I just have to comment on Nicole’s bleu cheeseburger genius over at Pinch My Salt. I made these on Tuesday night and I think I’m still having dreams about them. I didn’t even get a photo of my version since I was too concerned with getting somewhere to start eating immediately. I should also note that her bleu cheese filling is also good on some Wheat Thins while you’re waiting for these babies to cook 🙂
Confessions of a Stove-top Macaroni Convert
In general, I am a big fan of macaroni and cheese. I haven’t found a baked macaroni that I don’t like and I haven’t found a stove-top macaroni that I won’t eat if I need a quick meal. This stove-top macaroni, however, might be the one that I make no matter how much time I have. This is from Alton Brown’s “For Whom the Cheese Melts 2 ” episode of Good Eats.
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
6 ounces evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon sea salt
Fresh black pepper
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
10 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
– In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente and drain.
– Return to the pot and melt in the butter, toss to coat.
– While pasta is cooking, whisk together the eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and mustard.
– Stir into the pasta and stir in the cheese gradually.
– Over low heat continue to stir for 3 minutes or until creamy.
Linda’s Notes:
– Since I like a one-pot meal, I added pieces of hot dog to cook with the pasta.
– I recommend a 2% or lighter version of the cheese, or just cutting down on the amount of cheese to make this a bit healthier.
– For a more portable version, put it in a casserole dish, top with panko and throw it under broiler for a minute.
– Don’t let the raw egg stress you out. The hot macaroni tempers the egg to keep it from scrambling and the low heat cooks it all the way through as the cheese gets to melt.
Turkey Noodle Soup
This recipe is great for that day after you have decided that you are 3 pounds heaver from Thanksgiving but crap if you don’t still have a pound of turkey left. I got this from the Cooking Light recipe site and I really didn’t modify the recipe much at all.
Cooking spray/Butter
1 cup slices carrot
3/4 cup chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup slices celery
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups (3 ounces) uncooked egg noodles
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 bay leaf
2 cups shredded turkey (about 8 ounces)
– Heat a large saucepan coated in cooking spray over medium-high heat.
РAdd carrot, onion, and garlic and saut̩ 5 minutes or until onion is lightly browned.
РAdd celery, salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and saut̩ 3 minutes.
– Add broth, egg noodles, soy sauce and bay leaf and bring to a boil.
– Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.
– Add shredded turkey and cook another 3 minutes.
– Discard bay leaf.
Linda’s Notes:
– This was a really good soup! I didn’t have a bay leaf so I left that ingredient out.
– I found that this was a great way to use the dark meat and not be put off by the greasiness
This Year’s Thanksgiving!
Until plans changed the Tuesday before Thanksgiving we had planned on going out of town, so this Thanksgiving menu was kind last-minute and perhaps a little ill-planned. Even with that said, it ended up being a nice bunch of food for casual dinner for two in front of the television.
I updated some of the recipes with newer photos…
1 ginormous pre-cooked Butterball turkey rubbed down with sage butter and reheated
Pan gravy made with sage butter, turkey drippings, flour and chicken broth
3 pumpkin pies using the recipe on the back of the can + brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice
1 White and Dark Chocolate Raspberry Pie
1 Open-Faced Berry Pie
Broccoli and Cheese Casserole
Deviled Eggs
Brie Bites
Slow-Cooker Mashed Potatoes
Traditional Stuffing made with Hawaiian bread
White and Dark Chocolate Raspberry Pie
This recipe is adapted from Pillsbury’s “Easy Pies” recipe book. While it is wildly, wildly delicious… it is not really that easy. If you are as bold as I and decide to make it for Thanksgiving then I suggest a test run or making it the night before. I decided to make it while I was cooking 10 other things in the middle of the day Thanksgiving. Did I mention how seriously delicious this is? I made this the harder way so I’ll post the original recipe, but I’ll also post how I think this could be made way easier. Also, please do not accept my picture as a true representation of this pie as I am challenged at pie-cutting.
1 refrigerated or frozen pie crust
2 tbsp orange juice
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
6 oz white baking bars or chocolate chips
1 bag (10-12 oz) frozen raspberries (thaw, but reserve juice)
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup fresh raspberries (totally optional)
2 oz semisweet baking bars or chocolate chips
2 tablesppons butter
– Bake pie crust as directed on box.
– Place orange juice in 2-quart saucepan and sprinkle with gelatin and let stand 5 minutes.
