Upside Down Tamale Pie

Well tonight wraps up a hectic week. We have a aggressive storm brewing outside, a fire in the wood stove inside and I wanted something that would be easy to put together, yet a stick to your ribs kind of meal. I knew I still had the package of hamburger in frig, so I began rummaging around in to cupboards and came across a package of gluten free polenta and an idea blossomed from there. I browned off the hamburger with a chopped onion and my favorite taco seasonings cumin, chili powder and turmeric (and of course salt & pepper). While that was cooking through, following the directions on the package I cooked off a batch of polenta, added a cup of grated cheddar and let it firm up. So with the polenta scooped on the plate, cover with a good portion of the taco meat, topped with additional grated cheese, sour cream and your favorite salsa and Voila! you have an Upside Down Tamale Pie. While I'm sitting here typing I here my husband and brother in the kitchen for seconds, so I must be edible!

Praying those of you in the Portland area that also are facing the weekend storm, that you enjoy your time inside and without any incident.

Weekly Recipes for week of Sept 22nd - 28th

Well I knew a few weeks ago that my schedule was ramping up for a busy fall/holiday season and its now in full swing. I've been in several meetings in the past couple of weeks that mapped out women's events, a bazaar, a food basket for a family, sponsoring a solder overseas, several holiday gatherings and a couple of other random events. Thankfully I'm not in charge of all of this, but I will be participating in much of it. So needless to say, my meals are going to reflect my time constraints.  With that in mind here we go.

Menu #1
Lentil Sausage Soup
This soup is a mainstay for me every winter, a hearty rich soup that warms the soul.  It is a soup that freezes really well, and lucky for me, I had a gallon of soup frozen in the freezer, so while I busily cranked out a large batch of dog food (yes I make my own dog food, I'll tell you more about that another time), I had my pot of soup warming on the stove. So always keep in mind when you can make a larger batch of something that you can freeze for later use.
 When it comes to serving this soup, I love it with a scoop of sour cream stired in. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/lentil-sausage-soup-recipe/index.html

Menu #2
As for the rest of the week, tomorrow night we are joining friends for Happy Hour at my work, and Wednesday we have dinner being brought to us, so I just need to figure out a couple of quick items to finish off the week. When I went shopping on Saturday, I was thinking I needed eggs, so I bought a dozen, well, I had almost two dozen waiting in the frig when I got home, so I'm thinking breakfast for dinner. I have some bacon in the freezer that can be chopped and browned with onions. Pour scrambled egg over the top and toss it in the oven til eggs are set. This is a stand by to be served with toast or some fried potatoes.

Menu #3
For a final recipe to round out the week I'm thinking I need to put the last of the lettuce I have in the frig to use an pull together a taco salad. I've pulled out a pound of hamburger and it will be thawed in a few days and ready to go. 

For now I need to get myself off to bed and get some rest so I can keep moving this week.

Roasted Tomatoes

This past week I made the choice to purchased 20 pounds of Roma tomatoes with plans to slow roast them in the oven and pack them in 1/2 pint jars and freeze it for later use. With breakfast consumed on Saturday morning I jumped into this project.

This is a slow time consuming project but the end result is worth all the effort.

  

They all get a wash ,sliced in half, the cores trimmed and the bulk of the seeds and juicy stuff cleaned out.

 Toss the prepared tomatoes with olive oil and some freshly chopped herbs, salt & pepper (I had to divide the tomatoes into two bowls in order to have the room to toss them).

 

Once you've tossed all the tomatoes with the oil & herbs and they are evenly coated, spread them on baking sheets cut side up.

  

Then into a 400 degree oven for a long bake. 

Rotate every thirty minutes if you bake two trays at once, and they are done when the liquid that sweats off of them has cooked away.  Yes they will be flattened out lumps of yummyness.

By the time all for trays were cooked off, I removed them from the baking sheets to a air tight container and tossed them in the frig after pulling a few to add to dinner.

So what was dinner, well my cheat night roasted red pepper ravioli didn't get eaten during the week so we cooked it up, and then tossed it in Italian dressing with the roasted tomatoes skinned, chopped and mixed in. Add that to a simple salad we had a great dinner.

