Squash Soup:
Since my rosemary wasn't fresh, there were a lot of pieces that just didn't get pureed right, plus there are twigs from the branches in the dried stuff. I strained the soup and worked down the pulp through the mesh leaving a gourmet looking squash soup in the end. I didn't add the milk in the main pot but I just added a dab of milk to all our soup bowls before serving. Give it a swirl and it looks very attractive, kind of like the cappuccinos with the fancy swirls inside the cup.
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Chicken Pot Pie, Lazy Style:
In a saucepan melt a pat of butter (I know, real technical, eh?) and a smidge of olive oil. When the butter starts to bubble a bit, add a tablespoon of flour to the mix to make a roux. Add more or less to thicken and continue to cook until the roux browns a bit. Take off the heat to cool slightly. In the mean time, take 1 1/3 C of milk and microwave in a bowl for about 45 seconds to take the chill out. With a whisk, return to the saucepan with the roux, which should still be relatively hot even tho it is off the heat. Trickle the heated milk into the roux, stirring briskly all the time with a wire whisk. Go slowly or the milk could separate making it a clumpy mess.
Once all the milk is all combined with the roux, it should thicken nicely. Bring back to the burner and cook on medium heat. Add some chicken boullion to flavor and adjust to taste. If the sauce is really liquidy, add some instant potato flakes but don't over do it or you'll be making mash potatoes instead.
Add cubed chicken, drained veggies, and garlic powder. Heat through. Serve as is or on top of sliced bread or mashed potatoes. (Autumn olive ketchup really goes perfect on top of this dish).
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Spiced Cranberry Ketchup Recipe (a.k.a. autumn olive ketchup #2):
In a saucepan: cranberries, water, onions and bay leaves. Cook for 15 min or until berries pop. (Since I was using autumn olive juices and pulp, I didn't have to wait for anything to pop, so I just cooked it for about 10 minutes). Cool slightly.
Disgard bay leaves. Strain mixture (I already had done this when I was preparing the autumn olives a while back, plus I was using onion powder so there is nothing to strain at this point). Return to the pan.
Sitr in rest of ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until thickened. (I used the spoon test: put some on a spoon and let it cool. If it's thickened after cooling, you have the consistency you want).Cool and refrigerate.
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Peach Salsa:
Drain and chop tomatoes, peaches and jalapenos and place in a bowl.
In a separate bowl mix white and brown sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic powder, salt and allspice. Combine until sugars are dissolved.
Pour sugar liquid over the tomatoes/peaches/jalapenos, mix and let it sit for 20 minutes for flavors to meld (it can either be left at room temperature or refrigerated). Serve with chips or as a chutney over meats. Refrigerate any leftovers.
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Green Beans With Anchovies and Garlic
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Autumn Olive Ketchup:
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Homemade Tortillas
To make dough: Add aprx. 2 Tb of water at a time to the dry ingredients. It will start out with consistency of cornmeal and gradually add water until it forms a dough that isn't too wet. Divide into 12 sections (or less if you want large tortillas) and form into balls. Let them rest for about 20 min. with a wet towel to cover them. After, roll out into 7 inches diameter and cook in an ungreased skillet (cast iron works really well) over med. heat. Flip when you see a little brown'age, it will cook really fast. The longer it stays on the heat the crispier they will become, so for tender tortillas, it will be about a minute of cooking time.
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Manjulaskitchen Rotis (makes 4 flatbread)
Let bubbles form on one side of the Rotis with a bit of browning before flipping. Repeat on other side. Bubbles should form and brown a bit. At this point, hopefully!, the rotis will puff up. With a spatchula press down the puffing rotis, but go gently. Flip again to ensure a bit more browing. Steam will escape the puffed rotis, this is normal. Remove from heat, add a bit of ghee (melted, clarified butter), and place in a bowl with a towel to keep warm. Repeat process.
*Ghee: I used a combination of olive oil, butter, salt, onion and garlic powder, all melted and 'bloomed' for flavors. I used a brush to slather onto the finished Rotis. Served with pinto bean style hummus. Yumm.*
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Mock Kluski Casserole (Ground Beef with Noodles):
In a separate pot, bring water to boil and add a pinch of salt. Add the rotini pasta and cook according to instructions on the box. Optional: add a smidge of chicken boullion (or powder) to the cooking noodles to enfuse extra flavoring into the pasta. I used very little and it seemed to do the trick.
