Stuffed cabbage or Pigs in a blanket

Saturday or Sunday I was watching Foodnetwork Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa.  She was making a traditional Jewish meal for her husband Jeffry.  When she said stuffed cabbage I nearly fell off the couch.  I hadn't had stuffed cabbage in YEARS!  She proceeds to tell and cook this "sweet and sour" style tomato sauce.  Her recipe
The more I would think about it the more I wanted it.  I knew my dear husband would have nothing to do with it.  It contained cabbage after all.  He refuses to eat cooked cabbage in most forms.  (only kind I have ever seen him consume was in Chinese foods when I don't think he realized what it was.)  When I was a child my mom would make these things called porcupine balls (the filling that went in to stuffed cabbage with out the cabbage) So it hit me.  I will make stuffed cabbage and I will make a separate container for Mike of just the meat.

All day today at work all I could think of was eating this meal.  I honestly must have said it 100 times at work today "I can't wait for dinner tonight" . 

So-  I am not one to read a recipe ... So I recalled the jist of the recipe.  (see above for her recipe) I knew I didn't have the red wine vinegar but I have many other kinds.  I decided to use Rice wine vinegar. -

I prepped my ingrediants for the sauce , I used my Immersion blender  with the mini chopper attachment to fine mince onion and carrot.  for in the meat mixture.   That was very handy.

This is what Mikes turned out like.   Not nearly as yummy looking as mine but- 

I made home made escalloped potatoes to go with. 

Let me get you a napkin. I'm sure you are drooling too!

This meal made me very happy.  The only thing that would have made it better is if everyone in the family would have loved them as much as me.  I guess its the cabbage that gets them. 

I have one container with potatoes and stuffed cabbage to take to work later in the week.  I have 3 leftover containers of just stuffed cabbage. I have already had one request for some.   mmmm This was so yummy.

Here is the list of ingredients I used to make mine. 

3 large carrots fine minced (with a processor ) 2 for in the filling 1 for the sauce
1 large onion (1/2 fine minced like the carrot 1/2 just diced)
2 lbs of ground beef
2 cups of long grain rice (not minute or instant)
2 large cans of diced tomatoes
3tbsp rice wine vinegar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 large jars or cans of spaghetti sauce or 4 cups of a home made sauce)
2 tsp garlic minced
one head of cabbage.

salt n pepper

I will not give step by step how to make this.  If you need more instructions please read Ina's recipe.  I  will tell you that I mixed 2 of the minced carrots and the minced onions with the rice and 1 can of diced tomatoes with the ground beef.  I saute' the diced onion and remainder carrot  with a tbsp of oil till they are caramelized I then add the brown sugar and vinegar and diced tomatoes and boil rapidly to reduce moisture.  Meanwhile I had already cooked the head of cabbage for apx 10 -15 min to loosen the leafs.  I started rolling the cabbage with meat waiting on sauce to reduce then placed them in casserole dishes topping with sauce.  I baked them for 1.5 hours  

A Cooking Mission or Project

Every time I watch Julia and Julie it makes me want to set forth on a project of my own.  I get so bored with cook books.  Either not enough pictures, many recipes I couldnt attempt to feed my family, or ingrediants that would drive my food budget through the roof.  I want to do SOMETHING! I love to cook, I love to learn new dishes, techniques.  I love taking pictures of my food. 

I own so many cook books.  None of them pull at my heart enough to attempt any mission as large as that in Julia and Julie.   I am seriously in need of suggestion.  Do you know of a small cook book.  One that the ingredients will not break the bank?  I am sure I will be running over this in my head all night tonight.  I wish there wasn't a storm upon us.  I would go to a book store and look at the cook books.

Please Help!

taquitos

I had looked at many taquito recipes after googling that very phrase.  Told myself oh this would be hard to make.  Then it hit me.  Food processor! I was correct. I thought these were fantastic and easy! just one of those repetitive dishes where you repeat the same steps over and over again rolling till i almost ran out of pans. 

Taquitos

1-1.5 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breast
1/4th cup buffalo chicken style hot sauce. (red hot brand)
1 package of cream cheese
3 cups of 4 cheese blend (mexican style)
1/2 tsp or enough to lightly season chicken    of cumin
2 packages of flour tortillas (Tortillas cut in 1/2)
1-4 cup salsa
1 small onion,
1 small green pepper
salt and pepper to taste

saute seasoned chicken (with cumin, salt and pepper) and peppers in a large skillet over medium heat till cooked to temp.  allow to cool slightly.
put chicken and peppers in a food processor and pulse till fine mince.  Remove mixture place in to a bowl
place hot sauce, and cream cheese and salsa in food processor and pulse till cheese is completely incorporated with hot sauce
Add shredded cheese, pulse till cheese mixture is combine.
Remove cheese and start slowly stirring together with chicken.

On each tortilla that has been cut in 1/2 on the cut end of tortilla place 2tbsp (apx) of mixture and spread evenly from one end to the other.  Roll tortilla and place in a lightly greased pan so it will not unroll.
repeat till all mixture is used.  Bake in oven at 375 for 15 min

(I have always  seen different blogs that someone has made home made taquitos. I thought they would be very laborious .  I said to my self I'm going to attempt to make them A cheap and yummy snack, or appetizer.  Make it your own tweak it as you may... Let me know how you change it!)


