Category Archives: Recipes

Mount Rainier Chili ~

This recipe comes from one of my favorite cook books, Simply Classic – The Junior League of Seattle. Every recipe I’ve tried from this book is a success and is tasty.

Ingredients:

1 pound Great Northern white beans, rinsed and picked over
2 pounds boneless chicken breasts
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
2 cups onions, chopped
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 – 4oz. cans chopped mild green chiles
2 tsp. ground cumin
1-1/2 tsp. dried oregano, crumbled
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. cayenne
8 cups chicken stock
1 – 12 oz. beer
3 cups Monterey Jack cheese shredded and divided
sour cream
salsa
fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

* Place beans in a large, heavy pot. Add enough cold water to cover by at least 3 inches. Cover and soak overnight.

*Place chicken in a large, heavy saucepan. Add cold water to cover and bring to a simmer. Cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and cool. Remove skin and cut chicken into cubes.

* Drain beans into large colander. Heat oil in same pot. Add onions and saute over medium-low heat until translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, green chilies, cumin, oregano, cloves and cayenne. Saute 2 minutes. Add beans and stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until beans are very tender, stirring occasionally, about 3 to 4 hours. Add additional water if necessary. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and bring to a simmer before continuing.) Add chicken, beer and 1 cup of cheese. Stir until cheese melts. Ladle chili into bowls. Serve with remaining cheese, sour cream, salsa and cilantro leaves to sprinkle on top.

Serves twelve to fourteen…

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!

 

Pumpkin Praline Trifle

I found this great recipe in the Thanksgiving Special bon appetit November 2008. Bon appetit describes this dessert as a cross between a trifle and tiramisu. You should make the trifle at least one day ahead, 2 days preferably to let the flavors meld or as I say “moosh”.

The most time consuming part of the recipe is making the praline. The praline recipe yields enough to make 2 trifles. The creamy layers and pumpkin layers are very simple to make and the whole trifle once the praline is successfully completed is very easy to do.

Praline

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 cup packed golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup half and half
1-1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-2/3 cups pecan halves (about 6 oz.) (I used pecan pieces because that’s what I had)

Mascarpone Cream

2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream
1 8 oz. container chilled mascarpone cheese (I found this at Trader Joe’s)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling

1 – 15 oz. can pure pumpkin
1/2 cup packed golden brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg (I used already ground)
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/2 – 3 oz. packages of soft ladyfingers. (I bought a 4.75 oz. box of soft lady fingers at Trader Joe’s and it was enough for 1 trifle)
4-1/2 tablespoons of dark rum, divided

Praline/ Spray baking sheet with nonstick spray. Bring both sugars and half and half to boil in heavy medium saucepan over medium high heat, whisking to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat ot medium-low and simmer 5 minutes, whisking constantly. Add butter, vanilla, and salt. Attach candy thermometer to pan. Simmer without stirring until temperature registers 260 degrees F, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat; immediately mix in pecans. Transfer to prepared sheet, spreading in a single layer. Cool completely. Chop into 1/4 inch pieces.

Mascarpone Cream/ Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients in large bowl until firm peaks form. Set aside 1/2 cup mascarpone cream for pumpkin filling.

Filling/ Whisk pumpkin, brown sugar, cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt in large bowl to blend. Whisk in reserved 1/2 cup mascarpone cream.

Spread 1/3 cup mascarpone cream over bottom of 8×5 inch trifle dish (12-14 cup capacity). Place layer of lady fingers over cream. Sprinkle 1-1/2 Tablespoons of rum over. Spread 1/2 cup pumpkin filling over ladyfingers, spreading to edges. Sprinkle 1/3 cup praline over. Spread 1 cup mascarpone cream over. Cover with another layer of lady fingers. Sprinkle with 1-1/2 tablespoons rum, then spread 1 cup pumpkin filling over. Sprinkle 1/2 cup praline over. Repeat 1 more time with 1 cup mascarpone cream, lady fingers, rum, 1 cup pumpkin filling and 1/2 cup praline. Spread remaining mascarpone cream on top. Cover and chill overnight. DO AHEAD. Can be made 2 days ahead.

Uncover trifle. Sprinkle 1 cup praline decoratively over top (reserving any remaining praline for another use)

My guests really enjoyed this trifle and I will make it again!

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!

Bavarian Apple Torte

 

I copied this recipe from the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog. Anneliese posted it with her recipe and instructions that you can find by clicking here.

This was not difficult to make and it is so pretty on a cake plate on the table. I loved the different layers of crust, cream cheese, apples and nuts. Yummy…

 

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!

Crock Pot Dilly Beef Sandwiches

We are having an open house Saturday and are expecting about 20 people to come through so I’ll be away from the computer all day. I wanted to give you this easy recipe that would be great to make ahead for Sandwiches for a lazy Sunday afternoon after church or on Saturday while you watch College Football.  Enjoy! Now I’m off to the kitchen to make a Bavarian Apple Torte!

 

I saw this recipe on Boo Mama’s Souptacular deal and then couldn’t find the person who posted it so I googled Dill Pickle Beef Crockpot recipes and found this one to try. This is a very simple crockpot recipe and the beef comes out very tasty.

Ingredients: 4 lbs. Boneless Chuck Roast, 1-16oz. Jar whole Dill pickles -undrained, 1/2 Cup Chili Sauce, 2 cloves garlic minced, 10 hamburger buns split. If you don’t have anything else to use the chili sauce for just dump the whole bottle in.

Cut roast in half and place in slow cooker. Add pickles with juice and chili sauce and garlic. Cover and cook for 8-9 hours on low setting.

Discard Pickles, Remove Roast, Shred the beef and return to sauce in crockpot and heat through on the high setting. Use slotted spoon and fill each bun with about 1/2 cup meat. Bon Appetit.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!

Pasta Puttanesca ~ Rachel Ray

Round Robin Challenge ~ Food Glorious Food!

I’m having computer issues that are zapping my ability to post much and to get around much. My computer keeps shutting down on me. Please bear with me.

 

 

The only thing I did different in this recipe was to use my husband’s favorite olives instead of black olives. (Kalamata and Green) You can also add artichoke hearts to this dish. My husband always orders this if it’s on the menu at an Italian restaurant and many times they have artichoke hearts included in the sauce.

 

Boy did the condo smell good all night long after I made this!

To see more Round Robin Challenge Food entries click here.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!

BooMama’s Souptacular Crockpotalooza

There’s a lot of great recipes going on over at BooMama’s ! Click on over to see all the hoopla. I’m adding this crock pot roasted chicken recipe into the fray…

 

I bought a whole chicken when they were on sale last week and decided to try cooking it in the slow cooker. I found the basic recipe at All-Recipes.com and there’s even a video here.

 

I sprayed the inside of the crock with Pam and then washed and dried the chicken. Next I stuffed the cavity with lemon wedges, onion wedges and garlic peeled and gently crushed. I tied the legs together and put a rub all over the skin. The original recipe calls for salt, pepper and paprika which would work just fine. I placed the whole chicken on top of wadded up foil so the juices could run free off the chicken. I then poured white wine in the bottom of the crock, about 1 cup. I set the crockpot on high and let it cook 6 hours.

 

The last 45 minutes I added carrots and little potato wedges.  I tried to get them on the sides and under the chicken so they’d be flavored by the juices.

This was very good and moist chicken.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!

Bruschetta

I was standing in the bank waiting my turn and on the television they had Giada from the Food Network making some great looking bruschetta. I got the ingredients I needed and decided to try it. Hopefully I get it right because I didn’t write anything down.

 

The ingredients she used were whole milk ricotta cheese, tomatoes seeded and chopped, fresh mint chopped, salt and pepper. I don’t remember if she used garlic so I went ahead and used a clove of garlic, also. She mixed these ingredients all together and put it into a nice serving bowl. She used Ciabatta bread that she drizzled with olive oil and grilled. After it was grilled she squeezed some fresh lemon on the slices. Your company can spread as much of the topping that they want on the slices of bread and enjoy…

If you need more specific amounts here’s what I used. About 8oz. of ricotta, 1 beefsteak tomato chopped, 10 mint leaves chopped, 1 clove garlic, minced, salt and pepper to taste. I bought a small loaf of Artisan Sea Salt Filone bread from Von’s/Safeway. This bread worked out good because it filled in the extra salt the dip needed. I will be making this again because it was duhlicious! Michelle found the link for the original recipe  and you can find it here.

Photobucket is holding my photos hostage from 2007-2015 and replacing them with an ugly black and grey squares demanding money to release them, so frustrating.

Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs ~

 

INGREDIENTS

    • 4 pounds pork baby back ribs

 

    • salt and pepper to taste

 

    • 2 cups ketchup

 

    • 1 cup chili sauce

 

    • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

 

    • 4 tablespoons vinegar

 

    • 2 teaspoons dried oregano

 

    • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

 

    1 dash hot sauce

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). I browned the ribs on the stove top.
  2. Season ribs with salt and pepper. Place in a shallow baking pan. Brown in oven 15 minutes. Turn over, and brown another 15 minutes; drain fat.
  3. In a medium bowl, mix together the ketchup, chili sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, oregano, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and salt and pepper. Place ribs in slow cooker. Pour sauce over ribs, and turn to coat.
  4. Cover, and cook on Low 6 to 8 hours, or until ribs are tender.

I got this recipe from all recipes.com here.

Since this was my first time making ribs in a slow cooker I went with the first recipe that looked decent. This sauce was very good. Since I made these on Saturday I’ve read a couple other recipes and this is the sauce I’ll try next time to see if it has a little more kick to it.

These ingredients come from Taste of Home Magazine ~ Tasty Pork Ribs ~ Feb/March 2008 Recipe by Michelle Rominger…

1 cup ketchup, 1 cup bbq sauce, 1/4 C. packed brown sugar, 1/4 C. worcestershire sauce, 1 Tblsp. balsamic vinegar, 1 tblsp. molasses, 1 garlic clove minced, 2 tblsps. dried minced onion, 1 tsp. Cajun seasoning, 1 tsp. ground mustard, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper.

 

Oops! I don’t see anything green on the plate. Can anyone say COMFORT FOOD?

Photobucket is holding my photos hostage from 2007-2015 and replacing them with an ugly black and grey squares demanding money to release them, so frustrating.

Breakfast Lasagna

 

Breakfast Lasagna

(This recipe yields 8 servings)  

~ 

1 bag frozen hash browns
1 1/2 pounds Canadian Bacon — sliced
1 onion — chopped
1 green pepper — chopped
1 yellow pepper — chopped
1 cups mushrooms — sliced (1 to 2)
5 eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups sharp cheese — grated (1 1/2 to 2)
salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees (F). Layer frozen hash browns in a 9 x 11-inch lasagna pan; season very well with salt and pepper. Layer green, yellow pepper and onions over hash browns; layer mushroom slices on top.

Cook bacon until crispy; place over mushroom layer. Beat eggs and milk and salt. Pour egg mixture over bacon; spread grated cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 – 40 minutes.

I sauteed the onion, peppers and mushrooms then drained the excess liquid off and just layered them over the hash browns. I also used chopped ham instead of canadian bacon. I used a 9×13 baking dish. This had great flavors and was very tasty but it seemed to get runny as it sat. I’ll try it again just as the recipe reads and see if it’s still runny. :0)

ht: Mr. Breakfast

Baked Mediterranean Tilapia ~

Baked Mediterranean Tilapia– I got this recipe off the package of High Liner Mild Tasting Tilapia Loins (frozen individually wrapped and purchased at Costco)

4 Tilapia Loins
1 large or 2 medium Vidalia onions (if unavailable use yellow onions)
2 medium tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick (I’ve also used canned tomatoes)
4 Tblsps. Fresh Chopped Basil
8 cloves of chopped garlic
4 Tblsps. olive oil
12 Calamata olives chopped

If you don’t have fresh tomatoes you can used canned variety. I have and it turns out very nice, too.

 

Defrost tilapia loins. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Peel and slice onions 1/4″ thick. Saute in olive oil in oven proof pan over medium heat, 2-3 minutes each side or until onions are translucent.
Place loins over onion slices. Sprinkle olives, garlic and basil over fish. Place tomato slices on top. Salt and pepper to taste.
Place pan with fish in center of oven, uncovered for 12-15 minutes or until fish is opaque.

You’ll notice that I only made 2 tilapia loins so I cut the recipe in half. There are only two of us and fish isn’t  great as a leftover in my opinion…

Serve tilapia with rice pilaf and spinach salad (their recommendation) Serve it with any starch you’d like and any salad or green vegetables.

Tonight we’re going to have it with pasta and a spinach salad and some fresh bread.

Yummy light and fresh tasting…