Green Tomato Chutney

The drought and near-record temperatures this summer didn't do wonders for our first garden.  Our cucumbers, zucchini  herbs, and peppers all were total busts.  We did have our cherry tomato plants ultimately produce toward the end of the summer.  But this weekend as we were weeding and raking and preparing for the change in weather, there were tons of unripe tomatoes still on the vines.

I searched the internet and found a recipe for tomato chutney using unripe tomatoes.  My thrifty nature jumped all over this idea.  Plus, this blog has forced me to try new things.  Add those two things together, and you've got a Midwestern guy making chutney!

This process was pretty painless.  Pick off the stems from all the tomatoes and cut them into smaller pieces.  If you have full-sized green tomatoes, you will also want to cut out the white core.  Then in a saucepan add the following:

• 1 pound green tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 medium white onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice*
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

 *If you don't have allspice, you can use equal parts nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves.  That's what I did.  Cover and let this simmer for 30 minutes.  Remove the lid and let it cool.  Then put it into a jar and refrigerate.

It's quite tasty, I must say.  I immediately tried it on some toast.  But you can use it in any number of applications.  Many times people will use it to top a piece of chicken or other roasted meats.  But you could also use it as a condiment for quesadillas or even hot dogs.

It is sweet from the brown sugar, acidic from the green tomatoes, and floral from the spices.  It's hard to describe.  But I would say it's worth a shot.  It's a heck of a lot better than just letting all those green tomatoes go to waste!

Mediterranean Egg Skillet

One of my favorite things to make is an egg skillet.  I'm usually not hungry first thing in the morning, so on weekends I like to wait until 10:00 or 11:00 and make a heavier brunch dish for myself.  That will often involve eggs.  As I've said before, I can make omelets, sunny side-up, soft-boiled, and now even poached eggs.  But sometimes I just feel like making a big skillet with a bunch of fresh vegetables in it.

This time I grabbed mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, green onions, black olives, and a some sharp shredded cheese. I'm calling it Mediterranean because of the tomatoes, olives, and white cheese.  If you have feta on hand, it would be the most appropriate in my opinion.  But I love goat cheese too.


I'm pretty fond of cheese as a way to add some richness and decadence to a dish.  But you have to use it in moderation.  Because I don't care what the Atkins Diet says, it's not good for you to eat a bunch of cheese.

This is another time where having your ingredients ready ahead of time (mise en place) will really benefit you. As you can see here, I used every bit of the green onions ... all the way down to the white part.  I used them in two different applications in this preparation.

I started with some butter in a non-stick pan and added the mushrooms and (white) green onions.  Let those cook down for a little bit and then add half of the diced tomatoes.  This will allow the tomatoes to break down a little and let off some of their juices.  Then I added the black olives.

After that had cooked together for a few minutes, then I added the eggs.  Crack them into a bowl first and really whisk them together, trying to incorporate as much air as possible.  Then when you pour them into the pan, start stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan quickly.  I like to keep the heat about a 4 out of 10 on the dial.  Once the eggs were almost done, I added the rest of the tomatoes, the green onions, and a little cheese.

Top the whole thing with a little more cheese and some black pepper. If you're going to use salt here, use it sparingly because the olives and cheese are already salty.  I served mine with a buttered bagel so I could scoop everything up together.  It was a nice way to fuel up for my day.  It is the incredible edible egg, after all.

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

We decided to bring Farmer Eric & his wife some food since they had a newborn baby girl recently.  We thought it might be nice for them to take a night (or two, with leftovers) off from cooking.  They requested the whiskey & coke pulled pork, and I was all too happy to oblige.  But I needed to come up with a side dish.

I was walking through the grocery store when I saw these nice big potatoes.  Then I decided to make scalloped potatoes.  I walked over to the dairy cooler and found a smoked swiss & cheddar cheese.  I love smoked cheese, and I was hoping the others would as well.

I made this recipe up entirely in my head.  I made a bechamel (lite) by starting with 2 tbsp of flour and a 1/2 cup of milk.  Both of those are estimates, though, because I was eyeballing the whole thing. Then I started to add the shredded cheese little by little making sure it melted well.  I then added 2 tbsp of sour cream, cayenne & black peppers.

