Pad Thai

Ingredients

8 oz broad rice noodles
4 T fish sauce (Squid brand fish sauce is recommended.) 
6 T lime juice
4 T sugar
2 T ketchup
1 t red chili flakes
1/2 C oil
2 T chopped garlic
8 Shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup diced chicken
2 eggs; beaten
2 cups bean sprouts
3 green onions; slivered
2 T toasted peanuts
 
What to Do

Soak noodles in very hot water for 20 minutes, drain and set aside.

Combine fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, ketchup and chili flakes and set aside.

Heat a wok or large skillet on high heat and add oil. Stir in garlic, cook 10 seconds, then add shrimp and chicken.   Stir fry until all ingredients are cooked, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and toss together until scrambled.  Add noodles and mix well.  Pour in sauce and cook, stirring constantly, until noodles are soft and tender. If they appear dry, add up to 1/4 cup hot water.
 
Stir in bean sprouts, green onions and peanuts, and fry for one more minute. Taste for seasoning, adding more lime or chili as needed.
 
Serve Pad Thai garnished with coriander, lime wedges and bean sprouts.

You can add ingredients that you like, and make it as spicy or tart as you wish. Can be used as a
basis for a stir fry of leftovers. Rice noodles are available at most ethnic Asian and gourmet stores.

Chicken in Cilantro Sauce

Looking for a way to use  cilantro, I discovered this simple, tasty recipe.

Ingredients
About 1 1/2 lbs. chicken pieces, skinned
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
3/4 to 1 cup fresh cilantro
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 clove garlic or about 2 tsps chopped garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1 bell pepper

What to Do
Place chicken in baking dish. In blender, mix tomato sauce, salt and pepper, cilantro, onion, and garlic. Leave it a little chunky.  Pour over chicken and top with green bell pepper rings. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. I sprinkled cheese over the top for the last 10 minutes of baking.  This has a fresh taste, and worked well with brown rice cooked in chicken stock.

Slow Cooker Italian Beef Stew

Ingredients

 

2 pounds cubed beef stew meat
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups baby carrots
2 medium onions, cut into wedges
1 cup coarsely chopped celery
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons Lawry's Seasoned Salt (or other if you don't have Lawry's)

What to Do
 

1. Place beef, tomatoes, carrots, onions and celery in slow cooker.
2. Mix water, cornstarch, Italian seasoning and seasoned salt in small bowl until well blended. Pour over beef and vegetables. Cover.
3. Cook 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH. I know it is difficult, but don't remove the cover while cooking.  Set it, go to work, and then come home, sniff appreciately and stir before serving. 

Pork and Rice

Ingredients

1 generous cup uncooked rice

one envelope dried onion soup mix

1/4 cup (half stick) butter or margarine, melted

1 can cream of mushroom soup

about six boneless pork steaks, cut into pieces about 3 inches wide

pinch each of thyme, rosemary, and basil

chopped scallions (optional)

What to Do

Pour butter into baking dish.  Add rice.  Layer chunks of pork steak over the rice.  Smear canned soup over pork and sprinkle the spices and onion soup mix over the top.  Cook at 350 F. for about an hour or till pork is done and rice is tender.  Garnish with some chopped scallions if you have them.  Let sit for about 5 minutes. Will thicken slightly.  

More optional additions:  Add some pine nuts about half way through cooking time, or dried cranberries or raisins, or peas.  Haven't tried all of those at once, but someday I might.

Pork Chops and Apples Casserole

Ingredients

6 pork chops, bone-in, 3/4-1" thick
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon each onion and garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon butter (optional)
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 cups thinly sliced cored apples (peel on)
3 tablespoons Barbecue Sauce (optional)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
few dashes pepper

What to Do

Mix onion powder, garlic powder and paprika into the flour.  (I use a paper lunch bag) and set aside.  Season pork chops liberally with salt and pepper. Dredge in the flour mix until well coated. (I shake the chops in the bag--but watch out and be sure to hold bag tightly closed).  In a large skillet, brown the pork chops on both sides in olive oil and butter.  Add onions, apples, barbecue sauce and minced garlic. Cover and simmer 45 minutes or until chops are tender.

Chicken Curry in Coconut Milk

Here's another delicious and easy curry recipe.

Ingredients

About four cups chicken, cut into chunks
1 tbsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. curry powder
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. cumin
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 onions, chopped
1 carrot, sliced (and microwaved for about 1 minute so it's a bit cooked already)
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped, or one can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 tbsp. oil
1 bay leaf
1 lb. potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (not too big)
1 12 oz. can coconut milk
1 cup water or chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

What to Do

Heat oil in big pot and cook chicken for about 3 minutes.  Add onion and garlic and sautee for about 2 minutes. Add all the spices and stir together well. Add remaining ingredients (except tomatoes) and cook until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Add tomatoes and heat through.  Adjust seasoning and serve with rice.

Crock Pot Chicken Curry

New Rev Gal blogging friend, Sandy, who blogs at THE TABLE, shared this and I tried it and it was sooo yummy I'm putting it here too.

