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Showing posts sorted by date for query cabbage. Sort by relevance Show all posts
We have been enjoying some gorgeous weather over here in the UK during the month of April. It would have been so lovely had my children been here like they should have been. We could have gone to lots of places with such lovely weather. Oh well! It is what it is!
Yesterday we had our first BBQ of the season. I found some lovely bone in meaty chops in the freezer and brined them all morning and then we cooked them on the BBQ. Oh my but they were so tender and delicious!
I kept things simple on the side. I made a bowl of coleslaw with some cabbage and carrots. I like to throw in some raisins sometimes. They give a nice flavour and a bit of colour to the slaw.
I also did this Tex Mex version of my Road Kill Potatoes. I love, Love, LOVE Road Kill Potatoes.
Don't let the name put you off. You boil potatoes in their skins and then smash them down with a potato masher on a baking sheet, brushing them with some oil and then baking them until they are golden brown with lots of crispy bits.
You can then top with cheese and all sorts for serving. Today I brushed them with Tex Mex flavours. It was relatively easy to do . . .
I just mixed some oil with some taco seasoning and brushed it over top. I make my own Taco seasoning and have included the recipe for that in my recipe notes.
Today I topped them with a mix of dyed and undyed strong cheddar. Someone had picked me up a bac of dyed cheddar. I normally don't use dyed cheddar. I basically only ever use white.
The cheddar over here in the UK is simply gorgeous, but then again, they did invent it.
When done these potatoes are golden brown and crispy with plenty of melted cheese on top. I serve them with a spicy yogurt drizzled over top and some chopped spring onions for the win!
Tex Mex Smashed Potatoes
Yield: 6
Nothing could be simpler.
Ingredients:
For the potatoes:
- 6 medium potatoes
- 2 TBS olive oil
- 1 TBS taco seasoning
- 85g grated cheddar cheese (3/4 cup)
To serve:
- 125g thick plain yogurt (1/2 cup)
- 1 TBS taco seasoning
- finely chopped spring onions
Instructions:
How to cook Tex Mex Smashed Potatoes
- Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Line a baking tray with some aluminium foil.
- Whisk together the yogurt and taco seasoning. Refrigerate until needed.
- Place the potatoes into a saucepan and cover with lightly salted water. Bring to the boil and boil for 20 to 25 minutes until fork tender. (A knife tip should insert into one easily.) Carefully drain and then place onto the baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between.
- Using a flat potato masher or the bottom of a glass, gently smash each one down until slightly flattened.
- Whisk together the oil and remaining taco seasoning. Brush some of this on top of each potato. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown with crispy edges.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the cheese. Return to the oven just long enough to melt the cheese.
- Serve the potatoes hot with some of the spiced yogurt spooned over top and a sprinkle of spring onions.
Notes:
Make Your Own Taco Seasoning:
Mix together 1 TBS mild chili powder, 2 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp salt in a small bowl. This is enough for one recipe of tacos. Add the seasoning and 120ml of water (1/2 cup) to one pound of ground meat that you have browned well. Simmer for about 5 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed.
Mix together 1 TBS mild chili powder, 2 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp salt in a small bowl. This is enough for one recipe of tacos. Add the seasoning and 120ml of water (1/2 cup) to one pound of ground meat that you have browned well. Simmer for about 5 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed.
This was the perfect meal! Our chops were so tender from the brining and the potatoes so delicious. The coleslaw was the perfect addition.
I had bought a set of sauces from The Sauce Shop a few months back, including Tomato Sauce (Ketchup), Brown Sauce (HP Sauce) and this South Carolina BBQ Sauce. We love all of these sauces and this was the perfect excuse to use this BBQ sauce. I had not used it before and I have fallen in love with it. No wonder it was a great taste winner in 2019! They have closed down for the time being with the virus and all. I sure hope that they open up again at the end of it all. I love LOVE their sauces! (And no, nobody paid me to say that. Simply calling it like it is!)
One thing I love to do is to come up with delicious ideas for using things that I have in my fridge and larder. This weekend I cooked us a small roast dinner for our Sunday lunch.
Not something we have very often. I had a quantity of leftover cooked roast beef and so today I set out to cook us something tasty using that and what I had to hand.
I cut my beef up into small bits and fried it off together with some diced frozen peppers from the freezer and chopped onion.
