Chocolate Cheesecake Squares

These are delicious and give a cheesecake taste in a small portion, if you can stop at one square!

Cookie Base:

Cream
1/2 cup shortening with
1/2 cup sugar (white, brown or a mixture)
Add
1 beaten egg and mix well

Measure
1 cup all purpose flour and add
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Add
1 cup of miniature dark chocolate chips
and press mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan.

Cheesecake topping:

Beat with an electric mixer
2-8 oz packages of cream cheese with
2 eggs and
1/2 cup sugar

Spread cheese mixture over cookie base and sprinkle top with
1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes. Cut into squares when cool.

Pickled Carrots

This Vietnamese inspired pickle is adapted from a recipe seen here at Tea's Blog, Tea and Cookies. I love the fresh rice rolls from Salad King which I featured in this post. I have used fresh carrots, but these pickled ones are better. I used daikon and carrots, but don't really care for the taste of daikon and will use carrots only in the future.

Method:

Thinly slice carrots (/daikon with a sharp knife or mandoline. Do not use a grater. Pack carrots in a 500 ml jar. I used two carrots for this quantity.

Mix 1/2 cup vinegar, rice or white
2 tbsp sugar or sweetener
1/2 tsp salt

Pour over the carrots. Add water to cover the vegetables.

Let it marinate for at least 24 hours before adding to salads or fresh rice rolls.

Cabbage and Onion Slaw

Mom made a cabbage and onion slaw that kept for a few days in the fridge and actually improved in taste as the cabbage marinated in the dressing. She got the recipe from Catherine Philp, a neighbour on Unicorn Avenue when I was about 10 years old. Even then I liked the coarsely chopped cabbage and onion. The Becka loves this too and adds it to her elaborate sandwiches instead of lettuce.

Thinly slice 1/2 a large cabbage. I like Savoy cabbage the best
Thinly slice 1/2 a large Spanish or Vidalia onion and mix with cabbage in a large bowl.

Dressing

1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup vinegar
1/4 cup sugar or sweetener (or to taste)
1-2 tsp salt

Heat dressing ingredients in microwave until hot. Pour dressing over the cabbage. Let sit for 12-24 hours before serving.

Variations

Grated carrot or green pepper can be added as well or other seasonings as desired.

This salad is delicious in wrapped in rice papers and served with peanut sauce making a Thai inspired "cabbage roll".

Mom's Goulash

Mom frequently made a one pan meal that she called goulash. Where I now live, goulash is a stew made with cubes of beef and seasoned with paprika. This dish is fast and easy to make and the leftovers are good too. Once again, this is a recipe that is highly adaptable and this is an approximate method.

1 lb ground beef, turkey or chicken or moistened TVP for a vegetarian option
1 diced onion

Brown meat with onion and drain off any fat. Season to taste with basil, oregano, hot pepper flakes, pepper, garlic as desired.

1 28 oz tin diced tomatoes
1-1/2 cups water or broth
1 cup rice (Basmati rice used here)

Add tomatoes, broth and rice, cover pan and simmer until rice is cooked. Add more liquid if necessary. Adjust seasonings.

I added a bunch of fresh spinach before serving and cooked it until wilted.

Serve with a salad and a baguette if desired.

Turkey Stuffing

Picture by The Becka

My family always made dry stuffing with stale bread cubes, chopped onion and poultry seasoning. My husband's family made a moist dressing in a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch way. Our children love this dressing, even the one who will not eat turkey. We cooked a small 10 pound turkey this Thanksgiving and this amount of dressing fit it perfectly. This recipe is one that you create and adjust as you go along. Here is an approximate method.

8 slices stale bread, cubed (I use whole wheat bread)
Poultry seasoning
1 diced onion
1 egg
1 cup broth
Milk
1 tbsp oil

Dice bread in small squares and sprinkle generously with poultry seasoning. Heat oil in a large frying pan or wok and add onion. Cook until softened. Add broth and bread and stir until all is moistened. Add a little milk if necessary. Beat one egg and add it to the mixture stirring it in quickly. Adjust seasonings adding salt, pepper and more poultry seasoning or sage if desired. Stuff bird with the dressing, season the outside of the bird with salt and place in oven. We roast the turkey at about 300F for several hours (approximately 30 minutes a pound) until it is starting to fall apart. Our turkeys are never carved at the table but are moist and delicious.

Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls

Daughter #1 introduced us to a small Thai restaurant on Yonge St in Toronto across from Ryerson College. Salad King is always crowded and the food is superb. You can order your food with a hotness (chili) rating of 1 to 20. We settle for a "5" and this is fairly spicy.

I have come to love fresh rolls. Various ingredients are wrapped in rice paper (available at our larger supermarkets) and the rolls are served with a vinegar sauce. They can be filled with combinations of rice vermicelli, shrimp, tofu, basil or mint leaves, sprouts and are not fried. The rolls at Salad King are filled with pickled carrot, mango and cucumber sticks.

Three or four of these make a very satisfying lunch for work. Mine do not look as perfect as the picture above of the ones we bought, but I am getting better at rolling them. I find grated carrot easier to manage than carrot sticks. Choose a firm, ripening mango and slice it in thin sticks. Slice the cucumber the same way.

Here are two YouTube links to demonstrate how to roll rice paper and how to make dipping sauce.

Aloo Gobi

This recipe is featured in the movie Bend it like Beckham, a favourite soccer movie of our daughters. They also like Indian food and this dish in particular. A few modifications are shown in italics.

Ingredients

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large onion, peeled and cut into small pieces (skip the onion for daughter #1)
Large bunch of fresh coriander, separated into stalks and leaves and roughly chopped (skip the coriander for daughter #3...I use it as an optional topping at serving time)
Small green chilies, chopped into small pieces (or one teaspoon chili powder)
1 large cauliflower, leaves removed and cut evenly into eighths (I cut it smaller than this)
3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into even pieces
1 large 28oz can of diced tomatoes with juice (I use a small tin of tomato paste instead and thin with a little soymilk during cooking)
Fresh ginger, peeled and grated
Fresh garlic, chopped
1 Teaspoon Cumin seeds
1 Teaspoon whole mustard seeds
2 Teaspoons Turmeric or curry powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Teaspoons Garam Masala (available in spice row at bulk stores and supermarkets)


Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan.

Add the chopped onion and one teaspoon of cumin seeds/mustard seeds to the oil.

Stir together and cook until onions become creamy, golden, and translucent.

Add chopped coriander stalks, two teaspoons of turmeric, and one teaspoon of salt.

Add chopped chilies (according to taste)

Stir tomatoes into onion mixture.

Add ginger and garlic; mix thoroughly.

Add potatoes and cauliflower to the sauce plus a few tablespoons of water or milk (ensuring that the mixture doesn't stick to the saucepan).

Ensure that the potatoes and cauliflower are coated with the curry sauce.

Cover and allow to simmer for twenty minutes (or until potatoes are cooked).

Add two teaspoons of Garam Masala and stir.

Add one tin of drained chickpeas.

Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves on top of the curry. Add yogurt, raisins and chopped almonds if desired when serving.

Turn off the heat, cover, and leave for as long as possible before serving.

Tastes even better the next day!

Crockpot Refried Beans

This is a very easy and low fat method of making refried beans. The beans can be eaten in many ways including taquitos, layered dip, or with tortillas and tacos. I like them for lunch as a dip for cut up raw vegetables. My family in Mexico use peruano beans for this recipe. They are exceptionally tender and delicious. I have never found them in Canada, but we buy several packages at Krogers if we cross the border into Michigan. Pinto beans can also be used.


I use my small 2 quart crockpot and add

1 lb washed and sorted beans. This fills the pot half way.
1/2 tin (2 oz) jalapeno peppers, nacho size
1 tsp of salt or to taste
1 chopped onion (optional)

Add water to the top of the pot and cook on high or low until beans are tender. Add more water if necessary It takes about 4 hours on high in my pot. The beans do not need to be soaked before cooking.

Mash the beans or pulse them in a blender or food processor. Freeze any beans you will not use in the next 2-3 days.

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich

I have been asked to make this recipe for a church luncheon this weekend. I have been supplied with a six pound pork roast and will cook it overnight. I am not a pork person, but will add this recipe for meat lovers everywhere.

Barbecued Pulled Pork Sandwich

Makes 8 servings

1 pork shoulder roast (about 2 1/2 pounds)

1 bottle (14 ounces) barbecue sauce (not smokey or too hot)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 medium onion, chopped

1: Place roast in CROCK-POT® slow cooker. Cover; cook on LOW 10 \12 hours or on HIGH 5 to 6 hours.

2 Remove roast from CROCK-POT® slow cooker; discard cooking liquid

Shred pork with 2 forks. Return pork to CROCK-POT® slow cooker. Add barbecue sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar and onion. Cover; cook on HIGH 1 hour or on LOW 2 hours.

3. Serve shredded pork on hamburger buns or hard rolls.

Tip : For 5-, 6-, or 7-quart CROCK-POT® slow cookers, double all ingredients except barbecue sauce. Increase barbecue sauce to 21 ounces.

From CROCK-POT® SLOW COOKER BEST-LOVED RECIPES

Apple plus Crisp

I was using up old apples and frozen fruit after I cleaned up the fridge and modified the recipe I posted for Rhubarb Crisp. This combination was a winner.

8 cups diced fruit
I used apples (I leave the skins on), 1/2 cup frozen blueberries and 1 cup frozen raspberries.
Cook fruit on high in the microwave for 3 minutes.

Topping

1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp soft butter

Mix ingredients together and sprinkle over the fruit.
Cook on high in microwave for 10-12 minutes until the fruit is tender.

Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins

Today I cleaned out the fridge and freezer and found a number of storage apples that are no longer good for eating. I cored them and cooked them with the skins on in the microwave and then pureed them in the Vitamix to make applesauce. I don't sweeten applesauce, especially when I cook the fruit without water. The applesauce contains the fiber and pectin found in the skin and the recipe is made with large flake oats and whole wheat flour. This recipe makes enough for 16-18 large muffins.

2 cups whole wheat flour
1-1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
6 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
2/3 cup milk
1-1/3 cups applesauce

Mix dry ingredients. Stir in wet ingredients and mix until just moistened.
Bake at 375 F for 15-20 minutes.

Dried fruit or nuts can be added to the batter if desired.

Magnolia Cupcakes

See this post on Body Soul and Spirit and read about these cupcakes. The picture above is of cupcakes we made using the recipe below.


Here's the recipe that put cupcakes back on the map. It's from the Magnolia Bakery in New York, a small bakery with such a huge demand for cupcakes that customers are limited to a dozen.

Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes

Makes about 2 dozen large cupcakes

1-1/2 cups (375 mL) self-rising flour*

1-1/4 cups (300 mL) all-purpose flour

1 cup (250 mL/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups (500 mL) sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup (250 mL) milk

1 teaspoon (5 mL) vanilla extract

*To make your own self-rising flour, use 2 teaspoons (10 mL) of baking powder and 1 teaspoon (5 mL) of salt for every two cups (500 mL) of flour.

(For 1-1/2 cups of flour use 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon salt)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180C). Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer set at medium speed, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about three minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until ingredients are incorporated, but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon batter into cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full (a large ice cream scoop does this job well). Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the centre of cupcake comes out clean.

Cool cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Vanilla Butter cream Icing

Note: This makes a LOT of icing. I used about a third of it to generously ice about 20 cupcakes, the number made from the recipe above.

Technically, this is not butter cream but an old-fashioned frosting made with confectioner's sugar and butter. Be sure to beat the icing for the time called for in the recipe to achieve the desired creamy texture.

1 cup (250 mL/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

6-8 cups (1.5 to 2 L) confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup (125 ml) milk

2 teaspoons (10 mL) vanilla extract (I left this out and just put vanilla in the cake)

Place butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups (1 L) of the sugar, then the milk and vanilla. Using an electric mixer set at medium speed, beat until smooth and creamy, about three to five minutes. Gradually add more sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about two minutes), until icing is thick enough to be a good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food colouring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature; it will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days.

Approximate nutritional content per cupcake: Calories 420. Protein 3 g. Fat 18 g. Carbohydrates 64 g. Dietary fibre 0 g. Sodium 125 mg.