Cooking With Intercot (Sept. 2007)

[disneydrmr]

Let me start out the month with a recipe I made over the weekend... VERY easy and quite tasty!

Rigatoni with Red Pepper, Almonds and Bread Crumbs

1 pound Rigatoni pasta

3 cups purchased garlic-flavored croutons (about 5oz)

1/4 cup slivered almonds (about 1 oz), toasted

1 cup julienned roasted red peppers

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta.

Place the croutons and almonds into a food processor. Pulse until it becomes the texture of bread crumbs. Add the crouton and almond mixture to the hot pasta. Add the peppers and oil oil. Toss to combine and serve.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

[disneydrmr]

Here's another one I tried and liked over the weekend...

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

1 lb ground chuck
10 slices bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled
1 (8oz) package shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup ketcup
2 tablespoons mustard
1 (3oz) can French fried onions

Preheat over to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the ground chuck and the next 8 ingredients, mixing well.

In a small bowl, combine the ketchup and mustard. Stir 1/4 cup ketchup mixture into the meat mixture, reserving the remaining ketcup mixture.

Press meat mixture into a 9x5 by 3 inch loaf pan or shape into a loaf and place on a rack in a broiler pan (I put it into a roaster - sprayed with non stick cooking spray). Spread remaining ketchup mixture over loaf (I actually mixed up a bit more cause I like a lot of 'glaze' on my loaf). Bake 40 minutes. Top with French Fried onions then bake another 10 to 15 minutes, or until meat is no longer pink.

[JanetMegan]

10 slices bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled



Yummm bacon, 10 slices....

I tried to deep fry chicken for the first time this weekend with this recipe!

3 eggs
1/3 cup water
About 1 cup hot red pepper sauce (recommended: Texas Pete)
2 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon pepper
House seasoning, recipe follows
1 (1 to 2 1/2-pound) chicken, cut into pieces
Oil, for frying, preferably peanut oil

In a medium size bowl, beat the eggs with the water. Add enough hot sauce so the egg mixture is bright orange. In another bowl, combine the flour and pepper. Season the chicken with the house seasoning. Dip the seasoned chicken in the egg, and then coat well in the flour mixture.
Heat the oil to 350 degrees F in a deep pot. Do not fill the pot more than 1/2 full with oil.
Fry the chicken in the oil until brown and crisp. Dark meat takes longer then white meat. It should take dark meat about 13 to 14 minutes, white meat around 8 to 10 minutes.

House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
-------------------------------------------------------
I used thighs and wings and it looks like a LOT of hot sauce, but chicken was not overly "hot". Turned out great, I think next time I'm going to make chicken tenders with the same recipe!

Also, I cooked this on my burner of my grill instead of in the house, I hate frying in the house, it takes weeks to get rid of the smell!

[Beast_fanatic]

Yummm bacon, 10 slices....

Just what I was thinking... and cheese too... mmmm...

Here's a recipe that we adapted from an American Heart Association recipe for burgers.

Veggie-Beef Burgers

1 pound lean ground beef (I usually use round for this so there is some fat)
1 can diced tomatoes and chilis (Rotel brand preferred), drained
1/2 green bell pepper, finely diced (we use a mini chopper)
1/2 medium onion, finely diced (again with the mini chopper)
salt, pepper and grill seasoning to taste
worcestshire to taste, if desired

You may also need to add an egg and/or some bread crumbs if your mixture is too loose or moist).

Mix it all together, form into patties and grill over low heat to desired doneness.

We use a patty press to form the patties as they hold together better that way. Hubby has recently also been using some grill sheets (similar to cookie sheets, but with holes in them) to cook them on as well as they tend to fall through the grates on the grill if you aren't careful.

We grill over low heat so the veggies all get done (I don't like raw onions).

The Rotel tomatoes/chilis add a really good flavor without making it too spicy. The original recipe used diced Roma tomatoes though, so use them if you can't find Rotel or if you don't want the little extra spice.

[MsMin]

Here's a recipe that we adapted from an American Heart Association recipe for burgers.
Veggie-Beef Burgers


This sounds great! my kids love Rotel-- I'll have to try it.

[JanetMegan]

Ok so I made meat sauce homemade by the 8 quart pot and freeze it for pasta throughout the weeks. When I cook it I heat the sauce well (it's very thick) make the pasta, drain the pasta well and then put the sauce on top. Here is my question-WHY is my finished product always watery??

[offwego]

Ok so I made meat sauce homemade by the 8 quart pot and freeze it for pasta throughout the weeks. When I cook it I heat the sauce well (it's very thick) make the pasta, drain the pasta well and then put the sauce on top. Here is my question-WHY is my finished product always watery??

One reason can be the kind of pasta you choose. A good way is to mix the pasta into the sauce (in either pot or a "pasta bowl") by doing this it seems to eliminate this as the water get thourghly mixed into the whole dish instead of each bowl.

