Recipe: Mambo Italian Hummus

Another version of Hummus with pine nuts Image via Wikipedia

From Denny: Folks from Lebanon moved to Louisiana a good 150 years ago, with some additions in the past few decades. Locals here love their Lebanese food as much as the Cajun cuisine and there are plenty of small family restuarants to prove it true!

Heidi Chustz, a local nutritionist recently featured in our local newspaper had this to say about the health benefits of cooking with fresh herbs:

• Mint — Soothes digestive tract and reduces the severity and length of stomach aches. The antifungal properties of mint are thought to play a role in the treatment of asthma and other allergy conditions. It may prevent some cancers such as colon, skin and lung cancer.

• Lemon grass — Studies have shown that lemon grass has antibacterial and antifungal properties. Mixed with pepper, it’s a home therapy for menstrual troubles and nausea. When drinking it as a tea, it can be an effective diuretic.

• Oregano — Known to have strong antibacterial properties.

• Parsley — Excellent source of some nutrients, such as vitamin C, vitamin A, folic acid and iron, that are important in preventing many diseases.

• Basil — Oil in basil has been shown to inhibit growth of several types of bacteria, many of which have become resistant to antibiotics. It is a good source of vitamin A and magnesium.

She does caution the following for those with compromised immune systems and old age:

"Anyone who is taking cardiac medications, diuretics, calcium channel blockers, blood pressure medications, psychotherapeutic medications, diabetes medications and certain over-the-counter medications to talk to their doctors, pharmacists and dietitians regarding possible drug-herb interactions."

Aside from that herbs are fabulous for your health and a tasty joy to add to your every day cooking!


Mambo Italiano Hummus

From: Rebecca Mason

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

2 cans cannellini beans

Juice of 1 large lemon

1/4 cup chopped parsley

2 tbls. chopped fresh oregano

1/3 cup chopped sun-dried tomato

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

Sprig of fresh oregano

Directions:

1. Purée beans in food processor until smooth; add lemon juice while processing beans.

2. Remove from processor and put in bowl and set aside.

3. Purée herbs and sun-dried tomato in processor. Slowly add oil until it makes a loose paste.

New Additions to Photo Blog Roll!

From Denny: "Can I tell ya?" Spent hours and hours this past weekend pouring over some awesome photo blogs, amateur and professional alike, sifting through them to place the BEST on my blog roll for you! There are about 70 choices now - around there, I lost count... :)

If you enjoy looking at photos and want to see what is going on in the photo blogosphere then this is a good place to start. My blog roll list is located at my photo blog, Visual Insights.

Talk about a wonderful way to while away a few hours with beautiful and thought-provoking photos! Take a look and enjoy! Go here.

Awwww Sniffle Sniffle Sigh Awesome Photos

From Denny: This is one of those endearing profound emails you receive every now and then. Thought I'd share with you these awesome pictures. Try making your own version of this idea of matching photos with meaningful words that strike a chord in your heart! Feel free to share this post with others to enjoy.

*****

The Real Meaning of Words

LOVE



SORROW



INNOCENCE



DEPARTURE



PAIN



SOLITUDE



RESPECT



COMPASSION



FRIENDSHIP



MUSIC



PATIENCE



RESCUED



BEST FRIENDS



DIVINE



"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning how to dance in the rain."

Recipe: Red Velvet Cake

Red Velvet Cake Image by Cheneworth Gap via Flickr

From Denny: Red Velvet Cake is total comfort food! (and a calorie monster too...) We love it in the South and have claimed it as our own since Time began. Read that as no one seems to remember when we discovered the cake and how it grew in popularity.

Have you been to the Canadian food site Joy of Baking? When I stumbled upon it recently, well, I almost fell out of my chair: laughing! The Canadians claim this cake as theirs too!

This is an excellent version of the cake recipe they have up on their site. You will want to return again and again to this site for some wonderful recipes well told! They give their recipes in American and metric measurements. For more of their tips and suggestions about this cake - worth the read - just click on the title link.

Here's an excerpt from their site about this cake:

"Sometimes it is hard to trace a recipe's origin. Take the Red Velvet Cake. There are many theories; some say it comes from the South, others say it originated in the North. But in actual fact all we really know is that it has been a favorite for decades, not only in the States but also in Canada (it used to be sold in Eaton's Department Stores).

It is a very dramatic looking cake with its unusual bright red color that is sharply contrasted by a creamy white frosting. A Red Velvet Cake is really a Devil's Food Cake that has red food coloring added to it. John Mariani tells us in his book "The Dictionary of American Food and Drink" that the name 'Devil's Food Cake' is so called "because it is supposedly so rich and delicious that it must, to a moralist, be somewhat sinful.""

Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients:

Red Velvet Cake:

2 1/2 cups (250 grams) sifted cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons (15 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk

2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring

1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon baking soda

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 1/2 (360 ml) cups heavy whipping cream

1 - 8 ounce (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature

1 - 8 ounce (227 grams) tub of Mascarpone cheese, room temperature

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup (115 grams) confectioners' (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted

Directions:

Red Velvet Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter two - 9 inch (23 cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.

In bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter.

Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the freezer for at least an hour. (This is done to make filling and frosting the cakes easier.)

Cream Cheese Frosting: In your food processor, or with a hand mixer, process the cream cheese and mascarpone cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar and process until smooth. Transfer this mixture to a large mixing bowl.

Then, in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. With a large spatula, gently but quickly fold a little of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture to lighten it. Then fold in the remaining whipped cream, in two stages. If the frosting is not thick enough to spread, cover and place in the refrigerator for an hour, or until it is firm enough to spread.

Assemble: With a serrated knife, cut each cake layer in half, horizontally. You will now have four cake layers. Place one of the cake layers, top of the cake facing down, onto your serving platter. Spread the cake layer with a layer of frosting. Place another layer of cake on top of the frosting and continue to frost and stack the cake layers. Frost the top and sides of the cake. Can garnish the cake with sweetened or unsweetened coconut

Makes one - 9 inch (23 cm) four layer cake.

Recipe: King Ranch Chicken Casserole

From Denny: Casseroles are comfort food. They are also usually cost effective. Retro is back in style these days and comfort food is no exception. Apparently, this casserole dates back to the 50's and 60's from a real ranch in Texas founded in 1853 by the name of King Ranch and they are eager to lay claim to the recipe.

In our grandmothers' day they made casseroles to use up tired over-cooked veggies warmed over too many times (Yuck!) Today we make casseroles from fresh ingredients and get this wonderful marriage of flavors!

Casseroles are great for cooking ahead for working parents or a large family to feed inexpensively. Even when there is just one or two people at home there are those casseroles you can make up ahead, place in smaller cooking containers, freeze and pull out as you require a meal. Some casseroles freeze well and others don't. When I do freeze a finished dish like this I usually do so BEFORE I bake it - tastes better, so is the texture.

You can make the original version or shave some calories using low-fat versions of the same tasty ingredients, your choice.

When I make biscuits from scratch I cut them out of the fresh dough, leave them unbaked, freeze them on a baking sheet and when frozen place them in a freezer quality ziplock bag. When we want biscuits I pull them out frozen, pop them onto a baking sheet and into a hot oven, and presto! yummy fresh biscuits! Casseroles work well on the same idea.

Any casserole with cheese can be a calorie monster so watch the portions unless Hungry Jack is coming for dinner at your house! Or 3 hungry teenage boys - in that case, dish out your portion and hide it before they know it exists... :)

King Ranch Chicken Tex-Mex Casserole

From: “Lone Star Legacy II” by Austin (Texas) Junior Forum

Ingredients:

1 (3- to 3 1/2-lb.) chicken or 3 to 3 1/2 lbs. chicken pieces (we like chicken breasts at our house)

1 large onion, chopped (we like red onions or Vidalia sweet onions)

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 (10 3/4-oz.) cream of mushroom soup (low-fat in our house)

1 (10 3/4-oz.) can cream of chicken soup (low-fat in our house)

8 ozs. grated Cheddar cheese (low-fat in our house)

1 (12-count) pkg. corn (not flour) tortillas (flour tortillas make it gooey and gummy disgusting. Corn tortillas are higher in calcium and hold up better to a firmer texture in a casserole situation.)

Chili powder (a lot of awesome chili powders from New Mexico!)

Garlic salt (I find garlic salt too much salt, we use garlic powder)

1 (10-oz.) can Ro-tel Original or Mild Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained (do NOT purchase the hot level as it intensifies in a casserole)

Instructions:

1. Boil chicken until tender in water with chopped onion, chopped celery, chopped bell pepper, and salt and pepper, to taste. Reserve stock, but remove chicken and vegetables. Cool slightly and cut chicken into bite-size pieces.

2. Combine soups and grated cheese. Just before assembling casserole, soak the tortillas in boiling stock for just a second. They will fall apart if you let them stay in longer. If they break up, layer them anyway.

3. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. (Because I can't stand preservatives in oil products, I use clarified butter, melted and brushed on with a pastry or basting brush, tastes better too! Can use unsalted clarified butter if you are worried about reducing the salt content.)

Start layering casserole in this order: first, half of the tortillas, half of the chicken and vegetables, and then sprinkle, to taste, with chili powder and garlic salt; and then half of the soup mixture. Repeat with another layer. ending with the soup mixture.

4. Next, cover the top of the casserole with undrained Ro-Tel Tomatoes & Green Chilies. Juices in the casserole should be about half the depth of the dish; if not, add a little more of the stock.

5. Bake uncovered in 350-degree oven for 30 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.

*****

A refreshing Ice Tea with fresh mint would go well with this!

Mint Iced Tea

From: “Southern Cocktails” by Denise Gee

Serves: 6 or more.

Mint Syrup:

Makes: about 1-1/2 cups.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

12 fresh mint sprigs

Instructions:

1. Combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Heat to a boil while stirring. Reduce the heat and continue to stir until the sugar dissolves.

2. Add the mint and set aside; cool to room temperature.

3. Pour the mint syrup through a strainer into a clean container and store in the refrigerator indefinitely.

Tea:

Water

Tea bags (we like Family-size Luzianne brand, awesome brand that especially developed a black tea for perfect iced tea every time, as no bitterness. If you don't have it in your area; order it on the internet; it's inexpensive and very tasty, worth the effort.)

Ice

Mint Syrup

Fresh mint sprigs, if desired

Instructions:

1. Make tea according to directions on the tea bag package.

2. Cool to room temperature. Put ice cubes in glass. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons Mint Syrup to glass. Add cooled tea to fill. Stir to mix. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs and serve.