Son of Magazine Challenge: Cheesy Hash Brown Bake

So.
I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned in the past that the only thing my husband makes when I'm here is chili.  He likes to start with the Wick Fowler 2 Alarm Chili Kit and "makes it [his] own" by having me chop an onion to toss in along with a drained can of kidney beans.  It's really good, and thankfully makes enough for a couple of meals plus lunch for me for a couple of days.
The last time, however, I asked J if we could make this with the leftovers of the chili, and we actually ate this the next 2 days for lunch.  It's that good.  Trust me.
So if you're looking for something to do with the leftover chili from your last tailgate, and want a new twist on something delicious, might I suggest this?  It won't be the last time we try it around here.
From the March 2007 issue of Everyday Food, I present to you now Cheesy Hasbrown Bake:

#BookClubCookbookCC: BBQ Pot Roast over Cheddar Ranch Grits

So.
It's time for another edition of the #BookClubCookbook Cooking Crew!  Each month, one of the group will send out an invitation to read and create a dish based on a book from Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp's The Book Club Cookbook (Revised Edition).  This month, Renee from Tortillas and Honey invited us to read A Lesson Before Dying.

I have to admit, I didn't read this book at this time.  I read it almost 20 years ago while in Teachers College.
This is a powerful story.  So powerful that I remember crying through the last 50 pages.  I just wasn't up to reading it again.  But if you haven't, I totally recommend it.  Just have the tissues ready.
I debated what I wanted to make this month.  The cookbook suggested pralines, but I'm not up to making candy right now.  I need quick and easy dinner recipes.
I considered posting a Facebook question asking what people would want as their last meal (the book centres around time before one of the main character's execution for a crime he didn't commit), I searched Southern Food on Pinterest, and ended up perusing a site called "South Your Mouth" with lots of interesting recipes, and having a few roundups that I pinned from.  But then I got smart.  I sent a message to Janet.
I've only met Janet once, but she used to work with J when he lived in Charleston, SC.  I sent her a message asking for some true Southern food.  J has always told me that Janet is a great cook, and she had lots of suggestions.
Janet is from the Low Country of South Carolina, not Louisiana, so her suggestions favour that part of the US.  I still want to try Benne Seed cookies, but the recipes I found all made a huge number.  She suggested shrimp and grits, but I don't eat shellfish.  She also suggested anything with sweet tea, or Coca Cola Cake.  I finally took her first suggestion, with a recipe I'd seen featured on South Your Mouth:  cheese grits and a crockpot roast.  Perfect for fall.
I present to you now from Plain Chicken BBQ Pot Roast over Cheddar Ranch Grits:

Son of Magazine Challenge: Spinach-Stuffed Flank Steak

So.
I made this a while ago.  Like, I was still working awhile ago.  The problem with being inconsistent in my blogging is that things languish on my camera and get forgotten.  This is one of those recipes.
J and I both like spinach, and as a result I use it a lot in my cooking.  Spinach is a versatile vegetable, hearty enough to stand up to strong flavours, and healthy enough to make you feel virtuous.
J and I had this one Friday night after I went to the local butcher and had him butterfly the flank steak for me.  The filling went together easily, and the cooking time was relatively short, although we decided that slightly longer would have been better.  The second night, we were much happier with the level of doneness.
From the May 2007 issue of Everyday Food, I present to you now Spinach-Stuffed Flank Steak:

Grillmistress: Cheeseburger Kebabs

So.

We had a big pool party last weekend for some of my friends from when I was in Youth Group.  Yep, I've known a good number of the people who were here since I was 4.  We ate way too much, swam away the afternoon and caught up.  J and I host this once a year, and it's always so much fun.  One of the biggest deals this year was that we went out and bought a new tank of propane.

When my mom came in June, we set up to BBQ, got halfway through cooking the steak, and ran out of propane.  We then neglected to buy more for a month.  I know.  Have indoor grill, be lazy.  But with 25 people and a freezer full of burgers and hot dogs, the Foreman was not going to cut it and we got a new tank.  

