Ingredient: Green onions, sliced for garnish

Taco Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

CELEBRATING CINCO de MAYO!

Remember those Taco Bell commercials with the slogan, ‘think outside the bun’? Taco-stuffed sweet potatoes are a perfect example of that.

Cinco de Mayo commemorates a regional Mexican military battle that has nothing to do with Mexican independence. It’s kind of the equivalent of Victoria Day in Canada but it has evolved to become a big celebration of Mexican cuisine and culture in the USA and Canada.

The taco as we know it today is a blend of ancient Mexican recipes and international influences. However, before it was known in North America, natives in Mexico were eating a version that looked quite different.

In traditional Mexican cuisine, ground beef tacos are not as common as tacos made with other types of meat preparations. Ground beef tacos with toppings like shredded lettuce, cheese, and sour cream are more commonly found in Tex-Mex or North Americanized Mexican food.

This tender baked sweet potato is stuffed with spicy, juicy, ground turkey and tomatoes then topped with grated cheese. No bun (or tortilla) required on this Cinco de Mayo.

Native to Central and South America, sweet potatoes are some of the oldest vegetables on the planet. Distantly related to commonplace, starchy Russets and Yukon Golds. Western markets have tagged some sweet potatoes with the deceptive name ‘yams’ to differentiate the southern from the northern crops. True yams are rough-skinned tubers, related to lilies.

Cinco de Mayo just got an upgrade with all the things you love about tacos inside the deliciousness of a freshly baked sweet potato.

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 Taco Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Course Main Dish
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword taco stuffed sweet potatoes
Servings
Ingredients
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword taco stuffed sweet potatoes
Servings
Ingredients
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
  1. Pierce the sweet potatoes all over with a fork. Cook in the microwave on HIGH until tender when pierced with a fork, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Let the potatoes rest until cool enough to handle.
  2. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise. Carefully scoop the flesh out of the potatoes & place in a medium-sized bowl. Reserve the skins. With the back of a fork, mash the potato flesh until most lumps are gone. Stir in the olive oil, ½ teaspoon cumin, ¼ teaspoons salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Divide the mashed sweet potato evenly between the potato skins. Place on a baking sheet.
  3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly coat with cooking spray. Add the ground turkey & cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until cooked through. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, remaining ¾ teaspoon cumin, oregano, paprika, & remaining ⅛ teaspoon salt & pepper. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in the crushed tomatoes.
  4. Preheat the broiler. Spoon the turkey mixture into each sweet potato skin. Top each with 1 tablespoon grated cheese. Broil until the cheese is melted, about 30 seconds. Garnish with sliced green onions. Serve.

Egg Roll Soup

Egg roll soup is a modern culinary creation that reimagines the flavors of a traditional Chinese American egg roll in a deconstructed, liquid form, aiming to capture the flavor profile of the fried appetizer (typically cabbage, carrots, and pork or sausage) without the labor-intensive wrapping and deep-frying process.

The North American egg roll itself was invented in New York City in the early 1930s as a variation of traditional Chinese spring rolls. While some traditional, Chinese-influenced soups use similar ingredients (like egg drop soup), egg roll soup specifically mimics the savory, cabbage-heavy filling of the North American-born fried egg roll. 

The soup gained popularity in the 2010s as part of the ‘deconstructed’ food movement and the rise of specialty diets like Paleo, Keto, and Whole30. Just as modern egg rolls often contain no egg in the filling, egg roll soup rarely includes eggs, instead focusing on the savory-umami profile created by sesame oil, garlic, and ginger. To mimic the crunch of the missing wrapper, many versions are topped with fried wonton strips or crispy noodles.

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 Egg Roll Soup
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Course Main Dish
Cuisine Chinese
Keyword egg roll soup
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Ingredients
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Chinese
Keyword egg roll soup
Servings
Ingredients
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
  1. In a large pot, heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the ground pork (or chicken) & cook until browned, breaking it up with a spoon.
  2. Add the onion, garlic & grated ginger to the pot. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, until fragrant & the onion is softened.
  3. Stir in the shredded cabbage & carrots, cooking for an additional 2 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften.
  4. Pour in the chicken broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil & black pepper. Bring the soup to a simmer over medium heat.
  5. If desired, add red pepper flakes for a spicy kick. Simmer the soup for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are tender & flavors are well combined.
  6. Serve hot, garnished with sliced green onions.

Shrimp & Chicken Sausage Pasta Shells

With Christmas right around the corner, pasta meals are an easy quick fix on those busy days leading up to the big day. Stuffed Shells are truly the perfect meal to make ahead of time since you can prepare everything but hold off on baking them until you’re ready to eat.

Stuffed shells are a tasty dish that is usually made with ricotta cheese or other types of cheese inside the pasta shells. Tomato sauce is another common ingredient in the dish. However, there are so many ways to jazz it up and one might be surprised just how many unique ingredients one can put into a shell.

I have always loved stuffed pasta shells and over the years I have stuffed them in every way I could imagine. There are endless variations such as using different cheeses and herbs or making some homemade marinara or sun-dried tomato sauce.

There’s a reason surf and turf is often one of the most desired items on a restaurant menu — it’s because meat and fish are the perfect complement to each other! The light flavor of fish and shellfish is a great addition to the richer, heartier flavor of meat.

Today, I’m combining some shrimp and chicken sausage in my filling and topping it with a nice smoky sun-dried tomato parmesan sauce. Should be good!

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 Shrimp & Chicken Sausage Pasta Shells
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword shrimp & chicken sausage pasta shells
Servings
Ingredients
Pasta / Filling
Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword shrimp & chicken sausage pasta shells
Servings
Ingredients
Pasta / Filling
Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Pasta / Filling
  1. Cook pasta shells in a pot of salted boiling water for about 10-12 minutes. Drain well & lay on a wire rack to keep them from sticking together until ready to fill.
  2. In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp oil over medium heat. Add onion & mushrooms; sauté until tender & moisture has evaporated from mushrooms. Add chicken sausage & minced garlic. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add wine & cook until sausage is no longer pink about 4-5 minutes more. Drain well & transfer to a large bowl.
  3. Peel & devein shrimp; chop into 1/2-inch pieces. In a small bowl, whisk together broth & flour. Set aside.
  4. In the same skillet, heat remaining 1 Tbsp oil over medium heat. Add shrimp; cook, stirring constantly, until shrimp begins to turn pink. Stir in flour mixture. Add cream, Old Bay seasoning, garlic powder & Italian seasoning; stir until thickened. Remove from heat & stir in sausage mixture. Set aside until ready to use.
Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce
  1. In a skillet, heat oil. Add onion & cook for 2 minutes until it starts to soften. Add garlic, oregano, thyme, paprika & sun-dried tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes while stirring. Add vegetable broth; bring to a boil & simmer for 5 minutes.
  2. Stir in cream & parmesan cheese into the sauce. Remove from heat & cool for a few minutes. Pour sauce into food processor & process to a fairly smooth consistency. It will not be completely smooth but that is fine.
Assembly / Baking
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. Spread half of the sauce over the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Divide filling between cooked shells. Lay in rows over sauce. Pour remaining sauce over top carefully covering all the shells.
  3. Loosely lay a piece of foil paper over baking dish and bake for 45 minutes or until bubbling nicely.

Beef Stroganoff French Bread

The original recipe of beef stroganoff did not include paprika or mushrooms, but both are a popular variation on the theme, as is the practice of serving beef stroganoff over egg noodles.

In the 50s and 60s, the famous stroganoff saw quite a bit of popularity in North America, but with the passage of time the image was marred by the availability of canned cream of mushroom soup and poor cuts or pieces of meat that were ‘slopped’ over cooked noodles or rice and is served in school cafeterias.

This dish saw so much popularity, it actually became an iconic food and cuisine. But unfortunately, it was this cafeteria version of this delicious dish that everyone in North America came to associate with the name.

As with so many dishes as time passes, every variation adds a different twist on the classic. In Australia and the UK, the recipe of beef stroganoff is quite similar to that of North America and is simply eaten with rice.

In the British restaurants, beef stroganoff is cooked to a creamy consistency and then served with a white wine while the authentic or original stroganoffs, which are similar to red stews, are generally served with scoops of sour cream.

In Portugal & Brazil, beef stroganoff is better known as ‘estrogonofe,’ and is cooked with tomato paste, beef strips or dices, with mushrooms, onions and with heavy whipped cream.

Chicken Stroganoff, made with the strips of chicken breast is also famous in Brazil, which is known as ‘fricassee,’ and it is served with crispy straws of potatoes & white rice. In Sweden, sausage stroganoff is more common.

Some other variations of beef stroganoff are also made with canned sweet corn, with ketchup and wine. This dish is also served creatively in crepe fillings or as toppings for all kinds of pizzas and with baked potatoes.

I’m making our beef stroganoff with ground beef as well as some of the classic ingredients. Instead of serving it with French bread, we are having it inside the French bread.

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 Beef Stroganoff French Bread
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Course Main Dish
Cuisine European
Keyword beef stroganoff French bread
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Ingredients
Course Main Dish
Cuisine European
Keyword beef stroganoff French bread
Servings
Ingredients
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
  1. In a saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Sauté mushrooms with 1 tsp salt & pepper; add thyme. Cook until mushrooms are golden, approximately 4 minutes. Remove from pan & set aside.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  3. To the saucepan, add butter, onions & garlic & sauté 2 minutes. Add ground beef & cook until browned, approximately 4 minutes. Add flour, paprika & remaining 1 tsp salt. Add beef broth, sour cream & mustard; mix thoroughly & add reserved mushrooms.
  4. Fill hollowed French loaf with stroganoff & top with shredded cheese. Place on a foil lined baking sheet & bake for 20 minutes until cheese is golden & melted.
  5. Sprinkle with sliced green onions & serve immediately.

Chicken Pancakes w/ Mushroom Sauce

ENJOYING SHROVE TUESDAY!

Shrove Tuesday is a ‘holiday’ with a movable date, due to its relationship to Easter. The final day before Lent, it has many meanings, both spiritual and practical. The spiritual purpose of Shrove Tuesday is to take stock of the year and determine what things one must bear in mind during repentance.

Practically speaking, Shrove Tuesday is the last day before the great ‘fast’ of Lent. As a result, many would take it as an opportunity to have a final feast and party. Because this holiday marked the last day to use up one’s stocks of fats and eggs, a British tradition was born: Pancake Tuesday. Pancakes make use of ingredients that were banned during Lent and would spoil before its end.

Although many traditions of the past have gone by the wayside, whether you know its history or not, Pancake Tuesday seems to still be a ‘thing’. Brion & I don’t eat pancakes a lot but certainly enjoy them when we do. As always, I can’t resist a new idea, so today we are having some chicken pancakes w/ mushroom sauce. Yum!

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 Chicken Pancakes w/ Mushroom Sauce
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword chicken pancakes w/ mushroom sauce
Servings
Ingredients
Mushroom Sauce
Pancakes / Chicken
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword chicken pancakes w/ mushroom sauce
Servings
Ingredients
Mushroom Sauce
Pancakes / Chicken
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
Mushroom Sauce
  1. In a skillet, heat oil & add mushrooms & onions. Sauté for about 5-8 minutes until moisture releases & evaporates. Whish in flour & allow to cook for about 1-2 minutes.
  2. Add garlic, thyme, salt & pepper; cook an additional 30 seconds. Add milk, whisking constantly until cooked & thickened. Remove from heat & set aside.
Pancakes / Chicken
  1. In a skillet, heat oil & add ground chicken, herbs & spices. Scramble-fry until chicken is no longer pink. Remove to a dish & set aside.
  2. In a bowl, combine flours & baking powder; add cooked chicken & grated cheese.
  3. In a small container, whisk together eggs, milk & oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry & mix until everything is thoroughly incorporated. Be careful to not over mix the batter. Let mixture stand for about 3 minutes before cooking.
  4. Heat griddle to about 250 -300 F. Place a small amount of butter on the griddle to coat the surface.
  5. Cook pancakes on one side until golden brown then flip to the other side & cook until golden as well. I made 4 large pancakes with this amount of batter.
To Serve
  1. Place one large pancake on each serving plate, top with 1/4 of the mushroom sauce, another pancake & another 1/4 of the sauce. We found this to be a very filling meal!