kevin smoked a huge boneless pork loin that I prepared by rubbing lemon pepper all over it.  He smoked it for about 3 1/2 hours & it was perfect!

For sides, we prepared brussell sprouts & roasted Parmesan potatoes.

Champagne Cake

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup champagne
• 6 egg whites

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 10 inch round cake pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, and then blend into creamed mixture alternately with champagne.
3. In a large clean bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into batter to lighten it, then fold in remaining egg whites. Pour into prepared pan.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

So that’s how we rang in the new year!  Thanks for sticking with us!

This isn’t the end…there’s still a lot of recipes we want to learn!  So stick around!

Week #51 – Chimichangas!

Chimichanga

 

 

Kevin’s favorite meal at any Mexican restaurant is undoubtedly the Chimichunga.  He says that it is the bar by which he measures any Mexican restaurant.  I think it could be really bad and he would still enjoy it.    So Kevin said he really wanted to learn how they are made and so that’s what we did.

 

The end product, now doesn't that look good?

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
• 1/2 cup red enchilada sauce
• 1 1/2 onion, diced, divided
• 6 (12 inch) flour tortillas
• 4 cups diced cooked chicken breast, divided
• 1 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded, divided
• 4 cups refried beans, divided
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• TOPPING
• 3 avocados, peeled and pitted
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 green onions, diced
• 1/4 cup finely chopped jalapeno chile peppers
• 1 tomato, diced
• 2 cups shredded lettuce
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan combine the broth, rice, sauce, and 1 diced onion. Mix and bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until rice is tender.
2. Meanwhile, heat tortillas in a large skillet (so that they are soft enough to fold).
3. When rice mixture is ready, spoon equal amounts of the following onto each tortilla: Chicken, shredded Jack cheese, diced onion, olives, rice mixture and beans. Roll tortillas, tucking in sides to prevent filling from spilling over.
4. Heat oil in a large skillet and fry the filled tortillas, turning, until browned on all sides. Drain on paper towels.
5. To Serve: In a medium bowl combine the avocados, cilantro, lemon juice, green onions, chile peppers and tomatoes. Mash together. Place shredded lettuce on a platter, topped with chimichangas, avocado mix, sour cream and shredded Cheddar cheese.

 

Week #50 – Country Fried Steak (to end the year on a high note!)

Ok, so we are rapidly coming to the end of 2011!  We realized somehow we got a little behind on our meals to this week’s been non-stop cooking in the Maschmeier house!  I guess maybe this is cheating, but we will make SURE there are 52 meals completed on this blog by New Years day!

My mom makes excellend Country Fried Steak so I know this is a simple recipe, but I’ve never tried it!  I cooked the steak in our skillet with some Crisco (because Crisco is the best invention since Mayo in a jar according to Minnie!)

Ingredients:

2 cube steaks, salted & peppered

1 cup flour

1 egg

Dredge the steaks in flour & egg twice, heat Crisco in skillet & cook each side for about 3-4 min. (until done)

To make the gravy, leave the drippings in the skillet & pour the remainder of the dredge flour into the skillet.  Allow that to cook for a minute but scrape the skillet while it’s browning.  Slowly add some milk & whisk until it’s the consistency you want.  Add a pinch of salt & pepper & you’re done!

I served the steaks with sweet peas mixed with baby bella mushrooms & mashed potatoes….we sorta felt like we were eating at Cracker Barrel tonight!

  

 

For dessert, all week we’ve been enjoying some pastries I made in honor of Christmas & Boxing Day!  I made these excellent orange dinner rolls & Buckingham Palace Shortbread.  These light little treats are just what the doctor ordered when you’re looking for a light & sweet little treat!

