Old-School Stuffed Peppers

I don't know why, but I've had a hankering for stuffed peppers lately.

What makes this odd, is that I HATE -- venhemently hate -- peppers. Most of my aggression is towards green peppers (which I think taste like toxic green clumps of dirt) but still.

Peppers are not my thing.

Nonetheless, I was hungry for them. So, I took out an ancient family recipe card, and made some changes, and came up with stuffed peppers.

They were deeeeeeeeelicious.

Old-School Stuffed Peppers

(Makes 8 medium-sized peppers full)

8 medium-sized peppers (I used all red, since my farmer's market had them)

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef or ground turkey (your pick)

1/2 cup minced onion

1 1/2 cups cooked rice (white or brown; your pick)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2-2 cloves of garlic, minced

2-15 oz. cans of tomato sauce

1 cup shredded cheese (your pick on type) -- optional

Directions

- Cut the tops of the peppers off, remove all the membranes and seeds. You can stuff these peppers whole, but I like to cut them in half and stuff each pepper half. Cut them however you'd prefer to do it.

- Cook the peppers in enough boiling water to cover them for 5 minutes, then drain

- Cook the ground meat and onion in a large skillet for 8-10 minutes over medium heat, until meat is browned and cooked through. Drain the meat and onion combination and return to the skillet

- Stir in the rice, salt, garlic and 1 can of the tomato sauce, cook until warmed through

- Heat oven to 350 degrees F

- Stuff pepper halves (or whole peppers if you go that route) and place in a casserole dish, stuffing-side up.

- If you have leftover filling, go ahead and spread that over the stuffed peppers

- Pour the remaining can of tomato sauce over the stuffed peppers
- Cover and bake for 45 minutes; uncover and bake another 15 minutes or until peppers are tender

- Sprinkle with cheese (optional); serve.

Pistachio Salad

Alright..it really doesn't photograph well. Especially at 9pm at night as leftovers.

This is definately an old-timey recipe, but it's a nice, light-feeling dessert on a hot night.

I love it, and I don't even LIKE actual pistachios!

Pistachio Salad

(No idea..family recipe?)

1-20 oz. can crushed pineapple

1-3.4 oz. box instant pistachio pudding

1- 8 or 9 oz. (I can't remember which it is?) Cool Whip

1 cup mini marshmallows

Directions

- Mix pistachio pudding mix with pineapple and juices in bowl

- Add marshmallows and cool whip; stir until completely blended; spoon into a container to store in fridge

- Refrigerate until set; about 3 hours; serve.

- Makes approx. a 9"x9" pan of salad

Strawberry Cream Dessert

Sometimes, DH sees recipes, and brings them home to me to try. Since it's difficult to get him to tell me what he'd like me to make more of sometimes, I usually make anything he brings home as a request.

This was one of his requests, taken from a local 'free' newspaper called The Merchandiser. All the while I was making it, it sort of reminded me of my strawberry pretzel salad...I guess it was the use of jello and fruit.

There's a lot of 'processed' foods in this, but oh well. I'm far from a purist.

Strawberry Cream Dessert

(Local newspaper)

*Note from the recipe: This cool and elegant dessert will serve a crowd. You could use the chocolate sandwich cookies (Oreos), for the crust if you'd like, but I think the golden variety is really nice.

30 Golden Vanilla Sandwich Cookies (Golden Oreos)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 (6 oz.) package Strawberry Jell-O

1 3/4 cups boiling water
1 (6 oz.) can pineapple-orange juice (DH and I had a conversation that they USED to sell these 6 oz. cans of juice similarly to how they sell mango and pineapple juice in the ethnic sections nowadays. I had no luck finding these little cans, so I just bought myself a 64-oz. Dole Orange-Pineapple juice in the OJ section, and had tons left over for drinking/smoothies)

1/2 cup cold water

2 cups mashed or pureed strawberries (about 3 cups if you're using whole berries)

1 (8 oz.) tub of Cool Whip, thawed

Directions

- Crush the sandwich cookies by placing in a heavy-duty plastic zip bag and pounding with a rolling pin (I would think a food process would do this much easier/faster/cleaner)

- Place crumbs in a 9"x13" glass baking dish and pour melted butter over it.

- Mix well with a fork, and press the buttered crumbs into the bottom of the pan. Set aside

- In a large bowl (seriously...use a HUGE BOWL), combine gelatin with the boiling water, and stir until the gelatin mixture completely dissolves.

- Add the pineapple-orange juice, and the cold water, and stir well. Add the strawberry puree and mix.

- Refrigerate until the mixture becomes a bit thicker (about 10-15 minutes)

- Using a wire whisk, stir the thawed Cool Whip into the mixture until smooth

- Chill in the refrigerator for another 10-20 minutes, or until the mixture thickens a bit more but is not set

- Pour over the crumb crust in the baking dish, cover, and chill for 4 hours or until set

- Dessert can also be frozen

- Serves 12-16

Fastnachts

Have you ever heard of them? Can you even say it?
Fastnachts (fost-knots) are a huuuuuuuuge deal where I'm living now. York and Lancaster areas of Pennsylvania (south-central in the state) have a large population of "Pennsylvania Dutch" and those folks love these little doughnuts, called fastnachts.

The fastnacht is basically a fatty doughnut (read: carbohydrates from heaven) that is served on "Fastnacht Day" -- the Tuesday before Lent begins (also known as Fat Tuesday for our N'Orleans folks!). Wikipedia tells me they were originally created to use up all the lard, sugar, fat and butter before beginning Lent.

Seems like a pretty good deal to me!

There are only two places that really embrace the fastnacht -- Lancaster/York areas of Pennsylvania, and a town in Switzerland called Basel. Basel actually has a festival for the little buggers!

There are also different types of fastnachts - the german fastnacht is basically a yeast doughnut that can be filled with cream or jam, and then sprinkled with powdered sugar....but the Pennsylvania Dutch version is the best: a potato-dough, fried and dusted with powdered sugar.

Anyway -- now that you've been educated, I'm passing along a delicious recipe and some pictures. I didn't make these little wonders -- the mother of one of DH's high school friends makes THOUSANDS of these little lovlies every year on Fastnacht day, and she's always happy to share them with everyone!

Recipes vary greatly -- some fry in oil, some in lard, for example -- but here is an example that is very "Pennsylvania Dutch"

Fastnachts

(Bella Online)

2 cups milk
1 cup mashed potatoes (no salt, milk, or butter added)
1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 stick margarine
1 packet rapid rise yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
6-1/2 cups flour (divided, 2 cups + 4 1/2 cups)
1 egg
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 can (3 pounds) Crisco® or similar vegetable shortening for frying

- Scald the milk

- In a large mixing bowl, combine the scalded milk with the mashed potatoes

- Add 1/2 cup sugar plus the margarine and mix with an electric mixer (If the mixture is still warm, cool to about room temperature before proceeding with next step)

- Dissolve the yeast and 1/2 teaspoon sugar in barely warm water

- Add to the potato mixture and mix well. Add 2 cups flour and mix again. Cover with a towel and let rise for 25 minutes
- Add the salt and beaten egg to the mixture

- Add 4-1/2 cups flour, stirring it into the mixture with a large spoon

- Turn onto a well floured board and knead for about 3 to 5 minutes

- Add a small amount of extra flour if necessary so the dough can be handled without sticking to your fingers

- Grease a large bowl and place the dough in the greased bowl, cover with a thin towel, and let rise in a warm, draft free place for about 2 hours or until it is at least double in size
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough 3/4" thick. You can use a doughnut cutter to cut the dough or cut as typical Fastnachts - Cut the dough into 3" to 4" wide strips, then cut the strips into 3" to 4" pieces

- To allow the center of Fastnacht to fry completely, cut a small slit in the center of each piece, using a sharp paring knife

- Arrange the pieces of dough, about 1-1/2" to 2" apart, on large wax paper lined trays

- Cover each tray with a thin towel. Place the trays in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the dough pieces have raised to about double in size
- Heat the shortening to 365º. Deep fry until both sides are golden brown, turning one time.

