I’m putting these suggestions out here because I keep getting visitors based on searches for bear meat recipes. My mother has cooked bear meat and recommends the following:

Cook the meat in a pressure cooker with a cup and a half of water and a half tsp of salt. (The length of time depends on the size of the pressure cooker and the meat–your pressure cooker should give some guidelines.) In general a two-three pound roast takes an hour to an hour and a half.

The pressure cooker method is good because it will keep the meat tender and not allow it to dry out. You can use beef or chicken broth in place of the water and salt.

You can also cook bear meat in a crockpot–this will take much longer, more in the neighborhood of 6 to 8 hours.

If you are worried about bear meat being “gamey” soak the meat overnight in milk, although mom says it was quite mild in flavor and not fatty. You can also cook the bear roast for a few hours in the crockpot and then dump off the liquid and start with fresh liquid in the crockpot. This cooks off a lot of the gamey flavor.

If you want to try herbs in the mix, I’d recommend sage with thyme. If you aren’t partial to those two, try rosemary, but remember it can be strong so go easy with it. In both cases a few onions will also be a nice addition.

Once the meat is cooked, you can serve it a variety of ways–if it is strong in taste, consider making it into a curry. If it is mild, use it in stew or chile. You can probably use the meat in burritos as well–but always pre-cook the bear roast before putting the beans and chiles into the mix. This will allow you to determine if the meat is tender enough and mild enough for your dish.

For non-fatty cuts of meat, you might try jerky.

For ground bear meat, I recommend a nice pot of chile.

In crockpot combine:

Two beef bones and beef stew cuts (about 1/2 to 3/4 pound of meat) The bones are critical in getting enough flavor in the soup. If you leave them out, make sure you use beef stock in place of any of the water.

4 diced celery stalks with leaves
1 diced potato
1/2 diced large onion
1 can tomatoes, diced
1/3 cup sliced green beans
3/4 cup barley or a mix of wild rice and barley
8 cups of stock/water (I use two cans of store beef stock and three cups of water. At the end, I add one more can of chicken stock to blend all the flavors. The canned stock contains a lot of salt, so no additional salt is required.)
1 cup diced carrots

Cook on high in crockpot, covered for 6 to 8 hours, until the meat falls into tender pieces. Add chicken or beef stock as it cooks if more liquid is needed. The barley/rice will soak up the liquid so check it several times. About two hours before you wish to eat, add 1 tablespoon of minced rosemary leaves (optional.)

At the end, remove the bones. Cut any large pieces of meat. Serve with toasted, buttered fresh bread.

This recipe is derived from several attempts at fajitas. I believe that the method of cooking is probably as important as the marinade. Use a flank steak—tenderized or not. Flank steak is generally a little more expensive than skirt steak, but it is miles better.

Marinade

¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon soy sauce
½ tsp sugar
2 dashes of liquid smoke flavoring
1 tsp salt
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp black pepper

Place 1 to 1 and ½ pounds of fajita meat inside a bowl and cover with marinade. Store covered in the refrigerator for 6 to 8 hours, turning the meat once or twice.

When it is time to cook the meal, prepare an iron skillet by melting a tablespoon of butter and stir-fry at least one sliced onion. You can add peppers too if you like them. These should cook down in the skillet for about twenty minutes.

Grill the steak, but make sure you save the marinade.

After the meat is done, remove the onions from the iron skillet and set aside. Slice the meat across the grain into nice fajita strips. Heat the iron skillet very hot. Put the fajita strips in the skillet with half the marinade. Let it sizzle for a few moments, add half the onions, add half the remaining marinade, add the rest of the onions and marinade and let it sizzle. Most of the marinade should be soaked up when this dish is done. Serve with refried beans, salsa, sour cream and cheese.

Salsa

I love fresh salsa!

Refried Beans

Home made refried beans like grandma used to make!

Spanish Rice
Spanish Rice

This recipe is for one pound of beef, sliced 1/4 inch thick. Obviously this recipe works for venison too!