What this means is that we're back to grilling in the great outdoors when the weather is good.  Just as well.  I found these little beauties on Pinterest or Twitter, and decided that I needed to try them myself.  It was a good need.  These are great.

I present to you now from Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen Cheeseburger Kebabs:

Secret Recipe Club: Gemista

So.
It's that time again...time for a Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day!
I love getting an email once a month that sends me to explore a new foodie blog, or this month one that I have enjoyed before.
This month, I was assigned Francesca's delightful blog, Della Cucina Povera.  We've been here before, faithful readers.  In September, I volunteered to make a recipe from an orphan blog...you guessed it, Francesca's.  I made Cinnamon Rolls.  They were awesome.
You would think that I would try something that I had considered last time, and once again falafels made the short list, but then I saw these.
When I lived in France, I had a host mother who made stuffed tomatoes that were a mostly ground beef and garlic stuffing.  They were awesome.  I saw these and got nostalgic.  They had rice in them, and mint...but it might be the same as the tomatoes of my memory.  They weren't, of course.  But they were darn yummy.  J told me he was "pleasantly surprised".  I'm not sure what exactly he was expecting, but apparently what he got wasn't quite it.  No worries.  They were happily consumed by all.
I present to you now Della Cucina Povera's Gemista:

Bride of Magazine Challenge: Roast Beef with Potatoes and Pearl Onions

So.
I set this post up and planned to complete it before the time came for it to go live.  Whoops.
For the eagle-eyed among you, the post went live with one word and no recipe.  Time is not my friend right now.  I keep meaning to get to the blog, and it just doesn't happen with everything else that's happening.  But I keep making new things.  So much to share!
Maybe November will be kinder.  Ha!
I like meals that are quick, easy, and give me at least 2 nights worth of meals.  This one is a winner, hands down.  When I went to the grocery store, there were no shallots.  How is that possible?  I think shallots are a fairly basic ingredient.  They did have bags of tiny red onions.  I thought those would be just as yummy.  They were probably more of a pain to peel.
J told me the next time I want to make a roast, he'd be happy to help eat it.  I'd use this recipe again, and even use shallots.
I present to you now from the October issue of Everyday Food, Roast Beef with Potatoes and Red Pearl Onions:

Freezer Friendly: Cheddar-Beef Pastry Pockets

So.
I have been loving the Taste of Home magazine I bought.  I'm starting to think that I should batch cook once a month and then eat the fruits of my labour over the following month.  Or, batch cook over a week, doing what I've done this month making half and eating half.  I'm going to need to look through the magazine for what else I need to try.
I have a habit of making a roast and usually end up freezing the heel, figuring that I'll come up with something to do with it eventually.  I finally emptied all the ziploc bags out of the top of my freezer to figure out what exactly I'd been saving for "eventually".  Leftover grilled pork tenderloin becomes pork fried rice.  Leftover ham goes into frittatas.  But leftover roast beef?  I've never been sure what to do with it.
Enter this recipe.  Leftover roast makes so much more sense than buying a refrigerated roast au jus, discarding/finding another use for the jus, and chopping up the roast.  I also switched out the cheese for one I buy more often, and changed the vegetables for ones I eat.  Let's say that the inspiration came from Taste of Home.
Either way, we enjoyed these.  I present to you now Cheddar-Beef Pastry Pockets:

Freezer Friendly: Salisbury Steak Meatballs

So.
You know what I'm finding with the things that I've been making for my freezer?  They all smell amazing.  This recipe is no exception.  I made this one morning this week, when I had a meeting in the afternoon, and I figured that if this was freezer-friendly, I could make this, refrigerate, and reheat for dinner.  By the time I finished making this, I was sorry that it wasn't for lunch.  It smelled amazing.
As I've said before, J loves meatloaf.  He's already requested that I make it "sometime this fall".  I'm not huge on it, but will make it from time to time, eat it the first night, and then leave it for J to eat for lunch for a couple of days.  He wanted to know today if maybe next time I could make a meatloaf recipe for the meatballs.  Frankly, this is essentially a meatloaf recipe sans Onion Soup Mix.  That would be okay too.
And the reason I'm not fond of meatloaf after night one?  It never reheats well, and I always get the cold spot.  Ew.  Reheated meatballs in gravy?  Much less likely to happen.  Huzzah.
I always enjoy reading the Pioneer Woman, but I've never really made her recipes before.  This was easy and delicious.  My meatballs didn't look quite so great as hers - but that wouldn't affect the taste.  Or, you know, I think mine were as good as how the picture probably tasted.  If the food was screaming hot.
I present to you now the Pioneer Woman's Salisbury Steak Meatballs:

Bride of Magazine Challenge: Tex Mex Beef Enchiladas

So.
I organized our freezer today.  Somehow, I have managed to accumulate 3 whole pork tenderloins.  I mean, there are a lot of things I can do with pork tenderloin, but I don't always think when I see them on sale.  I actually didn't have as many surprises in the bottom as I was afraid of.  But I do see some tortellini and ravioli dishes in our future.
Now that things down there are organized, it's time to start filling it with things that will be ready for fall when I don't feel like cooking.  J and I were talking today about when the last time was that we went out for dinner.  We think it was the night we came home from Seattle.  That's a good thing.  I keep reminding myself about how I will be grateful when football season is here and there's money for a hotel room...or tailgate supplies from Zingerman's.
Here is the first thing that I've made to fill the freezer.  I made a double batch (numbers reflected in the recipe below) so we could eat and see how they were, and freeze half.  I don't know why I decided to try a new enchilada sauce when the last from Budget Bytes was so successful, but I did.  It's okay (J really liked it), but I like Beth's better.  To each their own.
What I do know is that I'll be happy to pull this out and have dinner that we both like in a reasonably short amount of time.
I present to you now from the June 2006 issue of Everyday Food, Tex-Mex Beef Enchiladas:

Bride of Magazine Challenge: Cheddar Horseradish Burgers

So.
In theory, it's summer here.  The thermometer will tell you differently, but from time to time it's warm enough to go out and take a dip in the pool.  In the two years that we have lived in this house, we've had two of the craziest summers ever for owning a pool.  Last year, we went to New York City for our vacation.  We were gone for a week.  That was the week in July when it was 100.  And we were walking around NYC.  We came home the day the weather broke and jumped in the pool that afternoon.  Then it became unseasonably cold and damp for our kitchen renovation and instead of spending it in the pool I spent it sitting on the couch.  This year, we have once again had cooler than normal temperatures with days of 80+ weather.  The pool is beautiful in the middle of the backyard, but not really warm enough for swimming unless we're willing to run the heater most of the time and I'm way too cheap for that.  The weatherman is promising that things are about to improve.  Just in time for us to go to Seattle for vacation.  But between now and departure, we are supposed to have some more "normal" days in which to get in the water and swim.
One of the things that we like to do on weekends when it is promising is invite people over to swim and BBQ.  We usually just do burgers on the grill, and usually boxed ones at that for ease.  While looking through the July/August 2006 of Everyday Food, however, I found an article on a few different burgers that looked promising.  While not all are things that turn our cranks (turkey burgers were quickly nixed), these sounded delicious.  The day I made them, however, it rained again and I ended up using the Foreman instead of the backyard grill.  Next time.  And J has made me promised that there will be a next time.
From the July/August 2006 issue of Everyday Food, I present to you now Cheddar-Horseradish Burgers:

Bride of Magazine Challenge: Steak Quesadillas

So.
J and I are always up for a quick, yummy meal.  I don't like to cook on week nights, and save big showy recipes for weekend hobby cooking when I have large amounts of time to dirty every piece of cookware in my kitchen.  But Monday to Friday I need something fast and simple or we go out.
These quesadillas are perfect.  It seems like there's a lot of steps, but I discovered that there really weren't that many dishes in the sink when I was done, and they went together relatively quickly.  I shredded the cheese and sliced the onions while the steak cooked, and then I cleaned up while the quesadillas baked.  We got 3 quesadillas out of the recipe, and that was a nice sized meal for the two of us:  one and a half each.  I often buy my steaks at Costco and divide them into servings for the 2 of us.  I used one of those strip steaks for these.  With a little steak rub, they were delicious.
It's June, and I've already made a recipe from the June 2006 issue.  That's an all good thing, seeing as June is crazy.  But when things are like this, it's not hard to make things for us to eat during the week.
I present to you now from the June 2006 issue of Everyday Food, Steak Quesadillas:

Bride of Magazine Challenge: Thai-Style Steak Salad

So.
J and I are both fans of dinner salads.  With the success of some of the salads I've made in the past, I figured this Thai-style salad was worth a shot. 
I don't know if I have a larger pantry than many people (I probably do...), but when I read a recipe like this and start to adjust it in my head, I usually have all of the ingredients for things like the marinade in the house already.  A well stocked pantry with a variety of flavours to play with makes cooking more fun - if I had to go buy the things that make these flavours I'd probably stay away because it's expensive to stock up.  But I would say that by stocking up over time, the upkeep on a good pantry is not that bad.  Things like sesame oil and seasoned rice vinegar for Asian tastes, or cumin and chipotles for Mexican foods aren't used up quickly but add a huge amount of flavour and adventure in the kitchen.  If nothing else, a little adventure in life is a good thing.
I changed things somewhat from the original recipe.  I halved the recipe so that it was only for 2, instead of 4.  I halved the strips of carrot for ease of eating, and marinated the carrots and bean sprouts instead of pouring the reserved dressing over the mixed vegetables.  I also subbed sesame oil for some of the vegetable oil because I love the toasted flavour of sesame oil, especially with spinach as a base instead of romaine lettuce.
But in terms of quick dinner, this salad fits the bill.  Outside of marinating time, I think I put this together in about 30 minutes.  Quick dinners.  That's how we roll around here.
I present to you now from the May 2006 Everyday Food, Thai-style Steak Salad:

Valentine's Rewind

So.
We were home for Valentine's Day.  J asked me if I wanted to go out, but I really didn't.  We eat out too much.
While flipping through the Jan/Feb 2006 issue of Everyday Food, I found a menu for 2 for Valentine's Day.  I decided that it would be an easy present for us both:  dinner in, with lots of yummy things.  The entire menu as presented by EDF is Artichoke-Parmesan Crostini, Pepper Crusted Filet Mignon with Red Wine Reduction Sauce, Creamy Spinach, Slow-Roasted Tomatoes, and Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse.
The beauty of this menu is it's meant for 2.  The only thing that makes 4 servings is the mousse.  But I didn't think that I wanted to make the crostini or the mousse.  I decided to make the main, serve a cheese course, and buy a dessert for two.  The result was a lovely meal.
I present to you now from the 2006 January/February issue of Everyday Food what we had for Valentine's Day at home:

Game Food: Shredded Beef Sandwiches

So.
Last Sunday was the Superbowl.  It was a super snore of a game, but did give a chance to make some food that would be good for tailgating. 
J and I usually make chili for the Superbowl.  But having made chili a couple of weeks ago, we wanted something different.  I went through my Pinterest board and found this recipe for shredded beef sandwiches where the meat cooked for the entire afternoon and made enough for an army.  While it was just the two of us, we had hearty sandwiches that evening and the next day.  Then I froze enough for at least two more meals.  AND I saved the leftover juice from the meat to make gravy for another meal. 
Shredded beef - the gift that keeps on giving. 
I present to you now The Way to His Heart's Shredded (Drip) Beef Sandwiches: