Cabbage Noodles (Halushki)

This is one of my most favorite comfort foods. It's basic - cabbage and noodles - but it takes me back to my childhood when my mum-mum and pap-pap would make this all the time and I'd eat 2 or 3 bowls! Okay - I admit it's presentation is lackluster. Heck, it may even be down right unappetizing to anyone with no experience with Hungarian and Polish foods. Like I said - this is a comfort food and yes, it's an ethnic food as well. Deal with it.

Cabbage Noodles
1 head of cabbage - chopped (core removed)

1 bag of egg noodles

1/2 stick of butter (the real thing!)

1/4 cup of Crisco (vegetable shortening) - it's comfort food, remember!

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large skillet, melt the vegetable shortening and add the chopped cabbage. Sautee on medium heat. Stirring occassionally to keep the cabbage moving and so it doesn't burn on the bottom.

You want the cabbage browned (see below). To be technical, you need to caramelize the cabbage to bring out the sweetness. It will probably take about 35-40 minutes of sauteeing and stirring to get it to this point. Do NOT cover with a lid at any time! You want the water to cook out and caramelize the sugars.

Now you want to boil the noodles. Once they're tender, drain and mix with the cabbage. I like to let it sit on very low heat so that the noodles have time to absorb some of the butter/shortening and the cabbage flavor. Salt and pepper to taste.

Acorn Squash-Butternut Squash Soup

Let me preface this by saying - that is not my ugly bowl. I brought this soup to work and this is one of our office dishes.

As you may already know, I belong to a CSA Farm. It's squash season and they've hooked me up with some acorn squash and some butternut squash. Heck, I don't know what to do with it...my husband won't eat it in any way, shape, or form. So, I figure I'd whip up a soup and take it to work to share with my 5 co-workers. Luckily, it was a hit!

Acorn Squash-Butternut Squash Soup

1 butternut squash - peeled and cut into chunks
1 acorn squash - peeled and cut into chunks
3 granny smith apples, peeled and diced
1 onion - diced
1 clove of garlic - diced
3 14-oz cans of chicken broth
1 Tablespoon Butter
1/4 teaspoon Chinese 5 Spice
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1 Tablespoon of sage, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Toss the squash chunks in a little bit of olive oil (to coat) and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees.

While the squash is roasting, melt the butter in a dutch oven or stock pot and sautee the apple and onion for about 10 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic, sage, and the spices (Chinese 5 Spice/Nutmeg).

Add the chicken broth and the squash and simmer for 30 minutes. Place the soup into a food processor and puree until slightly chunky/slightly smooth. You will need to do this in batches. If you have a hand-blender, this would work perfectly.

Season with salt/pepper and serve.

Apple Crisp - With Oats

This isn't your basic apple crisp with butter and flour as a crumb top. This has oats - and it's so much better!

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Toss the apples in the juice of 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon of nutmeg.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter. Stir until crumbly. Press half the oat mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover with sliced apples.

In a medium saucepan, combine white sugar, cornstarch, water and vanilla. Cook, stirring, until thick and clear, 10 minutes. Pour over apples.

Cover apples with remaining crumble mixture.
Bake in preheated oven 45 minutes, until bubbly and golden.

Pumpkin Scones

Here's yet another way to use pumpkin! These are just slightly sweet and taste very similar to pumpkin pie. So good with my morning coffee!

Scone Dough:
2 cups (280 grams) all purpose flour
1/3 cup (72 grams) light or dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup toasted ad chopped pecans (optional)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup fresh or canned pure pumpkin (if using canned pumpkin make sure there are no spices or sugar added)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Egg Wash:
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk or cream
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling the tops of the scones (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place rack in middle of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.

Stir in the raisins and pecans, if using. In a separate bowl mix together the buttermilk, pumpkin puree and vanilla and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round and about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 3 pie-shaped wedges (triangles). Place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash and sprinkle a little Turbinado sugar on top, if desired.

