Dried Cherry Tomato & Tapenade Bites

Ingredients :
Tapenade - I used two garlic stuffed green olives and 4 pitted calamatas, chopped fine and mixed thoroughly.
One dried cherry tomato for each bite
One Ritz cracker or Pita chip for each bite
Softened cream cheese
Fresh Rosemary Sprigs

Spread cream cheese on crackers or pita chips.
Top with tapenade, cherry tomato & rosemary.
Makes about 8 bites.
Serve and enjoy!

St. Patricks Day menu

Irish Nachos (Based on a recipe by Guy Fieri)



Cook one package frozen waffle fries according to package directions. Sprinkle over them: shredded corned beef, finely chopped onion, shredded Swiss cheese, sauerkraut (well drained) and chopped chives. Top with dollops of sauce made with ½ cup sour cream, 2 T grainy mustard, and 2 T horseradish.

 

Dublin Coddle (based on a recipe from The Complete Irish Pub Cookbook, published by Love Food)


Cook one pound bacon until crisp. Cut strips in half, set aside and reserve drippings.
Cut four brats or sausages in half and brown in the reserved drippings. Set aside.
Cook one large, sliced onion in the same skillet until limp, but not browned.

In an oven safe casserole, layer the onions, sausages, and bacon. Add 6 peeled potatoes, cut into chunks. Sprinkle with black pepper. Pour in 4 cups chicken or turkey stock. Add minced garlic (2-4 cloves), 2 tsp thyme and one large bay leaf. Cover tightly, bring to a boil on the stove and transfer casserole to 300 degree oven and simmer until potatoes are tender, 1 hour or more.

Nelli's Version Cheese Frenchee

6 Slices Velveeta Cheese (or your favorite brand American slices)
6 slices Vienna bread, or other white bread of your choice.
mayonnaise


Batter:
Whisk together -
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
¾ cup flour
1 tsp salt (Batter should be thick and sticky)


Fine bread crumbs
oil for deep frying



Make three sandwiches: spread a thin layer of mayo one side of each bread slice and top with thin slices cheese. Cut them in half if using Vienna bread (the Vienna bread slices are a little smaller than other types) or into 4 triangles if using other type bread. Dip each sandwich half or quarter in batter, coating it all the way around – this helps keep the cheese from oozing out when frying. Roll in crumbs, coating all the way around. Fry until golden brown. Watch carefully - it only takes a short time for a good crust to form and the cheese to get good and melty. I use a small skillet and fry only one Frenchee at a time.

Big Batch of Good, Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Measure 4 ¼ heaping cups white flour into a large bowl. Sift.

With electric mixer, beat 1 ½ cups butter flavor Crisco with 3 Tblsp water until very smooth and creamy. Thoroughly beat in 1 ½ cup EACH of brown sugar and white sugar. Beat in 2 tsp vanilla and 3 large eggs. Turn off mixer and set it aside.

Hold the sifter over the egg-sugar-shortening mixture and measure 2 cups of the sifted flour into the sifter. Add 2 tsp baking powder and ½ tsp salt. Sift. Add 2 and ¼ cups of the sifted flour into the sifter and sift into the dough. Using a WOODEN SPOON, not the electric mixer, stir the dry ingredients into the wet. When thoroughly mixed, fold in 12 ounces EACH of semi sweet dark chocolate chips and white chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped pecans (pecans, as always, are optional).

Drop by rounded teaspoons (I use the small Pampered Chef cookie scooper) onto ungreased baking sheet and bake for 11-13 minutes – watch carefully, as oven temps can vary. Remove and cool on parchment paper or waxed paper.

To store: a glass jar with a tight fitting lid works best – ask your local deli to save you a one-gallon size jar that they buy their pickles and olives in. Place the crust from a loaf of bread toward the bottom of the jar, standing it on its end. Fill with cookies after they've cooled.

Kentucky Derby Day Special

Breakfast

Breakfast Pizza: For a 15-inch pizza pan: Get out your bread machine and make its recipe for pizza dough. (Mine takes an hour and a half to mix up a really good pizza dough.) Meanwhile, thaw 1 cup of frozen ‘southern style’ hash brown potatoes. Crumble and brown ½ pound of your favorite sausage with ¼ cup each minced onion and diced green pepper. Dice 6 slices bacon and cook until crisp. Spread the dough onto the pizza pan, working it so that it has a tall crust all the way around. Sprinkle the sausage, bacon and hash browns. Beat six eggs with ¼ cup milk and pour it over the toppings. Sprinkle with 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese. Bake in a 375 degree oven 30-45 minutes, until eggs are set. Let stand 10 minutes or so before cutting into wedges. Serve with a half grapefruit on the side.

Dinner
Horseshoes:

Make French fries: Peel 3 Yukon gold potatoes and cut into fries. Fry until hot oil, deep enough to keep them floating while they fry, until crisp and golden brown. Keep warm while you make the burgers and sauce. Cook four 1/3 lb. hamburger patties to desired doneness and keep warm. Sauce: Melt ¼ cup butter in a saucepan. Whisk in ¼ cup flour, ½ tsp each cayenne pepper and dry mustard and cook until smooth and bubbly. Whisk in ½ cup milk, ½ cup beer, 1 tsp Louisiana hot sauce, and 2 Tblsp Worcestershire sauce. Heat until thick and bubbling, whisking occasionally. Whisk in 1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese. Keep warm. Toast four slices thick, white bread. To assemble the Horseshoe: Place a slice of toast on a plate. Top with a burger, and a few grilled onion rings. Place a handful of fries on top of burger. Drizzle a generous amount of cheese sauce over all. (I’m told this is called a horseshoe because the fries are the “nails”) If preferred, use cooked chicken breasts instead of hamburgers.

Lunch: Red Velvet Cake:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line bottoms of three 9x2-inch round cake pans with parchment paper & coat with nonstick spray.

Sift together 1 ¾ cup each all-purpose flour and cake flour, ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tsp each baking soda, salt, & espresso powder in a bowl; set aside

Beat 2 ¼ cup sugar & 3 eggs on high speed until white, thick, & creamy, 5-7 minutes. With mixer on low speed, slowly drizzle in 2 ¼ cups vegetable oil OR melted butter, slightly cooled, until it is fully incorporated.

In another bowl, thoroughly whisk together 1 2/3 cup buttermilk, 1 oz liquid red food color, & 1 tsp vanilla.

Alternately add flour mixture & buttermilk mixture to batter, starting & ending with flour mixture, until smooth and creamy. Mix 1 Tblsp white vinegar into batter & immediately divide evenly between prepared pans. Bake cakes until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Transfer cakes to a rack to cool 10 minutes. Turn cakes out of pans & cool on racks. Once cool, peel away the parchment. Frost and fill with White Chocolate Frosting.

White Chocolate Frosting: Whisk 2 cups whole milk & 1 ½ cup flour together in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until thick, paste-like, & no longer lumpy, about 15 minutes. Transfer mixture to a bowl, press plastic wrap over surface to prevent a skin from forming, & chill until cold.

Melt 4 oz white baking chocolate in a double boiler until smooth; cool slightly.

Cream 2 cups sugar & 2 sticks softened butter on high speed until light & fluffy, about 7 minutes. Add chilled milk mixture & melted chocolate & beat on high speed until light & fluffy, about 5 minutes more. Garnish with white chocolate curls, if desired.

Supper: Kentucky Burgoo
Tossed Salad (You know how to do this)
French bread
Mint Julep
Burgoo: Cube into bite sized pieces: 1 pork chop, 1 New York strip steak, 1 boneless chicken breast, 2 boneless chicken thighs, 2 small venison chops, 1 boneless turkey breast. Brown all meats and place in a great big stock pot. Saute: 2 medium rough chop Vidalia onions, 4 chopped stalks celery, 2 peeled and grated carrots, and 2 chopped green peppers until vegetables are limp. Add to meats in pot. Pour in 2 quarts beef stock. Add: 1 pound peeled carrots, cut into large pieces; about 1 ½ to 2 inches in length, 4 peeled potatoes, cut about the same size you made the carrot pieces, one 28 oz. can diced tomatoes, 2 cups shredded green cabbage, one can cannellini beans, one can great northern beans, (No need to drain the beans), one 15 oz. can tomato sauce. Add water to cover and season to taste with salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, Worcestershire sauce and Louisiana hot sauce. (Nellie uses about a Tblsp of each). Cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer for several hours, until the potatoes and carrots are nice and soft.



Mint Julep

Make simple syrup by boiling 1 ½ cup sugar with two cups water. Put a dozen or so spearmint leaves in the bottom of a jar and pour the boiling syrup over, Let stand in fridge for at least 2 days. To serve, measure one shot bourbon into highball glass, fill with ice and pour mint syrup over all. Sip slowly while watching the Derby. Post time is usually between 5 and 5:30 Central.

Yes, it's been awhile

Haven't done much blogging lately, but I still know how to cook.

Also, I'm dong Atkins, so the notation "low-carb" will come up in a lot of the new stuff I'm posting.

If you have never tried spaghetti squash, it's time you did. Try these:

Spaghetti Squash
Take one large spaghetti squash, wash it up real good. Poke holes in it all around (so it won’t explode in the oven). Bake at 375 for one hour or so, depending on the size of the squash. It’s done when you can poke it easily with a fork. Remove from oven and let cool awhile until it’s easy to handle. Slice it in half lengthwise and carefully remove the seeds. Scrape the rest of the “spaghetti” from the two halves into a serving bowl. Serve hot with butter, salt and pepper as the vegetable side to any meat & potatoes meal.

It’s also good served with your favorite spag sauce or use as a layer #1 in Cincinnati Five Way Chili.

In fact; these sweet strings make a great low-carb substitute for any pasta or rice dish like a stir-fry such as:
Beef-Tomato-Basil Stir Fry: Slice up a good 10-14 ounce cut of steak into strips, sprinkle with tenderizer if necessary. Toss with a couple of Tbslp each oil and corn starch and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, coarsely cut up 1 small white onion, mince one large clove garlic and cut 2 medium tomatoes into wedges. Set aside. Mix 1 Tblsp corn starch with 2 Tblsp cooled beef broth. Add a dash of Kitchen Bouquet to this if desired. Heat oil in a heavy skillet; add beef, onion and garlic and stir fry until done as desired (i.e. rare, medium or well). Stir in ½ cup beef stock, 2 Tblsp hoisin sauce and the corn starch mixture. Stir, and as mixture thickens stir in the tomato wedges and 12 leaves of fresh basil. Stir fry for about one minute. Serve over rice or noodles or cooked spaghetti squash.

OR for breakfast:

Spaghetti Squash Pancakes: Cook one spaghetti squash as directed above. Mix 6 cups cooked squash with 4 eggs, a couple tablespoons each minced onion and mined garlic, 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes, ½ cup finely shredded cheese, salt & pepper to taste. Heat oil in a non stick skillet. Drop mixture into skillet in about ¼ cup measures – an ice cream scoop works well. Fry til golden on one side, turn and fry til crispy.

Dealing with Leftovers

Pork & Mushroom Soup (2 servings)

Melt 2 Tblsp butter with 2 Tblsp canola oil in a saucepan. Add 2 cloves minced garlic, 3 Tblsp minced onion and ¾ - 1 cup sliced mushrooms. Saute until mushrooms are done. Add ½ cup shredded cabbage and ¾ to 1 cup shredded and chopped leftover pork loin roast. Stir well to combine. Add 2 cups chicken, turkey or beef stock. (Or, if you were planning ahead, you’ll have saved some cooking juices when you roasted the pork loin. Add that and round out the two cups liquid with the stock.) Salt and pepper to taste and a pinch of thyme. Simmer 15 minutes or so to let flavors blend.

Could also be made with leftover roasted chicken or turkey. And could easily doubled or increased to any amount.