Marinade:

1/4 tablespoon meat tenderizer
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup water
2 finely minced garlic cloves
1/4 tablespoon black pepper
1/4 cup liquid hickory smoke
1/4 cup worcestersire

Marinate the meat in a large sealed plastic bag overnight. Make sure the meat is properly coated (turn and mix a few times).

Dry for 24 hours at 140 degrees in a dehydrator. If using an oven, use a drip pan underneath. Hang strips from topmost rack. Do not allow pieces of meat to touch one another or fold over such that the two ends are touching. If you want the jerky strips to look their best, fold and use a weak clamp at one end of the strip of meat to avoid a large fold in the middle of each piece. Dry at 140 degrees for 24 hours.

When the jerky is done, use a 5% vinegar spray on both sides and allow to air dry. This keeps mold from growing for longer term storage. You can also freeze the jerky, but when you take it out of the freezer, you must thaw flat on paper towels to avoid moisture accumulation.

Sausage or Bacon
I generally cook sausage ahead of time (Jimmy Dean Hot or Sage) and keep it in the freezer. For burritos for two you’ll need about 1/3 cup of cooked sausage or 1 cooked and chopped strip of bacon.

Small Potato:

You’ll need about 1 cup of diced, cooked potato. The fastest cooking method is microwave. Stick a small raw potato several times with a fork (this keeps the potato from exploding).
Cook in the microwave for 3 minutes on high.
Turn the potato over and cook for another 2 minutes. Test doneness with fork. If soft, remove and dice. If not quite ready, microwave for another minute and test. Repeat until the potato is soft. Dice.

Cooking

In a non-stick skillet reheat the frozen sausage (or cook the bacon, dice and drain extra grease from pan).

For fluffiest eggs, scramble two eggs in a bowl with 2 tsp of water.

Add the two scrambled eggs and the diced potato to the skillet. Cook on medium heat, stirring often, until the eggs are done. Because of the meat, you likely won’t need salt or pepper.

Warm precooked flour tortillas or using another griddle type pan, prepare two uncooked tortillas. We use pre-formed, but not cooked tortillas. These are sold here at Wal-Mart in the bread section and also at other grocery stores. Because you basically “grill” them yourself, they are very fresh.

Line the tortillas with the burrito mix, sprinkle shredded cheese and flavor with a spoonful or two of fresh salsa!

I fell in love with Carrabba’s Caesar salad from the first time I tried it. Luckily, the owners of the restaurant published a cookbook with the recipe:

Ciao Y’All by Damian Mandola and Johnny Carrabba

If you want the exact recipe, I’d advise you to get the book or check it out from the library. I tried the recipe, but even with perfection, I had to have my own additions/subtractions, tweaking here and there until the dressing I made was distinctly my own. That said, I certainly do recommended the recipe in the cookbook!

One other note: I keep getting searches by people who want to make caesar dressing without anchovies–try anchovy paste and/or worcestershire sauce as a substitute, but keep in mind anchovy is the heart of caesar salad dressing.

Here’s my version of Caesar Salad Dressing:

Open and drain 1 can (2 oz) of anchovies. Place the anchovies in plain water. This removes some of the salt and since the oil in the anchovies is permeated with the fish, it also keeps the anchovies from being too strong in the recipe.

Soak the anchovies for five to ten minutes and drain the water and oil off.

Mince 4 medium or 2 large cloves of garlic and put in bottom of blender with 2 tablespoons of olive oil
Blend on low speed (you won’t get much blending at this stage).

Add to blender:
1 scant tablespoons capers
8-10 anchovies (1 can) –or 1 1/2 tablespoons anchovy paste
Blend on low speed until completely mixed.

Add:
1 and 1/2 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp sugar
Blend again on low speed.

Add:
3 egg yolks with a little of the egg whites (or two very large eggs)
Blend on low speed until everything is creamy and well-mixed.

After everything has mixed well, continue blending on slowest speed and drizzle slowly into the blender:

1 1/4 cups olive oil.
Adding it slowly allows the mixture to “cream.”

When everything is well blended:
Add 8-9 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
juice from 1/2 medium lemon

Blend

Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup grated (not packed) romano or asiago cheese and blend again.

