Let them eat cake...that looks like spaghetti and meatballs!!!

Cake!  I'm talking the fun kind that has more to do with what it looks like than tastes like.  The kind that kids love.  Here are my latest!


This beauty is a spaghetti and meatball cake...it's all cake, so no worries that I flipped out and topped a perfectly good cake with actually meatballs. This is a food network magazine special so check it out!



Another beauty...simply a yellow cake mix, one cake donut some icing and food coloring and some almond bark.  Again, Food Network magazine!!

Roasted Potato Soup - A deeper shade of flavor

Apologies to my mother to start...I grew up with the most embarrassing idea of  potato soup.  It as like plain milk with semi-hard potatoes floating sparsely in the sad, flavorless broth.  Though it didn't look very good, it also didn't taste good either. 

THIS however is not my mother's Potato soup....and the difference is that you roast the spuds and onions, intensifying the flavors and frankly, making this so easy.  You don't even peel the spuds.  Genius!

Take about 4-6 medium sized potatoes along with 1 large videlia onion.  Cut the potatoes in 1 inch chunks...same with the onions.  Toss them onto a jelly roll pan....drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil on em, and sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper.  With clean hands, you put our right hand in, and you toss it all about.  Pop into the oven for about 30-40 minutes.

In your soup pot, dump the hot potatoes and onions in...add about 5 cups of chicken broth. Using a blender (I use a stick blender and just put it right down into the soup pot), puree till as smooth or chunky as you choose.  IF you use a regular blender and you can take the round thing off the top...do it...replace the lid and put a kitchen towel over the hole)  Return to the pot and add in enough additional broth to get it to the thickness you want.  I usually add about 1/2 cup of half and half or milk.  Then adjust seasoning (salt and pepper, chopped parsley, dill, etc..  This is so simple and satisfying and you'll notice that the flavor is deepened by the roasting. 

You may want to top with some caramelized onions or fresh green onions or cheddar cheese. 

Now...if you want to get creative, use the same principle with other winter veggies...carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, etc.  Play with your food, I say!

Roasting makes a huge difference here. 

Happy Eating!  Let me know how it goes!!!  Love to hear what you all make!

Something to crow about - the easiest and best Roasted Chicken

I did not grow up eating roasted chicken and always thought of it as "fancy".  That's silly.  It's amazing...and roasting a pair is no harder than cooking up a single...Besides, you end up with a lot of chicken meat for enchiladas, or chicken casserole or chicken salad...etc.

When you're dealing with this simple of a recipe, the quality of the ingredients really matters...I go for the Smart Chicken whole roaster.  Go big, man.  Meatier is gooder!

Wash the chicken inside and out.   Dry it with paper towels and then salt and pepper the chicken well.  Take a whole lemon, cut the ends off and cut the middle into quarters.  Cut one head of garlic horizontally like a sandwich and shove lemon and garlic in the cavity along with a good handful of fresh parsley...no need to cut up the green.  Stuff it in there.  Ideally it's all tied up with the legs in tight, however, if the thought of tying that bad boy up scares you enough not to cook this up, don't sweat it. 

Drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil over the outside of the chicken (I rub it with my hands a bit).

Cut one large onion in thick slices (maybe about 1/2 inch thick)  - separate the rings and spread them out in a roasting pan or 9 x 13.  You can also put some cut up potatoes and carrots with those.  Set Mr. chicken on top of the veggies and roast at 450 for about 1 hours 15 minutes.  The veggies act like a rack and they soak up all of that chickeny goodness.  Once cooked, set the chicken aside, and cover with foil.  Discard the onions, and put the other veggies aside and keep warm.  Put the roasting pan on top of the stove with 2 burners on med high.  sprinkle the drippings with about 1/3 cup of flour...whisk and brown for about 2-3 minutes then add enough chicken broth to make a gravy...simmer it for a minute or two to see how thick it will get...it will be darker that expected but so good.

Serve it sliced or in section (a leg thigh, etc.)  with the veggies on the side and that amazing gravy. 


This is simple but amazing.  Happy Eating

A Hankering for Hash

As your classic "good girl", I wrote the title of today's blog and then realized, others may not think of a tasty use for leftovers when they talk about hash!!!  But I do! 

I made a classic roast beast in the slowcooker yesterday with quarter potatoes and chunks of carrots.  Then for a wintry lunch today, I transformed humble leftovers to heavenly hash. 

