The Nifty Foodie

I am a big time fan of Mexican food. I can eat quesadillas, fajitas, queso and rice until my stomach wants to explode. I could probably eat this stuff everyday, but if I did, I’m sure my jeans would tell me to take a hike! One of my favorite things is Mexican rice, especially at this local Mexican joint. I’ve never found an adequate at-home replacement, and I thought I would give this a shot.

I’m so sad that this stuff turned out bland bland bland. I worked on this darn side dish on a work night, only to be disappointed. Maybe it needed more salt? Anyway, I will say it was dynamite when mixed with some carmelized onions and veggies that I cooked for the fajitas.

I don’t even know what went wrong (anyone have tips?), but the search continues….

EDIT: After making this again, I realized I must not have rinsed the rice long enough. The recipe turned out spectacular!

Mexican Rice
Source: Annie’s Eats (originally from Cooks Illustrated)

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe tomatoes, cored and quartered
• 1 medium white onion, peeled, trimmed and quartered
• 2 cups long grain white rice
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed through a garlic press
• 3 medium jalapenos, ribbed, seeded and minced
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro (optional)
• 1 lime, cut into wedges for serving

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and move a rack to the middle position.  Process tomatoes and onions in the food processor until smooth and thoroughly pureed, about 15 seconds, scraping down the bowl if necessary.  Transfer the mixture a liquid measuring cup; you should have 2 cups (if necessary, spoon off excess or add water so that the volume equals 2 cups).   
2. Place the rice in a large fine mesh strainer and rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear, about 1 1/2 minutes.  Shake rice vigorously in strainer to remove all excess water.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed oven-safe Dutch oven or straight-sided sauté pan with a tight-fitting lid over medium-high heat, 1 to 2 minutes.  Add the rice and fry, stirring frequently, until it is golden and translucent, 6 to 8 minutes.  Reduce the heat to medium; add the garlic and minced jalapenos; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 1/2 minutes.  Stir in pureed tomatoes and onions, chicken broth, tomato paste and salt; increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.  Cover the pan an transfer to the oven; bake until the liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, 30 to 35 minutes, stirring well after 15 minutes.

With the Spring starting, my husband couldn’t wait to break out the grill and cook! Steaks happened to be on sale that week, so I brought home some steaks and planned on making a new potato dish for the side dish. This is a super easy side to make and a fun way to serve up potatoes.

I remember seeing this recipe on Pioneer Woman and being intrigued because foil packs = less dishes. Plus, cream and butter? How can you go wrong? The only thing I noticed is that you need to stir the contents of the bundle out of the oven before you eat it, because the creamy buttery goodness is at the bottom of the pack.

Potato Bundles
Source: The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

• 6 whole Russet Potatoes
• ½ whole Yellow Onion, Diced
• 1 stick Butter
• ½ cups Heavy Cream
• Kosher Salt To Taste
• Paprika To Taste
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
• 2 Tablespoons Minced Parsley

Directions:

1. Pile potatoes and onions on a square of foil. Add 2 tablespoons butter. Splash on cream. Then sprinkle on salt, paprika, and black pepper. Sprinkle minced parsley over the top.
2. Wrap bundles tightly and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, or until extremely tender.
3. Serve bundles right on the dinner plate. Serves 8.

Another classic that just screams Thanksgiving for my family is my mom’s sweet potato casserole. I made it a little lighter by using products from Splenda, and wow, was it delicious!

Mom’s Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

• 7 large sweet potatoes
• 3/4 cup of butter (used 1 tbsp. of smart balance)
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (used 1/4 cup splenda br. sugar)
• 1/2 cup gran sugar (used 1/4 cup splenda blend)
• 1/2 tbsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tbsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. ginger
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 bag mini marshmallows

Directions:

1. Boil sweet potatoes until fork tender. Allow potatoes to cool.
2. Peel sweet potatoes and place them in a large bowl. Mash using a hand or stand mixer.
3. Cream butter, milk in with the potatoes. Add the sugars, eggs, spices and vanilla extract and mix until well blended.
4. Bake at 425 in a 9×13 pan for 15 minutes, or until brown.
5. Sprinkle mini marshmallows on top, turn on the broiler and bake with the oven door open until they brown.

Since we were hosting Thanksgiving, I knew I was going to make my mom’s fabulous cornbread dressing. It’s so flavorful, moist and just delicious! I was afraid it wouldn’t be as good as mom’s, because the recipe she gave me was a lot of ingredients “to taste”. So, I was surprised to see that people actually gobbled (hehe..pun) it up!

I wrote ingredients down as I did it, and so this is my version of my mom’s dressing!

Mom’s Cornbread Dressing

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 bunches of green onions, finely chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 9×13 pan of prepared and cooled cornbread (I did this using 6 packs of Jiffy cornbread mix.)
• 1 lb. lean ground meat
• 1 roll of Jimmy Dean reduced fat sausage
• 2 cans of beef broth
• Cajun spice, paprika, salt and pepper to taste (I didn’t measure these…sorry!)

Directions:

1. Saute onions, green onions, bell pepper and celery in a dutch oven until transparent. Add garlic.
2. Brown sausage and beef in another pot until fully cooked and drain fat.
3. Add meat mixture to the onion mixture in the dutch oven.
4. Cut up and crumble cornbread by hand and add it to the pot.
5. Add beef broth about a half can at a time, until the mixture is moist.
6. Add spices to taste.
7. Refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to meld. The next day, place the dutch oven (covered) in the oven at 350 degrees until the dressing is warm. Serve.

This is one of those recipes that I starred in my Google Reader a while ago, and until recently, just revisited. I was planning on roasting chicken breasts for the hubs and I, so I thought these potatoes from The Pioneer Woman’s website would be the perfect side to go with it. These were so easy and an absolute hit in the house. The hubs requested them immediately afterwards for the next evening’s dinner, and that never happens with a dish I make! I guess my skills in the kitchen are improving!

Crash Hot Potatoes
Source: The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

• 12 whole New Potatoes (or Other Small Round Potatoes)
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• Kosher Salt To Taste
• Black Pepper To Taste
• Rosemary (or Other Herbs Of Choice) To Taste

Directions:

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in the potatoes and cook them until they are fork-tender.
2. On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. (For me, I used a pastry brush to paint on 1 tbsp. of olive oil.) Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.
3. With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.
4. Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.)
5. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.