Baltimore Baked Beans

First off, you should know that these beans have nothing to do with Baltimore.  Nor are they baked.  But the recipe is a family favorite dating back thirty years or so and the first place a member of my family ate it was in Baltimore, Maryland.  So go figure.

As with a lot of old family staples, it didn't quite taste the same the first time I made it myself. My mom and Grandma must do something different than the written recipe calls for because I had to double the sauce to get it to taste as I remember.  I think it's because I drained and rinsed the beans before adding them to the crock pot.  I don't like bean juice at all, so I will probably continue doubling the sauce.  Anyway, Brent likes the BBQ flavor, so the more sauce the merrier as far as he's concerned.

Baltimore Baked Beans
Source:  Brunton family dinners and pot luck suppers

Ingredients:

1/2 pound bacon
2 pounds hamburger
1 chopped onion
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/3 c brown sugar
1/4 c ketchup
1/4 c bbq sauce
2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp mustard
1 can each pork and beans, black beans, kidney beans and butter beans

Directions:

Fry the bacon until crispy.  Drain on paper towels and when cool, chop or crumble.  Reserve 2 tablespoons bacon grease and use it to saute the onion until translucent.  Set aside.  Wipe pan clean of grease and brown the hamburger, seasoning with salt and pepper, until cooked through.

In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients (except the beans) to create the sauce.  Here's where you can double it if you're feeling kinda saucy.

Drain and rinse all the beans except the pork and beans, and pour into a crock pot, along with the bacon, onion, hamburger and sauce.  Stir to combine and cook on low until warmed through and flavors have melded.

Tacos in Pasta Shells

We love Mexican food at my house. Brent could easily eat tacos every day. So when I found this recipe, I instantly added it to my weekly menu plan. I made several changes to the original recipe, many of them came from the comments posted to the recipe. I love that aspect of All Recipes' website, reading people's feedback and suggestions is the best part of online recipe searching.
These tacos reheated great and tasted even better the next day!

Adapted from: All Recipes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 onion, diced
4 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
1 package taco seasoning
1 4 oz. can chopped green chiles
1 teaspoon salt
Chili powder to taste
30 jumbo pasta shells
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups taco sauce
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the onion until translucent, then brown beef until no longer pink; drain. Add cream cheese, taco seasoning, green chiles, salt and chili powder; mix and simmer for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain. Toss cooked shells in butter.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Fill shells with beef mixture and arrange in a 9x13 inch baking dish; pour taco sauce over shells. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
Remove dish from oven and top with the cheese, return dish to oven to cook for 15 minutes more.
Garnish as desired.

Penne Pizza Pasta Bake

I saw this recipe pop up in my Google Reader and starred it immediately. In fact, I think I made it the next day for dinner. I love making casseroles that leave us lots of leftovers for the next day or two. The food to dirty dish ratio is important to me during the week :) You can also make this ahead and freeze for baking at another time, if that's your M.O. I personally don't have the freezer space for doing this, but it sure would be handy! I ended up cutting the recipe in half and making it in a 9x13 pan.

Penne Pizza Pasta Bake
Source: Crista's Kitchen Creations

2 lbs of ground sausage (I used 1 hot, & 1 pound of hamburger)
2 jars tomato spaghetti sauce
16 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
8 oz chopped fresh mushrooms
1 lg bell pepper, chopped (I left this out, I don't care for green bell peppers)
1 onion, chopped
1 pkg pepperoni slices, quartered
1 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 boxes penne pasta

Preheat oven to 350°

In a large skillet, brown the sausage and onions. Next add veggies, seasonings, and sauce, and allow to simmer while cooking pasta. Cook pasta as directed on box, drain, and add to the sauce mixture. In a large bowl, blend shredded cheeses.

Fill 3 8x8 pans half full with pasta mixture. Next top each pan with a cup of the shredded cheese mixture. Top of each pan evenly with the remaining pasta, and then the remaining cheese. cover and freeze 2 pans for later. Bake in oven until cheese melts.

When preparing frozen pans, allow to thaw overnight and then bake at 350 for about 45 min, or until warmed through.

Stuffed Poblano Peppers

I made these the other night for my husband and father in law. Unfortunately the only picture I have is this sloppy picture of the stuffed peppers on a baking sheet. I'm kicking myself for not getting another picture once I had plated these babies, the plate was beautiful I tell ya, just beautiful. I served them with Mexican Sour Cream Rice, but I changed up the rice recipe by including cilantro and changing the cheese from Monterrey Jack to medium cheddar. Brent and I liked this version MUCH better, probably because it was more colorful!

