I'm So Easily Entertained!

Kitchen gadgets...I just love them.  Love to look at them online, love to look at them in stores... I find them fascinating.  Sometimes they are a big help...and sometimes they just don't work out the way I think they will...or the way I think they should.

Friday, I stopped by Cactus Flower on the island.  I checked out the after-Christmas sale items...didn't find anything I just had to have, so I moved on into the kitchen gadget section...I swear it just sucks me in!  I found several things that caught my attention - one I had been looking for relentlessly - so that was cool.  I was hoping to find a silicone whisk but I didn't find that there.

The first little gadget I was happy to find was a simple wooden toast grabber.  I previously wrote about finding some long silicone tongs at Cactus Flower that worked okay - but I really wanted the little wooden tongs that I could leave perched up on my toaster - easily available.  My newish toaster doesn't seem to spring the toast up high enough...nor the bagels...so I have looked at Wal-mart, a couple of Targets, Kohl's, and even Central Market and World Market in Austin.  Hadn't been able to find the little wooden/bamboo toast tongs I remember seeing everywhere years ago.  Don't want to stick my metal tongs down in the toaster...that seems dangerous! 



See - you have to reach down in to get the toast...
sucks if you don't have tongs!

But, Ta Da...there they were on the wall at Cactus Flower, ready for me to grab them :-)  Yay - used them to grab my toast Saturday morning - I'm so happy.  It's the little things that make me smile!  $1.95 - happy days.

Toast Tongs - make life easier!



My next find was a clip-on spoon rest...you clip it on the side of your pan...and it keeps your spoon from dripping everywhere and you don't have to clean up a spoon rest or your counter...or so it said.  Would it work?  I bought it - $7.95 - stainless steel and silicone - an okay price for a gadget. 

And, it does work I found! 

Didn't work for my larger metal tongs...still needed my stand-up spoon rest (which does work great for tongs).  The spoon balances nicely on the side of the pan - doesn't slide down and splash crud all over the cook top. 

I can actually clip it to the edge of my stand-up spoon rest for storage. 

 I give it 2 thumbs up.  I noticed Rachael Ray's new spoons which clip onto the edge of the pan are in the $10+ each range...so my $7.95 spoon rest clip is "a good buy" in my opinion.  I can use the spoons I have and buy one clip and I'm set...of course, I'll need more clips if I'm using multiple pans...I better get over there and buy a couple more!

I bought one more gadget...but haven't used it yet...so more to come in a day or two!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

Pier 19 Update

The hubby and I made it over to Pier 19 for lunch on Monday.  It was a beautiful day on the island - pelicans floating in the bay and perched on the pilings by the pier, sun shining...great day for sitting in a restaurant jutting out onto the Laguna Madre.

We enjoyed fairly good service - although the person who took our drink order didn't get enough info, resulting in a second person re-taking our order.  Was within moments though, so that was okay.  The hubby wanted iced tea and the choices were regular, sweet tea, raspberry tea, and green tea.  He ordered green tea.  I ordered a Diet Coke.  His green tea turned out to be sweetened green tea...and he doesn't like sweet teas.  But when it was about half gone, the waiter offered a refill and he asked for a different tea - stating he didn't care for the green tea.  I always want to say why when I don't like something (so they might learn to tell people green tea is sweetened) but not so the husband.  We had a good laugh on me; we were talking about tea and my hand went to the sweetener...and I put a packet of Sweet n Low in my Diet Coke - argghhh.  Oh well - it wasn't awful...just tasted like an overly sweet Diet Coke...kind of like some of the store brands.  What an idiot I am! 

I ordered a medium Fried Shrimp Basket with onion rings and the hubby got a Shrimp Po'boy.  Food came out hot and in a fairly short amount of time (I never looked at my watch, so that's a good sign).  We both ate one of our onion rings first.  They are just delicious at Pier 19.  Huge and delicious.  I slather mine in ketchup and have to fold it in half to get it into my mouth.  Yum.

Medium Shrimp Basket - $9.99

The onion rings and the hush puppies are delicious.  The shrimp...gotta say, it tasted like frozen shrimp that someone over-breaded to make it look bigger than it really was.  They were split down the middle, flattened, and the breading was packed into the center so it looked like a jumbo shrimp...and it was probably more like a medium shrimp.  More breading than shrimp meat.  Only one in my basket was not like that...and it was the only piece of shrimp I give a thumbs up to.  That's too bad - because they used to serve good shrimp!

My hubby, as I said, had a shrimp po'boy.  Now, this restaurant is owned by the same folks that own Pirates Landing - and they have a FANTASTIC shrimp po'boy.  I noted that the bread at Pier 19, while looking similar to Pirate's Landing, was grilled and flattened - not the fluffy homemade looking bread of their sister restaurant...hubby said two things (altho he ate every bite) - it isn't as good as Pirates Landing and the shrimp wasn't the same, nor as abundant here - "they scrimped on the shrimp" - were his words :-).  It was just "okay".  He noted the tomato slices on the side were really excellent tomato though! (he hates an anemic tomato)  He must have liked the onion rings since he ate all of them first.  There were only 3...but really, you can't eat any more than that, they are so big and thick.

The unreliable food quality continues to be an issue at Pier 19.  Service is attentive and prompt so two thumbs up there.  Also, a continuing problem seems to be hair in the food.  I overheard our neighboring table getting comped for their meal because they had a hair in their food. (see link in first sentence of this paragraph for our experience with this issue last year)  Fix the shrimp quality and hair issues dudes...it would really make a return trip happen a lot sooner than it probably will now.  You have a great location - nice wait staff - and a good menu...but quality food and hair nets are a must.  I won't spend $30 for lunch when it's questionable food.  There are a dozen other places I can go!  I like Pier 19....bring it back up to snuff!!!!!

