Mediterranean Bean Salad

Delicious, really filling salad - keeps in the fridge for up to ten days.  I meal prep it and eat for lunch or dinners.  One recipe makes a gallon ziploc bag full.  I double it for two ziplocs full.

Dressing:

1/4 cup good olive oil

4 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar  (get a good one, NOT Pompeian)

2 tsp Italian herbs (italian seasoning works) I used 1/2 tsp each thyme, rosemary, basil and parsley

2 tsp minced or crushed garlic (jar-garlic)

1/2 tsp lemon or lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste (1/2 tsp each roughly)

Salad:

1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas) 15 oz

1 can cannelini beans or white beans 15 oz

1 can artichoke hearts, chunked

2 red, orange or yellow bell peppers, diced

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cucumber, peeled and sliced or chunked

1/2 cup sliced pepperoncini or banana peppers

1/2 cup olives of choice

1 pkg feta cheese, crumbled 6 oz

Mix dressing, set aside. Drain and rinse beans. Drain and halve artichokes and olives. Wash and chop all produce. Mix all together with dressing and store in the ziplocs bags or meal prep. 

Baptism BBQ Ribs

Coated eight racks of baby back ribs perfectly.

Two 6oz bottles Grill Mates Maple BBQ rub

Two 6oz bottles Grill Mates Applewood rub 

One shot glass full onion powder

One and a half shot glass full garlic powder

Mix well

Open rib packages, cut into portions. We did not rinse or wipe them at all. Dip all sides into rub mixture, it will stick in a thick coating.  Layer rib portions into foil pans. Refrigerate at least 24 hours.

Boil portions in 75% beer and 25% water, with liberal amounts of quartered onion and jalapeños halved lengthwise. Boil four hours, adding water as necessary. Grill immediately or refrigerate for up to 12 hours. Grill and apply bbq glaze of Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Bbq Sauce. 

Peach Cobbler

The BEST Peach Cobbler!  (Adapted from Southern Living Recipe)

Do not let this order of elements throw you.  YES... add the butter first to the 13x9 baking dish (I use a foil pan).  NO... you do not mix in the butter with the crust, you place the melted butter and then LEAVE IT ALONE!  And YES... add the butter first, then the crust mix and do NOT stir together, and then spoon on the peach mixture, and do not mix together.  It is weird!  I was certain I was screwing this up. No.  It's heaven! I wavered from the Southern Living recipe a bit so here is what I did, and will do forever!

Peach Mixture:
8 Peaches, ripe but not over-ripe.  (give or take, depends on size) or 2 large cans sliced peaches
1 cup Sugar
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
Dash Nutmeg
1 Tsp Vanilla (GOOD vanilla!  Call me if you don't know what this is!)

Crust Mixture:
1/2 cup Butter, melted  (1 Stick).  This does not go in the mixture, it is melted and goes into the 13x9 by itself
In a medium size bowl mix: 
1 cup Flour
1 cup Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
Dash Nutmeg
Dash Salt
1 cup Milk

Start with the peaches.  Peel them.  Only a fool does this with a knife as I have seen on some recipe sites.  Rookies!  Slip the skins.  Wash them well, and bring a pot of water to a boil.  Insert 4 peaches at a time and leave them in the boiling water for about 45 seconds or so. Remove them onto a paper towel or a paper plate.  Cool slightly and then with your fingers just pull apart the skin. It will slip right off.  On a cutting board, slice the peaches in half and remove the pits, remove any pit remaining inside the middle of the fruit and slice the peaches into smaller sections.  When they are all pitted and sliced, I like to give them a final rinse in a colander to make sure no hard parts of the pits are remaining.  

Rinse the pot of the boiling peel water out, wash and dry, and use the same pot for the peach mixture.  Add sliced peaches, 1 cup Sugar, 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice, 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon, and a dash of Nutmeg.  Heat and stir until all the sugar is dissolved.  Do not overcook, leave the peach mixture in the pot and remove from heat.  Stir in 1 tsp of Vanilla to the peach mixture.  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare the crust mixture.  In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup Sugar, 1 cup Flour, 1 Tbsp Baking Powder, 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon, Dash Nutmeg, Dash salt, and 1 cup milk.  Whisk together until combined but do not overmix.

Assemble the cobbler.

Melt the 1/2 cup (one stick) butter, and put in the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish or foil pan.  Spread it around and the LEAVE IT ALONE.  Then place the crust mixture on top of the butter, as evenly as possible but do NOT mix it.  It will look weird. It's ok.

Last, spoon the peach mixture onto the crust mixture, again you are NOT mixing, just spooning it on top evenly over the whole 13x9. 

