The July edition of the Recipe Box Swap calls for BBQ main and side dishes. Since I know that at any given barbecue or potluck there will be ample beans and deviled eggs, I tend to bring something a little different. Spicy Noodles is one of our favorites. This is great alongside burgers or with any kind of chicken, pork, etc. We find ourselves actually craving this dish. You'll need to prepare this several hours or even a day before you plan to take it/eat it, as it is best cold.
Spicy Noodles
1/4 c. sesame oil
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 TB. sugar
2 TB red chili oil (a little more if you like it really spicy)
2 TB. balsamic vinegar
1 lb. vermicelli or thin spaghetti
1/4 c. sesame seeds, toasted
green onions (optional)
Whisk together dressing. Cook and rinse pasta. Toast sesame seed until lightly browned (about 250 for 10 min.). Toss everything together and garnish with green onions if desired. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (preferably more) before serving.
Looking for more recipes? Check out the Recipe Box Swap!
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This week's Heart of the Matter meme asks for a recipe, and I've got a great one. This is the kind of barbecue that I grew up eating in upstate New York. It's known as Cornell Barbecue because it was developed at Cornell's Farm Extension program in the 1950s. My father was a professor at Cornell University and a scientist at Cornell's Agricultural Research Station in Geneva, NY. We had lots of summer barbecues at the "Station," and once each year we'd head over to Cornell U. for faculty day at the football game. Pretty much the main course was always barbecued chicken with Cornell sauce. When I got married, I had my mother hunt down the recipe and send it to me because I desperately missed it! This is so easy and so amazingly delicious. Please try it.
Cornell Chicken Barbecue Sauce
(This is for 3-4 breasts or you can use thighs, drumsticks, etc. Just double for a crowd.)
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup oil (I use canola)
1 egg
1 1/2 TB salt
1/2 TB poultry seasoning (I've also used Jerk seasoning)
1/2 tsp. pepper
That's it! Whisk it all together and marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes, but overnight is even better. Grill chicken when you're ready!
I hope you try this incredibly inexpensive and easy sauce! I know it doesn't sound like much, but it is fabulous.
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Food boredom sets in around here every year or so, and Dr. H. and I get serious and begin trying out new meals. Dr. H. found this one and I did some adjustments to our taste, which runs along the more-spicy lines. We thought the result was fantastic. A dinner guest (OK, he's not really a guest as he frequents our house much too often to be given this designation) said, "I don't really like pork, but this is amazing." Or something like that. So, I present....
Spicy Pork Cutlets
1 (1-lb) pork tenderloin
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. rosemary (cut up)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
2 tsp. olive oil
2-3 gloves garlic, minced
Mix all the ingredients except the pork in a small bowl. Slice pork into 12 medallions. Place each pork slice between two sheets of plastic wrap and flatten with your hand to about 1/4-inch thick. Rub the spicy mixture over both sides of every slice. Spray your broiler rack with cooking spray and place pork on rack. Put in broiler pan and broil at the top rack, as close as possible to the heat, for about 4 minutes on each side. This timing worked perfectly, but our oven tends to run a bit hot. You may want to keep your oven door open while you broil to make sure you don't scorch your delicious supper.
We served this with Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes, which were just okay. I think a perfect accompaniment, if I were the kind of person who made side dishes with any kind of regularity, would be mashed potatoes, green beans, and cantaloupe (to cut the spiciness).
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Like most people, much of our Christmas preparation revolves around baking. I do stop to ponder occasionally--what possesses me to bake endless batches of cookies in the weeks preceding Christmas? It really makes no sense; yet I am powerless to cease this time-honored Tradition. (OK, Fiddler on the Roof fans, stop singing.)
And so while Dr. H. is busy filling out his Survivor application at work, we are once again firing up the oven for another afternoon baking extravaganza. But while the butter softens, I thought I should post some photos from our sugar cookie bake-a-thon.
