Bacon Butty

pronounced bacon "bought-y"in Onslow speak, is a simple Bacon sandwich. I first heard about it watching "Keeping Up Appearances", a britcom. Hyacinth's slovenly brother-in-law Onslow and her sister, Daisy, were eating Bacon Butty's in one episode. You simply fry up a few slices, put on slightly toasted bread or a crusty bread or roll, top with catsup or "brown sauce" (which I have yet to find- I am thinking it is similar to steak or BBQ sauce) and there you have it- a sandwich which Onslow would utter Oh Nice to!

 

LIFE LESSONS FROM ONSLOW:

Raspberry Ginger Snaps

Easiest. Dessert. Recipe. Ever.
Amaze your family and friends with your Culinary talents.

I discovered this at Trader Joe's, with the Demo-Diva's. So easy to make

1 box of Ginger Snaps
1 pint of fresh raspberries
1 container of Creme Fraiche

lay out some ginger snaps. Top with 1 teaspoon of Creme Fraiche. Top with a raspberry.
So Simple! So delicious.

BAGEL PIZZA

I was at work the other night, and it was lunch time ... I meandered over to the refigerator... Bagels, Pizza sauce, a hunk of summer sausage... so I made Bagel Pizzas

1 Bagel- split
two tablespoons pizza sauce
about 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese
Meat- a small amount of prosciutto or pepperoni- in this case I used summer sausage- whatever your heart desires!

Layer the bagels with the sauce, cheese, meat. Heat in toaster oven at 450 degrees for 5-6 minutes. Eat!

Sugar Free and Caramelly delicious!

Yo know what a challenge it is to have an extreme sweet tooth and diabetes? Well apparentely Smuckers does. They have a line of sugar free dessert syrups. While I don't care for sugar free chocolate ( they always taste so bitter to me, and not in a good way) I love their Sugar Free Caramel topping. Sometimes I use it on waffles or french toast for a break from sugar free "maple" syrup. (Yes Abbie the qoutes are for you... I know you love true maple syrup but a lot of use just can't) The Caramel topping is great on Sugar free Ice cream, better on fresh fruit! One of my favorites is to take a sliced banana and pour on the caramel. Or dip Apple or strawberries slices in the caramel. But sometimes you gotta mix it up!

SUGAR FREE CARAMEL FRUIT SALAD
1 Banana, sliced
1 apple, sliced
1/2 cup of strawberries, sliced
 1/4 cup Smuckers Sugar Free Caramel syrup

Mix all the fruit slices in a bowl, toss, being careful not to bruise the fruit. Chill for 1/2 hour, then pour on 1/4 cup of the syrup. Serve immediately!  Serves 2 (or 1 piggy person).

Substitute real caramel syrup for the sugar free if you don't have diabetes or other sugar related issues, or for other folks.


I am not paid or given anything by Smuckers for this review. I just like the product!

Revisiting a favorite recipe... Portobello Parmesano

Meatless Monday @ Midnight Maniac

I thought I would revisit some of my favorite recipes... this week my favorite vegetarian dish... Portobello Parmesano! Ciao Bella!


Not being a big fan of eggplant, or veal (Okay I lie, I love veal, just not how its raised- therefore I don't eat veal) I resorted to making Portobello Parmesan years ago. I saw it somewhere on TV. I like this as much as veal. Really!
(You can use Canned tomato sauce or fresh- it works either way)
4 portobello mushrooms
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Tomato Sauce either 1 jar canned or one and a half cups fresh sauce
1 cup of fresh, shredded Parmesan cheese
Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet, the kind you can put in the oven. Remove the stem from the portabellos. Brown the portabellos on both sides when browned, dump the sauce on top, Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Then cover with Parmesan cheese. Put the whole pan in the oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until cheese is a bubbly brown. Serve

A Recipe for Fresh tomato sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
6 tomatoes, chopped
3 onions, minced
2 green bell peppers, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat; add tomatoes, onions, green bell peppers, garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Mix ingredients well; cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

I should be on Chopped...