Bake 40-45 minutes and get a good golden brown top before removing it.  The crust makes its way to the top because of the rising of the baking powder (SCIENCE!!) and results in a crust that has absorbed the delicious peachy syrup in the process. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.  The cobbler stays fresh for days, if covered.  Easy!

You have now, rightly, made a perfectly healthy fruit into a decadent dessert as it should be. Carry on!

Chicken and Stuffing Bake

Chicken and Stuffing Bake

NOTE: Made this again and had only one box of stuffing.  Worked fine.  Reduce the chicken broth on top to one can.

Got chicken?  Got a couple boxes of stuffing mix?  You got dinner.

This was absolutely yummy and Trent loved it, a must-do in the two week rotation.  Best Part:  It goes together easily and uses up food that you probably have in your pantry and freezer.

Adapted from a Life it in the Lofthouse recipe, but I made changes.  I'm glad I did!  

Chicken Breast, about three large ones (a quart freezer bag size, that is how we package it and freeze it.  Buy 40 lbs at a time on the Albertson's sales and freeze it.)
2 tsp olive oil
2 regular size cans of cream of chicken soup, 10.5 oz each
1 cup milk
Frozen broccoli, I used 2 steamfresh bags I had in the freezer.
2 packages stove top stuffing mix, any flavor
2 regular size cans of Swanson chicken broth or stock 14.5 oz each

Thaw chicken, thaw or rinse broccoli to remove any excess moisture like ice crystals, etc.

Cut chicken into small 1/2 inch pieces.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet and fry the chicken lightly.  I did it all together, not in batches.  You don't want it to be cooked through, just about halfway cooked through.

Place chicken into a deep 13x9 dish, add the thawed broccoli on top of the chicken.  In a small bowl, mix the cream of chicken soup with 1 cup of milk.  Place the soup mixture on top of the chicken and broccoli.  Spread it over the chicken and broccoli evenly but I did not stir it up, it was just in a layer.  Place both boxes of stuffing mix on top of that in another layer.  Make sure to distribute the seasonings that always fall to the bottom :)

Punch holes in the broth cans with a can opener and sprinkle one can over half the stuffing mix and the other can over the other half.Get as much of the stuffing mix sprinkled with the broth as possible.  Cover with foil and bake at 375 for at least 1-1/2 hours.  Make sure chicken is cooked through, and the layers of liquid are boiling underneath the stuffing.  Remove from oven and let set for five to ten minutes before serving.  Makes a lot...feeds a family for two meals.

Mexican Stuffed Bell Peppers

From:  From Valerie's Kitchen

6-8 Bell Peppers (use eight and take dinner to your neighbors.  The filling here makes a lot)

1 to 1.25 pounds spicy sausage (Spicy Pork or Italian works well)

2 Tbsp (or one packet) taco seasoning

1/2 cup diced onion

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1 can (14.5 oz) fire roasted diced tomatoes (like RoTel)

1.5 cups cooked white rice (any cooked rice.  Use leftover rice if you have it, even fried rice from last night's chinese take out!)

1 can (4 oz) diced green chile, I didn't drain it

1 cup frozen corn (I used 1 can of corn, drained)

1 can black beans (15 oz).  Drained and Rinsed

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper  (I used one pizza packet from dominoes!)

1.5 to 2 cups shredded cheese (divided)

Toppings if you like:  Sour cream, cilantro, onion, tomato

Preheat oven to 400.

Slice tops off of peppers, remove seeds and ribs, place into a baking dish and add 1" of water.  Bake 20 minutes until slightly tender.Remove peppers and pour off water. Return peppers to baking dish.

While the peppers are in the oven, make the filling.  Brown sausage, drain fat if necessary.  Add onion and garlic and cook to soft.  Reduce heat and add taco seasoning, tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, rice, chiles, corn, crushed red pepper, and 1 cup of cheese.  Cook to combined and cheese melted.

Fill peppers with sausage mixture.  Turn oven down to 375.  Cover with foil and bake 25-30 minutes or until peppers are tender and filling is heated through.  Remove foil, Add remaining cheese to top, bake another 5 minutes uncovered to melt cheese.  Serve!

Comments:  SO DELICIOUS!  Leftovers heat up very well.  Also, I can't see why you couldn't make these ahead of time and reheat.  Kids will frown at the bell pepper "container" but they will like the filling.  Do yourself a favor and remove the bell pepper and give the kid a tortilla and ranch for dipping... it will work, trust me!

Bake that Bacon!

I'm sure everyone on earth knew this, and I had heard it several times but finally had opportunity to try making bacon in the oven as opposed to fried on the stove.  It is wonderfully easy, less messy, and much less smoky to bake it.  Turns out flat and perfect.  Use thicker bacon, the thin just doesn't stand up as well to any type of cooking, really.

