A Keeper!

Cottage Pie

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large yellow onion, diced medium
2 large carrots, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 pound ground beef or lamb
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 cup dark (porter) beer (I used beef broth)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup frozen peas
1 large russet potato (3/4 pound), very thinly sliced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high. Add onion and carrots and cook, stirring often, until onion is soft, 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and stir in tomato paste. Add meat and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until almost cooked through, 3 minutes. Add thyme and beer (or beef broth) and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring frequently, until slightly reduced, 2 minutes. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir to combine. Add 1 cup water and cook until mixture thickens, about 2 minutes. Stir in peas and season with salt and pepper.

Transfer mixture to a 2-quart baking dish. Top with potatoes, overlapping slices. Season potatoes with salt and pepper and drizzle with 2 tablespoons butter. Bake until potatoes are browned around edges and tender when pierced with a knife, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

Source: Martha Stewart, Everyday Food, November 2010. You can find it here.

Notes: I didn't change a thing except that I only had small potatoes, not a large potato...so, I ended up using about 3 small potatoes to cover the top of the pie. The sliced potatoes was a nice change of pace from the mashed potatoes on top. The flavor of the beef/vegetable mixture was so yummy. This is definitely a great recipe. A keeper! The recipe says it makes 6 servings. I would say it is 6 small servings (that would work if you had some good side dishes or a hearty salad. Otherwise, I would say that it makes 4 filling servings.

Oh, and thanks, Mom for the mandolin you gave me a few years back for my birthday. It is a must for this recipe!

 

Quick, Easy, Cheap, and Only a Few Ingredients

Three-Ingredient Marinara

Ingredients:

1 can (28 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper

Directions:

In a food processor or blender, puree tomatoes until smooth. In a straight-sided skillet or small pan, heat oil over medium. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add pureed tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened, about 15 minutes.

Source: Everyday Food, March 2013. You can find it here.

Notes: This was so quick and easy to make.You can add a teaspoon of Italian seasoning if you want, but it isn't necessary. This is my favorite comfort food. I could eat spaghetti and marinara forever! So, so good!

Oh, and recipes never count salt, pepper, or things like water as an ingredient...so I realize that there are four lines of ingredients, but you get the idea. :) You can also top this with Parmesan cheese, if you like. You can also a little more flavor by adding 1 teaspoon (or to taste) Italian seasoning, dried basil, or dried oregano.

Brownies!

 

Brownies are one of my favorite things ever. If you don't like brownies, you need to question your priorities.

Guilt-Free Brownies

Ingredients:

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg white
1 container (2.5 ounces) prune puree (1/4 cup)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch-square baking pan with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, bring an inch of water to a simmer over low heat. Place chocolate and butter in a medium heatproof bowl; set bowl over pan. Stir occasionally until melted. Remove from heat. Immediately whisk in sugar, egg, egg white, prune puree, vanilla, and salt until smooth.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour and cocoa. Stir into chocolate mixture just until incorporated.

Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake until top is firm (a toothpick inserted in center will come out with a few moist crumbs), about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan. Using foil, lift brownies from pan. Peel off foil. Using a serrated knife, cut into 16 squares.

Source: Martha Stewart Everyday Food January/February 2005. You can find it here.

Notes: I microwaved the chocolate rather than doing a double boiler approach. You could also use 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips if you don't have the baking chocolate bars. Also, I don't know how guilt-free these brownies are when you and your husband pretty much eat the whole thing between the two of you within 48 hours.

Ghirardelli Classic Brownies

Ingredients:

4 oz. Ghirardelli semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Bar (1 bar)
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8x8-inch pan. In a heavy 1 1/2 quart saucepan, melt chocolate bar and butter over low heat, stirring until smooth.

Remove pan from heat; cool to room temperature. Stir in brown sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, mix well. In bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly fold in flour mixture; mix well. Stir in chips. Pour butter in pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Source: I got this on the back of my bar of Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate baking bar. You can find the recipe here.

Notes: The only change I made was that I didn't stir in any chocolate chips since I didn't have any on hand. They still tasted great. I can only imagine that chips within the brownie just made it even more awesome!

Labor Intensive

Back in the day, I could have Sunday dinners when I did really gourmet cooking.  Today, our numbers can fluctuate anywhere from 8 to 20 on a normal Sunday.  If we had out-of-state kids, our total number could now be up to 31.  That means I can't pan fry anything and costs always have to be taken into account.

Well, last week we had a weird Sunday and it was just my husband and me.  Time to try something a little gourmet and a little labor intensive.  All of these taste much better than they look since I don't have the camera talents that my daughters do, but here you go.

BALSAMIC MUSHROOMS

1/3 c. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound fresh mushrooms (recipe called for sliced, the picture showed whole)
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons white wine (cooking)
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the garlic in olive oil for 1 to 2 minutes.  Do not brown the garlic.  Add mushrooms and cook 2 more minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in balsamic vinegar and wine, cook another 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cook's notes:  These were a good solid side dish.
Source:  Allrecipes.com Submitted by Christy J

GREEN BEANS WITH ORANGE OLIVE OIL

3/4 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and halved
4 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon orange zest strips
kosher salt to taste
1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Place green beans in a steamer basket over 1 inch of boiling water and cover.  Cook until the beans are tender but still firm, 2 to 4 minutes.  Drain and keep warm.

Meanwhile, stir together olive oil and 1 tablespoon orange zest strips in a large skillet over medium-low heat.  Cook and stir until the olive oil has been infused with the flavor of the orange zest, about 2 minutes.  Discard zest strips.

Toss drained green beans with flavored olive oil and kosher salt over medium heat until the beans are hot and coated with oil.  Place onto a serving dish and sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon grated orange zest to garnish.

Cook's Notes:  These were really, really good.  I don't know if it was the oil or the zest that really infused them, but orange & green beans went surprisingly well together.

Source:  Allrecipes.com  submitted by Shakl

FONDANT POTATOES

3 large whole russet potatoes
2 tablespoons high-heat-resistant vegetable oil, such as grapeseed oil
salt and ground pepper to taste
3 tablespoons butter
4 sprigs thyme, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup chicken broth, or more as needed

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Cut off ends of russet potatoes, stand potatoes on end, and peel potatoes from top to bottom with a sharp knife to make each potato into a uniform cylinder.  Cut each cylinder in half crosswise to make 6 potato cylinder in half crosswise to make 6 potato cylinders about 2 inches long.

Place potatoes into a bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes to remove starch from outsides; pat dry with paper towels.

Place a heavy oven-proof skillet (such as a cast iron skillet) over high heat.  Pour in vegetable oil; heat oil until it shimmers slightly.

Place potato cylinders with best looking ends into the hot oil, lower heat to medium high, and pan fry potatoes until well browned, 5 to 6 minutes.  Season with salt and black pepper.

Flip the potatoes onto the opposite ends.  As they cook, use a paper towel held with tongs to carefully blot out the oil from the skillet.  Add butter and thyme sprigs to skillet.

Pick up a thyme sprig with tongs and use it to paint butter over the top of the potatoes.  Cook until butter foams and foam turns from white to a pale tan color.  Season with more salt and pepper.  Pour chicken stock into skillet.

Transfer skillet to preheated oven and cook until potatoes are tender and creamy inside, about 30 minutes.  If potatoes aren't tender, add 1/4 cup more stock and let cook 10 more minutes.

Place potatoes on a serving platter and spoon thyme-scented butter remaining in skillet over potatoes. Garnish with thyme sprigs.  Let cool about 5 minutes before serving.

Cook's Notes:  I used rosemary instead of thyme.  These were really good and interesting.  Niel thought they were bland and I probably should have painted them better.  But they were a most interesting texture...different than steamed and different than baked.

Source:  Allrecipes.com Submitted by Chef John

CHICKEN BREASTS IN CAPER CREAM SAUCE

4 boneless chicken breast halves
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed

Season chicken breasts with lemon pepper, salt, dill weed, and garlic powder.

Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Place breasts in skillet and increase heat to medium-high. Turn chicken frequently, until brown, about 5 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium, and cook 5 to 7 minutes, until breasts are cooked through.  Remove chicken to a warm serving platter, and cover with foil.

Return skillet to stove, and increase heat to high.  Whisk in whipping cream, whisking continuously until reduced to sauce consistency, about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir in capers.  Pour sauce over chicken, and serve.

Cook's notes:  The picture just didn't turn out, but this was really good.  I love capers!

Source:  Allrecipes.com submitted by Mommy To2Boys

And the Star of Today's Show......Cinnamon

My oldest sister does not like cinnamon.  Shocking!  I mean, who doesn't like cinnamon?  I guess there are people who think cinnamon candies are too hot, but she doesn't even like the flavor of anything that has ground cinnamon in it.  So if you are in that teeny tiny minority, stop reading right now, because these are two of the best cinnamon inspired cookie bars that you could ever find.

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 Tablespoons water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cups chocolate chips
3/4 cup cinnamon chips
3 cups oats

Directions:

Cream shortening and sugars.  Add eggs, water, and vanilla, and mix well.

Add salt, soda, and cinnamon and mix well.  Add flour and mix until incorporated.

Add chocolate and cinnamon chips, folding or mixing gently until evenly incorporated.

Add oats and mix until combined

Spread dough evenly in a quarter sheet pan (or a 9x13 cake pan) and bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes.  Let cool 30 - 60 minutes before cutting.

Source:  jensfavoritecookies.com. You can find them here.

Yes, she has been posting some really nummy looking recipes lately.  Talented lady.

Cook's notes:  The cinnamon chips are Hersey's brand.  They are carried at Harmon's, but not Smith's. I sprayed the pan with cooking spray because I'm a little worried about things sticking.  I might try these next time on the jelly roll pan.  I think they would cook a little more evenly.  I took these to a family party and they were a real hit.

Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 tablespoons powdered milk
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting:

6 oz. cream cheese, softened
6 tablespoons salted butter, softened
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 - 3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and powdered milk for 30 seconds, set aside.  In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy, scraping down sides and bottoms of bowl occasionally.  Add in eggs one at a time mixing until combined after each addition.  Blend in sour cream and vanilla.  With mixture set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until combined.  Butter a 13x9 inch baking dish then with butter hands gently press and spread cookie dough into an even layer in dish.  Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 17 - 21 minutes.  Allow to cool completely then frost with cream cheese frosting.  Cut into squares and store in an airtight container.

For the frosting:  In the bowl of an electric stand mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together cream cheese and butter until pale and fluffy, occasionally scraping down sides and bottom of bowl.  Stir in vanilla.  With mixture set on low speed, slowly add in powdered sugar and continue to mix until fluffy.

Source cookingclassy.com via jensfavoritecookies. com. You can find it here.

Cook's notes:  I don't have a stand mixer.  Perhaps these would have been fluffier with one, but the hand mixture worked fine.  These were really good and very easy.  I wish the picture had been better, but I was taking them somewhere and only could photograph a small amount.

Feasting, Feasting

So our family gathered last Sunday and really celebrated being together.  Love those kids of mine! Well, we gathered together recipes from various sources.  The menu was a hit by all and included Famous Butter Chicken (posted previously--you can find the original post here), Parmesan Rolls (also posted previously--you can find the original post here), Roasted Broccoli, Pesto Potatoes, Orzo Salad with Chickpeas, Dill and Lemon, and Whoopie Pie Cake.

Back in the dark ages, when I went to school we had a class called Home Ec.  We learned the basics of sewing, cooking and nutrition.  I remember the teacher telling us the importance of having different colors on plates; and while I got good grades in the class, that's an area I always fail in.  I must be drawn to orange/yellow foods, so it was good to throw the broccoli on there.  In fact, I was going to go with the old corn standby until I realized that the plate would be nearly monochromatic.  Check out the pictures and tell me what you think.  Do you have an easy time playing the color mix-up game?

Famous Butter Chicken

Ingredients:

2 eggs, beaten
1 cup crushed buttery round cracker crumbs
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
Ground black pepper, to taste
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place eggs and cracker crumbs in two separate shallow bowls. Mix cracker crumbs with garlic salt and pepper. Dip chicken in the eggs, then dredge in the crumb mixture to coat.

Arrange coated chicken in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Place pieces of butter around the chicken.

Bake in a preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Source: Allrecipes.com submitted by HAULBUR. Currently at 4 1/2 stars and almost 1,800 reviews. You can find it here.

Notes: This is super tasty and easy chicken. Not low calorie though!

Roasted Broccoli 

Ingredients:

1 head broccoli
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat over to 375 Degrees.  Chop a head of broccoli (do not rinse immediately prior to preparing!) Mince 2-3 cloves of garlic.  Put broccoli, garlic, 2 T olive oil and a few shakes of salt and pepper in a zip top plastic bag. Shake it up!! Spread out on baking sheet.  Place on top rack and bake for about 30 minutes. Broccoli will be crunchy and delicious.

Source:  Facebook recipe

Parmesan Rolls

Ingredients:

36 Rhodes rolls
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/3 - 1/2 c. grated Parmesan (not fresh, bottled kind such as Kraft)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

Directions:

Place rolls on jelly rolls sheet sprayed with cooking spray.  Mix remaining ingredients and spread evenly over frozen rolls.  Allow dough to thaw and rise until doubled.  This takes 3-4 hours.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or so until rolls are done.

Cook's notes:  I really dislike when recipes are vague, but I've made this one so many times through the years that I don't really notice the details.  I eyeball everything so adjust the seasonings, etc. to taste.  These are rolls worth the experimentation as they always get rave reviews.  The butter melts down while cooking (Hence, using a flat cookie sheet is not a good idea.  Thus the jelly roll pan.) and gives the rolls a buttery, cheesy flavor.  These are a good go to recipe and work with almost every main course.  But they are yellow/orange.  Sigh.

Source:  Who knows?  It was so long ago.  Maybe I've blocked it.  Some ward dinner back in the early 80's.

Pesto Potatoes

Ingredients:

5 - 6 medium russet potatoes (I used red potatoes)
Pesto Sauce (we used some of our homemade from an earlier post, found here)
Parmesan Cheese (fresh, grated)

Directions:

Scrub, but don't peel, potatoes and cut into large cubes (about 3/4") and place all the pieces in a large plastic bag.  Add about 3/4 cup of Pesto sauce to the bag(I probably only used about 1/3 - 1/2 cup). Shake until the pesto is coating all the potato pieces.  Add more pesto as necessary.

Pour the contents of the bag onto a greased cookie sheet.  (I lined mine with Reynolds Wrap Non-Stick foil...which is well worth the price for certain things...because I have had potatoes stick to pans and it's not a pretty picture.  I may have even still sprayed a light spray of cooking spray.  Yes, I have a fear of having to scrape off starchy potatoes that stick like glue from metal pans).  Arrange the potatoes in a single layer and sprinkle with the Parmesan.

Bake at 450 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until they are cooked through and look lightly toasted.

Source:  Sarah's brother-in-law, Jabe, brought this to a family dinner.  A man who cooks!  Cool! He found it on a blog called Favorite Family Recipes. You can find it here.

Notes: We used homemade pesto because our recipe is nut free and we have tree nut allergies in our family. However, Classico also has a nut-free option as well. Just be sure to read the ingredients label!

Orzo Salad with Chickpeas, Dill, and Lemon

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
1/2 c. thinly sliced green onions
1/2 c. (2 oz) crumbled feta cheese
1/4 c. chopped fresh dill
1 (19 oz) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon cold water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon bottled minced garlic

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.  Drain and rinse with cold water, drain.

Combine pasta, onions, cheese, dill and chickpeas in a large bowl, tossing gently to combine.

Combine juice and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Drissle over pasta mixture; toss gently to coat.

Source:  Cooking Light, August 2002. You can find it here.

Cook's Notes:  I left out the green onions.  While Emily was out of town, Sean and Robin were still here, and they don't like onions. I think they would have added a little kick.  The mix of beans and pasta was a little different for me. Sarah liked this recipe a lot better than I did, but the flavors mixed well and really good the next day. Chopped chicken could be added to give the salad more of a main dish feel.

10/14/2013 notes: Here are Sarah's suggestions: use the most flavorful feta you can find. I would suggest adding the lemon juice, salt, and feta to your taste. I took home a bunch of the leftovers and added a little more feta (that I had in my fridge) as well as some additional lemon juice. The lemon juice and dill are the star flavors of this dish and you want them to shine through. You could barely taste the lemon juice with the amount in the recipe as originally written. With the extra lemon juice the flavors all popped and complemented each other.

Whoopie Pie Cake

Ingredients:

Cake:

  1 box chocolate cake mix + 1 egg (prepared per package directions, so oil, etc. will be necessary)
  cocoa powder for dusting the pan

Filling:

  1 cup butter, room temperature
  2 cups Marshmallow fluff
  3 cups powdered sugar

Ganache:

  1/2 cup heavy cream
  1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 2 9x13 sized pans with butter and dust with cocoa powder and set aside.  Prepare cake according to package directions, but add an extra egg to the mix.  Split the batter evenly between the 2 pans and bake for 15 - 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow cake to cool completely.

Filling:

Beat butter and marshmallow fluff together until smooth. Turn mixture to low and slowly add in powdered sugar.  Beat at higher speed for 30-60 minutes until smooth.  Spread filling on top of one of the cakes.  Top the filling with the other cake.

Ganache:

In small saucepan bring the heavy cream to almost a boil.  Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate chips. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then pour over the cake.

Can also be baked in two 9" round pans.

Source:  Originally cookiesandcups.com  via Jensfavoritecookies.com. You can find it here.

Cook's notes:  I almost threw these away.  I used dark cocoa to dust the pan and it looked like they were burned.  Niel talked me out of it because he couldn't bear the thought of chocolate cake going straight from the oven into the garbage.  The dark cocoa powder didn't end up tasting burnt at all, but Niel had to rip up part of one cake to prove it to me.

I really didn't measure the Marshmallow fluff and I may have had less than some people would want. The original recipe called for a stand mixture and I don't have one.  I didn't have an issue using my hand mixture. A happy accident for me was that I mixed up the ingredients in the wrong order.  I mixed up the butter and powdered sugar before I added the fluff.  Turns out that fluff has eggs and Johnny isn't supposed to have them.  So allergy note there.

This recipe was by far the star of the show.  Niel's kids were oohing and aahing the minute they saw it on the counter when they walked through the door.  It was, in a word, yummy.

This Is a Slow Cooker Recipe?

Slow Cooker Tuscan-Style Chicken Sandwiches

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lb (about 6) boneless skinless chicken thighs
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup roasted red bell pepper (from a jar), cut into bite sized strips
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons purchased pesto
1 (10 in) focaccia (Italian Flat Bread)
6 slices tomato

Directions:

Place chicken thighs in 3 1/2 or 4 quart slow cooker. Sprinkle with garlic, roasted pepper strips and salt.

Cover; cook on Low setting for 6 to 7 hours.

Just before serving, remove chicken from slow cooker; place on large plate. Shred chicken with 2 forks; return to slow cooker and mix well.

In small bowl, combine mayonnaise and pesto; blend well. Cut focaccia into 6 wedges; split each in half. Spread cut sides with mayonnaise mixture. With slotted spoon, place about 1/3 cup chicken mixture onto bottom half of each focaccia wedge. Top each with tomato slice and top half of focaccia.

Source:  Bettycrocker.com. You can find it here.

Cook's Note:  I used our homemade pesto and this was wonderful.  I really wish I had made more when our basil was producing, but an early frost just took it for good.  Also, I used ciabatta instead of focaccia and it worked well.  I think either would be fine.  This was a really easy recipe and would work for bigger groups.