Fill 'Er Hup!

Blast from the Past: Cherry Almond Jam

2011-08-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

I've decided to label all posts with pictures taken Pre-Fancy Camera so that everyone will know they're consuming an outdated recipe. That said, this jam doesn't even taste stale! Plus, it's joined wild raspberry jam and wild strawberry jam as my favorite.

4 cups pitted, crushed-- not pureed-- sour cherries (should measure 4 cups after crushing)
1/2 tsp. butter
1 tbsp. lemon juice
5 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1- 1 and 1/2 tbsp. almond extract

4/5 cup pectin (or slightly more than whatever your pectin directions instruct for one batch of sour cherry jam because this jam can be runny if a bit more isn't added)

I assume that if you're making this, you've made jam before, so I won't go into great detail. (It's super easy, anyway, so if you've never made it, go for it!) Combine cherries, pectin*, butter, and lemon juice in large sauce pot. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Add sugar. Bring to a rolling boil a second time. Boil hard for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Stir in almond extract, to taste. Pour hot into hot jars, leaving 1/4 head space. Adjust caps. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath or turn upside down for about a minute to seal before inverting. *Prepare jam per your pectin instructions (i.e. follow correct sequence for liquid or powdered pectin).

Spread over muffins in the middle of winter and wonder at the beauty of eating rubies.

Spicy (or Not-so-spicy) Summer Stirfry a.k.a. You Should Make This Tonight!

2011-08-19T08:35:00.001-07:00

I think we just ate my favorite stirfry yet, probably because it's a garden-harvest-vegetarian riff on Martha's beef bulgogi recipe from five years ago, and with the addition of sesame oil. (I'm sorry for the weird color cast; I took this picture at dusk because I was too busy eating beforehand.)

This is a sweet-spicy-sesame-y stirfry that tastes...um...simply smashing! So lame, I know. Sometimes I have alliteration spasms. It's a disorder. (ASD.)

Cook up some brown rice. During the forty minutes you wait for it to cook, gather

a few tablespoons olive oil
one onion, chopped
about 4 carrots, thinly julienned

1 small-medium zucchini, thinly julienned
1 small-medium yellow summer squash, thinly julienned*
about 5 cups sugar snap peas (the eat-the-pod-and-all kind), strings removed
2 tbsp. freshly minced garlic (about 12 cloves)
1 and 1/2 tbsp. finely chopped or grated ginger
3/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil (or more, if you like a really heavy sesame flavor)
6 tbsp. brown sugar (a bit more or less, to taste)

1 tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in a few tablespoons of cold water
ground cayenne or red pepper flakes or fresh hot peppers (ribbed, seeded, and chopped), to taste

In a few tablespoons of olive oil, saute the onions and carrots until the onion is translucent and carrots are nearly crisp-tender (if using fresh hot peppers, add then in, also). After mixing the soy sauce, sesame oil, and brown sugar in a small bowl until sugar dissolves, add the next eight ingredients with 1/3- 1/2 cup water to the pan and cook over medium heat until vegetables are crisp tender. Stir in the cornstarch/water mixture and cook until sauce thickens. Add cayenne or red pepper flakes to taste.

We loved this, especially the sweet crunch of the sugar snap peas.

*A mandoline slicer really does beat all. John picked mine up for ten bucks several years back, and I've been using it to slice and julienne like one obsessed, which is probably because I am obsessed. Mine looks similar to this, except that it didn't cost forty dollars. If you find one for a reasonable price, grab it! They are just about as handy as hands.

Gooey Hot Fudge Sauce

2011-08-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

I don't remember from where I copied this, but I'm willing to bet it was a Martha Stewart cookbook from the library when Millie was a baby, and I'm not just saying that so you'll trust me when I say it's divine.

It's divine! (Even Martha thinks so.)

1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup light corn syrup
12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

Combine cream and syrup in a pan. Stir to combine and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until incorporated and smooth.

Spoon warm (but not hot) over ice cream, cake, or straight into your empty mouth. The unused sauce can be stored in the fridge and will harden enough to be eaten in large, chewy spoonfuls. (Even Martha does this!)

Here's An Idea

2011-08-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

Surprise your children by baking a tablespoon of cherry almond jam into their morning muffins!

(I suppose another kind of jam would work equally well.)

Oven-baked Zucchini Fries (Are Not Really Fries)

2011-08-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

I don't care how many people call them such, zucchini fries are not fries. They are, however, very tasty zucchini sticks. Actually, they're not sticks, either.

Solid straws?
Skinny planks?
Thin logs?
Thickly julienned portions?

I've never deep-fried these before, but given my admiration of fried foods, I can't imagine it would hurt. Does frying ever hurt anything?

Anyway, here is your recipe* for oven-baked zucchini, skinny-sliced-planky-strawed-fries. NO! NOT fries. Whatever. Just eat them! (They are really, truly delicious.) They are, in fact, quite similar to my non-recipe for breaded zucchini slices, only better.

*Here's a confession. I can't find the scrap of paper I jotted the ingredient amounts on as I tossed them in, so the ingredients aren't accurate, but I think they're pretty close. If I find the paper, I'll edit this, but, for now, just use your judgment. It's not rocket science, after all.

If you want enough zucchini for your entire family to eat for lunch (paired with nothing else but dipping sauce), as well as a few handfuls for your mother and sister, as well as a plateful to stick in the fridge, then take

2 medium-large (okay, leaning on the "large" but not yet "baseball bat") zucchini and cut them into "fries."

They can be as thick or thin as you like. I cut more thick than thin because I was in a hurry, but thinner sticks will be crunchier in the end. In a large bowl, mix about 1 cup all-purpose flour with some salt and pepper.

In a medium bowl, mix about 4 eggs and a few tablespoons of milk.

In a large bowl dump
about 4 cups of bread crumbs (I make my own from stale Italian bread, which of course makes plain bread crumbs. If you use seasoned crumbs, decrease spices to suit your tastes.)
about 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 and 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
a dash of ground cayenne
a bit of ground paprika
any additional spices you desire (ground rosemary, Italian seasoning, basil, thyme, etc.).

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and drizzle a rimmed baking sheet (or two or three) with extra virgin olive oil.

First, dump the zucchini sticks into the bowl with the flour mixture and stir until the sticks are coated. Second, dip the zucchini sticks into the egg mixture. Third, dredge the sticks in the bread crumb mixture until well-coated. Fourth, place them in a single layer on your oiled baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees until browned on the bottom. Flip them and cook for a few additional minutes until browned on all sides and crisp-tender. The total time will depend on how thinly or thickly you slice the zucchini.

While making these, I thought that they'd probably also be yummy flavored with lemon pepper and dill weed paired with a garlic-y tzatziki sauce for dipping. Yum. And then I thought I could dip them in a butter/honey mustard mixture before dredging them in bread crumbs and serving them with more honey mustard, of course. Double yum. I guess I think too much about food when I'm cooking food.

Oh, yes. I made a quick red sauce for dipping by pureeing one quart jar of home-canned tomatoes with one small can tomato paste, salt and sugar in nearly equal amounts to taste, and then rosemary, basil, oregano, parsley, and thyme, to taste.

Enjoy!

And because food pictures just wouldn't be the same without the Hand of Mystery, here's Luci.

Cheesy Zucchini Fritters

2011-08-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

Of course, they're healthy. Why do you ask?

These are extremely flavorful, and they use quite a lot of zucchini, which is good news to all of you gardeners around this time of year. Quit leaving zucchini on people's doorsteps and in unlocked cars, already! You should make piles of these greasy fritters, instead.

I gleefully ate four or more of these for lunch and then felt sick for the next hour. They were that good. I'd like to try zucchini fritters that are like potato latkes, except made with zucchini and extra spices, but my first attempt was a bit more...indulgent. The cheeses turn the fritters into royalty, and spices can easily be adjusted to suit your tastes. I recommend serving a pile of fresh vegetables alongside these for lunch. I did not do this, but I bet if I'd tempered the fritters with something less decadent, I would've been fine with my gluttony.

(And once again, I showcase my stellar photography skillz with a cloth napkin and a zucchini blossom. Someday I'll be original, but that day is not yet here.)

2 medium-large zucchini, about ten cups grated
1 large onion, minced
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves or about 1 - 1 and 1/2 tsp. fresh chopped thyme
1 tsp. salt
1/3 tsp. black pepper
1 and 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely ground cornmeal
2 eggs
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

Grate the zucchini with a medium hand grater (or whatever you want to use) into a large bowl until you have about ten cups worth and then squeeze out as much excess fluid as you can. Stir in the cheeses and eggs. In a small bowl, mix dry ingredients together and then stir into the zucchini mixture.

Heat a few tablespoons of canola oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat (until flour sizzles) and drop batter into pan in amounts small enough to make fritters about the circumference of an orange. Fry until the bottom side is golden brown, flip, and cook the remaining side until golden brown and cooked through.

The only downside to these cheesy fritters is that it might take a fritter or two to get the knack of flipping them without them falling to pieces. Once the mozzarella cheese melts, the stability of the fritter is shaky until it's cooked enough to gain a bit of firmness, and I found smaller fritters easier to flip than the big ones. I like the zucchini ratio to be equal to or greater than the pancake amount, but if you're really struggling, just add some more flour, cornmeal, and spices, to suit.

Mildred's Roaring Twenties Spice Cake

2011-08-15T07:00:00.001-07:00

I don't remember where I found the recipe for this cake, but I do know it was when Millie was a baby, and we were house-sitting a country mansion for the year. Since that time, I've never made it. Not once!

It took that baby Millie, now grown to the esteemed age of eight, to actually mix the ingredients together-- not once, but twice in the last two weeks. And may I just say how fitting it is that she picked this particular cake to make? The Roaring Twenties may very well have been the last time her name was popular with the general population. Thoroughly modern.

This dense cake is rich and flavorful, and it would be the perfect accompaniment to a steaming mug of autumnal spiced cider. (It's also good on very hot summer days, but while the taste is the same, the ambiance suffers.)

When Millie had finished the cake, I came in and whipped up a cinnamon-butter frosting. I rarely use recipes for buttercream, but I can tell you that this one was wonderfully heavy on the butter. Cream a stick or so of softened butter, add several cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth, add vanilla extract and enough milk to reach desired consistency. Dump in a bunch of fragrant ground cinnamon.

The End.

p.s. I made the frosting on the thin side so that it would drizzle over the edges of the cake before hardening slightly.

Roaring Twenties Spice Cake

1 and 1/2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
pinch salt

1 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. water
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
*The second time she made this, Millie also mixed in about 1/2 cup of crushed walnuts because she was making it for Mopsy, who loves nuts.

Combine the first 8 ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for five minutes; remove from heat. Dissolve baking soda in 1 tbsp. water. Stir into raisin mixture along with the flour and baking powder; mix well. Spread in a greased 8 x 8-inch pan. Bake and 350 degrees for 30 minutes. (In our oven, it only took about 15 minutes.)

Meanwhile, prepare the frosting. When cake has cooled about ten minutes, invert it onto serving platter, let cool several more minutes before spreading with frosting. Serve warm or cold.

Double Chocolate Spiced Zucchini Muffins with Cayenne A.K.A. We Love Zucchini!

2011-08-11T20:00:00.000-07:00

So, one might think that two zucchini recipes in one day is enough. Try telling that to the zucchini plants, will ya?! Here's a recipe I created this morning. It's a twist on the traditional and decadent chocolate zucchini cake, only more muffin-like, and with the addition of cayenne, because I like the complexity it adds and the lingering hint of heat. If you don't like these things, then omit it, and the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves will step up.

We also like to call this

Dessert for Breakfast.

3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter or canola oil
3/4 cup buttermilk (I've never in my life used real buttermilk. It's tacky, but you, too, can substitute 1 tablespoon vinegar and enough milk to equal one cup for buttermilk. Let sit for five minutes until curdled.)
1 and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 and 1/2 cups grated zucchini (with any excess liquid left at the bottom of bowl after grating)

3/4 cup baking cocoa
2 and 1/2 cups flour
a generous 1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cloves
a few shakes ground cayenne, if desired, to taste
1 - 1 and 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Cream together the eggs and the sugar before adding the remainder of wet ingredients. Stir in shredded zucchini. In a large bowl, sift all dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and add the wet ingredients, stirring until moistened. Spoon into greased (or papered) muffin tins, and then sprinkle the tops with a layer of semisweet chocolate chips. Bake in a 350 oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. (My oven runs hot, and it took about 12 minutes; bake these as long as it normally takes you to bake muffins.) Yield: About 1 and a half dozen

Eat them warm.
Eat them cold.
Eat them with your trousers rolled, Mister Prufrock.

Garden Pasta Salad with Garlic, Basil, and Red Wine

2011-08-11T19:48:00.002-07:00

Okay, fine- so this doesn't have red wine in it, even though it sounds classy. It does have red wine vinegar, however, which counts!

This chilled pasta salad is summery and yummy. Yummery. Summy. (Enough!)

The End.

But, wait, there's more!
I usually make lots of the vinaigrette because the vinaigrette soaks into the pasta if you don't eat it all at one meal, which makes the leftovers more bland than I like. Enter extra vinaigrette! (Also, I need to correct my confidant statement of "I usually, etc., etc., etc." That's a farce, because I created this just last week and have only eaten it the once!)

Salad
-Petite pasta of your choice; something small and sassy is nice, about 16 oz., cooked, drained, and chilled (just run cold water over it)

To the chilled pasta, add
-3 cups julienned raw zucchini (matchsticks)
- 1 cup diced red pepper
- diced tomatoes, as many as you desire
- 1/2 cup chopped cucumbers, or more, if desired (If you grew them yourself, please do leave the skin on. No poison and more vitamins! PSA over and out.)
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped green onion tops
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, cut chiffonade
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan

Vinaigrette

In a small bowl, whisk together the following:
- 1/4 cup fresh, flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped
- 6 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
-1 and 1/2 tsp. salt
-1/2 tsp. black pepper
-1/4 + 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
-1/8 cup + 1 tbsp. lemon juice
-1/2 cup canola oil
- a bit of sugar

(Sorry for the weird measurements. I was making this off the cuff and will adjust to normalcy the next time I make it.)

Lastly, if you're lucky enough to have feta in your fridge, go for it!!!!!!!

Please don't question the known fact that feta cheese deserves seven exclamation points.

Or more.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crispy Kale, Or, Oven-Roasted Kale

2011-08-11T19:48:00.001-07:00

I've talked about this before, hence this short zip-a-dee post. The girls gobble bowls of crispy kale like they're bowls of potato chips, and, truth be told, their mother does, too, though she wouldn't dare admit it in the public forum of a blog. (So shhhhh.)

Steps 1-5:

1. Step outside, walk to your garden, and pick some kale.
2. If it's large, tear the leaves from the stem; if small and tender, leave them whole
3. Toss kale in a large bowl with several drizzles of extra virgin olive oil and many shakes of salt
4. Broil in your oven for several minutes, stirring midway, until slightly browned and crispy.
5. Watch your children eat it all in one minute flat.

And just because I've also talked about this before, here's Luci's hand.

And Luci herself.

*A few tips:
1. Kale does not take long to scorch and burn. It can take seconds, really, so keep a close eye on it.
2. Kale shrinks considerably in the oven, so what you may think is a giant's portion is truly only a 3 year-old's portion.
3. Crispy kale does not taste like potato chips, but it doesn't have to in order to be yummy.

A Delicious Mess of Pottage

2011-08-11T19:09:00.000-07:00

...or thereabouts, Esau.

A mess of faux pottage is prepared similarly to kale and beans, only with a mixture of pinto and black beans, the addition of diced tomatoes, beet greens in place of the kale, and ground rosemary, to taste, added to the onions, garlic, salt, and pepper. Important, as well, is the addition of 2 small links of sweet Italian sausage I found in the bottom of our freezer. Cook the sausage at the same time as the onions, and proceed from there.

I used more water in the pot than usual in order to make a flavorful broth. Chicken broth would taste good, as well.

The broth necessitates some buttered, crusty bread for mopping. Don't forget!

Here's Another Idea! Roasted Eggplant and Red Pepper Pizza (with Garlic and Basil, Because It's a Pizza)

2011-08-11T18:23:00.001-07:00

Here's what it looks like before it's baked, when the basil looks green and inviting instead of dark and withered. (My cookie sheet is loaded with cornmeal because it's my pizza peel; it works like a charm, thank you for asking.)

Anyway, prepare your favorite pizza dough crust. I use this one, because a thin crust couldn't handle the boatload of toppings. This time, as I often do, I substituted whole wheat for half of the flour.

Now, you should also prepare your favorite pizza sauce. Do you want my recipe that's not a recipe and that changes according to my mood or the weather? Here you go.

1 quart of home-canned tomatoes, drained
1 small can of tomato paste
a healthy splash or two of white cooking wine
1-2 tsp. salt
2-4 tsp. sugar
a whole mess of freshly minced garlic (and I do mean a WHOLE MESS-- usually at least 1/2 a head of garlic)
depending on the pizza, I add one or more of the following, to taste
red pepper flakes
whatever fresh or dried herbs I desire (basil, rosemary, oregano, parsley, etc.)

The End.

Oh, wait. I was showing you a pizza with toppings, wasn't I?

Continuing...

So now you should have your favorite dough prepared and your favorite pizza sauce prepared. On to the toppings:

-Roast about 2 red peppers, then remove the ribs, seeds, and skin, before cutting into strips. (I broil mine to roast them. If you've got a gas oven, you can roast them directly over the flames. If you've never done this, please google a real cook who isn't too lazy to give you a tutorial in pictures.)

-Cut an eggplant into slices, about 1/4-inch thick.
Toss the slices in a bowl with some drizzles of olive oil, and then roast in your oven until soft and nicely browned, about 15 minutes, turning once (I quickly broil mine to cut down on time spent.)

-In a pan over medium-low heat, pour a few tablespoons olive oil, a few cloves freshly minced garlic, and a few shakes of red pepper flakes, if desired. Warm until heated through and set aside.

Okay. Shape your pizza dough, top with red sauce, sprinkle with mozzerella cheese (and parmesan cheese, if desired), and then layer on the eggplant slices. Layer the roasted red pepper strips on top of the eggplant, and then drizzle the olive oil/garlic/red pepper (if desired) mixture on top. Place 10-12 fresh, torn basil leaves on top and slide off of your cornmeal-dusted fake pizza peel onto a five-dollar pizza stone (it works like a charm; thank you for asking). Bake in a preheated 500-degree oven for as long as it takes. If you've made pizza before, bake according to your oven's quirks, taking into account the fact that this is a thickly loaded pizza. I have a quirky oven and hesitate to give baking times, for fear that I'll ruin the meal for people with normal ovens.

Enjoy!

The End. For Real This Time.

A Non-Recipe: Cherry Lemonade with Mint- For Fellow Canners Especially

2011-08-11T16:00:00.000-07:00

What's a body to do with cherry juice syrup leftover from canning?! Make this, of course!

When canning sour cherries, I made a medium syrup to pack the cherries in and used sugar, water, and the leftover sour juice that was left in the bottom of the bowl. I had a quart jar of syrup left over, and because I hate to waste things, I popped it in the fridge. I made this a week later, when it soothed our souls on a 100-degree day. I think it would be awesome with lime juice, too, but lemon is what I had on hand.

4 cups cherry syrup (rough estimate: about 1 and 1/2 cups sugar, about 2 cups sour cherry juice, and about 1 cup water)
8+ cups water, to taste
1-2 cups ice
1-2 cups lemon juice, or more, to taste
fresh wild field mint leaves, lots, to taste (you, of course, may purchase mint, but look outside first!)
*add a tad more sugar, water, or lemon to your liking

It's even better the next day, after the mint flavor has diffused through the rest.

Aaaaaaah.

