Welcome to My Kitchen

Four seasons of weather all happened in one day this past week. Sometimes meal preparation is like the weather. Life throws out multiple tasks and responsibilities each day and cooking must happen in between. Several easy to prepare recipes came my way and they are a nice change from slow-cooker dishes.

Barb Schlimmer of Odessa shared the recipe for Sloppy Joe Casserole, a dish she brought to a recent potluck dinner. She found the recipe on all-recipes.com. Chop the vegetables the night before, or prior to heading to work and you can have dinner on the table in under an hour.

Sloppy Joe Casserole

8 ounces penne pasta

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped

1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 small green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 Tbsp ground paprika

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp salt

2 cans (15 ounces each) tomato sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

2 Tbsp prepared mustard

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp light brown sugar

2 cups frozen corn kernels

1 1/2 cups shredded Colby-Jack cheese, divided

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package instructions for al dente. Drain well.

While pasta cooks, heat oil in a large Dutch oven or skillet. Add beef and cook, stirring often to crumble and meat is no longer pink.

Stir in onion, peppers, spices and salt. Cook stirring occasionally until vegetables are softened, about 4 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in cooked pasta, corn and 3/4 cup of the cheese. Coat a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Transfer beef and pasta mixture to the baking pan and top with the remaining cheese.

Bake until mixture is heated through and cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. Yield: 6 servings.

Several folks have recently expressed how ready they are for fresh fruit season. I came across this grape pizza recipe in the Costco Magazine. I didn’t have all the ingredients, so substituted several items. I am printing the recipe as shown in the magazine but any substitutions I made are in parentheses.

Great Grape and Prosciutto Pizza

1-pound prepared pizza dough, room temperature

2/3 cup ricotta cheese (2/3 cup cottage cheese puréed)

2 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped

1/4 tsp dried chili flakes, or more to taste

2/3 cup shredded pecorino or parmesan cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 cups red grapes, halved lengthwise

2 ounces sliced prosciutto, cut in 1-inch pieces (2/3 cup thin sliced ham)

2 Tbsp sliced green onions

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Spray a 14-inch pizza pan or 12 x 17-inch baking sheet with cooking spray.

Roll out dough and fit into pan.

In a small bowl blend ricotta, 1 tsp rosemary and chili flakes. Spread mixture on dough.

Sprinkle on parmesan cheese, then mozzarella. Add grapes, mostly cut side up, pressing in lightly. Place prosciutto evenly around pizza. Sprinkle with remaining rosemary and green onions.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes on middle rack of oven, or until browned and cheese is bubbly. Cool 5 minutes before slicing. Yield: 4-6 slices.

On a sourdough note, mashed cooked squash or pumpkin may be added to sourdough for a change of pace pancake recipe. This recipe is good for using up starter when your container is getting too full. It is a small batch recipe you can easily double. Pure maple syrup and a side of sausage turn this into a dinner pancake menu.

Sourdough Squash Pancakes

1 cup sourdough starter, room temperature

1 egg, beaten

1 Tbsp granulated sugar

1 Tbsp melted butter

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup mashed squash or pumpkin, room temperature

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Place starter in warm bowl. Stir in egg and sugar. Stir in melted butter and salt. Then stir in squash and flour.

Heat skillet or griddle over medium high heat until a sprinkle of water sizzles.

Grease lightly and spoon batter onto skillet. Cook until bubbles pop and pancake are browned, turn and cook the other side. Yield: 25 silver dollar or 9 regular size pancakes.

Magic Chicken Pie found on the all-recipes.com site is another quick to fix casserole.

Magic Chicken Pie

4 Tbsp butter

2 cups diced chicken

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 cup shredded cheese

2 cups baking mix

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) cream of chicken soup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in 9 x 13 baking pan.

Layer, chicken, vegetables, onion and cheese over butter.

In a bowl, combine baking mix and milk. Spread carefully over layer in pan.

In same bowl, combine chicken stock bouillon cubes and soup and pour over all.

This will look a mess but bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until biscuit topping is golden. It’s magic! Yield: 8 servings.

Share your favorite recipes with your fellow readers by sending them to: Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Record-Times, P.O. Box 458, Odessa, WA 99159, email [email protected] or drop them in the mail tin in The Odessa Record office. Follow us on Facebook for our series on sourdough baking. Now is a good time to work compost or commercial all-purpose fertilizer into your vegetable garden space in preparation for planting. If you will be rototilling soon just scatter compost on the surface to be worked in by the tiller.