Wild Rice Soup

I know, I haven't posted a new recipe in ages. I've been in something of a dinner rut, I guess. My kids are so picky that it's just easier to make their favorites again and again. But, BUT, last night I made a third attempt to imitate the wild rice soup my Minnesotan friend is always wistfully raving about, and I think I nailed it. I looked at a few different recipes on line, but they all included one or more ingredients my picky friend dislikes, and I tend to use recipes more as inspiration anyway. It's hard to emulate something you've never actually eaten, but she seemed happy, and all the adults plus half the children loved it, so I'm declaring it a success. The secret turned out to be a roux.

1/4 cup butter
1/2 onion, minced fine
about 1/2 cup ham, chopped fairly small
aprox 1/4 cup flour
1 box (or equivalent) chicken broth
2 boxes seasoned wild rice
1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half

First, go ahead and cook both boxes of rice together as the package directs. I thought this seemed dumb at first, but it will save time and keep your broth proportions right. Meanwhile, in bottom of a Dutch oven, melt butter. Add onion and cook a few minutes, until soft. Add ham and sautee a couple more minutes. Sprinkle flour over a little at a time and stir as it soaks up the butter. Continue cooking and stirring over medium heat for a couple minutes, but don't brown the roux. Now add the chicken broth a little at a time, stirring constantly. This will first form a thick paste with the roux, which will get thinner as you add more broth. Once all the broth is in there, let it cook, stirring occasionally. You don't really want a rolling boil, more of a bubbling simmer. When the rice seems about done, dump it all into the broth mixture and stir to incorporate. Turn heat to low and stir in cream, heating just another minute or two without boiling. Voila! Serve with warm garlic breadsticks for dipping.

You Say "Fritato"

Okay, you don't really, but I do say frittata! Check out my spaghetti frittata recipe over at Half Assed Kitchen.

Ode to Gravy

A couple weeks ago, I roasted a chicken and made some gravy to go with it and the mashed potatoes I'd prepared, and it was so good I had to restrain myself from drinking it. Seriously. My friend Tippi used to make fun of how country his coworkers were by saying they thought gravy was a vegetable. Many a hard-pressed Southern mama has fed her brood on rice and gravy for dinner every night. Biscuits and sausage gravy are pure heaven for breakfast. And it's so easy! All you need is a little fat, flour, salt and pepper, and liquid. It takes a little practice and you know I don't have any exact measurements, but once you get the hang of it, you have a valuable cullinary skill and a tasty meal in a pinch. There are two basic types of gravy: brown gravy and milk gravy.

Brown (or Chicken) Gravy

After roasting or searing meat or chicken, remove from pan. If the remaining liquid is especially fatty, tip the pan and spoon off some of the fat that rises to the top. You need at least a thin sheen of fat covering the bottom of the pan or skillet, though. You may need to add a little oil or butter if your meat was lean. Now sprinkle flour over the hot oil/fat, stirring constantly. Start with a scant 1/4 cup or even less. You are making a roux. You want the flour to absorb the oil and brown a little. Too much flour to too little fat and it will ball up, making for lumpy gravy. (If that happens, you can salvage the finished product with an immersion blender.) Once your roux has cooked and browned for a minute, add liquid, still stirring or whisking steadily. I used boxed chicken broth for the chicken gravy that was so drinkable. You can add a little red wine to beef gravy to add depth and make it fancier. Any broth will do. You want to add broth until it's too thin, then cook and stir for a couple minutes until it thickens, seasoning with salt and pepper. The longer it cooks, the more it will thicken. You can do this several times, adding more broth and cooking it down again, to concentrate the flavors.

Milk Gravy (preferably with sausage)

I do not like milk gravy much, unless it's sausage gravy. Milk gravy is typically served at breakfast, with biscuits, but it also comes on country fried or chicken fried steak. It involves the exact same process as above, except you use milk in place of the broth. If it's breakfast, you can use the fat from frying bacon or sausage, or you can use butter.

Sausage Gravy

In a large skillet, brown and crumble one roll of breakfast sausage (instead of making patties, just slice open the whole roll and break it up as you brown it). I like Jimmy Dean's reduced fat sausage. If you have a lot of fat once the meat has browned, drain off all but a couple tablespoons. Sprinkle flour over the sausage and stir until you have what look like little sausage balls. You won't have a roux so much as you will have little browned, flour-coated balls of sausage. Now add about a cup of milk, then cook and stir over medium heat. The flour will melt into the milk and thicken the gravy. If it looks too thick after a few minutes, add more milk. Serve over split biscuits. Breakfast heaven!

