Copycat Kentucky Fried Chicken Gravy

Who doesn't love KFC mashed potatoes and gravy?  Just WHO?

I can remember my mom driving to a big town about an hour from where we lived and sometimes, if she had enough money she would bring us a treat, fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy.  OH YEEESSS!  Those perfect whipped instant potatoes, (maybe they were real back then) formed into a ball, from that perfect ice cream scoop type contraption.  Velvety gravy ladled in all its peppery goodness on top.  YES!

I have been a mashed potatoes and gravy freak since the beginning of my time on this earth.  I was always very particular about my gravy.  It must not have milk, OMGOSH when my mom said she was making "milk gravy" I wanted to hurl.  I went through a phase of only butter on them and then I discovered what KFC actually did for the world, they made gravy for the world.  Yes they did.  KFC created a world of gravy unlike any other.  And this is why I had to recreate it!

While this might not be EXXXXACTLY it, if you do it right, it is darn close and darn close my friends, is good enough for this gravy lovin' girl.  Is it for you?  Let me know!

3 T butter
3 T flour
1 1/2 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 cup beef stock
PINCH of salt
Pepper to taste

In a skillet add your butter.  Let it melt, and continue to stir, adding in the flour.  Now, you must take the color a bit further than normal on this part.  Don't just let the raw flour taste cook off, let it get a bit dark, a little nutty, and fragrant.  You will need that flavor and color for your perfect gravy!  When it has cooked maybe 2 or 3 (yea I don't remember just go with it) minutes, add in your chicken and beef stock and whisk or stir until the lumps are smooth and the gravy is bubbling away.  Let it thicken and taste for salt and add pepper, my GOOOODNESS please add some pepper.

Pour this delightful golden love over your perfectly prepared potatoes and WEEP!  Yes, I said WEEP!

ENJOY!

Slow Cooker Hot Beef Sandwiches

Now, this, ladies and gentleman is going way back for me.  This is one of my favorite comfort foods EVER.  I wish they were calorie free, fat free and all that jazz, but, they aren't.  If they were I could eat them at least 3 times a week.  No joke  But let me tell you what I realized about hot beef sandwiches

Not all of these sandwiches are created the same  In fact, some people have no idea what they are.  (GASP).  I know, right?  When I become an eastie, (moved to NJ) I wanted a hot beef sandwich.  I was missing home and wanted some HOME food.  Not pizza, no cheesesteaks, just as my husband calls it, "farm food".  Well, we went to our favorite diner, (shout out to Golden Palace in Vineland, NJ) and ordered a hot roast beef sandwich.  When it arrived, it was roast beef, swimming in gravy on a toasted hoagie roll.  Ok, it wasn't what I was planning, but, hey, it was as close as I figured I would get, so I enjoyed every luscious bite!  When my husband asked what was different I said, "Where are the potatoes?  Where is the sandwich bread?"  He was not nearly as concerned as I was but, to end this story on a positive note, I did find a hot beef sandwich that slightly resembled my most coveted treat from home.  You were holding your breath, weren't you? 

Now, while I enjoy all things homemade, I have to tell you, I tend to make fake gravy for this but I do it in a "nobody can tell" way..  I use that package that you add 3 or 4 cups of water to, but you could use 3 small packages, or as I will write the recipe, how I do it when I make homemade gravy

Make sure to make a batch of mashed potatoes to serve along side of this delicious sandwich, from my childhood and from, well.......dinner tonight!

You will need
4-5 lb. roast of your choice (I like very little fat for this recipe
2 tbsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. poultry seasoning (I know, just trust me)
1 tbsp. dried parsley
2 tsp. salt (if making homemade gravy, reduce to 1 if using package gravy)
1 tsp. black pepper (or to taste, or not at all)
3-4 cups of beef stock or water with bouillon cubes
1/2 cup flour
3 tbsp. butter
kitchen bouquet (as desired)
ALL liquid left from your slow cooker

In your slow cooker, add your roast.  Sprinkle over onion powder, poultry seasoning, dried parsley, salt and pepper to taste.  Add in beef stock or water and bouillon cubes.  Place the lid on and cook on high for 6 hours.  I normally like my roast beef medium, but for this you want it well done.  Don't mess with it just let it go.

When your roast is done, remove unto a platter.  Leaving your slow cooker on high!

Now, to the stock left in your slow cooker, add in flour, butter and Kitchen Bouquet, and whisk that goodness until it is glossy, and thickened. 

