Camille's Favorite Queso AKA Creamy Tacos

Growing up in Indiana, we didn't know about queso. A friend of my mom's used to make this and we called it "Creamy Tacos". When the moms wanted to get together and keep us kids happy, we would have creamy taco night. Back then, you would place a layer of tortilla chips on a plate, top with creamy taco mixture and then garnish with your favorite taco toppings: shredded lettuce, tomato, sour cream, salsa, etc. For my family, it has evolved into a dip. Both methods are equally yummy!
Local to Dallas, I have learned another twist on queso: Bob Armstrong dip. Named for a big D local, a few of the tex-mex restaurants around town offer queso this way. Queso with ground beef, tomato, a scoop of guacamole and a scoop of sour cream!

INGREDIENTS:
1 Pound Ground Beef
1 15 oz. Can Hormel Chili with no beans
1 14.5 oz. Can Stewed Tomatoes, I use Mexican blend
1 Pound Velveta Cheese
Heavy Whipping Cream


PREPARATION:
In a 6 QT. stock pot, brown ground beef on medium high heat, breaking up meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Drain any fat, I usually don't have any because I use 90/10% beef. Reduce heat to medium low. Stir in the can of chili until meat is coated. Add tomatoes to the pot and break those up into smaller pieces too, using the spoon. Cube the cheese and add it to the pot, stirring constantly until the cheese is completely melted. Once the cheese is melted, add the cream and serve or cool, refrigerate and store to serve later. I often make a big batch and freeze in smaller batches to re-heat at will.

Pull Apart Cinnamon Sugar Bread

What can I say, but, WOW!!! Christi is good at finding and sending recipes she knows my kiddos will enjoy, this time, she hit the jackpot! She found it on another blog. I will include the link, because the pictures are much better than mine, and show the step-by-step process. I was planning to make it even sweeter with a drizzle of icing, but Cameron wouldn't allow it, he said it was perfect just the way it was.
I also messed up in the mixing process and neglected to hold out 3/4 C of the flour, my dough did not seem to rise as much as described but everything turned out fine. It was a very stretchy dough, so rolling it out to the 20X12 size took some elbow grease. I was unable to fit all the dough pieces in the loaf pan, so I threw out the small scraps on the end and stuffed as many of the sugary stacks in as I could. The recipe can be found on www.joythebaker.com and is adapted from HungryGirlPorVida.

INGREDIENTS:
Dough:
2 3/4 C plus 2 T flour (set aside 3/4 C)
1/4 C granulated sugar
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (1 envelope)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 oz. butter
1/3 C whole milk
1/4 C water
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla

Filling:
1 C granulated sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
2 oz. butter, melted until browned

PREPARATION:
In a large mixing bowl, stir first four dry ingredients, reserving 3/4 C of the flour. In a small bowl, whisk eggs. In a small sauce pan, heat butter, milk and water just until the butter melts. Remove from heat and add vanilla. The mixture should be between 115-125 degrees to activate the yeast. Pour the liquid into the large bowl of dry ingredients and mix. Stir in the eggs. Add the remaining 3/4 C of flour and mix for a couple of minutes until the dough comes together.

Spray another large bowl with cooking spray and place dough into it to rise. Cove the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Place in a warm area and allow to rise for an hour. At this point you can refrigerate the dough and finish on day two. I did this and it worked great. Just allow the dough to come back to room temperature the following day, approximately 30 minutes.

Deflate the dough and knead it on a slightly floured surface to form a nice uniform ball. Cover with a kitchen towel and allow it to rest 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt 2 oz. of butter and cook over medium-low heat until brown. Stir together sugar and spices and set aside. Grease a 9X5X3 loaf pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 20X12 rectangle or as close to that as possible. Using a pastry brush, spread butter over the dough then sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Now you are ready to cut and stack your dough. Begin by cutting 6 vertical pieces that are equal in size. Stack these strips of dough on top on each other. I staggered some of the shorter stips so it would make a more even stack. Now, cut this stack of dough into 6 more equal pieces, so you have 6 stacks of small square pieces of layered dough. Stack these and place them into the loaf pan. Mine didn't reach the edges of the pan but once you allow it to rise again they will. Cover with a towel and allow it to rise one last time for 30-40 minutes.

