Homemade Vinaigrette Dressing

There are many different ways to make a vinaigrette. This is just one way that I did. I didn't measure anything, so all amounts are estimates. It is recommended that the oil to vinegar ratio be 3-1. Fix to your taste.

1/4 cup red wine vinegar ( I like balsamic vinegar, too)
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of prepared mustard
1 Tablespoon of Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon of honey
ground sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper
onion and garlic powder

*ground basil, thyme or oregano could be added, if desired.

Mix well. Pour in oil and vinegar glass cruet for storage. This made quite a bit. Not much is needed for a salad. Use lightly. You may want to add more oil if vinegar is too strong or add more honey if it is too sour. It is suggested on several websites to use ground mustard, so not to run a risk of spoilage if stored at room temperature. The acid from the vinegar will probably prevent spoilage if stored at room temperature. It is also suggested to make a fresh batch every week.

Coffee Punch (Ice Cream Coffee drink)

Coffee Punch

1 1/4 cups of instant coffee

2 1/2 cups of sugar

5 cups of hot water

Mix and let cool.  Add one gallon of semi-melted chocolate ice cream, one gallon semi-melted vanilla, and one gallon milk to the coffee mixture.  Mix well.

This recipe came from Dr. Tim Mattson.

If you like coffee (even a little), this is FANTASTIC! Nathan loved it. It's a true treat.

Salads Made Interesting!

Don't want a boring 'ol salad anymore? I've got a new and fun salad for you to try! Chef salads are always a good stand-by with your traditional meat, egg, onion, cheese, peppers, etc. But, sometimes I want something a little more "interesting". Today's salad was very good and thought I'd share. 

Asian Salad - favorite lettuce or greens (iceberg is the LEAST nutritious); peppered turkey (or other lunch meat); sunflower seeds, tailgate crunch mix (see below), diced jicama, pasta and salad seasoning, light Asian sesame seed dressing. 

A few chow mein noodles would have been nice in there, too.

*tailgate crunch mix - sesame, poppy and onion sticks, roasted peanuts, small pretzel sticks, roasted almonds and cashews

The tailgate mix came from Jamesport at H & M Country Store.

White Barbecue Sauce

White Barbecue Sauce - (Big Book of BBQ, from editors of Southern Living)

 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 TBSP coarsely ground pepper
1 TBSP spicy brown mustard or creole mustard
2 tsp horseradish
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Stir together all ingredients until well blended. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Store in airtight container in refrigerator up to 1 week. Makes 1 3/4 cup.

* I made this today with real mayonnaise, not Miracle Whip. I liked it with the real mayonnaise; it's not so sweet. Also, I couldn't find white wine vinegar in the store, so used tarragon flavored vinegar. The lightest (in color) is probably the best - not red wine vinegar. I did find Zatarain's creole mustard. I'm using it as a marinade for chicken breasts and plan on basting it as I cook it with additional sauce. It tastes amazing. Reminds me of hollandaise sauce and would be good on eggs or as a sandwich spread. I might try to have on hand for a multipurpose sauce. I love it!

Chocolate Cake in a Mug

1 large coffee mug
4TBLS flour
4TBLS sugar
2 TBLS baking  cocoa
1 egg
3-4 TBLS milk
3 TBLS oil
3 TBLS chocolate chips (optional)
Splash of vanilla (optional)
walnuts (optional)

1. Add dry ingredients to cup. Mix well.
2. Add egg, mix thoroughly.
3. Pour in milk and oil, mix well.
4. Add chocolate chip, vanilla, walnuts. Mix well.
5. Microwave for 2 1/2 - 3 minutes. Cake will rise. Watch carefully.
6. Allow to cool.

*Recommend chocolate chips, vanilla and walnuts.
My son found this recipe and can make it himself. It's fun!

Enchilada Casserole (with picture)

1 1/2 lb. hamburger, browned and drained
chopped onion
chopped green or yellow peppers (any color or kind will do)
can of green chilies
can of red kidney beans (drained)
cumin
thyme
chili powder
cayenne pepper
1 large can of enchilada sauce, divided
minced garlic
salt
shredded cheese
tortilla chips
sour cream
salsa
sliced black olives, either in meat mixture or on top (optional)

Brown hamburger with onion and drain.  For the meat mixture, add chopped peppers, green chilies, cumin, thyme, cayenne pepper, chili powder, drained kidney beans, salt, minced garlic, and enough enchilada sauce to make the mixture moist (maybe 1 1/2 cups). Simmer covered until peppers are soft. Layer the following in a greased casserole dish: enchilada sauce to cover the bottom of the pan, coarsely crushed corn tortilla chips, meat mixture, shredded cheese, more crushed tortilla chips, the rest of the enchilada sauce, shredded cheese. Cover and bake 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until heated through. Plate the casserole in a circle, add extra tortilla chips around the casserole and top with sour cream and salsa. 

