I know I've been posting a lot of recipes lately, but for some reason I have really been in a "cooking mood" as my Mama would say. Since I always love to try new recipes I thought maybe some of you would too.
This is a recipe I got from my sister-in-law years ago and it's one of my husbands favorites. I don't make it very often because it's a little sweet for the rest of the family, but my husband loves it, so I do make it on occasion.
Pineapple and Ham Casserole
4 large cans pineapple tidbits, drained (save the juice)
2 cups shredded sharp cheese
2 cups sugar
12 tablespoons flour
2 cans chopped ham
Ritz cracker crumbs
2 sticks butter
Spray baking dish with non-stick spray and mix first two ingredients together and pour into baking dish. In separate bowl, blend with spoon 12 tablespoons pineapple juice and 12 tablespoons flour and 2 cups sugar. Pour over tidbits and cheese. Sprinkle 2 cans chopped ham over pineapple mix. Cover with Ritz cracker crumbs. Melt 2 sticks butter and pour over cracker crumbs. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 or 30 minutes.
You can substitute any ham that you may have on hand. It will take about 2 cups. We use gluten free pretzels crushed in place of ritz crackers to make this recipe gluten free. You can also use less butter than the recipe calls for or a butter substitute if you like.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Breakfast Casserole
I have a large 3-ring binder that I use to keep a copy of our favorite family recipes. I type up the recipe and place it in a plastic page protector and put in the binder, which I have divided into catergories. That way, anytime I want a recipe I can pull it from the binder and don't have to worry about spills or splashes, because the plastic cover wipes clean easily.
While looking through my binder recently I ran across this recipe for Breakfast Casserole. I haven't made it in a long time, but I think it will be on the menu soon.
Breakfast Casserole
6 slices bread (I use gluten free)
6 eggs beaten
2 cups milk (can use rice milk, soy milk, etc.)
1 pound sausage
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
Butter bread lightly and place in greased 9 x 13 pan and set aside. Brown sausage and drain. Sprinkle sausage over bread and sprinkle cheese over sausage. Combine eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Pour over cheese. Cover and chill overnight. Remove from refrigerator 15 minutes before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until set.
Additional things that can be added are chopped spinach, onion, garlic, bacon or ham in place of sausage, chopped broccoli, shredded carrot, etc. You can also top it with a fresh tomato slice and a little sour cream and salsa. I have never frozen this so I don't know if it freezes well or not.
While looking through my binder recently I ran across this recipe for Breakfast Casserole. I haven't made it in a long time, but I think it will be on the menu soon.
Breakfast Casserole
6 slices bread (I use gluten free)
6 eggs beaten
2 cups milk (can use rice milk, soy milk, etc.)
1 pound sausage
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
Butter bread lightly and place in greased 9 x 13 pan and set aside. Brown sausage and drain. Sprinkle sausage over bread and sprinkle cheese over sausage. Combine eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Pour over cheese. Cover and chill overnight. Remove from refrigerator 15 minutes before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until set.
Additional things that can be added are chopped spinach, onion, garlic, bacon or ham in place of sausage, chopped broccoli, shredded carrot, etc. You can also top it with a fresh tomato slice and a little sour cream and salsa. I have never frozen this so I don't know if it freezes well or not.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Fried Dandelions
Since Spring is almost here, I thought I would share a "different" kind of recipe with you. Last year was my first time to try these and I was pleasantly surprised by how good they were. Dandelions are very good for you. If you research them you will find that they are high in Vitamin C and also good for other things like the liver. Anyway, we seem to have a natural abundance of them around here and so rather than kill them, I decided to put them to good use. The first year I made Dandelion syrup which was very good. It tasted a lot like honey, but it didn't last long before it became granulated, so instead of syrup I decided to make Fried Dandelion Blossoms last year.
RECIPE
Step one: Go into your yard (or your neighbors if they don't mind :) and gather as many Dandelion blossoms as you think your family will eat. You are looking for the yellow flowers, not the white puff balls :)
Step two: Rinse them in cool water. Handle them gently and don't let them stay in the water very long, because they will start to close on you and you need them to be open.
Step three: Lay them on paper towels and gently pat dry and begin heating your oil for frying.
Step Four: Lightly batter them just like you would okra, squash, or green tomatoes. Since my son is gluten free I use cornstarch and salt & pepper. If putting them in a milk & egg mix before coating remember to handle gently.
Step Five: Fry them until they are golden brown, remove from heat, and drain on a paper towel.
Step Six: Eat and enjoy!
My children were very skeptical about this and thought I was crazy for feeding them "grass", but I persuaded each one of them to give it a try. Everyone of my children (even the most skeptical) ate several of them and actually thought they were good. The taste really isn't that much different from fried okra. If you use older, bigger blossoms there may be a slight hint of bitterness, but I really didn't notice it much and probably wouldn't have noticed it at all if I were not really paying attention to every detail so that I could argue (I mean persuade ;) my children into trying them. They did not seem to notice any bitterness at all.
There are other ways that you can enjoy Dandelions this spring. In addition to frying the blossoms you can also eat them raw in a salad. The greens (when picked young and tender) are also good in a salad or cooked as you would turnip greens. (The older leaves will be bitter.) Look them up on the internet and you will find all kinds of interesting recipes and nutritional information. Hope you get the opportunity to give Dandelions a try at your house this spring. I definitely plan to.
RECIPE
Step one: Go into your yard (or your neighbors if they don't mind :) and gather as many Dandelion blossoms as you think your family will eat. You are looking for the yellow flowers, not the white puff balls :)
Step two: Rinse them in cool water. Handle them gently and don't let them stay in the water very long, because they will start to close on you and you need them to be open.
Step three: Lay them on paper towels and gently pat dry and begin heating your oil for frying.
Step Four: Lightly batter them just like you would okra, squash, or green tomatoes. Since my son is gluten free I use cornstarch and salt & pepper. If putting them in a milk & egg mix before coating remember to handle gently.
Step Five: Fry them until they are golden brown, remove from heat, and drain on a paper towel.
Step Six: Eat and enjoy!
My children were very skeptical about this and thought I was crazy for feeding them "grass", but I persuaded each one of them to give it a try. Everyone of my children (even the most skeptical) ate several of them and actually thought they were good. The taste really isn't that much different from fried okra. If you use older, bigger blossoms there may be a slight hint of bitterness, but I really didn't notice it much and probably wouldn't have noticed it at all if I were not really paying attention to every detail so that I could argue (I mean persuade ;) my children into trying them. They did not seem to notice any bitterness at all.
There are other ways that you can enjoy Dandelions this spring. In addition to frying the blossoms you can also eat them raw in a salad. The greens (when picked young and tender) are also good in a salad or cooked as you would turnip greens. (The older leaves will be bitter.) Look them up on the internet and you will find all kinds of interesting recipes and nutritional information. Hope you get the opportunity to give Dandelions a try at your house this spring. I definitely plan to.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Homemade Gluten Free English Muffins
Anyone that has ever tried a gluten free biscuit knows that they just "ain't the same" as a "real" biscuit. Even though I have always made my biscuits from scratch when Bisquick came out with a gluten free biscuit mix I decided to give it a try. Well, if you're not thinking of them as an old fashioned biscuit they really aren't bad, but who can afford to buy the stuff? Like most gluten free, pre-packaged items it's expensive. I decided that I needed an alternative for my sweet son that absolutely loves bread. Giving up "good" homemade bread has been the hardest part of being gluten free for him.
Fortunately, over the last couple of years I have played around in the kitchen enough that we have come up with some pretty good breads that he is pleased with. Yesterday was another example. I've always liked to have breakfast foods cooked and in the freezer simply because I'm not a morning person and cooking breakfast is just "not my thing". In addition to fruit and cereal, the rest of my family has a choice of muffins, pancakes, and breakfast sandwiches. Caleb, due to being gluten free, has been stuck pretty much with fruit, muffins and pancakes because we had not found a good biscuit or English muffin substitute. Yesterday I decided it was time to experiment again and I came up with a very good English muffin and it seems to work quite well as a breakfast sandwich, even after being frozen. I found the recipe on http://www.iamglutenfree.blogspot.com/ and adapted it a little bit. I am very pleased with the result. Instead of using the flour blend she has listed I used one that I keep on hand. It uses basically the same ingredients, but mine doesn't have potato starch and sometimes it has brown rice and sometimes it doesn't depending on what I have on hand when I mix it up. It worked great though and the muffins were delicious. My cooking time was a little bit longer as well. *I don't have muffin tin rings so I used foil to make little pans to bake them in.
Gluten Free English Muffins
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 brown rice flour
1/4 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup potato starch
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. salt
1 scant tsp. quick rise yeast
1 tsp. cooking oil
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp. warm water
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray muffin tin rings with nonstick spray and dust with rice flour.
Mix dry ingredients in bowl of mixer. Add oil and water and mix until just blended, scraping down the sides to make sure you incorporate all of the dough. Then beat on high for another two minutes. Spoon dough into tin rings. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Bake for 15 minutes. Be prepared: they will not be browned on the top, but they will be browned on the bottom.
IMPORTANT: Let cool before splitting and eating (delicious toasted or untoasted).
*When Caleb first had to go gluten free I learned to make hamburger buns for him. Since I didn't have any pans the right size my Dad made me a wooden mold the same diameter and depth of a hamburger bun. I take foil and fold it over the round mold and up the sides to make individual pans. Spray them with cooking spray and they work great!
Fortunately, over the last couple of years I have played around in the kitchen enough that we have come up with some pretty good breads that he is pleased with. Yesterday was another example. I've always liked to have breakfast foods cooked and in the freezer simply because I'm not a morning person and cooking breakfast is just "not my thing". In addition to fruit and cereal, the rest of my family has a choice of muffins, pancakes, and breakfast sandwiches. Caleb, due to being gluten free, has been stuck pretty much with fruit, muffins and pancakes because we had not found a good biscuit or English muffin substitute. Yesterday I decided it was time to experiment again and I came up with a very good English muffin and it seems to work quite well as a breakfast sandwich, even after being frozen. I found the recipe on http://www.iamglutenfree.blogspot.com/ and adapted it a little bit. I am very pleased with the result. Instead of using the flour blend she has listed I used one that I keep on hand. It uses basically the same ingredients, but mine doesn't have potato starch and sometimes it has brown rice and sometimes it doesn't depending on what I have on hand when I mix it up. It worked great though and the muffins were delicious. My cooking time was a little bit longer as well. *I don't have muffin tin rings so I used foil to make little pans to bake them in.
Gluten Free English Muffins
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 brown rice flour
1/4 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup potato starch
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. salt
1 scant tsp. quick rise yeast
1 tsp. cooking oil
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp. warm water
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray muffin tin rings with nonstick spray and dust with rice flour.
Mix dry ingredients in bowl of mixer. Add oil and water and mix until just blended, scraping down the sides to make sure you incorporate all of the dough. Then beat on high for another two minutes. Spoon dough into tin rings. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Bake for 15 minutes. Be prepared: they will not be browned on the top, but they will be browned on the bottom.
IMPORTANT: Let cool before splitting and eating (delicious toasted or untoasted).
*When Caleb first had to go gluten free I learned to make hamburger buns for him. Since I didn't have any pans the right size my Dad made me a wooden mold the same diameter and depth of a hamburger bun. I take foil and fold it over the round mold and up the sides to make individual pans. Spray them with cooking spray and they work great!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)