Browsing Category

Comfort Food

Comfort Food, Dinner, Entrees

Slow Cooked Ribs

July 12, 2017

Slow Cooked Ribs

What do you do when it’s 100 degrees outside and you don’t want to use the grill?  Stay in doors of course!  Cooking at 200 degrees keeps the heat out of your house, and then you get ribs that just fall off the bone.  And what goes better with ribs than potatoes.  I made rosemary sweet potatoes with my ribs last night.

Sweet Potatoes seved with ribs

Sweet potatoes are my favorite because they are not as sweet at yams.  And sweet potatoes stand up well in the over for a longer period of time because they are harder than yams or regular potatoes.  I added a little chili olive oil in addition to the fresh rosemary just to experiment, and it tasted really good.  Usually I will add cayenne pepper to my dry rub, but I skipped it this time since I added some chili olive oil.  I didn’t want the potatoes to be overpowered by the heat.

Slow Cooked Ribs with Sweet Potatoes

My husband was pleasantly surprised when he got home from work and ribs were waiting for him.  Ribs are definitely one of his favorites.  The best thing about slow cooked ribs is that the meat just falls off the bone.  And as ribs go, pork ribs are the best!

 

Print Recipe
 Slowed Cooked Ribs
These slow cooked ribs are so easy to make, and they taste so good!
Course Dinner, Main Dish, Sides
Cuisine American Food
Prep Time 15 Minutes
Cook Time 4 Hourse
Servings
People
Ingredients
Course Dinner, Main Dish, Sides
Cuisine American Food
Prep Time 15 Minutes
Cook Time 4 Hourse
Servings
People
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 200.
  2. Take the ribs out of the packaging and pat dry with a paper towel.
  3. Place ribs on a cooking sheet.
  4. Mix the sea salt, black pepper, chitpotle pepper, brown sugar, smoked paprika, garlic powder, Lowery's salt, and brown sugar in a bowl and mix well.
  5. Rub the mixed spices on both sides and then make sure the bone side is face down when you cook the ribs.
  6. Cut the sweet potatoes in cubes and place in a bowl.
  7. Mix the olive oils, freshly chopped rosemary and salt and pepper.
  8. Place the potatoes on the cooking sheet with the ribs and place in oven. The ribs should take approximately 4 hours. The last hour baste some BBQ sauce on the ribs. Note that the potatoes may be done sooner than the ribs, so make sure you are checking in on the ribs and potatoes every hour.
Share this Recipe
Brunch, Comfort Food, Dinner, Entrees, Gluten Free

Shepard’s Pie

May 24, 2017

Shepard's Pie

Shepard’s Pie is one of those yummy comfort foods that are good any time of year!  I made this one with more of an Italian flare, and my husband says this one is the best one I have made to-date.

Who doesn’t like cheesy mashed potatoes with beef?  You can make it in an iron skillet or any other type of skillet that can go in the oven.  You can also use a pie dish if it’s big enough.

Shepard's Pie

Ingredients:

  • 2 – 16 oz. packages grass fed organic lean ground beef
  • 1/4 bag of frozen peas
  • 1/4 bag of frozen corn
  • 2 – 14.5 oz. cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 1 small can of tomato paste
  • 1 small package cherry or grape tomatoes (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
  • 2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • sea salt and pepper to taste
  • red chili flakes to taste (optional)
  • splash of your favorite red wine (optional)
  • 4 to 6 large russet potatoes
  • 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 stick of butter (optional)
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk (optional)

Directions:

  1. Peel the potatoes, cut them in half, and then boil them until soft.  When potatoes are done, drain and use a potato masher to mash them.  While the potatoes are still hot, add the cheddar cheese, mile and butter.  Add salt and pepper to taste as well and set aside.
  2. Heat over to 350.
  3. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil in your skillet, and then add the onions and garlic.  Cook at medium heat until onions are translucent.
  4. Add the beef and cook until meat looks cooked enough to add the other ingredients.
  5. If you are using fresh cherry or grape tomatoes, cut them in half and add them in.
  6. Add the canned diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and all the spices.  Also add the wine at this time if you plan on adding it.
  7. Cook on the stove top for about 10 minutes and remove from heat.
  8. Add the mashed potatoes on top of the meat mixture in the skillet and smooth over with a large wooden spoon so that the top is flat.
  9. Cook in the oven for approximately 40 to 50 minutes.  You might want to place a baking sheet below or some foil because the sauce from the meat may spill over.
  10. Once you pull it out of the oven let it sit for about 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

 

 

