^ ::raucous applause::
Cheese toast:
2 slices whole wheat or multigrain bread.
Extra sharp cheddar cheese.
Slice the cheese and lay the slices on one side of the bread to cover almost completely.
Place the slices cheese-side-up in a toaster oven.
Toast until the cheese is bubbling and starting to turn a bit brown on top.
If cheese drips over the edges onto the heating element, ignore the flames, you wimp.
GrumpyBunny’s Famous Cajun-Inspired Cassoulet
Serve with crusty bread and a salad. This makes a huge amount; good for having a bunch of people over. I’ve done it for New Year’s Day and also for Boxing Day gatherings.
*Ingredients: **
1 pound dried great Northern beans
2 1/2 quarts water
1/2 pound salt pork with skin
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 onion
2 carrots, cut in half
2 celery stalks, cut in half
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 (6- to 7-pound) chicken, cut into pieces. (I’ve been known to get a big rotisserie chicken to save time; it works fine)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
1 pound andouille sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces
*Note: Any spicy smoked sausage may be substituted for andouille.
2 pounds boneless center-cut pork chops
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup dry white wine
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
1 cup fresh French breadcrumbs
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Sort and wash beans; place in an 8-quart ovenproof Dutch oven. Cover with water 2 inches above beans, and let stand 8 hours or overnight. Drain.
Add 2 1/2 quarts water to beans; stir in salt pork, garlic, and next 5 ingredients. Bring to a boil; cover and cook 2 hours or until beans are tender, adding water if necessary. Remove and discard salt pork, onion, carrots, celery, and bay leaf; set beans aside.
[Place chicken pieces in a roasting pan; sprinkle with salt and 2 teaspoons ground pepper.
Bake at 350F until meat thermometer registers 180F(deg). Remove from oven, and allow chicken to cool completely, reserving 3 tablespoons drippings. ] [Omit this if you buy a rotisserie chicken]
Cook sausage in a skillet over medium-high heat until browned; remove sausage, reserving drippings in skillet. Set sausage aside.
Add pork chops to skillet, and cook over medium-high heat until browned on both sides; remove pork chops, reserving drippings in skillet. Set pork chops aside.
Add reserved chicken drippings to drippings in skillet Add chopped onion and minced garlic, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until tender. Add white wine, and cook 6 minutes or until mixture is reduced by half.
Add diced tomatoes,1/2 teaspoon thyme, and 2 teaspoons pepper; stir into beans.
Spoon half of the bean mixture, sausage, chicken, and pork chops into a Dutch oven; repeat layers. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs.
Bake at 325(deg F) for several hours. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Yield: 8 to 10 generous servings.
Texican Goulash (makes about 1.5+ gallons)
Ingredients:
1 pound ground meat (I started with gr. beef, now I use turkey)
1 large onion (white or yellow)
1 large bell pepper
1 large jalapeno pepper (hot)
1 Anaheim pepper (hot)
2 serrano peppers (hot)
1 16 oz. pkg of macaroni
1 10 oz. can of corn
1 16 oz. can of Ranch Style beans (or chili beans if you can’t find RS)
1 can Rotel tomatoes (hot)
1 64 oz. bottle of V-8 juice (this is never enough, so also get a 46 oz.bottle and use about half)
Spices (to taste):
Chili powder
Oregano
Cumin powder
Black pepper
Cayenne pepper
Garlic powder
Dice the onion and peppers and mix with ground meet while cooking in skillet.
While the meat and peppers are cooking, add the dry spices to the meat, stirring and breaking up clumps of meat.
While the meat is cooking, boil the macaroni.
While the macaroni is cooking, drain the liquid from the corn, then add it, and the beans and tomatoes to the meat.
When macaroni has finished cooking, drain and return to pot.
Ladle the meat, pepper, and canned items into the macaroni.
Pour the 64 oz. V-8 into the macaroni and meat mixture. Add enough of the 46 oz.V-8 to reach a soupy consistency.
Heat until hot.
Serve with shredded cheese, and nacho chips on the side. A nice Mexican beer (I prefer Dos Equis amber) is also a fine accompaniment.
(This recipe makes about a dozen servings, depending on how big you like your servings, but I have learned how to cut it down a bit: use half of the diced vegetables and half the ground meat and only the 64 oz. V-8.)
Easy and Yummy Corn and Jicama Salad.
1 small Jicama - diced
1 red onion - diced
1 red pepper - diced
1 jalapeno pepper - diced
1 package of grape tomatoes - halved
1 cup of raisins
2 cans of corn - drained and rinsed
2 cans of black beans - drained and rinsed
1 cup chopped basil or cilantro (basil is better but either works)
Salt, pepper, garlic powder
Dressing
1/2 cup mayo, 1/2 cup sour cream (do not, under any circumstances, use low-fat)
3 teaspoon rice vinegar
Throw all the ingredients in a bag ass bowl
Mix the mayo, sour cream and vinegar in separate bowl/ Stir until it looks like a dessert topping.
Pour the mixture into big ass bowl and stir everything together well.
Put in the fridge for about an hour.
Enjoy!
kittenblue’s Cheese Spread:
1 block Velveeta (shut up until you try it!)
1 small jar horseradish
dry sherry
Worcestershire sauce
cayenne
Cube the Velveeta. Place in bowl. Dump the horseradish on it, then add one jar of dry sherry to the mix. Let stand (covered) in fridge overnight. Then put mix into food processor and blend, adding Worcestershire and cayenne to taste.
Absolute cheesy crack.
Mint Chip Cookies.
Use the recipe on the back of the Toll House Chocolate Chip bag. Add ~1 tsp mint or peppermint flavoring per batch (bigger bags of chips have larger recipes) and enough drops of green food coloring to turn the dough green.
DON’T OVERCOOK! If you brown the cookies, they’ll look brown with algae overtones rather than green.
When I declared an end to making Christmas Cookies, there was a family-wide protest against being deprived of this one recipe. The rest of the Christmas Cookies they were willing to live without.