Red Beans & Rice

July 24, 2013 by

Technically, this is Louisiana Red Beans & Rice, but being from New York, well. . . Anyways, here is a fabulous dish to eat no matter what side of this great country you call home. The dried beans must (I stress must) have a minimum eight hour soak prior to preparing this dish. The canned variety just won’t work. So start this the night before.

1lb. (this is about 2 cups) bag dried kidney beans
1 lb. Polish Kielbasa, sliced into coins
1 lb. of a smoked Creole sausage OR chorizo sausage – you decide how spicy
2 medium yellow onions, diced
1 bunch of scallions minced – including the green parts
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
4 large cloves garlic (I used a large heaping Tbsp. of minced)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1-2 tsp. hot sauce, plus more to pass at the table

Bean Soak: Place the beans in a pot with a tight-fitting lid; cover with cold water and place in the fridge overnight. Next morning, drain and rinse beans and begin the dish, or you can place the beans in a bowl and just keep in the fridge until ready to use.

Place prepared beans in large dutch oven or pot that has a cover. Pour 2 quarts of water over and bring to a boil. Boil the beans for 10 minutes; lower the flame and simmer for one full hour. Add all the ingredients and bring it back to a simmer; keep at a good, steady simmer for 2 hours, occassionaly stirring and checking to make sure there is sufficient water to keep the beans “swimming.” After about 1 hour, mash a bit of the beans against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon – this keeps the sauce thick.

Add salt and pepper to taste, but only after it has been simmering well for at least 1 hour. Adding salt too soon will toughen the beans.

Make white rice on the side (and make plenty of it!) – place white rice in bowls, ladle the Red Beans over the rice and dig in!

Filed Under: Frontpage, Rice

Shoo-Fly Pie

July 20, 2013 by

What a pie! This recipe will definitely wow your dessert crowd.  When my husband tasted it he was speechless. Yes, it is that good.

1 unbaked pie shell
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 heaping Tbsp. Crisco
1 cup cane syrup (such as King or Lyle’s Golden)**see below
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup boiling water
1 large or extra large egg, beaten

Sifted confectioners’ sugar for the topping

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Place the flour, brown sugar and Crisco into a medium sized bowl and with your hands, crumble the mixture so it looks like crumbs, then divide it in half, setting one-half aside into a separate bowl.  Pour the syrup into the crumbs in one of the bowls, then mix the baking soda into the boiling water, pour into the syrup mixture bowl and add the beaten egg. Whisk briskly but briefly with whisk or a fork.

Pour into the unbaked pie shell, then sprinkle the reserved crumbs on top. Place the pie plate onto a baking sheet (for spillage) and place in the oven for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Let cool completely, then serve each piece dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Wow!!

**Substitutes: combine two parts light corn syrup plus one part molasses OR equal parts honey and corn syrup OR maple syrup (thinner, not as sweet.) OR dark corn syrup (thinner, not as sweet).

Filed Under: Autumn & Winter, Frontpage, Holidays & Special Occasions, Pies Tagged With: , , ,

Herb-Buttered Carrots

July 16, 2013 by

These oven cooked, herb-buttered carrots will have your family requesting second helpings. You can keep the baby carrots whole, or cut them up.

1/2 cup melted butter
2 minced garlic cloves – or more to taste
1 tsp. dried parsley
1-1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 /4 tsp. crushed, dried rosemary
Sprinklings of fresh crushed pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp. kosher salts, or to taste
1 lb. baby carrots

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well to combine and coat. Transfer everything to a greased baking dish. Cover and bake for one hour; stir well halfway through.

Filed Under: Frontpage, Vegetables

Sweet Kugel

July 12, 2013 by

Sweet noodle Kugel is such a versatile dish – you can eat it with a meal or afterward with coffee or tea. The bonus is it’s good warm or cold.

1/2 pound (half a bag) broad egg noodles
4 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup butter
1/2 pound cottage cheese
8 ounces sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 and take out a 1-quart, lightly greased casserole dish.

Cook the noodles according to the package.  Meanwhile, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Drain, but don’t rinse the noodles and place back into the pot. Combine the rest of the ingredients up to the graham cracker crumbs, then fold in the egg whites. Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs on top. Place in oven for about 40 minutes, or until golden brown.

Filed Under: Frontpage, Macaroni / Pasta Tagged With: ,

Coleslaw

July 4, 2013 by

A true, delicious classic and something we eat all summer long. I like the shredded cabbage pieces smaller so to achieve this I give it a whirl in the food processor for a few seconds; the choice is yours.

1 bag of coleslaw mix
1 cup mayonnaise (I use Hellmann’s)
1 Tbsp. cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. white sugar
1/2 tsp. minced garlic (from the jar)
1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Into a medium sized bowl, plop the coleslaw mix, then separately whisk together all other ingredients and stir/fold/mix until well mixed. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill. Serve.

Filed Under: Frontpage, Salads, Vegetables Tagged With: , ,

Sunday Sauce

July 2, 2013 by

I grew up around a lot of Italians where the families always made a Sunday Sauce or gravy. They’d even bring “baked macaroni” along on all the park picnic outings. While the sauce simmered on the stove it drove us all crazy with it’s aroma! Here is my rendition.

1 lb. piece of steak, cut into small chunks
1 lb. piece of pork loin, (2 boneless pork chops) cut into chunks
1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, cut into chunks
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
3 28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
1 recipe of meatballs – (see Beef category for my recipe)

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic. A few pieces at a time, add the meats and cook for about 5 minutes turning them around frequently until they are nicely browned on all sides. As the meats brown, with a slotted spoon, remove them from the pan and set aside. When the garlic begins to brown, remove that and toss out.

In a small bowl, whisk together the tomato paste with 1/4 cup cold water and stir this into the oil. Cook this while stirring for 3 minutes. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, then fill one of the cans with cold water and add that to the pot, then raise the heat to a low boil. Return all the meat to the pot, scraping all the juices in. Let this boil for 5 full minutes. Lower the heat and cover the pan partially. Simmer for 2-1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. After 2 hours, add the meatballs, if using, and let them simmer for the last 30 minutes. Remove from heat and serve over pasta. Pass the grated cheese and dig in!

Filed Under: Frontpage, Sauces Tagged With: , , , , ,

THE Brownies

June 28, 2013 by

img_0136.jpgTo me, this is the quintessential recipe – fudgy and chocolaty. The top crackles like bakery shop brownies. And the best thing is you can whip out a batch without breaking a sweat. I’m a purist and prefer not to have nuts in my brownies, but you can add them if you wish. Pour a glass of really cold milk and dig in.

1 cup butter – 2 sticks (no margarine, please!)
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I use Hershey’s)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs – beaten
2/3 cup flour (you can even use a gluten-free blend)
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups semi-sweet chips (or a combo of semi & bitter)
1 Cup chopped nuts if you wanna add them

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan. (In my house we call it “The Brownie Pan”)

img_0135.jpgIn a medium sized pot, over low heat, melt the butter; remove from the heat. Add the baking cocoa and sugar. Stir. Then stir in the eggs.

In a separate bowl, whisk or sift together the dry ingredients; stir this into the cocoa mixture. Stir in the vanilla, then stir in the chocolate chips and if using nuts, now’s the time to add them.

Spread this out into the greased pan and bake for about 30 minutes. They’re done when they start to crackle and pull away from pan slightly – don’t under bake them.

Place them on a cooling rack to cool completely. Once cooled, cut them and place on a plate or two, then place in the fridge for at least 1 hour. This may be the hardest part, but they need to cool so you can cut them. If you can’t wait, why not try a spoon? To really gild the lily, once cooled and set, dust with confectioners sugar. Wow!

Filed Under: Cookies & Bars, Frontpage

Slow Cooker Tomato Meat Sauce

June 24, 2013 by

Serve over your favorite pasta now, freeze some for later. This makes a big batch so you’ll need a big crockpot. Sprinkle some grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano over top.

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 yellow onions, diced
4 minced garlic cloves
2 pounds ground beef
Five of the 29 oz. cans of tomato sauce
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
1 Tbsp. dried basil

Warm the olive oil in a large skillet then add onons and cook about 5 minutes – until softened, add garlic and cook another minute. Add the ground beef and cook until browned, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, lightly grease the crockpot. When beef is browned, scrape into crockpot, add the tomato sauce, cover, set on low and cook for 8 hours – At the four hour mark, add the spices then cook 4 more hours.

 

Filed Under: Crock Pot / Slow Cooker, Frontpage, Macaroni / Pasta, Sauces Tagged With: , , , ,

Spice Rub Pasta Salad

June 20, 2013 by

img_0116.jpgWhat a delicious idea! Put together a spice rub, mix it into rinsed, cold pasta, then add whatever else you want such as green and/or black olives, diced ham or salami, drained artichoke hearts – you have endless possibilities here. Oh, then you add your choice of Italian dressing. You’re gonna love it.

Spice Rub Mix:
2 Tbsp. grated cheese
2 tsp. sesame seeds OR see below
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. poppy seeds
1/2 tsp. celery seed
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1 box pasta of your choice (I used Barilla penne)

8 oz. Italian dressing – your pick, whisked with 2 tsp. sesame oil if not using seeds

Prepare the pasta; drain well then rinse with cold water and drain again. Place in a serving bowl and sprinkle, mix, sprinkle, mix the spice rub mix in. Then add your Italian dressing and anything else you wanna put in there. Mix very well and either refrigerate till serving or serve now. The taste improves over longer refrigeration time.

Filed Under: Frontpage, Macaroni / Pasta

Bakery Doughnut Muffins

June 16, 2013 by

A cross between doughnuts and muffins without the frying.  You can really go over the top and sprinkle on a mixture of cinnamon, sugar & butter before baking, if you wish.

3/4 cups (12 Tbsp.) softened butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3 cups flour

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin, inside the tins and all around the top.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar for 3 full minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and blend 1 more minute. Add all the rest of the ingredients then stir with a wooden spoon to the count of 20 (1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, etc.) you don’t want to over mix.  Remember, while mixing, stir up the batter from the bottom of the bowl and keep mixing in well.

Place dough in the 12 muffin cups and fill each one – you will use all the batter. (if you are going to use a streusel topping the melt 4 oz. butter, mix in 1 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp. cinnamon – mix well and sprinkle over the top of each muffin before you place in the oven) Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a knife inserted into a middle muffin comes out clean.

Pop out onto a cooling rack and serve.

Filed Under: Breads - Quick, Frontpage Tagged With:
« Previous Page
Next Page »