Jugo de Avena - Dominican Oatmeal & Milk Juice

Those of you who are my friends on Facebook know that tomorrow The All-Star's school is celebrating "Healthy Snack Day" and the kids were asked to bring in the family's favorite healthy snack.

If we're Facebook friends then you also are probably VERY aware that we do not do "healthy" so this was a difficult task.

We settled on our favorite beverage snack which is about as "healthy" as we get. This is a traditional Dominican drink, many of their equivalent of the US food trucks sell various versions of this drink along with their food.

Jugo de Avena (Oatmeal & Milk Juice)
recipe from http://www.dominicancooking.com/

The Line Up
2 c orange juice
1/2 c sugar
2 c of water
1 c of oatmeal
4 c of evaporated milk (regular, vitamin D added variety)
2 1/2 c of ice cubes

The Game Plan
Mix the milk and sugar to taste. Put in the freezer until very cold
Soak the oatmeal in the water for about 30 minutes (if you use quick/instant oats you can skip this step)
Blend the oatmeal and sift, reserving the liquid, discarding the "pulp"
Add the ice and the milk and stir
Serve immediately

Coach's Post Game Conference
All I can say is MMmmmmmm.... Que rico! This is so rich, sweet AND filling! We love it, Catcher doesn't follow this recipe (he doesn't follow ANY recipe for anything he makes) but this is close enough to what he does I'm sure you'll be plesantly pleased as well!

Final Score
Coach - Home run
Catcher - Home run
The All-Star -  Home run

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Beef and Mushrooms

On football nights Team Matos needs something that can either be ready quickly, or doesn't require much attention (ie slow cooker meals!). Tonight we went with the slow cooker it is always easy enough to throw that on during the day and have it ready when practice is over. Tonight was a beef night (or so I thought... read on)

Beef and Mushrooms
Fix it and Forget it Cookbook
The Line Up
1 1/2 lb stewing beef cubed
4 oz can mushroom pieces (drained, save liquid)
1/2 clove garlic minced
3 TBSP shortening
1 c hot water
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c sliced onions
1 beef bouillon cube
8 oz can tomato sauce
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp pepper

The Game Plan
Brown meat, mushrooms, garlic and onions in shortening in skillet.
Dissolve bouillon cube in hot water, add to meat
stir in mushroom liquid and rest of ingredients. Mix well. Pour into slow cooker. Cover. Cook on high 3 hours or until meat is tender.
Serve over cooked noodles, spaghetti or rice

Coach's Post Game Conference
Ok - lets start off with how I changed the recipe
1) I forgot the garlic
2) I didn't save the mushroom liquid, so I put in 1/2 a can of white wine left from last night's broccoli
3) I put in 1/2 of a decent size yellow onion
4) I grabbed two pieces of meat from the freezer and cubed them myself. 1 piece was 1/2 of a London Broil from the Szechuan Beef and the other was what I thought was a roast. Apparently it was a pork shoulder so we had beef AND pork in tonight's dinner.
I could totally see this recipe over something like a spaghetti squash as well.

Final Score
Coach - Home Run
Catcher - Stand up Home run
The All-Star - claims it's 20 stars... I'm not sure how to translate that into extra base hits so we'll leave it at that! (oh... AND... he didn't complain about it having fungus in it!!)

***edit - please see label disclaimer in "True Confessions" - 11/7/2013

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***NEW*** Fun stuff for the blog

Wanted to share with everone some exciting stuff happening at Home Plate.
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Both are located on the right column of the page.

We hope you're enjoying Home Plate, please be sure to share it with your friends!!

**edit - fan chatter discussion board has been discontinued ** 11/7/2013

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Braised Porkchops in Sour Cream Sauce & Broccoli Braised in Wine

I decided to try two new recipes tonight and pork was the meat of the day.

Braised Pork Chops in Sour Cream Sauce

The Line Up

6  (4 oz) boneless pork loin chops

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

3/4 c beef broth

1 TBSP barbeque sauce

1/3 c evaporated milk

1/3 c nonfat sour cream

3 TBSP all purpose flour

The Game Plan

Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper. Spray large nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Heat over medium-high heat until hot. Add pork chops; cover and cook 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

In small bowl, combine 1/2 c of the broth and the barbeque sauce, mix well. Pour over pork chops; cover tightly. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 5-10 minutes or until pork is no longer pink in center. Remove pork chops from skillet; cover to keep warm.

