Spaghetti Pie

This recipe is from Chelsea and is a little different from the one in the ward cookbook that I made for years.  Dan likes it better and I do as well.  It has a richer flavor and is more cheesy.

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 T. minced garlic (Chelsea uses garlic salt)
1 (24 oz.) jar pasta sauce
1 (16 oz.) pkg. thin spaghetti noodles
2 T. butter
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups (8 oz.) mozzarella cheese, shredded, divided
4 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 350°.  Heat a large pot of water to boiling for the pasta.  

Brown ground beef, onion, and garlic.  Drain ground beef and stir in pasta sauce and simmer.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  (I found that this needed the salt, about 1 t.)

Cook and drain pasta according to package directions.  Stir in butter and place in two pie tins or one 9 x 13-inch pan sprayed with non-stick spray.

In bowl, mix together ricotta, Parmesan, 1 cup mozzarella and the eggs.  Add salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste.  Spread mixture over pasta in pans and gently mix into the spaghetti.  Top with ground beef sauce.  

Bake at 350° for 20 - 25 minutes.  Top with remaining 1 cup of mozzarella and return to the oven to cook 5 more minutes or until cheese melts.  Serves 8-10.

Here is my advertising for Christopher Ranch peeled garlic in small pouches.  I love it and it is so quick and easy.  You can get peeled garlic in quart size containers at Costco but that is way too much garlic.

Also, while we were in Denver, Stacie picked up some Sartori Parmesan and it was divine.  It is made in Wisconsin and has the best flavor and isn't dry.  I loved it (not the price but the flavor).

A Good Cook?

I have finally figured out that I am not so much a good cook as I am a tenacious recipe collector who loves to cook.  If I eat a particular food that I think is wonderful, tasty, beautiful, etc. then I go after that recipe until I have it. Sometimes it is a matter of asking someone over and over for it, sometimes I look through cookbooks and online to find a recipe I want to try, sometimes I try something new from a favorite cookbook, sometimes I have asked someone to show me how they make a particular recipe, sometimes I keep asking enough questions that I can figure it out and sometimes I just happen to find a great recipe by serendipity!


In October I was at Baker's Cash and Carry and they had some very fine chocolate sprinkles that are real Guittard chocolate.  They reminded me of the Bordeaux chocolate that See's Candies makes.  It has a light brown cream center with nuts, dipped in chocolate and covered with these fine sprinkles.   I bought the sprinkles and started looking for a recipe that seemed comparable.  Of course, it is possible to find lots of copycat recipes but they didn't look great.  I kept seeing reference to panuche fudge.  I looked that up in my candy cookbook and gave it a try. I found a great center for chocolates that I like quite a bit and will make again.  (And I like it better than the See's version)  Just a little recipe serendipity there.

So, being a great cook is a lot about having great recipes.  It is about having friends who are great cooks.  It is about not being afraid to try something new, asking lots of questions and not worrying if something doesn't turn out.  Sometimes that happens.  It is all about sharing good food with family and friends and enjoying it. And in the end, sharing good food with family and friends is the best reason for cooking.

Cherry Squares

I know I missed sending this post for President's Day but I will send it out anyway.  Grandma Nelson always made cherry squares on George Washington's birthday, which happened to be celebrated separately from Abraham Lincoln's birthday when I was growing up.  Cherry squares were always a favorite of Grandpa's.  I tried to make them on President's Day every year when my kids were growing up.  I have added the story of George Washington and the cherry tree at the bottom.  I think there are two lessons here: always tell the truth and give your children a warm and loving environment where they can feel comfortable telling the truth.

Here is the recipe (this is really just cherry pie with a twist and glaze!)

Cherry Squares

2 (21 oz.) cans cherry pie filling
Pastry
Glaze made with powdered sugar and water

Roll out your pastry to fit in the bottom and up the sides of an 8x10-inch baking dish.  Lay the pastry in the pan, making sure it extends up the sides.  Pour in the two cans of cherry pie filling **.  Roll out another crust the size of the baking dish.  Set the dish on the pastry and cut around it so that it just fits on top.  Cut slits in the top.  Lay over the cherries.  Press the bottom pastry edges down over the top crust.  Bake at 425 degrees for about 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden.  Drizzle with glaze.

**When I was growing up, Grandma would bottle her own pie cherries.  Talk about work.  We would sit out on the lawn, under the trees, with a bowl of tart cherries and squeeze the pits out and throw the cherries in another bowl.  Grandma would put them in bottles with sugar water and process them.  When she wanted to make cherry squares she would put a bottle full in a pan, add cornstarch and sugar and stir until it was thickened.  Then she would let them cool and make her cherry squares.  Besides the homemade being a heck of a lot of work, I like the flavor of the canned better!


The Story of the Cherry Tree

     When George was about six years old, he was made the wealthy master of a hatchet of which, like most little boys, he was extremely fond. He went about chopping everything that came his way.

     One day, as he wandered about the garden amusing himself by hacking his mother's pea sticks, he found a beautiful, young English cherry tree, of which his father was most proud. He tried the edge of his hatchet on the trunk of the tree and barked it so that it died.

     Some time after this, his father discovered what had happened to his favorite tree. He came into the house in great anger, and demanded to know who the mischievous person was who had cut away the bark. Nobody could tell him anything about it.

     Just then George, with his little hatchet, came into the room.

"George,'' said his father, "do you know who has killed my beautiful little cherry tree yonder in the garden? I would not have taken five guineas for it!''

     This was a hard question to answer, and for a moment George was staggered by it, but quickly recovering himself he cried:

     "I cannot tell a lie, father, you know I cannot tell a lie! I did cut it with my little hatchet.''  The anger died out of his father's face, and taking the boy tenderly in his arms, he said:

     "My son, that you should not be afraid to tell the truth is more to me than a thousand trees! Yes - though they were blossomed with silver and had leaves of the purest gold!''

Kitchen Shortcuts - Peppers

I learned to cut a pepper by cutting out the core at the top, rinsing out the seeds and then slicing it in half then in slices or dices.  There is a much easier way! 

Rinse the pepper and put it on your cutting board.  Slice down the edge of one side.  Turn it and slice the next side until you have sliced all four sides.  And it's done.  The seeds are thrown away with the core and you can slice or dice the pepper however you like.  It is so slick!

Tres Leches Cake

1 French vanilla cake mix (or yellow)

1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

2 cups heavy cream

Sweetened whipped cream for frosting the cake

Bake cake according to package directions in a greased 9 x 13-inch pan.  While cake is still warm, poke holes across entire surface with a fork.  Stir together evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and cream.  Slowly pour milk mixture over warm cake.  Take your time so that it distributes evenly.  Refrigerate until completely cool or overnight.  Frost cake with whipped cream.  Cut and serve.  May be garnished with sliced strawberries, kiwi, mango and raspberries or a drizzle of caramel sauce.

Chicken Enchiladas

This recipe is so easy and always a hit!

7-8 large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or finely diced (about 6 cups)

2 (15 oz.) cans black beans, drained and rinsed

36 oz. salsa (about 2/3 to ¾ jar of Jack’s Medium Fresh Salsa from Costco)

1 quart cream (real whipping cream is the best!  If you prefer, use half and half)

3-4 cups grated cheese

Flour tortillas, about 24 of the 8” size

Fresh limes

Combine cooked chicken, beans, salsa and half of the cheese in a large bowl.  Spray 2 or 3 9x13-inch glass baking pans with non-stick cooking spray.  Pour just enough cream in each pan to cover the bottom.  Using a separate round pie tin filled with cream, dip both sides of each tortilla in cream, drain.  Fill tortilla with 1/2 cup chicken mixture, roll up and place in 9x13-inch pans, filling pans from end to end.  Pour remaining cream over the top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.  Cover with foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Bake, covered, 45 minutes at 350°.  Squeeze fresh lime juice on top just before serving.  Makes about 24 8” enchiladas.  Can be prepared ahead and refrigerated up to 2 days before baking. 

Serve with a Mexican tossed salad, cornbread, lime rice and fresh fruit.  From Rosemary Wixom.

(Sorry my picture wasn't the best.  These got a bit burned on the bottom when I was trying to bake two pans at a time.)

When people ask me what my favorite pie is, I tell them apple.  It just is.  Maybe pecan is a close second and fresh strawberry, of course pumpkin, fresh peach, key lime, banana cream,.....

You get the idea!  I like most pies but apple is still my favorite and I especially like it for breakfast.  Warm. With cold milk.

Apple Pie

6 cups apples, peeled and sliced,

           I like Red Romes best

1 cup sugar

3 T. flour

1 t. cinnamon

Dash nutmeg

Butter or margarine

Pie crust for a two-crust pie

          Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour over the apple slices in a bowl and mix well. Place pie crust in pie pan. Place apples into shell. Tamp down slightly then dot with butter or margarine. Place top crust with slits on pie and seal the edge.

          Bake at 400º for 45-50 minutes until golden brown and apple juices bubble through the slits.  If the crust is brown enough but the pie still needs to bake longer, cover with foil.

          This apple pie cooks best in a glass or ceramic baking dish to keep the crust flaky. It is also a good idea to place a baking sheet under the pie in case the juices bubble over.  In the photo at left you can see how the juices cooked up and over the pastry.  That is a good sign that the juices have thickened.

            Red Romes seem to make the best apple pie.  They have a great flavor and perfect texture.  They are only in season from the end of October to mid February.  Granny Smith's work as well but they don't have quite the flavor or texture of Romes.  I have also tried braeburns and galas and they are fine but don't hold up as well during baking.

Traditional Pie Crust

 2 cups flour

1 t. salt

1 cup shortening

1/3 cup water

1 T. water

          Mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender. Make a well in the center. First, add larger amount of water. Stir with fork until flour is absorbed and ball forms. Then add smaller amount of water, only as necessary to get a moist dough. Store in airtight container and refrigerate up to 10 days.

          Flour board and rolling pin well. Mold handful of dough into a ball. Flatten to a flat pancake. Roll out from the center to 1/8-inch thickness. Fold in half. Lift into pan. Open, press in, cut off excess and crimp edges.  Makes two single pie crusts.

          For baked shell, bake at 375 ˚ for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown. For 2 crust pies, bake according to directions in recipe.

          One of the greatest things I have learned is to roll the crust out on a tea towel.  It keeps the cleanup at a minimum and just seems to work a whole lot better.