Barbecue Baked Potatoes

I am obsessed with Shyler's barbecue baked potatoes in Evansville, IN. I have not found a comparable barbecue restaurant in Indy, so I am resigned to making them at home. The baked potato is easy. Microwave them, you silly Oven Bakers. It takes 15 minutes. Don't be dumb.

The chicken comes from my crock pot. I buy beautiful, responsibly farmed chicken breasts from Whole Foods and throw 'em in the c-pot with water, a carrot, a piece of celery, 1/2 an onion, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and water for about 6 hours on low. When I pull them out, I shred them and freeze them- one breast per container.

When it is time for potatoes, I thaw a breast and throw together something like Betty's Zesty BBQ sauce recipe on page 485.

1 shallot- finely chopped
2 cloves garlic- finely chopped
1/2 cup ketchup (organic)
3 T apple cider vinegar
1 T Worcestershire
1 T packed brown sugar
1/2 t ground mustard
eta: Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste

Saute shallots and garlic in a little olive oil. Add all other ingredients (and thawed pulled chicken.) Bring to a simmer over medium and reduce heat. Simmer on low for 10 minutes or so.
Add to baked potatoes with butter and cheese.

Green onions, bacon, or sour cream would also be great on top. No trip to Evansville necessary.

Mac 'n' Cheese

As a dedicated Blue Box girl, I have never attempted homemade macaroni and cheese. Betty inspired me to give it a whirl. Overall, it was good and wholesome, but next time, I will use AP flour for the roux because it was really grain-y and sadly brown. Here's what I did (and how I will change it next time.) See page 398.

2 cups penne pasta (whole grain, please!)
1/8 c real butter
1/8 c mega-nutritious margarine stuff
1/4 flour (AP, please)
Some salt
Some pepper
1/4 t ground mustard
1/4 t Worcestershire sauce (please pronounce War-shester)
2 c Skim milk
1 1/2 c 2% milk cheddar cheese (next time- MORE CHEESE!)
Some Parm
Some Paprika

Heat oven to 350. Cook mac... You know what to do. Melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour, s, p, mustard, and worcestershire sauce. Cook over low heat and stir constantly until mixture is smooth and bubbly (this took FOREVER!). Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly (again- torture!). Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in cheese until melted. Add drained mac and cheese sauce into a 9x9 casserole, sprinkle parm and Paprika on top and bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes.

RT thought I should add chicken. He always requests meat in my dishes. I was thinking BACON!

If you have suggestions for homemade mac and cheese, I'd love to hear them!

Italian Dressing/Pasta Salad

We hung out with Emily and her BF on Sunday evening when they got back from the silly race. Emily provided barbecue and I thought I'd make pasta salad. My usual includes half a bottle of Kroger Fat Free Zesty Italian dressing and pepperoni. I thought I'd change it up with real food.
I had some beautiful zucchini and asparagus from Whole Foods that I roasted (lightly coated with olive oil, salt, and pepper) for 25 minutes in the oven on 350. I used whole wheat pasta.
The Betty has an Italian dressing recipe on page 431. As usual, she was very wimpy with the spices and I am used to ZESTY dressing from Krog, so I bumped up most things.

1/2 c olive oil
1/2 c canola oil
1/4 c cider vinegar
2 T finely chopped shallots
3 cloves finely chopped garlic
1+ t dried basil
1 t sugar
1+ t ground mustard
1/2 t salt
1+ t dried oregano
Some pepper
Some red pepper flakes

Shake all ingredients in a tightly covered container. Done.

I thought it smelled a little tart, too vinegar-y, but I went for it anyway. It mellowed in the fridge over night and tasted great on Sunday night. I added a handful of shredded mozzarella right before we headed out.
RT didn't eat any- he really does not enjoy most cold foods. Too bad he missed out. We all went back for seconds. Maybe he'll eat some tonight heated up in the microwave.

Bad Hummus.

