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Welcome to my Blog 'In The Kitchen With Don'! Thank you for your visit and come back soon!


Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Ground Beef Rice Casserole

When I was a kid our grade school served something called Texas Hash, which was a rice and ground beef dish.   It didn't have much seasoning to it, so I didn't care much for it.   This is a variation on that dish, but it has plenty of seasoning and flavor!   This particular recipe makes enough for 2-3 people, but can easily be doubled or tripled.

1/2 cup rice
1 cup water
dash of salt

Add the rice to the water and bring to a boil.   Lower the heat as low as possible, cover and allow to cook about 20 minutes.   Remove from heat and allow to sit a few minutes to steam or use 1 1/2 cups leftover rice.

While the rice is cooking, heat a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet.   Peel and chop a small onion, then saute in the hot oil.   Allow to brown, then add a pound of ground beef or veal or pork.   Fry until the meat is no longer pink.    Add 1 tbsp. of chili powder, 1 tsp. garlic powder, a sprinkle of crushed red pepper and salt and pepper to taste.   Finally, add a can of diced tomatoes and mix well.    Remove from the heat.     When the rice is cooked, add to the skillet of meat and tomatoes.   Spoon into an 8X8 inch baking dish, then cover with about 1 1/2-2 cups grated cheddar cheese.    Bake at 350 degrees about 30-45 minutes, until nicely browned and bubbly.   Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Gluten-Free Buttermilk Pound Cake

Aaron is trying going gluten-free for health reasons, so I've been trying out baking gluten-free stuff for him.   So far, everything I've tried had turned out pretty good.   Today I tried baking a gluten-free pound cake and it turned out pretty darned good.   It is one I'll make again, even if Aaron weren't going gluten-free.

1 3/4 cups gluten free all purpose flour
(I used Hodgson Mills all purpose gluten free baking flour)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
3/4 cup room temperature butter (1 and 1/2 sticks)
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract

In a large bowl mix together the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, baking soda and xanthan gum.
In another large mixing bowl beat the butter with the brown sugar until fluffy.   One at a time beat in the eggs and and flavoring extracts.  Stir in 1/3 of the dry mixture, then 1/3 of the buttermilk, another 1/3 of the dry mixture, then 1/3 buttermilk, the last of the flour mixture and the last of the buttermilk.   Scraping the bowl every so often.   Flour and lightly flour (using gluten free flour) a bread pan and spoon the batter into the pan.   Bake at 350 degrees about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.   Cool in the pan about 10 minutes, then remove from the pan to finish cooling on a rack.

Marmalade Glazed Pork Chops

6-8 pork chops
salt and pepper to taste or other seasoning (I use Mrs. Dash)
5 tbsp. orange marmalade
1 tbsp. cider vinegar
1 tbsp. brown mustard
1 tbsp. honey or brown sugar

Lightly oil a frying pan and brown the seasoned pork chops on both sides. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix together the marmalade, vinegar, mustard and honey. Spread over the pork chops and bake at 350 degrees about an hour, or until the pork chops are tender and nicely browned.

I have not tried it, but I'm sure this could easily be done in a crockpot, only in that case I'd use country style ribs instead of loin chops.

You could also substitute another kind of jam for the marmalade.   A good combination would be plum or apricot or pineapple jam, with about 1 tsp. of ground ginger and 1 tsp. of soy sauce.