Beef Lombardi

Yummy! I love this beef, spicy, cheesy casserole. It's a huge hit in my family and feeds us for two meals, which is always a bonus. This recipe originally came from Southern Living. It called for 6 ounces of egg noodles, but I always use a full pound. Six ounces of egg noodles made the casserole too saucy for my tastes.


Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 (16-ounce) package medium egg noodles
1 cup sour cream
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Cook ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat 5 to 6 minutes, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain.
Stir in chopped tomatoes and next 4 ingredients; cook 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and bay leaf, and simmer 30 minutes.
Cook egg noodles according to package directions; drain.
Stir together cooked egg noodles and sour cream until blended.
Place noodle mixture in bottom of a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Top with beef mixture; sprinkle evenly with cheeses.
Bake, covered with aluminum foil, at 350° for 35 minutes. Uncover casserole, and bake 5 more minutes.

Pizza Stuffed Chicken

I love pizza. Who doesn't? So I revamped a Rachel Ray recipe I saw on TV the other day to make a pizza stuffed chicken breast. It's awesome. Cheesy and salty, with a yummy basil tomato sauce.

Ingredients:

Boneless skinless chicken breasts (I made 2)
Pepperoni slices (diced into smaller pieces), about 1/4 cup
Mozzarella cheese, shredded, about 1/4 cup
1 TBS olive oil

Chicken broth, 2/3 cup
14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 tsp basil
2 gloves garlic

Directions:

1. Make sure your chicken breasts are trimmed of excess fat and connective tissue.
2. Rinse and pat dry.
3. Carefully cut the breast in half, so that it is butterflied. To do this, place your knife halfway down the breast on the long side and cut towards the far side. Do not cut all the way through. It should look like this picture when you're done.
4. Place a small amount of the pepperoni and cheese on one side of the open breast. Leave chicken exposed on all sides of the filling.
5. Fold the piece of uncovered chicken back over the top of the filling.
6. Secure the open side of the breast with toothpicks. (Imagine you are sewing the chicken with the toothpicks.) I seasoned my chicken on the outside with an Italian seasoning mix for extra flavor.

7. Heat your olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Once warm, add the breasts to the pan and cook about 3 minutes on each side.
8. Transfer your chicken to a broiler pan (or something else that elevates the meat off the bottom of the pan) and bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes or until the chicken is done.

9. While your chicken is baking, pour the chicken stock into the skillet you just used.
10. Add your tomatoes and spices. Simmer, uncovered until the chicken is done.

I served this with pasta and topped the pasta with a little bit of leftover filling. Yummy!

Smothered Pork Chops

I'm not a huge pork chop fan, but I get them to break up the monotony of chicken breast and ground beef. So, I'm always looking for a good way to cook pork chops. This is one of my favorites. Easy and tasty.

Ingredients:

Pork chops (your choice of cut)
Mushrooms, sliced
Butter
Mozzarella cheese
Italian herbs and spices

1. Rub your pork chops down with Italian herbs and spices on both sides. I use a grinder that I bought called Italian herbs.
2. Slice fresh mushrooms. I use about a cup for 3 pork chops.
3. Saute your mushrooms in butter. I use 2 TBS for 1 cup of mushrooms. Saute over medium heat until the mushrooms are soft.
4. Broil your pork chops on each side for anywhere from 3 to 7 minutes, depending on how thick they are. The ones I cooked this time were Iowa cut (very thick) and took a full 7 minutes on each side.
5. Once the chop are done, top them with the mushrooms and cheese. Put back in the oven on broil for 1 to 2 minutes. The cheese should be completely melted and starting to brown in places.

That's all there is to it. Fast and tasty. We had these with mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus.

Cuban Marinated Shrimp

We love shrimp here, but don't buy it very often because of the expense. I decided to splurge and buy some raw shrimp for a tasty dish. I marinated them overnight in orange juice, lime juice, and spices. It's super easy and yummy.

