RaceDay Recipes: Sissy's 7-Up Cake

This is truly a recipe passed from my great-aunt to my grandmother and on to me.  It was a holiday tradition to have the foil wrapped cake delivered as part of our Christmas time celebration.  It is a heavy cake, not to be iced--it's plenty sweet as it is.

Ingredients:

 1 1/2 cups butter
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups flour
2 Tbsp lemon extract
3/4 7-Up  (yes-the soda)

Preparation:

 Preheat Oven to 325F

• Cream sugar and butter together. Beat until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs one at a time and beat well.
• Add flour, 1 cup at a time and incorporate well
• Beat in lemon extract and 7-Up

Pour batter into well-greased and floured jumbo fluted mold (I used an angel food pan)

Bake for 60-75 min. 

Serve either warm or cooled. It's delicious any way.

Race Day Recipes: Slow Cooker Beans & Rice

'Tis the season.  The leaves are turning, the mornings and nights are cool.  It's time to have a pot o' something bubbling away in  the kitchen.

Today we've got super easy Beans & Rice



 Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 8 hours
Servings:4


Ingredients:

• 1 small yellow onion diced
• 8 oz. smoked sausage diced
• 16 oz. red or navy beans (soaked overnight when you start from dry)
• 1 4oz. can diced green chilis
• 1 14 oz. can diced no-salt tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• Chili pepper to taste
• Salt/Pepper
• 32 oz. water
• 4 cups cooked rice

 Directions:

1. Dice all fresh ingredients
2. Turn slow cooker on to LOW
3. Add beans, onion, garlic, green chiles, tomatoes, sausage to pot
4. Season with chili pepper, salt, pepper to taste
5. Cook for 8 hrs--until beans are soft

Serve over white rice

What's better to curl up with a good book or a long Sunday NASCAR race than a comforting bowl of rice & beans?

~~~

S.D. Grady is celebrating the release of her latest novel "The King's Mistress."

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Race Day Recipes: Seasoned Beef and Bean Burritos

Another one skillet meal, full of flavor and easy to bring together.  With rice & beans it turns into a classic Tex-Mex meal, but stand alone burritos can make a hearty lunch.  Built with lots of protein, it'll keep you fueled all race long.






Prep time: 5 Minutes
Cook time: 20-30 Minutes

Total time: 25-35 Minutes

Ingredients:  (Makes 6 wraps)

1/2 lb. 85/15 ground beef
1 medium onion--chopped
1 tblsp. Chili Powder
1 jalapeno--chopped
1 large green chile--chopped
1/2 cup cooked corn
1 can no-salt diced tomatoes
1 can no fat refried beans
2 cloves garlic--minced
Black pepper to taste
2 oz Monterey Pepper Jack cheese--sliced or shredded
Tabasco to taste
Salsa to taste
Sour Cream to taste
6 Fajita-sized flour tortillas

Preparation:

• Chop onions, toss into skillet with ground beef on med-high heat.  Add garlic, chili powder and black pepper.  Break beef apart and brown.
• While beef browns and onions turn glassy, chop peppers and add to mix. Let peppers begin to sweat.
• Add corn. Continue to mix everything together.  Corn should begin to sweat. Chili powder gives the blend a nice rusty color.
• Add tomatoes.  Mix through. Let simmer for about 5 minutes.  Let's the flavors blend while the tomatoes heat through. 
• Add beans and stir. Add Tabasco if more heat is desired. Once beans break down and mix into the blend, reduce heat to med-low. Stir occasionally. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes, until flavors have thoroughly blended.
• While the pot bubbles, shred or slice cheese. Place salsa and sour cream on table.
• Warm tortillas according to directions on package.  15 seconds in the microwave does it for me, but warming them in the oven will garner better results.
• Build your burritos!  On tortilla, place cheese on the bottom, so the warm beef & bean blend will melt it. Spoon desired amount of beef & bean over the cheese. Roll burrito.  Top with generous amount of salsa and sour cream.
• Serve and enjoy!

As always, you'll notice a minimum of salt added to the recipe. Your fresh veggies always give lots of flavor.  Salt arrives in the beans, tortillas, cheese and prepared salsa.



 

RaceDay Recipes: Corned Beef and Cabbage

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I grew up in a household that avoided boiled dinners like the plague. Thus, when I married into a bona fide Irish family, I was introduced to the traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage and promptly wondered why I have been denied this meal my entire life.  It is made of a fatty and salty cut of meat, but if you ignore suggestions to pour another pile of salt into the pot, the brine remains as seasoning for the massive servings of veggies and the fat will boil off. So, once a year, enjoy! Wear a little green and indulge.

Cook time: 90 minutes (20 min. per pound. Min. 90 minutes recommended)

You prep your veggies while the beef enjoys its initial bath in the pot.

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

1 2 lb. flat cut corned beef
1 parsnip
2 carrots
2 medium sized potatoes
2 small yellow onions
1/4 of a head of cabbage
(Turnip is also a traditional part of the meal, but I like parsnips. Add any other root veggies you may enjoy as well.)

Directions:

Place beef, fatty-side up, in the bottom of a large pot. Pour cold water over the beef until it is entirely covered. Cook on medium-low heat to bring to a simmer. Cook for 40 minutes.

While beef simmers, peel and chop all vegetables into 3/4" cubes. To help remind you which veggie goes in next, take a large mixing bowl and place chopped cabbage, then onions, then potatoes, carrots and parsnip on top.

At 40 minutes, drop in parsnips and carrots. Continue simmering 30 minutes. Add hot water to pot to keep meat from drying out on top.

Add potatoes and onion. Continue simmering 10 minutes.

Add cabbage. Simmer 10 minutes.

Test beef for tenderness. A fork should slide through with little resistance. All vegetables should be fork soft.

Add time as needed.

Remove beef from pot. Let sit for at least 10 minutes. Drain vegetables and place in large serving bowl. Sprinkle with parsley. Slice beef across the grain with sharp knife, as thick or thin as you prefer.

Serve with your favorite mustard.

There will be leftovers! Which work well warmed over or minced into your very own corned beef hash.

This meal was born from large farming families with ingredients that were always on hand. It didn't intimidate the cooks back then, don't let its simplicity fool you into thinking it's harder to prepare now.

  

RaceDay Recipes: Sausage and Egg Breakfast Skillet

Welcome back! With a new NASCAR season, we have a whole pile of new recipes that are never daunting to whip together.  Today we have a hearty Sausage and Egg Breakfast Skillet.  One pot. Lots of flavor and loaded with enough protein to keep you energized until the late afternoon Phoenix race arrives.

Prep time: 5 min.
Cook time: 20-25 min.
Total time: 30 min.
Serves 2-3 hearty portions









Ingredients:
1/2 lb. Your favorite ground sausage (not links)
1 large potato
4 eggs
2 tblsp. chopped chives
A quarter of a sweet onion
3 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
Cholula Sauce (Smokier, sweeter hot pepper sauce)
Bacon Crumbles
Sour cream
Salt & Pepper to taste

1.)  Preheat oven to 350F. Heat large deep ovenproof skillet on stove top over medium-high flame.  Dice onion. Brown ground sausage and toss onion into the pot. Heat until onions are glassy.

2.)  Chop potato into small cubes. You don't need to peel them. Add to pan.  The fat from the sausage provides enough oil. Likewise, the seasoning from the sausage will season the potatoes. Stir occasionally to provide even heating throughout. However, letting the mix sit for a few minutes between stirring allows the ingredients to nicely brown, increasing the flavors. Don't fear the color!

3.) While the potatoes cook, in a bowl crack and whip the eggs. Set aside.  Shred the cheese and set aside.

4.) When potatoes begin to brown, add the eggs and mix in.  Toss in chives and Cholula Sauce to taste. Stir once to blend. Top with shredded cheese and bacon bits.

5.) Place skillet into the oven until cheese is brown and melted. Just a few minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for a minute or two.

6.) Serve with sprinkle of chives and dollop of sour cream.

7.) Enjoy!

RaceDay Recipes: Shrimp & Angel Hair Parmesan

I've said it before, I'll say it again. You don't always need to go shopping in order to make an awesome meal!  Take a good look at what's already in the pantry before deciding to spend more money. We do those stocking up trips at the grocery store for a reason!

This is a light pasta dish. If you're looking for better flavor, fresh veggies, herbs, cheese and shrimp are always better, but sometimes they are not sitting in the fridge.  I ran with what I had.

 Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes
Serves about 2


Ingredients

• Angel Hair pasta 1/3 box
• Shrimp--pre-cooked, frozen, deveined and all that goodness
• Garlic--1 clove chopped
• Onion--2 tblsp chopped
• Celery--1 stalk chopped
• Green onion--1 stalk chopped
• Chicken stock 1 cup
• Olive Oil--2 tblsp
• Oregano & Basil to taste
• Parmesan Cheese--1/2 cup or more (to taste)

Preparation

• Rinse shrimp under cold water to start thawing them
• Set pot of water to boil
• Chop all your veggies, heat a skillet and swirl in your oil, let warm.
• Add garlic, onion, celery, oregano and basil.  Cook a couple minutes until onion is glassy.
• Add chicken stock and green onion.
• When stock starts to simmer, add shrimp.
• Drop pasta into BOILING water.  Angel Hair is the thinnest pasta out there.  It only takes a few minutes to reach Al Dente, so don't wander off.
• When shrimp is just thawed, start adding cheese.  Keep stirring to melt. The parmesan will melt quickly. Let sauce simmer on low while pasta finishes.
• Test pasta for being done. Drain. 
• Either mix pasta with a swirl of oil to prevent sticking or mix with sauce.
• Serve!

I don't have a picture of my kitchen adventures, today. I ate it all :)  Also remember that if you don't like a particular ingredient in a dish, don't be shy about substituting your own.

Enjoy the race at Talladega tomorrow. You could probably throw this dish together during the caution for The Big One.

RaceDay Recipes: Pork Chops & Fried Apples

Pan fried boneless pork chop and fried apples.

Seriously, it's time to stop over thinking your food.

How many times do we look in the fridge at a collection of ingredients and think there's no time make anything out of it all?  Think again.

Sometimes simple is delicious and fast!

Boneless Pork Chops and Fried Apples

Prep time: 5-10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• One pound boneless pork chops, thick cut
• 4 small seasonal apples...I used Paula Reds
• 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• salt, pepper, sage for seasoning
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Extra virgin olive oil

Preparation:

1. Core and chop apples into 1/2" cubes.  Don't peel them.  All the flavor leaves the apples when you do that. Granny Smiths are often recommended for fried, but that's because they are less likely to turn to mush.  Any apple will do. At this time of year, don't be afraid of the bags of fresh bargain fruit!
2. In a 2 qt. pot heat up butter over medium heat. Drop apples into melted butter. Coat the apples. After a minute, mix in cinnamon and sugar.  Stir until apples are coated and sugar is melted. Turn heat down a bit and let apples simmer, stirring occasionally. 
3. In 12" frying pan, heat up EVOO over medium high heat. Season pork chops and drop into hot pan.  Let brown--about four minutes or so--then turn.  Continue to cook until no pink remains.  Turn only once! When done, remove from pan and let sit for a few minutes before slicing.
4. By now, apples should be soft, but not cooked into sauce. Remove from heat.
5. Serve! Garnish (which I always forget to do) with fresh thyme or parsley.

Accompanied with a green salad, this is an elegant meal that requires no special ingredients or fancy cooking tricks.  During our harvest season, it is often rewarding to enjoy the flavors of fresh produce and meats without hiding them beneath overly complicated sauces.

Hope your Race Day is full of satisfying snacks :)
 

RaceDay Recipes: French Onion Soup

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Total time to the table: 15 minutes

I know. What am I thinking?  French Onion Soup is not fast and easy to make.  However, if you open a can, it's not complicated.  So, if you're heading out to the track in your RV, how can you have this light, warm, satisfying meal without sacrificing quality by eating something out of a can?

Think ahead.


My favorite recipe for making French Onion Soup is from AllRecipes. Sometime in the winter I find some free time for some great soup.  I make a double batch of the good stuff and freeze half of it. When we head out to the track, I just take the frozen treat with me.  While shopping for the week, I'm sure to add to the cart:

• 8 oz. of Swiss Cheese (The recipe calls for Gruyere. I'm not that much of a cheese snob, and can't really tell the difference.  At $12.00/lb I'm willing to go for the cheaper swiss.)

• 1 Baguette from the bakery.  The French bread is the right shape for making the big crouton.

At the track, leave the soup in the fridge until the day you want it, so you don't have to waste time defrosting.

Reheat the soup on the stove top.  Toast several 1" slices of the baquette in your oven. You don't need a toaster. Just toss it on the rack on your oven at 350 degrees for a few minutes until crispy and brown. If you don't toast the bread, it will soak up all the liquid in your soup AND collapse leaving an awkward presentation.

Turn the oven to Broil.

Fill individual oven-safe soup crocks with the warm soup. Leave about 1/2" at the top.
Top with toasted bread. Try to cover the entire top with the bread to provide a more even melting surface for the cheese.  Top crock with swiss cheese.  Let the cheese run over the rim--this will seal the soup into the crock.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Broil for 5 minutes--or until top is bubbly and a little brown.

Serve.

Remember, you don't have to eat hamburgers and hot dogs non-stop when hanging out at the infield.

Happy Racing!

RaceDay Recipes: Tabasco Chili Mac

Here's another quick and easy recipe that is hearty, warm and a little spicy.  Simple to put together in time for the green flag!  The secret to a delicious, fast chili is the Tabasco Chili Starter.  They spent all the hours getting the spices already blended.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes

TOTAL time: 40 minutes

Of course, most of your cook time is spent smelling the chili pot bubbling on the stove, so this one doesn't require lots of attention.




Ingredients:

1/2 lb. ground beef
1/4 large yellow onion diced
1 4 oz. can diced green chiles
1 14 oz. can red or pink beans
1 jar of Tabasco Chili Starter (I use Spicy...they have a mild.)
8 oz. elbow macaroni
2 oz. shredded Colby Jack cheese
1/4 cup of sour cream

Preparation:

• Put large pot of water to boil for your macaroni.  I don't add salt, as the chili starter and other canned goods have plenty.
• In large dutch oven brown ground beef over medium heat.  The beef provides enough fat to sauté the onions. Add onions while the beef is cooking so they are glassy when you begin to add other ingredients.
• When beef is completely brown add chiles, beans and Chili Starter. 
• Add 1/2 a chili starter jar of water (or beer if so inclined) to the mix.
• Stir.  When chili begins to bubble, reduce heat to low and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until beans are softened to your liking, stirring occasionally.
• Add macaroni to boiling water and cook until al dente.  Do not overcook! Drain and add to chili. Stir. 
• Spoon into a bowl.  Top with cheese and dollop of sour cream.
• Enjoy!

Serves 2-4, depending on how many bowls of chili you like eating at once.

Do you have a great RaceDay Recipe?  Email me for details on being a guest at The S-Curves!
 

RaceDay Recipe: Quick Quesadillas

What a beautiful race day!  I'm almost happy the Nationwide Series was rained out last night, so I have Iowa keeping me entertained this morning while I wait for Pocono to fire up.

RaceDay Recipes will be recipes you can make on race day, and still have time to actually watch the race.  I don't know about you, but I don't want to be the one slaving over the BBQ pit or spending hours compiling finger sandwiches.  I want something yummy to eat that can be compiled during pre-race festivities or during a lengthy debris cleanup.  Will they be super healthy?  No.  But the ingredients will represent how I enjoy my food and for my small family of two.



Quick Quesadillas.  Prep time: 5 minutes  Cook time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

3 Whole wheat Fajita size tortillas
1 package Purdue Short Cuts Chicken (Original Roasted)
1 cup shredded Colby jack cheese
1/8 Sweet slicing onion, sliced
1/8 Green Pepper, sliced
1/4 cup taco sauce (medium)
1/2 cup chunky salsa (medium)
1/4 sour cream
Cholula Sauce for seasoning

Cooking:

Use the grill side of your double-sided griddle.  Bring to medium heat.  Spray down with Pam.  Lay tortilla onto the griddle. On one half of the tortilla layer cheese first, chicken, onion, pepper, pour a little taco sauce and Cholula sauce to taste.  Top with more cheese. The cheese melts and serves as the glue to keep your quesadilla together.  Build all three quesadillas. Fold them in half. Flip when cheese starts to melt and tortillas are nicely toasted (approx. 2 minutes).  Toast and melt the other side.

Remove from heat. I use a pizza cutter to slice the quesadilla in quarters.  Place on plate. Top with salsa and generous dollop of sour cream.

Change up peppers and sauces to meet your desired heat level.  Mix it up with beef, hamburger, pulled pork and even crab meat. Or go veggie!

Don't forget the guacamole!

Happy Snacking while they search for Jacque DeBris.

(Also a great recipe for rain delays...just sayin')

Have a great RaceDay recipe? Send it to me! I'd love to post it here to share with other racing foodies :)