The Ultimate Comfort Food

Do you ever have that moment where you really want something but you just don't know what it is?  That was actually me last night.  My husband actually made dinner for me last night, which was so wonderful, but I really wanted macaroni and cheese but stayed out of the kitchen so that he could work his magic.  So tonight I decided that I really wanted mac and cheese so that is what I made along with other comfort food.

Meatloaf
1 pound grass fed ground beef
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup A.1. Steak sauce
1 egg
1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped onion (I used a fresh spring onion that I picked up at the Farmers Market)
In a large bowl combine beef, bread crumbs, 1/4 cup of steak sauce, egg, pepper and onion.  Shape into a loaf and place in a loaf pan.  (using only 1 pound of meat will not fill an entire loaf pan).  Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes.  Brush remaining steak sauce onto top and bake for 10 minutes more.

Here is the recipe for the macaroni and cheese sauce which is the recipe that comes with a Vitamix blender.  You can do this same recipe on the stove in a double boiler (just heat the first ingredients and then add the cheese until it melts). 

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
2 cups of cooked elbow macaroni
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/3 cups milk
1 cup cubed american cheese or other mild yellow cheese (I used a raw milk sharp cheddar and a colby style cheese)
Bread crumbs
Mix sauce with cooked macaroni in a 8 inch x 8 inch baking dish that has been sprayed with a non stick cooking spray.   Add a bread crumb topping and bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven.

To go along with this meal we had some frozen chopped spinach.

Spinach Quiche

I had a friend over for lunch today so I wanted to make something that was easy to make that could be done somewhat ahead of time.  I decided to have quiche with a small side of Caesar salad.  Also had a pitcher of water with mint and wedges of lemon.  Fresh mint in water is very refreshing.

Spinach Quiche

1 tablespoon butter

1 onion, chopped

1 - 10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained

1 - 9 inch refrigerated pre-made pie crust (makes it quick this way)

1/2 cup monterey jack cheese, grated

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

5 eggs

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon dill weed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  

Melt butter in skillet over medium heat, add onion and cook until soft.  Add spinach and stir until spinach is dry, about 3 minutes.  Cool slightly.  

Sprinkle both cheeses over bottom of pie crust.   Top with spinach mixture.  Beat eggs, cottage cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg and dill weed in a large bowl to blend.  Pour over spinach.  Bake until filling is set, about 50 minutes.   Cool slightly, cut into wedges and serve.

Baked Salmon with Sour Cream Rub

We bought our salmon from SeaBear along with some other fish.  This recipe actually came off of their website.  The website has all kinds of great looking recipes.

2 - 6 ounce salmon filets
1/4 cup sour cream
grated rind from 1/2 of a lemon
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 small clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix together sour cream, lemon rind, mustard and garlic.   Place salmon skin side down onto a foiled lined baking pan sprayed with olive oil.  Turn up the edges of the foil so that any juices don't run off.  Spread the sour cream mixture onto the tops of the salmon.  Bake for 18 - 20 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork.  Squeeze lemon juice (from the 1/2 lemon) over salmon before serving.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

The salmon was served with couscous and frozen cooked spinach.
1 cup of couscous
1 cup of water
Add couscous and water to a pan.  Cook until water boils.  Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.  Fluff with fork.

Chicken with Lime Butter

Here is what was for dinner tonight:

Chicken with Lime Butter
3 boneless chicken breasts (I flattened them out to help then cook evenly)
3 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1 lime
6 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon minced chives (I used dried, this is what I had on hand)
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
Season chicken with salt and pepper.  In a large pan heat oil over medium heat.  Add chicken breasts and cook until lightly browned on both sides. Cover and reduce heat to low, cook for about 10 minutes.  Remove chicken to a platter, keep warm.  Discard any residual oil and wipe pan.  Add lime juice and cook over low heat until bubbly.  Add butter, stirring until butter becomes opaque and sauce thickens. Stir in chives and dill.  Spoon over chicken and serve.

I also made couscous.  Take 1 cup of water bring to boil; stir in couscous.  Cover, remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.  I added some fresh grated lime zest to the couscous when it was covered.  It added a touch of flavor to the couscous.

Also had some cooked frozen spinach.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

This is such a simple and easy recipe.  I made it in my Vitamix blender but you could easily mix this in a regular blender.

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 slice lemon, peeled, seeded
1 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1 garlic clove, peeled (if using a regular blender I would crush it)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup canned artichoke hearts, drained

Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.

Place all ingredients into blender except artichoke hearts.  Blend until slightly smooth but still chunky, add artichokes and blend a little bit more.  Pour into dish and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly.

I served it with a bread baguette that was heated in the oven while the dip was cooking and then slice into small slices.

Roast Chicken

I want to start off by apologizing that I haven't posted in a while.  With many different holiday get togethers I haven't really spent much time in the kitchen.  I plan to make up for that this week as I begin making some holiday cookies.

Here is what I did with the chicken:

1 onion, sliced
2 lemons, sliced
2 tablespoons Herbs of Provence (an herb mix of thyme, basil, savory, fennel seeds, lavender flowers)
1 cup white wine (I used a sauvignon blanc by Cupcake Vineyards out of New Zealand)
1 stick of butter
Drizzle of olive oil

I took a 2 pound pastured chicken, rinsed it off and patted it dry.  Into a roaster pan I added some of the cut onions and a few slices of lemon.  Place some of the onion and lemon slices inside the cavity of the chicken.  Place chicken in roaster.  Add remainder of onion and lemons to the inside of the pan next to the chicken.  Slice the butter and put butter in the cavity and other areas in and around the chicken.  Add one cup of wine.  Over the top of the chicken drizzle a little olive oil and the herbs.  Place in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven and bake for about 2 hours.  You need to make sure that the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160 degree Fahrenheit.  Once in a while baste the chicken with the juices.  Once cooked take the chicken out of the pan to rest, remove the onion and lemon from the pan and place on stove top to cook the juices in the pan.  What you want to do is reduce the amount by at least half by boiling.  Serve the sauce over the chicken.

Along with the chicken we also had brown rice and cooked spinach.

You need 1 cup of water (I used 1/2 cup of the wine (see above) and 1/2 cup of water) and 1/2 cup of rice.  Combine rice and water; bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 50 minutes.  After 50 minutes remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes.

This post is linked on Monday Mania by the Healthy Home Economist

Beef Roast

I have been hungry for a beef roast for a while and finally decided to get one out of the freezer.    I just put some things together to cook the roast.

Here is what I did:

1 - 3 pound grassfed rump beef roast which I seared in a dutch oven on top of the stove.  I then added a cut up red onion, some carrots (cut into chunks), a couple of garlic cloves (they were small), 2 bay leafs, a couple of springs of fresh thyme, a handful of fresh parsley.  I added about 1/2 cup of tomato paste (I had some that was in the freezer that I thawed), 2 cups of beef broth and 1 bottle of red wine (I used a Cabernet Franc from King Family Vineyards).  I poured the wine over everything and brought the mixture to a boil.  I placed the dutch oven with the lid on it into a 350 degree Fahrenheit pre-heated oven.  Cook for about 1-1/2 hours until the internal temperature reached 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

I chose potatoes to go with the roast.  I peeled the potatoes, cut them into chunks, put them into a pan of water and cooked until tender.  Drained and added them to a bowl with a little butter and some chopped fresh parsley.

To go along with the rest of this meal is cooked spinach and a side salad (greens, tomatoes).

This post is linked on The Healthy Home Economist Monday Mania.

Chicken Manhattan

I found this recipe in a "365 Ways to Cook Chicken " Cookbook years ago.  It is a great recipe and tonight I adapted it to what I had available.

1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 boneless chicken breasts, pounded to about 1/4 inch thickness
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 package (10 ounces) frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
4 slices Swiss cheese (the recipe calls for provolone cheese, but I had Swiss available)
1/4 cup dry white wine (I used a chardonnay from King Family Vineyards in Virgina)

Place bread crumbs and egg in separate shallow dishes.  Dip chicken in egg' then dredge in bread crumbs to coat.  In a large pan, heat oil  over medium heat.  Add chicken and cook about 4 minutes on each side.  Remove chicken to a platter, cover and keep warm.  In pan, add butter and melt over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic, saute until beginning to soften about 2 minutes.  Add spinach and nutmeg.  Mix well and cook until heated through.  Add chicken back to pan, top with spinach mixture.  Arrange cheese slices on top.  Add wine and cover.  Cook about 5 minutes until cheese is melted and chicken is tender.

Use the extra amount of spinach as the side for this dish. 

To this I added a small side salad of lettuce, tomato, carrots and a small sprinkling of blue cheese.  I used a dressing of extra virgin olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar.

Sunday Dinner on a Wednesday

I took one of our small smoked hams out of the freezer and thawed it for dinner tonight.  I decided early on that I wanted to do something different with the ham instead of just roasting it.  So I found a recipe in The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook for Glazed Ham in Maple-Raisin Sauce.  I used the recipe but put my own spin on it.  I decided to soak the raisins this morning in light rum. This plumped the raisins and made them juicy.  The recipe for the glaze is on page 162 of the cookbook.  I can't really give the recipe out because I don't have permission from the author.  So please make sure you follow the link above to get her book.

Some things that I will change for the next time I make this is, use regular raisins not golden (this is the only kind I had on hand), use bourbon instead of rum (rum added a nice flavor but I think I want something a little more intense), also the recipe calls for the temperature to increase at a certain point of cooking.  This is fine if your ham is really juicy, my ham had minimal juices which made the maple syrup somewhat browned which changed the flavor of the sauce.  Other than that, this recipe is fantastic.

Along with the ham I added new potatoes that were cooked and smashed, chopped spinach, and a garden fresh tomato.