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.