Chocolate crinkle cookies

We made a batch of these and found them to be bitter. After some investigation, we came up with this recipe and have enjoyed these cookies.


3 eggs
1 1/2 C granulated sugar
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/2 C cooking oil
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
2 C all-purpose flour
additional granulated sugar
sifted powdered sugar

Beat eggs in large mixing bowl and add the next 5 ingredients.

After they are combined, add flour.

After mixed, cover and chill dough overnight.

*******************************

Heat oven to 375.

Shape dough into 1" balls.

Roll balls in granulated sugar and then powdered sugar until coated generously and place 1"
apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 minutes, or until tops are crackled.

Transfer to a wire rack to let cool. You may sprinkle with additional
powdered sugar, if needed.

Wassail

Man, there are a lot of these recipes online. Still, I think I found one that was like what Mom used to make. We'll see...

1 Gallon apple cider
2 C. cranberry juice
1/2 C honey
1/2 C sugar
2 oranges
Whole cloves
Allspice
Ginger
Nutmeg
3 cinnamon sticks broken in half (or 3 Tbs. ground cinnamon)
1/2 C - 1 C brandy (optional -yeah, right)

In a large pot, add the first 4 ingredients. I started the pot out on hot but not long after I added the honey, I reduced the temp to med-low.

Stud the oranges with the cloves and add them to the pot.

Add the spices.

Reduce to low and allow to simmer for 2-4 hours.

Add the brandy about a half hour before serving.

Refrigerate leftovers and just heat up over the next few days.

Springerles

Its time for Christmas baking. Actually, I held off too long cause these puppies wont have time to cure before the cookie exchange next weekend, but whatevs.


4 eggs, room temp
2 C white sugar
2 Tbl butter, room temp
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 C all-purpose flour
1/4 C anise seed

Beat eggs in large mixing bowl until very light. Add sugar and butter and mix until light and fluffy.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients and combine.

Knead dough, then cover and allow to chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Roll onto slightly floured board to 1/2 inch thickness. If you have it, stamp or roll the designs into the cookies and cut cookies apart into squares.

On your cookie sheets, place parchment paper and sprinkle with anise seeds. Place cookies on top of them allow to stand uncovered overnight in the fridge.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes at 325 degrees F Cool completely. Store in tight tin container ... the longer they are stored, the more anise flavor they take up and the harder they get. If you like cookies for dipping, then a month is a good time. If you like having the ability to eat a cookie (guess which category I fall into) then at least a week.

Sweet potatoes

This one is by the seat of your pants, so I love it!


Sweet potatoes
butter
brown sugar
marshmallows

Preheat oven to 325 (or whatever the turkey's at - just not too hot).

Boiled the sweet potatoes and let cool a bit.
Cut into 1 inch slices and line a pan with them.
Add a pat of butter to each slice and sprinkle generously with brown sugar.
Bake for 20 minutes and pull from oven.
Add marshmallows and put back in oven for 10 more minutes.

Stuffing

This thing didn't call for giblets. I'm not sure how it'll be, but here goes...


15 slices white bread
2 Tbl butter
1/2 lg onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
2.5-3 C chicken broth
2 tsp rubbed sage
1 tsp garlic powder

Lightly toast the bread and leave it out for 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 325.

In a saucepan, melt butter and cook onion and celery to softness.
Crush/cut the bread into crumbs and add to a large bowl.
Add egg and broth to crumbs. You want the crumbs softened but not mushy.
Add spices and contents of saucepan to bowl and mix up.
Add mixture to baking dish (approx. 9x13) and bake for 1 hr or until top is brown and crisp.

Acorn squash

This is my first, so I'm putting both the different recipes in this post. I'm going with option 2 today, just cause...

1 acorn squash
2 Tbl melted butter
honey or 1/3 C brown sugar (or both)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ginger

Preheat oven to 375.

Cut squash in half and scrape out crap. Place face down in a pan. Add water to pan to fill about 1/4". Bake for 30 minutes.

Now things can go one of 2 ways.

