This side dish I am sharing today, is one from out of my Big Blue Binder that I was given by a Mennonite friend many years ago. I will tell you one thing about the Mennonites, they sure know how to cook delicious food!
My Big Blue Binder is filled to overflowing with little gems like this recipe. Tried and trues, family favourites, shared with me by friends and family over the span of the last 45 or so years. (Yes, I am that old!)
My big blue binder is an old binder that I have been lugging around with me all through my life since I was about 9 or 10 years old. I have been collecting recipes in it from friends, and magazines and library books, etc. for all of that time.
It is old now, and falling apart, but it is a treasure to me. Filled to over-flowing with love. I did write a book about it a few years back, which you can buy on Lulu, which only a small sampling of what is actually in the Binder. Maybe I need to do a second volume.
In the original recipe my friend used home canned green beans. I don't can my own green beans (I don't expect many do these days) so I use well drained tinned from the shops.
I like to buy the mixed yellow and green beans if I can get them. Yellow beans, or waxed beans as my mother called them are very hard to find over here. You could also cook an equivalent in fresh beans to use in their place if you wanted to.
Along with the beans there is a quantity of cooked potatoes, cubed. I confess I have also used tinned new potatoes in the past with great success. Just drain well, rinse them off and then cube them. They work great.
I also am a person who, when I am boiling potatoes for one reason or another, always boils more than I know I am going to use on the day. Leftover boiled potatoes always come in handy for one thing or another. We absolutely love pan fried leftover potatoes in this house!
These are combined with a homemade cheese sauce. My friend always used undiluted evaporated milk, but I just use regular whole milk (whole fat) which works perfectly.
I am sure skim milk would also work, although you might not have quite as rich a sauce. A bit of extra fat always adds a special flavour to things. Admittedly it also adds to your hips and girth, but we won't go there!
There is a quanitity of sauteed onion and celery in the sauce and some seasoning. When you are sauting your vegetables don't let them brown if possible. Keep an eye on them.
You mix the vegetables and the sauce together until well combined. This mixture then gets poured into a nicely buttered casserole dish. I favour a somewhat shallow one myself.
I like to top it with crushed cracker crumbs and crumbled cooked streaky bacon. You could butter the cracker crumbs and leave out the bacon if you wanted to.
I am from the school however with the motto that everything tastes better with bacon. You could even also mix the cracker crumbs with some additional grated cheese.In for a penny, in for a pound.
I like to use a whole wheat buttery crumbly cracker for this. More fibre and GI friendly. Whole wheat ingredients are much better for you if you can possibly use them instead of others.
I choose to use whole wheat breads, crackers and pasta these days over white things. They are filled with fibre and are a lot more nutritious and are much easier for your body to metabolise.
I think you could also add some cubes of cooked meat to this if you wanted to. Leftover cooked ham, or pork, chicken/turkey would work very well, as would leftover roast been or browned ground meat.
It realy is quite an adaptable dish which works well with many flavours.
Its not much to look at . . . ie. not the most attractive crayon in the box, but I can promise you that what it lacks in appearance it more than makes up for in taste.
I really love these fabulous old recipes. They are thrifty and delicious. They use simple ingredients. There is nothing fancy here.
They are solid, trustworthy and reliable, which were pretty much the values that people lived by in days gone past. Oh, I sometimes long for simpler times, don't you?
I really hope you will make this and that, if you do, you will enjoy it. Come back and let me know how you get on! Lets share!
Oh I do so love to share and I really love it when you make what I have shared with you and enjoy it also. I also really love it when you take the time to come back and let me know.
Yield: 6
Green Bean & Potato Casserole
prep time: 15 minscook time: 35 minstotal time: 50 mins
This is a delicious side dish will have your family clamouring for seconds.
ingredients:
1 (400g) tin of cooked green beans, drained well (14 oz tin)
(1 1/2 cups cooked beans)
2 medium potatoes, cooked and cubed (1 cup)
1 stalk celery diced (1/2 cup)
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
4 slices streaky bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 TBS butter
1 1/2 TBS flour
240ml whole milk (1 cup)
120g grated strong cheddar cheese (1 cup)
salt and black pepper to taste
10 buttery crackersinstructions:
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F./gas mark 4. Butter a 1 litre/1 Qt casserole dish and set aside.
Put
the potatoes and beans into a bowl. Melt the butter over medium heat.
Add the onion and celery and cook for several minutes until softened
without browning. Stir in the flour and cook for a further minute.
Slowly stir in the milk and cook, stirring constantly, until bubbling and
thickened. Stir in the cheese to melt. Season to taste with salt and
black pepper. Pour over the potatoes and beans. Mix to combine well
and pour into the prepared casserole dish. Crumble the crackers over
top. Crumble the bacon over the crackers.
the potatoes and beans into a bowl. Melt the butter over medium heat.
Add the onion and celery and cook for several minutes until softened
without browning. Stir in the flour and cook for a further minute.
Slowly stir in the milk and cook, stirring constantly, until bubbling and
thickened. Stir in the cheese to melt. Season to taste with salt and
black pepper. Pour over the potatoes and beans. Mix to combine well
and pour into the prepared casserole dish. Crumble the crackers over
top. Crumble the bacon over the crackers.
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You are going to love this recipe I am sharing today. Not only is it a really easy recipe to execute, but its delicious and uses simple ingredients and methods. There is nothing complicated about this in the least. Muffin Tin Tomato Tarts make great appetisers, as well as side dishes and are fantastic on a buffet table! They are also great for Tail Gates and Game Nights!
No special equipment is needed. Just a medium Muffin tin . . . something which most people have in their homes.
One thing that I really love to make during Tomato Season is a Tomato Pie.
Its a pie that everyone loves, including us, and that is because it is easy to make, uses simple ingredients and tastes really good!
These simple tarts are a RIF on that pie, except they are a whole lot simpler to make and are mini sized, each one being just the perfect size for one person!
You begin with a sheet of all butter puff pastry. You can use the ready roll, the frozen, or if you are really keen you can make it from scratch. The only requirement is that it be all butter and sized 9 inch by 12 inches.
The sheet of pastry then gets spread with some mayonnaise. I like Hellman's myself, but that is what I consider to be the best of what is available to me. You need to use whatever is the best of what you can find easily in your local shops.
Once you spread the mayonnaise over the pastry you sprinkle it with a bit of dried basil flakes and a smattering of freshly ground sea salt and black pepper. I like a lot of black pepper, but you use whatever you are comfortable with.
The pastry then gets cut into 3 inch squares. You will get exactly 12 from a 9 by 12 inch sheet of puff pastry. Push each square down into the holes of a well buttered medium muffin tin.
I like to use a four cheese blend in these. My blend is a mix of Mozzarella, Cheddar, Gouda and Jack. You can use whatever blend you prefer, bearing in mind you want something stretchy combined with something well flavoured. Half the cheese gets sprinkled in the tarts, and then you top that with halved cherry tomatoes. I use a mix of yellow and red, for colour.
You sprinkle on the rest of the cheese and some chopped cooked bacon and then you bake them in a hot oven. Its as simple as that. Easy peasy lemon squeasy!
They are great first courses, appetisers, and they also make a great light lunch when served with a salad on the side!
Yield: 12
Tomato Tarts
prep time: 15 minscook time: 20 minstotal time: 35 mins
This quick and easy recipe makes a beautiful side dish or appetiser. Great for game nights and buffets also.
ingredients:
1 (9 by 12 inch) sheet of all butter puff pastry
4 TBS good quality mayonnaise (I like Hellman's)
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
1/2 tsp dried basil flakes
12 red cherry tomatoes
12 yellow cherry tomatoes
(Can use all of one colour if desires, but using both
colours makes for a pretty finish)
180g grated 4 cheese blend ( 1 1/2 cup)
(You may not need all the cheese
2 slices streaky bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled (optional)
fresh basil to garnish (optional)
instructions:
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter a 12 cup medium muffin tin really well. Set aside.
Take
your pastry and spread it with the mayonnaise. Sprinkle evenly with
sea salt to taste and a good grinding of black pepper. Sprinkle the
basil flakes evenly over all. Cut into 3 inch squares with a sharp
knife. You should get exactly 12. Push these squares into the prepared
muffin tin holes. Divide half of the cheese between the pastry lined
cups. Place 1 of each colour of cherry tomato (halved) into each cup.
(4 halves altogether). Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and the bacon
bits if using.
your pastry and spread it with the mayonnaise. Sprinkle evenly with
sea salt to taste and a good grinding of black pepper. Sprinkle the
basil flakes evenly over all. Cut into 3 inch squares with a sharp
knife. You should get exactly 12. Push these squares into the prepared
muffin tin holes. Divide half of the cheese between the pastry lined
cups. Place 1 of each colour of cherry tomato (halved) into each cup.
(4 halves altogether). Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and the bacon
bits if using.
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All butter ready made puff pastry is one of my must have kitchen store cupboard ingredients. I keep several packages of it in the freezer at all times. It always comes in handy and never gets wasted! You are never far from something tasty so long as you have some around. Great for tarts, and danishes, etc. Anyways, I hope you will give these a go. I just know you will like them as much as we do! Bon Appetit!
One of my favourite meals has to be a good old fashioned boiled dinner. This is very much a Maritime thing. Or even a New England thing. (The Eastern side of Canada is called the Maritimes and consists of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island.) A lot of people in the Maritime provinces can trace their lineage back to the Loyalists who moved up from the American Colonies, after the War of Independence. And a lot of Maritimers left the Maritimes and moved to New England after WW2 looking for work. I have family on both sides of the border, and I would wager that we all enjoy a good old fashioned boiled dinner from time to time!
A boiled dinner is a one pot dish, from the days before slow cookers, which consists of simmering salty meat (ham or beef) until tender in cooking liquor and adding vegetables at the end to cook in that same liquid.
The long slow simmer of the meat, lends such a tender quality to the meat and flavours the liquor, which then imparts flavour into the vegetables when you cook them in it.
For the cooking liquor I use a combination of half apple juice and half water, along with some aromatics such as carrot, leek and celery . . .
I also add a cinnamon stick, some black peppercorns, parsley stalks and bay leaves . . .
All of these help to give a lovely flavour to the meat . . . on this day I used a small dinner ham that Todd had picked up for me. I had asked him to get a gammon, but he brought back this uncooked Danish dinner ham. Never mind . . . it worked out alright, and was probably not as salty as the gammon would have been.
He tries. That's what counts. Actually it worked very well, and was only a fraction of the cost of a large piece of gammon, so really it was a win/win.
Once your meat is tender (and you can use salt beef, or corned beef, or even just a beef brisket) you remove it and set it aside to rest and keep warm . . .
I like to scoop out the leek, carrot and celery and discard them as I will then be adding fresh vegetables that will be served along side of the meat . . .
I like carrots, swede (rutabaga) cabbage and potatoes . . .
Trim you cabbage and then cut it into thick wedges, leaving the root end intact so it stays together. I peel the carrots, swede and potatoes, cutting the potatoes in half and the swede into thick slices. The carrots I leave whole. They cook in the cooking liquor and take on some lovely flavours.
When everything is all done, you just slice your meat and serve it with the cooked vegetables. You can strain the cooking liquor if it isn't too salty and serve the meat and veg in shallow bowls with some of the liquor spooned over top, but my favourite way is to just serve the sliced meat and veg along with a delicious parsley sauce. This makes for some really good eating, and you usually have plenty of meat leftover to enjoy in sandwiches the next day.
Yield: 6 to 8
Boiled Dinner
prep time: 30 minscook time: 4 hourtotal time: 4 hours and 30 mins
Simple ingredients done well. A bit old fashioned, but delicious nonetheless. Comfort food, plain and humble.
