Aunt Kim's Baked Beef Chimichangas

2 pounds beef roast (Aunt Kim uses a chuck roast)
2 pkg. fajita seasoning
2 Tbsp garlic, diced
1 large onion, sliced in half moon rings
1 can diced green chiles
1/4 C. fresh cilantro
1 can refried beans
1 pkg. colby jack cheese
2 pkg. soft taco shells, 10-count
sour cream for garnish
vegetable oil or cooking spray

1) Heat skillet on high heat with a  drizzle of olive oil.
2) Place roast in pan and sear on both sides. (Be sure to wear a trash bag like Aunt Kim!)
3) Place seared roast in slow cooker on high heat.
4) Slice onion and place on top of roast with garlic, fajita seasoning, and 1/2 C. water.
5) Let cook for 4 hours or until you can shred the beef with a fork. (It takes longer!)
6) Shred the beef with two forks. (Aunt Kim's meat-shredder claws are great!)
7) Add the green chiles and chopped cilantro to a bowl. Mix together with the shredded beef.
8) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
9) Heat refried beans on stove until heated, creamy, and easily spreadable.
10) Warm soft taco shells in the microwave about 30 seconds, just until warm.
11) Spray baking sheets with cooking spray.
12) Assemble chimis by spreading beans, cheese, beef mixture on tortilla shells, then fold.
13) Eyeball how much to put in each shell, which will be tri-folded.
14) Place on baking sheet, seam side down.
15) Using a pastry brush, brush finished chimis with oil or spray them with cooking spray.
16) Heat in oven for 15 minutes. Keep on eye on the bottoms of chimis so they don't burn.
17) Remove chimis from the oven. Top with cheese and place under broiler for 2-5 minutes until cheese is bubbly. Keep a close watch so they don't burn.

NOTE: This original recipe came from Just a Pinch Recipes.

Beach Week 2020

Aunt Kim's Coconut Cake

This recipe appeared originally in Just a Pinch Recipes as "Coconut Brunch Bread." With the glazed icing, it is delicious but very sweet... every bit a cake!

6 eggs
3 C. sugar
1 1/2 C. oil
3 tsp. coconut extract
4 1/2 C. flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 C. buttermilk
1 1/2 C. flaked coconut
1 1/2 C. chopped walnuts

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Beat first four ingredients together and blend well.
3) Mix dry ingredients.
4) Add dry ingredients to egg mixture, alternating with buttermilk, coconut, and nuts.
45 Spoon into 3 large loaf pans or 1 10" bundt pan.
6) Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes if using loaf pans, or 1 1/2 hours if using bundt pan.

ICING:
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. water
2 Tbsp. margarine (I always use butter)
1 tsp. coconut extract

1) While bread is baking, combine sugar, water, and butter in small saucepan.
2) Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add coconut extract.
3) Remove warm breads from pan(s).
4) Place back in pans and pour hot syrup over top of the warm cake.
5) Let stand 4 hours or more before slicing and serving.

Beach Week 2020

Rainy Day Egg Drop Soup

One of Molly's favourite kinds of dishes is the warm noodle broth, but in college she would often just opt to cook noodles in a water and soy sauce mixture in between study sessions, which isn't very nourishing.

Since it's cold and rainy, I whipped up this much heartier version for our dinner. She asked me to make it another time, so I'm writing it down here for future reference. If you make it, let me know what you think!

Note that this recipe only makes enough for two as a main dish, but could easily feed more as a side to another Asian-fusion dish.

Ingredients:

• Water
• Chicken bouillon powder
• Soy sauce
• Powdered garlic
• Powdered ginger
• Sesame seeds
• Whole prickly ash pods
• Chili bean paste
• Sesame oil
• Black pepper
• Sugar
• Eggs
• Somen noodles

Directions:

1. Boil 3 cups of water. Add a heaping tablespoon of chicken bouillon powder, stir, and let boil for a couple minutes.
2. Add a splash of soy sauce, a generous dash of garlic, a few fingerfuls of the prickly ash, a good dusting of sesame seeds, a teaspoon of the chili bean paste, a generous dash of black pepper, a generous dash of sugar, a little bit of sesame oil, and as much ginger as you'd enjoy (I put in just a little less than the garlic).
3. Stir everything together, then let the mixture boil for a couple minutes until it becomes a nice broth.
4. In a separate bowl, mix two eggs with a quarter cup cold water. Pour the egg mixture into the broth, stirring the whole time with a fork. Boil for a good three or four minutes, until the eggs have cooked into lots of little visible chunks swirling in the broth.
5. Add a packet of somen noodles and boil for two minutes, stirring at intervals. (Our somen noodles come in a package with several individually bound sections of noodles. I used one of the individual sections, not the whole package.)
6. Let sit for a couple minutes, then serve up into two bowls and enjoy!

Aunt Nita's Spaghetti

1 large onion, diced
2 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic (2-3 cloves)
3 lbs. lean ground beef
chile powder (hefty sprinkling)
salt and pepper to taste
1 large can tomato sauce
1 large can tomato paste
1 can mushrooms (stems and pieces)—optional
parmesan for topping

1) Sauté onion and garlic in oil until clear. (Add garlic after onion has cooked a little bit to avoid burning it.)

2) Brown ground beef with onion and garlic.

3) Add seasonings.

4) Add tomato sauce and tomato paste. Then fill each can almost full with water and add to sauce.

5) Simmer until flavors are well-blended and sauce is right consistency.

6) Add mushrooms toward the end and simmer until warm.

7) Serve over al dente spaghetti noodles with a nice Italian salad and good crusty Italian bread.

8) Serve Mumama's Banana Pudding for dessert! :)

Elanore's Favorite Chicken Salad

This is a knock-off of the very delicious rotisserie chicken salad from Fresh Market. It is so simple, and very delicious. 

The secret is to shred the chicken and make the chicken salad while the chicken is still warm.

1) Tear/shred the flesh of one rotisserie chicken by hand. Don't chop it!

2) While it is still warm (this is important), rub in the following ingredients:

Hellman's mayonnaise

sea salt

celery salt

cracked black pepper

celery, finely diced 

Everything is to taste, and quantities are according to your preferences.