Cubano Hash

I had this for the first time, months and months ago....


The second time around it tasted even better than I remembered. 


I love sausage and the mixture of the relish made of mustard and pickles compliments it so well. 


The really awesome part? It takes only a half of a bottle of beer. That means I got to drink the other half of George Killian's Irish Red. Hey, I didn't want to waste the bottle?

Ingredients

• 
  
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 3/4 pound ground pork
• 1/3 pound (1/2 package) chorizo, peeled and chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin (1/3 palmful)
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 bottle of beer
• 2 Portuguese rolls or 2 sandwich-size English muffins, split and toasted
• 4 dill pickles, chopped
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 4 deli-cut slices of Swiss cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 eggs

(I know, seems like alot but this comes together pretty quickly)

Pre-heat the oven to 400°F.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat with the EVOO, one turn of the pan. Add pork and brown, 3-4 minutes. Add chorizo, onion and garlic and season mixture with cumin, allspice, salt and pepper and cook for 7-8 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, cook a minute longer, then add beer.

Arrange bread on baking sheet. Toast the split bread.

Coarsely chop the pickles and reserve.

Cover bread with yellow mustard, then top with mounds of hash and a slice of Swiss, folded in half. Melt the cheese in the oven, 2-3 minutes.

Melt butter in medium size nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add eggs to melted butter and fry to desired doneness.

Top the hash with fried eggs and pickles and serve.

This is a Rachael Ray recipe. You can find it here

Chef in Training Tuesday
Tempt My Tummy
Tuesdays at the Table

Pain Perdu (or as we Americans call it French Toast)

I'm baaaaaack!


And better than ever.


I got my personal life under control, I will be cohabitating with fellow foodie and cook and I will be blogging away!


One of the cuisines my sexyman (that's what I call him) loves is New Orleans food. Cajun or Creole. It doesn't matter, that stuff is gooood.


So this morning we made Pain Perdu, or french toast as it's more commonly called.


Pain Perdu translates from french as "lost bread". It was a way to use up day old french bread and turn it into something exquisite.


This recipe comes from "My New Orleans The Cookbook" by John Besh. 


French Toast


5 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup half and half
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
2 pinches ground nutmeg
2 pinches ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier, optional
2 tbsp canola oil
12 slices day old, 1-inch thick french bread


Beat together the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl until they are well mixed. Add the half and half, orange juice, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, and Grand Marnier, if you like, and mix well.


Heat the oil in a large skillet (we used cast iron skillet) over moderate heat. Working with 3-4 slices of bread at a time, dip the slices of bread into the egg mixture and submerge for a few moments. Remove the bread from the egg mixture and put into the skillet. 


Fry the bread, turning once, until golden brown on the both sides. Repeat with the remaining slices of bread. Serve the french toast hot with homemade preserves, warm syrup or powdered sugar.

Cinnamon Roll Pumpkin Sheet Cake

I found this recipe on pinterest. 

It's originally called Cinnamon Roll Pumpkin Vanilla Sheet Cake but I didn't use vanilla pudding in the recipe. Instead I used Jello's seasonal flavor, Pumpkin Spice.

Cinnamon Roll Pumpkin Sheet Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

4 eggs

1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

1/2 cup milk or buttermilk

3.4 ounce box Pumpkin Pie Spice Pudding Mix (or vanilla)

1/2 cup sour cream

15 ounce can pumpkin

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cups powdered sugar

1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream (start w 1/4 cup and add a little more cream if needed)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray a jelly roll pan with non stick cooking spray.

2. Place cake mix, eggs, oil, milk, pudding, sour cream and pumpkin into a stand or electric mixer, beating until well combined, about 1 1/2 minutes. Pour into prepared pan, spreading evenly.

3. Place butter into a microwave safe bowl and melt, about 30-40 seconds. Add brown sugar and cinnamon to bowl, mixing until combined. Drizzle mixture evenly over cake then take a knife and run it through to swirl.

4. Bake cake for 30-35 minutes, until cooked through and remove. Place powdered sugar and cream into a large bowl and mix until creamy and smooth. Drizzle over warm cake then let cool for 20 minutes before cutting into square

Hershey Chocolate Cake and Peanut Butter Frosting

Hershey Chocolate Cake recipe

for the peanut butter frosting I just beat peanut butter, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract until I had the consistency I wanted. The taste is amazing!

Pizza Alla Romana

This is from the food network site.

I used my pizza dough recipe

2 teaspoons salt



9 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil


2 thin slices prosciutto, cut into thin strips


6 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced


1 large Roma tomato, cored, seeded, and diced


1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt


1/4 cup roughly chopped basil leaves


Using your hands, press the dough so that it fits evenly across the entire pan. Spread the prosciutto strips evenly over the surface of the dough, then top with the sliced mozzarella. Sprinkle the chopped tomatoes over the top then drizzle with the remaining 6 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle the top evenly with basil and the kosher salt and bake until golden brown, about 15 to 17 minutes. Rotate the focaccia half way through the cook time to ensure even browning.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting and serving.




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Recipes From Blogland: Birthday Cake Blondies

   LOVIN FROM THE OVEN

Cauliflower Gratin

uhhhhhhhhhhh not the best picture.

This is a recipe from Jessica Seinfeld's second book, Double Delicious.

Cauliflower Gratin

1 medium head cauliflower

1 tbsp butter

2 tsp flour

1 cup nonfat milk

1/2 cup cheese

1/2 cup butternut squash or carrot puree

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tbsp grated Parmesan

1. Preheat oven to 400 f. Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Cut the cauliflower into bite size florets. Blanch for 2 to 3 mins so that they just begin to get tender but are still firm. Drain in a colander and set aside.

2. In the same saucepan, melt the margarine. Whisk in the flour and cook 1 min over medium heat. Slowly whisk in the milk to prevent lumps from forming and bring to a boil. The mixture will begin to thicken. Cook 2 to 3 mins more. Reduce the heat to low and add the cheddar, butternut squash or carrot puree, salt and pepper.

3. Add the cauliflower to the cheese mixture and transfer to a greased 9 inch baking dish. Top with grated Parmesan. Bake for 15 mins until the gratin is bubbly and the top begins to brown. Serve immediately.

Great way to get kids to eat some veggies ;)

Tempt My Tummy
Tasty Tuesday

Easy Yummy Waffles

Ingredients


2 cups all-purpose flour


1 teaspoon salt


4 teaspoons baking powder


2 tablespoons white sugar


2 eggs


1 1/2 cups warm milk


1/3 cup butter, melted


1 teaspoon vanilla extract


1.In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar; set aside. Preheat waffle iron to desired temperature.



2.In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in the milk, butter and vanilla. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture; beat until blended.


3.Ladle the batter into a preheated waffle iron. Cook the waffles until golden and crisp
 
I got this from allrecipes.com

Tasty Tuesday

Black Bean and Corn Salad

Black Bean and Corn Salad

2 Cups black beans (rinsed)

1/3 C squeezed lime juice

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp fine sea salt

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

2 cans of corn

1 avocado, peeled, stone removed and cut into pieces

1 small red bell pepper, chopped

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

6 green onions, chopped

1 hot chile pepper or jalapeno pepper, chopped

1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Rinse the 2 cans of black beans and pour into bowl. Combine the corn, avocado, bell pepper, tomatoes, green onions, chile pepper and cilantro. Mix well.

 Put the lime juice in a bowl with olive oil, garlic, salt, and cayenne pepper and mix well. Pour into veggie bowl and mix well.

Refrigerate for a few hours and add avocado when ready to serve.

This is awesome with nacho chips.

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Made From Scratch

Recipes from blogland ~ Glazed Donut Muffins

Y~U~M~M~Y

GLAZED DONUT MUFFINS from Between the Lines

Recipes From Blog Land~Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with PB Glaze

Banana Chocolate Chips Muffins with Peanut Butter Glaze  from I Wash...You Dry

very yummy muffins and the glaze dresses up the muffins!

Recipes From Blog Land ~ Bacon Popcorn

Bacon Popcorn  from the gluten free homemaker

I love making popcorn on the stovetop and this was a nice treat

MUFFINS ~ MUFFINS ~ MUFFINS

Okay ignore the Coke Zero in the background lol

I have one child that besides turkey bacon, will eat anything chocolate chip for breakfast. Chocolate chip granola bars, chocolate chip pancakes, chocolate chip muffins....

So I found a recipe to make a bulk mix of muffin mix to make her chocolate chip muffins. I thought it would be wonderful to have on hand. I already used the whole mix though because the kids and I came up with so many fun ideas.

Muffin Mix

8 cups of flour
3 cups of sugar
3 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground nutmeg

I put the above ingredients in a large ziplock bag.

Then when you want to make muffins put 2 3/4 cups of mix in a bowl with:

1 cup milk (2%)
1 egg
1 stick butter, melted

Then choose whatever ingredients you want:

Chocolate chips
Blueberries
Cranberries
Banana
whatever else you can come up with.

Bake at 400 degrees for around 15 mins.

We made one batch of each of these

Chocolate chip (added 1 cup of chocolate chips)

Buttermilk Maple (substituted 1 cup of milk with 1 cup of buttermilk and added maple extract and sprinkled with brown sugar)

Chocolate chocolate chip and peanut butter (added 1/3 cup of cocoa, chocolate chips and 1/3 cup pb)

Mint chocolate chip (added green food coloring, chocolate chips and dash of peppermint extract)

MADE FROM SCRATCH TUESDAY
UNWASTED HOMEMAKING
TEMPT MY TUMMY
DELECTABLE TUESDAY
TUESDAYS AT THE TABLE
WHATS COOKING WEDNESDAY
RECIPE SWAP THURSDAY

Nacho Cheese Sauce

I was craving nacho cheese and tortilla chips. I didn't have any so I looked around the kitchen to make something similiar that would ease my craving.