- Drain on white paper towels. Cool completely before serving

- Store in a covered, airtight container. Makes about 20 to 24 Fastnachts, depending on size

- This recipe can be doubled with no change in preparation directions

- When cool, place in a ziplock bag with powdered sugar and shake to coat

"Pennsylvania Dutch" Chicken Pot Pie

A few weeks ago there was a discussion on the What's Cooking board on TheNest about pot pie in soup form.

Most had never heard of it, and those that had were centered around a very small area of Central Pennsylvania -- also known as where I currently live.

I'm not from this area, so I think this "pot pie" with no crust is a bit odd, but my husband loves it. Prefers it to my "crazy" pot pie that actually looks like a pie!

So I decided to try my hand at it. I'd never made it, and it turned out really well. The ONLY thing that would've made it more delicious is if I'd have had a whole day off to slow roast a chicken to use in it. Mmmm..slow roasted chicken.

Oh! And before we get to the recipe...a note about the noodles involved.

Part of what differentiates this type of pot pie from any chicken noodle soup recipe are the noodles. They're a thick egg noodle, cut into squares.

I made these, but I did see that in the grocery store here, San Giorgio sells Pot Pie Noodles -- they're hidden on the top shelf near the egg noodle section. Check your store and see if they have them -- I'm curious if they sell them anywhere but here!

Onto the recipe -- and pardon the bad pictures. It's getting dark earlier, and I'm also in the process of prepping a house for move-in, so dinner has been very late!

Pot Pie Squares (The Noodles)

3 cups flour

1 large egg

1 tablespoon vegetable shortening (like Crisco)

1/2 to 3/4 cup water

Directions

- Mix the flour, egg, and shortening together

- Knead the dough mixture, while alternately adding small amounts of water until the dough holds together well

- Divide the dough into two or three pieces

- Roll each piece out to about 1/8" thick on a floured surface

- Cut the rolled out dough into squares - about 2" to 2 1/2" wide

- Allow the freshly made pot pie noodles to dry for about 30 minutes or more before cooking

The Soup

*3-4 cups of shredded chicken, turkey, beef, or even ham leftovers can be used instead of a whole stewing chicken for this. When using leftovers, use broth instead of the 2 quarts of water. With leftover chicken or turkey, use 4 cans of chicken broth.

1-3 lb stewing chicken

2 quarts water

5 medium potatoes - peeled and cut into bite sized chunks

2 cups chopped celery

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup finely diced carrots

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

Directions

- Cook the chicken in water until tender

- Remove the chicken from the broth and separate the meat from the bones and skin

- Cut or shred the cooked chicken into bite size pieces

- Meanwhile, add the vegetables and seasonings to the simmering broth

- Cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, then add the pot pie squares to the broth mixture, a few at a time, stirring frequently so they don't stick together

- After all have been added, cook gently for about 6 to 8 minutes or until the noodles are tender

- Add the cut up chicken and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for 10 to 15 minutes longer

- Cover, and let stand for a few minutes before serving.

**The article this recipe was taken from suggests serving it on dinner plates, or in shallow bowls. Sides are recommended as a salad such as coleslaw, pepper cabbage, or lettuce with bacon dressing --- if you REALLY want to do it "Pennsylvania Dutch" Style!

Roast Beef Blintzes

This is another recipe my DH has requested, and that his grandmother used to make. I really love these -- they're just delicious!

The roast beef and onion combo inside the delicate crepe is probably the "lightest" feeling beef dish I've ever eaten.

And, of course, sour cream never hurt anyone!

Roast Beef Blintzes

(My recipe)

Crepes:

2 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

- Place eggs in a small bowl and whisk well

- Add salt and milk

- Add flour gradually, stirring to make a smooth batter (You should do this by hand...the batter is thin enough that the KitchenAid isn't needed)

- Heat a non-stick skillet until it is hot (Work over medium-high/high heat)

- Using a quarter cup measure, pour 2-3 tablespoons of the batter into a skillet and work quickly: Tilt the skillet so that the batter covers the bottom. When the bottom of the crepe is golden, flip over and cook the other side.