The pelicans were on full display outside the door...so I'll end with a shot of these lovely and entertaining birds - which you can almost always find floating off Pier 19!

Dana's Chicken & Dumplings

UPDATED October 9, 2011

The best chicken and dumplings I've ever made....
and as of today, my #1 most read blog post!

The last time I made it, I didn't take photos...today I rectified that. 

Also, all of the previous times I've made this - the teen just refused to eat it - saying he didn't like Chicken 'n' Dumplings (I'm pretty sure he never tried it).  Today, however, a rainy October day, he stepped out of his comfort zone and ate THREE bowls full.  He loved it!

One of my favorite long-term friends, Ms. Dana A., entered this recipe into the Blue Plate Special contest where we both used to work...and I feel sure it won (admittedly I've lost track of who won and who didn't)...and it's the only chicken 'n' dumplings I've ever been able to make successfully.  I've tried the drop biscuit method...ended up with a gloopy mess.  Tried a rolled biscuit...too much work.  Even tried using flour tortillas (recommended by one of my previous bosses) and ugh, that was awful.  I don't know WHAT I did wrong, but THIS one is easy and I love making it on a cold day.  Dana's in Colorado these days...and she has plenty of cold days to make this big old pot of goodness.

It's in the coastal 70's here, so I don't make this as much as I did in previous winters...I gotta say...I'm thinking it might not matter if it's not cold...maybe I'll just turn the a/c down a few notches and make a pot.  This looks darn good!!!

The only thing I do differently from Dana's original recipe, is that I add some poultry seasoning to the broth...and usually, I toss in about half an onion, diced.  Makes it taste more like my childhood memory of C&D that way :-) 

So, here it is ...drum roll please... the best chicken and dumplings on the planet IMHO!

DANA'S CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS

2-3 lb. cut-up fryer (I use a whole chicken)
1 15 oz. can Swanson chicken broth
2 T. margarine
4-6 cans cheap biscuits
3/4 cup milk

Boil chicken in 3 qt sauce pan until tender (close to falling off bone).  Replenish water if necessary to make sure water continues to cover chicken while boiling.  If I'm going to veer off from Dana's recipe and use onion, I add it to the boiling water at this time.  I also skim the gunk while the chicken is boiling.

Remove chicken from water and set aside to cool.  Retain cooking fluid in pan.
Add margarine, chicken broth and milk to water and turn burner to medium.  Stir mixture until butter is fairly well melted.  (It is at this point where I add poultry seasoning to the broth - usually about 1 tsp. - I go by smell - I waft the steam towards my nose with my hand and when it "smells right" I know I have just the right amount of poultry seasoning for my family).

Stir after each can of biscuits is torn and added to pot

All the biscuits are in and the dumplings are firming - lid on!

Add biscuits to water by tearing each biscuit into about 4-5 pieces and plopping them into the water.  Stir after adding each can of biscuits.  After adding all the biscuits, turn the burner down to low and place lid on the sauce pan.  While "dumplings" are setting up, pull chicken from the bone and set aside.  Check on dumplings and stir to keep from boiling over or sticking.  Dumplings are ready when they are fairly well formed into firmer clumps...when they are not "sticky" anymore and mixture has thickened considerably.  Dana said she did this by instinct and could not necessarily describe what it looks like.  I know what she means and when you see it, if you are familiar with chicken and dumplings, you too will "just know".  Add chicken to mixture and stir, add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve in bowls.

Ready to add meat to well-formed dumplings - tender and delicious!

There may be a lot of instinct involved in this recipe...but if you are an experienced chicken and dumplings eater, you can make this with no problem.  I like instinctual recipes...it's the way my Mom cooked and it's the way I cook.  I rarely cook a recipe without tweaking it to meet my family's particular tastes.  Sometimes that has slapped back at me and I think "I should have left that recipe alone"...but you know, live and learn.  Cooking is a science for some and and art for others.  I tend towards the middle of that road...I enjoy learning the science behind it all...but when I'm banging pans, dipping spoons, smelling and tasting...it feels more like an art!

Bon Appetit, y'all!

SHARED WITH:



AND Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays #16

Delicious Seafood Market, Inc. in Port Isabel

On Friday I stopped by the Delicious Seafood, Inc. market next to Dirty Al's at Pelican Station.  Last time I was at Dirty Al's, I wanted to buy some of their "Dirty Al's Sauce" to take to my son - and they told me it was only sold in the market next door.  It was closed at the time and I never made my way back during open hours.  With some spare time on my hands Friday, and a desire to check out the seafood market, I stopped in.

First problem was "no, they sell the sauce at the restaurant" in response to my inquiry.  The sell the Dirty Al's fried shrimp breading, the Dirty Al's french fry seasoning, the Dirty Al's fish blackening seasoning, a multitude of Dirty Al's tees...but no sauce.  OK - I'll go there next.

It's a nice little market - has beef steaks (reportedly Choice grade), jalapeno sausage, pork ribs and baby back ribs, fajita meat, and seafood...lots of the seasonings and sauces you might need to cook such things as well.

We chatted quite a while - he (the clerk) pointing out the freezer section with shrink-wrapped tuna steaks, flounder, scallops, and a big selection of other items.  I was more interested in the market case...shrimp, snapper, flounder...that sort of stuff.  He reported that the shrimp was fresh - they had some muy grande shrimp 10-12's and some 16-20's...of which I bought a pound.  They looked really good.

I was looking at the Scarlet Snapper and the flounder fillets (snapper was not frozen, but had been frozen he said) and the flounder was still frozen.  If my fish is frozen, I prefer to buy it that way and thaw it myself.  I'm fine with frozen fish - I just don't want to have had it thawed by the store and then I have to re-freeze it...because most of the time, it goes straight from the store into the freezer at my house.  He pointed out the Basa fillets in front - and said they were really good if I liked a mild white fish.  I had never heard of this fish...it was frozen...and I asked if it all of these were local fish?  Yes, he said, nodding his head vigorously.  He said all the fish were frozen because they were just too delicate not to do so.  I know that is, indeed, the way things are...most fish is frozen, so I shrugged to myself and thought, "okay".  I asked if the Basa was similar to Tilapia- he kind of turned up his nose and said "oh no, much better".  I told him, great, I would try it and took two large fillets which weighed in at a pound total.

I picked up some boneless rib eyes as well...reportedly 8 oz. steaks - 3 in the package - $10.95/pound...totalled a little over $13 total...uh, that math don't add up bubba!  Oh well, we'll see how they are.  Obviously not too thick, 'cause those would be weighing in close to a pound each if so.  However,  $13+ for 3 steaks is great if they are tasty.  (I weighed them at home and they were 1.22 pounds total which could not, of course, be three 8 ounce steaks!)   Really, though,for a week-night dinner, a 6 oz. steak is just fine....my issue is with being told it is something that it is not.  Bad business.

He asked if I was going far - and I said not too far but I would like ice.  I paid - my 3 purchases slightly over $30...nice experience.

I got home and prepared to vacuum pack the shrimp and fish for freezing.  I opened up the bags and found the shrimp not "on ice" but "in the ice"...I had to hand pick out all of the pieces of shrimp.  Gotta say...that's never happened before!


I checked the fish fillets...sure enough...frozen fillets packed in melting ice...and guess what that means.  The ice was stuck to the fish. Boo hiss....

 I had to run the fish under water (which resulted in partial thawing) to release the ice cubes before I could vacuum pack them.  Nice guy, yes, but, someone needs to re-train him.

The good news is that I had to handle each and every piece of the shrimp, and after getting it all packaged up...my hands did not smell like shrimp!  That is a sign of really fresh seafood...it smelled like the ocean...not shrimpy at all.  I sniffed the fish before packaging and it smelled good too...i.e., it didn't smell fishy at all :-)  So, I'm thinking good quality!

Got everything put away and began to wonder about the Basa, since I'd never heard of it, nor seen it in QuikStop where I usually purchase my seafood.  So, I went to the Oracle in the Sky...Google...and entered "Basa Fish".  The first link was to the lay oracle, Wikipedia.  Wiki had interesting stuff to teach me...number one is that the Basa is NOT a local fish...it is a fresh water catfish farmed in Vietnam!  Unsubstantiated concerns about toxins have been primarily debunked in the UK...but it made me leery none the less.  Further info from WiseGeek and other sites indicate it is growing in use...and the controversy continues to "hang around" due to reports of icky farming conditions.  So, since it is mostly farmed in the Mekong Delta area of Vietnam, I checked info on that river...and several sites reported it as one of the least polluted large rivers in the world, primarily fed from mountain snow melt in Tibet.  That, however, is changing as the populace of Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam throws trash into the river as it moves towards the Mekong Delta.  Pollution is becoming an issue of great concern.

Food sourcing is of interest to me.  I don't pretend to know all that much about it, but I do know I'd rather eat local products whenever I can...and I'm not a huge fan of catfish in general, although I grew up eating a good amount of fried catfish as a child.  I much prefer trout, snapper, or cod (when I can get cod fresh in the northeast).  I'm sure I'll fry up the Basa...and save my steamed and saute fish recipes for the truly local fish - caught by my son or my generous neighbors.  I know EXACTLY where that fish comes from and the proof is in the delicious taste of Laguna Madre caught fish!

So, that's my shopping experience...and I'll let you know how the Basa tastes, how the steaks are, and if the shrimp is as good as it looks.  I'll hold off on rating this seafood market until I actually taste the goods!

UPDATE 1/12/2011
Used the steak for a week-night pan-seared steak on top of the stove.  The flavor was good but they were a little dry.  I really question whether or not they were indeed Choice Grade.  They were "okay" but $10.95/lb was too much for the thin steaks...and they performed like Select Grade.  I'll leave it at that.  I'll stick to buying my boneless ribeyes at Sam's Club in Brownsville.  They are awesome.

Used the shrimp while preparing Amy's Awesome Alfredo Sauce.  They were delicious.  The fresh smell maintained through the thawing and cleaning process.  Two thumbs up for freshness.  They were supposedly large - and I found about 4 or 5 "medium" sized shrimp in my 18 shrimp I got for a pound.  The size were not consistent.  You can see, in this photo of the shrimp I sauted, that a few of them are obviously smaller than the rest.  If I'm buying large shrimp...I want large shrimp.

The shrimp I purchased for $10.50 totalled 18 shrimp - not all large

I'll do another update when I prepare the Basa fish to let you know how it tastes.

