Brussels Sprouts Casserole

January 11, 2025 in Side Dish | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

  • Ingredients
  • 1 Tbsp. butter
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 lb. brussels sprouts, halved
  • White wine (optional)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Dash cayenne
  • 1/4 tsp. mustard powder
  • 1/2 cup cream
  • 2 slices cooked crisp bacon bits
  • 1/4 cup shredded Gruyere
  • 1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In an oven-proof skillet melt butter and then stir-fry shallot and garlic until soft. Stir in brussels sprouts and stir around until coated with the butter-shallot-garlic mix. Cover and let sprouts steam over medium heat until tender, about ten minutes. Splash a bit of white wine (or other liquid) into the pan during that time if the sprouts start sticking or scorching. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne, and mustard powder. Stir in cream. Heat through. Remove from heat and sprinkle bacon bits and cheeses over the top. Place into a 375 degree F oven for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted. Serve.

NOTES: This is my new favorite brussels sprouts recipe. So delicious! I found the recipe at TopTeenRecipes. If you do not have an oven-proof skillet, feel free to cook the brussels sprouts and then place into a baking dish. Finish with the cream, bacon, and cheeses.

Dried Fruit Bars

January 8, 2025 in Dessert | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

  • Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup chopped dried fruit

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 10×15″ rimmed pan with parchment paper or other non-stick.

In a large bowl beat butter, sugar, and molasses until smooth. Beat in egg until well combined. Stir in cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, and cloves. Stir in flours, nuts, and dried fruit until evenly moistened. Spread dough in prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes, or until the bars begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Let cool in pan on a rack, then cut into bars.

NOTES: The recipe is from Sunset Magazine’s May 1989 issue. I used to make these bars ALL THE TIME! They are super fast and easy. It seemed a healthy choice for school lunchbox snacks. I have used any manner of dried fruit and nuts. Today I didn’t have enough molasses so I used dark corn syrup to make up the difference. I can remember using honey before. The recipe is very forgiving for substitutions. It makes a thin, chewy cookie bar. The fruit you see pictured today is half cup of dried cranberries and half cup of dried apricots.

Baked Blintzes

October 5, 2024 in Breakfast | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

  • Batter Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 Tbsp. sour cream
  • 2 Tbsp. melted butter
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cup flour
  • 1 Tbsp. sugar
  • 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
  • Filling Ingredients
  • 1-1/2 cups ricotta
  • 4 oz. cream cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 3 Tbsp. sugar
  • 1/2 Tbsp. lemon zest
  • 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • Sauce Ingredients
  • This is up to you. If you want to make your own, then try 2/3 cup fresh fruit mixed in a saucepan with 2/3 cup sugar. Bring to a boil and let simmer 5-10 minutes. Or use syrup. Or use something you’ve picked up from the store, or from a friend. It’s all good!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9×9″ baking dish with non-stick spray or by greasing.

Place the batter ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Pour half the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, until set.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together ricotta, cream cheese, egg, and sugar. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt. Mix until thoroughly combined. Spread the cheese filling over the baked batter in the dish. Very carefully spread the remaining batter evenly over the cheese filling to cover.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is golden and the filling nearly set. Remove from oven and let stand 10-15 minutes. Cut the blintz into squares and serve warm with your favorite sauce over the top. The sauce I used for the top photograph is rhubarb. Yummy! Serves 6-9.

NOTES: This recipe is based upon one by Ina Garten. I halved it because there are only two of us. I’ve made it with many different kinds of fruit sauce. Baking is so much easier (for me) than making crepes and filling and sauce.

Chocolate Cheesecake

October 2, 2024 in Dessert | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

  • Crust Ingredients
  • 1 cup crushed graham crackers (gluten-free is fine)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • Filling Ingredients
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup cocoa
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 lb. cream cheese, room temperature
  • Topping Ingredients
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 3 Tbsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla

Grease or spray a 9″ springform pan with non-stick. Line the bottom with parchment. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Spoon in to prepared pan and press firmly into the bottom with the back of a spoon.

In a food processor, place sugar, cocoa, vanilla, and eggs. Whir until mixed. Cut the cream cheese into chunks and place into the food processor. Process until it is well mixed and smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides frequently. Dollop atop the graham cracker crust and smooth the top with a rubber scraper or spatula. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-30 minutes. It should be set, but the center will still be a darker color.

While that is baking, stir together the topping ingredients. Remove the cake from the oven and spread the topping ingredients over the chocolate filling. Return to the oven for 10-20 minutes until topping loses most of its shine. Remove from oven and let it cool to room temperature.

Open springform and lift cheesecake to remove parchment paper. Slide onto serving plate. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

NOTES: If you use gluten-free graham crackers, this is a gluten-free dessert.

Easy Curry Sauce

September 28, 2024 in Miscellaneous | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

  • Ingredients
  • 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp. chili flakes
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1-2 Tbsp. curry powder
  • 1 10.75 oz. can tomato puree (passata)
  • 1 13.5 oz. can coconut milk
  • 1 tsp. salt

In large sauce pan, melt coconut oil. Stir in onion and stir-fry until soft. Stir in garlic, chili flakes, cumin, and curry powder. Stir over heat until it’s all mixed together and the garlic softens. Stir in tomato puree and coconut milk. Stir in salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and then simmer for 10 minutes. Check the salt and add more, if needed. Remove from heat and let cool. Put the sauce in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

Serve warm with meat and/or vegetables stirred in and cooked through; or pour the sauce over favorite cooked meat and/or vegetables. Yield about 2-1/2 cups sauce.

NOTES: I have made this many times. I have added chunks of salmon and vegetables, like bok choy, and heated until the salmon was cooked. I’ve served it over rice. Today I’m going to serve it over acorn squash bowls. I usually only use half the recipe and freeze the other half. It saves in the freezer quite well. If the sauce is too thick, you may thin it with broth to your liking. You can make passata by draining a can of tomatoes and blending the tomatoes into a tomato sauce. Passata is thicker than, what we in the U.S. would call, tomato sauce, yet thinner than tomato paste. This is a very forgiving recipe so feel free to add or subtract or substitute. It’s all good! I found the recipe at ketodietapp.com.

Pistachio Cardamom Bars

September 24, 2024 in Dessert | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

  • Ingredients
  • 2 cups raw, shelled pistachios (not salted, not roasted)
  • 1 tsp. ground cardamom
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 heaping Tbsp. honey
  • 2/3 cups bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a baking dish, about 7×7, with parchment paper so that the paper overhangs the sides for easy removal from the dish.

In a medium bowl, stir together pistachios, cardamom, and salt. Stir in honey and mix until nuts are well coated. Place the nuts into the paper-lined dish and spread as evenly as possible. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave (or stovetop). Drizzle over the pistachio mix and smooth out as well as possible. Let cool until the chocolate loses its shine and hardens.

Pull the paper with the pistachio bars up and out of the baking dish. Cut into pieces and serve.

NOTES: This recipe comes from Nadia’s Healthy Kitchen. Nadia’s presentation and photos are simply gorgeous. Go look. She uses metric measurements and I did weigh out my nuts, but I think a couple cups of nuts will do it. These are seriously addictive, so my pieces are cut really small. The flavor is AMAZING! I wonder how these would be with a bit of orange zest or orange flavor. To melt chocolate chips in the microwave, start with 30 seconds then stir. Give it 20 seconds more and stir again. Give it 15 seconds more and stir again. Repeat until no solids remain while stirring.

Sriracha Honey Cashews

September 21, 2024 in Miscellaneous | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

  • Ingredients
  • 2 cups whole cashews, unsalted unroasted
  • 1 tsp. fine sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. cumin
  • 1/4 tsp. paprika
  • 2 Tbsp. honey
  • 1-1/2 Tbsp. sriracha
  • Salt to sprinkle

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper. Spread the cashews across the prepared baking sheet and roast for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool a little bit.

In a medium bowl mix together spices, honey, and sriracha. Stir in the warm cashews and stir until nuts are well coated with the honey mixture. Spread over the baking sheet and roast in 5-minute intervals for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Remove from heat once they are mostly dry and darkened in color. Sprinkle with salt. Let cool. Serve.

NOTES: Recipe originates with Robust Recipes. VERY good and quite simple to make.

Simple Chilaquiles Breakfast

September 16, 2024 in Breakfast | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

  • Ingredients
  • 4 cups tortilla chips (gluten-free if desired)
  • 1 cup smooth red salsa
  • 6 eggs, scrambled and cooked
  • 1/2 cup shredded Queso Quesadilla cheese
  • 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
  • 1/4 cup Cotija cheese
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • 2 green onions, sliced
  • Sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place tortilla chips into 9×13″ baking dish. Heat in 350 degree oven for 5 minutes.

While that is happening, heat salsa in very large bowl in microwave oven (or on stovetop).

Pour warm tortilla chips into warm salsa and stir until well coated. Spray the 9×13″ baking dish with non-stick spray. Pour the tortilla-salsa mix into prepared baking dish. Distribute the scrambled eggs across the top of the tortilla mix. Sprinkle with Queso Quesadilla cheese. Place under broiler flame until cheese melts. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cilantro, Cotija, avocado, and green onions. Dollop sour cream across top, as desired. Serve warm. Serves 4.

NOTES: I had never eaten this before, but it is delicious! The chips soften to a good consistency and the flavors are great. Super simple to make, although it created a lot of dirty dishes. Yum!

Apricot Jam

July 7, 2024 in Miscellaneous | Leave a comment

  • Ingredients
  • 3-1/2 cups prepared fruit (about 2-1/2 lb. fully ripe apricots)
  • 1/3 cup lemon juice (2 or 3 lemons)
  • 6-1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 envelope CERTO liquid fruit pectin

Prepare the fruit by cutting into small pieces and grinding or running through a food processor. Measure 3-1/2 cups into a large saucepan. Stir in lemon juice. Stir in sugar and mix well. Place over high heat and bring to a full rolling boil. Let it boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and immediately stir in CERTO. Skim the foam off using a metal spoon. Ladle into jars. Yield: 7 cups

You can seal the jars and simply tip them upside down for about half hour. That’s what I do. Sugar acts as a preservative, so it does not have to be “canned.” If you would prefer, you can pour a layer of melted paraffin over the top. That’s what my mother would do. Anything that keeps the air out will work. Or you can water-bath can them. Or you can keep them in the refrigerator. You do you.

NOTES: I was in a grocery store and saw that they had three 2# packages of ripe apricots on sale. I wish now that I had bought all of them. But I didn’t. It turns out that 2 pounds was just enough to make this jam. So, voila! I do love apricots. These were perfectly ripe and a good price for here in Alaska. When I was young, I learned to love apricots when visiting grandparents in California. We visited Chile in 2019 and our tour company owner brought us fresh apricots. It was heavenly! The Chile apricots were memorable because so much of the fruit found in Alaska grocery stores in the winter comes from Chile. It was neat to be where they were actually growing it.

Sweet Rhubarb Dessert

June 5, 2024 in Dessert | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

  • Ingredients for Base
  • 3 cups sliced rhubarb
  • 2/3 cup mini-marshmallows
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 Tbsp. tapioca
  • Ingredients for Topping
  • 1 extra-large egg, beaten
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. hot water
  • 2/3 cup flour
  • 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder

Prepare an 8×8″ baking dish by greasing or spraying with non-stick. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl, mix together the Base Ingredients. Spread the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Set aside.

For the Topping: beat together egg, sugar, and hot water. Fold in flour and baking powder. Dollop the batter over the mixture in the baking dish as evenly as possible. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

NOTES: This tastes good with whipped cream or ice cream. It’s a weird little dessert because the marshmallows form a crinkly crust, kind of like a pavlova, but underneath the crinkle is a rich cake-like topping on top of a luscious rhubarb sauce. It’s SUPER simple to make and very forgiving if you think it needs more egg or more rhubarb, etc.

What kind?