Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

I love cabbage rolls. Really, really love them. But they are a pain to make. I saw a recipe on Facebook a couple of days ago for unstuffed cabbage rolls and I knew it was just what I needed. This is easy comfort food at its finest!

Ingredients: 

• 2 Tbs olive oil 
• 1 pound lean ground beef 
• 2 Tbs Hungarian paprika 
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 
• 1 teaspoon sea salt 
• 1 large onion, chopped 
• 4 cloves garlic, minced 
• 1 small cabbage, chopped 
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes 
• 1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce 

Preparation: 
Sprinkle the ground beef with the paprika, pepper, and salt. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef, onion, and garlic, and cook, stirring, until ground beef is no longer pink and onion is tender. Add the tomatoes and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil then simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until cabbage is tender and sauce is thick. 

Serve over rice or pasta.  (I prefer rice!)

Although the Facebook recipe inspired me, this is my own creation using my memory to recreate the cabbage rolls my mom made. I also like to stick to only one pound of ground beef since I'm only cooking for four these days and my ground beef comes in one pound chubs.

 ~ Enjoy!

Old-Fashioned Pot Roast with Gravy

We're having good, old-fashioned comfort food for Sunday Supper this week. Yum. It's easy to make and the results are wonderful. Not to mention, by doubling the typical recipe I'll have leftovers for beef pot pie later in the week.

Ingredients:

• 6-7 lbs boneless chuck roast**
• granulated garlic, to taste
• 2 onions, sliced thickly
• 6-7 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced lengthwise
• 4 carrots, peeled and cut into two lengths
• 1 can golden mushroom soup
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 2 Tbs worcestshire sauce
• 1 Tbs beef bouillon
• 3/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Add the roasts to the slow cooker, sprinkling liberally with granulated garlic, and layering with the the onions. Toss remaining onions into the slow cooker.
3. Whisk together the red wine, worcestshire sauce, beef bouillon, and water in a bowl, then pour over the roasts and onions in the slow cooker.
4. Place potatoes and carrots on top of the onions and around the roasts.
5. Cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.**

* I used two roasts, but it would be fine to use a larger roast and cut it into two pieces to fit into the slow cooker.
  ** My chuck roasts are frozen, so I'm going to cook this for 2 1/2 hours on high and then about 4 1/2 hours on low.

Personally, I'm not a fan of canned, condensed soup. There are exactly TWO exceptions to this in my recipe box and this is one of them. When it comes down to spending extra time in the kitchen versus more time with my family on Sunday, time with family wins every time. I can also throw this together before we leave for church and not come home to a big mess in the kitchen. Plus, the gravy tastes really good and is ready the same time everything else is ready! So, all the way around, it's worth sacrificing real food principals sometimes. (Just don't let it become a habit! ;) )

 ~Enjoy!

Mexican Grilled Corn (Elote)

This is the most amazing corn I've ever eaten. Very messy, but very worth it!



Ingredients:
4 ears of corns in husks
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 lime, juiced
1 tsp chili powder
dash cayenne pepper
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped

Directions:
Heat the grill to medium.
Pull the outer husks of each of the corn down to the base (be sure to keep them attached) and remove silk. Fold husks back into place, and soak the ears of corn in a large bowl of
cold water for 10 minutes. Remove corn from water and shake off
excess.
Place the corn on the hot grill, close the cover, and cook over moderate heat for 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes.
In a small bowl mix the mayonnaise, lime juice, chili powder, and cayenne pepper.
To serve, brush each ear with melted butter then brush on the mayonnaise mixture. Sprinkle liberally with parmesan cheese and cilantro.

Did I mention that this is really messy to eat? Worth every dribble of butter and mayonnaise on my chin.

Now I'm trying to figure out if I could make this with corn OFF the cob so I can serve it without having to stop mid-dinner to wash my face.

~ Enjoy!

Beef & Mushroom Barley Soup

I've been craving a hearty, beef and mushroom soup for.ever. Finally gathered all the ingredients together and started searching for a recipe. Could not find a single one that sounded like what I wanted to eat. Normally, I would start with someone else's recipe and modify it. This time I couldn't even find a good starting point. So I winged it.

What else was I supposed to do?

Beef & Mushroom Barley Soup

• 1 lb stew meat, cut into bite sized cubes (I prefer SMALL)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 Tbs tomato paste
• 2 carrots, sliced into bite-sized pieces
• 1 - 16 oz package sliced mushrooms
• 6 cups beef broth
• 1/2 cup barley

1. Brown stew meat (I used 2 Tbs olive oil) in dutch oven or heavy bottom pan over medium-high heat. When meat is browned, add garlic and onions into the pot. Cook for about three minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Stir tomato paste into beef and onion mixture, cook for another three minutes.
3. Add carrots and mushrooms into the pot, stir well. Reduce heat to medium and cook until mushrooms are done. Stir occasionally.
4. Pour in beef broth. Stir well, then add the barley.
5. Cook over medium-low heat for about two hours - until meat and vegetables are tender.

If you like a thicker soup, you can bring the soup to a boil then add about 2 Tbs corn starch mixed with water to thicken. I also added about 3/4 cup of heavy cream to my soup at the end. It was sitting in the fridge and I didn't want it to go to waste - the soup would have been fine without it.

~ Enjoy!

Egg Salad Sandwich.

In my quest for new and exciting recipes, sometimes I forget about the simple things. The comfort foods from my childhood that my working mom could throw together in a flash. Yummy food that we could make back in the day before the spice aisle at Kroger started looking an awful lot like an international market.

Old Fashioned Egg Salad Sandwich

• 1 slice homemade sourdough bread, toasted

• 2 eggs, hard-boiled and chopped
• 3 Tbs mayonnaise (or to taste)
• salt (to taste)
• paprika

Mix eggs and mayonnaise together. Butter toasted bread and top with egg salad. Sprinkle with salt (to taste) and paprika.


That's it. No onions or relish or pickled beets or anything fancy. Just eggs and mayo, with a little paprika to put a smile on your face. Personally, I like to make my egg salad sandwiches open face on a thick slice of buttered toast. There is nothing wrong with sticking your egg salad between two slices like a traditional sandwich. ;)


~ Enjoy!


Merissa at Little House on the Prairie Living hosts an Old Fashioned Recipe Exchange every Tuesday.  If you have a recipe to share you can link your blog post or you can post in the comments.  CLICK HERE to go to this week's exchange!

 

Go ahead, you know you want to look!

Hershey's Old Fashioned Hot Cocoa - from scratch

After a lame warm winter last year and a snow-less winter thus far this year, we finally have SNOW!  And snow means it's time for real, old-fashioned hot cocoa.  NOT the kind that comes from a can and is made with water.

This is the original recipe that used to be on the can of Hershey' cocoa. I was incredibly sad this morning when I saw that it's been replaced with a microwavable version.  This morning I am more thankful than ever for the world wide web!

Hershey's Old Fashioned Hot Cocoa

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• Dash salt
• 1/3 cup hot water
• 4 cups (1 qt.) milk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Miniature marshmallows or sweetened whipped cream (optional)

Directions

1 Stir together sugar, cocoa and salt in medium saucepan; stir in water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil and stir 2 minutes. Add milk; stirring constantly, heat to serving temperature. Do Not Boil.

2 Remove from heat; add vanilla. Beat with rotary beater or whisk until foamy. Serve topped with marshmallows or whipped cream, if desired. Five 8-oz. servings.

The perfect end to a cold, wet morning in the snow! If you love good hot cocoa and have never made it this way at home, you really need to give it a try. So easy and SO much more delicious than canned!


~ Enjoy!


Merissa at Little House on the Prairie Living hosts an Old Fashioned Recipe Exchange every Tuesday.  If you have a recipe to share you can link your blog post or you can post in the comments.  CLICK HERE to go to this week's exchange!

 

Go ahead, you know you want to look!

Cheddar and Ale Soup

This recipe found me through a soup group I belong to on Facebook. I had every intention of following the recipe as written, but... There's always a but, right? The sausage was already thawed and I wanted a heartier soup. The potatoes weren't part of the original Ale and Cheddar Soup recipe, but after it was finished cooking I thought it really needed the potatoes for more bulk. So once again, my end product looks NOTHING like what it should have. :)

Yes, that's rosemary.  All out of thyme.  :p

Elizabeth's Ale and Cheddar Soup with Potatoes

Ingredients

• 1 ring Polska Kielbasa
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 ~12 ounce bottle ale
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 medium potatoes, cooked, cut into cubes
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook the sausage in a pan over medium heat. (I added about 2 Tbs olive oil so it wouldn't burn.)
2. Add the onion and celery, cook until tender, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
4. Add the butter and let it melt and get all bubbly then sprinkle on the flour and let it cook until it starts to turn golden brown, about 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the ale and broth, stir well and let cook for 10 minutes.
6. Turn heat down to medium low and a dd the cream, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and cheese. Cook until the cheese has melted without bringing it back to a boil.
7. Season with cayenne, salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.

Honestly, I thought it was just okay and would be much better if I would have used bacon. Of course, with bacon, it would have taken a lot longer to make and the small sacrifice in flavor was worth the time I saved frying the bacon. The rest of the family LOVED it and had seconds.

~ Enjoy!

Chicken Corn Chowder

I had planned to make chicken & barley soup for dinner tonight until I discovered that there is no barley in the house. After a quick search, I read through a couple of chicken corn chowder recipes. Finding none of them to my liking, I (of course) deviated and came up with this recipe. This time I used too many to list every one, but the majority of the recipes I read were some variation of Paula Deen's corn chowder.

