Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Quick and Easy’ Category

Cowboy Nachos

Posted in Main Dish, Quick and Easy, Recipes, tagged , , , on March 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

A couple of months ago, I noticed cowboy nachos on a menu and the thought intrigued me. Not enough I ordered them, but it piqued my interest and I started looking up recipes online.

The two things I learned from all the recipes I found were:

1. You must include beans

2. You can use cheap cuts of beef

So I decided to make up my own recipe and give this a whirl. Captain Cavedweller was pretty glad I did.

The recipe is easy and really quite tasty. Give it a whirl!

Ingredients

 

Start by cooking your brisket.

 

I cut mine in half, stuffed it in the slow cooker, added a can of chicken broth and some seasonings. Eight hours later, I had perfectly tender meat.

 

Bake fries in a single layer in the oven.

 

Start building your nachos with the fries first.

 

Followed by the chili beans.

 

Dollop on sour cream.

 

Layer on slices of meat and sprinkle (or drench if you are Captain Cavedweller) with barbecue sauce.

 

Top with cheese and olives - then enjoy!

Cowboy Nachos

beef brisket, cooked and sliced thinly

waffle fries

can of chili

shredded cheddar cheese

sour cream

barbecue sauce

sliced olives

Start by cooking the brisket. I put mine in the slow cooker for eight hours with a can of chicken broth and some salt and seasoning. If you have a good barbecue joint in your town, you could also pick up brisket already cooked if you are in a hurry to put this together.

About 20 minutes before you are ready to serve, pop the fries in a single layer in the oven and bake until golden (following package directions).

Ten minutes before the fries will be done, remove the meat from the slow cooker and let rest for about five to seven minutes. Cut into thin slices.

Cook chili according to can directions (I nuke mine since it takes less time and then I can serve in the same bowl!).

You can let people put on their own toppings or you can make a huge platter – your choice. Just layer on fries, chili, sour cream, meat, barbecue sauce, cheese and olives.

That’s it.

Hearty, flavorful and so good!

Enjoy!

She Who Will Be Making These Again

 

Read Full Post »

Bacon Wrapped Scallops

Posted in Appetizers, Easy Recipes, Quick and Easy, Recipes, tagged , , , , on February 24, 2012| 1 Comment »

Ingredients

 

Wrap with bacon

 

Secure with a skewer

 

Put on a rack in a baking pan (foil lined if you are lazy like me and don't like cleaning up baked on messes).

 

Cook until bacon is crispy and sizzling.

 

Drizzle with seasoned butter and prepare to indulge in a delicious treat!

You know that saying bacon makes everything better… I’m pretty sure it’s true.

I don’t even like scallops, but wrapping them in bacon and drizzling them with butter made them quite tasty!

This recipe is easy, simple and fast, so give it a try and enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Scallops

6 scallops

3 pieces of bacon

1tbsp melted butter

1 tsp seasoning

skewers or toothpicks

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cut bacon strips in half lengthwise. Wrap each scallop with a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick or skewer. Place on a rack in a roasting pan. Because I am a lazy slug and don’t like cleaning up messy baking pans, I lined mine with foil before I did anything else. Spray your rack with a little Pam to speed up the cleaning process and keep your scallops from sticking.

Place in oven for 15-20 minutes or until bacon is crispy and sizzling.

Melt butter with a teaspoon of seasoning. You can do spicy or mild. I used an all-purpose seasoning (Mrs. Dash works fine).

Pour over scallops and serve.

This recipe would serve two.

She Who Likes Bacon Wrapped Indulgences!

Read Full Post »

Polenta Alla Romana – His and Hers Style

Posted in Main Dish, Quick and Easy, Recipes, tagged , , , , on November 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »

A few months ago, Captain Cavedweller and I went to an Italian restaurant we had never tried before. The atmosphere was quite lovely, the service top-notch and the food… was marvelous.

CC decided to be adventurous and try something beyond lasagna or spaghetti (his two standard choices when we eat Italian).

