The Catman's Duck

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)

TV Dinner Cupcakes

Shared with horror by swampbear

As seen on Paula Deen's show

Cheerwine Cake (Link)

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

Coconut Chocolate Pudding

Shared by: taxi78cab
From: 101 Cookbooks

taxi recommends this highly, although without curry.

Vanilla Coffee Cake

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

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

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

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.