Weekly Gardening Thread
You can find this weeks thread here FReeper Weekly Gardening Thread
Posted on 09/17/2011 7:19:06 AM PDT by libertarian27
Welcome to the 41st installment of the FR Weekly Cooking (Recipes) Thread.
Looking for something new to make or made something new that came out great? Please share a 'tried-and-true' recipe or three- or all of them:)! for fellow FReepers to add to their 'go-to' Recipe Stack of Family Favorites!
Here's the place to share and explore your next favorite recipe.
Honestly my Magic Chef was better! The Zo doesn’t brown the top enough and it is BIG so takes up lots of counter top space.
I am a real bargain hunter and getting very good at using coupons for our grocery shopping. Also doing a lot of grocery shopping for meat at a restaurant supply store near where we live. I bought 20 lb. package of pork shoulder the other day for $1.49 per pound. Brought it home and broke it down into four packages and put three in the freezer. Hubby is cooking the first piece today low and slow on the BBQ and tonight we are having pulled pork burritos because I found flour tortillas on sale for .50 per package of 6 tortillas by doubling some coupons I got the tortillas free. I have home made pinto beans and Spanish rice to go with it and all the fixins for the burritos such as shredded cheddar cheese, chopped tomatoes, black olives, green onions, sour cream, salsa, shredded lettuce, etc.
Tomorrow night we will have pulled pork sandwiches, and there should still be plenty of leftovers to have pork enchiladas the next night for dinner. All three meals will average out to less than $5.00 each. I am sure there will still be leftover meat even after that, so I will be coming up with more dishes to use the rest of the leftover meat after that. Perhaps tamale pie, empanadas, or even BBQ pork stuffed hum bao.
With a little creativity, we are still eating very well, on a very low budget.
| So-Tender Swiss Steak |
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| 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 2 pounds round steak, cut into serving-size pieces 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 medium onion, thinly sliced 2 cups water 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce |
GRAVY: 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper 1-1/4 cups beef broth or water Hot cooked noodles or mashed potatoes, optional |
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In a shallow bowl, combine flour, salt and pepper. Dredge steak, a few pieces at a time. Pound with a mallet to tenderize. In a Dutch oven, brown steak in oil on both sides. Arrange onion slices between layers of meat. Add water and Worcestershire sauce. Cover and bake at 325° for 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until meat in very tender. Remove to a serving platter and keep warm. In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper and broth until smooth; stir into pan juices. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Serve steak and gravy over noodles or mashed potatoes if desired. Yield: 8 servings. Per serving: Calories: 213, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 64mg, Sodium: 424mg, Carbohydrates: 9g, Dietary Fiber: 1g, Protein: 27g |
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The only changes I make are, I just put the flour and seasonings in a large zip lock (a couple of pieces at a time) and shake then proceed. I often will double the flour/seasonings as I just add the leftovers to the pit before placing in the oven. I don't do the gravy separate either, I just add those ingredients to the pot, it makes its own gravy. I sometimes tripe those.
I have used various cuts of meat, chopped steak, round steak, cutlets and some thin cut of meat from the meat dept, can't recall what the cut is, its works fine. I think the round steak winds up being tougher. Chopped or cutlets don't really need tenderizing.
I change the recipe to suit my mood that day. Sometimes I add rotel, or other diced/stewed tomatoes and other times I add mushrooms instead.
When I got my breadmaker I read a lot of reviews for a lot of machines and frankly there were too many bad reviews on the Zo for me to justify that price tag. A lot had ‘problems’ if one sort or another. Some have the two paddles but they had lots of bad reviews so I avoided them. I wanted a more loaf looking bread. Still got it with the cheap machine I went with and I really like it. Sometimes, less IS more. :)
Actually, most of the bread I bake is from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I saw it in a Mother Earth News magazine at the library, came home, binged it and tried the recipes. I bought the book!
They have a pizza book coming out next onth, I have already pre-ordered it.
No I hadn’t see the website. Thank you for posting it. I will spend some time checking out their recipes and perhaps I will find some new ones to add to my family’s favorites.
I have been keeping the average cost of our dinners at $5.00 or less now since the beginning of the year and it really hasn’tbeen as hard as I thought it would be. We have good dinners every night and even have been able to splurge about once a month on some kind of take out like french bread subs from Safeway, Papa Murphy’s pizza night, or Panda express, and still keep the average cost for our dinners under $5.00 for each month. Take out night gives me one night a month off from cooking dinner even though the cost of the dinner for the entire family on that night is between $16 -$25. That means that some of our dinners cost almost nothing because of free stuff I have found using coupons, or utilizing leftovers from one meal to make something else another night for our dinners.
