October challenge

Mighty Nice Macaroni And Cheese A La Rob

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Submitted by Rob Anning

  • 1 recipe sauce (see below)
  • 1 pound chicken breast, cooked and cut into bite sized pieces. (Or 2-3 packages prepared chicken from the salad section.)
  • 1 package grape tomatoes, quartered
  • 1 bunch asparagus, slightly steamed and cut into bite sized pieces.  (Or 1 package frozen asparagus pieces, thawed.)
  • Pasta (see below)
  • Panko crumbs (see below)
  • Melted butter (see below)

Toss pasta and sauce.  Gently toss in chicken, tomatoes, and asparagus.  Put in 13 x 9 glass or ceramic pan.  Cover top with panko mixture.  Bake at 300′ until hot and topping is browned.  (The veggies work best if everything else is still hot when it goes in the oven, minimizing oven time.)
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Sauce

  • 1 stick melted butter
  • 1 can cream of chicken soup
  • ½ cup chopped onion
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
  • 6 cups grated sharp cheddar
  • 1 cup sour cream

Combine all ingredients and stir over medium heat until cheese is well melted.

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Pasta

Boil 32 oz. Radiatori (ruffle pasta).  You’ll want it al dente – it will get softer in the oven

If you can’t find radiatori pick a pasta that’s not smooth so the sauce has something to cling to.)

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Use enough panko crumbs to cover your dish, tossed with enough melted butter to lightly coat crumbs.

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Guinness Chocolate Cake

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Submitted by Rob Anning

Use a Duncan Hines Devil’s Food cake mix. Follow the directions for pound cake using chocolate fudge pudding mix and substitute Guinness for all the water. Bake as directed.

Cool. Frost with Guinness Frosting (below). Sprinkle with chocolate jimmies.

Guinness Frosting

Beat together:

  • 3 (8 oz. each ) packages of cream cheese
  • Slightly less than ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 5 Tablespoons Guinness

Fold in:

8oz Cool Whip, Extra Creamy

Freaking Delicious Brownie Pudding

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Submitted by Nancy Gross, who got it from www.allrecipes.com where it was attributed to Anne Strawberry, who adapted it from Ina Garten (whew!)

  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering the dishes (that is the reduced amount- the original calls for 1 stick for the half recipe)
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3/8 cup good cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Lightly butter 6 ramekins or mini pie tins. Melt the butter and set aside to cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until very thick and light yellow. Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder and flour together and set aside.

When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla and the cocoa powder and flour mixture. Mix only until combined. With mixer still on low, slowly pour in the cooled butter and mix again just until combined.

Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared dishes and place it in a larger baking pan. Place pan in oven. Add enough of the hottest tap water to the pan to come halfway up the sides of the dishes and bake for about 30 minutes- until the edges look done but the center is still a little soft. The center will appear very under-baked; this dessert is between a brownie and a pudding.

Cool and serve with ice cream.

Potato Latkes

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  • 10 medium potatoes
  • 2 medium onions
  • 3 eggs
  • ¼ cup flour
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Vegetable oil

Peel the potatoes if the skin is very coarse; otherwise, just clean them well. If peeled, keep them in cold water until ready to prepare the latkes.

Beat the eggs.

Using a food processor with a chopping blade, finely chop the onions. Place chopped onions in a large bowl.

Using the fine grating blade, process the potatoes, putting grated potatoes in the bowl with the onions. Add eggs and flour. Sprinkle salt over the whole mess. Mix well.

Heat about 3/4” of oil in a frying pan. We use an electric frying pan set at 350°. Drop potato mixture into oil. Depending on what size you want your latkes to be, you can use 1 – 3 tablespoons of mixture per blob. Fry the latkes, turning once. When they are golden and crisp on both sides, drain on paper towels. Serve with yogurt, sour cream, sugar and/or applesauce.

Latkes may be frozen! After making them, place them on a cookie sheet in the freezer. After they are frozen, they can be placed in a plastic bag. When ready to serve, place (on a cookie sheet) in a 450° oven for several minutes. This is the best way to make them ahead, as they do not keep well in the refrigerator.

Serves 8-10

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

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From Cooking Light

  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup applesauce
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ cups finely shredded zucchini (about 1 medium)
  • ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips (The mini ones work great.)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place first 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at low speed until well blended. Stir in applesauce.

Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt), stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, beating just until moist. Stir in the zucchini and chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into a 9×5 inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a the top bounces back when gentle pressure is applied. Cool in pan 10 minutes on wire rack. Then remove from pan and let cool completely on wire rack.

Makes 16 servings.

Nutrition Info:

161 calories, 29% from fat; 5.1 grams fat; 2 g protein; 27.3 gm carb. 1.4 g fiber; 27 mg cholesterol; 1.2 mg iron; 145 mg sodium; 12 mg calcium

Turkey Soup

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This is a great reason to stay home the day after Thanksgiving.

Day One

  • Turkey carcass (I don’t do a very thorough job of cleaning the meat off.  I usually leave the wings on as well as some of the dark meat on the back.  Usually most of the white meat and drumsticks have been removed)
  • Turkey neck, if you have it
  • 2-3 large onions, peeled and quartered
  • 4-5 stalks of celery, washed and cut into 3-4 pieces each.  Leaves are a plus.
  • About 8 grinds of pepper
  • Kosher salt to taste

Day Two

  • 4 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
  • Salt, pepper, and garlic powder
  • 14 ounces noodles or pasta

Put the carcass and the neck in a large stock pot and add enough water to almost cover it.

Add onions, celery, pepper, and salt.

Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the bones come apart and the broth is a nice yellowish color, usually 3-4 hours.

Remove the soup from the heat and allow it to cool.  At this point I usually put the pot outside.

When the soup is cool enough to handle, remove the big pieces of bone, meat and vegetables.  Discard neck, vegetables, bones and any meat that doesn’t look appetizing.  A lot of the meat will be gristly or dried out.  Set the nice tender meat aside.  It might not look like much, but you don’t need much.

Strain the soup.

Thinly slice the reserved meat against the grain so that you get very small pieces of turkey.  Add meat back into the broth.

Put the soup in a cold place (outside or in the fridge) for at least 8 hours.

Skim the fat from the top.

Add sliced carrots to the broth and bring it to a rolling boil.  Allow it to boil for about 5 minutes.

Taste the soup for seasoning.  It will need a fair amount of salt and some pepper.  I also usually add a few shakes of garlic powder.

Add noodles.  Usually a little less than a pound is good depending on the amount of broth and the size of the noodles.

The soup is ready to eat when the pasta is tender.

Molasses Gingersnaps

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  • 2 ¼ cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar (or slightly less)
  • ¾ cup shortening
  • ¼ cup molasses (Grandma’s Robust variety works well)
  • 1 egg
  • Granulated sugar for rolling (white, colored, or a combination)

Stir together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt. In a large mixer bowl, combine brown sugar, shortening, molasses and egg. Beat well. Add flour mixture and beat until well mixed.

Shape dough into 1” balls. Roll in sugar. Place 2” apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375° for about 9-11 minutes. Bake longer for snappier cookies and shorter for softer ones.

Makes about 4 dozen 2-inch cookies

HINT: Rub a little shortening in the measuring cup before you measure the molasses.

Herbed White Beans Au Gratin

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Good over brown rice or couscous

  • 1/4 cup chopped onion
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (or substitute dried oregano, basil, and/or marjoram)
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 1lb cans of cannellini beans, drained
  • 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a corning ware dish or ovenproof skillet, sauté the onions in the

olive oil until they are soft, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add Italian

seasoning and pine nuts and mix well. Immediately stir in 3/4 cup

milk, salt, pepper, and beans. Continue to stir until the mixture

comes to a boil. Remove from burner.

Moisten the bread crumbs with the remaining 1 tablespoon milk. Add the

cheese and blend thoroughly. Spread this topping over the bean

mixture. Bake for 25 minutes.

Oatmeal Cookies

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  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups quick oats
  • 1 cup stuff (raisins, chocolate chips, nuts, coconut, trail mix, M&M’s, etc. or a combination)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla.

Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

Beat into creamed mixture. Stir in oatmeal and stuff.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls.

Bake 12 to 14 minutes.

Makes 4-6 dozen, depending on size.

Pumpkin Swirl Bread

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From Simply From Scratch

Filling

  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 4 ounces cream cheese — softened
  • 1 egg

Bread

  • 2 2/3 cups sugar
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1 can pumpkin (16 ounce)
  • 4 eggs
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350F degrees.

In small mixer bowl combine all filling ingredients. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed (1-2 minutes); set aside. In large mixer bowl combine 2-2/3 cups sugar, oil, water, pumpkin and 4 eggs. Beat at low speed, scraping often, until mixture is smooth (1-2 minutes).

Continue beating at medium speed, gradually adding all remaining bread ingredients and scraping bowl often, until well mixed (1-2 minutes). Place 1/4 (about 2 cups) pumpkin batter into bottom of each of 2 greased and floured 9 X 5 inch loaf pans**. Carefully spread 1/2 of the filling mixture over batter in each pan; top each with half of remaining pumpkin batter.

Pull knife or spatula through batter and filling to create swirl effect. Bake for 65-70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans. Cool completely.

** I have had very good luck using 4-5 very small loaf pans instead.  It makes slicing, serving and gift-giving that much easier.  Reduce baking time to 45 minutes or so depending on the size of the loaves.