Spiced Mussels

 Stupid easy Spiced Mussels is a better title.  Minimal easy prep and if you can boil water you got it made.  The lovely Mrs says this is the best mussels in broth I've made yet and requested we do it again soon.

The inspiration for this recipe came from an old Gordon Ramsay show.  Being in SE Texas I didn't have access to the variety of chili's he used but found a red jalapeno pepper to be the right substitution for the fresno chili.  The jalapeno when red is sweeter and not as hot as the green ones that hadn't fully ripened.

Ditto my elation in finding fresh frozen mussel's at the local grocery store.  Already shucked and only need a few minutes of simmering to cook through.  Serve with a crusty baguette to sop up the broth and you are eating well.  You can use fresh mussels if get them, just cook until all have opened (and discard those that don't open).

Another substitution you can use is if you can't find creme fraiche you can use equal amounts of sour cream.

Spiced Mussels

Ingredients:

• 1lb fresh frozen mussles
• 1 shallot thinly sliced
• 1 rib celery thinly sliced on bias
• 1 red jalapeno thinly sliced
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 c dry white wine (I use pinot grigio)
• 2 T crème fraiche
• sliced crusty baguette

In medium fry pan add shallot, red jalapeno, celery and butter.  Over medium heat sauté 3-5 minutes until veggies are starting to become translucent.

Add white wine to pan and bring to boil, reduce to simmer.  Simmer 5 minutes to cook out the wine.

Add mussels.  Bring to boil and reduce to simmer 5-6 minutes until cooked through.  Stirring occasionally.

Turn off heat and add crème fraiche and stir until dissolved into broth.  Very important to do this off the heat as you can curdle your crème fraiche if too hot.  Serve immediately in a bowl with the baguette on the side. 

Sausage and Greens Soup

 

Its not often we get cool rainy days here in S.E Texas, but when we do I'm loaded with an arsenal of rib sticking soups.   This is a new(ish) one loaded up with baby greens that you need a fork to practically get through it.  Man is is hearty.

Thank goodness for supermarkets wising up and prepackaging greens along with the usual suspects of a "salad bar".  In this case I used Kroger's baby green mix...spinach and kale in their tender young form.  Just add to a soup and you'e done.  In terms of the kale, thats a labor savor using baby version as you don't neet to destem and chop them before adding.  Makes for stupid easy cookery.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs mild smoked sausage such as kielbasa
• 1 large sweet onion
• 48 oz chicken broth
• 1 lb  mixed baby greens (kale and spinach)
• 2 T finely chopped basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 T flour

Method

Thinly slice saudage (approx 1/4'').  Heat large stock pot over medium heat, add olive oil then sausage.

Stir occassionally.  Coarse chop the onion and add to browning sausage.   Cook 5-8 minutes until sausage is browned and the onions ar translucent.  Add flour and cook 1 minute.

Stir in stock.  Simmer 10 minutes until lightly thickened.  Slowly add greens by handfuls in batchs slowly stirring in and allowing to wilt before adding next batch. Test for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed to taste.  Add basil.

Simmer 10 minutes to fully wilt kale.  Serve hot with additional basil and maybe a sprinkle of parmesan.

Moose Track Candy

What's Christmas without candy and sweets?  I'm telling ya...I come from a long, LONG line of sweet tooths and this confection sure satiates that craving.  The actual recipe is sorta lost in space, as its its origins.  My daughter got the recipe from my Mom, but deleted most of the stuff that goes in as she didn't like it...sadly she doesn't remember what is omitted.

This recipe falls into the stupid easy category.  Popping Popcorn is the only skill needed.  The other is stirring and using a microwave.  How easy is that?

The popcorn isn't dauting at all.  Its better to do it in a couple of small batches than one large for better popping and fewer "bullets", or unpopped kernals at the end.  Also using a large mesh kitchen spider to fish the popped corn out of the pan ensures that any bullets are left behind and all you have is good fresh popped corn for the rest of this sweet treet.

My daughters version doesn't include dried cranberries.  I added it to my recipe as, well, the tart of the cranberry is a nice counterpoint to the sweet of the white chocolate coating.  I also add a pinch of salt...something all that popcorn needs as well as a nice foil for the sweet.  Tart, sweet and salty can it get any better?

An absolute must to success with this recipe is using a silpat sheet on your baking sheet.  Without it the confection sticks to much to the baking sheet and makes it hard to pull off and break apart for storage.

