Ice Cream

There is nothing like a bowl of homemade ice cream on a hot summer day!  I have nice memories of my sisters and I our on our back porch, taking turns cranking the handle on our old freezer.  Daddy always had to finish it up when it got too stiff for us kids to turn.

We are trying out our new ice cream maker tomorrow! 

Here is a very simple but very good recipe.  I'm doubling it for our large freezer.

Ingredients

2 cups heavy whipping cream

2 cups half-and-half cream

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 

What to Do

In a bowl, combine all ingredients; stir until the sugar is dissolved. Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer's directions. Yield: 1-1/2 quarts.

 

Note:  For raspberry or strawberry ice cream, substitute 2 cups fresh or frozen berries for 1 cup of half-and-half. Puree berries in a blender or food processor; stir into the other ingredients before freezing.

Pumpkin Bread

I really enjoyed my first sample of this bread and I am not a big fan of pumpkin.  So for those who like pumpkin, you probably can't go wrong!  It is about the easiest bread recipe I have ever seen, and it makes three tasty loaves. 

Ingredients

4 eggs, beaten
3 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
2/3 cup water
1 cup oil (you can substitute some or all of the oil with unsweetened apple sauce)
31/2 cup flour
1 15 oz. can pumpkin  (you can also use cooked pumpkin or squash)

What to Do

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and flour 3 loaf pans.  Mix everything together in a large bowl.  Bake for about 1 hour or until inserted toothpick comes our clean.  If using glass pans, reduce heat to 300 degrees.  

Easy Double Chocolate Chip Brownies

Ingredients

These will probably always be my favorite brownie!  However, I made this recipe last night for a church gathering and they were delicious and quick to make.  Dividing the chips makes for a nice chocolate batter that has chunks of chocolate too! 

2 cup (10 oz. pkg.) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup (one stick) butter or margarine
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. bakins soda
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

What to Do

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9" x 13" baking pan.  Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips with the margarine or butter on low heat in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from heat and stir until smooth.  Add the 3 eggs and mix well.  Stir in flour, sugar, baking soda and vanilla extract.  Stir in the nuts and the remaining cup of chocolate chips.  Spread into baking pan.  Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out slightly sticky.  Cool in pan on wire rack.  Cut into bars.  Makes about 20 bars.

I baked these in a glass pan so I turned the oven temp to 325 degrees.  It did take the full 22 minutes.

Chicken in Cilantro Sauce

Looking for a way to use  cilantro, I discovered this simple, tasty recipe.

Ingredients
About 1 1/2 lbs. chicken pieces, skinned
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
3/4 to 1 cup fresh cilantro
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 clove garlic or about 2 tsps chopped garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1 bell pepper

What to Do
Place chicken in baking dish. In blender, mix tomato sauce, salt and pepper, cilantro, onion, and garlic. Leave it a little chunky.  Pour over chicken and top with green bell pepper rings. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. I sprinkled cheese over the top for the last 10 minutes of baking.  This has a fresh taste, and worked well with brown rice cooked in chicken stock.

Squash in a Skillet

I made this dish yesterday in a cast-iron skillet over a campfire because I needed to find a way to use the vegetables I had in our camping ice chest.  I have never thought of combining squash with peppers, but I had some fresh ones from my daughter's garden.  I expect that zucchini or some other summer squash would be fine as well, if that is what you have.  The blended flavors were surprising and so delicious I decided to share the experiment here. (My husband does not like squash, but he remarked, "Hey, that was pretty good."  That's high praise indeed.)  I'm thinking that some fresh herbs, like basil or tarragon, would make it even better, and I see no reason this wouldn't turn out just as well when cooked on the stove at home!

