What's cookin'

Thanks you all for the perfect gift idea for my daughter who just posted yesterday on facebook that she loves her King Arthur Flour cook book! She and dp are in to baking and I bet they'd love the cinnamon and vanilla. Free shipping on orders over $50 and probably some coupon codes, too.

Jill, KA doesn't have Extra strength vanilla listed, do you know the exact name, they have Vanilla Crush, Tahitian, Madagascar, and Mexican. And I think a Bourbon Mexican.
Thanks

Sorry, I was commenting on Sally's Penzey's order... they are the ones with the natural cocoa and double strength vanilla and vietnamese "extra fancy" cinnamon. Actually, even their regular cinnamon at Penzey's will blow you away compared to the grocery store stuff.

I think I got a vanilla "paste" at KA once, nice when you want some little vanilla bean flecks along with your flavor but don't want to splurge on an actual vanilla bean.

Thats ok Jill, you are steering me in the right direction. I looked on the Penzey site and saw it is a Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla. So I just might order that and the Crushed Vanilla from KA, thats Vanilla with crushed bean in the extract. I go through a lot of vanilla and it will be fun comparing the 2

Now you've got me heading over to browse the KA site... :-)

yes, I am an enabler. If you buy anything at KA order a bottle of FIORI DI SICILIA it is out of this world. I just like to open the bottle and sniff even if I'm not baking with it. LOL

I found a grinding stone with the compliment concave stone bowl receiver as an Indian relic. I grind cinnamon on or in that genuine artifact. I will make a spoon full or a little more at a time. It waifs up my nostrils for an instant gratification as I grind and activate the oils. I get a reasonably fine grind that way. I like it a little on the lumpy side. It only takes a few minutes to do an ounce. I see some catalogs with small modern made stone mills.

I love that extract, LadyG... smell is wonderful... but I can never think of what to add it to... ?

Thanks Doc, that makes perfect sense.

Jill, I posted a Biscott recipe with it in, and I guess you could add it to a sugar cookies recipe.

Sometimes I am frugal and refuse modern technique at the expense of time and effort. Yet I believe it may be those moments in doing anything that become the most cherished and remembered.

I really relate to that plate or pan of free form rolls in this way. Time and effort far exceeded the few moments it took to eat them. The point is that the chef or baker was part of that moment. That can not come out of the grocery store bag. Neither can the texture and flavor. Somewhere in the making the good ole time love of family has to shine through. That's really not the easiest thing to find these days. In the kitchen we still have the opportunity to do some really nice things. No one but we ourselves can stop those pleasures from flowing. So let the dust balls roll and go ahead working with a good meal and it's parts.

Thumbs up, Doc!

LadyG, I'll have to look for your biscotti recipe... I tend to add too many things to biscotti (they don't need german chocolate and almond meal and vanilla extract and dried cherries! LOL)... I think plain with the Fiori extract would be delicious!

I picked up several pounds of wonderful lean ground round at the local butcher yesterday and cooked up 2 things last night, enough for 8 meals for us! :-)

I made a big pan of sloppy joe mix (only DH thinks sloppy joes are made with marinara sauce, so I called them "Sloppy Jacks") that was really good. I was kinda winging it, but I'll see if I can jot down the approximate recipe. I was using up some of the canning pantry contents, but store-bought versions should be similar.

3 1/2 pounds lean ground round, browned & crumbled (fattier ground beef should be browned & drained)
2 teaspoons garlic salt (add while browning beef)
3/4 pound leftover ham, diced and sauteed with
1 large sweet onion, diced fine
1 red pepper, diced fine (I used a handful of dried bits)
1 Tablespoon minced jalapeno (I used a handful of dried bits)
12 oz chile sauce (I used my homemade version)
12 oz ketchup (I used my homemade version)
2 small cans tomato paste
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons white vinegar


We really like these "Calico Beans" in cold weather... lots of similar recipes out there, here's what I've been doing:

Calico Beans (should fit any 5-6 quart crockpot, or make half the recipe in a casserole dish)

2 pounds lean ground beef, browned and crumbled
12 oz bacon, cut into 1" pieces and browned
1 large onion, diced small and sauteed a bit (in the bacon grease)
2 large cans (23 oz, I think) pork & beans, or 3 regular size cans
2 cans limas, drained (I like to use 1 can big butter beans, 1 can small green lima beans)
2 cans red kidney beans (or 1 can kidney beans, 1 can small red beans)
1 cup ketchup
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 Tablespoons dry mustard
black pepper & salt to taste

Simmer on "high" for 3-4 hours, or bake at 350'F for an hour. It stays a little more "soupy" in the crockpot, so we like a little rice in the bowl with it.

Argh. Trying to decide what to have for dinner for Dad and stepM. They will be here for dinner on Thurs, the day before Xmas Eve. No doubt I will be figuratively squeaking in over the finish line on everything and don't want to make a complicated dinner. I usually do ham on Xmas, no messing with the gravy like on Thanksgiving. I mean Thanksgiving IS all about cooking..whereas with Xmas I am so tired of details I don't want any more. Plus I want to enjoy sitting around the piles of paper on Xmas morning!
Lasagne (salad, bread) sounds great. I may have to pretend I don't know she is lactose intolerant. However she has served us lasagne in the past so it must be tolerable.

Chill or Calico Beans (above) with bread (maybe cornbread?) and salad would be easier yet...

If you do the lasagna, remember the tricks I've learned! First, don't bother pre-cooking the noodles. Use regular lasagna noodles (those "no boil" ones just get pasty IMO), and add 1/2 cup water to your sauce. It's much easier to make layers with uncooked noodles rather than having cooked ones try to stick together and wriggle around. My other trick is to season the ricotta, preferably the day ahead -- add lots of parmesan cheese, italian seasoning (or just basil), and a beaten egg (helps keep it from getting soupy).

Family friends with 4 boys traditionally had hot dogs on Christmas Eve... easy, everybody liked them, and the boys were way too excited to sit down for a big meal anyway.

Jill--

Please don't hate me for saying this--

but in your Calico Beans recipe there are 7 ingredients that come in cans!
How much sodium does that add up to?

I would never use canned anything--if i could help it....Trying to eat heart-healthy.
Perhaps one has to get to be a Senior to take all this into account.....

Gita

Gita, I know "easy" doesn't always equal "healthy," and you could certainly make low sodium substitutions (such as starting with dried beans), but with the bacon and ketchup it's going to be a high sodium dish, no getting around it.

It's not a "senior" thing -- some people have to be extra careful with salt, and some people can afford to not worry about it, especially if it's just an occasional high-sodium meal.

The majority of what we eat isn't processed and high sodium, so I don't worry about the above recipe. If it doesn't work for you, skip it! :-)

Thanks for the thoughts Jill. Everybody in this house liked chili last time I made it. Or really good soup. Heck, we all like a good bowl of soup and good bread.

I hear ya on pasty quick noodles. I have one 'organic' brand I like. I did not know the regular ones cooked up just as easily with extra wet sauce. and good reminder to make the ricoota mix ahead. Thanks!

I was going to suggest a good hearty soup and bread, always fills you up and leftovers can be reheated easily.
Jill is right about the extra liquid in lasagna, the recipe I have has almost a whole large can of tomato juice in it. I have not cooked a lasagna noodle in decades.
Hamburgs and baked beans tonight, I am lazy today. LOL

Oh my hubby would probably be very happy with burgers and BB once a week. I seem to forget it can be that easy. Except for washing the greasy pan, and stove yukk. Now that the kids don't care for fast food burgers that much, I COULD do burgers and Crispers at home weekly.

I have decided we'll have good basic Hanover beans can chili, and cornbread and salad. I don't need to stress over this meal. And I know they like chili.

I love making soups and chili and I often make corn bread to go with chili.I made a chicken chili last week since Josh's GF doesn't eat commercial red meats and I didn't have any venison. I often use Bear Creek soup mixes if I'm in a hurry, and I add fresh veggies and meats, they turn out so yummy. I like to whip a little honey butter for my corn bread. Ric

Chili worked out great. Extra toppings of spring onions, shredded cheeese and sout cream made it a bit more special. In fact I joked I had made a meal that tooka as much work on their part as mine, adding their chosen toppings, dressing salad... ha ha

Cinnimon rolls- chilled overnight and baked one pan, and I put the second pan in the freezer since I wasn't baking it right away too. Now--do I thaw overnight then bake, or bake from frozen??

Sally, I'd thaw them first over night in fridge. if you put them in the oven frozen you might have raw centers and nicely browned tops.

Thanks Chris! I am so confident in your baking know how : ^)

Today I am hydrating about a gallon of big white lima beans. Had them on a tripod about seven feet tall this summer. Tomorrow we will introduce them to the ham hocks, onions, mustard and ketchup. This will nearly get us out of this year a routing and a tooting. Haa Happy New Year ya all.

Doc, always enjoy reading about your down home cooking. LOL Happy New Year to All !

While I was keeping an eye on those huge beans I whipped up a pan of home made scrapple. That's a down right sin in my plans but ya gotta do what you gotta do. I just have to have the real stuff once in awhile. No one puts anything but pork lard and seasoning in it today. I use real salt and pepper sausage like we used to get back on the uncle's farm.

Anybody got any good recipes for Italian sausage? I'm not fond of it & we got some in a package deal & I don't want to waste it or get rid of it. Thanks & happy new year to all.

I fry it up, add some green peppers and onion, dump in a can of diced tomatoes. Simmer and serve over linguine or other pasta.

We had a total seafood dinner since Shop Rite had a sale on lobsters, crabmeat, mussels and clams. The lobsters were so huge that each one filled up a whole roasting pan after it was steamed. The little ones were really surprised to see them still alive before we cooked them.

