Sep 28, 2010

Easy Homemade Gravy


Ingredients
  • 3 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups chicken stock
  • A palmful of poultry seasoning
  • Salt and pepper
Preparation
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and sprinkle with the flour. Let bubble for 30 seconds, then slowly whisk in the stock until smooth. Bring to a simmer, then add the poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until thickened.

Simple Cherry Salad


Ingredients
  • 1 box lemon jello
  • 1 box cherry jello
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 1 cup crushed pineapple (drained)
  • 1 21oz can cherry pie filling
Directions
Disolve jello in boiling water, add pineapple and cherry pie filling. Chill until firm.

Grandma Roberts' Potato Casserole


Ingredients
  • 2 lbs frozen hash browns
  • 1 can cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 can cream of chicken soup
  • 1/4 cup chopped onions
  • 1/2 cup of melted butter
  • 8 oz sour cream
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
  • 1 cup crushed corn flakes (optional)
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350
Mix butter, soups, milk, onion, cheese and sour cream. Put potatoes in 9x13 baking dish and pour mixture over potatoes. Bake for 1 hour. (if using corn flakes, bake 30 minutes, sprinkle flakes over potatoes, bake for remaining 30 minutes)

Grandma Roberts' Corn Delight


Ingredients
  • 1 can Whole Corn
  • 1 can Cream Style Corn
  • 1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
  • 3/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 egg
Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350.
In a large bowl mix all the ingredients together. Pour into a 9x13 casserole dish and bake for 1 hour. Let stand about 15 minutes before serving.

Monkey Bread

thanks again to the The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

  • 3 cans Buttermilk Biscuits (the Non-flaky Ones)
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 2 teaspoons (to 3 Teaspoons) Cinnamon
  • 2 sticks Butter
  • ½ cups Brown Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Open up all three cans of biscuits and cut each biscuit into quarters.
Next, combine the white sugar with 2-3 teaspoons of cinnamon. Dump these into a 1 gallon zip bag and shake to mix evenly.
Drop all of the biscuit quarters into the cinnamon-sugar mix. Once all the biscuit quarters are in the bag seal it and give it a vigorous shake. This will get all those pieces unstuck from one another and nicely coated with cinnamon-sugar. Spread these nuggets out evenly in the bundt pan.
At this point, you're going to want to melt the two sticks of butter together with a ½ cup of brown sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat. This can be light or dark brown sugar. Cook butter/sugar mixture, stirring for a few minutes until the two become one. Once the brown sugar butter has become one color, you can pour it over the biscuits.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes until the crust is a deep dark brown on top. When its finished cooking, remove it from the oven. If you have the willpower, allow it to cook for about 15-30 minutes before turning it over onto a plate.

Spinach Artichoke Ravioli Lasagna

 Thanks to Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals

Ingredients

  • 1 (10-ounce) packages chopped frozen spinach
  • 1/4 stick butter
  • 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 quart milk
  • Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
  • Salt and pepper
  • 3 cups ricotta cheese
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 packages large fresh ravioli cheese, wild mushroom or spinach stuffed varieties
  • 2 (15-ounce) cans artichoke hearts in water, drained and thinly sliced
  • 1 1/2 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for pasta.
Place oven rack in middle of oven and preheat broiler or oven to 425 degrees F.
Defrost the spinach in the microwave for 10 minutes on high.
While spinach defrosts, heat a medium sauce pot over medium heat. Cut butter into small pieces and melt. Whisk in flour and cook a minute or 2 then whisk in milk. Bring sauce to a bubble, as it begins to thicken, drop heat to low and season it with nutmeg, salt and pepper, to your taste.
Combine ricotta cheese, a little salt and pepper, lemon zest and garlic in a bowl.
Cook pasta to al dente, 5 to 6 minutes in salted water.
Remove spinach from the microwave and wring it completely dry in a kitchen towel. Open the towel and separate the spinach with your fingers. Pile up the sliced artichokes on your cutting board.
Drain pasta well. Ladle just enough white sauce in the bottom of a lasagna dish to lightly coat it. Top with 1/3 of the pasta. Top the pasta with a layer of half of the ricotta cheese dotted with half of the spinach and artichokes. Thinly cover the veggies with more white sauce then top liberally with grated cheese. Repeat these layers then top your lasagna with the remaining 1/3 of the cooked ravioli, the last of the white sauce and some grated cheese.
Place under hot broiler or into a preheated 425 degree F oven until sauce browns and bubbles, 3 minutes

