Happy Thanksgiving!

In AMERICA! And Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back at home in Canada as well. I spoke to my daddy yesterday and he informed me that he did indeed share the blog on facebook so there is a possibility that my beloved family will check it from time to time. If so, hello to all my family! I miss you guys very much, I hope you're all well!

Now, onto the foods!

Firstly, I got so excited while I made the jellied salad that I forgot to take pictures, sue me. Although pictures would have involved "boil water and then dump everything into pot then refrigerate", you didn't miss much. However, it was amazingly good and the texture was sooo nice. And it had diet dr pepper in it!

Diet Dr Pepper Jellied Salad (original recipe here)

1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple
½ cup water
2 packages (3 ounces each) cherry gelatin
1 can (21 ounces) cherry pie filling
¾ cup Diet Dr Pepper* (I used a can of diet dr pepper cherry because it was what I had on hand)

Drain pineapple, reserving the juice. Set aside. In a saucepan, bring pineapple juice and water to a boil. Add gelatin and stir until dissolved. Slowly stir in Diet Dr Pepper, Cherry pie filling and pineapple. Pour into mold or serving bowl. Refrigerate until firm. Serve cold.

OH MY GOD, THAT WAS SO DIFFICULT. You may now take the rest of the day off, you have earned it, people.

Ohhh. Yes. It was so good. So evil. It had to be destroyed. I imagine you could make it with any kind of soda or pop or carbonated beverage or whatever you call your fizzy drinks wherever you live.

Now, BEANS! I assembled the green bean casserole here at the apartment and baked it off at Sean's house just before dinner. I had to omit a few ingredients, some because I don't care for them (onion chunks) and some because of who would be at dinner (Sean's sister is a hater of anything that isn't chicken, so nooo bacon) but it still turned out quite tasty. I loved it.

Green Bean Casserole (adapted from Pioneer Woman's)

2 pounds of fresh green beans, ends cut off
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 tsp onion powder
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp All-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups Milk
1/2 cup half and half
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Cayenne pepper, to taste
1 cup Grated Sharp Chedder Cheese
Extra milk for thinning out sauce if necessary
1 cup of breadcrumbs

First off, you want to snap the ends off of your fresh green beans. Or do what I did and just cut them off.

You can cut them in half or leave them big. I cut mine in half to make it easier to spoon them.

Next, boil a pot of water, and add the beans. You want to only blanch them, so only let them cook for 3-4 minutes. If they are still a little too crunchy for you, remember they'll be baking in the oven a bit later so don't overdo it.

Now, as soon as they're done, drain them and dump the drained hot beans into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.

Don't do what I do and assume there was a large amount of ice in your freezer since you made a bunch ages ago and never used it. IT WAS ALL GONE! Evaporated! Or something! SOMEONE BROKE INTO MY HOME AND STOLE MY ICE! Anyway there was a little ice in there but it melted before the beans made it in. The water was cold enough to do the job as it was.

And then grate your cheese.

I usually buy pre-shredded stuff but when you're using cheese to melt into something, it's better to grate it yourself. The stuff in the store is coated in cornstarch to keep it from sticking together and you just don't want that in your food all the time.

Next, melt your butter, add your garlic.

 Work quickly here if your heat is higher, don't burn your garlic. Burning garlic is a horrible thing to do.

 Add your flour, and be sure to obsess and fret over why it doesn't look like the roux in the other blog's pictures, even after adding a whole other tablespoon of butter. OH GOD WHAT DID I DO WRONG

Cook your roux for a few minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste.

Add your milk, slowly at first, stirring or whisking quickly to get the roux incorporated. Add the cream as well. Be sure to freak out because THE LUMPS WON'T DIE OH GOD WHY WON'T THEY DIE SEAN I RUINED IT WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN

*pant pant* Okay who wants a drink?

 The lumps did eventually dissipate, just keep whisking the crap out of them. Let your sauce bubble and cook over medium heat while you add your salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste. Make SURE YOU SALT IT PROPERLY OR IT WILL BE BLAND. And don't go crazy with the cayenne right away. Taste as you go, you can always add more.

Oooh look at that bubble.

Mmm Mmm. Taste sauce again. Roll eyes back in head and fight off urge to just pour pasta in and eat it right there.

Then. Wait for it.. THEN. Add your cheese.

Hello, darling.

Ohhh yes. Stir it gently, melt it all and turn your heat down to low, or just off.

Then, put your beans into your casserole dish (I think mine was 2q?) and get your helper monkey to take pictures while you do all the heavy lifting!

And then you mix it all up!

Then you try a bean covered in sauce. Repeat eyes rolling back in head step.

Cover in breadcrumbs! The original recipe asks for Panko, which is a delicious and big japanese breadcrumb you can easily find in stores nowadays. It leaves things very crunchy. However, since I was shopping right before Thanksgiving, NOTHING WAS LEFT. So I used the italian style ones I had in my pantry.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Hooray! BEANS!

We grabbed that and my salad and we headed over to Sean's house. I took pictures of the food.

And my favorite dog, Cinnamon. OH CINNY, I MISS YOUU!

Aaaaanyway.

It was a good day.

A guilty pleasure and a terrible mistake

Let's begin with the terrible mistake, shall we?  So, I wanted to get some sort of cooler or dinky alcoholic drink for thanksgiving that would be good. I have a weakness for coolers. If drinking something fruity and sweet is wrong then I don't want to be right. So I spotted some hard apple cider.

I love apple cider! And it's mixed in with the coolers! OH MAN! AWESOME! Well, not so much. Because apparently they taste like beer. And I may have gotten a little overzealous and bought two things of 6. I may get a little over excited sometimes.

Don't judge meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

So I tried to drink it but it was just too much and I knew I had to finish them off, so I made a simple syrup for sweetening tea or cocktails and added a bunch of it to the cider and voila. Saved! 

Simple syrup is just a cup of water, a cup of sugar, then bring it to a boil and when everything is dissolved, take it off the heat and bring it to room temp. It keeps for about a week in the fridge, covered. (I stuck mine in an empty sobe bottle)

 Ah yes. Oh yes. Okay maybe not that yes, but it's yes worthy. This will at least make them easier to drink, and I've learned my lesson. No more hard cider. It simply isn't as yummy as I thought it would be.

Anyway, on to the main event! My.. guilty pleasure.. I call it Queso Mac after the chili con queso we always have when we go to mexican restaurants. Now, I grew up hating processed cheese. I actually wouldn't touch grilled cheese sandwiches until I moved to texas because I was under the impression they would always be filled with nasty kraft singles. That's right, kraft singles lovers. I SAID NASTY. Something about them does not work for me. So anyway, no cheese whiz, no nothing. Ew @ processed cheese. Then I tried a package of velveeta macaroni and cheese. And I fell in like. Then I had some queso made with spicy sausage and rotel tomatos and chilis at the superbowl last year. And I fell in love. Now, I don't cook with it, though I probably wouldn't be afraid of it if I had to, but I do like to make this dish. It's not exactly high cuisine but it is a tasty meal.

Now, keep in mind, I only use a half a pound of ground beef because I prefer my noodle/meat ratio to be a specific way. Feel free to use a whole one but from the looks of it it would be pretty beefy. You'd almost be better off making it with 2 boxes of noodles. Aaaaaanyway. If you up the meat content don't forget to double or adjust the spices.

Half a pound of ground beef, a can of Rotel diced tomatos and chilis, and a package of original Velveeta mac.

Now, these are what I use: Garlic Powder, Cumin, Chili Powder and Zatarain's instead of salt. Onion powder also got used but it was busy doing who knows what with the Thyme and couldn't make it to the picture like THE REST OF THE FAMILY. *glare* 

You can use whatever spices you want, you can even not use any at all! It's really your choice, I just use those because it makes it more.. mexican..y. The rotel has plenty of flavor as it is. 

Queso Mac!

1 package of velveeta shells and cheese
1 can of rotel tomatos and chilis, mostly drained
1/2 pound of ground beef
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Zatarain's creole seasoning

First, set a pot of water to boil. As you set that on, start browning the meat. 

And apparently taking pictures of my red glowing burners causes them to turn purple. AWESOME. Don't mind my spillage on the side there. Sometimes spicing things gets crazy.

Now, by the time your meat is all spiced up and browned and nicely cooked, hopefully your water is boiling. If not, no biggie, put a lid on the pot, it'll boil faster. Also:

Don't forget to salt your pasta water! I mean it! Only HEATHENS don't salt their pasta water. And you're not a heathen, are you?

Don't answer that.