[January-2007]

I would let the pasta sit for a minute in the colander to let more of the water drain out. Or like the previous poster suggested, mix the sauce and the pasta together before serving. If the sauce is thick to begin with then it's definately the water stuck to the pasta from cooking.

[disneydrmr]

Is there any ice on the sauce when you pull it from the freezer? Did you use homegrown tomatoes? Both of these can add an unwanted watery look.

[ldn324]

We're all abound with fresh tomatoes from the garden right now so I wanted to share this recipe I found and made over the weekend.

Corn/Avocado/Tomato Salsa

1 cup fresh or frozen whole kernel corn
3-4 fresh Roma tomatoes, diced, juice drained
1 large avocado, diced
2-3 tbsps. diced green chili peppers (I used canned)
juice from 1 lime
2 tbsps. fresh cilantro, chopped
salt to taste

Mix all ingredients and serve with tortilla chips. I bought a bag of yellow corn, organic chips and they are amazing - such fresh flavors from the chips and this combination of veggies/seasonings. Very colorful too! I'm making another batch tonight :tasty:

[JanetMegan]

I made up a casserole the other night and it turned out REALLY good so here goes...

Janet's Turkey Surprise

-3 cups cut up cooked turkey (which I had in the freezer-mix of white and dark meat)
-1 lb. cooked crumbled hot sausage
-1 box uncle bens wild rice mix-cooked as directed on package
-1 can cream mushroom soup
-1 can cream of chicken and herb soup
-chopped fresh mushrooms
-chopped medium onion
-(topping of choice)

----------------------------------------------------
Cook sausage, cook rice etc. In a sep pan cook the onion a few mins, add the mushrooms cook a few more mins. Add the cans of soup to the oinion mushroom mix. At this point I did season it with some salt, pepper and poultry seasoning to taste.

In one casserole dish (or two loaf pans if you want to split it) layer the following:
Sausage
Turkey
Rice
Soup (with onions and mushrooms)

Layer two times in this order.

Then top with your favorite casserole topping, crushed ritz, breadcrumbs etc.

I used breadcrumbs mixed with smashed up french fried cheddar onions (it was just what I had.)

Bake 20-25 mins at 400 degrees and enjoy!

Great with a salad.

[MsMin]

Anyone else get this month's recipe from the Swan and Dolphin? Yum Wonder if I can make this with Lime and it would be like the Key Lime Creme Brulee????

Lemon Creme Brulee
Ingredients:
18 Ozs. Heavy Cream
5 Ea. Egg Yolks
3 Ozs. Sugar
Lemon Peels from 2 Lemons
Strawberry (For Decorations)
Raspberries (For Decorations)
Blueberries (For Decorations)

Method of Preparation:
Bring the cream to a boil. Add the lemon peel to the cream and let it set for 15 minutes, so that the flavor of the lemon peel infuses with the cream. Strain lemon peel from the cream. Mix the yolks and sugar together, then pour the cream over the mixture and mix well. Pour the mixture into ceramic ramekins. Place filled ramekins on a pan that is filled halfway with water. Your lemon crème brûlée will be baked in the water-filled pan at 325°, until the custard is set. After it is cooked, let it cool and then sprinkle a layer of sugar on top of the custard. Burn the sugar either under a broiler or with a small blow torch.

Presentation:
On a plate, place the ramekin in the center. Place a strawberry, raspberry and blueberries on top of the custard in one corner. On the plate, decorate around the ramekin with raspberries and blueberries. Serve.

Serves 1

[dolphinmickey9170]

Since it will be getting cool soon, I thought I would share my recipe to warm your bellies!!

3 or 4 slices of bacon, preferably not turkey bacon as you won't get the rendered fat from it to flavor your chowdah

Once you have rendered the bacon down, remove it and place on papertowel and set aside.

Leave the fat in the pot (5qt) and dice up one large onion, put the onion in the bacon fat and cook til translucent.

Add 6 cups cubed potato, regular white potato works best. Put enough water in the pot the just cover the top of the potato, add 2 tsp salt and 2 tsp pepper. Watch the potato closely as they will burn on to the bottom of the pot.

Once potato is fork tender, add 2 cans evaporated milk (not sweetened), 4 cans of cream corn, 1 stick of butter or margarine, and enough milk to bring chowdah within an inch of the top of the pot. Bring up to a steaming pot, not boiling, drop your bacon crumbles back into the pot, put the cover on and let it sit on the stove for 30 minutes, then put in fridge. Letting it sit for 3 or 4 hours brings out better flavor. Or, just let it sit til the next day. It always tastes better the next day. Make yourself a johnnie cake (corn bread) to go with it and you have yourself a great meal. YUMMY!!