More comfort food--Porcupines

Porcupines
Betty Crocker’s 4 in 1 Cookbook Collection Copyright 1980
(Betty Crocker’s Hamburger Cookbook Copyright 1977, 1973)

1 pound ground beef
½ cup uncooked regular rice I used Uncle Ben's
½ cup water
1 small onion, chopped (about ¼ cup)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon celery salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
1 cup water
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Mix meat, rice, ½ cup water, the onion and seasonings. Shape mixture by tablespoonfuls into 1 ½-inch balls.

TO COOK IN SKILLET (I used this method): Cook meatballs in large skillet over medium heat until brown. Add remaining ingredients; heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 45 minutes.

TO COOK IN OVEN: Place meatballs in ungreased baking dish. 8x8x2 inches. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over meatballs. Cover and bake in 350 degree oven 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 minutes longer.

Makes 4 or 5 servings.
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I've made porcupines previously. This recipe was a bit more flavorful but also a little harder to work with using the skillet method, since the meat mixture is very tender. I lost a lot of rice into the sauce which may have been because I used Uncle Ben's which doesn't have as much sticking power as regular rice but it was all I had besides brown rice.

I don't know why I don't make porcupines more often because I really like them and they're so simple to make. They are definitely a nostalgic food for me, since they remind me of stuffed cabbage filling.

This cookbook is a collection of Betty Crocker cookbooks bound into one book. The books are Cooking American Style, Salads, Hamburger, Do Ahead. That makes it a bit confusing as there is no consolidated index. I picked this up at the auction. I didn't buy any cookbooks last week. The bookman I was doing business with isn't really much of a businessman. Two weeks in a row I came by and bought several cookbooks, and both times he told me about the cookbooks he has in the truck that he needs to bring out but does he ever bring them out? No! He probably doesn't have anymore. Those two weeks I would walk up to the table and he would tell me that 'all those books are $1' but as I pick them up to look at them he starts with 'well, that one's Martha Stewart so I'll need $2 for that one' and 'that one has a lot of stuff in it so I'll need $2 for it', and so on with every book I touch LOL. So every book's a dollar? The man only has two small tables of books and some other junk.

Ah, the weekend is just about here. I have to make banana cake and another chocolate refrigerator cake for a 4th of July celebration (being held on June 30th). It's nice that people like certain recipes and want them again but it's a bit boring when I don't get to try something new.

Blast From The Past: Ditalini With Zucchini from February 2006. I know a lot of people are looking for zucchini recipes right about now.

Question of the Day: Have you ever tired of making something that people kept requesting?

Save this one for after Thanksgiving--Turkey Bolognese

Turkey Bolognese
Giada’s Family Dinners Copyright 2006

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 onions, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 ½ pounds coarsely shredded cooked turkey (preferably dark meat)
6 cups marinara sauce she suggest her recipe but I used jarred Bertolli Organic
1 cup water
2/3 cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ pounds spaghetti
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the celery and carrot, and sauté until the vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes. Add the turkey and sauté 1 minute. Add the marinara sauce and water. Bring the sauce to a simmer over medium-high heat, then decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 25 minutes, stirring often, to all the flavors to blend. Stir in the basil. Season the sauce generously to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile in a very large pot of boiling salted water, cook the spaghetti, stirring often to prevent the pasta from sticking together, until tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes, Drain, reserving one cup of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat, add enough of the reserved liquid to moisten as needed. Serve with the Parmesan.
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I had three turkey legs in the freezer that wouldn't have made much of a meal on their own but they were perfect for this recipe. I cut it in half. I wasn't exact about it but I doubt Giada is very exact when she cooks for her own family either.

I cooked the turkey legs in the crockpot for a few hours on high and then I removed the meat and went from there. I loved this. I think poultry goes so well with an Italian seasoned tomato sauce (I love chicken cacciatore). My son scarfed this down too, always a plus.

