Mimmsical Creations

I normally don't like Rachel Ray. She annoys me for some reason... however, she does have good recipes on her show now and then. On this particular day, she was featuring eggplant, so I kept it on to hear the recipe! Boy, am I glad I did. This recipe was YUMMY! It was supposed to be a 30-minute meal, but it definitely took me longer than that. It was still a pretty easy meal overall though - and really tasty! And it was pretty healthy too! :) (The recipe features a side of orzo too - I only made the eggplant though.)

First you slice up two smallish eggplants into about 8 slices (length-wise). This is a bit tricky in my opinion! Brush each slice with olive oil and grill both sides for about 4 minutes each. (Grill pan - I don't have an actual grill!) While the eggplant is grilling - sauté some garlic, diced roasted red pepper (from a jar), and thawed frozen spinach. (you're also supposed to put in diced olives - I forgot them!)

Once your eggplant is done and your veggies are sauteed, lay out the slices of eggplant on a baking sheet - put a few spoonfuls of the veggie mixture on each slice of eggplant. I put a few crumbles of feta on each slice at this point too (though the recipe didn't call for it!)

Then spread a couple big spoonfuls of hummus on each slice and top with breadcrumbs! Bake the whole tray for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Enjoy - it's really good! :)

Suzie reminded me - I forgot to mention the bread I made on Thanksgiving day!! I finally tried out the breadmaker!

I was pleased with my first attempt! It tasted really yummy! The only problem with it was that it was quite crumbly and a bit dry. I think I realized - I used all purpose flour instead of bread flour. I'm hoping that will make the difference for next time. I wasn't really paying attention! I'll try again! Next time, I'm going to make the dough in the machine and bake rolls in the oven - Suzie's thyme roll recipe has been tempting me for some time now!

It is snowing like crazy here today. I'm wishing I was home making soup and baking cookies - maybe tonight! :) Stay warm!

For our first Thanksgiving as a married couple, Mike and I stayed home on the day of! We cleaned the house like maniacs, and I cooked up a storm! We went to his family gathering on Friday, and his dad and step-mom visited us on Saturday, so it was a busy weekend!

Our menu for Thursday was rather "odd" for a Thanksgiving meal, but Mike doesn't like turkey, so I made stuff I knew he would like! I made a pot-roast with veggies in the crock-pot, creamy brussel sprouts, and rosemary bread!!

First the pot-roast:

When I asked for help in the meat department on Wednesday, the guy was incredulous that I wasn't buying turkey! Buy red meat the day before Thanksgiving! It is WAY marked down! No one is buying it! He told me it didn't really matter what cut of meat I chose if I was going to slow cook it, and he was right - it was absolutely fall apart tender after 7 hours in the crock pot!

I took my friend Andrea's advice and cooked it with a can of coke. This is supposed to make it even more tender I guess. The only thing I would do different next time is maybe use only half a can plus some water - the flavor was just a bit sweet from the coke! (not bad - just a bit sweet!)

I placed in about 4 small chopped red potatoes, 1 onion, chopped in large pieces, 4 carrots chopped in coins, and towards the end 16 oz. of mushrooms. For spices - I used 3 bay leaves, garlic, salt and pepper. That was it! I let it cook on medium heat for about 7 hours - until I could tell that the meat was totally tender. I pulled the veggies out about mid-way through because they were too soft! Next time, I'll wait and add the veggies mid-way through instead of at the beginning. About an hour before we were going to eat, I added the mushrooms (they don't take much time to cook.) YUMMY! I also did make some gravy from the liquid, but it was pretty sweet from the coke, and the veggies didn't really need gravy, so we didn't use very much of it!

Now - for the brussel sprouts. Wow. I have to say, this is one of the best dishes I have ever made!! I found the recipe online at the Dutch Girl Cooking blog (which I found via one of my favorite food blogs - Pioneer Woman). It was super yummy - if not super healthy! Mike and I both love brussel sprouts, and these were the best ever! Her recipe is very easy to follow, so I'll let you do that (plus she has step-by-step pictures!) The only thing I did wrong was I didn't see that I was supposed to cut the sprouts in half, so ours were whole. I would definitely cut them - they were a bit difficult to manouver on the plate in whole form! I WILL be making this one again (perhaps even this week as I have everything leftover to do so!) My only modification was I used half gruyere and half havarti cheese. For some reason, gouda was ungodly expensive!