I was initially inspired by this Black Bean and Rice Stuffed Poblano recipe on Food alla Puttanesca. I love black beans, but Brent isn't really a fan, plus, he prefers meals with meat. I created my recipe to fit his criteria :)

Ingredients:

8 poblanos, 6 sliced lengthwise, with seeds removed, 2 diced
1 pound hamburger
1 red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 12 oz. can diced tomatoes
1.5 cups chicken stock
1.5 cups quick cooking brown rice
3 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. chipotle chili powder
Dashes of hot sauce
Salt and pepper
2 cups cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400°

Place the 12 halved poblanos on a baking sheet (I like to line with aluminum foil).
In a skillet over medium heat, brown the hamburger and season with salt and pepper. Remove the hamburger and drain.
Next, in a little olive oil, saute the red onion, garlic, and diced poblano until soft. Add the tomatoes, stock and spices and bring to a boil. Add the rice, stir to combine and allow to simmer until the rice is cooked.
Now, take the poblanos out of the oven (they should be getting soft by now), spoon the hamburger mixture into the pepper halves, top with cheese and place back in the oven for another 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and yummy.

Horseradish-Mashed Potato Shephard's Pie

I love it when I find a new great blog. Good writing is always catches my eye, along with great pictures (especially for a food blog). But first, a great layout and header reel me in. I realize that my own layout and banner are completely lacking in the 'draw you in' department. Now that I've admitted to my awareness of my blog's boring first impression, I am required to do something about it. It is my goal to to make my page look more like the blogs that I envy. Now if any of you out there can help me figure out how the hell to do that please let me know.

Tonight's dinner was inspired by one of the cleverly written and well photographed blogs I've recently started following. Like me, the author lives in Oklahoma, plus the name of her blog includes the word spork. And really, how can someone go wrong naming their food blog after such a versatile utinsile? It had me at hello!

Probably because I had a really good day at work which left me feeling surprisingly full of energy, I accomplished something that hasn't been done since before I became pregnant...I worked until 5:30, went to the Wal Marts, came home to cook a meal requiring TWO separate food preparations, and still had dinner on the table by 7:48. AND for the grand finale, I am posting about it immediately after. As Kanye would say, bow in the presence of greatness.

Horseradish Mashed Potato Shephard's Pie

From Have Spork, Will Travel
Originally from Rachel Ray "Everyday"

5 baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
Salt
1/4 cup milk prepared horseradish, to taste
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 parsnips, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 pounds ground beef
3 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2-3 tbsp chopped fresh chives

1. Boil the potatoes in salted water until fork tender. Drain, mash with milk until smooth. Add horseradish, egg and season with S&P.

2. In the meantime, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add veggies and bay leaf. Season with more S&P and cook until half done. Add beef to pan, stirring often until browned. Sprinkle flour on top and cook, stirring for one minute. Add broth and cook until thickened. Add the W sauce and season to taste. Don't forget to remove the bay leaf.

4. Preheat oven to 450. Grease a medium sized casserole dish and add the meat mixture, topping with the potatoes. Bake until golden and bubbly, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with chives.

Now to admit to the errors, I mean changes, I made while preparing this. I used red potatoes, and I didn't peel them. I am lazy about potato peeling and I don't think my husband minds. Also, I can never find parsnips at the store, so I just used more carrots. I also had some celery that needed used so I added that too. It was good. I did forget to add the W sauce, which I'm sure would have only made my pie taste better. And a tip: mine nearly boiled over, I'm glad Spork Blogger advised me to use a cookie sheet under my casserole dish. I also left out the chives. Chives are something I grow in the summer and it peeves me to shell out moolah for them in the winter.

Now for the muzak: I was listening to the Twilight Soundtrack while writing tonight. No I am not 15. Yes I enjoyed the books. Yes I enjoyed the movie.

Quick Italian Soup ... and a Guest Blogger joins the mix!!!

---Hi everyone, I am swamped at work and have been feeling the guilt about neglecting my blog, so I've asked my mom to guest blog for me. Lately she's been cooking up a storm for a large family reunion that's coming up this weekend. She has several great recipes so I'm going to break it up into a couple of posts and make this a Special Event Mini-Series :) Enjoy! I don't know what's with the caps, I'll have to ask her to tone down the emotion next time! Thank you, Mom, for taking the time to do this, I really appreciate it!


HELLOOOO BLOGGERS! THIS IS THIS GIRL'S MOM. SHE HAS BEEN VERY BUSY AT WORK SO I AM GOING TO TELL YOU ALL ABOUT MY PREPARATIONS FOR A BIG FAMILY REUNION THIS WEEKEND AND THE COOKING THAT HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR SEVERAL WEEKS IN PREPARATION.

WE ARE HAVING A 'COUSIN REUNION' AT GRAND LAKE, OKLAHOMA. WE'RE EXPECTING AROUND 24 PEOPLE, SOME STARTING TO COME IN ON FRIDAY. THE PROBLEM IS THE TWO HOSTESSES, MYSELF AND MY COUSIN JAN, WHO I SOMETIMES REFER TO AS THE 'LITTLE GENERAL' BECAUSE OF HER ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS, LIVE ABOUT FOUR HOURS FROM THE LAKE. WE COULD HAVE OTHERS BRING THINGS BUT MOST OF THEM ARE COMING FROM FURTHER THAN THAT, PHILADELPHIA, ST. LOUIS, KANSAS CITY, WICHITA. SO TO TRY TO MAKE THIS EASY ON THE LONG DISTANCE TRAVELERS WE DECIDED TO PROVIDE MOST OF THE FOOD.

