Beef Tenderloin

I surely hope that all of you have had a great, great Christmas. 2011 was kind of a toughy in spots and I am praying that 2012 is a bit easier on all of us.

We spend a few days in the Chicago area the first part of the week just before Christmas. Our friends there were wonderful hosts and Dan and Den got the rest of the modifications done to Dan's whole house, natural gas 12KW generator to keep it air intake and exhaust out of the Midwest snows which we haven't gotten much of thus far. While we were out and about, we stopped at Costco and picked up a few things. One of those things I want to tell you about. We had missed that sale in our Fareway for beef tenderloin and the one at the Jewel near Cindy's house was needing quite a bit of trimming and a few bucks more a pound than the sale that we missed out on before we left Manchester. However, Costco was offering a good sized roast, well trimmed and yes we were going to pay Chicago prices and union pricing for it but I purchased one at just over 4.5 pounds. This is one of the most tender pieces of beef that I have ever in my live eaten so here we go.

Before leaving for Barrington, Ill. I happened to catch a show on Food network called Pioneer Woman. This lady and her family were having a family gathering and she was fixing the eats. You can catch most of the recipes on food network.com/pioneerwoman. She get a bit spicy for me but I think that I could find ways around the hot, hot jalapeño peppers with maybe some sweet banana peppers. Anyway, when it got to meat dish she called in her husband.

They live on a ranch so they have one of those charcoal grill thinks that would hold about 40 pounds of charcoal and sport a rack for spit roasting (no cover on this one). They had trimmed 4 beef tenderloins of silver flesh, fat and connective tissue. Tied the slender tail under so it didn't over cook while the rest of it cooked.

In large foil pans she placed 2 beef tenderloins. The meat was seasoned well with seasoning salt (Lowery's or McCormick's or the like), lemon pepper and ground pepper. Over the meat she pour melted butter. She had melted 1.5 pounds of butter and split it between the two pans. Then on to the grill. Half way through the turned the meat over and it was browned on the bottom. What they didn't tell you were things like how long for how well done and how hot the coals were.

Well, as I told you I purchased a beef tenderloin. I cut it in half as it was going to be just the Denman and I for our Christmas doings. Den wanted me to fix it in the house so I fired the oven to 400F figuring, hot coals....... right. I foil lined my 12" cast iron skillet and put the piece of meat that I hadn't put in the freezer in it. I melted 3 sticks of good quality butter (I did put in a bit of Penzey's Mural of Flavor while it melted, smells great already). I season the roast librally with Lowery's and a good coating of Mural of Flavor and pour the melted butter over it all. In to the oven for 20 minutes. Pull it out and turn the meat. Back in for another 20. Pull the foil up over it to rest while you fix the potatoes and asparagras and Béarnaise sauce. OK ready to go. Cut the meat about 3/4-1 in thick and serve it up. WOW! This great, wonderful, the best Den has ever eaten and so on. I will tell you that the meat at the point that you take it from the oven is about medium rare, the resting take is to about medium. If I weren't looking out for Denny, I would have done it for 10 minutes on a side and called it good.

It isn't greasy even with the butter but just has a wonder flavor and so very tender that a steak knife is way over kill.

The other things that she served was a fresh corn casserole that is like what I call crock pot corn but she used whipping cream where I use cream cheese and she added red bell pepper and jalopania where I would have stopped a bell pepper or changed the hot one for a sweet banana pepper.

She had a marinated tomato salad, twice baked potatoes and for dessert she had brownie sundae's.

Admittedly this is not a roast that you would fix on a regular basis as it usually runs between $11.00-$20.00 per pound but for a very special occasion, it is really pretty special.

God Bless and my best wishes for the new year!!!!!!

Linda

Banana Bread

Banana Bread

3 bananas, very ripe

2 ½ C. Flour

2 tsp. Baking Powder

¾ tsp. salt

½ tsp. Baking Soda

¼ C. Milk

2 tsp. Vanilla extract

1 C. Sugar

½ C. Butter

2 lrg. Eggs

1 lrg loaf pan, greased or 2 smaller pans, greased

350F

1hr. 5min. to 1hr. 10min.

Squash Bique Soup

Squash Bisque Soup

4 acorn squash

Washed, halved, seeded, placed cut side down on a baking sheet with sides with about 3/4 inches of water. Bake until tender. Scrape the tender flesh from the rind and place in a food processor or blender and puree.

In a sauce pan combine and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender:

1/3 C. water

1 onion, sliced

3 carrots, pared and sliced

When these are tender add to the squash in the blender.

Make a rue out of:

2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp flour

Add in:

1 tsp. salt

1/2-1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

2 (14 oz) cans of chicken broth

1 C. 1/2&1/2

1/2 C Sherry

1/8 tsp. each nutmeg and allspice

1/2 tsp. paprika

Bring to a boil and simmer and allow to thicken a bit. Cool slightly and add to the squash mixture. Plus for about 30 seconds.

When Betty made this she used whipping cream in place of the 1/2&1/2. She has it on hand and didn't want to got get the 1/2&1/2

Pumpkin Parmesan Pasta Sauce

http://inthekitchenwithpolly.com

Cindy and I were shopping on our last visit to the Chicago area and we stopped in at the William-Sonoma store where we each picked up a jar of their Pumpkin-Parmesan pasta sauce. I fixed it over 4 cheese tortellini and loved it. I found this recipe on In The Kitchen With Polly's blog. The link is above. Hope you enjoy it.

God Bless!!

.

Pumpkin-Parmesan Pasta Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 chopped shallot (about ¼ cup)
½ cup chopped onion
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 box pasta (penne, rotelle, bowtie)
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
¼ tsp. ground sage
½ tsp. nutmeg (freshly ground is best)
1 ½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

Fill a pasta pot with water, bring to boil, add salt.

While the pasta water is coming to a boil, heat the olive oil in a skillet and stir in onions and shallots. Saute until translucent. Stir in minced garlic and saute for another minute or so.

By this time, your water should be boiling. Stir in pasta, and cook according to package directions.

Add pumpkin, broth, cream, vinegar and spices to the onion/shallots/garlic mixture in the skillet. Simmer on low for 5 minutes or so.

Gradually stir in 1/3 of the cheese to the sauce. When that cheese has been incorporated, repeat with another 1/3 of the cheese. Then repeat again with remaining cheese. Stir in chopped fresh sage.

By this time, your pasta should be cooked. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water.

Stir the drained pasta into the sauce. If the sauce seems too thick, add a bit of the reserved pasta water until the sauce reaches desired consistency. Serve immediately. Enjoy! Happy Fall!

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today. Raise your hand if you are a pumpkin junkie! (I am, I am!!)

Baked Lasagna with Italian Sausage

While at my friend Cindy's home earlier this week I helped her make red sauce from fresh tomatoes, something that I have never done before. I was married to a fellow years and years ago who's mother was married to an Italian fellow. Sam taught me to make red sauce or gravy as he called it sometimes. I applied Sam's recipe to what I made from my late season tomatoes from my garden and have fairly good results. What I write below is a bit of a guess on the measurement in some cases as I have no idea how much the tomatoes weighed but i am guessing at somewhere in the area of 3-4 pounds. OK

3-4 pounds of fresh, washed and scolded tomatoes (I heated me water in the pan that I was going to make the sauce in (the Dutch oven that came with my set of Analon pans). After scolding the tomatoes in the sink, I stopped the action by adding cold tap water and allowing it to cool enough that I could slip the skins, core and quarter my fresh tomatoes.

2 8oz. cans tomato paste

2 garlic cloves, crushed or 1 tsp. minced garlic from the jar

1 med. onion, cleaned and rough chopped

1 med. bell pepper, washed, seeded and rough chopped

1 tsp. kosher salt

8 or 10 fresh sweet basil leaves, washed, and thinly chopped

1/2 C. fresh parsley, chopped

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

1 tsp. fresh minced oregano

2 tsp. baking soda (This takes the acid out of the sauce. Use a spoon to scrape the pale foam that come to the top off and dis guard it.)

This will simmer for nearly 4 hours. I used a potato masher to crush the tomatoes as they are beginning to cook really well. Now, IF, you want Sam's recipe, start out with 4 or 5 fresh pork neck bones. These should have meat on them but very little if any fat. The bones add the best flavor and after the sauce is made, are a nice treat to cook or whom ever is around to sneak in a nibble.

I let the sauce completely cool after it has cooked down to the desired consistency. If you have a Denny in your house, you will have to keep an eye on the pot as he thinks he is saving the sauce and keeps turning the heat off. I put mine in a covered container and in the refrigerator over night.

The Lasagna:

1.5 pks of oven ready lasagna noodles

Sauce you have purchased or prepared, If you purchase, I would get at least 2 quarts.

Cheese filling

2 15 oz. cartons of Ricotta cheese

1 C. grated Parmesan or Romano or a mixture of the two

2 lrg. eggs

2 tsp. Penzey's Italian seasoning

Meat (My local market doesn't know any other type of Italian sausage except the really hot Sicilian style and I don't care for that at all so I made my own:

1.5 pounds lean ground pork

1.5 tsp. Penzey's Italian Sausage seasoning

Mix this by hand and allow to set for about 20 minutes before you fry it off. There should be very little grease in the pan when you are done.

Assembly:

350F, 45 minutes, 9z13 deep baking dish or aluminum pan spayed with PAM.

Arrange the noodles in the bottom of the pan and place one on end on each of the sides of the pan. Cover the noodles with sauce, you have plenty if you made what I did, so don't drown them but cover them well. Add about 1/2 of the meat followed by 1/2 of the cheese mixture and then follow that with a good covering of shredded Mozzarella cheese (I like it cheesy so about 1.5 cups of cheese. Repeat this one more time and finish with sauce over the top and sprinkle on a liberal amount of grated Parmesan cheese.

I guess you should know that I like my lasagna meaty, creamy with cheese and rich with red sauce so I hope that you enjoy this one.

God Bless,

Linda

Chocolate Zucchini Loaf Cake

Chocolate Zucchini Loaf Cake

2/3 c. all-purpose flour ( I used 1C. GF flour... of course)

1/3. c. whole wheat flour

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon ( I used Penzey’s Vietnamese)

1 1/2 c. shredded raw zucchini

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1/4 c. applesauce

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 c. semi sweet or dark chocolate chips (optional- I used mini chips)

1. preheat oven to 350 and grease a loaf pan. sift together first 7 ingredients. set aside.

2. using a hand mixer, beat the oil, applesauce, sugars, eggs, and vanilla for about 2 min.

3. fold in zucchini, add the flour mixture, beating just until combined. fold in chocolate chips.

4. pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

5. remove from oven and place pan on a wire rack to cool for at least 15 min. then transfer from pan to wire rack and let cool completely. store in fridge when cool.

serve warm with vanilla ice cream. or straight out of the fridge, with fresh strawberries. (Raspberries would be better with this I think.)

* I squeezed some of the water out of the zucchini after I shredded it as it seemed like it would make the cake too moist.

Blue Berry Buckle from Betty Crocker's Cook Book (0ld)

2 C. flour

1/4 C. sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 C. shortening or butter

3/4 C. milk

1 egg

2 C. blue berries

Topping:

1/2 C. sugar

1/3 C flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 C. soft butter

Heat oven to 375F

Grease a square 8" pan

Blend all ingredients except the topping, beating vigorously 1/2 minute. Spread in the prepared pan.

Sprinkle with the topping

Bake 25-30 minutes or until it tests done using a tooth pick or strand of spaghetti

Serve warm

Blue Berry Buckle from Betty Crocker

Balsamic Chicken with Caprice Toast

It is summer and I really try not to cook anything in the house that is going to take any length of time to cook. These are something's that cook quickly and are fairly light on the waist line as well as the AC bill.

I can't resist caprice when the sweet basil is ready and so are the home grown tomatoes and I just love most anything done with a flattened chicken breast.

I was at a local grocery here on Sunday and saw a Taste Of Home Italian cookbook and nabbed it for the afternoon's reading. Didn't get to it until sometime yesterday. Knee deep in a Nora Roberts novel.

So, today for lunch I had to try one of the lighter recipes and we love it and thought that you might like it as well. Now remember I told you that I love caprice so that plays in here as well.

The first recipe is from Taste Of Home Italian and called Balsamic Chicken

If you are using an entire chicken breast, you will want it skinless and boneless. Trim the fat and the chin stuff that is where the cartilage area of the breast bone was. Put the two halves on a sheet of plastic wrap and cover it with a sheet of plastic wrap and using the flat side of your meat mallet flatten to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut each half in half again so that you have 4 portions.

In a resealable plastic bag combine:

1/4 C flour

(I added 1/2 tsp of Penzey's Mural of flavor)

1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

1/8 tsp. sea salt

Mix well and coat the chicken portions.

In a large non-stick skillet:

1 Tbsp. canola oil (I chose to use EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) it is just me, I like the taste it imparts)

the chicken breast portions go in next and they are cooked medium heat on each side for about 4-5 minutes (until the juices run clear)

Remove the chicken and keep it warm (now here I deviated again and I sprinkled the hot chicken portions with Parmesan cheese).

