Tomato & Bread Salad

From: Art of Cooking – Junior League of Ogden (Utah), page 62

 

¾ pound day-old crusty bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 6 cups)

2 cloves garlic, mashed with 1 tablespoon of coarse salt

2 large tomatoes (about 1 pound), trimmed and cut into 8 wedges each

¼ cup cucumber, sliced

½ cup red onion, sliced

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

10 fresh basil leave, shredded

In serving bowl, stir together bread, garlic, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, oil, vinegar and basil. If your bread isn’t stale, toast it until lightly golden brown. Adjust seasonings as needed. Stir well. Let stand for 1 hour before servings.

Serves 4-6.

Nancy’s Notes: Love this during tomato season – we ate immediately before the bread gets soggy. I’ve used dried basil if I don’t have fresh and once didn’t have a cucumber so used diced fresh red pepper for some crunchiness. We make it a meal.

Successful Green Limas

 

 

1 bag frozen green beans

2 carrots, diced

3 slices pre-cooked bacon, diced

3-4 tablespoons diced red onion

1 tablespoon butter

Seasonings

Cook frozen limas and diced carrots in small amount of water. When fully cooked, drain and set aside in colander or dish. In the same pan melt butter, add red onion and diced bacon. When onions soften add beans and carrots. Season with sea salt, pepper and Castle Peak Cheese Sprinkle from Savoy Spice Shop in Littleton, Colorado.

Nancy’s Notes: I was looking for something a little extra to do with a bag of green limas. Many of the recipes I Googled included sauces and or large amounts of cheese. I picked up a couple of ideas and created this side dish that was very well received. Michael thought this was a really good treatment and took home the leftovers.

Pork & Black Bean Burritos

 

Shredded pork spiced with:

Chimayo Holy Chile

Chipotle Powder

Black Pepper

Garlic

Smoked Sea Salt

Cumin

Cook in broth with spices 45 minutes.

Saute ½ cup chopped onions in olive oil, add one large can black beans (drained and rinsed), add ¾ cup broth from pulled pork. Heat until hot through and some of the broth is absorbed. Mash beans until most are broken but not totally smashed.

Grease a 13-x9-inch dish. Spread ¼ of a can of green enchilada sauce across the bottom of the dish.

Using extra large, thin flour tortillas spread a scoop of beans down the center – about 2-inches wide. Cover beans with ½ cup spiced pork, sprinkle with shredded Mexican 4-cheese mix. Fold ends towards filling and roll. Place in greased baking dish with seam side down. Top with the remaining green enchilada sauce and the rest of the shredded cheese. Bake in 350° oven, uncovered for 25-30 minutes. Serve with guacamole and sour cream.

Nancy’s Notes: This recipe evolved from my expectations and didn’t disappoint. The burritos were good enough to take the time to write down the procedure.

Nancy’s Fresh Cranberry Relish

 

2 bags fresh cranberries

2 navel oranges

1 large Jonagold apple

¾-1 cup sugar

Rinse cranberries, discarding any bad ones. Cut apple and oranges into chunks – do not peel. Using a food processor, turned on, drop handfuls of fruit through feed tube. Stop a couple of times to scrap down the sides of the bowl. Empty into mixing bowl. Repeat until all the fruit is ground. Add ¾ – 1 cup sugar. Stir to dissolved. Chill. Store in covered container.

Nancy’s Notes: My mother always made a fresh cranberry relish for the Cutright family Thanksgiving dinner. I much prefer fresh to cooked. This keeps well in the frig or freezer. I like to keep this on hand during the fresh cranberry season, goes well with many dinner dishes, not just turkey. Think of all the good vitamin A.

Italian Sausage Quiche

From: Purple Sage – Junior League of Tucson

1 9-inch unbaked pastry shell

½ cup coarsely copped sweet Italian sausage

½ cup chopped onion

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup evaporated milk

¾ cup milk

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon red pepper (cayenne)

1/8 teaspoon pepper

½ pound Muenster cheese, shredded

Prick pastry shell with a fork. Partially bake at 400° until just beginning to brown, about 5-8 minutes. Brown sausage in small skillet. Transfer to medium bowl. Add onion to pan drippings and saute over low heat until tender. Add onion to sausage. Stir in eggs, evaporated milk, whole milk, parsley, salt, nutmeg and peppers. Sprinkle cheese on bottom of pastry shell and pour in sausage mixture. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° and continue baking 25 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Nancy’s Notes: Made Nov. 8, 2009 – Good, I didn’t think it was exceptional but perfectly acceptable. Bob ate most of the leftovers.

