Tasty Meatballs

I made meatballs tonight and threw in some spices to give them a little oumph! They can be eaten with rice, potatoes, spaghetti (with sauce), and any other way you can think of :-)

Ingredients:

5 lbs ground beef
About 3 tbsp. rosemary
About 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
About 1 tbsp. onion flakes
About 1/2 tsp. salt (I use No Salt - a potassium-based substitute)
About 1/2 ground pepper

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients together well. Don't over mix as it will toughen the meat. Form balls about 1 inch in diameter and place in a large skillet. Fry until well cooked.

Carolyn's Easy Cranberry Sauce

This recipe comes from Carolyn and she says that once you make this, you'll never go back to canned cranberries again. Sounds delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 bag of cranberries
• 1 apple (cored, peeled, an finely diced)
  

Preparation:

Bring the water and sugar to a boil, add the cranberries and the diced apple. Simmer 10 minutes. Let cool.

Elaine's Fudge Brownies

OK, I'll put my name to this even if the two items are made with packaged ingredients :-)

Ingredients:

• 1 box of Rich 'n Moist Brownie mix
• 1 box of Eagle Brand Fudge mix

Preparation:

Remove the walnuts from the Eagle Brand Fudge Mix box and crush them up a little to make finer pieces. Prepare the Rich 'n Moist Brownie mix as directed on the back of the box. If you want walnuts in it, this is where you can put them in. If you have an allergy to them or don't want them, then leave them out completely. Bake the brownie mix as directed then remove from oven and let cool.

Prepare the Eagle Brand Fudge mix as directed (without the nuts). Instead of placing it in the container that came with the kit, pour evenly over the cooled brownies and place in the fridge for 2 hours. Remove from fridge when the fudge has set and cut into squares and serve.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

Well this recipe traveled a little to me. It started out with Peter G. sending it to Sharon then it making its way to my inbox. I haven't made it yet but certainly intend to by Christmas (maybe even for it!). It sounds absolutely delicious but more complicated than a basic cheesecake. I'm sure I'll have someone willing to share it with me :-) My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Ingredients:

Chocolate Nut Crust
-------------------

• 1 cup fine chocolate wafer crumbs
• 1/2 cup finely chopped hazelnuts
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

Filling
-------

• 1 1/2 lbs cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 12 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tbsp Frangelico liqueur, rum or brandy
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• pinch salt

Chocolate glaze
---------------

• 4 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 1 tbsp Frangelico liqueur, rum or brandy

Preparation:

Chocolate Nut Crust
-------------------
Combine crumbs, nuts and melted butter, pat into bottom
of 9-inch spring form pan. Set aside.

Filling
--------
In mixing bowl, beat cheese until creamy; beat in sugar,
then melted chocolate. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
Stir in sour cream, liqueur, vanilla, almond extract and
salt, blending until smooth. Pour over crumb crust.
Bake in 350F oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until centre is
barely firm. Run thin knife around edge of cake and let
cool to room temperature.

Chocolate Glaze
---------------
In top of double boiler over hot water, melt chocolate
with whipping cream, stirring until smooth. Remove from
heat and stir in liqueur. Remove cake from pan and spread
with glaze.
Refrigerate until serving time. Garnish with chocolate
leaves or curls.
Makes 24 to 24 servings.

Broccoli Dip

Thanks to Janet for making this when I was at her Pampered Chef party. If anyone needs any Pampered Chef products (very good quality), let me know and I'll get the two of you in touch! This dip is awesome! I added a little Emmental cheese to the top of it before baking it. I love cheese!

Ingredients:

• 6 oz (175 g) fresh broccoli florets, chopped (1 cup/250 mL)
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) red pepper, chopped
• 1 oz (30 g) fresh Parmesan cheese, grated (1/4 cup/50 mL), divided
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 4 oz (125 g) cheddar cheese, grated (1 cup/250 mL)
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) fat-free sour cream
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) mayonnaise (I use Hellman's light mayo)
  
• 1/8 tsp (0.5 mL) ground black pepper
• Baked Pita Chips or crackers

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C. Chop broccoli, onion, and red pepper using Food Chopper; place in Classic Batter Bowl.

Grate Parmesan cheese using Deluxe Cheese Grater; add 2 tbsp/30 mL to batter bowl and garlic pressed with Garlic Press. Add cheddar cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise and black pepper; mix well with Small Mix 'N Scraper™. Spoon mixture into Small Oval Baker.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese over top and surround with Baked Pita Chips or crackers for serving.

Jerk Chicken Nachos

Thanks to Pampered Chef parties for this recipe. I didn't actually follow the recipe as I was making it and going from memory (but I have a bad memory!). This is similar to the Pampered Chef recipe with a couple modifications that turned out delicious just the same! In case anyone is wondering, that is indeed the picture of the nachos I made tonight. Enjoy :-)

Ingredients:

• Cubed cooked chicken (the BBQ'd chicken already made from the grocery store is good for this), how much depends on how many is eating, use your best judgement
• Grated cheddar or mozzarella cheese (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup of plain yogurt or sour cream
• 1/2 cup of sour cream
• 4 tbsp. dry jerk rub
• 1 bag of nacho or tortilla chips (or do what I do and make your own by cutting up soft tortilla shells and throwing them in the oven on a pizza stone)
• About 4 tbsp. lemon juice (the original recipe called for lime but I didn't have it)
  
• 1 Red pepper
• 1 Yellow or Orange pepper
  

Preparation:

Place tortillas on a dish that can go into the oven (a pizza stone works well). Mix the chicken, cheese, 1/2 c. yogurt or sour cream, and 2 tbsp. of the jerk rub together in a bowl. When thoroughly mixed, spread it on the tortilla chips and bake in the oven at 385 degrees F. for about 15 minutes (keep an eye on them as oven temperatures do vary).

In the meantime, to make the salsa, finely chop the peppers (you could add tomatoes to it if you want). Put them in a bowl and add the lemon juice to them and mix.

Next take the 1/2 c. sour cream and put it in a ziploc baggie. Add the remaining 2 tbsp. of jerk rub and seal the bag. Mix it well in the bag then put it aside for later.

Remove the nachos from the oven when they're done and spread the salsa over them. Cut a small piece off the corner of the bag with sour cream in it and squeeze the contents over the nachos then dig in!

Dry Jerk Rub

I found this on the web if anyone is interested in making their own jerk rub. Why they call it a jerk rub I don't know... Maybe jerks need rubbing too, who the hell knows hehehehe. Anyhow, I'm going to make jerk chicken nachos tonight and can't wait for the jerk rub I bought from Pampered Chef to get to me so I'll try making my own. Here it is:

2 tablespoons dried minced onion
1 tablespoon garlic powder
4 teaspoons crushed dry thyme leaves
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Spinach Dip

Thanks to Nanny, I was inspired to make my own spinach dip. I got the main recipe from cooks.com however I've modified it slightly. It's fast, delicious, and costs less to make it yourself than to buy it already made. If you're looking for something to bring to a party, you can create a bowl using a loaf of pumpernickel bread. Cut the top off the loaf and hollow it out, keep the pieces from hollowing it out for dipping, then fill the "bowl" with dip. If you're wanting to match it with a different kind of bread, try it with ciabatta bread; the texture and taste of the ciabatta bread are fantastic with the dip (better than pumpernickel in my opinion)!

Ingredients:

• 1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed (do not use fresh)
• 1 1/2 c. sour cream (fat-free works well)
• 1 c. mayonnaise (I use a Hellman's light mayo)
• 1 (4 oz.) pkg. Knorr vegetable soup mix
• 1 (8 oz.) can water chestnuts, finely chopped (optional but I love the texture of the water chestnuts in it)

Preparation:

Squeeze spinach until dry. In medium bowl, stir together spinach, sour cream and soup mix. Add finely chopped water chestnuts if desired. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.

Nanny's No-Bake Cheesecake

Oh, Nanny's No-Bake Cheesecake is a hit with me! hehehehe Well I haven't actually made it yet but do plan on it in the very near future. She got the recipe from Kraft somewhere but I'm unable to find the exact one. I've found one very similar on Kraft's site but they use apple slices and no fruit pie filling. I'll modify it to reflect what she makes.

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar (You can use Splenda)
• 1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed (you can use the light Cool Whip)
• 1 HONEY MAID Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.) or you can make your own with graham crumbs and a bit of butter to hold it together
• 1 can fruit pie filling (Nanny uses cherry pie filling)

BEAT cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with wire whisk or electric mixer until well blended. Gently stir in whipped topping.

SPOON into crust.

REFRIGERATE 3 hours or until set. Top with fruit pie filling (gently spread out on it) and you can add a few dollops of whip cream to the top of it like Nanny does too :-)

Philadelphia Classic Cheesecake

This is the typical recipe you find on the inside of the Philly cream cheese packaging. Please see the Cheesecake Tips entry I posted earlier for other information.

