This spicy stew tastes much better than you’d think for how simple it is to prepare.  If you want to further save some time canned, diced tomatoes can be substituted for all but the one cup added at the end but it does change the texture of the stew a bit.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 lbs Boneless pork roast or thick cut pork chops, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1/2 cup onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp salt
4 tomatoes, chopped and divided (about 4 cups)
1/2 cup
plus 4 Tbs water
1 (4-oz.) can diced jalapenos
1 Tbs cornstarch
1/4 cup sliced green onion tops


Heat oil in Dutch oven or tall sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and sautee for two minutes. Add cubed pork; cook and stir until browned. Pour off drippings.

Combine oregano, cumin, red pepper and salt; sprinkle over pork, onion and garlic, stir to coat evenly and saute 5 minutes longer. Add 3 cups of the tomatoes and 1/2 cup water, stirring to combine. Bring to a boil, then educe heat; cover tightly and simmer two hours or until pork is tender, stirring occasionally and adding more water if necessary.

Drain the can of jalapenos. Reserve liquid, adding the remaining 4 Tbs water. Add them to the pork mixture. Combine cornstarch with the reserved jalapeno juice and water. Slowly add to the stew and stew and cook, uncovered, until thickened. Stir in remaining tomatoes.

Serve hot on a bed of rice. Garnish with green onions and sour cream if that’s your thing.

Serves: 4

Along with a penchant for blasphemy and a distaste for religious tchotckes, my tragic catholic upbringing left me with an eternal loathing for tuna-noodle casserole and most other recipes that call for canned fish.  This one’s pretty tasty though.  Must be the lack of noodles and cream of mushroom soup. 

Ingredients:

2 1/4 Cups leftover cooked salmon, or 3 six ounce cans boneless skinless salmon, drained
1 Cup Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 Cup Chopped yellow onion
1 Egg, beaten
1/4 Cup Whole milk
1 Tbs Lemon juice
1 tsp Lemon zest
3 Tbs Chopped cilantro
1/4 tsp Dried dill
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp pepper

For lemon dill sauce

1/4 Cup Mayonnaise
1/4 Cup Sour cream or plain yogurt
1 Tbs Lemon juice
1/4 tsp Dried dill
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine all ingredients but those for sauce in bowl and mix well.  Place into a oiled 9x5 loaf pan and pat down.  Bake for 40 minutes or until the loaf is firm and the top is becoming browned.  Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before removing from pan and slicing. 

While the loaf is cooking combine ingredients for sauce and stir until smooth and all lumps have disappeared.  Serve at room temperature.

I may be biased but this is the bestest ever chicken concoction I have ever concocted…

6-8 chicken breasts
1 jar of salsa
2 - 3 cups shredded cheese (don’t matter what kind)

A NOTE BEFORE CONCOCTING:
Now this may just be me, but chicken breasts are icky unless you put them in a pot of water and boil them a bit to get all the ickyness out of them. So yeah, that’s what I do before baking.

DIRECTIONS:

Place chicken breasts (pre-cooked or not, that’s up to you) in an 9x13 oven pan. Pour salsa over the top of the chicken breasts, to cover. Top with shredded cheese.

Cover lightly with foil.

Bake at 300 for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

They used to say that real men don’t eat quiche.  That’s okay though because this isn’t really quiche, but it’s close enough and takes almost no time to prepare and can be modified to use up whatever you’ve got in the fridge.  It’s also rather good as a cold lunch if you have leftovers.

Ingredients:

10 oz Frozen spinach, thawed and drained
8 oz Grated cheddar cheese (or any other firm, grateable cheese.  I like pepperjack. It counters the richness of all the diary)
2 cups Cottage cheese; curd size and fat content is your choice
2-3 handfuls Diced ham
4 Eggs
6 Tbs Flour
1/8 1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
Salt, pepper and other spices to taste

Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9” pie pan with cooking spray.  Turn on your cooking tunes or, since this is so fast to prepare, tune the tv to Springer.

Take a big-ass bowl. Add the spinach, cottage cheese, ham and grated cheddar and mix well. Make sure you break up all the wads of spinach or you’ll wind up with great soggy gobs of of it in the pie when you take it out of the oven rather than an evenly distributed taste treat.  Definitely not a taste or textural sensation, biting into wet, congealed spinach I can tell you.

Beat the eggs and whatever spices you choose to use together and add to the cheese spinach and cottage cheese mixture. Spread your flour over the top of the whole mess and fold it all together with your trusty spatula (note: the original recipe called for adding the flour to the beaten egg and spices before it’s all dumped into the big bowl, but that gave me a disgustingly lumpy mess that might have made a swell wallpaper paste but would have been hell on earth to fold evenly into the spinach/cheese mixture. If you wish to do it that way, more power to you, but don’t come running to me if you have to throw it out and start over.)

Pour the whole mess into the pie pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until yummy-smelling and browned on top.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.  Don’t stress if you go over though.  There’s no crust to burn and there’s enough moisture in it that it won’t dry out even if you let it bake for an hour. 

These are the easiest BBQ ribs in the world.. and quite tasty I might add. You can make these and everyone will think you busted your butt when infact you laid out and got a nice base tan, got a manicure and played WoW all day.

One crockpot. (I have a Rival 6 quart one. Nothing fancy. $30 at Walmart I think).
3 to 4 lbs of beef short-ribs (and I’ve used pork ones before)
One big onion (unless you don’t like onions)
2 bottles or one BIG bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce (I’ll put my homemade BBQ sauce up this week)
as you can see it’s “put whatever you want” in your pot.

Brown the ribs under the broiler until they turn that gray color. You can also just brown them in a pan.
Slice the onion into rings and put into the crockpot.
Dump all of the browned ribs into the crockpot.
Pour all of the BBQ sauce into the crockpot.
Turn crockpot on Low (for a 10 hour cook time) or High (for a 5 hour cook time).

Voila!

Hello
Easiest brownies in the entire world and so good you might want to double batch in-case you eat half the batter.

4 eggs
2tsp vanilla
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup walnuts (optional)
1 cup flour
2 cups mini-mallows
4 squares of unsweetened chocolate
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Beat eggs until thick and lemon colored (I just guess!). Add sugar gradually, continuing to beat.

2. Melt butter, chocolate chips, squares together over a double boiler (or microwave… it’s easier!)

3. Add mixture with vanilla to egg mixture (nuts if used) and fold in flour- stir together.

4. Place in greased pan

5. Bake for ~30 min @ 350

(top secret family recipe so don’t give it out :D)

3/4 cup crushed saltine crackers
1/4 cup toasted sesame seed
2 1/4 oz. pkg. (2/3 cup) slivered almonds
1 TBS. dried green onion
1 tsp.  bouquet garni* (WTF???  Yeah, that’s what I said too- see below for explanation)
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup melted butter
3-3 1/2 lb. frying chicken, cut into 8 pieces

Heat oven to 350.  Combine all ingredients except butter and chicken.  Dip chicken in melted butter, then coat with crumb mixture.  Reserve remaining butter.  Place chicken in ungreased 13x9” baking dish.  Sprinkle with remaining crumbs.  Pour remaining butter over chicekn.  Bake for 65 to 75 minutes or until chicken is fork tender.  Serves 4

*1/4 tsp. EACH dried parsley flakes, thyme leaves and 1 crushed bay leaf can be substituted for 1 tsp. bouquet garni.  Thank god because I searched Publix high and low and the only bouquet I came up with was a bunch of roses and that probably wouldn’t have worked well....

I am not a fan of cornbread but this recipe is pretty darn good.  I got it a couple of years back when I participated in one of those annoying recipe chain letters where you are supposed to receive like a 100 recipes in several weeks but only receive maybe 5 if you’re lucky.  Yeah.  Anyhoo....  It’s a great addition to barbecues and pig pickin’ parties.  When you’re done laughing at the thought of a pig pickin’ party (all you stuck up northern folks need to c’mon down and have yourself some- don’t knock it, til you’ve tried it), go ahead and try this recipe. 

1 1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1 cup milk
2 cups white cornmeal (for less gritty) or yellow cornmeal (for a more traditional taste)
2 cups flour
1 TBS. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan with shortening.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Mix sugar, butter, eggs, milk, honey and water together in a large bowl.
Mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl: cornmeal, flour,baking powder, and salt.
While stirring, add dry ingredients to sugar, egg, and milk mixture and mix thoroughly.
Mixture will be slightly lumpy.
Pour into greased rectangular pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Serve with butter and honey (if desired)

I got this recipe from a friend years ago and have tweaked it a bit to suit my tastes. I don’t make it too often because it’s not only incredibly rich and kind of expensive to make, but it also makes enough to feed a small army. It goes over well with adults at pitch-ins and family gatherings though. Little kids are kind of hit or miss. Some like it if it’s not too far removed from Shells and Cheese, but if you’ve spiced it up, you might want to play it safe and have some boxed Velveeta on hand.  I definitely recommend using a disposeable pan since all that baked-on cheese is a killer to scrub off a regular pan.

1 lb Elbow macaroni
1/2 lb cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 lb jack or mozzarella, grated
1/2 lb pepper jack cheese, grated
2 cans cheddar or nacho cheese soup
1 can evaporated milk
2 eggs
pepper
garlic powder
celery salt
hot sauce (to taste)
1 or 2 tubs grated parmesan or romano cheese (not the kind that comes in a cardboard tube) to taste

Put on some cooking music (I prefer Sonia Dada, Aretha, or O.A.R. but whatever yanks your crank) and a big pot of water on the stove to boil. Pour yourself a glass of wine and groove to the tunes until the water is boiling then dump the noodles in, removing them before they reachal dente . They’ll finish cooking and pick up the rest of their liquid when it’s in the oven. Speaking of which, preheat the oven to 350.

While the macaroni’s cooking, crack the eggs into a bowl and add about half the can of evaporated milk. Use more if you like your mac a bit runnier.  Save the rest of the can for pouring into your coffee tomorrow morning. Beat the bejeesus out of the eggs and milk, then add the pepper, garlic powder, celery salt and hot sauce.  Don’t be shy with the spices. You’re seasoning a big ass mess of mac & cheese so it’ll absorb alot of spices before it gets overpowering. 

Take another sip or two of wine and drain the noodles. Put them back into the pot. Add the two cans of cheese soup and mix them in to coat the noodles. Toss in a handful or two of the parmesan or romano and keep mixing.

Pour the egg and milk mixture into the pot an cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes stirring like crazy the whole time.

Spread a layer of the macaroni mixture over the bottom of a big disposable aluminum baking pan and cover it with a layer of the grated cheddar and mozzarella or jack cheeses. Repeat the layers, making sure that the top is really covered with grated cheese. Put it in the oven and bake for about 35 minutes or until the top is all brown and bubbly.  If you haven’t finished off your glass of wine, do it now so you can bake along with the mac ‘n’ cheese.  Toss the pepper jack on top along with another handful or two of the grated Parmesan or Romano and bake for another 10 minutes or so, until it’s brown and bubbly again.

Take it out of the oven and let sit for around five minutes, then serve it up hot and chow down.

Variations:

It’s mac n cheese--a tabula rasa for your creative experients, but here’s a few that have worked for me.  Add a layer of spinach between the first and second layers of noodles.

Stir some diced ham, peas or chopped asparagus into the pot of noodles before putting it into the baking pan. Diced hot or sweet peppers peppers work really well when layered in also.

Add some strips of bacon on top of the cheese before baking. 

Use italian spice blend and top with prosciutto, throwing some sun-dried tomatoes on top towards the end of the baking time.

Or--if you want to go the opposite direction and be healthy, substitute egg beaters or lowfat/nonfat cheese.  You won’t notice the difference, honest. 

1 1/2 cups nonfat buttermilk
3 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. black pepper
4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
8 slices bread- no crusts
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 cup oil

In an airtight container, combine buttermilk, 1 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. black pepper.  Place a chicken breast between two peices of plastic wrap and using a meat pounder, pound chicken until just more than 1/4 inch thick.  Lather, rinse and repeat with each chicken peice.  Place in buttermilk marinade and chill for 20 minutes in fridge.  Place bread, remaining 1 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. black pepper and cayenne pepper in food processor.  Pulse until fine crumbs form- about 10 seconds.  Transfer mixture to a shallow bowl.  Remove breasts from marinade and dredge both sides in bread crumbs and place on a plate.  Line a baking sheet with double thickness of paper towels.  Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  When hot, put in chicken and fry until golden brown and cooked through- about 2 minutes per side.  Transfer to paper toweled pan. 

8 oz. package of shell pasta
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 TBS. lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. celery seed
1 tomato- diced
1 cup diced celery
3 TBS. chopped pimiento
2 TBS. chopped green pepper
Salad greens

Cook pasta as directed; drain.  Rinse with cold water, drain.  Mix mayonnaise with lemon juice, salt and sugar.  Combine with pasta, celery seed, tomato, diced celery, pimiento and green pepper.  Serve on salad greens.

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
Grated rind of one lemon
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Glaze

Cream shortening- gradually add sugar, beating well at medium speed.  Add eggs- one at a time, beating after each.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt.  Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture (don’t ask me why but this makes a difference).  Stir in lemon rind and pecans.  Pour batter into a greased and floured 9x5x3 loaf pan.  Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 10-15 minutes.  Remove and cool completely.  Pour glaze over bread.

Glaze:

1 cup sifted powdered sugar
2 TBS. lemon juice

Mix well.  Pour over bread.

My husband calls this ‘ghetto cheesecake’ but he loves it.  It’s a good choice for a quick fix when you’re in the mood for cheesecake, but not in the mood to spend and hour making it.

