Just FYI... Fire Station Recipes

I'm adding a category for fire station recipes. These are some of the most commonly requested ones when I'm talking about our menus with friends. Firemen are notoriously good cooks. Why not eat well if you get the chance, right? They have come up with some pretty great ideas and I know my cooking repertoire is way better because they are willing to share those ideas!

Yummy Fire Station Breakfast

1 lb. ground sausage
6 eggs
1 can Grands biscuits (8 biscuits), any variety
1 pkt. country-style gravy (or 1 C. homemade)

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Press biscuits into a muffin pan, forming into the individual cups. A 12-muffin pan will still have 4 open spots.

-Brown sausage in a skillet. Remove 1/3 of sausage and set aside. To the remaining 2/3 sausage in skillet, add eggs and stir to scramble. Cook through.

-Scoop sausage and egg mixture into biscuit cups. Bake 13-17 minutes/according to package directions on biscuits.

-Meanwhile, prepare country gravy. Add sausage that was set aside to gravy toward the end of cooking. Remove biscuit cups from oven and top with gravy. Serve immediately. Add shredded cheese if desired.

Super Spuds

Here's another fire station recipe. I have to admit that it's simplicity in description really threw me off, but it's hearty, it's cheap, and it's easy. Sometimes we can use a little of that!

3-5 large red potatoes
1 lb. ground beef
1 package brown gravy mix
Potato toppings as desired (e.g. green onion, sour cream, shredded cheese, butter)

-Bake potatoes in an oven heated to 350 degrees for about an hour, until baked through.
-Brown ground beef with desired seasoning in a skillet.
-Prepare brown gravy according to package directions.
-Combine ground beef and gravy.
-Open potato and top as desired, finishing with meat mixture.

Notes: This takes about 1 C. of brown gravy if you don't like to use a mix (which I don't). I'm going to experiment with this a little to see if I can get some more vegetables involved. As it was, we had some fruit and ice cream later for a treat so I didn't worry about it too much because at least we had fruit later.

Minestrone Soup

Serves: 6 or so in Time: 9 hrs.

1 lb. ground Italian sausage

1/2 lb. ground beef

4 carrots, sliced

3 stalks celery, sliced

2 onions, chopped

2-3 C. water

1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce

1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes

Various spices as desired

1 C. elbow noodles, uncooked

1 can (15 oz.) garbanzo beans

-Brown Italian sausage and ground beef, seasoning as desired.

-Combine all ingredients except noodles and beans in crock pot. Cook approximately 8 hours on low.

-Add beans and noodles, allow to cook for 30 additional minutes before serving.

-Add sour cream and shredded cheese to individual servings to taste.

Notes: You can put basically anything in here; we have added both chicken bullion or beef bullion (2 cubes worth). We have used spices like basil, oregano, red pepper, garlic, or anything else we happen to grab. You can use spicy Italian sausage. I accidentally bought sweet onions this time. Everything we have tried is great, except for the time I forgot to season it all together--that was bland. Add water until the tomato broth is the desired consistency, but remember that some water will cook out of the vegetables before serving. We love this with a fresh loaf of french bread. Also, it makes enough that if your family is small, plan for leftovers or try freezing half.

Fire Station Chile Verde

Serves: Many in Time: 8 hrs. 30 mins.

8 anaheim peppers

8 serrano peppers

6 jalapeno peppers

1 habanero pepper

8-12 roma tomatoes

1 bunch cilantro

2 onions

2-3 lbs. pork, cubed

3-4 chicken bullion cubes

1 clove garlic, crushed

cornstarch and water

-Combine peppers, onions, tomatoes, and cilantro in food processor, blending until completely chopped.

-Place in slow cooker. Add pork, bullion and garlic. Stir thoroughly and cover. Cook on medium heat for 8 hours.

-Combine about three spoonsful of cornstarch with enough water to make a liquid paste. Add to boiling verde and leave until heated through.

Notes: This is really spicy; either leave out a habanero or pick the seeds out of the peppers to cut the spiciness as desired. We serve this with cheese, sour cream, and refried beans in a burrito. The leftovers work well for huevos rancheros. With this batch, I also split it in half to freeze some for later. This is typically a fairly expensive dish depending on the cost of the peppers, so we try to get as much mileage out of it as we could. (This go around, it only cost us about $20 to make. We'll get three or four meals out of the half we refrigerated, and then a few more out of the frozen portion.)