Chinese Takeout at Home

I love Kraft Food & Family Magazine.  The recipes are almost always good and easy to prepare.  My family likes Chinese takeout occasionally but I decided to try my hand at it.  When I saw this recipe I thought I would give it a try.  Everybody loved it and even had seconds.  Matt said he was taking the leftovers to work :)

Simply Sensational Stir-Fry

1 env. GOOD SEASONS Zesty Italian Dressing Mix

1/4 cup  orange juice

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1/4 cup  oil

1 lb. lean boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into strips

1 pkg.  (16 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed

2-1/2 cups hot cooked brown rice

Make It

MIX dressing mix, juice, soy sauce and oil until well blended.

HEAT large skillet on medium-high heat. Add meat and 1 tablespoon of the dressing mixture; cook 4 to 5 minutes or until meat is cooked through.

ADD vegetables and remaining dressing mixture; cook and stir until vegetables are crisp-tender. Serve over rice.

SUBSTITUTE

Substitute boneless skinless chicken breasts or pork loin for beef sirloin.

We are going camping this weekend so I am looking for some good recipes to try.  Our camping is not the usual hot dogs & hamburgers.........  We usually have a theme for the Memorial Day Camp-out and this year it is recipes that use "pop or soda" in the recipes.  I will report back what we used in another post.  I did though come up with this recipe for a Picnik Layered Salad I am going to try for lunch one day.  With some crusty bread this will be great.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups lettuce, shredded
• 1 (16 ounce) bag broccoli slaw mix
• 2 cups carrots, shredded
• 1 (15 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, cubed
• 2 cups plum tomatoes, chopped ( I used the Flavorino tomatoes from Lou's)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup ranch dressing (your favorite..fresh or bottled)
• 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning

Directions:

Prep Time: 30 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

1.  In a 5 to 6 quart clear glass bowl, layer lettuce, broccoli slaw mix, carrots, bell        pepper, beans, cheese and tomatoes.
2.  In small bowl, mix mayo, dressing and Italian seasoning. Spread over top of salad.
3.  Sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to 8 hours.
4.  If desired toss before serving.

Happy Easter

It has been awhile since I have blogged.  It seemed like the month of April flew by.  Leon and I have been busy but have tried a few more new recipes.  We had our parents over on Sunday  last week to attend Daira's last music concert.  We decided to try my favorite Italian meal........ Chicken Picatta for dinner.  It turned out great and Rosie ( Leon's mom) had never had it before.


Chicken Piccata
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Prep Time:15 minInactive Prep Time:--Cook Time:25 min
Level:Easy
Serves:4 servings
Ingredients:
2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and then cut in half
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups all purpose flour, for dredging
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed

Directions:
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

In a large 10 or 12-inch skillet over medium high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add 2 pieces of chicken and cook for 3 minutes. When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes. Remove and transfer to plate. Melt 2 more tablespoons butter and add another 2 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add the other 2 pieces of chicken and brown both sides in same manner. Remove pan from heat and add chicken to the plate.

Reduce heat to medium low and add the lemon juice, stock and capers. Return to stove and bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. Check for seasoning. Return all the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to platter. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and whisk vigorously. Pour sauce over chicken.

I also tried an asparagus recipe with panko bread crumbs.  I have never used them so I decided to see what I could find.  The asparagus is plentiful and good right now so I have used it for soup and this recipe:


Asparagus with Toasted Panko Bread Crumbs
Ingredients:
1 lb Asparagus
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic
½ tsp Kosher Salt
¼ tsp Black Pepper
1/3 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425˚ F
Cut and throw away bottom 2 inches of Asparagus
Cut remaining Asparagus into 1-2” lengths
Mince Garlic
Place Asparagus in mixing bowl and toss with Olive Oil, Kosher Salt, Garlic, and Pepper
Spread Panko Bread Crumbs in a 13”x9” metal cake pan and place in oven for 2 minutes
Remove Bread Crumbs from oven and add to bowl with the Asparagus mixture
Toss the bowl to combine the ingredients
Add the entire combination to the cake pan and place in oven for 12-14 minutes
Remove from oven, toss in Parmesan Cheese, and serve