I kept stirring it and adjusting how much milk to add until I reached the consistency I was after.  I wanted it to have some thickness to it, yet still be pretty liquid.  And here is the most important piece of advice:  I was constantly tasting it.  I would adjust the seasoning level, add a little more cheese, a little more sour cream, etc. until it had the right consistency and tasted the way I wanted.

I also sliced half of a medium sized yellow onion into really thin strips.  I stirred that into my bechamel so the onions would cook a little and incorporate their flavor.  I think onions are a really versatile ingredient because they are savory, but they have a natural sweetness.  Plus they add a nice textural crunch to a dish.

Preheat your oven to 350-degrees.  Slice the potatoes into nice thin rounds, and then slice them in half so they are bite-sized.  I put them into a mixing bowl and poured the cheese sauce over them.  Stir it all together and transfer them to a casserole dish.

Cover it with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes.  Then remove the foil and cook for another 40-50 minutes.  It was a total experiment of a dish, but I'm pretty sure it worked out great.  It was rich, creamy, smokey, and delicious.  I'm going to have to keep this recipe for sure!

Chicken & Dumplings

We were like Lennon & McCartney on this one.  My wife and I did a collaborative effort to make tasty chicken & dumplings for the first time.  I was looking over the recipe, and for some reason or another I felt like she would be better suited to make the dumplings.  It involved shortening, flour, buttermilk, and incorporating wet & dry ingredients in a way that made me think of baking.  Thankfully I live with a resident expert in baking.  So I asked if she would get the dumplings part ready, then I would take care of the rest.

We started with chicken breasts and thighs.  The breasts were already skinned & de-boned, so I just trimmed a little fat off them and cut them into about 3-inch pieces.  For the thighs I removed the skin, and trimmed back as much fat as I could.  I left the bones in for two reasons:  1. they will stay together better and not fall apart in my preparation, and 2. the bones have a lot of flavor in them.  Often people will use the bones to create a chicken stock. So I figured it would be good to leave them in.

This is another one-pot dish.  I like any chance to use our Dutch oven since it was one of my most coveted wedding gifts.  This starts by bringing 3 cups of water to a boil with a bay leaf, thyme, and salt & pepper.  Next you will add one onion cut into wedges (about 1/6 of the onion per wedge).  Then add the chicken to the pot, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15-20 minutes with the lid covered.

During that time I sliced up 1 cup of carrots, 1 cup of celery, and 1 cup of button mushrooms.  Add these to your pot, bring it back to a boil, then reduce the heat & simmer (covered) for another 12 minutes or so.  Basically you created a mire poix in the pot with the celery, onion, and carrots.  The mushrooms add a little more Earthy flavor, and the bay leaf and thyme round on dish for that homey feeling you're looking for.

Next, you want to use tongs to position the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables.  Divide your dumpling mixture into 6-8  portions and set them atop the chicken pieces.  Do not set them directly in the liquid.  Then close the lid and continue to simmer for another 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the dumplings comes out clean.  Basically you're steaming your dumplings.

Use a slotted spoon to remove all the solid pieces and put them into a bowl.  This is when I removed the bones from the thigh portions.  The meat should be pretty tender at this point.  Then pour 2 cups of the liquid into a measuring cup and spoon out the fat from the top.  Combine 1/2 cup of water with 1 tbsp of flour and stir that together with the cooking liquid back in your pot.  Continue cooking that through until it is thick & bubbly.  Now you have a rich gravy to pour over your chicken & dumplings.  Yum!

Of course, you could just keep the liquid as a broth and serve this more as a soup.  It would come down to your preference at that point.  I really enjoyed this dish.  The gravy & dumplings are rich, the veggies & chicken are really flavorful, and the whole thing was utterly satisfying.  This is a great one to make around the holidays when it's cold outside.