Back to the meat/onions: Season the cooking meat and onions with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Add the green beans. Cook until meat is browned nicely in the frying pan. Drain the fat from the pan and disgard (I use a paper towel to soak up all the grease).
Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the meat and onion mixture. Add a bit more onion power and garlic powder. Finish the dish with 1-2 TB of butter and serve.
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Bean Burgers:
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Amish Pumpkin Custard Pie:
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Homemade Jello:
In a small bowl combine gelatin and 1/2 C cold fruit juice. Allow it sit for 10 min to bloom the gelatin. Microwave 3 C of fruit juice until hot. Add the cold juice/gelatin mix to the hot juice and stir until completely disolved. Add sugar or honey if desired. Refrigerate for 30min or until firm set.
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Wild Salmon and Green Onions:
Green Onions:
Wash, clean, prepare onions: cut them in half to expedite cooking time. In a separate frying pan with olive oil, heat on medium, add onions with some salt. Cover and occasionally stir to prevent sticking. Cook until slightly carmelized. Serve next to cooked salmon.
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This mix makes about, oh, 3-4 servings of Italian Dressing. This is the dry mix. It is awesome when rubbed on meat before cooking as well. Flavors are yummy on chicken and pork.
Italian Dressing Mix: (I keep this in a glass jar until needed)
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Rice and Pea Cold Salad:
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Chicken Walnut Cranberry Salad:
- 2 lb butternut squash (save the seeds to dry fry in a pan, yummy! my favorite)
- 1 large onion, rough chopped
- 2 apples, peeled and rough chopped
- 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 Tb rosemary (I had the dried stuff, going to plant some for fresh herbs in the apartment)
- Optional: 1/4 C milk, cream or half and half
Since my rosemary wasn't fresh, there were a lot of pieces that just didn't get pureed right, plus there are twigs from the branches in the dried stuff. I strained the soup and worked down the pulp through the mesh leaving a gourmet looking squash soup in the end. I didn't add the milk in the main pot but I just added a dab of milk to all our soup bowls before serving. Give it a swirl and it looks very attractive, kind of like the cappuccinos with the fancy swirls inside the cup.
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Chicken Pot Pie, Lazy Style:
- rotisserie chicken, about half a breast, chopped into cubes
- milk
- flour
- chicken boullion (msg free and in powder form)
- butter
- olive oil
- garlic powder to taste
- 1/2 can -3/4 can of the follwing : carrots, green beans, potatoes (I was looking for something to use the canned potatoes in because they're not a favorite, but it worked really nice in this) or any other combination of veggies you like in a chicken pot pie
- instant potato flakes if you need to thicken the sauce because of too much milk (neat little trick, thanks to kiddo's suggestion)
In a saucepan melt a pat of butter (I know, real technical, eh?) and a smidge of olive oil. When the butter starts to bubble a bit, add a tablespoon of flour to the mix to make a roux. Add more or less to thicken and continue to cook until the roux browns a bit. Take off the heat to cool slightly. In the mean time, take 1 1/3 C of milk and microwave in a bowl for about 45 seconds to take the chill out. With a whisk, return to the saucepan with the roux, which should still be relatively hot even tho it is off the heat. Trickle the heated milk into the roux, stirring briskly all the time with a wire whisk. Go slowly or the milk could separate making it a clumpy mess.
Once all the milk is all combined with the roux, it should thicken nicely. Bring back to the burner and cook on medium heat. Add some chicken boullion to flavor and adjust to taste. If the sauce is really liquidy, add some instant potato flakes but don't over do it or you'll be making mash potatoes instead.
Add cubed chicken, drained veggies, and garlic powder. Heat through. Serve as is or on top of sliced bread or mashed potatoes. (Autumn olive ketchup really goes perfect on top of this dish).
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Spiced Cranberry Ketchup Recipe (a.k.a. autumn olive ketchup #2):
- 2 1/4 fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1/2 C water
- 1/4 C chopped green onions (I used onion powder, I'm lazy)
- 2 bay leaves
- 3/4 plus 2T sugar
- 1/4 C white wine vinegar (I only had regular white vinegar, and I used 1/2 the amount)
- 1/4 C balsamic vinegar (I only used 1/2 the amount)
- 1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard (only had regular)
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/8 tsp ground cumin
In a saucepan: cranberries, water, onions and bay leaves. Cook for 15 min or until berries pop. (Since I was using autumn olive juices and pulp, I didn't have to wait for anything to pop, so I just cooked it for about 10 minutes). Cool slightly.