Place the baking sheet inside another baking sheet to prevent the bottoms of the scones from over browning. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 6 scones.

Alton Brown's Fried Chicken

Fried chicken. It sounds simple enough, yet I've never been able to perfect it. Either it's cooked too long or not long enough or it's bland, etc. On an episode of Good Eats, Alton made fried chicken - and I watched it closely. I realized there were a few things I was doing wrong. I was seasoning the flour, which was wrong. Plus, I had the wrong equipment. Alton recommended a Lodge Chicken Fryer. Where do I get one? I checked a few places and thanks to my friend, Cara, I found exactly what I needed at Trader Horn. Sweet!

Yes - this is what I need! A large, deep skillet. Alton recommends cast iron for it's even heating and cooking. Now, for the chicken.....

1 broiler/fryer chicken, cut into 8 pieces

2 cups low fat buttermilk

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Flour, for dredging

Vegetable shortening, for frying

Place chicken pieces into a plastic container and cover with buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.

Drain chicken in a colander. Combine salt, paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Liberally season chicken with this mixture. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

Melt enough shortening (over low heat) to come just 1/8-inch up the side of a 12-inch cast iron skillet or heavy fry pan. Once shortening liquefies raise heat to 325 degrees F. Do not allow oil to go over 325 degrees F.

Place chicken skin side down into the pan. Put thighs in the center, and breast and legs around the edge of the pan. The oil should come half way up the pan. Cook chicken until golden brown on each side, approximately 10 to 12 minutes per side. More importantly, the internal temperature should be right around 180 degrees. (Be careful to monitor shortening temperature every few minutes.)

Drain chicken on a rack over a sheet pan. Don't drain by setting chicken directly on paper towels or brown paper bags. If you need to hold the chicken before serving, cover loosely with foil but avoid holding in a warm oven, especially if it's a gas oven.

Pumpkin Pizzelles

I love pizzelles. It's not Christmas without them. I remember hundreds of pizzelles spread across the tables in my grandparents' basement - their second kitchen. Red ones. Green ones. They all had the same flavor, but I still think green was my favorite.

It's a few months until Christmas, but autumn is finally here. So many pumpkin recipes - too many to choose from. The other day, I had a brilliant, or what I thought would be brilliant, idea....pumpkin pizzelles. Some adaptation of the basic pizzelle recipe was required since I would be adding a moist ingredient (pumpkin). The final result, a brilliant idea! I think I'll be headed out to get some cinnamon ice cream to serve these with. Yum!

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions
1 Preheat the pizzelle iron.
2 Beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy, then add the eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla.
3 Sift the dry ingredients together, then fold into the sugar mix.
4 Lightly brush the pizzelle iron with butter, then drop a teaspoon amount of dough onto the iron. Close the lid and bake for 34-60 seconds.
5 Remove. Before the cookies cool, you can shape them into cones or rolls or shallow bowls, if you want, or leave them flat.
6 Repeat buttering the iron as needed and dropping on dough and baking it until all the dough is gone.

Home Grown Tomatoes

There ain't nothin' in the world that I like better Than bacon 'n lettuce 'n home grown tomatoes.

Up in the morning, out in the garden. Get you a ripe one, don't get a hard 'un.

Plant 'em in the spring, eat 'em in the summer. All winter without 'em is a culinary bummer.

I forget all about the sweatin' and the diggin' every time I go out and pick me a big 'un!

Home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes What'd life be without home grown tomatoes? Only two things that money can't buy that's true love and home grown tomatoes.

You can go out and eat an that's for sure. But there's nothin' a home grown tomato won't cure.

Put 'em in a salad put 'em in a stew. You can make your own very own tomato juice.

You can eat 'em with eggs, eat 'em with gravy, You can eat 'em with beans, pinto or navy.

Put 'em on the side, put 'em in the middle Home grown tomato on a hot cake griddle.

Home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes. What'd life be without home grown tomatoes?

Only two things that money can't buy That's true love and home grown tomatoes.

If I's to change this life I lead You could call me Johnny Tomato seed.

'Cause I know what this country needs -

Home grown tomatoes in every yard you see!

When I die don't bury me In a box in a cold dark cemetary.

Out in the garden would be much better 'Cause I could be pushin' up a home grown tomatoes. Home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes What'd life be without home grown tomatoes Only two things that money can't buy That's true love and home grown tomatoes.

John Denver

la-la-la lasagna!

Lasagna isn't something we have very often. It's delicious, but the time and preparation usually keep me from bothering to make it. However, Josh requested it, and reminded me that it has been a long time.

I always use homemade spaghetti sauce. This time, though, I wanted something different...brighter in flavor...fresher in flavor. Then I saw this huge pile of cherry tomatoes sitting on my counter...hmmm.

Garden Maranara Sauce

2 cups of cherry tomatoes - cut in half

1 small onion - diced

1 clove garlic - diced

1 can diced tomatoes (including juice)

1 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon fresh parsley - chopped

4 large leaves of basil - chopped

1 teaspoon sugar

salt/pepper

olive oil

In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil and sautee the onions and garlic for about 5-10 minutes or until transparent.

Add the cherry tomatoes and sautee about 10 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes and tomato paste and simmer another 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Add the parsley and basil and simmer another 10 minutes.

I also browned about a pound of ground beef in another skillet and then added it to the finished sauce.

The sauce was perfect and I cried a little that I had to add meat to it. But lasagna is just so boring without meat.

Lasagna Recipe

1 box of lasagna noodles

1.5 pounds ricotta cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella..or white cheddar...or asiago (I used imported provolone)

1 cup of fresh grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

Meat Sauce (recipe above)

Boil the lasagna noodles for about 6-7 minutes. You want them to still be a bit firm when you remove them from the pot. Drain the noodles and lay each noodle on paper towel to absorb any excess moisture.

Mix the ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese in a bowl and set aside.

In a 9x13 pan (or lasagna pan), put a layer of the meat sauce on the bottom of the pan.

Then put down a layer of noodles, overlapping the edges.

Take 1/3 of the cheese mix and spread it over the noodles.

Place another layer of meat sauce on top of the cheese layer. Continue with noodles, cheese, sauce. You should have about 3 layers, with the very top layer being sauce. I'll then sprinkle some shredded mozzarella on top.

Cover with foil and bake for about 1 hour at 350 degrees. Allow to cool about 10 minutes before cutting.

corn!

I love corn on the cob. I could eat an entire dozen of corn on the cob for a meal. I could eat it every day. However, sometimes, I have too much corn....too much corn that doesn't taste good on the cob.

I had about 3 dozen ears of corn. Some of it was past its prime...some of it was just not suitable for being boiled (or grilled) and smothered in butter. So, I cut it all off the cob - and then placed 1-cup servings in freezer bags and put them in the freezer.

Now I'll have fresh, locally grown corn for several months. It'll be perfect for my chili, chicken tortilla soup, corn chowder, and just for warming with some butter as a side dish. We had that with dinner tonight and it was so good!

Timbits

When I was in college, I had a friend from Niagra Falls, Canada. Actually, she's still my friend...I just haven't seen her in 10 years! Anyway, she introduced me to great coffee and doughnuts from Tim Horton's. I thought these places were only in Canada until I saw one in Buffalo, NY last October. I didn't stop and have regretted it since.

Fast forward to today. I'm in Southwestern Ohio and what do I see? Tim Hortons! I had to go in for some Timbits. Good lord, this sounds like something terrible...use your imagination! Really though, it's just doughnut holes...but that's not interesting at all.

Mmmmm...Timbits.

