Month: March 2012

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Texas Trip

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I will be headed to Texas tomorrow so will not be able to blog for the next 5 days. Hope to come back with a few new recipes as the lady I stay with loves to cook and her husband loves to eat. So know I will be getting some great southern cooking from Jane.

I also will get to go to my favorite mexican food restaurant, Kiko’s and Whataburger, so am excited to get to go have my Texas Fix of good southern fried everything. Can’t believe I will be looking at fried okra in a couple of days…..Talk to you Sunday when I get back!

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Scalloped Potatoes with Roasted Green Chiles

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If you are thinking about having ham or the slow roasted pork roast I posted a couple of days ago, you should make these delis potatoes. Would go great alongside either. Plus, it has a little zip to it to wake you up after devouring all the candy eggs you will probably eat within the next couple of weeks. First I have to tell you what I discovered this weekend. Mr. Randy and I went to make our once a month Walmart run and I separated myself from him to go explore the Easter candy isle. Since he doesn’t appreciate candy the way I do, I knew that I would require more time than he to see all the new candy that would be there just waiting for me. Well, I walked up and down and low and behold, my favorite “OTC” candy, Dove has come out with so many new flavors, Milk Chocolate with Peanut butter, with Raspberry, with caramel, milk chocolate swirled with white chocolate, and of course, dark chocolate. I was tempted to buy one of each, but decided that since I do want to fit into my new pink Easter Capris, I should pick out only one, so I opted for the caramel….I walked a little further down and there was a BIG bag of my second favorite OTC candy, coconut M&M’s…well, this was now getting exciting. I was so into just looking and holding different bags of candy when Mr. R walked up behind me and started whispering in my ear, “This is God,…..put the candy down”! I didn’t appreciate his humor so just grabbed a few more bags and headed to the check out counter. I reminded him that it was a long ride home and I could make it extremely “difficult” to be in the car with me if he didn’t let me buy all the candy I needed. 

So back to the scalloped potatoes, these are simply divine and will make your Easter guests and family so glad they decided to come to your house for dinner. 

1 small can (4 oz) diced green chiles

2 tables unsalted butter, plus more for the baking dish

1/2 small onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2 teas chopped fresh thyme

2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 in thick

2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Sour cream for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 400. Lightly butter a 2 qt baking dish. HEat 2 tables butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and thyme and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft, about 5 min.

Add the potatoes, chicken broth, 1 1/2 teas salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring very gently until potatoes are tender, 10-12 min.

Arrange half of the potato-broth mixture in prepared baking dish in an even layer. Sprinkle with half can green diced chiles and parmesan. Repeat these layers ending with the parmesan. Bake until bubbly and slightly golden, about 25-30 min. Let stand 15 min before service. If desired, dollop a little sour cream over the top right when you take out of the oven and allow to melt over top.

*This is a variation of a recipe I found in Food Network Magazine. They used Poblano peppers instead of green chiles.

Cakes

Butter Pecan Cake

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I hear from several friends back in Texas that I needed to blog this recipe as it is sooooo good! That is Texas talk for very good. So here it is. I will be making it as soon as I loose the two pounds I gained while in Phoenix. After reading that last sentence, it seems pretty silly that I would worry about 2 lbs that I gained last week, when I have 30 lbs that I need to loose, so guess I won’t wait for the 2 lbs to come off. I’ll go ahead and bake the cake this weekend. Since I know that it would be FOREVER if EVER I lost the other 30 lbs that should go with the newly gained 2…

 

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 cups self-rising flour (I used regular flour and added 1 ¼ tsp. baking powder and 1/8 tsp salt to each cup of flour.)

3 sticks butter, melted

1 cup chopped pecans

2 tbsp. vanilla

 

Mix by hand the sugar and eggs, add flour, mix well. Add butter, pecans and vanilla, mix well until the batter absorbs all of the butter. The batter will be of a more fluid consistency than normal cake batter. Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Check at around 50 minutes to see if tests done. Cool right side up for 5 to 10 minutes before turning out onto serving dish.

 

Meats

Slow-Cooker Mustard Barbecued Pork

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Today is my first blog since returning from Phoenix where I went to help my daughter and her hubby set up their new home after being transferred there from Dallas. Wish I had seen this recipe before going because it would have been the perfect meal to have cooking while we were unloading box after box, allowing us to have the smell of this delicious pork roast permeate the air while we worked. It seems that every time I pick up a recipe book or magazine, there is always one for shredded pork something, and this one caught my eye because of the ingredients and ease….

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 teas garlic powder (or fresh garlic to equal that amount)

1 teas onion powder

1/2 tsp ground red pepper

1 (4 to 5 lb) bone in pork shoulder roast (Boston Butt) hum….I never thought about naming mine after a city, but think I will name it whoa, I wonder if you are suppose to name it according to it’s size?) I think I will skip naming it then.

1 cup yellow mustard

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Stir together first 6 ingredients. Rub brown sugar mixture over roast; place roast in a lightly greased 6 qt slow cooker.

Whisk together mustard and next 3 ingredients. Pour mustard mixture over top of roast. Cover and cook on Low 8-10 hours (or high for 4-6 hours) or until meat shreds easily with a fork. Let stand 15 min. Shred pork with a fork and stir until sauce is incorporated

This recipe is from the Jan Southern Living and I had put it aside thinking I would blog this recipe and then it was covered up with more recent issues and I simply just found it again….Makes a delicious meal with hoagie rolls, cole slaw and baked beans….hum….do I see an Easter meal coming up? 

Daily Thoughts · Desserts

Addicting Snacks

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Notice that "someone" has already taken some!

I cannot believe I am saying this, but I’m actually addicted to something that is halfway nutritious. Don’t faint, I did say, halfway…you know me, I’m more into butter, chocolate, cheese and sugar that sushi, greens or tofu, but I have to admit that this snack with it’s Cheerios (yes, that’s the half that is health) is so addicting I can eat half a pan before you can say, “just throw another stick of butter into it for good measure.”

My precious friend, Cora made these one day because her grandkids were coming in town and she said that they always requested that she make these treats for them. Today, getting so excited about our some of our grandchildren coming into town tomorrow, I am making them. I hope there is some left by tomorrow, if not, will be headed back to the store for more Cheerios. Since there is no sour cream, cream cheese or butter in Cheerios, that is not something I keep on the shelf.

Melt in the microwave:

3 tables butter

10 oz miniature marshmallows

1/2 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy

Melt, stirring after a min and then nuke another minute.

Add:

5 cups plain cheerios

1 cup M&M’s (plain or peanut)

Mix well and quickly–it cools before you realize and becomes unworkable

Press into a 9×13 pan which has been sprayed lightly with Pam. Cut into squares.

Cakes

Lemon Poppyseed Cake

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After visiting with a friend, via “text” last night, I realized I had never put this recipe on the blog. It is a great “go to” cake to take to friends when they are sick, getting out of the hospital or just to have a slice with a cup of coffee/tea.

Preheat oven to 350.

1 box Duncan Hines Lemon cake mix

1 package ( 3.4 oz size) instant lemon pudding

1/3 cup poppy seeds

1 cup low-fat lemon yogurt

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup dry sherry* I use 1/4 cup milk & 1/4 cup water instead

4 large eggs

Spray a  10″ tube or bundt pan with Pam and sprinkle with sugar so outside of cake will be coated with the sugar.

Place cake mix, pudding mix, poppy seeds, yogurt, oil, liquid (sherry or milk/water combo) in large mixing bowl. Blend with electric mixer on low speed for 1 min. Stop and scrape down sides of bowl. Beat for another 2 min on medium. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45-50 min or until knife inserted in middle of cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool for about 20 min and invert it onto a rack to finish cooling.

Store this cake, covered, at room temperature….just need a little sprinkle of powdered sugar and it is complete, even without the powdered sugar.

Salads

Broccoli, Grape & Pasta Salad

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This salad intrigued me so I had to make it. I just couldn’t fathom grapes and bacon together. But it works.

A great Spring time salad that would be great for any brunch or salad luncheon. Comes from Southern Living  Sept-2011 (which I would have thought it would appear in a March or April issue, but guess they wanted to give us lots of time to get to the store to buy the grapes and broccoli or search around for the farfalle pasta!

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 (16 oz) pacage farfalle (bow-tie) pasta

1 lb fresh broccoli ( I wonder if it would be as good with old broccoli) sorry I just couldn’t resist that one.

1 cup mayo

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup diced red onion

1/3 cup red wine  vinegar

1 teas salt

2 cups seedless red grapes, halved (unless your Mother in law is coming to dinner and then buy the ones with seeds and watch her try to figure out what to do with the seeds in her mouth) OOPS, did I just say that out loud?

8 cooked bacon slices, crumbled

Preheat oven to 350. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 5-7 min or until lightly toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.

Prepare pasta according to directions.

Meanwhile, cut broccoli florets from stems, and separate florets into small pieces using tip of a paring knife. Peel away tough outer layer of stems and finely chop stems.

Whisk together mayo and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl; add broccoli,  pasta, which you have drained and let cool  and grapes. Stir to coat. Cover and chill 3 hours. Stir bacon and pecans into salad just before serving.

Chocolate · Desserts

Chocolate Lovers’ Cake

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1 Devil’s Food cake mix (Duncan Hines preferably)

1 3 oz pkg instant chocolate pudding mix

2 cups sour cream

1 cup melted butter (yes, you are reading this correctly, a cup of melted butter, this way you get your quote of butter for the day in just one slice)

5 eggs

1 teas almond extract

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10″ bundt pan. (or use loaf pans if you want to spread joy to others and give some away).

In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in center and pour in sour cream, melted butter, eggs and almond extract. Beat on low speed until well blended. Scrape bowl and beat 4 min on medium speed. Blend in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 50-55 min. (about 30 min if you are using small loaf pans) Let cool in pan for 10 min. Turn out onto a wire rack and cool. Sprinkle powdered sugar. This cake is so moist and rich you do not need frosting unless you are truly in “chocolate overload” mood…then make the chocolate frosting that is on the blog and you will be ready to face anything life throws your way.