Quick and Easy Mediterranean Chicken

As I was thumbing through my overstuffed but mostly unconsulted recipe book looking for party foods this week, I happened upon the Chicken Mareno recipe I made for a "bring food day" in high school French class. It was large and complicated, involving two whole chickens and several steps. Too much for a weeknight dinner, but I got a craving for the flavors it involved. Inspired by the chance to put a dent in my dinner rut, I decided to shoot for the same effect in a quick, easy, staple-using version. The result was colorful, tasty, and the kids who actually eat real food ate it all up, much to my surprise. I wish I'd taken a picture! I served it over brown rice, so it was also a pretty healthy, low-fat dinner. Yeah, yeah, I know you think you don't like brown rice, but it's good! Just try it. It tastes great with this recipe.

This made 4 good-sized servings plus two kid-sized, but you could easily increase that by adding another chicken breast and can of tomatoes and adjusting the seasonings a little. Oh! This also gave me a chance to use some of the fresh herbs growing in my new courtyard herb garden, but you can easily use dried or whatever you have on hand.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into about 1-inch cubes
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 cup garbonzo beans (I used half a can because I'm skittish, but you could use more or less)
1/2 cup green olives, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp capers, optional
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced
dash white wine or vermouth if you have it
1/2 cup to a cup chicken broth (I'm telling you, keep a box in the fridge to use as needed)
sea salt, red pepper, dash of turmeric if you have it (gives it a pretty and authentic-looking yellow sheen), fresh herbs like parsley, oregano, thyme, or a little dried of whatever similar you have on hand.

Start your rice cooking. I used 2 cups uncooked brown rice in a rice cooker, which took about 45 minutes.

In a large, deep-sided skillet or Dutch oven, heat a Tbsp or two of olive oil and brown the chicken. Add garlic and sautee for about 30 seconds. Add wine or vermouth if using (vermouth is just shelf-stable, fortified wine--you didn't know that, did you?) and/or chicken broth and stir a minute until slightly reduced. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, and all remaining ingredients EXCEPT fresh herbs if using. Simmer, covered, over medium heat for 20 minutes or until rice is done. If using fresh herbs, you should always wait to add them in the last 5 minutes or so of cooking, because high heat destroys their flavor. Serve over rice (pasta would work too).

Asian-ish Beef and Broccoli

I have only developed a taste, or even tolerance, for Asian food in the past couple of years. The problem is that a lot of Asian food, especially the Americanized kind, hits on two of my biggest food issues: sweet and savory together, and random bits of crunchy unknown veggies in my food. I realize this make me a freak, but I do not find the idea of sugared meat to be even slightly appealing. This means I don't like anything called "glazed" that is not a doughnut (and even then, eh), or anything called "sweet and sour" or "hot and sweet." If it's not dessert, I don't want it to be in any way sweet. So you see how that could be a problem with the Chinese takeout.

However, with a bit of experimenting, I've found a few things that I enjoy, and recently I've ventured into cooking some Asian-inspired dinners. Now, let's be clear. I do not in any way think these dishes are authentic, but they're generally quick, easy, and tasty. I made this a week or so and it was a hit. I've since made a version with chicken instead of the beef, and it was also good but slightly less flavorful.

1 lb (or more) beef stew meat
marinade of some sort
fresh garlic, minced
2-3 cups frozen broccoli florets
*other veggies like onions and sliced red peppers if desired
chicken broth (I buy the boxed kind that can stay in the fridge so you use as much as you need)
corn starch
Hoisin sauce
2 cups uncooked white rice
Soy sauce

I cut my stew meat into smaller, bite-sized pieces. Into a gallon-sized zip-lock bag, I put a little olive oil, a little dale's (beef marinade that is too salty and strong to use straight, but great if you add just a little to other stuff), some Asian five-spice powder, soy sauce, a dash of rice vinegar, and a little water, mixed it all up, tossed in the beef, and let it all sit for a while.

At cooking time, I put my rice on to cook. I recently read that adding a tbsp or two of rice vinegar to the cooking water significantly lowers the glycemic index rating of the rice, and I was all proud since I was already doing that because Warren told me to, and he knows how to make sushi. You can make more rice if your kids will eat a lot of it. Meanwhile, heat a little oil of some sort in a large skillet or wok. I don't own a wok yet, so I just used my big deep skillet. Mince your garlic and throw it into the oil, then about 30 seconds later, add your beef. When beef is browned on all sides, add some chicken broth, (we'll say a cup? I do not actually ever use a recipe and I don't measure anything, so...), about 1 tbsp Hoisin sauce, and the broccoli. Season as desired and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until meat is cooked through and broccoli is hot but not too soggy. Thicken broth with a little corn starch (follow the directions on the box for thickening liquids). That's it! Serve over rice with soy sauce and Rooster sauce on the side if you like it spicy.

