Category: Beef

Kids and Dads and Moms and Grandmas and Grandpas and Aunties and Uncles Will LOVE This Easy Bacon Cheeseburger Hamburger Pie!

8/1/2015

This is a slice of
Easy Bacon Cheeseburger Pie.

You likey burgers?
You likey bacon?
You likey cheese and a quick Bisquick mix?

Then you'll likey this super quick casserole.
Use your spices liberally though!

Okay, here's the fixins for this fine
Easy Bacon
Cheeseburger Pie!

This recipe is from the Betty Crocker website. www.bettycrocker.com

Homemade Bisquick Mix
Straight outta www.kitchennostalgia.com
Serves: 2 cups
Ingredients

2 cups flour
3 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoon shortening (butter or margarine)

Instructions

Mix all ingredients. Blend until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
Use as a substitution for Bisquick mix. Store in a dry cool place.

Since I did not have Bisquick mix, here is a quick
4 ingredient recipe for a Bisquick substitute.
www.kitchennostalgia.com.

Anyhoo, let's get started on this quick,
tasty meal!

It's so easy to throw those 4 ingredients together and like magic,
there is your Bisquick mix!

And the cheddar I have been buying lately,
is from Milton, Ia.

Now to lighten this recipe
a bit,
I used ground turkey breast instead of ground beef.

At Fareway grocery stores,
the price of ground turkey breast has risen to $7.99/lb.

I buy organic free range at the co-op and it's only $5.99/lb.

Go figure.

Spray up that casserole dish!

Oopsy....

Gotta find a good old skool CD to plug into the player to get the party started....

Well, mostly what I had available up in the kitchen was kids' sing-a-long songs and 70s disco CDs.

I was trying to introduce our one and only grandchild,
Little Boy Blue,
to disco last time he was here.

And shred up that cheddar cheese
and
dice up that onion!

Now, one is supposed to leave all that good yummy
bacon grease in the pan to start cooking the ground beef, and onion, but....

threw olive oil in and the ground turkey breast and onions right in that skillet and started browning the onions and turkey!

Anyway, back to the recipe,

cook that bacon up crisp!

All Little Boy Boy Blue wanted to hear was 1970s Sesame Street vinyl albums though...he loves this 40s vintage player.
(Which is also a super cool short wave radio that gets all kinds of foreign stations in Italian, Portuguese, French and Asian languages.)

I'm a bit of a grease
buzz-kill,

so I cleaned out the skillet of the bacon grease and...

Don't forget
to add the ketchup to the
ground beef or turkey mix!

Helloooo,

Wonderful!

Yup!
Just like this.

I hope you made up two extra strips so you could sneakily
eat them...or four...five, six, whatever. It's all good.

Now on to the best part...fry and chop up that yummy bacon!!! Bacon!!!

So now layer the meat in the dish
and throw the Cheddar cheese and bacon on top.

In a separate bowl,
mix up that Bisquick mix, the eggs
and
milk.

Pour into the casserole dish...

Now bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes...Mine was in for 25 minutes...

I notice on the island,

that Tim and Angie's laptops are dueling for space....
the theme to Deliverance comes to mind....
Dueling Banjos.

This casserole looks and smells fantastic!!!!

Here's Glen Campbell and Ashley Campbell from Glen's Farewell Tour in 2012 playing Dueling Banjos....

And here is legend Glen Campbell singing one of my (and many others) all time favorite songs evah...Wichita Lineman...

But let's get back to more important stuff...

...like this cute Iowa plate that I am going to use to showcase this delicious
Impossibly Easy Bacon Cheeseburger Pie...

This little slice of Cheeseburger Pie is deceptive.

Even made with ground turkey breast like I did, it is hearty,
fun
and
deee-licious!

Now we paired this with a
side condiment of ketchup,
and it was pretty awesome....

But one of my friends said she would have paired it with pickles too....
DOY!!!

That's what I did the next day for leftovers and it was fantastic!!!!!

Okay kiddos, that's all I have for today's edition of Angie Makes Readers Kind Of-Sort Of Interested In This Easy, Quick, Tasty, Bacon Cheeseburger Pie...
OH CRAP, WAIT!
Must post recipe.....

To go directly to the Betty Crocker website recipe, click HERE

Impossibly Easy Bacon Cheeseburger Pie
Straight outta www.bettycrocker.com

Ingredients
6 slices bacon
1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
1/4teaspoon pepper
1large onion, chopped (1 cup)
1/4cup ketchup
1cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
1/2cup Original Bisquick mix
1cup milk
2eggs

Directions
1. Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray. In 10-inch skillet, cook bacon over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, turning once, until crisp; drain on paper towels. Crumble bacon; set aside.

2. In same skillet, cook beef, pepper and onion over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in ketchup. Spread in pie plate; sprinkle with cheese and bacon.

3. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients with wire whisk or fork until blended. Pour into pie plate.

4. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Serve with additional ketchup if desired.

So in closing I will post a couple pictures...
can you even believe some of the sunsets lately here
this month????

Also, a formal introduction to the brand new lift at the
Turnkey Auto World Headquarters in Frytown, Iowa :):)

And last but not least are these three little vintage guys wishing y'all a good week and telling y'all to check back soon cause I have some real doozies of recipes to blog about under cooking misadventures!

No judging on the dirty Pillsbury Dough Boy, these were scrounged out of a box in my barn for this wonderful photo opportunity.

Okay guys, thanks for checking in!!
Have a great rest of the week,
stay cool,
and we'll talk at ya soon!!!

GLORIOUS Thin Burgers

1/4/2015

Tim's cousin Peaches,
has my
dream kitchen.

That's her partner Herb up there,
who is English,
and who made us the absolute
BEST SUNDAY MEAL EVER! I talked about the meal here...
Beef with Yorkshire Pudding.

Anyway, Peaches posted a link on my Facebook page last month and said these
Martha Stewart Thin Burgers
were
"glorious."
Glorious, I thought?

Really?

G-l-o-r-i-o-u-s?

This is Martha's picture...right outta marthastewart.com

Merriam-Webster Dictionary DEFINES GLORIOUS AS:

having or deserving glory, fame, or honor
: very beautiful or delightful
marked by great beauty or splendor : magnificent

Oh my goodness gracious, people!!!

Peaches is correct!!!

These thin burgers
*
are
*
GLORIOUS!!!

Okay,
now MY burger looks a little crazy with that lettuce but I ask you to trust me...

You must make these exactly-according to
Martha's recipe, using the exact specified ingredients,
and you must assemble these exactly as described...
and you then will know what GLORIOUS means.

I see salty dill pickles and that super high end creamy American cheese (HA!), I see iceberg lettuce and white onions. What I don't see in this picture but is integral is the toasted POTATO BUNS and yellow mustard!

Keep this in mind...

NO KETCHUP ALLOWED!

Just so you know...
I made these Thin Burgers for the first time on December 14 with hand made, baked, sweet potato fries.

These burgers were so delicious I made them again December 16 with homemade french fries.

And I made them AGAIN on December 17.

What???

Shut up!!!

Clearly Tim and I NEVER eat burgers,
it's only for cheat night!!!

Cheat night just happened to present itself
...
...
...
...
...
three times that week!!!!!! HA!!!!!!!!!

Anyhoo, here's the fixins for these GLORIOUS Martha Stewart Thin Burgers!

This is the recipe, straight outta marthastewart.com.

Here's the link one more time....marthastewart.com, just click on this!
Angie says PLEASE make special note of Martha's Cook's Note at the end...so important!!

Thin Burger
Straight out of central casting: a savory, slender patty on a deliciously squishy bun.
Martha Stewart Living, August 2012http://www.marthastewart.com/911342/thin-burger

Prep Time20 minutes
Total Time20 minutes

YieldMakes 4
Ingredients

- 1 1/4 pounds coarsely ground beef chuck (70 percent lean)
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
- 4 slices American cheese
- 4 teaspoons unsalted butter, softened
- 4 potato sandwich rolls
- 1/4 cup diced white onion
- 1 dill pickle, thinly sliced
- 1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
- 4 teaspoons yellow mustard

Directions

Divide beef into 4 mounds, and evenly place on a 12-by-14-inch piece of plastic wrap. Place another piece of plastic on top. Roll into 5 1/2-inch patties, about 1/3 inch thick, with a rolling pin.
Heat a griddle or 2 large cast-iron skillets over medium-high. Season both sides of patties with salt and pepper. Cook patties, pressing with a spatula, 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, flip, and top with cheese. Cook 2 minutes.
Butter cut sides of rolls, and toast on griddle until edges just start to brown, about 1 minute.
Sandwich burgers in rolls with onion, pickle, lettuce, and mustard.

Cook's Note
Toppings
Sour-salty pickles, spicy onions, and shards of cool iceberg lettuce are the best counterpoints to this greasy-in-a- good-way patty.

Make Ahead
Thin patties freeze beautifully when layered with parchment in a freezer bag. After an hour at room temperature, they're ready for the griddle.

Patty
A 70 percent lean meat mix is key for griddle-cooked burgers, which get crisp by sizzling in their own fat. Flatten them with a rolling pin for uniform thinness.

Cheese
This guilty-pleasure burger begs for gooey, melty American cheese.

Bun
Martin's Famous Sandwich Potato Rolls are our choice for their slight sweetness and optimally squishy centers. Butter them before toasting to highlight those qualities, and then add contrast with a smear of sharp mustard.

So, I just want to make clear what makes
this burger perfect:

1. Dill pickles...salty and tangy!!!

2. Yellow mustard! Not Dijon, just yellow!!

3. Good old craptastic sliced American cheese!!

4. Potato buns! Do NOT use any other kind!!

5. White onion. Perfect!!

Chop up some of the onion and iceberg lettuce....

My cutting board looked gross but I swear it was clean!

Butter up those potato buns!

Do NOT use anything but potato buns!!!

So, you will get four hamburgers out of
1 lb. of 70% lean....
(giggle, can you believe, 70% lean, no wonder these are so yummy!)
Roll 1/4 of the meat into a ball and stick between plastic wrap and roll thin.

See, nice and thin and even here...

layer the patties between parchment paper.

...like this!!

Salt
and
pepper
them up,

both sides.

Cook the patties in the pan. I used cast iron.

Flip these beauties over and cook an additional minute or two...

Throw on the creamy American cheese!!!

Remember those buttered potato buns from earlier in this post?

Throw them in the pan and let them brown up to some squishy yummy goodness!

Now
THAT'S
what I'm talkin' 'bout!!!

Two burgers for Angie with cheese,
two burgers for Tim without cheese.
SHUT UP! You'll eat two also!

So let's start out building this gorgeousness...

Thin hamburger with cheese on grilled potato bun...

Check!

Yellow mustard spread on bun...

Check!

Dear Mother-in-Law June,

You are going to want to use Dijon mustard because you LOVE Dijon mustard.

DON'T!!!

Use YELLOW mustard for this.

Love,
Angie

Now
add
chopped white onions...

Check!

Salty, tangy
dill pickles.
Mmmm, salty and tangy.

Check!

Iceberg lettuce!!!

No, do not use spinach or romaine,
you use ICEBERG!

Check!

Almost there!
See the tasty burger, the creamy American cheese, the crunchy mild onions, salty dill pickles and that iceberg lettuce?

Well, THROW THE TOP BUN ON!!!
Check!

Okay, this was from the 1st night I made these glorious burgers....

We had sweet potato fries with the burger that night...

As you can clearly see, I started gobbling the burger before pictures were done. Story of my life.

Two days later, I made the burgers again, with french fries.
And the very next day, I made these burgers YET AGAIN.

And this picture below is from last night,
when I made them AGAIN!!
They are addictive, I tell ya!!

I can't help it! I was blogging about the lovelies and my mouth kept watering, so I reached right into the freezer and pulled a couple burgers out.

Tim's eyes got HUGE! Another cheat night!!

By the way, the flat burger patties freeze great!! Just lay them between sheets or parchment paper! So easy.

Again, here is Martha's recipe:

Thin Burger
Straight out of central casting: a savory, slender patty on a deliciously squishy bun.
Martha Stewart Living, August 2012http://www.marthastewart.com/911342/thin-burger

Prep Time20 minutes
Total Time20 minutes

YieldMakes 4
Ingredients

- 1 1/4 pounds coarsely ground beef chuck (70 percent lean)
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
- 4 slices American cheese
- 4 teaspoons unsalted butter, softened
- 4 potato sandwich rolls
- 1/4 cup diced white onion
- 1 dill pickle, thinly sliced
- 1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
- 4 teaspoons yellow mustard

Directions

Divide beef into 4 mounds, and evenly place on a 12-by-14-inch piece of plastic wrap. Place another piece of plastic on top. Roll into 5 1/2-inch patties, about 1/3 inch thick, with a rolling pin.
Heat a griddle or 2 large cast-iron skillets over medium-high. Season both sides of patties with salt and pepper. Cook patties, pressing with a spatula, 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, flip, and top with cheese. Cook 2 minutes.
Butter cut sides of rolls, and toast on griddle until edges just start to brown, about 1 minute.
Sandwich burgers in rolls with onion, pickle, lettuce, and mustard.

Here's the direct link!!!
http://www.marthastewart.com/911342/thin-burger

OH!
One more reminder.....

A few weeks ago, I fixed these burgers for our visiting kids.

Our son-in-law LOVED his first burger.

On the second hamburger though, he added ketchup thinking that would be awesome too.

It wasn't.

He said he was so surprised the difference was so noticeable.

I just smiled and nodded and said "I know."

So I hope you try these burgers some time and let me know how you like them!

In the meantime, Mr. Smurf
and Tim
and Angie
are blue until the day we can make and devour these burgers again.

I actually paid money for that Mr. Smurf figurine up there.
No comments from the peanut gallery, please :)
He sits on the top shelf of a small bookcase in my book room...right by a fruitcake tin with vintage magnets.

Isn't this tin cute, though?

Looks 70s to me.

The tin sits next to an Apollo 11 photograph someone took and framed.

And lastly, show and tell ends with my vintage Kodak hanging light above the bookcase.
It's 70s craptastic plastic :) and says
"Kodak Cameras Film."

The light probably hung in a camera shop
in the 70s.
I had $15 or $20 on it back in the day when I ran antiques out of my barn but alas, no one ever bought it.
So I had it cleaned up and rewired and hung it in the basement last week.

Are you wondering if this post is eeeeeeeeevvvvvveeerrrrrrr going to end?

Are you fast asleep right about now,
kind of like Gino here???

Okay, nighty-nighty
until the next time of another thrilling edition of
Angie Reads a Recipe and Makes It and Posts Boring Pictures About It!

Have a good rest of the weekend y'all,
stay warm
and we'll talk at ya soon!

Angie's Chili with Pickle Juice

10/22/2014

1 Comment

Chili.
It's what's for lunch.

And dinner.
And the next day's lunch.
And dinner two nights from then.

Until you open up the fridge one day,
and you're like,

"What??!!
No chili??!!???
Who ATE it all??!!"

My chili has a secret weapon.

See that
V8 juice?

That's not the secret weapon.

See these jarred jalapenos?

Nope.
Not that either.

The Fire Roasted Tomatoes
are key,

but not the
ancient
Chinese secret.

Nah....too easy.

Not even going there.

It's
Bread & Butter pickle juice!

Yes! THIS is the
secret ingredient!!!

So, why do I like my chili recipe so much, you ask?
Okay, I know you didn't ask. I'm just trying to keep the convo going folks...keep up with me.
Welllllll,
My chili:
1. Has that touch of sweetness and zestiness with that pickle juice.
2. Has some spiciness/slight heat with those jarred jalapenos without having to hose down your lips after every bite.
3. Doesn't use 35 million billion ingredients.
4. Can be made up on the stove and ready to eat in half an hour. Or you could let it simmer all day in a crockpot too.

Here's the Fixins for Angie's Chili....

Okay, let's start this recipe by dicing up the onion and bell peppers!

Now start browning up the ground beef and onions for a few minutes....

Add in the
bell peppers
and cook for another few minutes, until just browned.

Now add in the chili powder and the cumin and the salt and pepper...add this directly onto the meat...I've noticed you get more flavor this way rather than adding it into the liquid...

Okay, let's add in our other ingredients....

Fire Roasted tomatoes.

OHOHOHOHOH!! IMPORTANT!!

Make sure the tomatoes are
Fire Roasted...
they give this chili a subtle
smoky flavor.

Whip those beans in there!

Now add the V8 juice and the pickle juice!

Whatever you do,

don't forget the roughly chopped jalapenos!

Now bring this to a boil and then turn down the heat and let simmer for however long you want.
See! That's it!

Now ladle some of this
soup up....

Check out the charred fire roasted tomatoes and the milder green jalapenos in there.....

What are ya waiting for?
Dig in!

I interrupt this blog to bring you a very important
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!
The recipe calls for 1/3 cup pickle juice.
While experimenting with one batch, I used 1 cup + pickle juice.
Don't do that.

The recipe also calls for 1/3 cup chopped jarred jalapenos.
While experimenting one time, I put in a whole jar of jalapenos.
Don't do that either.
You're welcome.

Angie’s Chili with Bread & Butter Pickle Juice
Courtesy of Angie!! With Turnkey Quality Cars
Recipe author: Angie, again!!
This is a nice, flavorful chili without the 5-alarm heat. The pickle juice gives it just enough sweetness while the jarred jalapenos give it a bite.
Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef, as lean as possible
1 large yellow onion, diced
½ of green bell pepper, diced
½ of red bell pepper, diced
2 full Tbsp of chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
Salt and Pepper
1-46 oz. can V8 vegetable juice (I use the hot and spicy)
1-16 oz can of Fire Roasted diced tomatoes
3-15 oz. cans dark red kidney beans, undrained
1/3 c. Bread & Butter pickle juice
1/3 c. chopped jarred jalapenos, roughly chopped.

Directions

Brown ground beef and onion for about 4 minutes, until beef starts turning brown. Add in the diced peppers and cook for another 5 minutes, until beef is fully browned.
Add the chili powder, cumin, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir and cook for another minute or two.
Pour in the undrained beans, the V8 vegetable juice and the fire roasted tomatoes. Stir.
Now add the pickle juice and chopped jarred jalapenos.
Bring to a full boil, then turn down heat and simmer for at least a ½ hour or more.
Serve with caramel rolls or shredded cheese and tortilla chips, sour cream, avocados…you know, the fixins. Or eat the chili just by itself which is darrrrrrn good too!!

angies_chili.docx
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Question.....
Now, will my chili soup far exceed YOUR current recipe you use now?

The answer is probably not, your recipe works for you. My chili is just a little different spin that maximizes the smoky, the sweet, the tangy, and the meaty without putting a hole in your gut.*
*although I do like those kinds of recipes too :)
There's nothing special about my chili recipe, it just has a nice balance.

Okay, hope you make the chili sometime...if you do, let me know what you think about it! Unless if you think it was gross, then remember what your momma always told you...if you can't say anything nice...uh huh. :):)

So chili and the crispness and colors of Fall go together, right?
Well, I was at one of our fave customers house just this afternoon,
a very sweet retired pastor who, like me, loves the old and gnarly stuff.
I thought his yard was so casually beautiful, I just had to share!

I love his tree...it shone an amber light on the
whole lawn! Ethereal.

His style
is
so casual,
so quirky,
so effortless...

Just part of the front porch as you walk up...

My favorite thing in his yard,
a broken crock he uses as a planter, on a funky frame....

I love how the pinks of the impatients coordinate quite nicely with those gorgeous falling leaves.

Lastly, every
heart shaped
tree trunk
needs a proper planter in it,
don't ya think? This reminds me greatly of his super awesome wife.

Okay, that's all I gots for today, pals!!! Thanks for checking in!!!
Enjoy the beautiful, crisp weather and the bountiful colors of the season
and we'll talk at ya soon!!

1 Comment

An Excellent Beef Fajita Recipe, Roger Miller Is King Of The Road and Does ANYONE Remember Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues

9/15/2013

BEEF
FAJITAS!

Really super yummy,

spicy,

mouth watering
Beef Fajitas!

Could these be so delicious cause...
I used sizzlin' Sirloin??!!

SzzzzzssssSSSSSSzzzzzzzz
Okay, that is the sound of sirloin sizzlin' in the pan for all of you who have never
pan fried sizzzlin' sirloin!! SzzzzssssSSSzzz. Ouch!

Sliced
bucket loads of sirloin,
just waiting to be placed on warmed corn tortillas.

Not
actual "BUCKET"
loads.

Duh.

But, enough.

Hehehehehehehehehehehe!

Ohhhh!! Before going any further, I have had this one song called Little Green Apples stuck in my head for several weeks now.
Roger Miller recorded it in 1968.
It takes till the .24 mark (24 seconds) for the record to kick in...be patient please, it's recorded from an old album :)

Roger Miller was a little bit of an enigma from what I gather.

He was born in 1936 outside of Ft. Worth.

Roger was sent to Oklahoma to live with his aunt and uncle after his father passed and his mother became ill.

He bought his first guitar and headed to Nashville in the 1950s after serving a few years in the military.

This is the Faron Young group. Ima think Roger is the tall drink of water on the top left.

Roger began his career as a successful songwriter for
Ray Price,
Jim Reeves,
Billy Bayou,
Ernest Tubb,
Faron Young
and
George Jones.

He hit pay dirt with Dang Me
and the classic hit
King Of The Road.

I have perused many a Roger Miller albums whilst dealing antiques and
vintage stuff over the years.

rogermiller.com with Dean Martin

He was so popular in 1965 that he had his own tv show.

The 70s didn't fare so well for Roger though.

But here, Roger is accepting a Tony award in 1985 for the Broadway score of
Big River.

And in 1990, Dwight Yoakum had a hit co-written by Roger called It Only Hurts Me When I Cry.

Which totally reminds me of this 1972 song
by Danny O'Keefe, a Spokane, WA musician called
Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues.
Remember this song????

Tim doesn't remember this song. :(

I'm still gonna stay married to him though.

Seriously.
HOW COULD YOU NOT REMEMBER
THIS SONG??
Maybe he was listening to too much Iron Butterfly or Steppenwolf.
When he was like 10.

FYI: Tim's laying back in his recliner and just had the nerve to ask me:
"Who was good time Charlie?"

Ima pass out!!!!!

NOBODY was "good time" Charlie, Tim! It's just a song! A great song! Don't over think it Tim, just appreciate it for the 1972 awesomeness it was!!!

Okay. Let's get back to the awesomeness of this
Beef Fajita recipe.

I doubled the meat in this recipe cause Tim and I rarely eat beef so when we do, we go BIG!

So these are the fixins to make these spicy, flavorful fajitas.
The recipe calls for flat iron steak...I used sirloin.
But you can see there's not a gazillion ingredients here.
This is super easy.

Get your marinade ready with olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, and lime juice.

Add in the garlic, cumin, chili powder, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and sugar.

Now slice up the onions and peppers....

Throw the veggies in a bowl with the marinade and mix 'er up.

Throw the meat in there and mix up and let marinate together for a few hours.

I've made this three times and each time I've only marinated 1/2 hour and it was still super flavorful.

Now if I was making fajitas with chicken, I would marinate the veggies in a separate dish from the chicken.

Oh look!

It's Tim and Baby the kitty cat helping me cook.

So get out yer skillets and heat 'em up...cause sirloin and veggies are goin' in there!

So both pans are sauteing and cooking away....

I got smart about five minutes into the sauteing and finally drained the liquid off the peppers and onions. Duh.

Look at the sear on that sirloin!!

Now grate up the Monterrey Jack cheese.

Slice up that delish sirloin.

Now take a tortilla and start layering with the beef, then add the peppers and onions and top with cheese....

WAIT! You're not done yet!!
Don't forget the sour cream, salsa and cilantro!

WHOA!! WAIT AGAIN!!!

Grab
your
pop
!!!

Now fold 'er up and dig in!

Okay, that was pretty simple, eh?
Now I've tried some fajita recipes that really lacked a big punch of flavor so I was pleased to run across this recipe on the Pioneer Woman website.

The cumin, chili powder and Worcestershire sauce blend well with the citrusy lime juice and heat of the red pepper flakes.
I've made this recipe three times in the last six weeks, it's so easy and quick.

Beef Fajitas
Serves 8
www.thepioneerwoman.com Check out her site, fantastic recipes there.
Courtesy www.turnkeyqualitycars.com

Ingredients
    1 whole Beef Flank Steak…(Angie used sirloin)
    ½ cups Olive Oil
    3 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
    ⅓ cups Lime Juice, Fresh Squeezed
    3 cloves Garlic, Minced
    1 Tablespoon Cumin
    1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
    ½ teaspoons Red Pepper Flakes
    1 teaspoon Salt
    ½ teaspoons Black Pepper
    1 Tablespoon Sugar
    2 whole Medium Onions, Halved And Sliced
    1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Sliced
    1 whole Orange Bell Pepper, Sliced
    1 whole Green Bell Pepper, Sliced
    1 whole Yellow Bell Pepper, Sliced
    Oil, For Frying
    Flour Tortillas, Warmed
    Cheese (grated Cheddar/jack Or Crumbled Queso Fresco)
    Salsa
    Sour Cream
    Cilantro leaves

Preparation Instructions
In a dish, mix together olive oil, Worcestershire, lime juice, garlic, cumin, chili powder, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and sugar until combined. Pour half of the marinade into a separate dish. In one dish, place the flank steak, turning it over to coat. In the second dish, place all the veggies, turning to coat. Cover the dishes with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Prepare tortillas, salsa, sour cream, and cilantro.

Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle in some oil. Add the veggies and cook them for a few minutes, until they’re cooked but still slightly firm and have nice black/brown pieces. Remove to a plate and set aside.

Heat the same same skillet (or a grill pan if you have it) over high heat and drizzle some oil. Cook the meat for about 2 minutes per side until medium rare. Remove and allow to rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes.

Slice the meat right before serving and serve with all the fixins.

Okay, here's the printable version....

Okay, gonna go look through this $9.95 magazine now...yes, you read that correctly....$9.95!!!!!

See, I got tricked into buying
this $9.95!!! magazine!!!

See, they tricked me by using red and green colors and I thought this was a CHRISTMAS food magazine.

But when I got home I noticed all the recipes inside are Thanksgiving comfort food related. And then I noticed it says to display this magazine only until December 2 which means probably the REAL magazine I wanted, the CHRISTMAS recipe magazine, has yet to come out!!
Christmas Tricksters!!!!

Now I know what you're thinking......

...perhaps the fact that the cover featured:
1.Turkey
2. Stuffing
3. A pumpkin
4. A cranberry looking dish in the background

...that perhaps those things should have clued me in that this was a THANKSGIVING holiday magazine, not a Christmas holiday one.

Well, perhaps you should know....

I'M NOT THAT BRIGHT!!!!

\
CLEARLY!!!!

I still maintain I was tricked by the red and green colors.

Okay, that's all I got....
Hope you try the Beef Fajita recipe sometime!
:)
Have a good rest of the weekend y'all! and we'll talk at ya soon!!!

Fillet With Peppercorn Sauce And Crispy Smashed Potatoes

12/20/2012

Is it blizzarding at your place?

Taken at noon on Thursday December 20, 2012.

Yup, blizzarding here in good ol' Frytown, Iowa too.
By the way, a Merry Christmas to ya'll!!!

Mr. Donkey by the well pump says Merry Christmas too.

After taking the above pictures this morning, I stomped my snowy feet off in the entryway.

Our new Thanksgiving Day kitty, Giblet Pearl, was much intrigued.

She'd never seen snow before.

Giblet Pearl proceeded to look around like she had JUST discovered gold,

then began furiously eating it.

Kind of, sort of like Tim and I with these Fillets with Peppercorn Sauce last night.

We were like cavemen with the beef.

I rarely make beef, so when I do,
well,

we act like neanderthals.

And these
Crispy Smashed Roasted Potatoes...
total YUM!!!

Why oh why must I be such a starch girl???!!
This does not serve one well as I, uh, cough cough...., uh...."age."

Didn't stop me from making them or eating them though!
These are the fixins for the Crispy Smashed Potatoes!!!!

Sigh. What's a starch girl to do?

See though!! Hardly any ingredients and so super easy and completely tasty!!

And here's the fixins for the fantastic
Fillets With Peppercorn Sauce.

See those three beef fillets up there? Oh my gosh, they were beeee-utiful but EXPENSIVE!!!
$16.99 lb....$39 of fillet right there!!! $39!!!

Dear Mortgage Company,

My mortgage payment may be a little late. See, I discovered fillet. It is very expensive but worth every penny.

Sincerely,
Happily Fulfilled With A Tummy Full Of Big Bucks Fillet, Your Customer Angie

So the peppercorn sauce for the fillets calls for tri-color peppercorns.

I found them easy enough in the grocery store.

They're in this grinder bottle thing.

Easy enough, I'll just take the lid off and smash them with a rolling pin like the recipe calls for.

See, the Pioneer Woman, whose recipe this is, makes it clear on her video not to grind too small the peppercorns, they should be of varying sizes,
some should even be whole.
But the lid wouldn't come off.

So I thought hmmm, I'll just grind them in the bottle they're in.

I was having a hard time getting different sizes with this grinder, it was making all the peppercorns smallish.

So I tried getting the lid off again with my amazing brute force.

Didn't work.

So I used a knife and tried to pry the lid off
and
then tried to cut the lid off.

Yeah.
kind of almost had an unpleasant bleeding experience so I put the knife away....

...and I started pounding that dagnabit thing on the counter top ledge.

Whack
Whack
Whack

Shockingly enough, that didn't work either.

As a last resort,

I tried to bite that plastic top off.

No I didn't. I wouldn't do that...try to bite the top off a grinder.
Nervous giggle. I was just kidding...
K-I-D-D-I-N-G.
I wasn't THAT desperate to do such a stooopid thing.
duh. Biting the top of a pepper grinder off. Sheez.

Anyway,

melt the butter in the pan as a beginning for this easy peppercorn sauce.

Throw in the Dijon mustard.

And the brandy,

\let this reduce a little bit.

Add in the heavy cream and grinded up peppercorns.
By the way, see those words "grinded up" up there? It didn't even dawn on me until hours later, right before I was ready to post, that the correct language is GROUND UP! GROUND UP PEPPERCORNS, NOT GRINDED UP. Goodness, who needs grammar lessons?

And just whisk occasionally until the sauce gets thicker.

I let it set on low for a bit while I tended to the meat and potatoes.

Salt and pepper up these babies good!

Melt some butter and brush them on both sides of the fillets. Yowza!!

Heat the olive oil up in the pan...

Throw the fillets in....

Turn the fillets over and cook according to your likeness.

Actually before I started the steaks, I started the potatoes first...lay parchment paper on a baking sheet and liberally dose with olive oil.

Boil the potatoes
in salted water for anywhere from
20-35 minutes, until soft but definitely NOT falling apart.

Remove the cooked potatoes from the water and let them drain on a kitchen towel.

Now take a second towel
and put them over each potato and smash each one gently with the palm of your hand.

Take a spatula and scoop each individual potato up.
Don't worry if one falls apart. No problem.

Deposit each potato on the baking sheet like this.

Drizzle with olive oil pretty good....

...and salt and pepper up real too!

Bake for 20-35 minutes, according to how golden and crispy you want your potato cakes.

This time I threw some freshly grated Parmesan on after roasting but you don't even have to do that.

These potatoes are fantastic with just that olive oil and salt and pepper on them!

Look at that crispiness!

Now plate the fillet and potato up....

Who needs vegetables anyway??
This was CHEAT NIGHT!!!

Hello Mr. fillet, you is-a-gonna look might tasty with some peppercorn sauce on you too....

And I was right!

Just a little aside..this peppercorn sauce isn't for everyone, it has a distinct taste, savory and peppery.
I suggest keeping the sauce on the side or in a little dipping dish for each plate.

Now dig in guys!!!

That's what cheat night is for!

Okay, here's the recipes!!!

Fillet with Peppercorn Sauce
From 2012 Ree Drummond Pioneer Woman cooking show on foodnetwork.com
Courtesy www.turnkeyqualitycars.com

Serves: 8 servings
Angie’s note: Cut this recipe down to size as needed. I made this for two people, used 3 beef fillets and just halved the recipe on everything else.

Ingredients
Steaks:
    8 whole beef fillets or other good steaks
    Lemon pepper
   ( Angie’s Note: I did not use lemon pepper or seasoning salt, just salt and pepper)
    Seasoned salt
    Freshly ground black pepper
   Melted butter

Sauce:
    4 to 6 tablespoons tri-color peppercorns, crushed
    4 tablespoons butter
    1 beef bouillon cube
    4 to 6 tablespoons Dijon mustard
    1 cup brandy
    1 1/2 to 2 cups heavy cream (can substitute half-and-half for some of the cream)

Directions
Angie’s note: I did not grill the fillets; I simply cooked them in my cast iron skillet over the stove top.
For the steaks: Sprinkle both sides of the steak with lemon pepper, seasoned salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side over high heat, and then a further 3 to 5 minutes over lower heat. Brush with melted butter as they cook.

Meanwhile, make the sauce: Start by crushing the peppercorns with a rolling pin in a zip-top bag and set them aside.

Next, heat a heavy ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat and melt the butter. Crumble in the beef bouillon cube. Whisk to combine. Then add the Dijon mustard to the skillet and whisk it around a bit. Pour in the brandy. Whisk the Dijon and brandy together until combined, and then let it bubble for about 45 seconds or so. Then pour in the heavy cream and the crushed peppercorns. Whisk it all together, allowing it to bubble for a few minutes to thicken. Spoon it over the grilled steaks.

Crispy Smashed Potatoes
www.turnekyqualitycars.com
There’s lots of recipes out there, so here’s the condensed version of these tasty, easy potatoes…

Ingredients
Medium size red potatoes, as many as you need for each family member
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Angie’s note: sometimes I add fresh Parmesan too after baking.

Directions
Preheat oven to 425.
On a cooking sheet, lay out parchment paper and drizzle liberally with olive oil.

Boil potatoes in salted water for 25-35 minutes, just until soft.

Lay drained potatoes on a kitchen towel and smash them with your palm, using another towel over the top of the potatoes.

Using a spatula, scoop up those potatoes, don’t worry if they fall apart, and lay on the cookie sheet.

Drizzle potatoes liberally with olive oil and salt and pepper them up real good.

Bake in oven until crispy, could be anywhere from 20-35 minutes depending on how golden and crispy you would like your potato cakes to be.

Remove from oven and eat. Or top with freshly grated parmesan cheese and then chow down.

See! Easy!

I hope you try these recipes out sometime, especially those super easy
smashed potatoes...
they are awesome dipped in ketchup!!

Little Miss Giblet Pearl was being naughty with my vintage Christmas light things.

Don't YOU be naughty now.

Be nice!
And send me lots of money, okay?
For GRAMMAR LESSONS. I promise I won't spend it on expensive wine :)

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE
and
HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO

:)
Have a good night guys!
Stay warm!
Talk at ya soon!

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs, A Parade, And My Sister's Man Hands

11/9/2012

Care
for a meatball?

Fresh out of the oven?

They're stuffed with fresh mozzarella...hope that's okay.

These Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
are
BIG!

And so-so-so easy to make, I could not believe it!

Here's the fixins for these Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs...

pretty simple stuff!

This recipe is from the food blog picky-palate.com.

Picture is from www.picky-palate.com; this is where the original recipe comes from.

Oh I should mention that you're supposed to use these mozzarella balls that you get at your grocery store.

Unless you shop at a small grocery like I do, then you just get a mozzarella ball and chop it up...

...like this...

Okay guys, there aren't a thousand steps here...just a couple. So get your coffee or ice tea or soda and stay alert and pay attention, dis gonna go fast.

womansday.com

Really?
Is the crap I write really that boring?

ehow.com

Whatev.

Well, these guys aren't bored and actually quite enjoy reading about my
Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs.

See. Told ya. After they look at that graph, they're screaming right over to my blog site.
Yup, that's right. Screaming. Tearing. Running over. Right after they're done. Uh huh.

OH
HEY!

This will perk you up!!

Pretty!

A purple Thanksgiving table!

Anyway, moving on...

Mince up the onions and garlic.
Two things:
1. Mince, not chop the garlic and onions. The smaller the better when mixing with meatballs.

2. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup onion and 2Tbsp garlic. Next time, Ima use only 1/4 cup onion and 1 Tbsp. garlic.

So throw your hamburger, onions, garlic and and egg in a bowl...

Add in the panko, and Parmesan cheese, and milk and Worcestershire and yellow mustard and hot sauce and salt and pepper.

Okay this picture should be the mixed up meatball meat but apparently I didn't see fit to take that picture. I suppose I was too busy trying to get the meatball meat off my hands under the faucet.

Nonetheless,
oil up a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Oh here's a picture of the mixture.
It's very texture-y by the way.

(You'll find "texture-y" in the Pretend Word Dictionary. Your welcome.)

Anyway, find your 1/4 cup scoop thing. Oh, I think it's called a "measuring cup." Geez.

Scoop 'er up!

Okay, so now you have your meatballs all formed up, right?

Form little nests in the meatballs.

Then notice that your cheese hunks are the same size as the nests, meaning TOO BIG.
Chop the cheese chunks down a little smaller.

So put the smaller, appropriate size cheese hunks into the little nests.

Don't they look ca-ute!!!!!

Now form your meatball around those cheese hunks using big man hands.
Oh.

You don't have big
man hands?
Neither do I. That's my sister's hand, she was helping me.

Anyhoo, place the meatballs into the baking dish.

Bake for 30-35 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

And they come out looking like this.

Mmmmmm, some of that mozzarella is oozing out, yes?

Let's get a close-up here.

I was so excited to try these meatballs!!!

I didn't want to be disappointed.

And I wasn't!!!!!! YAY!!
I felt like doing cartwheels!!!
Except I have tiny delicate non-man hands that don't support my tiny delicate frame well upside down.

WHAT????!!!
How do YOU know I don't have tiny delicate hands?
YOU don't have tiny delicate hands.

You don't need delicate hands to eat these yummy meatballs.

I really liked these, they're so fun and tasty, not overpowering ALTHOUGH next time I will use half the onions and garlic.

And even though I'm an adult, it was so fun cutting into each of these and having the cheese be there and be all gooey and everything.

The meatballs up there are saying, "Pssssst.....make me. Eat me. I am cheap to make. Kids AND adults will love me. You will be asked to make me again. I'm big and filling, so a meal with pasta really would just be like two meatballs. Except if you're a teenage boy."

I remembered the recipe, yay! Here it is!

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
From www.picky-palate.com Check this food website out, great food recipes for the entire family
Courtesy www.turnkeyqualitycars.com

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pound lean ground beef
1 large egg
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion…Angie’s Note: May want to use HALF the onion and garlic amount
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce, like Tabasco
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
Ten 1-inch Mozzarella balls

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 35o degrees F. and grease 9×13-inch baking dish with oil.

2. Place beef, egg, onion, bread crumbs, Parmesan, milk, garlic, Worcestershire, mustard, hot sauce, salt, pepper and garlic salt into a large mixing bowl, stirring until just combined. Take 1/4 cup beef mixture and press into center with your thumb to make room for cheese ball. Place cheese in middle then with hands enclose the cheese with the beef, making sure the cheese is completely covered. Place meatballs into prepared baking dish and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until cooked through.

3. Serve over top your favorite pasta or inside a warm roll for delicious meatball sandwich.

Okay, before I close-up for the day, and because I have Thanksgiving on the brain,
let's take a gander at some
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
floats from over the years, shall we?

abcnews.com

This is what we think of when we think of the Macy's parade now.
Snoopy is the most popular character in the parade.

abcnews.com

Well,
this Santa float was the very first Santa float in the very first Macy's parade which started in 1924.

abcnews.com

The very first parade in 1924 featured live animals borrowed from the zoo.

abcnews.com

Now this particular float with the balloon girls was also in the very first parade. This float inspired the Macy's founder's wife to develop upside balloon marionettes, which is now what we know as the big floaty floats.

abcnews.com

Introduced in 1927,
Feliz the Cat was the very first Macy's giant balloon.

abcnews.com

This bandleader is from the early 1930's parade.

abcnews.com

And here is an early 1940's Uncle Sam.

The parade was suspended in 1942, 1943 and 1944 due to the need for rubber and helium in the war effort.

abcnews.com

And an early 1940's superman too.

abcnews.com

This is Harold the Fireman from the 1950's.

Harold is a mainstay of the parade and some years is a police officer too.

abcnews.com

Celebrities have always been popular at the parade.

Here we have of course Roy Rogers
and
Dale Evans.

abcnews.com

This spaceman floated in the
1959 parade.

abcnews.com

And then after that, we get to a more modern era.

SpongeBob SquarePants
was the first ever square balloon.

abcnews.com

Hello Kitty is the largest balloon by helium volume standards.

abcnews.com

And of course the Sesame Street float is always pretty and colorful.

www.nycvintageimages.com

Circa 1930.

Well, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has come along way from 1924,

hasn't it?

Okay, that's all I have for today!
Hope you enjoyed the meatball recipe.
And parade pictures.
Oh, and my sister's man hands too!
Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe

Okay, Gotta run!
Literally gotta run.
From my sister.
Cuz when she finds me, she gonna break every finger on my man hands.

Bye!!!!!!!

:)

Bacon, Onion and Cheese Stuffed Burgers...YUM!

9/23/2012

Bacon, Onion and Cheese Stuffed Burgers
*So you take these thin burger patties*
and top them with sauteed onions, cooked crisp bacon and some super yummy, white sharp cheddar...

Throw another thin burger on top and walla!!!!
A Stuffed Burger! Stuffed with crispy bacon, white cheddar and caramelized onions. Yum!

Throw them on the grill for a few minutes each side...

See that cheese oozing out of the burger?
See it? Do ya? Looks tasty, yes?

You have complete taste and yumminess!!

This is Sunny Anderson and I love her cooking show
Cooking For Real.

Love!

Her recipes are down- home deee-licious!

This is her stuffed burger recipe.

Sunny Anderson’s Bacon, Onion and Cheese Stuffed Burger
From the Food Network show Cooking For Real with Sunny Anderson
Courtesy www.turnkeyqualitycars.com

Ingredients
    1 1/2 pounds ground beef
    1 clove garlic, minced
    1 teaspoon hot sauce (recommended: Frank's Red Hot)
    Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    4 strips bacon, diced
    1/2 onion, chopped
    1 cup grated sharp Cheddar
    4 burger buns
    Lettuce, tomato, pickles for garnish

Directions

Preheat grill to medium.

In a bowl combine beef, garlic, hot sauce, salt and pepper, to taste, being careful not to over mix. Warm a skillet over medium heat and fry bacon until crispy. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Keep heat on skillet and fry a pinch of the beef in the bacon fat to test seasoning. Adjust seasoning, if needed, then form 8 even thin patties, about 1/2-inch thick and set aside. Saute onions in bacon fat in skillet until tender, 5 minutes. Place onions and bacon in a bowl with cheese. Form a spoonful of bacon-cheese mixture into a ball, then place in the center of 4 patties. Top each with another patty and seal the edges. Grill burgers over medium-high heat, flipping once until desired doneness is reached, approximately 4 minutes each side for medium. Serve in buns with garnishes. Alternative: In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, sear the burgers 4 minutes on each side.

And these are the fixins to create these super yummy stuffed burgers.

Not much here, eh??

Pretty.
Simple.

Little Boy Blue says,
"Trust me, so easy even an 11 month old could make these.

With one hand."

Well, what better way to start this burger than frying up some bacon in the pan.

Sssssiiiizzzllle.

Splat.

Ouch!!!

Cook the bacon until crisp and remove from pan. Leave a few drippings in the pan of course cuz you-is-a-gonna-be sauteeing some onions.

Crumble up the bacon, shred the cheese if not shredded already (I used white cheddar) and remove
the onions to a bowl.

Now mix 'er all up!!!

Don' it look goood!!

Don' you like my improper use of spelling and grammar today?
It's even driving me nuts but I can't stop.

Meanwhile,
throw your garlic and
hot sauce
into the bowl with the ground beef.

Season it up real gooooood with salt and pepper.

Aaaand mush it all up.

With your hands.

Looks like a whole chicken here, doesn't it?

Now make eight THIN patties out of the ground beef.

Thin people,
thin.

Cuz you-is-a-gonna-be stuffing these and slappin' two burgers on top of each other.

Okay FINE, I'll stop with the annoying grammar!!
I don't know what the matter with me is today. All I wanna do is is put on one of those dumb beer hats, chew some tobaccy and spit it out on sidewalks.

Makes ya wanna come to my house for dinner, doesn't it?

Anyhooo,

set four thin patties on a plate.

Dollop the onion, cheese, bacon mixture on top of each patty.

Now put the other four patties on top....

Now you have four hamburgers stuffed with that lovely onion, bacon and cheese filling.

OH!!!! Seal the edges of the hamburgers with your fingertips real good.

Okay, now go put these lovelies out on the grill.
But beware, these
DO NOT TAKE LONG TO COOK at all because the patties on the top and bottom are so thin!

Okay the following pictures are so dark.
I think I was so starved and it was close to 10pm....

Here's the cooked burger on a plate with some cheat night fries.

These burgers taste fantastic with that filling!! Honestly I couldn't really taste the bacon as much as I wanted to; all the flavors of the caramelized onions, cheese and bacon seemed to meld together but it was fantastico!!!

And here's a super dark picture of the inside of the stuffed burger.

See that cheesy, oniony, bacony goodness??!!

Oh it was yummy though!!!

My plate after a couple bites.
Still dark, still looks weird but ya gotta trust me on this one...

these were great.
They were even excellent the next day cold!!!

Okay, I gotta end with a good looking picture so Ima use this one,
with that ooey-gooey cheese inside the hot sauce, garlic and salt and pepper seasoned burger.... just waiting to be eaten up.

Fortunately I was up to the task :).

Okay, that's all I have for now!!!
Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful sunny Sunday!!!
Talk to ya soon!!!

Totally Awesome Mega Meatball Pizza That Has No Meatballs But It Does Have Meat

5/3/2012

The first cooking show I ever saw was like

five years ago and it was Rachael Ray

making this Mega Meatball Pizza.

I was mesmerized by this recipe.

It seemed so simple.

I made this Mega Meatball Pizza that evening and it was delicious and a family favorite and I've been making it
ever since.

So let's git right to it shall we, cuz I am hungry just looking at all these pizza pictures again. Gahhh!!!!

Here's the fixins!

*Simple ingredients
*Easy to make
*Fantastic flavor
*Quick cleanup

Wait!!!

While I'm writing this, Ima get out something to munch on...see, some of my family members and I are a doing a Biggest Loser contest.
You know, who can lose the most weight in three months.

Now, I figure I have an advantage because I have experience at being a loser.
Uh huh.
Don't let my charming wit and propensity to post big food pictures fool you.
I am often times a loser.

P.S. I don't know what a force field is, I just thought it sounded funny.

See what I mean. Case in point.

L - O - S - E - R.

So
moving on,

let's slather some of that olive oil and cornmeal on a baking sheet.

I use a cookie sheet with this particular recipe. I like the crust texture better than when I use my bakng stone.

Then use your magic finger mastery skillz (while blurting out a few frustrating words) and attempt to spread the refigerated pizza dough evenly on the sheet or bakng stone. OH! I use 1 1/2 rolls of refrigerated pizza dough. One roll does not quite do it and two is too much dough.

By the way, the dough is the important part of this pizza,
so DO NOT skimp on any ingredients.
Wel, now that the dough is on the baking sheet, take a fork and poke holes in it. Then add your chopped rosemary and salt and pepper.

And this is what the crust should look like before popping it into a 425 degree oven for 10 minutes.

So while the crust is cooking in the oven, throw your ground sirloin in the pan with a couple drizzles of olive oil.

Add the

onions

and

garlic.

OKay, now add your tomato paste, parsley, parmesan, and salt and pepper.

The meatball mixture should look something like this when it's all mixed together.

Mmmmm. Smells awesomely and heavenly!

Pick a few bites of meat out of the pan and eat them.
No really, do.
It's that good.

Check on the crust in the oven,

remove after ten minutes.

Oh how

lovely!

Lovely,

lovely, tasty

rosemary

pizza crust.

It's just waiting for it's toppings...

Go ahead and spread the ground sirloin onto the piza crust....

See how this looks?

And that's even BEFORE putting the mozzarella on!

Now let's put the fresh balled mozzarella

on...YUM!!!

DO NOT use shredded bagged mozzarella.
Just.don't.do.it.
Spring for the fresh stuff, in the ball, you can find this in the section by the delis at both HyVee and Fareway.

So throw the pizza in the oven just until the cheese melts and is golden...oh, maybe seven L O N G minutes.

And
TA-DAAA!!!!

We have the Mega Meatball Pizza masterpiece.

Care

for a

corner

piece?

Go ahead, have a seat...

I'll get ya a piece.

Will this do?

Have a napkin ready, cuz guaranteed you will have some of that tomatoey beef goodness dribble on your lap.

Mmmmmmmmm!!!

The sweet rosemary crust with the savory meat is fantabulous. And the fresh mozzarella takes it to the highest level.

Well, I hope you will try this recipe out

sometime!

OH crap! I need to embed the recipe.

Here, just a sec....

Mega Meatball Pizza
I saw this on Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals show like five years ago on the Food Network www.foodnetwork.com
Check out all of Rachael’s cooking shows and recipes on the Food Network
Courtesy of www.turnkeyqualitycars.com

Ingredients
1 pizza dough, store bought or from your favorite pizza shop
A palm full all-purpose flour or cornmeal
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons – 2 turns of the pan
2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary leaves, a couple of sprigs
Coarse salt
1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 to 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Black pepper
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
A handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 pound fresh mozzarella or brick mozzarella, your choice, sliced or grated

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

On a round pizza stone or pan or on a rectangular baking sheet, using flour or cornmeal to dust the dough, spread out the dough to form your crust. If you are using a baking sheet, drizzle pan with extra-virgin olive oil then set crust in place. Poke the pizza dough in several areas with the tines of a fork. Drizzle the dough with extra-virgin olive oil then season it with finely chopped rosemary and a little salt. Place in oven 10 minutes.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, then the meat. Brown and crumble meat a couple of minutes, then add onions and garlic. Season the meat with salt and pepper then work in the tomato paste using the back of a wooden spoon to combine. Stir in the cheese, parsley and oregano.

Remove pizza crust from oven and top with meat. Arrange cheese over the pizza, working to edges. Return the pizza to the oven and bake until cheese is golden, another 10 to 12 minutes.

Oh hey,

look!

It's a bird.

It's a plane.

Wait,

It's

Super

Boy!!!!!!!

Little Boy Blue really enjoys his Grandpa's airplane rides.

I'll bet he'll enjoy eating Rachael Ray's Mega Meatball Pizza too.

Well,
once he gets teeth anyway.

Okay, catch ya'll next time!!

Will be posting some super good recipes out of that $5 Glycemic Index cookbook I picked up a couple weeks ago. And those recipes are tasty and super delicious!

Have a great Thursday guys!

Nice weather eh???!!!

Beef Short Ribs and Smashed Potatoes That Will Turn Your Cultured Man Into A Neanderthal

3/2/2012

Okay, I'm just gonna get right

down to the nitty gritty dirt of

this Short Ribs recipe....

IT'S ABSOLUTELY

FANTASTIC!!!!!!

And with these super yummy

Restaurant Style Smashed Potatoes...

The potatoes alone are a meal unto thy lovely self.

Well, there's lots of pictures today, so let's get started on the Short Ribs recipe that turned Tim into an
honest-to-goodness caveman when he was eating them.

Also Tim kept saying how much he loved me and how he's the luckiest man alive (oh my, how I feel sincerely horribly sorry for the male species then) in between his grunting and groaning and shoveling of these ribs in his mouth.

I finally said, "Tim!!! Enough! Now, why do you like these beef ribs so much?!?!?"
He was eating so fast and furiously, he couldn't form a complete sentence. Seriously.
He just grunted, "Bold. Sweet. Impeccable. Ooga Googa."

Okay, so I added the "ooga googa". But still, other than that, those were Tim's exact words.

Okay, here's the fixins for these delicious ribs.. Not much here really for prep.

Not much chopping or peeling or slicing.

Easy is what it is.

Wait a minute.

I forgot something....

The ribs!!!!

Very important! The bone-in beef short ribs!!

The recipe calls for 6 lbs.
I had 5 lbs. The beef short ribs were $3.99/lb, so my package was $20.31. Not too bad for a cheat night meal.

I did trim off .60 of a lb. of fat off the beef ribs before cooking.

Which still left quite a bit to salt and pepper up both sides.

Over medium heat, brown ribs for six minutes on both sides, in batches.

Remove the short ribs and add the onions, carrots, garlic, and celery and saute for about 5 minutes.

Add the tomato paste, and wine to the vegetables and cook for a minute or two.

Very important!!!! You are using two cups of wine here...make sure it's a good red wine.
DO NOT SPOIL THIS NICE MEAT WITH $5 WINE!!
I used Apothic Red Winemaker's blend.
You can find it under $10 a bottle on sale. Inexpensive but it drinks like a $15 bottle and even though it's not a Cabernet, it drinks big.
A nice big, peppery Cabernet would be even better.

Add your stock, diced tomatoes and thyme and bay leaf...

Get your zester out...
YO, JR!!!
They're only like $6...buy one already!!

And zest a whole orange...mmmm..smells heavenly!!

Add the ribs back into the pan with all those juicy juice dripping sauce liquid things.

Add your orange zest in, cover pot and braise at 350 degrees for three hours or until the meat is tender.

By the way, your kitchen will have the most fabulous aroma for the next three hours. Neighbors will be climbing the back yard fence to try to sneak into your kitchen, girl scout cookie sellers will ask if they can stay for supper, and neighborhood runners and joggers will say screw the healthy exercise, that aroma smells too good to pass up.
Just sayin'.

At three hours or before,
pull out the dutch oven and see what the short ribs look like.

Yup,

I would

say

they're

falling

off the

bone!!!!

You can plate it up but you might want to wait for the Restaurant Style Smashed Potatoes that Ima show you how to make.

We is a-gonna make these potatoes that
your family will fight over!
Look over there, that's those French's French Fried Onions.

No wonder this recipe is fantabulous!

Oh, look at that butter and sour cream too. Uh huh. These potatoes are not low fat!!
But they are probably top three best potatoes I've ever had. and you know how I love the starch!

Fry up

yer bacon

till crisp

and

crumble.

Bake your potatoes (I baked mine in the oven) and add to a large bowl.

Mash those crispy skinned potatoes up!

Holy Guacamole!!!!!!!!
Add the creamy butter, scallions, BAAAAACCCOOOOOON, and sour cream!

This looks good all mixed up, doesn't it?

Well,

it is!!!

What could make it better???

Those french fried onion things!!!!

Oh yeah

baby!!!

I'm speechless by how good these potatoes are.
They taste as good as they look.
If there was a swimming pool full of these mashed potatoes, I would get over my fear of diving, and dive straight into these.
Total serious.

This makes such a nice little
treaty
cheaty night, doesn't it?

Ever notice how the starch in all my pictures are predominate over anything else?
I suck cuz I am such a carb girl. I wish carbs made you lose weight instead of the opposite. *sigh*

Okay, here's the recipes....both the embedded where you can print off and the non-embedded ones where you have to hand-write it off.

Neely’s Short Ribs
www.foodnetwork.com Down Home With The Neelys
Pat and Gina Neely
Courtesy of www.turnkeyqualitycars.com

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
6 pounds beef short ribs
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups dry red wine
3 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, in thick puree
3 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 orange, zested
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves, for garnish

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heat about 2-tablespoons of the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat.

Season the short ribs well with salt and pepper. Over medium heat, brown ribs for 6 minutes on each side. You will need to do this in batches. Remove the browned short ribs to a plate and repeat with remaining ribs and oil.

Add onion, carrots, garlic, celery, and salt and pepper to the Dutch oven and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and wine to the vegetables and cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Add the stock, diced tomatoes, thyme, and bay leaf. Return the browned short ribs and any juices that have accumulated back into the Dutch oven. Add orange zest. Cover with a heavy lid and place in the oven and braise for 3 hours or until the meat is very tender.

Once the ribs are tender, remove the ribs to a platter. Taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Serve the short ribs over the stone ground grits, if desired. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.

Restaurant Style Smashed Potatoes
www.thepioneerwoman.com, a very popular food blog
Ree also has a new show on the Food Network, Pioneer Woman
Courtesy of www.turnkeyqualitycars.com

Ingredients
5 whole Large Red Potatoes
1 stick Butter, Softened And Cut Into Pieces
5 slices Bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 whole Green Onions, Sliced
3/4 cups Sour Cream
Salt To Taste (add Plenty!)
Freshly Ground Black Pepper To Taste (ditto!)
3/4 cups French Fried Onions, More For Topping

Preparation Instructions
Nuke potatoes or bake in the oven until fork-tender. Add to a large bowl and smash with a potato masher. Immediately add softened butter, green onions, bacon, and sour cream and stir with a rubber spatula. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add french fried onions and fold in.

Serve hot, sprinkling on extra french fried onions and green onions. Yummy with grilled steak or chicken!

Okay, so that's a big post today with lots o' pictures.

Ima be making some Naughty Brownies this weekend....naughty because who really needs a thousand million calories in one brownie bar???

Who? Who?

Duh.

Angie.
*wink, wink*
See ya next time :)

I Am So Making This For Valentine's Day...Ribeye and Double Deep Fried Fries

2/11/2012

Happy weekend everybody!
And by the way....

I love steak! I love fries!
I especially love them together!

This meal is such a cheat night meal,

Ima make it
again for
Valentine's Day on Tuesday.

Mmmmmmmmm Mmmmmmm Gooooooooood!!!

See those fries down below?......Double deep fried, crispy seasoned goodness like you've never had!!!
See that Rib-eye?....Chin dripping juicy goodness is what that is!!!!!!

See that savory, tasty Beurre Blanc sauce on top of that Rib-eye up above?

.....No?
......... You don't see it?

....On top of the steak?

Of course you don't see it,

CAUSE IT'S NOT THERE!!!!

I FORGOT TO LADLE THAT DELICIOUS SAUCE ONTO THE RIB-EYE!!!!!!
In fact, I forgot about it until the next morning when I was cleaning up, took the lid off the saucepan to wash it, and there was my bee-utiful Beurre Blanc sauce, 15 hours old *sigh*.

Raise your hand if you're dumb and forgetful!!!!!!

Why does my right hand look like a half plucked daisy?

Dumb,
dumb,
dumb,
diddley-dee
dumb! Dumb.

And the sauce looked and smelled so good too!!!

Q: Who needs a brain transplant?
Easy answer: Angie!

Oh well, I'll continue on with this post and talk about the Ribeye without the Beurre Blanc and those yummy, crispy fries. Cause they really were terrific!

I don't have a beginning line-up picture for the fries but it starts with peeled potatoes and raw sugar.
See how I peeled these potatoes?

I guess if you want fancy restaurant french fries, you peel only the middle and leave the skins on the end like this picture.

Pour your raw sugar, not regular sugar but raw sugar (which is found by the regular sugar) into the bowl with warm water and soak the fries for an hour.
(It's taking everything I have to refrain from referencing Def Leopard right now).

Oh!

Make sure after you soak the fries, that you dry them off with a paper towel.

You do not want water from the potatoes spattering from the hot oil up onto your pretty dress (cuz I wear so many of those.) Don't laugh. It could happen.

Oh, very important too for super crispy, restaurant style fries...

Buy yourself an oil thermometer.
I found mine at Fareway Grocery Store for $2.50!!!

Two dollars and fifty cents.

I put off buying one for a year because I thought they were like twenty bucks (and I'm cheap.)
But no...
$2.50.

You will need a thermometer in order to cook the fries correctly cause you will deep fry them twice, which is the norm for quality, crispy fries.

Seriously, what the heck is duck fat? Oh wait, I have that in my pantry. Uh huh. Right by my stash of caviar.

Anyway, heat the duck fat (yeah, right...like I used duck fat, NOT!)

I used canola oil...Heat the canola oil to 325 degrees. Blanch 1 cup of fries at a time until cooked but not crispy, about 5 minutes. Remove from oil and dry on paper towels.

While these are drying on paper towels...

don't let the thermometer fall face first into the hot oil.

Dis not good.

Okay, now here's the deal. Raise the temperature of the oil to 375 degrees.
Fry in batches again until golden and crispy, about 3-5 minutes.

See the thermometer on the top right?
It's amazing how the temp goes down so quickly when a handful of potatoes are thrown in.
See how golden and crispy these fries are getting? Yum!

Let set on paper towels again and sprinkle with cayenne (yowza!) and black pepper and salt.

And here we have the completed masterpiece...soft on the inside but super crunchy and golden on the outside.

Absolutely perfect!

Go ahead, take one.
I'm sharing.
As long as I'm not asked to share my cheesecake, it's all gooood.

Okay, Ima run through quickly, the directions for the Beurre Blanc sauce since I saw fit not to use it after I made it!

Oh my gosh, you tell me: white wine vinegar
dry white wine
shallots
butter
tarragon
and salt and pepper!!!

Sounds kind of tasty for a sauce to go over steak, doesn't it?

Well, pretty much, these are the only pictures I have of this lovely sauce.
It smelled so good while I was making it...with the shallots sauteed in butter and that tarragon...tarragon is a-mazing oh my!

Now we move to the Ribeye steaks.

So easy to make.

In a pan on the stove!

But you'll need the steaks, a couple tablespoons canola oil, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons butter.

Salt and pepper the Ribeyes and cook until medium-rare or however you like your steaks.

Usually 3 1/2 minutes each side for medium rare.

They should look and smell pretty amazing by the time they are cooked to your specs.

Set steaks aside and tent with aluminum foil while you get the french fries on the plate.

And

plate

it all

up.

Sweetness does not look real convincing that she wants a hunk o' that juicy Ribeye.

Oh, just a heads up,

if you think of being kind of cute and funny and ask your vegetarian daughter if she would like some big, juicy, meaty steak...
she might do this.

Just sayin', that's all :)

Okay, Get a big ol' napkin ready cuz you're gonna need it!
So tasty, so amazing.
My mouth is watering just writing about this Ribeye and Fries!

The recipes are below!
If you can see the recipe on the left hand side, just click on it and then click print if you want to print it off.

Have a great rest of the

weekend!

See ya soon!

Rib Eye Steak in Beurre Blanc with Duck Fat Fries
From cookingchanneltv.com Nadia G’s Show Bitchin Kitchen
Courtesy of www.turnkeyqualitycars.com

Ingredients
FRIES:
2 cups warm water
1/2 cup raw sugar
2 russets, cut into 1/4-inch fries
3 cups duck fat
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Freshly cracked black pepp
Sea salt

BEURRE BLANC:
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup good-quality dry white wine
2 shallots, minced
1 stick (1/2 cup) cold butter, cubed
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper

STEAK:
2 tablespoons canola oil
Two 1-inch-thick rib eye steaks, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons butter

Directions
For the fries:To the warm water, add the raw sugar and whisk. Soak the fries in the sugar water for 1 hour, or up to overnight. Strain and dry off in a salad spinner.

In a large pot, heat the duck fat to 325 degrees F. Blanch 1 cup of fries at a time until cooked but not crispy, about 5 minutes. Once all batches have been blanched, raise the temperature of the oil to 375 degrees F. Fry in batches again until golden and crispy, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with cayenne, black pepper and sea salt.

For the Beurre Blanc: Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the vinegar, white wine and shallots. Let boil and reduce down to 2 tablespoons of liquid. Take off the heat and let cool for about 1 minute. Put the saucepan back on the burner without turning on the heat. Throw in a few butter cubes at a time; whisk until the butter is melted. Continue until all the butter is melted. Add the tarragon, salt and some pepper. Mix. Cover, turn the heat to very low and let sit.

For the Steak: Heat the canola oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the steaks with the salt and some pepper. Cook for 3 1/2 minutes per side for medium-rare. For the last minute of cooking, add the butter and melt. Remove the steaks from the heat, tent and let rest for 5 minutes.

Place the steaks and fries on plates and top with some beurre blanc.

<<Previous

Kids and Dads and Moms and Grandmas and Grandpas and Aunties and Uncles Will LOVE This Easy Bacon Cheeseburger Hamburger Pie!

GLORIOUS Thin Burgers

Tim's cousin Peaches,
has my
dream kitchen.

That's her partner Herb up there,
who is English,
and who made us the absolute
BEST SUNDAY MEAL EVER! I talked about the meal here...
Beef with Yorkshire Pudding.

Anyway, Peaches posted a link on my Facebook page last month and said these
Martha Stewart Thin Burgers
were
"glorious."
Glorious, I thought?

Really?

G-l-o-r-i-o-u-s?

Merriam-Webster Dictionary DEFINES GLORIOUS AS:

having or deserving glory, fame, or honor
: very beautiful or delightful
marked by great beauty or splendor : magnificent

Oh my goodness gracious, people!!!

Peaches is correct!!!

These thin burgers
*
are
*
GLORIOUS!!!

Angie's Chili with Pickle Juice

An Excellent Beef Fajita Recipe, Roger Miller Is King Of The Road and Does ANYONE Remember Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues

Fillet With Peppercorn Sauce And Crispy Smashed Potatoes

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs, A Parade, And My Sister's Man Hands

Bacon, Onion and Cheese Stuffed Burgers...YUM!

Totally Awesome Mega Meatball Pizza That Has No Meatballs But It Does Have Meat

Beef Short Ribs and Smashed Potatoes That Will Turn Your Cultured Man Into A Neanderthal

I Am So Making This For Valentine's Day...Ribeye and Double Deep Fried Fries

Author

Categories

Archives

Tim's cousin Peaches, has my dream kitchen.

That's her partner Herb up there, who is English, and who made us the absolute BEST SUNDAY MEAL EVER! I talked about the meal here...Beef with Yorkshire Pudding.

﻿Anyway, ﻿Peaches posted a link on my Facebook page last month and said these Martha Stewart Thin Burgers were "glorious."Glorious, I thought? Really? G-l-o-r-i-o-u-s?

Merriam-Webster Dictionary DEFINES GLORIOUS AS: having or deserving glory, fame, or honor: very beautiful or delightfulmarked by great beauty or splendor : magnificent

Oh my goodness gracious, people!!! Peaches is correct!!! These thin burgers*** are*** GLORIOUS!!!

Author

Categories

Archives

Tim's cousin Peaches,
has my
dream kitchen.

That's her partner Herb up there,
who is English,
and who made us the absolute
BEST SUNDAY MEAL EVER! I talked about the meal here...
Beef with Yorkshire Pudding.

Anyway, Peaches posted a link on my Facebook page last month and said these
Martha Stewart Thin Burgers
were
"glorious."
Glorious, I thought?

Really?

G-l-o-r-i-o-u-s?

Merriam-Webster Dictionary DEFINES GLORIOUS AS:

having or deserving glory, fame, or honor
: very beautiful or delightful
marked by great beauty or splendor : magnificent

Oh my goodness gracious, people!!!

Peaches is correct!!!

These thin burgers
*
are
*
GLORIOUS!!!