I neglected to get pictures of our other cooking ventures for the weekend! I'll do better next time! For our Thanksgiving dinner with Mike's dad and step-family, I made creamed corn! I used a recipe I found online (of course!) I would have liked to make it with fresh corn, but in November, that wasn't possible, so I used organic frozen corn - and it turned out great anyway! The recipe I used is this one - I didn't make any modifications except to make the recipe a bit larger since there were quite a few people to serve! (Oh - I did add a bit of nutmeg - I had used it in the brussel sprouts and really liked the flavor, so I thought it would be good in the corn, and it was!)

On Saturday, Mike's dad and step-mom came up to our house to visit. It is easier to visit with them one-on-one than in the big group such as the day before. More enjoyable in my opinion! They requested Mike's pulled pork recipe for lunch. So, he pulled that together while I made potato salads to go with it. I will share his recipe here at some point, but I don't have it to share at the moment! (It is a TON of spices making up the rub followed by hours of baking at a low heat! Yummy!) I made two versions of potato salad. I like mine made with green olives/olive juice, but some people don't so I did another version made with my homemade bread and butter pickles. Both turned out great!!

I had fun cooking up a storm all weekend! Now, I have to get on the ball and make Christmas cookies to mail out for a swap, which I am behind on! (Thankfully my partner is OK with this!! I promise they will be on the way soon Terrie!) I have a busy weekend ahead again too! Wow! And Mike's birthday is on December 15 - he is turning 40!! Busy month for us! How is your December starting out?

So apparently cooking is my creativity lately! I am drawn to the kitchen! (Mike is happy about this development!) A few weeks ago, my best friend Andrea sent me an email recipe exchange - her recipe that she included was one that she had invented, and boy, did it sound yummy! I finally tried it out over the weekend!

Beef Mushroom Pockets

3 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
1 lb. ground beef, browned/drained
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
3 tbsp. butter
12 0z. sliced mushrooms
1 bunch fresh spinach, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 can cream mushroom soup
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese


Brown hamburger (I always add in onion, s&p, garlic when cooking hamburger). Drain and set aside. Melt butter in a pan and add green onion, garlic, mushrooms, spinach, salt and pepper. Cook until spinach is wilted. Add ground beef, soup, and cheese and mix well.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


On a baking sheet, lay out the crescent rolls keeping two together forming a rectangle. Spoon some of the mixture into the middle of the roll and fold the sides around to form a pocket. (Press all the seams together to seal, but don't worry if there are a few holes!) Bake for about 15 minutes or until rolls look golden brown! YUMMY! (Andrea did hers a bit differently - she used two rolls on the bottom - placed a lot of filling in, and sealed the top with two more rolls. I made more smaller pockets, she made fewer, larger pockets. If you make the larger version - bake for about 20 minutes.)

We have decided not to continue the Fabulous Foodies blog. So... instead of posting my food thoughts there, I'll post them here!

When the weather turns cooler - I get more in the mood to cook! Mike and I heard an ad on TV mentioning a gnocchi soup. I decided that I needed to try and make my own version at home!

I found a recipe online, but I didn't like the total package. I took just the basic skeleton idea and then I ran with it and changed it up to make it my own!

Here is what I did:

Tammy's Gnocchi Sausage Soup

Ingredients:

16 oz. gnocchi (I just used the brand I could find in my regular store. I prefer the kind I can get in our local kitchen store.)

1 lb. hot Italian sausage

8 oz. sliced mushrooms

1 cup (or so) sliced carrots

1 cup-ish frozen peas

1/2 onion, diced

minced garlic - as much as you like

basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano (I used dried in this case - it would, of course, be better with fresh herbs!)

black pepper

4-6 cups Vegetable stock (I used better than boullion to create my stock.)

grated parmesan cheese

Start by cooking your sausage until it is brown. Add in the mushrooms and onions about mid-way through cooking.

While this is cooking - start heating your stock and carrots. Once this is boiling, add in the meat and mushrooms - add any water you may need to have a nice pot-full (leaving enough room to add the peas and pasta later!) Let this cook for about 30 minutes. Add your herbs at any point you like.

