Garden of Eatin'

I found this on allrecipes.com when my husband came home raving about a little mexican place that had the best food. The kids don’t like them, but all the adults who’ve tried it say it’s awesome (me included). I modified the original recipe to make it a little easier. The marinade makes great chicken too!

Carne Asada

3 pounds flank steak
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 limes, juiced
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika

1 white onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime, juiced

Preferred jarred or homemade salsa

Flour tortillas
2 cups grated cotija cheese (optional – I hate this stuff but everyone else loves it, I use colby jack or cheddar)
2 limes, cut into wedges

Lay the flank steak in a large glass baking dish. In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, soy sauce, 4 cloves of garlic, juice of two limes, and olive oil. Season with salt, black pepper, white pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, oregano, cumin and paprika. Whisk until well blended, then pour over the steak in the dish. Turn over once to coat both sides. Cover with plastic wrap, and marinate for 1 to 8 hours.

In a small bowl, stir together 1 chopped white onion, cilantro, and the juice of 1 lime. Set aside to use as a relish for the tacos.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Toast chile pods in the skillet for a few minutes, then remove to a bowl of water to soak for about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cut the marinated flank steak into cubes or strips. Cook, stirring constantly, until the meat is cooked through and most of the liquid has evaporated.

Warm the tortillas in a skillet for about a minute on each side to make them pliable. Tortillas may also be warmed in a microwave oven. Arrange two or three tortillas on a plate, and lay a generous amount of beef over them. Top with a sprinkle of the onion relish and a large spoonful of the pureed salsa. Add as much cheese as you like. Garnish with lime wedges, and serve.

Another recipe I can’t eat (both the sour cream and cream cheese give me migraines), but I made it a few times before I figured it out, it was requested often and gone in no time….

From allrecipes.com

Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

5 pounds red potatoes, cut into chunks
1 tablespoon minced garlic, or to taste
3 cubes chicken bouillon
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot of lightly salted boiling water, cook the potatoes, garlic, and bouillon until potatoes are tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving water. In a bowl, mash potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese, adding reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.

Transfer the potato mixture to a slow cooker, cover, and cook on Low for 2 to 3 hours. Just before serving, stir in butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.

To go along with the potstickers I already posted, these egg rolls are really good. Maybe not as good as your favorite restaurant, but  far superior to most others.

Egg rolls

1 lb ground pork
4 cups shredded cabbage
1 large carrot, shredded
1/2 green bell pepper, sliced thin
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tsp fresh ginger root, grated
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1-1/2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 qt oil for frying
1-14 oz package egg roll wrappers
1-1/2 cups sweet & sour sauce

Cook pork in a large skillet/wok over medium high heat. Drain and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the cabbage, carrot, pepper, onion, garlic and ginger. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch, soy sauce and molasses until smooth.

Heat 2 Tbsp oil in skillet/wok. Stir in cabbage mixture in batches, cooking each batch 3-4 minutes, just until tender. Return vegetables to bowl and mix in pork. Stir in the cornstarch mixture.

Heat 1 qt oil in deep fryer to 365 degrees F (185 C)

Place about 1 Tbsp filling on each egg roll wrapper. Fold one corner over filling, then fold in sides. Moisten edges of remaining edge with water and roll, sealing edge well.

Fry egg rolls in batches in the hot oil until golden grown. Drain on paper towels and serve with sweet & sour sauce.

I found these a couple days before Christmas and thought they might be ok to try. Ok does it a huge disservice, they are SO GOOD. Really rich, so only a little goes a long way. Awesome flavor and textures.

(yes I originally typed crab, it’s supposed to be clam)

Clam Stuffed Mushrooms

20 fresh mushrooms, stems removed (I also pulled off the inner edge to “open up” the mushroom to allow more filling)
2 (6.5 ounce) cans minced clams, drained
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 small onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 tablespoons dried parsley
2 tablespoons Italian-style seasoning
ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups butter, melted
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.

Arrange mushroom caps hollow side up in the baking dish.

In a medium bowl, mix together minced clams, garlic, Parmesan cheese, onion, bread crumbs, green bell pepper, parsley, Italian-style seasoning and black pepper. Slowly stir in approximately 1/2 the butter, enough to make the mixture slightly moist.

Generously fill the mushroom caps with the clam mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Drizzle with remaining butter.

Bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until lightly browned.

