Three-Alarm Chili

The cool breezes of autumn are blowing and that means one thing: my kitchen is open again. I wanted something warm and filling and had a strange craving for chili. It’s a good thing too because I just happened to have a recipe for Three-Alarm Chili put aside to try.

As I was buying the ingredients, I thought to myself that this is a very expensive dish to prepare so it had better be really good. I had so much food that I had to use my largest pot. Then I realized that it makes twelve servings! Note to self: next time, halve this recipe. It will still make plenty but be cheaper and require a smaller pan.

I made a few of changes, one of them inadvertent but rather Freudian. I “accidentally” omitted the corn. I loathe corn so obviously my brain just skipped right over it in the ingredients list. I don’t normally use bottled minced garlic so I wasn’t about to buy it, especially when I had a nice fresh bulb in my fridge already. I substituted a large clove crushed for the bottled variety. I also wasn’t able to find bulk Italian sausage at my grocery store so I bought links and merely removed the skins.

This is one of those rare recipes that tastes even better than it smells while it’s cooking. I didn’t find it overly hot despite the name. “Three Alarm” to me means that my mouth is on fire and eyes are watering, but it wasn’t the case here. This is just a nice, spicy chili. It was great the first day and even better the second day. And the fact that it is easy to cut in half means you can use it for large gatherings or intimate family dinners.

Verdict: Yum!! This one’s a keeper!!

Three-Alarm Chili
(Source: BHG.com)


2 17-oz. pkgs. Refrigerated cooked beef au jus
2 28-oz. cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium green sweet pepper, chopped
1 medium red sweet pepper, chopped
1 fresh jalapeno chili pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tbsp. hot chili powder
1 ½ tsp. ground cumin
1 ½ tsp bottled minced garlic
8 oz. bulk hot Italian sausage
½ of a 6-oz. bar milk chocolate or dark chocolate, cut up
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
2 22- to 30-oz. cans chili beans with chili gravy
Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
Corn chips (optional)

Remove beef from packages and reserve drippings. Chop beef; cover and refrigerate until needed. In 6-quart Dutch oven, combine reserved drippings, tomatoes, onion, sweet peppers, jalapeno pepper, hot chili powder, cumin and garlic. Bring to boiling reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In medium skillet, cook sausage until no longer pink; drain off fat.

Add chocolate to tomato mixture, stirring until melted. Add chopped beef, sausage, corn, and chili beans. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

If desired, top each serving with cheese and corn chips. Makes 12 servings.

Recycle: tomato cans, beans cans, garlic bottle

Compost: onion skins, pepper stems and seeds

Honey-Mustard Salad Dressing

When planning the menu for our Valentine’s Day dinner featuring dishes made with honey, “A” suggested that I make honey mustard salad dressing. Personally, I don’t care for honey mustard salad dressing. I loathe anything that contains the words “honey mustard”. As far as I’m concerned, mustard should be spicy, not sweet.

I hit the internet, searching for honey mustard salad dressing recipes. Anything calling for mayonnaise was eliminated. Honey, mustard and mayo should never, ever be in the same dish according to my taste buds. I’m gagging just thinking about it. I finally settled on a recipe with the fewest possible ingredients that surprisingly included garlic. I love garlic. You can’t go wrong with garlic.

I was a little hesitant about the coarse grained mustard. I had visions of a crunchy sweet mustardy dressing. Luckily, the “grains” are not crunchy, they just add bits of color. Even more surprising, I liked the end result. This is one of the best salad dressings I have ever tasted! It’s so good that when “A” and I were invited to a potluck garden party, we settled on making a veggie and dip platter. “A” supplied the veggies, all but the broccoli grown in her plot at Rutgers gardens, and the platter and I supplied the dip in the form of my new favorite honey-mustard salad dressing.

Verdict: Yum!! This one’s a keeper!

Honey-Mustard Salad Dressing
(source: BHG.com)


¼ cup honey
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar or white vinegar
2 tablespoons coarse-grain brown mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
½ cup salad oil


In a small mixing bowl or blender container combine honey, white wine vinegar or white vinegar, coarse-grain brown mustard, and garlic. Beating with an electric mixer on medium speed or with blender running slowly, add ½ cup salad oil in a thin, steady stream. Continue beating or blending about 3 minutes or till thick.

Makes 1 cup.

