Monday, February 9, 2015

Hamburger Roll-up

I have been craving what we call here at our house "Hamburger Roll-Up"... Very simple and very tasty, but the problem is, due to all the canned items on the recipe it is loaded with salt. So for today's "Monday Make" I am spent the time re-working the recipe. Instead of using canned soup and green beans I made my own mushroom cream sauce and used fresh beans. I also made my own dough for the crust instead of using the premade pizza dough.

For the dough.. 
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
2  to 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Place all ingredients starting from the top in your mixing bowl and mix until dough comes together on a ball. Knead for 5 mins and set aside to let rest until dough. If using bread machine, use the dough setting. While dough is rising make the filling...
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lbs. hamburger
1 cup fresh green beans (I use leftover green beans that have already been cooked)
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped button mushrooms
2 cloves diced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

In medium sauté pan, add all the ingredients and cookhamburger until pink is gone. Don't over cook it because it will still need more cooking time in the oven. Pull meat mixture from the pan but leave the grease to make the cream sauce (known as Rue or cream gravy). Next, make the Rue by using the following steps...Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the hamburger pan, add 1/4 flour and stir, lifting stuff from the bottom of the pan. Next, while stirring, slowly add 2 cups cold milk and cook until thick. Add hamburger mixture to cream sauce and mix well. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir and set aside.
Now to assemble roll-up, on a lightly floured surface roll dough out into a 1/4 -1/2 inch circle, (like pizza or cinnamon rolls). Next spoon Hamburger cream sauce over dough circle, just like pizza sauce.  Now roll up like a pinwheel or jelly roll. Pinch ends together to seal edges. Carefully place on long greased cookie sheet and bake for 30-40 mins on 350.

To serve... Slice in rings and serve with green salad and brown gravy.


Tuesday, February 3, 2015

TWD: "Baking with Julia" - Salsa Quintza

Feels good to be back in the kitchen... today our "Tuesday's with Dorie" challenge was to make Salsa Quintza. In all my travels I have never come a crossed this recipe and I was very intrigued when I started reading it, only to discover that the crust base was a yeast dough made from flour, cornmeal and refried beans. We had serveral people for lunch today, so we made ours pizza size. The dough was soft and beautiful. The homemade salsa and cream cheese filling was amazing, and added just the right amount of class to the whole affair. This was so yummy and we will definitely make it again. :)



Monday, February 2, 2015

Creamy Asparagus, Leek & Potato Soup

  • In learning to deal with my CHF, we have gained a better understanding of the importance of a low-sodium diet. So one of our main goals now is to rework some of our favorite recipes, to not only reduce calories but also the salt with out compromising on flavor. Today, we decided that we would make-over one of our favorite winter soup recipes. 
  • Creamy Asparagus, Leek & Potato Soup
  • 2 cups leeks
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 cup diced celery
  • 2 Tablespoon butter
  • 2 cups baked potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
  • 2 cups cooked asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
  • 2 cups fat free milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt & pepper
  • Directions:
  • Cut leeks in half lengthwise, wash and thinly slice. In large pan lightly sauté leeks in butter. Add potatoes, garlic and celery. Sauté for about 5 minutes
  • Add asparagus, chicken stock, salt and pepper. Lower heat and simmer gently for about 20-30 minutes, until all vegetables are soft. Put contents in blender or processor and purée.
  • Add milk (or cream) and adjust salt and pepper for seasoning. (Also adjust the consistency of the soup, adding a little more of chicken stock if it is too thick).
  • Garnish with a touch of sour cream and parsley, serve with fresh veggie bruschetta.
  • We were able to rework the calorie count from 263 to 132 and we lowered the salt from 778 to 206.