Today after returning from church and lunch, I peeled all the skins from the tomatoes, ran the skins though a food mill and after tossing the tomatoes, the goodies from the food mill and a bit more olive oil, and placed in jars for long term storage. After a session with the vacuum sealer, off into the freezer the go for later use!

The Ruben Salad & Mamma Leone's Chicken Soup

A couple of weeks ago I had thrown out the idea of making a salad with the main ingredients in a Ruben sandwich. Well this morning as I was digging around in the frig, I spotted the chuck of brisket I bought with the intent to make the salad and never got around to. Well, thankfully this was a piece of meat that was vacuum sealed, so it was still perfectly good to use, so before running off to the office, I tossed the brisket into the crock-pot with some water and the little seasoning packet, I came home to a wonderfully tender cut of meat that just needed to be sliced and shredded. So while it cooled off a bit, I quick chopped up some of my lettuce from my market trip, a half a bell pepper and cucumbers that was left over from something else, cubed up some Swiss cheese and plated it all together with some rich 1000 Island dress to finish it off.Its been some time since I've had a good batch of corned beef and needless to say, I could hard wait to get it plated, I was doing some serious picking at the warm meat as I worked. I would say it hit the spot tonight  and was everything I was hoping it would be!          

As for last night, I had a doctors appointment in the afternoon that granted me the luxury of being home early enough to have time to dive in and make a amazing pot of Mamma Leone's soup made from this week's recipes. As usual I did make a couple of alterations, I didn't have a can of diced tomatoes on hand, but I did have five tomatoes in my basket that we just about beyond use, so I quick dropped them in boiling water to remove the skins, chopped them and added to the pot with a small can of tomato past to round out the flavor. Then rather than buying spinach, I knew I still had half a head of kale in the frig that with the stems removed, chopped up and tossed in at the end would work just fine. My husband and I both had not trouble have seconds helping of that one!

So don't just sit here at the computer, put on your apron and have some fun with your food!

Weekly Recipes for Sept 16th - 22nd

Well I've been busy this weekend, and I still need to get my shopping done, which means I better get busy with my menus for the week. The weather around here is about to send my body into a tailspin, last week was 80, 90 and even one 100 degree day, and today our church picnic was chased inside by rain, thunder and lightening. So with the weather swinging back to colder dampness, I'm ready to crawl back to hearty warm meals that will stick to the ribs. 

A couple of weeks ago I ventured into a local deli here in Portland for a large bowl of Mama Leone's Chicken Soup. I posted on Facebook what I was eating and was greatly surprised to have a friend let me know that she had come across the recipe for this wonderful soup, and this week I'm going to share it with you.

Some of you may have seen that I had ventured to the farmers market yesterday and I will be including some of that yummy freshness to brighten up the heavy items I'm craving too. The afternoon is getting away from me and I need to crawl out from under this blanket I have snuggled under and get myself to the grocery store and get ready for the week. So here we go!

Menu #1
Mama Leone's Chicken Soup

from Elephant's Deli

makes about 15 cups

1/2 Pound Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast or Tenders (I'm using thighs, better flavor)

2 teaspoons kosher salt plus extra for chicken breasts (divided)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper plus extra for chicken breast (divided)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons paprika

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

8 cups low sodium chicken broth 

1-14.5 oz can diced tomatoes in juice

3/4 cup whipping cream 

2 cups thinly sliced fresh spinach

Sprinkle salt and pepper on both side of the chicken breast and lightly sauté. When cool enough to handle, dice the meat and set aside until needed.

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the butter and melt. Saute the onions and celery until the onions are translucent, about 6 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, tarragon, oregano, paprika and remaining 2 teaspoons of salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Cook, stirring, for 3 or 4 minutes Add the flour and stir until well combined. Slowly whisk the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes and cream. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the reserved chicken breast and simmer 10 minutes more. Just before serving, stir in the spinach.

This soup is great with cornbread or crusty french bread, or just on its own.

Menu #2
Sausages with Cabbage and Onions, with fresh heirloom tomato & lemon cucumber salad

Cabbage and Onions

1 sm head of cabbage

1 large yellow onion

3-4 tablespoons bacon grease or oil of choice

Salt & pepper

Cut the head of cabbage into quarters and remove the core from each section. Slice cabbage into thin ribbons and set aside, peal onion, cut in half and also slice in thin half rounds and break the layers apart.  Heat bacon grease in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add cabbage and onions, tossing to coat.  Add salt and pepper to taste. The pan will be over flowing with vegetables but as it cooks down, it will be easier to continue to toss as it cooks. Sauté for about 10 minutes.

At this point your cabbage should start releasing some of its water.  If it doesn't, and your pan is mostly dry, drizzle with a little extra oil and toss to coat.  Cover skillet, reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking cabbage, stirring occasionally, for approximately 30 minutes, until it turns translucent and soft and starting to brown just a little.

Tomato & Cucumber Salad

While the cabbage is doing it's thing and I'm cooking off my favorite sausage links, I will chop up the heirloom tomatoes and the lemon cucumber I bought at the market, and toss them with some store bought Italian dressing and feta cheese.

Menu #3 

Meatless Cheat Night
We were wandering around Costco and found a sample table of roasted red pepper ravioli that was very yummy (yes it has wheat in it, but I'm going to indulge a little). So I broke down and bought the two pack they were offering and one pack went in the frig and one in the freezer for a different night. I figure I will pull together a Alfredo sauce to cover the ravioli, and use some of my market greens for a salad, with some bell peppers and radishes I have in the frig already. Time to head for the grocery store for the missing ingredients and I'm off and running for the week!

Taste the Rainbow

To coin an old Skittles ad, Taste the Rainbow or eat a rainbow of color in your diet, is something I've been told by nutritionists, doctors, read in books and heard on TV shows like Dr Oz. But I must say, how often do we live by that rule, or do we see a common thread of white, beige, brown and orange (which is usually artificial) on our plates.

To day I grabbed a friend, who's husband was off getting into trouble with my husband, and we girls headed for the farmers market. I don't have my recipes for the week fully decided on yet, but I hope having a variety of colorful vegetables on my counter will inspire me with some ideas. We have another market in the area tomorrow, so once I figure out what I'm eating, I may have to make stop to pick up an item or two more.

So with that said, here are a few  pictures from our adventure this morning. I hope some of these sights will encourage you to get out there and taste the rainbow this week, the produce is amazing at this time of year so it's hard to go wrong with anything you by.

Greens Glorious Greens

Red & Orange Carrots

Gad Zooks!

If you click on a picture you will get better look!

We didn't just look at food! 

   

And this was my bounty and inspiration for the day.

Southwest Chicken Salad - Finished product

I must say that having the seasoning, meat and dressing prepped up ahead made a world of difference. I thing from start to finish I had dinner ready to eat in around 20 minutes.

As for changes I threw in some green onion at the last minute otherwise I actually stayed pretty true to my original recipe. But now that I'm eaten it, I found that when given time the heat blooms in the seasoning and its a bit hotter than I typically care for (I may cut back on the cayenne pepper in the spice mix too), but all in all the flavor is good. So my thought as mentioned before, a bit less seasoning in the dressing, and definitely less coated on the meat. Even with the added heat, my plate is clean, tummy is full and now I'm ready for a bit of rest before heading off to bed to start it all over again.

Southwest Chicken Salad

A little note regarding the prep for the salad:

I made a double batch of the seasoning mix and with my 6 chicken tenders I only needed a tablespoon of the seasoning and drizzle of oil in my bag to heavily coat the chicken.

Also with the dressing I used two tablespoons of seasoning to flavor my dressing, and to me it tastes pretty fantastic, but if you are worried about it being to much, add one tablespoon, mix it in and taste, and add more until you are happy with it. I used a full bottle of ranch and now have a full pint of yummy goodness to use beyond this salad.

If you are new to the blog, just scroll down and you will find my recipe!

