HASTY TASTY MEALS BLOG

Image

HOW I CELEBRATE MEAT-FREE MONDAY

I cook a pot of beans with chopped bell peppers, onions, carrot, celery, and garlic. I add a bay leaf (later removed) and salt (this week it’s a pound of navy beans). Just before beans are done (still firm), I divide, finishing some of the beans in my favorite BBQ sauce. Yum! The remaining beans will be side dishes later in the week.

Cover and simmer until beans are tender.

I made my knock-off version of Red Lobster’s cheddar biscuits (perhaps a future post) to go with the BBQ Beans and had a filling lunch.

Biscuits and BBQ Beans lunch. Yum!

4 Comments

August 5, 2013 · 11:59 am

July 16, 2013 · 12:03 pm

REVISITING THE GRAVY TRAIN

Encore of my low fat gravy method post:

Several have asked me about my fat-free roux method for making gravy or sauce. Traditional roux is made from browning equal amounts of fat (typically butter) and flour. Although my gravy isn’t fat-free (I finish it with a Tbsp. of butter for flavor and gloss), mine is a lot lower in fat calories. I recently made a batch of this gravy to reheat leftover cooked turkey. The turkey flavored the gravy while the gravy gently warmed the turkey. That’s a win-win!

Start by preheating a quality, heavy-duty skillet. To make one cup of gravy, add two tablespoons flour to the dry skillet over medium heat. Whisk often to cook the flour. Season the flour as desired. When the flour turns light brown and emits an aroma indicating it’s cooked, remove the skillet from the heat.

Add flour to dry, preheated skillet

Whisk flour often to keep it from burning.

Carefully add about a pint of broth or stock, whisking into the roux. Stand back as the hot skillet may steam from the cold liquid (as an additional step, preheat your broth or stock before adding it to the roux). After roux is incorporated into the liquid, return the skillet to medium heat. Whisk occasionally.

Remove from heat and whisk in broth or stock.

Continue to whisk over medium heat to blend together roux and broth.

Allow the gravy to thicken and reduce, then lower the heat. If using the gravy to reheat cooked food such as leftover turkey, place the food in the gravy and let it cook gently until warmed.

Optional: Use gravy to gently reheat cooked meat or poultry.

To serve, remove all food from the gravy and plate for serving. Remove skillet from heat. Stir in one pat (approx. 1 Tbsp.) butter to finish the gravy. Pour into gravy bowl to serve.

1 Comment

Filed under cooking, gravy, Healthful Eating, sauces, turkey

Tagged as fat-free cooking, fat-free gravy, gravy, low-fat gravy, lowfat cooking, sauce

July 1, 2013 · 9:43 am

Daily Fruit

By now you know I’m a fan of the Vitamix. I use it at least once a day and consider it worth the investment (yes, it’s a bit expensive). I make whole fruit juice every morning to ensure we get our daily serving of fruit. To keep from getting in a rut, I vary the “recipe” or fruit combinations. I now have a new favorite: Cherry Pineapple. Yum!

Here’s how I make it. In the container of my Vitamix I add ¼ cup water, ¼ of a fresh pineapple (include the core), 2 prunes (for sweetness–you don’t taste them), and 10 frozen cherries. Process on Variable Speed from 1 to 10 then switch to High speed. It takes less than a minute and yields 1 eight-ounce glass or 2 four-ounce glasses of juice. Try it!

HOPPIN’ JOHN

Hoppin’ John

Hoppin’ John is a dish that originated in the Low Country (Carolinas) made with black-eyed peas and rice. I usually cook Hoppin’ John in the pressure cooker (As in Chef Cheri’s Hasty Tasty Meals ©2003), but this version is tasty and worth a little extra work. Use a 5-quart cast iron Dutch oven for best results. You will need a 1-quart covered saucepan or rice cooker for the rice, plus a tea kettle for boiling water.

RECIPE

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided

1 cup long grain brown rice

2 cups boiling water

2 tsp. salt, divided

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 pound dried black-eyed peas (soaked overnight and rinsed)

6 cups water

1 can Rotel® tomatoes and green chilies

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. freshly ground pepper

1/2 lb. cooked Andouille sausage

Directions:

Preheat cast iron Dutch oven over medium heat and melt 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter.

Add the brown rice and stir. Toast the rice, stirring often, for about 5 minutes.

Spoon the rice into a 1-quart saucepan. Add 2 cups boiling water and 1 tsp. salt. Cover and cook over low heat for twenty-five minutes or until tender. Do not overcook.

Add 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter to the Dutch oven and sauté the onions over low heat. After ten minutes add the garlic, bay leaf, and the black-eyed peas.

Stir to combine then add 6 cups water. Cover Dutch oven.

Time for two hours and cook over low heat. After about 30 minutes, lift the cover and move it to allow steam to escape.

After the peas are cooked, add 1 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. freshly ground pepper. Salting peas earlier may make them tough.

Add ½ pound cooked Andouille sausage cut into ½ inch slices, along with the can of Rotel®. Remove the bay leaf.

Remove Dutch oven from heat, stir in rice, and serve. Covered, the hoppin’ John will keep warm for about an hour.

Yield: About 6 meal-size servings or 12 side dish servings.