Irish Woman is off to a meeting at the zoo tonight, so I get to cook!

Ingredients:

1/4 inch cut eye of round steaks
Canadian Steak Seasoning (Course ground pepper, dried garlic, course salt)
1 large white or yellow onion, chopped fine
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
4 to 6 white mushrooms, sliced
1 can beef broth
4 cups broccoli florets, fresh

Parmesan couscous or whatever flavor you like

On a large plate or baking dish, lay out the steaks and sprinkle lightly on both sides with the steak seasoning.  Prepare couscous according to box directions.

In a wok or large saute pan, heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom.  Add onion and bell pepper.  Saute until onion starts to change color.  Add mushrooms. Saute until mushrooms are almost cooked through and onions are fully soft.  Move everything to the side of your pan so that there is a clear space in the middle and add steaks.  Brown on both sides, adding soy sauce to taste along with a sprinkling of ginger.  Mix steaks in with onion mixture and add broth.  Increase heat and bring to a boil uncovered.  When it boils, reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, or until half of the liquid is gone.  Add broccoli.  Continue simmering for additional 3 to 5 minutes until broccoli is bright green and tender.  Thicken with a corn starch slurry.  Serve over couscous.

It’s blowing snow sideways and the mercury is heading south at a pretty steady rate, so I wanted something that reminds me of winter back home and will stick to the ribs. This is a classic that I’ve had done a million different ways.  My way is pretty basic, but it’s an easy recipe to play with and make your own.

Shepherd’s Pie

1/2 pound lean ground meat (pork, beef, lamb, turkey, or a combination)
1 small white onion, chopped fine
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt
Black Pepper
10 to 15 large potatoes, peeled and sliced
Milk
Butter
2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
2 cans creamed corn
Shredded cheddar cheese or your favorite sharp cheese

Make mashed potatoes with the milk and butter.

Brown the meat with the onion and garlic.  Season with the salt and pepper to taste.  Drain the meat and put in the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ baking pan.  Layer the whole kernel and creamed corn on top of the meat.  Scoop the mashed potatoes onto the corn layer, and mold into a complete cap over both the meat and corn.  Sprinkle the cheese on top.

Place in a 375 degree oven until the cheese melts and toasts.  Serve while still hot.  Makes enough to feed a large family a couple of times.

It’s kind of chilly and damp here in IndiUcky tonight, so I made myself a nice drink to warm the bones.

Ingredients:

3 cups apple cider
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or one cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon caramel sauce or two Kraft caramels
Bourbon or cinnamon schnapps

In a small saucepan, heat the cider, cinnamon, and caramel until it just boils.  Pour bourbon or schnapps to taste into a large coffee cup or cappuccino mug.  Fill mug with hot cider.  Enjoy.

Here’s another one:

3 cups milk (real milk. Soybeans, coconuts, and almonds don’t have nipples)
Hot cocoa mix
Chocolate sauce or syrup
Peppermint Schnapps

Heat the milk until it almost boils.  Mix in the hot cocoa mix.  Mix in chocolate sauce and schnapps to taste.  There is a balance point where the taste of the chocolate mixes in really well with the peppermint, but that point varies from person to person.

It’s a chilly, windy day here in Louisville, so I made something that will warm you up and stick to your ribs.  It’s that time of year that screams “home cooking”.  This isn’t fancy, but it’s good.

4 or 5 pieces of your favorite chicken, pork, or turkey cut (I used chicken drumsticks)
1 medium white onion, quartered and then sliced as thinly as you can get it
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms or 1/2 cup dried
Bacon grease, butter, or olive oil (whichever you prefer)
Spice mix, such as Emeril’s Essence or your favorite chili powder
Black pepper, ground to taste
Herbs (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, you get the picture)
1 cup beef broth
Worcestershire sauce
Balsamic vinegar
1 pound fresh or frozen vegetables (broccoli, peas, sliced carrots, or whatever you prefer)
One pot of your favorite pasta or rice (this goes great with couscous)
Grated Parmesan cheese

Put vegetables in a steamer and cook until they are almost done.

Cook your pasta or rice and have ready to go with the rest of the dish.

Wash hands.  Place meat on a plate and sprinkle with your spice mix. Wash hands again.

Heat up bacon grease, oil, or butter in a flat bottomed pan over medium heat.  You will need enough to liberally coat the bottom but not so much that you have a puddle of fat in the pan.  Add mushrooms, garlic, and onions.  Saute until onions start to soften and become transparent.  Add meat. Sprinkle with pepper and herbs to taste.  Cook meat until it is browned on all sides.  Push meat and onions to the side of the pan and add broth.  Scrape any crunchy bits off the bottom of the pan while bringing broth to boil.  Add Worcestershire sauce and vinegar to taste.  Cover dish and simmer for 10 minutes.  Uncover and add vegetables.  Stir together and simmer an addition 3 to 4 minutes until sauce reduces to about half its volume and the vegetables and meat are done.

Serve meat and vegetables over pasta or rice and sprinkle with cheese.  Goes really well with fresh bread and a good beer.

It’s that time of year again, where a bear’s thoughts turn to things with nutmeg and cinnamon in them.