This month we are going to be way under budget because a friend sent over lots of fresh vegetables from their garden since they had a very abundant crop this year and couldn’t come close to eating it all or finding room in their freezer for it all. They sent over four huge zucchini, three large yellow squash, a huge bunch of green onions that were the biggest green onions I have ever seen, and lots of tomatoes. We have been using it all up in stir fry’s, pasta dishes, casseroles, salads and even baked goods! YUM!
No I hadn’t see the website. Thank you for posting it. I will spend some time checking out their recipes and perhaps I will find some new ones to add to my family’s favorites.
I have been keeping the average cost of our dinners at $5.00 or less now since the beginning of the year and it really hasn’tbeen as hard as I thought it would be. We have good dinners every night and even have been able to splurge about once a month on some kind of take out like french bread subs from Safeway, Papa Murphy’s pizza night, or Panda express, and still keep the average cost for our dinners under $5.00 for each month. Take out night gives me one night a month off from cooking dinner even though the cost of the dinner for the entire family on that night is between $16 -$25. That means that some of our dinners cost almost nothing because of free stuff I have found using coupons, or utilizing leftovers from one meal to make something else another night for our dinners.
This month we are going to be way under budget because a friend sent over lots of fresh vegetables from their garden since they had a very abundant crop this year and couldn’t come close to eating it all or finding room in their freezer for it all. They sent over four huge zucchini, three large yellow squash, a huge bunch of green onions that were the biggest green onions I have ever seen, and lots of tomatoes. We have been using it all up in stir fry’s, pasta dishes, casseroles, salads and even baked goods! YUM!
Sorry for the double post! My computer started acting up!
In fact I still want to write a Dollar Store Cookbook! There is lots of stuff there that is GREAT! Our local stores have RoTel products as well as okra and other stuff not usually found around here.
Even those little canned hams for a couple of bucks or less can make some really good things like jambalaya, omelets and simlar.
There's also a Save-A-Lot near us with lower priced goods. If you are there on the right days at the right times they have REALLY good meats and produce!
Back story is a friend of mine, now deceased, was very grateful for things we had done for her. Even though she was on assistance she wanted to do things for us and insisted that when I took her to S-A-L she buy us stuff.
We were AMAZED at how good the fresh food was and they had the old pot pies, a fav with Mrs p6 and me for lunches, for less than a buck each!
You have to be careful but there are good things there!
I have an Artisan recipe I want to try, just haven’t gotten around to it yet. It rises for like 18 hours, so I have to plan it in advance. lol
I always add a teaspoon (or a cube) of beef bouillon to swiss steak and omit additional salt.
There is some leftover in our fridge now! We were trying to figure out what to do with it, now we know!
I really don’t pick up much food at the $1 store here, but we have a restaurant supply store, a Winco, and a Grocery Outlet where I find some great deals. I also watch the weekly ads at the regular grocery stores for their loss leader items. The tortillas were one of these loss leader items and I can often get them for free by using my double coupons on them.
One thing our dollar store does have that we love to get for a special treat are some Key lime cookies (similar to a Mexican Wedding cake cookie or a Walnut crescent cookie, but with a Key lime flavor). They are really good!
A dollar store cookbook is a great idea! I have been typing up some of my menus and recipes as well as budget saving ideas, and want to set up a blog sometime soon, as I am sure there are lots of other people out there that could benefit from some budget friendly meals.
That’s the one I read at the library. I found their blog online and bought the book at Amazon. Great bread!
Try the boule at the link in post 58. Very easy to make and quite good bread.
I will have to try it. I bake all the bread we eat. Nothing special just regular everyday homemade bread. Great for french toast!
In another issue ME News had a recipe for bread baked in a cast iron dutch oven. It looked interesting too. I ought to see if I can find that recipe online.
LOL I hope I don’t lose my conservative bona fides by admitting I sometimes read ME News at the library.
Here’s the link to the other bread I mentioned.
Easy No Knead Dutch Oven Crusty Bread
Weekly Gardening Thread
You can find this weeks thread here FReeper Weekly Gardening Thread
LOL Those gardeners intimidate me. I just lurk there.
Parenting Magazine:
In microwaveable coffee cup:
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons milk
Coat mug w/cooking spray, add eggs and milk- beat
Microwave High 45 seconds- stir.