Bake in the center of your oven, at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. I covered the top of my bread loosely with for the last few minutes of baking so the center could bake through and the top would not get too brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20-30 minutes, then invert onto a serving platter. Best served warm, with cold milk, I might add. The bread can be wrapped airtight and kept at room temperature for 2 days.

Chicken & Waffles

 
Emeril does it right! Boneless fried chicken with crispy waffles all bathed in a Crystal hot sauce syrup, yummy, yummy. Perfectly paired with a light and cool grapefuit slaw.

Cinnamon Sugar Waffles

Cam is the pickiest eater in the house, so it is fairly ironic that he is the one who is always coming up with new ideas in the kitchen. First, there were Butterfinger cookies, now, cinnamon sugar waffles. Sounds simple enough and it is, but why we never thought to do it before is a mystery to me. One morning instead of the usual chocolate chip pancakes or plain waffles he said, "Hey, mom do you think you could make cinnamon sugar waffles?" Why not, I tossed a couple teaspoons of sugar and cinnamon into to waffle batter and there you have it, a new creation! They were a big hit and tasted very similar to french toast. Yum, Yum, Yum!

New Orleans

Our recent trip to New Orleans, or as I like to call it . . . How to O.D. on pork belly and confit! Featured dishes from Herbsaint. The entire meal was delightful. Starting with Beep's favorite the crispy poached egg over taso ham carbonara, my crab tower with beets and grapefruit and just because two appetizers are never enough, the grit cake with taso ham, tomato mushroom okra sauce with shrimp and the gumbo were must haves. Main course, none other than the king and queen of New Orleans, pork belly with Louisianna style sticky rice and perfectly cooked sweet and tangy greens and confit that was a combination of moist and crunchy over a delicious cajun rice. One of our favorite additions to the meal was the marble-sized fried brussel sprouts, perfectly crisp and finished with salt, they were addictive. To top it all off we ordered two desserts, Beep, the Banana Brown Butter tart with Fleur de Sel Caramel and I thoroughly enjoyed a marshmallowy pillow of creaminess, Ponchatoula Strawberry Balsamico with Creole Cream Cheese Mousse. The certainly don't skimp when naming these dishes and they don't skimp on the flavor either.
Herbsaint is upbeat while at the same time very cozy with wonderful staff and the intermittent rumble of the trolley passing by reminds you that you are in a very special town.

Homemade Pasta Lasagna

One of our favorite places for authentic brick oven pizza makes a wonderful single serving of lasagna that Beep and I always order along side our metro Regina Margarita. I decide to attempt this lighter version of the layered dish at home. The recipe has four basic components: bolognese, pasta, cheese, and sauce. It turned out great! I made a full pan. The homemade pasta, makes all the difference. I completed each step over a period of days, so it wasn't an overwhelming amount of preparation. I started with the meat filling two days ahead, mixed, rolled and cooked the pasta one day in advance then mixed the cheese filling, assembled the morning of the third day, then relied on my completely competent sister-in-law and husband to finish the cooking.

 

INGREDIENTS:

MEAT FILLING:
A slightly shorter version of my traditional bolognese, which can be found on this blog.
2 T. olive oil
1-2 carrots, minced
1-2 celery ribs, minced
1/2 small yellow onion, minced
1-2 garlic cloves minced or crushed
1/2 Pound Veal, ground
1/2 Pound Beef, ground
1/2 cup tomato puree or sauce
1/4 cup cream
2 tsp. Italian seasoning, I use Penzey's
Salt & Pepper to taste
Pinch of Sugar, opptional

HOMEMADE PASTA SHEETS:
See blog recipe, roll to seven setting and cut into strips to fit your baking dish. Boil until Al dente and store in refrigerator until ready to assemble. If you mix the entire pasta recipe you will have enough to do more than one lasagna or cut extra pasta to cook as regular noodles. I rolled my sheets first and once I knew I had enough for 3 layers to fit my baking dish, I rolled and cut the remaining pasta into angel hair for the kids.

CHEESE FILLING:
8 oz. Whole milk Ricotta cheese
1/4 C cream
1 Large whole egg
1/4 C Parmesan cheese
a few grates of fresh nutmeg

SAUCE:
I use Alessi smooth jarred sauce, it is one of the best!

