I saw an article in a magazine once entitled, "Cook Once, Eat Twice".    Last week I took it one step further and ate 3 times from a meal I cooked.     I thought I would share this here since a few people were asking me for the recipes.  

Around here, I use the crock pot alot - especially on the days that I am working.   Throw in crock in the morning, take it out when you get home.     I also like to pair up my crock days with meat that is on sale.   This particular week Publix had Boneless Pork Loin Chops on sale.    I snapped up 2 packages of them (8 chops total) and here's what I did.

DAY ONE:

Coat the chops w/ a package of Taco Seasoning (I used a package I got from Trader Joes).   Put the chops in the crock.    On top of the chops, throw in a diced onion and a can of green chilies.   Then, pour over that a can of chicken broth.    Cook on low for 6-8 hours.    Your chops should just fall apart (if they don't, give it a little more time).....take two forks and just go at them for a minute or two.   The result should look like a soupy meaty concoction.  

Now you've got your "stuff" and you can roll like this:

MEAL ONE:    Spoon the stuff over a serving of rice and serve with veggies and salad (and a nice piece of bread if you are so inclined)

MEAL TWO:    Scramble up some eggs and when the eggs are about 1/2 way there, throw in some of the stuff and cook it the rest of the way.     This alone is fantastic - If you live in the Bay Area and have ever eaten at La Tapatia, this is like the Machaca they serve there....Mmmmm!!!    However, you can take it a step further and roll it in a tortilla with a sprinkle of cheese and do a breakfast burrito.

MEAL THREE:    Tortilla + the stuff + a sprinkle of cheese + a spoonful of zesty chipotle sour cream....roll it up and enjoy.   On this one, I suggest letting the liquid drain off before using the meat otherwise you have a messy result.

That's it!   Cook once, eat thrice....

Sunday mornings at Club Amaro usually involve some kind of "special" breakfast.   I don't know quite how that got started, but it has become a bit of a tradition.   We attend church on Saturday evenings and that leaves Sunday morning for sleeping in and "special" breakfast.  Usually, it's my waffles, pancakes, french toast or crepes (or "cradles" as Abby calls them).  Something out of the ordinary that doesn't find its way on the Mon-Sat rotation.

This morning, I was feeling a little naughty and decided that bag of chocolate chip morsels had been in isolation too long.    So, I rocked some chocolate chip scones....    It just so happened that my camera was nearby so I decided I would do a little "Cooking at the Club" installment.   It's been too long since my last one.

I will include my recipe at the end, but here are my shots:

my little chocolate chip scones, getting ready for their time in the oven...

fresh out of the oven, cooling on a rack

waiting to be eaten....

carb-o-licious!

The only problem with doing this kind of activity is that your family has to wait for you to stage pictures.   You can't have a 1/2 eaten scone in the midst of your scone stage.   It's just not proper.   So as the photographer, you are responsible for ensuring that scone-happy fingers don't find their way onto your stage.

little fingers, stage left

Club Amaro's Sunday Morning Chocolate Chip Scones
2 cups self-rising White Lily flour (really, is there any other kind?)
2 tablespoons raw sugar
1/2 cup chilled butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used minis)
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup milk

- Combine flour & sugar.
- Cut in butter until...you know...it gets that "way".
- Stir in yer chips.
- Mix egg and milk together then add to your dry mixture.
- Stir till just moistened then toss onto a well-floured surface.
- Knead until nearly smooth.
- Form into triangles, or however you want to rock it....3/4 inch thickness is best.

375 degrees, around 17 minutes.
Remove; cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes

You could, if you wanted to take the scones out at about 15 minutes and brush them with a little melted butter then pop them under the broiler for 2 minutes. But really, there's already a stick of butter in there...let's show a little self control.

ENJOY!

Hey Club Amaro readers...have you been over to AFH recently?   I've been a busy little bee....please visit!

Welcome to another edition of "Cooking at the Club".

The usual disclaimer...I ain't Martha Stewart, a'ight?

Normally I am all about meal planning but there are just times when planning to be home for dinner is as far as you get. Right now is one of those times. Since we are getting ready to leave the house for 2 weeks, I thought it would be best to scrap meal planning and opt to clear the fridge of any items that may evolve into an unwelcomed science experiment. This is actually my favorite kind of cooking...no recipes, random ingredients. Me and the open kitchen. Bring...it...on.

