Pecan Pie

I'm a Midwestern gal. My family did not eat pecan pie on Thanksgiving or any other time of the year, but I learned to love it when I worked at Willems's restaurant. Sticky, sweet, crunchy and creamy, I now am in charge of bringing the pies to my in-laws each Thanksgiving.

The first time I made pecan pie, I called my Aunt Mary Jo. She's the best cook in my dad's family, and fairly adventurous (I mean, she'd MADE a pecan pie...) When I called and asked for her recipe, her answer surprised me: "Do you have a bottle of Karo syrup?"

I did. The recipe was on the side of the bottle. This is that recipe. Simple and straightforward. Considering my semi-southern father-in-law likes it, I think it's good.

3 eggs, slightly beaten.
1 cup Karo Syrup (I say use light or dark)
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups pecan (well, maybe a little more. I like pecans.)
1 9-inch unbaked or frozen deep dish pie crust

Combine first five ingredients until well-blended. Stir in pecans. Pour in pie crust. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 50-55 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean.

One final note: My semi-southern mother-in-law taught me how to properly pronounce "pecan" by telling me pee cans are what truckers use. (Bet you'll say it properly from now on.)

My enchiladas

Enchiladas are not something I ate growing up, but my kids LOVE them! We usually use a mild prepared variety of sauce from the grocery store, but one night I promised enchiladas and we had no sauce. I found this recipe in my Betty Crocker Cookbook, used the same technique I usually do and was surprised at how similar the finished product was to the rich, creamy not too-spicy concoction we were used to. Oh! And I know exactly what's in them.

I like this recipe so much, I'm working on a recipe to can the sauce in bulk. (More on that when I get it right.)

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, diced (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese + a handful
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1/4 tsp pepper
1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper
2/3 cup water
1 tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 chopped fresh or 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cumin
2 whole green chilies, chopped (I use the canned ones)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 can (13-15 ounces) tomato sauce
About 8 flour tortillas

Part 1: Brown the meat and onions.

Brown the ground beef and onions and drain.

Part 2: Make the sauce

Heat bell pepper, water, chili power, oregano, cumin, chillies, garlic and tomato sauce to boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. If you prefer a smooth sauce (vs. slightly chunky) remove from heat and puree in a blender or in the pot with an immersion blender. Don't mind the chunks? Skip the blending.

 Part 3: Make the filling


Combine the ground beef mixture, sour cream, cheese, parsley, pepper and 1 cup sauce. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the mixture into each tortilla and roll.

Part 4: Bring it all together

Place the filled tortillas into a greased 9 x 13 (ish) baking dish. Pour remaining sauce over all, and sprinkle with an extra handful (or two) of cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

Cheat Chicken Soup (aka, my daughter is sick and I have neither time nor a can!)

To me, homemade chicken soup is something that should take time. Probably something that should only be made on a weekend, when I have that much time.

(Am I the only person whose ideas about soup means they are only eating canned soup?)

Tonight, my little girl wasn't feeling well. I offered her soup, thinking there was a can in the pantry. *sigh.* No can. Now what? Well, I had my trusty chicken soup base, a chicken breast, noodles and veggies. That's soup - right?

So I tried it. And it worked! Better than the canned stuff even - though, not as good as mom's.

10 cups chicken stock or soup base*
1 large (or two medium) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 stalk celery, including leaves, chopped
1 bag (12-16 oz) frozen soup vegetables**
1 1/2 cups dried pasta (your favorite variety, I had elbow macaroni - and if you don't like THIS many noodles, use less.)

Begin by adding the cubed chicken breast and celery to the stock. Bring to a boil. Add the soup vegetables, bring back to a boil. Add the pasta, and cook until it's tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

* I always keep a soup base mix in a my pantry. It's a cross between a powder and a paste. You can certainly use boullion cubes or canned or refrigerated chicken stock. Feel free to use a low-sodium version as well. I found it fascinating that my full-salt mix had less salt than the "healthy" canned soup.

** I just happened to have an actual bag of "soup vegetables" in the freezer. (99 cents on sale - score!) You could really use any bag of frozen veggies that includes veggies you like in soup.

Cabbage and bacon

Cabbage seems like such an "old" vegetable to me. I grow it to make egg rolls and always have extra that I'm not sure what to do with. Enter a quick web search, and I found an "old" recipe. One that some of the seniors in my life assure me, their mothers made them. Depending on how long you cook the cabbage, it's a bit crunchy and yet soft with a burst of acid (in a good way.)

I have to admit, I like the recipe so much, I've taken to (gasp!) buying cabbage at the grocery store.

Half head of cabbage

3-5 slices of bacon

1/2 of a medium onion

vinegar

salt

pepper

Core and slice the cabbage into wedges no more than an inch wide. Dice the onion. Slice the bacon into slightly larger than bite size pieces. Add the bacon to a large saute pan over medium to medium-high heat. Let the bacon render (cook down) for a minute or two and add the onions. When the bacon just starts to turn brown, add the cabbage. Then, stir every few minutes for about 15-20 minutes. 

Season with salt and pepper, stir well. Just before serving, add a splash of  vinegar and stir. 

I prefer to serve with vinegar on the side.

Snickers Salad

Mmmm... creamy, sweet with bursts of tartness. So simple, yet so yummy.

2 small containers (or one large) whipped topping.
1 small package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 granny smith apples
3 Snickers candy bars

Gently combine whipped topping and pudding mix.
Chop apples and candy bars into small pieces. Fold apples and candy bars into topping.
Eat!

Grown up grilled garlic toast

One of my favorite places at the grocery store is the day-old bread rack. For just a dollar, I can find clear signals about what I should have for dinner tonight.

In the summertime, if wide French Bread loaves are on the rack, they're mine and they're on my grill in this somewhat sophisticated manner. It's garlic toast with cheese, so my kids eat it, but it's also smoky and and ever so slightly sharp from the Parmesan.

12 oz of French Bread (NOT baguettes) cut into 1-inch slices
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese
3 tsp garlic powder (divided)
1 tsp parsley
1 stick of butter, melted
1.5 cups shredded "orange" cheese (cheddar, colby, etc)

In a medium bowl, mix the Parmesan cheese and garlic powder well. Add the parsley, stirring again. Add the shredded cheese. Use your hands to mix it all together. Set aside.

Add 1 tsp of garlic powder to the melted butter and stir well. Brush both sides of each piece of bread with the melted garlic butter.

Exit the kitchen and head to the grill. 

Make sure your grill grates are hot, heating them using a low flame (a grill temp of about 200 degrees). Toast the first side until just golden brown. Flip. Turn the burners off. Top with cheese. Close the grill cover. Wait until cheese is melty. 

Cake in a Cup

Hot chocolate? A latte? No! It's cake

My husband has more will power than anyone I know. It's August. His chocolate Easter bunny? Still in the cupboard.

When I make a dessert, he and the kids each eat one piece and the the rest goes into my mouth over the course of the next day or so. So good for my tummy, so bad for my thighs.

This recipe helps with that. No, it's not high culture, but it's light, delicately spongy and truly diet-friendly. Thanks to Mare at work for sharing it with me.

For the mix:
1 box Angel food cake mix
1 box cake mix, any flavor*

Mix the contents of both mixes together and store in an airtight container.

For the cake:
1/3 cup of the mix

My kids REALLY like this, though I do not condone stealing!

3 tbsps water

Add the mix and water to a coffee mug. Stir until well blended. Microwave on high for 1 minute (since microwaves and coffee cups vary, it make take a little longer)

Top with whipped cream, ice cream, frosting or nothing at all. The center will be hot, so if you're going to feed to the kiddos, let it cool a bit.

* The angel food mix lightens the flavor of the other cake mix, so consider using something like a devil's food for a chocolate.

Red Rhubarb Gelatin Salad

I love this stuff. It's layers of salty crunch and sweet cream enveloping a tangy gelatin layer. This recipe is a conglomeration of two other recipes  - one from The Joy of Rhubarb and the other I've already shared. It's a great way to use rhubarb and still get the decadence of the creamy and crunchy layers from the original raspberry version.

Gelatin layer:
6 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 6-ounce (large) package of cherry or strawberry gelatin (sugar free is fine too)
Optional: 1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries (do not thaw)

Creamy layer:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
8 oz whipped topping
1  - 1/14 cups sugar (taste)

Pretzel layer:
3/4 cup melted butter
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups hand-crushed pretzels 


Coat a 9x 13 pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Combine rhubarb, sugar and water in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat stirring frequently, until rhubarb is tender (8 min). Stir in dry gelatin. Pour hot mixture into prepared pan. Gently drop strawberries on top. Refrigerate until set.

Meanwhile, mix pretzels, melted butter and 2 tablespoons sugar. Spread into a 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Stir loose from the pan and let cool.

