Good Stuffing

My mom has always made the best Thanksgiving stuffing (or "dressing" if you'd rather) for as long as I can remember. But I have to say that as I've grown older and started making my own, I am thinking that mine could probably stand up to hers in a blind taste test.



Thanksgiving being just around the corner, I can't help but post my own recipe for stuffing that has been altered from my mom's original.

Good Stuffing
1 stick butter (reserve 2 Tbsp for sauteing, melt the rest)
1 loaf bread (any bread will do, even leftover hamburger/hot dog buns)
1 medium-sized yellow onion
2 ribs celery (include the green leaves too--that adds lots of flavor!)
mushrooms
ground sausage (optional)
1-2 Tbsp. poultry seasoning
salt and pepper
1 C. milk

Night before: Using a pair of scissors, cube up the bread onto a cookie sheet, making about 1-inch cubes. (No one will be measuring though, so just eyeball it. ;o)) Spread evenly and leave to dry overnight. If you don't have overnight, you can spread the cubed bread on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes on low heat in the oven.

Cooking day: Chop onion and celery into smallish pieces. Slice mushrooms. Melt 2 Tbsp. of the butter in a skillet. Over medium-high heat, saute the chopped veggies with a pinch of salt until tender and soft, not too browned. (I like to add a little bit of poultry seasoning to the veggies for some added yumminess.) Remove veggies from pan, then add the sausage. Brown the meat, then add back the veggies and stir to combine. Set aside.

Start preheating your oven now to 350 degrees.

Spray a large casserole dish with non-stick spray. Add cubed bread. Shake poultry seasoning and pepper over the cubed bread. Pour the rest of the butter (melted) over the bread and give a light toss. Pour the veggie-meat mixture over the bread and lightly toss again.

Pour the milk evenly over the entire dish. (NOTE: You may need a little more depending on how dry your bread is. Just make sure there isn't a whole lot pooling at the bottom of the dish. A little pooling is fine.) Toss a little more.

TIP: You can toss all the prepared ingredients in a large mixing bowl to make it easier, then add it, completely tossed, into the casserole dish. But sometimes it's worth the extra effort to just be careful and toss in the casserole dish itself so you don't have to clean another bowl. ;o)

Cover the dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees. Uncover, and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and delicious and you can smell Thanksgiving in your house.

Ruth Lauer’s Brunch Casserole

In case you didn't catch it, my friend MamaMentor left a recipe on the comments of my breakfast casserole. Looks like a yummy one. Who doesn't like potato chips as a topping? YUM!

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MamaMentor says: Here's my favorite breakfast casserole. We have it on Christmas and Easter and other special occasions!

Ruth Lauer’s Brunch Casserole

Butter a 9x13 pan, then line it with trimmed slices of bread. Layer with ham or cooked sausage, then grated cheese, then more bread.

Mix in blender and pour over:

6 eggs
1 green pepper, chopped
½ tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. Worchestershire sauce
1 teaspoon mustard powder
3 cups milk
½ onion, chopped
Red and/or black pepper to taste

Refrigerate overnight. The next morning, preheat oven to 350˚. Meanwhile, melt 1 stick margarine and pour over casserole. Top with crushed potato chips. Bake 1 hour at 350˚. Makes 12 servings.

This casserole varies widely in character depending on your choice of meat, bread and cheese. Using good wholegrain bread makes it much heartier. You can use any kind of cheese, but we normally use sharp cheddar because we want it to taste cheesy!

Stuffed French Toast

Sometimes we just have to spoil ourselves for dinner. Yes, dinner. We're a breakfast-at-dinner family for sure. My daughter likes Malt-O-Meal for lunch on the weekends. LOL This is a recipe I modified from a breakfast cookbook.

Stuffed French Toast

Filling:
8 oz. brick cream cheese
1/4 C. packed brown sugar
1/4 C. maple syrup (or white sugar)
1 Tbsp. vanilla
Orange Zest (optional)
Cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Combine these ingredients, then stir in (if desired) chopped, roasted nuts (any kind you like) or shredded, toasted coconut.



The Bread:
Use regular, sliced bread. Butter one side of each. Make a sandwich, buttered side out, by spreading the filling mixture between two slices of bread.

If you're feeling ambitious, slice a whole loaf at about 1" thick to make 8 slices, then create a pocket in them for the filling. Butter both sides and stuff with equal measures of filling.

Dipping Mixture:
1 C. whole milk or half & half
3 large eggs
1/4 C. flour
3 Tbsp. white sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. vanilla
pinch of salt



Soak each sandwich (or stuffed slice) in the egg mixture, turning to coat both sides until saturated, but not falling apart.