Mom Johnson's Macaroni

I'm sure all of our husbands have favorites from mom. This is something that Josh requests quite a bit. I think it's as close as it gets to his mom's version, but of course, I'm sure mom's is better! He calls it "macaroni", but to me, it's "beef-a-roni". Either way, it's pretty darn tasty!

2 Pounds elbow macaroni (cooked al dente)

2 Jars of Del Grosso Meat Sauce

3 small cans of tomato paste

1 large can of tomato juice

1 pound of ground meat

8 slices of American cheese

garlic salt

onion powder

pepper

In a saucepot, combine the Del Grosso meat sauce, tomato paste, tomato juice, and american cheese. Let simmer.

While the sauce is simmering, brown the ground beef in a pan and season with the garlic salt, pepper, and onion powder to taste. Once browned, add to the sauce.

Allow the sauce and meat to simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes. Add the cooked elbows and stir. Turn the heat down to "low" and allow the macaroni to absorb the sauce - stirring frequently. Once everything has thickened, it's ready to eat! Even better as leftovers!

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti

I love reading The Pioneer Woman. Hell, I've even found myself envious of her life. She has some great recipes...and this is the 2nd one I've tried. I like it. It's got good flavor and it's one of those comfort foods. Here's the recipe link:

PW's Spaghetti Chicken

Josh said it tastes just like a chi-chi...which is a delicacy where he works. Ramen noodles, cheese (or cheese puffs), onions, and chicken (or other available meat). Nice.

Korean Beef Stir-Fry

Yay! I've finally made a stir fry that I actually like! I served this with rice noodles.

3 tablespoons mirin

2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon canola oil

8 ounces flank steak, trimmed of fat and very thinly sliced against the grain

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

2 teaspoons chopped jalapeno pepper, or to taste

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger

4 cups mung bean sprouts

1 6-ounce bag baby spinach

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, optional

Combine mirin, soy sauce and cornstarch in a small bowl.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Spread steak out in the pan and cook until seared on one side, about 1 minute. Add garlic, jalapeno and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add bean sprouts and spinach (the pan will be very full).

Pour the mirin mixture into the pan and stir gently until the sauce thickens and the spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes. Stir in cilantro and sesame oil. Serve topped with sesame seeds (if using).

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Blondies

What can you make with a few ingredients that's sweet and satisfying...and you're out of chocolate?! Blondies! Of course, you can toss in any nuts or chips that you like. This is what I had on hand from making the Blueberry Banana Peanut Butter Bars.

6-7 TBS butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt1 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder (optional, creates lighter blondie texture)
1/2 cup of white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Preheat oven to 350.Line an 8x8 pan with foil and lightly spray with PAM.In a large microwave safe mixing bowl melt the butter. Allow to cool for 5 mintues. Mix the brown sugar with the melted butter and beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla. Add salt, stir in flour and baking powder (if using). Mix in any additions .Pour into prepared pan and use a greased spatula to evenly spread mixture in pan and level the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until set in the middle. Cool on rack before cutting.

Blueberry Banana Peanut Butter Bars

Josh found this recipe in an issue of Backpacker Magazine and boy, am I glad he did! I love these suckers. Chewy, crunchy, fruity.....good in every way!

1/4 Cup honey

1/4 Cup brown sugar

1/4 Cup peanut butter

2 Cups of flake cereal (preferrably bran flakes or kashi flakes), crushed

1/2 Cup dried blueberries

1/2 Cup slivered almonds (or nut of choice)

1/2 Cup dried banana chips

1/3 Cup of white chocolate chips

Break the banana chips into small pieces and set aside. Heat the honey and brown sugar in a large skillet and simmer for 1 minute. Over cooking will make the bars brittle. Removed the pan from the heat and stir in the peanut butter. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.

Coat the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square pan with vegetable oil or PAM. Scoop the mixture into the pan and pack down evenly. Freeze for 30 minutes. Transfer the contents of the pan to a cutting board. Allow to come to room temperature and cut into 9 bars.

Can keep in freezer for 3 months.