Calzones

Calzones can be an easy, tasty dinner, and are easily customizable for different family members and their tastes. I use refrigerated dough because I usually don't have time to deal with yeast and such, but if you like to make your own crust, you can certainly do that. I'd say that one roll of refrigerated store-bought dough makes a calzone large enough to be dinner for three or four adults or 4 kids, depending on what else you serve with it and how hungry your people are. You can also cut the dough in half and make two smaller ones with different fillings. Here's a filling I really like, but you can put pretty much anything you want in there. Oddly, I tend to shy away from ricotta in a calzone, even though I generally like it.

Calzone:

1 roll refrigerated pizza dough, or homemade crust enough for one pizza
1 lb Italian sausage, (no casings)
1 carton fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 10-oz box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry.
1 to 2 cups shredded mozzarella or provolone cheese

In a large, deep skillet, brown Italian sausage, breaking it up as it cooks. Drain fat and return to skillet. Add sliced mushrooms and saute a few minutes, until soft. Add spinach and stir to combine mixture and heat spinach through.

On baking stone or cookie sheet, unroll and spread out the dough. Place filling along one half, leaving a couple inches around the margin to seal. Sprinkle with cheese. Fold the empty half of dough over the filling and press edges together to seal the dough. Crimp sealed edge with a fork if desired. Cut a few small slits in top crust so steam can escape. If you want to be fancy, you can brush the top with an egg wash and sprinkle with parmesan, but you don't have to. Bake in a 375 oven for 15 or 20 minutes, or until the crust looks done. (Be careful of the top crust over-browning before the bottom one is quite done. If you think this is happening, tent a piece of foil over it.) Let stand at least 5 minutes before serving. Serve with marinara sauce over the the top or on the side of each portion.

Potato Soup

I would make and eat soup several nights a week during the winter if I were not the only soup enthusiast in my house. As things are, I keep it to once every couple of weeks. Lately I've been craving potato soup, so last night I made it and it was gooo-oood. I served it up with some garlic bread (not that fake frozen crap, either) and a whole rotisserie chicken from the grocery store (same price as a whole raw chicken after 3:00 pm at my Kroger!) for those who might not think soup is a meal.

I added cream to this because I happened to have some on hand, but you could easily use milk, half and half, or even skip it all together if you want to minimize calories. The chicken broth gives it a lot of flavor on its own.

1 large box reduced-fat chicken broth (sometimes I have homemade broth in the freezer, but right now I don't)
about 3 lbs red potatoes, peeled and roughly cubed
2 tbsp butter
1 shallot, minced
1/2 cup sour cream (low-fat or fat-free is fine)
1/2 cup cream, half and half, or milk
salt and pepper

In bottom of a large pot or Dutch oven, melt butter and add shallot. Sautee for about a minute, then add potatoes and stir to coat with butter. Add broth, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a steady boil. Cook for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Reduce heat and use a potato masher to smush up some of the potatoes. You want the base to be thickened but still have some chunks of potato. Add sour cream and milk/cream. Simmer over med/low heat another ten minutes or so.
Serve with shredded sharp cheddar and chives as garnish if desired.

Easier Than You Think Tamales

I decided to go ahead and post about tamale making, because all the recipes I found when I was looking were so complicated and time consuming. I sort of modified and combined ideas from a few recipes, and drew on my experience with making blue corn lobster tamales at In Limbo back in the day.

You will need some type of steamer for this. A basket placed over a pot of boiling water is all that really is. I was lucky enough to have a friend with the perfect setup for tamales, but you could probably improvise with a flat-bottomed basket with 4-6 inch sides placed over a large pot or dutch oven. You can see the setup I used here.













You can find dried corn husks and Masa (the cornmeal-based flour for the tamale "crust") at most supermarkets in the Mexican section.

Ingredients:

1 package dried corn husks
1 bag Masa Harina
1 3-5 lb beef or pork roast (I used beef because roasts were on sale)
Dried red chiles
1 white or yellow onion, sliced and separated into rings
3-5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
salt and black pepper
red pepper
chili powder
cumin
water

Cook the meat:

If you don't have a pressure cooker (you really should get one), you'll need to plan ahead a little and cook the meat in a crock pot with enough liquid to cover. Place meat in pressure cooker/crock pot with plenty of water (pressure cookers can't be more than about half full, but they produce a concentrated broth that you can add water to afterwards), 2 dried chiles, garlic, about a tsp each salt and black pepper, 1/2 tsp red pepper (more if you want them spicier), a tsp or so each of chili powder and cumin. Cook until meat is very tender and falling apart. Remove meat to a cutting board, reserving broth, and chop very fine. Keep in the onion and garlic but remove the dried chiles. You can do this part up to three days ahead and stick the meat and broth in the fridge until you're ready to assemble.

Assemble the tamales:

Put the corn husks in a large bowl of water to soak and set aside. Pour about half the Masa (2 of the 4 lbs) in a large bowl. Slowly add warm broth and work in with your hands until mixture reaches a peanutbutter-like consistency.

Remove corn husks from water, separate and pat dry-ish. Set up your assembly line of ingredients so that you can easily make the tamales. Grab a husk, spread it with about a half-inch thickness of prepared masa, leaving about an inch down the right side uncovered. Place a line of chopped meat down the length sort of left of center, then roll up so the uncovered edge of husk makes the outer edge. Fold the long pointy end over like and envelope, and place on end (standing up) in basket. Continue until you run out of all or one of the components.

Cook the tamales:

Now, I kept finding recipes that said the tamales need to steam for two hours, but I knew we didn't cook them that long at the restaurant. I eventually found a chef's recipe for more fussily filled tamales that said steam for 30 minutes, so I went with that cook time and it worked fine. maybe the longer time is necessary for larger batches? Anyway, bring your pot of water to a rolling boil, put your tamale-filled basket on top of it, and cover the basket with some kind of lid. It doesn't have to be airtight--I just sort of dropped the lid to my dutch oven on top of the tamales. If you're using a large flat basket, a cookie sheet or something might work as a lid. Cook until done, and enjoy! I served mine with steamed a pot of black beans, fresh corn, fresh avocado salad, and my favorite salsa. A lot of people like chili over theirs, with shredded cheese and chopped onion. Or you can keep it simple with a little Cholula or Frank's Red Hot.

Richard's Favorite Enchilada casserole

I love enchiladas, but when it comes to weeknight dinners I tend to go for effect over detail. Why roll up individual enchiladas when you can layer it all in half the time? I always make this with chicken, but it occurs to me that this could be a perfect way to use up left-over turkey. Throw some Spanish rice and refried beans on the side and you'll feel like you went out to one of those weird Mexican restaurants that all have different names but identical, numbered menus. (Is that just a Memphis thing?)

1 pkg (at least 24) corn tortillas (Do NOT use flour. I mean it. CORN!)
1 large can or 2 regular-sized cans red enchilada sauce
1 small can tomato sauce
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 16 oz (or larger) carton sour cream
About 4 cups cooked chicken or turkey, shredded or chopped (I guess--I don't really measure anything. I use one whole chicken or four breasts usually.)
1 can whole green chiles
8 ounces shredded cheddar or Mexican blend or casserole blend cheese

Mix enchilada sauce and tomato sauce in a small bowl or large measuring cup and pour a small amount in the bottom of a rectangular baking dish (just enough to cover the bottom with a thin layer).

In another bowl, mix chicken, cream of chicken soup, and half the sour cream.

Cover the sauced bottom of dish with a layer of tortillas. It's fine if they overlap substantially, but don't leave any gaps. I use 8 per layer in my 9X13 dish. Cover tortillas with half the chicken mixture, spreading to make a somewhat even layer. Tear half the chiles into strips and arrange over chicken. Sprinkle with 1/3 of cheese, then drizzle with a thin layer of sauce. Repeat layers, starting with tortillas, using all the remaining chicken mixture and chiles, 1/3 of cheese, and another thin layer of sauce. Top with last layer of tortillas, then pour all remaining sauce evenly over casserole. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Remove foil, add remaining cheese, and bake another 10-15 minutes until most of sauce has been absorbed and the whole thing is bubbly. Let stand 5-10 minutes before cutting or it will not retain it's shape when served. Serve with remaining sour cream as garnish.

Italian Beef

When I was in high school, my best friend's mom used to make this all the time. The first time I had it, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I immediately asked for the recipe and brought it to my mom. Now I often make it to bring to gatherings and it never fails to be a hit. You can easily double it for larger crowds if you have a big enough crock pot. I sometimes cheat and use my pressure cooker, but my husband insists the crock pot makes it better. This is served on hoagie rolls, and all you soft white bread fans need to listen to me when I say that this is one time when crustier is better. The juicy goodness will soak right through a soft roll in two seconds flat. We also like to make burritos with the leftovers, so I guess you could make it just for that purpose if you wanted.