Alterations and Adaptations

Well in my world, things are ever changing and needless to say my cooking is no different. My style of cooking involves making changes that suit the moment, I may start with a recipe, but find that I've missed an ingredient on the list or upon arriving at the store, the item I intended to buy just didn't look as fresh or appetizing as I wanted. So I adjust, or I might just head off on another direction all together. This week has proven to be no different.

My first adjustment this week was with my batch of hummus. I decided I didn't want just plain chickpea hummus so I switched out one can with black beans. Then when I got home to start making it Monday night, I found that the garlic that I had on the shelf looked like a full head but was just a shell, the garlic inside had shriveled up. I was able to salvage one clove, so I made the best of it and added a little extra lemon juice which turned out just fine, so with a little give and take, we still had dinner on our plates in about 30 minutes.

As for my second round of adaptations, last night it was just too hot when I got home to deal with turning on the oven to make Tuna Melts, so with the tuna spread mixed (which I added yellow and red bell peppers, dill, and minced onion to the recipe), I tossed a batch of butter lettuce in a light oil and vinegar dressing, piled a good gob of the tuna spread on top, dusted (well maybe piled) some cheese on top of that, added some sliced radishes and few grapes for sweetness, and Voila! we had a nice cold dinner, before running off to my second night of meetings.

My last adaptation for the week came when I was thinking about creating a salad from the elements in a Ruben sandwich. Well, because most commercial corn beef or pastrami product have been injected with nitrates, the health food store I shop at doesn't carry it and didn't have a alternative. However I did buy a small brisket to cook off later when the outside temp comes down below 80. Anyway, that doesn't put dinner on the table this week, so I bought chicken tenders and I'm going to make a Southwest Chicken Salad tomorrow night. 

Be sure to read all the instructions before you get started to be sure you have all your equipment ready too.

Southwest Chicken Salad
You will need some type of southwest seasoning and if you don't have any on hand here is a recipe to make your own if you are so inclined.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/emerils-southwest-seasoning-recipe/index.html

Dust enough chicken tenders to feed your family (2-4 tenders per person depending on how big your eaters are) with Southwest seasoning and leave in the frig for at least an hour (I'm doing mine tonight so they will be ready to grill tomorrow). Holding back a couple of tablespoons of the seasoning for the dressing.

Veg:
Lettuce of choice (Romane is my choice) chopped
Frozen corn (thawed) around a 1/4 cup per person
Black beans either canned or cooked yourself will do
Yellow bell peppers - small dice
Tomatoes - small dice or 1/2 cherry tomatoes
Cilantro - chopped fine

Topping:
Ranch dressing
Grated cheese - Mexican blends work great, but really any will do
Avocado slices 

Either grill off your chicken tenders or cook them in a small amount of oil in a non-stick fry pan. (I have a cast iron grill pan for the stove top that is my favorite for this)

While the chicken is cooking and then set aside to cool, mix the remaining southwest seasoning into the bottle of ranch dressing (a great way to liven up plain old ranch), set aside to let the flavors blend. This step could be done the night before with prepping the chicken. What dressing you don't use will keep in the frig and is great for dipping raw vegetables, on salads, or if you are being naughty for dipping french fries.

Chop all your veg and place in a large mixing bowl. After the chicken has cooled down to where you can handle it, chop into bite sized pieces and add to the veg. Adding small amounts of your dressing, toss all together, add more dressing as needed until everything is lightly coated, be careful to not over dress, you don't want to just taste dressing.

Portion out on individual plates, top with cheese and avocado slices and you are ready to eat. This is a great salad to add corn chips, olives, jalapenos or what ever favorite Mexican ingredient you fancy. You can either toss the additional ingredient with the dressing or as additional toppings at the end.  

As for tonight, it was a bit of refrigerator clean out and every man for himself.

Have fun and play with you food!