Today Leon is atempting to make Runza's.  We are headed to my parents for an Easter Vigil dinner and wanted to try something new. Hope they work because I am hungry for a Cheeseburger Runza :)


  Runzas
Note:
Also known as bierocks, these bread pockets are filled with meat, cabbage, onions, and spices. The shape of the runza varies by region. In Nebraska, they are usually rectangular. They have Russian and German roots and are house specialties in many restaurants across the state.
Ingredients:
2 loaves frozen bread dough, thawed, or homemade dough for 2 loaves
1 pound hamburger
1/2 head of cabbage, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
Salt and pepper
Directions:
Brown the hamburger. Drain and return to pan.
Add cabbage and onion and sauté. Add salt and pepper to taste (1 teaspoon pepper recommended).
Allow bread dough to rise. Punch down and roll a portion to 1/4-inch thickness.
Cut into 4x8-inch pieces and place about 1/2 cup meat mixture in the center of each. Fold dough pieces over and seal the edges, then place seam-side down on a greased cookie sheet.
Let rise 20 to 30 minutes, then bake in preheated 375°F oven for 20 minutes or until brown.
Yields:
6–8 servings

Wishing all a Blessed Easter Season.  I saw a food show where they were deep fat frying Peeps.......I don't think I could even eat them that way either :)

Hot Fruit Compote

My husband and daughter are coming home from a trip to the Pro-Life March in Washington, DC.   I wanted to have a hot home cooked meal for them when they arrive home (after 24 + hours on a bus).   I decided to go crockpot cooking way and have chicken and stuffing in one of the crockpots (actually it is new since I tripped over the cord of my old one and the crock went flying and broke).  I know how much my daughter likes fruit compote( or compost as she & her brother calls it) so I decided to fix that.   I didn't have the recipe close at hand for my usual recipe but decided to try this one.  I am thinking of adding some granola with it to make a nice warm dessert.

Hot Fruit Compote

Ingredients:

• 1 can peaches, drained
• 1 can pears, drained
• 1 can pineapple chunks, drained
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 stick butter or margarine (4oz)
• 1 can cherry pie filling

Preparation:

Cut all fruit into bite-size pieces. Add rest of ingredients. Stir all together. Cover and cook on low 3 to 6 hours. Use as a side dish for breakfast or a meal, or as a topping for a dessert.

Christmas Vacation Experiments

Leon & I both love to try new recipes and some turn out great and others we never look at again.  I love anything that involves tomatos so I decided to try a tomato bisque soup recipe.  It turned out really good, but I worry about it next time I make it.   I used tomato juice that Leon had cannned this summer and it has a different taste from tomato juice you buy in the store.  I will try the recipe again with store bought juice but I am still searching through the canning to see if I have any canned tomato juice left :)  Here is the recipe


TOMATO BISQUE SOUP

1 lg. onions, chopped very well
5 lg. cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp. butter
1 (28 oz.) can tomatoes, pureed in food processor or blender or an equal amount (about 2 lb.) very ripe fresh tomatoes
3 bay leaves ( did not use as I did not have any)
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. parsley
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, cut into bits
1 pt. half & half
1 (46 oz.) can tomato juice

In a large soup kettle, melt the butter over low heat and in it saute the onions and garlic until golden. Add the herbs, the tomatoes and the tomato juice. Simmer the mixture for 20-30 minutes. Add the cream cheese and light cream, salt and pepper to taste and lemon juice if desired. Cook gently another 15 minutes. Garnish with croutons.

I love the Thousand Island dressing you find at resturants who make thier own ( Granary in Norfolk as an example).  I looked for recipes and finally found one that I like.  It does have hard boiled eggs in it and I made it last week and decided after making it that I will reserve a few of the eggs back and chop them up and add to the finished dressing.  My parents gave Leon and I a new blender/food processor combination for Christmas and it worked well for this recipe.

Thousand Island Dressing

1 Quart Mayonaise
6 hard boiled eggs, chopped
7 ounces chili sauce
4 ounces pickle relish
1 ounce minced onion (I used 1 tsp)

Blend well and refrigerate overnight (you may add a little milk if you want yours thinner).

My Classmate Linda Mullen, from High School, also has a blog  at http://lindamullen.blogspot.com/ and she was looking for a Bing Bar Recipe.   When looking for a recipe to help her out, I could not believe how many people wrote in that they had no idea what a Bing Bar or Twin Bing was.  In my blog for school I had said that  Twin Bings were one of my favorite candy bars and several student I blog with from the South and East Coast had no idea what they were either.  I found a great recipe which reminds me of the Twin Bing.  My son Matt helped last night by being my sou chef to make these wonderful treats.

Bing Bars

• Time 60 minutes
• Serves 16

Ingredients

---

• 12 ounces chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup chunky peanut butter ( I had creamy so I added more peanuts)
• 12 ounces fine ground dry roasted peanuts
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 12 large marshmallows
• 1/2 cup real butter
• 10 ounces cherry chips ( I like Gurley brand)

• How to make it

  ---

  • Melt together chocolate and peanut butter; stir in peanuts and spread half of mixture into a 9x13 inch pan reserving the rest for later.
  • In very heavy saucepan combine condensed milk, marshmallows and butter. Bring to a boil carefully (scorches easily), and boil for 5 minutes, watching closely.
  • Add  cherry chips; stir to melt the chips .  Spread over chocolate in pan, then top with remaining mixture.
  • Chill to set but remove from fridge before serving.
  • Hope you had a wonderful Holiday and here's to more recipes made with Love from the Gentrups in 2011

Appetizers for Holiday gatherings

With the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's holidays comes invites to parties, gatherings and family reunions.  Usually you are requested to bring and appetizer or finger food to share with others.  We have had several such invites this year and have found a few new recipes for just such occasions.  Bacon-Cheese Crescents from "Spread a Little Joy" cookbook by Philadelphia Cream Cheese and Cake Balls.

Bacon-Cheese Crescents

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
8 slices bacon, cooked, crumbled
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp. milk
2 cans (8 oz. each) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Mix all ingredients except crescent dough.
Separate each can of dough into 8 triangles; cut each triangle lengthwise in half. Spread each dough triangle with a generous tsp. of cream cheese mixture.  Roll up, starting at the short side and roll up to the point.  Place, point side down on baking sheet.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

We have started to bake the bacon instead of frying it.  Place a rack in a shallow sheet pan.  Place bacon on the rack and bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.  The grease drips into the sheet pan and the bacon becomes crispy.  Be careful not to over bake the bacon.

The second time we made these, we tried a different method we like better.  We took the crescents rolls and cut each pair of rolls into 6 equal pieces as shown too the right.  We then put the crescent pieces into a mini muffin pan and put a spoonfull of the cream cheese minture in each cup.  Bake as directed and remove from muffin pan to cool.

Cake Balls

1 standard cake mix
1 can of frosting
1 package of Almond Bark

Prepare cake mix as directed on box and allow to cool slightly.  In a LARGE bowl stir frosting to soften.  Crumble cake into the frosting and mix well.  Form cake and frosting mixture into 1 inch balls.  Placed formed balls in freezer for 15 to 30 minutes to firm them.  While balls are in freezer, melt almond bark in double boiler.  Coat cake balls with almond bark and allow to set.

We hope these new recipes will be the hit of your next gathering, or just share them with your own family.

We hope you have a Blessed Christmas and a New Year filled with Joy!

