Monthly Archives: February 2015

Recipes - Entrees

Chicken-n-Dressing


This chicken-n-dressing dish is a sure thing comfort food winner served right from the oven. Combining shredded chicken, condensed soup and a savory cornbread stuffing, it is a meal in itself though my plan is to have it tonight with the remainder of the Gingered Carrots from Tuesday. It also made for a much appreciated mid-afternoon snack for mama today.

It is a snap to make once you boil the chicken breasts. Be sure to use the celery you boiled with the breasts and add only enough chicken broth until everything hangs together in your mixing bowl; I used less than 2 cups today and even then baked it closer to an hour than 45 minutes to get it dry enough while still keeping the chicken moist. The addition of the chopped boiled eggs add great flavor and texture to this dish. I was out of poultry seasoning today so I used just a pinch of rubbed sage which complemented the chicken perfectly. The mixture is very wet when you scrape into your pan before baking. You need to bake your cornbread for this dish the day before; don’t skip this step as the day-old cornbread provides the base for the dressing.

There’s nothing better than a pan of chicken-n-dressing on a cold winter day. It is definitely comfort food that satisfies the appetite and the soul; try some and be thoroughly warmed!

Chicken-n-Dressing

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts cooked, cooled, and shredded
1-2 stalks celery, sliced in large pieces
1 pan prepared cornbread, cooled and crumbled
4 eggs, boiled, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
2 cups chicken broth
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
Poultry seasoning to taste, optional

Directions Preheat oven to 350. Cook chicken breasts in water, with celery, until tender. Do not over cook or the chicken will get hard. When tender, drain. When cool, shred the chicken and chop up the celery. Combine with other ingredients in a large mixing bowl; stir to blend all ingredients; mixture will be a little wet. Scrape into a lightly greased 9×13” baking dish. Bake at 30-45 minutes or until set. Cool slightly then cut into squares to serve.

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Recipes - Side Dishes

Custard Baked Mac-n-Cheese with Gingered Carrots

I’m going to post recipes for both dishes here not because I’m that lazy but because both are simple recipes that don’t require much direction and because I enjoyed them together for supper and am thinking you might like to as well so you’re getting a 2-for-1 tonight! The idea for a meatless supper was more a necessity than anything else since the country ham is gone, the pork sausage used up, and the chicken on hold for tomorrow! The idea was a sound one, however, as with these two dishes I had a satisfying and filling supper on the table in just 45 minutes. All I needed was the last two biscuits from yesterday drizzled with honey and it was supper time!

The macaroni, as found in my “Missouri to Maui’ cookbook adapted from James Villas wonderful recipe collection, “My Mother’s Southern Kitchen”, has evolved into my only mac-n-cheese recipe of late. The creaminess of the custard is a great contrast with both the sharp cheddar and the chewy al dente texture of the macaroni. So many mac-n-cheese dishes are heavy with flour-based sauces that overwhelm the elemental flavors of the macaroni and the sharp cheese but this simple custard allows those two ingredients to star equally here. Do buy a block of good sharp cheese and slice it thin; no using prepackaged rubbery cheese for this dish. There’s nothing easier and nothing that nets you so much bang for your buck.

James Villas’ mama also supplied the recipe for tonight’s Gingered Carrots. A simple prep for the carrots then boiling them until fork tender. Drain then return them to the sauce pot and toss in the flavorful ginger and fruit juice glaze. I used both fresh orange and lemon juices tonight because that is what I had and love the tanginess of the glaze balanced with the plain carrots. The glaze is plentiful so serve it liberally. You can make the glaze for the carrots as the macaroni bakes and you’re done! Lots of “stick to your ribs” goodness here for another chilly winter night.  Add biscuits!

 Custard Baked Mac-n-Cheese

Ingredients

1/2 pound elbow macaroni
Salt
1-(8 oz.) block New York State sharp cheddar cheese, very thinly sliced (not grated)
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk plus a little more
Paprika

Directions Preheat oven to 350. Cook the macaroni in salted water according to package directions and drain in colander. Arrange half the macaroni in a 2-qt casserole. Place half the cheese over the top and arrange the remaining macaroni over the cheese. In small bowl, beat the eggs with 1/2 cup milk; pour over the casserole. Top with the remaining cheese slices and add just enough milk to cover all the macaroni but not the top layer of cheese. Sprinkle lightly with paprika then bake until the custard is firm and the top browned, 20-30 minutes. Cool slightly before cutting into squares or scooping into bowls for serving.

Gingered Carrots

Ingredients
1 lb. carrots, peeled, cut 1/2-inch rounds
1 T. butter
1 T. sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
Black pepper to taste
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Directions Place carrots in a saucepan with enough water to cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat slightly, and cook til the carrots are just tender, about 8-10 minutes. Drain the carrots in a colander. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter, then add the sugar, cornstarch, salt, ginger, and pepper and stir well. Add the orange juice stirring, bring to a boil, and cook until thickened, about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the drained carrots and stir until well coated with the glaze. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley.

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Recipes - Breakfast & Brunch

Biscuits & Gravy

Geeze Louise! I wasn’t going to cook at all today but an hour before supper I realized that I had taken all the cranberry biscuits up to the nursing home last night to share with mama and her friends and the night staff. Nothing to do then but make biscuits! Not quite as fancy as the sour cream and cranberry biscuits but  homemade biscuits and sausage gravy is still a great supper for a snowy night! Apologies for posting such a simple recipe but I know I have several nieces and nephews who love biscuits and gravy who also never make either. Let’s get our aprons on, y’all, and go for some B&G at home!

I used Martha White self-rising soft southern flour for the biscuits, and since I was out of last week’s buttermilk, I got buttermilk by mixing a tablespoon of white vinegar into a cup of milk. Use your fingers to cut in the shortening and work fast; the feel of the Martha White flour is silky and smooth and it produces the flakiest biscuits around. Use a biscuit cutter to shape them the size you want, kneading the dough again quickly as you cut them.

As for milk sausage gravy, that is the easiest thing in the world to make so don’t get any crazy ideas about fancy-smanchy gravy adding no telling what herbs and spices to it. You need only fried sausage, a few tablespoons of flour, lots of black pepper, and a cup and a half of milk if there’s no more than 2-3 of you eating; use all 3 cups of milk if you’re feeding four or more  people. This is the recipe for B&G from my “Missouri to Maui” cookbook; use it to get supper on the table in 30 minutes if you’re willing to walk to the kitchen and make those biscuits. Fry the sausage and make the gravy as the biscuits bake then just call ’em to the table!

Biscuits & Gravy

Ingredients for Biscuits

2 cups self-rising flour
1 tsp. sugar
1/3 cup Crisco shortening
3/4 cup plus 2 T. buttermilk
2 T. butter, melted

Directions Preheat oven to 450. Combine flour and sugar in large bowl; mix well. Cut in shortening with pastry blender, a fork, or your fingers until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add buttermilk; stir with a fork until soft dough forms and mixture begins to pull away from sides of bowl.

Knead dough on lightly floured surface just until smooth. Roll out dough to 1/2” thickness. Cut with floured 2 1/2” round cutter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter. Serve warm.

For Pork Sausage Gravy:

12 oz. bulk pork sausage
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
3 cups milk

Directions After frying sausage, remove from skillet then add flour, to 2 T. of the grease. With wire whisk, stir well, scraping the browned sausage bits from the pan until the flour browns..  Add the milk, salt and pepper and cook over medium heat until thickened, whisking constantly. Crumble in a few pieces of the sausage and stir to blend. Split warm biscuits and place on serving plates and serve the gravy over warm, split, or torn up pieces of biscuits.

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Food for Thought

Snow Ice Cream

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Surely you enjoyed snow ice cream as a kid!  My first thought when I looked out my window this morning was “I want snow ice cream and I want it for lunch!” What else would a person think of with this much snow on the ground?  Just a quick trip outside to the yard to scoop up the clean snow and you’re almost there! This recipe uses raw eggs; omit them if you like if they don’t agree with you. Snow ice cream melts fast so this is the quintessential “make and eat immediately” recipe. Turn your snow day into a FUN day; your kids will love it and so will you!  Winter kitchen frolic!

Snow Ice Cream

1-12 oz. can evaporated milk
2 eggs, beaten
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
1 gallon fresh clean snow

In large bowl add milk, the beaten eggs, vanilla, and sugar and beat briefly with an electric mixer to blend well. Add the snow and stir gently, folding well. Scoop into bowls and top with sprinkles! GO on: smile, do a snow day happy dance  and say ahhhhh!

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Recipes - Breads & Biscuits

Sour Cream Cranberry Biscuits

These biscuits have been food whispering to me since I saw the post on my sister’s Facebook page months ago, and this afternoon, waiting on the snow fall, seemed a perfect day for biscuit baking. Nothing seems as comforting as mixing up a batch of biscuits and inhaling that warming aroma when it’s freezing outside; to me that spells winter baking at its best.

With crunchy tops and edges and a soft inside these are great “as is” or they would make fine appetizers using a smaller biscuit cutter.  I used my 2-1/2″ cutter today as I plan to slice them for supper for stuffing with pieces of fried country ham.  Sour cream and honey give them their softness and orange zest and cranberries a fruity tang.  Fresh cranberries weren’t an option today so I used dried and found they added just enough chewiness to balance the otherwise soft texture.  Do brush their tops with melted butter when they are still warm from the oven.

The dough is soft and sticky so flour your counter, your hands, and your rolling pin.  I cut the butter in with my fingers until it was well incorporated with the dry ingredients.  The dough doesn’t require much kneading before rolling out but you will have to dust it with flour several times until it becomes smooth and elastic.  18 minutes at 425 was just right for browned tops and bottoms. Still no snow fall but we DO have biscuits!

Sour Cream & Cranberry Biscuits

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons butter, softened
2 teaspoons orange zest
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup honey
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped fresh cranberries

Directions Preheat oven to 425. In medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add orange zest, buttermilk, honey and sour cream. Sir well with wooden spoon to blend. Fold in the cranberries. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and add enough flour to enable kneading the dough then roll out to 1/2 inch thick. Cut with 2” biscuit cutter and place on sprayed baking sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes until nicely browned. Brush biscuit tops with melted butter. Yield: 14 biscuits.

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