The Cookbook Junkie

No bake, peanut-free cookies

2012-03-07T06:00:00.002-05:00

Almost Instant Chocolate Cookies
Class Treats Take-To-School Goodies For Every Occasion Copyright 2003

1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup butter or margarine
½ cup milk
½ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 ½ cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup shredded coconut

Line several baking sheets with wax paper or just place several long sheets on countertop.

Combine sugar, butter, milk and cocoa in saucepan over medium heat.

Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to boil.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, oats and coconut.

Working quickly, drop rounded teaspoonsfuls of mixture onto wax paper. Let cool and enjoy.
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These no-bake cookies aren't pretty but don't let that fool you. The peanut butter version of these are a favorite of many and quite popular but we don't do peanut butter in our house. I've been looking for a good version without peanut butter for some time. I've made a version with butterscotch pudding which were good but a little bit over-the-top sweet and I know many people are not a fan of that fake butterscotch flavor.

This recipe was a winner. Most of my coworkers love coconut and so do I. They were fudgy and delicious and I would definitely make these again. Of course I said that about the butterscotch version and I've yet to make another batch but now that I've been reminded of that recipe, I just might.

I didn't even realize it when I picked this book up but all of the recipes are nut-free. This is a photo-less book but I was still drawn to it. It seems to have a lot of recipes I haven't seen before (not very usual anymore).

Almost forgotten: Spicy Chicken (or Beef) In Lettuce Cups

2012-03-04T11:11:00.003-05:00

Spicy ~~Beef~~ Chicken In Lettuce Cups
Quick and Easy Chinese Copyright 2008

3 tablespoons soy sauce I used low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry, white wine of Shaoxing wine
2 teaspoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ pound ground beef I used ground chicken
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger I used jarred
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons chopped green onion
1 tablespoon sesame oil
About 20 cup-shaped lettuce leaves, such as Bibb, Boston, or iceberg I couldn't find a good lettuce that day. I used a green leaf lettuce.

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, sherry, cornstarch, sugar and salt, and stir well to dissolve the cornstarch and combine everything into a smooth sauce.

Place the ground beef in a medium bowl and use a spoon to separate it into five or six big clumps. Add about half the soy sauce mixture, and gently mix the seasonings into the ground beef, using your hands or a large spoon. Set aside for 10 to 15 minutes.

To cook, heat a wok or a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add the vegetable oil; swirl to coat the pan, and them toss in the ginger and the garlic. Cook for about 1 minute, tossing once, until fragrant but not browned.

Crumble in the seasoned ground beef, and use your spatula or a big slotted spoon to break it up and spread the meat out over the hot pan to help it cook evenly. Let it cook until it changes color on one side, 1 to 2 minutes.

Toss the meat just enough to turn the uncooked side onto the hot pan, and let it cook another minute undisturbed. Then toss well, using your spatula to break up any large chunks. When the meat is cooked, add the red pepper flakes and green onion, and toss well, Add the sesame oil and remove from the heat, tossing once more to mix everything well.

Transfer to a serving plate and serve hot, warm or at room temperature. Arrange lettuce cups on a serving platter, and fill each one with a spoonful or two of the cooked beef. Or provide lettuce cups and the serving plate of beef and invite guests to make up lettuce packets themselves.
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I almost forgot to tell you about these. On my ground chicken post, someone suggested using ground chicken for lettuce wraps. What a great idea! I adapted this beef recipe.

The filling was very good but I wasn't happy with the lettuce I used. I forget which variety it was but it wasn't what I wanted. I had waited until the last minute to buy the lettuce and it turned out not to be a good day for lettuce in the supermarket. I have since remade them with a proper lettuce but I didn't have light for a picture at the time.

This was rather spicy but you can adjust the seasonings however you wish. I would definitely keep an eye on salt. I had a pound of meat defrosted and I tried to double the recipe the first time so that could have been why they were too salty,even though I used low-sodium soy sauce. The second time I made them I sort of winged it, leaving out the salt and basically using the original amounts for a pound of meat. Since I never did try the recipe exactly as it's written, I don't know how that would work out for you. Definitely leave out that salt.

I obviously enjoyed these since I made them twice but this is something I still need to perfect. Any suggestions?

I am adding this recipe to my ground chicken recipe list.

Here's the weird thing (or things)

2012-02-28T19:52:00.002-05:00

I am still buying cookbooks. I am still picking out recipes. I am still cooking, just not new recipes. Why I can't seem to make something to post on this blog, I can't figure out.

A tale of two cauliflower recipes

2012-02-07T18:00:00.002-05:00

Roasted Cauliflower
Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2003 Copyright 2002

2 teaspoons olive oil
2 medium onions, quartered I used a sweet onion
5 garlic cloves, halved
4 cups cauliflower florets (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley I left this out

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Place onion mixture and cauliflower in a roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Combine water and mustard; pour over vegetable mixture. Toss to coat; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 500� for 20 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with parsley.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

NUTRITION PER SERVING: CALORIES 94(30% from fat); FAT 3.1g (sat 0.4g,mono 1.8g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 4.5g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 63mg; SODIUM 408mg; FIBER 5.4g; IRON 1.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 15.4g

Cauliflower and Green Onion Mash
Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2006 Copyright 2005

1 teaspoon olive oil
3 pounds fresh cauliflower, cut into florets (about 8 1/2 cups)
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup chopped green onions
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 500°.

Toss oil, cauliflower, and garlic on a jelly-roll pan. Bake at 500° for 20 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Place cauliflower mixture in a large bowl. Add onions and remaining ingredients to cauliflower mixture; mash with a potato masher.

Nutritional per serving: Calories: 93 Calories from fat: 38% Fat: 3.9g Saturated fat: 2.1g Monounsaturated fat: 1.3g Polyunsaturated fat: 0.3g Protein: 4.5g Carbohydrate: 12g Fiber: 4.8g Cholesterol: 9mg Iron: 0.8mg Sodium: 215mg Calcium: 79mg
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I don't know why it took me so long to realize cauliflower is one of my favorite vegetables. I picked up two heads in a buy one get one free deal and decided to try these two recipes. Since they both required the same roasting time and temp, I made them at the same time. They both had a few flaws but with a few tweaks I think they're both winners.

The Roasted Cauliflower had a sweet flavor and the mustard was not overpowering. It had a surprising amount of flavor for something that looked so basic. However, the garlic was too bitter. I think the roasting temperature needs to be lowered and while I would probably sauté the onions again next time, I wouldn't sauté the garlic. It got rather browned during that step and the roasting just killed it. Alternatively, I might experiment with cutting out the sauté step altogether and just cutting the onion and garlic small enough to roast completely along with the cauliflower.

The Cauliflower and Green Onion Mash was delicious (I love green onions) but liquidy and not creamy. Roasting didn't soften the cauliflower as much as steaming it or boiling it would. I couldn't get it mashed very well. The milk just puddled in the bottom of the dish. I did halve the recipe but I don't think that affected the outcome. I would leave the milk out next time, maybe add a touch of cream instead. The roasting temperature needs to be lowered for this one too. At a lower temp, I might be able to get it a little bit softer and it might mash a bit better. I don't think it necessarily needs to look like mashed potatoes though - I liked the texture of this the way it turned out.

Neither of these dishes had a lot of eye appeal. I left the parsley out of the Roasted Cauliflower which would help but not much.

And, as usual, I ate every bit of these cauliflower dishes faster than I care to admit. There is something about cauliflower that once I start, I just can't stop eating it.

These will get a second chance

2012-01-30T06:00:00.001-05:00

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Nigella Kitchen Copyright 2010

1¼ sticks (10 tablespoons) soft unsalted butter
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
½ cup superfine sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg, refrigerator cold
1 egg yolk, refrigerator cold
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 x 11.5-ounce bag milk chocolate morsels or chips I used semi-sweet

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Melt the butter and let it cool a bit. Put the brown and white sugars into a bowl, pour the slightly cooled, melted butter over them and beat together.

Beat in the vanilla, the cold egg, the cold egg yolk, until your mixture is light and creamy.

Slowing mix in the flour and the baking soda until just blended, then fold in the chocolate chips.

Scoop the cookie dough into a quarter-cup measure or a ¼ cup round ice-cream scoop and drop onto the prepared cookie sheet, plopping then cookies down about 3 inches apart. You will need to make these in 2-3 batches, keeping the bowl of cookie dough in the refrigerator between batches.

Bake for 15-17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks and cool completely.
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This recipe might be the one I've been looking for but I overbaked them. They were crunchy in a pleasant way but I'm not really into crunchy chocolate chip cookies. It actually worked out well because they didn't tempt me after I brought them to work. Something tells me if I had heeded the baking times given, I would have had a winner. I second-guessed Nigella and paid the price. I'm going to have to try this recipe again.

Just when I was getting back into blogging, I stopped feeling it. That is actually a good thing - my blog is a bit of an escape I think. It's time to face the real world a bit more. Also, swim suit season in on the way and I sort of made a promise to my son at the end of last summer about joining the community pool, breaking my long-standing rule of not being seen in a bathing suit unless I'm at least 20 miles from home. I do best when I take as much focus off food as possible. Expect it to be slow around here. Sorry.

Kale - not bad at all

2012-01-17T21:05:00.001-05:00

Cheese Tortellini Soup with Cannellini, Kielbasa, and Kale
The Bon Appétit Cookbook Copyright 2006

2 tablespoons olive oil
12 ounces fully cooked smoked kielbasa sausage, thinly sliced I used a smoked chicken sausage
1 onion, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh fennel bulb I used celery
4 garlic cloves minced
1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh thyme I used some dried
½ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
10 cups low-salt chicken broth
4 cups chopped kale (about ½ bunch)
1 15-ounce can cannellini (white kidney beans), rinsed, drained

1 9-ounce package cheese tortellini I used dried so I cooked them most of the way first
1 cup grated Asiago cheese or Parmesan cheese I forgot this

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add next 6 ingredients and sauté until vegetables are soft and kielbasa is brown, about 12 minutes. Add broth and bring to boil. Stir in kale and cannellini . Reduce heat to low and simmer until kale is wilted, about 4 minutes. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated. Bring to simmer before continuing.)

Add tortellini to soup. Simmer until pasta is tender but still firm to bite, about 5 minutes.

Ladle soup into bowls. Serve, passing grated cheese separately.
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I bought a HUGE bag of kale to make baked kale and I was left with a ton of kale. I happened to have some smoked sausage and cheese tortellini too so I decided to make this soup and I'm glad I did.

Why does kale get such bad press? I guess all the greens used to get maligned but I hope everyone has figured out that they can be pretty darn good. I loved the peppery taste of this soup and the kale was completely inoffensive and actually delicious. I added too many tortellini because I just wanted to use them up. Next time I will add more kale and less tortellini. The dried tortellini worked really well here. They have a nice sharp cheesy flavor.

As much as I love kale, I still can't figure out that huge bag. I didn't find that it shrinks down as much as spinach but maybe I'm wrong. Heck, they don't even sell spinach in bags that large. What's the deal?

Something a little different with cauliflower

2012-01-17T06:00:00.003-05:00

Fresh Cauliflower Gratin
American Dietetic Association Cooking Healthy Across America Copyright 2005

Vegetable oil cooking spray
2 teaspoons salt
1 whole head cauliflower, trimmed and washed
3 tablespoons reduced fat mayonnaise I used regular
4 tablespoons honey mustard or stone ground mustard I used half Dijon and half honey mustard
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (4 ounces)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 2-quart ovenproof casserole dish with the cooking spray.

Bring 3 quarts water to a boil; add the salt and the cauliflower. Reduce heat to medium and simmer about 10 minutes or until the cauliflower is fork tender.

Combine the mayonnaise, mustard and cayenne pepper in a small bowl; set aside.

Remove the cauliflower with a large slotted spoon. Place in the prepared casserole dish and separate the cauliflower florets slightly. Cover with the mustard mixture and top with shredded cheese.

Bake, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned on top.
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This was a great cauliflower recipe, if you like mustard. It is the predominant flavor. There are so many mustards available that you can really picked and choose what you like. Yellow mustard is too harsh. I misread the recipe and started with Dijon mustard but I only had a couple of tablespoons so I rounded it out with honey mustard. Then I saw that it was supposed to be all honey mustard. I think the mixture was better because I only had some store-brand generic honey mustard. I did have some better hot honey mustard that I might try next time.

Cauliflower is one of my trigger foods. I don't want to stop eating it once I start (unless it's raw - yuck!) I made this as a side but I decided to make it the main course. I ended up that little dish you see pictures several times.

Sorry, that's it. I can barely get a post up these days, never mind make it interesting.

Mushrooms and birthday pie

2012-01-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Kennett Square Mushrooms
Best of the Best from America Cookbook Copyright 2005

20-25 medium-size mushrooms (approximately ½ pound)
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced (I added this ingredient)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1/3 cup soft, fine bread crumbs
1/3 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Parsley
2 tablespoons water

Select mushrooms with closed caps. Pull stems from mushrooms and chop finely. Melt butter in skillet and add stems and onion. Sauté until tender and translucent. Stir in remaining ingredients except water. If preferred, parsley may be sprinkled on top instead of mixed in with the other ingredients. Fill mushroom caps with mixture, mounding over top. Arrange mushrooms in oven-proof serving dish. At this point mushrooms can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Before serving, add 2 tablespoons of water to dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve hot.
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I had more of those baby bellas from Costco to use up so I made a half-recipe of these stuffed mushrooms. I've free-styled stuffed mushrooms a few times and I can never get them quite right. There is always something lacking. For a simple version (no crab, sausage, etc), these were very good. They were cooked perfectly and the filling had good flavor. I did add a clove of garlic just because I felt like it. They only required a bit of bread crumbs and a bit of cheese so I didn't feel guilty eating them.

Nick turned 8 this week and this is the first time in 8 years that I didn't plan him a party or make him a cake. He was okay with that (or a party and cake would have happened!) He got to pick out a present, I bought him a steak lunch (they have steak on the kids menu at Applebees!), I made him birthday treats for school and then I made the pie he requested (Truffle Pie).

I won't lie - I did enjoy a break from the usual insanity of trying to plan a birthday party just a few weeks after Christmas. I was able to use things I had already - sprinkles, decorations, food coloring, cupcake rings. His birthday treat was Heidi's Sweet and Crunchy Popcorn. I made it in black and gold, his school colors. I packed it in treat bags and added a football cupcake ring (I had a ton of extras from last year since there was a mix up). It felt good to use up some of my surplus.

Keeping it light to start the new year

2012-01-09T06:00:00.002-05:00

Zippy Ham Salad Cucumber Snackers
Rachael Ray 30-Minute Get Real Meals Copyright 2005

1/4 lb cooked deli ham , sliced 1/4 inch thick and finely diced
1 celery rib , finely chopped
2 tablespoons pimento-stuffed green olives , drained and finely chopped
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley , chopped I omitted this
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (just enough to bind the salad)
1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
1 large dill pickles , finely chopped
1/4 small red onion , finely chopped I used sweet onion
1 English cucumber (seedless)
salt
fresh ground pepper

In a bowl combine the ham, celery, olives, parsley, mayonnaise, mustard, pickle, red onion, and salt and pepper to taste. Reserve.

Cut the cucumber into 1 1/2 inch-thick disks. With a melon baller scoop out a little bit of the center of each cucumber disk to create a cup.

Fill each cup with a heaping tablespoon of the ham salad. Serve cold.
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I picked up this cookbook because I spied a couple of ground chicken recipes in it (Rachael Ray is always good for ground chicken recipes). It wasn't until I got it home that I noticed it had a low-carb slant which is perfect since I am trying to watch my carbs. However, these recipes aren't necessarily healthy. I am not doing a meat, bacon and cream type of low-carb thing. This book isn't that far out there but many recipes in this book are still quite caloric and fat-filled. This particular recipe fit my personal eating plan but many of them don't. One Cobb salad recipe calls for 2 pounds of meat, 4 chicken breasts, an avocado and 5 strips of bacon (among other ingredients) and it's only supposed to serve 4 people! Her burgers are still 1/2 pound burgers as usual (I always halve her burger recipes and still make 4 burgers).

My usual basic ham salad is ham, mayo and relish whirled in a mini-chopper. I remember making it in a blender when I was very young. I had tried the deli version and I don't know how I ended up making it myself (I didn't read it on the internet LOL). It was one of my first realizations that you could actually make the same food at home that you bought in a store - duh!

This was a much more flavorful version. I went very light on the mayo - there is so much flavor from the rest of the ingredients, you really just need a touch. I lightened up on the mustard too so it wouldn't overpower the salad. I'll definitely make it like this again. More important than the recipe here was the idea of using cucumbers instead of crackers, a simple trick I'll be sure to remember. The cucumber is bland but the salad has enough flavor to balance it out. Hollowing out the cucumber slices is a simple thing to do but kind of tedious and wasteful though so after these initial snackers, I switched to just spreading the ham salad on cucumber slices.

Let's hope I can at least get through January keeping things light!

For Mushroom Lover's: Mushroom Pâté

2012-01-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

Mushroom Pâté
New Creative Cuisine Copyright 1993

4 tbsp butter
3/4 pound brown mushrooms, sliced I used baby bellas
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
pinch of dried thyme
5 tbsp butter, diced
5 tsp soy sauce
1/4 cup sweet sherry
ground black pepper
pinch of sugar

Melt the butter and sauté the mushrooms, onion, garlic and thyme. When brown and soft, reduce heat to low and add diced butter and remaining ingredients except sugar. Stir until melted, them remove from heat, Add sugar, cool slightly, then purée, leaving mixture somewhat chunky. Pot, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 24 hours.
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It's hard to make brown food (besides chocolate) look appetizing but to be fair I think my photograph is just as good, maybe even better, than the one in the cookbook. This recipe isn't about looks, it's about taste. If you love mushrooms, I think you will love this rich spread. It's a great make-ahead recipe too.

I'm not sure how often mushroom pâté is still being made but it's been around for a while. I've seen recipes for it in several (mostly older) cookbooks. I know I've had one that I copied from a library book in my Ugly Binder since the 1990s. Oh, that poor recipe has been waiting for so many years to be made and it got trumped by this one since it was the first mushroom recipe I saw after I bought baby bella mushrooms in Costco on whim.

I know this had a lot of butter but I'm sure some of you have been known to put something on top of a block of cream cheese and serve it. Is this much different? The butter is really the only 'bad' ingredient. The rest is pretty low in carbs but of course it's best served on some sort of carb.

I'm pleased to be starting the year with a recipe I loved.

Best Thing I Made in 2011: Porketta

2012-01-04T06:00:00.009-05:00

I'm not offering a detailed recipe today. This post is really for my own benefit. I want to document what I did, so I could do it again. I didn't measure anything. This was the best thing I made all year but I'm biased - porketta has been a long time favorite food of mine.

Porketta (or porchetta) has become quite popular recently. I grew up eating porketta - I'm not sure why it took so long to take off. It was popular in NE PA, where I grew up, as a hot roast or sliced cold for sandwiches. You could buy the uncooked roast preseasoned from the meat department of the local supermarket or you could buy it cooked and sliced from the deli deparment. It was sold at church picnics. Huge platters of porketta sandwiches would come out at family gatherings. Now, you can find restaurants in NYC devoted to it. Smart people, the ones who thought of that!

I took it for granted early in life but then I moved away from home and - no porketta. Of course, I know now that I could have found it in Philly, had I known where to look but it wasn't in the grocery stores in Center City. I could at least find pork in the deli, seasoned more lightly but somewhat of a substitute good for sandwiches but then I moved again and I couldn't even get that any longer.

So making my own porketta roast had been on my mind for years. An old friend I had recently reconnected with on Facebook had posted her porketta recipe which really fired me up but I couldn't find her recipe when I went to make it. I decided to completely wing it and try to recreated it from memory. It came out perfect. It's been too long to say if it's the same as the porketta I grew up on but it hit all the right notes. This was definitely one of those 'why-the-hell-didn't-I-do-this-sooner' things. Hopefully I can do it again.

It was just before New Year's so pork roasts were abundant at the supermarket. This recipe needs a bit of fat so I chose a bone-in loin roast but I removed the bones. Lean boneless roast don't have enough fat. Pork butt or shoulder would be better than anything lean but I though this cut was the perfect medium.

(Note: You can get a decent gravy from just the roast drippings but the bones removed from the bone-in roast can be used to make an even richer pork gravy if you are going all out. I wasn't that ambitious this time and gravy isn't absolutely necessary to enjoy this roast.)

I flattened it out to make a rolled roast. I rubbed the inside with crushed fresh garlic. Then I pulled out a grinder and made a spice blend using dried dill weed, black peppercorns, fennel, rosemary, oregano, marjoram and salt. I wanted dill, garlic and pepper to be the dominant flavors - the other spices were added more sparingly.

I generously covered the inside of the roast with this mixture, then I rolled it and secured it with silicone cooking bands. I rubbed the outside of the roast with the spice mixture (but not fresh garlic - that was only on the inside). I wrapped it in plastic wrap and let it sit overnight in the fridge.

Then I unwrapped it, added more dried dill and garlic pepper all over the outside (the garlic pepper had additional seasoning in it including salt - I only used it because I had no plain garlic powder but it worked so well, I will probably use it again).

I baked it at 325 for 2, maybe 3 hours. I don't know exactly how big the roast was but it was standard. It started out as about a 6 chop roast. I made sure it was at least 160 degrees.

(WARNING: This smells delicious. My son made about 40 comments while this cooked. He couldn't get over how good it smelled.)

When you first cut it hot, it's kind of sloppy and hard to get a neat slice but it's still delicious.

If you chill it and then slice it, it's prettier. You can either reheat it or eat it cold.

Now this isn't what porketta is to everyone. Porketta is a seasoned roast pork but there are variations. The spices can be whatever you like. Some people like it fattier, even adding an extra layer of fat to the roast. It doesn't have to be a rolled roast. Some people like to serve it shredded. Let's face it, if you take a nice piece of pork and season it well and cook it slowly until it's tender, you can't really go wrong.

(P.S. I am trying to figure out Pinterest. I can't get this 'Pin it' button to work for me but I don't know why. If anyone tries it and it works (or doesn't), please let me know. For me, it looks like it worked but then I can't see it on my boards, just a red X.)

Pin It

Let me just wrap up Christmas

2012-01-01T22:00:00.000-05:00

I did a lot of baking and candy making this year. I really hate dragging Christmas out past the new year but I need to document the new recipes I tried since I plan on making them again.

Polish Honey Cookies
from the internet (filed into the Ugly Binder)

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
4 ½ cups flour
1 cup honey
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon pepper

Cream eggs with sugar until white. Combine with flour, honey and baking soda, dissolved in 3 tablespoons water. Sprinkle in ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, and pepper, and work ingredients by hand into a dough. (I mixed the spices with the flour first.) Knead on floured board, sprinkle with a little flour and roll out to ¼-inch thickness. My dough was super sticky. I added a lot of flour. I might try chilling the dough next time.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees with biscuit cutter cut dough into circles (or other shapes) and bake on greased cookie sheet for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. The cookies can be glazed with white or chocolate icing. I made a white icing with powdered sugar, water and white food coloring. Store in air-tight tin, preferably for at least a week.

