Chicken Enchilada Chili

Chicken Enchilada Chili
Originally found at A Year of Slow Cooking

1 cup cooked shredded chicken
1 1/2 cups prepared enchilada sauce
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
2 (15 oz) cans kidney beans
1 onion, diced (or 1 tablespoon dried, minced onion flakes)
1-2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder (or 1-2 cloves fresh garlic)

Pour enchilada sauce and canned tomatoes into the bottom of a 6 quart slow cooker. Add beans, onion and spices. Stir to combine. Place chicken on top.

Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours, or until flavors have combined. Serve hot.

My Notes:

The original recipe called for celery. I put it in, but found that it was a little too weird having celery in my chili. Maybe that's just me. If you don't want to make this in the crockpot, saute the onions in a bit of olive oil in the bottom of a large pot, then add the remaining ingredients and cook on low for a half hour or so. The flavors won't combine as well as if you cooked it in the crock, but it'll still be good.

I was leery about this at first, but decided to bite the bullet and make it while I cleaned up the house. It turned out pretty good, I think. An interesting mix of flavors that you don't get with regular chili, but I didn't have to use one of those seasoning packets, so that makes it all that much better.

Peanut Butter Rice Krispies

Peanut Butter Rice Krispies
Original family recipe (I think)

1 cup Karo Light Corn Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
8 cups rice krispies

Combine corn syrup and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat until the sugar dissolves and the solution is clear. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth. In a large mixing bowl, combine rice krispies and peanut butter mixture. Press into a 9 x 13 greased baking dish and allow to cool. Cut into squares when cooled.

If storing overnight, cover with plastic wrap.

My Notes:

This is my favorite dessert ever. Seriously. But it's so full of sugar (blatant sugar, anyway. Cakes at least make an attempt to hide it) that I rarely make it. Mostly because I end up eating the whole pan in one sitting.

The sugar will dissolve just above the boiling point, but this is usually the point where the solution fills with bubbles, so it's sometimes hard to see if the solution is clear. Just keep an eye on it, as it will burn. If you try to mix the peanut butter in too early, it will burn on the bottom of the pan.

The reason you want to cover them is that they're nice and gooey when they're first made, but will dry out over time. I've found that covering them means that they're still nice and gooey the next day (if they last that long), whereas leaving them uncovered results in hockey puck hard treats. Still yummy, but they're more of a hard candy than a gooey mess at that point. My mom's also added so many rice krispies in the past that this has happened, so add them slowly until you reach a nice consistency.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Image to come. Maybe.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Original found in Schwan's Catalog

2 cups cooked chicken
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup dried cherries*
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup chopped pecans*
4 pita halves*

Mix chicken, mayonnaise, cherries and celery together. If not serving immediately, chill. When ready to serve, mix in pecans and spoon into pita halves.

My Notes:

*Another variation on this recipe I like is granny smith apples (I like the tartness), with walnuts on sourdough. So, pick a fruit, a nut, and a bread and mix and match as you please.

About a year ago, my baby sister came up to me and told me that she had to bring food to an event that was taking place that night. She signed up to bring chicken salad. I had never made chicken salad before, so I frantically found a recipe and dashed off to the store to find some ready-made ingredients (the one time I will stoop to using canned chicken) and threw the dish together (using the aforementioned apple and walnut variation) with minutes to spare before we ran out the door to her event. It was the favorite among the families there, but I never really bothered to make the recipe again.

Then, I found this recipe while flipping through my Schwan's catalog (I love their ice cream, so sue me). It seemed like a somewhat healthy variation, so I gave it a shot. The cherries provide some sweetness against the savory quality of the chicken. The original dish also calls for green bell peppers for some heat, but all mine had gone bad, so I just omitted it.

Still, my favorite chicken salad sandwich is one from Claim Jumper, their cashew chicken salad on tomato basil bread. Incredibly salty and probably really fattening, but it's a guilty pleasure of mine. I have to learn how to make it at home.

Garlic Knots

Garlic Knots
Adapted from Emeril

1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
1 (1/4-ounce) envelope active dry yeast
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, honey, and 1 tablespoon oil, stirring to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.

Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour and the salt, mixing by hand until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Continue adding the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, working the dough after each addition, until the dough is smooth but still slightly sticky. You may not need all of the flour. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth but still slightly tacky, 3 to 5 minutes.

Oil a large mixing bowl with remaining olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place, free from drafts until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Combine butter and garlic in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook until the garlic is fragrant and tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Cover, remove from the heat and set aside. Keep warm.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly grease 2 large baking sheets. Set aside.

Remove risen dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough out into a large rectangle, about 16 by 12 inches. Brush the dough lightly with the olive oil. Cut the dough in half lengthwise and then cut crosswise into strips about 1 1/4 inches wide. Tie each strip loosely into a knot, stretching gently if necessary and folding ends under, and place on prepared baking sheets about 2-inches apart. Sprinkle the tops of the knots with salt. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 30 minutes.

Bake until golden brown and risen, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and toss gently with the warm garlic butter and parsley. Add salt to taste if necessary. Serve immediately.

My Notes:

So, we got pizza brought to us at work the other day, and I suddenly had a craving for the garlic knots that came with it. So, I searched for a recipe, and this was the result. They were pretty good... I used some pizza sauce (spaghetti sauce mixed with Italian seasoning to spice it up) to dip and they turned out pretty good.

One qualm that I have is that all the pizza dough recipes I've tried result in a white crust... it doesn't brown for anything in the oven. I left the knots in there for an extra 15-20 minutes, and they still didn't brown. It's incredibly annoying. I also messed up the recipe at first, and added all the flour at once, so my first try resulted in some incredibly dense dough. I tried again, following the directions this time, and it came out good.

Caramel Pecan Monkey Bread

Carmel Pecan Monkey Bread
Original Recipe

3 7.5 oz cans of refrigerator biscuits
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cinnamon
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375F. In a small bowl, melt butter. Mix in brown sugar until dissolved. Cut biscuits into quarters. Spray a casserole dish (or bunt cake pan, or a loaf pan) with non-stick spray. Dip each biscuit quarter into butter-brown sugar mixture, then place in pan. After you have one layer in the pan, dust with sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle on a layer of pecans. Repeat until you fill the pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool slightly, then turn out onto a separate dish and serve.

My Notes:

I'm a big fan of monkey bread, though I usually stick with the cinnamon and sugar recipe. My last attempt at that didn't turn out so well, so I decided to do something a little different. I read a recipe for cinnamon raisin monkey bread (with walnuts) that used this technique of layering. I also found a recipe for pecan rolls, and started craving them something fierce, but I lacked the patience to make the cinnamon rolls themselves.

I originally baked this at 400 for about 20 minutes, and the edges were starting to burn while the inside was still raw, so I think cooking it a little longer at a lower temp will take care of that problem. My sisters attacked this once I took it out of the oven, so I guess it's pretty good :)

Another side note... I think I need to somehow put more caramel in the middle. The edges were nice and pretty and yummy and full of flavor, but the inside was rather bland and just biscuity. Maybe I'll make some wells and pour some extra caramel sauce down them next time I make it.

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt
Adapted found at Sugar Laws

1 lb strawberries, frozen or fresh
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups vanilla yogurt
1 1/3 cups greek yogurt*

Cut strawberries. If frozen, thaw at least slightly. Pour sugar over top and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Stir and pour into a blender. Blend well, then add yogurts and mix until well blended. If you have an ice cream maker, pour this in now and churn for about 40 minutes, then freeze 2-3 hours.

If you don't have an ice cream maker, put this mixture in the fridge for about an hour. Mix, then transfer to the freezer. After a half hour, take out and mix to break up the ice crystals. Repeat this three more times, then allow to set to your desired consistency.

My Notes:

*I bought a 16 oz container, and that's about the volume I got out of it.

The original recipe calls for raspberry and figs, which I don't happen to have handy. I did get some frozen strawberries at the grocery store, and so I went from there. I didn't have an ice cream maker, and didn't feel like making a coffee can one, so I found a way to do it without either. If you're like my mom, you can just throw the mixture in the freezer and forget about it, but I don't like the ice crystals in direct frozen yogurt. I'm picky like this. Basically, you freeze it for an hour at a time, and whip it between to break up the ice crystals. You do this for three hours, then let it sit to freeze completely.

The end result? It wasn't quite as smooth as the kind you buy in the store, but it was very yummy. I think if I used an electric mixer next time it would come out smoother. My sisters made me pull it out before it had completely frozen, so we got some soft parts and some firm parts, but it's all good :)

Granola

Granola
Original recipe found at A Year of Slow Cooking

5 cups oats
1/2 cup honey*
1/2 cup melted margarine*
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup dried fruit (I used raisins)

Put all the dry ingredients into your crockpot. You'll need at least a 4 quart. Melt the butter in the microwave, and add. Add the honey. Toss well. Cover, but vent with a chopstick. Cook on high for 3-4 hours, stirring every so often. If you can smell the granola cooking, go stir. It will burn if you don't keep an eye on it. But it won't burn as quickly as it does in the oven! Dump out on some parchment paper and let cool. Eat with milk like cereal, warmed with milk like oatmeal, or as is. Seal well in an air-tight container or in a ziplock. Granola freezes well.

*note: if you add this amount of honey and margarine, the granola will be cereal-like, and not trail-mix like. If you'd rather the granola clump together in pieces, you'll need to add more honey.

My Notes:

So, I made this recipe a few months ago, and I wasn't a huge fan of it. But, my sister requested that I make it again (she's about as picky as me, so when she really likes something, I take note), and this time, I think it's better. Still need to make a few adjustments, but it's good. I personally made this with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, so it is technically a dairy dish, but I haven't found a non-dairy margarine that I like yet.

I personally like my granola to clump more, but I didn't have enough honey in the house this time to add enough to make it clump. We'll see what happens next time I make it.

And since I'm on a granola kick today, I'll be posting another recipe with it: Granola bars! Yay.

Citrus Chicken and Rice

Back with another recipe, and this one's nice and simple. I think it needs something, though. I'm thinking veggies, but not sure which kind. Let me know your thoughts.

Citrus Chicken and Rice
Original recipe at Wannabe Gourmet

1 1/2 pounds chicken*
2 cups rice
2 cups Pineapple Blend Juice**
3 cups water

Cut chicken if desired, and sear in a pan. Once brown, pour a cup of juice in the pan and cook until juice is reduced. Salt and pepper as desired.

Combine rice, water, and remaining cup of juice and cook until done--I use a rice cooker, so I don't remember the requirements for stovetop rice making). Enjoy!o

My Notes:
*You could probably get away with a pound of chicken for four people, considering a serving size of chicken is 3 ounces.

**I used a pineapple, apple, and orange juice blend, but the original recipe calls for pineapple, orange and banana. I'm not a fan of pineapple, but I liked this dish, so use what you think would appeal to you most.

The juice in the rice gives it just a hint of flavor, and it tastes yummy. As I said, it needs something, I'm just not sure exactly what that something is. Maybe some orange slices. Or mango, or some other fruit. I'll have to think on this one.

Homemade Mac and Cheese

This isn't no blue box stuff. Which is good, cause I hate that stuff. The fact that the cheese is powdered kinda weirds me out.

Homemade Mac and Cheese
Original recipe from Wannabe Gourmet

2 cups macaroni noodles
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
2 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups cheddar or colby cheese, shredded
1/2 cup parmesean cheese, shredded (not the stuff in the green plastic container, the real stuff)
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp hot sauce
1/3 cup breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 375. Boil pasta until al dente (slightly firm), then drain and set aside. In a sauce pan, melt butter, then mix in flour. Add milk slowly, whisking as you go (if you add the milk too quickly, it'll scald and burn). Add in salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add cheeses. Mix well, until all the cheese is melted. Add drained pasta to mix, coat well. Pour cheese/pasta mixture into shallow baking dish and sprinkle breadcrumbs on top. Bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

My notes:
Honestly, the recipe that I followed sucked. There were things in the ingredients list that weren't in the dish, and things in the preparation paragraph that weren't listed in the ingredients. Uber confusing. So, this dish is heavily modified.

Since this is a savory dish anyway, I didn't follow the recipe to a T. So, I ended up with a only mildly cheesy sauce (I'll fix that next time by using a sharper cheddar, I think, and maybe tossing in some jalapenos for some kick), and way too many breadcrumbs. You just want a thin layer, not enough to create a thick crust. Oops.

Overall, though, this wasn't a bad dish. I think if I actually followed the directions it would have been better (assuming I could have followed the directions). But lesson learned for the next time I prepare it :)

Bagel Sandwiches

I was inspired to make this by looking at the Einstein Brothers Bagel website. I heart them bagels, and I remember eating one of their bagel sandwiches once. Yummy.

Bagel Sandwiches
Original recipe

1 package vegetable dip mix (such as this)
1 package cream cheese
alfalfa sprouts
fresh spinach
assorted bagels

Allow cream cheese to soften, either by heating it up, or by allowing to come to room temperature. Mix in the vegetable dip mix until well blended. Spread on bagel of your choice, and top with alfalfa sprouts and spinach.

My Notes

You can really use any vegetables you want. You can even omit the cream cheese and go for a chicken sandwich (but I like my sandwiches with a list moistness, and I'm not a fan of mustard or mayonnaise, so that's not a good option for me). I added some cucumbers once, but I got sick of the crunch of them before I was done with the sandwich. All in all, though, it's a nutritious and delicious lunch :)

Hamantashen

I'm late, I know. Purim slipped by me because I've been so busy with other things. Still, I finally managed to make some Hamantaschen. I had two recipes, and wanted to compare them. I think I like a mixture of them, so that's what the result here is. And technically, these are pareve, because they use veggie oil instead of butter.

Hamantashen
Adapted from NYT and Chabad

4 cups flour
4 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
A pinch of salt
3/4 cup of oil
3 tablespoons of warm water
Zest of 2 lemons
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Filling

Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream eggs, oil, sugar, water, and lemon zest. Create a well in the flour mixture and pour half the liquids into the well. Mix together slowly, not breaking the walls of the well. Add remaining liquids a little at a time and mix well. Turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead until a smooth dough forms. Wrap and place in refrigerator at least one hour, preferably overnight.

Divide dough into thirds and roll out into a sheet approx 1/8 inch thick. Using a 2-3 inch in diameter cookie cutter (or glass), cut circles from the dough. Transfer to a cookie sheet and drop about a tablespoon of your desired filling into the center. Fold over into a triangle, pinching the corners together. Repeat for all cookies.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the corners turn light brown. Allow to cool and enjoy.

My Notes:

I used raspberry preserves, because I could not for the life of me find anything that might resemble poppy seed filling in my grocery store and I don't like prunes.

As I mentioned above, this is a sort of mixture of two recipes. I think the chabad recipe is way too thick; it would not spread out when I tried to roll it, especially right out of the fridge (I had to warm it between my hands for several minutes before it was pliable). On the other hand, the NYT recipe was falling apart, especially as it heated, so I think it could be a little stiffer. So, I cut down the flour from the Chabad recipe and cut down the oil from the NYT recipe. I liked the vanilla, so I kept that.

I am horrible with buying fresh produce, so I just used lemon juice (in a plastic lemon) instead of lemon zest. They turned out pretty good. The NYT recipe calls for a weird way of mixing it, and I think it resulted in a less-than uniform dough at first. It's also hard to add a little egg at a time for the second half of the ingredients, so I decided it would be easier to just cream them all together on the outset and mix them into the dry ingredients slowly.

Easy Cobbler

This recipe was one of our favorites from a camping trip a couple years ago. It's a nice quick and easy dessert.

Easy Cobbler
Original recipe

1 can pie filling*
1 box cake mix
5 Tbsp butter/margarine

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Grease a square cake pan. Dump in the pie filling and spread to an even layer. Pour cake mix on top and distribute evenly. Dot butter over the cake mix. Place in hot oven and heat until butter melts and cake mix browns slightly. Remove and allow to cool, then scoop out into bowls.

My Notes:
*I don't suggest you use pumpkin pie filling, but any other fruits would work well. Our favorite is cherry. To make this campside, you'll need a dutch oven, but prepare the same way.

Pasta Fagioli

Pasta Fagioli
Adapted from Pasta Fagioli

1 medium onion
2 stalks celery
1 clove garlic
3 cans diced tomatoes
1 cup shredded carrots
3 cups vegetable broth
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
1-2 cups pasta
1 can white kidney beans
1 can red kidney beans

Saute the onion, celery and garlic in a small portion of olive oil. Add tomatoes, carrots, broth, and seasonings. Bring to a boil, then add pasta. Simmer until pasta is tender, then add beans. Heat through, and serve warm.

My Notes:
This recipe is based, in part, on the Olive Garden Pasta E. Fagioli. I love that soup like nothing else, and I didn't want to give it up completely when I went Kosher. I have made this both with meat and without meat, and it's great either way. If you want meat, just add a pound of ground meat in. Certainly a nice dinner for a cold winter day, though not quite as spicy as the Olive Garden option. Perhaps a little hot sauce next time.

White Chili

This dish is amazing. That is all.

White Chili
Adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking

1 can corn
2 cans white beans
1 (4 oz) can green chilies
1/2 chopped onion
2 minced cloves garlic
1 cup vegetable broth
juice from one lemon
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

Chop up onion and garlic. Dump everything into a crockpot and cook on low 8-9 hours, or high 4-6. If making on the stovetop, cook until onions are clear.

My Notes

This is rather soupy in texture, but it's oh so yummy. I thickened it a little with some flour water (take some flour and mix it with water until the lumps disappear, then pour in. Let the soup come back up to a boil and it'll thicken). I hate buying fresh onion and garlic, so I used minced onions and garlic powder, and it turned out fine. It's best if you serve it with crushed tortilla chips and cheese, but it can be adapted however you want to suit your needs :)

Mozzarella Sticks

Yummy.

Mozzarella sticks
Adapted from Gluten Free Bay

1/4 cup fine flour*
2 cups Italian breadcrumbs**
3 eggs
2 Tablespoons milk
1 lb mozzarella cheese, cut into strips, or string cheese
vegetable oil
marinara sauce

Place flour in a shallow dish. Place breadcrumbs in separate dish. Mix eggs and milk in a third shallow dish. Drench the mozzarella sticks in flour, then in the egg mixture. Coat with breadcrumbs. Dip in egg mixture again and coat in breadcrumbs.

Heat vegetable oil in pan. Gently place sticks into the oil and fry until golden brown. Serve with marinara sauce.

My Notes:
* I used rice flour, because it's the finest flour I had. I'm sure regular flour would work just fine.

** If you can't find kosher Italian breadcrumbs, you can make your own using plain breadcrumbs. Simply mix with 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes, 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/4 teaspoon dried basil, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper.

I didn't make the full pound of cheese, and I had a whole bunch of egg mixture left over, so take that for what it's worth. Still, very yummy.

Pizza Wheels

Pretty generic recipe. I made this for my little sisters on Wednesday and forgot to post.

Pizza Wheels
Modified from Whole Foods

2 tsp oil
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 cup warm water
6 cups flour
1 can tomato paste
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
Desired pizza toppings

Coat a bowl with oil, then mix sugar, yeast, and water. Allow to foam for approx. 10 minutes. Slowly mix in flour, one cup at a time, until dough is no longer sticky. Knead for 10 minutes, then allow to rise. Divide dough in half and roll out into a rectangle (approx 12 x 18 in size). In a bowl, mix together tomato paste and Italian seasoning until blended. Spread paste in a thin layer on the dough, then top with desired pizza toppings in a thin layer. Roll the dough, jelly-roll style, and cut into 16 slices. Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees until lightly brown and heated through, about 25 minutes.

My Notes:

I actually just went ahead and used packaged dough, instead of making my own, because I was short on time. But, this is the recipe I use for most all of my pizza dough. I just can't get it to brown properly. Meh. I was skeptical of the tomato paste, because the smell of it really gets to me, but it turned out good. I just had cheese on mine, and left it in the oven a little too long, but my sisters and I still ate and enjoyed them. They're a nice light snack to have. If you're not fond of my dough, the Whole Foods site has another recipe, but it uses milk. Take that for what it's worth.

Since I don't know anyone who doesn't like cheese on their pizza, I'm listing this as dairy, but it can easily be made pareve by omitting the cheese.

Cream Cheese Wontons

Since this seems to be one of my most popular posts (via search engines), I just want to clarify that while this recipe is based on the wontons from one of my local chinese restaurants, it is not the typical cream cheese wontons found in most chinese restaurants. This version is sweet, while most of them are savory. If you'd rather have a savory filling, try mixing chives with the cream cheese.

Cream Cheese Wontons
Original Recipe

1 package of wonton wrappers
1 package of cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
water
oil (for frying)

Beat cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. If you see any lumps, you need to beat it longer. Take a a tablespoon or so of filling, and place in center of wonton wrapper. Dampen two edges of wonton wrapper with water and fold into a triangle, making sure to remove as much air as possible. Repeat until filling and/or wrappers are gone.

Heat oil to 350 degrees or so. When tester strip is dropped into oil, it should float to the surface within a few seconds and brown within 30 seconds. If this does not happen, turn up heat. Drop wontons into oil one at a time, frying each side until golden brown. Remove to paper towels.

Variation: Use nutella as a filling instead of the cream cheese mixture. They taste super good warm.

My Notes:

I used egg roll wrappers, instead of wonton wrappers. I got more out of it, because I cut the egg roll wrappers into quarters. Make sure you soften the cream cheese before you start beating it. If you don't, you're likely to get a bunch of small lumps of cream cheese in your filling, instead of the consistent filling. If you don't want to wait for it to soften on the counter, put it in the microwave for 15-30 seconds. Make sure you get as much air as possible out of the wrappers. They expand a lot, and are likely to burst open (causing some rather painful oil splatters if the filling gets into the oil).

These freeze fairly well, but they tend to get soft when you nuke them in the microwave, so if you really like the crispiness, it's probably better to eat them all that night. But this will produce quite a few wontons.

Chesapeake Spiced Salmon Cakes

Far as I see, this is pareve. Call me out if I'm wrong.

Chesapeake Spiced Salmon Cakes
Adapted from Whole Foods Website

1 lb cooked salmon
1 2/3 cups breadcrumbs, divided
2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning or other seafood seasoning
1/3 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/3 cup finely chopped yellow bell pepper
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
3 tablespoons safflower or canola oil
Lemon wedges for serving

In a large bowl, break up salmon into small pieces, discarding any pieces of bone or skin. Gently fold in 2/3 cup breadcrumbs, seasoning, peppers, onions, salt and pepper, until combined and then shape into 12 small patties. (Salmon patties can be made up to a day in advance. If you’re not cooking them immediately, transfer to a large plate, cover and refrigerate.)

Transfer remaining 1 cup breadcrumbs to a wide, shallow dish. Gently coat each patty in breadcrumbs, shaking off any excess, and transfer to a large plate. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Arrange 6 of the patties in the skillet in a single layer and cook, gently flipping once, until deep golden brown all over, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate as done and then heat remaining oil in skillet and repeat process with remaining patties. Serve salmon cakes hot, with lemon wedges on the side.

My Notes:

Original recipe calls for only red bell pepper. From a recipe I did yesterday, I had half of a yellow bell pepper in my fridge too. I couldn't chop them finely enough for my taste, so I used my blender and got a pepper mush. I put all that in a bowl and added the green onion, the seasoning, and the breadcrumbs, and it was nice and crumbly and moist, so I omitted (ok, I forgot) the egg and mayonnaise in the original recipe. Feel free to reference the original recipe and see what works the best for you.

Using cooked salmon is a must, because the frying probably isn't enough to fully cook your fish, even if you could get it to flake and stuff nicely. I baked mine in some tin foil and added it in after I mixed everything else. Apparently my patties weren't small enough, though, cause I didn't get 12 of them.

My sister said they were delicious. I thought they were good, but not something I'd eat regularly. Just as a monthly or quarterly thing. They're definitely full of flavor, though. Definitely a keeper.

I linked to a recipe for Old Bay seasoning so you could see what all was in it. Since I still live with my mom (she adores shrimp and crawdads), I happened to have a canister of it in our pantry.

White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies

White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies
Original Recipe

-1/2 c butter
-1 c white sugar
-1 egg
-3/4 c buttermilk (or, 3/4 cup milk and 1 Tbsp white vinegar)
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-2 c all-purpose flour
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cream together butter and sugar. Mix in egg, buttermilk and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Add in slowly to sugar mixture, mixing well. Mix in white chocolate chips and cranberries. Chill 1 hour. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until set and the edges have just turned brown. Allow to rest on sheet for one minute before removing to cool completely.

My Notes:

I was inspired to make this recipe by cookies I found at work on Christmas. It is more of a Christmasy cookie, due to the cranberries, but I like it anyway. These are a fully dairy dish, due to both the cookie dough itself (which uses butter) and the white chocolate chips. It'd be hard to make pareve, I think.

The directions on the package said to bake for 7-9 minutes, but mine took 15+ minutes to really turn golden brown. I think the size of my cookies might've had something to do with it, though. Still... yummy stuff.

EDIT: I added a sugar cookie recipe I found online to this recipe. The cookies turned out much thicker, but apparently were better tasting.

Chicken and Rice Soup

I suck at soups. I don't bother going through the motions to make my own stock, and the one homemade chicken noodle soup I've seen and tasted was good... until it cooled and I saw how much fat floated on the top. It grossed me out. Anyway, I've decided that soups are good things that help clean out the pantry, so I've gone and found some recipes that sound interesting. This is the first.

Chicken and Rice Soup
Adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking

-2 boxes of chicken broth (6-8 cups)
-1 cup of uncooked brown rice
-1 cup of water
-1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
-1 1/2-2 cups of vegetables

Chop the veggies to your taste. Dump everything in a pot and allow to come to boil. Turn down heat and simmer until rice is nice and tender.

My Notes

I probably had a little too much fun with this recipe. I used some celery sitting in the bottom of my fridge as well as some carrots. I had some leftover chicken from my attempt at tamales, so I tossed that in the pot. That added some corn and chiles, as well as some spices to the mix. I didn't have boxes of chicken stock, I only had 2 cans. So, I added some additional water and tossed in some bouillion granules to add more chicken flavor. One would think I actually cooked on a regular basis with my substitutions.

Then, I let it boil, and simmer for probably an hour or so. I didn't have time to make it in the crockpot like the original recipe, as I wanted it for dinner tonight. I figured letting it simmer (with a lid to keep in the moisture) would allow it to cook a little faster. It smells so yummy.

Next, I think I'll make a vegetarian white bean soup (chili).

Chicken Tamales

I live in a largely Hispanic town. Even the name of the town is Hispanic. So tamales are pretty common. More than a few of my coworkers and friends here have a traditional tamale recipe, or have a grandma that makes the best tamales in the world, etc. The problem is that 90% of them are made with pork. Can't have pork if I'm going kosher, and then I found this recipe using chicken. She actually used rotisserie chicken, but I just used plain ol' chicken breasts. I am making these in a slow cooker because it's easier for me to, but if you have the supplies, feel free to make it on the stovetop.

