Homemade Cheese Crackers

Posted on March 18, 2010 by Kellie

My grandmother made these little cheese crackers for a family gathering this past weekend.  They are great served warm!  They remind me of a recipe for cheese wafers (recipe below picture) that I have had in the past.

Cheese Wafers

1/2 c. butter

1 c. grated extra sharp cheddar cheese

1 c. flour

1 pinch salt

1 pinch cayenne pepper (or more–I use about 1/4 tsp.)

pecans (optional)

Cream the butter and cheese together.  Stir in the other ingredients, then roll into logs, and wrap in wax paper.  Refrigerate at least 1 hour, then slice and bake at 325 degrees 5-10 minutes until done.  Press a pecan on the top of each wafer before baking if desired.

*If making these for a gathering:  Inform your guests that these are cheese wafers, especially if using white cheddar AND pecans.  They closely resemble shortbread cookies, and can be quite surprising to anyone not expecting the cheesy, salty, spicy flavor!

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Reuben Casserole

Posted on March 12, 2010 by Kellie

This recipe for Reuben Casserole is one of many recipes that I have torn out of cooking magazines that my grandmother has given me.  Every time I take a stack of these mags home, I clip and tear out every recipe that I think I might just use one day.  The ones we like are organized into a binder so we can find them easily, and the ones we don’t care for are recycled.  This one’s a keeper!

While it’s not pretty, this casserole has classic reuben flavor with a mac and cheese texture.  It definitely qualifies as comfort food, and was very easy to make.  In this batch, I used half of the sauerkraut called for, and substituted half of the cream of chicken soup with a lower fat cream of mushroom soup since that’s what I had in the pantry.  I also added about 1/2 c. of light Thousand Island dressing to the mix, since a reuben just isn’t a reuben without that dressing.

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Maple & Cider Glazed Pork Loin & Maple Carrots

Posted on March 6, 2010 by Kellie

A few weeks ago, before watching Food, Inc., I bought a pork loin when it was on special at the grocery store…  I had no plans for it at the time, but the price was right, so I bought it and cut it into pieces to freeze and use later.

After several weeks of feeling a bit turned off by the idea of eating mass produced meat, I finally decided it was time to cook up some of this pork loin…

Maple & Cider Glazed Pork Loin

2  thick slices from the center of a pork loin (about 1.5 inches thick)

1 tbsp. butter

1/2 c. hard cider or sweet cider

1/8 c. maple syrup

salt & pepper to taste

Melt butter in a pan over medium-high heat.  Add pork loin slices and brown on both sides, adding salt & pepper on each side before turning.  Add cider and cook another few minutes.  Pour maple syrup over the pork loin slices and continue to cook uncovered.  The glaze will thicken as it cooks, and the outside of the meat will caramelize as well.  Turn every few minutes during cooking to prevent the meat from burning.  Reduce heat to medium-low once both sides of the meat have become caramelized.  Continue to cook over medium-low heat for another 10 minutes or so, until the inside of the meat has reached a safe temperature.  Serve with homemade applesauce and maple carrots (recipe below picture).

Maple Candied Carrots

1 lb. baby carrots

2 tbsp. butter

1/8 c. pure maple syrup

1 tsp. dill

salt & pepper to taste

Boil carrots about 5-8 minutes, then drain.  Meanwhile, melt butter in a large pan over medium heat, add carrots, dill and maple.  Saute until carrots are well glazed and fully cooked.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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Chocolate Banana Ice Cream

Posted on March 3, 2010 by Kellie

This is another basically good-for-you ice cream made with no heavy cream.  A little chocolate syrup or hot fudge helps make it seem like the real deal, but it’s good on its own as well.  When it comes out of the ice cream maker’s canister, its consistency is similar to a very thick milkshake, but after about 12 hours in the freezer it has a texture similar to sorbet or light store bought ice cream.

Chocolate Banana Ice Cream

1 1/2 c. skim milk

2 tbsp. cocoa powder

2 bananas, sliced

1 c. nonfat vanilla yogurt

1   14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Combine skim milk and cocoa powder in a small sauce pan, and heat over medium-low.  Whisk until well combined.  The heat will help the cocoa powder distribute evenly into the milk.  Remove from heat when evenly mixed.

Place sliced bananas into a food processor, and pour a little bit of the cocoa/milk mixture in to help puree the bananas.  Add the yogurt and sweetened condensed milk to the food processor, and blend until smooth.  Empty the contents of the food processor into the sauce pan with any remaining cocoa/milk mixture and whisk together thoroughly.  Whisk in vanilla extract.  Chill the mixture in the fridge for at least 1 hour, then freeze in an ice cream maker using the manufacturer’s directions.