Easy Shepard’s Pie Recipe

40 mins
Serves 6-10

Ingredients:

1/4 bag frozen peas,
2 – 14.5 oz cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes,
1 small can of tomato paste,
2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning,
1 small package of cherry or grape tomatoes (optional)
2 to 3 cloves garlic
4 to 6 large russet potatoes
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 to 1/2 cup milk
1/2 stick of butter (optional)
salt & pepper to taste
red chili flakes to taste (optional)

Comfort Food, Dinner, Entrees, Holiday Recipes, Soup

Pumpkin Tomato Tortellini Soup

October 17, 2016

I love winter and trying out new soup recipes!  Since the holidays are approaching, I am trying out new recipes with pumpkin, sweet potatoes, butternut squash and yams.  I came up with this interesting pumpkin tomato tortellini soup that tasted pretty darn good, so I decided to post this one.  I hope you enjoy as much as my husband and I did.

GourmetGirlDoesRE

Ingredients:

  • 2 cartons low sodium chicken broth
  • 3 cans of pumpkin puree (or if you are really ambitious you can roast the pumpkin and puree yourself)
  • 2 packages of cheese tortellini
  • 1 cup cream
  • 2 small cans or 1 large can of diced tomatoes
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 1 package bacon
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons dried sage or if you want to use fresh sage, use the entire package
  • 2 to 3 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 to 3 teaspoons nutmeg
  • 3 to 4 teaspoons white pepper
  • salt and black pepper to taste
  • 2 to 4 teaspoons of chipotle spice or to taste

Directions:

  1. Cook the bacon and crumble into small pieces and set aside for later.
  2. Drizzle a bit of olive oil or grape seed oil into a large pot and add onions and garlic.  Cook at medium heat until onions are translucent.
  3. Add the chicken broth, cream and pumpkin puree and mix well.  Then add the other spices and cook at low heat for 15 -20 minutes.
  4. Add the tortellini and cook at low for another 15 minutes and serve.
  5. Garnish with bacon.

 

Comfort Food, Dinner, Holiday Cooking, Holiday Recipes, Side Dishes

Savory Yams with Kale

October 4, 2016

In preparation for the holiday season I am playing around with yams, pumpkin and butternut squash, so I came up with this savory yams with kale side dish that came out pretty good.

GourmetGirlDoesRE

Ingredients:

  • 3 to 4 yams, chopped into chunky bites (leave skin on) – you can use sweet potatoes as well
  • 1/2 red onion, chopped
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil or grape seed oil
  • 1 to 2 cups chopped fresh kale (you can buy frozen as well)
  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • cayenne pepper to taste
  • Irish Garlic Salt or sea salt, pepper, garlic and parsley to taste

Note:  I buy the Irish Garlic Salt from a gal who makes it locally and it’s amazing!  It has sea salt, lots of garlic, parsley and other spices.  I use it on potatoes, beef, chicken and so much more!

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 400.
  2. Add the chopped yams, olive oil/grape seed oil, chopped onions, cranberries and spices and stir.
  3. Cook for approximately 45 minutes.  Take out half way to stir and see if you need more oil.
  4. Goes great with beef, chicken or pork!
Comfort Food, Dinner, Entrees, Soup

French Onion Soup with Homemade Croutons

April 4, 2016

Easter weekend I went with my family to Angels Camp and we stayed at the Wyndam condos.  I was responsible for making dinner one night.  I brought my crockpot and was able to do my prep work in the morning and let it cook all day while we were out having fun at Big Trees.  My soup was a big hit!  I also made mini sliders with Hawaiian rolls along with a strawberry and blueberry mixed green salad.  I have posted the salad recipe separately.

GourmetGirlDoesRE

This recipe makes up to 10-12 ramekins!

Ingredients:

  • 3 large yellow onions, chopped into thin strips
  • 3 to 4 (32 oz.) cartons of beef broth
  • fresh thyme for soup and croutons (1 container)
  • 1/4 cup of Cognac (you can use dry sherry as well)
  • 1/2 cup of your favorite stout beer
  • 6 to 8 tablespoons of butter
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 to 3 large slices of gruyere cheese per ramekin (2 packages)
  • 2 to 3 bay leaves
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup of flour

Directions:

  1. Place butter in large skillet with the onion strips and cook on medium heat.  Add fresh thyme and the stout beer.  Cook until translucent.  The onions should have a bit of sauce to it from the beer and butter.  You will need it because once you add the flour it will thicken.  Slowly add the flour while stirring.  Take off heat and set aside.
  2. In a crockpot add the beef broth, Cognac, more fresh thyme, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves and salt/pepper.  Then add the onions and stir everything together before putting the lid on.
  3. Cook 8 to 10 hours.
  4. Pour soup into large ramekins and place on a cooking sheet.
  5. Add homemade croutons as well as 2 to 3 slices of gruyere cheese to each ramekin (see crouton recipe below).
  6. Place in oven and broil on high for approximately 5 to 10 minutes.
  7. Serve with fresh parsley as a garnish.