Sandy says: "This is a super-simple crock-pot curry recipe I got from my step-mom. It was absolutely delicious and perfect for this time of year when things are just starting to get a little cooler. It's not too hot but has a wonderful flavor. I'm guessing you could very easily use the same basic formula to make it with veggies if that's your thing."

10-12 pieces of chicken (or 2-3 lbs vegetables)
2 onions and 1 bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic
1 c. chicken stock (or vegetable if you're going that direction)
1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp Madras curry powder (depending on how spicy you like it)
1 1/2 tsp. Paprika
1 Tbsp thyme
1 can diced tomatoes
5 Tbsp tomato paste
1 jar mango chutney

Sandy continues, "The directions to this one originally said to saute the peppers and onion, but I'm lazy and I was cooking this a lot longer than what was originally instructed, so I figured no harm would be done. I was right. Everything was great just as it was! Basically, like most of my crock pot recipes, there are no steps or techniques here. Just throw it all in and let it do its thing.
The originally recommended time was about 8 hours on low. I did about 9, BUT I also took it to work with me. I put it on "warm" for about 4 hours because I knew it was already cooked. Then, in the last 45 minutes (while the rice was cooking) I cranked it up on high to let the sauce thicken a little. I'm guessing the last little bit wasn't entirely necessary, but this is one of those things that the longer it cooks, the better it gets!"

Chicken and Rice

This easy recipe is a favorite at our house because it is so easy to fix and so tasty. Just plan for an hour or more of oven time. You can assemble the ingredients ahead of time and put into the oven later.

Ingredients
one frying chicken, cut up, or a similar amount of chicken using whatever pieces you like
one can cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom if that is what you have)
one soup can of water
one envelope dried onion soup mix
1/2 stick butter
1 cup rice
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced (optional)

What to do
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a 9" x 13" pan, or a similar sized casserole dish, melt the butter and add rice. Add the mushrooms if you use them. Arrange chicken pieces on top of the rice. Add soup and water. Sprinkle dried onion soup over the top. Cover and cook for about 1/2 hour. Remove foil (or lid) and continue cooking till rice is tender (at least another 1/2 hour). If necessary, brown slightly under broiler.

Notes
If I am making this for a larger group, I double the ingredients and use cut up chunks of chicken breast. You may need to remove the chicken after cooking so you can mix up the rice with the sauce ingredients a bit. You can also add sliced or slivered almonds and some parsley to the top when you remove the lid for the second half of the cooking time. If you like wild rice, cook some ahead of time and then add to the other rice before serving.

Quick Meatball Stroganoff

My little kitchen blog has been sadly neglected.

Here's a recipe from last night. It was easy and turned out yummy.

Small amount oil
About 1 to 1 1/2 lb ground chuck or ground round
2 eggs
1 package dried onion soup mix
one can cream of mushroom soup
about one cup fresh mushrooms, any kind, sliced
2 cups sour cream
a glug of white wine, optional

Combine meat, eggs, and dried soup mix. Form into balls about the size of golf balls. Coat bottom of skillet with oil and brown meatballs in hot oil. Combine mushroom soup and sour cream and spoon over meatballs. Add fresh mushrooms and wine. Cover and cook over low heat till meatballs are done and gravy is hot (about 10 minutes) . Serve over rice. Sauce will get thinner as it heats, but if necessary you can add a little milk. We had this with broccoli and it was a nice compliment to the onion taste of the meatballs.

Iro's Chicken and Potatoes

Iro was a neighbor in Marine Corps housing at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Her husband met her in Greece and after a whirlwind romance married her and brought her to the USA. Unable to conceive, she adored our toddler daughter, who we called Kristi in those days, always calling her Kistiniki. I never make this simple but tasty dish without thinking of Iro and wondering where she is now. You will have to guess as far as amounts go. Iro never measured anything. Err on the generous side, because the water will dilute everything.

Ingredients

One chicken, cut up
(I usually use chicken breasts instead.)
sliced potatoes
Lemon juice
Garlic salt, or if you use fresh chopped garlic, add salt
black pepper
oregano
parsley flakes
olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place chicken pieces and sliced potatoes in a 9" x 13" pan, or casserole dish of similar size. Add garlic salt, pepper, oregano, parsley flakes and juice of two lemons. If you use reconstituted lemon juice, start with about 1/3 cup. Pour some olive oil over the top. Add some water till not quite covered. Cover with aluminum foil or lid and bake for about 45 min. and then uncover and bake till potatoes are done. Nice served with spinach.

Italian Sausage Skillet

Ingredients:

four italian sausage

about one pepper, sliced rather thinly

(I used orange because I had one, but green, red, yellow...color is up to you. Green, or a mix would be beautiful, no?)

one medium onion, sliced into rings

about 1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes

a "glug" of olive oil

sliced fresh mushrooms, amount you want

What to Do:

Boil sausages about 10 minutes, then cool slightly and slice into circles. Put enough olive oil in a skillet to cover the bottom. Add pepper and onion. Cook till onion starts to soften. Add sausage slices and cook till they start to brown a little. Add tomotoes and mushrooms. Cover and cook a few minutes or till sausage is done. I like this over angel hair pasta, but I'll leave the type of pasta up to you.

