Jennifer's Week Twenty-Three Recipe: Enchilada Lasagna

While I was going through Alton Brown recipes for last week's entry, I ran across this one and made the mistake of saying aloud, "'Enchilada Lasagna'?" to which Chad replied with "Make it!" So, I did.


Enchilada Lasagna


For Sauce:

2 dried chipotle chiles, stems and seeds removed, diced

3 large cloves of garlic, minced

2 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds, freshly ground (I used already ground cumin.)

2 cups chicken broth (I used a low sodium variety)

3 cups tomato sauce

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper


For Filling:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 pound boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cubed

1 1/2 cups onion, diced

Pinch kosher salt

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

12 (6 inch) corn torillas (I may have used 1 or 2 more than this - I didn't count them out)

3 cups shredded queso fresco* or Monterey Jack cheese

Nonstick cooking spray

Combine the chiles, garlic, chili powder, cumin, chicken broth, tomato sauce, salt and pepper in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes or until the chiles are soft. Set aside until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the chicken until cooked through, approximately 7 to 9 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and place in a medium bowl. Add the onions to the same pan along with a generous pinch of salt, decrease the heat to medium-low and sweat for 4 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and oregano and cook until the onions are tender, 2 to 3 minutes more. Add the chicken back to the pan and remove from the heat.

Spray a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with non-stick spray. Place 1/2 cup of the sauce into the bottom of the dish. Dip 4 tortillas into the remaining sauce and lay them into the bottom of the dish. Cut 1 of the tortillas in half to evenly cover the bottom of the dish. Top this with half of the chicken mixture and 1 cup of the cheese. Starting with 4 more tortillas, repeat the layers, ending with the last 4 tortillas on top. Pour remaining sauce over the dish and top with remaining 1 cup of cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven on the middle rack for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese on top is bubbly.

* it should be noted that fresh queso fresco (redundant?) does not shred, it crumbles.


Would I make it again? Erik's reaction: "Mommy, this is awesome!" So, yes. Chad and I have come to the conclusion that Erik really likes Mexican/Tex-Mex food. He seems to always eat it with mucho gusto.

Karin's Bonus Week Twenty-Two Recipe: Blueberry Pie

Fresh blueberries were on sale this last week at the grocery store, and I haven't had the fresh kind in a very long time. After asking Nate what type of dessert he'd like, pie was the winner. I used my trusty Betty Crocker 40th Anniversary Edition Cookbook as I wanted to try and make a fruit pie not using my standard tapioca method.

Blueberry Pie

Pastry for 9-inch Two Crust Pie
3/4 c sugar
1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I used Penzey's, of course)
6 c of fresh blueberries, or so
1 T lemon juice
1 T butter, cut into small pieces

Heat oven to 425 deg. Prepare pastry and line bottom of pie plate (I used a Pyrex pie plate). Mix sugar, flour and cinnamon in large bowl. Stir in blueberries. Turn into pastry-lined pie plate. Sprinkle with lemon juice and dot with butter. Cover with top crust and slit to let steam and juices escape; seal and flute edge. Cover edge with strip of foil, or pie crust cover. Remove during last 15 min of baking to allow edge to brown.  Bake 35-45 min or until crust in brown and pie is bubbly.

This tasted wonderful. I forget how nice fresh fruit tastes compared to frozen until spring/summer comes around again. The blueberries stayed nice and plump and didn't get mushy. The only issue was with the dry ingredients. When turning the blueberry mixture into the pie crust, the flour/sugar mixture ended up dumping in all in one spot, and although I tried to spread it out a bit, we ended up with clumps of cooked 'crust' in the middle of the pie. Next time I would maybe try and sift the berries out and then pour the dry mixture evenly over the crust.

Karin's Week Twenty-Two Recipe: Sesame Green Bean Salad

As often happens, I find out late in the evening that Nate has been assigned a dish to pass at the weekly work potluck. Usually these things are not decided until rather late in his shift, at which point all groceries are closed. He got assigned 'salad' this time around, and for some reason I recalled a green bean salad with sesame seeds on it that I have had at some point long ago. After some searching on Allrecipes.com. I found a few sesame green bean salad dishes that could be combined to make what I was looking for, and took only 20 minutes to make.

Sesame Green Bean Salad

1 lb fresh green bean, washed and trimmed
1 T soy sauce (I used reduced sodium variety)
2 T olive oil
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
pinch salt
pinch black pepper
2 T white sesame seeds

Fill a large pot halfway with water, and bring to a boil. Whilst waiting for the water to boil, and to avoid the watched pot syndrome, make the dressing. Whisk together all other ingredients except the sesame seeds in a small bowl. Place the green beans in the boiling water and blanch for about 3-4 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a small pan on medium heat. Place the sesame seeds in the pan, and shaking every minute or so, toast seeds until nutty brown.

Remove green beans from heat, and drain. Wash with cold water to stop cooking process, and to chill slightly.

Place green beans in large serving bowl, or Tupperware bowl (if sending off to work), and drizzle with dressing. Toss until coated. Sprinkle with 1/2 of sesame seeds, toss. Sprinkle with remaining seeds, toss again. Chill in refrigerator until serving time. Toss again right before serving, or if using Tupperware, shake with top on (and sealed!) to coat again with dressing.

Votes on this from the Men-in-Tan were positive. Even with this dish containing all veggies and no mayo. I liked it, and the leftovers kept well for my lunch the next day. The dressing does make quite a bit, and I would venture to guess I could use the same amount of dressing with twice as many green beans, and half as many sesame seeds.

Chris's Week Twenty-Three Recipe: Green Beans with Mint

It's good to have a summertime goal and my goal is to NOT let the peppermint I planted this spring take over my deck. Oh, yes... it's in a pot by itself well away from other planters, but you know what mint is like: turn your back for a moment and there's mint everywhere!

To this end, I've been looking at recipes that combine green beans and mint. Not seeing any exactly to my taste, I came up with the following.

Green Beans with Mint

Sautee together:

1 T olive oil

1/4 onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, roughly minced

Just when the onions and garlic are getting tender, add:

2 springs of mint, chopped - I just used a pair of kitchen shears to chiffonade the mint directly into the pan.

Saute for a another minute or so. Add mixture to:

2 c green beans cooked to your favorite level of tenderness (I like mine slightly crunchy)

Serve hot.

Would I make this recipe again? Yes! The mint adds a hint of sweetness to the veg. If you're not a genus allium fan, try adding the onion mixture to 4 c green beans.

Jennifer's Week Twenty-Two BONUS Recipe: No Crust Coconut Pie

So, the other day I ventured to Penzeys to stock up on rosemary and parsley. I decided that instead of just dashing in, grabbing what I need, and leaving (which is how I normally shop) that I would browse and see if they had anything else I would like to have in my kitchen. No other spices or anything like that, but I spied a recipe for No Crust Coconut Pie and was intrigued. So I ripped off one of the little sheets of paper and stuffed in my pocket before checking out and going home. I had originally planned on making it as dessert to consume after the Curry Chicken Pot Pie, but I couldn't find the little piece of paper! Stupid Jennifer forgot that when she got home that she changed shorts and the recipe was still happily tucked away in the pocket. So, this afternoon, I took a shower and donned the shorts from my Penzeys trip, put my hands in my pockets et voila! there was the recipe! So I made it today instead.



No Crust Coconut Pie

1 stick butter (1/2 cup) melted (I used unsalted butter)

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 - 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup flour

2 cups milk

3 cups shredded coconut


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a roomy bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Pour into an ungreased 9-inch pie plate and bake at 350 until browned, about 35-45 minutes. Do not put in a pie crust - this dessert makes its own. Let cool before slicing, and run a thin knife around the rim of the pie plate before cutting.


I also whipped up a meringue for the top. It just felt needed for some reason.

Would I make it again? If some event called for a coconut pie, yes. I'm a person who loves the flavor of coconut, but sometimes the texture can be bothersome. I will eat this pie again. The meringue addition could really go either way, it really didn't make a huge difference to the pie as far as I was concerned.


I really feel that it should be noted that the contributors of this recipe for Penzeys are apparently named Edna and Bud Wiser.

Jennifer's Week Twenty-Two Recipe: Curry Chicken Pot Pie

So, after posting last week's recipe from Rachael Ray and lamenting that it was not an Alton Brown recipe, I figured that this week I would make a recipe from AB! So, I did! This is from the Good Eats episode "Casserole Over".


Curry Chicken Pot Pie

4 cups frozen vegetable mix (I used peas and carrots)

1 to 2 tablespoons canola oil

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth/stock

1/2 cup milk

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon curry powder

2 tablespoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

2 cups cubed cooked chicken

1 package puff pastry

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss frozen vegetables with canola oil and spread evenly onto a sheet pan. Place into oven and cook until golden brown.

In a saute pan heat 1 tablespoon of butter and sweat the onion and celery. In another saucepan, heat the broth and milk. Add 2 more tablespoons of butter to the celery mix and cook out the water. Add the flour and curry and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the hot milk mixture and cook until thickened. Add the parsley, salt and pepper. Toss the browned vegetables and the chicken. Pour into a shallow baking pan, or a large terra cotta pot base, lined with foil, and top with 6 to 8 circles of puff pastry. Place into the oven and cook until puff pastry has browned and the mixture is hot and bubbly, about 25 minutes.

Would I make this again? Yes, I would! However, it seems that we have come to the conclusion in the Wagner Household that Chad just does not like curry. (I know, I know...) He blames it on the fact that growing up he ate mostly 3 different meals: spaghetti, burgers and Hamburger Helper. Erik will not have a similar problem - he likes curry! And I refuse to make Hamburger Helper.

Update: Olive Oil Cake

Purely in the interest of culinary research, I made another Olive Oil Cake, this time making it (nearly) true to the original recipe from Good to the Grain and using chopped rosemary and bittersweet chocolate. (I did drop the chocolate from 5 to 3 oz, feeling that there really can be too much of a good thing.)

Tricia was kind enough to help me evaluate the cake and pronounced it "good". I don't know.... I almost think the whole wheat flour gave it a little more texture than the spelt flour. Clearly this means I'll have to make another batch to compare.

Jennifer's Week Twenty-One Recipe: Chicken Cordon Bleu Burgers

It has been well established here that I live with two carnivores. Beef loving carnivores. Now, while I enjoy beef too, we really have a love/hate relationship: I love to eat it, but my body hates it. So I have been trying to find news ways of taking things that usually involve beef (like burgers) and finding alternatives. Hence, this recipe from Food Network. (Rachael Ray, not Alton Brown unfortunately)


Chicken Cordon Bleu Burgers

2 tsp vegetable or olive oil

4 slices Canadian bacon (Note: these should be thick, otherwise double or triple up)

2 pounds ground chicken (2 pounds for 4 burgers... did not do the math until I started making them)

2 tsp sweet paprika

2 tsp poultry seasoning (I halved this after reading some reviews of the recipe)

2 tsp grill seasoning blend (Montreal Steak Seasoning recommended)

1 shallot, finely chopped

4 deli slices of Swiss cheese

2/3 cup mayonnaise

3 rounded Tbs Dijon mustard

2 Tbs freshly chopped taragon

4 kaiser rolls

8 leaves leaf lettuce

1 tomato, sliced

Preheat grill pan, nonstick griddle, large nonstick skillet or table top electric grill to medium high heat.

Add 2 tablespoons of oil and Canadian bacon. Warm bacon and caramelize it at edges, 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Remove to a piece of foil. Fold foil over loosely to keep warm.

Combine chicken, paprika, poultry seasoning, grill seasoning, shallot. Score meat with the side of your hand to separate into 4 equal amounts. Make 4 large patties, 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Drizzle patties with oil and place on hot grill pan, griddle or in skillet. Cook 5 minutes on each side, until chicken is cooked through.

Top patties with reserved cooked Canadian bacon and Swiss cheese. Fold each slice of cheese in half to fit the burger. Cover loosely with tin foil. Turn off pan and let cheese melt, 2 minutes.

Combine mayonnaise, mustard, tarragon. Slather bun tops or English tops with sauce. Place Cordon Bleu burgers on bun bottoms and top with lettuce and tomato. Put bun or muffin tops in place. Serve with oven fries.

Would I make this again? Probably, but the burgers will be a much more reasonable size next time!

Chris's Week Twenty-Two Recipe: Mediterranean Bean Salad

Summertime dishes are calling to me! I distinctly heard three-bean salad whispering my name last weekend, but I had no green beans or wax beans. Are we going to let a little thing like that stop us? No! Besides, this is the opportunity for a new blog recipe....

The following mixture is based very loosely on this recipe and would have had benefited from fresh parsley, but since my parsley's in the growing-up stage I used Penzey's Mural of Flavor spice blend. I'll add the parsley next time, but I'll definitely keep the Mural of Flavor!

Mediterranean Bean Salad

1-15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed

1-15 oz can kidney beans, drained & rinsed

juice of one lemon

2 tomatoes - chopped

1/4 cup thinly sliced onion

1 t Penzey's Mural of Flavor

2 T balsamic vinegar

Mix all ingredients, cover and refrigerate for at least two hours, stirring occasionally. (Wait until the next day and it's even better!)

Would I make this recipe again? I have a feeling it's going to become a summertime staple!

Tricia's week 22 recipe: Spicy Tuna quesadillas

No, I do not mean the spicy tuna that you can find in a sushi roll that is most delicious, this is the kind that comes from a can and has spices added to it.  Sad, I know...  However, this recipe is what happens when I look at the cupboards, which I find quite bare, and say to self, "what do you want for lunch", when I am the only one home.

Spicy Tuna Quesadillas
1 can tuna in water
enough mayo to hold tuna together
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon Essence (see what happens when you make a spice mix and have a LOT of it!)

Mix the above together in a bowl until happy w/ mix and add:
2 stalks celery, cleaned and chopped

Then:
two softshell tortillas, I used Cruz Soft Taco Size.

place one on plate and spoon above mix onto it, leaving enough room around the edges so that you don't make a mess in frying pan...add to top of this mixture:

enough Essence seasoning to color the top
Penzey's Red Pepper flakes, as much as you like to achieve your spice level
1 handful shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 handful shredded mozerella cheese
second tortilla

Tips for cooking quesadilla:
use pan bigger than tortilla, and plate that fits in pan, so you can place plate on top, flip over, and slide back into pan when flipping (less mess)
use non-fat vegetable cooking oil, like Pam, rather than butter

spray large frying pan w/ cooking oil.  Place quesadilla in pan on mediaum heat.  cook 3-4 minutes or until warm but not fully browned.  Flip.  Cook on other side 5-8 minutes or until browned.  Flip one last time to original side.  Brown up original side (you may wish to use a larger pot lid to cover to keep all warm.  Remove to plate, cut into fourths or sixths, and devour!

would I make this agian?  Yes!  The recipe is quite tasty, a variation on tuna salad and quesadillas I have never tried before.  The spices were very good in it, so much that I didn't need sour cream or salsa with it.  I devoured the whole thing...which looking back is quite a lot of food and now I'm very full! 

Karin's Week Twenty-One Recipe: Cajun Chicken

This week ended up being a busy week with both of us working for a number days. I needed a recipe that was quick and tasty. We haven't had chicken in a while, so this fit the bill. It's a combination of a few recipes from my appropriately titled, Busy Woman's Cookbook, where everything seems to have less than 5 ingredients.

Cajun Chicken

2-4 chicken breasts, or enough parts to feed 2-4 people
1/2 c bread crumbs
1 T Penzey's Cajun Seasoning
black pepper, to taste
1 egg, slightly beaten

Bring the chicken to room temperature, while you mix the Cajun Seasoning and pepper with the bread crumbs in a medium flat-bottom bowl. Beat the egg in another small bowl. Spray a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray(I used a 9x13 pyrex). Set up an assembly line with items in the following order: chicken, crumb mixture, egg, baking dish. Using one piece of chicken at a time, roll in crumb mixture, then in egg, and again in crumb mixture. Place gently in baking dish so that breading does not fall off.

Bake for 20-30 min in 400 deg oven until chicken is done.

Would I make this again, probably, although possibly with more Cajun seasoning depending on who is eating it. I liked the current amount, while Nate thought there could be more. Double-dipping the pieces makes a nice crust on the chicken that stayed on even through baking.

Tricia's Week 21 Recipe: Rhubarb Bread

Three years ago I planted a rhubarb plant.  It was a nice plant, but a bit small - brand new to the world.  Three years later, it has broad leaves and thick stems.  It was time to harvest it to make something delectible.  So, out of (many) stalks of my rhubarb plant, the initial harvest of the plant, came this weeks recipe.

Rhubarb Bread

Ingredients:

1.5 C brown sugar

2/3 C veg. oil

1 egg

1 C sour milk ***I read this wrong and used one cup sour cream....see below

1 tsp salt

1 tsp soda

1 tsp vanilla

2.5 C flour

1.5 C Rhubarb Diced

Stir together in the order given, pour into loaf pans, 2 smaller or 1 large (I used 2 smaller, and think this is a better choice)

Topping:
1/2 C sugar
1 Tbs butter

mix will  (cut sugar into butter) and put on top of batter

Bake 350 for 55 min or until set.

Would I make this again?  YES!  Suprisingly, or maybe not, the sour cream was a good substitution for the sour milk.  The bread turned out moist and well set, and I think I'll try that w/ another recipe, like banana bread!    Perhaps it is the lovely sugar crumble on top, but whoa, this is a tasty treat!

Karin's Week Twenty Recipe: Shrimp & Peppers Pasta

I have been greatly remiss in posting my last few weeks of recipes, so you're getting them all in a bunch. I'm going to try and be better in the coming weeks.

This recipe is one I pretty much made up for a light quick lunch on a workday. The ingredients are simple, and to make it only takes the time needed for pasta to cook al dente. I have since made a slightly different version again, with great success.

Shrimp & Peppers Pasta

1/2 box rotini pasta
1 lb raw frozen shrimp, thawed and peeled
2 bell peppers, not green (I used 1 orange and 1 red)
1 medium size sweet onion
2-3 T olive oil
1 T chopped garlic
Shredded Asagio cheese, for sprinkling
Black pepper to taste

Place water for pasta on to boil. Meanwhile, peel shrimp and chop peppers & onion into bite-size chunks. Heat 1 T of olive oil in non-stick pan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for about 2 min. Add onion and peppers and saute for a few more minutes. At this point, you may need to add a bit more olive oil to the pan to keep things from sticking. Place pasta into boiling water, and place shrimp into pepper/onion mixture. Cook until shrimp are pink. Drain pasta and return to shrimp/pepper mixture. Toss to combine. Serve with shredded cheese and black pepper sprinkled on top.

Would I make this again? Yep, already have. It is nice and light, yet filling enough for my carnivore. It also tastes great cold, or reheated. It helps greatly if the peppers are nice and ripe and sweet. I didn't cook things until they were mush, rather let them sweat a bit to give up some juices and keep their crunch.

Karin's Week Nineteen Recipe: Ramps 'n' Taters

Last year we had discovered ramps at our local Farmer's Market, and loved the way they tasted. What are ramps, you ask? They are sort of like a combination of leeks and green onions.  They can be called Wild Leeks, and are only available in the early spring. This year, we saw them again, and I decided to look for a recipe to use them with. I found several, but this seemed the easiest and I had all ingredients on hand.

Ramps 'n' Taters

4 or 5 large potatoes, diced
1 lb bacon
1.5 lb ramps, cleaned and cut up (we used about 13, and only the white bits)
6 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper

Fry the bacon in a large skillet until crispy. Remove from pan and set aside. Fry diced potatoes in bacon grease for 3-4 minutes, then add ramps, and cook until potatoes are done. Add eggs and scramble with potato mixture. Place bacon on top, and simmer for 2 minutes until heated through.

This was excellent. And easy. And tasty. Although, we did take out about 1/2 the bacon fat before putting the eggs in, as otherwise I think we'd have had bacon grease soup. And we crumbled the bacon into the pan at the end. We had this for a weekend breakfast, and would definitely make it again. It also reheats well in the microwave, if you can't finish it all in one sitting. There was also discussion that this would make a great camping breakfast, using green onions instead of the ramps. I think the camping version may be trialled later this summer...

Karin's Week Eighteen Recipe: Oatmeal-Walnut Cookies

I had an urge to make cookies, now that my kitchen is fully functional once again. And, I figure if I don't like the way that they turn out, I can always send them to work with Nate. I also am a big fan of finding recipes for things that I have already on hand, rather than having to go out and buy them. This recipe came from a baking cookbook I have called, The Road to Blue Ribbon Baking with Marjorie, by Marjorie Johnson.

Oatmeal Walnut Cookies

1 c butter
1 c brown sugar, fimrly packed
1 c granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 3/4 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 c quick-cooking oatmeal (I just used plain oatmeal)
1 c chopped walnuts

In a large electric mixing bowl, place butter, sugars, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until creamy. Sift flour, soda and salt together, and add on low speed to butter mixture. Add oatmeal and walnuts and combine well. Refrigerate dough for about 1/2 hour. Form into balls the size of walnuts. Place 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheets. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

These cookies were very tasty, and quick to make. The only issue I had was not paying close attention to the recipe - I only used 1 c of flour, rather than the entire amount. I only realized this once the cookies were baked, when I was trying to figure out why they were so flat and crispy. They were still very edible, and when taken to work by Nate disappeared in under 10 minutes. There have been requests for these to show up with him again. Next time I think I'll try using the entire amount of flour and compare the results.

Chris's BONUS Week Twenty-One Recipe: Not a Tame Cookie

For some reason, the phrase "He's not a tame lion" has been rolling through my head today, and when I started tweaking a recipe from my beloved 1950 Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook the name for these cookies was evident.

Not a Tame Cookie

Mix thoroughly:

1/2 c vegetable shortening

1-1/4 c turbinado sugar

2 eggs

6 T dark molasses

Sift together:

1 c whole wheat flour

3/4 c spelt flout

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 t cinnamon

and add to the molasses mixture. Stir in:

2 c rolled oats

1/2 c chopped walnuts

1/2 c raisins (make it a generous 1/2 cup!)

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 400F for about 10 minutes.

Would I make this recipe again? Er... no! It's terrible! You don't want any of these cookies. These are not the droids you're looking for....

Seriously, if I say so myself, these are pretty darned good cookies.

Jennifer's Week Twenty Recipe - Portobello Mushroom Burgers

I am always trying to find ways for my carnivores to enjoy vegetarian meals. It really is hit or miss with them.


Portobello Mushroom Burgers

Ingredients

• 4 portobello mushroom caps
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 (1 ounce) slices provolone cheese

Directions

1. Place the mushroom caps, smooth side up, in a shallow dish. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil, basil, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper. Pour over the mushrooms. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes or so, turning twice.
2. Preheat grill for medium-high heat.
3. Brush grate with oil. Place mushrooms on the grill, reserving marinade for basting. Grill for 5 to 8 minutes on each side, or until tender. Brush with marinade frequently. Top with cheese during the last 2 minutes of grilling.

Would I make this again? Well, if it were up to only me, yes. I thought they were quite tasty. Chad and Erik did not approve. Sigh. I will have to continue my hunt for Carnivore Friendly Vegetarian Meals. Hmm... sounds like the title of a quirky cookbook.

Jennifer's Week Nineteen Recipe: Irish Soda Bread

I have been a bad blogger and I have neglected to post my last two recipes. Let's remedy that, shall we?


Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup margarine, softened
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and margarine. Stir in 1 cup of buttermilk and egg. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly. Form dough into a round and place on prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine melted butter with 1/4 cup buttermilk; brush loaf with this mixture. Use a sharp knife to cut an 'X' into the top of the loaf.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 30 to 50 minutes. You may continue to brush the loaf with the butter mixture while it bakes.

Would I make this again? Perhaps. It did turn out a bit dry, but that could have been over-baking or being distracted by my son and not brushing the butter mixture on as often as I should have... or both. Or it could be my oven. I do believe I have mentioned my dislike for that appliance. I would probably give this recipe another go before I look for another one. Next time I will just have to send the boyo outside!