Homemade Croutons Recipe

  1. Get 1 to 2 large loafs of sourdough bread and cut into large pieces.
  2. Place cut pieces into a large bowl.
  3. Melt 1 to 2 sticks of butter and mix with the cut pieces of bread with a wooden spoon.
  4. Drizzle your favorite olive oil over to help coat the bread as well.  I like to use both butter and olive oil because it gives a better flavor.
  5. Add fresh or dried thyme and mix.  Parmesan cheese would be good as well.
  6. Place on a cooking sheet at 400 and monitor until it looks crispy.  It takes approximately 15 minutes.

GourmetGirlDoesRE

Comfort Food, Side Dishes

Scalloped Potatoes

February 20, 2016

Last weekend we had a couples Valentines Day dinner, and I cooked a fillet roast with my favorite scalloped potatoes recipe.  Although the fillet roast and scalloped potatoes where fabulous together, scalloped potatoes would be good with anything.  Who doesn’t like potatoes and cheese?  In my normal recipe I usually use 1/2 sweet potatoes and 1/2 Yukon Gold potatoes, but a few people I was cooking for did not like sweet potatoes.

GourmetGirlDoesRE

Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds medium Yukon Gold potatoes (approximately 20 potatoes) or 10 russet potatoes (you can also mix it up and use some sweet potatoes as well)
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 stick butter
  • 4 to 5 cups Gruyere cheese, grated
  • 2 to 3 cups Fontina cheese, grated (or some other favorite cheese)
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • fresh thyme removed from stem (I used almost the entire package)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 to 3 teaspoons nutmeg
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (optional)
  • 1 to 2 bay leaves

Directions:

  1. Fill a large bowl with cold water and salt.
  2. Peel one potato at a time and use a mandolin slicer to cut very thin potato slices.  Place them in the bowl of water and repeat until you have peeled and sliced all the potatoes.  If you do not have a mandolin slicer, try to cut as thin as you can using a knife.  Mandolin slicers are easier to find these days, and you can find them fairly inexpensively.
  3. Keep potatoes in water until you are ready to put them in a large Pyrex baking dish to put in oven.
  4. In a medium sauce pan add butter and garlic and cook at very low heat until melted.  Then add spices, heavy whipping cream and milk.  Keep at low heat and stir occasionally.  You do not want to curdle the milk.
  5. Add 1/2 to 3/4 of the Gruyere cheese to the milk mixture.  Stir for a few minutes and remove pan from heat.
  6. Pour the water out of the bowl with the potatoes and then start placing the potatoes in a large Pyrex pan.
  7. Pour the milk mixture over the potatoes and then add the remainder of the cheese on top.  Note:  Depending on how large your pan is, you might have excess liquid.  Be careful not to overfill the Pyrex dish.
  8. Place in over at 400 for approximately 30 minutes covered with foil and then another 20-25 minutes uncovered to brown the top a bit.  You might want to place something underneath the baking dish in case liquid comes overflows.
  9. Let stand for at least 10 minutes and serve.

NOTE:  This makes a lot of potatoes, so if you are cooking for just your family and not a party, cut the recipe in half with the exception of the bay leaves and cayenne pepper which is really more to taste anyway.

Comfort Food, Dinner, Entrees, Lunch

Chicken Pot Pie

February 3, 2016

I absolutely love puff pastry, so I decided replace the traditional pie crust you would use in a chicken pot pie recipe with the puff pastry.  This is really easy to make, and you can any vegetables you want, or even make it a vegetarian dish!

