Braised Cucumbers

Vegetables are an important part of our diet. We all have our favorites and we tend to get habituated to them. We seem to always be preparing the same veggies with certain dishes. It can get monotonous over the years. So here's a new recipe that is absolutely delicious, especially with poultry and pork dishes. You will need...

1 large cucumber or 2 regular sized cucumbers
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried mint
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Peel cucumbers and slice into rounds, roughly 3/4 inch thick. Remove the center with the seeds and cut into quarters.

Melt butter over medium heat and add in your cucumbers. Cover and cook for five minutes.

Remove lid and add lemon juice, salt, and mint. Stir well with a large spoon.

Cover again and cook for an additional two to three minutes.

Serve warm.

This will liven up almost any meal.

Enjoy!

Carey

Chicken Pesto

I first ran across this recipe several years ago. I think I found it in an old edition of Reader's Digest, but I can't swear to that. I made it a couple of times and like most of us I soon forgot about it. Until a week or so ago when I caught a repeat of a Julia Child show where she was making the same thing. I remembered how good this was and made it again. Of course Julia Child made her own noodles and her own Pesto sauce, but I don't go to that extreme. Not at all. Here's a quick and easy Italian chicken recipe that is sure to satisfy anyone. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

1 bottle of Classico Basil Pesto sauce.

1 can Hunt's Roasted Garlic diced tomatoes.

2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese.

Angel Hair pasta.

Grease a regular sized glass casserole dish with Pam. Place chicken breasts side by side in the dish. Using a tablespoon from your kitchen utensil draw, spoon Pesto Sauce over the chicken breasts evenly. Next, spoon your tomatoes over each piece of chicken evenly. Lastly, scatter the shredded cheese over the dish until all contents are covered.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until the cheese is browning.

When the chicken is ready, boil one pack Angel Hair pasta until tender. Serve the pasta as a side dish to the chicken. To keep it from getting dry and sticking to itself, spoon some of the olive oil mixture in the chicken dish over the pasta, drizzling it so as not to get too much on the noodles.

Serve with garlic bread.

Enjoy!

C

Franks n' Beans

This is a very easy recipe that is good for anything from an everyday family dinner to a quick hors-d'oeuvre for a get-together.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

2 cans pork and beans.
1 can Hormel chili, without beans.
8 boiled wieners, cut into bite size pieces.
1 tablespoon KC Masterpiece® barbeque sauce
1/2 cup cheddar cheese.
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.

In a large mixing bowl, combine pork and beans, chili, wieners, and barbeque sauce. Mix well. Pour into a 9x13 casserole dish, greased with Pam, evenly distributing the wieners throughout the mixture. Top with cheeses.

Bake for thirty minutes.

This is best served with either dipping style chips or the bread of your choice.

Enjoy!

C

  

Carey's Brimstone Chili

This is a recipe that should only be tried by those who really enjoy very hot and spicy dishes. It is a delicious sojourn for people who like hot foods, and by hot I do mean HOT foods. Even I have to be in the mood for it to make this chili. It is delicious but it can also be somewhat painful for people with queasy stomachs. So make it at your own peril and if you like it, bravo!

You will need:

1 pound ground beef
1 pound hot sausage
1 small white onion, chopped
1 green Bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 Habanero peppers, seeded and finely chopped
4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
2 tablespoons black pepper
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons Mexene chili powder
2 cans pinto beans
1 can light red kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes with garlic and oregano

 

In your chili pot, combine beans and tomatoes. Add one tablespoon black pepper, one tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes, and the three tablespoons of chili powder. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat and simmer.

 

In a frying pan, combine ground beef, sausage meat, chopped and prepared onions and peppers, and fry until the meat is brown, adding one tablespoon black pepper sprinkled over the top. Mix well. Drain any excess grease.

 

Add meat mixture to contents of the chili pot. Bring to a second boil and then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 - 60 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

Best served in a shallow bowl with oyster crackers and shredded cheddar cheese sprinkled over the top.

 

This will be much better the day after cooking it.

 

Enjoy!

C

Sausage Casserole

This is a recipe my mom used to make every Christmas morning. Our family would enjoy this for breakfast before going to my grandmother's house for the day. It's very simple to put together and I've never made it for anyone who didn't like it.

 

Six slices of bread

1 pound hot sausage

1/2 pound mild sausage

1 pound shredded cheddar cheese (sharp or mild according to taste)

6 eggs

1 pint half and half

 

Butter both sides of the bread and place the slices touching each other in a large casserole dish.

 

Fry up the sausage meat as if it were ground beef and drain off the excess fat. Scatter over the bread in your casserole dish and then add the cheese in the same fashion.

 

Beat six eggs and add the half and half, beating again to thoroughly mix them together. Pour over the other ingredients in the casserole dish.

 

Cover the casserole dish with Saran wrap and refrigerate overnight.

 

The next morning, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Take your casserole out of the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes.

 

Serve with the bread of your choice.

 

Enjoy!

 

C

Martha Washington Candy

This is a recipe my mother has been making since I was a child. It is one of my favorite holiday candies and it has become something of a tradition in our family. It's not difficult to make and once you've tried it you'll love it!

1. 2 pounds sifted confectioners' sugar
2. 1 can sweetened condensed milk
3. 2 cups flaked coconut
4. 1 stick butter or margarine, melted (4 ounces)
5. 3 cups chopped pecans
6. Dipping Chocolate, melted (It is easiest to use two cans of milk chocolate cake frosting, melted in the microwave.)

Mix all ingredients together, shape into balls just a bit larger than golf balls, then chill until the batter has hardened. Dip chilled balls in dipping chocolate and let cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

 

Enjoy!

C

Meatballs

This is a very simple recipe for meatballs that I got from an Italian lady I worked with at General Telephone in the mid-eighties. It adds a bit of zest to any spaghetti dinner you’re planning. Also, if you’re looking for a really good recipe for hamburgers to zip your old one, you can always mix this up and shape them into patties which you can then grill or fry according to your personal preference. However you choose to serve this one, it will not disappoint.

Extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced

2 Tablespoons Salt (Use the tablespoon from your kitchen utensil drawer, not your measuring spoons.)

2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped

A big pinch of crushed red pepper

1/2 pound ground beef

1/2 pound ground veal

1/2 pound ground pork

2 large eggs

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

1 cup breadcrumbs   

1/2 cup water

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Coat a large frying pan with olive oil, add the onions and 1 tablespoon salt, and sauté over medium heat for about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and the crushed red pepper and saute for another 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool.

In a large bowl combine the meats, eggs, Parmesan, parsley and bread crumbs. You’ll need to get in there with your hands to thoroughly mix the ingredients. Add the onion mixture and another tablespoon of salt, and continue mixing. Add the water and mix the whole thing again. The mixture should be quite wet.

Shape the meat into desired size. The meatballs should be about the same size as a golf ball. Coat your frying pan with olive oil again and bring to a medium-high heat. Brown the meatballs on all sides. Then place them on a cookie sheet and bake them for about 15 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked all the way through.

 

Makes 18-20 meatballs depending on how large or small you shape them.

 

If you haven’t made your own pasta sauce, use the bottled brand of your choice. My current favorite is the Tomato, Garlic, and Onion variety of Ragu. Add your meatballs to the sauce and cook over medium heat in a sauce pan until hot.

 

This is really good served on a bed of Fettuccine noodles, sprinkled generously with Parmesan cheese, and garlic bread.

Enjoy!

C