Pastitsio...revisited

If you've never tried this classic Greek dish, you are really missing out.  It is truly delicious!

So remember that, when I tell you that in this spaghetti casserole-like dish there is both nutmeg and cinnamon...STOP...don't run scared.  It is seriously SO GOOD!

It has that perfect sweet and savory combo going on.

It is really quick to throw together AND you could put it all together the night before and then throw it in the oven right before it is time to eat.  Nothing better than a easy, delicious meal that can feed a crowd and make them all happy!

There is a different version of this that I already blogged about, but this one is definitely the one I prefer, even though I don't think its quite as traditional.  

This particular recipe comes from "Take out Tonight", which is actually a a Weight Watchers cookbook, but you definitely wouldn't know it by how amazing all the food is!

Let me know what think, I've yet to meet someone who doesn't like this tasty meal.

ENJOY!

Pastitsio

3 cups reduced fat milk

1/4 cup cornstarch

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

8 T grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 pound spaghetti

1 T olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3/4 lb lean ground sirloin

1 lb plum tomatoes, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 7x11 in baking dish with nonstick spray; set aside.

To make the white sauce, combine milk, cornstarch, and eggs in a large saucepan.   Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened, 7-9 min.  (Warning: it doesn't get that thick, so don't think it will change drastically in consistency, should just coat the back of a spoon.)

Remove from the heat and stir in 6 T Parm, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper and nutmeg; cover and set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.  Add spaghetti and cook according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.

To make the filling, heat a large nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Swirl in the oil, then add the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, 4-6 min.  Add the sirloin and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until browned, 5-6 min.  Stir in the tomatoes, garlic, cinnamon, and the remaining 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper.  Cook, stirring often, until liquid from the tomatoes evaporates, 4-5 minutes. 

Arrange half of the cooked spaghetti in an even layer on the bottom of the baking pan.  Top with the filling, then top with the remaining spaghetti.  Spread the white sauce evenly over the spaghetti.  Sprinkle sauce with the remaining 2 T Parm.  Bake until top is golden, 30-35 min.  Cool at least 5 min.

Serves 8.

Logan Rating: ****

Camping edition

Last weekend we went camping.

Logan did a lot of fishing, I did a lot of reading and in general we just RELAXED together.

Which, really does not happen very often with our current schedules.

For dinner we opted for Brats (nothing fancy) with chips and salsa.  

Of course we also had many MANY s'mores, including ones with Reese's, YUM.

I brought snacks and lots of yummy food including chicken salad for lunch the next day.

Just thought I would share these pics with you with the holiday weekend coming up I'm sure many of you are planning camping trips, don't let the food fall by the wayside.

ENJOY!

Wanted to leave you with a couple of my favorite photos from the weekend.

I'm sure you would all agree, there is just something about a man and his dog!

Love these two!

Fajitas

I knew you were wondering what I did with that Pico De Gallo, as I'm sure you assumed I did something besides eat it by the spoonful   

So after I ate it by the spoonful, I realized I should probably make something equally delicious to slather the Pico De Gallo onto, my decision was Fajitas.  

When scouring my cookbooks for a fajita recipe, I found this one and it is so perfectly delicious and simple.

As I've learned more and more about cooking, there is one thing that I always go back to...

the best recipes are the simple ones that use fresh ingredients.

 This is one of those recipes.

The recipe itself does not actually call for pico de gallo, but I can only imagine it made it better.

Also, I followed the recipe and pan seared this steak, but you could definitely grill it, we are just out of propane.  EHeeehmmm *HINT* Logan *HINT* ;)

Try it for yourself and let me know!

ENJOY!

