Category Archives: lunch

Caesar dressing

lunch, sides, soup 1 Comment

We had one glorious almost-70-degree day here in Nashville and it made me SO READY for spring rightnowthisinstant. This, of course, made me want a good salad! I found this dressing recipe in Rick & Lanie’s Excellent Kitchen Adventures, which I love. The recipe is insanely quick, easy and good, which I also love.

Caesar dressing

Ingredients

  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • Pinch salt
  • 1 Tbsp. water

Instructions

  1. Crush peeled garlic (putting it in the microwave for about 5 seconds first will make this easier) into a 2-cup glass jar with a lid
  2. Add all remaining ingredients into the jar, cover tightly and shake
  3. Store in jar in the refrigerator for up to two weeks

Enjoy, y’all. Spring is coming!

Yogurt, revisited (the lazy method)

breakfast, kids, lunch 4 Comments

I’ve been making yogurt for about three years now, and no matter how I do it one thing never changes: each and every time I am amazed that it actually turns into yogurt. Amazed.

My method has evolved a bit over the years, and my friend Vanessa pointed out recently that my super lazy method never made it to the blog; I’m here to remedy that. My sweet friend Ginger from Mars Hill (it’s huge; I’m sure you’ve heard of it) taught me this one, and it’s brilliant.

Yogurt, revisited (the lazy method)

Ingredients

  • You will need:
  • 4 cups milk
  • 1/2 cup dry milk powder
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla or maple syrup
  • 1 Tbsp. starter yogurt (1 Tbsp. of a previous batch, or of any yogurt that says live and active cultures; ideally one that does not have pectin)

Instructions

  1. Turn your oven on to 350F for one minute and turn it off, and turn the light on in the oven
  2. In a heavy saucepan (I use an enameled cast iron one) heat milk to 180F and whisk in remaining ingredients (hold milk at 180 for about 15 minutes for super thick yogurt); let it cool to 120F and plop in the tablespoon of starter yogurt
  3. Put a lid on the saucepan and stick it in the slightly warm oven for 5-8 hours or overnight

THE. END. Do you see what I’m saying? Lazy and easy. Please to enjoy.

Baked brie

breakfast, lunch 7 Comments

Due to the great camera debacle of 2010 I’m afraid I don’t have a picture of this. You’ll just have to trust me on its deliciousness. Or, you know, make it. It is the yum.

There are a thousand variations of this recipe floating around, but this is how we do it — always Christmas morning breakfast, and sometimes New Year’s morning breakfast as well (because, hey — more cheese!)

Baked brie

Ingredients

  • 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (I use Pepperidge Farm; no they do not know I exist)
  • One 8 ounce wheel brie cheese
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup cranberries, pecans or walnuts, optional
  • Platter of crackers and or apple slices
  • 1 egg
  • 1 Tbsp water

Instructions

  1. THAW THE PUFF PASTRY (what? I may have forgotten this once or twice). When I remember I do it overnight in the fridge so it is ready to go in the morning

  2. Lay the pastry sheet flat and slice the brie in half so you have two wheels of roughly equal thickness

  3. Put one half-thick wheel on the sheet of pastry and top with brown sugar and any nuts or cranberries you want to use, then top with the other half of brie. Fold the pastry up around the brie and pinch the seams closed. If you feel so inclined you can tie it shut with a bow of cooking twine; pretty and helpful

  4. Whisk the egg and water together and brush over the pastry; this will help the seams seal and give the whole thing a lovely shine

  5. Bake on a cookie sheet (the cheese could overflow a little) at 375 for 20-30 minutes or until pastry is browned and brie is all melty. Serve with crackers and or apple slices

Go make it! Let me know how you love it. And, uh, take a picture for me. 😉

Taco sauce

lunch, supper 7 Comments

I looked around at a lot of different taco sauce recipes and none of them seemed exactly right to me, so I kind of cobbled together my own according to what I had on hand. Very tasty!

Taco sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 small can tomato sauce (8 oz)
  • 1 tsp. chili powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp. cumin
  • 1 1/2 tsp. onion powder
  • 2 Tbsp. white vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes or so until all the flavors get to know each other pretty well
  2. Store in fridge, cute jar label optional.

 

Cornbread taco pie

lunch, supper 6 Comments

A few months back I tried to make something out of an old cookbook of my mama’s; it was similar to this but used polenta and unseasoned ground beef. It was… dismal. So last night I decided to make up my own version. Success! SO tasty and good gravy it smelled amazing. The Yankee ate three helpings for supper; this counts as a thumbs-up, no?

Cornbread taco pie

Ingredients

  • One pound ground beef
  • One packet taco seasoning
  • Water
  • One cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar)
  • One box Jiffy corn muffin mix
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 2 eggs

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F
  2. In a deep skillet (I obviously used cast iron) brown up and drain the ground beef; add in taco seasoning and 2/3 cup water and let it simmer (i.e. follow directions on taco seasoning packet)
  3. Mix up Jiffy cornbread according to package directions, but use two eggs instead of one to give yourself a little extra batter
  4. Turn off the heat under the ground beef and sprinkle on shredded cheese; spread cornbread batter over the top and bake at 400F for about 15-20 minutes or until cornbread is lightly browned on top

That’s it! This is perfect for a quick fall supper that tastes like you put hours of work into it. So warm and filling without you actually having to stand over the stove forever and a day. What’s not to love?

Disclaimer: Jiffy cornbread does not know that I exist; I just love the stuff.