Chilled Canteloupe Soup (Drink)

2011-08-11T15:00:00.000-07:00

John made this for the girls and I one morning for breakfast. I took the liberty of calling it a drink because it's more practical to serve it to one's children in cups than in bowls with spoons, and all the mess that would entail. It's a delicious twist on cantaloupe, but if you don't like cantaloupe, I don't recommend making this, 'cause even with the orange juice and spices, it remains a canteloupe soup. I think if one froze this concoction, it would make refreshing popsicles, too.

Here you are!

1 cantaloupe - peeled, seeded and cubed
2 cups orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

Peel, seed, and cube the cantaloupe.
Place cantaloupe and 1/2 cup orange juice in a blender or food processor; cover, and process until smooth. Transfer to large bowl. Stir in lime juice, cinnamon, and remaining orange juice. Cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour. Garnish with mint if desired.

(John found the recipe here.)

Here's an Idea: Rosemary and Garlic Flatbread with Cherry Tomatoes

2011-06-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

For easy and delicious summertime flatbread, prepare dough, let it rise until doubled, form into a round, and brush generously with extra virgin olive oil. Top with lots of freshly minced garlic, shredded mozzarella, chopped fresh rosemary, and several hearty pinches of coarse sea salt. If the cherry tomatoes are producing, halve some and pile them on, too! We ate this a lot last summer. *Sometimes, I knead minced garlic and chopped rosemary into the dough, as well.

Can you tell I'm ready for our garden to drip with goodness? The plants are spindly and timid, but I hope still. Eggplant-topped pizza, here we come!

Basic Pizza/Flatbread Dough (This is a thicker/puffier crust than this dough.)
The recipe calls for all-purpose flour, but I often substitute whole wheat for half of the flour, and the addition of a little gluten will increase the chewiness of the crust .
-2 and 1/2 cups flour (*More if desired; see below)
-1 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. sugar
-1 tbsp. yeast
-1 cup warm water
-1 tbsp. oil

1. Combine salt, sugar, yeast, then add water and oil. Let sit for proofing ('til frothy on top).

2. Mix yeast mixture with flour. Turn onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. (*At this point, I sometimes work more flour--around 1/2 cup-- into the dough as I knead.)

3. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise in warm place until doubled in size. *If desired, the dough can be placed in the refrigerator at this point for a few hours or up to 24 hours. The flavor and texture improve, but I generally don't plan ahead enough for that these days. It's delicious enough as is, anyway.

4. Punch down and shape into a round, as thin or thick as you like, on a cornmeal-dusted baking stone or cookie sheet.

5. Top with desired toppings and bake in a preheated 450-500 degree oven until golden brown and crispy. (Use your judgment here. I always crank up the heat as high as my oven allows for pizza, but just bake it how you normally bake your dough.)

Streusel-Topped Rhubarb Cake with Vanilla Sauce

2011-06-27T07:17:00.000-07:00

I am a lover of rhubarb.

There, I've said it.

Instead of applesauce, every spring I'd eat fresh rhubarb sauce that my mom would spoon steaming into bowls and onto plates. She made rhubarb crisp and rhubarb pie and rhubarb this and rhubarb that, and I loved them all. I'd even munch it plain with a puckered mouth.

This, though, even non-rhubarb lovers can enjoy, 'cause the rhubarb is mixed with enough Other that it loses some potency. And can I just say how weird it is to post pictures I took two summers ago?

Weird.

My mom made this for us when we were living in the off-grid trailer for the summer, so I couldn't immediately make it myself, but if we'd had a wood cookstove at that point, I would have tried. The cake itself is standard-- sweet cake, tart rhubarb, and moist-- but the streusel topping pushes it up a notch, and then the vanilla sauce pushes it right over the edge.

Oh, and the best part of this recipe is its original name-- Special Rhubarb Cake. There's rhubarb in the fridge, and I think I'll make some tonight. Go and do thou likewise. Serve it to someone special today!

Special Rhubarb Cake
adapted by my mother from an unknown (to me) source

Cake
-2 tbsp. butter, softened (no substitutes)
- 1 c. sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 c. all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 c. buttermilk (Again, I'm ~~cheap~~ resourceful and always use sham buttermilk. Add 1 tbsp. vinegar to enough milk to equal one cup, let sit for five minutes, and use as you would buttermilk.)
-2 c. chopped fresh or frozen (and thawed) rhubarb.

Streusel Topping
-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
-1/4 c. sugar
-2 tbsp. butter, melted

Vanilla Sauce
-1/2 c. butter, melted (no substitutes)
-3/4 c. sugar
-1/2 c. evaporated milk
-1 tsp. vanilla extract

*When my mom gave us some of this Special cake, she was out of butter and substituted cream cheese for the butter and some of the evaporated milk, with stellar results. I usually do the same.
Mom's version of "vanilla sauce":
-4 oz. cream cheese, softened
-1+ cup confectionery sugar
-1/4-1/3 c. evaporated milk
-1 and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating just until moistened. Fold in rhubarb. Pour into a greased 9" X 9" pan.

Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

For sauce, melt butter in saucepan. Add sugar and milk. Bring to boil, and cook for 2-3 minutes while stirring until thick. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and drizzle over servings of cake.

For Mom's version of vanilla sauce (a.k.a. Cream Cheese Sauce), beat together cream cheese and confectionery sugar until blended. Beat in evaporated milk and vanilla extract and drizzle over cake.

Eggplant (or Zucchini!) Parmesan & Pasta

2011-06-26T10:05:00.001-07:00

This lackluster snapshot is from last summer, but don't let it keep you from making the dish!

Dude has made this for us for the last two summers, and he learned how to make it from a bonafide Italian friend, about whose culinary talents an entire blog could (nay, should!) be written.

I've made it with both eggplant-- which is more typical and with which you may be familiar--and....here's the great part...ZUCCHINI! Any gardener knows why I'm ecstatic that this can be deliciously reproduced with zucchini. I love zucchini- love it- but even I reach the point when I look at overachieving zucchini plants and am tempted to just throw some of the baseball bat suckers in the weeds and be done with it. Since my pitiful eggplants are still more seedlings than plants, I'm afraid the zucchini version is most prominent in my future.

Here's a vague ingredients list. (Sorry, this is a whip-together meal. No precise measurements needed.)

You'll need
-Eggplant or zucchini
-A few eggs
-Some milk
-Bread crumbs and spices of your choice
-Parmesan cheese
-Shredded or sliced mozzarella cheese
-Fresh basil leaves
-Red sauce/spaghetti sauce of your choice
-Pasta of your choice
-A pot
-Some water to boil in your pot

If you make your own pasta sauce, it might serve you well to make it first. I usually fly by the seat of my pants with sauces, but my red sauce is a similar version to this pizza sauce, only with more garlic and less (or no) red pepper, and I use home-canned tomatoes in indiscriminate amounts, sometimes adding tomato paste for thickness.

Take eggplant or baseball bat zucchini and slice into 1/4- 1/2-inch thick coins. Place in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with about a teaspoon of salt. Let sit for an hour to draw out excess moisture. (I usually skip this step with the zucchini. Horrors!) Pat dry and dip in an egg wash. The amounts will vary according to how much eggplant/zucchini you want to bread, but a rough rule is a few tablespoons of milk for each egg. Whisk together in a small bowl.

Take the egg-dipped vegetable slices and dredge them in your choice of bread coating. I usually use plain homemade bread crumbs mixed with a bunch of Parmesan cheese, along with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning, to taste. To up the ante, if it's summertime, and you've got fresh herbs growing, chop those and add them in place of the dried Italian seasoning (parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme, basil, etc.).

To save time, at this point preheat the oven for broiling.
Also, begin boiling water in a pot in preparation for cooking pasta.
Add pasta as soon as the water is ready, and drain it when it is cooked al dente.

Meanwhile, in a heavy-bottomed frying pan, fry the vegetable slices in a few tablespoons of olive oil until crisp-tender and golden brown, flipping once. Drain on paper towels before placing on a cookie sheet. Spoon some sauce over each slice, layer with shredded mozzarella cheese (or, if you're fancy, mozzarella slices) and top with a large basil leaf. Place in oven and broil until cheese is melted.

Place a mound of your desired pasta on a plate, top with breaded eggplant/zucchini slices, and spoon red sauce over all. Eat, eat, eat. EAT!

I cannot begin to tell you how much I am craving this right now.
Zucchini plants, hurry up!

Dorothy Golden's Potato Latkes (Potato Pancakes)

2011-06-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

The Owens love potatoes.

The King of the House spearheads this love and prepares potatoes in every possible incarnation of deliciousness, but I am proud to say that I, along with the help of a sweet woman named Dorothy Golden, introduced him to one of his favorites.

Seven years ago, living with our children in this little apartment, I read the newspaper and clipped an unassuming recipe. Observe:

Latkes are traditionally prepared during Hanukkah and often are served with sour cream and/or applesauce. If, like us, you are not Jewish, you eat them as the most delicious cousin of hash browns in the universe, whenever you choose. (And if you are Jewish, you think I'm a dummy for not knowing about these exquisite potatoes until I was 25 years old.)

Also, contrary to appearances and despite the fact that this is the THIRD recipe in a row that features frying something edible, our family doesn't eat fried food often. We eat the following about four times a year, but if I made them every week, we'd eat them every week. (Do I sound defensive? Sigh. I know.)

Without further ado, may I introduce you to Dorothy Golden's potato latkes? Please give her a round of applause! (Out of respect, her original recipe is listed first. Please see my personal notes below.)

-5 russet (baking) potatoes, peeled and grated
-1 large onion, grated
-2 eggs
-a generous quarter-cup matzoh meal or flour
-dash of salt
-oil for frying

Combine potatoes, onion, eggs, matzoh meal, and salt. The mixture should have body but add more meal if necessary. Heat about one inch of oil in a skillet until it is hot.

Using a tablespoon, spoon mixture into the oil to make pancakes, leaving any liquid in the bottom of the bowl. Be careful. Pancakes will spatter when they hit the oil.

Fry pancakes until they turn brown and look slightly dry on the edges. Flip them and brown the other side. Pancakes should be crisp. Remove from oil and drain quickly on paper towels. Serve hot with applesauce, yogurt, or sour cream. Serves about eight.

__________________________________________

Alrighty, here's what I do.
Fill a heavy-bottomed pot with several inches of canola oil. Turn on the heat.

Scrub lots of potatoes. LEAVE THE SKIN ON! Using a hand grater, grate into a large bowl along with one or two giant onions.

Add a few eggs, some salt, and enough flour to make the mixture thick enough to shape into patties. USING YOUR USEFUL HANDS, shape the potato mixture into patties while at the same time squeezing out any excess liquid.

Drop the patties into oil that is hot enough to make a pinch of flour sizzle, and fry until golden brown and dry on the edges. Flip over and brown the second side before draining on paper towels. At this point, salt heavily.

I usually place them on a wire rack on a rimmed cookie sheet and put them in a slightly warm oven (about 200-250 degrees) to stay warm and crispy while I fry up the remaining latkes. (This has the added benefit of keeping them out of easy reach. By the time I'm finished, I've usually already eaten my fair share of the product. Testing it, you know...)

You may add any additional spices to the potato mixture that you see fit.
Thank you and you're welcome.

Cabbage Kofta

2011-06-26T05:20:00.000-07:00

The majority of the dishes I've made in the last two years are meatless. If you see non-tasty recipes with meat on buildabelly in the future, you should know it's because I like meat, and its small presence in our house means that just about any meat tastes grand. This hasn't been an entirely deliberate decision and came by degrees. John didn't eat meat for a six-month stretch two years back due to several reasons, and since we normally didn't eat mounds of it anyway due to its cost, it was pretty easy to phase it out entirely for that time. Our health did not suffer, and we still ate like kings. Good things!

Many meals I make in the winter months feature beans and rice or are soups (some featuring beans...and rice), so Indian curries are a refreshing change. I usually wing curries, throwing vegetables in at random and adjusting spices as I go, but they all turn out too similarly for me to feel like I'm doing anything special.

For this curry, though, I followed a recipe, and I loved it. The star of the show is....cabbage balls! Don't worry, cabbage haters. Cabbage balls don't taste much like cabbage. They're savory and sweet and crisp on the outside and soft on the inside and really, really good. (Did I sell you with that "really, really good" description? Good.)

Who knew they existed, or, if Who did know, did Who know they were so delicious? Who, this one's for you!

Recipe ~~butchered~~ greatly adapted from this wonderful blog, which I really should visit again sometime. (The recipe's adapted because I didn't have all the fancy ingredients and had to improvise. I give you permission to do the same; my changes are marked with annoyingly bold font.) Oh, and if you do go to that wonderful blog, be assured that I don't know much about Indian cuisine. I usually look for recipes that include vegetables we have, which in winter months are carrots, onions, potatoes, and frozen spinach, as well as last summer's green beans, corn, zucchini, peppers, and tomatoes frozen and canned for keeping, and then I wing things. This makes for some weird curries, and sometimes some yummy ones. My family loves me.

Cabbage Kofta
(Makes about 30 koftas)

Serve over rice with naan.

Gravy
1 pound tomatoes, 2 tbsp coriander seeds, 2 tbsp cumin seeds, ½ tsp poppy seeds, 1/2 tsp saunf seeds, 1/2 tsp anardhana powder, 2 tbsp minced/grated ginger, 2 medium green chillies, 3 dried red chillies, a large handful of cilantro, 1 medium onion, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 clove garlic minced (optional)

1. Grind all the ingredients for the gravy together into a fine paste, adding about 2 cups of water. 2. Sauté the gravy with 2 tbsp. butter letting it thicken. Bring this to a boil, seasoning with salt.

Okay. Big changes. Saunf? Anardhana? Don't I wish.
I used the following:
-one medium onion, diced
-@ 1/2 inch fresh ginger, minced or grated
-5 smallish cloves garlic, minced
-one and a half tsp. ground coriander (I now have seeds, but ground coriander worked well)
-1 and 1/2 tsp. ground cumin (ditto)
-1 tsp. poppy seeds
-1 tsp. turmeric
-1 tsp. dried cilantro (If it had been summer, I would have snagged the fresh stuff from the garden and used more.)
-ground cayenne, to taste (Again, in summer, I would have snagged fresh hot peppers from the garden, instead.)
-@ 5-6 tbsp. plain yogurt
-1 quart canned tomatoes with juice
-one pinch of sugar
-salt, to taste
-a few tablespoons of ground cashews (I was given some cashews, so why not?)

I sauteed the onion in a bit of olive oil until soft and translucent and added the minced garlic and ginger for a minute or two at the end. I added all remaining ingredients, breaking up the tomatoes with a spoon (home-canned tomatoes easily fall apart; store-bought would have to be smushed in a food mill or whizzed in a food processor). Let simmer over low heat for the flavors to meld while you make the koftas.

Koftas
1 small head cabbage, 1 carrot shredded or finely minced, 3/4 cup besan* flour, 1 tsp garam masala, 2 tbsp red chilli powder, Salt, oil to deep fry.
*Nope. Sorry. This is what I used.
-1 small finely shredded cabbage (@ 4 and 1/2 to 5 cups)
-Did I use carrot? Had we run out of carrots? I can't find "carrot" on my scribbled notes. Will someone please tell me? (Add it if you want it; omit it if you don't.)
-2 finely minced medium onions
-1 tsp. garam masala
-1/2 tsp. ground cayenne
-3/4 tsp. salt
-garlic powder, to taste
-I added about one cup of regular flour until the texture was right for frying instead of besan (chickpea flour). I plan on grinding some besan to have on hand, though, because enough interesting recipes include it.

Mince the cabbage (best done with a food processor). I grated mine with a hand grater. Add salt and leave it for a few minutes, then squeeze as much of the water out of the cabbage as possible.

Add the besan (or regular flour) to the cabbage, along with the rest of the kofta ingredients, and knead it together. Form this mixture into small balls, and fry them in hot oil until brown. Add the balls to the gravy, and let it soak for about half an hour (we ate it immediately, without the soak).

Her tip: Squeeze as much water out of the cabbage as possible so the balls will absorb less water while frying. Add the carrot after you squeeze out the water in order to squeeze out the maximum amount of water.

My tip: Wait until a pinch of flour sizzles before frying the kofta, otherwise they'll soak up a bunch of oil.

My second tip: Don't eat all the kofta immediate after frying them. I had to restrain myself.

Hehe. He.

2011-06-26T05:19:00.000-07:00

Millie and I were just chuckling over this picture.

This is one of the BAD curries. Spinach, tomato, and potato. I'm sure an Indian chef could make this scrumptious, but I sure didn't. The only thing that saved it was the whole wheat poori I made to accompany it. Poori is unleavened flatbread, so it's faster than naan. I prefer naan, but poori's good in a pinch, especially if you deep fry it. (I didn't deep fry it. Maybe I should have. It may have distracted us from the potato/spinach masala.)

You Bet! (Potato Chips.)

2011-06-21T11:56:00.000-07:00

I'm on a short break from weeding the flowerbeds, long neglected and pitiful. The only places clear of weeds are those spots where the hens have raked dirt into soft hollows perfect for dust bathing.

So, up to my neck in weeds, I felt the urgent need to put up a post about potato chips. That's me. Saving the world one outdated recipe at a time.

Since I can't justify spending more than a few minutes in Procrastinator's Paradise, here's a no-brainer "recipe" for potato chips.

These are so easy to make and much better than plain chips from a bag. I have yet to experiment to make Salt & Vinegar chips, but if I succeed, I'll feel like a culinary goddess.

First, find some potatoes.
Scrub them, but don't scrub off the skins.

Second, slice the potatoes as thinly as you can. I've done it in the past with a sharp knife and my very own butterfingers, but this time, I realized how dumb I was for forgetting I own something that looks similar to this. John bought a clearance slicer for me many years ago, and I don't use it as often as I should. It slices the potatoes in uniform, extremely thin slices. Consumers, go buy one today!

Okay, step number three. Fill a heavy-bottomed pot (or a fryer) with several inches of canola oil* and heat until a pinch of flour sizzles when you drop it in. If the flour doesn't sizzle, the slices will soak up oil and be soggy, so wait for the sizzle! (*It doesn't have to be canola oil, but canola oil has a high burn point and it's high in monounsaturated fats, so win-win.)

Step four. Fry potato slices in sizzling, sizzly oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels or a wire rack, or on paper towels on a wire rack.

Step five. SALT HEAVILY. QUICKLY!!! I love salt, though, so use your judgment here.

Step six, the most important and complex of all of these complex instructions...

Eat them all before your husband comes home.
Or save five or six for him, like I did.

Insert bland snapshot here.

Re-resurrection. A Gift of Chocolate.

2011-06-12T18:48:00.000-07:00

The new witching hour for buildabelly seems to lie somewhere between 10:30 p.m. and 12 o'clock midnight. I don't know why this is, and I wish it were not so. I should be sleeping! I like sleeping! I don't sleep enough.

Since the grand re-opening of buildabelly three months ago, I've posted two recipes. Yes, you read that right.

(Two.)

I was given a Fancy Camera for my April birthday but have yet to take a single picture of buildabelly food with it, so the lackluster posts to come will be illustrated by the Not-As-Fancy Camera of the last four years.

Without further ado (trumpets, please):

Recipe... Number... THREE!

Courtesy of Christmas Afternoon Dessert-- The Best Brownies Yet

I purposely added "Yet" because there's always room for improvement. I've said this before, but brownies and cheesecake are two foods that please me eternally. Even when botched, they're still good. These brownies have five essential ingredients:

#1. Chocolate
#2. Fudgy-ness
#3. Chocolate
#4. Cream cheese
#5. Yet more chocolate

Oh.
#6. And heavy cream.

Not so difficult, eh?

But for the sticklers among us, I offer an extended recipe list:

Brownie Layer
- 1/2 cup butter (BUTTER), cut into slices
- 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped (I always substitute baking cocoa and oil for baking chocolate because I'm ~~cheap~~ resourceful, with no ill effect)
- 1 and 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp. salt

Cream Cheese Layer
- 8 oz. cream cheese, room temp. (I use neufchatel- light cream cheese- because I'm...something, with no ill effect)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 egg

Chocolate Ganache Layer
- @ 1/2-3/4 cup heavy cream
- @ 12 oz. semisweet chocolate

I always wing the ganache topping. More cream and less chocolate makes for a thinner ganache. More chocolate and less cream makes for a more solid ganache. Take your pick!

For brownies, melt butter and unsweetened chocolate together. (If you're ~~cheap~~ resourceful, stir melted butter & oil together and add baking cocoa to the flour mixture). To butter mixture, add sugar and vanilla. Stir well before adding eggs, one at a time. In a small bowl, stir together flour and salt (and baking cocoa, if using) before beating into the butter mixture. Stir until smooth and glossy and spread into a 13" x 9" baking pan.

For cream cheese layer, mix cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg until well-blended. Spread evenly over the brownie batter.

Bake in a 325 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until brownie just begins to pull away from the edge of the pan. (Do your brownie a favor and don't overcook.)

Meanwhile, place semisweet chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Then heat heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until boiling. Pour hot cream over chocolate and let sit for a minute. Stir until smooth and glossy and spread over cooled brownies.

Let the ganache layer cool before eating. (Put the pan in the freezer already!)

I triple-dog dare you to eat just one.

Bonus: Sauteed Kale & Beans with Onion and Garlic

2011-06-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

...because I still have seven minutes until midnight arrives. (The post title doubles as a simple recipe.)

I discovered a few years back that kale is magic. The girls and I love it, John likes it, and it's extremely versatile. Plus, it's green!

We oven-roast it with olive oil and salt until it's crispy and irresistable, we toss it in soups, we add it to curries, and when we rejoice to find it growing in our not-yet-cleaned-out-from-last-fall-garden, we saute it like this

Loose ingredients for the above dish, which we ate as a meal.

- Onions, lots and lots of onions, diced and sauteed in a mixture of butter and olive oil until soft and translucent
- more fresh garlic than you think you should add, finely minced, added to the onions at the tail end for a minute or so (I probably used 7-8 cloves?)
- beans (your choice; we like pinto or white or kidney), added after the garlic is heated
- kale, torn into pieces, added last with some water, and sauteed/steamed until beginning to soften but not yet limp
- one slice of ham, leftover from the scalloped potatoes (that Papa baked) diced into tiny pieces
- salt and pepper, liberally shaken

(This is probably too obvious to mention, but by all that's good, if you've got bacon, USE BACON, too!)

Not to be a garden snoot, but a friend told me a few days ago that kale from the store tastes far different than home-grown. I've never had it from a store, but if you can, grow your own. Sow some today! It's easy and hardy and so, so delicious. Plus, it's green!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake, Or, The Never-Ending Love Affair

2011-03-13T18:33:00.000-07:00

I said I'd have new recipes by the end of the week, didn't I? Of course, it's now the beginning of the week, and this is only one recipe, but it's a cheesecake. Cheesecake doth cover a multitude of sins. It also doth cover a multitude of broken New Year's resolutions, so have at it!

I am sorry for not keeping my word. John Wayne was hit by a car a few days ago, and I plumb forgot about buildabelly. He's alive in our basement as I type, and, hopefully, he now associates cars with excruciating pain and a cast (and not with a comfy basement pad that replaces his outdoor doghouse).

Oh, yeah. CHEESECAKE!

I made this a while back when a visit from some friends provided the excuse. I hadn't made a cheesecake in a couple of years, so it was due time. She and I both appreciate cheesecake appropriately, but I don't think the boys cared much, either way. (Weirdos.)

Without further ado, may I present Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake? I'll do my best to give you the actual amounts I used. I wasn't kidding, Molly, when I said I can't read some of these scraps of paper! I jotted down what I used as I made it, but my memory's a bit garbled, and this sorry scrap of paper isn't clearing much up. Don't worry. Cheesecakes are foolproof!

For the crust:
3 cups crushed chocolate sandwich cookies
1/3 cup butter, melted
Combine in a bowl, then press across the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes and then cool completely.

For the filling:
-four 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened (I know it's anathema in some circles to use neufchatel, but I nearly always do. The texture isn't quite as firm, but my arrhythmically beating heart hopefully isn't as clogged, either.)
-1 cup granulated white sugar + 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 5 eggs
-2 tsp. vanilla
-3/4 cup peanut butter
-1/4 cup heavy cream
-1 tbsp. cocoa powder

Mix the cream cheese and sugars until smooth; add eggs one at a time and beat just 'til combined. Add vanilla and beat just 'til combined. Divide the batter, placing roughly 2/3 in a separate bowl and keeping 1/3 in the mixing bowl. Add peanut butter, heavy cream, and cocoa powder to the remaining one third and beat just 'til combined. Pour the chocolate-peanut butter mixture onto the chocolate crust and smooth it until level. Spoon the vanilla layer over the peanut butter mixture, taking care to cover it without using much smoothing "pressure" so that the layers don't mix into one another (if that makes sense, great; if not, then just dump it on). Bake it a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes, or until the sides begin to pull away from the pan and the center is nearly set. (Sides will be puffed and set, and center will move slightly when shaken.) Cool in a cracked-open oven for ten minutes. Carefully run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the crust. Cool for one more hour, top with ganache, and then refrigerate overnight to let the flavors ripen.

For the ganache topping:
-some semisweet chocolate chips
-some heavy cream
-some vanilla
*I just added chocolate until it appeared the consistency I wanted, but it was probably roughly one part cream to two parts chocolate-- 1/2 cup cream and 1 cup chocolate chips is a good start, or 1 cup cream to 2 cups chocolate chips, because having extra to lick from the spoon is never a bad thing.

Heat some heavy cream in a small saucepan until boiling. Pour it over some semisweet chocolate chips that you've had the forethought to place in a heatproof bowl. Let sit until melty (yes, that's a valid word). Stir until smooth and combined, add a smidge of vanilla extract, and then pour over the cooled cheesecake. Refrigerate cheesecake overnight or for at least 8 hours.

Then, eat it for breakfast the next morning. (You! Not ME, for Pete's sake.)

Curried Red Lentil Soup

2011-03-07T19:30:00.000-08:00

It's 10:30 p.m. on a Monday night, John's in the shower, and I should be cleaning the house.

And that, my friends, is the dullest possible sentence I could write to usher in the rebirth of buildabelly. Two years have passed, and a million + three recipes are wasting away to nothing in the attic.
The time of liberation has come!

Alright. That's all the pomp and circumstance I can muster at this hour. Onward!

I'll start with the most recent new recipe that I will make until I die. I made it a few nights ago, and it's so good that I had another bowl after I was stuffed to the gills. Gluttony is not something I am proud of nor is it something to which I should admit in this setting, but there you have it. I'm a sucker for Indian food. John loved it, the girls loved it, my sister loved it; what more proof do you need? Just make it already.

It may not be the most lovely picture, but it is a lentil soup, after all. There's only so much one can do.

-2 cups red lentils (I only had one cup of red left and substituted brown for the second cup)
-8 cups vegetable stock (I used water + veg. bouillon paste)
-1 and 1/2 tsp. turmeric
-4 skinny carrots, diced in small pieces
-*I can't remember, but I may have also dumped a package of last summer's frozen parsley into the water while the lentils cooked (@2 tbsp. frozen fresh parsley)

Place the lentils and stock in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add the turmeric, carrots, and parsley, if using. Partially cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 45 minutes or until the lentils are soft and tender, stirring occasionally.
______________________________________________

-extra virgin olive oil
-1 large onion, chopped
-@ 1 and 1/2 tbsp. fresh ginger, finely chopped or grated
-@ 1 and 1/2 tbsp. fresh garlic, finely chopped
-1 tsp. ground cumin
-2 tsp. ground coriander
-2 tsp. curry powder (I used red curry); if this is your first foray into making your own Indian food, start with less and add to taste.
- ground cayenne, to taste
-1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
-salt, to taste

For the seasoning, heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add the onion to the pan and cook until the onion is softened and begins to brown. Add the ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, and curry powder; cook and stir for one minute. Add to the lentils, along with the tomatoes and their juice. Simmer til heated through; add cayenne and salt, to taste, and add more water as needed to reach desired consistency.

*Recipe credit: I adapted this recipe from Lisa at foodandspice.blogspot.com, who herself adapted it from At Home with Madhur Jaffrey. Also, Lisa suggests blending a portion of this soup with an immersion blender before serving. We don't own that gadget, and it was delicious as is.

More to come later this week.
Prepare those bellies, people.

Buttery Crescents

2009-04-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

The day after I made 60-minute Rolls for Easter, I made these to pair with Crusty Mustard Chicken. If I have time, I prefer to make these, but with fresh, warm rolls, as with cheesecake of any kind, I'm not terribly picky. The eggs, milk, and butter in these create a soft, rich roll.

The recipe comes from Lynne Petersen of Salt Lake City, Utah, and is found in The Complete Guide to Country Cooking.
Buttery Crescents

2 packages active dry yeast (about 4 and 1/2 tsp.)
2 cups warm milk (110-115 degrees F, but I never check. It should be warm to the touch, but not so hot as to kill the yeast.)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tsp. salt
6 and 1/2 - 7 cups all-purpose flour, divided
Additional melted butter, optional

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add eggs, butter, sugar, salt, and 4 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch the dough down and divide in thirds. Roll each portion into a 12-in. circle; cut each circle into 12 wedges. Roll up wedges from the wide end and place with pointed end down on greased baking sheets. cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with butter if desired.

Yield: 3 dozen

Crusty Mustard Chicken

2009-04-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

I adapted this recipe from Martha's. It worked perfectly for a last minute company meal (I knew the company was coming; I just didn't plan ahead), and we served it with salt-crusted baked potatoes, tossed salad, this broccoli, and these rolls. They're highly-flavored, peppery chicken breasts with a crisp breading.

I also made a honey-mustard sauce for dipping. Because I like it, that's why!!!

Crusty Mustard Chicken

about 6 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cut into generously-sized strips
9 tablespoons Dijon mustard
ground thyme, to taste (1 tsp.?) Martha's recipe calls for fresh, and I'll try it just so in the summer.
1 and 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
cayenne pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon coarse salt
6 tablespoons butter, melted
4 and 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
4-5 cups unseasoned panko breadcrumbs (I'd never heard of them until we were given a container of them. Basically, they're large, coarsely ground bread crumbs made from crustless white bread, which make them airy and crisp. You can even easily make your own!)

I tripled the amount of mustard mixture that Martha's recipe calls for, because I always seem to run out of coating before I run out of chicken. See the original recipe for her suggested amounts.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
In a small bowl, combine mustard, thyme, black pepper, cayenne, and salt. Stir in butter and oil until thoroughly combined.
Place breadcrumbs in a shallow dish. Brush chicken pieces on both sides with the mustard mixture, and then roll in breadcrumbs to coat completely.
Place coated chicken pieces on a baking sheet, and cook until well browned all over, turning occasionally to brown evenly, until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with the tip of a paring knife, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven, and serve hot.

Perfect Glazed Ham in a CROCKPOT

2009-04-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

This is the half we had left after our Easter meal...
The title's a bit misleading, because I did brush a last layer of glaze on this as soon as we arrived home. 20 minutes in the oven is all it took, though!

In the last 7 1/2 years of marriage, I've baked my fair share of succulent holiday hams. This year was no exception, except that John had to work Easter Sunday afternoon. We had roughly an hour from the time we arrived home from church to the time he had to leave for work. This complicated things, but I still wanted a feast, which is why, with trepidation, I found myself looking for "Crockpot Ham" instructions on Google the night before.

The next morning, I slapped together a brown-sugar glaze, slathered it over the ham, stuffed it in the crockpot, and left for church, almost dreading what I'd find when I returned. We love baked ham, and I was pretty sure that crockpot ham just wasn't going to cut it.

No worries. It was juicy, flavorful, and downright delicious. Millie said she wants crockpot ham next year, too. (!) John, a ham connoisseur and great lover off all things pig, gave it two thumbs up. Whew!

So, here's a recipe for the day that you're in a pork pinch-- a day when you want oven ham but can't have it. Then, if you like it, give me five! If you hate it, forget you ever knew me.

The ham is ham. Always good.

The glaze is a finger-lickin', sweet-savory mixture of sugar, mustard, and aromatic spice.

HAM:
One eight-pound ham, bone-in and NOT spiral sliced. A spiral sliced ham will dry out with the prolonged cooking time, and a ham with bone-in will retain its juices better.

GLAZE:
1 and 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 - 3/4 tsp. dry mustard, to taste
some honey (2-3 tablespoons?)
ground cloves, to taste (I shook pretty liberally)
I believe I sprinkled on a touch of allspice, too
a few tablespoons of orange juice, if desired
about 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, if desired, to taste

Mix all ingredients together. I added orange juice and Dijon mustard so make a thick paste. Spread on the bottom of the crockpot and rub all over the ham. Place in crockpot, cover with lid, and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Crockpots vary in temperature. Ours was easily ready in 6 hours. Don't overcook, or the ham will become dry.

If desired, remove ham from crockpot after about 6 hours and place in a large baking dish. Mix a few tablespoons of cornstarch with a small amount of cold water until dissolved. Pour the juices from the crockpot into a saucepan and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens and begins to boil. Brush some of the mixture over the ham and bake an additional 15-20 minutes in a hot oven until the glaze has baked nicely onto the surface, brushing on a coat of glaze every 5 minutes or so. Remove ham from oven and tent with tin foil. Let sit for about 15 minutes to allow the juices to redistribute before slicing. Use the additional glaze from the saucepan to pour on served ham, if desired.

60-Minute Rolls

2009-04-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

This recipe comes from a KitchenAid cookbook, and it's my go-to recipe when I want fresh, quick yeast rolls, like, for example, on early Easter Sunday morning. Whenever I make these, I feel as if I'm burglarizing my sister-in-law Wendy's kitchen, because these rolls are synonymous with her. She brings them to nearly every holiday gathering, and she makes them taste better than I ever could. Plus, she makes them as mini-rolls-- little one-inch-wide coils-- that are just as tasty as the big versions, only cuter.

Mine are big and manly.

60-minute Rolls

1/2 cup low-fat milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
3 tablespoons butter
3 packages active dry yeast (about 6 and 3/4 tsp.)
1 and 1/2 cups warm water
5-6 cups all-purpose flour

Place milk, sugar, salt, and butter in small saucepan. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool to lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Let sit until proofed (slightly foamy on top). Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4 and 1/2 cups flour. Stir or mix until combined. Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until combined. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Dough will be slightly sticky to the touch.

Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover. Let rise in a warm place, free from draft, about 15 minutes. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Shape as desired. Cover. Let rise in slightly warm oven (90 degrees F) for about 15 minutes. Bake at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.

Shaping suggestions:
Curlicues: If you have a pizza cutter, use it! It makes cutting this dough a breeze. Divide dough in half and roll each half into a 12"x9" rectangle. (In an attempt to duplicate Wendy's cute rolls, at this point I usually cut each rectangle in half lengthwise, as well.) Cut 12 equal strips about 1 inch wide. (If you've cut the rectangles in half lengthwise, each rectangle will have 24 strips.) Roll each strip tightly to form a coil, tucking ends underneath. Place on greased baking sheet about 2 inches apart.

Spinach Beef Bake

2009-04-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we had a church potluck. Lucky you! And it's another "bake!" Your favorite!!!!! I'm cheating by re-posting this, but I didn't have a picture before, and now I do, so it's allowed.

Potluck people like this. They really do! When they ask me its name, I tell them "Spinach Stuff." So it is, but it's good spinach stuff. It's a garlic-y, quickly prepared dish that can be used as a main course or a side. One may use fresh, torn, blanched spinach, too, and fresh mushrooms (just cook with the beef), but that increases preparation time. So, if you're in a time pinch, be lazy and use the bagged, boxed, and canned stuff!

2 tubes (7.5 oz. each) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1 ½ pounds ground beef
@ ½ cup finely chopped onion
2 eggs
1 package frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (about 10 oz.)
1 can (4 oz.) mushroom stems and pieces, drained
4 oz. extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (can also use crumbled feta)
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
1-2 tablespoons butter, melted
_____________________________________________

1. Press and flatten biscuits over bottom and up sides of a greased 11x7x2 dish (or whatever else works)

2. Cook ground beef with onion and drain.

3. Beat eggs in bowl; add spinach and mushrooms and mix well.

4. Stir in cheeses, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and beef mixture. Mix well.

5. Spoon into crust, drizzle with butter, and bake ucovered at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until crust is well-browned.

Take to the potluck and gobble, gobble, gobble.

Cheesecake with Caramel and Chocolate

2009-04-10T13:58:00.000-07:00

Potlucks don't really qualify as special occasions, but I sometimes use them as my excuse to make things I never make at home, like, say, cheesecake. (If you must know why I never make them just for us, it's because 1. They're expensive... but really it's because.... 2. I'd eat nearly ALL of it.) I have a long-standing and permanent love affair with cheesecake of any shape, size, or flavor, and I also wanted to use a bag of caramels I'd been saving that my sister had given me after Christmas. Life is short, so I combined the two desires into one.

Enter Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake. I didn't want the caramel flavor to be overwhelmed by too much chocolate, but I couldn't bear to leave chocolate out entirely, so I sandwiched a thick vanilla cheesecake between layers of chocolate and caramel. And pardon the pictures. I put the slice on a potluck chair in the middle of the potluck meal in order to take a potluck picture. POTLUCK!

The crust and caramel layer were perfection, and I'd love to make this again, especially considering how long it sat in the warmth before I tasted a bite. I took it out of the fridge before we left for church, and we didn't eat it until almost 1 in the afternoon. That's not the best scenario for cheesecake eating, so I think it deserves another chance to shine. This would allow the cheesecake layer to be more firm, like cheesecake should be. Besides, I always want to give cheesecake a chance to shine. (Admirable of me, yes?)

Lastly, this is more like a Philly or New York-style cheesecake instead of a Chicago, but, really, is it worth the breath to quibble over this and that style when dealing with cheesecake?!

I thought not.

So here's what I did.

Crust:
About 3 1/2 cups crushed chocolate crumbs (out of thriftiness, I use generic oreos, but chocolate graham cracker crumbs also work, and you could add some finely chopped almonds, too.)

If using generic oreos, stir in about 1/3 cup melted butter, enough to help the mixture stick together. If using chocolate graham cracker crumbs, stir in 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup melted butter.

Press onto the bottom and 1 and 3/4 inch up the sides of a greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake for five minutes in a 350 degree oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

Caramel Layer:
30 individually wrapped caramels (unwrap them, please)
3 tablespoons milk

In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat the caramels and milk over low heat, stirring constantly, until melted and smooth. Set aside 1/3 cup of the melted caramel mixture. Pour the remainder over cooled chocolate crust.

Filling:
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
5 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Beat cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in butter, and then add the eggs one at a time, beating until just combined. Mix in vanilla extract. *Don't overbeat the mixture once you've added the eggs. This beats air into the cheesecake batter, which will cause the cheesecake to fall and crack while baking.

Pour cheesecake batter into chocolate/caramel crust and bake in a 350 degree oven for about one hour or until the center is almost set. (Sides should be puffed and set, and center will move slightly when shaken) Cool in a cracked-open oven for ten minutes. Carefully run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the crust. Cool for one more hour and then refrigerate overnight to let the flavors ripen.

Before serving, reheat the reserved caramel mixture. (If you have a microwave, use it! I used a small frying pan.) Cool slightly until no longer hot. Pour the warm mixture into a piping bag or into a plastic baggie with a small hole cut in one corner (OR just use a spoon) and drizzle the mixture on top of the cheesecake. Melt about one cup chocolate chips with about one tablespoon of butter (again, if you have a microwave, use it! If using a stove, melt over low heat to avoid scorching the chocolate). Using your preferred method, drizzle the melted chocolate on top of the cheesecake.

Eat a slice. Then enjoy a second slice for me. And then eat a third slice for my dog, even though I don't have a dog. Finally, immediately drive yourself to the emergency room as your body enters sugar-shock. Tell them I sent you.

Tips:
Place foil or a cookie sheet under the cheesecake because many springform pans leak.

Dip a knife in warm water before cutting the cheesecake, and wipe and dip again in warm water before making each cut in order to make clean cuts.

Smurtles is a Silly Name

2009-03-19T18:13:00.000-07:00

But, please, please, please don't turn your nose up at these because of their silly name. SMURTLES simply means HEAVENLY. You heard it here first.

Don't let the funky orange tinge of these pictures turn you away, either. There's no way that piece was going to last until the sun provided natural light the next morning.

My niece Cassie made these last week, and because my sister wants me to remain happy and chubby, she brought one over for me to sample. Oh. My. Galoshes.

They are marvelous, to die for (hypothetically), delectable, and all the other flattering adjectives, too. Christine Boren of Provo, Utah, created this recipe. (I'm sorry that I think "Smurtles" is a funny name, Christine. Thank you for giving these to the world.)

1 and 1/2 cups quick oats
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter (no substitutes), melted
1 package (14 oz.) vanilla caramels
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 and 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (but who's gonna care if you use 2 cups, eh?)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13" X 9" pan. ('Cause those two sticks of butter won't be enough...)

Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add melted butter; stir until well combined. Press half of the mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

Combine caramels and whipping cream in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until caramels are melted and mixture is smooth. Sprinkle morsels over baked crust. Drizzle caramel mixture evenly over the chocolate morsels. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over caramel layer.

Bake 18-20 minutes or until top is light brown. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

*Since I didn't actually make these, I can offer no tips or suggestions but one: EAT THEM HOT. EAT THEM WARM. EAT THEM COLD.
(Eat them with your trousers rolled.)

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Cookies-- To make gluten-free: see note**

2009-03-19T18:08:00.000-07:00

These are outrageously good. If you like your cookies to punch you in the face with peanut butter, then these are for you. I made them for the first time for a church meal last week and have been on the lookout for an excuse to make them ever since. Since they contain only peanut butter, as opposed to butter and peanut butter, the flavor is undiluted. (Well, it's undiluted by anything but the chocolate, but who's complaining?)

Still warm, these cookies are soft and yummy. Cooled, they're crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, and still yummy. If I hadn't been bound to bring them to church, I would have eaten a dozen myself. (Okay. Maybe two dozen.)

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 egg
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, beat peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and baking soda until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Stir in flour and chocolate pieces with a wooden spoon.

Shape the dough into 1 and 1/4 inch balls. Place balls on an ungreased cookie sheet (don't use an insulated cookie sheet). If desired, flatten slightly.

Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until cookies are puffed and lightly browned around edges. (Centers will be soft.) Do not overbake. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 24.

*Recipe credit goes to an unknown magazine from which I ripped this several years ago.

**I've since made a gluten-free version of these substituting 1/4 cup cornmeal for the flour. I actually prefer it this way because it adds a likable twist to the texture.

Savory Top Round Roast

2009-03-19T18:07:00.000-07:00

I know-- all these meat posts are piling up in the middle of Lent. Go here for someone who can meet your Lenten needs .

My parents gave us a big hunk of beef they picked up on sale, and I finally cooked it last week. With limited experience, I'll say that I think it's very hard to make a slow-cooked hunk of beef that's not savory. This meal was flavorful and delicious.

Here's what I did.

3- lb. top round roast
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
generous amount of fresh-ground black pepper
a few tablespoons of canola oil

2 onions, sliced into rings
4-6 carrots, sliced into chunky coins
6-8 freshly pressed cloves garlic (I used half of a head of puny Aldi garlic)
4-5 potatoes, cubed, if desired (I put a few in and then made mashed potatoes, too. We like potatoes.)
1 cup beef broth (I cheated and used beef bouillon)
2 and 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (I accidentally used apple cider. I'd meant to use red wine vinegar. Next time...)
salt and freshly ground pepper
dried oregano, shaken freely
additional garlic powder, if desired

On a shallow plate, mix 1/4 cup flour with 1 tsp. salt and freshly ground pepper. Pat the mixture onto all sides of the roast, coating it completely. In a heavy-bottomed pot or pan, heat a few tablespoons of canola oil. Sear the roast on all sides until nicely browned. This will seal in the flavor and moisture of the meat while it's cooking, as well as making it easier to make a thick gravy from the juices, if you desire.

Now, the cooking method is up to you. I've successfully used a cast iron Dutch oven before (Cook in a 275-300 degree oven for I-can't-remember-how-long-just-ask-Google), but this time I used my trusty slow-cooker, a.k.a. crockpot. I layered the onions on the bottom of the pot, topped by the carrots. Top with the roast. If using potatoes, spoon them around the meat. Mix the beef broth, apple cider vinegar, garlic, and spices together, and pour over the roast. Shake on more spices if you feel inclined. Cook on low for 8-12 hours or on high for 5-6 hours.

When meat is cooked to your preference (I like it falling apart), remove to a serving platter, cover with tin foil, and let rest for about 15 minutes. This allows the moisture to remain inside the meat when you cut it into slices.

Either use the juices to spoon over the meat after serving or make a gravy.

White Bean and Sausage Soup

2009-03-04T13:07:00.000-08:00

I had a carnivorous fit while walking through the grocery store. I hadn't eaten meat in 2 weeks or so and was craving IT ALL! So, I bought Italian sausage. I buy sausage literally 2 times a year, and it's only to make my mom's lasagna. This sausage, though, was special. I wanted it in a soup, so into a soup it went.

This is a full, flavorful, hearty soup, perfect for fall and winter. I can't imagine eating it in summertime, but it felt so right to spoon it steaming from a bowl while the snow fell thickly outside the window. I don't think I could eat it more than a few times a year just because of what seemed to be a LOT of sausage, but it definitely hit the spot when I wanted it, and I'll make it again when I'm overtaken by meat-loving urges.

2 cups dried white beans, soaked overnight.
1 large onion, chopped
1 and 1/4 pound hot Italian sausage
6 cloves garlic
1 quart canned tomatoes, broken up into small pieces (My home-canned tomatoes are quite soft, so this is easy. You may wish to use diced tomatoes instead.)
chicken broth
1 tbsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
salt and pepper, to taste
a pinch of red pepper flakes
@ 8-10 oz. frozen spinach (I used frozen flat leaf spinach and then chopped it on the cutting board while it was still frozen)

Like most soups, this is an easy, throw-together soup, but here are some simple directions. Soak the dry beans in water overnight. The next day, drain them and put them in a pot with as much chicken broth/water as you'd like. Bring to a boil and simmer until beans are soft. Meanwhile, brown the hot sausage with the chopped onions in a touch of olive oil until meat is cooked and onions are translucent. Add garlic, tomatoes, and spices and cook for a few more minutes. Chop the frozen spinach (if you were smart enough to buy the spinach already chopped, don't bother). Add the sausage mixture to the bean/broth mixture and bring to a boil. Add the chopped spinach and cook for a few minutes until spinach begins to wilt.

Meat!
Er. Pardon me.
I meant, "Eat!"

Eat. Eat! EAT!!!!

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Soup

2009-03-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

I loved this soup. Loved it! The stupid picture of the squash above, though, is the last picture I took with an uninjured camera. After taking it, I put the camera on the counter, and now...well, now the camera has no zoom capabilities. Let's just end the story there so I don't have to accept responsibility.

I'd never made a squash soup before, so I wanted to stick to flavors that I already knew our family liked. Since then, I've made a butternut and apple soup (which I didn't like as well), and I've tasted a divine squash soup with garlic, onion, and chicken that my mom made. (Tasted? I suppose eating two bowls right in a row is more than a taste...) I'll get that recipe and post it here sometime, because it showcased the bright flavor of the squash instead of relegating it to the sidelines like the one below does.

Suffice it to say, squash tastes really good on the sidelines, too.

This soup has a rich and comforting flavor, and the butternut squash hidden in the background lends a delicate sweetness to the rest. If only I hadn't used up all the butternut squash left from my mom's garden, I'd make it again tomorrow. *Pumpkin can be used interchangeably with butternut squash in this recipe and in just about any other, too.

Ingredients:

1 large onion
8 cloves garlic, freshly pressed
one large butternut squash (about 2 cups squash puree is needed), cooked and pureed
4 cups cooked black beans, separated
1 cup canned tomatoes
2 and 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
chicken broth
4 tsp. apple cider vinegar
a pinch of cayenne, to taste

Halve butternut squash and remove seeds. Bake cut side down in oven until tender. Meanwhile, saute onions in some olive oil until translucent. Add garlic and cook for about one minutes more. Puree 2 cups cooked black beans with 1 cup tomatoes until smooth. (Use a hand-cranked food mill or an electric food processor.) Scoop out cooked squash and puree until smooth. In a large soup pot, stir the 2 cups pureed squash together with the pureed black bean mixture. Add the remaining 2 cups cooked black beans, the spices, and the vinegar. Stir and heat. Add chicken broth, as needed, to reach desired consistency.

Rajma (Red Kidney Bean Curry)

2009-03-04T13:05:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Deb of Smitten Kitchen for making me crave this. I used her recipe and also this one as a guide. If you're a purist, I guess you don't add all the extras, but I found this meal absolutely lovely. John devoured it, too, so it's definitely on the permanent rotation in this house now.

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, freshly chopped or pressed
one inch fresh ginger, chopped or grated (about 1 tbsp.)
about 5 cups cooked red kidney beans (or two 16 oz. cans, beans rinsed and drained)
1/2 of a quart jar canned tomatoes (about 2 cups)
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2- 1 tsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
*Garnish with dried cilantro. If you're lucky enough to have fresh, go for it!

Cook onions in some olive oil until translucent. Add garlic and ginger and cook for a few minutes more. Add tomatoes and spices and cook until tomatoes have broken down into small pieces. Add kidney beans and cook until the curry is thick. Garnish with cilantro, and serve over basmati rice with fresh naan.

Hoecakes: George Washington's Breakfast

2009-03-04T13:03:00.000-08:00

If you don't normally visit shotsnaps, the full story can be found here, Chef Millie presiding.

Millie made these last week and then again this week. They must be good! She, unlike George Washington's mother, used more than cornmeal, salt, and water in them, but they still count as hoecakes. We thank Paula Deen for this recipe that Millie used as a base.

If a fine young Johnnycake married a blushing young pancake, they'd have hoecake babies. They're a cross between cornbread and a pancake and are really quite good, a nice alternative to the usual buttermilk pancake, though their texture is more dense due to the cornmeal.

Without further ado, may I introduce George Washington (or, at least, his breakfast):

Ingredients

1 cup self-rising flour (we used all-purpose with a bit of additional baking powder)
1 cup self-rising cornmeal (recommended: Aunt Jemima's)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon sugar
(***She also put in three Millie pinches of salt)
3/4 cup buttermilk (we used sham buttermilk; add one tablespoon of white vinegar to milk to make one cup of milk. Let sit for about five minutes until milk begins to curdle)
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup vegetable oil or bacon grease
Oil, butter, or clarified margarine, for frying

Mix all ingredients well, except for the frying oil. Heat the frying oil or butter in a medium or large skillet over medium heat. Drop the batter, by full tablespoons, into the hot skillet. Use about 2 tablespoons of batter per hoecake (Millie used a 1/8 cup measure). Fry each hoecake until brown and crisp; turn each hoecake with a spatula, and then brown the other side. With a slotted spoon, remove each hoecake to drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Leftover batter will keep in refrigerator for up to 2 days. Makes about 18 hoecakes.

Millie used the cast-iron pan for frying these. If you have one, I'd recommend it, because it browned them nicely without burning.

Black Bean and Tortilla Bake

2009-03-04T13:02:00.000-08:00

A "Bake." I love that vague title. ANYTHING could be baked, and it lends a shady mystery to any meal, don't you think? I found this recipe with a totally unappealing picture one night and made it for the girls and I. We didn't have much in the house, but since black beans and tomatoes are a staple for most of our meals lately, I thought it looked good. Just look at the starred reviews!

Anyway, it was super easy and really good, and here's our slightly adapted version below. Actually, that's not true. I cooked it in a 9" x 12" pan because I had changed things. I think I added more beans and more tortillas, as well as more tomatoes and spices, while keeping the amount of cheese the same, but since I didn't write it down, I'll only add the changes I clearly remember. ) *The next time I make it, I'll probably substitute salsa for some of the tomatoes to punch up the flavor.

1 garlic clove, minced (Use more! 4-5 should work.)
1/2 cup chopped onion (We used one cup chopped onion)
1 cup chopped tomato (We used more-- probably at least 2 cups of home-canned tomatoes)
1/2 cup chopped green onion (We didn't have this, so I added the extra onion above)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder (to taste)
2 teaspoons cumin powder (to taste)
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (16 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro(We used dried cilantro, probably about 1 tsp.)
salt and pepper, to taste
12 soft corn tortillas
8 ounces low-fat cheddar cheese, shredded, reserve 2 tablespoons (We used full-fat cheese. I shredded some monterey jack and sharp cheddar for the layers, and I dumped some shredded mozzerella on top. I'm certain it was more than 2 tablespoons mozzerella.)

sour cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

, Cook the onions over medium heat in a tablespoon of oil until tender. Add tomato, green onion, cumin, chili powder, and garlic. Cook until heated through.
Add tomato sauce and cook 5 minutes more.
Stir in beans, cilantro, salt, and pepper.
Spray a 9 inch square baking dish with cooking spray.
Layer 4 tortillas, 1/3 cheese, and 1/3 of the bean mixture; repeat 2 more times.
Top with reserved cheese.
Bake 20 minutes, covered, then 10 minutes uncovered or until bubbly.

Serve as is, or for cream-loving girls, with a dollop of sour cream on top.

Arroz Con Pollo (Cuban Chicken with Rice)

2009-03-04T13:00:00.000-08:00

A year and a half ago, I ripped this recipe out of the Gourmet magazine. It took a reminder from Smitten Kitchen for me to unearth it from the magazine rack and actually make it. (Here's a bonus link to the picture and recipe from that issue of Gourmet because their picture of the meal looks so much more inviting than mine does.)

This was the other dish that came out of my sudden, fierce craving for meat of all kinds. This meal contains not just chicken but also pork! Yeah! I felt guilty for buying fancy chorizo (who even knew it existed?), but it was definitely worth it, especially considering I made so much that John and I are still eating Arroz Con Pollo a week later... Good thing we like it!

For marinating chicken

3 large garlic cloves (I used six)
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled
4 chicken breast halves with bone, halved crosswise
4 chicken drumsticks
4 chicken thighs
***I used one roasting chicken (about a 4-pounder) that
I cut into pieces instead of the amounts stated above, and there was still plenty of meat in the meal. I boiled the carcass to make chicken noodle soup later in the week, and I'd recommend anyone else to do the same!

For rice

3 oz hot Spanish chorizo (cured sausage), skin discarded and sausage cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (I used about 4 oz. because I used less chicken)
1 tablespoon annatto oil or olive oil (I used olive)
2 medium onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped (I omitted these because fresh peppers are rare in winter)
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California
1 lb tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 (12-oz) bottle beer (not dark)
1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 cups long-grain white rice (14 oz)
1/4 cup drained rinsed bottled pimiento or roasted red-pepper strips (I used a bunch of pepper strips I'd roasted and frozen last summer, much more than 1/4 cup.)

Marinate chicken:

Mince and mash garlic to a paste with 2 teaspoons salt, then transfer to a large bowl. Stir in vinegar and oregano.
Remove skin and excess fat from chicken, then toss chicken with marinade until coated and marinate, covered and chilled, at least 1 hour. (I marinated it for about 2 and 1/2 because I was busy.)

Cook chicken and rice:

Cook chorizo in oil in a 6- to 7-quart heavy pot (12 inches wide) over medium-high heat, stirring, until some fat is rendered, 2 to 3 minutes. Add onions, bell pepper, and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add cumin, oregano, paprika, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, and bay leaves and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
Add chicken with marinade to chorizo mixture and cook, uncovered, over medium heat, stirring frequently, 10 minutes. Temporarily remove chicken with tongs, and then stir in tomatoes, beer, broth, and rice. Place chicken on top and bring to a boil, making sure rice is submerged.
Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover mixture directly with a round of parchment or wax paper and cover pot with a tight-fitting lid. Cook, stirring once or twice, until rice is tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Discard parchment paper and bay leaves, then scatter pimiento strips over rice.

Okey-doke

2009-02-12T13:06:00.000-08:00

Labels for you!

Please give me feedback if you find that they're confusing. I wanted to keep it as simple as possible, but I muddled my way through a few categories, and there may be too much overlap. If you have suggestions, toss 'em here!

As always, I remain your servile, ever-faithful,
Builder/Filler

*Important Note: If you use the labels to search, make sure you hit "older posts" once you reach the bottom of the page. Some categories are stuffed so full that they spill over onto two pages.

A Word to You, the Reader

2009-01-27T13:12:00.000-08:00

I don't know how many people actually come over here, but I've noticed the ~~total chaos~~ slight lack of organization here on buildabelly. How many of you would benefit from me adding labels in the sidebar so that you could search for recipes according to category? I don't want to go through the bother of adding labels (because I'm lazy) if it won't make a difference to anyone, so if you'd like some, let me know in the comments section, along with any suggestions for categories that you have.

With utmost sincerity, I remain
Your Builder of Bellies and Your Fill'er of Hup

Brownies with Brown Butter Frosting

2009-01-27T12:04:00.000-08:00

A.K.A. "I Just Ate Three Sticks O' Butter!" Brownies

If you like the toffee twist of brown butter frosting, like this ponderous baker does, give these squares a try! The brownie layer may not have been the best homemade brownie recipe I've ever tried, maybe a bit less moist than I like, but I wouldn't know because after topping them with brown butter frosting, I thought that maybe, just maybe, my brother and his family wouldn't like the toffee twist of brown butter frosting. In a stroke of heart-clogging genius, I topped the topping with a layer of chocolate fudge frosting. Crazy. Who even cares about the brownie underneath?

Now, I know there are a million recipes out there claiming to be The Best Brownies EVER, and I'll make no such claim for these. It's not because they're not yummy; truly, they're deliciously rich and full of fudgy goodness. No, I make no such claim because I don't trust my ability to objectively judge brownies. I love them ALL.

Brownies
*from Jeannette Haley's recipe

1 cup butter, no substitutes, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons baking cocoa
1/8 tsp. salt

Brown Butter Frosting
1/2 cup butter (no substitutes)
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tsp. half and half (I used heavy cream leftover from truffle-making mixed w/milk)
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Fudgy Chocolate Frosting
*No pun intended, but I totally fudged this. The amounts below are approximate.
Melt about 1 cup chocolate chips together with 1/2-1 tablespoon butter and some heavy cream. Stir until smooth and glossy.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour, cocoa, and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Spread into an ungreased 13" x 9" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Do not overbake (although, if you do, perhaps layering on a THIRD topping would offset your mistake...). Cool on a wire rack.

For brown butter frosting, cook and stir butter over medium heat in a heavy saucepan for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown. Pour into a mixing bowl; beat in the confectioners' sugar, cream, and vanilla. Frost cooled brownies. Prepare Fudgy Chocolate Frosting, if desired, and spread on top of brown butter frosting.

Eat ten or so and then blame me for your bellyache.
(It's okay. I give you permission.)

Almond Butter Sticks

2009-01-27T12:02:00.000-08:00

Yes, more butter. I decided to do a themed posting tonight.

Growing up, these cookies are something I would have passed over on the cookie platter, and I would have totally missed out. I first had them several years ago at my mom's house and have thought of them ever since. Her recent birthday was the perfect excuse to make them (for her, not for me, though of course I had to eat a few just to make sure they weren't poison).

The taste is delicious, but the texture is what really makes them stand out in a crowd. The cookie itself is quite soft, but the layer of almond sugar in the middle hardens into a wonderful crunch. Biting into one goes something like this: Soft yummy cookie-- yummy CRUNCH!-- soft yummy cookie. And if you can't understand that technical baker's jargon, then you don't belong here.

They are so good. I can't praise them highly enough, and the only disclaimer I'll give is that you shouldn't try them if you don't like almonds or almond flavoring. There, now the rest of you can have at 'em.

Also, the ingredient amounts are kooky because this recipe is one of many cookie recipes that you can make using make-ahead cookie mix. The original amounts for the mix itself are normal, but it makes 8 cups of mix. Since this recipe only calls for two cups of the mix, I had to cut it in fourths. (I really should just post all the other cookies one can also make with this mix, 'cause they're all good, but I'm pressed for time.)

Make-Ahead Cookie Mix
6 tablespoons butter
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 and 1/2 cups flour
In very large bowl, combine butter, salt, and baking powder and blend well. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup and level off. Add flour to butter mixture; blend until fine crumbs form, scraping bowl often. Store tightly covered in refrigerator for up to four weeks, if desired.

Almond Butter Sticks
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. almond extract
1/3 cup butter (plus one separate tablespoon butter), softened
one 6-oz. package cream cheese, softened
2 cups mix (voila! That's the exact amount you have, thanks to my cutting it in fourths!)
1 egg, separated (reserve white for glazing)
1/4 cup sliced almonds, if desired

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet. In a small bowl, stir together sugar and almond flavoring; cover and set aside. In medium bowl, combine 1/3 cup butter, cream cheese, and egg yolk. Blend until smooth. Stir in the cookie mix, and knead on floured surface about 25 strokes or until pliable. (The dough is quite sticky, and I used a dusting of confectioners' sugar instead of flour.) Roll or press out to a 12 by 12-inch square. Spread with the 1 tablespoon of butter. Cut dough in half; place one half on greased cookie sheet. Spoon sugar mixture to within 1/2 inch of dough edges. Place remaining dough half, buttered side down, over sugar.* Press edges tightly together to seal, and brush top of dough with slightly beaten egg white. Sprinkle with almonds and bake 22-30 minutes until golden brown.
*My dough was very sticky, and I used a metal spatula to help get the dough off the table in one smooth piece.

Cool at least 30 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet, if desired. Cut pastry in half lengthwise, and then in 1/2-inch strips crosswise. 48 cookies**

**I cut mine in more generous 1-inch strips because I'm such a generous person, which makes 20-25 cookies.

Millie's Crunchy, Fruity Granola

2009-01-27T12:01:00.000-08:00

Brought to you by the monkey spoons...

and by this awesome cookbook.

Our Owen family gave the girls some cool cooking utensils for Christmas, and Millie put them to use our first week back. She and John made granola together, and it's so unhealthy that it practically melts in your mouth after you crunch it (that makes no sense, but it's true). The granola recipes I've made before are very dense, "granola-y," and, yes, healthier than this one, which has a phenomenal crunch and a really light taste. "Light" because the recipe calls for 3/4 cup of canola oil!!!! You heard it here first. Lotsa oil results in a light granola recipe.

I'm no diet guru, so you know what I mean, right? The texture is very crunchy and yet remains light and crisp because of the large amount of oil. There, now that that's settled, let's move on to the recipe.

3 cups rolled oats (old-fashioned oats)
2 cups combined seeds and chopped nuts (we had no nuts in the house, but sliced, toasted almonds would have been perfect)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup assorted dried fruit of small varieties, such as raisins, currants, cranberries, or blueberries (We used dried cranberries, which we purchased especially for the occasion)

1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 13x 18 baking tray (or rimmed baking trays of any size, as long as the granola mixture is spread in a single layer).

2. Combine the oats, seeds and chopped nuts, salt, and brown sugar in a large bowl.

3. Combine the oil, honey, and vanilla extract and pour into the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly and spread on the prepared tray.

4. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden. (Stir once or twice during baking.)

5. Cool on the tray. When it has cooled down and become crunchy, add the dried fruit.

6. Eat plain or with milk. (Or on top of plain yogurt...or for dessert.)

Note: We added white chocolate chips to a small amount for this picture, then I took them out because it's better with just the fruit (and almonds, if you have them). They look festive in there, though.

Molasses Spice Cutouts

2009-01-27T12:00:00.000-08:00

*Recipe from The Complete Guide to Country Cooking

I promised some ladies from church this recipe at the end of 2007. Egads! Is it 2009 already?! I did take a picture of these week-old gingerbread people after they asked, but it's taken me a bit longer to actually post it.

They-- my friends from church, not the gingerbread people-- requested the recipe after exclaiming over the glorious, soft texture of these little cookies. I think the trick is the frosting, though. Any cookie will remain soft if it's frosted and then stored in an airtight container. If you want them to stay soft without frosting, you can try placing a piece of bread in the container with the cookies. The moisture from the bread will keep the cookies soft as the bread dries out.

I love molasses/gingerbread cookies, and these are no exception, but I usually cut the recipe in half because it makes so many.

Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup light or dark molasses (I use unsulphured blackstrap molasses, which is healthier*, dark, and has a very strong flavor)
1/2 cup cold coffee
6 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
-I add the spices to taste, and I usually put in a pinch or two of ginger, too

*It makes these cookies healthy! (Or at least that's what I tell myself.)

Frosting
I use a basic butter frosting recipe, like this one.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar; beat in molasses and coffee. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and spices; gradually add to molasses mixture and mix well. Chill dough for 1-2 hours or until easy to handle (I always cheat and put mine in the freezer so it's ready faster). If needed, add additional flour before rolling. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with 2 and 1/2-inch cookie cutters dipped in flour. Place 1-in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes or until edges are firm and bottom is lightly browned. Do not overbake. Remove to wire racks to cook.

Yield: 7-8 dozen

Buttery-Lemon Chicken with Mushrooms and Parsley

2008-11-15T14:49:00.001-08:00

Many thanks to Martha (you know the one) for giving my husband this recipe. He added things to taste for this delectable dish, but the recipe credit goes to her and her people. Just so you know....MARTHA.

So here's her recipe; alongside the dish, he served a bean/carrot/shallot medley. (D'ya think I should I keep him?)

1 tbsp. olive oil
several boneless, skinless chicken breasts
course salt and freshly ground pepper
white button mushrooms, halved
3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook chicken until opaque throughout. Transfer to a plate and loosely tent with aluminum foil.

Place mushrooms and 1 tbsp. butter in skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender, about seven minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter, lemon juice, and parsley. Top chicken with mushrooms and lemony butter sauce.

Yum. This was SO good. I wanted to drink the buttery-lemon goodness plain, but I refrained (and that only because there wasn't enough).

"I" is for Vanilla Custard Ice Cream

2008-10-30T17:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to our old-fashioned ice cream machine and the mighty strength of our windmill arms, we made some before the cold weather came.

It's creamy and rich, similar in taste to a frozen version of crème patisserie. It's very easy to eat. At least, I found that to be true...but, really, I dare you to show me an ice cream that isn't.

Recipe:

8 egg yolks
1 pint (2 cups) whole milk
1 pint heavy cream
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. real vanilla extract, or to taste

Heat milk in a pan until it's very warm but not boiling. In a bowl, beat and mix together the egg yolks and sugar until thick. Pour the milk into the mixture of egg yolks and sugar while stirring. Pour the mixture back into the pan and heat gently, stirring until the custard thickens. Do NOT bring to a boil. When you can see a film form over the back of your spoon, remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool. When the custard base has cooled, stir in the cream and the vanilla. Cool mixture completely. Transfer the mixture into an ice cream and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions, or, like us, according to the mighty strength of your windmill arms!

Cherry Tomato Salad with Feta and Red Wine Vinaigrette

2008-10-30T12:17:00.000-07:00

Looking at these pictures makes me miss summer's bounty. Ah, well. This is a fresh tomato salad with a light vinaigrette. And, for heaven's sake, be generous with the feta. When you're treating yourself to feta, you may as well go all out.

Go to the garden (sob!) and pick a generous amount of sweet sungold and cherry tomatoes and some oregano. Slice the tomatoes in half and toss them in the desired amount of the following dressing. Let sit for a bit, top with crumbled feta, and eat. I haven't tried it with dried herbs, but if you do, remember that every tablespoon of a fresh herb is roughly equal to one tsp. of the dried herb.

Red Wine Vinaigrette

1/2 cup oil (I think I used a mixture of canola and olive oil)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
finely chopped fresh oregano, to taste, about 1 tsp. (next summer, I'm trying it with basil)
1/4 tsp. sea salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste
pinch of sugar, to taste (about 1/2 tsp.)

Combine all ingredients and let sit for a few hours.

Millie's Blueberry Oven Pancake

2008-10-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

Step 1: Find a recipe you want to make from this box. Choose OOH-LA-LA OVEN PANCAKES.

Step Two: Read and follow directions. (Make sure you're wearing a mushroom hat.)

Step Three: Lick your fingers. Often.

Step Four: Put the dish in the oven to bake and go outside and hop around for a while.

Step Five: Take it out of the oven.

Step Six: Share. Eat it all up, with syrup, and repeatedly remind all of your family members that they "should thank you because you made this yummy breakfast all by yourself."

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

1 cup flour
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
3 tbsp. butter, melted
1/3 cup chocolate chips, if desired (or berries or nuts or raisins...Millie used probably around 3/4 cup
of blueberries)

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

In a small bowl, beat egg and milk until well-combined. Stir in melted butter. Pour egg mixture into flour mixture and stir just till combined. ("Lumps are okay!")

Grease the pan and pour the lumpy batter into it. Add chocolate chips or berries to the top. Bake in 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. When cool, cut into squares, and serve with your favorite pancake toppings.

Killer Dill Dip

2008-10-30T12:14:00.000-07:00

At least I think so. (And it's perfectly safe to eat, you literalists.)

I made this for Millie's birthday party. Maybe I think it's excellent because I'm a sucker for dill dip, or maybe it's because the crispy, chewy bread Titi brought and with which I pared the dip was tippety-top, or maybe, just maybe, this is a killer dill dip. I dunno which is the truth, but I loved it even so.

4 oz. mayonnaise
4 oz. salad dressing (Miracle Whip kind)
8 oz. sour cream
several tablespoons finely chopped onion
at least 2 tbsp. chopped fresh dill
3/4 tsp. sea salt
about 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
about 1/8 tsp. lemon pepper
celery seed, crushed in a coffee grinder, to taste (or, if you're smart and have celery salt in the house, just use that!)

Mix all together until smooth. Cover and chill for several hours or overnight to let flavors meld. Serve with veggies, crackers, etc.

Tomato Spinach Spread

2008-10-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is a funny picture. The dip looked so pale and blase that I grabbed a red pepper from the windowsill to add some color to the picture. Just pretend the spread is wearing a giant, red hat.

This is a good vegetable spread and is delicious on well-baked, crusty bread, pita, or veggies. I won't rave over it like I did the dill dip because I prefer the dill dip. Just think of this as the dill dip's shy, little sister sitting in the corner wearing a bright, red hat. Cute, but for those who love ol' Dill, just not as eye-catching.

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 oz. sour cream
1/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne, plus more to taste
dash cumin
dash garlic powder, to taste
a generous tsp. lemon-pepper seasoning
3 giant roma tomatoes, or 2 regular tomatoes, chopped (let juice drain off before adding to the spread)
1 package (10 oz.) frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry.
1 small onion, finely chopped

Beat cream cheese, sour cream, milk, and seasonings until smooth. Stir in tomatoes, spinach, and chopped onion. Chill for a few hours to let flavors meld.

Fresh or Canned Salsa

2008-10-30T12:12:00.000-07:00

I've given the recipe for Garden Salsa before, but this is a more typical salsa. We love it, and our family (okay, it's mostly just John and I) can easily go through almost a full quart in one night.

When it's fresh, we eat it from a spoon, but we prefer it on chips if it's cooked and canned. (These pictures are of pre-canned, fresh salsa in wan, electric light.)

Salsa

About 12 cups chopped ripe tomatoes (I used a mixture of red and sweet yellow)
About 1 and 1/2 cups finely chopped bell peppers
3 large onions, chopped
about 1/3 pound jalapeno peppers (remove seeds) finely chopped -- Use rubber gloves to avoid burning your hands (Use more or less depending on your tastes and the heat of the peppers. Heat can vary from pepper to pepper, so you might want to add these, to taste.)
about 8 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup white vinegar
fresh cilantro, chopped, to taste (I probably used about 1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro)
1 and 1/2 tablespoons salt (I used coarse ground)
About 1 and 1/2 - 2 tsp. cumin powder
A few hearty shakes chili powder
*additional cayenne powder, to taste
two 8 oz. cans tomato paste, to thicken salsa

If eating as fresh salsa, John and I like less cumin than we like for the cooked. Let your taste buds guide you. (I sound like a culinary Yoda.)

If eating as fresh salsa, which John and I could eat all the livelong day, just make sure the peppers and onions are finely chopped into very small pieces. We used a food processor for this part to make it easier. Also, chop the tomatoes first and let them sit by themselves for several minutes in a large bowl. Then drain off all the extra fluid. I did this several times to avoid a really soupy salsa. If you want to can the salsa, first drain the tomatoes in the same way, and then combine all the ingredients in a large pot. Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn heat to low. Simmer for ten minutes before ladling into hot jars. Leave 1/4 inch head space at the top, adjust caps, and process for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath. The jars should be covered with water by about an inch, if possible.

Yield: about 7 pint jars

Hot Milk Sponge Cake

2008-10-30T12:11:00.000-07:00

This is the simple cake I frequently use as a base instead of a more typical yellow cake. It's got a rich flavor and is the perfect complement to basic cream filling, a bit of jam, and fluffy flour frosting. When I make it for layer cakes, I double the following recipe and bake it in two round pans instead of the recommended square pan. The recipe comes from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp. butter

Grease a 9x9x2-inch baking pan; set pan aside. Stir together flour and baking powder; set aside.

In a mixing bowl beat eggs for about 4 minutes or until thick. Gradually add sugar, beating for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the dry mixture; beat on low to medium speed just till combined.

In a small saucepan, heat and stir milk and butter till butter melts; add to batter, beating till combined. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or till a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

More Spiedies

2008-10-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

I've given a spiedie recipe on here before, but you could always use another, right? For those unfamiliar with spiedies (for shame!), here's a brief introduction. And for those who like even briefer introductions, spiedies are similar to marinated chicken kebabs, only they're marinated for a longer period of time and, if you're a spiedie purist, eaten in a certain manner.

Ingredients:

boneless, skinless, chicken breast, cubed (about 4?)

1 cup oil (I use canola)
4 tbsp. lemon juice (or more)
1/3- 1/2 cup white, apple cider, or red wine vinegar, depending on your taste
1/3 cup minced onion
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
pinch of sugar
sprinkle of cayenne
1 and 1/2- 3 tsp. fresh, finely chopped oregano
2-3 tbsp. fresh, torn basil
1 tbsp. fresh, chopped parsley
2-3 tsp. fresh, finely chopped rosemary
5 cloves fresh, finely minced or pressed garlic

a shake of ground thyme or some fresh, chopped thyme if you have it (I didn't)

*My amounts always vary. Use more or less of the above spices depending on your tastes, and since marinades usually have a one-to-one ratio of acid (vinegar/lemon) to oil, I sometimes increase the vinegar and lemon juice slightly, to taste.

**Dried spices may be substituted, of course, and I do so in winter. Rule of thumb: 1 tsp. of dried spice equals 1 tbsp. of fresh.

Mix all ingredients together, add cubed, raw chicken, and marinate for a minimum of two days. Spiedies are generally marinated for 3 days or even up to a week, though I think my record was 6 days. It's hard to not grill them when you know they're in the fridge...

When ready to cook, either grill on skewers or broil in the oven until cooked and lightly browned but not dry. Serve over salad, as the meat course in your meal, or, if you're a purist, wrapped up in a slice of soft Italian bread. Drizzle with fresh marinade, if desired. (I sometimes boil the leftover marinade to cook any bacteria and use that for drizzling.)

KEEP READING! Black Bean, Corn, and Tomato Soup

2008-10-30T12:09:00.000-07:00

Essentially, this is another tortilla soup recipe, but you really haven't seen this one before! I made this last week in a fit of fall madness. You know, the madness that demands that you roll in the leaves and run in the wind and...make soup.

You can forget Not-Mindy's-Tortilla-Soup because we like this better. John and I prefer the taste, and the girls don't weep because it's too spicy. Cheers all 'round! It's quite similar, but less spicy, depending on how many sauteed jalapeños you add (or don't add) to your bowl; it has a hint of lime, a touch of spiciness, a smoky undertone thanks to the liquid smoke seasoning, and corn that rounds it all out with a bit of sweetness. We rarely have bacon, but the first time I made it, we had some left over from having visitors. We've had it since sans bacon, and it's still really yummy, but if you're anything like us, bacon makes just about anything better.

So.
Add bacon, you vegetarians! Go ahead! You know you want to!

These are the amounts I wrote down the first time I made it. The second time I just threw all these ingredients in, to taste. If you want, do thou likewise.

1 large onion, chopped
2-3 large carrots, sliced into coins
6-8 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced or pressed
2 red peppers (or one red and one green or, sigh, NO peppers if your garden is now hibernating)
frozen corn (we used maybe half of a quart bag of garden corn)
4 jalapeño peppers, finely diced, if you like things hot (I saute and serve them separately)
4 cans black beans or the equivalent of freshly-cooked ones
4-6 cups chicken broth
tomatoes (we used one quart of canned garden tomatoes and a small can of store-bought, diced tomatoes; you can do the math)
3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
healthy splash of lime juice
about 3/4 tsp. hickory smoke flavoring (We bought a bottle to make beef and chicken jerky ages ago, but we found it on a clearance shelf, so I don't really know where to find it. Look for some without preservatives and MSG.)
splash of Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. salt
dried cilantro, to taste

Saute diced onion, carrots, and red/green sweet peppers in a bit of olive oil until onions are translucent and carrots begin to soften. Add minced garlic for the last minute. Puree (or if you have no gadget to puree, smush) half of the black beans into a smooth-ish paste along with a bit of chicken broth. Put the pureed beans into a big soup pot along with the remaining black beans, the chicken broth, the carrots, onions, and garlic, the corn, and liquid/dry seasonings. Okay, just add everything but the bacon, cheese, tortilla strips, and sauteed jalapeños to the pot. Warm it all through while you're making tortilla strips and bacon and sauteeing the jalapeños. Spoon into bowls and...

top the soup with
crisp, cooked crumbled bacon
shredded Monterey jack cheese
baked corn tortilla strips (see instructions at the bottom of this recipe)
finely diced jalapeños that have been sauteed in a bit of olive oil or butter
OR
none of the above, although I highly recommend the bacon and tortilla strips.

Not-Mindy's Tortilla Soup

2008-07-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

***Edit: We prefer this new tortilla soup by far!!!

John ate some delicious tortilla soup at his bi-weekly meeting of boardgamegeeks, and I heard so much about it that I was driven to seek out the same. I still need to get Mindy's exact recipe, but since I haven't, I made a soup cobbled together from lots of other recipes. It's yummy, but if your finances are strapped or you hate meat, skip the chicken entirely. John really liked it, but he would have preferred it meatless, which is fine by me, so next time, I'll cook the chicken to make the chicken broth base and then freeze the meat for another use.