Seared Steak Fajitas

3/4 lb top round steak

1 T soy sauce

1/4 cup plus 1 T fresh lime juice (from about 3 limes), plus wedges for serving

1 T olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

S&P

2 medium green bell peppers, ribs and seeds removed, thinly sliced

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced ( or accidentally diced, like I did)

8 corn tortillas (6in), warmed (see note)

1/2 cup grated white cheddar cheese (2oz)

1 large tomato, chopped (or fresh pico de gallo)

Cilantro sprigs for serving

*NOTE*

To warm the corn tortillas, use tongs to toast them on a gas stove burner for about 30 seconds per side.  Or wrap them (stacked) in damp paper towels and microwave for 30 to 60 seconds, just until softened.  

In a shallow dish or bowl, combine steak, soy sauce, and 1/4 cup lime juice.  Refrigerate 1 hour, turning steak occasionally.

  

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat 2 tsp oil over medium.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds.  Remove from heat.  Stir in remaining 1 T lime juice. Set garlic oil aside.

Remove steak from marinade and blot dry with paper towels.  Season with salt and pepper.  In a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet, heat remaining 1 tsp oil over medium-high.  Cook steak, about 2 min per side for medium-rare.  Transfer to a cutting board, tent with foil and let rest.

Add bell peppers and onion to pan; season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring, until veggies are tender, 4-6 minutes.  Stir in reserved garlic oil. 

Thinly slice steak against the grain and serve with vegetables, tortillas, cheese, tomato, and cilantro.

Serves 4.

Logan Rating: ***

(But take with a grain of salt, because he says he doesn't like fajitas, what next will he tell us he hates fun too????)

Classic Stuffed Peppers

A old school staple, like meatloaf and fried chicken...stuffed peppers.

I've made several versions of the infamous stuffed pepper, and this, I must say is one of the best.

It is from one of the American Test Kitchen cookbooks, they do the testing in the kitchen for us and then leave us with a perfected recipes, what more can you ask for?

Along with this classic version of a stuffed pepper they also have a middle eastern version and an italian version, I must try these, they look incredible!

This one has just a few ingredients, and the flavors aren't really complex at all, but something about it is just so yummy and reminiscent of my childhood...even though my mother never made this dish, not once.

This isn't the quickest meal and it certainly is not for a hot summer day, as you will need to turn on the oven.

BUT all that taken into consideration it makes for a real tasty meal and with fall right around the corner I can only imagine cool days are on their way.

Thank you all for reading...until next time...

ENJOY!

Classic Stuffed Bell Peppers

4 medium bell peppers, 1/2 in trimmed off tops, cores and seeds discarded

1/2 cups long grain white rice

1 1/2 T olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped fine

12 oz ground beef

3 medium garlic cloves, minced (about 1 T)

1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes, drained, 1/4 cup juice reserved

5 oz monterey jack cheese, shredded (1 1/4 cups)

2 T chopped fresh parsley (I hate parsley, so I skipped it)

S&P

1/4 cup ketchup

Bring 4 quarts water to boil in a large stockpot or dutch oven over high heat.  Add 1 T salt and bell peppers.

Cook until peppers just begin to soften, about 3 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, remove peppers from pot and drain off excess water, place peppers cut sides up on a paper towel.  Return water to a boil; add rice and boil until tender, about 13 min.  Drain rice and transfer it to a large bowl, set aside. 

(or just cook rice according to package directions in a different pot as the peppers boil)

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350.

Meanwhile heat oil in a skillet over med high heat, add onion and cook about 5 min...add ground beef.

Cook breaking beef into small pieces with a spoon, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.  Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Transfer mixture to a bowl with rice;

 

stir in tomatoes, 1 cup cheese, parsley, and S&P to taste. 

Stir together ketchup and reserved tomato juice in small bowl.

Place peppers cut side up in a 9inch square baking dish.  Using soup spoon, (I used an ice cream scoop) divide filling evenly among peppers.  

Spoon 2 T ketchup mixture over each filled pepper and sprinkle each with 1 T of remaining cheese.  

Bake until cheese is browned and filling is heated through, 25-30 minutes, serve immediately.

Fast Food

These are burritos that sort of look like enchiladas, and that taste like a hybrid of the two.

When you are craving enchiladas, but its too hot to turn the oven on, BOOM, here's your solution.

Another wonderful recipe from The Pioneer Woman, if you don't know of her, you should

These were extremely quick and very delicious, you should add this to your weekday meal plan, they are easy, versatile and delish.

You can switch up the filling ingredients and create an entirely new recipe, so if you need to you could serve these to your family twice in one week and they probably wouldn't even realize you were repeating.  Tricky!

I opted to use enchilada sauce and I think it added the perfect flavor, tomato sauce would probably be tasty too, you be the judge.  Let me know what you think!

ENJOY!

Beef and Bean Burritos

2 lbs ground beef (I used ground turkey)

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground oregano

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp salt

(I doubled each of these spices, probably because turkey doesn't absorb flavors quite like beef)

Two, 7 oz cans Mexican tomato sauce or enchilada sauce

one, 28oz can refried beans

3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese, plus extra for sprinkling

12 burrito size flour tortillas

1/2 cup cilantro leaves, torn

OPTIONAL FILLING INGREDIENTS

mexican rice

sour cream

guacamole

roasted green chiles

pico de gallo

In a large skillet, over med heat, cook the beef and onion until beef is cooked through. 

Add cumin, oregano, chili powder and salt and stir to combine.

Pour 1 can of the sauce into the meat and simmer over low heat for 5 min, add a little water if it gets too dry.

Meanwhile heat the refried beans in a saucepan over medium low heat.  Add the cheese...

And stir it until its melted.  Remove from heat.

Heat tortillas in microwave for 1 min, then spread a small amount of beans on each tortilla.

Add small amount of the meat, add any other optional ingredients you may be using or just keep it simple and leave them as they are.

Fold over the ends of the tortilla, then roll them up.  Place 2 burritos on a microwave safe plate.

Drizzle some of the second can of red cause over the top, and sprinkle with more cheese.

Microwave the burritos for 1 min or until the cheese is melted.  Repeat with the rest of burritos.

Sprinkle the tops with cilantro leaves and serve immediately.

YUM!

Mama's Kitchen

Hello to all!

In honor of Mother's Day I am sharing a recipe from my Mother's kitchen. 

There were not many to choose from, sorry Mom, but I do think this recipe is fantastic. 

What you see above is the classic Minnesotan dish of Goulash. 

No that is not a type of footwear you wear in the rain, that is a classic hotdish that my mother served probably about once a week when I was growing up.

For those of you non-Minnesotans, a hotdish is any kind of casserole, or some would say its a 

Kick-Asserole!

I would say that is pretty accurate.

When I called my Mother to get this recipe, I realized exactly why she made this so often...her version has just 6 ingredients and consists of things that you usually have on hand in the pantry.

For the mere fact that I can't not leave well enough alone, I did add a few ingredients. 

I don't have a completed photo, because we took this to a supper club and we were running late.

However, if you make it, you will see the finish product with your very own eyes! 

ENJOY!

Mama Juju's Goulash

1lb ground beef

1 can tomato soup

1/2 jar marinara sauce

1/2 box elbow noodles

Salt

Pepper

My additions

1 onion, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

red pepper flakes to taste

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar

Brown the beef in a pan, drain most of the fat out, remove beef from pan and set aside.  Add garlic to the little bit of leftover beef grease, cook until fragrant, about 30 sec.  Add onion and pepper and cook until soft, about 5 min.  Return beef to the pan.  Add the tomato soup and marinara. 

Meanwhile cook noodles in a pot of salted water until al dente. 

Once noodles are cooked, add them to the beef mixture along with 1/4 cup cheese and red pepper flakes.

Mix thoroughly.

Transfer entire mixture to a baking dish, sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake at 375 for about 15 min.

Easter/Thai Steak Salad

HAPPY EASTER!

