Asparagus with Pasta

Wanted a quick dinner tonight. Decided to go through the fridge and freezer and see what I could come up with. I must say this pasta dish was just what I was looking for. It is light but quite satisfying and cooked up in no time. I had frozen quite a bit of local asparagus but fresh would have worked fine, too.

Asparagus with Pasta  

8 oz. uncooked pasta

1 T. butter

1 T. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces

Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Put pasta on to cook. While it is cooking saute onion in skillet in butter and oil until onion is wilted. Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Add asparagus and saute until asparagus in tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Drain pasta and toss into skillet with asparagus. Toss to combine, adjust seasonings. Sprinkle generously with cheese and serve. Serves 2.

Banana Bread

Since my grocery store had a lot of ripe bananas marked down I decided to take advantage and buy a bunch- well a few bunches! I made some banana and mashed and froze the rest of the bananas for use later. You can make it the regular way or do what I did and use some whole wheat pastry flour for part of the flour in the recipe. Adds some fiber and does not affect the taste or texture. Enjoy!!

Banana Nut Bread

1 ¾ c. flour

1½ t. baking powder

¾ t. salt

½ t. baking soda

2/3 c. sugar

1/3 c. butter, softened

2 eggs

2 T. milk

1 c. mashed ripe banana

¼ c. chopped nuts, optional

Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Combine sugar with butter and beat until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Beat in milk until mixture is smooth. Beat in flour mixture alternately with bananas. Fold in nuts, if desired. Pour batter into greased 9×5 -inch loaf pan. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 60-65 minutes. Use toothpick to test for doneness. Cool in pan 10 minutes before placing on rack to cool. Store in plastic wrap to preserve moisture. Makes 1 loaf.

Cream Wafers

These are a great cookie for showers., tea parties and the like. Delicate and rich they will melt in your mouth. The secret is the simple, rich dough consisting of just three ingredients: butter, cream and flour.

Cream Wafers

 1 c. butter

1/3 c. heavy whipping cream

2 c. flour

extra fine or granulated sugar

Frosting:

¼ c. butter, softened

¾ c. powdered sugar

1 T. milk

1 t. vanilla

food coloring, if desired. I sometimes add a few drops of pomegranate juice for a natural tint.

Mix butter, cream and flour well. Wrap and chill at least an hour. Roll chilled dough 1/8 inch thick on lightly floured board.  Cut out into 1½ inch rounds or even little hearts or stars. Transfer cookies to a sheet of wax paper heavily coated with extra fine or granulated sugar and coat both sides. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and  prick each cookie 4 times with a fork. Bake at 375-degrees 7-9 minutes until lightly browned and puffy. Cool on rack. Mix frosting ingredients. Put 2 cookies together with frosting to make “sandwiches”.

Ethiopian Chicken

With a mix of warm and sweet spices Ethiopian Chicken is full of rich flavor. Easy to make, too. You can make it with any cut of chicken. I used wings in this batch. Traditionally the chicken should be on the bone, but feel free to swap out boneless chicken, if you prefer. Just reduce the cooking time by 15 minutes.

Ethiopian Chicken

1 chicken, cut into pieces or 3-4 lbs. chicken pieces

1 T. paprika

1 t. each cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic powder, salt and ginger

1/2 t. allspice

1/4 t. cinnamon

1/2 c. flour

3 T. oil

2 large onions, sliced thin

1 c. tomato sauce or 2 c. stewed tomatoes

1 c. chicken stock

Combine spices with flour in a plastic bag. Add the chicken a few pieces at a time and shake to coat. Set aside. Add onion to hot oil in large skillet and cook until onions are browned. Add chicken pieces and brown on all sides. Add sauce and stock. Cover and simmer 35 minutes, adding water if sauce gets too thick. Serve with a cooked grain such as rice, millet, quinoa, wheat berries etc. This dish is also good served with lentils and cooked greens. Serves 4.

Brown chicken pieces

Add chicken stock

Add tomatoes and simmer

Peanut Butter and Jelly “Pies”

These are a lot of fun and a great way to make pb&j portable. Fun to take camping or on picnics.  Pie crusts are cut into small circles, filled with peanut butter and jelly, sealed and baked. You can use almond butter, if you prefer, and any kind of jelly or jam. Yummy!! Easy enough for kids to help, too.

PB&J Pies

1 (15 oz.) package pie crusts or homemade crust for 2 pies. I prefer homemade

¼ c. flour

1 egg

1 T. water

½ c. peanut butter

½ c. preserves, any flavor

Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400-degrees. On lightly floured surface roll out one of the crusts into a 12-inch circle. Using a 2½-inch round cookie cutter cut out about 12-14 circles, re-rolling scraps and set aside. Roll out second piece of dough so you will have about 24-28 circles altogether. Beat together water and egg and set aside. Place a circle on work surface and place 1 teaspoon each of peanut butter and preserves in the center. Brush edges of the circle with egg wash. Place second circle on top and press edges together to seal. Repeat with remaining circles. Place “pies” on lightly greased baking sheets and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack and dust with powdered sugar, if desired. 

Place peanut butter and jelly on the dough.

Brush edges with egg wash

Seal edges

Dust with powdered sugar, if desired

Tiramisu Doughnuts

Invented these when I was making doughnuts and wanted a twist on the jelly doughnuts I made with my parents as a kid. I bit of work but so worth the effort.

Tiramisu Doughnuts

Filling:

5 egg yolks

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. Marsala wine (not cooking wine)

1 c. whipping cream

2 T. sugar

1 lb. mascarpone cheese

Make zabaglione (egg custard). In double boiler, over simmering water, beat together egg yolks and sugar until lemon colored. Stir in Marsala and continue cooking, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and will mound on a spoon. This will take about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool down. You can place in bowl in fridge 30 minutes or so. Beat together whipping cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. Beat in mascarpone and chilled zabaglione. Chill 1 hour.

Dough:

4 c. flour

2 T. sugar

1 t. salt

½ c. butter

1 packet yeast

¼ c. warm water

2 t. sugar

1 c. evaporated milk

2 eggs, beaten

Combine flour with sugar and salt. Cut in butter and set aside. Dissolve yeast in warm water and 2 t. sugar and set aside. Combine milk with eggs. Stir in yeast mixture and add to flour mixture stirring well. On lightly floured surface knead dough until dough is smooth, about 5 minutes. Dough will be very sticky. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1½ hours.  Remove dough from bowl and punch down. Using about a third of the dough at a time roll dough out to about an ½ -inch thickness and cut out with a 2½ -inch biscuit  cutter. Re-roll scraps and cut out. You should get about 2 dozen. Place dough circles on a floured surface and cover with a towel until doubled, about an hour. Heat oil in a deep pan until it reaches 375 degrees. Cook doughnuts a few at a time until golden on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Drain on paper towels and cool before filling.

Note: You can also refrigerate the dough after kneading it if you would prefer. Just place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight. Roll and cut dough into doughnuts when cold from the fridge. Allow to rise, covered, until doubled in bulk, about 2-3 hours. Fry as directed.

Mocha Frosting

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

6 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

5 cups confectioners’ sugar

Mix together; instant coffee, milk, cocoa powder, butter or margarine, vanilla extract, and confectioners’ sugar until of spreading consistency.

Once doughnuts are cooled use a pastry bag with a narrow tube tip. Fill bag with filling and squeeze some into each of the doughnuts. Try to keep the filling near the middle and don’t over-fill or the doughnuts will split. Frost once finished. Refrigerate until ready to eat. Makes 24.

Cutting the doughnuts out

Fry until golden

Doughnuts cooling down

Insert cream filling

Dipped filled doughnut in Mocha Glaze

Freshly dipped Tiramisu Doughnuts

Handy decorating syringe used for filling the doughnuts

Lemon Meltaway Cookies

These are a great cookie. Light in both flavor and texture they are full of fresh lemon flavor.

Lemon Meltaways

Dough:

1 ¼ c. flour

¾ c. butter, softened

½ c. cornstarch

1/3 c. powdered sugar

1 T. lemon juice

1 t. grated lemon peel

Frosting:

¾ c. powdered sugar

¼ c. butter, softened

1 t. lemon juice

1 t. grated lemon peel

In large bowl combine all dough ingredients and mix well. Divide dough in half and roll each half into an 8- inch roll.  Wrap in plastic wrap and chill until firm, 1-2 hours. Slice chilled dough into ¼ inch slices and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 8-12 minutes, or until cookies are set, but not brown. Cool completely on a rack. Combine frosting ingredients and beat until light and fluffy. Frost cooled cookies. Makes 4 dozen.

Nutty Cole Slaw

I love cole slaw and enjoy it both as a salad and right on sandwiches. Playing around and came up with this variation which includes peanuts. I really enjoyed the crunch they added to the dish.I must confess, if I had cashews I would have used them instead, but the peanuts were great, too.  Ate some as a side and then decided to make  steak wraps with some of it. Yummy!!!!

Nutty Cole Slaw

6-8 cups finely sliced cabbage

2/3 c. mayo, you can add a little more if you like- I don’t like a lot of dressing on mine

1/4 c. cider vinegar

1/4 c. sugar

1 t. celery seeds

1/2 c. peanuts, or more

Place cabbage in mixing bowl. In a small bowl combine the rest of the ingredients, except the peanuts and stir until smooth. Pour over the cabbage and toss to coat. Chill. Add peanuts before serving.

Steak and  Cole Slaw Wrap

2 tortillas- I used whole wheat

4-5 oz. cooked steak, sliced thin

2-3 T. barbecue sauce

1 c. nutty cole slaw

Place tortillas on work surface. In small bowl combine steak with the barbecue sauce. Spread the steak along the center of the tortillas. Top each of the tortillas with half of the coleslaw and wrap them up. serves 2.

Steak and nutty cole slaw wrap