Pasta ala Marlboro Man (from Pioneer Woman)

You've gotta go to her post. I simply cannot do it justice. I made a half batch and we had enough left over for a generous lunch. The only changes I made were simmering the meat for an hour covered instead of just 30 min. (My window of free time was during the boys' naptime which was slightly earlier in the day than the proper time would have been to be cooking this, but it came out really well anyhow.)

Goopy Burgers

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 1/2 c. chopped onion
1/3 c. chopped green pepper
1 1/2 tspn. vinegar
1 can tomato soup
1 tspn. salt
1 tspn. dry mustard
1/2 tspn. thyme

Brown, drain, mix, simmer 20 minutes uncovered.

These are basically homemade sloppy joes. Matt's Granny made them for him as a kid. One of his favorites. I serve on fresh HEB kaiser rolls with tots on the side.

Buffalo Wings

This is our new go-to wing recipe.


Ingredients
12 whole chicken wings
3 ounces unsalted butter
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt


Directions
Place a 6-quart saucepan with a steamer basket and 1-inch of water in the bottom, over high heat, cover and bring to a boil.

Remove the tips of the wings and discard or save for making stock. Using kitchen shears, or a knife, separate the wings at the joint. Place the wings into the steamer basket, cover, reduce the heat to medium and steam for 10 minutes. Remove the wings from the basket and carefully pat dry. Lay the wings out on a cooling rack set in a half sheet pan lined with paper towels and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Replace the paper towels with parchment paper. Roast on the middle rack of the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the wings over and cook another 20 minutes or until meat is cooked through and the skin is golden brown.

While the chicken is roasting, melt the butter in a small bowl along with the garlic. Pour this along with hot sauce and salt into a bowl large enough to hold all of the chicken and stir to combine.

Remove the wings from the oven and transfer to the bowl and toss with the sauce. Serve warm.

Skrit Steak with Blue Cheese Butter

1 1/2 to 2 lbs skirt steak (tenderized flank steak)
evoo (extra virgin olive oil) for drizzling
steak seasoning blend
4 Tbspn butter, softened
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
2 Tbspn chopped chives

Heat a grill pan over high heat. (Matt used a regular non-stick skillet pan) Drizzle meat with evoo and steak or grill seasoning blend. Grill meat 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove meat and let it rest 5 minutes to allow juices to redistribute.

Mix butter with cheese crumbles and chives.

Slice meat very thin on a heavy angle. Place the meat on a plate and top with small scoops of blue cheese butter. Butter gets all oozie-melty. So yummy.

Courtesy of Rachael Ray - 30 minute meals.

We made up a box of wild rice and sauteed some spinach for sides. Made for a quick and yummy dinner.

Perfect Lemonade

Okay, this is more of a ratio than a recipe, but I wanted to put it down somewhere because I'm constantly forgetting it.

Perfect Lemonade Recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
1 cup lemon juice
3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

METHOD

Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely.
While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.
Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.
Serve with ice, sliced lemons.

Chicken Florentine Style

This is a Food Network recipe my sister in law told me about. I can't get Food Network to cooperate today, so no link for you. But here's the recipe (with my shortcuts):

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
all-purpose flour
4 T butter (less than original recipe)
2 T diced shallots or mild onion
1 T chopped garlic
1 1/2 c dry white wine (you could use chicken stock if you aren't a wine person)
1 c whipping cream (or milk)
1 T fresh parsley
2 10 oz packages frozen cut spinach, cooked in the microwave

Season chicken and dredge in flour, shake off extra. Melt 2 T butter in heavy skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook 5 min per side or til browned. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

Meanwhile, cook the spinach in the microwave.

Melt 2 T butter in the same skillet as before over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic and saute until translucent, scraping the skillet as you go. Add wine and increase heat to med-high; boil until liquid is reduced by half, about 3 min. Add cream and boil until reduced by half, about 3 min, stirring often. Add parsley and season to taste. Add chicken and any accumulated juices back to the sauce and turn to coat. To serve, put chicken on top of spinach and pour sauce over. (I also added some whole wheat angel hair pasta because there was some extra sauce.)

Classy enough to serve to the in-laws!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I got this from a blog a long time ago but I think the original is on AllRecipes somewhere. Anyhoo, here's our favorite version:

2 Tablespoons butter
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 large yellow or white onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 crushed garlic clove
1 1/4 cups 2% milk
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
5 oz grated sharp cheddar
Large handful of grated monterey jack cheese
16 oz package frozen chopped broccoli
1. Melt butter in stock pot on medium, add onion and cook til' soft. Add pepper and garlic, and cook for a few minutes. Add broccoli and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer to broccoli is tender (10-15 minutes).
2. In separate bowl, whisk flour into milk until completely dissolved. Stir into soup, stirring frequently ti'l thickened. Reduce heat to low, and then stir in cheese til smooth and heated through. Salt to taste.
Serves 4-5.