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Sweet Potato Pie

Posted on March 1, 2010 by Kellie

I’ve always wanted to try making sweet potato pie, but somehow haven’t gotten around to it until last night.  I had purchased the sweet potatoes for another recipe that I decided not to make, and had a (yes, Pillsbury) pie crust in the fridge that needed to get used up…  So I went online and scoured through recipe after recipe.  So many called for exorbitant amounts of butter, heavy cream, and then finally I found Emeril’s Sweet Potato Pie recipe.

Usually when I try a recipe for the first time, I follow it exactly.  This time around, I broke that rule, and made a couple of changes.  First, I didn’t want to use (or have to go out and buy) heavy cream, so I substituted one can of evaporated milk.  Secondly, I didn’t want to have to puree the sweet potato by mashing it by hand, or through a seive, so I used the food processor, and poured in a little of the evaporated milk to help it along.

Another change I made was to use 2 whole eggs, and 4 egg whites (leftover from another recipe).  These were medium sized eggs, so I figured the volume of total egg would be close.  The final change was to add about a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract to the pie mixture when adding the spices.

We were very pleased with the texture and flavor of this pie–just sweet enough, with just the right amount of maple flavor and spice.  This is definitely my new favorite pie recipe!

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Brewers’ Chili

Posted on February 28, 2010 by Kellie

This chili recipe is loosely based on a recipe that a friend shared with me from The Joy of Cooking cookbook.  Since trying the recipe (and losing the paper copy of it that I had) I have made several more batches of chili using some of the ingredients and techniques I learned from the recipe.  I’ve also made a few modifications.

Ingredients

1 lb. ground turkey

2 bottles of oatmeal stout or other dark beer

2 small onions, minced

1 large green pepper, chopped

4-6 cloves of garlic, minced

2  14 oz. cans of diced tomatoes

*1 can of great northern beans (or white cannelini beans)

*1 can of dark red kidney beans

*1 can of small pink beans

*1 can of corn

6 tbsp. dark chili powder

1 tbsp. ground black pepper

1-2 tsp. ground chipotle chili powder

1-2 tsp. cumin

1/2 c. pearled barley (reserve for last hour of cooking)

*Do not drain the beans or corn–the liquid adds flavor and seems to thicken the chili.

1.  In a large pot, cook the onion, garlic, and green pepper in a small amount of cooking oil over medium-high heat.

2.  Add ground turkey to the pot, and scramble, cooking until browned slightly.  Then add one bottle of the oatmeal stout, stirring until it stops bubbling.  Reserve the second bottle to add in the last hour of cooking.

3.  Add all other ingredients, stir well, and cook over medium heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally.  This chili is best when simmered for several hours over low heat, or even stored overnight in the refrigerator and reheated on the stove a day or two later.

4.  An hour before serving, add the second bottle of oatmeal stout.  Stir in the pearled barley at this time.  Cook at least one more hour, until barley is cooked to desired consistency.

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Potato Beer Cheese Soup

Posted on February 27, 2010 by Kellie

This soup was inspired by two things:

1) I had 8 potatoes that needed to be used, pronto!

2)  I have been craving the beer cheese soup served The Run of the Mill Public House.

The beer cheese soup at The Run of the Mill is amazing.  They make it every day with different types of cheeses and different types of beer, so each time it’s a little different, but always delicious.  I like that they serve it with pretzels–the perfect garnish!

My version of the soup involves potatoes to give it heft with a lot less saturated fat than the real deal… I’ll admit, it doesn’t exactly look appetizing, but really is flavorful…

Potato Beer Cheese Soup

2 tbsp. butter

1 small onion, minced

2 tbsp. flour

2 c. skim milk

2 c. chicken broth

8 small to medium potatoes

1 bottle of beer (the darker, the better)

1 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper

4 oz. extra sharp cheddar (Cabot’s Hunter’s Seriously Sharp works well)

Melt the butter in a large cooking pot.  Cook the onions over medium heat until transparent.  Add flour to make a smooth paste, then slowly add the milk, whisking constantly.  Whisk in the broth, then add the potatoes.  Simmer until the potatoes are soft, then mash slightly, leaving some chunks for texture.  If you prefer a smoother soup, process in batches in a blender or food processor.  You may want to add more broth at this time if the soup is too thick.  Whisk in the cheese and seasonings and simmer another 10 minutes before serving.

Reheat any leftovers on the stove rather than the microwave, adding more broth if needed.