1) You can add butter and then the rest of the ingredients and bake an additional 30 minutes.
2) Remove the shell of the squash and mix with ingredients and bake for 30 minutes. This option allowed us to add some crushed walnuts to the mix.

Cranberries

We tried out a new recipe this year and it turned out very well.

1 bag cranberries
1 C OJ
1 C brown sugar
ginger

Mix everything and bring to a boil for 5 took off heat and let cool.

Cinnamon Sticks

Whatever could I do with this left over pie dough? My goodness...I know, I'll add butter and cinnamon/sugar and nom!



This was a recipe my mom used to make for us as kids. They are awesome and danged easy - especially if you already have the dough made.

melted butter
cinnamon/sugar mixture (should have enough cinnamon that its brownish)

Roll out dough and slice into inch wide strips a few inches long. Move to cookie sheet (I like parchment paper under them for easy cleanup.)
Brush on butter generously.
Sprinkle on spice generously.
Add to oven being used for pie. Given that sugar's present, its a good idea to wait for the lower temp of the pie baking. I wouldn't add to an oven hotter than 350.

Bake for 20ish minutes. Make sure it doesn't burn. Those pictured above were cooked a little too long but they aren't bad at all. I'd look for them to be a touch lighter in color than those.

Nom.

Pumpkin Pie

Let the Thanksgiving cooking....BEGIN!!!!

Seems easy enough to get this one out of the way. Since there are a lot of steps to it, it even makes more sense.


First off, take a small pumpkin. The recipe I found called them Sugar Pumpkins. I cut it in half, removed the stem and the guts and then placed it in the oven at 350 for an hour. I've also read you can steam smaller pieces in a saucepan. This is what it looked like.


After its done, pull off the rind and mash it. You need 2 cups for the pie. The pumpkin pictured above provided twice that. I'm freezing half of it.

1/2 C brown sugar
1/3 C white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
lemon zest from 1 lemon
2 C pumpkin puree
1 C heavy cream or 1 12oz can evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 egg yolk

Preheat oven to 425.

Combine the first 8 ingredients in a large bowl.
Beat the eggs and yolk and add.
Add pumpkin and cream and mix well.

Add to pie shell and bake for 15 min, then reduce oven to 350 for an additional 40-50 minutes. Mom reminded me that you want the middle a little underdone. The pie will continue to cook for awhile after its pulled from the oven.

Shell

I'm altering the pie crust, too. I'm going to make the normal amount and just use the left overs for cinnamon sticks.

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening (Crisco preferred)
4 Tbl butter

Mix these together using your hands. Its important to use the heat from your hands to begin to soften the shortening. Once you get pea-sized bits of flour, its ready for the liquid amounts.

1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vinegar
milk (amount below)

Mix the liquids and fill the measuring cup with milk until it gets to about 2/3 cup. Add this liquid to dry ingredients in doses mixing each time.

This time the crust was better, but still kinda fell apart. I'm thinking a touch less crisco.

Blackberry pie

Well, the time has come to quit being a chicken and make a pie. Since mom worked with me I've been avoiding this, but with Thanksgiving coming I want to make sure I can make a crust for the holiday.

Pie filling

4 cups blackberries, divided into 3.5 and 0.5 cup amounts
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour

2 Tbl milk
1/4 cup sugar

Mix the 1/4 cup sugar and flour in a bowl. Pour it over the 3.5 cups of blackberries and mix. Add them to your pie crust and top with the unsweetened berries. After putting a crust over the top of all that (it will be heaping but dont worry - it'll cook down) brush with milk and then sprinkle with remaining sugar.

Place in oven at 425 for 15 minutes, then reduce to 375 for 20-25 min if using fresh berries and 30 min if using frozen berries.

Crust

This is not Mom's crust. I plan to modify this as I go but Mom didn't have measurements and Whitney did. Whit just opened a pie store in KC. Thanks for your recipe, Whit.

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup shortening (Crisco preferred)

Mix these together using your hands. Its important to use the heat from your hands to begin to soften the shortening. Once you get pea-sized bits of flour, its ready for the liquid amounts.

