Denise's Creole Black Beans (from Crock-Pot)

This recipe is right up my alley. In fact, I have a similar one from Emily, without the meat.

Denise's Creole Black Beans

2 lbs smoked sausage, cut in 1'' pieces.
3-15 oz cans black beans, drained
1 1/2 c chopped green pepper
1 1/2 c chopped onions
1 1/2 c chopped celery
4 cloves garlic
2 t leaf thyme
1 1/2 t leaf oregano
1 1/2 t white pepper
1/4 t black pepper
1 chicken bouillon cube
5 bay leaves
8 oz can tomato sauce
1 c water

Brown sausage in a skillet over medium heat. Drain fat and transfer to Crock-pot. Combine remaining ingredients in Crock-Pot. Cover and cook on low 8 hours or high 4 hours. Remove bay leaves. Serve over cooked rice. Serves 6-8.

I changed a few things out of necessity and convenience. This recipe makes A LOT of beans, so I didn't make the whole amount. I used dry beans instead of canned, and I omitted the celery and bay leaf since I didn't have any and don't like celery anyway. I really need to start reading the recipes better. I kept having to add water because the liquid kept cooking out of the sauce, but now I realize that I never added the water from the ingredients list. Oops.

It was good and cheap. Poverty stricken people can omit the sausage and have an even cheaper, flavorful meal.

And here is the actual magazine ad this came from. Someone is trying to sell it for $9.99. It's too bad my copy isn't in as good condition.

Eggplant Parmigiana

I decided to cook something outside of my comfort zone, and this was way out there. I had never cooked eggplant before, and I despise frying things. It turned out pretty well. Brian and I liked it fine. I don't know that I'll make it again, at least not the same way. If it didn't involve frying there would be more of a chance. The eggplant part wasn't bad at all, except that in some places it was getting seeds, and those places ended up a little mushy. I didn't know how to pick a good eggplant, so maybe that one was too old. It kind of reminded me of zucchini.

Here is the recipe from the Wednesday, Aug. 18, 1982 edition of The Forum, which I assume is the Fargo newspaper.

Eggplant Parmigiana

2 c basic tomato sauce (it has a separate recipe for tomato sauce which I did not make)
2 medium eggplant (about 1 lb each)
1 egg, beaten
1/4 c bread crumbs mixed with 1 T flour
Oil
8 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into thin slices
1/4 c Parmesan cheese

Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish and film bottom of dish with bout 1/2 c tomato sauce.

Wash eggplant and pat dry; cut into thick slices. Dip  each slice in beaten egg, then into bread crumb-flour mixture, coating both sides. Heat 1/8 inch of oil in heavy skillet, and saute eggplant slices, a few at a time, until golden brown on both sides. Drain.

Arrange eggplant slices in baking dish; stack them if there are too many to fit in one layer. Top with mozzarella cheese slices, remaining tomato sauce and grated Parmesan. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 20-25 minutes, until bubbling hot, Serve hot. This is very good accompanied by garlic bread and a tossed salad. Serves 8.


I only bought one eggplant since I didn't want 8 servings. I didn't think it would change the recipe all that much, but I don't know how big my eggplant was, so maybe it was 2 pounds worth after all. 1/4 c was definitely not enough bread crumbs. That covered maybe two slices of eggplant, and I had six slices. I really wanted to add some seasonings to the breadcrumb/flour stuff, but I refrained in the name of sticking to the recipe.

It's worth a try if you are feeling adventurous and don't mind your kitchen, hair, and belongings smelling like oil.

Sorry, no picture. I accidentally erased everything on the memory card. Oops.

Chocolate Cobbler

This recipe caught my attention when I looked through the pile. Once I read the recipe, it seemed very familiar...because it's almost identical to one of our favorite desserts, chocolate lava cake, also known as chocolate pudding cake. Think of chocolate cake or brownies on top of warm chocolate pudding or brownie batter.

We've made chocolate pudding cake many, many times. It is fast, you can mix it right in the baking dish, it takes normal ingredients, and it's so delicious. Please make it and enjoy the goodness we love and eat regularly. You won't be sorry.

Chocolate Cobbler 

from howsweeteats.com

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup milk

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup packed brown sugar

1-3/4 cups hot water

Preheat oven to 350.

In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder sugar and 2 tablespoons cocoa. Stir in milk and oil. Pour into a baking dish – I used an 8-inch oval. Combine the brown sugar and remaining cocoa and sprinkle over batter. Pour hot water over top (do not stir). Bake for 40-45 minutes.

photo by Jessica from How Sweet It Is

Again from Jessica

The recipe I make is this one, with the sugars cut down to 1/2 c each. And I always just mix it in the pan. Brian and I agree that although they are both good, the Allrecipes one is better since it makes more of the sauce/pudding. Now go and partake.

Anadama Bread

Even though this blog is about recipes Mom collected over the years, I got a pile of recipes that Dad tore out of newspapers or wrote down from other countries or such.  Somehow I got stuck with Coconut Balls.  Why would I ever in my right mind make that?  Jacob and I both detest coconut. So that recipe will never appear on this blog.  At least I didn't get the recipe for Corn Ice Cream. That was a recipe fail there.

Anyway, Anadama bread.  First seen in Rockport, Massachusetts.  It's characterized by molasses and corn meal.  Sounds tasty, so I was excited to make it.

Anadama Bread--source unknown--written exactly as Dad wrote it down.

Ingredients

1 Cup cold H2O
2/3 Cup corn meal
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbs butter
1/4 Cup molasses

1 Pkg dry yeast
1/2 Cup lukewarm H2O

3 Cups bread flour

Directions

1. Make cornmeal mush.
2. Stir in butter-molasses.

Add yeast in 1/2 Cup H2O 5 min.
Add to mush.
Add flour. 1 cup at a time.
Knead 10 minutes--punch down.
Bake 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

There were a few problems with this recipe.  First, the recipe said to punch the dough down.  But it didn't ever say to let it rise.  So I had to make up how much to let it rise.  Second, it was super wet.  Like VERY wet.  I looked up the recipe online and all the similar recipes said to cook the mush to thicken it.  Since I read that too late, I just had to add a bunch of flour.  But it was still good.  I also had to cook it longer than 45 minutes, because the outside looked great, then I cut into dough.  The slight sweet taste and texture of cornmeal won me over. 

Pumpkin Waffles with Orange Syrup

This is another breakfast recipe from Successful Farming. Good things Dad had a subscription so Mom could find a bunch of recipes; I have plenty more from it.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 T. brown sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 c. fat free milk
1 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 c. refrigerated or frozen egg product, thawed (we have none, but 2 eggs equals about 1/2 cup)
2 T. cooking oil
1 recipe Orange Syrup
1 orange, peeled and sectioned (optional)

Step 1: In a medium bowl stir together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Set aside.

Step 2: In another medium bowl combine milk, egg product, and oil. Add milk mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy).

Step 3: Pour about 3/4 cup batter onto grids of a preheated, lightly greased waffle baker. Close lid quickly; do not open until golden brown. Bake according to manufacturer's directions. When done, use a fork to lift waffle off grids. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve warm with Orange Syrup and, if desired, orange sections. Makes 10 servings.

Orange Syrup

In a small saucepan stir together 1 c. orange juice, 2 T. honey, 2 1/2 t. cornstarch, and 1/4 t. ground cinnamon. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Serve warm. Makes about 1 cup.

Nutrition facts per serving: 173 calories, 3 g fat, 1 mg cholesterol, 279 mg sodium, 31 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 5 g protein.

These waffles were fine. We both agreed that they were missing a little something, so Ben doctored them up after we had cooked 3 batches. He added more sugar and more spices and they tasted a lot better. We have struggled getting good waffles to come out of our waffle maker since we got it, and these were no different.

The syrup was good and added a lot to the waffles. Unfortunately, Little Chub had to eat the waffles plain due to the honey in the syrup. But, that didn't stop him any.

Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yep. Another cookie recipe form me.  I was going to make bread, but Jacob told me to make cookies instead.  So I did.

Since this is making recipes never before tried, I figured I need to make the recipe as written before changing them.  For these cookies it meant two things.

1.  Making way more cookies than two people need.  This makes a huge batch of cookies.

 2.  Literally making huge cookies.  The directions said to drop by quarter cupfuls onto a cookie sheet.  

Huge clumps of batter.  But very tasty.

 Sorry for the weird formatting, but I was too lazy to type it all in, so I copied and pasted from Allrecipes.

Ingredients 

• 1/2 cup butter, softened 
• 1/2 cup peanut butter   
• 1/2 cup white sugar  
• 2 eggs
  1 cup packed brown sugar
   
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup

• 2 tablespoons water  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract  
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups chopped semisweet chocolate

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the corn syrup, water, and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture. Fold in chocolate chunks. Drop by 1/4 cupfuls 3 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are golden. Allow cookies to cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Jacob gave them 9 stars out of 10.  He liked them better than the last peanut butter choco chip cookies I made.  They are very chewy, like the title says, which I like.  I even like the overdone ones, because they are chewy overdone cookies.  Next time I'll just half he recipe and drop by spoonfuls, not quarter cupfuls.

I promise a non-cookie recipe will be coming up from me soon.

Dilly Casserole Bread

Mary Murray sent this recipe to Mom back in the fall of 2007. In her email she said that her love of onions outweighed her not so much love of dill.


1 env. active dry yeast
1/4 c. warm water
1 c. cottage cheese
2 T. sugar
1 T. dried minced onion
2 T. butter, divided
2 t. dill seed
1 1/2 t. salt, divided
1/4 t. baking soda
1 egg, beaten
2 1/4-2 1/2 c. all purpose flour

Soften yeast in very warm water, about 110-115 degrees. COmbine cottage cheese, sugar, onion, one tablespoon butter, dill seed, one teaspoon salt, baking soda, egg, and yeast mixture in a medium bowl. Add flour to make a stiff dough. Cover and let rise until double in size. Punch dough down. Place in a greased 9"x5" bread pan. Let rise again fr 40 minutes or until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until golden. Brush with remaining butter, sprinkle lightly with remaining salt. Makes 1 loaf.

We loved this bread! Big Chub said it reminded him of bread he had in Italy (which he is always looking for). Little Chub kept wanting more. When we make it again we will probably shape it into rolls, only because it is easier for us to eat rolls than a loaf. The dough was really soft and had a very smooth texture, especially after it was baked. I think the baking soda and eggs contributed to that.

I cheated while making this recipe and just put everything in our bread make on the dough cycle. Once it was done mixing and rising, I took it out and put it in a loaf pan to bake. The one problem I had was that I used our smaller metal pan so there wouldn't be any cooking issues with our larger glass bread pans. The top of the loaf was way out of of the bread pan, but clearly that was my own fault.

On a side note, this letter was printed on the back of a letter/email that Mom wrote to me while I was on my mission. It was fun to see what was going on at the time Mom got this recipe. I guess it was fitting that I was the one who got to make this recipe.

Marble Bars

This recipe was from an ancient piece of notebook paper where Mom had copied down several recipes. They were okay. Imagine Texas sheet cake minus the frosting, plus a cream cheese swirl. They really weren't very chocolaty, and the cream cheese taste kind of got lost. The only change I made was that the recipe called for unsweetened baker's chocolate, and I substituted cocoa. I rate it a three star recipe. It was fine, but I don't know that I'll ever make them again.

The one awesome thing about these bars is that I thought I did an excellent swirling job, especially in that middle section. If you ever need to have a swirl in your dessert, let me know, and I'll come help you out.

Marble Bars

1/2 c margarine
3/4 c water
1 1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate squares (1 1/2 squares)
2 c flour
2 c sugar
1 t soda
1/2 t salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c sour cream

8 oz cream cheese
1/3 c sugar
1 egg

6 oz chocolate chips

Bring the margarine, water, and chocolate to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in flour, sugar, soda and salt. Add eggs, sour cream. Mix well. Pour in greased 15'' x 11'' jelly roll pan.

Combine cream cheese, sugar and egg. Spoon over chocolate batter. Cut through with knife to marble.

Sprinkle chocolate chips on top.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes.


Now that I typed the recipe in, I see that I missed the whole chocolate chip section when I made these things. Maybe that would add in some richness to the bars, but it would also add little hard chunks of chocolate. It definitely needs something else, though. Maybe some frosting would help.

Roasted Carrots

This was a nice simple recipe for a side dish. I give it four and a half stars.

1 pound baby carrots
2 T olive oil
1 t house seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder)
2 T butter
2 T chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Coat carrots with olive oil. Toss with house seasoning and place in 9x13 in. roasting pan. Roast until tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and toss carrots with butter and chopped parsley. Serves 6-8.

Since we don't buy baby carrots, I peeled and cut ours, and I used dried parsley. It was still very good

Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies

 This project has shown me Mom's priorities when it comes to food.  I have tons of dessert recipes in my pile, quite a few roll recipes, a just a handful of dinner recipes.  That must be where my genes came from. Except that Dad always keeps a stash of candy around.  I must have gotten a double dose.  So I love making all these cookie recipes.  This one has peanut butter in it, so not just your average choco chip cookie. 

Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 C white sugar
1/3 C packed  brown sugar
1/2 C butter
1/2 t vanilla
1 egg
1 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C rolled oats
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Drop by tablespoon on to lightly greased cookie sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes.

Results:
I had trouble with the baking part, they were either underdone or overdone and hard. Overall, they were pretty good.  I wish they were softer.  I dislike hard cookies and I think these were supposed to be kind of hard.  My husband liked them, but would have liked them softer.  We rate them a 4 out of 5 stars.

Grilled Asparagus Stromboli from King Arthur Flour

Saturday night we had this one for dinner before we headed to Stake Conference. It was pretty easy to make since the bread machine did the hard part. I roasted the vegetables in the oven. Big Chub liked it. Little Chub ate it. I thought it was fine. Next time, I'll definitely salt and pepper the vegetables more and maybe add some Parmesan cheese in with the mozzarella.

The dough was amazing! I'll definitely use it for all our future pizzas.

Stromboli dough

• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 7/8 to 1 1/8 cups warm water
• 2 tablespoons garlic oil (or olive oil)
• 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon Pizza dough flavor (optional but good)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt

Grilled Asparagus & Onion Filling

• 2 cups fresh asparagus
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 1 cup shredded cheese (mozzarella, provolone, or a blend)
• garlic oil or olive oil for brushing crust 

We had no garlic oil (I made my own version) and no pizza dough flavor (just left it out). I'm sure it wold have had more flavor if I did use it. I noticed on the King Arthur website, the recipe also includes artichoke hearts as an optional filling item. I assume it was added after this recipe was already printed back in 2010.

Paula's Ultimate Oatmeal Cookies

This recipe was copied from a cookbook (I assume a Paula Dean Cookbook). This is what she wrote about the recipe.

I created this recipe on my television show. I could have eaten the whole plateful myself--and I just about did!

I was not impressed with this recipe. I will probably never make it again. I didn't notice until I had started mixing it together that it makes about 5 dozen. We definitely do not need 5 dozen cookies sitting around our apartment. It is just calling for trouble. The dough also was more like a batter. It wasn't even close to being able to be nicely rounded. Then when they baked, they spread to form one huge cookie on the cookie sheet that was well-done (even at the shorter time length).

Now we have a tupperware full of crumbs and a few cookies that kind of turned out. They are still crispy after shortening the cooking time and adding some more flour to the dough.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
2 1/2 cups quick cooking oatmeal (not instant!)
1 cup raisins
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Brown Butter Icing:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3 cups sifter confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nostick baking mats.
2. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, shortening, and sugar at low speed until fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until the mixture is light in color. Add the buttermilk and mix to combine.
3. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. At low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold in the oatmeal, raisins, walnuts, and vanilla, blending well. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 1 1/2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
4. While the cookies are baking, make the icing: In a small saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Remove the saucepan from the heat; stir in the sugar and vanilla. Stir in enough water (3 to 4 tablespoons) to make an icing of drizzling consistency.
5. Remove the cookies to wire racks to cool. Drizzle with Brown Butter Icing while the cookies are still warm.

Pork Chops in Orange Sauce

In my recipe pile there is a whole Taste of Home magazine. That alone will give me plenty of options for future posts. For dinner tonight I made Pork Chops with Orange Sauce from the April/May 2008 edition of Taste of Home, submitted by Billie Moss from Walnut Creek, CA.

Ingredients

1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 boneless pork loin chops (6 ounces each)
3/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons sugar
6 whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cold water

Combine paprika and pepper; rub over both sides of pork chops. Brown chops in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray. Combine the orange juice, sugar, cloves and orange peel; pour over pork. Cover and simmer for 4-5 minutes or until a thermometer reads 145°. Remove chops and keep warm. In a small bowl, combine flour and water until smooth; stir into cooking juices. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Discard cloves. Serve sauce with pork chops. Yield: 4 servings.

We all really liked this one. I searched for the recipe online so I didn't have to type it all in, and I was astonished that it only had 3 stars on the Taste of Home website. I give it five stars, and I'll definitely make it in the future. It calls for boneless pork loin chops, but they are way too expensive. I didn't see regular pork chops at the store I went to, but I did find some thin cut boneless pork chops that were marked down for quick sale since they were expiring soon. I'm sure they were not 6 ounces each, but it still turned out fine. I usually have a problem with pork chops getting tough from overcooking, but simmering them with a lid on helped that. And I thought the flavors went well together, despite what mlblake says.

Southern Spicy Gingerbread

Mom brought me some recipes so I can contribute to the Cupboard Project. I looked through them and picked out some to start. In the recipe collection there was a booklet from Brer Rabbit Molasses. I chose to make the Southern Spicy Gingerbread.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup vegetable shortening

• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

• 2 eggs

• 3/4 cup BRER RABBIT Molasses, light or dark (I used dark, but I think light would be better)

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 2 tsps. baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 tsps. ground ginger

• 1 1/2 tsps. ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/2 cup boiling water

In bowl, with electric mixer, beat shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in molasses. Sift flour with baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Add flour mixture alternately with water to molasses mixture, blending well after each addition. Spread into greased 9 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack. Makes 9 servings.

I only give this recipe three stars, but it might need to be made again to get a fair rating. It wasn't one of my best cooking attempts. One major problem was that I only had a very small amount of ginger, and that's a problem when you're making gingerbread. Honestly, we couldn't taste the ginger at all. The bread also sunk in the middle, maybe because I opened the oven to check on it after 30 minutes. The edges cooked faster than the middle, so it was dry on the outside. The middle sunken part was nice and moist. Maybe if I had more ginger and adjusted the cooking instructions it would be a four star recipe.