Chili Stew

May 19, 2009 by

Normally, I use ground beef for my chili but this new concoction is superb with stewing beef.

2-1/2 lbs. stewing beef cut into cubes
1 lb. smoked kielbasa, sliced into coins (I used Hillshire Farms)
1 large, diced onion
1 jar salsa (your pick if hot or not)
2 15 oz. jars of kidney beans – drained
1 14 oz. can chopped tomatoes
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1 heaping Tbsp. minced garlic
1 cup water (and more as needed)
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 tsp. celery salt
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. black pepper

Place everything in a large pot or dutch oven. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2-1/2 to 3 hours, checking and stirring occasionally. Add water, 1/2 cup at a time if it seems to be drying out.

Filed Under: Beef, Soups & Stews

Quiche

May 5, 2009 by

Not just a retro thing. Best eaten the same day it’s made.

1 pre-baked pie shell (homemade or store-bought)

4 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled
3 extra large eggs
1 cup half-n-half
1/2 grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 – 1/2 tsp. black pepper, to taste
Pinch of nutmeg

Pre-bake the pie shell at 350 degrees, take out of oven, then turn up oven to 375 degrees.

While the shell is baking, in a large bowl whisk the eggs, half-n-half, cheese, salt, pepper & nutmeg. Scatter the bacon on the bottom of the shell and gently pour the egg mixture into the shell. Bake for about 30 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes.

Filed Under: Breakfast / Brunch, Pies

Peanut Butter Pie

May 1, 2009 by

No intro needed.

Prepared & cooled graham cracker pie crust – below or pre-made

Filling Ingredients:
8 oz. cream cheese – room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract

Filling Preparation:
Beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Slowly mix in the sugar, peanut butter and melted butter.
In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream and vanilla until firm. Don’t over whip, or you’ll have butter.
Fold 1/3 of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture. Fold this into the remaining whipped cream until it is totally blended. Fill the pie shell and smooth the top. Chill in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Graham Cracker Crust:
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs or Oreo Cookie Crumbs
1/3 cup (about 3/4 stick) melted butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees; Grease a 9-inch pie plate and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the crumbs and melted butter and stir with a fork until blended. Press this mixture into the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Bake this for 10 minutes. Let it cool completely.

Icing Ingredients:
4 oz. semisweet chocolate
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil (NOT olive)
1/8 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Combine all the ingredients and melt them over low heat in a small saucepan, or nuke in the microwave. Cool only slightly. Spread on the cooled (by freezer) pie. Start at the center of the pie and work your way outward. Chill or freeze until ready to serve.

Filed Under: Pies Tagged With: ,

Apple Pie Tray

April 23, 2009 by

This is for everybody that doesn’t like to or hasn’t mastered the art of pie crusts, and for feeding larger crowds. Here’s how it works:  starting with an easy dough crust that is pressed onto the bottom and up the sides of a large pan, you then add a filling and topping. It’s easy and delicious and most of the ingredients are probably sitting in your cupboards right now.  Using a bit of whipped cream never hurts, either.

Crust
4 cups flour
1 tsp. salt (kosher salt, if possible)
2 cups shortening, such as Crisco

Filling
1/2 cup maple syrup – divided
8 large apples –  whatever type you want or a mixture – peeled, sliced, chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh is best)
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. (a pinch) of ground nutmeg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Crumbly Top
1 cup flour
1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (no margarine, please!)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and get out your large baking pan (jelly roll style) lightly grease it and set it aside. In a large bowl, combine the salt and the 2 cups flour then cut in the shortening until it looks like little coarse crumbs (kinda like oatmeal) – if you do it with your hands, it’s messy but works well. Form this is into a flat disk and plop onto the greased pan. Press this dough down onto the bottom and up the sides of the greased pan – best way to do this is to place a sheet of plastic wrap over the dough, press down and spread.

Now spread 1/4 cup of the maple syrup over the crust and put the apples slices or chunks spread out all over the syrup. Then into a large bowl, combine the the other 1/4 cup of syrup, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg & vanilla and drizzle over the apples.

Then for the topping – put the flour and sugar into a bowl and with your hands mix and squish the butter in until it becomes crumbly; sprinkle over the filling and bake for about 1 hour – or until the crust is golden browned and apples are bubbly. Remove from oven, let set for about 10 minutes then cut into squares.  A pizza cutter works great.

