Over the Kitchen Counter: Angie's Place for Cooking and Crafts

Latkes

Whenever I have left-over mashed potatoes at dinner I immediately think 'latkes for breakfast!'.  Latke is Yiddish for potato pancake and I have been making them at home for about 15 years - they are one of my favourite things to eat.  Now my daughter loves them as much as I do and the whole family competes for the extras.

If you already have the extra mashed potatoes they are really quite fast and simple to make.  We love them with fried eggs for breaky but of course they make a nice side dish at dinner as well.  You can even make them bite-sized and offer them as an appetizer.  Make sure to serve them with a dollop of sour cream!

Some tips to remember:

• the grated potatoes go brown really fast so make sure everything else is ready to go before peeling and grating them on the coarse side of a hand grater.
• try to squeeze out as much of the liquid from the grated potatoes as possible before adding them to the batter.  It is a messy job!
• make sure the oil is nice and hot before frying and use a fork to lace out the edges for nice crispy threads of potato.
• don't over-crowd the pan and don't flatten the pancakes!
• you can make these ahead and store (cooled and wrapped) in the fridge for 2 days or even freeze them for a couple of weeks.  Reheat in a 400 degree F oven for 5-10 mins.

Latkes

2 eggs

3 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

3 Tbsp grated onion (optional, but I highly recommend!)

1 cup cool mashed potatoes

4 large baking potatoes

vegetable oil for frying

In large bowl, mix eggs with flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Add grated onion if using. Stir in mashed potatoes. Set aside.

Peel potatoes if desired. Shred using coarse grater. Work quickly to prevent them going brown or shred into a bowl of cold water (this makes more work because you have even more liquid to squeeze out!). Squeeze out any liquid from shredded potatoes and add potatoes into egg mixture and stir. Fry in hot oil on med-high heat for about 4 mins. per side. I use about 1/2 cup of potato mixture per pancake (but depends how big you want them). You can keep batches warm in a 250 degree F oven as you fry them. Serve with applesauce or sour cream.

Crockpot Beef Barley Soup

I shared this recipe for Crockpot Beef Barley Soup in September and I've made it several times since.  It is such a simple recipe and the soup is so amazing that I wanted my YouTube subscribers to get the recipe too!  Here is a quick video showing how to make this hearty soup in the crock pot - perfect for those chilly winter days to come!

 

 

 

Crockpot Beef Barley Soup – easy and tasty

1 pound lean stew beef, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, diced
3/4 cup barley
1 bay leaf
6 cups beef broth
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
pepper, to taste

In crock-pot, combine stew beef with onion, celery, carrots, barley, bay leaf, and beef broth. Cook beef and barley soup on LOW in crock-pot for 6 to 8 hours. Taste and add salt and pepper, to taste.

Tamale Pie

This was a twist on the regular casserole for dinner: a tamale pie!  It's kind of like making the chili and corn bread in one dish.  It is simple to prepare and smells so good.  My daughter loved it and I especially enjoyed the cornmeal topping.

 

 

 

 

Tamale Pie

1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef

2 garlic cloves, minced

28 oz. can diced tomatoes, with juice

2 tsp chili powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Topping:

1 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup cornmeal

1 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese

1 large egg

1 cup buttermilk or sour milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 dashes of hot pepper sauce

Brown ground beef and garlic. Drain. Add tomatoes with juice and chili powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until mixture is consistency of thick spaghetti sauce. Add salt, pepper, and parsley. Transfer to an ungreased deep 10” pie plate.

Topping: stir flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Mix well. Add Parmesan cheese and toss.

Beat egg, buttermilk, oil and hot pepper sauce. Add egg mix to dry ingredients. Stir until dry ingredients are just moistened. Spread cornmeal mix evenly on beef mix. Bake in 375 degree F oven for 30 mins. until topping is golden.

Beef and Pasta Skillet Supper

I love casseroles and this one is super easy to do in one skillet on the stove.  The house smelled so amazing all night after I made it.  While the kids picked out the mushrooms and onions, I really enjoyed the combination of veggies and I know they added flavour to the entire dish.  (In fact, my daughter, who is away at school, made herself some shepherd's pie and said it didn't taste like mine even though I told her the method.  Turns out she left out the onions - because she doesn't like them - but now realizes even if she doesn't eat them they add to the overall flavour of the dish!)

Beef and Pasta Skillet Supper

1 lb lean ground beef

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped green pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp flour

1-2 Tbsp taco seasoning mix

1-1/2 cups milk

1 can (28 oz) tomatoes, undrained

3/4 cup elbow macaroni

salt and pepper

Combine beef, mushrooms, onion, green pepper and garlic in large fry pan. Cook over med. heat until meat is browned and veggies are tender. Drain off fat. Blend flour and taco seasoning into meat mix. Stir in milk. Cook and stir over med. heat until mix comes to a boil and thickens. cut up tomatoes; add tomatoes and juice to pan. Stir in macaroni. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 mins. or until pasta is cooked; stir occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pork Roast with Caramelized Parsnips

I shared the Martha Stewart recipe for Braised Chicken with Potatoes, Olives, and Lemon at the beginning of the month and I mentioned I wanted to try the Pork Roast recipe too.  Well, I did try it and it was wonderful.  I used the terrific spice rub ground in the spice grinder I shared with you last week.  I used that all over the roast and added the fresh rosemary under the string.  The roast was flavourful and tender and along with the golden, roasted parsnips, made for a fantastic fall dinner.  It is so easy to prepare home-cooked meals when they are simply roasted meat and vegetables - good old-fashioned family dinners!  You can find the recipe HERE.

Prime Rib Roast

When I went to the store to get a roast for Sunday dinner I was disappointed that the usual eye of round roast I normally choose was almost $19!  So I went to the actual butcher's counter and ended up selecting a certified Angus prime rib roast and leaving the store with a $40 piece of meat!  This is something I wouldn't often do but since mother was invited to the table...and I had a good bottle of wine...and I reasoned it was less than $10 per person for the protein, I decided to go for it...plus, it's kind of intimidating at the meat counter and getting the butcher to put the joint back didn't seem like an option in the heat of the moment!

Since I didn't want to screw up this expensive cut, I did some research and found a very nice recipe: Roast Prime Rib with Rosemary Jus from the folks at Canadian Living.  I once again used my mini-spice grinder to make a rub of fresh thyme, garlic, salt and pepper.  The roast then lies on a bed of fresh rosemary and thickly sliced onions.  It is slow roasted for a couple of hours and then a delectable pan gravy made with wine is reduced to a glorious au jus.

Of course I made my wonderful popovers (my favourite part of the whole meal) and we enjoyed a superb supper as a family with an extravagant roast as the centre piece.  You can find the recipe for the Roast Prime Rib HERE.

Spice Grinder

I have two of these little electric grinders (mine is made by Braun): one for spices and one for coffee beans.  They are perfect for grinding small amounts of one ingredient or combining several together in a blend.  There is nothing like the aroma of freshly ground spices and herbs and by grinding the whole spice yourself, you know it is at its freshest and most intense.  I love putting peppercorns in and grinding up a tablespoon or so for steaks - yum!

I made this rub for a pork roast recipe I'm going to share with you next week.  I added salt, pepper, fennel seeds, orange zest and fresh rosemary to the grinder and with just a few pulses got the most amazing result.  The smell of it was incredible!

Obviously, if you think you might want to grind your own spices it is crucial to have a dedicated grinder just for that purpose.  The oils from coffee beans are too strong and could interfere with the flavour of the spices.  I usually just wipe the blade and bowl out with a damp cloth and let the spice grinder dry completely before putting it away.

Parsnips

I was raised eating parsnips and our English Christmas dinner wouldn't be the same without them.  Even though they look like white carrots, the taste is completely different - sweet and buttery and very unique.  I adore them but I know some people don't care for parsnips or haven't ever even tried them!  If you haven't, I highly recommend you give them a taste. 

Parsnips are grown in colder climates with shorter growing seasons, and need a frost to develop their flavour - I guess that's why we typically eat them with the Thanksgiving turkey, Sunday roast during the colder months, and at Christmas time.  I try to remind myself to pick them up more often than those occasions since they are easily prepared by boiling, (nice diced or as a puree with carrots), tossed in some olive oil and roasted in the oven, or even boiled and mashed with roasted garlic and a bit of butter and milk, similar to mashed potatoes.  They are sooo delicious!

I considered having DH grow them in his garden but then I learned that the shoots and leaves of the parsnip plant contain a chemical that can irritate the skin and produce a chemical-like burn!  One must wear gloves and sleeves to deal with them and that just seemed like too much trouble.  I'll just continue to buy them at the grocery store!

Did you know you can pre-order food?

DH and I recently had a weekend away and left Granny in charge of the house...and the teenagers!  Usually, my eldest is around to drive them where they need to go but she wasn't on this occasion and that meant that dinner was going to be at home.  Sure, I could have left a frozen casserole or pizza for them to heat up but that would mean another responsibility for the kids - and a hassle for my mother with supervising the oven use and clean-up.  Another option would be to have them order a pizza but then they'd have to remember to order in time, figure all the order choices, find the numbers, etc.  

So then I thought 'hey, I know I can pre-order take-out for later in the day...I wonder if I can pre-order for later in the week??'   Well, guess what?  You can!  All on-line, I arranged to have pizzas delivered one day and a full chicken dinner (complete with salad) delivered the next night.  Everything was pre-selected with all their preferences and the date and time were precisely set for each delivery.  I knew exactly how much it would cost, could add in the tip, print out the confirmation e-mails for a reminder (hi-lighting the dates and amounts) and have total peace of mind that they all would be fed!  I think this is such a great service and I know I will never have to worry about them rustling up dinner when I'm not home ever again!  This will be great for those times I have to be gone over dinner time...heck, I might even pre-order in advance so I don't have to cook dinner some time!  Wouldn't it be nice to just have that surprise of dinner being ready at the door when you didn't feel like cooking?  It would be way better than a bouquet of flowers in my opinion!

Green Bean Casserole

I'm sure almost all of you have had Green Bean Casserole at one time or another, but it's one of those side dishes I rarely make because I usually just steam up some veggies with dinner - fast and simple.  But with lots of fresh green beans coming from hubby's garden in the summer, and (Canadian) Thanksgiving a couple days away, I thought it might be a good time to remember the old-fashioned dish with the French's Onions on top (my favourite part!).

It's so simple to make Green Bean Casserole using cream of mushroom soup, milk, soy sauce, green beans, pepper, and the French's onions.  You can find and print the recipe I use HERE.