October is the Time for Hot Apple Cider

I LOVE hot apple cider.

Not the kind you get from a packet but the real stuff.  Yes, the packet stuff is o.k. but it's just not as tasty as the real thing.  I was on a quest yesterday for just the right kind of recipe.  You can wing it but I wanted to  know what the kids were liking these days.

Thanks to the internet-machine and my go-to Google search, I found just what I wanted on All Recipes.  Here is the link if you want to go straight to: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hot-apple-cider/  but I'm still going to give it to you here along with the tips and tricks that I read about and the adjustments that I made to it myself.

Hot Apple Cider

Ingredients

• 6 cups apple cider
• 1/4 cup real maple syrup
• 6 whole allspice berries
• 1 orange peel, cut into strip
• 1 lemon peel, cut into strips
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 6 whole cloves
• 1 small pat of butter
• 1-2 Macintosh or Jonagold Apples

1. Pour the apple cider and maple syrup into a large stainless steel saucepan.
2. Place the cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice berries, orange peel and lemon peel in the center of a washed square of cheesecloth; fold up the sides of the cheesecloth to enclose the bundle, then tie it up with a length of kitchen string. Drop the spice bundle into the cider mixture.
3.  Place the saucepan over moderate heat for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the cider is very hot but not boiling.
4.  While this is heating up, very thinly slice your apples, and then dice them.  Once the cider is hot, remove the spice bundle, and then drop the apple pieces in to the hot cider.  Add in your small pat of butter stirring until completely dissolved.
5.  Remove the cider from the heat. Ladle the cider into big cups or mugs, adding a fresh cinnamon stick to each serving if desired.

Notes:

• Make sure your citrus peels do not have any pith (the white part of the fruit between the skin and the fruit) attached to the skin. The pith is bitter and will add bitterness to your cider. The next time around that I make this (on Halloween in a few days) I’m going to try grating the skin as opposed to the peeling to see if this works just as well.
• Do not leave your spice bundle in the cider for an overlong period of time.  The citrus peel will embitter your cider.
• Some people just cut up the fruit and tossed it into the drink.  I did not do this.
• Some people also substituted the citrus peels/fruit for pineapple juice.
• This recipe can be easily translated to a crock pot recipe, and can also be doubled, tripled and etc. very nicely.
• I read a whole bunch of reviews as I prepped to make this recipe and if you don't have cheesecloth it was very common to use coffee filters tied with string, or to just dump the seasonings into the cider so they were free floating.  I had cheesecloth and thought it was worth using it so I didn't have to fish things out of the pot. 
• I loved the apples floating in the cider.  Sliced thin enough they soften right up and are a tasty little perk in your cup.

Conclusion:
I'm considering this a keeper and a good find.  It is a modifiable recipe for what you have available in the house, or for what your preferences are as are any recipes.  I really liked this particular recipe with the minor modification of adding the thinly sliced apples and the small pat of butter.  I will be making a big crockpot full of this cider for Halloween evening and I expect there will be nothing left over.

Hunter's Roast: Noodles and Beef with Veggies

Roast and Noodles: Ready for Next Day's Lunch

Well friends, another hit for the books and the repeat-this-meal file.

The recipe is from my cookbook Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade: Slow Cooker Recipes. The only change was we used a chuck roast instead of beef round steak--it was too expensive. All else is the same.

Hunter's Steak

• 2 1/4 lb beef round steak (other beef roast cuts, pork or venison depending on what you have)
• We used a chuck roast
• 1 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 8oz pkg pre-sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 C. frozen loose-pack sliced carrots
• 2 ribs celery, sliced
• 1 1/2 C. reduced-sodium beef broth
• 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 packet (1.5 oz) McCormick beef stew seasoning mix
• This is a nice go-to staple now that we've tried it (kind of like Lipton Onion Soup and etc dry mixes.)
• Wide egg noodles

Cut steak into 6 serving-size portions.  For a large roast you might want to cut it into large chunks.

In slow cooker, combine undrained tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, and celery. Place steak (or roast) on top of vegetables.

In a medium bowl, whisk together beef broth, soup, and beef stew seasoning mix. Pour over meat.

Cover and cook on low heat setting for 8-10 hours.

Serve with/over cooked egg noodles (or rice, or mashed potatoes.)