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My dad had mentioned honey cookies that his mother made. I did a little research and determined that I could probably not reproduce them - she could have used any variety of spices, some recipes leave out the ginger, some use nutmeg, etc. Still, I was interested in making a version. They were a pain - the dough was sticky, they were more suited to simple shapes (circles, squares, diamonds) than reindeer (yep, those are reindeer). I should have piped on the icing. But boy these were good. They were a light gingerbread cookie. Even my almost 8-year old liked these. They had an interesting texture. The recipe suggested letting them age but I thought they were better when they were fresher.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
from the internet (filed into the Ugly Binder)

½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup baking cocoa
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
48 maraschino cherries, blotted dry

Frosting:
1 cup (6 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup sweetened condensed milk
1 o 3 teaspoons maraschino cherry juice

In a bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture (batter will be very firm).

Shape into 48 balls, about 1 inch round, and place on ungreased baking sheets. Push one cherry halfway into each ball.

For frosting, melt chocolate chips in milk in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; add cherry juice and stir until smooth. Spoon one teaspoon frosting over each cherry (the frosting will spread over cookie during baking LIE!).

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Yield: 4 dozen
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These were a bit of trouble. The first batch the cherries went wonky and the frosting never covered them. Only two or three cookies from the first batch were presentable. I started using a wooden spoon handle to make the hole for the cherry so it was in deep. The frosting thickened while I was putting these together but that allowed me to form in around the cherry firmly. I got good coverage but the icing wasn't smooth. I didn't think of it but I could have added more cherry juice to thin it out. Also, don't be too generous with the frosting since it is just enough for 48 cookies.

I wasn't sure if they were worth the trouble at first but in the end these were one of my favorite cookies this year.

BAKER'S ONE BOWL Raspberry-Coconut Bars
from the internet

1-1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter or margarine, cut up
3 Tbsp. cold water
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 pkg. (7 oz.) BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut
1/3 cup red raspberry preserves

Heat oven to 425°F. Mix flour and salt in medium bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually stir in water with fork until well blended; press onto bottom of 8-inch square pan.

Bake 20 min. or until lightly browned. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

Beat eggs in same bowl with mixer on high speed until frothy. Gradually add sugar, beating until thick and lemon colored. Stir in coconut. Spread preserves over crust to within 1/4 inch of edges; cover with coconut mixture. Bake 25 min. or until golden brown. Cool completely before cutting to serve.
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These were definitely good and pretty simple to make too. They just didn't wow me. It very well may have been that they didn't get a fair shake and got lost in the crowd. They may or may not be made again. I really can't say.

Besides these new cookies, I made Welsh cookies, Snickerdoodles, Milk Chocolate Florentines, sugar cookies, spritz, South Seas Cookies, chocolate chip brownies, and gingerbread men. I also made caramel and chocolate covered Lorna Doones and pretzel squares, chocolate covered caramels, peppermint patties, Five-Minute Fudge (with mini marshmallows), and crispy truffles.

I thought everything came out pretty well but my personal stand outs this year were the chocolate covered cherry cookies, the Polish Honey cookies, and the five-minute fudge. As always, I was amazed by how good Snickerdoodles taste a week later.

One last wrap - for now: Green Olive Hummus Wraps

2011-12-12T06:00:00.007-05:00

Green Olive Hummus Wraps
Delicious Wraps Copyright 2007

4 10-inch wraps
4 cherry tomatoes, halved I used grape tomatoes
½ cucumber, seeded and quartered
2 oz baby spinach leaves I used Romaine lettuce
7 oz canned chickpeas, drained
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil I used canola oil
1 tsp tahini
1 tsp lemon juice
2 oz pitted green olives, chopped I used pimiento stuffed olives
A small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, shredded I omitted this
Salt and pepper

To make the hummus place the chickpeas, garlic, olive oil, tahini and lemon juice in a food processor and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste, transfer to a bowl and mix in the olives and parsley.

Preheat a nonstick skillet or broiler pan until almost smoking , add the wraps, 1 at a time, and cook for 10 seconds on each side. This will add some color and soften the wraps. I don't find this step necessary.

Spread some hummus over each wrap and divide the tomatoes, cucumber and spinach among them, placing some in the center of each wrap. Fold in the wraps at the ends, roll up, cut in half diagonally and serve.

Makes 4.
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I usually end up fighting the urge to barrel through a cookbook when I've made something really good from it. I'm not sure why I fight it. One reason is that I have so many cookbooks, I don't want to get stalled on one book. That might be boring and more importantly, it might make my other cookbooks feel left out and sad. Another reason is that I try not to delve too much into a single cookbook - I'm trying to promote the cookbook love here, it's not my intention to share all of their contents.

This time, however, I gave into my urges and tried three recipes out of this same book, practically right in a row. I have no regrets either - this book is three for three.

I love hummus. I love Spiced Sweet Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, but I've been wanting to try different versions. This one was fantastic, since I like green olives. The salty olives really played off the garlic well. The overall saltiness of the hummus played off the vegetables in the wrap nicely.

For the olive haters (and I know there are many), leave them out or try something else. Personally I intend to do a lot more experimenting with hummus recipes since once you spring for the tahini (which isn't cheap but it goes a long way), the rest of the ingredients are very reasonable. Store-bought hummus is rather pricey.

I did make this with the amount of oil called for the first time. I won't lie - it's great that way, but I don't think you lose too much by replacing some of the oil with the liquid from the chickpeas or water either, which is what I did when I made it again (and again).

I continue my tradition of falling apart during December. I am not even stressed out but I am not eating well and I haven't been to the gym in over a week. I'm trying to conserve my cooking energy for baking.

More wraps: Turkey Wraps with Brie and Cranberry

2011-12-05T06:00:00.005-05:00

Turkey Wraps with Brie and Cranberry
Delicious Wraps 2007

4 10-inch wraps
2 ounces cranberry sauce
9 ounces cooked turkey breast, shredded
5 ½ ounces brie, sliced
Salt and pepper

Preheat a nonstick skillet or broiler pan until almost smoking, add the wraps 1 at a time and cook for 10 seconds on each side. This will add some color and soften the wraps. (I don't find this step necessary since the wraps I have were soft enough.)

Spread the cranberry sauce evenly over the wraps and divide the turkey and brie evenly among them, placing some along the center of each wrap. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then fold in the wraps at the ends. Roll up each wrap, cut in half diagonally and serve.

Makes 4.
___________________________________

Normally I like to mix things up and I would wait a few posts to tell you about another wrap but heck, let's stay on wraps for another post (or two).

This would have been a great recipe to have last week but better late than never. I cheated and used prepackaged turkey, the new thicker 'carved' variety, which wasn't that bad. I had hoped to pick up a turkey after Thanksgiving but the store was wiped out.

This is not way out of the box but it's something simple that I wouldn't think to put together on my own. I can make this for lunch in the morning very easily, which is a good thing. I know I say I'm going to start planning ahead but that never happens. Brie is pretty easy to find these days. I normally don't buy it since the local stores only seem to carry the bigger wedges and I know I could make it disappear very quickly. However I was in a different store this weekend and I was able to get a smaller piece of brie.

I love cranberry on sandwiches and these three ingredients go together very well. I might have to start investing in those bigger wedges.

Question of the Day: Do you like brie cheese?

Using It Up:Salmon

2011-12-02T06:00:00.003-05:00

Salmon and Dill Wraps
Delicious Wraps Copyright 2007

11 oz fresh salmon fillet
1 tsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
4 eggs
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp sour cream
¾ oz capers, chopped
Zest of one lemon
A small bunch of fresh dill, chopped I used some dried dill
4 10-inch wraps

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the salmon on a nonstick baking sheet. Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place in the oven and cook for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. (I nuked my salmon.)

Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil, add the eggs and cook for 9 minutes, then cool under running water for 5 minutes. Shell the eggs and chop them roughly. (I put the eggs in cold water, brought the water to boil, turned it off for 10 minutes, drained and cooled the eggs.)

Flake the salmon into a bowl, removing any skin. Add the eggs, mayonnaise, sour cream, capers, lemon zest and dill.

Preheat a nonstick skillet or broiler pan until almost smoking, add the wraps, 1 at a time, for 10 seconds on each side. This will add some color and soften the wraps. (I skipped this step.)

Divide the salmon mixture evenly among the wraps, placing some in the center of each wrap. Fold in each wrap at the ends, roll up, cut in half diagonally and serve.
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I had some frozen salmon fillets in the freezer for the longest time. They would not have been there as long had I tried this recipe sooner. I loved this. The lemon zest and the dill - yum!

This book is part of a set of books that I bought at a book sale a while back (my son's daycare received a percentage of the sales). There's a book on wraps, a book on salads and a book on lunches. I was hoping for lunch inspiration but my problem with lunch is I don't usually plan ahead. I really need to start planning ahead because it's great when I have something really good for lunch (like this). Unfortunately most of my lunches lately haven't been that great.

I did a lot of cooking last week and now I'm afraid I'm going to forget what I made before I get a chance to tell you about it all. I haven't had much energy for blogging in the evenings. Oh, I did finally bring the recipe archive up to date. I was over a year behind! As of this recipe, I've made 1032 recipes from 346 cookbooks.

Quality over quantity

2011-11-22T08:39:00.000-05:00

A more professional, on-the-ball blogger would probably have presented you with a multitude of recipes for Thanksgiving by now. I don't have any Thanksgiving recipes. (Well, if you peruse the archives, you could possibly find a few recipes for appetizers, sides or pies that appeal to you.)

Better bloggers would at least be at the ready with a list of ideas for your leftovers. Honestly, I don't think my family has every had an amount of turkey leftover that couldn't be handled by a few turkey-stuffing-cranberry sauce-and-mayo sandwiches. However, I do have one recipe suggestion from the archives for leftover turkey to offer you this week - Giada's Turkey Bolognese, a very anti-Thanksgiving use for leftover turkey. If you don't want to get right to it, you could freeze the leftover turkey and make this later.

Turkey Bolognese
Giada’s Family Dinners Copyright 2006

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 onions, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 ½ pounds coarsely shredded cooked turkey (preferably dark meat)
6 cups marinara sauce she suggest her recipe but I used jarred Bertolli Organic
1 cup water
2/3 cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ pounds spaghetti
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the celery and carrot, and sauté until the vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes. Add the turkey and sauté 1 minute. Add the marinara sauce and water. Bring the sauce to a simmer over medium-high heat, then decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 25 minutes, stirring often, to all the flavors to blend. Stir in the basil. Season the sauce generously to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile in a very large pot of boiling salted water, cook the spaghetti, stirring often to prevent the pasta from sticking together, until tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes, Drain, reserving one cup of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat, add enough of the reserved liquid to moisten as needed. Serve with the Parmesan.
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It's only one recipe but it's a good one. Happy Thanksgiving!

Question of the Day: Are you cooking a Thanksgiving meal this year?

My new favorite egg salad: Egg Tartare

2011-11-17T06:00:00.002-05:00

Egg Tartare
River Cottage Every Day Copyright 2009

6 medium eggs, at room temperature
4 spring onions or 2 small shallots, finely chopped (I used green onions)
3-4 gherkins,finely diced
1 tbsp capers, rinsed
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley (I left this out)
1 tbsp finely chopped dill (optional) (I used a generous sprinkling of dried dill)
2-3 tbsp mayonnaise
Dab of Dijon mustard
2-3 dashes of Tabasco sauce (optional)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Slices of wholemeal, sourdough, rye or your favourite bread, to serve (I only had Fiber One Honey Wheat bread on hand)

1. First, boil the eggs. (The author discusses how to cook the eggs and suggests the egg yolks should be soft but I just hard boiled them.)

2. Peel the eggs. Roughly chop the eggs and mix with the spring onions or shallots, gherkins, capers, parsley and dill, if using. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard and Tabasco, if using.

3. Gently combine this mixture with the eggs and season with salt and pepper. Serve on wholemeal, sourdough or rye bread, as closed or open sandwiches.
__________________________________

I've always loved egg salad but no egg salad has ever impressed me as much as this one. I just happen to love green onions, capers and dill. The gherkins add a nice punch. You don't need very much mayo for this - the second time I made it I cut back on the mayo and punched up the Dijon mustard (I made a half-batch to start but it was so good I soon found myself making another half-batch). If you used eggs with a soft yolk as the author suggests, the salad would probably require even less dressing.

Green onions have become the staple onion in my produce bin. Sweet onions had been my staple onion forever but I think I've only purchased two of them since I've moved in August. I particularly like green onions for use in salads.

This recipe is so named because it uses the classic ingredients in tartare (tartar) sauce. I love tartar sauce sauce so it's no wonder I love this. Tartar sauce often has tarragon so you could add that or switch out the dill for tarragon

I checked this cookbook out of the library. It's a bit out of my league - not in complexity but this is more for the crowd who buy organic, eat locally, eat seasonally, grind there own wheat, etc, while I am lucky to get food on the table at all these days. However, I have my eye on many recipes in this cookbook.

I baked for a bake sale this week. South Seas Cookies, 7 Up Cake, and Peppermint Patties are my standards. I should have taken a new picture of the South Seas Cookies! They came out really nice. I also made Sweet and Crunch popcorn (in pink), chocolate covered pretzel rods (chocolate with white chocolate drizzle and white chocolate with assorted sprinkles and jimmies) and boxed brownies that I melted and spread a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips on top after they came out of the oven (they were studier to package that way). Everything sold well. People seemed a bit afraid of the pink popcorn. I used to eat pink popcorn at the zoo when I was a kid but maybe not everyone had that experience. But at least one woman who bought it soon came back for more. It's one of Nick's favorites. Heidi's got some great recipes.

Question of the Day: Do you like eggs? Eggs seem to be one of those foods that many people dislike.

Old-fashioned goodness: Grated Apple Cake

2011-11-10T06:14:00.000-05:00

Grated Apple Cake
The New Karo All American Cook Book (undated)

2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ cup margarine
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar (I used light)
½ cup Karo dark corn syrup
2 eggs
1 ½ cups coarsely grated pared cooking apple

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg together; set aside. Blend margarine and brown sugar in mixing bowl. Add Karo syrup, then eggs; blend until smooth. Add the sifted dry ingredients, a small amount at a time, beating until blended. Fold in grated apple. Pour into greased and lightly floured (13x9 ½ x 2 inch) baking pan. Bake in 350 degree F oven about 35 minutes, or until cake tests done. Cut into squares and serve warm with lemon sauce or sour cream. (I frosted it with a brown sugar frosting.)
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I earmarked this recipe quite some time ago. It was in an old Karo Syrup recipe book. I think it was the grated apples that appealed to me - I knew that would make a moist cake. What really made this cake shine for me though was that it was seasoned only with nutmeg and dark corn syrup (which adds a molasses flavor) - no cinnamon. I love cinnamon of course but it seems like just about every apple cake recipe calls for a bit of it and it turned out to be a nice change to leave it out. Although, I don't really know if I'd categorize this as an apple cake. The grated apples add moistness more than flavor, similar to using applesauce in a recipe. This is more of a spice cake.

I chose to put some brown sugar frosting on it. I used the one from this Legacy Apple Cake (if you are looking for a more apple-y apple cake, that's the one to try.) A confectioners' sugar glaze would be a good option too.

This was a real hit with me. I'm not sure if this type of cake still has mass appeal - you just don't see as many spice cake recipes or baking recipes flavored with nutmeg or molasses in newer cookbooks. I enjoy recipes like this and they always go over well with the work crowd too.

Question of the Day: Do you like spice cake?

Just what I needed: Chicken Chili

2011-11-09T06:00:00.002-05:00

Chicken Chili
Favorite Brand Names Slow Cooker, Casseroles and More Copyright 2002

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound ground chicken or turkey I used chicken
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
2 fresh jalapeño peppers,* chopped I used serranos
1 can (28 ounces) tomatoes, cut up, undrained
1 can (15-1/2 ounces) kidney beans, drained
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Heat oil in 5-quart Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken, onion and bell pepper until chicken is no longer pink and onion is crisp-tender, stirring frequently to break up chicken. Stir in jalapeño peppers, tomatoes with juice, beans, tomato sauce, chili powder, salt, oregano, cumin and red pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, uncovered, 45 minutes to blend flavors. To serve, spoon into 6 bowls and top with cheese.
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I've been in the mood for chili and it was also about time to try another ground chicken recipe. I had a couple of packages of it in the freezer. Now, this particular recipe would be one where you could use just about any ground meat that you like - turkey, beef, pork or even venison - and you'd probably get good, somewhat similar results.

I followed the recipe exactly except for having to use serrano chilies instead of jalapeños because that's what the store had. Also, I used San Marzano tomatoes since I can finally get them here and I wanted to see what all the hoopla was about. The chili turned out perfect but I can't say for sure if the San Marzano tomatoes made a difference. They were definitely good canned tomatoes but I'm a little suspicious - I'm not sure if they were true Italian San Marzano tomatoes. I'll have to do more research and experimenting on them before I decide if they are worth the extra money.

This had the right amount of heat for me - a kick but it didn't linger too long. That was just blind luck - I decided to add the two chilies with seeds and all. I could have regretted that, depending on the peppers. It had a good consistency and a bit of sweetness even though no sugar was added. It had a good ratio of meat to beans but I think I could have stretched it with another can of beans.

Another successful ground chicken recipe. I'm going to add it to the ground chicken recipe round-up.

This is a monster of a cookbook. It's always been a favorite of mine. I've gotten quite a few good recipes from it (and one of my worst disasters - a crab enchilada that had cinnamon in the sauce. I still gag thinking about that.)

Question of the Day: How hot (spicy) do you like your chili?

Something new for me: Five-Spice Roast Chicken

2011-11-07T06:00:00.002-05:00

Five-Spice Roast Chicken
Quick & Easy Chinese Copyright 2008

1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons dry sherry or Shaoxing rice wine
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 pound chicken legs and thighs or one whole chicken cut-up

In a large bowl combine the soy sauce, vegetable oil, sherry, garlic, ginger, five-spice powder, sugar and salt, and stir to mix everything well and dissolve the sugar and salt.

Add the chicken pieces and turn to coat them evenly. Cover and set aside for 1 hour or as long as overnight.

To cook the chicken, heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Arrange the chicken pieces on the rack of a roasting pan, or simply place them on a baking sheet with sides to catch the juices. Cook 25 minutes and them remove from the oven and turn each piece over.

Continue cooking until the chicken is wonderfully and evenly brown and cooked through, about 45 minutes total.

Transfer to a serving platter and let rest for 10 minutes. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.
_________________________________

Five-spice powder was one of the few spices/spice mixtures that I did not already have in my cupboard. I saw it recently at a good price in a discount store but I passed it up at first. Then I started noticing several recipes that called for it, recipes that sounded good to me, if I turned out to like the taste of five-spice powder. I decided to go back and get the five-spice powder since at $1.49 for a bottle of the Spice Islands brand that wasn't anywhere near expiring, I didn't have much to lose.

I only made a half-batch of this so I only used 1/2 teaspoon of the powder in this recipe. It added a certain something without being overpowering. The chicken was really infused with the flavor of the marinade since I let it sit overnight (in the refrigerator of course). It was enjoyable, not a real 'wow!', but it was a good introduction to five-spice powder.

Five-spice powder varies but Spice Islands brand contains cinnamon, anise, fennel, black pepper and cloves. I was fearful of the cinnamon - I don't usually care for it in savory dishes (chili with cinnamon was one of the worst recipes I've made). I liked this with the chicken and I'm going to try more recipes using it but I'm going to make sure to use it sparingly.

I have several Chinese cookbooks. Cooking Chinese food at home is really not that hard, especially now when you can easily get just about any ingredient you need from one source or another. I really like the selection of recipes in this book (many classics, a few not-so-mundane recipes, all very doable) but the layout is a bit funky - I don't like the way ingredient lists are often carried on to the next page. They could have chosen a layout that prevented this in all but the longest recipes. That's a minor nitpick though. I would definitely recommend this as a starter Chinese cookbook.

Question of the Day: Five-spice powder - have you tried it? Do you like it? What recipes have you used it in? (Okay, maybe that should have been Questions of the Day.)

Cooking For One: Chicken a la King

2011-11-03T06:00:00.012-04:00

Chicken a la King
Cooking For One Is Fun Copyright 1976

1 tablespoon butter (I needed 2 tablespoons)
¼ cup mushrooms
1 tablespoon flour
½ cup chicken broth
½ to 2/3 cup cooked chicken
¼ cup pimientos, diced
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon sherry
Salt and pepper

1. Melt the butter in a small casserole and sauté the mushrooms for 1 minute. Remove the mushrooms. Now stir the flour into the butter in the casserole (I had to add another tablespoon since the mushrooms absorbed the first tablespoon) and gradually add the chicken broth. Continue stirring until the sauce is smooth.
2. Add the chicken, pimientos, and mushrooms to the sauce and keep it warm.
3. At serving time, heat the casserole thoroughly and stir in the egg yolk, sherry, and season as necessary. Serve immediately.
_____________________________________

I've always loved chicken a la king. I used to buy it in boil-in-bags. Yes, I used to eat boil-in-bags. They were cheap, single serving, and I liked them. They were a staple in my single days. Sadly, they no longer make them and canned chicken a la king just isn't the same. Chicken a la king can be a bit rich (some recipes call for heavy cream) so I've shied away from making a full recipe of it but the moment I first saw this recipe - a single serving AND it had no cream - I knew right away I would make this someday. Someday was last week when I had three mushrooms and most of a rotisserie chicken leftover in the refrigerator. I picked up a 79 cent jar of pimientos and I was in business.

I know it's not the most attractive picture but trust me, chicken in a rich gravy with mushrooms? Delicious. I served it over some toasted Fiber One honey wheat bread. I toasted the bread in the oven. I didn't have a toaster oven or toaster at the time.(I have a toaster oven now - you'd be surprised how much you could miss toast!) It was a very satisfying dinner.

I'm not surprised that most of you aren't cooking for one very often. I'm still having trouble cooking just for myself. I usually have the best intentions but when I don't have the boys, I'm usually more inclined to use up whatever is left in the refrigerator. I have to start cooking more on the weekends. Don't worry - I won't inundate you with one serving recipes.

Question of the Day: Are there any convenience foods that you miss? That's probably a repeat question but my brain is mush.

More Halloween treats

2011-10-31T06:00:00.002-04:00

Crunchy Brown Sugar Shortbread
Cookies 1,001 Mouthwatering Recipes From Around the World

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 ¼ cups firmly packed light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Sift the flour and salt into a medium bowl. Beat the butter, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until creamy. Mix in the dry ingredients to form a smooth dough. Press the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter two cookie sheets. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of ¼ inch. Use a 2-inch cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Gather the dough scraps, re-roll, and continue cutting out cookies until all the dough is used. I ended up making balls of dough and squishing them down with cookie stamps. Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to the prepared cookie sheets, placing the 1-inch apart. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until just golden at the edges, rotating the sheets halfway through for even baking. Transfer to racks to cool.

Makes 16-20 cookies.
___________________________________

I received a set of Halloween cookie stamps for my birthday and I made sure to get a batch of stamped cookies made for Halloween. I'm trying hard to use my holiday-themed cooking items - sprinkles, cupcake liners, cookie cutters, etc.

I knew for the stamp to work, I'd have to use a shortbread cookie recipe and I'm really not a big fan of homemade shortbread. I can't pinpoint why that is since I love Lorna Doones and other commercial shortbread cookies but whenever I've made shortbread, I haven't been that impressed. Maybe because it looks like I keep making the same basic recipe (I just noticed that - I knew I made shortbread before but I just verified that it wasn't a recipe from this book - I didn't think to check if the recipe was basically the same). I know there are variations - I think I'd probably prefer one without brown sugar.

