EASY RECIPES AND STUFF

EASY MONTE CRISTO SANDWICH

Posted on May 17, 2012 by easyrecipesandstuffc

EASY RECIPE

I haven’t eaten a Monte Cristo sandwich in years. But, the other day I recalled how tasty the sandwich was, and I began thinking about how to make an easy version. Other than the batter for the toast, the ingredients for my easy recipe Monte Cristo are off the shelf. The other issue was the pain of trying to flip the large sandwich on the fry pan while browning the bread and melting the cheese inside. More times than not some of the meat or cheese would fall out during the process. So, technology to the rescue. Typically I use the microwave to reheat my coffee. But, I figured there could be other uses for the microwave. And boom, it came to me. Brown the toast in the fry pan, remove from pan, prep with sauces, jams, meats, and cheese, top it, and place it in the microwave to melt the cheese. No flipping, no problems, real easy, and good .

Recipe serves 4.

Ingredients:

For Batter:

3 eggs

1/2 C milk

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

8 slices country bread

For spread:

Store bought rhubarb strawberry fruit spread

3 Tbsp Mayonnaise

2 Tbsp mustard

2 leaves fresh mint – diced.

For the filling:

8 slices deli style turkey

8 slices deli style ham

Gruyere cheese – sliced

powdered sugar

Preparation:

Mix the mayonnaise, mustard, mint in small bowl.

In a large deep dish place 3 eggs, mild, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and whip together.

One by one dip bread slices into the batter, covering both sides of the bread.

Melt butter in fry pan and brown the “French Toast” on both sides. You will need to add butter as you progress through the 8 slices. Set the browned slices to the side.

On paper plate place one slice of browned bread, spread mayo/mustard sauce on top, add 2 slices of turkey, 2 slices of ham, and slices of Gruyere cheese. Spread rhubarb strawberry fruit spread on second slice of browned bread and place on top to finish the sandwich. Place in microwave on high for 40 seconds to melt cheese and warm the meat. Repeat for remaining sandwiches.

Gently move sandwich from paper plate to the serving plate, sprinkle with powdered sugar, add side of fruit and enjoy your super easy super good dinner.

AND STUFF

So there I was sitting on the patio of a small, but good, coffee shop in PV, looking all local like enjoying my latte. A group of tourists walked by obviously looking for something. I continued to sip my latte and think. I am very good at sipping and thinking. After a while the tourists walked past going back the direction they had come from, still looking for something. Next thing I know, the parent walks up to me, you know the local looking person, and asks if there are any Mexican restaurants nearby. I thought for a moment (but not enough before replying) and responded not that I was aware of, and then I recommended a couple restuarents up the road. The parent thanked me, walked about 15 feet stopped and yelled back at me, found one! Oops, I forgot there was one about 30 feet behind me and around the corner.

I like being helpful.

I also like learning something new everyday.

Got to do two things I like that day. I guess, it was a good day.

Good Eating and Table Talk,

Roger

Spaghetti with Smoke Flavored Meatballs

Posted on May 8, 2012 by easyrecipesandstuffc

EASY RECIPE

Home from work, tired, but you need to put out a great dinner for the family or friends. Try my super easy step by step recipe for spaghetti with smoke flavored meatballs. All you need is some liquid smoke. If you don’t have any liquid smoke get some next time you’re at the grocery store, it lasts forever in the refrigerator.

Recipe serves 4.

Ingredients:

Spaghetti

Parmesan cheese

Meatballs:

1 lb. ground beef

1 tsp basil

½ tsp cumin

½ tsp fennel seed

2 tsp Parmesan cheese

2 cloves garlic – diced

1 tsp liquid smoke

salt and pepper – dash

Sauce:

1 – 15oz. can diced tomatoes

1 – 15 oz can tomato sauce

¼ onion – diced

¼ green bell pepper – diced

¼ C fresh basil – chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 ½ tsp oregano (dried)

¼ tsp red chili pepper flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Add to a large bowl the ground beef and all meatball ingredients. Mix ingredients together by to hand to assure the spices are evenly distributed. Form mixture into 8 meatballs.

Heat one tsp olive oil in a large fry pan and then cook meatballs at medium high heat for 14 minutes, turning the meatballs often to brown on all sides. Remove cooked meatballs from pan, and cover them with aluminum foil.

Saute onions in small amount of olive oil.

To a large sauce pot add the onions and other sauce ingredients. Bring to light boil and reduce heat to simmer and cover. The sauce will simmer while you prepare the spaghetti.

Boil water and prepare spaghetti as directed on the package.

Plate sauce, top with spaghetti and meatballs. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Add garnish of fresh basil, and it’s dinner time.

AND STUFF

Couple of weeks ago we went to a Lakers game. Then there was a Bats mitzvah. The next weekend was a great trip to San Francisco to see my daughter. Every weekend for darn near a month was cool. But last weekend was awesome. What did we do? Absolutely nothing. I think I can recite the entire weekend in one sentence. Friday pizza and movie, followed by beach walk on Saturday, and son’s lacrosse game Sunday.

Don’t know about you, but seems like we are always in a hurry to get some where or do something. Sometimes its work related sometimes its fun related. But either way its in a hurry. So from time to time there is something wonderful about doing nothing. Just hanging with the family around the hood and enjoying time together.

Yeah, just hanging, doing nothing, relaxing. Yup here it is Tuesday already and still calm. Tuesday? Oh oh, Mother’s Day is this weekend! Gotta go, need cards, need flowers, need presents, neeeeeeeeeed everything for this weekend! I’m back in go go mode. Talk to you later.

Good Eating and Table Talk,

Roger

Posted in Easy Recipes and Stuff | Tagged easy spaghetti, meatballs | Comments Off

SEARED AHI TACO

Posted on May 3, 2012 by easyrecipesandstuffc

EASY RECIPE

Cinco de Mayo will soon be here, and that means great food! I was at a sushi restaurant last weekend and while eating awesome spicy tuna the thought occurred to me that spicy Seared Ahi Tacos might be good. How could I go wrong? Everybody likes tacos, everybody likes ahi, and, I got thumbs up from Vanessa and Carlos. Game on. The following step by step easy recipe breaks the taco mold a little, but anyone who enjoys seared ahi will love your meal!

Recipe serves 4.

Ingredients:

¾ lb. Ahi Tuna – sushi quality

½ head cabbage – shredded

¼ onion – diced

1 chipotle pepper pod

½ tsp dried oregano

1 clove garlic

¼ bunch of cilantro

¼ C red wine vinegar

½ tsp Wasabi powder

½ tsp Adobo sauce (from the chipotle pod can)

1 C vegetable or chicken stock

2 limes – one for juice, one for garnish

1 carrot – julienne cut

Taco shell (soft)

½ cup shredded cheese (I used Parmesan)

1 can re-fried beans

Montreal Steak Seasoning

Preparation:

Mix shredded cabbage and carrots in a large bowl.

Add to a blender: onion, chipotle pod, garlic, red wine vinegar, Wasabi powder, Adobo sauce, stock, juice of one lime, salt and pepper to taste. Blend. Add the cilantro and blend a second time .

Add 1/3 of the blended sauce to the bowl of cabbage/carrots and stir.

Cook re-fried beans on low heat.

Rinse Ahi, and then dab dry with paper towel.

Coat the Ahi on both sides with canola oil and then liberally coat both sides with Montreal Steak Seasoning .

Heat large fry pan and 1 tsp canola oil on medium high heat, when hot add the Ahi. Cook Ahi 2 minutes on each side. Remove to cutting board.

Heat taco shells briefly in oiled fry pan or in microwave with shell covered by damp paper towel.

Slice slender servings of the seared Ahi.

To heated taco shell add re-fried beans, cabbage, seared Ahi, drizzle a little sauce over the ahi, and top with a little cheese.

Garnish the plate with additional shredded cabbage, beans, and lime slices.

AND STUFF

(Following review was unsolicited and uncompensated)

We were up in San Francisco for Vanessa’s birthday, and after a day of shopping and a couple of crafted beers, it was time to consider dinner plans. There are many great things about San Francisco, not the least of which are eating options. Couple endless restaurant choices with the subway system that can get you close to everywhere, and the dinner choices are endless. We finally decided on Blowfish sushi. We made our reservations and hit the subway at the appropriate time to blast us over to the Mission area of SF for dinner.

After a nice walk past businesses and residences we eventually approached our destination. The restaurant was modern and vibrant. There were classic movie clips being shown on screens around the sushi bar. All very fun.

She Who Must Obeyed has a couple a food issues, not the least of which is food must not be raw. So, she typically has cooked chicken or shrimp whenever we venture into the world of sushi. This time she ordered a salad, and a shrimp dish. The rest of us ordered tuna sushi, spicy tuna inside out rolls, crab sushi, and super hot jalapeno tuna rolls.

The dishes arrived, and everything looked great. The shrimp Sue ordered was beautifully presented, tasted great, and maybe was even cooked, hard to say as she didn’t share!

To humor us, Sue is always willing to force down one piece of tuna roll. And so she did. And then to my surprise she had another! And before you know it, we were all diving in and ordering more! Well done Blowfish, we moved Sue a little closer to the sushi line.

Filled to the brim with food and cheer, it was time to walk back to the subway. We left the restaurant and, for some reason, I turned back and saw what I think is one of the greatest sushi signs ever.

Enjoy your Cinco de Mayo Seared Ahi Tacos, and

Good Eating and Table Talk,

Roger

Posted in Easy Recipes and Stuff | Tagged ahi, easy recipe, seared ahi taco, step by step recipe | Comments Off

Great Pork Tenderloin Dinner Recipe plus Left Over Pulled Pork Dinner Recipe

Posted on April 25, 2012 by easyrecipesandstuffc

EASY RECIPES

I’ve got a twofer for you this week. First night is an easy enchilada flavored pork tenderloin, with Black Cuban Beans, and rice. Using left over pork tenderloin the second dinner is a pulled pork sandwich with salad. The following step by step recipes will provide two low carb, low fat, family dinners with very little effort. The only way to get an easier dinner would be by means of delivery; and that would mean lots of $, lots of salt, lots of carb, and lots of fat. That is just way to0 many bads.

Each Recipe Serves 4

First Dinner: Pork Tenderloin with Enchilada Sauce, Rice, and Beans.

Serves 4 – preparation time 10 minutes – cooking time 45 minutes.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lb. Pork Tenderloin (left overs will be used for second recipe)

1/3 Cup Enchilada Sauce

1 tsp Olive Oil

Ground Black Pepper

1 1/2 Cup Botan Rice

2 Cup Water

1 Can Cuban Style Black Beans

Chili Peppers

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat the Pork Tenderloin with the Enchilada sauce.

Sprinkle with black pepper.

Place Olive oil in oven proof pan, add pork and place in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. (when cooked internal temperature should read 155 to 160 degrees F).

Rinse and drain water from rice.

Place rice in pot, add 2 cups water, bring to boil, reduce heat to low simmer, cover and cook for 14 minutes. Turn heat off and let stand with cover on.

Heat Cuban Style Black Beans.

Let pork set up for few minutes while beans heat up. Then carve 1/2 the pork tenderloin into nice thin servings, reserving 1/2 the pork tenderloin for second recipe.

Plate the rice, beans, and then pork. Drizzle a little Enchilada sauce on the pork and serve a great family dinner.

Second Dinner: Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Salad.

Serves 4- preparation time 10 minutes- cooking time 5 minutes.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 lb. left over pork tenderloin
1/4 C BBQ sauce
1/4 C water
4 Thin Bread Buns
Small head lettuce – washed and ripped into small pieces

Roasted Red Pepper slices (bottled)
2 Carrots – diced
8 Chili Peppers
1 1/2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

Preparation:

Chop / shred the remaining 1 1/4 lb of pork tenderloin. Mix the BBQ sauce into the shredded pork tenderloin. Place in fry pan.

Add 1/4 cup water

Heat pork tenderloin until warm.

Plate lettuce, red pepper slices, carrots, and chili peppers, drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar.

Toast Thin Bread Buns

Add meat to buns and plate.

And just like that you are serving a quick and easy pulled pork sandwich dinner.

AND STUFF

So there I was, light jacket and hat, power walking along the cliffs in PV listening to music, when all of a sudden a huge SUV full of kids blows past me yelling FU at me loud enough to be heard over the great i tunes music in my ears. I figured it was just some youthful raging hormones and didn’t give it a second thought. The night was too lovely and I was making great progress in my mind on a story line.

A few nights later I dropped my son at practice in PV and as usual started my power walk to kill time and work on plots. Darn if a car full of kids didn’t blow past me again yelling FU at me.

This was beginning to seem less random and more intentionally directed at little old me. So I began to think what could I be doing to annoy the youth of PV? They were too young to be critics, so I ruled out the possibility they had read any of my work. I was minding my own business merly briskly walking down the street. It was early evening, so not likely booze was involved. I just didn’t get it. Why were they seemingly so angry at me?

Practice done, I picked up the boy and headed home. Once home I threw my jacket on a chair and a light in my mind blinked on. I stared at the problem. The back of my light beach style jacket read what apparently were the rage inciting words, “Redondo Beach”.

Huh, who knew.

Knowledge is power. I already knew that in certain areas of LA one does not wear red, and in other areas one does not wear blue, unless one wants to incur severe wrath. OK now there is another article of clothing that must be left at home when in certain areas of LA er PV.

Thank goodness She Who Must Be Obeyed recently surprised me with a nice new light jacket that has absolutely no lettering, no red and no blue. That should fill the bill wherever I dare to venture forth.

Would be nice though if everyone would just take a deep breath and chill.

Good Eating and Table Talk,

Roger