simmering's Xanga

lentil soup

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:45:53 GMT

Tonight we had pork chops and sauteed cabbage for supper. Before cooking the pork, I trimmed any visible fat (and also bits of meat, because i was being sloppy and hurrying) off and piled it together. After supper, I put those trimmings into a large pot with:

1/2 red onion, roughly chopped
3 stalks celery, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1 cup(ish) of sauteed cabbage (still in fairly large pieces- had been cooked with salad vinegar, salt, pepper, olive oil, water for steaming)

generously add:

salt, freshly ground pepper
dried cilantro, red pepper flakes
garlic powder (or minced garlic)

I let all of this simmer for about 2 or 2 1/2 hours. Then I scooped out the pork trimmings and discarded them. I added in 1 bag of lentils (rinsed) and simmered the soup for another 45-60 min.

The broth is understandably very rich and flavorful. In the interest of our arteries, I am planning to cool the soup and skim the fat off the top. This will still leave it with the amazing pork/onion/cabbage flavor. This is a great thing for fall weather and is very easy and quick to put together, then it just sits on the stove and does its thing while you are going about your business.

-dana

APPLE BEAN BAKE

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 12:53:48 GMT

Drain one 48 oz jar of Randall's Great Northern beans.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet melt 4 T butter or margarine.
Add 1/2 cup chopped onions and 3 cups chopped tart cooking apples, peeled.
Cook for 10 minutes until apples are tender, stirring occasionally.
Add 1/4 cup white sugar and 3/4 cup light brown sugar. Stir until dissolved.
Add 1/2 cup catsup, 1 T molasses, 1 t. cinnamon and 1 t. salt. Blend in.

Place drained beans into a 2 quart casserole. Pour apple mixture over the top and mix well.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 1 hour. Stir.

8 servings.

(this recipe was shared by a family friend. it's muy delicioso. -dana)

Cake Mix Cookies

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 22:30:01 GMT

These were really quick, easy, tasty, and cheap!

Ingredients
- One cake mix, any flavor
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup oil (use olive oil and they become heathy cookies!)

Instructions
1) Mix all the ingredients together.
2) Roll teaspoons of dough into balls.
3) Place about two-inches apart on non-stick or greased baking sheet.
4) Bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes, or until golden or firm.

These are good with or without frosting. You may flatten the cookies before baking with the floured bottom of a glass for a flat cookie.

That's it!

(Posted by BooksForMe - Previous poster did say "anyone" could post, right?)

lone ranger

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 22:13:23 GMT

has everyone forgotten that this website exists? come on and post something, anything. :) anyone can sign in, the password is "hott".

tonight i made some sausage empanadas. i didn't feel like making the dough from scratch so i used 3 store-bought rolled-up pie crusts and still had extra filling. this "recipe" is infinitely variable. for the filling, i scrambled together:

1 lb sage sausage
approx. 1/2 c diced boiled potatoes *leftovers :)
approx. 1/4 c minced onion
approx. 1/4 c chopped raisins
seasonings to taste, about 1/2 teaspoon each of:
salt, hot pepper flakes, cumin, fennel seeds, cinnamon (1/4 tsp)

after this is cooked, stir in 2 egg yolks that have been slightly beaten. it'll help the filling stay together.

cut out 3" rounds of the dough. pile a rounded tablespoon of filling in the middle and top with another round of dough. press the outside edges together to make a little pie. (you can re-roll out the scraps of dough to make more, but it gets tough after the second time.) brush the tops of the pockets with slightly beaten egg white. bake at 425 for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

these were really good, very savory and satisfying. a good thing to make if you have people to stand around in the kitchen and talk with. next time i will try making them with homemade dough and mexican cheese probably.
-dana

yay!

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:05:57 GMT

i always get excited about finding a cheap, delicious, healthy, no-work thing to eat. today i discovered something i've been missing out on. sweet potatoes! walking through the produce department, i picked up a few and vaguely wondered what to do with them. i considered slicing them into circles and baking them with olive oil & sea salt for a side dish, but what i really wanted was to find something healthy and easily gummable for cora to eat.

while trying to figure out what to feed her after her nap, i saw the potatoes sitting on the counter. i poked a fork in one a few times, plopped it on a paper plate and stuck it in the microwave for 8 minutes. um, HELLO! it came out perfectly. the skin practically peeled itself off, and the inside was fluffy and steaming. i put it in a bowl with a little pat of butter, a few splashes of milk and a pinch of salt, then used a fork to kind of whisk it together. then i tasted it, and proceeded to eat all but a few tablespoons (which i was barely able to refrain from gobbling down, but managed to resist by virtue of not wanting to fix something different for cora... food vs. laziness...).

it was delicious. like, seriously good. i am in shock. 89 cents per pound, full of fiber, vitamins and a low glycemic index, versatile, zero prep work... does it get any better?

