Creamy Crab Dip - Irish Pub style

Ingredients:

2 blocks of cream cheese, softened
about 1/2 cup mayo
about 1/4 cup sour cream
large splash of lemon juice
splash of worcestershire sauce
1 T prepared horseradish
1 T prepared mustard (dijon or stoneground preferred)

1/2 cup grated parmesan or romano, plus a few tablespoons more for sprinkling

1 can (16 oz) crab meat - claw meat is fine

Mix the ingredients above, then spread in a casserole dish.    Sprinkle w/ cheese, then bake at 350 until hot and bubbly - about 40 minutes.    (nothing raw, so you're just heating/melting - so oven temperature is flexible if you're also heating something else)

Everything on the grill

One of my goals in the summer is to have yummy meals without heating up the kitchen, so I grill just about everything, especially the wonderful produce coming from my CSA.   I facilitated this by buying some sturdy metal pans - two 8" bread pans, and a quarter sheet pan ... both WITHOUT non-stick, so I didn't have to worry about the high temperatures on the grill:

Cauliflower and/or broccoli:   wash, chop into bite size pieces, put in bread pan, shave a bit of butter on top, cover with foil, cook on top rack of grill.

Beets:  remove stems and leaves, wash well but GENTLY so as not to remove skin.    Place in bread pan, add about an inch of water, cover with foil, cook on top rack.     Take off, allow to cool, use fingers to rub off the skin, then slice and keep in fridge for salads the next day.   Beets are naturally sweet but need a touch of salt or a little salad dressing in a salad  ... or serve warm, sprinkled with some chevre and toasted almonds ... or make a beet and green bean salad with a bit of Italian vinaigrette ....

Green Beans:  butter/bread pan as above

Potatoes and spring onions:   same idea as this, but chop the potatoes small, and the onions thin.    Mix with some butter or oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme and paprika.   Cook with the sheet pan directly on the grill (closer to the heat), and stir frequently.

Squash:  Slice zucchini or other summer squash thin, mix with one thinly sliced onion and one red bell pepper.   Drizzle with olive oil, salt and black pepper.   Cover tightly with foil and cook on the top rack until the onion is completely cooked.  

Dessert:   wash, (pit if cherries, cut if strawberries or rhubarb), toss in a bread pan with just a little sugar, break 1/2 a frozen pie crust over the top in small pieces, bake uncovered on top grill rack!  I've now made them with multiple combinations of sour cherries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and rhubarb ... every one turned out great!     I lean towards under sweetening.   You can always serve with some vanilla ice cream.

Cheese drawer odds and ends Mac & Cheese

A loose recipe I make every so often when I have some good cheese on hand ....

1st. Boil and drain one pound of pasta to al dente, drain and set aside. (I tend to use penne or ziti, but if you have elbows on hand, that is fine too)

2nd. Make a roux - melt half a stick of butter in a large pot. Whisk in about a quarter cup flour. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it's a light brown with a light scent of toast.

3rd. Mix in about a pint of milk, stirring constantly as it comes up to temperature (the flour will thicken the liquid as it comes to a boil). Season with mustard (dry powder or a prepared dijon or brown would be best), a few tablespoons of sherry or white wine, paprika, garlic powder or finely minced garlic, onion powder, pepper (preferably white pepper), nutmeg.

4th. Mix in about a pound of cheese, shredded. In my last batch I think I used fontina, cheddar, parmesan and a little bit each of Parrano and swiss. Any "real" cheese (except those studded with apricots or jalapenos) will work. Items that say "velveeta" or "cheese product" just won't do. This is a GREAT way to use up any bits in your cheese drawer. Anything from asiago to ricotta to brie to dubliner .... your mac and cheese will be different each time, but for a mouse like me, always a success. Save a little of one type for the top. Mix the rest in, stirring until it is all melted.

5th. Mix the pasta into the milk/cheese mixture. Taste to make sure it is seasoned to your liking. If you want, add some chopped ham or turkey or chicken (cooked) at this point. You could also mix in any veggie that is not high water content - already roasted pepper or cooked and drained peas, for instance.

6th. Divide into casserole dishes. This will make two good size round casserole dishes, or one generous 13 x 9 plus a bit left over.

7th. Top with the reserved cheese you saved for the top, and if desired some buttered panko crumbs or bread crumbs or crushed ritz crackers.

8th. Refrigerate for later or pop into a 375 degree oven until bubbly.

Eagles Green: Spinach Artichoke Dip

1/2 C (1 stick) butter
1 large onion, chopped
20 oz. bag spinach, thawed & drained
1 can artichoke hearts, drained & chopped
8 oz. cream cheese
2 C shredded hard cheese (perhaps half cheddar, half parmesan)
2 T tabasco
Crackers, Tostitos Scoops, Celery and/or pita chips for dipping

melt butter in saucepan, sautee onion until soft.
Add spinach, artichoke hearts, cream cheese, 1 1/2 cup shredded cheese, tabasco. Stir until blended and heated through. Pour into casserole dish, sprinkle w/ remaining shredded cheese. Bake at 350 about 10 minutes until cheese starts to brown.

Party Appetizer or Yummy Brunch: Sausage Balls

Mix together: 1 pound bulk HOT sausage:


2 cups Bisquick:



12 oz shredded cheddar cheese:



Mix together well. You probably have to use your hands. Even my stand mixer won't do this job.


Roll into 1" balls. You can now store these in the fridge for later baking if you like. (you can also freeze for a few weeks - just thaw before baking)

Preheat oven to 375. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until browned and cooked through.

A perfect appetizer or brunch entree. A Christmas morning tradition for us.

ratio: 1 pound bulk hot sausage to 12 oz shredded extra sharp cheddar to 2 cups Bisquick.

