Cheesy American Goulash

A classic American ground beef goulash casserole with a cheesy kick. Give it a try today and you'll have an easy tasty everyday dish that will be a favorite of kids and the whole family.

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Spicy Three Meat Jambalaya

Transport yourself to Louisiana for some spicy yummy goodness with this three meat Creole jambalaya. Great taste in an easy weeknight cook that is packed full of meats, veggies and rice. And did I say spicy...

This is my first and probably last "sponsored post"  which means I got something to do it. I got about $15 worth of stuff free and then spent about $30 of my money doing the task... You may say not smart but it looked like fun. So this is what you get out of this... a very nice spicy three meat jambalaya with Brussels sprouts (yep sprouts). But it really came out nice.

Click to check out the Go4 Gourmet contest sponsored by McCormick spices.

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How to Make Potato Chips

Homemade potato chips. How does that sound? Make your own crunchy goodness in just a few easy steps. Come along and let me guide you with pictures.

You only need  a couple of potatoes, some oil and a little salt to have everybody thinking you are a kitchen wizard.


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Taco Casserole

A family friendly easy baked taco casserole that has great spiciness just in time for Cinco de Mayo. Think of it as a Mexican comfort food.

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Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Gravy

A classic comfort food made crock pot easy. Have a full meal with left overs ready when you get home. Spend a few minutes making gravy and you're the dinner hero.

I started with a chuck roast. You can use a leaner cut of beef but it will not be as tender. We like our roast falling apart. I browned mine before adding and cooked the onion and garlic a little before starting but skip both these parts if you want. Most home cooks do but I think the minimal work adds some additional flavor.

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Ultra Simple Crock Pot White Chicken Chili

This is the EASIEST white chicken chili slow cooker recipe you will ever see. Dump, dump, dump cook for 4 hours with stirring once or twice in the middle. You are rewarded for you laziness with a great chili and all your friends will demand the recipe.

For the first time, I'm repeating a recipe. This was one of my first posts and it has always been one of my most requested recipes. Maybe 50 people saw the first post so a repeat is definitely in order.

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Old Fashion Scalloped Potatoes

This is one of those great older recipes that is easy and absolutely delicious. I love a classic recipe. They are usually easy and almost always present a unmatched wholesome taste with simple ingredients.

My wife has mentioned scalloped potatoes several times in the last month and I can eventually take a hint. I'm in the habit of not telling her what I'm cooking. I just call her for dinner. Sometimes she loves her surprise and sometimes not so much. This brought the biggest smile in a long time. A definite "Wifo" comfort food.

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Uncooked Macaroni Crock Pot Mac and Cheese

Great taste, wonderful creamy texture in the easiest creamiest slow cooker mac and cheese you will ever see. You can make this tonight. No blue box for you.

Just put that uncooked macaroni in the crockpot. Yep, uncooked. Add some milk and spices. Cook. Then add cheese and in a few minutes you're done.  No can of soup needed. Serve FRESH today.

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One Pot Stove Top Mac and Cheese

One pot, stove top, no precooking the pasta plus it's creamy and very tasty.

I needed a simple side dish for my chicken salad lunch. I had seen this technique/recipe around several places but I'll give the inspired by to Stephanie at Plain Chicken with her One Pot Mac and Cheese which was adapted from whiteonricecouple.com.  If you need a mac and cheese recipe, Plain Chicken is the go to blog.

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Crock Pot Chicken Noodle Soup for Two

An ultra simple slow cooker recipe for chicken noodle soup. Sized just right for a small crock pot. Bring on the cold season, I'm ready now.
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Chicken Fried Steak - Texas Comfort Food

Let's call this Texas comfort food. And the gravy.... oh the gravy is oh so wonderful. Chucked full of spicy flavor and creamy goodness.

After I did Iowa comfort food, the tenderloin sandwich, I was looking for more and chicken fried steak (AKA Southern Fried Steak) came to the top of the list. It has a lot of similar techniques to the tenderloin. Coat and pan fry. Then serve with gravy instead of the sandwich like the tenderloin. For inspiration I used several recipes but really The Homesick Texan was the best so check out the great discussion

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Creamiest Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese

A creamy tasty mac and cheese recipe that is slow cooker simple. Good enough to make my "in-house mac and cheese expert" go back for seconds and talk about variations we can try with glee in her voice.

UPDATE Jan 13,2013: Newer version available with even less work and just as creamy.  

Creamy Crock Pot Mac and Cheese with Uncooked Macaroni (linky)

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Iowa Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwich

An Iowa classic. A tasty tender fried pork tenderloin sandwich. The perfect recipe for the opening day of the Iowa State Fair.

For you non Iowans, this is a small town classic. Almost every small town in Iowa has a restaurant who will claim to have the best, most award winning or the biggest tenderloin sandwich. You don't need to say pork, it is understood. The pork producers have a yearly contest to pick the best restaurant version. There are web sites dedicated to this much celebrated delicacy.
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Simple Old Fashion Chicken Pot Pie

I take requests... especially if they come from my wife. It has been a chilly few weeks. Not bad but in the 50's so warm comfort food seemed called for. Chicken pot pie is one of her favorites and we had several packages of Pillsbury pie crusts left.

This is a simple old fashion style pot pie. The ATK (American Test Kitchen) recipe has 25 ingredients. I have 10. Guess which one has less work? It's got great taste that warms to the bone.

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The Best Crock Pot Beef Stew

I present to you a recipe for the best beef stew I have ever had... thick, meaty with wonderful taste plus it's simple and easy to make. I love beef. I like pork and chicken but I LOVE beef. Too much Iowa in me I guess. While it's still winter here, it's a great time for a easy slow cooker beef stew.


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Wifo Pot Roast - A Basic Comfort Food

One of our comfort foods has always be my wife's pot roast. I decided to try a pot roast but after several hours of research I decided to steal for her and use her technique. I'm calling this a technique more than a recipe. It is simple and basic.

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How To Make Gravy - 101

Ahh gravy, the nectar of the gods according to one ATK episode I saw the other day. This seems to be hard for everyone (including me) except my wife. So I used my stealing of her pot roast recipe as an excuse to get a gravy lesson also. This is easy.

So this post is not a recipe but instructions about technique. Even if you don't use it, I will in the future so I'm posting it.

To start, read and understand the instructions BEFORE you start. You will not have time to read and do this at the same time.

Printable instructions without pictures

Required equipment: Tupperware Quick Shaker, stove top pan with large bottom, a large slotted spoon or whisk

First
You need fluid from your meat with some fat in it. Here we have about 2 cups worth of liquid from our pot roast. We wanted more gravy so we added a can of beef broth. You could add soup base or bullion for more flavor. Also add salt to taste.

Second
The liquid needs to be in a stove top safe pan. Now over HIGH heat, bring the liquid to a hard boil.Turn on two burners if the pan will cover them.

Third

While the liquid is heating combine about equal amounts of AP flour and COLD water in your Tupperware Quick Shaker. For this day it was 1/2 cup each. That amount should be adjusted down to make smaller amounts. Shake vigorously and continuously. Get it all mixed together and keep shaking to prevent lumps.

Forth

VIGOROUSLY STIRRING while pouring the flour mixture in

Once you have the flour mixed and the liquid is at a HARD BOIL, slowly add the flour mixture to the area of hardest boil SLOWLY while VIGOROUSLY stirring with a slotted spoon or whisk. Pay attention to the thickness and stop adding the flour mixture when you get most to the consistency you want. It will thicken a little with the cooking in the next step.

Fifth
Continue to cook for another 1-2 minutes while still stirring continuously then remove from heat and serve immediately.

NOTES: The Tupperware Quick Shaker is almost mandatory in this technique. You can try whisking in a bowl but I don't think it will work as well. Can you say lumps. These are about $13 on Amazon, eBay, a Tupperware dealer or a mall kiosk near you. Google is your friend again.

Roadhouse Mac and Cheese

Listed as the top Mac and Cheese by Alton Brown  in Food Network's "America's Best: Top 10 Comfort Foods", Zingerman's Roadhouse in Ann Arbor is a local tradition. We're off to AA for football tomorrow and my daughter (and wife) loves this mac and cheese so I though I would give it a try. Zingerman's actually posted the recipe for this one so no guessing and I really tried to follow the recipe. The changes were those you may need to make for convenience, no raw milk cheese around this area and a different pasta.

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Blueberry Buckle - The Full Monty

If I'm going to the dark side (health wise) I might as well go all the way. In my Healthy Blueberry Buckle recipe I cranked down the fat and simple carbs and ended up at about 150 calories per serving. This is almost double that due to the real butter and sugar I used. The technique varied enough to warrant another post.


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Mac and Cheese for the "Mac and Cheese Hater"

I hate the blue box. You know the one. The one the kid love that goes to prove that taste buds are defective before puberty. The runny yellow stuff that passes for cheese. My kid would wolf it down especially if there were hot dogs in it. Well there is a better way.

Months ago my nurse practitioners dragged me to a restaurant that has a variety of mac and cheese as their specially. Very good. Definitely not the blue box stuff. Then last week my wife broke into the "yellow box" mac and cheese for lunch that we had on hand for the grandchild. I had forgot how much she likes it so I went in search of a recipe.

My criteria would be:
1) Common ingredients, preferably all things I have in the house at all times.
2) Not runny
3) Parmesan and bread crumb topping.
4) A little spice for taste.

First I did a Google search and got the "Ronald Reagan's Mac and Cheese" recipe. If Ronnie liked it, it can't be bad. But it looked runny. I checked CI and got a recipe that would take hours to make but at least had some good tips. I continued to look and as I cruised the blogs I found a good start at Plain Chicken. I love this site and she has 8 mac and cheese recipes ( I think I counted right). I wanted her most recent recipe "Southern Style Mac and Cheese"   which she modified from The Deen Family Cookbook. The egg and sour cream should give me the texture I wanted. But I added Parmesan bread crumbs on top and added some cayenne pepper for taste.

Results  9.2 Taste 9.5 Ease 9
Time Prep 15 minutes and cooking 35 minutes
Health-O-Meter 0.0

Notes: The eggs add the structure I wanted. I didn't have the traditional elbow macaroni but I used whole wheat penne. I also substituted Colby-jack cheese for half the cheddar for a different taste. And lastly used a shallow baking dish so I could have more topping. I love the taste and crunch of the topping,

Tools: Shallow baking dish

Ingredients

8 oz  Pasta of your choice
4 T butter
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t dry mustard
1/8-1/4 t cayenne pepper (your taste)
2 cups cheese of your choice (I used 1 c sharp cheddar and 1 cup Colby-jack)

Topping
4 T butter
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1) Cook pasta fully per instructions on box. Do not under cook. Preheat oven to 375 convection. Proceed with next steps will cooking.
2) In large bowl, place 4 T butter and microwave for 20 seconds or so to just melt butter.
3) Add eggs, milk, sour cream, salt, pepper, mustard and cayenne pepper. Whisk until mixed well.

4) In a small skillet, melt 4 T butter over medium heat. Add bread crumbs and mix well. Remove from heat and allow to cook for several minutes then add parmesan and mix well.

5) When pasta is done, drain well and add to egg mixture. Add shredded cheese and mix well.

6) Spray pan with PAM and add mixture. Add topping.

7) Cook until top is brown and internal temp is 160 degrees. About 35 minutes.

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