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.

Balsamic Black Eyed Peas

This is from a friend of mine from work. Mike C loves balsamic vinegar and has turned us on to some good recipes. This is a good one for the summer months and goes great with some fresh home grown tomatoes.

1 Ham steak (we had some frozen pieces of a honey ham left over and used this)
1 can black eyed peas drained

1/2 onion chopped

1/2 bell pepper chopped

1/2 cup celery chopped

1 teaspoon honey or syrup- we used honey as we are on the honey for health kick right now.

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 Tablespoon olive oil.

Cook ham steak until golden then chop in pieces

Place back in skillet and add honey,black eyed peas and olive oil. Heat for a few minutes

Add balsamic vinegar gently stir

remove from heat and add other ingredients and stir.

Serve cold.

Leftovers put to good use

We had some leftovers on the chicken and pita bread so today we had it as a sandwich with a little yogurt dressing, tomato, feta cheese and green onion.

It is just way to hot around here this month we are hoping for some relief soon.

Heat index has been up to 105-108. It is just way to hot to do much cooking. We are looking for some good pasta salads so if any one has one they like a lot please pass it along.

Garlic Chicken Souvlaki

OK we are on the Greek thing ever since we went to the Greek fest and thought we would try our hand at making our own souvlaki. We used chicken thighs and they did not do well on the skewers, I may have cut the pieces to small. Will try with chicken breast next time and there will be a next time as this was finger licking good. The recipe says you can also use a pork tenderloin.

Oh we also thought at the last minute to throw in some shrimp in the marinade and cook them.

We did not have any wild rice which is what we would have liked to use but only had white rice at the time. Time to make a run into town for some supplies.

2lbs of chicken

10 garlic cloves crushed (sounds like a lot but it is not)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed

2 tablespoons oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything and blend well

place in plastic bag with chicken and marinate overnight.

soak skewers or use metal

cook on grill until done.

Fried egg

Yes there is a fried egg under this, we had some left over sauce from our previous post and used it on the eggs with a few more shrimp added. We also read about the health benefits of honey and cinnamon and have been adding it now to our coffee and this is some on a banana

2 tablespoons of honey to one teaspoon cinnamon

This is supposed to help with cholesterol and a whole host of other ailments.

Using this has cut out the sugar wife adds to her coffee. Also can use in tea.

Hummus our take on the dip

We found a bunch of hummus recipes out there and kind of took a little of this and that to create our own.
I must say the first time we made it we must have had a bad batch of tahini because it was just nasty so it has been a while since we tried again but after our meal at the Greek fest we decided to give it another try. This time we used Krinos brand tahini and this one was much better.

3 cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon tahini
3-4 cloves garlic
juice on 1/2 lemon (we added a little more)
1/2 teaspoon cumin (may add more to taste-we did)
3-5 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt to taste
3-4 tablespoons yogurt
1 roasted pepper from jar.
we also added a little chipolata chili powder
paprika, fresh basil or Italian parsley to garnish also can use cilantro or mint. what ever you prefer.

Combine chickpeas with all ingredients except water and olive oil.
We used a food processor.
Mix till mixture becomes somewhat smooth. Add water as necessary to help with the blending, at end add olive oil and blend just to incorporate.
Serve with pita chips, pita bread or even corn chips

Orange Roughy with Sauteed Asparagus

Orange Roughy with Sautéed Asparagus (from TV noon day meal.)

2 T butter melted
1/4 t extra-virgin olive oil
2 pieces orange roughy
1 bunch fresh asparagus
1 clove fresh garlic
1/2 fresh lime squeezed
1/4 cup white wine
salt and pepper to taste

White Sauce

1/4 T butter melted
1/2 t dill
1/4 fresh lime juice squeezed
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
1/2 lump crab meat optional (we used can)
In large skillet melt butter with olive oil over medium heat. Place asparagus and roughy in together along with the garlic. Cook for 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Turn asparagus 3-4 times. Turn fish only once. Total cook time 5 min. You want the roughy to just begin to flake and asparagus to remain crunchy not soggy.
Sauce
Over medium high heat melt butter in a small sauce pan. Add remaining ingredients. Cook until sauce coats the back of a wooden spoon, About 5 minutes. (we also threw in a few shrimp)

(We had more white sauce and saved it to use the next morning over some fried eggs.yumm)

We liked this of course it has some of our favorite foods, We could have used a little more heat may add some red pepper flakes next time. we had a good Chardonnay wine to go with it. We had a little sauce left over and used in in a dish the next morning.

Pork Chop and Feta Skillet from Sisters Cafe

God this was so good we are going to have to fix this one again soon. We had the Cilantro and Lime rice with this. My wife said this was the best squash she has ever eaten. And on top of every thing it was so simple to do. Erin from Sisters Cafe we send you a big kiss. Please check out their site we have a link here on the right.
We did make a few changes as we have some rosemary and basil growing in the yard.
1 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary(we used fresh)
1 teaspoon dried basil (we used fresh sweet basil)
1 teaspoon minced garlic(we used more because we like garlic)
1 pinch black pepper(we may have used a little more)
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 pork chops (we had 2 really large ones)
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (we added a little zest) about one lemon in dish large enough to dip chops in.
2 oz crumbled feta cheese with basil and sun dried tomatoes (we only had plain)
1-2 yellow squash or one zucchini. We used 2 cups of summer squash we had put up last summer to make room for new.
We also had 1/4 head of cauliflower we added this wasn't part of original recipe but what the heck we like cauliflower and know it kinda absorbs the flavors (and we were right.)
In small bowl stir rosemary,basil,garlic,and pepper.
Heat oil in large skillet. Dip chops in lemon juice sprinkle with herb mixture.
Place chops in hot skillet, drizzle some lemon juice over them, sear both sides. About 7 minutes each side.
(Now we fix our chops a little different here in that we simmer them in a little water and covered for about 1 1/2 hours turning every 30 minutes and adding water if needed. the chops are so tender they fall off the bone)
Add sliced squash to edges of pan and pour remaining lemon juice and herbs if any, simmer when squash(we also added cauliflower here)is near done add feta cheese and cook till melted. About 5 minutes. I know you are gonna love this one.

Cilantro Lime Rice from Closet Cooking

We have been trying some of the good looking recipes from some of the sites wife and I visit. This one caught our eye as we don't know what we did before we discovered cilantro
This is from Closet Cooking.... link to the right and boy has he kicked up his recipes.We are wondering it he is not a chef in disguise.

1 tablesboon oil

1/2 onion chooped
1 clove garlic chopped

1 cup rice

2 cups water

cilantro chopped about 1/4 cup
1 lime juice and some zest

heat oil and add onion and saute until tender or clear

add garlic simer about 1 minute

add rice and toast in oil for a few minutes (this was a new way for us to cook rice but we have seen it done this way on cooking shows)

Add water bring to boil reduce and simmer covered for 20 minutes,

Remove from heat and add cilantro and lime jiuice and zest.

Now this was a little bit sticky not the light and fluffy rice we are used to.but it was good.

Whipped Cream

This is a picture of a gardenia from our bush. The bush is by our back door and smells so good when you walk out the door. We had a few cooler days where we could open the window beside it and have the smell come in as the wind blew. This close up made me think of whipped cream.

Shrimp and asparagus in white sauce

We both love shrimp and asparagus is in the stores now. This calls for a shrimp and asparagus dish.
I would like to thank Deborah's blog Taste and Tell (April 26 2007) for this one and we will be making it again as it was fairly easy. We may try adding some onion and red pepper flakes next time. A nice salad and a crusty bread to get that last bit of sauce. Yum Yum

Shrimp Pasta in White Sauce

1/2 cup butter
c cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 onion, diced
1 lb shrimp
1/4 cup flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 c cream or evaporated milk
1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
dash of nutmeg
1/4 garlic powder (we used fresh garlic)
3/4 cup steamed asparagus
12 oz pasta noodles
Cook noodles in sauce pan till al dent a
Steam asparagus
Melt 1/4 cup of butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Slowly cook onions,(we added garlic here) and then add mushrooms and cook till tender. Add shrimp and cook till shrimp have changed color.
In another sauce pan melt 1/4 cup of butter add flour and stir till combined for about 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, cream and pepper to taste. Add garlic powder here if using the powder along with nutmeg to taste. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until it thickens. Stir in mushroom shrimp and asparagus into sauce. Serve over pasta.

