Author Archives: Michelle

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Amaretto Peach Cheesecake
 
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Ingredients
Crust
  • 3 tablespoons margarine
  • ⅓ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ¾ cup flour
Filling
  • 24 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 (16 ounce) can peach halves, drained and puréed
  • ¼ cup almond flavored liqueur
Instructions
  1. Combine margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.
  2. Blend in egg.
  3. Add flour; mix well.
  4. Spread dough onto bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan.
  5. Bake at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes.
  6. Combine cream cheese, sugar and flour, mixing at medium speed of electric
  7. mixer until well blended.
  8. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
  9. Add peaches and liqueur; mix well, Pour over crust, Bake at 450 degrees F for 10
  10. minutes.
  11. Reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees F. Continue baking for 65 minutes.
  12. Loosen cake from rim of pan; cool before removing rim of pan.
  13. Chill.
  14. Garnish with peach slices and sliced almonds, toasted, if desired.

 

Treebeard’s Red Beans

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TREEBEARDS' RED BEANS
 
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If one dish is synonymous with Treebeards, it's our red beans and rice. The secret to making a great pot of red beans is to avoid stirring them as much as possible. The beans will get very soft as they cook, and stirring them will eventually turn them into mush. If you like your beans thicker remove the cover during the last 30 minutes of cooking or, when the beans have cooked, remove ½ cup of beans, mash, return to the pot and gently heat
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 pound dried light red kidney beans
  • 2 quarts water
  • 2 medium onions, chopped
  • 2 stalks celery with leaves, chopped
  • ½ large bell pepper, chopped
  • 21/2 teaspoons 'salt
  • 11/2 teaspoons thyme
  • 11/2 rounded teaspoons oregano
  • 11/4 teaspoons garlic powder
  • ¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 pound smoked sausage, cut into ½-inch slices
  • shredded Cheddar cheese, optional
  • chopped green onions (including tops), optional
Instructions
  1. Wash and drain red beans. In 4 quart saucepan add 2 quarts of cold water
  2. and red beans. Soak overnight. Or, in 4 quart saucepan, add 2 quarts of
  3. cold water and red beans; bring to boil. Cover, heat and simmer
  4. for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 1 hour before continuing.
  5. Do not drain water.
  6. Add onions, celery and bell pepper to red beans and bring to boil. Cover,
  7. reduce heat and simmer about 11/2 hours until red beans are soft and begin
  8. to thicken. Do not stir red beans more than necessary or they will get
  9. mushy.
  10. Stir in seasonings and sausage. Simmer 30 minutes more or until red beans
  11. are tender.
  12. Serve over hot rice and top with shredded cheddar cheese and chopped
  13. green onions, if desired.
  14. Serves 6.

 

TREEBEARDS’ SHRIMP

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TREEBEARDS' SHRIMP
 
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Ingredients
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 6 tablespoons chopped green onions (including tops)
  • 1 teaspoon fish sauce*
  • *available in the Asian section of your grocers
Instructions
  1. Combine spices and sprinkle over cleaned shrimp and toss to coat. Set
  2. aside.
  3. In large skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil. When hot, add chopped
  4. green onions and fish sauce. Add seasoned shrimp and cook, tossing
  5. constantly, until shrimp are pink and opaque and cooked through, being
  6. careful not to overcook

Artichoke Dip (easy)

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Artichoke Dip (easy)
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Appetizer
Ingredients
  • 2 cups Mayo
  • 2 cups Parmesan or Asiago cheese, shredded
  • 2 c ups Canned artichoke hearts (water, not oil)
Instructions
  1. Use the food processor to chop/puree the artichoke.
  2. Mix in blender or mixer
  3. Bake at 350ish until browned on top

 

Linda’s Applesauce

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The recipe as originally given to me:

 8-10 lbs of apples.  Linda uses Macs. we prefer N.Y. State Cortlands

1lb.  brown sugar
2 tbs cinnamon (approx)

peel, etc then run through food processor until coarsely chopped. Melt a little butter in large sauce pan, add apples cinnamon and brown sugar.  Cook over medium heat at least 20-30 minutes.

 

 

What I’m doing today:

Put a half dozen cinnamon sticks at the bottom of a crockpot

Add a mix of apples peeled, cored, quartered;  ~8lbs after quartering and sampling

Slice up one stick of butter and scatter throughout

Mix 8 oz of dk brown sugar w/2 heaping tablespoons of cinnamon – I used one each Ceylon (sweet, recommended for apple dishes) and Vietnamese (a very strong sharp taste, reminiscent of the cinnamon oil we used to use on toothpicks) and mix it.

Cook for hours

Note:  The apples didn’t all fit, so cooked down some, and then added the rest.  Sprinkled some more cinnamon on top as a result, and stirred now and then.  Also sprinkled on a spice blend with allspice, clove, ginger, nutmeg

Since cortlands and macs weren’t available, the apples were a mix of sweet and tart – could have cut the sugar back a bit more, also I think a half stick of butter would have sufficed.    This didn’t quite fill 4 mason jars; last time we filled all 4, w/a bit extra, and I think we’d bought a 10 lb bag

 

Breakfast Casserole

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This is just the base recipe. Feel free to tweak it based on what you have available.

Breakfast Casserole
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast
Ingredients
  • 1 loaf of french bread
  • 1 package of breakfast sausage
  • 1 dozen eggs
  • a mix of cheeses - I prefer feta and goat
  • milk and cream or half and half
  • paprika, salt and pepper
  • spinach, fresh or frozen
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350
  2. Brown the sausage, drain on paper towels
  3. Tear the break into chunks and layer in the bottom of a (large) greased baking pan
  4. Wilt the spinach if fresh, thaw if frozen; drain and add over the bread
  5. Add the sausage and cheese.
  6. In a pan stir together about 1 cup each of milk and cream, or 2 cups half and half with paprika, salt and pepper (salt is optional, cheese can add a a lot already. Paprika is important). Beat in the eggs.
  7. Add the mix to the pan.
  8. Bake for about an hour, cut into squares and serve for brunch, accompany with fruit.

 

Aunt Joan’s Granola

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This last time I added 1 cup each of hemp seed and chia seed.   I started out by toasting in coconut oil the flax, hemp, chia, sesame and wheat germ all stirred in together.  This had a fabulous nutty taste once toasted.  I sent whole nuts through the food processor for bits instead of whole – next time a nut grinder might be better for more even chunks, but still good.  I used coconut oil instead of canola oil in the syrup and I think it was much better.

Aunt Joan's Granola
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • Oatmeal Mix:
  • 4 C Oatmeal (reg, not 1 min)
  • 1 C Wheat Germ
  • 1 C Ground Flax seed
  • 1 C Pumpkin Seeds (raw, unsalted)
  • 1 C Sunflower seeds (raw, unsalted)
  • 1 C Nuts (sliced almonds, walnuts, pecans, etc)
  • 1 C Sesame Seeds
  • 1 C Coconut (regular)
  • Syrup:
  • Separately, mix and cook until bubbling:
  • ½ Cup Honey (raw, local)
  • ½ C vegetable oil (not olive; use canola)
  • 2 heaping Tbls Cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Combine the Oatmeal Mix ingredients in a large bowl.
  2. Add Syrup to the oatmeal mixture, stirring thoroughly until all is well coated.
  3. Spread mixture on 2 cookie sheets
  4. Bake at 250 for ~20 minutes
  5. Stir to avoid sticking
  6. Bake an additional 20 min
  7. Remove from oven and add 1 cup of dried fruit
  8. Stir and allow to cool
  9. Store in freezer bags

 

Notes: Craisens are good, dried cherries were too sweet/chewy; dried apples were good – and even better if added for the last 20 minutes of cook time so they toasted.

Chicken in Sherry Cream Sauce

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Chicken in Sherry Cream Sauce
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Main
Serves: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
  • Artichokes – 2 8oz cans (in water, not oil!), drained
  • Mushrooms – 1lb; sliced, washed
  • Chicken – 5 breasts, cut in half
  • 1.5 cups chicken broth
  • ½ cup cream
  • ½ cup milk
  • ¼ cup sherry
  • 3 TB butter
  • 4 TB flour
  • Bread crumbs
  • Parmesan Cheese, grated or shredded
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Butter or oil a casserole dish (8×12) – I use olive oil.
  3. Layer the mushrooms and artichokes in the bottom of the dish.
  4. Precook the chicken in sherry – I basically  sautée it in sherry until it looks cooked on the outside and I tend to trim it well, and cut into tenders.
  5. Layer the chicken in the pan on top of the artichokes and mushrooms.
  6. Add to the sherry:  broth, cream, milk, salt & pepper to taste, and butter, and bring to boil.   I added a little more sherry at this point because I used it to rinse the rest of the cream and milk from the measuring cup.    Feel free to vary proportions to taste.
  7. Whisk in the flour a tablespoon at a time to thicken the sauce, but you want sauce, not gravy, so not too much!
  8. Pour liquid over the chicken and artichokes.
  9. Add a layer of breadcrumbs (I use unseasoned panko ones)
  10. Add a layer of parmesan cheese.
  11. Bake the whole thing at 350 for 30 minutes
  12. Serve over rice.

Chorizo Jambalaya

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I typically serve in a bowl, and have yogurt or labneh available to add as it is quite hot.  The recipe is flexible, add or remove veggies and meat as desired. What makes it ‘this’ jambalaya recipe is the chorizo, wine, and lots of garlic.

Chorizo Jambalaya
 
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Serves: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 package of chorizo sausage, removed from casings {Mexican not Portuguese}
  • Half a dozen cloves of garlic, chopped
  • ~1-2 tsp of sweet smoked paprika (or 1tsp each of sweet and smoked if that’s what you have)
  • Chicken breast or tenders
  • Shrimp
  • 2 cups Rice
  • 4 cups Chicken broth
  • 1 cup white wine
Instructions
  1. Brown the chorizo in a dutch oven.  Remove meat from pan; leaving grease.
  2. Sautee garlic in the grease.  Remove w/sausage to prevent scorching.
  3. Lightly cook chicken in the grease.
  4. Deglaze the pan with white wine and add back the chorizo and garlic
  5. Optionally add a handful of cherry tomatoes or a chopped tomato, or a can of crushed tomatoes.
  6. Optionally add any stray meat leftovers that you want to use up (not heavily sauced ones though).
  7. Add rice, chicken broth, and paprika.  If you have fresh parsley add some of that too.
  8. Cover and bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer – cook as you would your rice, so ~25 minutes for white, ~45 minutes for brown.
  9. Turn off heat, add shrimp, replace cover and let sit ~10 minutes or so to heat the shrimp through and continue absorbing water.  Note that it will still be wet when done!

 

Java Roast

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Java Roast
 
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Originally from A Year of Slow Cooking, I've revised it a little
Recipe type: Main
Ingredients
  • --~3 lb beef  roast, trimmed of fat
  • --3/4 cup brewed coffee
  • --8 oz sliced mushrooms
  • -- 4-5 chopped garlic cloves
  • --1/2 tsp salt
  • --1/4 black pepper
  • --1 T Worcestershire sauce
  • --3 T red wine vinegar
  • -- a cup of sour cream
  • --~1 cup Marsala wine
Instructions
  1. Trim the fat, and use some of the fat to sautee the garlic and mushrooms, then add to crockpot
  2. Brown the roast in the remaining drippings (add olive oil if needed).
  3. Remove and add to crockpot along with salt/pepper
  4. Use a mix of the coffee, Worcestershire,and red wine vinegar to deglaze the pan.
  5. Add liquid and scrapings to the crockpot.
  6. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or on high for 4-5.
  7. Carefully remove the meat/mushrooms from the pot, and stir in the sour cream.
  8. Move to pan and reduce on stove, stirring frequently.
  9. Add a cup or so of Marsala at this point.
  10. Pour sauce over the meat and serve with rice.