by jphilo | Nov 12, 2014 | Recipes
Yes, today’s recipe for cranberry-apple sauce is one more encore post in a string of encore appearances that spanned most of October and are now encroaching into November.
But I have a really good reason.
Turns out, authors don’t have much time to cook in months where one book releases and a manuscript is being frantically edited in what may be a vain attempt to get it to the publisher by the November 30 deadline. Add to that a couple family emergencies, a few speaking engagements, and an upcoming visit with kids and grandkids, and it’s hard to find time to cook a thing.
Much less try a new recipe.
So, don’t look for any new recipes to debut along the gravel road this month. Instead, expect to see favorite Thanksgiving dishes like this one grace Wednesday posts until after Turkey Day and the manuscript deadline are both history.
Cranberry-Apple Sauce
1 12 oz. package fresh or frozen cranberries
2 apples, peeled and chopped
2/3–3/4 cup sugar, depending on your taste
1 cup water
Put water and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring mixture to a boil. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add cranberries and apples and return to a full boil. Lower heat to a low boil and cook for 10 minutes. Pour into a bowl. Chill for 2–3 hours before serving.
by jphilo | Nov 5, 2014 | Recipes
November means it’s time to repost Mom’s fabulous Chex Mix recipe, in case you need time to gather all the ingredients for the holidays. The original recipe comes from Zoe Hemmingson, one of Mom’s fellow teachers at Franklin School in Le Mars, Iowa.
It’s been a family favorite at Thanksgiving and Christmas since the late 1960s Mom used to make a batch in November and another in December. She’s abandoned the shopping and cooking duties, though she still pays for the ingredients, but sends one her kids to shop. These days she enjoys watching her children or grandchildren do the measuring, mixing, and cooking…and performing her quality control, taste-testing duties. Rock on, Mom!
Franklin Teachers’ Chex Mix
Mix together in a large bowl:
1 box Crispex (17 ounce)
5 cups Cheerios
4 – 5 cups pretzels and mixed nuts (proportion as you like)
Mix together in a small bowl:
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
1/2 cup melted bacon grease*
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Divide mixed, dry ingredients amongst three or four large cake pans. Pour wet ingredients over cereal mix and stir well. Bake at 200 degrees for 2 hours. Stir and turn off the oven. Leave mix in oven until the oven cools. Cool Chex Mix. Store in airtight containers.
*This secret ingredient is essential for the mix’s unique taste.
by jphilo | Oct 29, 2014 | Recipes
Guess who’s back in the kitchen? Not only cooking again, but also looking for ways to use meat from our half of a hog purchased from our farmer son. The meat in our freezer and a craving for cilantro pesto prompted a “pork and cilantro recipes” internet search. It turned up a deceptively simple Better Homes and Gardens recipe for pan-seared pork chops with cilantro pesto.
I substituted cilantro pesto from my freezer instead of making it according to the original recipe’s directions. But the rest of the instructions were followed exactly. The pork chops were delicious enough to receive the coveted Hiram seal of approval. They received my seal of approval because they were tasty, as well as easy to make and a very fast meal to throw together.
Cilantro Pesto Pork Chops
2 cubes of frozen cilantro pesto, thawed 1/4 cup fresh pesto
4 1/2 inch thick, bone-in pork chops
1 teaspoon packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
Mix the brown sugar and chili powder together. Sprinkle on pork chops and rub mixture in with fingers. Flip chops over and do the same on the other side.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork. Cook for 5–7 minutes on each side, turning once, until they are no longer pink. Serve chops with cilantro mixture.
by jphilo | Oct 22, 2014 | Recipes
Well, the back-to-back road trips are over, but recovering from them is not. So the cook hopes you don’t mind one more recycled recipe before she and the kitchen stove get back to work. This week’s encore recipe is what the Man of Steel and I agree is the best dairy-free recipe of 2014, at least so far.
It’s a spinach dip (a modified version of Knorr Spinach Dip) everyone will love because it tastes just like the real sour cream version. No one will be able to tell the difference. But don’t take my word for it. Try it for yourself and leave a comment about what you think.
Dairy-Free Spinach Dip
1 box (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, cooked, cooled and squeezed dry
1 container (12 oz.) Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream
1 cup mayonnaise (contrary to popular belief, mayo contains no dairy products)
1 package Knorr® Vegetable recipe mix
3 green onions, chopped (optional)
Combine all ingredients and chill about 2 hours. Serve with your favorite dippers* to your favorite people.
*Check the ingredient list of dippers to be sure they are dairy-free.
by jphilo | Oct 15, 2014 | Recipes
Back-to-back weekend road trips are cramping my recipe-testing style. Therefore this recipe is another old favorite that’s been featured previously. It also takes advantage of the pumpkin spice craze sweeping the country…even though the recipe was a family favorite long before the craze began and will remain so long after it dies. Give it a try and see what you think.
Pumpkin Bread
3 1/2 cups flour 1 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking soda 1 cup oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt 4 eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon 2/3 cup water
1 tsp. nutmeg 2 cups canned pumpkin
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together, then mix in wet ingredients and nuts. Pour into 3 greased loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour or until golden brown. Let cool for at least thirty minutes before taking them out of the pans. (I sometimes make the bread in large tin cans so the slices will be round. If you do that, cut down the baking time.)
How to Make Pumpkin Filling:
- With a large, sharp knife cut pie pumpkin in half.
- Remove the stem and throw away.
- Use an ice cream scoop to scrape the seeds and stringy matter from the cavity of the pumpkin.
- Slice each half into 3 or 4 wedges.
- To steam the pumpkin, cover either the bottom of roasting pan or dutch oven with water. Place pumpkin wedges in the pan. Put the covered roasting pan in the oven for about an hour at 350 degrees. Or put the dutch oven on the stove and let simmer for about an hour or until the pumpkin is fork tender. Remove from heat.
- When the pumpkin is cool, remove the outer skin. Cut the pumpkin into chunks and place the chunks in the blender to puree.
- Pour into in zippered freezer bags in desired amount and freeze.
by jphilo | Oct 8, 2014 | Recipes
Being on the road doesn’t leave much time to try new recipes. But before leaving the Man of Steel on his own, I prepared several meals he can heat and eat. One of them was Balkan Meatballs, the ultimate chilly weather comfort food. Best of all, the dairy-free version (substitutions in parentheses) is as tasty as the original version.
This recipe’s been featured here on the gravel road before, but it’s so good it deserves another look.
Balkan Meatballs
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 pound ground turkey
2/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 – 12 ounce package of frozen Reames Noodles
2 tablespoons butter (or Earth Balance buttery vegan sticks)
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk (or almond milk)
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat egg with milk or almond milk. Mix in dry bread crumb, salt, sugar, and spices. Add beef, turkey and onion. Mix thoroughly. Shape mixture into balls the size of walnuts and place on broiler pan. Broil until lightly browned. Cool.
Cook noodles according to package directions. At the same time, melt butter or buttery vegan stick in large skillet. Add flour, stirring constantly until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Gradually stir in milk, stirring constantly. Heat to boiling and stir one minute until mixture is thick and smooth. Add meatballs; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Serve meatballs over the noodles.
Note: I usually make a double batch of meatballs and use 1/3 for supper, then divide the remaining meatballs into two quart freezer bag and put in freezer to use later.
