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.

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. :-)

Apple-Craisins Stuffing

I tried something new this year, and I think I may like it better than any stuffing that has ever been on our Thanksgiving table. I needed batteries for the camera, so I couldn't take a picture, but it looked pretty as well as tasting yummy. Here is my approximation!

1 bag stuffing bread cubes (I used Brownberry.)
1 large or 2 medium onions, chopped
4 stalks celery, sliced
1 stick butter
3/4 cup chopped nuts
(I used slivered almonds.)
4 cups turkey or chicken stock, or more
3 or 4 apples, cut in cubes
1 cup craisins (dried, sweetened cranberries)
salt & pepper to taste
2 cloves chopped garlic
about 1 T. poultry seasoning, less if you buy the seasoned stuffing mix
about 1/2 cup fresh parsley, snipped into small pieces

Cook onion, garlic and celery in butter till onions are a little softened. Add poultry seasoning. Pour over stuffing mix in large bowl. Add other ingredients and mix well. Add stock, mix again. Bake in large casserole dish or baking pan for about 45 minutes at 375 degrees.

The color of the craisins was lovely with the celery and onions. This turned out a little on the drier side (that's how I like it), so if you prefer your stuffing to be really moist, you will need to add more liquid.

Creamy Cucumber Salad

This recipe is adapted from one of my sister's favorites. Lovely on a hot summer day.

Ingredients:

Two cucumbers, peeled and sliced.
Two tomatoes, cut into wedges and most of the seeds removed
1 small onion, or a couple of scallons, sliced
about 1/2 to 1 cup sour cream or Greek-style plain yogurt
salt
dill week

Place cucumbers in a bowl and sprinkle with salt.  Allow to sit for about an hour.  Squeeze liquid out of cucumber slices with your hands. After you have removed as much liquid as possible, add the tomatoes, cut in chunks and with seeds removed. Add onion. Chill. Just before serving, drain any remaining liquid. Stir in sour cream. Sprinkle with about 1 tsp. dried dill weed, or some fresh dill if it is available. If you like you can also add cooked, sliced carrots that have been chilled in advance.

Orange Spiced Rhubarb Sauce

I remember my first taste of rhubarb sauce. I was about 10 years old and we were having a fried chicken dinner at Knotts Berry Farm. They served it warm. I didn't know what it was, and I remember asking my dad, "What is this delicious stuff and why have I never tasted it before?" In the upper midwest, one of the ways we know spring has finally arrived is that the rhubarb starts growing. Almost everyone who can has a little rhubarb patch.

Sometimes a simple thing can make quite a difference. That's what I think about this recipe. I got the idea of adding the orange and cinnamon when I was making cranberry sauce.

Ingredients

6 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch inch pieces
1 to 1 1/2 sugar
1/4 c. water
about a tablespoon of orange peel, or use orange juice insted of water
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
If rhubarb is the green variety, a few drops of red food coloring is nice.

What to do:

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and cook slowly about 5 minutes, or until tender. Makes 4 cups. May be served warm or cold, depending on what you are using the sauce for.

Rhubarb sauce is good alone (like applesauce), served with meat (especially pork) over vanilla ice cream, or as a topping on pound cake with a dollop of whipped cream.

Variations:

Add some canned crushed pineapple, drained. This is good for dump cake, along with cherry pie filling.
Mix with applesauce.
Omit water and add some sliced strawberries to rhubarb when you remove from heat, and chill.

Green Beans and Tomatoes

Brown 1/4 to 1/2 lb. ground round and one diced onion in a large skillet. (If you choose to skip the meat, this dish will still taste great.) Add one medium can diced tomatoes, drained, 1 tsp. garlic salt, and 1 tsp. pepper. Add green beans. Use the regular, not french cut, style. This can be a large package of frozen beans, two cans of green beans (if you must), or a "good bunch" of fresh ones. Canned or frozen green beans can be added and cooked till beans are tender and heated through, but if you use fresh beans, cook them separately and then add to other ingredients and heat. If you would like a bit of crunch, add slivered almonds or some water chesnuts. The result is homespun but fine in flavor and the colors are festive for a holiday meal. You can also make more of a main dish by adding some cooked macaroni.

Cheesy Carrots

There is not much to this recipe, but it is my son's favorite veggie dish for the holidays. It's the dill weed that gives it a distinctive flavor.


Ingredients:
2 lbs. sliced, cooked carrots
1/2 stick butter
1/2 lb. Velveeta, cubed
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 to 2 Tbs. dill weed
salt and pepper to taste

What to Do:

Cook carrots in salted water till just tender.  Drain and cool slightly.  Mix salt, pepper and dill weed with carrots and onion. Layer carrots, Velveeta, and slices of butter in a casserole dish. Bake at 325 degrees F. for about 20 minutes. Don't overcook or the cheese will separate and turn into small curds, and while it will taste good it will look odd!

Cheesy Apple Bake

Today is Johnny Appleseed's birthday. I posted this recipe (using two of Wisconsin's favorite foods) as part of today's Friday Five at Rev Gals. It is easy and quick and the apple and cheddar flavors are just right for fall!

Next door to the church where I am the pastor is a home with an apple tree. Each year the tree is loaded with apples, and they mostly fall to the ground. I have no idea what kind of apples they are, but they are among the best I've ever tasted. They are crisp like a Granny Smith, but they are the perfect mx of tart and sweet. The skin is a mix of green and red, just like the one in the picture. I look at that tree and wish it was in my yard. Those apples would be going to good use, I can tell you! Later today I'm going to go pick a small basket full from the ground and make this recipe. It will be delicious with the pork chops that are waiting for the grill. Yum yum!

Cheesy Baked Apples

Ingredients:

4 medium apples - peeled, cored, and cut into eighths

1/4 cup water

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

2 Tablespoons sugar (or more, depending on tartness of apples used--Granny Smith's need at least 3))

1 Tablespoon flour

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

What to do:

Arrange apples in a shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with water and lemon juice. In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Sprinkle over apples. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until apples are tender. Uncover, top with shredded cheese, and bake 5 minutes more or until cheese melts. Serves: 4 to 6. Great side dish with ham or pork.

Notes:

It can be made in a medium sized cast iron skillet with a cover. Bake on bed of coals with coals on the lid as well. Add coals as needed. Try adding raisins or craisins and a tiny pinch of cloves and a little more sugar for a sweeter dish. For a more savory dish, add 1/2 to 1 tsp. of curry powder and a sliced onion (baked along with the apples--with or without raisins).

Aunt Pauline's Cucumber-Onion Salad

My mother and my Aunt Pauline are the last remaining siblings of  six sisters and two brothers.

Mother and her sisters were all wonderful cooks, but Pauline was the best of the lot.  At 93, she is nearly blind and quite frail, but she is still a charming southern lady.

She can no longer cook, but she will be happy to know I'm passing on some of her recipes. Here is a simple summer salad that is surprisingly good with almost any meat.  Eating it  makes me think of summer vacations in Texas.

Ingredients:

1 small onion, or 1/2 of a large onion, sliced and rings separated
1 nice cucumber, peeled and sliced
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup vinegar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. oil
dash pepper

What to do:

Slice the onion and cucumber and put them into a jar.  Mix other  ingredients, adjusting sugar and salt to taste if needed.  Bring to a boil so sugar melts.  Cool and then pour over the onions and cucumbers.  Refrigerate for several hours, or overnight.  Serves 4 to 6.

Variations:

Add some chopped parsley, a pinch of dill or fennel, or some sesame seeds if you'd like to change it a bit.