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Breakfast Tacos

I know that I’ve posted something very similar here before, but I thought I’d add this one, too, since I home-fried the potatoes this time and used a couple of different ingredients. Breakfast Tacos 1/2 of a 12 ounce link of chorizo sausage (you’ll only need half of this, so you’ll have some leftover for … Continue reading “Breakfast Tacos”

I know that I’ve posted something very similar here before, but I thought I’d add this one, too, since I home-fried the potatoes this time and used a couple of different ingredients.

Breakfast Tacos

1/2 of a 12 ounce link of chorizo sausage
(you’ll only need half of this, so you’ll have some leftover for another use)
2 -3 Tbsp olive or canola oil
1/3 cup of fresh minced onion (red or white, your choice)
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cut into half-inch dice
(I used Yukon Golds)
1/2 of a red bell pepper. finely diced
about a 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh spinach
half a can of black beans, rinsed and drained
(I used the other half of the can leftover from making tortilla soup)
about 1/2 cup grated cheese (we used a blend of jack and cheddar)
6 large eggs
8 fresh whole wheat tortillas

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add garlic and onions and saute briefly until softened and translucent. Add potatoes and stir until they are lightly coated with oil. Continue cooking potatoes, stirring occasionally until they are softened and browned all over. While potatoes are cooking, start to cook sausage. I cooked the sausage on the grill and then removed the casing, but you could also take it out of the casing beforehand and then brown it, like hamburger meat, in a separate skillet. Either way, you need to blot or drain the grease off; chorizo is pretty greasy.

When the potatoes are pretty well browned on all sides, add the bell pepper and spinach to them, lower the heat a little and continue cooking until both vegetables have wilted.

When the veggies have softened, add the black beans and continue cooking and stirring. When the sausage is done (remove it from the casing and blot and crumble it if you’ve grilled it), add half of it to the potato mixture and stir.

Scramble the eggs in a separate pan (or in the pan that you cooked the chorizo in, using a bit of the sausage fat to cook them). Fill the tortillas with some of the potato mixture, some of the scrambled eggs and a bit of the cheese. Serve with some tropical fruits (we had mango and pineapple). Dig in!

NB: This time we scrambled the eggs separately, because Hubby was afraid that Boy and Girl would balk at the blend of different ingredients in the potatoes (they didn’t). So, the next time that we make this, I would probably just crack the eggs into the potato mixture and cook and stir until they are done and then just have all of the filling ingredients mixed together.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This company used to make a Chicken Enchilada soup mix that Boy used to LOVE. They stopped making it a couple of years ago, so I’ve been experimenting with re-creating it. Boy has always loved soups, ever since his class made Stone Soup in preschool. I like my tortilla soup version better now, because I … Continue reading “Chicken Tortilla Soup”

Chicken Tortilla Soup

about 1 Tbsp oil (canola or olive)
3 or 4 cloves garlic, peeled and run through a garlic press
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
1 – 2 Tbsp. chili powder
sprinkle of ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
small sprinkle of pimenton (smoked paprika)
one rotisserie chicken
1 cup tomato sauce (or the other half of a can that you used to make sloppy joes)
about 6 cups chicken stock
1 cup coarsely chopped carrots
about 1/2 cup frozen peas
about 1/2 cup frozen corn
about 3/4 cup canned black beans (about half a can), drained and rinsed
1/4 cup masa harina flour (great for thickening, it’s used for making tortillas and chili – check the hispanic foods aisle at your supermarket)
optional: a little sprinkle of finely chopped cilantro
optional: one small can of chopped green chiles

for garnish:
1/2 cup grated cheese (a blend of jack and cheddar is good)
1/2 cup guacamole
approximately 1 cup slightly crushed corn tortilla chips
optional: a dollop of sour cream or little decorative cilantro leaf

Pull the chicken breasts off the chicken and reserve (or freeze) for another use. Remove all remaining meat from the chicken, chop into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute until softened and translucent. Add the carrots and saute a few more minutes until slightly softened. Add 4 cups of the chicken stock, tomato sauce and spices and bring to a gentle boil. Lower heat and simmer while adding peas, corn and chopped chicken. Let simmer for about 10 minutes, adding more chicken stock, a little bit at a time, if necessary and stirring occasionally. Remove about 1 cup of the broth and place in a bowl with the masa, whisking or stirring to blend completely. Pour masa-broth mixture back into the simmering soup and allow to simmer for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally, until soup is beginning to reach desired (slightly thickened) consistency. Add more broth, if necessary. Add beans. Add chiles and cilantro (if desired). Stir gently until beans are warmed and all ingredients are well incorporated and then serve!

