Diced Chili Cook Off at Ranting Chef

I entered a chili contest.  Woohoo!  I am sharing the Ranting Chef’s page with you all.  The chili I entered, is a meatless chili, seems strange right ?  Shouldn’t chili be full of meat ?  Well mine isn’t!!!  LOL  Mine is a delicious Tofu chili, don’t knock it until you try it.  It really, really is deliciously good.  I am not the biggest fan of meat, but I do like a steak once in a blue moon.  I love love chili, and I wanted to make a recipe that uses Tofu… tada so here it is.   I would so love if you could VOTE for my “Audi Rose, Terrific Tofu Chili” at http://www.rantingchef.com  please vote contest poll closes October 22, 2014…  😀  TANX!

http://rantingchef.com/2014/10/17/diced-chili-cook-off-audi-rose-terrific-tofu-chili/ 

Easy Spinach Stuffed Manicotti

One dish meals,  I think they are my favorite.  So much less clean up after dinner and more of relaxing time.  Tonight I prepared spinach stuffed manicotti.   You can prepare a few things ahead of time for this recipe, like making a fresh spaghetti sauce, chop up the onion, wash and chop up the spinach and prepare your pan to receive the shells after boiling.  I had my homemade spaghetti sauce in the freezer (I do a lot of cooking and prep and freeze to have homemade meals rather than make a fast food pit stop), so I simply took it out of the freezer the night before to thaw in the refrigerator.  So lets get to it…

Easy Spinach Stuffed Manicotti               Makes about 20 stuffed shells.

–   1 small onion, chopped

–  2 cloves garlic

–  1 T. Olive Oil

–  1 package Manicotti shells (I had 20 shells)

–  9×13 inch baking dish, lightly oiled  (I used a glass lasagna dish)

–  Prepare a cookie sheet lined with foil and oiled lightly with olive oil.  (This prevents your shells from sticking to the pan while they cool).

In a small pan on medium heat, add olive oil.  Add the onions and garlic and sautée for a few minutes.  Remove from heat.  In a large pot, fill with water adding a drop of olive oil to the water and bring to a boil.  Add the manicotti shells and cook for approximately 6-8 minutes.  They should be somewhat firm, do not overcook or they will break when you are filling the shells.  When they are done, remove the shells to your prepared cookie sheet, in a single layer, do not put them on top of one another, they will stick together.  Set aside to cool.  Begin your Ricotta mixture.

Ricotta Mixture:

–  1 tub of Ricotta (625 grams or  2 1/2 cups)

–  1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese  (grated fresh or the container kind)

–  4 to 6 cups Spinach, chopped

–  1 large pastry bag fitted with just a coupler or a freezer bag with the corner cut off about  1″  wide.

–  Prepared homemade spaghetti sauce or you can use a store bought variety  (I used about 3 – 4 cups)

–  1/4 cup heavy cream 35%

–  1 cup shredded Mozzerella Cheese

In a large bowl, add the reserved onions and garlic, Ricotta, Parmesan Cheese and the Spinach and mix well until fully combined.  Set aside.   Add your spaghetti sauce to a pan and heat.  When the sauce is hot, add the heavy cream and stir until combined.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spoon about 1-2 cups of your sauce in the bottom of the baking dish, spreading it to all the sides, make sure it is a thick enough layer.  Take your pastry bag fitted with the coupler and fill the bag with the Ricotta mixture.  Begin to fill your Manicotti shells, careful not to break any by overstuffing, fill one side halfway and then turn your shell and fill the other end.  Place your shell in the baking dish on top of the sauce and repeat these steps until all your shells are filled and in the baking dish.  They should be in one layer side by side not on top of one another.  Ladle some more sauce on top of the shells, be generous.  Top with the shredded Mozzerella Cheese.  Put in the preheated oven, uncovered, and bake for about 30 minutes.  When you remove your Manicotti from the oven, let it rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.  Serve with crusty bread and a wonderful salad.  Delish!

Easy Spinach Stuffed Manicotti.

Forgot to take a picture when they were baked….Oooops!

 

 

 

Cabbage Rolls

Who likes cabbage rolls?  I like cabbage rolls, very much so. I know I know, the smell of cooking cabbage, if you can just forget about that for 20 minutes they taste absolutely delicious!  On the menu today, Cabbage Rolls!  They are very simple to make and do not have many ingredients, you probably have everything on hand, well maybe except the cabbage?!  Here we go…

CABBAGE ROLLS

1 medium to large size head of cabbage

1-2 lbs extra lean beef hamburger 

1 Egg, slightly beaten

1 cup of rice (converted, not the quick cooking kind)

1 Can Heinz Tomato Juice 1.36L (The can with less sodium)

Salt and Pepper

Toothpicks

In a large bowl, combine your hamburger meat, the slightly beaten egg, the rice and salt and pepper.  Mix well and set aside.  Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil, reduce heat to low-med so it is simmering.  Cut off the hard core of your cabbage and put the cabbage in the simmering water for about 10 minutes then turn heat to low.  Your cabbage leaves should easily pull off, be careful not to tear any. Place them on a large plate and begin to make your cabbage roll ups.  Take a leaf and cut the hard piece (in the center of leaf)  off on each leaf in a v-shape (see picture). Place about 1 Tablespoon of the meat mixture on the leaf and begin rolling up. Make sure you wrap so no meat is exposed and they are tight.  Secure it with one toothpick (you only need one toothpick so try hard not to use 3 or 4,  like I did my first time making these, lol!) Place on a plate and continue making your rolls until all your leaves are used.  I always have extra of the meat mix so I make meatballs with the leftovers.  In a large saucepan, add your Heinz tomato juice.  Now place all your meatballs into the juice, and next your cabbage rolls.  Keep your heat on low-medium, not too high and cook until the meatballs are cooked through.  The juice will thicken up on it’s own.  An easy, simple and pretty quick meal.  Don’t forget, make extra so you can put in the freezer, they freeze very well.

Beef hamburger, Rice, Salt & Pepper.

Cut the hard membrane out of the cabbage in a V-Shape, makes it easier for rolling.

Cooke until meatballs are cooked through.

Simple, Quick & Very Tasty Too!

 

Frittatta

 

This is so easy to make and very tasty.  I just did not know what to make for dindin tonight and this was what I came up with.  Frittatta!  Recipe is very simple and you will probably have everything you need on hand.  If you don’t you can always substitute it for any other veggies you like.

RECIPE

– 4  Beaten Eggs  (can do just whites as well)

–  Salt & Pepper to taste

Beat the above ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and add:

–  1 Cup Milk  (1% or Skim works well)

–  1/2 tsp Fred’s Hot Sauce  (you can add more, depends how hot you like it!)

–  About 1/4 tsp fresh grated Nutmeg

Whisk well.

In a Pre-heated skillet (medium heat not too high or your frittatta will burn), add 1 Tblsp Becel (or Butter) and add the Egg mixture to skillet.  Cover with a lid.  Prepare the following.

– 1/2 Cup Broccoli Flowerets

–  1/4 Cup chopped Red Pepper

–  1/4 Cup Red Onion

–  1/2 Cup Sliced Mushrooms

When the Frittatta starts to Bubble, layer your vegetables on top and cover again and cook until vegetables are bright in colour.  Frittatta is cooked when it is firm looking.  You can choose whatever vegetables you like for this recipe.  Anything really goes.  Topping it with some grated cheese is also nice.  It’s all your choice.  Bon appetit!!

Turkey Burgers

TURKEY BURGERS

1 – 1.5 lb  Turkey Meat, grinded

1 small onion, minced

1 small carrot, minced

1 green pepper, finely chopped

1 egg

3/4 Cup Bread Crumbs

Bunch of washed Spinach leaves finely chopped

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, mixing well.  Shape into thin patties and either BBQ or Broil.  Make sure you spray a little oil on the BBQ or broiler pan as they may stick a little (not much fat in these burgers!!).  Also keep your eye on them while they cook, as they cook quickly and you do not want them to dry out.  Serve your burgers with whatever you like!  Ummmm  yummy!  Another tasty and healthy choice.