Aprox 3-4 lbs beef roast (cheap cuts work fine), trimmed of excess fat
3-5 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly smashed
1 small white or yellow onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp black pepper
1 Tbsp crushed red pepper (half if you want less heat)
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 jar pepperoncini peppers (be careful not to get the really salty, bitter ones. I often find the store brand ones to be the best. Kroger's store brand pepperoncinis are awesome.)
water

Place the roast in crock pot (no need to brown first). Add water to be even with the thickness of the roast, but not covering the top. Sprinkle all seasonings over roast. Lay onion rings and crushed garlic on top, along with 6-8 pepperoncinis. Cook in crock pot until completely tender and falling apart (time depends on how fast you need it--you can cook it all day on low or about 6 hours on high, usually).

Remove meat to a large platter or shallow bowl and let sit just until cool enough to handle. Meanwhile, strain broth into a large bowl, discard solids (you can keep the onion if you want but the peppers will be gross and you're going to put more in anyway). Return broth to crock pot, then shred the meat and add to the broth. Put in 1/2 cup of pepperoncini juice and simmer another half hour at least (or just let it sit if it's going to be awhile or you are taking it somewhere). At this step, I also add a few more coarsely chopped pepperoncinis (or the banana peppers that come sliced in rings), but you can opt to serve these as a garnish if you prefer. Serve with a large slotted spoon.

Southern-style Dressing

I think that holiday food traditions really highlight the differences between regional cooking styles. I never believed anyone actually cooked the "stuffing" inside the turkey until I saw pictures of it actually done. That just seems gross to me! Down here we call it "dressing," and we make it in big lasagna-sized pans to ensure there's enough to go around. Being a very picky eater as a child, I never even tried dressing until I was in college. I worked at Dino's, which had T&D on the meat-and-three every Sunday, and it was good! The dressing was very much like what my mom makes. I'm hoping to volunteer to make the dressing this year in Georgia as we gather with my husband's family for the big feast. There's always so much good food that dressing is understandably not a priority, and we often just go with something like Stove Top. That's okay, but I'd rather have real dressing, so I'm going to make it!

These are my mom's instructions, which are not super exact, but I've watched her make the dressing many times so I know how it should look and feel and I'll try to describe that here.

Ingredients/shopping list:

***Corn Meal Mix (sold next to the regular corn meal but already has some flour and leavening built in)
buttermilk (you can add 1 tsp vinegar to a cup of milk, but it won't be as good)
eggs
5 biscuits, rolls, or slices of white bread, or two hamburger buns (Seriously.)
1 cup each chopped celery and onion
1 stick of butter
1 can cream of chicken soup (oh hush, you won't even know its there)
chicken broth as needed (get the box that you can keep in the fridge and use as needed)
ground sage
poultry seasoning (My mom says either or but I say why not both? Unless poultry seasoning already has sage...hm, check label.)

***Note: Do NOT use a boxed "corn muffin" mix like Jiffy. It will be way too sweet and won't make enough. I mean it!

Okay, Step one, cut a whole in the box...wait, that's not right. Step one, make the cornbread according to the directions on the bag, using the buttermilk and eggs from the list. Use the same pan you will use for the dressing--a large rectangular or oblong baking dish, like 9x13. You can do this in advance or just while you do the other prep work.

Meanwhile, chop your onions and celery and sautee it all in the stick of butter

Crumble the cornbread all up in the pan. Add whatever form of white bread you are using--either five biscuits, five slices of bread, or two hamburger buns, also crumbled up (just tear it with your hands). Add the cooked celery and onions with all the melted butter, the cream of chicken soup, and enough chicken broth, a little at a time, to give it all a soupy, pudding-like consistency. Salt and pepper generously and add the sage/poultry seasoning (a generous tsp, maybe), mix it all up to one big homogenous mass, and spread in the pan (it should have surface tension and be thicker than cake batter). Bake uncovered until golden-brown on top, about 30-45 minutes (I'm going to say 375 degrees). Enjoy!

Simple avocado salad

A month or so ago I got a random urge to make tamales from scratch, so I did. I doubt y'all want to make tamales from scratch, so I'll spare you the step-by-step (but it was actually really easy and they tasted great and I'll tell you how if you want). I wanted some quick and easy sides to serve with them, and the idea for this salad popped into my head, even though I do not eat avocados. Or raw onion. It's basically guacamole that's not mushed up, but Stacey liked it so much that she requested I make it again a couple weeks later, so I thought it was worth sharing.