Makes 4 very large or 6 reasonable-sized portions.

When serving the soup, top with some grated cheese, crumbled tortilla chips and a dollop of guacamole or sour cream.

High School Musical Eclairs

This recipe is from the special July 27, 2007 “High School Musical 2” edition of People magazine. I made them for Girl’s 12th Birthday Party (in lieu of cupcakes). Supposedly, one of the characters (Zeke) makes eclairs for another (Sharpay) in the movie, but we weren’t able to spot that scene when we watched the … Continue reading “High School Musical Eclairs”

This recipe is from the special July 27, 2007 “High School Musical 2” edition of People magazine. I made them for Girl’s 12th Birthday Party (in lieu of cupcakes).

Supposedly, one of the characters (Zeke) makes eclairs for another (Sharpay) in the movie, but we weren’t able to spot that scene when we watched the show. If you’ve seen it, please clue me in. I’d hate to think that I made these things for no reason. They were yummy and relatively easy, but they’re not what I would have considered “birthday fare” if it weren’t for the fact that they were supposed to be in the movie. I made a double batch. The number that a batch makes depends upon how big you pipe the dough, but I found that it makes about 30.

Zeke’s Eclairs

Ingredients

for puff pastries:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
4 eggs

for filling:
2 small packages instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups cold whole milk (I used 1%)
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

for chocolate icing:
5 oz. semisweet chocolate (I used chocolate chips, because it’s what I had on hand)
2 oz. butter
1/4 cup water

Make the puff pastry:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a saucepan, bring water and butter to a boil, stirring constantly until butter melts. Reduce heat to low; add the flour and salt. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture leaves sides of pan and forms a smooth ball. Remove from heat; add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until batter becomes smooth. Use a pastry tube with a No. 10 or larger tip to squeeze out finger-size eclairs onto baking sheet (I lined mine with parchment paper), well-spaced. (I recommend making them larger than finger-sized to make them easier to fill later – about 3-4″ long and 3/4″ wide). Bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until VERY puffed and golden. (If they don’t cook long enough to fully puff, they won’t be hollow inside and won’t have a good cavity for filling later – make sure they’re REALLY puffed up). Cool on a wire rack.

Make the filling:
In a mixing bowl, beat pudding mix and milk. In a separate mixing bowl, whip the cream, sugar and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the pudding.

Make the icing:
Melt chocolate with water in a small pot over a low flame. Once melted, add butter, whisking constantly. Remove from heat.

Put it all together:
Slice a hole in the pastry large enough to accommodate the nozzle of your pastry bag (#5 or #6 tip). Fill the bag with pudding filling and squeeze desired amount into each pastry. (I poked two small holes in each eclair: on the sides, near each end, and just piped some filling into each one – to be sure that I got full filling coverage throughout the eclair). (Serve any leftover filling as pudding later.) Spread a thin layer of chocolate icing on each eclair using a spatula (I just chose to drizzle mine). Decorate with additional icing if desired. Wait until icing hardens a bit to serve. Chill in refrigerator if desired. (I’ve frozen the leftover ones and will pop one into the kids’ lunches occasionally as a special treat).

Here are some photos from the party:

Fried Okra/Okra Fritters

This recipe is one of Boy and Girl’s absolute favorites. I like to add a little bit of Emeril’s “Baby Bam” seasoning (my “go-to” spice for just about everything). Hubby won’t touch okra with a 20 foot pole, but the kids and I LOVE it. You can follow the instructions precisely (the part about letting it sit for 10 minutes is important) to make individually-breaded okra chunks, or you can just mix all of the ingredients together and form them into fritters. You may need to add a little extra buttermilk, flour. or cornmeal to get the right consistency for them to hold together Before frying, I usually roll them in a little extra cornmeal after they’re formed into croquettes. Don’t make them too big or the outside will get too browned before the inside is cooked all the way through. YUM.