-dana

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 16:09:00 GMT

*courtesy of Martha Stewart
*This recipe calls for natural peanut butter, which has less sugar and gives the cookies a richer peanut flavor.
*makes about 6 dozen

3 c. old-fashioned rolled oats (not the quick)
1/3 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 c. natural peanut butter
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 c. salted whole peanuts
2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Stir together oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and saltin a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Put sugars, butter, and peanut butter in large bowl. Mix with electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla.
3. Reduce speed to low (I use a spoon...kickin' in old school!). Add oat mixture and mix until just combined. Mix in peanuts and chocolate chips.
4. Drop balls of dough 2 inces apart on greased cookie sheet (I used about 1 T, although Martha prefers a 1 1/2" ice cream scoop).
5. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 13-15 minutes (mine took 10...go according to your oven). Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored at room temp. for 2 days (can also be frozen).

good & easy weeknight supper

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:53:27 GMT

1 bag of frozen boneless/skinless tilapia fillets
melted margarine
dill, salt & pepper

thaw the fish. place in a single layer in a baking dish. lightly brush or drizzle with melted margarine, season to taste. bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until opaque and flakes easily.
---------------------------------
baby carrots & cucumbers
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barilla plus pasta (elbows) with a little melted velveeta.
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the best part- chocolate chip cookie cheesecake bars.

1 tube tollhouse (or other national name-brand) chocolate chip cookie dough
1 8-oz pkg philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg

in a small bowl, beat together cream cheese, egg and sugar just until smooth. press half of the cookie dough evenly into the bottom of an 8x8 glass baking dish. pour over the cream cheese mixure. crumble remaining cookie dough evenly over the top. bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until the top cookie dough is set and lightly browned. these are amazing hot, warm, room-temp and cold! lol... not that i would know...

everyone post some supper ideas!
-dana

pumpkin roll

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 10:09:19 GMT

this is just soooooo delicious. it's one of our family's traditional holiday desserts.

PUMPKIN ROLL CAKE

3 eggs 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 C white sugar 1 C finely chopped walnuts

2/3 C cooked or canned pumpkin

1 tsp lemon juice 8 ounces cream cheese, softened

3/4 C all-purpose flour 1 C confectioner's sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 C butter or margarine

1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt additional confectioner's sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
In a mixing bowl, beat eggs on high for 5 minutes, gradually beat in sugar until thick and lemon-colored. Add pumpkin and lemon juice.
In another bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg; fold into the pumkin mixture.
Grease a 15 x10 x 1 inch baking pan (jelly roll pan); line with waxed paper. Grease and flour the paper. Spread batter into pan; sprinkle with walnuts. (i do not use walnuts. gross.)
Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.
Immediately turn out onto a clean linen towel dusted with confectioner's sugar. Peel off paper and roll cake up in the towel, starting at a short end. Cool, as in set aside.
Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, 1 C confectioner's sugar, butter and vanilla until fluffy
Carefully unroll the cake. Spread filling over cake to within 1 inch of edges. Roll up again. Cover and chill until serving. Dust with additional confectioner's sugar if desired.

(my) MOM'S NOTES

I also add ginger, cloves and allspice. I think my original recipe used a whole stick of butter, but I can't swear to it. I never greased and floured the paper, but that may be a good idea to release the cake more easily.

I guess that's it. Have fun! And a great Thanksgiving! Remember to be thankful!

(sorry, dana...'twas i, gwyn.)

salsa fresca

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 14:51:45 GMT

here is a very ROUGH estimate of how i make fresh salsa. it's never quite exactly the same...

1-2 medium to large onions. diced as small as i can ass myself to make 'em.

5-6 medium vine ripened tomatoes. i macerate (squeeze the innards out of-yeah, my sister went to culinary school) about half of them and then chop the flesh. a few of 'em i throw (goopy innards and all) into the blender to be a base.
4-5 cloves of fresh garlic (yeah, i REALLY like fresh garlic, soo...) chopped tiny. i use a pampered chef food chopper.
fresh lime juice (lemon MAY taste better, but i like the idea of lime way better, so that is what i use
fresh jalapeno, cut very tiny...i usually just use the flesh. and sometimes i only use half of one, if i am making salsa that other people might eat, too. also, i think last time i just put crushed red peppers in there.
a handful, or...some amt of fresh cilantro, chopped.
salted and peppered to taste.

sometimes i also use some canned diced tomatoes, but i really prefer the all-fresh taste. and, i've been told my salsa is very, very onion-y. but i like that, too. gwyn.

Rivels...Yum

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 01:16:32 GMT

I use the following ingredients:

2 Eggs

2 Cups of flower

1/4 Cup of water or until you have a good doughy texture.

Express Route!

Heat water to a boil and then drop a few bouillon cubes of your favorite flavor (chicken, beef, etc.) and wait for it to dissolve. Once the cubes are dissolved and water is boiling then you can drop the dough into the boiling water. You will drop the dough similarly to how you would drop cookie dough onto a cookie sheet. Make sure not to make the dough into too large of drops because they will expand. You will need to continue boiling the water until the Rivels are done or app. 15 min. The Rivels will be all sorts of funky fun shapes but oh so tasty!

Award Worthy Route!

Typically Rivels are prepared with meat added to them making it similar to a Beef and noodles / Chicken and noodles type of dish.

Note: You may want to substitute the water and cubes for actual broth from your choice of meat, this will make the broth thinker and a tad more greasy, but also more flavorful!

Submitted by Matthew Parrott (mparrott84), Enjoyed by all!