For the salad, tear romaine lettuce and slice fresh mushrooms. Toss. Use about 2 tablespoons of the salad dressing per salad serving. Serve with extra romano, parmesan or asiago cheese on top!

This recipe is actually derived from the standard “tuna casserole” that you probably ate as a child. I never loved tuna so I started changing it and this is the result.

Note about Green Chile: I get mine straight from New Mexico, but that won’t be possible for everyone. You can find canned green chiles in the Mexican food section of most grocery stores. You can also buy it fresh and roast it yourself. Roasting should be done on an outside grill. Once roasted, chiles must be peeled and eaten or frozen. If you are roasting it yourself, roast on low heat on an outside grill, turning occasionally until the skins are blackened. Cool, peel and chop—you might want to use protective gloves. Chile oils will soak through your skin and can cause severe irritation and burning. If you wear contacts, DO NOT try removing your contacts after peeling hot chilies. Trust me on this.

Discard the peelings. Depending on how hot the chilies are, you may want to remove the seeds. For this casserole, I recommend removing the seeds. If the chiles are extremely hot and you intend to freeze them, remove the seeds before freezing. Chiles freeze very well in plastic bags, but the seeds become hard and rubbery and you’ll have to remove them when you thaw the frozen chiles. I travel to New Mexico at least once a year and obtain a hefty supply of these to get me through the year.

Recipe

Boil 12 oz of dried pasta

Mix in bowl:

4 oz cream cheese
1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can of chicken breast meat (you can substitute grilled chicken of course)
Approximately 3 chopped green chiles (you can leave this out if you can’t find them, but they are yummy!)

Microwave the bowl of cheese and other stuff for one minute at a time, stirring between heating for a total heating time of about 3 minutes. Add the rinsed hot pasta and stir.

That’s it. It’s a simple meal and I think it is a vast improvement on tuna casserole.

Katsu is a Japanese deep-fried cutlet. I make mine more like stir-fry, but I do use “Panko Flakes” which are Japanese style bread crumbs. These crumbs are very light and flaky, but larger flakes than store-bought American crumbs. They are more like crackers than bread.

Katsu is served over steamed white rice.

The secret to good katsu is two-fold:

• Milenese cut meat or chicken breasts pounded thin
• Katsu sauce

Katsu sauce is a vegetable and fruit sauce made from sugar, vinegar, apple puree, salt, tomato paste, prune paste, carrots and the old secret “spices.” I’ve never tried to make my own. This sauce is readily found in Asian stores. More and more frequently regular grocery stores are starting to carry it. The only brand I’ve ever seen in the US is “Bull-Dog.” It is also referred to as “Tonkatsu Sauce.”

To make one pound of Katsu: (Serves 3 to 4 people).

Prepare your steamed rice and any vegetable for the meal before you start the katsu cutlets.

Pour approximately one cup of panko style breadcrumbs on paper plate or waxed paper.
In large, flat bowl, beat one egg with 1/4 cup of water.

Dip the meat strips in the egg.

Place the strips, one at a time, on the breadcrumbs. Coat both sides carefully, pressing the crumbs lightly to help them stick.

Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a skillet and heat the oil.

Place the cutlets in the hot oil. You only want to turn these once so let the first side cook until the color of the top side starts to turn white. You can lift the cutlets to check the bottom, but try not to do it more than once.

It takes about five minutes for each side to cook, medium heat. If your cutlet is thick (1/2 inch) you will want to cover the pan while it is cooking. Milenese cuts or thinly pounded cuts cook fine without covering.

When both sides have browned, place on a clean paper plate to help drain any excess oil.

For a pound of meat, I use two skillets to cook all the cutlets at the same time.

For serving, cut the meat into strips and place on top of steamed rice. The katsu sauce can be served in a separate dish and used as a dipping sauce or you can make a nice design with the katsu sauce across the top of the cutlet.

The key to a good sandwich is to start with good bread and in this case, good chicken. I recommend that you first marinate and grill chicken breasts, but this recipe can be made with canned chicken.

