{FFWD} Savory Cheese & Chive Bread

My first FFWD!  So exited -- and very glad that this recipe is relatively quick, as well as easy since I worked a bit late to do much cooking/baking tonite.
It smelled great as it baked, looked fabulous, too.  I found it a bit dry, but tasted great tho.  I may make this again, with tweaks to hopefully make it more moist.

Jiffy Raspberry Bars

Recently, I felt the urge to bake for my peeps at work...wanted to make a quick bread using a cake or muffin mix but didn't find a recipe I liked. So, used Jiffy Raspberry muffin mix, and made the Raspberry Bars recipe from the box -- Very easy!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1 box Jiffy Raspberry muffin mix
1/4 c. quick oats
1/4 c. chopped nuts (or omit, and use more oats)
5 Tbs. soft butter

Mix until crumbly. Set aside 1/4 cup of mixture and press remaining into an greased 8 inch square baking dish. Top with 1/2 c. raspberry preserves/jam (I used Bonne Maman cherry preserves), leaving a 1/2 inch border all around. Sprinkle with reserved mixture and bake for 20-25 minutes.

I'm certain these would be fabulous when warm but were damn good at room temp the next morning at work!

grocery list

• instant brown rice
• quick barley
• bouillon -- look for those lower in sodium, etc...watch for msg.  If must use higher sodium version, just cut back on salt used in recipe and/or use less of the bouillon *haven't seen a vegetarian bouillon at the dollar store, buy at walmart.  Tomato is also available in the maggi brand (see hispanic/mexican food area)
• dried herbs, seasonings
• pasta  (check the hispanic/mexican food area in walmart for the very small bags of pasta...HEB is also good place for this last time I checked)
• pasta sauce
• canned beans, including fat-free refried beans
• canned tomato sauce, diced, crushed etc.
• cheeses
• whole grain bread products, tortillas
• fresh herbs when you can, or grow them!
• fresh vegs and fruit, in season is best

quick easy inexpensive meals with farmstand veggies

No real "recipe" needed for many of these, and very easy to make in smaller quantities!  I'll have more posts on this subject over time.
stuffed bell peppers -- stuff with brown rice and diced veggies such as carrots, onions, zucchini + parmesan cheese (optional)..or could use another grain.  Include meat substitute crumbles for more protein, or some beans.  Black beans would be great!  Stuff, bake, eat!
zucchini pancakes -- grate zuke and onion (red onion would be great!) + carrots
tomato gratin -- use some bread, day old is great, or even croutons + tomatoes, parmesan cheese.  Toast the bread with olive oil then add tomatoes.  When they start to break down, put in casserole dish and bake ~20-30 min.
Make soup!  -- minestrone  (others are possible too, tho might not fit into the quick or easy category)
tomato sandwiches -- if you're a purist, tomatoes + bread, mayo.  If more adventurous, add lettuce, grated carrot, sliced onion, even cheese!
as a snack, radishes + salt & butter, or even a radish sandwich
Sauteed veggies + brown rice, refried beans to make burrito...good raw, too

Individual strawberry jam cakes

from MS's Classical Christmas CD
makes 6

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for tin
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp finely grated orange zest
2 large eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk
6 tbs strawberry jam or preserves
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter a standard 6-cup muffin tin; set aside. In a medium bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, and zest until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks one at a time until creamy; set aside. Into a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture and milk in alternating batches to butter mixture; set aside.

2. In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites to soft peaks; fold into batter. Divide half of batter among muffin cups. Make an indentation in the middle of each; fill witih 1 tbs jam. Top with remaining batter.

3. Bake until a cake tester inserted in top cake layer comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Unmold cakeds, and transfer them to a wire rack to cool. In a small bowl, whisk ogether confectioners' sugar and juice. Place rack over parchment paper; drizzle cakes with glaze.

Pear & dried berry clafouti

Made this last nite for DH to take to work -- the L&D folks gave it a thumbs up! One called me, and raved! Some were ok with it, but not thrilled with a "custard." (the idea, mostly)

Normally, this is made with cherries, and the recipe I used as a guide is from Martha Stewart (a Pear & Dried Cherry Baked Custard - see below). Due to the season, I thought the cranberries would be a nice touch, and blueberries are ALWAYS good! I was told the variety of flavors, of sweet and tart, was nice.

I used a porcelain baking dish since my pie plate was too small in diameter. This dish was deeper than a pie plate and my more shallow baking dish is currently MIA -- this may have affected the cooking time. It needed to bake about 10 minutes longer to set, perhaps because the dish is only 8.5-9" rather than the 10" recommended, and therefore the batter was deeper.

I'll make it again in a couple of weeks, for the staff meeting and will post their feedback.

adapted from Pear and Dried Cherry Baked Custard in MS's Dinner at Home (2009):

Serves 4

Unsalted butter, for baking dish

1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 cup dried cherries
1 ripe pear, preferably D'Anjou, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cored
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 10-inch fluted tart dish or pie plate. Dust with flour; tap out excess. Put cherries in a bowl; cover with boiling water by 1 inch. Let stand until plump, about 10 minutes.

Cut pear lengthwise into a 1/8-inch-thick slices; fan slices in bottom of prepared dish. Process remaining ingredients in a blender until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour batter over pear slices. Drain cherries; sprinkle over batter. Bake until golden and set, about 25 minutes. Let stand at least 15 minutes before cutting wedges.

I'm just like any modern woman trying to have it all. Loving husband, a family. It's just, I wish I had more time to seek out the dark forces and join their hellish crusade. -- Morticia Addams

Herb-Baked Eggs

from the Barefoot Contessa:
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan
6 extra-large eggs
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Toasted French bread or brioche, for serving

Preheat the broiler for 5 minutes and place the oven rack 6 inches below the heat.
Combine the garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley, and Parmesan and set aside.
Carefully crack 3 eggs into each of 2 small bowls or teacups (you won't be baking them in these) without breaking the yolks. (It's very important to have all the eggs ready to go before you start cooking.)
Place 2 individual gratin dishes on a baking sheet.
Place 1 tablespoon of cream and 1/2 tablespoon of butter in each dish and place under the broiler for about 3 minutes, until hot and bubbly.
Quickly, but carefully, pour 3 eggs into each gratin dish and sprinkle evenly with the herb mixture, then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
Place back under the broiler for 5 to 6 minutes, until the whites of the eggs are almost cooked. (Rotate the baking sheet once if they aren't cooking evenly.)
The eggs will continue to cook after you take them out of the oven.
Allow to set for 60 seconds and serve hot with toasted bread.

Texas Friends

from my fave Sis...
FRIENDS: Never ask for food.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Always bring the food.

FRIENDS: Will say "hello".
TEXAS FRIENDS: Will give you a big hug and a kiss.

FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. and Mrs.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Call your parents Mom and Dad.

FRIENDS: Have never seen you cry.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Cry with you.

FRIENDS: Will eat at your dinner table and leave.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Will spend hours there, talking, laughing and just being together, and then clean up.

FRIENDS: Know a few things about you.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you.

FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Will kick the whole crowds' ass's that left you.

FRIENDS: Would knock on your door.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Walk right in and say, "I'm home!"

FRIENDS: Are for a while.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Are for life.

FRIENDS: Will ignore this.
TEXAS FRIENDS: Will share this.

Pete's Infamous Tuna Salad!

Dice, chop, slice, cube, you get the idea - every crunchy vegetable you can find: celery, carrots, green onion, red onion, radishes, green bell peppers, jalapenos, etc.
Add to several cans of drained water-packed tuna and a bunch of diced hardboiled eggs.
Stir together with Murkle Whup, mustard, pickle relish, worscestershire sauce
Git yer fork!!!
or some crackers, bread...Enjoy!
**********************
Merry had great ideas of other things to include: capers, wasabe mayonnaise, YUM-O!!!

CFS

from Texas Cooking Online
Texas-Style Chicken Fried Steak with Cream Gravy
It is hard to get much more Texan than Chicken Fried Steak. Quality of the beef really counts in this dish. This recipe calls for cube steaks, but good round steak that you have asked the butcher to run through the tenderizer or that you have tenderized yourself with a mallet (no big deal and can be a real stress reliever) can be even better.
4 tenderized beef cutlets (known in supermarkets as "cube steak") OR 1 round steak, with fat removed, that you've tenderized yourself (see above)
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
all-purpose flour
cooking oil or melted Crisco
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
Beat together the egg and milk and set aside.
Mix together the salt, black pepper, paprika and white pepper and sprinkle on both sides of beef cutlets.
Dredge the cutlets in the flour, shaking off the excess.
Then dip each cutlet in the egg/milk mixture, then back in the flour. (Youre going to get your hands messy here, so take your rings off.) Set cutlets aside on a piece of waxed paper.
Heat the cooking oil in a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes. Oil should be about a half-inch deep in the pan. Check the temperature with a drop of water; if it pops and spits back at you, its ready.
With a long-handled fork, carefully place each cutlet into the hot oil. Protect yourself (and your kitchen) from the popping grease that results. Fry cutlets on both sides, turning once, until golden brown. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 4 or 5 minutes until cutlets are done through. Drain cutlets on paper towels.
Cream Gravy After the cutlets are removed from the pan, pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of oil, keeping as many as possible of the browned bits in the pan. Heat the oil over medium heat until hot.
Sprinkle 3 tablespoons flour (use the left-over flour from the chicken fried steak recipe (waste not -- want not) in the hot oil. Stir with a wooden spoon, quickly, to brown the flour.
Gradually stir in 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 cup water, mixed together, stirring constantly with the wooden spoon and mashing out any lumps. Lower heat, and gravy will begin to thicken. Continue cooking and stirring a few minutes until gravy reaches desired thickness. Check seasonings and add more salt and pepper according to your taste.

Note to Cream Gravy novices: Gravy-making is an inexact science. Cream gravy is supposed to be thick, but if you think its too thick, add more liquid until youre satisfied with it.

Banana Pudding

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Dash of salt
2 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups sliced ripe banana
45 reduced-fat vanilla wafers
4 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
Combine flour and salt in a medium saucepan. Gradually stir in milks and yolks, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 8 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
Arrange 1 cup banana slices in bottom of a 2-quart baking dish. Spoon one-third pudding mixture over bananas; top with 15 vanilla wafers. Repeat layers twice, ending with pudding; arrange remaining 15 wafers around inside edge of dish. Gently push wafers into pudding.
Beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until foamy. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form and sugar dissolves (2 to 4 minutes). Spread meringue over pudding, sealing to edge of dish.
Bake at 325° for 25 minutes or until golden. Let cool at least 30 minutes.
Yield: Makes 10 servings (serving size: 1 serving)

Big Daddy's King Ranch Chicken

Here's another version of the recipe, from COOKS.COM.1 whole chicken
1 can Ro-tel

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 med. onion

1 cup fresh mushrooms sliced

1/2 can chicken broth (from boiled chicken)

1 jalapeno, chopped

6 oz of any salsa (Ro-tel can half full)

1 package Doritos

2 cups shredded Colby-Jack cheese

salt, pepper, garlic mixed ingredients to taste
Boil chicken let cool and de-bone.

In separate microwave safe bowl add Ro-tel, soups, onion, mushrooms, broth, jalapeno & salsa. Heat until warm.

Dip dorito's in remaining broth to moisten do not soak, layer dorito's in 13x9 baking dish add chicken, then add heated ingredients.

