Down East Crab Cakes

Down East Crab Cakes 

taste great, 

less filler!

The Down East Crab Cake name comes from crabmeat mixed with eggs and sauce, 

no mayonnaise included!

Most of us love the sweet, briny crab meat that comes from the coasts.  Crab cakes started out as a measure of thrift.

CREAMED ASPARAGUS and EGGS OVER TOAST

Spring is on hold for yet another day here; what's with this chilly 26°with snow on the ground, and it's still coming down...

Whatever, it's that time of year ~ Springtime! ~ and asparagus is popping up all over, especially at the grocery store!

Most of the time, Bill and I like it steamed with a little salt and pepper, nothing more or roasted.  Then other times, that all takes a back seat to my creamed asparagus. 

A Healthier Beef Stroganoff

It was during the “ultimate comfort food era,” the 1950’s, when Beef Stroganoff migrated from its origin in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to the United States.  Sautéed pieces of beef were served in a sauce with “smetana” or sour cream, and mushrooms.  

The story goes that a culinary competition was held in the 1890’s, during Czarist times, when a daring chef concocted this savory dish.  The chef was employed by a high-ranking noble family, the Stroganov’s.  They were wealthy beyond belief with, at one time, having 155,000 serfs on the 6.5 million acres the family owned. 

The creative chef named the dish in honor of his patron, Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov and took away first prize.  A spin on the Beef Storganoff story is that it was created specifically for the Count because he had lost his teeth and was unable to chew a steak.

This version is a delicious dish that really took us by surprise.  The recipe is from The New American Heart Association Cookbook.  It is packed with delectable flavors and I will be making this Beef Stroganoff again!!!

Here's the recipe:

Lighter Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:

1 pound beef tenderloin, boneless round steak, or boneless sirloin

½ teaspoon pepper, or to taste

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 pound button mushrooms, sliced

1 medium onion, sliced

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups fat-free, no-salt-added beef broth

2 tablespoons no-salt-added tomato paste

2 tablespoons dry sherry

1 teaspoon dry mustard

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon dried dillweed

1/3 cup fat-free or light sour cream

Method:

Discard all visible fat from meat and slice into thin strips about 2-inches long; sprinkle with pepper.

Pour oil into a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Cook mushrooms for 2-3 minutes, or until tender; transfer to a plate.

Cook onion in same skillet for 3-4 minutes, or until brown; add to the mushrooms.

Put meat in skillet and brown on all sides until rare, about 3 minutes; add to mushrooms.

Put flour in skillet; gradually pour in broth, whisking constantly.

Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until thickened, whisking constantly.

Reduce heat to low.

Whisk in remaining ingredients except the sour cream.

Stir in the mushroom mixture.

Cook for 15 minutes.

Put sour cream in a small bowl.

Stir in a small amount of meat mixture and add to the skillet.

Cook for 5 minutes, or until heated through, stirring occasionally.

Serve over noodles or rice.

It’s DELICIOUS!!!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog, @My Kind of Cooking for great tips and delicious easy recipes! 

Spicy Sloppy Joes for Super Bowl Sunday

Growing up, this was a favorite messy meal of mine, and still is today!

Sloppy Joes are perfect for a delicious quick meal for your family or a crowd too ~ like for your Super Bowl party that’s coming up Sunday!  It’s a comfort food dish that is cheap also.  I make it just like Mom did, in an electric skillet.  It’s great for Sloppy Joes, but a slow cooker works just as well.

These Sloppy Joe’s are not sweet, like most are, and they’re not runny either ~ making them not so sloppy! Serve these Super Bowl Sunday for raves from your fans!

Spicy Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground round

1 large onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

2 cups tomato sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

¼ cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons McCormick’s Montreal Seasoning

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon dry mustard

Method:

To a large skillet, over medium-high heat, add ground beef and break it up.

Sauté until no longer pink.

Reduce heat to medium and add onions and bell peppers and sauté for 5 minutes.

Stir in tomato sauce and paste.

Turn heat to low and add remaining 5 ingredients.

Simmer on low for at least 5 minutes.

Serve piled on toasted buns.

4-6 servings

Enjoy with tangy cole slaw and your favorite sides.

Have a great Super Bowl Day and I hope your team wins!  Sadly, mine’s not playing…

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips and recipes.

Macaroni Gruyère and Parmesan with Bacon

Macaroni and cheese is delicious but macaroni and cheese with bacon is decadently delicious!
 

We all know the way to a man’s heart:  through his stomach!  And what man doesn’t like macaroni and cheese?  So here is a good treat for that special man in your life, be it your husband, father, brother, uncle, grandpa or boyfriend!  You can show him how much you care and satisfy his appetite by cooking the food that he loves on Father's Day this Sunday.  

Gruyère melts smoothly and has a slightly sweet, nutty flavor that blends perfectly with Parmesan’s buttery, nutty flavors. Add the succulent, smoky bacon to the mix and it turns the macaroni into a mouthwatering dish.  This is a creamy savory macaroni and cheese main dish or side dish.

Be ready for a forkful of cheesy goodness when this comes out of the oven!  It had us saying, “Ah!!!” and I hope it will have the same affect on you and your loved ones!

 

Macaroni Gruyère  and Parmesan with Bacon

Ingredients:

4 strips bacon, cut crosswise into thin strips

8 ounces macaroni

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon dried mustard

4 cups milk

4 cups (12 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese

1½ cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Chives for garnish, optional

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Fry bacon until crisp.  Drain and set aside.

Cook macaroni according to package directions.  Drain well.  Set aside.

In a large saucepan, melt butter.

Add flour and dry mustard to make a simple roux.

Stir in garlic.

Slowly pour milk into mixture, stirring constantly.

Add cheeses, except for ½ cup of Parmesan and blend well until mixture is smooth.

Scoop in cooked macaroni and coat well with the cheese and milk mixture.

Fold in crisp bacon strips.

Season with salt and pepper.

Pour mixture into 3-quart casserole that is coated with cooking spray.

Sprinkle with reserved Parmesan.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Serves 4-6

Yum!  It’s great with Gruyère, Parmesan and smoky bacon!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes and cookbook giveaway!

Saucy Sloppy Joes

I love sloppy joes ~ they aren’t just for kids, are they?

 

It’s something I have tried many recipes of.  This recipe is adapted from one that was in The Chicago Tribune years ago.

It’s the addition of cranberry sauce and liquid smoke with all the spices that makes it really tasty.  I know, you’re probably saying “cranberry sauce?”  It’s a great surprise ingredient!  It really adds to the flavor and does not make the sloppy joes overly sweet.

If you like sloppy joes, you must try this; it’s a keeper for sure! 

Saucy Sloppy Joes 

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon dry mustard

½ teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon celery seeds

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon liquid smoke

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

8 ounce can jellied cranberry sauce

1 cup ketchup

Hamburger buns, split and toasted

Method:

Brown ground beef in skillet with chopped onions.

In a bowl, combine remaining ingredients and stir well.

Add bowl contents to ground beef.

Cover.  Simmer on low heat for close to 45 minutes to let the

flavors blend.

Spoon onto hamburger buns and serve. 

This is an excellent tasty sandwich!   

ENJOY!!!

Visit my friend Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes and cookbook giveaway! 

For a chance to win my friend Bo’s great Le Crueset giveaway, visit Bo’s Bowl!

Barbecued Chicken Wings

It’s time to grab some napkins and have some finger-lickin’ good chicken wings!

Whether you call them Buffalo wings, chicken wings, hot wings or just wings, they’re a wonderful thing.  I guess I’m not alone in my love for wings and now that grilling season is here, they’re the perfect thing to barbecue. 

They’re called Buffalo wings because that is their city of origin is Buffalo, NY.  There are several legends of how they came about with one being that they were first prepared in Buffalo in 1964 by Teressa Bellisimo, the co-owner, along with her husband, Frank of the Anchor Bar in Buffalo.  Their son, Dominic, arrived late one night at the bar, hungry and unannounced, with his college friends.  Teressa needed a fast, easy snack for them and as luck would have it, they had just received a mis-delivery of chicken wings instead of the necks and backs she had ordered for her spaghetti sauce.  It was then that she came up with the idea of deep frying the wings and tossing them in hot cayenne sauce. 

They are probably Buffalo wings to the rest of the country but, around here we call them chicken wings and they’re a great bite-size morsel of savory goodness.  This time there was neither hot sauce nor blue cheese dipping sauce ~ just a delicious barbecue sauce and this is the way it goes….

BARBECUED CHICKEN WINGS

Ingredients:

2-3 pounds chicken wings

1 cup bottled bottled chili sauce

½ cup water

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon liquid smoke

2 teaspoons dry mustard

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Combine all ingredients except chicken wings, in a large saucepan. 

Bring to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Set aside for basting.

Rinse chicken wings, cut and discard wing tips, pat dry.

Place wings on grill under slow heat.

Cook, turning occasionally and basting with sauce approximately 30 minutes until cooked through.

Makes about 2 cups sauce

Serve

They’re finger-lickin’ delicious!

Chicago-Style Italian Beef Sandwich

Living here in the Chicago area, I feel that the rest of the country is terribly deprived of a delicious thing…

Chicago is known for its excellent pizzas but, I’m telling you there is a sandwich here that beats the pizza!  If you haven’t had an Italian beef sandwich, you haven’t truly lived! 

Italian Beef is definitely one of my favorite sandwiches and I had never had it, nor even heard of it till moving here from Louisville.  It is a unique messy sandwich of thinly sliced, well-seasoned beef, sweet or hot peppers, dripping with spicy au jus, served on a dense long Italian-style crusty roll.  Al Ferreri and his family members created it in 1938.  Have a look at how it Al did it the Chicago way!

For juiciness, there are varying degrees from dry to soaked:

1.  Dry:  beef is pulled from the juice with tongs, no juice added.

2.  Wet or dipped:  the bread is quickly dunked in the juice prior to serving.

3.  Juicy:  a degree wetter than the first one.

4.  Soaked:  dripping wet, as sloppy as you can get!

Bill likes the soaked best; dripping wet with plenty of napkins for the juice running down his chin.  And when at a restaurant, he likes it topped off with an Italian sausage and then dipped.  If you should try it this way, you will probably need a knife and fork as well as extra napkins! 

None of that for me:  I like my Italian beef dry or wet, not quite as messy and easier to eat; however, I still need a stack of napkins.  The outside of the roll will retain its shape for you to hold, while the inside will be soft, absorbing the juice like a sponge. 

Italian Beef Sandwiches are great for a crowd.  It is definitely one of the tastiest savory sandwiches in America and I hope you try it!  It is spicy, it is messy, and it is absolutely the best! 

So, now that you’re hungry and wishing for the sandwich, here is the recipe which belonged to Alice, my mother-in-law:

Chicago-Style Italian Beef Sandwich

Ingredients:

5-6 pound beef roast; rump, top or bottom round

4-5 green peppers

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning

1 tablespoon oregano

1 tablespoons sage

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon rosemary

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

¼ cup Romano cheese, grated

¼ cup olive oil

Method:

2 days preparation:

Rub seasonings on roast, one at a time. 

Rub on cheese.

Pour oil in roasting pan.

Roast at 450 degrees for ½ hour.

Turn temperature down to 325 degrees and roast 15 minutes per pound.

It must be roasted rare.

Save the drippings.

Cool and refrigerate over-night.

Next day, add 3 cups water to drippings in roaster.

Core and slice peppers in strips, add to drippings.

Simmer for 45 minutes. 

Slice beef paper thin. (see note below)

Add sliced beef and heat thoroughly, adding extra water if necessary, by the half cup so as not to dilute the juice. 

Do not over-cook beef.

Do not let the mixture boil after the meat is added.

Serve on Italian-style crusty roll.

Makes about 5 sandwiches per pound.

Pam’s note:  This beef needs to be sliced paper thin!  I take the roasted beef back to the butcher and have him slice it very thin for me.  It also freezes well if you wish!

Just be sure to lean the top half of your body over the table when you eat it and have your napkins handy!

DRIP, DRIP, DRIPPINGLY DELICIOUS!

Have you ever eaten a Chicago-style Italian beef sandwich?

Rise and Shine! Breakfast Reigns Supreme!

If I ruled the world, breakfast food would be served at every meal!

I’m nearly obsessed with breakfast and it is definitely my favorite meal of the day.  I never skip breakfast.  Breakfast tends to be a hurried affair most days but, I love to cook and eat a large breakfast, especially on Sunday morning.  There’s nothing better than a hearty breakfast!  Grabbing a piece of toast and heading out the door does not work for me. 

My favorite breakfast is crisp bacon, eggs over-easy, hash browns and whole wheat toast ~ topped off with a cup of strong black coffee.  However, I love oatmeal with raisins or dates, cold cereals, sausage, French toast, grits, pancakes, waffles, ham, Danish pastries, fresh fruit, bagels and on and on.  Oh, and casserole dishes like the one below!  In other words, there’s not much I don’t like for breakfast ~  breakfast rules!

Pork Sausage Casserole

Ingredients:

6 slices white loaf bread

1 pounds fresh bulk pork sausage with sage

10 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 green onions, chopped

5 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups half-and-half

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dry mustard

Method:

Cut bread into 1” cubes and spread in a greased 9 x 12 casserole.

In medium skillet, brown sausage until fully cooked, draining off rendered fat.

Spread cooked sausage over the bread and top with the cheese and onions.

Stir together eggs, half-and-half, salt and dry mustard.

Pour over the cheese and onions.

Cover casserole with foil and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake covered casserole for 50 minutes or until set and slightly golden.

Remove from oven and let casserole set for 15 minutes.

Serve.

Tell me, do you love breakfast?  What is your favorite breakfast?

Enjoy your breakfast!   It jump-starts your day!

Creamed Mushrooms on Toast

I love just plain raw mushrooms.  So do a lot of other people.   But, creaming them and serving on toast makes an unforgettable meal!

The ancient Egyptians believed that mushrooms were the food of immortality.  The pharaohs were intrigued with the subtle taste of mushrooms and deemed them fit only for royalty; commoners were out of luck and not allowed to taste them.  This also assured royalty of having the entire supply of mushrooms.

The ancient wealthy Greeks and Romans consumed many mushrooms with the Roman Caesars employing a food taster to sample all mushrooms before being served to the aristocrats.  In Russia, Greece, China, Mexico and many other cultures, people believed that mushrooms provided them with super-human strength, helped in finding lost objects (I will be eating more mushrooms!) and that mushrooms would lead the soul to the kingdom of the gods.

Bill and I both think this is a great dish that’s hard to beat as far as mushrooms go!   Creamed mushrooms on toast tastes great for breakfast, for brunch or like we have it ~ as a meatless supper with just a salad.  It is also perfect when folded into crepes or as a filling for omelets; whatever appeals to you!  It is delicious!

Creamed Mushrooms on Toast

Ingredients:

1 pound firm white mushrooms

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon flour

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon dry yellow mustard

1 garlic clove, minced

¾ cup half and half 

½ tablespoon soy sauce

Toast of your choice

Method:

Clean mushrooms with damp paper towel, cut into slices.

Melt butter in large skillet over low heat.

Add flour, blend well.

Raise heat, add mushrooms and garlic.

Stir until the mushrooms render their juices, about 5 minutes.

Lower the heat and season mushrooms with salt, pepper and dry mustard and cook for another 5 minutes.

With a slotted spoon, transfer mushrooms to a bowl.

Add the cream and soy sauce to the juices in the skillet and bring to a boil.

Cook until reduced by almost half.

Return mushrooms to the skillet and simmer for another minute or two until they are heated through.

Serve on your favorite toast.

Serves 2

This is a great way to eat toast!