Chicken Empanadas on a a Hot Las Vegas Day

Today I have been cooking all day like a fool.  It's only 100 degrees out, so why not cook in a hot kitchen.  First I made guacamole with instructions on how to freeze it from Haas Avocados.  You have to puree the avocado with 1 tbsp. lemon juice or lime juice per avocado and then freeze it in any air-tight container.  This was from the professionals.  When I am ready to use it, I will de-frost it and add chopped tomatoes and onions.

Next, I made my trip to the grocery store, bought a rotisserie chicken, chopped it up and made chicken salad and chicken empanadas.  The chicken salad, I completed with shredded Colby-jack cheese, mayonnaise, onions & mustard-a little of this.

The chicken empanadas were for a future party at my home. And this is my recipe that I am featuring today.  This comes "Taste of Home Holiday Celebrations 2010" and sells on my amazon storefront for $9.99 as a used book in almost brand new condition.  www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks . This recipe used refrigerated pie crusts, that were a little thick for the empanadas.  Next time, I might roll out the pie crusts to a thinner crust.  The filling inside was tremendous.  I don't use much cumin usually, but this definitely brought out the flavor.  Next time I would add corn as well, because I like corn.  This was easy to prepare, it only took about 20 minutes to get this appetizer together and bake for 12-15 minutes.  Great appetizer for you to try.

 

Mini Chicken Empanadas

1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken

2/3 cup shredded Colby-jack cheese

3 tbsp. cream cheese, softened

4 tsp chopped sweet red pepper

2 tsp chopped seeded jalapeno pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1 pkg (15 oz) refrigerated pie pastry

 

In a small bowl, combine eight ingredients.

 

Then on a lightly, floured surface, roll each pastry into a 15-inch circle.  Cut pastry with a floured 3-in round biscuit cutter.  Place a heaping teaspoonful of filling on one side of each circle.  Brush edges of pastry with water.  Fold circles in half.  Place on greased baking sheets.  With a fork, press edges to seal.  Bake at 400F for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm.

2 1/2 dozen

 

Happy Cooking!

The Cheesecake Life

All of my life I have wanted to make the perfect cheesecake.  The cheesecakes have let me down many times.  But I have finally been rewarded my perfect cheesecake "Fresh Pineapple Cheesecake" from Cheesecake Extraordynaire by Mary Crownover available for sale on my Amazon storefront, www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks for $59.99 as a collectible.  With more than 100 sumptuous recipes for the ultimate dessert.

I am going to give you the recipe as it is, with a note: the crust calls for vanilla sandwich creme cookies that needed to be crushed & mixed with butter.  My opinion, too messy and a regular graham cracker crust would have worked just as well.  Also, there were many great recipes in this book, but I happened to have fresh pineapple to be used up.

 

FRESH PINEAPPLE CHEESECAKE

Vanilla Cookie Crust

11 vanilla sandwich cream cookies, crushed

3 tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

 

In a small bowl, stir together crushed cookies and melted butter or margarine till well combined.  Press crumb mixture evenly onto the bottom of a greased 9-inch spring form pan.

 

Pineapple Filling

27 ounces  cream cheese

3/4 cup sugar

5 tsp cornstarch

3 eggs

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup frozen pineapple juice concentrate, thawed 

1 tsp finely shredded lemon peel

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup pineapple, cored, peeled and finely chopped

 

In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar and cornstarch.  Beat with an electric mixer till smooth.  Add eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in pineapple juice concentrate, lemon peel and vanilla extract.   Stir in pineapple.  Pour the cream cheese mixture over the crust.

Bake at 350F for 15 minutes.  Lower the temperature to 225F and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or till the center no longer looks wet or shiny.  Remove the cake from the oven and run a knife around the inside edge of the pan.  Turn the oven off; return the cake to the oven for an additional 1 hour.  Chill, uncovered, overnight.  Makes 12 to 18 slices.

 

I needed a whole evening to make this masterpiece.  I had a small bite to make sure it was edible for human consumption the next day and then froze for a gathering at my place this upcoming Saturday.

 

I can now say I made a "great cheesecake".

 

Happy Cooking!

 

 

 

Cranberries

I was looking for an easy chicken recipe to serve to a crowd and found this recipe for cranberries and chicken.  But first a little history on cranberries.

Cranberries weren't always "cranberries".  For eastern Indians, they were "sammanesh", Cape Cod Pequots and Southern Jersey Leni-Lenape tribes called them "ibimi", or bitter berry.  And the Alogonuins of Wisconsin dubbed the fruit "atqua".  But it was the early Dutch and German settlers who started calling it the "crane berry", because of the flower's resemblance to the head and bill of a crane.

Cranberries are grown in the wild on long-running vines in sandy bogs and marshes.

It was the Native American's who took advantage of the cranberry's attributes.  By mixing mashed cranberries with deer meat, they made a survival food called pemmicana.  They also believed in the medicinal value of the cranberry, using the berry in poultices to draw poison from arrow wounds. 

