It’s All About A Good Recipe: May 2012

I kept seeing different recipes for Stuffed Mexican Shells and thought I need to make some! I couldn't find a recipe I totally liked so I combined a few recipes I had and came up with this!

You can find the jumbo shells at most stores, I prefer the Barilla ones. Make sure to cook them for the whole 9 minutes, if you under cook them they can get tough. The shells hold their shape well.

In one of the recipes it called for commercial hot sauce but that just didn't seem right so I used 2 cans of Rotel when I used a 9X13 pan and 1 rotel can if I did a 8X10 pan. It really did the trick using the Rotel it gives it the hotness you need and adds great flavor!

There is another recipe that I have on here called Enchilada Casserole (it's a great recipe too) where you place tortilla chips at the bottom of the pan then the meat filling then you top it with cheese. I basically used that filling for the shells because I have always loved it!

When you are baking these make sure you cover them with foil so that the edges of the pasta doesn't dry out. You can take the foil off when you add the cheese the last 10 to 15 minutes if you would like to.

Chop onion and garlic

Saute onions, garlic then brown meat, season with some Lawry's Garlic salt

Once the meat is brown add cream of mushroom, green chilies, tomato paste and tomato sauce.

Cook meat mixture until it starts to boil

Jumbo Shells, boil according to the package then drain and set aside

Boil noodles while you are browning the meat. Once they are done let them cool or run through cold water because they can be hard to handle when they are hot!!

Place Rotel at the bottom of pan, place noodles on top of the rotel then fill each shell with meat mixture about 2 tablespoons full to each shell. Cover with foil and cook for 20 minutes take out and cover each shell with cheese bake another 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly hot.

Just out of the oven

Two shells is plenty for most but some might want to eat 3 or 4 each.

Mexican Stuff Shells

1 cup chopped onions

1 clove garlic minced

2 T butter

2 lbs ground beef

Lawry's Garlic salt (with green lid) to taste

1 can mushroom soup

1 can (8oz) tomato sauce

1 (6oz) can tomato paste

1 can (4oz) peeled green chilies chopped

1 to 2 cans Rotel ( use 2 for 9X13 and 1 for 8X10 pan)

1 to 2 cups of shredded Cheddar or Colby Jack Cheese

20 jumbo pasta shells (boil according to the package)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Sauté onion & garlic in melted butter on medium heat, add

ground beef and brown. Stir in soup, tomato sauce, tomato

paste, chilies add Lawry’s garlic salt (with green lid). Cook on med heat until mixture comes to a boil.

Pour Rotel on the bottom of a 9X13 pan and place shells on top of Rotel open side up, stuff each shell with meat mixture . Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes then take out of oven, remove foil and top each one with shredded cheese. Bake for additional 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese has melted.

                                           Weddings

So often in catering it's all about getting it all on the table on time! I will have to say we do a great job at that! The problem is I often forget to take pictures during the rush of it all!! I do however have some pictures below of some weddings I have done. There are so many different styles and so many different wonderful venues and then there are a few where you have to make due with what ya got!

I cater for a place sometimes in Plano where we have to have our prep area under some stairs (no kitchen) with pipes exposed so you have this large food item in your hand and you have to bend down as you walk under the pipe to get out with it! It's never a dull moment because there are many times you have no idea what the area you will be working out of will look like!

Probably the hardest place I catered at was in a early 1900's building that was 3 stories with NO elevator! The main kitchen was on the 3rd floor, the area they were eating was on the 2nd floor and then the appetizers were on the 1st floor. We were also using real dishes so each load up the stairs was 30 to 50 lbs!! Food alone is very heavy but mix in all the dishes and it's a total work out even without stairs! These stairs also happen to be extra narrow and straight up making it crazy hard but we made it!

So below are a few Weddings I want to share with you.

                                                        Vintage Wedding

This wedding was in a great church nestled in an old neighborhood in Ft Worth, Texas about 2 miles from TCU. This used to be a church but now is just for events. All proceeds go to repairing the chapel which is pretty cool! You can have your wedding inside the chapel or in their outdoor space lined with their garden of beautiful flowers and plants...and it's called Rose Chapel so there are beautiful roses!! Here is the link to Rose Chapel http://www.rosechapel.org/

I like to use a lot of white dishes, glass and then baskets really ground the table.

Instead of using stainless steel chaffing pans for the hot artichoke spinach dip

I used some white dishes that you can put a tea light underneath.

I like to use the extra things the Bride has for the wedding to tie it in with their theme. The theme for this wedding was vintage so they had this extra bird cage that they weren't using.

To give height you can use almost anything! I often use this little stool because it gives height and it also grounds the table with the color. Boxes are always good for platters to give height just cover with some fabric!

Adding green leaf or red leaf lettuce under fruit or veggie platters makes all the difference! These grapes are clean they were really cold, they just came out of the fridge, lol!

The Happy and Beautiful Couple!

Rustic Wedding

My niece Hannah got married in East Texas in a town outside of Athens called Murchison. The Stone Oak Ranch is nestled on 40 acres deep in the woods. It's about an hour and a half from Dallas. The owner built a beautiful barn with chandeliers and all! Outside is landscaped beautifully! They have a little chapel next to the barn with chairs for the guest. Here is the link to the Stone Oak Ranch http://www.stoneoakranch.com/

This a really a beautiful place to have a wedding or any kind of event!

The little Chapel

Inside the barn - tables for guest

Barbecue dinner for a Rustic Wedding!

Brisket, bbq sauce and green bean bundles

Can you see that the table is made out of old doors, quite clever and goes so well with the surroundings!

Baked potato area

Helps to have the butter pre-sliced for easy flow through the line. Sometimes I will set up another table just for the fixings so that the line doesn't get backed up.

Here is a good view of the old doors used as a table. They just put plexiglass on top of the tables which makes it even to set things on the table.

Just through the line!

Cucumber water is always a big hit! Just simply put sliced cucumbers in some water along with some ice and raspberries to add color. It's very refreshing!

Cake table

Good ole tea area and the Groom's Cake

Doors open in the daylight

Doors open just at dusk so beautiful! It had just rained so the lights were glistening on the wet pavement.

My niece Kelsey in the middle and then my two great nieces Pheonix on the left and Faith on the right....I sure do love them!

Picture perfect!

My handsome great nephew, Hunter!

Beautiful Bride and Groom who happens to be my niece Hannah and now nephew Dustin

Looking from the outside in

Sparklers!

Spring Wedding

This wedding took place in March of last year at a beautiful old house in Waxahachie, TX called The Wyatt Mansion. It's a great venue and they rent it out for all kinds of events. The owners also have a beautiful bed and breakfast a few miles away. Here is the link to the Wyatt Mansion http://www.chaskabb.com/ the link to the Mansion is at the bottom of the website page.

Don't you just love spring with all the fresh fruit and vegetables not only are they so good but they are just gorgeous!

The Groom is from Wisconsin so Cheese was in order!

You will notice the clear tall vase...it will have bridesmaids flowers in it in the next pic

I love to include the bridesmaids flowers into the decor of the table.. its a simple but beautiful touch!

Flowers make everything beautiful!

Cupcakes! The bride opted for Cupcakes so I made these along with the Grooms Cheesecakes!

He (the groom) also made the stands that the Cupcakes are on and then gave them to me!

White Cupcakes with Butter cream icing and Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and a raspberry!

Cheesecakes for the Groom

The beautiful Couple!

One of my favorite Pics ever!!! They both have a Dr Pepper in hand which is my favorite also(although I like regular DP)!

Blake! I have known Blake for 3 1/2 years now! He wants to be a Chef and I believe he will!

Summer Wedding

I catered this wedding for a couple that wanted their "favorite" dinner, Chicken Spaghetti! I said are you sure you want Chicken Spaghetti? Yep, that is what they wanted! I tried to talk them out of it but in the end it was a very unique wedding! The Bride's Aunt made the individual pudding cakes topped with whipping cream (the brides fav) and another good friend of hers made the Bride's and Groom's Cake. This wedding was in Waxahachie, Texas at a great venue called The Greenery Gardens. The owners not only own this venue but they also have another location called The Bison Ranch which is 15 miles out of Waxahachie. They also own a nursery with beautiful flowers, plants, trees and etc so you know their venues are landscaped beautifully! Here is the link to both www.thegreenerytx.com

Chicken Spaghetti, Green Beans, Fresh Salad, Homemade Dressings and Bread!

Bread! I like to offer several different kinds when it's possible!

I feel it's so important to use fresh lettuce and veggies and none of that bag lettuce stuff! Also by making your own dressing you will have people asking you how you made it cause it does stand out from the store bought bottle!