Cottage Pie Baked Potatoes Ala Mary & Breakfast

I am a potato fan and could eat them about every day – maybe the Irish blood in me – and I love Cottage Pie (Shepherd’s Pie from beef).  So when I saw Mary’s recipe for Cottage Pie Baked Potatoes on her “Vegetable Recipes” blog, I knew I had to try it.  Bev had just been to the Mennonite market and brought home some fine looking Yukon Gold potatoes that I could to use.  I followed Mary’s recipe but didn’t take pics of the process as they looked just like Mary’s which you can see by clicking on the above link.

Green Chile Cheddar Egg Bake

I’ve had green chile fritatta on my list for a while and since I wanted something simple for this day it made it onto the menu.  I began with the recipe for Green ChileCheddar Egg Bake from Five Heart Home but modified it for the larger can of green chiles that I had on hand.  Pease click on the link for Samatha’s original recipe and more pics like this.

Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breasts

It was Cindy’s night to cook supper and she chose Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breasts using a recipe from ThatLow Carb Life .  She followed the recipe as written and here is a shot from their site.

We Are Now Hunkered Down

A little sunrise out of Cindy's BR window - pretty nice view to awake to.

Up to now, we have been going about life as almost normal but being very careful about where we went, keeping social distance, and keeping our hands sanitized, but now that we have confirmed cases of Covid-19 in our immediate area, we have gone into full hibernation here at Almost Heaven South as of Mar 24 with no more non-emergency trips out of here.

My Jobs At Home

While the girls are in Florida, I have several jobs at home with the most important one being looking after the pups.  

Not Exactly Poutine

I like fries and I love cheese but even more so, I love gravy so when I first saw poutine on a TV food show, I knew it would be right up my alley.  I’ve never made it but while on our trip this past summer I had some at a restaurant in Michigan's UP and as expected, I really liked it.  For those who may be unfamiliar with it, the dish consist of fries topped with cheese curds and then brown gravy – how could anyone not like that.

I had some leftovers from a couple of meals and while they will not make real poutine, I did have some rich beef broth from a recent batch of Italian beef, some cheese (not curds), and some potato gnocchi left from making Pam’s delicious Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup (For The Love Of Cooking blog).  Since we just followed Pam's recipe except we used kale, I didn't post about it but our soup looked like this shot of hers and I highly recommend it.

Cindy Makes Quiche

I don’t want to debate the Real Men issue here, but I do love quiche and similar dishes so when Cindy offered to make a couple for supper, Bev and I immediately responded YES.  Since she is rarely here, she usually just eats what we cook for supper (except red meat) but a job was cancelled and she was off for the week and had time to plan, shop for, and cook a meal.  She pretty well spent the whole afternoon in the kitchen, but at mealtime I understood why.

Good Meals While Bev Travels

I’d had a continuing-to-get-worse issue with the first two toes on my left foot growing further away from my big toe which resulted in pain when I walked.  So after getting two new knees last winter, I had this, hopefully final, problem fixed the end of October which means I’ll be in a boot for several weeks.  Since Bev was heading off to Florida for two weeks in mid-November, she cooked me up several dishes to tide me over until she returns.

For each of them, we made enough to eat and enough to freeze often doubling the recipes which can be found via the links.

First up was a big pot of her normal chili - this is an old shot but it still looks just the same and as always we really enjoyed it – especially over some of her Mexican cornbread.

2016 Western Trip – Day 58 – Day Trip North

After returning from Taos the first time, doing some web research, then visiting the farmers market, Bev decided there were three things she wanted to see – the Purple Adobe Lavender Farm, the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, and the Taos Pueblo.

Since I still had the cough and didn’t want to be with other people much and we could see them all in one big loop, we decided it would make for a good day trip.  We began by heading up to Abiquiu (yet another unpronouncable word for me) to visit the lavender farm located down a yellow lined dirt road.

Chicken Braised in Wine and Rosemary

I’m not really a food blogger and I’m certainly not a very good food photographer so if you want to see great shots of this dish, head on over to My Carolina Kitchen, where Sam and her professional photographer husband, Meakin, put together a great presentation of this dish and took some excellent shots of it.  As soon as I saw it on Sam’s site, I knew we had to make it and I was not disappointed. 

