Chicken Fried Rice!

So tonight's dinner went in the opposite of last night's heavy (and heavenly) gravy and Salisbury steak.  Tonight was the very first time I ever made chicken fried rice.  Here is how it started:

(1) large sweet onion, chopped
(1) store-bought oven roasted chicken, shredded (it was lemon pepper roasted)
(1 1/2) cups of frozen sugar snap peas and carrots
(1) bunch of scallions, chopped
(3) chopped and smashed cloves of fresh garlic
(1) small drained can of bamboo shoots
(4) large white mushrooms sliced

So into a very large skillet, I put 1 tbsp of veggie oil and started browning up the chicken a little.  Next, I added the entire bowl of chopped sweet onion and sauteed for a while.

Next, added the smashed garlic and sprinkled in some soy sauce and a little bit more oil.

Then the bamboo shoots, carrots and snap peas

I added the mushrooms.  I let it all saute on the stove until the carrots and snap peas were good and warm (they were frozen) and the mushrooms had wilted.

I dumped all the ingredients into a large bowl.

Added another drizzle of oil and added six eggs, beaten, into the pan
Stirred the eggs non stop until they were nice and fluffy and then tossed them into the bowl with the chicken and veggies.

Added more oil (about 1/4 cup) to the pan and dumped in my cold, cooked rice.  Broke up the rice and stirred to coat with oil, patted it down and let it cook for a while, to heat through and crisp up a little.  Stirred again and let cook some more.  Added the chopped scallions and stirred well.

Dumped it all in a big bowl and mixed in the chicken, egg, & veggies and looked like this:

I had to use my EXTRA large serving dish....accidentally made enough to feed an army.  It was tasty!  I needed to have used different rice, this was just regular white rice....I guess since it was not as hard as I thought it was going to be, I will get some Jasmine rice next time maybe? The family loved it.  I served it with some lumpia I got at the butcher that I fried while I made the rice!

Salisbury Steak

Today I went to my local Farmer's Market.  I had a $100 budget.  I spent $40 at my favorite butcher shop.  I got 3 pounds of fresh ground chuck <poor chuck :) >, a 12 pack of pre-made jalapeno poppers, a dozen lumpia.  At Skipper Farms http://www.skipperfarms.com/ I also spent almost $40 on 2 bottles of their very own produced honey (made right here in Chesapeake!!!), some small new red potatoes, some HUGE white mushrooms and a big beefsteak tomato.  Of course, we stopped in at the bakery for some Red Velvet truffles for Billieanne, some Peanut Butter balls for Breezy, strawberry banana bread for Nick and a Turtle cheesecake for Paulina.  I think I spent the remaining $20 bucks there!  Total yum.  I also grabbed about a pound of yellow squash from another farm vendor.

I came home and decided to make Salisbury Steak.  I have only ever had the frozen icky kind that is really cheap in the red package at the store but I knew I could do way better.  I did not really have a recipe to follow, I just did what I usually do and stood in front of the stove and threw stuff in a pot.

  I mixed 1 1/2 pounds of my ground chuck with seasoned bread crumbs, garlic salt, garlic powder, mesquite seasoning and an egg.  While the meat rested a bit, I chopped up half a large sweet onion and sauteed it in some real butter.  I patted my ground chuck mixture into five fairly fat, large patties.  I pulled out the BIG skillet for this and started browning the patties on medium high heat.

While this was browning, I rinsed my red potatoes and threw them in a big pot to start boiling.  I also got my sweet daughter Paulina to wipe off my mushrooms to get rid of any excess dirt.  It was fun sharing with her how you don't put them in water as they absorb so much and they have so much water in them already.

After browning the meat on both sides, normally you would have to drain excess grease from the hamburger BUT since my meat was so high quality coming from the butcher, there was almost none so I left what little there was still in the pan.  I threw my sauteed onions on top.  I took a can of Campbells Cream of Mushroom soup (a large one) and mixed it with a soupcan of milk and poured this over my meat.

While this started to heat up, I sliced my large mushrooms and added them to the mix.  I think I addded almost a pound! They were huge and yummy.  Next I sprinkled on a dry Brown Gravy mix from McCormick.  I think it was my secret weapon.  It gave the gravy a rich flavor.  I added more milk.  And, by the way.....it's not just any ole' milk.  This milk came from Oberweiss dairy.  Yum, the best.  I put the lid on and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

While all this was going on, I sliced my yellow squash and started sauteeing in real butter.  My potatoes were boiling and I threw the jalapeno poppers in the oven.  The only thing that would have made it better was some fresh bread.  Oh well! It was SO yummy.  The gravy should be declared a food group all on its own!  I wish I had taken pictures but we inhaled it all before any thought of photographic evidence could be taken!!

Bizarre mood leads to bizarre cake....

So.....I made a yellow cake from scratch, divided it up into six bowls and mixed various colors into them, threw them in the cake pan and swirled.....it may end up looking like disgusting gray but who knows? We shall see! I will post an update when it comes out of the oven in about 20 minutes......I am in a weird, bizarre, kind of sad mood again so I was just being weird with the cake batter.  I guess it will all taste like cake in the end once I put chocolate frosting on it.

Comfort food

This past Easter Sunday was tough for me.  I won't go into all the reasons, it just was.

So tonight, standing in the kitchen making dinner, I decide to make an old family recipe.  Did this recipe originate with my family? Probably not.  Nevertheless, it is an old favorite of many members of the Gillespie clan.  It is called Tuna Macaroni Salad. 

I start with half a large sweet onion and chop it up, and toss it into the bottom of a rather large bowl.  Next I drain two small cans of water-packed tuna and add to the onion.  Then in goes three very large tablespoons of sweet pickle relish.

In the meantime, hard boil some eggs.  I usually add about six chopped up hard boiled eggs to this mixture.  Also boil at least a pound and a half to two pounds of shell shaped macaroni.  When the macaroni is done, drain and drop on top of the above mixture.  Chop eggs and add.  Then add mustard and Duke's mayo to desired creaminess and taste.  Some days I like a lot of mayo and only a little mustard.  Other days I like a lot of mustard and not much mayo.  One day (I think I was pregnant) I skipped both mayo and mustard and used 1000 Island dressing! My sister in law also adds cubes of cheddar cheese.  I never do that because tuna and cheese just freaks me out.

I am waiting now on my eggs.  On smart days when I am not sad, I typically plan ahead and have my eggs ready.  Not today.  Oh! And be sure not to boil your macaroni too soft.  You definately need "al-dente" for this recipe.

It must be my mood....I was heavy handed on the mayo and mustard and just added three more large tablespoons of relish.

It is yummy and comforting.....enjoy (dont forget salt and pepper!)

More standing in the kitchen throwing whatever I feel like in the pot

I am sorry I have not been posting. I guess I have been letting the stress get to me.  So tonight, I am here, standing in front of the stove.  This is what is going in the pot so far:

2 teaspoons of olive oil
1 tblsp of butter
1 chopped sweet onion
a couple of tblsp of garlic, chopped
 I let that soften and saute for a few minutes then I added:
3 cans of Hunts diced tomatos
dried basil
dried oregano
2 11 1/2 ounce cans of V-8
a shake of Adobo seasoning

I am going to let that simmer for a while and think about making meatballs....I will post more soon!