Mexican Omelet

Mexican Omelet

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs, beaten
• Add 1/2 can of Hatch Chiles and Peppers, including liquid
• Add a hand-full of shredded Mexican cheese of some type
• Whisk well until all is mixed evenly

Directions:

1. Spray omelet pan and melt a pat of butter on each side
2. Cook mixture until your taste of "doneness"
3. Cut omelet in half and serve.

I like the omelet pans, but if you don't have one, just make the omelet your normal way. I use the medium Hatch chilies because Nita does not like the hotter peppers. Use what you like or add hot sauce when serving.

Greek Style Green Beans

Greek Style Green Beans

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. fresh organic green beans, rinsed and trimmed
• 1/2 cup virgin olive oil
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 2 large diced organic tomatoes
• sea salt to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat
2. Cook and stir the onion and garlic until tender
3. Mix the beans, tomatoes and salt into the skillet
4. Reduce heat to low and cook 30 minutes

We like our beans crispy rather than soft. If you prefer them softer, cook for 45 minutes.

Lamb Chops

Lamb Chops

Ingredients:

• 4 lamb chops
• 1 small sliced onion
• 1/4 tsp. oregano
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• dash of pepper
• minced garlic clove

Directions:

1. Place onion in bottom of slow cooker
2. Combine spices in a shallow bowl
3. Coat lamb chops with the spices and place on top of onion
4. Top lamb chops with minced garlic
5. Set slow cooker on low - 4-5 hours or so should be enough

Lamb will fall off the bone.

Corned Beef Hash

Corned Beef Hash
from McBob's in Milwaukee

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1/2 tbsp. canola oil
• 1/4 lb. red potatoes, boiled but not soggy, cubed
• 1/2 lb. corned beef hash, sliced and broken into pieces

Directions:

1. Over medium heat, cook onion in oil until softened
2. Add potatoes and fry until outside is crispy
3. Add corned beef hash
4. Toss together over medium heat until all is hot

Serves 2

This is half of McBob's recipe and competes very well with Hormel's without the salt and calories.

Chicken Enchildas

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 tbsp. flour
• 1 tbsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
• 
  
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
• 8 oz. beans - black and/or refried, drained
• 6 corn tortillas
• cooking spray
• 2 oz. shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 1/4 cup cilantro

Directions:

1. Combine first 9 ingredients in a saucepan, whisk and bring to a boil
2. Cook about 5 minutes
3. Reserve 1/2 cup to the side
4. Add chicken and beans to pan
5. Cook about 5 minutes
6. Heat tortillas to get barely warm
7. Spoon mixture over center of each tortilla
8. Fold each tortilla and place into a pre-sprayed glass baking dish - folded side down
9. Top with remaining sauce and cheese
10. Broil on high about 5 minutes until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned
11. Top with cilantro and  serve

May add jalapenos if you like.

Salmon and Dill Sauce

Salmon and Dill Sauce

Ingredients:

• Salmon, cooked how you want it done - sauteed, broiled, baked, grilled
• 
  
• Plain Yogurt
• Lemon juice
• capers
• dill
• sea salt
• black pepper

Directions

1. You already noticed I didn't give directions for the salmon, nor amounts for the sauce
2. Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl modifying the amounts until you get it how you like it

It's really that simple. My mistakes have been when I tried to follow a recipe using their specific amounts of ingredients. Then I ended up with too much lemon, too much yogurt, not enough yogurt, too little dill and so forth. The ingredients are right, but sticking to a specific amount of each will not satisfy everyone's taste. Experiment.

Butternut Squash Fries

Butternut Squash Fries

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash
• extra-virgin olive oil
• sea salt
• black pepper

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 F
2. Peel squash, remove seeds and cut into french fry sized slices
3. Place on baking sheet
4. Sprinkle with oil, salt and pepper
5. Bake for 20 minutes, turning over after 10

Serves 2

Spaghetti Squash Gratin

Spaghetti Squash Gratin

If you roasted the squash as in a previous blog entry and used it for the following 2 recipes for 2 people, you will find that you have just enough left over for this recipe. Thus, we had spaghetti squash 3 days in a row and finished the whole gourd. Again, this recipe turned to be very good and can be used as a side or a vegetarian main dish.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 1/2 tbsp. butter
• 1 1/2 cups roasted spaghetti squash
• sea salt
• black pepper
• 2 tbsp. Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 F
2. Place broth, milk and garlic in small pot and cook 1 minute
3. Move mixture to a small bowl and whisk in flour
4. Melt butter in the pot
5. Add mixture to pot and cook about 6 minutes until thickened
6. Add squash to sauce
7. Add salt and pepper to taste
8. Transfer mixture to small glass baking dish, spread thin
9. Sprinkle Parmesan to cover entire mixture (may take more than Ingredients indicate)
10. Bake about 20 minutes - cheese should be golden brown and bubbling.

