Mumper's Recipes

A Happy Thanksgiving MMP

2011-11-27T20:12:00.001-06:00

This week's MMP, by IvoryTowerDenizen, was dedicated to both giving thanks and the food we gave thanks with. Lots of yummy recipes and food references. I'll get the recipes posted and linked eventually. For now, here's the MMP.

Recipes mentioned in the MMP:

ITD's own Herb and Leek Dressing

Cooking Now! (Link)

2011-11-12T13:29:00.001-06:00

Cooking Now!

Shared by: VunderBob

From: The Onion

About Jambalaya

2011-11-10T20:41:00.001-06:00

About Jambalaya
From the MMP

swampbear: "As far as jambalaya is concerned, my recipe is close to Rebo's but always includes shrimp and I don't use tomatoes cause I don't like tomatoes in jambalaya. Like Bumba says there are as many ways to make jambalaya as there are folks who make jambalaya."

Bumba: "For some strange reason I feel like making Jambalaya. But that would entail going back to the store for bell pepper and celery.
It's a puzzlement."

See also recipes for Jambalaya: I and II.

Jambalaya II

2011-11-09T22:21:00.005-06:00

Jambalaya II
From: Bumbazine

Two notes from Bumba:
1) I apologize about my recipe.... Apparently I would have you add your chicken to the pot twice. You don't have to do that. Once is enough.

2) Jambalaya is kind of like spaghetti in that everyone has their own recipe, and no two ever seem to be the same. Please keep that in mind.

Anyway, here it is:

JAMBALAYA

about 1 lb. chicken parts
1 lb shrimp, preferably medium sized
1 BIG yellow onion, chopped
1-2 cups long grain white rice
3-4 celery stalks, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 green, or red, or yellow, bell pepper
2 regular sized cans of stewed chunked tomatoes
2 (or more) cans of chicken broth
1-2 Tbsp chili powder
cayenne pepper
salt
pepper
cooking oil
water

optional (see text):
a pound of Andoille or other sausage
bay leaves
thyme
Old Bay Seasoning
poultry seasoning
Crab and Shrimp boil
whatever

Jambalaya is kind of like spaghetti in that everyone has their own recipe, and no two ever seem to be the same, but the basic premise is: two or more kinds of meat, or shellfish, cooked with rice, tomatoes and other vegetables.
The variation most often asked for around my house is chicken and shrimp, and I do it this way: (How you do it is up to you. Improvise.)

In a sauce pan, boil your chicken parts seasoned with salt, pepper, a little poultry seasoning, and bay leaves (or just salt and pepper, if you’d rather.)
Meanwhile, chop up one big yellow onion, three or four celery stalks, three or four cloves of garlic, and a green bell pepper. Taste the pepper when you chop, sometimes they’re bitter. A red or yellow bell would be more than welcome here instead, if you like.
Coat the bottom of a large pot with oil and sauté the onion, garlic, celery and pepper over medium heat until the onion is translucent, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go.
If you're putting in sausage, chop it up and put it in now. Saute it a bit.
Pour in at least two cans of chicken broth and two cans of peeled tomato chunks.
As soon as your chicken parts are cool enough, skin and de-bone them and chop or shred, then add to the pot.
Put in at least a tablespoon of chili powder. Most folks also add cayenne pepper, but my friends and family are a little timid about that stuff, so I take it easy on them. A little dried thyme would be welcome here also. Taste! Taste! Taste!
Strain off the chicken, and add the broth to the pot. Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces and add to the pot.
When the pot comes up to a slow boil, add at least a cup of long grain white rice. Remember that a cup of rice will absorb about two and a half cups of liquid, so adjust your liquids accordingly.
If you want the rice to absorb all the liquid, the traditional way, cover, and reduce to a simmer, just as if you were cooking any rice dish. You may, at your discretion, come back and stir the top down to the bottom part way through.
If you are serving it as a soup, (some people do), put in more liquid and stir every few minutes.
Meanwhile, rinse out the saucepan and cook the shrimp as you would normally do, using crab and shrimp boil, Old Bay Seasoning, or whatever you prefer. At least use some chili powder or something. You may add this stock to the pot later if you wish. I always do.
When the shrimp are done, drain and peel and set aside.
When the rice is done, (half an hour to an hour), turn off the heat, stir in the shrimp, and, as soon as the shrimp are hot again, serve, with Louisiana Hot Sauce on the table.

If the proportions seem sketchy, I’m sorry. I taste as I go, and so should you, and by all means, use fresh ingredients instead of canned if you have them.

The above recipe isn't quite what I do these days. I cook the shrimp earlier and add the shrimp broth to the pot before putting in the rice. Also, if you're using sausage, you put it in and saute with the onions, etc, before adding the broth. Some people put in some tomato paste after the onion is translucent and saute everything some more til the tomato paste gets brown some. I don't, but I'm just sayin'

Jambalaya I

2011-11-09T22:18:00.000-06:00

Jambalaya I
From Dolores Reborn

JAMBALAYA
What you need:
approximately 1 lb. boneless chicken breast, cubed
1 lb. andouille sausage, cubed (or smoked sausage)
1 large green bell pepper, diced
2-3 stalks celery, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 lb. rice
1 small can tomato paste
approximately 64 oz. chicken stock
15 oz can diced tomatoes (optional)
salt and pepper
1/2 to1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
1/2 to1 tsp cajun seasoning (to taste)

STEP 1: heat 1 tablespoon lard, if you have it, vegetable oil if you dont. Season chicken and sausage with salt and pepper. Add to hot oil and brown.
STEP 2: remove chicken and sausage from pan, but leave the juices in the pan. Add garlic, pepper, celery, and onion. DO NOT BROWN! Cook until translucent. remove from pan.
STEP 3: Put chicken and sausage back in pan, making sure it fully covers the bottom. Layer peppers, onions, celery, and garlic on top. If you are adding chopped tomatoes, add them now. Pour rice on top and spread it out so that it forms an even layer. In a separate dish, combine tomato paste and some of the broth and blend. Add to pan, as well as the remaining broth. DO NOT STIR!!!!
STEP 4: Season! Add cayenne pepper and cajun seasoning to taste. Keep in mind that the cajun seasoning does have cayenne pepper in it.
STEP 5: Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Let simmer, covered, for about an hour. DO NOT STIR!!!! It is done when the rice is tender. You can tell when most of the broth is gone. If there is little or no broth left and the rice isn't done, add some more broth. DO NOT STIR!!!
NOTES:
-if you can't get andouille sausage, you can use a good smoked sausage, preferably with pork
-it is very important that you don't stir this after you add the rice and broth. If you do, the rice rises to the top and does not cook completely...you will have crunchy jambalaya
-it is also good to use a large stockpot with a heavy bottom, so the chicken and sausage doesn't burn.

(This makes a ton!!!)

Fresh Fruit Crisp

2011-11-09T04:35:00.001-06:00

Fresh Fruit Crisp

From FairyChatMom

The apple crisp recipe is from my tattered old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

Preheat oven to 350°

1/2 c quick rolled oats
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I also add about 1/8 tsp nutmeg)
1/4 c butter or margarine
2 pounds apples or 2 1/2 pounds peaches
2 tbsp sugar (I don't use this, but it's in the recipe)

Combine oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and a dash of salt. Cut in butter to make coarse crumbs. Set aside.

Peel, core, and slice fruit to make 5-6 cups. Place fruit in a 10X6 baking dish (I used 8X8) sprinkle with sugar (like I said, I don't do this, but I do sprinkle a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg on the apples at this point.) Sprinkle crumb mixture over all. Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes.

It does keep in the fridge - at least for one day. It's never lasted that long here. And I made a big batch today - 6 Granny Smith apples and doubled the topping.

Twice-baked Potatoes - Twice

2011-10-11T08:41:00.002-05:00

Twice-baked Potatoes - Twice
From: Dolores Reborn and FairyChatMom

A request from congodwarf elicited two responses. Since we're talking about twice-baked N.O.T. (MumpSpeak for potatoes), it only seemed right to include two recipes in a single post. I've added them in chronological order.

From Rebo:

Twice-Baked N.O.T.

Bake some N.O.T.. I like to use red ones, but use whatever you like. (350° for 1 to 1-1/2 hrs, depending on the size. Don't turn off the oven.) Put on an oven mitt. Trying not to burn yourself, cut a thin slice off the top. With a small spoon, scoop out the innards into a bowl, taking care to leave some potato "wall" in there. Place the skins on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment.

Into the bowl, add any or all of the following:

Sliced green onions
shredded cheese
sour cream
butter
bacon bits
salt and pepper

Mix it all up in the bowl, then put the mixture into a gallon ziploc bag. Moosh it up some more. Push it all down into one corner, then snip off the corner and pipe into the N.O.T. skins. Put them back in the oven for about 30 minutes, until very hot and starting to brown.

From FCM:

I use russets and I let them cool after the first baking. I mix the innards with butter, cheese (swiss, cheddar, whatever), diced onions, sour cream, till well blended, then I load the mixture into the skins, with a little extra mounded out the top. At this point, they can be wrapped and frozen for future meals, or put back in the oven till heated thru. And frozen ones can be nuked if you don't want to wait for them to thaw and bake.

No ingredient amounts, sorry - I just throw together what I've got.

The bit that you cut off the top can be cheesed and broiled for a tasty appetizer!

Miracle Chicken

2011-09-29T20:50:00.001-05:00

Miracle Chicken
From: janis_and_c0

It is ridiculously easy. Mix 3/4 c Miracle Whip, 1/2 c parmesan cheese and 1 t oregano, coat chicken pieces/quarters, bake in oven. easy peasy.

Panko Breaded Pork Chops

2011-09-29T20:46:00.000-05:00

Panko Breaded Pork Chops
From: Taters

I've got panko breaded chops in the oven. I brushed the chops with a mixture of mayo, honey and dijon after I salted and peppered them. After I coated them with the mayo mixture, I pressed them into the seasoned crumbs.

Baked Compote

2011-09-24T13:32:00.000-05:00

Baked Compote
From: gardentraveler

Improvised this and it turned out yummy.

1 small winter squash, halved, with seeds scooped out
1 small sweet potato, peeled, halved, and sliced thinly
1 large firm apple, cut into eighths and then in 1/2 crosswise to make large chunks (I suppose you could peel the apple, but I'm lazy, so I didn't).

Bake the squash at 350 degrees F for about an hour, until tender. Put a little butter in each cavity and put maybe 1/4 inch of water in the baking pan. Let cool. (I did this the day before I baked the apples and sweet potato; you could bake it at the same time as the other ingredients, though. You probably want to give the squash a little bit of a head start, or peel it and cut it into smallish cubes (larger than the sweet potato but smaller than the apples) and mix with other ingredients.

In a microwavable baking dish (I have a 2-quart Corning-ware baking dish with a lid), melt 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons brown sugar or white sugar and a few drops of molasses and mix well. Add 1/4 teaspoon or so cinnamon or Penzey's Baking Spice (or some similar spice - 5-spice powder or a mild curry powder would probably be good too) and mix well. Add apple and sweet potato slices and mix well to coat with butter mixture.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.

