Day two...three days late...

So I'm a bit late.  But if you think about it, we've traveled pretty far.  The Pastichio was tremendous.  We had another pan left and I served it to some of our runners today.  One of our kids is of Greek heritage and she told me it smelled like her house when her Mom makes it!  (Great compliment and I'll take it!)  She settled in to a plate of familiarity and then said, " Coach, this is better than my Mom's.  Her's is much creamier and this is much better.  More cheesy!"  So glad everyone liked it!

I made Spaghetti as well today, so we had quite the Adriatic tour.  Tonight we were supposed to have Dusted Pork Chops, but we'll have them tomorrow.  We helped at a track meet and ate lunch late.  We were still full when it came time to think about dinner. I'm not complaining, we just need to shift my cooking to tomorrow.

Dusted Pork Chops come from a really yummy recipe that was an epic fail for DH.  The part he liked was the seasoning on the meat.  I mixed some up in a jar and use it from time to time to season our pork chops and chicken. And yes we do call it Chicken Dust.

The recipe comes from The Gluten-Free Bible, Publications International, Ltd., Lincolnwood, IL, 2010.  I used to work down the street from there. Talk about a small world.   The recipe is actually South American Chicken and Quinoa.  The first 3 ingredients mixed with the last 2 make our Dust.

South American Chicken and Quinoa
1 t. ground turmeric
1 t. dried thyme
3/4 t. salt, divided
1 lb. boneless chicken breast, cut into 1" pieces
2 T. olive oil, divided
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 c. uncooked quinoa
1 c. chicken broth
1 c. unsweetened coconut milk
1 t. curry powder
1/4 t. ground ginger

Combine the turmeric, thyme and 1/4 t. salt in a shallow dish.  Dip the chicken pieces into the spice mixture coating all sides; set aside.
Heat 1 T. of the oil over medium high heat.  Add the bell pepper and onion. Cook and stir 2 minutes or until the vegetables are crisp-tender.  Remove from the skillet with a slotted spoon; set aside.  Add the remaining oil and the chicken to the skillet.  Cook and stir 5 minutes or until browned and cooked through.  Rinse the quinoa in  a fine-mesh strainer under cold running water; drain well.  Combine the quinoa, chicken broth, coconut milk, curry powder, ginger and the remaining 1/2 t. salt in a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat to low; simmer covered, 10 minutes. Stir chicken and pepper mixture; cook for 5 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.  Serves 4.  

So for my version, I dust the chicken like it says in the recipe and end up with cool chicken nuggets and follow the cooking instructions for the chicken part of the recipe above.  I've also used it on chicken legs and baked them in the oven for 50 minutes at 350 degrees.
Until tomorrow... or maybe it's just later since it's already tomorrow...

Day one of the World Tour...Singapore noodles. Day two's recipe Pastichio

 

Dinner was so yummy!  There is an incredible amount of prep that goes into Singapore Noodles, but it is so worth it.  I spent my afternoon as my own Sous Chef.  Once everything was prepped (mind you I had no idea how many guests would show so I prepped enough for 3 recipes), I relaxed for a bit, waited for the guests to arrive and find out if there were any allergies I needed to be aware of.  There were no allergies and I only had to make 1 recipe's worth of dinner.  I boxed up 2 bonus dinners and served the rest.

Speaking of Sous Chef, one shortcut I can think of is for the julienned carrots.  I always make carrot sticks every week for DH to take in his lunch that he brings to work.  I used carrot sticks that I had left from Friday for the julienned carrots.  It was easy to just chop the sticks into 6 smaller pieces.  I'm sure commercial carrot sticks would work the same way, and it would save a step in your dinner prep.

Wednesday is Pastichio.  Miss M was asking me tonight what it was, but I do remember her liking this the last time I made it. This was one the whole family loved.  Again it's another labor intensive dinner, but so worth it when you have time.  It's break and so I have that kind of time now.  I also know I will really appreciate the bonus dinner on January 12th! :) 

This could be put in two different dishes and baked at the same time and one could be frozen intact for another day, reheated in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 350° making it two 6 serving dinners.  That was me when I had a fuller house.  Now I'm content to serve this to company first and then portion out bonus dinners for later.

Pastichio

1½ c. unsalted butter, divided

6 rounded T. flour

1 qt. milk, heated

2½ c. grated Parmesan, divided

9 eggs, divided

Salt & pepper to taste

1½ lb. elbow macaroni, cooked

2 large onions, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2½ lbs. ground beef

½ 6 oz. can tomato paste

½ c. water or tomato juice

½ t. ground cinnamon

Dash nutmeg

           Melt 1 c. butter in a large saucepan.  Add the flour and stir until golden.  Gradually add the hot milk, stirring constantly over low heat until the sauce is thick and smooth.  Stir in ½ c. of the cheese; cool.  Beat 6 eggs; stir into sauce.  Season to taste.  Melt the remaining butter in a large skillet.  Sauté the onions and garlic until golden.  Add the ground beef, stirring until the meat is browned.  Don’t pour off the fat.  Add the tomato paste, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper (to taste).  Stir and simmer for 20 minutes.  To the macaroni, add the remaining 3 eggs and a handful of cheese.  Butter a high sided 9 x 13 or 10 x 15 pan.  Spread with half the macaroni.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Pat the mixture down.  Add the meat, spreading to cover.   Sprinkle with more cheese.  Top with the remaining macaroni and remaining cheese.  Press down.  Spread the cream sauce on top.  Bake at 350° until firm and golden, about 1 hour.  Let stand 10 minutes.  Makes 12 servings.

Our world tour..first Singapore, then Greece and beyond!

 Monday night's dinner, Singapore Noodles, comes in part from the interweb.  I have tweaked it to our family's preference, but it is a huge hit and we have it often.  I cut out the red pepper flakes, water chestnuts and mushrooms but added chili powder, slivered pea pods and use rice noodles instead of the noodle nests.

Singapore Noodles a la Lorri

1 lb medium rice noodles
1/4 c. cooking oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. slivered fresh ginger
1/2 t. chili powder
1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/3 c. green onions
2/3 c. julienned carrot
1/2 c. slivered peapods
1/4 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. oyster sauce
3 T. curry powder
2 t. soy sauce

Bring a pot of  lightly-salted water to at rolling boil; add the rice noodles and return to a boil.  Turn off the heat and let stand 5 minutes; drain and let stand for 5 minutes; drain and set aside. Heat the oil in a wok or deep 12" skillet.  Stir in the garlic, ginger and chili powder; cook a few seconds until the garlic begins to turn golden.  Add the chicken, green onions, and carrots.  Cook and stir until the chicken is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in the peapods, peanut butter, oyster sauce, curry powder and soy sauce until the peanut butter has disolved into the sauce.  Stir the noodles into the chicken mixture; cover and reduce heat to warm or very low.  Let stand 10 to 15 minutes so the noodles absorb some more of the sauce.
Serves 6.

I'll post the Pastichio and Dusted Pork Chops recipe tomorrow. I'm looking forward to break...this is gonna be filled with meals at home, grocery shopping field trips, visiting with friends and naps!  :)

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Roasting Chicken & cookie baking

     Tonight's dinner was Roasted Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy.  It was super yummy and now I have a leftover carcass with which to make soup.  I was thinking either chicken rice or chicken barley.  Hmmm. . . a bonus meal on top of our bonus meals!  Can't beat that! :) It was a 5 lb roasting chicken.  I picked it up at Harvestime Sunday.  My back fridge kinda freezes my meat, so I thawed it pretty quickly and roasted tonight.   

     Next week, Monday is Singapore Noodles, Wednesday is Pastichio and Friday is Dusted Pork Chops.  I'll post those recipes over the weekend.  I still have shopping to do for Christmas.  Winter break just started a few hours ago.  I did manage to get all my cookies baked save for half of my melting moments and my pepparkakor.  That will happen in a bit (or maybe tomorrow) so I have them for Sunday.  We are just settling in with coffee for tonight, so after the battery recharge...the baking will begin.

My Week Evaporated!...but the Lime Chicken and Meatloaf were yummy!

Monday and Wednesday got away from me...then again so did Thursday.  We did have the Lime Chicken on Monday, 

our bonus meal of Curried Turkey with Rice, Meatloaf on Wednesday, 

went out with friends yesterday and I baked cookies until 2 AM.  I'm looking forward to our Roast Chicken tonight.  I can start early because there is no practice tonight.

Birthdays, Chicken and Meatloaf (without the yucky red sauce)

     So it's birthday season in our family and we are celebrating today.  I wanted to post the recipes for tomorrow and Wednesday as well.  Monday is Lime Chicken.  I have only made this once during our 38 years together, so I guess you could say it's been a while.  I remember it was from before we had kids and when I was working on a hand written binder of recipes that would one day turn into a cookbook.  It may still, but now you'll have a couple of recipes from the beloved "Green Binder".  

     Wednesday is Meatloaf with Brown Gravy.  The kids and I would have the 'Blue Plate Special' at Barbara's Kitchen in Edgebrook back in the day.  They would get Meatloaf most of the time.  (Turkey was available as well, but the Meatloaf was the favorite)  Now, I will tell you our kids were middle schoolish when we had it at home for the first time because my Dear Hubby (DH) told me in no uncertain terms that he hated meatloaf.  I found out he hated the "red stuff" on top.  Good thing I grew up with a Swedish Mom and she never put a topping on ours and served it with brown gravy.  Again...he said it was like sliced meatballs.  So glad that some leopards can change their spots. 😍

Lime Chicken

1 c. rice 

2 c. chicken broth

1 ¼ lb. boned chicken breast halves

¼ c. flour

1 t. salt

¼ t. pepper

6 T. butter (divided)

2 T. honey

1 large clove garlic, sliced

4 thin slices lime (divided, with 2 slices cut in half)

½ c. dry white wine

9 oz. frozen pea pods

     Cook the rice according to the directions using the broth instead of water.  Coat the chicken with the mixture of the flour, salt & pepper.  In a large skillet, melt 4 T. of the butter with the honey, garlic and 2 of the whole lime slices.  Add the chicken, cook over medium heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes, turning once.  Add the remaining 2 T. butter and the wine.  Bring to a boil.  Add the peapods; reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 2 min. or until the peapods are crisp-tender.  Garnish with the remaining halved lime slices and serve over the cooked rice.  Serves 4.

Swedish Style Meatloaf

¼ c. chopped onion

½ c. bread crumbs (cracker crumbs work too)*

¼ t. nutmeg

½ t. garlic salt

½ c. milk (can be rice milk)

1 egg

1 ½ lb. ground beef (or half beef/half ground pork)

    

     Preheat the oven to 375°.  Mix well the onion, crumbs, nutmeg, garlic salt, milk and egg togther in a medium bowl.  Add the ground meat and incorporate well being careful not to over handle the meat.  Place in a 9 x 5" loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour.  Remove from oven and  let rest 10 minutes before slicing, using a serrated knife.  Serve with brown gravy.  Serves 6.

* I've used crushed rice crackers to make this recipe gluten free.  It works really well.

Brown Gravy Mix

This recipe (Beef Gravy Base) is from "Fix it Fast Cookbook" from the Better Homes and Gardens series, Meredith Corporation, Des Moines, IA, 1979.

1 ⅓ c. nonfat dry milk powder

¾c. flour (rice flour works here also)

3 T. instant beef bouillon granules

¼ t. dried thyme, crushed

½ c. butter

2 t. Kitchen Bouquet or powdered Caramel Coloring

     Combine the dry milk powder, flour, bouillon granules, and thyme.  Cut in the butter and Kitchen Bouquet until the pieces resemble cornmeal. (If you are using the powdered Caramel Coloring, combine that with the dry ingredients.) Store a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.  Makes about 3 cups of mix or enough for 6 cups of gravy.

     To prepare the gravy:  In a saucepan, slowly blend 1 cup of cold water into ½ c. of the gravy mix.  Cook and stir until the mixture is thickened and bubbly.  Cook for 1 more minute.  Makes 1 cup prepared gravy.

MMM Ribs!

     Tonight's dinner was great.  Miss M joined us.  The ribs were seasoned well.  My hubby that didn't like ribs liked these ribs when I tried the recipe for the first time 2 years ago in September.  This has no smoky flavor which is what he objects to. (No bacon, ham, barbecue sauce, or anything with a smoky sauce)  Ok, I started to eat my ribs before I took the picture...first oops!

     Then I realized I didn't share the recipe...second oops!  Been that kind of week!  This is a variation on a recipe from Allrecipes.com. I leave out a couple of things and change up the bbq sauce suggestion.  Knowing that DH has an issue with said sauce, I use Brianna's Homestyle Saucy Orange Mandarin dressing or sometimes a "Peachy" Peach Vinaigrette that I get at Earl's Farm Market in Fennville, MI.  

Carolina Style Ribs

¼ c. brown sugar

8 t. lemon juice

2 T. white vinegar

2T. apple cider vinegar

1 ½ t. Worcestershire sauce

2 T. molasses

1 c. prepared mustard

1 t. dried minced garlic

1 t. salt

½ t. ground black pepper

⅛ t. cayenne pepper

¼ c. Brianna’s Orange Mandarin salad dressing

1 rack pork spareribs cut in 2 rib sections

In a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients except the ribs.  Mix well and set aside.  Preheat the oven to 250°.  Place the ribs in a lightly greased baking pan.  Cover with the sauce and roast for 3-4 hours or until the meat is tender.  Baste the ribs with the sauce during the final 30 minutes.  Scrape up the sauce from the pan and serve it on the side with the ribs.  Serves 4-5.

**These can also be made in a crock pot.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours or 4-5 hours on high.