Food – Page 3 – Don's House of Fine Patisseries

June 9, 2021December 22, 2024

Making Barbecups AND Chicken Cups — Photos (Double-Length Feature)

This week’s cooking projects from my collection of recipes included lemon squares, yet more pickled eggs — friends have been asking me for them — more chocolate buttercrunch (mom said “it’s about time!), and, the subject of this post, both barbecups and chicken cups.

This post is a double length feature because both recipes are very similar to the point of just having different fillings. As such, the narrative shows the concurrent preparation of both recipes, just as they were actually prepared.

Making the barbecup and chicken cup fillings:

First, a cast iron skillet was taken out, and placed on the stove:

Cast iron skillet taken out and placed on stove

A bit of olive oil was poured in the cast iron skillet:

Salt was added to the cast iron skillet:

The olive oil and the salt were spread around the cast iron skillet:

Olive oil and the salt spread around the cast iron skillet

The stove was turned on:

A chicken breast — this one in the 200g to 225g range — was taken out:

The chicken was placed in the cast iron skillet:

A bit more salt was added to the top of the chicken:

Ground beef was taken out — in this case, about two pounds of ground beef instead of only one pound of ground beef, as specified in the recipe, because in addition to making barbecups, I wanted to freeze some cooked ground beef and onions in an ice cube tray (see later):

An electric skillet was taken out:

The electric skillet was turned on:

The ground beef was placed in the electric skillet:

An onion was taken out:

The onion was trimmed — yes, I know that this onion is definitely on the older side:

The onion was quartered:

The onion was coarsely chopped:

The chopped onion was added to the electric skillet with the ground beef:

Chopped onion added to electric skillet with ground beef

The ground beef was broken up:

Salt was added to the ground beef and chopped onions:

Salt added to ground beef and chopped onions

The ground beef was broken up some more as it was cooking, mixing in the chopped onions and salt:

It was time to pay attention to the frying chicken, which was picked up with an egg flipper:

… and was turned over in the cast iron skillet:

Chicken turned over in cast iron skillet

At this point, an oven rack transferred to the top slot in the oven, and the oven was preheated to 425F:

Frozen mixed vegetables were measured out:

The mixed vegetables were transferred to a mixing bowl:

Mixed vegetables transferred to mixing bowl

A can of condensed cream of chicken soup was taken out:

Can of condensed cream of chicken soup taken out

The can of condensed cream of chicken soup was opened:

Can of condensed cream of chicken soup opened

The condensed cream of chicken soup was added to the mixing bowl with the frozen mixed vegetables:

Condensed cream of chicken soup added to mixing bowl with frozen mixed vegetables

The condensed cream of chicken soup and mixed vegetables were mixed together with a fork:

Condensed cream of chicken soup and mixed vegetables mixed together with a fork

The condensed chicken soup and mixed vegetables were put aside.

The ground beef was broken up well and well mixed with the onions, and was coming along to being fully cooked:

Ground beef and onions well mixed, and almost cooked

Once cooked, the ground beef and onions were covered and put aside.

At this point, the chicken was cooked and taken out of the cast iron skillet, and placed on a cutting board:

The chicken was sliced:

The cooked chicken was then chopped coarsely:

The chopped chicken was added to the mixture of condensed cream of chicken soup and mixed vegetables:

Chopped chicken added to mixture of condensed cream of chicken soup and mixed vegetables

The chopped cooked chicken and mixture of condensed cream of chicken soup and mixed vegetables were all mixed together again with a fork:

Chopped cooked chicken and mixture of condensed cream of chicken soup and mixed vegetables all mixed together with fork

The chicken cup filling was put aside.

Making the biscuit dough cup part:

I was taught that the base recipe I use for the biscuit dough does not double well, so I started off making the dough for one of the recipe’s worth, and then repeated the process afterwards for the second recipe’s worth.

The flour was measured out:

The flour was transferred to a mixing bowl:

Shortening was measured out:

The shortening was added to the flour in the mixing bowl:

Shortening added to flour in mixing bowl

Baking powder was measured out:

The baking powder was added to the mixing bowl with the flour and the shortening:

Baking powder added to mixing bowl with flour and shortening

Salt was measured out

The salt was added to the mixing bowl with the flour, shortening, and baking powder:

Salt added to mixing bowl with flour, shortening, and baking powder

The shortening was broken up with a fork, roughly to the size of peas:

Shortening broken up with a fork to the size of peas

Milk was measured out:

An egg was taken out:

The egg was cracked into the measuring cup with the milk:

Egg cracked into measuring cup with milk

The egg and milk were mixed together with a fork:

About a third of the egg and milk mixture was added to the mixture of dry ingredients:

A third of egg and milk mixture added to mixture of dry ingredients

The ingredients were mixed with a fork, well at this point two forks:

The rest of the egg and milk mixture was added to the dough and the ingredients mixed.

A couple of muffin baking tins were taken out:

Balls of dough were placed in the wells, and formed into cups around the form of the wells:

Balls of dough transferred to muffin tin wells and formed into cups

The rest of the dough was transferred to the muffin baking tin and a dough cup was formed in each well:

Dough cups formed in each well of a muffin baking tin

A second batch of dough was prepared for the second muffin baking tin, this picture showing the shortening just having been added to the flour (see above for the whole process):

Second batch of biscuit dough, shortening added to flour step

… and the dough from the second batch was used to form more cups in the second muffin baking tin’s wells:

The chicken filling mixture was taken out:

The chicken filling mixture was spooned into the dough cups of one of the muffin baking tins:

Spooning chicken filling mixture into dough cups

The chicken filling-filled dough cups were put aside for a few moments.

The cooked ground beef and onion mix was taken out:

Cooked ground beef and onion mix taken out

The cooked ground beef and onion mixture was spooned into the dough cups of one of the muffin baking tins:

Spooning cooked ground beef and onion mixture into dough cups

Cooked ground beef and onion mix in the dough cups

And here is what all the filled dough cups looked like:

24 dough cups filled with cooked ground beef and chicken mixture

Commercial barbecue sauce in a squeeze bottle was taken out, and barbecue sauce was squeezed onto the cooked ground beef and onion mix:

Barbecue sauce squeezed onto cooked ground beef and onion mix

The filled cups of both varieties were put aside for a moment.

Mozzarella cheese was taken out:

Mozzarella cheese was sliced off the block:

Slices of mozzarella cheese were placed on top of the filled dough cups:

Slices of mozzarella cheese placed on top of filled dough cups

The mozzarella cheese was sliced until there was enough to cover all the filled dough cups:

The barbecups and chicken cups were placed in the preheated oven on the top rack:

Barbecups and chicken cups placed in preheated oven on top rack

The oven timer was set to fifteen minutes:

While the barbecups and the chicken cups were baking, the remaining cooked ground beef and onion mixture was transferred with a spoon to an ice cube tray:

Remaining cooked ground beef and onion mixture transferred with spoon to ice cube tray

The ice cube tray with the cooked ground beef and onion mixture was placed in the freezer. When the ground beef and onion mixture was frozen, the individual cubes were placed in a freezer bag and placed back in the freezer, ready for future meal cooking.

At this point, the barbecups and chicken cups were cooked, the broil cycle was turned on for a couple of minutes to brown the cheese on top:

Broil cycle turned on to brown the cheese

When the barbecups and chicken cups were fully baked, they were taken out of the oven and placed on cooling racks:

Barbecups (on left) and chicken cups (on right) taken out of oven and placed on cooling racks

The chicken cups were loosened with a plastic knife:

Chicken cups loosened with plastic knife

The chicken cups were removed from the muffin baking tin, and placed on cooling racks:

Chicken cups removed from muffin baking tin

The barbecups (on the left, photo above as well as photo below) were then removed from the muffin baking tin, and placed on a cooling rack alongside the chicken cups:

Barbecups and chicken cups placed on cooling racks

The chicken cups (now on the left in the photo below) and the barbecups (now on the right in the photo below) were placed on a cookie baking tray:

Chicken cups (on left) and barbecups (on right) placed on a cookie baking tray

The tray of chicken cups and barbecups was placed in the freezer:

Tray of chicken cups and barbecups placed in freezer

Once the barbecups and the chicken cups were frozen, they were placed in freezer bags, including one that still had some from the last time I cooked these recipes:

Frozen barbecups and chicken cups placed in freezer bags

A barbecup (left) and a chicken cup (right) were kept aside for supper, and reheated in a countertop toaster oven:

Yummy!

May 30, 2021December 10, 2021

Making English Muffin Breakfast Sandwiches — Photos

This week’s single cooking project from my collection of recipes was yet more pickled eggs; this week has been busy, so, I took the photos from one of the extra projects I did last weekend while I was still at the cottage, cooking a large number of breakfast sausages for the freezer, and the subject of this post, English muffin breakfast sandwiches.

This is a bit of a no-brainer of a recipe, since as I was mounting this post, I saw a photo of a virtually identical sandwich printed on the bag of English muffins!

I normally cook breakfast sausages in advance and in relatively large quantities — as recently as last weekend, in fact — about 2 kg (4-1/2 lbs) at a time, which makes making breakfast sandwiches like this and my other breakfast sandwiches a lot easier and quick.

If you don’t cook breakfast sausages in advance to keep in the freezer, begin with the cooking of some sausages in the number of sandwiches you will be making for breakfast. You may also use the resulting grease, appropriately drained and wiped up from the skillet, later when the egg will be fried, instead of the specified olive oil.

Making the sandwiches:

First, a frozen, cooked sausage was taken out, and allowed to partly defrost:

The sausage was sliced along its length:

The two sausage halves were then cut in half crosswise, and then put aside for a moment:

An English muffin was taken out (notice the picture of this recipe on the label):

Since I keep English muffins in the freezer, I placed the English muffin in the microwave oven …

English muffin placed in the microwave oven

… and the microwave oven was set to a short time period to partly defrost the English muffin:

20 seconds set on microwave oven to partly defrost English muffin

The English muffin was sliced into two halves, and put aside for a moment:

A slice of processed cheese was taken out and unwrapped, and placed on the counter to warm up to room temperature (note that natural cheese sliced off the block may also be used):

The corners of the slice of cheese were folded over toward the centre, to resize the cheese to the English muffin, and then put aside for a moment:

Corners of the cheese folded over toward centre

Olive oil was poured into a cast iron skillet on the stove:

The olive oil was spread over part of the surface of the skillet:

Olive oil spread over part of the surface of the skillet

The stove was turned to a medium heat:

While the skillet was heating up, the English muffin halves were placed in the toaster oven:

English muffin halves placed in the toaster oven

The toast oven was set to the time setting required to toast English muffins:

Toaster oven set to toast English muffins

An egg was taken out:

The sausage pieces were placed in the skillet, and the egg was cracked into the skillet:

Sausage pieces placed in the skillet, and egg cracked into the skillet

The egg was fried, and edges folded into the centre to resize the frying egg to the English muffin:

I like fried eggs turned over, so the egg was flipped over:

At this point, the English muffins were almost toasted:

The toasted English muffins were taken out of the toaster oven:

Toasted English muffin taken out of toaster oven

The folded over processed cheese slice was placed on one of the English muffin halves:

Processed cheese slice placed on English muffin half

The fried egg was transferred on top of the processed cheese:

Fried egg transferred on top of processed cheese

The sausage pieces were placed on top of the fried egg:

Sausage pieces placed on top of fried egg

The other half of the English muffin was placed on top of the sausage pieces:

Second English muffin half placed on top of sausage pieces

And my yummy breakfast was ready to eat!

May 25, 2021June 29, 2021

Making Crisped Rice Treats — Photos

This week’s cooking projects from my collection of recipes included more zucchini with a bacon and onion tomato sauce, chicken soup, blondies, plain cake with a lemon sauce, English muffin breakfast sandwiches (the recipe of which I ~~will eventually convert~~ I have now converted to my current format, because … I took pictures while cooking it, for future use in a blog post), and cooking breakfast sausages to place in the freezer (pictures of which I also took for future use in a blog post, because although sausages won’t get a recipe, cooked sausages are included in a few of my recipes, and to me, their cooking fits reasonably well into this series of blog posts.)

I was pleased to have on hand the pictures from making the crisped rice treats I made last weekend at the cottage!

Making the Crisped Rice Treats:

First, margarine was taken out, and some margarine was picked up on a paper towel:

Margarine picked up by hand with a paper towel

The margarine was spread in a 13″ x 9″ x 2″ cake pan:

The greased pan was then put aside.

6-1/2 cups of crisped rice breakfast cereal were measure out:

The crisped rice cereal was transferred to a mixing bowl and put aside:

Crisped rice cereal transferred to a mixing bowl

5-1/2 cups of mini marshmallows were measured out:

The marshmallows were put aside.

A large, heavy pot was taken out:

The stove burner was set to a low heat:

Two dollops of margarine were “measured” out:

The margarine was transferred to the heavy pot:

The margarine was melted in the heavy pot:

Once the margarine was fully melted, the mini marshmallows were added to the heavy pot with the melted margarine:

Mini marshmallows added to the melted margarine

The stove setting was raised to medium heat:

The marshmallows were constantly stirred while melting, to avoid burning:

Constantly stirring the marshmallows while melting to avoid burning

While the marshmallows were melting a few feet away and being constantly watched, a cutting board was taken out, to use as a trivet a few moments later:

Cutting board taken out to be used as a trivet

Very soon, the marshmallows were completely melted, and well mixed with the margarine:

The pot of melted mini marshmallows and margarine mix was transferred to the cutting board:

Pot of melted marshmallows and margarine mix transferred to cutting board

The crisped rice cereal was transferred to the melted marshmallow and margarine mix:

Crisped rice cereal transferred to melted marshmallow and margarine mix

The crisped rice cereal and melted marshmallow and margarine mix were thoroughly mixed together:

Crisped rice cereal and melted marshmallow and margarine mix thoroughly mixed together

The mixture was transferred to the greased 13″ x 9″ x 2″ cake pan:

Mixture transferred to greased 13″ x 9″ x 2″ cake pan

The mixture was allowed to slightly cool, but while still warm, it was spread out evenly in the baking pan with a stiff stainless steel egg flipper:

Mixture spread out evenly in the baking pan with an egg flipper

Mixture spread out evenly in the baking pan

After cooling completely, the contents of the pan were cut into various bite-sized pieces:

Cooled crisped rice and marshmallow mix cut into pieces

Finally, the treats were transferred to a sealable plastic container:

Treats transferred to a sealable plastic container

Of course these crispy little treats are yummy!

May 17, 2021May 17, 2021

Making Pepperoni Pizza With a Biscuit-Dough Crust — Photos

This past week’s cooking projects from my collection of recipes included yet again more bran muffins for mom, crisped rice treats (which will be the subject of a future post since I also took photos of the process, to keep for future use), and the subject of this post, my pepperoni pizza.

A post that is an ancestor to my current project of creating photo posts of my personal recipes was for my pepperoni pizza, the same recipe for this post; however, it was a simple posting with only some photos of a few of the steps, and the post was created more on a dare after I randomly texted said photos to my brother, who replied “A blog post, perhaps?”

Note that in this post, while some photos below may betray the order in which they were actually taken relative to the others (although all were taken in the same session), some ingredients’ preparation steps are presented at the beginning as part of the mise-en-place steps for the sake of the narrative. Also note that these pizzas were made at the cottage, hence the use of different kitchen equipment.

Making the pizza:

An oven rack was placed on the top position in the oven, and the oven was preheated to 450F:

Olive oil was added to two #8 cast iron skillets:

… and the olive oil was evenly spread over the skillets’ surfaces with a paper towel:

Spreading the olive oil with a paper towel

I keep cooked bacon in the freezer; a few slices of which were taken out (or at this point, cook some bacon):

The cooked bacon was sliced:

… and then the bacon was chopped finely:

The finely chopped bacon was transferred to a bowl and kept at hand:

An onion was taken out:

The onion was trimmed:

The onion was halved:

The onion was then sliced thinly:

And the onion was chopped finely:

Then, the onion was transferred to the bowl with the chopped bacon:

Chopped onion transferred to bowl with chopped bacon

And the chopped onion and chopped bacon were mixed together:

Chopped onion and chopped bacon mixed together

The bowl of chopped onion and chopped bacon was then put aside.

Mozzarella cheese, a grater, and a bowl were taken out:

Mozzarella cheese, grater, and bowl taken out

The mozzarella cheese was grated:

… and the mozzarella cheese was put aside.

I use pre-sliced pepperoni purchased at the store; if you are slicing your own pepperoni, now would be a good time to slice 30 slices of pepperoni, and place the sliced pepperoni on a plate or in a bowl, to be put aside.

Flour was measured out:

The flour was placed in a mixing bowl:

Baking powder was measured out:

The baking powder was added to the flour in the mixing bowl:

Shortening was measured out:

The shortening was added to the flour and baking powder in the mixing bowl:

Salt was measured out:

The salt was added to the flour, baking powder, and shortening in the mixing bowl:

“Italian style seasoning” was measured out:

The Italian seasoning was added to the flour, baking powder, shortening, and salt in the mixing bowl:

Italian seasoning added to other ingredients

The shortening was broken up with a fork …

… until the shortening was broken up to roughly the size of peas, and the rest of the ingredients were well mixed:

Shortening broken up to the size of peas

Milk was measured out:

An egg was taken out:

The egg was cracked into the measuring cup of milk:

The egg and milk were mixed together with a fork:

About a third of the liquid was added to the flour mix:

Egg and milk mixture added to the flour mix

The wet and dry ingredients were mixed together:

The rest of the liquid was added half at a time, mixing after each addition of liquid, resulting in a sticky to somewhat stiff dough:

Wet and dry ingredients mixed to make a dough

The dough was divided between the two oiled cast iron skillets:

Dough divided between the two oiled cast iron skillets

The two dough balls were lightly floured:

The dough was flattened out in the skillets by hand, covering the entire surface of the bases of the skillets:

Edges were formed in the dough along the edges of the skillets:

Edges formed in dough along edges of skillets

Pizza sauce was taken out:

The sauce was spooned out of the can:

The sauce was transferred to the pizzas:

… and evenly split between the two pizzas:

The sauce was evenly spread over the two flattened dough in each skillet, within the edges created around the pizzas:

The pepperoni was taken out:

Pepperoni slices were layered on top of the sauce, generally not overlapping over each other:

The chopped onion and chopped bacon mix was divided between the pizzas:

Chopped onion and chopped bacon mix divided between the pizzas

The chopped onion and chopped bacon mix was evenly spread over the surface of the pizzas:

Chopped onion and chopped bacon mix evenly spread over the surface of the pizzas

The grated mozzarella cheese was divided between the two pizzas:

Grated mozzarella cheese divided between the two pizzas

The grated mozzarella cheese was evenly spread over the surface of the pizzas

Grated mozzarella cheese evenly spread over the pizzas

The two pizzas, skillets and all, were placed on the top rack of the preheated oven:

Pizzas placed on the top rack of the preheated oven

A timer was set to 23 minutes:

The pizzas’ positions in the oven were switched partway, and after 23 minutes, the baked pizzas were removed from the oven using oven mitts — the skillets are VERY HOT! — and placed on a cutting board:

The pizzas were removed from the skillets using an egg flipper, and returned to the cutting board:

The pizzas were sliced (in this case, in six pieces each):

A yummy lunch is served:

Lunch was yummy!

The rest of the pizza slices were placed on a cookie sheet:

The cookie sheet was placed in the freezer:

Tray with pizza slices placed in freezer

Once frozen, the extra pizza slices were placed in a freezer bag and returned to the freezer, to eat during future lunches:

Frozen pizza slices in a freezer bag and returned to the freezer

May 9, 2021December 22, 2024

Making Shepherd’s Pies / Paté Chinois / Cottage Pies — Photos

This week’s cooking project from my collection of recipes was a half-batch of my version of what in English-speaking Canada we call shepherd’s pies, while in French-speaking Canada, we call it paté chinois; in the UK, it would be properly considered a cottage pie.

I developed this version in the very early 1990’s after working in a summer camp kitchen, where we made camp-sized quantities of a basic version with cooked ground beef, cream-style corn, and mashed potatoes; I liked the dish but added onions, ketchup, peas, and carrots, and kept to the spirit of large quantities in order to cook for the freezer.

Note that in the text below, while there may appear to be a distinct sequence of separate steps to be taken one after the other, presented as such for the sake of the narrative, many steps were actually performed simultaneously and / or heavily overlapping with each other as given steps were finished and new steps begun. This was all the more the case given that I had performed a number of mise-en-place activities in advance: Ground beef was measured out and bagged separately, a week in advance on the day that I’d bought several packages of ground beef on sale, and before all of it was put in the freezer; potatoes were measured out, peeled, and cubed the night before the main cooking day; and carrots were prepared and sliced the night before the main cooking day.

Making the pies:

Last week, after stocking up on ground beef on sale, I set up my kitchen scale, putting a plate on the scale and setting the scale to zero:

Plate on kitchen scale and scale set to zero

I measured out two pounds of ground beef …

… and the ground beef was placed in a separate bag and placed in the freezer, ready for this week’s cooking project:

Measured out ground beef in a freezer bag

The night before I did the main cooking, I set a pot on the kitchen scale, and set the scale to zero:

Pot placed on kitchen scale and scale set to zero

Five pounds of potatoes were measured out:

The pot of potatoes was filled with water:

The potatoes were peeled:

As the potatoes were peeled, they were placed back into the pot of water:

Peeled potatoes placed back in pot of water

The peeled potatoes were then individually taken out and placed on a cutting board:

The peeled potatoes were sliced lengthwise:

… the potatoes were then cut into large cubes:

… and the potato cubes were placed back into the pot of water as they were cut:

Potato cubes placed back in the pot of water

The water in the pot of potato cubes was drained:

Fresh water was put in the pot of potato cubes to rinse the potato cubes:

The rinse water was drained, and the pot filled again with fresh water, covering the potato cubes:

Third round of fresh water covering the potato cubes

On the main cooking day, the stove was turned on:

… the pot of potatoes was placed on the stove:

Salt was measured out:

… and put into the pot of potatoes being brought to a boil:

Sat added to the pot of potatoes being brought to a boil

The potatoes were brought to a boil:

A timer was set to 20 minutes, the time the potatoes were boiled:

The night before I did the main cooking, carrots were taken out:

The carrots were cleaned and trimmed:

The carrots were run through a food processor with the slicing blade tool:

Carrots run through food processor with slicing tool

The sliced carrots were transferred to a pot:

Water was added to the pot of carrots, covering the carrots:

On the main cooking day, a second burner on the stove was turned on:

Second burner on the stove turned on (dial on the right)

The carrots were put on the stove and brought to a boil:

A timer was set to five minutes:

… and at this point I remembered to add salt to the pot of boiling carrots:

After five minutes of boiling, the carrots were drained, and the pot was placed in the fridge to help cool down the carrots:

On cooking day, onions were taken out:

The onions were trimmed:

The onions were chopped coarsely:

The onions were placed in an electric skillet:

The ground beef, which was measured out and frozen last week, and defrosted beginning the day before cooking day, was placed in the electric skillet with the chopped onions:

Ground beef placed in electric skillet with the onions

The electric skillet was turned on:

Salt was added to the beef and onions in the electric skillet:

The beef was broken up and mixed together with the onions and salt, while all the ingredients were frying:

Beef broken into smaller pieces and mixed with onions

Part way through the cooking of the beef and onions, ketchup was taken out …

… and ketchup was added to the frying beef and onion mixture part way through:

Ketchup added to frying beef and onion mix

At this point, some oven proof baking pans were laid out:

And once the beef, onion, and ketchup mixture was fully cooked …

Fully cooked beef, onion, and ketchup mixture

… the cooked beef, onion, and ketchup mixture was transferred to the various oven-proof baking pans:

Cooked beef, onion, and ketchup mixture transferred to the baking pans

The baking pans with cooked beef, onion, and ketchup mixture were put aside until later.

At this point, the potatoes had been boiling for twenty minutes, and the pot was drained:

Margarine was taken out, and a dollop of margarine was scooped out with a spoon:

Dollop of margarine scooped out with a spoon

The margarine was added to the boiled potatoes:

Salt was again measured out:

And the salt was added to the boiled potatoes and margarine:

Salt added to boiled potatoes and margarine

Milk was measured out:

And the milk was added to the boiled potatoes, margarine, and salt:

Milk added to boiled potatoes, margarine, and salt

The boiled potatoes, margarine, salt, and milk were mashed together with a hand masher:

Boiled potatoes, margarine, salt, and milk mashed together

The mashed potatoes were put aside until later.

The night before, cans of cream style corn and a can opener were taken out:

Cream style corn and can opener taken out

On cooking day, the cream-style corn cans were opened, and the cream style corn was spread over the cooked beef, onion, and ketchup mixture in the baking pans:

Cream-style corn poured over the cooked beef, onion, and ketchup mixture

Frozen peas were taken out:

Frozen peas were sprinkled over the cream corn layer in the baking pans:

The pot of cooled carrots was taken out of the fridge, and the carrot slices were layered on top of the peas:

The still warm mashed potatoes were spread on the top of the pies in the baking pans:

Mashed potatoes spread on the top of the ingredients in the baking pans

Freezer bags were labelled:

The shepherd’s pies were placed in the freezer bags, save one (top row, centre), which was covered in wax paper so that I could put it in the fridge for supper later in the day:

The shepherd’s pies destined for the freezer were placed in a freezer:

Later on, when it was time to make supper, my countertop convection oven was set to 350F:

The shepherd’s pie which was put aside earlier was placed in the countertop convection oven:

Shepherd’s pies placed in the countertop convection oven

Once the shepherd’s pie was baked and the mashed potato top browned, the shepherd’s pie was taken out of the countertop convection oven:

Cooked shepherd’s pie taken out of countertop convection oven

And finally, the yummy shepherd’s pie was served and eaten!

May 2, 2021May 2, 2021

Making Bread in an Automatic Bread Machine — Photos

This week’s cooking projects from my collection of recipes included yet more pickled eggs, a successful experiment with my lemon squares using my aunt’s shortbread cookie dough as the base, more bran muffins for my mom, and, earlier in the week, plain white bread in my automatic bread machine, to make slices of bread to freeze and keep in the freezer.

A white bread cycle producing the same product using the same ingredients has been default programme and the first baking programme in all my bread machines. However, please check the settings on your bread machine to be certain to choose the white bread setting.

This recipe closely tracks the recipe for plain white bread that came with the first bread machine I purchased in 2001.

An important aspect this recipe is to add the ingredients in the order listed, particularly the water and milk mix first, then the flour, and then the rest, especially if you will be using the delayed baking function. Also, the original source recipe stressed the importance of keeping a certain distance between the salt and the yeast.

Note that in making this recipe for this post, I turned on the bread machine to run right away on the standard white bread cycle that takes three hours; however, many machine models offer a delayed start function, for instance to allow for the preparation of the ingredients the night before, and having the bread ready at a later time the following morning.

Making the bread:

Six ounces of water were measured out in a measuring cup:

Six ounces of milk were measured out, and added directly to the water in the measuring cup:

The microwave oven (1200W) was set to one minute:

… and the water and milk mixture was warmed up in the microwave oven:

Water and milk mixture warmed up in microwave oven

The warmed up water and milk mixture was transferred to the (cleaned) bread machine basket:

Water and milk mixture transferred to the bread machine basket

Four cups of flour were measured out:

… and the flour was transferred to the bread machine basket, fully covering the water and milk mixture:

Flour transferred to the bread machine basket

Four tablespoons of sugar were measured out:

… and the sugar was transferred to the bread machine basket, on top of the other ingredients:

Sugar transferred to the bread machine basket

A teaspoon and a half of salt were measured out:

… and the salt was transferred to the bread machine basket with the other ingredients:

Salt transferred to the bread machine basket

Margarine was taken out, and two dollops of margarine were spooned out of the container:

The margarine was transferred to the bread machine basket with the other ingredients:

Margarine transferred to the bread machine basket

Three quarters of a teaspoon of bread machine yeast was measured out …

… and the bread machine yeast was transferred to the the bread machine basket:

Bread machine yeast transferred to the the bread machine basket

At this point, all the ingredients were in the bread machine basket, and the bread machine basket was placed in the bread machine:

Bread machine basket placed in the bread machine

The white bread setting was chosen (programme #1 on my bread machine), and for a two pound loaf; the programme was started, without delay:

White bread setting chosen, for a two pound loaf, and the programme started

The lid was shut, and the bread machine was allowed to do its work.

Three hours later, the bread was ready …

End of baking cycle on the bread machine

The baked bread was gingerly shaken out of the bread machine basket:

Baked bread gingerly shaken out of the bread machine basket

Baked bread on its side, taken out of the bread machine basket (the tear in the base is from the bread machine kneading paddle)

The baked bread loaf was placed upright on a trivet to allow it to cool:

A baking tray was taken out:

Once the bread had cooled, I began slicing the loaf of bread …

… using a bread slicer with a guide, to allow for consistent slices of bread:

Bread sliced with a bread slicer with a guide

The bread slices were placed on the baking tray:

A sheet of plastic wrap was placed on top of the layer of sliced bread:

Plastic wrap placed on top of bread slices

The loaf was fully sliced, and the bread slices alternated with plastic wrap:

Alternating layers of bread slices and plastic wrap

The tray of bread slices was placed in the freezer:

Tray of sliced bread placed in the freezer

The crumbs created from the slicing were placed into a container with other bread crumbs and dried bread pieces, for future use in other recipes:

Bread crumbs placed in a container for future use

… and when the bread was frozen, I placed the bread slices in freezer bags:

The bags of bread slices were placed back in the freezer to have for when I want to make sandwiches and the like.

Yummy!

April 25, 2021December 22, 2024

Making Meatballs — Photos

This week’s cooking projects from my collection of recipes included yet more zucchini with a tomato, onion, and bacon sauce — mom was pleased to yet again eat a tasty dish and have some leftover sauce — and the subject of this post, my meatballs.

I normally keep cooked meatballs in the freezer for use with pasta dishes such as spaghetti, or eat them on their own along with other foods.

I have no recollection of why I chose to add peas, corn, or rice to the mix when I began making these meatballs many years ago, other than presumably at the time I thought that their addition was a good idea, and that incidentally doing so helped make more meatballs with the same amount of ground beef; as for the onions and egg, I have always liked onions with ground beef, and the egg acts as a binding agent to help keep the meatballs together, especially while cooking.

Making the meatballs:

A mixing bowl was placed on a kitchen scale, and the kitchen scale was set to zero:

Mixing bowl on a kitchen scale, which was set to zero

Two pounds of ground beef were measured out:

The bowl of ground beef was put aside for a moment.

An onion was taken out:

The onion was cleaned and trimmed:

The onion was sliced thinly:

The onion was then chopped somewhat finely:

The chopped onion was transferred to the mixing bowl with the ground beef:

Chopped onion added to the mixing bowl with the ground beef

An egg was taken out:

The egg was cracked into the mixing bowl:

Frozen peas were measured out:

The frozen peas were added to the mixing bowl:

Since I didn’t have any frozen corn kernels on hand, I separated out some corn kernels from a bag of frozen mixed vegetables:

The frozen kernel corn was added to the mixing bowl:

Rice was measured out:

The rice was added to the mixing bowl:

Salt was measured out:

…. and the salt was added to the mixing bowl:

The ingredients were thoroughly mixed together by hand:

An electric skillet was turned on (as well as a stove burner for my cast iron skillet for the meatballs that wouldn’t fit in the electric skillet):

The meat mix was formed into balls from 1-1/2″ to 2″ in diameter, which were placed in the electric skillet (as well as a cast iron skillet off camera), with enough spacing between them to allow for easier manipulation later when turning them over:

Balls of meat mix formed and placed in an electric skillet

As each side of the meatballs were cooked, the meatballs were turned over to cook on another side …

Meatballs turned over to cook on another side

… and the meatballs were turned over again to cook yet on another side:

Meatballs tuned over yet again; note second skillet of cooking meatballs

When the meatballs were fully cooked …

… the meatballs were transferred to a cookie baking sheet, somewhat spread apart from each other to allow for quicker cooling in the freezer …

Cooked meatballs placed on cookie baking sheet

… and the cookie baking sheet with the meatballs was placed in the freezer to cool the meatballs and begin to freeze the meatballs:

Cookie baking sheet of meatballs placed in freezer

A clean, resealable freezer bag was re-labeled to reflect the new contents, meatballs of course:

Once partly frozen, the meatballs were placed in the freezer bag:

… and the bag of yummy meatballs was placed in the freezer for future eating.

April 18, 2021December 10, 2021

Making Breakfast Sandwiches — Photos

This week’s cooking projects from my collection of recipes included two batches of blondies, more zucchini with tomato, bacon, and onion sauce, pickled eggs, and the subject of this post and Saturday morning’s breakfast, a yummy breakfast sandwich I like to call “If I make it, will you eat it?”, another family favourite.

Margarine was taken out and some taken up with a knife:

A frozen slice of bread — not two as called for in my recipe, because the bread I make in a bread machine is tall enough to justify cutting it in half when making sandwiches (see below) — was taken out, and the margarine was spread on it:

Margarine spread on a frozen slice of bread

The slice of bread was cut into two halves:

Slice of bread with margarine cut into two halves

Two slices of processed cheese (or “American cheese” slices) were taken out and unwrapped, and placed on the counter to warm up to room temperature (note that natural cheese sliced off the block may be used):

Two slices of processed cheese taken out and unwrapped

Every once in a while, I buy a large 2kg case of breakfast sausages, cook them all up at once, and then I keep them in the freezer for future eating. I do the same thing with bacon for my mom. If you don’t do so, at this point and according to your preference, cook up some breakfast sausage(s) and/or some bacon.

I then took out a frozen cooked breakfast sausage, and let it warm up a few minutes on the counter:

Cooked (and frozen) breakfast sausage taken out

The sausage was then sliced into four strips along its length:

Cooked sausage sliced along its length four times

The sausage was put aside for a few moments.

A burner on my stove was turned on to a low to medium heat:

A cast iron skillet was placed on the stove, and a bit of olive oil was poured into the cast iron skillet:

Olive oil poured into the cast iron skillet:

The olive oil was then spread over a part of the cast iron skillet:

Olive oil spread in the cast iron skillet

At this point, I placed the slices of breakfast sausage in the cast iron skillet:

Sausage slices placed in the cast iron skillet

An egg was taken out:

… and the egg was cracked into the cast iron skillet:

The egg was fried, and — I like eggs over — when it was ready to be turned over …

… the cast iron skillet was somewhat re-positioned, and I lifted the fried egg with a flipper …

Fried egg being lifted up with a flipper

… and the egg was turned over and fried on the other side:

Fried egg turned over in cast iron skillet

When the fried egg was finished cooking, it was transferred to a plate:

… and the fried sausage slices were also transferred on top of the fried egg:

Fried sausage slices transferred to the top of the fried egg

The free oil and grease in the cast iron skillet were wiped up with a paper towel (watch out, the cast iron skillet is hot!):

Hot oil and grease wiped up with a paper towel

A slice of the bread with the margarine was placed in the hot cast iron skillet, margarine side down:

Slice of bread placed in cast iron skillet, margarine side down

One of the slices of processed cheese was placed on the slice of bread, and “made to fit”:

Slice of processed cheese placed on the slice of bread

The fried egg and sausage were placed on top of the slice of processed cheese:

Fried egg and sausage placed on top of the slice of processed cheese

The second slice of processed cheese was placed on the slice of bread, and “made to fit”:

Slice of processed cheese placed on the slice of fried egg and sausage

… and finally, the second slice of bread with margarine on it was placed on top of the slice of processed cheese, margarine side up:

Slice of bread placed on top of the slice of processed cheese, margarine side up

After a few moments, the sandwich was flipped over, and the bottom side, now the top, had been nicely browned:

Sandwich turned over to brown the other side

After a few more moments, the sandwich was lifted out of the cast iron skillet and served on a plate:

Yummy!!!!

April 11, 2021April 11, 2021

Making Zucchini with a Tomato, Onion, and Bacon Sauce — Photos

Back in the mid 1990’s, my church published a cookbook with recipes from the membership. I began making a zucchini with bacon and onion sauce dish submitted by a fellow parishioner in the mid- to late-2000’s, and, besides finding it tasty, I was pleasantly surprised both at how easy it was to make, and, even more surprisingly, how it immediately came across as a restaurant-quality dish. In fact, shortly after, I happened to be at a restaurant, and ordered a similar dish as an appetizer!

Note that the amounts of some of the ingredients shown below are sometimes greater than listed in the recipe, in order to have some of the sauce leftover.

First, bacon was taken out (in this case, half slices):

The bacon was sliced crosswise / diced:

The bacon was then placed in a cast iron skillet:

Onions were taken out:

The onions were cleaned and trimmed:

The onions were quartered:

The onions were then chopped coarsely:

The onions were then placed in the cast iron skillet with the bacon:

Onions placed in cast iron skillet with the bacon

The stove was turned on to a low to medium heat:

A pot was filled with water:

Salt was measured out:

The salt was added to the pot of water:

The stove under the pot was turned on high to boil the water in the pot:

The water was brought to a boil, and put aside.

Tomatoes were taken out:

The tomatoes were cleaned and trimmed:

The tomatoes were quartered …

… the tomatoes were further chopped:

… and the chopped tomatoes were placed in a mixing bowl:

Sugar was measured out:

The sugar was added to the mixing bowl with the tomatoes:

More salt was measured out:

The salt was added to the bowl with the tomatoes and the sugar:

Water was measured out:

The water was added to the bowl with the tomatoes, sugar, and salt:

Water added to the bowl with the tomatoes, sugar, and salt

… and the bowl with the tomatoes, sugar, salt, and water was put aside.

Three zucchinis (in this case, grey zucchinis) were taken out:

The zucchinis were cleaned and trimmed:

The zucchinis were cut in half along their length:

Zucchinis cut in half along their lengths

… and the zucchinis were put aside.

Soon, the bacon and onions were beginning to be cooked and caramelized:

… and the tomato mix was added to the bacon and onions in the cast iron skillet:

Tomato mix added to the cast iron skillet

… and the ingredients in the cast iron skillet were mixed together:

Ingredients mixed together in the cast iron skillet

The ingredients were brought to a simmer:

The ingredients were reduced, during which the tomatoes also disintegrated into the sauce

At this point, the salted water was brought back to a boil:

… and the zucchini halves were added to the boiling water …

Zucchini halves added to the boiling water

… and the zucchini halves were boiled for ten minutes (obviously, the photo was taken about eight seconds after the timer was set):

At this point, the sauce had sufficiently reduced to my liking, and was ready for serving:

The zucchini were served onto two plates:

Boiled zucchini served on a plate, with sliced baguette bread

And finally, sauce was spooned onto the zucchini:

Supper was yummy, with a nice, tangey sauce!

April 6, 2021December 22, 2024

Making Chicken Pot Pies — Photos

I made chicken pot pies (a family favourite) this past weekend, along with crisped rice squares, two batches of bran muffins for mom, and some cooked ground beef and onions frozen in ice cube trays in the freezer. The chicken pot pies I make are more chicken cottage pies than what most people consider to be chicken pot pies, because there is a potato topping instead of a flaky crust; additionally, the sauce in the filling is somewhat less liquid than most people would expect from a chicken pot pie.

This recipe was added to my collection of recipes in the mid to late 2000’s as another making-a-lot-in-advance freezer food project, based on a recipe I’d found on the internet and adjusted for amounts to make freezer quantities, and using commercial chicken broth instead of making my own.

Note that below, while there may appear to be a distinct sequence of steps to be taken, presented as such for the sake of the narrative, many steps were actually performed simultaneously and / or overlapping with each other as given steps were finished and new steps begun. Also, note that I was again cooking at the cottage, using water from containers, because the water system is turned off during the winter.

First, water was put in a large pot:

Then, ten pounds of potatoes were taken out …

The potatoes were peeled …

… and the peeled potatoes were placed in the pot with the water:

Four peeled potatoes were put aside for later use in the filling:

Four potatoes put aside for later use in the filling

The rest of the potatoes were quartered …

… and placed back in the pot of water:

Quartered potatoes placed in pot of water

The water was drained from the pot, and fresh water was added to the pot, covering the potatoes:

Fresh water being added to the drained pot of quartered potatoes

Quartered potatoes covered with fresh water

Salt was measured out:

… and the salt was poured into the pot with the quartered potatoes:

Salt poured into the pot with the quartered potatoes

The stove was turned on for boiling the potatoes (rear burner), as well as frying the chicken breasts (front burner) (see next section):

Front and rear burners on stove turned on

… and the potatoes were brought to a boil …

… and kept boiling for twenty (20) minutes:

In the meantime, chicken breasts were taken out …

Olive oil was lightly poured into a cast iron skillet …

Olive oil poured lightly into a cast iron skillet

… salt was added to the cast iron skillet …

… and the chicken breasts were placed in the cast iron skillet and salted, to be slowly pan fried:

While the chicken breasts were cooking, occasionally being turned over several times in order to avoid burning on the outside while leaving the centres under-cooked, vegetables were prepared.

Carrots were taken out:

The carrots were cleaned and trimmed:

The carrots were then cut along their length twice, quartering them and creating spears:

The carrots were then chopped coarsely:

… and finally, the chopped carrots were placed in an electric skillet, and put aside:

Onions were taken out:

The onions were cleaned and trimmed:

The onions were roughly quartered:

… and then the onions were chopped coarsely:

… and finally, the chopped onions were placed in the electric skillet with the carrots, and put aside:

Chopped onions placed in electric skillet

The peeled potatoes put aside earlier were taken out:

The potatoes were sliced along their length:

The potatoes were again sliced along their lengths, crosswise, in order to make spears:

The potatoes were sliced into small cubes, about half an inch:

… and finally, the cubed potatoes were placed in the electric skillet with the carrots and onions:

Olive oil was added to the carrots, onions, and potatoes in the electric skillet:

Salt was added to the vegetables and olive oil:

The vegetables, olive oil, and salt, were mixed together:

Vegetables, olive oil, and salt thoroughly mixed

The vegetable mix and electric skillet were put aside until after the next step (mashing potatoes).

At this point, I turned my attention back to the potatoes, which were almost finished boiling.

Milk was taken out and measured:

The boiled potatoes were drained:

… and the milk was poured into the pot of still steaming boiled potatoes:

Milk poured into the pot of boiled potatoes

Margarine was taken out, and a couple of dollops of margarine were measured out:

… and the margarine was added to the potatoes and milk:

Margarine added to the potatoes and milk

Salt was measured out again:

… and the salt was added to the pot of boiled potatoes, milk, and margarine:

Salt added to boiled potatoes, milk, and margarine

The potatoes were mashed with a hand-held masher:

Mashing the potatoes, milk, margarine, and salt together

The mashed potatoes were covered and put aside for later.

Back to the mixed chopped vegetables, the electric skillet was turned on …

… and the mixed chopped vegetables were fried.

In the meantime, the chicken breasts had become nicely cooked and browned:

The chicken was removed from the cast iron skillet, and put aside on a plate for a few moments.

Water was poured into the cast iron skillet to deglaze the pan:

The cast iron skillet with the deglazing liquid were put aside for a few moments.

During this time, the vegetables began frying nicely:

A box of commercial chicken broth was taken out …

… and the chicken broth was poured over the frying vegetables:

Chicken broth poured over frying vegetables

The deglazing liquid from the cast iron skillet was poured into the electric skillet with the vegetables and chicken broth:

Pouring deglazing liquid from the cast iron skillet into the electric skillet

The liquid in the electric skillet was brought to a boil:

Liquid in the electric skillet brought to a boil

The vegetables and liquid were covered and simmered for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime, back to the cooked chicken breasts, the chicken breasts were cut into rough cubes and smaller:

Cooked chicken breasts cut into small pieces

The chopped cooked chicken was then placed in a bowl, and put aside for a few moments:

A cup of flour was measured out …

… and poured into a mixing bowl:

Two more cups of milk were measured out:

… and poured over the flour in the mixing bowl:

The flour and milk were thoroughly mixed with a fork:

At this point, the vegetables and broth had been simmering for 20 minutes, and the chopped chicken was transferred to the electric skillet with the chopped vegetables and broth:

Chopped chicken being added to the electric skillet

Chopped chicken added to the electric skillet

The ingredients were mixed together with a large serving spoon:

Ingredients mixed with a large serving spoon

At this point, timing becomes important in order to mix things properly, before heat thickens the milk and flour mixture too much, making proper mixing more difficult.

The flour and milk mixture was added to the rest of the ingredients in the electric skillet:

Flour and milk mixture being added to the ingredients in the electric skillet

The electric skillet was unplugged, and quickly, the ingredients were all mixed together, fully mixing all the liquids as well as the rest of the ingredients: