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Taste of Home Cooking School 2012

12 Nov

 

I was so excited to go to the Taste of Home Cooking School again this year!  I’m so thankful to my friend, Diana, for getting up early to get tickets for us, and thankful to the Sierra Vista Herald for bringing this show in each year long with a number of other local sponsors.  Yet again this year, they had a nice goodie bag for everyone at the show.  I got a Safeway bag again, and it included the Cooking School magazine, along with a Healthy Cooking Taste of Home magazine.  We also got a neat measuring cup and luggage bag, plus lots of coupons for ingredients in the dishes we saw being made.

The Culinary Specialist featured at our show this year was Jamie Dunn.  She made the show a lot of fun, keeping us engaged in the dishes she was preparing.  She gave out some good tips, and the dishes she shared were very straightforward, and look (and smelled!) delicious!  I will be trying some of them in the near future, and I have thought of a few changes I would like to try with some of them.  Here are the recipes we watched her create:

Mini Maple Cinnamon Rolls
Steak & Blue Cheese Bruschetta with Onion and Roasted Tomato Jam
Domino/C&H Light Chocolate Chunk Coffee Cake (recipe similar to this one)
Braised Beef Short Ribs
Saladmaster’s Veggie Lasagna (if you don’t have a Saladmaster, put this in a 13×9 baking dish, cover with foil, and bake at 350 F for 45-50 minutes, remove foil and cook an additional 10 minutes)
Johnsonville Italian Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
Eggland’s Best Spinach, Brie, and Bacon Mini Quiche
National Pork Board Pulled Pork Tostadas with Slaw and Chipotle Cream
Gallo Family Vineyards Pineapple-Cashew Chicken Salad
Shop Taste of Home Upside Down Apple Pie

They also gave away the dishes and lots of prizes, but unfortunately, no prizes for me or my friends this year.  Oh well, there’s always next year!

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Gyros Burgers

10 Nov

 

I love, love, love gyros, but lamb can be rather expensive and difficult to find.  So, I usually just use ground beef instead, and it still tastes great.  I shape the meat into patties and grill them.  Since I didn’t get them as thin as I wanted, I cut the burgers in half lengthwise to be thinner in the pita and to better simulate the gyros meat at restaurants.  Now, my brother and his wife did this a little different.  Instead of making patties to grill, they put it in a loaf pan and cooked it in the oven, I think at 325 F for about an hour.  Then, the sliced the loaf thinly, again, like gyros meat is in the restaurants.  Some day, I will figure out how to make my own pita, but for now, I buy it.  I added lettuce, tomato, and red onion, and I was wishing I had made tzatziki to go with it, but I didn’t have Greek yogurt to make it.  So, we used ranch dressing instead.  This was a great dinner, and I hope that I think to make it again soon since it was a long time in between the last times I made it!

 

Gyros Burger
Based on recipe here

What you need:

1 pound lean ground lamb, or 1 pound lamb, or 1/2 pound ground beef and 1/2 pound ground lamb
1/2 onion, grated, or 2 tablespoons dried chopped onions
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon dried savory
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 dash ground cumin

How to make it:

Preheat grill to medium-high heat, and spray the grate with non-stick spray.

In large bowl, combine ground beef/lamb, onion, and bread crumbs.  Add savory, allspice, garlic salt, pepper, and cumin. Combine well and shape into 4 very thin patties.

Cook patties for 5 to 7 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.

Serve with pita bread, lettuce, red onion, tomato, and tzatziki.

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Zaycon Foods Bacon and Ham

10 Nov

Back in February, I had my first experience with Zaycon Foods, and have been very pleased with their products.  I have gotten Alaskan salmon, cod, shrimp, boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 93/7 lean ground beef, hot dogs, German sausage, and fully cooked grilled chicken strips.  My deep freeze has been stocked with meat, poultry, and seafood on a constant basis, which I love because it makes dinner choice a little easier when I have meat on hand already.  Well, as long as I remember to take it out of the freezer.

There was one product of theirs I had yet to try, the bacon.  We love bacon in our house, and I had heard good things about it from a couple of friends.  So, when they announced a bacon event was coming to my town, along with a ham event, I jumped at the chance to try it! Both were priced at $3.29/lb, and are products of Farmland Farms.

The ham unit was 2 10 pound hams.  It is a Carve Master Boneless Smoked Old Fashioned Ham.  Here is more information on the ham from the e-mail they sent out: This Ham is made from fresh outside muscles only, for excellent flavor and texture, slow smoked with real apple wood to give the ham a unique true smoked flavor.

With less than 10g of fat per 100g the USDA has approved this ham as LEAN, with this special cure there is no MSG, this ham is completely boneless, meaning higher yields and easily carved from end to end.

The Ham is packaged by the case this includes two 10lb hams that are individually vacuum sealed and has guaranteed freshness up to 100 days.