What is hash?  Here is what it is NOT...it is not the nasty stuff in a can that Hormel calls corned beef cash, I mean hash.  Simply put, hash is usually a way to use up roasted meat and potatoes by caramelizing them in a skillet.  I soft cook a few eggs on top and it turns into this crusty, savory gutbuster of a meal. 

To a large skillet set on HIGH heat for 2 minutes, add a splash of veggie oil, about 1/4 to 1/2 of a chopped onion and saute till tender.  Add 1 garlic clove chopped fine and saute till it starts smelling up the joint.  hmmm.  Throw in your leftover meat, potatoes and carrots chopped medium.  Flip this around till coated with the onions and garlic, add some salt and pepper and set the heat on Medium.  Spread out the mixture in the pan.  Here's the part that doesn't seem to make sense...Add about 2 tablespoons of heavy cream...pour it over the mixture.  Cover the pan and let it bubble in there till you hear it sizzle..it will have absorbed the cream and started to get crusty.  With a pancake turner, flip yer hash in sections. 

One last step....as the backside is getting crusty (that sounds like a country song!), make four small wells or dents in the hash (I use the back of a large soup spoon to press down the mixture) and crack a large egg into each dent and sprinkle the eggs with salt and pepper.  Cover the pan with the heat on medium low for about 4 minutes...check em and cook them to the point you like....runny is so tasty with toast.  A little longer and it is like a soft cooked egg.  This makes about 4 servings.  That's it. 

The eggs are optional..if you have a lot of leftovers to work with, you could do more dents and eggs.  This is a guideline...the fun really comes when you see where it takes you!

SOOOOO good and practical...any meat and taters works....think about adding stuff to the saute of onions and garlic....artichoke hearts?  Sun dried tomatoes?  Capers?  Olives?  Or maybe a good salsa or pesto on the side. 

Happy Eating

Cry Me a River...Tip for taking the bite out of onions

With chili season in full swing, and I love chopped onions and cheese on mine, I thought I'd share this easy tip for taking the bite out of onions.

If working with chopped onions to be used raw, simply place them in a strainer (the wire mesh kind) and place the strainer in a bowl of cold water for about 5-10 minutes.  Pull the strainer out of the water, shake off the water or pat with a paper towel.  That's it. 

You'll be amazed by how the onions are now crisp and flavorful without being too overpowering.  Happy Eating!

Mashed Potatoes the Morning After

I had made a HUGE batch of mashed taters last night so this morning I transformed them into these delicious, light crispy pancakes which went great with regular breakfast fare, but somehow elevated the ingredients.

I took about 2-3 cups of stiff mashed potatoes along with 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese (grated) and one egg, beaten.  I mixed this into a stiff (but slightly wet) batter.  On a dinner plate I put about 2 cup of panko bread crumbs (could also use regular dry breadcrumbs).  With wet hands, I made balls of dough about the size of a small plum.  I rolled them in to a ball and placed them on the crumbs and pressed down lightly to flatten.  I flipped them over in the crumbs gently and pressed again very lightly.  Into a hot 10 inch saute pan with about 2 Tablespoon of veggie oil, I placed the patties.  I cooked them for about 4 minutes on each side till medium brown. 

YUMMY!  Happy Eating!

Red Wine Winter Stew - comfort for a winter's night - and a bonus meal

As the snow comes down here in Nebraska tonight, here's an actual crock pot meal (which I rarely do because frankly, they don't always taste good).  This one includes dry soup mix....BLASTPHOMY...unless it is in this recipe.  I'll get to some more complicated things later but for now, just sharing the good stuff.
Here ya go!

Dredge 2 pounds of lean stew meat (cut in 1 inch cubes) in about 1 cup of flour seasoned with salt and pepper.  Brown in a large skillet (you'll need to do it in 2 batches at least) and put into your slow cooker.  You're looking to get really good color on the meat.  Add to the meat one 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes, drained, along with two envelopes beefy onion soup dry mix.  Into the pan that you browned your meat (with the heat on high), add 2 cups of hearty red wine.  Scrap all those yummy bits off of the pan, bring up to a quick boil and then pour this ito the slow cooker.  Give everything a good stir.

Cook it on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4 hours. 

Serve over cooked egg noodles - I love those kuluski egg noodles...they have more thickness and hold up to this dish.  Some other options are mashed potatoes or maybe some polenta.  hmmm.

Now for the fun part...this makes a BIG batch.  Take the leftovers (no noodles, just stew), pour into a 8 inch square baking dish and top with pie crust.  Cut vents in the crust and bake for about 30 minutes.   Yummy beef pot pie.

Happy eating!