Category Archives: Recipes

I do a lot of cooking and wind up either coming across good recipes, modifying them or coming up with my own creations. I plan on sharing some of them online rather than just keep handwritten or typed notes. Why not, if I took the time to type it, it might as well just post it at some point. A lot of these are spur of the moment and the proportions may be ball parked, that is the art of it. Cooking, not an exact science as it has many nuances that can be described as a feel that one develops with experience. Feel free to contact me for more details.

hungarian-pancakes

Hungarian Pancakes

Recipes, Television, , , , , , , , , ,

Inspired by Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, episode aired February 24, 2014, between 11-12PM EDT.

I have made pancakes with potatoes and onions before but, watching this episode made me experiment with paprika, garlic, old bay. Plus I generally like to put a little bit of curry and or turmeric in too, it helps stabilize the potatoes as they tend to oxidize quickly once chopped. I have noticed red potatoes are better in this regard; they take a long time to discolor.

4 medium size potatoes
1 small onion
2 clove garlic
2 heaping tbsp white flour
1 egg, I used a large one
1 tsp turmeric or curry, more if you like
1 tsp baking powder
Oil or fat for the fan frying. I used coconut oil and bacon fat.

The following to taste
Salt
Paprika
Old Bay

1. Cut up the potatoes and onions, add in garlic cloves and run through a food processor on chop mode.
2. Dump into a bowl and add salt, mix.
3. In a second bowl add flour and other dry ingredients, mix thoroughly.
4. Start preheating pan, put the oil and fat in it. This is not deep frying, so coat the pan but coat generously.
5. Add egg to potato, onion and garlic bowl and mix thoroughly.
6. Add the premixed dry ingredients in slowly while mixing in. Slowly prevents lumps of flour from forming.
7. When the pan is hot enough, like when a drop of water will sizzle in it; drop in a serving spoon sized amount of the mixture and flatten it out a bit with a spatula.
8. After a few seconds, when it has set, shimmy the pan around so the oil can get under it and all around the edges.
9. When it is golden brown on the bottom flip it over and get the other side golden brown. This requires a guess, based on size the time may vary. The first few might get flipped over a few times until you get the timing down.
10. When done, place on a plate with paper towels to absorb excess oil. I like to keep them in the over on warm until I am done with the whole batch.

These pancakes are good as a side to many dishes and are a different way to use potatoes. The DDD episode shows them topped with goulash which looked great. The first time I made them I used them as “buns” for a nice grass-fed beef hamburger (Wegmans has great grass-fed beef). It was a great tasting and filling too.

potato-pancakes
Hungarian Pancakes

Southern Pecan Pie

Recipes, , , , , , ,

This pecan pie was great, so delicious. A classic southern recipe, nothing beats the richness and flavor profile of a pecan pie. A little goes a long way as it is a rich dessert.

Ingredients

3 eggs slightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1 cup light or dark corn syrup
1 tablespoon corn oil margarine, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pecans
1 unbaked ( 9 inch ) pie shell

Process

  1.  In medium bowl stir eggs, sugar, corn syrup, margarine and vanilla until well blended.
  2. Stir in pecans.
  3.  Pour into pie shell.
  4. Bake in 350 Deg. F. oven 50 to 55 minutes, or until a knife inserted between center and edge comes out clean.
  5. Cool on rack

Makes 8 servings

References

The recipe came off of the back of a bag of pecans produced by the South Georgia Pecan Co. www.georgiapecan.com
Very good pecans. They are great in pancakes as they soften a bit as they get cook in the pancake. I’ve enjoyed them as a quick snack alone, or throw in a bowl drizzled with maple syrup and a dash of salt.

Nuts also taste good mixed with coconut oil, really brings out the flavor. Put a few nuts in you mouth and then a little bit of coconut oil and you will see how this works. A great nut butter can be made by grinding nuts with coconut oil.

Veal Meatloaf

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I had some leftover veal, about a pound of ground veal. So as an experiment I tried out veal meatloaf and played around with making bread crumbs from scratch, I was out of actual bread crumbs from the store, so it was time to do it from scratch. Plus I had some refried beans hanging around too that could be used up.

Bread Crumbs

For the bread crumbs, I happened to have 2 slices of Heidelburg bread and a  fist sized end stub of Italian bread,  plus 2 pieces of flat bread. I put them in the oven on warm, 170 Deg F. for 2 hours on a cookie sheet, flipping them halfway through. I’m sure any bread crumbs would work fine in this recipe. But in a pinch, they are easy to make.

Next I ran the dried and cooled off bread cubes through the food processor on grind. It produced approximately a cup and a half of bread crumbs.

