Skillet Mock Street Corn

 

I loved that this recipe was so simple and had so few ingredients.  It was a super tasty side to our spicy Crock-Pot Birria Tacos.  Super quick to prepare as well!

Skillet Mock Street Corn

2 15-ounce cans whole kernel corn, drained (or sub in 4 cups frozen)

2 tbsps. Butter

1 tbsp. fresh lime juice

4 ounces cream cheese

1 tbsp. fresh cilantro or 1/4 cup diced green onion

Heat skillet.  Melt butter and add corn, stirring and heating for a few minutes then add in the lime juice and cream cheese.  Stir until well blended and heated through.  Toss with cilantro or green onion.

I'd think if you had cream cheese with chives on hand this would go as well with the corn and you could skip the cilantro or green onion entirely. 

Crock Pot Birria Tacos - A bit Spicy!

 

A couple of years ago, Katie made Birria tacos and brought me a sampling.  I thought it was pretty good, if a little too hot for my tastes.  Recently when we went out to the new Mexican restaurant, I tried their version.  It was far too mild.  Just call me Goldilocks, despite my brunette head, okay?

I decided to try my own hand at this dish, and I have to say after eating them tonight that I was well pleased.  I had everything I used on hand, as part of my usual pantry ingredients.    While I tend to avoid recipes with a load of ingredients, these are all necessary for the flavor profile.  I know I served this on the first day of August, but it would be a lovely warming dish to serve once the weather is cold.  

I will say that I think you're wise to taste test the chipotle in adobo sauce to see how warm it might be and then add accordingly.  I've recently learned that chipotle peppers are actually smoked jalapenos in a seasoned sauce.  And jalapenos can vary widely in heat index.  I've had chipotles that were just pleasantly smoky tasting and barely warm.  These were fairly hot, so I added five. I knew I wouldn't be adding the Guajillo peppers the recipe called for and I didn't want to compromise the taste of the sauce too much. The Consommé was still a bit spicy but in a very pleasant tongue and lip tingling way. 

You'll have chipotle peppers left over (and tomato paste too, most likely).  Just scoop the peppers and a bit of sauce into individual piles on a cookie sheet covered with parchment and freeze, then pop the puck into a baggie to save to use later in other dishes.  Or more Birria!

I'll share the link to the recipe that Katie forwarded to me and then I'll post the ingredients I myself used as the recipe.  

I liked the broth I teste so well that I sipped a cup of it yesterday after I'd finished cooking the roast, before blending the broth and other ingredients into the thick consommé we had today for dipping.  And yes, I did keep the beef and the broth in the fridge for 24 hours before reheating and serving as tonight's meal.  

Click on the title to go to the original recipe on Pinterest.  And read on for how I made it.

Crock Pot Birria Tacos

2-pound boneless chuck roast

2 tbsps. olive oil

salt and pepper

5-6 Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce

1 small onion, sliced

8 smashed cloves garlic

32 ounces of water

14.5-ounce can of fire-roasted tomatoes 

4 tsps.  beef bouillon powder

3 bay leaves

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tbsp. cumin

1 tbsp. tomato paste

1 tbsp. dried oregano

1 tbsp. dried cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Salt and pepper the roast, then brown in a hot pan.  Now add all the other ingredients and cook on low heat for 8 hours.  It smells amazing as it's cooking.  

Remove meat and then blend the remaining sauces and ingredients in the pan. I allowed mine to cool completely, since I was serving it the next day.  If you are blending hot liquids, then please do it in small batches and follow all precautions.

The original recipe says to save the fat.  My roast was so lean that there was no fat on the broth at all.  There is a good reason for saving that savory fat though if you have it.  You'll want to heat the fat in a frying pan and use that to fry the corn tortillas for serving the tacos.  I can tell you this does add another layer of flavor to this dish.  

Shred beef.  Mix with 1-2 cups of the Birria Consommé, just enough to moisten it.  Heat and serve remaining Birria Consommé on the side for dipping.

This meat mixed with the blended sauce reheated extremely well the next day.  The consommé has a slight thickness to it once blended.  I didn't think we needed all of it for the meal, so I put 1.5 pints of it into the freezer.  I'm just going to reuse that next time I decide to make Birria Tacos.  I mean it's already fully seasoned...It would also make a great soup or chili base.

