TODAY's CASES:

• A Lowcountry Backyard Hash Brown Casserole
• Nello's Pizza House Salad Dressing
• Baked Tacos with Potatoes and Carrots

A Lowcountry Backyard Hash Brown Casserole -----Original Message----- From: Mary Sent: Friday, January 12, 2018 10:46 PM To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com Subject: The best potato’s I have ever had! Dear Phaedris, I had the opportunity to visit Hilton Head over Christmas and had breakfast at a restaurant called “a low country back yard”. They have a hash brown casserole which is out of this world. It just looks like hash browns but it is awesome. We went back twice just to get more. Could you help us to find the recipe? Many thanks. Mary Gilbert, AZ Hi Mary, Sorry, no luck with this one. The dish is on "A Lowcountry Backyard's" brunch menu and is called "Aunt Sandra's Hash Brown Casserole." The menu at A Lowcountry Backyard Menu and a review of the restaurant are all the mentions that I could find of the dish. No recipe or even a detailed description. I'll post this for reader input. Phaed Nello's Pizza House Salad Dressing From: Mary Sent: Friday, January 12, 2018 11:08 PM To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com Subject: Nello’s pizza sun dried tomato salad dressing Hi, Phaedrus, There is a small family pizza chain here in Phoenix called Nello’s. They have an amazing “old world classic” salad with romaine, artichokes, red onions, sun dried tomatoes, feta, pepperoni, black olives, feta, garbanzo beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, and mushrooms. I can put all of those things together at home but it just isn’t the same without their house sun dried tomato salad dressing. Can you help me to find the recipe? It is so good I could eat it by the spoonful!! Thanks Mary Hi Mary, In this book: “The Science of Skinny Cookbook: 175 Healthy Recipes to Help You Stop Dieting ...” By Dee McCaffrey, the author says that she was told the secret of the dressing by the owner. The author then proceeded to make a healthier version by using a healthier oil and removing the sugar. It appears that she has substituted olive oil for whatever oil Nello’s uses and Stevia for the sugar. You can reverse-engineer this and put back real sugar instead of the Stevia. It looks as though pizza sauce is the secret ingredient. Nello’s, of course, uses their own pizza sauce, and the author of that cookbook uses Eden Foods organic pizza sauce. You can , of course, buy Nello’s Pizza Sauce. Amazon has it: Nello's Pizza Sauce I could not find a recipe or a copycat recipe for Nello’s pizza sauce. Amazon also has Eden Organic Pizza Sauce, but seems to only sell it by the case. You might find it in your grocery or health food store. If you don’t want to use either of these, the you can experiment with other commercial sauces (one with sun-dried tomatoes, if you wish.) or even your own homemade pizza sauce. I could not find any mention of sun-dried tomatoes being in Nello’s House Dressing, although they might be used in the pizza sauce. Nello’s menu just lists “House Dressing” as one of the dressing choices;it does not mention sun-dried tomatoes. See: Nello's Menu Best I can do. I could not find another recipe for Nello’s House Dressing. The recipe from the book is below. Phaed Zesty Tomato Italian Dressing 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 cup raw organic unfiltered apple cider vinegar 1/2 cup pizza sauce 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon liquid Stevia extract 3 garlic cloves 1/4 teaspoon sea salt Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed to combine thoroughly. Let the blender run for about 2 minutes. Store the dressing in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. Baked Tacos with Potatoes and Carrots -----Original Message----- From: Judy Sent: Sunday, January 14, 2018 2:27 PM To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com Subject: Baked tacos from the ‘60s or ‘70’s My husband remembers a recipe from his childhood for baked tacos and I can’t seem to find exactly what he’s describing. They were made with ground beef and grated carrot and potato. The filling was placed in corn taco shells, topped with cheese and baked resulting in a partly crisp, partly soft, sort of greasy yummy taco. He was raised in rural Oklahoma, so this might have been one of those Farm Journal type of recipes. Thanks for any help and I’m tickled to find this site still on line. ?? Judy Foster, OK Hi Judy, I can't find a recipe that fits your description. I can find oven baked tacos, but they don't have potatoes and carrots. I can find tacos with potatoes and carrots in the filling, but they aren't baked. "Picadillo" is a dish made with seasoned ground beef, potatoes, and carrots that is used as a taco filling, but I could not find a recipe in which the tacos filled with picadillo are baked. The picadillo is prepared by itself and then used to fill warmed taco shells. I'll post this for reader input. Phaed Picadillo Para Tacos 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef 1 tbsp. oil 2 tbsp. carrots, diced 2 tbsp. potatoes, diced 2 tbsp. green peppers, diced 2 tbsp. onions, finely chopped 1 tbsp. celery, finely chopped 1 tbsp. flour 1/2 tsp. cominos (cumin) 1/2 tsp. black pepper Salt and garlic to taste In a skillet, add oil to meat and cook until half done. Then add salt and other spices, stirring frequently. Add carrots and potatoes. Within 10 minutes add green pepper, onions, and celery. When cooked, add flour, stirring well. Add 1/2 cup water or tomato sauce according to taste. Sauce is optional.