Since I have already eaten my fill of these

as well as these

and lastly these

I am all Easter'd out!

Therefore I share with you a Thai Steak Salad

about as far as I could get from Easter.

ENJOY!

This was a delicious salad.

I have actually made it before, but forgot to blog about it, or didn't take pictures, or was just down right lazy.

But who's keeping track, not me!

I made this when it was feeling spring-like here in MT.  And then of course it snowed...

I should have known, I should never trust MT weather.

One minute you can be sun bathing on your deck and the next you are catching snowflakes on your tongue.

So while I'm sure next week I'll be blogging about soups and hot dish, for now I am focusing on this bright springy salad that my taste buds LOVED!

The dressing/marinade does not look like a lot, but it goes a long way, just make sure you don't use it all up as the marinade.

Try this out and leave me a comment!  Hope you are all still out there!

Thai Steak Salad

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1 T soy sauce

1 T sugar

1/4 to 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

3 T vegetable oil

2 boneless rib-eye steaks (each 8oz and 3/4 in thick)

S&P

1/2 lb carrots (3-4 med)

1 medium head romaine lettuce, cut crosswise into 1 in ribbons

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves

1 cup fresh bean sprouts

1/3 cup salted peanuts, chopped (totally makes this salad!)

Make marinade; in a med bowl, whisk together the lime juice, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper flakes, and oil.  

Season the steaks generously with salt and pepper; place in a baking dish. Pour one quarter of the marinade over the steaks (reserve the rest): turn the steaks to coat.  Let them marinate up to 30 min.

In a large skillet, cook the steaks on med-high heat, turning once, 2-3 min per side for med-rare.  

Transfer to a cutting board; tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest, 5-10 min.  

Slice the steaks across the grain; halve the slices crosswise.  Transfer to a large bowl, and toss with reserved marinade.

With a vegetable peeler, cut the carrots into long ribbons.  Add to steak in the bowl, along with lettuce and mint: toss to combine. 

Divide salad among 4 shallow bowls.  Sprinkle with beans sprouts and peanuts.

Serves 4.

Logan Rating: ****

St Patty's Day Feast

Not the greatest photo, but boy oh boy was this the greatest meal!

I was introduced to this traditional meal by my uncle Dug two years ago on St. Patty's day, and wow was my whole world opened up after tasting this!

I had never had corned beef, except for the cold cuts that you can buy at the grocery store. 

This corned beef is incredible, its easy to make and the taste is absolutely unbelievable!

I could sit here and type about how I dream about this on a weekly basis, how I drool when looking at the photos or about how if marrying a slab of beef was possible I would probably do it...OR you could make this for yourself and you would just KNOW exactly what I mean.

I know that St. Patrick's day is still approx. 11 months away, but who says you can't make corned beef and cabbage on a monthly basis? 

I accompanied this meal with some boiled red potatoes and an incredible Irish Soda bread, that Rylie proceeded to enjoy all to herself the morning after this meal...I would be lying if I said I didn't almost shed a tear when I saw the crumbs lying about the kitchen floor.  Disaster!

This recipe comes out of an old crock pot cookbook, if you don't have it, you should!

Mike Roy's Crock Cookery

Corned Beef and Cabbage

1  3-4lb corned beef

2 cups water

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp pickling spice

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp horseradish

1 onion, chopped

1 bay leaf

1 head cabbage

Place corned beef in the crock cooker.

Mix together the water and all ingredients except cabbage.

Pour mixture over meat.

Cover and cook at Love for 10-12 hours.  Remove corned beef and keep it warm.

Strain juice, and return ti to the cooker along with cabbage which has been cut in wedges.

Cover and cook on High for 20-30 min, or until the cabbage is done. 

Serves 6.

Irish Soda Bread recipe here, I left out the orange zest and currants. 

BE SURE NOT TO OVERMIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OR OVER-KNEAD!!!!!!!!!!!