Fit a cookie rack on a jelly roll pan.  Place bacon on the rack so it is sitting above the base of the pan, so air can get to the top and bottom of the bacon.  Try not to stretch it out.  Do NOT preheat your oven, I repeat:  NO PREHEATING.  Place the bacon in the baking sheets on the oven rack (I use two sheets fitted with racks for one pound of bacon),  If you are using two baking sheets, place one on each oven rack.  Close the oven door and turn oven on to 400 degrees.  Bake bacon for 16-20 minutes, watching it close after about 15 minutes to make sure it doesn't burn.  My top rack cooks the bacon faster so it should have come out at about the 16 minute mark, it got a tad crispy, and then the bottom rack took a bit longer, I had to extend that slightly over the 20 minute mark, I just checked it each minute.

Remove when the bacon edges are starting to get golden, keep in mind it will still continue to cook as it cools so don't overbake it.  Also, remove the bacon immediately to plates lined with paper towels, don't let it sit on the rack in the pan because the grease in the pan will have enough heat to continue actively cooking and the strips will burn.  Then, of course, scrape the fat drippings into a jar so you can make soft ginger cookies with it later.  Mmm.  Bacon. 

THE Chocolate Icing

I've found it.  A chocolate icing that should be applied to the cake or brownies when they come out of the oven, warm.  It will work on sheet cakes or brownies.  I have not, however, found a favorite cake or brownie recipe that is family tested and Trent approved.  Came close with the mayonnaise cake, black magic cake, and texas sheet cake, but for some reason or other, we both had critiques of each recipe.  We shall continue the search.  But, this icing is TDF.

Start the recipe so it coincides with the cake/brownies coming out of the oven.  Brownies/cake should be frosted as soon as it is removed from the oven, CAREFULLY!  You will tear apart a hot cake so go slow and easy.  Plop the icing on and spread, carefully, carefully.

1 stick butter

4 Tbsp Cocoa powder

6 Tbsp milk

1 lb powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Melt butter in saucepan on low heat (not microwave).  Add cocoa and milk to the saucepan, Stir/whip until mixture is combined and just bubbles,  Remove from heat immediately. At this point, if necessary, transfer cocoa mixture to a bowl to accomodate the sugar.  Beat in powdered sugar and then vanilla.  (If your saucepan is big enough, simply mix it in the saucepan!)

Spread icing carefully onto brownies/cake within ten minutes of being removed from the oven.  This is a careful process, maybe let the cake/brownie sit for a few minutes and then spread the icing.  CAREFULLY!  

Did I say that enough?  It is hot and will tear.  Plop it in several areas onto the cake and let it warm a bit, then distribute the icing around.

Beef Stroganoff

I just ate the rest of the leftovers from Trent making this last week and WOW!  GOOD! He says this is blog-worthy, I agree!  From Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman cooking show. 
This is in the weekly rotation, for sure.  A yummy way to stretch one sirloin steak into several servings.

Beef Stroganoff

1 lb petite sirloin steak, cubed
Salt
Olive Oil
2 lbs fresh mushrooms, halved (less if you don't care for that much mushroom!)
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 cup cooking Brandy
2 cups beef stock or beef broth (beef stock is better)
2 Tbsp Corn Starch and 3 Tbsp beef stock to make a slurry
1/4 to 1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard or any brown or seasoned mustard (not honey mustard, though.)
1 package dry egg noodles
Water to boil the noodles
Melted butter, a few tablespoons should do it


Start the water to boil the package of egg noodles.  Salt the water with 1 tsp salt.

Salt the cubed beef to taste, maybe a 1/2 teaspoon for 1 pound of steak.

Heat olive oil to very hot in a skillet, but not to smoking.  Brown the cubed beef in batches until just browned, do not cook through.  Set aside on a paper plate.

To the skillet, add onion and carrots and saute to soften (a few minutes) then add mushrooms and cook through (this doesn't take long.  Another few minutes).

Add the brandy and the 2 cups beef stock to the skillet with the onion, carrot, mushroom mixture.  Allow to simmer and reduce a bit, just to thicken slightly.

Make a slurry in a small bowl or glass with the cornstarch and the 3 Tbsp beef stock. You can add more stock if you'd like, if you need to thin the slurry a bit.  This is used to thicken the sauce.

Add the slurry to the skillet, and cook to thicken.  When the sauce coats a spoon, add the beef back into the skillet and and continue to cook until the beef is done.  Reduce heat to low and add the sour cream and mustard.

Cook the noodles as you are making the stroganoff, it takes about 8 minutes to cook the noodles.  Don't be afraid to remove the sauce from the heat if it is over-thickening.  Put a lid on it and just let it sit for a few, no big whoop.

Drain the egg noodles and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process. Toss the egg noodles in a few Tbsp melted butter.  Serve!   

This is GOOD STUFF!  You can forego the brandy if you wish, just skip it or substitute in some more beef stock.  But it is really good with that brandy flavor in there!  

Idaho Finger Steaks

Adapted from Idaho-Style Finger Steaks from allrecipes, by emmyjay1

I have  a lot of deer meat to use up before the next one (maybe two!) are going into our freezer this fall.  

We cut up our own game, and I know I'm not alone in this, I have to let the deer meat chill out (literally) in the freezer for a bit after cutting it up because it's all just a little too....fresh in my memory right off the bat.  Not that it's gross, it's fascinating, actually, and you get to really appreciate the animal and they way the meat is handled.  But I still need a couple three to four weeks before I can prepare it with gusto.  That does leave me with a bunch to use up before the next one is ready to come home to our house and feed us.  Therefore, this recipe.  I have a lot of stew meat, chunked up meat that did not fall into the steaks or backstraps categories, basically.  

NOTE:  This is an overnight marinating recipe, and then on the day of cooking at least an hour freezer time.  Plan accordingly.

Idaho Finger Steaks
1 egg
2 cups buttermilk
2 Tbsp Montreal Steak Seasoning (we like the Spicy)
1/2 cup flour
Deer Stew Meat, or any wild game steaks cut into either chunks or strips  (the ones I did were between 1/2" and 1" nuggets)

Mix egg, buttermilk, seasoning and flour in bowl large enough to accomodate the amount of meat you are doing (usually between 1-2 pounds total.)

Add thawed deer meat to buttermilk mixture, coat well and cover, marinate overnight or at least 8 hours.

On a paper plate, mix:
2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper or more to taste

Dredge each piece of deer meat from the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and set on a parchment covered cookie sheet in a single layer.  When they are all coated, place in the freezer for at least an hour.

Heat a few cups of oil in a frying pan to 370 degrees.

Drop a few frozen steak pieces into the hot oil in batches, and fry until golden brown on the outside, about 5 minutes total, turning once if necessary.  Drain on paper towels and keep warm in the oven until ready to serve

Great with ranch, cocktail sauce, or steak sauce for dipping.

Huckleberry Jam

UPDATED: Use Liquid Pectin, 3 oz pouches, instead of powdered.  Also, if you can food processor the raspberries really really well, you don't have to Victorio strainer them:

Tried and True, last used this recipe in 2009, worked great, just used up the last bottle in 2015.  This is the cooked type that is shelf stable.  The reason I don't do Huckleberry Jam as a freezer style jam is because the huckleberries have some kind of organic make-up that allows their deliciousness to sneak out of nearly any plastic container and taint all your frozen food.  One year when we stored the berries in the freezer in ziploc bags, we ate huckleberry flavored frozen pizza, huckleberry flavored mashed potatoes (because the taste had gotten into the frozen butter), etc. etc.

I use the WHOLE BERRY of the huckleberries, and puree in a food processor. However, I run the raspberries through the food processor really, really well which pulverizes  the seeds, works well.

Adding the raspberries does not diminish the huckleberry flavor, it merely calms it down and lets you stretch it out.  If you've ever picked wild huckleberries, you know you want those beauties to last because it took forever to get a gallon.

DO NOT DOUBLE UNLESS YOU HAVE A GIANT POT!  I mean giant.  My largest soup pot would boil over if this were doubled.

Also, I have not had great results in the canning method of tipping the jars upside down to seal, there is just not enough heat contained to create a reliable seal in half pint jars, so I just water bath them.


Huckleberry Jam
3 1/2 cups huckleberry puree
1 cup raspberry puree
(or enough of the above to make 4 1/2 cups together)
1 pouch liquid pectin, 3 oz.
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 tsp margarine or butter (to reduce boiling over)
6 cups sugar
Jars and lids

Makes 8-9 half-pints.  Wash bottles and sterilize in the dishwasher and place canning lids in heated  water on the stove over low heat until ready to process.  Start boiling water in your water bath canner.

Mix the two berry purees together in a large pot.  Add the pectin pouch, lemon juice, and butter or margarine, bring to a boil.  Add the sugar and bring to a boil again, stirring to mix well.  When at a full rolling boil, time it for 2 minutes then remove from heat.

Fill hot jars with jam mixture leaving 1/4" to 1/2" head space..  Process in water bath canner for ten minutes at full boil.  Ensure all jars have sealed and store for up to ten years.  

Chicken Dumpling Casserole

This is a great way to use up leftover rotisserie chicken or Albertson's Fried Chicken, if you can get 2-3 cups of meat off the bones.  Would be great for turkey leftovers as well.

Adapted from Chef in Training, but I tripled the sauce from the original and left the dumplings the same.