Chopped. that Food Network show were professional chefs are given a basket with 4 ingredients and their task is to come up with something good edible in very little time. Of course if I was on it I would be disqualified for calling host Ted Allen a douche bag. And probably at least two of the judges.
Anyway, in the used food store (Grocery Outlet) I discovered a half dozen glazed donuts for $1. So I went out to improve my Bread Pudding recipe. So after much thought, I present you with Donut Bread Pudding. It was either that or use them as hamburger buns for a Donut Bacon Cheese burger. And that is too much even for me!

Donut Bread Pudding
1/2 Dozen glazed donuts, crumbled
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk or skim milk
1/2 cup light brown Sugar
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 Tbsps. butter
In a Medium bowl, Beat eggs lightly. Add milk, crumbled donuts, brown sugar raisins and cinnamon and mix thoroughly, and pour into a 1 quart baking dish. Dot with butter and bake 40-45 minutes until firm and brown at 350 degrees. Top with a dollop of Whipped Cream if desired. Serves 6.

Martha Stewart's Swiss Chard Pie

Chard grows so well here in Burien. Leave it to Martha Stewart to come up with a good way to use it up! Plus, since you can freeze this pie, it is a great way to preserve a taste of summer!

This vegetarian pie is great to have on hand -- it can go straight from the freezer to the oven. To bake it without freezing, reduce the baking time to 40 to 45 minutes.
Ingredients

For the Olive Oil Dough:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup cold water
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

For the Swiss Chard Pie Filling:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, cut into small dice
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 pounds Swiss chard, stems cut into small dice and leaves torn
3/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Grated zest of 1 large lemon, plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 large egg yolk

Directions

Make the Olive Oil Dough

In a bowl, combine all-purpose flour, extra-virgin olive oil, cold water, and coarse salt. Stir with a fork to combine, then turn out onto a work surface and knead 1 minute. Cover dough with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature, 30 minutes.
Make the Swiss Chard Pie

In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion and garlic; cook until onion begins to soften, about 2 minutes. Add chard stems and red-pepper flakes; cook until stems begin to soften, about 2 minutes.

Pack chard leaves into pot; season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until chard leaves wilt, about 4 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, until chard is soft, about 4 minutes. Drain, pressing out as much liquid as possible. Place chard mixture in a large bowl and toss with Parmesan, flour, lemon zest and juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Roll two-thirds the dough to a 12 1/2-inch round; fit into an 8-inch round cake pan (2 inches deep). Fill bottom crust with chard mixture. Roll remaining dough to a 9 1/2-inch round; place over filling. Pinch edges of dough together and tuck in to seal; cut several vents into center of pie. Combine yolk with 1 teaspoon water and brush over dough, avoiding edge of pan. Freeze pie (see below).

To serve, preheat oven to 400, with rack in lowest position. Bake frozen pie until crust is deep golden brown, about 1 1/2 hours. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Veggie Kabobs

A quick, easy and tasty way to eat your veggies- grill in minutes,
VEGGIE KABOBS
Assorted vegetables, cut bite size (I like to use mushrooms, tomatoes squash and onion good dish for cherry tomatoes)
Skewers
Marinade*
Let vegetables marinate in a shallow dish between 30 minutes to an hour. Then piece by piece, shove them on skewers- (You may want to soak skewers in a shallow bowl or pan in some water- helps keep them from burning)Place them on a hot grill or BBQ- cook for about two minutes and turn over. Should have nice grill marks. Serve and enjoy!
Tip- brush the grill with a light brush of Olive oil before grilling- adds good flavor and helps to keep veggies from sticking to the grill.

*Asian Vegetable Marinade
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon sesame oil

mix the marinade up and let your vegetables marinate in a shallow dish from between 30 minutes to an hour before grilling.

Homemade Ginger Ale

Two Frugal Chicks is a local blog that teaches folks how to save big bucks couponing. They also have some great ideas like this one on how to make your own Ginger Ale. So I had to try it. Came out pretty good.

Combine 1/2 cup of freshly grated ginger, 1 cup of cane sugar, and 4 cups of water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for 9 minutes. Cool and strain.

To serve, add about a 1/3 cup of this ginger syrup to a chilled glass. Top with seltzer water and garnish with lime. Adjust proportions to taste. Serves 4 to 6. Refrigerate leftover syrup for later; the flavor intensifies.

I only party down with the best at:

Baked Cheese with herbs

I call this post Baked Cheese. Actually it should be Baked Fontina, as that is what Ina Garten calls this recipe. The problem is I decided to make it at 2am, And had no Fontina. So I tried WSU Viking Cheese. So I followed Ina's recipe but used the Viking Cheese, which is a "Jack" type cheese. This is so good and so very easy. I like it better than fondue, and just great with a baguette.

Baked Cheese

Cube a pound and a half of semi soft cheese

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves (Even though the recipes calls for fresh thyme and rosemary, I used some dried leaves I put up last summer and it turned out great)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 French baguette

Preheat the broiler and position the oven rack 5 inches from the heat. Distribute the cubes of Cheese evenly in a 12-inch cast-iron pan or other oven safe pan. Drizzle on the olive oil. Combine the garlic, thyme, and rosemary and sprinkle it over the cheese and olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and place the pan under the broiler for 6 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling and starts to brown. Serve the baked Cheese family-style-right out of the oven in the cast-iron pan with crusty chunks of bread for everyone to dip.

Weekly Challenge Update

Independence Days Challenge Year 4, Week 12
Plant something- Started gooseberry plants, amish deer tongue, Russian Kale, Tomato- Black prince, Tomato- orange russian; tomato Radiator Charlie's Mortgage lifter; Tomato- Clint Eastwood Rowdy Red; Tomato- Julia Child; Tomato - spoon; Squash "aunt Shirley Squash" aka Zapallo; Cauliflower
Harvest something- Alfalfa sprouts, chick pea sprouts
preserve something :
Local Food systems :
Preparation: Extended my heating grow mats with a little foil
Eat the food/eat something new-Cheese and Alfalfa Burritos ( a recipe I found in the direction pamphlet for my sprouted); Salad with Chick pea sprouts

Cheese and Alfalfa Burritos
A little butter or margarine
Alfalfa Sprouts- about 1/2 cup
Cheddar Cheese -Shredded
2 table spoons of sour cream- or I substituted 2 tablespoons of Greek Yogurt- I had no sour cream

Lightly butter one side of tortilla, put in hot fry pan, and spread the cheese. Heat until cheese is melted, remove top with sprouts, and sour cream/yogurt. Fold into a burrito. Eat and enjoy!

waste not- Using old clamshells, yogurt cups saved for starting seeds
want not - Ordered some tomato seeds (I know - I said no more tomato starting- but these are varieties I grow for planters - Window box Romas, Tumbler, Red Robin… and yielded into temptation and got some Clint Eastwood Rowdy Red, Julia Child, Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter, Orange Russian and Spoon tomatoes. Along with Bolivian Rainbow and Chichen Itza peppers. Pretty much I went to the dark side of the force. Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, I get an itch to start tomatoes… Always happens. Damn you Gary Ibsen! At least I have some success with peppers.

Well one small change I am making is re-using the water that has run through my sprouter to water my seedlings and plant starts… You can smell the nutrients in the water, and if starting something like beet sprouts, see it. Not a significant change, re-using this small amount of water… but a change is a change. And if it helps fertilize seedlings, a bonus to boot!

Friday I had a slice of cheese pizza and a baked potato. No bacon bits for the potato :( , but pretty good just the same. Bought no candy this week and no I wasn't chased by girl scouts selling cookies. ‘Course the candy cravings might have been cured by the fact I am experimenting with "mocktails" so I get a sweet charge out of that, and fresh juice to boot! Pretty good week all in all

Sour Cream Raisin Pie

My friend Abby over at Farmer's Daughter is having a Birthday/Spring Celebration, she has planned a plethora of recipes, fun stuff and giveaways! I must join in with one of my favorite Pie recipes. A use for raisins, and for the locovores, eggs and sour cream. A heritage recipe from my Grandma, This pie is very rich and surprisingly sweet. And very easy to boot. Happy Birthday to Abby, my fellow Piscearean.

2 egg yolks (save the whites to make the meringue)
½ cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp allspice
1 cup raisins

Combine the above ingredients. Pour into baked pie shell< Bake pie for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Top with meringue. Swirl meringue over pie filling and brown in 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes or until meringue has golden brown peaks.

Easy Shrimp Po' Boys

I just love Shrimp Po' Boys, I would eat them daily if I could. Out here they are available at the Tin Room Bar- If only they were easier to make. Well now they are! I adapted one of Rachel Ray's Recipes for a simpler, "semi-Homemade" version of a Shrimp Po' Boy. The end result is it tastes great and is easier to make!

Shrimp Po' Boy Sandwich
This is an easy take on the Shrimp Po' Boy. One of my favorite sandwiches.
What you need:
1 Package frozen breaded shrimp (optional)
1 tomato, sliced
1/2 head of lettuce shredded
2 Hoagy Rolls
1 tablespoon of Mustard
1 tablespoon mayonaisse
1 tablespoon of honey or agave nectar

The reason the breaded shrimp is optional is some prefer to do all that work themselves. There is a recipe for that here. Otherwise hush up about it and follow along...
Prepare the breaded shrimp per the instructions (I prefer Trader Joe's Breaded Shrimp simply because there are no tails; that and it cooks up nice in the oven, otherwise I use Gorton's Popcorn shrimp). Slice the tomato, shred the lettuce. Prepare the dressing- mix the Mustard, mayo and the honey/agave nectar. Now assemble the sandwich as follows- A layer of tomato, a layer of lettuce, a layer of shrimp, and dabble on the dressing. Eat and enjoy!

Homemade Nutella and PeaNutella

I love the idea of making my own nutella. I already occasionally make my own peanut butter. So when I found a recipe for making homemade nutella without all the processed sugar in the store bought stuff I had to try it and make a variation.
I found the recipe for Homemade Nutella on Elana's Pantry blog. So easy to do. Luckily, we here in the NW have some great resources for Hazelnuts. I got mine from my mom who bought them, at the Des Moines (WA) Farmers Market then she froze them. I think they are also available through the Eat Local store.
My own variation on this was to substitute peanuts and peanut oil for the hazel nuts and hazel nut oil and follow the rest of the recipe.It turned out alright tasting, just a bit more texture than I would have preferred.But that is easy to solve- a bit more moisture, a bit more grinding in the food processor! And home made Nutella is just the thing for Sunny Anderson's Fake Crepes!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Well for my first cookie recipe, I have to admit to being hornswaggled by advertising... an ad for Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix that had a recipe for making mint chocolate chip cookies using their Sugar Cookie Mix. I thought I could do this without the pre mix - Why not use my own sugar cookie recipe? Easy to work with, I love this recipe. I would imagine you could use your own standard sugar cookie recipe.
Sugar Cookie Recipe
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make them Mint Chocolate Chip:
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
6 to 8 drops green food color
2 pkgs of Mint and Dark chocolate chips
Or 1 Package of Creme De Menth chips and 1 package of Chocolate Chips
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add the mint extract and the food color- Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on cooling racks.

Sunny's Fake Crepes

Sunny Anderson is one of the new Chefs on the Food Network. A former Caterer, radio DJ and a great cook I like her because she makes simple dishes that are easy to make. One in particular, "Fake Crepes" is one of those dishes. Now Rob loves his crepes. And Rob cannot make crepes. Why? Rob, who has almost every kitchen gadget and pan known in the free world does not have a crepe maker. Or a crepe pan. But thanks to Sunny, Rob no longer desires one, because when Rob has a jonesing for some crepes he just follows the fake crepes recipe.

Real simple to make- Whole wheat tortillas,at room temperature, a little butter (3-4 TBSP) melted in a pan, Spread some Nutella on one side of each tortilla, cook in the butter, spread some mini marshmallows on top and some chopped hazelnuts. And then I get adventurous and make substitutions. I like to make pizza crepes (substitute pepperoni and pizza sauce and a little shredded mozzarella for the ingredients in Sunny's recipe), ham and cheese (substitute deli ham cubes and shredded Swiss cheese, with some chopped green onion as a topping garnish) and PB & J crepes (peanut butter and jelly) Tonight I made a Reese's crepe using Nutella and peanut butter. Basically you are making Quesadilla's with out the Queso! Great Idea Sunny!

Making your own Bisquik (Biscuit and pancake mix)

I recently came upon how to make your own "Bisquick" super easy to do.

4 1/2 cups of flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/3 cup powdered milk
1/2 tbs. salt
1/4 cup baking powder
1 cup shortening
Large mixing bowls
Airtight container

Put 3 cups of flour into a large mixing bowl. Split the mixture into halves or thirds to make mixing the ingredients easier. Just be sure to split other ingredients in equal parts as well.

Place the sugar, powdered milk, baking powder and salt into another mixing bowl and mix all the ingredients thoroughly.

Add the mixture to the flour and use a fork to ensure the entire mixture is well blended.

Cut in the shortening using two butter knives. The shortening should mix with the flour mixture to create little pea-sized balls. Continue mixing until the balls are almost gone and the mixture is powdery again.

Store in an airtight container and in a cool, dry place to keep the freshness for about a month. Store the homemade mix in the freezer to keep the freshness for several months. In warm houses or warm weather, store the mix in the refrigerator.

Tips:

For a nondairy mix use powdered soy milk and make a sugar-free mix using a sugar substitute.

This mixture is perfect to make pancakes, waffles and biscuits. Use as directed for traditional Bisquick mix.

Pie Fries

One of my fave things to munch on at Burien Press is something from the High Five Pie Company called Pie Fries. My Aunt Orinne used to make these. Sort of.

Left Over Pie Dough
Egg for egg wash
Cinnamon
Sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Simply take some leftover pie dough and roll it out, Give a quick brush with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, take a pastry cutter (pizza cutter) and slice into strips about 1/2 inch wide. and bake @ 350 degrees until a golden brown. Great use of the rest of the dough.

My auntie use to make a large sheet of pie dough and bake it with the cinnamon and sugar and let everyone break off a piece to eat. One of the best things about pie baking time at Auntie's house!

Hamburger Gravy!

When I was a kid, this was one of my favorite things. Well the other day I happened to look in the freezer and had a pound of local raised grass fed hamburger I had bought at the farmers market this summer- so I made one of my favorite comfort foods- Hamburger Gravy
HAMBURGER GRAVY

2 pounds lean ground beef
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 small onion, chopped

Directions
Place hamburger in a large, deep skillet. Cook onions in a drop of oil just until translucent. Crumble hamburger and cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Remove from heat and sprinkle flour over cooked hamburger. Stir until evenly coated and all fat is absorbed.
Place skillet over medium heat, add 1/2 of milk and stir until gravy begins to thicken. Add remaining milk until desired consistency has been reached and gravy comes to a boil. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve over mashed or boiled potatoes, white rice, bread or toast or biscuits. Add fresh chopped onion if desired.

Pickled Kohlrabi

In the garden, the KohlRabi is coming out swell--- now to preserve it for a while longer. I found this recipe at Recipe Land .com of course I had to make my little changes to go with what I grow!
Ingredients

3 each kohlrabi peeled, sliced (I used 2)
2 large carrots Or I used 6 "baby" Carrots I grow thumbelina and little finger
2 each garlic cloves crushed
1 each bay leaf
3 large dill weed sprigs

Pickling mixture
3/4 cup white vinegar
1 1/4 cups water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon dill seed
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
Parboil carrots for 3 minutes.
Mix kohlrabi and carrots; pack in a 1 quart glass jar along with garlic, bay leaf and fresh dill.
In a saucepan, combine pickling mixture.
Heat, stirring, until it boils and sugar is dissolved.
Pour boiling mixture over kohlrabi, filling jar completely.
Cover jar. When cool, refrigerate for 3 to 4 days before using to let flavors blend