Mongolian Beef

I am so loving my internet cooking friends and can't believe all the great recipes they share with the world. In case you missed this one, a few days ago Lillian Russo posted a recipe on her blog My Recipe Journey  called Super Easy Poor Man's Mongolian Beef and I came to the conclusion that she wrote this recipe just for me. I know you didn't Lillian, but I can sometimes be self centered and this dish had my name on it, it really did.  It's cost effective, quick and even had some sherry in it, which I often forget is a super flavor booster. I made a few changes to your recipe, but it's still your creation and so delicious I want to share both versions with my readers.

Quick Mongolian Beef
Inspired by Lillian Russo

1 lb lean ground beef
1 small onion diced
1 T toasted sesame oil
1 T canola oil
1-1/2 tsp garlic grated or minced (about 6 small cloves)
1-1/2 tsp fresh ginger grated
2 T brown sugar
2 tsp sriracha sauce (use 1 tsp if you don't like a lot of heat)
1 T dry sherry
1 T dry white wine (I used chardonnay)
1 T rice wine vinegar
1 T creamy peanut butter
chopped scallions for garnish
thinly sliced Fresno pepper for garnish

In large skillet over medium heat brown the beef, onion, garlic and ginger in the canola and sesame oil.

While the beef is cooking prepare the sauce. In medium size bowl combine the brown sugar, sriracha, sherry, wine, rice vinegar and peanut butter. Whisk until incorporated.

When meat is browned, add the sauce and simmer a few minutes to let the flavors marry (love that expression Lillian). While all this was cooking, I realized I had some previously sauteed mushrooms in my fridge, chopped them and added them to the melange. It was a great compliment to the dish, but certainly not necessary. Lillian served her Mongolian Beef with rice, which probably would have been my choice too. But if you have no rice, noodles are a great option. And don't forget to garnish with scallions, Fresno pepper slices, cilantro and how about some chopped dry roasted peanuts? I didn't have the peanuts or cilantro, but even with no garnish, this dish is delish. Give it a try.

Mozambique Shrimp Re-Mixed

I had this idea of making Mozambique Shrimp again, this time omitting the beer. I think the Goya spices combined with the onions, garlic and hot sauce is really the secret to this dish. Plus I'm trying to cut some calories and carbs and came up with this new version. The first thing I always have on hand is the Sazon Goya "Con Azafran", found in the international aisle of your grocrery store.

And of course you need shrimp. So let's get the cutting board out and start the prep.  Here's what you'll need:

Mozambique Shrimp sans Beer
3 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 pound shrimp (16-20 count) peeled and deviened
2 small onions chopped
4-5 garlic cloves chopped or grated
2 packets Goya Con Azafran
1-1/2 tsp tomato paste
2 T srirscha sauce (or any other hot sauce that rocks your boat)
12 oz water
Juice of one lemon

In large sauce pan, heat the butter, olive oil, onions and garlic on low for about 5 minutes. Make sure the heat is low enough so you just sweat them. Add the tomato paste (I love the paste in the tube), sriracha sauce, Goya seasoning and water. Bring to a boil.

Now add the prepared shrimp and lemon juice, bring to a boil and lower to a simmer. Cook 5 minutes.

Mozambique shrimp is ready to be served. How easy is that? I paired this with brown rice and garnished with cooling diced cucumber and cilantro. I'd love you to try this- so tasty and simple. Let me know what you think.

Cream Cheese Banana Bread

I have a few favorite banana bread recipes and make them when I have ripe bananas and feel like treating myself. A few months ago I came across a recipe called "The Most Creamy Banana Bread" and obviously I was intrigued because it contained cream cheese, which I love in all my cookies, cakes and breads, and the ratings were A plus. So what's a gal to do on a snowy Saturday with 3 extra ripe bananas sitting on my kitchen counter? I got to work and made this simple, delicious bread. Easy prep and 45 minutes cooking time, I couldn't be happier. This recipe originated from Tracey Stephan, a blue ribbon winner at JAP. Tracey had a topping on her bread- nuts and brown sugar. I decided to eliminate the topping and just add my favorite add in-mini chocolate chips into the batter. This is a treat you don't want to miss. Let's put this baby together, with a few pictures to help you along.