I scooped out cooked squash, cut into fairly large pieces and mixed it in about 30 minutes into the baking period.Serve with a bit more brown sugar and spices on top.

VunderBob's Kickass Hurricane Force Tomato Salsa

2011-09-05T14:21:00.000-05:00

VunderBob's Kickass Hurricane Force Tomato Salsa
From: VunderBob

Next version of this recipe. The difference is no cumin and added lime juice.

12 tomatoes, bigger than a baseball
6 jalapeno peppers
12 large garlic cloves
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 medium onions
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup vinegar
2 T lime juice

Core the tomatoes, cut the stems from the peppers and halve them, and peel the garlic cloves.

If you don't want the salsa to be real hot, now is the time to remove the inner membrane and seed from the pepper halves.

Place all on a cooking sheet, and spray everything lightly with the cooking spray. Place sheet in the oven set to broil, and let go for 10-12 minutes, until the skin on the tomatoes chars and starts to peel. Keep an eye on the garlic, because it may burn first.

Peel the tomatoes, and chop them up the way you prefer. I'm lazy so I used a food processor, and I drained the liquid out of the chopped tomatoes to leave pulp only.

Chop the peppers, garlic, onion, and cilantro, and add to tomatoes. Add salt and cumin, and adjust for taste. Add the vinegar, too. If you're going to serve this fresh, stop here.

Refrigerate about 2 hours before serving.

I canned mine via water bath. To do this, double the batch above, and prepare as directed, Place salsa in sterilized pint jars, add lids, and immerse completely in boiling water. Boil for 15 minutes, then remove. Let the jars cool, and the lids should indent. If the lid does not seal, refrigerate that jar immediately.

The double batch yielded 6 pints.

Why is it Hurricane Force? I made this the morning of Hurricane Irene.

Greek Chicken Koftas

2011-08-29T21:50:00.000-05:00

Greek Chicken Koftas
From: Clockwork Jackal

1 1/2 lbs ground chicken
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried oregano
3 tablespoons fresh mint
1/2 lemon, squeezed
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

More olive oil, for oiling the grill

Chopped tomatoes
Chopped cucumbers
Thinly sliced red onion
Store bought Tzatiki
Greek style pitas

Equipment: Metal or wooden skewers and a grill

In a large bowl, mix together chicken, spices, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Git in there and use your hands. Form into 5 long meatballs around 5 metal or wooden skewers. Heeee... they look like...thingys. Heeeeee. Refridgerate for at least 15 minutes.

In the meantime, preheat your grill to high and chop your toppings.

Oil the grill REALLY WELL, and cook the koftas until cooked through, remember it's ground meat, (about 4 minutes each side.) Heat the pitas on the grill for a minute or so, just til warm.

To serve, spread a pita with tzatiki, place a koftka in the centre, and top with tomatoes, cucumbers and red onion. Watch your family devour them.

Strawberry Scrumdiddilyumptious Cake

2011-08-19T06:14:00.000-05:00

Strawberry Scrumdiddilyumptious Cake
From: janis_and_c0

1 Yellow cake mix
1 box Strawberry jello
1/4 cup sugar
2 small tubs whipped cream
1 carton strawberries

Make cake according to package directions
Heat up Jello & sugar in water (in about 1-2 cups water) until boiling
slice strawberries and add to jello
keep jello hot until cake comes out of oven
pour hot jello & strawberries evenly over cake
frost cake with whipped cream
(what I did was frost cake with 1 tub whipped cream while the cake was still hot, it kinda melted and once the cake was chilled I used the other tub. you can do this or wait till cake is chilled to frost)
Garnish with more sliced strawberries on the top.
It was nom.

Fruited & Curried Chicken Salad

2011-08-07T17:12:00.002-05:00

Fruited & Curried Chicken Salad
Shared by gardentraveler

Inspired by this recipe on Allrecipes.

8 oz. finely chopped chicken (about 2 cups; I used leftovers from a rotisserie chicken)
2 oz. finely chopped celery (about 1/2 cup, 1 rib)
2 oz. finely chopped red pepper (about 1/2 cup, 1/2 a medium red pepper)
1/2 oz. finely chopped white onion (about 2 T)
4 oz. finely chopped apple (I used 1/2 of a large Pink Lady, about 1 c.)
3 oz. seedless green grapes, quartered (about 1/2 cup)
1 oz. dried cranberries (about 1/4 c.)
1 oz. golden raisins, (about 1/4 c.)
1 T, chives, chopped (about 1T.)
1/2 t., mint, cut into very thin strips (about 3 small leaves)
1 oz. pecan pieces coarsely chopped and toasted (about 1/3 c.)

Dressing:
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1 T. Greek yogurt
1/4 t. sweet curry
1/4 t. Maharajah curry
1/8 t. fresh ground pepper

Combine salad ingredients well. Combine dressing ingredients well and then add to salad, mixing thoroughly. Salad will be lightly dressed.

Creme Brulee French Toasts (Link)

2011-07-25T20:57:00.002-05:00

Creme Brulee French Toasts
Shared by: taxi78cab
From: Smitten Kitchen

taxi's comment: The french toast was good, but it didn't need the crunchy sugar topping. I liked baking it though. That's way easier than standing over a griddle, cooking two pieces at a time!

Maple Bacon Ice Cream (Link)

2011-07-25T20:44:00.001-05:00

Maple Bacon Ice Cream

Shared by: taxi78cab
From: Food Network

Lighter-Than-Air Chocolate Cake (Link)

2011-07-11T22:06:00.001-05:00

Lighter-Than-Air Chocolate Cake
Shared by: taxi78cab
From: smitten kitchen

Grilled Lasagna (Link)

2011-07-11T21:56:00.002-05:00

Grilled Lasagna
Shared by: taxi78cab
From: Food Network Magazine

Ginger Lemonade

2011-07-11T21:48:00.001-05:00

Ginger Lemonade
From: Silver Tyger Girl

The original version of this was pretty much ginger ale mixed with lemonade. I reduced the amount of ginger A LOT, but it's still good for heat and upset tummies.

I'm going to make about three gallons for Ren Faire next weekend and had to retest the recipe (I made it once before and it still had too much ginger. It originally called for two large pieces. I did one. Below is just about perfect)

Kitty's Ginger Lemonade

Ingredients:
ginger (unpeeled), about 1” cube (more or less). Cut up into small chunks.
2 limes
3 large lemons
sugar
water

Chuck the ginger in a pot with four cups of water.

Cut the peels off the lemons. Put the peels in the pot. Cut out the seeds.

Juice the limes and lemons and add the peels to the pot.

Heat the water, ginger, and peels on high and simmer for four minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat and strain.

Combine the liquids. This is your concentrate. You end up with about 4 1/2 cups of liquid.

If you just want to make a glass, combine 1/2 cup concentrate, 3/4 cup water, and 1/3 tsp sugar.

To mix up the whole batch, add 3 tsp sugar and 6 3/4 cups water. (It ends up being 11 1/4 cups or a little over two-thirds of a gallon)

Jerk Marinade

2011-05-29T20:11:00.001-05:00

Jerk Marinade
From: Dolores Reborn

It's very forgiving, and I substitute or omit stuff if I don't have it.

2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 c soy sauce
1 c orange juice
juice of 1 lime
3 green onions, chopped
1/4 red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 inch of ginger, chopped
1 habanero pepper, optional!!! (I leave it out)
pinch of salt
small pinch of black pepper

Blend (in a blender or food processor) all ingredients. Marinade shrimp only 30 minutes. Chicken can be marinaded for a couple of hours.

swampbear suggested that jalapeño might work instead of habanero.

Dead-easy Chicken and Rice

2011-05-23T19:59:00.002-05:00

Dead-easy Chicken and Rice
(A variation on Death Chicken, as it turns out...)
From: gotpasswords

The original recipe is one cup of rice* one cup water and 2 cans cream-of-_____ soup. The old standard is c-o-mushroom, but c-o-chicken works well, or even c-o-broccoli. Mix that together in a 9x13 pan then lay on chicken parts. Season the chicken (I usually use lemon pepper and salt) and bake at 350 for 75 minutes.

* You need a "normal" rice like Uncle Ben's Converted. Do not use instant unless you want savory rice pudding, and Calrose / Japanese type rice will come out crunchy. I don't know that instant would really result in something like rice pudding - it would probably just make gloop.

I normally use nothing but Hinode Calrose at home, but this dish is the only thing I buy Uncle Ben's for. The only other refinement to the recipe that I do is to lop off the globs of fat that are usually left on thighs these days and to cut off the tails. Otherwise, when it's done cooking, you'll have a quarter-inch layer of liquid chicken fat on top of the rice.

Pimento Cheese

2011-05-22T07:34:00.002-05:00

Pimento Cheese
from swampbear

Pimento Cheese is not an exact science. This is my basic recipe:

1 lb. extra sharp cheddar cheese grated.
2 small jars of diced pimentos
One smallish onion chopped fine (onion is optional)
3/4 cup mayo (I suggest startin' with 1/2 cup and adjustin' to taste)
Salt and Pepper to taste (Optional. I don't add salt cause the cheese is salty enough for my taste)
Cayenne Pepper to taste (Optional but it does give it a zing)

Mash or chop pimentos. Add all other ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy. One might also just dump it all in a food processor and have at it but mixin' by hand is therapeutic. What? It is! Try it! Chill for a couple of hours. Eat.

Other options include such things as addin' cream cheese, which is not a bad thing but I say it's guildin' the lily. Also one might add some chopped pecans (weird but different!), minced garlic (not a bad option!) and sometimes even *shudder* Velveeta (GAG!!!111).

We southerners use it as a sammich spread, a dip and also spread it on celery as an appetizer. Makes a killer grilled cheese sammich! As a wee cub, pimento cheese sammiches were always a part of any picnic. I think it was a law back then cause everybody always had pimento cheese sammiches at picnics.

Thus endeth the lesson on pimento cheese.

Until swampy encountered a new variation at an anniversary party, made by the couple's son:

Also turns out not to be pimento cheese. He told me he uses roasted red peppers instead of pimentos and throws in a finely chopped jalapeno and blackened cajun seasonin' along with extra sharp cheddar cheese and mayo.

Ron's Chunky Sallit

2011-05-16T21:14:00.001-05:00

Ron's Chunky Sallit
From: swampbear

y'all might remember me talkin' about my good friend Ron who died last November. This is his sallit. Basically it is any veggies one desires cut up in chunks. The only rules bein' there must be onion, some kind of tomato and one's favorite Eyetalian dressin' but if Eyetalian dressin' oogys ya, another kind of sallit dressin' is fine. Bonus if'n it includes chunks of whatever kind of cheese ya might fancy. Oh, also, no lettuce. Lettuce (meanin' any kind of leafy veggie) of any sort is an abomination unto chunky sallit. This last sentence is a proclamation directly from Ron and must not be violated. I don't know what the consequences would be but I am sure they would be dire, so it's best not to violate said proclamation. Just sayin'.