3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 onion, chopped
1- 1/4 cups chopped carrots
3/4 cup chopped celery (optional)
3 cans chicken broth (12 oz ea)
6-8 Tbsp flour
2.5-3 cups cooked chicken, chopped roughly
1-1/4 cups frozen peas
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Dumplings:
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/3 cup milk (more for higher altitudes)

In a large skillet, heat olive oil.  Add onion, carrot, and celery.  Cook until tender. Add 3 Tbsp flour and whisk in with 1/4 cup broth,  Slowly add the rest of the flour and broth, whisking to keep smooth.  Cook until thickened, more flour might be necessary, but don't overdo the thickener.  Add chicken and peas and heat through.  

Pour into a 13x9 dish.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a medium mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, and salt.  Whisk together.  Add egg and milk and mix with a spoon or fork until just combined, adding more milk if necessary to bring ingredients together.  Drop by spoonfuls over the chicken  mixture.  (Makes about 8-10 dumplings).  Bake 15 minutes or until dumplings are golden brown and only slightly doughy inside.

Baklava

I thought Baklava to be the elusive snow leopard or giant squid of the baking world.  Insert Richard Atennborough's voice "Baklava, while delicious, is impossible for a common cook to bake, and cannot be reproduced in any palatable form by anyone except dedicated greek grandmothers..." 

It was my pinnacle, my white whale.  Then I tried making it.  <headsmack> It's not that hard.  The Greeks and Turks have us all bamboozled.  This recipe adapted from a you tube video, Robin makes Baklava.  Thanks to Robin!

 

Ingredients:

1 package of phyllo dough, defrosted (2 hours at room temp or overnight in the fridge)
NOTE: One box contains two rolls, I use one roll per recipe and make a 9X13 pan.
3 cups of raw nuts of your choice, I used a mixture of walnuts, almonds and pecans
1/2 to 1 cup butter, melted
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves

Syrup:
1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Make the syrup first by adding the water and sugar to a sauce pan over medium high heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Add the honey.   Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Let syrup cool completely, even setting it in the refrigerator if necessary.

Place the nut mixture on a cookie sheet in a single layer and then bake for 8 to 15 minutes at 350 degrees F. or until the nuts are a golden brown. Be careful not to burn the nuts.

 

Let the nuts cool completely and then place in a food processor until they are ground up. Do not over grind and make paste.

Pour the nuts into a bowl and add the cinnamon and cloves and stir to combine.

Now to assemble the baklava.

Unroll the phyllo dough. Cut the dough with scissors if necessary to fit the baking dish. Count and remove 10 sheets of the dough, then cover the remaining phyllo dough with a very slightly damp towel so it doesn't dry out as you work with a portion of it.

Brush the bottom and sides of the baking dish with butter. Don't over-do it in the butter department as it will make the baklava soggy.

Then lay 10 pieces of phyllo dough, one at a time in the dish. Lightly butter each piece of dough after you place it in the dish.

After the 10th piece of dough, 4-6 tablespoons of the nut mixture to the layer. Spread the nuts out with your hands to cover the layer.  (I had enough dough to do three nut layers, so portion out as you wish).

Then add 3 more pieces of phyllo dough, one at a time, buttering each piece as you place it in the dish. Then add another layer of nuts.

Alternate between 3 layers of dough to one layer of nuts until all the nuts are used.

Finish with remaining sheets of phyllo dough for the top. Butter the last piece on top too. Then cut the baklava into squares or diamonds before baking in the oven.

Bake for 40 to 55 minutes or until it is golden brown.  (mine was about 45 minutes in a glass pan).

Once you remove the baklava from the oven, pour the cooled honey mixture over the top. Let it sit for at least 4 hours before eating. Store on your counter, uncovered.

Tips:

Remember to butter each dough layer lightly with melted butter.
Cut the baklava before baking. It's just easier.
Roast the nuts, do not skip this step.
Make sure to cool the syrup completely and add it to the hot out of the oven baklava.

Chicken Enchiladas

A recipe from our awesome friend Johnny, who passed away.  One of Trent’s and Johnny’s  friends requested the recipe, so here goes.  Hope Johnny doesn’t mind, I’m sure he doesn’t.  Love you, buddy!

Disposable foil baking pans, rectangle, at least two

1 whole chicken, unwrapped, giblets out, washed. You can also use boneless skinless breasts or thighs

1 tsp salt

Water to cover chicken in a crock pot

One 16 oz. container sour cream

2 to 3 cans cream of chicken soup

1 can diced chiles AND/OR one can diced jalapenos, strained (see below)

Flour Tortillas, burrito size

Cans of Enchilada sauce to brand taste and quantity (see below)

Shredded Mexican blend cheese, one bag to two bags

NOTE: The green chiles add flavor and are delicious.  One time I bought the wrong thing, much to the dismay of the man, I got diced jalapenos.  What a fortunate mistake!  It had heat, flavor, etc.  I now add BOTH to ours, because we like HOT.