– Stir in 3/4 cup of whipping cream over low heat.
– After gelatin is dissolved, stir in white chocolate until melted and smooth.
– Transfer white chocolate mixture to a medium bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
– Place thawed raspberries and any juice in a blender or food processor and blend until pureed.
– Strain raspberry mixture to remove most of the seeds. Add water if necessary to measure 1/2 cup.
– Mix cornstarch and 1 tablespoon sugar in a 1 quart saucepan and gradually add raspberry puree.
– Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.
– Fold in fresh raspberries and spread over cooked pie crust
– Refrigerate crust for 15 minutes.
– Meanwhile, in a chilled bowl, beat 3/4 cup of whipping cream until stiff peaks form.
– Fold whipped cream into the refrigerated white chocolate mixture.
– Spoon and spread chocolate over raspberry layer and refrigerate for an hour.
– In a saucepan, melt semisweet chocolate and button over low heat, stirring frequently.
– Carefully pour and spread over white chocolate layer and refrigerate at least two hours to set.
Linda’s Notes (Mostly to make this pie easier to make)
– The raspberry puree tasted just like this high-quality jar of seedless raspberry preserve I have in the pantry. I am definitely going to substitute it next time.
– As much as I hate Cool Whip, I think it might be a good idea to fold a cup of it into the white chocolate and save some dirty mixer beaters.
– For the dark chocolate later, use the amount of chocolate and butter that they suggest. Otherwise, this layer can get very thick, very hard, and impossible to cut in areas (see photo)
– Let the pie get to almost room temperature before you attempt to cut and serve
The Easiest Cream-Cheese Pie
This is not the fanciest dessert ever, but it’s very easy, very very tasty, and you can make it long in advance if you need to take it to a party. It’s really more of a method than a recipe because you can change everything around to fit your needs. The “accessories” are what you can use to make this look like there’s way more to this than there is – fruit, whipped topping, etc. I adapted this from one of the Pillsbury “Easy Pies” mini-cookbooks.
1 4 serving package of instant pudding – whatever flavor
1 package cream cheese (recommend 1/3 less fat variety just because)
1 frozen or refrigerated pie crust (you can also use a graham cracker crust)
1 1/2 cups milk
Accessories: (some examples)
Frozen, canned, or fresh fruit
Whipped topping
Caramel or Chocolate sauce
– Cook pie crust as directed and let cool.
– Put softened cream cheese in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer until it’s fluffy.
– In another larger bowl, mix together the mix and pudding mix.
– Gently fold the cream cheese into the pudding and mix until smooth
– Pour mixture into the cooled pie crust and refrigerate for four hours
– Cut individual slices and top with the “accessories”
Linda’s Notes:
– Pillsbury recommends lemon pudding and blueberry topping, but I used chocolate pudding and mixed berries.
– I’m not a big fan of cool whip, in fact I hate it so I didn’t use any… but some sort of whipped cream on top with the berries would be great.
Quick Chicken (or leftover Turkey)-Bacon-Ranch Wraps
Wraps are so convenient for lunch or dinner so I end up making them a lot when I am in a bind for something quick to fix. I find this recipe to be the easiest for making quick, easy, and tasty chicken wraps. If you don’t like the rotisserie chicken, then sliced turkey or chicken lunch meat works well too. These are great for party appetizers too.
3 cups shredded cooked chicken (1 deli rotisserie chicken)
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
8 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1 cup ranch dressing (get the light – you can’t tell the difference here)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 package of flour tortillas (8 large or 15-20 small)
4 cups shredded romaine lettuce
Package of toothpicks (optional)
– In large bowl mix all ingredients except for the lettuce and tortillas
– Microwave the mixture just so that the cheese is slightly melted.
– To begin assembling the wraps, microwave the tortillas between two paper towels for 30 seconds to soften. You may have to heat them up again if they start to cool down.
– Spread the chicken mixture on the tortilla, top with 1/4 cup lettuce.
– Roll up tortillas, secure with toothpicks and cut in half.
Linda’s Notes:
– Adding plum tomatoes and chunks of avocado makes these really interesting and tasty
– If you want to make these ahead of time, you can refrigerate the chicken mixture for up to three days before assembling the wraps.
