Favorite Friday Food Find

Finding new blogs to follow is a passion of mine...you might say it's one of my kitchen addictions.  The blog I recently discovered that is worth sharing with my followers is....

Your Homebased Mom  - While you are checking out this "pretty and delicious" blog... consider preparing the yummy looking Caramel, Pretzel, Chocolate Chip Cookies. I plan to in the near future.  

an old favorite

Canned mushrooms are a staple item found in my pantry on any given day.  Today, it was a rare occasion to not find a can when I opened the pantry door.  I already had my ground beef patties seasoned and cooking on the stove so a trip to the store was added to my agenda.  It's not what I wanted to do after a long day at work, but an old favorite was on the menu tonight, so I did what I needed to do to achieve the final product... Salisbury Steak.

Salisbury Steak
(Printable Recipe)
1 pound ground lean ground beef
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 cup salted butter
1 beef bouillon cube
1-8 ounce can sliced mushrooms
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups water

Directions:  Form ground beef into 4 patties.  In a large stainless pan, place beef patties in pan and sprinkle 1/2 of each (salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic salt) on top of patties, distributing equally.  Cook patties  until browned over medium heat and turn over to season with remaining spices and cook.  Remove cooked patties from pan and place on platter.  Pour off any excess fat from pan, leaving any beef drippings.  Add butter and bouillon cube to pan, simmering and stirring until bouillon cube is dissolved.  Add sliced mushrooms (including juice from can).  Slightly brown mushrooms and bring mixture to boil.  Mix flour and water with a whisk.  Add liquid to pan, stirring constantly.  When sauce comes to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 4 minutes.  Return ground beef patties to pan and warm.  To serve, pour any remaining sauce over the top of patties.

Spinach Lasagna

You can view and print this recipe at Tasty Kitchen.  Hope you enjoy this great pasta dish as much as my husband and I did!

southwest meets lasagna

I fell in love - AGAIN!  It was love at first sight.... Not bite!  After my first bite, I was head-over-heels in love.  Where did I first see this Southwestern Lasagna Torta?  The answer:  In the magazine isle at a local Barnes & Noble Bookstore.  I do have one confession though.  I didn't love every single thing about it.  Some things just had to change.  

First... some culinary knowledge:  What is a torta one might ask?  I had to look it up myself.  According to epicurious (my "go to" online food dictionary)...a torta [TOHR-tuh] is 
1. The Italian word for "tart," "pie" or "cake."
2. The Spanish word for "cake," "loaf" or "sandwich."

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Friday Favorite Find

On this particular Friday...Improving my blog is forefront on my mind.  One blog goal I have for "My Kitchen Addictions" is to improve my food photography.  I have so much to learn about the camera I recently started using.  Not so long ago, I put my "point and shoot" camera in it's bag and opened the bigger bag that contained my "DSLR" (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera.  I'm somewhat intimidated by this camera, therefore the auto mode has worked some overtime. While I've read through the manual a few times, I have decided that I need more help.  Private lessons by a professional would be nice, one where the photographer spends his/her entire time showing me how to use the camera.  In reality, that's not going to happen.  So, I found what I think will help.  
A BOOK...A dandy one at that!  It's so good, this book makes it on my Favorite Friday Find list.  

Since receiving this book, Plate to Pixel by Helene Dujardin, I've picked it up to read at every opportunity.  Rereading sections will be a necessity, being the visual person I am, therefore it will be difficult for me to apply skills from the text.  I will succeed and what I hope the outcome will be is improved quality of my food photography you see in future posts.  

Mary's Pie

Mary is a friend, retired teacher and excellent cook!  I taught with Mary for several years and continue to keep in touch with her by occasional emails and treasured girlfriend gatherings.  Some of my fondest memories are gatherings she had at her home.  She is what is defined as the "hostess with a mostess!  Mary can "dish it up" when it comes to entertaining.  One particular recipe in my collection box that I give Mary credit for is this Chocolate Chess Pie.  You know how there are times that you remember exactly where and when you experience something?? Well, I remember the exact occasion at Mary's home I experienced this delicious pie for the first time.  Mary had a tradition of having a summer gathering of teachers at her home during our summer break.  It was a time to catch up from the days away from each other since the last day of school.  I not only remember this pie, but also Mary's beautiful table of delicious food.  And...did I mention?  Mary makes amazing cakes too!  Well, for now...Here is Mary's Chocolate Chess Pie recipe.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Chocolate Chess Pie
(Printable Recipe)
INGREDIENTS

2-1/4 cups sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1 cup evaporated milk

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1/3 cup butter, melted

1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon flour

9-inch pie pastry

DIRECTIONS

Stir together dry ingredients.  Add milk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla. 

Mix well.  Pour mixture into 9-inch pie pastry.  Bake at 350 degree F. 

for 50-55 minutes.  Pie will be quivery and puffed up a bit but will firm 

when cooled.

A few of the other pies I made on "pie making day."
Peach...Raisin...Chocolate Chess
Not shown:  Blackberry and Apple

Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breasts

It takes very little time to prepare this main dish, yet the results are decadent.  Ask my children and they will tell you that this is one of their favorite dishes. I have made it for so many years I have lost count.  We love to serve this Parmesan Chicken with a lettuce salad and cheesy bread.  That's all it takes to complete the meal.

  

Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breasts

(Printable Recipe) INGREDIENTS 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated 1/2 cup dry, Italian bread crumbs 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs 3/4 teaspoon oregano leaves, crushed 1 teaspoon parsley flakes 1/4 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

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Kitchen for Kids

I mentioned in an earlier blog post that I purchased some new cookbooks for our school library.  Many of our students at my school in grades 3-5 love cookbooks!  Do you think that has something to do with their librarian being "addicted" to cooking?  I talk to my students about many genres of literature, but I take every opportunity I can to discuss my passion for cookbooks on a regular basis, not just to girls, but my boys.  I love hearing about the adventures some of my students have in the kitchen.  Many times, I get stopped in the hallway to hear about a favorite recipe a student tried the night before or a student shows me recipes they made when returning a cookbook they checked out to the library. A parent stopped by the library during our recent open house at the beginning of this school year to tell me how excited her daughter was about spending time with her in the kitchen.   


Today, I'm sharing a recipe I made from KITCHEN FOR KIDS:  100 AMAZING RECIPES YOUR CHILDREN CAN REALLY MAKE by Jennifer Low.  I just had to make something from this charming cookbook before putting it on the library shelf for my students to enjoy.  I hated to part with this book so much that I purchased it online tonight.  Having it as a part of my cookbook collection, for my grandchildren, is a must!


Banana Fudge Bread
(Printable Recipe)
MAKES 1 LOAF 

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