1 can of cheddar cheese soup
1/2 brick of cream cheese
a little cayenne pepper
a little taco seasoning

melt this on a stovetop til heated and smooth then add 1/3 cup of salsa

This tasted way better than the store bought nacho cheese. I ended up eating it with Ritz Crackers because that's all I had  :(    And no I am not pregnant :)

okaaay, off to the gym, ENJOY

whats cooking

Hershey's Chocolate Cake

Hershey's Chocolate Cake

2 c sugar
1 3/4 flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 c milk
1/2 vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c boiling water

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour 2 9 in round cake pans. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on med. speed 2 mins. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour into pans. Bake 350 for 30 mins.

tasty tuesday
fat camp friday

Recipes From Blog Land

I want to start posting recipes that I tried from other bloggers and loved. My kids really loved this if you couldn't tell lol.

Brown Butter Toffee Blondies

We omitted the nuts. Because none of us are nuts for nuts in our desserts, maybe we are nuts?

Hazelnut Mocha Frappe's (like McD's)

When McDonalds ran a sale offering their small frappes for a dollar I treated my kids to them.

Then the sale went off and my kids still wanted them.

So I scoured the net and got some ideas and here is what I came up with. I don't measure because I'm a throw things in the blender kinda gal.

milk
ice cubes
vanilla ice cream
instant coffee granules
nutella
a little chocolate syrup

whip on high in your blender

chocolate syrup and whipped cream as garnish.

Voila, taste just like frappe's you buy at restaurants for $3-4. Add more instant coffee for stronger coffee taste or less coffee for a lighter more milkshake taste.


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Creamy Chicken and Noodles (30 Meals In One Day) FREEZER MEAL

In June I will be having a giveaway for this system!!! This is the best freezer cooking book I have ever had.

3 cups uncooked wide egg noodles
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can evaporated milk
1/3 cup shredded fresh parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
3 cups cooked, chopped chicken
1 can french fried onions

Cook noodles in boiling, salted water for 2 minutes less than the shortest  time recommended on package. Drain. Combine soup, milk and cheeses. Stir in chicken and pasta. (Do not add onions until baking). Place in freezer bag. Label and freeze.

To serve: Thaw. Place in greased baking dish. Stir in half the can of French fried onions. Bake covered for 45 minutes at 350. Uncover and top with remaning French fried onions. Bake an additional 10 minutes.


fun with food

Spaghetti Casserole

From time to time I post recipes where there really aren't measurements, or exact ingredients for that matter. To some people this is fine, to others it may bug you. But just keep in mind with cooking you can be flexible, add your own taste and don't worry. Create your own creation!

Spaghetti Casserole

I cooked spaghetti noodles according to package directions

I added some ground beef to my spaghetti sauce (actually I added soy crumbles)

I then grabbed a casserole dish and sprayed nonstick cooking spray

I drained the noodles and added a little olive oil and garlic salt.

I then layered noodles, sauce, mozzarella cheese in the casserole dish. Rinse and Repeat :)

Then topped with more cheese, sprinkled bread crumbs, italian seasonings and parmasan cheese on top.

Bake until casserole is heated and cheese is nice and melty. Not sure melty is a word, hmmm.

EnJoY

Pancake Cake (inspired by Created by Diane)

I am a follower of Created by Diane and she had a recipe for Pancake Cake. Well it caught my eye because my mother loves pancakes, so much so we of course tease her for it. Because what is family for?

Well Diane's version used strawberries and bananas. My kids will not eat bananas. So I wanted to make a maple version.

I made pancakes like normal.

I whipped up a mixture of cream cheese, maple extract, maple syrup, powdered sugar, cinnamon and brown sugar.

I layered this mixture in between the pancakes and stacked them and poured the rest of the mixture on top of the pancakes. Then I crumbled turkey bacon on top. My family was scared of this, and picked the bacon off. What kind of children did I raise that they TAKE BACON OFF OF ANYTHING. I see I need to start a reeducation camp ASAP.

This taste wonderful. I was told it tasted like some fancy schmancy food from IHOP. Yes in our neck of the woods, IHOP is fancy. Except on kids eat free nights.

But I was not happy with the icing on top. Don't get me wrong it taste great, but I wanted it a darker brown so that it looked like syrup. Then after it was done it occurred to me. The cream cheese made the color too light.

So next time I make it, I will add that mixture in between the pancakes but just whip up some powdered sugar, maple extract, milk? You know like the icing that is on maple cinnamon buns. That would be a darker brown color.

There is nothing like experimenting, with food ;)


Tuesdays At The Table
Tempt My Tummy
Delectable Tuesday
A Prairie Story
Fat Camp