Pepe Salad

This fruit and pasta salad is one of my favorite side dishes from my childhood. It is always a crowd pleaser and is simple and easy to make. If you need a dish for a potluck or a side for a family dinner, try Pepe Salad.

Pepe is pronounced with two short E's like the e in "egg." When you go to buy it, it can be found in the grocery store's pasta section. Look for Acine de Pepe no. 44. It comes in a one pound box. The original recipe called for 1/2 lb of Pepe but I usually double the recipe and use the full box. The recipe below has been doubled and makes a enough to feed a crowd. If you are cooking for a small family, you might want to halve the recipe.

Cook and drain 1 lb of Acine de Pepe Macaroni. Wash in cold water and set aside.

Sauce
2/3 cup sugar
6 Tbsp flour
4 beaten eggs
Fruit juice from 6 cans of canned fruit (see below)

Drain and save juices of, set fruit aside
2 cans chunk or tidbit pineapple
2 cans of mandarin oranges
2 cans of fruit cocktail (I don't like the fruit cocktail so I usually add 1 extra can of mandarin oranges and 1 extra can of pineapple)

In a medium sized saucepan, mix the sugar and flour first with a whisk. This helps prevent clumps. Then add fruit juices and beaten eggs. Mix well and cook until thick over medium heat. Cool slightly and then poor over cooked macaroni in a large bowl with a lid. Add drained fruit. Mix and chill overnight.

Add 1 extra large container of cool whip (I think it's the 32 oz size). Mix thoroughly. Serve.


Regular Recipe (not doubled)

1/2 lb box of Acine de Pepe

Sauce:
1/3 cup sugar
3 Tbsp flour
2 beaten eggs
Fruit juice from canned fruit

Drain and save juices of, set fruit aside
1 can chunk or tidbit pineapple
1 can of mandarin oranges
1 can of fruit cocktail (I don't like the fruit cocktail so I use 1 can of mandarin oranges)

Add 1 small container of cool whip. Mix thoroughly. Serve.

Instant Pot Hummus

I love hummus! I go through phases where I will eat it like I can't get enough of it and then I stop and don't eat it for months. However, I decided I should learn how to make my own and I found the perfect recipe IF you have the right kitchen tools. I found the original recipe online at Littlespicejar.com. You can reference it here if you would like.

Ingredients

Garbanzo Beans
8 oz dried garbanzo beans (about 1 1/4 cup)
6 cups water
2 cloves garlic

Hummus
1/3-1/2 cup lemon juice (I use the bottled stuff)
1/2 cup tahini paste (found by the peanut butter in the grocery store)
4-5 cloves garlic
1/2 cup reserved chickpea water
1/3-1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cumin powder

Directions
Add the beans, water and garlic to the Instant Pot. Set on manual to high pressure for 40 minutes. Allow natural release for at least 30 minutes. This allows the chickpeas to continue to cook. Reserve 1 cup of chickpea cooking water, drain the beans and set aside.

Blend
The original recipe calls for a food processor. I use my Vita-mix. Both will work.
Blend the tahini, garlic and lemon juice until it is smooth. Add half the chickpeas, 1 Tbsp of chickpea liquid and half the olive oil. Add the seasonings and remaining chickpeas and olive oil. Process until smooth. Taste and adjust if needed. If it's too thick add more chickpea liquid or lemon juice.

Refrigerate and use within a week.

If you want to make hummus more frequently, you can always cook more beans to start with and freeze the extras with some of the liquid. Dethaw a day before you want to make hummus.

Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls

I'm not sure where I found this recipe originally. I think it may have been on Our Best Bites. These are Brazilian cheese rolls (puffs) and they are delicious! If you need a gluten free side for a meal, these are our go to! Everyone loves them and they are quick and easy to make.

Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls

1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup oil (I use olive but you can use whatever you prefer)
1 cup tapioca flour (also known as tapioca starch)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Optional: pour the batter into your pan and then sprinkle lightly with salt, cheese or herbs

Place ingredients except for cheese in blender and blend until smooth. Add cheeses and blend just a tiny bit. Pour into mini-muffin tins. Spray first with oil. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes. They should fall right out when they are done. I had three mini muffin pans. They stuck to one of them every time and fell out of the other two. I ended up getting rid of the pan they stuck to.

Baked Potato Curls

This is practically a meal in itself, but also goes great with steak or anything else on the grill. It was designed for The Pampered Chef's Deep Covered Baker stone, but could be made in any casserole dish. I served it for my husband's birthday, with grilled steaks and a tomato and fresh mozzarella salad, and he said the meal was better than going out to a steakhouse!

Peel and slice 4 potatoes and place in casserole dish. Chop 1 bunch green onion tops and place in medium bowl. Fry 4-5 strips bacon and chop into fine bits, then add to green onions (real bacon bits work fine, too). Press 2 garlic cloves into bowl and mix with one cup shredded cheddar, 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup melted butter. Mix together and spoon over potatoes. Cover; bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Corn Edamame Salad

In the words of my friend Jen, this "tastes like summer". It came from Parents magazine, as a way to try to get kids to eat veggies. They might try it if they like corn. But adults love it, too!!

3 ears corn
2 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. olive oil, divided
1 1/2 cups frozen shelled edamame, cooked and drained
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
1/2 slivered green sweet pepper, or your favorite color
2 Tbs. red-wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Husk corn and brush with 1 tsp. oil. Grill on medium heat about 15 minutes, or until tender, turning occasionally to brown evenly. Remove and let cool.

2. Cut kernels from the corncobs into a large bowl. Add edamame, tomato and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir dressing into corn mixture. Serve at room temperature or cover and chill for up to 3 days. Makes about 6 cups.

Note: I also have subbed 1 can corn, drained, rather than grilling the corn.

Grandma Della’s Potato Salad

This is a delicious potato salad. I really don't like potato salads usually but I love this one because the flavor is so great. In the summer time, my favorite meal involves this salad, BBQ chicken with homemade BBQ sauce, homemade biscuits and homemade strawberry jam. You just can't get a better summer meal.

Combine in saucepan and heat to boiling:

2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. Dry mustard

Beat in bowl:
1 egg
2 tbsp flour 

Add small amount of hot mix to egg mix and keep adding until hot and incorporated, then add all to hot mixture and cook over low heat until thickened. Cool in fridge. 

Add 1-2 tbsp or so of turmeric, salt and pepper to taste, and combine vinegar sauce with equal parts mayo to make dressing. I usually start with about ½ cup of each and keep adding whichever it needs until it’s a little tangy but not overpowering.

Pour over cooked potatoes, hard boiled eggs, celery, pepper, relish, onion and anything else that sounds good.

*I usually just make a half recipe of the vinegar sauce because I typically only use half in a very large recipe (about 12 potatoes & 12 eggs).

I’m a little weird when it comes to potato salad. I don’t like crunchy things in it so I only do the sauce with potatoes and eggs. It’s delicious but if you’re more adventurous, add the additional ingredients.

Curried Cauliflower-Ginger Soup

My 3 year old and 20 month old ate their big bowls full of this soup without stopping and without being asked a single time to "take a bite".  That says a lot!  :)  I wouldn't say this is absolutely delicious, but it is pretty good.  Definently do add a chunk of butter to each bowel - it calms the sharpness of flavor from the spices.  (It isn't "hot" spicey).

Curried Cauliflower-Ginger Soup


Serves 4 – 6 as a starter to a meal
Ingredients:
1 medium onion – chopped
1 small stalk celery – sliced
1 whole medium sized cauliflower – chopped in large chunks
1” piece ginger – peeled and minced
4 cups homemade chicken stock or water, or a combination
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon coriander
½ teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon turmeric
unrefined sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Good quality butter for serving
Chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)
Preparation:
In a small dish, stir together the cumin, coriander, turmeric and garam masala. Set aside. Place onion, celery, ginger, and liquid in a medium soup pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer 7-8 minutes. Meanwhile heat a small skillet over a medium flame. Add the spice mix and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula to keep it moving over the heat. When it becomes fragrant and barely darker in color remove from the heat and add to the soup, along with the cauliflower. Cover, raise the heat again to boiling, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from the stove.
Puree soup until smooth, and ladle into serving bowls, accompanied with a dollop of fresh butter and some chopped cilantro if you like.

I served this with fried battered fish and steamed sweet potato chunks.  The kids cleaned their plates! 

Recipie from here: http://www.candida-cure-recipes.com/homemade-vegetable-soup-recipes.html

Cran-Yam Crumble

My sister gave me this yummy twist on traditionally unpopular sweet potatoes! You can mash the sweet potatoes or leave them whole, depending on your texture preference.

2 17oz. cans of yams, drained (I could not find this size, so I used 29 oz and added a little pureed pumpkin)
1 cup flour
1 cup oats
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 bag of cranberries
handful or so of mini marshmallows

Mix together the flour, oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon and then cut into it the butter. Mix in the cranberries. Reserve about half of the mixture to use for a topping. Mix all together with the yams and place into a 9x13 glass baking dish. Then put the reserved mix on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 min. adding the marshmallow to the top during the last 10 min. of baking.

Stuffed Bleu Cheese Potatoes

I discovered this wonderful food blog the other day called "Our Best Bites." When I started looking through the website, I was very impressed by the type of recipes they posted. They not only look great but appear relatively simple to make. I just found the website last week and have already made two of the recipes. I was going to use the blue cheese in this recipe but when I went to the store, the Gorgonzola was a better deal so I used it instead and they turned out delicious!! I often take about 10 baked potatoes and make a big batch of twice baked potatoes that I freeze for side dishes later. They take just a minute to reheat in the microwave or I can throw them in the oven with my main course if I have the time. I will definitely be switching my twice baked potatoes recipe to this recipe though! They were worth every calorie! 

4 medium baking potatoes
½ Cup sour cream
1 oz (1/4 cup) crumbled bleu cheese (or Gorgonzola)
¼ Cup milk or buttermilk
4 Tbs real butter, cut into chunks
¾ tsp salt
Dash pepper
½ t garlic powder
8 pieces bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled (I used crumbled bacon bits from the salad section)
Grated cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and dry potatoes. Rub them lightly with a bit of shortening or vegetable oil (helps crisp the skin) and place directly on oven rack, or a cookie sheet. Bake for one hour or until potatoes are done.
2. Remove potatoes and let cool just a bit. Cut an opening on the top and hollow out each potato, OR cut each potato in half (as shown in photos) to make 8 servings. You may want to hold them with a potholder as they will still be hot!3. Scoop out the insides and place in a bowl. Mash, and add butter, sour cream, bleu cheese, milk, salt, pepper, and garlic. Beat with a hand mixer until fluffy. Carefully spoon mixture back into potato shells. Place in a baking dish.

Return to hot oven and bake for 12-15 minutes.
4. Remove and sprinkle bacon and cheddar cheese over each potato bake an additional 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Original recipe found here:

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/03/stuffed-bleu-cheese-potatoes.html

These were just a little on the soft side. I might cut back a little on the milk next time so they're not quite so mushy. Also, I usually bake my potatoes and don't have time to make the recipe while they're still warm. I often don't make them until they've completely cooled and have never had a problem. 

Winter Chopped Salad

Our friend, Dina Jones, brought this salad to our Harvest Party a week ago. I enjoyed it SO much and have been thinking about it ever since I ate it, wanting more! Yes, it's THAT good! The recipe is from the book, Seriously Simple Holidays by Diane Rossen Worthington. This would be a great dish to take to a party, serve your family for dinner or as a first course at a big family dinner. The flavors mesh so well together and the dressing is subtle but delicious. This salad makes quite a bit so you might need to adjust the size if you have a smaller group to feed.

Serves 6 as a first course or 8 as a main course (I think it really serves much more than that!)

Ingredients:

Dressing:
1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper


1 head radicchio, cored and finely chopped (the red lettuce)
2 heads romaine lettuce, light green and white leaves only, finely chopped
1 1/4 pounds cooked chicken breasts, skin & bones removed and cut into 1-inch dice (about 3 cups)
1 Fuji, Gala, or Pink Lady apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup candied pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup crumbled blue or fresh goat cheese
Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

1. Make the dressing: in a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, honey, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Taste and adjust seasonings.

2. Place the radicchio, romaine, chicken, apple, cranberries, nuts and cheese in a large salad bowl.

3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Sprinkle with pepper (if desired) and serve.

Advance preparation:
Make the dressing up to 2 days ahead, cover, and keep at room temperature. Whisk well before using. Make the salad up to 4 hours ahead, cover, and refrigerate.

The Clever Cook Could:
* Substitute 3 cups diced cooked turkey for the chicken
* Add 6 strips of bacon, fried until crisp and crumbled.
* Omit the chicken and serve the salad as a first course
* If you're not a fan of chopped salad, tear the leaves into bite-size pieces instead of finely chopping them.

Grilled Baked Potatoes

I love baked potatoes but hate how long they take to cook. I came across this recipe at kraftfoods.com and loved it. Grilling them makes the skins so crispy and flavorful.


4 baking potatoes (2 lb.)
1 Tbsp. oil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
2 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup Real Bacon Bits


HEAT grill to medium-high heat.
PIERCE potatoes with fork or small sharp knife. Rub with oil; sprinkle with salt.
MICROWAVE potatoes on microwaveable plate on HIGH 8 min. or until tender, turning after 4 min. Place on greased grate of grill. (you can also wrap them individually in foil before grilling, but the skins will be less crispy)
GRILL 12 to 15 min. or until potatoes are crisp and lightly browned, turning occasionally. Split potatoes. Serve topped with remaining ingredients.

Chipotle's Flavorful Basmati Rice

I am a fan of Chipotle and Q'doba restaurants. I love their burritos filled with so much flavor. This is just one aspect of what goes into the burritos but it really will liven your rice up. Make it for a side dish or as an ingredient in your own burritos.

1 teaspoon vegetable oil or butter
2 tsp. fresh cilantro
2/3 cup white basmati rice
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Lime

In a 2-quart heavy saucepan, heat oil or butter over low heat, stirring occasionally until melted. Add rice and lime juice, stir for 1 minute. Add water and salt, bring to a full rolling boil. At boiling, cover, turn down to simmer over low heat until rice is tender and the water is absorbed, about 25 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork.

[bahs-MAH-tee]Basmati is a long-grained rice, with a fine texture. It can be found in Middle Eastern and India markets, as well as some supermarkets.The source of this recipe is attributed to Chipolte's Executive Chef (and CEO), Steve Ellis.

My Notes:
I found this recipe on the internet somewhere. Sorry, it was awhile ago so I don't have the exact link. I use the ingredients listed above (except I buy Jasmine rice instead of Basmati because I can't buy Basmati around here) however, I make it in my rice cooker rather than in a saucepan.

Dad's Rolled Biscuits

My mom did most of the cooking when I was growing up but whenever we needed some delicious biscuits my dad was the one who made them. (My mom would have make then just fine...it just became my dad's recipe because he perfected them so well). These are easy to make and so delicious spread with homemade jam!

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Sift Together into a large bowl:
3 ½ cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp baking powder

Cut in with knives or a pastry cutter:
¼ or ½ cup chilled butter or margarine

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and Add all at once:
1 ½ cup milk

Stir until the dough is fairly free from the sides of the bowl. Don't overmix.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board. Knead gently and quickly, making about eight to ten folds. Roll with a lightly floured rolling pin, until the dough has the desired thickness. (About ½ inch thick works great). Cut with a biscuit cutter dipped in a little flour. Brush the tops with:
Milk or melted butter. (optional)

Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned-12-15 minutes.

Cornbread

This is the cornbread my mom always made when I was growing up. I love it. It's moist and delicious. We usually top it with butter and honey. I pretty-much follow the recipe but to make it a little healthier, I substitute wheat germ for half of the flour. Can't taste a difference although it might be a little more crumbly.

Aka: Krusty Korn Kob

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup white flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1 ¼ cups milk
1 beaten egg
2 tablespoons oil

Mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together. In a separate bowl mix together egg, milk, and shortening. Add and stir just enough to moisten. Bake in well oiled pan. ( I use a cassarole dish but my mom always used about a 9x9" pan.) Cook at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. I usually have to give it another five minutes or so before the center is fully done. The top should crack if it's done.

Cornish Hens with Raisen Rice Stuffing

Cornish Hens A’La Orange
(Use Raisin Rice Stuffing)

2 Cornish hens

In roasting pans:
Melt ¼ cup butter
Add salt, pepper, garlic to taste
1/8 cup lemon juice
3/8 cup orange juice

Stuff hens with rice stuffing.
Roast hens 20 mins. Turn over; baste with O.J. Roast until done. (Approx. 20-60 min)
Remove from pan. Add remainder fruit juices to pan juices. Boil and strain to make gravy. Thicken.

Raisin Rice Stuffing
Makes 9 servings

1 cup cooked raw rice (½ white, ½ wild rice)
¾ cup raisin’s (soak 10 mins in wine)
1/2 cup white wine

Sauté shallots, add raisins & wine:
1/2 cup chopped shallots
¼ cup margarine
½ teaspoon salt

Add:
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Cook a few minutes then fill Cornish hens.


I often make the stuffing by itself and just add lemon and orange juice to it for flavor. This dish also works with chicken breasts instead of cornish hens. It's a nice "fancy" meal for company. It's also easy to adjust for few or many people.