December 24, 2011: New Mexican Chalupas Recipe

Here’s another perfect winter dish that feeds a lot of people and fills them up quickly. The best part about this recipe is that you can throw the ingredients together in the morning and let it cook all day long, until the meat and beans are melt-in-your-mouth tender. Served with a salad and flour tortillas, it’s a complete meal with little fuss and muss.

Chalupas

One 3-pound pork roast (any variety; even tough cuts become tender)

1 T. vegetable oil

1 small white or yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 t. oregano

1 T. ground cumin

1 t. salt

1 16-ounce can tomatoes

2 14-ounce cans chicken broth

2 small cans green chiles (or 1 cup fresh/frozen chiles, diced)

1 pound dry pinto beans, rinsed

¼ t. powdered red chile

6 quarts water

Shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, chopped green onions, black olives and salsa for garnish (any or all optional)

Trim and discard excess fat from pork. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven to medium; add pork and brown on all sides. Add onion and garlic and sauté for a couple minutes. Add remaining ingredients (up to garnishes). Bring to a boil then cover, reduce heat and simmer for 3 to 6 hours, stirring often (you can also placed the covered pot in a low oven for the same amount of time).

Before serving, remove pork roast and shred into bite-size pieces. Return to pot. Spoon pork mixture onto tostada shells and top with garnishes, or serve with flour tortillas or corn chips on the side.

Serves 12 – 16

November 22, 2011: Turkey Gravy Recipe

There’s an art to making good gravy. It’s a skill that took me quite some time to learn. When I first started making Thanksgiving dinner, I made the mistake of not skimming the fat from the turkey pan juices. The result was a thick glop of gravy that was quite dense and, well, fatty. Yuck! So don’t skip that step. If you’re worried about your ability to separate the liquid from the fat, invest in one of those fancy cups that does it for you; it looks like a measuring cup with two compartments and is available just about anywhere (I saw one at my local Ace Hardware store the other day).

The trick to making a silky smooth great-tasting gravy? Make sure the flour or cornstarch is completely incorporated before bringing the liquid to a boil and stir constantly to avoid lumps.If you don't fully incorporate the flour into the pan grease, it will taste like "raw" flour.

Tip (BIG tip): Just in case your gravy does turn out lumpy, pass it through a strainer before serving and no one will ever know the difference!

Turkey Gravy

Use the juices in the bottom of the turkey roasting pan to make gravy.

Skim off fat. Reserve ¼ cup of the fat; place it in a saucepot and reheat to medium low. When hot, add ¼ cup flour, mixing well. Stir over low heat for two minutes. Slowly add in reserved pan juices (about two cups of liquid); bring to a boil then reduce heat and cook for two more minutes. If gravy is too thick, add water or chicken broth until gravy is desired consistency. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Alternate gravy recipe: Place pan juices, less fat, in a saucepot and heat over low. Mix together 1/3 cup water and ¼ cup cornstarch until smooth; slowly stir into pan. Stir constantly over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook and stir for a minute longer. If the gravy is too thick, add chicken broth.

November 20, 2011: Mom’s Classic Turkey Stuffing Recipe

Everyone has their traditional stuffing recipe, which seems to vary greatly according to location. When I was growing up in Wisconsin, this is the recipe my mother made every year. After years of watching her do it, I was pressed into making the entire Thanksgiving dinner just before she died and had to call upon my memory to make it just like she used to. Since she never measured the ingredients and neither do I, I’m estimating here so please feel free to experiment with seasonings that are to your liking.

Please note you can use a box of dressing, such as Mrs. Cubbison’s brand, instead of the plain bread cubes but I prefer the unseasoned kind, which I can find in my grocery store’s bakery at Thanksgiving time. Also, my mom always chopped the turkey giblets and added them to the stuffing but my family just wouldn’t eat it knowing they were in there so I usually omit them. But if you’re willing to try it, you really can’t taste the giblets alone, although they do impart a good flavor to the stuffing.

Mom’s Turkey Stuffing

One 1 lb. package bread cubes, unseasoned

Giblets from turkey, cooked and finely minced

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 medium-sized Granny Smith apple, diced

½ t. freshly ground black pepper

Salt, to taste (about a teaspoon)

1 t. dried sage or 1 T. fresh sage, minced

2 t. dehydrated parsley or 2 T. fresh parsley, minced

1 t. poultry seasoning

1 can chicken broth

3 T. butter

Toss bread cubes with remaining ingredients. Let sit for five minutes, so bread has time to absorb liquid, before stuffing into turkey. Place any remaining stuffing in a greased casserole dish and bake alongside the turkey during the last hour of roasting.

November 6, 2011: Oriental Garlic Roasted Chicken Recipe

I know I’ve included a lot of chicken recipes on this blog, but can you really ever have too many? Chicken is, and continues to be, one of the favorite meal mainstays of the typical American diet and with today’s exorbitant beef prices, it’s no wonder. And with the cooler weather, it warms up the kitchen to roast a meal in the oven.

For this recipe, you’ll use the spice packet from a package of ramen noodles, so you might want to make a ramen side dish to go along with it. If not, just remember to save the spice packets when you use ramen noodles for a recipe at a different time.

Oriental Garlic Chicken served with easy fried rice, roasted onions and snow peas.

Oriental Garlic Roasted Chicken

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T. soy sauce

2 t. vegetable oil

1 ½ t. minced ginger

½ cup + 1 t. chicken broth

1 seasoning packet from ramen noodles, chicken or Oriental flavor

1 medium yellow or white onion, cut into thick chunks

 1 3 – 4 pound chicken, skin-on and cut into pieces

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Wash chicken and pat dry. Combine garlic, soy sauce, oil, ginger, 1 t. chicken broth, and seasoning packet. Gently separate skin from meat on each piece of chicken. Using your fingers, rub garlic mixture under and over skin.

Spray a roasting pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place the onion slices in the bottom. Place roasting rack on top; arrange chicken pieces on rack. Pour remaining half cup of chicken broth in bottom of pan.

Roast in oven approximately one hour, or until all juices run clear. If desired, thicken sauce in bottom of pan. To serve, pour pan juices over chicken.

Serves 4

Note: Feel free to add another vegetable to the onions in the bottom of the roasting pan. I added snow peas during the last 15 minutes of cooking.

October 31, 2011: Canadian Cheese Soup Recipe

Happy Halloween! Are you dressing up this year? Do you have kids you’ll be taking out trick or treating tonight? Stay safe and have fun!

If you’re planning a special menu for the ghouls and goblins in your life and want a black and orange food theme, try making this soup which fulfills the orange part of your menu. You might want to serve it with black olives and black grapes (which are on sale at Safeway today).

Canadian Cheese Soup

2 T. butter

½ cup finely chopped carrots

¼ cup finely chopped celery

¼ cup finely chopped onion

¼ cup flour

2 cups milk

1 ½ cups chicken broth

Dash paprika

Salt and pepper

1 ½ cups shredded American cheese

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium low heat. Add vegetables and sauté until tender. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute to ensure it’s well incorporated. Slowly stir in milk and chicken broth. Add paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Stir in the cheese and continue stirring until melted. Do not boil.

Serves 4 as a side dish, 2 as a main dish.

October 27, 2011: Quick and Easy Mushroom Wild Rice Soup Recipe

This recipe is one I concocted to use a can of soup I’d gotten for mere pennies via extreme couponing and leftovers from a chicken dinner. When put all together, they made a delicious, hearty soup perfect for a cold weekday night. It’s a snap to throw together and doesn’t take long at all to cook.

“Semi-Homemade” Mushroom Wild Rice Soup

2 t. olive oil

¼ cup finely minced onion

1 small carrot, peeled and shredded

1 clove garlic, minced

1 t. dried parsley flakes

1 can cream of mushroom soup (not condensed; I used Progresso)

1 cup cooked, shredded chicken

1 cup cooked long grain and wild rice

1/3 cup chicken broth

Heat olive oil over medium heat in saucepan. Add onions, carrot and garlic. Saute until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and heat through on low, about 15 additional minutes.

Serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as a side dish.