I served this on homemade flour tortillas with a side of a mock street corn (I'll share that recipe next) and a salad.  We topped the tacos with cheddar, diced green onion and Kate and I opted to have cilantro as well.  We both like the flavor of cilantro.  Caleb and John passed on that.  

Ham and Broccoli Pie

 

Karla, friend and reader, went online to hunt for this recipe.  I do believe it's the same as the one I was reminiscing about, though I don't think my former recipe called for fresh broccoli.  I'm pretty sure it called for frozen.   I recall it being very good.  Will my 60 something self like it as well as my 20 something self?  We'll see!

I would love to try this sometime substituting chicken for the ham.  I think the flavors would work just as well.

HAM AND BROCCOLI PIE

1 bunch fresh broccoli 2 stalks celery, sliced 1 onion, coarsely chopped 2 tbsp. butter, melted 2 tbsp. cornstarch 2 tsp. dry mustard 1/4 tsp. marjoram 1/4 tsp. grated lemon rind 1/8 tsp. pepper 2 c. milk 2 tbsp. lemon juice 2 c. chopped cooked ham 1 recipe pie pastry Separate broccoli into flowerets. Place in large saucepan with 1/2 inch boiling water. Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes; drain. Saute celery and onion in butter in skillet for 3 minutes. Combine cornstarch, mustard, marjoram, lemon rind and pepper in medium saucepan; stir in milk gradually. Add celery and onion mixture. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute; remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice, broccoli and ham. Pour into 2 quart casserole. Roll out pastry; cut into strips. Arrange lattice-fashion over top; flute edge. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Yield 4-6 servings.

Just an afterthought...I wonder if this would be just as good with a cheese sauce instead of the lemon sauce?  I will say the lemon sauce is so light that it is perfect for a summer day.

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Spoon Bread Ham Supper

Recently I came across a very good price on a half shank ham that was a bit less than $1 a pound.  I bought it, cut it into two meatless portions and the shank bone portion which had plenty of meat on it.  I cooked it in the crockpot last week while I was out one day and we've been eating off that meat in some form or another.  We had a ham supper, ham sandwiches, a few bits of ham tossed into a German potatoes and today I decided that was enough.  I was beginning to feel as I do at Christmas when we've eaten an overload of turkey.  

I removed what meat I could from the bone and made one more recipe and put that shank bone, with plenty of meat yet, into the freezer.  I look forward to a pot of Fifteen Bean Soup when really cold weather rolls around once more.  That won't be for months yet.

I reminisced on Blue House Journal about two recipes I'd made often in the early days of my first marriage.  One was a Spoon Bread Ham Supper dish.  The other was a Ham and Broccoli Pie.   

Both were in a Woman's Day 365 Menus and Recipes magazine that was specially published.  I think there may have been more than one volume of this published.  I bought my own copy in the late 1970's and I used that magazine often to try out new recipes.  It is from that same publication that I found my first really good homemade brownie recipe.  There was an almond cake that I really liked, a sausage stuffed acorn squash, and these two dishes.  I know there were other recipes as well.

Thank you to friend and reader, Karla, who took time to look up both recipes for me.  The recipe below reads exactly as I recall the one in the magazine reading.  That's how I made it and how I served it.

Spoon Bread Ham Supper
1/2 cup chopped green onion with tops
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 package (8 1/2 oz) corn muffin mix
1 cup chopped cooked ham
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 1/2 cups (6 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon sesame seed

Saute onion in 1 tablespoon butter 5 minutes. Combine corn muffin mix, ham, 2 tablespoons butter, eggs, milk, mustard and 1 cup Cheddar cheese. Add onion and mix just until blended. Pour into buttered 1 1/2-quart casserole. Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and 2 tablespoons butter and sesame seed. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Cut in wedges and serve hot with Mushroom Sauce*. 4 to 5 servings.

*Mushroom Sauce: stir 1/3 cup milk into 1 can (10 3/4 oz0 condensed cream of mushroom soup. Heat to boiling; simmer 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Ironically, I didn't see Karla's comment with this recipe until I'd decided to wing it and make my own version.  I used the Jiffy Corn Casserole recipe as my Spoonbread topping.  I added in some of my homegrown chopped green onions and I did not sauté it in butter.  It was absolutely delicious, and we didn't miss the Sesame Seed or Mushroom Sauce at all.

Let me know if you try either variation of the recipe and tell me how you liked it.

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Broccoli Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Homemade Ranch Mix

 

Early this week, Katie asked if I'd make Spinach stuffed Chicken.  I haven't made it in ages and it did sound good, but no spinach on hand, neither fresh nor frozen.  When I told her this, she said, "Then try some Broccoli and Cheese stuffed breasts instead."  She knew full well I had a LOT Of the little individual packets of broccoli frozen in the freezer, courtesy Sam passing me the extra lunch food items given out by the school.

I didn't look up a recipe.  I just thought about how I'd want it to taste.  I debated on plain cheddar and broccoli, but I wanted a little something more.  I happened to see a short video of someone making a Ranch Cheese Ball...And that's where my mind began to come up with a plan.

Now I will tell you that I'd planned to use a packet of dry Ranch seasoning.  I didn't have one on hand, but we've often enough dumped a bunch of herbs, garlic and onion powder into mayonnaise and milk and made our own.  That's what I did.  I'll share my herb and seasoning mix below this recipe.

It turned out to be quite good!  Here's my recipe:

Broccoli Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

6 ounces softened cream cheese

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1.5 cups finely chopped broccoli florets

Ranch dressing mix (see below for my homemade dry mix)

3-4 boneless skinless breasts

Butterfly breasts.  I cut a line down the middle of the breast and then filleted either side of the line.

Mix cream cheese, broccoli, seasoning, cheddar well.  Divide into portions and put a portion at the smallest end of each breast then roll into bundles.  Mine were like long jelly rolls.   I placed mine in a slow cooker on High for two hours then cooked on low for two more hours.  

This served three but could easily have been halved to serve more with an additional side dish.  I served it with Mashed Potatoes and a salad.

 My Ranch Mix

1 tsp. Chives

1 tsp. dried Celery leaves

1 tsp. Dill Weed

1 tbsp. Parsley flakes

1 tsp. Tarragon leaves (in future, I'll half this)

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. Lemon pepper

This was quite good but the Tarragon kind of took over the other flavors a bit.  I'm not accustomed to using Tarragon but there it was on the herb and spice shelf so in it went.  I would have liked the tang of buttermilk powder and that's why I decided to add the lemon pepper.  I really liked that added touch.

I mixed a little of this with some salt and sprinkled over the top of my chicken.  

My family all liked it.  Katie and John both complimented me on this dish and I found it to be quite good myself.  

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Contest Winning Corn Moussaka

I found the original of this recipe in a 1980 Better Homes and Gardens Magazine.  It was a contest winner dish at that time.  It appealed to me on the basis that it used corn and ground beef, both of which I typically had on hand.  I didn't keep cottage cheese on hand then, but I felt the recipe was economical enough I could afford that addition to my budget.  Nowadays, I'd probably substitute in a Bechamel sauce.   

This recipe stood the test of time.  I have made it on average at least twice a year since 1980.  In a household where I typically 'shake things up' often and am always trying new recipes.  

Recently I've added allspice and oregano to the sauce base.  You really do want the warm flavor of cinnamon and allspice in this casserole for that indefinable flavor.  

Corn Moussaka

1 17-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained

1 1/2 pounds ground beef *

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 8 ounce can tomato sauce

1/2 tsp garlic salt** 

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground allspice

1/2 tsp oregano

2 slightly beaten eggs

1 1 /2 cups cottage cheese with chives, drained*** 

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

slivered almonds (optional)

Spread corn in an ungreased shallow casserole, 10 x 7.  In medium skillet, brown ground beef.  Drain fat if necessary.  Add flour; cook and stir for 1 minute.  Add tomato sauce, flour, garlic, and cinnamon.  Pour over corn in dish.  Bake at 350F for 15 minutes. 

Mix cottage cheese and eggs.  Spread over warm meat mixture.  Top with cheeses.  Sprinkle almonds on top of the cheese.  Bake 10-15 minutes more. *I usually end up baking a little longer.  The cottage cheese topping should be just soft set.  If it is a little wobblier than you feel comfortable with, cook up to 1/2 hour, but check every five minutes.  The point is not to cook the cheese dry and hard atop the meat mixture.****

  *I've never used more than a pound of meat in this recipe

**I use 1 teaspoon minced garlic

***/****I have never noticed the part where it says to drain the cottage cheese! You could easily skip the draining and just add in a couple of tablespoons of flour and stir well.   I add 1 tablespoon dried chives to plain cottage cheese.