– For an even easier meal, put the filling and lettuce on a dinner roll
Berry Pudding Pie
This weekend I dug through my old monthly mini-cookbooks and dog-eared some recipes to make during the holidays. I had the ingredients on hand for this pie, so I went ahead and made it for a sweet brunch. This is from one of the Pillsbury holiday cookbooks. As usual I kept the ingredients mostly in tact, but made a few changes to my taste.
This pie is wonderfully delicious, but however not the most beautiful pie I’ve ever made. This was a much needed a pie-making warm-up before I make pies for co-workers and extended family during the holidays. Years ago, I used to be a perfectionist pie-maker who used to make meringue pudding pies from scratch on a weekly, if not daily, basis. Then I discovered that pie making was fattening (!), time-consuming, and expensive if you use fresh ingredients. Now I stick to mostly one-crust Pillsbury pumpkin and berry pies, with this one being an easy transition to the perfectionist days.
1 pie crust (either refrigerated or frozen, but I use frozen)
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen berries (thawed and drained well)
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream (I accidentally only used 1/2 cup and it was fine)
3/4 cup half and half
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (I also accidentally dumped a lot more in)
1/4 teaspoon salt
– Preheat oven to 425 degrees
– Make pie crush as directed on box (I over-browned mine a bit)
– Sprinkle berries over bottom of cooled crust
– Beat all remaining ingredients with a mixer until smooth
– Poor over berries in pie crust
– Return pie to oven and bake 10 minutes
– Cover edges of crust with foil, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees, and bake for 30 minutes longer (or until knife comes out clean)
– Let stand 20 minutes and server with whipped cream and more cinnamon
(Received the seal of approval from my sous-chef)
Easy Ham and Cauliflower Soup
I found this recipe on the Betty Crocker website (yes again). I decided to try it because It made me think of this soup my Mom used to make with leftover ham, potatoes and green beans that was just perfect to eat on a cold night. I think that this would be great with either leftover ham, or with a piece of pre-cooked ham from the grocery store. I changed the recipe by adding onions and using frozen cauliflower. I also used more chicken broth and less water to give it a richer taste.
1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 package (4.9 ounces) scalloped potatoes
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup chopped cauliflower (frozen, but thawed slightly)
1/8 teaspoon ground mustard
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 can (10 1/2 ounces) condensed chicken broth
1 cup cubed fully cooked ham
1 cup half-and-half
Chopped fresh parsley, if desired
– In a 3-quart saucepan, cook onion in butter until tender
– Add potatoes, sauce Mix, water, cauliflower, mustard, pepper and broth to onions.
– Head to boiling over high heat, stirring frequently.
– Reduce heat; cover and simmer about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender.
– Stir in ham and half-and-half.
– Cook uncovered about 5 minutes or just until hot
– Garnish with parsley.
Linda’s Notes:
– This could easily be made in a slow-cooker after step one!
– This makes enough to serve four people if you serve it with bread, so double the recipe for a slow-cooker
Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup
This is yet another slow-cooker recipe from the Betty Crocker website. Yes, I know it’s time to pay the poor people and buy their cookbooks instead of wearing out the website. Does it count that I have a hundred of those $4 grocery-store-checkout-counter-cookbooks? I added and subtracted a few ingredients, but I left the marjoram as is because I have never used it in soup before and I didn’t want to ruin the whole thing.
This recipe calls for fresh butternut squash, which I used, but if you really want to save time I recommend either chopping up the squash the night before or using frozen winter squash. Peeling the squash is a pain. It’s a major pain that I can offer just a few tips to relieve: sharpen your knife, cut it into several smaller same-size sections and cut the skin off like an orange or a melon. Did I mention you can use frozen?
(Make sure you have a helper to sniff that squash!)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 butternut squash (2 lb), peeled, cubed
2 cups good quality chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (I used a smalled amount)
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, cubed
– In a skillet, cook onion in butter until crisp-tender.
– In 3- to 4-quart slow cooker, mix onion and remaining ingredients except cream cheese.
– Cook on low heat setting 6 to 8 hours.
– Place one-third to one-half of mixture at a time into a blender on high speed and blend until smooth. (**)
– Return mixture to slow cooker.
– Stir in cream cheese and cook on low heat setting about 30 minutes longer.
– Stir with wire whisk until smooth. (This step is perfect for getting the consistency right)
** Here I strongly, strongly recommend an immersion blender. I got one that had never been used for $5 at a yard sale and it is perfect for situations like these. Who really wants to lift that heavy insert out of the slow-cooker and poor it into a blender? Not I!
Delusions of Chefery 