Chicken Corn Chowder

• 1 stick butter
• 1 bag Recipe Beginnings mirepoix mix (Kroger brand)
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
• 1 Tbs all-purpose flour
• 1 qt chicken broth (4 cups)
• 2 medium potatoes, chopped into small cubes
• 1 12 oz bag frozen sweet corn kernels
• 1 cup chicken, cooked and chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream (or half & half, or milk - your preference)
• dash of nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

1. In a medium saucepan, combine chicken broth and potatoes.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook until potatoes are soft.
2. Add corn and chicken to potatoes and broth.  Cook until warmed.
3. Melt butter in a heavy pot or dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the mirepoix mix and garlic, saute for about five minutes.
4. Add the flour and stir to make a roux.  Cook for about 3 minutes.
5. Slowly add about one cup of the potato broth to the roux, whisk until smooth.
6. Pour remaining broth, potatoes, corn, and chicken into roux mixture.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
7. Add seasonings and cream.  Heat through.

I used an herb-roasted rotisserie chicken from Kroger in this recipe, but any cooked chicken will work.  Of course, fresh vegetables would be even better than the frozen Kroger variety, but they are so inexpensive, so tasty, and make for such light work I can't seem to break myself of the mirepoix mix.  For the corn, I'd definitely use fresh or frozen in place of canned because the texture will be heartier.

Anyone ever added cheddar cheese to this?  I'm thinking that would take it up to the next level...

~ Enjoy!




Merissa at Little House on the Prairie Living hosts an Old Fashioned Recipe Exchange every Tuesday.  If you have a recipe to share you can link your blog post or you can post in the comments.  CLICK HERE to go to this week's exchange!

 

Go ahead, you know you want to look!

Shrimp Étouffée for Mardis Gras!

 It all started with the King Cake...

(Yes.  This is the last piece.)

On a whim, I bought a King Cake from Tea Squares in Bowling Green.  I haven't had a good King Cake in years and the ones they sell at Kroger are sorely lacking.  My ability to make anything requiring yeast is also sorely lacking.  It was a no-brainer to order this delicious treat and bring it home for dinner.

And with King Cake for dinner, what else would you serve but Crawfish Étouffée?!

I've never made this at home.  Ever.  I've never even thought about making it at home.  Yet, after perusing a hundred different recipes (Immediately ruling out any that used canned cream of whatever soup - how can they use that and call a recipe 'authentic'?) I realized that making this it home would actually be easy.

If it weren't for the ice storm.  Thankfully, I had shrimp on hand in the freezer (we take our shrimp seriously around here) and chicken stock to sub for the seafood stock.  I also had to leave out the green onions, but I left them in the recipe because I would much have preferred to include them.

I forgot to get a picture of the finished dinner, but isn't this picture of the vegetables pretty?  The original recipe called for green peppers, but I really hate green pepper.  The red, yellow, and orange add such beautiful color, not to mention taste much better.  I had an orange pepper in the fridge, but next time I would be tempted to use yellow for more color.
 

Shrimp Étouffée

• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 1/4 cup chopped orange bell pepper
• 1/2 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1 pound cooked shrimp, peeled and de-veined

      Cajun Seasoning Mix

• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (more if you like it spicy)

1. In a small bowl, thoroughly combine the seasoning mix. Set aside.
2. In a large heavy skillet or dutch oven, make a roux by heating the oil over medium high heat.
3. Add the flour, whisking until smooth. Continue whisking until a peanut butter roux is achieved, about 3-5 minutes.
4. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add onions, celery and bell pepper; cook 2 minutes.
5. Add green onions, garlic and seasoning mix; cook an additional 5 minutes.
6. In a separate saucepan, bring the stock to a boil.
7. Gradually add boiling stock to roux mixture, whisking with each addition until dissolved. Return to a boil, stirring often.
8. Reduce heat to low; cook 30 minutes, stirring frequently.
9. During the last few minutes of cooking time, place the butter and shrimp in a microwave-safe dish. Cover loosely and microwave on high for 2 minutes, or until the butter has melted. Stir to combine.
10. Gently fold shrimp mixture into stock mixture.

Serve over hot rice with French bread and hot sauce.
Serves 4.


While this is my own recipe, follow the links to my inspiration:
Crawfish Étouffée
Simple Cajun Seasoning Recipe


This is the best new recipe I've tried in ages.  And so simple!  Even my non-shrimp-eating picky eater loved it, although she just ate the sauce over rice without the shrimp.

And the King Cake was the Best. Ever.   Nothing like fresh from the bakery. :)


~ Enjoy!




Merissa at Little House on the Prairie Living hosts an Old Fashioned Recipe Exchange every Tuesday.  If you have a recipe to share you can link your blog post or you can post in the comments.  CLICK HERE to go to this week's exchange!

 

Go ahead, you know you want to look!