Moose Track Candy

• 1 1-lb package Candy Quick
• 1 bag Reese's pieces
• 2 C reduced sugar dried cranberries
• 1/4 t sea salt
• 3/4 c unpopped popcorn
• 6 T vegetable oil

Heat 2T oil in a heavy pot with a lid.  Add 1/4 c popcorn kernels.  Cook over medium-high heat until popping slows and comes to a stop.  Remove popped corn with a spider and toss out the unpopped kernels. Repeat with remaining popcorn and oil until its all popped.

Put popped corn into a very large bowl.  Sprinkle Reeses Pieces and dried cranberry over the popped corn and fold lightly. 

Melt Candy Quick according to package directions in microwave.  Sprinkle salt over the candy quick and stir until smooth.  Pour the candy quick over the popcorn mixture.  Fold until all ingredients are evenly coated with the candy quick.  While still warm spread out over a large silpat covered baking sheet.  Put in refrigerator for 1-2 hours to set.

Remove from refrigerator and break into small chunks.  Put into gift jars or large container with a lid and store at room temperature.  Enjoy with a big cup of creamy hot cocoa or Mexican Hot Cocoa with peppermint schnapps added.

Baked and Breaded Cod

I have loved those silly frozen fish sticks for as long as I can remember. Ditto going out for "fish & chips".  Its a nice thick piece of cod. The problem with frozen is that it was previously deep fried and has a lot of added fat calories.  How to avoid without loosing any taste or texture?  Bake it.

I bought whole cod fillets and trimmed off the thinner pieces from the back of the fish, cubed it and froze it for future use in a fish stew.  That left me with perfect fillets for dinner last night.  Trimming so they are all uniform in size ensure that they are all cooked through at the same time.

Baked Cod Filets

• 4 filets trimmed into approx 8oz portions
• 1 c flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 T milk 
• 1 1/2 c seasoned bread crumbs
• salt
• pepper
• cooking spray (I use Pam)

Preheat oven to 400F-use convect feature for best browning.
Spray baking sheet lightly with cooking spray.
Season each filet well with salt and pepper.  Set aside
Season flour with salt and pepper, about 1 teaspoon each in a large bowl.  Set aside.
Combine egg and milk in a bowl.  set aside
Add bread crumbs to a bowl.  Set aside. 

Dredge filet in flour. Immediately move to egg mixture, turn to coat well in egg.  Put filet in bread crumbs, turning and press light to ensure they stick well to the  filet.  Transfer filet to prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining filets.  Spritz each filet with cooking spray to help with browning.

Bake 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve hot with favorite tartar sauce.

Stupid Easy Thai Style homemade cup-o-noodles

Life doesn't really get any easier than this.  Fresh noodles from your local asian grocery.  Broth and some herbage to finish it off.  Best of all since you are controlling the ingredients there is no fear of MSG!

Today I went Thai with it.  What made it Thai you may ask?  Fish Sauce and Thai Chili's.  Finish with a squirt of lime.  Its done as fast as that

The noodles are hard(ish) to find if you don't have an Asian market close to you.  If you do have one such market close by I urge you to spend time there and get to know all the ingredients, fresh and otherwise.  Who knew there were 20 kinds of Bok Choy...there are and each are a little different in size and texture, all taste similar.  The funnest part is wandering over to the fresh noodle arena, my local market has literally over a 100 kinds of noodles, many gluten free as they are made from rice. The noodles I used here were pre-packaged soba noodles.  A sorta reasonable substitute be cooked whole wheat spaghetti.

I usually have homemade chicken stock around, but today I didn't so I used my next best favorite, the trusty can of Swanson's low sodium chicken broth.

The big word of caution here is that a little fish sauce goes a long, long way.  Too much and its just stank.  Just a few drops here and it adds another level of flavor that doesn't overpower and adds just the right amount of salinity.

Stupid Easy Thai Style Cup-o-noodles

• 1 C fresh soba noodle
• 1 can Chicken broth (about 2 c)
• 1-2 thinly sliced Thai Chili
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 T fresh cilantro
• 4 drops fish sauce
• 1/2 t low sodium soy sauce
• lime

In small sauce pan add chicken broth and heat to simmer. Add fish sauce and soy sauce. Add fresh soba noodles and cook 1-2 minutes until heated through.  Take off heat, stir in onion, chili(s) and cilantro.  Pour off into serving bowl and give it a squirt of fresh lime juice.