The Catman's Duck

2011-04-26T19:11:00.001-05:00

The Catman's Duck
From: Man with a Cat

He reports that it's the simplest bird to roast:

1) hack duck in half.
B) wash, make slits in skin so the fat can get out, salt liberally.
3) put duck on a rack in a roasting pan in a 450 oven for 15 minutes, then turn down for the last 90-100 minutes at 325.
B.1) During the last half hour, glaze with with whatever is in your pantry that sounds like it will make a yummy glaze. Sundays was extra strong black tea, honey, orange rind and blackberry jam, slowly cooked down to a glaze.

Duxk is my favorite bird because it's all dark meat, the skin is amazingly tasty, and cut in half like that it's the perfect serving size.

TV Dinner Cupcakes (Link)

2011-03-12T11:57:00.001-06:00

TV Dinner Cupcakes

Shared with horror by swampbear

As seen on Paula Deen's show

Cheerwine Cake (Link)

2011-03-12T11:53:00.003-06:00

Cheerwine Cake

Shared by SpazCat, who hails from the same place as Cheerwine does. Approximately.

From: Yes You Can Cook

Country Fried Steak and Field Peas (Links)

2011-02-01T10:19:00.004-06:00

This post from swampbear elicited questions about both Country Fried Steak and Field Peas.

Here are the answers from the thread as well as some additional links:

Answers to "what are field peas?":
From the thread:
Rebo's answer.
swampy's answer.
More than you wanted to know; with recipes. From grist.org.

Answers to "what is country fried steak?", which is, by the way, also known as chicken-fried steak or pan-fried steak:
From Bobbio.
Wikipedia entry
More info and recipes from southernfood.about.com.

Taco Soup

2011-01-13T17:50:00.001-06:00

Taco Soup
From: swampbear

[Marie Antoinette] Let them eat soup! [/Marie Antoinette]

2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 can pinto beans (black beans work too)
1 can whole kernel corn ,drained
1 can stewed tomatoes - mexican style
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
1 pkg. ranch dressing (optional. I do if'n I have some and don't if'n I don't. I'm a rebel!)
2 1/2 cups water or more, to make soup broth

Brown ground beef and onions. Combine all ingredients in large pot and let simmer. It can be made on the stovetop in about an hour and a half or let hang out all day on low setting in your slow cooker/crock pot. I usually double the recipe and let it go all day in the slow cooker cause I like to make a lot. It freezes well.

Serve with grated cheese (your choice, be wild and crazy!) chopped onions, big glops of sour cream and tortilla chips. Don't be shy, go ahead and lick the bowl clean. I don't judge. Remember I'm a rebel with ranch dressin'!

Tamari Almonds - well, Soy Sauce Almonds, really

2010-12-29T22:14:00.001-06:00

Tamari Almonds - well, Soy Sauce Almonds, really
From: Lissla Lissar

I made tamari almonds yesterday, only I didn't because I used soy sauce. It was based on a recipe from Cheap Healthy Good. Loosely based. Bake a lot of almonds at 300F for about fifteen minutes. Mix soy sauce and brown sugar in equal proportions (I think I did about four cups of almonds and half a cup each soy and brown sugar) in a big heatproof bowl. Mix in almonds, stir for a couple of minutes.

Spread them back on the cookie sheet and bake for between 20-30 minutes, until the almonds are browner and the coating looks cooked on. Cool and eat.

Next time I'm doing it on a silicone sheet because they stuck like crazy to the cookie sheet.

They're really yummy and relatively low-carb. I'm going to see if Gnat likes them.

Creamy Turkey or Chicken Enchiladas

2010-12-28T19:18:00.001-06:00

Creamy Turkey or Chicken Enchiladas
From: Bumbazine

Mix up a can of cream of chicken soup with a bunch of sour cream. I think we put in a pint. You can use low fat sour cream here if you want, it'll be fine.
Mix in about 2 cups, or more, of leftover turkey, or chicken, we're very democratic here, and about half a medium yellow onion, chopped fine. Put in a can of diced chilis. We put in a 4 oz can, but I personally think it could use a lot more chilis.
Put in some shredded cheese. We used a 'mexican mix' (cheddar, mozzerella, colby and something else), but you use whatever you want.
Add some salt and pepper. We decided afterwards that we should have put in some dried red chili flakes too. I think some cumin would be welcome here too, but we didn't do that. We also didn't put in the chopped olives.

Smear some of the mix on the bottom of a 9x13 inch casserole dish.

Now you need to heat up some corn tortillas to make them more pliable. The original recipe calls for frying them in oil.
Forget that. Heat up a heavy skillet over medium high heat, cast iron if you have one, and heat the tortillas for a few seconds on each side in the dry(!) skillet. That's all you need to do.
The best method is for one person to heat the tortillas while the other person rolls the enchiladas. Anyway, smear a bunch of goop on each enchilada and roll it up and put it in the casserole. You'll get 12 to 15 enchiladas. Save some of the goop to put on top. Put some more minced onions and shredded cheese on top too.

Bake in a 350 oven for about 25 - 30 minutes.

Turkey Spaghetti

2010-12-28T07:13:00.000-06:00

Turkey Spaghetti
From: Dolores Reborn

Boil pasta in turkey stock, or chicken stock. Drain, reserving a cup of stock. Saute onions, celery, mushrooms. Add canned diced tomatoes and cream of mushroom soup. Add diced cooked turkey. Add salt and pepper.

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients with two cups of shredded cheese - or small diced Velveeta! Thin out with some reserved stock. Bake in a greased 13x9 baking dish for 30 minutes at 350°.

Opera Fudge

2010-12-25T10:28:00.000-06:00

Opera Fudge
From: picunurse

2 cups sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup diced apricots or raisins
Grease, with butter, an 8" square pan, set aside.
In a 3 qt, heavy sauce pan stir well the sugar, cream and salt.
Over medium heat, stirring constantly, bring mixture to a boil.
Cover pan for 2-3 minutes. (watch it carefully, it and boil over at this point.)
Uncover, wipe down sides with cold water on a pastery brush.
Continue to boil, WITHOUT stirring until it reaches 234°F on a candy thermometer. Or until a small amount dropped into cold water holds a soft ball shape.*
Remove from heat
Place the pan in a shallow cool water bath until the mixture reaches 110°F.
Add apricots or raisins.
Stir until it just begins to lose its gloss, then turn it into the greased pan.
Once cool, cut into squares. Enjoy.

*biginners always use a candy thermometer. Do the soft ball test a few times to see what it feels like.

Yummerrific Oatmeal Cookies

2010-12-14T17:40:00.000-06:00

Yummerrific Oatmeal Cookies
From: FairyChatMom

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease cookie sheets - cooking spray works fine.

3/4 cup shortening (I use butter, but have used veg. shortening)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar

Cream the above together, then add:
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Blend well. Then sift together:
1 cup flour (white or whole wheat)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Add to wet mixture and mix well. Then stir in
3 cups quick oats
raisins, chocolate chips, or chopped nuts are optional and to taste.

Drop by spoonsful on greased cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes. Allow to cool approx 3 minutes before removing to cooling rack.

This will make 4-6 dozen depending on how big a glop of dough you use. Mine are a bit bigger than a walnut and I get 4 dozen 3" cookies. And if you have a big enough bowl, this is best doubled, 'cause they're good and they won't last long!

Coconut Chocolate Pudding (Link)

2010-12-09T20:22:00.002-06:00

Coconut Chocolate Pudding

Shared by: taxi78cab
From: 101 Cookbooks

taxi recommends this highly, although without curry.

Vanilla Coffee Cake

2010-11-14T10:48:00.001-06:00

Vanilla Coffee Cake
From: Ivory Tower Denizen
Based on recipe in The Breakfast Book, Marion Cunningham.

2 sticks butter at room temp
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2.5 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
5 tsp vanilla

350F oven, butter/flour bundt pan.

Beat butter briefly. Add sugar and beat until creamy. Beat in eggs until well mixed. Add flour, powder, soda and salt and mix until smooth. Mix in sour cream and vanilla until smooth. Bake for 50 minutes in bundt pan until toothpick comes clean. Cool 5, turn out onto cooling rack and eat warm.

Mini Cherry Cheesecakes

2010-11-10T20:34:00.002-06:00

Mini Cherry Cheesecakes
From: gardentraveler

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place oven rack in middle.

Ingredients:
2 packages (8 oz) cream cheese
3/4 c. suger
2 eggs
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
24 vanilla wafer cookies
1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling (or any other pie filling or fruit/glaze combination that you like)
24 cupcake liners

Thoroughly blend cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and continue to beat. Add lemon juice and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

Place one vanilla wafer in each of the cupcake liners, flat side down. Fill cupcake molds until 1/2 to 3/4 full.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes until top is set. Cool in pans on wire racks. When cooled, add topping (3 cherries per cheesecake).

Chill at least 4 hours or overnight.

Maryland Fried Chicken

2010-11-07T11:41:00.002-06:00

Maryland Fried Chicken
From: Taters

Taters says: "Swampy, you asked for the recipe. Mine is kind of a hybrid of one that I have in cookbooks and that I've seen on the internet."

The recipe:

Basically season some flour with paprika, salt, pepper. Mix it all up and dredge your chicken pieces in it.

Shake off the excess flour and dip in a beaten egg mixture. I add a couple tablespoons of milk to it the egg mixture (usually two eggs), more if you're making more chicken.

After dipping in the egg, roll it around in dried breadcrumbs or crushed saltine crackers that you've seasoned. I seasoned mine with thyme, old baby (OK...Taters meant Old Bay, but I have to leave the original in.:D), parsely, salt and pepper.

Next, throw in pan that you've added vegetable oil to and brought up to cooking temperature. Brown the chicken pieces for 10 minutes or so, turning to facilitate even browning. Cooking temp should be on medium to medium high.

Drain most of the drippings and fat from the pan, reserve some for later use in this recipe, put the chicken and pan back on the heat, and add a cup of milk to it. (Some people use water, and some people use chicken stock. The stock would be good too). Turn it down to a simmer, cover the pan tightly, and let it simmer for 35 minutes.

Take the lid off the pan, and let it go for another 10 minutes to firm up the crust.

Remove the chicken from the pan, cover to keep it warm. Add about three tablespoons or so from your reserved drippings to the pan. Add about two tablespoons of flour and make a roux. Next, dump in about one and two thirds cup of cream or milk and whisk. Bring it to a boil, whisking, turn it down, and let it simmer until it thickens, whisking occasionally. I cut mine down to one cup of milk and 2/3 cup of cream.

I then put a little touch of Better than Boullion chicken paste in the cream mixture, adjusted the seasonings and served.

I made mashed taters to go with the chicken.

If you look on the internet, you'll see variations telling you to use stock or water in the pan. You'll also see variations telling you to use ONE CUP OF OIL. I use enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. I'm not deep frying the stuff for pete's sake.

Healthy White Sauce

2010-10-20T17:36:00.000-05:00

Healthy White Sauce
From: FairyChatMom

1 cup water
1 bouillion cube (your choice - I use chicken)
1 tablespoon dried minced onion or the fresh equivalent

Bring the above to a boil, breaking up the cube and stirring, then add

1# frozen cauliflower pieces

Bring back to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Stir periodically, breaking up the florets. Overcook till the cauliflower is mush. Then set aside to cool.

