Sunday, August 23, 2009

Raisin Bran Muffins

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.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Strawberry Cheesecake Spring Rolls!

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!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Hot Potato Salad

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.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Strawberry Streusel Cheesecake (Link)

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

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.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Grilled Okra

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.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Pan seared scallops with white wine reduction

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.