Broccloi Salad

Seems like we've been doing a lot of pot luck type gatherings lately. I love it! I love getting together with friends & not being in charge of the whole meal. And getting to try out everybody else's recipes is always great, too! In fact, this last BBQ, where I took this super yummy broccoli salad, there was a gal who brought a 'salad' (I use that term loosly! LOL) but it was only 3 ingredients. Diced up green apples, chopped up snickers candy bars & just enough cool whip to hold it all together. My first thought was 'really? Eww.' Then I tried it. Oh my holy goodness! You just might find that one on here soon!! It was like a big bowl of caramel apples! Annnnnnnnnnnnnyway! LOL Sorry about that! Focus, Michelle. FOCUS! This is a recipe that I've been making for along, long time. And I never get tired of it. You get the fresh crunch of the broccoli offset by the sweet raisins, salty cashews, zip of the onion & tang of the cider vinegar. It's party for your mouth!! Dig in!

You're gonna need:

Broccoli (you can get an enormous bag of pre-cut stuff at Costco for $4!), cashews, raisins, shredded cheese, onion, mayo, sugar & cider vinegar.

Have you seen this thing? It's for dicing onions. I'm not generally a fan of one-purpose kitchen tools but this one is So totally worth it. My eyes are extremely sensitive to onions so being able to do the work with one big push is just brilliant! You can find these things new at the "as seen on TV" section at Target for about $20 - or I just saw one this week at the thrift store for $2... guess not everyone was feeling the love!

Look at that! Perfect.

Throw your broccoli, cheese, onion, cashews & raisins together in a big bowl & toss them around. Set it aside while you make the dressing.

The dressing's just the mayo, cider vinegar & sugar. Mix 'em well with a whisk. You don't *have to* do it with a whisk but it breaks down the chunks of mayo really well.

Now - if you're having this right away go ahead & mix it. if not, keep them apart & stick them both in the fridge until you're ready to serve it up. I'd say don't mix it much more than about 15 minutes before you want to serve.

Oh - you're ready now!? LOL OK - let's mix!

YUM! Yum, yum. Enjoy!

Broccoli Salad:

8-10 cups broccoli florets
1 cup cheese, shredded (I use cheddar jack, would be fine with straight cheddar, too)
1 cup raisins
1 cup cashews
1 small onion, diced
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl combine remaining ingredients.

Just before serving combine salad with dressing; stir to coat well.

Crispy Oven Potatoes

I think we're over due for a side dish around here! These are some really good potatoes - they stay nice & soft inside but get a perfectly seasoned crisp on the outside. The spices sort of remind me of the fries at KFC. They were a nice change of pace from our usual Onion Roasted Potatoes or Silver Dollars.

Here are your ingredients:


Potatoes (I went with Yukon Gold on this recipe & loved them!), garlic, butter, salt, pepper, dried thyme, dried marjoram, flour & a bay leaf.

First off, throw your seasonings into a gallon ziplock bag - the salt, pepper, flour, thyme & marjoram.


Give it a shake to bled them together & then add your potatoes. You're gonna want to scrub them & dice them, first!! LOL


Give it another shake to distribute the spices all over the spuds.

Melt the butter into a 9x13 dish. Dice your garlic & add it in; spread it around as evenly as you can.


Dump in the potatoes & top it with your bay leaf.


Cover with foil & bake in a 450 oven for 20 minutes.

After the 20 minutes remove the foil & give them a good stir. Then put them back in the oven, UNcovered this time - and go another 15 or 20 minutes, until they look ready to go!


And that's it! Pull them out & take a big whiff of the perfect, savory potatoes & get them on a plate so you can dig in!


Enjoy!

Crispy Oven Potatoes:

1/3 cup flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
2 pounds small-medium potatoes
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 garlic clove, minced
1 bay leaf

Preheat oven to 450.

In a gallon ziplock bag, combine the flour, salt, pepper, thyme & marjoram. Add potatoes; seal bag and shake to coat. Melt butter into a 13X9 inch baking dish; stir in the garlic. Add potatoes and bay leaf.

Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and stir; bake 15-20 minutes longer or until potatoes are lightly browned and tender. Discard bay leaf.

Strawberry [freezer] Jam

Jam is another one of those things that I make a jumbo batch of once a year & then keep in the freezer so I always have good, homemade, preservative free stuff on hand. I used to be intimidated by the thought of making jam but then I discovered the beauty (and deliciousness!!) that is freezer jam! There are several different fruits that would make good jam but our personal favorite is strawberry. And, as a bonus, I can get a huge bag of frozen, hulled, always perfectly ripe bag of strawberries at Costco for a really great price (6 pounds for $9 - that's $1.50/pound!). Just make sure you thaw them first!

Here's all you need:

Fruit, sugar & pectin. Isn't that such a perfect, simple list!? You know what's in this jam - and none of it is scary! LOL

This is the pectin I use for this jam. It's instant - or labeled as freezer jam pectin.

If you use frozen fruit just be sure it's thawed before you start. Just mash away at it with a potato masher until a bowl of this...

... becomes a bowl of this! A few remaining chunks are not a big deal - just try to get most of it mashed up really well.

Once that is all good & soupy stir together your sugar & pectin.

Then dump the mixture into your crushed fruit & stir it well - for about 2 minutes.

Transfer that into your mason jars. A single batch will fill 3 pint (16oz) jars. Of course I did this one times 5 so I ended up with 15 jars of the good stuff! It's not all for us, though - I love giving a jar of this jam with a loaf of fresh baked French bread to the teachers as a gift - either for Christmas or, like I'm doing this year, for an end-of-the-year treat.

Once it's in the jars let it sit out on the counter for 30 minutes to set up.
It will keep in the fridge for about a month or in the freezer for a full year.

I love this on fresh bread, toast, even spooned over vanilla ice cream! It's really yummy.

Strawberry [freezer] Jam:

4 cups crushed fruit
1 pkt. Instant pectin
1 1/2 cups sugar

Combine sugar & pectin. Stir into the crushed fruit. Mix thoroughly; about 2 minutes. Pour into jars & allow to sit on the counter for 30 minutes.

Store in the fridge up to a month or in the freezer up to a year.

Sweet Corn Tomalito

Tom-a-WHAT!!?? Tomalito. It's a sweet corn bread pudding type thing. Have you ever been to dinner at Chevy's Fresh Mex? Chances are your meal came with a little yellow scoop of corn *stuff* on the edge of your plate. THAT, my dear, is tomalito! And it's awesome. And it's quite easy to recreate at home. Wanna try!!??

This is what you'll need:

Corn (either a drained can or thawed from the freezer), corn meal, corn flour (masa harina), margarine, milk, sugar, salt, baking powder & water.

First up - you're gonna mix your softened margarine, corn flour & sugar in an 8x8 dish.


Once that looks like a fluffy paste set it aside. Now grab a blender & mix 1 cup of the corn, the water & the corn meal. Don't worry about getting this totally smooth - just blend it together until it's all mixed in.


Pour this into your 8x8 pan with the sugar/flour paste & mix it up.


Once it's blended together add in the rest of the stuff - the other cup of corn, the milk, baking powder & salt.


Here it is all mixed up & ready to cook. Eww. I know - looks pretty gross, doesn't it!!?


From here, I think the traditional way to cook it would be to tightly cover it in plastic wrap & set it on top of a boiling pot of water to steam it ... for FIFTY minutes. Do you have an hour to worry about a side dish!!? Not usually.

Pop it into the microwave on defrost/30% power for about 7 minutes. Then, without opening the microwave, give it another 4 minutes on full power. Hello!!?? 11 minutes instead of 50!? Yes, please & thank you!

When it's done there will still be a wet spot in the middle - but if it's bigger than about a silver dollar give it another minute on full power.


Fluff it with a fork.


Scoop it up & enjoy! It's sweet & light & SO wonderful! This is just about the best thing you can do with a can of corn!

Sweet Corn Tomalito:

5 TBsp margarine, softened
1/4 cup masa harina (corn flour)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cups whole kernal corn
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp milk

In an 8x8 pan combine softened margarine, corn flour & sugar. Set aside.

In a blender mix 1 cup of corn, cornmeal & water until combined - but it doesn't need to be smooth. Add this to the sugar/flour mixture and stir well. Add all remaining ingredients (don't forget the remaining cup of corn!) and give another good stir.

Microwave at 30% power (defrost) for 7 minutes. go another 4-5 minutes at full power. When it's done a wet spot no larger than a silver dollar will be in the middle.

Stir/fluff with a fork & serve!

Onion Roasted Potatoes

I think we're pretty overdue for a good, easy side dish, don't you!? I won't even bore you with a bunch of chit-chat... let's just get down to business! Onion roasted potatoes - with no tears from chopping raw onion! High-5's for that!!

What you'll need:


Red potatoes, olive oil, onion soup mix.
That's it! Don't you just love easy!?

Scrub your potatoes clean & then cube them up into chunks - no smaller than 1" cubes.


Toss them into an 9x13 pan & drizzle with olive oil. Then sprinkle the soup packet over them.


Give it all a good stir & then pop it into a 450 oven for 35 minutes, stirring once halfway through.



