Cheesy Pleasing Cauliflower

I adore my Big Guy.  For many reasons, he's tall and can reach things I can't.  He is super with our finances (and I am thankful).   He makes me laugh.  And just to shorten the list, he came into our relationship with some kick butt kitchen items and great recipes!  This is one of them!
Don't laugh - but this recipe doesn't really have a name.  Maybe you can pick one for it.

Ingredients needed:
Head of Cauliflower
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of mayonnaise
3 tablespoons of mustard (yellow or Dijon)

Take leaves and core off bottom of cauliflower.  Put in microwavable bowl that is large enough for cauliflower to sit inside flush.  Add 1/2 cup of water and cover with plastic wrap - to create a "steamer".  Place in microwave.  Cook till tender.  In my 12+ year old microwave, it takes 10-12 minutes depending on how large of head of cauliflower.  Remove plastic wrap and drain water.
In a separate dish, mix together mayo and mustard.  Spread over steamed cauliflower to cover.  Sprinkle shredded cheese over top.  Place back in microwave to melt cheese.

The mayo mustard mixture heated with the cheese and steamed cauliflower - So Yummy!  Teen loves it!

A Little Mussels in Brussels!

Mussels...... in Brussels!  That's what I will always think when someone mentions mussels.  Big Guy and I ventured over the great big pond several years, enjoying mussels in Belgium, Brussels one evening.  They were fabulous!  So great we literally ignored the steak that we had ordered.  So if you ever get to Belgium, just remember the mussels are great in Brussels (as well as the chocolate!).
Big Guy brought home a pound of mussels today.  Along with our Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagna, we enjoyed Beer Steamed Mussels.
Mussels are very simple to cook.  A few key points to note when dealing with steaming any shellfish - clams, mussels, oysters. First, search through the shellfish and eliminate any ones that are opened.  Toss them.  They have a great chance to be spoiled.  And bad shellfish, well, let's just not even think of that!
For Beer Steamed Mussels, I adapted this recipe from http://www.wasabibratwurst.com/.

Steamed Mussels Recipe for Two

Olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 small shallots, minced
12 oz bottle of beer of your choice - Lager is the way to go. Nothing too hoppy :)
2 lbs mussels
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves and stems, finely minced
Fresh ground black pepper
Lemon
Parmesan cheese, grated

Cooking Mussels

1. Heat large pot or a Dutch oven over medium heat, add olive oil and melt the butter. Add shallots; cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds.
2. Add mussels to the pot, and pour in the lager. Close lid and let mussels steam over medium heat until shells are open and the mussels turn opaque, 5~6 minutes. Make sure to shake the pan occasionally to ensure even cooking.
3. Remove the mussels and place in a serving dish. Let the broth rest a few minutes allowing any remaining sand to settle to the bottom of the pan. Carefully pour out the broth using a ladle, avoiding the bottom.
4. Top with cilantro leaves, black pepper, and a nice squeeze of lemon juice to taste. Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese to finish off. Serve hot with crusty bread to mop up the juices!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

The other evening as I was baking for myself Pumpkin Oatmeal, I used the rest of the pumpkin for muffins for Teen.  A little pumpkin and a few chocolate chips makes for a yummy breakfast!  From the Teen to the 2 year old, everyone has enjoyed them. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins from Allrecipes.com
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease and flour muffin pan or use paper liners.
2. Mix sugar, oil, eggs. Add pumpkin and water. In separate bowl mix together the baking flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt.. Add wet mixture and stir in chocolate chips.
3. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Tomato paste - No waste! What to do with the extra in the can????

Many recipes call for one or two tablespoons of tomato paste.  A little can of paste has several tablespoons.  So what do you do with the extras?
FREEZE them!
Last night's dinner, Boeuf Bourguignon, called for only one tablespoon of tomato paste.  So I had Teen take the extra from the can and drop tablespoon full on parchment paper (you can use wax paper, just what I had on hand).

Pop in the freezer.  Once frozen, toss in a little Ziploc bag and pull out a tablespoon at a time as needed.
So Simple!

This idea has been shared as Somewhat Simple.