Never Fail Sugar Cookies
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick butter (don't even think about using margarine)
3/4 c. Crisco
3 T. milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix dry ingredients as in for pie crust and cut in shortening. Add remaining ingredients. Chill for at least an hour. Roll out about 1/4 inch on a floured board and cut into shapes. Bake at 375 for about 8 minutes. Don't overbake. Cool and frost.
Well, I am an avid reader of The Pioneer Woman and last week or so she posted her Favorite Christmas Cookie recipe, so I thought I should give it a try. I pretty much adore everything on her site, so although I love my recipe, I thought the painted version of the cookie looked fun.
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September
by: Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885)
HE golden-rod is yellow; - The corn is turning brown;
- The trees in apple orchards
- With fruit are bending down.
- The gentian's bluest fringes
- Are curling in the sun;
- In dusty pods the milkweed
- Its hidden silk has spun.
- The sedges flaunt their harvest,
- In every meadow nook;
- And asters by the brook-side
- Make asters in the brook.
- From dewy lanes at morning
- The grapes' sweet odors rise;
- At noon the roads all flutter
- With yellow butterflies.
- By all these lovely tokens
- September days are here,
- With summer's best of weather,
- And autumn's best of cheer.
- But none of all this beauty
- Which floods the earth and air
- Is unto me the secret
- Which makes September fair.
- 'T is a thing which I remember;
- To name it thrills me yet:
- One day of one September
- I never can forget.
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Truly Luscious Applesauce
About 8 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into fourths
1/2-1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2-1 tsp. cinnamon
Directions: Put the apples in a pot. Add everything else. Cook slowly with lid on for about 20-30 minutes, mashing the apples occasionally and stirring. Take the lid off the last 10 minutes to thicken, but be sure to stir to keep from scorching.
Applesauce is good for you, and it makes your house smell good. Make some. Serve it with biscuits for lunch outside and you'll surely catch a whiff of the approaching autumn.
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I like when friends come to my door bearing food. TheMonkeyParade brought me her shrimp and grits on Friday night, and I've just finished eating the second portion for my evening meal. Yum! I think she felt bad because my Drunken Noodles, WHICH I copied directly from her recipe, were too salty. Way, way too salty. Upon investigation, she realized that she actually wrote 1 TABLESPOON of salt rather than 1 teaspoon. Um, yeah. She'd better be bringing me shrimp and grits. And they were sooo delicious, that I will try to make this myself sometime. I've already checked out the salt quantity...
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I love Brussels Sprouts, but I understand that many people find them repulsive. This is probably because they have eaten mushy, overcooked sprouts. So, while mine are roasting, I wanted to share this recipe that will potentially make a Brussels Sprouts lover out of the most resistant:
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and yellow leaves removed
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
- Place trimmed Brussels sprouts, olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper in a large resealable plastic bag. Seal tightly, and shake to coat. Pour onto a baking sheet, and place on center oven rack.
- Roast in the preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes, shaking pan every 5 to 7 minutes for even browning. Reduce heat when necessary to prevent burning. Brussels sprouts should be darkest brown, almost black, when done. Adjust seasoning with kosher salt, if necessary. Serve immediately.
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For the past 5 years in the days preceding Christmas, I've enjoyed a cup of coffee and a slice of Ed's Applesauce Cake for my breakfast. Ed was a post-doc in Randy's lab several years ago when he began presenting Randy with an applesauce cake as a Christmas/birthday gift. Unfortunately for Ed, he's still a post-doc (although now in a different lab), but fortunately for us, he still gifts us with the annual cake. This is one of those great, dense cakes--dare I say that it somewhat resembles a fruitcake, but without those creepy candied fruits? It's truly fabulous with a cup of coffee and the morning paper. Also makes a great last minute gift!