UPDATE ON BASA

Here's a link to the post on the Basa preparation - Sesame Catfish

Amy's Awesome Alfredo Sauce

A crazy-fun girl I used to work with would bring leftovers of this dish to work, warm it in the microwave, and open it at the lunch table... the smell was so heavenly I begged her recipe.  I've been making this for many years...shared it with my sister who isn't a huge Alfredo fan... made it for my son who does not like Alfredo sauce...everyone loves it - because it isn't the bland classic Alfredo sauce many are used to eating.  Emeril would say it's been kicked up a notch.  I'd say it's been kicked up several notches!

It's a rather "fly by the seat of your pants" recipe because her directions were not exactly in a recipe format...ingredients and then directions - just a bunch of notes on a piece of paper - written while we were at the lunch table!  I'll do the best I can to make it more recipe-like...it is just soooo delicious, it's worth the effort.  I first made it 20 years ago...it still makes my mouth water today!  It's rich, it's intense, it garlicky, it's creamy, it's cheesy...dang, it is just supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!!

Must be flexible when living in the boonies...
no fresh basil nor good mushrooms at the store.
Used dried basil and skipped the mushrooms.  Still delicious!!

Amy's Awesome Alfredo Sauce (It's not a true Alfredo - but close enough)

Ingredients:
1/2 Onion, diced
Fresh Basil - 1 bunch - chopped (translate that to one cup of leaves before chopping)
4-5 large Garlic Cloves - finely diced
Butter - she never said how much - I start with 1stick (1/2 cup) - and I only use real butter
8 ounces mushrooms - sliced
1/4 cup white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pint heavy cream
2-3 cups shredded Parmesan cheese

Your choice of shrimp, cooked and cubed chicken, or cooked scallops (unless you don't want a meat component) - may be added to the sauce.

Served over Angel Hair pasta (I use whole wheat capellini) - with some extra shaved Parmesan cheese.

Method:
Saute onion and garlic in butter until softened - but not browned.  Add the mushrooms and most of the fresh basil, salt and pepper, and cook until mushrooms softened (she says to put a lid on the pan at this point - I never do though).  Add white wine - incorporate into veg mixture, deglazing the pan of any nummies stuck to the bottom.  Add heavy cream and 1 cup of Parmesan cheese and stir well on a low medium heat...bare simmer.  Reduce the sauce to thicken, stir frequently to keep cheese incorporated. 

Add whichever meat you would like at this point - I put raw peeled and deveined shrimp into the sauce pot at this point and let it cook while the sauce is reducing...

Did this without mushrooms last night -
none to be found at Wal-mart nor HEB
except some anemic pre-sliced buttons - better to skip it!

OR...I cook the shrimp while I'm doing the onion and garlic...and remove them when they are slightly underdone - and finish them off in the sauce.  Both ways work well. 

Add more of the remaining Parmesan until it is as thick as you would like to have it.  I generally use all of the cheese :-)  If it gets too thick, add some more wine - or a bit of milk to thin it out.

Add the cooked pasta to the pan and toss with the sauce.  Serve in large serving bowl and top with remaining basil and shaved Parmesan cheese.

Serve with crusty French bread and a salad...it's an awesome meal indeed!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

Cowboy Steak 'n' Veggie Soup

When a North wind is blowing, and the temperature feels like it is dropping...that says "cold front" to me!  (not often down here - but it does happen!)  Cold front means soup - not that the teen likes soup...but I'm ever hopeful he will expand his horizons.

I've made this recipe several times - it is a quick meal, warm and filling.  I found it eons ago in a listing of winners in some sort of recipe contest...the winner was Linda Morton, from Katy, Texas (down near Houston - and apparently she has won several contests).  I clipped this from the Austin American-Statesman way back when...and Ms. Morton won first place in the 30-minute main dishes category for whatever contest this was!  Wayyyy before the days of Rachael Ray and her 30 Minute Meals!

Anyway, it is a tasty soup and it's worth sharing...always good to have a 30 minute meal recipe on hand. 

COWBOY STEAK 'N' VEGGIE SOUP

1 pound boneless beef sirloin steak (1 inch thick)
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon oil
28 -32 oz canned beef broth
16 ounce jar Thick n Chunky Salsa or Picante Sauce (she used Old El Paso brand - I generally use Pace brand)
1 pound package frozen green beans, potatoes, onion, and red peppers (she used Green Giant)
1 can Great Northern beans, drained, rinsed
1 cup torn fresh spinach
Fresh basil, parsley, or cilantro sprigs for garnish if desired (cilantro works well if you like it)

Cut beef into 1/4 inch thick strips and then cut each strip into 1 inch lengths.  Must be this size for it to get cooked in the allotted time frame!  In medium bowl, combine beef, basil, salt, pepper, garlic and oil - toss to coat.

Heat Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium high heat until hot.  Add beef mixture, cook and stir 4 to 5 minutes or until browned.

Stir in broth, salsa, and frozen vegetables.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to low, simmer 10 minutes.

Stir in beans.  Cook 4 to 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated.  Stir in spinach.

Garnish each serving of soup with fresh herbs if desired.

Serves 6

Now, I've mentioned before that I'm not a fan of frozen green beans.  They squeak on my teeth...and I can't stand it.  The first time I made this, I made it using the frozen vegetables...but the other times I used a can of green beans, drained, I peeled and small-cubed a large russet potato, and I keep frozen diced onion as a freezer staple (whenever I use half an onion, I chop and freeze the rest, therefore always having some on hand).  I skipped the red pepper...not a big fan.  This did not significantly increase the time and, in my opinion, ended up with a better soup - again, personal tastes can always be accommodated!

Try it either way...you might like frozen green beans!  It's a quick and tasty soup - however you end up fixin' it!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Birding on South Padre Island

This is a wonderful time of year at South Padre Island.  Tons of birds, peaceful days, good weather...and great restaurants to eat at once you've finished taking in all the nature!  Come on down, if you can!

A DARN GOOD SAMICH!

Every so often we like to have a sandwich that is more than a couple of pieces of sliced bread with lunch meat slapped in the middle.  My favorite sandwich, on such a day, is what I call my "Damn Darn Good Samich".

I just made one yesterday for my husband and myself...and it was lip-smacking scrumptious - very full of flavor!  This is not an insipid sandwich!

Start out with a roll-type bread...I use Bolillos - whole wheat specifically - Kaiser rolls are great too.  Slice in half and place on a baking sheet.  Kick the broiler on so it will be ready when you are.

I spread some softened butter on the inside of one piece and sprinkle with garlic powder.  I spread Hellman's Dijonnaise on the inside of the other piece (it's not always easy to find, but it's basically Dijon mustard and mayonnaise mixed together).  If I am out of Dijonnaise, I tend to just use yellow mustard.

Mustard on one side, garlic butter on the other

Next comes two different cheeses - generally I cover one side with cheddar or Colby-Jack cheese (I put it on the mustard side) and on the other side I put a white cheese - today it was Havarti because that's what was available in my fridge - but Swiss or Provolone are excellent choices too.  Put them in the oven under the broiler and gently melt the cheese and lightly toast the bread.

The cheese toppings - ready for broiler

Melted cheese on bolillo

A good amount of deli meat - thinly sliced

Remove from oven and layer on 2 different kinds of deli meats - ham on one side and chicken or turkey on the other side is the way I usually go.  If you are a salami fan, that's a great addition to this sandwich as well.  Today, I used Boar's Head Brand EverRoast© Chicken and HEB-brand Black Forest Ham.  If you like, stick them under the broiler for a moment.  I tend to just leave the meats cold.

Top with lettuce, tomato, ripe avocado slices, and thinly sliced purple onion...a sprinkle of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.  Sometimes, I add some sliced black olives and/or pepperocini slices...depends on how kicked up I feel like making it.  Slice in half and serve!  Yummmmm.....

And, that, my friends, is one darn good samich!

Avocado, purple onion, tomato...lettuce added too

Sorry about the blur - I snapped it, ate it, and THEN looked at the photos.  Oops!

BON APPETIT, Y'ALL!!!

Morning in Butterfly Garden

This is how I spent part of yesterday morning.  Pretty awesome day!

Braised Rice and Onions

I have "OMG!" written on this recipe print out - and it is an accurate description of what you'll say when you put the first bite of this luscious dish in your mouth.  This is not low cal...so if you are on the perpetual New Year's Diet...you can move on now.  My niece sent me this recipe in 1999 after she brought it to an Easter luncheon at her Mom's house.  I remember I had two Russian foreign exchange students with us that Easter (that's a huge holiday in Russia - bigger than Christmas is in the U.S. - really, really big <said in my Ed Sullivan voice>) and the boys liked this dish...and one of them didn't like many of the dishes I fixed so I was happy to grab a recipe I loved AND they seemed to like!!!

So, thank you Holly Diane, for sharing this deliciously wonderful dish!

BRAISED RICE AND ONIONS
Serves 4
Preparation 10 minutes
Baking Time 1 hour

2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup uncooked rice
4 tablespoons butter
4 cups thinly sliced onions (about 2 large) - note:  it was easiest to slice thinly and quickly with a mandoline, or using a sharp knife, by cutting the bulb in half, laying the flat side down for a steady base - made the work go a lot faster.
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper (she notes she used ground black pepper and it was fine)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Swiss or Jarlsberg cheese
Chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a medium saucepan, bring 2 cups water and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil.  Stir in rice, cover and simmer EXACTLY 5 minutes.   Drain immediately.

Melt butter in a 2 1/2 to 3 quart deep casserole dish.  Add onions and coat well with the butter.  Stir in rice, 1/2 tsp salt and the pepper.  Cover and bake 1 hour, stirring once or twice.

Up to this point, the dish may be made ahead of time.  When ready to serve, reheat and stir in cream and cheese...and a touch more butter, if no one is looking ;-p  Check seasoning, sprinkle with parsley, and serve.

Holly reports this recipe is from Mrs. Chard's Almanac Cookbook Hollyhocks & Radishes by Bonnie Stewart Mickelson.

I've tried adjusting this recipe by making it with whole wheat orzo pasta and leeks instead of rice and onions. I've also used brown rice (need to cook a little longer for brown rice).  I liked the altered recipes a lot, but I didn't love it like the original.  This recipe, I've found, is almost identical (a few differences in ingredient quantities) to Julia Child's recipe for Soubise.  This recipe has less onion and more cheese than Julia's.  Whichever one you try, the basics of rice, onion, butter, cream, and cheese...really, just can't be beat! This is a classic side dish you will enjoy adding to your repertoire of recipes.

It is delicious and fairly easy (especially if you have a mandoline for quickly slicing the onions).  Yum, yum for your tum tum...it is a keeper recipe...easy to double for a large group too! 

Bon Appetit Y'all!!!

