Posted on 10/08/2011 7:19:24 AM PDT by libertarian27
Welcome to the 44th 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- for fellow FReepers to add to their 'go-to' Recipe Stack of Family Favorites!
Here's the place to share and explore your latest and greatest favorite recipe.
I have been trying to get my family used to eating brown and wild rice and other different grains besides white rice more often, so I have been making up all sorts of variations to try on the family. I made this cranberry recipe the other night and served it with some baked chicken and baked acorn squash. It went over very well with my family.
Cranberry Brown and Wild Rice
A small handful of pine nuts, or slivered almonds (optional)
1 tablespoon of oil
1 small red onion or two shallots finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely minced or grated
1 cup brown and wild Rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried Thyme
1 teaspoon dried Parsley
1 teaspoon of your favorite seasoning blend ( I like to use fajita seasoning or Mrs. Dash)
½ -1 cup dried cranberries, depending on your own tastes
Cook nuts in a dry skillet until you can start to smell their aroma. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Saute onions and garlic in the same pan using the oil. When tender add the rice, chicken broth and seasonings. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Cook until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is done. Depending on the brown and wild rice mixture you use, this could take anywhere from about 20 minutes to 50 minutes as some brands cook faster than others. Fluff the rice and stir in the cranberries. You can stir in the pine nuts as well, use them as a garnish, or serve them as a topper. I served them on the side because two people in my family don’t care for nuts in most foods.
I think as a variation other nuts or dried fruits could easily be substituted in the above recipe. I think pistaschios, or hazelnuts would be equally good and apricots, raisins, or even dried cherries would also go well in this rice.
Aaaarrraaauuugghhh! I almost missed Fluffernutter Day!
Thanks for the heads up...
Must make run to store!
This isn’t a recipe-—it’s a request. I eat at a place called Jay Alexander’s, and they have the most amazing “Tequila Beans.” I cannot find a recipe anywhere for Tequila Beans. Any help?
I am deprived. I never have had fluffernutter or even Marshmallow Fluff. Marshmallow fluff apparently isn’t sold anywhere in Oregon. The closest thing we have available is Kraft Marshmallow cream, which I understand is quite different and not nearly as good for fluffernutter sandwiches.
Does anyone have a recipe for making your own Marshmallow Fluff?
Mrs p6 says it’s in the baking section in stores her in W PA. I know it is in some of he dollar stores.
She also thinks Kraft is almost as good.
There is an interesting 3 ingredient cookie recipe at picky-palette.com.
I can’t post because I’m on a new tablet and don’t know how to copy url’s.
Basically pbutter, fluff and 1 egg.. mix and bake. Wonder if you can use Nutella?
Can i have some cake too?? My birthday is Tuesday!
I'm trying to find a good recipe for a spicy, smoked sausage along the lines of those that are served at a good barbecue place.
I'm looking for a pork sausage recipe with anise and red pepper flavorings.
Are there any Freeper sausage makers out there?
Those do sound easy and good!
Here is the link to the recipe for anyone who wants it:
http://picky-palate.com/2010/05/13/fluffernutter-cookies-3-ingredients/
In thinking about Fall and Thanksgiving recipes I was wondering if anyone on the list besides me actually roasts their pumpkin seeds, acorn squash seeds, or any other seeds from other squashes this time of year.
I am roasting some today that were from the acorn squash we had the other night.
I sometimes just separate them from the pulp, throw them on a baking sheet, drizzle them with a little oil and salt, mix right on the baking sheet, and then spread them out in as close to a single layer as possible. Then I roast them in a 300 degree oven. Some seeds cook quicker for some reason, so I always watch them. We like ours just slightly browned, but the cooking time can take anywhere from 10-45 minutes depending on the type of seeds and how your own oven works.
For a low fat version, they can actually be roasted without any oil and just a sprinkling of salt. If you can’t have the salt or are on a low sodium diet, use a little garlic powder or your own salt free seasoning.
The low fat version is the way I am fixing them today. We love them this way to just eat as a snack or to sprinkle on our salads or other dishes for a little crunch.
I would love to hear some of your favorite ways to roast them.
We always have this with baked salmon. It is so worth the trouble.
LEMON PILAF
¼ cup butter
1 cup onion, finely chopped
I clove garlic, crushed
2 cups long grain white rice
½ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup fresh parsley, minced
1 teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon dill weed
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 ¾ cups chicken broth, heated to boiling
PREP: heat butter on medium in a Dutch oven. When melted, add the onion and garlic. After two or three minutes, add the rice, tossing grains well to coat with butter. Sauté for a minute or two. Add the lemon juice, parsley, seasonings and cheese. Mix well. Add the boiling chicken broth. (cold broth will make the final dish heavier and sticky) Stir well. Cover with lid and place in a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake for 20 minutes. The rice should be done. If it’s not, add a bit more broth and cook another 5 minutes. Remove from oven and fluff with a fork.
Didn’t know that could be done. A couple of weeks ago there was a recipe for squash and sausage here. We were going to try it but since I know my limitations I decided to cook a butternut squash and bake boneless porkchops in a rub with a side at fresh green beans.
Felt like I could have used the squash seeds but didn’t know how.
Next time I’ll save them and try.
BTW for the rub I used a tbs of course sea slt, a tbs of course black pepper and two tbs of veg oil. Mixed and then added maybe 2-3 tbs of brown sugar. Slopped 6 big chops in the mix, put them on a baking sheet for around 35 -45 min. The squash was in the oven at the same time.
