If your family is anything like ours, then pasta salad is always a hit no matter what time of year it is.
For some it seems pasta salads are only served during the summer when a cool dish is needed. But pasta salads are a delicious dish no matter what the weather is outside. In fact, a pasta salad can be a refreshing treat in the winter when most meals are hearty and hot.
Begin this salad by cooking a 16 ounce box of Rotini noodles according to the package directions.
While the pasta is cooking, seed and dice two Roma tomatoes and chop up broccoli florets making 2 cups. In a small bowl mix two packages of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix with 16 ounces of sour cream and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of milk. Mix well until completely smooth.
When the pasta is done, drain, rinse with cold water, drain again and place in a large bowl. Add the chopped tomatoes, chopped broccoli and 5 ounces of cooked bacon pieces. Pour over the prepared dressing mix and combine well.
Enjoy Pasta Salad even in cold weather
The pasta salad can be served immediately while still warm or refrigerated. It stores well in the refrigerator for several days when kept in an airtight container.
This tasty dish can be a meal all on its own or served as an accompaniment to a main course.
Thanks for stopping by today. Do you enjoy pasta salad year-round or only in the summer? What do you like in your pasta salad?
Begin this salad by cooking a 16 ounce box of Rotini noodles according to the package directions.
While the pasta is cooking, seed and dice two Roma tomatoes and chop up broccoli florets making 2 cups. In a small bowl mix two packages of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix with 16 ounces of sour cream and ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons of milk. Mix well until completely smooth.
When the pasta is done, drain, rinse with cold water, drain again and place in a large bowl. Add the chopped tomatoes, chopped broccoli and 5 ounces of cooked bacon pieces. Pour over the prepared dressing mix and combine well.
The pasta salad can be served immediately while still warm or refrigerated. It stores well in the refrigerator for several days when kept in an airtight container.
Fish and Chips Southern Style – The Surprised Gourmet
Fish is one of those foods that is good for you so I’d like to share a delicious recipe for Fish and Chips Southern Style.
Living on the lake you might think we would tend to eat a lot of fresh fish. Not that much. While I have enjoyed fishing since I was a young boy, I don’t do it as often as I once did. My youngest brother, however, loves to fish and does it every chance he gets. He’s quite good at it (if I do say so myself), winning numerous fishing tournaments. I’d love to see him go pro one day.
Not long before Thanksgiving we were still having nice weather and my brother had a good day fishing. That evening he brought by a number of large size crappie that he had caught. I filleted and froze them. Going through the freezer this week, I came across the fillets and decided to have Fish and Chips Southern Style. It would be southern style because instead of the common cod, halibut, flounder or tilapia used for the fish, I was using crappie. Also instead of flat, thin fried potatoes for chips, I was making regular homemade french fries.
Since I had such a large number of fillets, I decided to fry half and bake the other.
Fillets battered for Fish and Chips Southern Style
For the batter I mixed 1/2 cup self-rising flour, 1/4 cup self-rising corn meal, 2 tablespoons garlic salt, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning together in a large, plastic zip-lock bag. In a shallow casserole dish, I mixed together 1 1/4 cups bread crumbs, 2 1/2 teaspoons onion powder, 2 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder, and 2 1/2 teaspoons Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning. In a small dish, I combined 1 jumbo egg and 1/2 cup milk to make an egg wash.
One at a time put the fillets in the flour mixture in the bag. Make sure they are completely coated and then shake off an excess coating. Place on a plate to set until all fillets are coated. After they set, dip each in the egg wash and then in the crumb mixture.
I put half the fillets on a baking sheet that I had lightly brushed with olive oil. The other half of the fillets I sat aside to fry. Before placing the fillets in the oven, I lightly brush them with melted butter. I put them in a preheated 350 degree oven for 6 minutes. Test for doneness and then return to oven on broil for a couple of minutes to finish crisping the fillets.
For the fried fish, cook in a skillet on medium high heat with a splash of olive oil. Cook on each side about 3 to 4 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillet. Place on paper towels to drain.
Serve with homemade French fries for a Fish and Chips Southern Style meal. You can also serve with a dish of delicious cole slaw.
The amount of ingredients and cook time will vary depending on the type and size of fish you are cooking. You can adjust it to fit your needs.
Are you a fan of traditional Fish and Chips or do you have your own variation? If you decide to give my Fish and Chips Southern Style a try, please be sure to stop back by and let me know how it turned out.
1 teaspoon Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning
Bread crumb mixture
1¼ cups bread crumbs
2½ teaspoons onion powder
2½ teaspoons garlic powder
2½ teaspoons Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning
Egg wash
1 jumbo egg
½ cup milk
Instructions
For the batter mix ½ cup self-rising flour, ¼ cup self-rising corn meal, 2 tablespoons garlic salt, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning together in a large, plastic zip-lock bag. In a shallow casserole dish, mix together 1¼ cups bread crumbs, 2½ teaspoons onion powder, 2½ teaspoons garlic powder, and 2½ teaspoons Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning. In a small dish, combine 1 jumbo egg and ½ cup milk to make an egg wash.
One at a time put the fillets in the flour mixture in the bag. Make sure they are completely coated and then shake off an excess coating. Place on a plate to set until all fillets are coated. After they set, dip each in the egg wash and then in the crumb mixture.
Put half the fillets on a baking sheet that is lightly brushed with olive oil. The other half of the fillets sat aside to fry. Before placing the fillets in the oven, lightly brush them with melted butter. Put them in a preheated 350-degree oven for 6 minutes. Test for doneness and then return to oven on broil for a couple of minutes to finish crisping the fillets.
For the fried fish, cook in a skillet on medium high heat with a splash of olive oil. Cook on each side about 3 to 4 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillet. Place on paper towels to drain.
Serve with homemade French fries for a Fish and Chips Southern Style meal. You can also serve with a dish of delicious cole slaw.
The amount of ingredients and cook time will vary depending on the type and size of fish you are cooking. You can adjust it to fit your needs.
How do you like your toast seems to be a simple questions on the surface. However, it can lead to numerous possibilities and everyone has their own special way.
Reading an article recently online about how to butter your toast got me to thinking. While a simple procedure, there are many ways to do it. There is no right or wrong way to butter toast, just whatever way makes you happy is the best.
First, there are several ways to make toast. Some use the oven, some use toaster ovens and others just use a toaster. How long to toast bread depends on what you like – soft toast, slightly crisp, burnt and so on.
Then, you have to consider what type of bread to use. Is it really toast if you don’t use traditional loaf bread? Sure it is, if that’s what you want. For instance, in our house toast is generally made using French bread, but we also use Garlic bread, English muffins, Cheese bread, Ciabatta rolls, and just about anything we have a taste for. Technically, it may not be toast but it serves as toast for us. I’d say 90 percent of the time we use a toaster, but occasionally use the oven depending on how much time we have and the type of bread we’re using.
Now the hard part. How to butter your toast and when to butter it.
You can spread cold butter on your bread before you toast it. This way can cause your bread to tear. Sometimes you also get more butter in spots causing your bread to be soggy.
You can spread butter on your bread after you’ve toasted it. This works okay. You have to be careful though or you’ll have a tub of butter that’s full of bread crumbs. Every time you spread butter on the toast, you come away with a few crumbs on your knife that go into your butter.
The only way that wasn’t mentioned in the article is the one way I think is the best way to butter toast. For me the best way is by melting my butter, using a pastry brush and spread the desired amount of delicious wonder on my bread after it’s toasted. I melt just a small amount of butter needed for the toast. This way, there’s no crumbs in my tub of butter, the butter spreads evenly over the bread and it’s not soggy.
Oh no, I forgot. There’s also liquid butter you can squeeze onto your toast from a bottle. See, a simple tasty staple of the breakfast menu has so many possibilities.
Thanks for dropping by today. So tell us, how do you like your toast buttered? Do you even use butter or do you prefer jam or jelly instead or just plain toast?
Start by sauteing 1/4 cup minced onions in a skillet for 2 minutes and then add 1 1/2 cups chopped spinach. Cook another minute and then add 3 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon minced garlic and 12 ounces of the stuffing, reduce heat.
Next add 4 slices of Bar S deli-style ham that has been julienned and stir. Beat 4 eggs with 1/4 cup milk and add to the skillet. Top that off with 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, 6 ounces of the chicken gravy, and 1 Roma tomato that’s been seeded and diced. Let all the ingredients cook together for one minute.
Take ciabatta rolls and toast in a preheated 350 degree oven for 6 minutes. Pour egg mixture over the rolls and serve.
One of the fun things about cooking is seeing the different ways you can serve a dish. Sometimes it’s as simple as putting two dishes together to make one. Other times it’s just adding a few new ingredients that changes things up.
The main focus is create healthy, tasty meals your family will enjoy. If you can have fun doing that, then that’s an added bonus.
Thanks for stopping by today. Do you like using leftovers for new dishes? What’s your favorite leftover dish that gets used in other dishes?
Combining leftovers can sometimes lead to tasty new dishes
Ingredients
¼ Cup minced onion
1½ Cups chopped spinach
3 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
12 Ounces stuffing (recipe in Assembling Dinner in a Pinch post)
4 Slices Bar S deli-style ham, julienned
4 Large eggs
¼ Cup milk
½ Cup shredded Mozzarella
6 Ounces chicken gravy (recipe in Steak Fried Chicken post)
1 Roma tomato, seeded and diced
4 Ciabatta rolls
Instructions
Start by sauteing ¼ cup minced onions in a skillet for 2 minutes and then add 1½ cups chopped spinach. Cook another minute and then add 3 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon minced garlic and 12 ounces of the stuffing, reduce heat.
Next add 4 slices of Bar S deli-style ham that has been julienned and stir. Beat 4 eggs with ¼ cup milk and add to the skillet. Top that off with ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese, 6 ounces of the chicken gravy, and 1 Roma tomato that's been seeded and diced. Let all the ingredients cook together for one minute.
Take ciabatta rolls and toast in a preheated 350 degree oven for 6 minutes. Pour egg mixture over the rolls and serve.
Stroghetti is like stroganoff and spaghetti together
What do you call a dish that reminds you of stroganoff and spaghetti, how about Stroghetti?
I had 3 bell peppers in the fridge I needed to use and had no idea how I wanted to cook’em. I cut them in half, removed the seeds and then julienned them.
I put 8 ounces of spaghetti noodles into boiling water and boiled according to the package instructions for al dente.
I got my wok out, added 2 tablespoons olive oil and dropped the bell pepper in to saute on medium heat for 5 minutes. I added 1 small onion, minced, and cooked for 3 more minutes. Next came 2 tablespoons minced garlic and cooked for another minute. Then I added 1 Roma tomato, finely diced, to cook for still another minute.
Stroghetti is a quick and easy dish the family will enjoy
I then added 1 cup chicken stock, 1/2 cup tomato sauce and when it came to a boil, added .84 pounds ground chuck cooking everything for about 6 minutes more. Then came 1 tablespoon fresh ground kosher salt, 1 cup cottage cheese and turned the heat down to allow the mixture to thicken into a creamy sauce. The last ingredient while it was heating was 2/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.
I took the mixture off the stove, added the drained spaghetti noodles and 1/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, mixing well.
The creamy mixture has the consistency of the stroganoff with the delicious texture of the spaghetti. Sometimes a dish just comes together as you start cooking.
Thanks for popping by. Are you a fan or stroganoff and/or spaghetti?
A creamy dish that's like stroganoff and spaghetti together
Ingredients
3 Bell peppers, seeded and julienned
1 Small onion, minced
1 Roma tomato, finely diced
.84 Pounds ground chuck
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
1 Cup chicken stock
½ Cup tomato sauce
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
1 Cup cottage cheese
⅔ Cup shredded mozzarella
8 Ounces spaghetti noodles
⅓ Cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
Cut the bell pepper in half, remove the seeds and then julienne them.
Put 8 ounces of spaghetti noodles into boiling water and boiled according to the package instructions for al dente.
Using a wok or large skillet add 2 tablespoons olive oil and drop the bell pepper in to saute on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add 1 small onion, minced, and cook for 3 more minutes. Next add 2 tablespoons minced garlic and cook for another minute. Then add 1 Roma tomato, finely diced, to cook for another minute.
Add 1 cup chicken stock, ½ cup tomato sauce and when it come to a boil, add .84 pounds ground chuck cooking everything for about 6 minutes more. Then add 1 tablespoon fresh ground kosher salt, 1 cup cottage cheese and turn the heat down to allow the mixture to thicken into a creamy sauce. The last ingredient to add while it is heating is ⅔ cup shredded mozzarella cheese.
Take the mixture off the stove, add the drained spaghetti noodles and ⅓ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, mixing well.
Delicious Ground Beef Wonder comes together with the help of leftovers
Ground Beef Wonder is one of those delightful dishes that comes together when you’re just looking for something to eat.
If you cook very much, you’re going to have leftovers from time to time. It’s what you do with those leftovers that makes a difference. This Ground Beef Wonder came together with some simple ingredients I keep on hand, along with a little leftover Mac and Cheese, some leftover Farfalle in Alfredo Sauce, and a tad bit of leftover sausage gravy.
In a sauce pan on medium heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1/2 medium sweet onion, finely chopped. Let that saute for about a minute then add 1 tablespoon minced garlic. Saute 30 to 40 seconds and add 1 1/2 Roma tomatoes (seeded and diced into small pieces) Saute 30 to 40 seconds and add one pound cooked ground beef. (Precook the ground beef and add just a bit of water to get all the flavors infused before pouring into the sauce pan.)
Leftovers come together to make a tasty Ground Beef Wonder
Mix well, add 1/4 cup Farfalle in Alfredo Sauce and cook 30-40 seconds. Mix well, add 2 1/2 cups Mac and Cheese, cook 30 seconds. Add 1/2 cup sausage gravy. Let all ingredients incorporate and heat up all the way through. Taste for seasoning to see if you want to add anything else. Finish it off by adding 1 cup finely chopped spinach and stir well.
Remove from heat and serve.
This would be a hard recipe to recreate exactly this way as you may not have all the leftover ingredients. However, take what you have and create your own Ground Beef Wonder by adding bits of dishes you’ve enjoyed. You may be pleasantly surprised at what you create.
Thanks for stopping by. If you decide to give this recipe a try or your own version of it, be sure to drop back by and let me know how it turns out. If you post your results online, tag it with #thesurprisedgourmet as I’m always happy to hear how a recipe turns out for you.
Using leftovers can sometimes result in a tasty new dish
Ingredients
1 Tablespoon olive oil
½ Sweet onion, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1½ Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced into small pieces
1 Pound cooked ground beef
¼ Cup Farfalle in Alfredo Sauce
2½ Cups Mac and Cheese
½ Cup sausage gravy
1 Cup finely chopped spinach
Instructions
In a sauce pan on medium heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and ½ medium sweet onion, finely chopped. Let that saute for about a minute then add 1 tablespoon minced garlic. Saute 30 to 40 seconds and add 1½ Roma tomatoes (seeded and diced into small pieces) Saute 30 to 40 seconds and add one pound cooked ground beef. (Precook the ground beef and add just a bit of water to get all the flavors infused before pouring into the sauce pan.)
Mix well, add ¼ cup Farfalle in Alfredo Sauce and cook 30-40 seconds. Mix well, add 2½ cups Mac and Cheese, cook 30 seconds. Add ½ cup sausage gravy. Let all ingredients incorporate and heat up all the way through. Taste for seasoning to see if you want to add anything else. Finish it off by adding 1 cup finely chopped spinach and stir well.