In same small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 c broth, evaporated milk, sour cream and flour; beat with wire whisk until smooth. Pour into same skillet, cook and stir over medium heat for 2-4 minutes until bubbly and thickened.

Serve sauce over pork chops

Broccoli Braised in Wine

The Line Up

1/4 c olive oil

1 tsp finely chopped garlic

5-6 c fresh broccoli (about 2 lbs including stems)

1 1/2 c dry wine

1/2 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper

The Game Plan

In a 10 or 12 inch skillet, heat oil very hot. Remove skillet from heat and add garlic. Stir for 30 seconds. Return skillet to moderate heat and toss the broccoli in the oil until well coated. Add wine, salt and pepper and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir the skillet and simmer for another 15 minutes, or until broccolis is tender. To serve, remove the broccoli to a heated serving dish with a slotted spoon. Boil the liquid remaining in the pan over high heat until reduced to about 1/2 c. Pour over broccoli

Coach's Post Game Conference

Well... let's call tonight's dinner a pre-season game. The score doesn't REALLY matter, what matters is that it was a learning experience and we'll get better for the next game. Right? That's what is important.

To say tonight's dinner was a home run would be a stretch. I've got to sit down and reivew the plays and figure out what went wrong. On paper it looked good. However, when it was done the predominant flavor was the flour. What we could taste behind the flour tasted like it would have been really good but we just couldn't get past the flour taste.

The broccoli, on the other hand... two out of three team members really enjoyed

Final Score

Coach - pork chops - double

             - broccoli - triple

Catcher - triple

The All Star - pork chops - triple

                     - broccoli - double

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Beef and Mushroom Melts

Remember this? True Confessions? Remember when I said that I am NOT a cook? I guess then, that it should go without saying then that I am definitely NOT a gourmet fancy schmancy cook.  Tonight's dinner was one that most probably consider very basic, yet we hadn't had it until I ran across a recipe for it. We've now had them a couple times in the past few months.

Beef and Mushroom Melts
The Line Up
1 lb extra-lean ground beef
2 TBSP finely chopped onion
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 (4 oz) can mushroom pieces & stems (drained)
1 c shredded Swiss cheese
1 loaf (14 oz) baguette-style French Bread (about 16" split lengthwise)
1/2 c shredded Swiss cheese (I used Daiya swiss slices for dairy free)
**update** - 1 package Lipton Onion Mushroom Soup mix

The Game Plan
Heat oven to 450. Line cookie sheet with foil. In 10" non-stick skillet, cook ground beef and onion over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until beef is throughly cooked; drain. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, mushrooms and 1 c cheese.
Spoon beef mixture evenly onto baguette halves, spreading mixture to edges. Cut each half into 3 sections. Place sandwiches in pan; cover with additional foil.
Bake 15 minutes. Remove cover; top with 1/2 c cheese. Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Coach's Post Game Conference
Ok, the first time I made these sandwiches, we all thought they were really good but that they needed "something." For The All-Star that "something" would be to NOT have mushrooms... we all know how he feels about my absolute favorite addition to just about everything I make. For Catcher and I... we couldn't figure it out.
Tonight, I tried a few things differently... I added more onion (a whole small yellow onion)... I added salt (usually if a recipe doesn't specifically call for it, I don't add it)... I added more Worcestershire sauce (not much, but a bit more... like an additional tsp)
I think the best idea for a little "something" would have been to add mayonnaise to the sandwich just before serving. Unfortunately... we didn't have any in the dugout tonight. Catcher added ketchup, but that just didn't seem right for me.
So I'm asking YOU... how would you doctor up this recipe? What would YOU add to give it just a bit more flavor?

Final Score
I think we would all give this a double... a good hit, but not exactly something that's going to score a run.


***UPDATE*** 11/13/2012
I've now made this several times and we've decided that the "something" that has been missing is LIPTON ONION & MUSHROOM SOUP MIX - once that has been added the recipe has been a home run each time!!

***Update*** 11/7/2013
I am happy to report that I have continued to make this even into our new dairy free season. And it continues to be a hit!

***edit - Please see label disclaimer in "True Confessions"- 11/7/2013

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Chicken Alfredo

Team Matos loves eating at Olive Garden, but obviously it's not something we can do regularly. Our absolute favorite thing is their alfredo sauce. I mentioned this a couple weeks ago and a friend of mine, The Mighty Casey who shared his recipe for alfredo with me recently. He said it was very close to Olive Garden's alfredo, so I was eager to give it a try.  So eager, infact that I forgot to take a picture of the dish the first time around!

Chicken Alfredo
The Line Up
1 pint heavy (whipping) cream
1 stick REAL butter
1 tsp garlic powder
1 c shredded parmesan cheese
10 oz cooked & ready to eat chicken strips - omit for vegetarian
Fettucine

The Game Plan
Mix the cream, butter and garlic powder on the stove, medium/low heat and stir until the butter melts and the mixture begins to bubble. On low heat mix in the cheese. Continuously stir until it's all melted and thick. Add in chicken strips long enough to warm. Keep stirring so you don't burn the sauce though!

Coach's Post Game Conference
I want to start off by saying a HUGE THANK YOU to The Mighty Casey! Unlike the Mudville Nine's Star Player you hit a home run for Team Matos! I think you just saved us a LOT of money by cutting down on the trips to Olive Garden. This recipe is delicious and yes... VERY close to Olive Gardens. I don't think I left it on long enough, as it was still quite runny. But I was soooo excited to eat it I couldn't wait any longer!!

Final Score
Coach -  Home Run
Catcher -  Home Run
The All-Star - Home Run ("if I could rate it higher I would")

***edit - Please see label disclaimer in "True Confessions" - 11/7/2013

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Pico de Gallo

I have a problem, I need to admit something and a public admission is the best way to do this so here goes. My name is Coach Matos and I am addicted to pico de gallo. I love this stuff and could eat it every day. Honestly, I love Mexican food in general, but I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE pico de gallo. I eat it with chips, I have been known to put it on top of grilled chicken breasts but my most favorite way to eat it is... with a spoon! That's right, straight from the bowl as if it's some sort of cold soup.
Over the past couple of years I have developed my own "recipe" taking an ingredient or two from one recipe and and one or two from another recipe etc.

Pico De Gallo
The Line Up

2 Large Tomatoes - I believe the ones I use are called "Green House" tomatos - they really are pretty big - almost softball size
1/2 - 1 red onion (judge based on how how it looks)
2 jalepenos (leave the ribs/seeds in one, remove from the other.. or adjust according to taste)
Cilantro (adjust according to taste)
3-4 decent sized cloves of garlic
Corn (to taste)
Black beans (I use canned black beans - rinsed well)
1/4 - 1/2 packet of taco seasoning powder
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 TBSP lime juice
1 TBSP red wine vinegar

The Game Plan
Chop up the tomatoes, onion, jalepenos and cilantro, place in large non-metal bowl. Add corn, black beans, taco seasoning, lemon juice, lime juice and vinegar. Mix well. Refrigerate several hours before eating.

Coach's Post Game Conference
I generally make a batch of pico in the evening and let it sit in the refrigerate until at least noon the next day before I dig in. The jalapenos can be altered to suit your taste buds or the taste buds of those you will be serving. Recently I took this to a party, since I didn't know how sensitive taste buds would be, I removed  all the jalapeno veins & seeds (for those who don't know the veins inside the jalepeno & the seeds are what house the "heat"). I chopped up the jalepeno and added it to the pico as usual. Then I took a little cup with me where I carried the veins and seeds separately, this allowed the pico to stay mild, but let those who like a lot of "heat" to add some of the veins & seeds to their own bowl.

TV Commercial Break
I have two products that I use when making pico that are unbelievable time savers, I generally make this recipe in under 10 minutes.

With the Vidalia Onion Wizard I simply cut the tomatoes & onions in quarters and chop, chop, chop, chop... and they are done! No muss, no fuss.

 NexTrend's Garlic Twist makes mincing garlic as easy as a few twists of the wrist. So much easier than chopping with a knife

Final Score
Coach - Outta the park, grand slam, walk off, game 7 of the World Series winning Home Run
Catcher - yea, he likes it too!
The All-Star - Well... as much as he likes the salsa from our favorite Mexican restaurant in town, he will not touch pico because he "doesn't like tomatoes, or onions"

***edit - please see label disclaimer in "True Confessions" - 11/7/2013

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