Summer is in full swing and I am still somehow making time to cook! I figure everybody has a recipe like this in their repertoire in one form or another. It's basically Hamburger Helper, but I don't need any help from some freakish sentient glove.
There's a little nightmare fuel for you.
Anyway, this recipe is super easy and is perfect for a quick midweek meal. It makes a lot, but maybe it just felt that way since there's only three of us and The Spud would prefer to live on Cocoa Pebbles cereal and powdered donuts, if that's at all convenient. As always, notes are in blue.
Cheeseburger Mac Casserole
Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. macaroni
1/2 onion, chopped
1 can 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes, drained
1 can 7 ounces sliced mushrooms, drained (or you can use about a half pound of fresh, whatever floats your boat)
1 can 10.5 ounces cheddar cheese soup
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1-2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cup shredded pepperjack cheese (if you don't like pepperjack, cheddar would work great)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375F (190C, Gasmark 5)
In a pan heat the oil. Add the ground beef, mushroom, and onion. Cook until meat is browned. Drain any excess oil.
Cook macaroni according to directions. Stop a minute or so early since this is going into the oven eventually and will keep cooking.
In a large bowl or pot, combine the macaroni, meat mixture, garlic powder, Worcestershire, tomatoes, and cheese soup. Mix well to incorporate.
Spread mixture into a greased 9x13" baking dish. Top with shredded cheese.
Cook in oven for about 20 minutes or until cheese on top is bubbly and starting to brown in spots.
BONUS: enjoy a video of this exact recipe via the Tubez!
One of the thing's I've had to learn once I had a child was how to put meals together in a hurry. While I would love frozen pizzas and cold cereal on a regular basis, it is nice to have a meal made from scratch now and then. This particular meal came together because we discovered our Dollar General sells shrimp. Yup. Seriously. So we got some and went to work. Everything else I had on hand in the house. The whole thing came together in about half an hour. The Wife claimed it a winner. I felt it needed more heat and added some extra Sriracha. Either way it's a keeper. As I'll mention below, finding the specific preserves we used may be a challenge unless you make it yourself. Just find a store bought one you like and experiment! As always, notes are in blue.
Sweet and Spicy Shrimp
Ingredients
1 lb. medium frozen cooked peeled shrimp
1 13.5 ounce can coconut milk
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon pineapple sage preserves (I totally understand many of you won't have this exact thing on hand. Feel free to substitute orange preserves or something like that. Then just add the sage)
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and shredded
1 8 ounce can of edamame, drained
1 tablespoon Sriracha
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
salt and pepper
cooked white rice for serving
Directions
Defrost shrimp in a large bowl of water. If the tails are still on, pinch them off (put the tails in a baggie and freeze them to use to make stock for something else)
Heat a large saucepan or wok over medium hot heat. Add oil.
Add the onions and carrots and sautee for 3-5 minutes
Add the edamame and cook another 2-3 minutes
Add the preserves and mix until preserves are totally broken down into the vegetables.
Add the milk and sriracha. Mix. Salt and pepper to taste.
Bring to a simmer and let simmer about 7-10 minutes. Do NOT let come to a boil. Stir often.
Add the shrimp stir to coat. Since the shrimp is pre-cooked, you'll only need to leave them in there a minute or two to warm up.
Serve over a bed of rice (though would be good over noodles, too)
Sometimes I get inspired to cook, but not to spend a bunch of time cooking. This leads to interesting choices. This particular choice let me to take an old standard of foil pack fish (basically en papillote) but make my own sauce for it. The end result was good news / bad news. The good news was the recipe worked and was fast, simple, and tasty. The bad news is that it looks like absolute hell. I don't know. Close your eyes when you eat it or something.
Foil Packet Lime Tilapia
Ingredients
3 tilapia filets (about 4-6 ounces each)
1/2 cup sour cream
1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon Ponzu sauce
1-1/2 tablespoons lime juice
3 large chive, chopped
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 pound frozen broccoli
3 Key Limes, quartered
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375F (190C, Gasmark 5)
In a bowl, combine the sour cream, garlic powder, Ponzu, lime juice, red pepper, and chive. Stir to incorporate all the ingredients.
Cut 3 sheets of aluminum foil into about 8-10" squares. Lay a piece of tilapia in each square.
Figure out some way to turn the foil into an envelope of some description. You can always watch the video (at the bottom of this post) to see the highly technical method I use.
Divide the broccoli between the 3 packets. Place the packets on a baking sheet.
Pour the sour cream mix evenly into each packet. Seal the packet.
Summer is finally here and that means I actually have some time to devote to my food pages. I decided to start off the season with something that captures summer. It has fruit and heat. It is also my third iteration of this type of recipe. The spicy orange theme of quasi-Chinese food is always a favorite in my house. This particular recipe is a cut down version of my Too Damned Easy Spicy Orange Chicken and Broccoli. This version is actually a bit simpler. As always, notes are in blue.
Crispy Orange Beef and Broccoli
Ingredients
1 pound beef stew meat, sliced thin (leave the meat a bit frozen when slicing to make things easier for you)
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
Corn starch
1/2 pound frozen broccoli, thawed (fresh will work, too. You'll just need to chop it up into smaller pieces)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup orange marmalade
2 teaspoons Sriracha hot sauce (use less if you're a big baby, or more if you're a sexual powerhouse, just like me)
4 green onions, sliced diagonally , for garnish
Directions
In a large wok (or pan or whatever), heat the oil over medium high heat.
In a large bowl, pour in some corn starch. Dredge the beef in the corn starch so all the pieces are evenly coated.
Once the oil is hot, working in batches, fry the beef until crispy, about 3-5 minutes per batch. Remove each batch to a paper towel to drain excess oil.
When the beef is done, turn down the heat to medium and add the soy sauce.
When the soy sauce begins to bubble, add the marmalade and Sriracha. Stir constantly until the sauce is completely mixed. Let it simmer for about 3 minutes.
Add the beef back to the pan and stir to coat.
Add the broccoli and stir to coat. Cook for another 4-5 minutes or until the broccoli is the consistency you like.
