The various steps were performed over several sessions during the week (mostly cubing and drying bread), however, for the sake of narrative, the photos are listed, largely, as though it could have been done in two sessions. And, despite stating in the recipe that its cooking in a turkey is beyond the scope of the recipe, I do indeed show at the end of this post the cooking of the stuffing with the Christmas turkey, in response to a conversation with, and comment from, my brother: “If you get a trailer, you want to see it hooked up to a truck.“
Making the turkey stuffing:
Although the following picture was taken this past week as part of preparing for making the stuffing, normally, throughout the year I collect bread bits and bread crusts …
Collected bread crusts
… and as I collect them I cube them and dry them, to add to a container of dried bread cubes:
The loaf of bread was sliced for freezing, and some slices were put aside:
Bread slices taken out
Bread slices taken out
Bread slices were sliced into spears:
Bread sliced into spears
Bread sliced into spears
The bread spears were cut into cubes and placed on a tray to dry:
Bread cubes placed on a tray to dry
Bread cubes placed on trays to dry
Once dried, the bread cubes were placed in a container I fill over time with dried bread cubes:
Container with dried bread cubes
Fresh bread cubes were also put aside in a freezer bag and frozen, to be used later in the week when I made the turkey stuffing:
Fresh bread cubes in a freezer bag put aside for later in the week when I made the stuffing
On the day I made the turkey stuffing, onions were taken out:
Onions taken out
The onions were cleaned and trimmed:
Onions cleaned and trimmed
The onions were cut in half:
Onions cut in half
The onion halves were sliced into half coins:
Onions sliced into half coins
The onions were somewhat finely chopped:
Onions somewhat finely chopped
The chopped onions were transferred to a microwave oven safe cooking vessel, and put aside for a few moments:
Chopped onions transferred to microwave oven safe cooking vessel
Bulk sausage meat was taken out:
Bulk sausage meat taken out
… and removed from its packaging:
Bulk sausage meat removed from its packaging
The sausage meat was broken up by hand and placed in the microwave oven safe cooking vessel along with the chopped onions:
Bulk sausage meat broken up by hand and placed in microwave oven safe cooking vessel along with chopped onions
The sausage meat and onions were mixed together by hand:
Sausage meat and chopped onions mixed together
Time was set on my microwave oven:
Time set on microwave oven
The microwave oven safe cooking vessel was placed in the microwave oven:
Microwave oven safe cooking vessel placed in microwave oven
Microwave oven safe cooking vessel in microwave oven
Part way through cooking the sausage meat and onions, they were taken out and large pieces were broken up with a large spoon:
Sausage meat and onions broken up with large spoon
Mostly cooked sausage and onions:
Mostly cooked sausage meat and onions
The fresh and dried bread cubes were taken out:
Fresh and dried bread cubes taken out
Fresh bread cubes were measured out:
Fresh bread cubes measured out
Fresh bread cubes were transferred to a large mixing vessel, in this case, my 16 litre soup pot:
Fresh bread cubes transferred to large mixing vessel
Fresh bread cubes in large mixing vessel
The cooked sausage meat and onions were added to the bread cubes
Cooked sausage meat and onions added to bread cubes
The bread cubes and the cooked sausage meat and onions were mixed with a large mixing spoon:
Ingredients mixed with large mixing spoon
Chicken soup base was taken out:
Chicken soup base taken out
Chicken soup base was measured out:
Chicken soup base measured out
The chicken soup base was added to a measuring cup:
Chicken soup base added to measuring cup
Chicken soup base added to measuring cup
Water was added to an electric kettle:
Water added to electric kettle
The kettle was turned on:
Kettle turned on
Kettle turned on
Once boiled, boiling water was added to the measuring cup with the chicken soup base:
Boiling water added to measuring cup with chicken soup base
The chicken soup base and the boiling water were mixed together:
Chicken soup base and boiling water mixed together
The chicken soup was added to the rest of the ingredients:
Chicken soup added to rest of ingredients
The ingredients were mixed together again with the large spoon:
Ingredients mixed with large spoon
Ingredients mixed with large spoon
Savoury (spice) was taken out:
Savoury taken out
The savoury was sprinkled over the ingredients, and the ingredients were mixed again:
Savoury sprinkled over ingredients
Dry bread cubes were measured out:
Dry bread cubes measured out
The dry bread cubes were added to the rest of the ingredients:
Dry bread cubes added to rest of ingredients
The ingredients were yet again mixed together with the large spoon:
Ingredients mixed again
Ingredients mixed again
Gauze poultry stuffing bags were taken out:
Gauze poultry stuffing bags taken out
Gauze poultry stuffing bags taken out
A gauze bag was filled with the stuffing:
Gauze bag filled with stuffing
Gauze bag filled with stuffing
The gauze bag was tied off:
Gauze bag tied off
Gauze bag tied off
The gauze bag was placed in a sealable freezer bag and placed in a fridge for use later, on Christmas day:
Stuffing placed in a plastic bag for later use
And in the spirit of seeing the “trailer hooked up to a truck”, here are photos from Christmas day, cooking the turkey and stuffing:
On Christmas day, the gauze bag with the stuffing was taken out of the freezer bag, and placed on a baking rack in a roasting pan:
Stuffing on baking rack in baking tray
Bacon was taken out:
Bacon taken out
Slices of bacon were placed on top of the stuffing:
Bacon placed on top of stuffing
Two turkey breasts, tied together with butcher’s string, were placed on top of the stuffing:
Turkey breast place on top of stuffing
Bacon was liberally wrapped over and around the turkey and stuffing:
Turkey and stuffing wrapped with bacon
The Christmas turkey was placed in the oven:
Christmas turkey placed in oven
After some cooking, basting, and browning, aluminum foil was placed on top of the turkey partway through cooking the turkey in order to avoid burning on the outside and drying out of the turkey, while the inside of the turkey and stuffing continued to cook (a meat thermometer was critical):
Aluminum foil placed on top of turkey
The fully cooked turkey and stuffing were taken out of the oven:
Fully cooked turkey and stuffing
The turkey stuffing was taken out of the gauze bag and transferred to a serving vessel, ready for Christmas dinner:
Stuffing transferred to serving vessel ready for Christmas dinner
It has been several months since I’ve done an entry on a recipe from my collection of recipes, mostly just because last winter and spring, I’d run through most of the recipes that I regularly make and which at the time I had considered to be of “sufficient” note to highlight here, save for the recipe which is the subject of this post (but yes, there is a small number more which may eventually be featured!) As such, many of my recipes from my collection of recipes have since been made at least once, and in many cases, several times, over the past few months.
Over the past couple of weeks alone, I did a lot of cooking at the cottage while on holidays, making:
Yes, that’s a lot of potatoes, ground beef, chicken, onions, carrots, eggs, flour, cheese, olive oil, and other secondary ingredients prepared, as well as beer consumed, during the multiple cooking sessions! And, yes, this is how I like to spend winter holidays at the cottage!
Note that this recipe is vegetarian of the lacto-vegetarian variety (basically, meatless) if the tomato sauce used does not contain meat.
… and of course, right away I had to do a bit of quality control on the beer:
Yes, this is a good beer!
Now to the cooking of the eggplant au gratin, really, this time:
Ramekins were set out — as it turns out, another ramekin was needed to be added later on:
Ramekins set out
An electric skillet was taken out and plugged in:
Electric skillet taken out
The skillet was turned on
Olive oil was added to the skillet:
Olive oil added to skillet
The olive oil was spread out in the skillet with a plastic spatula / egg flipper:
Olive oil spread out in skillet
A couple of eggplants were taken out:
Eggplants taken out
An eggplant was rinsed with water:
Eggplant rinsed with water
The eggplant was trimmed:
Eggplant trimmed
Coins were sliced off the eggplant:
Coins sliced off eggplant
Slices of eggplant were placed in the hot skillet:
Eggplant slices in skillet
After a few minutes of frying, the slices of eggplant were turned over:
Eggplant slices turned over
The fried slices of eggplant were placed in ramekins:
Eggplant slices placed in ramekins
The rest of the first eggplant was sliced, the resulting eggplant slices fried, and the fried eggplant slices were placed in the rest of the ramekins, such that the fried eggplant slices were roughly equally distributed amongst the ramekins:
Eggplant equally distributed amongst the ramekins
Half of the zucchinis were taken out:
Zucchini taken out
The zucchinis were rinsed with water:
Zucchinis rinsed with water
The zucchinis were trimmed:
Zucchinis trimmed
In order to quickly slice the zucchinis, a food processor with the slicing blade attachment was taken out:
Food processor with slicing blade taken out
The zucchinis were fed into the running food processor in order to slice them:
Zucchinis fed into food processor
Sliced zucchinis
Zucchini slices were placed in the electric skillet with more olive oil:
Zucchini slices frying
The zucchini slices were turned over:
Frying zucchini slices turned over
Fried zucchini slices were placed in ramekins:
Fried zucchinis placed in ramekins
The rest of the first half of the zucchini slices were fried:
More zucchinis frying
More zucchinis frying
The rest of the fried zucchini slices were placed in the rest of the ramekins, such that the zucchini slices were roughly equally distributed amongst the ramekins:
Fried zucchinis placed in ramekins
Onions were taken out:
Onions take out
The onions were cleaned and trimmed:
Onions cleaned and trimmed
The onions were sliced in half:
Onions sliced in half
The onions were sliced into thick half coins:
Onion half sliced into thick half coins
The onions were roughly chopped:
Onions roughly chopped
The chopped onions were placed in a bowl:
Chopped onions placed in bowl
About half the chopped onions were placed in the electric skillet with more olive oil, and salt was added:
Chopped onions in skillet with more olive oil and salt
The chopped onions were fried:
Chopped onions fried
The fried chopped onions were roughly equally distributed amongst the ramekins:
Fried chopped onions spread in ramekins
At this point, my beer chalice was empty and needed refiling:
Beer chalice refilled
It was time to repeat the process, and the second eggplant was sliced and fried the same way. When the eggplant slices were placed in the ramekins, the contents were patted down with a fork, in order to get rid of deadspace in the ramekin:
Ramekin contents patted down with a fork
The rest of the steps were repeated with the zucchinis, and the chopped onions, and both were placed in the ramekins in the same order as above, after the second layer of fried eggplant. Note that at this point, another ramekin was added to accommodate what proved to be more ingredients than I originally estimated that I’d had:
Ramekins filled with all fried ingredients
A jar of commercial (meatless) tomato sauce was taken out:
Tomato sauce taken out
The tomato sauce was spread over the ingredients in the ramekins:
Tomato sauce spread over ingredients in the ramekins
A block of mozzarella cheese was taken out:
Mozzarella cheese taken out
Mozzarella cheese was sliced off the block of cheese:
Mozzarella cheese sliced off the block
Cheese slices were placed on top of the ingredients in the ramekins:
Mozzarella cheese slices placed on top of ingredients in the ramekins
Mozzarella cheese slices placed on top of ingredients in the ramekins
Zipper bags were taken out and identified:
Zipper bags taken out and identified
Filled ramekins were individually placed in bags for freezing:
Filled ramekins placed in identified zipper bags
The bags were placed in a freezer (in this case the freezer door) for future eating:
Bagged eggplant au gratin in the freezer
A few days later, an eggplant au gratin was taken out, defrosted, baked, and eaten; of course it was yummy!
This week’s cooking projects from my collection of recipes included bran muffins for mom using her recipe, some more bread in my bread machine, chocolate buttercrunch, cooked ground beef and onions frozen in ice cube trays, my breakfast sandwiches, and the subject of this post, my version of a favourite dish my mom has made for me almost all my life, a corned beef hash using a commercial, canned, corned beef luncheon meat.
The principal differences between this version and mom’s version is that she has always used, and continues to use, commercial frozen hash brown potatoes purchased at the supermarket frozen goods section, instead of making and cooking them from fresh potatoes, and, she uses margarine instead of olive oil. She also noted the importance of not using cheap quality onion salt; my personal experiences so far in making the dish have indicated the value that onion salt itself brings to the dish. All this being said, though, my efforts have largely replicated mom’s dish to the point that my version is rather close to mom’s.
It should be noted that in this post, there is a very small number of photos which were taken either later in the evening after cooking, or the following morning, either as retakes, or to outright take some photos which I forgot to take the evening before during the cooking of the dish. Also, I made the dish at the cottage.
This past week was again a busy week with no cooking projects from my collection of recipes; however, I took advantage of this past weekend to both develop my version of a favourite dish my mom continues to this day to make for me, a corned beef hash, but for which, strictly speaking, she doesn’t have a formal recipe, and, prepare a future post on firestarters. 🙂
I am therefore posting the photos I’d taken of cooking sausages a few weeks ago at the cottage and which I’d kept in reserve. The subject of cooking sausages would normally not qualify for a post in this cooking series, since I am “only” highlighting the cooking of (admittedly somewhat large quantities of) commercially prepared breakfast sausages — for which I of course do not have a recipe — as opposed to highlighting a non-existent hypothetical recipe for making sausage from scratch. However, I am including this post since several of my recipes call for cooked breakfast sausages, such as my stuffed potato skins, my breakfast sandwiches, and my english muffin breakfast sandwiches.
Note that these photos were taken in the month of May 2021, at the cottage, not this past weekend.
Cooking the sausages:
First, an electric skillet was taken out:
Electric skillet taken out
The electric skillet was turned on:
Electric skillet on
A frozen, two kilogram store-bought flat of breakfast sausages was taken out:
Package of commercial breakfast sausages taken out
The package of sausages was unsealed:
Package of sausages unsealed
Sausages were taken out and placed in the electric skillet — in this case, half of the package, or the top layer of two layers of sausages:
Sausages placed in the electric skillet
I turned over the sausages after a few minutes:
Sausages turned after a few minutes
Sometimes, a flipper is needed to loosen the sausages in order to turn them over:
Using a flipper to lift and turn over sausages
The sausages were turned again and were beginning to brown:
Sausages turned again after a few minutes
The sausages were turned yet again and continued to brown:
Sausages turned yet again after a few minutes
At this point, a cookie baking tray was taken out:
Cookie baking tray taking out
As the sausages began to be cooked, they were taken out of the electric skillet and placed on the cookie baking tray …
Cooked sausages placed on cookie baking tray
… while the rest of the sausages were kept in the skillet to continue cooking …
Finishing cooking the rest of the sausages
… and once all of the sausages were cooked, they were all placed on the cookie baking tray:
First half of the cooked sausages on the cookie baking sheet
The cookie baking tray of sausages were placed in the freezer:
Cookie tray of cooked sausages placed in freezer
The grease was drained from the electric skillet:
Grease drained from electric skillet
The process was repeated and the rest of the package of sausages was also cooked in the skillet the same way.
The grease was allowed to cool, and when it had solidified, it was wrapped up with the other kitchen wastes from the weekend’s other cooking projects, and brought home to place in the curbside kitchen waste brown box for municipal composting:
Grease allowed to solidify
A plastic container was taken out:
Plastic container taken out
The first round of cooked sausages, now partly frozen, were placed in the plastic container, and placed back in the freezer:
Cooked sausages placed in plastic container
When the second half of the sausages were all cooked and frozen, they too were placed in the plastic container, and placed back in the freezer:
Cooked sausages placed in plastic container
I now have several months’ worth of yummy, cooked sausages in the freezer, and I have indeed already eaten some!
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:
Olive oil poured in cast iron skillet
Salt was added to the cast iron skillet:
Salt 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
Olive oil and the salt spread around the cast iron skillet
The stove was turned on:
Stove turned on
A chicken breast — this one in the 200g to 225g range — was taken out:
Chicken breast taken out
The chicken was placed in the cast iron skillet:
Chicken placed in cast iron skillet
Chicken placed in cast iron skillet
A bit more salt was added to the top of the chicken:
More salt added to 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):
Ground beef taken out
An electric skillet was taken out:
Electric skillet taken out
The electric skillet was turned on:
Electric skillet turned on
The ground beef was placed in the electric skillet:
Ground beef placed in electric skillet
An onion was taken out:
Onion taken out
The onion was trimmed — yes, I know that this onion is definitely on the older side:
Onion taken out
The onion was quartered:
Onion quartered
The onion was coarsely chopped:
Coarsely chopped onion
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:
Ground beef being broken up
Gound beef partly 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:
Ground beef broken up some more
It was time to pay attention to the frying chicken, which was picked up with an egg flipper:
Chicken picked up with 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:
Oven preheating to 425F
Frozen mixed vegetables were measured out:
Frozen mixed vegetables measured out
The mixed vegetables were transferred to a mixing bowl:
Mixed vegetables transferred to 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
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
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:
Cooked chicken placed on cutting board
The chicken was sliced:
Sliced cooked chicken
The cooked chicken was then chopped coarsely:
Coarsely chopped cooked chicken
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
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:
Flour measured out
The flour was transferred to a mixing bowl:
Flour transferred to mixing bowl
Flour transferred to mixing bowl
Shortening was measured out:
Shortening 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:
Baking powder 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
Baking powder added to mixing bowl with flour and shortening
Salt was measured out
Salt 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
Shortening broken up with a fork to the size of peas
Milk was measured out:
Milk measured out
An egg was taken out:
Egg taken out
The egg was cracked into the measuring cup with the milk:
Egg cracked into measuring cup with milk
Egg cracked into measuring cup with milk
The egg and milk were mixed together with a fork:
Egg and milk mixed together with fork
Egg and milk mixed together with 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:
Ingredients were mixed with fork
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:
Muffin baking tins 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
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:
Two muffin tins’ worth of dough cups
The chicken filling mixture was taken out:
Chicken filling mixture
The chicken filling mixture was spooned into the dough cups of one of the muffin baking tins:
Spooning chicken filling mixture into dough cups
Chicken filling in the 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
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 taken out
Mozzarella cheese was sliced off the block:
Mozzarella cheese 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:
Slices of mozzarella cheese placed on top of 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:
Oven timer set to 15 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
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
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:
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!
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:
Frozen, cooked sausage was taken out
The sausage was sliced along its length:
Sausage sliced along its length
The two sausage halves were then cut in half crosswise, and then put aside for a moment:
Sausage halves cut in halves crosswise
An English muffin was taken out (notice the picture of this recipe on the label):
English muffin taken out
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:
English muffin sliced into two halves
English muffin sliced into two halves
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):
Processed cheese taken out
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:
Olive oil poured into a skillet
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:
Stove burner set to a medium setting
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:
Egg 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
Egg and sausage in skillet
The egg was fried, and edges folded into the centre to resize the frying egg to the English muffin:
Egg frying and edges folded inward
I like fried eggs turned over, so the egg was flipped over:
Frying egg flipped over
At this point, the English muffins were almost toasted:
English muffins toasting
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
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:
Greasing a 13″ x 9″ x 2″ baking pan
Greasing a 13″ x 9″ x 2″ baking pan
Greased 13″ x 9″ x 2″ baking pan
The greased pan was then put aside.
6-1/2 cups of crisped rice breakfast cereal were measure out:
Crisped rice cereal measured out
The crisped rice cereal was transferred to a mixing bowl and put aside:
Crisped rice cereal transferred to a mixing bowl
Crisped rice cereal transferred to a mixing bowl
5-1/2 cups of mini marshmallows were measured out:
Mini marshmallows measured out
The marshmallows were put aside.
A large, heavy pot was taken out:
Large, heavy pot taken out
The stove burner was set to a low heat:
Stove set to a low heat
Two dollops of margarine were “measured” out:
Two dollops of margarine “measured” out
The margarine was transferred to the heavy pot:
Margarine transferred to the heavy pot
Margarine transferred to the heavy pot
The margarine was melted in the heavy pot:
Margarine melting 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
Mini marshmallows added to the melted margarine
The stove setting was raised to medium heat:
Stove setting raised to medium
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:
Melted marshmallows and margarine mix
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
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
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
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:
Oven preheated to 450F
Olive oil was added to two #8 cast iron skillets:
Olive oil added to a cast iron skillet
… and the olive oil was evenly spread over the skillets’ surfaces with a paper towel:
Spreading the olive oil with a paper towel
Two oiled cast iron skillets
I keep cooked bacon in the freezer; a few slices of which were taken out (or at this point, cook some bacon):
Bacon cooked in advance taken out
The cooked bacon was sliced:
Cooked bacon sliced
… and then the bacon was chopped finely:
Bacon finely chopped
The finely chopped bacon was transferred to a bowl and kept at hand:
Finely chopped bacon placed in a bowl
An onion was taken out:
Onion taken out
The onion was trimmed:
Trimmed onion
The onion was halved:
Onion halved
The onion was then sliced thinly:
Onion sliced thinly
And the onion was chopped finely:
Onion sliced 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:
Grating mozzarella
Grated mozzarella cheese
… 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.
Sliced pepperoni
Flour was measured out:
Flour measured out
The flour was placed in a mixing bowl:
Flour placed in mixing bowl
Flour in mixing bowl
Baking powder was measured out:
Baking powder measured out
The baking powder was added to the flour in the mixing bowl:
Baking powder added to mixing bowl
Shortening was measured out:
Shortening measured out
The shortening was added to the flour and baking powder in the mixing bowl:
Shortening added to mixing bowl
Shortening in mixing bowl
Salt was measured out:
Salt measured out
The salt was added to the flour, baking powder, and shortening in the mixing bowl:
Salt added to other ingredients
“Italian style seasoning” was measured out:
Italian seasoning 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
Italian seasoning added to other ingredients
The shortening was broken up with a fork …
Breaking up the shortening 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:
Milk measured out
An egg was taken out:
Egg taken out
The egg was cracked into the measuring cup of milk:
Egg cracked into milk
The egg and milk were mixed together with a fork:
Egg and milk 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:
Wet and dry ingredients mixed
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:
Dough balls lightly floured
The dough was flattened out in the skillets by hand, covering the entire surface of the bases of the skillets:
Dough flattened out by hand
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:
Pizza sauce taken out
The sauce was spooned out of the can:
Sauce spooned out
The sauce was transferred to the pizzas:
Sauce transferred to pizza
… and evenly split between the two pizzas:
Sauce split between pizzas
The sauce was evenly spread over the two flattened dough in each skillet, within the edges created around the pizzas:
Sauce evenly spread over dough
Sauce evenly spread over dough
The pepperoni was taken out:
Pepperoni taken out
Pepperoni slices were layered on top of the sauce, generally not overlapping over each other:
Pepperoni layered on top of the sauce
Pepperoni layered on top of the sauce
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:
Timer 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:
Baked pizzas removed from oven
The pizzas were removed from the skillets using an egg flipper, and returned to the cutting board:
Pizzas removed from cast iron skillets
The pizzas were sliced (in this case, in six pieces each):
Pizzas sliced
A yummy lunch is served:
Lunch is served!
Lunch was yummy!
The rest of the pizza slices were placed on a cookie sheet:
Pizza slices placed on 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
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 …
Two pounds of ground beef measured out
… 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:
Five pounds of potatoes measured out
The pot of potatoes was filled with water:
Pot of potatoes filled with water
Pot of potatoes filled with water
The potatoes were peeled:
Potatoes 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:
Peeled potato taken out for slicing
The peeled potatoes were sliced lengthwise:
Sliced potato sliced lengthwise
… the potatoes were then cut into large cubes:
Potatoes 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:
Water in pot drained
Fresh water was put in the pot of potato cubes to rinse the potato cubes:
Rinse water put in pot of 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:
Stove turned on (dial on the left)
… the pot of potatoes was placed on the stove:
Pot of potatoes placed on stove
Salt was measured out:
Salt 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:
Potatoes brought to a boil
A timer was set to 20 minutes, the time the potatoes were boiled:
Potatoes boiled for 20 minutes
The night before I did the main cooking, carrots were taken out:
Carrots taken out
The carrots were cleaned and trimmed:
Carrots cleaned and trimmed
The carrots were run through a food processor with the slicing blade tool:
Carrots run through food processor with slicing tool
Sliced carrots
The sliced carrots were transferred to a pot:
Sliced carrots transferred to a pot
Sliced carrots transferred to a pot
Water was added to the pot of carrots, covering the carrots:
Water added to the pot of carrots
Water covering carrots in pot
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:
Carrots brought to a boil
A timer was set to five minutes:
Sliced carrots boiled for five minutes
… and at this point I remembered to add salt to the pot of boiling carrots:
Salt added to 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:
Carrots cooling in the fridge
On cooking day, onions were taken out:
Onions taken out
The onions were trimmed:
Onions trimmed
The onions were chopped coarsely:
Coarsely chopped onions
The onions were placed in an electric skillet:
Onions placed in 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:
Electric skillet turned on
Salt was added to the beef and onions in the electric skillet:
Salt added to beef and onions
Salt added to beef and onions
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 …
Ketchup 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:
Baking pans 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:
Drained boiled potatoes
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:
Margarine added to the boiled potatoes
Salt was again measured out:
Salt measured out
And the salt was added to the boiled potatoes and margarine:
Salt added to boiled potatoes and margarine
Milk was measured out:
Milk 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
Mashed potatoes
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 taken out
Frozen peas were sprinkled over the cream corn layer in the baking pans:
Frozen peas were sprinkled over the cream corn layer
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:
Carrots layered on top of the peas
Carrots layered on top of the peas
Carrots 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
Mashed potatoes spread on the top of the ingredients in the baking pans
Freezer bags were labelled:
Freezer bags 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:
Casseroles placed in freezer bags
The shepherd’s pies destined for the freezer were placed in a freezer:
Casseroles placed in the freezer
Later on, when it was time to make supper, my countertop convection oven was set to 350F:
Countertop convection oven 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!