Taco Casserole

The Occasion: Satisfying that taco craving, but with a new twist.

The Recipe: From Pillsbury's Annual Recipes 2009 cookbook.

How it Went: This seemed like an easy thing to make, but you can never be sure with something this straightforward. Sometimes the easy things are actually too easy for their own good and end up tasting totally blah. Also, Husband is never too thrilled when I set out to try something new, and I know he was nervous about this one. However, when I brought it piping hot to the table, and the taco-y aroma wafted through the room, I had a feeling it was all going to be OK. We both loved it.

What You Need:
1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
1 can refried beans
1 jar medium salsa
1 package taco seasoning mix
tortilla chips
1/2 green bell pepper
4 scallions
1-2 tomatoes, depending on your tomato preference
1 C shredded cheese (cheddar or colby jack or something similar)
1/4 C sliced black olives
shredded lettuce
sour cream

Your Turn:
Chop 1/2 green bell pepper. Slice 4 scallions from the white end about halfway up the green part. Dice up 1 or 2 tomatoes. I used just one, but if you like tomatoes more than me, use two. Set this mixture aside.

Cook 1 lb ground beef or turkey in a large skillet until brown. Drain fat.

Reduce heat to medium, then stir in 1 can refried beans, 1 jar medium salsa, and 1 package taco seasoning mix.

Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally.

In the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish, crumble about 2 C tortilla chips. You basically want to cover the bottom of the dish completely. Top this with the meat and bean mixture from the skillet.

Over this, scatter your vegetable mixture.

Sprinkle 1 C shredded cheese, and 1/4 C chopped black olives on top of this.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 20-30 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Serve with shredded lettuce, sour cream, and additional tortilla chips.

Grilled Teriyaki Sesame Chicken

The Occasion: Husband does the grilling around here, although he prefers to grill burgers rather than chicken. But I thought having him make this would be an easy way to get out of making a dinner this week. Ha.

The Recipe: From Betty Crocker's 2009 Annual Recipes cookbook.

How it Went: I was quite pleasantly surprised with how this turned out. I really wasn't sure how it would work, but it was very flavorful! I will make this again for sure. I guess it mostly had to do with how Husby grilled the chicken, but I like to think I contributed.

What You Need:
1 T sesame seeds
2 T teriyaki sauce or marinade
1 tsp ground ginger
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 lb angel hair pasta

Your Turn:
I was lucky for this meal because I had leftover angel hair, already cooked, from a meal earlier in the week. If you're not so lucky, boil about 1/2 a lb of angel hair pasta. Toss it with a bit of soft butter when it's cooked, to keep it from sticking.

For grilling chicken, I find it easiest to slice the breasts lengthwise, like a hamburger bun, to make them thinner. This allows them to cook more quickly and with greater chance of being done all the way through. It's actually very easy to cut chicken breasts in this way if they are partially frozen. I took my package of chicken out of the freezer in the morning, stuck it in the fridge, and then did a quick defrost in the microwave when I got home from work. This softened it enough that it was no longer frozen solid, but it was still firm enough to cut easily.

In a small bowl, pour 2 T teriyaki sauce (I used a 30-minute marinade) and add 1 tsp ground ginger.

Toast 1 T of sesame seeds in small skillet over medium heat. It won't take long at all, and they burn much sooner than you'd expect so don't walk away and leave them unattended. When they just barely start to brown, they're ready. Toss them in with the teriyaki sauce and ginger and mix well.

Put vegetable oil on a paper towel and wipe over grill rack. Then place the chicken breasts (or halves of breasts, really) on the rack. I slathered them with some additional teriyaki sauce first, smeared it around on them in a large ziploc bag. You can do that, or not. Once they're on the grill, brush them with the teriyaki sauce mixture you made.

Grill about 5 minutes, then rotate 45 degrees to create some pretty grill lines. Grill 5 more minutes in this position, then flip. Brush the second side with the sauce. Grill 5 minutes in this position, then rotate 45 degrees and grill another 5 minutes. Check periodically for burning. About 20 minutes total should do the trick, but slice through the thickest piece and make sure it's no longer pink inside if you want to be sure they're done.

Discard remaining sauce mixture.

Serve with hot angel hair pasta and a veggie. Fresh green beans from a friend's garden were perfect with this summery dinner! Husby liked soy sauce on his pasta.

Penne with Basil Rosa Sauce and Bacon

The Occasion: It was Saturday night, a night I don't normally cook an organized meal. I had no plan and we were both hungry; I needed an easy meal with ingredients I already had. 

The Recipe: Pasta is a no-brainer for a night like this. I had some penne and some twirly egg noodles. It's probably frowned upon by real pasta eaters, but I blended the two. (Don't tell.) I didn't have a jar of tomato or alfredo sauce, so homemade sauce was a necessity. I wanted to make rosa sauce, something I'd first tried and loved at our favorite Italian restaurant (Giovanni's in Spring City). I found this recipe for penne with rosa sauce and used it as a springboard to create my own sauce. When I served it at the kitchen table, Husband remembered we had some cooked bacon in the fridge. He got it out and we added it to the pasta. It was this spontaneous ingredient, this last-minute addition that made the most significant difference in this meal.

How it Went: I didn't have extremely high hopes for this. It was pretty much made up and although I knew it would be edible, I doubted that it would be exceptionally tasty. To my surprise, Husby and I both loved this! The bacon, as I've said, was the key ingredient. So Husband gets 100% credit on this one. It was fabulous: a perfect blend of flavors. This might even be the central character on the table at our dinner party next weekend.

What You Need:
3 T butter
3 T flour
1 and 1/2 C milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can Italian diced tomatoes
1 slice provolone cheese
grated Parmesan cheese (the kind in the shaky bottle)
6-8 leaves fresh basil
1 box (1 lb) penne pasta
6 (or more) slices cooked bacon

Your Turn:
Cook 1 lb of penne. When it's done, toss in some olive oil or butter to keep it from sticking.

Using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors, cut 6-8 fresh basil leaves into small pieces. You'll need these later, so set them aside.

Melt 3 T butter in a large saucepan.

Whisk in 3 T flour when the butter is melted.

When smooth, add 1 and 1/2 C milk, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper.

Simmer over low heat, whisking constantly, until sauce thickens.

Now, tear up your slice of provolone cheese and add the pieces, while whisking to allow them to melt in. Shake a few shakes of Parmesan cheese in.

Dump 1 can of Italian diced tomatoes into your blender and give it a few whizzes. Add the processed tomatoes to the sauce.

Now, carefully stir in your basil leaves.

Serve sauce over penne with crumbled bacon on top. Add additional Parmesan cheese on top.

Yellow Chocolate Chip Cake

The Occasion: Fourth of July gathering at Aunt Pam's house.

The Recipe: From this blog, except I used yellow cake mix instead of chocolate. Icing recipe is from here.

How it Went: This cake was unbelievably easy and delicious, the kind of dessert that gets you compliments you feel guilty receiving because you hardly did anything.

What You Need:
1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/2 C water
8 oz sour cream
3 eggs
6 oz chocolate chips
1 C powdered sugar
1 T milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Your Turn:
In a large mixing bowl, combine

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1/2 C vegetable oil
• 1/2 C water
• 8 oz sour cream
• 3 eggs

Add 6 oz chocolate chips. I used a combination of milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Pour batter into a greased and floured bundt pan.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Check for done-ness with toothpick inserted into center of cake.

Let cool completely, if possible, before turning out of pan onto serving platter.

Whisk together

• 1 C powdered sugar
• 1 T milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Drizzle onto cake with a spoon.

Slice and eat!

Birdsboro Kitchen

The kitchen in our new house in Birdsboro is magnificent. It's large, sunny, and airy. Perfect for making lemon-mint iced tea, trying a new recipe for Taco Casserole, or hanging out for a late morning breakfast.

The closed white door is the powder room. The open white door on the right is the laundry room.

The fridge was beside the stove when we moved in, but we separated the two. It seemed funny to have the fridge, a cold item, beside the stove, a hot item. The fridge must work extra hard to stay cold when next to a stove. I really like this set-up now.

Also, the stove had no workspace next to it. My old kitchen had a ton of workspace alongside the stove, so this free-standing stove seemed inconvenient to me. I was hoping to find some old piece of furniture to go alongside the stove and act as additional counter space. Aunt Ruth, always up for a challenge, got the dimensions from me and scored this awesome, perfect-size set of shelves. We bought a square of tile from Home Depot for a few dollars and it's now a functional counter space.

Wonderful storage for crock pot, measuring cups and spoons, muffin tins, and cookbooks.

I had this stool in my other kitchen and I love it as an accessory, for my onion basket, perhaps.

Or as a spot for Husband to hang out when I cook.

We've got a ceiling fan, which is awesome for air flow. However, when I'm cooking on the stove, I need to turn it off because it blows the flame away and frustrates the cooking process.

The windowsill above my sink looks out to the sunporch. I love this space where I can keep lovely things in view.

Terrible lighting - taken mid-afternoon and edited in Picasa.

Our kitchen is the first thing we walk into when we come in the back door, and the last part of house we see when on our way out. It's the most trekked-through and the most dwelt-in. It's homey and inviting, at least we think so.

Welcome to Birdsboro's Kitchen!