Bake Me More

Saturday morning is our “big breakfast” day. Usually we will have either pancakes, or some type of egg dish. Today I had some baked potatoes (from last night’s dinner) to use up. They were already seasoned and buttered, so I just chopped them and used my hash brown frittata recipe to finish the dish. It’s basic and simple… and it’s gone.

*In addition to using the baked potatoes, I used 7 regular eggs instead of Egg Beaters. Topped it out with sour cream and salsa.

My mil is leaving for Arizona tomorrow. She has lived here in FL for 22 years, but due to economic times, she is moving. I prepared one of her favorites for this farewell dinner – shrimp.

The meal itself was easy to prepare. The only drawback I had was grilling in the cold, pouring rain. It still turned out wonderfully.

The chicken was marinated all night in Italian dressing, then slow grilled for a little over an hour. Just before removing, a Honey BBQ glaze was applied. In the meantime, I steamed corn on the cob and prepared Hasselback (aka fan) potatoes. Now these potatoes rocked – and will become a staple for a starch side from now on.  We also had a freshly prepared Caesar Salad and some grilled onion packets. Overall dinner was highly successful.

I prepared the shrimp by boiling them in a lightly seasoned, butter bath and served them with melted butter. They were x-large shrimp and were purchased already deveined… mmmmm….

For dessert I made chunky brownies and served them warm with ice cream. Needles to say they were gone before photos could be taken.

Here is how to prepare the potatoes. It is very easy and well worth it.

Hasselback Potatoes(AKA Accordion, Fan etc…)

Ingredients:

• Medium Potatoes, I used Red
• Butter, I used spray, but you could melt some
• Olive Oil
• Seasonings, as desired
• Wooden Spoon
• Sheet pan coated with cooking spray or with a thin layer of olive oil

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the potatoes about 1/4 thick (as in the picture). To do this, place one potato in the “spoon” part, of a wooden spoon. The potato will rest in the well of the spoon and you can slice all the way through the potato till the spoon stops it. This leaves just enough of the potato attached that you can “fan” them and coat them with the oils and seasonings.

Place the cut potatoes on a microwave safe dish and heat for 6 – 10 minutes – based on the size and number of potatoes. Remove and place on prepared sheet pan. Spray the potatoes with butter, then brush on olive oil. Sprinkle with course sea salt and seasonings as desired. I use Lawry’s Seasoned Salt. Bake for 30 – 45 minutes, coating with additional butter half way through. When the potatoes are soft, remove and serve.

*Note about the microwaving – the idea is to have them slightly cooked so they don’t scortch in the oven…just a nice crispy brown. I was hesitant about microwaving, but I am glad I did. The potatoes turned out perfectly.

Chicken Enchiladas

Dinner tonight was shared with relatives from Arizona. If you want to have real Mexican food, get a native Arizonan to bring dinner. They actually live about 15 miles from the border… I guess that’s about the closest you can get without living in Mexico. And when they visit, at least one of our dinner’s includes this “feast”.

On tap for dinner tonight was: Beef Enchiladas, Chicken Enchiladas, Tamales and good ole’ Tacos with fresh fried Corn Tortillas. We had enough food for an army. Thankfully, (portion wise) I talked them out of making the Chili Rellenos. This was good, because there were more leftover’s than actual food consumed.

Blueberry Angel Dessert

For dessert we had…ok this is totally not Mexican, Blueberry Angel Dessert. It turned out to be a great night of food and fellowship.

This is a Taste of Home recipe that I have been making for several years. Here is the easy, 5 ingredient recipe:

Blueberry Angel Dessert

Ingredients:

• 1 angel food cake, cut into 1″ cubes
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 (8oz) block cream cheese, softened
• 1 (8oz) container Cool Whip, thawed
• 1 Can Comstock Blueberry Pie Filling

Directions:

Combine the sugar and cream cheese until well blended, then stir in cool whip. Fold in cake pieces and place in a 9 x 13″ pan. Top with pie filling and refrigerate for at least two hours. I have also made this in a trifle bowl, layering the cake mixture and blueberries. I use 1 1/2 – 2 cans of pie filling for the trifle.

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And as for the Enchiladas, I would say this is a very, very simple recipe. The taste is not “simple”, it is quite good! For the beef, I used half of the ground beef that we cooked up for the tacos.

Beef (and Chicken) Enchiladas

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 small onion (vidalia)
• Desired Taco Seasoning (I used a packet)
• 3 – 4 cups shredded cheese, Mexican blend
• 2 packs Mission Tortilla Shells (10″)
• 2 – 4 cans Enchilada sauce, (green is milder)

Pre-heat the oven to 350. Saute onion then add ground beef (or chicken) and seasoning. In a 9 x 13″ pan (or larger), spoon a layer of sauce and top with a tortilla, top the tortilla with sauce then ground beef (about 3 tablespoons) and cheese. Roll up and repeat with remaining tortillas. Once the pan is filled, spread some additional sauce on top of rolls and top with more cheese. Bake uncovered for about 15 minutes, or until cheese is fully melted. We sliced them in half and served.

Meet Riley!

My daughter’s wish was fulfilled today. She has been begging for her own Yorkie for quite some time. This little guy just kind of fell into place and we brought him home today. It could be a long night, but we are hoping for an easy transition!

I was too tired to go to the grocery store, so we had to settle for whatever the pantry would provide…  This is how most of the dinners went this week. Sadly, there were not a lot of choices. On nights like this, I often resort to breakfast for dinner… enter, the pancake. Pancakes are never refused in this house, and I enjoy “mixing up” the flavor just for fun. As a last minute idea, I sauteed some thin sliced apples and placed them on top of the cinnamon pancake batter. The combination of cinnamon, sugar and apples was tremendous. It reminded me of a snickerdoodle. Here’s how I did it:

BTW, if the ease of preparation doesn’t convince you, the aroma of cinnamon sugar and apples will.

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Ingredients:

• Pancake batter (your preference)
• 2 medium apples, thinly sliced
• Cinnamon sugar
• Syrup
• Whipped topping

Directions:

Sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar over sliced apples. Spray a small fry pan with butter spray and saute the apples until they begin to soften. Meanwhile, prepare your favorite pancake batter. Add cinnamon sugar to taste. On a hot griddle or fry pan, pour equal amounts of pancake batter and top with an apple slice, pressing down just slightly, but not covering the apple. Continue to cook the pancake as normal, flipping only once. Serve with syrup, powdered sugar and whipped cream if desired.  

Notes:

1. I have found that it works better to place the apple slices on top of the batter, versus pouring the batter over the slices.
2. I didn’t measure the cinnamon and sugar. I rarely do. I have trained my nose to measure certain seasonings.