Cook at 325 degrees for 20 minutes then add shredded cheese; cook 10 minutes or until cheese bubbles.

King Ranch Chicken

From Texas Cooking Online

This flavorful dish has many variations. This recipe includes its own well-seasoned sauce, omitting the canned soup commonly found in King Ranch Chicken recipes. Yes, it's a little more trouble, but the resulting dish is worth the effort. This casserole freezes well, and will be a big favorite at your table!

3 tablespoons butter
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon chili powder (homemade, if possible, but store-bought works fine)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup chicken stock or broth
3/4 cup buttermilk
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium poblano, chopped
1 cup finely chopped mushrooms
2 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (or 1/2 cup canned tomatoes, drained)
2 tablespoons chopped pimientos
canola oil for softening tortillas
8 corn tortillas
3 to 4 cups cooked, diced chicken (mixture of light and dark meat preferred)
1/3 cup sliced green olives
1/3 cup green onions, including tops, chopped
2 cup grated longhorn or mild cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish or 3-quart casserole.

Make the Sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and chili powder, and sauté for a minute or two. Raise the heat to medium. Quickly sprinkle in the flour and stir to mix. Pour in a small amount of the chicken broth, stirring constantly to remove lumps and allowing the flour to "cook" briefly. Gradually add the remaining chicken broth and the buttermilk and continue stirring until sauce has thickened, 3 or 4 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sauce may be prepared in advance and refrigerated.

Make the Filling: Warm a heavy skillet over medium heat, add the butter or olive oil, and sauté the chopped onion, green pepper, poblano, mushrooms, tomatoes and pimientos until onion is transparent, about 4 or 5 minutes. Fold into the mixture the diced chicken, olives and green onions, combining well. Remove from heat.

Assembling the Dish: In a small skillet, heat about about half an inch of canola oil. Using tongs, dip the tortillas in the hot oil one at a time, for just a few seconds, so that they are softened. Cover the bottom of your baking dish with 4 of the softened tortillas. Layer the remaining ingredients in the following order:
Half of the chicken/vegetable mixture
Half of the grated cheese
Half of the sauce
The remaining 4 softened tortillas
The remaining chicken/vegetable mixture
The remaining grated cheese
The remaining sauce

Bake for 30 minutes at 350°F until casserole is heated through and bubbly.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Note: Possible substitutions: A small can of Ro-Tel tomatoes and chiles for the tomatoes and poblano, OR a small can of green chiles for just the poblano. Flour tortillas may be substituted for the corn tortillas...OR smash up a large bag of Doritos instead!

Corn Chowder

A modified version of "Cheddar Corn Chowder" from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten.

1 lb chopped onions
2 lbs frozen corn (approx.)
8 cups chicken broth (approx.)
6 cups sliced or diced potatoes (approx.)

black pepper

Place all ingredients into crockpot, and turn on high til bubbly (or on low, if no rush). Turn on low until ready to serve.

Just before serving, add 2 cups half-&-half. Add grated cheddar cheese to the pot (1/2 lb) or to individual servings, if desired.

Makes 10-12 servings.

Khanh's Fried Rice

cooked rice, or leftover takout rice
sausage or ham, turkey, shrimp
peas
scallions
scrambled eggs
tomato sauce or ketchup
salt
pepper* (optional)

Sauté shrimps in about 1-2 T vegetable oil; set aside. Do the same for the scrambled egg (breaking up the egg into bite-sized bits), chinese sausage and peas. I'd suggest just frying the egg in the residual oil left from the shrimps and not using any oil at all for the sausage; sauté the peas in the rendered sausage fat as well to cut down on the greasiness. Pour a little more oil into the pan, enough to coat the bottom; add the rice and stir. Sprinkle with some soy sauce to taste and add the rest of the ingredients back into the pot with the rice. Taste, add more soy sauce if necessary, and sprinkle with some chopped green onion, if desired.