Add in the mostly drained can of rotel. A little liquid from inside is alright, it'll give it something to cook down in instead of just being dry in the pan. Stir that up and cook it while your noodles are boiling for the mac. If it gets a little dry, just add a tiny bit of water to it, you don't want it to be soupy, just not bone dry. Mine cooked for the entirety of the shells cooking, about 9 minutes.

Now drain your pasta. I always add the cheese sauce to the hot pot while the pasta drains to start it on its way to melty goodness.

Mmmmm. Yeah, that looks pretty gross. 

Then add the pasta back into the pot and mix up nice and good!

Oh yes, processed cheese never had it so good. Then you dump in the meat mixture! And you stir it! And then you stop yourself from eating it out of the pot!

Mmmm. It is really really good, and I love it. Quick, easy and full of flavor. Don't hate on velveeta. It has its uses. 


Today and tomorrow I'm making a few dishes to add to the Thanksgiving table on thursday. A jellied salad, which I haven't made or consumed since.. wow, forever. And an attempt at a green bean casserole that has a yummy cheese sauce in it and NO YUCKY MUSHROOM SOUP. That's right. I hate mushrooms. Wanna fight about it? Yes? Oh god. *runs*

Beef and Broccoli

I spent forever looking over bookmarks to figure out what I wanted to make last night and I finally realized that I wanted broccoli. I haven't had it in forever, and I then noticed I had several recipes from different blogs but a few of them were actually the same one, Jaden's Beef and Broccoli. I haven't been to Jaden's site to look around yet, but I worked with the recipe off of Pioneer Woman's blog. I absolutely love Pioneer Woman, but that's another story for another post.

Anyway, this beef and broccoli was.. amazing. I tweaked it only the tiniest bit, and it was fantastic. Though the tweaking made it for me. It was pretty easy too, and I got to work with flank steak, which I hadn't before. HURR HURR MEL IS AFRAID OF BEEFS BECAUSE THERE IS SO MANY CUTS. Yeah. I am. :(  DON'T JUDGE MEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Flank steak!

Anyway, the meat was tender, even the parts that had a small ribbon of fat through them that was rock hard while slicing. I tripled the sauce because of a recommendation from another blog who had made it and I'm glad I did. However, next time I would not use a whole pound of pasta, because it drank up the sauce eagerly. Though it'll still taste good, I'd have rather had a tiny bit of a saucier pasta. Maybe half a pound next time! Or some badass rice noodles. Or some rice! THE POSSIBILITIES!

I also got to cut against the grain. Ohhh, fancy talk. I always wondered what exactly "against the grain" meant, so I looked it up and got the easy explanation of likening a piece of beef to a plank of wood. A plank of wood has lines all running in the same direction, just like beef does. That's the grain. So cutting it across the lines, not WITH the lines, is against the grain. The more you know! Also, it made it super fall apart yummy tender oh my god mmmmmmm.

My secret ingredient this time was chili garlic paste.

Oh wow I can't believe how much flavor it added. I was a little nervous, as Sean's stomach can't handle.. uh anything. But it wasn't even noticable. This stuff is awesome, you should definitely get some.

Okay, so, here is the recipe! I know you're drooling with anticipation. (You should be)

Jaden's Beef And Broccoli (as adapted from the The Pioneer Woman)

1 lb (500 g) top sirloin or flank steak, thinly sliced into 1/8-in (3-mm)-thick strips
11/2 lbs (750 g) broccoli, cut into bite-size florets
1 tablespoon high-heat cooking oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic

BEEF MARINADE
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3 teaspoons cooking oil
1/2 to 1 tsp of chili garlic paste
Freshly ground black pepper to season the beef

STIR-FRY SAUCE
9 tablespoons oyster sauce
6 teaspoons Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
6 teaspoons Chinese black vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)
1 tsp chili garlic paste (more or less to taste)

1) In a bowl or ziploc bag, combine the ingredients for the Beef Marinade.

Add the beef and let marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature. (I let mine marinate for about half an hour)

2) In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the Stir-fry Sauce.

3) In a wok or large sauté pan, add 1 inch (2.5 cm) of water and bring to a boil. Add the broccoli and cover to steam for 3 minutes. The broccoli should be bright green, crisp tender and you should be able to pierce the stem with a fork. Drain.

4) Discard the water in the pan and dry the pan well. Set the pan over high heat and when hot, add the high-heat cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the garlic and fry for 15 to 30 seconds, until fragrant.

