April 11, 2016 · 2:04 pm

Stand Up Pork Roll Ups

3loafs
Well, back to cooking. Here’s something for real pork carnivores.

Our friends the Kings on Chesapeake Bay, sent us a recipe for Shrimp and Grits which eventually became ramekin Shrimp and Quinoa in the new book. They recently sent one of their daughter’s recipes for Pork Meatloaf which they had tried as a ramekin dish. I thought I would work on it to develop a stand up ramekin dish, so here’s my version. The Kings probably get a more flavorful grade of ground pork from their local butcher. My first try, made with super market pork, was a little bland, so I added 3 chopped up strips of raw bacon and some garlic to favor it up a bit. We also flattened out a large meatball sized chunk, put dried fruit in the center, rolled it up and inserted the roll into the tortilla. Kind of like a fruit stuffed pork tenderloin. This was much better, our pork needed the sweetness of the fruit. Don’t try to pack too much mix into the tortilla cup as they will just tear. I didn’t think the egg on top added anything to it, so it’s your choice. Myself I’d just place a thick slice of egg on top after cooking. If you’re not a pork fan this should also work with hamburger. Some one could even work out a tofu version! You could also make this as a single mini meat loaf in a cocotte, just pack the egg or the fruit into the center.  It would make for an interesting presentation. Makes  3 servings.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. pork sausage stuffing
1 egg Hard Boiled and shelled, cut in thick slices, optional
3 strips of bacon coarsely chopped
1/4 cup diced onion
1 egg beaten
1/4 cup Italian Bread Crumbs
1/2 tsp. Herbs de Provence
1/4 tsp. crushed garlic
couple of dashes of salt and pepper to taste
1/2 – 4oz.  jar of chopped pimentos
small amount of dried fruit, apricots or prunes
1 Grande flour burrito

Directions:

TortillaPreheat oven to 350° f.
Boil the egg before needed as they should cool before using. I like them a little on the soft side, boil about 6 min. Cut into thick rounds
Mix the meat, bacon,onion, beaten egg, bread crumbs, spices and pimentos together.
Add the fruit to the center if you wish. Cut a grande burrito in half and pin the ends together with a toothpick, place this in a PAM sprayed ramekin. Gently fill the ramekin with the mixture about 2/3 full.

1loafBake for 25 – 30 min. until the tortilla browns on the edges. Pick the tortilla up using two forks, one on each side and place it on a plate. Place the slice of egg on top if you want.

You can make an interesting presentation by cutting them in half length wise like below.
Enjoy!

3longloafs

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March 30, 2016 · 11:11 pm

The New Book Is Finished

AppleRU

It took us awhile but the new book is finally finished and in print. Above is one of the desserts, Apple Roll Ups, kind of like a small stand up apple strudel. 33 new recipes including desserts, as well as the original 17 from the first book. We think it’s a tour de force of ramekin cooking. Just $19.95 on Amazon, click on the image to the right. To create more interest, we’re treating the old book as an introduction to ramekin cooking and we’ve reduced the price to $10.95, we won’t make much but we think people should try this process out. Now at least we can get back to cooking!

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January 12, 2016 · 1:59 pm

And Now “The Big Book of Small Foods”

CoverSmallWe’ve been working away on the next version of “Small Foods”and here it is. Right now it’s only the Kindle version but soon it will be a beautiful printed book as well. Kindle has some limitations as far as books with lots of photos and artistic layout are concerned, but they do adapt to any tablet or phone so I guess there is some value to it. I would think for RVers it would be great as it removes the need to carry around a cookbook in a limited space. Homes, apartments, RVs, boats with ovens, there are tons of places you can use a small foods cook book. (In a boat you might want to use a large muffin pan as ceramic ramekins could roll around due to the boat rocking). I myself prefer a hard copy book, but I’m sure there are some who prefer to get their recipes digitally.

The new book has the original 17 recipes and 33 more, including desserts! Many of these dishes have been featured here and some have not. Just $3.95 (U.S.) on Kindle.

 

ThumbnailSmallFoodsCover

In the meantime, starting tomorrow, we have reduced the Kindle price of the “Small Foods” book to $2.99. We feel that this is a good introduction to the small foods process and we’d like everyone to try it.

More recipes to come here on BillsEntree so keep checking for new food treats.

 

Enjoy!

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December 15, 2015 · 4:16 pm

Beef Stroganoff in a Cup

Bstroweb

 

Warm, with beef, noodles and cream, what could be better on a cold winter night. I like to use precooked, beef tips, they just melt in your mouth. You’ll probably find them in the ham and hot dog area of your market. We like it with a nice salad and a good Beaujolais. Life is good!

Ingredients

1 15 oz. pkg. precooked Beef Tips
1 4 oz. can Mushrooms, drained
3 pats of Butter
¼ cup diced onion
1 10 oz. can Beef Broth
1 Tbs. Flour
1 cup Medium Egg Noodles
Dash of Catsup, Garlic Powder, Dijon Mustard and Worcester Sauce
Pepper to taste (there’s usually enough salt in the broth and beef)
¼ cup heavy whipping Cream
1 Flour Tortilla
Sour Cream for the top or use Creme Fraiche (50/50 Heavy Cream and Sour Cream)
PAM cooking spray

Directions

Spray 3 eight to ten ounce ramekins with PAM. Preheat oven to 350 degrees f.

Boil the egg noodles in salted water until they are slightly softened (about 3-4 min.), rinse, drain and reserve. Sauté the onion in the butter and when it has softened a little add the tablespoon of flour and stir it in well to coat all of the flour. Add about ¾ cup of the of broth, the mushrooms and dashes of catsup, mustard, garlic powder, pepper and Worcester sauce. Pour it into a medium sized bowl.

Separate the beef from most of the gravy in the box (you will need a little of it and they give you way too much) and add it to the bowl. Now pour in the whipping cream and the noodles and stir it all together. Cut the tortilla into thin strips and rough them up a little between your hands to form noodles. Fill the ramekins with the mixture and place a mound of the tortilla noodles on top. Bake for about 30 min. until the liquid is bubbling and the tortilla noodles have browned.

Serve in the hot ramekin with a dab of sour cream on top and a dash of paprika for color.

 

 

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September 3, 2015 · 3:55 pm

French Toast in a Cup

3AshevilleWe had the pleasure of staying at the Asia Spa and Bed in Asheville NC. It is a cozy little B&B just six bedrooms, but all beautifully decorated and very, very comfortable. We went there to visit the River Arts district, a very large collection of galleries and working studios in Asheville, most are open to visitors, only how they ever get any work done is a mystery to me with all the visitors. Asia serves a breakfast every day and on our first day we had French Toast in a ramekin! Imagine my surprise, I’ve written a book about ramekin cooking and here’s some one actually doing it. I haven’t thought of French Toast in a ramekin. It was great, so I asked the manager, Nicolette, if I could use the recipe, she said yes, so here is my version. Like French Toast it’s very simple and this one you make the night before. Double or triple the mixture and make four or six… and feed an army! They are all done at once so no waiting. We told her she should write an Asia Spa cook book.

Makes two

Ingredients

2 eggs
1/4 cup half and half
4 slices of bread, not Wonder bread
2 dashes of cinnamon
PAM spray
Two eight ounce ramekins (2 – 11oz. ones)
Confectioner’s sugar
2 pats of butter
Peach or Apple sliced thin (optional)

Directions

FT1In a small bowl beat the eggs well, then add the half and half and cinnamon. Cut the bread into quarter slices that will fit into the ramekin.  Spray the ramekins with PAM. Dip the cut bread into the egg mix four times or so  and put the slices in the ramekin with the bread standing up until it is full. Our friends like to put a thin slice of fruit between each slice of bread. Leave some of the crust showing as it will brown and create eye appeal. Place a small dab of butter and then a little cinnamon on top. Put them into the fridge and allow them to rest overnight.

Next day – Preheat oven to 350 degrees f.

Put the ramekins into the oven and bake for 30 min. or until they brown a little on top. Cut around the sides of the cup with a butter knife and using a fork and the butter knife on either side, carefully lift the toast out of the cup. Dust them with a little XXX sugar. Serve with some maple or other syrups on the side and some fresh fruit. At Asia we had a berry mix; blueberries, strawberries and black berries. Very yummie! PS they do freeze well, just defrost for about an hour and pop them into the toaster oven.
FtoastSM

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July 14, 2015 · 1:05 pm

Artichoke and Spinach Pie

WebSA

We usually have this dish as a side for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. I thought it would make a good entrée as well, so I worked up this version. Small size, no meat, it makes a perfect light dish for summer with a salad. If you need a larger, casserole style for a big dinner, just double or triple the ingredients, skip the Filo dough and just put some bread crumbs on top to brown. We like to add some fresh cilantro to it, that brightens the taste and adds a little zing. Makes about three 8 oz. ramekins.

Ingredients

1 14 oz. can of whole Artichokes
1 Pkg. frozen Spinach
4 oz. Cream cheese
4 Tbs. of Butter, warmed
¼ cup of bread Crumbs
¼ cup chopped onion
2 Tbs. chopped cilantro leaves (optional)
Salt & pepper to taste
1 pkg. frozen filo dough
PAM spray
Cilantro or flat parsley

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees f. and spray two or three ramekins with PAM

Defrost the spinach and cook it in the microwave until it is hot. Then put it into a strainer and rinse with cold water. Press the water out of the spinach. Rinse and drain the artichokes, cut off the stems if they have any. You want these to stand up in the cup. You can add the stems to the spinach mix, if you wish for flavor. Press the water out of the artichokes between paper towels.

Cream the spinach, onions, chopped cilantro, butter, bread crumbs and cream cheese together.

Place two sheets of Filo in each ramekin and let the sides droop over the top. Stand up enough of the artichokes in the ramekin to cover the bottom of each. Put a layer of of the spinach butter combination on top. Fold the filo dough over on top of the ramekin. Bake for 30 min. or until the top browns well. Pick the package out of the dish using two forks, plate it and I like to put a leaf of cilantro or flat parsley on top as a decoration, a slice of a small tomato works well too.

Serve with a salad and a good Pinot Grigo, Enjoy!

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May 4, 2015 · 4:30 pm

Stand Up Lasagna!

LasagnaHead

I know, I did Lasagna in the first book. But I didn’t do it as a roll up, kind of an Italian Futo Maki. I thought it would make an attractive, different presentation for lasagna. You can also individualize the lasagnas, one meat, one veggie, one broccoli, etc. This also has the advantage of not making a huge amount of leftovers for you to gobble up at some later date. So grab your ramekins and let’s cook Italian.

Ingredients

8 Lasagna noodles (not the no boil kind)
¾ cup of hamburger and/or veggies you might prefer like finely chopped peppers,
spinach, broccoli flowers, etc.
1 garlic clove crushed
¼ cup finely chopped onion
2 eggs beaten
2/3rd cup shredded and chopped small, mozzarella cheese
1/3rd cup shredded and chopped small, Parmesan cheese
¾ cup ricotta cheese
½ Tbs. Oregano
½ Tsp. Basil
salt & pepper
¼ cup Italian Bread Crumbs
¼ cup spaghetti sauce (1 cup or so more for the side sauce)
3 ramekins sprayed with PAM

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large pot of salted water, boil the lasagna noodles until they are flexible. Sauté the hamburger in a little oil, breaking it up into small bits. Add the garlic and onion (sweet red peppers) and cook until they soften. Drain the pan and place the ingredients onto a paper towel to drain. Chop any other vegetables finely and reserve.

Beat the egg and add to it the cheeses, breadcrumbs, spices, etc. and spaghetti sauce. Salt and pepper this to taste. Lightly spray 3 ramekins with PAM

20222324Take two of the lasagna noodles and overlap the second noodle about an inch over the first to make a very long noodle. I make two holes with a small knife in this and jam a toothpick into each. Don’t try going thru with one toothpick as the noodle just breaks. Pull these toothpicks out when the roll is ready to place in the ramekin. Coat one side of the noodle with a very thin coat of the mixture. Lightly sprinkle this with the meat or veggie mixture, pat this down flat.

Roll the noodles up. Don’t be afraid if it oozes out the side or it is crooked. You can pat the filling back

27into the top and bottom and press it between two hands to reform it. Place it in a lightly sprayed ramekin. Put a little bit of the meat or veggies on top so you know which is which. I stick a toothpick into the seam in the roll to insure that they don’t unroll as they cook. Bake at 350 for 30 mins. Let them cool for 5 min. or so to harden up. In the meantime, heat up the side sauce. Then using two forks pick the roll out of the ramekin and put it on the plate. Serve it with some of the sauce on the side, a cool caesar salad and a good Valpolicello wine.

This will definitely go into the next book.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

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April 6, 2015 · 1:21 pm

ZapGhetti!!

MicroMiniSorry, its been a while since my last post. Guess I’ve been tied up with taxes, etc.

We have a little pop up camper. We had a big thirty foot trailer but we really felt like it was just too big. Too big for the road, too big to maneuver, too big to gas up, so we bought a little pop up 8×8 feet closed, fast on the road and easy to maneuver, cheap on gas. The down side of the popup is that there is no room to store a lot of stuff. Pots and pans particularly are a problem since you need so many and they are so large. I was looking at a cooking magazine one day and there it was, pasta cooked in a fry pan! Why not an electric fry pan? Like the one we bought to cook in while camping. So I worked up a recipe for spaghetti, in an electric fry pan, in a camp ground. The camp grounds we go to all have power and water so we only use electric devices. That eliminates the pan, propane stove and the propane. Hooray more room for chips!

ELECTRIC SPAGHETTI

Ingredients

Spaghetti

Chicken, meatballs or other meat if you want it

Peppers, onions, mushrooms, garlic, chopped canned tomatoes

Your favorite jar of spaghetti sauce if you desire it

Olive oil

Shredded Parmesan cheese

Cup of water

Salt

Spag1Spag3SpagServedDirections

Plug in your electric fry pan on your picnic table and heat it up. Add some olive oil and then the meat product if you wish. Or go vegetarian and just add the vegetables and maybe some zucchini. Take out the meat, reserve it and fry the vegetables, if you haven’t already done so. Remove the vegetables when they are softened a little ( think al dente). Now add the water and a little salt to the pan. Break up the spaghetti into two inch pieces and put them in the pan. Cover and heat the pan so the water boils. Cook for about ten minutes, check for doneness, add more water if necessary, and continue cooking until it is soft or Al Dente if you prefer. Pour off any excess water, add the meat and veggies and a little more olive oil. Heat it all back up for about five minutes. Plate it up and sprinkle some shredded Parmesan cheese on top. Serve this with a nice loaf of Italian bread and a good red wine. It can all be done in one electric fry pan. Who knew!

Enjoy!

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February 5, 2015 · 2:32 pm

Two Color Stuffed Pepper

Small Pepper

Red and Green Stuffed Peppers

This is a pretty easy stuffed pepper recipe. The only trick to stuffed peppers is to make sure that you do cook them enough, you don’t want them raw inside! I use one red and one green pepper. Fill half the ramekin with one color and the other half with the other. It’s very colorful. Cut the tops off and remove the seeds, then the bottoms. Then slit one side and lay it out flat. Trim off the remainders of the white gills and cut the pepper into 2 in. strips. Peppers need to be dressed up, otherwise they just look like a mound of brown meat. I defrost a few sheets of filo dough, roll them up into a tube and cut rounds out of it. Break up the rounds and you have a topping to brown and look excellent!

Ingredients

1 each medium red & green pepper
PAM
About ½ lb. of Hamburger
1 egg beaten
½ cup of mushrooms, chopped and cooked (1 min. in the microwave)
½ cup chopped onions
3 Tbs. of Ketchup
2 dashes each garlic powder and sage
1 pinch of celery seed.
¼ cup of seasoned Italian Bread Crumbs
1 Tsp. Worcester Sauce
Pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees f.

SmallinCup

Core, clean, flatten and slit the peppers. Spray 2-3 ramekins with PAM. Cut enough of green pepper strip to just go half way around the inside of your ramekin. Then cut the red pepper strip to fill the other half.

Mix the hamburger and the remainder of the ingredients thoroughly. Form a ball of hamburger mix about the size of a tennis ball and place it inside the peppers. It should just fill the cup leaving a little room for the topping. If you have someone who is really hungry you can mound up the mix, although we like to leave it level to control the portion. Place the ramekins in your oven on top of a cookie sheet as they may run over a bit.

Cook the peppers for about ½ hour. Remove the ramekins and using a spatula or a fork to hold the pepper in, drain off some of the fat. Put the topping on the ramekin and place it back in the oven for 15 min. more. Pick the pepper out of the ramekin using two forks, one on each side, tap the bottom on a paper towel to dry it a little and place it on your serving dish. I’ll bet you’ve never seen a green pepper like this before! Serve this with a green salad and you got a low carb dinner. Enjoy!

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January 13, 2015 · 5:00 pm

Veggie Pile Up

Veggie Pileup

My wife has been trying for years (maybe even decades) to get me to eat more vegetarian dishes. This is one that I really like and over the years she has refined this recipe so I like it even more. It utilizes all kinds of vegetables and occasionally I can even get her to put some meat in it like left over smoked turkey sausage or a little cooked hamburger. Unless we’re cooking this for company, we use something like a 9 or 10 inch CorningWare dish. That’s more than enough for dinner for two and leftovers to use as a side dish a few days later. It will keep in the fridge for a few days, but it doesn’t freeze well.  If you need more for a party or big family just double or triple the recipe.

I am going to put this one in the next “Small Foods” book, but first I have to figure out how to reduce the vegetables down to fit in a ramekin. The problem is I never see small eggplants in our store. So even though eggplant is relatively cheap, I’d hate to throw out a half one. They don’t keep after being cut.  I guess since it’s vegetarian you could use a larger ramekin. I have ten and eleven ounce ones that would fill the bill.

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant, skinned, cut into 1/2” slices
1 egg, beaten
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup Olive Oil for frying
1 large chopped onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 each sliced green & red peppers
1 green zucnini, sliced
1 yellow zuchini, sliced
1 can diced tomatoes (15oz) (we like the Hunt’s Fire Roasted)
1/2 Tbs. basil
1 Tbs. Oregano
A couple of dashes of cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes
A dash or two of Spike or seasoned salt
Salt and pepper – to taste
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese shredded

Directions:

1) Dip eggplant slices in beaten egg, coat in bread crumbs, cook in oil in skillet until browned and tender. Set aside.

2) Saute onion, garlic, peppers, and zucchini in olive oil. Add tomatoes and spices. Cook until liquid evaporates.

3) Layer eggplant and tomato mixture in shallow casserole, sprinkling parmesan and mozzarella in between layers. Top with tomato mixture and cheeses.

4) Bake 350F, 45 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is browned a little and melted.

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