Ara's Beef Noodle Casserole

A take-off on Beef Stroganoff, this is a lower-cost but still tasty casserole we had for dinner last night. If you don't like the tart sour cream flavor imbued in Beef Stroganoff, you won't likely enjoy this casserole...so think before you invest the time and effort into making it.  If you like a strong cream cheese and sour cream combo - you will love it.  Not the same "gravy" base as Stroganoff - much more cheesey.  My hubby and I gave it an "okay" rating (5 on a scale of 1-10) and the teen wouldn't even eat half of his very small serving.  He said it was too cheesey...I think he meant the cream cheese component. I think I would adjust the casserole by using a larger can of tomatoes...it needed a bit more of the "sauce".

Pharmacist Ara Wisnoski, another Shoal Creek co-worker, brought this to the table in the 90's.  I was lucky enough to pack up the hospital's recipe contest entries (the ones I wanted) when it was sold in 1998.  I packed the boxes for storage and knew these would either be trashed or else would fall into a black abyss of "never to be seen again" so I just took the ones I liked with me.  I've used a lot of them over and over - this one I haven't served in over 10 years, but I was happy to wipe the dust off this recipe, because I remember many people enjoyed it...maybe more than we did...but everyone has different tastes, so I went through the process of making it again to see if it was something we might add back into rotation.  Probably not, because if the teen won't eat it, it isn't worth it.

If you try it, let me know if you like it.

BEEF NOODLE CASSEROLE

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup onion, chopped (not in original recipe - but I added and like it with onion)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
1 14 1/2-ounce can whole tomatoes (do not drain) - I might use a larger can if I make this again.
Garlic Powder and Pepper to taste
1 cup grated mild cheddar cheese
1/2 pound wide egg noodles (I used whole wheat Gemelli pasta instead, but really preferred the wide egg noodles I remembered from years ago)
3 oz. cream cheese
1 cup sour cream

Method:
Brown ground beef and onion together in large skillet, drain.

browning the ground beef and onions

Add sugar, salt, tomato sauce, whole tomatoes, garlic powder and pepper.

Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. (I chunked up the tomatoes while it was cooking)

Cook noodles according to package directions.  Drain and mix with cream cheese and sour cream.  It helps if your cream cheese is softened.

In a rectangular Pyrex baking dish (I used a pretty baking dish my Mom gave me for Christmas several years ago...pretty sure it's a QVC item!), layer 1/3 beef mixture, 1/2 noodles, 2nd 3rd of beef mixture, last of noodles, final portion of beef mixture.

 Sprinkle grated cheese on top.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

This recipe doubles well for a large gathering.  We had it with green beans, a freshly baked Italian bread, and blackberries with whipping cream for dessert.   Easy, and ready to go within an hour or so of arriving home from a busy day at work or on the beach :-p.  A good week-night meal, regardless of where you spend your daytime hours!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

Our favorite berry - blackberries

The casserole was good - but this was the best thing on the table!
Blackberries with freshly whipped sweetened cream with vanilla - delicious!!!

The Rio Star Grapefruit

There is nothing more decadent in the world of Texas fruit than a juicy ripe Rio Star grapefruit in the month of January.  IMHO of course.  The smell, the taste, the richness of color...it has it all.  I know I'm prejudiced, being a native Texan, but it is truly a glorious fruit.  I learned to like grapefruit from the time I spent the night with a friend as a young girl.  Her mom was serving grapefruit halves for breakfast...and I, being as picky of an eater as my oh-so-picky teen, declined saying I didn't like them, they were too tart.  This coming from a girl who would cut a lemon in quarters and eat them for a snack.  My little friend's momma just smiled and spooned sugar all over the top and said "try this"...and it was the beginning of a long and wonderful love affair with the grapefruit...Ruby Reds, Rio Stars...the gloriously rich coral pigments of a beautiful ripe grapefruit.  Oh my, I could wax on and on about it. 

THEN, we came to Donna, Texas to visit my Grandmother for the first time in my young memory.  My Daddy sent us out to the grapefruit trees growing in the yard and said "go eat some grapefruit".  There were all of those delicious grapefruit hanging at eye level of a little girl...but how to peel them?  Where's the sugar?  Someone, I can't recall who but probably my Dad, ripped the skin right off them and handed each of us girls a grapefruit.  We separated the segments and went to town on those grapefruits...we were coated with sticky sweet tart juice and I ate so many I remember feeling queasy.  No need for sugar on those sweetly tart things!  Donna, Texas...in the Rio Grande Valley, just a hop, skip, and a jump from my current home...where I fell in LOVE with the jewel of the winter fruit season.

This morning I decided I would section a couple of the Rio Stars sitting in my fruit basket (I like them room temperature for the best flavor) and have them for dessert after my lunchtime sandwich.  I wasn't thinking about writing a blog until I started the process of sectioning them.  I only learned to do it a few years ago...and now I never peel a grapefruit. 

I used to try to cut the peel, I used a spoon to get under the peel, I cut a grapefruit in half and scooped out the flesh with a spoon, I dug under the peel with my fingernails and ate the segments like oranges...they were always a lot of work.  On top of all that work, there was usually pith still on the fruit...and it just doesn't taste good...it's bitter; until I learned to section them, that is.  Now, I get a glorious bowl of cleanly sectioned grapefruit with minimal fuss and muss.  When I'm finished, I pour the juice from the cutting board into the bowl and I have a bowl of fresh goodness, slurping the juice straight from the bowl when I'm finished...bad manners, but good stuff...so I do it, bad manners aside.  It makes me salivate just thinking about it...because of course, I sat down to type up this post before eating my bowl of grapefruit sections.  However, I know it is sitting there waiting for me whenever I'm finished.  It's like the carrot in front of the plow mule...hurry up and get finished and I'll get my reward.

I wondered if folks realized how easy it was to section a grapefruit...and if not, I figured I could take enough photos to demonstrate.  So, here goes...

Use a very sharp knife on a sturdy cutting board.  Cut off both ends of the grapefruit.

Set the grapefruit on one of the flat ends and slice around the curve of the fruit, removing the skin and the white pith.

Clean up any pithy spots you missed, turning it over to see both ends. 

Lay the grapefruit on its side to begin the sectioning process.

Insert your knife between the membrane and the pulp, as close as you can get and slice in until you feel the center of the fruit, remove your knife and place it on the other side of the section, slicing down again until you feel the center.  Remove the first segment.

Move to the inner edge of the next segment and, again, slice down to the center of the fruit...but this time, pivot your knife to the right, sliding it to underside of the far side of the segment...you can feel it.

And just repeat all the way around :-)  Here I am on the last segment of this grapefruit.

You end up with this....beautiful, juicy segments of Rio Star heaven!!!  Be careful - don't cut yourself.  Once you get the hang of it, you will never go back to eating these juicy citrus nuggets any other way!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Where to Eat??? Cap'n Roys It Is!

New Year's Day night I hit a wall...I didn't want to cook or bake another thing over the next 24 hours.  My hubby was informed "kitchen closed" and he could either go get us some fast food or we could go out to eat someplace where I didn't have to get all fixed up :-)  I required "casual, no make-up, wild hair acceptability".  When we got back from the beach today I had scrubbed all the sand off my face, pulled back my hair and I didn't intend to change my attire other than moving from shorts to jeans as a nod to the dropping temperatures.  After running through potential options, he suggested Pier 19 since he hadn't been since he was home in October for Sand Castle Days.  Sounded good to me so off we went.  I don't know what we were thinking...lots of traffic on the island...Saturday night, a holiday, Winter Texans arriving, people in town for the Polar Bear Dip...lots of activity...lots of restaurant traffic.  The parking lot wasn't full - but it was more than half full...and it was too cold and windy for outdoor seating, so there was a 20 to 30 minute wait.  Wow, that was a first for us both - we've never had to wait there.  Oh well, no go for me.  I was hungry.  So, we moved on.

Next stop, Gabriella's....where I hadn't been since the end of October (I've been busily baking and testing recipes and prepping for holidays...not eating out so much).  Just passed on by...parking lot full.  We looked at each other and I said "this might not have been a good idea - but let's try Cap'n Roy's if that's okay with you, before we give up?"  He was good with that...he did the looking when we slowly drove past...looked okay to him...so we did the u-turn at the light and what a great decision that ended up being!  We got a table instantly, drink orders taken immediately...really good service for the entire evening.  We munched down two baskets of chips and salsa before feeling the "edge" taken off our hunger (we hadn't eaten since breakfast).  The staff kept our drinks topped off and everything replenished.  They seemed legitimately happy to be at work.  That's nice to see in a wait staff.

I had the beef enchilada plate...it was awesome as always.  My husband had decided on grilled shrimp tacos...and then made a quick change at the last minute to the fried shrimp platter with fries and a generous helping of their delicious fumi salad.  You can guess what the teen had...hamburger and fries. <sigh> By the looks of the 3 cleaned plates - I'd say everyone thought their meal was reallll good!

I'm so glad we ended up at Cap'n Roy's.  It was a perfect end to a good day.  Good food, good service, happy people.  Who could ask for anything more?

SPI FLIP FLOP FOODIE RATING:

I'm bumping up their rating - everything has been so good the last few times I've been there...

4 – Lip smackin’ - good quality – flip flops will definitely be parked under their table again!

New Year's Day Polar Bear Dip!

First off - this has nothing to do with the kind of dippin' you do with a bowl and a chip!  This dipping has to do with crazy-fun people running into 66 degree water on a windy, cool day on South Padre Island!!!

One of the many fun things about living in the South Padre Island area is the abundance of activities you find during the holidays.  For the past 3 years I have wanted to go to the New Year's Day Polar Bear Dip...and never made it until this year!  I know most people above the 26th North latitude line might not consider this a "real" Polar Bear Dip.  My husband says if you aren't breaking ice to get into the water, it's not a real Polar Bear Dip....but he's from Indiana and has a different perspective.  Since the teen is the only one of our family who actually got in the water....he strongly disagrees with his Dad!

There were a lot of people and I was waiting with the towel...we all three got separated by the crowd...and it took a long 3 or 4 shivery minutes after the teen exited the water, for him to find me with the minimal warmth of his cozy beach towel.

I'm glad we fueled up before the event with a big New Year's morning breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, and some homemade apple-pear butter...because I believe we all burned off some calories that morning!  The crowds were huge and parking slightly challenging...so we had a good hike to get to Boomerang Billy's, where the activities took place.  We barely made it, they were announcing 5 minutes until the high noon hour dip when we hit the beach.  Dad and the teen took off to join the dipping crowd (Dad was in charge of holding the hearing equipment while the teen made the mad dash) and I positioned myself surf-side to try to get photos.  That's how we all got separated.  Try to imagine finding people in the crowd below...and that's just a small portion of the folks involved.  It looked like "thousands" were on the beach!

So, they did the count-down...played some of the theme from Jaws (the beginning sound effects) and moved into a compilation of rockin' tunes, including Elvis Presley's Jail House Rock.  The teen loves Elvis...so having to be completely deaf while making the run was a bummer for him when he found out.  His first words, after I told him, were "I wish they had water proof cochlear implants!"  Me too, son, me too.  He's fairly prosaic about his deafness and quickly moved on - especially when his Dad said "Really?  I couldn't hear it either".  He was in crowds of screaming, running Polar Bear Dippers!  All he heard were the primal yells of people stampeding towards 66 degree pounding surf!

After the "dip" when we all re-connected with each other, I tried to get the boys to position themselves behind Sandy Feet's "Sand Man" but they just wanted to get the heck out of Dodge...so I snapped other happy people standing there instead...and we began slogging through the sand and crowds to head back to the condo.

http://www.sandyfeet.com

Overall, it was a fun experience, despite being sand-blasted by the fierce winds, and being chilly on the beachfront.  The walk back to the car was sunny, warm, and the wind was being blocked by the beachfront condos...or had died down some...because by the time we got back to the car, my hubby and I had worked up a sweat and were ready to turn on the a/c.  The teen had brought a change of clothes and did a duck and change in the back seat...he said he'd never been so cold in his life.  Really???  Not even snow tubing in Colorado last year...because I swear he told me then "I've never been so cold in my life".  Not much life experience in being cold, I'm thinking!

Fun, fun, fun to be part of this.  Live streaming cam coverage was provided by the intrepid Wilsons, once again, and here's their link to the youtube of the actual "dip".  You can see me and the teen at about the 5:03 to 5:40 minute mark standing down-sand of the people passing by the camera (blue towel for him, blue shirt for me and white shorts...lots of flying hair - at the right edge of the frame and then "full frame" - but way behind the dippers...we were looking for the husband ;-p).

It's good to live in an area where flowers bloom all winter, the sun shines so warm on January 1st that you have to have the a/c running, and you can wear flipflops and shorts to the Polar Bear Dip!  Living la vida isla... it's definitely a good thing :-)

Mexican Chicken Casserole aka King Ranch Chicken

Photo Source:  Dana Alexander

My old work pal, Mr. Blake Schooley, shared a wonderful recipe for a Mexican Chicken Casserole...and I later learned it was basically an off-shoot of King Ranch Chicken.  I tried to determine, now that I'm an El Valle resident and pass by the King Ranch multiple times each year, if the King Ranch Chicken casserole really came from the King Ranch.  Couldn't find a definitive answer...they don't appear to claim it as their own.  Maybe a ranch cook spiced up a Chicken ala King recipe to Texicanize it and made it their own...who knows?  Lady Bird Johnson had a King Ranch Chicken recipe in her files.  Most are quite similar...mine doesn't have bell peppers (which is probably why I like it so much) and instead of the traditional layers of corn tortillas, Mr. Schooley used tortilla chips...which I like very much.

My yankee in-laws probably thought I was trying to kill them the first time I served this to them.  They found it very spicy.  Me, not so much...it is perfect.  I believe I will make it this week.  I seem to be in a casserole phase.  Which is odd, really, because growing up, no casseroles were served in our home.  No tuna noodle, no lasagna, nada, zip, zilch.  In the late '70s I started collecting and cooking them...and I'll be sharing more of them with you over the coming months.  Retro casseroles seem to be coming back into popularity.  I figure it is the economy... casseroles are often less expensive to prepare and they feed large tables of folks easier than individual meat servings!  So, Mr. Schooley - thanks for sharing yours - I hope you are looking down from above and grinning your big grin and nodding your head as I fondly remember you doing for many years at the old Shoal Creek lunch table.

Photo Source:  Google Images (since I won't be making it until later this week!)

MEXICAN CHICKEN CASSEROLE

4 or 5 chicken breasts (bone in)
1 can diced Ro-tel Tomatoes with Chilies (I use original or mild)
1 large onion, diced
1 can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup
1 medium or large bag of Doritos (I use El Milagro chips - they are the best - they are from Austin - and I can get them at the Port Isabel H.E.B. grocery store.  I crunch them up a bit.)
2-3 cups grated Colby Jack cheese (my addition - not in the original)

Place chicken in boiler with Ro-tel Tomatoes.  USE NO WATER.  Cover and cook very slow until chicken is tender.  Remove from pan to cool (reserve liquid).

Add large diced onion to broth (Ro-tel and chicken pan drippings you reserved above) and cook until onion is tender.  Add both cans of soup and stir until well-mixed.

Bone the chicken and put meat in bottom of casserole dish. (I cut into fork-size pieces)
<not noted in recipe but I used a 9x13 Pyrex dish - I like seeing the casserole through the glass>
Add Doritos or tortilla chips to the top of chicken
**See my cheese note below
Add the broth you made with the Ro-tel and soups
Top with more chips if desired (I do desire)
Put in oven and cook until bubbly (no temp mentioned - I used the 325 to 350 standard)

Mr. Schooley mentions Nacho Cheese soup can be substituted for either mushroom or chicken soup.  Freezes well and excellent for doubling.

**If I'm feeling cheesy (which is always), I add grated Colby Jack cheese on top of the chips before layering on the sauce, and add more grated cheese on top the whole thing in the last 10 minutes or so of baking time...that "makes" it for me!

This is Tex-ican comfort food at its finest.  Hmmm, wonder if the teen will love it as much as his big brothers?  He has never tried it...but Mr. Picky has been eating adventurously lately - I can be hopeful!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

UPDATE January 9, 2011

Made the casserole tonight - it was delicious - we ate the whole thing!  I DID halve it though :-)
Made 2 small casseroles - one for the freezer and one for dinner tonight.  Good stuff my friends!