In a blender, dump the cauliflower mush with all its liquid and about 1/2 cup of milk or other liquid. Salt and pepper or other seasonings or spices to taste. Process till smooth.

Carrot Cake

2010-10-19T20:43:00.002-05:00

Carrot Cake
From: moorland reiver

She states that this cake is "addictingly delicious."

2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 pound carrots, grated
1/2 cup drained crushed pineapple

For the frosting:
3/4 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pound confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans.

For the cake:
Beat the sugar, oil, and eggs together in the bowl of an electric mixer until light yellow. Add the vanilla. In another bowl, sift together 2 1/2 cups flour, the cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Toss the raisins and walnuts with 1 tablespoon flour. Fold in the carrots and pineapple. Add to the batter and mix well.

Divide the batter equally between the 2 pans. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely in the pans set over a wire rack.

For the frosting:
Mix the cream cheese, butter and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer until just combined. Add the sugar and mix until smooth.
Place 1 layer, flat-side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake. Decorate with chopped walnuts

French Yogurt Cake (Link)

2010-08-23T20:10:00.002-05:00

French Yogurt Cake
Shared by taxi78cab
From: Dorie Greenspan, via NY Times

Aubergine (Eggplant) Pasta Bake

2010-08-23T18:36:00.003-05:00

Aubergine (Eggplant) Pasta Bake
From: ScareyFaerie

I got the recipe from my Fat Club site and I made it according to the instructions apart from using canned tomatoes because I didn't have enough fresh ones, and I used halloumi instead of mozarella.

1 tsp Marmite
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
454g/1lb tomatoes
284ml/½ pint passata (tomato puree)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
340g/12oz penne pasta
fresh basil leaves
170g/6oz mozzarella cheese
1 aubergine

1. Dissolve the Marmite in a pan with 284ml/½ pint boiling water. Chop the onion, garlic and tomatoes and add to the pan with the passata and seasoning to taste. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 12 minutes until slightly reduced.

2. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the packet instructions, drain and refresh under cold water, then add to the sauce.

3. Place half the pasta in an oven-proof dish. Top with half the aubergine and scatter over some basil leaves. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Slice the mozzarella and place on the top. Season to taste, then bake for 20 minutes until the cheese has melted.

It's simple and effective, and I think it would work well with all sorts of veggies. I faithfully put the aubergine in but I am still not taken with the taste/texture of that particular thing. I'm stumped now, I have another aubergine at home and am wondering what to do with it. Curry, maybe?

BooFae also reports that she cubed her aubergine, but thinks it would work sliced as well. All you need to do is make sure it covers the pasta. Here's more information about cooking eggplant in case you've never done so.

Howmany Casserole (also, Toomany Casserole)

2010-08-07T16:36:00.002-05:00

Howmany Casserole
From: Bumbazine

For four people, assemble;
1 lb ground beef
½ lb mild cheddar cheese
2 (#2) cans golden hominy
1 (#2) can tomato sauce
An onion
Grate the cheese. Sauté the meat in butter, (this is the original recipe, remember), and onions.
Season fairly profusely with;
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Garlic powder
Oregano
Cumin
& a touch of cayenne.
Drain off all the fat from the meat. Add the tomato sauce (to the meat)
In your casserole dish, place layers of hominy, meat-sauce mixture, and grated cheese. Repeat.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until cheese is thoroughly melted.

As I recall this is really good impoverished student fare, but Wifey doesn't like hominy, so I don't make it anymore.

BTW, my recipe for Toomany Casserole involves hamburger (and onion & garlic), cheddar cheese, chilis, and noodles. Assemble and season just about as you would the Howmany Casserole, only you can leave out the oregano.

These recipes are from an old, old book called The Impoverished Students' Book of Cookery, Drinkery, & Housekeepery, My copy is so old the price on the cover is $1.50!

Mary's Hominy and Corn Casserole

2010-08-07T14:24:00.000-05:00

Mary's Hominy and Corn Casserole (So named because, well, Mary is the one who gave me the recipe)
From: swampbear

2 15-1/2 oz. cans hominy (the sorta large cans)
2 15-1/2 oz. cans whole kernel corn (see can comment above)
1 4 oz. can chopped green chilies (I prefer the ones with heat but if you are inclined toward the mild, have at it. I won't judge, you wimp!)
1 8 oz. container sour cream (Hey, sour cream! How can this be bad then!)
1 8 oz. pkg shredded Mexican cheese (the kind with peppers in it, OLE!)

Drain the hominy and corn and mix with the green chiles. Add the sour cream. Mix it some more cause otherwise it'll be all ick.

Dump half of the mixture into a three quart casserole dish sprayed with your desired brand of that veggie spray stuff (no name brands used for fear of being hunted down and sued for copyright infringement.). Top with half of the package of cheese (OLE!)

Dump the other half of the mixture on top of the cheese (OLE!) and top with the rest of the cheese (OLE!)

If'n you want to purty it up a little more sprinkle a little paprika on top.

Also, if onions float yer boat, fine chop some and throw it in the hominy/corn/sour cream/chile glop. I've done it both ways and personally, onion lurver though I am, I think it's better without the onion and I'm a good cook so that oughta count for sump'n.

Put in a preheated 350 degree oven for about half an hour. Just make sure the cheese is all melty.

If you got all the way to the put in oven part without readin' the recipe first and you have to wait for your oven to heat up, then shame on you! You should know by now to read a recipe all the way through first.

And that, folks, is Mary's Hominy and Corn Casserole. Mary is the wife of a retired Episcopal Priest and qualifies as a bonafide church lady so y'all know this is good based on that fact alone.

Creamy Garden Pasta Salad

2010-06-27T19:02:00.002-05:00

Creamy Garden Pasta Salad
From: gardentraveler

So, I saw these two recipes and thought both sounded yummy. Of course, I didn't have all of the ingredients for either one, so I used them as inspiration to create my own. You'll probably want to increase the ingredients some; this one makes 3 servings or so (maybe 4 small servings). Turned out tasty.

2 oz. spinach spaghetti, broken into 2" lengths

1/2 c. (2 oz.) frozen peas (I used petite peas)
1/2 c. (2 oz.) frozen corn

approx. 1 T. minced chives
1/2 t. minced garlic
1/2 c. (2 oz.) chopped carrot
1 large plum tomato, chopped (approx. 1 cup)
1 small avocado, chopped (approx 1 cup)

1/4 c. packed cilantro
1/4 c. nonfat greek yogurt
1 T. extra-virgin olive oil
juice of 1/2 lime
1/4 t. ancho chile powder
salt, to taste

Cook spaghetti until al dente, drain and rinse in cold water. Place in bowl and add a small amount of olive oil to keep the spaghetti from sticking.

Cook peas and corn (I zap them in the microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes. Add to spaghetti along with chives and garlic and refrigerate to cool).

Place cilantro, yogurt, olive oil, lime juice, chile powder and salt in small food processor. Blend until smooth. Mix into spaghetti and return to refrigerator.

Peel and chop the carrot (I used one large), tomato and avocado. Add to salad, blend, and refrigerate. I ate the first serving while it was just below room temperature and it was delicious.

Spanikopita

2010-06-03T17:26:00.001-05:00

Spanikopita
From: taxi78cab

taxi wrote about the Spanikopita she had made and how she had it down to a science. I asked for the recipe because it's always intimidated me. Here's her response:

GT, I don't really have a spanikopita recipe. I just sort of wing it. Generally the filling is 1-8oz block of feta; broken into chunks, 1 egg (I don't like eggs so this makes a very un-egg-y filling. If you like eggs, I'd try 2 eggs instead.); 1-10 oz box of frozen, chopped spinach; 1 roasted red pepper (I just pull approx a whole one from a jar of them.); garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste. OK, so I don't generally taste the raw egg mixture, but put a bunch of garlic powder and some pepper in. I actually usually don't salt the mixture 'cause the feta is salty enough.

Take one sleeve of phyllo dough from a box (usually boxes have 2 sleeves... freeze the other one for later). Cut it in half. Find a pan that's the right size for half. It's ok if the phyllo is a little bigger than the pan so it goes up the side a little bit. I use a small-ish casserole dish. Something smaller than an 8x8 pan and kind of deep is good. Put the rest of that sleeve of phyllo, tightly wrapped, into the fridge. Try to use it within a couple weeks.

Melt 1-2 tbsp of butter in a microwave-safe bowl in the micro. Add ~1-2 tbsp olive oil and some salt. (If you're using salted butter, leave out the salt. And shame on you for using salted butter. It's better to be able to control the amount of salt yourself.)

Spray you pan with Pam. Count out 8 sheets of phyllo. Cover the rest with a damp towel and set aside. Lay one sheet in the bottom of the pan. Use a pastry brush to brush with a little of the olive oil-butter mix. Add another layer of phyllo. Generally if they're longer one way than the other, I alternate the long sides in the pan. Add a little more butter/oil. Repeat with all 8 layers, but don't put butter on the last one.

Take 1/3 of the filling and layer on top of the phyllo. Add two sheets of phyllo with butter/oil in between (not on top though). Add another 1/3 of the filling. Add another 2 layers of phyllo with butter/oil. Add the last 1/3 of the filling. Top with a final ~8 sheets of phyllo with butter/oil in between. Usually I have 9-10 sheets left total at this point so I just put them all on. Top with a little more butter/oil and some ground pepper.

Bake at 350, covered, for ~1/2 an hour. Uncover and turn up the heat to 375 for 10-15 min. The unbaked spanikopita keeps well in the fridge, but then it needs at least a full hour at 350 covered plus 15 min at 375 uncovered.

It's not hard to make at all, but it does take some time. But after your first 3, you get a routine down, and it's much faster than you think.

Besides, once you get the technique down, you can make your own baklava too!

Flan Cake (Link)

2010-05-18T18:57:00.002-05:00

Flan Cake

Shared by: Lissla Lissar
From: her blog

In the comments, LiLi recommends making the cake from scratch.

Peanut Butter Dots (Brownies)

2010-05-13T17:37:00.000-05:00

Peanut Butter Dots (Brownies)
From: taxi78cab

1/3 C creamy peanut butter (I used natural and it was fine.)
1/3 C powdered sugar
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
3 eggs
1 1/3 C sugar (I used 1 C which was plenty sweet for our taste.)
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 C flour
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9” sq baking pan with foil; spray foil with Pam. (Note: I used an 8x8 glass pan, sprayed with Pam but without foil… it was fine. Skip the foil.)

Combine PB and powdered sugar in a small bowl until paste forms; roll into 16 balls of about 1 tsp each. (Note: I put these in the freezer to harden up a bit before trying to push them into the batter. I’d recommend doing that, especially if you have natural PB, which is softer at room temperature than the major brands.)