Recycle: honey jar, vinegar bottle, mustard jar, salad oil bottle

Compost: garlic skins

Barbecue Pulled Chicken

My kitchen is normally closed during the summer months due to the lack of air conditioning in my home. I still peruse recipes, putting them aside until September when I can finally turn on my stove without having to worry about cooking my cats and myself as well as the food.

Yahoo is not a site where I would usually look for recipes. Like any smart portal though, they spotlight various “services” they offer to entice you to stay longer on their pages before heading off onto the internet. A featured recipe for Barbecue Pulled chicken caught my eye the other day. I love spicy foods. My mouth watered as I read the ingredients. Definitely something to squirrel away for cooler weather.

Then I read the cooking directions. It’s made in a crock pot. The chicken doesn’t need to be browned ahead of time. I can make this now! I made a quick trip to the grocery store, mixed the ingredients in my crock pot and then headed out again to a Master Gardener meeting. My kitchen smelled heavenly when I returned several hours later. Best of all, the room was still cool.

My first taste of this dish left me non-plussed. I didn’t dislike it. But I didn’t love it either. I decided that I needed to try it again on a cold winter’s day when I’m dying for something hot and spicy to warm me up. That plan was thrown out when I ate this dish the second day.

Most recipes taste better the second day. The ingredients have had a chance to marinate, enhancing the flavor. When I tasted this dish the following day, I realized why I had been so ambivalent the prior day. Too much paprika. It was overpowering. I couldn’t taste anything else. All of the wonderful seasonings, even the green chilies, were masked by the paprika.

Verdict: What were they thinking???

Barbecue Pulled Chicken

(Source: Yahoo! Food)

Photo courtesy of Yahoo! Food


1 (8 ounce) can reduced-sodium tomato sauce
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon sweet or smoked paprika
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thights, trimmed of fat
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic


Stir tomato sauce, chiles, cinegar, honey, paprika, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, ground chiptle and salt in a 6-quart slow cooker until smooth. Add chicken, onion and garlic; stir to combine.

Put the lid on and cook on low until the chicken can be pulled apart, about 5 hours.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and shred with a fork. Return the chicken to the sauce, stir well and serve.

Yield: 8 servings.

Recycle: Tomato sauce can, green chilies can, tomato paste can
Compost: Onion and garlic skins

Game Day Chili

Recently I came across a news article mentioning something called Game Day Chili. It had just won a chili cookoff, and was a bit unusual in that instead of meat it included texturized soy protein. The cookoff judges apparently had not realized it was meatless. This sounded intriguing, so I decided to try it. I found texturized soy protein at the local health food store. The only other ingredient that I thought might be a bit tricky to find was the canned chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, but these turned out to be easy; my supermarket had two or three brands. Look in the Mexican foods aisle. The rest of the ingredients should be easy to find. Instead of tomato juice, which I wouldn’t drink otherwise and which only comes in large bottles, I used a small (8 oz.) can of tomato sauce and diluted it to 1 ½ cups with the liquid drained from the canned beans. I also used a can of vegetable stock, which is about two cups, and added another cup of bean liquid. As it turned out, this was a little more liquid than I liked; I usually eat chili over rice and like it to be fairly thick. The other problem I had is that the large skillet I was using was full before I added everything. So I simmered the chili for at least a half-hour, to thicken it and to reduce the volume so I could put in the rest of the ingredients. When I made this a second time, I used my Dutch oven and just added the beans without draining them, along with a can of vegetable stock and a small can of tomato sauce as before. The recipe doesn’t list a serving number, but I’m guessing 8 at least.

I don’t like super-hot foods, so I was concerned in advance about the heat level of this. But, the recipe as written turned out to be just about right for me. In other words, it’s not all that hot, even with the chipotle chilis in there (which I didn’t notice at all in the final product). The soy protein picks up the color of the chili and looks a lot like ground beef, so I can see why the judges didn’t realize there was no meat. It didn’t taste “beany”, either. Everything blended together nicely and nothing stood out. This is a perfectly respectable chili. And it’s fairly quick (if you don’t simmer it down) and easy to make.

Follow-up note: I’ve discovered that the texturized soy protein can easily be incorporated into other dishes. I’ve used it instead of bread crumbs in a meatloaf and in a spinach pasta recipe. The meatloaf turned out a bit dryer than usual on the outside, but tasted the same as always. The spinach pasta recipe was fine. In both cases, I couldn’t detect the soy at all in the finished product. The instructions on the package suggest you hydrate the protein before using, but this doesn’t seem to be absolutely necessary.

Verdict: Yum! This one's a keeper!

Game Day Chili

(source: Illinois Center for Soy Foods website, http://www.soyfoodsillinois.uiuc.edu/news.html)

(sorry, I don't have a photo, you'll just have to imagine a bowl of chili...)

Seasonings:
2 Tbsp. ground cumin
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1-1/2 cups tomato juice
3 cups vegetable or beef broth
1-1/4 cups dry TVP (texturized soy protein)
1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes
2 15-oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 15-oz. cans kidney beans, rinsed & drained
2 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce (from can), chopped

Condiments (optional): grated cheese, chopped onions, diced avocado, sliced black olives

Mix all the seasonings in a small bowl. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until golden. Add garlic, bell pepper, and seasoning mixture and sauté for another minute. Add the remaining ingredients (except condiments) and mix well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for at least 15 minutes to let the flavors blend. Serve with the optional condiments, if desired.

Nutritional Information
Per serving (1 ½ cups): 229 calories, 17 g protein, 33 g carbohydrate, 5 g fat (0.6 g saturated)

Recycle: oil bottle, spice jars, tin cans

Compost: vegetable peelings

Lemon-Honey Chicken Breasts

Several years ago, I had a recipe for chicken breasts in a white wine sauce with lemon and tarragon. It was a fantastic recipe and I made it fairly often. Then, somehow, I lost the recipe. When I was casting about for a main course that included honey for our Valentine’s Day dinner, I came across a recipe for lemon-honey chicken breasts on the website of the National Honey Board. It was vaguely reminiscent of my long-lost chicken tarragon recipe, and I decided to try to make it more so.

I substituted dried tarragon for the rosemary. Instead of broiling, which is messy, I decided to try baking the chicken, since it’s in a baking dish already. I knew from experience that chicken breasts require about an hour in the oven. After marinating and before putting the chicken in the oven, I poured off the marinade into a small saucepan and heated it through before pouring it onto the baked chicken.

After an hour at 350, the chicken was done, but not brown. I probably should have browned it on top of the stove first. The marinade didn’t cook down very much in the few minutes I heated it, so was still thin. I personally prefer thicker sauces. The addition of some flour or cornstarch would have helped. Next time, I think I’ll try browning the chicken, then adding the sauce and simmering it all on top of the stove for awhile. Whether there’s any advantage to marinating the chicken with this approach, I’m not sure.

Do hang onto the marinade, however you prepare this, because it tastes fantastic. This is a simple recipe that gives great results.

Verdict: Yum! This one's a keeper!

Lemon-Honey Chicken Breasts
(source: National Honey Board, www.honey.com)

1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon rosemary, crushed
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
4 (3-1/2 to 4 oz. each) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Combine all ingredients (except chicken) and mix well. Marinate chicken in honey-lemon mixture 1 hour in shallow baking dish. Broil chicken 5 minutes, brush with pan drippings, turn and broil 5 minutes longer or until juices run clear. If desired, bring marinade to a boil; simmer 2 minutes. Strain hot marinade over chicken. Makes 4 servings.

Note: the Honey Board states that honey should not be fed to infants under one year of age.

Recycle: honey jar, oil bottle

Compost: rosemary stems

Carrots with Ginger and Honey

Continuing with our honey theme, here’s a recipe for glazed carrots with a little kick from ginger. I have in the past made cooked carrots with sugar, following Julia Child’s French-style recipe, so this sounded good to me. I did, however, (as usual!) make a few changes from the way this is written. For starters, I used a pound of regular-sized carrots cut into slices. Also, instead of the fresh ginger, I used ¼ tsp ground ginger. This amount was about right, or maybe a little more. The amounts of butter and honey were as written, which made a little too much glaze.

I’m not sure where Martha is getting her carrots – she probably grows her own - but I don’t think I’ve ever run across a carrot that becomes tender after only 3-4 minutes of cooking. I simmered the carrot slices for about 20 minutes, and they were still a bit crunchy at that point. Kind of al dente, which I thought was just about right. Also, I skipped the sauteing-ginger step, since I was using powdered ginger and since I don’t like dirtying any more pans than necessary. After the carrots were cooked, I drained them, dumped them onto a plate, and added the butter and ginger to the saucepan. I let that cook a minute, added the honey, stirred well, and then added back the carrots and stirred until they were coated.

This might be a good recipe to try with people who think they don’t like cooked carrots.

Verdict: Yum! This one's a keeper!