Freshly grated Parmesan for the top.

PREPARATION:

Prepare your meat filling a day or two in advance. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, saute the veggies in olive oil until translucent and slightly caramelized. Season with Italian seasoning. Add both meats to the pan and cook until completely browned. The final product you want is a meat sauce that melts together, break up the meat as it cooks, so all of the veggies and meat become incorporated. Stir in tomato sauce, allow to cook 2 minutes. Pour in cream and simmer until almost all the liquid is absorbed, mixing and pressing down on the contents of the pan to "marry" all the ingredients of the sauce. Taste and add additional seasonings or tomato sauce and sugar if needed. Cool, refrigerate airtight until ready to assemble.

See pasta blog entry to prepare the pasta. Can be prepared and boiled the day before.

Final Assembly, should occur the day you plan to cook the dish. Coat baking dish with non-stick spray, place a layer of pasta sheets to cover the bottom of the baking dish. Next, spread all of the meat filling over the pasta to create an even layer. Top with a second layer of pasta sheets. In a large bowl, mix together ingredients for the cheese layer and spread it over the second pasta layer. Top with a third layer of pasta.

At this stage, I covered with foil and placed the baking dish in the refrigerator. We had a volleyball tournament and I knew it would be a long day. If you are going directly into the oven at this stage, preheat to 350 degrees and pour jarred sauce over the top of the lasagna, cover with foil and bake 30-45 minutes, until bubbly. Remove foil for the final 10 minutes of baking and sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese.
Allow to rest 5 minutes, cut and serve.

If you are baking later in the day, hold off on the sauce. Refrigerate until ready to bake, remove from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature while the oven is preheating. Top with jarred sauce, recover with foil and bake as instructed above.

Brisket Pita

Toasted Pita Sandwiches are a big favorite of our family! It started with my husband and a local restaurant in his home town of Fort Lauderdale, they served a variety of sandwiches in toasted pita halves. I will list a few of our favorite variations. Perfect for kiddos on the go, all the ingredients are contained in the crunchy pocket of goodness! I also make my own pita bread now, it is decidedly more delicious than the store bought pita, and surprisingly easy to make once you do it a couple of times. Come on, you know you love your family enough to make it from scratch! No pressure. For this one, I must confess, I cheated and used pita from the market. We had leftover brisket, add your favorite cheese, condiment and toast away.
I do pre-toast the pita prior to adding my fillings, then place the entire prepared sandwich into the toaster. I have handy little holders on my Dualit that make it easy to fit the pita into the machine. If you are afraid of your sandwich getting stuck, you can also toast in the oven or on a griddle. WARNING: filling will be hot!

 

PREPARATION:
Get all ingredients for your sandwich ready.
Slice Pita Pocket in half
Toast each half just slightly, 1 minute or less, just so it will open easily
Pre-heat any ingredients if needed (tomato sauce, meats)
Spread any condiment onto one side of the pita interior
Stuff fillngs into the pocket
Toast until warm, crunchy and filling is desired temperature 1-2 minutes

Chicken or Tuna Salad Melt
Choose your favorite filling and a slice of American cheese, toast away!


Roman Cheese
Tomato sauce with shredded mozzarella and or provolone cheese. I pre-heat the tomato sauce on this one, no one wants cold sauce. Add some leftover sliced meatball or Italian sausage. YUM!

Ham, Mushroom & Swiss
Bo's favorite . . . I saute some sliced mushrooms, heat the ham a little in the same pan. Then spread a little mayo on the pita add the fillings with a slice of Swiss, and he is in heaven.

Come up with your own and pass them along!

Grilled PB&J

Thank You Mrs. Finley, 6th grade home economics!!! One of our very first lessons in step by step preparation and cooking. I never knew a simple 4 ingredient sandwich could have so many steps. We were required to write out a supply list, ingredients and kitchen tools, timeline and person responsible for each task, ultimately the actual cooking, then consumption and clean up. No detail was left undocumented. I had learned to cook from my mom and dad, but this is where I learned to plan to cook. I had no idea Mrs. Finley would serve me so well.
One lesson I will never forget. . . when given the option during our bacon and scrambled egg class we could cook the eggs in the left over bacon grease or start fresh with butter. Well, my team decided to go with the bacon grease and needless to say our grade suffered for the color the grease imparted to our eggs. I will never make that mistake again, I have been a butter girl ever since!
The grilled PB&J is a decadent treat. One of Beep's favorites. He has always enjoyed the toasted PB&J, but this takes it to another level!!!! Perfectly paired with an icy cold glass of milk, enjoy.

INGREDIENTS:
2-4 Slices of your favorite bread
Peanut butter
Your favorite flavor of jelly or jam
butter, soft and spreadable
Cold milk



PREPARATION:

Heat your griddle or pan to medium high heat. Spread butter on one side of bread and place it face down on the hot surface. Spread peanut butter and jelly on another slice of bread and place it on top of the first slice. Butter the second slice of bread and get ready for the flip. Allow to cook until golden toasty brown, flip and cook on the second side. When perfectly toasted, remove from heat and allow to rest a second or two. This may be the most difficult part, be patient, I know it isn't easy, but you don't want all the warm gooey ingredients to run out onto the plate.
Slice your sandwich and enjoy!

Caramel Corn

This recipe is from my Great Aunt, Nan. She was a terrific cook and I grew up watching her making meals for the American Legion. Below are the directions exactly as she wrote them out for me. I will include some additional instructions in parentheses, just to keep things clear.

INGREDIENTS:
2 C Packed brown sugar
1 C Butter
1/2 C Karo light corn syrup
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Baking soda
6 Qts. Popcorn popped, I use an air popper that Beep has had since college : )
Peanuts optional, I also like to add almonds

PREPARATION:
Boil 5 minutes remove from heat and add 1 teaspoon soda. (In a heavy bottom pan heat the first four ingredients, stirring constantly and bring to a full boil, then continue to boil for 5 minutes). Pour over 6 quarts of popcorn. Mix thoroughly spread on buttered cookie sheet. (I spray a deep foil roasting pan with non-stick spray, fill with popped popcorn and nuts if desired, then pour the hot caramel over and mix in the disposable pan). Bake at 200 degrees 1 hour. Stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven cool. (I pour the corn onto a large surface lined with parchment paper to cool. If you leave it in the pan to cool the caramel will collect in the bottom of the pan and you will end up with strange chunks.) Store in tightly covered container.
Aunt Nan also wrote on the back of the recipe card: I mix it in a roaster and then put it back in every 15 minutes to mix. When you put your soda in beat until it is foamy.

Cream Chipped Beef (SOS)

Historically known as SOS, based on the appearance of this military staple, it may have developed a bad reputation over the years, but give it a try. (I must agree that it does not make the prettiest plate) This is one of Beep's favorite breakfast foods, that I had to learn to master and make just like his mom made. I think that I would make her proud. Quick to prepare, easy ingredients and heartiness make this recipe appealing, we all know the taste out weighs the eye appeal, which is why I spared you a picture of the final product.

INGREDIENTS:
3-4 Jars Hormel dried beef, rinsed & cubed
2-3 T butter
2-3 T flour
1 small bullion cube or 1 pkg. 1.5oz, MBT powdered beef broth(that is the brand Kim always used).
Milk/Cream, I never measure the milk I just pour and whisk until I get the consistency I want. I use fat free milk, but add a splash or two of cream at the end for richness.
6 or so slices of toast
Fresh Pepper
Adobo, Goya brand seasoning, a staple in our house now readily available in most major markets.

PREPARATION:
I begin by filling the jars of beef with water and allowing them to soak while I get everything else together. The beef is incredibly salty, don't skip this process. Meanwhile toast your bread. Pour out the water and give the beef one quick rinse, pat dry with paper towel and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
In a deep skillet over medium high heat add the butter and the beef. Allow the beef to brown slightly, cooking 2-3 minutes. Season with pepper and adobo, go light on the adobo it contains salt, Beep always adds a little more but I think his is too salty! Sprinkle the flour and beef flavoring over the beef and cook until all of the flour is absorbed, about 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.
Whisk in 1/2 C of milk, allowing the dish to return to a boil, adding additional milk as needed to reach a creamy/gravy consistency. I also add a splash of cream, probably a little less than 1/4 C just because I can. Ladle over toast and serve.