Monthly Archives: February 2010

Cranberry-Pecan Quinoa Salad

Posted by suzyhomebaker in low-fat, salad

My friend Jen turned me on to this really diverse and fiber-rich grain, Quinoa, so I’ve been trying to find different ways to serve it. It seems to work best mixed with sweet and savory ingredients. So I found this recipe at Food Network’s site and it turned out delicious. The original recipe used walnuts but I like pecans better; you can use whatever you like. Its served cold or at room temperature and goes well with turkey, chicken or pork and would be a nice side dish at a picnic or at brunch. It makes enough for 10 and seems to last at least a week to 10 days in the fridge. It’s also low-fat and of course full of fiber.

Ingredients (Adapted from Food Network and Juan-Carlos Cruz)

1 cup quinoa
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup frozen green beans, defrosted
1/4 cup toasted pecans (or walnuts), chopped
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Combine quinoa with 2 cups water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and continue cooking until all water is absorbed.

In a medium bowl, combine cooked quinoa, dried cranberries, green beans, walnuts, and green onions until well mixed. In a small bowl, whisk the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and garlic until well blended. Pour over the quinoa mixture. Toss until well blended. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving

Found Cheesecake

Posted by suzyhomebaker in cake, Fran's Old School Recipes

Recently I acquired an old Betty Crocker book (copyright 1950) from a friend of the family, Fran. Stuffed inside were pages of hand written recipes, recipes from other cookbooks and newspapers and product labels. Most of the items seem to be desserts but there is a handful of interesting dinner/lunch recipes, most of which are pretty old school and full of deliciously fatty ingredients. Chiffon Pumpkin Pie, Dump In Cake, Barbeque beefbergers (that was the spelling, I promise you), Sour Milk Pie, and Moving Day casserole to name a few. Some of them sound really promising while others, well, they sound really gross to be honest.

So my new project for Suzy Homebaker’s blog is to make at least one recipe from this pile each week with an honest review via my husband and daughter to go with it. This way you can decide if Deviled Ham Logs are really worth the time. Oooh that one sounds horrible.

I picked a good one to start with. You can’t beat Aunt Dena’s Cheesecake. It’s creamy and rich, definitely not a light and airy cheesecake. But delicious overall. You can really taste the sour cream and the cooking time is so short, it’s really quite simple to make. My husband and neighbors, Annette and Charlie really enjoyed it.

Please note: I used a 10 inch spring form pan and only one 10 oz. box of Lorna Doones for this recipe and it seemed to be enough however, I didn’t have any extra to trim the top.

Thanks Aunt Dena and Fran.

Green Tip of the Week……..What to do with all those magazines.

Posted by suzyhomebaker in Green Tip and tagged with

I, alone, get 7 magazines each month: Bon Appetit, Food and Wine, ReadyMade, Self, Allure, Cook’s Illustrated, and Cooking Light. I’m so embarrassed. My husband gets about 6. Of course with the food mags, I cut out the recipes I want to keep and Readymade, well, I keep that one and have a nice stash in the basement. But all the others just keep accumulating. So here’s a list of ways you can reuse and recycle those monthly mags:

1. If your town recycles paper, then recycle them.
2. Pass them onto a friend who may pass them onto another friend.
3. Have your two-year old practice cutting and pasting. Pick specific things for them to cut out like all red things or animals.
4. Cut strips and roll them into beads: http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/do/magazinebeads.html
5. Interesting wallpaper?
6. Donate them to an organization ie: hospital, library, senior center.

That’s all I got. Put in a comment with your ideas.

Turkey Cheese steak

Posted by suzyhomebaker in low-fat, sandwich, savory and tagged with

So I’m working out and trying to eat right but I’m failing miserably with the latter. I’m slowly, I mean quickly, gaining back the baby weight that I spent the past year losing and I’m feeling pretty bummed. So, I’m trying the find ways to satisfy my soon to be 20 pounder (meaning the baby, not my butt) while satisfying my insatiable appetite for anything salty and greasy. Here’s my solution. While working at the bakery, Felice and I were always experimenting with the myriad of ingredients in that kitchen. So we made our own version of a low-fat cheese steak using turkey instead of roast beef. It’s really quite delicious and satisfying so I made my own version today using what I had in the fridge. You can do the same and add your own components: onions, tomato, mushrooms, hot peppers, whatever.

Ingredients

2-1/2 to 3 oz. sliced turkey, sliced up
2 Tbsp chopped peppers, I used red and yellow but any will work
1 Light Laughing Cow Swiss cheese wedge
1/4 to 1/2 an avocado, sliced
2 pieces of whole wheat or whole grain bread, toasted
Worchestire sauce
pepper
spray oil

Directions

1. Heat small frying pan, spray with oil, add peppers and saute till they start to brown, about 5 minutes. Add turkey, a pinch of pepper, and 4 – 5 dashes of Worchestire sauce. Toss together till warmed through. Cut cheese wedge in half and add to top of turkey. Cover cheese with turkey. Remove from heat.

2. Top toast with sliced avocado. Pile turkey mixture on top. Cover with toasted bread and slice in half. Eat while hot.

Zucchini Pizza

Posted by suzyhomebaker in bread, pizza, savory and tagged with ,

I promised I’d post it so here it is…..Jim Lahey’s Zucchini Pizza. So good. I brought it to the Big Game party and it didn’t last too long on the platter. Its a one day process and you can serve it hot from the oven or at room temperature. The dough recipe makes enough for two pizzas so you can use half and freeze the other half for one month. Slice it up. Oh ya, I expect to hear how yours came out Mr. Hardiman

Pizza Dough (Adapted from My Bread by Jim Lahey)

Ingredients
3-3/4 cups bread flour
2-1/2 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 tsp table salt
3/4 tsp plus pinch of sugar
1-1/3 cup room temp. water (72 degrees)
extra virgin olive oil

1. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until blended, at least 30 seconds. The dough is a bit stiff so I added a tiny bit more water to be sure all the ingredients were incorporated. Cover the bowl with plastic and towel and let sit at room temperature until the dough has more than doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

2. Oil a 13-by-18 inch rimmed baking sheet. Cut dough in half with a bowl scraper and scrap half the dough onto the oiled pan. Gently pull and stretch the dough across the surface of the pan, and use your hands to press it evenly out to the edges. If the dough sticks to your fingers, lightly dust it with flour or coat your hands with oil. It will be very thin all around. The dough is ready to top.

Zucchini Pizza (Adapted from My Bread by Jim Lahey)

Ingredients
2-1/2 pounds, about 3 large zucchini, trimmed, not peeled
1-1/2 tsp table salt
2 cups Gruyère cheese, grated
1/2 recipe pizza dough
2 to 2-1/2 Tbsp bread crumbs, preferably homemade

1. Preheat oven the 500 degrees with a rack in the center.

2. Use a food processor with a grater attachment or a box grater to grate the zucchini. In a medium bowl, toss together the zucchini and salt. Let stand for 15 – 20 minutes, until the zucchini has wilted and released its water.

3. Drain the zucchini in a colander, then use your hand to squeeze out as much water as possible, then pat dry. The drier the better. In a medium bowl, toss together the zucchini and cheese, breaking up any clumps of zucchini, until well mixed.

4. Spread the zucchini mixture over the dough, going all the way to the edges of the pan; put a bit more topping around the edges of the pie, as the outside tends to cook and brown more quickly. Sprinkle evenly with the bread crumbs.

5. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes, until the topping is starting to turn golden brown and the crust is pulling away from the sides of the pan. Remove from oven,  cut with pizza cutter, serve.

Zucchini and Potato Pizza

Green Tip of the Week……Buy a plant.

Posted by suzyhomebaker in Green Tip and tagged with

So I was at a loss for a topic for green tip of the week and as I sat here downloading music onto my ipod, I looked over at this cool palm I purchased at, of all places, Ikea. So it made me think, instead of buying a plastic plant or other nic nac for the house, buy a plant. I have several throughout the house. Various cacti, ferns (struggling in my dry house), a palm, and spider plant. They are great for your overall household environment, reducing toxins in the air. Check out this article for tips on which plants to fill your house with: http://www.ecostreet.com/blog/eco-friendly-house/2007/10/31/detox-your-environment-with-houseplants/

These really are the Ultimate Ginger Cookies

Posted by suzyhomebaker in cookie and tagged with

I really love Barefoot Contessa’s recipes and her show and have yet to purchase any of her books. But you can get most of the recipes from her show on the Food Network website. I made these at Christmas and again last week cause they are so friggen good. And they last quite a while in an air tight container. At least a week. The dough also freezes well. Just ball and freeze, thaw and bake. Instant satisfaction.

Ingredients (Adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Food Network)

* 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil
* 1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
* 1 extra-large egg, at room temperature
* 1 1/4 cups chopped crystallized ginger (6 ounces)
* Granulated sugar, for rolling the cookies

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and salt and then combine the mixture with your hands. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the brown sugar, oil, and molasses on medium speed for 5 minutes. Turn the mixer to low speed, add the egg, and beat for 1 minute. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula and beat for 1 more minute. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the crystallized ginger and mix until combined.

Scoop the dough with 2 spoons or a small ice cream scoop. With your hands, roll each cookie into a 1 3/4-inch ball and then flatten them lightly with your fingers. Press both sides of each cookie in granulated sugar and place them on the sheet pans. Bake for exactly 13 minutes. The cookies will be crackled on the top and soft inside. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 1 to 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.