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Thursday, October 7, 2010

Cream Peas on Toast

Now I know this sounds gross and very wierd, but it has been a family favorite of ours through my whole childhood and still remains a go to when I just don't feel like cooking or I didn't take any meat out of the freezer to thaw. It's not mushed peas on toast as some people think when I first suggest it and it might not be everyone's "cup of tea", but promise me you'll try it before you judge me insane.

4 cups frozen peas
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp Sweet chili sauce
1 Tbsp Mustard
2 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste

Cook peas but not until done. You still want them a little crunchy because they will continue to cook in the sauce. In a medium sized pot melt the butter. Add the flour and stir together. Add the mustard and sweet chili sauce. Pour in 1/4 cup of the milk and stir continuously until it is all incorporated. Then you can slowly add the rest of the milk stirring continuously. Once the sauce is smooth and thickened slightly add the peas. Pour about 1/2 cup of the pea mixture on a piece of toast. We always top with some ketchup, but don't feel you need to.

Ways to change it up and make it your own would be adding spice mixtures (most will work well), cheese (especially flavored cheeses), or topping with hot sauce or BBQ sauce. You can also play with the breads you use for toast. We generally use plain white toast, but you can use rye, whole grains, bagels, sourdough or pumpernickle.

I Need a Little Help

I don't know if it's because I've been so wrapped up in my cake business that I have come down with a case of recipe writers block. So I am looking to all of you for help. Please leave me a comment telling me some of the food you love to eat that you want recipes for. I need some inspiration. I am working on a few weekly meal plans but I would like to add a couple new recipes. I would really love to hear from you.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Hot Macaroni Salad

I made this dish for dinner tonight to go with prok chops. I made mine a bit spicy but you can alter the flavoring any way you like it. This can be a side dish or a meal in itself.

2 cup whole wheat macaroni noodles
2 cups peas
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 ranch dressing
1 Tbsp mustard
2 cups grated cheese
1 Tbsp garlic seasoning
1 Tbsp Cajun or Taco seasoning
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup cornmeal

Cook macaroni. Just before you are about to drain the macaroni pour in the peas. Don't actually cook the peas this is just so they don't go into the mixture frozen. Drain your peas and macaroni. In a casserole dish mix the mayo, ranch dressing, mustard, grated cheese, and seasonings. Add the macaroni and peas and stir to combine. Preheat oven to 350F. In a seperate bowl mix the bread crumbs and cornmeal then sprinkle over the macaroni salad. Bake for about 15 minutes or until bread crumbs are golden brown.

You can make everything but the bread crumb topping in advance and keep in fridge until ready to bake. By the time the breadcrumbs are crispy, golden brown the macaroni will be heated through.

To change the flavoring you can use any of the different flavor of ranch dressing or change up the seasoning blends. You can add any dip mix as a flavoring as well. I didn't give a specific cheese because you can use any cheese you like really. Cheddar, 1/2 cheddar 1/2 mozarella, jack cheese, Jalapeno cheese, etc. If you like it really cheesy feel free to add more cheese.

Asian Sausage & Peppers

This was last nights dinner. I had sausages out but no idea what to do with them until I went to the garden to get something to go with it and I saw that I had quite a few peppers to pick. I put mine over Uncle Ben's asian rice side dish, but you can cook up some brown rice and use that instead.

6 sausages (pretty much any flavor will work)
2-3 peppers chopped in large pieces ( any color of pepper works or use 1 of each)
1 tbsp cornstarch

Sauce Ingredients
2 tbsp frozen OJ
1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soya sauce
1/4 cup OJ
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp teriyaki seasoning or garlic seasoning

In a large skillet over med high heat add a tbsp of olive oil and sausages. Cook until almost done then remove and slice into chunks. While the sausage are cooking in a seperate bowl mix all the sauce ingredients. Turn the heat down to medium and add the sausages back to the pan. Now you can add the peppers. Let the peppers cook for a couple of minutes then add the sauce. Let the mixture cook for 5 minutes. In a small bowl mix cornstarch with 3 tbsp of water to make a slurry. Add slurry to pan and stir in. Let it cook for another minute or two until sauce thickens. Pour over rice and serve.

Like I said in the beginning I used a rice in a bag mixture. I read the ingredients and there was only one that is bad. Silicon Dioxide which is really sand and they use it as a filler. It's not the stuff off the beach but still. I do use these once in a while because I am not really good at cooking rice. Other than that they have no preservatives and all the other ingredients are not really bad. Just make sure you read the ingredients when you are buying as some brands use lots of extra stuff and others don't.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Apple Cranberry Chutney with Pork Tenderloin

I am actually smelling this recipe right now. It is what I am having for dinner tonight. It also uses one of my favorite kitchen tools the crockpot. Not only is dinner ready when you get home, you walk into a house that smells so good.

6 apples peeled, cored and chopped
1/2 med onion chopped
1 c celery chopped
3 Tbsp brown sugar
juice and zest of half a lemon
1/8 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp holiday seasoning blend
1/4 c cranberry sauce
1/4 c vinegar (regular or red wine)
1/4 c water or apple juice or orange juice

Combine everything in your crockpot and stir. Place a pork tenderloin big enough to feed your family (if it's really big you might have to double the chutney recipe) and turn on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Corn Muffins

Corn muffins can be a creamy, moist alternative to rolls at any dinner. I've tried a few times to make these but they have come out dry and heavy or crumbly. Then one day I was watching the food network and one of the chefs put creamed corn in there recipe. So I took the recipe I had and took a few things out and added the creamed corn and SURPRISE they turned out great. They do go bad fast so keep any extras in the fridge...well that`s if you have extras left over.

1c yellow cornmeal
1c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 egg
3/4c buttermilk*
1 small can creamed corn (250ml)
1 egg
1/4c melted butter

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients together and make a well in the center. Pour in all the wet ingredients and mix just until everything is combined. DO NOT OVER MIX. Spoon mixture into greased muffin pan or loaf pan and bake at 425F. Muffins will need to bake for about 12-15 mins and the loaf will need 25-30 mins.


*If you don't have or don't want to buy buttermilk you can substitute 1/2c milk and the juice of one lemon. Buttermilk is a great baking ingredient because it actually is not very fattening despite what it's name suggests. It adds a tangy richness to any baked good. If you are worried that you will not use up the whole carton before the best before date you can freeze the rest. I suggest freezing in 1/2 cup portions.

Cream Cheese Icing

My aunt just emailed me and asked me for a recipe to top her pineapple carrot cake. Well the best frosting for that is none other than cream cheese icing.

This is the basic recipe I use is blend 1 package cream cheese, 1/4 cup softened butter, 1kg icing sugar (add a little bit at a time or you will have a snow storm in your kitchen), 2 Tbsp milk, and 2 Tbsp vanilla until creamy.

Now of course there is ways to change things up. Instead of the vanilla you can add 3 Tbsp maple syrup (you can add more if the flavor isn't strong enough). For an adult version you can add Coconut rum instead of the milk. You can also replace the regular cream cheese with one of the many varieties of flavored cream cheese they have out there. Another good alternative is adding OJ instead of milk and vanilla and if you are using fresh squeezed add the zest of the orange as well.