Girlie Bear’s going to a sleep over tonight, so we thought we’d whip up something for her to take, and this seemed appropriate.

Ingredients:

1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Nutmeg
Ginger
Cinnamon
Cloves

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 to 1 cup white sugar, depending on your tastes
1/4 cup honey
Vanilla, bourbon, or almond extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup applesauce

1 small apple, cored and peeled, and cut into small pieces
1/4 cup raisins

Sift flours, soda, baking powder, and spices (to taste) into a bowl.

In another bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and honey.  Add vanilla, bourbon, or extract and eggs.   Combine milk and applesauce in a bowl.  Add dry ingredients to sugar/butter mixture and mix thoroughly.  Add milk/applesauce mixture and mix thoroughly.  Mix in apple and raisins.

Place in a small, greased baking dish ( I use a 6×6), and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until a knife poked into the center comes out clean.

This is a variation on the Jaegerschnitzel I’ve loved since my grandmother made it for me when I was as little as Boo.  I went with thicker cuts of meat, took away the breading on the pork, and made something of a Southern style peppery cream gravy. It’s still got the mushrooms I love, and the pasta makes a good good stand-in for the spaetzle that would normally be served.

Ingredients:

4 pork loin chops, between 1/2 and 3/4 inch thick
1 white or yellow onion, chopped fine
1 bell pepper, chopped fine
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms, whatever variety you like
Olive Oil
Black Pepper and other herbs/spices you like.
Canadian Steak Seasoning
1/4 to 1/3 cup Kentucky Kernel or other seasoned flour (Make your own if you want)
Milk

Sprinkle the chops with the steak seasoning on both sides and set aside.  In a large saute pan, heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom.  Add the onions, mushroom, and bell pepper and saute until the onions soften and begin to become transparent. Add the black pepper and other spices to taste.  Add the chops and brown on both sides.  Make a slurry of the flour and 2 cups of the milk.  Take the chops from the pan.  Add the milk/flour slurry and bring to simmer.  Add more milk until a thin gravy forms.  Add the chops and turn until coated.  Lower the heat and and simmer until the gravy thickens to your desired consistency.

Serve over rice or pasta with steamed fresh vegetables.  Goes well with baking powder biscuits or a good bread.

Making more goodies for lunches.  This time I thought I’d get away from the horrifically-bad-for-you chocolate chip cookies and make something that at least pretends to have nutrition.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
1 cup packed dark brown sugar or light brown sugar with a tablespoon of molasses
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
Vanilla, almond extract, or bourbon to taste
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg to taste
1 cup white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups dry oatmeal
1 cup dried fruit (apples, cherries, raisins, cranberries, or whatever you like) chopped up into small 1/4 inch pieces

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Put dried fruit in a microwave safe bowl and add water until the fruit is barely covered.  Microwave for 1 minute then let stand while you put together the rest of the dough.

Cream butter, shortening, and sugars in a mixer at low speed.  Once creamed, add in eggs and vanilla/almond/bourbon.

In another bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, soda, and spices.  Add to wet mixture and mix thoroughly.  Add oats and mix.

Drain excess water off of fruit, and add to the dough.  Mix just until the fruit is evenly distributed.  Dough will be slightly wet, but not runny.

Spoon 1 inch balls of dough (a heaping tablespoon) on baking stone or lightly greased cookie sheet at least 2 inches apart.  The cookies will spread and flatten during baking.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the cookies brown and the edges are crisp.  Let cool on sheet for 2 minutes then transfer to wire rack.

I’ve been remiss.  Julie over at Jigsaw’s Thoughts asked about basic cookie recipes, and I told her I’d put up a couple of my favorites.  Life and a bad memory intervened, and I didn’t think to get it done until I was baking cookies for school lunches the other night.

This morning Irish Woman left me and Boo to our own devices while she ran to do a few things, so I thought I’d make a “Dad” breakfast.  This is a recipe that I make when we’re camping.  It uses up leftovers from cookouts and camp dinners quite well, if I do say so myself.

Ingredients:

2 links of sausage (bratwurst, smoked, italian, chorizo, whatever.  I used two of the venison smoked sausages from last night’s cookout)
1 cup roasted potatoes and onions, also from the cookout
Spices to taste
3 eggs
Your favorite shredded cheese.

Melt a small amount of bacon grease in the bottom of a cast iron pan, using just enough to wet the bottom of the pan.  Cut the sausages into 1/4″ coins and add to the hot pan.  Turn several times until all surfaces are browned.  Add potatoes and onion, and allow to brown on both sides and heat through to the middle.  Add spices to your own taste.  Crack eggs into a bowl and beat for scrambling.  Pour over potatoes and meat, and stir gently until the eggs are cooked through.  Put on plates, sprinkle with cheese, and serve.  I douse mine with a bit of hot sauce, but just enough to add some heat, not so much the flavors are overwhelmed.

Since everything but the egg is already cooked, all I’m doing is heating the sausage and potatoes through and browning them, so this only takes about 10 minutes from refrigerator to plate.  I served it this morning with sliced apples and cold milk for boo and a nice glass of iced tea for me.

Got leftovers?