Recipes.

[blunthead]

Crock Pot Steak Tips n Gravy
2 lb. beef sirloin, cut into 1 inch cubes, and patted dry
1 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
3 TBS vegetable oil
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (15 oz.) can beef broth
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 c. water
1 beef bouillon cube
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste
Dried Parsley for garnish


In a large bowl combine flour, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Dredge sirloin pieces lightly in flour mixture. In a large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown beef in batches, until browned on all sides. Remove to a paper towel lined plate. When all beef is browned, add to Crock Pot. In a small bowl combine soup, onion soup mix, beef broth and Worcestershire. Mix well. Pour over beef. Add water, bouillon cube, salt and pepper to taste. Stir well. Cook on LOW 6-8 hours until gravy has thickened a bit and beef is cooked through. Serve over cooked egg noodles, rice or mashed potatoes. Garnish with parsley if desired.

 

[blunthead]

Brush bottom and sides of a baking dish or cast iron skillet with olive oil. Using a mandoline or a sharp knife, slice potatoes crosswise into desired thickness. Arrange potato slices vertically and loosely in prepared dish or skillet. Sprinkle garlic and Italian seasoning on top of potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dot potatoes with butter. Cover skillet or dish with foil and bake in a 375º F oven for about 1 hour or until potatoes are tender. Remove foil, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until crisp.

 

[blunthead]

Spoiler

Dale's Can't Stop Eating It Salad

INGREDIENTS

• 2 heads of iceberg lettuce, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped (not too large a chop)
• 1 white or yellow onion, chopped (not too large a chop)
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tbs Apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tbs Sugar or splenda
• Parmesan cheese
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 4-5 bacon slices fried crisp & crumble (or microwave)

INSTRUCTIONS


1. In a large bowl top lettuce with celery & onion.

2. Mix mayonnaise with vinegar and drop spoonfuls over salad.

3. Mix sour cream with sugar and drop spoonfuls over salad.

4. Spread dressing evenly over salad to cover, sprinkle (lots of) parmesan cheese over dressing and grind lots of black pepper over the cheese.

5. Make ahead & cover with plastic wrap. When ready to serve, crumble bacon and toss well (to evenly coat all).

Tagged: Appetizer, Dinner, Lunch, Side Dish

 

[Grandpa]

Spoiler

Killer Banana Bread

Spoiler

I'm thinking I've already done this one somewhere else

Have three overripe bananas handy.

Heat oven to 350.

Combine 1/3 cup melted butter/margarine and a half cup of sugar, mostly white, but some brown sugar in that half cup.
Throw in two eggs, a dash of vanilla, and a splosh of rum. Mix.

In separate bigger bowl, combine 1-3/4 cups flour (I use whole wheat), a teaspoon of baking powder, a half teaspoon of baking soda, a generous sprinkling of cinnamon, a less generous sprinkling of nutmeg, and scatter some flavored coffee in as well.

Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and combine them. There should be enough moisture so that nothing's left dry.

Whip those three bananas until they're a puddle and pour them in and mix it up. The resulting mixture should be gloppy or viscous, not runny. If you think it's too runny, add more flour. If it's too thick, add more rum.

Now is the time to mix in whatever you want: Nuts (but not in my bread), or chocolate chips (kids love that), or blueberries (I use frozen ones - it extends the baking time, but they don't goosh up), or whatever else. Or nothing at all.

Grease up a bread pan. I take a glop of margarine and spread it around. Pour the mixture into the pan.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or maybe longer if you've got frozen blueberries in there, until the bread passes the clean knife test.

 

[Dana Jean]

Spoiler

Killer Banana Bread

Spoiler

I'm thinking I've already done this one somewhere else

Have three overripe bananas handy.

Heat oven to 350.

Combine 1/3 cup melted butter/margarine and a half cup of sugar, mostly white, but some brown sugar in that half cup.
Throw in two eggs, a dash of vanilla, and a splosh of rum. Mix.

In separate bigger bowl, combine 1-3/4 cups flour (I use whole wheat), a teaspoon of baking powder, a half teaspoon of baking soda, a generous sprinkling of cinnamon, a less generous sprinkling of nutmeg, and scatter some flavored coffee in as well.

Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and combine them. There should be enough moisture so that nothing's left dry.

Whip those three bananas until they're a puddle and pour them in and mix it up. The resulting mixture should be gloppy or viscous, not runny. If you think it's too runny, add more flour. If it's too thick, add more rum.

Now is the time to mix in whatever you want: Nuts (but not in my bread), or chocolate chips (kids love that), or blueberries (I use frozen ones - it extends the baking time, but they don't goosh up), or whatever else. Or nothing at all.

Grease up a bread pan. I take a glop of margarine and spread it around. Pour the mixture into the pan.



Bake for 45-50 minutes, or maybe longer if you've got frozen blueberries in there, until the bread passes the clean knife test.

I have bananas that also need used. Do I have to use the rum? I don't have any and don't want to go get any. But I have everything else on hand.

 

[Neesy]

I have bananas that also need used. Do I have to use the rum? I don't have any and don't want to go get any. But I have everything else on hand.

You could substitute a rum extract or vanilla extract probably. I have never heard of putting rum in banana cake before.

 

[do1you9love?]

You could substitute a rum extract or vanilla extract probably. I have never heard of putting rum in banana cake before.

That's the "killer" part!

 

[Neesy]

That's the "killer" part!

 

[Grandpa]

You could substitute a rum extract or vanilla extract probably. I have never heard of putting rum in banana cake before.

No, you don't need it. Or the coffee. Or the vanilla. In fact, the original recipe didn't have cinnamon or nutmeg. Those were all my additions to ramp it up. Add stuff yourself, for that matter, and have fun.

 

[Dana Jean]

Spoiler

Killer Banana Bread

Spoiler

I'm thinking I've already done this one somewhere else

Have three overripe bananas handy.

Heat oven to 350.

Combine 1/3 cup melted butter/margarine and a half cup of sugar, mostly white, but some brown sugar in that half cup.
Throw in two eggs, a dash of vanilla, and a splosh of rum. Mix.

In separate bigger bowl, combine 1-3/4 cups flour (I use whole wheat), a teaspoon of baking powder, a half teaspoon of baking soda, a generous sprinkling of cinnamon, a less generous sprinkling of nutmeg, and scatter some flavored coffee in as well.

Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and combine them. There should be enough moisture so that nothing's left dry.

Whip those three bananas until they're a puddle and pour them in and mix it up. The resulting mixture should be gloppy or viscous, not runny. If you think it's too runny, add more flour. If it's too thick, add more rum.

Now is the time to mix in whatever you want: Nuts (but not in my bread), or chocolate chips (kids love that), or blueberries (I use frozen ones - it extends the baking time, but they don't goosh up), or whatever else. Or nothing at all.

Grease up a bread pan. I take a glop of margarine and spread it around. Pour the mixture into the pan.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or maybe longer if you've got frozen blueberries in there, until the bread passes the clean knife test.

and I would like to point out the language of this recipe. Grandpa is rockin' it old school.

splosh, sprinkling, scatter, throw, puddle, gloppy, goosh, glop

 

[Grandpa]

and I would like to point out the language of this recipe. Grandpa is rockin' it old school.

splosh, sprinkling, scatter, throw, puddle, gloppy, goosh, glop

Aw, Dana Jean, too sweet. But that's what makes "recipe" in our house so difficult. It's doing what seems right at the time. I also forgot: You don't need to mix up the white and brown sugar. That was my adjustment to the original recipe too.

So tonight, we had a triangle of yellowfin tuna, some assorted lettuce, and other things, and we wanted a salad.

I put olive oil in the pan and heated it, sliced up a few thin slices of white onion, and threw them in (along with a few spices). While they were browning up, I made a "barbecue" prep - a dollop from a standard-issue bottle of barbecue sauce, mixed in with some Louisiana red sauce, and cider vinegar. That was in a coffee mug.

I also started up the salad bowls with the assorted lettuce and cherry tomatoes. I wish I'd had some mushrooms, but they went into the soup a couple nights ago (a whole 'nother story).

When the onions were browned up, I put them to the side, then poured about half of my barbecue prep into the skillet, sprinkled on various spices, and put the triangle of tuna on top, poured the rest of the prep on top, and sprinkled it on top with the same spices.

Covered it and let it cook for a bit. In the meantime, I added some water to the barbecue prep residue in the mug.

Turned the tuna over to brown on the other side, and added the watered-down residue. This got rid of all of the prep plus added some moisture to the food. Covered it up.

After a bit, took the spatula and started slicing through it. The tuna was rare in the middle, and I took about half of it and put it to the side because I like it more rare, but that squicks Grandma out, so I chopped and pressed down on the other half until it was done all the way through. Then I put the tuna on the salads.

Served up with a nice wine, and she proclaimed it - and I'm not exaggerating, just proud - "magnificent."

Oh, yeah! The croutons! I've started making our own croutons.

Set oven to 300. Spray no-stick on a baking pan.

Get good bread (olive loaf in this case) and slice/rip into the correct sized chunks. Heat up a fair amount of olive oil in a skillet and add spices - in my case, it was garlic powder, basil, cilantro, lemon pepper, rosemary, and two spices from a local store, a "stuffing" spice and a "cheesy red pepper" spice. I also through in grated parmesan.

When it's hot, throw in all the bread pieces, and turn and toss them until they're all coated with the spices and hot oil. Then put them on the baking pan, bake for 10 minutes, take out and turn, then throw in for another 10.

I've done it before, and it's a huge hit, and tonight was one of the best. Crunchy with spices on the outside, softer tasty bread on the inside. If people don't throw them on the salad, they spend the night snacking on them.

 

[danie]

and I would like to point out the language of this recipe. Grandpa is rockin' it old school.

splosh, sprinkling, scatter, throw, puddle, gloppy, goosh, glop

I was thinking this exact thing when I read Grandpa 's recipe! It was like he was sitting with me on the front porch, telling me about this awesome banana bread.

 

[danie]

Aw, Dana Jean, too sweet. But that's what makes "recipe" in our house so difficult. It's doing what seems right at the time. I also forgot: You don't need to mix up the white and brown sugar. That was my adjustment to the original recipe too.

So tonight, we had a triangle of yellowfin tuna, some assorted lettuce, and other things, and we wanted a salad.

I put olive oil in the pan and heated it, sliced up a few thin slices of white onion, and threw them in (along with a few spices). While they were browning up, I made a "barbecue" prep - a dollop from a standard-issue bottle of barbecue sauce, mixed in with some Louisiana red sauce, and cider vinegar. That was in a coffee mug.

I also started up the salad bowls with the assorted lettuce and cherry tomatoes. I wish I'd had some mushrooms, but they went into the soup a couple nights ago (a whole 'nother story).

When the onions were browned up, I put them to the side, then poured about half of my barbecue prep into the skillet, sprinkled on various spices, and put the triangle of tuna on top, poured the rest of the prep on top, and sprinkled it on top with the same spices.

Covered it and let it cook for a bit. In the meantime, I added some water to the barbecue prep residue in the mug.

Turned the tuna over to brown on the other side, and added the watered-down residue. This got rid of all of the prep plus added some moisture to the food. Covered it up.

After a bit, took the spatula and started slicing through it. The tuna was rare in the middle, and I took about half of it and put it to the side because I like it more rare, but that squicks Grandma out, so I chopped and pressed down on the other half until it was done all the way through. Then I put the tuna on the salads.

Served up with a nice wine, and she proclaimed it - and I'm not exaggerating, just proud - "magnificent."

Oh, yeah! The croutons! I've started making our own croutons.

Set oven to 300. Spray no-stick on a baking pan.

Get good bread (olive loaf in this case) and slice/rip into the correct sized chunks. Heat up a fair amount of olive oil in a skillet and add spices - in my case, it was garlic powder, basil, cilantro, lemon pepper, rosemary, and two spices from a local store, a "stuffing" spice and a "cheesy red pepper" spice. I also through in grated parmesan.

When it's hot, throw in all the bread pieces, and turn and toss them until they're all coated with the spices and hot oil. Then put them on the baking pan, bake for 10 minutes, take out and turn, then throw in for another 10.

I've done it before, and it's a huge hit, and tonight was one of the best. Crunchy with spices on the outside, softer tasty bread on the inside. If people don't throw them on the salad, they spend the night snacking on them.

I wish you were my Grandpa!

 

[blunthead]

 

[Grandpa]

I was thinking this exact thing when I read Grandpa 's recipe! It was like he was sitting with me on the front porch, telling me about this awesome banana bread.

Thank you! Except late-night typing produces late-night typos. Inconsistent tense, and "through in"???? Arrrrgggghhhhh!!!!!

 

[Neesy]

Thank you! Except late-night typing produces late-night typos. Inconsistent tense, and "through in"???? Arrrrgggghhhhh!!!!!

Such a stickler for correct language! - you fit right in here

 

[Haunted]

Somebody recently requested an easy fudge recipe. Maybe this will work...

I had no idea you could do this sweetness with condensed milk and chocolate

My quick recipe just calls for condensed milk and chocolate chips, 'tis awesome, as good as from my chocolatier. I am going to be making it this week using Andes chocolate mint chips.

 

[Haunted]

 

[Paranoid Paintbrush]

Does anyone have a good onion gravy recipe?

I managed to make onion gravy from scratch recently; I've only made it a couple of times, but here goes I'm not big on specifying quantities and such, but I guess that doesn't matter so much given the various measurements we all use? Hope it helps anyhoo!

Spoiler

• Put some oil in a roasting tin [preferably one you can use on the stove, but this isn't essential, as you'll see] and place it in the oven to heat up. The temperature/timing will depend on what else you may have in the oven; it'll need to be moderately hot at least, but more on that shortly.
  
• Peel and chop some onions - I used one per person - into the desired thickness; this is entirely up to you. If you intend to strain the gravy, wedges are fine; for a chunkier result, slice or dice to your liking.
• When the oil is hot, tip in the onions and season them with salt, pepper and your choice of herbs. [You can add dried herbs to the oil before heating; this infuses the oil with flavour and stops the herbs from burning.] Mix well to coat, and dot with butter.
  
• Now, to cook. If the oven is especially hot - e.g. if you're roasting potatoes - you may want to cover the tin with foil for the first part of cooking. If not, just pop them in. Check and stir after 20mins or so; you want them to be slightly charred for a good flavour. I find they take 30-40mins or so; just check every 10-15mins if in doubt
• When they're done, pour in some hot stock - your choice of chicken, beef or veg - and scrape all the caramelized lovely stuff from the bottom. If your tin can be used on the stove, you can do this over the heat; if not, simply do it with the tin straight out of the oven, and pour into a saucepan. Spoon off a little of the liquid and mix to a paste with a little cornflour [cornstarch?], while bringing the rest to the boil. When it's bubbling, add the paste and whisk like crazy! Let it boil until it thickens to your liking, whisking frequently [no need to whisk constantly] and tasting for seasoning, and there you go!

 

[Neesy]

I managed to make onion gravy from scratch recently; I've only made it a couple of times, but here goes I'm not big on specifying quantities and such, but I guess that doesn't matter so much given the various measurements we all use? Hope it helps anyhoo!

Spoiler

• Put some oil in a roasting tin [preferably one you can use on the stove, but this isn't essential, as you'll see] and place it in the oven to heat up. The temperature/timing will depend on what else you may have in the oven; it'll need to be moderately hot at least, but more on that shortly.
  
• Peel and chop some onions - I used one per person - into the desired thickness; this is entirely up to you. If you intend to strain the gravy, wedges are fine; for a chunkier result, slice or dice to your liking.
• When the oil is hot, tip in the onions and season them with salt, pepper and your choice of herbs. [You can add dried herbs to the oil before heating; this infuses the oil with flavour and stops the herbs from burning.] Mix well to coat, and dot with butter.
  
• Now, to cook. If the oven is especially hot - e.g. if you're roasting potatoes - you may want to cover the tin with foil for the first part of cooking. If not, just pop them in. Check and stir after 20mins or so; you want them to be slightly charred for a good flavour. I find they take 30-40mins or so; just check every 10-15mins if in doubt
• When they're done, pour in some hot stock - your choice of chicken, beef or veg - and scrape all the caramelized lovely stuff from the bottom. If your tin can be used on the stove, you can do this over the heat; if not, simply do it with the tin straight out of the oven, and pour into a saucepan. Spoon off a little of the liquid and mix to a paste with a little cornflour [cornstarch?], while bringing the rest to the boil. When it's bubbling, add the paste and whisk like crazy! Let it boil until it thickens to your liking, whisking frequently [no need to whisk constantly] and tasting for seasoning, and there you go!

Yummy! I think I will try this and see if the picky chef likes it - he is still in bed - maybe the smell will wake him up!