Beef and Broccoli braid - a versatile go-to

ok, I did not plan to blog this one BUT after posting a pic on facebook, I realized I NEEDED to share this recipe. I found and made it years ago from a "homestyle" cookbook I had from a charitable organization in Lubbock, TX. It includes recipes that remind you of your mom, your grandma... comforting & delicious, though not all necessarily "gourmet". Case in point, one of the next recipes "Burrito Casserole," haha! I'm sure it's delicious too. 

So I made this recipe for Sie's family and it was just a huge hit. He always requests it for special occasions! Sooooo simple, very few ingredients but makes for a truly pretty presentation. AND it's versatile. Below the recipe I've listed some other combinations I've wanted to try with this same technique.

Beef and Broccoli Braid

(originally shared by: Jill Bramlet)

1 lb. ground beef

10 oz. frozen broccoli, thawed

2 c. cheddar cheese

1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained (I like garlic & olive oil flavored)

1 pkg. onion soup mix or herb and garlic soup mix

1 sheet frozen puff pastry or 2 cans crescent rolls (*note: definitely go with puff pastry. it's so much easier than combining the dough from crescent rolls plus its easy to find now, not expensive and just overall turns out better for this)

1 beaten egg

Brown ground beef in a skillet and drain. Add thawed broccoli, soup mix and cheese to meat. Mix well. Unfold thawed pastry or crescent rolls in an ungreased baking sheet in a rectangle shape. 

(The instructions for this part aren't very descriptive, so let me elaborate; if you go with puff pastry, give it a few rolls to stretch it just a bit and also smooth any cracks. sometimes the edges where it was folded crack and you want to essentially want to rejoin any of those. If you go with crescent rolls, you need to first roll them together into a similar rectangle shape/size as what you would get in a puff pastry sheet)

Along long sides, cut slits 1 inch apart from outer edge. The first time i shared with my mom, she could not envision it so I had to draw a diagram like the one shown here. Mound meat mixture down center of dough. (I always have leftovers - don't overmound!) Starting at one end, fold pastry strips over filling, alternating sides, to cover filling (it is ok if you can see the mixture through the braid- does not need to be completely closed to work) Beat egg in small bowl; brush over pastry. Bake in 400 degree oven 30-35 minutes, until pastry is golden brown.


Recipe note: Part of this recipe can easily be made the night before you need it. Just brown the meat, add the tomatoes, cheese, soup mix and broccoli. Refrigerate until needed. Warm mixture in the microwave oven while you are preparing the dough. Finish the braid like above.

Here is a picture of mine from Sie & I's anniversary dinner:

Some variations of fillings I'd like to try: Breakfast version with eggs, cheese, sausage and green chiles. Veggie version with squash, cheese, sweet potatoes and onions. Italian version with italian tomatoes, chicken, mozzerella and mushrooms. The options are endless :)

Hope you enjoy!

Watermelon salad with feta and basil

This salad is so easy and really is a refreshing alternative to a green salad. I bought a personal size watermelon earlier in the week and I decided I would try and make a salad with it. I've had salads with watermelon before but I'd never made one. Dean was skeptical but I think I won him over in the end. Salad to him means something with lettuce! The recipe I found was Martha Stewart but it's uncharacteristically easy for one of her recipes!

Watermelon Salad with Feta and Basil

6 cups cubed watermelon
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 cup basil leaves cut into thin strips
Course salt and pepper
4 oz feta, broken into big pieces (about a cup)

I cut up my watermelon into large cubes, added the rest of the ingredients and there you have it. A nice cool salad for a hot summer day.

***On a side note, if you aren't growing fresh herbs, you really should try it. I'm growing basil, mint, Italian parsley and chives right now. They are easy to grow and it's so rewarding to go out and harvest the herbs for the recipes right out of my own garden.

Enjoy this lovely weather!

Roasted Butternut squash

Dean & I have no trouble eating vegetables...we love them but I'm bored with my old standbys...so I bought a butternut squash for something different.

If I've made it before, I sure don't remember it so I went on the hunt for a new recipe. Most were sweet with ingredients like brown sugar or honey. Well, that's not us. We like our vegetables savory! Finally, I came across this Ina Garten recipe. (I love her recipes). http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-butternut-squash-recipe

Except for having to peel the squash, the recipe is pretty much like a roasted potato recipe.

Heat oven to 400. Peel, seed and cut the squash into cubes. Arrange on a baking sheet and sprinkle with good olive. Salt and Pepper and bake for 30 minutes.

What could be easier? The squash comes out soft and delicious. I think if you went easier on the salt and pepper, it would be something the little ones would like, too. It tastes almost buttery. Hmmm, I guess that's how it got it's name! Buttery, Butternut squash...try it for a change....

Skillet Chicken with Green Chile Sauce

I made the best recipe last night. I didn’t take pictures until the very end because I didn’t think about it being blog worthy…but it turned out so pretty that I had to take a shot of it. And then, we tasted it and I must say it was delicious. Fast, easy, looks good…yes, that’s definitely something to write about. (This recipe was printed in the Houston Chronicle but originally came from Good Housekeeping.)

4 medium boneless, skinless breast halves
Salt & Pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small can green chilies
1 cup grape tomatoes each cut in half
¾ cup chicken broth
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 clove garlic, crushed with press
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro

Start by pounding the breasts with a meat mallet till you have an even thickness. Or if you like, cut the breasts in half horizonally. Salt & pepper.

In a non-stick pan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. When the oil is hot cook the breasts until browned on both sides. Cook until you can’t see any pink throughout and totally browned. They get a little crispy on the outside but that makes it yummy.

Take the breasts out of the skillet and put them on a platter. Cover with foil.

To your hot skillet add the green chilies, tomatoes, chicken broth, cumin and garlic. Cook for about 3 minutes until the sauce reduces slightly. Stir in the cilantro and spoon over the chicken.

So easy and so delicious! I love finding recipes like this.

Enjoy

Stovetop Chicken Pie

Nothing warms you up on a chilly snow day like good old comfort food and this recipe fits the bill. This is an old fashion chicken pot pie made both easier and lighter. Yum!! What's not to like about that!

Ingredients
8 frozen buttermilk biscuits
1 small sweet onion diced
a Tbsp. canola oil
1 (8 oz) package sliced fresh mushrooms
4 cups chopped cooked chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken, it was the perfect amount)
1 (10 1/4 oz) can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 (8 oz) package less fat cream cheese, cubed
1/2 envelope Italian dressing mix (about 2 tsp)
1 cup frozen baby peas

Go ahead and cook the bisquits...you'll be finished with the recipe by the time your bisquits cook.

Pull the meat off the rotisserie chicken and chop and also chop the onion.



In a Dutch kettle (or heavy saucepan), saute the onion in the canola oil until cooked through. Add the mushroom and cook 5 more minutes. Stir in the chopped chicken and the next five ingredients, cook until the cream cheese melts.



Add the peas and stir till all is warm. Serve over one of the split biscuits. This is a Southern Living recipe that can please even the pickiest eater!
Stay warm, enjoy your time home with your family and have fun!

Bake This, Not That: Upside-down Apple Dessert Face Off

Inspired by the "Eat this, not that" guy (David Zinczenko) who always pops by on the Today Show, I thought I could pass along the same advice with two holiday desserts I recently made.

The first, I decided to make at home visiting my parents just for fun (and because I wanted to feature a fallish dessert on the blog), the Upside Down Apple Tart from Southern living. The second, the "Apple Upside-Down Pie", also from Southern Living, I made for Thanksgiving in Texas.

They sound incredibly similar, don't they? Both upside down, delicious apple treats... Don't be fooled! because both the work required and the end result were shockingly different!

The loser of the two (the unfortunate "Not That") was the "Upside-Down Apple Tart"- a rare miss from Southern Living in my opinion.

I chose the recipe because the ingredients were so minimal (I hate buying 20 bizarre ingredients I'll never use again!)

1 cup cold butter, cut up
2 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup ice-cold water
1 (3-lb.) package small Granny Smith apples, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup butter, cut up

 

I really only needed to buy Granny Smith apples. That, sadly was the end of the easy part. The recipe first requires you to make your own dough, wrap into a disk and chill for 2 to 24 hours. I didn't mind making the dough (it's fairly simple) - but the chill time required meant I couldn't make the dessert right away. Choices were to make it a day in advance or in my case, make it into the wee hours of the night after the dough had chilled!

I went ahead to the next step after about an hours chill time, which was to put all other ingredients into a cast iron skillet and simmer for over an hour. Right there, I realized this was not my kind of recipe. Putting something into the oven for an hour is one thing. But stirring on the stove top every 15 minutes for over an hour? Sounds like something I will likely burn!

After the apples cook down on stove top (I'm not getting too detailed into each step of the recipe simply because I don't recommend it), then roll out the dough made previously, place it on top of your cast iron skillet, tuck in the sides, and bake for 25 minutes in the oven.

After it comes out, you let it cool, cut around the sides, and invert onto your serving dish.

Overall the recipe wasn't terribly difficult, but definitely a time commitment. My biggest problem was that there was nothing special about the recipe to make it worth the work. It wasnt particularly pretty (it should have been a giveaway that even the magazine picture wasnt very pretty), didn't have cinnamon (which I say is a must for baked apple dishes!), and lost a lot of texture (see: applesauce mush) in the lengthy cooking process. It was ok (with vanilla ice cream), but not worth the effort. That night, I kept saying to my mom, if you're going to do this much work, why not make a beautiful apple pie?

On to #2, the winner of the two (and my recommendation for "Bake this") is the "Apple Upside Down Pie". I was determined to redeem myself after the apple tart bust above, and wanted to bring something unique for Thanksgiving (I knew pecan pie & pumpkin pie would be covered!)

Though its name sounds similar, the "Apple Upside-Down Pie"didnt have much else in common with the apple tart recipe above.

The ingredients are very similar, except this one calls for brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and pecans instead of plain white sugar (all except pecans are ingredients one would typically have on hand, though).

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 (15-oz.) package refrigerated piecrusts, divided
4 medium-size Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (about 1 3/4 lb.)
2 large Jonagold apples, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (about 1 1/4 lb.)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

The second major difference was that it called for refridgerated pie crusts (which I'd never used before). They were inexpensive and sooo easy to use. Even though it is sometimes fun to try your own pie crusts, you can't beat the convenience (especially since I was trying not to destroy my mother in law's kitchen as she cooked for thanksgiving day! ;) )

First, mix the pecans, melted butter and brown sugar into the bottom of a pie plate (I probably could have eaten just those 3 items as dessert and been perfectly happy!) Then, fit one pie crust over the pecan mixture, letting the excess hang over the sides.

(not sure why this picture won't flip, it's right side up in my pictures!)

Then, take the pealed and chopped Granny smith apples (apples are cut into roughly 1 inch chunks per above), pealed and chopped Jonagold apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir together.

Spoon mixture into crust (which you earlier placed over pecan mixture), packing tightly and mounding in center. **On this step, do not pack so firmly that you break through the bottom pie crust; gently pack down apples). 

Place remaining piecrust (a box comes with two crusts) over filling.

Press both crusts together, fold edges under and crimp- we took our own artistic liberty with this step. Yes, those are Sie's hands - what can i say the guy's a pro! :)

Place pie on foil lined jelly roll pan (sorry to my mother in law, whose house we were at, I just realized this said foil lined! I did have some bubbling over onto the pan but it didnt make a difference in taste or appearance!) Cut 4 to 5 slits for steam to escape.

Bake at 375° on lower oven rack for approximately 1 hour or until crust is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a pick through crust slits (I did not attempt that, and just pulled out when golden brown). The recipe said to shield pie with aluminum foil after 50 minutes, if necessary, to prevent excessive browning, but I didnt experience that. 

Fresh outta the oven



Cool on wire rack 10 minutes. Place a serving plate over top of pie; invert pie onto serving plate.

Remove pie plate slowly so all the pecans can pull off with the pie, patch up any places where pecans stayed in the pie plate.

Let cool completely (about 1 hour).

VOILA!

This was a big hit at Thanksgiving (I did think it was best warmed up in the microwave) and would be outstanding with ice cream (what wouldnt?) It was easy - essentially mix ingredients & throw in oven to bake - but looked very beautiful and tasted great.

Hope you enjoy!

Chili-Lime Pecans

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
3 cups of pecans

This is an easy recipe that would be perfect for taking as a snack for Thanksgiving or to bring as a hostess gift.

Stir the lime juice, olive oil, paprika, salt, chili powder and red pepper together.



Add pecans and toss.


Spread in a lightly greased aluminum foil-lined jelly-roll pan.



Bake at 350 for 12 to 14 minutes until pecans are roasted and dry.

And that's all there is to it! Put the pecans in a pretty tin and you have a scrumptious treat to eat or share.

Have fun,