Microwave until eggs are almost set (30 seconds) or what you think.
Top with grated cheese, mix.
Our second choice in extender is quick cooking oats. I learned that one from Mother Magslinger. Beside cookies it was the only way she could get me to eat oats.
BTW we never use it for stuffing. Perfect for meatloaf it doen’t make really good stuffing in a bird.
I need to try that. Might use a microwavable bowl to make sure it doesn’t spill over.
FYI
250Ml = 1 cup
approx.
It may cook up over the rim like a souffle but I've not seen it spill over.
I usually make a large batch ad do it in the oven, but sometimes I want it now! lol So this will work for a quick fix. :)
I tried this no Kneed bread once. Found the recipe in an online NYT article. It was a big failure for me. The bread was totally stuck in the pot I used. Had to remove it in pieces with a large spoon. It could have been because I used a heavy duty aluminum pot instead of a cast iron dutch oven which I don’t have, mater of fact I don’t have that aluminum pot any more either - threw it out with bread still scorched and stuck in it.
This recipe was on a little sticker on a package of Sirloin Tip Steaks I bought, and it looked interesting. After making this for our dinner last night, the better half gave it her highest rating, "Honey, you can make this again, soon." That's a cut above, "You can make this again."
Rather than retyping from the tiny sticker, I found the recipe online:
From Hannaford websiteA few notes on my own personal version last night.
Spicy-Sweet Steaks and Onions
Get Ready
Servings: Makes 4 servings
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 lb beef round steaks, cut 1-inch thick
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 cups sweet onion thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons hot chili powder
Directions
Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onions; cook 5 to 6 minutes or until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper, as desired. Remove from skillet; set aside.
Combine brown sugar and chili powder; press evenly onto beef steaks. Place steaks in same skillet over medium heat; cook 14 to 15 minutes for medium rare doneness, turning occasionally. (Do not overcook.) Remove steaks; keep warm.
Return onions to skillet. Cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until heated through and browned bits attached to bottom of skillet are dissolved.
Carve steaks into thin slices; season with salt and pepper, as desired. Serve with onions.
Cook's Tip: Regular chili powder may be substituted for hot chili powder.
This recipe is an excellent source of protein, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, selenium and zinc; and a good source of iron.
Photo and Recipe Courtesy of The Beef Checkoff
I used ground cayenne pepper for the chili powder, but scaled back to about 3/4 teaspoon. My better half doesn't like it as spicy, so I divided the brown sugar, placed 1/4 teaspoon in her side and rubbed that into her steak, and I put the remaining 1/2 teaspoon in my side and rubbed that into my steak. In the future, I might use slightly more cayenne, or try some other chili powder.
Also, I rubbed the steaks with the brown sugar/cayenne mix before cooking the onions, so it worked into the steaks as I was cooking the onions.
Our steaks were not 1 inch thick. Use your judgment on cooking time with thinner steak. Cook to taste. She likes hers medium and it was still good at medium. I wouldn't recommend cooking beyond that for sirloin tip steaks.
This recipe is probably excellent for any "lower cut" steaks that grill or broil well. I'll probably repeat it with round steaks in the future. It should also work well on a flank steak. I'm not sure if this would be a good treatment for top loin or rib-eye or other "upper cuts" of beef.
Finally, I used about 1/4 cup of red wine (some left over Flip Flop Pinot Noir) with a bit of cornstarch to thicken it, and I poured that in at the final step with the onions. It made a nice sauce from the pan drippings.
Serve with a decent "daily drinking" red wine. We had Tisdale Merlot with this.
We had a side of baked sweet potatoes and some steamed broccoli, but this would be excellent with garlic mashed potatoes.
I have the cast iron pan, but haven’t wanted to invest the 18 hours for proofing.
Cast iron isn't that hard to season or use. If it takes 18 hours, you're doing something really, really wrong.
kalee wrote:
I have the cast iron pan, but haven’t wanted to invest the 18 hours for proofing.
First, if the iron is exposed or rusted in any way, use a wire brush to clean away any rust. If you want to completely clean away any previous seasoning, you can put the pan in a self cleaning oven and run it through the "clean" cycle, or put the cast iron piece directly in a fire in your fireplace or a camp fire. The old seasoning will burn off this way.
Before seasoning the first time, it doesn't hurt to wash the pan in mild soapy water. Just be sure to rinse thin thing thoroughly several times to rinse away any soap residue.