I love my garlic press.
Add the steak strips, keeping them in one layer and fry 30 seconds. Flip the strips and fry the other side. I'm pretty sure my cooking time was not that exact, I just cooked them till they were almost totally cooked. But I'm a bad girl who was using a big non stick skillet and not a wok, so what do I know? IF LOVING NON STICK IS WRONG THEN I DON'T WANT TO BE RIGHT.

5) Pour in the Stir-fry Sauce and stir to combine. Simmer until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 30 seconds. Steamy picture!

Add the cooked broccoli back into the pan and toss to coat well. Again, cooking time probably a bit longer than before. I just let it bubble away while my pasta finished cooking.

Then toss with pasta, or serve over rice, or whatever you want! Hooray!

The sauce was good, don't be afraid of oyster sauce, even if you don't like oysters. God knows I can't stand the things, they terrify me. But oyster sauce is just salty and good and you should not fear it, it is your friend. And your stir fry's friend. I also used the balsamic vinegar, and it turned out delicious. But the chili garlic paste MADE it. It woke the sauce up so much and it became awesome. I can't wait for leftovers.

Crazy Slow Cooker Lasagna Rolls

I love lasagna. All the time. I don't care if you like it with ricotta or with bechemel sauce, or with meat or without or whatever. Lasagna rules. Forever. And don't you forget it. So, of course, I bookmark almost everything to do with lasagna that I come across. I found this recipe that someone had made for a single serving of lasagna rolls and the recipe was so easy and yummy sounding that I kind of quadrupled it.. kind of. What I wound up with was not quite a quadrupling but it was close. Don't be fooled by the name, I'm sure this could be easily adapted for the oven and would probably be better. Mine had gotten a little crispy along the sides even after 3 hours, soooo..

Also, I love fresh basil. Look at my pretty chiffonade. LOOKIT ME I USED A BIG FANCY CULINARY TERM!

You can find the original 1 person recipe at the link below, I'll try to write how mine went.

Slow Cooker Lasagna Rolls  (As adapted from Pots and Plots)

4 links of italian sausage, casings removed (I may have used 3 or so, i just threw sausage into the cheese until it looked good)
3 roasted red peppers, chopped small (the entire contents of a small jar of roasted peppers)
1 3/4 cups of ricotta cheese (the quadruple would have been 2 but the little tub only had that much.)
2 cups of marinara sauce (I used an entire normal size jar of spaghetti sauce)
3 to 4 tablespoons of fresh basil, chopped (the package I bought only had about 2, more would have been great)
12 lasagna noodles
salt and pepper to taste 

1) Brown your sausage and drain.

2) Boil your lasagna noodles according to package directions. I added a tablespoon of oil or so to try and help them not to stick to eachother.

3) In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, sausage, peppers, basil, and salt and pepper.

4) Once the noodles are done (don't overcook!), remove them CAREFULLY from the strainer and blot them a little with a papertowel. It helps the filling stick.

(I laid out a piece of saran wrap on the counter to lay the noodles out on, they didn't stick to the cling wrap like they might to a plate or the counter, and I could make a mess and not have to wipe the counter off)

5) Spray your slow cooker inside with cooking spray. (I didn't do this step, but nothing stuck anyway)

6) Cover the bottom of your slow cooker insert with around half the marinara sauce. This will keep things from burning right on.

7) Spread your filling out on all your noodles, then roll them up gently and place seam side down next to eachother in the slow cooker.

8) Cover with the rest of the marinara sauce and however much parmesan cheese you want to, really. Make sure you put a little sauce along the sides so the noodles aren't up against the hot side with nothing to moisten them up.

9) Cook on LOW (and if you turn your crockpot up to High to preheat it, please don’t forget to turn it BACK down to low) for 2 and a half hours.  Remember, everything is already cooked, so you’re mainly just getting everything warm and melty.

I was so excited about everything that I forgot to take a picture of them before they were served, but here's one on my plate!

Aw yeah, baby. That's some good stuff. Also, that frozen garlic bread was awesome. Really, it was a good recipe, I loved the addition of the peppers to the filling. Oh, and 9 rolls fit PERFECTLY into the slow cooker. Making 12 as I did, 3 of the little buggers had to sit on top. It all worked out in the end, but just something to keep in mind. They were devoured with much gusto by all.