A Super Side Dish

I recently saw a recipe made on the Food Network, tried it at home (with a few adjustments) and it was so unique and delicious I wanted to share it with you!

Savory Spinach Bread Pudding

6 slices bacon, fried and chopped in small but not tiny pieces

1 ½ c. shredded swiss cheese

2 c. fresh baby spinach, chopped

2 shallots you have chopped and softened in olive oil

3 slices French or Italian bread, cut in cubes, crust on

Combine all these ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 4 ramekins with a non-stick spray (I used my larger ones – they hold about 12 ounces or use 6 small 6 ounce ones)

Custard: In a large bowl, whisk together 6 eggs and ¼ c.whole milk Add combined ingredients above and make sure all the bread is coated in the custard. Spoon mixture into the prepared ramekins and bake 30 minutes for the larger ones and about 20-25 minutes for the smaller ramekins. When the tops are golden and a bit bubbly, remove from oven. They can be served in the ramekin or for a pretty presentation, run a knife around the edge, flip them and the bread pudding should come right out.

Becky Knows Everything: Here are a few important tips – Gruyere cheese is a great substitute for the swiss, but as it is a lot pricier I opted for the latter. I purchased a loaf of unsliced French bread that was soft, not a crusty baguette (which won’t accept the custard as well), then sliced three medium thick slices and cubed from there. I served these as a side dish with a nice grilled strip steak, but they would also be great for an interesting brunch or ladies lunch dish too.

An Incredible Cranberry Salad

OK, I know most of you love that jellied cranberry sauce right out of the can with the ridges still on it, but sometimes there really is something more delicious you can at least try.

For many years, my mother-in-law experimented with new cranberry recipes – relishes, citrus dishes with cranberries that were way too orangey etc. etc. A number of years ago she served a wonderful cranberry/fruit mixture and I have been making it ever since. Just having made it recently for Thanksgiving, I thought I would share it with you so you could give it a try at your next holiday dinner.


Cranberry Salad
1 small pkg. raspberry jello
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained (save the juice)
Boiling water to make 1 c. when combined with reserved pineapple juice
1 large can mandarin oranges, drained
1 can jellied whole cranberry sauce
½ c. chopped walnuts

Dissolve jello in water/juice mixture. Add oranges, pineapple, cranberry sauce and nuts. You can pour this into a pretty holiday mold if you have one or just pour it into a serving bowl. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. This is not a thick jello, but just a nice, smooth salad. My mom loves this so much, she will make a recipe and enjoy it for days. And we all know how picky she is! Merry Christmas.

Dinner for You or for Guests

I am an avid watcher of The Food Network and the show "The Next Food Network Star". Last year’s winner, Melissa D’Arabian, is a home cook who specializes in economical dinners – but that is not why I watch her show. She just plain has good recipes. Tonight I made one of her best. I only tinkered with it a bit and I know you will love it. I will go through it step-by-step so you can prepare it for guests without making you or them crazy.

Skirt Steak with Carmelized Onions and Ginger Honey Carrots

The carrots are not her recipe but I thought they were a good changeup from potatoes or another starch.

Here is the plan:

To carmelize the onions, you need one large red onion (I like them better than white onions) cut in very skinny slices. In a medium skillet, melt 2 tsb. butter and 1 tsb. olive oil. Add onions and put on very low heat until they brown and carmelized. This will take a long time, like 15-20 minutes. When they are nice and brown, set aside.

Meanwhile, peel and cut into small sticks about 3 or 4 large carrots. Put in a pan and bring to a boil. Boil carrots for 8 minutes. In another medium fry pan place 2 tsb. butter, 3 tsb. honey and ½ tsp. ginger. As the carrots boil, toward the end of the 8 minutes slowly melt the butter and honey in the pan along with the ginger.

In another, large frying pan, melt 2 tsb. butter and 1 tsb. olive oil. When really smoking hot, add the skirt steaks. (By now the onions are carmelized and the carrots are almost finished cooking the 8 minutes). Add the skirt steaks – you have already trimmed the visible fat. These cook really quickly, about 2 ½ minutes each side. When you put the steaks on, drain the carrots and add them to the honey ginger mixture and toss to coat. They need about 5 minutes for all the delicious flavors to meld together.

