Pork Fried Rice

We made yummy easy pork fried rice (don't expect chinese food fried rice, it's not really that since it doesn't include eggs). Basically you make the rice, stirfry some pork chopped in little pieces, then throw the rice in with the pork and stir in some green onions chopped really small and a bunch of soy sauce. Very easy, very filling and quite good.

camping food

campfire pizzas.

hot dogs on sticks.

smores.

and tomorrow we are trying to make pancakes on a cookie sheet over the fire. yeah, i don't have much hope for that one either.

Recipe from Dan

Notes:
I made this recipe for me, debbie, Laura E., Jeremy, Bethany, and Jon on 6/26. I haven't experimented, but I believe quality of wine makes large difference in quality of final product. The more intense the wine, the better. For the last 20 minutes it says to turn to low and simmer covered. I set stove to high and left uncovered to reduce the sauce, since it was very soupy when I made it (but I made a double recipe). We also used beef boulion cubes to make the beef broth to save money.

Beef tips in red wine sauce

Yield: 4 Servings
2 cup Cubed beef sirloin, trimmed Of all visable fat
2 teaspoon Olive oil
1 medium Yellow onion, chopped
2 cup Sliced mushrooms
1 Clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon Flour
½ teaspoon Dried thyme leaves
¼ teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper
⅛ teaspoon Nutmeg
½ cup Dry red wine (Quality of wine makes large difference in recipe in my opinion)
1 ½ cup Beef broth
3 cup Cooked extra-wide egg Noodles
2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Brown beef cubes in the olive oil in a 12 inch nonstick skillet set over medium heat. Turn the cubes frequently to ensure even browning on all sides. Add the onions and cook 2 to 3 minutes longer, or until the onions are fragrant. Add the mushrooms and garlic and reduce heat to medium low; cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 to 5 minutes longer, or until mushrooms are brown. Combine the flour, thyme leaves, black pepper and nutmeg in a small dish. Sprinkle the flour mixture evenly over the meat and mushroom mixture, stirring well. Allow the flour mixture to "toast" in the pan without burning for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Then, stir in the red wine and beef broth. Stir until the liquid comes to a boil and thickens very slightly. Reduce heat to low, cover loosely, and simmer for 20 minutes. The sauce will continue to thicken as water evaporates during cooking. If the sauce becomes too thick, add a few tablespoons of water or beef broth. While the meat is cooking, cook the noodles according to package directions. When tender, stir the noodles and parsley into the beef mixture and heat through.

Recipe found at:
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this is not a post! haha. (i bet you think this song is about you...)

i just realized that i don't always work off recipes. i kind of work on stuff till it looks about right.

that being said, i wanted to say something on the blog. so in the great tradition of dan mouw:

hi.

i'll try to post something soon. like pie (laura...) tee hee.

Lemony Porkchops

So this is one of my (Jeremy's) favorite meals that my mom made when I was growing up and I didn't realize how easy it was until I asked for the recipe, which is as follows:

Ingredients:
Pork chops - as many as you want
Lemon - 1 to 2 slices per pork chop, depending on their size
Ketchup - see below
Brown sugar - ~1 Tbsp per lemon slice

Preheat oven to 350°F.
The pork chops should be thawed in the refrigerator or microwave. Place them on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil (trust me on this). Place one or two slices of lemon on each pork chop (or three if they're really big). Put ketchup in a bowl and mix it with a little water to decrease its viscocity enough so that it's easily pourable. Liberally cover the pork chops with this slightly watery ketchup. Place a scoop (~1 Tbsp) of brown sugar on each slice of lemon. Cook at 350°F until it looks done (~20 min). I've noticed that the sizes of pork chops vary greatly from one store to the next and even within the same store, so you'll have to adjust for those differences in the amount of ketchup, lemons, and cooking time.
When finished, clean up is a breeze because you can just throw away the aluminum foil. If you didn't use aluminum foil, you may as well throw away the cookie sheet, it's not worth it.

Chicken Enchilada

Here's a recipe that was one of my favorites growing up. It's not exactly fancy gourmet, but it's pretty tasty and easy to make.

Doritos, a little less than one bag
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1-2 lbs. chicken
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. minced onion
1/4 tsp. tabasco
2 tsp. chili powder
green pepper, cut up (optional, but I'd really advise it... it adds a nice crispness)
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese (I find Mexican blend or pepperjack works well too)

Cut up chicken into bite-size pieces and cook in pan. I like to cook it in some chili powder to add a little flavor. Mix together all ingrediants except Doritos and cheese in a 9 x 13 pan. Crush some Doritos and mix them in until it looks to be about the right consistency. Top the mixture with a layer of Doritos and top that with the cheese. Bake at 325 degrees for 20–30 minutes. The recipe says to serve it with taco sauce, which I've never done, but that would probably be good too.

Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches

For those of you who were fortunate to come to our Oscar party, you probably had one of these. They were yummy fall apart in your mouth good. But it does make a lot (4 lbs of meat would make a lot of anything).

Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches
Makes 9 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes plus 7-8 hours simmer time

Ingredients
4 lbs chuck or rump roast
1 12 ounce bottle of your favorite beer
1 can (10-oz) french onion soup
1 can (10-oz) beef broth)
2 thinly sliced onions
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp dried thyme

Directions
Place fully thawed roast in slow cooker. Pour soups and beer over roast. Grind some pepper on top. Sprinkle thyme and salt on top. Top with sliced onions. Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours. Take meat out on cutting board, slice up or shred with fork. Place back in slow cooker and mix with juices and onions and serve on toasted bread.

We actually left the meat separate and took out some of the onions so you could put that on the roll and then dip it into a bowl of the juices.

Quesadilla Pie

So, here's the recipe that started the whole thing. It's from Real Simple: see recipe. Very easy and very yummy. I made it with some of the individually frozen chicken breast tenders instead of a rotisserie chicken and it worked fine. Just cook them in some olive oil and seasonings in a fry pan and shred them.



Quesadilla Pie
From Real Simple

1 10-ounce can green or red enchilada sauce
1/4 cup heavy cream
4 8-inch flour tortillas
2 cups (8 ounces) grated Monterey Jack, plus 1/4 cup for the top
1 3 1/2- to 4-pound rotisserie chicken, shredded
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 cup salsa
1 avocado, diced
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Heat oven to 400° F.

In a small bowl, combine the enchilada sauce and cream. Spoon 1/4 cup of the sauce mixture into the bottom of a shallow 2-quart casserole or 9-inch springform pan. Top with 1 tortilla and a third each of the cheese, chicken, onion, and zucchini. Repeat twice to form a total of 3 layers. Top with the remaining tortilla, sauce mixture, and cheese. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes more. Slice into wedges and serve with the salsa, avocado, and cilantro.

Tip: For a vegetarian version of Quesadilla Pie, replace the chicken with 2 cups fresh corn or frozen corn that has been thawed and patted dry.

Introduction

Dan and I decided to create a new blog where we could share our most recent successes in the kitchen and hopefully hear about yours as well. Please leave us a comment, or email us if you would like to join in the fun.