Even though I didn't swoon over these, both boys ate a couple of these right away. Go figure - they don't get excited over most of the baked goods I make. I wasn't expecting these to be a hit with them but they were.

I love this cookbook. I have the cake version too. Both have lots of recipes (1,001 they say but I never counted), which is great, but whenever a book boasts a huge amount of recipes, you can't trust that they were all meticulously tested. Also, these books want to show you lots of recipes - not necessarily the best recipes. For those reasons, every recipe is a bit of a crap shoot but I've had more successes than not.

Just a picture: Halloween cupcakes

2011-10-24T06:00:00.002-04:00

No recipe today (I just can't produce the material I used to!) I had a bunch of Halloween sprinkles in my stash and I received some nice greaseproof Halloween-themed cupcake liners as a gift for my birthday earlier this month so I just wanted to make some cupcakes without looking for a recipe. I haven't had a lot of success with from-scratch cupcakes and I'm not really on a mission to find that perfect cupcake recipe either so for these I used boxed mix (yellow with orange flecks). I will still occasionally try more cupcake recipes but if I don't resort to the box more often, I'll never make a dent in my supply of cupcake liners and sprinkles.

I like boxed cake mix. It's consistent. These cupcakes all rose beautifully - the all had the same not-too-high of a dome on top and none of them mushroomed over. They weren't dry although I probably overbaked them slightly. Topped with Easy Buttercream (I'm not as big a fan of canned frosting as I am of boxed cake mix), these weren't half-bad.

(This barely made a dent in my sprinkle stash but what do you want to bet that I pick up more Halloween sprinkles on clearance after Halloween?)

Sorry, Mandi

2011-10-21T06:00:00.002-04:00

Citrus Cookies
Homestyle Cookies, Muffins + Cakes Copyright 2009

9 tablespoons unsalted butter (125 grams)
¾ cup powdered sugar (90 g)
1½ cups all-purpose flour (185 g)
2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest I used the zest of one lime
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest I used the zest of one lemon
1/3 cup sour cream (80 g)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Orange Icing

1 ¼ cups powdered sugar (150 g)
2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest I used the zest of one orange
2 tablespoons orange juice

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Light grease two baking trays. I used parchment paper. Place the butter, powdered sugar, flour and lime and lemon zest in a food processor. Process for 10 seconds or until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the sour cream and lemon juice and process for 10 seconds or until the mixture is finely combined.
2. Drop level tablespoons of mixture onto prepared trays, allowing room for spreading. Mine didn't spread that much. I used a cookie scoop and flattened the dough slightly. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden. I had to bake mine about another 5 minutes longer. Cool completely on wire rack.
3. To make orange icing, combine the icing sugar, zest and juice in a bowl. Stand the bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring until the icing is smooth and glossy. I nuked it. Spread the icing over the cookies with a flat-bladed knife. I just dipped the tops of the cookies in the icing.

Makes about 30. I only got about 20.
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This recipe is so positively citrusy. Great for anyone who loves citrus, but not-so-great for Mandi, who I know is allergic to citrus. Hopefully there aren't too many others ought there saddled with a citrus allergy. I think that allergy would be a tough one to deal with.

Zest is really the best way to get citrus flavor in a baked good and Microplanes make it so easy to get fine bits of zest. The Microplane is definitely one of my most recommended must-have kitchen tools. I have the classic version but they make several different products for the kitchen. I have no affiliation with Microplane - they just make a great product. I can't even remember how I zested citrus before I bought this tool.  I remember that zesting wasn't all that easy or efficient but now it's both. With the zesting out of the way, this recipe comes together very quickly. It doesn't make a lot of cookies but sometimes you just don't need dozens of cookies.

As I've mentioned before, I am glazed-challenged. Anything glazed usually comes out too sticky but this is the first time I cooked a glaze and the results were awesome. The surface was completely dry yet the glaze did not get tooth-chipping hard. They did have somewhat of a matte finish which isn't as appealing as a bit of shine. A sprinkle of sanding sugar would have provided some sparkle. I really couldn't decide if these cookies were visually appealing or not. I was really on the fence. I liked the color (that's all natural).

This cookbook is from the bargain book table of one of the large bookstore chains (which has since gone out of business). I was meeting someone for lunch nearby and decided to 'browse' for a while (this was months ago). It's a big book with lots of color pictures. It has U.S. measurements but it must have it's roots in Europe somewhere since you can tell by the measurements and the ingredient names (dessicated coconut, sultanas, for instance) that it didn't originate here. I have plenty of these books in my collection. It's hard to resist the big color pictures - it's food porn at it's best. I did start to shy away from them since I find they mostly come from the same publishers, they contain a lof of the same recipes, and I do try to mix things up in my collection.  However, this book was definitely a fresh addition to my collection.

Question of the Day:  What do you use to zest citrus?

She's back - again!

2011-10-17T06:00:00.007-04:00

Marinated Green Beans
The New Holly Clegg Trim & Terrific Cookbook Copyright 2002, 2006

2 pounds fresh green beans
¼ cup chopped red onion I used green onion
2 cups cherry tomato halves I used grape tomatoes
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook or steam the green beans in a little water in the microwave or on the stove until crisp-tender. Drain. (I shocked them in ice water.) Add the onion and tomato.

In a small bowl, mix together the vinegar, mustard, sugar, olive oil, salt and pepper and toss with the green bean mixture. Serve or refrigerate until serving.
________________________________________

I put this cookbook aside because I really hate to share any single cookbook too heavily but it's been a while and some of you may still need to know about this cookbook. This is my favorite 'healthy' cookbook. I have a lot of good healthy cookbooks but I love how well-rounded this one is. It's not low-carb or high-fiber or fat-free or sugar-free. Everything is in moderation. Most importantly, the recipes are for the kind of food that I eat. They are mostly from scratch but there are a few convenience ingredients making appearances. There are recipes you can serve your family for dinner and recipes that are 'fancy' enough to serve to company. Nothing is overly complicated.

I had picked up some pre-trimmed, steam-in-bag, fresh green beans at a good price and decided to try this recipe with one bag of them. It was a 12-ounce bag so I added a bit more tomato. I couldn't find red onion in the store and I already had green onion so I went with that. It worked for me. I should have made the full recipe - I loved this. I will probably make another batch tomorrow. Of course, as I always caution, you must use a good balsamic. The one I use is a store-brand, from Weis stores, if you live and shop in this part of Pennsylvania. I've tried some nasty ones in the past. If I had never found one I liked, I would have been scared away from all recipes with balsamic vinegar.

Question of the Day: Are you watching anything particular in your diet right now (sodium, carbs, fat, etc)?

Cooking For One: Cheese Soufflé

2011-10-13T06:00:00.003-04:00

Cheese Soufflé
Cooking For One Is Fun Copyright 1976

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
½ cup milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 drop Tabasco
1 egg
3 tablespoons grated cheddar cheese

1. Heat the butter in a small pan and add the flour, stir and mix well. Cook 1 minute.
2. Add the milk all at once, stirring vigorously with a wire whisk. Add the salt, pepper, and Tabasco, continue mixing.
3. Cook until the mixture begins to thicken and is rid of lumps.
4. Break the egg and drop the white into a small cup or ovenproof bowl (?? - put it in a bowl or container large enough to beat the eggs white). Place the yolk in another small container.
5. Add a tablespoon or so of the white sauce to the yolk and mix well. Pour this into the remaining white sauce and stir well.
6. Beat the egg white with a rotary beater until it forms stiff peaks. (I used the whisk attachment on my stick blender.)
7. Pour the thickened white sauce into a greased casserole or other suitable vessel; stir in the grated cheese and mix well. (I folded the egg white into the white sauce before putting it in the baking dish.)
8. Carefully fold in the stiff egg white and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until the top of the uncovered dish is brown.

* Use a small soufflé pan or at least a straight-sided small casserole so that the soufflé can rise unimpeded up the straight sides of the container while cooking.
_____________________________________________

Cooking For One will be a new feature around here. The boys are being very picky lately so I am concentrating on getting them to eat better foods and different foods - I don't want to focus too much on trying new recipes on them. That leaves just me to eat my cooking (except for my baked goods which I share with coworkers). I'll still be making larger recipes but I can't really be making several servings of food just for me all of the time. I enjoy leftovers but some one or two serving recipes will help mix things up. Also, I no longer have a second freezer so I can't just freeze things willy-nilly like I used to - another good reason to cook smaller. (Boy, do I miss that second freezer.)

I shouldn't have any trouble finding material for this although I don't have too many cookbooks that concentrate on small recipes. I have a few. Some of my cookbooks devote a section to cooking for one or two. There are recipes here and there throughout my collection that are just written for one or two. Many recipes can be scaled down. Still, it's definitely not the 'norm' to see recipes for one. I find that odd since I'm sure there are many people cooking just for themselves. It may not be the most effective use of time or energy to make a small portion but you'll certainly get more variety in your diet.

This book was written by a single gentleman and it's a real gem. I picked it up at a library sale for a dollar. I could probably populate this feature solely using recipes from this book. It has a little bit of everything and uses mainly fresh ingredients. The recipes aren't exactly unique but there are recipes that most people wouldn't think of cooking up in a small portion (like a pot roast for instance).

I've always wanted to make a soufflé but it's one of those things that only I would eat so this single small cheese soufflé was just perfect. I've never had a soufflé before but I think it came out great. It wasn't exactly a 'WOW!' but hey, it's basically just eggs and cheese. A delicious flavor combination with a lovely light texture but, again, it's just eggs and cheese. Now that I've gotten my feet wet, I'm looking forward to making other soufflé variations. I'm on the lookout for a nice soufflé dish. The little dish I had worked fine but something smaller with straight sides would help make a more 'dramatic' soufflé.

I'm going to reinstate the question of the day! That might help to increase the number of real comments over the number of spam comments.

Question of the Day: How often do you cook dinner for one?

Please don't call A&E or TLC

2011-10-04T06:00:00.001-04:00

Well my cookbooks are all out of boxes, my internet is back and it's time to start cooking again. I'm still working on a few move-related things around the house so I haven't been spending much time in the kitchen but hopefullly I will get back into the swing of things soon. I will admit that cooking is not as much fun when I have to wash all the dishes by hand but I'll just have to get used to that.
In the meantime, I thought I'd show you my cookbook collection.

This was my main shelf at one point. When I bought this shelf, I think it fit all of my cookbooks, just about.

However, I discovered my cookbook guy about that time and started acquiring more cookbooks at an alarming rate (they were so cheap!) I soon needed another shelf. I brought this bookcase from my parent's house. It's very sturdy. Why can't they make solid bookshelves like this for a reasonable cost anymore? Those shelves will never bow like the particle board shelves do.

That shelf got filled up eventually too. I had another small shelf that I had been using for books but I repurposed it when I moved so now I found myself with several boxes of books and nowhere to put them. I refuse to buy any more fake-wood assemble-yourself shelves if I can help it (although they usually look very nice they are no match for actual books). I tried to be patient but that stack of boxes was starting to make me itch. I finally picked this shelf up at a yard sale for $10. I would have liked something larger but this is nice and solid - all wood - and it fit in my trunk. I will repaint it eventually.

The rest of the books ended up over my kitchen cupboards. This isn't ideal but it does helps spread the madness a bit and that space really needed something.

I thought that was all of them but oh, then I remembered the books I put in the trunk that I'm using as a coffee table.

I thought that was all of them but wait! I spotted a the pile of children's cookbooks that I had separated from the rest (I need to find a special place for those since the boys like to look at those but I don't want them swallowed up with the other children's books).

Okay, now that really is all of them. That's 25 years of collecting cookbooks. Having them all out in the open has shamed me into not buying more. Well, I'm trying really, really hard not to buy anymore. I don't want to end up on an episode of "Hoarding - Buried Alive" (Under a Pile of Cookbooks).

Waiting waiting waiting

2011-09-06T14:30:00.000-04:00

Just to let you know that I'm still here and I'm anxious to start blogging again but I don't know when I will be able to, thanks to Verizon's ineptitude. I am still without phone or internet service at home even though they were supposed to be turned on two weeks ago.

I need an intervention

2011-08-12T10:03:00.000-04:00

I am in the process of moving. Boy, do I have way too many cookbooks.

The good news is, I will be back blogging, in full force, soon. It will be just in time for my 6 year bloggiversary. Stay tuned!

Catching up

2011-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00

Lemon Sour Cream Cake
Reader's Digest Cakes 1,001 Classic Recipes from Around the World Copyright 2003

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
6 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, to dust

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 13x9-inch baking pan. Sifted the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, until just blended after each addition. With mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the dry ingredients, alternating with the sour cream. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake completely in the pan on a rack. Dust with the confectioners' sugar.
___________________________________

I have so many recipes that I haven't told you about. Here's one of them.

I made this so many months ago that if there were any details I wanted to mention , they are long forgotten. I remember loving the moist, dense texture of this cake. It's one of the better lemon cakes I've made and it would have been great with a couple of berries and some whipped cream but it was great plain too. I would make this again.

I wish I had more to say but I don't. Sorry.

Birthday cake

2011-07-11T06:00:00.004-04:00

I like to record birthday cakes here on my blog, although I don't try new recipes out for birthdays. I used my all-time favorite yellow cake recipe this time. It's the reverse-creaming method that I use that makes this cake so good. I've tried to duplicate it a couple of times since that first time I made it, but I was always impatient and my butter wasn't soft enough so I didn't get those same great results. The butter needs to be completely soft which it was this time. It came out perfect again.

I made one and a half times the recipe for an 11x15-inch pan. I split the cake after freezing it (so it would be easier to cut). For the filling, I used this recipe, except I opted to leave out the Cool Whip at the last minute and I'm so glad I did. It was just what I wanted - a thick, creamy texture. I also used Better Bowls pudding mix this time which I find superior to Jell-O or store brand. I discovered it recently when I bought the little single-serving bowls off of the clearance shelf. I thought it mixed smoother than boxed mixed and it tasted better. I have not been contacted by Better Bowls - this is just my honest opinion. I'm not sure about it's claims of being healthy, although I'm sure it's healthier than other pudding since it has some fiber.

Dan is a whipped cream freak so I used whipped cream to frost the cake. I used some gelatin to help stabilize it (it's debatable whether or not that is necessary but the whipped cream never weeped on the leftovers after days in the refrigerator). I added some food coloring and used powdered sugar to sweeten it. It wouldn't whip at first but I was just trying to whip too much cream at once (4 cups). I finally whipped it in batches but I was frustrated and tired so I didn't add any fancy touches (I was going to pipe a border). Not the best decorating job (when I'm also cooking for a party - I can only do so much with the cake) but personally I thought this was one of the most delicious cakes I've made. I guess I'm a bit of a fan of whipped cream too. In one of my most unselfish acts of motherhood, I let Dan eat the last piece of this cake.

My go-to chocolate cake recipe does not translate to cupcakes very well so I used this recipe for cupcakes with my Easy Buttercream Frosting. I didn't do a cream filling for the cupcakes and they were okay, not the worst chocolate cupcakes but not the best either. I should have used Duncan Hines. I really never have much luck with cupcakes, especially chocolate.. No matter how hard I try not to overbake them, they almost always seem dry to me. Since I decided to frost the cupcakes as soon as I mixed the buttercream, I ended up with 'dots' on my cupcakes (the color didn't absorb evenly - I try to let colors sit overnight usually).

He knew just what to do with the candles:

More meat loaf? Of course!

2011-06-17T06:00:00.003-04:00

Boarding House Meatloaf
Jack Daniels' The Spirit of Tennessee Cookbook Copyright 1988

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup uncooked regular oats
1/4 cup ketchup
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Meat Loaf Sauce
3/4 cup catsup
2 tablespoons onions (chopped)
2 tablespoons green peppers (chopped)
1/4 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients for meatloaf. Place into greased 9x3 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Pour off juice and bake about 10 minutes longer. Place on platter and cover with sauce.

For sauce simmer all ingredients over low heat until onion and pepper are tender.
____________________________

I'm back on my meat loaf kick. I never get sick of it. I wasn't really looking for something really different this time. What I wanted was something a bit different but yet I didn't want to buy any extra ingredients. And, as I knew I was out of bread crumbs and had a surplus of oatmeal, I wanted one that used oatmeal as the filler.

This recipe met those criteria and I ended up enjoying it quite a bit even though I was almost expecting to be disappointed. It seemed too simple, too plain but it hit the spot. One thing I would change is that the 'sauce' would be much better used as a baked-on glaze (I've found the recipe printed that way online). Ketchup and brown sugar cooked together is just a bit too thick and sweet to be used as a sauce - it should stick to being a glaze. Also, next time I would add a little spice like nutmeg, cloves and/or dry mustard to give the glaze a little kick.

It was a bit crumbly in texture but I didn't mind that but be forewarned if you are looking for a meat loaf that behaves well when sliced. This might not be it.

I'll have to add this one to my meat loaf recipe round up.

This is a nice cookbook. It's not just recipes - there are lots of stories and information about the region of Tennessee where Jack Daniel's is produced. There are pictures of people and places. although no pictures of the recipes. It had a lot of great recipes, many that actually use Jack Daniel's but others are just recipes from that area.

I paid $2.97 in Goodwill for this book many months ago. Back then, that was a stretch for me, now I would be lucky to find a cookbook in Goodwill for $2.97. They have started pricing them ridiculously high. Perhaps the increase in cookbook sales since I started shopping there is what compelled them to increase the cookbook prices but I have become much pickier about what I buy there and I notice the cookbooks tend to pile up now.

Using It Up: Bananas

2011-06-15T06:00:00.000-04:00

Banana Snack Cake
Taste of Home Simple and Delicious Cookbook Copyright 2010

1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 1 small)
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar

In a bowl, combine flour and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk the brown sugar, water, banana, oil and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Transfer to a greased 8-in. square baking dish.
Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Dust with confectioners' sugar. I skipped this. Cut into squares. Yield: 9 servings.
_____________________________

I made this because it was fast. I made this because it was easy. I made this because it used up some of my frozen banana stash that is growing all of the time. I made this because my coworkers are happier when I bake and I really didn't have the time or motivation to look for a more interesting recipe.

I certainly didn't make this because I thought it would be anything special but this was quite good. Simple, yes, but very moist and delicious with nice banana flavor. As a bonus, this is egg and dairy free, perfect for anyone with egg and/or dairy allergies or your vegan friends or family.

Snack cakes always remind me of when my mom bought snack cake mixes that came with their own pans. Maybe they were called Snackin' Cakes? How did they get the pans in the boxes? Were they folded? Ah, that is one problem of growing up in the age of packaged mixes - many of mom's best recipes were eventually discontinued LOL.

Cranberry Meat Loaf

2011-06-09T06:00:00.002-04:00

Cranberry Meatloaf
Wal*Mart Family Cookbook Copyright 2008

1 can (16 oz.) whole cranberry sauce
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 lb. lean ground beef I used ground chicken
1 ½ cups soft bread crumbs
1 medium onion, chopped
½ medium green bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup milk
¼ cup egg product I used 1 egg
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp each parsley flakes and thyme leaves
1/8 tsp. oregano leaves

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In small bowl stir together cranberry sauce and brown sugar. Set aside.

In large bowl combine ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, bell pepper, milk, egg product, salt, parsley, thyme and oregano. In large shallow baking pan, shape meat mixture into a 8x4x2-inch loaf. I baked mine in a loaf pan. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Spread ¼ cup of reserved cranberry sauce mixture on top of loaf. Bake 20 to 30 minutes more.

In small saucepan heat remaining cranberry sauce mixture over low heat until heated through. Serve with meatloaf.
___________________________________

This recipe caught my eye when I acquired this cookbook (from Goodwill) but I didn't think it would appeal to anyone else in the house. That's really not an issue anymore since when I make a meatloaf it's generally just for myself these days. My older son used to like it but doesn't now - hopefully it will have a rebirth soon, like pickles. He used to love pickles then he wouldn't eat them at all and now I have to ration them since he would eat too many if I didn't stop him.

So I decided to make this but I couldn't help but think that ground chicken would be a great fit for this (or ground turkey but I prefer ground chicken to ground turkey). I decided to make the substitution and I'm so glad that I did. Of course you know I am biased when it comes to ground chicken. I always seem to love whatever I make with it.

This was another great meatloaf and another great use of ground chicken. I'm going to add this to my ground chicken recipe round up and my meatloaf recipe round up.

Sugar cookies made with barley flour - yum!

2011-05-27T06:00:00.012-04:00

Soft Barley-Sugar Cookies
King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Copyright 2006

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups whole barley flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sour cream
extra coarse or turbinado sugar for rolling

Cream the butter, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, vanilla, and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Add the egg, beating until smooth.

Whisk the barley flour and all-purpose flour in another bowl. Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating to combine. Beat in the sour cream, then the remaining flour. Refrigerate the dough overnight (important in order for the whole grain flour to absorb the moisture).

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Place the coarse sugar (or regular granulated sugar, if you don’t have coarse) into a small bowl.

Scoop out ¼-cupfuls of dough; a muffin scoop or large ice cream scoop makes short work of this task. Pick up each ball of dough and dip its top in the sugar, pressing down and rolling it around a little bit so the sugar sticks and coats the top third of the cookie. Place dough balls onto the prepared baking sheets. Cookies will spread to about 4 inches in diameter so leave plenty of room between them. Using the flat bottom of a measuring cup or drinking glass, dipped in sugar, to flatten the cookies to about 3/8 inch thick, Sprinkle cookies with additional cookies, if desired, gently pressing it in with your fingers.

Bake the cookies, reversing the pans midway through (top to bottom, bottom to top), until they’re barely beginning to brown around the edges but still look soft in the center, 8 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely. To keep the cookies soft, store them in an airtight container.
_____________________________

I can't believe I never blogged about this recipe that I made back in February (or did I? - I couldn't find it). I really loved the flavor of these cookies. I did have some difficulty getting them cooked through correctly but my oven is old and frail.

I love the flavor of barley flour. I used it before in Multigrain Snickerdoodles, made from another recipe in this book, which were also great. That flour wasn't easy to track down once again. It seems more and more these days I can't find 'odd' ingredients anywhere locally. Even whole wheat pastry flour has been a challenge to find. Wegman's always comes through though.

I needed the whole wheat pastry flour for one of my favorite chocolate chip cookies, Big Chocolate Chip Cookies, an awesome recipe that you really need to check out if you missed it back in 2006.

Pierogies!

2011-05-17T06:00:00.008-04:00

Growing up, there were only about three sources for pierogies.

You could buy Mrs. T's frozen pierogies in the grocery store. They were our everyday pierogies. We ate them relatively often and as far as I know there was only one type of filling available - potato and cheese I think. I may be wrong but they certainly did not have the variety of fillings they sell today (no jalapeno, spinach, feta, bacon, etc).

In the summer, most local churches raised money by throwing church picnics, multi-day festivals with music, games, and lots of food. Most of the local churches had members with Eastern European backgrounds so there were usually pierogies sold and they were mainly served deep-fried. Again, they were almost always filled with potato filling.

