2008 November « We Be Cookin’

Archive for November, 2008

Wild Rice, Broccoli, and Cheese Casserole

November 24, 2008 · Filed under Quick and Easy, Sides

My Tia Juanita makes this dish for pretty much every single family get together; it’s awesome. I always keep an eye on it and get mad if people, like my cousin Andy, take too large of a serving because it means less for me to bundle up and take home. She uses white rice but I decided that for my first attempt at making it, I’d use wild rice. Maybe it’s just my obsession with Tia Juanita’s version but the white rice version is slightly better.

Your ingredients

1 cup of shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar), three cups rice, one can Cream of Chicken soup, one onion finely chopped, one garlic clove finely chopped, 1/4 cup butter, one 10 ounce package of frozen broccoli.

Prepare rice as directed. Thaw out and steam broccoli. Saute onions and garlic in butter until tender. When you have done all of this, let all the ingredients cool down. If you combine them while they’re still hot, the cheese melts too fast.

When everything is cool, combine all ingredients (including the cream of chicken), holding 1/2 cup of cheese aside. Spread into a casserole dish and cover with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. Put in the oven at 350 degrees for about twenty minutes.

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Pumpkin Empanadas

November 24, 2008 · Filed under Baking

I don’t bake often because I really hate measuring things and you have to be pretty precise when baking. Plus, baking takes time and patience and if there is one thing that the Main Man Up in the Sky did not give me, it’s patience. And height but that’s another rant, another blog post.

Anyway, it’s getting near the holidays and I’ve been thinking about family traditions so when I start to think of those two things, I think of food. Fatty McFatty in the hiz-ouse! One thing my Grandma Lupe always made around Thanksgiving was pumpkin empanadas. She used to go on an empanada craze and make all different kinds of empanadas for weeks. Actually, my Grandma Esther did the same thing, hmm…One time my Grandma Esther made pineapple empanadas and I told her that my Grandma Lupe made pumpkin empanadas and Esther told me that my Grandma Lupe didn’t know everything. Well, she at least knew how to make pumpkin empanadas…

Your ingredients for the filling

**I doubled the recipe when making mine but this recipe will make 16 empanadas**

1 15oz can of pumpkin, 1/2 cup sugar (I used brown sugar instead but Grandma Lupe used regular sugar), 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnammon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/8 teaspoon cloves, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (Grandma Lupe didn’t use nutmeg but I do)

Your ingredients for the dough

1/3 cup water (don’t be afraid to add more water by the handful if the dough gets dry), 1/4 cup sugar (remember, brown sugar is just as good), 1 teaspoon salt, 2 packets of dry yeast (or 4 1/2 teaspoons if you don’t have packets, like me), 1/8 teaspoon baking powder, one tablespoon of cinnammon, 3 cups flour (divided), 3/4 cup veggie shortening.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

For the filling, mix everything together and set aside. Resist the urge to dip your finger into the mixture for about a minute and then say “Screw it” and dip your finger in and lick the filling off your finger.

Do this about four more times. Maybe five. Six. Better yet, do it eight times. Growing up I always volunteered to fill the empanadas because it meant being able to eat all the filling I wanted while the older women made the dough. It also meant I was the one who had a stomach ache later in the evening.

Combine water, sugar, salt, yeast, baking powder, and cinnammon. Gradually add half the flour into the mix and then add the shortening. Once it’s all mixed up, add the remaining flour.

Divide the dough into four equal parts and roll into balls. Roll each ball out until it’s about 1/8 of an inch in thickness and cut into circles that are about four inches in diameter (I used my large martini glasses). Put about a tablespoon of filling in the middle of the circle and then fold over. You can use either a fork or your finger to press the sides but make sure you use some kind of sealant like water to keep them closed.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, checking on them often because they can burn easily.

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How to Make a Roast in Ten Easy Steps

November 24, 2008 · Filed under Beginner Recipe, Main dish, Meat, Quick and Easy, Sides

Get a casserole dish

Put meat in casserole dish

Pick up knife, make slits in meat

Grab a clove of garlic and slice it up

Put slices of garlic into slits in meat

Pour broth over meat

Put in oven at 375 degrees

Chop up two potatoes and carrots

After fifteen minutes, add potatoes and carrots to roast

After forty-five minutes, take out of oven and serve

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Meat Free Meatloaf

November 24, 2008 · Filed under Main dish, Quick and Easy, Vegan

Meat free meatloaf?! Yeah, I know, I know. I already got grief from AF about this and he refused to eat it because he might “go along with all of my other crazy ideas but meatloaf should have real meat in it and that’s that.” The crazy ideas he’s referring to are bathing regularly and using this amazing contraption called a “trash can” to dispose of his junk. Seriously, I’m so forward thinking…

Your ingredients

2 cups veggie broth (I used chicken boullioun because I ran out of veggie broth), 1/2 cup ketchup, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 cups TVP, 1 cup oats (I used two packets of my microwaveable breakfast oatmeal), 1/4 cup flaxseed, 1 tablespoon yeast, half an onion diced, one garlic clove dice, basil.

Mix broth, ketchup, soy sauce, and TVP in a bowl and let sit until all the liquid is absorbed. Add remaining ingredients and mix. Pack mixture into a casserole dish or loaf pan (I used a loaf pan) and bake for 40-45 minutes at 375 degrees.

For the topping I just used my regular meatloaf sauce which is a 1/4 cup of ketchup, 1/4 cup of mustard, and three tablespoons of Worceshtire Sauce. I doubt I spelled that correctly. Anyway, mix and pour on top of the meatloaf after it’s been in the oven for about fifteen minutes. This time I also added sliced mushrooms to the sauce just to give the meal a bit more texture.

Willie says “Gimme some damn meat!”

This was filling and it was pretty yummy but, next time I want meatloaf, I’m totally buying some ground up cow. It just ain’t right without some ground up cow.

Garlic Tofu on Spinach

November 23, 2008 · Filed under Quick and Easy, Tofu, Vegan

The actual name for this recipe is Garlic Tofu on a Spinach Bed but, um, yeah, that just sounds too pretentious for my taste. Garlic Tofu on Spinach, here you go.

Your Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable stock, two cups broccoli (the wokly brand is optional), two cups spinach, 1/2 red pepper diced, one tomato diced, one package of firm tofu, two garlic coves diced (I used more because my cloves were small), garlic powder to coat (I ran out of powder so I used salt instead) and black pepper to taste.

Cut tofu into small cubes and coat with garlic powder. I also ran out of garlic salt while cooking so I used celery salt as well. Improvisation, my loves, improvisation. Set aside the tofu and heat up the veggie stock. Once it’s boiling, add the diced garlic and tofu. Sprinkle with pepper and continue to turn until tofu is golden. Goooooolden, not yellow or mustard, golden. Once your tofu is goooolden, remove it from the skillet and set aside.

In the same skillet, cook your red pepper, broccoli wokly, and spinach. Add a bit of water to steam the veggies. Once the veggies are tender, add the tomato. Cover until all the liquid has evaporated.

Then create a “bed” on which your tofu can rest and get a good nights sleep.

Willie says “This is some good cookin!”