Craisin and Carrots

This was not as great as we thought it would be. We did a carrot dish a while back that I think we would rate as better in taste. The only thing we did not have was pure maple syrup but used pancake maple syrup as it was all we had on hand so maybe that is why it was not as good as the thought it should taste. If you out there in blog land make this and use real maple syrup let me know how it turns out.

2 lbs baby carrots

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup craisins (this is dried cranberries)

2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginge

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

salt and pepper

Cook carrots in saucepan with salted water covered. Bring to a boil.

Reduce to med heat and boil for 3 to 4 minutes till almost fork tender.

drain and set aside.

In a large skillet melt butter now add carrots and the caisins

Cook stirring frequently about 3 to 5 minutes till carrots begin to brown.

Now stir in maple syrup, and add ginger and rosemary, salt and pepper.

Cook until carrots are tender shiny and caramelized.

Corn Casserole

The computer has been a little on the fritz lately. Here is a new one that was very easy to fix, and has room to add and tweak. Again from Zaar and Dawn Allison. This was between a spoon and corn bread texture.

1 (8 1/2 oz box of Jiffy cornbread mix

1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn drained

1 (15 oz) can creamed corn

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup sour cream

1 egg beaten

cheese- you can choose we used Colby jack.

We also added about 1/4 cup onion (or more if you like onion)

dash of cayenne pepper

can of green chillies

Mix above ingredients in a casserole dish (we used an iron skillet)

and bake in a 350 oven for about 45 minutes or till set. Add cheese and cook till cheese meltes.

Fettuccine Alfredo with Shrimp

My mother in law gave me a pasta machine a few months ago but I have not used it till now. I have been wanting to use it but I always thought of it when I didn't have the time. Well I had last Wed off and the wife was out of the house at her painting class. I had the house to myself and the machine started calling my name. Actually it was pretty easy and it made a good bit. Now to find the perfect recipe for it. Giada came to the rescue. I have her book Every Day Italian and page 114 had a recipe for Fettuccine Alfredo. In her words this dish called for fresh pasta as dried could not stand up to the creamy rich ingredients. Of course we did add shrimp. Yummmmm A good bread and salad completed this as it is so rich.
Wife really liked the lemon flavor I felt it may have been a little much so if you don't like it real lemon tasting cut back on it a little.
1 ½ cups heavy cream
¼ cup fresh lemon juice( about one lemon)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 to 2 teaspoons fresh grated lemon zest
pinch of grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
9 oz fresh fettuccine
1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese (we love this stuff)
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
In a large heavy skillet stir in 1 cup of cream and the lemon juice to blend.
Add butter and cook over medium heat stirring occasionally, just until the butter melt about 3 minutes.
We add the shrimp here.
Stir in the lemon zest and nutmeg. Remove from heat.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally about 4 minutes. Drain Add to the skillet of cream with the remaining ½ cup of cream, cheese salt and pepper. Toss over low heat until sauce thickens about 1 minute, add more salt and pepper if needed. ( We also added a little red pepper just because we like it)Serve immediately

Swiss, Ham,Cauliflower and Potato soup

Last Friday was a really dreary day with rain and damp and generally feeling like we need to be building an ark around here. For the month of October we have more rain than normal. This recipe did not have cauliflower in it but since we had half a head of one to use up we threw it in and no one would even know it was there as it blended in so well. So as the rain came down wife and I enjoyed this soup. By Susie on Zaar

2 med potatoes peeled and diced.
1/2 cup margarine (we use smart balance)
1/2 cup flour
2 green onions chopped or 1/2 yellow onion (we used yellow onion)
2-3 cups milk
4 slices swiss cheese
2 cups diced cooked ham
salt and pepper to taste
we also added a little garlic--- every thing can use some garlic
and we had some cooked bacon in the frig that we used as garnish.

Cook potatoes in saucepan in just enough water to cover, when tender drain and set aside and save liquid.
melt margarine, saute green onions or yellow onion until tender (we add garlic here). Remove onion and set aside.
Add flour to melted margin and stir until incorporated. Stir till the flour turns a golden brown (this is called a roux.)
Using a whisk stir in 2 cups of milk and 1 cup of saved potato liquid. Whisk until smooth and no lumps are seen.
Bring to a boil or until soup thickens.

Add diced ham, cooked onion(and garlic), swiss cheese (and cauliflower) Stir till cheese is melted.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

If soup is too thick add 3rd cup of milk if needed.