Sorry for the in-exact-ness of this recipe.  The thing is, you just don’t know how much chicken you are going to yield from your selected yummy fryer.  So…here goes:

Place the chicken in the crock pot and add the water to cover along with the teaspoon or so of salt.  Cook the daylights out of that chicken, 6 hours at least, preferably 8 hours on low.  By then, that thing is falling apart just begging to be in this recipe.

When it’s done, remove the meat from the bones, clean it WELL of all skin, bone, gristle, and anything un-yummy, that all needs to go to the “Thank You For Coming” can.  Shred the good chicken either with a fork or *bazinga* I just tried it with my handmixer the other day on a tip, and it worked like magic.  Shred-er-roni, fast.

Mix the shredded chicken in a large bowl with the sour cream and 2 cans chicken soup, add the strained green chiles or jalapenos or both and mix well.  In-exact-ness alert:  If it’s not creamy enough add another half can of soup.  It should still look firm and chunky with chicken but not like it’s battling itself for moisture.  A nice, stirrable concoction, but not too runny. 

Fill your flour tortillas with a few or more than a few tablespoons of the chicken filling and roll.  Place them seam side down in the unprepared (naked) disposable foil pans.  Fill the pan with a single layer of enchilada rolls.  You might need two pans.

Another in-exact-ness here….enchilada sauce.  Use your favorite.  We like Las Palmas, the big cans (available at Winco, probably at Walmart).  We would use at least one large can per pan of tortilla rolled enchiladas.  We make a regular pan and a spicy pan, using the regular and spicy enchilada sauces.  Make sure each tortilla roll gets a good soaking of enchilada sauce.  If in doubt, pour more out.  Yum.

Cover the whole enchilada (that’s a joke) with shredded cheese and bake 30-45 mins at 350 degrees, basically to bubbling and cheese melted deliciousness.

You can freeze any unbaked pans for later, make sure they are tightly protected in bags or with foil, we do both.  .  Make sure they are covered with foil for baking.  It takes longer for them to bake, but bake  from frozen at 350, and just make sure it all gets well heated through, taking the foil off at the end to melt the cheese, and keep testing the middle ones .  Yummo.

Catering: Mini Cream Cheese and Cheddar Biscuits with Spicy Sausage Gravy

Mini Cream Cheese and Cheddar Biscuits and Spicy Sausage Gravy

(adapted from iamafoodblog.com)

Makes between 24 and 30 mini biscuits or 10-12 regular biscuits

2 cups flour

1 Tbsp Baking Powder

1 tsp soda

½ tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

4 Tbsp sliced green onion

4 Tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces

8 Tbsp cold cream cheese, cut into pieces

Slightly more than ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

12 Tbsp Milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix flour, baking powder, soda, salt, pepper and green onion.  Cut in the butter with pastry blender until there are a few pea-sized pieces.  Cut in the cream cheese the same way.  Add cheddar.  Add the milk and stir until just combined.  Turn out onto a floured surface and work the dough until just able to cut biscuits.  Cut with a 1” biscuit cutter.

Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet, bake 8-10 minutes.

For full sized biscuits:  Oven temp 425, bake for 15-17 minutes.

Spicy Sausage Gravy

Fry a one pound chub of Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage into crumbles.  Add at least ½ cup flour and 2 Tbsp butter to the pan and cook until the raw flour smell is out.  Add about 4-6 cups milk, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer to desire thickness, salt and pepper to taste.

Notes: Used the Pampered Chef 1" flower shape cutter, worked well. The biscuits can be made ahead and warmed.  The gravy is easy enough to make on site and keep in a sauce server or crock pot, stands up well with frequent stirring.

Filled Raisin (MM) Cookies

Heaven.  Heaven on a cookie sheet, if you like raisin filled cookies.  Use a jar of the mince fruit I canned :)

2 cups shortening
2 cups sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 eggs
2 Tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla
6 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Cream together shortening and sugars.  Add eggs, milk, and vanilla.  Mix in a seperate bowl: flour, soda and salt.  Add to wet mixture and mix to combine.  Seperate into 5 or six equal parts and form into rolls in wax paper.  Freeze until solid (ish) about 30 minutes.  Slice into 3/8" slices, and place one layer on a baking sheet.  Fill with 1 tsp mince fruit, and then cover mince with another slice of cookie dough.  Do NOT flatten, press, or seal.  They will bake and seal in the oven for you.  Bake 375 Degrees  for 10 minutes.

