Green Rice Casserole and Iron Skillet Brownies

Last night we had leftover porkchops and I wanted a side dish to go along with them. Paula’s "Too" cookbook has a recipe that is similar to Don’s favorite broccoli casserole. Paula’s recipe has a can of soup and a stick of butter. Don’s recipe has a can of soup and a can of evaporated milk, along with chopped onions and celery. I’m not Southernized enough to put an entire cube of butter in a casserole, so I compromised. I sauteed about half a cup of chopped onions in a little butter, mixed it with the soup and enough milk to thin it (about half a can). I also used fresh broccoli instead of frozen. The casserole bakes in the oven for half an hour and whenever I’ve pre-cooked it for something like that, it’s always overdone. It worked with putting raw chopped broccoli and just letting the heat from the oven cook it through.

For dessert we had the "Iron Skillet Brownies" from Paula’s "Just Desserts" cookbook. It seems "everyone" has a recipe like this, it’s much like the One Bowl Brownie recipe on the box of Baker’s chocolate and it’s pretty close to a recipe for "Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies." (Written about by the late Gourmet writer Laurie Colwin.)

Anyway, you take chocolate and butter and melt them in a skillet, then add sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, salt and nuts. I threw in half a box of chopped Andes mints. Instead of turning out like chocolate chunk brownies they melted into the batter and added a mint flavor.

My mother-in-law gave me a tip for cutting brownies to keep from tearing the edges: use a plastic knife. It worked like a charm! The brownies were good too. Nice and crusty and shiny on top and gooey in the middle. Easy enough to make where I’ve given up on using those boxed mixes.

Dixieland Pork Chops

This one is a Paula recipe. Instead of cheddar cheese soup I used Fiesta Nacho Cheese. It looked too thick so I put about 1/3 can of milk in the sauce. The sauce tasted yummy, I may make it by itself to put on broccoli or other veggies. I wasn’t sure if you are supposed to cover the baking dish while it is baking. I put the casserole in the oven, uncovered, and after about 15 minutes the top started to dry out so I ended up covering it with foil. By the time it was done, it was saucy. It may have been OK without.

The pork chops were just OK. They were tender, but I didn't think the sauce matched that great with them. Maybe it was my substitution for the plain cheddar cheese soup. Don thought maybe it will be better tomorrow.

I make a lot of things with Campbell’s soup and this was sort of like the Glorified Chicken recipe we like. That recipe calls for cream of mushroom (or chicken) and I also throw in a can of cream of celery. The sauce and chicken simmer in a covered skillet for about 35 minutes. It can be baked in the oven, but with the skillet method there is one less dish to clean.

I’m currently reading "Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Restaurant Reviews, Articles, Memoir, Fiction and More…" by Dianne Jacob. I’m on the chapter about writing recipes. The author of this book mentions that "Many people aren’t sure what level of instruction to give, I’m on the side that says not to make assumptions about what readers know and leave nothing to chance." I’ve heard Paula say the same thing in her dessert cookbook. Maybe Paula cooks her pork chops in the oven, uncovered, but the recipe does not say.

Since it baked for an hour and a half, and I had the fan going, the smells were going outside. The dogs were going wild, looking in all the windows, running back and forth from one end of the kitchen to the other. Here are some pictures of them caught in the act. Girl-dog was on her best behavior because she knows she must sit before she gets any treats. Tigger was just plain nosy. I gave them a taste, Girl-dog liked the sauce.

Vidalia Onion Casserole

Last night we had BBQed filets and I made the Vidalia Onion Casserole from Paula Deen’s "Lady & Sons, Too" cookbook. I didn’t have Ritz crackers so I used some stuffing mix instead (Pepperidge Farm, that has some seasonings in it). For the topping I mixed in a little of those fried onions (the kind that goes on green bean casserole) with the stuffing crumbs. I didn’t know how the casserole would go over. I made a small one just in case it bombed, with one big Texas 1015 onion, and about 1/3 of the other ingredients. It actually made quite a bit. I think if I’d made the whole thing, with four onions, it would’ve been way too much. Everyone liked it. Robin said it didn’t have an overpowering onion flavor. Two gave "it’s a keeper" comments, and even Don ate it. The stuffing mix gave it a Thanksgiving-ey taste that would go well with chicken. For dessert we had a Marie Callender’s cherry cobbler, the frozen kind that you bake at home. My only complaint about that was the box says it serves 8 but I’d say it’s more like 4-5.

Spaghetti with Mozzarella-Stuffed Meatballs

I love the pictures in Rachael’s new magazine! I think they entice you to want to cook a recipe. Anyway, I tried the spaghetti & meatballs recipe from the latest (April/May 2006) issue of "Every Day With Rachael Ray." I hate parsley so I used spinach instead, and chopped a little onion in there too. I put a few dried herbs (basil, oregano) in the sauce because it sounded like it might be bland, just tomato and garlic. I also used half as much pasta.

I love spaghetti so there isn’t too much you can do to it where I won’t like it. Don’s daughter Robin liked it too, she said she liked the cheese inside the meatballs. I told Don I like the magazine recipes better than the cookbook, so far, and he thought this dish was a re-hash of old recipes. Oh well. I had made a Rachael recipe with giant meatballs about a year ago, that was similar, but I liked this one with the cheese better.

The meatballs take 20 minutes to cook, so this recipe took longer than 30 miinutes.

Oh, Don said he saw Rachael’s magazine on the racks when he was at Lowe’s this week! He didn’t know why they had it in a place like that. Duh. I’m there a lot and if I get "bored" I’ll head to the magazine rack and start browsing. I’m sure I’m not the only wife that does that. And there are probably a lot of men who do a double-take when they see the cover as well.

Weight Watchers 0 Point Garden Vegetable Soup

Cooking with Rachael and Friends

I set out to make Weight Watchers "0 Point" Garden Vegetable Soup. By the time I finished fiddling with it, it had plenty of points. I started out with the basics - fat free chicken broth, tomato paste, plus lots of veggies like green beans, scallions and zucchini. Then I added the cabbage, which I suspect is why it's so good for weight loss. But then, not content to leave well enough alone, I added a can of corn, a pound of ground turkey breast, a can of navy beans and some vegetable broth seasoning. THEN we found out we were having guests for dinner. So we ordered pizza and the soup became the first course. I also made chocolate chip cookies for dessert, which were the hit of the evening. The soup was good too. No complaints from anyone, although Kate thought I should have removed the lid and let is cook down and get thicker, but I like soupy soup.

Slow Cooker Mu Shu Turkey

Last night I made a recipe I found in a slow cooker cookbook. It was called Mu Shu Turkey. I took two cans of plums, which I drained, rinsed and removed the pitts from. I pureed them in a food processor, then put them in the crockpot. To that I added a cup of orange juice, some finely chopped onions, a tablespoon of fresh ground ginger and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Then I sliced up a couple of turkey breasts into thin strips and put them on top of the plum sauce. I let them cook on low for 3 hours. At dinner time, I put some of the strips on a flour tortilla, added a little plum sauce, and some cole slaw mix, wrapped them up and served them. It was well received, everyone ate at least two. I made coleslaw with the rest of the mix, adding raisins, walnuts and Miracle Whip. That went over well too. If I make the mu shu turkey again, I'll add less orange juice and make them in the 5 quart cooker, rather than the 3 quart. I think they need to cook down more and spread out more, if that makes sense.

Individual Vidalia Onions

Cooking with Rachael and Friends

Last night I made cabbage rolls. I thought I'd found the recipe in Paula Deen's newest cookbook, but it wasn't in there. So I just made it myself. I used hamburger, diced onions, seasoned salt, pepper, ketchup, cheese cubes and rice, mixed it all up and wrapped it up in boiled cabbage leaves, then poured tomato soup, mixed with pulverized french onions over it. It was well received.

We had it with Paula Deen's individual vidalia onions. You cut the top off, cut them into four wedges, leaving them connected at the bottom, cut out the core and put a beef bullion cube in there and bits of butter in between the wedges. I wrapped it in heavy duty foil and baked them in the oven for an hour. They made a lot of broth, like a french onion soup. I didn't have Vidalias, as they are out of season, so used a white, sweet onion. It was OK, not everyone ate a lot. I want to try it one more time with Vidalia onions and put them on the grill.

Heavenly Banana Delight

Cooking with Rachael and Friends Last night I made Paula Deen's Heavenly Banana Delight. My 37 year old daughter Jeanne is currently living with us and she is a banana afficienado. She found this recipe and wrote the ingredients on my shopping list, it was very cute. Jeanne loves food but can't cook worth beans. It's an odd combination to find in one person. I wanted to do something for her, since she took care of our dogs while Kate and I went to Las Vegas last week. I bought her a bracelet and made the banana dish. It didn't take long to assemble. It was delicious, not as good as Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding but pretty darn close. I think some peoplemight like it better because it's not as sweet. You use sour cream and whipping cream to make it and that cuts some of the sweetness. I also wondered why the recipe instructed me to drizzle chocolate syrup on it, but I'm glad I did because it added nicely to the flavor.

Tonight I'm making Paula Deen's cabbage rolls. I think I might make some mac & cheese to go with it. We'll see. I also plan to make PD's individual vidalia onions. We'll see.

New Inspiration

You’ve probably noticed, we are switching gears…instead of cooking all Rachael, we’re expanding to include our other Food Network favorite, Paula Deen, among others.

Debbie sent me her extra "Lady and Sons, Too" cookbook and it is such an inspiration. There are already a few recipes I have in mind that I’d like to try. I haven’t seen Vidalia onions here but the new crop of Texas 1015’s is out. I want to try the onion casserole as well as the individually baked ones. I’m still cleaning out my freezer and have some frozen pork chops. I’m going to try the Dixieland Pork Chops sometime soon.

In the meantime I’ve been cooking some old favorites, the other day I made Oprah’s "Unfried Chicken" from that "In the Kitchen With Rosie" cookbook. I made some peanut butter cookies from an old Mrs. Field’s cookbook. And stuffed peppers from a Better Homes and Garden magazine clipping from years ago. Tonight we are having belated corned beef and cabbage. I looked at Paula’s recipe and instead of cooking up the cabbage separately I’m going to cook it in the pot likker with potatoes and carrots (the usual way). The cabbage here looks weird, it is greener and the head looks like a giant brussel sprout. I hope it tastes the same.
Next week my stepdaughter is coming to visit so I’ll go through my new cookbook and see what I can find that sounds easy and something everyone might like.

I drive about 45 minutes each way to work and listen to audiobooks all the time. This week it was the first half of Anthony Bourdain’s "A Cook’s Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal." He is definitely more adventurous than I am. I also think he writes like a man, if a person can say such a thing. So far it is an enjoyable read, I find my stomach turning at some of the things he eats and holding my breath for him to say he got sick (which he hasn’t, at least so far).

Tiger Cake

My craving-du-jour is pound cake. I didn’t want plain because it’s too plain, and I didn’t want chocolate because it’s overpowering…so I thought I’d try this one, which has a little of both. The recipe is from "Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate" by Alice Medrich, who founded "Cocolat" in Berkeley many years ago. This book, by the way, was the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) Cookbook of the Year for 2004. The brownie recipes in this book are killer.

There’s no butter in the cake, it has olive oil. I put half Smart Balance oil (which has olive oil) and half EVOO. The "stripes" are created by layering three layers each of plain and chocolate batter. Stirring isn’t necessary, somehow the batters swirl by themselves. From the looks of it, the chocolate must float to the top. Don thought the swirl on the left side of the cake looked like a swan.

Yum…this was just what I wanted. The cookbook says it should be even better tomorrow, and suggests toasting it. Somewhere else I read about buttering both sides of a piece of pound cake, grilling it like you would a grilled cheese sandwich, then putting ice cream on top. That sounds insane. When it starts to get stale I’ll try that.

We finished the last of the leftovers tonight. I need to go grocery shopping and I’m going to try to find something Rachael to cook this week. I saw she has two cookbooks coming out, one in April and one in November. She’s a busy girl!

Paula Deening My Brains Out!

Cooking with Rachael Ray

The Spiced Beef With Dumplin's turned out fabulously, thank you. I always cook roasts on high in the crock pot all day. That makes them fork tender and this turned out the same. I used refrigerater biscuits, as the recipe called for, to make the dumplings and everyone liked them - even those of us who don't usually care for dumplings.

Today I'm making Senate Bean Soup, also from The Lady and Sons Too! cookbook. I used canned navy beans, I really hate working with uncooked beans of any kind. It usually takes me two days to get them soft enough to use, so prefer to start with canned beans. I used pork neck bones, rather than smoked ham hocks, since that was all Wal-Mart had along those lines. I've been noticing something interesting - chefs like Rachael Ray and Paula Deen are very specific about when to add salt to a dish. Rachael Ray always warns not to add it to a water pot until the water is already boiling. In this current recipe, Paula instructs you not to salt and pepper the soup until just before serving. I may not salt it at all, since I'm sure sodium was used to can the beans. I'm serving it with "Corn Casserole", also from the same cookbook. This is a recipe I found online and made and recommended to Di without knowing it came from Paula Deen. You throw together a can of corn, a can of creamed corn, a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix, a cup of sour cream and a half a stick of butter. You bake it in a casserole dish and it's moist and wonderful. I thought it would be fun to jazz this dish up some time with mexican corn or chilis, but am making it as directed tonight. I think I'll also make a wonderful salad. Perhaps the Warm Apple and Goat Cheese Salad from that book.

Cooking With Di

Cooking with Rachael Ray

Last night I made the Beef Wellingtons from RR's magazine that Diane had made earlier. They were excellent, no complaints, everyone ate every bite. Daughter Jeanne has been beg, beg, begging me to make PD's Not Yo Mama's Banana Pudding again so I ran out at lunch and picked up the ingredients and will surprise her with it tonight.

I have dinner at home cooking in the crockpot. It's Spiced Beef With Dumplings from Paula Deen's Lady and Sons Too cookbook. I'll let you know how it turns out. We may be feeling the financial pinch these days, but we sure are eating food! Between the pool and hot tub in our complex and Netflix and all this home cooking, we are happy, well-fed and well entertained in spite of our poverty!!!

Jambasta

Tonight I made the Jambasta from the February/March 2006 issue of Every Day With Rachael Ray. I live so close to Louisiana but it is hard to find andouille sausage! I found some Johnsonville brand (they make brats) but I think hot links would have been spicier. The store I go to on Sundays is very limited and they didn’t have poblano peppers and Don doesn’t like chicken breasts plus what the store had looked yucky (off color) so I bought a jalapeno and a green pepper , and regular chicken thighs instead.

It took over half an hour (I’m not sure if all the recipes in the magazine fall in to that category) since I had to remove the skin from the chicken, and I simmered it in the sauce for about half an hour to cook it through. I made the whole recipe of the sauce, with half the amount of pasta, and still had pasta leftover (that I didn’t mix in). I think Rachael likes her pasta lightly coated and we like more sauce on ours. While I was cooking, I saw two tails below the kitchen window, apparently the dogs thought the smells were worth checking out.

It was really good! The ingredients were kind of like chicken cacciatore but the flavor was a little spicier. I put green onions on top like the recipe calls for but that was after I took the picture and realized something was missing. Even Don liked it.

Yesterday while I was making my shopping list and flipping through the magazine, Don commented that the pictures looked scrumptious (not his words but that’s what he meant). I have to agree - the photos in the magazine make you want to try a bunch of the recipes.

Leftovers

I’ve been trying to clear out my freezer from the holidays last year. We had beans this week that I turned in to chili, with some leftover ham. Over the weekend I’ll go through my Rachael cookbook and magazines and try to come up with something to cook. It’s only the two of us so things like ham and turkey, we reserve for when we have visitors. I’m almost finished with the leftovers from the last round-up. We have a new crop of visitors coming in the next few weeks.

When we first were in the planning stages of moving to Texas, both of us were excited about Tex-Mex cuisine. Now that we’re here, it’s different than what we thought. I had a dinner meeting last night at a Mexican restaurant, and all the locals were raving about it, while my sister-in-law and I were wondering what were they talking about, it was some of the worst Mexican food we’d had. One person across the table from me was squirting the sopaipilla squirt bottle of margarine into her salsa!!! It’s a different world out here in Texas.

Cooking with Paula Deen

Cooking with Rachael Ray
Yesterday we were celebrating daughter Jeanne's new job managing the Palm Desert The Avenue store. I made her Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding, which Di had recommended. God, it was SO GOOD. OMG OMG OMG! Even the next day when the cookies soften, it is still delicious. Whatever twisted mind came up with the idea of combining cream cheese with milk and condensed milk and pudding mix and a few other choice ingredients? It was brilliant!

Wednesday Brunch

Cooking with Rachael Ray I woke up this a.m. feeling kind of sicky. Luckily I don't have to go to work until 10 a.m. today, so was able to reheat some of the soup from last night. I also made Paula Deen's delicious and easy Cheese Muffins. You make a flour mixture, pour in 3 cups of grated cheddar and stir it all up so that flour coats the cheese, then you pour in a butter, milk, egg mixture and bake it for 10 minutes and you end up with the softest, richest, prettiest muffins you've ever seen. I mmmmmm'd my way through my breakfast. Reheating the soup from recipe #31 didn't really change it in anyway. It was just as tasty as the night before.