The Cookbook Junkie comes to Facebook

Okay, I've had my private account on Facebook for almost a year now. I had planned on just posting links to my blog entries through Networked Blogs there since I was posting so infrequently. But I'm hoping to revive the blog a bit though so I created a page just for The Cookbook Junkie. I set it up to automatically update with any new posts so that is surely the way to go if you don't want to miss anything.

So please look over the the right and 'like' the Cookbook Junkie if you are on Facebook.

My first reader-submitted recipe!

Laura P.'s Grandma's Meatloaf
submitted by Laura P.

2/3 C breadcrumbs I was all out of plain regular bread crumbs so I used Panko
1/4 C grated onion I pulverized my onion in my mini-chopper
1 C milk
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 lb ground beef
~1/4 tsp sage (recipe calls for 1/2 tsp but Laura's P's mom says to use less than that)
2 slightly beaten eggs

Sauce:
3 T brown sugar
1/4 C ketchup
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp dry mustard

Soak breadcrumbs in milk, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Put in greased loaf pan. Cover with sauce. Bake 350 degree F for 1 hour.
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After posting my meat loaf recipe round up, Laura P. sent me her grandmother's recipe. I tend to forget about things if I can't get to them right away but I didn't forget this. My last meat loaf was great and it left me wanting more meat loaf. I had meat loaf on the brain. This is a similar recipe to the last one I made but it's those little bits of spice that intrigued me. Sage and nutmeg? I really wanted to try this.

I went to make this and realized I had no plain bread crumbs and Italian seasoned crumbs would have overpowered the sage and really made an entirely differently meat loaf. I was going to use oatmeal, which Laura had mentioned as an alternative to the bread crumbs. That would have worked and I love the texture of oatmeal in a meat loaf but I spotted the panko crumbs and thought they would be the better substitute. I think they are basically equivalent to regular plain bread crumbs when used as a filler.

What can I say? Another damn good meat loaf. I love that hint of sage in the meat and the hint of nutmeg in the sauce. Those are two spices I don't pull out often enough. They give this meat loaf it's own character but it's not in-your-face.

I think this recipe illustrates why it can be so difficult to recreate a treasured family recipe, if it was not handed down properly. This is a pretty standard meat loaf recipe but if Laura P. had no idea what Grandma was doing in the kitchen, would she ever come up with that touch of sage and bit of nutmeg on her own? Because without them you have a delicious meat loaf but it wouldn't be Grandma's meat loaf. And Grandma's recipe is good!

I'm going to add this to my meat loaf recipe round up.

I was on the ball this year

Holiday Breakfast Casserole
The Ugly Binder, found online somewhere

1 pound hot bulk sausage (mild can be used – hot is better) I used hot
10 slices bread (cut or torn into cubes)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
6 eggs
3 cups milk (whole milk – low fat makes this casserole kind of runny)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper

1. Crumble sausage and brown. Use a fork to break it into smaller crumbles as it browns. Drain off the fat. I did this ahead of time.
2. Pour the bread cubes in a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish. Spread the cubes around evenly on the bottom of the casserole dish.
3. Sprinkle the sausage around over the top of the bread cubes.
4. Evenly sprinkle the cheese over the sausage.
5. Use a fork to beat the eggs, milk, salt and pepper until bubbly and frothy.
6. Carefully and slowly pour the egg/milk batter over the top of the casserole.
7. Cover the casserole doll with a lid or tightly with tin foil and place in refrigerator overnight.
8. Put casserole in a cold oven (since the dish is quite cold). Turn heat to 350 degrees F. Bake for approximately one hour or until the casserole is “set” and slightly brown around the edges. I think mine took much less than an hour - keep and eye on it.
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Every year I think about making something special for breakfast on Christmas morning but I never get around to it since I am usually stressed to the max when Christmas Day finally arrives. Well, this year I wasn't rushed and stressed and I actually managed to make this breakfast casserole. I cooked the sausage ahead of time and just put it all together before I went to bed on Christmas Eve. It baked while the boys checked out what Santa brought them.