Ham 'n' Cheese Melt

I have said before that this blog will not just be filled with dishes that take a long time to prepare.  Sometimes it's just as important to make everyday food more exciting.  In this case, I took a ham & cheese sandwich.  That could easily be your run-of-the-mill kind of sandwich.  Certainly I wouldn't take the time to type up a blog for PB&J, so why would I bother with a simple ham & cheese?

The answer is because this wasn't your ordinary sandwich.  Subway is the second most prevalent restaurant chain in the United States.  So clearly I shouldn't have to sell any of you on the merits of a sub sandwich.  But this one would be more suited to Quizno's ... well, actually Subway will toast your sandwiched now too. But I'll give credit where credit is due.

I took a fresh baked loaf of Italian bread and sliced it in half, and then again lengthwise.  I did pull a little of the breading out of the top half of the bun.  You don't want it to be overly bready, after all.

On the top half I spread out a lite mayonnaise and then added some spicy mustard.  I like to mix the two together so you have sort of a mustard aoili.  Then I cut up fresh cherry tomatoes and a yellow onion (in very small strips) and layered them atop my wet ingredients.  I hit them with a little seasoning to pump them up a little more.

Then we simply add layers of cold-cut ham on the bottom half, and top it with a sharp cheddar cheese.  You might be well served to visit your butcher counter when purchasing lunch meats & cheeses.  Often you can get a better deal, and certainly you will get a fresher product.

Pop the whole thing into the toaster oven and let the cheese get nice and bubbly.  This will also allow the tomato & onion to cook a little and release their natural juices.  Now I realize I'm not teaching you anything too complex here.  But it's worth noting that you can take a simple, quick sandwich and really turn it into a much more enjoyable experience.

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are another dish that we usually say “Yes!” to when the other offers it as a suggestion.  It’s a pretty fun idea that is a nice break from the norm.  

Start with four larger green bell peppers.  Slice the tops off them, remove the seeds, and cut around the edges to remove the white parts.  Arrange them in a casserole dish like four little bowls.  Then you’ll make the filling.  You could use all sorts of filling for stuffed peppers.  We like to use meat & rice.

You will need 1 lb of ground beef or turkey, 1 cup of instant (brown) rice, 1 can of tomato sauce, and salt & pepper to taste.  Brown the meat first, and drain if necessary.  Add the uncooked rice to the ground meat and pour in the tomato sauce.  Stir to combine.

Ladle the mixture into your peppers and cover with aluminum foil.  Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  Uncover and top each pepper with shredded sharp cheese.  Return them to the oven until the cheese is brown and bubbly.

Serve these with a fork & knife so you can cut into the peppers.  This is a really filling dish and you’re getting protein, vegetables, dairy, and grains.

Teriyaki Ginger Chicken

I suppose this dish would fall under the "semi-hommade" category again.  My wife bought some lo mein noodles at a restaurant, and not surprising given the portion sizes these days, she had at least half of it left over.  So we decided to make a second dish using the lo mein as a base.

I took carrots and bell peppers and julienned them into small strips.  Then I sliced a chicken breast into strips, and then into bite-sized pieces.  In a non-stick pan I combined minced garlic, soy sauce, teriyaki, mustard powder, ginger, lime juice, and Sriracha chili sauce.  I cooked the chicken in the same pan as the vegetables.  Toward the end, I added a few more strips of carrots so some of them would have a little more crunch to them.

Then I re-heated the lo mein noodles and put them into wide bowls.  Pour the teriyaki ginger chicken and vegetables on top of the noodles and then top with chopped peanuts and green onions.  Little touches like the chopped peanuts make me think of good Pad Thai, and the Asian flavors running through the chicken pulled everything together.  Some other nice additions could be strips of thinly sliced onion (in lieu of the green onion), broccoli, or cilantro.  Peanut butter can also be good in dishes like this.

Once you have figured out some core ingredients that give it that Asian flavor, you can begin making twists to the vegetables and protein.  I remember beef & broccoli over white rice was one of my favorite things my dad made when I was a kid (and I was a really picky eater back then).  So don't be afraid to try things like this for your families.