On Christmas Eve, pierogies were the star of the meatless meal. You wouldn't serve Mrs. T's at this meal anymore than you would serve Stove Top at Thanksgiving. I'm not sure what resources my mother used but she would somehow contact a pierogi maker, place her order, and usually one night after we were out Christmas shopping, we would stop at some random house to pick up the pierogies. I don't recall ever seeing her walk in a house - it was always dark and she'd just disappear from the car and come back with bags of pierogies. Of course, there were always potato pierogies on Christmas Eve but also cabbage and early on farmer's cheese pierogies (eventually we stopped getting these whether by choice or lack of supply, I don't know). I think at least once we got some prune filled ones.

The pierogi market has really blossomed over the years. Eventually more brands became available, some of them cheaper, mass-made Mrs. T's varieties and others are from smaller companies with better fillings and higher price tags. You can get store-brand pierogies now. I even bought some pierogies from my son's baseball fundraiser. They were sold along with the frozen pizzas, strombolis, pretzels, etc. These days, we can buy our Christmas Eve pierogies right in the supermarket.

So, why bother making them myself? 'Cause I wanna. I've always wanted to master pierogi making. I had one sort-of-failed attempt years ago. One thing especially that has been on my 'list' for years was to find farmer's cheese to make cheese pierogies. You just can't find it locally. I finally found some - a HUGE package of it in Wegman's. It was almost $20 worth of farmer's cheese, which they probably would have repackaged into smaller amounts if I had asked but I knew with $20 worth of farmer's cheese, I would not be putting off making pierogies.

First, I made the fillings:

To start off, I chopped an onion (a yellow onion, not a sweet onion) very finely in my mini chopper. I sautéed it in butter until the onion was translucent and just about to brown. I set this aside.

For the potato filling, I prepared some Honest Earth instant mashed potatoes as directed (with butter, water and milk). I know, all the work of making pierogies from scratch and I used instant potatoes? Yes, I like that brand (from Costco) a lot so I was brazen. They only contain potatoes, butter and salt. I added about half of a block of Kraft Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp cheese, shredded, some of the sautéed onions, and some white pepper. I felt them mixture was still a bit loose so I opened another bag of the instant potatoes and added more until the mixture was as thick as I wanted. Next time I will make the potatoes with less liquid than the directions call for.

For the cabbage-sauerkraut filling, I removed the core from a head of cabbage and sliced it thinly. I sautéed it in butter and oil, with some salt, lots of pepper and a dash of sugar until it was cooked down well and beginning to caramelize. I drained some sauerkraut really well and added it to the cabbage, to taste. I didn't want it to overpower the cabbage (I didn't rinse the sauerkraut but I should have). I cooked that together for a while and then added some sautéed onions and cooked it a bit longer.I know some people who like all sauerkraut, and some who prefer all cabbage, but I like a mixture.

The farmer's cheese filling was one pound of farmer's cheese, 1 whole egg, 1 egg yolk, a teaspoon of salt and some white pepper.

I don't have any complaints about my fillings. They all turned out to be just what I personally wanted, definitely for the potato and the cabbage but I'm not sure about the farmer's cheese only because I'm not sure what I wanted. It's just been so long since I last had them, I'm not sure if they were the same or not. The flavors were about the same as cottage cheese and noodles. Cottage cheese and noodles are readily available and much cheaper so I won't consider it the end of the world if I can't make more farmer's cheese pierogies in the future. If I did want to make more cheese pierogies, as a substitute I would probably use drained cottage cheese, blended until it's smooth. I would describe farmer's cheese as having the flavor of cottage cheese with the texture of ricotta cheese, but dryer.

For the dough, I chose four different pierogi dough recipes. Two of them used sour cream. Two of them I made in the bread machine as an experiment, using the pasta dough setting. I had to run it through twice and each setting was 14 minutes. (Not worth it - I could have mixed them both by hand in that amount of time.) I screwed up and grabbed the self-rising flour for the bread machine doughs, which I didn't realize until much later.

At this point, I don't know where the other dough recipes are but the 'winner' was one that I found on AllRecipes.com and made by hand:

Pierogi Dough

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup warm water
1 egg, beaten

1.In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Make a well in the center.
2.In a separate bowl mix together the vegetable oil, warm water, and beaten egg. Pour into the well of the dry ingredients. Knead dough for 8 to 10 minutes.
3.Cover dough and let rest for 2 hours. Roll out and fill as desired.

This dough was pretty easy to work by hand, it rolled out nicely, it had good stretch, fried up well. The other doughs weren't failures, even the ones with the wrong flour, but this dough was my favorite. Was it good enough to stop trying other recipes? I'm still debating that. Maybe.

The doughs do better sitting overnight so it was fillings and doughs on the first day and the second day I rolled, cut, filled, sealed, boiled, rinsed, dried, froze and packed.

I used a glass to cut the dough since I didn't have a biscuit cutter the right size. I used water to seal the dough. I pressed the edges together until I was sure it was sealed well and then I pressed the edges together some more. I'm happy to say that I didn't have any leaky pierogies at all. I boiled them until I thought they were done (I think this part will take more experience to get it right). I rinsed them, dried them off and froze them flat on a cookie sheet before bagging them and keeping them in the freezer. From there they just needed to be thawed and pan-fried. You don't have to pan-fry them - you can just heat them up and top them with melted butter and sautéed onion but I prefer them pan-fried.

**Edited to add that they can be deep-fried too and of course, the freezing stage is optional and not necessary if you are going to eat them right away.

They are a lot of work but it's not that difficult. The ingredients (outside of farmer's cheese, not a necessity) are cheap so companies with big machines can sell them cheaply. But I can see why the smaller operations have to charge so much.

So that was my second foray into pierogi making and I think it was a success.

A quick one so you know I'm still alive

2011-04-25T06:00:00.000-04:00

Cream Filling
the Ugly Binder, from the internet

2 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 boxes (3.4 oz or 4serving size) vanilla instant pudding
12oz thawed frozen whipped topping

Mix all ingredients, one at a time, in a stand mixer, in the order listed. the filling should be pretty stiff before you add the whipped topping. You'll need to refrigerate whatever you are filling.
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I made this cake for my dad's birthday. This is the piece I transported back with us so it isn't very pretty. I baked a yellow cake (actually two cakes, but that's a story for another post) and used this filling in between the layers and on top. I added sliced strawberries between the layers and strawberry halves around the edge of the top of the cake.

I enjoyed this filling enough that I definitely didn't want to miss documenting it. If you don't like instant pudding and Cool Whip, this probably won't be for you but I grew up with those things and still like them. I think the heavy cream made this a bit richer and denser which I really liked. Both my boys loved this which is what really made this a winner for me.

I have lots of recipes that I haven't told you about but life is crazy and my computer is dying a slow death, I believe. I will try to post at least one or two a week until I can get back on track again.

Add that to the list

2011-04-11T06:00:00.016-04:00

Vietnamese-Style Caramel Chicken with Broccolini
The Best Simple Recipes Copyright 2010

1/4 c packed light brown sugar
1 cup water
3 tablespoons fish sauce (you can omit)
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 3/4-inch strips
2 bunches broccolini
1 TBSP vegetable oil
3 scallions, sliced thin

1. Heat sugar and 1/4 c water in skillet over medium heat, swirling pan occasionally, until mixture is bubbling and very dark brown, about 8 minutes. Whisk in additional 1/4 c water, fish sauce, ginger, half of garlic, and pepper flakes. Stir in chicken and cook until sauce is thickened and sticky and chicken is tender, 10 to 15 min. It seemed like my chicken was giving off too much liquid. I had to turn up the heat and cooked it a bit longer to get it sticky but I think could have used even more time to get darker and stickier.

2. Meanwhile, bring remaining water to boil in large skillet. Add broccolini and simmer, covered, over medium-low heat until bright green and tender, about 5 min. Remove lid and cook until liquid evaporates, about 30 seconds. Stir in oil and remaining garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to platter and top with chicken. (I just cooked plain broccoli.) Sprinkle with scallions. Serve.
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Up until now I have avoided fish sauce. It wasn't that I was afraid of the taste or the smell, I just get a little hesitant with Asian ingredients due to my son's peanut allergy. But, I looked a little closer and fish sauce was probably safe and probably safe is plenty good enough considering my son was not going to eat this.

Fish sauce definitely wins the 'Stinkiest Ingredient I Ever Added To My Food Award'. Did it taste bad? Not really. It was mainly salty. Very salty. But that smell, my God, that smell. I could not really get past it. It smelled like fish bait pellets. I'd just as soon make Bourbon Chicken and have a similar sweet and salty result without the fishy smell. Honestly, I just don't see the point of the fish sauce. I read that you can substitute anchovy paste and soy sauce and I've never had a problem with anchovy paste (I usually love recipes that use it) so maybe I should have just gone that route.

So I guess I can add fish sauce to the list of ingredients I'd prefer to avoid. It's not a long list. Goat cheese is definitely on that list. I don't get goat cheese either. It tastes like goat.

I've been cooking a lot but the blog posts don't seem to be coming that easily. Hopefully I'll catch up soon.

Cue the angels singing

2011-03-31T06:00:00.000-04:00

Vi Kronon’s 7-Up Cake
Our Recipes Second Edition Polish Women’s Civic Club, Inc. 1979

3 sticks oleo (margarine - I used Land O' Lakes because it had the most fat)
3 c. sugar
5 eggs
3 c. all-purpose flour, sifted two times after measuring
2 Tbsp. lemon extract
¾ cup 7-Up

Combine oleo and sugar in large bowl of mixer. Cream until lemon in color. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat well after each addition. Add flour. Continue to beat well. Add lemon extract. Fold in 7-Up. Pour into oiled and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool well before serving. Best served sliced in thin slices. (I think nice thick slices are pretty great myself!) Freezes well.
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So I bought the margarine and 7-Up to make this cake and then I came home and saw that it called for lemon extract. Why that didn't stick out to me, since I never use lemon extract, I don't know. I had lemons but I wanted to follow this recipe exactly so I checked the Dollar General (it's closer than the grocery store). No lemon extract. Off to the grocery store. Wait! My tire is flat. Off to get air in my tire. Then to the grocery store for the lemon extract - over $4 for one bottle, and you need the entire bottle! Oh well, I've come this far. Home to make the cake. Hey, where's all my sugar? I don't have 3 cups of sugar. Back to Dollar General. Home to make the cake. Sniff. Sniff. What's burning? Why are there flames in my oven? Ooops! Should have put foil around the pan (it has a removable bottom like a springform pan and it leaked a little). I opened the oven so many times to clean that up (didn't want a smoked cake) that I didn't think it would rise properly.

Was it worth all that? YES! YES! OMG YES! One of the best things I've ever made. It was my dream pound cake. Dense, moist, with the most incredible crust. Every piece I ate (and I ate many) brought me great joy. Recipes like this are the reason I keep cooking and baking.

I bought this cookbook off of eBay as sort of a Christmas present to myself back in December (I say 'sort of' because I was going to wrap it up and wait until Christmas to look in it but I couldn't wait). I've been looking for Polish recipes like I grew up with, not the recipes you find in Polish cookbooks, and I figured out my best bet was looking for fundraiser type books in areas with a lot of Polish people or from Polish organizations. There aren't a lot of Polish recipes in this book but enough to make it worth it.

Green popcorn and Irish 'potatoes'

2011-03-17T06:00:00.001-04:00

I am really making an effort to celebrate the holidays with food but life often gets in the way. I have tons of Valentine's Day sprinkles and cupcake liners but did I make anything for that holiday? Nick must have had a party at school but I have no recollection of making anything special. My mind is Swiss cheese these days but I don't think I did.

Anyway, I was on the ball for St. Patrick's Day. Nick needed a green snack and I recalled the perfect treat. Check out Heidi's Tried-and-True Cooking blog and her recipe for Sweet and Crunchy Popcorn. Mine wasn't as green as I wanted but hey, it's green and it's delicious. I've made practically the same recipe before (Vanilla Popcorn) but this version seemed better. I think it was the salt. I actually made a second half-batch since I popped too much popcorn (and because we ate so much of it while making it) and forgot the salt. I sprinkled some on top and that worked out great.

And then I finally made Irish 'potatoes', a treat I used to be able to buy when I lived in Philadelphia. These little confections seem to be local to that area. I've had this recipe since I lived there, copied from a library book. So, it took over a decade but here they are.

Irish Potatoes
from the Ugly Binder, copied from a library book that seems to have been about recipes from different Philadelphia neighborhoods, I think

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 pound (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 14-ounce bag shredded coconut
2 pounds confectioner's sugar or to taste I used it all.
ground cinnamon

1. Mix together the cream cheese and butter. Add the vanilla, coconut and sugar. With you hands, mix all ingredients thoroughly. (Um, they're not kidding - do not try to add all this powdered sugar with your mixer - trust me.) Refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Roll mixture into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Then roll the balls in ground cinnamon to coat all over. Refrigerate and bring to room temperature to serve.

This makes a lot. I gave up after filling three shallow Tupperwares. They are somewhat perishable and quite rich so I felt I had enough for the office after using about two-thirds of the mixture. I should have made a half batch. They are delicious but I am really trying to avoid too much temptation right now. I think these were better than the ones I used to buy but it's been maybe 13-14 years since I had them. Why did I wait so long to make them? I just forgot every year, is all. They are still a favorite. I mean, I think the ingredients speak for themselves - cream cheese, butter, vanilla, sugar, coconut and cinnamon? Pretty each to figure out if you would like these or not.

Sorry about the pics but there is no natural light at 9pm. Oh, and I'm still working on the pierogi post.

Lots of cooking, not much blogging

2011-03-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

It seems like I've been cooking a lot lately but not many posts are being generated. I spent the majority of last weekend and part of this weekend making pierogies. I made three different fillings and experimented with four different dough recipes so writing it up will take a bit of time which I really don't have much of right now. Someday soon, I hope!

A food tradition

2011-03-10T06:00:00.002-05:00

Fastnachts
The Ugly Binder, from the internet

2 1/2 cups hot mashed potatoes*
1 cup milk
3 beaten eggs
2 Tablespoons melted butter
2 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons baking powder
5 cups flour
Sugar for coating
(NOTE TO SELF: Add nutmeg next time and coat some with cinnamon sugar)

* I used instant potatoes - Honest Earth brand from Costco. I prepared them according to package directions which had me add butter, water and milk.

Mix everything together except flour. Mix flour in slowly. The dough was very sticky, maybe from using the prepared mashed potatoes, but I just added flour as necessary as I rolled/patted the dough out. Divide the dough in half. Roll ½ inch thick. Cut with a donut cutter or use a knife to cut into triangular shaped pieces. I mostly patted the dough out and cut the dough into pieces using a pizza cutter. Some were square, some rectangle, some were corner pieces that came out sort of like triangles - like those in the picture. Deep fry in hot fat or oil until done. I used Crisco. Coat the hot fastnachts in sugar.

This recipes makes a LOT! I made over two dozen and threw out the rest of the dough because I was in a hurry and I just didn't need that many. I probably only used about half the dough, or maybe not even.
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Almost every year I try to make donuts of some sort on Fat Tuesday. Fat Tuesday is called Fastnacht Day in this area, Donut Day in other areas (and yet Pancake Day in other places but that's another story). I usually make do with any sort of donut recipe but this year I used an actual fastnacht recipe that I found on the internet.

I've tried donut recipes with yeast in the past (yeast is more commonly used in fastnachts) but since they took longer to make, I made them the night before and they just weren't as good after sitting overnight. I also always used oil to fry them. This year I used a baking powder recipe and made them right on Fat Tuesday (I almost didn't get to make them since some tummy issues had me down for the count in the morning). I used Crisco to fry them (well, store-brand shortening). One co-worker called them the best fastnachts he's ever tasted.

Personally, they are certainly the best fastnachts I've had recently. The first year I moved to this area and was introduced to fastnachts, I had some great church-made fastnachts but since then I've only had access to supermarket fastnachts that weren't very good at all. They were my best donut effort so far. Someday I might have the time to experiment with a yeast version but if not, I've very pleased with this version.

The recipe was so easy to work with. The night before, I made the potatoes and measured out the 2 1/2 cups that I needed. I measured out the flour and mixed it with the baking powder and I measured out the sugar. The next day I heated up the potatoes with the butter and mixed the dough up in no time while the shortening heated up. The dough was sticky but still easy to work with since it really just needs to be patted out and cut. I just added some flour to the cutting surface and on top of the dough as I patted it out and I was good to go. I didn't bother with my donut cutter (the holes are always a pain in the you-know-what to fry) and just cut them with a pizza cutter. They fried up really nicely and rather quickly.

I will definitely use this recipe again next year but I think I would like a touch of nutmeg in them (although I am almost afraid to mess with a recipe that went over so well) and I think I will use cinnamon sugar to coat at least some of them, maybe even a glaze. I'm not a big fan of powdered sugar on donuts. And although I will make them in the morning again, these actually still tasted pretty good the next day. I had some at home, loosely covered in plastic wrap and they held up better than the ones that were at work in a tightly covered container. The tightly covered ones lost their exterior crunch but I'm not about to leave food sitting around the office unless it's tightly covered (I've never seen any critters there but I'm not taking any chances).

You can't miss with the classics

2011-03-07T06:00:00.001-05:00

The Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie
The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion Copyright 2004

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar or 1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°F; lightly grease two baking sheets.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugars, corn syrup, and vinegar together; then beat in the eggs. Beat in the vanilla, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

Stir in the flour and chocolate chips.

Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes, until they are just set; the centers may still look a bit underdone.

Remove them from the oven; transfer to a rack to cool.
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I was a little surprised that I've never made this recipe before. At least I don't think I've made them before (wouldn't be the first time I repeated myself). I really liked the Essential Soft Oatmeal Cookie, and most King Arthur recipes, so I had faith that this recipe would be good. As I almost always do with chocolate chip cookie recipes, I think this is one of the best I've tried. It's the sort of chocolate chip cookie that I like best, soft and chewy and with a bit of height. Great flavor too.

I do wish I could once again sample the chocolate chip cookie I still think about over 25 years since the last time I had one. We used to have school fundraisers that sold big chocolate chip cookies, from (I think) the Spring Water Cookie Company (or something like that). I'm not sure what it was that made me think they were so great. Maybe they weren't as great as I remember. The company is out of business for many years I believe. In my mind, they were big, not too thick, not too thin, a bit chewy but sort of melt-in-your mouth. I really love 'big' cookies but big is not always practically. These cookies were normal-sized but still had plenty of that soft chewy center you get from the big cookies.

I hope this made sense. I am tired. It's sad when you are glad that the weekend is over.

Gumbo (sort of)

2011-03-03T06:00:00.003-05:00

Ground Chicken Gumbo
Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook Copyright 2009

1 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 pound ground chicken
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1 cup sliced fresh okra
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground thyme
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Cook rice according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven or soup kettle, cook the chicken, celery, green pepper and onion in oil over medium heat for 8 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink; drain.
Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until heated through. Serve over rice. Yield: 6 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: 1 cup gumbo with 1/2 cup rice equals 322 calories, 11 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 50 mg cholesterol, 900 mg sodium, 40 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 18 g protein.
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I make so many new recipes using ground chicken that the odds are that I'm bound to have a clunker every now and then. I seem to be defying the odds however and this was another winning recipe. While not unique, it was different from what I've been eating lately and that increased my enjoyment of it. It was good and not at all guilt-inducing.

I did have to make a special trip to find fresh okra but when I found it, it was cheap (albeit maybe not the freshest okra one could find). I paid about 70 cents for the okra for this. I have some vague recollection of trying to cook something with okra a long time ago and it being a complete disaster. Thinking that was frozen okra, I didn't want to go that route if I could help it. I didn't want to skip it as I knew it would provide the thickening in the gumbo and I'm not sure it would really be a gumbo without it (is it really gumbo with it - are there any gumbo purist out there???)

I'll add this to my ground chicken recipe round up.

So I went to Wegman's where I was relatively sure I would find okra, and I did. As I said, it wasn't expensive. The other stuff I impulsively added to my cart was not. We don't have a Whole Foods, we don't have a Trader Joe's. Wegman's is the ultimate shopping experience for me in this area. You'll hear more about some of my purchases in future posts.

A slightly redesigned tuna melt

2011-03-01T06:00:00.001-05:00

Tuna Artichoke Melts

Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook Copyright 2009

1 can (6 ounces) light water-packed tuna, drained and flaked the can I had was only 5 ounces
1/3 cup coarsely chopped water-packed artichoke hearts, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise I used regular
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend, divided I used sharp cheddar
1/4 teaspoon salt-free lemon-pepper seasoning
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
2 English muffins, split and toasted I used a lite, high fiber version

In a small bowl, combine the tuna, artichokes, mayonnaise, 1/4 cup cheese, lemon-pepper and oregano. Spread over English muffin halves. Place on a baking sheet. Broil 4-6 in. from the heat for 3-5 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; broil 1-2 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Yield: 2 servings.
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It's not that I don't love the more traditional version of tuna salad with celery and onion but it was so nice to have a tuna salad that was a bit different for a change, and this version has less chopping involved.

Usually when I reach for the lemon pepper seasoning, to sprinkle on something that I am free-styling, I take a whiff of it and put it back since it has a strong, odd smell, if you ask me. But in this small dose, I thought it worked really well. This wasn't so outside-the-box that people expecting traditonal tuna salad would be put off. I would definitely make this again.

I can't believe it's March! As much as I dislike the cold and especially snow and ice on the roads, I am disturbed by how quickly winter is passing by, by how quickly life is passing by.

Using It Up: Yogurt

2011-02-28T06:00:00.001-05:00

Frosted Chocolate Loaves
Reader’s Digest Cakes 1,001 Classic Recipes from Around the World Copyright 2003

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup plain yogurt I used banana baby yogurt
¾ cup butter (1 ½ sticks), melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Frosting
6 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 tablespoons butter, cut up
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons plain yogurt I used banana baby yogurt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9x5-inch loaf pans and dust with cocoa. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar. Beat in the eggs, yogurt, butter and vanilla with an electric mixer until just blended. Spoon the batter into prepared pans. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the loaves in the pans for 10 minutes. Turn out onto racks and let cool completely.

Chocolate Frosting: Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over barely simmering water. Set aside to cool. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar and yogurt. Spread the loaves with frosting.
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I had some organic banana yogurt that I bought for Dan, since he likes those crappy, sweet and fancily colored yogurts so much, but he did not care for 'good' stuff. I figured the chocolate would disguise the banana flavor. I'm not sure it did. This had a taste, not sure if I would call it 'odd', but it was a taste that was somewhat different than I was expecting. It may have just been the yogurt, not the banana flavor. It wasn't bad but this didn't knock my socks off but chocolate is tough category to compete in. My coworkers seemed to enjoy it but it didn't tempt me all that much, which is not a bad thing.

And that's all I have to say about this.

This will have to wait

2011-02-25T06:00:00.003-05:00

I'm tired. I'm hungry. Blogging about something chocolate and frosted right now could lead to disastrous results (raiding the fridge since this is long gone). It will have to wait until next week.

Sorry about the lack of material this week but it was just one of those weeks.

