...and STEAK! OMNOMNOMNOM!!
I am truly sorry, but I didn't manage to take any pictures of our dinner tonight before we demolished it. It was beautiful to behold, but we snarfed it up the minute it was ready...so you'll have to settle for the description and use your imagination...
At least once per summer we have a giant bowl of this amazing salad with hot off the grill thin sliced steak on top. I don't know if it has a name, but it has a place in my heart (& stomach) forever!
Start with a good piece of beef steak (we had a London Broil this time, but a nice Flatiron steak works just as well), and grill it to rare/medium rare. Let it rest off the grill for 5 minutes or so. While it's resting, mix up (in a giant bowl) an 18 oz. bag of Spring Mix salad greens and a 6 oz. bag of Baby Spinach (we use Fresh Express, because that's what our grocery carries). Open and drain 2 cans of mandarin orange segments (juice or light syrup packed, it doesn't matter) then sprinkle the segments over the greens, add about a cup (or more, your choice) of either blue or gorgonzola cheese crumbles and toss it all together gently, then sprinkle the whole business liberally with either candied walnuts or candied pecans (chopped if they're really big pieces) and toss gently one more time. Slice the steak into very thin strips (against the grain) and then find your bottle of either Raspberry Walnut (Ken's Steak House or Newman's Own) or Raspberry Hazelnut (Wish-Bone) Vinaigrette and either dress the whole salad or allow each person to dress their own. As soon as you have as much dressing as you want, lay thin sliced strips of steak over your salad and then dive in headfirst! OMG...soooooooooooo good! I even forgot that I had a bottle of wine chilling to go with dinner, LOL! We just ate it up "as is" and didn't even think about the wine until afterward. That's OK...we'll have the wine another time...like maybe tomorrow, LOL...
Again, sorry no photos...but seriously it all comes together so fast at the finish, and I just plain forgot to take any, even though I had planned to. My recommendation would be to make this for yourself, then you can REALLY see it! It's well worth it, I assure you.
We've finally gotten into some HOT (for here) weather...now that it's September, LOL. Temps in the 90's and pretty high humidity for here too, like up into the 80% range...UCK! Me no likey! They're forecasting 98 here for this coming Saturday, so you can bet that any errands that need to be done will be EARLY in the day so I can come home and hide out in our air-conditioned house! I just can't handle heat/humidity...it truly makes me ill. I guess having had heat-stroke a couple of times in the past has made me significantly less tolerant...I sure feel it now, that's all I know!
So have a great rest of the week, and try the salad...really!
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
No Crocodiles were injured...
...ever, in the making of 'Alicious Crocodile...promise!
When my daughter Jen was pregnant with her twins, she had lots of issues that involved sudden trips to the E.R. and sometimes overnight stays to get them resolved. When that happened, I would watch her oldest for the duration. Quite often, I would leave work and head to the hospital, pick up Booger Bear and take him back home to their place, make him dinner, keep him entertained and then get him to bed before Jen & her (ex, now) hubby got back home. He was about 2 and a half when he renamed this particular dish...Jen had some chicken thawing for dinner before she had to leave, so I just decided to make Coffee Chicken, somewhat of a standby in our family for years.
So I made dinner, and we sat down to eat...and a few minutes into it, Booger announced "Umma, this is 'alicious!" (he couldn't pronounce Grandma, so I've been Umma since he learned to talk) and a little later, while gnawing on a chicken leg, he said "We're eating croco-DILE!" and had this HUGE smile on his face. So...therefore...it's been "'Alicious Crocodile" ever since.
So here's the recipe for it, also known as Coffee Chicken...it sounds odd, but believe me, it's GOOD! It's also one of those things you can easily adjust for the number of people you're feeding...just add more chicken and potatoes as needed.
You need pieces of cut-up chicken, we like legs and thighs at our house (we buy the family packs and freeze them in bags of 4 to 6)...you need potatoes, however many it takes to fill up YOUR particular bunch...we use LOTS! And you need a pot of coffee...freshly made is best, but this morning's leftovers are fine too. Just DON'T use flavored coffee!! Oh, and Nature's Seasons too...can't cook without it, LOL. That's it.
Brown the chicken thoroughly...you want a nice color on it, as the last bit of cooking it'll get is actually steaming. We just brown it in a bit of Pam and season it with Natures's. Peel and quarter however many potatoes you need and throw them in a large pot...we use the all-purpose Dutch Oven. Pour brewed coffee over the potatoes to the point where some corners of them are sticking up ABOVE the liquid level, and season liberally with Nature's. You want your chicken to rest on top of them and not be submerged in the coffee, if possible. Place the browned chicken pieces on top of the potatoes in the pot, clap the lid on, bring to a boil...reduce the heat and cook till the potatoes are done, and there you have it.