Here is a photo of one of the hams:

 

I am not sure what I will do with this ham yet, but I’m excited to get to try it!  It is fully cooked, so I may slice it up for cold sandwiches or I may heat it in addition to our turkey for Thanksgiving.

The bacon unit was 2 15 pound boxes of bacon slices.  It is Fresh Hickory Smoked Bacon.  Here is the product description from their e-mail: This bacon has had the same award-winning cure since 1959, cured for a minimum of 24 hours, and hickory smoked for at least 7.5 hours, the smoking process includes only actual hardwood chips burned in the stocker, this creates the color and flavor that makes this cure so special, in addition to color and taste our bacon has been carefully hand trimmed from each belly for consistent sizing.

Here is a photo of one of the 15 pound packages:

 

It is a nice, thick cut bacon.  We had some for breakfast the morning after getting the bacon, and it was really good.  Honestly, I’m so used to eating turkey bacon, I wasn’t sure how the pork bacon would go over in our house, but we all thought it was delicious.

I counted out 16 slices of bacon, which was around 1 pound, some a little more, some a little less, but I figured that 16 slices is 4 pieces of bacon for each member of my family of 4.  For 12 sets, I vacuum sealed the bacon to put in the freezer.  The remaining 3 sets, I put in FoodSaver FreshSaver bags in the refrigerator.

 

Next month, I’ll be picking up more of the ground beef, which is perfect because I am out of ground beef from the March event!

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Greek Salsa Chicken Salad

21 Oct

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For tonight’s dinner, I made Lemon Herb Chicken and Greek Salsa, minus the olives, and put both over some Romaine lettuce, with a splash of balsamic vinegar. Yum!

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Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice

21 Oct

 

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a 40 pound case of Zaycon Foods boneless, skinless chicken breasts like the case I got in March.  A friend of mine came over with her case, and we worked on processing the cases together.  She cut the butterfly breasts into 2 pieces, while I cooked dinner (bacon wrapped chicken stuffed with cream cheese and chives, with sweet potato chips as a side), grilled about half of each case, and got the FoodSaver bags ready.  5 hours later and we had 80 pounds of chicken processed!  As she was cutting the breasts and removing extra fat, there were small chicken pieces that we set aside, my guess it was about 4 pounds worth.  We decided it would be best for some kind of stew, so I decided on chicken and rice.  I had onion, carrots, and corn in the freezer, so after a long night of prepping chicken, it was easy to throw this all in the slow cooker and let it cook overnight.  It turned out perfect!

 

Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice

What you need:

4 pounds fresh chicken, diced
2 cups carrots, sliced
2 cups onion, diced
2 cups kernels of corn
8 cups water
6 chicken bouillon cubes (gluten-free)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups cooked rice

How to make it:

Add all ingredients, except rice, to the slow cooker.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 3-4 hours.  After it is done cooking, stir in the cooked rice.  Serve hot.

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Borscht

21 Oct

 

I had heard of borscht, but never actually had it.  Beets are regularly available in Sunizona Family Farms FarmBoxes, so when my husband requested that I make this, I knew where I could get beets.  I also had gotten a head of cabbage and a bunch of carrots from them, then I had onion and potatoes from Bountiful Baskets and ground beef from Zaycon Foods.  Who needs the grocery store anymore?!?

In my search for the recipe, I discovered that everyone makes this a little different.  Even I varied some from the recipes I mainly used.  I only had ground beef on hand, so I used it instead of stew meat.  I also didn’t have tomato paste, so I used ketchup instead of the tomato paste and cider vinegar.  This does take a little time and effort, but it’s worth it!  It does have a little beet taste, but not really.  It’s more of a stew taste with all the different veggies in it.  And, fair warning, this makes a LOT, so be prepared to eat it for a few days or cut the recipe down.

 

Borscht
Based on recipes here and here

What you need:

16 cups water
2 large potatoes, peeled and sliced in 1/4″ rounds, then cut in fourths
1/2 head of cabbage, shredded
1 pound ground beef
2 carrots, cut in matchstick pieces
1 pound beets, peeled and cut in matchstick pieces
1 small onion, finely diced
1/3 cup ketchup (or 1/3 cup tomato paste and 1 tsp apple cider vinegar)
6 beef bouillon cubes
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon fresh dill or 1  1/2 teaspoons dried dill
Salt and pepper

How to make it:

In a large soup pot, add the water and potatoes, bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are softened, about 15-20 minutes.  Add cabbage and cook another 5-10 minutes.

While the potatoes and cabbage are cooking, brown the ground beef over medium-high heat in a large skillet.  Add carrots, beets, and onion, and cook until the vegetables have softened, about 15-20 minutes.  Stir in the ketchup (or tomato paste and vinegar).

Add the vegetable mixture to the soup pot.  Add bouillon cubes, lemon juice, bay leaves, dill, salt, and pepper.  Cook for about 5 minutes at high heat to dissolve the bouillon, then reduce heat to a simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender to eating.  Serve hot, with a dollop of sour cream, if desired.

