:: The Recipe Nook ::

:: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 ::

Misc items

Earth-Shattering Salsa

2 28oz cans crushed tomatoes
1 t onion salt
2 T minced garlic
1/4 c chopped green onion
1 med diced yellow onion
1/2 c chopped grn pep
1 bunch cilantro stems chopped
juice of one lime
1/2 - 1 t cayenne pepper - or more depending on how earth-shattering you like it. ;*)
1 T brn sug (or to taste)

Chill 4 hours or over night.


Desserts

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

1/2 c butter or marg softened
1/2 c sug
1/2 c brn sug packed
1/2 c creamy peanut butter
1 egg beaten
1 t van extract
1 and 1/4 c flour
1 t bkg sod
1/4 t salt
1 c (6oz) choc chips

Icing:
1/2 c conf sug
2 T creamy peanut butter
1 T milk

In mixing bowl, cream butter, sugars and pb. Add egg and van; mix well. Comb flour, soda and salt; stir into creamed mixt. Spread onto greased 9x13. Sprinkle with chips. Bake 350/20-25 min or till lightly browned. Cool 10 min. Comb icing ingr; drizzle over bars and spread into the melting chips to make a delicious choc/pb frosting. Y - 3-4 doz.


Chocolate Eclair Pie

This is a pretty popular, quick and easy recipe - easy for little girls too, and fast and easy clean-up! Great for summer because there's no hot oven!

1 pkg of cook n serve pudding prepared according to pkg directions and let cool at room temp (I prefer the cook n serve
because it tastes better than the instant)
1 box of graham crackers
chocolate frosting

Layer ungreased 9x13 with crackers (May be broken into halves and quarters if needed)
With spatula, spread a layer of pudding over layer of crackers. Repeat layers until you reach the top and spread frosting only
over last layer of crackers. Chill a few hours or over night. The pudding soaks into the crackers and creates a nice texture in addition to a wonderfully yummy taste. Cut into squares.

"Good tips: follow instructions in recipes but use your common sense. Don't be intimidated, just dig right in."
~ Emily Luchetti, Pastry Chef, Stars Restaurant in San Francisco


Bake-Sale Lemon Bars

This is a delicious recipe from Taste of Home. Bill says they are the best he's ever tasted...even better than his mother's. Now that's loyalty!

I love TOH's recipes and love the magazine even more because there are no annoying feminista adds as there are in other mags. Although I must admit that once I did see a pagan prayer someone sent in for their family grace before meals section. That section of the magazine includes a lot of unitarian prayers, so this shouldn't be surprising.

11/2 C all purpose fl
2/3 C conf. sug
3/4 C softened butter or marg
3 eggs lightly beaten
11/2 C gran sug
3 T all purpose fl
1/4 C lemon juice
Additional conf sug.

Combine fl, sug and butter; pat into a greased 9x13. Bake at 350/20min. Meanwhile, whisk eggs, sug, fl, and lemon juice until frothy; pour over the hot crust. Bake 350/20-25 min or til light golden brn. Cool on wire rack. Dust with conf sug. Cut into squares. Y- 3-4 doz.

Magic Cookie Bars

These are a quick, easy wonderful treat to make when you and a bunch of ladies you're having over for a fellowship all have sweet tooths (teeth?). The sweetened condensed milk gives them a unique flavor and texture that gives you a break from run of the mill chocolate chip cookies or bars. Guaranteed to please!

1/2 c butter or marg melted
1 pkg from a box of graham crackers, crushed
1 12 oz pkg chocolate chips, toffee chips, nuts, coconut, whatever you and your family like! (Toffee chips are good for people with nut allergies, like my husband!)
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Pour melted butter in a 9x13. Crush crackers to smithereens in a ziplock storage bag and pour over butter, pressing down to make a firm crust. Pour your goodies evenly over the crust and pour the can of milk evenly over the goodies. Bake in oven at 350 (325 for glass pan) for 25-30 min til golden brown. Let cool completelyand cut into bars.

"...Many home cooks don't trust their instincts when it comes to taste. Be comfortable and confident to try what you know tastes good. People have been eating for thousands of years. It's very difficult to create something entirely new. I enjoy revitalizing and renovating old classics and personalizing them with my own interpretation."

Suzette Gresham-Tognetti
Acquerello
San Francisco, CA

Main Dishes

Iron Kettle Ham and Beans (Or Toni's Not So Earth-Shattering Bean Recipe)

1 lb dry great northern beans (or whatever's on hand)
8 oz fully cooked ham, cubed
1 c chopped onion
1/2 c ketchup
1 t salt

Rinse beans. In Dutch oven, comb beans and 8 c water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover; let stand one hr (Or skip boiling water and soak beans overnight in covered pan.) Drain and rinse beans.

In Dutch oven, combine beans, ham, onion, ketchup, salt, and 4 c fresh water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 3 hours or til tender adding more water if necessary.