Gazpacho

Girl and I LOVE Gazpacho. It’s one of her favorite foods and she is always excited when I tell her that I’m making it. We wait all year for summer (and beautiful tomatoes!) to arrive. To be worth the effort, you have to have GREAT tomatoes – in season, bought locally, and deliciously ripe. That is key. If you go to all of the effort to make this with inferior tomatoes, you will be disappointed with the result, I assure you. The recipe itself is VERY flexible and up to your own personal taste.

Summertime Gazpacho

All ingredient amounts are approximate and flexible!!!
3 pounds ripe tomatoes
1 large (or 2 small) green bell peppers
2 medium-sized cucumbers (or 1 very large)
6 large garlic cloves, minced or put through a garlic press
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
a little sprinkle (1/4 to 1/2 tsp. to taste) smoked Spanish paprika, also called pimenton
(This is sold at gourmet stores like Williams Sonoma, etc., but is also carried at some major grocery store chains. McCormick’s makes one, but they call it smoked paprika, rather than pimenton – read carefully – the label looks only very slightly different from the regular paprika.)

Remove peels from tomatoes:
If they are very ripe, the peels can be stripped off by hand, just by getting the edge started with a paring knife (kind of like peeling a hard-boiled egg?). If the peels are more stubborn, you can cut a shallow “X” (about an inch across) into the non-stem end of each tomato, then submerge them in boiling water for a minute or so, to allow the skins to loosen. After removing from the boiling water, place them immediately into ice water to cool before draining and slipping the peels off.

Finely chop about 1/2 cup of the tomato and reserve it, put the rest in a large, glass bowl.

Peel and seed the cucumbers. Dice and reserve about 3/4 cup of it and set it aside. Put the rest in the bowl with the tomatoes.

Finely chop about 1/2 cup of the pepper and set it aside. Put the remaining pepper in the bowl with the tomatoes and cukes.

Add the garlic, salt, pepper, pimenton, oil and vinegar to the veggies in the large glass bowl and puree, using an immersion blender. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you may do it in batches in a regular blender. Add the reserved, chopped veggies and stir them in.

Adjust thickness, if necessary:
Some recipes call for a little bit of tomato juice or beef broth to make the soup thinner, some (like this one on Epicurious) call for breadcrumbs to make the soup a little thicker. I usually find that the texture is OK with just veggies, but just in case….

Pour back into the glass bowl. cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Will keep almost a week in the fridge and gets better as the flavors sit and meld together.

Possible adaptations:
This recipe can be changed around lots of ways; I never make it EXACTLY the same way twice. If you like it smoother, you can puree the whole thing; if you like it chunkier, you can have more chopped veggies and do less pureeing. If tomato seeds skeeve you out, you can remove the seeds before pureeing. I don’t personally believe in adding canned ANYTHING (V8, tomato juice, tomato paste, etc.) to gazpacho, because I believe that the fresh taste is the best part of this dish, but do what suits YOU.

Other good additions, if you’re so inclined:
a little (1 to 2 Tbsp.?) very finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
a little chopped fresh oregano or basil
finely chopped purple onion
a little jalapeno and/or cilantro for a Southwestern version
a little cubed avocado stirred in before serving
a little freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice (cut back on the vinegar a bit?)
black beans or small garbanzo beans

Garnishing options:
thinly sliced avocado
a drizzle of olive oil and/or balsamic vinegar
a tiny bit of sour cream or creme fraiche
fresh chopped herbs: basil, parsley
croutons (or Goldfish crackers, for kids)

Gazpacho Ingredients, fresh from the farm

The BEST Banana Muffins

This recipe (a HUGE favorite in our family) comes from my friend, Anita, in Northern Virginia. She also adapts this recipe to make Zucchini Bread, but I’m currently sans garden and subsequently, sans good, fresh zucchini, so we just stick with bananas. Banana Spice Muffins 1/3 cup softened butter 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 1/4 … Continue reading “The BEST Banana Muffins”

