Madison House Chef

Sweet Potato Fries, baked (with photos)

 

These potatoes are delicious!  A great snack, a fabulous side, these are good anytime.

Sunday Pizza: Mediterranean and The Valley Come Together

Wow! Wow! Wow!  

This week I couldn’t decide what toppings to have and thus my terrific pizza chef husband made a half and half pizza for me.

Sweet and Sour Shrimp (with photos)

When we lived in South Bend there was a tiny, delightful, store front Thai restaurant downtown that had the most amazing tofu stir fry (for lack of a better title or term), Thai spring rolls, and a sweet and sour sauce for the spring rolls that was simply amazing.  It was a perfect blend of sweet and savory/sour with a hint of heat.  I have drooled for that sauce time and time again. Tonight, I think I found it!

 

 

Gingerbread House Part 1: Recipe and Baking

 

What a festive way to celebrate – by making a Gingerbread House!

Homemade Tortilla Strips

 

These are the most delicious tortilla strips and they are not nearly as greasy nor as salty as the store bought ones. And best yet… they are quick and easy.

Tortilla Soup (with photos)

This is a reworking of our original version of Tortilla Soup. This recipe is incredibly flavorful and since it’s an easily modifiable recipe, the ‘heat’ is determined by your preference.

Enjoy my homemade tortilla strips in this luscious soup.

Thanksgiving Turkey Cupcakes (with photos)

 
A flock of cupcake turkeys patiently await Thanksgiving Dinner!

Sunday Pizza Highlights

White pizza with red onion and fresh mozzarella. Note the gigantic bubbles that formed at the edge.

Baked Potatoes – Any Way You Like It

Tonight was baked potato night at the Madison House Chef kitchen table with each potato topped with favorite ingredients.  Meatless for Miss Muffet and myself, and a big slab o’ beef for the boys.

When selecting a baking potato, choose a football shaped Russet with tight skin, no blemishes or bruises, and positively no sprouts or green discoloration.

 

Biscuits

 

Biscuits are a real hit in this household.  They’re great with Sausage Gravy, fried chicken, or just for breakfast with butter or jelly.

When I make biscuits I generally use Bisquick (a la biscuits in photo) – it’s quick, easy and is what I generally use for pancakes thus it’s usually in the pantry. And yes, most often I do them in drop biscuit form, again for the sake of expediency.

 

Sausage Gravy and Biscuits – The Joy of Cooking by Sight, Smell and Taste

Pure Comfort Food!  Indeed, this recipe is not low fat, not low calorie, not low anything for that matter, but the essence of comfort food is to discount any nutritious value and soak in the comfort value.

This recipe is one of those things I remember my grandmother making in a big cast iron frying pan.  She taught my dad, who I watched for years make this same gravy, and then in time he taught me. 

 

Rice with Junk (Shrimp and Edamame)

 
After reading Neil Peart’s book entitled Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa where he soaks in the nuances of African life and along the way coins the phrase “rice with junk,” I don’t seem to be able to eat any time of rice topped with seafood or veg (or both) without calling it “rice with junk”.  Maybe Rice With Junk should be a new category?

Nevertheless, rice with junk is always delicious, quick and easy.

 

Welcome to Madison House Chef

Welcome to Madison House Chef where favorite recipes blend with a handful of food photos and a sprinkling of memories centered on family, friends and food. MHC is the electronic recipe box and digital cookbook where I store recipes for those who are looking for them, including myself. It's not unusual for me to first search my own website to confirm an ingredient or a measurement for family favorites. Through cooking and sharing food our family celebrates special events, explores new cultures, research new and unusual ingredients, and chronicles cooking lessons that are passed from one generation to the next. Enjoy! ~

What is this?

 

Planked Trout

 

Thanksgiving Table Decoration (Oreo Cookie Turkey)

Each year we try to find some sort of cute and edible table decoration for Thanksgiving.  Here’s a Thanksgiving tasty turkey table top treasure made with Oreo cookies, malted milk balls and candy corn.

These were a hit!

 

Food Confession: I Ate at a Big Box Restaurant Last Night and I Still Feel Sick

Food Confession Time. 

After many months of being “good,” eating fresh fruits and veg, lean meats, cooking at home, whole grains, very little eating out, down 35+ pounds, I began to have a taste for a big greasy burger. Last night was particularly busy for us with each family member going a different direction and my son not even eating at home.  Ken agreed that after our daughter’s piano lesson he would pick up some burgers. It was going to be a big, decadent treat, and then we’d get back on track today.  I called the local big box chain to place the order. Yum.  I couldn’t wait. 

I should have waited.  No, I should have stopped at the impulse to order.

Molasses Cookies

Today I made dozens upon dozens of molasses cookies from the family recipe that has come down through the generations.  I remember these being made at my Grandma Garland’s house and I’ve come to learn that they were my grandpa’s number one choice of cookie.  He especially liked them when they were seasoned with a heavy hand on the cloves.

As it turns out not only was this my grandpa’s favorite, but it is now the hands down favorite in my own house.  Gregory will request these if he knows that I’m about to bake and Ken chooses them over even Congo Squares.  Even Madeleine eats and enjoys them.

Ice Cream Sundae for Ten (with photos)

Flipping again through my favorite UK food magazines, I spied an advertisement which I cannot tell you what the product was, but what I can tell you is that it had a slice of marbled ice cream that appeared to have been prepared in a loaf pan.  There was no accompanying recipe, no source of information, yet suddenly an idea was born. I pondered.

Now I’m certain that this is not a new fangled dessert, it’s too easy to be such, but it was the first time that it had occurred to me to put ice cream into a shape other than a) cone 2) dish or 3) Baked Alaska.  How ‘cool’ is that?

Crispy Baked Fish

Quick. Easy. Healthy. Delicious. A taste of the UK.

In the continuing quest to recreate fish and chips that are not deep fried, Ken has put together another fish recipe whose satisfyingly crispy coating come from toasted panko (bread crumbs).

This recipe was inspired by a recipe in one of my favourite (spelling intentional) UK food magazines Good Food Eat Well which costs me over $1000 an issue … gosh I hope airfare goes down soon…

Poblano Salsa

 

Ken made this amazing salsa today to accompany our simple tilapia.  It was delicioso!

The recipe is quick and very easy.  It is both delightfully fresh and at the same time full of flavor.

 

 

 

 

Mini Homemade Corn Tortilla Chips

 

 

Here’s a fun and creative mini bite for bentos, dip, soup or simply for snacking.

Make or purchase fresh tortillas – the kind in the silver cooler are the best.