Dice 2 grilled chicken breasts
Dice 4 stalks of celery. Use the inner stalks and dice them very fine.
Mince 2 tablespoons of a sweet onion
chop 1/2 cup of pecans
dice 1/2 of a sweet apple such as gala (apple is optional).

Mix all these ingredients in a medium bowl with enough mayonaise to keep all ingredients together. Mix in two tablespoons Miracle Whip (this will sweeten the mix–you could put in a pinch of sugar if you don’t have miracle whip, but it won’t be *quite* the same.)

Serve on bread with slices of tomato, lettuce and alfalfa sprouts.

These dumplings are not hard to make, but they do take about a half hour prep time. I buy the wrappers pre-made from an Asian market. Most grocery stores carry these wrappers, although Asians stores will give you a larger choice of brands. In the Asian store where I shop, I buy them frozen. They thaw within minutes. The square ones are generally a little bigger than the round ones and a bit easier to work with.

You can add more or less vegetables to the recipe (or none at all.)

One package dumpling skins

One pound premium pork Jimmy Dean Sage or Hot Sausage
4 ounces minced mushrooms
Minced green onions (2 onions)

Hand mix the minced mushrooms into the sausage. Drop about two teaspoons of the sausage/mushroom mix onto a dumpling wrap and fold the dough over, pressing along the edges. The dough won’t stick in every place, but will adhere during cooking or freezing.

Other vegetables that you can add to the sausage mix:
Minced Chinese Cabbage (2 leaves, finely minced)
Minced sweet yellow onion (1/4 cup) instead of green onions
1 finely minced Jalapeno

I would not add minced carrots. I’ve tried carrots and they impart a strong flavor and tend to take over the dish.

To cook:

Steam method
Line a bamboo steamer with Chinese Cabbage and place the dumplings on the cabbage. Steam over a pot of boiling water for twenty minutes. (The bamboo steamer should be covered during cooking.)

Stir fry method:
Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a large flat skillet. Place dumplings in the pan and cook, covered, over low heat. When the first side has lightly browned (about 5 to 7 minutes) turn and cook the other side, again, leaving the skillet covered.

Dumpling Dipping Sauce

Dumpling sauce is very easy:

1/2 cup light soy sauce
1/2 tsp minced ginger (I buy the kind in a jar, but ginger root is readily available in the grocery. Cut off the dark outer skin and grate the root.)
1 tsp sesame oil (Get 100 percent Sesame oil, not one that is mixed with other oils.)

Let sit at room temperture for about 15 minutes before serving.

Serve dumplings with steamed rice.
As a meal, you will need about six dumplings per person.

Freezing
Dumplings freeze well. I do not cook before freezing. Lay dumplings flat in a large freezer bag (not touching one another as much as is possible). Store frozen for up to about a month. Do not thaw before cooking. Place directly in the steamer or fry pan and cook. If the dumplings are stuck together, heat gently (a few seconds in the microwave) and peel apart.

Important: Use linguini or other thin noodle. The best kind is the fresh pasta found in the refrigerated section. Contadina is my favorite, but there are other brands. You’ll need about a ½ pound of pasta to feed two people.

Start your pasta water boiling while you fix the rest of the dish.

Mince 2 to 3 cloves of fresh garlic.

Next, sauté or toast the garlic in 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a deep skillet. It burns easily so be careful!

When the garlic is done, add 2 tablespoons fresh, minced parsley.

Add two cans (5.5 ounce cans) of minced clams including juice and heat slowly.

Add a dash of pepper flakes (two or three sprinkles.)

Add about ¼ cup chardonnay. Splurge and get a decent wine—not one from the “cooking” wine section of the store (salt is added to ”cooking wines”).

Simmer this whole mixture for a couple of minutes. It’s going to be mostly water.  Add 4 to 6 tablespoons of heavy cream.

When the pasta is done, add it to the pan with the clams. You need to simmer again, very low for at least 5 minutes. You don’t want to boil off the juice, but you want most of it to soak into the pasta. I usually heat it for about 5 minutes and then turn it off and let it sit another five or ten minutes.

Serve with parmesan cheese and garlic bread.