1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vinegar
milk (amount below)

Mix the liquids and fill the measuring cup with milk until it gets to about 2/3 cup. Add this liquid to dry ingredients in doses mixing each time.

Split the dough in 2 and using a floured rolling pin, tap down the dough somewhat. Once its flattened a bit, start rolling. Make sure to not roll over the edge of the dough as that will make it fray. Once the dough is rolled out, there are 2 ways to get it into the pie pan. The first is rolling the dough onto the rolling pin and unrolling it in the pan.

That worked for me the first time. The dough wasn't quite right for the second half of the dough (the top). I had a lovely assistant there to demonstrate the second method of moving the dough. I gathered it in my hands and lifted it while she moved the pie plate under the dough. I'm not very good with this method and the beginning of it broke quite a bit. I repaired it using left over dough and sealed the pie.

Then I cut slits in the top of the dough and made sure there were no holes in the sides for the juice to leak out. Just to be safe, I put the pie on a cookie sheet with parchment paper on it.

Whew. Its smelling awesome right now. We'll see how it comes out.

Chicken and rice soup

Ok, so this is easy, but every time I do it, I look up and find a different recipe. I'd rather have one that I can modify over the years, so here goes...

3 qt water

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

3 large celery ribs, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

3 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) chicken

1 cup long-grain brown rice

1/3 cup packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

3 teaspoons salt

3 quarts water

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chicken-Rice-Soup-100914#ixzz1cV30uwZz

1 white onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 chicken
2 cups rice
1/3 cup parsley
6 bay leaves
1/3 cup rosemary

Combine everything in a 6 qt saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for an hour. Pull out chicken and let cool. Pull meat off bones and add back into soup.

And DANG, this house sure does smell awesome.

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

3 large celery ribs, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

3 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chicken-Rice-Soup-100914#ixzz1cV34KNcZ

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

3 large celery ribs, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

3 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) chicken

1 cup long-grain brown rice

1/3 cup packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

3 teaspoons salt

3 quarts water

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chicken-Rice-Soup-100914#ixzz1cV30uwZz

Mexican spice and Spanish rice

First, the spice...

• 1/2 cup chili powder
• 1/4 cup Hungarian sweet paprika
• 1 Tablespoon ground cumin
• 1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon ground dried chipotle chile pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt

I made half this recipe, although next time I'll make it all. Good spice (I'd like it hotter, but Lisa needs to eat, too.)

Next, the rice...

• 2 tablespoons olive oil (can use up to 1/4 cup)
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 cups of medium or long-grain white rice
• 3 cups* chicken stock (or vegetable stock if vegetarian)
• 1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste or 1 cup of diced fresh or cooked tomatoes, strained
• Pinch of oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt

*Check the instructions on the rice package for the proportions of liquid to rice. They can range from 1:1 to 2:1. If your rice calls for 2 cups of water for every cup of rice, then for this recipe, use 4 cups of stock for 2 cups of rice.

Method

1 In a large skillet brown rice in olive oil, medium/high heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook onion rice mixture, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes, or until onions are softened.

2 In a separate sauce pan bring stock to a simmer. Add tomato sauce, oregano, and salt. Add rice to broth. Bring to a simmer. Cover. Lower heat and cook 15-25 minutes, depending on the type of rice and the instructions on the rice package. Turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

Alrighty, on this recipe, I only used half the onion it called for, but next time I'd use it in the same proportion called for here. There was just a lot more rice than I anticipated. I'd halve this recipe next time, I think.

Also, I'd like some celery in it and Lisa requested cilantro.

Vegetable Korma

Aaaand, the second part of the experiment...the main course. This really turned out well and its not very hot so Lisa can actually eat it, unlike the last time we tried Indian.

1 small onion, diced

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root

4 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, cut

2 potatoes, cubed

1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced

3 tablespoons ground unsalted cashews or walnuts

1 (4 ounce) can tomato sauce or 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste + 1/2 cup water

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder

1 cup frozen green peas

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 cup raisins

1 cup heavy cream

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and cook until tender. Mix in ginger and garlic, and continue cooking 1 minute. Mix potatoes, carrots, jalapeno, cashews, and tomato sauce. Season with salt and curry powder. Cook and stir 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

Stir peas, red bell pepper, raisins and cream into the skillet. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 10 minutes.

Naan

Well, I got a wild hair today. From someone who doesn't really know baking, to jump into something that seemed so different from anything I ever saw my parents make was a bit off the normal road. However, they turned out WONDERFULLY!

Risk = reward

Naan

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1/4 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth (I didn't). Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.

Punch down dough. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a baseball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

During the second rising, preheat grill/oven to high heat.

Spread out dough as thin as possible. Lay on non stick cookie sheet and add to grill or oven in the hottest part, until puffy and lightly browned (recipes call for 2-3 min but it took me 7ish). You may need to flip naan and cook other side - I didn't. When complete, brush with melted butter and nom!

The Beef Roast

Ok, I actually got the beef - Beef Sirloin Tri Tip Roast. I browned the outside in the roasting pot, added Worcestershire sauce, basil, and water to nearly the top of the meat. I added the pot to the over set at 275 for an hour. Then I added 5 peeled and cut carrots and 5 peeled and cut potatoes along with some celery. I cooked it for another 55 minutes.

Recommendations for the next time...

There were 2 pounds of beef, and it came out at about 170 degrees (well done). I'd like it a little less done, but it was very tasty.

The veggies were not quite done. I'd add 10 more minutes to their cooking time (total of 65 to 70 minutes).

The juice was thin. I'm not sure if that was the cut of meat or if we just needed to add some more flour. I know that mom's was always thicker.

The Elusive Roast

Alrighty, this happened a week ago today, but I wasn't going to say anything. Lisa, however, is forcing me at gunpoint to write this. For a woman who doesn't own a gun, she's very effective at this (yeah, I've been reading Terry Pratchett, hence the British humor).

So, I've been craving the beef roast my mom used to make. Really, I think I'm craving the carrots and potatoes in that wonderful gravy, but the beef is awesome, too. Anyway, I set out to do this. I decided on the fly while I was at HEB getting groceries. That meant I had to buy a roasting pan, too, since ours is in storage...somewhere. But I got this absolutely beautiful blue enameled cast iron one, so color me happy.

I went to the meat section and was only seeing steak. I'm looking around for the shape of the thing I want and then to the names to verify its a roast. Finally, I see some. I look at the 2 kinds they have, but the recipe on my phone said a shoulder roast is one of the best and they have them. That settles it. I get the carrots and potatoes and call it good.

When I get home, I flour the roast and begin searing it. I have found like 4 different recipes to cook it so I'm trying to pick the one in the middle of them all. I get the thing browned...kinda...and get it in the oven. Now my options range from 350 to 250. Since I want one that's falling apart, I'm thinking the lower temp. I decide to go ahead and call mom.

Mom and I are talking. She tells me that when she does it, she fills the pan with water up to the top of the roast but makes it sound like this isn't very much water. The roast I have in there is something like 4 inches high. After she says this a couple of times, I question her about it.

"You know, that would be like 2 GALLONS of water. Are you sure about that?"

"What kind of roast did you get?"

"Hold on and let me get the wrapping out of the trash and I'll give you the exact name..."

*sounds of digging*

"Ok, it says a pork...shoulder...wait...PORK? SHIT"

*sounds of mom laughing*

"Dammit, I'm going to hang up now before I start yelling."

After a little sulking and beating myself up, Lisa got me to look at some recipes. These vary a lot too - internal temp of 145 to 170. Geeze. I went to the store and got a thermometer and when I got back, it turned out the thing was already at 185. I pulled it out, left it covered, and waited an hour or so to cut into it.

Actually, it was an amazing pork roast. Since there was 3 1/2 pounds of it, it was a little much for us. In the future, I'll freeze some of the cooked meat for later. Now, I've purchased the actual BEEF roast and I'll make it soon. I just wanted to get this entry in before I work on the real thing. For the record, a pork roast is exceedingly economical ($5 for 3.5 pounds) and lasts awhile. Also, the drippings make a terrific gravy.

Apple Strudel

This turned out tastey, but we made 3 strudels and agreed that we should make 2 with the same ingredients. Also, I used black raisins instead of the golden and currants, but I'm listing them in the recipe because I can see the desire for that.

1 pound sweet apples -- peeled, cored and thinly sliced

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup dried currants

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 slices brown bread, crumbled

1/2 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough

1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

In a bowl, combine apples, raisins, currants, cinnamon, sugar and bread crumbs. Stir well.

Spread several sheets of pastry generously with melted butter and lay them on atop the other on a baking sheet. (Making 2 strudels.) Spread the fruit mixture evenly over the top sheet, then roll the sheets up to form a log shape. Brush with melted butter again.

Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes, then put foil over the top and bake 10 more minutes (until pastry is golden brown and fruit is tender.)

When cool, top with powdered vanilla sugar and serve with whipped cream or vanilla sauce. Enjoy.

Weiner Schnitzel and Spaetzle

These look very easy to make. I think they will probably be very easy with some practice, but it took us an hour and a half. I had to improvise with the tools for the spaetzle so I'm sure that can get easier. Also, the recipe I found called for about half the milk I actually needed. That dough would not get to the right consistency.

I dont know how long this link will work, but this is what gave me the idea to try this. They demonstrate some of the techniques for cooking (albiet they're rushed too much).

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44274880/ns/today-food/t/modern-take-schnitzel-other-austrian-favorites/

Also, with the schnitzel, I bought tenderloins and pounded them down to the appropriate thinness.

Recipe: Wiener schnitzel

Ingredients

heritage pork (center cut) - I got 4 tenerized port tenderloins (1/4 inch thickness)

flour

2 eggs

breadcrumbs

Oil to fry

Salt

Lemon

Preparation

Slice pork against the grain into 3 oz pieces, pound until 1/4 of an inch think (pounding will allow it to cook evenly, tenderize the meat and make it soufflé nicer). Season with salt and pepper and dip in flour, egg (beaten with splash of seltzer) and breadcrumbs. Shake off excess. Heat oil until 350 F (med high) and crisp under constant circular movement for 60 seconds. Pat dry and serve.

Recipe: Spaetzle

Ingredients

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1.5 cup flour

2 Tbls sour cream

butter

2 Tbls chives

Salt

Nutmeg

Preparation

Heat pasta pot on the stove and season with oil and salt. Mix eggs, milk and flour in a blender for a semi-firm dough. Press spaetzle dough through a 5mm holed hotel pan (I used a colander with large holes), that peas sized drops form in the water.

After its done, add the sour cream, butter, chives, and nutmeg and toss to combine.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

These turned out wonderfully, although the recipe was kinda huge. I'm pairing it down a bit for listing here.

4 ounces cream cheese, softened or cubed

1 Tbls water

1/2 onion, diced

1 tsp ground cumin

2 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken

10 flour tortillas (6 inches), room temperature

1 can (10-3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1 can chopped green chilies and tomatoes

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, water, and cumin until smooth. Stir in chicken and onion.

Place 1/4 cup chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish.

In a large bowl, combine the soup, sour cream, milk and tomato/chilies; pour over enchiladas.

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30-40 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with cheese; bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Red Beans and Rice

So, I just started throwing things together today. Its kinda fun to put off going to the store as many days as possible, like we're cheating and holding onto our money longer than we're "supposed" to. Besides, its nice to use up everything and never throw things away like I used to. So, today was by the seat of my pants. Lis came up with the use of the kidney beans and I improvised on the rest. It turned out to be a very tasty meal.

I also made cornbread with it, but I used a recipe off a package so I wont bother to list it here. I did find out that if a recipe calls for all purpose flour, salt, and baking powder then you can substitute self rising flour for all three. Very useful.

1 can kidney beans (probably some pinto or something would be more New Orleans appropriate)

2 strips thick cut bacon

1 large tomato, chopped

1/4 large onion, chopped

creole seasoning

jalapenos (to taste)

Fry the bacon to a soft but cooked state (not crunchy) and pour off the oil. In the same pan, pour in the can of beans, juice and all. Turn the heat down to medium.

Add a little water.

Cut up the bacon and readd it to the pan.

Add the tomato, onion, and seasoning.

Simmer for about 10 minutes.

I cooked up some rice (1 cup uncooked) and added it.

Something I might try next time is to cook the tomato and the onion in pan after pouring off the excess grease. Sauteing them would be nice, then add the beans and seasoning and letting it simmer.

Bechamel Sauce

This is the basic sauce for most things...including mac and cheese. I've made this several times, but I finally found one with some flavor that I enjoy. I dont add salt and pepper so each person can season to their own taste. We had noodles and veggie feast with this (broccoli, asparagus, squash, zucchini, and garlic stir fried but any group of veggies will do). Very quick and easy dinner that leaves you feeling satisfied but not stuffed.

4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons grated onion

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup milk

1 pinch dried thyme

1 pinch ground cayenne pepper

grated pepper jack cheese to taste

grated sharp cheddar to taste

In a small saucepan, melt butter and stir in the flour, salt and white pepper. Add cold half-and-half and COLD chicken broth all at once. Stir well. Cook, stirring frequently, at medium heat until thick. Add cheese to taste. Remove from heat and stir in seasoning.

Peach Cobbler

This turned out really well, too. The original recipe calls for a 3 qt baking dish but I didn't have one. Instead, I used 2 smaller cast iron skillets and it worked beautifully. With this recipe, too, it turned out too sweet. I think we go nuts for sugar. I'm printing the recipe the way I cooked it, but in the future, I think the peaches can go without sugar and just have it in the crust.


4 cups peeled, sliced peaches (2 cans in water or juice)
2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup water
8 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 cups milk
Ground cinnamon, optional

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon, if using. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

Lemon Chicken

This turned out well, except its a little too sweet. Next time, cut back on the lemon curd by 1/3.


1 1/2 pounds chicken breast or chicken tenders, cut into chunks
1/4 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
Coarse salt
2 tablespoons wok or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon (a splash) white or rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup chicken broth or stock
11 ounces (1 cup) prepared lemon curd
1/4 cup hot water
1 lemon, zested
2 scallions, thinly sliced or 20 blades fresh chives, finely chopped

Directions
Coat the chunked chicken lightly in flour, seasoned with a little salt. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Stir fry chicken until golden, 3 or 4 minutes. Remove chicken from the pan and reduce heat to medium.

Add a splash of vinegar to the pan and let it evaporate. Add stock or broth to the pan and scrape up any drippings with a whisk. Thin curd by stirring in a little hot water. Add curd to broth and whisk to combine. Add chicken back to the pan and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes to thicken sauce and finish cooking chicken pieces through. Remove the pan from heat, add the scallions or chives and zest, and toss chicken pieces well to combine zest and scallions or chives evenly throughout the sauce.

Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers

This is a quick and easy recipe. Its also wonderful.


Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers

7 peppers, cut into quarters with seeds and membrane removed
cream cheese
4 strips of bacon

Preheat oven to 425.
On a baking sheet, add jalapenos
Stuff with cream cheese
Add a portion of bacon on top of each
Bake for 20-25 minutes (the picture was completed with 25 minutes and several were slightly burnt.

Additionally, Lisa mentioned maybe precooking the bacon to avoid some of the grease.

Carribean Red Snapper

I cooked this recipe, but it wasn't worded very well and some of the methods are not those I like to employ (1/3 cup of olive oil and a full stick of butter is a bit much). Rather than posting the original, I'm posting what I would do next time. Since this isn't what I actually cooked, but is close, I dont have any pics this time. This recipe has a lot of merit, but it just needs a lot of tweaks.



INGREDIENTS

1 lb Red Snapper fillets
1 large tomato, peeled and chopped OR 1 can diced tomatoes
2 green onions, chopped (including the tender green tops)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons hot sauce
1 sprig fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon of salt
olive oil
butter
1 lemon, cut in half

DIRECTIONS
Mix tomato, green onions, garlic, hot sauce, thyme and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet, setting heat to medium flame.
Add the fillets and squeeze with lemon.
Ladle the tomato mixture over fish and cover well. (Two interpretations for this - cover the skillet or cover the fish with the mixture.)
Cook for about 10 minutes. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until fillets are flaky. (This seems like too much cooking for fish.)

Stuffed green peppers

Lisa liked this but I wasn't terribly happy with it. I thought it was missing something. I thought it was bland. Interestingly, while typing this up, I found I'd made a mistake and didn't hold sauce back to pour over the peppers. That might have helped but I still want more flavor. Maybe some cheese? Is there anything cheese doesn't improve?

Stuffed peppers

1 lb ground turkey, italian seasoned

1/2 cup uncooked rice

4 green peppers

15 oz tomato sauce (2 8 oz cans?)

1 Tbs Worchestershire sauce

1 clove garlic (maybe 3, instead?)

1/4 onion, chopped

(Adding some spices would be recommended - not sure which)

Preheat oven to 350

Cook rice and brown turkey with garlic and onion

cut out tops, membranes, seeds, etc of peppers

mix turkey, rice, 1 can sauce and stuff into peppers (just realized I missed this step. It recommends holding the second can back to be combined with spices and poured over peppers after stuffing.)

Bake 1 hour or until peppers are tender.

Baked Pork Chops

These are outstanding and so easy. The only downside is running the oven in the summer. Maybe I'll grill these if I ever get a house of my own again. We had new potatoes, veggies, and apple sauce (of course). Nom.

Mediterranean Pork Chops
4 boneless or bone-in pork loin chops, cut 1/2 inch thick (1 to 1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbl finely chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 1/2 tsp minced)

Combine the 4 spices and rub on chops
Roast chops in a 425° oven for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° and continue roasting about 25 minutes

Jumpin Jambalaya

Well, last night was fun! We made jambalaya from scratch. Before it was always with Zatarain's box mix. Ironically, when you make it from scratch you still use Zatarain's seasonings. It made a huge amount. I could safely halve everything and still have leftovers.

Jambalaya

1 Tbl olive oil (try peanut)
1 Tbl Cajun seasoning
1 lb andouille sausage, sliced
1.25 lb shrimp, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 onion, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 oz) diced Italian tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (used Sriricha)
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon file powder
2 cups uncooked uncle ben's brown rice (try 1.5 cups)
3 1/4 cups chicken broth (adjust to uncle ben's recommended liquid)

Heat oil in a large heavy Dutch oven over medium heat.
Season the sausage and shrimp pieces with Cajun seasoning.
Saute sausage until browned.
Add onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic until tender.
Stir in crushed tomatoes, and season with black pepper, salt, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce and file powder.
Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the shrimp, rice and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed.

Day 1, still tired from the move

Ok, so actually I'm a month into by new life with my awesome wife in Corpus Christi. Lisa moved here about 7 months ahead of me and I dont yet have a job. That means the upkeep of our condo falls to me. I've started cooking and have tried out a few recipies. Last night, she suggested I blog about them so I dont lose what I gained.

So, a recipe I tried before the creation of this blog was for a shimp pot. It was excellent.

Shrimp Pot

4 ears of corn, cut to smaller pieces

1 lb shrimp, not peeled

1 lb keilbasa, sliced 1/4 pieces

several new potatoes

2 Tbl Old Bay Seasoning

Fill large pot half full of water. Add spice and bring to a boil.

Add new potatoes and cook for 10 minutes

Add keilbasa and cook for 7 minutes

Add corn and cook 7 minutes

Add shrimp and cook 4-6 minutes (until whitish pink)

Serve with crusty bread, butter and beer.