Category Archives: food

Recipes, diet, wheat-free, nutrition, cooking and a few guilty pleasures.

Feb13

Sweet Potato Pecan Bread by the Harris Sisters

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20150213_183339I probably knew what I was doing when I bought a 3# bag of sweet potatoes. I’m not sure I knew what I was doing when I baked them all at the same time.

I got tired of having them one at a time as a side with dinner. So tonight I mashed up all the rest of them and made this bread.

Oh, my goodness, it smells like a party in my kitchen. Of course I didn’t follow the recipe to the letter.  I added raisins to the batter and skimped on the sugar in the batter, and then doused it with a lemon glaze when it came out of the oven.

And it’s what’s for dinner tonight, with a glass of Earl Grey iced tea.  Life is good.

http://theharrissisters.blogspot.com/2014/10/sweet-potato-pecan-bread.html

Jul20

simplest loaf cake by Dorie Greenspan

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1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup flavorless oil, such as canola

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF and generously butter an 8x4x2–inch loaf pan (6-cup capacity). In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. Whisk the eggs, sugar, sour cream, and vanilla together until well blended. Add the dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Finally, pour in the oil and use the whisk to gently but thoroughly fold it into the batter.

3. Put the batter in the loaf pan and bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then unmold and cool to room temperature right-side up.

Serves 8. Per serving: 360 calories, 44g carbs, 5g protein, 18g fat, 85mg cholesterol.

Jun2

Lemon Coconut Bread Pudding

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lemon, coconut, buttermilk, etc.

My little kitchen gets so hot that I had to come up with something that would bake quickly when I was craving something lemon-coconut.

Since all lemons are not created equal, you can add the glaze as you wish.  Mine came out pretty tart, so I dumped in the whole batch.

Ingredients

1 small sourdough baguette — about 6-8 cups of bread chunks
3/4 c powdered sugar
1 1/4 c buttermilk
1/4 c lemon juice
1 c coconut
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 c soft brown sugar (not packed)

Preheat oven to 325.

Grease or oil spray a 2 qt baking dish.

In a large bowl, break up the bread into 1″ chunks. I prefer tearing the bread to cutting it with a knife.  The irregular pieces soak up the liquids better, I think, and make a nice texture for the pudding.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and then add buttermilk and lemon juice and toss.

Add coconut and mix well.

Allow 5 minutes or so for the bread and coconut to moisten.

Pour melted butter over the bread and then sprinkle with the brown sugar.  Toss well, just until brown sugar is dissolved. Spoon into baking dish.

Cover and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until top starts to brown.  Time isn’t exact — it depends on the softness of the bread you started with.

This results in a very moist bread pudding. If you like a firmer pudding, leave in another 5 minutes.

Glaze

Heat 2 T butter with 2 T milk in a 1-quart bowl until butter is melted. You can do this in the hot oven or in the microwave.  Then stir in 1-2 cups powdered sugar until you get the consistency you want.  Pour over the hot pudding and toss briefly, or serve alongside as a sauce.

Mar3

Lemon Coconut Tea Loaf

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20140303_131914Make this when there are other people in the house
so you won’t just eat the entire thing.

Preheat oven to 350.

BATTER:
2 eggs
1/2 c oil
1/2 milk
2 t lemon juice
1-1/2 c flour
1/2 t salt
1 t BP
1/2 c chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 c grated coconut

With a hand mixer gently beat the eggs, add oil and mix, add milk and mix, add lemon and mix.

I used an old-fashioned non-electric mixer for this. It keeps the batter from becoming too frothy.

Sift the dry ingredients together and stir into the liquids with a wooden paddle, then stir in the nuts and coconut.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

While loaf is baking, make glaze.

GLAZE:
1/2 to 3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 T lemon juice
milk if needed

Stir lemon juice into sugar and then add milk one T at a time until glaze is runny enough to pour.

Run a knife down the sides of the pan and punch holes in the loaf every 2-3 inches. Spoon glaze over top of loaf and let sit for 20 minutes or as long as you can stand it. Pop loaf out onto wax paper and close edges unless you plan to cut it right away.

*Note: wax paper is easier to unwrap than plastic wrap or foil. The acid from the lemon will also break down the foil and no one likes it when that happens.

You can store in a plastic bag or foil to keep it moist, but ours won’t last long enough to dry out.

Nov27

Asparagus Casserole

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My daughter and I gave up everything with MSG — I mean, it’s hard enough to stay awake after Thanksgiving dinner — so no more Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup. This takes a little longer but is so much better.

2 cans asparagus spears
1 recipe white sauce (2 T butter, 2 T flour, 1 cup milk, salt)
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup grated cheese — your favorite
2 hard cooked eggs, chopped
1 cup crushed cracker crumbs
2 T melted butter

Drain the asparagus and spread evenly in a greased Pyrex dish. Make your white sauce and while still hot, stir in the mushrooms and cheese. When cheese has melted, pour sauce over asparagus. Top with chopped egg. Toss crumbs with melted butter and sprinkle over asparagus. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until casserole bubbles.

You cannot mess this up unless you accidentally use sugar instead of salt or you set the thing on fire.

You can substitute the asparagus liquid for part of the milk, you can omit the cheese, the eggs and/or the cracker crumbs. It really is just about the asparagus and the sauce.

I think the original recipe had pimento, but all the stores in Memphis are out of pimento and have been for a while. There must have been a pimento workers strike somewhere….

Oct22

Fall Dinner

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So good I was afraid I’d forget what I did.  So I’m parking it here.

Preheat oven to 350.

Country-style pork ribs
Baked sweet potatoes
Yellow squash
Cranberry stuffing mix

Chicken broth
Buttermilk or sour cream

Olive oil
Worcestershire
Ms. Dash
Balsamic vinegar

Butter
Maple syrup
Cinnamon sugar
Vanilla

Brown ribs in olive oil in skillet and transfer to oiled baking dish. Sprinkle with Ms. Dash, Worcestershire and balsamic vinegar. Cover.

Peel sweet potatoes and mash.  Melt 3 T butter, 2 T maple syrup, 1 t vanilla and 1 t cinnamon sugar in small skillet.  Stir into potatoes.  Transfer to oiled baking dish and cover.

Prepare oiled baking dish. Empty stuffing mix into dish.  Chop squash and pile on top.  Pour 1 c chicken broth over top.

Put ribs in oven first.  After 15 minutes, put squash in oven and continue baking.  After another 10 minutes, take squash out and stir well.  Add sour cream or buttermilk.  Return to oven and put sweet potatoes in oven.  Let all three dishes continue to cook for another 15 minutes.

Serve with green beans if desired.

Sep12

Crash-Free Oatmeal

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I’m going to start posting a series of recipes here just so I can keep up with them.  I like having a reference of things I can do in a hurry without having to rely on my brain to think something up.

 

It’s simple:

1/2 c. old-fashioned or quick oats

1 c. almond milk

 

Microwave for 3 minutes.  That’s it.  There’s enough sweetness to the almond milk that you don’t need to add sugar.  For a little zing, sprinkle with salt after cooking.  Just a pinch.  You’ll think you added margarine or butter.

Aug9

MSG Free Onion Soup Mix

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ImageAt first we thought it was just great food making us feel sooooo good after eating at certain restaurants.  Then after meals there, we were seized with profound and uncontrollable napping.

Eventually, my daughter figured it out:  we were having a reaction to MSG.

So now when I want to make stuff that calls for onion soup mix, I have to improvise.  Today it occurred to me to search for a recipe.  Most of them call for both onion flakes and onion powder, which seems redundant, but maybe there’s a reason for it.  Maybe it’s what Ms. Lipton does to hers.

We now have an international farmers market in the neighborhood — yay for us! We can now go in and shop for exotic things like beef stock powder without paying the triple markup that our local chain grocery wants to exact.  I’m off to buy some now.

Thanks to towards-sustainability.com for this one.  I will probably change it up some and throw in my favorite herb blend instead of the salt, sugar and pepper.  But y’all can start here.

MSG Free Onion Soup Mix
8 tsp dried onion flakes
4 tsp beef stock powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp celery salt
pinch sugar
pinch white pepper

Mix ingredients together thoroughly and store in an airtight container or foil package.  Keeps for up to 6 months.  Equals 1 packet of soup mix.

Jul22

Shoepeg Salad

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shoepeg

It’s amazing what a fresh vinaigrette can do for canned vegies.

Sometimes we forget to add the pimento.  Sometimes we use red onion instead of green.  Sometimes we throw in chickpeas or diced carrots or water chestnuts.  Use your imagination.  It’s all good.

Vegies
* 1 1/2 cups celery, chopped
* 1 (15 ounce) can baby green peas
* 1 cup green onion, chopped
* 1 (4 ounce) jar diced pimentos, drained
* 1 (11 ounce) can white shoepeg corn

Dressing
* 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
* 1 to 2 T sugar or Splenda (start small and add as needed)
* 1/4 cup canola oil
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon dried dill

Blend ingredients for dressing and toss with vegies. Simple, yummy and healthy.

This is not my recipe.  If anyone finds out who invented it, give them a prize and then tell me who they are.

 

May10

Happy Kale Soup

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ImageI had a dream last night: I was talking to someone about how much I love kale. This morning is sort of gray and green, cloudy and rainy behind the lush foliage on the trees that look like June more than early April.

So I’m thinking it’s a day for my happy kale soup, which incidentally has sausage, beans and onion, but for me it’s all about the kale.  The other stuff is in there just to keep it happy.

For anyone that wants to play along, here’s what you’ll need:

Soup kettle or Dutch oven big enough to hold a mountain of kale
A big cooking spoon or paddle (mine is wood)
Extra virgin olive oil — 2 T, more or less
One large onion, coarsely chopped. (Vidalias are a favorite, but a nice red is pretty.)
One package of smoked sausage (turkey, beef or pork, depending on the moment), sliced or diced
One can of white beans (Great Northerns are my fave)
Chopped kale (fresh or bagged; can use can in a pinch, but it’s not the same)
One box or two cans of broth: chicken, beef or vegie — (no MSG, please).
Season-All or Mrs. Dash to your liking

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Heat about 2 T olive oil in your kettle. Add the onion and saute until soft. Throw in your sausage and continue to saute for 2-5 minutes, depending on how long you’re willing to stand there.  Add kale, in batches if necessary, and toss until it wilts.  Add beans and broth and bring to a simmer.  At this point, it’s ready to eat, but I like to simmer for at least an hour so all the flavors blend together and the beans and onion are really, really soft.

I can’t look at that first picture and not want to make cornbread to go with.  That particular bread is my jalapeno cheddar version, and you can find that recipe here.