Entries categorized as ‘recipes’
Sicilian Sangria
My next adventure into sangrias also comes from Kim Haasarud’s 101 Sangrias and Pitcher Drinks. We were having pasta so I decided to try the Sicilian Sangria. The recipe from Haasarud calls for orange curaçao, but my trustee wine advisor at the Winery says that triple sec is a good substitute. For the wine, he recommended Citra’s 2005 Montepulciano D’Abruzzo which was a decent $10 wine.
We liked this one better than the New Zealand Kiwi Sangria but it the flavor didn’t hold up over time as well. Although the oranges tasted really good a couple days later.
1 bottle of Italian Red Wine
1 c. orange juice
1/2 c. triple sec or orange curaçao
1/4 c. simple syrup (boil 1 c. water with 1 c. sugar together – don’t stir)
Wedges of 2 oranges
Wedges of 1 peach
1 lime, sliced
Add club soda just before drinking to taste.
Categories: Beverages · Wine · recipes
Tagged: Sangria
Sometimes the public library knows more than you do about what you need. The spring was a rough one and I’ve been trying to rejuvenate ever since it ended. What should I find on display at my local public library branch a couple weeks ago? Kim Haasarud’s 101 Sangrias and Pitcher Drinks. Immediately, I began to remember one of my favorite vacations. It was in Portugal and the first night we had the best sangria. So in honor of that fantastic week in Portugal, I decided to search out the best sangria recipes.
I started with Haasarud’s New Zealand Kiwi Sangria. I know, I know. I should start with a Portuguese sangria, but I’m a big fan of New Zealand sauvignon blancs. I used Spinyback’s 2006 Sauvignon Blanc. We loved this sangria. The danger is that it tastes so nice that you could easily overindulge. Crisp, sweet and very refreshing with a bright, appealing kiwi green color.
1 bottle New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc
1/4 c. Midori Melon liqueur
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
1/4 c. simple syrup (boil 1 c. water and 1 c. sugar together without stirring)
6 kiwis (peel and slice)
1 c. crushed pineapple
Club soda
Mix everything but the club soda. Cover and put in the frig for at least 4 hours.
We tried it straight first and found it very sweet. So add the club soda to taste.
Categories: Beverages · recipes
Tagged: food, Sangria
Rachel Ray to the rescue! A year ago we started changing our diet to deal with cholesterol and high blood pressure and I started looking for a tasty recipe for ground turkey breast. I found it in her Just in Time cookbook. I had to make my own variation on it of course. Rachel’s recipe calls for tomatillos but since I live in the Midwest, good tomatillos can be hard to find in the winter. So last fall I froze up a bunch of green tomatoes. I know it’s a very different flavor but the tartness seems to work.
Here’s my version. It’s a little shorter in time.
1 lb. ground turkey breast
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
1 c. green tomatoes
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
Saute onions in olive oil. Brown ground turkey. Add green pepper, jalapenos and green tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook through. Serve on hamburger buns with slices of avocado.
Categories: recipes
Cherry Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Cherry Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Baking is chemistry. You read that again and again. You need certain ratios and must measuring accurately or things fall apart. My failed rhubarb bread with the missing from a few posts ago is proof of this. But sometimes you get to baking you don’t have what you thought you had in the cupboard. Or frig. I know, I know. A person should set everything out before beginning to bake so you know you have all the ingredients. To be honest, I rarely do that. And I realize that the rhubarb mess wouldn’t have happened if I had done that. But still, I never learn.