Tuscan Chicken Stew

The Mrs cooked this dish, but she said she wanted me to blog about it.  I could interview her; but she wasn't going to write this one up.  (In case you haven't noticed, this is my pet project.)  Often I am the first one home from work and I start cooking something for dinner.  I have tried to be creative and make food we both will like.  Hopefully I do an alright job.

But there are times when my wife wants to cook.  And she usually opts for something hearty, warm, and in a bowl.  There's something very comforting about sitting over a steamy bowl of soup when the weather is cooler.  There is also a fun process of building layers of flavor in a soup.  And I think that adds to the enjoyment of cooking.  For this dish she cooked everything in one pot:  our Dutch Oven.

This dish is really hearty.  There are white beans in there to add to the tomatoes and chicken.  So you're getting a lot of good protein.  It also has leafy greens running through it -- in this case, Swiss Chard.  I had to ask more than once, "This is chicken?!" because it looked more like pork ... or even beef!  The chicken had taken on a darker color because she used red wine in the stew.  And all the built up flavors really elevated what could otherwise be lackluster pieces of chicken.

The stew was rounded out with chicken stock and Italian seasonings.  Top it off with some fresh Mozzarella cheese and you've got yourself a winner!  We baked a small loaf of Italian bread so we could tear it into hunks and dip them into the broth.  I'm really glad my wife felt like cooking because this is something I might not have made.  It's nice to compliment each other in that way.

Pepperoni Rolls

There was another football Saturday party this weekend. But for a change of pace, it was at someone else's house.  It was a potluck where the host & hostess made slow cooked shredded pork & beef sandwiches, and the rest of us were asked to bring a side.  We decided to get ingredients at the store, and make something fresh there.

One of my favorite appetizers are the pepperoni rolls from Old Chicago.  This is a really easy way to make them yourself at home.  Buy the crescent roll sheets that are not perforated.  Roll them out and fill them with pepperonis and mozzarella cheese.  Roll them up and bake them.

Let them cool for a minute or two before slicing them into smaller pieces.  Serve them with some marinara sauce or ranch dressing for dipping.  This is a really fun appetizer that is pretty darned clever.  I kept going back for these again & again.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

This treat incorporates two of my favorite things as it relates to cooking - baking and fall. While Mr. Hawkeye Plate is the primary chef of our house, I am definitely the executive pastry chef. I think the process of baking is really fun and, with my huge sweet tooth, I really love the end product. I stumbled upon a recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookie bars in a fall themed magazine several years ago, and I added it to my collected recipes cookbook. This is a great idea for a Christmas gift I got from my mom when I was in college. It's a small binder with index cards that are used for writing down family recipes, magazine recipes, internet recipes, etc. It's much more organized than just scraps of paper thrown into a folder.


Back to the pumpkin bars... Last weekend I traveled with my family to spend the weekend with my great-grandma and great-aunt. I baked these treats the night before I left, so we would have something sweet to snack on. I didn't have a lot of time for baking, so the cookie bars were a great time saving option. Cookies can really only be baked a dozen at a time, and they take longer to individually shape or drop onto the cookie sheet. On the other hand, bars are baked at one time and then sliced at the end.

The recipe is basically a standard chocolate chip cookie recipe with the addition of canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. The pumpkin and spice give the bars that "fall" taste that is so loved this type of year, and the pumpkin also keeps the cookies really dense and chewy which are great adjectives for baked goods, in my opinion. I did the usual routine for baking - beat together the butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and pumpkin; add in the dry ingredients; and bake at 350. In this case they baked for about 35 minutes.

At that point I let them cool, sliced them, and packed them up for the travel 'up north'. If you have a lazy Sunday afternoon when you're looking for a fall-like activity give baking with pumpkin a shot!

Perfectly Poached Eggs

A little while back I wrote a blog about omelets.  I said that I am a big fan of eggs, and that I have (in my somewhat humble opinion) mastered most techniques of egg preparations.  But I had never poached an egg. Thankfully one of my readers e-mailed me instructions for a perfectly poached egg.  So today while The Mrs. is out of town, I decided to make myself a breakfast egg sandwich, or two, with poached eggs.

