Country Fried Steak Bites - Home Cooked Recipe #84

I love, love, love country fried steak. I didn't really have it growing up so when I discovered it as an adult I couldn't get enough. There are a couple of restaurants I absolutely love it at, and others that don't do such a great job. I came across this recipe for country fried steak, but in bite size pieces and I was hooked. I experimented a bit and came up with my own version, so here it is! You can serve it with white gravy for dipping, or ranch like I had, or even a horseradish sauce like the kind you get with a fried onion. It is delicious with any sauce you like really.  Also, you can make it as the protein in a meal, or serve them for snacks or an appetizer.

Country Fried Steak Bites

Ingredients

• 2lbs cube steak, cut into bite size pieces (about 1 inch)
• 2 cups flour
• salt & pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp Paprika ( I used smoked Paprika)
• 1 tsp Cayenne
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• oil for frying (use a light oil like vegetable or peanut)

Directions:
Preheat your oil and let it come up to between 350 and 375 (I used a 6 quart pot and had about 2 inches of oil in the pot). Meanwhile, in one bowl mix together the eggs and milk. Whisk together well. In a separate bowl, mix together flour and all spices. Dip your cube steak bites in flour, then in egg mixture, then back in flour. Fry in batches. It should take less than 5 minutes per batch, just look for a beautiful golden brown crust to form. Place each batch on a paper towel lined plate to drain off excess oil. Salt bites when the pieces come out of the oil. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. Enjoy!

Copycat Southwest Egg Rolls - Pinterest Pick #20

My friend Tanya is a HUGE fan of Chili's and their Southwest Egg Rolls. I enjoy them myself, and thought I would try to make a copycat recipe I found on Pinterest. I changed a couple of things. I left out the spinach (yuck, I am not a fan lol) & I just made regular ranch dressing as opposed to the Avocado Ranch to go with them. You could easily mash half an avocado and add it to some ranch dressing and you would have your Avocado Ranch. Also, I saute'd my chicken breast instead of grilling it as I already had a saute pan going and there's no point in heating up a grill for 1 chicken breast. I added onion powder and garlic powder to the spice mix because HELLO, flavor! I do prefer my ranch homemade and not out of a bottle, so I made it with a packet. These were delicious, and I cannot wait to try out more egg roll recipes as they are one of my favorite food items! You can find the original Pin HERE and the original recipe HERE.

Copycat Southwest Egg Rolls

Ingredients:

• 5 flour tortillas (I used the Mission Super Soft, Soft Taco size)
• 1 chicken breast, diced into small pieces
• 1 cup corn
• 2 tbs of red pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup black beans, rinsed
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 2 tbs jarred jalapenos, diced
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• dash of cayenne
• salt & pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup shredded Monterrey Jack
• oil for frying, butter for sauteing chicken

Directions:
Saute chicken breast pieces in a tablespoon of butter over medium heat (or you can grill your chicken breast if your prefer). Once it is cooked through (about 5 minutes), add in corn, red pepper, black beans, green onions, and jalapenos. Saute another 5 minutes. Add in spices, mix very well, and cook an additional 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let filling cool completely. Stir in cheese. Fill tortillas with filling and wrap tightly into an egg roll shape (secure with tooth picks). The original recipe I used said to let them sit 4 hours to over night, and I chose to let them sit in the fridge over night. I deep fried mine at 375 for 12 minutes. Serve with ranch or Avocado Ranch.
Enjoy!

French Dip Sliders - Pinterest Pick #19

I absolutely LOVE a slider! I don't know what it is about little sandwiches but they are the best. I have been pinning different slider ideas left and right, and finally decided to try one. I started with the recipe for French Dip sliders because I had all the ingredients on hand except the Au Jus mix. I picked up that packet while out and about and then gave the recipe a whirl. They came out fantastic!!!I would recommend these for lunch, dinner, a snack, an appetizer, or a party!!! You can find the original pin HERE and the original recipe HERE. I only made half the recipe so I had 3 sliders for dinner and 3 sliders for lunch the next day. The great part of this dish is that they tasted as good the next day, even after being microwaved!

