Friday, January 15, 2016

Making Spaetzles! A nice addition for homemade soup!

You may want to say this recipe idea for fall.  They are not difficult to make and I just saw one of these gadgets at the Kitchen store when shopping. 


Today was a soup day in our house.  I was going to make some box noodles but when I got to thinking I thought some spatzeles might be the right choice for this broth.

They're really an easy way to add some substance to your broth.  My family likes lots of noodles and little broth.  I like it both ways.  Here are the easy steps to making them.

My little suggestion: As another option these delicate noodles are also good lightly seasoned with butter or olive oil and a bit of parsley and grated cheese.

Chicken, carrots, celery and of course homemade spaetzles!

Spaetzle maker

Batter will be on the thicker side

Spoon by large tablespoons into top part of spaetzle maker

Push quickly back and forth into boiling lightly salted water

Boil slowly until the noodles come to top

Drain and rinse if putting in soup

If using as a side or meal.  Drain but do not rinse.  Add butter, or olive and grated cheese.  Yum


Use either homemade chicken soup with carrots, celery and onion or canned broth. You can add 1can of cream corn and 1 can kernel corn to make some chicken corn soup if you like too! I broke up some of the chicken into pieces and added it.  We like lots of stuff in our soup!

Happy Cooking from my kitchen to yours,


M.J.




2 1/2 cup flour
¼ tsp. Salt
2 eggs
½ cup milk
½ cup water

  Place eggs, salt, milk and water in mixing bowl.  Add flour slowly and keep mixing until well blended... In a medium pot bring 3 or 4 qts. water to a boil, Place spaetzle maker over pot of boiling water, push back and forth until all is used ..Stir while they are boiling..  If you do not have a spaetzle maker drop by ¼ tsp. into boiling water. When spaetzles have risen  top.. Cook about 5 minutes or more.  Drain and rinse.

9/8/12 original 

8/22/14

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Pork Shoulder/pork butt Jerk style

I'm starting the New Year with some new recipes.  Today's recipe is using a part of the pig, the shoulder or butt as it is sometimes referred to that I cut cut into large cubes.  It was about a 2 lb. piece.



After reading about this cut  of pork I decided to try it in my crockpot on low. Check link below highlighted in blue as Pork.



Ingredients:
2 lb. pork butt cut in large pieces/cubes
1 large sweet onion cut in medium pieces or quartered
1 large green pepper sliced in medium pieces
Jerk seasoning(I used a package of seasoning) since this is a first try.

Note:  Next time I'm going to try the below recipe and cook it on top of the stove, adding the peppers and onions after the meat has browned nicely.  Simmering it slowly on top while adding about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water.  

If you still want to do it in the crockpot you can.  After browning the pork in oil, place all seasoned pork in crockpot with 1/2 cup water.  Cook on low around 7 hours or as I did 4 hours on high.  I would not add the peppers or onions at the same time as the pork as I felt they became to mushy which I don't particularly care for.  Add the peppers separately in the meal before serving. 

This is the way it looked before placing all in the crockpot.


Note:  Suggestions saute, peppers and onions separately and add to pork at the very end.  That is if you like them with a slight crispness. 

I served this dish as a meal over rice with a side salad.  This dish is a little spicy so just adjust the amount of cayenne pepper to your liking. Enjoy!


MY next seasoning I will try is from the All recipes site.  It's all an natural seasoning recipe


Rub:

    1. In a small bowl, stir together the dried onion, thyme,
    2.  allspice, ground black pepper, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and salt. Coat meat lightly with oil, then rub seasoning onto meat.  Bake or use your crockpot.


    Pork
     http://modernfarmer.com/2014/03/pork-101/

    Starting from the front of the pig: Pork shoulder (also called pork butt or “Boston butt”) is generally sold as a 5 to 10 pound boneless roast at the grocery store. (Pork shoulder chops are sold with bones, but those are less common.)
    How to Cook: “It’s a really great thing to roast,” says Mylan. It’s a relatively tough cut, well layered with fat, and is good for braising, slow and low roasting or barbecue. “Shoulders are good for when you’re going to cook for a long period of time and want it to stay moist,” he says. A typical preparation? Pulled pork.
    Side note: Why is this cut sometimes called “pork butt” when it doesn’t come from the actual rear end?Pork
    Starting from the front of the pig: Pork shoulder (also called pork butt or “Boston butt”) is generally sold as a 5 to 10 pound boneless roast at the grocery store. (Pork shoulder chops are sold with bones, but those are less common.)
    How to Cook: “It’s a really great thing to roast,” says Mylan. It’s a relatively tough cut, well layered with fat, and is good for braising, slow and low roasting or barbecue. “Shoulders are good for when you’re going to cook for a long period of time and want it to stay moist,” he says. A typical preparation? Pulled pork.
    Side note: Why is this cut sometimes called “pork butt” when it doesn’t come from the actual rear end?

    Sunday, December 27, 2015

    What's your favorite New Year Day Meal or Dish?





    Seasoning Porketta
    Finished product
    Recipes for the above listed under Labels on the right side of the page! Enjoy!


    What is your favorite New Year Day meal? Ours is pork, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. It has been for as long as I can remember. How about you? What do you make on New Year's Day? Are you a traditionalist or not?
    How about New Year's Eve? Are there grapes on your table to eat at the stroke of midnight which are said to bring you luck? We've do that tradition also.
    Mom made pork and sauerkraut and my mother-in-law made porketta. I'm 50% Italian and 25%Slovak and 25% English. My grandmothers usually made what my grandfather's felt was customary and although it may have been something other than pork my mom always made what her mother made and it was pork and sauerkraut.
    Symbolism of New Year's Day foods
    In most cultures, foods prepared on New Year's Day bring good luck. Which foods? Depends upon the culture. Recurring themes are green (life), gold & coins (money/wealth) and pork/ham (because pigs root forward as they eat, embracing challenges). Here's a link if you care to check out New Year's Food around the world.

    http://www.foodtimeline.org/newyear.html


    Pork is also consumed in Italy and the United States, where thanks to its rich fat content, it signifies wealth and prosperity. I'll take that definition!!!

    I found this recipe for cookies on the above link and since some of you may want to bake I'm posting it. Happy Sunday! 

     Make every day a Happy Day! Smile and pass it on. :):):) M.j


    [1964]
    "New Years Cookies
    3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
    1 tablespoon baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1 teaspoon nutmeg
    2 eggs
    1 cup sugar
    1 cup heavy cream
    1 1/2 tablespoons caraway seeds


    Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside. Beat eggs until very light, beat in sugar, a little at a time, and then the cream. Stir in flour combination and caraway seeds. Refrigerate for several hours until dough is firm enough to handle. Roll about 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured board and cut with a small cooky cutter. Sprinkle tops with sugar and bake on greased cooky sheets in preheated 350 degree F. oven for about 10 minutes. Makes about 8 dozen."



    ---American Heritage Cookbook, Helen McCully recipes editor [American Heri
    tage Publishing:New York] 1964 (p. 608)

    Happy New Year 2016!


    Thursday, December 24, 2015

    Christmas tree appetizer

    I wanted to share this right away thinking maybe someone would like to make this for Christmas.  It's a little late  maybe for now but how about New Years?  

     My Christmas Project!

    The base is a Styrofoam cone from a craft store. Cover it with saran wrap.  Place cone on a glass tray.  To make sure cone stays in place put double face tape on the bottom of the cone to secure it.

    The rest is up to you.

    Thin salami, pepperoni, various hard cheese, peppers, hot and sweet, olives the list is endless.  Just remember to buy some nice colored toothpicks and use a pretty platter to display.

    Ok I'm back and hopefully these photos will help with the actual process of making the tree.  Enjoy!

    Variety of items

     
    Start at the bottom and work up the cone.


    At the top add a few cherry tomatoes for height.


     
    Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate.  My cone was the smaller size of two that were available.  Since I didn't knew I wouldn't have a lot of refrigerator space I opted for the smaller one.  Had the weather been cooler I would have been able to store in our garage but this year has been unseasonably warm.

    It was a big hit as you can see.  Not much left.



    Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


    From my kitchen to yours,




    Sunday, December 20, 2015

    Buffalo Chicken Appetizer ring


    Company's coming or you don't know what to make for Saturday's dinner well I'm thinking this has to be one of the best recipes for those lovin spicy chicken buffalo.

    We had a few friends over the last night and one of my appetizers was this ring.  I decided last year that when I entertain I was only going to have depending on how many we were entertaining 5 appetizers.  2 hot ones and 3 cold ones and two sweet treats. 

    I am so happy I did just that. I actually enjoyed my guests and was able in the a.m. to go to breakfast with some friends.  I took the monkey off my back and made it easy for me.  I'd say it's about time!

    For some reason I and others like me think we have to put huge amounts of food on our table when we have family and guests visiting.  Not so.  I found concentrating on a few good items is the best way to go. I made my list last week and while I was grocery shopping picked up the items that I needed for these recipes.

    It seems most things I made require cream cheese and Aldi's had it for .89 which was a great price. I won't tell you how many I bought but (8) is about the magic number.  I bought chips and pretzels and I made a pineapple creamcheese spread and a store bought sour cream french onion. We also had some fresh store bought shrimp which is always a hit and along with the warmed buffalo chicken ring I made a large loaf of french bread and stuffed it with a homemade artichoke and spinach creamy cheese filling. Another big hit!  So take it from me and make it easy on yourself and cut your menu in half.  We did have 4 couples last night and I had very little leftovers.  Actually enough for hubby and me to have for lunch today.  Here's the Buffalo Chicken recipe.  Enjoy!

    Buffalo chicken ring
    Stuffed french bread with creamy spinach artichoke filling.
     Buffalo Chicken Recipe (It's spicy) You can substitute BBQ sauce for the hot sauce if your guests don't care for spicy.

    4 oz. cream cheese softened
    1/4 cup hot sauce (I used Frank's hot sauce)
    2 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
    1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese 
    2 cans Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
    1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese

    Heat oven to 375.  In a small bowl mix cream cheese and hot sauce until smooth.  Mix in chicken until combined. Top crescent roll strips like below photo.  I put cheese on top instead of mixing it in.  Also add the Blue cheese crumbles before you seal.  Note:  I would next time mix all ingredients including blue cheese crumbles and then place on dough.  Just saying it might be easier.

    Directions:  I'll photo show you the steps.
     
     
    Bring pointed end toward center and tuck until dough.

      Bake 375 for 20 to 25 minutes carefully making sure to not get it too brown.

    Cool about 5 minutes before cutting into serving slices.

    Here are the other appetizers and desserts.



    Rum Cake





    muffin size cheese cake.  I topped them with strawberries.