Smothered Steak

These are so good. Serve them with mashed potatoes, rice, or risotto.

1 lb cube steak (about 4-6 pieces)

1/2 c butter

2 medium onions, sliced and separated into rings

4 oz sliced mushrooms

4 Tbsp all purpose flour

2 cans (10 1/2 oz) beef consommé*

1 c white wine

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Melt 1/4 cup of butter in pan over medium high heat. Sprinkle steaks with salt and pepper and brown in butter. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add mushroom and onion to pan drippings and cook until tender.

Add remaining butter to pan to melt. Sprinkle flour over onion and mushrooms; stir well.

Gradually add consommé and wine. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly.

Place steaks in onion mixture; cover and simmer over low heat for 20-30 minutes or until steaks are tender.

*I used beef stock and two tubes of Swanson Flavor Boost (beef). It is a concentrated broth, adding lots of flavor.

Oven Baked Tacos

 

1 lb ground beef

1 can refried beans

1 packet taco seasoning

½ small can tomato sauce

Soft corn taco shells

Mexican blend cheese

Brown your ground beef and drain completely. (I use very lean ground beef, and cook it in a little water until the water dissipates.) Add refried beans, taco seasoning, and about half a can of tomato sauce. Mix together and scoop into soft corn taco shells, (stand them up in a casserole dish).

Sprinkle lots of cheese on top and bake at 375º for 10 minutes.

Really Good Spanish Rice

    1 cup Raw Long-grain White Rice

    1-½ Tablespoon Cooking Oil

    1 whole Onion, Diced

    6 cloves Garlic, Minced

    ½ teaspoons Kosher Salt

    ¼ teaspoons Ground Black Pepper

    1 teaspoon Ground Chili Powder (optional)

    ½ can Tomato Sauce (small Can)

    2 cups Chicken Broth

Add cooking oil to deep skillet that you have a tight fitting lid for.

Add rice and cook over medium heat until rice JUST begins to brown, stirring frequently. Add onion and garlic and continue to cook until onion begins to become translucent, STILL stirring frequently. (If you don’t stir, it will burn.) Add salt, pepper and chili powder. Stir again.

Add chicken broth and tomato sauce and stir. Reduce heat to LOW and simmer for 25 minutes. (Stir halfway through cooking time but try to keep that lid ON or the rice will be undercooked.) After 25 minutes, check rice. If it seems too crunchy or sticky, cook for 5 more minutes.

Colorful Coleslaw

One of the church ladies brought this to Jerry McKenzie's funeral.

1 pkg. of coleslaw (diced), or chop up fresh cabbage (do not use shredded cabbage)

1 pkg. (or less) frozen peas, thawed 

1 cup shredded carrots 

1 small onion chopped 

Fresh chopped cilantro, to taste

           

Cole Slaw Dressing

Scant 1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1/3 cup cider vinegar

1/2 tsp prepared mustard

1 Tbs poppy seeds

Mix well.  Pour on salad. 

Just before serving, put 1 cup Spanish peanuts on top.

Star’s Caramel Sauce

This recipe is an old one from my cyber friend, Star.  It reminds me of a softer version of my Christmas caramels. It makes about 5-6 cups of decadent sauce for ice cream or other desserts. I'm using it on Pumpkin Squares.


2 sticks butter-No substitute
1 lb dark brown sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
14 oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup cream
1 tsp vanilla

In top of double boiler, combine all ingredients except cream and vanilla. Cook over boiling water for 1 hour. Stir in cream and vanilla and cook 30 minutes more. Store caramel sauce in refrigerator. 

It keeps indefinitely so you may make it several days in advance if desired.

Whole Foods Chicken Salad

We finally got a Whole Foods grocery store out here in the desert. In their deli counter was a real good looking chicken salad, so I decided to try it out. Oh my gosh, it was so good! I told BreeAnn, who was with me when we bought it, that I could make this easily. And easy it is! I have no actual ingredient amounts for this, just add as you feel you would like. I will, however, give you approximate amounts on some ingredients.

Rotisserie chicken from Costco, or wherever
Sliced celery
Sliced red seedless grapes
Whole or halved pecans
Mayonnaise (1/2 cup)
Fage non-fat plain Greek yogurt (1/2 cup)
Sugar (1-1/2 to 2 tsp)
Curry powder, to taste

Remove the skin before you dice up the chicken. I save it, along with the carcass and simmer it to make stock for soup. There is a lot of flavor in that baked chicken skin (and I always buy the darkest roasted chicken in the case, just for this reason). Obviously you can use as much chicken as you wish, and as much celery, grapes, and pecans also.

Toss all this in a bowl and set aside.

In a small bowl, blend the mayo, yogurt (must be Greek yogurt because it's thicker). Add sugar and curry powder to taste. Then just toss it with the chicken mixture.

At our Sam's Club they sell an outstanding multi-grain bread called Eureka. Oh my gosh, it is so darn good! So soft and tender. Just loaded with grains and nuts. And this chicken salad on some of this bread is EUREKA!  Everyone in this house is crazy for this combination in a sandwich, but the salad is just as good eaten plain.

Raspberry Spinach Salad

For Candied Almonds:

½ cup slivered almonds

1 ½ teaspoon sugar

Pinch salt and cayenne

1 Tablespoon Corn Syrup

Toss all ingredients together until almonds are well coated, put onto a parchment lined baking sheet and back for 12 minutes at 325 or until almonds are golden and syrup is bubbling. Let cool completely on sheet and then break into pieces. Can be made one day ahead and stored in an airtight container.

For Dressing:

¼ cup canola oil

2 Tablespoons raspberry or red wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

2 Tablespoons sugar

Pinch sale and pepper

Combine salad dressing ingredients and mix well. Can be made a day ahead but leave the sesame seeds out until you are assembling salad. Poppy seeds can be added in place of /as well as sesame seeds.

For Salad:

Candied almonds

12 cups baby spinach (or 1 10 oz package of spinach, torn into pieces)

1 pint raspberries

Goat cheese, optional

Combine and serve.