Carrots with Ginger and Honey
(source: www.marthastewart.com)

6 bunches (about 2 pounds) baby carrots
Salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 two-inch pieces fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
3 tablespoons honey

Trim stems of carrots to 1/2 inch. Peel carrots, and wash stem area.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Salt water, add carrots, and reduce heat. Simmer until carrots are almost tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove carrots from heat, and drain. (Carrots can be prepared earlier in the day to this point.)

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger, and saute, stirring, until transparent, about 2 minutes. Add carrots and honey, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until carrots are glazed. Serve immediately.

Serves 8 to 10.

Recycle: honey jar

Compost: carrot peelings

Coconut Easter Egg Nests

It’s the week before Easter. I have these leftover egg whites and am trying to figure out how to use them up. I know! Coconut macaroons! And I’ll take them to work, so I don’t end up eating them all myself……

I take the precaution of polling my coworkers to make sure they like coconut macaroons. One coworker reveals that coconut doesn’t always agree with him. Studying the recipe, I realize that if you leave out the coconut, what you have is basically meringue. And meringue should be stiff enough to put through a cake decorating tip. Those fancy-schmancy chefs do that sort of thing all the time.

Then, from somewhere in the distant past, comes a memory of coconut nests tinted green and with jellybean eggs. We must have made them sometime during my childhood. So I add “jellybeans” to my shopping list. But then I discover that, it being nearly Easter, the M&Ms people are selling M&Ms that look like speckled eggs. Even better!

Note that this recipe calls for you to beat “till stiff”. I thought at first that it said “till stiff peaks”. After several minutes of beating, it still was not forming what I would call stiff peaks. It was stiffer than it had been, though. Finally I gave up and moved to the next step, which was to put some into a decorating bag with a star tip, and pipe circles that were higher at the edges. The meringue was a good consistency for this, and these cookies turned out just fine. So, if you don’t get stiff peaks, don’t worry.

I wasn’t sure whether to add the eggs to the nests before baking, or after. So I tried both. If you add them before baking, they tend to crack, and the shell color bleeds a little. If you add them right after baking, you avoid these problems, but then you have to break the crust of the cookie to get the eggs on. I decided that the latter alternative was preferable.

I put a bunch of these in a cookie tin and took them to work, where they were well-received. A problem developed after a couple of days, though. The nests started to get really crumbly. I suspect that the tin was holding in too much moisture. A coworker pointed out that this is a good way to determine whether your kids have been sneaking cookies: the crumbs will give them away….

Verdict: Yum! This one's a keeper!

Coconut Easter Egg Nests
(source: the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, with modifications)

Note: the cookies at the bottom and lower right in the picture are coconut-free. Thanks to my friend and coworker, known in the blogosphere as "Biobabe", for loaning me her digital camera.

2 egg whites
Dash salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup granulated sugar
Food coloring, if desired
1 1/3 cups ( one 3 ½ oz. can) flaked coconut
Candy eggs

Beat egg whites with dash salt and the vanilla till soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating till stiff. Beat in food coloring, if desired. Fold in coconut.

Drop by rounded teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 325° about 20 minutes. Just after removing from the oven, add candy eggs. Makes about 1 ½ dozen.

Coconut-free variation: Omit the coconut. Drop batter onto cookie sheet with a spoon, or use a cake decorating bag and tip to make circles.

Recycle: vanilla bottle, coconut can

Compost: eggshells

Butternut Squash Soup

This dish was the soup course at our Valentine's Day Dinner. You may recall that all the recipes at this dinner had honey in them. This recipe has a lot going for it. It’s a good basic winter soup that includes a nice assortment of veggies. It would probably also be good with pumpkin instead of squash.

There’s just one problem, though, that became apparent when I got to the supermarket. The recipe calls for “1 butternut squash”. Okay….how big? The supermarket had quite a range of sizes. I went with a medium-large one – about a foot long or so. Considering the levels of the other ingredients, maybe I should have used a smaller one. But, the resulting soup had a nice thick texture.

The flavor was fine, too, except that it was almost too sweet. I tend to hold back on the salt and pepper, and in this case should probably have added the full amount called for. That I used homemade chicken broth that is low in salt, and left out the celery, which is naturally relatively salty, might have made a difference too. Or I could have cut back on the honey.

Verdict: Yum! This one's a keeper!

Butternut Squash Soup
(source: National Honey Board, www.honey.com)

2 Tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 butternut squash, peeled,seeded and diced
3 cans (14.5 oz. each) chicken broth
1/2 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crushed
Salt and pepper, to taste

In large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in onions and garlic. Cook and stir until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in carrots, celery, potatoes, squash, chicken broth, honey and thyme. Bring mixture to boil; reduce heat and simmer 30 to 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Transfer mixture to blender or food processor; process until smooth. Return pureed soup to pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat until hot and serve. Makes 6 servings.

Recycle: broth cans, honey jar

Compost: veggie peelings

Valentine's Day with The Wooden Spoon

Menu:

Butternut Squash Soup
Lemon-Honey Chicken Breasts
Carrots with Ginger and Honey
Tossed Salad with Honey-Mustard Dressing
Honey-Wheat Bread
Queen Bee Cake
Cupcakes

Our Thanksgiving dinner was such a success, we decided to do a Valentine's Day dinner. We hit on the idea of a honey theme - like, honey, sweetheart, dearest, etc. Get it? All the dishes had honey in them. And, in the true spirit of this blog, nearly all the recipes were ones we had not made previously. As before, we'll post the recipes with our candid opinions.

Chocolate Mousse (Moose!) Torte

A few years ago, I decided to make this recipe for a potluck lunch at work. I wrote “Chocolate Mousse Torte” on the signup sheet. About a week before the lunch, an e-mail went around listing what everyone was bringing. My contribution appeared as “Chocolate Mouse Torte”. At first I considered going to the secretary and throwing a fit, and then I thought, “hey, maybe I can do something with this…..” So I looked high and low for a chocolate mouse. The best I could find was a chocolate computer mouse, and I would have had to order it online and pay for overnight shipping in order to get it on time, and I decided I didn’t want it that badly. So I started to look around for a moose, to emphasize that it’s supposed to be a MOOSE, er, MOUSSE, cake. By this time it was only a couple of days until the lunch, and I’d given up hope of finding a chocolate moose; I was willing to use about anything that would fit on a cake. Finally at a craft store I found a small plastic moose that was part of one of these miniature Christmas villages, so I used that.

A couple of months ago I was in a Hallmark store and decided to check out the new Christmas ornaments, which had just come out. Among them was – of all things – one called “Chocolate Moose”. It’s actually plastic, of course, but the body looks like a layered chocolate torte, the head is shaped like a piece of chocolate candy, the antlers are forks, and around its neck is a wreath with bonbons attached. So I decided to bake the chocolate mousse (moose) torte for the upcoming holiday potluck of the Rutgers Gardens volunteers, and decorate it with this moose. (Disclaimer: I am not a Hallmark employee and have no connection with them except that I buy their stuff.)

The recipe is fairly simple, but gives impressive results. It’s also nice for working people in that it can be spread out over (at least) two days: bake the bottom layer and melt the chocolate in the cream on the first day, let everything cool overnight, then whip the cream and apply on the second day. It’s helpful to be familiar with whipping technique, because the bottom layer is a sponge cake – where the volume comes from the air that you beat into the egg whites – and the top layer is basically whipped cream. I like Julia Child’s description of a sponge cake in her French Chef Cookbook: “You will note that there is no baking powder; the lightness of the cake depends entirely on beautifully beaten egg whites which are folded into the batter with such speed and delicacy that they retain their volume and the maximum of their puffing abilities.”

You will also note that there is no flour in this recipe. Instead, the original recipe, which is from Germany, calls for ground hazelnuts, which are probably the most commonly used nut there. I use ground almonds instead. Both of these can be purchased already ground in Germany, so they have it easy. I haven’t been able to find them here, and I have a couple of favorite recipes that call for ground almonds, so I got a friend to send me some. If you don’t have such connections, you could probably use a blender or food processor. You want them ground fairly fine, finer than a nut topping but not as fine as flour.

The original recipe also calls for the bottom layer to be moistened with rum flavoring before adding the marmalade. I’m not a big fan of rum flavoring, so I skip this step. The marmalade gives a nice little tang and also seals in crumbs, but you can leave it out too if you want.

The cream is whipped with a stabilizer sold in the US as “Whipit”. It comes in small paper packets, like the way they used to sell Kool-Aid without sugar. I’ve been able to find it in the bakery aisle of several supermarket chains. The recipe called for three packets, but the first time I made this cake the whipped cream had a metallic off-flavor, so I cut back to two packets. Then this last time I refrigerated the cream and chocolate mixture for about 24 hours, and it became surprisingly thick, like pudding. Whether that was due to the long refrigeration, or the brand of chocolate, I don’t know. I used only one packet of Whipit, and the result was a frosting that spread beautifully.