Actually, what happened is, I doubled the water in the recipe because I used a hambone. So it came out to be a soup that I decided to put a cup of rice in. Now it's burrito filling! In any case, I'm a lot more comfortable cooking beans than I used to be!




Golden Peach Pork Chops

1 29 oz can peach halves
5 bone-in pork loin chops (1" thick)
1 T vegetable oil
s & p to taste
1/4 c brn sug
1/2 t grd cinn
1/2 t grd cloves
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 c cider vinegar

Drain peaches, reserving 1/4 c of juice. Set fruit and 1/4 c juice aside. In lg skillet, brown chops on both sides in oil; transfer to slow cooker. Sprinkle with s & p.

In bowl, comb brn sug, cinn & cloves. Mix well. Add tomato sauce, vinegar and 1/4 c peach juice. Pour over chops. Arrange peach halves on top. cook on low 6-8 hrs or til meat is tender. Serve over hot, cooked rice. While rice is cooking for 20-30 min, turn the cooker on high and add 1 T cornstarch to a c of the sauce if a thicker sauce is desired.

Chicken with Figs and Lemon

This is a nice recipe for summertime because of the lemon flavoring.

1 14oz can ckn broth
2 1.7oz boxes Knorr ckn Dijonne recipe mix
1 t grd cinn
6 garlic cloves, minced
Grated zest (peel) and juice of one lemon
1 onion, quartered and thinly sliced
8 oz dried Mission figs, halved
2 lbs skinless boneless ckn breasts and thighs

In a 4 qt slow cooker, mix tog broth, recipe mix, cinn, gar, and zest and juice of lemon. Stir in the onion and figs. Push the ckn peices down into the mixture in the pot. Cover and cook on low 4 and 1/2 hrs or til ckn in cooked through, tender and moist.


"I have always loved the kitchen, even as a child. It started out being therapeutic, not just a job. Now it's a therapeutic job. Cooking is a state of mind - half romance and half application... Tips for cooks at home: always start with a glass of wine, don't sweat the small stuff, and always relax. The food knows if you're not having fun. Remain flexible."

Alan Greeley
Golden Truffle
Costa Mesa, CA

Slow-Cooked Baked Stew

2 lbs lean beef round, cut into bite size pieces
2 c chopped onion
2 c quartered potatoes
2 c carrot chunks
2 c lg cut celery
1 8oz can sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
5 T tapioca
1 t sugar
3 c tomato juice

Heat oven to 250. Place meat, veggies, salt, pepper, tap and sug in roaster or Dutch oven. Pour tomato
juice over top. Cover tightly. Bake for 5 hours.

Vegetable Dishes

Earth- Shattering Scalloped Potatoes

4 or 5 thinly sliced potatoes. (Leave skins on for the fiber unless family members complain. I'd make mashed potatoes with the skins on them too, but Bill complains about those.)
2 10 and 3/4 oz cans of any flavor soup you like, heated in sauce pan with a 15 oz can of evap milk (I like to use cream of ckn and cream of shroom)
Grease a 3 qt casserole dish and add two layers in this order - potatoes sprinkled with s&p to taste, soup mixture, colby jack or cheddar cheese. Cover and bake in 350 oven for 45 min - 1 hr. Or you can wave them for 40 min.




Hummus Habb (Chickpea Puree)

1-1/4 c garbs, soaked overnight (our use the 15 oz cans. I won't tell anyone! :*)
S&P to taste
2 t grd cumin
2 lg cloves of garlic, crushed or to taste
4-5 T lemon juice
4 T extra virgin olive oil
pinch of chili pepper (opt)
garnish: sprigs of flat leaf parsley, mint, cilantro, dribble of extra olive oil or a few whole garbs.

Drain peas and simmer in fresh cold water 1 1/2 hours or til really soft, adding salt to taste toward end. Cool a little, extract a few peas to use as a garnish and put the rest through a food processor or blender with rest of ingr and enough cooking water to make a light cream. You must add the flavorings gradually and taste often. Be patient! The taste should be distinctly sharp. Garnish with whole garbs. Serve in flat plates garnished with sprigs of parsley and olive oil. Accompany with crackers, french bread, raw veggies, warm pita bread, etc.





Green Bean Casserole

Every Proverbs 31/Titus 2 woman I know makes this as a staple. It's good enough to eat by itself!

1 12 oz pkg frozen string beans, thawed and drained
1 11 oz can cream of shroom soup (stock up on this recipe cure-all!) :*)
1/3 c milk (many recipes call for 1/2 c, but I prefer it thicker)
1/2 t soy sauce or Tamari (this has a lower sodium content)
1/8 t pepper
1/2 c French's french fried onions

Mix first five ingr tog and bake at 350 for 25-30 min. Top with onions and bake 5 min more.

"A great cook is someone with an excellent palate, a curiosity about foods, a willingness to experiment and make mistakes- then make them right."

Margaret Fox
Cafe Beaujolais
Mendocino, CA

:: Mal du siecle 10:33 AM [+] ::
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