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Roasted Asparagus and Spicy Mac & Cheese

Posted on February 21, 2010 by Kellie

Now that I’ve tried roasting asparagus, I don’t think I’ll ever steam it again.  It was easy to prepare, far more flavorful than the steamed version, and even a little crisp.  To prepare, trim the asparagus, and toss it with a small amount of olive oil–just enough to lightly coat the asparagus.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast in the oven at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes, turning about half way through the cooking time.

This homemade macaroni and cheese recipe is a great way to sneak a little more skim milk into dinner, and it’s a much lighter version than some recipes I’ve tried in the past, without sacrificing flavor.

Spicy Mac & Cheese

1 box of elbow macaroni

3 tbsp. butter

1/4 c. flour

3 c. skim milk

8 oz. extra sharp cheddar, cubed

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1-2 tsp. crushed red pepper

In a small sauce pan, melt the butter over low heat.  Brush a small amount of the melted butter on the bottom and sides of a large casserole dish, and set casserole dish aside.  Next, add the flour to the remaining butter, whisking until smooth.  Add 1 cup of skim milk to the butter/flour mixture a little at a time, whisking until smooth.  Increase heat to Medium.  Continue whisking the milk mixture, and add the pepper and crushed red pepper.

When the milk mixture thickens and begins to steam, add another cup of milk, whisking until smooth.  Continue this process until all three cups of milk have been combined and the mixture is steaming and thickened slightly.  Add the cheese to the milk mixture, whisking until all cheese is melted.  Reduce heat to medium-low, but continue whisking periodically so that the cheese mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan.  This cheese sauce will thicken a bit more while the macaroni is cooking.

Boil the macaroni to partially cook it, about half the recommended cooking time, then drain and pour into the casserole dish.  Pour the cheese mixture over the macaroni.  It should pretty much cover the macaroni, and will look a little soupy.  Bake at 350, stirring after 30 minutes.  Return to oven and bake another 20-30 minutes, until macaroni has reached desired consistency, and the cheese mixture has thickened/absorbed into the macaroni.

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Creamless Ice Cream…

Posted on February 20, 2010 by Kellie

As much as I love ice cream, I know that consuming heavy whipping cream in large quantities is not good for anyone.  This recipe was my attempt to create a lighter version.

1 banana

1  14oz can sweetened condensed milk

1 c. skim milk

1 c. nonfat vanilla yogurt

1.5 oz raisins (optional)

Combine the banana, skim milk and yogurt in a food processor.   Process until smooth.  Then add the can of sweetened condensed milk and process to mix thoroughly.  Chill at least 1 hour in refrigerator, then pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s directions.

If adding raisins (or better yet, chocolate) add it when the ice cream appears to be just about ready.  This ice cream will not be as thick as traditional ice cream, with a consistency much like a thick milkshake.  Remove from ice cream canister and put in a freezer-safe container.  Freeze for a couple of hours before serving.

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Root Vegetable Risotto

Posted on February 18, 2010 by Kellie

This root vegetable risotto was inspired by one that I tried at Bull Feeney’s restaurant.  Risotto is fairly easy to make, and it is wonderful winter comfort food.

Root Vegetable Risotto

1/2 c. pearl barley

1/4 c. brown rice

1/4 c. long grain white rice, or arborio rice

1 small onion, minced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 parsnips, cut into small cubes (about 2 c.)

1 c. of carrots, cut into small cubes

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 c. white wine

2 1/2 c. vegetable broth

2 c. water

1/3 c. whole milk

1/3 c. shredded parmesan

Boil pearl barley in salted water, about 20 minutes, then drain and set aside.  Meanwhile mix the broth and water in a small sauce pan, and warm it over medium-low heat.  Once the broth starts steaming, reduce heat to low, and keep warm for use in later steps.

Combine butter and olive oil in pan, and heat to melt butter.  Add onion and garlic, and cook over medium-high heat until the onion is transparent.  Add the root vegetables, and continue cooking about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. The carrots and parsnips should get a little browned, but not burned.

Add the barley and rice and stir while cooking for about 3-5 minutes.  The rice should begin to turn a golden color.  Then add the wine, stirring until absorbed.   Add a cup of broth-water mixture, and stir occasionally until absorbed.  When the broth-water mixture is absorbed, add another cup and continue this process until all broth-water has been added and absorbed.

Add the milk and parmesan, continuing to stir to prevent the risotto from sticking to the bottom of the pan.   Season with black pepper.

We enjoyed our risotto with a hearty kale soup, salmon pinwheels on cucumber slices, and some fresh bread with garlic dipping oil.  This risotto would also be a nice side with fish or chicken.

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