Once your carrots have softened, add your peas. This will cool your soup down, so bring it back to a boil. Once it boils again, add the gnocchi. This takes only about 5-6 minutes to cook, so don't add the pasta until you're almost ready to eat!

Once your pasta is cooked - serve this up with a bit of grated cheese on top! Fantastic, if I do say so myself!!

Go on over to the Friendship of the Fabulous Foodies blog. I posted a new recipe today! Super easy, super yummy soup!

http://friendshipfabulousfoodies.blogspot.com/2008/09/fall-stewsoup.html

I am a new contributor at a wonderful, new blog!! My blog friends Jana and Suzie came up with this idea! The blog is Friendship of the Fabulous Foodies! Each of us is writing about our recipes and cooking experiences!

I just wrote my first post this morning. Go check it out!! My next post there will be about canning and making pickles! :)

Mike and I have decided we love polenta. I knew this already, but I've never cooked with it - only ordered it in restaurants! We bought a tube of pre-made garlic/basil polenta last week. I tried a breakfast with it over the weekend ... it was OK, but not great - wrong combo of flavors.

But, dinner! That is another story - a yummy one! I got a brainstorm and tried it out - and it was a huge success!

First, I sliced the remaining polenta into 1/4" thick slices and put them in to fry in olive oil.

While that was cooking - I started the "sauce" or topping. (Mike was helping me by chopping mushrooms and tomatoes!) I started with olive oil and garlic (minced, from a jar) in my skillet. I added sliced button mushrooms and sliced crimini mushrooms. And then, I chopped up some fresh basil and added that. I also added a couple slices of red onion (because that's what I had on hand.) Isn't it pretty with that bright green basil in there? :)

Next, I added in three chopped, roma tomatoes. This time of year, they don't have much juice, so I added a splash of sherry to give it a bit of liquid. I let that all simmer for a couple minutes, and then I added a handful of grated asiago cheese.

2/18/08

I realized it's been a while since I posted. Mike and I have both been sick ... AGAIN! This cold/flu we got at Thanksgiving has just hung on!

Our 3 year anniversary was December 22 - Saturday. We met online, but met for the first time in person three years ago! We met for dinner at Rasta Pasta, and we planned to go have dinner there again. But, we were sick, so we didn't get to! Blah! (We didn't get to go last year either because we were snowed in!) But, we celebrated anyway by getting Chinese takeout. Mike bought me a really great necklace. I've never seen anything quite like it! Moon phases in beads! Perfect! I bought him a bottle of scotch - he's going to exchange it for a type he likes better. I so cannot remember all the intricacies of scotch!

We were supposed to go to his family Christmas get together on Sunday, the 23rd, but couldn't do that either. I was MAD! We missed Thanksgiving too - sheesh! Oh, well. Nothing we could do about it. We'll get together with his dad and step-mom maybe this weekend.

We opened our presents very early on Christmas day. I think we both liked what we got each other! Mike did great picking out some beautiful jewelry for me. Two pendants - very different from each other. I will get good pictures to post. The ones I took quick this morning didn't turn out well at all. He also got me season 3 of Project Runway on DVD! Yay! :) My stocking stuffers were all kinds of crazy gadgets that he found at ThinkGeek.com. We had fun playing with them. I got him a Jellyfish tank and the game Oblivion - which he proceeded to play all day! The cats liked the wrapping paper!

Luckily, I did my grocery shopping and Christmas shopping before getting really sick again. I had all my ingredients to make special foods for us for Christmas day. We had planned to just stay home that day! I'm glad we did - it snowed most of the day! We got about 2 inches total. It was really pretty, but I'm glad we didn't have to drive anywhere! I made the breakfast casserole for us that I did on Thanksgiving. Then for lunch (wound up being late in the afternoon!) I made Cuban food! Yummy!! The first step is making sofrito sauce - which is then the base in the Ropa Vieja. Here is the sofrito in process. (Look how Christmas-y it is!)

Sofrito Sauce recipe:

Sofrito recipe
courtesy of Sonia Martinez

Sofrito is the base of many typically Cuban recipes. My mom used to chop up all the ingredients (except bay leaf) in a blender and store in a jar with a drizzle of olive oil on top. Stored in refrigerator, it can last about a week. (I blend it and use about half for my ropa vieja - and freeze the rest.) She would spoon out amounts needed for each recipe, add the bay leaf and then sauté and simmer as directed. The secret to a good sofrito is to let it simmer a while so all the tastes meld.