The Perfect Company's Coming Dinner - Crockpot Boeuf Bourguignon

I can just hear Julia Child right now in my kitchen - Today we are going to prepare Boeuf Bourguignon!  Sounds complicated, right?  Wrong, this is almost as easy as making spaghetti!  Finding Joy in My Kitchen delivers a wonderful crockpot version.  Which is even easier than the very simple way I did it on the cooktop.  That is what happens when you have to grocery shop on the day you are preparing a crockpot meal.  I would have been able to still thrown all the goodies in the crock had my day moved a bit faster.  I wasn't comfortable with starting the crockpot on High at 2 for dinner last night.  So I improvised - and it was SO EASY!
Big Guy sat down for dinner, took one bite and said, "OH MY!".  And then there was silence!  This meal is a 5 STAR winner!  If you need an impressive tasting meal for company (family, friends, the boss), this is a guaranteed winner!
Here is Finding Joy in My Kitchen's Boeuf Bourguignon: (for 2 adults, and 2 kids, I 1/2 the recipe and it worked out perfectly!)
Crockpot Boeuf Bourguignon - Adapted from Sarah's Musings

~ 8 T of bacon bits (or 6 strips of bacon, diced)
3 pounds of stew beef, cubed
3 large carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
3 T flour
1 can (14 oz) beef broth/stock
1 C red wine
1 T tomato paste
1 tsp. thyme
1 large bay leaf
1/2 lb. frozen white pearl onions
1 lb. fresh white mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tsp. butter


Cook bacon in a skillet until crispy.  Remove the bacon to drain on a paper towel; leaving the bacon drippings in the pan.  Add meat cubes to the skillet and brown well.  If you use bacon bits, just brown the meat with a little olive oil, adding bacon bits to cook along with the beef.
Place browned meat in the crockpot.  Add carrots, garlic, and onion.  Season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle flour- this is to thicken and create a gravy.  Stir in beef broth and mix well.  Add tomato paste, wine, bacon, bay leaf and pearl onions.  Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours.  About an hour prior to eating, saute mushrooms in melted butter.  Add sliced mushrooms.  Give it a good stir.  Cover again.  Serve over rice or we had a side of mashed potatoes.







Beef browned on cooktop in skillet, carrots and onions cooking.

Flour added, Stir well.

Wine added (I used a Merlot we enjoy drinking)

Tomato Past added.  What do you do with the extra in the can????  Check out this idea!

I added mushrooms directly to the pan since I was cooking on the cooktop.

Final Yummy Result!

Linked to Full Plate Thursday

The new way to Bake Fish! Dijon and Parmesean Crusted Wahoo!

Okay - I'll admit it.  I've already changed the name of this recipe.  It is posted on Allrecipes.com as Dijon Crusted Halibut.  But that does not do it justice!  Not at all!  It forgets to mention the taste of Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, horseradish and a bit of mayo - all together creates a fabulous new way I will be baking fish.
As I am given an ample supply of Wahoo (thank you my dear Brother in law!!!!), I used Wahoo as our fish instead of Halibut.  Any thick white fish would work.  Also, my fillets were a bit thicker and more of them than the original recipe called so I cooked mine about 25 minutes total - till you can put a fork in the middle of one and it feels "flaky".  Hope that made sense.

Ingredients

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tbsp Dijon style prepared Mustard

1 tbsp horseradish (but it you like it spicy!)

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

To go on top of may mixture:

1 tbsp butter, melted

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease baking dish large enough for fillets.

Mix together mustard, mayo, lemon juice, horseradish, breadcrumbs, and cheese.  Place fish in baking dish and spread mixture over top.

Mix together second batch of cheese, bread crumbs, and melted butter.  Sprinkle over fish.

Bake 15-18 minutes or until fish flakes easily.


Served with Onion Rice and Salads. 

This recipe as well as other Simple Ideas for Living can be found at A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa's BlogHop and Life as a mom - go check it out!

So good I have to repeat - Pumpkin Oatmeal!

Two of my favorite foods - Pumpkin and Oatmeal!  A Whisk and A Prayer created one of the most perfect marriages with this dish!  A friend reminded me of this fabulous breakfast food (or snack) when she was looking for filling but healthy breakfast ideas!  So I whisked up a batch tonight, all ready for when I and the crew wake in the morning!

Pumpkin Oatmeal (recipe adapted from A Whisk and A Prayer)

1 cup old fashioned oats, not quick cook

1 Tbs whole flax seeds, optional (I didn't use them as I didn't have them - would if I had)

2 1/2 Tbs brown sugar, packed

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp butter, softened

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup pecans, chopped (optional)

Topping: 

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

2 tsp butter, softened

1 Tbs brown sugar

NOTE - I only used the brown sugar sprinkled over each dish, truly due to lack of motivation to chop pecans late at night!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 4 small dishes (I made 3 servings) or a dish no bigger than 8X8.  Toss Oatmeal with salt.  Set aside.  Mix Vanilla, Butter, Pumpkin, Milk together.  Add spices and brown sugar.  Flax see and pecans if desired.  Spoon into dish/dishes.  Mix topping together. Bake 375 degrees for 15 minutes.  Sprinkle topping over oatmeal and cook another 7-10 minutes.

Enjoy!