Mushroom Soup Stroganoff – Learned to make this years ago and now we have it at least once a month. Quick and Easy! Note: In recent years we modified this recipe to use ground turkey and almond milk to make it healthier. I think it tastes better.
Stroganoff, dish of French origin by way of tsarist Russia that combines thinly sliced and lightly stewed beef and onions with sour cream and other ingredients. This is, in essence, the classic French fricassée de boeuf with the addition of equally classic Russian ingredients: onions and sour cream.
Mark Kurlansky, in his book Salt, states that the Irish produced a salted beef around the Middle Ages that was the “forerunner of what today is known as Irish corned beef” and in the 17th century, the English named the Irish salted beef “corned beef”.
Remove the corned beef from the packaging. Rinse with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
Place the corned beef brisket (fat side up), carrots and potatoes in a slow cooker. Add 3 cups of water to the slow cooker, plus the seasoning packet that comes in the corned beef package.
Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours.
Add the cabbage on top of the corned beef and cook on LOW for another 2 hours.
Remove the cabbage, corned beef, potatoes and carrots from the slow cooker. Slice the corned beef against the grain.
Place the butter, garlic, parsley and salt and pepper in a small bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments or until melted.
Drizzle the garlic butter over the carrots, potatoes and cabbage. Place the meat, potatoes and vegetables on a platter and serve with mustard on the side if desired.
Red Beans & Rice – When we were stationed in New Orleans this was a very popular dish with the locals.
Origin
The origins of this iconic dish are believed to trace back to the Haitian Revolution when red kidney beans were brought to New Orleans by those fleeing the uprising.
1lbmeaty ham bone or 1 pound meaty smoked pork hocks
1cuplarge onion chopped
2bay leaves
1/2tspground red pepper
12ozsmoked sausage chopped 2 1/2 cups
4cupscooked rice
Instructions
rinse beans. In a large pot combine beans and 6 cups water. Bring to a boil. reduce heat.
Simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 1 hour.
Drain and rinse beans.
Return beans to pot. Add ham bone or pork hocks, onion, garlic, bat leaves, red pepper and 6 cups of fresh water. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and cover. Simmer 2 1/2 hours or until beans are tender. Stirring occasionally. Add additional water during cooking if necessary.
Remove from heat. When cool enough to handle cut meat off bone, coarsely chop meat. Discard bone. Return chopped meat to pot.
Stir in sausage return to boiling; reduce heat Simmer uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes or until thick gravy forms. Stirring occasionally.
Remove bay leaves. Serve over cooked rice and season to taste. Garnish with cut green onion if desired.
Some attribute the original sandwich to a cafe in Sioux City, Iowa, where, many years ago, in 1930 a cook named Joe added tomato sauce to his “loose meat” sandwiches. Voila: a new between-the-bread offering, and the sandwich’s official name.
Food historians speculate that this originated in Texas-Mexico border towns and spread north. In the 1880s San Antonio’s downtown was famous for Hispanic outdoor vendors called “chili queens.” At Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition Texas-style this was popular, and at St. Louis’s 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition the Mexican pavilion introduced other spicy foods. Afterward, proving the world’s fairs’ success in educating Americans, parlors appeared around the Midwest featuring this dish.
The word casserole is derived from a French word that means ‘saucepan’. Apparently, casseroles originated as communal pots that people shared for meals. The oldest recipe for a casserole, around 1250, consisted of pasta sheets cooked in water, layered with grated cheese and spices.
