ketchup – Buen provecho…2022

Zucchini Noodle (Zoodles) Pad Thai

Affirming that all of our followers in USA had a thankful Thanksgiving! For us Canadians, we celebrated Thanksgiving way back in October. Anyways, this is a great recipe using “zoodles” in a slightly more exotic way. Think you Asian food fans might enjoy it. I have included the nutrition info at the end of the recipe.

Zucchini Noodle Pad Thai

Ingredients

2 medium zucchini
2 Tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil (divided)
1 pound (454 g) chicken breast, cut into small chunks
2-3 large cloves garlic minced or crushed
1 small red bell pepper seeded and sliced thin (I used yellow as I had no red)
3-4 green onions sliced in 1-inch pieces
1 large egg
2 cups (480 ml) bean sprouts
1/3 cup (50 g) roasted peanuts
chopped cilantro for garnish
lime wedges optional

Sauce

2 tablespoons (30 ml) rice vinegar or distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons (30 ml) fish sauce (or more to taste)
3 tablespoons (45 ml) ketchup
1 teaspoon (5 ml) brown sugar (I used Sukrin Gold substitute)
½ teaspoon (3 ml) cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon (5 ml) chili garlic sauce or more to taste

1. Cut zucchini into spirals or noodle strands using the vegetable spiralizer or julienne peeler. Set aside noodles.

2. Make the Sauce: in a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients (rice vinegar, fish sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, and chili garlic sauce), set aside. If you want to use sriracha hot sauce, add as much as you like or you can add it afterwards.

3. Heat a large pan on medium-high heat. Add one tablespoon of olive oil (reserve the other half for later). Then add zucchini noodles and cook for about 2-3 minutes or until the zucchini noodles are tender. Don’t overcook the noodles. The zucchini noodles should be slightly crunchy with a tender bite.

4. Let the noodles rest for about 3 minutes to allow all the moisture to release. Remove the noodles from the pan and drain the excess water.

5. Carefully wipe the same pan remove the excess water, and then re-heat the pan on medium-high heat. Add the remaining olive oil and garlic. Cook the garlic until soft and translucent, about 1 minute. Add the chicken and cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until cooked through.

Add the bell peppers and green onions. Cook for about 1-2 minutes or until tender. Add the egg and stir in with the vegetables until the egg is cooked.

6. Add the zucchini noodles back into the same pan, and then add the sauce. Cook for about 1 more minute or until the zucchini noodles are heated through. Then stir in the bean sprouts.

7. Serve with roasted peanuts and cilantro. If you want to add lime wedges, squeeze some fresh lime juice on the noodles right before serving.

https://bestrecipebox.com/zucchini-noodle-pad-thai-chicken/ 2/2

Not So Secret Family Meatloaf

So I was in the need for some comfort food! Ground meat was in the freezer and I wanted something simple, something my granddaughters could make for their families. Pinterest to the rescue as always. Erica’s recipe was perfect except for one slight change I made since spouse doesn’t like sauces too sweet. Let me know how you like this one…

Not-So-Secret Family Meatloaf Author: Erica DeSpain

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 1 hour 10 mins

Total time: 1 hour 25 mins Serves: approx. 6 servings

Ingredients

FOR THE MEATLOAF:
1.25 lb. ground beef or ground turkey (we usually do ground turkey and never taste the difference!)
1 egg
⅓ cup milk
4 tbsp ketchup
1 cup bread crumbs
1 diced onion
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

FOR THE SAUCE:
3 tbsp brown sugar (cut back the sugar unless you like it very sweet)
3 tbsp vinegar
3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
⅓ cup ketchup

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine meatloaf ingredients well and then shape in meatloaf pan.
Combine sauce ingredients and pour over meatloaf.
Bake uncovered for 50 minutes if using ground BEEF and 65 minutes if using ground TURKEY.
Enjoy immensely!

Slow Cooker Kielbasa and Barbecue Beans

Took this recipe off of Pinterest – Mom on Timeout, since I had all of the ingredients at hand and felt like a lazy dinner. I am not a fan of BBQ sauce so I omitted it entirely at first. I also changed the amount of beans as you can see by the red… My slow cooker often seems to cook in less time, so I checked it after 3 hours and it was done as well as I like it.

Slow Cooker Kielbasa and Barbecue Beans (Author: Trish – Mom On Timeout)

Ingredients

2 large can black beans, drained and rinsed (originally 2 – 15 oz. cans)
1 15.8 oz. Great Norther beans, drained and rinsed (instead of two)
1 15.25 oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 onion, diced
½ cup barbecue sauce (omitted and it made no appreciable difference)
¾ cup ketchup
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp mustard
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
½ cup maple syrup
¼ cup molasses
1 14.5 oz. can chicken broth
½ lb. bacon, cooked, cut into bite size pieces
2 lbs. Kielbasa, cut into bite size pieces (or less)

Instructions

In a large slow cooker, add all of the ingredients except for the kielbasa and stir gently to combine.
Place the kielbasa on top and cover with the lid.
Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 4 to 5 hours. (I found it was done on low after 3 hours and kept it on warm for 2 more).

Notes

I recommend the low setting for this recipe because on high, the beans tend to get dried out. If you need to cook on high due to time constraints, monitor the beans and add more broth or water if necessary.

Slow Cooker Pork Chops

As promised that I would report on my latest find from FaithTap – https://www.facebook.com/faithtapping/?fref=ts

Slow Cooker Pork Chops

6 medium thick pork chops
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup ketchup
2 cloves of smashed garlic
salt and pepper to taste.

Pour all of the ingredients over the six pork chops and cover. The slow cooker does its magic for approximately 6 hours on low.

Results – Yes indeed they were very tender! They cooked in a little over 5 hours…by six they would have been burned dry, so watch them, depending on the thickness of your chops.

I would modify the ingredients to 1/4 cup soy and less sugar, and more garlic!

Personally I prefer my daughters slow cooker pulled pork sauce recipe with Coca Cola! https://buenprovecho.me/?s=slow+cooker+pulled+pork

Boston Baked Beans

My sister-in-law made great baked beans! This recipe is very similar to hers but she skipped cooking the beans and used canned beans to cut the cooking time. So do I.

Boston Baked Beans

Ingredients

2 large cans baked beans
1 cup bacon chopped
1large onion chopped
1stalk celery chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Mix all Ingredients in a large casserole dish. Microwave 30 minutes on medium until bacon and celery are cooked.

Alternately bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until bacon is cooked.

Best if cooled and refrigerated and then reheated just before dinner.

Stefanos Ultimate Pad Thai

Stefano Faita is one of my favourite TV chefs. Thai food is also a favourite of mine. This recipe seems a little complicated, but if you prepare everything in advance it is quite fast to cook for your guests.

Stefano’s Ultimate Pad Thai 4 servings

INGREDIENTS
3/4(14-ounce) package flat rice noodles (1/4-inch thick)
4 tbsp. ketchup
3 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. lime juice
3 tbsp. fish sauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 block extra firm, pressed tofu, diced or about 1 cup diced tofu
20 small to medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed
2 small chicken breasts, thinly sliced
Salt, to taste
3 eggs
2 shallots
1 heaping tbsp. ginger
1 heaping tbsp. garlic
2 Thai chilies, or to taste, chopped
3/4 cup peanuts, coarsely chopped
3 green onions, sliced on the diagonal
2 handfuls bean sprouts
3 limes, cut into wedges
Large handful cilantro, chopped

PREPARATION
Add boiling water to rice noodles. Let soak for about 1 minute. Drain and set aside. Alternatively, let soak in room temperature water until pliable, about 1 hour. (You can soak noodles in cold water and store in fridge 1 day in advance.)
To make sauce: add ketchup, lime juice, sugar, and fish sauce to small bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
Add vegetable oil to wok and heat over medium heat. Fry tofu, until golden, about 1 to 2 minutes. Drain on paper towel. (Note this step can be done 1 day in advance).
Remove 3 tbsp. oil from the wok. Increase heat to high. Add chicken and season with salt. Stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes. Add shrimp and stir-fry until both chicken and shrimp are just cooked, about 2 minutes. Transfer to plate.
Add shallots, chilies, garlic and ginger and stir-fry until lightly golden, about 30 seconds. Add eggs. Let fry for 1 minute.
Add noodles then sauce. Stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes.
Add chicken and shrimp back to the wok. Cook until heated through, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Garnish pad Thai with peanuts, green onion, bean sprouts, cilantro and lime wedges.
Yield: 4 servings.

Smothered Pork Chops

Going way back into my memory bank, this recipe was always one of my favourite Mom dishes. She wasn’t a great cook, but this recipe still gets an A in my books! Some 50 years later I am still making this… a true comfort food! Serve them with mashed potatoes and enjoy the sauce…

Smothered Pork Chops

4 medium thick pork chops

1 or 2 white onions sliced

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup orange juice

1 orange sliced

In a fry pan, brown the pork chops with a little oil. Add the sliced onions and cook on low for about 5 to 10 minutes till they appear transparent. Pour in the ketchup and orange juice. Reduce heat to simmer for about 30 minutes. Check to see that the sauce does get too thick. If so, add a little more orange juice. When the chops are ready, they should be a little pink in the middle still. (Mother always overcooked pork back in those days). Add the slices of orange to heat.

Serve the chops with the mashed potatoes, pouring the sauce over the potatoes.

Thanks Mom…

Maple Glazed Ribs

Thanks to our departing friends we had some previously frozen ribs to cook. Since I only got them in the afternoon and they were already partially thawed, I had to cook them! Yes, according to the USDA Safe Food Handling website, I could have re-frozen it! If in doubt about safe food handling check the site yourself…

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safe-food-handling/freezing-and-food-safety/ct_index

Refreezing
Once food is thawed in the refrigerator, it is safe to refreeze it without cooking, although there may be a loss of quality due to the moisture lost through thawing. After cooking raw foods which were previously frozen, it is safe to freeze the cooked foods. If previously cooked foods are thawed in the refrigerator, you may refreeze the unused portion. Freeze leftovers within 3-4 days. Do not refreeze any foods left outside the refrigerator longer than 2 hours; 1 hour in temperatures above 90 °F.

My reason for checking the site was that I just recently watched a programme on CBC which identified problems in restaurants as a result of improper handling…wash your hands in hot water before you start this recipe and especially when you are handling the raw ribs! Follow this link for more info – http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/Shows/Marketplace/Season+41/ID/2448613655/

So here’s the recipe…

Maple Glazed Spare Ribs
3 lb. baby back ribs
¾ cup maple syrup (what true Canadian has no maple syrup in the cupboard?)
2 T. catsup
2 T. brown sugar
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. dry mustard

Cut ribs into serving sized pieces. Place in roasting pan. Roast at 425F (220 C) for 30 minutes.
In small saucepan, combine remaining ingredients and bring to boil. Pour over ribs after 30 minutes and bake uncovered at 325 F (160 C) for about an hour or until tender. Turn ribs occasionally during cooking.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.