I also added some spices and chopped black olives that were languishing in the bottom of a jar in the refrigerator.
Next I added a portion of refried beans that I also had in the freezer, along with some tomato sauce (and I don't mean ketchup), some water along with a splash of Worcestershire sauce and heated it all through.
Finally I added a generous handful of crushed tortilla chips that I had in the cupboard. I wanted to use them up before they got stale.
They also served the purpose of adding a bit of crunch and thickening it up a bit more.
I used taco sized wheat flour tortillas. I like to toast these over an open flame on the top of my stove. I just use a pair of tongs and hold them over the flame, first on one side and then on the other.
If you fold them in half right away, they stay like that, which makes them perfect for tacos. Not hard like the crisp ones, but not entirely soft either. My husband doesn't like really hard things.
I rooted through the refrigerator and found some tasty things for garnishing. I had some sour cream, in the bottom of a pot that needed using up.
I also had some spring onions that I chopped up. They add a nice touch of sharp earthy flavours and crunch.
I shredded up the last of my lettuce to use, but you could also use finely shredded cabbage if you have it. Red or green, they taste the same.
I grated a small chunk of sharp cheddar cheese and then chopped a few green olives that needed using up.
Finally I garnished with a few more crushed tortilla chips.
I was really, REALLY pleased with the end results. These were very tasty. My husband even had one for breakfast!
It made a great use of odds and bits from my refrigerator and freezer. Of course if you have fresh peppers, onions, etc. you can use them.
Its nice to know, however, that frozen work well also.
I didn't have any salsa or fresh tomatoes left, but either one would also make a great garnish.
This recipe is all about showing what you can do with very little.
This situation we are all living in right now is a great opportunity for us to really stretch the boundaries of our cooking, to think outside the box as it were.
Its also a wonderful opportunity for us to decrease our waste. To make do and use it up. Something which we should always be doing anyways.
Tijuana Tacos
Yield: Makes 12
How to make something delicious from seemingly nothing at all.
Ingredients:
- 225g chopped cooked beef (can use leftover roast, or mince) (1 1/2 cups)
- 225g of refried beans (1 cup)
- 120ml tomato passatta (1/2 cup tomato sauce)
- 90ml water (3 fluid ounces)
- 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 green pepper, trimmed and chopped (can use the equivalent in frozen chopped peppers)
- 3 TBS chopped ripe olives
- 1 tsp mild chili powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- dash each celery salt and ground nutmeg
- splash or Worcestershire sauce
- a generous handful of tortilla chips crushed
- 12 taco sized soft tortillas, toasted
You will also need to garnish:
- 1/4 of a head of lettuce, finely shredded
- chopped spring onions
- chopped fresh tomatoes (if you have them)
- 2 ounces grated strong cheddar cheese
- a handful of chopped olives
- sour cream
- additional crushed tortilla chips
- Green Tabasco
Instructions:
How to cook Tijuana Tacos
- Spritz a large non-stick frying pan with some spray oil. Add the onions and peppers and cook over medium heat until they start to soften. Throw in the chopped beef. Cook and stir for a few minutes, then add all of the spices. Cook and stir until quite fragrant, then stir in the tomato sauce, refried beans, olives and water. Bring to a simmer and heat through.
- In the meantime, heat your tortillas as desired. I like to hold mine over an open flame and toast them on both sides, folding them in half when heated. Keep warm.
- Make sure you have all of your toppings ready.
- Crush your tortilla chips. Stir them into the meat mixture, reserving a few for garnishing if desired. Divide the mixture between the toasted tortillas.
- Garnish each with some or all of the suggested garnishes. I sometimes like to add a splash of hot sauce. (I like the green tabasco.) serve immediately and enjoy!
These were really, really good. It makes me feel good knowing that I can use up all my leftovers. It also makes me feel good that I can create something so tasty out of very little, and just what I have on hand.
What's the most creative thing you have come up with when using up what you need to use up food-wise in the house? Care to share??? Don't ask me why I called these Tijuana Tacos. It just sounded Mexican. LOL
The recipe I am sharing with you today proves that you can make a salad out of just about anything. I was very lucky the other day that my good friend Tina picked me up a head of iceberg lettuce and left it on my doorstep. You never know what you are going to miss until you can't get it. That is precisely when you are going to start craving it, and all last week I had a craving for lettuce and cabbage. Thankfully Tina was able to get me both!
I am quite lucky in that I have a fair amount of meat and fish in the freezer, mostly chicken of course, but I think I might have some pork chops in there somewhere, and maybe a piece of lamb. In any case I used some of the chicken to create this fabulous Almost Fried Chicken Salad!
You can use chicken tenders if that is all you have to use. I cut chicken breasts into strips, and then rolled them in some buttermilk and then a flavourful dry coating mixture, of flour, dry bread crumbs and a mis of herbs and spices.
These were baked in a hot oven on a oil sprayed baking sheet. I also sprayed them with a bit of oil. (Low fat canola oil cooking spray) I baked them until they were golden brown and crisp, turning them and spraying them again, halfway through the bake time.
The salad itself was a mix of what I had in the house . . . chopped boiled egg, chopped broccoli and cauliflower . . .
Chopped cucumber and radish. I cut my radishes in half with zig zag edges to provide visual interest . . .
I forgot to add tomatoes which I had, but feel free of course. I also added some chopped spring onion.
You can use any combination of vegetables you have that you might enjoy . . . cooked beetroot, cooked sweet potato, carrots, etc. All work very well.
I had actually made some sweet potato chips (crisps) the other day that I used as croutons on top, you could use normal croutons, or no croutons. Just what you have and what you fancy. There really is no right or wrong about this!
I added a grating of cheddar cheese to the top. You could use crumbled blue cheese or feta. Again, whatever it is that you fancy or that you have!
The dressing is a homemade kind of a Ranch/Garlic dressing. I used the rest of my sour cream in it, but you can also use plain yogurt if that is what you have, or even buttermilk if you happen to be so lucky to have it. Those three things are all tangy, rich and pretty much can be used in place of the other.
This really satisfied my craving for a wholesome and hearty salad! For Todd I added a baked potato.
He was happy, I was happy . . . it was a great meal and we made great use of just what we had that needed using. No waste here!
Almost Fried Chicken Chopped Salad
Yield: 4
Quit simply delicious. This fabuously tasty salad is designed to use what you have in the house.
Ingredients:
For the chicken:
- 30g dry bread crumbs (1/4 cup)
- 35g plain flour (1/4 cup)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
- 120ml buttermilk (1/2 cup)
- Cooking spray oil
For the salad:
- 1/2 medium head of iceberg lettuce
- 3 cups of chopped vegetables (a variety)
- 4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
- 2 spring onions, chopped
- 60g of strong cheddar cheese, grated (1/2 cup)
For the dressing:
- 110g mayonnaise (1/2 cup)
- 60g sour cream (1/2 cup)
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp each dried basil and dried dill
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 60ml milk (1/4 cup)
Instructions:
How to cook Almost Fried Chicken Chopped Salad
- First make the dressing so that you can chill it in the refrigerator. Whisk together all of the ingredients until smooth. If you have no sour cream, you can use plain yogurt. Put in a glass jar, cover and chill until needed.
- To make the chicken, cut the chicken into 1/2 inch thick strips. Mix together the flour, bread crumbs, herbs and seasonings in a shallow bowl. Put the buttermilk in another bowl.
- Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminium foil and spray generously with oil spray.
- Coating the chicken strips, one at a time, roll first in the buttermilk and then in the flour mixture to coat. Lay on the baking sheet. When all have been coated and are on the baking sheet, spray with more spray oil.
- Bake for 8 minutes until golden brown. Carefully flip over and lightly spray again, and cook for a further 4 to 5 minutes, or until golden brown all over and the juices run clear. Remove from the oven. Let cool, then cut into chunks.
- Have ready four pasta bowls. Cut the lettuce into chunks and divide between each bowl evenly. Top each with 1 chopped boiled egg, 1/4 of the chopped spring onion, and a portion of the chopped vegetables. (I used cauliflower, broccoli (stems and all), radish, cucumber) Top each with a portion of the chicken and then drizzle with a portion of the dressing. Sprinkle with cheese and serve immediately. Pass any remaining dressing at the table.
Has your cooking become rather inventive during the lockdown? What are some of the things you have been doing? I really want to know! They say this might go on for as long as twelves months. We will all be in need of some culinary inspiration by then I reckon! I said to Todd I want to go out for a slap bang meal at a good restaurant, no matter the cost!
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