Asiago Smashed Potatoes

With a title like that, I am not sure we need any additional commentary.  We just need a fork.

4lb red potatoes unpeeled, quartered
1 1/2 tsp. salt, divided
10oz. Asiago cheese, shredded
1/2 C. butter, cut up
1/2 C. milk
1/2 C. sour cream
1/2 C. sliced green onions
1/2 C. crumbled cooked bacon
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Place potatoes in a large saucepan or Dutch oven; add enough water to cover.  Stir in 1 tsp. of the salt.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Reduce heat to medium; boil 20 to 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with knife.  Drain well.

Return potatoes to pan. Add all remaining ingredients, including remaining 1/2 tsp. salt.  Mash potatoes with potato masher.

Per serving: 275 calories, 15g fat, 11g protein, 24.5g carbohydrates, 40mg cholesterol, 825mg sodium, 3g. fiber

Herb Garden 2012

I am late this year getting the herb garden in but I am finally finished.  I have never had luck with veggies in pots and with a yard the size of a postage stamp and a beagle, I don't have room for a vegetable garden that doesn't grow well in a pot; so for me it's herbs.  I love being able to go out on my deck and bring in some fresh herbs.  I roasted a chicken in my crock pot last week with some fresh rosemary and some citrus.  It turned out really delicious and I used the leftover chicken in quesadillas the next night.  See below for photos of my baby herb plants.  I have big plans for my herbs this year~ 

This is my basil plant.  It has tripled in size since I put it in.  I am on alert for Japanese beetles who LOVE to ravage my basil.  Back off bugs!

Here is some sage.  I picked a few leaves to go with my rosemary on the chicken last week.

The thyme is growing great guns.

The chives are a little straggly.  I just got the plant this weekend.  I had one that survived the winter only to die this spring when I forgot to water it and Mother Nature forgot to send rain.

This is marjoram and I picked it up this weekend.

This is the baby rosemary plant.  I have a larger bush that actually survived our mild winter.  I have never had rosemary winter over before so I was pretty proud of myself.  Yes, I know, I had nothing to do with it.  LOL

This Greek oregano grows like a weed.  It's almost like ground cover and it dries nicely.  It's fantastic on eggs as well as the usual places you put oregano.

I don't know about this flat leaf parsley.  It looks pretty peaked.  I may get another plant if this one doesn't shape up.  I did trim the yellow leaves today so hopefully this will help.

This is cilantro...you can bet there will be homemade salsa this summer.  I am going to try my hand at roasting tomatoes because I had some fantastic roasted tomato salsa when in Arizona last week.

Stay tuned for recipes using my "world famous" herb garden!

Easy Flourless Chocolate Cake

I made this for Chris today.  I found the recipe on allrecipes.com  It was the easiest recipe for flourless cake that I have found.  In spite of the record breaking May heat (Hello hottest Memorial Day since records have been kept), the cake set up so nice and it was OUTSTANDING.  I am sad I did not take a photo of the whole cake.  I did take a quick picture of the leftovers though.

That was a 10 inch cake when we got started.  I supposed you could include the caramel sauce that was in the original recipe but with today's meal (dogs, brats, hamburger and tons of trimmings) the caramel sauce almost seemed too much.  Another time probably.

1 C. butter
8oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped  (I used 3/4 semisweet morsels and 1/4 bittersweet chocolate
1 1/4 C. white sugar
1 C. unsweetened cocoa
6 eggs

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter the bottom of a 10 inch springform pan, and line with parchment paper.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Stir in chocolate, and continue to stir until almost melted. Remove from heat, and stir until melted and smooth. In a large bowl, stir together 1 1/4 cups sugar and the cocoa powder. Whisk in the eggs until well blended, then whisk in the chocolate and butter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for about 45 minutes in the preheated oven. The cake is ready when the edges have nicely puffed and the surface is firm except for a small spot in the center that will jiggle when the pan is gently shaken. Cool cake in the pan over a wire rack. Run a knife around the sides of the pan to loosen the cake, then remove the sides of the pan, and invert onto a serving plate. Remove the parchment paper.                     

I dusted the cake with powdered sugar but here is the recipe for the caramel sauce.