- Recipe makes 9-10 thin crepes.

Notes

I can't cook crepes to save my life. Not even 8 years of french, being forced to try and make them EVERY YEAR in class, gave me the skill. I also can't cook pancakes. I have no idea why.

So my DH is responsible for all of the crepe-and-pancake-making that occurs in our household. *Tips hat to DH* Thanks!

Roast Beef Filling

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 1lb beef roast

2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)

1 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)

1 cup beef broth

Directions

- Lightly salt and pepper each side of the roast

- Add it to a hot skillet and sear both sides (about 3 minutes each)

- Meanwhile, add diced onion and 1 cup beef broth to your crockpot

- Add the seared roast to the crockpot and cook on high 4-6 hours, or low 8-10 hours

- Remove the roast and shred the meat, using two forks

- Add the meat back to the crock pot, mixing together the shredded beef and onion

- (You may want to drain out some of the juice -- you don't need a really wet beef to make these)

Assembly

- Lay out a crepe and add 1-2 tablespoons beef/onion mixture to the middle of the crepe.

- Fold the crepe around the meat -- you can fold it like a burrito, or, you can fold in each of the sides, then fold in the top and bottom, making a square

- Sit them seam-side down

-Heat a skillet with 1 tablespoon butter

- Add all of the filled crepes, seam side down, and brown the bottom, searing them shut. Then flip them over and brown the top.

Serve warm, with a dollop of sour cream!

Family-Recipe Banana Bread

Mmmm...I've made many an internet-recipe-banana-bread --- but nothing tops the family recipe!

I made this banana bread into muffins (So DH could easily share with co-workers), but it makes a darn good bread loaf as well. I've included baking instructions for both.

Banana Bread

(Family Recipe)

1/4 cup soft shortening (I used butter)

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2/3 cup mashed bananas (I used about 3 bananas)

3 tablespoons sour milk/buttermilk (I used regular milk today and it was fine)

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (optional)

Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

- Mix together shortening and sugar

- Add egg, mashed bananas, and buttermilk

- Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt

- For 1 loaf of banana bread: generously grease a bread pan (grandma's directions say to then line the loaf pan with two-thickness of wax paper, and grease the wax paper.) Add batter. Bake 1 hour (start checking it at about 50 minutes)

- For 12 muffins: line muffin tin with paper liners, or, grease generously. Load tins with batter and bake for 25-30 minutes.

I sprinkled mine with a little bit of large-granule sugar to make them pretty

Mom's Baked Beans (Two Ways)

Baked beans can sometimes be like macaroni and cheese -- everyone's got a different recipe, and everyone likes theirs best!

This is the baked bean recipe I grew up on -- my mom, and my grandma, both made these beans and I adore them. I tend to turn my nose up at other varieties -- these are the best! (IMO)

We usually served these beans as one of our many sides at 4th of July picnics, Memorial Day get-togethers, and every other excuse we could find to bring family members together to eat during the summer. Since I now live far away from my family, I made these this week to reminisce -- it just wasn't the same without the countryside and family around!

These beans are described as "two ways" because you can cook them two different ways, depending on your preference, time, etc.

Both are explained below.

Mom's Baked Beans

(Serves approximately 4-6 people -- depending on how hungry you are!!)

2 (16-oz) cans of baked beans (We always used Campbells Pork & Beans for this -- it's a nice starter and saves a lot of time. I don't believe they come in 16 oz. cans anymore -- just make sure you're close to 32 oz.)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp dry mustard (or 1 tsp. regular or brown mustard)

1/2 cup ketchup

4-8 (depending on how much you like) slices of bacon, cut into small pieces (I reccommend frying off the bacon in advance -- gives nice flavor when it's pre-cooked!)

1/2 cup chopped onion

Directions

- Mix all ingredients together, then choose your cooking preference:

Way #1

- Mix all ingredients together in a large pan, heat over medium-low heat for 45 minutes, or until onions are tender

Way #2

- Bake for 1 hour, uncovered, at 350 degrees. Stir the mixture 1/2 hour into baking.