Banana Spice Muffins

1/3 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup water
2 large (or 3 small) very ripe bananas, slightly mashed
1 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves

for optional cinnamon topping:
1 Tbsp. cinnamon-sugar (Optional)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts (Optional)

Stir butter, sugar, eggs and water together until well blended (I use a KitchenAid mixer). Stir in bananas. Mix in flour, soda, baking powder and spices. Pour into 12 muffin cups (lightly greased with Pam or lined with paper or foil muffin cups) or one regular-sized loaf pan. Top with nuts and cinnamon-sugar (if desired) and press topping lightly into batter. Bake at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes (or 40 minutes or so for a loaf pan) or until a toothpick comes out clean and tops are golden brown.

Thai Chicken Pizzas

Mmmm…. These are REALLY yummy – they have been a bit too “exotic” and spicy for the kids in the past, but I’m going to try them again tonight and see what they say. I’ll cut down a bit on the chile paste for them. Thai Chicken Pizzas (adapted from a recipe in the June … Continue reading “Thai Chicken Pizzas”

Mmmm….

These are REALLY yummy – they have been a bit too “exotic” and spicy for the kids in the past, but I’m going to try them again tonight and see what they say. I’ll cut down a bit on the chile paste for them.

Thai Chicken Pizzas
(adapted from a recipe in the June 2004 issue of Cooking Light magazine)

Peanut sauce and chile paste with garlic may be found on the ethnic food aisle of most large supermarkets. Chile paste is quite spicy, so adjust the amount to suit your personal taste. The original Cooking Light recipe called for pita breads, instead of pizza shells. I know that the pitas would make the recipe healthier (lower carb), but the pizza shells are better – you can decide which is more important to you – for us, it depends on the day……

1/4 cup hoisin sauce
3 Tbsp. peanut sauce
1 to 3 reaspoons chile paste with garlic
4 small pizza shells (such as 8″ Boboli)
2 cups sliced cooked chicken (I used chicken that was marinated overnight in Teriyaki sauce, then grilled)
1 cup shredded carrot
1 cup fresh bean sprouts, optional
1/4 cup sliced green onions
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine first 3 ingredients, stir well. Place pizza shells on a large baking sheet. Spread 2 tablespoons sauce mixture on each pizza shell. Top each one with 1/2 cup chicken, 1/4 cup carrot, 1/4 cup bean sprouts, and 1 tablespoon green onions. Sprinkle cilantro and shredded cheese evenly over each pita.

Unbaked pizza.

Bake at 450 degrees for 8 – 12 minutes or until thoroughly heated and lightly browned around edges, or follow directions on pizza shell label. Remove from oven and cut each pizza into 4 wedges.

Yield: 4 (2 wedges each) servings.

I like to serve these with this Avocado and Mango Salad with Passion Fruit Vinaigrette from Bon Appetit. The passion fruit puree is hard to find, but you can mail order it from Amazon.com, or I have used a Welch’s frozen passion fruit juice concentrate blend (with apple and white grape juice in it, I think) with pretty good success.

The Way to a Teacher’s Heart is Through Their Stomach

Every year since Girl was in Kindergarten, I have prepared this meal as a “thank you” to the teachers. I usually prepare it for the last field trip of the school year (so they don’t have to worry about lunch packing in addition to trip-planning), but this year, that date got away from me, so I made it yesterday. Boy and Girl have both had a fabulous year (and Girl is leaving this school next year, so this was also a “goodbye” for her), so I expanded the list from just the classroom teachers (as I’ve done in the past), to include coaches, music and drama teachers, spanish & art teachers, etc. By the time the list was done, I found myself cooking for 21 very deserving educators. The entire menu was printed in the June 2000 issue of Bon Appetit and is also great for picnics. Click on the foods for recipes.