Serves 2

Spaghetti Squash with Parmesan

Spaghetti Squash with Parmesan

Ingredients:

• 3 cups roasted spaghetti squash (see recipe elsewhere in this blog)
• 1 shallot (can use green onion), diced
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 2-3 tbsp. grated Parmesan
• sea salt
• black pepper

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a non-stick skillet
2. Add shallots and garlic
3. Cook until shallots are softened
4. Add squash and toss to combine well
5. Cook until warm throughout
6. Stir in the parsley and Parmesan (we like lots of cheese)
7. Season with salt and pepper to taste

Serves 2. Delicious!!!!

Spiced Spaghetti Squash Pancakes

Spiced Spaghetti Squash Pancakes

Important: Use Roasted Spaghetti Squash as described in another blog entry.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tbsp. organic extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 shallots (don't use green onions unless you cannot find shallots), minced
• 1 small jalapeno, minced
• 1 1/2  tbsp. ginger (fresh will work best, but powder is okay)
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• sea salt
• black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups Roasted Spaghetti Squash (see note above)
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/8 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 275 F
2. Heat oil in a non-stick skillet
3. Add shallots, jalapenos and ginger
4. Cook about 5-7 minutes over low heat
5. Add cumin, salt and pepper to taste
6. Let cool slightly
7. Transfer from skillet to a large bowl and stir in the squash, egg and flour
8. Coat skillet with spray
9. Scoop about 1/4 cup of mixture and drop into skillet - should make 6 pancakes
10. Cook about 4-5 minutes, flip over and cook another 4-5 minutes - should be golden brown

Serves 2

Nita and I agree this is a good recipe to accompany some "heavy" meats like beef bratwurst. Really good tasting!!!!!

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

No matter which recipe you use, always roast your spaghetti squash, cut it in half and remove the seeds with a spoon. Then scrape the 'meat' with a fork to get the strands looking like spaghetti and place in a bowl. You can do this ahead of time and use it for several recipes elsewhere in this blog. The spaghetti squash can be kept in the refrigerator 3 days.

Ingredients:

• 1 spaghetti squash (3 pounds)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2. Place squash on a rimmed baking sheet
3. Roast about 1 hour and 20 minutes, turning over once
4. Squash should be soft when pierced with a knife.
5. Let cool
6. Cut in half lengthwise
7. Remove seeds with spoon
8. Scrape 'flesh' with a fork.

Cauliflower Gratin

Cauliflower Gratin

Ingredients:

• 1/2 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets
• 1 1/2 tbsp. butter
• 1 1/2 flour
• 3/4 tbsp. dry mustard
• 1 cup milk
• sea salt
• black pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Bring saucepan of water to a boil
2. Add cauliflower and boil 5-7 minutes
3. Drain cauliflower and rinse under cold water
4. Place cauliflower in a baking dish
5. Pre-heat broiler on high with rack 8 inches from heat source

Directions for cheese sauce:

1. Melt butter
2. Whisk in flour and mustard and cook about 2 minutes
3. Whisk in milk
4. Bring to a boil
5. Reduce heat and simmer until smooth and thickened
6. Remove from heat and add 1/2 of the cheese 
7. Whisk until cheese is melted, adding salt and pepper
8. Pour over cauliflower

Final Preparation:

1. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the mixture
2. Place the dish under broiler for 3-5 minutes

Serves 2 - very filling

Can be used as a side or as a main dish; we used it as a full meal.

Eggs Benedict

Eggs Benedict
(modified from a Julia Child recipe)

Hollandaise Sauce:
Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp. lemon juice
• 3 tbsp. water
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 whole egg and 2 egg yolks
• 6 oz. butter
• pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Bring lemon juice and water to simmer, add salt
2. Beat egg and yolks until pale and thick, set over low heat, adding lemon juice slowly
3. Remove from heat and add warmed butter - beating slowly to make a thick, creamy, yellow sauce
4. Add salt/pepper to taste

Eggs Benedict:
Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 4 English Muffin halves, toasted and buttered
• 1 1/2 cups Hollandaise Sauce
• 4 slices beef bacon, cooked crispy

Directions:

1. Place 2 English Muffin halves on each plate
2. Poach eggs according to your taste and your preferred instructions (I use an egg poacher)
3. Place a piece of bacon on each muffin - cut in half and criss-crossed
4. Place an egg on top of bacon
5. Cover with sauce and serve

Serves 2