Soup? Stew? Whatever you call it, it was good

2011-02-24T06:00:00.002-05:00

Chicken and Chile Pepper Stew
Favorite Brand Name Slow Cooker Casseroles and More Copyright 2002

1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 pound small potatoes, cut lengthwise into halves, then crosswise into slices
1 cup chopped onion
2 poblano chile peppers, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 can (about 14 ounces) no-salt-added diced tomatoes I used regular petite diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano

1. Place chicken, potatoes, onion, poblano peppers, jalapeño pepper and garlic in slow cooker. I browned the chicken first but I don't think it made that much of a difference.
2. Stir together broth, tomatoes, chili powder and oregano in large bowl. Pour broth mixture over chicken mixture in slow cooker; mix well. Cover; cook on LOW 8 to 9 hours.
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This was more of a soup than a stew but that wasn't a bad thing. Somehow soup seems lighter than stew. This recipe was in the 'Light and Easy Fare' chapter of this cookbook. I un-lightened it a bit by adding some tortilla strips on top,

The chicken thighs worked well in this. I cut my potatoes too big since I was afraid that smaller pieces would get mushy before everything else finished cooking but these potatoes stayed on the firm side even when fully cooked. This was better the second day, as stews usually are. It's more tomato-y than it looks in the picture. I love eating out of that bowl (it's shallow - I think I eat less) but it's not very good for pictures.

I almost couldn't find poblanos. I was going to use regular green bell peppers but I'm glad I persevered and found the poblanos. They don't have the aftertaste that green bell peppers have. The only problem is that they reminded me of my favorite dish from my favorite Mexican restaurant. Their chile relleno is one of my favorite foods ever and as good as this soup is, it's not even close to a poblano stuffed with cheese and battered and fried. Chile relleno is not a light recipe.

This was one of my favorite cookbooks way back when but it ended up being ignored for a long time, in order to give the other cookbooks a chance, but I've brought it out of retirement.

I'm going to add this to my boneless, skinless, chicken thigh recipe round-up.
.

Good but not cheap

2011-02-21T06:00:00.002-05:00

Marinated Mushrooms
Taste of Home More Fast Fixes With Mixes Copyright 2009

2 pounds fresh mushrooms
1 envelope (.7 ounce) Italian salad dressing mix I used the zesty variety
1 cup water
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Remove mushroom stems (discard or save for another use). I the stems on. Place caps in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain and cool.

In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the salad dressing mix, water, oil, vinegar, lemon juice, sugar and seasonings; shake well.

Place mushrooms in a large bowl; add dressing and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Serve in a lettuce-lined bowl if desired.
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I love marinated mushrooms but the jarred ones are often too vinegary for my taste or too expensive. These had just the balance I was looking for in the marinade but they weren't cheap to make, even though I only needed to pick up the Italian dressing mix and mushrooms to make these. Mushrooms aren't cheap. Even in Costco they were over $3/pound I believe. Those mushrooms were too big though. Great for many things but not what I wanted for this recipe.

I was hoping to find smaller mushrooms in the grocery store. They weren't as small as I would have liked but they worked a little better. They were 2 for $5 for 10 ounce containers. I bought 3. Not a cheap recipe but I will definitely eat every last mushroom and I did make a lot of mushrooms. Hopefully I will soon be going to Friday night auction (the farmer's market) again and maybe I will find cheaper mushrooms. I would love to make these again.

Dry Italian dressing mix is one of those lucky ingredients for me. I've had a few winners with that ingredient. Easy Italian Spiced Pork, Sautéed Shrimp and Vermicelli, and Zesty Cucumber Dip were all good recipes that used Italian dressing mix.

Stepping out of my comfort zone

2011-02-21T06:00:00.001-05:00

Curried Tofu Pâté
Delicious Dips Copyright 2004

1 pound firm tofu (I think the tofu I found was only 14 ounces, I just sort of shorted the rest of the ingredients slightly)
1 ½ tablespoons pure olive oil
3 green onions, including green tops, finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
1 tablespoon curry powder
½ teaspoon turmeric
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons honey
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Drain the tofu and blot completely dry with paper towels. Let the tofu sit on several thicknesses of paper towels while you sauté the vegetables.

In a small sauté pan, warm the olive oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the green onions and celery and sauté just until beginning to soften, about 1 minute. Add the curry, turmeric and cayenne. Sauté, stirring constantly, until the spices are fragrant, about 1 minute longer. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a medium bowl, mash the tofu with the back of a fork until it breaks into small curds. Add the curry mixture and stir to blend. Add the mayonnaise, parsley, honey, salt and pepper. Gently mix until thoroughly combined. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately.

Make 2 ½ cups.
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No, it wasn't the tofu that scared me. It was the curry powder. There was a time when curry powder wasn't an issue for me. I used to absolutely love the mulligatawny soup they served in a hospital where I used to work and curry powder was the predominant flavor. I can't say I really ate a lot of other dishes with that flavor but I couldn't get enough of that soup.

Flash forward to my biggest recipe disaster since starting this blog. I was attempting to make a potato dish spiced with curry spices, not the already blended stuff but it had that familiar smell and I didn't like that smell. The smell of those spices made me so ill! I got an instant headache and I wanted to vomit. I stopped and threw it out and I haven't been able to give curry powder a second thought since then.

I think it's the cumin. I don't know what it is about that spice. I've always liked it in chili, tacos, things like that but it's been hit and miss in other things. It doesn't bother me at all in the Spicy Red Pepper Hummus. I bought some Kirkland Organic Salsa in Costco and it turned out to have cumin it it. I thought it was going to get thrown out when I first tasted it but I got used to it.

So, I decided to give curry powder another chance. I mean, there is mayonnaise in this, what can be bad with mayonnaise? At first, I was a bit hesitant. I did not like the smell of these spices cooking. But, I really did like the final result. It's creamy and a bit sweet. I actually started to crave this. I'm still considering making my own curry powder blend without cumin but I am strangely attracted to this stuff in spite of the cumin. I'm wondering if there is a completely different direction I could go in with this also - some other spice blend and/or different vegetables. I think there are a lot of possibilities here.

This is a book about dips but the author modeled this recipe after a commercial version (she doesn't name it by name and I have no idea what it might be) that she mentions she likes to spread on a toasted bagel. I enjoyed it on half of a honey wheat sandwich thin in this picture but I like it best as a wrap made with a whole wheat tortilla. I found a brand of whole wheat tortillas that I really like so I'm always looking for new things to eat them with.

It's not bad on Pringles either, in case you were wondering.

Using It Up: More Apples

2011-02-16T06:00:00.001-05:00

Legacy Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting
King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Copyright 2006

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (traditional or white whole wheat) I used traditional
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice, or 2 teaspoons apple pie spice
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar I used half dark, half light
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup boiled cider or apple juice concentrate I used the concentrate
4 cups peeled, chopped apples (about 3 large apples, 1 pound)
1 cup walnuts, chopped I omitted these

Brown Sugar Frosting
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar I used light
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch square pan or two 9-inch round pans or line with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice or apple pie spice; set aside.

Cream the butter with the brown and granulated sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, stopping between each addition to scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl. Beat in vanilla, cider (or apple juice).

Mix in the dry ingredients until evenly moistened.
Fold in the apples and walnuts.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan (s). Bake for 45 minutes for the sheet cake or 30-35 minutes for the layers or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven and set on a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting:

In a small pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in brown sugar and salt. Cook, stirring, until the sugar melts. Add the milk, bring to a boil, and pour into a mixing bowl. Cool for 10 minutes.

Stir in confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Beat well; if the mixture seems too thin, add more confectioners’ sugar. Use the frosting while it is still warm or it will firm up while it cools and you won't be able to spread it.
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I still had quite a surplus of apples that might have waited but then I saw this recipe. I only needed to pick up some apple juice concentrate to make it. Oh boy oh boy. You think I would have learned from those Glazed Raisin Bars that I made from this cookbook last week. I think they added 3 inches to my waistline but I just had to come back to this cookbook for more delicious evilness. This was so moist and delicious. And I messed it up too - I forgot to add the granulated sugar until the end. I could see something was wrong - the batter was super dry and that's when I realized it. What else could I do at that point but throw in the sugar and hope for the best? Trust me, no one complained.

This is a very sweet cake but I still liked that thin layer of brown sugar frosting. I think a cream cheese frosting would be fantastic on this too. This would be over the top with the walnuts, which would cut the sweetness a bit. I could almost taste the walnuts that weren't there when I took my first bite. Hopefully some day we will be able to add some tree nuts back into our diet. My son is only allergic to peanuts but to lessen the confusion for him we avoid all nuts right now.

A tangier apply might cut the sweetness too. I used Red Delicious apples.

I've had this book for a while but it's on my hot list right now. Both my King Arthur cookbooks have brought me great recipes. I have to see about adding more of them to my collection.

Chicken and rice with a twist (of orange!)

2011-02-15T06:00:00.001-05:00

Brazilian Chicken and Rice with Olives
The Bon Appetit Cookbook Copyright 2006

1 pound skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips
1/4 cup olive oil I used canola oil
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup yellow rice mix with seasoning packet (from 8-ounce box)
1/2 cup (packed) pimiento-stuffed Spanish olives, halved

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro I left this out
Orange wedges I left this out

Sprinkle chicken lightly with salt and generously with ground black pepper. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, garlic, and peel; sauté until chicken is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add 1 cup water and orange juice and bring to boil. Mix in rice, seasoning packet, and olives. Return to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand covered 10 minutes.

Stir cilantro into rice mixture. Transfer to platter. Garnish with orange wedges.
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This was a simple and not very expensive dish to make. I could only find 5 ounce bags of Carolina yellow rice mix. They were 75 cents each. I used one plus a little from the other to make 1 cup but next time I will just use one bag since I ended up having to add a bit more water to this. The chicken was under $2.50 in Costco. I used a big juicy navel orange that was $1.

There's a lot of oil in this. You could probably cut back some but the richness reminded me of when my mother would cook chicken over rice. Instead of chicken fat though, this is a healthier fat. Overall it had great flavor and was so easy to make, I will likely be making this again.

I'll be adding this to my boneless, skinless chicken thigh recipe round-up.

Using It Up: Apples

2011-02-14T06:00:00.001-05:00

Savory Apple-Chicken Sausage
Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook Copyright 2009

1 large tart apple, peeled and diced
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 pound ground chicken

In a large bowl, combine the apple, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Crumble chicken over mixture and mix well, Shape into 8 3-inch patties.

In a large skillet coated with cooking spray, cook patties over medium heat for 5-6 minutes on each side or until no longer pink. Drain if necessary. My patties were kind of thick and took a while to cook through. After browning them, I added some water to the pan and let it cook out and then let them brown a bit more.
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I just bought a huge bag of apples and I still had a few apples left from the last bag. This recipe looked so simple but I wondered if it would taste like sausage or chicken burgers. The verdict? It did taste like sausage, not a super-spicy sausage but it definitely tastes like sausage. Who knew it was so easy to make your own sausage? The apple was a nice touch but I think it could be left out if you were just looking for basic sausage. The apple flavor was more assertive when these were first cooked. It was milder in the leftovers.

I am going to be making this recipe often. That is a guarantee. I'm going to use this to morph Maple-Barbecued Pork Burgers into Maple-Barbecued Chicken Burgers. Those burgers were delicious but came with a huge side of guilt. Don't quote me but I think the ground chicken I used (regular, not the superlean stuff) has 9 grams of fat per 4 ounces. The pork sausage has 16 grams per 2 ounces! So I'm going to play around and see what I can do there.

This will be added to my ground chicken recipe round-up. It's still my favorite ingredient to work with.

Using It Up: Hot Sauce

2011-02-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

Buffalo Chicken Dip
Mary Engelbreit’s Fan Fare Cookbook Copyright 2010

2 (9.75-ounce) cans white-meat chicken, drained
¾ cup wing or cayenne sauce, plus more to taste
1 cup ranch dressing
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese
Corn or tortilla chips, for serving

Combine all of the ingredients, except for the corn chips, in a saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until heated through. I baked this instead. Serve the dip warm with the corn chips. I served it with tortilla chips and crackers.
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I found a few bottles of hot sauce in the cupboard. Since I wanted to make something for the Super Bowl, this came to mind. It's a pretty popular recipe with a few different variations but this was my first experience with it. It was tasty but if I made it for guests I would take the time to cook up some chicken breasts instead of using the canned chicken. I like canned chicken but it does taste 'canned'.

I decided to bake it. That just appealed to me more and most versions call for baking it. You can also use blue cheese dressing instead of ranch or mozzarella cheese instead of cheddar.

I only made a half batch. A whole batch would be quite a bit of Buffalo Chicken Dip. You're looking at the leftovers in the picture - I didn't get a picture when I first served it. I ate the leftovers for dinner for the next couple of nights.

I am bursting with cooking ideas lately but life is just too crazy. I can't wait to have my own space again.

Custom made party mix

2011-02-10T06:00:00.001-05:00

Party Mix
Best Recipes From The Backs of Boxes, Bottles, Cans and Jars Copyright 1979, 1981, and 1982

6 Tbs. butter or margarine
1 tsp. seasoned salt
4 tsps. Worcestershire sauce
2 cups Corn Chex cereal I used all Corn Chex
2 cups Rice Chex cereal
2 cups Wheat Chex cereal
¾ cup salted mixed nuts I didn't add nuts

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Heat butter in 13x9x2-inch baking pan in oven until melted. Remove. Stir in seasoned salt and Worcestershire sauce. Add Chex and nuts. Mix until all pieces are coated. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on absorbent paper to cool. Makes 6 ¾ cups.

After this was cooled I mixed in roasted garlic rye chips and bbq corn chips.

Note: Party Mix may be frozen, so make a double batch. Thaw at room temperature in container in which is was stored. Really?? I would have never thought of freezing this stuff. It doesn't last long enough around here for freezing.
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My older son loves party mix but he is usually just after a few of the snacks in the mix. I give him a bowl of party mix, he returns with a bowl of pretzels. I don't like the pretzels either. We only have a few options when it comes to ready-made party mixes. I'm not sure if this is still true but the prepackaged Chex mixes stopped being an option for us after his peanut allergy diagnosis since they were labeled for cross-contamination.

So I decided, why not make our own? It isn't really less expensive since the rye chips and bbq corn chips weren't cheap but there was definitely less waste. You could just stick your hand in and get something you like, instead of navigating around the pretzels.

This was ridiculously addictive and ridiculously salty. Next time I am definitely using less seasoned salt or maybe I will use some other seasoning without salt since the butter and Worcestershire sauce add more than enough. I may even replace some of the Worcestershire sauce with lemon juice. I seem to recall either having or someone telling me about a Chex mix recipe that used lemon juice.

I just now ate the very last bit of this party mix. That makes me sad. But it's late and this stuff does take a while to bake - the one negative I can find in this recipe - so we won't be having any more of this until the weekend probably.

Eating my vegetables: Cauliflower with Polonaise Topping

2011-02-09T06:00:00.002-05:00

Cauliflower with Polonaise Topping
Moosewood Restaurant New Classics Copyright 2001

8 cups cauliflower florets*
2 tablespoons butter or extra-virgin
olive oil
2 cloves garlic - minced or pressed
2/3 cup bread crumbs - preferably whole
wheat**
1 chopped hard boiled egg -optional I left this out
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley I used dried
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon or 1 teaspoon dried I used dried
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives I used dried
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper - to taste

* Two pounds of cauliflower = about 8 cups

** Pulverize stale or lightly toasted whole wheat, sourdough, or rye bread
in a blender or food processor.

Steam or blanch the cauliflower florets in salted boiling until tender, 5
to 8 minutes. Drain and set aside

Meanwhile, warm the butter or oil in a large 12-inch skillet and saute the
garlic and bread crumbs for 3 to 4 minutes, until the crumbs are
golden. Mix the hard-boiled egg, if using, into the bread crumbs. Add the
parsley, tarragon, chives, Dijon, and salt and mix well. Add the drained
cauliflower florets to the skillet, toss with the seasoned bread crumbs,
and add pepper to taste. Serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6.
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Cauliflower with breadcrumbs and butter is actually one of my favorite things that I've been making for years. But, left to my own devices, I tend to add a lot of breadcrumbs and a lot of butter. A lot. I followed this recipe faithfully though and enjoyed this healthier more restrained version quite a bit. The herbs and mustard gave it a kick of flavor. Cauliflower isn't going to help my complexion but I love it, it was on sale and it was a huge head of cauliflower (over 4 pounds, I only used about half for this recipe). I am trying to eat more vegetables in general, not just the colorful ones.

I'm enjoying exploring this cookbook once again. It was getting ignored for way too long. Expect to see more recipes from it in the future.

One of my favorite ingredients

2011-02-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

Spanakopita Chicken Meatballs with Spicy Cucumber Yogurt Sauce
Rachael Ray’s Book of 10 Copyright 2009

2 10-ounce boxes frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
¾ cup crumbled feta cheese I used a 4 oz container of feta
1 pound ground chicken
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped DIVIDED
1 tablespoon grill seasoning, such as McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning
Extra virgin olive oil, for liberal drizzling I left this out and coated them with cooking spray
1 ½ cups Greek-style plain yogurt
1/3 seedless cucumber, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill I used dried dill
½ tablespoon ground cumin I omitted this
½ tablespoon ground coriander
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Wring out the spinach completely dry. Separate the spinach as you add it to the mixing bowl. Add the feta, chicken, onion, two thirds of the chopped garlic, the grill seasoning and a liberal drizzle of olive oil to the bowl. Mix the meat with the veggies and feta and form 18 1 ½-inch meatballs. Place the meatballs on a rimmed non-stick baking sheet and bake them for 10 to 12 minutes until they are golden and the juices run clear.

While the meatballs bake, place the yogurt, remaining chopped garlic, the cucumbers, dill, cumin, coriander, lemon juice and a little salt in a food processor and process until smooth. Adjust the seasonings and transfer sauce to a serving bowl. Serve the meatballs with a bowl of the sauce and toothpicks for dipping.

6 servings
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I've come late to the Rachael Ray party. Her delivery turned me off at first - the long lists of ingredients, her coupling of main dishes with sides, the way recipe variations are presented in some of her books (switch out this for that, leave out this,add that,etc). Now that I have several of her recipes under my belt, I can look back and say, "Wow!" I have loved all of her recipes.

Of course she has made herself even nearer and dearer to my heart by often utilizing one of my favorite ingredients, ground chicken. I am slowly working my way through all of her ground chicken recipes. I settled on this one next since I didn't need to buy too many ingredients. I was a bit hesitant. I'm not sure why. I think it was the cumin. I don't care for cumin in places I'm not used to it (i.e. I like it in chili and stuff like that but not much else). I decided to just leave it out and I think, for me personally, that was a wise decision. I am learning to listen to my little voice more often.

These are chock full of spinach and feta. The chicken is not the star. In another cookbook, she uses the same basic mix for burgers, but only one box of spinach. So, if you're not into a LOT of spinach, I'm sure you could cut back. Me? I loved them with a lot of spinach. Spinach is one of those vegetables that are supposed to give my complexion that attractive color, so that was a bonus. They didn't need a bonus though, these were just plain delicious. Lots of flavor in the meatballs, the sauce was great (without the cumin). Before Greek yogurt was available, I could never make a tzatziki that I liked. Now, made with the proper Greek yogurt, I love it. I ate these in a whole wheat pita. Ding! Ding! Another Rachael Ray winner.

I'm going to add these to my ground chicken recipe round up.

Using It Up: Raisins and Whole Wheat Flour

2011-02-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

Glazed Raisin Bars
King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Copyright 2006

3 cups packed raisins (18 oz.)
4 cups whole wheat flour (1 lb.)
1 1/3 cups sugar (9 3/8 oz.)
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks, 6 oz.)
1/4 cup molasses (3 oz.)
1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 large eggs
1/3 cup water

Glaze
1 cup confectioners' sugar (4 oz.)
3 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 10x15-inch jelly roll pan, a 14-inch deep dish pizza pan, or similar size pan.

Place the raisins and 2 cups of the flour in a food processor. Process until the raisins are coarsely chopped i.e. each raisin should be chopped into about 4 pieces.

Beat the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Add the molasses, baking soda, salt, and spices, beating until well combined.

Beat in the eggs, scraping the bowl, then add the water and the flour-raisin mixture, beating gently until everything is combined. Stir in the remaining 2 cups flour.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan. It will be stiff. Wet your fingers and spread out as smoothly as possible.

Bake until the bars are beginning to brown, 25 minutes. Poke a sharp knife in the middle of the dough. The inside should be very moist but not wet or unbaked looking. Remove the bars form the oven and let cool in the pan.

Glaze: Stir together the powdered sugar and milk or lemon juice. When the bars are cool, use a pastry brush to spread the glaze over the bars. When glaze is hardened, cut bars into 2 inch square pieces. I ended up doubling the glaze recipe because I forgot it was supposed to be brushed on and it didn't seem like enough to spread on.
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When I cleaned out my cupboards recently I came across three partially filled boxes of raisins. I don't use raisins all that regularly and I guess I tend to buy a new box whenever I need them. When I saw this recipe I immediately saw it as a good way to use up most of those raisins. And as a bonus, it used whole wheat flour. I bought a bag of whole wheat flour at Christmas for a recipe I never got around to making.

I thought these were going to be dry at first but they weren't. They got better as they sat. They were addictive. I am funny about raisins There are times I just can't get in the mood for them but when I do use them, I usually love them. I really like the way they are almost ground up in these bars, instead of left whole. It distributes the raisin flavor much better.

On another note, take a peek down at the right side of my blog. I've had over 1 million page hits! And I didn't start using StatCounter until over a year after I started blogging. Pioneer Woman probably has about 1 million hits a day and it took me almost 5 years but hey, it's still pretty cool.

Using It Up: Strawberry Preserves

2011-02-03T06:00:00.002-05:00

Strawberry Jam Muffins
McCall's Cook Book Copyright 1963

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil or melted shortening
about 3/4 cup of strawberry preserves or jam (or whatever flavor you prefer)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the lemon zest to the dry ingredients. Mix together the milk, egg and oil or shortening. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients all at once. Stir with fork until just moistened. Batter will be lumpy.

Place 1 tablespoon of batter in each muffin cup. Top with 1 teaspoon of strawberry preserves. Top preserves with batter, filling cups about two-thirds full. Top each muffin with about a teaspoon of Streusel. Bake for about 20-25 minutes (mine were done in about 15 minutes but my oven is wonky). Makes 12 muffins.

Streusel:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter

Mix flour and brown sugar. Cut butter into mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
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As you can see, I'm trying to use things up. I cleaned out my cupboards recently and that's always an eye opener. I hate that I waste so much food. It is my goal to use up as much of the stuff that I have on hand. I have a few jars of preserves and jams in the refrigerator, and some in the cupboard. I'm not sure where these strawberry preserves came from - a nice jar of Dickinson's brand preserves. It doesn't look like there was enough missing from the jar to have used them in a recipe.

This cookbook gives a recipe for Perfect Muffins and then they suggest several variations. This was one of the variations but I added the streusel topping since I like a topping on my muffins and from now on, I'm going to take the liberty of adding one because life is too short to make muffins without a topping.

This just might be the Perfect Muffin. Both the texture and flavor were excellent. I almost omitted the lemon zest but I'm glad I added it. The trace of lemon flavor was great with the strawberry. This recipe is definitely a keeper. I could have eaten all 12 muffins. Thank God for my coworkers. And even though I'm sure these are good without the streusel, I thought it was a great touch. Whoever thought of that should really help themselves to another muffin.

