Mashed Potatoes

There's no picture because well (burp...)

I had an event tonight that I was asked to bring 20 lbs of mashed potatoes.

Did I mention 20 lbs in 12 minutes???  And it was only 12 minutes because my pc wasn't large enough for all the potatoes at once.

I bought 2 bags of red potatoes. Washed them.  Cut out the eyes.  Then cut in 1/4 and 1/3 depending on the size of the potato.  I was looking for about 2 inch chunks.  In 1 cup of chicken broth, I cooked for 6 minutes on high pressure. Quick release.  Dumped into an extra large bowl.  Filled the pc up again and did the other half.  While the 2nd half was cooking, I added 1/2 cube butter, 1/2 block cream cheese, and 1 cup heavy cream.  Then I used my potato masher and mashed the heck out of those poor spuds.  Seasoned with garlic pepper, salt and celery salt.  I then transferred to a crockpot.  I repeated with the other pot of potatoes, used the other half of the butter, cream and cream cheese and voila! 20 lbs of mashed potatoes in 12 minutes.

I LOVE MY PC!!

Yumioli ravioli soup

It's finally cooling down in Texas...well I'm still wearing capris and sandals, but it's cool enough to eat soup.

We were invited to eat dinner with another family from church a few weeks ago, and this is my attempt to recreate the amazing food she served us.

Yumoli Ravioli Soup

1/2 lb sausage (sweet Italian or hot..we used hot because it's us)
1 c chopped onion and celery
2 cups julienned carrots
1 can seasoned tomatoes
4 cups beef broth
1 pkg frozen ravioli
4 cups chicken broth

Brown sausage and onion and celery.  Add carrots, tomatoes, ravioli and beef broth.  Pressure on high 4 minutes.  Natural release.  Add chicken broth after cooking.  This just made more soup because I plan on having soup for lunch most of this week.

Someone doesn't have an appreciation of cheese...but I do!

Adventures in Green Chile

Otherwise know as Melanie uses every small appliance she has ever owned!

Growing up in the southwest, I know September means Hatch Green Chiles.  Oh the amazing wonders this little green thing can create.  So when I noticed I could get an entire case of Hatch chiles for only $20 through Bountiful Baskets, I was all over that!  I now have enough processed chile to last me a good long time.

The beauties arrive into my posession!

One entire day was devoted to roasting.  Basically I used the Pioneer Woman's directions on how to do this How to Roast Green Chiles  She is amazing and makes this very clear.

I got this amazing recipe from my lovely niece Shanon. it looks like it came from Food.com... I multiplied it by 10, and added 6 cups of shredded carrots.  But instead of following the directions I kind of went in a pressure cooker direction because that's what I do.

This lovely smelling pot full of yum was half of my X10 ingredients, pressured on HIGH for 6 minutes, quick release.

And then it went into the blender to become  smooth and uniform.

Did I mention I used every small appliance I own?  including the roaster because it was big enough to hold all of my sauce.

I ended up with 24 half pint jars, and 5 quart size bags frozen flat in my freezer.  And that was only half the case of chiles. The other 7 gallon size bags of roasted chile was packaged 4 chiles per bag, frozen flat.

So now I have a freezer full of yumminess, and 2 dozen jars of amazing green sauce to do with as I please... but there were still 2 bags needing to be peeled (yes I am drawing this project out... lucky for me I have an extra fridge outside to use for all my food projects.

 So today I was thinking about chile rellenos.  Don't you think about rellenos often?  I saved this recipe to my pinterest board a few years ago, and decided Today was the Day!  I will use the last of the chiles and make some Rellenos! This is the recipe I used for inspiration.

Chile Rellenos Casserole

Recipe Adapted by Winner Dinners/Origin Unknown
Serves 6

3 7-oz. cans whole green chiles
1 pound cheddar cheese, grated
1 pound jack cheese, grated
4 eggs
1 13-oz. can evaporated milk
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 6-oz. can tomato paste

Wash the chiles, removing the seeds, and dry on paper towels. Grate the cheeses. Reserve 1/2 cup of each of the two cheeses, mixing them together in a small bowl. This will go on top of the casserole later, so you can place it in the refrigerator for now. In a medium-sized casserole dish, approximately 8 x 11 (9 x 13 is too big), layer 1/2 of the chiles, all of the cheddar cheese, the remaining chiles, then all of the jack cheese. Separate the eggs. Beat the yolks and add the evaporated milk, flour and salt, beating until frothy. Beat the whites separately for about a minute. Combine the two egg mixtures and beat for a few seconds longer so that they are well-mixed. Pour the egg mixture over the chiles and cheese. Bake at 300 for 1 hour. Then spread the tomato paste over the top. Sprinkle with the reserved cheese you placed in the refrigerator. Bake 1/2 hour longer. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.


 But it makes a full size casserole, and the man I live with is not a big chile fan...he will placate me by eating what I put on the dinner table in front of him, but he's not willingly going to choose this on his own.  Thus my dilemma:  I want this, but I don't need a whole casserole by myself.  So the solution was obviously make it in muffin tins!  And add bacon, because well BACON.



** I ACTUALLY ENDED UP USING12 EGGS, 4 FOR EACH MUFFIN TIN. I just mixed the eggs, flour and milk and salt in the blender and poured it over each.

you have to look closely to see the bacon bits.  Trust me they are there...

After 20 minutes this is what I have... 3 dozen mini relleno muffins, all that yummy goodness just waiting for breakfast, or lunch  or mid morning snack or mid afternoon snack...I somehow think these will not last as long as I had planned... Oh well, such is the plight of AMAZING mii relleanos with bacon!

This is where I was supposed to post the picture of those cute little rellenos topped with sour cream, but somehow they just disappeared... I will go put some more on a plate, just for blog post purposes...

please pretend my plate does not look like I just licked it off before adding more...

Clean it out Vegetable Soup

You have to trust me that my kitchen smells AMAZING.  Every few days I decide my diet is going to be healthier, I will add more vegetables and good stuff to my eating.  And then dinner happens or date night or Krispy Kreme lights up the "HOT" sign.  I am a work in progress.  But that being said, I now have lunch prepared for today and the next 5 days or so.  

Clean it out Vegetable Soup

1 frozen chicken breast

2 c shredded carrots

1/2 head cabbage

4 red potatoes

2 bell peppers

2 jalapeno peppers

2 onions

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp green curry sauce

3 c beef broth

Chop chicken with cleaver (it was really frozen!)  Add carrots.  Core cabbage, chop coarsely. Cut your potatoes into quarters. Seed and chop bells and jalapeños. The jalapeños add just the perfect kick to this soup.  Chop onion into chunks.  Add garlic and curry on top of this massive pile of chopped vegetables.  Pour broth over the top.  PC high 12 minutes.

Mine is creamy style because as I was cleaning out the vegetable drawer I noticed some cream cheese in there... so I added it after the cooking and stirred it into the hot soup for the creamy wonderfulness that it adds.

(btw this is the 2nd week in a row to make a variation of this soup, which is why I had 1/2 a head of cabbage just waiting to be used.)

is 10:30 to early for lunch??

Yippee-ki-yay-casserole

The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas...

The Cowboys say "yippee-ki-yay"  deep on the heart of Texas.

Like any fabulous Texas grandma, I have taught parts of this classic price of music to my grands.  Just enough to annoy their parents.  It makes my heart sing when they sing.

So tonight my young adult came home with Texas shaped pasta, so of course we had to eat something Texan. 

The cast of characters

1 pkg Texas pasta

3 bullion cubes (2 chipotle and 1 cilantro)

4 cups water

1 can wolf brand chili without beans

1 cup shredded cheese

Method:

Place pasta and bullion in PC, cover with water.  Low pressure for 4 minutes, quick release.  Add chili and cheese.  Stir.  I enjoyed mine with a dollop of sour cream and we ate it along side blackened salmon.

Yummy Brussel Sprouts

So I made just a veggie…
I cooked up some bacon just to brown it a bit

Whole bag of Brussel sprouts (costco size bag) sprinkled with garlic & parsley sea salt
Crumbled Bacon

For my water -
1 TBSP minced garlic
Tomato & Chicken bullion (I found this in the Mexican section of Safeway)

ON my PC it was 5 minutes at High Pressure steam
about 2 minutes of natural release but then I just quick release

Turned out soooo yummy

I love brussel sprouts, especially love I have them in less than 10 minutes!

I don't have pic - next time

Red Lentil and Carrot Soup with Roasted Chickpeas

This delicious soup is adapted for the Pressure Cooker and my families taste- original stovetop recipe can be found here.

For the chickpeas:
2 can of chickpeas (drained)
Cumin
Paprika
Coriander
Drizzle Olive oil
Ckuole dashes Chipotle Smoked Tobasco (or red chilli flakes... whatever you've got)
Crushed sea salt

For the Soup:
5-7 peeled and chopped Carrots
1 large diced onion
2Tbs garlic
1/2 Tbs Cumin
1 Tbs Parsley
Salt
Pepper
1 cup Red Lentils
8 cups chicken stock

For the Chickpeas: Preheat oven to 400. Mix chickpeas and all other ingredients together in a bowl, drizzle with the olive oil, salt according to taste. On a foil covered cookie sheet, roast for 40-45 min, stirring halfway through.

For the soup:
Saute the onion and carrots in the olive oil (be generous with the oil) (PC setting:sear/brown) for 8-10. Add the garlic and continue for another two minutes. Add the remaining seasonings and let them get fragrant for 1-2 more minutes. Add the lentils and the chicken stock. Close the pc and cook on high for 20 min.

Next time, I think I'll try a curry twist and double the red lentils, and hopefully have an immersion blender. I think this would be great as a blended soup. The pc literally obliterated the lentils, which is good because my husband doesn't care for them much, but me and the kids are huge fans. Meat can be added- I just didn't want any tonight and am not yet sure what kind would pair best.