The Charmed Kitchen

I got a special request for this recipe. So here it is. I didn’t get a picture of them last night- the class ate them too quickly!!! Enjoy Sarah!

Orange Upside Down Biscuits

¼ c. butter

½ c. sugar

½ c. orange juice

2 t. grated orange rind

2 c. flour

1 T. baking powder

1 t. salt

¼ c. shortening

¾ c. milk

4 T. butter, melted

¼ c. sugar

1 t. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter in 8-inch square pan in oven. Add sugar, orange juice and rind and stir. Stir together flour, powder and salt. Cut in shortening to resemble coarse crumbs. Stir in enough milk to make soft dough. Knead about 20 strokes and roll or pat dough into a 6 inch square (about 1/4 inch thick). Brush with melted butter. Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the butter. Roll dough up jellyroll fashion and pinch seams to seal. Cut into 12 slices (1/2 inch thick) and place in pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Invert on plate to serve. Makes 12 rolls.

We had such a wonderful time in Mentor last night doing some Easter Baking. Lemon Cookies, Orange Upside Down Biscuits, Honey Bunnies, Hot Cross Buns and Easter Egg Biscotti. Here are some pictures from last night. Hot Cross Buns are always a favorite. Here is the recipe.

Hot Cross Buns

 2/3 c. sugar

1 t. salt

2 packages active dry yeast

About 5 cups bread flour

1 ½ c. milk

½ c. butter or margarine

2 eggs

1 c. raisins

Icing

¾ c. powdered sugar

1 T. milk

In bowl combine sugar, salt, yeast and about 1 ½ c. flour. Heat together milk and butter until very warm. Beat milk mixture into to flour mixture and beat 2 minutes with electric mixer. Beat in 1 egg and 1 cup flour and beat 2 more minutes until batter thickens. Stir in raisins and enough additional flour to make a soft dough. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top, cover with a towel and allow to rise in a draft free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Place dough on floured surface and divide into 15 equal pieces. Cover with towel and lest rest 15 minutes. Meanwhile grease a 9×13 inch pan. Form dough into smooth balls and place in prepared pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat remaining egg. Cut a cross in each bun and brush with the egg. Bake for 25 minutes or until buns are golden. Remove buns to wire rack to cool 15 minutes. Make frosting, place in decorating bag and pipe onto buns. Makes 15.

My nephew Danny really liked this so I promised to get the recipe to him. Thought I would share it with you, too. This far into the challenge of not going to the grocery store I have to deal with the ingredients I still have around. Managed to make a pretty yummy and healthy soup with what was on hand. I’m calling it Smoky Vegetable Soup- but  I really just call it Orange Soup. Since the soup is going to be pureed you don’t have to be too fussy about chopping things up in even pieces. Rustic works here just fine. Had it Saturday night with a little cheese on top.

Smoky Vegetable Soup

1 T. oil

1 onion, chopped

4 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 small cauliflower, cut up – I had some in the freezer

1- 1 1/2 lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut up

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 can, about 14-16 oz. stewed tomatoes

6-8 cups  vegetable or chicken stock

1 lb. fully cooked turkey smoked sausage unsliced

1 T. Tuscan Seasoning- recipe follows

In soup pot saute the onions until tender and just getting brown. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the seasoning and cook, covered, until vegetables are  really tender, about an hour. Add seasoning and remove the sausage. While the sausage cools down a little puree the soup. I use an immersion blender so I can puree it right in the pot. If you have to puree the soup in a blender do it in small batches. Since the soup will be very hot use a towel to cover the blender- the soup will splash because it is hot. Be careful. Once the soup is pureed you can slice the sausage and return it to the soup. If the soup is too thick for your taste feel free to add more stock. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve. Serves 6-8.

Tuscan Seasoning

½ c. dried basil

½ c. dried oregano

½ c. dried marjoram

3 T. dried minced onion

2 T. dried minced garlic

2 T. dried rosemary

2 T. dried parsley

1 t. crushed red pepper

Use this blend in tomato sauce or other Italian dishes. Also, you can add to vinegar and oil with a little salt, if desired, to make a quick salad dressing.

Starting my 3rd month of no trips to the grocery store. Entertaining always the biggest challenge. Hosting my nephew Danny, from Michigan and one of his college friends. On the menu- homemade pizza. We all run for take out so easily but home made pizza is not that hard to make and you can really personalize the toppings. We will be have sausage and pepperoni pizza and an artichoke and spinach pizza.  I have plenty of canned tomatoes so I made sauce yesterday and I had mozzarella cheese and topping ingredients in the freezer. Stop by if you want a slice. 🙂

Homemade Pizza

1 packet active dry yeast

1 t. sugar

1 2/3 c. warm water

4-4½ c. flour

2 t. salt

3 c. pizza sauce

16 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

Cornmeal

Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1/3 c. of the water. Whisk in 2 tablespoons of the flour and let stand until bubbly, about 10 minutes.  Add remaining water to yeast mixture. Stir in salt and 3 cups of flour. Stir until soft dough forms. Place dough on floured surface and knead until stretchy and smooth, about 10 minutes. Allow dough to rest 3 minutes and knead a few more times. Place in bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Punch dough down. Divide dough in half and roll each half into a 12-inch circle. Dust back of baking sheet with cornmeal and place dough on cornmeal, pressing down a little. Slice dough off sheet and onto a clean baking sheet. Place half of the remaining ingredients on the dough and repeat with remaining half of dough. Add more toppings, if you like and bake in a preheated 450-degree oven for 13-15 minutes. Cool a few minutes before cutting. Makes 2 pizzas.

Been busy tonight baking bread. I decided to make Swedish Limpa. It is one of my favorites. I thought you might like to make some, too. It will be one of many recipes we’ll be trying in my Easter Baking cooking class at Wildwood in Mentor on Tuesday night.

Swedish Limpa

 6 ½ c. flour

2 c. rye flour

¼ c. brown sugar

2 t. salt

2-t. caraway seeds

2 t. grated orange peel

2 pkt. Active dry yeast

2 T. margarine, softened

2 2/3 c. hot water (125-130 degrees)

Set aside 1-cup flour. Mix remaining flours and other dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add margarine and water to flour mixture and stir to blend. Mix in enough additional flour to make a soft dough. Knead on a floured surface until smooth about 8-10 minutes. Place dough in oiled bowl turning to oil top. Cover and let rest in a draft free area until doubled, about 30 –40 minutes. Punch down. Divide dough in half and form into 2 balls. Place on greased baking sheet and cover until doubled in bulk, about 30 –40 minutes. Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for 30 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped lightly. Makes 2 loaves.

Note: you can also divide the dough in 2 9×5-inch greased loaf pans.

This message came to me from my sister Cindy Morgner, who is recovering after knee surgery.

She calls it- A different kind of challenge.

Hi Sis,

Well I’m sitting here like the queen of the place while others wait on me. Sarah and Keith were here last weekend and fixed/brought food. A number of friends from church have also stopped by with various food items, so it’s been easy on both of us. I am allowed to do “about 10 minutes of KP” at a time, so I can do a few things and Bob takes care of clean-up, etc.

As I get near to 8 weeks of not going to the grocery store things are getting more challenging. Particularly when entertaining. I had company for dinner tonight and decided to make a picnic meal for this chilly February evening. Dinner included cole slaw- from my last head of cabbage, breaded chicken with a cranberry, blackberry and pineapple juice sauce, cornbread with Monterey Jack cheese baked beans and a marinated mixed vegetable salad.  I had to rely on the freezer and pantry but things turned out well.

Special thanks to Shelly, Jim, Caroline and Sue for the company and for being such good sports.

The salad was a big hit. I used a can of artichoke hearts, black olives, celery, a red sweet pepper, that I had diced and frozen, frozen green beans and lentil sprouts.  For the dressing I used olive oil, red wine vinegar, Tuscan seasoning and salt and pepper.

Earlier today I was cooking rice for a program I have tomorrow. Got a call and forgot about the rice. It was overcooked and I knew I’d have to cook more for tomorrow. The problem is I just didn’t want to toss the rice I had overcooked. Talking with my friend Sue and she suggested rice pudding. Brilliant. Since I have company for dinner this Saturday I am gong to turn this mistake into dessert. Don’t have an exact recipe but I will just mix the rice with milk, eggs and sugar. Toss in some cinnamon and vanilla and we will be good to go. I guess the lesson here is not to be too quick to through it away. I am not talking about food that is left out too long or my be spoiled but food that may need to be re-purposed. Use your imaginations and find a way to save it and use it. I’d like to hear ways you use food creatively that otherwise might be tossed.

I found myself with a very sluggish kitchen drain last week in the middle of a very busy day. My pipes under the kitchen sink are fairly new but they are plastic. I never feel right using strong drain cleaners on them. Always like to find a less toxic alternative. I used a combination of baking soda and vinegar and it did the trick. The drain was not completely clogged but really slow. I let the water drain out. Plunging had helped with that. Then I sprinkled baking soda in the drain. I followed that up with a couple of cups of plain white vinegar. It bubbled like crazy and made promising gurgling noises. I waited 15 minutes and flushed the drain with very warm water. Still slow, but better. I let the water drain and repeated the process. The second time resulted in a drain that is well, draining. Good as new. Lost cost, non-toxic, too.

I tried this once on a bathroom sink. When I added the vinegar it bubbled up as expected. What I didn’t expect was a rubber washer in my sink. Some weeks before I had put a new washer in the hot water tap. While  getting ready a washer had faller down the drain. I had forgotten about it. When I added the vinegar to the baking soda weeks later it bubbled right out of the drain..

I would love to hear any of your eco-friendly home remedies.

Mardi Gras

      Louisiana and New Orleans have a rich tradition that involves some of the best cooking in the world. There are two styles of cooking that the area is famous for, Cajun and Creole. They are similar in that they both took advantage of what was available including rice, seafood, chicken pork and peppers, but there are differences.

Cajuns are of French dissent. Cajuns, from France originally, were living in Nova Scotia and then migrated to Louisiana when the British drove them out in the mid-1700’s. They lived as they had lived in Canada, off the land. They settled largely along waterways and survived by trapping, hunting and fishing. Cajun style cooking is considered country or home style and is solely French in its roots.

Creole cooking specifically developed in New Orleans. During it’s early history the flags of seven different countries flew over New Orleans at various times. Creole is a mix of all these cuisines including French, Spanish, Italian, Native American, African-American and others. As each new group came in the cooks tended to remain. Their skills were highly prized and as they learned to cook for an unfamiliar culture old recipes and techniques would stay. Creole is considered more refined and sophisticated. Where Cajun is country, Creole is definitely city cooking. Whatever the differences, both styles of cooking are wonderful and worth enjoying even if you aren’t in New Orleans.

Creole Spice

1 t. each black, red and white pepper

½ t. thyme

¼ t. dry mustard

¼ t. mace

1 bay leaf, crumbled fine or powdered

Combine all ingredients and store in a cool, dry place. Use sparingly, it is HOT!

Creole Seafood Seasoning

3 T. paprika

3 T. dried minced onion

2 T. salt

2 T. dried minced garlic

1 T. freshly ground black pepper

1 T. cayenne pepper

1 T. dried thyme

Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container. Great on all types of seafood including shellfish.

Cajun Seasoning

2 T. paprika

2 T. dried thyme

1 T. garlic powder

1 T. dried celery leaves, or dried parsley

1 T. celery seeds

1 T. salt

2 t. cayenne

2 t. freshly ground black pepper

2 t. ground white pepper

Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container.  Great in all sorts of dishes including rice and meat dishes.

  Creole Jambalaya

1 lb. smoked sausage, sliced into 1-inch pieces

1 c. chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 c. oil

2 c. cubed uncooked chicken

3 c. water

1 1/2 c. uncooked rice

1 16 oz. can tomatoes

2 T. instant chicken base or 6 bouillon cubes

2-3 t. paprika

Cayenne pepper to taste

Black pepper to taste

1/4 t. ground turmeric

1 lb. medium shrimps, peeled and de-veined, uncooked

1 1/2 c. frozen peas

1/2 c. chopped red pepper

1 lb. mussels, optional

In Dutch oven cook sausage, onion and garlic in oil until onion is tender. Add remaining ingredients, except shrimp, peas, sweet red peppers and mussels. Bring to a boil, turn down to simmer and cook 20 minutes. Stir in shrimp, and peppers, cover and cook 10 minutes. Stir in peas and stick in mussels, if desired. Cover and cook 5 more minutes. Discard any mussels that have not opened in 5 minutes. Serves 8.

Roux

Roux is the basis for many dishes in New Orleans cooking. It is a mixture of some sort of fat like butter or oil and flour cooked together and used to thicken sauces. It is the same method for making a white sauce. The difference is that in Cajun and Creole cooking the roux is cooked until it starts to turn color, often until it gets so dark it will almost looked burned. Adds a rich flavor but be careful not to burn it as it will ruin the dish.