Note: You can substitute shrimp for the clams—if you do, you’ll need to add bottled clam juice or about 1 cup of chicken broth. Add the chopped shrimp right after the parsley and cook through before adding the clam juice and chardonnay.

I know. It’s easier to open a can. BUT, it isn’t as good as this recipe–which is made the day before, so is well-worth the quick effort. Thanks, Renee, for sharing your fabulous recipe!

Frozen Cranberry Salad

Ingredients:
12 oz bag of fresh cranberries
1 can of crushed pineapple in its own juice (about 20 ounces)
16 oz bag of miniature marshmallows
1 pint whipping cream
½ C sugar

Directions:
Chop cranberries in a food processor or blender. Mix with sugar and put in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix pineapple and marshmallows.

Refrigerate both bowls for an hour.

After the hour is up, whip cream until it’s nice and fluffy. Mix in the contents of both bowls. Pour everything into a 9×13 pan. Freeze.

Remove from freezer about 30 minutes before serving. It is supposed to be served partially frozen.

Egg drop soup depends heavily on the taste of the broth so if you make your own broth from bones (chicken, pork or a combo), your soup will have more flavor. This Chicken and Rice recipe includes a recipe for making your own broth.

If you are using canned broth, I highly recommend that you enhance the flavor by steeping such items as: ½ cup of cabbage, dried porcini or shitake mushrooms.

To make the soup, pour two cans of chicken broth (approximately 30 oz of broth) in a saucepan:

Add:

4 or 5 minced baby carrots
½ cup minced onion
1/3 – ½ cup minced celery with leaves
¼ – ½ cup cooked sage sausage
3 or 4 diced white mushrooms
(½ cup cabbage/two dried porcini or shitake mushrooms for flavoring)

When the vegetables are tender, remove the cabbage, porcini and/or shitake mushrooms.
Mix 2 tablespoons cornstarch with 2 tablespoons cold water and add to broth while stirring.

Scramble one egg in a bowl. Pour about half the egg into the chicken broth in a thin stream back and forth across the broth. Wait a few seconds until the egg begins to float to the top. Stir. Add remaining egg in a thin stream. Wait and then stir. Add about a tsp of sesame oil to the soup and stir well.

Kernel corn is another common addition to this soup. To make it meatless, omit the sausage, use vegetable broth and add a pinch of sage.

Everyone loves a good pancake!  My favorite mix is Pioneer Buttermilk Mix–altered slightly to make it tastier and maybe even healthier.  Here’s the recipe I use:

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

3/4 cup Pioneer Buttermilk Biscuit and Baking Mix

1/4 cup ground oatmeal (put regular oatmeal in a food processor and grind to flour)

Mix everything and then make pancakes as usual.  You can use 1/2 cup Pioneer and 1/2 cup oatmeal if you want to get even healthier.  The oats add a touch of old fashioned character.  Serve with real maple syrup.  Yum!

I’ve been playing with recipes for Alfredo Sauce for years. I found one that I liked in the cold section of my grocery and relied on that until recently when the price went way up and they slashed the size of the container. So this is my recipe so far. Subject to change. And it may be a bit hard to follow because the measurements are somewhat inexact at this time. Boil the noodles and have them ready before you begin the sauce. If you want grilled chicken in the dish, grill and dice it ahead of time. Mushrooms should always be cooked ahead of time, separate from the sauce. If you add uncooked or slightly cooked mushrooms to alfredo sauce it gets very thin and watery.

Okay, here it is, the almost masterpiece:

1/4 cup butter melted in heavy-duty sauce pan

To the butter add:
2 ounces cream cheese

Stir constantly with a wire wisk while melting the cheese/butter over low heat.

When the cream cheese is melted, it will result in a somewhat thick sauce. Slowly add half and half, about 1/4 cup at a time, up to about 3/4 cup. Continue stirring with the wire wisk as you add. You want the mixture to thin before you add the “real” cheese.

Begin adding shredded parmesan or romano cheese, about 1/8 cup (not packed) at a time. Add and stir with the wisk slowly to give it time to melt into the mixture. I used between 4 and 5 ounces total. If the mixture gets too thick while you’re adding the cheese, add a little half and half (drizzle some in–I’d guess about 1/8th cup) and then more cheese until the consistency is right. You don’t want it too thick–it will thicken as it cools and adheres to the noodles. I like mine just a little thinner/runnier than pancake mix.

The above amount easily serves two people as a main course (with chicken) with plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day. If you serve salad and bread, I’d say the above can accommodate four people.

The first few times I made this dish with cream–it results in a thicker sauce that doesn’t reheat as well (tends to separate). The half and half is also marginally better for me.

When the sauce is the consistency you want, toss the noodles and chicken in the dish. Grilled shrimp, crab and/or grilled scallops go very well in this dish also.

Ooooh, la-la! Today’s mailbag brought a very special treat. Saffron. From the French Alps. I’m not talking about powder either–these are the actual saffron threads. Rich, dark maroon with the elusive smell like that of a fine wine. A sweet flowery scent that you can almost taste.

You know I had to try saffron. I talked about trying to grow it myself, but the bulbs are very hard to procure (the ones that produce the cooking saffron, not the decorative plant.) But Lucile, from Glandeves, helped resolve my curiosity. She not only sent the wonderful French Alp saffron, she included some rare, wild grown saffron from the Himalayan region of Tibet and a great looking tea from Tibet as well. The tea is a mix of saffron and top-grade white peony. It’s a “white” tea–I can’t wait to try it. With the perfume of saffron, it is bound to be a luxury. I’m also very partial to natural teas.

Glandeves has some other pretty unique saffron products–a syrup, a liquor, and even saffron meringues. The site is in French and English.

Lucile–THANK YOU!!!

If anyone has any favorite saffron recipes, send them my way. I’m going to be trying my hand at paella, I think, but I may need to start with something a little easier, perhaps a cream sauce over rice with fish. Yum!!

Update: I tried the tea. It is quite wonderful. It is a little like the fine Japanese teas that I had in Japan. It is smoother than most green teas, however. Definitely hints of sunshine in an open field of grass and flowers.

Homemade granola is quite good and lower in salt and sugar than most store-bought granola snacks. Here’s my recipe:

4 cups of oatmeal
1 cup bran cereal
1 cup grapenut cereal
(You want about 6 cups of cereal–you can pick your own favorites!)
1 cup flour
1 cup powdered milk
1 cup chopped pecans

In small bowl mix:
1 cup melted margarine or baking-type olive oil
3/4 cup honey warmed slightly in microwave for easier stirring
1/2 cup buttermilk

Mix everything together in 9/13 oblong baking pan. Make sure it is mixed well–any cereal or powdered milk not coated with the liquid mixture isn’t going to bake well.

Cook at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes. Stir once after 15 minutes. The longer you bake it, the crunchier the granola. If it isn’t sweet enough for your taste-buds, up the honey to 1 cup and/or when eating this mix as cereal, you can always add sugar!

This recipe started from a newspaper clipping from at least twenty years ago. I’d give the chef credit for his/her part in it, but have no idea who submitted it or what paper it came from! It’s an excellent dish and simple to make, but a tad high in calories if you’re watching that sort of thing.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 to 3/4 cup of chicken broth
2 small cans of green chilies, chopped (or you can use fresh roasted and diced green chiles)
2 tsp mustard

1 cup cream

4 oz Monterey jack cheese, grated

Hot cooked rice

Marinade
Marinate the chicken breasts for at least four hours in:

1 tablespoon honey
4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil

Cooking Instructions:

You can grill the chicken breasts for additional flavor, but if not, in ovenproof skillet, sauté the chicken breasts and garlic in a couple tablespoons of olive oil. When they are almost cooked, add chicken broth, chopped chilies and mustard.

Cook on pretty high heat until the liquid has cooked down some. Add cream and simmer. Sprinkle with cheese and then put the skillet under the broiler until cheese melts.

Serve over the rice. Steamed asparagus or steamed brocolli goes wonderfully as a side for this dish.

This green chile enchilada recipe is a casserole. Think of it as Mexican lasagna. It freezes very well, which is a good thing because it takes about a half hour to prepare.

Two dozen corn tortillas

16 oz sour cream
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 to 1 pound grated monterey jack cheese (or mix some cheddar in there too!)

Sautee:
1 minced garlic clove
6 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms
1 large sweet yellow onion, diced
6 fresh green chiles, diced (about 1 1/2 cups) You can use roasted chiles also.
2 diced jalapenos
1 pound hamburger

When hamburger and vegetables are cooked through, mix in the sour cream and cream of mushroom soup.

Spray bottom of large casserole pan with non-stick spray (glass or metal). Use at least a 9×11 pan a deep pan is best.

Layer the bottom with a row of corn tortillas. Spoon a thin layer of hamburger mix across the tortillas and then a layer of cheese. Add a layer of tortillas and so on until the casserole dish is completely layered, ending with cheese (you should get about 3 to 5 layers.) Refrigerate for two or three hours to let the flavors begin to meld. Bake at 350 for 40 to 50 minutes until the center is hot. You can bake covered or uncovered.

Serve with Spanish Rice and refried beans. Creamy jalapeno sauce is an excellent toppping for this casserole.

This sauce is commonly used to smother burritos, tacos, and enchiladas (where green chile is already in the enchiladas, but the sauce is poured over the top for additional flavor). The sauce uses previously roasted and peeled green chiles.

In skillet, heat 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil. Saute the following:

1 minced garlic clove
1 small onion, diced

When the onions are soft, add
1 small fresh roma tomato, diced (if you’re using canned tomatoes do not saute merely add at the end)

Heat until tomatoes have softened.

Add six to eight roasted, peeled and diced green chiles and ½ cup to ¾ cup chicken stock. (Note: If you do not have roasted chiles, you need to sautee the fresh chiles with the onions!)

Simmer on low heat for five to ten minutes so that the flavors merge. Serve on top of your favorite recipes!

Can also be served as a salsa. Can be eaten as a side dish lightly smothered with monterey jack cheese.

Look here for instructions on how to roast and freeze green chiles.

Grilled chicken breasts can be used in a variety of dishes: chicken salad sandwiches, chicken casseroles, chicken in alfredo sauce, chicken in pasta salad.

All require a nice, simple marinade to keep the chicken juicy and flavorful. Here’s my favorite:

Marinate chicken and ingredients for 3 to 4 hours. I usually start with frozen chicken. Marinate until the chicken is thawed, turning several times.

4 or 5 breasts of chicken
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons olive oil

The olive oil will keep the chicken from sticking during cooking. The soy and honey will carmelize just slightly when grilled, giving a wonderful depth to the chicken. Once the chicken is grilled, top it with sauteed mushrooms, onions and cheese. Or dice the chicken and use in quesadillas or one of the other dishes described above.

Grill or pan broil.

Enjoy!

The secret to grilled salmon is to avoid overgrilling. If anything it’s better slightly cool in the middle than overcooked. When you overcook it, that is when the fishy smell and taste enter the picture.

Start with fresh salmon, not frozen. It’s easier to grill with the skin on. If there are scales on the non-skin side (the eating side), rinse them off and pat dry. Sprinkle the eating side with seasoning. I use furikake flakes–I prefer Aji Nori or Nori Komi. (Furikake can be found in Asian stores. It’s a mix of salt, sugar, roasted sesame seeds and small pieces of nori seaweed. It’s very flavorful–mostly a fruity sweet sensation. The sugar in the mix helps helps the salmon sear. Delicious!)

If you don’t happen to have furikake flakes, I’d advise dissolving a 1/2 tsp sugar per salmon serving (about 1/4 to 1/3 of a pound), or a 1/2 tsp of honey or 1 tablespoon orange juice in soy sauce and water. Brush the eating side of the salmon before grilling.

Grill skin side first and then eating side last. If you aren’t sure when it is done, take it off and see if the middle flakes apart–a bit of resistance is okay! It takes about 15 minutes total to grill a 3/4 pound piece of salmon.