Tracy Notes:

• The gravy is not thick but is delicious. If you want it thicker you will need to do a flour or cornstarch slurry and add it in.  In this instance I would remove the chunks of meat, cover and keep them warm and then use the hot liquid from the crock to create the slurry, make sure it had no lumps and then slowly add it back in to the main crock, re-adding the roast/meat back in.
• We love old fashioned, hearty, wide egg noodles: this is what we used because it was what we had. We cooked up the noodles (boiled in water with salt and olive oil), drained them and then served them up in bowls and ladled the main dish over the noodles.
• Next time: we are planning on trying out fresh carrots, cut into circles, and doubling the quantity. We are also planning on doubling the celery. We will also add the noodles (cooked) into the crock and mix together when everything is done.
• Great served alone, or with a nice green salad and/or with crusty bread/rolls with butter.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Delight

My mom and I love recipe books, recipe magazines, online recipes...it doesn't really matter...and if there are pictures then all the better.  This little peanut buttery chocolate delight was something we came across about three years ago and immediately knew that it was something that must be attempted.  So far between the two of us we have made it several times and it turns out like a charm every single time.

This is a layered dessert, easy and relatively quick to assemble and well worth it.  It is decadent in its simplicity and its creamy-deliciousness.  :) 

Whip it up and serve it out, your friends, families and guests will think you are a genius.  ;)

Note: If you have a food processor your cookies are crushed in no time flat.  If not, a large Ziploc bag and a rolling pin should work just fine.

Ingredients

• 20 chocolate cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, divided (Tracy Comment: you know that means Oreos, right?)
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 package (8 ounces) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese (softened or cubed), softened
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, divided
• 1 carton (16 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided (Tracy Comment: aka Cool Whip)
• 15 miniature peanut butter cups, chopped (Tracy Comment: Reese's PB Mini PB Cups of course!)
• 1 cup cold milk (Tracy Comment: 2% is preferable)
• 1 package (3.9 ounces) instant chocolate fudge pudding mix

Directions

• Crush 16 cookies; toss with the butter. Press into an ungreased 9-in. square dish; set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, peanut butter and 1 cup confectioners' sugar until smooth. Fold in half of the whipped topping. Spread over crust. Sprinkle with peanut butter cups.
• In another large bowl, beat the milk, pudding mix and remaining confectioners' sugar on low speed for 2 minutes Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Fold in remaining whipped topping.
• Spread over peanut butter cups. Crush remaining cookies; sprinkle over the top. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours. Yield: 12-16 servings.  (BTW: you definitely want to chill it for several hours for best servability)

Mama's Cooking: Pork Loin Roast

My mom is an excellent cook.  She’s taught me most of what I know and I love dining in her home.  You are always greeted with delightful smells and a variety of flavors to tempt the palette and she is always trying to ply you with some morsel or the other.

We often have Sunday dinner at her house with any given variety of my siblings and their families.   

Aside from the cacophony that comes from a small roomful of ravenous adults and squealing children it is usually a good time with lots of conversation, laughter, and the occasional bout of squawking from the minions.  Anyway, my mother’s roasts are always delectable, but this last time around it was crazy-delicious. 

I extracted the information from her brain via conversation…and you can see it below.  She doesn’t give measurements in exacts, and so you’ll have to bear with the winging of the recipe.

Mom’s Pork Loin Roast

Pork Loin Roast: 5-6 lbs.

Spray the bottom of the roasting pan, placing pork in the pan, season with salt and pepper, garlic and onion powders, paprika.  Spray the pork with water to dampen the seasonings.

Put water in the bottom of the pan, approximately ½ inch-3/4 inch.

Put the roasting pan lid on and place pan in the oven, preheated to 350 degrees.

Cook for 3-4 hours, checking to make sure plenty of liquid.  In this case the roast was adding liquid and so none needed to be added.  Pork should be soft and done.  There is usually a piece of the pork that runs alongside that will separate, and will come away when it is done.  You do not want to overcook the pork or it will go from soft and moist, to tough and dry.

Remove when done, set aside on the stove while continuing to prepare the rest of dinner.

When you are ready to make the gravy, remove the loin in full and put the roasting pan on the stove and bring liquid to a boil.

4 C. of water combined with ¾ C. Brown Gravy Mix added in to the drippings and brought to a simmer.  Season it as needed with given seasonings. Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring periodically so it doesn’t scorch.  If needed add an additional 1 C. of water, and simmer for another 10 minutes or so.  

Turn it down to low and let it continue to be heated for an additional 20 minutes.  Slice the pork loin and add it into the gravy, coating all of the pieces, allow it to heat for another 30 minutes.  Beginning to end of the gravy cycle it was probably about an hour of prep and cook to serving time.

Serve with rice, French fries, a green salad with home vinaigrette, orange slices and some French bread with butter.  Enjoy!

Cold Linguini Pasta Salad

So, I love pasta. 

I like it hot, cold, straight out of the cooking pot still piping hot (and yes, I have burned my mouth a time or two), laddled out as a sop for some French bread, or out of the Tupperware dish just pulled out of the fridge.  I like it in salads, soups, main dishes and on the rare delightful occasion as a dessert (Frogs Eye Salad aka Acini de Pepe Salad.)  I like all the different shapes and sizes and kinds and while some may be more favored than others, I certainly have a soft spot for them all. 

Linguini is one of my favorites.  I love it.  I modified this salad from a spaghetti salad recipe that I received from a friend.  It is modified enough that I consider it my own now.

I made this particular salad for the family luncheon my brother and sister-in-law were hosting following my little baby niece's baby blessing.  It turned out deliciously well.  :)

Linguini Salad

1 pkg. Linguini, broken in half, cooked to directions (with salt and olive oil in the boiling water)
1 Bottle Salad Supreme
1-2 C. Homemade Vinaigrette (Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar (2:1 ratio for the oil and vinegar...though I'm prone to making it closer to 50/50 as I like it tart), Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Parsley, Salt, Black Cracked Pepper, Dried Red Pepper Flakes)
1 Jar Kalamata Olives, drained
1 container Red and Yellow pear/cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
4 Stalks Celery, finely chopped
1 large Red Onion, sliced into rings and halved
1 each: Red, Yellow & Orange Bell Peppers, chopped
2-3 Tbsp. Finely Snipped Cilantro
2-3 Tbsp. Finely Snipped Parsley
1-2 Cucumbers, peeled, quartered and diced
1 8 oz. Container Feta Cheese with Basil and Sun Dried Tomatoes

Optional:
1 C. Cubed Pepperoni or Salami,
1 C. Cubed Mozzarella
Pepperoncini Peppers
Green Spanish Olives with Pimentos
Black Olives

Cook, drain and cool linguini.  Prepare the remainder of ingredients.

In a large bowl or serving dish, mix linguini, vegetables and olives, tossing to combine.

Add in the feta cheese (and pepperoni and mozzarella if you are using them), the herbs, 1 C. of the vinaigrette, and the Salad Supreme.  If you need additional liquid, add remaining vinaigrette as needed.  Combine all ingredients so that everything is thoroughly coated and mixed together.  Refrigerate.

The salad is most delightful when refrigerated for 3-4 hours prior to serving, but can be served straight away.

This salad can be made as large or as small as you like it, simply adjust the volume of your preferred ingredients.  It can also be simplified and quickened if you don't have the time by using a bottle of your favorite zesty Italian salad dressing, and omitting the extras and only utilizing onions, tomatoes and peppers, or some other simple combination as you please.

Sherried Tomato Soup with Basil and Tres Formaggio

The base of this soup is called Cathy's Sherried Tomato Soup and is taken from the Pioneer Woman.  The soup in the picture is with my additional modifications, which will be indicated in the recipe below.  At this point I have made this recipe on several occasions and it is absolutely excellent.

Ingredients:
6 Tbsp Melted Butter
1 Whole Medium Onion, Diced
1 46 oz. Bottle of Tomato Juice (T: I used Campbell's Brand)
2 14 oz. Cans of Diced Tomatoes (T: I used Del Monte's Petite Minced)
2 Tbsp. Chicken Base (T: I used Better Than Bouillon)
3-6 Tbsp. Sugar (T: I used 3)
1 Pinch Salt
Black Pepper to Taste (T: I used 1/2 Tbsp.)
1 C. Cooking Sherry (BTW you can find this in the oil and vinegar aisle at your grocery store. It is salty, so do not add additional salt until you have combined and tasted your soup.)
1 1/2 C. Heavy Cream
Chopped Fresh Parsley
Chopped Fresh Basil

Additions:
Small Shell Macaroni: 2 C. raw: Cooked with a little salt and olive oil, drained, and added in to the soup.
1 8 oz. container of Tres Formaggio Mix of Cheeses: Parmesan, Romano, Asiago

In a soup/stock pot, Sauté diced onions in butter until translucent. Then add canned tomatoes, tomato juice, chicken base, sugar, salt, pepper and stir. Bring to a near boil, then turn off heat. Add in cooking sherry and cream and stir. Add in parsley and basil to taste, adjust the other seasonings.

Garnish with a hearty handful of the cheese and freshly snipped basil and serve with crusty bread and butter.

Beginning to end I cranked this out in 20 minutes. It was excellent hot and fresh...and no doubt will be even more so tomorrow.

I have tucked this recipe away, not just as a tomato soup, but as a base soup for other soups (such as without the cream and with more veggies and beans a minestrone, etc. The sky's the limit!)

Homemade Pesto & Linguini

Sitting here in the quiet of darkening night, I can still smell the fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan and olive oil that comprise the homemade pesto that I prepared for this evening’s linguini.  

I can also smell the delight of fresh mint and lavender, plucked from the late afternoon sun in my sister’s herb garden.  Topping it all is the fresh, bright scent of the green toppers off the sun-ripened tomatoes that I just finished sorting and washing as my final chore of the night.  It’s fresh, and sharp and sweet.  My hands smell like summer and so does my kitchen.

It's been a long week and I'm glad to be back at the old homestead.  For the past few weeks work has just never really stopped.  It has been one issue after another and I'm ready for people to settle the hell down already...but so be it...it is what it is, and so I come home nightly to the galley dreaming of simple, delicious, healthy food that isn't going to sit like a brick in my gut.  Honestly, we did eat take out a little this week, but that's just how that cookie crumbled.  It really made me realize, that while take out and restaurant food can definitely be tasty and I appreciate the convenience, I prefer my homemade food best, even if it's just a simple plate of scrambled eggs or a grilled cheese sandwich.

Tonight was a very pleasant evening.  The kitchen is back in order and sleeping man is upstairs and so I thought I'd take a handful of minutes to share the easy beauty that is homemade pesto...not difficult whatsoever and definitely worth whatever I had envisioned "the bother" to be in making it.

Fresh Basil Pesto

• 2 C. fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 C. freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano Cheese...I used the Kraft powder stuff...it's what I had, sorry, no snooty shredded cheese here tonight.
• 1/2 C. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 C. pine nuts or walnuts (surprise! who knew you could sub the walnuts???)
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper...or just the big tankard of black cracked pepper from Costco will do...

The basil came fresh from the sunshine of my sister's garden this afternoon on my way home from work, so I washed it and then snipped all of the good looking leaves with my kitchen friends...the scissors.  It takes a few minutes to get this done so plan accordingly.  You don't want any of the woody stems in your pesto.

Combine the basil with the pine nuts in your food processor.  If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first before adding the basil.  Add in the garlic and pulse a few times more.

Slowly add in the olive oil while the processor continues to pulse.  Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides with a spatula.  Add the cheese and pulse again until blended.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

I served it with linguini which I cooked while prepping the pesto.  I also prepped and served a fresh garden salad with homemade oil and vinegar vinaigrette.

TIP: My pesto browned due to oxidation, which I had no idea that it would do.  I did a quick google search and I found the explanation and how to prevent it at http://www.thekitchn.com/good-question-w-4-12832  The quote is as follows:

"To prevent oxidation, I blanch the basil leaves for a few seconds in boiling water until they turn bright green. Remove the basil from the boiling water, shock it in ice water and pat completely dry on a tea towel, then proceed with your pesto recipe. Acid of some sort can also help. Try squeezing in a bit of lemon juice."

Next time, I will definitely use a touch of lemon juice to see if that helps.  This was delicious and everyone went back for seconds.  Easy, tasty, and if you have a crazy abundance of basil in your garden...or in your neighbors, or your sisters, definitely something fast and easy to perk up a simple plate of pasta for dinner.