Italian Olive Bread

From: Glitter to Gourmet – Junior League of Las Vegas, page 14

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

2 small garlic cloves, minced

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon dried oregano

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 loaf Italian bread, split lengthwise

Paprika to tast

½ cup sliced pimento-stuffed green olives

½ cup sliced black olives

Mix the cream cheese, butter, mayonnaise, garlic, salt and oregano in a bowl. Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Spread on the cut surfaces of the bread. Sprinkle with paprika; top with the sliced olives, Reassemble the loaf and wrap in foil. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes. Remove the foil. Slice the bread and serve warm.

Nancy’s Notes: Serve as an appetizer.

Fresh Peach Upside Down Pie

From: A Brochure published by Colorado Peaches about 40-years ago

Line 9-inch pie pan with a 12-inch square of foil. Let excess foil overhang edge. Spread with 2 tablespoons soft butter. Press 2/3 cup chopped pecans and 1/3 cup brown sugar into butter. Fit bottom crust into pan over nuts. Mix 5 cups sliced fresh Colorado peaches, ¾ cup sugar, ¼ cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons tapioca, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon. Pour into crust, cover with top crust. Seal crust edges. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes, then at 375° for 35-40 minutes. Cool. Turn upside down on serving place. Remove foil.

Nancy’s Notes: Yum, my favorite peach pie. The original recipe calls for unpeeled peaches but I prefer peeled. I like to use freshly ground nutmeg and dot the peaches with small pats of butter before covering with the top crust. Let cool for about 10 minutes, don’t wait too long. The pecan topping needs to still be warm to slide off the foil. I use Reynolds Wrap® Non-Stick Aluminum Foil for this dish.

Linguine with Tomatoes & Basil

From: Art of Cooking – Junior League of Ogden (Utah), page 91

4 ripe large tomatoes, cut into 1/2 –inch cubes

1 pound Brie cheese, rind removed and torn into irregular pieces

1 cup cleaned fresh basil leaves, cut julienne

3 garlic clove, peeled and finely minced

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon best-quality olive oil

2 ½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

8 ounces linguine or angel hair pasta

Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Combine tomatoes, Brie, basil, garlic, 1 cup olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt and pepper in a large serving bowl. Prepare at least 2 hour before serving and set aside, covered, at room temperature.

Bring 6-quarts water to a boil in a large pot. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and remaining salt. Add the linguine and boil until tender but still firm, 8-10 minutes. Drain pasta and immediately toss with the tomato sauce.

Garnish with freshly ground pepper an grated Parmesan cheese. Serves 4-6.

Nancy’s Notes: Made August 2007 – I found this somewhat disappointing, seemed a waste of a pound of Brie. Perhaps I need more seasonings.

Fresh Basil Pesto

From: http://simplerecipes.com

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan – Reggiano or Romano cheese

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts

3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine basil and pine nuts in a food processor. Add the garlic, pulse a few times more. Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Nancy’s Notes: When basil is plentiful from the garden I like to make batches of this and freeze in ice cube trays. Once frozen I pop the cubes into a zip lock bag in the freezer. These are a great asset throughout the year to add to soups, sauces, veggies, pastas and pizzas.

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

From: Glitter to Gourmet – Junior League of Las Vegas, page 180

2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs

¼ cup (½ cup) butter, melted

16 ounces cream cheese, softened

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Mix the vanilla wafer crumbs and melted butter in a bowl. Press the mixture onto the bottom and up the side of a 9-0inch springform pan. Beat the cream cheese, ½ cup sugar and vanilla at medium speed in a bowl until blended. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Reserve 1 cup of the cream cheese mixture and set aside. Add the pumpkin, ¼ cup sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg to the remaining cream cheese mixture and beat well. Pour half the pumpkin batter into the crust. Top with half the cream cheese batter. Repeat the layers. Cut through the batter several times with a knife for a swirled effect. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 10-12 servings

Nancy’s Notes: I used a graham cracker crust because that’s what I had in the house. Baked the crust 5 minutes before adding the pumpkin mixture. Pumpkin flavor was very slight. When I served it I ringed the cheesecake with pecan halves and drizzled caramel sauce on the top.