Food/Cooking thread

Like once a year i treat myself to open face sandwiches. If you have a deli with fresh mozzarella in little balls and thin sliced prosciutto...its delicious but the prosciutto can get expensive if you make these all the time. I buy fresh baked french bread and slice it. Lay it on foil in the toaster oven. Slice the mozzarella and lay it on the bread, slice  the tomatoe and lay it on the mozzarella,  shred the prosciutto and pile it on the tomato.  Take fresh basil leaves and dip in olive oil and lay on top of the prosciutto Toast until the cheese is melted and eat 

I found a pic i had posted to my facebook to share the recipe with my mom

As for canning,I can all our tomatoes,Make homemade ketchup(only way I will eat it)I make pickled beets too(my fav. )also beet relish ....I freeze our corn(off the cob)..Make homemade horseradish,salsa's and BBQ sauces..Wife makes great Jalapeno and Habanero jellies..
I dry most of my hot peppers,making a "Dragon's Breath"..
I'm on a kick now with using the crockpot,making most anything,meatloaf,baked spuds,lasagna,home made mac&cheese......
The true test for beginners is doing a full meal like doing the Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner,planned and prepared by yourself..
After that you can time your cooking and baking to be prepared and ready within minutes of one another...
I use to dislike cooking on an outside grill,till my wife bought me one,now I cook up a great meal on them,mostly steaks and sausages and spuds...
Next week I start making home made Bologna,than smoke it in my smoker....Might throw some salmon in there too......
I like sitting down and make my own recipes up too,like the people in our church don't like spicy chili,so I made a recipe for just the church,took me three days to get it right with the ingredients,cooked it up and we had it for our church social,not one drop was left....LOL
My specialty is pizza,been making it since I was 9 years old....Make the dough,sauces and use only the best cheeses and meat....

Crockpot Cheddar Spirals.......

I package of spiral pasta ( 16 oz ).....
2 cups of half and half ( pint )
1 can (10 3/4 oz ) Campbell's condensed cheddar cheese soup (undiluted)...
1/2 cup butter (I use less) melted..( or marg.)...
4 cups of sharp cheddar cheese ( 16 oz )....


Cook pasta and drain..
In a slow cooker combine the cream,soup and butter,stir till smoothed...
Stir in cheese and pasta...
Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours,until the cheese is melted.....

My mother in law makes a baked mac and cheese, its good but a bit dry imo. She uses crushed ritz crackers on top. I bet your recipe with ritz done in the oven would be delicious! I used to make a baked mac and cheese with my grandmas familly recipe before i was married. Layered elbow pasta, cheddar, elbows, diced stewed plum tomatoes, elbows, cheddar.... fill baking dish to the top.

I mix the diced tomatoes with a bit of black pepper, oregano and garlic salt. I love it but hubby isnt big on tomatoes so ive stopped making it, plus mother in laws mac and cheese is served once a month for familly dinner... only so much mac and cheese i can take lol

Heres another dish that my hubby LOVES! (Surprising because it has a lot of tomato in it)
Boil bow tie pasta and set aside
Chicken breast
orange, yellow and red peppers diced
large sweet onion diced
a ton of fresh basil chopped (the more the better)
diced stewed tomatoes and tomato paste.
Ground black pepper and garlic salt.
Mix everything together in a baking pan, lay the chicken breast on top and cover it all with thick slices of mozzarella. Cover with tin foil and bake @350 for 45 min . Uncover and bake an additional 15 min to brown the cheese.

Scoop contents of baking pan over pasta and serve

tumbleon, making your own enchilada sauce (New Mexico Style) is fairly easy but requires some special ingredients. A recipe I've used calls for:

2 dried Ancho chiles (sometimes called Pasilla in the U.S.) OR 2 dried Ancho and 2 Guajillo chiles
Water
1 large clove garlic
2 whole cloves, crushed
2 black peppercorns, crushed
1/2 tsp. salt or more to taste
Olive oil

Makes approx. 1 cup, adjust recipe to amount of sauce desired.

Put on rubber gloves (no kidding!) and do not touch your eyes or other sensitive body areas when doing the following:

Use a sharp knife cut a slit all the way down one side of a chile, open the pod and remove as much of the seeds, stem and veins as possible. Reserve a few seeds to add later if you want more heat.

Heat a large skillet on medium heat, flatten out the chiles as best you can in the skillet and heat them a few seconds on each side. You don't want to toast or burn them, just heat them enough to draw out more of the flavor.

Place heated chiles in a small saucepan and add enough water to just cover them. Bring water to a boil. Remove from heat and let the pan sit for 10 minutes or until the chiles have softened and plumped up.

Remove chiles and reserve the soaking water. Place chiles in a blender. Add garlic, salt, ground pepper, ground cloves (optional) and 1-1/2 cups of the soaking water. Taste the water and if it's bitter use plain water instead. Puree for 2 minutes or until sauce is smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings to taste. If more heat is desired add a few seeds or veins and puree some more.

Pour the sauce through a sieve into a skillet. Add 1 tbsp. olive oil and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Skim off any foam. Remove from heat and use immediately or pour into a glass jar (not plastic) and refrigerate.

If all that sounds like a lot of hassle, it is. That's why I use canned Las Palmas red enchilada sauce, available here in CA, for my Enchiladas Montadas (no folding, the corn tortillas are stacked flat).

No Ed, it's not distributed here to any store I know of. There are some Mexican specialty grocery stores here, maybe I should check them.

gemfeller thanks man! that sounds like a great recipe but your right it might be a little over my head at the moment...my kitchen is very small and I know id end up rubbing my eyes after cutting those peppers out of frustration trying to prepare them on my limited counter space lol...and the grocery store I shop at sucks...not much of a selection but the best place for my budget and wouldn't be surprised if they didn't carry all the ingredients needed...I could be wrong so I wrote it down for the next visit...The truck is acting so unpredictable these days I just try to go the shortest distance possible and pray I make it home with it still running lol

Difficult no,time frame,most of the day.......I'll find it...