Cheeseburger Mac

Cheeseburger Mac!

Clearly, this is not meant to be a healthy meal.  I was feeling like I needed something cheesy and greasy, and this came to mind with the ingredients I had on hand.

Macaroni and Cheese:
1 16 ounce box elbow macaroni (other small pasta shells may be used)
salt
3 tablespoons butter, cut into small cubes
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese blend
dash Creole seasoning (I used Tony Chachere;s), to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat.  Add elbows; stir and cook until cooked but still firm, according to package directions.  Drain macaroni well.  Add butter; stir to melt over medium low heat.  Add milk and cheese.  Cook while stirring until cheese is melted and macaroni is coated in cheese mixture.  Add Creole seasoning to taste.

Beef Mixture:
1 pound ground beef
1 yellow onion, peeled, chopped
1 jalapeno, minced, without seeds for milder flavor
2 poblano chiles, stems and seeds removed, chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
splash soy sauce, probably about 1 tablespoon
splash rice wine, probably about 1 tablespoon
salt, black pepper

Heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat.  Add beef; cook and stirring until meat is browned.  Drain fat.  Add meat back to pan with chopped onions, jalapeno and poblano chiles.  Cook and stir until vegetables are softened.  Add tomatoes.  Add soy sauce, rice wine and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook until tomatoes are a little softened.  You can serve the beef mixture over or beside the macaroni and cheese; or combine if you wish.


Makes 6 to 8 servings

Tomato Eggs

Tomato Eggs

Oh, how I love this dish.  This is a meal that my grandma and mother have cooked many times as I was growing up.  It is very warm and comforting, and that is why I love it.  Now, I have made some liberal changes to suit my more mature tastebuds, but it still has the same effect on me whenvery I make this.  It is basically stewed tomatoes with scrambled eggs.  My grandma's version is very sweet--she was not very fond of tartness so she added sugar to hers.  I've helped my grandma many times to make this.  As soon as I could figure out how to use a knife safely, she allowed me to peel, cut and seed the tomatoes.  She'd soften the skin in a pot of boiling water.  Once the tomatoes were cool enough to handle, the skins slipped off.  She would just gouge holes so the seeds could come out but I am a bit more concerned about neatness so I'd quarter, cut into sixths or eighths depending on the size of the tomatoes and the scooped out the seeds so I'd have nice clean wedges.  I don't know why it matters to me because once you cook it, the shape is not one bit recognizable.  The measurements aren't very precise, but I don't think the dish would suffer.  I make it based on what I like.

Eggs:
1 tablespoon butter
6 eggs, beaten

Heat a large frying pan or work over medium high heat.  Melt butter.  Add eggs; cook and stir with spatula until eggs are softly set.  Remove eggs from pan to a dish; set aside.

Tomatoes
8 to 10 plum tomatoes or 5 to 7 large tomatoes
1 tablespoon butter or vegetable oil
1 yellow or white onion, peeled, coarsely chopped or thinly sliced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
dash rice wine, to taste
dash soy sauce, to taste
black pepper
heaping soup spoon's worth of cornstarch--you may need more or less depending on how juicy the tomatoes are and how thick you'd like the sauce.

Bring to boil a large pot of water over high heat.  Add tomatoes and heat until the skins split.  You may have to give them a nudge with a slotted spoon to make sure all the tomatoes are submerged.  Remove tomatoes as the skins split.  Once all of them are out of the water; let cool until you easily handle them.

Peel and seed tomatoes as you wish.  You don't have to cut them into wedges like I do, you can even coarsely crush them with your hands.  Save any juices.  Save a little on the side; dissolve the cornstarch to add later to thicken sauce.

Heat a large frying pan or work over medium high heat.  Melt butter; fry onions until translucent.  Add rice wine and soy sauce to taste.  Sprinkle with pepper.  Add tomatoes with juice; cook over low until tomatoes are softened to your liking.  Increase heat to high; bring to boil.  Add the tomato juice with cornstarch quickly and stir until mixture comes back to a boil and thickens.  The sauce will look cloudy at first, when it is cooked, it'll look kind of translucent and shiny.  Stir in scrambled eggs; stir to warm through.  Serve over cooked rice.  I use brown, but my grandma always served it with white rice.


Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Beefy Brown Rice and Veggies with Steamed Acorn Squash

Beefy Brown Rice and Veggies with Steamed Acorn Squash

Rice:
1 1/2 cups brown rice
1 cup beef broth
2 cups water

Combine rice, broth and water in rice cooker; cook until rice has absorbed liquid and is tender.