Kickin' back a cocktail and looking for ideas...

Seriously, since I've joined the post a day blog challenge I've had a ton of fun. Made me think a lot about my blogs and what I can do differently with them.  Today's challenge was to ask our readers what they would like to see from us.  o_O

I can look at stats and tell you French food, at least the simpler homie stuff I do is the most popular based on hits and traffic generated.  A close second is sourdough.  I explore so many ideas and styles based on what interests me at the moment, so picking one isn't an option.  I'm really not into doing just one cuisine or style as its not how I live and cook.  Its L.A and the world is literally at my doorstep so why limit myself?

It really comes down to what's fresh, what's in season and who I fell asleep through on FoodNetwork and picked up ideas by osmosis for most recipe and blog post ideas.  What I eat really shows up on this blog.  I do a lot of repeats hence the dry spells, but repeats are family favorites that already have been blogged here.

I purposely use my cell phone cameras for my blog posts. They have an informality that describes me and my food as well as my general philosophy of entertaining my friends.  The goal here long term is to take these posts and make a "Blogger's Cookbook" with a focus on the stupid easy cookery that is a theme throughout this blog.  Should I do it?

In rounding out my blog what else should I do for you that makes it a better blog for you to visit? I'm all ears and always open to new ideas.

Faux Rice-a-roni

My kids are major fans of the Rice-a-roni. You know that marvy rice and pasta concoction from the 1960's that makes its ways to many a table every night? Its actually a pretty decent fast side for a lot of grilled meats, something I do a lot of around here. The only gripe I have is that its overloaded with salt and there isn't much you can do to about it.  Except make your own.

Its a pretty simple blend of herbs and dried chicken stock that you toss in with the pasta and rice after they are browned. An easy process to duplicate.  And I did.

Of course I figured as long as I'm gonna do it up faux I'll also make in the microwave to take one pot off the stove that I have to worry about.  This actually works out quite well in the microwave and is stupid easy once you program your M.O. to remember the settings.  Its clearly a set and forget.

I used the Better than Bouillon brand chicken base for my recipe as I was out of chicken broth.  You can simply use 2 cups chicken broth if you have it on hand.  I do keep this bouillon around as it has better flavor than the cubed stuff and WAY less sodium.  A big plus especially if you are on a low sodium diet for health reasons.  Its also a good way to add flavor to dishes where you don't want to add a lot of liquid and still get a big flavor boost with that slow cooked all day flavor.

Faux Rice-a-roni

• 1/2 c fideo noodles
• 1/2 c raw white rice
• 2 T butter
• 2 c water
• 2 t Better than Bouillon chicken broth
• 1/2 t garlic salt
• 1 T dried parsley

In microwave safe covered dish add pasta and rice.  Top with butter.  Microwave for 1 minute.  Stir to coat rice and pasta with butter.  Microwave on high 1 minute longer.  Toss and repeat until pasta is a deep golden brown.  It takes about 3 minutes total in my 1250 watt MO.

Dissolve Better than Bouillon in water.  Add garlic salt and parsley to rice and toss.  Add broth and stir. 

Cover the dish.  Microwave 5 minutes on high power. Continue covered and microwave 20 minutes on 50% power.  Let stand 5 minutes.  Fluff with fork and serve.

French Onion Soup #FOOLPROOF

OK.  This is really stupid easy.  Time consuming, but easy.  If you can melt butter and stir you are done.  Allow ample time, 60-75 minutes for the caramelizing process.  Total time from start to finish comes close to two hours start to finish.

The key to this is really watching the caramelizing of the onions and  near constant stirring towards the end so you don't fry the onions or scorch them.  On the latter a heavy, non-stick interior pan makes it a little more fool proof.

I do take a few short cuts, and they are potentially laden with salt.  First is buy cooking sherry that doesn't come with salt added, it can be found.  Most of what you find in the groc is very high in sodium so do be careful with this step.  Beef or vegetable stocks can be high in sodium too, read the labels and get low sodium as well.  Also, with vegetable stock be careful as many add MSG or mono-sodium glutamate to boost their flavor, its not a good thing as many are allergic to it OR it can cause migraines which it does for me.

Meatless Monday...you this recipe counts if you use the vegetable stock.  Look for a vegetable stock that includes mushrooms for a richer flavor...or make your own.  I think I'll have to dust off my mushroom veggie stock recipe and post here as its really "meaty" in flavor without the meat produces used in its making.

Slice the onions thin. The thinner the better as it speeds up the caramelizing process.  Don't have that handy dandy hand held mandolin yet?  This recipe is the one to go out and find one as there are a LOT of onions to thinly slice.

Butter is used primarily as it browns better than oils do.  Worried about the saturated fat?  Then use a good olive oil.  The second reason butter is used comes to flavor, again olive oil will add flavor as well, not the same but as tasty. Vegetable oils are too neutral and just don't add in the flavor you are looking for.

This may sound like a lot of soup, but the onions do cook down a lot.  It makes 6 appetizer sized servings or doubled up for 3 entree servings.

French Onion Soup

• 3 lbs Onions- thin sliced
• 2 shallots- thin sliced
• 2 cloves garlic-minced
• 4 T butter
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 t ground black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/3 c sherry
• 1 T Red wine vinegar
• 32 oz (4 C) low sodium beef broth
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 5 sprigs flat leaf parsley
• Swiss cheese slices (presliced packaged works fine)
• sliced baguette

In large heavy bottom pot melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, shallots, garlic, bay leaf, salt and pepper.  Stir occasionally at first, more often at the end until they are a deep golden brown. Towards the end you may need to reduce the heat to low to prevent burning or scorching. Color is flavor and this step can't be hurried.  Allow 60-75 minutes for this step.  

When your onions are a deep golden brown add sherry and vinegar.  Stir until nearly all is evaporated, about 3-5 minutes.

Tie together thyme and parsley with kitchen string.  Add beef broth.  Simmer uncovered 20-25 minutes until it has reduced by a cup to cup-and-a-half.   Test for seasoning, add more salt if needed. During the simmer stage preheat oven to 450F.  Slice and toast baguette.  Slice cheese.

At end of simmer remove bay leaf and the herb bundle.  Discard.  Ladle soup into serving dishes.  Top with baguette slice(s) and 2 pieces of cheese.  Place serving bowls on a baking sheet for easier handling.  Bake in oven 6-8 minutes until cheese is melted and starting to brown.  Serve piping hot with additional bread for dipping if desired.

It looks like a lot of onions at the start, but they do shrink down considerably as they cook.  Stir occasionally at the beginning using care not to break up the rings.

When the caramelization process is nearly complete you will need to stir more often so as not to scorch or fry your onion mixture. Watch carefully as you may need to reduce your heat.

Layer toasted baguette onto the soup.  Top with cheese.  Note the baking dish does make it easier to get in or out of the oven without spilling.  It also will catch and bubble ups and dribbles so you don't trash out your oven floor.

All melted and edges starting to brown, perfect soup for a cool fall day's dinner.  Beef broth is best, for a Meatless Monday option use a mushroom rich vegetable stock.

Kung Pao Shrimp the stupid easy way

Ok, I'm a guai lo, and damn proud of it.  I'm not much of a sauce maker and am in ABSOLUTE heaven with the introduction of the Panda Express Sauces at my local grocery store.  Gone are the days of the over salty sauces, sauces that didn't thicken right or were too bland as I was to light on the soy.  Yahoo!

The hardest part of this recipe is cleaning the shrimp.  I use the large 16/20 shrimp as I think they have a sweeter less fishy taste than the smaller salad sizes. They also are way easy to clean and get rid of that nasty "vein" which we really know is its poop tract.  Yuck and tastes bad too.

The remainder of this recipe is simple chopping and measuring.  Stupid easy.

Kung Pao Shrimp

• 2 lbs raw shrimp
• 1 red bell pepper -  1" dice
• 1 small onion - 1 inch dice
• 1 T minced fresh ginger
• 1 T toasted sesame oil
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 3/4 c Panda Express Kung Pao Sauce

Heat wok over high heat.  Add oils and heat until shimmering.  Add bell pepper, onion and ginger. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.  Add shrimp. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes until just turned opaque and pink.  Reduce heat to low, pour in the Kung Pao Sauce.  Stir until evenly coated and it starts to bubble.  Serve hot over cooked rice.

Stupid Easy Potato Gratin

Some things seem way more daunting than they really are.  Some things like Potato Gratin Dauphinoise are much easier than one thinks they are to complete. Its the complicated name that gets to people.  They also make a great stupid easy side dish for things like Coq Au Vin or similar to get your starch portion of the dinner complete.

This recipe is microwave friendly...and couldn't begin to tell you with certainty how long to do it in a traditional oven or at what temp.  It was created years ago when I was an apartment dweller and had an oven so small that even a turkey couldn't fit so I HAD to come up with ways to move stuff to the micro.  Timing in the recipe is based on a 1200 watt microwave.

I have to admit I'm a gadget freak and love them all.  A while back I picked up small hand held mandolin at Surfas in Culver City.  Its great for perfectly thin slices that don't deviate in size...much better than I can accomplish with my knife skills.  It is the tool I go to for making gratins such as this.

Another tool that I use a lot in the kitchen is the microplane.  It is perfect for adding a dusting of nutmeg, chocolate, zesting a lemon or what have you.  Much better at the job than a box grater or similar tool.

Potato Gratin

• 1 1/2 lbs baking potato
• heavy cream
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/8 t nutmeg, divided
• salt
• pepper

Butter your a 1.5 quart casserole dish.  Slice potatoes with the mandolin.  Put in layer of potatoes about 2-3 slices thick.  Salt, Pepper, dusting of nutmeg, and 1/4 of the Parmesan.  Repeat until all the potatoes are used and you are within an inch of the top.  Pour in heavy cream until it just reaches the top layer.  Put dish in microwave oven.  Microwave on HIGH for 10 minutes, then 20 Minutes at half power.

Lemon Ginger Mousse made stupid easy

Yup...I can't take credit for the flavor profile or the invention of the original. It belongs to a chef Joann Chang who appeared on food network TV's new show "Sugar High" with Duff Goldman. The original recipe HERE.

It sounded so good and when we were invited over to some friends for wine and cheese tonight and challenged to come up with something for dessert I thought of this.

There were a couple of problems to this that prevented me from doing the actual recipe. First is that the REAL cream in the recipe needs to be heated and then cooled overnight with the ginger and I just don't have the time. The second issue is that one of our hosts for tonight is dieting so the use of REAL cream is kinda outta the question.

My solution was to use fresh ground ginger, fat free cool whip and ready made lemon curd. Yup...I cheated and came up with a stupid easy dessert that is cool, refreshing and quite tasty too with a drastic reduction in calories.

Lemon Ginger Mousse

1 8 0z container Fat Free Cool Whip

1 14.5 oz jar Dundee Lemon Curd

1/4 t ground ginger

2 ginger snap cookies crushed.

Thaw the Cool Whip. Fold in ground ginger and lemon curd. Spoon into serving dishes (I used a ramekin but any dessert dish would work). Garnish with crushed ginger snap cookies. Chill 1 hour before serving.

Stupid Easy Peach Cobbler...the Video

Its my first official video...appeared on the Snacky Shack, a youtube channel that takes artists, their food and shares it with their audience. It is run by two really cool guys here in Monrovia (suburban LA), artist Joseph R Davis and musician Tommy "Mac" MacCarthy.

The recipe that I did for the show was my Stupid Easy Peach Cobbler which I have blogged here in the past. To save you the look up here it is again.

The homemade vanilla extract in the video is stupid easy to do as well. Take a small jar and fill it with 1 c brandy or bourbon. Take two vanilla pods and split them lengthwise then cut in half to fit into the jar. Let it sit a couple of weeks and voila...your own homemade vanilla.

Stupid Easy Peach Cobbler

• 1 c flour
• 1 c sugar
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t baking powder
• 1 egg
• 2 15 oz cans sliced peaches
• 1 t vanilla extract
• cinnamon
• 1/2 c butter (1 stick I use unsalted)

In mixer with whisk attachment add the flour, sugar, salt and . Crack egg into a small dish and beat lightly to break yolk. Add egg to dry ingredients and whiz in the mixer at medium speed until it resembles sand.

Drain 1 can of peaches and add to 8X8 baking dish. Add the contents of the entire can of remaining peaches. Stir in vanilla. Sprinkle with cinnamon to taste. Sprinkle the flour mixture evenly over the top of the peaches. Do not stir to blend.

Melt butter and drizzle over the topping mixture. Bake in 375 oven until topping is browned and starting to crisp up...approx 55-65 minutes.

Drunken Pulled Pork...the Crock Pot edition

My kids love pulled pork sammies, my wife will eat it without the bun...a carb counter amongst us. Regardless its stupid easy to do as all it needs is a long braise. Its a hit any day of the week, but on Sundays when its my day for basketball tournaments I need to rely on the Crock Pot to get Sunday dinner on the table.

This version isn't all that different from the oven braised version I blogged a while back. It simply takes the pork butt roast from being cut to fit into a braising pan to being whole to slow cook all day in a crock pot. Mine is older than I care to admit but still is a very handy tool to have in the kitchen for those busy days you either don't have the time to cook dinner or you don't want to heat up the entire house with an oven. Either way its a long slow braise and the results are fork tender ready to pull apart pork roast.

One thing I've discovered is that it is true that cooking bone in yields more flavor. When cooked until fork tender there is no butchering required to get around the bone...it simply pulls right out and you can go about using a pair of forks to pull your pork.

Even though I am using a bottled BBQ sauce for the sandwiches, I still pull a lot of spices into the mix to pick up the same flavor profile basted deep into the pork. Its just a more flavorful end result. Prolly why its a hit with the fam.

Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Pork

• 7 lb bone in pork roast
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 carrot chopped
• 1 celery stalk chopped
• 2 t Steak seasoning (I use Lawry's brand Montreal Seasoning Salt)
• 2 bay leaf
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1 T Liquid Smoke
• 1 Bottle beer (I use a light amber wheat beer)
• 1 15oz can tomato sauce

Add ingredients in order listed to crock pot. Set on low and cook 8 hours. Remove pork roast from the braising liquid. Using a fork peal off pieces of meat. Using two forks, one to hold down the meat and another to shred pull your pork into bite sized shards. Add your favorite BBQ sauce to the shredded meat, heat and serve on hamburger buns.

Dr. Pepper Devils Food Cake

I can't lay claim to the recipe or idea for this cake. I got the idea from the "Chocolate Crazy" cookbook I bought some 20 years ago. It was for a from scratch cake using Dr. Pepper as the liquid base for the cake. (Even though out of print it is copyrighted work so I can't reprint here). The cake worked for me and was a hit at numerous parties I brought it too. Then came children and the need for stupid easy shortcuts which brought about the "invention" of this version.

One thing that does take a bit of time is tracing out and cutting paper liners for the cake pans. Hardly worth skipping as it guarantees you an easy release from the pan every time. Really.


Dr. Pepper Devil's Food Cake

• 1 18oz Cake Mix - Devil's Food Chocolate
• Regular Dr. Pepper - not diet
• Pre-packaged Chocolate, or Fudge type Frosting

Follow directions on cake box for the amount of eggs and oil, substitute the water with the Dr. Pepper. Follow mixing and baking directions. (I used 3 8" pans which weren't on the box directions and they were done in 18-20 minutes). Cool cakes and frost with your favorite chocolate type frosting.

Now, just how much more stupid easy can one get?

Cranberry Raspberry Conserve

This recipe is inspired by Ina Garten from one she does called Cranberry Fruit conserve. I liked it but saw room to add my own touches. First I like my cranberry to be tart when served with rich foods such as Thanksgiving which is about a week away. That tartness cuts right through the rich sauces and stuff keeping the palette alive. That's a good thing while stuffing your face.

There are a couple of changes among them is the dried fruit used in the conserve. She uses raisins for cripes sakes. Raisins. Those things kindergartners stuff in their noses and who knows what else they do with the creepy little buggers. The only thing worse than a raisin in my book is a cooked one. Everyone knows that grapes are meant to be juiced and turned into wine, right!? Hence the change to dried raspberry.

A secret to jelly making, (jams and conserves too) is a good heavy pan to to avoid hot spots that might scorch your sugary goodness. Using a heavy copper pan pretty much guarantees you will have even and rapid heating. When buying copper get a stainless steel lined one so you don't have to worry about getting it "re-tinned" when a tin lining wears off.

Cranberry Raspberry Conserve

• 1 (12 ounce) bag fresh cranberries

• 1 3/4 cups sugar

• 1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped

• 1 orange, juice and grated zest

• 1 large lemon, juice and grated zest

• 3/4 cup dried Raspberry

• 3/4 cup walnuts coarse chopped

Directions

Cook the cranberries, sugar and 1 cup of water in a saucepan over low heat for about 5 minutes, or until the skins pop open. Add the apple, zests and juices and let cook for 15 more minutes. Remove from heat and add the raspberries and nuts. Pour off into jars and seal. Let cool, and serve chilled. It will store safely in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Microwave Apple Crisp

First off, sorry for the craptastic photo, the oven mitt is really deep red and the crisp had a rich dark brown topping. When all is said and done with two colors of light in the room it through off the trusty old cell cam and gave me this image. Bummer, as the cobbler was sooooo freakin' good it was devoured before I could do a reshoot with a better camera.