The following recipe comes from the book "A Taste of Young Life", put together by a church's teen group in Northwest Atlanta, that offers summer camps to Teens all over the US, with about 300 recipes contributed from the various teen's family.  Very well put together.  You too can own this for $7.99 plus $3.99 shipping & handling, by contacting me at crazyvalbrown@yahoo.com.  This is not sold on my Amazon storefront: www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks , but there are more than 1600 cookbooks that are available at my storefront, so check out my other titles.

Cranberry Chicken

1 (16oz) can whole cranberry sauce

1 (1 1/4 oz) package Lipton Onion Soup mix

1 (8 oz) bottle Russian or Catalina dressing

6 boneless skinless, chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Combine cranberry sauce and next 2 ingredients in a bowl.  Place chicken in a 13x9x2 inch baking dish.  Pour sauce over chicken.  Bake for 1 hour.  Serves.

Easy Pizzy!

Again, note the spelling disclaimer-no spellcheck in my blogger, anymore.  Where it went anyone knows.

Happy Cooking!

Skinny Soups

It's 114 degrees here in Las Vegas and I made a Skinny Soup today.  I really like soup, any day of the year.  I prefer a cream base, vegetarian (very little vegetables and very few beans).  So today, in an effort to cut back on my eating habits, I made Easy Spinach-Pasta Soup with Basil from the cookbook "Skinny Soups".  It sells on my Amazon storefront for $9.98.  It offers over 100 hearty, low-fat, nutrition-rich, calorie-wise soups.  www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks.com 

What did I think of this Skinny Soup?  Very good, but I missed the Crunch Factor.  I added some croutons at the end and made my bowl of soup go from 210 calories to whatever.  It was very good and I have bagged it to freeze for future meals while I am travelling.  Did it fill me up, mostly....not completely.  Would I try another recipe-definitely.

But first some Motivational Weight Loss Tips that made me laugh.

"I tried every diet in the book.  I tried some that weren't in the book.  I tried eating the book.  It tasted better than most of the diets in the book."  Dolly Parton

"The first thing you lose on your diet is your sense of humor."  Unknown

"I've been on a diet for two weeks and all I've lost is fourteen days."  Totie Fields

"I never worry about diets.  The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond". Mae West

"The weight will come off some day, I just know it." Valerie Brown

Easy Spinach-Pasta Soup with Basil

1 (10oz) pkg frozen and thawed leaf spinach

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 small garlic clove, minced

6 cups chicken broth (non-fat)

1 cup water

3/4 2-in long pieces of uncooked vermicelli or other extra-fine spaghetti

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped or 1 1/2 tbsp dried basil leaves

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 cup Italian style (plum) tomatoes, drained and chopped

1 cup cooked garbanzo beans, or canned garbanzo beans, well drained

2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese for garnish (optional)

Let spinach drain in colander.  Press down to remove as much excess water as possible.  Transfer spinach to cutting board.  Trim away coarse stems and discard.  Finely chop spinach and return it to colander to drain further.

In a very large pot over medium heat, combine oil, onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is tender.  Add broth and water and bring mixture to a rolling boil over high heat.   Stir in vermicelli and continue cooking 2 minutes.

Stir spinach, basil, pepper, tomatoes and beans into pot.  Continue cooking 6 to 7 minutes longer or until spinach and pasta are tender.  Serve immediately, sprinkled with a little grated Parmesan if desired.

5 Servings

Lack of spell-check disclaimer.  I hope I didn't mis-spell too many words.  No spell-check in blogspot.

Happy Cooking!

Fruit Salad Surgery

Fruit Song Trivia:

1.  What song did O.C. Smith take #2 on the Billboards Charts in 1968?

2.  What plant did Trini Lopez sing about in 1965?

3.  What flavor of alarm clock performed "Incense and Peppermints"?

4.  What stage name has Francine Barker, Marlene Mack, Linda Greene, Patrice Hawthorne all used?

5.  What fruit song was a hit for Harry Belafonte?

6.  Which group has performed  "When You're Gone", "Ode to My Family" and "Linger"?

7.  Led Zeppelin, Prince and Jimmy Dorsey have all performed songs with which one word fruit title?

8.  What group from the 1960's performed "Sitting By The Window", "8:05", and "Omaha" and got its name from the punch-line of a silly joke?

9.  Prince sang about what kind of fruit hat?

10.  In Carly Simon's song, "You're So Vain", what was the color of the scraf that was mentioned?

11.  In Simon and Garfunkel's version of "Hazy Shade of Winter", what is the singer drinking?

12.  What flavor of wine was in the title of a song by Elton John?

13.  Tom Waits sang about what moon (think fruit)?

14.  What song appears twice in the movie "Dr No"? (again think fruit)

15.  What band of white boys played that funky music in 1976?

Answers:  1."Little Green Apples".  2.  "Lemon Tree".   3.  "Strawbery".  4. "Peaches".  5.  "Banana Boat Song".  6.  "The Cranberries".  7.  "Tangerine".  8. "Moby Grape".  9.  "Raspberry Beret".  10.  "Apricot".  11.  "Vodka & Lime".  12.  "Elderberry"  13.  "Grapefruit".  14.  "Underneath the Mango Tree".  15.  "Wild Cherry".