It's a full-flavored, moderately spicy soup with a hint of sweetness from the corn. I'm definitely making it again, only next time I'll have the foresight to bake extra tortillas.

*I used all fresh herbs because we have them growing in the garden, but dried herbs could easily be substituted. Rule of thumb: for every tablespoon of fresh herbs, use one teaspoon of dried.

1/2 of a giant onion, chopped (@ 1 cup?)
@ 10 cloves garlic, minced

Cut up the whole chicken into eight pieces and boil it until cooked (reserve chicken broth for soup base; more than half the chicken can be saved or frozen for another meal)

1 quart canned tomatoes, cut up (or one 28 oz. can diced tomato)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
frozen corn (I used last summer's frozen...about 10 oz.???)
@ 1/4-1/3 cup chopped green onion tops, opt. (we had them in the garden, so I threw them in)
@ 1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro, then chopped
2 tablespoons freshly chopped oregano
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 and 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. ground cayenne

12 corn tortillas, cut into 1/4"-1/2" strips (I'll use more tortillas next time.)

tortilla chips
shredded Monterey jack cheese

Saute the onions in a bit of olive oil. Add the garlic for the last minute. After cooking the whole chicken, skim the fat off of the broth. Shred the desired amount of chicken for the soup and save the remainder for another use. Add all ingredients to the chicken broth and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, it's time to prepare the tortilla strips from which the soup gets its name. Buy a bag of soft CORN tortillas. Stack about six of them on a cutting board and cut them into strips. All the recipes I looked at had instructions for frying them, which you can do, but I baked them with excellent results. Simply spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, lay the tortilla strips on the sheet and spray the tops of the strips with cooking spray. Bake in a hot oven (@ 400-450 degrees?) until golden brown and crispy, turning once midway through.

Serve the soup topped with tortilla strips and Monterey jack cheese, if desired. (I like it with lots of tortilla strips and little cheese.) Break the tortilla strips as you add them to your soup, unless you need to keep them whole in order to take a picture for your recipe blog.

Grilled and Marinated London Broil

2008-07-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

My parents gave us a cut of London Broil, and I used a wonderful recipe from Emeril Lagasse. I love beef but rarely have it in any form, and I'm no good at cooking beef cuts properly unless they're marinated or slow cooked, so this recipe was perfect. The flavor is full and mouthwatering. I served potato wedges, but I think the juice would be delicious spooned over mashed potatoes.

Hat's off to you, Emeril!

1 (2 1/2 pound) tri-tip London Broil or flank steak (Tri-tip? I know nothing about beef...)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup dry red wine (We had no red wine, so I used a bit more red wine vinegar mixed with some beef broth)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Creole mustard, or other spicy whole-grain mustard
1 tablespoon Essence, recipe follows
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, smashed

Place the flank steak in a large, plastic resealable bag.
In a large, glass measuring cup, combine red wine vinegar, red wine, olive oil, Worcestershire, soy sauce, mustard, Essence, salt, pepper, and garlic. Pour the marinade into the bag with the steak, seal and place inside a large, glass baking dish to prevent possible spills. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. (I wanted the meat as fully marinated as possible, and I was paranoid of drying the cut through overcooking as I've been known to do, so I cut the meat into cubes before marinating it. Instead of a large hunk of London Broil, we had lots of savory, kebab-sized hunks.)

Preheat a gas or charcoal grill to high heat. (Alternately, preheat the broiler). Remove the steak from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Place the steak on the grill (or under the broiler) and cook to desired doneness, about 6 minutes per side for rare. Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let stand for 5 minutes before carving.

Slice across the grain into thin diagonal slices. Serve steak with sauce.

Essence (Emeril's Creole Seasoning):
(I had some sitting in the cupboard, long leftover from this recipe.)

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
1 tablespoon dried thymeCombine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.
Yield: about 2/3 cup
Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch. Published by William and Morrow, 1993.

Pesto Lasagna

2008-07-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Titi for bringing this delicious lasagna to a get-together at our house two months ago. I've posted this recipe before (tacked onto the recipe for pesto), but here it is again...with a picture!

The recipe makes two 9x13 pans, so either cut the recipe in half, freeze one pan, or eat pesto lasagna for a week. All are acceptable options...

2 packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 cups minced onion
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 cups pesto
4 pounds part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, roasted
32 lasagna noodles
2 pounds part skim milk mozzarella cheese, shredded

1. In a large, heavy skillet, saute the onions in 1 tablespoons of the olive oil until the onions are soft (5-8 minutes). Add salt and pepper in moderate quantities. Remover from heat. Add drained, thawed spinach. Transfer to a large bowl.

2. Add half the grated parmesan, the pesto, the ricotta and the sunflower seeds. Grind in some extra black pepper. Mix thoroughly.

3. Meanwhile, boil the lasagna noodles until partially cooked. Drain and rinse under cold water.

4. Coat 2 13 x 9 pans with olive oil. Place a layer of noodles in the bottom of each pan. Spread 1/4 of the filling onto the noodles. Sprinkle 1/4 of the mozzarella over the filling.

5. Repeat with remaining filling and mozzarella. Place a final layer of noodles over that.

6. Sprinkle remaining parmesan over the top. Drizzle with remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Cover with foil and bake at 350º for 35-40 minutes.

Bean & Tomato Tortillas with Cilantro

2008-07-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

We've been eating lots of tortilla/burrito-type meals since John decided he liked them, especially now that fresh herbs grow right outside. We usually make them meatless, but this time I added cubed chicken. This is another throw-together meal with no set recipe, but here's what I put in these.

Half an onion, chopped
extra virgin olive oil
1-2 chicken breasts, cubed, then cooked in olive oil and seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper
4-6 plump cloves garlic

6-8 oz. freshly shredded monterey jack cheese
@ 3/4 cup loose cilantro leaves (then chopped after measuring)
ground cumin
garlic powder
salt and pepper
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can of diced tomatoes with chiles OR diced fresh tomatoes and minced chiles OR diced tomato and cayenne powder to taste

12-16 flour tortillas

sour cream and salsa, opt.

*If substituting dried herbs for fresh, use 1 tsp. dried for every 1 tbsp. fresh.

Cook cubed chicken and diced onion together in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Add the minced garlic for the last minute or two of cooking. Add tomatoes, black beans, and most of the cilantro to the mixture (and chiles, if using). Reserve some cilantro for the tops. Season with cumin, salt, freshly ground black pepper, and additional garlic powder to taste, if desired. We didn't have any, but if you have lime juice, you could splash some in the filling, too. Let mixture simmer for 5 minutes or so until heated through.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Soften tortillas in microwave or briefly in oven, spoon filling into them, top the filling with some shredded monterey jack cheese, and roll the tortillas up. Place seam side down in a greased baking dish and top with more shredded monterey jack cheese and minced cilantro.

Bake in the oven until tortillas are crispy on top and cheese is lightly browned. Eat warm with salsa and sour cream, if desired.

Chocolate Chip Banana Crumb Muffins

2008-07-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe for crumb-topped banana muffins on the internet when John's family was visiting. I altered them slightly (adding chocolate chips, extra banana, and a bit of oil), and they ended up being the moistest, most delicious banana muffins I've ever had. I'm not the only one who raved like a maniac over them, either, which is the assurance I needed to post the recipe. (Next time, I may try substitutingf applesauce for some of the butter/oil, but only if I'm feeling annoyingly health-conscious.)

As with all banana recipes, the darker the bananas you use, the more delicious and pronounced their flavor will be in the recipe.

1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 overly ripe bananas, mashed (I used nearly four)
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted (I also added 2 or three tablespoons of canola oil)
1 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers. (***My batter ended up making about 14 muffins.)
In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter, oil, and chocolate chips. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

* I also added a touch of cinnamon to the muffin batter.

Zingy Pasta Salad with Garlic and Basil

2008-07-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

After too many nights of various combinations of rice, beans, and tomatoes, summer's here, and the garden bristles with herbs and fresh vegetables. We're beginning to eat like kings on a dime budget again. (Not that we don't ever eat like kings during the winter...it just costs more than a dime, and guilt ensues.)

If you've a garden, and you like garlic, you've probably made an almost identical pasta, as it's a throw-together of 15 minutes or less. It's "zingy" because I used enough garlic for Annika to complain of its spiciness. John loved the pasta, and corrected her; apparently, it's not spicy, just zingy.

Cook one box penne rigate (my standby Aldi only has white, but to make this healthy, use wheat) until al dente. Cool under cold running water and drain.

In a blender, combine 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1 cup loosely packed basil leaves, and 6 plump cloves garlic (freshly minced). Blend until liquefied/pureed/whatever it's called when everything is in eensy pieces and coats the pasta evenly. (If you don't have a blender or similar kitchen gadget, just smush everything as small as you can.)

Add to pasta and toss together with one sliced cucumber and several roma tomatoes. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Eat.

Sugar Delight

2008-05-14T16:06:00.000-07:00

As dictated to me by Chef Millie, here's the recipe for her stunning Sugar Delight. (The top picture is after melting in the microwave, but before stirring; the bottom picture is before melting and stirring).

Use your own culinary sense in determining amounts and adding order. If I may offer one suggestion, go easy on the sugar and heavy on the delight.

brown sugar (I saw how much she added. It was about 1/2 cup!)
cinnamon sugar
crisp rice cereal
peanut butter
honey
raisins
semisweet chocolate chips
marshmallows
a "tad" of salt
a tad of water
milk

You stir it and heat it in the microwave until melty. Then stir it again after heating it in the microwave. Whoever makes this could make their own-- 'specially the children-- their own recipe.

For 3+. [Ages three and up. I assume she means the preparers can be three and up, as two year-olds can easily eat this...not that they should).

Grilled Portobello Mushrooms with Tomatoes and Fresh Mozzerella

2008-05-14T16:05:00.000-07:00

When John came home with portobello mushrooms (which I've never bought before) along with exotic ancho chili powder, asparagus, fresh lemons, fresh basil, and mozzerella, I just about fainted. As much as I loved him for taking the task of supper-making almost entirely off my hands, I knew that we'd move to the poorhouse if this was going to be our typical fare. Well, the other recipes from that particular supper have since passed, but after he made this portobello recipe for the third (THIRD!) time, I gently suggested that we should put our tax refund into a locked savings account before we ate it up in portobello form.

If there's no choice but to eat one's tax refund, though, this surely is the best way to do it.

Even if you don't like mushrooms, make the tomato salad and eat it plain. The flavor is simple and fresh and tastes like a spoonful of summertime. Also, use your judgment with the olive oil application.

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for greasing grill pan
4 large portobello mushrooms (about 5 inches in diameter), stemmed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 small to medium sized vine ripened tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
8 ounces fresh water-packed mozzarella, drained, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leavesPrepare the barbecue (medium-high heat).
Drizzle 3 tablespoons of olive oil over both sides of the mushrooms. Sprinkle the mushrooms with salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil on grill pan to prevent mushrooms from sticking. Grill until the mushrooms are heated through and tender, about 5 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, whisk the extra-virgin olive oil and garlic in a medium bowl to blend. Add the tomatoes, cheese, and basil and toss to coat. Season the tomato salad, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Place 1 hot grilled mushroom gill side up on each of 4 plates. Sprinkle with more salt and pepper. Spoon the tomato salad atop the mushrooms, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil to finish, about 1 tablespoon and serve.

Grilled Asparagus with Lemon and Garlic

2008-05-14T16:04:00.000-07:00

I've never eaten asparagus before, or, if I have, I have no memory of doing so. I now have John, our personal chef, to thank for my first (and second and third) helping. This was a yummy introduction to them, and the girls even gobbled them. It may have helped that John took Annie's cue and called them green beans...

My only change if we made this again would be to add more garlic and lemon zest. Their flavor was delicious and present, but I wanted even more of it!

1 pound asparagus
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Trim asparagus. In a small bowl, combine oil, garlic, zest and paprika and stir with a fork. Lay asparagus side by side and pierce on 2 wooden skewers to form a raft. Place rafts on the grill and brush with oil mixture. Cook to desired tenderness and season with salt and pepper.

Seasoned Grilled Potatoes

2008-05-14T16:02:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I think our family has eaten potatoes just about every possible way, but this was a new incarnation, thanks to the unique taste of the ancho chili powder that seasons them. Smoky, flavorful, and just plain good. Oh, humble potato. We love you.

Recipe courtesy of Bobby Flay. Potatoes for supper courtesy of my husband.

3 pounds Idaho potatoes
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tsp. ground cumin.

Cover the potatoes with cold water in a large saucepan and cook until almost tender. Drain and dry the potatoes. Cut each potato lengthwise into quarters. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and brush both sides of the potatoes with oil. Combine the chili powder, salt, and cumin in a small bowl, and sprinkle over the potatoes. Grill the potato wedges for 3 to 4 minutes per side until golden brown.

Coffee Cake Muffins

2008-05-14T16:01:00.000-07:00

Thank you again, Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, for helping us pad our bellies. You should add "Better Bellies" to your title. This is a muffin recipe that's fast and easy and nice to pull out on mornings when oatmeal, eggs, or cold cereal just doesn't cut it.

They're topped with a cinnamon-sugar crumb topping and have a streusel layer of the same in the middle of each muffin.

What? You want the recipe? Alright, here it is.

3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tbsp. butter or margarine
3 tbsp. chopped walnuts or pecans
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 and 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk (1/2 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar and enough milk to make 1/2 cup; let sit for about five minutes before adding to other ingredients)

Grease 12 muffin cups; set aside

For the topping, stir together the 3 tbsp. flour, brown sugar, and the 1/4 tsp. cinnamon. Cut in the 2 tablespoons butter or margarine till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in walnuts and pecans; set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl stir together the 1 and 1/2 cups flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and the 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and salt. Cut in the 1/4 cup butter or margarine till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In another mixing bowl, combine the egg and buttermilk or sour milk. Add egg mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just till moistened (batter should be lumpy).

Spoon half of the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each 1/3 full. Top with half of the topping, the remaining batter, and the remaining topping. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15-18 minutes or till golden. Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from muffin cups and serve warm.

* I always double the streusel mixture, and I usually only make 9 muffins out of the batter instead of 12.
**We almost never have pecans or walnuts in the house unless it's near Christmas, so I omitted those.

Cardamom Fruit Dip

2008-05-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry. I have no picture of this easy, yummy dip. We used it on apple slices when we had company over, and it disappeared pretty fast. Next time, perhaps...

4 tbsp. cream cheese, softened
liberal dashes of ground cardamom, to taste (1/2 tsp.?)
lemon or vanilla extract, or both, to taste
granulated sugar, to taste
sour cream, about 8-12 oz.

Blend together the softened cream cheese and the sour cream. Stir in the sugar until incorporated, and then add flavorings, to taste. We've only used this on apple slices, but I think it would be equally good on grapes and bananas.

Chocolate and Berry Cream Cheesecake with Mixed Berry Sauce

2008-05-14T15:59:00.000-07:00

Alas, I have no picture of this, either. This is due to the fact that, again, with company, it disappeared pretty fast, plus I undercooked it and the middle was sloppy, which makes for unappealing pictures. Oh, vanity!

This was its test run, though, and I jotted down the amounts I used so I could make it again, whenever I've got a good enough excuse with company coming. It has a chocolate crumb crust, a layer of vanilla cheesecake laced with grated chocolate on the bottom, and a layer of vanilla cheesecake laced with strawberry jam on the top, drizzled with mixed berry sauce before serving.

Crust:
About 3 cups crushed chocolate crumbs (out of thriftiness, I use generic oreos from Aldi, but chocolate graham cracker crumbs might work better, and, if you aren't stingy, add some finely chopped almonds, too.)

If using generic oreos, stir in about 1/3 cup melted butter, enough to help the mixture stick together. If using chocolate graham cracker crumbs, stir in 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup melted butter.

Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake for five minutes in a 350 degree oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

Filling:
4 packages cream cheese, softened
1 and 1/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup strawberry or raspberry jam (I doled out some of my mom's wild strawberry jam for the occasion. I know. Lucky me.)
@ 1/3 cup grated semisweet chocolate

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in flour. Add eggs one at a time, and beat on low speed just until combined. Do not overbeat. Beat in vanilla just until blended. Divide the cheesecake filling into two bowls. Fold the grated chocolate into one bowl and the strawberry jam into the other.

Pour the filling with grated chocolate into the crust, and then gently pour and smooth the strawberry filling on top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 55 minutes or until the center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for ten minutes. Carefully run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the crust. Cool for one more hour and then refrigerate overnight to let the flavors ripen.

Before serving, prepare a mixed berry sauce with about 1 to 1 and 1/2 pounds of berries, sugar (to taste, about 1/2 cup), a few tablespoons of cornstarch, and 1/2 cup water. I used a blend of frozen blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries. In a small saucepan, mix the water, cornstarch, and sugar and heat through until dissolved. Add berries and gently stir over medium heat until sufficiently thickened. Pour over each slice of cheesecake before serving.

Tips:
Place foil or a cookie sheet under the cheesecake because many springform pans leak, and a houseful of burnt butter's smell and sting isn't pleasant.

Dip a knife in warm water before cutting the cheesecake, and wipe and dip again in warm water before making each cut in order to make clean cuts.

Lemon Meringue Pie

2008-03-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

I love lemon meringue pies and, this time, I slightly adapted Martha's Mile High Lemon Pie recipe for the filling, though I just used a standard meringue topping instead of the one that she includes in her recipe. Her filling is unlike other lemon meringue pie recipes I've made as it includes butter in the filling; I reduced the butter a bit, and the filling was still a smooth balance of tart and sweet without being overly rich.

Prepare your favorite single-crust pie dough recipe and pre-bake the crust, lined with aluminum foil and filled with baking stones or beans, or pricked all over with a fork and lined with aluminum foil to avoid shrinkage. Let cool. Prepare filling.

Mile High Lemon Pie (filling) from marthastewart.com

1/3 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup sifted cake flour (I used regular, but a hair less)
1/4 teaspoon salt (I omitted this b/c I used salted butter)
1 1/4 cups sugar
5 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (I'm lame and used bottled)
2 tablespoons lemon rind
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (I used 3 tablespoons and think even less could be used without harm)

To make filling, combine cornstarch, cake flour, salt, and sugar in a medium nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add 2 cups cold water. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly, about 4 minutes.
Remove the pan from heat. Temper egg yolks by beating a small amount of hot mixture into the yolks before adding them to pan. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
Remove the pan from heat, and whisk in the lemon juice and rind. Add the butter one piece at a time. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, and let cool.
Pour the filling into the cooled shell and refrigerate, covered with aluminum foil, until firm, about 1 hour.

Standard Meringue Topping (Non-stovetop)

5 egg whites, allowed to sit until at room temperature
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pure vanilla
3/4 cup sugar

Combine the egg whites, cream of tartar, salt, and vanilla and beat until soft peaks form. Continue beating and gradually add the sugar, beating until glossy, stiff peaks form. (Don't be in a hurry like me and only reach stiffly soft peaks...) Spread the meringue over the cooled pie, taking care to spread all the way to the crust's edge to avoid weeping. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until golden-brown. Cool completely and serve. Lemon meringue pies are best the day they're made, otherwise the crust becomes soggy and meringue may fall.

(This picture, though, was taken the next day, and the pie was still finger-lickin' good.)

Sticky Caramel Rolls

2008-03-26T12:04:00.000-07:00

Millie wanted to try sticky rolls for Easter morning, so I made these- sans pecans that we didn't have-- and they're yummy. But then, I imagine it's hard for a food that is mostly sweet dough, cinnamon-sugar, and caramel to be anything but yummy.

After being inverted onto a plate, in wan, electric light, they look like this.

A trusty Better Homes and Gardens cookbook was the source for this recipe.