Yesterday I decided to try this recipe I found in Midwest Living. From the beginning, it seemed doomed. First, I substituted oil for butter. The recipe called for 1 c. butter, but I had recently read that you can substitute oil for butter but that you need to watch the moisture level. So I reduced it to 3/4 c. canola oil. Next I discovered I didn’t have any eggs. But a month or so ago, Kent had emailed me a site that gave a list of substitutes for eggs. One of them was banana. So in went a banana. Then I remembered that I had three egg yolks in the refrigerator so they were thrown in. This should have been a disaster. But lo and behold, it worked! These are actually pretty good cookies.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix together:
1 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
With a hand mixer, mix the dry ingredients with
3/4 c. canola
Then continue mixing and add
1 ripe banana
3 egg yolks
If you can, continue to blend with the hand mixer and add
2 c. flour
Then stir in
2 c. oatmeal
1 c. dried cherries
Drop tablespoon-sized rounds onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes
Categories: Dessert · recipes
Tagged: Cherry Banana Oatmeal, Cherry Oatmeal, Cookies, cooking, food
Finding a good dessert for just the two of us can be a challenge. Most make just too much for two people. And what about single people. When I was single, I had no business baking a whole cake and eating it by myself. Which is one of the reasons I love crisps.
Crisps are wonderful. You can make a small amount or a big amount. I usually use a muffin pan. And you can make it around whatever fruit is in season. This week I made up several different crisps with whatever fruit looked good at the grocery store – blackberry, apple, pear, cherry and peach. If you just want to make single servings, you can use a oven-safe custard cup or even a muffin pan.
I used a muffin pan and did a different fruit in each cup.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place fruit into cups. For pears, apples and peaches, that’s about a half a fruit sliced.
Squeeze lemon juice over fruit. Top each cup with -
1 t. brown sugar
1 T. oatmeal
1/2 T. chopped nuts (I like walnuts or pecans)
1 thin slice of butter
Pinch of cinnamon
Bake for about 20 minutes 
Categories: Breakfast · Dessert · recipes
Tagged: Apple Crisp, Blackberry Crisp, Cherry Crisp, cooking, food, Peach Crisp, Pear Crisp
It’s raining today. A lot. And it brings back memories of a wonderful, but rainy, week spent in Ireland. During this trip, I learned how important a fulfilling breakfast is to combating cold and damp. Since I was planning on an afternoon of digging and planting in between the showers, I decided to bake one of my favorite discoveries from that trip in Ireland.
Irish soda bread is one of those earthy, dense breads with a crunchy crust that I enjoy with butter and jam. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a big white bread fan (sourdough being the exception). Just one slice will get you through your work and it goes great with a hot drink to relax with when you’re done. This is a low fat version I tried this morning.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix together:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
2 2/12 T brown sugar
Cut into the dry mixture:
2 T. butter
In a separate bowl, combine:
1 egg white, beaten until frothy
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. raisins or currants
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix. Turn onto a floured board and knead about 10 times. Shape into a 9″ round and place on a greased baking. Make a cross in the top of the dough with a sharp knife.
Bake 45 minutes.
Categories: Breads · recipes
Tagged: bread, cooking, food, Irish Soda Bread
Cranberry Mango Granola
Have you ever noticed how small the boxes of granola are in the store? I love granola but it seems like a person only gets a couple of bowls per box. Here’s a granola recipe that is easy and you can make as much as you want.
3 c. oatmeal
1/2 c. wheat germ
1/2 c. chopped almonds
1/3 c. honey
1/3 c. orange juice
Grated orange peel from one medium orange
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. dried mango
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Toast wheat germ on low heat. Mix with oatmeal and almonds.
Stir honey, orange juice, orange peel and cinnamon together in a saucepan. Heat until boiling.
Pour over oatmeal mixture and stir until coated.
Pour onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
Add dried fruit to partially cooked granola. Bake for another 10 minutes or until light brown.
Categories: Breakfast · recipes
Tagged: cereal, cranberry, food, granola
Peach Cornbread
Peach Cornbread Dessert
Kent invented this dish a couple years ago when he was given a jar of home canned peaches. Not only is it delicious, but it is a quick dessert you can put together in no time.
It’s not completely from scratch as it uses Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix. To be honest, I’ve always had a thing for Jiffy mixes. They’re economical and have a good flavor.
1 T. melted butter
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
I can sliced peaches in a light syrup, drained
2 Jiffy Corn Muffin mix packages
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine the first three ingredients and stir mixture into the peaches.
Mix the corn muffin mixes together following the directions on the box.
Put 3/4 of the corn muffin batter in a greased pan. I used a cast iron skillet.
Spoon peaches onto batter leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edge. Dab the remaining batter on top of the peaches.
Bake for 20-23 minutes.
Categories: Breads · recipes
Tagged: cooking, cornbread, food, peaches
Cottage Cheese Biscuits
I’m on a Lee Bailey roll. His cookbooks are fun to read and the recipes are fun to try. He really seems to get true pleasure from food. Today’s biscuits are from The Way I Cook.
This week I was looking through the frig and trying to use some stuff up to make space for more stuff. My eyes spied the cottage cheese. If anyone had a good recipe for cottage cheese, I knew it would be Lee Bailey and he didn’t let me down. Not only are these flavorful but they are quick to put together.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Mix
2 c. flour
1 t. salt
2 1/2 t. baking soda
Cut 6 T of butter into flour mixture
Stir in 1 1/2 c. cottage cheee
Drop balls of dough (heaping tablespoon) onto baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes
Categories: Breads · recipes
Tagged: biscuits, cooking, cottage cheese, food
- 4 cube steaks
- cooking oil
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 5 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Wet coating -
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Directions:
Adjust oven rack to middle position and place baking sheet underneath to catch drips. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. This is where you’re going to put the steaks after they’re fried, to keep warm.
Get your breading mix ready. You’ll need two bowls big enough to dip steaks in, one at a time. In one bowel combine and mix your dry coating: flour, cayenne, black pepper and salt. In the other bowl combine and mix your wet coating: buttermilk, baking soda, baking powder and egg. For a buttermilk substitute, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup of milk.
Place a wire rack on your counter over a cooking sheet. Make sure steaks are dry, blot with a paper towel if needed. Coat steak in flour and shake off access, coat with wet coating and allow access to drip off, put steak back into dry coating and shake of access. Place each steak on wire rack to hold until cooking time.
In your frying pan, add enough cooking oil so that when you place the steaks in, their sides will be half covered. Bring the oil to 375 degrees. Depending on the size of your pan, you may have to fry the steak in batches. You don’t want to crowd your pan, causing the oil temperature to drop too low. Cook steak to golden brown on one side, then turn and do the same on the other. When they’re done dab off extra oil with a paper towel and place on oven rack to keep warm.
Gravy
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion
- 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 2 cups milk
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Directions:
Carefully pour oil from your frying pan, leaving 2 tablespoons of the oil and as much of the brown bits as you can. Add thyme and onion, saute until softened and beginning to brown. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, don’t burn. Add flour, stir until well combined with the other ingredients, about a minute. Add chicken broth and whisk until smooth. Add rest of ingredients: milk, cayenne, salt and black pepper. Blend with whisk and bring to a simmer. Stir gravy occasionally until thickened to the consistency you like. The gravy will thicken more as it cools.
- 4 pounds potatoes, fingerling or Yukon Gold
- 1 large parsnip, peeled
- 1/8 to 1/2 cup butter, to taste
- 1 cup hot milk, cream or half-and-half
- salt and pepper
Directions:
Peel potatoes or clean well and leave the skins on. Cut potatoes and parsnip into similarly sized pieces, smaller cooks faster. Put potatoes and parsnips in a pot and add water until it’s half way up the sides of the contents. Cover and gently simmer until tender, start checking around 30 minutes. Place colander over a bowel to reserve the potato water and drain. Mash the potatoes and parsnips in a bowl, adding butter and milk. Continue to mash, adding potato water until the consistency you like is reached. Salt and pepper to taste.
Ingredients:
- 1 can corn or fresh corn kernels if possible,
- 1/2 to 1 tablespoon butter
- milk
- salt and pepper
Directions:
Drain corn if canned. In a sauce pan, add corn and enough milk to cover bottom 1/4 to 1/2 of the corn. Bring to a simmer. Stir occasionally, make sure the liquid doesn’t go dry, and taste kernels. When kernels reach desired tenderness, stir in butter, salt and pepper to taste.
By Kenton
Categories: Beef Dishes · Economy Food · Sauces · recipes
Tagged: chicken fried steak, cooking, corn, food, gravy, mashed potatoes, parsnips
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