Crockpot Barbecue Beef Ribs

Say what, you asked?  If you know me or have read my blog for very long, you likely know I am somewhat of a BBQ purist and subscribe to this definition – BBQ is meat cooked slowly over low heat (preferably indirect) in a smoky environment.  I know that this is the minority opinion in America so nuf about that.  I used this title because it will probably be the only time I use the words barbecue and Crockpot in the same sentence and I just had to do it to see how it felt.

In my continuing and seeming lifelong effort to clean out our freezers, I discovered a rack of beef ribs that had been there for a couple of years and were not vacuum sealed so I suspected they might be in bad shape or at least old tasting.  After thawing, removing the foil and plastic wrapping, and rinsing they looked and smelled fine and with no freezer burn.

Al Capone Roast

So we could use some flank steak we had in the freezer, Bev discovered the recipe for this dish at All Recipes and assigned me to make it while she went to the market.  I amended it for the two pound steak we had.

Al Capone Roast – adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients:

2 pounds flank steak, pounded thin for easy rolling

1/8 cup olive oil

3 ounce finely chopped black olives

3/4 cup minced fresh mushrooms (I used cremini)

6 slice prosciutto, fat cap removed

6 slices mortadella

6 slices mozzarella cheese

12 slices pepperoni sausage

McCormick Italian Herbs – medium grind

Garlic powder

Montreal steak seasoning

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Pound meat to 1/2" thickness and spread the mushrooms and olives over the steak.

2014 Florida Trip - Spinach Artichoke Chicken (Grilled)

When Mary from Barefeet In The Kitchen posted here recipe for Spinach Artichoke Chicken, I knew it had to be tried soon and it was a easy meal for the RV trip – please check Mary’s site for the original recipe and photos. 

I read the recipe and we bought the ingredients we needed, but I mis-read the recipe a couple of times so we adapted for that plus I had a desire to grill the chicken - we're camping you know.

Salisbury Steak TV Dinner

Our neighbor, Steve, loves Salisbury steak but apparently only gets it via a TV dinner and since we also really like it, we decided to invite them down for our version.  We once again used the recipe for SalisburySteak with Mushroom Gravy from Lynda’s Recipe Box – please stop by Lynda’s site for the recipe and photos.

Before discussing the meal, here's a little history of the dish.  It was named for Dr. James Henry Salisbury who encouraged it during the Civil War because he considered minced beef as health food.  The term Salisbury steak was first recorded in 1897 but really came into full usage during World War I when patriotic Americans wanted a substitute for the German word hamburger. 

I followed Lynda's recipe except I made six 8 oz. steaks and a double recipe of gravy using both button and cremini mushrooms.

We sided the steak with some Pioneer Woman mashed potatoes, buttered peas, buttered carrots, and hot rolls.  I wanted to serve Steve's in a sectioned aluminum TV dinner tray, but didn't want to go to town and try to find them.  

We made the potatoes and gravy a little ahead of time and kept them warm on the cook top.  

I used a pot for the potatoes, a skillet for the gravy, two skillets to cook the meat and two pots for the veggies – steamed in a little seasoned chicken broth until tender then buttered.  We rarely use all of the eyes on the range, but it's nice when we need them - this is just before the cooking started.

This is the finished platter of steak and the extra gravy was served on the side.

Just as I was ready to shoot my plate, the camera battery was dead and I resorted to Bev’s phone - I knew I needed to charge that thing occasionally.  My meal looked even better than the shot of it shows.

The meal was a success and Steve said it was the best TV dinner he’d ever eaten and I certainly agreed (I ate many as a kid and considered them and pot pies a treat).

Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

12/8/13 meal date

Marco - The 2013 Visit & Pork Diane

After getting the house/dog sitter settled in, we headed off for our normal two week time share vacation at Marco Island, FL.  I didn’t make the trip last year but came this time as I had a piece of property I needed to arrange to sell – left from my family. 

I’m not a big fan of heading to the heat of Florida, soon after the cool fall finally replaces the summer heat at home and one of the reasons for the RV is so we can travel with the dogs.  But, alas, Bev and Pat really like this trip so it stays on the agenda but it may be a fly-down-there-for-them from now on while I dog-sit.

I’ve posted about The Charter Club before but here is a brief recap via shots from our balcony.

 Madison, Bev, & Pat enjoying poolside.

Our first in-condo meal was courtesy of Pam at For The Love Of Cooking using her recipe for Pork Tenderloin Diane.  Please check Pam’s site for photos and the recipe which I followed as written but made double the sauce and served it by individual plate rather than on a platter.  I served it over potatoes mashed on the plate and a salad that Bev whipped up.

I added sauce to the potatoes then topped with the meat then a little more sauce.  Since I’ve become a fan of lemon butter sauce I thought the meat was very good, but it was a bit over powering for the potatoes – solution: a piece of meat and some potatoes in each bite.  Thanks Pam for a very good meal.

Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

11/10/13 event date

Fried Green Tomato BLT & A Learning

We’d bought a few green tomatoes a couple of weeks ago and decided to turn them into a green tomato BLT using a recipe I found on line.  The recipe called for a buttermilk/egg dunk then into seasoned breading.  Earlier in the day I had fried up a bunch of Benton’s bacon for this meal and for our Independence Day cookout.

Bev made a sauce by adding some ricotta cheese (for thickness), garlic hot sauce, and chili sauce to ranch dressing.

I set up the breading station on the grill hood, fried the tomatoes in canola oil, and drained on paper towels.

While I cooked the maters, Bev got everything else ready for the sandwich composed of a large bun, the doctored ranch dressing, a little thin sliced red onion, lettuce, and then the green tomatoes.

I thought the sandwich was plenty good but not blow me away and after eating a fried tomato by itself, I was disappointed for two reasons.  First the tomato wasn’t tangy enough which is likely due to the time in the fridge and beginning to ripen just a little – the ones growing in my garden will resolve that.  The second was the seasoning on the tomato, as it just wasn’t enough and never is when I season the breading.  So I need to find a better way such as seasoning the egg wash or seasoning the tomato after the egg wash.

 

The positive for the breading – the combination of flour, cornmeal, and Panko was tasty and had a nice crispiness.

Do you have a seasoning/breading method that works well for you?

Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

7/3/2013 meal date

Pork Loin And Stuffing

I’d recently bought two whole pork loins while they were on sale – I’ve decided to stock up a little in case the prices skyrocket next year.  Since this was butcher, bag, and freeze day, I thought some chops cut from one of them would be in order and the idea of baked ones came to mind.

The next light to pop up in my mind, was to look thru “The Estabrook Family Cookbook” recently sent to me by Bob and Lea Ann Brown (Cooking On The Ranch) thinking a family cookbook from people who lived in the mid-west might have a baked pork chop recipe.  Sure enough there it was - Chicken And Stuffing – which I’d already been thinking about, except with pork and the author commented it worked equally well with pork.  So this is the final recipe I used:

Pork and Stuffing

Adapted from Lois Welker, reprinted with Lea Ann’s permission.

6 boneless pork chops, ¾” thick

Brine – recipe below (added by me)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 C. sour cream

¼ can cream of mushroom soup – left from the broccoli casserole (added by me)

A few drops of Kitchen Bouquet (KB) for color (added by Bev)

1 box stuffing mix - Stove Top for Pork

S&P to taste – Aunt Lena added no salt and with the brine neither did I

Basic brine:  Add to a sauce pan 1 C. water, 1 C. apple juice, ¼ C. kosher salt, ¼ C. brown sugar, ¼ tsp. coarse black pepper, ½ bay leaf and heat until sugar and salt dissolve. Fill a 2 cup measuring device with ice cubes and add apple juice to make two cups.  Mix the two liquids in a cool container, stir until Ice melts and pour over the chops – cool liquid further if necessary.  I brined for 4 hours.

 

1. Spray a 9”x12” dish with cooking spray - drain and add pork chops- don’t rinse or pat dry.

2. Mix together the soup(s), sour cream, KB, and a little fresh ground pepper and spread evenly over the chops.

3. Prepare the stuffing mix per package directions plus ¼ cup of extra water for more moisture.

4. Spread the stuffing evenly over the chops and soup mix.

5. Bake uncovered at 350* until chops reach desired doneness – I used a remote probe and pulled them at 137* which took about 30 minutes on convection bake - chicken would take longer to get up to 165* (the recipe says one hour for boneless chicken breasts)

We served it with Bev’s broccoli casserole and fried rice – the rice needed to be used and we wanted to be sure we had something picky eater Madison would eat.  She is our 14 year old granddaughter who is living with us as she did when she was 11 - this should keep us young (or plant us earlier).  Sorry my plate wasn't very pretty.

The chops were very good and the only thing I’d do differently is make some biscuits or boil some potatoes to be whipped or hand mashed – there was plenty of good gravy that needed something to sop it up.  After I coaxed Madison to reluctantly try a bite (our food deal), she ate a whole chop and some broccoli casserole - hard to beat good ole comfort food. 

I’m not much of a cookbook person, preferring to use your blog posts for recipes, except when given a family, or church, town, etc. book, where everyone includes their old favorites, which are often family heirlooms.  I look forward to the next recipe we try from this book - thanks for sending it to us Lea Ann and Bob.

I'm now responding to your comments and hoping you will stop back by - photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

10/07/12 event date

 

The Annual Roden Visit – 2012

Kathy (daughter) and her three girls were in for their annual visit from San Antonio and this was an opportunity for Eric (son) and his two kids to visit with them as well, so they came down from Baltimore.  The grandkids like to play in the lake and go on a picnic to Cades Cove in the Smokies.

Bev had bought them tickets to an amusement place in Pigeon Forge and while they were doing that, we got things ready and headed for the picnic area.  This is our picnic site prior to their arrival – it’s my favorite one.

Our meal consisted of the usual hamburgers and potatoes fried in a cast iron pot along with hot dogs, baked beans, and sliced veggies - potatoes still need to brown a little.

These are half slices from our first “Persimmon” slicing tomato.

This is my plate and I went with a patty melt.

Before and after the meal, there was the usual playing in the creek.

It was another successful visit to “The Cove.”  Then there's always the playing at the lake time and Bev dressed in my favorite outfit.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Grandkids At The Lake

Two years ago:  Lawn Problems And Garden Produce

Larry

6/28/12  event date

A Mediterranean Meal From The Garden

Our garden produce is beginning to deliver the summer veggies in a big way and we were looking for a meal to use them when along came Mary’s recipe for Italian Balsamic Chicken Stir Fry from her Barefeet In The Kitchen Blog.  We adapted it to marry what we had on hand but the inspiration is totally form her.

Italian Balsamic Steak Stir Fry, Adapted from Barefeet In The Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 strip steaks, cut into 1" pieces 

Italian salad dressing, about 3/4 cup

1 T. cornstarch

1 small red pepper, julienned

1 small green pepper, julienned

1 small onion, sliced into thin rings

1 small yellow zucchini, sliced in rounds for contrast

Big handful of green filet beans, in bite sized pieces

1/4 C. garlic scapes, (I actually had these)

3 T. olive oil

kosher salt, to taste

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/4 C. balsamic vinegar

1 T. honey

1 t. dried oregano

Directions:

1. Cut the steak into bite sized pieces and marinate in Italian dressing for about 2 hours.

2. As Mary said, prep all ingredients prior to turning on the stove or grill side burner in our case.

3. Whisk together the balsamic and the honey, set aside.

4. Make skewers from the steak, coat the peppers, onions, and perhaps green beans with the cornstarch and preheat the grill and the wok with the oil in it.

5. When the grill is ready, add the steak and crank the wok heat to high.  I really wanted the grill flavor on the meat.  Cook the meat about a minute per side, then set aside while the veggies cook.

6. When the oil is shimmering, add the peppers, onions, and beans and toss with tongs until the vegetables are barely tender and still crisp.

7. Remove cooked vegetables to a bowl and add the squash, garlic scapes, and oregano to the wok.  Add a drizzle of oil if needed and stir fry, tossing and stirring constantly, just until the squash starts to soften.

8. Add the meat and other veggies back to the pan and pour in the balsamic sauce. Cook a couple of minutes, stirring constantly, until everything is coated with the sauce.

9. Serve over rice or plain, as we did – we can eat more of the good stuff that way.

It was a huge hit here and it’s really all about the sauce which we thought was delicious.  I don't know how much influence the grilled marinade on the meat had on the sauce but I’d serve this to company. Thanks Mary.

To complete the Mediterranean meal, we added an authentic Greek salad of cucumber*, green pepper*, red onion, cherry tomatoes* (we only had a few), dried oregano, kalamata olives, pickled pepperoncini pepper*, EVOO, lemon juice, S&P, and feta cheese.   * = from our garden.  Note – no lettuce in a Horiatiki Salata.

We only had crumbled feta vs. the more traditional slab so I loaded mine up with it - I really like it in case you can't tell. 

I used a standard pre-marked cruet for the dressing but used lemon juice in place of vinegar.  I just sprinkled the oregano over the salad and Bev said hers needed a little more.  It was quite different than what I normally consider a Greek salad and I enjoyed it a lot.

I'd have to call this a Mediterranean meal success.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Blogger Party 2011 - Part 2

Two years ago:  Fathers Day Greekfest

Larry

6/16/12 meal date

Memorial Day At Almost Heaven South

Many bloggers have posted their delicious suggestions for Memorial Day eats and I enjoyed reading them, but we did something slightly different.  Our blogger party was on May 27 and we invited Penny & Dave Klett, Sam & Meakin Hoffer, and his brother Stu and SIL Sandy to stay with us rather than leave the party early to drive home or get a motel room. 

When Meakin said to put him to work helping with the party cooking, as an alternative, I suggested that they stay over an extra night and the brothers cook us one of their special meals I’d been hearing about from Sam – and they agreed.  In addition I got some photography lessons from Meakin and Sam and a gift of white boards to help me with light management.

So after a Larry breakfast of home fries with onions and green peppers, fried eggs, scrapple and rye toast, we turned the kitchen over to them and moved around to the peanut gallery to watch the magic happen.

They first made some croutons and the elements for gazpacho, so it could be chilling in the fridge.

Then after a power nap, they were ready to get down to the serious business of preparing this meal – I guess we could have grilled burgers, but this seemed like an acceptable Memorial Day alternative, don’t you think? They had a menu copy for each diner so we’d know where we were and what was coming next.

Dinner at Almost Heaven South  

Monday, May 28, 2012

Guests Chefs – Stuart & Meakin Hoffer

Appetizer 

Savory Bleu Cheese Popovers 

First Course

Chilled Spanish Gazpacho Soup with  Crispy Croutons 

Entrée 

Roasted Tenderloin of Beef

Napped with a Peppery Port Wine & Fig Reduction  

Garnished with Caper Berries 

Mediterranean Style Ratatouille 

Truffle Infused Mashed Potatoes 

Crispy Fried Shallots 

Cheese Course

Four cheeses with Honey Rosemary Glaze 

Dessert

New Orleans Style Bananas Foster over Vanilla Ice Cream 

Coffee

I’ll let Sam & Meakin do the primary posting about the meal itself as most of my shots were of the cook’s in action, so be sure to check in at My Carolina Kitchen to get the details.  Stu and Meakin made a great team and worked unbelievably well together.  They brought a cooler and several boxes of ingredients and utensils with them from home - leaving nothing to chance.  It’s obvious they had spent a great deal of time planning both their menu and what it would take to pull it off.

This is the beef filet coming to room temperature for roasting.

I believe this is the ratatouille being made. 

Then the gazpacho was served. 

After eating the soup, the brothers went about the preparation and plating of the main course, beginning with removing the meat from the oven to rest.  Note Sam's watchful eye on Meakin's potato mashing process.

This is my plate of beef, ratatouille, and potatoes and the nice little touches of fried shallots and a caper berry - my learning was that even with great food, adding the little touches can take it to the next level - Bev does this but I rarely do.

I cannot imagine going to restaurant anywhere on the planet and getting a better meal and I know it wouldn’t have been as much fun as sitting on the kibitzer stools, sipping wine, and watching the Hoffer boys in action.  Everything was perfectly cooked and I even loved the ratatouille, which was a first.  I pled with them to come back this weekend and do another one, but I’m suspicious it’s not going to happen.  Thanks guys for a wonderful dining experience that will be talked about for years.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  None

Two years ago:  Memorial Day At Almost Heaven South

Larry

5/28/12  meal date