Rolls

4 to 3 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast (about 2 and 1/4 tsp.)
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
3 tablespoons butter, softened (I used a bit more)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon (I increased the cinnamon-sugar mixture by at least a third)

In a mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of flour and the yeast; set aside. In a medium saucepan, heat and stir milk, the 1/3 cup sugar, the 1/3 cup butter, and salt just till warm (120 -130 degrees) and the butter almost melts. Add milk mixture to dry mixture along with eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl. Beat on high speed three minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

Turn dough onto a floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic. Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl; turn once to grease dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place till double in size.

Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half. cover and let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the caramel below and spread in the pans.

Roll each portion of the dough into a 12x8 inch rectangle. Spread the softened 3 tablespoons (or more) butter over dough, and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll up, jelly-roll style, starting from a long side. Seal the seam and slice each roll into 12 equal pieces. Pl;ace in prepared pans and let rise in a warm place till nearly double.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Do not overbake. Immediately inverted baked rolls from the pan. Eat. (I believe these are best eaten fresh.)

***These may be prepared the night before, as I did. Simply cover shaped rolls loosely with plastic wrap, leaving room for them to rise. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, uncover them and let them stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking.

Caramel

2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
2 tbsp. light corn syrup
2/3 cup chopped pecans, opt.

Heat and stir over medium heat until combined. Divide between two 9 1/2-inch round baking pans. Sprinkle 1/3 cup chopped pecans in each pan, if desired; set aside until rolls are shaped.

Streusel-topped Cheesy Broccoli

2008-03-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

I really liked this broccoli, and it's my new favorite way to eat little trees. It's much more flavorful than the typical cheesy broccoli casserole, due mostly to the savory streusel topping seasoned with garlic, onion, spicy mustard, and parmesan.

1 to 1 and 1/2 pounds of broccoli florets

Streusel Topping
2 tablespoons butter
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 -1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
@ three slices of fresh bread (I used oat) broken into smallish crumbs
Parmesan cheese, salt, and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Cheese Sauce
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
@ 2 cups milk
4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese
salt, freshly ground pepper, ground cayenne, and ground nutmeg, to taste

Cook broccoli in boiling water for about 3 minutes until slightly cooked but still firm. Drain and set aside.

Saute onion and garlic in butter over medium-low heat until onion is translucent. Add the mustards and the bread crumbs. Fry until crumbs begin to turn golden and then season with salt, pepper, and parmesan. Set aside.

For the sauce, prepare a basic white sauce by melting the butter in a pan and then stirring in the flour. Whisk in the milk and cook over medium heat until the sauce thickens, whisking constantly. Season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne and add the grated cheese. Stir until cheese has melted and is incorporated completely, forming a smooth sauce.

Layer the broccoli in the bottom of a baking dish and spread the cheese sauce on top before sprinkling the bread crumb topping over it all. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until the topping is nicely browned and toasted.

I added more mustard, garlic, etc., to taste as I made this, and the cheese sauce is just a guide. I usually just wing cheese sauces, so I'm not entire sure how much milk I added. It wasn't as thick a sauce as I'd normally make, but since it had additional baking in the oven, it turned out to be a perfect consistency.

Sour Cherry Sauce for Ham

2008-03-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

This is a most excellent fruit sauce for ham. My mom's been serving it to us every holiday ham dinner since I can remember, and the tart sweetness of the sauce combined with the salty sweetness of the ham is heavenly. I'd love to give you her exact recipe, but I can't, because she doesn't have one. Here's the basic idea, though, thanks again to the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

A jar of sour cherries, canned by Mopsy, pitted and drained (Okay, I guess the cherries don't have to come from my mom)
3 tbsp. brown sugar
4 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
dash of ground cloves
1 cup apple juice
1 tablespoon vinegar
a few drops of red food coloring, opt.

In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir in apple juice, vinegar, and, if desired, food coloring. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Stir in as many of the drained cherries as looks right (the cookbook recommends 16 oz.). Heat through. Serve warm spooned over ham. Makes 2 and 1/4 cups sauce.

Spiced Honey Glaze for Ham

2008-03-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

The glaze I used for the ham this year couldn't be simpler, and it's yummy, to boot. Any amount of brown sugar, honey, butter, and cloves could be used, depending on which flavor you want to be most pronounced, and a bit of ground mustard could also be added.

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup butter
1/4 tsp. cloves, plus more to taste
a few smidges of ground mustard
dash nutmeg

Increase these amounts depending on the size of your ham, and before placing ham into the oven, stud it all over with whole cloves.

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat and cook, while stirring, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.

Baste the ham with the glaze before placing in the oven and continue to baste about every fifteen minutes until the ham is done. (I wasn't home to do this, so I just basted it once at the beginning and then liberally slapped more on when I got home for the last 1/2 hour of cooking.) The heat may be turned up for the last ten minutes or so of cooking time if the glaze hasn't caramelized sufficiently.

Cream-Filled Crepes with Blueberry Sauce

2008-02-28T19:06:00.000-08:00

Sundays aren't included in the forty days of Lent, so I've been using blueberries frozen and hoarded from last summer to make special breakfasts. Even I think I erred on the side of sweet this past Sunday. We ate these for breakfast, but in the future, I think I'll reserve this recipe for guests, fancy brunches, or dessert. (Ha! Like I've EVER hosted a fancy brunch...)

Growing up, I always made, and still make, what we Johnsons called "Swedish Pancakes" for breakfast. We'd drown them in syrup or spread them with jam and eat them all rolled up in a coil. It turns out that our "Swedish Pancakes" were essentially other people's crepes, which are used for breakfast dishes and-- you guessed it-- desserts.

So, here's a sweet-lover's breakfast meal or a sourpuss's dessert. Either way, it's pretty decadent.

Cream Filling

8 oz. cream cheese, softened (I used light)
1/4 cup sugar, or to taste
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (almond or lemon could be substituted)

Blend well and set aside.

And here's the Johnson recipe for Swedish Pancakes, or, if you're fancy, crepes. I doubled this amount to make about 8-10 pancakes of medium thickness.

3 eggs
1 and 1/4 cups milk
3/4 cup flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

Whisk eggs and milk together. Sift dry ingredients and add to the wet mixture. Whisk until well-blended. Alter the amount of flour or milk depending on your desired consistency. Heat a lightly greased pan and add batter. The amount of batter you add depends on how thin you want your crepes/pancakes. For very thin pancakes, use 2 tablespoons batter for an 8-inch pan. I usually use more because they're easier to flip and handle for impatient people like me when they're a bit thicker, but don't make them so thick that they turn into rubbery regular pancakes. Lift and tilt pan to evenly coat the bottom with batter. Cook until top appears dry; turn and cook 15-20 seconds longer for thin pancakes. Keep warm in a slightly heated oven.

When the pan-crepes are finished, spread a dollop of the cream cheese mixture in the center and fold from each side until the folded pan-crepe is rectangular in shape. If not serving immediately, place seam side down in a lightly greased baking pan and return to the warm oven, otherwise place on a plate and serve immediately with blueberry sauce spooned on top.

* A few alterations I may make next time:
The filling was quite rich and sweet. Don't misunderstand me; it was good, and we smacked our lips through breakfast, but next time, I might substitute half of the cream cheese with cottage cheese to lighten it up.

* I also might use less sugar in the berry sauce, to taste, but by then my sweet tooth could have adjusted in response.

Blueberry Sauce

2008-02-28T15:00:00.000-08:00

Clarence Scrivner of Hartsburg, Missouri sent this recipe into a cookbook and called it Blueberry Sauce Supreme. Thanks, Clarence. It has a hint of orange due to the concentrate, and it works well over the crepes. Reduce the sugar if you desire, perhaps to 1/4 cup.

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange juice concentrate
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

In a saucepan, combine sugar, orange juice concentrate, and cornstarch; stir until smooth. Add blueberries and bring to a boil. Boil for two minutes, stirring constantly. Spoon over crepes and serve.

York-like Peppermint Patties

2008-02-07T22:33:00.000-08:00

If you, like me, love York Peppermint Patties, then you'll love these candies. If you don't, then you won't, pure and simple.

Speaking of simple, this recipe is as simple a one for candy as they come, and soooo good (for those of you who love York Peppermint Patties, that is).

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon peppermint extract
6 cups confectioners' sugar
Additional confectioners' sugar
1 - 12 oz. bag semisweet chocolate chips (I always use more than this, at least 18 oz, more often 24 oz to be safe)

1 Tbsp. vegetable shortening

In large mixer bowl, combine sweetened, condensed milk and extract. Add 6 cups sugar; beat on low speed until smooth and well blended. Mixture will be very stiff, and I often knead mine a bit with my (sticky) hands to incorporate all the sugar. Turn mixture onto surface sprinkled with confectioners sugar. Knead lightly to form smooth ball. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place
2 inches apart on wax paper-lined baking sheets. Flatten each ball with a flat-bottomed glass into a roughly 1 ½-inch patty.

Let dry 1 hour or longer; turn over and let dry at least 1 hour. Melt the
chocolate chips and shortening in a microwave until halfway melted. Stir halfway
through the heating time. Do not overheat or chocolate will scorch. If you want to take the time to properly temper the chocolate (which will prevent chocolate from "blooming," developing streaks, or losing its sheen), omit the shortening and melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler over low heat. [Follow online instructions for tempering chocolate, because I'm too tired to type them out at this late hour, and, to be honest, I'm usually too tired to temper the chocolate, too.] With fork, dip each patty into warm chocolate (draw fork lightly across rim of bowl to remove excess coating). Invert onto wax paper lined baking sheets; let stand until firm. Store covered at room temperature or in refrigerator. Makes at least 4 dozen.

Buckeyes

2008-02-07T22:32:00.000-08:00

Here's another simple candy recipe, only this time the flavor favors lovers of peanut butter. If you like peanut butter, you'll love this candy; if you don't....you get the idea, right?

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 and 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
confectioner's sugar (one pound, though I use less)
12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips (as with the mint patties, I melt more-- 1 and 1/2 to 2 bags, to make sure I've got enough)

Cream butter, p.b., and vanilla. Add enough confectioner's sugar until a good consistency is reached. Whatever you do, don't add sugar until you think the dough will be easiest to handle, because these candies are best when the filling is still soft enough to fool you into thinking it melts in your mouth. Add only enough sugar to make it possible to roll the dough into balls that will hold their spherical shape.

Roll into one-inch balls and place on a wax-paper lined cookie sheet. Melt the chips and shortening in an identical manner as in the peppermint patty recipe above, or be crazy, omit the shortening, and temper the chocolate like Martha would never fail to do. Dip the balls into chocolate and cover them about 3/4 of the way, either by using a toothpick poked into the top (which will leave a funny little hole) or by dipping them using a fork (which may leave some of the bottoms unevenly covered, unless you have a bonafide candy dipping fork, which I don't). Who needs a candy fork. These are yummy with or without even chocolate coverings, so go and make some. Now. And then give me some.

Cinnamon Oatmeal Pancakes

2008-02-07T22:31:00.000-08:00

These are worthy of multiple breakfasts and taste like a dessert when served plain-- you'd never know they're full of wheat germ-- but when covered with plain yogurt that's been flavored with vanilla and sweetened with sugar, they're even better. Top THAT with sliced bananas, and you've got yourself something that you might start finding excuses to make more than once a week.

I lifted this recipe from a Bon Appetit reader named Kelsey. I can't give her more credit because I ripped it out of the magazine and left her full name behind. Thank you, Ms. Kelsey, or Kelsey Somebody-or-Other, whatever the name may be. (And for those of you who think I vandalized a magazine, it was my own magazine from the subscription sent me by a mysterious [mom-in-law] elf.)

I'm really happy to have discovered these pancakes for two reasons.
One- they are, quite simply, yummy, and could stand in for dessert
Two- they are, quite simply, healthy, and could stand in for, oh, I don't know, something healthy

They are not a fluffy pancake, mind you, and perhaps the title Griddle Cake would be more suitable, though they're made in a pan and not a griddle. I'm making no sense, I know, but it's very late...

Without further ado, here's the recipe.

1 and 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
5 tablespoons butter (I used only three tablespoons, and perhaps even less could be used)
1 and 1/3 cups flour (I used nearly 1 cup flour and substituted quick oats for the rest)
2/3 cup toasted wheat germ (I used raw wheat germ)
1 cup brown sugar (I used 3/4 of a cup)
2 large eggs
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 (generous) tsp. salt
1/4 (generous) tsp. nutmeg

1 and 1/2 cups diced fruit, optional, to mix into the batter (I just added fruit to the top of the cooked pancakes instead)

Stir water, oats , and butter, in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until mixture comes to a boil. Cook until mixture is very thick, stirring constantly, about five minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and let sit 15 minutes or until cooled. Stir in flour (and quick oats, if substituting), sugar, wheat germ,. eggs, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Batter will be very thick. Mix in fruit, if desired.

Heat pan or griddle over medium-high heat. Melt a bit of butter in pan and drop batter onto griddle in 1/3 to 1/2 cup amounts (this will vary according the cook). Spread batter into rounds and cook until brown and cooked through, flipping halfway through.

Spicy Shrimp and Rice

2008-02-07T22:30:00.000-08:00

I blame this dish on both John and Sarah. Last May, she served our family a yummy meal that had shrimp in it and casually mentioned that she'd bought the shrimp at Aldi. Now, I've eaten shrimp maybe four times in my life, and, though I think it's yummy, it's not something I browse through at grocery stores. I don't browse through grocery stores at all; I arrive with an agenda, fight my way through the hordes to reach what's on my list, and arrive back at the van, usually unharmed.

Last week, however, I saved money in other areas, and Saturday found me insecurely browsing through the shrimp in an Aldi freezer case, wondering if the least expensive shrimp were less healthy or tasty than the plump ones. Three cheers for stingy Ebenezer!

John's to blame, too, because after his employer sent him to a conference at a fancy hotel and paid for meals eaten at the restaurant of his choice, he's been mumbling about spicy shrimp in his sleep. So, thanks to Sarah's knowledge of all things seafood and John's nighttime murmurs, I trawled the internet recipe archives, made spicy shrimp and rice, and I even enjoyed it.

Below, I give the rough amounts of the spices I used, but after I adjusted spices to what I thought was the perfect amount, I shoveled in loads more cayenne and black pepper, because I knew that John would beam at me for it. He did, and that beam was worth the burn. If you or someone you love is like John, add even more cayenne, to taste. If you don't like things that spicy, reduce the amounts below accordingly.

a bag of cheap, foreign shrimp, the kind that's fully cooked and frozen (I think it was 10 or 12 oz of the teensy 70-90/lb shrimp )
1 tsp. cayenne, plus more to taste
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp. ground thyme
3/4 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
@ 6-8 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced or pressed
@ 1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup butter

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Saute the minced garlic in butter for 30 seconds to a minute. Add the rest of the spices, and stir in the thawed shrimp (remove their tails before you dump them in if you want to avoid removing them during supper). Cook until heated through and serve alongside the rice below.

4 and 1/2 cups cooked rice
After cooking, flavor the rice with at least one tablespoon lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, freshly ground black pepper, cayenne, salt, and butter, to taste. Add enough lemon juice to cut through the spice and to balance out the crazy-hot shrimp that are about to join it.

Eat while saying, "Ow! Good! OW! Too spicy! GOOD!" at your beaming husband.

Chiles Rellenos

2008-01-15T14:13:00.001-08:00

*Edit: We've since made this using hot peppers AND regular ol' green garden peppers, which pleases the younger set of the family enormously. It's a yummy way to use up a bounty of peppers and is received better than the more common and infamous "stuffed peppers."

Not only does John think my chiles rellenos are better than those of the fancy-schmancy Mexican restaurant in the city, but this is one of his most favorite meals now. The humdinger is that I found myself surprised by the fact that it is now also one of my favorites. I've been craving it, and if we had hot peppers hiding in our snow-shrouded garden and if I was excited about gaining 20 more pounds in the next two months, I'd eat this meal a few times a week.

These really are delicious, and the sauce is so good, I could happily eat it plain. The batter around the peppers is an unusual one for me, made only of eggs. It is light and airy, with an almost spongy consistency, rather than the thicker coating that one usual finds in fried foods. The sauce is a heavenly mixture of spicy and sweet. (I'm hungry just thinking about it.) And the rice? Well...it's rice!

@ 6 Poblano and 4 Anaheim peppers (or the equivalent amount of others), roasted and seeds and skin removed
6-8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese (we just use part of an 8 oz. block from Aldi), cut into sticks nearly the length of the peppers
6 eggs, separated
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
canola oil, for frying

Remove the stems and seeds from the peppers and roast before removing the skins. Mix the flour and salt in a small bowl. (Meanwhile, prepare rice and sauce. I usually cook up 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups dry rice.) Beat egg whites to stiff peaks and gently fold in yolks. Heat canola oil in fryer or in deep pot on the stove, to a two-inch minimum depth. When oil sizzles when a pinch of flour is dropped into it, it is hot enough. Wrap peppers around cheese, roll in the flour mixture, and carefully coat with the egg batter. Drop in the oil and fry until golden brown on each side. Drain on paper towels and then set aside on a wire cooling rack on top of a rimmed cookie sheet in a 250 degree oven to remain hot until all peppers are done.

Serve over rice and top with sauce. Eat immediately, and then scoop out seconds.

* The first time I made this, I used jalepenos from our garden. Too hot! The last two times our garden was barren, and we bought Poblano and Anaheim peppers. Some were too mild, perhaps the Anaheim. For ease of preparation, Poblanos are best, because they are the biggest and easier to wrap completely around the cheese.

* I find the easiest way to roast peppers is to simply broil them close the the heat until the skin is charred and bubbly. Turn them for even roasting, and then the skin is easy to remove. (There are internet tutorials with pictures somewhere, too; I'm just not good enough to provide them!)

* When working with hot peppers, one should use gloves, as the acid from them can burn fingers and hands. I know from experience that this is no old wive's tale...

Red Sauce

About 20 small romas, peeled and seeded (The first time, I used our garden goods, but the last two times, I used the equivalent of home-canned tomatoes-- perhaps a quart and a half-- with excellent results. I left in some of the liquid so that I could simmer the sauce down and let the flavors meld.)
one onion, chopped
8 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
olive oil
1 tsp. salt.
@ 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (I've noticed the last several times, I've added more than this, to taste)
several shakes ground cloves
ground cayenne, to taste
a few shakes of garlic powder, to taste

Saute onion in a bit of olive oil until tender. Add garlic and spices and saute for about 30 seconds to a minute. Add tomatoes, break them down with a spoon, and simmer for about 30 minutes or until sauce is reduced to your liking.

* If using fresh tomatoes- ah, summer!- then pop the tomatoes in boiling water for about one minute before slipping them out of their skins. I don't bother with the seeding for either fresh or canned tomatoes. Just dump 'em in; no one will notice except Martha, and I doubt she's eating at any of our places on a regular basis.

Chicken Mole

2008-01-15T14:13:00.000-08:00

I post this in response to your request, Mateo. Me gusta pollo con mole! Millie actually likes this better than any of us, and since the time I made it a month and a half ago, she's requested it about a dozen times. Go figure.

Many thanks to Paula Deen, whose Quick Chicken Mole recipe I used as a base to which I added and subtracted ingredients.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
at least 6 cloves fresh garlic, chopped or put through garlic press
@ 1 and 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. sea salt
@ 2 tsp. freshly grated orange zest
ground cayenne pepper, to taste
1 can diced tomatoes, drained (I used home-canned tomatoes, to taste, about a pint?)
2 chipotle peppers, roughly chopped (I used about 1/3 cup poblano chiles, roughly chopped, because we had some leftover from making chiles rellenos)
1 (10-ounce) can chicken broth (Boil the chicken carcass to make the broth!!!)
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 (5-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces

Sesame seeds and queso blanco, for garnish
Corn tortillas or white rice, for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent. Add garlic and briefly saute to develop flavor (don't overcook the garlic, however). Add diced tomatoes, chipotles, broth, spices, orange zest, peanut butter, and chocolate. Simmer for 10 minutes. Puree until smooth.