Pecan Bars (from Edythe Hunter)

CRUST : 

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup butter or oleo, room temperature, cut into pieces

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Mix well with a pastry blender.  Spray cake pan with cooking spray (Pam). Pat it in the greased cake pan on the bottom and up on the sides. Bake crust only at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. When crust is almost done baking, mix the filling.

 

FILLING:

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups light or dark Karo syrup

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

3 Tablespoons butter or margarine melted

2 1/2 cups pecan halves coarsely chopped

 

In large bowl, beat eggs, syrup, sugar, butter and vanilla. Stir in pecans. Immediately pour over hot crust .

 

Bake 25 minutes or until filling is firm around the edges and slightly firm in the center. Freezes well.

 

 

 

Crockpot Pepperoncini Roast

Pepperoncini Roast

This is a recipe that I am making today for the first time. It's a crockpot recipe. Got the link from a friend.

My best hamburger goulash ever!

I make goulash a lot. But, this time it was delicious! Here's what I did:

1-2 lbs hamburger, browned
green, yellow, red peppers, onion (all chopped)
2 cans of tomato sauce
1 can of petite diced tomatoes
2 cups elbow noodles
2 cans (or more) beef broth
minced garlic
oregano
thyme
garlic salt
salt and pepper
couple generous splashes of chili lime Cholula sauce

Brown the hamburger. In separate skillet, saute onion, and peppers in oil until almost soft. Add all other ingredients except macaroni and hamburger. Let tomato mixture simmer while hamburger is cooking. Drain hamburger and add to tomato mixture. Add macaroni. Cover and simmer until macaroni is tender. Taste to see if additional spices are needed. A little water can be added in place of some of the beef broth if noodles need more liquid.

*The peppers I had were frozen from our garden this past summer. Also, I had a couple of small store bought tomatoes that I needed to use up. So, I chopped those up and added them.

*Serve with garlic toast.

Blunders in the kitchen...

Not every meal that I cook is good enough to brag about. Some of them are just plain disappointing. Because this is a blog about cooking, I must share the bad with the good! There are two meals that I have cooked recently that were not up to par. Okay, one meal and one dish. I'm not very good at frying things. Rarely do I fry because it's not healthy.  But, it would be nice to fry things every once in awhile and it turn out perfect. I either don't have the oil hot enough and it gets soggy with grease or the oil is too hot and it gets too brown and crispy. I fried some tenderloins for hot tenderloin sandwiches the other night in my iron skillet. Aren't iron skillets suppose to have even heating? I had to turn the outsides toward the center on one side to insure an even browning. They took FOREVER to cook! I only had 6. This was a weeknight and I needed to cook them before they went bad. But honestly, I was too tired to spend that much time in the kitchen and my patience was wearing thin. I peeled potatoes and microwaved them for mashed potatoes. Cooked them for 20 minutes in some water and thought they were done. Start mixing them with a mixer and realized that they were not completely done. I decided to just add more milk and butter and mix those son-of-a-guns until they were smooth. Did I mention that the tenderloins were taking forever to brown? So, I cranked up the heat. This is when they got crispy so that a steak knife could hardly cut them. With hot tenderloin sandwiches, white country gravy is really the best. I had too much oil in my skillet and didn't want to mess with homemade gravy so I looked for packets of gravy that you just add water. I only had one packet of white country gravy. Dang! So, I decided to use brown gravy mix because I had more of them. The dinner was edible - not my best by any means. Actually, the tenderloins were better warmed up the next day in the microwave because they were softer.

My other goof-up was au gratin potatoes. I added too much milk to my potatoes and instead of being creamy, they were soupy. They tasted fine, but were not pretty! The cheese didn't melt like it was suppose to and just sat in globs in the milk. It's kind of funny now that I think of it. Maybe I better watch some more cooking shows!