Pumpkin "R" Us

I was tired of the standard pumpkin pie so I decided to try two new recipes.  One was brought to my families Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday and the other to Leon's on Saturday.  The recipes are very different but both have one common ingredients .....pumpkin.  I could eat pumpkin all year around but don't.  I love any type of squash so this time of year is one of my favorite time with squash being plentiful.   Okay I am rambling so here is recipe #1:
Triple Layer Pumpkin Spice Pie
2 cups of cold milk                                   1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip thawed
2 pkg. (4 servings size each) Jell-o Pumpkin Spice flavor Instant pudding & pie filling
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon                          1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust
1/2 cup pecans halves                              1 tsp. honey
BEAT milk, pudding and cinnamon until well blended.  Spread 1 1/2 cups onto bottom of crust.
ADD 1 1/2cups of Cool Whip to remaining pudding mixture; stir gently.  Spread over layer in crust, top with remaining Cool Whip.
REFRIGERATE 1 hour.  Meanwhile cook pecans & honey in skillet on medium-low heat  2 to 4 minutes or until pecans are caramelized, stirring frequently.  Spread onto sheet of wax paper. Cool. Sprinkle over pie just before serving.  Store leftovers in the refrigerator. Makes 10 servings.

Recipe # 2
Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake
32 Pecan Sandies, finely crushed                1/4 cup of butter, melted
4 pkg. (8 oz. each) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened      1 cup of sugar
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin                                1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
tsp. vanilla                                                4 eggs
Heat oven to 325.  Mix crumbs with melted butter and press onto bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan.  Beat cream cheese and sugar with mixer until well blended.  Add pumpkin, spice & vanilla, mix well.  Add eggs , 1 at a time, mixing after each until blended.  Pour into crust.  Bake 1 hour & 20 minutes to 1 hour & 30 minutes or until center is almost set.  Loosen cake from rim of pan.  Cool before removing rim.  Refrigerate 4 hours

Thanksgiving is a good time to spread a little mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

November Already????

Boy October flew by and I almost missed it.  I find that keeping up with a blog is a big time committment but I will try.   I love reading others so I hope I can do just as well.   My dad brings me groceries  (I know I am spoiled) and he always has something different for me to try.  This time it was wheat soup saltines.   I did not want to waste them in soup and I had the perfect recipe for them.

Crunch Bars

35 Saltine Crackers ( I used the whole grain or wheat)

½ cup of butter or margarine

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 package (8 squares) Bakers Semi- Sweet Baking Chocolate, chopped

1 cup chopped Planters Walnuts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place crackers in a single layer on foil- lined 15x10 inch baking pan.

Heat butter and sugar in a saucepan on medium-high heat until butter is melted and mixture is well blended.  Bring to boil; boil 3 min. without stirring.  Spread over crackers

Bake 7 min. Immediately sprinkle with chopped chocolate; let stand 5 minutes.  Spread melted chocolate evenly over ingredients in pan; sprinkle with walnuts.  Cool. Cut or break into pieces.

I like to keep the pieces in the freezer until I serve them.

Today I made cookies for my son to send to college.  When we visited him in Oct. he commented on what his roommate had gotten and I had not had time to get cookies baked to take to him so I am making them to send in the mail since he will not be home until Thanksgiving.  He loves toffee so I had a recipe for Heath Bits 'o Brickle Toffee Bits.

Brickle Drop Cookies

1 cup of butter, softened

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of brown sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

3 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons of baking soda

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 1/3 cups Heath Bits 'O Brickle Toffee Bits

1. Heat oven to 350 lightly greased cookie sheet

2. Beat butter, sugars, vanilla and salt in large bowl until blended.  Add eggs; beat well.

Add flour, baking soda and cream of tartar until blended Stir in toffee bits

3. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto prepared cookie sheet.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool slightly; remove to wire rack.  Cool completely.

About 6 dozen small cookies or 3 dozen large.