Ready, Set, Cook! #37 Recipes

Here's what I got for this month's game:

See Ranae's awesome meal at Cornbread & Cookies.

I posted Cauliflower and Leek Fritters (which were served with grilled chicken breasts) at Suite 101.

And this came in from someone who doesn't have a blog and wants to be known as, "a gal who loves to cook" - Good enough for me!

Cauliflower Chicken Casserole

1 small leek - cleaned and sliced
1 large head cauliflower - broken up and cooked in salted water until just tender
2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 large red pepper - diced
4 cups white sauce
2 cups shredded Swiss or Provolone
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Cook leeks in a small amount of butter until tender. Mix everything together and put into a greased 9 x 13 pan or large casserole. Bake at 350 degrees F until bubbly and lightly browned - about 30 minutes.

OK, see you next month for Ready, Set, Cook! on March 4th!

One of those weeks

I didn't forget Ready, Set, Cook! and I certainly didn't forget Veggie Wednesday, but this week has been really crazy with the 8 year-old home longer than I expected and weather woes causing early dismissals and snow days. So, I will post R,S,C! submissions next Tuesday (February 19th) and get back to Veggie Wednesday next week as well.

If you didn't get a submission in because you've had "one of those weeks", too, then please feel free to email it to me (irishones7 (@) juno.com) before next Tuesday and I'll gladly add it. I seem to have noticed that this week was a bit bad all around for many people I know. Let's all hope next week looks far better.

Ready, Set, Cook! #37

Click the above photo for Rules of Play if you've never played before.

Today's three are two seasonal vegetables and the easiest protein ever - chicken.

chicken breasts
leeks
cauliflower

Have fun creating! See you next week with submissions.

It's Tuesday Tomorrow!

I bet you already knew that...

Tomorrow is the first Tuesday of the month, which means it's Ready, Set, Cook! time.

If you've never played, or if you've played before but need a refresher course, go HERE to check out the Rules of Play, please.

I don't have 3 ingredients in mind, yet, so if you have an idea-shoot it to me at:
Irishones7 (@) juno (.) com and I'll let you know what I think!

See you tomorrow.

We used to play this little game...

...called, Ready, Set, Cook! named for the old Food Network show and followed loosely on it's rules. We haven't played in quite some time and I don't know when or if we'll ever play again! I'd love to do it, but life happened and I couldn't keep up and then another blogger came along and started something very similar and ... you know.

So, if anyone is up for it, monthly - weekly seemed too often - now is your chance to let me know.

The rules are linked up to the image above, if you're clueless about what this is - and follow the tags below to see games we've already played.

R,S,C! #36 Recipe

OK, all you chickens ... I played. I hate that I had to use the flash for this photo, but my camera wasn't doing the right thing without it--someday I'll have my own personal photographer.

So, what is this? Sweet Potato Fries on the bottom, a Turkey-Scallion Roll set on it and it's topped with a Tart Cranberry Sauce and Fried Scallions.

Do I have a recipe? Nope. Basically I peeled and cut up 4 sweet potatoes, fried them in hot oil and salted them to taste. The turkey rolls are turkey breast fillets that I pounded thin, seasoned well with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper and topped with sliced scallions before rolling up. I floured them, salted and peppered again and fried the same way as the potatoes.

The cranberry sauce is 1 cup of fresh cranberries, 1/2 cup of apple juice, 1/2 cup of cranberry-pomegranate juice and 1/4 cup of sugar combined and simmered until thick.

Ready, Set, Cook! #36

Click the icon above for complete rules. One change is that you can send your recipe to me to be posted here if you don't want to post on your own blog. I know it's not the first Tuesday of the month, but we haven't played in so long, I didn't want to wait until after the hectic holiday season to play again!

So, in honor of Thanksgiving coming up for us Americans, these three ingredients should blend together pretty well!

turkey breast
whole cranberries
sweet potatoes or yams

I'm all over this one!

See you next Tuesday with submissions!

Ready, Set, Cook! #35

Our ingredients today were inspired by my Sunday Dinner post this week. Chicken again...it's so versatile it's hard NOT to use it! So, click the button above for rules of play, and GET COOKING!

boneless skinless chicken breasts
mango
lime juice

See you next Tuesday with submissions!

Rushing!

I'm on a full-steam-ahead schedule today so I'm rushing to get a post out. Today is the last day of school here which means school until 12 for the older elementary kids and a half day for K...that means that Katie goes to school from 10:30 to 12. I've already been there once today to drop off two of the other kids! Back again at 12 to get them all and we are DONE for the year-whew!

My oldest graduates tonight, so we have the ceremony to look forward to this evening as well. That and the forum I help moderate that needed a weekly set-up and the usual "kid stuff" like feeding and diaper changing and, well...you know.

Busy mama.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SO...check out this blog I found over the weekend called #1 Jerky Ramblings written by Greg Mathers. He is a distributor for Jerky Direct and shared this recipe with me and gave me permission to pass it on. I love jerky, and this recipe looks delicious!

Smoked Shredded Buffalo Jerky Cheese Log

8 oz cream cheese
2 teaspoon lemon Juice
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion salt
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup (1 pkg) Hickory Smoked Shredded Buffalo Jerky

Put cream cheese, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion salt, Worcestershire sauce, grated cheese, and ½ cup jerky in bowl. Blend well. Take 12 in of wax paper and pour ¼ cup of jerky onto the wax paper. Take ½ of the cheese mixture and create a log of cheese by rolling it over the jerky. Completely cover the log with jerky, roll it up in the wax paper, and place it into the refrigerator overnight. Makes 2 logs.

When ready, cut log into disks and serve with crackers.

You can get the Shredded Buffalo Jerky at AVFundraiser.

Hickory Smoked Shredded Buffalo Jerky can be used as a low fat substitute for bacon. Use it in breakfast burritos, tacos, baked beans, quiche, Sloppy Joes, to top salads, and generally whenever you need a smoky meat flavor in your recipe. Keep a couple of bags handy for an emergency.

Greg

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Tomorrow is our monthly game of Ready, Set, Cook!
BE THERE!

R,S,C! #34 Recipe Links

*This post has been UPDATED to include another submission!

We have submissions! This month's game of Ready, Set, Cook! netted the following recipes from a couple of my very favorite food bloggers. Talent and resourcefulness is not in short supply with these two!

This from Krista at Going Gluten-Free:

Sour Cream Chicken & Mushrooms

and this From Ian at The Gallumphing Gourmand:

Flaky-Bakey Chicken Sammies

One more! One more! From dear Shaz at Adventures in Motherhood:

Creamy Chicken

Ready, Set, Cook! #34

Click the icon above for complete rules. What can you make of this?

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 onion, chopped
1/2 pint sour cream

See you next Tuesday with submissions!

R,S,C #33 Recipe

I'm cheating and just posting this one here today.

Please go and visit Dalene's blog, From the Mixed-Up Files of a Middle-Aged Mind.
Her recipe looks delicious!

Scallops and Sugar Snap Peas in Lemon Butter Sauce

1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup whole milk
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced shallots

1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp flour

(3 sticks) unsalted butter

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon peel

Reduce the first four ingredients by half in a small saucepan.

In a separate saucepan, melt one tablespoon of butter in the saucepan.
Stir in the flour with a metal whisk until well mixed (but not
browned).

Slowly add the reduced mixture to the roux, stirring quickly.

Lower the heat to low. Slowly whisk in the butter, 2 tablespoons at a
time. Add lemon juice, salt, and white pepper. Add some more broth if
the sauce is too thick.

While the sauce is thickening prepare the scallops however one does
scallops. Steam generous amount of sugar snap peas.

Toss the peas and the scallops with the lemon sauce. Serve with rice
or pasta along a side of nice fresh greens salad.

Ready, Set, Cook! and Peeps

What do those have in common? NOTHING! I just had a couple things to say at the same time :O)

Firstly, this month's Ready, Set, Cook! entries and hyperlinks will be posted tomorrow, so get them in to me today-my email is at the bottom of the page or on the rules page---button over there--->

Now, CookieJill shared this link showcasing Peep dioramas that are so funny you may hurt yourself laughing. Check it out:

Washington Post: Peep Dioramas

Ready, Set, Cook! #33

Please click the link above to read rules of play BEFORE submitting a recipe.

Our three for today are:

1 lemon
1 lb sea scallops
sugar snap peas (any amount)

Have fun~see you next week!

Ready, Set, Cook! #32

OK boys and girls, before you take a look at today's ingredients, PLEASE click the link above for the NEW rules of play. They were changed just last week and it's important that you check them out.

Today's three are from my third child. She called them; we'll play them.

sausage
eggs
green pepper

Easy, no? I'll be "seeing" you Thursday with links to submissions!

*Note: If you want to play but don't want to post your recipe to your own blog for whatever reason, let me know and I will post it here for you.

R,S,C #31 Recipe Links

Here are links for this week's game of Ready, Set, Cook!

The first is from Krista at Going Gluten-Free, Salmon Newburg Cups

The second is from Cassi at Finding My Inner Cook, Salmon Wellington

My own idea was to make Salmon Napoleons, but I actually wanted to make them, not just post a recipe. I have 5 out of the 7 kids sick with fevers and didn't get that done. I'll do it sometime this weekend and post it then.

Ready, Set, Cook! #31 The rules, they are a changin'.

Before we get to it, PLEASE click on the button above, even if you have played before, for full NEW rules of play.

Today's three ingredients are:

puff pastry
smoked salmon
heavy cream

Bit of a challenge, but I have no fear that you all are not equal to the task.

R,S,C #29 Recipes

Yummy-today's submissions look great!

From Ian at The Gallumphing Gourmand

Chicken with Spicy Corn Stuffing – Two Ways

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken – 3-4 lbs.
butter

Stuffing:
1 C flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 C milk
2 tbsp melted butter
3/4 C frozen, thawed or fresh whole kernel corn
1/2 C condensed tomato soup
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp garlic powder

onions, carrots, mushrooms – roughly chopped
1/2 C chicken broth or red wine

First, prepare the stuffing.
Sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
Combine eggs, milk and the 2 tbsp of melted butter.
Fold in dry ingredients and add the corn last.
Drop by tablespoons into hot vegetable oil and deep fry
about 5 minutes or until golden brown.
Place all of the fritters into a bowl and break up with a
wooden spoon. Add the tomato soup, the pepper flakes
and the garlic, and stir to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Now, we take apart the chicken.
Start by cutting off the ends of the wings, leaving the
drumettes attached to the breasts.
Remove the legs by cutting the connecting skin, t
hen popping the leg joint from the body and cutting around it.
Now, score along the top of the bird, and run the knife down
along the ribcage, separating the breasts, and remembering
to keep the drumettes attached. Keep the carcass for stock
or soup. Leave the skin on the parts. It will be removed
before serving, but it will add flavour while cooking.
Take each chicken breast and chop the knobby end off
the drumette bone, then push the chicken meat down
slightly, exposing the bone. Take a sharp knife, and slit the
side of each breast, creating a pocket big enough to hold
about 2-3 tbsp of stuffing.
Carefully de-bone the chicken legs, and pound flat by
placing a piece of cling wrap on your cutting board,
then the chicken, then another piece of cling wrap.
Use the flat side of the meat mallet, working from the inside
to the outside of the piece of chicken.

Chicken breasts (Chicken Supreme):
Spoon 2-3 tbsp of stuffing into each breast and place
in a large lightly greased baking dish.

Chicken legs (Chicken Ballantine):
Fold a piece of aluminum foil in half lengthwise a couple of
times so that it is about 12” x 1½”. Spread some butter on
one side of the foil. Place a small handful of the stuffing
into the centre of each leg cutlet.
Wrap the chicken around it, forming a round ball.
Placing the open side down, wrap the foil around the
sides of each package, securing it with twine.
Place the packages into the baking dish with the breasts.

Cut up some onions, carrots, mushrooms, whatever,
and place them around the chicken pieces.
Pour the broth or wine over the top.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the Ballantines
have started to firm up. Remove the foil, and continue
to bake another 20-25 minutes until the
chicken is cooked through.

If you like, you can remove the skin before serving.
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From Krista at Going Gluten-Free:

Chicken Enchilada Stew

1 Whole Chicken (3-4 lbs)
1 can cream of tomato soup (condensed)
1 can's worth fresh chicken broth
1 large onion, sliced
2 large carrots, sliced
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
2 4 oz cans green chiles (or jalapenos if you want hotter)
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
1 16 oz bag frozen corn, thawed and drained.
2 Tbs chili Powder
1 tsp cumin Powder
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried cilantro
dash red pepper
Salt to taste

The Day BEFORE:

Cut chicken into quarters. Place in a LARGE stock pot.
Cover with cold water. Bring to a boil.
Allow to simmer for 2 hours. Remove Chicken and cool,
refrigerate. Allow stock to continue simmering,
uncovered so that it reduces by half.
(this step can be eliminated if you use a store bought
rotisserie chicken and can of broth to replace the
chicken and the fresh broth. This step IS worth it, though).

To prepare the stew:

Pick chicken off the bone and chop to bite sized pieces.
Set aside.

In a large pot, combine the rest of the ingredients and
bring to a boil. Add chicken. Reduce heat and simmer
for 30 minutes on very low heat, covered if you can.

This can also be made in a crock pot and set on low
to cook for 8-10 hours.

Remember to remove bay leaves before serving! ENJOY!!!
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Mine:

Barbecued Chicken Sandwiches on Corn Fritters

Cook chicken in water to cover with bay leaf, garlic, onion, peppercorns and salt. When tender, cool and shred all available meat. Add shredded chicken to Barbecue Sauce and keep warm.

Barbecue Sauce

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed tomato soup
2 Tbsp vinegar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons seasoned salt
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 Tbsp prepared bbq sauce

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes.

Corn Fritters
(this recipe was doubled to use up the 1 lb bag of corn)

1c. flour
1 egg
1t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. Worcestershire
dash hot sauce
milk as needed (usually 1/4 to 1/2 c.)

Mix all ingredients well until you have a batter the consistency of a thick pancake batter.

Fold in: 1 1/2 c. vegetable-cooked and drained
3/4 c. shredded cheese (Monterey Jack goes well with the corn)

Heat a large pan on medium-high heat. Coat with cooking spray or oil, it's your choice. Add the batter by 1/4 cup and spread to a 3-4" size. Turn when bubbly on top and cook until well done in the center (about 5 minutes total).

Serve with the Barbecued Chicken between two fritters. Add sour cream and green onion. My kids liked this with the chicken separate and with salsa on their fritters.

Ready, Set, Cook! #29

I thought I would post the rules of play in full today for those who haven't yet played.

Every Tuesday (almost!) we play Ready, Set, Cook! based on the TV show that once aired on The Food Network.

We play our own non-competitive version (at the moment!) and here are the basic rules:

1) Three ingredients are given and each player must come up with a recipe that uses all three ingredients without "losing" any of them in the dish(es). In other words, while they must not be prominent they must be noticeable.

2) Your "virtual" pantry is fully stocked with whatever you wish. This is not a REAL game, although I have some players that like to purchase the ingredients and actually come up with a recipe, I don't expect anyone to do that. Basically this is a "virtual" game only. The ingredients will not have amounts listed to allow for greater creativity on the player's part.

3) Once you have decided what you would create with the ingredients please put ONLY the idea or name of your recipe in the comments section and email the ACTUAL recipe or detailed instructions to me, with Ready, Set, Cook in the subject line to:

irishones7 (at) juno (dot) com.

PLEASE don't put the recipe in the comments section! Everyone can read it there and then there is no reason for me to post it, but PLEASE DO put the name of your recipe there so others know that the game is on. All recipes and usernames or blog addresses are posted on Thursday.

On to ingredients!

Today's 3 are:

3-4 lb whole chicken
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 16 oz. bag frozen corn

Get to thinking and have fun!

R,S,C #28 Recipes

Here are submissions from this week's game-they both look great!

From Krista at Going Gluten-Free:

Goat Cheese Stuffed Rump Steak

1 lb rump steaks (approximately 1/2" thickness)
1 quart buttermilk
Flour for dusting (I use rice flour)
1 8oz package of soft goat cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
4 spring onions, sliced thinly
5 oz cooked spinach, drained VERY well
1 cup chopped artichoke hearts
2 cloves garlic, 1 minced, one just smashed
Olive oil for cooking.
Butcher's twine

Soak steaks in buttermilk for at least 1 hour and up
to 3 hours.

While steaks are soaking, in a bowl mix the goat cheese,
Parmesan, onion, spinach, artichoke hearts and half of
the garlic very well. Allow to sit in fridge for about
an hour so that the flavors really blend well together.

Pull from buttermilk and pat dry. Cover steak with plastic
wrap and pound to about 1/4" thickness.

Spread cheese mixture onto the steaks leaving approximately
1" border around. Roll up burrito style (fold in Left and
Right sides first, THEN roll up).
Tie with butchers twine to keep together.

Roll the "rolls" in flour to coat, but don't use too much.

Heat a large skillet and place olive oil in there.
Smash the last garlic clove and place in the hot oil
and slide around for a bit....remove this before it
turns too brown.

Place steak rolls in pan. Cook 3-5 minutes a side depending
on your doneness preference. Remove and let rest for about
5 minutes, covered in foil before slicing.

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From Mirz at Lots of Kids

Baked Grecian Steak

Rump Steak
1 cup Olive Oil
1 tbsp Garlic
1 tbsp Oregano
1 tbsp Basil
1/2 cup lemon juice
Salt and Pepper
2-3 whole Potatoes (depending on size)
Spring Onions
Goat (Feta) Cheese

Combine oil, garlic, basil, oregano, and lemon juice. Take half of mixture and marinade steak in it. In a separate bowl, cut potatoes in to large chunks, add onions. Toss potatoes and onion in remaining oil mixture. Place potatoes/onions into casserole dish. Remove steak from marinade. Slice into strip and place over potatoes and onions. Cover with foil and cook at 350 degree 30-40 minutes, until potatoes are done. Sprinkle with goat cheese and additional oregano before serving.