We usually have some green beans (with bacon grease and onion, of course) alongside this, but spinach is good too...we love canned spinach, LOL. This is one our favorite ways to have chicken, and if you don't tell them, guests will never figure out what that yummy broth is that the potatoes cooked in.
Try it, you'll like it!
When my daughter Jen was pregnant with her twins, she had lots of issues that involved sudden trips to the E.R. and sometimes overnight stays to get them resolved. When that happened, I would watch her oldest for the duration. Quite often, I would leave work and head to the hospital, pick up Booger Bear and take him back home to their place, make him dinner, keep him entertained and then get him to bed before Jen & her (ex, now) hubby got back home. He was about 2 and a half when he renamed this particular dish...Jen had some chicken thawing for dinner before she had to leave, so I just decided to make Coffee Chicken, somewhat of a standby in our family for years.
So I made dinner, and we sat down to eat...and a few minutes into it, Booger announced "Umma, this is 'alicious!" (he couldn't pronounce Grandma, so I've been Umma since he learned to talk) and a little later, while gnawing on a chicken leg, he said "We're eating croco-DILE!" and had this HUGE smile on his face. So...therefore...it's been "'Alicious Crocodile" ever since.
So here's the recipe for it, also known as Coffee Chicken...it sounds odd, but believe me, it's GOOD! It's also one of those things you can easily adjust for the number of people you're feeding...just add more chicken and potatoes as needed.
You need pieces of cut-up chicken, we like legs and thighs at our house (we buy the family packs and freeze them in bags of 4 to 6)...you need potatoes, however many it takes to fill up YOUR particular bunch...we use LOTS! And you need a pot of coffee...freshly made is best, but this morning's leftovers are fine too. Just DON'T use flavored coffee!! Oh, and Nature's Seasons too...can't cook without it, LOL. That's it.
Brown the chicken thoroughly...you want a nice color on it, as the last bit of cooking it'll get is actually steaming. We just brown it in a bit of Pam and season it with Natures's. Peel and quarter however many potatoes you need and throw them in a large pot...we use the all-purpose Dutch Oven. Pour brewed coffee over the potatoes to the point where some corners of them are sticking up ABOVE the liquid level, and season liberally with Nature's. You want your chicken to rest on top of them and not be submerged in the coffee, if possible. Place the browned chicken pieces on top of the potatoes in the pot, clap the lid on, bring to a boil...reduce the heat and cook till the potatoes are done, and there you have it.
We usually have some green beans (with bacon grease and onion, of course) alongside this, but spinach is good too...we love canned spinach, LOL. This is one our favorite ways to have chicken, and if you don't tell them, guests will never figure out what that yummy broth is that the potatoes cooked in.
Try it, you'll like it!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Cooking by the seat of your pants...
...as blogged by a dear ifriend (http://jodianncates.com/weblog/) is one of those things that has saved my sorry ass many times over the years. Even if my girls did sometimes poke what was on their plate with a fork and ask "What was this when it was alive?!" Working full time and having 2 growing kids and a diabetic husband to feed called for some creative cookery...and not a whole lot of time to get it done sometimes.
I learned to cook from my Mom, and she grew up on a farm in Minnesota...so there were a lot of plain "meat and potatoes" meals, but I also remember that she went to county extension service classes and brought home recipes for Pennsylvania Dutch cookery among many others. She also went to the county fair every year and picked up every recipe she could from all the "associations" represented there.
Dad wasn't thrilled about any variation from the regular fare, but us kids (me, 1 brother and 1 sister, plus various foster kids over the years) looked forward to some of the new and interesting offerings. We had chickens and ducks for eggs, plus the occasional stew hen (our ducks ran away from home, to live with someone else, LOL)...and we also raised goats for a while...they cleaned up all the blackberries around the property, then we ate them! I was heartbroken when they slaughtered them...they were my FRIENDS! They were, however, very tasty...sigh...even now I'm conflicted...
I don't think anyone could have been more excited than me when the CrockPot hit the market...what a concept! But Jeez! You had to plan ahead and have things ready to go into it first thing in the morning...and I'm not really a morning person...nor a planner-aheader...(see paragraph one)...but, when I DID plan ahead, we could have some great meals!