French Dip Sliders

Ingredients:
(very easy to double or quadruple this recipe)

• 1/4 lb thinly sliced deli roast beef
• 12 slices thinly sliced Provolone cheese
• 1/2 cup French's onions (these are optional, omit if you don't like onions)
• 6 slider rolls
• softened butter (for greasing the pan)
• 4 tbs butter
• 1 package McCormick's Au Jus gravy mix
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp sesame seeds
• salt & pepper
• garlic powder
• onion powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease baking dish with butter.
If your slider rolls are not sliced, slice buns in half and lay bottom buns on bottom of greased pan. Top bottoms with 6 slices of cheese, then the meat, then the French's onions, then the remaining cheese. Cover with top buns. Melt butter in microwave for about 30 seconds. Stir in Worcestershire, sesame seeds, 1 tsp of the au jus mix, salt, pepper, dash of garlic powder, and dash of onion powder.  Brush slider tops with buttery topping. If there are leftovers, just dump it in after you make the rest of the au jus. Don't be concerned if buns look soggy, believe me, they'll crisp right up in the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes. While sliders are baking, prepare rest of au jus mix as package directs, adding any leftover butter topping you might have at the end. Serve sliders with au jus for dipping.
Enjoy!

Pizza Pockets - Home Cooked Recipe #77

This week's recipe is not the healthiest, but it's not the most unhealthy either.  And the bonus is it is easy to make, you can put whatever fillings you want inside, and it's fairly inexpensive!  I like something easy for weeknights, especially when I have dart league or something else going on that day. This recipe fits the bill, and it's delicious!

PIZZA POCKETS

Ingredients:

• 1 tube crescent rolls
• 2 oz shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup pizza sauce
• pepperoni
• parmesan

Directions:
Preheat oven to temperature on crescent roll package (mine was 375).
Unroll dough onto foil-lined, greased baking sheet. Take half the dough for the bottom, pressing the seams together so it is one rectangle.  Top with sauce, pepperoni, and cheeses.  Take the other half of the dough and place on top, sealing the seams AND the edges.  Bake for 15-20 mins.  Enjoy!
***NOTE:  You can jazz this particular one up by brushing the top with garlic butter, adding other pizza toppings to the filling (i.e. sausage, onions, peppers, etc), OR make an entirely different filling altogether such as cheddar, chicken, & broccoli or ham, cheese, and pineapple.  Your creativity is the limit!

Steamed Shrimp - Home Cooked Recipe #71

Man oh man do I love me some shellfish! Shrimp, scallops, crab, lobster... Yum! Shrimp has been very reasonably priced lately, and is a high protein, low calorie delight!  I had never steamed my own.  I usually roast or grill it.  But I saw a recipe for steamed shrimp with Old Bay and realized it was so easy and quick that I should be able to do it with no problem!  Here's how to make your own.


Steamed Shrimp

Ingredients:

• 12 oz RAW shrimp, shell on (try to get "easy peel" so it's not a lot of work to remove after cooking)
• 2 tbs Old Bay seasoning (I used low sodium)
• 12 oz beer (use your fav, I used bud light because that's what we had - you can also omit beer and just use all water)
• 3 cups water

***optional for dipping: 4tbs melted butter (I seasoned mine with a little more Old Bay) or cocktail sauce (healthier option and super easy: ketchup, horseradish, dash of Worcestershire!)

Directions:
Place beer and water in a pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer.  Season shrimp with Old Bay.  Place in a mesh metal strainer.  Place on pot, making sure shrimp doesn't touch water.  Place lid on pot.  Steam for 5 minutes, or until shrimp is cooked through.  Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.  Enjoy!

Edamame Hummus - Pinterest Pick #12

Hummus is a great snack because it is high in protein. But instead of using chickpeas I got the idea from Pinterest to use edamame!  While not as high in protein, it is still a good choice.  Super delicious, and the edamame have a fresher taste than chickpeas. So easy, you can make it quick for a healthy snack or a delicious appetizer! Find the Pin HERE and the original recipe HERE.

Edamame Hummus

Ingredients:

• 16 oz bag shelled edamame
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 3 tablespoons Tahini
• salt and pepper

Directions:
In a food processor, place garlic and pulse a few times to rough chop.  Add in edamame, spices, lemon juice and Tahini.  Puree together for a minute.  Stream in olive oil and puree for a minute or two until hummus is smooth.  Serve with your favorite chips or veggies.
Enjoy!

Corn Dog Mini-Muffins - Pinterest Pick #10

I have seen this recipe on Pinterest several times and a couple weeks ago I thought that it was time to make it!  You can find my pin for it HERE and the original recipe HERE. To make it better, next time, I need to bake it about 2-3 minutes less.  Also, I might add some shredded cheese right before I push the hot dogs in.  The only thing I changed in this recipe so far was to pre-bake my hot dogs before putting them in the muffin tin, because I like my hot dogs really well done.  You do it the way you like!

Mini Corn Dog Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 3 hot dogs, cut into 8 pieces each

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.  If you are pre-baking your hot dog pieces, now is the time to stick them in the oven!