Now, take the skirt steaks of the flame to rest and let’s deglaze the onions. I know it is a lot to juggle – skirt steaks on the cutting board, carrots in the glaze and NOW I need you to deglaze the onions. To the onions add 3 tsb. white wine and 3 tsb. sherry. Just use a rubber scraper and get up all the nice bits.

NOW we are ready! Steaks are rested and ready to be sliced, the carrots are glazed and the onions are super pretty and carmelized. We have a winner of a dinner!! Try this tonight. I think you will love it!

New Potato Recipe

A few summers ago, Mike and I were visiting his family in Milwaukee and we had a wonderful dinner with his brother and sister-in-law, Dave and Barb. Dave made spectacular steaks on his grill and Barb made the nicest, creamiest potato casserole I ever had. So, when I was making it again here in Rochester it occurred to me that I had never shared the recipe with all of you.

I know there are a lot of potato casserole people out there and I am happy to give you a new recipe since frankly I am getting really tired of that cream of mushroom soup and cheese one everyone makes. No offense, but let’s try something new.

Barb's Parmesean Potatoes

24 oz. frozen hash browns, thawed and drained – I buy the country style ones that are not cubes, but shredded
2 ½ - 3 c. half and half
1 stick butter melted (hello Paula Dean)
¾ c. parmesan cheese
¼ c. diced onion
Salt and pepper and seasoned salt

I leave the hash browns out in a bowl early in the afternoon, then spread them in a 9x13 pan. Toss with onion. Pour on the cream and butter. Sprinkle on the cheese, salt and pepper (about ½ tsp. each and a sprinkling of seasoned salt for color) and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. These are so nice. They are not too thick and are creamy without being too rich! Give them a try!

Mike Loves Potatoes

Sounds like a dippy idea for a blog, right? But the truth is my husband loves potatoes of any kind as long as they meet a few of his conditions. They must be in some type of sauce or have gravy or have some sort of topper like cheese or cream. Something simple like a plain baked potato with butter just won't do. Sour cream is a necessity and creamy mashed potatoes are his favorite. I think mashed potatoes topped with cheese and bacon would thrill him. I recently came across a new recipe for scalloped potatoes and I am sharing it with you. He loved it, but if you are hoping for something healthy you need to check a different blog!

Sensational Scalloped Potatoes

4-5 large baking potatoes or russets, peeled and thinly sliced
3 green onions, sliced
4 oz. Colby Jack cheese, shredded
2 c. whipping cream
¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper
¼ c. parmesan cheese, grated

Slice potatoes thinly and rinse in cold water. Pat dry.

In a casserole dish (I use my large quiche dish but a glass pie pan will work too) layer the potatoes, Colby Jack and onions. Sprinkle each layer with the salt and pepper. Pour on the cream and top with the parmesan cheese. Put the dish on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender and the top is brown, bubbly and beautiful. YUM!

*Becky Knows Everything: I know, I know - everything is good when it has whipping cream and cheese on it, but did you notice there is no BUTTER? I just lost the respect of Paula Dean, the Butter Queen.

Sue's Sweet and Sour Slaw

This sure is an excellent side dish for Becky's BBQ Ribs. This takes about 5 minutes to make and everyone just wants to gobble it up. Sweet and delicious.

Sue's Sweet and Sour Slaw

One package shredded cabbage mix (remember when we had to grate all this by hand?)

One large carrot, chopped finely or grated

1/3 c. sugar

1/3 c. red wine vinegar

1 c. mayonnaise (if you are using anything but Hellman’s you need to stop)

Salt and pepper

Mix the sauce ingredients together. Pour on slaw/carrot mix. It will not look like enough but it is - the slaw will soak it all up. Serve with the delicious ribs you just made.

*Becky Knows Everything: This dressing is so simple and so much better than any other purchased slaw dressing I have tried.