Shepherd's Pie

Here is a recipe that I can't believe I haven't posted before. I have some recipes that are in regular rotation because they are ideal "construction worker" food. When the weather turns cold, I gotta feed my man with hearty dishes that fill him up at the end of a cold workday, and re-heat well enough to keep him going at lunch the next day. This is one of those dishes. It is a non-traditional take on the classic Shepherd's Pie, adapted from a Paula Deen recipe, made to fit the tastes of my picky eater husband.

Shepherd's Pie
1 container Country Crock (or other brand, like Bob Evans) prepared mashed potatoes
1 pound ground beef
1 can cut green beans
1 cup frozen corn (or 1 small can) or any other combination of vegetables you like
1 14 ounce can tomato sauce
2 cups Bisquick or other biscuit mix
1 1/2 cups milk
4 TB butter, melted

Brown beef in a large skillet (sometimes I also add some diced onion here). Drain, and mix in the tomato sauce, vegetables and salt and pepper.

Prepare the mashed potatoes according to the package and spread in the bottom of a deep casserole dish. Layer the meat mixture on top of the potatoes. Mix the Bisquick with the milk and pour over the top of the meat.Drizzle the melted butter over the biscuit layer and bake at 350 until the biscuit layer is golden and cooked through.Allow to cool slightly before serving (or the mashed potatoes will just ooze all over the place).Here it is, deconstructed. When I serve it, I like to take the biscuit crust off first, then dish out the meat filling, and finally the potatoes from the bottom so I have some of each on my plate. Plus, it just looks better that way, and you know that's what its all about, after all!

Cheeseburger Soup

Here is another cold weather favorite of my husband's. He is not normally a big fan of soup, but there are a couple that he is always happy to see in the meal rotation. One is my butter bean soup, the other is cheeseburger soup. This is a recipe that came from a lady I used to work with back in my fabric store days. I'm not really sure why she called it "cheeseburger" soup, because its really more of a steak and potato soup, but hey, who am I to quibble? It really is a meal in a cup, so no wonder Matt likes it. It could also have something to do with the large quantity of meat, potatoes, and Velveeta it calls for!

Cheeseburger Soup
1-2 pounds lean stew meat

1 TB minced garlic

1 Tb Italian seasoning

5-6 large potatoes, cubed

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

3 cups chicken broth

4 TB butter

1/4 cup flour

8 ounces Velveeta

1 1/2 cups milk

salt & pepper

In a large stock pot, brown the beef on all sides in a little oil with the garlic, then set aside. In the juices, saute the herbs and the onion until translucent. Return the meat to the pan, and add the potatoes and the broth. Bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes are tender. Melt butter and flour together; add to soup and bring back to a boil (add more flour if necessary to thicken).

Add cheese, milk, salt & pepper. Cook until cheese melts and soup reaches desired consistency.

Taco Casserole

You can tell the weather has turned toward fall. I'm starting to get back in the comfort food groove and have been putting together dishes geared toward my husband. This one is uber-simple, and if you cook your meat ahead of time, takes only minutes to prepare. I always keep the ingredients for this one on hand for a quick and easy dinner in minutes.

Taco Casserole

1 pound ground beef

1 packet taco seasoning

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or more, if you like it really cheesy)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup taco sauce OR Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce (yes, I know, not really a "taco" ingredient, but it is one of Matt's favorite things, so we put a twist on the taco concept.)

3 - 10 inch flour tortillas

Brown the ground beef and drain thoroughly. Mix in taco seasoning and 2/3 cup water.

In either an 8 inch square dish or a deep round casserole, layer the ingredients in the following order, using about 1/4 of each, per layer.

Seasoned beef

black beans

Country Bob's sauce or taco sauce

cheese

tortilla

Now, REPEAT!

Then, repeat again until you have used up all of your ingredients.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 until bubbly. Serve!

This is by no means an exact recipe. Its is easily doubled, and there is no reason you can't switch up the ingredients to your liking. If I wasn't feeding Matt, I'd put in fresh diced tomatoes and top it with sour cream. Sometimes when we're feeling the urge, I throw in a bunch of chopped jalapeños. Whatever your family likes, it will all work in here!

