Monthly Archives: March 2015

Recipes - Desserts

Grandma’s Lemon Cake

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I could write forever about this cake, but somehow that isn’t a fitting accompaniment for this quick-to-prepare totally delicious cake.  It’s a simple cake with a simple text:  it is an old recipe, my Grandma Opha’s, it has a delicate texture, airy and light, the glaze is tart with the juice of fresh lemons, and it tastes better the longer it sits.  And, oh, men love this cake (go figure).

No matter how “artistic” I was while taking pictures, the best ones today are also simple.  Moist sunny squares flavored with the thin powdered sugar and lemon glaze.  I couldn’t resist eating three of the five pieces on the plate here, still warm, with a glass of cold milk. The cake serves 15 people easily, or a few people for several days, and honestly, this is one of those cakes where it is great to get the last piece because the longer it mellows, the better it tastes.

Only five ingredients in the cake, two of those boxed mixes, and finished in less than an hour, cake baked and glazed, with the kitchen cleaned! There’s just no way you cannot make time to bake this for a church dinner, or to carry in to a friend’s house. I guarantee your baking dish will come home empty. Simply put, this is a simply outstanding offering!  Do enjoy every bite!

Grandma James’ Lemon Cake

Ingredients

For the cake

1 box Duncan Hinds Lemon Supreme cake mix
1-(3 oz.) box instant lemon pudding mix
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs

Directions Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl and beat at low speed with electric mixer until smooth then allow to breathe in the bowl for five minutes. Do NOT grease or flour your baking pan. Pour into a 9×13 glass baking dish and bake for 40 minutes or until the top springs back when touched.

GLAZE:

2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
2 T. butter or margarine, melted
1 T. water

Directions Do not cook glaze; just whisk until completely smooth then poke holes in cake with fork and pour glaze over cake while it is still hot from the oven.

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Recipes - Soups, Stews, & Chowders

Tomato Florentine Soup

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When cooking and a recipe has “Florentine” in its name there is your clue that spinach is an ingredient.  Being spinach lovers, it was great that  mama and I thought about this soup last night.  Mama felt bad with a cold and hasn’t hae an appetite at all for several days, and our spying this soup looking through the “Missouri to Maui” cookbook last night was a big a-ha! moment for both of us.  The recipe dates from my finding it in  a low-fat cookbook I was using at the dorm 15 years ago.  I fell totally in love with its rich tomato heartiness and made it often for myself then when visiting the “p’s” in Florida on summer breaks from school. Everybody loves this soup: it’s a great dish whatever the season, guaranteed to piqué your appetite.

Not a long prep or much cooking time really with this one; you’ll be sitting down to eat in less than an hour. Many of the ingredients are already in your pantry and if you have a bag of fresh spinach, you won’t even have to get dressed and head to the grocery store (added bonus!). You must have the spinach, however, for the leafy green flavor here and to Florentine the dish. The pasta is a nice surprise in this soup and ensures that there is something for everyone really: tomato soup lovers, pasta people, and spinach fans. If, like me, you love all three things, you definitely have a win-win-win here! I baked Skillet Cornbread to enjoy with this tonight though crackers work too; whatever you choose on the side, the soup results will have you thinking of a good bowl of minestrone minus any beans.

The soup base comes from canned crushed tomatoes and tomato paste, chicken broth, and chopped onion and it hits the right note for allowing  the pasta and the spinach to star here.  Do chop the onions very small; you want them for flavor, not for showing off.  There is no  need to cook this too long; the broth is thin and once the pasta cooks, you can add the spinach, and turn it off. I enjoy this best while it is still hot, the spinach just wilted and tender. A healthy tablespoon of freshly grated Parmesan in each serving is the only garnish; don’t skip it!  All pau and the soup’s ON!

Tomato Florentine Soup

Ingredients

1 T. cooking oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1-(1 lb. can) crushed tomatoes
1-(32 oz.) box chicken broth
2 T. tomato paste
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
4 oz. seashell pasta
2 cups packed fresh baby spinach leaves, stemmed
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, for garnish

Directions In 4-qt stockpot, add oil and heat then sauté the onion. Add the tomatoes, broth, tomato paste, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning, stir well to blend. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Add the pasta, cover, cook medium-low for 8-10 minutes until the pasta is tender. Add spinach leaves and simmer 1-2 minutes or until the pasta is al dente and the spinach wilted. Ladle soup into bowls and top each with the freshly grated Parmesan. Serve immediately, while hot.

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Recipes - Breads & Biscuits

Mrs. Rahm’s No Fail Hot Roll Mix

 

High school friends will remember this recipe from our Home Economics classes with Mrs. Rahm!  I found the recipe in one of my high school files, typed and “run off” on the old-style mimeograph machine (remember purple ink anyone?) and another cold winter day seemed the perfect time to make bread; there’s hardly a more mouth-watering aroma in the kitchen than fresh bread baking on a cold day is there?  No there is not, I agree!

Using my Silpat baking sheet was perfect for kneading the dough with no mess.  The recipe makes a large amount so today I shaped it into two different styles of rolls and also made a loaf.  This is a simple to follow recipe that shouldn’t give you any trouble at all.  The dough rises just once, after shaping, before baking.  6 cups of flour was just right for a supple elastic dough shaped and rising  in no time at all.

I couldn’t even wait for supper to enjoy a roll warm from the oven, slathered with butter and mango pepper jelly from my Florida mango jelly stash.  Simple perfection.   Enjoy!

Mrs. Rahm’s No Fail Hot Roll Mix

Ingredients

2 pkgs. dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 tsp. sugar
6 T. sugar
1 tsp. salt
6 T. Crisco shortening, melted
1 cup milk
2 eggs, well-beaten
6 cups flour, sifted

Directions Preheat oven to 350. Add warm water to the dry yeast in medium bowl. Add the 2 tsp. sugar. Let rise until doubled. Add the 6 T. sugar, the salt and the melted shortening to the milk and scald in medium sauce pot on stove. Do not boil. Let milk mixture cool to lukewarm before adding to yeast mixture. Add the beaten eggs, mix well and gradually add the flour. Beat thoroughly after every flour addition; turn out on floured surface, knead well, and shape into rolls. Allow to rise in muffin tins before baking for 10-12 minutes or until rolls are nicely browned on top.

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Recipes - Entrees

Paprika Chicken Thighs with Brussels Sprouts

Although this dish from my “Missouri to Maui” cookbook is a good choice for any day, it is an especially great choice for a very cold and snowy day! My original Plan A was to prepare this dish yesterday but once the weather man mentioned we could expect 3-6″ of snow today, I switched to Plan B.  What could warm a snowy day more than paprika-seasoned chicken and roasted Brussels sprouts?  I cooked a pot of my treasured short-grain rice to accompany this dish though you might find mashed potatoes or a loaf of crusty French bread most enjoyable sides as well.

This dish has hardly any prep at all.  Only trim the stem ends of your Brussels sprouts and halve them, or quarter them if they are very large, mince the garlic and slice a lemon and you’re practically there! Today I cut the sprouts in half since the chicken thighs were very large and I didn’t want the sprouts to finish roasting before the chicken.   Make the seasoning  early and rub it on the chicken so that it has time to thoroughly flavor the meat and then pop all in the oven for 30-45 minutes and you’re done.  If you use smaller thighs, they will need less time.  Today, I let everything roast for 45 minutes.

My local market doesn’t carry shallots so I substituted an onion; I used Hungarian paprika which is more on the hot (and not the sweet) side and it provided the tang in this dish along with the slices of fresh lemon.  Both flavors complement the sprouts; the chicken roasts up in the seasoning rub, resulting in the most tender and flavorful pieces.  There is enough olive oil on both the sprouts and in the rub so that you have plenty of juice to flavor either rice or mashed potatoes if you prefer them. The recipe offers a great alternative to boiling or steaming the sprouts and the seasonings produce sprouts bursting with flavor.  This is definitely a one-pot meal with the cook needing only to prepare a salad or starchy side dish for a well-rounded, delicious, supper.  You will find that is warming  and flavorful and really perfect for a late winter snow day!

Paprika Chicken Thighs with Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

1 lb. Brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved (quartered, if large)
4 small shallots, quartered if available; if not, use a medium onion, chopped
1 lemon, sliced
3 T. olive oil, divided
3/4 tsp. salt, divided
1/2 tsp. pepper, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. smoked paprika, sweet or hot
1 tsp. dried thyme
4 large, or 8 small, bone-in chicken thighs (2-1/2 lbs.), skin removed

Directions Preheat oven to 450, positioning rack in lower third of oven. Combine Brussel sprouts, shallots (or onion, chopped), and lemon with 1 T. oil and 1/4 tsp. each of salt and pepper on a large rimmed baking sheet such as a jelly roll pan. Mash garlic and the remaining 1/2 tsp. salt with the side of a large knife to form a paste. Combine this garlic paste with the paprika, thyme, the remaining 1 T. oil and 1/4 tsp. pepper in a small bowl. Rub the paste all over the chicken. Nestle the chicken in among the Brussel sprouts. Roast on the lower rack until the Brussel sprouts are tender and the chicken thorough cooked, at least 20-25 minutes. Pierce chicken with a fork; if the juices run clear, it is finished. The Brussel sprouts will brown, roasting as they bake.

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Recipes - Side Dishes

Garlic Parmesan Asparagus

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Time to add some green to the kitchen landscape! I have waited for good-looking fresh asparagus at my market for preparing this dish ever since I saw the recipe on friend, Phyllis Gardner’s, Facebook page.  This is a dish that an asparagus lover knows exactly how it will taste just reading the recipe and my “prediction” was spot on today! This asparagus dish is ready in 25 minutes and easily prepared while your main dish finishes.  I had one last serving of meat loaf today so a quick-prep-dish like this was perfect, and before I knew it, lunch was ready.

Use the freshest asparagus spears you can lay hands on and don’t be stingy with the garlic for the sautéed garlic gives a real boost of flavor in this dish.  I adjusted the recipe today, adding toasted almond slivers as well for a bit of crunch.  Don’t over cook the asparagus; 8 minutes  was just right for tender, but crisp, spears. Use a large enough skillet so you aren’t crowding the pieces, allowing room for each spear becoming well-coated with the butter-garlic mixture.  Turn your heat to low and cover the skillet once the asparagus begins cooking.

Grate the Parmesan from a fresh block for a tangy cheesy bite and serve it all up warm for a quick and healthy side dish.  Hello, green! You make me believe that Spring is definitely on her way!

Garlic Parmesan Asparagus

Ingredients

3 T. butter
2 T. minced garlic
1 bunch asparagus
1 t. salt
2-3 T. fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
2 T. slivered toasted almonds, optional

Directions Prep asparagus by breaking off the lower woody part of each spear.  Rinse and drain.  In a large skillet, heat butter until melted over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add asparagus to the skillet. Using tongs, flip and stir to coat each asparagus spear with butter/garlic. Sprinkle asparagus evenly with salt. Cover and let cook for 8-10 minutes, or until asparagus is tender. Flip and turn asparagus once  during cooking time.  Add salt as needed, to taste. Serve warm with slivered almonds, if using, and the grated Parmesan for garnish.

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