GourmetGirlDoesRE

Ingredients:

  • 1 package puff pastry from the frozen food section (or if you prefer pie crust, you can get that in the frozen food section as well)
  • 1 cooked chicken breast cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 cup chopped carrots
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms (optional)
  • 1/2 cup chopped onions
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon celery seeds
  • 1 tablespoon thyme or 3 to 4 swigs of fresh thyme
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup flour

Directions:

  1. Thaw the puff pastries either the day before in the frig, or 30-40 minutes at room temperature before you start cooking everything.
  2. Bake the chicken breast at 350 for 20-30 minutes with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Once done, let cool and then cut into bit size pieces.
  3. In a skillet cook the butter and onions until translucent and then start slowing adding the flour as you stir.  If it gets too dry, add a small amount of the chicken broth to mixture until it’s thick.
  4. Add the rest of the chicken broth, milk and other ingredients and cook at low heat for approximately 10 minutes.
  5. Remove mixture from stove and then add it to the ramekins.  This recipe makes 2 servings for the large ramekins I used (5″).  If you also have the large ramekins, you can double the recipe to make more.  If you have smaller ramekins you could probably get 4 servings instead of 2.
  6. Take one of the puff pastry packages and roll place onto a floured surface and roll out a bit.  Then cut into a square that will easily fit over the ramekin.  Refrigerate the rest of the puff pastry that you do not need and use it for something else later.
  7. Slice a few slits into the top so that the puff pastry and then brush some egg mixture to the entire puff pastry.
  8. Place the ramekins on a cooking sheet and place in the over at 375 for 30-40 minutes.
  9. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.  You may even want to cut open the pie and let sit because it will still be very hot.

 

Comfort Food, Dinner, Entrees, Lunch

Turkey Chili with Butternut Squash

October 25, 2015

It’s fall, and I love cooking comfort food!  Check out my new Turkey Chili with Butternut Squash recipe.  What’s better than squash and fall right?

GourmetGirlDoesRE

Ingredients:

  • 1 package ground turkey
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 green peppers, chopped
  • 1 to 2 jalapenos, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 – 28 oz. tomato puree
  • 1 – 28 oz. diced tomatoes
  • 1 medium to small butternut squash
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons ground espresso
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 tablespoons ancho chili power (if you don’t have ancho chili, just use regular chili powder)
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons ground oregano
  • cayenne pepper to taste if you like spicy (optional)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400.
  2. Slice the butternut squash in half and lightly coat with butter, salt and pepper.
  3. Place butternut squash face up on a cooking sheet and cook for 45-50 minutes.
  4. Let cook, then cut squash into cubes and put aside.
  5. In a large dutch over or soup pot brown ground turkey with a bit of olive oil so it doesn’t stick to the pan at medium heat on stove.
  6. You can add the onion, green peppers, jalapenos and garlic in before the ground turkey is done so all the flavors can cook together (approximately 15 minutes).
  7. Add diced tomatoes and tomato puree, and remaining ingredients and stir.
  8. Add as much butternut squash as you want.  I added approximately 4 to 5 cups.  What you do not use, you can freeze or use later.
  9. Place on low heat and cook for at least 45 to 60 minutes.
  10. Serve with plain Greek yogurt/sour cream, cilantro and avocado!

Chili is also great with cornbread which is one of my favorites!  If you like spicy things like I do, you will like cutting jalapenos and putting them in the cornbread too.

 

Comfort Food, Dinner, Entrees, Pasta

Gourmet Mac & Cheese

September 4, 2015

Mac & Cheese

Mac & Cheese is one of my most favorite dishes if done right.  I experiment with many different cheeses and veggies.   I have this recipe to be my favorite out of all the versions I have done.

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound elbow macaroni
  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 6 tablespoons flour
  • 2 tablespoons powdered mustard
  • 6 cups milk
  • 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 package Gruyère cheese, grated (approx. 12 oz.)
  • 1 package Fontina cheese, grated (approx. 12 oz.)
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • black pepper to taste
  • 1 teaspoon or more of cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Cook macaroni in a pot and set aside.
  3. In a separate pot melt the butter and then whisk in four and mustard; continue to stir for about 5 minutes to get rid of all the lumps; stir in milk, onion, bay leaf, paprika, and cayenne pepper; simmer for ten minutes then remove the bay leaf.
  4. Temper the eggs and then stir in 3/4 of the grated cheese; add salt and pepper.
  5. Oil the casserole dish and add the pasta.
  6. Pour milk and cheese mixture over pasta evenly and top with the remaining cheese.
  7. Sprinkle Italian bread crumbs over the top and bake for 30 minutes.
  8. If you like extra cheese, I sometimes put Parmesan cheese over the top as well.  Parmesan cheese also gives it that extra crispiness I love.
  9. Let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Other ideas on adding to this Mac & Cheese recipe include:

  • Add Cauliflower
  • Add White Truffle Oil or Truffle Paste (Be careful because truffle flavor can really overpower the dish.  Use sparingly)
  • Change the cheeses up if you like.  I just happen to love Fontina and Gruyere best!

Fontina & Gruyere Cheese

 

Recent Comments

Recent Comments