21 cherry tomatoes, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
2 large onions, chopped
8 to 10 garlic cloves, chopped
1 or 2 bay leaves
touch of ground cumin
touch of dried oregano
3/4 cup Sherry, or to taste
4 Tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste (optional)

Sautee tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic, bay leaves, cumin and oregano in oil slowly until all vegetables are limp. Add Sherry and let simmer. If you add the salt, taste beforehand as you might not need it at all. Blend it all together to make a sauce.

Ropa Vieja Recipe:

2 1/2 lbs flank steak, cut in strips
5 tablespoons oil
2 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic or 5 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup water
6 ounces sofrito sauce (I use about 3 times this much!)

Heat 3 tbsp. oil in skillet on medium, brown meat on all sides. Remove from skillet, add remaining oil to skillet, stir in garlic, onion and green pepper and cook until translucent. Stir in black pepper, browned meat, tomato sauce, water and sofrito. Simmer until meat is tender and shreds easily, about 1 hour (takes more than an hour for me). Serve on top of rice.

For us... We were supposed to go to Mike's dad's house today for his family get-together. Unfortunately, this illness still has it's grips on both of us. Mike is running a low-grade fever today and I'm just coughing like a mad-woman. I'm really tired of being sick, let me tell you!!

We decided to go ahead and make the dip we were planning to take with us. It was really yummy (and will be - we have LOTS left still!)

Here's the recipe (since that's what I seem to be posting the last couple days!)

Chipped Beef Chile Dip:

2 packages Stouffer's Creamed Chipped Beef (we didn't use this - but made homemade chipped beef gravy instead!)
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used more than this)
1 can (4 oz.) diced Green Chiles (I didn't have diced green chilies, so we used 505 Brand green chili sauce - and about 8 oz. instead of 4)
2 tablespoons chopped onion
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

COMBINE cream cheese, cheddar cheese, chiles, onion and garlic powder in crock pot. Add creamed chipped beef; stir well. Allow to melt all together and get hot at medium heat. Serve with chips or bread. We used Asiago cheese bread from Panera. YUM! :)

It wasn't the turkey dinner and trimmings, but it was good. We're just hanging out in our sweats and playing a lot of World of Warcraft while we convalesce. I am getting a bit stir crazy though! I was looking forward to the get together today, and am sad to miss it. I also am wanting to start Christmas shopping too!! Maybe tomorrow.....

Or if you're not in the U.S., happy Thursday!

I hope you all have enjoyed the holiday! Mike and I stayed home because we're both still fighting this illness. We're hopefully going to be able to join his dad tomorrow for their get-together.

I made a breakfast casserole for us for something special today! No turkey dinner (Mike doesn't like it anyway) but it was yummy! I've slept most of the afternoon away...

Breakfast Casserole

6 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1 lb. pork breakfast sausage
1 can crescent rolls
2 cups grated cheese
S&P to taste

Grease a 9 x 13-inch pan. Lay crescent rolls flat on the bottom of the pan without making them into rolls. Brown sausage and put on top of the crescent rolls.

Mix the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and pour over sausage. Top with grated cheese.

Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

As promised - here is the recipe for the pumpkin soup we made for our jewelry "party" on Friday night! It's not difficult, except for the cutting of the pumpkin! **Edited to add: my mom suggested to either microwave or bake the pumpkin whole for a while first before trying to cut it up! Makes sense that it would make chopping it easier!!

Pumpkin Soup

2 medium onion, chopped
2 Tablespoons of butter
16 oz. Chicken broth (or veggie to make this vegetarian!)
2 1/2 cups water
2 pounds pumpkin - peeled, cut into cubes (about 5 cups or 1 small baking pumpkin)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup milk (warmed)

1. In a deep pot, saute the chopped onion in the butter over medium heat.

2. Add the chicken broth, water, pumpkin, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer about 20 minutes or until pumpkin cubes are soft.

3. Remove from heat, and puree the mixture in a blender and return to pan. (We had to do the puree-ing in three batches to get it all done!)

4. Add the milk and boil again. (We accidentally added the milk with all the other ingredients instead of at the end and it was fine.)