Weekly Recipes for September 9th - 15th

Well last week proved to just be the start of a busy season, making it all the more important that I am diligent in having meals planned and groceries on hand this week. With scheduled meetings both Monday and Tuesday nights I know that I'll need my meals to be quick and easy. On top of tight time constraints, the weather has turned warm again so I also want to avoid heating up the kitchen as well, so for this week I'm planning on cold meals with little prep.

Meal #1
Hummus with raw vegetables

Hummus
3 cans chickpea or other beans
3 cloves garlic - peeled
1/4 cup tahini (sesame butter)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
Drain the chickpeas and put in a food processor with all the other ingredients, pulse til they become a soft paste. Empty in a flat dish and decorate with some parsley and drizzle with olive oil.

I have picked up red and yellow bell peppers I will slice, an English cucumber, baby carrots and cherry tomatoes to dip into the hummus as well as some naan to warm up to go with it. This we be a vegetarian dinner that will come together pretty quickly and will be easy to take on the go if it comes to that.


Menu #2
Sweet Potato Tuna Melt
http://abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Harley-Pasternak-Sweet-Potato-Tuna-Melt

I saw this one on the Chew as an alternative to a tuna melt on bread. This takes the typical elements of a tuna melt and puts it on a half of a baked sweet potato. I will be making my husbands on half a hoggy roll, but I will be giving this try on the sweet potato.


Menu #3
Ruben Salad

I came up with this idea while looking through cookbooks today and spotted Thousand Island dressing which made my mouth water for the richness of a good ruben sandwich, but without some of the guilt.  

Chopped Butter lettuce
Corned beef or pastrami lunch meat (laid out in a stack and rolled, slice thin slices off the end creating slivers of meat to toss in the salad.
Pickled onions to give that vinegary touch (you can always use sauerkraut)
Swiss cheese - cubed
Thousand Island dressing

Toss all ingredients in a large salad bowl with small amounts of the dressing until everything is evenly coated. Serve with buttered bread if you are eating starches/gluten.


So there it is, my week on paper. Lots to do this week, but my food is under control. Hope you have a blessed week and happy cooking!

Dinner tonight

Dinner complete, salad consumed and bellies full. Great meal!

Of Mice and Men

The best laid schemes of mice and men Go often awry, And leave us nothing but grief and pain, for promised joy!
An excerpt from the poem "To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough" by Robert Burns.

Well this week had my best laid plans that went awry, which has left me in need of a little retrospect. Do to scheduled appointments and a couple of late days at the office I've only managed to make my pot of soup on Monday, which was my saving grace for leftovers on Wednesday. Last night I had not planned to stay late at the office, but ended up there anyway, eating family meal at work (which didn't fall in line with no potatoes/corn/starch plan) and my poor husband fending for himself at home.

So getting back on track tonight will be Spinach Salad with warm bacon dressing and a fried egg, which works well since I will be home early. We've had nasty stormy nights the last few days which I must say is very unusual for September, but it is what it is, so I can huddle in my cozy kitchen and make yummy food that warms my soul and lift my spirits even when it's dreary outside.

When we plan out our week, we always have to remember that life will happen and we need to be willing to adapt, get back on the horse and try again. For me I have to remember that God has it, and always has a plan beyond what I can see and control, and I can trust that there is a greater purpose. 

We live in a world that seams to be running at full speed most of the time, and we sometimes forget that in our rushing around we find ourselves upset that we have had our plans disrupted, but sometimes we are the cause of displacing the plans of other too, not necessarily on purpose, but even our own speed can derail others. So watch you speed, take care of yourself and your loved ones.

I knew the little quote posted above from lines in movies and things I read back in school, but I can't say that I had ever read the poem that it came from, which drew me to seek out the complete poem and read it fully. I discovered that even though this was written in 1785, when life was different, farming was the primary career, we can still see how others can force change upon us, or we upon others. According to legend that it was his discovery of a mouse nest that prompted him to write this little thought to a mouse, and he knew that he would be changing the life of this little mouse. 

I've already got a few ideas in the hopper for nest weeks meals and keeping my eyes focused on the future cause I can't change the past. I try to remember to not become discouraged, learn to roll with it, I will be all the happier for it. 

Here is the complete poem if you are interested.

To A Mouse by Robert Burns

Small, crafty, cowering, timorous little beast,
O, what a panic is in your little breast!
You need not start away so hasty
With argumentative chatter!
I would be loath to run and chase you,
With murdering plough-staff.

I'm truly sorry man's dominion
Has broken Nature's social union,
And justifies that ill opinion
Which makes you startle
At me, your poor, earth born companion
And fellow mortal!

I doubt not, sometimes, but you may steal;
What then? Poor little beast, you must live!
An odd ear in twenty-four sheaves
Is a small request;
I will get a blessing with what is left,
And never miss it.

Your small house, too, in ruin!
Its feeble walls the winds are scattering!
And nothing now, to build a new one,
Of coarse grass green!
And bleak December's winds coming,
Both bitter and keen!

You saw the fields laid bare and wasted,
And weary winter coming fast,
And cozy here, beneath the blast,
You thought to dwell,
Till crash! the cruel plough passed
Out through your cell.

That small bit heap of leaves and stubble,
Has cost you many a weary nibble!
Now you are turned out, for all your trouble,
Without house or holding,
To endure the winter's sleety dribble,
And hoar-frost cold.

But little Mouse, you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often awry,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!

Still you are blessed, compared with me!
The present only touches you:
But oh! I backward cast my eye,
On prospects dreary!
And forward, though I cannot see,
I guess and fear!

A Peek Inside

I've decided that since I got home early from work and my hubby is busy watch television, I would spend a bit of time here with you. Many of you, my friends and family visiting my blog, have had the opportunity to join me in my little kitchen for afternoons of experimenting with food and eating until we can't see straight, but there are many who haven't had the pleasure. Because of that fact, I thought I would take the time to share a bit about me.

I'm a born and raised native of the Pacific Northwest, I'm lived most my life in Oregon, in Portland and several of the surrounding suburbs, and in my late teens  and early 20's I spent ten years in the Seattle area before returning home to Oregon. 

I currently live about 15 miles to the west of Portland, commuting everyday by train into downtown to work in one of the many Portland area fine dinning restaurants. So I must say, I've become very spoiled eating excellent fresh local food prepared to perfection every day. I may only be the bookkeeper, but I've never been afraid to hang over the shoulder of the executive chef and ask questions, and he never seems to tire of me hanging around the kitchen (at least not yet, but I do produce his paycheck and balance his books). 

As for my cooking background, it's been many years of trials and errors, tweaking and testing, that has has left me being invited back to cook for others over and over again. Growing up I spent some time in the kitchen with my mother, but I must say my love for creating good food came from experimenting with my father, and years of baking, canning and cooking with my grandmothers. So with allot of year of wisdom imparted to me, I gained the confidence to pretty much try anything in the kitchen.

As I raised my boys they also seemed to gravitate to the kitchen and my youngest even made the choice to make cooking his profession, graduating from culinary school and working full time at the same establishment I do. I cherish spending time in the kitchen with the boys cooking holiday meals or even just a Sunday meal after church. There is a very strong connection to food in our family whether its cooking it or sitting around the table eating and sharing time together.

For the past seven plus years we've lived in a small 2 bedroom, one bath, 1955 cottage, the kitchen does not have a dishwasher and at this point still has the original cabinets with fixed shelves. It's a quirky little kitchen that has been known to be crowded with people who want to be in the middle of the fun or mess, or both. Some day I hope to remodel this limited space, but for now it will continue to produce food for people I love and care about and I'm not going to waste time worrying about what this little space could be, 

there is food to be cooked now!

I have shelves of cookbooks, folders and binders of things I've cooked, would like to cook, or things that just sounded good. I've have spent countless hours in front of cooking programs or surfing the internet picking up skills or ideas for things to make. I guess you could say I'm a bit of a food junkie, a foodie, but pray that you never call me a food snob. For a short time my son and I had a small catering company, which we still dabble in from time to time. We cook for church events, friends and family when the need arises, or just look for an excuse to gather people together to share a meal.

