TASTY TUESDAY - A TASTE OF HOME

On Sunday’s I always like to cook a big meal for the family.
Sometimes we have friends over or go to friends house, but it’s always a big meal.

This Sunday I cooked up a little “Taste of Home”. Home being my Oma’s (German for grandma) house where I spent the better part of my life. She is full German and from a little town in Germany called Bad Windsheim. Growing up with her I ate German food all the time. When I was little, I did not love it. But as I grew older I grew to appreciate it more, and now I miss it. She is over 80 now, and still working so it’s not often that I get one of her home cooked meals. Since I have my own family now, I have asked for her recipes and I do my best to cook them the way she did. Although, it's just not the same.

The meal I picked to cook for my family this Sunday is one of my favorites and one that reminds me of both my Oma and summer.
Enjoy the recipes!

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Beer Brats with Onions and Sauerkraut

What you will need:

1 Package of your choice of bratwurst

2 beers... one for cooking and one for.... well you'll see.

2 onions

1/2 head of shredded cabbage

butter

Red wine vinegar

Salt & pepper

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Pierce the skins of the brats with a fork. Place the brats 1 beer and 1 onion sliced in a pot. Fill the beer bottle or can with water and add to the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1/2 hour.

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Slice the remaining onion. In a pan over medium heat saute the onion in butter until golden brown. You are probably drinking the second beer wondering what you are going to use it for. I add splashes of it every now and then to the onions as I'm cooking them... but that's just me.

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Remove the onions and place in a dish or on a plate to eat with the brats.

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Add the cabbage to the pan with some butter and begin to saute it. Add a splash of beer and about 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar to the pan. Salt and pepper to taste. Saute until it begins to look like the sauerkraut you get in the store.... only this one is much better in my opinion.

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Remove and place on a plate to eat with the brats.

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Remove brats from pan and grill or fry in a pan until brown on all sides.

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German Potato Salad

What you will need:

9 potatoes, peeled
6 slices bacon
3/4 cup chopped onions
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup distilled white vinegar
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Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until

tender but still firm, about 30 minutes. Drain, cool and slice thin.
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Place bacon in a large, deep skillet.

Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown.

Drain, crumble and set aside, reserving drippings.
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In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, celery seed, and pepper.

Add to the sauteed onions and cook and stir until bubbly, then remove from heat.

Stir in water and vinegar, then return to the stove and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

Boil and stir for one minute.

Carefully stir bacon and sliced potatoes into the vinegar/water mixture,

stirring gently until potatoes are heated through.

TASTY TUESDAY - HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!!!

I just love this holiday! What could be more fun that wearing green, drinking beer, and making fun of short people?!

The food's not bad either!

Here are some of my favorite recipes to make on this holiday!

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Irish Soda Bread
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup buttermilk

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Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and margarine.

Stir in 1 cup of buttermilk and egg.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly.

Form dough into a round and place on prepared baking sheet.

In a small bowl, combine melted butter with 1/4 cup buttermilk; brush loaf with this mixture.

Use a sharp knife to cut an 'X' into the top of the loaf.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Continue to brush the loaf with the butter mixture while it bakes.

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Corned Beef with a Mustard Glaze

1 corned beef brisket
2 tablespoons pickling spice
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons course ground mustard

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Place roast in a deep cooking pan on the stove.

Season with pickling spice and fill with enough water to cover the roast.

Cover and cook on medium heat according to direction on the package

*For even more of that Irish flavor, add a bottle of Guinness

then add enough water to cover the roast.
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When roast is nearly done preheat the oven's broiler to 375.
Combine mustard and brown sugar in a small bowl.

Remove brisket from pan and transfer to a casserole dish.

Coat with mustard mixture and broil in the oven for 5-7 minutes.

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Irish Mashed Potatoes

8-10 potatoes peeled and quartered

1 clove garlic

1 onion diced

1 cup shredded cabbage

4 slices of bacon

butter

milk

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Brown bacon in pan. Crumble into bits and set aside.

Boil potatoes until soft enough to mash.

Reserve about 1 tbsp of the bacon grease in the pan you cooked it in, discard the rest.

add garlic and onion to bacon grease and saute until the onions begin to

turn brown. Add the cabbage and cook until the cabbage is soft.

Remove mixture and set aside.

Mash potatoes with butter and milk to the desired consistency.

Stir the onion and cabbage mixture & the bacon into the potatoes.

Season with salt and pepper to taste, then serve.

TASTY TUESDAY

This is one of my favorite weeknight meals! Enjoy!

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CREAMY CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1-2 cloves garlic (pressed) or you can use 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies

1 small can of salsa verde
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast meat

(I use one of those rotisserie chickens and my family loves it! Plus we are usually able get two meals out of one chicken. I put the remaining chicken in a casserole the next day.)
1 cup shredded Mexican Blend cheese, divided
6 (12 inch) flour tortillas
1/4 cup milk


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking dish.
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In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and saute the green onion until tender (about 4 minutes). Add the pressed garlic, then stir in the green chilies, cream of chicken soup, 1/2 the can of salsa verde, and sour cream. Mix well.

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Reserve 3/4 of this sauce and the remaining 1/2 can of salsa verde, and set aside. To the remaining 1/4 of the sauce in the saucepan, add the chicken and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese. Stir together.
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Fill each flour tortilla with the chicken mixture and roll up. Place seam side down in the prepared baking dish.
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Spoon the remaining 1/2 can of salsa verde over the enchiladas. In a small bowl combine the reserved 3/4 of the sauce with the milk. Spoon this mixture over the enchiladas, and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.

TASTY TUESDAY

In honor of my little incident on Sunday, I decided that my recipe for this weeks Tasty Tuesday should be the very thing that caused my injury.

POT ROAST

1 Roast (thawed preferably)
Worcestershire
Salt
Pepper
1 onion chopped
2 large cloves of garlic pressed
1 package chopped mushrooms
1 packet Au Jus mix
2 cups water
1 beer or 1 cup wine - You don't have to add this. It does taste great without, but better with.

Season your roast on both sides with worcestershire, salt and pepper. Heat a pan on medium high. Sear the roast on both sides then remove and transfer to a plate.

Place the roast in your choice of pot. You can either use a large pot on med-low or you can use a crock pot. Add to it the remaining ingredients. Cook for 6-8 hours or until the meat is falling apart. At 6 hours I usually check my roast. If there is still quite a bit of liquid in there I will put the lid on so that there is a small gap and let it slowly reduce a little for the remaining cooking time.

That's it. Its pretty simple but soooooo yummy. If you want roast beef sandwiches out of it just strain the juice out into a bowl, put some provolone on a nice french bun followed by the meat, and dip away!

As an update to yesterday's post:

(I should warn you the following picture may make you loose your appetite for the yummy roast.)

This is my hand as it looks today.

Nice, huh?

TASTY TUESDAY

My friend Denise gave me the idea for this post.

Every Tuesday I will post one of my favorite recipes!

I will start off with one of my absolute favorites! This is one that gets requested for every family party or gathering!

Artichoke Green Chili Dip

You will need:

1 can quartered artichoke hearts

1 small can green chillies

1/2 of an onion (white, yellow, red, or you can use about

4 green onions for a lighter onion flavor)

2 cloves garlic pressed

2 cups Italian Blend Shredded cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

1 small casserole dish

Preheat oven to 400. Drain can of artichokes. Chop artichokes up into small pieces. Place in a large bowl for mixing. Drain the green chilies and add to the bowl. Dice up your 1/2 onion and add to bowl. Press the garlic into the bowl. Add only 1 cup of the Italian Blend cheese (saving the remaining cheese for the top). Add the parmesan, mayo, and sour cream. Mix all ingredients until blended. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Dump the dip into a small casserole dish. Top with the remaining 1 cup of cheese, and bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until it bubbles and starts to brown on top.

You can serve this yummy dip with crackers, tortilla chips, french bread or veggies! Enjoy!