Retro, easy comfort food: Tuna Melts!

Sometimes an easy hot sandwich just hits the spot, both in ease, budget and taste.

2 bagels or English Muffins, split and opened (if you hapen to score two asiago cheese bagels from the leftovers of a work meeting, all the better):

1 can of tuna, drained:

Mix in a squeeze each of mayo and relish (I do about half and half):

Divide between the four buns, and top with sliced cheese. (I used asiago and dubliner, but any cheddar, swiss, romano, parmesan or similar would be great):

I served mine with a leftover artichoke:

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait: French Onion Soup

French onion soup is one of my FAVORITE things to order in a restaurant. But a few years ago, I also started making it at home. It isn't hard, but it does require patience, and attention.

First, slice a whole pile of onions. I normally cut them in half, and then slice into half moons. Note that my pot was almost full at the beginning. (I don't remember exactley but about 8 of those great big softball sized sweet onions would do)

Start a soup pot over medium heat. Add a little oil to the pan, and start cooking.

Stir occasionally. We're trying to both soften the onions and release a lot of liquid.

Keep stirring every few minutes. Note the brown bits I just stirred up. Every time you stir make sure to stir every bit of the bottom of the pot.

Eventually it will become a dark caramel color. Keep cooking, and keep stirring. Once it gets to this stage I add a little liquid each time I stir (apple cider, water, or chicken broth). We still want to get the color a bit darker, but don't want to burn the onions.

Keep adding liquid and stirring:

Once you are satisfied with the deep brown color, add liquid to make broth. I normally use about half apple cider, half chicken broth. Make sure to add some salt if you use apple cider. The flavor of the onions will be the star of this soup, so if you add other spices make sure they are not scene stealers. I added about 8 cups total liquid.

Scoop some hot soup into oven proof bowls. Top with a slice of bread, large bread crumbs, croutons, or toast rounds.

Top with cheese. I like a mixture of cheeses. Any combination of swiss, jarlsberg, dubliner, asiago, or similar cheeses will do. Broil in the oven, or bake at 450 until the cheese melts.

Enjoy!

Easy Pizza

Pizza is pretty easy to make, and I generally like the results when I make it as home just as well or better than ordering a pizza. Definitely tastier than frozen pizzas.

It is also an excellent way to use up bits of leftover veggies, meats, and cheeses. For this pie I used a bit of leftover salami, a leftover sausage, a few tomatoes, some garlice and cheese.

Preheat oven to 425. Don't be afraid to use a ready made crust if you're short on time:


If using fresh tomatos, slice them and drain on paper towels (otherwise they'll make your pizza soggy)


Slice leftover meat (salami, bacon, sausage, pepperoni, roast beef, turkey, roast pork .... ) into little bits. Fresh garlic is wonderful on this as well - just make thin slices.

I used pizza sauce from a jar this time around. If you have a jar of spaghetti sauce at the back of your fridge, use that. If you have a little can of tomato paste, mix it with equal part water or red wine, and mix in Italian herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, garlic powder)

Put meat directly on crust. (by warming the meat UNDER the sauce, it doesn't get too dry) Add garlic (if using). Cover with sauce and bake about ten minutes:

Meanwhile, prepare the cheese. I used a mixture of asiago, cheddar (on the left), and slices of fresh mozzarella (on the right)

Add cheese and any other toppings (in this case tomato) and return to oven:

Bake another 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted:

Nachos!

Sometimes you just crave melted cheese. Without paying take-out prices.

Preheat oven to 450. Layer on pan:




Corn tortilla chips, preferably not very salty




taco meat (leftover from the taco salad. shredded chicken, leftover or canned would be an alternate protein)



black beans



shredded cheddar



Bake for 3-5 minutes. Watch them!!



Then add:

tomatoes (I used multi-colored cherry tomatoes from my last CSA box)




sliced peppers, hot or not:


then salsa (GREAT way to use up the last of jars in your fridge) and sour cream:

Taco Salad

I happen to have lots of wonderful tomatoes on hand this week. I also found 80/20 ground beef at the grocery store at a really good price. It was already on sale for 2.69 pound, but then this package also had a $2 off coupon .... so I paid under $5 for two and a half pounds of ground beef. So what better to make with tomatoes, corn and ground beef than a taco salad?

ground beef (I used a 2.5 pound package, but had lots leftover)

2 large tomatoes

2 large onions (I used Vidalia)

1 bell pepper

2 ears corn

salad greens

tortilla chips

taco seasoning (in a packet or from a jar)

2 limes

cilantro

garlic

Brown the beef in a pan. Using a spoon, drain off the fat. Mix the taco mix with about 1/2 cup of water and stir into the beef. I also added a few cubes each of garlic and cilantro. Dried cilantro would work just as well. Roll two limes on the counter before juicing them over the beef:

Peel the two onions. Cut off the ends, cut them in half, and then slice into half moons. These go into another pan (following a splash of oil):

Stir frequently. Remove the browned onions to a bowl.

Turn the heat back up on the pan. Cut the kernels off the two ears of corn (a light sawing motion with a serrated knife seems to work well). Throw them in the hot pan just long enough to warm and give a touch of color:

Meanwhile wash your salad greens. Wash and cut the tomatoes and bell pepper.

Have another veggie you want to add? By all means chop it up! Jalapenos, olives, shredded carrot, cucumber, zucchini, canned beans ... all would be lovely additions to the party. I used guacamole, sour cream, shredded cheddar and salsa as toppings. If you happy to have a cherry tomato, it makes a great "cherry" for your fiesta sundae.