**Note:  I did this recipe and these cookies were fantastic.  But I made the rolls too big and only came out with about two dozen cookies that had to be baked a bit longer.  I will make my rolled dough cylinders smaller next time.

Minced Fruit (Credit Brett Jensen and Family) (They called it Mincemeat)

I was never a mincemeat fan until THIS....THIS is DELICIOUS!  I'm going to try making baklava this year with it, it's SO delicious.  Mincemeat has no meat in it.  It's just fruits and spices, cooked to delicious sticky satisfaction, and it's so good.

2 pints chopped green tomatoes
3 pints chopped tart apples, peeled.
2 lbs. raisins
1/2 cup vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
6 cups sugar
4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground allspice

Run green tomatoes, apples, and raisins through a meat grinder or food processor.  Mix everything in recipe together in a large pot.  Bring to a boil and simmer several hours until it's thick.  Mine took about 6-8 hours.  Made a dozen pints.  I filled hot sterilized jars with the very hot mince, and inverted them to promote seal.  Only one didn't seal, used that for the cookies I'm posting next!  

Pork Chops Supreme

Trent's new favorite pork chops.  Baked in a sauce that is kind of sweet, really tangy, and really good.  Best of all:  Really EASY!  I think you could do this in a crock pot as well, can't see why not.  I wouldn't try cooking the rice with it though, you'd have to really adjust the liquid and I'm not sure how you'd do that.

Pork chops, enough to cover the bottom of your cooking pot with a lid (how I ever lived without the Food Network cast iron enameled dutch oven that I got from Shea, I don't know.)

1 1/2 cups tomato ketchup
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 onion sliced (or substitute about 2 heaping tablespoons dried minced onion, Trent actually like that better)
Lemon slices if you have them

Place chops (I prefer pork sirloin boneless) in a single layer in your pot.
Season chops with salt and pepper, place onion slices on top of chops
In a bowl, mix the ketchup, brown sugar and Worcestershire.
Pour this sauce over the top of the chops.

Cover and bake for 1 hour, then take the lid off and bake another 30 minutes. Serve over rice.  I start my rice cooker when I take the lid off the chops, then my rice is done about the same time as the chops.

Best with fried zucchini or corn on the cob!

Zelma's Authentic Green Chile

Again, from a dear old co-worker of mine, this is her GREEN CHILE recipe, which I have not tried.  It doesn't state the number of green chiles to use to make this recipe, but I imagine it is at least a dozen or so, maybe even up to 30, depending on how much chile you want to make. 

Zelma's Green Chile - Zelma Savage

Once, again, you will need the right kind of chile to make this dish come out right.  Buy the long green variety, Anaheim are the most available here.  I get mine at Hatch, New Mexico.
Heat broiler in oven, place chiles on a flat surface, cookie sheet, or other similar surface, as many as I usually roast, I have to throw the pans away, they pick up the heat of the chiles and are unusable as cookie sheets ever again.
Place chiles under the broiler and let skin brown and bubble up.  Turn chiles at intervals so all chiles are browned fairly evenly.
Remove from pan, place in a wet dish towel and let stand and steam for a while, you can start peeling them when the peels come off easily or wait until they are completely cooled off.  You must peel them before using them.
After peeling the skins off, cut them into small strips and then take your knife and roll, cut, roll, cut, roll cut, until you have very small pieces, or instead of a knife you can squeeze the chiles through your fingers, but wear gloves.
Crush several pods of garlic with the handle of a butcher knife or run through a garlic press.  Add salt to taste, and garlic to chile.  I like chile sandwiches and at this point you can use the chile as a relish over most anything you want.  You can also add fresh cut tomatoes to this and have another fine tasting dish.

My favorite recipe and most of yours is as follows:

Green chile as prepared above
1 round steak or 3-4 pork chops (cut into small pieces 1/4" to 1/2")
1 cup flour
salt to taste
garlic to taste
Sharp cheddar cheese, use as you like it, shredded or cut into small cubes
2-4 tomatoes depending on size of the tomatoes

Flour the meat in a bag.  Cook meat in a heavy skillet or sauce pan, making sure the meat is done.  Add chile and water to cover the whole mixture.  Add tomato if you are going to use them, let simmer together about 30 minutes.  When chile is about done, add the cheese to the mixture and simmer until cheese is melted into the chile.
Serve with potatoes, beans, tortillas, bread, pie, cake, or anything.  It goes well with anything, except strawberry jam.  Henry could have told you exactly how sick that mixture makes you.  I am joking about the pie and cake but I like this dish well enough to eat it almost every meal.  Just think if I had been born a Mexican!
And now dear friend, can I have my kidnapped mug back?  And, I really think after this  second recipe you should reveal yourself.