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Oven Baked Sweet Potato Chips

13 Oct

 

Usually, I make fries with my sweet potatoes, but after making Oven Baked Potato Chips a while back, I figured it was worth a try to make Sweet Potato Chips.  And, they turned out really well!  My friend was over with her kids, and her son asked for seconds!  I have more sweet potatoes, so I know we’ll be having these again soon!

 

Oven Baked Potato Chips
Based on recipe here

What you need:

2.5 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (use a mandolin slicer to get a thin, uniform thickness)
Olive oil
Sea salt

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Place sweet potatoes in a large bowl.  Pour in olive oil and sea salt, toss to coat evenly.

Line 2 baking sheets with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Lay sweet potatoes on baking sheets in a single layer.

Bake both baking sheets of sweet potatoes in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, then flip each chip and rotate the pans top to bottom.  Bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until the edges are crispy.  Allow to cool and serve.

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Copycat Chipotle Barbacoa

12 Oct

Chipotle has become one of my favorite places to eat at, but I am cheap and can’t eat out a whole lot.  I recently found a great way to make Cilantro Lime Rice, but I wanted to see if I could find a way to make my favorite meat, barbacoa, as well.  I still had the red chili peppers and chipotle peppers from a Bountiful Baskets fajita pack, and it turns out those were the right start to the barbacoa.  I heated up a can of black beans, then made pico de gallo with jalapenos, red onion, yellow cherry tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, and garlic salt.  It turned out so good, it was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time!

For the barbacoa, I made the sauce the day before and stored in the refrigerator.  Then, I bought a chuck roast from a rancher at the Farmer’s Market (Sky Island Brand/47 Ranch).  Yes, a little more expensive, but it is grass-fed beef, and much fresher and higher quality than what I can get at the grocery store.  Here is how to make it!

Copycat Chipotle Barbacoa
Based on recipes here and here

What you need:

1 quart chicken broth, divided
3 whole dried red chiles, seeds and stems removed
8 dried chipotle peppers, seeds and stems removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
3 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cloves
2 teaspoons dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2 bay leaves
Juice of 1 lime
4-5 lb chuck roast (bone-in or boneless, bone-in will give a little more flavor)

How to make it:

Place the red chiles in a small sauce pan and heat over high heat, turning frequently, until chiles are toasted and fragrant.  Add the chipotle peppers and 2 cups of the chicken broth.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer for about 15 minutes, until chiles are tender.  Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat the olive oil.  Add minced garlic and diced onions, cooking them until they are very brown.  Add cumin, cloves, oregano, salt and pepper, stirring constantly.  Add in the remaining chicken broth, apple cider vinegar, and the soaked chiles and their liquid.  Simmer until reduced by about half.  Pour the contents into a blender.  Start blending on a low speed, working up to high until well blended.  Set aside.

Place the skillet back on heat and sear each side of the chuck roast. Place chuck roast in a slow cooker and pour sauce over roast.  Add lime juice and bay leaves.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until meat is very tender.

Once meat is cooked, remove the bay leaves.  Remove any bones, and use 2 forks to shred apart the meat.  Stir the shredded meat into the remaining sauce.  Serve warm as desired.  Ideas include in tacos or burritos, over rice or tortilla chips, with salsa, cheese, sour cream, and/or guacamole.

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FarmBox Fresh: 9/19/2012

21 Sep

I picked some new things this week!  Here is what I got:

I got okra (thank you Gayle for sharing!), garlic, red leaf lettuce, green beans, zucchini, lemon cucumber, ugly duckling potatoes (not the prettiest potatoes, but still edible), kid size pumpkin, red & yellow cocktail tomato mix, Special Spelt bread, and red cocktail tomatoes. The pumpkin I will bake and puree at some point for my favorite fall pumpkin recipes.  We’ve been munching on the tomatoes.  The spelt bread was one he hadn’t tried yet, and it was great.  Very light, fluffy, moist bread.  They do any amazing job with their bread!  Now, it’s time to work on what to get for next week!

 

Note: I order a custom box and choose what I want in my box from their Web Store.  There may be variances in availability on different pick up days.

 

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Pumpkin Smoothies

18 Sep

 

I think my favorite thing about fall is getting fresh pumpkins to bake with.  Our favorites are pumpkin pie, pumpkin gingerbread muffins, and pumpkin pancakes.  So, when fellow Bountiful Baskets participant posted a recipe for Pumpkin Smoothies, I looked it over, realized I had all the ingredients, and decided we needed to give it a try.

The recipe is from a picture that Oasis Advanced Wellness posted on their Facebook page about the Health Benefits of Pumpkin.

Healthy Pumpkin Smoothie

What you need:

1 frozen banana
1 cup vanilla almond milk
1 cup pumpkin, grated (I use pureed pumpkin)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Freshly ground pumpkin seeds (optional)
Agave nectar, stevia, or raw honey to taste
Ice cubes, to help thicken, if needed

How to make it:

Combine all ingredients in a blender until creamy.

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