Cook’s Tip of the Day: Use a rough-textured “bathing” or “exfoliating” glove to quickly and easily clean root veggies like potatoes, carrots, and beets.
The Baked Potato Grilled Cheese
- 2-3 Strips of Bacon
- 1 Potato
- 2 tbsp of Sour Cream
- Cheddar Cheese
- Green Onions/Chives
- 2 Slices of Bread
- Butter
- Canola Oil
- Garlic Powder
- Salt & Pepper
To start things off, get a pan on medium heat with enough canola oil to lightly cover the bottom (you could also use olive oil or butter). Cut your potato into even slices, you will need 4-5 slices for the sandwich, then place them in your pan, cooking each side until browned and crispy.
While cooking, salt and pepper the potatoes to taste (they don’t have to be too salty as the bacon with help with the saltiness as well) and sprinkle a light pinch of garlic powder. In another pan cook your bacon on medium heat to desired tenderness (I liked mine crispy for this sandwich!).
While everything is cooking, slice your bread (use some crusty bread like french or sourdough if you have it), and generously butter the outside of each piece. On the inside, put about 1 tablespoon of sour cream on each slice as well as slices of cheddar cheese on each side. Once your potatoes and bacon are finished frying, dab them on paper towel to remove some grease, then fan the potatoes out on your bottom slice of bread, put a little more sour cream on top of the potatoes if you desire (I did to help the bacon and chives stick in the sandwich). Slice up one green onion stalk and spread it on top of the potatoes along with the bacon. Place your other slice of cheese on top of all of this and top with your bread!
Now just grill the sandwich in a pan on medium heat until each side becomes golden brown. Once this is done, dig in and ENJOY!
(via grownmanchild)
Just put baked oatmeal cups in the oven.
My first time trying out this idea, so I’m just hoping they don’t suck.
I found this recipe on pinterest. Since I didn’t have applesauce and I’m generally skeptical of anything claiming to be delicious as well as sugar-free, I decided not to follow it. I just took the idea, then applied this baked oatmeal recipe.
Here’s how I did it (writing this down ASAP so I don’t forget for next time. If there is a next time.) This is for 12 oatmeal cups with four different flavors (3 cups/flavor combo).
- Follow the baked oatmeal recipe, omitting the cinnamon, brown sugar and raisins.
- Pour 1/4 of the mixture (about 1 cup) into a measuring cup, then stir in one of the flavors you want. This way the flavors are all mixed into the oatmeal, not just placed on top. I like an even flavor distribution. Spoon into 3 baking cups.
- Repeat the process with the 3 remaining flavor combinations.
- Baked for approximately 30 minutes.
The four flavor combinations I chose: Blueberry-Almond, Cinnamon-Raisin-Walnut, Apricot-Pecan-Honey, and Maple-Brown Sugar. I used dried blueberries and apricots.
So…now that they’re done: All of them taste good, but the Maple-Brown Sugar ones kinda fell apart. The mixture just ended up being too thin from the maple syrup, I guess. Gonna have to tweak that one.
Otherwise, it’s a success!
This one I am going to try out for sure.
Nothing worse than my potato or pasta water all over the stove.
(via lickystickypickywe)
Tonight’s Dinner: Indian Shepherd’s Pie
Chicken and Cauliflower Curry Soup
Inspired by this recipe, but tweaked quite a bit. I did a fairly half-assed job of putting this together, but it turned out really well. My husband says it’s a good soup for sick days because the heat clears up the sinuses.
Ingredients (all measurements are approximations):
- 1 lb chicken, cut into bite size pieces
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 3 cups of cauliflower, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1/2 bag of frozen peas
- 32-oz chicken broth
- 1/3 to 1/2 of a can of coconut milk
- 1 cup lowfat milk
- 3 tablespoons curry powder (I used an extra spicy curry bought from a local spice vendor)
- garlic powder
- sea salt
- black pepper
- olive oil
1. Preheat oven to 425. Combine cauliflower and garlic with a bit of olive oil in a shallow baking dish. Roast until the edges of cauliflower starts to brown along the edges. (It took mine about 15-20 minutes, I wasn’t paying much attention.)
2. In a stock pot, cook the chicken with a bit of olive oil until it’s browned and (mostly) cooked through. Don’t overcook it!
3. In the same stock pot, add the cauliflower and everything else except the peas. I eyeball everything; my method of cooking doesn’t include lots of measuring. This is soup, not rocket science. Bring it to a boil for 3-4 minutes.
4. Reduce to simmer, then add the peas. Continue to cook until the peas are heated through and the carrots are tender.
5. Dig in. If you like spicy food, top it with some red pepper flakes.
Next time, I’ll probably put a bit more effort into this by marinating the chicken and such, I just didn’t have the time to care today.
