Category: Cook’s Treat from Caridad

I was working on a scene in the latest book and I have the couple making dinner and sharing some personal things as they cook. The choice of food they are cooking had to be comfort food that would remind the hero of his past and get him to open up to the heroine. One of my fav comfort foods is picadillo and I’m sharing that recipe with your today! Also, don’t forget to enter my giveaway which includes several items autographed by Brenda Novak and the South Beach Love DVD. You can enter at https://tinyurl.com/CaridadAugustGiveaway.

Ingredients

1 small onion chopped
1/2 bell pepper chopped
1 clove garlic minced
1 pound chopped beef
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1/4 cup green olives chopped
1 tbsp capers (rinsed)
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat olive oil in a skillet and add the peppers, onions, and garlic. Saute for about 5 minutes and then add the ground beef. Brown the meet, making sure to break up the pieces as they brown. Once the ground beef is browned, add the tomato sauce, olives, capers, and season with the cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper. Simmer for at least fifteen to twenty minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Serve over rice. For an extra special treat, fry an egg and top the meat with it!

While I was at the Book Lovers Con I got introduced to Frito Pie and oh boy! It was tasty, satisfying and so easy to make. I figured I’d share this recipe with you in case you needed a quick dinner or munchie. If you don’t want to make your own chili, just pick up a can of your favorite chili at the supermarket. In a real rush? Just open a small bag of Fritos and spoon the chile and toppings into the bag! Since the hero in the book I’m currently writing is from Texas, I may have him cook this up for the heroine as a treat!

Easy Chile

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 10 ounce can Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chiles
1 6 ounce can tomato paste
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1 cup of either water, beer or red wine (your choice based on availability or taste)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions for Cooking the Chile

Cook the onion and garlic in some olive/vegetable oil until soft. Add the cumin and chili powder and cook for another minute or two. Add the ground beef and brown. Drain off some of the grease. Add the Rotel, tomato paste, and a cup of water/beer/red wine. Simmer for at least half an hour. If you can let it go for at least an hour, the better the flavor.

Assembling the Frito Pie

Place one small bag of Fritos in a bowl (approximately 1 cup of Fritos). Spoon a cup or so of chili over the Fritos. Add your favorite toppings and enjoy! You can also make this into a casserole by placing some Fritos on the bottom of a baking dish, adding the chile, and topping with some more Fritos and cheese before baking for about half an hour.

Toppings for the Frito Pie

Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Onions, chopped
Scallions, chopped
Tomatoes, chopped
Jalapeño, chopped
Sour Cream
Your Favorite Hot Sauce

Hubby and I were watching America’s Test Kitchen the other day when they decided to make a Soba Noodle Salad. Since I’m trying to get more veggies into my diet, it seemed like a good way to accomplish that, but I decided to change up the recipe a little to also add some more protein. I did that by making it a peanut-based dressing and we also added some leftover steak, but that’s not necessary. With all the veggies and the noodles, this salad is satisfying all on its own!

Ingredients

8 ounces buckwheat soba noodles

Peanut Sauce

1 tsp grated ginger
3 tablespoons mirin
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp sesame seeds
1 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup water

Vegetables

3 radishes
2 mini cucumbers or 1 cup English cucumber
1 carrot
12-18 snow peas
3 scallions

Directions:

Bring water to a boil for the buckwheat noodles. I had a hard time finding these in my local market and substituted whole wheat spaghetti. I’ll have to pick up some buckwheat noodles next time I visit H-Mart. Once the water is boiling, cook according to the package instructions or until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water to keep the noodles from sticking and clumping.

For the sauce: Mix all the ingredients. If you like a strong peanut taste, add a little more peanut butter. You can also spice this up a little more by adding a clove or two of grated garlic. If you like a little heat, try adding some siracha to the sauce.

For the vegetables: Cut the radishes in half and then into half-moons. Leave the skin on the cucumbers and cut in half and on the bias. Julienne the carrot (or hand-cut into matchsticks). I bought a little julienne tool ages ago and it works like a charm. Stack the snow peas and cut into matchsticks. Cut the scallions down the length and then cut on the bias.

You can find more recipes in my Cook’s Treat section or my free Kindle Unlimited book Recipes for the Romantic Soul.

To finish: Place the noodles in your serving bowl and add the sauce. Toss well to coat. Then add your veggies and toss!

On a rainy or cold day, comfort food is a good way to chase away the chill and gloom. One of my favorite comfort foods is chicken pot pie, but you’re probably saying “That’s a lot of work!” You could buy a frozen pot pie, but I’m going to give you a recipe so easy, you won’t ever do that again! I could totally see Maisy from Trapping a Terrorist making something like this on a rainy Seattle day.

Ingredients

1 package Crescent Rolls (such as Pillsbury Crescent Rolls)
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup (such as Campbell’s Mushroom Soup)
1/2 cup half-n-half or milk (whichever you have handy)
1 1/2 cups frozen peas and carrots
1/4 cup minced celery
1/2 cup minced onion or leek (whichever you have handy)
1 tbsp butter
3 cups shredded chicken meat (your local store rotisserie chicken is perfect for this)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease two small crockpots. Mine measure 5.25 X 2.5 inches and hold about 2 cups each of filling.

Open the crescent roll container. Lay it out and you will notice there are four square pieces that are cut diagonally. You don’t want to separate them along the diagonal.

Separate them so that you have four square pieces. Place one square in the bottom of each of the crockpots and gently spread them a little. They will likely not cover the entire sides, but that’s okay.

In a large bowl, microwave the peas and carrots for about three minutes. Add the chicken, cream of mushroom soup, and half-n-half/milk.

In a small pan, add the tablespoon of butter and saute the onion/leek and celery until just soft. Add this to the mixture in the bowl. (You can skip this step if want, but I like the flavor of the celery and onion in the pot pie.)

Mix everything well and spoon on top of the crescent roll in the crockpot.

Cover the mixture in the crockpot with the other square of crescent roll that remains. Stretch it a bit as you do so. Again, it will likely not cover the entire surface and that’s okay.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. After 30 minutes, cover with foil and bake for another 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool a bit. The inside filling will be very hot, especially around the edges.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

It was rainy the other day and I was just craving something warm. I imagine my characters in Trapping a Terrorist would love something like this Matzoh Ball Soup on a rainy day! The secret ingredient is leeks. My grandmother always said that you can’t make a good chicken noodle soup without leeks. As for the matzoh balls, I must confess that I use a box mix for these. The tip to them being tasty is to not make them too big so they can absorb the broth more easily. I generally make my balls a little smaller than a golf ball. If you try this recipe, please let me know how you liked it!

Caridad’s Matzoh Ball Soup

Ingredients

1 cup sliced leeks
1 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery leaves (You can use the stalks but I think the leaves have more flavor!)
1 box low salt chicken broth
1 box vegetable broth
4 thighs with skin
1 cup sliced carrots (to be added later)
Matzoh Ball Mix
2 cups egg noodles

Directions

Saute leeks, diced carrots and celery in a little olive oil. Do not brown the vegetables, just sweat them (about 4-5 minutes).

Add broths and chicken and bring to a boil. Lower to a very low boil and cook for about three hours or so. Rremove chicken from the broth. Remove skin and either toss or make a cracklin’. Fork meat from bone and return to the broth.

An hour before you are going to eat, add the sliced carrots.

It takes about 20 minutes to make the matzoh ball mix but most of this time is letting the balls sit in the fridge for about 15 minutes. Once the matzoh balls are ready, add to the broth and bring to a boil again. Cook for 14 minutes and add your egg noodles.

Cook for another 6 minutes if you like a firm noodle. 7-8 minutes for softer noodles. Serve in a nice deep bowl!