I guess I am more of a homebody than I thought. I love the scent of bread baking, the sound of a chicken stew bubbling on the stove, the sight of Molly the chi and Cosette, the tux cat, sleeping in front of the heater and the feel of the keyboard under my flying fingers.
Pita Pizza
This was one of those experiments gone wonderfully right!
Ingredients:
One pita bread, whole.
1 slice onion minced.
1 garlic clove minced.
1/2 small zuchinni chopped.
1/2 cp. poached chicken breast, chopped.
2 Tblsps. Italian blend cheese.
Fresh Parmesan cheese.
Bottle of favorite barbeque sauce.
Directions:
Preheat toaster oven 425 degrees.
Cover top of pita bread with about a tblsp of the barbeque sauce.
Saute onion and garlic. (I use water, but olive oil is fine)
Place onion/garlic mix on top of barbeque sauced pita.
Add chopped zuchinni.
In a small bowl add chopped chicken and about 1/4 cp barbeque sauce. Mix until chicken is coated, then drop the chunks of chicken on top of pita bread, making sure everything is spread evenly.
Sprinkle Italian blend cheese and parmesan on top.
Bake ten minutes in 425* oven, (or until cheese is completely melted and chicken is browned).
Add a tossed green salad and you have a meal fit for the pickiest eater. By the way, I've eaten this without the chicken and it is just as satisfying! (7 grams fat about 285 calories)
(My favorite comfort food!)
1 whole chicken, cut into parts. (Thighs and drumsticks are an inexpensive alternative)
1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 pkg frozen peas & carrots
1 tsp. Bay seasoning
1 tblsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Water to cover
Directions:
In a large pot sauté the celery and onion in oil until soft. Add remaining ingredients, except frozen vegetables and enough water to cover top of chicken about an inch. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer.
Let simmer for about 90 minutes or until the chicken is tender and falling off bones. Strain chicken reserving broth. When cool enough to handle remove chicken from bones. Place chicken in broth and return to stove top. Add frozen vegetables and simmer about 8 minutes. Stew should resemble a thin soup. It will thicken when you make the dumplings. (If you don’t make the dumplings, you may thicken with 1 tblsp. cornstarch into two tblsp. cold water. Mix and stir into simmering stew.)
Dumplings
1/3 cp. Milk
1 cp. Bisquick
Mix milk and Bisquick together. Drop by teaspoonfuls into simmering stew. Cook uncovered ten minutes. Then cover and cook an additional ten minutes. Your dumplings will be light as clouds and delicious!
Serve hot and enjoy!
Semi-Homemade Coconut Cake:
(My daughter asks me to bake this for her birthday every year. It's so easy!)
Ingredients:
1 pkg White Cake Mix
1 (3.4 oz) pkg coconut cream instant pudding and pie filling
4 large eggs
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Frosting:
1 can vanilla cream frosting
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
For cake, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water and oil in large bowl. Beat at low speed with electric mixer until moistened. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Divide into pans.
Bake at 350°F for 32 to 37 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool following package directions.
Fill and frost cake. Sprinkle with flaked coconut. Refrigerate until ready to serve. (I tried toasting the cocoanut flakes in the oven for a few minutes on the last cake I made. Lovely.)
Grampa Mac's Chile
(I found this recipe while going through Dad's Hawaii photo album)
Ingredients:
2 lbs. extra lean ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 can pitted, sliced sm. black olives
1 lg. can spiced Italian tomatoes
2 lg. cans chili beans
2 medium cans chile con carne (1 can hot, 1 can not)
1/2 packet chili powder
1/4 cp. brown sugar (not packed)
Directions
Brown and crumble ground beef in large, iron skillet. Add diced onion and green pepper. Cover and let simmer.
Into large crock pot, or cooking pot, add chili beans, chile concarne, tomatoes and let simmer 30 mins. Stir often to keep from scorching.
Sprinkle in chili powder, brown sugar, stir. Add browned meat, onion and green pepper mix. Simmer chile on low heat at least one hour. Serve sprinkled with black olives and grated cheddar cheese. A loaf of french bread, toasted, or saltine crackers and tossed green salad, makes this a great meal for Superbowl Sunday. (Freeze leftovers if there is any!)
Chocolate Chip Date Nut Cake
(A favorite McCarthy dessert, my mother kept this recipe in her jewelry box!
I think she got the recipe from her friend Mardel Baker.)
Ingredients:
1 cp. chopped dates
1 cp. boiling water
1 tsp. baking soda
Combine above ingredients and set aside to cool.
1 cp. shortening or oil. ( I use margarine for a richer taste)
1 cp. white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
Combine above ingredients and set aside.
1&1/2 cps. white flour
3 tsp. dry cocoa
1 tsp. salt
Sift or mix dry ingredients, then add to date mixture. Add remaining liquid ingredients. Pour into 13”x9” baking pan. Sprinkle one cup chocolate chips and one cup chopped walnuts over top of cake.
Bake @ 350 for 45 minutes. Serve warm with french vanilla icecream for a rich, sinful dessert!
Favorite Meatloaf
(This is one of my oldest boy's favorites as long as it is made with beef, not turkey!)
Ingredients:
1 lb. extra lean ground sirloin
1/4 lb. sausage
3/4 cp. plain bread crumbs
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 egg
1 tsp. seasoning salt (Recipe follows)
1 tsp. Worcestshire sauce
1 tsp. apricot barbeque sauce
1/4 cp. catsup
Directions
Knead all ingredients in large bowl, in order given. Place in a loaf pan and
drizzle a line of catsup along the top. Bake @ 350 for 55 minutes.
Auntie Oralee Lincoln's Swiss Steak
(Auntie Oralee was my great Aunt on my father's side. She got this recipe from her mother, which makes it about 100 years old.)
Ingredients:
2 lbs. round steak, cut into small pieces
1/2 cp. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. seasoning salt (my own addition)
1/2 tsp. garlic
1 tsp. worcestshire sauce
1/2 cp. shortening
3 cps. milk
Directions
Mix dry ingredients. Dredge steak thoroughly in dry mixture. Place shortening into skillet. Brown steak in skillet, about 5 minutes each side.
Place in double boiler. Make sure water is bubbling underneath so steak continues to cook.
Add remaining flour to skillet, stir until smooth and bubbly. Add milk, worcestshire, garlic. Mix until smooth and bubbly. Add to steak in double boiler. Cover and cook over low heat two hours or until steak is tender.
I sometimes add half a cup of sour cream to this recipe. Delicious.
Homemade Seasoning Salt
This is my own blend using a generic base of salt, pepper and onion granules I found years ago. Store in a Mason jar and add to shaker as needed)
Ingredients:
1 cp. salt
1/4 cp. pepper
1/4 cp. white pepper
2 tblsp. celery salt
2 tblsp. onion powder
2 tblsp. garlic salt
1 tblsp. dried parsley
1 tblsp. sugar
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. ginger
Directions
Mix all ingredients, place in jar and shake vigorously. Fill shaker and store remaining seasoning in a cool, dry location.
Mix all ingredients, place in jar and shake vigorously. Fill shaker and store remaining seasoning in a cool, dry location.
Apple Pie Tips
My son says I make the best apple pie ever. Sometimes I think he comes down to do repair work on my RV because he knows there will be an apple pie waiting for him at home in the next few days. It works out well for me because I love to bake and I get to see my busy son more often!
Here are a few tips my mother gave me.
1. I always pre-bake the bottom crust of the pie. I found out this is called "blind baking" pie crust. I dislike soggy, uncooked bottom crust. Line the bottom of the raw crust with foil or parchment paper, add coffee beans for weight (keeps crust from bubbling up) and bake at 375 degrees five to seven minutes. (I've heard some cooks pre-bake as long as ten to fifteen minutes, so experiment. Five minutes works for me.) Keep the coffee beans in a container to reuse. They cannot be used for coffee once you have used them to weigh down your pie crust!
2. I also pre-cook the peeled, sliced, apples for three minutes in the microwave before laying onto bottom crust. I don't want the apples fully cooked, just enough to soften slightly before they go into the crust. This also prevents your top crust from falling when the apples cook down.
3. Most people know this, but an egg wash across the top crust gives your pie a nice, golden brown top. I do not brush the edges of the pie crust as they brown quickly on their own.
I hope you'll try some of these tips. Enjoy!