Chicken Tamales
Adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking

Filling:

1.5 lb chicken
1 tsp cumin
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles
1 (15-ounce) can corn, drained

Tamale Dough:

4 cups masa*
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1 (6-ounce) package dried corn husks

The Directions

Place chicken, cumin, onion, garlic, salt, chiles, and corn in the crockpot. Set to low and leave on 6-8 hours or overnight (or put it on high for 3-4 hours). The chicken should shred easily and the onion should be translucent. Shred up and set aside. If you're using pre-cooked chicken, and are short on time, skip the onion and garlic and mix remaining ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Soften the corn husks by soaking them in very hot water until they are quite pliable.

To make the dough, combine all dough ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and beat on medium-to-high speed until everything is mixed well and the dough is spongy. Check the dough by dropping a little ball of it into a glass of water. It should float. If it doesn't float, try beating it longer.

Take a bit larger than a golf-ball size piece of dough, and spread it into a wet corn husk, leaving an inch an a half or so at the top, an inch at the bottom, and no space on the sides. You should not be able to see the husk through the dough. Add a bit of filling in the middle, and fold the corn husk edges into the center and place in the bottom of an empty crockpot. Repeat until all the dough, corn husks, and/or filling is gone.

When the crockpot is full, put the lid on and cook on high for 4-6 hours, or until a tester tamale looks and tastes done. The tamales on the edges will cook a bit faster. Once your tester looks good, unplug the crockpot and keep the lid off. Don't unwrap any others until they've set for about 15 minutes.

My notes

These are time consuming. The person who originally made the recipe said it took her 2 hours to wrap all the tamales, but it only took me a half hour or so. I couldn't get the dough to spread well with a spoon, so I used a dry corn husk. To keep the husks soaking in hot water, I put a pot full of water on the stove and turned it on the lowest setting.

*Masa is corn flour treated with lime. I don't know if you can find masa that's kosher, but there are a variety of corn flours available, such as this one. I can't imagine the taste changing that much. I used Crisco for my vegetable shortening.

All in all, they're not bad. A little bland, though. I think I'll make some sort of sauce to go on them this time around, and work on the filling recipe a little more. Definitely not something I'll make all that often, but it's a break from the traditional food in my house.

Sweet Challah

*Note: For the above picture, I braided the loaves as described below, then wrapped them into a round shape.

I had a variety of recipes of Challah that I wanted to try, one of them designed for high altitude climates (which I've lived in for the past 5 years). Unfortunately, that recipe contained milk, which kinda defeats the whole eating bread on Shabbat night if you're going to have a meat meal. So, I found this recipe that is pareve.

Sweet Challah
Adapted from All Recipes.

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/3 cup white sugar
2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup white sugar
6 cups all-purpose flour, or as needed

Glaze
1 egg
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons white sugar
1 teaspoon water

1. Mix the yeast, sugar, and warm water together in a large bowl, stir to dissolve the sugar, and let the mixture stand until a creamy layer forms on top, about 5 minutes. Stir in 3 cups of flour to make a loose sponge.

2. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, vegetable oil, salt, and sugar together, and stir the egg mixture into the yeast-flour mixture until well combined. Continue mixing in flour, 1 cup at a time, up to 9 total cups. Dough should be slightly sticky, but not so wet that it leaves dough stuck to your hands.

3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead for 5 minutes to develop gluten. Form the dough into a compact round shape, and place in an oiled bowl. Turn the dough over several times in the bowl to oil the surface of the dough, cover the bowl with a cloth, and let rise in a warm area until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Punch down the dough and knead for another 5 minutes, until smooth and elastic.

4. Grease baking sheets, or line with parchment paper. To make egg glaze, whisk together egg, oil, sugar, andwater in a small bowl, and refrigerate until needed.

5. Cut the dough into 4 pieces, and cut each piece into 3 smaller pieces for a 3-strand braided loaf. Working on a floured surface, roll the small dough pieces into ropes about the thickness of your thumb and about 12 inches long. Ropes should be fatter in the middle and thinner at the ends. Pinch 3 ropes together at the top and braid them. Starting with the strand to the right, move it to the left over the middle strand (that strand becomes the new middle strand.) Take the strand farthest to the left, and move it over the new middle strand. Continue braiding, alternating sides each time, until the loaf is braided, and pinch the ends together and fold them underneath for a neat look. Place the loaves onto the prepared baking sheets, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 30 to 45 minutes. Brush a coating of egg glaze onto the tops of the bread, and reserve the remaining glaze.

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

7. Bake the bread in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, remove from the oven, and brush another coating of glaze onto the bread. Return to the oven, and bake until the tops are shiny and golden brown, 5 to 10 more minutes. Let cool before cutting.

My Thoughts

I had a slight problem with the dough being really dense, but I'm fairly certain the problem had to do with the temperature in my house. The dough didn't rise all that well because my house isn't exactly room temperature. I even put it by our fireplace, but it still didn't rise that well. Ah well, it still tastes good. And I think a nice cream cheese glaze would be tasty for a light breakfast :)

Spicy Chicken and Spaghetti Squash

I've made this dish several times, after hearing about spaghetti squash on the Food Network. It's an interesting dish.

Spicy Chicken and Spaghetti Squash
Adapted from Fabulous Foods.

1 small spaghetti squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion
3 -4 cloves garlic, minced
12 ounces cooked chicken or turkey meat, shredded
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
2 1/2 teaspoons fresh oregano
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, more to taste
3 tablespoons Italian parsley, finely chopped

Cut the spaghetti squash in half, remove seeds. Drizzle with olive oil and place face down on a cookie sheet (or similar dish, but don't use stoneware). Season with pepper and place in a 375 degree oven until flesh is tender (appox 1 hour). Shred with fork.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium high heat, sauté onion and garlic for 2 minutes. Add the chicken or turkey and cook for about 3-4 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for another 5 minutes. Pour sauce over heated spaghetti squash or cooked pasta and serve.

My Thoughts

The original recipe calls for some red wine. I've used it before, but I've also done without, and it seems to work just fine. I use dried herbs instead of fresh ones (at least until I get the motivation to cultivate an indoor herb garden, which will probably be after I move), so just use a small amount of dried herbs in place of fresh ones. I've also used garlic powder in place of minced garlic, so just experiment a little to get it to your tastes. The cooking of the spaghetti squash takes forever, but it produces a lot. Cook the chicken at the same time as the spaghetti squash for a real depth of flavor. I mix in the squash, because it was too difficult to get my sisters to eat it without mixing it in, as it has little flavor on its own. Cooking down the tomato sauce really helps, because it tends to be rather runny otherwise.

I haven't made this with kosher chicken, but I hear that kosher meats tend to be rather salty, so I wouldn't add any additional salt, even to the spaghetti squash when you're baking it.

Winter Tea

Winter Tea
Originally found in United States Army Sergeants Major Academy Class 59 Cookbook (as Christmas Tea)

1 1/3 cup Tang
1/2 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Instant Tea
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Mix all ingredients together. Store in an airtight container away from moisture (moisture will cause it to clump and harden). Use 1-2 heaping spoonfuls for each cup of water, to taste.

My Thoughts

I love this tea, because it's nice and sweet without tasting like sugar water (my problem with most teas). I could drink it all the time :) I'm reasonably sure this is pareve, so that's what I'm listing it under. I didn't find anything in the ingredients for Tang that would indicate it's a dairy dish. Tang is hechshered under Circle K, though, so if you only follow OU standards, be aware.

Oven Roasted Red Potatoes

I made my first dish since deciding to embark on this challenge last night for dinner. I'll probably add a few of my favorite recipes here in the next few days, but since this is one I actually made, it goes first :)

Oven Roasted Red Potatoes
Adapted from this recipe.

2 lbs. red potatoes, washed and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tablespoon basil
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Place potatoes in a casserole dish and drizzle with olive oil. Add spices to coat potatoes. Stir potatoes around. Place half of the Parmesan cheese on the potatoes and place in the oven for 30 minutes. Check potatoes, stir (add more olive oil if the potatoes are getting dry) and add remaining Parmesan cheese. Return to oven for 30 minutes or until they are roasted to the desired color and texture. Let stand for 3 minutes and serve warm.

My Thoughts

I don't measure much of anything unless I'm making something for the very, very first time, or I'm baking (because baking, as in breads and cakes, is so much harder than just cooking). True to that fashion, I didn't measure anything in this recipe. I pulled out half a dozen of the red potatoes I bought specifically to make oven roasted red potatoes (I've been craving them for ages), drizzled a bunch of olive oil on, and tossed on some dried basil, salt, pepper, and some Parmesan cheese. I think I used a bit too much oil, because it certainly coated the bottom of my pan and my leftover dishes. I have an aversion to salt, because all my grandparents have heart problems and sodium is known to add to high blood pressure, so I tend not to use more than a little. Pepper, though, is my friend. I sprinkled on some Parmesan cheese (though I think the shredded, rather than grated, stuff would have been better) and baked away. Took a little long for my liking, but there was a nice mix of squishy and crisp potatoes when I was done. The original recipe also called for thyme, but I didn't have any in my cupboard and I was hungry.

Definitely better as a side dish than as a full meal, though. I just tend to break that rule a lot.