In the still hat skillet add:

1 small onion, thinly sliced and cook until tender

(Here I deviated once more. The recipe calls for dried spices (thyme and rosemary) I used fresh rosemary (3 sprigs stripped and 1 spring of Greek oregano stripped)

Add in;

1/4 C. water

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/8 tsp. dried rosemary

2 Tbsp. good Balsamic Vinegar

Continue to cook for 3-4 minutes until the mixture begins to thicken a bit.

Serve this over the chicken breast.

Caprice toast:

4 thin slices of Italian bread drizzled with garlic infused EVOO (not allot just drizzle it)

cover each slice with slices of "fresh Mottzrella cheese (this is the white ball that you see in the cheese section. Sometimes it's called Buffalo Mottzrella when it is made with Buffalo milk. It might seem like it is packed in liquid.)

Cover each then with Sweet Basil leaves.

Followed by thin slices of fresh tomato

350F until the cheese is melted and tomatoes show some cooking going on.

I had a chicken breast and slice of this on each plate and in Den's words "You are out of the ball park on this one. Great meal!!!"

If you try it, I hope it turns out to be something you like.

God bless,

Linda

Amish Granola

6 C. Old Fashion Oatmeal
1/2 C. honey
1/4 C. Canola oil
1/4 C. Brown sugar
2/3 C. sliced almonds
1/2 C. sunflower seeds, not the salted ones
1/2 C. chopped walnuts
1/2 C. wheat germ
1/2 C flake coconut
Combine in a large mixing bowl and blend well.
Preheat your oven to 350F.

On a large baking sheet with sides, evenly spread the granola mix. Bake for 30 minutes stirring at 10 minute intervals to provide even toasting. Store in an air tight container.
This is great eaten the way the Europeans do, with yogurt. You can use milk if you like as well or eat it out of hand.

This one was in an Amish cookbook that my mom has. I have made it many times over the years and plan to make a double batch and take it for our canoe and camping Memorial Day Group Camp out.
God Bless,
Linda

Blueberry Bread Pudding

While I was at my mom's last week we had dinner one night at my brother, Dave and his wife, Gwen's place. The finish was a Blueberry Bread Pudding that is really worth the effort. Not to sure whose recipe she was working but here goes:

3 eggs
4 C. heavy cream
1 1/2 C. sugar
3 tsp. vanilla extract, don't scrimp, use the good stuff, it make all the difference
2 C. fresh or frozen blueberries
1 pkg. (10-12oz) white baking chips
1 loaf (1#) french bread cut into 1 inch cubes

Sauce:
1 pkg. (10-12 oz) white baking chips
1 C. heavy cream

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, cream, sugar and vanilla. Stir in blueberries and baking chips. Stir in the bread cubes and let stand for 15 minutes or until the bread is softened.

Transfer to a greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake uncovered at 350F for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center come out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

For the sauce, place the chips in a small bowl. In a small sauce pan, bring the cream just to a boil. Pour over the baking chips, whisk until smooth. Serve over the bread pudding.

I love bread pudding warm. Yummmmmmmm

Cherry Berry Cobbler

The other day when I was at the local Hy-Vee with Mom, I noticed in the freezer case something with the Hy-Vee brand on it and it was called Cherry Berry Mix. The bag contained a fruit mixture of strawberries, cherries, blueberries, black berries, and red raspberries. This gave me an idea and I tried it today.

Combine in a large bowl;
2 16 oz packages of Hy-Vee's Cherry Berry Mix, partially thawed
3/4 C. white sugar
1/4 C. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 C. corn starch
1 tsp. cinnamon (I like Penzey's Vietnamese cinnamon)
1/2 tsp. nutmeg (I like to grate my own and use slightly less if grating your own)
1 tsp. vanilla (always use the good stuff, the best you can buy, make it real)
Mix this very well coating all of the pieces of fruit well.
Pour into a 10x10 baking dish treated with PAM
Heat the oven to 425F.

In the bowl of the food processor pulse to combine:
1 1/4 C. flour
1/3 C. sugar
1/4 tsp. sea salt

Add:
7 tbsp. cold unsalted butter (I cut it up on the tablespoon marks on the stick of butter)
Pulse until the butter in worked in and the mixture resembles a course meal.

