Weekly Cooking Thread (twas the week before)Dec 18

Free Republic | December 18, 2010 | libertarian27

[libertarian27]

Merry 'Week Before' Christmas.

For the 2nd installment of the cooking thread I thought it would be great to have a hodgepodge of recipes for the upcoming 'Crunch Time' and Christmas week.

Have a delicious recipe for a quick meal during this hectic week? How about your most requested 'Party Food' that everyone says you must bring to the party? Have a favorite cookie, etc. recipe that you are cranking our batch after batch for family and friends? And everything else in between!

Here's the place to share your creations and get some food inspiration.

[bgill]

When PBB’s are frozen, melt the wax in a small 1 qt sauce pan then stir in chocolate pieces.

Parafin! Bingo! That's it! Thanks! I have been racking my brain what it was that we would use to make the chocolate hard when making cereal candy when I was little. I have a bag of Cheerios that no one will eat so thought about making candy. Ok, so using GailA's measurements on the parafin (Gulf Wax - found in the baking section or canning section - white and orange rectangle box), here's a simple candy recipe: Melt a 12 oz bag of chocolate chips (or white, or butterscotch, or peanut butter flavored chips, etc.) with a half a block of parafin. Stir in anything you wish from cereal to nuts to marshmallows to dried fruit to coconut. Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. Let harden in a cool room or fridge.

[SE Mom]

I grow mine all year- haven’t bought basil in over 20 years (except for the plants)

Not sure if you live near a Walmart- but you can buy basil plants in their nursery.

Plants and seeds always available online at Park Seed or Burpee.

[bgill]

Thanks. I was beginning to think the food police had banned basil.

[stephenjohnbanker]

YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM....

[bgill]

I used to garden and always had an herb section so didn’t have to worry about buying any. Now that I’ve used up all my dried homegrown, I haven’t been able to find it anywhere. Spring is right around the corner so it may come to growing a few container herbs.

[SE Mom]

LOL! Enjoy and let me know how you like them!

Thanks for starting this thread- Carlos used to do them every year but I haven’t seen him in ages.

[Sparky21555]

Please add me to your list.

Thank you.

I’m a BBQ nut (not a slap a burger and dogs on the $19.99 grill). I have a dual chamber smoker that can make your mouth water a mile away when it is fired up.

My wife hid my recipe book again! As soon as I find it I’ll post.

[hoagy62]

This is a soup recipe that doesn’t take a lot of time. I can whip it up in less than an hour. A thick, hearty soup, perfect for cold winter days.

BAKED POTATO SOUP

2/3 C. Flour

2/3 C. Butter

7 C. Milk ( I prefer whole…yeah, I know about the fat, but as my Culinary instructor said, “Fat equals Flavor”!)

4 large baking potatoes (Idaho or Washington Russets preferred) baked, cooled, peled and cubed, about 4 cups
(Note: As a shortcut, you can also use a bag of Southern-style [that is, cubed-cut] hash browns, available in your grocer’s frozen section. You can thaw the potatoes in the fridge or stick the bag in the microwave for a couple minutes to thaw before adding to the soup.)

4 green onions, thinly sliced

10 to 12 strips of bacon-cooked, drained, & crumbled

1 1/4 cup shredded medium cheddar cheese (My preference: Tillamook)

1 C (8 oz) sour cream (Do NOT use a sour cream substitute)

3/4 TB salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

In a large Dutch oven or stockpot over low heat, melt the butter, stir in the flour until smooth and bubbly. (Do not brown the butter/flour mixture or it’ll darken the soup). Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until the mixture has thickened (This’ll take a while, but have patience…it’s worth it.) Add the potatoes and onions. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the soup begins to bubble. Reduce heat and let simmer gently for 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

You can garnish with extra crumbled bacon, chives, or even a dollop of sour cream. This tastes like a liquid baked potato!

[libertarian27]

Ginger Snap dough in the refrigerator.

I’ll be out for the day - will bake off tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks for the recipe!
(On your spice hint I added 1/4 t of each spice across the board:)

[lysie]

That sounds great for a cold winter day. Thank you. Potatoes and bacon...yum!

[keepitreal]

pinging myself for later reading

[Red_Devil 232]

I don’t want to sound like the food police but - The US Food and Drug Administration has approved “food-grade” paraffin, even though it is a derivative of the production of crude oil. Mostly it is used to coat fruits and cheeses. While food-grade paraffin is technically edible, it is not digestible; it passes through the body without being absorbed. Do not assume the paraffin for sale (for canning purposes) in your supermarket is food-grade; it is not.

Couverture Chocolate is the best thing to use to coat. If not avalible localy it is avalable on the net.

[Red_Devil 232]

 

Here is a template for you to use for your recipe archive. To get the link to the recipe just click on the recipe's post number and the exact address to that post is then at the top of your browser in the Address Bar, at the top of your browser, and copy that link from the Adderss bar and paste into the template between the Quotes where it says Link to recipe post.

<a HREF="Link to recipe post">Title Of Recipe</a>

<a HREF="Link to recipe post">Title Of Recipe</a>

<a HREF="Link to recipe post">Title Of Recipe</a>

To make it easier you could just make a bunch of copies like above and just start cutting and pasting the required info.

This is what the recipe in post #36, from this weeks thread, would look like all I did was click on the post number 36 and the full link to that particular post is in your Address bar ready to copy

<a HREF="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2644498/posts?page=36#36">Chicken Picatta</a>

[FrdmLvr]

Chicken Noel

4 boned chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. sour cream
1/2 C white wine
1 can mushrooms, drained (optional)
1 clove garlic or garlic powder
paprika

Place chicken in a shallow baking dish. Mix the rest of ingredients and pour over chicken, covering chicken entirely. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake 90 min at 350 degrees. Serve with rice or noodles.

[lysie]

Excellent.

[TheConservativeParty]

(bookmark for later reading of yummy recipes)

[SouthDixie]

Sausage Rolls (Mom's Recipe)

I take a pkg {12} sausages. Put then in water and simmer them for about an hour. Pour off the water,. Put them in a bowl and let them cool in the fridge. Pull the casing off when they are cool.Buy a pkg of puff pastry, roll it out. Put a sausage on the pastry, to see how wide you want it. Cut the pastry in 3 strips. Put a sausage on the pastry ,see how long you want it,slice it and roll the pastry around the sausage. Wet the edges so they stick. Leave them whole or cut in half. A pkg of pastry will make 12 sausage rolls 24 if you cut them in half. Have fun. Love ya mom.xx

[TASMANIANRED]

How have I missed this.. Please add me.

[TASMANIANRED]

Mom just shook them in powdered sugar...or added some cinnamon to the sugar.

[Jean S]

No-Bake Pumpkin Pie
Serves 8

Graham Cracker Crust

5 ounces graham crackers (9 whole crackers), broken into large pieces
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and warm

Pumpkin Pie Filling

3 tablespoons cold orange juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons gelatin (from one package)
1 cup cold heavy cream (divided)
2/3 cup (4 ¾ ounces) sugar (divided)
¾ teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
3 large egg yolks
1 (15-ounce) can plain pumkin puree (1 ¾ cups)

1. For the crust: Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Pulse crackers and sugar in food processor until evenly and finely ground, about 15 2-second pulses (you should have 1 cup crumbs). Add warm butter in steady stream through feed tube whil pulsing until crumbs are evenly moistened and resemble damp sand. Transfer crumbs to 9-inch pie plate and spread evenly over bottom and sides. Wipe out food processor bowl and reserve. Using flat-bottomed rameking or dry measuring cup, press and smooth crumbs into pie plate. Bake until fragrant and browned around edges, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack.

3. For the Filling: Stir orange juice and vanilla together in medium bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over orange juice mixture and set aside to thicken, about 5 minutes.

4. Combine ½ cup heavy cream, 1/3 cup sugar, salt and spices in small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until bubbles form at edges; remove from heat. Whisk remaining 1/3 cup sugar and yolks together in medium bowl until pale and slightly thickened. Slowly pour hot cream into yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Return mixture to pan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly and scraping bottom of pot with heatproof spatula, until custard is thickened and registers 175 to 180 degrees on instant-read thermometer, about 2 minutes. (When properly cooked, custard should form slight ridge on tip of spatula when bottom of pan is scraped and spatula is lifted.) Immediately pour custard over gelatin mixture and stir until smooth and gelatin has completely dissolved.

5. Puree pumkin in food processor until smooth, 10 to 15 seconds. With machine running, add remaining ½ cup heavy cream through feed tube in steady stream. Scrape sides of bowl and process for additional 10 to 15 seconds. Add pumpkin mixture to custard mixture and stir until completely smooth. Transfer filling to cooled crust. Chill pie, uncovered, until filling is just set, about 3 hours. Cover pie with plastic wrap and continue to chill until fully set, at least 6 hours and up to 24 hours. Cut pie into wedges and serve.