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*** Want to learn how to make something you always buy prepared - but with lots of preservatives? It's so easy a Geico Caveman could do it!
From Denny: Do you ever get curious about making your own sandwich fillings like pimento cheese spread? Ever wondered just how your local grocery deli makes theirs? Get tired of navigating all those unpronounceable chemical names on the labels and want something better for your family?
Here in Louisiana we do have more than grocery store chains with big food companies making prepackaged foods. There are still those one-store Mom and Pop groceries that have been around for decades with a huge rockin' 'n' rollin' business bursting in the doors constantly.
Southern Living Magazine wrote up an easy step-by-step primer in their May issue on how to prepare your very own pimento cheese. Of course, this being Louisiana where we love our food to burst with flavor we like to add Tobasco or another brand of hot sauce to this recipe - like Louisiana Hot Sauce which is less vinegary and a bit milder. Hot sauce pairs wonderfully with any cheese dish.
When your weekend is fast-paced or you just want to opt out from a lot of cooking this is an easy recipe to whip up in large batches to keep everyone happy. All they have to do is snack on it with crackers, piled high on celery sticks or slather it on toast for a quick meal.
Note: Celery, like cucumber is a natural coolant for the body to help you in the summer heat.
Our Favorite Pimiento Cheese
From: May 2010 issue of Southern Living magazine
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup high-quality mayonnaise, such as Hellmann’s or Duke’s (Southern Living’s recipe called for 1-1/2 cups, but Karyn found that 1 cup was enough.)
1 (4-oz.) jar diced pimiento, drained
(Note from Denny: Or you can scorch until blackened your own ripe red bell peppers over an open flame, peel off the skin, and instant pimento without the jar. Easy to do when red bell peppers are overflowing in the markets during July and August.)
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. finely grated onion
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper (cayenne)
8 ozs. coarsely grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
8 ozs. finely shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
4 to 5 dashes of Tabasco sauce
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 1 cup chopped pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through. Stirring helps to ensure even browning. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, drained pimiento, Worcestershire sauce, grated onion and ground red pepper.
Mix the grated and shredded Cheddar into the mayonnaise mixture. Southern Living’s recipe calls for hand shredding and grating the cheese, but Karyn used pre-shredded/grated cheeses. Season with Tabasco pepper sauce to taste.
4. Stir in the cooled roasted pecans and combine until blended. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
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*** Healthy recipe, quick and easy to make in a flash to beat the summer heat - and it's beautiful for the eyes!
From Denny: Want to eat with your eyes along with your taste buds yet want to keep down those calories? This simple dessert is a winner and a refreshing ending to a light summer meal. Serve it in grand style in a martini glass so you get a 360 degree view of this pretty dessert.
It combines the fresh fruit of your choice, what's in season, along with quenching fresh orange juice, gelatin and a little fresh buttermilk.
Fresh fruit choices? Fresh orange segments, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, banana and kiwi - whatever you and your family enjoy the most. You could wait to garnish with the fruit and make this interactive fun, allowing guests to make their own fruit choices and then help you serve the dessert.
You have the option of placing some orange segments in the gelatin - or serve the fruit on top later - or both. The choices are endless.
What keeps the calories low is this dessert is made from sugar-free gelatin. The dessert is 60 calories before you add the fruit topping. And don't worry about using buttermilk as it is not noticeable while it gives body and creamy flavor to the dessert.
Orange Gel Dessert With Fresh Fruit
From: “Healthy Eating the Louisiana Way” Food Focus booklet, produced by The Advocate newspaper
Makes: 4 (1/2-cup) servings
Ingredients:
1 cup pure orange juice 1 (3-oz.) small box, sugar-free orange gelatin 1 cup buttermilk Fruit of your choice for topping Vanilla yogurt or Lite Cool Whip for topping, optional
Directions:
1. Heat orange juice to almost boiling, then add gelatin. Remove from heat and stir until dissolved. Cool to room temperature.
2. Add cold buttermilk. Stir thoroughly and pour into 4 glass cups or glasses.
3. Refrigerate and chill until firm.
4. Before serving, top with a spoonful of your favorite fruit and a small dollop of vanilla yogurt or whipped topping.
Note: A 1/2 cup is 60 calories (without the fruit and yogurt topping).
*** Photo by Richard Alan Hannon @ 2 the advocate - online Louisiana newspaper
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*** Another newly documented symptom of anemia to consider besides fatigue or weakness.
From Denny: Well, here's one thought we rarely give any time to pondering. Who ever thought wanting ice in your drink on a hot sweltering day could mean more than you are hot and thirsty?
Anemia afflicts millions of Americans every year. The most familiar symptoms, especially to younger women, are issues like fatigue and weakness that signal anemia may be the problem. Often, iron supplements are all that's required along with a mindful change in diet.
This fixation for ice, as a connection to anemia, is a new symptom recently studied. The medical community finds this craving for ice puzzling and has been documenting the craving as a sign of anemia for several years now. It's generally noted in the form of anemia known as iron deficiency anemia. Researchers still don't fully understand the link to ice and anemia. What they do suspect is that ice consumption alleviates mouth inflammation that occurs from iron deficiencies. They have named the compulsive consumption of ice as pagophagia. You know how doctors are, they like to give Latin names to obvious plainly named conditions that are a lot easier to understand.
There are documented cases of people who have gone undiagnosed with pagophagia that actually go through multiple bags of ice or trays of ice in one day alone. Their problem most often fades when they are treated with iron supplements. (Sickle cell anemia. a more severe form of anemia and genetically inherited, cannot be treated with iron supplements and is a far more serious form of anemia requiring constant medical monitoring.)
Northwestern University has conducted studies that reveal ice cravings are also a very common side effect of a type of weight-loss surgery known as Roux-en-Y (say it as ROO-on-why). This is a popular bypass surgery. The problem is that this also bypasses the very part of the intestine where iron and other minerals are absorbed by the body.
Studies, from the Mayo Clinic Proceedings of 2008, show that one-third of these bypass patients develop a B-12 or iron deficiency. The husband of one bypass patient, a 33-year-old woman, " I frequently observed her in the middle of the night with her head in the freezer eating the frost off the ice maker." Her craving subsided after transfusion and iron administration.
So, the next time you are craving ice, ask yourself two questions, "Am I getting enough iron in my diet? Did I forget to take my vitamin supplements lately?" The next time we all put ice in our drinks I bet a lot of us will be asking those questions.
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*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:
From Denny: Most doctors and lawyers want to be somewhere else and be someone else. This lawyer, cookbook author Warren Brown, wanted to bake, and bake he did! He came up with a great idea for a book to merge his love of eating cake and studying American history.
He has recipes featured in this food video segment that hail from Wyoming, Texas, Delaware and Illinois. He has cake recipes from all 50 states, from California to Connecticut. All his recipes are simple, easy to do for the home baker.
Preheat the oven to 335 degrees and place the rack in the middle position. Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with nonstick oil-and-starch spray.
Combine the ingredients for the filling in a bowl. Crumble them together with your fingers to break apart any clumps of brown sugar. Set aside.
Combine the ingredients for the topping in a bowl and press to combine with a fork or your fingers, or mix on low speed using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Set aside.
Combine the dry ingredients for the cake in a bowl; combine the wet ingredients in another bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, and brown sugar and mix on low speed for about 3 minutes.
Once the butter is creamed well, add the eggs one at a time. Use a flexible spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and mix until everything is thoroughly combined.
Alternately add the dry and wet mixtures about a quarter at a time without pausing between additions. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix on low for another 20 seconds.
Scoop half of the batter into the prepared pan, smooth it out, and sprinkle on the filling. Add the rest of the batter and smooth again. Sprinkle on the topping.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the cake bounces back when lightly pressed and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool the cake for 5 minutes before inverting it onto a plate and flipping it again so the streusel side is facing up. It’s also fine to serve it in the dish it’s baked in.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Honey and Raspberry Cheesecake
From: Chef Warren Brown
Ingredients:
Graham Cracker Crust:
Graham crackers 3 tablespoons Superfine granulated sugar 3/4 stick Unsalted butter, melted 1/4 teaspoon salt
Filling:
16 ounces cream cheese 16 ounces fresh goat cheese 1/2 cup superfine granulated sugar 1 cup crystallized or raw honey 4 eggs 1/2 cup sour cream 1/4 cup heavy cream 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/4 cup raspberry puree
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 300°F and place the rack in the middle position. Grease a 9-by-3-inch round pan and line the bottom with parchment.
Crush the graham crackers in a bowl or food processor into very fine crumbs.
Using a fork, toss all the crust ingredients in a bowl until evenly combined. Press the mixture firmly into the prepared pan.
Bake until fragrant, 10 to 12 minutes. Set aside to cool while you make the filling. Leave the oven on for the filling.
Place a roasting pan large enough to hold your cake pan in the oven and fill it about two-thirds of the way up with water.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cheeses on medium speed to break up and soften them.
Reduce the mixer to slow speed and add the sugar and honey in 2 additions each, beating until they dissolve, about 3 minutes total.
Add the eggs one at a time, allowing each to combine before adding the next.
Mix the sour cream, heavy cream, and vanilla together until smooth. Pour into the mixer slowly.
Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Drizzle up to . cup of the raspberry puree randomly on the batter and swirl it with your finger.
Gently set the cake pan in the water bath. Bake, uncovered, until the center of the cake is only slightly wobbly when the pan is shaken, about 1 hour.
Turn off the heat and leave the oven door ajar for 1 hour.
Remove the pan from the water bath and cool the cake for 4 hours, until it reaches room temperature.
Cover the cake tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, and preferably overnight. (Be sure you don’t have cut onions or garlic in the fridge—the cake will absorb the odor.)
Set the pan in warm water to loosen the cake. Run an offset spatula around the edge if necessary. Invert the cake onto a flat plate, then turn it right side up onto a decorative plate for serving. Smooth out any tears on the sides with an offset spatula. Add a cluster of raspberries to the top of the cheesecake if you like.
To make your own puree, combine 1 (10- ounce) package of frozen raspberries with 2 cups of sugar in a medium-size saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Strain the puree through a fine-mesh sieve and discard the seeds. Cool the puree completely before using.
Preheat the oven to 335 degrees and place the rack in the middle position. Line the bottoms of two 9-by-2-inch round pans with parchment.
Melt the chocolates, 1 ounce of the butter, and the half-and-half in a double boiler over steaming water. Once melted, remove the pot from the water and whisk to combine the ingredients. Set aside.
Measure the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside. Separate the eggs and set the yolks aside.
Combine 6 ounces of the sugar and the water in a saucepan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves.
Place 4 of the egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the wire whip attachment and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form. (Discard the 2 leftover whites or reserve them for another use.)
When the sugar syrup measures 240 degrees on a candy thermometer, drizzle it slowly into the meringue while the mixer is on high speed. Whip for another 20 seconds and then remove the meringue from the bowl and set aside.
Add the reserved yolks and 2 ounces of sugar to the mixer’s bowl and whip with the wire whisk — there’s no need to clean the bowl or whip. You can even leave the cooked meringue that’s stuck inside the whip. Whip on high speed until the yolks are pale yellow, about 2 minutes.
Reduce the speed to low and add in the remaining 4 ounces of butter. The yolk base will lose volume — that’s okay.
Alternately add the dry ingredients and the melted chocolate to the mixer about a quarter at a time without pausing for the ingredients to combine. Detach the bowl from the mixer and gently fold in the cooked meringue in two stages. It will be stiff at first. Use caution not to over mix it or you will deflate the batter.
Divide the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 22 to 24 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean and the top appears dry, soft, and flat. It will give slightly to a very light touch.
Cool the cakes for about 20 minutes, then run a metal offset spatula around the rim of each and invert the cakes onto a flat surface. Cool completely.
To assemble the cake, slice each cake in half horizontally with a serrated knife to create four layers.
Spread about 1 cup of frosting between each layer with an offset spatula and stack into a four-layer cake. Then pipe on the frosting with an open star tip to cover the top and sides of the cake, or just spread it lavishly with the spatula.
Texas Sheet Cake
From: Chef Warren Brown
Ingredients:
2 cups Superfine granulated sugar 1 1/2 cups All-purpose flour 1/2 cup Cocoa powder 1 teaspoon Baking soda 3/4 teaspoon Salt 2 sticks Unsalted butter, melted 2 Eggs 1 cup Milk 1/2 cup Buttermilk 1 tablespoon Brandy 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract Chocolate Pecan Icing 1 1/4 cups Pecans 1 stick Unsalted butter, room temperature 4 cups Confectioners’ sugar 1/4 cup Cocoa powder 1/2 cup Milk 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract Sugared Pecans 2 cups Pecans 2 tablespoons Honey 1 cup Superfine granulated sugar 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
Baking Directions:
Preheat the oven to 335°F and place the rack in the middle position. Grease a 12-by-2-inch round pan or 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
Measure the dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk to combine.
Combine the wet ingredients in a second bowl and whisk lightly to combine.
Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir well for about 20 seconds.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean and the top of the cake bounces back slightly when gently pressed.
For the icing, roast the pecans on a baking sheet for 4 to 5 minutes while the cake is baking. Remove the nuts from the oven, cool to room temperature, and chop.
Combine the butter, sugar, and cocoa powder in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Begin beating on low speed and then increase to high.
Slowly add the milk and vanilla and beat well. Stop the mixer and fold in the roasted pecans by hand. Set aside.
To make the sugared pecans, combine the ingredients in a bowl and mix well with a rubber spatula.
Roast the sugared pecans on a baking sheet, while the cake is baking, until crisped and fragrant, approximately 10 minutes. Remove the nuts from the oven and cool on a heat-resistant surface before using.
Cool the cake completely before spreading the icing onto the top using a flexible spatula. (If you prefer, you can turn the cake out onto a tray, but it’s fine to leave it in the dish.) Add the sugared pecans across the top, pressing them slightly into the frosting.
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