In a small bowl combine and mix well
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp. cold water
1 tsp. vanilla (again,use the good stuff)
Add the liquid to the flour mixture all at once and pulse until the dough comes together. If it seems to dry add additional water 1 tsp. at a time. Remember, don't over work the dough, it will make it tough.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface or pastry cloth. Pat to the shape of the baking dish and work to about 1/4 inch thick.
Place the dough over the fruit.
Brush egg white over the top of the dough and sprinkle with "sparkle sugar"
Bake at 425F for 10 minutes
Reduce the heat to 350F and continue baking for 50-60 minutes.
Cool about 30 minutes before serving with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Yields 4-6 serving

Couscous Lemon Chicken Soup

I was recently in the Chicago area visiting friends and Cindy and I went shopping, of course. "Would I like to go into the William Sonoma store?" Silly question, how quickly can we get there. If you have never been to one, you are in for a treat. The price points are kind of high on most of the products but then you are looking at top of the line, in most cases. Still it is a great place for ideas. This day they were making a soup that had us asking for one more bite, please. As usually happens I take their recipe and tweak it to what we can eat or sounds good to me. So, I will leave it to you. Sandi, I know that you are gluten intolerant so you will have to work around if you try this one. Couscous is an African pasta of sorts, originally made from millet but lately from wheat flour. This soup used a Lebanese Couscous which just means that it a bit larger around than an orzo pasta or pearl pasta. Den thinks Barley would work but he is in love with barley. I got out my handy crock pot and set a carton of Chicken stock to heating. I set 2 quarts of water to boil to cook the 1 cup of dry couscous, remember it is a type of paste and takes about 5 minutes to boil to cooked enough for this soup. Drain it off and add it to the stock. In a heavy skillet combine and cook to soft but not brown 2 tbsp. EVOO 1/2 small onion, chopped 2 cloves of garlic, chopped, crushed or minced This is where I start to deviate, OK. I trimmed an entire skinless/boneless chicken breast and cut it into cubes. I added this to the onion and garlic in the skillet to get it started cooking. Back to the crock pot: 1 tbsp butter 3 tbsp fresh parsley finely chopped 3 tbsp. fresh cilantro (not in the package recipe but I added it) 3 tbsp. fresh coriander (I couldn't find this one so I didn't put it in) 1 tbsp. fresh mint, chopped (not available so not in there) rind of 1 lemon finely grated (just the rind here, don't get that white stuff undernieth, it doesn't taste nice at all, this is where a micro plane comes in handy, but watch the finger, it is very sharp) Juice from the same lemon. Salt and Pepper to taste. Add in the mixture in the skittet to the crock pot and I cooked it for about 1.5 hours on high. The couscous will finish cooking and swell to about twice the size. I came down with a cold while we were away and this feels great to a "stuffy sicky". God Bless and hugs, Linda

Roasted Root Veggies

While at a friends home this weekend, I was inspired by something that she did for dinner one night. I just tweaked it to suit our table. On a large sheet of heavy broiler foil, gather the following: 1 med. sweet potato, pared and cut into 1" cubes 1 med. white potato, scrubbed and julienned like for French fries 1 med. parsnip, pared and thinly sliced 2 med. carrots, pared and cut into 1" chunks 1/2 med. onion roughly chopped 2 tsp. Penzey's Herbs de Provence 2 - 4 Tbls. infused EVOO, I like Tuscan Herb from The Olive Pit (garlic and basil) HyVee offers a garlic infused olive oil as well as a basil infused olive oil. I purchased both, while at my mom's this past weekend and used some of each one. It was quite good actually and I used Mural of Flavor as I hadn't brought the Herbs de Province along this time. Prepare the veggies and mix together on the foil. Drizzle with the olive oil and the add the herbs. Mix well. Gather the foil up with the veggies in the middle and place on a heavy baking sheet or I used my 12 inch iron skillet and it worked great. Roast uncovered at 350F for 1 hour, stirring about once every 15-20 minutes. I made catfish fillets and this was the side. Great lunch. Thanks, Cindy!!!!!!!

German Sauerkraut Salad (The Colony Inn in Amana, Iowa

We had a wonderful day yesterday despite the icky stuff that threatened and then made good on it with light snow and then kind of a wintery mix of snow and misty rain. The temps hovered around 20F, so it wasn't bitterly cold just icky. Den needed some tax document to complete our income tax stuff and picked that up at the Cedar Rapids Public Library at the Westdale Mall and then the headed to the Amana Colonies.