I know there’s a few people out there who haven’t seen this recipe – it’s a MUST USE for your holiday turkey. It turns out such a flavorful juicy turkey, it’s unreal. I’ve got the brine cooling right now and can’t wait to eat some tomorrow. Make sure you have a good thermometer, it’s so important not to overcook it! I love Alton Brown!

Good Eats Roast Turkey

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

For the brine:

1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger
1 gallon heavily iced water

For the aromatics:

1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil

2 to 3 days before roasting: Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

Early on the day or the night before you’d like to eat:

Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.

Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey’s cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 151 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

A dear friend shared this with me recently, and my family just loves it. It’s one of those “in my head, amounts aren’t exact” for most of it, so feel free to mess around with it to suit your tastes.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

2 large carrots and 3 stalks of celery, sliced (I used my mandolin to make it uniform)
1/2 onion, finely chopped (use white onions usually)
1 tsp or one clove chopped garlic
2 large cans of chicken – Costco’s tastes the best, any will work, or an equal amount (maybe 2 cups?) of cooked leftover chicken
Water/broth/bouillon: last night I had about 2 cups leftover chicken broth, so I used that, plus 6 cups of water and 3 no-MSG chicken bouillon cubes. I think the time before I used 6-8 cups of water plus 5 or 6 bouillon cubes. You definitely need extra water for the noodles to cook in.
Seasonings: Kosher salt, pepper, basil, thyme, oregano and 1 bay leaf. 1-2 tsp of everything.
Optional, but made a big taste difference: chanterelle mushrooms, chopped (my kids had no clue these were in there, they look and feel like chunks of chicken (bwuahahaha)

Recipe for egg noodles

In your soup pot, cook the carrots, celery and onion in about a Tbsp on oil (I used olive oil) on medium til the onions are translucent, then add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the chicken, seasonings and your desired mixture of water/broth/bouillon. Let cook for 30 minutes on medium/medium low (just so it’s bubbling). Make the egg noodle dough during this time. Add the mushrooms. bring to a good boil and add the noodles. It’s not imparative they all get added at once. Just a few at a time so they stay separate. Let cook for a few minutes after the last noodles are added and it’s done! The flour in the homemade noodles thickens the soup, so it’s important to use them and not store bought.

I found this recipe and tried it yesterday, instant hit, instant keeper. I modified the ingredients and instructions slightly (the recipe called for 48 caramels but I only needed 26, and I don’t like pecans in my cookies). I didn’t have white chocolate on hand so I used butterscotch chips melted down.

Caramel filled chocolate cookies

1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
26 chocolate covered caramel candies
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 cup white chocolate chips

In a large bowl, cream together the white sugar, brown sugar, and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, and baking soda, gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Cover dough and chill for at least one hour. Meanwhile unwrap the candies and microwave on a place on low for 30 seconds, squish down so they are more flat then square.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

With floured hands, wrap about 1.5 tablespoon of dough around each piece of candy, completely covering the candy (tip: flatten out dough slightly, press caramel into dough and fold dough up around the top of the caramel). Roll each ball in the remaining tablespoon of white sugar. Place 2 inches apart on an unprepared cookie sheet. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Cookies should be set and slightly cracked.

Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave oven, or in a bowl over simmering water. Drizzle over the cookies when they are cool. If the melted chips are too thick, add vegetable oil to achieve the desired consistency.

Another allrecipes.com recipe! I don’t know if I ever mentioned this before, but I have no family recipes…there’s a few things that my dad made that were ok, but I’ve managed to improve on them – but all these recipes are in *my* family cookbook that all my kids will get. The tradition has to start somewhere! My kids love these, the celery adds the perfect crunch.

Deviled Eggs

6 eggs
1/2 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/4 onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup mayonnaise (hint: full fat mayo makes these taste so much better then lower fat, I speak from experience)
salt to taste
1 dash hot pepper sauce (we use Frank’s Red Hot)
paprika, for garnish

Place eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool and peel.

Cut eggs in half. Remove yolks and place in a medium bowl. Mash together with celery, onion, mayonnaise, salt and hot pepper sauce.

Place egg mixture in a pastry bag or zip lock bag (cut a small corner off and seal the bag), and fill the egg white halves with the egg yolk mixture. Sprinkle eggs with paprika. Chill covered in the refrigerator until serving.

I used to use – cover your children’s eyes – Taco Bell taco seasoning. Gross, huh?

Then we went to make tacos once and were all out.

I came upon this recipe and never bought the packets again.

Taco Seasoning

1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.