Fried Green Tomatoes

 

Ingredients:

4 large green tomatoes 2 eggs 1/2 cup milk 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup bread crumbs 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

1.	Slice tomatoes 1/2 inch thick. Discard the ends.
2.	Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium-size bowl. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs and salt and pepper on another plate. Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip the tomatoes into milk and egg mixture. Dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat.
3.	In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil (enough so that there is 1/2 inch of oil in the pan) and heat over a medium heat. Place tomatoes into the frying pan in batches of 4 or 5, depending on the size of your skillet. Do not crowd the tomatoes, they should not touch each other. When the tomatoes are browned, flip and fry them on the other side. Drain them on paper towels.

Glazed carrots

I made these for our Christmas dinner, which was ham and the fixings.  I'm usually not a big cooked carrot fan, but this is what I went after for seconds and leftovers the next day.  I made these ahead of time on the 24th, and they reheated really well for dinner, which left me more time to play with new toys and less time in the kitchen.

1# carrots - peeled, sliced, boiled until cooked, but still firm

2 T butter
2 tsp flour
1/3 c orange juice
1/4 c brown sugar
shake of cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla

Melt butter in a saucepan.  Blend in flour, then OJ, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.  Stir well.  Fold in the cooked carrots and place into a casserole dish.  Either eat immediately or reheat when needed.

Breakfast Potatoes

 

Ingredients:

• 4 whole (to 5) Large Potatoes
• 1 whole Onion
• 1 Tablespoon Vegetable Or Canola Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Bacon Fat
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• Red And Green Bell Peppers, Diced (optional)

Preparation Instructions

Place potatoes in a large pot and cover entirely with water. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are fork tender. You can also bake them in the oven at 375 for about an hour.
When they are ready, place the potatoes on a cutting board and dice them into 1-inch pieces.
Next cut up an onion into a large, rough dice.
In a large skillet heat oil and bacon fat over medium-low heat. Put the onions in the skillet and sauté until they start to turn brown. (You can also use red and green bell peppers diced up. If you do, throw them in at this point).

Next, throw in the diced potatoes. Stir well and then slightly press/pack then. Now you will cook them without stirring for several minutes. You want the pan to be hot enough to crisp the potatoes but not hot enough to char them. (Optional step: sprinkle a bit of flour over potatoes as they cook). Cook for several minutes and then flip them with a spatula. Salt and Pepper them as they cook. Cook until desired brownness.

Cauliflower Fritters

Mmm, these were garlicy good!

1 head of cauliflower, cut up and cooked
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup parmesan (shredded would taste better, but the "shaker cheese" works, too.)
1/4 cup hot water
salt and pepper
olive oil

After the cauliflower is cooked, place in a large bowl. Break it up with a potato masher, into small pieces. Add the flour, garlic, eggs, cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Stir together. Add enough water so that the batter is a little thicker than pancake batter.

On medium heat, add 1 Tbl of oil to a skillet. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop fritter batter. Place in the pan, and then squish flat with the bottom of the measuring cup. (I could get 4 in a pan at a time.) Cook until golden brown, flip and cook other side. Add a little more oil between each batch of fritters.

I had some extra cheese sauce in the fridge that I warmed up and poured on top, but they are good by themselves, too.

Cheesy cauliflower and bell peppers

This recipe came from cooks.com yesterday.  We had it with some grilled chicken, but the dish on its own was really filling. too.  The veggies were cheesy good.  And I like that the prep can all be done in 1 pot.

1 cauliflower, broken into flowerettes
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbl cornstarch
1 1/2 c milk
4 Tbl butter, divided
1 tsp salt
pepper
1 cup shredded white cheddar (I used the sharp cheddar I had in the fridge)
1/4 cup cracker crumbs


Drop cauliflower into boiling, salted water.  Cook 5 minutes.  Drain.  Arrange in a greased casserole dish.

In the same pot melt 1 Tbl butter.  Add peppers and garlic and cook 2 minutes.  Arrange over cauliflower.

In the same pot melt 2 Tbl butter.  Stir cornstarch into milk and pour into butter.  Cook, stirring often, until thickened.  Add salt, pepper and cheese and cook until cheese is melted.  Pour over veggies.

Mix cracker crumbs and 1 Tbl melted butter, and sprinkle on top of veggies.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  Or cover and refrigerate and later bake for 35 minutes.

Broccoli cheese soup

--1 qt chicken broth
--2 cups milk
--2 10 oz bags of frozen broccoli florets
--1/2 diced white onion
--1/2 t black pepper
--1/2 t salt
--1/2 t ground nutmeg
--1 cup each of three different cheeses, I used cheddar, jack, and mozarella. I don't think the mozarella worked very well and will try something else next time.
Mix everything except cheese in the slow cooker and cook on low for 7 hours. Mix in grated cheese 30 min before serving to melt.

Bruschetta

1 loaf french bread sliced into 1-inch slices
3 T butter
1 pint cherry tomatoes
4-5 cloves of minced garlic
6 large basil leaves
3 T olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper

Butter slices of bread and place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 5 min until golden brown.
In a bowl, mix all other ingredients. Top each bread slice with a spoonful.

Bacon Wrapped Garlic Asparagus

4 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 bunch of asparagus
Bacon
Salt and pepper

• Saute garlic in the olive oil, then set aside.
• Trim asparagus ends.
• Place 4 stalks of asparagus in the center of each bacon strip.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Wrap bacon around each bundle.
• Drizzle garlic oil over the top.
• Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, or until bacon is crispy.

Yellow Squash Bake

For the last few weeks we have been participating in a produce co-op. You sign up weekly, and for $15 pick up a giant basket full of produce. It is split between fruits and vegetables, and it is a huge amount of food. Both a fun and challenging thing about it is that you don't pick what you get. So I'm trying to be a bit more adventurous and actually try my vegetables. Tonight I made a casserole with yellow squash that I truly enjoyed. I even had seconds!

4 cups sliced yellow squash
1/2 cup chopped onion
A tube of Ritz, crushed
1 cup shredded cheddar
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste
2 tbl butter

Put squash and onion in a skillet, with a bit of water on top. Cover. Cook over medium until tender. Drain well, and place in a large bowl.

Mix together cracker crumbs and cheese. Stir half of cracker mixture into the squash and onions. Mix together eggs and milk and add to squash mixture. Stir in the 1/4 cup of melted butter. Add salt and pepper.

Spread into a 9x13.

Sprinkle with remaining cracker mixture, and dot with the 2 tbl butter.

Bake at 400 for 25 minutes.

Inside-Out Brussels Sprouts

(Sorry for poor picture quality, they are from my phone, as I forgot my camera in Portland.)


This recipe was in a Taste of Home pamphlet I found. It is basically a giant meatball with a Brussels sprout inside. Below is the recipe as written. When I made it I cut it in half, used quick cook brown rice, and fresh sprouts instead of frozen ones.

2 pounds ground beef
1 1/2 cups uncooked instant rice
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper

1 10oz package frozen Brussels sprouts

2 15oz cans tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 tsp dried thyme

Combine first 6 ingredients. Shape around each sprout to form a meatball. Place in an ungreased casserole dish. Stir together sauce, water and thyme and pour over meatballs. Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hr 15 minutes, or until meatballs are cooked through.