Of Words and Wine - A Book Club

I haven't mentioned it yet, but you may have noticed that I added a Bookshelf to my sidebar several weeks ago. This is because I managed to persuade a few of my coworkers to start a book club with me and I am so excited about it that I wanted to share what we are reading with you.

This past Friday night was our first meeting, and the book we chose to read about a month ago was a long one, about 932 pages. I hosted the inaugural meeting at my house, and (I know you're going to be shocked) I made some goodies for us to snack on while we chatted.

If you wonder how we came up with the name for our club (and even if you didn't) I'm going to tell you! I told the girls when we decided to do this, that the one prerequisite for membership, was being okay with a few cocktails during the meetings. I think I just christened the birth of the anti-AA meeting.

In any case, real quick I'll just say I served up a little antipasto salad, sesame chicken skewers, and french onion biscuits. Just some little tidbits to nibble on during the meeting.

So, on to the book.

Five Smooth Stones, by Ann Fairbairn.

This book was first published in 1966, and it amazed us that we hadn't ever heard of it before now. I have no doubt that the novel was extremely controversial in its day, a "monumental" story of interracial love and the civil rights movement. I have always considered myself to be the opposite of "racist". I was raised in a very loving home where I was taught that people should be judged by their actions, not by their genes. I grew up with friends of every ethnic background and cultural upbringing. I pursued a degree in foreign language in college.

This book made me ashamed of my white skin.

Please don't get me wrong, this was an amazing book, I think everyone (I mean EVERYONE) should read it. I know all about the civil rights movement, the history of slavery, and I am proud to say that one of my ancestors ran a station on the Underground Railroad. I can also say that I now know that I had no idea how horrific the reality of those dark days was. The book made me proud of those who stood up, made me feel guilt for not being more of an activist and being content to say, "I do not subscribe to that point of view", and it made me cry for the pain and suffering of the characters in the book, both black and white.

It shocks me that this book is not more well known. It is not heavily circulated, but is incredibly well reviewed by those who have read it.

If you can get your hands on a copy, I encourage all of you to take the time to read this book, and re-evaluate your position on the issue. It really makes you think about who you are, and whether or not it is the person you truly wanted to be. If you can't get a copy, I'll send you mine, as long as you promise to read it and then pass it on to someone else to read. Keep this one going, it may be the best book I've ever read.

Ginny's Special Request - Pumpkin Roll

Many, many moons ago, when I was just a teenager, I attended an event at a friend's home and fell in love with one of her mother's desserts. It was creamy, rich, and the epitome of autumn baking. Pumpkin Roll. I had never had such a thing roll across my tongue before, and I begged for the recipe. This may actually be the first recipe I had in my own personal collection.

I made batch after batch throughout the next decade (ok, more than a decade) and it became the most requested recipe in my rapidly growing repertoire. I can't say for sure what the reason behind it was, but I haven't made this in quite a long time. Pumpkin roll burnout? Maybe.... In any case, while we were planning the onslaught of recipes that we planned to make while Ginny was here, this came out as a special request from the lady, herself.

"Can we please make pumpkin roll?"

Wow. Well, YEAH! Of course we can!

Did you know there is a pumpkin shortage this year? That's what my local grocers tell me. It was actually fairly difficult to come by a can of pumpkin pie filling for a little while there, but I got it together and sure enough, we had pumpkin roll. For breakfast.

This is not a difficult recipe, by any means. I think that I must have some particular ways in which I coax and soothe the ingredients after rolling these out in such quantity over the years, that it always just sees to come out better from my kitchen. I even have one tea towel and one jelly roll pan that are reserved strictly for this purpose. When those two items finally see their last days, I don't know what I'll do.

So, if you are looking for a fantastically seasonal dessert (or breakfast) that is bound to satisfy anyone's palate, give this one a shot. It is a tried and true favorite in our house and many others.

Beth’s Pumpkin Roll
Cake:

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 – 1 cup pumpkin pie filling
1 tsp baking soda
2 TB cinnamon
¾ cup flour

Beat eggs; gradually add sugar. Blend in remaining ingredients. Spread onto a greased, wax-paper lined cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 – 14 minutes. Turn out onto a tea towel covered in powdered sugar.

Roll lengthwise and let cool. (Yes, roll it up on the towel and put the whole thing in the fridge for a few hours.)

