Garden of Eatin'

Another allrecipes.com recipe! I don’t know if I ever mentioned this before, but I have no family recipes…there’s a few things that my dad made that were ok, but I’ve managed to improve on them – but all these recipes are in *my* family cookbook that all my kids will get. The tradition has to start somewhere! My kids love these, the celery adds the perfect crunch.

Deviled Eggs

6 eggs
1/2 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/4 onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup mayonnaise (hint: full fat mayo makes these taste so much better then lower fat, I speak from experience)
salt to taste
1 dash hot pepper sauce (we use Frank’s Red Hot)
paprika, for garnish

Place eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool and peel.

Cut eggs in half. Remove yolks and place in a medium bowl. Mash together with celery, onion, mayonnaise, salt and hot pepper sauce.

Place egg mixture in a pastry bag or zip lock bag (cut a small corner off and seal the bag), and fill the egg white halves with the egg yolk mixture. Sprinkle eggs with paprika. Chill covered in the refrigerator until serving.

I used to use – cover your children’s eyes – Taco Bell taco seasoning. Gross, huh?

Then we went to make tacos once and were all out.

I came upon this recipe and never bought the packets again.

Taco Seasoning

1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.

Ala Alton Brown (Good Eats – Food Network of course!), modified slightly…

Perfect Potstickers

1/2 lb ground pork
2 Tbsp finely chopped red pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tsp ketchup
1 tsp yellow mustard
2 tsp worchestershire sauce
1 tsp light brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2  tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
35-40 small wonton wrappers
small bowl of water to seal wrappers
3-4 Tbsp oil, for frying
1-1/3 cups chicken stock, divided

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F

Combine first 10 ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl, set aside.

To form potstickers, remove a couple wrappers from package at a time, keeping the rest covered with a damp cloth to keep from drying out. Brush 2 edges lightly with water. Place 1/2 rounded teaspoon of the pork mixture in the center of the wrapper. Fold over, seal edges and set on a sheet pan, covering with another damp cloth. Repeat until wrappers are gone.

Heat a 12″ saute pan over medium heat. Brush with oil once hot. Add 8-10 potstickers at a time and cook for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, add 1/3 cup chicken stock to the pan, turn the heat to low, cover, and cook for 2 more minutes. Move cooked potstickers to a heatproof platter and place in warm over. Clean the pan between batches by pouring in water and allowing the pan to deglaze. Repeat until all potstickers are cooked. Serve immediately.

This is as close as I can get to my dad’s rice pudding…no one else’s tastes even palatable to me. It’s good stuff!

Rice Pudding

3 cups cooked white rice
4 cups milk, divided
2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1-1/3 cups raisins
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon (or to taste)

In a saucepan, combine all the rice , 3 cups of the milk, the sugar, and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, about 15-20 minutes.

Stir in remaining milk, beaten eggs and raisins, cook for 2 minutes more, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm.

Well, since IHOP took the name “Stuffed French Toast”, this is actually called “French Toast filled with Strawberry Cream Cheese”. Take note I can’t actually eat this anymore as I identified both cream cheese and strawberries as migraine triggers (it really does suck to me be!), but oh my god people, this stuff is SO good! I think I got the recipe from Food Network.

French Toast filled with Strawberry Cream Cheese

Filling:
8oz cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp strawberry preserves
1 Tbsp orange zest

French Toast:
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp orange juice
8 slices Texas Toast style bread, or other thick sliced bread
Butter

In a small mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, preserves and orange zest until smooth. Set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and orange juice. Pour into a shallow bowl or pie plate.

With a pairing knife, slice a pocket into the side of the bread, being careful not to but all the way through the bread. Fill the bread slices with heaping spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture.

IN a skillet over medium heat, melt the mutter. Dipped the filled bread in the egg mixture and place in the skillet to brown on both sides, about 1-2 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining slices.

Serve hot with additional cream cheese mixture on the side.

My kids hate fish (except those nasty frozen fish sticks), but they love this stuff. Super quick to make too! From Allrecipes.com (direct link to recipe)

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
2 pounds tilapia fillets

Preheat your oven’s broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.

In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.

Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

I don’t have much to blog about garden wise, so I’m going to offer up my favorite recipes, one a day until I can’t find any more worth sharing, for you to try and hopefully enjoy. Many I got off the internet and modified to be my own, any that are close to the original will be given credit!

I’ve already blogged about my Baked Potato Soup (which we had again tonight, yum!), I think I’ll do one of our favorite pies:

Caramel Pecan Pie

1 9″ unbaked pie crust
36 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)

Ina saucepan over low hear, combine caramels, butter and milk. Cook, stirring frequently, until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.

In large bowl, combine sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt. Gradually mix in the melted caramel mixture. Stir in pecans. Pour filling into unbaked pie crust.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Allow to cool until filling is firm.