I picked this cookbook up in Goodwill for $1.97. It looks like a great all-purpose cookbook. After this excellent recipe, I am anxious to try more recipes from this book.

Using It Up: Candied Cherries

2011-02-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

Melting Moments
Reader’s Digest Cookies 1,001 Mouthwatering Recipes From Around The World Copyright 2004

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/ 8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups finely chopped candied cherries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two cookie sheets. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla, beating until just blended. Mix in the dry ingredients and cherries. Form the dough into balls the size of walnuts and place 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until just golden, rotating the sheets halfway through for even baking. Cool on the sheets until the cookies firm slightly. Transfer to racks to finish cooling.

Makes 28-30 cookies.
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When I went to buy the candied cherries to make my fruit cake for Christmas, I could only find the large container of the red cherries in the store I was shopping in. I could have gone to another store for the smaller container but it was Christmas time and I was tired of shopping so I bought the bigger container. I wasn't sure what to do with the leftover cherries. I don't see a lot of recipes that call for them in most of my cookbooks but then I realized they appeared more frequently in some of my baking cookbooks that have a European slant. It may be hard to explain what I mean by that but I have a lot of cookbooks that have American measurements but they have clearly not been born and raised in the U.S. This book for instance was 'conceived, edited and designed' in Italy.

Then I was faced with too many choices! I found lots of recipes calling for candied cherries. I went with this recipe since I knew the guys at work would like it. It's a basic cookie. The cherries don't add that much except a different texture and sweetness of course. I don't find candied cherries to be all that flavorful.

I think there are a lot of cookies named Melting Moments and most are probably nothing like this recipe but I just bake 'em, I don't name 'em.

Still pale but still trying

2011-01-31T06:00:00.000-05:00

Marinated Carrot Salad
Food & Wine An Entire Year of Recipes 2004 Copyright 2004

Salt
1 pound carrots, thinly sliced on the diagonal or julienned
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil I used canola oil
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar I used red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced shallot I used some yellow onion
1 tablespoon chopped parsley I used green onion
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
Freshly ground pepper

1. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Salt the water, then add the carrots and cook until they are barely tender, about 3 minutes (watch them - the cooking time with vary depending on the thickness); drain them.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil with the vinegar, garlic, lemon juice, shallot, parsley, mustard and sugar and season with salt and pepper. I whirled it all together in my mini-chopper. Add the carrots and toss to coat. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Serve the carrot salad chilled or at room temperature.
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As I continue my quest to give my complexion a healthy yellow glow, I turned to this recipe. So far my complexion is still the color of Wonder Bread and I was beginning to doubt if I could eat enough colorful vegetables to change it. After tasting this recipe I think it might be possible. I could easily down a pound of carrots a day eating this. I loved the dressing and since I'm not a big fan of raw carrots, that little bit of cooking made the difference. I had to make a few substitutions based on what I had on hand but they worked and I'll probably stick to my substitutions from now on.

I used a cheap mandolin-style, 'as seen on TV' vegetable slicer for this. I don't buy these products directly since I have plenty of opportunities to buy them at yard sales. I bought this brand-new, never-used, in-the-box for $1. It has several blades. I think it's worth what I paid. It actually did a nice job of slicing the carrots, although skinny carrots are not the easiest vegetable to slice on this type of slicer. You can't adjust the thickness of the slices as I would hope you could on a more expensive slicer but I happened to want these slices very thin and that's what I got. Now that I've taken the slicer out of the box and used it, I will probably use it a lot more. It wasn't difficult to use or clean. This is one of those things that I just don't need an expensive version of but I can get some use out of this cheap one.

I have to admit that I liked this so much I wanted to make another batch right away and I didn't feel like slicing another bag of carrots. Since I'm not sure if my food processor is working or not (it stopped working mid-recipe that last time I used it), I bought the bagged matchstick carrots and that worked out very well. They're a bit more expensive but a great time saver.

Since someone asked ...

2011-01-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

This is my $20 mixer. It's in excellent condition on the exterior and it came with the paddle, whisk and dough hook. Ain't she purdy?

Recipes I'm not going to tell you about

2011-01-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

There have been a lot of things I've made this past year that I never got around to telling you about. I either can't (I don't remember where the recipe is) and/or they were just not that great or exciting (I know, since when has that stopped me?)

This is an eggplant and tomato salad with feta cheese and capers that I made way back when that just didn't wow me. I used the light purple eggplants which are adorable but rather flavorless and I didn't care for the texture of the eggplant. Otherwise, I think this recipe has potential except I don't know where it is. If I even find it I might give it another try with a different variety of eggplant, when tomato season comes along again.

This is a sloppy joe recipe that was fine but there was nothing special about it. I think I used ground turkey.

World Peace Cookies - just about every blogger has made these already. They were okay. I didn't use a really good chocolate or a specialty salt so I won't argue with anyone who did and raved about these (as most people have). Also, I made them for a shower with a bunch of other cookies so I think I was just cookied out when I finally tasted these.

I made these big oatmeal cookies when I made a bunch of other big cookies for my son's teachers. I actually used raisins since I also made chocolate chip cookies for them. I usually put chocolate chip in my oatmeal cookies. These were really good but not so outrageously good that I'm upset that I don't remember where the recipe is. I might have found it online. I think it was the 'big' that made these so good - I'm a sucker for oversized cookies .

These glazed Chinese drumsticks were a failure. They were cooked on the stove top and the skin just about came off and the glaze was pretty lame. They tasted okay but, well, the picture tells the rest.

These drumsticks were cooked in Heinz 57 Sauce. They were supposed to be cooked on the stove top but learning a lesson from the glazed Chinese drumsticks, I did them in the oven. I liked the way they turned out texture-wise but I didn't care for the flavor.

A three pepper relish that wasn't bad, I just don't remember where I got the recipe from.

This is your typical lemon bundt cake, made from scratch with a lemony glaze. It was good, nothing earth shattering about it though. I made it to use up some lemons that I had. I have no idea which cookbook I got that recipe from. I'm sure there is a recipe like this is many of my cookbooks.

The story of my Kitchen Aid mixer

2011-01-26T06:00:00.001-05:00

The Essential Soft Oatmeal Cookie
The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion Copyright 2004

1/2 cup (1stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg, beaten
6 tablespoons sour cream or yogurt (not nonfat) I used sour cream
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 cup currants or raisins (optional) I used chocolate chips
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon I left this out
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup pecans or walnuts (optional) I left these out

Preheat the oven tho 350 degrees F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment paper) two baking sheets.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, oil and sugar. Add the egg, beating until fluffy, then beat in sour cream and vanilla. Stir in the currants and oats.

In a separate bowl, mix together the baking soda, cinnamon, salt and flour. Add this mixture, a cup at a time, to the oat mixture, beating well after each addition. Stir in the nuts. Let the dough rest for 15 to 30 minutes.

Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, or until they're light brown, Remove from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool.
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Okay, not the most exciting cookie recipe. I can't get fancy when I'm looking for a sure thing to put in Nick's lunch bag. He's funny about what he likes and what he doesn't. Store-bought definitely has a greater appeal to him than homemade at this point. He really liked these and so did I. Although I love the oatmeal cookie recipe that uses vanilla pudding, it's nice to have options.

This is a somewhat historical recipe, boring as it is. It's the first recipe I prepared using my Kitchen Aid stand mixer! I never thought I needed an expensive Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Well, there was a point that I wanted one but I was given a Kitchen Aid hand mixer as a wedding gift over 10 years ago and it's so powerful, I stopped coveting the stand mixer.

But I was one of the first shoppers at a local church yard sale late last summer, and what do you think I did when I saw a Kitchen Aid stand mixer sitting there priced at $20? Yep, I bought it! Well, I guess I gave the ending of that story away already, huh?

$20 is a lot for me to spend on something at a yard sale, especially something mechanical that may or may not work. I might have passed it over if it weren't for the handwritten note written on a sticker and placed on the mixer letting me know that all Kitchen Aid attachments work for this mixer. Would someone have taken the time to write that note if the mixer didn't work? And it was a church yard sale after all, all items donated, all of the money going to the church. I took a chance.

I picked that thing up and paid for it so fast, putting down the strawberry shaped cookie jar I was carrying. I was wrangling a 2 year old too, something had to give. Someone else snatched up that cookie jar while I was paying for the mixer and getting it to my car but that's okay. It was nothing special. I've seen those at other yard sales and at Goodwill. I've never seen a Kitchen Aid mixer out in the wild before.

The cashier was amazed that I was paying $20 - everything was priced so cheaply, he thought that was a lot! It's a Kitchen Aid K5-A, with the Hobart name on it, so it's older but those older models are usually better made than the newer models.

So now I'm using it cautiously. I don't know how much life is left in it. I want to use it, but if it croaks, I don't want to be so attached to it that I find myself wanting to replace it at a more believable price. I used it for all of my Christmas baking (my poor neglected hand mixer!) It got a great workout and gave me no problems. What was also nice about it was that it forced me to keep washing the bowl between cookies instead of building a large mountain of dirty bowls like I might tend to do when I use my hand mixer.

So yes, I'm getting a wee bit attached to it, but would I pay hundreds for one of these? I still don't think so, not at this point in my life. I'd rather have more cookbooks.

2 less frozen bananas in my freezer

2011-01-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

Quick Banana Coffee Cake Streusel Muffin
The Ugly Binder, clipped from a newspaper

For the streusel topping:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, cut into small pieces and softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

For the muffins:

3/4 cup sour cream
2 bananas
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, cut into small pieces and softened

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with baking spray, or line it with paper muffin cups.

2. To prepare the streusel, in a food processor, combine the flour, butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Process for 15 seconds, or until well blended and resembles slightly clumpy wet sand. Transfer to a bowl and set aside

3. To prepare the muffins, in the food processor combine the sour cream and bananas. Process until smooth. Add the cinnamon, ginger, salt, vanilla, egg and brown sugar. Process again until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and butter. Pulse only until combined. Add 1/4 of the streusel mixture, pulse the processor 2 to 3 times. I hate the vagueness of that step - tell me exactly how much streusel to add back!

4. Scoop a generous 1/4 cup of batter into each muffin cup. Top each with a heaping spoonful of streusel topping, pressing it lightly into the top of the batter. Bake for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted at the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins.

Nutrition information per muffin (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 310 calories; 97 calories from fat (31 percent of total calories); 11g fat (7 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 48 mg cholesterol; 49 g carbohydrate; 5 g protein; 1 g fiber; 172 mg sodium.
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This is not one of my old recipes from the Ugly Binder, I actually clipped this from a newspaper recently. I sometimes kill the long 3 1/2 minutes it takes to heat my lunch in the microwave by picking something out of the recycling bin to read and that's where I found this recipe, in a coworker's local newspaper.

I've had a stock of overripe bananas in the freezer forever, planning on making something with them every week, but all the banana recipes I saw seemed blah. This isn't terribly exciting but it was a step up from banana bread or plain banana muffins. I love a muffin with a topping. I'm not a fan of a plain muffin top. I will use this topping on other muffins.

I had some technical trouble. My food processor cut out before I finished. I switched to a mixer but I don't think the butter incorporated properly. I'm not sure. Even though I used foil liners, there was melted butter under each muffin when I took these out of the pan. Weird.

I thought these were very muffin-like, not a cupcake disguised as a muffin. They weren't too sweet or too oily. They looked beautiful - I piled on the topping expecting it to fall off but it stuck beautifully. They rose so nice, and didn't spill over at all. The flavor didn't make my eyes roll back into my head but it was very pleasant.

It's been a while since I made muffins but this might be the start of another muffin kick around here.

Yummy vegetable soup

2011-01-24T06:00:00.002-05:00

Carolina Vegetable Soup
Moosewood Restaurant New Classics Copyright 2001

3 tbsp olive oil
2 c chopped onions
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 c chopped carrots
1 c chopped sweet potatoes
1/2 c chopped celery
1 1/2 c chopped zucchini
1 c cooked lima beans– fresh or frozen I used frozen baby lima beans
3/4 c frozen corn kernels
1 1 /2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes I used a 14.5 ounce can of petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves I used dried
1/4 c barbecue sauce I used Sweet Baby Ray's Original
4 c water
1 tsp each salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley I omitted this
Tabasco or hot sauce to taste
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil (optional) I omitted this
Chopped scallions

In a large soup pot, warm the oil over medium heat and saute the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the carrots, yams, and celery and saute another 3 minutes. Add the zucchini, lima beans, corn, tomatoes, thyme, and barbecue sauce. Stir for about a minutes, then add the water, salt, and pepper.

Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the veggies are tender. A few minutes before serving, stir in the parsley and hot sauce to taste.

Serve topped with chopped scallions.

Serves 6
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Recently I saw an article online about how people who eat a lot of vegetables that contain carotenoids develop a more attractive skin tone. Well my skin tone could use all the help it can get. I am pale. Not that cool, vampire pale or that cute Irish kind of pale but the 'OMG! Are you ill?!' kind of pale. I won't risk tanning. Fake tans, while much improved over the years, still come up short as far as I'm concerned.

So, I've been upping my vegetable consumption in general and trying to get more of the red and orange vegetables in my diet. This recipe seemed like a good way to get some carrots, sweet potatoes and tomatoes in me and the barbecue sauce intrigued me. This seems to be a vegetarian take-off on Brunswick stew which I've never made since it seemed like a lot of work. This version is not at all much work and the result is absolutely delicious.

It had a distinct flavor which may have been the thyme. I don't usually care for thyme but I liked this soup so go figure. For some reason I keep adding thyme to things even though I don't like it so maybe that habit finally paid off.

I loved this right off but it was even better the second day. I regret not making a double batch of this but really, it's so simple to make, it will be no problem to whip up another batch sometime soon.

Oh, and baby lima beans? Very, very cute!

One of those once in a while recipes

2011-01-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

Cheeseburger Ramen
101 Things To Do With Ramen Noodles Copyright 2005

½ pound ground beef I used 1 pound
1 package ramen noodles, with seasoning packet I used 3 packages
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 tomato, diced (optional)

In a frying pan, brown and drain beef. Season to taste with ½ of the seasoning packet.

Cook noodles in water according to package directions and drain. Add beef and cheese to noodles and stir until cheese is melted. Add tomatoes, if desired.

Makes 2 servings.
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I changed the proportions a bit here but this isn't a recipe that needs to be anywhere near exact. I didn't add much cheese. You can't really even see it but you could taste it.

I actually enjoyed this. No, it's not very healthy but it's not the worst thing you could have for dinner either. I wouldn't make it every night but it might very well just show up on the dinner table again. Maybe I'll even add some vegetables!

Out of hibernation

2011-01-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

Spiced Sweet Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
from the Ugly Binder, most likely from allrecipes.com

1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
1 (4 ounce) jar roasted red peppers
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley I skipped this

1. In an electric blender or food processor, puree the chickpeas, red peppers, lemon juice, tahini, garlic, cumin, cayenne, and salt. Process, using long pulses, until the mixture is fairly smooth, and slightly fluffy. Make sure to scrape the mixture off the sides of the food processor or blender in between pulses. I used my immersion blender. Transfer to a serving bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (The hummus can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Return to room temperature before serving.)
2. Sprinkle the hummus with the chopped parsley before serving.

Makes about 2 cups
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This recipe is from my pre-blogging days. It's been tucked away in my ugly binder, never out of my mind, but it's so hard to find tahini around here. Not even just around here - I looked in stores near my parents too and could never find it. I finally remembered to pick some up when I was in Wegman's a few weeks ago. I think I paid over $7 for a jar of organic tahini but I can make 18 batches of hummus with that tahini. There were slightly cheaper options but this one appealed to me the most.

Everything else in this is inexpensive. I got a 24 ounce jar of roasted peppers for $2.39 (store brand). The beans were 75 cents (for name brand on sale, the store brand are even cheaper). I bought lemons at Costco. I figured this cost about $2 to make 2 cups. That isn't bad for hummus.

Many hummus recipes call for oil but this one is oil-free and I don't miss the oil. I am crazy about this stuff. CRAZY! Love it, love it, love it! It's great on a whole wheat tortilla, with roasted veggies, made into a wrap. I can't believe I let this recipe hibernate for so long.

When I was in the Ugly Binder, I pulled a few recipes out. My poor Ugly Binder gets ignored. It doesn't grow very much since although I bookmark recipes quite often, I rarely print one out anymore. Most of the recipes predate my time on the internet or I printed them out in the early days. I think it's about time that I try some of these recipe out that have been in there for 15 years.

Better than bottled

2011-01-18T06:00:00.002-05:00

Kanpai Ginger Salad Dressing
Favorite Restaurant Recipes Copyright 1982

½ cup soy oil I used canola oil
¼ cup soy sauce
1/3 cup diced onion
¼ cup diced celery
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoons peeled, diced fresh ginger I used jarred ginger
2 teaspoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons grated lemon rind
½ teaspoon catsup
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Place all ingredients into blender or food processor and blend until vegetables are pureed. Store in covered jar. Shake thoroughly before using.

Makes about 1 ½ cups
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This dressing was sooooo good! The only thing that would make it better is if we could call it a soup instead and then I could eat it with a spoon. Don't laugh - try it first and then get back to me on that.

You can buy ginger dressings but the ones available to me are expensive and none that I've tried have been as good as this one. With some won ton strips and some grilled chicken, this salad really hit the spot.

This cookbook contains 500 recipes from the R.S.V.P column of Bon Appetit magazine. The recipe is from the Kanpai Japanese Restaurant in Philadelphia. I doubt it's still there since restaurants generally don't stay in business that long and I don't recall ever hearing about this restaurant when I lived in Philly, from the late 80s to the late 90s. I couldn't find any information on it. Their dressing will live on with me, that's for certain.

Question of the Day: Are there any restaurant recipes that you would like to have? I can't think of any actual restaurant recipes but years ago I took a Royal Caribbean cruise and I loved the key lime pie they served. It had a creamy top layer. Years later I found a recipe for their pie, supposedly, but I could tell it wasn't the same since it didn't have a creamy top layer (or they changed it or my memory stinks). And a local grocery store chain used to sell an apple caramel dessert from a major dessert distributor but I haven't seen it in years. I would love to make something like that - one of the best things I've ever had. I found the ingredient list online but I haven't had it in so long, it would be hard for me to figure out how to duplicate it now. I need to taste it again.

Another birthday cake for Nick

2011-01-16T21:09:00.003-05:00

I survived another birthday party. Nick turned seven this past week. We had his party today since he didn't tell me he wanted one until after Christmas. I was hoping to avoid the party thing this year but it turned out well. Except for Dan complaining of a bellyache 30 minutes into the party. He wouldn't let me go and I was sure he was going to throw up but he didn't. He turned back into his old self right at the end of the party. Must have been gas. I hope (knock on wood). It threw me off but thank God I had backup (another helpful mom).

I made the cupcakes from a box (Duncan Hines) and the cake was my favorite chocolate cake recipe, the awesome Chocolate Fudge Cake. I love that cake! I used Easy Buttercream for the green frosting. The football is canned chocolate frosting and the gold is canned white frosting with gold food coloring. The accents are from tubed icing. It's just easier to do it that way.

Yay! I just realized when I posted to that Buttercream recipe that it shows a picture of Nick's 2nd birthday cake. I was looking for pictures of all of his birthday cakes the other day and I couldn't find one of that cake anywhere. Thank God for blogging! I've only missed his first birthday here since I started this blog a few months before he turned two.

Now I have two days off to recuperate. I hope I get to cook something.

A Closer Look At The Books - Esquire's Handbook for Hosts, 1949

2011-01-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

This is one of my more entertaining books. I think the audience for this book was the 1950 metrosexual male. (This book belonged to someone named Shelly - not sure if that is a man or a woman.)

It's not strictly a cookbook but it does contain hundreds of food and drink recipes.

The recipes are appealing. They try to have an air of sophistication about them although there is a recipe for buttered toast.

The recipes don't seem very dated to me. There are many international recipes - Armenian, Indian, French, Italian, Hungarian, Russian - even Turkish! Even though this book is supposed to be about being a good host, there are a few recipes geared toward eating alone and the one for hot dog stew caught my eye.

The drink recipes are even more appealing. I'm not a big drinker but it doesn't seem like people drink the variety of cocktails that they once did. I am tempted to try many of these drinks. Maybe not this one though:

Huckle-My-Butt

1 quart beer
1/2 pint of brandy
2 eggs
Sugar to taste
Small amounts of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg

Stir thoroughly until well mixed.

I think this is a classic drink somewhere in the world but it does not appeal to me. But I may tell the next person who annoys me to 'Huckle-My-Butt'. It can be my own Kiss-My-Grits catch phrase.

This book contains plenty of information on entertaining - conversation tips, card games, party games, party tricks - even after-dinner witchcraft.

There are a few pages devoted to figuring out how attractive you are to the opposite sex. Here are some of the highlights:

How Attractive Are You To Men?
If you are asked to get another girl for a foursome, do you pick one obviously less attractive than you are? You are unwise to do so. Get the most glamorous girl you know and both men will be pleased.

I'm not going to argue, I don't think women should compete with each other, but since this book is written from the male point of view, the answer didn't surprise me the least bit.

Do men marvel at your capacity for holding liquor? A great mistake: it gives you a fast reputation and runs into money - the man's money - besides.

A think a good portion of men today would actually consider buying a woman liquor a good investment.

How many comfortable chairs are in your living room? At least two, I hope. No man can fall in love unless he has a chance to relax and he he can't if either of you sits bolt upright.

I wonder how many women ended up as old maids in the 1950s soley because of a poor choice of living room furniture.

Do you either play bridge or dance really well? If not, takes steps to correct this at once. You're better off to do both well, but at least one talent is mandatory.

Those aren't that talents Cosmo tells me I need.

How Attractive Are You To Women?

Do you show your devotion to a woman by holding her hand or putting your arm around her when her friends are present? Please don't. Even a girl who is affectionate in private dislikes public mauling.

Hand holding was considered a public mauling in 1949?! I find that hard to believe.

Would you dine a girl expensively and not buy her flowers or economize on the place and bring her at least a gardenia? Most women would prefer having flowers and less to eat.

No wonder women were smaller back then. They were surrounded by lots of pretty flowers too.

Do you consider it a young girl's own business whether she gets tight and is indiscreet when she's out with you? Keep an inexperienced girl from getting tight, if you have to spank her, and don't let any woman become indiscreet through liquor. Triumphs over liquor don't help any man.

So you can't hold her hand or put your arm around her, but you can spank her?

The book suggests that the host not get too drunk at his own party. They suggest a few ways he can tell if he's had too many:

The Sober Duty Of A Host

You've had a few if ..
You hold eight diamonds to the ten, jack, a singleton spade and four small clubs, and bid one heart figuring that, although you are vulnerable, a psychic bid, in an effort to save rubber, is a fine strategic move.

Well, duh! This is the most obvious sign that you are drunk. I think even police officers are using this as part of their sobriety test.

You think it might be fun to send a telegram to somebody.

When I was in my heyday, drunk dialing was the problem. Now it is drunk texting, facebooking or tweeting. But back in 1950, drunk telegram sending was the danger?! I have to say, that one might still hold as a good indication that you've had too much to drink.

And what if one of your guests over imbibes?

Is There A Drunk In The House?

Since you guests might not be as careful as you to stay on the sober side, you'd best bone up on How To Handle A Drunk On The Premises. Your object, whenever a drunk guest begins to annoy the rest of the party, is to lure the lush into a bedroom and get him to take a nap. "Let's have a drink in here" or "I must speak to you alone" are the approaches most likely to succeed. Thereafter, the use of Mickey Finns is not particularly recommended; you can often achieve the same effect with bed or chair combined with just one more very strong slug.

This is so wrong, on so many levels. Luring drunks into your bedroom? One more strong slug? Yes, with any luck that will push the guest right into alchohol poisoning and he won't disturb any of your future parties either.

The illustrations are gorgeous and the cartoons are amusing:

I also got a few bonus items with this book:

A paper napkin from Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans. I will assume it was saved here for the drink recipes printed on the other side.

also, a dried rose:

I paid either 50 cents or a dollar for this book from my former cookbook guy (my dealer LOL). He never came back after giving up his stall at the auction when gas prices started going up. As much as I miss him, I think I would be buried in cookbooks by now if he hadn't left.

This wasn't the only edition of this book, I'm not sure how many or which was the earliest. There are many copies floating around out there. I think this would make an amusing AND useful gift for the modern single man.

Sauce or just jello?

2011-01-13T06:00:00.001-05:00

Cranberry Strawberry Sauce
The Ugly Binder, a newspaper contest winner

1 pkg fresh Cranberries
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Water
Rind of 1 Orange, cut in small thin strips I used my microplane to zest the orange
1 Lrg (6oz) pkg Strawberry JELLO
1 cup boiling water
1 pkg Frozen Strawberries, thawed

Cook cranberries with 1 cup Sugar and 1 cup Water according to pkg directions for "firm" cranberries. While cooking add orange rind.

After cooked add JELLO-dissolved in just 1 cup Boiling Water

Mix well and add the thawed strawberries

Let stand in refrigerator at least overnight.
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One of the newspapers that I read online runs a 'local flavors' cooking contest. This recipe was one of the runner ups. I had a bag of cranberries that I was looking for something to do with when I read this.

I really did like this - the cranberries added tang, the strawberries added sweetness. I just wasn't sure what to do with it. It was too strawberry-y and too Jello-y to replace traditional cranberry sauce in any way I might use the traditional version. I had no problem just eating it straight but it made a LOT. A lot of it ended up getting thrown out since I made this before leaving town for a few days and then I forgot about it. Again, don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed this but I wouldn't call it a 'sauce', it was cranberry-strawberry jello.

Question of the Day: What is your traditional cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving? For my family, it's the jellied. I also like the version they sell in the deli at the supermarket but no one else will eat it.

Rice krispie treats revisted

2011-01-12T06:00:00.001-05:00

Rice Krispie Treats On Sticks

1/4 cup butter
1 10 oz. bag marshmallows
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6 cups (or more) rice krispies

Melt butter, add marshmallows. When marshmallows are melted take off heat and add vanilla, then the cereal. Spray pan with cooking spray, firmly add mixture. Let cool a bit before cutting and inserting sticks. If you wait to long you might not be able to get the sticks in. Decorate as desired.
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I've made rice krispie treats before but they were just your garden variety rice krispie treats. These were still just regular old rice krispie treats but I dolled them up for Nick's birthday treat at school yesterday with a light coating of CandiQuick on one side, a Swedish fish and some blue sprinkles. I also put them on sticks. Nick saw that and said 'They're on sticks! Now we won't get our hands dirty when we eat them!' Smart boy. Not that my main goal was the kids keeping their hands clean. Food is just more fun on a stick. They would have been just as good without the sticks, and you can risk them being softer without the sticks.

These were a bit of work because I needed two batches and I prefer to make these on the stovetop, not in the microwave. Make sure you use the full 6 cups or more if you're going to put them on sticks. I added more and I may have added more than I should have, especially the second batch, so they were a bit drier than I prefer but I reasoned that meant less sugar for the kids. I prefer my rice krispie treats more towards the gooey end of the spectrum.

My original thought was rice krispie cupcakes but I started thinking about how hard it might be to put that sticky mixture in individual cupcake cups. And would it stick to the cupcake papers? Surfing around I came up with this idea. There are fancier ways to decorate these but I was looking for something uncomplicated and unfussy.

I went the rice krispie treat route because last year when it was my turn to bring snack, I asked the kindergarten teacher what the kids like best and she said rice krispie treats. So I hope these first graders like them too. The first graders don't have snack everyday so they probably at least enjoyed the break in the day. I was hoping to skip the birthday snack but since Nick can't eat most of the snacks the other kids bring in, and they are still bringing them in for birthdays, I went along.

Question of the Day: What foods on a stick do you like? Corn dogs are probably the ultimate food on a stick.

Not your same old, same old cookie

2011-01-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

Milk Chocolate Florentine Cookies
Nestle Tollhouse Best-Loved Recipes Copyright 2005

2/3 cup butter
2 cups quick oats
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light or dark corn syrup I used light because that's all I had
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups (11.5 oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Milk Chocolate Morsels

PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Line baking sheets with foil. Read my commentary for more on this

MELT butter in medium saucepan; remove from heat. Stir in oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla extract and salt; mix well. Drop by level teaspoons, about 3 inches apart, onto foil-lined baking sheets. Spread thinly with rubber spatula.

BAKE for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets on wire racks. Peel foil from cookies.

MICROWAVE morsels in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on MEDIUM-HIGH (70%) power for 1 minute; STIR. Morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10 to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted. Spread thin layer of melted chocolate onto flat side of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies to make sandwiches.
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I was looking for a recipe that used chocolate chips since I bought a huge bag of them in Costco before Christmas and I still had about half left. I was looking for something that wasn't same old same old and this recipe caught my eye. Then I realized these called for milk chocolate chips and that bag contained semi-sweet chips. While I pondered making the substitution (which I think would have been fine), I found a bag of milk chocolate chips in the cupboard. So, the bad news is that I didn't make a dent in my semi-sweet chocolate chip surplus but the good news is that I didn't need to buy anything to make these and I made a dent in my oatmeal surplus.

I've been aware of this type of cookie for many years but they always seemed like they would be a pain in the rear to make. I did have a few hiccups but I think with the lessons I learned, next time I make these it should go much more smoothly.

The batter (which mixes up superquick - nothing fussy about that) was difficult to spread at first (it was sticking to the spatula). Then I started dipping the metal spatula in hot water first and that solved that problem. I dipped between each cookie. If there was no solution to that problem I may have stopped right there because without the water dip, trying to spread the batter into a circle was very frustrating.

I started off baking these on parchment. I drew circles on one side to give me a guideline and then flipped it over and spread the batter onto the parchment.

Then I decided to see how well foil worked after a couple of sheets. I felt like I could freestyle the circles pretty well by then and the cookies don't need to be perfectly round.

Well, the parchment cookies did not stick at all but I did find they spread a bit more than the ones on the foil.

The foil gave me some sticking problems. These are very delicate cookies and even the slightest bit of sticking can be fatal to these cookies. It is nearly impossible to peel one cookie off the large piece of foil without damaging the rest. By the time I realized the foil was a problem, a second batch was already in the oven on foil. So I made sure they cooled completely then I used scissors to cut the foil between the cookies before peeling it off so I was peeling foil off of one cookie at a time. That was much better but still not ideal.

The foil did have an advantage though. The bottoms of those cookies had a thin but solid surface that formed on them, presumably from the corn syrup. This kept the melted chocolate from seeping through the lace-like holes of these cookies during the final step.

So next time I will try nonstick foil. I love that stuff but I haven't replenished my stock in a while.

Parchment or foil, make sure you really do use only about a teaspoon of batter for each cookie. That is plenty.

I think I have seen these with only chocolate on the bottom but I think these are even better sandwiched. (By the way, did you know that Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies originally only had chocolate on the bottom but they ran into melting or sticking problems hence the sandwiched design you see now.)

I made these for my son's lunch this week. It's not the ideal cookie for packing in a lunch since it's rather fragile but I don't think my son will care if it breaks up a bit. The chocolate gives it some sturdiness.

These look pretty and they taste delicious. I'm so glad I finally made these. Who would think that these fancy cookies came from a brand-name recipe board book? I usually don't buy those since they don't tend to contain that many recipes but I spotted a few enticing recipes in this one. I'm pretty sure I bought it at Ollie's. I wouldn't pay retail for one of those books.

P.S. Don't you just love the natural light photos? Why don't you see those more often here? Because I have almost no natural light in my house! There is a small window of time in the day that I can get a picture in natural light. I am not home most days during that time frame. When I am home, I rarely have something ready to photograph that early in the day. Believe me, this pains me. Once in a blue moon I get lucky.

Question of the Day: What was a typical treat in your lunch when you were a child? I didn't pack a lunch, I ate the school lunch. Back then I think there was usually some type of dessert but oddly only a couple of them stuck in my memory. There was something called peanut butter kisses which were scoops of a peanut butter mixture drizzled with chocolate. They were super popular. I thought I'd figured out the recipe but I never got a chance to try before discovering my son had a peanut allergy. Another thing I remember is a cake (or maybe cupcake) that tasted like baby aspirin (orange?)

Mom's rice pudding

2011-01-10T06:00:00.003-05:00

Rice Pudding
Mama’s Tea Cakes 101 Delicious Soul Food Desserts Copyright 1998

2 cups whole milk
2 cups cooked white long grain rice I used River rice which I think is medium grain
½ cup dark raisins
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon I left this out of the pudding itself
¼ teaspoon ground allspice I left this out
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs, well beaten at room temperature
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg I used cinnamon on top instead

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium heavy saucepan, heat the milk until warm but do not boil. Remove it from the heat, add the rice, raisins, sugar, ~~cinnamon, allspice~~, vanilla, and eggs and mix well. I mixed the eggs and sugar, slowly added the hot milk, then added the rice and raisins.

Pour the mixture into a 1 ½-quart nonstick casserole dish and place the casserole dish in a 13x9-inch pan filled with 1 inch of water. Sprinkle the top with ~~nutmeg~~ cinnamon and bake for 30 minutes. Lightly stir the pudding and bake for an additional 15 minutes (I didn't stir - I don't think Mom did) or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

We serve this with Cool Whip.

Serves 8.
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Growing up we always had baked rice pudding as our Christmas Eve dessert. We had a traditional Polish meatless meal on Christmas Eve - mushroom and potato soup, cabbage, fish (later shrimp too), a variety of pierogies, and baked rice pudding for dessert. To be honest, the rice pudding was never anything I craved or thought about other than on Christmas Eve, probably because I just took it for granted and also because holiday recipes are really more special if you just eat them on the holidays.

I started spending Christmas Eve with my husband's family after we married. They served a similar meal but they take it a step further with the no-meat thing and don't even eat dairy on Christmas Eve so no rice pudding there. My parents started spending Christmas Eve with my sister's family where the menu was a little different and I don't think my mom made the rice pudding in years except maybe once or twice my immediate family snuck in our traditional Christmas Eve dinner right before Christmas, as an additional celebration, since we all missed that traditional meal.

But, that rice pudding was the first thing on my mind after my mother died. She never left the recipe but I knew the basic technique. I bought this cookbook months before my mother died and when I saw this recipe, I thought this is basically my mother's recipe and made a mental note to make it at some point. I could have asked my mom for her recipe at that point but I really didn't think about it until it became a reality that she could be dying. And then, it just didn't seem right to ask.

And she may not have had an actual recipe although I imagine she must have used some standard amounts. For years, my mother's brother's wife would call her at Christmas for the recipe since I guess Uncle Frank never got the recipe from Grandma. It was kind of a standing joke that my aunt would call every year instead of permanently writing it down. Isn't that nice, though, to hear from someone every time they want to make one of your recipes? I think it is.

For years I made my mom make a raisinless bowl of this for me but I do like the raisins in this now and eventually learned to like them in her rice pudding since she stopped making the plain bowl after a while. Yes, my mother used bowls. I don't remember her having any flat-bottomed baking dishes (besides cake pans) until the later years. Any type of baked casserole was made in a round bowl as far as I can remember.

So how close to my mom's rice pudding was this? Pretty close. It isn't stirred so you get a nice layer of custard on top and creamy rice on the bottom. I don't remember her's being as sweet but I could just be remembering a time that she ran out of sugar. She was unlikely to have run out for more on the fly if she was a bit short (I would!). It's definitely as inconsistent as my mom's. All of my mom's cooking was a bit inconsistent and her rice pudding was no different. I remember at least once it didn't set right. I've made this a few times, the first batch, then for my family when we were preparing my Mom's funeral, Christmas Eve since I'm spending that at my sister's now, and one more time because I had rice leftover and it was different each time. I think the main difference was the rice. I used River rice like my mom used and I'm not used to cooking starchy rice. It was gummier on Christmas Eve than I would have liked. I will take more care with it next year. Yes, it's time to file this one away under 'Holidays Only'.

P.S. I thought it was kind of funny that I found our family recipe in a Soul Food dessert cookbook but this recipe is good for the soul, at least in my family, especially now.

Question of the Day: What are some of your family's special recipes? I'm not asking for the actual recipes, just name some of them.

A Closer Look at the Books

2011-01-09T21:29:00.002-05:00

Okay, I'm happy with how long I've been blogging, how many new recipes I've tried, and how many cookbooks I've used but I've always been a bit unhappy with the lack of focus on the actual cookbooks. I always feel like I should try a recipe from one before mentioning it, and then when I have tried a recipe and blog about it, most times the book itself doesn't get much of a mention since I am so focused on the recipe. I don't see my habits changing in that respect, to be honest.

BUT, I've decided to spotlight a book every now and then, especially the ones I haven't made a recipe from yet. You might think that's a sign that it isn't a good cookbook but it really isn't. There is no way I will ever cook from every book. I don't expect to, never have. Why have them then? Well, I love the possibilities in every cookbook and even the ones I don't cook from are often educational or just plain interesting. And it's a hobby - hobbies don't have to make sense.

These won't be comprehensive reviews, just small bits of information on the books. I've tried doing this before, more in depth, and I quickly learned I don't have the interest to do that.

So expect 'A Closer Look at the Books' posts to start making appearances soon. I'm not doing this on any particular schedule, just as I come across books I think deserve some extra attention.

The Cookbook Junkie comes to Facebook

2011-01-07T06:00:00.001-05:00

Okay, I've had my private account on Facebook for almost a year now. I had planned on just posting links to my blog entries through Networked Blogs there since I was posting so infrequently. But I'm hoping to revive the blog a bit though so I created a page just for The Cookbook Junkie. I set it up to automatically update with any new posts so that is surely the way to go if you don't want to miss anything.

So please look over the the right and 'like' the Cookbook Junkie if you are on Facebook.

My first reader-submitted recipe!

2011-01-06T06:00:00.003-05:00

Laura P.'s Grandma's Meatloaf
submitted by Laura P.

2/3 C breadcrumbs I was all out of plain regular bread crumbs so I used Panko
1/4 C grated onion I pulverized my onion in my mini-chopper
1 C milk
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 lb ground beef
~1/4 tsp sage (recipe calls for 1/2 tsp but Laura's P's mom says to use less than that)
2 slightly beaten eggs

Sauce:
3 T brown sugar
1/4 C ketchup
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp dry mustard

Soak breadcrumbs in milk, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Put in greased loaf pan. Cover with sauce. Bake 350 degree F for 1 hour.
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After posting my meat loaf recipe round up, Laura P. sent me her grandmother's recipe. I tend to forget about things if I can't get to them right away but I didn't forget this. My last meat loaf was great and it left me wanting more meat loaf. I had meat loaf on the brain. This is a similar recipe to the last one I made but it's those little bits of spice that intrigued me. Sage and nutmeg? I really wanted to try this.

I went to make this and realized I had no plain bread crumbs and Italian seasoned crumbs would have overpowered the sage and really made an entirely differently meat loaf. I was going to use oatmeal, which Laura had mentioned as an alternative to the bread crumbs. That would have worked and I love the texture of oatmeal in a meat loaf but I spotted the panko crumbs and thought they would be the better substitute. I think they are basically equivalent to regular plain bread crumbs when used as a filler.

What can I say? Another damn good meat loaf. I love that hint of sage in the meat and the hint of nutmeg in the sauce. Those are two spices I don't pull out often enough. They give this meat loaf it's own character but it's not in-your-face.

I think this recipe illustrates why it can be so difficult to recreate a treasured family recipe, if it was not handed down properly. This is a pretty standard meat loaf recipe but if Laura P. had no idea what Grandma was doing in the kitchen, would she ever come up with that touch of sage and bit of nutmeg on her own? Because without them you have a delicious meat loaf but it wouldn't be Grandma's meat loaf. And Grandma's recipe is good!

I'm going to add this to my meat loaf recipe round up.

I was on the ball this year

2011-01-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

Holiday Breakfast Casserole
The Ugly Binder, found online somewhere

1 pound hot bulk sausage (mild can be used – hot is better) I used hot
10 slices bread (cut or torn into cubes)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
6 eggs
3 cups milk (whole milk – low fat makes this casserole kind of runny)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper

1. Crumble sausage and brown. Use a fork to break it into smaller crumbles as it browns. Drain off the fat. I did this ahead of time.
2. Pour the bread cubes in a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish. Spread the cubes around evenly on the bottom of the casserole dish.
3. Sprinkle the sausage around over the top of the bread cubes.
4. Evenly sprinkle the cheese over the sausage.
5. Use a fork to beat the eggs, milk, salt and pepper until bubbly and frothy.
6. Carefully and slowly pour the egg/milk batter over the top of the casserole.
7. Cover the casserole doll with a lid or tightly with tin foil and place in refrigerator overnight.
8. Put casserole in a cold oven (since the dish is quite cold). Turn heat to 350 degrees F. Bake for approximately one hour or until the casserole is “set” and slightly brown around the edges. I think mine took much less than an hour - keep and eye on it.
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Every year I think about making something special for breakfast on Christmas morning but I never get around to it since I am usually stressed to the max when Christmas Day finally arrives. Well, this year I wasn't rushed and stressed and I actually managed to make this breakfast casserole. I cooked the sausage ahead of time and just put it all together before I went to bed on Christmas Eve. It baked while the boys checked out what Santa brought them.

I have to be honest, while this was good straight off, I preferred the reheated (nuked) leftovers. Fresh out of the oven, the bread was a bit creamy and fluffy which I love in a sweet bread pudding but it was a bit off-putting to me in this for some reason. I used a soft white bread - I think next time I will try something with more body. I think the texture problem was a personal thing - there wasn't anything wrong with it. Reheated this was not a problem - it had all set up pretty well and had a firmer texture. The picture shows a piece of the reheated casserole. It would have been hard to get a neat slice out of the casserole fresh out of the oven.

I loved the flavor. The spicy sausage was great in this but you don't have to go spicy if you don't want to. This was such an easy way to get a savory breakfast on the table. I am not much for a sweet breakfast, especially on Christmas morning, after I have spent the week baking and making candy.

I think this would make a great dinner too. I would brown the sausage the night before and just put it together in the morning and pop it in the oven as soon as you get home from work. I have a problem with browning the sausage, then putting everything together right away. Not a problem if you're baking something right away but something seems weird to me about mixing hot cooked food (sausage) with raw cold food (eggs) and then not cooking the whole thing through right away. That doesn't sound like a good thing to do, food-safety wise, but that is just my gut feeling.

Question of the Day: What did you have for breakfast on Christmas morning?

Last Christmas post

2011-01-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

Coconut Corn Nut Cookies
Applehood & Motherpie Handpicked Recipes From Upstate New York Copyright 1981

1 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups corn flakes
2 cups coconut or chopped nutmeats I used coconut
2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Cream margarine and sugars.
2. Add eggs
3. Stir in remaining ingredients and spoon onto greased cookie sheet.
4. Bake at 375 degrees F for 12 minutes.

Yield: 4 dozen
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This recipe caught my eye because the title made me think that there were corn nuts in this cookie. It doesn't (that would be odd, I think) but it sounded like a good cookie and I had corn flakes, coconut and margarine so I made these. It was a nice addition to this year's cookie line up. It may or may not make another appearance in the future.

I'm sure you could use butter in these but I always buy one package of margarine to make my Welsh cookies since that's what I've always used for those and I'm too afraid to veer from tradition on that particular cookie. This recipe used up most of the excess margarine.

This and the Crispy Chocolate Truffles were the only new recipes I tried this year. Oh wait, I tried a chocolate and rice crispies concoction that wasn't bad but after I made the Crispy Chocolate Truffles I sort of forgot about that recipe. Maybe this won't be the last Christmas post! Actually, you probably won't hear about that one until next year if I make it again. I think it has possibilities.

So what else did I make this year? Let's see. I made Welsh cookies, fruit cake (without nuts), snickerdoodles, chocolate chip brownies (with Christmas sprinkles), thumbprints, gingerbread men, spritz, white chocolate cranberry cookies, graham cracker chewies (without nuts - wasn't as good but that may have more to do with the fact that the bottom crust was a bit overdone), South Seas cookies, sugar cookies (rolled in Christmas sprinkles before baking), peppermint bark, crispy chocolates (in the little paper cups in the bottom picture - a mixture of chocolate chips, corn syrup, rice crispies and maybe something else), rum balls (not pictured), chocolate and carmamel covered Lorna Doones and pretzels.

Highlights and other notes from Christmas Baking 2010:

Snickerdoodles are always surprisingly delicious. They look so plain but the texture and flavor always blow me away when I take that first bite. They get better as they age too.

Like last year, I topped Lorna Doones and small round pretzels (last year I used pretzel sticks) with caramel and then dipped them in chocolate. The first batch ended up in the trash. The caramel was way too hard - a hazard. I used chocolate chips and shortening for the coating and it was too soft. What a waste - Lorna Doones are not cheap! I swore I was just going to forget those this year. Well, I couldn't forget them. I remade them and the caramel was PERFECT the second time around. As soft as it could be and still set up and be dipped. The second time, I used chocolate coating which is expensive but so easy to work with, it's worth it. These were definitely one of my favorite things this year.

One reason I couldn't just not make the caramel was that I needed some of it to make the South Seas Cookies. They were a big hit again but I might make them smaller next year.

I was only making the Peppermint Bark since it was one of my older son's favorites in the past but I don't even think he touched it this year (I think he forgot it was there). I probably won't make it again. The CandiQuick I use for that is expensive and I personally don't care for Peppermint Bark and I don't think anyone else was raving over it besides my son. It is kind of pretty though.

I like my cookies and treats to be fresh on Christmas so I tend to do everything at the last minute. Sometimes I don't remember what holds best and don't know where to start. Note to myself for next year - the Crispy Chocolate Truffles and caramel and chocolate covered Lorna Doones and pretzels can be made first. They stayed fresh and looked fresh for quite a while.

I've tried freezing cookies before and didn't care for that but this year I baked off some dough for the Cranberry and White Chocolate cookies that I had left over in the freezer and that worked out well. Next year I'm definitely going to make more doughs ahead of time and freeze them.

And that's the end of Christmas Baking 2010!

Question of the Day: Have all of your Christmas decorations been taken down yet? I took them down before the New Year, a little early for me. The outside decorations are still up since I am not in charge of those. It's such a big deal for him to put them up and then they only get turned on a handful of times and stay there until God knows when (even though we just had a 50-degree day last weekend - perfect weather to take down Christmas lights - don't you think?)

My new favorite candy recipe

2011-01-03T06:00:00.000-05:00

Crisp Chocolate Truffles
The Ugly Binder, from ricecrispies.com

1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow creme
2 tablespoons margarine and butter
1 package (6 oz., 1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
2 cups Rice Krispies®
1 package (14 oz.) white chocolate coating
2 tablespoons shortening (I used CandiQuick coating, some vanilla, some chocolate, with no shortening since CandiQuick doesn't need it)
Multi-colored sprinkles (optional)

1. In heavy 2-quart saucepan, combine marshmallow creme, margarine and
chocolate morsels. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is
melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.

2. Stir KELLOGG'S RICE KRISPIES cereal into chocolate mixture, mixing until
thoroughly combined. Drop by rounded teaspoon onto waxed paper-lined
baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. These firm up quickly - you can pretty much handle them right away. I chilled them briefly and then rolled them into smooth balls. Then I chilled them until I was to dip them.

3. In top of double boiler, over hot but not boiling water, melt white coating and
shortening, stirring constantly. Dip each chocolate ball in coating and place on
waxed paper-lined baking sheet. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Refrigerate
until firm. Place in small candy paper cups to serve. Store in airtight container.
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I should have wrapped up the Christmas posts before the new year started but I didn't feel like blogging last week. I only have a couple of new recipes to share. I made a lot of cookies and candies this Christmas but most were tried-and-trues. It's getting hard to fit in any new recipes.

I'm so glad I tried this one. These truffles are so easy to make and personally I loved them. They sort of reminded me of a crispy version of a Three Musketeers. There was absolutely nothing tricky about them. The marshmallow, chocolate and butter melts together magically quickly. I scooped it out easily and evenly with a cookie scoop. The scoops were chilled, rolled into smooth balls, chilled again then dipped- some in vanilla coating, some in chocolate coating.

These will definitely be added to my Christmas line up permanently.

Happy New Year! 2010 reads like it should have been a horrible year for me with the divorce (well, the start of the process - it still hasn't actually happened) and my mom passing away but honestly, I don't feel like it was that bad for some reason. I think the 'big' negatives looming over me just made me work harder to enjoy what I could. Or maybe I am just in denial. I won't lie though - I have higher hopes for 2011.

Question of the Day: How did 2010 go for you? What is your plan for 2011?

Shake it off, shake it off

2010-12-20T09:26:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I spent a lot of time, effort, and money making a batch of caramel covered Lorna Doones and pretzels, then dipping them in chocolate, just as I did last year. I used my Chocolate- Dipped Caramels recipe that I've made since 2006 but I was lazy and didn't use my candy thermometer. The caramel got too hard. I had to throw it all in the trash. Ouch. I don't have the time or money to do it over so I won't (although, it's likely I might - I'm sick that way).

It really put a damper on my baking spirit. I took a break, went to the gym, and came home and made a new cookie recipe that was pretty delicious but I'm still not over it.

It's weird but I really want to bake and I have a long list of things I want to make this year but I often find myself wondering why I am doing this. It's always hard when Christmas falls at the end of the week since I don't like to bake too far ahead and I have to work all week. At least I have Christmas Eve off this year and I can relax a little that day, I hope.

I have mixed feeling about the holiday. I am really looking forward to Christmas morning. I love shopping for my boys and I think they will be thrilled.

I'm not sure how the rest of the holiday will be though. Between the divorce, losing my mother two weeks ago, and now the threat of snow on Christmas (snow ruined my Thanksgiving - please don't let it ruin my Christmas!), I'm not sure what Christmas Eve and the rest of Christmas Day will hold but at least there will be Christmas morning to enjoy.

I lost my momentum

2010-12-03T06:00:00.000-05:00

You thought I might be making a full-fledged blogging comeback? It doesn't look like it, not right now. My Thanksgiving holiday didn't quite turn out like I had planned (first year I didn't get even a taste of turkey or stuffing). I had high hopes for cooking something over my 4 days off but it never happened. This past week felt like a recovery operation. I can tell you that this December is probably not going to be a good month for blogging.

It's that time of the year again!

2010-11-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

Time to start thinking about holiday baking and candy making.

This was last year's round up (which links back to previous years).

A few things to add from last year:

Reindeer Cookies using a chocolate sugar cookie recipe (recipe is on Domino Sugar site)

Rich and Dark Fudge Tassies - very chocolatey!

Drop Sugar Cookies (recipe is on Domino Sugar site)

Caramel and chocolate dipped pretzel rods and caramel covered chocolate dipped Lorna Doones using the caramel recipe from Chocolate Covered Caramels (I overcooked the caramel the year I took that lousy picture)

Candy-Cane Twists - an old, old recipe of mine that is a pain in the behind but so cute

South Seas Cookies - these were a big hit last year. I used my homemade caramel to make them

Butterhorns - another old recipe I brought out of retirement

These are recipes that I made in 2010 that might be good for the holidays too:

Lime Cooler Cookies

White Chocolate Dried Cherry (or Craisin) Cookies (SO GOOD!)

Big Soft Ginger Cookies (if you don't feel like making gingerbread men but you want something spicy)

Big Sugar Cookies - I'm definitely making these with Christmas sprinkles

Icebox Cookies - this is a great basic cookie that can be doctored up for the holidays

Cherry Chip Bars

Another short break?

2010-11-22T06:00:00.000-05:00

Now that I've been posting more regularly again, I hate not having anything new to share with you today. I did cook this weekend but it was mainly for meals this upcoming week so I can't comment on the recipes yet. I winged a big pot of beef vegetable soup that came out pretty good. I should have taken a picture of that. I also have some recipes in the backup queue but I have to track down the actual recipes first. I am at a loss at to where some of them came from, it's been so long since I made them.

I think many blog readers will be busy getting ready for Thanksgiving so maybe I will just wait and pick up posting next week.

I don't have anything exciting planned for Thanksgiving, recipe-wise. I'm not doing a ton of pies this year. I'm taking a break. I am going to make the Deen Bros. Truffle Pie again. I love this pie.

Maybe I'll get a better picture this year.

My brother will be spending Thanksgiving with his new wife's family so I won't be making his favorite, Butterscotch Pie, which is also one of my favorites. I'm going to miss that pie but it is sort of labor intensive so I won't miss it too much.

Otherwise I am in charge of mashed potatoes and gravy but I have to do it with as little sodium as possible so I'm not too excited about that but at least I'll have the pie to look forward to!

Pretty in pink

2010-11-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

Maraschino Cherry Bars
Cookies 1,001 Mouthwatering Recipes From Around the World Copyright 2004

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter, softened
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon maraschino syrup (from a jar of maraschino cherries)
½ cup finely chopped maraschino cherries
Maraschino Frosting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 13x9-inch baking pan. (I think this is better suited to a 11x7-inch baking dish). Sift the flour and salt into a medium bowl. Beat the butter, brown sugar, and maraschino cherry syrup in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until creamy. Mix in the dry ingredients and cherries until well blended. Spread the mixture evenly in the baking pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan. If desired, spread the frosting over, Cut into bars.

Maraschino Frosting (This will make way more than you need)
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons maraschino cherry syrup
16 maraschino cherries, finely chopped

Beat the confectioners’ sugar, butter, and milk in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until smooth. (**I wouldn't add the milk all at once. Safer to blend everything else then add the milk until you reach the right consistency. **)Beat in the cherry syrup and cherries until well blended.
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I've had a jar of cherries in the cupboard for quite some time that I wanted to use in something. There are plenty of recipes that use maraschino cherries but this one was the least labor intensive and it didn't require any other special ingredients.

This is basically a shortbread, which I'm generally not crazy about. The frosting gave these a more personally pleasing texture for me (it softened the bars slightly). They are VERY sweet - don't cut them too large. They didn't blow me away right off the bat but everyone seemed to love them - they got a few 'extra' comments from the work crew and disappeared quickly. I was sorry to see the last one go since they really grew on me, but I'm still not sure if I would make them again. When it comes to sweets, I generally only remake the things that knock my socks off. As much as everyone enjoyed these, I don't think these fell into that category for me, since, like I already mentioned, I'm just not a huge shortbread fan. I could maybe see making them again if I needed a pink treat someday - I loved the color.

Meatloaf recipes

2010-11-18T06:00:00.006-05:00

Apparently I love meatloaf (or meat loaf, if you prefer). I've made quite a few of them and I thought it would be handy to put all the meatloaf recipes together in their own post. There isn't a true stinker in the bunch - I enjoyed them all. I couldn't tell you which one was the best either. That's really impossible to say.

As you can see in many of the pictures, I often cook my meatloaf ahead of time, then I grill it on my Cuisinart Griddler. Oddly, I never seem to make meatloaf with gravy. I'll have to work on that.

I'll add any future meatloaves I make to this list.

Laura P's Grandma's Meat Loaf, submitted by a reader, this meat loaf has a touch of sage in the meat and a touch of nutmeg in the sauce

Family-Style Turkey Loaf, a gluten-free meatloaf made with ground turkey

Herbed Chicken Meatloaf, a Greek-inspired meatloaf, served in a pita

Brown Sugar Meat Loaf, a classic from the Bridges of Madison County Cookbook

Buffalo Chicken-Blue Cheese Meatloaf, from one of the Biggest Loser Cookbooks

BBQ-Bacon Meat Loaf, another Biggest Loser recipe, made with ground chicken

Tomato Meat Loaf, there are no eggs in this version

Spicy Glazed Meat Loaf, a crockpot meatloaf - watch the salt in this!

Mom’s Meatloaf, a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives recipe

Picante Meat Loaf, a diabetic recipe for meat loaf

Mom’s Meat Loaf, another slow-cooked version of meatloaf

Turkey Meatloaf with Brown Sugar-Ketchup Glaze, a Cook's Illustrated recipe, slightly fussier than your average meatloaf but not too complicated. It's from 'Best Light Recipes'.

Dutch Meat Loaf, an awful picture but this is one of my favorite meatloaf recipes

Mexican Meat Loaf, this one uses tortilla chips

Lyn's Meatloaf - this one has a ketchup-brown sugar glaze with cloves and allspice

Just what I needed

2010-11-17T06:00:00.002-05:00

Lyn’s Meatloaf
Wal*Mart Family Cookbook Copyright 2008

2 cups soft bread crumbs
½ cup milk
½ cup Egg Beaters or 2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
2 lb lean ground beef
Cooking spray
½ cup ketchup
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground mustard
¼ tsp each allspice and ground cloves

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In large bowl stir together bread crumbs, milk, egg product, onion powder, 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Add ground beef; mix well. Spray 2-quart rectangular baking dish with no-stick cooking spray. Shape meat into loaf and place in 9x5x4 inch pan.
2. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Meanwhile in small bowl combine ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, allspice, and cloves. Pour sauce mixture over top of loaf. Bake for 30 minutes more of until a meat thermometer registers 160 degrees F. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 8.
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I've been craving meatloaf. Since I cut back on using meat, meatloaf has definitely been off the table since most recipes require 1.5 to 2 pounds of meat. But I found some lean beef on sale and this recipe required no other special ingredients so it came out to $5-$6 to make this meatloaf. It went a long way. I froze individual slices and this made dinner for me and the boys, a few sandwiches for lunch and even one for breakfast. There's nothing wrong with a meatloaf sandwich for breakfast.

Since I've cut back on meat, especially since red meat has mainly left my diet, my butt has been dragging. I know that one does not need red meat to feel good but I guess I haven't been eating as well in general lately. Eating this meatloaf felt very therapeutic.

There was a time when allspice and cloves would have sent me running from this recipe but after trying this sloppy joe recipe with the cloves and loving it, these spices are what attracted me to this recipe. I loved what those spices brought to this. This recipe definitely hit the spot.

I hadn't been cooking and I really needed to cook again. Every so often I think, I'm done, I'm not cooking, I'll just grab whatever and get by, but I just can't eat like that. I need to plan, I need to cook, I need to get enjoyment out of my food.

I was going to list my other meatloaf recipes here but there are too many. I'll make a separate post.

I picked up this cookbook for 97 cents in the Goodwill store. It has a lot of great recipes, that I've seen before for the most part, but it's still nice to have so many good recipes in one place. Various brands sponsor the book but it's largely from-scratch cooking. It's from 2008 - does Wal*Mart put one of these out every year? If they do, I need to track more of these down and look for future versions. I think this originally sold for $4.96 which is a great deal.

Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?

2010-11-14T20:35:00.008-05:00

Share-The-Recipe Coffee Cake
Mary Engelbreit’s Fan Fare Cookbook Copyright 2010

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 teaspoon melted butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
4 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Topping
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13-inch baking dish. In a medium bowl, mix the cake mix, pudding, melted butter, vanilla, oil and water until blended.

Add the eggs one at a time and mix for 4 to 6 minutes. Pour the batter into the baking dish. In a small bowl, mix the cinnamon and sugar together and swirl it through the top of the cake until it's no longer visible. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.

While the cake is baking, make the topping. In a small bowl, mix the melted butter, vanilla, confectioners' sugar and milk together.

When the cake is out of the oven, pour the topping over the cake while it's still warm.
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This recipe caught my eye and I was excited to make it. The recipe author bragged about how everyone always asked for the recipe and how they served it as a groom's cake at a family wedding (in the shape of Texas). It was intriguing. And of course, I seem to love anything with a box of pudding in it.

But I ran into some problems. First, I wasn't sure how to swirl in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. I'm not sure I did it right. Some got in the cake but much of it settled on top. I need to work on that.

Then the 'glaze' was awfully liquid. I almost didn't add all of the milk but then I thought maybe this was more of a soaking glaze, like a tres leche cake or like my mother's rum cake.

HEY! Wait a minute. I think this is my mother's rum cake recipe!

Yes, this looks a lot like the typical popular Bacardi rum cake recipe (that my mother uses) except it's not in a Bundt pan, this cake has cinnamon sugar and this cake has no rum. I knew there were other versions of this cake but most that I have seen have been other alcoholic versions (like a Kaluha version made with chocolate cake and a Harvey Wallbanger version made with Galliano). This non-alcoholic version is better for any event where kids will be eating or maybe your next AA meeting.

This kept tasting better and better to me. It reminded me of a really fresh packaged coffee cake, like a Tastykake Junior, but without the crumb topping. I love crumb topping but I didn't miss it here. You really can't add it since the glaze would make it soggy. This cake does walk that fine line between sogginess and moistness from the glaze. Make sure you distribute that glaze evenly.

Other recipe where pudding works it's magic:
Amish Friendship Chocolate Bread
Big Sugar Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Creamier and Chewier Oat Cookies
Easy Cream Puff Cake
Gingerbread Men
Strawberry Cake

Another excellent brussels sprout recipe

2010-11-14T20:33:00.003-05:00

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Cauliflower with Orange
The Bon Appétit Cookbook Copyright 2006

1 large head of cauliflower (about 2 pounds), cut into 1-inch florets
1 pound fresh brussels sprouts or frozen, thawed and patted dry, halved if large I am not a fan of frozen brussels sprouts so try those at your own risk if you can't get fresh
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup minced shallot (about 1 large) I used some sweet onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated orange peel

1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley I skipped this
Orange slices I skipped this
Additional chopped fresh Italian parsley I skipped this

Preheat oven to 450°F. Combine first 6 ingredients in large bowl; toss to coat. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

Spread vegetables on large rimmed baking sheet. (I put parchment paper down first.) Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in oven until lightly browned and almost tender, stirring once, about 12 minutes. Pour orange juice over. Roast until vegetables are tender and juices evaporate, about 8 minutes. Stir in 1/3 cup chopped parsley. Transfer to serving dish; garnish with orange slices and chopped parsley.
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I had some brussels sprouts that I bought cheap at the farmer's market and I really needed to cook them soon. I've made some great brussels sprout recipes but I'm always looking for another great one. I am almost positive my sister made this same recipe for a holiday dinner in the past and I loved it. I just had to make this even though I had to go out and buy cauliflower and an orange. I drew the line at buying the shallots and the parsley. The only shallots I can usually find are expensive and not that great so I used some sweet onion instead. I just skipped the parsley - I didn't miss it.

I don't think this recipe will convert brussels sprout or cauliflower haters. This doesn't disguise these vegetables but this quick roasting leaves them just the way I like them - cooked but still crisp. The touch of orange flavor really works. The orange juice adds just enough sweetness. This was a real winner, in my opinion.

Other great brussels sprouts recipes:
Brussels Sprouts with Garlic and Honey
Oven-Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Shredded Brussels Sprouts

The disaster that wasn't a disaster

2010-11-12T06:00:00.001-05:00

Cola Cake
Mama’s Tea Cakes 101 Soul Food Desserts Copyright 1998

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 ½ cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups mini marshmallows I used cut up mini marshmallows because that's what I had

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the butter and sugar in a medium mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Add the eggs and buttermilk, mixing until the batter is smooth. In a separate medium bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, and cocoa powder together. Add the flour mixture and vanilla to the batter. Fold in the marshmallows. Pour the batter into a 10-inch non-stick Bundt pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

To decorate, spread incing on top of cake and let it drizzle down the sides.

Icing
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
½ cup cola I used Coke Zero
4 cups powdered sugar

Combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Mix well with an electric mixer on low speed for 2 minutes or until icing is smooth and spreadable. Makes about 2 ½ cups. This is waaayyyy too much for a Bundt cake but probably perfect for a 9x13-inch cake.
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This started out very promising. It rose beautifully in the oven. At first. Then it collapsed. I'm not sure if it was the fact that I used cut-up marshmallows instead of mini-marshmallows (I dusted them in corn starch so they weren't sticking together) or maybe I used too many marshmallows? From the beginning, I was leery of using the Bundt pan for this. I've always seen this recipe in a 9x13-inch pan. Next time I will use a 9x13-inch pan.

Yes, there will be a next time. Despite the fact that this was basically a sticky gooey mess, between the cake collapsing and the icing being quite soft (which would be fine for a 9x13-inch I think, but not for this Bundt cake), not one crumb of this went to waste. Between home and work, every last bit of this disappeared and people loved it. The marshmallows turned into chewy tasty bits in the cake which was my personal favorite part.

I will say that this did not stick to my new Bundt pan. I've always had a Bundt-type pan but it was flimsy and there was one spot where cakes ALWAYS stuck, ALWAYS. It really turned me off from using that pan. So when I saw a heavy, trademarked official Bundt pan in Goodwill for a couple of dollars, I grabbed it up. Cakes fly out of there, no sticking at all.

An inexpensive recipe from an expensive cookbook

2010-11-10T06:00:00.001-05:00

Not Your Momma’s Tuna
Mary Engelbreit’s Fan Fare Cookbook Copyright 2010

2 cups uncooked rotini pasta
½ teaspoon olive oil
¼ cup butter or margarine
¼ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped celery
¼ cup seeded and chopped green bell pepper
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth I used all milk
1 cup milk
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
½ cup shredded Colby Jack cheese I used sharp cheddar
1 (12-ounce) can tuna, drained

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cook the pasta according to the package directions, drain, and rinse with cold water. Toss the pasta with the olive oil to separate and set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onion, celery, and green pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

Stir in the flour and cook until blended. Add the broth and milk, stirring until it thickens. Add the dry mustard, poultry seasoning, and half of the cheese; heat until the cheese melts. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the tuna and pasta.

Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the mixture into the dish and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake uncovered for 15 to 25 minute, or until heated through. Serve hot.
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This is another case of making something since I had all the ingredients on hand. You don't need canned soup to make tuna casserole. I was worried the green pepper might be overpowering but I had it so I used it. I'm funny about green pepper - I love it in some things, but I just tolerate it in others. It wasn't overpowering here and it didn't ruin the dish for me at all but I wouldn't go out of my way to use it in this recipe again. I like carrots in tuna salad and I think carrots or mushrooms would be good here too. Oh, and peas would be a nice addition.

I was going to use sodium-free chicken bouillon for the broth but I was all out of it. I decided to use another cup of milk since I typically make white sauces with all milk anyway. This makes a smaller casserole, not a 13x9 casserole, so consider that if you are making it to feed a family. You could add more pasta. The sauce was very creamy so I think it could handle more pasta without getting too dry.

I made the pasta and chopped the vegetables (very finely, using my mini-chopper) ahead of time but I didn't put this together until the last minute. I've made casseroles like this ahead of time and they are fine but they are best (the sauce is creamiest) if you put them together at the last minute. With that minimal prep work, this took no time at all to put together.

It was very good and relatively healthy. I used Smart Taste pasta, water-packed tuna and lowfat milk. I like that I got at least a cup of veggies in there (I didn't really measure them). I used regular cheese. There wasn't so much cheese in this that this tasted like another version of macaroni and cheese but that little bit of cheese really rounded out the sauce.

I paid $16.99 (plus tax) for this cookbook! Ridiculous. I bought it at the school book fair when I was volunteering last week. It was 'for a good cause' right? Last year I bought two or three cookbooks there so I was being more frugal. This is collection of recipes submitted by Mary Engelbreit fans. People naturally submit their best recipes in these situations so this type of cookbook (like any Taste of Home cookbook for example) tends to have plenty of appealing recipes. I've bookmarked quite a few from this book. I plan on getting my $16.99 (plus tax) worth out of it. I have another morning scheduled at the book fair later this week - I'd better leave my wallet at home.

Yep, another post

2010-11-09T08:57:00.001-05:00

Beef Taco Bake
Ground Beef Recipes Copyright 2009

1 pound ground beef
1 can (10 3/4 ounce) tomato soup
1 cup chunky salsa or picante sauce
1/2 cup water
6 flour tortillas (8 inch) or 8 corn tortillas (6 inch) cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Cook beef in skillet until browned. Pour off fat.

Add soup, salsa, water, tortillas and half the cheese. Spoon into 2-quart shallow baking dish. Cover.

Bake at 400 F for 30 minutes or until hot. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Makes 4 servings
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Okay, first of all, catch your breath. I know, posts from me two days in a row? Craziness.

This recipe is from one of those small paperback cookbooks that taunt you in the checkout line. The recipes are usually good but the price tag is usually a bit steep - around $4.99 for one of these little guys. I'm pretty good at resisting these for the most part but I do give in occasionally. I may have picked this up somewhere where an additional discount is taken (Costco?) but I still consider it a splurge. Even though I have a few other ground beef cookbooks, I'm always looking for more ideas.

I think that I only needed to pick up the can of soup to make this. I had all the other ingredients on hand already. I happen to like tomato soup - I like the smooth, sweet tomato flavor it has - but you could use more salsa or something else to make this. This isn't the kind of recipe that needs to be followed to the letter.

This reminded me of Jamie’s Mexican Chicken and Tortilla Casserole which uses tortilla chips and I debated using tortilla chips which I also had on hand. I think those would work well too but they would add fat and calories. This recipe isn't too bad if you use the lower sodium version of the tomato soup and lean ground beef. You could use a lower-fat cheese too but there's only 1 cup of cheese in the recipe, about half what you usually see in a recipe like this (Jamie Deen's recipe calls for 3 cups!) You could even use a healthier tortilla.

For me though, this recipe was about using up what was in the house. That is how I operate these days. I think I used the last of a $1 30-pack of corn tortillas in this recipe, the lean beef was probably picked up on clearance, and there is almost always cheese and salsa in our fridge.

Similar recipes I've made:
Beef and Tortilla Casserole (Chilaquiles)
Beef Tamale Skillet Meal
Jamie’s Mexican Chicken and Tortilla Casserole
Quick Tamale Casserole