In a saucepan with high edges, boil water with a tbsp. of vinegar then reduce it to a simmer.  Crack a cold egg into a measuring cup and gently lower it into the simmering water from very close range.

Add up to 4 total eggs to your simmering water and let them go for 3-5 minutes until the whites have turned totally opaque.  Don't let them go too long, because you want to be sure your yolks don't set up.


In the meantime I took some whole wheat toast and added sliced ham and Swiss cheese.  I lightly peppered the top and put them into the toaster oven to melt everything nicely.  You don't need to add salt here because the ham & cheese should already by salty enough.



Scoop out your eggs with a slotted spoon and allow the water to drip off as much as possible. Then top your open face sandwich and finish with a little sea salt and black pepper.  You do want to season the egg to make sure it is flavorful.

When you cut into the eggs, the yolk should spill out everywhere and make a delicious "sauce" of sorts for your breakfast.  It is paramount that your yolks are runny otherwise you've basically got yourself hard-boiled eggs.  So cut into it and see how you've done.

The proof is in the pudding ... or yolks, as it was.  Clearly I was a fan. =)

Shepherd's Pie

My wife gave me a task.  Make something that is:

1. Hearty
2. Healthy
3. Fall Themed

I got out one of our newer cookbooks and selected about 4-5 dishes that I thought met the criteria.  Then I let her choose from those which one I would make.  She went for the Shepherd's Pie with ground Turkey and Sweet Potatoes.

My wife loves sweet potatoes.  And anything that is chock full of vegetables usually rates pretty highly in her book.  So when a recipe calls for zucchini, carrots, corn, onions, tomato sauce, and sweet potatoes ... she's in!

I had never made Shepherd's Pie before.  But this blog is all about challenging myself to try new things.  I am admittedly a huge fan of English soccer ("football"), but English foods are not something most people think of when they want something to eat.  Aside from fish 'n chips, I imagine most Americans don't eat much English food.  But this is a dish that is very approachable.  So I recommend giving it a shot, folks.

Boil the peeled & chopped potatoes in salted water with garlic.  You want to impart some savory flavor (or flavours if we're being British) into the sweet potatoes.  This isn't that marshmallow concoction from Thanksgiving after all.  When they're tender, mash them and whip them up with a little skim milk.  We're being healthy here, remember?

Meanwhile you should brown the ground turkey and add the chopped onions, sage, salt & pepper, and then the vegetables.  Add Worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce, and a little water and let them all simmer together for a while. Pour it all into a casserole dish and top with the mashed potatoes.  Then bake.  It's really that simple.

I tried to give you a nice cross-section picture here.  Hopefully it gives you some idea of what's waiting underneath the surface.

Thank You!

Thank you to whomever is out there reading this blog.  It has now passed 500 views and I am very grateful.  Hopefully you have enjoyed it and will keep coming back.

I will continue to push myself and try to add interesting posts.  Take care.

Mini Corndog Muffins

Imitation is said to be the most sincere form of flattery.  And I got this idea from another Midwestern food blogger.  So I hope she would be flattered to know that I'm also sharing this idea.

We had friends over to watch football again.  (We get pretty popular during football season.)  After a long day out tailgating and eating, we regrouped back home for a nap and then an evening session of more football.  Since we had a big breakfast & lunch, the idea was to have snacks and finger food for our evening dining pleasure.

These little treats are perfect for just that.  You take a cornbread mix and submerge a bite of hot dog inside.  In this case, we were using our new mini muffin tin from the Caramelized Onion Tartlet recipe and the all beef  little smokies from the pigs in a blanket.

Serve them with ketchup & mustard to complete the experience.  At first it seems as if you have just picked up a muffin, but when you bite into it you will get that corndog experience.

We rounded out the snack tray with potato chips, carrots, bell peppers, and celery with French onion dip, some cured meats with sharp cheeses, and brownies and scotcheroos.  Of course, there was beer & bourbon as well. But that is pretty much a given if you're ever spending time in our basement.

Wouldn't you like to be friends with us?  Wait, if you're reading this blog it is very likely that you are a friend of ours. ;-)