When the salmon is done, peel the skin off, cut to individual serving size and serve with salad and wild rice!

This recipe bears a resemblance to my chicken casserole recipe, but instead of pasta, it’s made with rice. Instead of chicken, it uses hamburger. It’s a good meal that can be thrown together quickly because most ingredients can be kept on hand (frozen hamburger, cream cheese lasts forever in the fridge, onions, canned green chiles if you don’t have fresh, and garlic.) The mushrooms are an important ingredient and hard to keep fresh on hand, but you could use canned or leave them out. I also have a rice maker, so that makes this dish speedier and easier. Here’s the dish, with the preferred ingredients:

In skillet brown/sauté the following:

1 pound lean hamburger
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium chopped onion
3 chopped Anaheim chile or two chopped poblano chiles (can substitute a can or two of chopped Anaheim chiles found in the southwest section of most stores, usually with taco supplies.)
4 to 6 ounces fresh chopped mushrooms

You’ll need three cups of cooked rice. After it is done cooking and has “rested” for five to ten minutes, add 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and 4 ounces cream cheese.

When the hamburger mixture is cooked, add it to the rice.

Voila! You have homemade hamburger helper!

Additional, optional toppings:

• Bacon bits
• Slivered almonds
• Toasted pine nuts

Imitation crab purchased in the store is extremely high in salt. Luckily it is very easy to make your own imitation crab–without the salt, but just as delicious!

Thaw and drain excess water from 1 pound of frozen Pollock fish. Marinate in:

4 tablespoons sweet white wine (I actually use a nectar pear wine–you can use chardonnay.)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 tablespoon honey

Directions:
When the fish is ready to cook place flat on lightly greased (I use olive oil) tin foil.

Bake in oven at 300 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until the fish flakes apart.
Drain as much water as possible from the fish and chop. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. The sesame seeds are particularly good in California rolls.

Add and mix well: 1 tablespoon regular sugar. (Imitation crab is highly sweetened!)

Higher Salt Alternative Seasoning:
To make it taste even more like crab, add one can of real crab (or fresh, cleaned crabmeat.) Be aware that canned crabmeat is quite high in salt, but mixing in one can with the pollock dilutes the salt and adds to the overall taste! I rinse the canned crab meat which also helps take some of the salt out.

Use the fish in place of most any imitation crab recipe—salads, California rolls, and dips. Because it is not “pressed” or colored, it may not work for recipes that call for crab sticks.

There are many types of curry dishes—curried rice, stews, curry flavored vegetables. This recipe most closely resembles curry that I had while in Japan. It is best described as a thick stew. I use a store-bought curry sauce rather than making my own curry roux. I do this not because I am lazy, but because I really like the flavor. Curry is not a single herb, which is why curry dishes vary so widely in types and flavors. By using the store-bought roux, I get a consistent flavor. The roux is available in most Asian markets: S&B Golden Curry Mix and it comes in hot, medium and mild. I use the “hot,” but it isn’t very spicy. Other people I know mix half mild and half hot because the curries do seem to have a different flavor. Some Albertson’s stores used to carry this brand also.

Add to a crockpot approximately:

1 ½ cups diced potatoes
1 ½ cups diced carrots
1 ½ cup chopped onion
1 stalk celery, chopped (optional)
enough water to just cover the vegetables (about 4 cups)

approximately 6 oz curry block—it comes in various sized packages I use about a small package and sometimes throw in an extra block or two (half a package) depending on the size of the batch.

2 grilled chicken breasts, sliced into bite-sized morsels (you can use beef or shrimp also—for those who hunt wild game that is gamier than you like, such meat is good in this dish—simply soak the wild game in milk overnight, drain and then grill it or cook in a pressure cooker. Add it to the curry crockpot mix and let cook for several hours.

Cook all ingredients in the crockpot until vegetables are tender, checking occasionally to see if more water is required. The sauce should generally be about the consistency of a cream soup such as a clam chowder, but can be made thin like a broth soup.

Serve over fluffy white rice.

Warning: Do not add salt to this dish if you are buying a prepackaged curry sauce mix. There is more than enough salt in the curry blocks.