The Pioneer Woman's Onion Strings


Ingredients

  • 1 whole Large Onion
  • 2 cups Buttermilk
  • 2 cups All-purpose Flour
  • 1 Tablespoon (scant) Salt
  • ¼ teaspoons (to 1/2 Teaspoon) Cayenne Pepper
  • 1 quart (to 2 Quarts) Canola Oil
  • Black Pepper To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Slice onion very thin. Place in a baking dish and cover with buttermilk and soak for at least an hour.
Combine dry ingredients and set aside.
Heat oil to 375 degrees.
Grab a handful of onions, throw into the flour mixture, tap to shake off excess, and PLUNGE into hot oil. Fry for a few minutes and remove as soon as golden brown.
Repeat until onions are gone.
Eat before your family sees them.
Repeat with another onion, because they'll be really mad they didn't get any

Brown Sugar Smokies

Ingredients

  • 2 (16 ounce) packages little smokie sausages
  • 2 pounds bacon
  • 2 cups brown sugar, or to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cut bacon into thirds and wrap each strip around a little sausage. Place the wrapped sausages on wooden skewers, several to a skewer. Arrange the skewers on a baking sheet and sprinkle them liberally with brown sugar.
Bake until bacon is crisp and the brown sugar melted.

Sausage Cup Appetizers

Ingredients

  • 1 (12 ounce) package won ton wrappers
  • 1 pound sausage
  • 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
  • 1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 1/2 cup Ranch dressing
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Crumble sausage into medium skillet. Cook over medium heat until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Drain. Spray mini muffin tins and insert won ton wrappers to form a small cup. Bake 5 minutes in preheated oven. Allow wrappers to cool. Mix sausage, cheeses and ranch dressing together. Fill won ton wrappers. Bake for 10 minutes until bubbly.

Sep 6, 2010

Light & Airy Coconut Macaroons


INGREDIENTS
  • 2 egg whites
  • dash salt
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla
  • 2/3 C sugar
  • 1 1/2 C sweetened coconut flakes
DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325.
Beat egg whites, salt, and vanilla until soft peaks form.
While beating, add sugar gradually to egg white mixture. Continue beating until stiff and glossy.
Gently fold coconut into egg white mixture.
Drop mixture by rounded teaspoon about 2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 325 for about 20 minutes. You want cookies to be set and lightly brown.
Cool on a cookie rack.

Stuffin' Muffins


Ingredients
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
  • 1 stick butter, softened
  • 1 fresh bay leaf
  • 4 ribs celery and greens, from the heart, chopped
  • 1 medium to large yellow onion, chopped
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
  • 8 cups cubed stuffing mix (recommended: Pepperidge Farm)
  • 2 to 3 cups chicken stock
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil to skillet and 4 tablespoons butter. When butter melts, add bay leaf and add the vegetables as you chop them, celery, onions then apples. Sprinkle the vegetables and apples with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Cook 5 to 6 minutes to begin to soften vegetables and apples then add parsley and stuffing cubes to the pan and combine. Moisten the stuffing with chicken broth until all of the bread is soft but not wet.
Butter 12 muffin cups, 2 tins, liberally with remaining butter. Use an ice cream scoop to fill and mound up the stuffing in muffin tins. Remove the bay leaf as you scoop the stuffing when you come upon it. Bake until set and crisp on top, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove stuffin' muffins to a platter and serve hot or room temperature