Garnish with bacon.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

This recipe has been on several sites but we saw it first on My Kitchen Cafe back in July and have fixed it twice now. You can get her recipe by looking at July 27 2009. We fixed it just like she has it laid out except for one thing we like to add some cauliflower as we like how it seems to adsorb the flavors and adds a vegetable to our dinner.

Indian Chickpea Dish

Day one

leftovers

Here is another chickpea dish. We are new to eating Indian dishes and when kept seeing recipes calling for garam masala we were not really sure what it was but thanks to the Internet you can find out anything. Well we do have a little Indian grocery in Jackson and was able to locate some. By the way it is a combination of spices. We like it and used it as a side dish the first day and the next day we added some chicken to it and again placed it in a pita pocket. This was again from our favorite recipe go to place the Zaar. By Sue

2 medium onions chopped
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (we used powder as that is all we had)
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
½ inch cinnamon stick
2 medium tomatoes chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon turmeric
salt to taste
¼ -1/2 teaspoon cayenne( we added more we like it hot)
2 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans rinsed and drained
½ 1 teaspoon gram masala
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice.

In a large saucepan over med heat, heat cumin seeds, bay leaf and cinnamon until very fragrant, stirring to keep from burning( This really smells the house up!!!)
Add ginger and garlic cooking until you can smell them then add onions. (my mother in law has lost her sense of smell and some of her taste after a bad cold I know this has to be a sad thing because the smell is wonderful.)
Saute onions stirring and adding a few drops of water to prevent sticking, cook till they are translucent.
Add tomatoes,coriander,turmeric,salt and cayenne. Taste and adjust according to what you want more of.
Bring to a boil then add garbanzo beans,cover and reduce heat and simmer on low for 10 to 15 minutes.
Stir in gram masala and lemon juice just before serving.
Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice or Indian bread or pitas

Imitation Crab Salad

I know I have been bad and not posting much lately but I have been out of town a lot and we have not had that many great dishes or we have been remaking some of the ones we liked. My wife and I both like the seafood and crab at Subway so we found one near it on Zaar and tweaked it some.
For 2
8 oz imitation crab
1 tablespoon chopped red onion
1 tablespoon chopped celery
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon soy sauce
dash Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste
dash of old bay to taste or Greek seasonings
Mix crab with lemon juice add onion,celery,vinegar,soy sauce, Worcestershire stir till mixed
add mayonnaise and salt and pepper and old bay or Greek seasonings to taste. Serve or refrigerate.
This was good still not quite like Subways but since the closest one is about 20 miles away this will have to do.

Red Beans and Rice

This is a staple here in the south and most people have a little variation on the dish. We use a spicy sausage to give it more kick but any will do.
1 yellow onion or ½ of a large one
¼ cup of bell pepper
2 to 3 cloves garlic
1 stalk of celery
two links sausage cut into bite size pieces
4cans kidney beans not drained
rinse the cans out and pour the water in pot at least 2 to 3 cans of water.
dash of Cajun spices we use Zatarains
my wife secret ingredient juice from Greek peppers about two tablespoons.

Cook onion,bell pepper,celery till clear then add beans reserving a few to smash up and place in to thicken mixture. Add everything else and let simmer for about 2 hours uncovered. Checking to see if more water needs to be added. Taste every now and then to see if anything needs to be adjusted like more Zatarains but over rice and garnish with green onions.

Add a little potato salad and garden tomatoes

Spicy Chick Peas and Couscous

We have a jam night about once a month and everyone tries to bring something. As our host are now on a low fat and low cholesterol diet we have brought out our low fat cookbooks and found this one to try. It was a hit but again we our taste buds are jaded and felt like it really needed more kick. It is really a colorful dish.

1 can (about 14 oz) vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon hot pepper sauce
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup julienned carrots
1 can (15 oz) chick peas, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup uncooked quick cooking couscous
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint or parsley for garnish.
Combine vegetable broth,coriander, cardamom,turmeric, hot pepper sauce salt and cinnamon in a large sauce pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add carrots and reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.(The smell is to die for) Now add chick peas and peas, simmer for 2 minutes uncovered.
Now stir in couscous. Cover, remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with mint or parsley.
Now what can we bring next time?????

Strawberry Muffin and BLT Salad

A little lazy this week and we just threw together one of the BLT salads we have seen floating around the net and it was ok but not really great we just as soon have the real thing. We did use up some of the strawberries we had in a Jiffy corn muffin mix. Just spoon some sliced strawberries in the muffin and they weren't to bad.

Watermelon bird cage

This isn't something I cooked but it did turn out kinda cute. My nephew and his wife had their wedding shower a couple weeks ago and my wife was asked to do the center piece. This is what she did and it was a big hit. Plus we got to eat the middle of the watermelon.

Strawberry Salad

My wifes mother always had a strawberry salad every thanksgiving and she kinda got a craving for one but she could not remember how it was made. We have since got the recipe but that will be fixed at another time. We did use the frozen strawberries but added in some fresh ones also. Since we had a few fresh strawberries left that needed to be used and not enough to do anything with we thought this would be a good one to make. This one come from a falling and I do mean falling apart old Bell south cook book called Calling All Cook . It has just about everything.
1 10 oz pkg frozen strawberries
1 60z pkg strawberry Jello
1 small can crushed pineapple do not drain
1 cup boiling water
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese (room temp)
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 80z pkg cool whip
1 cup pecan pieces
2 bananas, mashed.
Mix strawberry Jello with boiling water reserving ¼ cup Jello. Pour into 13 x 9 Pyrex dish.
Add frozen strawberries, and fresh strawberries (we had about 3), pineapple, and bananas. Stir until strawberries melt. (We had ours out and thawed.) Put in refrigerator to jell.
Meanwhile soften cream cheese at room temp. Cream with confection sugar 1 cup at a time. Add ¼ reserve Jello and stir. Add cool whip and stir well. Fold in nuts, pour over Jello mixture and garnish with pecans and or fresh strawberries.

Coconut Chicken

I can not remember where I got this recipe but we had some left over yogurt we need to use and was looking for something different to fix. This smelled out of this world when it was cooking but we were a little let down when it came to taste. In fact we added a bit more of most everything in the spice department. Our taste buds want things to zing.

1 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic
¼ teaspoon turmeric1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional .. but we like)
¼ teaspoon garam masala (this was the first time to use this and it smells divine)
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon salt
juice and zest of one lime
1.5to 2 lbs chicken drumsticks (we used some chicken thighs.)
1 onion sliced
1 can (13.5 oz.) can unsweetened coconut milk
1 teaspoon dried cilantro or 1 Tablespoon fresh cilantro

In a large bowl combine yogurt, olive oil, garlic. Turmeric, cayenne pepper, garam masala, salt cumin, lime and lime zest. Place chicken in marinade and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
Remove chicken from marinade and reserve marinade.
In a large skillet, cook chicken over medium heat until it browns slightly, about 4 minutes each side.
Add onions and cook 2 minutes. Pour coconut milk and marinade over the top, stir. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium low heat. Simmer for 30 to 35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Stir in cilantro just before serving.
Can serve as is but we put over rice.

Side dish of steamed broccoli and cauliflower

Lamb chops

We love lamb and wish we could get it more often, so when we see some chops at Sam's we grab them. We used the same marinade that we used on the chicken Slovakia and grilled them. Melt in your mouth goodness.

Again we had roasted potatoes and grilled some asparagus wrapped in bacon. We also had some mushrooms cooked in butter and then cream cheese placed in top of cap and placed under the broiler to melt the cheese. This was a simple way to do the mushrooms and if you have never made them its so simple to taste so good.

4th dinner crock pot pork

Well better late than never. We cooked something new for us this 4th. It was so hot here the thought of getting out to grill just makes me cringe. I cooked out for the chicken we had a week or so ago and I thought I would melt.105 heat index is not my idea of fun in the sun. One of the local grocery stores had a sale on a pork shoulder or a Boston but so I got one to try. I had come across a recipe for one cooked in the crock pot and wife has been wanting some pulled pork barbecue. I put this in the crock pot Friday night before we went to bed with a package of Lipton onion soup mix and depending on how big your piece of meat is let it cook low and slow over night. Ours was not ready at 10 the next morning so we kicked it up to high and by 1 we were in business. Sine we had potato salad last week we had roasted potatoes with it and baked beans.

Roasted potatoes were cut and sprinkled with the Lipton onion soup mix and baked beans had a little bell pepper,bacon and onion added. Some brown sugar and dash of dry mustard. We did cheat and buy a bottled barbecue sauce but we did doctor on it some.