Deviled Eggs with Tarragon & Capers

Spicy Oven-Fried Chicken
This recipe calls for bone-in breasts, which are more flavorful than boneless, but are also more difficult to eat, especially in a “picnic”-type lunch where you might not have a proper plate, fork and knife. I prefer to use the boneless, skinless chicken breasts. You can marinate, bread and bake them according the regular recipe directions, or you can cut the breasts into smaller pieces and flatten them gently (like this), for even smaller (easy to pick up and eat with your fingers, like chicken strips for grownups) serving pieces.

Green Bean, Yellow Bean & Cherry Tomato Salad

Macaroni Salad with Peas & Ham

I always serve this lunch with “Triple Chocolate Peppermint Brownies” and Homemade Lemonade. This year, I served the lemonade in special water bottles that I purchased (and ran through the dishwasher beforehand) that have a freezable ice stick inside to keep the drinks cold.

For the brownies, I use Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie mix (it comes in a box from Costco, with 6 individual mixes in it – 2 mixes makes a 9 x 13 pan) and add 10 chopped (quartered) York Peppermint Patties (the small ones that are about 1.5 inches across) and 2 or 3 drops of peppermint extract per bag of mix. Bake according to the normal package directions.

For Homemade Lemonade: Mix together 2 quarts of water, 1 cup of sugar and 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed and strained lemon juice.

Strawberry Lemonade Variation:
During strawberry season, I’ll run some fresh strawberries through my juicer and add about 1/2 cup of the juice to the the lemonade – Boy and Girl LOVE this!

I packed the lunches in individual bags with an ice pack, with little containers (from a restaurant supply) of each food. The chicken is in foil. The brownies were packed in little ziplocs, with one of my favorite mints (Perugina Glacia) taped to the side (this menu has lots of onion, so I thought the teachers might appreciate that after eating!). I also included a small, disposable plastic plate (better than eating out of containers!) and one of those packets with napkin, plastic knife, fork and spoon and some salt and pepper (also from the restaurant supply). Next year, I’m going to try to find some individual lunch boxes or inexpensive coolers, because the cold lemonade bottles and ice packs made the paper lunch sacks disintegrate a little as they got wet from condensation.

Chicken Parmesan

This chicken is really easy to make and is very kid friendly. Use the same chicken breading and cooking technique outlined in this recipe, then just top it with some good quality bottled (I like Rao’s) tomato sauce and a little freshly grated parmesan cheese. Easy peasy.

chicken%20parm.jpg
This chicken is really easy to make and is very kid friendly. Use the same chicken breading and cooking technique outlined in this recipe, then just top it with some good quality bottled (I like Rao’s) tomato sauce and a little freshly grated parmesan cheese. Easy peasy.

Mini Meatloaves

Mini Meatloaf Loaves, Beets with Greens, Penne with Pesto I have a great mini loaf pan that makes 8 mini loaf shapes, each about the size (or maybe a little bigger than) a standard muffin pan. Boy and Girl love it when I make their favorite banana muffins in this pan, but it’s also great … Continue reading “Mini Meatloaves”

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Mini Meatloaf Loaves, Beets with Greens, Penne with Pesto

I have a great mini loaf pan that makes 8 mini loaf shapes, each about the size (or maybe a little bigger than) a standard muffin pan. Boy and Girl love it when I make their favorite banana muffins in this pan, but it’s also great for individual meat loaves. They cook much quicker than a standard bread pan meatloaf and there’s no slicing required!

Kid-Friendly Quick Meatloaf

for Meatloaf:
2 lbs. ground beef
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 beaten eggs
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 Tbsp. steak sauce
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
salt and pepper to taste

for Glaze:
1/2 cup ketchup
1 garlic clove, pressed or minced
3 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tsp. ground mustard
(If you aren’t a fan of sweet sauces, omit the sugar.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Gently mix onion and garlic with beef, eggs, oats, steak sauce, herbs and salt and pepper. Press into 8 mini-loaf tins. Mix remaining glaze ingredients (ketchup, remaining garlic clove, brown sugar, mustard powder) and gently spread over top of meat loaves. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 – 45 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Let meatloaves sit for 5 minutes before removing from pans to serve.

For a full-sized meatloaf in a regular loaf pan, bake for 60 – 90 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.