We currently have 2...one 6 quart, and one of those oblong ones for bigger roasts and such. I love, love, LOVE them! Soup, stew, beans, cheap cuts of beef or pork, chicken...yup, gotta love what it does. Between them and the microwave, it's SO much easier to put a good meal together...then I can spend all day playing on the interwebs and stuff, LOL!
One of my favorite dinners is a recipe Jen got from one of her friends, and then I "modified" it a couple of times. It's called Iowa Pork Steaks, and is found all over the web in numerous variations, usually baked in the oven.
But here's MY version:
Brown some medium or thick cut boneless pork chops till they're nicely colored all over & set aside.
In the crockpot, mix 2 cans of Cream of Mushroom with Roasted Garlic Soup (I sometimes add about 1/2 a can of water), 1 packet of dry Onion Soup Mix, 2 good 'glugs' of Worcestershire Sauce and a cup or so of sour cream. Mix it all up together.
In the same pan you browned the chops, throw in some butter and a box or 2 of sliced mushrooms and cook them till they smell so good you want to eat them right NOW...pour them into the crockpot with the rest of the sauce and mix them in. Plop the chops into the pot, and try to make sure they're sunk into the 'gravy'. Spoon some over the tops if needed. Clap the lid on and cook for 6 to 7 hours on LOW. Serve up with some mashed potatoes or buttered noodles. OMNOMNOMNOM!!
This recipe also works extremely well with boneless skinless chicken breasts...but I leave out the Worcestershire and add some whole roasted garlic cloves (there's no such thing as too much garlic in our house).
I should probably also tell you that the seasoning of choice here is Morton's Nature's Seasons, I honestly don't know how I ever cooked without it! So...there you go...try it, you'll like it! Tomorrow I'll give you my recipe for 'Alicious Crocodile!
I learned to cook from my Mom, and she grew up on a farm in Minnesota...so there were a lot of plain "meat and potatoes" meals, but I also remember that she went to county extension service classes and brought home recipes for Pennsylvania Dutch cookery among many others. She also went to the county fair every year and picked up every recipe she could from all the "associations" represented there.
Dad wasn't thrilled about any variation from the regular fare, but us kids (me, 1 brother and 1 sister, plus various foster kids over the years) looked forward to some of the new and interesting offerings. We had chickens and ducks for eggs, plus the occasional stew hen (our ducks ran away from home, to live with someone else, LOL)...and we also raised goats for a while...they cleaned up all the blackberries around the property, then we ate them! I was heartbroken when they slaughtered them...they were my FRIENDS! They were, however, very tasty...sigh...even now I'm conflicted...
I don't think anyone could have been more excited than me when the CrockPot hit the market...what a concept! But Jeez! You had to plan ahead and have things ready to go into it first thing in the morning...and I'm not really a morning person...nor a planner-aheader...(see paragraph one)...but, when I DID plan ahead, we could have some great meals!
We currently have 2...one 6 quart, and one of those oblong ones for bigger roasts and such. I love, love, LOVE them! Soup, stew, beans, cheap cuts of beef or pork, chicken...yup, gotta love what it does. Between them and the microwave, it's SO much easier to put a good meal together...then I can spend all day playing on the interwebs and stuff, LOL!
One of my favorite dinners is a recipe Jen got from one of her friends, and then I "modified" it a couple of times. It's called Iowa Pork Steaks, and is found all over the web in numerous variations, usually baked in the oven.
But here's MY version:
Brown some medium or thick cut boneless pork chops till they're nicely colored all over & set aside.
In the crockpot, mix 2 cans of Cream of Mushroom with Roasted Garlic Soup (I sometimes add about 1/2 a can of water), 1 packet of dry Onion Soup Mix, 2 good 'glugs' of Worcestershire Sauce and a cup or so of sour cream. Mix it all up together.
In the same pan you browned the chops, throw in some butter and a box or 2 of sliced mushrooms and cook them till they smell so good you want to eat them right NOW...pour them into the crockpot with the rest of the sauce and mix them in. Plop the chops into the pot, and try to make sure they're sunk into the 'gravy'. Spoon some over the tops if needed. Clap the lid on and cook for 6 to 7 hours on LOW. Serve up with some mashed potatoes or buttered noodles. OMNOMNOMNOM!!
This recipe also works extremely well with boneless skinless chicken breasts...but I leave out the Worcestershire and add some whole roasted garlic cloves (there's no such thing as too much garlic in our house).
I should probably also tell you that the seasoning of choice here is Morton's Nature's Seasons, I honestly don't know how I ever cooked without it! So...there you go...try it, you'll like it! Tomorrow I'll give you my recipe for 'Alicious Crocodile!
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