Three Day Fondue

Okay, I only title this like that because we already enjoyed this two days in a row! Yes, I make too much because I always want enough for everyone. Must be some big feeder grandma type in my ancestry? We made this for New Years, and invited a friend to join us tonite for 'leftovers'. Yikes, there is still another dinner in the fridge! My hubby loves this but doesn't know if "he can take another night of this". Me? I just smile, pat my head and rub my belly. This would work for a large table of guests, or you can eat it three days in a row like we did.

Menu:
Sirloin and Chicken Breast Fondue (marinate in Balsamic Vinegar and Lite Soy Sauce overnight, or 3 hours)
Dipping Sauces (See below and drool)
Onion Rings with the best Batter ever (2 large white onions, sliced and separated into rings will feed me)
Bib Lettuce and homemade French Dressing with homemade croutons (Recipe to come... maybe... (it's an old fam secret)
Tasty Mini Baked and Stuffed Red Potatoes
A1 and Heinz 57 too

Tasty Mini Baked and Stuffed Red Potos
8-10 large red potatoes, baked 60 minutes at 380
3/4 pkg frozen, steam-able broccoli,micro'd 5 minutes
2 small pkg of reduced fat Feta OR Blue Cheese, crumbled
Lemon juice
Kosher Salt
Ground Pepper

After potos are baked, slice the "top" 1/8 off, discard. Using small (melon ball) scoop, cut out 1-2 scoops from each potato and place in medium bowl. Microwave broccoli, chop finely and add to bowl. Add salt, pepper, 4 generous squeezes of lemon juice, and cheese. Mash well. Repack ingredients from bowl into potatoes using scoop. Cover with foil and keep in oven on warm until ready to feast.

Fondue Dipping Sauces


Japanese Steakhouse White Sauce (not my own creation)

INGREDIENTS:
1 ¼ cups Hellman’s Mayo
¼ cup water
1 tsp tomato paste
1 TBSP melted butter
½ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp paprika
dash pepper

Whisk all ingredients together til well mixed and sauce is smooth. Refrigerate overnight to allow flavors to blend. Bring to room temp before serving.


Sour Cream Dip

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup sour cream
2 TBSP finely chopped onion
Salt and Pepper
(try adding chives)


Garlic Lemon Dip

INGREDIENTS:
1 ½ cups mayo
1 ½ TBSP lemon juice
1 TBSP crushed garlic
½ tsp Tabasco Sauce
Salt and Pepper
(try adding chives)


Onion Ring Batter

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups flour
2 TBSP Wondra
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 ½ TBSP EVOO
2 eggs
1 beer
salt
3-4 onions, sliced and separated into rings

Mix all ingredients except beer, in large bowl. Add beer and stir til lump free. Add more Wondra if needed to thicken. Dip rings in batter and fry til golden (3-4 min.). Drain on paper towels. Salt. 


Spot gave ALL of the above 4 paws. Not only did she enjoy hovering under our feet while we prepped, she even sang some songs while we slowly dined and loved each bite.

My First Caramelized Onions... with Steak and Fancy Potos

Yum yum! I have never tried to make caramelized onions before. (Although sometimes that has partially, accidentally occurred.) This recipe is inspired by a card I saw in the deli section of the Brookings, S.D. Hyvee grocery store back in September. I put the card "somewhere special" and just found it. Hyvee uses that famous TV Australian chef... Curtis? to promote recipes and merchandise. Anyway, I changed his stuff up a bit. The potato recipe I got while watching The Chew on ABC last week. Changed that one up, too. The result is yum city for our fam. Note: If you use the thin round steak, just watch carefully so as not to over cook. We discovered we would like even more onions next time.

Marinate Time: 24 hours
Prep Time: 15 Min.
Cook Time: 60 min.


INGREDIENTS:
1 – 2 pkgs beef round steak (2-3 steaks/pkg), marinated
Marinate overnight in 5 TBSP soy sauce, kosher salt, ground pepper and 2 TBSP Newman’s Oil & Vinegar dressing
3+ large red onions, diced
3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
1 TBSP brown sugar
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
½ cup beef broth
Kosher salt
Ground pepper
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 pkg frozen broccoli, cooked and chopped into bits
8-10 large red potatoes (or more depending on eaters)
2 small pkgs reduced fat crumbled feta cheese
4-5 big squeezes of lemon juice

1. Marinate meat (could even be steaks) overnight in a Ziploc. Flip it over when you think about it in order to get all pieces saturated, no big deal.

2. An hour before you want to eat, wash potatoes and bake at 400 til fork tender.

3. 30 minutes before you want to eat, sauté onions with olive oil until brownish and tender. Add brown sugar, pinch of salt, then vinegar and broth. Cook until liquid is absorbed and set aside.

4. Prepare potato stuffing: In medium bowl, add broccoli, salt and pepper to taste, feta, juice. Mash this up really good.

5. When potos are done, slice the top 1/8 off each poto and discard. Using small scoop, scoop out middle of each potato and place scoopings in the bowl mentioned above. Now you have little potato vessels… get ready for yum! Mix potatoes with stuffing (#4). If mixture gets too dry, add more lemon juice. Fill each vessel to slightly overflowing and place back in the oven to keep warm til the meat is done.

6. 10 minutes before you want to eat, BBQ meat and brown 3 minutes each side. (Longer for bigger meats) Do not over cook. Once meat is done (Medium), spread blue cheese over each piece. Move meat to the side, cover grill and cook til cheese melts, about 2-3 more minutes.

7. To serve, plate meat topped with the onions and 2 potos per person.

Spot has no paw ratings because she was up in the loft watching TV, mourning the fact that her brothers went to their other home tonite

Prep Once and Cook Twice Mini Meat Loaves

Spending about an hour in the kitchen (or more, depending on how big or small you make this) is well worth your time. Today I morphed this recipe to share with a family from church plus my own. Not only did this one make enough for two families of four (mine includes two teenage sons*), it also yielded enough to make 30 meatballs to freeze for a second menu option! They will come in handy in a week when it's our turn to cook for our small group.

I really like this menu because there are some hidden vegetables that just add to the taste: invisible cauliflower hiding inside the mashed potatoes giving a tiny extra crunch and the truck load of spinach mixed in with the personal meat loaves. Yum! My fam needs to eat more veggies and this recipe makes it happen.

The other cool thing is that this recipe is just full of low fat healthy ingredients! Hubba-bubba, next time I cook it's gonna be really f a t t e n i n g!

(* Son's best bud is over so much, he's our tax deduction)


MENU 1:
Mini Meat Loaf, Cauli-Mashed Potatoes, Secret Gravy

MENU 2:
Mini Meat Loaf or Meat Balls!

Prep Time: 45+ Min.
Cook Times: 35 min. Meat Loaves, 18 min. potatoes, 12 min gravy
Serves 8-10 both times


INGREDIENTS:
Parchment Paper
1½ lbs. extra lean ground beef
½ lbs. lean ground turkey
2 bags Pepperidge Farms Bread Stuffing
2 boxes frozen spinach, thawed and drained
2 eggs
1 large red onion, diced (or 3 small)
4 twigs fresh Rosemary, chopped
1½ lbs. red potatoes
½ head cauliflower, steamed and broken into florets)
¼ to ½ cup buttermilk
1 stick unsalted butter
Wondra (3-4 TBSP)
1 carton low sodium Beef Broth (32 oz.)
3 Beef bouillon cubes
Kosher Salt
Ground Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil


MINI LOAVES:
In large skillet, sauté onions in Extra Virgin Olive Oil til soft. Stir in defrosted, drained spinach. Using a giant bowl, add salt, pepper and Rosemary, add meats one package at a time. Combine well, then add skillet contents and eggs. Mix with hands: After these ingredients are well-combined, slowly add enough bread crumbs to hold the mixture together. With this amount of meat, it took me two bags. Do not overdo the bread, you still want the loaves moist.

Line a jelly-roll pan with parchment paper. Firmly form mini loaves the size of a large baked potato. Make 10 loaves and place them on the paper, evenly spaced. Bake in preheated oven at 375 for 35-40 min. til browned. (The rest of the mixture can be made into meatballs or more loaves and frozen.)

CAULI-MASHED POTOS:
(I multi-task and do some of this while sautéing.) In large pot over slow boiling water in a steaming basket, steam cauliflower florets covered, about 10 min or til tender. Remove cauliflower and set aside, add more water and bring to boil. Add rinsed, halved red potatoes with skin on and bring to boil again. Boil for 12 minutes or til fork test shows tender. Do not over cook. Drain potatoes. Using same pot, return cauli and potos, salt and pepper to taste. With potato masher, slowly add as much buttermilk as it takes to mash potatoes to your desired density. We like them stiff, so we don’t use much milk. Recover in pot til time to serve.

SECRET GRAVY:
Use the same skillet that you sautéed in and did not rinse. Melt the stick of butter. (I set this on the stove while the loaves are cooking and the butter is almost melted by the time I get to the gravy.) Add 3 Beef Bouillon cubes. One TBSP at a time, slowly whisk in enough Wondra to thicken the mixture until it is almost, but not quite the texture of sand. Break apart the cubes as they warm in the pan. Heat til bubbly, stirring constantly – about 3 minutes. Slowly stir in the beef broth until well mixed and bring to boil, adding salt and pepper. Reduce to simmer until thickened. Keep warm til serving, stirring often.


COOKING ORDER:
• Steam Cauliflower while prepping meat loaves
• Meat loaves in and cooking 35 minutes
• Boil potato water
• Mash potatoes, cover
• Start gravy when 10 minutes left on loaves cooking time


MENU #2 MEATBALLS:
Thaw in fridge overnight. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment and bake at 375 for 25-35 minutes, til hot but not over cooked. Serve with more Cauli Mashed Potos and gravy… or as tidbits on toothpicks with a cheese platter when your friends come over.

Although this is super yummy, Spot gives this two paws only because she was hanging out with her brothers while I cooked