Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Another Emeril recipe.  My niece reminded me of this recipe.  I only make this occasionally because there is so much dairy in it.  It is great for a big get together or when my family and my sister's family get together.  I always substitute the bacon for a pound of turkey sausage.  I prefer hot italian turkey sausage but Soyrizo would work well if you do not want any meat in it.  I do not know of a good substitute for heavy cream that tastes good but does not have dairy in it. 

Ingredients

• 10 large russet baking potatoes (about 7 pounds total)
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 pound bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled
• 1/2 pound sharp white Cheddar, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3/4 pound mild Cheddar, grated (3 cups)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Scrub the potatoes well and rinse under cool running water. Pat dry with paper towels and prick the potatoes in several places with a fork. Place the potatoes in the oven and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until tender. Remove from the oven and set aside on a wire rack until cool enough to handle.

When the potatoes have cooled, cut each potato in half and, using a spoon or a melon baller, scoop the flesh out of the skins, leaving as little flesh as possible. Place the potato flesh in a large bowl and add 1 stick of the butter, the sour cream, heavy cream, salt, and pepper and mash until chunky-smooth. Add the bacon, cubed white Cheddar, half of the grated Cheddar, the green onions, and eggs and mix thoroughly.

Butter a 9 by 13-inch casserole with the remaining tablespoon of butter and reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

Place the seasoned potato mixture in the prepared casserole and top with the remaining grated Cheddar. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until bubbly around the edges and heated through and the cheese on top is melted and lightly golden. Serve hot.

Apple Coffee Cake with Crumble Topping and Brown Sugar Glaze

I have been horribly bad about adding new recipes to this blog.  Maybe I need a time out?  All of my recipes are tried and tested by my family, friends, and other guinea pigs.  This recipe came from Emeril Lagasse at food network.  This is so easy to make and everyone who tried it asked for the recipe.  The hardest thing about the recipe is cutting up the apples.  I have also made this into mini cupcakes.  I cooked it at 350 for about 8 to 10 minutes and they came out perfect.

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 stick plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups peeled, cored and chopped apples

Crumble Topping:

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Brown Sugar Glaze:

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with 2 teaspoons of the butter.

In a large bowl, cream together the remaining stick of butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating after the addition of each. In a separate bowl or on a piece of parchment, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients, alternating with the sour cream and vanilla. Fold in the apples. Pour into the prepared baking dish, spreading out to the edges.

To make the topping, in a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter, and mix until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the cake and bake until golden brown and set, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes.

To make the glaze, in a bowl, combine the sugar, vanilla, and water and mix until smooth. Drizzle the cake with the glaze and let harden slightly. Serve warm.

Pulled chicken with Mango BBQ sauce

Here is the link for the Original Recipe.  I do not eat pork, I don't even eat bacon so I had to change up the recipe.  Instead of pork I used 4 to 6 chicken breast in its place.  If you do not have mango puree on hand you can use frozen concentrate orange juice.  I didn't feel like running to the store last night for just the one ingredient so I substituted.  I wasn't sure how the kids would deal with the spiciness of the Serrano pepper so I did not add it.   I personally think I should have.  If you are serving adults definitely use the pepper.   We used plain old white rice as a bed and added the chicken on top when we were serving.  I really liked this. This is more of a relaxing weekend meal not a quick fix we need to hurry up eat and leave meal like most of our weeknight meals seem to be.  If you want vegetables roasted carrots go great with this meal.

Ingredients

• 4 to 6 chicken breasts

Rub:

• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

BBQ Sauce:

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 onion, finely minced
• 2 tablespoons minced ginger
• 1 serrano pepper, thinly sliced (seeds discarded if you don't like it spicy)
• Kosher salt
• 2 cups mango puree
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• Brioche rolls, split
• Bread and butter pickles

Directions

Rub: Combine the rub ingredients, in a small bowl and massage it into the pork shoulder until well coated. Set aside while you make BBQ sauce. You could do this a day ahead and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

BBQ sauce: In a large saucepan, warm the oil, over low heat, until hot and shimmering. Add the cumin and fennel; they should splutter upon contact - be careful! Once the spluttering subsides, add the onions, ginger and Serrano and a little salt, to taste. Saute until they soften but don't let them get any color. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients. Simmer about 5 minutes. Taste and season.

Add the pork shoulder to the saucepan, coating it with the sauce. Cover, and gently simmer until the chicken falls apart easily, stirring and turning often, about 3 hours.
Remove the pork from the saucepan and shred it using 2 forks. Return it to the sauce and stir to coat with the sauce.

Banana Nut Bread

Oh this is so good.  I hate/despise bananas.  I can't remember the last time I ate one of those disgusting thing.  But good moist banana bread, mm mm heaven.  I love a slice of good banana bread.  I have been trying to make a loaf of bread a week.  The last few weeks we have had pumpkin bread and so today I wanted to change it up.  I made some really good banana bread.  I love the smell of baked goods in the oven.   I found this recipe in an old family recipe cook book.  The name of it is Burridge Porridge.  This cook book is about 6 years older than me.  The person that donated the recipe is Dorothy Murphy.

1/2 cup shortening ( I don't ever use shortening so I replaced it with butter)
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2 cup flour
1 1/2 cup mashed bananas ( I used 4 bananas )
1 cup chopped walnuts

Mix it all together and bake at 375 degrees for about 25 to 30 minutes.
My bread took 40 minutes to bake but I kept checking it every 3 minutes after 25 minutes were up.

Salsa

This is my husbands fast recipe for home made salsa.  We do not go to any gathering with out this staple.  I no longer buy salsa from the store because this one tastes so much better than anything I can buy.

2 cans Italian stewed tomatoes
1 bunch Green onions
1 jalapeno
1 handful of cilantro (leaves only)
juice from 1 lime
salt
pepper
garlic powder

Add the onions, jalapeno, and cilantro together in a food processor. 
Pulse until blended together and them add the cans of stewed tomatoes and pulse that in the food processor. 
Add the lime juice and season to taste. 
If you like spicier salsa add more jalapeno peppers if you like mild salsa add half a pepper without seeds.

Killer Turkey Chili

Many people have told me that they do not like chili except for this chili.  It has won over friends and family with this amazing recipe.  It does take several hours to make so for us it is a weekend only meal.  I love to have baked potatoes with it.  This recipe is pulled from several others and adjusted to our personal taste.

Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped red onion
• 6 cloves crushed garlic
• 3 pounds ground turkey
• 1-1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1(12-oz) bottle of beer
• 1 jar of salsa
• 4 Chipped peppers canned in adobo sauce, chopped
• 1-1/2 tablespoons adobo sauce (from the chipotle peppers in adobo)
• 1 can crushed tomatoes, undrained
• 1 tablespoon chili power
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 can black beans
• 2 cans red kidney beans
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

Directions

In a large skillet, saute onions and garlic in oil over med high heat until onions are soft. Add turkey to skillet. Salt turkey and cook until browned. (best to brown turkey 1 pound at a time). Once browned move turkey to large pot and deglaze skillet with bottle of beer. Pour beer from skillet into pot. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Bring to boil for a minute and reduce to simmer for 1 to 1-1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

About Jeannette

I didn't grow up cooking very well.  It has only been after I have had kids that I really learned how to cook.  I grew up in a big family so we always cooked with what was cheap.  Every meal started with ground beef.  We used a lot of canned vegetables and fruit.  Sunday we had roast and vegetables. 

By the time I got married I really hated cooking.  I couldn't figure out how to cook well and my food never turned out great.  As my kids have gotten older I found they have a lot of stomach problems.  Going out to eat started to be totally out of the question.  Not only was the price too much but I would have at least 2 kids in pain from what they ate. 

As I have learned to cook better my kids and I do not want to go out to eat.   McDonald's and fast food grosses them out.  Bringing them to McDonald's is a form of torture in there mind. 

About 11 years ago I started to have problems with red meat and pork.  I  no longer cook with those meats at all.  Most of my recipes don't use a lot of dairy either.  I have learned to love to cook from scratch.  I have one of my nieces come over and she is my adult taste tester.  I do not cook gourmet and I do not fry alot of things in oil either.  I cook with oil but I don't deep fry a lot of things.  I love good tasting food with lots of flavor.

My next venture is gardening.   We have almost no yard but in the summer we grow tomatoes and jalapeno peppers. 

The recipes I put in here are the ones I have gotten from other places and used.  I want a place to bring all of my favorite recipes together.