Sausage, Onions, and Potatoes with Apple Dumplings

This was quite more complicated than my usual fare. Thankfully Nathan fell asleep so there were minimal distractions. This is from the Farmhouse Cookbook that I talked about in my last post. The author says this recipe is from a farm wife in North Dakota, who is of Russian-German descent, and that she cooks like this every day, 3 meals a day. I just can't imagine what that would be like. Would it be nice, or extremely stressful? I don't know. This recipe was a LOT of work, but Steve loved it. It's made with bratwurst, which is a different kind of sausage than what we usually have. Consequently, Nathan and Emma didn't really like it. But, it was quite good. Anyway here is the recipe.

Sausage, Onions, and Potatoes with Apple Dumplings
1 lb bratwurst, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 small onions, peeled and thinly sliced
1 pound Russet potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/8" slices
1 cup dry white wine (I used chicken broth)
2 cups water
1 tsp crumbled dried sage leaves
1/4 tsp dried thyme, or several sprigs of fresh
1 bay leaf
6 fresh parsley sprigs, coarsley chopped (I left these out)
3 allspice berries (I had to buy these, not too expensive, but there are like 427 berries in there...they look like peppercorns...it will probably be years and years before I use them all up, but oh well)
Salt and pepper
2 tsp lemon juice
2 small tart crisp apples, or 1 large Granny Smith apple
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cake flour (I don't have this, I used bread flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 large egg, beaten
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/3 cup buttermilk (you don't have to buy this, you can mix 1/3 cup of milk with 1/3 tsp lemon juice)
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley, for garnish (I left this out too...part of my parsley boycott)

Brown the bratwurst in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat, turning them frequently, about 5 minutes. When they are quite brown, remove them from the pan and add the onions. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the onions just begin to turn translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in the potatoes, chicken broth, and 1 cup of the water, the herbs, and allspice berries. Bring the mixture to a slow boil, increasing the heat slightly if necessary, and stir, scraping up all the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Return the sausages to the skillet, and season generously with salt and pepper (I will say at this point that I wouldn't add any salt...it was a bit too salty. Just let people add it if they want once it's on their plates). Cover and cook at a slow boil, reducing heat if necessary, until the potatoes are nearly tender, about 25 minutes. Gradually add remaining water, if necessary, to keep the mixture just submerged in liquid (I didn't have to add any more water...maybe that's for high altitude or something).

While the potato mixture is cooking, fill two small bowls with water and add 1 tsp lemon juice to each. Peel and core the apples. Slice half the apples into 1/4" thick slices, and place them in one bowl of acidulated (oooh big word) water. Dice the remaining half, and place them in the other bowl. Set aside.

Make the dumplings (are you getting tired yet??): sift both flours, the baking powder, baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt in a medium-sized bowl. Make a well in the center and add the egg, melted butter, and buttermilk. Working quickly, incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, using a fork to make a fairly soft dough. Drain the diced apple, and fold it into the batter so the pieces are well distributed.

When the potatoes are nearly cooked, drain the apple slices and add them to the skillet, stirring them in gently. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired (?? if I was comfortable doing that, I wouldn't be using your recipe, lady...just tell me what to do and I'll do it ha ha). Drop the dumpling batter in 6 equal spoonsful on top of the mixture. Cover and cook until the dumplings have risen to twice their size and are firm when you touch them, no longer than 12 minutes. Serve immediately, garnished with the minced parsley. 6 servings.

PHEW!! I like needed to lay down after that one. So much work. But like I said, it was very very good. I think if you are making this you should get everything sliced and diced before you even start step one. I was frantically chopping etc trying to get everything ready before the next step and it was very stressful. Also don't add the extra salt while it's cooking the potatoes. I'm not sure how this would be with other sausage besides brats. This was my first time using them, and I thought it tasted a bit like spicy breakfast sausage. But the seasonings complemented it nicely, so I don't know about changing it. I guess I will keep this one, even though I'll have to wait a while to have it again, whilst I recover from this time. Oh, also, Emma reminded me that she doesn't like COOKED apples! But it was a good fall dish.

Barbecued Pork Sandwich

This recipe is from a cookbook I got at a yard sale last summer. It has a few good recipes in it. I can see though why someone would put it in a yard sale. But it was only $2, and I love love love getting a new cookbook and looking through it with a pen and dog earing pages I want to try and stuff like that. So I only have a few marked in this one, because it is a different style of cooking than what I am accustomed to. Oh, maybe you would like the name of the cookbook, ha ha. It is Farmhouse Cookbook, by Susan Hermann Loomis. This was actually an interesting book to read too, because this lady spent 2 years traveling around America and staying at various farms and learning how each cook made her/his signature dish. So it was fun to read and I found a few things to try as well. This recipe is from a farmer's wife in Iowa. The author suggests having this with a good amber beer, like Anchor Stream. I guess I won't though. We'll have chocolate milk (or strawberry milk) like we do every night. Actually Sam likes white milk, because he reads labels now and knows it's healthier without flavor. So smart. Anyway here's the recipe.

Barbecued Pork Sandwich
6 pounds pork shoulder or butt, bone-in, trimmed of fat and skin
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 1/2 cups tomato juice
1 can (28 oz) plum tomatoes, undrained (I didn't see plum tomatoes at the Wal-mart, I just bought diced...you end up breaking them up later anyway so it's probably the same thing)
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 medium onion, peeled and minced
2 tbsp brown sugar
6 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 heaping tsp ground cinnamon (why don't they just say 3/4 tsp?)

Rub the pork all over with minced garlic. Place in large heavy stockpot, and add tomato juice, tomatoes and their liquid, bay leaf, and 1/4 cup of the vinegar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and break up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Cover and cook, turning the meat occasionally, until it is very tender and beginning to fall apart, about 3 hours. Add remaining 1/4 cup vinegar and all remaining ingredients to pork, stirring them into the juices. Cook, uncovered, over medium-low heat until the pork shreds easily and has absorbed most of the liquid, another 3 hours. Stir and turn pork every hour so it cooks evenly in the juices and doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Remove and discard bone when the meat easily falls off it. Stir frequently during the last 30 minutes to break up any large pieces and to prevent sticking (also you should remove the bay leaf even though it doesn't say to here). Serve immediately with sandwich rolls or thick bread; or refrigerate overnight, remove any excess fat, reheat, and serve.

This made the kitchen smell so good! Of course it's not every day that I could be home for the 7 hours that this takes to make, but it just happened to work out today. We all really liked this (oops except not Nathan). It was very yummy and moist. It also made a TON. We ate a bunch of it for supper, put a whole lot of it into Tupperware for a meal I'm giving to someone, and then still have enough left for what I estimate would be about 5-6 servings. So very prolific recipe. Good for a potluck or something, or good if you are making a meal for a family too. And, pork shoulder was twice as expensive as pork butt. 6 lb roast cost $6.60, whereas the shoulder cost something like $11. We had this with french fries and it was a very good meal.

Chicken Pasta Casserole

This is one that you make ahead. You make it the night before and it has to be refrigerated overnight. This was kind of a lot of work for one night. Because I made our regular supper, we ate it, I cleaned up. Then I had to run to the store because we were out of milk. Then I had to make this, which took 1 hour and 7 minutes (of course with multiple distractions)(oh and also on the recipe, the prep time says 25 minutes plus chilling...maybe these people have no little ones etc to distract them) and then clean up. So if something takes this much effort, it had better be good. This one is from the August/September 2010 Simple & Delicious.

Chicken Pasta Casserole
5 cups uncooked egg noodles
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 1/4 tsp pepper, divided
1 lb chicken tenderloins (I did buy these, but you could just cut up breasts you already have, too. Of course that will add to the time this takes to prepare)
1 medium onion, sliced
2 celery ribs, chopped
3 tbsp butter
1 3/4 cups half and half cream, divided
2 cups shredded mozarella
1 can cream of celery soup, undiluted
1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth (guess which one I used?? Of course it was homemade chicken stock)
1 tbsp dried parsley flakes


Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the parmesan cheese, egg, garlic powder and 1 tsp pepper; set aside. Drain noodles and rinse in cold water; add to egg mixture. Set aside. In a large skillet, cook the chicken, onion, celery and remaining 1/4 tsp pepper in butter over medium heat for 12-15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Stir in 1/2 cup cream; heat through. In a greased 13x9 baking dish, layer half of the noodle mixture, chicken mixture, and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Combine the soup, broth, and remaining cream; pour over top. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Bake, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes longer or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Okay so this was good. But it wasn't that good. And I have no idea why you have to let it refrigerate for so long before you bake it. Sam really liked it, Emma was okay with it, and Nathan slept. What a peaceful meal we had, ha ha. I liked this too, but like I said, it would have to be so so so good to make it worth making 2 meals the night before. Why couldn't you just assemble it and bake it? Anyone have any thoughts?

Beef & Cheese Foldover

This is kind of like a pizza, but with a biscuit crust. And no tomato sauce. It's from the Fall 2010 Kraft Food & Family. That my sister gave me because I'm not paying for it. While this is a new recipe, I have noticed that a lot of the things in this magazine are repeats. That's one of the main reasons I decided not to pay for it when it stopped being free. The other reason is that sometimes it seems like one big commercial. They always want you to buy Kraft this and Kraft that. When I write the recipes down for you guys, I never put the brand name in because I don't care about that, I am not a compensated endorser. Anyway...

Beef & Cheese Foldover

1 lb ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 cup frozen corn

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tbsp steak sauce

1/2 cup hot water

2 cups all-purpose baking mix (they didn't say Bisquick so they must not own that one)

1 cup shredded mexican cheese (or, if you are all out of Mexican cheese, like we are, use shredded cheddar)

1/2 tsp parsley flakes

Heat oven to 375. Brown meat with onions in large skillet; drain. Stir in corn, ketchup, and steak sauce; set aside. Add water to baking mix; stir until mixture forms dough. Shape into ball. Place on lightly floured surface; knead 5 times or until smooth and no longer sticky. Roll into 12-inch circle; transfer to baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Spoon meat mixture onto center of dough; spread to within 2 inches of edge. Fold edge of dough over meat, leaving center uncovered. Bake 20 minutes. Top filling with cheese; bake 5 minutes or until melted. Sprinkle with parsley.

So this was pretty good. I don't usually have good luck with dough, and I did have to add one extra tablespoon of water to the Bisquick to get it to form a ball. Once it was done I cut it into wedges and put it on the plates. Sam picked his up like a piece of pizza and was ready to chow down and I was like "BE CAREFUL! Keep that over your plate!" Because I could just see him taking a bite and the whole thing falling apart. Steve really liked this too. Nathan hated it. He acted like I was trying to poison him. I pointed out that Sam and Emma were eating this and liking it, so it couldn't be bad. He literally gagged on the one bite we made him eat. He hasn't been feeling well though so maybe it's just that. Anyway this was pretty easy, and besides the Bisquick I didn't have to buy anything for it. And now I have this whole box of Bisquick. So we'll probably have this again at some point.

Plum-Good Pork Chops

What a dumb name. They are calling it this because it uses plum sauce. This is a chinese-food type ingredient. They do not have it at Walmart. I ended up getting it at the Natural Living Center, but I don't know if they have it at Shaw's or Hannaford or not. The jar of plum sauce I got has the label in both English and Chinese. So you know this is the real deal. This one is from August/September 2010 Simple & Delicious.

Plum-Good Pork Chops
4 bone-in pork chops
2 tsp canola oil
3/4 cup plum sauce
1/4 cup orange juice
5 tsp soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp minced fresh gingerroot (you can mince this in your Pampered Chef garlic press...if you don't have one I don't know how you do it...I bet you could also substitute ground ginger...this was sooo cheap, $0.18 for 2 little chunks)
1/4 tsp pepper
1 pkg (12 oz) broccoli coleslaw mix
1 medium carrot, grated
2 green onions, chopped
2 tsp sesame seeds, toasted

In a large skillet, brown chops in oil. Combine the plum sauce, orange juice, soy sauce, garlic, mustard, ginger, and pepper; pour over chops. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Remove pork chops and keep warm. Set aside 1/2 cup sauce mixture. In the same skillet, cook the coleslaw mix, carrot, and onions over medium heat until crisp-tender. Serve with pork chops; drizzle with reserved sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

I did not use the coleslaw mix. I followed the recipe up until that point, and then skipped all that. We had ours with rice and carrots, which I made separately, then I did sprinkle the pork chops with sesame seeds at the end. This was pretty good. Steve said it smelled like a Chinese restaurant in here, and I think it was a compliment. Ha ha. So pretty easy. The plum sauce was kind of expensive, okay really expensive, $4.59 for the jar, which contains 1 cup. Since it was clearly made in China, and according to the label had no preservatives, I decided not to save the remaining 1/4 cup. So it was yummy for a change, but I guess not the type of thing I'll be adding into my regular rotation. If you happen to have plum sauce laying around, it might be a nice way to use it up.

Easy Morning Waffles

Wahoo this is our 300th post!! Very exciting. So this recipe is called "Easy Morning Waffles" but we never have breakfast stuff like this for actual breakfast. I'm too groggy and cranky. Also I don't have a waffle maker. When trying to make homemade waffles, a waffle maker is basically a necessity. Well my mom had two, hers and my grandmother's, so today I met her in a parking lot and she gave me my grandma's. I don't know if it's for keeps or if it's for temporary. But my sister has acquired many a thing from my mother by this method..."Can I borrow _______" so we will see what happens, hee hee. This waffle iron has removable plates for easy washing, so I am very happy about that. For those of you who know of my love/hate relationship with my George Foreman grill, you will know that this is very important to me. This recipe is from the August/September Simple & Delicious.

Easy Morning Waffles
2 cups flour
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs, separated
2 cups milk
1/4 cup oil
3/4 tsp vanilla
Syrup:
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp cinnamon

In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks, milk, oil and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (very hard to do by hand...I just whipped them around for a few minutes, until my arm was tired, then added them in...I was too lazy to get out my Kitchen Aid just for that); fold into batter. Bake in a preheated waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions (dang, I don't have those. Because it's possible the waffle iron is as old as I am...the plug doesn't even have a prong or one of those flared ends...so no hope of getting manufacturer's directions...my mom said just heat it til it's hot, spray with cooking spray at the beginning but not in between batches, and then leave the cover down until steam stops coming out...anyway I predict it's going to work fine for many more years because they don't make appliances like they used to...) until golden brown. In microwave, melt the butter, honey, and cinnamon, stir until smooth. Serve desired amount of waffles with syrup. Arrange remaining waffles in a single layer on sheet pans. Freeze overnight or until frozen. Transfer to freezer bag. Pour remaining syrup into freezer container. Waffles and syrup may be frozen up to 2 months. To reheat frozen waffles and syrup: Reheat waffles in toaster (not my friend Amanda's brother's dog, whose name is Toaster. That would be gross). Microwave syrup until heated through and serve with waffles.

So these waffles came out basically perfect. I thought I would freeze what was left and have them for other meals, but there really weren't that many left, and we can just have them for breakfast tomorrow and finish them off. So one thing: whenever I make pancakes, I pile them on a plate as they are done and cover them with another plate to keep them warm. This is a method I learned from my mom and it works great for pancakes. But it doesn't work well at all for waffles. They got kind of squished. My mom said this morning that she always put them on a cookie sheet in a warm oven to keep them warm without them getting squished. So this is definitely a keeper; in fact I have already put it in my recipe binder. So so good.

Cheesy Beef-Corn Chip Skillet

My sister came up this past weekend for Nathan's birthday and she brought a few magazines with her, including the Fall 2010 Kraft Food & Family. You may remember that this used to be a free magazine that I got in the mail, but once they started charging for it, I stopped getting it. But my sister ordered a subscription and so now I still get to read them. Between my last post and this one, you can see I have a pretty good racket going right now. So anyway I had to make a couple of modifications since this was a last minute choice for a recipe, which I will note as I go along. It's basically tacos with corn chips instead of shells or tortillas.

Cheesy Beef-Corn Chip Skillet
1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
3/4 cup water
1 pkg taco seasoning
2 cups corn chips (I had some leftover from our Storyland Minivay, plus used a few tortilla chips crushed up)
1/4 lb Velveeta, cut into cubes (I didn't have this on hand. It's probably better that way anyway. I used shredded taco cheese)
2 cups shredded lettuce
2 tomatoes, chopped (we used salsa, because I didn't have fresh tomatoes. I don't really like them, anyway)

Brown meat with onions in large skillet; drain. Add water and seasoning mix; cook as directed on package. Cover meat mixture with chips and cheese, cover. Cook on low heat 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with lettuce and tomatoes.

The little comment that the magazine posted with this recipe says "Classic comfort food. A household of adults dug into this like a bunch of kids." Well, not a bunch of MY kids. Also this quote is not signed with someone's name. The attribution is: a cook. Like she doesn't want us to find her to tell her that our kids wouldn't eat it. Ha ha. Well obviously we knew Nathan wouldn't want this AT ALL so we gave him good old PB & J. He still fought us to eat that, so maybe the spirit of rebellion was in the air or something. Sam and Emma did like it, so yay. There were no leftovers, which I think is a good thing because the corn chips would have gotten soggy and the lettuce would have gotten gross. Definitely a keeper! We love taco night at our house, but there is always a lot of clean up involved. The only thing this lacked was refried beans, which we always have with our tacos. But it's always messy. So anyway I liked how this was all in one skillet, which I plunked down onto the dining room table and doled servings from. No carefully packing shells hoping they don't break, no toothpicks to hold together Emma's soft taco so the filling doesn't come out, etc. Just a spoonful on your plate, and the only variation between plates was salsa vs no salsa. A very good meal.

Spiced Pudding Cake

I made this dessert for home fellowship this past Friday. I love fallish recipes, and also love making dessert. Also I love recipes that use a bunch of spices I already have in my cupboard, that way I don't feel like I wasted money on any of them. This one I didn't actually even try, even though it smelled great. I had worked the previous 2 nights, and by the time dessert time rolled around at the Hincliffe house, was feeling rather nauseated and ready for the day to be over. But I am assured by those that tried it that it was good. Even though it's called "pudding cake," there is no pudding mix in it. I think it has to do with what you do at the end...just read it and see. So here is the recipe, from Taste of Home Aug/Sept 2010 (my sister's magazine, since she gets this one and I get Simple & Delicious. She always passes them onto me when she's done. I do not do the same for her, hee hee. It's a one-way partnership. But it's working well for me. She does, at least, read the blog, so she benefits somewhat from it. Even though I don't think she's actually ever made anything I've posted...)

Spiced Pudding Cake
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup molasses (I ended up only having 3/4 cup in my jar, so I filled the measuring cup up the rest of the way with honey...same consistency so I thought it would be fine...pretty sure it was)
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup water
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup butter, cubed
Whipped cream

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg; beat well. Beat in molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with the 1 cup water, beating well after each addition. Transfer to ungreased 13 x 9 baking pan; sprinkle with brown sugar. In microwave, heat cubed butter and 1 1/2 cups water until butter is melted; carefully pour over batter. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes back clean. Serve warm (I didn't). Garnish with whipped cream.

Okay so when you pour the water on top, you have to be really careful putting it into the oven. Then by the time it's baked, the water has all soaked in. In fact, weirdly, when you serve it, there is a pudding-y layer on the bottom which I was not expecting. Guess that's why it's called "pudding cake." When this comes out of the oven, the cake is heaving and roiling the way I imagine the land near a volcano must when it is near eruption. Then it just looked regular once it was cooled. But then, like I said, cutting into it, there is a liquid-like layer on the bottom, like caramel almost. So this is like magic. The water is on top when you put it in, then all the liquid sinks to the bottom and turns into caramel. The magic of cooking and chemistry and stuff. Not the bad kind of magic, which I do not condone. There is no spell-casting or anything in the making of this cake. No potions or brews. Just yummy cake making.

Peanut Butter & Banana Smoothie

Today is Nathan's birthday!! I can't believe my baby is 4. So nuts. I always let my kids pick whatever they want for supper on their birthdays. Nathan picked (I know regular readers will be surprised by this) chicken nuggets. And macaroni and cheese. I decided to make these smoothies to go with it. I had them marked to have with homemade waffles, which I'm making next week, but my bananas are starting to draw the flies so I pushed it forward to tonight. These are from the August/September Simple & Delicious.

Peanut Butter & Banana Smoothie
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I bought vanilla)
1 medium ripe banana
2 tbsp nonfat dry milk powder
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp creamy peanut butter
2 ice cubes

In a blender, combine all ingredients. Cover and process for 30-40 seconds or until smooth. Stir if necessary. Pour into chilled glass; serve immediately.

This is only enough for 1 serving. So obviously I had to quintuple this recipe. Kind of disappointing. I served this as a beverage, which I think was a mistake. I think if you just had this, like as a meal replacement for breakfast or something, it would be good. But it just wasn't a good combination with what we had for supper...nobody liked it =o( And you know how kids are...now that they haven't liked it once they will think they don't like it forever...oh well...