[Start up that People's Court music....duh nuh, nuh......Doug Llewellyn pipes in with the following narrative]

The Plaintiff: 2 tubes of just BARELY expired pizza dough (always on hand for those random times you don't feel like whipping out the flour for home-made)

The Defendant: 1.23lbs ground turkey meat

Witnesses: 1 can chopped olives, 1 jar Trader Joe's sun dried tomatoes, 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, spices.

The Judge: The honorable Waffle Maker Deluxe

Jury Notes:

a) Cook turkey, drain.
b) Add sun dried toms, olives & Parmesan cheese, stir (I also tossed in some oregano, basil and garlic, but that goes without saying).
c) Roll out pizza dough, spoon turkey mixture onto one half and top with a handfull or so of cheddar cheese
d) Fold other half of dough over the turkey mixture to make a closed calzone-type thing...make sure to press the edges together (this prevents the much despised leakage)
e) Place on Waffle Maker, close lid and let sit for...oh...4-7 minutes. To steal Rachel Ray's term...just eyeball it.
f) Remove the thing, place on cutting board and use pizza slicer to cut your waffle pieces. You will probably be left with some uncooked dough edges - I like to throw those back on the waffle maker and re-cook.
g) Serve hot...or cold.

The Verdict: Super delicious, 2 thumbs up "Turkey & Sun dried tomato waffle calzone thingy"

Ok, sorry about the whole Peoples Court thing...that was probably confusing. An emotion I'm sure you're all used to as regular readers. But hey, that's how I roll.

So there you have it. You probably won't find this in the pages of "Living" magazine but you KNOW that Martha Stewart would have scarfed this down in a New York Minute during her jail time.

Turn your eyes, oh you dieters...

Flee to the hills you watchers of weight...

Don your armor, you enemy of the calorie...

Behold, what has come out of the Club Amaro oven...straight from the wastelands of indulgence.

I'm only kicking myself because I did not take a picture BEFORE the servings happened. And, I only know it was delicious because I had a SMALL TASTE of it. I'm practicing self-control. I'm beating my flesh into submission...it's a tough, tough job.



Say hello to the new Club Amaro Kitchen 5-star dessert. PEACH COBBLER. Hot out of the Pampered Chef Deep Dish Baker, topped with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream. To celebrate our last night with GMM & GPP, I thought I would try to really do it up. I out done did it...

You do NOT want to know the ingredients...TRUST ME. But you do want to invite yourself over and request this for dessert. Then, you'll want to run 2 miles.

Hope your weekend is peachy...

love,
k

I promise I'm not going to turn this into a foodie blog. But I must stay true to my mission of informing you about the latest adventures at Club Amaro and that happens to include cooking.

Today I got all domestic and stuff and decided to do some bulk cooking. I saw this great idea for bulk breakfast burritos from Trent at "The Simple Dollar" and decided to make it happen Club Amaro style.

Before I put my master plan into effect, I had to get the thumbs up from the troops. So I decided to take a few mornings and make Mike and Abby some breakfast burritos on the fly. In my opinion, a breckie burrito is a nice change of pace from the standard oatmeal/cereal/toast kind of morning. And hey, if I can pull something out of the freezer and pop it in the microwave? And I know what the ingredients are? Even better for me. My peeps gave 4 thumbs up and clean plates all around. I figured that operation "kick Mickey D's to the curb" is a go.

Now Trent does a nice job of listing the cost savings of this little assembly line. I wasn't as concerned about the cost because I knew that it was going to be cheap. Even if it's not as cheap as the free oatmeal/cereal I can score with my couponing, I feel it's a good trade because I am providing a high protein, healthy burrito for my family. And, it's a time saver in the end. Love it!



I also strayed a bit from Trent's recipe, because I like to be a rebel in the kitchen. So let me break it down for you list style.

1. 20 burrito size tortillas
2. 2 dozen eggs
3. 3 Zucchinis
4. 20 ounces of salsa
5. 3 cups of cheese
6. 3 cans of black beans, rinsed
7. Not so secret spices (salt, pepper, onion powder, roasted garlic)
8. Couple of big scoops of Smart Balance
9. Saran wrap

I hit my zukes up in the food processor and added those to my scrambled egg mixture (along with my spices). I melted my Smart Balance then cooked up my egg mixture. I made a little assembly line with my beans, salsa, cheese and eggs. To make each burrito, I laid down a piece of saran wrap on my medium sized cutting board. I put the tortilla down then took care of biz. A few scoops of egg, a nice sprinkle of cheese, a couple of scoops of salsa and to crown off the beautiful mound, a couple of scoops of frijoles negros.

Not to brag or anything, but I'm an expert burrito wrapper from way back. So I had those puppies wrapped up quick and rolled it up in the saran like a little babushka. Making all 20 burritos probably took me about 20 minutes (not including the cooking of the eggs and the setup of my sweet little prep area...or picture taking).

Waaa la.



My little babushka's will go in the freezer where they will be on standby for my troops. Trent has a suggestion for the warming up scenario...I'm sure we'll have to tinker with it. Especially now that we have our new 1100 watt micro-monster. (Going from 5 watts to 1100 has made me afraid to use this appliance...please pray for me).

I'm sorry to keep quoting Gus Portokalos, but I can't help it. So...there you go.

Burritos forever,

k

In an effort to expand my writing beyond the realm of familial adventures, I decided that I would share a little culinary delight that has been part of the family recipe book for some time now. It's been on my mind recently because I prepared it for a party whose food theme was "Israeli". Everywhere I bring this dish, it gets mad raves...not to mention, my house smells fabulous for about 2 days.

Now, if I told you that the recipe calls for both prunes and green olives would you be scared? Because it does. Can you handle it? Do you trust me? Then come to mama...


Odessa Olive Chicken
(Source: Empire Kosher)
Serves: 8

2 chickens, 8 pieces cut-up
(You can also use boneless, skinless chicken breasts - I favor the chicken pieces myself, but both are delish)

For the marinade:
8 large cloves of garlic, minced
3 tbsp. dried oregano
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
1 cup prunes, pitted
1/2 cup green olives, chopped
4 bay leaves

For baking:
1 cup sweet white wine (I use Moscato)
1/2 cup fresh parsley or cilantro, chopped (I cilantro and use way more than 1/2 cup)

Mix the marinade ingredients together. Place chicken in a non-reactive bowl or zip-lock bag and add marinade. Let sit overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place the chicken in a single layer (skin side up if you have it), in a shallow roasting pan. Pour marinade on top and pour the wine around the chicken. Bake for 1 hour and baste from time to time.

Sprinkle with parsley or cilantro before serving. Pass pan juices separately. Freezes and reheats well. And, in my opinion - tastes even better as left overs.
And please, eat the prunes - they are almost the best part.

See how I love you...I tell you all my secrets.

If you make it and enjoy it - drop me a line and let me know. If you make it and hate it...I never gave you the recipe.

prune love,
k

Today Abby woke up with bacterial conjunctivitis...that's doc talk for Pink Eye. Poor thing - she was not happy. We actually went to the clinic (her Pediatrician was closed for the day) and the doctor prescribed some antibiotic eye drops. She is not a fan of the drops and - oh goody - I get to give them to her. Four times a day for the next seven days. Calgon, take me away!

Well, instead of Calgon we did Cat Head. Cat Head Biscuits, that is.

Grandpapa turned us on to the Cat Head concept many moons ago when he would refer to Grandmama's cat (Miss Ellie) as "Cat Head Biscuit" Come to find out, CHB's are biscuits that are about the size of a nice little cat head (clever, huh?). Who wants to bother with actually rolling out dough and making circles...how BORING!! Cat Heads rule. And you gotta have them with a nice pat a butt-uh - and of course, Jelly (just like Grandpapa).

It was cold, cold, cold and rainy today - a perfect afternoon for makin' messy in the kitchen.

Before we could start, we had to get all our ingredients together.

2 1/4 cup self-rising flour
1 1/3 cup buttermilk (you can use regular)
1/4 cup oil

And, about 1 or 2 Tablespoons butt-uh to melt and rub around the skeelit. Pre-heat oven to 3 Fiddy (that's 350 for those of you not in my language world).





Mix your stuff.


Knead your business.



Divide into 8 little cat heads and put them in the buttered up skillet. Note: CHB's taste SIGNIFICANTLY better if cooked in your NaNa's hand-me-down-seasoned-to-perfection skillet. Ah yeah.


Stick those bad boys in the oven (350 degrees) and bake for 25 minutes. After they are done, brush the tops with a little butter and hit it up in the broiler for 1-2 minutes.


And you got yourself some nice little cat heads...

And now comes the good part:







Hope you get you some Cat Heads soon.

love and a pat a butt-uh,

k

SECRET MESSAGE: Happy Birthday, smell my feet!