2 ripe but not over-ripe avocados
1/2 a small purple onion, finely chopped
1 or 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
1 lemon
sea salt

Dice avocados into medium-sized cubes (cut them in half lengthwise, remove the large pit, use a small sharp knife to cut down into each half in a grid pattern, turn each half inside out, and easily cut the resulting cubes from the peel). Place cubes in a small glass bowl and add tomato and onion. Cut lemon in half and squeeze both halves over avocado mixture (I put my hand underneath to catch the seeds and let the juice run through my fingers). Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp of sea salt or other coarse salt. Voila!

"Toasted" Ravioli

I put "toasted" in quotes because that's really just a euphemistic way of saying "fried." I could have also put "ravioli" in quotes, because instead of using up any of our precious, real, from-scratch Zanone Family Recipe ravioli for this cocktail-hour favorite, I use some of the inevitable leftover filling and won ton wrappers. I can't give you the actual filling recipe, because if I did I'd have to kill you, but the one I will give you is quicker and easier anyway. You could also experiment with your own fillings. Ravioli was originally designed to use up leftovers, really. At first glance this may look labor intensive, but it's all pretty basic and mindless. It's easier than it sounds and the results are sooo worth it. Serve with marinara sauce.

Most grocery stores sell won ton wrappers, although I bought them super cheap at an Asian market near my work. There are about a billion in a package, but I usually get two just to be safe if I'm cooking for a crowd. (I'm usually working with an unknown quantity of leftover filling and just make them until I get tired of cooking and my guests get tired of eating, so outcome amounts for this recipe are inexact, to say the least.) You will need a food processor to grind the filling. If you end up with extra, freeze it and use it later in lasagna or stuffed pasta like jumbo shells.

Filling:

1 lb Italian sausage (in bulk or removed from casings)
1 bag or box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed as dry as possible (I put it in a thin dish towel and wring it out)
2 eggs
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
3-5 cloves garlic, minched
1 small onion, chopped
16 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped (optional)

Brown sausage, crumbling as it cooks. Dump into strainer over a bowl and leave it there for a minute. Sautee onion in small amount of remaining fat for two or three minutes. Add mushrooms and cook a few more minutes, then garlic for about 30 seconds before you dump the sausage back in, along with sausage. Stir and cook until everything is well combined.

Process filling in food processor until it is a consistent texture with no big chunks, but not total mush. It should be just wet enough to hold together in a meatball-type configuration. If it seems too wet, add some bread crumbs or cracker crumbs to tighten it up a bit.

Now, make a little assembly line. At one end is a large, deep skillet with about an inch of hot oil in it. Next to that is a plate, next to that a stack of won ton wrappers, next to that your bowl of filling. Somewhere near the wrappers and plate you need a small bowl of water. Lay wrappers on the plate--as many as you can fit without them overlapping. Dip your finger in the water and run it around the edges of each wrapper. Now, grab a little bit of filling, make a little ball (dosn't have to be rolled tightly or anything), and put it in the center of the wrapper, then repeat with all the other wrappers. Fold each wrapper over its filling so the edges touch, then press edges together firmly. I sometimes make a little fold to reinforce this but I'm not sure that's totally necessary. Carefully place each ravioli in hot oil, filling skillet but not crowding it (I usually keep adding as I make them, but you can do distinct batches if you don't like things to be at different stages of doneness in the same pan). Once the underside looks golden, gently flip them. Move to a paper-towel-lined plate and keep warm in the oven until ready to serve, but serve as soon after cooking as possible.

Hodge-Podge Soup

This soup is super-easy to make and is sort of a cross between chili and vegetable soup. It's delicious and requires no cooking skills whatsoever. I serve it with cornbread.

1 lb ground beef
2 cans diced tomatoes and green chiles, like Rotel
2 cans condensed minestrone soup
2 cans Ranch Style Beans (use chili beans if you can't find Ranch Style)

Brown ground beef in the bottom of a Dutch oven or large pot. Drain fat. Add everything else, stir, and simmer for 20-30 minutes. That's it! Garnish with sour cream and/or shredded cheese if desired.

Roast Chicken with Polenta and Tomato Sauce

AKA, what I had for dinner last night. Years ago, I found a very simple recipe for "Chicken with two lemons" that I have made time and again ever since. I found the exact same recipe on line just now, so I'm pasting it here, but you could use any roast chicken method you like. (I can't usually get the skin to crisp and puff up as described, but it still looks and tastes delicious.) If you have some marinara in the freezer or (gasp!) can find a good jarred variety (not in my house!), this is really a simple and satisfying meal. I didn't have any prepared last night and it was still quick and easy to make a simple sauce while the chicken baked and the polenta boiled. And don't be intimidated by polenta--it's super easy and delicious. People just like to complicate peasant food and make it fancy, but you don't have to. Serve the chicken alongside the polenta and sauce, and add a nice spinach salad or green veg if desired.