Did you have any of the answers.  I had multiple choice and only got 11.

With that said, todays contribution to hot summer days is a Layered Fruit Salad.  "Love To Cook"  by Louise Thompson-Childs has over 500 great, easy recipes, created by a woman who really does "love to cook" in 1996.  This is not sold on my Amazon store front, www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks .  But if you are interested, please contact me at crazyvalbrown@yahoo.com.  The price is $9.99 plus $3.99 shipping and handling.

LTC LAYERED FRUIT SALAD

1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1/2 cp whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 cups peach slices
2 cups blueberries
2 cups banana slices
2 cups strawberry slices
2 cups grapes
1 cup pecan pieces

Blend cheese, 2 tbsp of the lemon juice and lemon peel together until well- blended.  Dip sliced bananas in remaining lemon juice and set aside.  Beat whipping cream until soft peaks form.  Gradually add sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.  Fold in cream cheese mixture and chill.  Meanwhile, layer each fruit in a glass serving bowl.  Top with cream cheese mixture and sprinkle with pecans.  8 servings.

I am putting in a spell check disclaimer ahead of time.  I have lost my spell-check on this blogger program and I have tried to catch all errors.  Sorry if I didn't.

Happy Cooking!

Cabbage

Cabbage is not mentioned in the Bible, though it was eaten by both Romans and Greeks.  The Emperor Tiberius once required the Senate to vote on whether there was any dish in the world superior to to corned beef and cabbage.

     Diogenes, to a young courtier: If you lived on cabbage, you would not be obligated to flatter
          the powerful.
     Young courtier: If you flattered the powerful, you would not be obliged to live on cabbage.

In Russia, cabbage soup or shchi, is made from cabbage, carrots, meat, onions, celery and garlic, with a sour flavoring from apples, sour cream, or sauerkraut juice.  A favorite for at least a thousand years, it can be found in Russian poems and prose, on the table of both rich and poor and in the fond memory of every exile.

Taken from an excert of Life Is Meals by James and Kay Salter.

Which brings us to coleslaw and the advent of summer.  I am on my way to Canasta's at Joanne's and I have made this recipe for my contribution.

This book: Keepers, The Recipe Collection is by Helene Randolph Moore was printed in 1980.  It has over 400 excellent recipes, just waiting for you to try them.  This sells on my Amazon storefront for $8.88.  www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks .

Cabbage Slaw

1 small head of cabbage, halved

1 green pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup sugar

1 cup vinegar

3/4 cup salad oil

1 tbsp salt

1 tsp mustard seed

1 tsp celery seed

Shred half of cabbage head.  In large bowl, layer cabbage, half of green pepper and onion.  DON'T STIR. Mix vinegar, salad oil, salt, mustard and celery seed; stir throughly.  Drizzle over top of vegetables.  DON'T STIR.  Cover and let stand 4 hours before serving.  Stir before serving.  Will keep in refrigerator for several weeks.  6-8 servings.

Does it get any easier than this? And you have a great salad to last for weeks (well maybe not in my house, but you get the picture).

Happy Cooking!

Artichoke Trivia

In the U.S., Artichokes were first grown in Louisiana, brought there by settlers in the 19th century.

In 1947, Marilyn Monroe was crowned the First Queen of Artichokes.

Castroville, CA is known as the Artichoke Capital of the world. (It is where Norma Jean (Marilyn Monroe) was crowned the Artichoke Queen in 1947).

Cynar(part of the Artichoke) is an Artichoke flavored aperitif made in Italy.

Artichokes are actually a flower bud, part of the thistle family; if allowed to flower, blossoms measure up to seven inches in diameter and are a violet-blue color.

My recipe today comes from a cookbook not found on my Amazon website.  .www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks . But you can buy it from me directly at crazyvalbrown@yahoo.com   for $7.99, plus $3.99 s&h. Quick & Easy Cooking for All Seasons featuring Ultrex. Ultrex is a kitchen appliance.  This is a quick appetizer recipe that I have used for my last few parties that I have been to.  Everyone loves it and wants the recipe to make themselves.

Hot Artichoke Dip
1 cup mayonnaise
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
1 small jar marinated artichokes, drained and chopped
2 green onions, minced

Combine the mayonnaise, cheese, artichoke hearts and onions in a medium saucepan.  Stir and cook over low heat, until the cheese has melted and the ingredients are well-blended.  Serve warm with tortilla chips.

I used a small crock pot to combine and melt the ingredients-it took about a hour, but even after unplugging stayed hot for a long time.

Just to let you know, the book has some water damage, but nothing that affects the recipes.

Also, many of you knew that I went on a Trans-Atlantic Cruise 2 weeks ago.  It was so much fun and I met so many nice people that I am going again next April.  April 20th with Celebrity Cruises, again from Ft. Lauderdale to Rome, but now with stops in Gibraltar, Madeira (both off of the African coast), Sicily, Sardinia and Naples.  Can't wait for the next one!