I have a quilt in process that I am calling "The Daydreamer Quilt". There is a picture of it above, I am still working on it. It will be for the bed that it is on, in our guest room down stairs. The large flowers are the product of an Iowa artist named Stephanie Brandenburg. She and her mother have a shop in South Amana called Fern Hill Gifts and Quilts. We stopped there and I purchased a couple more yards of the color wash fabric that you see in the drops on the sides. I need it to complete the shams as well as "piano key" border on the drops of the sides and foot. Anyway, Fern Hill is absolutely amazing. Three levels of antiques (some are structural and some just what you would expect in a antique store) and fabric for quilting. What this stuff was beautiful stuff.

We have in the past always gone to the Ronnenburg for meal when in the Amanas but this time Den wanted to try something different. So, we went to the Colony Inn. Meals are served family style. You order your entree' and they bring you what goes with it in small bowls that you can choose what you want and have pretty much as much as you want. When they bring you the salad portion, there were several bowls, lettuce salad with homemade buttermilk dressing (not ranch), cottage cheese (this has buttermilk and chive in it, yummy), and sauerkraut salad. We both loved, loved the sauerkraut salad.

My mother's mother was a Dunkered from Pennsylvania which is, as I understand it, a sect of Amish. She married and Englisher, my granddad. I called Mom from the restaurant to see if she knew how to make this salad. Yes, well sort of. But she thought it was in a Amish cookbook that my sister had given her but I should talk to my cousin Martha as she has borrowed the book. As it turns out the Colony shares this recipe and the young lady brought me a copy of it.

I am headed back to Mt. Pleasant for our sewing day on March 5th and Mom wants some of this, so I guess I should get it on the make.

Sauerkraut Salad (Colony Inn in Amana, Iowa)

Combine in a large air tight container (tupperware or Gladware or the like)

1 quart sauerkraut (don't wash this at all leave the juice on it)

1 C. diced celery

1/2 C. onion, chopped (medium)

1 C. sugar

1/2 C. salad oil (they use Wesson Oil, I will be using canola oil)

1/4 C. red and green bell peppers chopped (for taste as well as color)

Mix all ingredients thoroughly.

Cover and refrigerate for 72 hours, so the flavors can meld well.

The young lady told us that after sitting at room temperature for over 3 hours the oil will form bits of solids in the salad so keep it refrigerated.

I hope that you try this and that you like it as well as both Den and I do.

God Bless,

Linda

Ranch Chicken and Rice

I was gone this weekend leaving Denny to take care of himself. He was working at the radio station. I always have to feed him no matter what so I made him some Chicken and Rice something that I fixed him while we were dating. This was my own recipe, long before Campbell's Soups came up with theirs. This time I gave a bit of Ranch twist and then repeated the process at Mom's and my brother and his wife joined Mom and I for lunch and they liked it as well.

For 4 servings:

Prepare 2 cups of Minute Rice per directions on the box except use chicken broth instead of the water. Set this aside.

1 complete skinless/boneless chicken breast, flattened and trimmed of fat and connective tissue and then cut in to 4 fairly equal portions
Dredge:
3/4 C. all purpose flour
2 Tbsp. yellow corn meal
1 Tbsp. Penzey's Spice's Ranch Dressing Seasoning Base, rounded
1 tsp. baking powder
Dredge the chicken portions in the flour mixture and brown in melted butter in a large skillet until golden on both sides. Remove to a plate.
Add to the meat dripping
a 1-2 TBSP. butter
2/3 cup of chopped celery
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 tsp. minced garlic
saute until tender
Add to the vegetables
1 C. sour cream
1 reg. can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup, undiluted
1 Tbsp. Penzey's Ranch Dressing Seasoning Base
1 small can of mushroom stems and pieces, drained
Bring to a simmer and add in the rice that you have waiting.

Place this in a buttered 10" baking dish. Smooth the top and place the chicken portions on top. Cover with foil and bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

Coconut Cake from Debbie Field's Great American Desserts

I turned 63 on the 11th of February. If I wanted a birthday cake, I have to make it myself but I want to make it so that Denny can eat as he ends up eating way more of it than I ever do so I make it from scratch. He happens to love Coconut Cake, well he also loves chocolate cake and carrot cake and cheese cake ................................... you get the picture. I found this recipe and thought I would give it a try.

