"CTR" pretzels - The Friend Jan. 2012 recipe

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 - 3 cups flour

1 Tablespoon yeast

1 cup warm water
1 Tablespoon sugar

melted butter

course salt

1) Mix the first 5 ingredients until they form a ball. Then knead dough until smooth and elastic. Cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place for one hour.

2) Pull off sections of the dough and roll into long ropes. Form the ropes into the letters "CTR" / Hearts / the CTR shield etc.

3) Put the pretzels on a greased cookie sheet and bake 8-10 min. at 450F.

Brush pretzels with melted butter (and I added course sea salt!).

amazing - we love this recipe and pretzel making

Lemon Parsley & Parmesan + Pasta

2 cups flat-leafed parsley leaves, packed

2 garlic cloves

1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest, plus more for garnish

coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 pound trofie or other short twisted pasta such as fusilli

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1) make the pesto: In a food processor, pulse parsley, garlic, red-pepper flakes, lemon zest, and 1 teaspoon salt until coarsely chopped. With machine running, add oil in a slow, steady stream, processing until blended.

2) Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water.

3) Toss pasta with pesto and Parmesan, then with reserved pasta water. Grate more lemon zest over each serving, and season with pepper.

(says serves 6 but I would say more)

makes aprox. 11 cups make (although this would depend on pasta size)

fun meatless dinner alternative, or use as a pasta side dish

Churros

I tried these for fun and we are all hooked!

2 cups water

5 T. sugar

1 t. salt

¼ cup oil

2 cups flour

2 quarts oil for frying

1 cup sugar mixed with 2 t. cinnamon

In a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, combine water, 5 T. sugar, salt and ¼ cup oil.  Bring to a boil and remove from the heat.  Stir in flour until mixed thoroughly and mixture forms a ball.

Using an 18” pastry bag and a large star tip, fill with churro batter.  This dough is so stiff that disposable plastic pastry bags don’t work.  It is very hot so handle carefully and maybe let cool for a few minutes.  Line a baking tray with parchment paper.  Pipe churro mixture onto parchment in 5-inch lengths.  Place in freezer to harden about 25 minutes.

Heat oil in deep skillet or electric fry pan to 375°.  Keep oil at this temperature.  Carefully place piped churros into the oil and cook until deep golden brown, turning to brown evenly.  They need to cook thoroughly so that they are soft inside but not gummy.  Place on paper towels to drain.  Roll in sugar and cinnamon and serve.  Serve warm.

I couldn’t get them cooked fast enough to take a picture of a pile of them so this was the only one left to photograph!  They were yummy, easy and cheap and would be a great treat after a Mexican meal.

Artichoke Chicken

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch chunks
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup red-wine vinegar
1 red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, cut into 1/2-inch strips
1 package (10 ounces) frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and halved
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper; add to skillet, and brown on all sides, about 10 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium; add garlic, oregano, and crushed red pepper to skillet. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add vinegar; cook, scraping up browned bits from bottom of skillet with a wooden spoon, until liquid has evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add 2 cups water to skillet, and simmer over medium heat 10 minutes. Add bell pepper and artichoke hearts; simmer until chicken is tender and liquid has thickened, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in feta cheese, season with salt and pepper as desired, and serve.

*This recipe is from Martha Stewart, we loved it. I used canned artichokes, but the recipe said "Since they are not packed in oil as many jarred artichoke hearts are, frozen ones taste the closest to fresh."

Almond Cookie Brittle

Love love this Recipe that is easy and a crowd pleaser

Makes about 2 dozen pieces

(You can make a chocolate chip version of this easy cookie, replace the almond extract with vanilla extract, use walnuts or pecans in place of the almonds, and add 1 cup chocolate chips)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sliced almonds

1) Preheat oven to 350. Combine butter, sugar, salt, and almond extract. Beat until creamy. Stir in flour gradually, beating until blended. Fold in nuts. Press dough 3/8 inch thick in a jelly-roll pan. (cookie sheet) (Dough will fill only 3/4 of the pan but won't spread.)

2)Bake for 15-20 min. (the shorter the time it bakes the chewier it stays; longer baking prodeces a crisper cookie) Leave in pan to cool, then break apart like peanut brittle. Store in an airtight container.

M.E. Magazine June/July 2003 Heather Cowan holiday favorite
(I'm a suckor for almond extract and shortbread combos! I love how this can jazz up a night, bring to a company pot luck, visiting teaching treats, or lunch snacks...)

Cindy McCain's Oatmeal-butterscotch Cookies

What is not to love with Cinnamon, Butterscotch and Oatmeal all in one. I came across this recipe in Family Circle Nov. 2008, (hence the political ties) but despite your political affiliation these cookies are a winner and a nice alternative! This one is for Bob who snuck two yesterday night...

3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter or margarine, softened [I like unsalted butter better for the consistency, but margarine is cheaper....trade offs]

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I love it and add a titch more)

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups rolled oats (I use old fashioned kind since I have more of that around)

1 2/3 cups butterscotch chips (nearly the whole bag)

1) Heat oven to 375 degrees

2) In a large bowl, beat the butter or margarine, granulated sugar and brown sugar together. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well. [I use my Bosch mixer with cookie paddles!!]

3) In a medium size bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture; stir until blended. Stir in oats and butterscotch chips.

Drop by Tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto Ungreased cookie sheets.

4) Bake at 375 for 10 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Yields 25 medium sized cookies, and 5 dozen smaller cookies depending on dough drops.

~Heather Cowan

Enchilada Soup

Not taco soup and not white chicken chili – this soup has its own delicious flavor. 

2 T. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups chicken broth (1 32-oz. carton)

3 cups shredded and chopped cooked chicken

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (14.5 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes

1 ½ cups frozen corn kernels (about 9 oz.)

1 (7 oz.) can green salsa (La Victoria)

1 T. chili powder

¼ cup cornstarch

¼ cup cold water

½ cup sour cream

Juice from half a lime

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Tortilla chips

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat.  Stir in the onion and garlic; sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the broth, chicken, black beans tomatoes, corn, salsa and chili powder; heat to simmering.

Mix the cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl; stir until smooth.  Stir into the soup and simmer for 10 minutes.  In a bowl, whisk the sour cream and about 1 cup of the hot soup together until smooth.  Stir into the soup until well blended.  This keeps the sour cream from breaking.  Add the lime juice and cilantro and serve.  Serve with tortilla chips.  Serves 6.

From Heather

Ida's Rolls

2 ½ cups milk
2 T. yeast
½ cup warm water
¾ cup melted margarine
½ cup sugar
1 t. salt
3 eggs
7 ½ cups flour

Put milk and margarine in a saucepan and heat until margarine melts and milk is scalded (just warm, not boiling). Let cool. Dissolve yeast in warm water. I always use Fleishman's yeast for best results.

In a large bowl mix sugar, salt and eggs. Add milk mixture that has cooled, and yeast mixture. Gradually add flour. (Dough will be sticky.) Let rise about 1 hour. Roll out or shape (using extra flour on the board) and place on baking sheets. Let rise to desired height and bake at 350° for 15 minutes.

Cinnamon Rolls

Roll out half the dough into a large rectangle, brush with melted butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll up, slice into one inch slices and place on a greased baking tray. Let rise and bake. Frost while still warm with frosting make with 2 T. butter, milk or cream and powdered sugar.

Texas Rolls

A savory dinner roll. Make Ida's roll recipe. Shape half the dough into balls (use the rest for cinnamon rolls), brush the top with 1/4 cup melted butter and dip into the following seasonings:
Mix:

1 T. dry parsley

1 t. dry dill

1/2 t. dry onion flakes

1/4 t. garlic salt

2 T. Parmesan cheese

Sweet and Sour Chicken and Lemon Rice

Sweet and Sour Chicken

3/4 c. sugar

½ c. ketchup

½ c. cider vinegar

½ c. water

2 T. soy sauce

1 t. garlic powder

Frozen breaded chicken tenders

Mix sugar, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, and seasoning. Layer chicken in a glass 9x13 dish. Pour sauce over chicken. If you like your chicken softer, turn chicken pieces half way through. Bake at 325 degrees for 60 minutes. Serve with Lemon Rice.

Lemon Rice

2 c. chicken broth

1 c. white rice

2 T. lemon juice

2 t. melted butter

Mix together in a 2 quart baking dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 60 minutes.

From Stacie