Ingredients
one medium to large onion, chopped coarsely
one medium to large pepper, chopped coarsely  (I used an orange one.  Red or green would be fine too.)
one or two tomatoes, halved and cut into about 8 pieces
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter or more, as needed
3 or 4 potatoes, cut in fourths and then sliced somewhat thin
one large crook neck squash
salt, pepper, garlic

To Do
Saute the onions and potatoes in a large skillet with the butter.  Use more butter, or add some olive oil, as needed.  Add tomatoes and squash.  Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.  Add about 1/2 tsp. garlic powder or one chopped garlic clove.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally,  till squash and potatoes are just tender. 

Mindy's Hot Rolls

I shamelessly swiped this from Bits and Odd Peices of Mindy's Kingdom. One can never have too many bread recipes...that's my opinion. Thanks, Mindy.  The comments about the recipe are Mindy's, not mine. :-)

1 envelope dry yeast
2 Tab sugar
1/4 C warm water
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C butter
1tsp salt
1 C hot milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 1/3 C flour
2 Tb (I swear that is all I used, I promise.) melted butter

Use as much butter as you want....I cannot lie....I used more.
Sprinkle the yeast and sugar over the very warm water in a large bowl. Do NOT leave the sugar out. A lot of recipes do not mix yeast with suger but TRUST ME....your yeast will love you for it!

Stir until the yeast dissolves. Let cool a bit. In a pan, heat your milk and allow your 1/4 C butter to melt it in. Also allow to cool down until it is just warm. Add your milk mixture to your yeast mixture then add in your egg. Beat in your 4 1/3 C of flour 1 cup at a time with your wet ingredients until you get a soft dough. You can then turn your dough out on your board and knead it for about 5 minutes. I just leave mine in my kitchen aide mixer (I would marry it if I could) and let it run a few minutes with the dough hook.

Place your beautiful dough in a warm greased bowl and allow it to rise until it has doubled. You can then punch it down and make your rolls. Place your rolls in a butter greased pan and allow them to rise.

Bake in a 350 degree over for 15-20 minutes until a pretty golden color and your family is standing around the oven holding a jelly jar. I then like to slather them with butter while they are still hot. This is a really forgiving easy dough. I let mine rise the first time and then punched them down and made hot rolls. Then, instead of letting them rise again, I put waxed paper over the top and put them in the fridge. Took them out the next morning and let them warm up and rise. Then we cooked them and ATE THEM all gone!! People are afraid of yeast and making bread....I promise you it is not hard!!

Easy Rum Cake

And here is another one.  I admit that I haven't tried it, but I have all the ingredients, and it seems so easy I thought I'd share it here.  How can one go wrong?  I plan on making it tonight, so I'll comment about how it turns out.

Ingredients
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 pkg. vanilla instant pudding (4 serving size)
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. rum (light)
4 eggs

What to Do
Grease tube pan. Mix first five ingredients with mixer. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Bake 1 hour at 325 degrees F.  Leave in pan until sauce is added and all is cooled completely.

Sauce Ingredients
1/2 stick butter
1/8 c. water
1/2 c. sugar
1/8-1/4 c. rum

What to Do
Bring butter, water, sugar and rum to a boil. Pour over cake when done and still hot. Remove cake from pan when completely cool.  Top each serving with whipped cream.

Pork and Rice

Ingredients

1 generous cup uncooked rice

one envelope dried onion soup mix

1/4 cup (half stick) butter or margarine, melted

1 can cream of mushroom soup

about six boneless pork steaks, cut into pieces about 3 inches wide

pinch each of thyme, rosemary, and basil

chopped scallions (optional)

What to Do

Pour butter into baking dish.  Add rice.  Layer chunks of pork steak over the rice.  Smear canned soup over pork and sprinkle the spices and onion soup mix over the top.  Cook at 350 F. for about an hour or till pork is done and rice is tender.  Garnish with some chopped scallions if you have them.  Let sit for about 5 minutes. Will thicken slightly.  

More optional additions:  Add some pine nuts about half way through cooking time, or dried cranberries or raisins, or peas.  Haven't tried all of those at once, but someday I might.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon & Balsamic

You like Brussels sprouts too?  Ah, the few, the proud...oh never mind.

These flavorful little morsels are full of wonderful nutrients.  If you overcook Brussels sprouts, they do get a bit smelly.  Cook till just tender.  Smaller ones are more tender and sweeter.  Remove any yellowed outer leaves, and trim off the stems.

Serves 6.

Ingredients
1/4 pound (about 4 strips) bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 pounds Brussels sprouts, stalk ends removed, cut into halves
2 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, or almonds (optional)

What to Do
In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add bacon pieces and cook till crisp.  Discard most of the fat, leaving about 2 tablespoons in the pan.  Add the Brussels sprouts, pour in the vinegar, and saute until the vinegar caramelizes on the sprouts.  Add nuts.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Oreo Truffles

Aren't these pretty?  Our four-year-old granddaughter is coming over to "help" me with a bit of Christmas baking.  I think she is going to like these!  I mean, what could be better than Oreos AND cream cheese?

Ingredients
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 pkg. (16.6 oz.) OREO Cookies
(If you can find a box of Oreo crumbs, you will need about 41/4 cups.)
16 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate squares (or a comparable amt. of semi-sweet chips), melted

What to Do
Crush 9 cookies and set aside. Crush the remaining cookies. You can use a food processor, or put them in a closed plastic bag and roll with rolling pin. Mix cream cheese and cookie crumbs (except for the nine you sat aside) until well blended.  Roll into 1 inch balls (makes about 42).  Dip into melted chocolate.  You can use two forks to gently roll the balls and remove them.   Place on baking sheet covered with waxed paper.  Sprinkle with reserved cookie crumbs.  Refrigerate until firm (about an hour).  Store tightly covered in refridgerater.  Or outside in the garage if you live in a cold winter climate like we do!

Note:  You can melt the chocolate in the microwave if you watch carefully and stir several times.  It will take about 2 minutes.  Or you can use a double boiler or a metal bowl over a pan of boiling water.

Easy Scalloped Carrots

Ingredients

About 1 lb. fresh carrots or 1 bag frozen carrots, sliced and boiled  till just tender
1 medium onion, chopped
3 Tbs. butter
1 can cream of celery soup
1/2 tsp. salt
dash of  pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 cups seasoned croutons (I prefer the smaller cubes)
1/2 cup melted butter

Drain carrots and set aside.  Saute chopped onion in 3 tbs. butter. Combine carrots, onion salt, pepper and cheese.  Spoon into greased baking dish.  Toss croutons in the melted butter and spread over carrot mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 35 minutes or until croutons are lightly browned.

Cranberry-Walnut Chicken Salad

The tarragon gives this crunchy-sweet chicken salad an interesting flavor.  Nice to make ahead for sandwich filling for a picnic.  Also a good way to use up some leftover Thanksgiving turkey.

 Ingredients

4 cups cubed, cooked chicken

1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

1 cup diced celery

2 Tbs. finally chopped shallot

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise

3 Tbs. white wine vinegar, or red is okay too if that's what you have

3 Tbs. finely chopped, fresh ttarragon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

What to do:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Serve over lettuce or on pita bread, croissants, or toasted ciabatta bread.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Here's another delicious recipe for while rhubarb is still available from the garden or the store! There are many rhubarb crisp recipes available, but this is my favorite.  There's nothing unusual about what's in it, so it must be something about the amounts of the various ingredients.  It will be somewhat "wet" so it's best served in bowls.  I'm making it for our July 4th picnic tomorrow! 

Ingredients

4  c. rhubarb pieces (about 1 lb.)
2 c. sliced strawberries
1 c. sugar
1 1/3 c. flour, divided
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. butter, melted & cooled

What to Do:

In large bowl combine rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, 1/3 cup flour and cinnamon. Transfer to greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish.  In another bowl combine remaining 1 cup flour with brown sugar, oats and nutmeg. Add butter and blend well to create the topping. Sprinkle topping over rhubarb mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.  Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Apple Rhubarb Pie

Yesterday Ken came home with a bag of Granny Smith apples (purchased mainly because it gave him several cents off a gallon of gas) and announced, "I think an apple rhubarb pie would be great."  I had a bunch of rhubarb from my daughter's patch--but I never heard of apple rhubarb pie.  A little searching turned up a few recipes, and I tried this one because I had the Jell-o on hand.  It was delicious.  Slightly tart, of course, being rhubarb and Granny Smith apples, but a dollop of whipped cream was perfect.  Next time I'll try it with vanilla ice cream.  (I asked both the men in my house if I should make it a bit sweeter, and both said no.)

Ingredients

dough for a two-crust pie

2  c. rhubarb, diced
2 c. apples, sliced
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 (3 oz.) pkg. strawberry gelatin
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. melted butter

What to Do
Roll out half of pie dough and arrange in an 8 or 9 inch pie pan.  Mix all pie ingredients together and spoon into prepared crust.  Roll out remaining dough and cover, tucking edges under and fluting. (A lattice top would be nice for this pie.) Bake at 350 F for for about one hour or until top is lightly browned and fruit is bubbly. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Chicken Curry in Coconut Milk

Here's another delicious and easy curry recipe.

Ingredients

About four cups chicken, cut into chunks
1 tbsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. curry powder
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. cumin
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 onions, chopped
1 carrot, sliced (and microwaved for about 1 minute so it's a bit cooked already)
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped, or one can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 tbsp. oil
1 bay leaf
1 lb. potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (not too big)
1 12 oz. can coconut milk
1 cup water or chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

What to Do

Heat oil in big pot and cook chicken for about 3 minutes.  Add onion and garlic and sautee for about 2 minutes. Add all the spices and stir together well. Add remaining ingredients (except tomatoes) and cook until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Add tomatoes and heat through.  Adjust seasoning and serve with rice.

Blender Pecan Pie

This is the easiest pecan pie recipe imaginable, but I don't use this recipe because of that. It's the best! A bit less sweet than many pecan pies. Also a good pie to freeze for later. It will expand, so don't worry if your pie pan is not full before cooking.

Ingredients

Unbaked pie shell

2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 tbs. butter or margarine, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup pecans (I use a bit more)
12 pecan halves

Fit pie pastry into pie pan and flute edges.

Put eggs, sugar, salt, syrup, butter and vanilla in blender container or food processor and blend well.

Add one cup pecans and blend just enough to chop nuts coarsely. Poor into pie shell. Place pecan halves on top.

Bake in hot oven (435 degrees) for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking until top is lightly browned, about 30 minutes.

If your grocery store stocks the kind of shrivelled, sad pecans that we find around here, allow me to suggest you order pecans from SunnyLand Farms. Worth every penny!

Chicken and Rice

This easy recipe is a favorite at our house because it is so easy to fix and so tasty. Just plan for an hour or more of oven time. You can assemble the ingredients ahead of time and put into the oven later.

Ingredients
one frying chicken, cut up, or a similar amount of chicken using whatever pieces you like
one can cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom if that is what you have)
one soup can of water
one envelope dried onion soup mix
1/2 stick butter
1 cup rice
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced (optional)

What to do
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a 9" x 13" pan, or a similar sized casserole dish, melt the butter and add rice. Add the mushrooms if you use them. Arrange chicken pieces on top of the rice. Add soup and water. Sprinkle dried onion soup over the top. Cover and cook for about 1/2 hour. Remove foil (or lid) and continue cooking till rice is tender (at least another 1/2 hour). If necessary, brown slightly under broiler.

Notes
If I am making this for a larger group, I double the ingredients and use cut up chunks of chicken breast. You may need to remove the chicken after cooking so you can mix up the rice with the sauce ingredients a bit. You can also add sliced or slivered almonds and some parsley to the top when you remove the lid for the second half of the cooking time. If you like wild rice, cook some ahead of time and then add to the other rice before serving.

Easy Pickled Beets

My mother used to make delicious pickled beets. After she died I spent some time looking through her recipes. Some of them are posted here at The Owl's Kitchen, and some will be later. I found a few different recipes for pickled beets, tried them, didn't like them. Most involved pickling spices, boiling, canning jars--and none tasted like what I remembered.

I recently found a scrap of paper between the pages of a notepad. There it was! It might be the most simple recipe on this site. Sometimes the simple things really are the best!

Ingredients:
Two cans beets (or about four cups fresh beets, sliced and cooked until tender)
1 cup sugar
1 cup white or red wine vinegar
1 cup beet juice or 1 cup water (from the cans, or save water from cooking the fresh beets)
1 small to medium onion, sliced and separated into rings
1 clove garlic or 1 tsp. pickling spice (Both are optional.  This recipe is good just plain.))
1 tsp. salt

What to Do:
Heat sugar, vinegar, beet juice and salt to a simmer, just enough to melt the sugar crystals. Combine beets and onion rings and put into large jar. Add the garlic or pickling spices (optional). Pour the liquid over the beets and onion and close jar. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Turn the jar occasionally to stir.

Notes:

• This will generally fit nicely into a large pickle jar or mayonnaise jar or something similar. (Some beets are "pickling" in my refrigerator right now, but I made them with one regular size can and one small can -about 3 cups beets-and halved the rest of the recipe. It worked out fine, but I just used a smaller canning jar.)
• If you have one can of beets and are going to make a small batch by halving the amounts, you can still use a whole clove of garlic.
• This recipe won't make beets with a long shelf life like 'canned" beets (as in "boiled in a canner and sealed tight in a canning jar") will, but they sure do make a store-bought can of beets taste fabulous.
• You can reuse the juice, if there is a good amount. Just add more beets and onions and start all over again. :-)

Fruit and Almond Cake

This cake is moist with a dense texture and a slightly crisp top from being sprinkled with sugar. It is easy, quick, and delicious. Great for a last-minute dessert for company, or to make when time is short.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups fresh fruit chopped into chunks
(if using frozen fruit, use the fruit frozen, do not defrost it first, otherwise the fruit gets mushy)
1 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted (careful to sift and measure, even a little too much flour throws this recipe off)
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 tsp. almond extract

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a 9-inch cake pan. Scatter fruit evenly on the bottom of the pan. Mix remainder of the ingredients together in a large bowl until fully combined. Spread batter over fruit in cake pan and sprinkle sugar lightly over the top. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Serve with whipped cream.

Variation

I ran out of almond extract so made this today with apples and a few raisins for the fruit, and instead of almond extract I used rum extract (Watkins makes a nice one). I omitted the nutmeg--not sure how nutmeg and rum extract would mix. I put it in a non-stick pan and turned it over to make an "upside down" cake. The rum extract was interesting and quite good, and now I don't know which way I prefer. Try both and see what you think!

Another variation that might be my favorite. Rhubarb sauce on the bottom of the pan instead of the chunked fruit. Whipped cream is a must this time. Yum!

Quick Meatball Stroganoff

My little kitchen blog has been sadly neglected.

Here's a recipe from last night. It was easy and turned out yummy.

Small amount oil
About 1 to 1 1/2 lb ground chuck or ground round
2 eggs
1 package dried onion soup mix
one can cream of mushroom soup
about one cup fresh mushrooms, any kind, sliced
2 cups sour cream
a glug of white wine, optional

Combine meat, eggs, and dried soup mix. Form into balls about the size of golf balls. Coat bottom of skillet with oil and brown meatballs in hot oil. Combine mushroom soup and sour cream and spoon over meatballs. Add fresh mushrooms and wine. Cover and cook over low heat till meatballs are done and gravy is hot (about 10 minutes) . Serve over rice. Sauce will get thinner as it heats, but if necessary you can add a little milk. We had this with broccoli and it was a nice compliment to the onion taste of the meatballs.