(If using packages of gravy, add them right into the stock and whisk until no lumps appear)

Slice your roast beast and then slide it back into the gravy.  Place on warm until you are ready to serve.  Make a sandwich, add a side of mashed potatoes and your carb heaven has arrived!

This is perfect to make extra and freeze for later!

ENJOY!

Mom's Vegetable Beef Soup

Ahh, this is a good food memory for me.  Sometimes the simplest things are the best.  And this soup is proof of that, in my opinion anyway!

As a family of 12, yes, 2 parents, and 10 kids, money was always tight.  My dad at the time was a high school dropout who signed himself into the military at at 16, and my mom had begun her young adult life as a model and then a teacher.  (lingerie, undergarments and wedding gowns, you GO girl)    Look at these two hottie parents of mine!

Back to the point at hand.  We had a HUGE garden.  We grew nearly everything we ate.  The garden was always full of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, potatoes, green beans, carrots, bell peppers, rhubarb, corn, and lettuce, or broccoli.  It would get canned and frozen for winter, my mom had a huge canning room downstairs.  Those tomatoes would become crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato juice, spaghetti sauce, and the cucumbers would be come 200 jars of my moms famous dill pickles.  (My mouth is actually watering just thinking of pickles, HER pickles) The green beans would be canned sometimes with a little bacon, the corn would be cut off the cob and frozen, carrots would be canned, etc.  I used to look at it as a necessity, it was how we got food, now I look at it as a complete blessing, we ate all of that whole, great, homegrown, non processed food everyday.  Any fruit became jellies, or were frozen for pies, she made relish, I mean, she kind of did a lot of everything!

As hard as times would be, we never once didn't have food.  We often joke how there would be only 1 lb. of hamburger to 3lbs of pasta in the goulash,  but if there was a time when there might not be enough, my dad would just take on another job, and another job.  He was usually carrying his full time job trying to grow his insurance agency and 3 or 4 part time jobs. (sports broadcaster, carpet cleaner, jail tending, newspaper printing, school bus driver, etc.)  He believed in working hard to provide and somehow, he seemed to have time for us in between when he was home.  My mom worked full or part time most of the time and that is just how it went.  We all had our weight to pull and we just did it, no arguing, no entitlement, because we knew it was part of being a family, all for one and one for all. 

So with that bit of history comes this recipe.  The ingredients can easily be cross referenced to what we grew in our family garden.  I suppose you could add any vegetables you wanted but, this is how mom made it, and this is how we loved it.  While my mom wasn't big into spices or herbs, I do add a few to mine now.  I will write those in as optional.  My mom would also use fresh canned stock.  This is something I do still, I can't live without fresh stock, but I freeze mine instead of canning it.  The "beef" part of this recipe for us as kids would have been a marked down soup bone at the store that we always loving referred to as "used meat" and the bits of meat that were left would be the beef in our soup.  As much or little as it gave off, is as much or little that was in the soup.  I use stew meat now, and cut each chunk into really small pieces.  So while I have to use canned tomatoes now, the veggies are a collection of leftovers from evening meals, all dumped into one gallon size freezer bag.  So when I write the recipe it will be for a gallon freezer bag full of veggies.  Those can be veggies of your choice. Depending on the leftovers the soup might be corn heavy, or carrot heavy but that is just the luck of the draw and what changes it just a little bit every single time.  Maybe you don't have as many green beans in your freezer bag as you want, so add some more, no biggie at all!   So, while I can't give you exact measurements on the veggies, just use a gallon bag and pour in what you have I guess, when it gets full, that will be the right amount!  If you add any canned veggies pour their juice in as well!  Free flavor friends!  Free flavor!

Oh, and one more thing, feel free to do this in a large slow cooker.  Let it simmer on low all day.  It will be perfection!

If you are going to use a soup bone, go ahead and add a bay leaf and some peppercorns when you cook it!!  My mom just called and told me not to forget that!  I thought she cooked the soup bone IN the soup but NO!  Cook it separate in water, with the peppercorns and bay leaves.  When it is done pick off the meat and get rid of the peppercorns and bay leaf!   She put bay leaves in EVERYTHING!

