Becky's Beanery (original) (raw)
Becky's Beanery
23rd August, 2006. 5:55 pm. Becca's Baked Spaghetti(apristine_dream)
Ok my sauce came out kinda fucked up... It's not my fault though...the acidity in the diced tomatoes totally polluted my sauce. Note to self...obtain Italian style stewed tomatoes and/or the like before proceeding next time. Or add a little baking soda/sugar.
1 can tomato sauce
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 pound cooked ground beef (mine was already prepped and seasoned)
1/2 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can condensed cream of chicken soup
beef bouillion cube (exclude next time?)
spice blend packet (spaghetti or other italian dish)
heavy cream to taste
mozzarella
your favorite cheese blend
Combine all of the above into crock pot on low for 4 hours.
Cook spaghetti/angel hair pasta, spray butter square cooking dish, layer ingredients as follows: noodles, sauce mixture, mozzarella, repeat, then add your cheese blend on top. Cook for 30 minutes uncovered at 350 degrees.
15th August, 2006. 1:19 pm. Guy Approved Meatloaf(apristine_dream)
Ok this is directly from allrecipes.com. Just marking what I've done so I can make these again.
Guy Approved Meatloaf
Submitted by: Angie Zayac
Rated: 4 out of 5 by 77 members Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
Yields: 3 servings
My notes:
"The only thing I did differently is add seasoned bread crumbs when I found out I didn't crush enough crackers. That's all! It came out great. A very masculine tasting meatloaf."
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 eggs
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
3/4 cup crushed crackers
1 cup crushed potato chips
3/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
flavoring
3/4 teaspoon ground black
pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pinch cayenne pepper
6 slices bacon
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine the beef, eggs, onion, barbecue sauce, cracker crumbs, potato chips, liquid smoke, ground black pepper, salt, garlic powder and cayenne pepper and mix well.
3. On a lightly greased cookie sheet, shape the mixture into a loaf. Lay the bacon slices across the width of the loaf so that the entire surface is covered. Cover the loaf loosely with foil.
4. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 1 1/2 hours.
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Dijon-Tarragon Cream Chicken
Submitted by: DELTAQUEEN50
Rated: 5 out of 5 by 57 members Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes Ready In: 45 Minutes
Yields: 4 servings
My notes:
"So easy!!! And sooo delicious! I didn't use fresh tarragon, the dried kind works just fine too. Also, make more sauce in the future so you can cover the pasta. I used angel hair."
INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken
breast halves
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons chopped fresh
tarragon
DIRECTIONS:
1. Melt the butter and heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and place in the skillet. Brown on both sides. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and continue cooking 15 minutes, or until chicken juices run clear. Set aside and keep warm.
2. Stir cream into the pan, scraping up brown bits. Mix in mustard and tarragon. Cook and stir 5 minutes, or until thickened. Return chicken to skillet to coat with sauce. Drizzle chicken with remaining sauce to serve.
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8th November, 2005. 7:05 pm. Pan Fried Pollock (Does that sound rascist?)(apristine_dream)
This one turned out pretty good. Chris don't like most fish and he actually liked this. My objective was to make it taste less fishy, hence the marinade.
Vegetable Oil
3 pollock fillets about 3/4 inch thick
1 large egg or 2 little ones
1 tablespoon of water
2/3 cup corn meal
tablespoon leftover shake-n-bake crumbs
1. Marinate overnight in marinade listed below.
2. Heat oil (1/8 inch) in 10 inch skillet over medium heat.
3. Cut fish into serving sizes. Or leave them long and whole.
4. Beat egg and water with fork or wire whisk until blended. Dip fish into egg, then coat with cornmeal/shake-n-bake crumbs. I kinda just did one fish at a time and while one was frying I had one sit in the egg mixture. If you put the fish in tupperware (with lid of course) with the cornmeal mix. You can just shake it till it's completely covered.
4. Fry fish in batches in oil 6 to 10 minutes, turning once, until fish flakes easily with fork and is brown on both sides. Fish cooks very quickly; be careful not to overcook. Remove with slotted spoons, drain on paper towel.
Marinade
I made this up...so that's why it's my recipe now. hahha Ok ok. I didn't exactly measure. Just do it according to your taste. If you like a flavor to be stronger then put more.
Lemon Juice (lots)
Old Bay (lots)
Worceshestershire (Ah Scaroo) sauce
Pepper
Red Wine Vinegar (not alot tis strong)
I like using big giant plastic ziplock bags, you can use less fluids and it still gets to all the items inside. You can turn it if you like too to make sure everything soaks in it every couple hours...or not.
Current mood: satisfied.
6th November, 2005. 1:58 pm. Zilch Groceries(apristine_dream)
No groceries...for like 2 weeks. I haven't gone shopping. I've found things I've frozen a couple months ago to eat. heh-heh so...that's what we've been eating. This Broccoli cheese pie thing I made, Venison Stew... Which is still excellent by the way, it survived the whole freezing and unfreezing. I'll update again whenever I've found any cooking tips or recipes I've made that warrant an entry.
Current mood: okay.
26th October, 2005. 7:51 pm. Shepherd's Pie(apristine_dream)
Here, I'm actually gonna put the recipe in this time. Since my first entry was all about my notes. Manicotti recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook by the way.
REBECCA's Shepherd's Pie
Yes it is my recipe. Once you modify something enough it becomes your own.
VERY GOOD...very fatty though.
I don't like lamb so it isn't traditional, eh. It's cruel to eat baby anythings as far as I'm concerned.
Rebecca's Shepherd's Pie
4 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 green pepper
1/2 cup corn (make sure it is drained if you use a can or if you boil the frozen kind on the stovetop)
1 pound ground pork (tastes better, use beef if you want like most recipes)
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup hot beef stock
leftover sliced tomatoes
1/2 cup julienned carrots (get the already cut kind in the fresh veggie section)
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
lawry's salt and pepper to taste
leftover mashed potatoes (I make mine fresh but you can use the instant kind)
Dijon Mustard to taste
1. Break up and brown ground pork, drain, set aside. (In the recipe I followed it said to brown the ground beef with step 2. and I followed it and ended up with a soupy end so...this is why I say brown and drain)
2. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in metal pot or pan with lid. Brown garlic in butter, add onion and green pepper and cook until soft, stir occasionally.
3. Sprinkle the flour and cornstarch over the surface and stir into the meat and vegetable mixture.
4. Add the beef stock and stir well. Add parsley, carrots and leftover tomatoes. Break up the tomatoes in the pan. Stir. If you want more red, add more tomatoes! Ain't it colorful? Season with Lawry's salt and pepper to taste.
5. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook over very low heat, stirring occasionnaly, about 45 minutes. (My mistake was it was liquidy still, if it's still liquidy, cook longer so it condenses down)
6. This is when you make your mashed potatoes. Fresh or instant. Fresh is real easy and it's just as fast. But I prefer to use leftover taters that I made from an earlier dish. This is a great use-up recipe. If you need a recipe for real mashed potatoes. Go here: allrecipes.com and look it up. That's my most favorite online site. And don't turn in my recipe, I'll do more then threaten your life if I see that you did. Plus I fancy up my potatoes so it ain't gonna taste as good as mine EVER. lol
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. (U like that I spelt that out, huH??) I lowered mine to 375 though since my oven tends to burn things.
8. Stir the mustard into the beef mixture. Do it to taste! You want to taste the mustard but not so it's overwhelming. If it's still too liquidy and you can't wait for it to boil away, drain it again. I know...all those ingredients are in there but trust me, YOU DON'T WANT IT SOUPY!
9. Put the beef into a baking dish. Use like a square casserole dish or a round one. Make sure it's oven safe. Now the potatoes, dump everything on top and spread around with the tines of a fork. It makes a neat pattern, no? Make sure it's an even layer. Bake 20-25 minutes. You want the potatoes to turn kinda golden brown...another mistake of mine. Leave in longer if you have to...and let it cool off some before serving. Or if you like it real hot, serve immediately. Your preference.
YUM!
23rd October, 2005. 11:14 am. Manicotti, Potatoes and Tuna Helper(apristine_dream)
Welcome everybody! I know it's just lonesome me here for now. But I'm actually ok with that. So here's what I wanted to write down...mostly notes that I did not want to forget about some past meals I've made here.
Plus personal criticisms from the man about what not to do or do next time.
So I made Manicotti on the 17th. All the other meals after that date were relatively simple. Like Tuna Helper, except instead of using tuna, you use half a package of imitation crab. It's to die for!!! An absolutely great change of pace. And let's see... what was that other thing I made along with the home-made potatoes... Oh just porkchops in one of those easy season bags. Except I added a bunch of fresh basil chopped up and some extra virgin olive oil before following the normal directions.
As for mashed potatoes...I must say SOUR CREAM is your friend. It is! Maybe not friend to your waistline, but your friend nevertheless. So good in your mashed potatoes. And I like to add flavored cream cheese in as well, the whipped kind because you don't have to worry about how thick and cold it is, it's still pliable! And that's also to taste. I use the garlic kind cuz it adds a perfect variation and then the usual, butter and milk as well.
Try it! Homemade mashed potatoes are easy! Especially if you use new potatoes and only peel off the parts you don't cook and keep the rest of the skins. Remember not to use the electric blender to long in the mix, we like chunks!
But as for the manicotti. Here are my notes...for me and if you wish for you.
I really didn't follow the recipe because I had a bunch of things I was trying to get rid of before it spoiled, plus I didn't want my manicotti to taste like my lasagna or my spaghetti just a different noodle so I went for a more tomatoey taste.
I added a can of tomato sauce. Half a can of tomato paste. Half a jar of Ragu Marinara. I added two tsp of basil instead of just one...1/2 a cup of chopped fresh parsley, a whole onion, lots of garlic, at least 2 tablespoons, 1/2 pound of pork sausage and 1/2 pound of ground beef, a can of italian stewed tomatoes instead of whole tomatoes, leftover tomato slices I had cut for a sandwich earlier, I didn't have nutmeg so I used allspice instead... And the boy said it was a little burnt and that I needed to take it out sooner so...instead of an hour and a half, check at an hour and decide from there.
Oh and he hated the spinach the second time around...so no spinach next time.
Current mood: accomplished.