FRIDAY EVENING WE ARE PLANNING CHILI AND A QUICK ITALIAN SOUP. CHILI IS CHILI, MINE IS PRETTY GOOD BUT I WON'T BORE YOU WITH THE DETAILS. NOW, THE QUICK ITALIAN SOUP I'M EXCITED ABOUT:

2# LEAN GROUND HAMBURGER BROWNED
CHOPPED ONION - AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE
10 CUPS HOT WATER
2 BOXES HAMBURGER HELPER LASAGNA MIX
2 CANS DICED TOMATOES WITH JUICE
2 CANS WHOLE KERNEL CORN - DRAINED

MIX THE HAMBURGER, ONION, 10 CUPS OF HOT WATER AND THE SPICE PACKETS FROM THE H.H. AND BRING TO A BOIL. LOWER HEAT AND SIMMER 10 MINUTES. ADD THE TOMATOES AND THE CORN, SIMMER 10 MINUTES. ADD THE NOODLES FROM THE H.H. AND SIMMER 10 MINUTES.

THIS IS A DOUBLE RECIPE. I'VE MADE IT SEVERAL TIMES AND I USUALLY ADD ABOUT A HALF A PALM FULL OF GOOD LARGE CUT DRIED BELL PEPPER PIECES IN WITH THE WATER.

Taco Soup

Since I've started blogging, I've noticed that I cook a lot of things Mexican-like. I guess it's because our favorite Mexican recipes are pretty easy, don't require a lot of fancy ingredients, and they aren't that expensive! This recipe for Taco Soup has been in my family for awhile. My mom first found it and I latched onto it like a frat boy on a keg. It took me awhile to convince Brent that the beans are necessary cogs to this soup-machine, but he's a believer now. I don't know if he just got tired of picking them out of his bowl or if he decided they really don't taste bad at all. All I know is that I'm glad I won the bean fight of 2008.

Taco Soup

1 1/2# burger
1 onion chopped
1 16 oz can kidney beans with liquid
1 16 oz can chili beans
1 small bag frozen corn
1 can Rotel
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
1 4oz can green chiles
1 pkg. Ranch Dressing mix
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 1/2 c. water

Brown beef and saute onion - drain, stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer @ least two hours.
Serve with whatever garnishes float your boat.

P.S. This soup tastes even better on day 2. I like to mix it up by using the leftovers to make some kickin' nachos. Just drain the soup, put over a bunch of chips and ta da, taco soup with chips!

Cheeseburger Bierocks with Bacon

Of course, I'm using the term 'bierock' loosely, you will find no cabbage in this recipe. It is simply just a wonderful bread-y pocket of goodness, containing items with which I would normally like to top a hamburger patty. I started with my Aunt Deb's easy bread recipe. I was fearful. I've baked before, and it wasn't pretty. That calamitous experience created a loaf of bread was closer in consistency to chunks of granite than a soft, flavorful transport for butter. After a reassuring telephone call to my aunt, I decided to jump right into my kitchen and attempt to create an idea that had been spinning in my mind for a few days...a cheeseburger style bierock.

For the bread dough:

1 package yeast (fast rising or regular)
1 cup warm water
1 egg
1 T. oil
1 T. sugar
3 cups flour
Salt (as I type this, I realize I forgot this ingredient. Don't be like me. Use salt)

Combine warm water and yeast until dissolved. Add egg, oil, sugar and stir. Start by adding two cups flour. Mix well. Add additional flour until it's a nice dough consistency. (Don't ask me to define 'nice' dough consistency, I have no answer. I guess it just 'looks right') Put in an oiled bowl, cover with a cloth and allow to double in size, about half an hour. (I took my aunt's advice and allowed my oven to heat to about 200 degrees, then shut it off. I placed my dough in there to rise which worked well.)

For the filling:

1 pound hamburger, browned and seasoned, drained
1/2 onion, chopped and sauted
1 8oz. bag cheddar cheese
5 slices bacon, browned and crumbled

Mix all ingredients. Easy, huh?!

Assembly:

When dough has finished rising, lightly flour your workspace and rolling pin. Pull off a little chunk of dough and roll into a nice round shape. Put about a cup of the filling on the dough circle (mine were more of ellipses) and seal the edges to make a little pocket. Tip: don't allow any filling to touch the edges of the dough, it's darn near impossible to seal them shut if you do. Place the pockets sealed side down on a greased cookie sheet. You can brush on an egg wash if you'd like. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes, until the bread is nice and browned.

This recipe made about seven bierocks. These four were the prettiest. My other three were not so pretty. This is gonna take practice. I served these little jewels with some ketchup and mustard. Next time, I might put a little mayo on there too.

I was really expecting this recipe to take a lot of toil. It didn't, it was really pretty easy. I dirtied lots of dishes in the process, but that's okay. Two dishwasher loads instead of one, no big deal.