Steamed Veggies

I need help learning how to steam veggies.......

I'm Back

Well, I've been here all along. I realize I've been a terrible "blogger," but no one reads this anyway. A friend once told me I should join a food forum of some sort instead of doing this thing. I liked that idea, but have yet to embark on such a journey. I'm still working in the kitchen, of course. I've tried lots of new recipes. I bought a Campbell's cookbook. I must be losing my mind b/c I haven't spend much time leafing through it yet. I'll touch on a few dishes I can think of that I know I'll create again... Fried Chicken Fingers (from the Bisquick box) put into a Romaine lettuce salad. Topped w/ homemade Ranch dressing. Stuffed shells, stuffed w/ such things as ricotta cheese & spinach. Spaghetti made w/ deer meat. Potato Soup. I had a near-disaster while blending the ingredients. Not sure what's going to be on the dinner plate tonight, everything's frozen... until next time!

Country Fried Steak

Cover the meat (cube steak) w/ flour in a big plastic bag. Dip in bowl of 1 egg white & 1 tsp water. Coat in bowl of flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper. Brown both sides until done in frying pan w/ 1 tbsp veggie oil.

To make the gravy:

Melt 1 tbsp butter, add 2 tbsp flour. Add 1 & 1/2 cups milk & bring to boil. Whisk often. Bring to simmer & add the following: 1 beef bouillon cube, 1/2 tsp marjoram, 1/4 tsp thyme, 1/8 tsp pepper.

I served the dish w/ instant baby red mashed potatoes & sweet green beans. The gravy made the meal!

I need to work on perfecting my breading technique, it's not as consistant as I would like.

Steak Fajitas

We've made our own concoction of steak fajitas before, and this time I felt like going by a recipe. The recipe called for some weird ingredients, so I was a bit skeptical, but they turned out awesome. Saute in 1 tbsp veggie oil:

• 1 red pepper - sliced
• 1 green pepper - sliced
• 1 onion - diced
• 4 garlic cloves

Take the following ingredients & shake in bag w/ sliced skillet meat.

• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp dill
• 1 tsp seasoned salt
• 1 tsp oregano

Transfer veggies to plate when cooked & add meat mixture, along w/ 1 tbsp veggie oil. Cook until done. Drain. Add veggies & 1 small can of mushrooms. Saute all ingredients together for a few minutes. Serve on taco shells w/ shredded cheese, sour cream & salsa. I added the mushrooms and doubled all the seasonings. I had no orange juice, but I had oranges. I squeezed the juice of 1 orange to get the 1/4 cup of orange juice. I felt quite inventive & creative... although the recipe didn't specify what time of orange juice to use.

Eggplant Parmesan

This recipe comes from my dear friend Melissa. I've never tasted eggplant, to my knowledge, but was eager & willing to give it a try.

• 1 eggplant - cut into slices
• 1 small can spaghetti sauce
• 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• mozzarella cheese
• 1 egg
• olive oil

Beat egg in bowl. In separate bowl, combine Parmesan & breadcrumbs. Dip eggplant in egg bowl, then breadcrumb bowl. Fry in pan w/ heated oil on both sides until golden brown. Place in baking dish. Layer w/ spaghetti sauce & mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle remaining breadcrumb mixture on top. I served this w/ a very tasty Caesar salad & Parmesan green beans. To make the Parmesan Green Beans: Melt 2 tbsp salted butter w/ 2 garlic cloves. Add bag of frozen green beans. Cook until desired tenderness. Move to serving bowl & add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. These were okay - I wasn't too happy w/ the end results. The beans were slightly crunchy still, and that's probably what I didn't like.

Hamburger Chop Suey

My aunt Mary e-mailed this to me quite some time ago... I finally got around to it. I'm always looking for something to do w/ hamburger meat besides the obvious few meals. 2 lbs ground meat - cooked 1 cup diced celery 1 diced onion 1 can mushrooms 1 can shroom soup 1 can celery soup few shakes Worcestershire few more shakes of soy sauce can of water chestnuts can of bean sprouts 3/4 cup uncooked rice Once you cook & drain the meat, add it along w/ all ingredients to a baking dish. Bake at 350 for 1 hour, stirring after 30 minutes. Serve over mashed potatoes. Speaking of mashed potatoes - that one recipe I've posted about & made a couple times is now going to be my homemade mashed potato recipe. Delicious! I thought this was a very good hearty meal. My boyfriend thought it needed more flavor... so I'm thinking of what to do next time. Maybe a beef bouillon cube? Maybe another can each of the soups?

Ice Cream BonBons

Very easy. Very messy. I found this recipe in my Taste of Home Cookbook. I made it a few times last winter... then forgot about it. 2 bags pecans 2 bags semi-sweet chocolate chips 2 sticks butter 2 tbsp coffee grinds 2 pints vanilla ice cream (2 containers) (the ingredients are doubled from original recipe) Crush pecans. Using small scoop, roll ice cream balls into pecans. Immediately place on cookie sheet (I put wax paper down) & freeze for one hour. When ready - melt the chips, butter, and coffee in a saucepan on stove. Dip/roll the balls into the chocolate & place back on cookie sheet. Put back in freezer for a little while until ready to serve. So delicious, you can't just have one! I made batches last year for friends and in-laws. Everyone loved them. I got suggestions to make the bonbon's w/ different flavors of ice cream. I think the mint kind would be good! I never made any for my family to try, and my mother was quite upset. Today is my brother's birthday. I'm going to surprise them by bringing some over. I haven't been in the kitchen much lately. I went to the grocery store today & stocked up on lots of good stuff.