Time for a recipe. Watch for them on Saturdays right here!
Throw in some vanilla and a pinch of salt just for grins.
Salted Caramel Brownies
21 Nov 2013 Leave a comment
On gray days my thoughts turn to wine and chocolate. Here’s something for the chocolate half of that equation.
• Salted Pretzel Caramel Brownies •
Ingredients
• 1 box Betty Crocker fudge brownies (for 9×13 pan)
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 c. water
• 2/3 c. vegetable oil
• 3 cups pretzels
• 1 jar caramel sauce
• coarse sea salt
Directions
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, or grease with cooking spray.
• Prepare brownie batter according to package instructions.
• Pour about 1/3 of the brownie batter into the prepared baking pan. Spread until the bottom of the pan is evenly coated. Then add two even layers of pretzels, covering the entire surface. Carefully spoon the remaining brownie batter on top to cover the pretzels.
• Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the brownies comes out clean. Remove and set on a cooling rack to cool.
• Spoon the caramel sauce onto the top of the brownies in an even layer. (If it is too thick, spoon the sauce into a small bowl first and microwave for 30 seconds to thin.) Sprinkle the caramel with a few pinches of sea salt.
• Serve warm, or let cool to room temperature then serve.
If you love fried rice …
07 May 2013 1 Comment
This is the classic Fried Rice recipe and it’s wonderful. My husband made a huge batch of it the other night and sautéd small shrimp in garlic butter to go with it. We’ll have yummy leftovers tonight with the chicken you’ll find posted below. We eat like kings in this country — grateful beyond words!
Peach Smoothie
29 Apr 2013 2 Comments
It isn’t summer yet, but it is warm out — 82 degrees at the moment — and these look good.
We need a recipe …
10 Apr 2013 2 Comments
How about the easiest cookies ever?
COOL WHIP COOKIES — EASIEST COOKIE EVER
1 box cake mix (any flavor- chocolate, red velvet, lemon, etc.), 1 tub Cool Whip (8 oz), 1 egg. Mix ingredients. Drop spoonfuls into powdered sugar to coat. Bake at 350 for 12 mins. Cool before removing.
Irish Beef Stew
18 Mar 2013 Leave a comment
A day late, but who’s counting?
Irish Beef Stew
yield: 4 servings
Print This Recipe
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb. stew meat
4 large carrots, peeled & chopped
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon rosemary
1 large bay leaf or 2 small
2 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
heaping 1/3 cup frozen peas
mashed potatoes
Directions:
In large pot or deep skillet, brown stew meat in olive oil until browned on all sides, about 4 minutes. Pour in onions, carrots, garlic and spices. Cook another 5 minutes. Deglaze pan with beef broth. Cover and simmer 2-4 hours or until meat is very tender. (This would be perfect to cook in the crockpot!) When you are ready to serve, remove bay leaf. In a small bowl stir softened butter and flour together until smooth and incorporated. Stir butter mixture into the stew with the frozen peas. Once the gravy thickens slightly, it’s done. Serve hot over mashed potatoes.
Still soup weather …
06 Mar 2013 4 Comments
Chilly and windy here today, so this sounds good to me … You can use leftover chicken, maybe from a rotisserie purchase.
Slow food for a snowy day …
25 Feb 2013 1 Comment
Ingredients
| 4 | boneless skinless chicken breasts |
| 2 | cans cream of chicken soup |
| 1 | stick of butter |
| 2 | 15 oz cans chicken broth |
| 24 | oz. frozen egg noodles |
Directions
Cook chicken, soup, butter, and broth in crock-pot on low for 6-7 hours.
Take chicken out and shred.
Put chicken back in; add noodles and cook on low for 2 hours. Stir a few times while cooking.
Suggestion: Serve over mashed potatoes, with a side of green beans.
Cookie time!
22 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
It’s a snow day, lots of people are home. Let’s bake cookies!
Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
adapted from here
yield: 30 cookies
ingredients:
12 ounces strawberries, hulled and diced (2 cups)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
12 ounces strawberries, hulled and diced (2 cups)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
zest of one lemon
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sucanat or organic, whole sugar
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
6 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup heavy cream
turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sucanat or organic, whole sugar
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
6 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup heavy cream
turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
instructions:
• preheat oven to 375*. line two rimmed baking sheets with a silpat pad or parchment paper (dough is very wet).
• combine strawberries, lemon juice, lemon zest, and 2 tablespoons of sucanat. set aside.
• in a large bowl, whisk the whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, salt, and 7 tablespoons of sucanat.
• cut the butter into small cubes and add to the flour mixture. using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse meal.
• stir in the cream, using your hands, mix until the dough comes together.
• stir in the strawberry mixture.
• using a 1 1/2″ ice cream scooper, drop dough onto lined baking sheets.
• sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
• bake until golden brown, about 22-25 minutes.
• let cool completely on baking sheet before removing.
• these are best eaten the same day they are made.
note: you can shape dough and freeze, then bake as needed.