I have to be honest, while this was good straight off, I preferred the reheated (nuked) leftovers. Fresh out of the oven, the bread was a bit creamy and fluffy which I love in a sweet bread pudding but it was a bit off-putting to me in this for some reason. I used a soft white bread - I think next time I will try something with more body. I think the texture problem was a personal thing - there wasn't anything wrong with it. Reheated this was not a problem - it had all set up pretty well and had a firmer texture. The picture shows a piece of the reheated casserole. It would have been hard to get a neat slice out of the casserole fresh out of the oven.

I loved the flavor. The spicy sausage was great in this but you don't have to go spicy if you don't want to. This was such an easy way to get a savory breakfast on the table. I am not much for a sweet breakfast, especially on Christmas morning, after I have spent the week baking and making candy.

I think this would make a great dinner too. I would brown the sausage the night before and just put it together in the morning and pop it in the oven as soon as you get home from work. I have a problem with browning the sausage, then putting everything together right away. Not a problem if you're baking something right away but something seems weird to me about mixing hot cooked food (sausage) with raw cold food (eggs) and then not cooking the whole thing through right away. That doesn't sound like a good thing to do, food-safety wise, but that is just my gut feeling.

Question of the Day: What did you have for breakfast on Christmas morning?

Last Christmas post

Coconut Corn Nut Cookies
Applehood & Motherpie Handpicked Recipes From Upstate New York Copyright 1981

1 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups corn flakes
2 cups coconut or chopped nutmeats I used coconut
2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Cream margarine and sugars.
2. Add eggs
3. Stir in remaining ingredients and spoon onto greased cookie sheet.
4. Bake at 375 degrees F for 12 minutes.

Yield: 4 dozen
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This recipe caught my eye because the title made me think that there were corn nuts in this cookie. It doesn't (that would be odd, I think) but it sounded like a good cookie and I had corn flakes, coconut and margarine so I made these. It was a nice addition to this year's cookie line up. It may or may not make another appearance in the future.

I'm sure you could use butter in these but I always buy one package of margarine to make my Welsh cookies since that's what I've always used for those and I'm too afraid to veer from tradition on that particular cookie. This recipe used up most of the excess margarine.

This and the Crispy Chocolate Truffles were the only new recipes I tried this year. Oh wait, I tried a chocolate and rice crispies concoction that wasn't bad but after I made the Crispy Chocolate Truffles I sort of forgot about that recipe. Maybe this won't be the last Christmas post! Actually, you probably won't hear about that one until next year if I make it again. I think it has possibilities.

So what else did I make this year? Let's see. I made Welsh cookies, fruit cake (without nuts), snickerdoodles, chocolate chip brownies (with Christmas sprinkles), thumbprints, gingerbread men, spritz, white chocolate cranberry cookies, graham cracker chewies (without nuts - wasn't as good but that may have more to do with the fact that the bottom crust was a bit overdone), South Seas cookies, sugar cookies (rolled in Christmas sprinkles before baking), peppermint bark, crispy chocolates (in the little paper cups in the bottom picture - a mixture of chocolate chips, corn syrup, rice crispies and maybe something else), rum balls (not pictured), chocolate and carmamel covered Lorna Doones and pretzels.




Highlights and other notes from Christmas Baking 2010:

Snickerdoodles are always surprisingly delicious. They look so plain but the texture and flavor always blow me away when I take that first bite. They get better as they age too.

Like last year, I topped Lorna Doones and small round pretzels (last year I used pretzel sticks) with caramel and then dipped them in chocolate. The first batch ended up in the trash. The caramel was way too hard - a hazard. I used chocolate chips and shortening for the coating and it was too soft. What a waste - Lorna Doones are not cheap! I swore I was just going to forget those this year. Well, I couldn't forget them. I remade them and the caramel was PERFECT the second time around. As soft as it could be and still set up and be dipped. The second time, I used chocolate coating which is expensive but so easy to work with, it's worth it. These were definitely one of my favorite things this year.

One reason I couldn't just not make the caramel was that I needed some of it to make the South Seas Cookies. They were a big hit again but I might make them smaller next year.

I was only making the Peppermint Bark since it was one of my older son's favorites in the past but I don't even think he touched it this year (I think he forgot it was there). I probably won't make it again. The CandiQuick I use for that is expensive and I personally don't care for Peppermint Bark and I don't think anyone else was raving over it besides my son. It is kind of pretty though.

I like my cookies and treats to be fresh on Christmas so I tend to do everything at the last minute. Sometimes I don't remember what holds best and don't know where to start. Note to myself for next year - the Crispy Chocolate Truffles and caramel and chocolate covered Lorna Doones and pretzels can be made first. They stayed fresh and looked fresh for quite a while.

I've tried freezing cookies before and didn't care for that but this year I baked off some dough for the Cranberry and White Chocolate cookies that I had left over in the freezer and that worked out well. Next year I'm definitely going to make more doughs ahead of time and freeze them.

And that's the end of Christmas Baking 2010!



Question of the Day: Have all of your Christmas decorations been taken down yet? I took them down before the New Year, a little early for me. The outside decorations are still up since I am not in charge of those. It's such a big deal for him to put them up and then they only get turned on a handful of times and stay there until God knows when (even though we just had a 50-degree day last weekend - perfect weather to take down Christmas lights - don't you think?)

My new favorite candy recipe

Crisp Chocolate Truffles
The Ugly Binder, from ricecrispies.com

1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow creme
2 tablespoons margarine and butter
1 package (6 oz., 1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
2 cups Rice Krispies®
1 package (14 oz.) white chocolate coating
2 tablespoons shortening (I used CandiQuick coating, some vanilla, some chocolate, with no shortening since CandiQuick doesn't need it)
Multi-colored sprinkles (optional)

1. In heavy 2-quart saucepan, combine marshmallow creme, margarine and
chocolate morsels. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is
melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.

2. Stir KELLOGG'S RICE KRISPIES cereal into chocolate mixture, mixing until
thoroughly combined. Drop by rounded teaspoon onto waxed paper-lined
baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. These firm up quickly - you can pretty much handle them right away. I chilled them briefly and then rolled them into smooth balls. Then I chilled them until I was to dip them.

3. In top of double boiler, over hot but not boiling water, melt white coating and
shortening, stirring constantly. Dip each chocolate ball in coating and place on
waxed paper-lined baking sheet. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Refrigerate
until firm. Place in small candy paper cups to serve. Store in airtight container.
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I should have wrapped up the Christmas posts before the new year started but I didn't feel like blogging last week. I only have a couple of new recipes to share. I made a lot of cookies and candies this Christmas but most were tried-and-trues. It's getting hard to fit in any new recipes.

I'm so glad I tried this one. These truffles are so easy to make and personally I loved them. They sort of reminded me of a crispy version of a Three Musketeers. There was absolutely nothing tricky about them. The marshmallow, chocolate and butter melts together magically quickly. I scooped it out easily and evenly with a cookie scoop. The scoops were chilled, rolled into smooth balls, chilled again then dipped- some in vanilla coating, some in chocolate coating.

These will definitely be added to my Christmas line up permanently.

Happy New Year! 2010 reads like it should have been a horrible year for me with the divorce (well, the start of the process - it still hasn't actually happened) and my mom passing away but honestly, I don't feel like it was that bad for some reason. I think the 'big' negatives looming over me just made me work harder to enjoy what I could. Or maybe I am just in denial. I won't lie though - I have higher hopes for 2011.

Question of the Day: How did 2010 go for you? What is your plan for 2011?