Italian Oven Fries

Posted on March 5, 2012 by J Cleveland Payne

Potatoes can become a regular go-to side dish if you are looking for ways to eat healthier. But you have to find a way to keep your presentations fresh and healthy. Here is a twist that you could add to your potato repertoire: Italian Oven Fries.

THE BASICS:

Oven fries can be tricky. In fact, this wasn’t a perfect execution. It boggles my mind how something that seems so simple, isn’t. Slice some potatoes and bake until crispy right?

INGREDIENTS:

Russet Potatoes
Cooking Oil (For Tossing Potatoes)
Italian Seasoning
Paprika
Black Pepper

DIRECTIONS:
A standard recipe for oven fries would have you peeling then cutting russet potatoes: first in half lengthwise, then in half again, and then slicing each quarter into ¼-inch-thick strips. I just used my mandolin and sliced the washed potatoes into discs.

Coat the sliced potatoes in oil.

Spread the potatoes evenly on a cooling rack placed inside of cookie sheet. Sprinkle evenly with Italian seasoning, paprika, and black pepper. And place in the preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

While I still haven’t mastered crunchy, I have gotten my potatoes to a nice state of done.

Plate them up and serve. A dollop of sour cream or some shredded cheese makes a great topping.

WHAT I DID: Part of the problem with my oven fries is impatience. If you soak the potatoes for about 30 minutes and dry them, it should take out most of the excess starch and allow for the potatoes to crisp. If I weren’t so impatient, I might actually find out.

WHAT I DIDN’T DO: Once you master the process, you can season the potatoes with just about anything you like. A popular suggestion is using packets of dried ranch dressing or onion soup.

Posted in Side Dish | Tagged | 1 Comment

Almost Classic Chicken Po’ Boy

Posted on February 27, 2012 by J Cleveland Payne

I did get an unexpected bachelor weekend, but it was made with a promise to stick to my pledge of healthier eating while my wife was away. But all week, I was thinking po’ boys. So thanks to my favorite store brand of crispy chicken tenders, I had a way to make myself an Almost Classic Chicken Po’ Boy.

THE BASICS:
You can get the full history of the birth of the po’ boy via Wikipedia.org. For the sake of this recipe and blog post, get ready for a simple and amazingly tasty fried chicken sandwich, this time without the frying.

INGREDIENTS:

For Po’ Boy Sandwich
- Frozen Crispy Style Chicken Strips
- Loaf of French Bread
- Sliced Tomatoes
- Lettuce
- Dill Pickle Slices

For Spicy Mayo Spread
- 3 Teaspoons Mayonnaise
- 1 Teaspoon Mustard
- 4 Dashes Hot Sauce
- Dash Italian Seasoning
- Dash Black Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

This is another simple sandwich. It would be even simpler (and faster, and greasy tastier) if you were to fry the chicken. This weekend, I was not allowed to fry the chicken, so I baked it according to the conventional oven instructions. Not quite as crunchy, but just done.

Part of what make this sandwich a po’ boy is to serve it up on a loaf of French bread. Slice it, toast it and get ready.

Before you pull your toasted bread, mix the ingredients for the spicy mayonnaise spread. You should have enough to make two sandwiches from a thin, 12-inch loaf of bread. Spread a healthy amount on both sides of your toasted bread.

Layer on some lettuce (I used romaine), your chicken strips, some pickles and some tomatoes (which seems to be controversial among recipes I found on the internet). Put it all together and what do you get?

You get this tasty sandwich.

WHAT I DID: This is another very straight forward sandwich. Since I didn’t want to fry, I made sure to use the crispy styled chicken tenders to bake for the sandwich. If you are not opposed or barred from fried food, swap out fried chicken for fried shrimp. You will not be disappointed.

WHAT I DIDN’T DO: Cheese and bacon are popular toppings for a chicken sandwich, but this is not a chicken sandwich, it’s a Chicken Po’ Boy. Add extra toppings as you desire, but you take the spirit out of the origins of the sandwich.