Skinny Artichoke Dip
16 Feb 2013 2 Comments
in Recipes Tags: cooking, nibbles, recipes
My sister and a friend made the Chicken Chipotle Bites for lunch today and it reminded me that we haven’t had a recipe for a little while. So here’s another for the Playing for Time Test Kitchen!
Skinny Artichoke Dip
Gina’s Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 10 • Serving Size: 1/4 cup • Old Points: 2 pts • Points+: 2 pts
Calories: 73.7 • Fat: 4.0 g • Carb: 4.8 g • Fiber: 0.7 g • Protein: 4.5 g
Ingredients:
- 13.75 oz artichoke hearts packed in water, drained
- 2 tbsp chopped shallots
- 1/4 cup fat free Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1/2 cup (2 oz) shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
- salt and fresh pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp whole wheat bread crumbs
- olive oil spray
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°.
In a small food processor, coarsely chop the artichoke hearts with the shallots.
Combine artichokes, yogurt, mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, mozzarella, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Place in an oven-proof dish and top with breadcrumbs. Lightly spray the crumbs with olive oil then bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes, until hot and cheese is melted. Serve right away.
Can be made one day in advance without the breadcrumbs and stored in the refrigerator before baking. Add breadcrumbs before baking. Makes about 2 1/2 cups.
Your unsuspecting guests will have no idea they are indulging in lightened up party fare. Serve this with baked pita chips, crostini or any low fat chip.
Lentil Stew
08 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Recipes Tags: cooking, lentils, recipes, stew, test kitchen, vegetarian
This sounds good today. Anybody want to try it and report back?
Lentil Stew
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup lentils, rinsed and picked over
2 potatoes, diced
1 sprig fresh oregano or 1 tbsp dried
3 cups vegetable stock or water
1/2 red pepper, diced
3 or 4 cauliflower florets, cut small
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
1. In a large pot heat the olive oil until it shimmers. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook another 2 or 3 minutes. Add the lentils, potatoes, oregano and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until lentils and potatoes have started to soften.
2. Add the red pepper and cauliflower and cook until the lentils and all of the vegetables are tender. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.
Recipe Note: The actual quantity of lentils was missing. It said “3/4,” but 3/4 what? Cup, package, pound? What’s your guess??
Some people!
31 Jan 2013 12 Comments
in My Thoughts, Recipes Tags: appetizers, cooking, recipes, test kitchen
A cheeky friend asked me yesterday if I’ve become Martha Freaking Stewart, just because she’s seeing recipes on my site. The sheer impudence made me laugh out loud. She knows I voluntarily surrendered my kitchen privileges when I married Kim, so of course the cooking thing does seem a bit suspect. The trouble is, what the heck else am I gonna do with 1,787 food & drink pins on my Pinterest boards, besides present them to my husband one by one with a hopeful look on my face? It’s unlikely that I’m going to work through the list on my own — I cooked for a solid thirty-five years, often for field hands and harvest help, and to quote the inimitable Madeline Kahn, “I’m tiiiiiired.”
Kim and I have actually put together quite a few of the ideas I’ve pinned, and rarely met with disappointment. HOWEVER. There’s no way we would ever get through them all in this lifetime … so I was thinking … we bloggers and friends could institute a sort of test kitchen amongst ourselves! Whaddaya think, huh? huh?? Fun, right?!
The only rule would be that if you make one of the recipes you find here or on one of my Pinterest boards, you MUST come back and file a report. Delicious, so-so, definitely not worth the time, that sort of thing. I’m hearing no objections! So … let’s start, appropriately enough, with an appetizer. GO!!
Chipotle Chicken Tostada Bites
inspired by Z’Tejas
Ingredients:
1/4 c. plus 2 TBSP chipotle salsa, pureed (I like Herdez brand)
1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 avocados
zest and juice of one lime
2 TBSP red onion, finely minced
1 clove garlic, pressed or finely minced
1 Roma tomato, seeds removed, finely chopped
2 TBSP fresh cilantro, minced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs removed, finely minced (optional)
1/4 tsp. cumin
salt and pepper, to taste
24 round tortilla chips
24 cilantro leaves, for garnish
Directions:
1. The night before serving, pour 1/4 c. pureed chipotle salsa over the chicken breast and allow to marinate, tightly covered, in the refrigerator. Turn once during marinating time.
2. Cook the chicken, covered, in a saute pan. Allow to cool, then shred. Mix shredded meat with remaining two TBSP salsa.
3. While chicken is cooling, make guacamole by combining all remaining ingredients (except chips) in a nonreactive bowl. Mix together with a fork, leaving only small chunks. Adjust salt and pepper as desired.
4. Just before serving, top each chip with a generous TBSP each of guacamole and chicken. Top with a cilantro leaf and arrange on a platter.
A word of advice on these–wait to assemble them until the last second. The chips get soggy if the guacamole sits on them too long. Luckily, all the components will be fine if made the night before or morning of serving.
And for those whose tummies do not play well with cilantro, substitute creatively!
Playing for Time 
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