Saturday, February 25, 2017

Quick Beef Stroganoff

Spend today at the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show with my friend Heidi. Lots to see. Lots of great ideas!!!


For dinner, I made Quick Beef Stroganoff. Cooking Light recipe. So good. It took a little over 25 minutes to make. Loved the flavors. And anything with egg noodles can't be bad! The recipe calls for mushrooms. I substituted zucchini.

Ingredients-
6 1/2 cups water, divided
4 ounces uncooked egg noodles
1 pound flank steak, trimmed
Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon hot paprika
1 (6-ounce) package presliced exotic mushroom blend or sliced zucchini
1 cup lower-sodium beef broth, divided
5 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup fat-free sour cream
3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Method-
Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add noodles; cook 5 minutes or until al dente. Drain.

Cut beef across the grain into 1/4-inch-wide strips; cut strips into 2-inch pieces.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add beef to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until browned. Remove beef from pan. Add 1 cup onion, black pepper, salt, paprika, and mushrooms to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Reduce heat to medium.

Combine 1/4 cup beef broth and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add broth mixture, beef, remaining 3/4 cup broth, and remaining 1/2 cup water to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cover and cook 8 minutes or until sauce thickens. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream, green onions, and butter. Serve beef mixture over egg noodles; sprinkle with parsley.

Monday, February 20, 2017

Yes I Have a Food Blog!

Not that I have been posting on it but yes I have a food blog. And yes it has been 20 days since my last post. Sigh. I can not complain about being too busy. I am glad I have been busy. But today is President's Day. I am off from work. So let's play catch-up. These are in no particular order. I don't have that much free time today...

 Trust me I did a lot of dishes over the past 20 days.
 


Acorn Squash Stuffed with Quinoa, Sausage and Spinach. No recipe.

 Potato Gnocchi with Marcella Hazan's Butter, Onion, and Tomato Sauce
The Gnocchi recipe is at the bottom of this post. It is from Giada De Laurentiis


Hey It's My Birthday!! Chocolate Cake with White Frosting!!


 It snows and I bake. That's the way I roll. No pun or bun intended.


 Sticky Sesame Chicken. I have to remember to get Sesame Seeds at the store!


 Yeah Feb 10 my birthday. My Birthday = I do not cook. Quattro's did the cooking this year!


 Valentine's Day Chicken Orzo Soup


 Hand Pie! Filled with Meat and Red Peppers and Onions. Delicious. 
It was the homemade crust that put this over the top.


 Tomato Soup. Not my favorite recipe. Was like a bowl of sauce.


 Pasta and Meat sauce. Homemade bread! Walnut and Olive Loaf. Excellent!


From Bon Appetit. Lentil and Egg Stew. Again with homemade bread.


Slow Cooker Soy Braised Short Ribs. The best meal so far this month!


Chicken Tenders, Roasted Potatoes, and Sauteed Zucchini. Simple and good.
Yeah that is homemade Honey Mustard Sauce.

 A weekend breakfast treat. Cinnamon Scones.


 Super Bowl 2017. Nachos and Short Rib Steak and Cheese. This recipe is a keeper!

Gnocchi! Potato Gnocchi. Little puffs of air surrounded by our favorite sauce. The gnocchi recipe is from the Giada De Laurentiis book, Every Day Pasta.
Ingredients-
1 (1-pound) russet potato
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg, beaten to blend
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Method-
Pierce the potato all over with a fork. Microwave the potato until tender, turning once, about 12 minutes. Cut the potato in half and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; discard the skin. Using a fork, mash the potato well. Mash in the salt and pepper. Mix in 3 tablespoons of the egg; discard the remaining egg. Sift the flour over the potato mixture and knead just until blended.

Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece between your palms and the work surface into a 1/2-inch-diameter rope (about 20 inches long). Cut the dough into 1-inch pieces. Roll each piece of dough over a wooden paddle with ridges or over the tines of a fork to form grooves in the dough.

The gnocchi was cooked in a large pot of boiling salted water until it rose to the surface, about 1 minute. It continued to cooking until the gnocchi was tender, about 4 minutes longer. Using a slotted spoon, the gnocchi was transferred to a bowl and topped with the Marcella Hazan Onion, Butter, and Tomato Sauce.



Wednesday, February 1, 2017

I Love My Crock-Pot!

Crock-Pot Italian Wedding Soup. 8 hours to a delicious meal. As a bonus, there is enough for two nights! I worked from home today so I started this first thing this morning. As the day went on the aroma was getting better. I used some of the homemade broth I had in the freezer. The broth was so light and the meatballs were just the right size.

I found this recipe on Crock-Pot Ladies. There are a couple of other recipes on that site that we will have to try very soon.

Ingredients-
1 pound ground beef lean, or ground turkey (I used ground beef)
1 whole egg slightly beaten
1/4 cup seasoned Italian breadcrumbs
1/4 cup Italian parsley chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup parmesan cheese grated
6 cups chicken broth
1 whole onion medium, diced
3 – 4 whole carrots medium, diced
2 stalks celery diced
2 cups escarole
2 whole bay leaves
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup acini di pepe pasta
1/4 cup parmesan cheese grated (for serving)

Method-
In a medium bowl combine ground beef/turkey, egg, bread crumbs, parsley, oregano, basil, salt, pepper & parmesan cheese until well mixed.

Form meat mixture into very small meatballs.

Place meatballs on cookie sheets and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the rest of the ingredients except escarole, acini di pepe pasta and remaining parmesan cheese in a 6 quart crock-pot.

Cover and cook on LOW for 7 1/2 hours.

Add acini di pepe pasta and escarole to the soup and cover and cook an additional 30 minutes.

Serve in bowls topped with additional parmesan cheese.