Laugen Brotchen (Bretzel Rolls)

DH told me the other day about an amazing bread he had while he was in Germany ( many, many moons ago). Granted, all bread in Germany is amazing -- but he knew a specific bread. He told me it tasted like a pretzel, but was the consistency of a bread roll.

We live in "Pennsylvania Dutch" territory, so my automatic response was "Oh, a pretzel roll." But no -- DH said this was fluffier, thicker than the standard pretzel roll seen in Central Pennsylvania for sandwiches and such. (And he's right -- this definately has a lot more "bread-like" quality to it than the standard pretzel roll)

A few minutes on the internet with my (incredibly broken/picked-up-from-DH) German, I discovered several recipes for Laugen Brotchen -- or Bretzel Rolls.

I chose this recipe arbitrarily -- they were all pretty similar. These rolls are DELICIOUS. If you're more creative than I, you can form them into little pretzel shapes before baking. I just scored the top of mine with an "X" and popped them in the oven. DH tells me the best way to eat these is warm, with lots of REAL butter....but I also think it would be amazing with some ham and cheese tucked in there and warmed. Or any meat and cheese, quite frankly! MMM!

Laugen Brotchen/ Bretzel Rolls/ Pretzel Rolls

(Original Found at Recipezaar)

Makes 12 rolls

1 1/3 cups warm water

2 tablespoons warm milk

2 1/2 teaspoons (approximately 1 small package) active dry yeast

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter, melted

4 cups all-purpose flour

kosher salt or pretzel salt

2 quarts (~ 8 cups) cold water

1/2 cup baking soda

Directions

- In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix 1/3 cup of the warm (105-115 degrees) water with the yeast and let stand until foamy (about 2-3 minutes for me)

- Add the remaining cup of warm water, the warm milk, melted butter, and brown sugar and mix to dissolve the sugar

- Attach your dough hook to your stand mixer, and slowly add the 4 cups of flour until combined. Continue using your dough hook to mix the dough until it forms a nice, firm dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl

- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 2 minutes. Roll into a 2-foot long log and cut into 12 even pieces

- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and a damp cloth and let sit for 10 minutes (this step didn't say if i should wrap each piece individually, or lay the plastic over all of them, or what. i laid the plastic over all of them, then the damp towel, and it worked fine)

- Pat dough into rolls, or form pretzel knows and arrange on a lightly floured surface, about an inch apart, and cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap. Let the dough rest for an additional 30 minutes (again -- i just laid some oiled plastic wrap over the lot of them, and let them do their thing. they were fine)

- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly oil 2 baking sheets

- In a large stockpot, bring the cold water to a rolling boil and add the baking soda

- Drop the rolls -- one or two at a time -- into the boiling water and boil for no more than 30 seconds, turning them over once. Carefully remove with tongs, spatula, or slotted spoon and hold above the pot to let drain

- Deposit boiled rolls into the greased baking sheet (6 per sheet) and sprinkle lightly with pretzel or kosher salt. Repeat with the remaining rolls

- Bake the rolls on the upper and middle racks of the oven for 8-10 minutes until brown all over -- if necessary, shift pans from top to bottom and back to front halfway through, for even baking (I baked mine 1 baking sheet at a time to ensure consistency of color and cooking. I also turned the pan around halfway through. Mine also baked for 9 minutes)

- Let the rolls cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack

- Serve warm, or at room temperature

Notes

- I think these would make amazing sandwiches. I think I'd just split the top, tuck my sandwich ingredients in it like a pocket, and warm them in the oven -- mmm!!!

- The hubby says these aren't quite what he had in mind -- he remembers them being denser, darker, and crustier. Having done a little more reading since I made them, I think this comes from the tendency of German bakers to use rye and wheat flours, rather than enriched, bleached flours. Perhaps next time I will experiment with a more whole grain flour and see where it takes me.

Edit: I've entered this recipe in Joelen's Culinary Adventures blog event -- Oktoberfest!