You can skip the whole cottage cheese thing and just make a 2-cup recipe of Bechamel sauce.  I stir two beaten eggs into my sauce to make it 'set' up nicely.  

NOTES:  I just made an Eggplant and Potato Moussaka.  My take was that I'd rather have used the meat filling from this recipe.  And next time I will!

You can use either sliced grilled Eggplant or thick slices of Potato that has been well browned on both sides in this dish.  Layer the vegetables and meat the way you do in Italian Lasagna.  Adding a bit of grated Parmesan between layers and to the top of the dish is delicious.  

Banana Pineapple Bread

This recipe came to me with two stainless steel loaf pans I'd purchased a couple of years ago.  I tried it then and found the recipe problematic.  It was good, but it definitely needed some work.  For one thing the loaf pans are about half the depth of a standard loaf pan.  The recipe came with each pan.  And according to the recipe, it would fit in the one pan.  I could tell just reading through the quantity of ingredients that was not going to work. I think at the time I baked my first trial run of the batter by dividing it in half, putting some in each pan.  And I do recall I had issues, but the overall taste was good and a nice change from my usual banana bread recipe.

So, I tried this recipe again this week when I had two very ripe bananas.  I won't tell a fib: it's still a problem recipe but it's sooo good!  I'm going to send it out here and the next time I try it I will note any changes I make.  I'll also submit the recipe as it was written and write what my experiences were this time around.

Banana Pineapple Bread

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

3 eggs

1 cup drained, crushed pineapple

3 ripe bananas

1 cup oil

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chopped walnuts

The recipe states to mix all dry ingredients in one bowl and all wet ingredients in a second bowl then combine them.  Mix in nuts.  It says to bake in 'bread' pan and doesn't mention greasing or spraying the pan.  It goes on to say bake for 40-50 minutes at 350F.

First, I'll tell you what I did wrong.  I had two bananas.  I didn't drain my pineapple exactly, but I kind of did as I dipped it from the can and into my measuring cup.  I figured with the lack of the third banana the added moisture wasn't going to be a problem.  I purposely cut back the sugar to 1.5 cups.  It just seemed excessive with the pineapple, even though it was packed in juice.

I have a load of walnuts and could have used them, but I also had a bag of cashews in the cabinet that are going uneaten and decided to use a cup of those instead.  Yes, they are salted.  I didn't see that as a problem.  I figured with all the sweetness in the loaf the salt wasn't going to be too dominant.

I did grease my pan.  I couldn't imagine the bread coming out of the pan otherwise.  

I was using the stainless-steel loaf pans that this recipe came with another dish.  Those are 8x3 x2.  I poured all of the batter into the regular loaf pan (9 x 5), the one that is an actual loaf bread pan.  It filled it to the brim.  I knew I was in trouble then.   Didn't stop me though it did make me pause.   

Next time, I'll bake it in the extra-long (16 x 4) pan I bought, the one meant to make angel food cake in a loaf form.  I have a 13-inch-long pan but feel it would still be too small for this amount of batter.  Alternatively, I could bake a half dozen or even nine muffins and the regular loaf...Just thinking here to give you all ideas.  

I baked it for 50 minutes.  When I inserted my pick off center it came out clean, but I noted a suspicious extra jiggle.  Good for Quiche or egg custard.  Not so much with bread.  I checked in the center, and it came out coated in batter.  At that point, we had to leave home for a birthday party.  I left it in the oven, though I did shut it off.  When I returned, I checked the loaf again with my stainless-steel pick and it still came out coated in batter.  I reheated the oven, kept the loaf in the oven the whole while and baked for an hour more, checking it periodically.  The pick never did come out clean.  I don't know if I kept hitting a big piece of banana or not, but I couldn't justify baking it any longer. At that point, I simply pulled it from the oven because the outer edges were getting a bit overdone.  

Later note:  It was just a very moist bread but definitely cooked through.  Still think next time I need to use two regular loaf pans or the longer Angel Food Cake pan that I have on hand.

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