1 Graham cracker crust pie shell
2 - 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 large size tub of Cool Whip
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Throw the cream cheese and sugar in a bowl and beat it for a couple of minutes until it’s creamy.  Slop the cool whip in and beat it until it’s all combined and kinda fluffy.  You don’t need to do silly stuff like ‘folding in’ the cool whip.  No delicate handling required.  Add the vanilla if you want.  If you leave it out, it doesn’t matter.

Spread that stuff in the crust and refrigerate until it’s cold. 

That’s it.  If you want, you can throw some berries on top or even add a drained can of crushed pineapple into the cool whip/cream cheese mix.

It’s actually really good.  Yum doesn’t alway mean slaving away in the kitchen.

For the cake:

1 2/3 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk or buttermilk
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup Schwarzwaelder Kirschwasser, any brand.

For the filling:
1 cup confedtioner’s sugar, sifted
2 jars pitted cherries, drained, reserve liquid
2 pints heavy whipping cream or heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (if you can get clear vanilla, all the better)
1 tablespoon kirschwasser

Shaved eating chocolate for decoration, optional

Cooking:
==========

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Grease two 8 inch round cake pans. I use heart-shaped pans. 

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

Cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add vanilla. Add flour mixture, alternating with milk, beat until combined.

Pour into pans. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool completely.

Cut each layer in half, horizontally, making 4 layers total.  I find that freezing the cakes and using a long, sharp bread knife makes them much easier to cut.

Sprinkle each layer (including the top layer) with some of the reserved cherry liquid and 1/2 cup Kirschwasser...total.  Not 1/2 cup per layer or you’ll have a drunken, alcoholic cake.  That might not be a bad thing, especially if your parents are coming for dinner.  Don’t make them soggy wet though.

In a separate bowl, whip the cream to stiff peaks.. Add confectioner’s sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon Kirschwasser and beat again. Spread first layer of the cake with a relatively thin layer of the filling, keeping in mind that whipped cream melts and top with some of the cherries but don’t go all the way to the edges.  Leave 1/2 inch space.  If you choose to do just 2 layers instead of 4, use 1/2 of the filling and cherries between the layers and the rest on top.  Repeat with the remaining layers.

Spread a thick layer of the whipped cream filling only on the sides of the cake.  Add remaining cherries to the top of the cake in the middle.  Kind of pile them up, then pipe dollops of cream around the edges.  I usually have a bar of Godiva dark chocolate (not baking chocolate) around so I use a microplane grater and shave some of it to sprinkle over the cream on the top and sides.  My mother used to use a potato peeler to make chocolate curls and put them on top of the cherries.

Experiment with the amount of cherries per layer and for the top.  If you like more, buy an extra jar of cherries.

I can’t remember where I found this recipe, but after my regular food tasting monkeys Grocery Ranch™ co-workers gave them their seal of approval, I took them to a christmas party where everyone was asked to bring in desserts and vote on their favorite.  The winner was Gavyn’s peppermint cheesecake, but quite alot of people asked for the recipe for these incredibly rich chocolate calorie bombs. 

Tips:
1) Melting chocolate in a microwave sucks balls. you cant constantly stir it, and if you’re not careful, you wind up with a dried out, burned crust on the edges.  If you’re like me and don’t have a double boiler you can make your own half-assed one using a glass bowl that fits over and into your pot-o-water.

2) A friend turned me onto a technique that makes recipes with chocolate taste about a hundred times richer and more chocolatey.  Add a bit of ground cayenne pepper to your recipe. You don’t need much--just a pinch in your hot cocoa or, in this recipe, I wouldn’t add more than 1/8 tsp to the dry ingredients.

3) No music tips on this one. 

Ingredients:
4 squares unsweetened chocolate (1 ounce each)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1/3 cup unsalted butter or margarine (use the butter… this is such a calorie bomb that it doesn’t really matter, does it?)
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract (I use a splash more since vanilla and chocolate are just too good together)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbs baking cocoa
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Powdered sugar

Directions:

Melt usnweetend chocolate, 1 cup of chocolate chips and butter in double boiler or microwave. Cool for ten minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar and eggs for two minutes. add vanilla and chocolate mixture and beat till well-mixed.

Combine flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder. beat into chocolate mixture.

Stir in remaining chocolate chips, cover, and refrigerate for at least three hours.

Remove dough about a cup at a time. After flouring your hands to minimize sticking, roll dough into 1 inch balls and place onto an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are puffed up and set. Don’t worry if they develop crinkles or cracks. It adds to their charm.  Allow to cool on pan for several minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

load a small wire strainer with powdered sugar and sprinkle with just enough to give a snow-like effect before serving.

A good cook is not necessarily a good woman with an even temper. Some allowance should be made for artistic temperament.
~X. Marcel Boulestin

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