Breakfast is Ready

Darned Good Salsa on Cheese Omelet and English Muffin Batter Bread

Breakfast Burrito

No new recipes, just messing with my camera.

Previously posted recipes are here though.  Some recipes I just have to make over and over because they're that good.

https://cactuskateskitchen.blogspot.com/2018/04/darned-good-salsa.html

 https://cactuskateskitchen.blogspot.com/2017/09/english-muffin-batter-bread.html

Just a word about that salsa on the egg and cheese omelet.  Stop the train!  It was so darned good with the "darned good salsa."  Never thought I'd eat salsa on eggs, but boy am I glad I tried it.  Oooh the flavors. Swoon.  Swoon.  The salsa definitely kicked up the omelet to new heights.  I question whether I'll ever be able to eat a "plain" omelet again.  We've since been out to breakfast and I ordered the restaurant's omelet and salsa special, and all I'm going to say, in all humility, is they do't have anything over on me.  Going to save myself a bundle and make it at home.  Plus I get to eat breakfast in my pajamas.  Win-win all around I'd say.

And, of course, I love the buttery crunchiness of my English muffin batter bread and warm yeasty aromas.  It's a bread that has substance, not air.  Mmmm.  If I want to spoil myself, a little jam goes great.  My Sweetie Pie likes to dob on peanut butter and let its melty goodness just sink into it.

Nothing fancy with the breakfast burrito.  Just some scrambled eggs and diced ham rolled up in a tortilla.  A burrito makes everyday items look kind of fun and fancy, plus it's convenient to eat.    

30 Seconds to Perfect Hollandaise Sauce

30 Seconds to Perfect Hollandaise Sauce

We love Eggs Benedict; it's our special occasion breakfast.  It's our going-out-for-breakfast breakfast.  It's our breakfast when we just feel like indulging ourselves because we feel as if we earned it, grins.  And if I really want to make it special, I make my no-knead English muffin batter bread.

Now the one thing Sweetie Pie laments about is the restaurants don't give him enough sauce. He wants every bite to have that lemony goodness on it.  When I make it at home, he'll go back to the pot and just eat the sauce straight from the pan.  Yep, he loves Hollandaise.  And so do I, of course, but goodness there has to be limits.  Or not.  No one's looking; no one here's going to judge you.  Have what you want, as long as you're not hurting yourself or anyone else, I mean.  Those kinds of limits.

So the question remains:  can you make a perfect Hollandaise sauce in thirty seconds?  And the answer is a resounding yes.  But (and isn't there always a but?), you are going to need an immersion (stick) blender.  I don't use my stick blender nearly enough and when I saw this, I just had to try it.  And in a whizz, it was done.  Less than thirty seconds.  More like ten.  The other twenty seconds must be for tossing  the simple ingredients in the blender cup.

30 SECONDS TO PERFECT HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

3 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup butter (1 stick or 8 tablespoons)

Separate the eggs.  Put the egg yolks, salt, butter either in an immersion blender cup or a wide-mouth Mason jar. 

Heat the butter until melted; allow to cool slightly and add to the jar.  Immediately insert your blender and turn it on, using a slight pumping action to give it a good churn, combining all the ingredients until thick and golden and creamy.

Taste and adjust for seasoning.  I add a pinch of cayenne pepper to mine.

COOK'S NOTES:  Hinkey about using raw eggs?  I don't blame you.  Pasteurized eggs are available at many supermarkets and you can pasteurize the eggs yourself at home.  It's a bit of a song and a dance but no one needs Salmonella in their life.

"Special" Hamburger Sauce

Special Hamburger Sauce

We've been on a bit of a hamburger binge; I've already posted the hamburger roll recipe here. We eat them at home, we order them out.  We grill them, we fry them. Sweet Pie loads his burgers up with cheese and pickles and bacon and onion and, and, and.  Me, I'm a Plain Jane.  Just ketchup and tomato and pickle on the side. Once in a while I walk on the wild side and add lettuce, but pretty much not.  I don't like hot, wilted lettuce.

While I do like ketchup, it can become a little boring and the game needs to be kicked up.  I was thinking about the "special" sauce served at certain hamburger restaurants, and I thought, I can make this at home.  An internet search revealed this recipe, and it's quite good.  It's much like a Thousand Island recipe but it's not, but I think in a pinch it would make a good one, grins. Regardless it's good on hamburgers and adds a little something special.

SPECIAL HAMBURGER SAUCE

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
1 to 2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 to 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
 
Combine all ingredients and adjust seasoning to taste. Best flavor develops when refrigerated for a little bit and then serve and enjoy. Lasts for a week or so in the fridge when well covered.

Darned Good Salsa

Salsa

I have eaten more salsa in the last three years than the sum of all my life combined before that.  It's my current addiction.  I pass up ice cream for salsa and chips. When we want a simple snack, it's nachos with cheese and of course tons of salsa.  We have it bottles of it on the pantry shelf, must be that famine mentality or something.

And of course when we go to our favorite Mexican restaurants, they immediately pour out bowlfuls of salsa from huge pitchers and provide big baskets of hot tortilla chips.  Hot or mild, they ask.  We always ask for the mild and eat the salsa to the last drop.  We've had to force ourselves to stop to save room for our meals, grins.

This is my second attempt at making a homemade salsa and it's very good.  Allegedly this is a recipe that comes from a restaurant in Tucson, but I can't swear to it, but I wouldn't be surprised.  Are there better salsa recipes out there?  Perhaps, but I'm not going to go looking for it.  This one is a keeper.

SALSA

3 cans (15 ounce size) stewed tomatoes, undrained
1/2 white or yellow onion, chopped
4-5 stalks scallions (green onions), chopped
1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped, removing any thick stems
1 1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon crushed chili pepper and/or 1 jalapeno

Blend all together.  Refrigerate.  Let it sit for a while for flavors to develop and then indulge.

COOK'S NOTES:  I personally do not like big hunks of vegetables in my salsa, so I put my onions, and scallions and cilantro in a food processor and give them a few pulses.  I also pulse two of the cans of stewed tomatoes into an almost puree consistency and the third can I pulse but leave it fairly chunky.  You can do whatever pleases you, all chunky, all smooth.  No rules.

A note on the 1 tablespoon of crushed chili pepper.  That, truthfully, could be too much heat for some.  It is on the verge of being too much for us, so if unsure of your heat tolerance, I would probably start with 1 teaspoon, check for heat, and add to taste.  I have a friend who adds the 1 tablespoon of chili pepper and the jalapeno, but she was raised on fiery foods and as far as she's concerned, the more heat the better.

This recipe makes a two full quarts of salsa at least.  Keeps well for a few days in the refrigerator.

A Platter of Pancakes and Blueberriest Blueberry Syrup

I've eaten a fair number of pancakes along the way, have tried a number of different recipes, and never complained.  It's pancakes, right?  They're all good.  But this recipe is very good.  Good enough to eat without syrup or butter.  Good enough to eat while they're so hot they'll burn your tongue good.  So good, this is my go-to recipe for pancakes.  When I crave pancakes, these are the ones I'm dreaming of.

I guess what makes them so good is they have more sugar than other recipes and less salt, so if you like a sweeter pancake, you'll like these.

However, a little syrup does go so nicely, and I want to share my favorite blueberry syrup of all time.  I've made it for years and have never strayed from it.  I swear, the blueberry flavor in this is so vibrant it's even blueberrier than fresh blueberries.  Doggone it's good!

SWEET, FLUFFY PANCAKES
https://www.graceandgoodeats.com/best-ever-pancake-recipe/

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups milk
1 large egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted

• In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar
• Melt the butter and combine with the egg and milk in a small bowl.
• Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients.
• Mix together, pulling dry ingredients from the sides to the wet center, until just combined.  A few lumps are perfectly acceptable and expected.
• Allow the batter to rest a bit (giving an opportunity for the baking powder to work its magic and) while your greased pan or griddle is heating over medium high heat.
• Once heated, use a 1/4 cup scoop, measure batter onto the griddle.  (Give the batter a little swirl with the side of your measuring cup, starting from the center, working outward to help shape the your pancake into a more perfect circle, optional, but nice!)
• Cook each side until light golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes per side.

BLUEBERRIEST BLUEBERRY SAUCE

In a small saucepan combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, a good pinch of ground nutmeg, and a pinch of salt.  (That equates to about 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg and even less than that for the salt.)

Stir in 1/2 cup of boiling water.  Cook and stir until mixture becomes clear and thick and bubbly, about two minutes or so.

Add one cup of fresh or frozen blueberries and cook and stir, bringing mixture back to the boil and the blueberries begin to burst.

Remove from heat and add one tablespoon lemon juice and stir.

Serve warm.

COOK'S NOTES:  The first time I made these, I burnt them.  Yep, sure did but they were still good.  I was overzealous with the heat.  It's my thought that since these tend to be a little thicker pancake, they needed to be on a lower heat to give the pancake time enough to cook through.  Even these aren't as quite as golden brown and picture perfect as I would've wished, we loved them anyway.

I've since bought an electric skillet and it has done wonders to improve the appearance of the pancakes; I'm supposing it's because the heat is even, with no hot and cold spots that happen with my griddle on my glass-cooktop stove.

Chicken Croquettes

Chicken Croquettes

Oh boy, does this bring some memories of Sunday dinners at my beloved Grandmother's house.  No one noticed she lived in a tiny two-room house, because once you were there all you felt was love.  Her love for family filled every nooky and cranny and filled every pan and filled every dish.  My beloved grandmother was what would describe as a "plain cook," and no wonder as she endured the Great Depression..  There were no fancy sauces, but there was good white gravy seasoned with salt and pepper; no double baked loaded potatoes, but she could make a mash without lumps, loaded with sweet butter and fresh cream; and her nod to modern day living--canned peas

And then there was the old Howard Johnson restaurant-hotel chain. Growing up, it was a big night out to dine at the Howard-Johnson (Ho-Jo's).  That orange roof with cupola could be seen from the road and beckoned many a traveler and promised good fare.  Many people wax nostalgic about their fried clams.  My Sweetie-pie and I, to our mutual surprise, learned we both loved the chicken croquettes there.  

It's taken me a long while to find a recipe I love.  Past attempts were pretty disastrous, with the food falling into the goopy or tasteless departments.  Ugh!  Disappointments abounded.  And then this.  Some may turn their nose up at the use of canned cream soup and packaged bread stuffing, and bless your heart, I respect that.  I ride that high horse sometimes, too, grins.  However, back in my real world, those products are made for ease and convenience in a life that is sometimes too busy, and like canned peas, can make a difference.

I can see why this was a Sunday meal.  This recipe takes some time; I start it in the morning to have it for dinnertime.  Mostly the time is the time spent in the refrigerator, the flavors getting to know each other and becoming all happy.

Chicken Croquettes  
(original recipe is found here:  http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-chicken-croquettes-253952)
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken**
1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of chicken soup (low sodium is good here)
1/4 cup milk
1 6-ounce box seasoned stuff mix (or your own homemade bread stuffing)
1 egg
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 stick of celery, finely chopped
unseasoned breadcrumbs in a separate plate, for dredging
1/4 cup oil or enough oil to have about 1/4 inch deep in pan, or skip the oil if baking

In a good sized bowl, combine the first seven ingredients together.  Give it a pretty good mushing and then put it in the fridge to get all happy, for at least three hours.   

About a half an hour before you think you want to serve these, remove the mixture from the refrigerator and shape.  

• Using about 3/4 of a cup mixture for each, you can shape the mixture into patties (the easiest and fastest), roll into a log shape, or the traditional cone shape.  
• If you opt for the cone shape, which is fun but a little trickier to cook, first make the log, something about three inches long and two inches wide.  From a little height (we're talking only three or four inches, you don't have to drop it from the ceiling to the floor, for example)  just drop the end onto a plate.  The force of its own weight should flatten and spread out the bottom.  I pinch the top a little to define the shape a little more.

Gently roll each croquette in unseasoned breadcrumbs.  From this point you have a couple of choices.  You can freeze up to two months for later use (and these freeze beautifully and taste as good as the day you made them); refrigerate to serve following day, bringing to room temperature first; or proceed with cooking.

The easiest method is to bake them for 25 to 30 minutes at 350*F, if fresh, 45 to 50 minutes if baking from frozen. I baked the ones pictured above.  These were good, but truthfully, a tad dry.  I spooned a bit of oil on top of each one before baking and they were still dry-ish.

For flavor, we greatly prefer frying these.  Patties are the easiest to fry of course and take the least amount of time and oil.  If you chose the pyramid shaped croquettes, have enough oil in the pan to reach a depth of 1/4 inch.  Heat oil over medium heat and gently lower the croquettes into the pan.  The pyramid shaped ones are a little trickier because you're trying to keep the conical shape, gently turning and rolling it about in the pan with a spatula, being careful not to break them, and then standing them on end to make sure the bottoms are cooked.  They're going to take about 15 to 20 minutes to cook.  If you lose control of your croquette, try not to splash yourself with the hot oil.  I found it was best to let each side reach a golden brown color before turning to the next side.  If you need to cook these in batches, keep them warm in a 200*F oven.

COOK'S NOTES:  This is a good way to use up leftover chicken, or if you're of a mind, store-bought rotisserie chicken.  For us, I poach boneless, skinless chicken thighs with a generous amount of my DIY onion soup mix and a half teaspoon of chicken bouillon to up the chicken flavor a bit.  I drain off the liquid, let cool, and proceed with the rest of the recipe.

I'm fortunate enough to have a mini food processor so I pulse the onion and celery in it.  I'm looking for a fine dice, not puree.  Same thing with the chicken.  I give it several good pulses.  The packaged stuffing mix I buy is cut into bread cubes, and I think would be too chunky for this.  So, once again, I give it a couple of whizzes through the food processor.  I'm not looking for bread dust here, just smaller pieces.  Once all the ingredients are mixed together, the stuffing breaks down even further, hence the caveat to keep the stuffing at a smaller-medium size, if that makes any sense.

I made my own white gravy.  I do it by sight, so no exact recipe and no thrills, no frills.  Over the lower end of medium heat, add three or four heaping tablespoons of flour and a good sized gob of butter, maybe half a stick.  Stir, stir, stir, stir.  Once it starts to get all bubbly, add a good splash of milk as you stir,  stir, stir, stir.  It's going to seize up and be a glop. Don't despair and don't give up. Stir, stir, stir.  Add another good splash of milk and stir, stir, stir, repeating until the gravy loosens up and is a consistency you like. You can't rush it, and you can't quit stirring and you can't despair.  This is going to need some flavoring, so a generous amount of freshly grated pepper is good here.  And my secret ingredient for my chicken croquette gravy:  chicken bouillon.  I use Knorr brand but I suppose they're all good.  The Knorr I like it because it's a powder, not a pressed cube, so I have more control over it.  Better Than Bouillon is a great brand too and would be equally as good. (Not an endorsement of either product, just observations of my own experience.) Whatever you choose, I think bouillon can be pretty salty, so I started with maybe a 1/4 teaspoon or less, tasted and then ever so carefully added more grains.  The gravy can easily and quickly become overpowered with salt and chicken flavor.  Remember you can add but you can't take away.

Got lumps?  I use a flat whisk but recently purchased a round collapsible one and it seems to work really well.  If all else fails, do as one of my good friends does, strain the gravy through a strainer to remove any lumps.  It works!  No one's the wiser and her gravy is silky smooth.  Just don't strain it down the sink drain as she did when she was first learning to cook.  HA!