In a skillet, melt a pat of butter with a splash of vegetable oil. At medium-low heat, cook as many slices as you can fit without crowding each other, until golden brown on both sides. (Be careful when flipping the sandwiches; they can slide apart pretty quickly.)

Transfer the French toast to a baking sheet, and bake in a 400 degree oven til puffy and crisp on the outside. (About 6-10 minutes.) Serve fresh from the oven with maple syrup or your sugary breakfast topping of choice.

Cheesy Garlic Bread

I have to admit that the frozen garlic bread you can get at the store is absolutely mouth-watering. But as with most things, sometimes it's tastier (and cheaper) to make your own. Good garlic bread doesn't take a whole lot really. I bet you have what you need right this very second.



Cheesy Garlic Bread

Sliced bread or rolls (club rolls shown)
Butter or margarine
Shredded mozzerella or another good, melty cheese
Garlic salt

Split rolls in half lengthwise if necessary. (You can even use sliced sandwich bread if that's all you've got, but I would suggest using the toaster oven to avoid any nasty bread burns.) Spread one side with butter, then shake on some garlic salt.

SIDE TIP: Make your own garlic salt by combining a 2-to-3 ratio of table salt and garlic powder.

Place bread on a baking sheet and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-12 minutes, depending on the thickness of your bread. You're going for a nice brown on the cheese.

This side dish goes great with any Italian meals, especially tomato-based ones that require the sopping of plates with bread.

Coming up next is a recipe that would be perfect for Cheesy Garlic Bread: Chicken Cattiatore

Daring Sandwich I

I know I've mentioned the infamous peanut butter and mayo sandwich, which I must one day share, but today, I unveil one of my secret loves--tuna. Within the last few years, I discovered Albacore tuna which knocks conventional canned tuna out of the water. (A good tuna steak is not what you would think either. It actually doesn't taste at all like a giant slab of canned tuna. But I digress.)



Since discovering this whiter, tastier variety of tuna, I've taken to having my favorite version of tuna salad sandwich. If you usually put potato chips in your sandwiches and like the taste of all the ingredients below, then don't knock this weird combination until you've tried it.

Daring Sandwich I, Tuna Edition

1 can Albacore tuna (water drained onto a plate for the cats)
Real mayonnaise
Garlic salt & garlic pepper
1 stalk celery (finely diced)
Chow mein noodles
2 or 4 slices of bread

Toss the tuna, mayo, S&P, and celery in a bowl. Gently mix until evenly combined. Add S&P as needed to taste. Spread the tuna salad onto bread, then top with a goodish sprinkling of chow mein noodles. Enjoy!

One of the keys to great tuna salad is refrigerating the can of tuna ahead of time. Warm canned tuna is just... *shudders* Let's just not go there.

In-A-Pinch Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs are one of those things that are great to have on hand in the pantry because they don't really go bad very quickly. But sometimes you just don't have them or you need a little more than what you've got left in the bag.

Never fear! Breadcrumbs are easy to substitute and a lot of fun to experiment with. Here are some options for you:

1. Use stuffing mix. Yes, I'm talking Stove Top or even your average generic brand of stuffing mix. I actually prefer using these to "regular" breadcrumbs because they're already seasoned. Just pop the dry mix into the food processor* and whirl away until you have what you need.

2. Make them homemade! Yes, you can make homemade breadcrumbs in no time whatsoever. Take several slices of whatever sandwich bread you have on hand and process into crumbs. Toast them on a cookie sheet in the oven at 400 degrees or in a dry pan on the stove.

I've never tried toasting the bread first and THEN processing it, and I bet it would work, but I'm guessing it would take longer. My toaster oven can only handle three slices of bread at a maximum. But of course, if you had leftover toast for some reason or other leftover bread, those would work perfectly.

3. Mix and match your dry pantry goods. Crackers are a staple that should always be kept in your pantry for all your cooking, baking, and snacking needs. Dump a sleeve of them into the food processor and add some extra flavor with potato chips, sliced almonds (the flavored ones for salads are great for this), sunflower seeds, or whatever you have that's dry and sounds like a good flavor match for what you're using the breadcrumbs for.



I used Townhouse crackers and ranch-flavored sliced almonds for the breadcrumbs in Kate's Toasted Ravioli.

* No food processor? No problem! Get yourself a large baggie and crack away at it with a rolling pin, a rock, your fist, or I suppose you could use a sturdy coffee mug.

Kate's Toasted Ravioli

My sister-in-law, Kate, is not only the loveliest woman ever to grace my brother's romantic path, but she is also a very fine cook. A few years ago, she shared this recipe with me, and it quickly became one of our family's staple meals.

Kate's Toasted Ravioli

Frozen Ravioli (whatever kind you like)
Breadcrumbs
Grated Parmesan
Milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Fill a shallow dish with breadcrumbs and mix in a generous sprinkling of Parmesan. Fill another dish with milk. Dip raviolis one at a time in the milk, then breadcrumbs, pressing down on them to coat with crumbs. No need to thaw the raviolis first. They're much easier to handle when they're still frozen.

TIP: Use one hand to grab the ravioli from the bag, dip, and drop into the milk. Then use the other hand to scoop, cover, and press breadcrumbs. This will eliminate the infamous "club fingers" that will inevitably come with messy wet breading procedures.



Place the coated ravioli onto a lightly sprayed baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees. Bake time varies depending on the size of your ravioli. It may only take 15 minutes, but it might take up to 25.

Start with 10 minutes, then check them. You're looking for a nice golden brown color. You'll need to flip halfway through the cooking time, so be sure to keep an eye on them. (They don't burn super easy though, so don't get TOO stressed out about it.) As Kate told me, "You'll know they're ready when they start oozing filling."

Serve with marinara or spaghetti sauce, whatever you like to do. I served mine last night with a mushroom spaghetti sauce with ground beef and onions added.

The Plymouth Fury II

This is a knock-off from a little delicatessen called Firebrand in eastern Colorado. They call it the Plymouth Fury because it has turkey and cranberry sauce in it. (You know, Thanksgiving, pilgrims, Plymouth Rock, etc.) My Junior year of college, I probably ate one of these at least twice a week. Their soup at the Firebrand is to DIE for.

I've knocked-off the Plymouth Fury many times over the years in various incarnations. This is the latest one and the first I have documented.

The Plymouth Fury II

Bread (original uses sourdough)
Sliced deli turkey
Cream Cheese
Cranberry sauce (whole or jellied)
Lettuce (original uses alfalfa sprouts)

Spread your bread or roll or bagel with a generous offering of cream cheese. Both sides please. Arrange the turkey, then top with cranberry sauce and lettuce. (I have to say that the alfalfa sprouts are quite tasty. But I don't usually buy that sort of thing.)

The Fooblog is back! (with Hot Dogs)

I have been doing Project 365 which is a challenge to take one picture a day for one year, and I've been chronicling my efforts on my Project 365 blog. I've noticed that I take a hefty number of images that feature food in some way or another.



So since I've got my camera out already, I'm going to go ahead and bring this blog back after it's lain dormant for nearly four years. After all, I love cooking (and eating), so I might as well share that with the world. Again.

One of my passions is experimenting with food. I'm not a picky eater, and ever since I had the peanut butter and mayo sandwich my friend Ed recommended, I rarely knock a strange concoction until I've tried it. I would ask you to do the same with some of the strange things I might post. ;o)

That said, I do believe I'll start us off with something truly interesting. Follows is a step-by-step recipe for a grilled cheese that just about any kid is going to love. My daughter is one of the pickiest eaters I know, and she ate the entire sandwich with zero reminders to focus on her plate.
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Dogged Grilled Cheese

Split one hot dog per sandwich into thirds vertically. Grill the slices on both sides.



Butter one side of each slice of bread, two per sandwich of course.



Add some slices of cheese to the unbuttered side of half the bread slices. Velveeta works excellently.




Place the grilled hot dog slices on the cheese.



Top the sandwiches with their other halves and grill as you normally would for grilled cheese. Careful when you flip!



Serve just slightly cooled down because that cheese can get hot and cooling helps the goo congeal. Doesn't it sound delicious already? Congealed goo...mmm...



We served ours with vegetable alphabet soup, and both my kids ate every last bit. I was truly amazed.

Chicken Recipe & Meatballs with Peas

Here are a couple recipes I just received from my old friend Erica. ("Old" as in, we've known each other since 6th grade - she's not that old!) - Dianna

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ERICA WROTE: Making me hungry just reading those recipes. So I thought I'd submit a couple of my families favorites. The first one really has no name- my grandma cooks her chicken like this, and I always find it foolproof to make- takes 20- 30 min. as long as you have chicken defrosted.

GRANDMA'S NAMELESS CHICKEN
Ingredients:
3-4 Chicken Breasts (Bone in or out - if in, cooking time takes little longer)
2 T. Olive oil
1 T. Butter
1 chicken bouillon cube
1-2 fresh tomatoes diced, or 1 can diced
2 T. garlic - less if you prefer
parsley
basil
pinch of rosemary
salt and pepper
3/4 c water
1/4 c water

* Heat butter and olive oil over med. heat until warm - add garlic. (make sure you use a skillet with a 2" rim)
* Rinse and dry chicken, add salt and pepper to taste (remember bouillon is salty), then add to olive-oil/butter - remember to keep the heat on low-med. You don't want to have it completely browned or it won't suck up the juices
* Add 3/4 c water and bouillon cube
* Add tomatoes, garlic, parsley, basil, and rosemary
* Let it simmer 15-20 min. turning chicken occasionally.
* When the water has been almost entirely sucked into chicken, add the last 1/4 c. and let simmer 5 more minutes. You now have gravy for whatever else you serve with it.

I serve this with just about everything. Buttered noodles, leftover spaghetti, rice, biscuits, salad, and another of my families favorites, green beans cooked on a skillet. (2 T butter, melted in skillet over med. heat, add green beans, stir
often until cooked - watch though, they go from cooked to burnt fast!)

And because I know you are such a huge fan of peas here is another family favorite, handed down from my great-grandmother:

MEATBALLS & PEAS
1 Pd. gd. beef
1 can/bottle (or if you prefer otherwise) of mushroom gravy
ketchup
mustard
seasoned salt
bread crumbs
olive oil
1 bag of frozen peas(or again-if preferred fresh)

* Heat olive oil in large skillet over low-med. heat
* Take 1 pd. of ground beef, and in a bowl, add (you ready for this?) a squirt of ketchup, a squirt of mustard, about 1 tsp of seasoned salt, about 5T. of mushroom gravy, and enough bread crumbs to make the meatballs hold together.
* Scoop up meat and make into about 1-2" meatballs.
* Put in skillet and cook them, turning with a spoon often - try not to let them fall apart.
* Add the bag of peas, and the remainder of the mushroom gravy and about 1/4 c water (little less if peas are frozen)
* Cover and simmer until peas are cooked.

You can serve with noodles, but I prefer just a slice of buttered bread to soak up all the leftover gravy! My family can't get enough of their meatballs and peas!!!!!

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Thanks for the recipes, Erica! They both sound wonderful! I'm always looking for ways to use my Rosemary. I guess I'm not sure which dishes it should go in. I'll let you know how they turn out. :o)

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

I just love blogging, so I've created this second journal section of our website entitled "Fooblog." That is, it's a "Food Blog" wherein I'll post interesting recipes I've come across (or made up) and tried. But sometimes, I may just tell you what we had for dinner.

I was inspired to do this by my mom's new website. (Friends and family, email us for the link!) She has some recipes listed on hers. I realized just how big a part of our lives food is. In fact, growing up, food was always a big deal. And with my mom and I, food is still a huge part of our lives. Just come over to one of our houses and see if you can't leave without having stuffed something in your mouth!

So here's where we share. Do with this what you wish...

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The first recipe I'll ever post...

We love bananas, but unfortunately bananas don't always last. So we throw them in the freezer so that one day, they may be served up as banana bread. I almost always make two loaves when I make this bread, for two reasons. One, it's always nice to spring a treat on someone. Two, it uses more of those annoying frozen bananas!

BANANA BREAD (double recipe)

1. Combine the following in a medium sized bowl:3 c. white flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon

2. Mix the following in a separate bowl or food processor:
2 eggs
1-1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce

3. Defrost 5-6 frozen bananas in the microwave. (45 seconds per banana used) They may come out slimy - that's all right! Add these to the bowl or food processor and mix until bananas have been beaten to a chunky pulp.

4. Pour in the flour mixture and mix some more until just combined.

5. Fun additions to put in now: quick oats; chocolate chips; nuts of any kind; Grape Nuts cereal; sunflower seeds

6. Spray two loaf pans with non-stick spray. (Or two 12-ct. muffin pans; or one muffin pan and one loaf pan; or one single loaf pan and one 8 ct. mini loaf pan, or... well, you get the idea.)

7. Pour half of the mixture in each pan. Be sure to sprinkle a few of whatever you added in step 5 on top of the loaf for decoration!

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes (depending on what pans you used - muffins and mini-loaves take about 25 minutes) or until a toothpick (if you're most people) or a straw of dried spaghetti (if you're me) comes out clean.

Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing. Then allow to cool completely before wrapping.

Now does that sound delicious or what?