You will need:
28-30 oz. plain tomato sauce
32 ounces beef stock
2-3 beef bouillon cubes
14 oz. diced tomatoes with juice
4-6 medium size potatoes, peeled and diced into a medium size
1 med-large finely diced onion (just depends on how much onion you like)
1 lb (or more if you choose) of beef stew meat cut into small pieces or a soup bone!
1 gallon freezer bag of leftover frozen veggies.
salt and pepper to taste

Seasonings (Optional) My mom would be MORTIFIED to see this list of "extras"! HAHA
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tbsp. dried parsley
1 tbsp. dried Italian seasoning

In your slow cooker or large soup pot, add ALL ingredients including seasonings if you are using them.  My mom would NOT have.  In a soup pot, simmer for approx. 1-2 hours.  If you do this in the morning, and then let it cool and refrigerate and then reheat for dinner it will be the BOMB.  If you simmer it and eat it, it will also be the bomb.  In a slow cooker, set on low and let it go a good 4-6 hours.  Set it on keep warm until ready to eat it.  Let those flavors soak each other up.

We would eat this with plain old store brand sliced bread and butter.  Lord have mercy when I ate this last night I was transported right back to my moms tiny 8x10 kitchen, with pink walls, peeling up linoleum, and counter tops that were probably a health hazard!  

My parents financial hardships may be a thing of years gone by, and that kitchen has been all redone, (still small) but the lessons it taught me as a child are priceless.  I wouldn't have had it any other way.  I know what hard work is,  I know how to do it, I know what it gets you and now my parents have retired, and enjoy their lives doing what they want as their health allows.  Thanks mom and dad for working hard for us, and I am so glad it paid off now, for you. 

Enjoy this pot of my childhood.  And remember, it makes a huge batch and I can promise you, it will taste even better the next day!

Love and Blessings friends..........

Farmer's Pie

Good evening!  It is finally starting to feel like winter around here.  Even a little white stuff on the ground, a very little.  I won't complain, at the same time, I feel like we need one of those big, "give it to me good" snow storms where you can't leave the house for a couple of days.  I know, I know, some of you want to slap me right now but, don't worry, I am on the other side of your computer, you temptation will die. 

This pie, I am so excited to share with you.  Honestly, I don't really know why, but the idea all started with, Hunter's Pie, a British dish.  My mother in law, who lived in England for several years would make Hunter's Pie with birds or game my father in law hunted.  Ok well, there are so many things wrong with that idea to me, that I won't waste your time or mine.  No game.  No "shot it myself" birds, and did I mention no wild game?  I know traditionally only venison is used, but this was my late mother in laws way of doing it. 

As my husband was telling me, I had thoughts of more domesticated meat, pork, chicken, and beef in my mind.  Almost like sugarplums, and far from the shiver causing, gag reflex inducing idea of wild game or pheasant, or any of that "stuff" we had to eat as kids.  Oh yea, you thought I was just being nasty because I didn't like the idea of it, when the truth is, this is a lot of what we ate as kids.  Deer meat, never mind, I can't even go there.  My mom would try to sneak it in everything.  My son still tries to get me to eat it.  No, No, NONONONO. 

 

So in a nutshell I decided if I used pigs, chickens and cows, it could be a farmers pie.  A few potatoes and veggies as most farmers or their wives have gardens, and a cast iron skillet and pie crust could round it out.  Perfect, a Farmer's Pie! 

At first I thought this was completely wrong.  Wrong as in, the idea of serving a fried egg on top of a chicken breast, but then I decided, pigs, cows and chickens all get along on the farm, why not in my pie?

You will need:
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. olive oil
8 ounces chicken, uncooked and diced
5 ounces beef, uncooked and diced
8 ounces pork, uncooked and you guessed it, DICED
1 tsp. minced fresh garlic
1/2 lb.  Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup green beans
1/2 cup beef stock
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tbsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp. salt
black pepper to taste
3 tbsp. flour
1 pie crust (I used a premade one for this)
1-2 tbsp. milk (to brush on crust)

While I did this in my cast iron skillet, I am giving you directions to do it in a pot first, then pour into cast iron.  Okey dokey?

First of all, in a large measuring cup pour your chicken and beef stock together.  Add in parsley, onion powder, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper.  Mix to combine and set aside.

In a large skillet or pot on high, add in butter and oil, let the butter melt and add in all of your diced chicken, beef and pork.  Stir and let brown for 3-4 minutes. 

Turn down to medium heat and add in garlic, potatoes, carrots and beans.  Stir and let simmer for 2-3 minutes.  Add in flour and stir until the flour is absorbed, stir for 1 minute to cook off the raw flavor of the flour.  Now, add in stock, and let simmer a until the stock has thickened stirring a few times to combine.  

At this point you can pour it into your cast iron skillet or just a 9 inch round casserole dish.  Now lay the pie crust over the top of the filling.  You can be sloppy!  Just bunch it up here and there so there is just a little bit hanging over, and gently push to adhere to the edges and let it hang. 

This is a rustic pie, let it look that way!  Cut a few vent slits on the top.   Brush the top of the crust with milk and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. 

Let sit for 10 minutes before serving!

ENJOY!

BETTER than IKEA, Swedish Meatballs

.....even the ugly deserve love.  You know sometimes food is just not photogenic.  So, if you have eaten Swedish meatballs you know what they look like and you are going to just be nice.  NOTHING makes Swedish meatballs look pretty.  Nothing.

That being said, we were recently home, in South Jersey.  This obviously warranted a trip to a store I used to visit at least twice a month, Ikea.  I don't know how I am surviving without an Ikea where I am, but I am, barely.  I shopped until my husband dropped at the cafe, for his traditional snack, Swedish Meatballs.  We indulged and reminisced and I promised him when we got home I would do my best to make meatballs that taste just like Ikea's.  When he hate these meatballs he said they didn't quite taste like Ikea's, they were BETTER!  WOOHOO!  Better than Ikea Swedish Meatballs?!  That is EXACTLY what I am calling this post now!

These are super easy and super cool for a large crowd.  They are happiest in a crock pot.  Yes, I said it.  Don't dwell on it.  This makes a large batch but as I often tell you, these are easily frozen and reheated for later meals.  Do NOT forget the mashed potatoes or egg noodles, I made both.  I mean isn't life about choices?!

Meatballs:
2 lbs ground beef
1 lb ground pork
2/3 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs
3 tbsp. milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.  Make into meatballs using a cookie scoop or just eyeball it.  I got 75 meatballs.  Place on to parchment lined cookie sheets and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

While that is cooking, it is time to make the cream sauce.

5 cups beef stock
6 tbsps. flour
6 tbsps. butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. parsley (fresh or dried)

In a medium sauce pan melt butter and add in flour, whisk to combine and let cook about 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Add in beef stock while whisking, let come to a simmer and begin to thicken.  Add in heavy cream and whisk often, let simmer 5-7 minutes.  Sprinkle with parsley before serving!

Place all ingredients into a crock pot and cook on high for 3-4 hours. 

ENJOY!!

Your "Ikea for you, and Ikea for me" Chefwannabe

Wienerspaetzle Soup

Clever name huh?  I know.

You know what time of year it is, don't you?  Cooler weather, FINALLY.  Leaves falling off the tree.  Chilly breezes at night, rain and clouds.  You are right, it is SOUP season!  Some people call it fall or autumn, I call it soup.  Soup weather, soup season, soup, soup, soup.  I especially like soup with noodles.  TONS of noodles.  BUT, have you ever had leftover soup and the noodles soak up all the broth and get mushy and overcooked and, oh what a pot of gross it becomes.  Well, I found something that won't do that. 

OK, my 4 year old great niece is laying here by me.  The rest of the Husker fans are in the living room, we choose NO Husker game.  So I just said to her, "What do you have to say about soup Leyana"   Here is what she has to say, "Chicken noodle soup, chicken noodle soup, chicken noodle soup with a soda on the side".

I love spaetzle.  I am seriously like....addicted!  Have you ever used it in place of noodles in soup?  I wanted to combine Wienerschnitzle and Spaetzle into a soup, but you can use them as noodles in any soup!  They never get mushy, never bloat.  They freeze and store beautifully!  Give this soup a try, it is so good, nice texture and flavor.  Make sure to salt and pepper to your taste!!

4 cups beef broth/stock
4 cups chicken broth/stock
1 lb pork, cut into strips or chunks.
1 large carrot, chopped
1 batch of Spaetzle
1/2 cup of parsley (minced fine or just ripped)
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, bring beef and chicken stock to a boil, add in carrots and pork.   Let simmer, covered for 15 minutes.  Prepare spaetzle dough and after the soup has cooked 15 minutes, make your spaetzle right into the pot.  Gently stir, and when all spaetzle is made, let cook for 5 minutes covered.  Add parsley just before serving. 

Enjoy!

Your "soup-izing everything"