Meal Planning (32)
Here it is as last! This is my award winning Chile Stew... I made this recipe for the first time more than a decade ago and it has since become a staple in our house. My Wife once entered it in a Chili contest (sans the beans) and won the ribbon. I prefer my stew with a lot of spice, but then no one else in our Family can eat it. So I usually tone the heat way down (as printed here) and add more peppers to my own bowl.
Serve with a handful of Shredded Cheese and a pile of Tortilla Chips.
Baked potatoes can be used as a great side dish or as a tasty main dish. This recipe will produce the perfect baked potatoes, every time.
This easy recipe can be made entirely within your Instant Pot, making for a quick dinner with an easy cleanup.
Chuck Roast is a less expensive cut of Beef that can be flavorful, but tough if not cooked properly. With this long slow preparation, the humble Chuck Roast can be elevated to compare with a much more expensive cut. If desired, use 3 or 4 lengths of Butcher's Twine to truss the roast. Although not necessary, this can provide a roast with a more uniform look and a better finished presentation.
Enchilada Casserole is more Tex-Mex than Mexican food. This is an easy recipe that can be prepared in advance and then refrigerated in the casserole dish, up to 1 week. The crème fraiche or Greek yogurt will make the sauce creamy, while the jalapeno peppers will bring just a hint of heat.
When the weather starts to cool down, I like a spicy chowder to warm me up. This is a fairly easy recipe that can be made in advance and refrigerated.
This is a favorite recipe at our house for leftover Thanksgiving Ham, although you could also use Spam instead of Ham. For best results, prepare the Rice beforehand (by following the package instructions) and then refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 3 days.
There are two distinct phases when making Stir Fry:
1. Preparation
2. Cooking
The key to successfully implementing any Stir Fry recipe is the timing. Ensure that all your preparation work is complete before you begin the cooking phase.
Gyro (pronounced /yee-ro/) is a traditional Mediterranean dish made with a Beef/Lamb mixture. Due to the high cost of lamb, pork can be used as a good substitute. The meat is traditionally put on a large vertical rotisserie and cooked over a flame. This recipe provides a simple process to re-create tasty Gyro meat without the expensive and time consuming equipment. For a Keto version of this recipe, just leave out the Pita Bread.
This is another flavorful recipe that is easy to make.
This is an easy Chicken recipe, designed for the Sous Vide. You can prepare beforehand and freeze uncooked in a vacuum-sealed bag up to 6 months. Just drop the bag in your Sous Vide pot and walk away. Your main course will be ready to eat a few hours later. For a Keto recipe, use an Italian dressing with a low carb count (less than 3 carbs per serving) and serve with a Keto approved vegetable medley.
Jammie Dodgers are a common British desert sandwich using short-bread biscuits (called cookies in the US), with a raspberry jam filling. Based on the size of the cookie cutters used, this recipe yields about 6 to 8 finished Jammie Dodgers, depending on the size of your cookie cutters.
Bulgogi Beef (meaning "fire meat" ) is a tender, flavorful dish that is traditionally cooked on a grill. In this recipe, the Baking Soda is used to tenderize the meat, without turning the outer layer into mush as a longer exposure to acid based tenderizers tend to do. The Soy Sauce, garlic, and sugar adds a wonderful Bulgogi salty sweetness. Traditionally, Bulgogi Beef uses the Rebeye cut, but I have had equal success with Top Sirloin, Flank Steak, Skirt Steak, or even Shoulder Roast. The meat should be sliced paper thin while still raw.
This is an easy side dish to add some green to your meal. The Lime and Pecorino Cheese will kick your Brussels Sprouts to the next level.
The London Broil is not a cut of meat. Instead, it is a specific preparation for a roast. The London Broil is typically made with a lean cut, usually the Top Round, or sometimes the Bottom Round. However, these cuts can become tough if they are cooked improperly. The secret to the perfect London Broil is a good marinade, with a high acidic content, and then a quick broil under high heat. While the London Broil can be prepared using the Sous Vide, the ideal preparation utilizes the high heat of the broiler.
First of all, there are NO actual Oreo Cookies used in this recipe. In case you have never seen the inside of a Sports Bar, Sliders are small, bite-sized burgers. This recipe makes Sliders that are stuffed with cheese. As they cook, sometimes the cheese leaks out and they look like Oreo cookies, made with meat. You'll understand when you make them...
This easy dish is based on a recipe originally developed by Julia Childs. With a prep time of less than 30 minutes and then 45 minutes in the Oven, this tasty meal is perfect when you suddenly realize that it is nearly dinner-time. Again.
It seems like good Latino food always begins with Sofrito, a flavorful sauce base that is traditionally made by mincing Garlic, Onion, and Pimentos Verde (Green Bell Pepper). I like to further accentuate this soup with fresh Cilantro with fresh Lime. This soup includes a single chopped Jalapeño pepper to provide just a hint of heat. I prefer to use Chicken Thighs over Chicken Breasts as the dark meat is typically more flavorful and juicier when poached. Serving the soup over a pile of Rice makes this into a hearty meal.