ingredients:
3 1/2 pound corned beef, gammon or salt beef
2 leeks, trimmed and cleaned
1 carrot
2 ribs celery
a cinnamon stick
9 peppercorns
6 stalks parsley
a couple bay leaves
cold water to cover
(If doing gammon, you can do half water and half apple juice)
For the vegetables:
1 rutabaga/swede peeled and cut into thick slices
1 small head of white cabbage, trimmed and cut into quarters
6 to 8 carrots peeled
6 to 8 medium sized potatoes, peeled and halved
For the Parsley sauce:
2 TBS butter
2 TBS flour
480ml milk (2 cups)
pinch dry mustard
grating nutmeg
salt and white pepper to taste
several handfuls of parsley choppedinstructions:
Place the meat, leeks, carrot, celery, cinnamon stick, peppercorns,
parsley stalks and bay leaf into a large saucepan. Cover with the cold
water. Bring to the boil. Scoop off any scum which has risen to the
top, then reduce to a simmer and partially cover. Simmer slowly for 3 to
4 hours until the meat is very tender. A fork should go through it
easily. Remove the meat and set aside to keep warm. Remove and discard the
carrot, leek and celery. Bring the liquid back to
the boil, add the cabbage and cook for about 10 minutes, then add the
potatoes and swede, cook for about 10 minutes longer, add the carrots
and cook for a further 5 to 10 minutes at which time all of the
vegetables should be tender.
parsley stalks and bay leaf into a large saucepan. Cover with the cold
water. Bring to the boil. Scoop off any scum which has risen to the
top, then reduce to a simmer and partially cover. Simmer slowly for 3 to
4 hours until the meat is very tender. A fork should go through it
easily. Remove the meat and set aside to keep warm. Remove and discard the
carrot, leek and celery. Bring the liquid back to
the boil, add the cabbage and cook for about 10 minutes, then add the
potatoes and swede, cook for about 10 minutes longer, add the carrots
and cook for a further 5 to 10 minutes at which time all of the
vegetables should be tender.
While your
vegetables are cooking make your parsley sauce. Melt the butter in a
saucepan. Whisk in the flour and dry mustard. Cook for about 2 minutes,
then whisk in the milk slowly. Cook, stirring, until the mixture comes
to the boil, then reduce to a slow simmer and cook for about 10
minutes. Season to taste with a grating of nutmeg, salt and white
pepper. Stir in the chopped parsley and serve.
vegetables are cooking make your parsley sauce. Melt the butter in a
saucepan. Whisk in the flour and dry mustard. Cook for about 2 minutes,
then whisk in the milk slowly. Cook, stirring, until the mixture comes
to the boil, then reduce to a slow simmer and cook for about 10
minutes. Season to taste with a grating of nutmeg, salt and white
pepper. Stir in the chopped parsley and serve.
To
serve slice the meat across the grain into thick slices, and place on
dinner plates along with some of the vegetables. Pass the parsley sauce
at the table.
serve slice the meat across the grain into thick slices, and place on
dinner plates along with some of the vegetables. Pass the parsley sauce
at the table.
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Comfort foods like this are one of my favourite things about Autumn! Bon Appetit!
Yes, its another chicken recipe to share with you today. We do eat a lot of chicken. I usually try to intersperse other recipes in between, but I messed up this week, so yes, its another chicken recipe, but it is not only a tasty recipe that I think you are going to really enjoy, but its a great store cupboard recipe, and perfectly sized for two. You can easily adapt it to serve more if you wish.
I was slightly inspired by a recipe I found in Miguel Barclay's latest book, Super Easy One Pound Meals. He has a recipe in there for a chicken parm, which uses skin on chicken thighs. I got rid of the skin in favour of a cheesy breading, which is much more authentic to my way of thinking, and . . . dare I say it???? Why not . . . a tad bit tastier.
I have to confess, I have tried a few recipes from his books, and I will be honest, they (to me) lack flavour. I mean no offense, truly. I did his Moussaka for us the other day, which was in his first book, I believe. The photograph looked really good, and we quite like Moussaka.
First off, the
sauce was pretty tasteless, which was easy for me to fix. I added some
cinnamon, and thyme, and a splash of white wine. I also chose to infuse the milk for the bechamel with some bay leaf. (Just warm the milk with a broken bay leaf added, and let sit for bout 10 minutes.)
The recipe called for eggplant/aubergine sliced lengthwise rather than crosswise, and layered in a pan
with the lamb sauce and the bechamel, which in theory sounds great. I thought to myself, what novel idea. It doesn't work. The end result is tough eggplant (especially when going by the cook time suggested in the recipe) It was actually quite rubbery. I scraped out the meat sauce and put it into a casserole dish, discarding the eggplant and bechamel. I topped it with some frozen mash and Todd had it for dinner as a kind of Greek Shepherd's pie, which he did enjoy. Lemons/lemonade . . . so . . .
