Delicious Dinner

Creamy Cucumbers

INGREDIENTS:

4-5 cucumbers (peeled and sliced thin)
1/4 cup white vinegar (or more to taste)
1 pint whipping cream
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Peel and slice cucumbers thinly. Put in large mixing bowl. In another small bowl, combine whipping cream, vinegar, salt and pepper. Mix and pour over cucumbers. Toss. Refrigerate until served.

I found this recipe in one of my Taste of Home magazines. I don’t really follow the recipe anymore though and just mix it to taste to our liking. I think that it tastes much better the next day as left-overs.

Green Bean Stir Fry

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon peanut butter
3/4 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
4 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS:
In a bowl, combine the soy sauce, garlic, sesame seeds, brown sugar and peanut butter; set aside. In a large skillet, stir-fry the green beans in oil until crisp-tender. Remove from the heat. Add the soy sauce mixture; stir to coat. Delicious! I got this recipe from All Recipes. I used fresh green beans from our garden. YUMMY!

Chicken Pot Pie

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

DIRECTIONS:
1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
2) In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
3) In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
4) Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
5) Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

NOTES: This recipe originally came from All Recipes. I found it on another blog though. I used a store bought rotisserie chicken and there was plenty of chicken. I also used a Yukon gold potato that I cubed and added to the chicken, carrots, peas and celery. Before baking, I brushed the top of the pie with egg to make it golden brown. I originally made two pies about a month ago, we ate one and froze the other. We ate the frozen one this evening. This is “lick your plate clean YUMMY!!!!!” Ben loves it and I am sure that I will be making these pies again in the very near future.

I originally posted this on my old blog on 8/6/08.

CEiMB - Turkey Roulade with Apple Cider Gravy

This week's CEiMB choice was chosen by Holly. She has the recipe posted on her blog (or on page 220 in the cookbook). I might add that her photos are "phenomenal" and she did an awesome job! That said, I apologize in advance for my awful pictures. I waited until the last minute to make this delicious dinner and I wish that I would have made it earlier in the week when I had more time and better light during the day for photos. I also wish that my husband would have been home to help me tie the roulade together. If only I hadn't have procrastinated, I think things would have went much smoother.

To begin, I did have a hard time finding a boneless turkey breast at the store. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right spot. I even had to return the first small roast that I did buy. When I brought it home, I realized that it was not going to work at all. I also could not find unsweetened dried cranberries anywhere.

The roulade is basically a turkey breast, flattened out and rolled with stuffing and cranberries. It was so, so, so good. Mine wasn't the prettiest thing in the slightest. It looked ridiculous tied together with black sewing thread because I don't have any kitchen twine. I also didn't sear it and make it golden brown before I put it in the oven because I was afraid to move it. I didn't want my roulade to fall apart. However, it tasted awesome. My husband loved it and is looking forward to his lunch tomorrow! I enjoyed it too. Which is surprising because I normally hate cranberries and don't touch them at Thanksgiving. This recipe is a keeper for sure. Great pick Holly!

I have also decided to take over the responsibility for CEiMB. I am not sure what I am getting myself into. However, I like this cookbook so much and have enjoyed practically everything that we have had so far. I don't want to see it end. I have e-mailed Leigh regarding this and will get next week's choice revealed very soon. If you are scheduled to pick in the near future, please let me know your choice. Thanks!

Zucchini Bread

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
2 cups sugar
3 beaten eggs
3 tsp. vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini (don’t peel)
3 cups flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder

DIRECTIONS:
Blend well but do not beat. Pour into two well greased bread pans. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Or make 1/2 recipe for 1 loaf.

This recipe turned out OK. I like my breads a lot moister. This could be because I only added 2 eggs (one egg had two yolks though?). I messed up because my little guy was throwing a monster fit while I was making it and I wasn’t concentrating. I tried to find a recipe for zucchini bread that had brown sugar as well as white sugar and wasn’t able to come up with one in the short amount of time I had today.

I originally posted this on 7/29/08 on my old blog.

Rugelach - TWD

I was not excited about this week's choice. When I looked at it in the cookbook, I thought that it looked like a crescent roll with ground hamburger stuffed in it, definetely not a dessert. But I decided to go with it, follow the recipe and probably wind up liking them. I procrastinated all week until this afternoon to make them.

Grace from Piggy's Cooking Journal chose this week's recipe. You can find the recipe HERE or on page 150-151 in the cookbook.

You are probably wondering how to pronounce this dessert...I was thinking it was something way different than it actually is. It is pronounced Rug-ah-lah.

This little cookie is actually a pastry that is basically made of flour, butter and cream cheese. The pastry is rolled and stuffed with raspberry jam, cinnamaon sugar, bittersweet chocolate, almonds and currants. They ended up looking like mini crescent rolls. Some other bakers substituted different jams, fillings, nuts, etc. I decided to stay with the original recipe though.

I can't say that I liked this cookie. I know that I would never make them again. I can't put my finger on exactly why I didn't like them either. Maybe it was because of the bittersweet chocolate. I seem to enjoy milk or semi-sweet chocolate much better. My husband liked them though and is planning on eating them all.

Perfection Pound Cake

I made this cake this weekend. It was originally chosen back in January when there was only a few TWD members. You can find the recipe here if you want or on page 222-223 in Dorie's cookbook. I actually made this pound cake twice. The first time I used cake flour and the second time I used all purpose flour. It was not what I was expecting at all. I am used to pound cakes being extremely moist. Both of the batches that I made weren't dry....just not as moist as I would like. I almost had myself convinced that I forgot to add the sugar my first attempt. I served the cake with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. It was very tasty and I would make this poundcake again. It does have a very good flavor.

Baked Spaghetti

This past weekend, my dad came into town with his girlfriend to visit us. I made a meal that he enjoys. We call it Baked Spaghetti. I have no idea where we got the recipe and am pretty sure that he just made it up. It is a good "casserole" type dish. It is delicious and makes a huge amount of food for leftovers. I personally think that it is one of those dishes that are better the next day.

INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs. Ground Beef
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 green pepper, finely chopped
1 large family size can of Campbells Tomato Soup or 2 regular sized cans
16 oz. angel hair pasta (or spaghetti, linguini, etc)
Lawry's seasoning salt
16 oz. shredded mild cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:
1. Brown the ground beef with the onions and green pepper. Drain the excess fat.
2. Season with Lawry's Seasoning to taste. Mix the ground beef mixture with tomato soup.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the angel hair pasta according to the directions on the package.
4. Mix the pasta and ground beef mixture together. Add about 2 cups of the cheddar cheese and mix well.
5. Place the mixture in a large casserole dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

We enjoy this meal served with corn and dinner rolls. It is just a great, easy meal. And very kid friendly!

Puppy Chow

INGREDIENTS:
9 cups Chex Cereal
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter together in a bowl. Microwave (uncovered) for 1 minute. Stir together and microwave another 30 seconds. Stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until cereal is completely covered.
2. Pour cereal into storage container (huge ziploc, tupperware or a doubled up garbage bag). Add powdered sugar and shake like crazy until well coated.
3. Spread puppy chow out on table and let cool for about 30 minutes. Put in refrigerator unil serving.

I doubled the recipe for a party and have a ton of puppy chow that I am sure will be eaten because it is so delicious. I also used a grocery store paper bag to mix the powdered sugar in and then just tossed the bag (very easy clean up). I got this recipe from my pal who served it at her party a couple of weeks ago. Both my youngest and I inhaled it and knew that I had to have it for our party!

I originally posted this recipe on 7/26/08 on my old blog.