This dessert goes back to the days as an early apt dweller in The Valley when our apt had marginal air conditioning, with none in the kitchen. There is a always a sweet tooth to be satiated and there are times where good old comfort foods like a fruit crisp are the only thing that will do the trick. When its 100+ one does not turn on an oven in an already uncomfortable kitchen. What to do...turn old oven based recipes into one that works in a microwave. This recipe did just the trick. Very simple and it is based on a 1200 watt microwave so you will need adjust times to suit your machine.

With apple crisps (pies and cobbles too) I like to use a couple of different apples. Its all about the textural differences and the juice for the sauce. Some apples hold their shape well with a nice crunch but yield little juice. Others release a lot of juice but wither down to mush. A mix of apples gets you the best of both worlds. For this reason I used a mix of Red Delicious and Gala apples.

Microwave Apple Crisp

• 6 cups (approximately 6 medium apples) sliced
• 2 t lemon juice
• 2 t cinnamon, divided
• 1/2 c packed brown sugar
• 1/2 c uncooked oatmeal
• 1/4 c flour
• 1/4 c butter - room temp
• 1/2 t salt

Place apples in an 8" X 8" microwave safe baking dish. Add lemon juice and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Toss. Microwave 4 minutes until tender crisp.

Combine remaining ingredients. Mix well. Sprinkle evenly over warm fruit mixture. Microwave on high 9-12 minutes until apples and topping are bubbly. Let set for 10 minutes, serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream topping.

Ham and Cheese Roll Ups

Last night an hour before a Halloween Party the better half gave me a "by the way I told Shane you'd bring a hot appetizer". An HOUR before the party and they were counting on me to whip up something out of thin air.

Clock ticking I figured out quick what I'd need for these Ham and Cheese Roll Ups. Stupid easy to do and tasty too. What I didn't have on hand was the pastry dough and resorted to my favorite old stand by....crescent rolls in a can to get things done fast.

Ham and Cheese Roll Ups

• Good Dijon Mustard
• 2 cans Crescent Rolls
• 4 slices smoked ham, Black Forest if you have it
• 4 slices Swiss cheese.

Open the cans and unroll the crescent rolls. Cut each in half. Brush with Dijon mustard. Quarter each slice of ham and Swiss cheese. Place a piece of ham on top of the pastry dough, add a slice of cheese. Starting with the fat end of the pastry roll up croissant style and place on a a parchment paper lined baking sheet. (Will make a total of 32 appetizers).

Bake in 375 oven 11-13 minutes until golden brown and the cheese is all melted. Serve warm.
All prepped up and ready for the rolling.

Beer Braised Beef Short Ribs

Meat eaters have their place in the food chain too. I love my red meat in moderation. The other morning when asked what to make for dinner that night the overwhelming response was meat. So I grabbed a pack of boneless short ribs I had in the freezer and proceeded to thaw for use that night.

Beer Braised Short Ribs is stupid easy with barely a hand full of ingredients and a couple of easy steps to get dinner going. Braising is the secret to getting an inexpensive and tough cut of beef "fork tender"by cooking it long, low and slow. The added bonus is when you braise is that there is enough liquid that stirring and scorching isn't much of a concern so its low maintenance once its in the oven.

Beer Braised Beef Short Ribs

4-5 lbs boneless beef short ribs

1 bottle beer

1 can beef broth

3 bay leaves.

1 c flour

4T Montreal Steak Seasoning blend

4 strips bacon.

1 large onion

2 medium carrots sliced

2 T garlic minced (or less to taste)

EVOO

In large dutch oven of similar cooking pot add just enough EVOO to cover the bottom of the pan and add the bacon strips. Cook until crispy. Remove bacon and set aside.

Mix flour and steak seasoning blend. Increase heat in dutch oven to medium-high. Dredge short ribs in flour and add to hot pan. Sear all sides, 3-5 minutes per side. Cook in batches so you do not crowd pan.

When short ribs are all browned let them rest on a platter and add onions and carrots to the pan. Stir constantly and scrape up browned bits from the bottom of the pan. When onions are translucent and starting to caramelize add garlic and cook 1 minute longer, stir constantly so as to not burn the garlic. Add bottle of beer and scrape up all remaining bits from bottom of pan.

Arrange short ribs over the browned vegies. Wedge bay leaves in between the short ribs. Add enough beef broth to bring the liquid to just below the top of the meat. (See photo).

Cover and bake in 325F oven for 2 hours. Serve hot with mashed potato or similar on the side using the braising liquid as a "gravy".

The liquid in a braise should just come to the top of the meat. Covering the meat with the liquid would be stewing and yields a similar but not the same result as a braise.
Cooking the short ribs in batches ensures a good sear to the meat. Overcrowding a pan winds up "steaming" the meat in its own juices and does not yield good color. To quote Tyler Florence, "color is flavor and you don't want to lose it".

Peach Cobbler

A quick stand by dessert is something you need in your kitchen arsenal. Something for those impromptu get-togethers to satisfy the sweet tooth and let your guests know you enjoy their company kind to treat. This peach cobbler is mine. Been making it since high school which suffice to say will date it back to the last century.

It is simple and if you use the whisk attachment on a stand mixer it falls into the "stupid easy" category which is what I am all about. I could also make this a dedication to Paula Deen or Ina Garten as both start more than a few desserts with "a stick of butter".

Peach Cobbler

1 C Flour

1 C Sugar

1/2 C Butter (1 stick) - melted

1/4 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1 large egg

1 t cinnamon

1 t vanilla

2 14.5 oz cans peaches

Preheat oven to 350F.

Drain 1 can peaches and add to an 8"X8" baking dish. Add the other can of peaches with their liquid to the baking dish. (2 cans of juice is way too much). Add vanilla and stir to mix in. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon over the peaches.

In mixing bowl add flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and baking powder. Toss to combine. Add slightly beaten egg and with whisk attachment mix on medium 1-2 minutes until the egg is combined and the mixture resembles coarse sand.

Sprinkle topping mixture evenly over the peaches. Pour melted butter over the topping mix. Bake for 55-70 minutes until topping is deep golden brown. Cool 15 minutes, serve warm.

I tend to be a little generous with the cinnamon, you can too at this point in the recipe.
Not much left after 4 people jumped in and started shoveling.

Easy Oven BBQ Chicken

I'm one of those "chicken is a flavor delivery device" kinda beef guys. In other words, I won't go out of my way to make it and won't order it in a restaurant. But, I have a family who loves the stuff so I find ways to pack in the flavor so I can enjoy it.

Oven BBQ is a fast way to get the flavor of a good 'que without having to hassle with a grill. Liquid smoke is the answer to getting the smokey flavor in. Using your favorite rub is the last half of the secret of making the oven baked stuff taste nearly as good as the grill. Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus and this Santa is going to give up his until now uber-secret rub recipe. (I won't be giving up my sun-dried tomato BBQ Sauce though...but I do pass jars along on request to fans of it when I make a batch).

Oven BBQ Chicken

4 chicken breasts - skin removed

2 T liquid smoke (I use the mesquite flavor)

4 T dry rub

Preheat oven to 350F. Place chicken breasts into a bowl and add the liquid smoke to marinate. Allow to sit 5 minutes. Use 1T per breast and rub into both sides very well. Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet sprayed lightly with a cooking oil. Bake 30-40 minutes until done. Serve with favorite BBQ Sauce.
Now for the dry rub. It is a recipe I came up with on my own, feel free to tweak as needed. Mine started loosely as a St Louis Style rub given to me by a friends folks when we lived near St Louis. I just can't keep to a recipe so I added in some extra spices that amp up the flavor without adding calories. IT is so good that you don't even have to add sauce to your ribs, chicken or whatever you apply it too.

Dry Rub Mix

• 1 C Paprika
  
• 1 C Brown Sugar
  
• 1 T sea salt (or kosher)
  
• 2 T dried Onion Flakes
  
• 2 T dried garlic
  
• 1T black pepper
  
• 1 T dry mustard
  
• ¼ t cayenne pepper
  
• ½ t red pepper flakes
  
• ¼ t nutmeg
  
• ½ t allspice
  

Put mix in blender or food processor and pulse until well blended. For large bulk spices I like to use “It’s Delish” brand as its huge quantities very cheap. Sea Salt or Kosher work better than regular table salt as they are sweeter with no metallic aftertaste. Store in cool dark place.