Just sharing my experience, that's all. I mean no harm.The chicken parm recipe in his first book sounds and looks delicious, but with a few changes, such as the cheese/crumb coating on the chicken, rather than skin. To be honest, once you add the sauce the skin would lose any crispness, the crumbs stand up much better to sauce, than skin.
He also uses plain passatta (sieved tomatoes) with some oregano added. It sounded bland. I used a basil and garlic marinara sauce, which costs approximately the same, but has a lot more flavour, containing more herbs and garlic . . .
This gets added at the very end, so the crumbs stay nice and crisp, and then I topped the marinara with some Italian Four Cheese Blend, which I also thought had more flavour. It is a mix of mozzarella and other cheeses, so you still get the ooze, but it just tastes better. (Again only my opinion!)
What I did like about his recipe was the idea of roasting potato cubes along with the chicken. They got nice and crisp edged. We quite liked them.
I haven't costed the recipe with my changes, but I can't think that they would increase the cost by much as it is really only adding some herbs and a few different flavours. I have a well stocked herb cupboard.
I think on the whole his books are good for younger inexperienced cooks, the recipes make great canvases for cooks to play with, so its not all bad news. He really tends to play it safe when it comes to flavours, and a more experienced cook can easily play with them and amp things up.
But that is really the mark of a good recipe isn't it . . . its a recipe which anyone can cook, and which inspires you to want to cook, motivating you to want to stretch your abilities/tastes a tiny bit. You look at it and you say to yourself, what a great idea . . . and you grab the ball and run with it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
The changes I applied to this one worked, and they worked well. We were both very pleased with our dinners. I would not cook the moussaka one again. I'll stick to my tried and true one instead. I have always roasted my aubergine first and I would suggest if you try his, you do too, or you could just cook my tried and true recipe, which was adapted from one by the reliable Tamasin Day Lewis. I have never cooked one of her recipes that I did not fall in love with.
In any case, this was good. It was delicious. It was quick. It was easy.
Yield: 2
Quick & Easy Chicken Parm
prep time: 10 minscook time: 30 minstotal time: 40 mins
This is a quick and easy meal, making use of some store cupboard ingredients. For those days when you are feeling lacking in inspiration but still want something really tasty to eat.
ingredients:
2 large skinless, boneless chicken thighs (alternately you can use small breasts)
4 TBS Panko Bread crumbs
2 TBS coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
salt and black pepper to taste
120ml good quality tomato and basil pasta sauce (1/2 cup)
4 TBS Italian four cheese blend
2 medium baking potatoes peeled and cubed
olive oil
instructions:
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Have ready a baking
tray large enough to hold the chicken and potatoes in a single layer.
Toss the potatoes in a bowl with a bit of oil and some seasoning.
Scatter them onto the baking tray.
tray large enough to hold the chicken and potatoes in a single layer.
Toss the potatoes in a bowl with a bit of oil and some seasoning.
Scatter them onto the baking tray.
Lay the
chicken thighs onto the baking tray in a single layer, stretching them
out and opening them up. Season with some salt and black pepper. Mix
together the bread crumbs and Parmesan. Sprinkle evenly over top of the
chicken. Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil. Pop the tray into the
preheated oven. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring the potatoes every
10 minutes. At the end of that time, spoon the tomato sauce over each
piece of chicken and scatter with the cheese blend. return to the oven
and roast until everything is heated through, the cheese has melted and
the chicken juices run clear. Serve hot.
chicken thighs onto the baking tray in a single layer, stretching them
out and opening them up. Season with some salt and black pepper. Mix
together the bread crumbs and Parmesan. Sprinkle evenly over top of the
chicken. Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil. Pop the tray into the
preheated oven. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring the potatoes every
10 minutes. At the end of that time, spoon the tomato sauce over each
piece of chicken and scatter with the cheese blend. return to the oven
and roast until everything is heated through, the cheese has melted and
the chicken juices run clear. Serve hot.
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I don't know as I would bother with the potatoes again. I think really rice or pasta would go much better, but again that's just my opinion. Have a great day and Bon Appetit!
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