For clams and mussels:

Sauteed garlic in olive oil then added butter.
Added fish stock and white wine.
Added clams next.
Then mussels.
When the shellfish opened up we were ready to dunk our crusty bread in the juices and eat up the shellfish.

Our kids and grandchildren sat at the table until all the food and desserts were finished. They all have good appetites.

Ditto the Italian sausage.

Oh cute boy!!!!

We eat a lot of sausage, and also make our own Italian deer sausage. This one is quick and easy but you need fennel bulbs:

Tuscan White Bean and Sausage Stew
This is traditionally Italian, but uses some canned items to speed things up. The fresh fennel really makes the flavor in this fantastic! It saves well in the refrigerator or freezer too. I used mild sausage instead of hot. You might want to serve it with crusty bread to soak up the delicious juices.

32 min | 10 min prep
SERVES 6
3/4 lb hot Italian sausage
2 medium carrots
1 medium fresh fennel bulb
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups chicken broth
4 garlic cloves, pressed
2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans
1 (18 g) package fresh basil
Remove sausage from casings and cut in half lengthwise, then crosswise into 1/2 inch nuggets.
Place sausage in a large pot and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.
As sausage cooks, peel carrots. Chop carrots and fennel; add to pot and cook an additional 3-5 minutes or until sausage is cooked through and vegetables begin to brown.
Stir in tomatoes, broth and garlic into sausage mixture. Drain and rinse beans; add to pot.
Simmer stew, uncovered, 10-12 minutes or until vegetables are tender. As stew simmers, chop basil. Remove pot from heat and stir in basil.

This one takes longer but it's also really good.

Algerian Chicken with Beans and Sausage

1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. oil
1 broiler-fryer cut up (or whatever cuts you prefer)
Salt and pepper
6 links Italian sausage (can mix hot and sweet or all sweet)
1 20 oz. can white kidney beans (cannelini) rinsed and drained
1/2 can tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp sugar (heaping)

In a large casserole (or iron dutch oven or soapstone pot), heat butter and
oil, brown chicken, season with salt and pepper, and remove. Cut sausage
links into 3/4" pieces, rendering them in remaining fat until crisp. Remove.
Discard all fat but a thin coating spread over sides and bottom of
casserole. Arrange alternate layers of chicken and beans; top with sausage
pieces. Mix remaining ingredients well. (Can stop and refrigerate here.)
Pour liquid mixture over contents of casserole. Bake, covered, in preheated
350 degree F. oven for 1 1/2 hours or until liquid is absorbed. The
cassoulet should be moist, yet firm.

I use more of everything, especially those ingredients that I especially
like; the way I make it it serves from 6 – 8 people depending on appetites and what else is being served. It's very similar in texture and flavor to a classic cassoulet.

AND you could use Italian sausage for this one instead of turkey sausage:

Sausage & Kale Soup

Makes 8 cups; Serves 6

8 oz. fully-cooked smoked turkey sausage, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1 1/4 lb.), peeled and cut into 1/2" chunks
12 oz. fresh kale, stems removed and leaves chopped (8 cups)
Crushed red pepper

1) Heat a 5-qt. pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage and saute 5 minutes or until browned.

2) Add onion and garlic; saute 3 minutes or until onion starts to soften. Add broth and bring to a boil.

3) Stir in potatoes and kale. Simmer partially covered, 10 to 12 minutes or until potatoes and kale are tender. Serve with crushed pepper, if desired, and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

YUM!!!
I read that technique in Cooks Illustrated once, in recipe with the chicken, to brown the chicken well, then remove the skin, and assemble the rest of the dish, Adds flavor to the pan.

Thanks heaps everyone.

I don't know which of those sausage recipes to make first!! They all sound great, but I think I'll start with the chicken one first.

Some pumpkin associates of mine got a little crazy back in October. They built the charcoal oven, designed and made a pan, then proceeded to make and bake a pumpkin pie that was twenty feet across and weighed nearly two tons before baking. This was part of the fun undertaken at an annual giant pumpkin weigh off.

I think some of you research wizzards could find the pictures. It was done this year. Sorry I let the pictures get away from me

good gracious, that's a lot of pumpkin pie! I hope you got a piece, or at least a scoop!

I think I found the pie... check out the photo at the top of the page of the New Bremen Giant Pumpkin Growers Association: http://www.growgiants.com/

Here is the new world record pumpkin pie nearing 4000 lbs.

Wow that is some pie ! And some recipe !

THE 2010 PUMPKIN PIE RECIPE:

187 #10 Cans of Pumpkin

233 Dozen Eggs

109 Gallons of Evaporated Milk

525 Pounds of Sugar

7 Pounds of Salt

14.5 Pounds of Cinnamon

3 Pounds of Pumpkin Pie Spice

Pie Crust

Bake in a 20 foot pie pan for 11 hours, cool for 2. Share it with friends.

share it with friends---ROFL!!

Surprisingly pretty for a giant pie!