Get Your Meat and Potatoes Fix

Sorry it’s been so long but today is you lucky day.  I’m going to share another awesome recipe.  But first, thanks to all of you that gave me vote (or two, or three) for my Yummy Banana Cake.  I came in first in the voting.  Now I have to wait for K over at Big K, Little a to make the final three dishes and see which one she deems more awesome.

My husband is a meat and potatoes man so I found a fabulous recipe called Potato Parmesan Crusted Beef Filet, that I’m trying to perfect for when he comes home from Afghanistan.  I sent him a  picture and he can’t wait to try it.  I found the idea for this in the Cooking Club magazine (Feb/Mar 2011).

I had some trouble finding reasonably priced beef tenderloin steaks.  I plan on splurging for the good stuff when I finally cook it for my husband.  Instead, I found inexpensive filet mignon wrapped in bacon.  I removed the bacon but the meat held the salty flavor.  It was still delicious, just a tad too salty for my taste.

What You’ll Need:

1 lb. hash browns (I find the Hungry Jack ones that comes in the carton work best.  You just add hot water and a few minutes later you have hash brown that are ready to be used in this recipe.)

¼ cup of minced onions

¼ cup Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp flour

1 egg, beaten

¾ tsp salt, divided

¾ tsp black pepper, divided

3 (6 oz.) beef tenderloin steaks, 1 ½ inches thick

1 tbsp canola oil

1 tbsp butter

1.) Heat oven to 500 degrees.  If you are using the non-perishable hash browns (like the Hungry Jack ones shown), follow the instructions on the box to get them moist and manageable.  If you are using the ones found in the refrigerated or freezer section of your grocery store, just make sure  they are thawed.  If you are a bad mamma jamma and you are grating your own potatoes, you are scaring me, Martha Stewart, and you may need some therapy.  ;)

2.) Place moist potatoes in a large bowl along with onion, cheese, flour, and egg.  Add ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper. 

Mix well.

3.) Sprinkle steaks with remaining salt and pepper. 

Heat oil in skillet on medium high heat until hot.  Cook steaks 2 minutes or until browned on each side. 

Put on the side for now.

4.) Put ¼ cup of the hash brown mixture onto the skillet in circular form.  Place a filet on top of it. 

Repeat for each steak, cooking about two minutes or until golden brown at medium high heat. 

Remove steak and potatoes carefully with a spatula and place on a rimmed cookie sheet.

5.) Melt butter on skillet.  Add remaining hash browns.  Cook at medium high heat until golden brown.  Place hash browns onto cookie sheet as well.

6.) Bake 10 minutes for medium rare.  Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!  I did.

Free Cake!!

I'll make this brief.  I am in a contest...a battle of kitchens, if you will.  I'm neck and neck with another contestant battling for first place.  I NEED your votes.  Whip out your pcs, your smartphones, Ipads, ANYTHING that has interent access and vote for my Yummy Banana Cake.



I do not lose gracefully, people.  I'm a sort of a sore loser.

Also, bambi eyes...

How can you say no?  You can't.  If you can, it means you are a cruel jerk that kicks kittens and puppies, slaps babies, and punches old people.  I'm just saying!

So, to prove to everyone you aren't a big meanie pants please visit Big K Little a and vote.  The poll is located on the left hand side of the page.  Please cast your vote for my Yummy Banana Cake.  When I win, I will give all of my supporters a slice.

For When You're Feeling A Little Lazy

Another recipe from Kraft Foods conquered!  I had never tried the new cooking crèmes by Philadelphia before and I thought I’d give them a whirl.  Now I can’t wait to try the other flavors.

I found this recipe in an advertisement in the Food & Family Magazine.  Of course, I made a few minor changes but nothing too severe.

Easy Beef Stroganoff

What You’ll Need:

1 lb. ground beef

½ cup onions, chopped

1 tbsp. butter

1 jar sliced mushrooms, drained

½ tsp. pepper

1 tub of Philadelphia Original Cooking Creme (8 oz. cream cheese, softened and ½ cup evaporated milk blended together well can be used as a substitute)

1 cup of beef broth (I use bouillon cubes and water.)

2 cups hot cooked egg noodles

1 tbsp parsley

1.)  Cook meat and onions in skillet on medium heat approx. 5-6 minutes or until meat is brown and onions are tender.  Drain. 

2.)  Add butter to unwashed skillet.  Melt. 

Add mushrooms and pepper.  Cook about 5-6 minutes.

3.)  Add cooking crème.  Blend well, stirring slowly for about 2 minutes. 

Return meat to mixture.  Stir in broth.  Cook 5 minutes.

4.)  Add parsley andstir.  Cook 2 minutes. 

Add noodles and stir. 

Remove from heat.  Sprinkle parsley over each serving.

Under The Sea

When it comes to seafood, I’m a big fan.  Growing up in New Orleans, different forms of seafood were a staple on the menu for many meals.  Now that I’m in Oklahoma, I’ve got to take whatever sort of seafood I can get my hands on.  Lately, I’ve been trying some different salmon recipes.  Here’s a good one I’ve come across, Sesame Salmon with Stir Fried Vegetable Medley

What You’ll Need For This Recipe:

1 lb. salmon filets

½ cup Asian Toasted Sesame dressing (Kraft makes this.)

2 tsp. olive oil

8 baby carrots cut into strips

1 cup green beans

1 orange pepper, cut into strips

1 green onion, shredded

1.)  Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.  Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.  Place salmon on cookie sheet.  Brush fish with 2 tbsp. of dressing.

2.)  Bake 20 minutes, brushing fish periodically with additional 1 tsp. of dressing. 

Fish should flake easily with fork when finished.  Keep warm.

3.)  Heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. 

Add carrots, beans, and pepper. 

Stir fry for about 6 minutes, or until crisp-tender. 

Add remaining dressing. 

Stir fry for about 3 minutes.

4.)  Serve fish over vegetables.  Sprinkle with onions.

The sesame dressing gives the fish and the veggies a sweet, nutty flavor.  Yum!

Rolling With The Egg Rolls

Ask me where I want to go out to eat and at least 7 out of 10 times I will choose to eat at an Asian restaurant.  Some days, I find myself craving an eggroll for lunch and I'm too lazy to run to my local take-out establishment for just one and if I had the audacity to try to get one delivered the employee that answered the phone would probably laugh at me as they told me it was a $10 minimum order...even though they ALSO charge a $3 delivery charge.  Damn, gas prices!

After trying many different recipes and tweaking them to my taste buds, I came up with a yummy recipe that is fairly easy to make.  I have also found that once rolled, they can be frozen for months until the next time I whip out the deep fryer for a yummy snack.

Don't forget to read the whole recipe through before you make your shopping list.  There are also a few dipping ideas at the end.  Enjoy!

What You’ll Need For Savory Egg Rolls:

1 lb. ground pork

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 small head of cabbage, chopped

1 tbsp. garlic, minced

¾ cup carrots, minced

1 cup mushrooms, minced

3 tbsp. soy sauce

½ tsp. ground ginger

1 egg

1 tbsp. water

1/8 tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

20 egg roll wrappers (I prefer spring roll wrappers because they are thinner but I have trouble finding them at most grocery stores.)

Vegetable oil for deep frying

1.)  Heat 1 tbsp. vegetable oil in skillet.  Once heated, stir fry pork, breaking up chunks. 

Drain meat and transfer to mixing bowl.  Set skillet aside for vegetables.  Preheat deep fryer to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2.)  Add cabbage, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, and ginger to the same skillet that the meat was stir fried.  Stir fry until tender. 

Add salt and pepper.  Mix well.

 

3.)  Transfer vegetable mixture to mixing bowl.  Combine vegetables and meat well.  Stir in soy sauce.

4.)  In a separate bowl, beat the egg and water together.  Set aside.

5.)  Spoon roughly 2 hearty tbsp. of the mixture onto an egg roll wrapper set in front of you in a diamond shape. 

Fold bottom tip up just enough to cover mixture. 

Fold in both side corners. 

Roll wrapper up to top tip. 

Brush a little of the egg mixture onto the edge of the wrapper to seal.

6.)  Deep fry egg rolls in hot oil. 

Allow to drain and cool slightly before serving.

Suggested sauces:

Thai Sweet Chili Sauce (sold in the Asian section of most grocery stores)

Mae Ploy Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

Duck Sauce

Ty Ling Duck Sauce

Tangy Mustard Sauce

1 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp. Chinese mustard

Combine well until mixture is smooth.

Kame Hot Chinese Mustard

Sweet Pepper Sauce

1 cup soy sauce

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tbsp. Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (It is a thick red sauce similar to ketchup and is also known in some areas as spicy chicken sauce because it has a rooster on the bottle.)

Sriracha HOT Chili Sauce (Tuong Ot Sriracha)

A Taste of The Big Easy

It's crawfish season down in New Orleans.  Time for crawfish boils out in the spring weather.  Unfortunately, I'm in Oklahoma and my friends and family from the Big Easy are torturing me with their mobile snapshots.  Luckily, one thing I can find around here is frozen crawfish tails that are perfect for making rich, creamy Crawfish Corn Soup.

What you'll need:

not pictured: bacon bits

1 lb. peeled crawfish tails
1 onion, chopped
1 pint half & half cream
2 cans creamed corn
2 cans cream potato soup
5 green onions, chopped
1 stick butter
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/4 cup bacon bits for garnish

1.)  Melt butter. 

Saute' onions. 

Add crawfish.  Cook for about 5 minutes.

2.)  Add cream, corn, and potato soup to crockpot. 

Tranfer onion/crawfish mixture and green onions to crockpot. 

Stir ingredients together.

Cook for 1 hour on medium heat, stirring occasionally.

3.)  Add salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and cayenne. 

Stir.  Set crockpot on the "keep warm" or lowest setting.

4.)  Spoon soup into a bowl.  Garnish with 1/2 tsp bacon bits and 1/8 tsp of pepper.

Don't forget to donate any Campbell's soup labels to your local schools!