5. Adjust the seasoning as needed. Serve.

We ate this with more wine, green salad, and yummy asiago cheese bread. It was a superb meal! I brought a small amount home for Mike to try - and even he liked it!! (Soup in process below - before puree!)

As I'm on a soup roll, I made split pea soup last night! I've never made it at home - and it was a rousing success!! SOOO yummy! And quite easy, actually. I just sauteed onions and carrots until the onions were translucent, then added 16 oz. of dried peas, water, and a cut up ham steak. I let it simmer for about 2 hours. I pureed a few cups of it and added that back in. We had a yummy, creamy split pea soup for dinner! The photo isn't as pretty as the pumpkin - but this is the soup in process - before puree!

Yesterday was canning day! My friend Andrea and I make pickles every summer. This year we made bread and butter pickles. I documented our process! It's a fun, long, hot, productive day! I really enjoy canning even though it's a lot of work. The outcome is quite satisfying. Hearing the "ping" of sealing jars is a great sound! You can see all of my photos at my flickr, but here are a few! :)

Step one: Cut the cucumbers and onions.

Step two: Ice the cucs and onions for three hours.


Step three: cook the cucs and onions in the mix of vinegar, sugar, and spices.


Step four: Scoop the mix into jars. (very carefully!)


Step five: "bathe" the jars to create the seal on the jars.

Step six: Let them sit to cool, and admire your handiwork! :)

Charlotte, the guest host for Getting to Know You Wednesdays this month at Create a Connection, has asked us to share a recipe this week. (I'm a day late!) Here is what she said:

"My challenge for you today is to share a recipe with us and tell us why you chose it. Is there a memory attached? Is it a family recipe that's been passed down through the generations? Did you cook it at your first dinner party in your first apartment? Is it a recipe from a famous chef that you've mastered?"

Well, I have two recipes to share. One I haven't made in forever, but I love the accompanying story. The other, I've not only made, but mastered and tailored it from the recipe my mom gave me!

The first is "Monster Burgers". My mom used to make these all the time when I was a kid. We had a poodle named Beau-Beau. My brother Tom, who teased me unmercifully, told me that the meat my mom used in these burgers was from monsters. Not just any monsters... ones that lived in the tree in Beau's yard. Beau killed these monsters and mom fried them up into burgers for us. I don't remember how much of this I believed then, but I'm guessing Tom managed to freak me out with this on more than one occasion.

The recipe:

Make large patties out of hamburger. Dip in beaten egg, then in bread crumbs. Sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Fry slowly until done, turning once. Optional - add in sliced mushrooms to cook with the burgers.

The next one is my mom's Pork with Green Chili recipe. I LOVE this! As does all of our family. In fact, my brother Tom (again with Tom!) likes it so much that when he got married, he had my mom make it for their rehearsal dinner. I've changed and added to the recipe to make it my own, and I have to say, it's pretty phenomenal! Not that difficult either. Fresh roasted chilies are the key in my opinion!

The recipe:

2 lbs. cubed pork (I usually use chopped stew pork) - coated in flour
S & P
2 (or more!) cloves of garlic
1 large onion, diced
2 15-oz. cans of tomatoes (I like the ones seasoned with garlic)
3 Tbsps. coriander seeds - crushed and soaked in water before adding
1 lb. of roasted green chilies - seeded, cleaned, chopped
Corn starch and water
(Tortillas, corn, rice, cheese, chopped lettuce, tomato and onion to serve)

Cook the pork in a little olive oil until browned. Add chopped onion and garlic - cook until onion is translucent.

Add in the tomatoes (liquid and all) and a couple cups of water, plus the chilies and coriander seeds. S & P to taste. Simmer this mixture for about 1 hour - keeping the water level up by adding if you feel it is necessary. Once the meat seems to be quite tender (may take more than an hour!) mix some corn starch with warm water and thicken.

Serve hot. We always layered it like this:
Flour tortilla, rice, corn, green chili, lettuce, tomato, chopped onion, cheese. (Tortilla flat on a plate with everything spread on it. Don't try to roll it - you won't succeed!) YUMMY! You can also add in a can of jalapenos if you want more spice. If I use canned green chilies I always do this. If I use fresh roasted, I don't need to.