Beef and Veggie Mixture:
12 ounces lean ground beef
Lawry's seasoning salt, or use Mrs. Dash salt free seasoning blend
1 onion, peeled, chopped
8 ounces white button mushrooms, sliced
1 jalapeno, stem and seeds removed, minced
1 poblano chile, stem and seeds removed, chopped
1/2 cup beef broth
2 crowns broccoli, cut into small florets

Heat a large frying pan or wok; add beef and season with Lawry's seasoning salt or herb blend.  Cook until beef is browned.  Add onion; cook until translucent.  Add remaining veggies and broth; cook until veggies are cooked to desired doneness.  Mix in rice.  Divide rice among lunch box containers.

Acorn Squash:
2 acorn squash, halved, seeds scooped out

Heat the oven to 350°F.  Place squash halves cut side down in glass baking dish, add enough water to cover bottom of pan.  Cover with foil; place pan in oven on middle rack.  Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until squash is fork tender.  Cut each half into thirds.


Makes 6 servings

Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie

I read somewhere that this is actually called "Cottage Pie" because it is made with beef.  Authentic shepherd's pie is usually made with lamb or mutton.  I am not much of a fan of lamb/mutton, and I happen to have all the ingredients on hand to make it with ground beef.  I think in my neck of the woods, it is widely accepted that this dish is called "Shepherd's Pie," so that is what I am calling this.  This is the last of this week's meals before I did my grocery shopping, which happened today but I had already taken out the meat to thaw.

I'd have to say that it does not look too appetizing, and it may very well be too moist/saucy.  That is not a major problem, as it can be improved next time by adding less liquid, or more thickening agent.  Also, it may help if I spread the potato mixture over the top more evenly to the edge, creating a seal.  Either way, I hope it tastes better than it looks because I have not tried it yet at the time of this posting.  The recipe as adapted from Simply Recipes: Shepherd's Pie.  Normally I probably wouldn't have put cheese on the top, but the husband requested so I obliged considering he has been wanting me to try making this for quite some time now.

Potatoes:
2 to 2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1" chunks
salt, black pepper
1 1/4 cup nonfat milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Meat Mixture:
2 pounds lean ground beef (I used 90/10)
2 small white onions, peeled, chopped
Lawry's seasoning salt, pepper, to taste
2 cups (approximately) frozen mixed vegetables
1 1/2 cups beef broth (I used purchased boxed)
1 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup shredded cheese (I used mild cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese blend)

Place potatoes in large saucepan with cold water to cover by 1".  Add 2 teaspoons salt; cover and bring to boil over high heat.  Cook until potatoes are tender, test with fork/knife.  Combine milk, butter and garlic in glass measuring cup; microwave on high until butter is melted.  When potatoes are done, drain them in a colander.  Add potatoes back to pot over low heat to dry out.  Mash with potato mashing tool.  Add milk mixture and black pepper to taste; stir gently just until combined.

Heat the oven to 375°F.  Grease a 13x9" glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

Heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat.  Brown beef in hot pan; add onions.  Stir and cook until meat is cooked through and the onions are softened.  Add 1 cup of the broth and vegetables; let cook until mixture is heated through.  Combine remaining broth with cornstarch in a cup or small bowl.  Add cornstarch mixture to meat mixture in pan; stir and cook over high heat until liquid is thickened.

Pour meat mixture into prepared pan.  Spread mashed potato mixture over the top of meat mixture.  Sprinkle with cheese if desired.  Bake 20 minutes or until heated through.


Makes 8 to 12 servings

Veggies Over Brown Rice and Quinoa

Veggies over Brown Rice and Quinoa

Yes, vegetarian meals happen in this household :-)  There's quinoa and black beans for protein in this meal.

Quinoa and Brown Rice:
1 cup brown rice, uncooked
1/2 cup quinoa, uncooked
3 cups water

Combine rice, quinoa and water in rice cooker container.  Cook until water is absorbed and rice is cooked through.


Veggies:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 small white onion
1 poblano chile, stem, ribs and seeds removed, chopped
2 zucchini, sliced
2 yellow squash, sliced
4 plum tomatoes, cut into 8 wedges each
1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed, drained
salt, pepper

Melt butter in large frying pan over medium high heat.  Fry onion and chile in butter until softened.  Add zucchini and squash; cook until tender.  Add tomatoes, beans and salt and pepper to taste.  Heat through.

Divide rice mixture between 4 plates; top with veggies.


Makes 4 servings