I did make more rub for the last couple of chops.
Turned out great, even youngest son loved it.
The secret in my family is brown sugar or maple syrup or both. Mixed with ANYTHING my family will like it!
Oh, my, a fluffernutter sandwich!! I’m on a diet.... please eat one for me and ENJOY it!
FWIW Mrs p6 just said who DOESN’T roast the seeds!
We have done pumpkin seeds but I didn’t know you could use squash seeds too.
Oh my! not a distributor anywhere in Oregon!
http://www.marshmallowfluff.com/pages/Fluff_Finder.cfm
You might have to order online.
A few years back a MA state senator tried to ban fluff in schools - his district happened to have the town where fluff was first manufactured - it didn’t go over very well for him but online ordered soared
http://www.ideagrove.com/blog/2006/07/fluffernutter-not-a-dirty-word.html
My family also loves anything with maple syrup or brown sugar. I baked our acorn squash very simply in the same oven as the chicken breasts I was baking. Your family might like acorn squash cooked as I did, since I used brown sugar too. Here is how I did it:
Baked Acorn Squash
2 acorn squash
4 tablespoons of butter
4 tablespoons of brown sugar
Split each squash in half. Empty out the centers of the squash including the seeds, setting aside the centers so I you can pull out the seeds and roast them later. I used one tablespoon of butter on each half of the squash rubbing it on evey bit of the orange surface of the squash and leaving what butter was left inside the center cavity of the squash. I then sprinkled one tablespoon of brown sugar over the squash with any extra put in the center cavity on top of the extra butter. (It makes about a tablespoon of buttery brown sugar sauce to flavor the squash as you eat it.) I baked them in the oven until they were tender. (I use a fork to test them and if it slides right in, then they are done.) I baked everything at 350 degrees, but I have baked squash at a little higher temp or a little lower temp when I was cooking something else in the oven that needed a different temperature. Serves 4
The same method can be used for danish or butternut squash as well.
We haven’t had any butternut squash yet this year, but last year I roasted those seeds as well and my family loved them. I am guessing that the seeds from just about any winter squash can be roasted or dry roasted as I did today with the seeds from the acorn squash.
I think I actually like the dry roasting method the best if I am going to use them on salads or eat them plain as a snack, plus they are lower in calories! They seem to have more of a crunch that way and aren’t greasy at all. The ones I made today were excellent. There just weren’t enough of them! They were gone within minutes of me pulling them out of the oven. They barely had a chance to even start cooling before everyone started munching on them. I guess we are going to have to eat a lot of squash this fall, just so I can keep roasting the seeds for the family!
I just bought a large quantity of boneless country style ribs yesterday at the grocery store since they were on sale yesterday. I broke up the packages into batches of ribs appropriate for my family and threw them in the freezer. Usually we either cook them on the BBQ or in the oven and I just salt and pepper them and then baste them with BBQ sauce during the last of their cooking time. I think I might try your dry rub method as I know my family would love them cooked with brown sugar. I picked up some more acorn squash at the store as well, so I might cook them along with the ribs later this week. The two would go well together.
I have roasted pumpkin, acorn squash, danish squash, and butternut squash seeds and they have all turned out really well, but as I said in my earlier post I think I prefer the dry roasted method the best because I like the crunch and don’t need the extra calories from the butter or oil. (I’ll save those calories for my popcorn! LOL)
I would imagine that you can roast the seeds from just about any winter squash. I don’t think any of them are poisonous but now that I think about it, it might be a good idea to check before trying any others I haven’t mentioned. The ones I mentioned my family has been roasting since I was a child, so if they haven’t killed me by now they clearly aren’t poisonous.
This is one of those things! Some friends and family and I had a big discussion about this within the last week. We laugh about all the variations, and about how adamantly different families cling to different versions.
My family loves the cranberry-orange-apple only version. As for the jello flavor used - we used to use lemon or orange. But now that they have a cranberry flavored jello, that is our preferred flavor, because the jello doesn’t interfere with the basic taste of the salad - which is cranberry, orange, and minimal apple. My sister made some this way last week and I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
The recipes with cherry jello and celery are just too overpowering. (Said Floyd Cramer.) That’s a joke!! (From another thread)
I pretty much do the same thing with Acorn Squash - the butter and brown sugar - I like to add a dash/hint of cinnamon and I cover the tops with foil to seal... then into the oven on a cookie sheet.
If I’m running late with supper or don’t need the oven on for other things -I’ll nuke the halves for a bit to get them going and then into the oven with the butter,etc.
I have been a lazy lady. eating cheese.(too much kicking in allergies) Left overs from restaurant meals. sipping tequila.
leaving for a few weeks shortly & trying to empty out as much as possible the mess in my frig & freezer
Love this thread & you wonderful cooks who contribute.
smooch
My father always made Cranberry Relish, when I was growing up, before Thanksgiving... and it would last almost to Christmas - He and I were the only ones in the family that ate it.
He’d put the bag of cranberries and the oranges through a meat grinder (orange peel too! That’s the best part)then add sugar - never did the lemon thing.....every day that went by it got better and better. It’s got to meld together :>)
That relish is hard-core Cranberry! Love it!
I still make it but use the processor instead of the meat grinder for ease - the meat grinder gives a better shred/chop - but it’s messy.
Dad makes it every year too - he makes his own batch for himself down South and I make my own batch up North. No one else in the family appreciates it - It’s just for us-We’re Cranberry hoarders - lol
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