Thursday, November 20, 2008

Whole Wheat Pizza and Pesto

I am so excited Albert got my wheat grinder fixed! Now I just head out to the garage, grind some wheat and Presto! I have freshly ground flour. How sweet it is!


Whole Wheat Pizza and Pesto
(from Nie-Nie Cuisine)

2 3/4 Cups whole wheat flour
1 envelope active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoons sugar

Add yeast to one cup warm water, let sit. Mix dry ingredients together then add olive oil. Add yeast mixture and combine, kneading for about 5 minutes. Let rise for 30-45 minutes, roll out, and add ingredients. Cook in oven at 450 for about 15-18 minutes.


PESTO Sauce
3 cups basil leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts (I used almonds since I didn't have these)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (I doubled this...what! I like cheese!)
1/2 tsp sea salt (I used regular)

Pulse basil leaves with olive oil and pine nuts. Add garlic, and cheese in food prosessor until finely chopped. Sprinkle in sea salt and ground pepper; process until smooth.

*I ended up putting pesto on the dough and adding sauteed chicken, garlic and onions. I added less cheese on top to see how it would turn out. Super Yum. Good as leftovers, but not the same as fresh out of the oven.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Ali's Pumpkin Spice Cookies


I got this recipe from Kaitlin and Daron's stepmom. They taste good and are fluffy. (for some reason all my cookies deflate after they come out of the oven. Any suggestions on how to fix this?) I think next time I would use cream cheese frosting, I didn't really care for the icing.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Icing:2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 Tbls milk
1 Tbls melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt; set aside

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by Tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly

3. Bake for 15-20 mins in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork

4. To make glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 Tablespoon melted butter, and 1 tsp vanilla. Add milk as needed to achieve drizzling consistency.

Moroccan Tagine

I really like this recipe. Everyone thought it tasted good! I love when I find recipes like this. The great thing is it uses ingredients that are most likely in your food storage already, except for squash which you may have in your summer garden.

I tried to download this picture a few times and it keeps turning it sideways. This is really annoying!




Moroccan Tagine
(all recipes.com)


INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into chunks
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small butternut squash, peeled and chopped
1 (15.5 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 (14 ounce) can vegetable broth
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 dash cayenne pepper





DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook the chicken, onion, and garlic about 15 minutes, until browned.
2. Mix the squash, garbanzo beans, carrot, tomatoes with juice, broth, sugar, and lemon juice into the skillet. Season with salt, coriander, and cayenne pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, and continue cooking 30 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Canned pinto beans

Ok, I am going from a few notes and mostly memory on this one, so hopefully I get it right. I haven't made these in 2 1/2 years (since E became allergic), so I am having to guess a little at what my notes meant. I use my pressure cooker, which doubles as a canner, but only does 5 wide-mouth pints at a time, so adjust as needed to fit your canner.

I usually start with 15-16 cups of dry beans (this will make about 25 wide-mouth pint jars of beans). Put them in a large bowl or other container and cover with PLENTY of cold water. Let stand for 12-18 hours in a cool place. Drain. Put about 8 cups of soaked beans in a large pan (this will do approx 5 wide-mouth pints). Cover beans with cold water by 2 inches. Boil 30 minutes. Pack hot beans into prepared hot jars leaving 1 inch headspace. Add 1/2 tsp salt to each pint, 1 tsp to each quart and 1 clove minced garlic +/-. Ladle hot cooking liquid or boiling water over beans, leaving 1 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust 2 piece caps. Process pints 1 hr 15 minutes and quarts 1 hr 30 minutes at 10# pressure in a steam pressure canner.

All the other directions are either specific to your pressure canner (i.e. how to actually get it ready to process and how to measure processing time, etc) or are common to all types of canning (i.e. how to prepare jars and lids for canning, how to adjust lids, etc). If I left out anything major, leave me a comment and I'll fix it. Mmmm. I'm already thinking of yummy bean burritos.

Killer Brownies

14 oz pkg caramels
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 pkg chocolate cake mix
16 oz pkg chocolate chips

Unwrap caramels and place them in saucepan with 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Heat over low heat stirring constantly until caramels melt. Keep warm. Combine melted butter, cake mix, 1/3 cup evaporated milk in a bowl. Stir until dough holds together. Spread half of the dough in greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350F for 6 minutes. Sprinkle chocolate cips evenly over hot crust. Pour caramel sauce over chips. Using finger, crumble remaining dough over caramel. Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes until done.

Corn Dogs

1 Cup Masa Harina (corn flour)
1/2 Cup white flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
2/3 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2-2 Cups milk

Mix dry ingredients together. Add milk while stirring until batter is the consistency of pancake batter. Dip hot dogs in batter and deep fry at 350F until golden brown. Drain on paper towel. You may also cut hot dogs into 1/2-1" pieces to make mini corndogs.

Pancakes

1 Cup flour
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp oil
1 Cup + 2 Tbsp milk

Mix dry ingredients with wire wisk until homogenous. Add liquids and stir until most lumps are gone. Don't stir again. Cook on griddle, at about 350F, browning both sides. This makes enough to feed 2 adults and a small child. For a family, I double, triple or quadruple this recipe.

Breadmachine Oatmeal Bread

1 Cup water
1/4 molasses, corn syrup, or any other sweet syrup you want to use
2 Tbsp butter
3 cups white flour
1/2 oats (quick or old-fashioned)
2 Tbsp dry milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 3/4 tsp yeast

Put in breadmachine in order listed. Bake on White or Basic Bread cycle. You can add whole wheat in place of some of the white flour, but you'll have to adjust the water amount slightly.

Cranberry Relish

Preparation time: 15 minutes.

2 cups washed raw cranberries
2 skinned and cored apples
1 large seedless orange
2 cups sugar

Run fruit through a grinder (Very Important to use an old fashioned grinder) medium sized blade. Add sugar. Let sit at room temperature until sugar dissolves.

Taco Seasoning

I make a big batch of this and keep it in a tupperware, measuring out 1/3 cup for each lb of beef I am cooking.

To use, brown ground beef, drain fat, add seasoning mix and ¾ cup water. Bring to boil, then simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To season 1 lb ground beef
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp corn starch
1 Tbsp dried minced onion
1 tsp beef bouillon or 1 cube
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp onion salt
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp sugar

Heather's Spaghetti Sauce (old fashioned with meat sauce)

½ small onion
1 lb ground beef
3 (8oz) cans tomato sauce
1 (6oz) can tomato paste
½ cup water
1 tsp parsley
½ tsp each: oregano, basil, sage, thyme, seasoned salt, and black pepper

Brown ground beef in 4-quart pot over medium-high heat until the beef is thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil over high heat. Stir, and then cover and simmer over low for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Magic Milk Shakes

1-1/2 to 2 cups ice water
1-1/2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 1-1/2 trays of ice cubes, as much as you can spare
2 tablespoons corn oil plus a 5-second squirt of non-stick spray for emulsification purposes

Place all of the ingredients into the blender, including the oil and the non-stick spray. Use less water for thicker milk shakes and more water for shakes that are easy on your blender motor. The blender should be about 3/4's full. Place the lid on. Process for a full 2 minutes. Pour into cups and serve. Makes 4 - 12oz servings.

Corn Bread and Beans

Mix: 1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
2 T sugar
1 T baking powder
½ t salt
Add: 1 cup milk
1 egg
¼ cup oil

Bake at 425’ for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Serve with your favorite combination of beans.

Pear Cobbler in Cheese Crust

Printed from COOKS.COM

CHEESE CRUST:

1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c. shortening
1/4 c. shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
2 or 3 tbsp. water

Combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until it is coarse and looks like meal. Stir in cheese and sprinkle with water. Stir with fork until it holds together. Shape the dough in a ball and roll out on a floured surface. Line a 10 x 6 x 2 inch baking dish with rolled out dough. Trim edges and save leftover pieces of dough.


FILLING:

6 med. pears, about 4 c.
3 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 c. sugar
1 tbsp. butter
Dash of salt

Peel, core and slice pears. Arrange pears in cheese crust. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and sprinkle over pears. Dot with butter. Roll remaining pastry out and cut into strips. Place the strips on top of the pear mixture in a criss-cross pattern. Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Turkey-Avocado-Wheat Salad

Turkey-Avocado-Wheat Salad

2 Tbsp lemon juice
1½ cups avocados, diced
1 cup turkey, cooked and diced
1 cup cooked wheat
1 cup celery, finely chopped
2 Tbsp green onions, finely chopped
4 Tbsp salad dressing
4 Tbsp sour cream
1 tsp salt
⅓ cup nuts, chopped

DIRECTIONS:
Pour lemon juice over avocados. Combine remaining ingredients, mix well. Add avocado mixture and toss lightly, chill.

To cook wheat:
1 cup whole wheat
1/2 tsp salt
21/2 cups water
Cook 6-8 hours or overnight on low in crockpot.