Filling:
1 – 8 ounce package cream cheese
1-2 teaspoons vanilla
2 TB oleo
1 cup powdered sugar

Cream all ingredients together. Carefully unroll the chilled log. Spread the filling generously on the inside of the log. Re-roll and chill again.Slice and serve.

If you chill it for a few hours after filling it, you will have a nice, consistent roll with a firmly set cream layer. We weren't that patient, and we ate the gorgeous thing immediately after filling it, so the picture above makes it look a little gooey. It still tasted great, you can take my word for that. Enjoy!

Avocado Smoothies

I know it is probably hard to believe, but even with all the foodie posts that I have put up from my weekend-o-food with Ginny, I'm still not done. Nope! You heard me right. I still have a couple more recipes to post just from the couple of days Ginny spent here a few weeks back.
The next one I am going to share with you is an avocado shake. Now, I love avocado. I like it in salads, love guacamole, and even just as a little treat with salt, pepper and olive oil on a bagel. But I always, always eat it in a savory form. I have seen avocado turned into a sweet treat, usually in some Asian methodology, but I have never considered trying it that way. I just didn't think I'd care for it that way. I don't know why I have put it off, I always claim to be so open minded about food, counting a dish out just because it is out of my normal comfort zone is just not like me. So, when Ginny suggested an avocado shake, well, I had to remind myself of my foodie motto, "Try anything twice, just in case you were wrong the first time."

Looking around on Tastespotting, Ginny found this recipe, and we got the food processor out and put it to work. It turned out this gorgeously creamy concoction that bore a slight resemblance to a facial masque. Probably would have done wonders for my complexion. It was reminiscent of ice cream, but somehow, I felt none of the guilt I normally associate with such decadence.

Coming from the girl who doesn't think she'd like "savory" done "sweet", comes this admission....I was wrong. And you know how I know I was wrong? MY SON ATE IT.Yep, that's right, that's my picky little four year old licking the spoon, and loving it. He was like a little guppy with a spoon. Aside from that, Ginny and I were giving ourselves brain freeze because we were slurping it down so fast.

This is definitely a recipe I can recommend and I will be making it again!

Avocado Shake (Sinh To Bo)
(makes 2 servings)
1 large, ripe, avocado
3 tbs of sugar or condensed milk (start with this amount)
1/2 cup half and half (or you can use regular milk)
1 cup of ice (the more ice you use, the thicker it will be)
couple drops of vanilla extract (optional)

Ripe avocados should be firm but will yield to gentle pressure when held in the palm of the hand and squeezed. Color is not always accurate. Slice lengthwise and split in half. To remove the pit, place the avocado on a cutting board and with sharp knife, strike the pit--knife should now stick to the pit for easy removal. Combine ingredients in blender and puree until it thickens. Taste and make final adjustments on sweetness or consistency by adjusting amount of ice/half and half. So rich, yet refreshingly delicious!

TFF - Pasta Carbonara (Tolan’s Pregnancy Pasta)

Its always so sad to see a good thing come to an end. I have thoroughly enjoyed posting recipes for Tyler Florence Fridays, and was even lucky enough to get one of my posts featured on Tyler's own blog because of it. But, alas, nothing lasts forever. Tyler Florence Fridays is wrapping up at the end of this month, and although I will miss it, I am really looking forward to participating in the new spin off, I Heart Cooking Clubs.

So, I thought that this would be a fitting post for my last submission to Tyler Florence Fridays. Although I was a stealth reader for quite some time before actually submitting a recipe, my very first post for TFF was Tolan's Pregnancy Pasta. Since that time, I have been telling Ginny how amazing it was, so when she came out for a visit recently, we made it again. As we always do, we changed it up a bit, using some fresh bucatini instead of spaghetti, and made a few other minor tweaks. We also toasted up some little slices of baguette to mop up the sauce with. It did turn out slightly different, but every bit as tasty.

Here are some shots of my versions of Tyler's Carbonara, then and now. This recipe was both my first and last post for TFF, and it made for a great beginning AND end. I can't wait to start with some new cookbooks, and get some more great new recipes out there for you all to drool over!

Then:
Now:Adios, TFF! Next week I'll do a roundup of all my TFF posts, just for fun!