Microwave butter and chocolate in 30-second increments, stirring after each to distribute the heat. (Don’t skip the stirring! The microwave heats unevenly and you will get burned pockets if you don’t stir.) Allow to cool a bit before adding to the egg mixture. (Temp should be below 120 if you have an instant-read thermometer in order to avoid cooking the eggs.)

Beat eggs in med bowl then add in sugar and beat until frothy. Stir in cooled chocolate mixture and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour and salt and then add to chocolate mixture and stir to combine. Spread in pan, tapping on counter to smooth top.

Place PB balls on top of chocolate mixture, pressing slightly into batter and arranging so that each bar will have 1 ball in center (i.e. 4x4). (This is where it's nice to have slightly firmer PB balls from the freezer. It's really hard to press mooshy, soft PB into the batter.)

Bake 25-30 min or until toothpick inserted 1” from side comes out clean and when inserted in center comes out with a trace of chocolate. (Don’t wait until it comes out completely clean… the brownies are too dry if you do that.) Cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into 16 bars.

S'Tyger's Chocolate Rocks

2010-05-04T21:44:00.000-05:00

S'Tyger's Chocolate Rocks*

Ingredients: Chocolate chips, peanuts, coconut in approximately equal amounts (I usually do about a cup and half of chocolate chips... or whatever is left in the bag)

Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl.
Mix in the peanuts and coconut to taste. I prefer to have a lot, with just enough chocolate to hold it together. My mom prefers more chocolate.
Drop in bite-size spoonfuls onto a lined cookie sheet or plates.
Optional: Sprinkle coconut and/or peanuts on top.
Let cool.
Enjoy.

They're strangely addictive.

You can also melt the chocolate in a double boiler with a bit of paraffin which will make them not so quick to melt on your fingers. But that's too complicated for me. =^_^=

* I call them rocks because they were created when for a science class we had to bring in some sort of edible rock, to explore the varieties of rock. They're neither really hard nor untasty.

Bobbio’s Stuffed Jalapenos (and more)

2010-03-24T18:11:00.001-05:00

Bobbio’s Stuffed Jalapenos (and more)
From: VunderBob

1 lb. bulk sausage
1 lb. fresh jalapeno peppers (about a dozen if thumb sized)
1 block cream cheese (or Neufchatel)
1 package shredded parmesan cheese
Powdered garlic to taste

Cook the sausage, chop it up fine, and drain. Add the cream and parmesan cheese, retaining a tablespoon or two of the parmesan.

Cut the ends off the jalapenos, split them lengthwise, and remove the seeds and membrane. Add about a teaspoon of the sausage mixture to the peppers, and mold to fit the cavity. Sprinkle garlic and the retained parmesan cheese over the tops, and bake at 425F for 20-25 minutes until the filling is browned a bit and the peppers are soft. Nom nom nom.

VWife uses the same stuffing on French bread, and I’ve tried talking her into using it to stuff mushrooms (I personally hate mushrooms). If you like spice, try hot sausage instead.

Weight Watcher's Cards, ca. 1974 (no recipes, link)

2010-03-15T20:36:00.001-05:00

Weight Watcher's Cards, ca. 1974

Shared by: Lissla Lissar
From: www.candyboots.com

Consensus is that one is guaranteed to lose weight. Possibly from excessive laughter.

Allegedly Perfect Scrambled Egg Breakfast (Link)

2010-03-15T20:24:00.004-05:00

Allegedly Perfect Scrambled Egg Breakfast (link, with video)
Shared by: gardentraveler
From: Lifehacker (who knew they had recipes?)

I linked to this and it caused rigs to make scrambled eggs. Interesting technique. I especially like not having to beat the eggs ahead of time (fewer dishes to wash!)

Yummy with toast made with Italian bread.

GT Bakes Italian Bread

2010-03-13T07:54:00.009-06:00

I blame taxi.

For some reason, her question sent me on a hunt for a good Italian bread recipe. Found this Peter Reinhart recipe on smittenkitchen. Also found some additional bread-baking advice in general and for this recipe. The recipe is from The Bread Baker's Apprentice, by the way, which is supposed to be a wonderful book. Another link about bread baking: Better Bread with Less Kneading.

Also went back to take a look at the place where I got my first bread advice, sometime before I knew about the internet (early '80s, I think), The Enchanted Broccoli Forest.

Other info I discovered; best find: Food Blog Search, which you can add to Firefox search, by the way...

Anyway, here's a brief account of my bread-baking adventures:

As I mentioned in the MMP, I only made one loaf. (The linked recipe makes 2.) To do this, I made the full recipe for the biga (pronounced BEEG-ah, I think, Italian-speakers feel free to correct me), and then only used 1/2 for the bread.

What I did differently with the biga: Instead of letting it ferment for a few hours at room temperature, I left it in the fridge all day (nearly 12 hours), then let it sit for an hour or so to come back to room temperature before degasing and placing in the fridge overnight. I used one of my large kitchen knives to cut it into 16 pieces. I placed my small silicon mat on a small baking tray, place 8 of the biga pieces (isn't that fun to pronounce?) on the mat and covered them with the mat. Placed the tray in the freezer for about an hour, then put the frozen pieces in a freezer bag so that I can use them later either for 1) another loaf of bread, 2) a couple of smaller loaves, or 3) pizza dough. By the way, I used all-purpose flour because it's what I had and the recipe said I could.

Mixing the dough: Mixing old dough into a new batch of dough, was an odd though to me, but it's not much different from using the sponge method that I learned from Mollie Katzen. It mixed much more easily than I'd anticipated. I used one of my large silicon spatulas to do the initial mixing and it formed a uniform-looking dough very quickly.

Kneading the dough: I don't have a standing mixer or bread machine because I don't bake bread all that often and because really like kneading dough. Because you're incorporating the biga into the dough, you'll feel sticky spots as you're kneading. The recipe said to knead until the dough was tacky, but not sticky. I spent all ten minutes kneading, wondering what that point would be. What I decided was: the dough should hold together, and want to stick to the counter and to your hands, but still come off without leaving globs of dough on either surface. I kneaded for just over 10 minutes, adding little bits of flour as I went, until the dough was uniformly mixed, tacky and still slightly glossy.

It's on it's next rise right now... More detail as I finish.

Shaping the bread: Followed instructions, but didn't really seal. Just placed the bread seam side down on the parchment paper. Also didn't dust with cornmeal.

Baking: Put my cast iron pan on the top shelf of the oven and placed a square baking pan on the oven floor. Turned the heat down to the lower recommended temperature. Wound up baking for about 50 minutes, I think.

Bread turned out excellent. The texture was denser than I was expecting (maybe because the dough never got up to the temperatures mentioned in the recipe? also, my ingredients weren't super-fresh). The flavor was really nice, too. A bit tangier than most white bread, but not as tangy as sourdough.

I'll definitely make again and make a version with part whole-wheat flour.

So far, I've made: 1) plain bread with butter, 2) toast with scrambled eggs, 3) Mexican sandwich with refried beans, ham, salsa and cheese, and 4) grilled ham and cheese and am very pleased with all of the results.

Hazelnut Oatmeal Pancakes

2010-03-13T07:40:00.002-06:00

Hazelnut Oatmeal Pancakes
From: gardentraveler

Based on a recipe published in Bon Appetit. The pancakes take longer to cook than any pancakes I've ever made, but they're totally worth it. You can freeze them and reheat in the microwave on defrost.

Makes 12-18 pancakes.

2 c. buttermilk
1 1/2 c old-fashioned oats
2 eggs
1/2 c. flour
1 T. sugar
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. chopped toasted hazelnuts

Mix buttermilk and oatmeal and let stand for at least a few minutes. You can do this step the night before.

Whisk in eggs. Mix in remaining dry ingredients. Stir in nuts. (As with most pancakes, you should mix as little as possible.)

Wipe skillet with oiled paper towel or cloth. Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Drop batter by 1/3 cupfuls. Cook until pancakes puff out and bubbles form on top, about 2 minutes.

Turn and cook until bottoms are browned (about 2 minutes more).

I made 3 at a time in a 10" skillet and made 18.

(This is a recipe that Bon Appetit requested from the House in the Woods bed and breakfast in Eugene, OR.)

Buttermilk Oatmeal Pancakes (Link)

2010-03-13T06:27:00.003-06:00

Buttermilk Oatmeal Pancakes
Shared by: Dottygumdrop
From: Recipezaar

Dotty shared these and reported that HRH loves them too.

They're very similar to one of gardentraveler's favorite pancake recipes: Hazelnut Oatmeal Pancakes. Very yummy.

Hello Dolly Bars/Magic Cookie Bars (Links)

2010-03-09T17:50:00.003-06:00

rigs announced that she was going to make Hello Dolly Bars. Which led GT to Google a recipe (from Southern Food on about.com).

Later, taxi linked to the recipe she uses (from the nice people at Eagle Brand).

These are also known as "Magic Cookie Bars" or "7-layer-bars".

Irish Cream Brownies

2010-03-09T17:48:00.000-06:00

Irish Cream Brownies
From: taxi78cab

Brownie Base:
1 box fudge brownie mix
½ C veggie oil
¼ C Irish cream
2 eggs

Frosting:
½ C butter, softened
1-2 C powdered sugar (Original recipe said 2, but I made them with 1 and they were plenty sweet.)
2 Tbsp Irish cream
½ tsp vanilla
2-3 tsp milk

Combine all brownie ingredients. Spread in 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 for 28-30 min. Cool completely.

Beat butter until light and fluffy. Add all remaining frosting ingredients, adding enough milk for the desired consistency. Spread over cooled brownies.
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Crab Quiche (Link)

2010-03-09T17:46:00.001-06:00

Crab Quiche (Link)

Shared by: FairyChatMom
From: allrecipes.com

FCM reports that it turns out perfect every time. She's made variations on it as well, for example: with Swiss Cheese and peas.

Cajun Chicken Sandwiches (Link)

2010-03-02T05:55:00.002-06:00

Cajun Chicken Sandwiches
Shared by: Dottygumdrop
From: Life's Ambrosia (blog)

Spinach-Sausage Pasta

2010-03-02T05:52:00.000-06:00

Spinach-Sausage Pasta
From: Taters

She says: "It doesn't sound like much, but it was actually very, very good."

Directions:

Cook one package of small shell pasta, according to directions.

Brown up one pound of italian sausage. The recipes said to use they type with casings removed and then break it up on your own, but I bought some pre-ground italian sausage.

After the sausage is cooked, remove to a paper towel line plate or bowl.

In the pan, on medium heat, add two cloves of minced garlic and two teaspoons of sage. Cook about 30 seconds, or, until aromatic.

Add one 19 ounce can of drained and rinsed white or cannelini beans, three cups of fresh spinach and two cups of low sodium, low fat chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then simmer long enough to let the spinach wilt a little.

Finally, add the drained, cooked pasta, and the cooked ground sausage to the pan. Stir and cook until warmed through again. Add a little kosher or sea salt and some fresh, cracked pepper.

Serve up.

Yummy Salmon Casserole

2010-03-01T18:30:00.001-06:00

Yummy Salmon Casserole
From: Silver Tyger Girl

Ingredients:
1 bag pasta (shells, elbows, or whatever your preference is)
Leftover salmon (about two cups shredded) or two small cans salmon (drained)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Green peas to taste (I do about two cups)
Rosemary to taste

Cook the pasta and drain.
Mix everything else. Microwave until warm.
Delicious with fritos and gives a single person enough food for about a week.

Greek Zucchini Fritters (Link)

2010-03-01T06:10:00.002-06:00

Greek Zucchini Fritters
Shared by HazelNutCoffee

From: The New York Times

Margaret's Meatloaf

2010-02-28T17:42:00.000-06:00

Margaret's Meatloaf
From: anyrose

Margaret was the housekeeper of the parents of a high school friend of anyrose, who thought the recipé sounded yummy enough to share and is certain he had shared it on fb because he thinks it's yummy, too.

2 lbs ground beef
2 eggs
1 cup chili sauce
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
23 saltines, crushed
1/4 - 1/2 cup dried onion, diced
1/2 cup green pepper, diced

Mix together ground beef, chili sauce, eggs, worcestershire sauce, salt, ground pepper. 20 crushed saltines, onion, and green pepper. Grease a loaf pan (preferably pyrex) and pack mixture into it. Crush last 3 saltines over the top, and smear about 2 tbsp chili sauce/ketchup over the top.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Orange-Almond Scented Fruit Dip

2010-02-28T08:30:00.006-06:00

From: gardentraveler

I improvised this to take to dinner. I served it with apple slices, grapes, strawberries and pineapple. Not really sure what to call this, because the flavors are subtle. So I came up with something pretentious-sounding. It was pounced on by everyone very unpretentiously and I ate the leftovers for breakfast with some of the leftover fruit. Measurements other than the cream cheese are total guesses. I'll be making it again because I'm thinking of serving it when my book group comes over and want to make sure I have the measurements down.

1/2 tub soft cream cheese
3 T. plain yogurt
Penzey's orange extract (1/8 t.? You could substitute orange zest; I was being lazy)
Penzey's almond extract (1/8 t.?)
Penzey's vanilla (1/8 t.?)
Dash Penzey's Baking Spice (similar to pumpkin pie spice)
Graftschafter Goldsaft Sirup (Here's another explanation.)(1 t.)Substitute a few drops of unsulphured molasses or use brown sugar instead of white sugar)
2 t. sugar (or to taste; might need more if using molasses)
1 T. sweetened coconut flakes
1 T. dried cranberries
1 T. blanched slivered almonds

Beat yogurt with cream cheese. Add sugar and flavorings and continue beating until smooth. Add mix-ins and beat until evenly distributed.

Pioneer Woman on Good Morning America

2010-02-25T18:47:00.006-06:00

Since we've shared a number of her recipes through the MMP, I thought I'd link to her appearance on Good Morning, America. WARNING: The link is to a video that autoplays.

Recipes:
Creamy Rosemary Potatoes (these sound really rich)

Perfect Pot Roast

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Mocha Brownies

Beer Basted Chicken with Asian Flavors

2010-02-25T18:15:00.002-06:00

Beer Basted Chicken with Asian Flavors
From: Hockey Monkey, shared by gardentraveler
(Sent with 2008 Valentines; came across it in cleaning and thought I'd post it because it sounds yummy)

One 3 1/2 to 4 lb. chicken
12 oz. beer
6 green onions, chopped
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. lemon juice
2 T. brown sugar
2 T. fresh ginger, chopped
1 T. garlic, chopped
1 T. sesame oil

Place all ingredients in a heavy, resealable plastic bag. Refrigerate 1 hour to 1 day. Place chicken and marinade in a 9 x 13" pan. Bake at 350 degrees F. until juices run clear. Remove chicken and reduce marinade by half. Serve with rice. 4 servings.

Unstuffed Cabbage

2010-02-25T18:09:00.001-06:00

Unstuffed Cabbage
From taxi78cab

Following discussion of a lasagna-like version, taxi says: "My version is strictly a weeknight, ready-in-half-an-hour variety. General directions:

Cook some rice in one pot. In another pot cook up some ground beef with some onions. Add a whole diced green peppers at the end so they don't get mushy. Toss in a can of diced/crushed/stewed/whatever tomatoes. Add some spices. Chop/shred/slice up some cabbage into bite-ish sized pieces. Add that in. When the cabbage is just slightly softened but not mushy, add the rice to the pot. Taste and adjust the spices/salt as necessary. Done. Twenty minutes on a good night. And really healthy if you use brown rice (obviously this needs longer to cook, though, so leftover is better here) and a leaner ground meat. Plus pepper+tomato+cabbage = a LOT of vitamin C!"

Chicken Pot Pie II and III (also with link)

2010-02-24T18:14:00.003-06:00

Chicken Pot Pie II and III
From: taxi78cab

Follow-up from the discussion that led me to post the first recipe.

"BooFae, if you want easy chicken pot pie, just combine cooked, cubed chicken, a bunch of frozen veggies (the mixed carrots, peas, corn variety is good here), and a can of cream of chicken soup in a pan. Add milk to get the right consistency on the sauce. Cook just enough to heat through. Put in a casserole/baking pan and top with either a premade frozen pie crust or biscuits (i.e. raw biscuit dough). Bake at ~350-375 until the pie crust or biscuits are cooked. Easy. My husband does prefer the made-from-scratch variety (like Rebo's recipe) so I don't do this easy version much any more, but it does work and is quick and easy. If you want a variation, these tarragon polenta chicken pot pies are wonderful. (I usually make that recipe in one big pan instead of little individual dishes like the recipe calls for.)"

Chicken Pot Pie (Link with tweaks)

2010-02-24T17:22:00.002-06:00

Turkey Pot Pie
Shared by: Dolores Reborn

Here's how Rebo turns this recipe into Chicken Pot Pie:

I substitute chicken, and I make the roux without the meat in it, then add to the veggies. I use chicken stock instead of boullion cubes, and I cut down on the amount of oregano. Typical recipe tweaking!

Second and third recipes here.

Hamantaschen (Link)

2010-02-23T05:55:00.001-06:00

Hamantaschen
From: Zev Steinhardt (Well, from Lisa, really.)

Get-Well Garden Soup

2010-02-22T19:02:00.002-06:00

Get-Well Garden Soup
From: gardentraveler

I've had this recipe for more than 25 years and made it at least once a year. Very yummy. This is one of a very few recipes that I make pretty much as instructed. I usually make the broth using a cut up chicken. Sometimes, I'll add leeks in addition to the onion. I generally use a whole package of chopped spinach.

Make your own chicken broth for more flavor: Cover 4-5 pounds of backs, necks and giblets and/or a chicken desired for other use, with 6 cups of water. Use bouillon for salt. Add onion, celery tops and base of stalk, a carrot and a garlic bud for additional flavor. Simmer for a couple of hours, drain and cool.

Saute in chicken fat or butter the following: 1 c. finely diced onion, 1 c. finely diced carrot, 1 c. finely diced celery, 1 minced garlic bud, 3 T. raw rice.

Add the vegetable mixture to 5 c. chicken broth, with 1/2 package chopped spinach, defrosted. Simmer 10-20 minutes, but don't overcook the vegetables. When ready to serv, add 1 pint 1/2 and 1/2. If you like spinach, add the whole package.

One of my all-time favorite soups. I'm always sad when it's all gone.

Pumpkin Seed Dried Cherry Trail Mix (Link)

2010-02-22T18:58:00.000-06:00

Pumpkin Seed Dried Cherry Trail Mix

Shared by: taxi78cab

Chewy Granola (Link)

2010-02-21T22:06:00.000-06:00

Chewy Granola
Shared by: Mahna Mahna

Minestrone in the Crockpot

2010-02-18T17:46:00.001-06:00

Minestrone in the Crockpot
From: Dolores Reborn

(adapted from Robin Miller)

3 cups reduced-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
2 small-to-medium chicken breasts, diced and sautéed (or any cooked chicken - raw would work, too, I suppose)
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (15-ounce) can white (cannellini or navy) beans, rinsed and drained
handful of baby carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
2 bay leaves
Salt and ground black pepper
2 cups cooked ditalini pasta
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh or frozen spinach, defrosted
grated parmesan, for garnish (optional)

In a slow cooker, combine broth, chicken, tomatoes, beans, carrots, celery, onion, thyme, sage, bay leaves, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 12 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.

Thirty minutes before the soup is done cooking, add zucchini and spinach. (I actually transferred the soup into a large pot, as I wasa running out of room.) Cover and cook 30 more minutes. Remove bay leaves and season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Serve with pasta in the bottom of the bowl, and garnish with grated parmesan.

Crunchy Granola (Link)

2010-01-23T19:04:00.001-06:00

Crunchy Granola

Shared by: Always Brings Pie
From: Kathleen Daelemans, The Food Network

Asian Noodles

2010-01-21T21:30:00.001-06:00

Asian noodles
From: taxi78cab

Boil some whole grain pasta. I prefer linguine, but rotini is good too or soba noodles if you want to be more authentic (not that anything about this is remotely authentic).

In a large skillet, saute any of the denser veggies like carrots, tossing in bell peppers just for a couple minutes. When those are almost ready, add any other veggies you want. I like to throw in frozen (without the shell) edamames, snow peas (frozen is great here too), waterchestnuts if I have them on hand, maybe some bean sprouts, and maybe shredded cabbage if I have that. I always try to include shredded carrots, peas, and edamames (for protein), but other than that, all items are optional depending on what you have available. Not so optional are some green onions/scallions although I did use regular onions last night 'cause that's all I had, but it wasn't as good.

Make the sauce in the skillet with the veggies at the end: Add 2-4 Tbsp cider vinegar, a whole lotta peanut butter (the natural kind with just peanuts and salt in it is better here) like 1/4 to 1/2 cup, some sweetener - molasses is good - usually around a Tbsp, and a bunch of soy sauce. Add some sort of hot sauce, just a dash of Sriracha is good or more to taste.

Toss the noodles with the vegetables and sauce. At the very end, right before serving, add some sesame oil (just a little... this stuff is strong!) and a bunch of chopped cilantro. These two items add a lot of flavor so don't skip them. Some peanuts on top are very nice too, but we didn't have those last night either. Most things are optional in this recipe, but I do recommend having the scallions, the sesame oil, and the cilantro because they really bring the flavor together. And obviously the PB is necessary for peanut noodles! That's it.

Red Cabbage & Cranberry Stuffed Pork Loin with Cider Cream (Link)

2010-01-12T11:37:00.001-06:00

Red Cabbage & Cranberry Stuffed Pork Loin with Cider Cream

Shared by: Mahna Mahna after tarragon918 requested suggestions for a New Year's pork roast. tarra reported that it was tasty.

Cottage Pie Explanation and Recipe (Link)

2010-01-12T08:27:00.003-06:00

In this post we get the answer to "What is Cottage Pie?"

And here's the link to the recipe on the BBC recipe site. Shared by ScareyFaerie.

Beef Mushroom Barley Soup/Stew

2010-01-10T22:02:00.000-06:00

Beef Mushroom Barley Soup/Stew
From: tarragon918

1 lb, more or less, stew beef--I cut it into bite-sized pieces; dredged in flour
1 large onion, chopped
1 lb button mushrooms, chopped
2 cups of beef broth (I use the no sodium bouillon packages)
chopped carrots, green beans, more onion (if desired)
1/2 to 1 cup of medium or pearl barley
spice as desired - I use Mrs. Dash salt-free lemon pepper and table blend

Saute the onion and mushrooms until translucent (I just use a bit of olive oil spray); set them aside. Note: you can add chopped celery to this if you like celery

Next, brown the stew meat until it's seared; add a bit of the broth to the pot to make a little gravy, then begin putting the meat into the crock pot. Add the onions and mushrooms (and celery) next, followed by the broth/boullion. If you do add fresh chopped veggies, layer them on the bottom, before you put the meat in.

Turn crock pot on to low and let cook for 4 or so hours, then add the barley. Cook another 2-3 hours. This makes a nice, hearty soup that is really more of a stew. I've tried several different types of barley; the medium barley works best for me--it's more substantial than the pearl.

Dang, now I wish that I had made it, my tummy is grumbling at me! LOL BTW, I tweak this recipe every time I make it, so anyone else making it might want to experiment with it a bit to their own tastes as well.

Sherried Chicken Liver Pate

2009-12-29T19:09:00.001-06:00

Sherried Chicken Liver Pate
From: Mahna Mahna

Dinner tonight is toasted baguette with olives and homemade sherried chicken liver pate.

Yes, I made my own pate (it's to bring over to The Angry Russian's house for NYE dinner). It was gooooooood and ridiculously easy (like, stupidly easy... like, remind-me-why-I-pay-money-for-the-premade-stuff-again easy).

All I did was saute a few strips of bacon until it was almost crispy, then added a couple of cloves of garlic and one shallot (all finely minced) and cooked until soft. To that, I added 3/4 cup of sherry and a handful of chopped fresh marjoram, and let it simmer for a bit to cook off a bit of the booze. Then I added a pound or so of chicken livers and cooked those until they were just barely pink. Poured the whole shebang into the food processor, added a little salt, pepper and a dash of balsamic. Then I gave it a whirl until it was smooth and poured into a pretty bowl before pouring over a thin layer of melted clarified butter to preserve the colour... and tah-dah! Deliciousness ensues.

GT's Pesto Lasagna (still experimental)

2009-12-28T19:53:00.003-06:00

GT's Pesto Lasagna
From: gardentraveler

Based loosely on this recipe. I'm making it right now and will tweak later.

1 26-oz jar pasta sauce
1 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes
1 8 oz. can tomato paste
Approximately 2 cups water or broth
Additional herbs to taste (I added Italian dressing base because it was handy; you could add any of your favorite Italian herbs and maybe some garlic)

1 lb. ground beef, browned

1 15 oz tub ricotta cheese
1/2 c. grated Asiago cheese (or Parmesan or Romano)
1 10 oz package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 of a 3 oz. jar of prepared pesto
1 egg
1 c shredded mozarella cheese

About 12 lasagna noodles, uncooked

Combine tomato sauces and herbs. It's easiest to add liquid to the tomato paste slowly so that you don't get lumps of paste in your sauce.

Add some of the sauce to the browned beef.

Cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan with sauce. Place 4 noodles on sauce and spread a bit of additional sauce on top. Top with a layer of meat (use about 1/2 the mixture). Top with all of the ricotta mixture. Cover ricotta with an additional layer of sauce, noodles, more sauce, last 1/2 of meat, 2nd cup of shredded mozzarella and a bit more sauce. Cover this layer with 4 more noodles, then pour sauce over to make sure everything is covered with at least a bit of sauce.

Cover pan in foil and allow to sit for about 1/2 an hour.

Place in preheated oven (375 degrees) and bake for an hour. At this point you can cool and refrigerate or freeze. Or uncover, add more cheese (about 1/2 cup mozzarella and 1/2 cup of Asiago mixed, in my case) and continue to bake for about 10 minutes.

If you freeze at this point, defrost when you're ready to reheat, reheat at 350 for about 1/2 an hour-45 minutes (until bubbly), then up heat to 375, spread with additional cheese and bake for another 10 minutes or so. (Haven't done this part with this recipe, so I'll tweak as needed.)

FRIED APPLE PIES

2009-12-28T18:10:00.002-06:00

FRIED APPLE PIES
From: swampbear
Well, really from swampy's Mom, via his sis.

swampy comments:
Ummm... after readin' all that I remember now that I decided that's too much trouble no matter how nummy the effort turns out. Have fun CutiePie and all you other adventuresome souls!

PASTRY:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening (preferably trans-fat-free), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
4 to 5 tablespoons ice water

FILLING:

4 1/2 ounces dried apples (2 cups)
2 cups apple cider
1 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

FOR FRYING

Vegetable Oil

MAKE PASTRY:

Blend together flour, butter, shortening, baking powder, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) until mixture just resembles coarse meal. Whisk egg with 1/4 cup ice water, then drizzle evenly over flour mixture and gently stir with a fork until incorporated.
Squeeze a small handful: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until incorporated.
Gather dough and knead just until smooth, 3 or 4 times, on a lightly floured surface (do not overwork, or pastry will be tough). Form dough into 2 (5-inch) disks and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.

MAKE FILLING:

Simmer all filling ingredients and a pinch of salt in a heavy medium saucepan, uncovered, stirring occasionally and mashing apples with a potato masher as they soften, until a thick purée forms, about 20 minutes. Cool completely.

MAKE PIES:

Divide 1 disk of dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll out 1 piece on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 6-inch round, then put 2 heaping tablespoons of filling in center. Lightly moisten edge with water and fold dough over to form a half-circle, pressing out air around filling, then pressing edge to seal Press floured tines of a fork around edge. Make more pies with remaining dough and filling (you may have some filling left over).

FRY PIES:

Set a cooling rack on a large baking sheet or tray. Heat 2 inches of oil in a heavy skillet (preferably cast-iron) over medium heat until it registers 360 to 370°F. Fry pies, 3 or 4 at a time, turning occasionally, until deep golden-brown, 7 to 8 minutes per batch. Transfer to rack to drain. Return oil to 360 to 370°F between batches.

Arugula, Pear and Parmesan Salad

2009-12-26T13:07:00.000-06:00

Arugula, Pear and Parmesan Salad
From: Dottygumdrop

Ingredients:
100g (3-4oz) hazelnuts, roughly chopped
500g (a generous pound) of arugula, washed
2 pears, quartered, cored and thinly sliced
200g (7-8oz) parmesan, shaved
2 Tbsp butter,
1/2 tsp chilli powder

Method:
1. Place arugula, pear and parmesan in a large salad bowl and toss to combine.

2. In a small saucepan, melt the butter then add the hazelnuts and cook over a gentle heat for 3 minutes. Add the chilli powder and cook for a minute or two, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. To serve, drizzle hazelnut dressing over salad.

Asparagus with Brie & Walnut Sauce

2009-12-26T13:06:00.000-06:00

Asparagus with Brie & Walnut Sauce
From: Dottygumdrop

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp chilli powder
125ml (4-5oz) pouring cream
100ml (3-4oz) white wine or chicken stock
150g (5oz) brie, skin removed and chopped
2 Tbsp chives, finely chopped
150g (5-6oz) walnuts, chopped
4 bunches (at least 1lb) fresh asparagus, woody ends removed

Method:
1. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook briefly to soften/colour garlic, then add chilli powder, cream and wine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Add brie and cook until melted. Remove sauce from heat and add chives and walnuts. Season to taste, then keep warm.

2. Place asparagus in a large saucepan of boiling water and cook 2-3 minutes. Remove and refresh in a bowl of cold water, then drain well and place in warm serving dish. Pour sauce over asparagus just before serving.

Pumpkin Cheesecake (Link)

2009-12-13T14:51:00.001-06:00

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Shared by gardentraveler

From Paula Deen on the Food Network Web site.

My friend this made this for a brunch this weekend. It's awesome.

Bourbon Balls (Link)

2009-12-05T08:17:00.004-06:00

Bourbon Balls
Shared by gardentraveler
From: The Joy of Baking

Of course, because it's me, I didn't make it exactly like the recipe. The recipe calls for 2 cups of vanilla wafer crumbs, which, it turns out, isn't the whole box. So, I adjusted ingredient amounts to go with the whole box. Also, I didn't toast the walnuts because I'm lazy.

I've done everything by weight because it's much easier to make sure that I've got the right amounts. If you don't have one (and bake from scratch at all) you really need to get a scale. But, for the scale-impaired, I've added dry measures.

275 g crushed vanilla wafers (2 1/4 c)
125 g chopped walnuts (1 1/8 c)
65 g confectioner's sugar (generous 1/4 c)
17 g cocoa (2 rounded tablespoons)
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons corn syrup
1/3 c bourbon (you can use rum instead for Rum Balls)

I recommend sifting both the cocoa and the sugar so that they combine more evenly (I wound up sifting the mixture retrospectively, which was a pain because I kept having to dump out the walnuts.)

In any case: you mix all the dry ingredients, add the corn syrup and bourbon and mix together. I mixed with a spatula (one of those nifty silicon ones) and then by hand. You can refrigerate for a while at this point or continue and form 1 in. balls and roll them in sifted confectioner's sugar. Age in a tin for a while to allow the flavors to blend.

The most divine Chicken Stroganoff known to man!!!

2009-12-02T16:50:00.000-06:00

The most divine Chicken Stroganoff known to man!!!
From: Dottygumdrop

3 FROZEN skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1lb)
1 (10 3/4oz) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (1oz) package of onion soup mix
16oz sour cream
1 (14oz?) can mushrooms, drained and rinsed
1 (4 1/2oz) can tomato paste

Dump the FROZEN chicken breasts (yes, still frozen - I know, I know, just trust me!!!) into the crockpot. Mix the remaining ingredients together in a mixing bowl then pour on top of the chicken. Put the lid on and cook for 6 hours on medium/low. After 6 hours, remove the wonderfully moist, tender chicken and shred with forks, then return to the sauce. Stir until all mixed and delicious. Serve over fettucine, or rice, or mashed potatoes, or just spoon it straight from the pot into your gob! YUMMM!!!

Manifold Menus (link)

2009-10-29T18:27:00.001-05:00

Manifold Menus

Shared by VunderBob for our amusement.

Light Brioche Burger Buns (link)

2009-10-11T10:50:00.002-05:00

Light Brioche Burger Buns

Shared by Mahna Mahna
From: Smitten Kitchen

Muppet says we must try these.

Super Speedy Supper Soup

2009-10-06T17:57:00.000-05:00

Super Speedy Supper Soup
From: taxi78cab

2 cans chicken broth (or 1-32 oz box)
1/2 bag (30 oz) frozen hash browns (the kind that are just shredded potatoes, no butter, oil, or other additives) or 1-16 oz bag
1 can creamed corn
1 bag frozen, mixed veggies
Kielbasa (just use as much as you want... I had maybe 3/4 lb), chopped into bite-sized pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Bring chicken broth to a boil in a large pot. Add potatoes and corn. Boil for 5-10 min or until the potatoes are soft. If you want it thicker, take a stick blender and blend up some of the potatoes so the starch thickens it. Or leave it as it is. It's tasty either way.

Add in the frozen veggies and kielbasa and bring to a boil. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as necessary. I liked it better with a lot of fresh-ground pepper, but that's just me. Serve!

Takes less than 20 min from start to finish with no prep work other than cutting up the kielbasa. And it's not too unhealthy with all those veggies. Use less sausage to make it lower in fat. And low-sodium broth so it's not too salty. Good flavor. I'm keeping this recipe around for quick weeknight dinners.

APPLE-PECAN CRISP

2009-09-27T20:49:00.000-05:00

APPLE-PECAN CRISP
From: swampbear
(Who wheedled it from a friend for Bobbio.)

4 c. tart apples (equal to about 6 apples), peeled, sliced and sprinkled with lemon juice
3/4 c. brown sugar, packed in cup
1/2 c. plain flour, sifted
1/2 c. rolled oats
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. butter, unsalted, or if preferred, butter
1/2 c. pecans, chopped

Butter 8 inch square pan, or 11 x 7 x 2 inch pan. Spread apple on bottom. Blend remaining ingredients until crumbly. Spread over apples and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes, or until apples are tender. Cool slightly on wire rack. Serve warm, or at room temperature. Serve with a bit of ice cream or whip cream, or, for the purists, just plain warm and wonderful.

Fries the Joel Robuchon Way

2009-09-27T19:27:00.001-05:00

Fries the Joel Robuchon Way

From: Lissla Lissar

We made fries the Joel Robuchon way for dinner. You start them in cold oil, just enough to cover, and by the time they're brown they're perfect. Somehow not greasy at all, taste double-fried, and take way less oil than regular fries.

They were delicious. I heartily recommend the method.

Here's a discussion from eGullet.

Eyetalian Pot Roast

2009-09-01T19:02:00.001-05:00

Eyetalian Pot Roast
From: VunderBob (but maybe really from swampbear)

8 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
1 large onion, cut in half and sliced
1 (2.5-3 lb.) boneless chuck roast, trimmed
8 oz (1/2 can) tomato sauce
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 package onion soup mix
1 14 oz can beef broth
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp dried Eyetalian seasoning
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water
Hot cooked noodles

Place mushrooms and onions in bottom of slow cooker

Sprinkle pepper on chuck roast, and brown on both sides in the olive oil. When browned, place in slow cooker on top of onions and 'shrooms. Sprinkle soup mix over top of roast, then pour beef broth and tomato sauce over the top. Cover and cook on high 5 to 6 hours, until meat shreds easily with a fork.

Remove meat from cooker, and cut into chunks if it doesn't fall apart. Keep warm.

Skim any grease from juices. Add tomato paste and eyetalian seasoning. Stir together water and cornstarch until smooth, and add to sauce in cooker. Cook on high 20 minutes, or until thick. Add meat back to mixture, and serve over noodles when meat is thoroughly reheated.

Raisin Bran Muffins

2009-08-23T06:41:00.001-05:00

Raisin Bran Muffins
From: FairyChatMom

My mother-in-law got this from a friend and shared it with me:

10 oz raisin bran cereal
5 c flour
3 c sugar
5 t baking soda
4 eggs, beaten
1 c melted Crisco
1 quart buttermilk

Mix together the first 6 ingredients. Then add the buttermilk and mix well.

Fill muffin papers 2/3 full. Bake at 400°F for 15-20 minutes.

You can store the batter refrigerated in a covered container for use as desired. Just mix it up a little before filling the cups. It'll keep up to 6 weeks, they say. I've never had it hang around that long.

I've seen variations on this that included cinnamon or nuts - seems like you could go wild with experimentation. I threw in some extra raisins, just because.

Strawberry Cheesecake Spring Rolls!

2009-08-21T17:43:00.001-05:00

Strawberry Cheesecake Spring Rolls!
From: Dottygumdrop

Very easy actually, once you get past the fiddly spring roll/egg roll wrappers:

Ingredients
1 pack spring roll/egg roll wrappers (you will need about 15)
1 8oz. container of Philly Cheesecake flavour cream cheese
6-8 strawberries, sliced (about 1/8th inch slices)
1 egg, beaten with a little milk
Icing/powdered sugar, for dusting

Method
1. Peel off a wrapper (placed in front of you like a diamond) and brush egg mix around the edges of the wrapper.
2. Place about 2 teaspoons of cheesecake mix in the lower middle of the wrapper and top with 2-3 slices of strawberry.
3. Wrap the strawberry/cheesecake mix up like you would a spring roll / egg roll, adding extra egg mix to the seams to ensure it all holds together.
4. Once you have used up all your cheesecake and strawberries, placed the completed rolls in the fridge for 15 minutes to set the seams.
5. Heat 1-2 inches of vegetable oil in a pan and then fry your rolls for a couple of minutes until golden brown.
6. Place cooked rolls on some paper towel to drain any excess oil, then dust with icing sugar and enjoy!

Hot Potato Salad

2009-08-19T16:50:00.000-05:00

Hot Potato Salad
From: taxi78cab

- Some new potatoes, peeled and cubed (maybe a lb... I just use whatever looks good to make ~3-4 servings)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 1/2 skinless, boneless chicken breast (leftovers are good for this or poach the chicken)
- 3 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1/4 cup diced celery (optional... I didn't have any last night when I made this for the 2nd time, and it was fine without it)
- 1 diced onion
- 1 clove garlic, minced (or powdered garlic works fine)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise (also known as "some"... I don't measure it or the vinegar or the mustard or the paprika)
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 2 fresh sage leaves, chopped (If you don't have fresh lurking in your garden, I'd leave this out. I don't think dried would be very good in this.)

Toss the potatoes with oil, salt, and pepper and roast in a 400 degree oven until they're soft and turning brown on the outside, maybe 20-30 min depending on size. (Remember that they're going into potato salad, so cut them up bite-sized first. Plus, this makes the cooking go a lot faster.)

Cook the bacon. Cook the onions in the bacon drippings. (This wasn't in the original recipe, but I don't like raw onions, and onions cooked in ~1 tbsp of the bacon fat are scrumptious.) Add the garlic for ~1 min if you're using raw garlic. Otherwise, just add the powdered stuff to the dressing below.

Cut up the cooked chicken. Combine all of the dressing ingredients and toss with the potatoes, chicken, celery, bacon and onions. Serve hot or cold, but I like it hot.

I don't know that the chicken is strictly necessary, but it makes a nice main dish if you add the chicken and works well with a cole slaw as the side dish to round out a good summery dinner.

The original recipe was from Sunny Anderson and can be found on the Food Network's website by searching for Picnic Potato and Chicken Salad Cups.

Strawberry Streusel Cheesecake (Link)

2009-08-12T20:51:00.003-05:00

Strawberry Streusel Cheesecake

Shared by: Dolores Reborn

From the Martha White Web site

Rebo says it's wonderful.

VunderBob's Kickass Firehouse Roasted Tomato Salsa

2009-08-12T20:50:00.000-05:00

VunderBob's Kickass Firehouse Roasted Tomato Salsa
From: VunderBob

12 tomatos, bigger than a baseball
6 jalapeno peppers
12 large garlic cloves
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 medium onions
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup vinegar

Core the tomatoes, cut the stems from the peppers and halve them, and peel the garlic cloves. If you don't want the salsa to be real hot, now is the time to remove the inner membrane and seed from the pepper halves. Place all on a cooking sheet, and spray everything lightly with the cooking spray. Place sheet in the oven set to broil, and let go for 10-12 minutes, until the skin on the tomatoes chars and starts to peel. Keep an eye on the garlic, because it may burn first.

Peel the tomatoes, and chop them up the way you prefer. I'm lazy so I used a food processor, and I drained the liquid out of the chopped tomatoes to leave pulp only. Chop the peppers, garlic, onion, and cilantro, and add to tomatoes. Add salt and cumin, and adjust for taste. Add the vinegar, too. If you're going to serve this fresh, stop here. Refrigerate about 2 hours before serving.

I canned mine via water bath. To do this, double the batch above, and prepare as directed, Place salsa in sterilized pint jars, add lids, and immerse completely in boiling water. Boil for 15 minutes, then remove. Let the jars cool, and the lids should indent. If the lid does not seal, refrigerate that jar immediately. The double batch yielded 6 pints.

Why is it Firehouse salsa? My batch wasn't all that hot; instead, when I was starting the canning process, I was paged for an electrical fire...

9/5/2011: Later version, without cumin, but with added lime juice is over here.

Grilled Okra

2009-08-05T18:24:00.001-05:00

Grilled Okra
From: swampbear

Okra
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Skewers
Grill

Brush olive oil on the okra and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Skewer okra and grill five minutes on each side.

Fight each other over the last piece.

There it be.

Pan seared scallops with white wine reduction

2009-08-03T19:14:00.001-05:00

Pan seared scallops with white wine reduction
From: Taters

Ingredients:
6 slices bacon, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 pound large sea scallops, sliced in half crosswise to form 2 rounds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

I ended up using a little more bacon, a little more shallots and a little more bacon because I had more than a pound of scallops. I also used a bit more wine.

Anyway, saute' the bacon and remove to a papert owel lined plate. Drain most of the fat from the pan but leave a skim of it on the bottom. Turn the heat to medium, put the scallops in the pan, salt and pepper them and cook about a minute and a half to two minutes per side until golden brown (be sure not to overcook them, or they'll be tough and rubbery).

Remove the scallops and put them in a serving dish.

Take the shallots and saute' them until transluscent. Pour in the wine and stir up all the good brown bits from pan with a wooden spoon. Cook three minutes or so until reduced to half and add two tablespoons of unsalted butter. Stir until melted, pour over the bacon and scallops and serve.

I'd never made this dish before but it was a huge hit. I'll be making it again.

Neener Puddin' (reduced sugar banana pudding)

2009-07-13T18:01:00.002-05:00

Neener Puddin' (reduced sugar banana pudding)
From: VunderBob

If you've made regular banana pudding, you're 98% of the way there already.

2 boxes Sugar-Free Jell-O Instant Banana Pudding
4 cups of milk, per pudding instructions for double batch
2 boxes sugar free vanilla wafers
4-6 bananas, sliced

In largish bowl, add pudding mix and milk, whisk until it starts to thicken per instructions.

Place a layer of vanilla wafers on bottom of serving dish or bowl. You may have to use a small amount of pudding to butter the sides if you have trouble keeping the cookies in place. The layer sequence is cookies-pudding-bananas-pudding; try to repeat twice. If you can't, make sure pudding is the last layer in any event. Take a large handful of the leftover cookies, crush them, and sprinkle over the top. Keep refrigerated.

Please note that if you are diabetic or have some other metabolic condition where carbs must be counted, this isn't entirely a freebie. You must still account for the bananas and the flour in the cookies.

(Why is it called Neener Pudding? My wife said, "I'm taking a nap, so you're making it. Neener neener neener.")