Weekly Cooking Thread *Recipes* July 30, 2011

FreeRepublic Cooks | July 30, 2011 | libertarian27

[libertarian27]

Welcome to the 34th installment of the FR Weekly Cooking (Recipes) Thread.

Looking for something new to make or made something new that came out great? Please share a 'tried-and-true' recipe or three - or all of them:)! for fellow FReepers to add to their 'go-to' Recipe Stack of Family Favorites!

Here's the place to share and explore your next favorite recipe.

[redhead]

"With this slap up side the head, tuna sandwiches just went out of my budget. Sorry, Charlie, I’ll save what I currently have in the pantry and look for something else to stock for teotwawki and other emergencies."

Do what I did. Switch to the pink salmon in the foil packs. No water pack, tasty meat, and it stores indefinitely in much smaller spaces.

[redhead]

"20 lb. Isinglass (no clue?)"

Isinglass Looks like it is a brewery item.

[bgill]

Yep. Up thread it’s used in making beer and wine and is a dried fish bladder. Also, used as carriage shades. Yummy!

[bgill]

I had a coupon for some but it was still pricey. Of course, that’s before I figured out the meat/water ratio with the canned tuna. Will look into the foil packs again.

[Silentgypsy]

I modified this from the original recipe in the cookbook (thinner apple slices), “The New Settlement Cookbook,” 1991, Simon & Schuster, NY, NY.

Apple fritters

2 large, tart apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/3-inch slices
Sugar and cinnamon to taste
1 basic recipe fritter batter (see below)
Oil for deep-frying

Basic Fritter Batter

1 1/3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
2/3 cup milk
1 egg, well beaten

Sift dry ingredients together.
Gradually add the milk and egg.
Use to coat fruit.

Heat oil to 360 F.
Sprinkle apple slices w/cinnamon and sugar. Dip in fritter batter and fry in deep, hot fat until golden brown (about 5 minutes.) Drain on paper towels. Serve hot and sprinkle w/ confectioner’s sugar if desired (I don’t; they’re great just the way they are.)

These are sooooo yummy!

[Silentgypsy]

“I used a long thin bread knife to cut it down to a little more than 1/4 inch.”

You can place toothpicks around the perimeter of the spongecake at the halfway mark, and then use a sawing motion to cut the layer in half with a length of dental floss. Does a neat cut and easy.

[Liz]

Nancy Reagan's Baja California Chicken
(Recipe was given out as a Reagan fave when they were in the White House)

Add to heated frypan combined 2 minced cloves garlic, 2 tbl olive oil. Stir in 4 tbl tarragon vinegar, add s/p 8 boneless chicken breasts. Saute golden, turning frequently, about 10 min. Remove chicken to baking dish, add 2/3 cup dry sherry; bake 350 deg 10 min.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Thanks to everyone who responded about my puzzle on what to do with my Flying Saucer Squash. If I missed pinging anybody who should be pinged, I'm sorry.

I cooked the first squash tonight. In asking around, I learned that my squash was not so bizarre and outsized after all. In fact, people around here allow them to get even bigger. Nevertheless, I cooked the first one wheeen it was 4" tall and 6" in diameter.

I used everybody's input plus Joy of Cooking, but I mostly relied upon JustaDumbBlonde's (from the Garden thread) instructions to develop a good recipe. I have to say that this turned out to be the most delicious squash I have ever eaten. I'm glad that I have half the stuffing left over because I am going to use it to cook the other squash on the weekend.

A pictorial overview on what I did follows. These instructions could be used for any squash, I think. Even though my Flying Saucer was not really overgrown, I used winter squash instructions for the timing and method.

First, I cut the squash in half from stem to blossem end and scooped out the seeds.

Then I placed each half face down in a baking dish and added 1/2" water and microwaved them (COVERED) on the "hard vegetable" setting. I did this twice to make sure they were cooked.

While the squash was steaming in the microwave, I crushed seasoned bagel chips (left over from my lunch at a nearby bagel shop, browned Italian sausage in olive oil in a frying pan, chopped green onions from my garden, and red pepper, and added finely diced canned tomatoes (drained). I mixed all of the chopped ingredients with the browned sausage.

Bagel crumbs

Peppers and mushrooms

Onions

And then I mixed it all together until it looked like the above.

Next I scooped out the remainder of the squash flesh from the cooked halves beng sure to leave enough shell so that the whole thing would hang together. I added the squash "meat" to the rest of the mixture being sure to blend thoroghly. I used that mixture to stuff the squash shells, mounding the mixture high and patting it together so that it would stay in the shell.

After it was in the shell, I added a coating of mixed, shredded Italian cheeses on top and patted it in to keep everything together.

I drizzled olive oil on top and covered it lightly with foil before baking in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. (Be sure to spray your baking pan with non-stick coating before baking.)