Zelma Savage's Real Mexican Red Chile

MY FRIEND FOUND THE RECIPE!  I'm so grateful!  Here it is, typed exactly as Zelma wrote it, with a few comments from me in [.....].  I LOVE THIS so much, I make it with pork and eat it with warmed tortillas, it's so delicious.

REAL MEXICAN RED CHILE - Zelma Savage

In order for either of these chile recipes to come out right, you HAVE to have the right kind of chiles.
Most grocery stores carry cellophane packages of dried red chiles.  It is in the Mexican section of the grocery store and hangs by a hook, usually.  [there are so many now!  I use NEW MEXICO CHILE PEPPERS, DRIED.  They are large and very flavorful, they are what Zelma herself told me to use.]
It is up to you how much chile to buy, I never measure, but I usually use 20-30 pods for my recipe.  It makes 1-2 quarts of sauce.
20-30 Red Chile Pods
6-8 Garlic pods (whole, peeled)
1 Tbsp salt
then:
1 round steak or 3-4 pork chops
1 cup flour in a plastic or paper bag for shaking meat pieces in
To prepare the chile pods, take the stem off the top, and if you like hot chile, preserve as many seeds in the pod as you can, if you like milder chile, shake the seeds out into a container [or garbage]. DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE OR YOUR EYES AFTER STARTING TO HANDLE THE CHILES [I wear latex gloves for this, and I leave a little over 50% of the seeds in, I like it a little hot].
Put the chile pods in a large glass bowl or container.  DO NOT USE METAL, put salt and garlic in with the chile pods.  Bring three quarts water to a boil and pour over the chiles.  Place a heavy object on top of the chile to hold it all under the water so it can soak, this process softens the meat of the chile.
Cut beef steak or pork chops into small pieces, I cut them anywhere from 1/4" to 1/2" square.  Place meat into the bag of flour and shake to cover well with flour.
Remove meat from flour, shaking as much flour off of it as possible.  Place meat in large heavy bottom [soup pot] pan with the oil and cook until as done as possible without burning or making it crisp.  Stir often.  I cook mine covered so it will be as soft as possible and not burn.
While meat is cooking, remove chile from the bowl of hot water and drop into a blender [or food processor] about enough to make it half full, be sure to keep the lid on and hold down very tightly.  If you don't, it will shoot up to the top and you will have a stained red kitchen and clothing for a very long time!  Hit PULSE.  Let blend for a while and then add more chile, keeping enough water added to make it easy for the blender to work.  Continue this process until all the chile is blended and all the water is used.  Or, if it is getting too runny, save the water to rinse your blender into your strainer.
You will need a large strainer, not a colander, the holes are too large.  Place the strainer over a bowl and pour some of the sauce out of the blender into the strainer, using a wooden spoon to help push the sauce through the strainer, leaving the pulp behind, it will be the chile skin and seeds.  Continue this process until all sauce is strained, then rinse with the remainder of hot water, rinsing blender and strainer to get all the sauce.
Drain all the excess cooking oil from the meat, add the chile sauce to the cooked meat and let it all come to a boil, turn on lowest heat setting and let simmer.  Simmer long enough for flavors to blend, if you still have any left after smelling and tasting it, put in a large bowl and serve as a condiment or main dish [with tortillas].

By omitting the meat, I use this sauce to make enchiladas:
Place a corn tortilla in a small amount of hot oil in a skillet, immediately flipping the tortilla over, take out of pan and place in a pan of the red chile sauce, which I keep warm on another burner, turn the tortilla over so as to coat both sides with chile.  Place tortilla flat on a dinner plate or shallow bowl, sprinkle shredded cheese on the tortilla, spread a small amount of chopped onion on the tortilla, and repeat the process until you have a stack, each individual can have the size he or she wants, I usually take three tortillas. After completing the stack, place in a warm oven, 250 degrees, and leave there while you finish making enough for everyone.
The last step is to fry eggs, again a personal preference as to how many, I don't eat eggs on mine, Henry always took 3 eggs, runny yolks seem to be preferable to most people who eat them, put the eggs on top of the stack of tortillas, pour more sauce over everything and sit down to enjoy a delicious meal. 

Thank you Zelma, I know you're up there watching over all of us making your fantastic recipe, we miss you!

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter. softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
Directions:

Cream butter, peanut butter and sugars together.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.
Add baking soda, powder and vanilla.
Mix in flour

Scoop into balls into a small bowl of white sugar, roll in sugar. Flatten cookies, using a fork, in a criss-cross pattern.
Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees.  Mine took 12 minutes because I made them bigger, and then leave on sheet for 2 minutes before using a spatula to remove to wax paper. If you do smaller cookies, it takes less time (7-8 minutes).