I wish I would have more pictures then just the few that are left over that I put in the fridge.  I will make these again soon. Perhaps next time I make them I will use some fine shredded beef in some of them. I thought these were so easy to make.  Food processor helped that along so much.   I tweaked my written recipe a little different from how i made it.  I found mine to need more spice.  I had only added apx 3 table spoons of hot sauce, it needed more of a kick.  I didn't add salsa to mine but next time I will.  I ended up with 32 or so.  Perhaps I should make these for Superbowl Sunday! Lets go Steelers!!!!!

"Eat Pray Love"

This is not going to be so much a spoiler. It will more just be my expression of how much i enjoyed this movie.  This movie is touching in so many ways.  It is a great movie to help one connect to them self.  It helps you find "peace" with yourself.. 


I have often wanted to travel the world. -  I have always wanted to live with in the towns, not as a tourist but as someone whom knew and understood the way each culture lived.  Dreamed and behaved.  Many couples do not know how to dream together-  .  This movie is set to help people develop them self ... I feel like I need to watch it again... I would love to read the book perhaps it will envelope my head with more things that will make me restless .  Eat pray love was a very good movie...

Will it rise or not!

Short on groceries Trying to figure out what I could make and not have to go to the store.  I'm the queen of pantry meals.  Always trying to make something from nothing.  I knew I had everything I needed to make for pizza at any given time. I am not one to pick up the phone and order pizza. I would rather make it my self. 

Yeast- I knew i had some in my spice cabinet. I pull it out got my flour, some sugar and warm water. I go to cut the package and i see the date. OH NO!  Sep 2010.  I thought- I will proof it see if it wakes up.  VOILA! It started to rise. YAY!  so- I tried to keep my eye on the bowl hoping it wouldn't get out of control. It came very close.

These are a few of my favorite things.  (I usually never buy for the name of a cook) I just happened to grab the "EVOO".  Gia Russia pizza sauce is by far my favorite from  any store bought sauce you could get.  Then its just diced onion and motz cheese, deli pepperoni .

I lightly baked the crust then added my toppings. To assure those thick areas of the crust got done.

Bon Appetit!

My green beans dish!

A few weeks ago I submitted a recipe on a whim.  It was for a cook book released by Mount Nittany Medical Center. I have honestly become obsesed with fine dinning plates, food appeal, simple, clean foods.  So I decided I was going to work on recreating the "green bean casserole " .  That dish that is served at the holidays that looks like slop.  Why take some beautiful green beans and make them look like that. 

So-  There I sat picturing it in my head.  I started just jotting down ingredients I would use.  Picturing in my head if i was in the kitchen cooking this how would I make it.  It just started to pour from me.  The items to use were easy.  I wanted it to be like the traditional.  I wanted fresh ingredients. So I did my best at tossing measurements on to paper. Picturing this dish coming together.  Put the steps together, and hit submit.  Didn't honestly think any more of it.  I have done this before. I have submitted recipes. Only to get an instant response saying "Thank you for your submission. We will review what you have given us."  Very generic. 

Then when it came for my Turkey dinner at my sisters house where i do most of the cooking, I thought this is it. I will make it NOW.!  So that is what I did.  I thought it was wonderful.  Looked amazing. I never took a picture or anything. I was very proud of it though. 

More than one week passes from the date that I made the dish. I was at work and I clocked out to go home checking my phone i seen i had a voice mail. I check it..-  It was a representative from the contest telling me "We have chosen to use your recipe, please call us to discuss details and your prize"  I was floored! I know its honestly not as big of an ordeal as what i felt.  It still means something to me.  The dish will be in the cook book and I will be getting dinner at the restaurant I wanted!  It is hard for me to do anything involving a recipe. I am cook by feel, flavor and what I have. 

You will have to just enjoy my picture or buy the cook book when it is released :)

One step in the right direction

Today I had the pleasure of meeting with the Executive chef of a very nice restaurant.  I walked in to this place and as I grabbed a hold of the door nob i took a deep breath!< in- out> I walked in to a very quiet place ... and that was great.. ... Dinning room set for dinner, I quietly just turned around and let everything sink in. Absorbing things slowly...    

I spent the next 2 hours having the pleasure of walking around this kitchen been showed everything menu, recipes, storage.  I keep running everything back threw my head trying to remember the things that were told to me.  I am spilling with excitement.  This is what I want! This is where I belong. I see my future here.  If they only knew how hard it was to hold my emotions back and keep from practically crying.  Faith in my self is the biggest thing right now !~ I need to learn to trust in my self. I need to go with the flow. 

My family are going to need to understand and be there to support me in my adventure down the path that i have been waiting for my entire adult life.  I can't wait to actually share images of "things to come" .  Please keep me in your thoughts over the next few weeks, days, hours.... I need all the faith in the world to get me where i need to be. 

Plates full of dreams are honestly where my dreams are !