If you’re a vegetarian, omit the chicken, double the cauliflower and use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.
Bonus points awarded if you serve this with naan.
Lasagna soup via afarmgirlsdabbles.com
Made this tonight, and it’s FABULOUS.
Pâté chinois - Recette / Pâté Chinois - Recipe
(English translations follow after the French texts)
Principalement composé de boeuf haché, de blé d’Inde et de purée de patates, le pâté chinois est un plat québécois populaire et facile et peu coûteux à faire. Son origine demeure mystérieuse, mais il semble qu’il a été conçu par les ouvriers qui construisaient une voie de chemin de fer transcanadienne vers l’Ouest. À cet époque, on fournissait uniquement du bœuf haché, du blé d’Inde et des patates à ces ouvriers, surtout à ceux d’origine chinoise, parce que ces aliments étaient facilement disponibles et pas cher. Voici la recette qui vous permettra de déguster ce plat délicieux qui n’est pas encore bien connu hors du Québec. /
Mainly consisted of ground beef, corn, and mashed potatoes, pâté chinois is a popular Québécois dish that is easy and cheap to make. Its origins remain mysterious, but it seems it was invented by the workers who were building a trans-Canadian railway to the West. At that time, those workers, especially the Chinese ones, were only provided ground beef, corn, and potatoes, all of which were easily available and cheap. Here is the recipe that will let you savour this delicious dish that is still not well known outside Quebec.
Ingrédients / Ingredients
- 1 livre (450g) de boeuf haché mi-maigre / 1 pound (450g) of medium ground beef
- 2 livres (900g) de patates / 2 pounds (900g) of potatoes
- 1 oignon moyen / 1 medium onion
- 8 onces liquides (227g) de blé d’Inde à grains entiers / 8 fluid ounces (227g) of whole-kernel corn
- 8 onces liquides (227g) de blé d’Inde en crème / 8 fluid ounces (227g) of cream corn
- Sel / Salt
- Poivre moulu / Ground pepper
- Origan / Oregano
- Poudre chili / Chili powder
- Lait / Milk
- Beurre / Butter
- 1 bouteille de bière (ça se peut que ce vous soit optionnel, mais pas pour moi. :P) / 1 bottle of beer (it might be optional to you, but not to me. :P)
Étapes / Steps
- Pelez et coupez les patates en quartiers et les mettez dans un chaudron d’eau bouillante légèrement salée. Puis hachez finement l’oignon et mettez les pièces dans une poêle avec de l’huile chaude. Les faites dorer au feu moyen et puis ajoutez le bœuf haché. Après que vous avez proprement cuit le bœuf, assaisonnez-le avec du sel, du poivre moulu, du poudre chili et de l’origan à votre goût et enlevez-le de la cuisinière. Puis vérifiez si les patates sont bien douces pour être purées avec du lait et du beurre. Préchauffez le four à 350F (190C). /
Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces and put them in a pot of lightly-salted boiling water. Then finely chop the onion and put them in a pan with some hot oil. Grill at medium heat until the chops are tender and then add the ground beef. After you have properly cooked the beef, season it with salt, pepper, chili powder, and oregano to taste and remove from stove. Then see if the potatoes are soft enough to be mashed with milk and butter. Preheat the oven to 350F (190C).
- Mettez la viande dans un plat allant au four et tapez-la uniformément. Puis étendez bien le blé d’Inde en crème et le blé à grains entiers sur le bœuf. Enfin, couvrez-le uniformément avec la purée de patates. Mais que le four soit prêt, mettez-y le plat et cuisez environ 30 minutes jusqu’à ce que le dessus soit doré. Il en y a assez pour nourrir trois ou quatre personnes. /
Put the meat in an oven dish and pat it down evenly. Then spread the cream corn and whole-kernel corn well. Finally, uniformly cover it with mashed potatoes. As soon as the oven is ready, put it in and bake for about 30 minutes until the juice bubbles out on the edges. There is enough to feed three or four people.Un petit conseil : c’est trop bon si vous le mangez avec du ketchup! / A quick advice: it’s too good if you eat it with some ketchup!
Oh, n’oubliez pas la bière! / Oh, don’t forget the beer!
BON APPÉTIT! >:D
(Source: namemefish, via selchieproductions)
Hot Tricks for Handling Chile Peppers
It’s always a good idea to protect your fingers (and whatever they’ll touch later) when preparing fresh chiles, and the general advice is to wear latex or plastic gloves. However, if you find yourself gloveless, turn a zipper-lock bag inside out to create one on the spot. (It’s helpful to secure the bag with a rubber band around your wrist.) The bag can then be turned right-side out to store leftover chiles.
Read more: 4 Hot Tricks for Handling Chile Peppers
Katie’s Patatas Bravas with ham and eggs from What Katie Ate
