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My Refried Beans
A few words about refried beans:
Being raised in southern California, I grew up used to having Mexican
food quite often, and I like it to taste great. Once I was working
full time in northern California, I really missed having good food all
the time, but didn't have the time to make things from scratch, and grew
used to using canned refried beans. After I married Jim, who had
not ever really had any Mexican food, I discovered he really didn't like
the canned beans, but after we had some good ones at a restaurant
somewhere, he liked the homemade ones. I set out to try to
"doctor" the canned beans so he would eat them, and I could have better
tasting beans, too. Here's what I did, and he really likes them
now:
The beans I use are Rosarita Traditional Refried
beans, but this may work with other brands, I've never tried any others.
After opening a can of refried beans and putting them into a
medium-sized saucepan, I add about 1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese, and
about 1/2 cup whole milk. Now, this takes some experimenting,
since the right amount depends on the consistency of the beans, and
these are not always of the same consistency. Stir it all together
and slowly heat it up, trying for the consistency of a bean dip,
rather than the thick beans that come in the can. You may have to
add cheese and/or milk to reach that, but it makes a world of difference
in the taste of the beans, and in the foods you use them in.
Penne Parmesan
Out of necessity I grabbed some things in the kitchen quickly and made
this dish and it tasted so good we have it often now.
Ingredients:
12 oz. Penne Rigate Pasta
1-1/4 C. freshly grated, good Parmesan cheese
1 C. whole milk
½ cube butter
2 tbsp. flour
Instructions:
Put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta, and when ready,
cook pasta following directions on package, to al dente. While waiting
for water to boil, melt butter in lg. skillet and add flour. Stir to
make roux, and cook just until it starts to turn color, then add milk.
Continue stirring until sauce comes to boil, continue cooking slowly
(turn heat down) for two minutes to remove flour taste, add cheese and
stir to mix and melt. When pasta is done, drain pasta quickly and
return to pot on stove immediately. Add sauce to drained pasta and mix
well to coat all the pasta. Let rest a couple of minutes before
serving.
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Noodles with Eggs
I don't know how we came up with this dish, it was
probably out of necessity because we were out of whatever we'd planned
on, or something. We always seem to live in a rural location, so
we do a lot of improvising, if necessary. This is very quick,
simple, and good tasting.
Ingredients:
3 C. Wide egg noodles
6 eggs
1 cube butter
1 chopped onion, sautéed (optional)
Salt, pepper to taste
Instructions:
Put a large pot of water on to boil for the noodles, and break the eggs
into a bowl, beat together and then scramble in a medium skillet until
done. Sauté onions if you want them, and add to eggs. When
noodles are done, drain and return to pot, add the eggs, or onion and
eggs, and put small dots of butter all over the top of noodles.
Mix thoroughly while still hot, but gently so the eggs aren't all broken
up into tiny bites. If necessary, turn heat on to low while doing
this. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Note: If you
need a main dish and have 1 lb. of ground beef, you can sauté that with
the onion and it will make a main dish out of this.
Roasted Vegetables
This recipe came about accidentally after seeing something similar
done on TV, when we didn’t know what we wanted to have with roast
chicken one night. It is amazing how different veggies taste when
prepared this way, they are all very sweet and delicious!
Ingredients:
6 red potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes
½ head of cabbage
4 carrots
1 head of garlic
2 onions, cut into wedges
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Directions:
Clean and cut potatoes into quarters (no peeling necessary),
clean carrots and cut up, making sure that carrots are a bit smaller in
size than the potato pieces, so they’ll cook in approximately the same
time. Remove whole garlic cloves from head, peeling them; cut onions
into wedges, and if you love onions you might want to increase the
amount of these – we do. Core head of cabbage and cut into wedges about
1-1/2” in diameter across largest portion. Place potatoes and carrots
into large, flat Pyrex or other baking dish (at least 9x13 or larger),
trying not to pile all atop one another too much, but spreading them
out. Drizzle olive oil over the top, and place into 350º preheated
oven. Roast for about half an hour, checking for doneness after 20 min.
or so, as time will depend on the size of pieces used. When they are
near done, remove dish from oven, add cabbage, garlic, and onions.
Drizzle more oil over top, and return to oven for another 15 minutes or
so. The cabbage and onions should just be beginning to crisp around the
very edges. Mound in serving bowl, and prepare for a taste treat!
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