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups HONEY MAID Graham Cracker Crumbs
• 1 cup sugar (I use Splenda - cup per cup)
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted (I use unsalted butter)
• 4 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 4 eggs

Preparation

MIX crumbs, 3 Tbsp. sugar and butter; press firmly onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

BEAT cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.

BAKE at 325°F for 55 minutes or until center is almost set if using a silver springform pan. (Or, bake at 300°F if using a dark nonstick springform pan.) Loosen cake from side of pan; cool before removing side of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Cheesecake Tips

Thanks to the Kraft cheesecake web site, I've taken some of their tips for various issues that have cropped up as I was making cheesecake. I'd like to add that you will find it easier if you can raise your springform pan when you're going to remove the cake from it (ie: putting it on a large jar). It will make the removal process easier.

To Prevent Cracking:

BAKING

• Avoid opening oven door while baking cheesecake. Big cracks across the cheesecake are most often caused by drafts.
• Avoid overbaking! Check for doneness at minimum baking time.
• Cheesecake is done when the edges are slightly puffed. The center area should be about the size of a silver dollar and appear soft and moist. The centre will firm upon cooling.

COOLING

• Once you remove a cheesecake from the oven, run a thin metal spatula or knife around edge of cheesecake to loosen it from the side of the springform pan. Do not unlatch or remove rim of springform pan during cooling.
• Cool cheesecake on rack in draft-free location for 1 hour.
• Refrigerate uncovered 3 to 4 hours or until thoroughly chilled. Cover with a sheet of plastic wrap or foil across the top of pan; secure. Refrigerate overnight.

Use a springform pan

A springform pan with a removable outer rim allows for easy release of cheesecake while leaving crust intact.

• Use a heavy-gauge pan and the size called for in recipe for even baking.
• Spray sides of pan lightly with cooking spray before filling to help prevent cheesecake from sticking and cracking.

Preheat oven

While preparing filling, heat oven to recommended temperature to ensure proper heat level when ready to bake.

• Bake cheesecakes on middle rack of oven unless recipe indicates otherwise.
• Help prevent cheesecake from cracking, by baking it in a moist oven. Place a 13 x 9-inch baking pan half-filled with hot tap water on bottom rack of oven while cheesecake bakes on middle rack.

Do not over-beat

Over-stirring can add too much air into batter, which can cause cheesecake to crack.

• Beat in eggs, one at time, on low speed until just blended. You can also stir eggs in by hand with a spatula.
• Gently stir in flavouring ingredients, such as chocolate, fruit or nuts, at the end of mixing process or as directed in recipe.

No peeking

Opening the oven door while cheesecake is baking causes drafts that may lead to cracking.

• Cheesecake is done if the top is slightly puffy and set except for a small area in the centre that should still appear soft and jiggly (about the size of a loonie). This will set upon cooling.
• Do not insert a knife to check for doneness as this will cause cracking upon cooling.
• When done, remove cheesecake from oven and place on wire rack.

Loosen immediately

To prevent cracking, immediately run a knife or thin metal spatula around edge of cheesecake to loosen from sides of pan. Do not unlock fastener or remove from pan right away.

• Cool cheesecake, away from drafts, for about an hour before refrigerating.
• To remove from pan, unlatch fastener and lift straight up, away from cheesecake.
• Refrigerate cheesecake for time indicated in recipe or overnight to allow flavours to blend.

Pomodoro Sauce

This is a basic pomodoro sauce. I looked a recipe up on the net to get the ingredients then went off on my own into the kitchen. This is what I came up with. By the way, I added ground beef fried with onion flakes and rosemary to it, so if you like meat, it goes well with this sauce. Also, this basic sauce can be used to make Chicken Cacciatore. Just bake the chicken in the sauce in the oven until it's cooked.

For the meatless sauce, I used:

2 28 fl. oz./796 ml. cans diced tomatoes
About 2 tsp garlic powder
About 4 tbsp olive oil
About 2 tsp ground basil
About 2 tsp oregano
About 2 tsp of red pepper flakes (for a little kick)
Salt and pepper to taste

While the meat with onion flakes and rosemary were cooking I put all of the above ingredients in a large pot and brought it to a boil. I let it simmer about 5 minutes. I then added the cooked meat to it (optional) and let it simmer for another 15 minutes then served it with pasta and top with Parmesan cheese. How easy is that? Leftovers can easily be stored in the fridge or freezer.