So, this week Hubby and I have made many wonderful things...and I've been putting off posting about them. For no good reason really, except that I had other things come up to keep my attention. In any case, I'm back now, with yummy food to share.
First, we have Yogurt Cream and Berries. We had it both with blueberries and strawberries, myself finding strawberries to be infinitely the better choice. It's meant for breakfast, but we had it for dessert after dinner as well.
Next, there is Cuban-Coffee Chili. This is one is a specialty of Hubby's and mine. We love taking it to church chili cook-offs. People are wary because of the name, and because it has raisins in it, but believe me, you have to make it, the smell of it alone, will make you salivate.
ingredients:
1 1/2 lb lean ground beef
2 med onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
2 t chili powder
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t fresh ground black pepper
1/4 t ground allspice
1 t salt
1/4 t fresh chopped thyme leaves
1 T dark molasses
14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
5 cups hot cooked rice
1 t capers
2 T chopped pimiento-stuffed green olives
9 oz can (2 cans) diced green chiles
2 cups strong coffee
Directions:
1. Brown the meat and vegetables: In a large Dutch oven, brown the beef over medium-high heat -- about 3 minutes. Remove contents from the Dutch oven and set aside. Reduce heat to medium low. Add onions and saute until translucent -- about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
2. Make the chili: Replace meat and add bay leaves, chili powder, cumin, nutmeg, pepper, allspice, salt, thyme, capers, olives, chiles, coffee, molasses, and tomatoes. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
3. Finish the chili: Add raisins and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Garnish with almonds. Serve hot over cooked rice.
The day after, we made Steak Soup for lunch. Much better than I thought it would be, considering that I'm not a fan of minute steak. We'll definitely make it again. (Sorry, neglected to take pictures for this one.) Here's the recipe.
Ingredients:
2 4-oz. beef cubed steaks (also called minute steaks)
1/4 t. garlic salt
1/8 t. pepper
1 T. cooking oil
1 med. onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
4 cups water
1 10 oz. package frozen mixed vegetables
1 T. instant beef bouillon granules
1 T. Worcestershire sauce (We left this out, Hubby is allergic)
1 t. dried basil, crushed
1 7 1/2 oz. can tomatoes, cut up
1/2 c. cold water
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
Directions:
1. Sprinkle meat with garlic salt and pepper. In a large saucepan, cook meat in hot oil over medium-high heat ablut 3 minutes or until brown, turning once. Remove meat from saucepan, reserving drippings in pan. Cut meat into cubes, set aside.
2. In the same saucepan, cook onion and celery in the reserved drippings over medium heat until tender. Stir in meat cubes, the 4 cups water, the vegetables, bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, and basil.
3. Bring to boiling, reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 5 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in undrained tomatoes.
4. In a screw-top jar shake together the 1/2 cup water and flour; stir into meat mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Makes 5 servings.
Tonight we made homemade pizza for dinner. We'll post a step-by-step of this another time...it's a staple in this house, so it'll be around again soon, don't worry. (Sorry, no picture...we were too hungry to stop and photograph.)
Finally, I'm currently making Pumpernickel Bread. The end result of the loaves is actually croutons. We recently tried Ruby Tuesday's croutons, and I'm now trying to simulate them. If you have the opportunity, check out their salad bar...it's probably one of the best salad bars I've been to! Delicious!!!
Also, Hubby is wonderful. He made me oatmeal for breakfast one morning, after a particularly difficult and sleepless night with our son. It had apples chopped up and cooked in it, with pumpkin spice and nutmeg and cinnamon. Yum!