Ed's Applesauce Cake
1 box light brown sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
2 cups raisins
2 cups chopped nuts (pecans and/or walnuts)
1 can applesauce, heated
Cream sugar and butter until light and creamy. Beat in eggs. Sift dry ingredients together (set aside a little flour and add to nuts and raisins to keep them separated), and gradually add into butter mix. You may need to add the applesauce partway through. Finally add nuts and raisins. Bake in greased tube pan at 300 for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
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As someone famous once said, "When Bloggers' Block strikes, post a recipe." Plus, who doesn't want a recipe that has actually passed the all-family-members-like-it test? My friend Kris in Iowa brought these to me when Laurel was born. I like the idea of people bringing me dinner. I think that my friends should bring me dinner more often, even if I'm not having a baby. Random, meaningless occasions would be fine. Also, I think that we should all get bridal showers again, like after 15 or 20 years, especially those of us who got married young when we and all our friends were penniless...
But I digress. Onto the recipe....
Chicken Roll-ups
4 oz. cream cheese
3 T. melted margarine
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 T. milk
2 1/2-3 chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
2 pkg. crescent rolls
3/4 c. seasoned bread crumbs (fine)
Cook your chicken however you like to do this. I boil this for 20 minutes and then shred when cool. Blend cream cheese, margarine, milk, salt and pepper until smooth. Add chicken. (I leave out 1/2 breast, since I have one child that doesn't like the cream cheese mixture. If you use all 3 breasts, you'll need a little more cream cheese mixture.) Mix well. Separate rolls into 8 rectangles. Seal seams on rectangles. Spoon about 1/4 cup mixture into center of each, pull 4 corners to center, and seal each. (At this point, I put the plain chicken into the last 2 rectangles for the child-who-doesn't-like-cream-cheese.) Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet or pizza stone for 20 minutes at 375. Makes 8.
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Wow. I am soaking in this day. This is the first time in 10 weeks that we've had a completely free weekend. Soccer is over. Our annual Soup and Pumpkin party has come and gone. Trunk or Treat, AHG/Cub Scout Hayride and Campfire, dentist appointments, John Notgrass seminar....all over. It's the flurry of activities that always come before we settle in for the winter, and while I'm not ready to get out the Christmas decorations yet, I am excited to spend evenings wrapped in the afghan in our blue chair (the one that has seen much better days in its first life with Randy's dad).
Speaking of being free, I read a great line in a homeschooling magazine at the library today. The author of the article was described as having been a homeschooled family "since they were liberated from public school." I loved that line. It's been seven years since we were liberated, but I still feel that powerful sense of freedom each and every day.
We've been terribly productive around here today. Randy and Jesse finished with Stage 1 of the tree house: The Platform. I've been mostly catching up on paperwork and emails, tying up those odds and ends of duties that get lost in the daily shuffle (often literally). The kids and I spent a relaxing hour at the library, and now they're all watching the big game while supper cooks. French Onion Soup and smoked turkey sandwiches are on tonight's menu. The soup recipe is below. I found a fabulous addition to our sandwiches: Mario's Red Pepper and Artichoke Tapenade. It's not as fabulous as roasting your own red peppers and using marinated artichokes, but it keeps a long time in the fridge, and it's quick.
French Onion Soup
Serves 4
2 TBS. butter
4 large yellow onions, sliced thin
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. mustard
dash of thyme or Italian seasoning
6 cups water
3 TBS. soy sauce
2-3 TBS. dry white wine or red wine (opt.)
few dashes of pepper
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Croutons (recipe below)
Grated Mozzerella or thin slices of provolone or swiss cheese
1. Melt butter in a kettle or Dutch oven. Add onions and salt. Cook over medium about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add mustard and thyme. Cover. Continue to cook very slowly for about 35 minutes. The onions will be so soft and will simmer in their own liquid.
3. Add everything else except the toppings. Simmer 15 minutes more. Dish into overproof bowls and top with croutons and cheese (in that order). Put under broiler briefly to brown the cheese. Serve with smoked turkey sandwiches or just crusty bread.
Croutons
Cube some old hoagies, hamburger buns, stale bread, or whatever you have handy. Saute in garlic butter and then toast at 300 for a few minutes.
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