Roast Chicken With Two Lemons

A 3- to 4-pound chicken

Salt

Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill

2 rather small lemons

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Wash the chicken thoroughly in cold water, both inside and out. Remove all the bits of fat hanging loose. Let the bird sit for about 10 minutes on a slightly tilted plate to let all the water drain out of it. Pat it thoroughly dry all over with cloth or paper towels.

3. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt and black pepper on the chicken, rubbing it with your fingers over all its body and into its cavity.

4. Wash the lemons in cold water and dry them with a towel. Soften each lemon by placing it on a counter and rolling it back and forth as you put firm downward pressure on it with the palm of your hand. Puncture the lemons in at least 20 places each, using a sturdy round toothpick, a trussing needle, a sharp-pointed fork, or similar implement.

5. Place both lemons in the birds cavity. Close up the opening with toothpicks or with trussing needle and string. Close it well, but dont make an absolutely airtight job of it because the chicken may burst. Run kitchen string from one leg to the other, tying it at both knuckle ends. Leave the legs in their natural position without pulling them tight. If the skin is unbroken, the chicken will puff up as it cooks, and the string serves only to keep the thighs from spreading apart and splitting the skin.

6. Put the chicken into a roasting pan, breast facing down. Do not add cooking fat of any kind. This bird is self-basting, so you need not fear it will stick to the pan. Place it in the upper third of the preheated oven. After 30 minutes, turn the chicken over to have the breast face up. When turning it, try not to puncture the skin. If kept intact, the chicken will swell like a balloon, which makes for an arresting presentation at the table later. Do not worry too much about it, however, because even if it fails to swell, the flavor will not be affected.

7. Cook for another 30 to 35 minutes, then turn the oven thermostat up to 400 degrees, and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Calculate between 20 and 25 minutes total cooking time for each pound. There is no need to turn the chicken again.

8. Whether your bird has puffed up or not, bring it to the table whole and leave the lemons inside until it is carved and opened. The juices that run out are perfectly delicious. Be sure to spoon them over the chicken slices. The lemons will have shriveled up, but they still contain some juice; do not squeeze them, they may squirt.

Ahead-of-time note: If you want to eat it while it is warm, plan to have it the moment it comes out of the oven. If there are leftovers, they will be very tasty cold, kept moist with some of the cooking juices and eaten not straight out of the refrigerator, but at room temperature.

Polenta

1 1/2 cups coarse ground yellow corn meal
4 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup parmesan or romano cheese, grated or shredded
1/2 stick of butter

Bring salted water to a rolling boil in a large pot. Slowly whisk in corn meal in a steady stream. Cover and allow to boil and bubble over medium heat, stirring every few minutes. In about 20 minutes, mixture should resemble a creamy but thick porridge (this is basically grits) and start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Turn off heat and stir in butter and cheese. Turn into a shallow baking dish (I have a smallish 8X10 rectangular dish that seems perfect for this amount of polenta) and smooth slightly, then let set for at least 10 minutes. To serve, just cut squares with a spatula and spoon sauce over. Delish!

Chocolate Croissants

I'm sneaking this onto the "dinner" blog under the auspices that it could be dessert, but I'm more likely to make it as a weekend breakfast treat or to serve with coffee at playdates. Yummy whenever you make them!

1 pkg refrigerated crescent roll dough
Indeterminate amount of semi-sweet chocolate chips, any size

Heat oven as directed on dough package. Unroll dough and separate into triangles on cookie sheet or baking stone. Sprinkle an even layer of chocolate chips onto each triangle, leaving the bottom narrow point clean for about an inch or so. Press down lightly on chips to help them stay in place, then roll each triangle up as you would for croissants, starting at short straight edge. Bake until golden and serve warm.

Pasta with Shrimp fra Diavalo

I don't really measure anything when I cook, (unless I'm baking, which I don't do much because it requires an exactitude that I do not possess), so I'm guesstimating. You want a somewhat brothy sauce for this. Also, the "fra Diavalo" means spicy, but it doesn't really have to be.

1 lb thin spaghetti, angel hair, or other long, thin pasta
1 lg (28 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
1 pkg small or medium raw peeled and de-veined frozen shrimp
1-2 tbsp butter
1-2 tbsp olive oil
3-5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken stock
1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional spiciness)
one or all of the following: fresh or freeze-dried* basil to taste, Paul Prudhomme's Blackened Redfish Magic seasoning blend, Old Bay seafood seasoning, salt and pepper

Place frozen shrimp in a colander, run cold water over them for a few minutes, and leave them there to thaw a bit. Start a large pot of salted water for pasta. In a large, deep skillet, heat butter and olive oil. Add garlic and crushed red pepper (if using) and sautee until fragrant but not browned. Add wine or stock and reduce slightly (simmer 2-3 minutes). Add tomatoes with their liquid and any seasonings except basil (frsh herbs lose their flavor in intense heat and should go in toward the end of cooking). Bring to a good simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When your water comes to a boil and you add the pasta, it's time to add the shrimp to the sauce (overcooking shrimp makes them tough and gross--you just want them to turn nice and pink). Both should be ready about the same time. Toss pasta with sauce or spoon it over, as you prefer. Serve with crusty bread and a nice salad.

Easy Quiche by Amanda

I've decided to implement a Wednesday night quiche or homemade pizza night. Here's my easy, put-it-together with what you have quiche recipe:

1. some kind of meat (bacon, ham, ground beef, whatever you want to try!) (optional)
2. spinach (frozen, thawed and chopped)
3. some kind of shredded cheese
4. a diced onion
5. 1/2 stick of butter
6. a cup of Bisquick and milk OR a frozen pie crust
7. four eggs

Cook the meat.
Melt the butter.
Combine the spinach, butter, meat, cheese, and onion in a mixing bowl.
Pour combination into pie crust OR add cup of milk and cup of Bisquick and pour that into a pie tin.
Whip your eggs (is whip the right word?) and pour on top.

Bake until eggs are done and slightly brown -- about 25 minutes at 375.

We had ours with bacon and mozzarella cheese last week, in a frozen pie crust. I'm going to try hamburger meat with chedder and the Bisquick this week. It made WONDERFUL lunch leftovers!

Cook once, eat twice pork tenderloin and Cuban Sandwiches

A few times recently, my grocery store has run huge pork tenderloins on sale for around $8. I mean whole loin the size of your arm!
Here's what I have done with my bargain meat, to very tasty results:

Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Cut whole tenderloin in half cross-wise to make two shorter lengths. In a gallon-sized zip-lock bag, create about 1 cup of marinade. I use about 1/2 cup of Italian dressing (I like the Kraft Tuscan), about a tbsp of spicey mustard, 2 or 3 tbsp of Dale's marinade (it's way too salty full-strength but works great this way) or Worcestershire sauce, a shake or two of montreal steak seasoning, and a little water. Add the pork to the marinade and let set for at least half an hour. Grill until a meat thermometer says it's done.

The first night, I serve half of the meat with mashed potatoes, a green veg, rolls, etc.

Cuban Sandwiches

If you aren't familiar with the Cuban sandwich, it is a very specific type of pressed sandwich that is always made with the same ingredients. The only variation seems to be mustard or no mustard. Mayo is an abomination!

2 loaves wide Italian bread (like French but usually wider and flatter and a little softer) or 1 package hoagie rolls
1 half of grilled pork loin, heated
1 pkg good quality sliced deli ham
1 pkg sliced swiss cheese
Sliced dill pickles (get the flat, un-ridged "fast food style" ones if you can)
mustard

Cut Italian bread (if using) into sandwich-sized lengths and split lengthwise (to make a top and a bottom), spread with mustard, and set aside.
Slice pork loin about 1/2 inch thick. I actually don't cut full slices, but kind of cut it off at differing angles so that each piece is not as wide as the whole. (Does that make sense?) On each roll, layer pork loin, a few slices of ham, swiss cheese, and pickles.

Now, if you do not have a sandwich press, like I don't, you have to get a little creative for the pressing part. What has worked for me is lining them up on a warm griddle and them mashing them with a cookie sheet, flipping to heat on both sides. I've also done pretty well just arranging them in a large skillet and pressing them with a large sauce pan or Dutch Oven (do people still call them that?) As for the waffle iron experiment, well...

Soyaki Chicken

We marinade chicken breasts in Trader Joe's Soyaki sauce. Then grill them. Then cut them up into strips. I read online that there is a product called Soy-vey, if you can't find Trader Joe's. We also used to make our own marinade, consisting of teriyaki sauce and ginger and it was yummy, but not as good as the TJ's stuff.

I serve this with a plate of mixed stir fry type vegetables (carrots, water chestnuts, onions, sugar snap peas, broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini) that we cook using this grill wok thing we have (basically a big basket to cook all the vegetables on the grill), and rice. I'm going to try Amanda's fried rice with it.