Serves 4-6. If you plan to stretch to feed six, cut sausage pieces relatively small. There are no mushrooms in the picture because I didn't have any--still tasted good.

Stuffed Pork Chops, Greek Style

I made this tonight for a belated birthday dinner. Mmm! I used very thick pork chops as you can see from the picture, so the broiling time was longer than indicated in the recipe.

Ingredients

Cooking spray
4 garlic cloves, minced and divided
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
5 sun-dried tomatoes, diced
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled feta cheese
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) block-style cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Preparation

Preheat broiler.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add 2 garlic cloves; sauté 1 minute. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, tomatoes, and spinach; sauté until moisture evaporates. Remove from heat; stir in cheeses and rind.

Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each pork chop to form a pocket. Stuff about 1/4 cup spinach mixture into each pocket. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper over pork. Arrange pork on a broiler or roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Combine remaining 2 garlic cloves, juice, mustard, and oregano in a bowl; stir well. Brush half of mustard mixture over pork. Broil 6 minutes; turn pork. Brush remaining mixture over pork; broil 2 minutes or until done.

Texas Cowboy Stew

I am slowly sorting through some of my late mother's recipes. Yesterday I found this one, jotted in her lovely handwrting in pencil on a small slip of paper. It is quite faded, so I am saving it here. I had three cans of pinto beans still in the pantry from when she lived with us!

I tried it tonight and it was tasty--very thick. I would have called it Cowboy Goulash!

Your guess is as good as mine as to can sizes. I am assuming not small and not large, so a "regular" sized can. That is what I used and it was fine, though thick. The pinto beans and the bacon make the recipe, I think.

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
garlic powder to taste
6 bacon slices, fried and crumbled

Brown all together in a soup pot. Add the following:

2 cans diced tomatoes (I'm thinking 3 would be fine too.)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can pinto beans
1 can cubed potatoes
(I intend to use about 1 1/2 cups cooked cubed potatoes.)

Add these ingredients to the pot. Simmer for 45 minutes or so. Nice with corn bread.

As you can see from the photo, I ate it with some Fritos, and I liked that too.

Chicken or Turkey Quiche

This is nice for after Thanksgiving, of course, but I had turkey to use up so made this for company last night. I couldn't find my usual recipe, so I invented this one. Ken and I decided we liked it better than the one I used to make. As for the company, judging by their comments and the amount they ate, I think it was a hit. We served it with a tossed green salad and dessert. I would like to serve it as a breakfast sometime as well. Two of us thought it needed salt, and two did not. I would add some salt to the egg mixture. Perhaps this would depend on the cheese you use.

2 1/2 to 3 c. left over stuffing or one 6 oz. pkg. chicken or turkey flavored Stove Top or similar stuffing mix
5 1/3 oz. can evaporated skim milk or 5 oz half and half
1 c. chopped cooked turkey or chicken
1/2 c. chopped onion that has been sauteed in a little butter till soft
1/2 c. chopped mushrooms (I like to saute them with the onions.)
1 c. shredded Swiss or Cheddar cheese
1 clove minced garlic, or about 2 tsp. of the minced garlic that comes in a small jar
Chopped parsley, optional
4 beaten eggs
tomato wedges for garnish, optional

If using stuffing mix, prepare according to package directions. Press stuffing into 9 or 10 inch pie plate or quiche dish, forming a crust. I used a "deep dish" pie pate and it was perfect. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine meat, cheese, onions and garlic. In another bowl beat together eggs, milk, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Sprinkle meat-cheese mixture into hot crust. Pour egg milk mixture atop. Add parsley.

Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Bake quiche 30-35 minutes or until center is set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with tomato wedges, if desired. Makes 6 servings (we cut it into eight pieces, since there were four of us, and everyone had two).

Enchilada Casserole

Being a Californian with Texas roots, I love Mexican food. This is an easy way to have the taste of enchilladas with less effort. Next time I make it I'm going to try chicken instead of beef. I'll let you know how that turns out.

12 corn tortillas
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 quart water
1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 Tbs. chili powder (or more)
6 Tbs. flour
garlic salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp cumin powder (optional)
1 1/2 cup chopped onion
sliced black olives (optional)

Brown ground beef. Stir in chili, flour and other seasonings. Let sit for five minutes. Add water and onions and bring to a boil, then simmer for 8-10 minutes. Add olives. Dip tortillas in hot grease to soften. Coat bottom of a deep casserole dish with meat sauce, then build layers of tortillas, sauce and cheese. Heat at 375 degrees F. for 20-25 minutes till cheese is bubbly.
Sour cream is a nice topping. For company, I usually serve it with a tossed green salad and something light and cool (like this) for dessert.