This marinade is also great for pork and chicken.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons orange juice
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon pepper


Directions:

Whisk together until well mixed. 

I take my marinade and pour it into a gallon Ziploc bag and then add the meat. Make sure the bag is sealed tightly and place it in the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours, turning the bag every 2 hours or so to make sure the marinade is evenly distributed. (It's better to let it marinate over night).

For the shrimp I made, I soaked some bamboo skewers in water. Then I added about 6 shrimp onto each skewer. 

My grill is out of commission, so I broiled these in the oven. I think the grill adds a nice smoky flavor that goes really well with this marinade. 

Chocolate Quadraphonic Delight

Four, yes... four layers of yummy chocolaty goodness coming at you! My mom has been making this recipe for years with a homemade pecan sandie cookie type crust. Around here, we love chocolate so I figured why not make this with an Oreo crust. That'd be awesome!

Now I know I normally post a pic of the finished item, but this one turned out kinda ugly. I did a bad thing and didn't let my Cool Whip thaw completely and then, I stirred it. You should never, ever stir partially thawed Cool Whip. It does something bad to the Cool Whip and makes it get runny. Learn from my mistakes people and thaw your Cool Whip in the fridge ahead of time (like it says on the container).

Anyways, the dessert still tasted awesome. Just didn't look so pretty.

Ingredients:

1 package Oreos, crushed up
6 Tbs butter, melted
8 oz cream cheese, room temp
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbs milk
12 oz tub of Cool Whip
2 packages chocolate pudding
3 1/4 cup milk

1. Crush your Oreos. I used the food processor, but you can put them in a Ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin.
2. Melt your butter. Combine the butter and crushed cookies. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 pan.
3. Combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, 2 Tbs milk, and 1/3 of the Cool Whip. Beat with a mixer until light and fluffy. Spread over the crust. Place in the fridge to chill.
4. Make the pudding using the 3 1/4 cup milk (yes, this is less than the package calls for). Let thicken for 5 minutes or so.
5. Spread the pudding over the cream cheese layer. Place dish back in the fridge for 5 to 10 minutes to let pudding set.
6. Spread the remaining Cool Whip over the top. Cover and chill.

I've found it's best to make this the day ahead of time. You can cut everything in half to make a 8x8 dish if desired.

Ack!

I'm so far behind. I apologize to my readers. Last week was very tiring and stressful. I cooked, but didn't find the time to blog about it. I apologize, but I'm back with a decent stock of recipes to catch up on!

Recipes coming at you every day this week :)

Cafe Latte Turtle Cake

I love chocolate cake... love it! This past week, someone handed me a recipe while I was at the Veterans Hospital with my fiancee and it looked amazing. So, I decided to make it for our Easter celebration. His family had the celebration a week early this year, so it was yesterday.

The cake was a huge success, they ate the whole thing. I love it!! So good. The frosting is like eating fudge and the layers were very moist and chocolaty  without being too chocolate or too rich. This might be the chocolate cake I always make going forward! 

Cafe Latte Turtle Cake: 

Cake Ingredients: 

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup buttermilk

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 TBS baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

1. Grease 3 9 inch cake pans with Crisco. Then dust them with cocoa powder as if you were flouring the pan. Preheat your oven to 350.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, and vegetable oil.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. 

4. Gradually beat the egg mixture into the flour. Your batter will have a brownie like consistency at this point. Scrape down the sides of your bowl. 

5. Gradually beat in the hot coffee. This will make your batter much thinner. Be sure to scrape the bottom of your bowl and the beater(s) and mix again to get all the thicker batter incorporated. 

6. Pour into your prepared pans and bake at 350 for 22 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted the center comes out clean. The batter will appear somewhat shallow in the pans. 

7.Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove the layers from the pans to cooling racks to cool completely. 

8. Build your cake, by layering cake, frosting, and caramel sauce as desired. Nuts would be a great addition to this cake. 

Caramel Sauce recipe here. 

Frosting recipe here.