Filed Under: Desserts

Cranberry & Pear Relish

March 30, 2009 by

This is an easy, quicker method because you use canned cranberries. Serve this anytime of year with any kind of roasted meat.

1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 can jelled or whole cranberries
2 peeled, chopped pears
Juice from 1 lemon
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice

In a medium pot on high heat bring water & sugar to a boil then simmer for 5 miunutes. Add the cranberries and simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add the spices, stir well then transfer to a bowl. Cool to room temperature then place in fridge to thicken – only takes a few hours.

Filed Under: Something Different Tagged With: , , ,

Bell Pepper Medley

March 30, 2009 by

Because various bell peppers are sold year round, you can make and serve this colorful salad either warm, room temp, or cold. Leftovers are perfect on sandwich meats.

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced thinly
4 bell peppers, any colors you wish, cut into circles
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. minced garlic

In a large, wide skillet put the oil in and heat over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for about 3 minutes. Turn heat to high, add the sliced peppers, salt and garlic. Heat over high for 1 minute then turn the heat to medium and saute for about 5 minutes more, mixing and flipping around while cooking.

Filed Under: Vegetables Tagged With:

Nutty Fruity Crumble

March 22, 2009 by

Spring is here! This is something new I baked hoping to impress some guests. We’ll  never know –  I forgot to put it out for them, and we all ate it instead!  Use any fruits you like.

6-8 ripe pears – peeled, halved, cored, and sliced
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
3 Tbsp. sugar
1-2 pints blackberries
1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
6 Tbsp. butter – chilled & diced
1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss the pears with the lemon juice: scatter 2 tbsp. sugar over and set aside for 30 minutes. Drain pears, discarding the juices, mix them, then place in a 12 x 8 pan. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp. sugar. Combine flour, almonds, and brown sugar in a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Scatter this over the fruit, then scatter the pecans over. Bake for 35-45 minutes, covering loosely with aluminum foil after 20 minutes if it starts to brown too quickly.

Filed Under: Desserts Tagged With:

Quick Biscuits

March 18, 2009 by

Quick because they get help from good, old-fashioned Bisquick. Here’s my version.

2 cups Bisquick baking mix
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 tsp. sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
2 Tbsp. melted butter – divided

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. In a medium bowl, add the Bisquick, buttermilk, sugar, salt & only 1 Tbsp. of the melted butter; mix well. Lightly flour a work surface and empty the bowl onto it and knead well until it’s elastic – this only takes about half a minute. With a floured rolling pin, roll out the mixture till it’s about 1/4 inch thick then cut out rounds with a round cookie-cutter/biscuit cutter. Re-roll scraps and cut out some more – you’ll get about 12 biscuits.

Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for about 11 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Take out of oven and immediately brush with the leftover butter.

Filed Under: Breads - Quick Tagged With:

Rosemary & Garlic Potatoes

March 10, 2009 by

The aroma wafting through your house while these potatoes are cooking is almost unbearable. I served leftover steak and sausages alongside.

5 lb. bag potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 cup olive oil – extra virgin if you can
3 large cloves garlic, peeled & thinly sliced
1 Tbsp. kosher or coarse salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. fresh, chopped rosemary or 1 tsp. dried

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and get out a large, rimmed baking sheet. Place everything up to the rosemary in a large bowl and mix well with your hands, empty onto the baking sheet making sure you get all the oil in the bowl onto the pan as best you can. Place in the oven for 45 minutes. Stir with a spatula, add the rosemary and mix well. Cook for 15-20 minutes more.

Filed Under: Vegetables Tagged With:

Jenny Kunzinger’s Rice Pudding

March 7, 2009 by

Jenny was my husband’s grandmother who passed away when he was a child. She made this as a special treat for him, and try as I might I couldn’t get a rice pudding recipe that he liked. Recently, a small box of her recipes was discovered and alas, there it was! This is my memory gift to him, and is the best I’ve ever tasted, so we are sharing with you.

1 quart whole milk
5 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup cooked white rice
3 eggs, beaten
Sprinklings of cinnamon or nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 pan and add to the pan, in this order:  milk, sugar, rice, beaten eggs and stir well. Sprinkle cinnamon or nutmeg (we prefer cinnamon) on top and bake for 90 minutes, stirring once in a while. If it bubbles too much, turn down to 325 degrees.

Filed Under: Desserts Tagged With:
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