I transferred the squash to the plate and served with corn on the cob and a broccoli/raisin/walnut salad. Mmmm-mmm-good.

[afraidfortherepublic]

"20 lb. Isinglass (no clue?)" Isinglass Looks like it is a brewery item.

Don't y'all remember "Oklahoma" and the Surrey with the Fringe on Top? Said surrey had "isinglass curtains that rolled right down, in case there's a change in the weather". ;-)

[libertarian27]

Excellent post!
Beautiful Pictures!
You’ve got a cooking blogger in ya’
Bet it was yummy-yummy.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Bet it was yummy-yummy.

You betcha! It was the most delicious squash/entree I've ever eaten. I had planned to add a beaten egg to the meat mixture, but I forgot. Don't think it would have improved it -- it held together just fine. I wil definitely make this again (since I have 1/2 of the filling left over and another squash). I have been requested by my husband to use this same method on some of my overgrown zucchini. I should add that the sausage was already seasoned by the butcher shop and the bread crumbs were pre-seasoned. That is why I didn't list seasonings on my recipe because I added none.

[bgill]

Wow, it is! Had to go look it up, lol.

[Netizen]

What size pan did you use for the cheesecake?

I wanted to try that type of recipe because it doesn’t use the graham crackers (they have trans fats). But, you had mentioned the recipe being time consuming, so, I thought I’d do a search and see if I could find a recipe that uses the sponge base that wasn’t so time consuming. Most were pretty much like the one you made, but varying in the size of the pan.

What I found was a copykat recipe for the Olive Garden Peach cheesecake.

Cheesecake with Sponge Cake

1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
2 T water
Filling
2 lbs cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp all-purpose flour
1 tspn vanilla
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup peach liqueur or peach schnapps (or reserved canned/fresh peaches)
2 cups sliced ripe peaches, or canned, well drained
Topping
1 pint whipping cream (or equivalent)

Base: Preheat oven to 375~.

Lightly grease base of 10” spring form pan. Beat whole egg in 1-1/2-qt bowl with mixer on high speed 4 minutes to a thick yellow foam. Mix in sugar on low speed until smooth. Add flour, water, vanilla, baking powder and salt. Mix on low speed until fully blended. Pour into spring form pan, roll around until level. Bake 16 to 18 minutes on lowest oven rack. Cool to room temp.

Filling: Preheat oven to 325~.

Mix cream cheese, sugar, eggs and flour with electric mixer on high until smooth. Add vanilla, sour cream and peach flavoring and mix on medium until a smooth thick consistency is obtained. Fold in peach slices carefully- distribute evenly. Pour cheesecake filling onto cooled sponge cake base. Bake 70 minutes on lower oven rack, turn off oven, open oven door to broil position and let cake remain 40 minutes.

Cool to refrigerated temperature.

Topping: Top with fresh whipped cream or equivalent and serve.

Store up to 2 days in the fridge.

Anyway, I just thought I’d post this one in case you wanted a less time consuming one, or in case you wanted to compare the ingredient for the sponge, so that you don’t have to cut away so much. My spring form pan is only 8 in I think. I hate having to have multiple sized spring form pans. :(

[libertarian27]

Recap of this week’s recipes (July 30th thread)

Appetizer* 17 Figs and Cheese
Appetizer* 67 Pizza Egg Rolls (or any flavor egg rolls)
Appetizer* 60 Sunny Sail Boat Eggs
Dessert* 4 Junior’s cheesecake recipe
Dessert* 54  chocolate saurkraut cake
Dessert* 125 Apple fritters
Dessert* 133 Cheesecake with Sponge Cake
Dessert* 57 CORNED BEEF HASH IN BELL PEPPERS
Dessert* 105 DULCE DE LECHE CARAMEL CHEESECAKE
Dessert* 97 WATERMELON ICE CREAM BOMBE
Dessert* 62 Zucchini Oatmeal Cookie
Meal* 33 Ard’s Ginger Stir-Fry Chicken 
Meal* 127 Nancy Reagan’s Baja California Chicken
Meal* 19 One-Pot Stuffed Pepper Dinner 
Meal* 82 President Reagan’s Favorite Macaroni and Cheese
Meal* 128 Sausage stuffed Flying Saucer Squash
Meal* 26 Southern-style Chicken Salad
Meal* 11 Stuffed Bell Pepper Soup
Meal* 8 Stuffed Bell Peppers
Meal* 53 Stuffed Bell Peppers
Meal* 14 Stuffed Bell Peppers:
Meal* 10 Stuffed Green Peppers
Side* 17 Rosemary Corn On The Cob
Soup* 82 Nancy Reagan’s Onion Wine Soup

(August 6th thread coming up)

[libertarian27]

Aug 6th thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2759558/posts?page=1