Homemade Hot Dog Chili Sauce

This recipe was one of my grandmother's -- and for some reason, old-fashioned hot dogs in casing, with chili sauce, just sounded FANTASTIC this week!

Sometimes you just need a little comfort food, ya know? I'm an adult -- if I want to eat like a 3 year old for dinner -- so be it!

The original recipe (below) makes 1 gallon. Seeing as I live in a 1-bedroom apartment, with a kitchen tinier than my work cubicle -- making 1 gallon of this stuff and freezing it was NOT a good idea.

I split the recipe in half -- realized it was STILL way too much -- and split it again. And I think that's where the issue arose. The spices just don't split evenly, I think. A pretty common occurance, though, and I'm relatively unpreterbed about it.

My chili sauce had a VERY strong clove flavor. I hate clove. This was bad. But I think with less clove, and more chili powder (maybe a sprinkle of cumin, to replace the nasty clove) it would be DEEELICIOUS. So those are my recc's -- run with it :-)

Below is the original (1 gallon), and then my divided-up recipe.

Hot Dog Chili Sauce
Ma's Recipe!

(Makes 1 gallons)

Sauce freezes easily for use later. Reccommend freezing in single-serving containers

2 lbs. ground beef, cooked, broken up into fine pieces (I use a potato masher and it works wonderfully), and drained of excess fat
1 1/2 cups finely diced onion
1/8 cup salt
1 1/4 oz. chili powder
1/2 -3/4 tbsp ground clove (Use 3/4 if you like clove, 1/2 or less if you don't)
1 tbsp black pepper
1 1/2 oz. paprika
1 tbsp sugar
1-14 oz. ketchup
6 cups of water
1 cup all-purpose flour + 1 cup water (Mix until flour and water are combined into a paste)

Directions
- Simmer all ingredients above together for 2 hours
- Stir frequently
- Makes about 1 gallon

Smaller Version of Above Recipe
1/2 lb. ground beef, cooked, broken up into fine pieces (I use a potato masher and it works wonderfully), and drained of excess fat
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. chili powder
1/3 tsp. ground clove (Use 3/4 if you like clove, 1/2 or less if you don't)
1/8 tsp. black pepper
2 1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tbsp. sugar
3/4 cup ketchup
1 1/2 cups of water
1/4 cup all-purpose flour + 1/4 cup water (Mix until flour and water are combined into a paste)

Directions
- Simmer all ingredients above together for 20 minutes
- Stir frequently
- Makes about 4 cups

Reccommendations
- I would leave the clove out entirely, as I hated the flavor of it
- I would increase the chili powder slightly, and replace the clove with cumin, to give it a smokier, chili-er flavor

What Happened to Jello??

Warning: Jello does NOT photograph well.

Growing up, I remember my grandmother always had several varieties of jello and canned fruit in her pantry (along with a little Dream Whip to make things fancy!) -- so my question is:

What happened to jello??

Jello and fruit used to be a common, light dessert for my family, and my grandma was happy to "whip up a batch" when she knew we were coming over. She had several varieties (admittedly, my favorite was orange jello, mandarin oranges, and dream whip), and it was always a nice, cool treat in the summer.

In honor of the weatherman, who told me our "hot and humid" weather for the summer will be setting in this week, I've brought jello back. This actually isn't one of grandma's jello's, but it's still delicious.

(And perhaps Grandma's recipes -- for jello and otherwise -- will be making an appearance in the coming weeks. I'm feeling nostalgic!)

Strawberry-Cranberry Jello Salad

2 cups boiling water

1 large box cherry jello (Feel free to use sugar free if it floats your boat)

1 can whole or jellied cranberry sauce (I think mine was 14 oz. maybe smaller. whatever standard cranberry sauce is!)

1 20-oz can crushed pineapple (drained)

1 box frozen strawberries (thawed -- do not drain)

Directions

-Dissolve jello in the boiling water, and add cranberry sauce.

- Smash until the cranberry sauce is dissolved into the jello mixture.

- Add strawberries and drained pineapple.

- Stir and refrigerate until solid.

P.S. - If you were really old school -- this jello would make jello molds really well, I think! It's a good, solid jello!