Tomatillo Ranch Dressing

One of the biggest things I miss about home is Cafe Rio.  They have the best salad dressing ever.  I have tried so many recipes and I haven't found anything that has the right consistency or flavor.  One of my former co-workers sent me an amazing recipe for tomatillo ranch dressing which I modified a bit.  I think it tastes pretty close to cafe rio.  I really like that it isn't runny like a lot of recipes I've tried.

Even if you have never tried cafe rio's tomatillo ranch... you still should try this.  It actually makes me want to eat salad.  I also use it as a veggie dip. 


Tomatillo Ranch Dressing
1 regular ranch dressing packet 
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. mayo (i used best foods fat free mayo and it was fine!)
1 tomatillo, peeled

1/2 bunch cilantro

1-2 garlic cloves (I usually use one large and one small clove)

Juice of 1 lime (2 if you like it more on the limey side.. but make sure to taste test as you go if you decide to add more lime)

1 jalapeno seeded (if you like spicy dressing you can leave some seeds in.  But fair warning- I tried making it with all the seeds in once and my tongue was in a great deal of pain)

Put all ingredients in blender or food processor.  Blend until mixed.

Will's Lemon Chicken

After the most bi-polar weather I've ever experienced... we are finally set to have some consistently nice weather here in DC.  Well, hopefully.  My roomie and I decided to take the charcoal out of storage and fire up the grill.

Tonight I will be making my step dad's amazing lemon chicken.  It's very simple and ohhh so delicious. :) All you need are four ingredients. Chicken breasts, butter, lemon juice, and garlic salt. 

For 4-6 chicken breasts:

One stick of butter

4 -6 oz of lemon juice

One teaspoon of garlic salt 

Melt butter.  Add lemon juice and garlic salt. Mix together.  Save part of it for basting the chicken.  Add chicken and let it sit in the mixture while the grill gets hot. 

Sear (high) chicken on both sides

Turn the heat down to med or low, 

baste chicken every time you flip it over

Don't over cook the chicken.

That's it. 

Chili Cheese Stacks / Homemade Tortillas

When I lived in Scotland, my roomie & her boyfriend (now husband) and I used to cook together all the time.  Alan made the best chili cheese stacks ever.  He insists on making your own tortillas... if you're pressed for time, I'm sure you could use store bought ones. But I think the homemade tortillas make this meal a lot better.

To make Alan's tortillas you need to follow these guidelines:
1 part water
1 part oil (vegetable, sunflower, whatever)
2 parts milk

For one stack you probably need 7-8 tortillas.  So for that I'd use 1/4 c. oil & water and 1/2 c milk.

Next comes the flour.  You have to eyeball that.  You want to make it a dough consistency. Moist but not sticky. If it sticks to your hands like chewing gum, you need more flour.  The key is really to mix it in gently at the start (with a fork or spoon is best I find). Try to keep as much of it together as possible so you don't have little dry flakes left at the bottom.  Once it starts to get much more like a dough, keep adding flour, but kneed it with your hands.

Once the dough is complete, divide it into 7-8 sections and roll it out into tortilla sized circles.  Then put them in a fry pan, preferably with a large flat bottom.  No oil is needed.  You'll know it is ready to flip with the tortilla starts having decent sized bubbles at least the size of a dime.

Now on to the stacking.....
For one chili cheese stacks you will need 2 cans of chili and 1 pkg of mexican cheese.  Get a baking dish and place one tortilla in the bottom.  Layer some chili, cheese, repeat.  Make sure to spread the chili out evenly so the tortillas don't dry out.

So basically it's tortilla, chili, cheese, repeat. Until you're to your last tortilla.  Place the last one on top. Make sure to wet your hand and wipe the top tortialla before sticking the stack in the oven.

Baking:
Preheat the oven to 300 F.  Place baking dish in oven for 5-10 minutes.  You can tell when it is done when the cheese is melted.

Let it cool and slice it up like a pie!  

Taco Soup

Yesterday at about 11:30 I got an insane craving for taco soup (no, mom, I'm not pregnant). But I realized how much I love this and thought it would be a good easy recipe to share.

I originally got this recipe from my friend and ex co-worker Mel. I made this a ton while I lived in Scotland and had to modify because a lot of the ingredients weren’t the same. So this is my modified version.

1 lb ground beef
1 onion chopped
1 16 oz can pinto beans
1 16 oz can black bean
1 16 oz can corn
1 jar of tomato sauce
1 16 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 pkt of taco seasoning (I use reduced sodium to make it a bit healthier)
1 pkt of ranch dressing seasoning (not buttermilk!)
1 (small) can black olives, drained and sliced, optional

Instructions:
Brown ground beef and onion. Cook thoroughly. Add beef and onion mixture to a large pot, then add all of the cans and seasonings and stir. I have seen some recipes that call for the cans drained, however I prefer them un-drained. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Garnish:
Sour cream
Cheese
Tortilla Chips

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are seriously the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies ever.  To make them even more amazing - I add milk chocolate chips rather than semisweet chocolate chips.  Either way they are fine.  But I think they taste amazing with milk chocolate........

1 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. butter 

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 c. white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. oatmeal

1 c. chocolate chips

Add wet ingredients then dry ingredients. Bake @ 350 for 10-12 mins.

Wassail

My lack of posting new recipes has been terrible! Now that things aren't as crazy at work I think I'll have more time to post on this blog! As always - please let me know if you have suggestions, questions or improvements for the recipes!

This is my aunt's homemade wassail recipe.

2 1/4 c. sugar
4 c. water
2 cinnamon sticks
8 allspice berries
10 cloves
1 piece of ginger
4 c. orange juice
2 c. lemon juice
2 quarts apple cider or apple juice

Combine sugar and water and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add cinnamon, allspice berries, cloves & ginger. Cover and let stand in a warm place for 1 hour. Strain. Just before serving add juices & quickly bring to a boil.

Makes 36 (1/2 c.) servings.

Lasagna

In addition to having the best mom in the entire world, I also have the mom with the best lasagna recipe in the world.  Lasagna is a very popular food in Utah.  And everyone seems to thinks their mom’s lasagna is the best.  I, however, beg to differ because my mom’s truly is the best.  No offense to any of you who love your mom’s lasagna.  I’m sure it’s perfectly adequate.  I’ve yet to come across any lasagna that tastes better or even remotely as good as my mom’s. 

Robynne’s Lasagna

1 pkg pre-cooked lasagna noodles (it will save you a lot of time)

1 lb. Italian sausage

2 cans Hunts traditional tomato sauce

Three- 8oz packages of shredded mozzarella cheese

1 small container of sour cream

1 small container of cottage cheese.

Preheat oven to 350

Cook sausage thoroughly.  Don't drain the fat from the pan.  Add both cans of sauce and simmer on low for about 15 minutes.

Combine sour cream and cottage cheese together in a bowl.

In a glass baking dish, layer sauce on the bottom.  Then add a layer of noodles, sauce mixture, sour cream mixture and 1 of the packages of cheese.  Repeat this step for 2 more layers.

Bake covered in foil for about 20 minutes.  Then uncover foil and continue baking another 15 min.  

VERY IMPORTANT:  LET LASAGNE SIT FOR 10 MINUTES BEFORE SERVING.