I went so far as to find a recipe for homemade corn tortillas before I came to my senses and served it with white rice. We also had no sesame seeds, and our queso blanco was highest quality monterey jack block cheese from Aldi. :) A few suggestions: if serving with corn tortillas, the amount of sauce is sufficient; if serving with rice, double the sauce. You'll need it. Second: add more cayenne if your hot peppers, like ours, were simply not hot enough. Third: Add or subtract to your liking! This dish is quite similar to the one we had in New York City, but as that's my only experience with chicken mole, I don't have any other standard to compare this to.

De nada!

The Best Home-Baked, Thin-Crusted Pizza Yet

2008-01-15T14:12:00.000-08:00

This is completely and totally not an original recipe, and I'm so glad I stumbled across it. Many thanks to Deb of Smitten Kitchen!

John grew up eating really, really good thin-crust pizza from local Italian places on Long Island. The puffy, thick-pepperoni-ed upstate NY pizzas were a new experience for him, and, honestly, having now tasted those really, really good downstate pizzas myself, I can say there's no comparison. Upstate pizzerias aren't necessarily bad, and some are downright wonderful (Mama Guiseppa's, we laud you for your upstate presence!), but the yummy dough and tomato sauce that most serve doesn't compare to thin-crust pizza with from-scratch sauce.

This isn't really like that pizza, either, but it's the best homemade pizza I've ever made, and I'll keep making it until (if) something better comes along.

We double/triple the following. If you have more than two people living in your household, you'll have to do the same.
*My notes in italics

[Deb's] Pizza, Updated

Yield: One small, thin-crust pizza

Dough
6 tablespoons warm water (may need up to 1 or 2 tablespoons more water)
2 tablespoons white wine (I use white cooking wine)
¾ teaspoon active dry yeast
½ teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1½ cups flour

Assembly
Cornmeal for sprinkling
Flour for dusting counter
½ pound torn-up buffalo mozzarella (as much as I'd like to do the same, we use the cheapest, regular mozzarella available in bulk. For shame!)
Few leaves of torn-up basil

Of course, top this as you would any other pizza, with your choice of favorites.

Whisk wine, water and yeast in a medium bowl until yeast has dissolved. Add honey, salt and olive oil and stir. Add flour and no matter how dry it looks, work it with a spoon and your fingers until it comes together as a dough. Add more water one tablespoon at a time if you need, but in my experience, this is almost never necessary.

Sprinkle some flour on the counter and knead the dough for a minute or two.

If you’re like me and always trying to reduce the number of dirty dishes left at the end of the night, wash the bowl you made the dough in, dry it and coat the inside with olive oil. Put the dough in, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rise for an hour or up to two, until it is doubled.

[Easiest way to tell if a dough has risen enough? Dip two fingers in flour, press them into the dough, and if the impression stays, it’s good to go. If it pops back, let it go until it doesn’t.]

Meanwhile, make some sauce [recipe below].

Preheat your oven to its highest temperature. If you have a pizza stone, sprinkle it with cornmeal and put it in the oven. Otherwise, sprinkle a baking pan with the same.

Once the dough has doubled, turn it out onto a floured counter and gently deflate the dough with the palm of your hands. Form it into a ball and let it rest on a floured spot with either plastic wrap over it (sprinkle the top of the dough with flour so it doesn’t stick) or an upended bowl. In 15 minutes, it is ready to roll out.

Do so on the floured counter until pretty darn thin, then lift it onto a cornmeal-sprinkled baking sheet or pizza paddle. Add the sauce, torn-up mozzarella and slivers of fresh basil.

Slide the pizza from the paddle to your preheated pizza stone, or just put the baking sheet in the oven as is.

Bake for about 10 minutes, checking at 7. Slice and serve immediately.

[Deb's] Moderately Easy Tomato Sauce

4 roma tomatoes
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of fresh garlic, minced (I use more garlic than this)
Pinch of red pepper flakes (Ground cayenne, to taste, will also work)
Splash of white wine (again, I just use cooking wine)
½ teaspoon sugar
¾ teaspoon salt

Bring medium pot of water to a boil. Poach the tomatoes for one minute only, and then drain them. As soon as they are cooled off enough that you can touch them, peel them. The peels should come right off. If they don’t, make a slit in the skins. This always does the trick.

Drain and dry the pot. Put it back on the burner over medium heat. Pour in olive oil and let it heat completely before adding the garlic and stirring it for a minute with a wooden spoon. Add the red pepper flakes and stir it for anther minute. You do not want the garlic to brown. Put the peeled tomatoes in the pot, along with the wine, sugar and salt. Break the tomatoes up with your spoon.

Let the sauce simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down. Carefully taste without burning your tongue and adjust seasonings, if necessary.

Makes enough for one small/medium pizza.

Abby again with the italics:
* I love having extra sauce for dipping, and I hate not having quite enough for the dough, so I usually make one and a half or twice the amount of sauce.
* During the summer, I used fresh garden tomatoes, but this winter, I've used the equivalent of home-canned tomatoes, and it's just as yummy.

*** THE LAST TIME I MADE THIS, inspired by Mama Guiseppa's, I topped the sauce and cheese with very thinly sliced, fresh garlic cloves. John said it was the best pizza I'd ever made, and as I like garlic, I agreed.

Garlic and Herb Cherry tomatoes

2008-01-15T14:11:00.001-08:00

Sigh. Looking at these summertime pictures of summertime food is killing me. I can't wait to make this again this summer. The recipe comes to us from the Barefoot Contessa. I don't really know who she is, but John has a television in the room at work, and though they can't see much on it, it has audio. Being the tomato lover he is, he printed this recipe out and brought it home.

I loved these, but John decided he still likes cherry tomatoes best uncooked, straight from the garden, by the dozen, and unadulterated by anything but copious amount of shaken salt.

3 tbsp. good olive oil
2 cloves freshly minced garlic
2 pints cheery tomatoes (I just grabbed an apronful from the garden....sob!)
2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp. chipped fresh parsley (I think I added less, with a bit more basil instead)
2 tespoons chopped fresh thyme (I didn't grow thyme, so I omitted this)
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan large enough to hold all the tomatoes in one layer. Add the garlic to the oil and cook over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, basil, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to loose their firm round shape. Sprinkle with a little fresh chopped basil and parsley and serve hot or at room temperature.

YUM!

Cumin-spiked Hummus

2008-01-15T14:11:00.000-08:00

I created this at two in the morning the first time, and guests loved it. The second time, I made it a day ahead, and people still requested the recipe, so I assure you that you can make it at anytime of the day, and it will be tasty.

2 15-oz. cans garbanzo beans, juice reserved
4-5 plump cloves fresh garlic, finely minced or pressed
a few tablespoons tahini
3-4 tablespoons lemon juice, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 and 1/2 tsp. ground cumin, to taste
@ 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
@ 1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (in wonderful summertime) or a tsp. dried parsley.
a few pinches of sea salt, to taste
generous drizzle of olive oil
reserved garbanzo juice

Puree garbanzo beans until smooth. Add garlic, tahini, lemon juice, and remaining spices, and puree again. Add olive oil while pureeing and add as much reserved garbanzo juice as needed to make the desired consistency. Serve with crackers or pita wedges.

*I usually taste-test this before adding the reserved garbanzo juice, because sometimes it needs another splash or two of lemon juice first.

Gingerbread Scones

2008-01-15T14:10:00.004-08:00

I like gingerbread. I like scones. I like gingerbread scones served whipped cream and tea.

2 cups flour
3 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cold butter
1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, separated

sugar

In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, combine the molasses, milk, and egg yolk until smooth; stir into the flour mixture just until moistened. Turn on to a floured surface; knead gently 6-8 times. Pat into an 8-inch circle; cut into 12 wedges and place 1 in. apart on a greased baking sheet. Beat egg white until frothy; brush over the scones and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with whipped cream (or, if you're lame like me, serve with lumpy, faux Devonshire cream).

Key Lime Pie

2008-01-15T14:10:00.003-08:00

John and I are fond of key lime pie, so when John's mom brought us some limes on a summer visit, I set some aside for this pie. Although some recipes I've made are in reality lime-meringue pie, this one is the genuine article. (It's only too bad I use regular limes in these pies instead of tiny key limes.) Don't get me wrong. I love lime meringue pie and lemon meringue pie (recipes another day?). I love this, too.

Prepare a graham cracker crust.
6 oz. graham crackers, crushed into crumbs
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 and 1/2 oz. butter, melted
Mix the above and spread into a lightly-greased 9" pie plate.

Bake the crust in a 325-degree oven for five minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.

Filling:
1 and 3/4 cups canned sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
finely grated zest of 3 limes
4 egg yolks

Heavy cream, for whipping

Beat the condensed milk, lime juice, lime zest, and egg yolks together in a bowl until well blended. Remove the crumb crust from the oven, pour the filling into the crumb crust, and spread out to the edge. Return to the oven for an additional 15 minutes or until the filling is set around the edge but still wobbly in the center.

Let cool completely on a wire rack, then cover and let chill for at least two hours. Prepare the whipped cream and serve pie spread thickly with whipped cream.

Garnish with additional lime zest if desired.

*I've also frozen this by the slice and enjoyed it as icy key-lime pie.

Cheeseburger Soup

2008-01-15T14:10:00.002-08:00

Far more savory and not at all greasy as its name implies, I post this delicious recipe for Leah. My mom makes this soup, along with many others, in the fall and winter months, and it's packed with flavor. I've only made it a handful of times because though John's growing favor now includes a wide range of soups, it still boycotts those soups that have a creamy or cheesy base. The girls and I smack our lips and eat it when he has to work late...

It serves as a perfect supper served with homemade biscuits or rolls. Really, as with all soups, homemade bread of any kind is a great complement.

Saute the following together until cooked and tender:
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup diced celery (I skip this b/c we rarely buy celery)
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. parsley
1/2- 1 lb. ground beef

White Sauce:
3-4 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup flour
1 and 1/2 cups milk

Melt butter in pan, stir in flour, whisk in milk and stir until thickened and bubbly. To this sauce add 3/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 2 cups diced or shredded American cheese (I usually use sharp orange cheddar to add more flavor).

In three cups of chicken broth, cook 4 cups diced potatoes (peeled if you must) until tender. Add the white sauce mixture to the broth, stir together until mixed, and add 1/4 cup sour cream (fat free doesn't harm anything).

Mix and heat until warmed through. Breathe in the aromas and serve immediately.

* Due to reasons of thrift, health, and, sometimes, not enough cheese in the fridge, I've only made this ONE time with the full battery of cheese. Usually, I cut back quite significantly on the amount of cheese, and the soup is still scrumdiddlyumptious.

Lemon Bars

2008-01-15T14:10:00.001-08:00

This is another food I never thought I would love so well. I first made lemon bars from this recipe a couple of years ago, and, without fail, a few times every winter I'm struck with a sudden and undeniable hankering for them. I don't make dessert regularly for our family, and most dessert recipes on buildabelly are due to company or get-togethers, but these lemon bars usurp the norm. I usually ONLY make these for us.

We prefer them completely cooled.

Crust:
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour

Topping:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
cherry flavoring oil, if desired (*this comes in an eensy bottle and is usually used for flavoring candy, so it's highly concentrated)

Additional confectioners' sugar

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add flour; beat until crumbly. Press into an ungreased 8-in. square baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, for topping,. combine eggs, sugar, flour, lemon juice, extract, baking powder, salt, and flavoring, if desired, in a mixing bowl. Beat until frothy. Pour over the hot crust and bake at 375 degrees for 18-22 minutes or until a light golden brown. Cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Eat until there are none left to eat (I just may be endorsing gluttony here...).

* I began adding a few drops of cherry flavoring oil, to taste, when I first made these because I had no lemon extract. Now I add it in addition to the lemon extract and it makes these bars even better.

Blueberry and Peach Cobbler

2008-01-15T14:10:00.000-08:00

I still prefer crisps to cobblers, but this was good. How can one fail when blueberries and peaches are involved? Make sure you make this when the fresh fruit is at the height of its flavor to achieve the yummiest results. The dessert will be as flavorful or as bland as the fruit you use.

1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cups sliced, peeled fresh peaches
1 cup blueberries

Topping:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted

In a saucepan, combine the first five ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring until thick. Add fruit. Pour into a greased, 2-qt. baking dish. For topping, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir in milk and butter. Spread over fruit mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes or until topping is golden brown and tests done. Let cool until warm and serve warm with ice cream.

Jack and Abigail's Magic Party Beans

2008-01-15T14:06:00.002-08:00

For Becky.

I lifted this recipe from this book of Mildred's, but I adapted it to suit, so I figured pairing myself with Jack in the title wasn't dishonest.

1 lb. bacon, cooked crisp, crumbled, and set aside
a few tablespoons of bacon grease, reserved
1 lb. ground beef
one onion, chopped
4-6 cans of beans (I used two undrained cans of pork and beans, a can of drained/rinsed kidney beans, and a can of drained/rinsed white beans-- pinto, I think)
1 and 1/2 tsp. dried mustard, or to taste
additional prepared mustard, to taste, if desired
1/2 cup ketchup, or to taste
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, or to taste
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
a smidge of blackstrap molasses, if desired

Cook the ground beef and onions until beef is cooked and onions are translucent. Drain off the fat. Combine beef and bacon with remaining ingredients, including the deliciously greasy bacon grease, to taste. Spoon into a greased baking dish and bake, uncovered at 300 degrees, for 1 hour or until beans reach desired thickness OR put in crockpot on low. Simmer all day until supper. I usually stir in the bacon pieces when the beans have already cooked for a bit so that the bacon doesn't become limp and soggy.

I tasted this a few times while preparing, and though I can't remember for sure, I think I added a bit more vinegar and I think I also sprinkled in a tad of garlic powder.

Roasted Red Pepper Dip with Feta

2008-01-15T14:06:00.001-08:00

This past harvest, we had a bumper crop of peppers from all the seedlings that soaked up sun from the bathroom window, and I roasted a few boxes of red peppers for the first time ever, having an abundance of yummy looking recipes that I've never made because- heavens!- I certainly wouldn't buy the things in those expensive little jars! This dip is okay. I don't know if it's only okay because it's not a stunner or because the taste of roasted red peppers just isn't something I like best as a dip. We'll have to see as I use all the red peppers I froze in other recipes.

My one regret is using so much precious feta cheese in it. There are several things I drool over but only splurge on a couple of times a year-- heavy cream, mushrooms, bacon, and feeeeetaaaa. I love feta cheese and would rather have used it crumbled plain in a Greek salad than in dip. Now I know!

If you have had- and know you like- roasted red peppers in a dip, then let me know if this one is any good. I don't have enough experience to know better!

Slightly more than 2 cups roasted red peppers
@ 1 tsp. sea salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
@ 2 tsp. red wine vinegar
4-5 cloves garlic, freshly pressed
@ 5 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
a few hearty dashes of ground cayenne
1 tsp. lemon juice
olive oil, if desired, for consistency

Puree all the ingredients together. Taste and see if it is good. If so, let me know; if it's only okay, let me know that, too, so that I can edit the title:
"Okay Roasted Red Pepper Dip with Feta"

Gingerbread Waffles

2008-01-15T14:06:00.000-08:00

I added enough liquid to these to make a typical waffle batter consistency. The end result is a cakey- rather than crispy- dessert waffle, reminiscent of gingerbread and best served with ice cream.

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening
one egg, separated
1/2 cup molasses
1 and 1/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves

Beat sugar and shortening until fluffy. Add egg yolk and molasses; beat until combined. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add to sugar mixture and beat until smooth. Add hot water (here's the clincher...the recipe doesn't say how much!!!) and then fold in the egg white. Cook in a waffle iron and serve warm with ice cream or spiced whipped cream.

For spiced whipped cream, simply whip heavy cream as normal and add cinnamon and other desired spices along with the granulated sugar. I recommend ice cream. We didn't have any ice cream OR heavy cream, and I improvised with spiced, sweetened, fat-free sour cream. It just wasn't the same...

Eggs in A Cradle

2008-01-15T14:05:00.004-08:00

This isn't much of a recipe, but it's a fun and yummy twist on regular toast and sunny-side up eggs. We used Millie's book again for the recipe.

5 eggs
5 pieces of bread (we used thickly-cut slices of this bread)
butter
salt and pepper
sliced cheese, optional

Use a biscuit cutter or an overturned cup to cut a circle in the middle of each bread slice (or egg cradles, if we're proper). Save the middle rounds for the birds or for eating later. Butter both sides of the cradle or melt enough butter in the pan to coat it. Place the cradles in the pan over medium heat and drop 1/4 tsp. of butter into the hole of each cradle (unless you've buttered the whole pan).

Carefully crack an egg into each cradle and cook until firm on the cooking side and milky on the "up" side. Flip each piece and cook for only a minute or two longer so as not to overcook the yolk.

Serve with salt, pepper, and cheese, if desired, to three delighted girls and one approving papa.

Snickerdoodles

2008-01-15T14:05:00.003-08:00

Yes, I know. Snickerdoodles are easy and everyone knows how to make them. But they're good! This recipe is for Mitzi, in case you needed your grandmother's cookies from time to time. And for the lone person among the readers who may have never eaten snickerdoodles, they're a soft, chewy, sugar cookie laced with cinnamon.

1 cup shortening (Egads!)
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 - 1 tsp. salt
2 and 3/4 cups flour

Mix together 4 tablespoons sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.

Cream shortening and sugar. Add remaining ingredients and mix just until combined. Roll into balls, and roll the balls in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until lightly brown but soft in a 400-degree oven, about 8-10 minutes.

Green or Red Pepper Jelly

2008-01-15T14:05:00.002-08:00

My mom gave me a jar of this almost two years ago. I set it aside, not really feeling eager to try a jelly made from green peppers. Then I hosted a mini-party here for a group of friends. I cracked open the jar and placed it beside the other cracker toppings thinking maybe someone would enjoy it. Well, nearly everyone raved over it, and the jar was two-thirds gone by the party's end. Most seemed to prefer it spread over cream cheese on Triscuits, but there was one (who shall remain unnamed) who liked it spread on a simple slice of plain cheese! I hesitantly tried it on a cracker spread with cream cheese and was hooked. This past summer I canned many batches of the stuff, and have already finished a few jars all by my lonesome.

Who knows? Maybe you'll think it's odd or gross, or maybe we only liked it because we were a bunch of crazy girls getting together to blab about whatever it is we blabbed about, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm putting it on buildabelly. Take it or leave it.

It leaves a tang on your tongue that demands just one more helping.

4 large red or green peppers, seeds removed
5 and 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 package pectin
3/4 cup white vinegar

Finely chop the peppers in a processor or grinder. Strain, reserving the juice. Measure 2 full cups plus 1/4 cup pepper juice; discard the rest of juice. Combine all but the lemon juice and pectin in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let stand for 15 minutes. Reheat to a boil, stirring frequently, then add lemon juice. Boil for one minute, stirring. Add pectin and boil for three more minutes. Skim foam from the top, ladle into jars, and then invert for ten minutes. Then turn jars upright and leave for 24 hours. Check for proper sealing before tucking jars into the pantry.

Oh, Yes, It's ONIONS and MUSHROOMS!

2008-01-15T14:05:00.001-08:00

If you think I'm posting "recipes" that aren't really recipes just to bulk up the number of recipes I'm posting, you'd be wrong. It does seems a little fishy when you look at this one, though, doesn't it? I just found this picture in my backlog, and don't know its purpose, so here's a "recipe" from this past summer.

Saute onion slices in a few tablespoons of olive oil for several minutes. Add to them sliced fresh mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are done and onion is tender and carmelized, shaking on liberal amounts of salt and pepper while cooking.

Serve with juicy hamburgers, freshly grilled by one's husband.

The End.