Sausage and Potato Casserole

This makes a lasagna pan's worth of food, or 2 smaller casseroles.

Ingredients
4-6 lbs of potatoes, peeled and sliced.
1 onion, diced

1/2 lb cream cheese or nuefchatel
1/2 lb of queso fresco **
1/2 lb farmer's cheese
2-4 TBS prepared mustard
4 TBS coconut oil
4-6 TBS gelatin
2 eggs
8 TBS cane sugar
Sea Salt, a lot.....2 TBS?
Cream of tartar as needed

1 lb Sausage, bite sized

1. Prep potatoes and onions and set aside
2. Combine sauce/filling ingredients until smooth.
3. Correct seasoning, should be slightly saltier/zestier than needed as the potatoes will neutralize some of the taste when it's all cooked together.
4. Combine sauce with potatoes and onions and pour into a coconut oil greased pan/s.
5. Add bite sized sausage evenly over the top.
6. Cook for about an hour at 350*-375*, cover, if needed to prevent burning.  
7. Check for softness of middle potatoes.  Adjust cooking time as needed.
8. Cool for about 20 minutes and serve.

This was a big hit the first time around.  It doesn't reheat well, as is. I used the leftovers as a soup by adding broth, some tomatoes and a little extra gelatin and salt. Traveled very well in my thermos. Fabulous!


**Queso fresco is ricotta-ish, without the additives usually found in commercial ricotta.

Hunk of Meat Monday 
Hearth and Soul Hop 
Fat Tuesday

Sirloin and White Hominy Stew

I can be a very lazy cook sometimes.  This morning I grabbed a few packages of frozen bone in sirloin steak from the freezer and plopped them in the slow cooker.  I piled on a diced onion, some gelatin, some tomatoes and green chilies, a handful of salt and a small chunk of bacon grease.  (You just can't go wrong with the aroma of bacon.)  Nothing was measured.

I got curious and added a can of white hominy.  Never had it before, smells like a soggy tortilla.  I wanted to know if it would be good for power outage food.  After cooking on high for a couple hours, I checked for "pull apart."  Pull apart is when the meat just pulls off the bone and the bones are used for broth one more time, given to the dog (depends on the bone and the dog) or the chickens/garden.  It needed a little longer as not all the meat was submerged, so the top pieces were still clingy.  An hour or so later and the meat fell off  while I removed the bones with my tongs.

So hominy in this dish kind of reminds me of bland, mini gnocchi....more of a soft texture than a taste. The sirloin is butter tender, but less interesting after the tongue.  Ummm...and I over did it on the salt a tad, so corrected with a little sugar and cream of tartar and .....Bingo!  It all came together just right.

Hmmmm....I bet some pineapple would substitute just fine for the sugar/cream of tartar flavor wise......

Fat Tuesday
Scratch Cookin' Tuesday
Hearth and Soul Hop
Barn Hop
See Ya In the Gumbo
Hunk of Meat Monday
Gluten Free Wednesday

Chunky Tomato Soup

Ingredients:
Leftover Creamy Orzo with Tomatoes
1 can of Tomatoes and chilies
Chicken tidbits, OG (optional)
2 TBS beef gelatin
2 TBS cane sugar
1 TBS cream of tartar
Milk
Sea salt


Leftovers don't have to be "old" to be used, it's actually better if they aren't.  We ate the Orzo for one meal, then it got re-purposed for the very next meal. Ketchup Boy hates tomatoes (no, I haven't figured that one out yet....) but begrudgingly admitted he really liked this.

See Ya In The Gumbo
Ingredient Spotlight : Tomatoes

Creamy Orzo with Tomatoes

A variation on Rice Cooker Mac and Cheese:

Ingredients:
2 TBS Coconut Oil
2 cups Orzo Pasta
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilis
2 cups full fat fresh Milk
2 TBS unflavored beef gelatin
1 tsp Sea Salt 

2 TBS cane sugar
2 tsp cream of tartar
8 oz  lowfat cream cheese or neufchatel (in chunks)

Plop all the ingredient in the cooker, give it a stir, set to "cook" and wait. VERY rich and creamy with a little kick from the chilis. If you can't handle the heat, just use plain diced tomatoes.

Baked Potato with Nacho Sauce

We made some homemade Nachos the other day.  Our eyes were bigger than our stomach, so we had quite a bit of leftover sauce.  We never have leftover homemade tortilla chips.

This particular version of nacho sauce is as follows:

1 lb grass fed ground beef
4-8 TBS beef gelatin
1 can diced tomatoes and chilis
coconut oil (for cooking the beef)
sour cream
sea salt to taste


Hearth and Soul Hop
Fat Tuesday
See Ya in the Gumbo
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Ingredient Spotlight : Tomatoes

Piggy Spanish Rice

A yummy twist on Rice Cooker Spanish Rice....

BACON! 
Well, actually, cured jowls...you know....pig cheeks. ;)
Pork jowl is shorter than bacon anyway, but I still cut them up smaller before cooking.  I pan fried the bite sized pieces in their own fat at about "egg" temperature for about 20 minutes, stirring once or twice. We like our bacon with most of the fat rendered out but still meaty, on the chewy side, not crumbly.

I left out the additional fat and backed off the salt...the milk fed, homegrown, sugar cured jowls provide plenty of both.  Everything else is the same.  I did use a fruit based salsa instead of a cilantro based salsa, just for fun.  A huge hit!