So, I wanted to bring a nice homemade dish to a cookout on Saturday. I settled on hummus because the two Annies in my life have each served me delicious hummus lately. I consulted the venerable Betty and she suggested that I drain a can of chickpeas and reserve the liquid. I should put the liquid in a food processor with some garlic, lemon juice, and sesame seeds. I used peanut butter instead because I seem to recall that Annie B. said she used that in hers. After that blends for a while, I was to add the chickpeas and blend it more.
It was a disgusting mess- runny and inedible. I am blaming The Betty because it can't possibly be my fault, can it?
I wound up taking store-bought chips and salsa to the cookout. Nobody touched it. They were too busy relishing my brother-in-law's layered taco dip. I failed miserably, but vow to try again... maybe with an Alton Brown recipe instead.

PIZZA CRUST! and calzones

All caps were a must because I was crowing so loudly about my first bread-making experience. Ever.

Betty has it on 282. Here's what I did.

2 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 T sugar (still working through my non-organic)
1 t salt
1 package of quick active dry yeast (new ingredient to me!)
Some garlic powder
Some Italian seasoning
3 T Canola oil
1 c very warm water (120-130... I checked mine with a meat thermometer)

Mix 1 cup of the flour with sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Add the oil and the warm water. Beat with an electric mixer for 3 minutes and add more flour until the dough comes together. This was REALLY STRANGE. I had no idea what I was doing and the dough climbed all the way up the beaters in a big glob. Not sure how to combat this.
Knead the dough on a floured surface (my beautiful new countertop!) for 5-8 minutes until smooth and springy- you will be able to tell when this happens. This was surprisingly easy. All those ceramics classes finally paid off!
I put it back in the bowl and covered it loosely with plastic wrap. Over the course of 30 minutes, my little baby grew. RT made fun of it (me), but the joke was on him.

I cut it into 6 equal pieces, rolled it out with a rolling pin (my new toy) and filled most of them with marinara and RT's favorite turkey pepperonis and cheese. The others got cheddar and shaved turkey. I sealed them with a fork, did an egg wash and baked them for about 25 minutes.

My first bite was a little iffy, but I got used to the texture of the whole wheat dough after that. I think I will sub half of the WW flour with white flour next time. No need to be a stickler.

New Directions

Not the show choir from Glee.

I noticed a theme in my posts. I never did it just like Bets... so new title: Amanda VS. The Betty. Stay tuned.

Because Polenta Sucks...

Because polenta, Sunday's experiment, was disgusting and nearly tasteless, I will not give it a full post. Instead, I will just go over some odds and ends.

After being assaulted by the Chicken Police on Facebook, I went to my slow cooker and devised a good, salmonella scare-free poached chicken that I shredded. I just threw some stock, carrots, garlic, onions, seasonings, and chicken breasts in the slow cooker for 8 hours on low. The resulting chicken shredded easily and was moist and delicious. Annie B. also suggested roasting whole, pre-cut chicken parts. I am looking forward to trying that, too. I promise not to buy canned chicken anymore, J.N., and I will be looking for Bell and Evans at Marsh.

Everything is freezing nicely. R.T. has been leaving it in the fridge at work to let it thaw a little until lunch. I've been trying to remember to pull mine out the night before.

I have been halfway paying attention to how much I am saving nutritionally over buying frozen Lean Cuisine-y lunches, but I should be seeing how much I am saving money-wise. I'll let you know.

Jambalaya

I wanted to keep replenishing RT's food supply in the freezer so I made more pancakes (this time with applesauce instead of banana) and Jambalaya this morning. See page 469. It is beautiful (if I do say so) and it tasted pretty darn good. I kicked the crap out of Betty in fat content, too. I'll let you know how it freezes.

1 tube (1/2 package) of turkey smoked sausage, cut up
1 1/2 c uncooked instant brown rice
1 1/2 c chicken broth (natural, organic- not ready for homemade yet)
1/2 t dried thyme
1 t chili powder (Betty is so conservative! I quadrupled what she suggested)
Some red pepper flake or cayenne
1 chopped green pepper
1 chopped onion
1 can of diced organic tomatoes, undrained
1 can of cooked chicken (don't judge, it really is pretty OK)

Brown the smoked sausage in a big 10" skillet. No need to drain! Stir in all remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling, reduce heat, and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

An idea- add frozen cooked shrimp in the last 4-5 minutes or raw shrimp at the beginning of simmering. Yummy! I will also probably saute the onions and pepper with some garlic and celery with the turkey before I start simmering. It was a little flat-tasting.

Ms. Crocker got 4 servings for 460 cal, 22(!) grams of fat with 8 of them saturated. I got the same for about 300 calories, 6 grams of fat- 1.5 saturated. God bless Oscar Meyer turkey smoked sausage.

Chili- Red, not Green or White

Yesterday, I made my first real red chili for RT's dinner with leftovers for lunch. I ate bologna. Don't judge. That's my 25% and I'll never turn my back on that particular processed meat-like substance. At least I no longer eat braunschweiger. For the record, I also ate a lovely salad with homemade dressing.

I have been making white or green chicken chili for our annual Chili Bowl extravaganza for the last six years and have been lucky enough to win with it for the last two. Red chili is, to say the least, not my thing. I don't like beans unless they are van Camps souped up with Ketchup and brown sugar like my Douglas taught me. However, my baby likes it and I aim to please. Here's what I did with The Betty. See page 466.

1/2 lb. ground turkey
1 T olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (with excruciating tears)
3 cloves garlic
5 dashes of hot sauce (we like el Yucateco from the Supermercado)
1 carrot, shredded
1 can organic Kroger diced tomatoes
1 can (14-15 oz) organic tomato sauce
Some pickled jalepenos (where's the tilda?!)
1 T chili powder
2 T cumin (SHIT! Even this was organic!)
Some salt, not much. RT's a bit of a heart case
Lotsa black pepper
Lotsa red pepper flake
1 can organic Kidney beans (barf) rinsed and drained

Cook oil, turkey, garlic, and onion in a big pot until it is not pink anymore. No need to drain because turkey is lean lean lean. Stir in remaining ingredients except beans. Heat to boiling, reduce heat to simmer, stirring occasionally (I only got to it twice) for one hour. Stir in beans. Heat to boiling again and reduce to a simmer for 15-20 minutes.

We added more hot sauce and fat-free sour cream for serving.

I thought it tasted terrible, but RT liked it... went back for seconds. I'll let you know how the freezing process goes. Thanks, Bets.

PS: Spell check suggested Schwarzenegger for braunschweiger. I don't eat him, either.

Banana Pecan Pancakes

I have NEVAH made from-scratch pancakes before. I was understandably excited when these were a huge hit with RT, the test-taster and confirmed fruit-hater. The Betty puts it on page 58/59. I made it my own.

Yield 12 adorable little pancakes.

1 large egg (what's a small egg? Like a Robin's egg? Not cooking with that.)
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 c skim milk- I added a smidge more milk
1 T packed organic brown sugar
2 T canola oil
3 t baking powder (a BRAND NEW ingredient for me!)
1 pinch sea salt
1 smooshed RIPE banana
1/4 c or so of chopped pecans- pronounced PEE-cans, please.

Beat egg with a hand mixer for a while (The Betty says "until fluffy." What does that mean?) Beat in remaining ingredients.

Heat a non-stick skillet (preferably an EarthPan) over medium heat. Grease if desired. I didn't. Use real butter if you do.

Pour about 1/4 c of batter into the skillet. I got 2 pancakes per round in the skillet. Keep cooking until it is bubbly on top and then flip.

Place on a cooling rack (or whatever). Eventually, I put them in the freezer on the cooling rack in a single layer. Once they were frozen, I packed them in a gallon Ziploc with a label. I heart labels. I even "vacuum" sealed them with a straw (thanks, Annie B.) RT ate three this morning for breakfast after heating them in the microwave and topping with sugar-free syrup. Good serving size of REAL FOOD.

Welcome

Full disclosure: I never read the Julie and Julia blog nor have I seen the movie (shocker) but I am aware of the concept. Immerse yourself in a cookbook ( I choose Betty Crocker circa 2000) and see what chaos ensues. With me in the kitchen, there is bound to be chaos. I promise nothing. I may post seven times per week... I may post once a week. I do promise to let you know what works in my goal of eating and serving my husband 75%+ real food. Comment, advise, bitch. This should be interesting.