Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1/4 of a red onion, diced (Or 1 teaspoon onion powder)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon dijon or brown mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• a few dashes of hot sauce
• freshly ground pepper
• 1-2 teaspoons Barbecue of the Americas, if desired

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two. Reduce the heat to low and add the tomato paste and cumin; mix in with the onion and garlic.

Add the tomato sauce and all remaining ingredients. Stir until combined and heated through. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, or other seasonings as you see fit. Transfer to a blender or use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. Add more water, a tablespoon or two at a time, if you prefer a thinner sauce.

Note: I did not have molasses when I made this the first time. I used a little honey in its place. I also added the Barbecue of the Americas seasoning from Penzey's spices to give it a little more "kick". I loved this sauce and wanted to eat it with a spoon. It's a little bit sweet, a little bit tangy and with the hot sauce you can make it as spicy as you want!

Mexican Lasagna

I had a couple of requests for this recipe, so here it is!

Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds ground chicken breast, available in the packaged meats case
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
1 cup medium heat taco sauce or 1 (14-oz) can stewed or fire roasted tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn kernels
Salt
8 (8 inch) spinach flour tortillas, available on dairy aisle of market
2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar or shredded pepper jack
2 scallions, finely chopped
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil - twice around the pan. Add chicken and season with chili powder, cumin, and red onion. Brown the meat, 5 minutes. Add taco sauce or stewed or fire roasted tomatoes. Add black beans and corn. Heat the mixture through, 2 to 3 minutes then season with salt, to your taste.

Coat a shallow baking dish with remaining extra-virgin olive oil, about 1 tablespoon oil. Cut the tortillas in half or quarters to make them easy to layer with. Build lasagna in layers of meat and beans, then tortillas, then cheese. Repeat: meat, tortilla, cheese again. Bake lasagna 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is brown and bubbly. Top with the scallions and serve.


Thanks to the Foxes and the Smith's for making this for our family after Zachary was born!

Beef Potpie Wedges

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• One 2/3 pound pice skirt steak or flat-iron steak, thinly sliced on an angle and cut into pieces
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 8 white mushroom caps, sliced
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 package (2 pieces) prepared piecrust
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425. In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the steak and cook until browned, 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the butter to the skillet to melt, then add the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring, for one minute. stir in the beef stock, peas and Worcestershire sauce. Return the meat to the pan and cook until the sauce thickens and the peas heat through, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; remove from heat.

2. Unroll the piecrusts and halve them. Divide the cooled meat mixture among the four piecrust pieces, placing a mount on one side of each piece andleaving a small border. Brush the edges of each piecrust piece with some of the egg. Fold the pastry over to enclose the filling, pressing down on the edges; crimp with a fork. Brush the tops of the dough with more of the egg and transfer the pies to a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about ten minutes.

Source: Rachael Ray/March 2010

My notes:

1. I used lean ground beef in place of the steak and it worked very well.
2. The mixture can be used as the base of a shepherd's pie. If you do this, you will want to double the recipe (save for the pie crust) and add chopped carrots (1/2-1 cup). Top mixture with mashed potatoes and sprinkle cheddar cheese on top. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.
3. Next time I make this, I will experiment with making this as a traditional pot pie, rather than the wedges. It seemed like a lot of work to make individual wedges for our family.

Pasta with Chicken Sausage & Broccoli

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces rigatoni
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 6 ounces fully cooked chicken sausage links, sliced (I like chicken & apple sausage)
• 1 small head broccoli, cut into florets
• 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions
2. Meanwhile, heat the oli in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onlion, stirring often, for three minutes. Add the sausage and cook, stirring until browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the broccoli and 1 1/4 cups water and simmer, covered, until the broccoli is tender, 5 to 6 minutes.
3. Toss the pasta with the sausage mixture and any remaining liquid and the Parmesan.

Source: Real Simple/September 2009

My notes:
I use about half the pasta in the recipe and double the sausage. I steam the broccoli while the onions and sausage are cooking, add a little of the water I steamed the broccoli in along with the broccoli to the onion/sausage mixture. Then I throw in the cooked pasta and toss it all together with the cheese. Also, I like to use chicken and apple sausage.

The boys aren't big fans of this, but I love it!

Crockpot Creamy Chicken

I just saw this recipe in my friend Melanie's blog and wanted to share it here. It sounds so good. This might be on the menu for us later this week.

Crockpot Creamy Chicken

2-3 chicken breasts (depending on how many people you're feeding)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup (can use cream of whatever)
1/2 cup of chicken broth
packet of Italian salad dressing mix
2 cloves, minced garlic
8 oz block of cream cheese (to add later)
12 - 16 ounces of pasta

Place chicken breasts in the crockpot. Mix the soup, broth, salad dressing mix and garlic together in a small bowl; pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred the chicken with two large forks, then mix in the cream cheese (I cut the cream cheese into cubes so that it would melt faster). Switch the crockpot to high and cook for another 30 minutes or until the cream cheese is fully melted.

Serve over cooked pasta.

Note: this was more of a casserole consistency than a pasta/sauce consistency. If you want a more liquidy sauce, you can add additional chicken broth or some milk/cream.

Source: Joyful and Grateful

CrockPot Hirino Psito, Slow-Roasted Pork

CrockPot Hirino Psito, Slow-Roasted Pork

Ingredients:

• 3-4 pound boneless pork butt or shoulder
• 10 whole garlic cloves
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon sage
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon gluten free Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup beer

Directions:

Use a 6 quart slow cooker. Put the meat into your crockpot, and pour on dry spices, and brown sugar. Flip the meat over a few times in the stoneware so the spices are kind of stuck to all sides. Peel garlic cloves and add whole. Add Worcestershire sauce, mustard, honey, and cranberries. Top with bay leaves. Pour in the beer.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until meat shreds easily with a fork. I cooked on low for 12 hours, and while the meat was tender and flavorful, it did burn a bit on the top and sides. Serve over rice or pasta, or on your favorite sandwich rolls.


Source: Crockpot365 Blogger


My Notes: I liked it, but Dan did not. I thought it was better the second day, reheated with a little barbecue sauce. Honestly, since it was better the second day, I'm not likely to make it again soon. I'd rather just make a pulled pork in the crockpot to begin with...

Sprinkles (California) Cupcake Frosting

At the last GOMOTT meeting one of the girls made cupcakes to share. She bounded over to me and proclaimed she made them just for me. I admit, I felt pretty special. :-) Anyway, I raved over how cute they were and immediately ate one. (I then proceeded to sneak out of the meeting to grab a second one when no one was looking, but don't tell anyone!) I asked her for the frosting recipe, because really, that's why I even eat cupcakes. She shared her recipe with me, and I'm going to share it with you.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine butter sugar and salt. Beat until blended.

2. Add the milk and vanilla and beat for an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until smooth and creamy.

Source: RecipeZaar

This stuff is great. It's perfect to use when you want to put a fancy decorator tip on a piping bag and decorate away. I only wish I had a picture to share of her cupcakes. So good!