Other Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground veal
  • Half of a Chipolte pepper chopped finely ( The kind you get in Adobe sauce )
  • 1 cup refried beans
  • 2 tbsp Ketchup
  • 1 stalk of celery
  • 1 small onion
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 2 chives
  • 1 tbsp Old Bay
  • 1 tbsp Paprika
  • Several tsp Worcestershire ( to taste )

The Rest of the Process

Next I ran a celery stalk, small onion, 3 cloves of garlic and 2 chives through the food processor.

Then I put a decent wad of refried beans in a bowl, probably a cup. Into this I mixed, about a tbsp of paprika, about the same amount of Old Bay, a few tsp of Worcestershire sauce and a half of a Chipolte pepper chopped finely. It was the kind that comes in the Adobe sauce, about 1 tsp of the Adobe sauce went into the mix as well. Into this goes about 2 tbsp Ketchup. Add one egg and stirs until it forms good slurry.

I mixed all of the bread crumbs into the meat, mixing well adding small amounts of bread crumbs at a time to fully incorporate.

Next I mixed in the refried bean and spice slurry.

I greased the loaf pan with bacon fat and then filled it with the meat mixture, topped it with sesame seeds and covered with foil.

Cook

It goes into a preheated 375 Deg F. Oven. Reduce to 325 after 15 minutes, rotate the loaf pan periodically and cook for about 1.5 hours. There should be plenty of bubbling and boiling action around the sides.

Next I pulled off the foil from the top and broiled the top for a few minutes, enhancing the crust.

Allow to rest and cool, for at least 20 minutes. Otherwise it will crumble.

Final Thoughts

I would like to incorporate some ground pork into this meat loaf as I think it would give an added dimension. Other than that it was very moist and probably the best meat loaf, I can remember having.

Kielbasa with Sauerkraut and Green Apples

Recipes, Television, , ,

This is a good Eastern European dish, I saw a variant of it on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. It was easy enough to remember and when I tried it, I was impressed.

Kielbasa with Sauerkraut
Kielbasa with Sauerkraut

Ingredients

  • One  length Kielbasa, approximately 16 inches long. I used fresh Kielbasa.
  • One green apple
  • Sauerkraut, approximately the same volume as the amount of Kielbasa

 

Kielbasa,Apple,Sauerkraut
Kielbasa,Apple,Sauerkraut

Process

I bought a approximately 16 inch long fresh Kielbasa, cooked it at 275 F in the oven for an hour, flipping over once.

Cooked Kielbasa
Cooked Kielbasa

Then in a big pan or a pot that has a cover, place about the same volume of sauerkraut as the size of the Kielbasa, I used some homemade kraut that was fairly fresh ( fermented 7 days ) and had some tooth feel to it still, al dente. Cut up one green apple into eight pieces, you can leave the skins on.

Cut Kielbasa into 1/2 inch slices and add to pan/pot and gently warm on the lowest setting, occasionally stirring for about 30 minutes or until thoroughly warmed.

Combines well with egg noodles or over rye bread.

Tuscan Style Chicken Thighs

Recipes, , , , , , ,

This is a recipe that I saw on TV, don’t remember the show. But I have since modified the recipe. I chose chicken thighs, they are generally moister as they contain more dark meat. This recipe can also be done with an entire chicken splayed or a half chicken.

Tuscan Chicken Thighs Plated
Tuscan Chicken Thighs Plated

Ingredients

2 Large onions

2 Large carrots

2 Celery stalks

4-6 Potatoes depending on size

4 Chicken thighs

1 Lemon, preferably preserved

Paprika

Old Bay

3 tbsp Dried rosemary, 1 for the thighs, 2 for the potatoes

4-8 Cloves garlic

Salt

Olive Oil

Tuscan Chicken Thighs, Chicken Ready For Oven
Tuscan Chicken Thighs, Chicken Ready For Oven

 Process

  • Set oven to 425 F
  • Cut up onions into 3/4 inch slabs and lay in bottom of casserole or cast iron pan
  • Peel carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces, add on top of onions
  • Celery cut into 1 inch pieces, add on top of onions
  • Clean skin of potatoes, quarter them, toss in bowl with salt ( to taste preference) 2 tbsp Rosemary and 2 tbsp Olive Oil. Put on top of other vegetables
  • Put in oven for 30 minutes, covered if possible
  • Rinse chicken thighs and do not remove skin, but loosen it gently to provide a pocket for the lemon and garlic
  • Take 1/4 Lemon, 1 or 2 cloves of garlic and a pinch of rosemary and stuff under the skin
  • Apply paprika, old bay and salt to taste preferences to the outside of the skin
  • After vegetables have cooked for 30 minutes, remove casserole/iron pan and place chicken on top of vegetables and then it goes back in the oven, 15 more minutes at 425F
  • Reduce heat to 375F, continue backing for approximately 1 to 1-1/4 hours until vegetables become soft
  • Remove chicken and allow to rest for 10 minutes
  • While chicken is resting, it is possible to mix vegetables around and broil them a bit until browned a bit

Tuscan Chicken Thighs, Vegetables