Gallo Pinto

Here's a little recipe I picked up on our honeymoon in Costa Rica. It means "spotted rooster" in Spanish. We eat it with eggs and toast.

3 cups day-old cooked rice (I often use fresh)
2 cups cooked black beans
2 Tbs onion finely chopped
1 Tbs bell pepper finely chopped
2 Tbs fresh parsley finely chopped
3 strips bacon, cooked, drained, and crumbed
2 Tbs oil
½ Tbs Worcestershire sauce
½ Tbs Tabasco sauce

Sauté onion and bell pepper in oil on medium heat. Add beans and cook 2 minutes longer. Add rice and mix, cook 3 minutes more. Add Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce and parsley. Mix well. Garnish with bacon crumbs. If desired, top with sour cream.

Tortellini Soup

You say tortelloni, I say tortellini. I have no idea what the difference is.

This is one of the few recipes of mine that John doesn't just love. But hey, everyone has a right to be wrong about something. The kids love it, I love it, and my guess is you will too. Don't whine about the heat and the fact that I just posted a soup recipe, OK? We all know you have air conditioning and no one's asking you to eat outside.

1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs olive oil
3 cans (about 14 oz. each) beef broth
1 can (14 ½ or 16 oz) stewed tomatoes
½ cup picante sauce
1 tsp basil leaves, crushed
1 pkg (7 oz) dried cheese-filled tortellini
1 green bell pepper, diced
grated parmesan cheese

Cook onion, garlic, and bell pepper in oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven until tender, about 6 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes, picante sauce and basil; bring to a boil. Stir in tortellini; simmer uncovered 15 minutes. Ladle into soup bowls; sprinkle with cheese.

Potato Salad

Whether you like mayonaisse or mustard potato salad, you'll like this. It's a little of both. Make sure to use the gold potatoes (usually from California). Sorry, Idaho.

2 lbs. gold potatoes
1 ¼ cup mayonnaise
1 TBS. prepared mustard
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
1 cup thinly sliced celery
1/3 cup chopped onion
½ cup dill pickle relish
6 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

Place potatoes and enough water to cover them in a medium saucepan. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer covered for 25 minutes or just until tender. Drain well; cool. Peel and cube potatoes.

Meanwhile, for dressing, in a large bowl combine mayonnaise, mustard, salt, and pepper.

Stir in celery, onion, and relish. Add the potatoes and eggs. Toss to coat. Cover and chill for several hours.

Brigadeiros

It's time for something chocolate. These delicious morsels are my very most favorite Brazilian confection. You have to roll them with your hands and they are a sticky mess to make but, hey, you can lick your fingers. I didn't, of course. I wouldn't do anything that unsanitary. I'm just saying you can if you want to.

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 TBS butter
3 TBS cocoa
Chocolate sprinkles

Over medium-low heat, stir vigorously the first three ingredients.
Cook the mixture until it thickens enough to show the pan bottom during stirring (it will be firm enough to stay together and not spread) Pour into a greased dish and let cool to room temperature (or chill a few minutes in the fridge) Grease your hands with butter and take small amounts of candy and form into 1 ½ inch balls.

Roll the balls in chocolate sprinkles to decorate.

If the balls don't hold their shape, cook an additional 5 minutes until it thickens up more.

Beef Bourguignon

I have no earthly idea how to say this, but I can cook it and eat it, and that should count for something. I saw Paula Deen make this on TV once. I'm sure she said it just fine but I apparently wasn't paying attention. This is not Paula Deen's recipe, by-the-way. Look, never mind her. I'm sorry I even gave you the link to her page. Her beef burgy-something probably looks better and tastes better than mine and I don't need you stopping by there every day to see her instead of me.

1 lb. boneless beef chuck roast, cut into cubes
1 TBS. cooking oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ cups Burgundy wine
¾ cup beef broth
1 tsp. dried thyme
¾ tsp. dried marjoram
3/4 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
2 bay leaves
3 cups fresh mushrooms
4 medium carrots, cut into pieces
2 TBS. flour
2 TBS. butter, softened
2 slices bacon, cooked, drained, and crumbled

Hot cooked noodles


In a Dutch oven, brown the meat and onion in the hot oil.

Stir in wine, broth, thyme, marjoram, salt, pepper, and bay leaves. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 45 minutes. Add mushrooms and carrots. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cook, covered for 25 minutes more or until meat and vegetables are tender. Discard bay leaves.

In a small bowl stir together flour and butter until smooth; stir into meat mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in crumbled bacon.

Serve over hot noodles.

Blueberry Muffins

My kids told me this morning that these were better than cookies. Nuff said.


1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 beaten egg
¾ cup milk
¼ cup cooking oil
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel

1 recipe Streusel-Nut Topping (below)

Grease and lightly flour muffin pan; set aside.

In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of flour mixture; set aside.

In another bowl combine egg, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in blueberries and lemon peel.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each cup two-thirds full. Sprinkle Streusel-Nut Topping over muffin batter in pan. Bake at 400º for 20 minutes.

STREUSEL-NUT TOPPING

¼ cup packed brown sugar
3 TBS. all-purpose flour
2 TBS. butter
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Combine all ingredients in small bowl with pastry blender.

Brownies

Another stolen recipe! These were originally "Bobby's Favorite Brownies", but I have changed that to the more exciting name you see at the top of this entry. Now, you know I have a bit more creativity than that. So why do I assign such uninspiring names? Let's just say, I don't feel the need for 20 different recipes for any one food. If it's the best in that particular category, it 1.) doesn't need a fancy name and 2.) earns its place on this recipe blog without competition. My recipes don't suffer from low self-esteem; they know they have been chosen from among many others and that I will cherish them forever and wouldn't trade them for the world.

P.S. If you send me a better brownie recipe, I will burn this one and bestow the strong, simple name "Brownie" on the new winner.

¾ cups unsweetened cocoa
½ tsp baking soda
2/3 cup oil
½ cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Stir baking soda and cocoa in bowl. Blend in 1/3 cup of oil. Add boiling water. Stir until mixture thickens. Stir in sugar, eggs, and remaining oil. Stir until smooth. Add flour, vanilla, and salt. Blend completely. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour in to lightly greased pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes.