Category: Grandpa’s Use Only

These recipes are for Grandpa and his family. This category includes recipes from magazines, TV shows, newspapers, and other sources where I don’t have permission to republish the recipes, but still feels they are recipes that he may want to cook for himself at a later time.

Kate’s Easy Cheese Omelet

Grandpa Teaches One-on-One Cooking Classes using Zoom for young Chef’s

Here is an example of Kate’s Class

Zoom Participants / Screens

  • Kate (Chef) and Jenn (Parent and Helper)
  • Laptop with Grandpa and Grandma
  • Skillet camera, so Kate can see the skillet

Here is the plan

  1. Talk and chit chat a little bit
  2. Review things we will need – make sure they are set out
    1. Talk about WHY of mis-en-place

What you will need before we start to cook

  • Non stick Skillet – Put skillet on stove but don’t turn it on yet
  • Two eggs
  • Mixing bowl
  • Fork (or whisk) and butter knife
  • 3 tsp pieces of COLD Butter
  • A wooden spatula and a rubber spatula
  • Shredded cheese (or slice of cheese)
    • If a slice of cheese, cut a triangle for garnish
    • Break the rest of the cheese into pieces
  • Plate
  • Bread, Tortilla or English Muffin

Extra Toppings

Before you start, decide if you want any extra toppings or ingredients.
Dice any of the following and sprinkle on before you put the cheese on:
•   Ham
•   Cooked bacon
•   Cooked onion
•   Mushroom
•   Bell pepper
•   Peppers
•   Olives
•   Chives
•   Avocado
•   Spinach

Here is what you do

COOKING

  1. Break your egg into a little bowl.  If you get any shells in the bowl, use the edge of the eggshell to remove them
  2. Dump the egg into your mixing bowl.
  3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 with the other egg
  4. If you have an electric stove top, turn the heat on your pan to Medium-High.  If you cook with gas, turn stovetop on medium after Step 6
  5. Beat the egg with a fork (or whisk) until well mixed
  6. Put three small tabs of COLD butter in the pan
  7. How many is the chef cooking for today?  Talk about if you are making omelets for more than two people, you can put them on a baking sheet in the oven set to about 250º
  8. Check on your butter – is it starting to melt?
  9. Spread it around the pan with the wooden spatula
  10. It will melt, then it may start to turn a tiny bit brown
    – This is “brown butter” and tastes better than plain old melted butter
    – You want it to cook just a little bit, because it tastes better
    – If it goes too far, it gets bitter
  11. Pour in your egg and tip the pan to spread it around the bottom
    It doesn’t have to cover the pan completely, just as much as you can
  12. If you are using a toaster, put your bread it
  13. When the egg is not shiny, sprinkle your cheese on it
  14. If not using a toaster, put your bread or tortilla in the microwave for 20 seconds
  15. Use your rubber spatula and fold over the edge, then fold it again
  16. Carefully move it to the plate
  17. Top with a bit of cheese or your triangle of cheese
  18. Serve with your bread and some butter

Next meal ???

  • Spaghetti and Meatballs
  • Grilled cheese sandwich
  • Hamburger
  • Hot dog
  • French Toast
  • Scrambled Eggs
  • Sloppy Joe Sandwiches
  • Hard-boiled eggs
  • Meatloaf

 

Muffin Tin Omelets

There are a lot of steps, but if you go step-by-step this is an easy no-fail recipe.

Preheat your oven to 350º

Spray (or grease) a cupcake pan.
1/2 onion – diced
thick slice of ham – diced (or bacon)

Fry ham/bacon in a fry pan
When nearly done add diced onion
Cook about 5 more minutes

Optional DICED or SLICED things to add:
Mushrooms, bell pepper, jalapeño peppers, olives, chives

Mix the cooked vegetables and put on a cutting board
Divide in half, then half again, then again until you have as many piles as you have muffin spaces.

Loosely place the mixture into each space
Top each space loosely with a bit of grated cheese.

In a mixing bowl, crack 1 egg per 2 spaces. (eg) 16 muffins = 8 eggs

Whisk together with eggs: 1/2 cup of milk, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp EVOO, and salt/pepper to taste.

SLOWLY pour the egg mixture into the spaces. If you run out of egg mixture, just break/beat an extra egg and use that.

Put into the oven for 20 – 25 minutes.

After they’re cooked, allow them to cool in the muffin tin for about 5 minutes.

Basic Scrambled Eggs

Grading Eggs

  • AA is fresh
  • A is 1 to 2 weeks old
  • B is over two weeks old
  • In the United States, refrigerate eggs when you get home
    • In Europe, they sell eggs fresh out of the nest, which have not been washed.  This means that the protective coating preservative is still there.  In the US, we wash eggs before selling them.
  • One week in refrigerator is about the same as one day on the counter.

Ingredients

  • 3 Eggs
  • 2 TBL cold Butter – in pieces
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • Small nonstick pan
  • 1 TBL whole milk
  • 1 TBL water

Step by Step

    1. Beat egg until white and yolk is incorporated, but not completely homogeneous
    2. Bring temperature of pan up to 250°
       Small drop of water should gently start to boil
    3. Mix egg, water, and milk together
    4. Add in pieces of cold butter – BUTTER HAS BUILT-IN EMULSIFIERS
    5. Add egg and butter to hot pan
    6. Stir egg gently, slowly and continually with spatula
    7. As it begins to gel keep pushing it towards the center, bringing up from the bottom.
    8. Eggs should be cooked, but still moist. Not dry.
    9. AS SOON AS most of the liquid is gone, but egg is moist, serve.  It will continue to cook.
    10. Plate up, garnish with a sprig of parsley, and serve with toast.

NOTE:  If eggs are completely cooked in the pan, they are overcooked on the plate.

 

Beatitudes Slow and Easy Scrambled Eggs

  • Preheat a skillet to about 225 degrees (so that water lazily rolls across the pan’s surface, but doesn’t bounce or dance.)
  • Beat your eggs for about 50 strokes
  • Add a cold pad of butter to your eegs
  • Add just a dab of EVOO to your skillet
  • Add your eggs to the skillet and slowly (but continually) mix/agitate with a spatula
  • Plate when jelled, but not hard or dry
  • Optionally, add green onions, chives, crushed bacon, or cheese to your eggs at the last second before plating
  • Top with cheese if you wish.

 

How do restaurants make scrambled eggs taste better than homemade?

They don’t.

You can easily make scrambled eggs the way a restaurant does.

Here are the six common sins of scrambled eggs and how to avoid them:

  1. No milk. Use a splash of water instead.  The steam creates lighter eggs.
  2. Don’t whip eggs till frothy.  Just mix with a fork. You’re breaking and incorporating the yolks in with the whites, not trying to make a souffle.
  3. Easy on the heat. Medium-low heat (3–4 on an electric, 3 on a gas stove).  Never cook eggs over high heat.
  4. No oil. If you’ve just made bacon, put some bacon grease in the pan. If not, use a pat of butter. Note: If you use bacon grease, use less salt.
  5. Pay attention. Stir constantly and gently with a soft, flexible silicone spatula, constantly scraping the bottom of the pan to keep them from sticking while the eggs cook. Toss in a pinch of salt to taste just before the end.
  6. Watch the late exit. Take them off the heat before you think they’re done. They should be shiny, and still look a little wet. Don’t worry, they will continue to cook on the plate.

Tips: Meatloaf

Rachel’s meatloaf

Hamburger pork combination or lamb if that sounds good
Breadcrumbs soaked in milk and then run out
One egg
Green onions, garlic, minced, parsley, Celery, salt, pepper, LEMON zest
Drizzle olive oil then mixed with hand’s. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes

Leftover Meatloaf Tricks

  • Serve a warmed over slide with a fried egg on top for breakfast
  • Dip a slice in egg wash and then panko bread crumnbs and fry in a skillet till browned
  • Start on low heat – about 325º – and cook till internal temp reaches about 165º – glaze at about 15 minutes

The goal of a casserole is not to prepare a restaurant-quality showpiece, but is rather to feed the hungry and heartbroken.

  • Allow for drainage, or you could get a soggy bottom. There are meatloaf pans that have holes in them to let the grease drop to the bottom of the pan.
  • A casserole should have kind of a creamy mouth feel to it, have a crunchy top (traditionally Ritz Crackers) and you should be able to identify the individual components within the casserole.
  • Add a bit of cornstarch to your meat and it will gel some of the run-off.  Shredded Parmesan also does this.
  • The advent of soup make it unnecessary to start with a bechemel sauce or veloute sauce.
  • Many meatloaf recipes use stale bread crumbs. Try these options:
    – Use a fresh and hearty loaf such as French bread
    – Use dry oatmeal – not minute oats, but traditional rolled oats

 

Hot Wing Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce

Combine
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup Miracle Whip
1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup Ranch Dressing
then add
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Kosher or sea salt, to taste
Fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
3 chives/green onions sliced small
then
drizzle 1-2 tablespoons milk until desired consistency
gently fold in
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
Refrigerate for at least an hour to let flavors combine

British Chicken Wings

In a sauce pan
melt 1/2 cup butter
then add (in order, with 30 seconds between each add)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup Frank’s Red Hot or Durkee hot sauce
Cook 3 minutes, then set aside

Preheat vegetable oil (Canola or Safflower) to 375° for frying

2 pounds chicken wings, split, tossed with
Kosher or sea salt, to taste
Fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, for dredging
Fry wings in small batches (8-10 minutes)
Serve warm with blue cheese dip

Chinese Chicken Wings

1/3 C water
1/3 C Sake
4 TBL Brown sugar
1/3 C naturally brewed soy sauce
3 TBL Mirin . Sweetened rice wine
3 TBL Oyster sauce
1-3 Tien Tsin chili
1 stick cinnamon
2 cloves Star anise
1 branch Ginger . peeled and sliced
3 Green onions

Pre heat large sauté pan with sesame oil
Brown wings in sesame oil
Meanwhile, combine all other ingredients
Add combined ingredients
Boil then simmer uncovered to reduce . about 30 minutes
Stir to coat with remaining glaze
Sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions

Crispy BBQ Wings

with Bleu Cheese Butter

Dredge wings and put into fryer
2 TBL melted butter to wet the wings
and for your dredge, in another bowl, mix 1 C flour with
1 tsp each of cumin, corn starch, paprika, salt
Fry wings

Put into a blender
Sauce:
cumin, salt, pepper, paprika, drained paiquillo peppers
Jack Daniels Number 7 BBQ sauce
Blend for 3-5 seconds
Spoon sauce over wings and toss to cover

Blue cheese butter – Dipping sauce – serve on the side
½ C blue cheese – ½ C (1 stick) melted butter

Onion Ring Hot Wings

Fry wings in a fryer: 350-370 degrees until golden brown: 12-14 minutes

Tossing Sauce
1 TBL EVOO
4 Chopped scallions
2 cloves garlic – minced
1 TBL prepared horseradish
½ tsp salt and pepper to taste
1 C juice – orange, pomegranate or cranberry
¼ brown sugar
1 C hoisin sauce

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until it reduces to about half
Pour over wings and toss to cover
Toss with crunched and smashed up dried onion rings – little can like what you put on top of green beans

Chilaquiles

A chilaquile is essentially corn chips tossed in a sauce base and then topped with your favorite ingredients. Here is one recipe.

  1. Cut a stack of corn tortillas into eight wedges (like a pizza)
  2. Fry them in canola oil at about 375 degrees
  3. When they are browned, remove using a spider strainer, and salt immediately.
  4. Alternately, you can use Doritos, Fritos, or other corn chips
  5. Set aside in a very large mixing bowl

SAUCE

  1. In a large fry pan, saute a sliced onion in vegetable or canola oil
  2. Add some halved or quartered cloves of garlic
  3. Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
  4. Optional jalapeños, serranos, poblanos – roasted and skinned
  5. Salt and pepper
  6. Add a small of crushed tomatoes, or two cups of salsa
  7. Bring to a light boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
  8. Let cool about 10 minutes then put into blender and blend until blended, but still a bit chunky
  9. Meanwhile, fry up one egg per person being served
    Alt:  Use some sort of protein: shredded chicken, pork, carnitas

HINT:  You can put one egg in a skillet with 1/4 C boiling water and cover.  Cook for 3 minutes. Dump water and return to heat just until water has evaporated.

FINISH

  1. Pour sauce over chips and toss just to coat completely
  2. Plate, and then top with your protein
  3. Drizzle Mexican Crema or warmed sour cream over the top
  4. Sprinkle with shredded cheese – Cotija is traditional
  5. OPT:  Put back in the oven to melt the cheese
  6. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and thinly sliced red onion.
  7. Optional: Add a dollop of creme fraiche
  8. Serve hot.

This CANNOT be made ahead, and must be combined just before serving, or the chips will be soggy.

Cast Iron Corn Bread

Mix 1 C buttermilk
2 eggs
1/4 C milk
1 stick melted butter

In separate bowl mix 1 1/4 C cornmeal
3/4 C AP flour
1/4 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Combine wet and dry ingredients – DO NOT OVERMIX
Pre-heat cast iron skillet (in oven at 425)
Put 2 tabs butter
Quickly add mixed batter and smooth out
Reduce heat to 350 degrees and cook 25 minutes

Scratch Corn Bread

Corn Bread from Scratch

DRY INGREDIENTS
1 CU flour
2 CU cornmeal
1/2 CU nonfat dry milk
1/4 CU mesquite meal or brown flour
2 TBL baking powder
2 TBL sugar
1 TBL baking soda
1 TBL salt
1/2 CU shortening
1 TBL softened butter
Whole milk (Alt 2% milk)
1 TBL butter or bacon grease
Canned corn
2 eggs – slightly beaten

1. Sift dry ingredients together.
2. Cut in shortening.
3. You can stop here, and store BASE in a cool place. Keeps up to 2 months. When you are ready go to step 4
4. Put 1 TBL butter or bacon grease in bottom of cold cast iron pan
5. Heat cast iron pan and oven to 350 degrees
. . . PER 1 CUP OF CORN BREAD BASE
6. Whisk, add 1/2 CU milk to 1 CU Corn Bread Mix
7. Stir to make a mush.
8. Mix 1/2 CU milk, 1 egg, and optionally, 2 TBL of corn
4. Gently mix mush and buttermilk mixture
5. Pour into hot skillet, leaving 1/2 inch from top for it to rise.
6. Bake at 350° for 20-30 minutes or until starts to blacken on top

Tips: Corn Bread

So, as I was writing this, I thought Corn Bread or Cornbread? I let Google decide. 8 million people say Cornbread, while 72 million say Corn Bread. So, now we know.

Special Steps:

Cast Iron- clean w/salt, seasoning-repeat yourself, wash, heat to sizzle, rub w/veg oil, repeat 5 times. Repeat every time you use it, do not drip dry-heat on burner.

Sprinkle a little red chili flakes in your corn bread for a spicy southwest version.

Cut back on the liquid and use creamed corn

Roasted Tomato Chipotle Salsa

Roasted Tomato Chipotle Salsa – My Adaptation

Ingredients

5 roma tomatoes
3 tomatillos
1 large sweet onion
2 chipotle peppers
3 jalapeno peppers
1 tsp salt
1 bunch cilantro
1/4 CU lime juice

Instructions

1.In a large mixing bowl, combine
 – Quartered tomatoes and  tomatillos
 – Thinly slice onion
 – Mashed garlic cloves
 – Peppers
 – Salt
2. Dump all onto abaking sheet
3. Broil 15-20 minutes or until charred and blistered
4. Put into food processor with all other ingredients
5. Pulse/chop lightly

Roasted Tomato Chlipotle Salsa (Every Day Foods)

Ingredients

1 ½ lb roma tomatoes
1 med onion (thinly sliced)
olive oil
salt & pepper
1-2 chipotle peppers
1 bunch cilantro
¼ cu lime juice

Instructions

1. Halve tomatoes and put on bake sheet, cut side down, tomatoes and onion.
2. Sprinkle around tomatoes & onions, spray heavily w/ oil, scant salt over top scant pepper over top.
3. Broil 15-20 minutes until charred & blistered.
4. Put into food processor w/ chipotle peppers, cilantro and lime juice and pulse till chopped, but chunky.

 

Rice Krispie Treats

This is one of the simplest best time-tested kid (and grown-up kid) treats ever to come along.

There are thousands of YouTube videos out there, but here is one that is the most popular

Original Recipe

Grandpa’s Version

Ingredients

  • 2 TBL full-fat butter
  • 1 TBL flax or canola oil
  • 2 TBL honey
  • 1 package (8 oz., about 40) Marshmallows
    OR
  • 4 cups Miniature Marshmallows
  • 6 cups puffed brown rice cereal
  • OPT:  3 OZ toasted and slivered almonds
  • OPT:  2 OZ dried cranberries – chopped
  • OPT:  1 OZ dried cherries – chopped
  • OPT:  1 oz dried blueberries – chopped

Directions

  1. In large saucepan melt butter, honey and oil over low heat.
  2. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted.
  3. Remove from heat.
  4. Add puffed rice cereal.
  5. Stir until well coated.
  6. Coat 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan with cooking spray.
  7. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into pan
  8. Cool.
  9. Cut into 2-inch squares.
  10. Best if served the same day.  Wrap in waxed paper, freeze, and they will keep for up to six weeks.  Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

Quick Queso Cubano

  1. Take a tortilla and put it on a plate
  2. Over half of it sprinkle grated cheddar cheese
  3. Over the other half, spread a few slices of ham and salami
  4. Microwave for 60 seconds
  5. Spread with mustard or mayo
  6. Put some pickle slices on the spread
  7. Fold,cut and serve

 

 

Fried Rice Balls

A good thing to do when you overcook your rice (and it becomes mushy) is to make fried rice balls.

  1. Place a tablespoon of rice in the palm of your hand
  2. Flatten it with the back of the spoon making an indentation
  3. Put in your filling (ham, chives, chicken, chorizo, cheese, pork, whatever)
  4. Get a second tablespoon of rice and flatten it (a bit) with your other hand.
  5. Moosh them together putting your filling in the middle
  6. Roll into a ball shape
  7. Roll in flour, then egg, then Panko bread crumbs
  8. Fry at 350 degrees until browned
  9. Serve with dishes of dipping sauce and toothpicks

 

 

Ramen Pot Pie

Par boil and blanche the ramen
Give it a light chop
Make a roux
As it starts to brown, add 1/4 C each heavy cream and milk
Stir until it starts to thicken
Add 1 C chicken stock
Dump in cabbage, peas, carrots and chicken (chopped/diced)
Fold in cooked ramen and fresh cut chives
Label into ramekin top with bis quick pie crust
Brush top with egg wash
Poke holes to let steam escape
Bake 425° about 30 minutes

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