He ordered Polenta Alla Romana. Polenta (ground corn) was covered with a rich tomato sauce thick with sausage and chicken pieces. He thought it ranked right up there with carrot cake on his list of all-time favorite things to

The other day I decided to try and make it at home.

For those of you who make your own polenta and tomato sauce, I envy you, but will never be you.  If sauce from a jar and pre-made polenta turns you off, you might want to skip today’s post.

If you are someone who doesn’t mind a few easy shortcuts to a fast and fabulous dinner, you are going to love today’s post!

We made two versions of it since I can’t eat the tomato sauce. So below you’ll find instructions for both the His and Hers version.

Ingredients

Brown Sausage in a heavy-duty skillet.

Chop cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces. I had leftover baked chicken that worked well. If you don't have pre-cooked chicken, you could purchase a package of grilled chicken pieces if you are really in a hurry!

Add chicken pieces to cooked sausage.

Add sauce to chicken and sausage. You can use tomato or white sauce - your choice!

You can either slice the polenta and heat the slices or chop it up and simmer with chicken stock to make it smooth. I think I liked the smooth version best.

To get the smooth polenta, cook with chicken broth and butter until the liquid is absorved and the polenta breaks down.

Grate some Parmesan cheese.

Freshly grated parmesan is absolutely fantabulous!

Plate and enjoy... Hers Style

or His!

Polenta Alla Romana

1 pound of bulk sausage (you can Italian, this just happened to be what I had on hand)

2 cups of cooked chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

2 cups of sauce (tomato or Alfredo)

2 cups of chicken broth

1 tube of Polenta

1 tbsp. butter

Parsley (optional)

Hers Version:

In a heavy-duty skillet, brown the sausage. When it is cooked, add the chicken and alfredo sauce, along with a cup of the chicken broth and simmer about 10 minutes or until sauce starts to thicken.

While the sausage is cooking, warm butter in a skillet. Slice polenta into slices about 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick. Place in the skillet and cook until heated through. Put slices on a plate and pour sauce over the top. Sprinkle liberally with Parmesan cheese and, if you wish,  a nice dash of parsley bits.

His Version:

In a heavy-duty skillet, brown the sausage. When it is cooked, add the chicken and tomato sauce and simmer about 10 minutes until sauce starts to thicken.

While the sausage is cooking, break the polenta into small pieces and place in a skillet with a cup of the chicken broth and a tablespoon of butter. Simmer on medium heat until liquid is absorbed and polenta breaks down smoothly (about 10 minutes).

Spoon polenta onto a plate and top with the sauce, then sprinkled with Parmesan Cheese and, if you like, parsley.

See how easy that was? Super simple and super good.

Enjoy!

She Who Licked Her Plate Clean!

Read Full Post »

Loaded Baby Bakers

Posted in Quick and Easy, Recipes, Sides, tagged , , on August 12, 2011| 2 Comments »

If you are looking for an easy side dish that is filling and really yummy, give these potatoes a whirl.

Ingredients

 

Butter makes everything better!

 

Add toppings

 

Add sour cream and try to refrain from eating more than your share!

 

Loaded Baby Bakers

1 pound baby baking potatoes (I cheated and used Schawn’s roasted bakers that are pre-cooked)

1/4 cup butter, cut in cubes

1/2 cup bacon pieces (use the pre-cooked, pre-crumbled kind you find next to the salad dressings)

1/2 cup shredded colby-jack cheese

1/3 cup sour cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine potatoes and butter in a foil pouch and seal. Bake on a grill over medium indirect heat for 15-20 minutes if you are using pre-cooked potatoes, you’ll need a bit longer if you are using uncooked potatoes. You can also toss them in the oven at 400 for 15 minutes. Which I did while I was cooking the meat to go with the potatoes.

Once they are done. open up the foil, sprinkle on the bacon, cheese and seal back up until cheese melts – just a minute or two. Then add sour cream and close your eyes in bliss as you take a bit and your tastebuds do a dance of gratitude.

Enjoy!

She Who Likes Loaded Baby Bakers Way Too Much

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »