Category Archives: Sides and Sauces

Hominy Casserole

Posted in Quick and Easy, Sides and Sauces by

The “freshman 15” is a pretty predictable college situation. The combination of 24-hour dining halls, lack of organized mealtimes and homecooked food, lack of structured sports practices, and, well, beer, can all be blamed. In my case, going from a home where my parents cooked delicious food to a dorm where the food was, in my opinion, subpar, and walking everywhere had a surprisingly opposite effect – I lost my freshman 15. In the dining hall, everything tasted about the same level of “blah” but nutrition information was displayed so I always just picked the healthiest option, drowned it in cholula or sriracha, and went from there.

Oddly, hominy was a staple of the Texas Tech dining hall in the early 2000s. I had never encountered hominy before college, so I lovingly referred to it as “mutant corn” – and I usually ate a scoop if it was an option (I actually wasn’t far off – hominy IS kind of a mutant corn). During that same time, I started dating my husband and his family also, shockingly, served mutant corn often. Their hominy was far superior to dorm hominy, so in the 13 years since eating it the first time, I’ve never found a need to cook it any other way.

This hominy is the ultimate comfort casserole. It’s totally benign, it’s good leftover, and it’s so easy, I’m kind of embarrassed to put it in a blog, except that my only copy of the recipe exists in an email from my mother-in-law from 2005.

Hominy Casserole

2 cans hominy (white, yellow, or one of each)

3/4 cup sour cream

1 large or 2 small cans of diced green chiles

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°. Stir the drained hominy, sour cream, and green chiles together. Fold in half of the cheese.
  2. Pour the mixture into an 8×8 casserole dish, season with salt and pepper, and top with the remaining cheese.
  3. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbling.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Posted in Cooking, Entree, Quick and Easy, Sides and Sauces by

My mom has been making Linda McCartney’s Macaroni and Cheese for as long as I can remember. It’s a huge crowd pleaser – everyone loves it (kids and adults), it’s great as a side for BBQ, and it’s easy to make. When I lived with my mom, it was super easy to make this macaroni at any time because either the cookbook it resides in or my mom was present to remind me of measurements, times, etc. But alas, we moved, my mom kept Linda, and sometimes I want to make the macaroni myself.

One time I was making it and couldn’t get a hold of my mom, so I googled it (because these days most cookbook recipies have been reblogged). Fortunately, it had been blogged in unaltered form, but the blogger, whoever he or she was, said they tried but HATED the recipe. Which is absolutely ridiculous. Basically, I don’t want anyone who can’t appreciate the best ever recipe for baked macaroni and cheese getting hits on their blog, so I’m sharing it here.

Linda McCartney’s Macaroni and Cheese

1 lb. shell macaroni (she says 12oz, but I use the whole bag)

2 cups milk

1 egg

3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp butter

S&P

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°. Boil the macaroni for half of the prescribed time (5-6 minutes). Meanwhile, whisk the egg into the milk and grate the cheese. Stir half of the cheese into the milk mixture.
  2. Drain the half-cooked pasta and pour into a 9×13 casserole dish. Stir the butter into the pasta to melt it. Pour the milk, egg, and cheese mixture over the pasta and stir everything together. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, season with salt and pepper, and bake for 30-40 minutes until the cheese is bubbly.

We had it with steaks last night, which was great because we could focus on steak cooking while the macaroni was baking and everything was done at the same time.

 

 

Elotes – Mexican Street Corn

Posted in Cooking, Quick and Easy, Sides and Sauces by

I find myself so fascinated by shows like “Extreme Couponing” – coming up to the checkout with $500 worth of mayonnaise and antacids and slowly watching the total dwindle down to $6.75 must be a huge adrenaline rush and I applaud the thriftiness of these coupon mavens. Unfortunately, I find three problems with extreme couponing:

1. It takes time, which I don’t have.

2. I have neither the space nor the desire to store $500 worth of mayonnaise and antacids.

3. I take my food seriously and coupons for real foods (produce, protein, and dairy) don’t really exist.

So what’s a girl to do? I am pretty much bound to seasonal produce and often improvise a dish based on what’s on sale. I do prefer eating seasonal produce, but sometimes eating the same stuff for weeks on end becomes pretty lame. Thus was the case with corn. I just can’t pass up a good corn deal, and for the last 6-8 weeks it’s been 6-8 ears for $1. Insane – I can’t pass that up. Unfortunately, my family started getting really sick of corn (other than my daughter) – boiled, buttered corn is delicious, but it’s not a weekly staple. We had to revamp the corn. In came elotes – street corn! Grilled and sauced, it brings new life to lowly corn. You’ll start to think it SHOULD be a weekly dish – in fact, I might be sad when it becomes expensive again.

I’ve had elotes from restaurants that was boiled corn with the elotes sauce – it’s fine, and in a pinch is still good, but if at all possible, grill the corn. We’ve served it on and off of the cob, and while it’s good both ways, it’s less of a mess to eat if you cut it from the cob.

Elotes

8 ears fresh corn

1/2 cup mayonnaise (1 step closer to clearing the coupon stash!)

1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt

1/2 cup shredded cotija or queso fresco cheese

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp garlic salt (regular salt is fine, too)

1 garlic clove

1 lime

handful of fresh cilantro

1. Shuck the corn, heat the grill. Stir together the mayonnaise and sour cream until well combined. Add in the chili powder, paprika, and garlic salt. Mince or press the garlic and add the garlic and cheese to the sauce. Chop the cilantro and cut the lime into small wedges.

2. Place the corn directly on the grill, turning frequently (8-10 minutes) until all sides are nicely charred. Cut the corn from the cob and serve with the sauce, a squeeze of lime, and a little cilantro.

Vinegar-based Barbecue Sauce

Posted in Cooking, Sides and Sauces by

A few weeks ago I posted a recipe for BBQ sauce – a classic, sweet, molasses-y sauce that’s great with beef, especially brisket.  This sauce has a different flavor – it’s a little more of a Tennessee style, vinegar-based sauce.  It isn’t as sweet – a little more tangy.  It’s especially good with pork and chicken.  When you grill and smoke meat as often as the men in my life, there’s room for a bevy of sauces.

This particular recipe comes from none other than Aaron Franklin – of Franklin’s BBQ fame.  I think his has some “secret” ingredients, but this is the recipe he’s willing to share and it’s pretty stellar.  There’s also something to be said for the combination of the smoker smell happening outside and the sauce cooking inside – your mouth basically waters all day.

Vinegar-based Barbecue Sauce

2 sticks of butter

1/2 of a yellow onion

1 1/2 cups ketchup

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

half of a lemon

1. In a saucepan over high heat, melt the butter.  Chop the onion finely and add to the butter, cooking until translucent (note that the smell of onions cooking in butter is one of the best in the world!).  Add the ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, and spices.  Stir everything together and cook until it comes to a boil.  Turn the heat down and simmer on the stove for at least 30 minutes, until it has reduced to a thick sauce.

2. Squeeze in the lemon juice and stir to combine.  This sauce has no emulsifiers, so the butter and vinegar will separate.  I store mine in a jar and shake it up before I use it.

Basic Salsa

Posted in Quick and Easy, Sides and Sauces by

I am truly embarrassed at how much of my life I spent buying salsa instead of making it myself.  Homemade is fun, it tastes better, it’s cheaper, and totally customizable!  I typically double this recipe and fill many jars to store and give away, but even the recipe as-is will give you a good amount.  Start with the base and then taste and add things as needed, especially peppers.

I make mine in the food processor, but I’ve done it in a blender in a pinch – you just have to do smaller amounts and stir together.  I generally start with the big can of the tomatoes and one can of rotel to break it down, then move a good amount to a mixing bowl just to free up some space in the food processor.  If you don’t, some of the garlic and onions tend to get lost and don’t break down, but you won’t find them until you’re pouring it into jars and it will irritate you.

Basic Salsa

28oz can whole tomatoes

2 cans rotel

half of an onion, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1-2 jalapenos (you’ll start with half of one – they can really vary in heat), stemmed and seeded

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

handful of cilantro leaves

1-2T lime juice

1. Process the tomatoes and one of the cans of rotel until they reach the desired consistency.  Pour half of the mixture into a large bowl.  Then add the other can of rotel, the onions, and garlic, and process until all of the garlic and onion bits are broken down adequately.  Add half of a jalepeno (the whole jalepeno if you know you want it hot), and the spices.  Blend again.  Add the cilantro leaves and lime juice, blend again.

2. Pour everything else into the big bowl and stir to combine.  Give it a taste – add more jalapeno, salt, garlic or lime to taste.  Store in jars in the refrigerator.  If well sealed, they will last a few months.  If you need it to last longer, I’d recommend freezing.