Open-Faced Crescent Sandwiches

January 13, 2010 by

Your whole family will enjoy these and everyone will be happy! This is just a springboard recipe – add + change as you will; have fun with it. Goes great alongside my Poppy Seed Noodles for dinner or serve for breakfast with eggs on the side.

1 lb. ground turkey, chicken, or pork sausage
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup minced, roasted red peppers or pimentos
2 cans  refrigerated crescent roll dough
About 1/2 cup of pizza sauce
About 1 cup shredded cheese (I used the bag of Mexican mixed)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and grease 2 cookie sheets. Prepare your oven racks so that 2 cookie sheet can cook at one time; In a large skillet, cook the sausage, garlic and peppers; drain and set aside.

Unroll the doughs onto the cookie sheets and separate them into 4 rectangles each, pressing onto the perforations to seal. Spread  some sauce on on each, sprinkle the cheese over the sauce then spread some cooked sausage on top. With the back of a large spoon or your hands, gently press the mixture onto the top of each “sandwich” and place in the oven.

Bake for about 9 minutes, alternate pans and cook for about 9 minutes more or until a deep golden brown. Remove from the cookie sheets and dig in.

Filed Under: Breads - Quick, Frontpage Tagged With: , ,

Creamy Chocolate Pie

January 13, 2010 by

Easy to make and you get to pick a crust, either graham cracker (which I prefer) or regular.

1 baked pie shell (graham cracker or regular)
3 (1 oz.) squares unsweetened or semi-sweet chocolate
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 cup hot! water
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup whipping cream

In a pan over medium heat, melt the chocolate with the milk and salt. Cook and stir until it’s really thick and fudgy – takes about 6-8 minutes. Add the water and cook and stri until it gets thicker and starts to bubble. Remove it from the heat and add the vanilla. Cool it for 15 minutes, then place in the fridge to cool thoroughly – takes about 30 minutes, then stir and set aside.

In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer (handheld works well here) beat the 1 cup of whipping cream until stiff, then fold this into the cooled chocolate mixture. Pour and spread evently into the pre-cooked & cooled pie shell. Chill this no less than 3 hours.

Filed Under: Pies

Southwestern Style Flank Steak

January 9, 2010 by

Crumbled, cooked, spicy sausage and onions in a horizontally sliced steak, rolled, tied, browned, then salsa poured over, and finally it’s oven-cooked for about one and a half hours. . .what’s not to like?

2 pounds flank steak
1 large onion, peeled, diced
1 diced green pepper
1 pound spicy Italian sausage or chorizo
8-12 oz. jar salsa (your choice of mild or hot)
3 Tbs. or to taste of minced garlic

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9 x 13 pan with at least 2 inch sides.

Slice the flank steak horizontally along the longest side, but leave about a 1-inch border at the end; open steak and lay flat in the pan; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, crumble the sausage, add onion and green pepper and cook for about 10-15 minutes.

Carefully spread the contents of pan onto one side of steak and fold the other side over to close. Alternately you can roll and tie it, but it may become so loose that everything falls out – do as you wish. Then pour and spread the salsa over and around steak. Cover with foil and place in oven for 50-60 minutes.

Filed Under: Beef, Frontpage Tagged With: , , ,

Spinach-Topped Bread

January 9, 2010 by

This is so incredibly simple. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this years ago.
1 large loaf of Italian bread
2 Tbsp. butter
1 small, diced onion
1 pkg. frozen spinach – thawed or not
1 tsp. minced garlic
Salt & pepper
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano or Parmesan
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Get out a cookie or baking sheet. Melt the butter in a small-medium saucepan and when hot, add the onion and the thawed or frozen spinach. Cook for about 10-15 minutes; if spinach was frozen it takes about this long to cook through. Sprinkle on the cheeses, salt, & pepper. Transfer to a food processor or blender (or not) and blitz till smooth.
Slice loaf of bread in half lengthwise and place each piece face up on the baking sheet. Spread the mixture on each half of bread (you may have leftovers) and place in the oven for about 15 minutes. Slice and serve.

Filed Under: Appetizers / Snacks, Breads - Quick

Best Baked Beans

January 5, 2010 by

img_0093.jpgBecause these are made with canned beans, they don’t bake in the oven for hours and hours. They really are one of the best baked beans.

1 pound uncooked bacon, sliced into thirds
2 onions, diced
2 tsp. minced garlic (jarred is fine)
3 28-oz. cans of baked beans
1 1/2 cups ketchup based chili sauce
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup yellow ballpark mustard (not spicy)
3 tsp. dried basil OR oregano
1 tsp. red hot pepper flakes***optional but very good
2 tsp. ground cumin
A little less than 1/4 cup packed brown sugar – (preferably dark brown)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Saute the bacon for 10 minutes. Stir in the onions and keep cooking for 5 more minutes. Add the garlic and cook 3 minutes more. Scrape this into a large baking dish then add all the rest of the ingredients and gently mix/stir to blend together. Bake this uncovered until it’s bubbly and there’s a tad of brown crust on the edges – this takes about 45 minutes.

Filed Under: Frontpage, Vegetables Tagged With: ,

Sweet Potato Pie

January 5, 2010 by

Even if you don’t care for sweet potatoes, chances are you’ll like this pie.

Gingersnap Cookies Crust:
25 gingersnap cookies
4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) melted butter

Filling:
1 good sized sweet potato, peeled &; chunked
1 1/2 Tsp. flour
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 tsp. ginger
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. (or a pinch) of ground cloves
1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
3 Tbsp. melted butter

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Place the cookies in a food processor and pulse until fine. Or you can place in a zip lock bag and crush with a rolling pin. Put them in a bowl and stir in the melted butter. Press crumb mixture into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate or tin. Bake for 12 minutes. Set aside.

Then turn the oven up to 375 degrees. Peel and chunk the potato, place it into a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain.

Combine the flour, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in a bowl and set them aside.
Put the drained potatoes into the an electric mixer bowl, or a large bowl. Add the sugar, eggs, and condensed milk. Mix them until combined, then add the other 3 Tbsp. of butter. Add the flour mixture and combine. Pour this filling into the crust and bake until it’s set – this takes about 35 minutes. Place on cooling rack. Serve at room temperature. Dig in!

Filed Under: Autumn & Winter, Pies Tagged With: , ,

Hungarian Goulash

January 5, 2010 by

Wow! This recipe is really tasty. The aroma floats all over the house and will have everyone asking, “When’s supper gonna be done?” Serve over egg noodles.

3 lbs. stewing beef cut into 1 inch chunks
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. white pepper
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil (not olive)
3 cups chopped yellow onion – 3 large onions
1 heaping Tbsp. minced garlic (from the jar)
3 cups water
1 can tomato paste
1 packet of G. Washington’s Rich Brown Seasoning OR
1 beef bouillon cube
1 Tbsp. paprika
1 bay leaf
Cooked egg noodles

Mix the salt & pepper together and rub in and all over the meat. Heat the oil in a large pot and brown the meat on medium-high and stir until brown on all sides. With a slotted spoon, transfer all the meat to a large bowl. Add the onions & garlic to the pan drippings and saute for about 7 minutes. With a slotted spoon, take the onions out as best you can and transfer them to the big bowl with the meat. Add the water, paste, seasoning packet, paprika and bay leaf to the pan and whisk/stir well. Put the meat & onions back into the pan and all their accumulated juices in the bottom of the pot and mix. Bring to a boil and cover partially. Simmer for 2 1/2 hours stirring occasionally. Serve over egg noodles.

If you need to thicken the goulash, do so by making the following:
2 Tbs. flour
1/2 cup water

Dissolve the flour in the 1/2 cup of water in a small bowl. Stir about 1 cup of the hot gravy into this then return to the pot stirring constantly until it comes to a boil and thickens.

Filed Under: Beef, Frontpage, Soups & Stews

My Apple Pie

December 28, 2009 by

This is a crumb-topped apple pie simply because I forgot to make a 2-crust pie dough today when I was preparing this! Oh well, mistakes sometimes turn out to be delicious!

Single crust pie dough
Filling:
8-10 granny smith apples, peeled & chunked
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1-1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla extract (pure please!)

Crumbly Topping:
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter – cut up
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and line a rimmed sheet (cookie sheet) with parchment or aluminum foil – you definitely wanna do this so your oven doesn’t get icky from spillage.

Place the pie dough in the pie plate and set in the fridge while you prepare the apples. Peel each apple and cut off chunky pieces and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle on all the rest of the filling ingredients and mix thoroughly. Carefully pour this into the pie crust shell and set aside.

Meanwhile, prepare the crumbly topping. Mix it all together with your fingers and hands in a medium sized bowl. Sprinkle it all over the apples in the shell. Place pan on the parchment/aluminum foil lined sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 for 45 more minutes. It will be juicy and bubbly. Let cool on a rack.

Filed Under: Autumn & Winter, Pies

Super Quick Pizza

December 8, 2009 by

Truly simplistic and easy. Doubles beautifully. For the pictures I prepared one pepperoni and one with just cheese.

2 cans refrigerated pizza dough
1/2 a jar of pizza sauce
Sprinklings of Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese
Shredded mozzarella
1 6 oz. pkg. thick cut pepperoni
Plus, any additional toppings you want

Follow directions on pizza dough cans regarding oven preheating, and cooking times. Meanwhile, roll out the 2 doughs as neatly as you can on a large rimmed baking sheet. Spread the sauce on with the back of a large spoon, sprinkle cheeses on top of sauce, place pepperoni pieces on top of all. Bake, then eat!

Filed Under: Breads - Quick, Frontpage Tagged With: , ,

Roasted Balsamic Potatoes

December 4, 2009 by

Easy and delicious. If using the small red potatoes then you don’t even have to peel them.

About 4-5 large russet potatoes
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
A pinch of nutmeg
4+ cloves minced garlic (to taste)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper

Preheat  your oven to 375 degrees. Take out a large, rimmed baking sheet and set aside. Peel and cut potatoes into chunks and place on the sheet pan. Whisk together the oil, spices and garlic, drizzle over the potatoes and mix well.

Bake for 30 minutes, then drizzle with the balsamic vinegar and bake for 10 more minutes. Stir, add salt & pepper. Serve.

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