Ingredients: Makes about 8 servings
2 cups Broth
4 TBS Beef gelatin
1 tsp Cream of tartar
.5 tsp Salt
a few dashes liquid minerals (optional)
1 cup Salsa
4 scoops Rice (rice cooker scoop is about 3/4 of a cup of actual rice)
Water to 4 cup fill line
.5-1 lb cooked bacon or jowl with grease

1. Put broth in pot of rice cooker and sprinkle with powdered ingredients, so gelatin can soak up some liquid.
2. When soaked, put rice and salsa into pot and stir.
3. Fill to 4 cup line marked on pot with water (or add extra broth).  
4. Add cooked jowl and corresponding grease.
5. Set to Cook.
6. When rice switches to "keep warm" setting, fluff and serve.

Friday Potluck

Fight Back Friday
Hunk of Meat Monday
See Ya In The Gumbo
Barn Hop
Melt in Your Mouth Monday 
Full Plate Thursday 
Simple Lives Thursday 
Your Recipe, My Kitchen
Ingredient Spotlight :Bacon
Ingredient Spotlight : Tomatoes

Rice Cooker Spanish Rice w/Gelatin

Ingredients: Makes about 8 servings
2 cups Broth
4 TBS Beef gelatin
1 tsp Cream of tartar
1 tsp Salt
1 cup Salsa
4 scoops Rice (rice cooker scoop is about 3/4 of a cup of actual rice)
Water to 4 cup fill line
2 TBS Coconut oil or Butter

1. Put broth in pot and sprinkle with powdered ingredients, so gelatin can soak up some liquid.
2. When soaked, put rice and salsa into pot and stir.
3. Fill to 4 cup line marked on pot with water (or add extra broth).  
4. Add a plop of oil or butter.
5. Cook.
6. When rice is done, fluff and serve.

My 4 cup rice cooker allows for setting a timer to start cooking at a later time AND keeps the food warm for up to 14 hours. Very handy!

Foodie Wednesday

Deep Fried Cheese Rolls GF

I recently came across this recipe: Cats and Casseroles: Baked Mozzarella Sticks  I thought making a cover  for the cheese sticks was a marvelous idea and I wanted to try it.  I had some spring roll "skins" or wrappers (tapioca starch, rice starch, salt and water),  in the cup board already.

I have made these twice now.  The firsts ones were a little gummy, kind of pale and bland...but tasty enough to try again.  The second ones were crisp, mostly golden and much tastier.  The secret is being patient enough to let the oil get HOT ( too cool and the cheese melts before the skin is done) and soaking the skins in SALT water when softening.  It's possible using an already saltier cheese would solve that problem as well.

Ingredients:
Cheese sticks or any white cheese cut into chunks
Spring Roll Skins
Salt to taste
Water for soaking
Coconut Oil for frying

Dipping Sauce:
Savory Neufchatel Dip
Or
Favorite Pizza Sauce
Or
1 can crushed tomatoes
handful of basil flakes
red wine vinegar to taste
salt to taste
onion powder
thyme
beef gelatin

Directions:

1. Heat coconut oil in a deep pot and bring the temperature to 375* or so. This can take up to 45 minutes depending on the size of pot, BTU capacity of the burner and how cold the kitchen is at the time.  In the mean time, get out ingredients and 3 dinner plates; one for soaking (mine have a decent rim for holding water), one for rolling, and one for placing finished rolls while the oil heats up.
2. Mix ingredients for sauce in a separate pan, set on medium low.  Keep covered, stir once or twice and forget about it until rolls are done.
3. Carefully fill one dinner plate with salted water.  When salt is dissolved, add spring roll skin. (Skins are too brittle otherwise.) Do one at a time to prevent them sticking to each other.
4. Unwrap cheese sticks or cut cheese into chunks.  Think roughly index finger dimensions as a guideline.
5. Remove spring roll skin from soaking water when pliable. Hold up briefly over soaking plate to let drips fall off.
6. Starting on edge of skin, roll cheese up, folding the sides towards the middle after one full rotation of the cheese.  Continue rolling and tucking the sides, as needed.
7. Place finished roll on third plate, seam side down.
8. When oil is hot, add a single roll at a time, at least initially.  Adding two at the same time can cause them to glue themselves together.  Trying to separate will cause the skins to tear and allow for the cheese to bubble out.
9. They are done when floating and are the desired color (and/or the cheese is exploding from somewhere on the roll.)  Remove from oil with an appropriate, long handled tool; such as tongs or a slotted spoon.
10. Let cool for a few minutes at least...burning the mouth on too hot cheese doesn't make it taste better.
11. Serve warm with a generous portion of warm sauce.

These are yummy and fun to make...and eat.   I can see making it with Mexican themed seasonings (with corn tortillas even) or with apple pie type fillings with a custard sauce for dessert.

Gluten-Free Wednesday
Tasty Traditions

Quesadilla with Peach Salsa and Sour Cream

I have been disappointed in the past with commercial peach salsas. I believe if it's in the title, it should be one of the FIRST ingredients, not one of the last.

Peach Salsa
Fresh sliced or diced peaches
Diced tomatoes
Diced green chillies (Optional-I like a little kick)
Lime or lemon juice
Cilantro (optional)
Salt


To make quesadillas:

Heat coconut oil to medium low heat
Add corn tortilla when hot (use white corn or OG to minimize GMO)
Add sliced or hand grated white cheese-I've used Mozzarella, Jack, Farmers and Fontina with success-Havarti and Swiss aren't good for this purpose IMO.

When cheese is melted and the tortilla is crisp, remove from heat and add salsa and a dollop of REAL sour cream if available.

Ingredient Spotlight: Tomatoes

Fight Back Friday