Hearty BBQ Beef Sandwiches

This recipe is out of a cookbook I've had for a while, Lipton Recipe Secrets The Magic of Flavor. I can't remember where I got it, if it was a gift or not. It was the next one in line on my cookbook shelf, so I did manage to find 3 recipes out of it that I'm going to make, but I don't think I'll keep the cookbook in the long run...some cookbooks I've never made anything out of, but I keep because of sentimental value or whatever. But this one I can't really remember anything about, so...the publication date is 1999.

Hearty BBQ Beef Sandwiches
1 envelope onion soup mix
2 cups water
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 3-lb boneless chuck roast
8 kaiser rolls, toasted

Preheat oven to 325. In Dutch oven or 5 quart saucepot, combine soup mix, water, chili sauce, and brown sugar. Add roast. Cover and bake 3 hours or until roast is tender. Remove roast; reserve juices. Bring reserved juices to a boil over high heat, boil 4 minutes. Meanwhile, with fork, shred roast. Stir roast into reserved juices and simmer, stirring frequently, 1 minute. Serve on rolls. 8 servings

This smelled awesome while it was in the oven. We have all the windows open today, and Steve said he could smell it in the driveway. I cannot confirm if this is true, but it might be. This came out rather watery, even after I did all the steps, so I let it simmer until Steve got home, which ended up being about 30 minutes, on low. Nathan & Emma just ate the meat, not on the sandwich rolls, and they both liked it. It seemed a bit salty to me, but that's to be expected considering the ingredients...plenty of this leftover, which is good because we can have it tomorrow, since I will be not feeling like cooking after working all night tonight. A keeper...

Amanda's Mac & Cheese

So Amanda got this recipe from some guy named Alton Brown. He, apparently, is on the Food Network. She sent this to me months ago, but this is the first time I've made it. This is the recipe as she sent it to me. I will hold my comments til the end. Like maybe you wish I always would, ha ha.

Amanda's Mac & Cheese
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 tbsp powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp paprika
1 egg
12 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tsp kosher salt
fresh black pepper
3 tbsp butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350. In a large pot of boiling salted water cook the pasta to al dente. While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt 3 tbsp butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about 5 minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for 10 minutes and remove the bay leaf. Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2 quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese. Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and rest 5 minutes before serving.

Okay couple things. Panko bread crumbs are different than regular bread crumbs in that they do not get soggy. So they taste really good on top of this. Amanda and I both got our panko bread crumbs at the Natural Living Center, but you might be able to get them at Shaw's, or maybe Hannaford. I am reasonably sure Wal-mart won't have them. Also do you know how to temper an egg? Well I didn't. Well, actually, I did know the technique but didn't know it was called that. So you don't crack the egg right into the mix, because the egg starts to cook right away and you have little bits of scrambled eggs in your mac & cheese. That's what happened to me. What you have to do is crack the egg into a separate bowl, put a bit of the hot mixture into the bowl, mix it all around, then add it all back to the pot. That's what I'll do next time. I have done that with dessert recipes before but never with regular food.

Emma was gone, but Steve and Sam really liked this. Sam gave it 2 thumbs up, and said if he had 4 thumbs, he would put them all up. Steve really liked it. Nathan did not, at all. I think he didn't like the look of the still-crisp bread crumbs, and his tastes tend more toward the blue box mac & cheese anyway. Nathan's comment: "This is NOT delicious." I wasn't sad because I know it is just his immature taste buds talking. Definitely keeping the recipe, it will be my new mac & cheese recipe. Mad props to Amanda for forwarding it to me!!

Sunflower Seed & Honey Wheat Bread

I have been waiting for a day that was not blistering hot to make these, so today was the day. It's warm but not humid. Usually we make our own bread, in a bread maker. In fact, except for a few loaves we bought just after my surgery, we have been doing this for about a year. Pretty exciting. Homemade bread tastes SO much better, and it's better for you in that it doesn't have preservatives, etc. Still has calories, unfortunately, ha ha. Nathan was our last hold out, but now even he will eat PB & J on homemade bread. Still won't eat the crust though, but this is big progress! I made oatmeal bread a couple of months ago and he decided he liked it. I should post that recipe, too, maybe. But anyway, this recipe sounded good to me, even though it's "by hand" instead of in the machine. It actually didn't take as long as I thought it would, mixing it up or whatever. It's from one of the Taste of Home magazines my sister gave me. Feb/March 2010.

Sunflower Seed & Honey Wheat Bread
2 pkg active dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp yeast if you buy it in bulk)
3 1/4 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
1/4 cup bread flour
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup honey
3 tsp salt
6 1/2 to 7 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I bought whole wheat bread flour that I saw at the Natural Living Center, but it doesn't specify so I bet you could use King Arthur, which is my usual wheat bread flour)
1/2 cup sunflower kernels
3 tbsp butter, melted

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the bread flour, oil, honey, salt, and 4 cups whole wheat flour (if you have a Kitchen Aid this would be much easier. If you don't, see if your husband will get you one for Christmas...). Beat until smooth. Stir in sunflower kernels and enough remaining flour to form a firm dough (I ended up using 7 cups total...I think I could have used a bit more but I don't have a good feel yet for what bread dough is supposed to look or feel like).

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down; divide into 3 portions. Shape into loaves; place in 3 greased 8x4 inch loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake @ 350 for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. 3 loaves, 12 slices each

So even though this wasn't hard, I can see why I use the breadmaker more. You have to be right there when the bread is done rising, etc, so it's not as easy as "set it and forget it" like a breadmaker. This just came out of the oven and I cut into a loaf, spread a piece with butter, and ate it. This was much lighter (in texture) than other whole wheat breads I have made, I bet it's because I used the bread flour. Can't wait to try it toasted in the morning!

Chicken Pilaf

In my continuing and dramatic quest to get my children to eat/perhaps even like rice, I wanted to make this. A small wrinkle in the plan was that my mom took the kids to her house today for the afternoon, to include supper, and they aren't even going to be eating it. Ha ha. Well, it made a bunch so they can always have it for leftovers, right? This is the last one from the cookbook I mentioned last week, Betty Crocker's New Choices Cookbook.

Chicken Pilaf
1 cup uncooked regular long grain rice (I bought brown rice. Because it's better for you and stuff.)
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 cup dry white wine or apple juice (guess which one I used? You're right. The wine. haha just kidding. We always have an abundant supply of apple juice...)
1 tbsp chopped fresh or 1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp pepper
3-3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen peas
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (I left this out...I don't think parsley does anything anyway. I might be wrong about that, but it seems like it's only for garnish, and the greenness of it makes the kids think they don't like it, so I left it out)

Spray 3 quart saucepan with cooking spray. Heat pan over med-high heat. Heat rice in pan about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until light brown; reduce heat to medium. Stir in onions, wine/juice, thyme, and pepper. Cook 2 minutes or until liquid has evaporated. Stir in 1 cup of the broth. Cook 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated. Stir in additional 1 cup broth, cook 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated. Stir in chicken, peas, and 1 cup of remaining broth. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup broth if needed to keep rice from sticking (I didn't need to add any more). Cover and cook about 5 minutes or until liquid has evaporated and rice is tender and chicken is white; remove from heat. Stir in parsley. 6 servings.

This wasn't hard, just a bit time consuming. In the pan it looks like something we would possibly eat in Haiti...I have a picture I took of it that I'll add in later. I had to add salt to mine. But I used homemade chicken broth, so maybe if you used canned or boxed broth you wouldn't need to. Steve liked it, of course. But I can't tell you about the kids. I do know they liked the peanut butter and fluff that they had at Oma's house!

Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

This is from that cookbook my mother-in-law gave me a L-O-N-G time ago. I had started going through it a few months ago, then stopped as I was working through those cooking magazines. Anyway I have 3 more recipes marked in it, and I'm hoping to finish it off in these next 2 weeks. So even though this is a soup and it's July, we're going for it. The high today was only mid-70s so that is soup weather compared to last week.

Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
2 turkey drumsticks (about 1 1/2 lbs)(Walmart doesn't have these, and Hannaford only had them in packs of 3. So we had 3 drumsticks in our soup)
2 cups chopped tomatoes (about 2 large)(it has been a long time since I chopped tomatoes. I think they smell gross when you cut them up)
1 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup uncooked wild rice (I couldn't find wild rice at Walmart or Hannaford. I ended up buying Rice a Roni Long Grain & Wild, and throwing away the seasoning packet...seemed like the best alternative)
3 1/2 cups water
2 tsp chicken bouillon granules
2 bay leaves

Remove skin from turkey drumsticks (much easier said than done, these turkeys seem to be more attached to their skin than their chicken counterparts) and discard. Mix turkey and remaining ingredients in Dutch oven. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 50-60 minutes or until juices of turkey run clear and rice is tender. Remove turkey from Dutch oven; cool about 5 minutes. Remove turkey meat from bones; cut meat into bite-size pieces. Stir turkey into soup. Heat until hot. Remove bay leaves. 6 servings.

Okay so this wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. Rather bland, I had to add a lot of salt to mine, but Steve didn't add any to his and said "you always think it needs salt." Well, he is right about that, often I do. The kids each picked out what they liked about it. And even with adding the extra drumstick, it was still about 6 servings. I thought this was dairy free, but my sister pointed out that bouillon granules have a milk derivative. Who knew? So if that is an issue for you and you want to make this, you could start out with dairy-free chicken broth instead of water and bouillon.

Beef and Bean Wraps

This is the last recipe I have marked from the Church Potluck Slow Cooker cookbook that my mom got me last Christmas. Not bad, it's July and I'm finishing it up. This cookbook was on hiatus while I worked through the cooking magazines my sister had brought me, but now I am ready to finish this one off. We love this type of food, so of course I wanted to make it. I tried making homemade tortillas to accompany this (see separate post) but had to give up and buy store-bought ones.

Beef and Bean Wraps
2 pounds ground beef
2 onions, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 15 oz can refried beans
1 15 oz can kidney beans, drained
2 10 oz cans enchilada sauce
1 4 oz can chopped green chiles, drained (I left these out)
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
12 6-inch tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (we used shredded Mexican)
1 cup sour cream (nope)
2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 cups shredded lettuce

In a large skillet, cook ground beef with onions and garlic over medium heat, stirring to break up beef, until beef is thoroughly cooked. Combine beef mixture with refried beans, kidney beans, enchilada sauce, green chiles, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper in 4-quart slow cooker; mix well. Cover and cook on low 8-9 hours or until mixture is hot and blended. If necessary, thicken with a mixture of 2 tbsp cornstarch and 1/4 cup water. Serve mixture with tortillas, cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, and lettuce, and let people make their own wraps. (They say that because they think that you're going to bring it to a potluck. If you have small children, you should in no way let them make their own wraps. hahaha)

This was, as I expected, very very good. The consistency was kind of like chili, even after I thickened it, so it was kind of messy to eat, especially for the kiddos. But it was very tasty. We have about 2/3 of it left over. So if you have a regular sized family like us, you may just want to make half of this. I could freeze it, but I don't think beans freeze/defrost very well. Maybe I will make some cornbread and pretend it's chili...

Homemade Tortillas

So I wanted to make homemade tortillas to go with the recipe we're having for supper, which I will post later tonight. I have seen on facebook that other friends of mine have made their own tortillas. They still seem perfectly sane, that is that the experience did not send them over the edge or anything. It seems like a reasonable undertaking; store-bought tortillas are not that expensive but they are loaded with other ingredients, and this recipe that I saw in the June/July 2010 Taste of Home only had 4. That sounded healthier to me. So I thought I would try it real quick before I leave for my appointment. I'm glad I tried it this morning, instead of after I got home, because now I can stop and get tortillas on the way home...

Homemade Tortillas
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water
3 tbsp olive oil

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Stir in water and oil. Turn onto a floured surface; knead 5 or 6 times (this is as far as I got, but I'll put down the rest of the recipe anyway). Divide dough into 8 portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 7-inch circle. In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook tortillas over medium heat for 1 minute on each side or until lightly browned. Keep warm.

Okay. The dough was definitely too wet. I should have recognized that while it was still in the bowl, before I "turned" it (plopped it) out onto my Pampered Chef pastry roller out thing. Once I realized it was too sticky, I kept adding more flour, trying to knead it in so it would be the right consistency for rolling out. I had at least 1/4 of the dough on my hands. No matter how much I added, it stayed too stretchy and sticky. Then I remembered that the more you handle flour-based recipes, the tougher the dough becomes. This led me to carry the whole goopy mess over to the trash and throw it away. It all stuck to me, I had to scrape it off. What a mess. So. I guess I am sticking to store-bought tortillas.

Layered Lemon Pies

I made this for home fellowship. I love lemon-flavored things, and this recipes makes 2 pies, so perfect for a big gathering like home fellowship. This recipe is a LOT more work than what I usually do, but, like I said, I love lemon. So. This is from the Feb/March 2010 Taste of Home. I am definitely seeing that TOH recipes are more time-consuming than the Simple & Delicious ones. That must be why they came up with a second magazine for those types of recipes. This lemon pie recipe wasn't more difficult to do, just more time consuming. Like, do this, and chill. Do this, and cool. Do this, and chill. So it just took longer overall.

Layered Lemon Pies
Pastry for 2 single-crust pies (9 in)
1 1/2 cups sugar
6 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups cold water
3 egg yolks, beaten
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 tsp lemon extract
3 drops yellow food coloring, optional
Second layer:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 cups cold milk
2 pkg instant lemon pudding mix
Topping:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
16 oz carton cool whip, thawed

Line 2 9-inch pie plates with pastry, trim and flute edges. Line unpricked pastry with a double thickness of heavy duty foil. Bake at 450 for 8 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5-7 minutes longer or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water until smooth. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Stir a small amount of hot filling into egg yolks; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Gently stir in the lemon juice, butter, lemon peel, extract, and food coloring. Cool to room temperature without stirring. Spread lemon mixture into crusts. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gradually beat in milk. Add pudding mix; beat 2 minutes longer. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Gently spread on top of first layer. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until set.

For topping, in large bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Fold in cool whip. Spread over tops of pies. Refrigerate until set.

Well. Let me tell you. These were FABULOUS. I love lemon pie. When I was making these, I was thinking, these better be really good or I'm not doing all this again. Well they were really good. I took a bite and said "OH it's so good!" and Becky laughed at me. All the adults liked it, and a couple of the kids tried it, Sam included, and he said "it was pretty good." So this is definitely a keeper!!

Apple-Brined Chicken Thighs

Tonight we had Steve's best friend from high school and his lovely wife over for dinner. They live in North Carolina now, and we see them about once a year, which is actually pretty good compared to how often we see other friends that have moved away. We have an advantage because his parents live up here so he comes to see his family often, and we just happen to be close. I already had this recipe chosen to have this week, but decided to have it tonight, since it appears to make a lot and it's hard to mess up chicken. It's from one of my sister's Taste of Home magazines, June/July 2010. The top picture is of the finished product, and the bottom one is of the brine. I just thought it looked so fancy with the rosemary and the lemon and stuff so I took a picture of it.

Apple-Brined Chicken Thighs
3 cups apple cider or juice (I used juice, since I always have that on hand!)
1 medium onion, sliced
1 medium lemon, sliced
4 fresh rosemary sprigs (these look like tree branches, I've never seen them fresh before!)
1/3 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar, divided
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 tsp whole peppercorns
2 cups cold water
10 bone-in chicken thighs
1 2-gallon ziploc bag (I did not want to buy these so I didn't)
1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed
3 medium tart apples, cut into wedges
1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary, or 1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp pepper

In a Dutch oven, combine the cider, onion, lemon, rosemary sprigs, salt, 1/4 cup brown sugar, garlic, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir until salt and brown sugar are dissolved. Remove from the heat; stir in cold water. Cool brine to room temperature. Place chicken in the 2 gallon ziploc bag. Carefully pour cooled brine into the bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible; seal bag and turn to coat. Place in roasting pan. Refrigerate for 2 hours, turning occasionally. (Okay if you don't have or don't want to buy these bags, DON'T try using just a one gallon bag, ha ha. That's what I did and there was no way it was all fitting. So then I put everything into a big Tupperware bowl, covered it, and put it in the fridge. All the chicken was covered by the brine and so it worked fine.) Place beans and apples in a greased roasting pan. Drain chicken; place in prepared pan. Bake, uncovered, at 400 for 40 minutes. Combine the minced rosemary, oil, pepper, and remaining brown sugar; sprinkle over chicken. Bake 15-25 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 180 and beans are tender.

I do not have a Pampered Chef Herb Mincer thingy, so I had to use dried rosemary on the second step, which grated (get it?) on me a little because I had just bought all that fresh rosemary. Oh well, it wasn't very expensive, and I'm sure I don't need the herb thing, since I don't often use fresh spices. Also I thought the recipe was a bit unclear about where the beans should be in relation to the chicken, and whether or not to use the rack that comes standard in most roasting pans. My mom thought I should put the chicken in the middle and the vegetables on the end, using the rack. The TOH website had the recipe with one review, which did not address this issue. Aren't you guys all SO glad you have me? Haha. I do this leg work for you so you know what to do if/when you try these recipes. I ended up not using the rack, and putting the beans and apples spread out in the bottom of the pan, and putting the chicken on top. This recipe turned out to be so delicious. It is a lot of ingredients, but I only had to buy the fresh rosemary, the green beans, and the lemon, everything else I had already. Although my bay leaves are probably like 8 years old. It was really good. Andrew and Shelley both had seconds, which means they really liked it because most people won't have seconds for the sake of politeness. Nathan wouldn't eat the beans or apples, but he did eat all of his chicken and said "Yum!" so that's a hit. And Sam and Emma did fine with their plates as well. Definitely a keeper even if it is a bit more work.