Jackson Greek Fest was delicious

The Martins have been bad this weekend. First off the Greek Festival was going on this weekend. We have been every year that it has been held and a wonderful way to try new food. If you have never gone try to make a point to go next year. I don't know but the food this year was just so tasty. We did come home with a few cookies. We hate that we did not have our camera with us.
Just to make your mouth water here is what we had.
Me.
Roasted Lamb,
Dolmathes (grape leaves stuffed with ground beef, rice and herbs, topped with lemon sauce)
Spanikopita (spinach and feta puff wrapped in filo)
Moussaka (sliced eggplant topped with a meat and tomato mixture. Covered with a white sauce and baked and garnished with cheese
Greek salad
Spouse
Souvlakia (pork shish-ke-bob grilled)
Tiropita (cheese feta wrapped in buttered filo)
Pastichio (pasta and meat with tomato sauce seasoned with onion,garlic,cloves, and cheese topped with white sauce.
Greek salad.
We bought a sample box of cookies with two each of Baklava, Paxmemadia (buttery almond cookie topped with apricot glaze and a cherry.... wifes favorite.)Kourabiethes (butter cookie topped with powdered sugar... reminds me of a wedding cookie.)
We wish lamb was more available as we are liking the taste of that meat more and more.
Next year we will take pictures.

Lemon Pie

I have no idea who came up with this one. It is a recipe I have been fixing as long as I can remember. May be one of the first things I ever did. This is posted for Cindy, I know you can do this one it is so easy.

1 graham cracker pie crust

1 can eagle brand condensed milk

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

whip cream or cool whip

Combine in mixing bowl milk and lemon juice and mix till combined.

Pour in crust and chill for about 30 to one hour to set.

Top with whip cream or cool whip and serve.

Aunt Carolyn's Chicken from Deanna's Corner

Can't tell you how much we enjoyed this one we do wish we had a little more juice with it but it was very very yummy! It almost drove us crazy cooking the smell had our mouth watering. Thank you Deanna. Pleas chech her site out she has some yummy stuff there is a link on the side its Deann's Corner so pull up a chair and a bowl of ice cream.

½ cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper( we did add a little more)
1 chicken cut up (we used 5-6 chicken thighs cut in bite size)
½ cup butter or margarine melted and divided
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup honey (we have some very good local honey we use)
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1-1/2 teaspoon curry powder
We used a large plastic bag, combine flour,salt and cayenne pepper
Add chicken and shake to coat.
Pour 4 tablespoons butter into 13 x 9 baking dish
Place chicken in pan turning once to coat
Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes
Combine brown sugar, honey, lemon juice, soy sauce, curry powder, and remaining butter. Pour over chicken
Bake 45 minutes more or until chicken is tender, basting several times with pan drippings.
We served this over rice.

Wet Burrito

Wet Burrito Casserole by Sue at Recipe zarr that we added some stuff too. This made a lot so if you have a crowd to feed or just want to freeze some I'm sure it would freeze well. A side dish of Spanish rice and our salsa with chips (that recipe is on a older post) and you have as good as any Mexican restaurant dinner.

1 ½ cups sour cream
1can cream of mushroom soup
1 lb ground beef (I'm sure any thing like ground turkey would even be good)
1 onion (by the way we always cook with a yellow onion like my mom did)
1 bell pepper any color red and yellow
1 pkg taco seasonings
3 cloves garlic
½ cup mushrooms finely chopped
(OK I can hear ya now... mushrooms trust me if you like mushrooms you will like it and if not you will never know they are there. Or if you really hate them leave out but it does add a little texture. Plus they are good for you and if you don't tell, no one will know just say its a secret ingredient.)
1 can refried beans
1 10 count flour tortillas
4 cups cheddar cheese ( we use also extra Colby jack or the Mex mix) We like cheese
1 can sliced green chillies
we also added a little a few dashes of Tabasco Chipotle sauce Yee ha that is some good stuff we are on our second bottle we use it on every thing.)
sliced jalapeños
garnish with cilantro or guacamole

Mix sour cream and soup together
Pour half of this is in bottom of large greased(use pam) baking dish.
Brown meat with onion and bell pepper and garlic drain any fat
Stir in taco seasonings, mushrooms refried beans,green chillies( taste and if you want it with more heat add dash of Tabasco sauce and or red pepper flakes.)
Spoon mixture onto tortillas, rolling and placing seam side down.
Top with remaining soup mixture sprinkle with cheese and add sliced jalapeños on top.
Bake at 350 for 30 to 35 min or until cheese is melted and dish is heated.
garnish with cilantro and if want guacamole.

Orange Sherbert

My wife's grandmother used to make a strawberry sherbet using evaporated milk and sugar and placed in ice cube trays. Well I have been unsuccessful in finding this and her mother doesn't have it or has ever made it. So please help out there if any body has ever made this. Her grand mother lived threw the depression and it may be a local thing done in south Louisiana. I don't know.

I did find this for Orange Sherbet Ice Cream and it was pretty good tasted kinda like a dream pop.
1 can eagle brand sweetened condensed milk
3 10 oz orange soda pop
Pour into ice cream freezer stir and freeze.

Chicken with Black Beans and Rice

This looks terrible but it really taste good. Black beans are new for cooking with us so maybe that is it we are used to the red kidney beans. Any way we were surprised at how flavorful this dish was and we do like flavorful.Thanks from Recipezaar.

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes (we added a bit more)
1 large onion (we always cook with a yellow)
4-5 cloves garlic chopped
4 boneless skinless chicken breast cut into strips (we used about 5 chicken thighs as they do seem to have more flavor and are not as dry as a breast plus we can get them cheep at Sam's.)
2 teaspoons oregano, separated
2 teaspoons ground cumin, separated
2 cans black beans, undrained
1 can corn drained
1 4 oz jar sliced pimientos
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 cups chicken broth
1 ½ cups rice.

1.In a large pan heat olive oil and add red pepper flakes
2.Add onion and garlic and cook until tender or clear.
3.Increase heat and add chicken stirring until cooked.
4.Lower heat to med. And add 1 tsp of oregano, 1tsp of cumin and simmer for 1 minute.
5.Add black beans, corn, pimentos, remaining spices and balsamic vinegar.
6.Blend and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes re seasoning if needed.
7.Heat broth to a boil and add rice. Lower to simmer and cook for 20 minutes till rice is fluffy.
8.Serve beans over rice.

Baked Cabbage Wedge

Baked Cabbage Wedges

1 large head of cabbage cored and cut into 8 wedges
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
¼ cup dry white wine
1/8 teaspoon black pepper (or you can use more)
½ tablespoon unsalted margarine
2 tablespoons fine dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (or you can use more)

1.Preheat oven to 400
2.Place cabbage in shallow 2 quart flameproof casserole dish. Add chicken broth, wine, and pepper bring to a simmer uncovered over moderate heat.
3.Cover and transfer to oven and bake for 35 to 40 min. or until cabbage is fork tender.
4.In skillet melt margarine add bread crumbs cook stirring about 2 minutes until breadcrumbs are lightly browned. Remove from heat and set aside.
5.As soon as cabbage is done remove from oven and sprinkle with breadcrumbs and cheese over the top.
6.Increase oven temp to broil and place casserole in broiler 5 to 6 inches from heart. Broil 1 to 2 min until golden brown.

This is a good way to cook cabbage and it is very tasty and cabbage is a good buy now. This is what we did with the half of the cabbage we had after we used the other half for cold slaw in the last dish.
We served this with Chicken and Black beans over rice. That recipe will be on next post.

Good ol' fried catfish

Sorry been so long but we have been making some of our previous post and I will be posting some of the newer ones we have done. Not to mention the computer had a hiccup and we lost some of our pictures.
This is nothing new here but I know a lot of people out of our area may not know how good fried catfish can be. Now it has to be pond raised I do not like the ones caught from the lake and rivers they just have to much of a muddy taste. But there is nothing better than pond raised fried catfish.
We had some coleslaw and a good old buttermilk biscuits
We used a coating called fish fry and it has just the right amount of zing.

Computer has been down

Disaster has hit, my computer has crashed and I was able to get some stuff back up. Good news I did an almost complete back up about a month ago when the computer started acting up. Bad news is we lost all our email and new photos that were not backed up. We are looking to have to wipe everything out and start over and that is such a pain but we must have got a bug even though nothing shows up on anti virus programs but it is just to slow and freezing up on me.
I also have been working out of town and wife was gone for a week so I have not really cooked anything, Not as much fun when she isn't here to come bug me when I'm in the kitchen. Did I say bug I meant help. She cleans as I do tend to make a mess. So today I will put up a picture of one of our cats who come supervise every thing we do in the kitchen. This is Frosty.
If the dish I plan to make turns out to be a winner I will post it.

Peanut Chicken Thighs in crockpbot

This had the whole house smelling while it was cooking.
We also came across one of the best salsa in a jar from our local Kroger. If you have one in your area or go to their web site to order. It was super good. In addition, no one is paying me to say this. It was called Arriba Medium Fire roasted Garlic and Cilantro Salsa. They have several types and we have tied two now.
We did put this over the celery Root mashed like potatoes. Again, thanks to recipe Zaar for a spicy Thai like dish.

6¼ hours serves 4
We used 5 skinless chicken thighs and one breast we had. Cut in pieces
One jar Cilantro Salsa or any you like.
½ cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter. (We will use crunchy next time.)
2 teaspoons ginger
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons lime juice add just before serving.
1-tablespoon brown sugar.
You may want to double the sauce as we felt it could have used a little more.

Celery Root mashed

Celery Root

Nasty looking thing but it tastes so good. My wife is not a fan of mashed potatoes like I am. She has two things she will hardly ever eat and they are fried chicken and mashed potatoes. She said when she was first married and she lived with the in-laws they had that at least three times a week.
We both like celery and we found this recipe a while back and boy was it good. There is a slight celery flavor but not overpowering great substitute for mashed potatoes.
This a two part post as we made this side dish a felt it needed its own separate post. We made spice Thai Chicken Thighs that we put on top.

Celery Root
Peal outer edge to white meat of root. Wash well
Cut in small cubes
Boil or steam until fork tender
Drain well pour into a food processor
Season like mashed potatoes
Garlic (we used roasted)
Salt and pepper to taste
Add milk: or cream or sour cream what every is your preference.
Try not to over process. Should look like mashed potatoes.

Shrimp Corn Soup

1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese
½-cup butter
1 cup chopped green onion tops
1 can cream of shrimp soup
1 can cream of potato soup
1 can whole kernel corn (we might but 2 next time we did not feel it was enough) not drained
1 can cream style corn
2 cups whole milk
1 lb of boiled shrimp peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon seafood seasoning (we used Ol Bay)
Can use crumbled bacon to garnish

In a 5-quart soup pot, slowly melt the cream cheese and butter over low heat
(This took some time as it was the first time for me to do and the cream cheese was awful slow to melt.)
Add green onions and gently simmer for about 10 to 12 minutes
Stir in cans of soup and both of corn simmer for 15 minutes (this will look thick)
Slowly stir in milk to reach desired consistency. We put in ½ cup and then just kept adding and stirring
You soup should look like pancake batter.
Just before you are ready to serve stir in shrimp and seafood seasoning and heat pot to a slight bubbly (don’t go over board.)
This was a good one. We would add maybe some roasted garlic and extra can of corn next time.
We also added a tad of salt and pepper to taste.
In addition, of course with shrimp it was much better the next day as it had time to absorb the shrimp flavor.
We also thought this would be really good in a bread bowl. You must have a good bread to go with this.
We used a good French bread. Was not able to get a good picture we ate it up so fast.