Tomato Jambalaya

Rice Cooker Coconut Rice (or regular cooked rice)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 medium green pepper, diced

4 medium tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lb), cut into wedges*

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon basil

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup water

1 Tablespoon flour

3/4 lb cooked, diced ham or smoked sausage

Prepare rice.  In large skillet over low heat, saute onion and pepper in oil until onion is translucent (about 10-15 minutes).  Add tomatoes and next 4 ingredients.  Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Whisk flour into water, gradually stir into mixture until thickened.  Stir in ham or sausage.  Serve over rice.

*If you don't have garden tomatoes, 2 14 oz cans of Italian Stewed Tomatoes, pulsed a few times in the food processor, make a DELICIOUS jambalaya! But you could use any canned tomatoes.

Kristen's Mini Frittatas

6 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

2 shakes hot sauce

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

3/4 cup finely chopped broccoli (cooked)

1/4 cup red pepper, small dice (bottled)

1/2 cup ham, small dice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease* muffin tin. Beat first six ingredients in medium bowl. Add remaining ingredients, mix until combined. Divide evenly into muffin cups. Bake until just set, about 22-25 minutes.  Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan.

*Kristen used coconut oil, I'd use bacon grease, butter would be fine. 

Scalloped Ham and Cheddar Potatoes

Well, I had more ham to use up, and some onion, and some cream, and some potatoes, and after looking at these individual scalloped potatoes, I decided that would be something good to use up all my leftovers in the fridge. But I wanted a big heaping pan of goodness, not individual bites. After checking out lots of recipes, and printing out this one, I ended up with what follows. Everyone loved it! The picture shows everything heaped onto the plate--I should have gotten one right out of the oven, still in the baking dish. It was prettier. :)



Scalloped Ham and Cheddar Potatoes

1/4 cup minced onion
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter (Use regular butter if that's all you've got.)
4 cups half and half (now you can use all cream, and probably even all whole milk [you're not drinking anything but whole milk--are you?], but I combined the two and probably ended up with close to half and half)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
some freshly ground nutmeg (sorry, I didn't measure it--maybe 1/8 teaspoon?)
3 pounds potatoes, 1/8 inch slice (you can use any type, I used red potatoes--keep them in water if they are going to have to wait a while before going into the pan)
ham, chopped (I probably used a little over a cup)
sharp cheddar, grated (I probably used about 1 1/2 cups)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly butter a large baking dish.

In a stock pot melt the butter over low heat and cook the onions for 10-15 minutes. Add the half and half, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, increase heat and until it comes to a simmer. Add the potatoes and more half and half if necessary to barely cover the potatoes. (Okay, I admit they weren't completely covered--and I'm happy about it, because I wouldn't have wanted more liquid in the finished product. I did end up adding about 1/2 to 1 cup more milk though.) Lower the heat to simmer until the potatoes are barely fork tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Transfer 1/3 of the potatoes with some of the cream to the prepared dish, forming an even layer on the bottom. Top with 1/3 of the ham and 1/3 of the cheese. Continue layering the potatoes, ham and cheese, ending with the cheese on top. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 30 minutes. If the baking dish looks really full, place it on a baking sheet while it's cooking.

Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes. Serve hot. Drink the leftover liquid. It's that good.

Choo Choo Train Fried Rice

Here's what we do with left-over ham--make Choo Choo Train Fried Rice! David got this recipe while part of a cooking club while attending Albuquerque Academy. Everyone in the family loves it. Kristen seems especially happy when we have it. We pretty much always double this recipe. Don't worry too much about quantities in this recipe. Just do as much as you like. We like lots of eggs and ham. You can also use this as a refrigerator magnet to use up any meat or veggies you've got leftover in the fridge.




CHOO CHOO TRAIN FRIED RICE
1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
3 eggs
2 Tablespoons minced onion (I usually grate the onion. You can use dried minced onions if that's all you have on hand.)
4 Tablespoons cooking oil (use coconut oil or extra light olive oil)
3 cups cooked rice*
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup ham
1/2 cup green peas

Beat eggs with vinegar.

Pour oil in hot skillet over medium high heat. Stir in minced onion and the beaten eggs. Scramble the eggs into small pieces. Add rice, salt, ham and peas, and stir constantly for 8-10 minutes until the ingredients are well blended and heated. (I usually add the meat and veggies first and let them heat up, then the rice and salt.)

This fried rice is usually served on dining coaches in China. Green peas, diced ham and yellow eggs are so pretty with white rice. Every Chinese who travels a lot knows what the train egg fried rice is. I called it Choo Choo train fried rice to my children when they were young; they ate it better with this name. I don't know if any of that is true--it was just part of the recipe--which I have altered for our tastes (and eliminated the MSG).

*Do you need to know how to cook rice?

Bring 2 cups water to a boil, stir in 1 cup rice. Cover. (If you find your rice still a little crunchy and not right, you probably don't have a lid with a good seal. You want a good pan with a heavy bottom and a tight lid to cook rice. Or maybe a rice cooker, but I've never had one of those.) Reduce heat to lowest setting for 20-25 minutes, until all the water is absorbed. Doubling this recipe doesn't always work, but often I will do 3 cups of water with 1 1/2 cups of rice cooked for 25 minutes and it turns out okay. When the family was at its largest I would repeat that last process twice to make enough rice.