Disgard bay leaves. Strain mixture (I already had done this when I was preparing the autumn olives a while back, plus I was using onion powder so there is nothing to strain at this point). Return to the pan.
Sitr in rest of ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until thickened. (I used the spoon test: put some on a spoon and let it cool. If it's thickened after cooling, you have the consistency you want).Cool and refrigerate.
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Peach Salsa:
- 1 (14.5 oz) can of whole tomatoes, drained. Chopped and drained again (keep liquid in a separate bowl just in case you need to use a bit of it)
- 1/2 can (of a 15 oz can) of peaches, drained and chopped
- 9 slices of pickled (? ... it was in a jar) jalapenos or more/less to taste
- 1 1/8 tsp white sugar
- 3/4 tsp brown sugar
- 2 1/4 tsp lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tsp vinegar
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp of ground allspice
Drain and chop tomatoes, peaches and jalapenos and place in a bowl.
In a separate bowl mix white and brown sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic powder, salt and allspice. Combine until sugars are dissolved.
Pour sugar liquid over the tomatoes/peaches/jalapenos, mix and let it sit for 20 minutes for flavors to meld (it can either be left at room temperature or refrigerated). Serve with chips or as a chutney over meats. Refrigerate any leftovers.
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Green Beans With Anchovies and Garlic
- Fresh green beans blanched in water or one drained can of green beans ready to go
- olive oil
- 3 Tb or more of anchovie paste or 3-4 anchovie fillets (use more to taste)
- minced garlic (adjust to taste)
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Autumn Olive Ketchup:
- 2 1/2 C Autumn Olive juice and pulp (after cleaning and food milling it to separate the seeds)
- 1 tsp onion powder (or more depending on the taste and balance of the fruit)
- less than 1/3 C distilled white vinegar (use less if it tastes super vinegary)
- 1 C brown sugar (not packed)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp dried red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
- black pepper (to taste)
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Homemade Tortillas
- 2 C all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 Tb shortening (I used 1 Tb butter instead)
- 1/2 C and 2 Tb of (hot) water
To make dough: Add aprx. 2 Tb of water at a time to the dry ingredients. It will start out with consistency of cornmeal and gradually add water until it forms a dough that isn't too wet. Divide into 12 sections (or less if you want large tortillas) and form into balls. Let them rest for about 20 min. with a wet towel to cover them. After, roll out into 7 inches diameter and cook in an ungreased skillet (cast iron works really well) over med. heat. Flip when you see a little brown'age, it will cook really fast. The longer it stays on the heat the crispier they will become, so for tender tortillas, it will be about a minute of cooking time.
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Manjulaskitchen Rotis (makes 4 flatbread)
- 1/2 C whole wheat flour
- pinch salt
- 1/4 C plus 1 TB warm water
- 1/4 tsp oil for hands and kneading of the dough
- Cast Iron Skillet
Let bubbles form on one side of the Rotis with a bit of browning before flipping. Repeat on other side. Bubbles should form and brown a bit. At this point, hopefully!, the rotis will puff up. With a spatchula press down the puffing rotis, but go gently. Flip again to ensure a bit more browing. Steam will escape the puffed rotis, this is normal. Remove from heat, add a bit of ghee (melted, clarified butter), and place in a bowl with a towel to keep warm. Repeat process.
*Ghee: I used a combination of olive oil, butter, salt, onion and garlic powder, all melted and 'bloomed' for flavors. I used a brush to slather onto the finished Rotis. Served with pinto bean style hummus. Yumm.*
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Mock Kluski Casserole (Ground Beef with Noodles):
- Ground Beef Patties (3 in total)
- 1/2 white onion, sliced fine
- 1/2 can green beans
- olive oil
- 1-2 Tb butter
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 box of Rotini Pasta (whole wheat is wonderful in this dish)
- optional: chicken seasoned boullion (I have the non MSG, powder form)
In a separate pot, bring water to boil and add a pinch of salt. Add the rotini pasta and cook according to instructions on the box. Optional: add a smidge of chicken boullion (or powder) to the cooking noodles to enfuse extra flavoring into the pasta. I used very little and it seemed to do the trick.
Back to the meat/onions: Season the cooking meat and onions with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Add the green beans. Cook until meat is browned nicely in the frying pan. Drain the fat from the pan and disgard (I use a paper towel to soak up all the grease).
Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the meat and onion mixture. Add a bit more onion power and garlic powder. Finish the dish with 1-2 TB of butter and serve.
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Bean Burgers:
- 1 can of (I used chili) beans, drained
- 1 small can of green chilies, drained and chopped
- cumin, garlic powder, onion powder to taste
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 C or more (panko) breadcrumbs
- Cornmeal for rolling bean burger patty in
- Olive oil for frying
- Bread and condiments as used with meat burgers
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Amish Pumpkin Custard Pie:
- 1 (9 inch) pie shell .... (I didn't have one so I just made the custard instead)
- 1 C pumpkin puree
- 3 eggs
- 1 Tb all purpose flour
- 1/4 C packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 C white sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 C milk
- Optional: 2 Tb pumpkin Spices (add this, it's yummy)
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Homemade Jello:
- 2 (1.8 oz) envelopes of unflavored Knox gelatin
- 1/2 C cold fruit juice
- 3 C hot fruit juice
- Optional: sugar or honey, as desired
In a small bowl combine gelatin and 1/2 C cold fruit juice. Allow it sit for 10 min to bloom the gelatin. Microwave 3 C of fruit juice until hot. Add the cold juice/gelatin mix to the hot juice and stir until completely disolved. Add sugar or honey if desired. Refrigerate for 30min or until firm set.
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Wild Salmon and Green Onions:
- Wild Salmon (bought at Walmart, frozen, for $7 for 1lb 10oz)
- Cajun seasoning
- olive oil
- salt
- lime juice (fresh is best, but bottled is fine)
- green onions (organic, yay! and at Walmart too)
Thaw out the frozen salmon in the fridge until workable. (Debating on this point on whether or not to remove the skin because there are scales on it making the texture a bit unappetizing, but the skin is really tasty underneath). Heat a pan on medium heat and add olive oil. Salt and Cajun season each side of fish and place "skin side" down into a pan that is already hot. Just when the sides are turning from pink to opaque, let it sit for another moment before gently flipping. A seared bottom makes for a nice crust, but in our apartment I fear of setting off fire alarms so no flambe or really good sears for us in this dish. We cook our salmon pretty thoroughly but it has firm feel when touched and amazingly not dry. At the end of cooking, spash/squeeze lime over salmon to taste.
Wash, clean, prepare onions: cut them in half to expedite cooking time. In a separate frying pan with olive oil, heat on medium, add onions with some salt. Cover and occasionally stir to prevent sticking. Cook until slightly carmelized. Serve next to cooked salmon.
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This mix makes about, oh, 3-4 servings of Italian Dressing. This is the dry mix. It is awesome when rubbed on meat before cooking as well. Flavors are yummy on chicken and pork.
- 1 TB garlic powder
- 1 TB onion powder
- 1 TB white sugar
- 2 TB dried oregano
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 TB dried parsley
- 1/4 tsp celery seeds
- 1 TB salt
- 1/4 white vinegar
- 2/3 C oil
- 2 TB of dry Italian Dressing Mix
- 2 TB water
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Rice and Pea Cold Salad:
- 2-3 C brown rice, uncooked
- generous amount of frozen peas
- Italian Salad Dressing (from the recipe above), to taste
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Chicken Walnut Cranberry Salad:
- 1 large can of white chicken, drained (leftovers from a rotisserie chicken is even better)
- generous amount of chopped walnuts
- generous amount of dried cranberries or cherries
- favorite plain mayo
- sugar to taste (I usually put 1 to 1 1/2 tsp, depending)
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Homemade Iced Tea:
I've been brewing homemade ice tea and it's been paying off. I got a great deal on generic store bought black tea (100 tea bags for $1.99) and Celestial Seasoning Sample teas.
Ratios are: 2 black tea bags, and 3 of the following choices:
- peach
- black cherry
- blueberry zinger
- orange tangerine
- raspberry
- Optional: 1 Green Tea teabag in lieu of one of the fruit tea bags