Happy Eating!  :)

Beef & Vegetable Soup With Cornbread

 

Tonight was a night for soup.  I've been feeling like I'm worn a little thin "like too little butter scraped over too much bread" if you will indulge a quote from a favorite movie (LOTR).  We've also been trying to be more frugal with our food dollars and I've been trying to use what we have in our pantry and food storage.

I love soup.  There is no doubt about this.  My husband does not think soup constitutes a meal and I disagree.  He thinks soup can be part of a meal but not the main show...beef in any of its forms, but preferably steak, is king.  If it were up to him we'd be eating steak several times a week, and as a result of too much red meat, limping around with gout in our toes like old English kings...but, as I'm sure all of you have seen the prices of our slaughtered and prepared bovine friends, these days it ain't comin' cheap, so be it...no red-meat-steak-induced-gout-a-la-English-kings for us anytime soon.  He and I will never see eye to eye on this and that's o.k. because we're still going to have soup for dinner periodically over the next 8000 years that we will be married...and he's gonna like it dammit...or at least eat it, preferably with a "Thank you, ma'am." and a smile...or at least a semi-contented grimace.

Generally, we eat what's on sale or what comes for free from the end-of-summer gardens that our friends and neighbors have been kind enough to ding-dong-doorbell ditch on the handle of our front door.  No such luck tonight though and so it was a rummage through the fridge and pantry to see what we had to choose from.  Tonight I had some left over ground beef that needed to get used and in the back of the lazy-Susan cupboard I knew I could drag out a bag of Marie Callendar's Cornbread mix...delicious stuff.  So I was set: Beef & Vegetable Soup and Cornbread for dinner.

Now, let's get a couple of things out of the way: yes, I know Marie's cornbread is more like cake, and yes, I do know how to make actual cornbread from cornmeal in the oven with a cast iron pan and the sizzling of the batter as it's dumped into it and all of that coarse corn goodness.  I didn't do that here tonight.  I didn't have the time or the energy for this...I had the Season 3 finale of the Sons of Anarchy to watch and people in this house were already hungry.

BTW don't judge me on the SOA.  I can neither confirm nor deny that I am hooked like a junkie on this program, that I am loading on the costume jewelry before I head out to work every day as I channel my inner Gemma Teller, biker matriarch extraordinaire, or that I've been walking around the house telling people I'm going to "green light" them if they don't do what I want and...yes...I have been calling my husband my "old man"and "baby" more frequently than usual these past few days.  I also cannot in good conscience, as an upstanding citizen and somewhat refined woman of reasonable sensibilities with a bit of baudy humor tossed in for a little sass, recommend this show to anyone so don't ask.  You're on your own for that.  It's an adult show fraught with violence and criminal activity, it is extremely well written and engaging...and you're going to need to make your own decision about that.

But, back to food.

I was on a quest for a soup or something easy to do with this hamburger that's been hanging around my neck these past few days waiting for its turn to be turned into something amazing.

Well hamburger...you have fulfilled the measure of your creation by providing this household with some damn fine soup.  This was fast, delicious, most of the stuff I had on hand, and what I didn't I didn't worry too much about.  It's the kind of soup that you can easily adjust for the palate of your family or the availability of items in your cupboard.  This is a great stand by and a fantastic way to kick off all of the autumnal soups I plan to have some fun with this year.  Here you go:

Beef & Vegetable Soup

Saute in Olive Oil

• 1-1.5 pound ground beef
• ½ lg white onion chopped
• 1-2 med green bell peppers chopped (I had frozen and so I used these)
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic

Add in:

• 2 tablespoon flour, mixing in well

Add in, and then cook for 20-25 minutes

• 1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies
• 1 4 oz. can of diced green chilies
• 1 7 oz. can of whole green chilies, coarsely chopped
• 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• 2 C. Progresso beef broth
• 2 cups of water
• 1lg russet potato, diced
• 1 can sliced green beans
• 1 teaspoon chili powder or chili powder to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 5+ slices of pickled, tamed jalapenos
• salt and pepper to taste

During the last 10 minutes, add in:

·         1 cup elbow macaroni and let cook for remaining 10 minutes.

*You can, of course adjust the seasoning to whatever suits your taste.

• Serve piping hot with cornbread or crackers.

Additions:

• 1 small bag of mixed vegetables.  I didn’t add because I didn’t have it.
• ¼ tsp. Celery Seed.  I only had Celery Salt and I didn’t add that in because I had already salted the soup.