Prepare batter by stirring together Jiffy mix, eggs, and milk.  Let rest 5 minutes. Spoon a tablespoon of batter in each mini muffin cup.  (My pan has 24 slots.)

Place a hot dog bite in the middle of each batter cup.  Bake for 10 minutes (Next time I will only bake for 8, so you could start with 8 minutes and check on them from there).  I served mine with homemade honey mustard.

Enjoy!

Simply Sides 20 - Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip

I was craving spinach and artichoke dip a few weeks ago.  I've never made it, only ordered it out or had it at parties.  I ran across a recipe on Hellmann's mayo website, and tried it out.  It was pretty good, but I have some ideas of how to change it up and make it my own, and I will next time! You can find the original recipe HERE.

Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Ingredients:

• 10oz box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 8oz cream cheese (let sit at room temp at least 4 hours or microwave, stirring every 10 seconds)
• 3/4 cup mayo (I only use Hellmann's, use what you like)
• 1 and 1/2 cups shredded cheese
• 1 package Knorr veg mix
• 1 can artichokes, drained and chopped (I got mine from Trader Joe's)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
Combine all ingredients except 1/2 cup of cheese.  Mix well then put in baking dish.  Top with remaining cheese. Bake 35 minutes.  Serve with bread cubes or tortilla chips.
Enjoy!

Simply Sides 10 - Three Cheese Stuffed Jalapenos

There has been in a trend lately where jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon have been going around at parties.  They are tasty little morsels, but I wanted something a little more exciting than plain cream cheese.  So yesterday, armed with fresh jalapenos and three cheeses, I made these cheese stuffed jalapenos.  Delish!

They are perfect as a side dish on Taco Night, would be great as party food, and can also be served as an appetizer.  They are pretty simple and cheap to make, so give them a try!

As a bonus, from now on when I think a dish is on the cheap side to make, I am going to try to tell you what it costs me!

Three Cheese Stuffed Jalapenos

Ingredients
6 fresh jalapenos (only cost me .74 and makes 12 of these snacks - plenty for 2 people)
1/2 of an 8oz block of cream cheese, softened (costs .60 to .75 depending on store brand or name brand, I used a name brand)
1/4 of an 8oz block of colby/jack cheese, shredded (.41 - out store had a sale on Kraft blocks and I had a coupon!)
2 tbs of parmesan (around .10, hard to measure)
Sprinkle of black pepper, seasoning salt, and garlic powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425.
Cut jalapenos in half lengthwise and remove all the seeds (*hint, I use gloves to do this.  At the very least make sure you wash your hands thoroughly after this task and don't touch your body parts - you will be sorry!) Lay them out on a baking sheet lined with foil.
Mix cheeses together. When well combined, add in a dash of salt, pepper, and garlic.  Mix together well.
Fill jalapeno halves with cheese.  
Bake for 10-20 minutes, until peppers soften and cheese becomes brown and bubbly.
Enjoy!

Special Post - Holiday Season 2013

What is one of the best things about the holidays?  Why, the food of course!  Whether it's a big sit-down dinner, or a cocktail party, or a family-style buffet, food brings family and friends together.  A great dish I came across this year is Lil Smokie wrapped in bacon and baked with a butter/brown sugar sauce.  You can't even imagine how good these things are!  They are relatively easy to make, the only somewhat time-consuming part is wrapping each individual smokie in bacon.  People love them, guests at Christmas dinner devoured them literally in 10 minutes.  Perfect as an appetizer, great to bring to a gathering, or just to eat as a snack, I think you should make these soon!

Bacon Wrapped Lil Smokies w/Brown Sugar Glaze

Ingredients:

• 2 12oz packages little sausages (I use Hillshire Farms, all beef Lil Smokies)
• 1 lb bacon, cut into thirds
• 1 stick butter
• 2 cups brown sugar, divided

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.  Wrap each sausage in a piece of bacon.  Place them on a rack on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile melt butter over medium-low heat and stir in one cup brown sugar.  Cook til sugar is dissolved.  Remove from oven, place in baking dish.  Top with brown sugar butter.  Sprinkle remaining cup of brown sugar over smokies.  Bake and additional 10 minutes.  Turn heat to 425 and bake 10 more minutes.

Enjoy!

Simply Sides 8 - Dolmas

What is a dolma you might be asking yourself?  Why it is a tasty little morsel!  More specifically, a dolma is a stuffed fruit or vegetable, i.e. stuffed cabbage leaves, zucchini, tomato, or in this case, grape leaves.  A middle Eastern dish, stuffed grape leaves are DELICIOUS, although they may sound weird to those who aren't so familiar with this culinary delight.  You can commonly find dolmades on Greek menus, and as my parents were fond of Greek food while I was growing up, I have had quite a few of these in my lifetime.  

Grape leaves are stuffed with a ground beef (or lamb) and rice mixture, with a brightness from lemons and a kick from various spices.  

I have never made dolmades before, and as I am expanding my culinary prowess this year, I thought I would give it a go.  To kick it up a notch, I developed a crock pot recipe for them, so once you've assembled them, you can just set it and forget them for a few hours!

These are great for parties, make a great appetizer, and are a great (fairly healthy snack).  I hope you give them a try!

Dolmas

Ingredients:

• 1 8oz jar grape leaves (found in the olive/pickle section of your grocery store)
• 1 lb ground beef (or lamb), browned with a diced onion
• 2 lemons
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 - 2 cups of chicken broth (or beef broth or veggie broth)
• 1 cup white rice, cooked
• 1/2 bunch fresh parsley, chopped fine
• 5 fresh mint leaves, chopped fine
• 1 tbs dried dill
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper (to taste, about 1 tsp of each)
• 1 onion, sliced

Directions:

Place sliced onion in the bottom of your crock pot.

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, rice, beaten egg, parsley, mint, dill, red pepper, salt, and pepper.  Mix well.  Add in the juice of 1 lemon, mix well.  Drain and rinse grape leaves.  Take 1 grape leaf, place some of the beef/rice mixture in the middle.  Fold in the short sides, fold over one of the long sides and roll.  Place seam side down on top of onion in crock pot.  Repeat with remaining grape leaves until ground beef mixture and/or grape leaves are gone.  

Mix broth and lemon juice together.  Pour over stuffed grape leaves in slow cooker.  Turn slow cooker to low and cook 6-8 hours or place slow cooker on high and cook 2-3 hours.

Enjoy!!!

Bonus Recipe! Tuna Kobachi

One of my favorite things to order at Fuji Sushi (my favorite sushi restaurant) is the appetizer Tuna Kobachi.  It comes in three sizes, and you can get a "deluxe" version, in which they add avocado and a fish roe.  The deluxe versions are $1.50 to $2  more than the regular version.  I am so in love with this dish, but it's super expensive to eat it out.  Especially in this bad economy.  So as with everything I love, I learned to make an almost identical, but much cheaper, version at home. 

Tuna Kobachi

2 (4 ounce) Ahi tuna steaks (I use a brand called Treasures From The Sea - they sell it at Sam's Club for $12.50 for 32 ounces - a GREAT price)
1tbs sesame oil
1 to 2 tsps of shichimi togarashi (a Japanese spice blend that you can buy at your local Asian market)
1 green onion, thinly sliced into small rounds
soy sauce for dipping
wasabi paste - easy to make your own, instructions in recipe
*** For deluxe version add a tsp tobiko (orange flying fish roe) and half of an avocado, thinly sliced

Defrost your tuna steaks if using Treasures From The Sea according to package instructions.  If you're using fresh tuna, you're ready to rock. 
Cube your tuna steaks in to small chunks.  Place in a bowl.  Toss gently with sesame oil and shichimi.  Sprinkle with green onion.  If you are making the deluxe version, sprinkle on tobiko and then gently top with avocado slices fanned out. 
This dish is even yummier if you dip it in soy sauce and wasabi.  To make your own wasabi paste, buy a small bottle of wasabi powder.  You can find this in your Asian foods aisle, we have a brand called Hokan in our area.  You mix the powder with small amounts of water until it forms the paste you see in sushi restaurants.  I believe it's equal parts powder to water.  Let it sit for a few minutes, then mix it in with your soy sauce.  Delicious... Enjoy!

Crab Rangoon - Home Cooked Recipe 10

I clearly have an obsession with my fryer lately.  And Asian food.  So here's another recipe that incorporates both.  Hopefully next week I'll have a recipe for a different cuisine that doesn't involve the fryer!

Crab Rangoon

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
12 eggroll wrappers
1 cup imitation crabmeat, finely chopped
2 green onions, finely chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp soy sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 egg, beaten
Frying oil

In a bowl mix the cream cheese, crab meat, onion, garlic, and soy sauce.  Season with salt and pepper.  Lay out a wrapper so it forms a diamond shape.  Place a tablespoon of filling just below the center line.  Brush all the corners lightly with the beaten egg.  Fold the wrapper in half to make a triangle shape, and seal tightly.  Fry wontons at 375 degrees for 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown.  You can serve these with a sweet and sour sauce for dipping.  Enjoy!