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Showing posts from March, 2023
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Mexican Potato Hash

I needed a quick to make for a cover dish. Looking around the kitchen I had potatoes, ground chuck, taco seasoning, a can of Hatch chilies and cheese. A quick trip to the store for some pico de gallo and cream and I was all set. Ingredients: 1 lb ground chuck 6 to 8 russet potatoes  4 cups Mexican cheese blend 1 can Hatch chilies  2 tablespoons taco seasoning  2 tablespoons butter  2 tablespoons flour  1/2 cup cream 1 16-ounce tub of pica de gallo Dice the potatoes into cubes about half an inch. Add to saucepan and cover with water. Parboil the potatoes for about 5 minutes. Add ground beef to skillet and brown over medium heat. Add the taco seasoning. In another saucepan make a roux with the butter and flour over low heat. Add the cream and raise the temperature to medium low. Add half the cheese stirring until melted. In a large disposable pan combine all the ingredients except the remaining cheese and stir to combine.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and

Cuban Bread

I love the Columbia Restaurant. We are blessed with several in the state to visit. One in St Augustine, that  we frequent with my daughter and her family, one in Celebration, and of course the original in Ybor City. We enjoy their  1905 salad and warm Cuban bread. The bread is amazing. This is my interpretation of their bread. The key to this deliciousness is lard. I read an article on La Segunda bakery that has supplied their bread forever. I saw in the article that they used to use beef tallow in the early day but switched to lard soon after. This recipe uses both. This is not a make in an hour or two recipe, but one that takes 2 days to make. Day one is a prefermentation. Day two is making the bread. Ingredients:  Preferment 1/2 cup bread flour 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast 1/2 cup of warm (not hot) water Dough 2 1/2 cups bread flour 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 2 teaspoons instant yeast  2/3 cup of warm water 100 to 110 degrees 3 tablespoon

Italian Rice Casserole

This recipe started with a sandwich at my daughter place. I was up helping her and her husband.  She went to get lunch, and brought back Italian subs. They were delicious. A couple of weeks later, I was coming home from her place and drove by the deli. A quick visit and I was bringing home some of their Italian sausage.  Ingredients: 1/2 lbs ground round 1/2 lbs Italian sausage removed from casing 1 can San Marzano tomatoes  1/2 cup diced sweet onion divided  1 small diced red pepper divided  1/4 cup celery diced 1/4 cup diced carrot 2 cloves garlic finely diced  1/2 teaspoon fennel seed 1 tablespoon Italian spice 1/2 teaspoon basil 2 cups beef broth Extra virgin olive oil as needed. Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Begin by browning the sausage and ground round in olive oil until no pink remains. Break the meat up into  medium crumbs. Remove meat and add the celery, carrots, garlic and half the onions to the pan cooking until fragrant. Remove and puree veget