 

Week #49 – Nacho Burgers

 

Nacho Burgers

 

Nacho Burgers

Ingredients:

 

1 lb lean ground meat (beef, turkey or chicken)

1/2 small onion, diced fine

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons black pepper

3 teaspoons chili powder

1 can of green chilies

2 Serrano peppers

1 diced tomatoes

Nacho chips

1 package of Queso

Sour cream

1 teaspoon dry cayenne pepper seasoning

 

Directions

 

1. Combine ground meat with onions, garlic powder, black powder, chili powder, green chilies and mix them together.  Once they are mixed form them into patties.
2. Place burgers on grill and cook.
3. Chop peppers, tomatoes and place on top of grilled burgers.  Place strips of Queso onto of peppers, tomatoes, and burgers.
4. Place nachos on top of melted Queso.
5. Mix sour cream with Dry Cayenne Pepper seasoning for a condiment

Spicy Fried Potatoes

 

Ingredients:

 

Potatoes, (the numbers depend on how many you want to feed, I’d say 1 per person however if you go over 4 you’ll have to cook in batches)

1 tablespoon Black pepper

1tablespoonSeasalt

Green onions or diced onion

3 teaspoons Chili powder

1 Serrano pepper (your favorite hot pepper)

2 teaspoons your favorite oil, I like to use extra virgin olive oil

Ay left over Queso from burgers

Depending on the pepper you use, this can get hot!

 

Directions

 

1. Chop potatoes into small bite size pieces
2. Place oil in a pan (I like to use a cast iron, makes me feel like I’m outdoors) and heat on medium, medium-high heat.
3. Put potatoes into the pan when it gets hot, sprinkle seasoning onto the potatoes and stir it up.
4. Cover with a lid if you have one.  If you don’t have a lid heat on medium heat and keep stirring as the sides begin to brown.
5. As the potatoes begin to brown throw in the peppers.  Let them cook for 2 minutes.
6. Add strips of Queso, after it melts the potatoes are finished.
7. Serve

Week #48 – A Christmas Feast!

This year we wanted to do something a little traditional for our Christmas dinner.  We saw The Christmas Story & have been thinking a lot about a traditional English Christmas feast & thought we’d go that route this year!  On the menu was yorkshire pudding, rib roast, asparagus, roasted potatoes & figgy pudding.

I have to admit that I was not a fan of the figgy pudding…I think it’s an acquired taste.  :)

Yorkshire Pudding

Ingredients:

1/2 pint milk
4 ounces all-purpose flour
Pinch salt
3 eggs
Vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Mix the batter ingredients together. Let rest for 10 minutes

Preheat a Yorkshire pudding tray or muffin tin with 1/2-inch (1 centimetre) of oil in each section. After the 10 minutes divide the batter into the tray. Cook for around 15 to 20 minutes until crisp and puffy, don’t open the oven door before then or they won’t rise.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Inactive Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

 

Rib Roast

This is the recipe we were going to use, but like a lot of holidays, time gets the best of us so we had to use a rotisserie oven.  The results were amazing though!

Ingredients:

1 (5-pound) standing rib roast

1 tablespoon House Seasoning, recipe follows

 

Directions

Allow roast to stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degree F. Rub roast with House Seasoning; place roast on a rack in the pan with the rib side down and the fatty side up. Roast for 1 hour. Turn off oven. Leave roast in oven but do not open oven door for 3 hours. About 30 to 40 minutes before serving time, turn oven to 375 degrees F and reheat the roast. Important: Do not remove roast or re-open the oven door from time roast is put in until ready to serve.

House Seasoning:

1 cup salt

1/4 cup black pepper

1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

 

 

Figgy Pudding

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

1 cup molasses

2 cups mission figs (buy 1 lb. chop yourself)

1/2 teaspoon grated fresh lemon rind

1 cup buttermilk

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups brandy

Cheesecloth (we used coffee filters)

 

 

Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2 Grease a 9-inch tube pan.

3 Beat butter until soft.

4 Add eggs and molasses and beat till fluffy.

5 Add chopped figs (try to use good quality figs), grated lemon rind, and buttermilk.

6 In another bowl combine all the rest of the ingredients (all dry ingredients).

7 Pour dry ingredients into fig mixture and stir well.

8 Pour into tube pan and cook for about an hour or until toothpick comes out pretty clean.

9 After about 15 minutes, try to dislodge cake and put out onto a baking rack.

10 Soak enough cheese cloth to go around the cake a couple times in brandy.

11 When cake is cool, wrap it up well and soak for 24 hours.

12 Serve with whipped cream.

 

So there you have it!  I hope your Christmas meals were just as tasty as ours was this year!

Merry Christmas to all…& to all a good night! 

Week #47 – Oven Baked Pork Ribs

Oven Baked Pork Ribs

Ingredients:

Favorite dry rub (ours was an applewood dry rub from Pampered Chef)

2 teaspoons of black pepper

2 teaspoons of salt

¼ a cup of brown sugar

1 rack of ribs

Our ribs had already been sliced so they had to be coated individually but we tried to cook them like they were still together.  The key to cooking anything for a long time is low temperatures; this was true of the pork shoulder we smoked out on the grill so this is also true of the oven inside.  This was a new meal for us however it was probably more an experiment, what kind of char and taste can we get from cooking indoor apposed to outside on the grill.  Luckily we live inTennesseewhere it’s not impossible to grill out year round but sometimes it’s just better to be inside with our loved ones.

1. Take seasonings and rub down the ribs so they are covered.  Place these ribs into a baggy or a place to settle down with the seasoning at least 12 TWELVE hours before hand, the longer the better
2. Set oven at 200 degrees
3. Place ribs in a foil lined sheet in a pan with higher sided; its okay if it doesn’t this is primarily for keeping all the juices off your oven floor.
4. Cook for 3 hours.
5. You won’t see the char you get from smoking because the smoke helps to blacken the outside along with the heat, however you will get a nice dry crust on the outside while the inside is very tender.

We cooked our ribs for three hours but you can always cook it for longer and it will just mean the meat with be even more tender.  This meal is great with homemade fries and homemade coleslaw.

 

Homemade Coleslaw in a pinch

Ingredients:

2 cups of Coleslaw mix

2 tablespoons of mayonnaise

3 teaspoons of pepper

3 teaspoons of salt

(you can also add 1 teaspoon of vinegar if you want some bite)

This is simple, mix ingredients together, done.

 

Homemade fries

We have made these before so there is no special secret however I’ll go through all the details.

Ingredients:

Big pot for deep frying in

Three cups of canola oil

Cut potatoes into wedges

Creole season

Sea salt for flavor

1. Get canola oil in pot up to 320 degrees
2. Place fries into oil with about an inch between the top of the potatoes and the top of the oil
3. The fries will float to the top as they finish.
4. Watch out for too much burning on the fries, it seems they continue to cook as they cool so just before you get to your desired crispness take them out.
5. Cool on a paper towel and a cooling rack.

 

Enjoy these ribs with some fries or mac & cheese!  I hope you have a wonderful meal.

Week #46 – Feta-Stuffed Pork Chops with Garlic Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Let me start by saying that Kevin does not like veggies…

When I suggested brussel sprouts he was a little nervous, but I think he discovered something he really likes now!

We are keeping it simple this week & wanted to base a meal around this veggie, but what to fix?  We thought some pork chops & rice would pair nicely with the brussel sprouts but we wanted to jazz it up a little bit.  We bought some Meditteranean Feta cheese & decided to stuff those babies full!  What turned out to be a simple meal packed a powerful punch & really tasted great!

Feta-Stuffed Pork Chops

We bought some thick chops & just browned them a little in a skillet.  We then took our feta (you can use another cheese if you like)  & piled it on.  We placed these guys in the oven & baked for 25 min (or until fully cooked).

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with garlic

Ingredients

1 pint brussels sprouts (about a pound)

4 to 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, to coat bottom of pan

5 cloves garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Method

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Trim bottom of brussels sprouts, and slice each in half top to bottom. Heat oil in cast-iron pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers; put sprouts cut side down in one layer in pan. Put in garlic, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. Cook, undisturbed, until sprouts begin to brown on bottom, and transfer to oven. Cook, shaking pan occasionally, until sprouts are quite brown and tender, about 15 minutes.

3. Taste, and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Stir in balsamic vinegar, and serve hot or warm.

*The recipe I used said to cook the sprouts at a much higher temp & for a long period of time.  Ours burned…so don’t make that mistake!  They still tasted great, they just weren’t pretty to look at!

 

So there you have it!  A simple meal that really took about 30 minutes to make!  Serve with rice & you’ll love it!