Combine cream cheese, whipped topping and sugar with hand mixer at medium speed. Spread mixture over set gelatin and chill again for at least 30 minutes, or until ready to serve.

Just prior to serving, top with pretzels.

Rosemary Focaccia

This recipe is one of the reasons I grow rosemary in the summertime. I love the process of baking bread, and specifically in this recipe, squishing the onions into the dough. The result is fragrant, crispy with a lovely Italian butter (olive oil) flavor.


2 medium onions, chopped finely
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 1/2 tsps active dry yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
1/2 tsp salt
3 to 4 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons snipped fresh rosemary OR 2 tsps dried , crushed
Cornmeal
Coarse Salt

In a hot skillet, saute onions in 1/4 cup oil until tender; cool. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in 1/4 cup of water water; let stand for 5 minutes. Bubbles should have formed on the top of the water. If not, your yeast is bad. Buy new yeast :)

To the yeast solution  add 2 tablespoons oil, salt and remaining water. Add 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic (about 7 minutes.) Add onions and half of the rosemary; knead 1 minute longer to incorporate onions and rosemary. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 40 minutes.

Punch down dough. Turned onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Pat each portion flat. Cover and let rest for 5 minutes. Grease two baking sheets and sprinkle with cornmeal. Stretch each portion of dough into a 10-inch circle on prepared pans (or a rectangle...)  Cover and let rinse until doubled, about 40 minutes.

Brush with remaining oil. Sprinkle with coarse salt and remaining rosemary. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

Move over bald guy. Cleaning the microwave

During grilling season, I really don't like turning on my stove. I'd rather use my microwave. I love it for reheating leftovers, but we have more of a hate relationship when it comes time for cleaning.

Enter a mug of water.

Fill a mug of water to the top. Nuke it for five to ten minutes. It'll release a lovely steam that loosens all the baked on junk. Then, easily clean most of it away. No special bald-guy sponge required.

Eric's Amazing Steak Marinade

I don't grill. Well, I don't need to. I have a husband who is extremely skilled in grilling.

This is a marinade he's been using in recent weeks. It started as a recipe he pulled from the Internet and has grown and changed as he's been cooking us steaks.

1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp Dijon-style prepared mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 medium sized steaks.

Combine all ingredients except steaks. (Don't obsess too much about measurements. Just don't go overboard on the soy sauce.) Mix well.

Marinade steaks in a bowl, container or resealable bag - whatever will help bring the steaks in as much contact as possible with the liquid for about 1 hour.

After an hour, transfer to the grill, cooking as desired.

Margherita Pizza

Tomorrow is opening day for the Twins. Tradition in our house dictates we have a floor picnic tomorrow during the game. Unfortunately, it's also on a Friday during Lent. No meat. *sigh*

So, despite it being out of season, we're going to do Margarita Pizza tomorrow.

Margarita is a not a traditional tomato-based American pizza, but instead a very sophisticated pizza with the  clean flavors of olive oil and mozzarella cheese (use the good stuff...) and amazing bursts of basil throughout.

You either start with the World's Best Pizza Dough. (No really, it's the BEST) or One Hour Pizza Dough.

Then you'll need:

Olive Oil (a glug or two)
A pastry brush, grilling brush or, in a pinch, clean hands
Mozzarella cheese
A tomato or two roma tomatoes, seeded and thinly sliced
Several fresh basil leaves (yes, fresh. Ok, you can't substitute, but I don't recommend it.)

Preheat your oven appropriately for your dough.
Roll the dough out into whatever thickness you enjoy.
Brush the dough with the olive oil. How much? Just enough so that your finger can slide. Not so much that you have an oil slick.
Top with mozzarella. As much or little as you like on your pizza.
Top with thin slices of tomato and sprinkle with a chiffonade of basil.
Bake as your dough recipe suggests.

How to "chiffonade" basil:

The idea of a chiffonade is to cut really thin strips. If you've tried, cutting a leaf into thin strips is hard. So, take the basil leaves and roll one around the other (envision rolling tobacco.) Once you have a rolled group of leaves, take a small knife and slice off a little of the leaves at a time. In the end, you'll end up with really tiny strips that you can sprinkle over your pizza. YUM!

One hour pizza dough

This isn't my favorite pizza dough recipe. But, my favorite recipe takes 2-3 hours. It's simply not practical for a weeknight. So, if my kids want homemade pizza on a weeknight, I use this one. I can go from yeast to eating pizza in about an hour.


1 package (2 1/2 tsps) active dry or instant yeast
1 cup warm water (110 - 115 degrees)
2 tbsps olive oil (I recently used an Italian herb infused olive oil. YUM)
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 - 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
pizza toppings

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Wait for the yeast to proof (bubble. If it doesn't bubble, it's dead, you need new yeast.) After the yeast proofs, add oil, salt and 1 1/2 cups flour. Beat the mixture until smooth. Stir in enough of the rest of the flour to form a stiff dough. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes.


Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Spray a cookie sheet or pizza pan with non-stick spray (if using a pizza stone, DO NOT spray.) Place dough on pan and push and roll out to your desired thickness. Pinch edges Poke all over with a fork to prevent bubbles.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until browned. Add toppings (let me recommend Margarita Pizza) Bake for 10-15 minutes more.

Garlic or Garlic Herb or just Herb Bubble Loaves

Yeah, my family has purchased the garlic bread in the foil that you throw in the oven, wrapper and all. Yeah... this is SO WAY better. It does take time. It's not something that you can throw into an oven next to a frozen pizza when you get home from work. This is more of a Saturday work of art.

This recipe is a combination of two different recipes. 

Bread:
2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast (or, instant yeast, in which case, the rising times will be thrown.)
1/4 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
2 cups warm milk (again, 100 to 115 degrees)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp shortening
2 tsp salt
6 1/4 - 6 1/2 cups flour (I've subbed up to a cup of wheat flour)

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Wait 5 minutes for yeast to proof (bubble.) If the yeast doesn't bubble, it's dead. Start over.

In the meantime, turn on your oven to warm. When it's preheated. Turn it off. 

After the yeast proofs, add milk, shortening, salt and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough of the rest of the flour to form a soft dough. 

Turn onto a floured surface, knead until smooth and elastic; about 6-8 minutes. (Ok, I admit it, I use my mixer to do this.)

Place in a greased bowl (one that can go into that warm oven, so metal is preferred.) Turn the dough once to grease top. Cover, and let rise in the warm oven until doubled (about an hour)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 

Punch the dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and divide into fourths. Divide each section into 12 pieces. Shape each piece of dough into a ball, dip in butter mixture of your choice (see below.) Place in two greased 9x5x3 loaf pans (note, I said place, not pack.) Pour any extra butter over the top. Cover, and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes. Pull to eat.

Butter options:

Option 1: Garlic Butter
Mix 1/2 cup melted butter with 1 tbsp dried parsley flakes and 2 tsps garlic powder

Option 2: Garlic Herb Butter
Mix 1/2 melted butter with 8 minced garlic gloves, and 1/2 tsp each of dried oregano, thyme, and crushed rosemary.

Option 3: Herb Butter
Mix 1/2 cup melted butter with 1/2 tsp each of dried oregano, thyme and crushed rosemary

Pork Chop and Cheat Mushroom Gravy

When I was a kid, I HATED this dish. HATED it. My kids actually like it. This is a pretty simple recipe to make on a weeknight when you're trying to juggle kids, etc. Not, it's not high culture. It's just good hearty fare; especially with mashed potatoes.

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup*
1 can of water (you can also mix half water, half milk if you like it creamier)
4-6 Pork Chops (1-2 lbs)

Take a large non-stick pan (large enough to hold all of the chop in a single layer) and set it on a burner on high heat for 3-5 minutes. Add your chops. Step back. Yep. Step back. Wait a minute or three until the chops have seared. You'll know because you can easily lift them out of the pan. If you attempt to lift them straight up, and you feel the chop sticking, wait some more.
Then, do the same thing on the other side.
Meantime, mix the soup and water.
Once both sides are seared. Add the soup/water and put a lid on the pan. Turn the heat down a bit to medium. Then, let it simmer until the chops are done.For thin chops, that could be 10 minutes. For thicker ones, up to a half hour.

Really, serve with mashed potatoes. The gravy is good that way.

* Feel free to sub any reduced fat or reduced salt version of Cream of Mushroom. Any of the specialty versions are good too. Cream of Onion is excellent as well.

Russian Tea

When I was a kid, we drank gallons of hot chocolate. As I moved into my teen years, I learned to drink this stuff. It's a much more grown-up comfort drink, with an citrusy bite and the type of comforting spices normally reserved for apple crisp. Add Vodka if you need to sleep.

3/4 cup instant tea
1 cup sugar (or Splenda)
2 cups Tang
3 oz (enough to make 1 quart) pre-sweetened lemonade mix
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 ginger

Mix all of the above. Store it in an air-tight container. Add 2 tablespoons to hot water and mix.