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Spicy BBQ Sausage Sandwich

Posted on February 13, 2012 by J Cleveland Payne

Loving to cook and having a wife that loves to eat usually works out pretty well. Having that same wife now 6-months pregnant makes the cooking situation a little dicey. Between nights when I end up cooking what is on her ever expanding list of foods she’s avoiding while pregnant and the nights when it doesn’t matter what I cook, she’s going to throw it up anyway, my experimentation get frustrating, and sometimes costly. Tonight, she was fasting for a blood test for an early morning doctor’s appointment and I got to take advantage by making a just for myself Spicy BBQ Sausage Sandwich.

THE BASICS:
This simple recipe is my take on a sandwich a local deli serves up called the Deli Cowboy, made with BBQ brisket, caramelized onions, and shredded cheddar cheese. This sandwich is almost identical, save for the use of sausage and the Far From Gourmet touch of doin’ it quick, cheap, and easy. Having plenty of sausage left over from the whole Andouille Sausage Spaghetti Spiders incident from last week, and the freedom to eat anything I wanted, this recipe definitely falls in line with the philosophy.

INGREDIENTS:
2 Bun Sized Sausage Link, Sliced/Chopped (I Had Andouille Sausage)
Hoagie Roll, Toasted
BBQ Sauce
French Fried Onions
Shredded Cheese
Spicy Mustard

DIRECTIONS:

Two links of buns sized sausages should be plenty for a good 5-6 inch hoagie roll, and I’ve got lots of tasty Andouille sausage to work with. Slice up the sausage into not-too-thin disks.

My not-so-secret secret to cooking up sliced sausage is to add some water and boil the sausage till done then let them seer/scorch for a minute. This keeps them from burning before they are done, which is easy to do if you are not keeping a watchful eye on the stove. Plus, a liberal amount of hot sauce was added to be absorbed by the sausage while it cooked for some extra bite. It’s much harder to do without the water cooking step. This is the sausage with about a half a cup of water, which I at feared might be a little too much, but would go on to work out well . . .

. . . and this is the cooked/slightly scorched/definitely done sausage.

Pour on some BBQ sauce and a small amount of seasoning (and possibly a little more water) and give the sausage another minute or so on the stove.

Take a toasted hoagie roll and apply your sausage . . .

. . . then top off the sausage with a few pinches of French fried onions and shredded cheese. Shredded Colby Jack is a basic cheese staple in our house, and went nice with this sandwich. On the free bun, a few squirts of spicy mustard.

This turned into one of the prettiest sandwiches I have ever made, and definitely one of the tastiest.

WHAT I DID: I almost messed up my sandwich by adding a little too much Cajun seasoning at the ‘pour on some BBQ’ step. I wasn’t really paying attention as I was furiously sprinkling away, so the sandwich was a little extra salty, but still good.

WHAT I DIDN’T DO: I didn’t know that I was out of frozen bell pepper and onions, or they would have gone into the skillet with the sausage at the beginning, if not before hand to get a chance to thaw/sauté. That is just about the only thing different I would have done differently for this sandwich, other than slice up two extra sausages so that I would have had enough for two sandwiches.

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Andouille Sausage Spaghetti Spiders

Posted on February 6, 2012 by J Cleveland Payne

I saw a picture on Facebook, and was instantly inspired. I looked like a kid-friendly dish, and I wanted to make it with the assistance of my wife’s god daughter, then wizened up as I remembered she likes her t-bone steaks medium well (she is not your typical 9 year old). So I decided to age it up a little to create Andouille Sausage Spaghetti Spiders.

THE BASICS:
Its just spaghetti with Andouille sausage, yes? Not exactly. There is spaghetti, and I did use a more adult more rich sausage as opposed to the hot dogs I saw in the pictures on Facebook. I added sauce to the dish. But the kid friendly part makes eating the dish fun, even if preparing the dish was a major pain.

INGREDIENTS:
Bun Sized Andouille Sausage Links (Hot Dog Wieners For Kid Friendly Version)
Whole Wheat Spaghetti
Canned Spaghetti Sauce
Frozen Bell Pepper & Onions (Mirepoix Mix)
Seasoning To Taste

DIRECTIONS:
You are going to make the same amount of spaghetti as you would normally make for your family, so boil just a little more water than you would normally. I’m cooking a full 14 ounce box of whole wheat spaghetti so that we can eat off it for a few days. If you are like me and a) don’t like your spaghetti too long and b) don’t have a pot that can adequately handle the long spaghetti anyway, go ahead and break your spaghetti in half now. Be aware that by the time you water starts to boil, you may still be fixing the spiders. That’s what happened to me, and by that time I got tired of making the spiders any. Next time make this there will be help. But I’ll save that for the What I Didn’t Do. First, there is a lot of sausage to cut into ¼ inch sized discs.

How do you turn a sausage into a spider? Take four spaghetti noodles and stick them through a sausage disc. And they go a little something like this . . .

As I alluded to earlier, the water boiled–twice–before I could make a full package of spiders, and I had every intention of doing two and a half. One and a half and a whole lot of spaghetti went into the pot–which I had to bring to the spiders as they were way to cumbersome to carry to the stove. Cook until the noodles are done.

While that’s working, its time to make the sauce. Start with a little sauté/thaw of some frozen onions and bell peppers in butter and oil. Season to taste.

Toss in the sauce. I’m making a big batch of spaghetti, so I’m using 2 10 ounce cans. Some garlic powder and Cajun seasoning and a little time to simmer, and its perfect.

Curious as to how the spiders are coming out? They should look something like this:

When the pasta is done (as well as the spiders), drain and return to the pot. Pour the sauce into the pot with the pasta and gently mix and stir.

Scoop yourself some pasta in a bowl and you have your Andouille Sausage Spaghetti Spiders as they live in the wild . . .

. . . ready for you to capture and devour on your own terms.

WHAT I DID: Okay, so it’s just a long and tedious way to make spaghetti. I think it was fun to do and looked fun in the bowl. My wife got a kick out of it when she looked into a pot that she thought was regular spaghetti and saw what she saw. I went very light on the stuff in the sauce, and if I were to have fed this to actual children, would have used plain sauce, and probably regular hot dog wieners.

WHAT I DIDN’T DO: I only saw the picture of the finished product on Facebook, but the process of making it work was obvious. The problem is making the spiders is very slow and tedious. The next time I do this, I will enlist the help of someone. I believe my niece and nephew would have fun making the spiders, so this may be the perfect dish to make with them before they get older.

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Baked Chicken Wings With ‘Heater’ & ‘Sweeter’ Sauces

Posted on January 23, 2012 by J Cleveland Payne

I’m not sure when this recipe will hit the website (or when you will see this recipe), but it is being cooked and written on the day of the NFL’s AFC and NFC Champions games in 2012. If today is not the perfect day for chicken wings, I don’t know when else it would be. Just in time for kickoff, we had a batch of Baked Chicken Wings with a selection of ‘Heater’ & ‘Sweeter’ Sauces.

THE BASICS:

The easiest way to make chicken wings is to just put them in a slow cooker with the sauce and just walk away. The tastiest way to make chicken wings is to deep fry them then sauce them up. The slow cooker is the healthier way, but nothing tastes better than the initial crunch of a deep fried chicken wing. Watching an episode of Down Home With The Neelys, Pat Neely assured the audience that if you bake your wings for 45 minutes at 425 degrees, they’ll have a perfect crunch to them. Today, we’re putting our faith in Wing Master Neely.

As per the sauces, I like it hot, and the wife does not. With the baby baking in her oven, I don’t argue the matter, at least for the moment. I split the difference for a bag of wings with two BBQ sauce that were tuned up perfectly to our different tastes.

INGREDIENTS:
Frozen Chicken Wing Sections (Wings & Drumlets)

For Sauces
1 Bottle Honey BBQ Sauce (Separated)
2 Tablespoon Yellow Mustard (Separated)
Italian Seasoning
Cajun Seasoning
Garlic Powder
8 Ounces Hot Sauce (For ‘Heater’)
8 Ounces Honey (For ‘Sweeter’)

DIRECTIONS:

I’m baking the whole bag of chicken today. There should be instructions for baking frozen or thawed on the bag, but the basically baking the chicken at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. I had thawed my chicken, but did try to bake them long for the promised crispy skin. I did not get my promised crispy skin.

To help the process, I did put the chicken on cooling racks on cookie sheets. I sprayed down the cooling racks to keep the chicken from sticking, and with the chicken elevated, any excess liquid would drip into the cookie sheet to hopefully help the crisping process.

There really is no actual work after this, other than maybe flipping your chicken half way through the cooking time. A good set of wings looks a lot like these.

Sauce time! I split the bottle of BBQ sauce between two bowls, added mustard, some Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and Cajun seasoning to both bowls, and added about 8 ounce of hot sauce to one bowl, and about 8 ounce of honey to the other. Mix both thoroughly.

Your chicken should be cool enough to handle by now, so just dump a batch into your mixing bowl. Then pour in you sauce and mix thoroughly.

After that, just reach in for a few wings and enjoy!

WHAT I DID: I didn’t really do that much, which is what makes this great way to make a party dish. If you are okay with the chicken not being as crispy as if you would have deep fried them, it’s a near perfect recipe.

WHAT I DIDN’T DO: Use of a slow cooker is not out of the question. If you’ve got a big enough batch and you want to make sure your chicken stays warm, you can transfer your sauced wings to your slow cooker. You can obviously add just about anything you wish to your BBQ sauce for whatever flavor you want to have (I’ve been known to just mix a large bottle of hot sauce to the BBQ sauce and just go from there).

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Fried Black Eyed Pea Balls

Posted on January 16, 2012 by J Cleveland Payne

When I came across the recipe for what I would mix into Fried Black Eyed Pea Balls, I announced it on my Facebook page that it would go into the lineup for one of my ‘everything goes in the fryer’ weekends. Many were intrigued, and when the pictures went up, everybody wanted the recipe. It worked outa lot better than the Fried Tuna & Cheddar Balls did that weekend (nut I have given up on that one just yet).

THE BASICS: Peas and rice, plus a binder, deep fried for about three to four minutes. Cheap ingredients and a simple method yields a massive amount of food. I may find a way off you appetizer platter and onto your plate as a real side dish.

INGREDIENTS
1 Can Black Eyed Peas
2 Cups Rice, Cooked
1/4 cup frozen Bell Peppers
1/4 Cup Frozen Onions
Can Diced Tomatoes
1/2 Cup Flour
1/4 Cup Bread Crumbs
1 Egg
Spices

DIRECTIONS: Start out with about two cups of cooked rice. Open a can of black eyed peas, and rinse. In a large bowl, dump in the rice and the peas.

Because I am using frozen bell peppers and onion, I microwaved those vegetables for 20 minutes to thaw/semi cook them. While waiting for the peppers and onions, I saw a can of diced tomatoes, and decided to do a little experimentation with the recipe. I drained the tomatoes, and added them to the bowl, with the now thawed peppers and onions.

Now, its binder time. I found that the tomatoes made the whole mixture a little soggier than normal, so after the initial ½ cup of flour, and ¼ of bread crumbs, I added another ¼ cup of flour and cup of rice to thicken the mix. I use have Italian bread crumbs for some flavor and Panko breadcrumbs for some crunch.

Spices added, egg cracked and let the mixing and squishing begin!

Its frying time! The real fun part begins now! Grab enough of the mixture to make a good size ball, about the size of a walnut, and drop it into oil heated to 350 to 375 degrees. I use an small electric fryer, and fried 5 balls in a batch. Make sure to carefully drop the balls in the oil so the ball doesn’t separate and the oil doesn’t splash back on you, and do not add too many at a time to keep the oil temperature consistent.

Have enough oil so that the balls can float when the outside shell is done, which takes about a minute. Once your balls are floating, you can fry them to your desired color, but they will be done in about two more minutes. I let mine go for 3-4 minutes per batch, and you’ll have a lot of batches. And they come out looking something like this:

WHAT I DID:

I made a dipping sauce for my appetizer using light mayo, BBQ sauce, hot sauce, honey, and seasoning. It is meant to be a creamy sauce to help cool down the spiciness of the balls, although they didn’t turn out as spicy as I thought they would using the dried pepper flakes. Adding the tomatoes added a new twist to the flavor and consistency of the balls, so a may use tomatoes here and there when making them, but it will probably not change the complete recipe.

WHAT I COULD HAVE DONE:

As I said, I used dried pepper flakes when I added in the seasoning, but the final outcome wasn’t as spicy as I would have liked it to be. When I know its just me eating this appetizer, I usually add a quarter cup of chopped jalapeños to the mixture and a little extra black pepper, which I did not do this time. You can also just fry bigger pieces and even use them as a filling for a crunchy, meat free burger!

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Explaining Southern New Year’s Traditions By Amanda Galiano

Posted on January 2, 2012 by J Cleveland Payne

From as early as I could remember, New Year’s Day meant my mom spending most of the morning cleaning and cooking chitterlings chitins. I haven’t eaten chitins since I moved out of my parents around 20 years ago house, even when I am there as they are being prepared on New Year’s Day. That is a part of the wisdom of actually ‘being grown enough’ to go out and buy something I want to eat.

But I do live by the tradition of the first day of the year meal being extra special, as when I am at home, I will always cook way too much cabbage, large pot of black-eyed peas, and some new-to-me spin on macaroni and cheese. Of course, fried chicken–actually, these days it more likely to be fried chicken strips–is the best thing to go with those Southern classic side dishes.

By why do the collective ‘we’ eat these foods on New Year’s Day? There are as many explanations as there are ways to cook your peas. This year, as I focused on making my massive New Year’s Day meal, I’m took the week of from posting a new recipe, and am putting the work on Amanda Galiano, who writes the About.com Little Rock Guide, to give you her take on why we eat a few of our Southern favorites for the New Year.

No actual fresh recipe this week, but some great culinary education. Next week, our spectacular Christmas Day meal from last week: Chili Beeny Sloppy Joes!

- Wealth with Collard Greens and Cornbread: Explaining Southern New Year’s Traditions
- Why Do We Eat Peas on New Year’s: Explaining Southern Traditions

Posted in Culinary Education | Leave a comment

Taco Scoops

Posted on December 19, 2011 by J Cleveland Payne

My friend Thanh Rasico has a blog called Red Kitchen Recipes (I made her logo) where she shows off her excellent cooking skills the world while weaving the recipes around the stories of the coming and goings in her red-themed kitchen. This recipe is a total rip-off and remix of her Red Kitchen Taco Scoops, which I am simply calling Taco Scoops.

THE BASICS:

As stated above, I got this is a simple recipe for a twist on tacos from Red Kitchen Recipes. You should check out Thanh’s blog for plenty of innovative and original recipe idea. Of course you can just stay here for the simple recipes.

INGREDIENTS:
1 Pound Ground Chicken
1 Can Vegetarian Refried Beans
1 Can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes (14 Oz)
1/4 Cup Frozen Onions And Bell Pepper
1 Cup Frozen Broccoli
1 Packet Taco Seasoning
Tostitos Tortilla Scoops
Salsa
Shredded Cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Okay, so I have to apologize right off the bat because there seems to be more steps in this process than there should be. I worked through this process in my mind three times before I sat down to type it, and reviewed it twice after I finished the spellchecking and proofreading.

But to the recipe. Get out your biggest skillet, because you are going to need it. Heat in the skillet some oil (I use oil and butter) and start to work on the thawing/sautéing of the frozen onions and bell peppers.


Put your frozen broccoli on a microwave safe bowl with some water and microwave it for about 4 minutes. When you take it out of the microwave, you’ll want to ensure that your broccoli is very hot, and the water it was cooked in will be very steamy. If you need to nuke it for a few more minutes, go ahead. But we’ll get back to the broccoli in just a bit . . .


. . . because we need to get back to the skillet. The skillet veggies should be nice and translucent by now, and now it is time to brown the ground chicken. Thanh’s original recipe called for ground turkey and I believe that is because she avoids ground beef for her family. I originally made this recipe with ground beef, but I wanted to try to make I a little lighter this time, and my currently pregnant wife is currently having a love/hate relationship with all things beef. I added a little more butter to the skillet to make up for the lack of fat in the ground chicken, and started the browning process.


You should still be browning the chicken when the microwave stops. Step away from the stove for a minute and take you nuked broccoli to a cutting board, and chop the broccoli as fine as possible.


As your chicken is finishing the browning process, you add the can of refried bean. And because the beans will be relatively thick . . .


. . . you can then add your diced tomatoes unstrained. Reduce the heat and stir the mixture so that it is as even as possible.


Add your chopped broccoli . . .

. . . and a packet of taco seasoning. Add a little more than half of the recommend amount of water to the mix and stir the entire mixture well. I wasn’t paying attention when I was pouring my water into the mixture, and actually used a little more than the recommended amount for this packet, and had to let the taco filling simmer for A LOT LONGER than I wanted to thicken the mix.

Simmer for the time recommend on the taco seasoning packet. The mixture won’t really thicken until you turn off the heat, but if you did like I did and had too much water to begin with, you’ll have a mixture that is soupy until you let it boil out for a little bit longer

“Bubble, bubble, boil and trouble . . .” Or something like that . . .

The chip of choice for this dish happens to be Tostitos Scoops. Made for making scooping and dipping both easy and fun, the chips also work like little crunchy bowls that make the perfect size for a bite of awesome flavor.

Pardon my messy kitchen, but it is time to eat so I had to get moving. Lay out your chips and start filling. First, a healthy spoonful of the taco mix.

This first batch was just for me, and I wanted some heat on my Taco Scoops. I chopped about a half a cup of jalapenos and put about a pinch and a half on top of each scoop.

And then I went for the hot cheese. Oh yeah! As healthy an amount as you can put on a half in bowl of a chip is fine. At some point, you’ll probably just grab a handful and toss it over a plate full. That is fine too.

I’m losing points on plating, but I definitely gained them back with the taste.


After I worked all my Taco Scoops, I poured some salsa in to a small bowl, and put a healthy dollop of salsa on every Taco Scoop before I ate them. They really are one bite munches.

WHAT I DID: Each little scoop was made into a sort of deconstructed bite-sized taco. My wife didn’t want the heat, so I was careful not to add to much spice into the taco mix, and she skipped the jalapenos and used the shredded Colby Jack that we keep as a staple around the house.

And yes, I did eat 18 of them for dinner, 9 at a time. They really are a chore to assemble, but they really are good.

WHAT I DIDN’T DO: First, it’s what my wife didn’t do for her second helping of Taco Scoops. She didn’t use the scoops. She didn’t want to go through all the work for her second helping and just spooned some of the taco mix over some regular tortilla, tossed on a hand full of shredded cheese and some salsa, and basically had a bowl of nachos.

You can also think of adding the refried beans to your base taco meat as a way to stretch (turn a little into a lot more) or spice up (add a new dimension of flavor and texture) your normal tacos or burritos. Skip the scoops and scoop the mix into your normal Mexican favorites.

Let me remind you of the source of this great recipe, Thanh Rasico from Red Kitchen Recipes. Make sure you stop by her website (and in spirit, her red kitchen) for more recipes today!

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Kickin’ Canned Tomato Soup With Pizza Pocket Sandwiches

Posted on December 12, 2011 by J Cleveland Payne

As the whether outside gets frightful, its delightful to know that you can get a good meal that can warm your insides and eases your wallet while taking very little time and effort. Can you sauté some vegetables? Can you boil water? Can you plug in appliances? Head to the pantry and prepare to spruce up an old standby of canned tomato soup for what I am calling Kickin’ Canned Tomato Soup With Pizza Pocket Sandwiches.

THE BASICS: Yes, it’s a can of condensed soup. Yes, it’s a cheese sandwich using a cheesy cheap sandwich maker. Sometimes, when it seems like I am cheating the most, it is when I am at my Far From Gourmet best! Sometimes, it truly takes just a few simple touches to make a boring bland standard into a meal that is totally over the top.

INGREDIENTS:

For Kickin’ Canned Tomato Soup
2 Cans Condensed Tomato Soup
1 Roma Tomato
1 Cup Frozen Onions
Hot Sauce
Garlic Powder
Italian Seasoning
Black Pepper
Oil & Butter To Sauté Vegetables

For Pizza Pocket Sandwiches
4 Slices Bread
4 Slices Cheese
Mini Pepperoni
Non-Stick Cooking Spray For Sandwich Maker

DIRECTIONS:

I’m using frozen onions, so they need to be thawed and caramelized. With a little heated butter and oil in a pot, I worked the onions.

I could have easily used a can of diced tomatoes, but I believe I had a few fresh tomatoes than needed to be used when I was making this dish, so I diced a good size Roma tomato, and when the onions were just about cooked, added them to the pot. I gave the mixture a good two minute to cook the tomatoes, and added some black pepper and Italian seasoning to spice up the sauté.

Pour in two cans of condensed tomato soup, and the two cans of water needed to uncondense it. I don’t even go for name brand soups because I know I am going to spice it up on my own anyway. I’m also cheap a proud bargain shopper, and by spicing up the no-name soup, can make sure it has the flavor I want for a price that I can brag about ensures I can stretch our family budget a little further.

And it is time to spice it up! I add a little garlic powder . . .

. . . and a little hot sauce. Simmer for a few more minutes and the soup is done.

A warm, hearty soup is great, but the meal can be taken to a level of awesome with the right something to go along with it. A melted cheese sandwich is great. A Pizza Pocket Sandwich would be awesome. Here are the components:

Here is the arrangement:

The finished soup . . .

. . . paired with the finished sandwich . . .

. . . and with a little creative touch, gives you great presentation of the finished meal.

WHAT I DID: I took a can of condensed tomato soup and added tomatoes and onions. I made cheese sandwiches with pepperoni in a sandwich maker. Yep, that’s about it.

WHAT I DIDN’T DO: Tomato soup is such a versatile thing to make. You can make a pot and then just let everyone add in whatever they want. Some popular bowl additions include salsa, shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, and sour cream (if you want to add them all to your bowl then more power to you ).

And if you too are a closet owner of a sandwich maker (and just about everyone has one tucked away in their closet) don’t be afraid to pull it out and have fun with it.

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Pan-Fried Turkey Cutlets

Posted on November 28, 2011 by J Cleveland Payne

My wife and I had a very small Thanksgiving at home this year. She has been very reluctant to travel as she is going through a precarious pregnancy, so the 3-hour drive to my parents and the 2-hour drive to hers was out of the question. Last minute shopping for dinner didn’t work out as planned. No turkey legs, and I didn’t see roasting a whole breast or even a small turkey for just the two of us. We almost went for Cornish hens until we came across turkey cutlets.

THE BASICS: I didn’t know that turkey cutlets existed until I heard about them on a podcast about healthy cooking a few days eairler. A quick once over and it was easy to figure out what I would do with them: Pan-Fried Turkey Cutlets. It would be quick and easy to make, and still fairly light on calories.

INGREDIENTS:
Turkey Cutlets
Flour
Seasoning To Taste
Oil & Butter For Frying

DIRECTIONS: This was very simple. I took black pepper, paprika, Cajun seasoning, and Italian seasoning, and sprinkled the spices all over both sides of the cutlets. After about two minutes of gentle rubbing, I floured the cutlets and pan fried them for about three minutes on each side.

A little time to rest and here is what you have:

WHAT I DID: Well, you know what I did. When I was done with the cutlets, I sliced them up into strips and served them on top of turkey dressing with turkey gravy. It went along with the rest of our meal of baked ham, black eyed peas, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, muffins, and cranberry sauce.

Let’s just call this plate number one of the night . . .

WHAT I DIDN’T DO: Now that I know how easy Pan-Fried Turkey Cutlets are to cook, I will probably find ways to make them more often. I’ll have to find more things to go along with them, other than Thanksgiving dinner faire. Next time, I’ll probably work with sprucing up the greens that are served up.

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