Beef Fideo Delicioso, A Staple

As with last nights recipe, there are some recipes prized for their simplicity. Fideo Delicioso is one of those examples. When I was a child, it was referred to a poor mans dinner but every family I knew served it regularly. We were either all poor or the stigma was ignorant. Looking back at the perspective today, I am thinking the later as the local lunch dive always sold out before noon on Fideo day. Be what it is, Fideo Delicioso is a warm, earthy meal that can be made a simple as the instructions say (my favorite) or added to with tomatoes, peppers, corn, beans, etc.. creating a house specialty. Fideo Delicioso is from the T&T list of meals.

Modifications Made:
Until standing in the grocer today reading the box for the ingredients needed, I don't think I ever have seen pork or chicken included as an option for the ground meat. In the past venison, has been substituted for beef. Since venison is lean, the dinner was disastrous as the fat from the beef is critical to the recipe. With that, beef was used tonight as all other boxes cooked have been served before.

None as the yellow box instructions are as golden as the box they are printed on.

Scaled for Likability: Great
The key instruction to a successful Fideo Delicioso is to brown, brown, brown the noodles. Brown until you think they are done and then brown them some more. If the edges start to darken to black then you are getting close. To achieve this high level of browning without burning is to cook over a low heat and stir constantly. Once the fideo does start to brown, if they are not stirred consistently they will burn to a chard in a snap of the fingers. Insufficient browning of the fideo results in a soggy mixture turning delicioso into grosso.

Fideo Delicioso can be topped with yellow cheese, queso fresco, sour cream, creme, cilantro, onion, pico de gallo, salsa, or nothing at all. It can be served with skillet fried corn, charro beans, chips, tortillas, corn bread, a simple salad, or nothing at all on the side.

There is one downside to Fideo. Sadly, it does not reheat well.

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes for flavored tomatoes, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one can tomato sauce, two low sodium chicken and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots, juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender. Green beans and corn tossed in, heat t

Way Too Rich, Extra Heavy Cheesecake

Pictures are deceptive. What this picture of this recipe does not show is how old and faded the print out paper is, how many stains are smudged across various spots, and the numerous notes written in the top right corner with the first one dating back to college days in 2001. Yikes, twenty years ago makes this paper print out old, no wait, that makes me old. Eek. Sadly, my current living quarters do not allow for cooking of this cheesecake. In fact the last time this recipe has been made have been close to six or seven years. That is just too long. Too long. Luckily, we are spending Spring Break at family with a real oven. A family who will help eat this oh so rich, very decadent, supremely yummy cheesecake. Modifications Made: There are four keys to a successful cheesecake. ONE: all ingredients must be room temperature. If your house is ice chest cold, then warm the ingredients on the stovetop. TWO: do not over mix. Excessive mixing creates air pockets resulting in split mi

The Great Freeze 2021 Vegetable Broth

Good grief, this cold snap. Every year I wish and wish for cold weather so this table can eat soups without melting. Well this year winter came and came with a vengeance. Two days below freezing with no water, no power, no internet/cell service. It's the dark ages. If you need more info just search for Texas Grid Failure 2021 . Yes, this tragic affair has its own wiki page. Good grief. Did you know that if temperatures drop below freezing for too long, refrigerators will not keep your cold stuff from freezing? Well, they don't. And with 17℉ temps, this tables fridge contents froze. What to do with a fridge full of frozen fresh veggies? Veggie stock. No recipe was used, it was just all the veggies in the fridge (white and yellow onions, garlic, jalapeno, green onions, three roma tomatoes, celery, two russet potatoes, seven carrots, and a red and green bell pepper) salt and pepper, and enough water to just touch the top layer of veggies. I did not want the veggies floa

Eating Waffles

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