I love Giada's cookbooks. I don't have Everyday Pasta yet but I'm sure I'll get my hands on it someday. I've run out of room for cookbooks again so I've been trying not to buy any. Oh, and they have the road in front of the library closed, making it quite tricky to get into the library. I need to get over there to take the edge off!

Don't forget, only a few more days to get in on this month's cookbook giveaway. You might be the lucky winner.

Blast From The Past: Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings from February 2006. These were really good, especially the blue cheese sauce.

Question of the Day: Do you visit a library regularly?

I hope there's a statue of this woman someplaceRuth Wakefield’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Ruth Wakefield’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion Copyright 2004

2 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup (1 1/3 sticks, 5 ¼ ounces) unsalted butter, melted
2 ¼ cups brown sugar
3 large eggs

I added some vanilla, about 1 tsp
2 cups (12 ounces) chocolate chips I used a mixture of regular and mini-sized semi-sweet chips
1 cup (4 ounces) chopped walnuts or pecans I omitted these

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 10x15-inch jelly roll pan, 1 14-inch deep-dish pizza pan, or similar sized pan. I used a 10x15-inch baking dish.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In another large bowl, combine the melted butter and brown sugar, stirring until smooth. Allow the mixture to cool slightly. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the flour mixture, then the chocolate chips and nuts. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake the bars for 24 to 26 minutes, until their top is shiny and golden. Don’t overbake, or the bars will be dry; a cake tester inserted into the center will not come out clean. Remove the bars from the oven and cool to room temperature before cutting.

Yield: 35 bars. Per bar: 198 cal, 9 g fat, 3 g pro, 8 g complex carbs, 19 g sugar, 1 g fiber, 28 mg chol, 77 mg sodium, 118 mg potassium
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It's time like this when I think I could be tempted to sell my soul for a faster metabolism. These are basically chocolate chip brownies. They have the flavor of a chocolate chip cookie with the fudgie texture and crackling top of a brownie. At the moment, I'm thinking these are way better than a chocolate cookie.

The recipe didn't call for vanilla but I added it anyway. I found myself wondering if these bars needed the vanilla or not. I certainly don't think it hurt them. I thought they could have used a dash more salt, just a tiny dash more.

If you didn't know, Ruth Wakefield was the owner of the Toll House Inn. She invented the chocolate chip cookie - invented the chocolate chip cookie! How great is that? It's a very special thing to be known as the inventor of a recipe since while it's not that difficult to actually put the ingredients together, it's quite difficult to actually lay claim to a recipe.

I made these because my husband likes to have a couple of cookies after dinner. I usually buy Oreos (since they don't tempt me) but I knew I had a surplus of baking ingredients and the weather was cooler this weekend. The advantage of the bars is that the oven only has to be on about 30 minutes and the bars are taken out and cooled in the pan. No multiple batches of cookies, standing near the oven, and removing cookies from hot baking sheets.

I can pass up Oreos, but I can't pass up these bars!

Blast From The Past: Big Chocolate Chip Cookies from July 2006, if you're a chocolate chip cookie purist.

Question of the Day: Have you ever made the Toll House Cookie recipe straight off the bag of Nestle chocolate chips?

I finally canned something--Easy Dill Pickles

Easy Dill Pickles
The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook Copyright 2006

1 teaspoon yellow mustard seed
1 teaspoon fennel seed
2 ¼ cups water
1 ¾ cups white vinegar
¼ cup sugar
5 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tablespoon salt I used pickling salt
8 kirby cucumbers, quartered lengthwise into spears
1 cup chopped fresh dill I didn't have that much

1. Toast the mustard and fennel seeds in a large saucepan over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the water, vinegar, sugar, garlic and salt and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Combine the hot brine, cucumbers, and dill in a large bowl and let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.
3. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled and flavorful, about 10 hours. Drain well before serving.

The pickles can be refrigerated in their liquid, in an airtight container, for up to 2 weeks.
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I finally took the plunge and started canning. I started with two pickle recipes. It will be a few weeks before the verdict is out on those recipes but in the meantime, I used the leftover cukes and dill and made these refrigerator pickles.

These are so good! Just like a pickle from a jar after only sitting overnight. I think my canned pickles may be a disappointment after these, since I'm sure they won't be as crisp.

Anyone can make refrigerator pickles. You don't need and fancy equipment or jars. The disadvantage is that they don't last as long as pickles processed in a water bath but oh well, that's the trade-off.

Overall, it wasn't that expensive for me to start canning. I got a canner for $18, jars for $7, a utensil kit (wide-mouth funnel, jar lifter, magnetic lid lifter, etc) for $9. I had to buy the ingredients. I bought $7 worth of cucumbers that made 12 pint jars of pickles and a good-sized batch of refrigerator pickles. I'm sure it's not cheaper than buying pickles on sale but I know what's in my pickles and I have the satisfaction of knowing that I made them myself.

This is my contribution to Sweetnick's ARF/5-A-Day Tuesdays (although she has just moved so I'm not sure if she'll be posting this week). I just did a brief check of their nutritional value and I was surprised and pleased to see that they're high in molybdenum. I've been taking another supplement and I recently read I should be taking molybdenum along with it. I had no idea where I could buy molybdenum in supplement form but I guess I'll just keep eating these pickles.

Blast From The Past: Grilled Cuban Sandwiches from June 2006. A quick recipe that uses pickles.

Question of the Day: Do you like pickles?

I finally made ice cream again--Strawberry Ice Cream

Strawberry Ice Cream
Cuisinart Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker Instruction/Recipe Booklet Copyright 1999

1 ½ cups strawberries, washed and hulled
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 ½ cups whole milk
2 egg yolks
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
I added a dash of salt

Finely chop strawberries in a food processor; reserve. (This will yield 1 cup of chopped strawberries.)

Combine cream and milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook until mixture almost boils, 5 to 8 minutes. Reduce heat to low.

Meanwhile beat egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract in a small bowl until light yellow and smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add 4 tablespoons hot cream/milk mixture and stir until combined. Gradually add egg yolk mixture to warm cream mixture, stirring continuously to prevent the eggs from curdling. Cook over low heat until slightly thickened and mixture coats the back of a spoon, about 3-4 minutes. Cool completely (covered in refrigerator overnight or over an ice bath for 30 minutes). When cool, add reserved strawberries and stir until well combined. Pour into freezer bowl, turn the machine on and let mixture thicken 20-25 minutes. If desired, transfer ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer until firm, about 2 hours.

Makes 10 ½ cup servings. Per serving: 216 cal, 15 g carbs, 3 g pro, 16 g fat, 95 mg chol, 33 mg sodium
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Since I decided not to make the shortcakes last week, I had a carton of heavy cream that needed a job. I also had some leftover strawberries. I've been wanting to drag out my ice cream machine (I haven't used it in at least two years) so I came to the obvious conclusion and made strawberry ice cream.

I followed the directions and 'finely chopped' the strawberries, although my instinct was to purée them. I wish I had followed my instinct. Chunks of fresh fruit in homemade ice cream tend to get a bit icy and that was the case here. Otherwise, this was very good but the icy bits in there really bothered me. I can't wait to try some other recipes now that I have the machine out.

I tend to defer to the recipe booklet that came with my machine since the Cuisinart ice cream machine makes smaller batches than a traditional ice cream machine and most ice cream recipes I come across are just too large. It's a small booklet but it does have a good selection of recipes in it.

Oh my did I spend a lot of time in the kitchen this weekend. It was slightly cooler this weekend so maybe that had something to do with it. I made this ice cream, I baked, I pickled and I made part of tonight's dinner. Stay tuned for details.

Blast From The Past: Homemade Noodles from January 2007. The days are starting to get shorter in this part of the world. That depresses me. I'm trying to remember that there are good things about cold weather, like homemade soup.

Question of The Day: What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?