Ta da!! You're done! yum, yum, yum!



Here they are all plated up & ready to go!



Mmmmm.... Onion roasted potatoes!

Onion Roasted Potatoes:

2 pounds red potatoes
1/3 cup olive oil
1 pkt onion soup mix

Wash & dry potatoes. Cut into chunks. Place in 9x13 baking dish & drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with soup mix & thoroughly stir to coat evenly.

Bake at 450 for about 35-40 minutes, stirring once.

Mexican Rice

I grew up in the California Bay Area where there was no racial majority at my high school. It was such a culturally diverse place to grow up and I LOVED it. Not only did I have access to a great mix of friends, but I had access to their authentic, wonderful food! There were little hole-in-the-wall restaurants and mom & pop shops tucked into nearly every single shopping center. And it was wonderful! The Chinese food was one of my favorites, but miles above it were the Mexican cafes! And my all-time favorite is a good carne asada burrito - grilled beef, whole pinto beans, a little rice & lots of salsa. Ahhhh..... I digress. The Mexican food/culture is one of the biggest things I miss about home! I learned to cook a few things, though - so when I'm really craving it I can whip up some authenticity here at home. This is the rice we had with our carne asada street tacos the other night. Good stuff!

You'll need:


Instant white rice, olive oil, onion, garlic, chicken broth & salsa - I always use Pace Picante Medium.

Start out by mincing your garlic (or using the jarred stuff as I sometimes do) and dicing up about 1/4 of the onion (you'll only need 2 tablespoons). Put the oil in a skillet over medium heat & get it hot. Add the onion & garlic; saute about 5 minutes. Just get some color on it but watch closely - the garlic will sneak up & burn on ya!


Add the rice - just straight outta the box. Don't cook it or anything - just toss the dry rice in the pan. Give it a few stirs & brown it up a smidge. Maybe 5 more minutes.


After that add in your salsa & chicken broth.


Cover the pan & reduce the heat. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice as it cooks.


Serve it up!!
(I totally forgot to take a freshly plated picture - sorry, you get my plate after I'd eaten most of my dinner!! LOL I had to add some new rice so I could get this pic for you!!)

Mexican Rice:

2 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cup minute rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup salsa (Pace Picante, medium is my recommendation)

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion & garlic; saute about 5 minutes.

Mix in rice & stir occasionally. Once it begins to brown add broth & salsa.

Reduce heat, cover & simmer for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice.

2-Hour Red Potatoes

I know.... 2 HOURS!???? Who has time to do any sort of cooking that takes 2 hours? Really!? Yep. Really. 2-hour potatoes. Just throw them into the oven when the kids get home from school & they'll be ready in time for dinner. And you will be glad you did it. You don't really have to do anything special - they just sit in your oven for 2 hours and transform from hard, red balls of starch into beautiful, buttery, brown, melt-in-your-mouth pieces of Heaven! It's amazing how something this simple can make such great potatoes! Have faith - they're fantastic!

Here are the ingredients:


Red potatoes - the little ones, butter, olive oil, black pepper and COURSE salt. Don't use table salt for this. It needs to be course.

Get your potatoes washed up & dried off. Then melt about 2 tablespoons of butter in an 8x8 pan (If you're going big do 4 Tbsp in a 9x13, which is what I made this time).


Roll the potatoes around in the butter to makes sure they all get coated in it. Then drizzle some olive oil over them all.


Now shake some pepper over them all & then put a fairly generous amount of the course salt on each potato. Don't be afraid of the salt! Potatoes *heart* salt.


I was wishing I'd used a little more salt.

Bake at 350 for 2 hours! And when you go pull them out of the oven, 2 hours later, you will find that your ruby-red gems have turned into a rich, brown, mouth-watering side dish!


Put the potatoes into a bowl & then pour all the pan drippings down over the top of them.


Buttery, velvet goodness. The skin gets thick & almost leathery - but in a good, delicious way, and the potatoes are just fall-apart wonderful & full of great flavor.


MMmmmmmm...... It's the German girl in me. I just LOVE potatoes! Or maybe it's the Irish. Or perhaps the Scottish...? Awe, who cares where it comes from! LOL I just love potatoes.

2-Hour Red Potatoes

a 2-lb bag of small red potatoes
2 Tbsp butter
olive oil
black pepper
course salt

Wash your potatoes & dry completely. Melt butter in an 8x8 pan. Add potatoes & toss to coat thoroughly. Drizzle with oil. Add pepper & salt - be generous with the seasonings.

Bake at 350 for 2 hours. Transfer potatoes to a bowl & pour pan drippings over the top.

I've seen this recipe a few places but I think it originates from Your Homebased Mom!