So now you know, I'm addicted to food, family and friends, and this is my little kitchen where it all happens. There is a double stacked basket of produce, a toaster oven (I don't own a microwave), my food processor, a drain board that is always piled with clean dishes and pig cutting board that never gets used, but it's my home and I love to spend time there.

Welcome to My Kitchen

Peasant Soup

With my leftovers cleaned out and couple of substitutions since I haven't made it to the store yet, we still have a hearty pot of soup that will carry us for several days this week. I'm ready to dive in!

If you would like to see the recipe for this pot of warm goodness, just scroll down to my previous post with the weekly menus for Sept 2nd to the 8th. 

Weekly Recipes for Sept 2nd - 8th

Happy Labor Day to everyone. I know many of you have the privilege of a three day weekend, but I will be diving into a full week starting tomorrow, so I figured I better get my meals planned out so that I don't find myself in the weeds later in the week with nothing planned and fast food in my sites.

Last week I pulled a medium sized roast out of the freezer and put it in the frig to thaw, and needless to say come Saturday, it was still sitting on the bottom shelf in need of being used.
So while I was dealing with some work I brought home from the office, I took the time to sear off the roast, in a cast iron roaster, seasoned it with salt & pepper, draped it with a few strips of bacon and poured a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies over it and tossed it in the oven for the afternoon. After a busy day around the house and running errands, we enjoyed a tender juicy roast with some deli coleslaw and baked beans. Needless to say, there was a good amount of roast and tomatoes left, which will become the base of a hearty pot of soup this week. So what are we eating this week, lets take a look.


Meal #1
Peasant Beef Soup
Leftover cooked ground beef or roast (coarsely chopped)
3/4 c. Carrots - small dice
3/4 c. Celery - small dice
1 1/2 c. Onion - small dice
1 -2 Rutabaga - small dice
Salt & Pepper
dried or fresh thyme to taste
Garlic - finely chopped, or put though a garlic press
Sm bunch Kale, removed from stem coarsely chopped
2 c. cabbage shredded
2 - 15 oz can canned cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
Chicken, vegetable or beef stock to cover

Saute rutabaga, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and seasoning until vegetables soften, add remaining ingredients and bring to slow boil. Turn down heat to a simmer and cook covered for 30 min to 45 min, stirring regularly. Enjoy with crusty bread or a batch of cornbread.

Meal #2
Grilled Chicken Breast w/Zucchini Fritter
For this buy enough chicken breasts or chicken tenders to feed everyone, pound out to equal thinkness (apx 1/2 inch), season with your favorite seasoning, and grill being careful to not overcook and dry out. I'm thinking I will serve the chicken with garlic green beans and the following Zucchini Fritters.

Zucchini Fritters (The Tucci Cookbook with a twist)
3 c. Zucchini - grated (about 2 med)
2 tsp. Kosher salt
1 Lg Egg
1/4 c. grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. Onion, minced
3 to 5 Tbsp flour
1/4 c. Olive Oil

Place grated zucchini in a colander, toss with salt. Place over  a bowl to catch water, let stand 30 min. Ring drained zucchini in a kitchen towel to remove excess water.
Transfer zucchini to bowl and egg, cheese, onion and 3 Tbsp of the flour, stir with a fork, adding additional flour necessary to create a mixture that will hold together.

Warm olive oil in a small saute pan set over medium heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, scoop out rounded tablespoons of the zucchini batter and add to the pan. Flatten  the fritters slightly with a spatula, cooking only 2-3 fritters at a time. Fry the fritter until golden brown on each side, about 3 min per side. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain before serving.
Serves 6

Meal #3
Spinach Salad, Fried Egg and Warm Bacon Dressing

I did some time at home a while back and became addicted to the daytime show The Chew, and the attach salad was featured on the show and we gave it a try that night and it was wonderful. I've thought about making it again and just haven't. So this week I'm going to do it again!
http://abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Michael-Symon-Spinach-Salad-Fried-Egg-Bacon-Mushrooms



Well there is the game plan, now to make a shopping list for the things I'm lacking and get cooking, Have a great week!