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Posts Tagged ‘Cooking’

Grilled Steakburgers

Posted in Cooking, tagged A-1 sauce, Cooking, Grilling, hamburgers, steak seasoning on August 4, 2012| 12 Comments »

I guess this title might be a little misleading because these hamburgers are just good ol’ ground beef, but I use steak seasonings and sauce to give them a little kick. This is my own original recipe so feel free to adjust the flavors to suit yourself. You could also use taco seasoning with taco sauce for a Mexican flair. Hmm, I might have to try that one.

The recipe results in 4 quarter pound burgers. I had made a double batch for a Sunday dinner at my grandmother’s house so the photos show that.

1 lb. ground beef

1 tbsp. olive oil (I use really lean ground beef so this adds some healthy fat for texture and flavor.)

1.5 tbsp. A-1 steak sauce

1/2 tsp. Montreal steak seasoning

4 hamburger buns

butter or butter spread (Oops, the buns and spread didn’t make it in the photo.)

Mix all of the ingredients together and form into 4 same sized patties. If you have time, let the patties chill in the fridge for an hour or two. It makes them easier to work with.

Preheat your grill to medium heat and lay the patties on the hot grill. Cover and allow to cook for 5-6 minutes. Now here is a great tip that I have learned in my limited grilling experience…once the patties are on the grill, DON’T MESS WITH THEM! Turn them once and only once. Don’t mash on them because you will just lose all of the good juice and flavor. Leave them alone!

Flip after 5-6 minutes have passed and cook for another 4 minutes. While these are finishing, butter both sides of your buns because they are going on the grill, too.

Once the burgers are done, move them to the cooling shelf of your grill if you have one and put cheese on them if desired. The cheese will melt with the residual heat. Place the buns on the grill and cook for a couple of minutes. Check to see if the butter is melted and you have a few grill marks then flip and cook the other side.

Assemble your burgers and add your favorite burger toppings.

Please join me at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday.

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Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

Posted in Cooking, tagged Cooking, Frozen Yogurt, Pinterest on July 21, 2012| 5 Comments »

When I received an ice cream maker and dairy free ice cream recipe book for my birthday last year, I was thrilled. Since then, many experiments have happened with that little piece of equipment and most of them have been successes. As I have written on here before, I am lactose intolerant, but I can eat cheese and yogurt without any problems. Knowing that, I went on a search for a frozen yogurt recipe and found this one on Pinterest, of course. It was pinned from the website 101cookbooks.com.

The site says this yogurt rivals Pinkberry yogurt. I can’t claim that because there are no Pinkberry stores anywhere close to me, but this is some good frozen yogurt. It is sweet but still has that tang of yogurt that I really like. One note about the recipe: it calls to strain the yogurt before freezing it. I didn’t because there wasn’t enough time and it still turned out great.

3 cups plain or Greek yogurt

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix together all 3 ingredients in a large bowl until the sugar is dissolved.

Refrigerate the mixture for one hour then process in your ice cream maker according to instructions. That’s it! Easy, peasy!

This was some awesome stuff with the deep dish cookie pie. Don’t worry because that recipe will be here next Saturday. Come on back now!

Please join me at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday.

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Grilled Potato Slices

Posted in Cooking, tagged Cooking, grilled potato slices, Grilling, Skinny Taste on July 14, 2012| 6 Comments »

We are a bunch of potato lovers around here…fried, baked or grilled. We will eat them just about any way so when I found this recipe from Skinny Taste on Pinterest, I knew I HAD to try it. This is a great way to fix potatoes on a hot day when you don’t want to heat up your kitchen. Just throw these on the grill with whatever else you are cooking and your whole meal will be ready in no time.

2 Idaho potatoes

2 tsp. olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the grill to medium-high heat and slice the potatoes to about 1/4 inch thick pieces. Toss the slices with the oil and seasoning. I didn’t put quite enough seasoning on mine, so go pretty heavy handed with them.

Lower the heat to medium and put the slices right on the grill grate. Cook on the first side for about 7-10 minutes or until they slices are golden brown. Turn and cook until they are done to the crispiness you prefer. You may have to adjust the temperature of your grill if they are getting too dark or not dark enough. Just keep an eye on them.

I served these with cheesy steak sandwiches and fresh cucumbers from our garden. Now that is some good eating!!

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Honey Zucchini Muffins

Posted in Cooking, tagged Baking, Cooking, Honey Zucchini Muffins, Weelicious on July 7, 2012| 18 Comments »

My co-worker, K, gave all of us at the office some of her garden overflow which included a beautiful head of cabbage and some zucchini. You will have to check back in a little while to see what I do with the cabbage, but I knew I wanted to bake with the zucchini. I have made zucchini bread in the past before and really enjoyed it, but this time I decided to search for a different recipe. When I found this muffin recipe at Weelicious, I knew it was the one I wanted to try since I could include honey made by my father-in-law and his cousin. There is nothing like eating local if you can!

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, whisked

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

2/3 cup honey

1 1/2 cups zucchini, shredded (I used one medium zucchini.)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and put liners in a muffin pan. This recipe made 12 regular sized muffins. Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Then pour the wet into the dry and stir just until combined. This is called the “muffin method” and keeps the muffins from becoming too tough and dry.

Fill the muffin cups about half full and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool and enjoy! These make a great breakfast with a glass of orange juice on the side.

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Apple Braised Pork Loin

Posted in Cooking, tagged Allrecipes.com, Cooking, Pinterest, Pork Loin on June 30, 2012| 3 Comments »

Since I am severely allergic to poultry and C is not a big seafood lover, I like to search for new ways to cook beef or pork. I found this recipe, of course, on Pinterest. (Yes, I am addicted, but at least I am making the things I pin. That makes it all right, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it???) This recipe is from Allrecipes.com and I have used that site so many times.

This tenderloin turned out so tender and juicy with just a hint of sweetness from the apple juice. Yum! Even the leftovers were delicious.

2 tsp. Tuscan Sunset seasoning from Penzey’s Spices

1 teaspoon pepper

1 (3 pound) boneless pork loin roast

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 tsp. dried minced garlic

1 large apple – peeled, cored and chopped

1/2 cup frozen unsweetened apple juice concentrate, thawed

1/2 teaspoon salt

Rub the seasoning and pepper all over the tenderloin.

In a Dutch oven over medium heat, brown the meat on all sides in the oil then remove and keep warm.

In the same pan, sauté the onion and garlic until tender. Add the apple, apple juice concentrate and salt, then bring to a boil. Return meat to the pan. Cover and bake at 325 degrees F for 55-75 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F, basting occasionally with juices.Remove to a serving platter and keep warm.

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Taco Dip

Posted in Cooking, tagged Cooking, Dips, My Kitchen Addiction, Pinterest, Super Bowl Party, Taco Dip on June 23, 2012| 6 Comments »

C & I were invited to a Super Bowl party back in February so I went looking for a new dip recipe to try. Of course, I found this on Pinterest from the blog My Kitchen Addiction. This is the link to the original recipe. I tweaked it a little to suit my taste and the ingredients I had and it turned out great. There were no leftovers at all to bring back so I know it was a success.

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 white onion, diced

1 tsp. dried minced garlic

8 ounces light cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup light ranch dressing

2 tbsp. taco seasoning

4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded

Tortilla chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a pie pan (or rectangle baking pan) with nonstick spray. The pan I used is about 6×8”. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the ground beef, onion and minced garlic until the beef is cooked through.

In a bowl, combine the cream cheese, ranch dressing, chili powder, and ground cumin. Add the beef mixture and half of the shredded cheese. Stir to combine. Pour that mixture into the prepared baking dish and top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is golden and bubbly. Serve with tortilla chips or corn chips.

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Turtle Cake

Posted in Cooking, tagged Baking, Cake, Caramel, Chocolate, Cooking, Midwest Living Magazine, Turtle Cake on June 16, 2012| 18 Comments »

Anyone who reads this blog with any regularity knows that I LOVE chocolate and I think caramel is pretty tasty, too. My MIL subscribes to a magazine called “Midwest Living”, which is a lot like Southern Living just about the Midwest. This awesome looking cake was featured in one of these books and I knew I had to make it as soon as possible.

I think I have found my new favorite cake recipe because this is one of the best things that I have ever put in my mouth. I am not a coffee fan. Love the smell, hate the taste, so I have never been brave enough to try a chocolate cake recipe with brewed coffee as an ingredient. Coffee is included in this cake and now I know why so many recipes to include it. There wasn’t a strong coffee flavor, and the cake was so moist from it. This would make an awesome birthday cake or even a groom’s cake. It is that good!

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 cup buttermilk or sour milk (see note)

2/3 cup cooking oil

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder + a little extra for dusting the pans

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Chocolate Frosting (see recipe)

1 1/2 cups pecan halves, toasted

3/4 cup purchased caramel ice cream topping

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare three 9” cake pans by spraying with non-stick spray and dusting with extra cocoa powder. Then line them with wax paper circle. In a small bowl, combine the egg, buttermilk and cooking oil.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, beating with an electric mixer until combined. Gradually beat in hot coffee. Pour batter into prepared pans; spread evenly. Layers will appear thin.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for about 10 minutes in the pans then turn the cake layers out of the pans to cool completely.

Chocolate Frosting

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

6 tablespoons butter

12 ounce package (2 cups) semisweet chocolate pieces

1 – 2 teaspoons freshly brewed hot coffee

In a small saucepan, combine sugar and milk. Add butter. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add semisweet chocolate pieces. Using a wire whisk, mix until smooth. If frosting is too thick or grainy, stir in coffee.

Now here comes the fun part…

Place 1 cake layer, top-side down, onto a serving plate. Using an icing spatula or wide knife, frost the top of this layer with one-third of the frosting, pushing it out slightly from edges to make ripple or petal effect. Arrange one-third of the pecans on top and drizzle with 1/4 cup of the ice cream topping. Top with the second layer, top-side down. Repeat with frosting, pecans and caramel topping. Top with the third layer, right side up. Repeat with remaining frosting, pecans and caramel topping. Chill for 1 to 2 hours before serving.

Just look at all that decadence. Mmmmm…wish I had a piece right now.

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Taco Soup Version 2

Posted in Cooking, tagged Cooking, Soup, Taco Soup on June 9, 2012| 3 Comments »

Can there be too many versions of taco soup? I don’t think so, especially when it originates from a local source. A lot of local churches produce cookbooks for fundraisers and this recipe comes from a co-worker’s church. Well, the original comes from this cookbook, but I changed it up a little or maybe a lot. This called for three different kinds of beans and I am just not a huge bean eater so I pared that down to one kind. I also cut back on the amount of ground beef to make it a little more economical and it didn’t hurt the taste at all.

1 lb. ground beef

1 15oz. can pinto beans

2 10oz. cans chopped tomatoes with green chiles

1 29oz. can tomato sauce

1 1/2 cups beef broth

1 pkg. ranch dressing mix

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 can Mexicorn

1 pkg. taco seasoning

Cook the ground beef and onion until the beef is cooked through. Rinse and drain beans. Mix all of the ingredients together in a large pot and simmer on medium-low for 30 minutes. Top with shredded cheese if desired. If the soup is thicker than you want, add about 2 cups of water while it is simmering.

That’s all there is to it. Enjoy!

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Bacon Cheeseburger Bundles

Posted in Cooking, tagged Cheeseburger, Cooking, Crescent Rolls, Main on June 2, 2012| 6 Comments »

I am always on the hunt for new supper ideas that we will like. I am a little more adventurous than C is when it comes to trying new things, but he does pretty well if I don’t go crazy. One thing that holds me back severely is that I am very very allergic to chicken and turkey. Those are two meats that you will never find on my blog because I can’t even touch them without getting a reaction, let alone eat any. It definitely limits my options.

That means I am thrilled when I find a new ground beef recipe that looks promising. This recipe did more than look promising; it was delicious! I served these with chopped fresh veggies and oven baked fries on the side and it also made enough for lunches for the next two days. This is definitely a keeper!

Another great thing about it is that it is totally customizable to your burger preferences. Give this a try!

1 lb. hamburger

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp. minced onion

2-3 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled

3 can crescent rolls

Cook the ground beef over medium heat until there is no pink left. Add the minced onion, bacon, and cheese; stir to combine and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a cookie sheet. Unroll the crescent rolls into individual triangles. Place about 1 tablespoon of the meat mixture onto the big end of the roll. Roll the dough toward the small end and tuck the ends under to make a package.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm with ketchup or you favorite dipping sauce.

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