Mole is a Spanish word meaning "sauce", as used in the word "guacamole".
Red or Brown Mole includes unsweetened cocoa.
This peasant dish can be made with nearly any other available ingredients. Here is my favorite Brown Mole Sauce...
Mole is a Spanish word meaning "sauce", as used in the word "guacamole". Traditional green mole is typically made with roasted pumpkin seeds. This peasant dish can be made with nearly any other available ingredients. Here is my favorite Green Mole Sauce...
Generally, Pizza Dough is best cooked at high temperatures, like 800° to 1500° F. However, most in-home ovens can only reach temperatures of 500° or 550° F. Although a Pizza Stone or a Cast Iron Pan does not increase the heat levels in your oven, it will hold the heat within your oven longer, allowing the dough to cook into a perfect crust. Add sauce to this dough, some meat and vegetable toppings, and a freshly shredded Mozzarella. 10 minutes later, it is Pizza time! Sugar is a commonly used to help yeast growth. Diastatic Malt Powder (NOT malted milk powder) is modified flour that can replace the sugar (3:1) and produce more active yeast with a higher rise and a finer crumb.
Oven Roasted Cauliflower is a non-traditional cauliflower use that makes a great appetizer or even a main dish.
You can use a variety of seasonings to flavor Roasted Cauliflower
I have been making my Roasted Feta Cheese dessert for years. This is my variation, based on a recipe that became all the rage recently. It reportedly even caused a Feta Cheese shortage in Scandinavia. My version of the Pasta with Roasted Feta Cheese integrates components from my desert recipe. This is a quick and easy meal to make, with a ton of flavor. The roasted Feta Cheese mixed with the blended Roast Tomatoes and Roasted Garlic to make a creamy garlic sauce.
Lomo Saltado is a traditional Peruvian sauteed beef stir fry. The beef is marinated in a soy sauce and Chinese vinegar mixture, stir-fried with onions and peppers, and then served with white rice and french fried potatoes.
Pico de Gallo (meaning "rooster beak" or "rooster's peck") is a common vegetable blend that is frequently added to Latino food. I have taken the original Pico de Gallo recipe, added chopped grilled beef, and named it "Pico de Toro" ("pico" also means "lip" or "edge"). This is not a traditional Latino recipe, but it is great with tortilla chips or even as a filling for tacos.
If Canada has a national dish, this is arguably it. I first tasted good Poutine on a visit to Montreal a few years ago. While the origins of this dish are not entirely known, there are multiple sources who claim to have invented the dish. Poutine is simple to make. The traditional recipe contains French Fries, White Cheese Curds, and Brown Gravy. A widely accepted variation is to add cooked meat. If Cheese Curds are not available, you can use shredded Oaxaca Cheese or (in a pinch) Shredded Mozzarella.
This is an easy recipe, designed for the Sous Vide. You can prepare beforehand and freeze in a vacuum-sealed bag up to 6 months. Just drop the bag in your Sous Vide pot and walk away. Your main course will be ready to eat a few hours later.
Strombolis and Calzones, for the uninitiated, are like a pizza, that is wrapped up like a burrito. Calzone purists claim that a Calzone should be made without sauce as an ingredient. Instead, the sauce is served on the side. In my opinion, a sauce-free Calzone is unecesarily dry, even with the inclusion of a marinara dipping sauce. Additionally, the Calzone is typically folded over, while a Stromboli is rolled up. This recipe includes sauce as an ingredient. Similar to pizza, the possible options for filling your Calzone is endless. You should note that the order that toppings go onto the Calzone is different from a pizza. Start with cheese, then add sauce, then a layer of meat and/or vegetables, and finally top it all off with the seasonings.
Taco Stew is an easy to make dish without a long preparation time.
The name of this dish has nothing to do with the spice level of the meat. As the legend goes, a tiger finished eating this tasty meal, and cried when he realized that it was gone and he would not be able to eat any more. This meat will go well with rice, with noodles, or on a Thai Steak Salad called Yum Nua. This recipe includes instructions for grilling or for using the Sous Vide. Either recipe requires about 20 minutes preparation the day before.
This is a great rub for Chuck Roast. For best results, rub this onto the meat, then cover and refrigerate for 48 hours. before freezing or cooking.
I have always found Roast Turkey to be dry and tasteless, making it necessary to cover with a large amount of gravy. This recipe will produce a flavorful, moist turkey full of complex flavors.
The bacon will act as a protective skin while roasting and will prevent the Turkey meat from drying out. Additionally, the roast can be prepared early and stored in the Refrigerator for up to 24 hours before Roasting.
This convenient meal is easy to prepare and provides a flavorful variation using ground pork and a few other ingredients. In a pinch, ground beef patties could be used in place of the ground pork patties.
You can save additional time by replacing the patties with loose ground meat, added to the wok after the garlic and nuts.