1 1/2 C. white sugar

1/4 C. water

1 1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1 C. heavy cream

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

1. In a heavy saucepan, stir together 1 1/2 cups of sugar, water, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and cook without stirring until the syrup is a deep amber color. For an accurate color check, dip a metal spoon into the syrup and lift it out of the pan to check the color. Once the syrup is amber, remove from the heat. Gradually stir in the cream. The mixture will bubble vigorously. If lumps form, stir gently over low heat to dissolve them. Stir in 2 tablespoons of butter.
2. Cut the cake into wedges while warm, and serve with caramel sauce spooned over it. You can also chill the cake and sauce, then warm again before serving.                

Slider Style Mini Burgers

OK, I am going to go on record by saying that I cannot stand real Sliders.  I can barely be in the same room with them because the smell is so offensive to me.  Sorry White Castle fans!  These look harmless enough.

2lbs. ground beef
1 1.25oz. envelope onion soup mix
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 C. shredded Cheddar cheese
24 dinner rolls, split
1/2 C. sliced pickles (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.

Mix together the ground beef and onion soup mix in a large skillet; cook and stir over medium high heat until the beef is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink.  Drain and discard any excess grease.  Remove from heat.  Stir the mayonnaise and Cheddar cheese into the ground beef mixture.

Lay the bottoms of the dinner rolls on the prepared baking sheet.  Spread the cheese and beef mixture on the bottom half of each roll.  Replace the tops.  Cover with another sheet of aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake in the preheated oven until the burgers are heated through and cheese melts, about 30 minutes.  Serve with sliced pickles.

Cheesy Potato and Corn Chowder

The base of this recipe is country gravy mix which is one of my favorite things.  This isn't going to make a top 10 Weight Watchers recipe but I bet it is delicious.  So, double up your work out the day you make this and enjoy!

2 tbsp. margarine
1 C. chopped celery
1 C. chopped onion
2 14.5oz. cans chicken broth
3 C. peeled and cubed potatoes
1 15oz. can whole kernel corn
1 4oz. can diced green chiles
1 2.5oz. pkg. country style gravy mix
2 C. milk
1 C. shredded Mexican style processed cheese food aka Velveeta

In a large saucepan, melt margarine over medium high heat.  Add celery and onion; cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add chicken broth; bring to a boil.  Add potatoes; cook over low heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally.

Stir in corn and chiles; return to boiling.  Dissolve gravy mix in milk; stir into boiling mixture.  Add cheese; cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted.

Beef Wraps

I plan to try this when the kids come.  It looks easy enough and we can assemble them as we go.  Some shredded cheese might be a nice addition as well.

1lb. ground beef
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 packets Swanson Flavor Boost Concentrated Beef Broth
4 8inch flour tortillas, warmed
4 romaine lettuce leaves
4 tomato slices, cut in half
4 red onion slices cut in half

Cook the beef and garlic in a 10 inch skillet over medium high heat until the beef is well browned, stirring ogten to separate meat.  Pour off any fat.

Stir the concentrated broth in the skillet and cook until the mixture is hot and bubbling.

Place 1 lettuce leaf onto each tortilla.  Spoon about 1/2 C. beef mixture down the center of each tortilla.  Top each with 2 half slices tomato and 2 half slices onion.  Wrap the tortillas around the filling.

Salsa Chicken Burrito Filling

I make a salsa chicken in the crock pot that I have used for burritos, quesadillas and tacos.  This is a little more involved; my recipe is simply boneless skinless chicken breasts and salsa.  One problem I have with it is the mixture can be a little wet.  I am going to try this and see if it makes a better burrito filling.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 4oz. can tomato sauce
1/4 C. salsa
1 1.25oz. package taco seasoning
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. chili powder
hot sauce to taste

Place chicken breasts and tomato sauce in a medium saucepan over medium high heat.  Bring to a boil, then add the salsa, seasoning, cumin, garlic and chili powder.  Let simmer for 15 minutes.

With a fork, start pullin the chicken meat apart into thin strings.  Keep cooking pulled chicken meat and sauce, covered, for another 5 to 10 minutes.  Add hot sauce to taste and stir together.  You may need to add a bit of water if the mixture is cooked too high and gets too thick.