Chris's Week Twenty-One Recipe, aka the Great Chana Dal Disaster

I think I've done pretty well in getting through nearly half this year with a complete culinary meltdown, but today was obviously the day. It all began when I scored some St. Paul Flatbread on sale at Kowalski's. "Hmmm..." quoth I. "I think I have some lentils up on the top shelf of the cupboard. I could make dal!" As it turned out the item in question was not lentils, but chana dal. A little research and I had a new recipe to try. I even had to hunt down a recipe for garam masala since I didn't have any in the spice cupboard.

It was a disaster from start to finish.

The chana dal had obviously been sitting around since the last time the Twins were in the World Series because no matter how long I simmered them, they never got tender. I blackened rather than carmelized the onions and the garam masala mix just wasn't very exciting. I even managed to erase most of this blog entry and am now writing it all over again.

But, I put a fair amount of effort into this meal and the recipe should have worked, so I'm posting it today. Maybe one of my more legume-oriented friends (Hi, Jo!) will give it a try and report back.

Chana Dal

3 c water

1 c chana dal

1/2 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

olive oil for sauteeing

1/2 t garam masala

Simmer the chana dal until tender (about 35-45 min... I think). Meanwhile, sautee the onion and garlic in a splash of olive oil until carmelized. Add the garam masala and cook a little longer. Add the onion mixture to the chana dal and serve.

Would I make this recipe again? Not without extensive therapy!

Chris's BONUS Week Twenty Recipe: Olive Oil Cake

Feeling a little guilty about a two-ingredient recipe for this week, I decided to experiment on my parents again when they came over today to help me wash my windows. (This is by way of being an early birthday present, and it is much appreciated!)

And I knew just what I wanted to make: an olive oil cake. Jo and I had a very lovely dinner at Good Earth last night (thanks again for the potholders, Jo!) and decided to try the very intriguing dessert listed on their sampler dinner. But where would I find a recipe. Enter... a new cookbook!

Tricia had recently recommended a cookbook to me called Good to the Grain, Baking with Whole-Grain Flours. That girl understands my cooking predilecations! I bought a copy and have had a good time looking at all the recipes. And lo and behold... there was the recipe I wanted.

The original Olive Oil Cake recipe calls for 1.5 T chopped fresh rosemary and 5 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate. Knowing my parents' taste buds, I opted for lemon zest instead. I also had to substitute whole wheat flour for spelt flour. The recipe calls for baking in a 9.5" fluted tart pan, which I do not possess, so I opted for an 8" square baking pan. (Do the math... the areas of the pans are pretty close.)

Olive Oil Cake

Mix together dry ingredients:

3/4 c whole wheat flour

1.5 c all-purpose flour

3/4 c sugar

1.5 t baking powder

1/2 t kosher salt

Beat together

3 eggs

1 c olive oil

3/4 c milk

1/2 T lemon zest

and fold into the dry mixture until just combined. Pour into an 8" square baking pan greased with olive oil. Bake for 35-50 min or until golden brown on top and start to brown at the edges.

Would I make this recipe again? Count on it, gentle readers! This made a very moist, delicately flavored cake that received high marks from the parents and myself. And yes, they were grateful I had decided against rosemary & bittersweet chocolate. :P

Chris's Week Twenty Recipe: Banana-Yogurt Fruit Salad Dressing

I've been experimenting on my parents a lot this week.... Culinarily! What do you readers think of me?!?

Mom & Dad were over on Sunday for a belated Mother's Day brunch. I served spicy Italian sausage & mushroom quiche, banana-nut muffins, and a fruit salad. Somewhere... and I'm sorry, I don't remember where... I saw a recipe for a yogurt fruit salad dressing made with lemon juice and a ripe banana. I simplified the recipe and wound up making two batches to go over a mix of red grapes, Granny Smith apples, and canteloupe. One batch used strawberry yogurt and the other lemon yogurt. My parents very willingly sampled both to give their feedback to the blog!

Banana-Yogurt Fruit Salad Dressing

1 ripe banana

1/2 cup flavored yogurt

Chunk up the banana and whir the ingredients in your blender until smooth & creamy. Chill and pour over your favorite blend of fruit!

Would I make this recipe again? Yes! Tasty and easy.... Mom & Dad both like the strawberry better, but I thought that the lemon was just as good.

Tricia's Week 20 recipe(s): brought to you by the Morel Mushroom

I have made two 'new' recipes this week.   The first really is new to me, but the technique of breading something I have done before.  The second is not new to me - I made scrambled eggs.  The 'new' part of this week's recipes was the ingredient.

This weekend I went morel mushroom hunting.  My family and I started doing this a few years ago when we learned what they looked like and that they were delicious.  This recipe begins with "find or purchase morel mushrooms...  I suggest using www.morel.com as a jumping off point if you wish to catch your own!

Recipe 1: fried mushrooms
Find or purchase morel mushrooms...as many as you like. Soak to remove bugs and spores.  note: urban myth says to pour out the water by an elm tree and maybe you can grow your own.  I'm not so sure Cut mushrooms in half lengthwise.  Meanwhile, in a ziplock bag mix some flour (enough to coat all your mushrooms) and a few shakes of salt and pepper.  Place damp mushrooms in zippy bag, shake to coat.  In a frying pan, heat up enough butter to fry mushrooms. I had four reasonably sized mushrooms and I heated about 1/3 to 1/2 stick (I had a lot remaining after I was done).  Place mushrooms in pan and fry til crisp on both sides.

Recipe 2:  mushroom and pepper scrambled eggs.

5 smallish morels cut up
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/3 to 1/2 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded
4 eggs
1-3 Tablespoons milk
1/4 to 1/2 T Essence seasoning

In butter remaining from recipe one, fry up morels until fragrant then add pepper cook til hot but still cripsy.  beat eggs and milk together and pour in pan.  Add cheese on top.  Scramble until desired doneness (in our house, this is more done). 

Would I make these recipes again?  In a heart beat!  Sadly, I am out of Morels and will not be back to my Hunting Grounds until the season is over! Perhaps I love them so much because I only eat them once a year.  Still, delicious, delicious mushrooms!

Tricia's Week 19 Recipe: Nachos

I have never made nachos in the oven before, but I love nachos.  I made tacos earlier, and had ingredients remaining, so while this is not a hard recipe, I did learn a few things and will share them:

Ingredients  
Nacho chips of whatever variety you like
Pepperjack cheese, 1/2 cup ish
cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup
refried beans (leftover, about 1/2 cup)
taco meat (leftover, about 1/2 cup)
lettuce shredded
tomato, chopped
salsa
sour cream

Take out a large oven safe dish, I used a pyrex baking dish.  Note: I put aluminum foil in the bottom to make taking the nachos out easier.  While this was easier, the cheese stuck to the Al foil.  Either grease pan or foil to make removal easier. Mix together beans and meat, preheat a bit. Put layer of nacho chips in dish.  Cover w/ pepper jack cheese.  Put second, much smaller layer of chips down and put cheddar cheese on top.  put this in oven until cheese is mostly melted.  Pull out, add meat, sprinkle cheese garnish, put back in oven.  (meat was hot already).  Pull back out, garnish with remainting ingredients, and eat!

I will make nachos again. I found some lovely multigrain w/ flax chips at the store I would like to try this with.  I will also try different cheeses.  I highly recommend beans or the bean/meat combo - a great way to use up taco leftovers!

Chai Oatmeal Update!

I did indeed make chai oatmeal again this morning, but changed a few things:

1. I used Good Earth's signature brand tea instead of chai from a local tea shop, which is delicious, but quite potent. I brewed the Good Earth tea 'medium' but definitely not 'strong'.
2. I let the tea cool in the fridge a bit. No microwave mess to clean up!
3. I left out the pumpkin pie spice. The chai taste in the oatmeal is subtle this way, but I rather liked it better.

Happy Oatmeal to All!

Chris's Week Nineteen Recipe: Chai Oatmeal

I got thinking about cooking with tea this week and spotted this recipe at the Happy Herbivore. Here's my own variation. Be sure to read the added notes in italics before you cook!

Chai Oatmeal

Brew 1.5 cups chai tea and let cool.

I would recommend brewing the tea on the light side if you want to avoid a 'sharp' taste to your oatmeal. And trust me... let the tea cool, otherwise you'll wind up with an explosion in your microwave!

In a large, microwave-friendly container, combine

pinch salt

3/4 cup old-fashioned oats

1/4 cup raisins

Add the tea and nuke for 3.5 min or as appropriate for your own microwave. Mix in

1/2 t pumpkin pie spice*

Would I make this recipe again? Yes! I may even try it tomorrow.

*My spice cupboard didn't run to pumpkin pie spice, so I mixed up a batch using this recipe:

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice

Mix together

1 t ground cinammon

1/4 t ground ginger

1/4 t ground nutmeg

1/4 t ground cloves

NB: I used Penzey's spices and they are potent! The original Chai Oatmeal recipe called for 1-1/4 t of spices for a smaller quantity of oatmeal, but I only used 1/2 t of this mix and it was plenty.

Week Nineteen Guest Recipe from Linda: Rhubarb Coffee Cake

Linda has kindly provided us with a recipe from Bruce's aunt, Elaine Yost. Who is Bruce? Oh, I think you should ask Linda.... :P

Rhubarb Coffee Cake

– from Elaine Yost

Cake:

4 cups rhubarb chopped

2 eggs beaten

2 cups sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

½ cup vegetable oil

1 cup walnuts broken into quarters or smaller

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp soda

Topping:

3 T brown sugar

1.5 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 x 13 cake pan.

Mix flour, salt, soda in a medium bowl.

Mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl, stirring as ingredients are added. Add dry ingredients. Mix until combined.

Pour batter into pan. Sprinkle topping over the batter.

Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes.

This is a very moist coffee cake, but the flavor was really good. I would have added ¼ tsp of nutmeg. [Editor's note: Linda always thinks recipes are better with a little nutmeg!]

Tricia's Week 18 recipe: Hummus!

An exclaimation mark is needed on Hummus!   I have been considering making my own hummus for ages now. I went to the store to buy Tahini, but couldn't find it, then forgot, so I made this recipe up after looking at 5 different recipes for hummus all over the place.  I'll likely try adding tahini when I find some.

Ingredients
1 can chickpeas, researve at least 1/2 of the liquid 
a few shakes sesame seeds
a few shakes Essence (1-2 tsp likely) see way back to stroganof recipe for Essence recipe
a few turns of the salt and pepper grinders
3 T lemon juice
2 T chili olive oil

Directions
Unfortunately for me, when I made this recipe I didn't measure what i was doing, I went by feel.  So the above is as close as I can come to accurate.  I put the top 5 ingredients in a flat bottomed bowl and blended them until smooth smooth smooth.  Then I added the 2 T oil and continued to blend (with my immersion blender).  You could also put them in the regular blender.  Add oil last.

Would I make this again?  Heck Yes!  Delish!! Pleasantly spicy with the Essence and the chili olive oil, the sesame flavor from the seeds I added is nice, but some good tahini would really add to the recipe, I think.  I will post an update next time I make it to tell how it is w/ tahini.  I think I'll try a black bean variation next.

Jennifer's Week Eighteen Recipe: Crazy Cantina Chili

So I cracked open the Star Wars cookbook again. I was trying to avoid using allrecipes.com for, what?, the fifth week in a row. It was an easy recipe (it is for kids after all) and I did doctor it somewhat.


Crazy Cantina Chili

Ingredients

1-16oz can kidney beans
1-16oz can black beans
1-16oz can garbanzo beans
1 onion
2 Tbs vegetable or olive oil
2 Tbs chili powder (I used way more than this)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (again, used much more than that)
1-28oz can crushed tomatoes with juice
1 cup tomato juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Sour cream

1. Open the cans of beans and drain off any liquid. Set aside.

2. Chop the onion. (This was much longer in the book)

3. Heat the oil in a pot and add the onion. Cook the onion until tender, about 5 minutes.

4. Add the chili powder and cayenne pepper. Stir for 30 seconds

5. Add the beans, crushed tomatoes, and tomato juice. Stir well and let simmer for 15 minutes.

6. Serve chili with cheese and sour cream


I added: basil, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, and thyme to this... maybe some other things, too. (I was just rummaging in my cupboards and adding willy-nilly) I first made the recipe as directed and tasted it. It was like drinking tomato juice with chunks - it needed more flavor. I doubt I'll make it again since I am certain there are better vegetarian chilies out there!

Tricia's Week 17 recipe: Waffles

Yup, waffles!  I've made waffles before, mostly from Bisquick, and sometimes from scratch, but never like these.  These involved cinnamon and separating eggs!  My apologies for the lateness of this recipe, but a new floor went into our kitchen and dining room this past week and left my cooking out of commission for the better part of the week. I'm happy to report that my kitchen is now back in (mostly) order and cooking can be had by all!  The following recipe is from the Penzey's Spices catalog, which if you do not have delivered to your door, you really should! 


Waffles with Strawberries
I didn't have any strawberries, but I'll leave them in the recipe below in case you wish to try this with the strawberries.  All spices in caps are from Penzey's Spices. 

Ingredients
2 cups sliced strawberries
2 Tb. regular or VANILLA SUGAR 
2 cups sifted flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. PENZEYS CINNAMON
3 egg yolks, beaten
1 3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp PURE VANILLA EXTRACT
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 egg whites, stiffly beaten
1/4-1/2 cup powdered sugar or maple syrup (or both) if desired


Heat waffle iron.  Toss sliced strawberries with sugar or VANILLA SUGAR and set aside.  In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and CINNAMON.  Stir to blend.  In another bowl, combine egg yolks, milk and VANILLA.  Add to the dry ingredients and mix.  Stir in vegatable oil.  Carefully fold in the egg whites, careful to not over mix.  Pour batter into waffle iron and cook to desired doneness.


Would I make these again?  Yup!  I have never made waffles where I had to fold in the egg whites at the end.  Always instead I have simply mixed ingredients and poured into iron.  Mixing in this fashion made very light fluffy waffles.  They were even good without the vegetable oil, which I realized while writing this recipe that I forgot to add when I made them.  I'll have to try them again with the oil to see if there is a noticeable difference.
 

Jennifer's Week Seventeen Recipe: Quick and Easy Chicken Spaghetti

Found on allrecipes.com. Again.

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) package angel hair pasta (I used an entire 16 ounce package)
  
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 3/4 (8 ounce) package processed cheese, cubed (i.e. Velveeta)
  
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast (I used 3 breasts)
  
• 1/2 (4 ounce) jar sliced mushrooms, drained (I doubled this)
  
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and return to pot.
2. To the pasta add the diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, cream of chicken soup, processed cheese, chopped chicken, mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted and mixture is heated through.

Would I make this again? Sure. It was much heavier than I thought it would be and Chad remarked that it was probably the heaviest dish I made in a very long time. Erik liked the "cheesy chicken".

Chris's Week Eighteen Recipe: Quick Carrot Dip

Too many carrots? Try this recipe!

Quick Carrot Dip

2 c chopped carrots

2 T Greek yogurt

1/4 t nutmeg

Microwave the carrots until tender (or mushy, if you want a really creamy dip). Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender and whir to the desired consistency. Serve with pita chips.

Would I make this recipe again? A successful experiment! The dip is tasty warm, but even better cold.

Chris's BONUS Week Seventeen Recipe: Garlic Chicken

My brother Pete is in town and came over for dinner this evening. Since I can never get him to eat tofu, I decided to make garlic chicken based on this recipe.

Garlic Chicken

Crush

2 cloves of garlic

and add in a small saucepan to

1/4 c olive oil.

Heat gently to infuse the garlic into the oil.

Mix:

1/4 c cracker crumbs

1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese

Dip

3 large boneless chicken breasts

into the garlic-infused oil, then coat with the cracker-Parmesan mixture. Place in an ovenproof pan and bake at 425F for 30-40 min or until the chicken is no longer pink & the juices run clear.

If you like, put the crushed garlic cloves on top of the chicken before baking. Garlicky!

Would I make this recipe again? Peter says it was "delicious!" but could have had even more garlic in it as far as he was concerned. I wonder if adding garlic powder to the cracker-Parmesan mixture would be good?

Karin's Week Seventeen Recipe: Kohlrabi Remoulade

This recipe is a result of still having 1/2 of my Giant Kohlrabi leftover from last week's recipe. Two people cannot eat a 3lb kohlrabi in a single sitting.  Looking around for a recipe that had ingredients that I had on hand, I found this by using SimplyRecipes.com. As I had already had on-hand the ingredients for making guacamole, I thought that this might be an interesting recipe to try. Kohlrabi has the flavor of a cross between cabbage and broccoli, with a bit of radish thrown in. It's nice and firm, so once you get it peeled, it's very easy to chop or grate, etc.

Kohlrabi Remoulade

For the remoulade:
2 small-ish, kohlrabi, thickly peeled
2 heaped tablespoons of good quality mayonnaise (see below)
3 fat green olives, pitted and finely chopped
1 small clove of garlic, crushed
Small palmful of hazelnuts, roasted, cooled and chopped
2 teaspoons of grain mustard
Sea salt and pepper

What I did was grate the half kohlrabi I had left on the large holes of a box grater, which made it about 2x the amount called for in the recipe. So I doubled the mayo, garlic, and mustard, and omitted the olives and hazelnuts. Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

For the guacamole:
2 ripe but firm large Hass avocado
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
1 heaping tsp of sweet chilli sauce
Cayenne pepper, to taste
1.5 tomatoes chopped
juice of 1 ½ lemons

Handful of leaves (arugula, spinach, whatever you like)


Smash the avocados in a small bowl or molcajete*. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the greens) in order to the bowl, mixing thoroughly after each addition. You could also use your own guacamole recipe.


To serve: Place some greens on the plate, top with a mound of guacamole, then a mound of the remoulade.
 

*Using the molcajete always reminds me of visiting Mexico or one of the other Latin American countries. I picked mine up on a trip to Juarez from a small housewares store in the city center - a true molcajete is made of volcanic stone. Now that it is summer, I can use it to make sauces from all kinds of fresh veggies, so you may be seeing more of this nifty device.

Verdict on this was very delicious, and kohlrabi is much better raw than cooked. I think I will be making this again, albeit with a much smaller kohlrabi to start with. Nate's point was, anything that is 50% guacamole has to be delicious. The remoulade gave it more of a salad flair, and we ate it alongside brats on the grill. I think this would make a great summer picnic dish, but I might use a food processor for all the chopping/grating.

Karin's Week Sixteen Recipe: Roasted Kohlrabi

As last weekend was the first Saturday of our local Farmer's Market, it is time once again to begin Adventures in Vegetables. This week I decided to buy a kohlrabi, mostly because it was funny looking, and seemed to be a good bargain - $3 for a kohlrabi weighing in at about 3lb. Having no idea of what to do with it once I got it home, I perused my cookbooks to no avail, and then decided to check allrecipes.com where I got this recipe for Roasted Kohlrabi.

What I did, seeing as I had a Giant Kohlrabi was this:

Roasted Kohlrabi
1/2 giant kohlrabi, peeled and cut into 1/4 in slices
olive oil
minced garlic

Preheat oven to 450deg. Place kohlrabi slices onto baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with minced garlic to taste. Roast for 15-20 min, stirring once part way through to ensure even browning.

We served it with panfried pork steaks, so I didn't use the Parmesan called for in the original recipe. It was tasty, but I think I'd use much less olive oil and bake them slightly longer to achieve more of a chip-like texture. Not sure if I'd make this again, but it was quick and easy.

Chris's Week Seventeen Recipe: Twice Baked Potatoes for Two

When having lunch with Tricia and Jenni a couple weeks ago, I received precious little sympathy when I complained that I had twenty more years than they did of recipes that I couldn't duplicate.

Well, it really can be a problem, but fortunately there are enough significant variations on "I've made this before" that I think I'll be able to pull through. I've made twice-baked potatoes in the past, but the filling didn't include veggies and bacon like these do.

Today's recipe is a variation of the recipe found here. Knowing that even one potato would be enough for two meals for me, I used only one large baking potato. This recipe would make a great side for dinner for two. I should note that I actually sauteed twice the amount of vegetables called for. I'll put the extras into spaghetti sauce later in the week.

Twice Baked Potatoes for Two

Bake 1 large baking potato at 400F for one hour or until soft inside.

Cook 4 slices bacon - I used the microwave.

Saute together in 1T of olive oil until the onions & peppers are soft:

1/4 large onion, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/3 package fresh mushrooms, chopped

Slice the baked potato in half the long way and scoop out its innards! Mash up the insides a bit, add the vegetable mixture and mix with:

1/2 t Penzey's Black & Red

a couple of grinds of black pepper

1/2 t salt

1 T chopped fresh chives

2 heaping T whole yogurt

most of 2 oz grated extra sharp Cheddar

Put the potatoes in a baking dish/pan and fill. Sprinkle on top:

cracker crumbs

the rest of the cheddar cheese.

Return to the oven and bake for about 15 min or until the cheese is bubbly.

Would I make this recipe again? Oh, I think so! Note that even 1 T of fresh chives is not very strong, but the Penzey's Black & Red spice certainly is!

Karin's Week Fifteen Recipe: Random Fruit Pie

This recipe is a result of moving things from our basement deep freeze into the new freezer in the kitchen. And we were having friends over for dinner, and I needed a dessert recipe that went well with the vanilla ice cream I had made earlier in the week to test the freezing power of the new freezer. I basically took what I've done for other fruit pies and threw a pie together out of what I could find.

Random Fruit Pie

1 full pkg Pillsbury Pie Crusts (or crust for a 2 crust pie)
~ 4-6 c frozen fruit of your choice (I used mostly rhubarb with some strawberries)
2 T tapioca
1 c sugar (or to taste)
1/2 tsp or so lemon juice

Preheat oven to 450 deg.

Bring pie crust to room temperature and fit into 9-in pie plate - I usually use a glass one, as it's a bit deeper than my metal ones. Thaw fruit just enough to break into individual pieces. Place fruit into pie crust. Sprinkle with tapioca, sugar, and lemon juice. Place top crust on pie and tuck in edges. Make slits in pie to allow for steam to escape.

Place pie in oven, with pie plate on cookie sheet so as to catch any drips. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 deg. Bake for 40-50 minutes more, covering edges of pie crust for last 10 minutes to prevent excess browning. Actual time needed depends on amount of fruit used.

Consensus was Yum! I also had enough leftovers to serve for another dinner when my parents & grandmother came to visit. This is a great way to use up the random bits of fruit around the house, and I usually have all the ingredients on hand. Now, I just need to learn to make a pie crust that doesn't split on me, then it will be even more homemade.

Tricia's Week 16 Recipe: Pizza Pasta Salad (working on a name)

I had some leftover noodles from a batch of spaghetti earlier this week. I also had a few pepperoni, but not enough for a pizza, mozzarella cheese, and ham (pretend it was Canadian bacon).  I thought I had olives, but alas, they had given up the ghost!   I asked Trev to grab a green bell pepper on his way home from work, and a recipe idea was born! 


Pizza Pasta Salad - I need a better name for this!

Ingredients
Pasta - I used two kinds of squiggly pastas, probably totalling 2/3 a box.  In the future I will use one box of mulit-colored pasta
One green bell pepper
Pepperoni, cut into fourths - I had 15 left, and it needs more!
Ham - honey cured, three deli slices, cut into 1/2 in cubes
Mozzarella cheese - 1.5 handfuls (yes, these are very precise unit's of measure, for me!  What do you call an English "foot"!)

Place all above into a large bowl, add dressing - below


Dressing (very similar to week 15)
1/4+ a little more white wine venegar
2 generous teaspoons sugar
1/8  teaspoon dry mustard/ground mustard (I didn't have dijon and didn't want to go buy some)
1/2 teaspoon Essence (from back a ways)
A few shakes of Penzy's Pizza Seasoning
A few shakes of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
 2 tablespoons canola oil
*put all ingredients in a shakable container, shake til mixed.

Pour dressing over salad, cover bowl and shake, or mix w/ spoon.  Eat!

Would I make this again?  Yup!  Quite delish.  I would make a few amendments, however.  I would use more pepperoni, perhaps cutting out the ham.  I would use fun colored noodles, and I would add some sliced black olives.  I think I would also add more than 'a few shakes' of the crushed red pepper, because they are tasty. 

Chris's Week Sixteen Recipe: Italian Nachos

The lovely Erica B. came over this evening for the first episode of the new season of Doctor Who and of course I took the opportunity of experimenting on her. (Culinarily! What did you think I meant?!) Nachos sounded good, but I wanted to try a variation, so here are...

Italian Nachos

Saute together:

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb hot Italian pork sausage

In a casserole dish, layer

tortilla chips

sausage mixture

black beans

sliced black olives

mozzarella cheese

If your dish is deep enough, do another layer like the first. Erica & I used different kinds of tortilla chips on each layer.

Bake at 350F for 10 min or until the cheese melts to your liking. Top with diced avocado and your favorite salsa. Trader Joe's peach salsa was a good counterpoint to the Italian sausage.

Would I make this recipe again? Erica approves! We debated whether to add diced green chiles, but decided the hot Italian sausage was spicy enough for us this evening. Erica suggests that diced or even stewed tomatoes would be a good addition.

Jennifer's Week Sixteen Recipe - Awesome Slow Cooker Pot Roast

So, Chad and I have been together for 9 years. One of Chad's favorite foods is pot roast. I had never made a pot roast before... until today. I know, what kind of wife am I?! I figured it can't be too hard, but I wanted to do research (quiet, Chris) to make sure the roast didn't dry out. What should I use as a liquid in the slow cooker? So I found this recipe on the ever-handy allrecipes.com. I used it as a guideline and finally made a pot roast!



Awesome Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Ingredients

• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
• 1 1/4 cups water (I used beef stock)
  
• 5 1/2 pounds pot roast (I used a 4 pound chuck roast and that was plenty big!)
  

Directions

1. In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water. Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.
2. Cook on High setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours.

I seasoned the roast with kosher salt, pepper and rosemary. I then seared it with a bit of olive oil before putting it in the crock pot. After letting it cook for 2 hours on high, I added some onion, baby red potatoes and carrots and turned it down to low for about 4-5 hours.


Would I make it again? Well, Chad has demanded a repeat performance next week.

Jennifer's Week Fifteen Recipe - Mushroom Pork Chops

I was tired of making chicken and Chad was asking for pork so... here you go. From allrecipes.com. Again.





Mushroom Pork Chops

Ingredients

• 4 pork chops
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pinch garlic salt, or to taste
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

Directions

1. Season pork chops with salt, pepper, and garlic salt to taste.
2. In a large skillet, brown the chops over medium-high heat. Add the onion and mushrooms, and saute for one minute. Pour cream of mushroom soup over chops. Cover skillet, and reduce temperature to medium-low. Simmer 20 to 30 minutes, or until chops are cooked through.

Would I make this again? Yep. Both gentlemen approved which is enough for me to make it again.

Jennifer's Week Fourteen Recipe: Chicken Riggie

Ok, so I'm a little late with posting this, I know! I don't even have an excuse other than laziness. So, without any further ado, here you go! (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package uncooked rigatoni pasta
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cubed
• 2 cups red spaghetti sauce
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (8 ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 (15 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained
• 1 (8 ounce) jar hot cherry peppers, drained (I skipped this for Erik's sake)
  
• 2 cups Alfredo sauce

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. In a large skillet over medium high heat, saute chicken for 5 to 7 minutes, until well browned. Add spaghetti sauce, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add green bell pepper, red bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, olives, and hot peppers. Stir all together and simmer for 40 minutes.
4. Add Alfredo sauce, stir until blended, and simmer for another 10 minutes. Spoon over hot, cooked pasta and serve.

Would I make this again? Yep! It was very yummy and was good as leftovers, too! Leftovers were served with fettuccine, but I'm sure any pasta with this dish is just fine. Just adjust the name accordingly.

Tricia's Week 15 Recipe: Cranberry, Wild Rice, Turkey Salad

I scoured the internet looking for recipes that involved things I had at my house and needed to eat up.  These things included: carrots, celery, almonds, cranberries, wild rice.  This is what I found: Chicken and Wild Rice Salad with Almonds

I made some adjustments to the above, mostly because I didn't have any chicken and was too lazy to cook some.  So I went to the deli and asked for a very thick slice of turkey...works like a charm!

Dressing
1/4+ a little more white wine venegar
2 generous teaspoons sugar
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard/ground mustard (I didn't have dijon and didn't want to go buy some)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic (again, no cloves in house and I had no desire to go to the store today)
a few shakes onion powder (onion ban still on for in salad, so I added a bit of flavor to the dressing)
d 2 tablespoons canola oil
*put all ingredients in a shakable container, shake til mixed, set in fridge until salad is mixed up

Salad
1.5 cups cooked wild rice (I had a tupperware full of leftover, and didn't bother to measure, I was likely closer to 2.5 cups)
1 lb turkey from deli, cut into 1/2 inch chunks (because I wanted a time saver)
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 ish cup shredded carrots (I used my trusty carrot peeler and went to town making shreds)
1/3 ish cup dried cranberries ( I shook til I was happy with the colors in the bowl, really)
1/4 cup chopped almonds - toasted (I toasted the leftovers from the package I used to make the wild rice soup)
*mix all in large bowl

Add salad dressing to salad, put lid on large bowl, and shake.  Have I mentioned I was looking for a quick recipe to use my leftovers?  :P

Would I make it again?  I will get back to you.  The few bites I had tonight were quite tasty, but the salad is in the fridge thinking about itself and will be lunch, tomorrow.

Tricia's Week 14 Recipe: Andes Grasshopper Cake

One day, a while  back, I was at the store and saw a Andes mint display.  Prominant on the top of the display was a 'buy 2 get 1 free' (refund by mail) coupon.  I grabbed it, and two packages mints and checked out.  Funny thiing about mail in rebates - I am terrible at mailing them in.  I ate one package of mints, and the other has been sitting there, staring at me.  The good news about this mail in rebate form is that on the back, there are two recipes.  One is for 'Andes Grasshopper Cake, which I endeavored to make for my week 14 recipe.  The theme this month seems to be about using up food in the house, or sharing something from one week to the next.

Andes Grasshopper Cake

Ingredients
1 devils food cake mix
eggs, water and oil necessary for said mix
16 oz non-dairy whipped topping
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 pkg Andes mints

Cake
Make as directed in 2 rounds.  cool completely

Frosting
Shave off  about a 1/2 cup of the mints into curls, place in fridge.  *note: my mints didn't curl, they made bits, but the bits are just as tasty as the curls
Freeze remaining mints for a while until hard enough to put in mini chopper to make many small pieces without making a melted chocolate mess.  Take mini chopper bowl and put in fridge.
Soften cream cheese and blend on medium speed til smooth.
Add non-dairy whipped topping (aka Cool Whip) on medium low til smooth
Fold in mints from mini chopper
Take one round, place on platter.  Smooth out top and cover w/ 1/3 to 1/2 topping  Add second cake round, top w/ remaining frosting.  (the picture uses 1/2 and only has a middle and top layer. I decided I wanted side layers because I had a bunches of frosting left after adding it to to top of the cake in what I felt was an acceptable layer.)
Take shavings or curls, whichever you were able to accomplish, out of fridge and sprinkle on top of cake.  Serve cold.

Would I make this again?  My goodness, yes!  I then started thinking, what about pinapple flavored cake and this frosting but instead of mint, I'd do mandarin oranges...a version of 'pea pickin cake'...then I thought i wanted the real 'pea pickin cake' which I will likely make when this wonderful cake is gone, and post that recipe too.  I must now remember to only eat one slice cake per day, and to share.

Chris's Week Fifteen Recipe: Creamed Eggs

What to do when you need a new recipe for the week and have leftover biscuits? Make chipped beef, of course!

Right.... Like I keep dried beef in the house.

But I always have eggs! So I got down my beloved Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook (c. 1950) and made...

Creamed Eggs

In a saucepan, melt:

2 T butter

Whisk in:

2 T flour

1/4 t salt

1/8 t white pepper

1/4 t grated horseradish

Take off the heat and whisk in:

1 c milk

Return to heat and bring to a boil for one minute. The sauce can be kept ready on low heat if stirred occasionally.

Pour over biscuits and chopped, freshly-cooked medium-hard-boiled eggs. (I use the cold-start method to boil eggs. Put the eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then remove the pant from the heat, and let stand covered for 15 minutes. Drain off the hot water and rinse with cold water or you'll burn your fingers! Go for 25 minutes if you want hard-boiled eggs.)

Would I make this recipe again? Yes! The grated horseradish was my own addition and added just a hint of spiciness to the sauce. You'd probably have to use at least a teaspoon before you really noticed it, though.

Chris's Week Fourteen Recipe: Vegan Whole Wheat Drop Biscuits

I came across this recipe whilst toddling around allrecipes.com. I have a lot of friends who are vegetarian, allergic to cow's milk, and/or just plain lactose intolerant and thought it might be a nice 'staple' recipe to have when I cooked for them.

My version of the biscuits cuts the salt and was made with just whole-wheat flour... well, whole wheat flour mixed with a little all-purpose flour, and therein lies a sad kitchen tale... but if you wanted to make them lighter, you should use half whole wheat and half all-purpose flour.

Vegan Whole Wheat Drop Biscuits

Mix together:

2 c whole wheat flour

1 T baking powder

1/2 t salt

Add:

1/4 c grapeseed or canola oil

3/4 c unsweetened soy milk

Mix until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Add a splash of soy milk or a pinch of flour if you need to adjust the consistency. Bake at 450F for 8-10 min or until the biscuits are starting to brown on the top.

Would I make this recipe again? It's a keeper! They were good 'on the side' and especially tasty with orange marmalade. (Oh, the price we pay to be thorough recipe bloggers!) I think this recipe would work well on top of a pot pie, too.

Karin's Bonus Week 14 Recipe: Lime Pork Chops with Tomato Sour Cream Garnish (but not with pork)

This recipe is from a book that we got for a wedding present, The Big Book of Backyard Cooking. I have made this recipe in the past with boneless pork chops and it was amazing.  This time, I didn't have the pork chops, but had some nice tuna steaks thawed.  I thought, hmmm, citrus and seafood usually have an affinity, I wonder what would happen if I used the tuna?

Lime Pork Chops with Tomato Sour Cream Garnish

6 - 5oz boneless centercut pork loin chops, 3/1-1" thick, trimmed of fat (I used tuna steaks instead.)
1/4 c olive oil
3 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
2.5 T fresh lime juice (2-3 limes) (I used bottled)
1.5 tsp ground cumin
Kosher salt
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Garnish
3/4 c sour cream
12 small cherry tomatoes, quartered & seeded
3 green onions including 3" of green stems, finely sliced
Kosher salt
3 T chopped fresh cilantro

*I ended up using 2 tsp of red pepper flakes in the marinade, as I forgot to buy the chile peppers. I also used 1 med tomato instead of the cherry tomatoes, as there were none at my market.

1. Place pork chops in a shallow glass dish that will hold them in a single layer. Whisk together 1/4 c oil, chiles, lime juice, cumin, 1 tsp salt and red pepper flakes. Pour over pork. Cover & refrigerate. Marinate 6 hr or overnight, turning several times. Bring to room temp 30min before grilling.

2. Prepare the garnish 30 min before grilling. Mix all garnish ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside at room temp.

3. When ready to cook, oil a grill rack & arrange 4-5 in from heat source (we don't usually oil the rack). Prepare grill for a hot fire. Remove pork from marinade and pat dry. Grill until cooked all the way through, 6+ min per side. Arrange chops on a platter. Garnish with sauce, and pass extra sauce separately.

Results: Just as good with the tuna steaks. However, I would cut in half the spicy pepper if I do it again with tuna, as it was WAY spicier than with the pork, even with only half of the marinating time. We had to use the sour cream sauce to cut the spice. But, still, the tuna was a great alternative to the pork. I wonder what would happen if I used chicken? Hmmm....

Karin's Week Fourteen Recipe: Garlic, Black Bean & Sausage Soup

It was a cold, rainy, and dreary day... so I decided to make soup.  As what else would make a filling, warm comfort food - fast?  I have a book called Fresh and Simple Quick Simmering Soups, by Better Homes and Gardens, and usually I make the Red Pepper Soup out of it.  Paging through, this soup looked easy, and we had all the ingredients on hand.

Garlic, Black Bean & Sausage Soup

12 oz bulk mild Italian sausage
1.5 c chopped onion
10 cloves garlic, minced (approx 5 tsp)
1/2 tsp fennel seed, crushed
2 - 15oz cans black beans, drained & rinsed
1 - 14/5 oz can beef broth (I just measured approx amt from my box 'o' broth)
Dash ground red pepper (optional)
1/4 c sour cream
2 c chopped tomatoes (I used 1 14oz can, so approximated)
2 T snipped fresh oregano (I used Penzey's dried, approx 1 T)

In large saucepan cook sausage, onion, garlic and fennel seed over med-high heat for 10-12 min or until sausage is no longer pink. Drain well. (I didn't have anything to drain at this point.)

Stir in black beans and beef broth. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 15 min.

Meanwhile, if desired, stir red pepper into sour cream. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. (I didn't do this, as Nate does not like sour cream.)

Just before serving, stir in the tomatoes and oregano into soup; heat through. Top each serving with sour cream mixture.

This soup turned out quite nicely - it got 4 thumbs up. The only thing I might change, is to use a slightly spicier sausage, as the mild we used didn't seem to add much in flavor. I did put sour cream in mine, and liked that it made the soup thicker. I had the leftovers for lunch the next day, and it was even better after it had sat in the fridge overnight.

Karin's Week Thirteen Recipe: Potatoes Lyonnaise

This recipe was mostly chosen by Nate.  He wanted a potato dish that was made with slices of potato and butter to go with the giant ham that I was baking for Friday dinner.  This fit, and also had onions to boot.  It's from the Test Kitchen Favorites 2007 cookbook accompaniment to the America's Test Kitchen TV show on PBS. The show tests not only recipes, but kitchen equipment too.  The cookbook shares some of their findings.  This recipe is supposed to be an easier-to-make take on a classic French potato recipe.  I did look in my Julia cookbooks to see what she had to say, and sadly it was not in there, so I couldn't compare the two. Make sure to read this all the way through before starting, as you have to do somethings simultaneously.

Potatoes Lyonnaise

3 T unsalted butter
1 large onion (about 14oz, or smaller ones to equal such), halved pole to pole and sliced 1/4 in thick
3/4 tsp Kosher salt or 1/2 tsp table salt (I used the salt grinder)
2 T water
1.5 lb medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced crosswise into 1/4in rounds*
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 T minced fresh parsley (I forgot to use this)

*The cookbook is very specific on the type of potato. They say that Russets will not work right, so I made a special trip to get the Yukon Golds.

1. Heat 1 T of butter in a nonstick skillet (I used our cast iron pan) over med-high heat. When the foaming subdies, add the onion and 1/4tsp of salt and stir to coat; cook stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften, about 3 min. Reduce the heat to med and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the onions are light brown and soft, about 12 min longer, deglazing with water when the pan gets dry, about halfway thru the cooking time. (I didn't use any water, and also forgot to cover the pan. My onions stayed moist.) Transfer to a bowl, and cover. Don't wash the pan.

2. While the onions cook, microwave 1 T of butter on high power in a large bowl until melted. Add the potatoes to the bowl and toss to coat with the butter. Microwave on high power until the potatoes just start to turn tender (aka bendy), about 6 minutres, tossing halfway thru the cooking time. Set aside.

3. Melt 1 T of butter in the onion skillet over med-high heat. When the foaming subsides, add the potatoes and shake the skillet to distribute evenly. Cook, without stirring, until browned on the bottom, about 3 min. Using a spatula, stir the potatoes carefully and continue to cook, stirring every 2 to 3 min until the potatoes are well browned and tender, 8-10 min more. Sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper.

4. Add the onions back in to the skillet and stir to combine. Cook until the onions are heated thru and the flavors have melded, 1-2 min. Transfer to a large plate, sprinkle with parsley and serve.

This was a pretty quick dish to make, and all eating it liked it quite a bit, especially the onions. I thought it could've used a bit more seasoning, such as garlic. Either way, it was a great way to use up potatoes and onions, especially if you have the Yukon Golds on hand. I'd probably make this again.