Breakfast Burritos

This is another very requested meal in our house. We eat them for dinner. Why? Because we can. And also because this is a good hearty meal that makes a great dinner.

4-5 Potatoes, russet or red skinned are best

1 12 oz package of bacon

10-12 eggs

1 small diced yellow onion

1 heaping Tbsp fresh minced garlic

2-3 Tbsp of EV Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Tortillas, Salsa, Sour Cream, Avocado Slices, Cholula sauce etc.

 

Brown the bacon. Drain off the grease and discard. Crumble the crisp bacon and set aside in a securely guarded area out of reach from pets and husbands. In a large Dutch Oven put oil and place over medium high heat. Add onions and potatoes when oil is hot. Cook potatoes until they are golden brown. Add garlic and continue to cook on medium high heat for 2-3 more minutes. In a bowl, crack the eggs and whisk with a table spoon of water. Pour over potatoes. Add bacon and sprinkle eggs with salt and pepper. Scramble eggs and stir until eggs are fully cooked. Serve on tortillas with your chosen condiments.

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Mexican Rice

I went to Mexico when I was pregnant with my oldest son. I hate talking about it because morning sickness means puking and puking is gross. Let me just say that I was constantly hungry and sick at the same time. It was during this time that we visited Teotihuacan, and while there, I met a family of fertility statue vendors who were eating lunch. I begged them to sell me some food, even though they weren’t allowed to sell food there, but did I mention I was STARVING AND SICK? They took pity on me and gave me a taco for probably 5 dollars in pesos. II probably would have paid 10. Her loss. It was the most expensive food I’ve ever bought while in Mexico. Well, the lady from whom I begged a rice and boiled egg taco added carrots to her rice. I kept it down. And I now frequently add carrots to my rice. End of gross story.

1 1/2 C White long grain rice, do not use brown or sticky rice. Just don’t.

1 small yellow onion, diced

3 C Chicken Broth

1 Tbsp Minced fresh garlic

3 Tbsp Tomato paste

2/3 C diced carrots

1 Tsp Cumin

3-4 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Dash of white wine, optional

In a large saucepan place the oil and put on the stove on high heat. I add a sliver of onion to the oil. When it starts to sizzle violently, I know my oil is hot enough. Add onions. Cook and stir until onions start to turn clear and soft. Then add garlic, rice and carrots. Sautẻ the mixture until some of the rice starts to turn brown. Lower the heat so that the rice does not burn. Add the cumin and the tomato paste and stir well. Add the chicken broth and bring rice to a boil (you may need to turn heat up briefly for this). Once it comes to a boil, cover and lower the temperature on your stove to low. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, do not uncover, and let stand for 10 minutes. Remove lid and fluff. Serve. Enjoy.

Refried Beans

Made the right way. My way.

This is like the longest way possible to make refried beans. Even if I wanted to I could not make it longer. I can post some short cuts, but just FYI, my way is also the cheapest way.

Pro Tip: DO NOT ADD SALT. DO NOT ADD IT TO THE COOKING WATER. DO NOT ADD IT TO THE SOAKING WATER. DO. NOT. ADD. SALT. It keeps the beans from cooking fully. So you will end up cooking and cooking beans that never seem to soften up. Don’t add salt. Until the end. THEN add salt.

2 C dry Pinto or Black beans (black beans make really good refried beans)

8 C water

Place beans on the counter, and sort through to remove any grit or ugly or malformed beans. Rinse beans. Soak beans overnight. Discard water and rinse beans again.

Place soaked beans in large stock pot with 8 more cups of water and simmer on low for 90 minutes. Check beans to see if they are soft and no longer have any grittiness to them. The easiest way to do this is to pull a bean or two out, run under cool water and then eat it. Beans should feel nice and creamy and mash, but they should still be shaped like beans when you pull them out of the water. Over cooking them makes the beans fall apart and then turn to mush. Undercooking them leaves the beans a little crunchy, and you don’t want that.

Now that your beans are cooked, we will now Re- cook them in oil. This is the Re-fried part. Which really makes no sense because they are only fried once but whatever.

3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil (or EVOO) or your favorite oil. I use EVOO

1 small minced onion. *Minced means chopped super finely (or use 3 Tbsp dried onions)

1 heaping Tbsp fresh minced garlic

1 Tsp of your favorite dried red Chile Powder

1 Tsp dried ground Cumin

1ish Tsp salt

Pepper to taste

 

First, take the oil and place it in a large Dutch oven or Cast Iron Skillet over medium high heat. I do this weird thing where I put a sliver of onion in with the oil. When the onion starts sizzling violently, it’s hot enough. Throw your onion in and let it turn translucent. (If you are using dried onion, throw it in WITH the garlic). When your onion starts to be clear, toss in the garlic. Let these two things start to turn golden. We don’t want caramelized onions, just cooked. The garlic will cook and burn quickly, so after you add it, watch it carefully. Burnt garlic is gross. When you are satisfied with your onion/garlic mixture, take a large ladle and reach into the pot of beans and start ladling the beans into the Skillet. After two ladles full of beans AND cooking liquid, begin to mash the beans. When they are fully mashed and begin to sizzle around the edges, add two more ladles full of beans. You want enough beans where it would be a decent soup. Water should fully cover beans by about an inch each time you scoop them out. Keep adding beans and liquid and mashing until they are all mashed.

After mashing, the beans should have a VERY soupy consistency. (If you have a thick mash, you didn’t add enough liquid.) No prob. Just ladle more bean liquid into the skillet and stir it up until you have a nice sludge the consistency of a gruel. Now, stir in the rest of the spices and taste to make sure there is enough salt and pepper. Leave on warm and continue to stir and mash until beans cook down to a thicker gruel consistency. They will continue to thicken as they cool. When they are still warm (serving temperature), they should have a nice oatmeal-like consistency. If they thicken too much, add a 1/4 water and re-warm. If they are too thin, continue to cook on low heat until desired thickness.

Serve alongside all your Mexican dishes or use on your pre-made GRINGO tortillas for all you whiteys, top with cheese and toast for some killer Quesadillas. Please, don’t use cheddar cheese. At least attempt to respect these beans enough to use Jack cheese or a Mexican cheese blend. It’s still gringo but we will give you points for effort.

Provecho!

Shortcut: Use 4 cans of black or pinto beans to replace cooked beans. Do not drain beans. You will need to add more water to the beans to mash them up to the right consistency. Add to hot oil and spices as above. The won’t taste as good as the long method, but they are way better than those things that are labeled “refried beans” where they add a bean mash slurry (instead of water) to whole beans and call it “refried”.

Potato Salad

In a large bowl, Add:

10 Small Russet Potatoes, boiled and peeled (Cut into large chunks, about 1.5”-2”)

4 Celery Stalks, finely chopped

1/2 Large Purple Onion, very thinly sliced

6 Large Eggs, Hard boiled, yolks removed and set aside for dressing, Chop egg whites roughly

 

Dressing:

1 Cup Mayonnaise

1/2 Cup Sour Cream

2 Tablespoons milk or 1/2 and 1/2

1/4 Cup Coarse Ground commercially prepared Mustard

1/4 Tsp Granulated Onion (or powdered)

1/2 Tsp Dill (Dry), use more if using fresh dill)

Mashed Egg Yolks

Salt and Pepper

 

Mix the dressing ingredients in a smaller bowl, and then pour over the Potato mixture. Toss to coat. Chill for several hours before serving.

I love to serve this with Barbeque Chicken, or with hot dogs or hamburgers in the summer when we are outside eating meat off the grill.

Kid-Friendly Chicken Pot Pie

….. Is still delicious. Not quite as delectable as my Fancy Chicken Pot Pie, but still pretty tasty.

Filling:

3-4 Cups Vegetables, diced. Or not. Like peas. Don’t dice peas. Or corn.

1 Cup Shredded Chicken

1 Can Cream of Chicken soup

1 Can Cream of something else soup (Mushroom, Celery and Broccoli are all great options)

1/2 Cup 1/2 and 1/2, milk or Cream

1 Teaspoon Thyme

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Biscuit Topping:

2 Cups All purpose Flour

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Salt

1/3 Cup Vegetable Shortening

3/4 Cup Buttermilk

 

In a microwave safe bowl, place the vegetables with 2 Tablespoons of water. Cover and steam for 8-10 minutes. Drain veggies and mix in the soup, chicken, and seasonings. Place into a 9X13 glass casserole dish.  In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients for the biscuit topping. Cut in the shortening. Lightly stir in the buttermilk. You can substitute plain milk if you don’t have buttermilk. Drop biscuit mix by spoonfuls onto the chicken mixture. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 3-40 minutes, biscuits should start to turn golden brown on top and chicken-vegetable mix should be hot and bubbly. I serve it with pear sauce or peaches that I canned in the summer and it’s a perfect one-dish dinner for a family. Serves 4-6 adults.

Brazilian Cheese Bread

Ever gone to Rodigio’s or Tucano’s and they serve that AMAZING cheesy bread pop-over things to toss into your mouth? The little white bubbles of sticky cheesy goodness? Yeah. That’s this stuff.

Ok, bear with me. This recipe is one that I am copying from my cookbook and it is written in Portuguese and all the ingredients are measured in metric units instead of standard. There is a standard “equivalent” written next to it, but I’ve actually made these a lot and they come out a LOT better when you use the right ratios – so use metric if at all possible.

2 Whole Eggs

200 mL Milk, Whole milk preferred (1 cup)

200 mL Vegetable Oil (1 cup)

200 mL Parmesan, the dry powdery kind you sprinkle on your Spaghetti works best (1 cup)

1 Tsp Salt

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

600 mL Polvilho, which is Tapioca Flour, usually you can find this ingredient in the “Bulk” section of a health foods store, or if you are lucky, your local grocer has a bulk health foods section. My local Winco carries it and it is very inexpensive. 600 mL is close (but not exactly) to 3 cups.

Blend milk, eggs, oils and parmesan in a blender until smooth. Add Tapioca flour last, one cup at a time. Pour into greased miniature muffin tins and bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until you begin to see the edges turn slightly golden. Immediately remove and dump cheesey breads onto a tea cloth to cool.

Chicken & Dumplings

This is *hands down* one of my families favorite meals…. And I can’t argue when they request it – It’s easy and delish!

For this meal you will need:

Chicken (leg quarters, tenders, breasts – whatever you like)

1 tsp each -garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt,

salt and pepper and oil

Dumplings:

water and 5-6 chicken boullion cubes

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp.  salt

4 tbsp. vegetable oil

4 cups all purpose flour

2 cups hot water

First you will need to roast your chicken.  Since I use chicken leg quarters I usually pull back the skin and pour a small amount of oil on each piece.  Then sprinkle the garlic, onion powder, seasoned salt, salt and pepper on the chicken (skin still pulled back).  After this is done I put the skin back over it – just so the chicken stays moist.  Cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour on 350.  

While the chicken is cooking, stir up your dumplings.  There is no special order for this so just dump in the flour, salt, powder, oil and hot water.  You may need to add another 1/4 cup or so of flour so the dough does not stick to the counter when you roll it out.  Let the dough rest for 5-10 minutes.  

While your dough is resting bring a large pot of water to boil with the bouillon cubes.  *you can use chicken broth for this but I just find it easier to use the bouillon cubes*  About the time it comes to a boil you can start rolling out the dumplings.  I divide my dough into three and roll them out onto a floured surface.  Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into about 2 X 2 pieces.  Drop the dumplings into the boiling water.  You don’t want to over fill the pot… so drop in about half or more of the dough you rolled out.  It should look like this : 

You will have to cook the dumplings in “shifts.”  Set the timer for 7 minutes and then pull out each batch of dumplings and place in a bowl (you will just dump these back in after you have cooked all the dumplings). Toss everything back into the pot and enjoy!   

 

  

Pimento Cheese

3 Cups Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese

1 Cup Mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons Grated Yellow Onion

2-3 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

1/4-1/2 Teaspoon Red Pepper

2 4 Oz Jars of Diced Pimentos, drained and chopped

Mix all ingredients in a food processor until it is well mixed. It should still have small (1/4-1/8”) chunks of cheese and pimentos visible to the naked eye. Refrigerate for several hours to let flavors blend. Use as a spread on Ciabatta Bread, toasted bread, white bread with turkey or ham for sandwiches, dip or spread onto crackers such as Wheat Thins, Triscuits or Ritz.

Laverne’s Coconut-Pecan Frosting

This is the cake recipe I use every year for mine and my son’s birthdays (they are one day apart, so I only make one cake). We love it and it is my Grandma’s special recipe.

 

1 12 oz can Evaporated Milk

1/2 Cup Butter

1 Cup Sugar

3 Egg Yolks

1 Tablespoon Flour

2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

1 Cup Sweetened Flaked Coconut

3/4 Cup Roughly Chopped Pecans (LaVerne says 1/2 cup but I bump it up to 3/4, you decide)

Place all ingredients into a medium to large saucepan and cook until bubbly and sugar caramelizes. The frosting should turn from a yellow to a light beige color.

This is meant to be used with a German Chocolate Cake. Mix as directed, bake into either 3 8” rounds or 2 9” rounds. Let cool. Trim the rounded tops off of the bottom layers of cake and frost tops only. Leave the top layer of cake rounded, top with frosting, refrigerate for an hour or two before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

German Pancakes and Buttermilk Syrup

If you have never had a puffy eggy pancake fresh from the oven… then I genuinely feel sorry for you. My kids love them. This is what we eat on a lot of Saturday mornings.

Pancake:

2 Tablespoons Butter

6 Eggs

1 Cup Milk

1/2 Tsp Salt

1 Cup All-Purpose Flour

In a 9X13” dish, place the butter and place in preheated oven at 400 degrees.

In a blender, put the eggs, milk, flour and salt and blend until smooth. Take the pan out of the oven and slide the butter around until it coats the bottom of the pan. It doesn’t need to be 100% melted,  it just needs to be 100% coated. Gently pour the eggy mixture in over the butter.  Cook for 18-20 minutes at 400 degrees. Pancake should be puffy and sometimes it even curls and bakes up over the edges. Don’t worry, it will not “leak”. It just bakes into unique pancake sculpture type formations.

Cut into squares and smother with Buttermilk syrup, powdered sugar, jam, fruit and/or whipped cream. 

Buttermilk Syrup:

This sounds gross. I promise you, once you try this syrup, you will never, ever want to eat store-bought syrup again. It is not fat free. It is not sugar free. It is delicious though.

1 1/2 Cups Sugar

1/2 Cup Butter

3/4 Cup Buttermilk

1 Tsp Baking Soda

2 Tablespoons Corn syrup, light or dark.

2 Tsp Vanilla

Put the Butter into a LARGE saucepan or Dutch oven and heat on medium. Once it starts to melt, add the buttermilk and then the sugar and corn syrup and the baking soda. Stir until all ingredients are melted and well-blended. Once it starts to “boil” (really it will foam), set a timer for 7 minutes. Let it foam on low heat for 7 minutes. If you ignored the directions above to place it in a large saucepan or Dutch oven, it will start becoming very obvious why right about now. It will probably foam up and fill the entire pan. This is what it should look like when it starts to foam.

Stir occasionally. You will notice that the foam will start to darken and turn a golden  color as the sugar starts to caramelize.

When the seven minutes are up, remove immediately from heat and add the vanilla and stir. The foam will eventually decrease. Pour hot syrup over puffy pancakes.

Syrup will keep in fridge for several weeks, if placed in an air tight container. Re-heat on low in a saucepan or microwave and stir well. I’m not sure how well the pancakes keep as we rarely have leftovers of those.