Monday, April 27, 2009

1000 Visits!

This blog hit 1000 visits today. I'm not trying to fish for compliments, but are people using or enjoying this site? I know I like to read recipes and try things out, but I don't want to be wasting time, either. Comments?

Friday, April 24, 2009

Chicken Chili


3 cans white beans - undrained
1 can black beans - drained
16 oz jar of medium salsa
2-3 chicken breasts, cooked & cubed

Put in pan and warm up.

Top with cheese (of course)

Makes 4+ hearty servings.

Turtle Bread

Not as exciting as turtle cake or turtle brownies, but still fun. Mom brought along a cook book with recipes from A to Z, and T was for turtle. Zachary was very excited to make it. I told him we could make one and share it for dinner, but he declared he wanted to eat his entire turtle all by himself, so we made several. I ended up doubling the recipe, but splitting it into three turtles. We had one green, one pink, and one hybrid, which was still baking at picture time.
2 1/2 to 3 cups of flour
1 package of yeast
1 tbl sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup milk
1 tbl butter or marg
1 egg

  1. Mix 1 1/2 cups of the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in large bowl.
  2. Heat water, milk and butter together until warm. If you want to color your turtle add food coloring at this point. Stir into yeast mixture. Stir in egg. Stir in enough flour to make the dough easy to handle. (I used it all.)
  3. Knead the dough either by kneading by hand for about 5 minutes or letting your mixer have at it with the dough hook. I did a little of each so the kids could play in the dough.
  4. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.
  5. Grease a cookie sheet. Shape a ball for the head, 4 smaller balls for feet, and a little ball for the tail. Shape remaining piece into the body. Place on the cookie sheet and tuck the other parts slightly underneath.
  6. Cover and let rise 20 minutes.
  7. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Make criss-cuts in the body, about 1/4" deep, to make the shell and toes. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

French Toast Strata

As I post this I realize that I have a lot of brunch bake recipes. I like them for a bunch of reasons.

1) They are usually cheap to make.

2) Related to 1, they use up leftovers well. This one uses up the last of the French Bread loaf before it turns to a rock on the countertop.

3) I love having dinner made at 10 in the morning and not have to worry about it at 4 or 5, which is generally the hour when my kids are most demanding. (To put it kindly.)

4) I'm the cook, and I think they are yummy!

French Toast Strata

4 cups of day old French Bread, but into 3/4" cubes (you can use a little more, but make sure they don't end up more than one layer thick.)
1/3 cup golden raisins. (Regular raisins work, too, but they kids will detect them easier.)
3 ounces cream cheese, cut into 1/4" cubes
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup syrup
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbl sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Spray 11x7 baking dish. Place bread cubes on the bottom. Sprinkle raisins and cream cheese on top.

Beat eggs. Add milk, syrup and vanilla. Mix well and pour over the bread mixture.

Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350. Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top of the strata. Bake 40-45 minutes, or until puffy and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Corn Tortilla Quiche

Mom shared this recipe with me in 2002. It is top, right in the picture with the Sweet Corn Cake.

3/4 # pork sausage
5 corn tortillas (6 inch)
1 cup shredded jack cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped canned green chilies
6 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Crumble and cook the sausage. Drain.

Place 4 tortillas in a greased 9" pie pan, overlapping and extending 1/2" beyond the rim. Place the last tortilla in the center.

Add sausage, then cheeses, then chilies.

Combine eggs, cream, cottage cheese, chili powder and cilantro. Pour slowly into the dish.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, or until center is set and knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cut into wedges to serve.

Sweet Corn Cake


You know at Mexican restaurants when you sometimes get that little scoop of yummy, sweet corn bread? That is what this recipe is for. (Top, left in the picture.) It turned out sort of dry this round, not sure why. My masa harina wasn't brand new, which might be. I also cooked it at the same time as the main dish, which might have done it. But usually it turns out very well. I originally found this recipe by a google search, which pulled it from the Blue Mesa Grill. Never been there, but I like their corn cake!

Serves 10-12 as a side dish
  • 1/3 cup Crisco shortening
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 cups corn masa harina*
  • 1/3 cup ice water
  • 4 cups fresh or frozen (thawed) corn kernels (about 1 lb. frozen)
  • 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 375°.

Place Crisco and butter in a mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.

Add corn masa to butter mixture and mix for 2 minutes or until thoroughly incorporated. Add the ice water and mix at medium for 1 minute or until completely absorbed.

Place the corn kernels in a processor work bowl with the metal blade. Pulse on and off until mixture is coarsely chopped. Set aside.

Combine the corn meal, sugar, heavy cream, baking powder and salt in a large 4-quart mixing bowl.

Add the masa mixture and the ground corn to the corn meal/sugar mixture. Stir to combine thoroughly.

Pour the batter into a prepared pan, cover tightly with aluminum foil to retain the steam, and bake for 45 minutes at 375°.

*Note on Masa Harina:
You can purchase Masa Harina, dried corn that has been ground and treated, at most markets. It is the basic ingredient used in making tamale dough (also called masa).

Friday, April 3, 2009

Funny Face Sandwiches

Zachary helped me put these together yesterday. I did make the rolls the day before. They are the Dairyland Rolls recipe. Zachary had two, which means he ate 4 more raisins than usual.