Cream Cheese Banana Bread
use a 9 x 5 inch bread pan

Cooking spray
1/2 cup butter softened
8 oz cream cheese softened
1-1/4 cup sugar (I used Splenda no calorie)
2 eggs room temp if possible
3 bananas mashed (Tracey used 1 cup, I added a little more)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups AP flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees and mist bread pan with cooking spray. I like to get all my ducks in order before I bake so first thing I did was combine my flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium size bowl.

In large bowl beat with hand mixer the cream cheese and butter. Now add the sugar and mix well.

Add your eggs one at a time and mix. Now add the mashed bananas and vanilla extract.

It's time to add the flour mixture. At this time I put my mixer away and stir the ingredients with my wooden spoon. The "Joy of Baking" claims that the less you mix your batter, the more tender your bread will be. So fold in the flour mixtue gently by hand. Add the chocolate chips and combine.

 

 

Pour or spoon batter into prepared baking pan.

 

 

Bake in pre heated oven for 45 minutes. At first I thought this wasn't enough time for this amount of bread, but I was wrong. Forty five minutes does the trick. Bake this little baby up and enjoy!

 

 





Potato Soup

As I do every new year, I cut out the carbs for a few weeks then go back to eating properly. So my first treat to myself this February was a simple potato cheese soup. I've never even made potato soup before but figured, how hard could it be? Answer... simple simple, quick, and yummy to boot.  Here's the recipe:

Simple Potato Cheese Soup
will feed 3 or 4

4 slices of turkey bacon- I would have used real bacon, but the turkey was half the price
1 tsp canola oil
1 medium onion diced
1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
2 Russet potatoes peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 can 14.5 oz chicken broth - I use the no fat, low sodium
1 can 14.5 oz water
8 oz low fat Velveeta cheese chopped in 1/2 inch pieces- I think any other cheese of your choice would work, I just love the meltability of Velveeta
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
Toasted bread

This is so simple, so get ready to cook and eat shortly afterwards. Really, it's that fast. Brown bacon in fry pan until crisp. Chop into bite size pieces.

With whatever fat is left in the pan, saute onions and Old Bay. I must say, I was disappointed in how little fat my bacon gave off and had to add a bit of canola.

Now it's time to cook the potatoes. In small to medium pot simmer potatoes for about 15 minutes. They should be cut small enough so they don't need a lot of cooking time.

Drain potatoes (I didn't even rinse mine), set aside and get ready to make the soup. In large to medium soup pot add stock, water and onions. Now add potatoes and bring to simmer. Add cheese, half the chopped bacon, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir until cheese is melted and soup is hot. Dinner's ready. Serve with toasted bread and remaining bacon. Yummmm. This was so quick and satisfying. I think you'll enjoy.

Re-mix- Add a small can of evaporated milk to soup for an even creamier texture. And I'm even thinking a can of corn would be a nice addition.

I'm egging myself on

Since last week I've been pantry and fridge/freezer shopping. I barely spent anything in the market except cat and cleaning supplies. So tonight I re-mixed Melissa's French eggs and had a fabulous dinner. This time, kind of with an Italian theme.

Melissa's French Eggs Italian Style
I made 8 eggs this time because I did some experimenting.  You see some of my friends do not like to know there is a yolk in their egg. As a test I scrambled 2 eggs with this recipe and they'll be going to work with me tomorrow to see whether I can convince them that yolks are yummy. Here's my recipe but the possibilities are endless. This is just what I used from the ingredients I had on hand.

3 Italian sweet sausages crumbled
1 T olive oil
3/4 red pepper sliced
3/4 green pepper sliced
2 scallions chopped
8 large eggs
8 tsp half and half
cooking spray
salt
pepper
red pepper flakes
Parmesan cheese

Spray your muffin tin (I used my new square brownie pan) with cooking spray. Set aside and pre heat oven to 425 degrees. In large skillet over medium/low brown sausages, peppers and scallions in the little bit of olive oil. Add a dash of salt and pepper and some red pepper flakes. Make sure the sausage is cooked through.

Remove from heat, let cool a bit and get ready to assemble. You'll be utilizing eight of your compartments. In each of the eight holes place a small helping of the sausage/pepper mixture.

Top 6 of the sausage filled tins with an egg and top each with 1 tsp of fat free half and half.

And if you're experimenting like me, beat 2 eggs with a tsp of fat free half and half. That's what I had on hand., but you know any milk product will work.

 And top all with cheese.

Bake nine minutes. Let cool a bit because they're a little hard to get out of their little nooks when they're super hot. I garnished my dish with some leftover cooked sausage and raw scallions, but I do believe a teaspoon or 2 of marinara sauce would be heavenly.

I say give this a try and I'll let you know how the scrambled version went over, reheated at work tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

*****Here's my update on the scrambled version. When I took them out of the tins last night, they seemed like they had set up properly, so I wrapped them up and reheated them the next morning in the microwave for 1 minute like I do with the "yolky" eggs. Well, they were slightly under cooked  So if you're scrambling, cook about 12 minutes in the oven, and nuke for 1 minute to re-heat. I believe that will work.****

Ultimate Nacho Mac and Cheese

I've been under the weather for the last few weeks, and when I started feeling better, like wanting to eat solid food again, you know I went for the the most comforting thing I could think of, an ooey, gooey cheesy casserole. My friend Dana Ramsey made a dish called Nacho Mac and Cheese and that sounded right up my alley. But I took her recipe a step further and made her side dish a main course by adding seasoned ground beef and all the toppings you'd add to nachos. I also tried to cut some of the calories and carbs and was ever so happy with the results.

Ingredients:
Serves 6-8
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni, I used Dreamfields
1 pound 2% Velveeta cheese
1 can Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes and Chilis
2 tsp canola oil
3/4 pound ground sirloin
1/2 package taco seasoning mix
3 six inch corn tortillas quartered, I used low carb, high fiber
1/2 can fat free re-fried beans
1 small can chopped chilis
1 T Mrs Dash Southwest Chipotle Seasoning Blend

Toppings:
Use them all or choose your favorites
shredded iceberg lettuce
chopped tomatoes sliced olives
lite sour cream
chopped avocado
chopped scallions
chopped cilantro
salsa

Prepare elbows according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, brown meat and taco seasoning in canola oil and chop Velveeta into 1/2 inch cubes.

When pasta is done, drain in colander and place back into the warm pot you cooked it in. Add the chopped cheese, can of Rotel, seasoned beef, and can of chilis. Stir to combine and leave on stove top while you put together the bean nachos.

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Take your corn tortilla wedges and spread with the re-fried beans and sprinkle each little chip with the Mrs Dash seasoning. Now you're ready to assemble the dish. Place warm cheese/pasta/meat mixture in casserole dish dusted with cooking spray. Top with bean coated tortillas. Here's the dish ready to go into the oven.

And here it is after it's baked uncovered for 25 minutes. Creamy, crunchy, toasty and oh! so good.

The beauty of this casserole is that the top becomes crunchy and the inside stays creamy. Serve this as you would any nacho dish- lots of toppings, so that with each bite, you can try something new. Dig in and enjoy!
I sure did.

Melissa's French Eggs

On Friday night I never plan an elaborate dinner. It's the end of the work week and I just like to let the chips fall and see what's leftover in the fridge or throw a quick sandwich together. So wasn't I delighted to read Melissa's blog post today for the simplest and most heavenly baked egg dish ever. She makes her eggs in a muffin pan. I still don't have one so used my new square "whatchmacallit" pan and the dish was great. I added spinach because I had some, and was very happy with the results. If you're looking for a quick breakfast, lunch or dinner, here it is.

Baked Eggs
Makes 2 servings

4 large eggs
1/4-1/3 cup fresh baby spinach
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Pre heat oven to 425 degrees and mist muffin pan with cooking spray. Melissa uses butter flavored spray, but I didn't have any so just used the regular canola. Add spinach to 4 of the cups.

Now crack an egg into each cup and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Top with parmesan cheese (or any cheese that you like with eggs). These are looking great already.

Bake for 9 minutes and serve on toast. I enjoyed mine on a slice of Arnold Sandwich Thins. Yummy delish! I could have eaten all 4 eggs but contained myself. I'm saving the other two for sometime over the weekend. Then I will nuke them for a minute, and enjoy the meal all over again.

Thanks Melissa, another fabulous recipe that tastes as good as it looks. You rock, fellow blogger!