Saturday, March 28, 2009

Carrot Salad with Raisins and Walnuts

Carrot Salad with Raisins and Walnuts

4 large carrots
1/2 c raisins
1/2 chopped walnuts
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 c vinegar

Clean and shred the carrots
Add the raisins, walnuts, sugar, and vinegar
Toss together and let rest for 2 hours
Good for potluck dinners

I was wanting a carrot salad but something light. So I made this up.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Chicken Satay Improvisation

I've been craving Chicken Satay, or as I like to call it Curried Chicken with Peanut Butter Gravy and Rice.

I knew I had the chicken, peanut butter, curry powder, and rice, But I had to wing it on the rest of the spicing.

First I got out the 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced them into bite sized pieces and put them in a ziplock bag. Then I started looking around for spices: 3 teaspoons curry powder, 2 cloves of fresh garlic, sliced, 4 silver dollar sized slices of ginger (I store my ginger in a jar of sherry in the fridge), 1 tablespoon ginger flavored sherry, 2 tablespoons lemon juice (I didn't have lime juice), 2 tablespoons tamari, and 2 tablespoons fish sauce. I let the chicken marinate in all that for a couple of days.

Then I started 1 cup rice to cook, and sauteed the chicken in small batches in a little bit of vegetable oil. I understand that Satay means skewered but I don't like using the broiler and didn't want to mess around with skewers. When all the chicken was cooked I thew out the ginger and cooked the rest of the marinade and the garlic slices. Then I added 1/2 cup peanut butter. If I had a can of coconut milk I would have used it to thin the gravy, but I didn't have any flavored liquids on hand so I had to use water. When the gravy was a good consistency I tasted it. It was a bit bland, so I added 1 tablespoon curry, 1 teaspoon tamari and some salt (I've been craving salt lately). Then I mixed the cooked chicken into the gravy and served it over the rice.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Grandma Tanner's Meatballs and Sauce

1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 c grated Parmesan or Romano
2 slices of bread moistened cubed and moistened in milk
1-2 cloves garlic crushed
1/4-1/2 c minced onion
1 t basil
1-2 T flour
2 eggs

Mix well with hands. Roll into balls, let sit
Brown in hot fat quickly or in oven on a dark baking sheet at 400 for 20 min.
Simmer in Marinara for 1 1/2 hours

Marinara
Saute:
2 T olive oil
1/2 onion chopped
2-4 cloves garlic
Add:
1 can tomato paste-large
1 can diced tomatoes-large-28 oz
water to make slighly thin sauce
1 T basil
1/2 T oregano
1 t salt
1 T sugar
1-2 bay leaves
Let simmer several hours

Real baked Mac and Cheese

Cook 1 lb of pasta
sauce:
1/4 c butter-melted
1/3 c flour- add after butter is melted
3 c milk-slowly add while stirring. Bring to a low boil for 1 minute
1 t mustard-add
pepper-add
2 + c grated cheese-stir in until just melted

Combine with pasta. Put into buttered casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 1 hour until golden brown.

Really Good Chocolate Cake-Hershey's

2 c sugar
1 3/4 c flour
3/4 c cocoa
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
2 eggs
1 c milk
1/2 c oil
2 t vanilla
1 c boiling water
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla and mix for 2 minutes at med spee. Stir in boiling water-batter will be thin. Pour into 9x13(or 2 9" round pans) greased and floured pan. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes;remove from pan and cool thoroughly before frosting.

Chocolate frosting:
1/2 c butter-melted
2/3 c cocoa
3 c powdered sugar
1/3 c milk
1 t vanilla
Combine and beat on med until spreading consistency. Add more milk if needed.

White chicken chili

1 c cooked white beans
2 c chicken stock
1 lb chicken breast
1/2 med onion-chopped
1/4 bell pepper -chopped
1/2 t garlic
2 1/2 T butter
2 1/2 T flour
1/2 c milk or half and half
1/2 T chili powder
1/2 T cumin
1/2 T tabasco-or to taste
2-3 oz canned chilis-to taste
garnish with grated Jack cheese or sour cream

Saute vegetables in butter, add diced chicken and chicken stock and all other seasoning except milk and flour. Simmer until vegetables are soft. Combine milk and flour, stir in gradually to thicken, simmer for 1 minute. Serve with garnishes.

Easy Thai Curry

In large pan:
Saute 1 lb of meat,chicken,tofu or shrimp in oil (with chopped garlic and gingerroot as an option for more flavor)
Remove from pan.
Make sauce:
1 can coconut milk
1 t Thai curry paste red or green -more if you want it hotter
3 T fish sauce-don't smell it
3 T brown sugar
bring to a low simmer.
Add 2-4 cups vegetables. In the winter I add frozen stir fry veges, in the summer whatever is available. Add meat. Simmer briefly until vegetables are cooked appropriately and serve over rice.

Rolls-pesto,orange,cinnamon options

Basic roll dough:
2 c mashed potatoes-real or instant
4 c milk
1/2 c sugar
2 T yeast
1-2 eggs
1/3 c oil
1 t salt
6-8 c flour
Combine all ingredients except flour, gradually add flour until a soft dough is formed. Continue adding flour until a firm dough is formed ,knead until smooth and soft. Let rise covered until double. Punch down and divide into 2-3 sections and roll out into elongated oval.

Possible fillings:
Pesto- spread thinly over dough. I usually spread a little mozzarella over the pesto. It makes a
nice dinner or sandwich bread.
Orange - spread melted butter over dough. Then cover with a mix of 1 c sugar thoroughly
blended with the rind of half an orange(or 1 orange per 2 cups sugar)
Cinnamon-spread melted butter over dough. Then cover with brown sugar , sprinkle with cinn
amon. Optional add raisin and walnuts

Roll up and slice into 1 inch slabs. Put on greased sheets. Let sit 5 minutes. Bake at 350 20-25 minutes depending on whether they are close together or separate. Sweet rolls can be glazed with icing. 2 c powdered sugar, 1 t butter-soft, vanilla or OJ and enough hot water to make runny glaze.

more soup recipes from our house

Ajiaco-Columbian national dish

1-2 chicken breasts
2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 t olive oil
3 cloves garlic
3 medium red or yellow waxy potatoes-cubed
1 large russet peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 chopped onion
2/3 c each green beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans.
1 1/2 t basil
3/4 t white pepper
3/4 t paprika
1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro-optional
In large pot cook chicken in several cups water until done. Dice and return to broth. Saute
garlic and onions in oil. Add to pot. Add 4 c water and more salt and potatoes cook until soft(the russet should disintegrate and thicken the soup and the waxy potatoes remain in cubes). Add remaining vegetables, cook until tender. Let simmer a short time.
Now for the fun at the table. Garnishes:
capers
chopped avocado
chunks of corn on the cob
cream

This is a fun company dish. The garnishes really add a lot, served with bread and salad it's very tasty. It keeps well for the next day.


Turkey Wild Rice Soup

Another very tasty soup(will spring ever come???)

Saute:
1 medium chopped onion
2 diced celery ribs
2 diced carrots
1/2 c butter or olive oil
Add:
1/2 c flour
Add:
4 c broth (turkey or chicken)
Add:
2 c cooked wild rice
Add:
2 c milk or light cream
2 c diced cooked turkey
1 t parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Simmer to thick and tasty goodness. Sometimes I add more vegetables. The sum is much greater than the components.

Lentil Chili from the lentil capital of the US-2 quarts

1 c lentils
6 c water
1/2 onion-chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
1 c tomato puree
1/2 c salsa
1 T cumin
1 T dry garlic
2 T sugar
1+ t salt
dash chili flakes
dash cinnamon
dash cilantro
1/2 oz. mexican chocolate

Cook lentils in water for 20 minutes then add rest of ingredients
Simmer for 20-30 minutes until tender and blended

March 4,2009

I found a very good gingerbread recipe at last. I wanted something moist and tasty.

From The Enchanted Broccoli Forest/Mollie Katzen



In saucepan saute for 3 minutes, remove from heat

5 T butter
3 T freshly grated ginger

Beat together vigorously for several minutes, then beat in butter mix:

1/2 c honey
1/2 c molasses

Beat together combine with above:
1/2 c yogurt
1 egg

Combine:
1 c ww flour
1 c unbl. white flour
1 1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 t dry ginger
1/2 t cloves
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg

Combine wet and dry mixes thoroughly but not excessively. Pour batter into buttered 9x9 pan. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Enjoy.


The other item we have been making a lot of is scones. This recipe makes lovely moist scones. Our current favorite addition is craisons. Most of the time I make them plain so they can be covered with butter and jam.

2 c flour
2 t baking powder
2 T sugar
1/2 t salt(to taste)
3 T butter(or shortening)
2 eggs
1/3 c milk(or best with 1/2 c buttermilk)


Mix dry ingrediants. Cut in shortening. Mix milk and eggs together, then add slowly to flour mix. Add additional ingredients as desired. Bring all together into a ball and knead 22 times. Roll out 1/2" cut into wedges or circles. Brush with milk(dust with sugar if desired) Bake ~18-20 minutes at 425. Makes 8-10 scones.