1 C. butter, softened
2 C. sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
4 lrg. eggs, separated
2 C. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
1 C. buttermilk, at room temp.
1 C. shredded coconut
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter 3 layer cake pans, I used 8" rounds and instead of flouring, I lined the bottom of the pans with parchment paper.

Cream together the butter and the sugar in a large bowl, until fluffy, about 4-5 minutes using an electric mixer on medium. Add the vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the egg yokes, 1 at a time, beating for 20 seconds after each addition. Scrape down the bowl.
In a bowl whisk together or sift together if you prefer the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in thirds, alternating with the buttermilk. Beat for 45 seconds after each addition and beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl. Add the coconut and beat on low speed.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter until no white streaks remain.
Divide the batter evenly between the three cake pans and smooth the top of each.
Bake in the middle of the oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes before turning them out of the pans onto the wire rack to completely cool.

Here is where is divert from her directions. If you are kind of feeling like you want a island theme, try draining very well a can of crushed pineapple that comes in it's own juice not syrup. Mix up a package of vanilla instant pudding and pie filling only make it with 1 and 1/2 cups of milk and then foal in the pineapple. This gets used as the filling for the cake when you assemble it. Pinacolata Cake

Frosting is as follows:
8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
4 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 pound powdered sugar
Mix well and this makes your frosting.
Debbie also calls for toasting 1 cup of coconut and sprinkling this all over the frosting.
This cake is rich and extremely tasty.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

I was in Mt. Pleasant this past weekend visiting my mom and picking up some fabric that I needed to complete my "Daydreamer" quilt. While there I got into a cooking mood as sometimes happens. To tell you the truth, about anything to get my mom to eat more than a thimble full of food is worth getting me in the cooking mood. I had just received my latedt issue of Southern Living magazine with this glorious pound cake on the cover. I thought that I would share it with you and give you a pointer that the folks at the magazine haven't caught onto just yet. The cake in the magazine is called Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake but because I am detouring from their recipe a bit I have dropped the Strawberry Swirl part but will give you a flavorful alternative. OK.

Strawberry slim as I call it is that stuff that you purchase in the grocery store to slice your strawberries into and then put into a pastry shell for fresh strawberry pie or to doll-up one of those short cake rounds. What I am going to give you here is in this blog from a previous entry as "Fresh Strawberry Pie".
1 C. sugar
2 Tbsp. corn starch
1 1/4 C. cold water
1 Tbsp. white corn syrup (in a pinch this weekend I used honey)
1 reg. package of Strawberry flavored Jello
Stirring constantly over medium high heat, bring to a boil and continue cooking and stirring for 1 minute. When cool this will replace that jar of "strawberry slime" that they sell in the grocery store and it tastes like strawberries.

Now for the cake part:
Preheat the oven to 350F
Grease a 14 cup tub pan or use the smaller 12 cup and use a small loaf pan for the balance of the batter.

1 1/2 C. butter softened
3 C. sugar
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
6 lrg. eggs
3 C. all purpose flour
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (I will tell you here that when I made this I didn't have the almond extract on hand at Mom's and used all real vanilla extract and it was great)
2/3 C. strawberry glaze (this would be what we made above, I would tell you that you want this at room temp.. If it too cold it won't swirl and too warm it runs)

Beat the butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty (Kitchen Aid stand works well) mixer. until creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add cream cheese, beating until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
Gradually add flour to the butter mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition, stopping to sxrape the bowl as needed. Stir in the flavoring.
Pour 1/3 of the mixture into the prepared pan. Dollop in a few teaspoons of the strawberry glaze over the batter and swirl in with a knife blade or skewer. Repeat twice more. (If you are using the smaller pan, stop filling it about 1/2 inch from the top. While there is no levening in this it does rise a bit and you don't want t mess. If you are using the smaller pan and have a small loaf pan in the oven with the tube pan, you will need to watch it for doneness. I found that the baking time on the smaller tube pan is just short of the shortest baking time below.)
Bake at 350F for 1 hour or 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a spagetti strand inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes. At that point remove cake from the pan on to the wire rack and allow it to completely cool, about 1 hour.
Southern Living says this recipe is from Nancy H. Test from West Chester, Ohio.

I can tell you that my brother, his wife, my husband and my mom all raved. The cake has a wonderful texture as well as a very richness associated with pound cake. I sliced fresh strawberries into the rest of the glaze and served it on the side with the cake. What a pretty picture and it remained everyone of spring being here one of these days.