Becker Sour Cream Dip; or How Laura Learned to Stop Chipping and Love the Veggies

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Laura S

Something really strange happened at our Super Bowl party last week. There was a huge array of delicious foods: Skyline dip, homemade artichoke spinach dip, fresh guacamole, even taco-flavored Doritos. And yet, I found myself eating veggies. Lots of them. This is not normal. Not to say that I dislike veggies, I’m actually a pretty big fan. But who wants carrots in the face of creamy, gooey Skyline dip?

Now, before you start thinking that this was some form of super celery, I should confess that I would have eaten anything that was covered into the fantastic dip that my friend Katie made. Cardboard would have been exquisite, veggies were amazing and I can only imagine how french fries would taste dunked in this stuff.

When I asked Katie what it was in this amazing dip, she listed all of my favorite things; sour cream, garlic, pepper and even lemon zest. If I had made it for everyone I would totally have taken credit for inventing it, but being the fine upstanding citizen that she is Katie informed me she found the recipe in The Joy of Cooking.

Try it, you wont regret it.

Mix well in a large bowl:

2 cups sour cream
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
Grated zest of one lemon

That’s it, you’re done. Easy, delicious, amazing. I would personally run it through the food processor so the garlic isn’t chunky, but any way you do it would be great!

The book also suggests trying these delicious add-ins:

3-4 scallions, thinly sliced, or
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish, or
1/2 cup caramelized onions

Bread machine books

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Pat S

bread machine baking
Wintertime is soup and homemade bread time at my house. There is nothing more comforting to have good smells wafting from the kitchen on a cold winter’s day. I will admit that I have never mastered the whole kneading and rising process of making bread, instead I opt for using my trusty bread machine. After all, it’s still homemade in my book!

Country White Bread – 1 1/2 pound loaf

½ – 5/8 cup water

5/8 cup milk

1 ½ Tablespoons butter or margarine

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 cups bread flour

1 1/2 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast

1. Place all ingredients in bread pan, using the least amount of liquid listed in the recipe. Select Medium Crust setting and press START.

2. Observe the dough as it kneads. After 5 – 10 minutes, if it appears dry and stiff, or if your machine sounds as if it’s straining to knead it, add more liquid 1 tablespoon at a time until dough forms a smooth, soft , pliable ball that is slightly tacky to the touch.

3. After the baking cycle ends, remove bread from pan, place on cake rack, and allow to cool 2 hour before slicing.

For more bread machine recipes, check out these books:

The bread lover’s bread machine cookbook: a master baker’s 300 favorite recipes for perfect-every-time bread, from every kind of machine by Beth Hensperger

Biggest book of bread machine recipes.

Bread machine magic: 138 exciting new recipes created especially for use in all types of bread machines by Linda Rehberg

The breadman’s healthy bread book: use your bread machine to make more than 100 delicious, wholesome breads by George Burnett

Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Pat S

strawberry Hearts and chocolate = Valentine’s Day!! Are you ready? It’s not easy to find the perfect card that expresses exactly how you feel about a loved one, or what gift to get them. How about whipping up some sweet yummies in your kitchen? For me, two chocolate recipes come to mind, chocolate truffles and chocolate covered strawberries. Word of warning, Who Wants Candy? by Jane Sharrock is loaded with yummy candies. Your waistline may not like you after you start making some of the recipes.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

8 – 10 fresh medium strawberries

1 ounce semisweet chocolate baking square

1 tablespoon evaporated milk

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Leaving the green stems intact, wash, drain, and completely dry the strawberries by patting with a paper towel. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.

2. In a top pan of a double boiler over hot but not boiling water, melt the chocolate, milk and vanilla extract together, stirring until smooth.

3. Insert a toothpick into the stem end of the strawberry and dip the lower two-thirds of the berries into the chocolate. Drop the berries onto the lined baking sheet. Let stand till the chocolate is firm.

4. Serve immediately or lightly cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, storing no more that 4 – 8 hours. The berries can be refrigerated for up to 2 days but may lose their eye appeal when stored more than a few hours.

Tip: To keep the berries from having a flat side, turn a plastic colander upside down and place the toothpicks holding the dipped berries into the holes of the colander. Place the colander filled with berries into the refrigerator until ready to serve.

The Chocolate Truffle recipe is also included in this book on page 171. Check it out!

CHICKEN WITH PARSLEY DUMPLINGS

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Cindy

If you love dumplings, you simply must make this recipe. I promise you will not be disappointed with this easy-to-fix cold weather dish.

Chicken

1 (5 lb) stewing chicken

1 branch celery

2 carrots, pared and sliced

1 onion, sliced

2 Tsp. salt

1 Qt. water

1 Cup milk

1/3 Cup flour

Place chicken, celery, carrots, onion, salt and water in Dutch oven. Simmer, covered, 2 ½ to 3 hours or until chicken is tender.

Remove chicken from broth. Cool well. Remove meat from bones; cut in large pieces. Discard bones.

Strain broth and add enough water to make 3 cups. Return broth to Dutch oven. Combine milk and flour in small jar. Cover and shake until smooth. Slowly stir into hot broth. Cook, stirring constantly, 5 minutes. Add chicken to gravy.

Prepare Parley Dumplings. Makes 8 servings.

Parsley Dumplings

2 Cups sifted flour

3 Tsp. baking powder

1 Tsp. salt

1/4 Cup minced fresh parsley

1 Cup milk

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into bowl. Mix parsley. Cut in shortening with pastry blender until it looks like coarse cornmeal. Add milk; stir to make a soft dough. (Do not over mix.)

Drop dumpling mixture by spoonfuls onto simmering chicken gravy. Simmer, uncovered 10 minutes. Cover and simmer 10 more minutes. Serve at once.

Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Apricots and White Chocolate

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Laura S

My mom stopped by the library today and brought the staff a surprise batch of cookies!

We found this recipe in the back cover of a Martha Stewart Living Magazine several years ago (I looked it it, it was March 2009), and it’s been a family favorite ever since. A classier take on the traditional oatmeal raisin cookie, the apricots and white chocolate give these cookies a much lighter, delicate taste. Our magazines are a great place to find recipes and you can check out back issues to bake all you want at home.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
8 ounces white chocolate, chopped
7 ounces dried apricots, preferably California, chopped (1 1/2 cups)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, oatmeal, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Cream butter and sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add salt, vanilla, and eggs, and beat until well combined, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture gradually, beating until just combined. Stir in chocolate and apricots. Cover, and refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes.
Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies are golden brown around the edges but still soft in the center, 14 to 16 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.

If your interested in some of the other amazing baked goods that the amazing Ms. Stewart has to offer, try checking out Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook or Martha Stewart’s Cookies.

Meatloaf Brasciole: An Homage to Rachael Ray

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Laura S

When I was in college we had free cable and I was addicted to the food channels. Over the space of 3 years I taught myself to cook just by watching TV (I would have practiced but the dorms had no kitchens). Sadly, I saw lots of delicious recipes being made but didn’t think to write them down for when I could get somewhere to test them out. Instead I’d wait a few months and them create some terrifying amalgam of 12 different recipes I’d seen.

This started out as a recipe for Meatloaf Brasciole (that’s fancy for Meatloaf Roll-Up) that I saw on an episode of Rachael Ray, but got morphed to include the ingredients I had on hand. It’s as easy as a regular meatloaf, but with the rolled up core of prosciutto, cheese and spinach it looks super fancy and complex, plus the Italian flavors are WAY better than the version your mom used to make.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 egg
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 small white onion, grated
3 tablespoons pine nuts, chopped
3 tablespoons grated cheese, Parmigiano or Romano
1 cup baby spinach
6 slices prosciutto
6 slices deli sliced provolone
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Mix all ingredients (except prosciutto, cheese, spinach and oil) like you are making a regular meat loaf. Flatten meat out on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet into a thin layer: 1/2-inch thick, 12 inches long by 6 to 8 inches wide. Cover meat with spinach, prosciutto slices and cheese then roll the meat, using the waxed paper to help roll up into a large log (like a giant Swiss Roll). Drizzle the log with extra-virgin olive oil to coat lightly. Roast meatroll 20 minutes. Cut into 1 inch servings.

For more awesome, easy dinner ideas try one of these great books:

Rachael Ray’s Look + Cook: 100 Can’t-miss Main Courses in Pictures

Just in Time! All-new 30-Minute Meals

Rachael Ray’s Big Orange Book

Make the Bread, Buy the Butter

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Pat S

make the bread buy the butter Have you ever wondered if it was cheaper to make something homemade or just buy it at the store? Well, I found a book that will help shed some light on that question. While perusing the New York Times Notable Cookbooks for 2011, I came across Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese. The author takes 120 items and evaluates them. She includes recipes and cost comparisons so you can choose to either make or buy.

Sample entry from the book Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese:

Cocoa

Make it or buy it? Make it.

Hassle: None at all

Cost Comparisons: Swiss Miss charges about $0.38 per 1 ounce packet of cocoa. One ounce of homemade cocoa costs about $0.18

1 ½ cups dark brown sugar

1 cup cocoa powder

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1. Sift the ingredients into a bowl. If any of the salt or sugar gets left in the sifter, just pour it into the cocoa mix and whisk to blend. Keeps indefinitely in a lidded jar.

2. To make hot chocolate, use 2 tablespoons per cup of hot milk. Stir in ¼ teaspoon vanilla

Panera Bread Cookbook

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Pat S

Every once in a while I like to treat myself to lunch at Panera Bread. I will order up a scrumptious sandwich made with their own homemade bread teamed with one of their savory soups , or one of their signature salads. Yum! For a lot of us, money is tight and eating out has taken a back seat to eating in. I discovered The Panera Bread Cookbook at the public library and now I can have Panera whenever the mood strikes me. If you are adventurous, why not try the recipe I included below.

Goat Cheese, Tomato, and Thai Basil Panini

1 Tablespoon salted butter

4 slices Country White Bread (the recipe is in the cookbook) or brioche

3 Tablespoons goat cheese (see note)

10 Thai basil leaves (see note)

1 large Roma tomato, cored and cut into 8 slices width-wise

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Spread the butter on one side of each slice of bread and flip slices over so ingredients can be placed on the inside. Evenly spread the goat cheese over the unbuttered side of bread and distribute basil leaves and tomato on 2 slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with a second slice of bread and grill in a press until golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes per side. Cut the sandwich in half and serve immediately. A George Forman grill works great.

Note – for substitutions :

Thai Basil – common sweet

Goat Cheese – cream cheese or farmer’s cheese.

Easy Rice Cooker Add-ins

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Laura S

The best purchase I ever made for my kitchen was my rice cooker. By combining rice with staples I have laying around the house I can make delicious, healthy meals and still have dinner on the table in under 30 minutes with no effort whatsoever.

I like to buy and pre-grill chicken breasts in bulk and then freeze them. When I know that I’m going to have rice for dinner I’ll pull one or two out the night before so it can defrost in the fridge. When I get home from work I’ll throw rice in the cooker with some of these delicious add-ins and then pop the chicken breast into the cooker (on top of the rice) in the last 5 minutes so that it reheats in the steam.

For Italian rice and chicken try adding:

1 can petite diced tomatoes
½ cup parmesan grated
¼ cup chopped basil
Add cheese and tomatoes to rice before removing from heat, let sit 5 minutes, fold in basil before serving.

For Asian rice and chicken try adding:

2 cups finely chopped broccoli
2 thinly sliced scallions
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon sesame oil
After rice cooks 12 minutes sprinkle with broccoli, cook 5 more minutes, fold in other ingredients before serving.

For Laura’s favorite rice and chicken try adding:

½ cup sliced dried apricots
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
½ cup toasted almonds
Remove rice from heat, sprinkle with apricots and lemon zest before letting stand, fold in almonds before serving.

Once you master using these simple recipes with your rice cooker try checking out this amazing book. You’ll never use your stove again:

The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cook Book: 250 no-fail recipes for pilafs, risottos, polentas, chilis, soups, porridges, puddings, and more, from start to finish in your rice cooker by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann.

Best Ever Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Onions

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Laura S

There isn’t much I love in this world than the smell of a roasting chicken. Other than potatoes roasted in the same pan as said chicken that is. If you can use a mandolin slicer to cut your potatoes and onions nice and thin the prep time on this dish is about 5 minutes. I first time I made it in my new apartment my roommates were beyond impressed. By drying the chicken extra well you ensure a crisp and impressively colored skin.

Prep Time: 30 minutes, Cooking time: 50-60 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2-3 tablespoons butter
5-6 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/8-rounds
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
One 4-5 pound farm-raised chicken
Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, garlic powder
2 teaspoons minced thyme (optional)
Unsalted butter

You will need:

Ovenproof frying pan or roasting pan
Kitchen knife
Cutting Board
Paper towels
Kitchen twine and scissors

Method:

1 Preheat the oven to 450°F. Thinly slice potatoes and onion.

2 Melt the butter in a large oven-proof frying pan or small roasting pan. Layer the potatoes all around the bottom of the pan, completely covering it. Scatter the onions over the potatoes. Set aside and prepare the chicken.

3 Rinse the chicken and then dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. Salt and pepper the cavity, then truss the bird.

4 Next, salt the chicken very well. Season to taste with pepper and garlic powder.

5 Place the chicken on top of the potatoes and onions in the pan and put it in the oven. Don’t open oven. Roast until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are golden and a little crispy, about 50 to 60 minutes.

6 Remove it from the oven and add the thyme, if using, to the pan. Baste the chicken with any juices from the pan and let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board.

Like making chicken? Try these titles:

150 Things to Make with a Roast Chicken and 5o Ways to Roast it by Tony Rosenfeld

The Best Chicken Recipes by Cook’s Illustrated

The New York Times Chicken Cookbook edited by Linda Amster

Recipe adapted from Thomas Keller via Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy