Liane's Famous Beef Stroganoff

My mother-in-law, the Barefoot Contessa, has been visiting us for the past week or so, and we've been enjoying some of her cooking. It's been really nice because this is our busiest time of the year, with the beginning of school and both girls in soccer, etc. Let's just say that I'm getting really tired of fast food.

Last week the Contessa made her famous Beef Stroganoff for us, and Zoe Bug especially was in Heaven. I'm glad I have at least one kid who likes mushrooms because not even Peanut Head will touch them.

This recipe is one that the family has been begging the Contessa to write down for ages. You know how some people are about their recipes. "Oh you know, a little of this, a little of that. I don't really know what all the measurements are. I just throw it all together. Anyone can do it. It's nothing really."

And then, Heaven forbid they take the recipe with them to the grave. It's a crime.

My great grandmother, Nano, made this unbelievable coffee cake when I was growing up, and when she died there was no recipe. It makes me sad to think about it. I remember Nano wearing her faded apron, dusted with flour, carefully forming the dough into a round loaf. I even remember the way the dough tasted when I snuck little pinches of dough off it, before it went into the oven, and I can still smell it. When the coffee cake came out of the oven, Nano would let the kids have a cup of coffee to dip it in. It was awesome.

Hey, it was the 70s. People didn't wear seat belts. Kids smoked candy cigarettes. We drank lots of Kool-Aid. We lived dangerously.

Well, we're not going to let the Contessa take this recipe to the other side with her, hopefully sometime in the very distant future. When the Contessa caved to our demands to make her Stroganoff this week, I insisted that she let Zoe Bug write down all the steps and ingredients so we could finally get it down on a recipe card.

And now here I am, spreading it all over the internet for her. You're welcome, Contessa.

Sun-dried Tomato Bowtie Pasta

I realize that it's been forever since I posted a recipe card on this here blog, and I figured it was time to get back to that. I still have oodles of recipes I want to share, and oodles of recipes that I still need to make recipe cards for, so let's get on with it, shall we?

This recipe is one of my favorites because it is full of flavor, it's easy to throw together, and I can pack the leftovers for lunch and actually be excited about what's in my lunch box the next day. 

Here's what you need to pull this one off: bowtie pasta (or Farfalle if you want to get Fancy Nancy), pine nuts (don't look at the price when you buy them, trust me), olive oil, sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil or vacuum packed), green olives with pimentos, salt, pepper, and garlic.

I made this for dinner last night, and I took it for lunch today. Now it's gone and I'm sad. I have only these pictures and my memories now. Sniff.

Here's the recipe card if you want to give it a try. Enjoy!

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

It has been forever since I posted a recipe on here, but I'm sort of making peace with my for now inadequate digi software. Life must go on and all that.

This recipe for meatballs is another of the many recipes given to me by my mother-in-law, the Barefoot Contessa. It's super easy to make, and it makes plenty to freeze for future meals. I love that part.

All you need to make it is: ground beef, onion, garlic, parmesan cheese (the cheap stuff in the green can is fine), dried bread crumbs, eggs, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper.

The first step is to simply combine all the ingredients. I like to use food prep gloves because squishing raw meat together creeps me out.

Keeping the gloves on, the next step is to form the meatballs into 1-1/2 inch balls. I don't measure them or anything, but I make them into a size that seems good to me. When Peanut Head helps he makes them a little smaller so they go farther.

I will not make a joke about that. Actually, I just did but then I deleted it because it wasn't appropriate.

The Barefoot Contessa browns her meatballs in oil, but I'm lazy so I just pop mine in the oven on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes or so, and they turn out great.

In fact, I dare you to not sample them when they come out of the oven. The smell will make you whimper, I promise.

We always have spaghetti and meatballs the night we make these. Usually we spoil our dinner because we overindulge when sampling the meatballs.

There's always plenty to freeze several baggies full of meatballs for future spaghetti nights in a flash. They make good meatball subs too.

Here's the recipe card. Remember to click on it before saving it to your computer so you get the best resolution. Trust me.

Feta Burgers

Finally, grilling season is here. I only make these Feta Burgers in the summer when they can be grilled on a proper grill. I'm not 100% convinced that summer has arrived in Idaho, but the grass is green so that's good enough for me to pull out the grill.

Well, Peanut Head can do it. He loves to cook for me.

I think.

He loves to eat. I can say that with confidence.

I originally got this recipe out of the July 2007 issue of Bon Appetit. Bon Appetit tends to have a lot of hoity toity recipes with obscure ingredients, but occasionally I find a really good one that ends up being a keeper. In fact, some of my best recipes came from Bon Appetit.

Now the Gunny Monster has a special spot in his heart for Feta Burgers, since we made him a burger of his very own. 

Here's the recipe card if you want to give them a try. Happy grilling!

Diablo Chicken

Attractive picture, isn't it? I always say, butter makes everything better.

All kidding aside, I didn't put up the picture of the chicken because it's not super pretty, and I didn't want to scare anyone off. I promise you though, it's dang yummy. And easy.

All you need to make it are chicken (or fish or pork chops), butter, honey, cheap yellow mustard (like French's), salt, and curry powder. The magical ingredients are the butter (duh) and the curry powder. Try it, and I promise you'll love it.

Peanut Head's Burritos

This is Peanut Head's Top Secret, perfected over the years, recipe for burritos. He has been waiting, and waiting, and wa-a-a-a-aiting for me to make him a recipe card for his burritos.

I think I've been dragging my feet because I'm not a big fan of burritos. I have texture issues and I don't like the beans. Squish the beans and it's even worse.

Needless to say, Peanut Head is the only one eating the burritos in this house. However, I know that lots of people do like burritos, so I'm going to share Peanut Head's recipe with you.

And because he's holding another can of Chipotle Chili Peppers to my head. He's mean like that.

So if you want to make these bad boys, this is what you'll need: ground turkey (or beef), onion, garlic, olive oil, garlic salt, black pepper, canned black beans, rice, water, salt, red pepper flakes, cumin, chili powder, brown sugar, butter, flour tortillas, and shredded cheddar cheese.

Start by sauteing the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent.

I don't have a picture for the next step, but it's okay because it's not that exciting. Brown the meat and add the seasonings. Cook off most of the fluids.

Drain the canned black beans and rinse them well. This is to rinse away some of the added sodium and wash away the bean sludge that accumulates in the can. I don't know if it's bad for you or anything like that, but it sure looks grody.

Once the beans are rinsed, add them, plus two cans of water. Just rinse the rest of the bean sludge out of one of the cans and measure the water that way.

Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

In another pan, bring two cups of water to a boil, add one cup of rice, reduce heat to low, and cook, covered, for 20 minutes. Peanut Head uses Basmati Rice, but you could use any kind of rice. You could even use brown rice if you want to make them super healthy.

When the beans are soft, use a potato masher to mash the meat/bean mixture.

Only mash until more than half the beans are mashed.

Add the cooked rice and combine. Then add the remaining spices and boil down until it just starts to thicken. It should be the consistency of chili. Remove from heat.

Working in groups of three tortillas at a time, spread a very thin layer of butter on the tortillas.

Then warm them for 45 seconds on high in the microwave.

I could eat one of these buttered tortillas, but once we go farther than this, I'm outta here.

Add 2 heaping tablespoons of meat/bean mixture to the center of the tortilla.

Sprinkle cheese over the whole tortilla. Peanut Head tells me that it's very important to spread the cheese out, otherwise you'll end up with a super hot cheese pocket when you reheat the burrito in the microwave. I think he learned the hard way.

Now you just roll it up like a burrito, however that is. I guess you roll it half way, tuck in the ends, and then roll the rest of the way. Not that I would know.

I have made egg rolls though, so I'm thinking it's something like that.

Aren't they cute?

Since Peanut Head freezes his burritos and then packs them in his lunch, he individually wraps them.

Wasn't he nice to take so many pictures for us?

All done.

Lastly, he stores them in freezer bags with nine or ten in each bag. One batch makes about 30 burritos, so these will last him close to three months.

Now, go make some burritos. They'll keep you regular.

BBQ Ribs

With summer on it's way out, I had to share this BBQ Pork Ribs recipe with you before it's too late. The light is already changing here in Idaho. It's taking on that yellowy gauzy cast which reminds me of sunsets. It gets me a little bit excited for fall, but at the same time I'm sorry that summer is coming to an end.

This is the spice rub, which you rub all over the racks of ribs then cover and refrigerate overnight.

The secret to great ribs is not only in the sauce, but also to cook them long and low. Something I don't always have the patience for.

It's worth it though. By the way, there's really no way to eat ribs daintily. They're finger food. Smashley was trying to cut at them with her knife and fork and she wasn't getting anything. It was hilarious. Of course, I took it upon myself to make fun of her. Some things were made to be eaten with your hands, OCD issues and all.

In fact, Stinkerbell has a little trick for food like this. She takes a wad of napkins in each hand and then grabs the food with them. Sure, you end up eating a little napkin that way, but if you're an OCD freak like her, apparently it's worth it.

I think you should make some BBQ ribs this weekend. And if you want to eat them while wearing rubber gloves, I won't tell.

Pizza on the Grill--Fresh or Frozen

First of all, I'm terribly sorry, but this is one of the few recipes of mine that requires two cards. Just glue them back to back and pretend it's only one, okay?

Before I start talking about this recipe though, I'm going to show you the fast, easy way to do pizza on the grill.

It's this. Frozen pizza. Did you know that you can cook frozen pizza on the grill? Yep, you can. And if you're anything like me, you try to do all your cooking on the grill during the summer.

Unless you live in Texas. Maybe then you don't want to be outside. Heck, you could probably cook outside in Texas without a grill. Toss your food on some concrete and cook it right up. Yum.

Anyway, here's my Wolfgang Puck frozen pizza. The only trick, really, to cooking pizza on the grill is to cook it on low and keep the lid on. And if you have a higher shelf on your grill, even better.

And if you don't have a gas grill and you're using charcoal, may the force be with you because you have no control.

Almost ready.

I can't wait.

I overcooked this one a tinsy little bit, but then I like my crust crispy.

Now that I've shown you the easy way to do pizza on the grill, I'm going to show you my all-time favorite recipe for pizza on the grill. It's a recipe that I got from Bon Appetit many, many years ago, and it is by far our favorite summer dinner.

I posted the recipe last summer, but I'm posting it again and I've updated it a little. But, I mostly want to give you some tips for doing the crust, so that's really why I'm reposting it. 

Before rolling out the crusts, get a cookie sheet ready with a layer of wax paper covered with flour. I do this so Peanut Head doesn't freak out about the crusts sticking together when he's trying to get them on the grill.

He's easily discombobulated.

Now, I use this fancy little Pampered Chef Baker's Roller and Pastry Mat. It just makes clean-up a little easier, and I like to use the measuring lines as encouragement for a more round shape. I've never actually made a perfectly round pizza crust, but it's a goal and someday I will have a round crust.

Or not.

Here's my dough, infused with fresh Rosemary sprigs from Peanut Head's herb garden. Love that man. Anyway, as you can see, I punched the dough down so that's why it looks so deflated. 

Then I fluffed it up a bit by kneading it with a little flour. Next I formed it into a circle-like shape and cut it into eight wedges. Each of these wedges will be a pizza round.

See what I mean about the wanna be perfect circle?

Now remember, I'm trying to keep Peanut Head from having an embolism, so between every two crusts, I put another sheet of wax paper with a generous amount of flour.

When all your dough is rolled out, place two to four dough rounds on the grill at a time, depending on how big your grill is. To start, cook them on medium heat for about three minutes, until the top of the dough puffs and the underside is crisp and golden brown. Then, and pay attention here, grill the other side for only 30 seconds to one minute, just until it's no longer soft. This side will be going back on the grill once you put the toppings on, so you don't want to overdo it.

See, golden brown. As you take the crusts off the grill, put them on the baking sheet with the well-grilled side up. When you start putting the toppings on, they'll go on the well-grilled side.

Now, from this point on, you can really put anything you want on your pizza, but I highly recommend you give my suggested toppings a try, and especially the vinaigrette. I know, I know, it sounds weird, but trust me, it is so delicious that your eyes will roll back in your head and angels will sing when you take the first bite. I promise.

Here's my pizza on the grill. You let everyone build their own because some people are dang picky. Dang picky. But the basic idea with this recipe is to start with mozzarella because it's the glue that's going to hold your toppings on.

There is no tomato sauce on this pizza. That's for sissies. This pizza deserves something better, and that's where the vinaigrette comes in, but not until the end.

After the mozzarella you can put whatever else you want on, but I implore you, finish the pizza off with goat cheese and then the vinaigrette. Don't be hatin' the goat cheese. It's a tad bit salty, and some of y'all picky eaters out there like to give it the hairy eyeball, but I'm telling you, it gets all melty and there is nothing like it on the planet. Trust me.

I know I keep saying trust me and you might think that sounds a little suspicious, but would I lead you astray when it comes to food? Would I? No, I would not.

Now, don't be shy about using the vinaigrette either. Once you get all the toppings on, pretend your pizza is on fire and you have to douse it with the vinaigrette. Trust me.

Now turn the grill down to low and put the pizza back on and close the lid. Let the dough cook through and the cheese get all melty. It'll take around 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the temperature your toppings start out at. Don't be afraid to take a peek now and then.

Ta-Da! And something else, you don't need to serve anything else with this pizza because it is very filling. You'll even have to undo the top button on your shorts. Trust me.