With a clean, rust free cast iron pan, apply some oil. I prefer peanut oil for seasoning, but any very fresh vegetable oil will work. The first coat should be to wet down the pan and wipe it mostly dry with paper towels or newsprint. Place it in the oven (upside down is best, with some foil under it to catch any 'drippings' of excess oil) and bake it at 350F for 30 minutes to maybe an hour. I generally do two additional thin coats of oil, and bake for 15 to 30 minutes per coating. I usually do the "baking" part during preheating the oven for other tasks. It's rare that I preheat my oven without at least one or two cast iron pieces freshly coated with oil still in the oven. That has become a part of the baking ritual with me. When I read "preheat the oven to ..." in a recipe, I instinctively grab the cast iron pan that looks like it most needs another coat of seasoning and wipe it down with peanut or coconut oil. The bonus to this is you know when the oven is hot because you can smell the seasoning cooking onto the pan. When the oven is hot, just pull them out and let them cool on the range top.
Once seasoned, do not use soap on the pan ever again. If you must scour the pan, use a scotch brite or plastic scouring pad with clear water only.
Always apply a thin coating of oil before storing the pan and heat it up on the stove for 3 to 5 minutes after cleaning. This will cook off any moisture and re-season the surface.
Overall, it takes about 30 minutes of actual work (and a couple hours of waiting for the thing to bake) to restore a cast iron pan that has been neglected. It's never a 6 our project in my experience.
Oh, and this should be obvious, but it's best not to apply cool liquids (water or oil) to a very hot cast iron pan. You can crack cast iron with cold water if the pan is too hot when you hit it with the cold water. The time this is important is after the initial "clean by fire or self cleaning oven" step. Let the thing cool down completely after that step.
I think she was talking about the bread proofing.
My pot is well seasoned, it was my grandmother’s. The proofing was for the yeast dough in the recipe I posted. :)
OK. Apparently I need more coffee. I do know what proofing means. Somehow my mind saw "seasoning" with the cast iron in your post there, not "proofing."
kalee wrote:
My pot is well seasoned, it was my grandmother’s. The proofing was for the yeast dough in the recipe I posted. :)
I hope a bit more coffee will wake me up the rest of the way. It's late in the day to be this asleep at the switch.
That’s OK. You should see the stuff I post by Nook at night when I’m in bed and don’t have my contacts in. lol
I found it very informative so it wasn’t a wasted post.
Thanks for this post! My mom had a cast iron frying pan that she used for everything so I finally bought one but never could figure out how to season it. Unfortunately my mom died before I could ask her. It’s now stored in the back of a cabinet.
I’m going to dig it out and try your method. And now that you’ve mentioned it, I don’t ever remember her using soap on it.
I’m glad you liked the lemon-buttermilk sorbet, it’s a favorite of ours. And speaking of buttermilk, thanks for the recipe for fried chicken, I bought the chicken and buttermilk today and will try you recipe this week. I have experimented with fried chicken recipes for years with really horrible results.
I always have buttermilk on hand. Tonight we’re having spicy chicken tenders. No real recipe but you marinade chicken tenders overnight in 1 cup of buttermilk and 1 T Tabasco. Drain and dredge in flour mixed with any fresh herbs you have on hand. I use rosemary, thyme and parsley. Deep fry until browned.
Very spicy, we love it but, it’s not an authentic fried chicken on the bone recipe like yours.
Thanks for the potato soup recipe. Hubby made it tonight and he loved it! I don’t love sour cream and kept getting a sour creamy taste so we both agreed that next time we’ll try 1/2 sour cream and 1/2 heavy cream. Other than that change it was excellent, thanks again!
Glad it was good...I was thinking of using all heavy cream for the recipe, but have yet to try it that way....cheers
Recap of recipes for this week (Sept 17th thread)
Bread* 70 Easy No Knead Dutch Oven Crusty Bread
Breakfast* 9 German pancakes
Breakfast* 25 Everyday Waffles
Breakfast* 25 Sour Cream Waffles
Breakfast* 73 Microwave Egg Souffle
Dessert* 3 Cranberry Pecan Sandies
Drink* 10 Electric Parrots
Meal* 38 Slow Cooker Swiss Steak
Meal* 41 Pioneer Woman’s Man Pleaser sandwich.
Meal* 53 So-Tender Swiss Steak
Meal* 81 Spicy-Sweet Steaks and Onions
Soup* 8 LOGAN’S POTATO SOUP
(please don’t add any new recipes on this thread - they won’t be categorized)
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