The original recipe uses metric units, so I have converted them as well as I could, and give both in case anyone has metric utensils.

But, back to the Rutgers Gardens party: OldRoses and I snuck off during dinner, found a suitably picturesque spot to set up the cake and moose, and had a blast doing the photo shoot. Too late I discovered that all the pictures were dark. I've done the best I can, but the moose doesn't come out as well as I'd hoped...

Verdict: Yum! this one's a keeper!

Chocolate Mousse Torte
(source: Schwartau Recipe Service, Germany)

Bottom layer:

6 eggs
125 grams (about 3/8 cup) sugar
100 grams (1 cup) ground hazelnuts or almonds
10 grams (2 tbsp) cocoa powder

Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Beat the yolks with the sugar until creamy and pale yellow. Stir in the cocoa and ground nuts. Fold in the beaten egg whites. Pour into a 10” springform pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 50 minutes. Let cool.

Top layer:

600 milliliters (about 2 ½ cups) whipping cream
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate (or 5/6 cup bittersweet chocolate chips)
1-2 packets Whipit
orange marmalade

Heat the cream, add the chocolate, and stir until the chocolate is completely melted and well mixed with the cream. Cool the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator. Beat until creamy, add the Whipit, and then beat until very stiff.

Spread a thin layer of marmalade over the bottom layer of the cake. Spread the whipped cream over the top and sides, putting most of it on the top. Decorate with grated chocolate. Chill at least 2 hours before serving. Store any remaining torte in the refrigerator.

Compost: eggshells

A's Top Secret Apple Pie

There’s nothing better than the aroma of an apple pie baking. (Except maybe the aroma of a batch of cranberry–orange relish simmering on the stove.) So I offered to take an apple pie to our Thanksgiving dinner (and I’m sorry for the delay in getting this recipe posted; the holidays are always hectic). The recipe I use is one I came up with after some experimentation. It’s basically a combination of several recipes with some tweaking of the spices. I’m not a huge fan of cinnamon, or more accurately, I prefer more complex flavors, so my recipe has more than just cinnamon in it. I saw lemon juice and zest used in another recipe and added them to mine as I’d already learned the value of lemon zest from my experiences with German cookie recipes. Germans use lemon zest in recipes a lot; it adds a wonderful, sweetish touch, not sour like you might think.

This may sound odd, but I’m not particularly picky about a) the crust recipe, or b) which apple varieties I use. I haven’t done a lot of experimenting, but I can’t say I’ve noticed a huge flavor difference due to variety. As for the crust recipe, this one is from epicurious.com, but feel free to use your own favorite. I know people have serious differences of opinion as to whether crusts should be made with lard or butter or Crisco or what, but I’m not going to go there. I usually use margarine simply because that’s what I usually have on hand. I have noticed, though, that dough made with margarine seems to need considerably less water. In case you aren’t already familiar with my favorite trick for moving pie crusts without cracking them, you can read about it in this post.

Then there’s the issue of baking temperature. My Better Homes and Gardens cookbook says to bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes. Other recipes I’ve seen suggest baking at 400 for only the first 10 or 15 minutes, then turning the oven down to 375 and baking for an hour or more. I don’t have a strong preference on this point either. The main thing, I’ve found, is to get the pie to the point where the juices are bubbly and thickening, otherwise the pie will be runny. Of course, you also have to watch so the crust doesn’t burn!

One final note: When I started baking apple pies, they would end up with a huge gap between the top crust and the fruit, because the fruit cooks down as the pie bakes. I eventually discovered that this can be mitigated by carefully arranging the apple slices so they’re packed in well, rather than just dumping the slices in the crust.

Verdict: Yum! This one’s a keeper!

A's Top Secret Apple Pie

Crust: (source: Jasper White's Cooking from New England | June 1998, via epicurious.com)

2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, cold
about 7 tablespoons water, ice cold

Filling:

2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup sugar
grated peel and juice of 1 lemon
5-6 apples

1. Mix together the flour and salt. Cut the butter into pieces the size of a walnut (about 1 1/2 tablespoons). Mix the flour and butter together in a large bowl, using only your hands, until the butter begins to break up.

2. When the flour has just begun to pick up a little color from the butter, add the water, a bit at a time, and mix until the dough starts to come together. Since the exact amount of water needed will always vary, you have to develop a feel for how much to use.

3. Remove the dough from the bowl to a floured surface and knead briefly, just until the dough begins to smooth out. Wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate immediately. Allow the dough to rest for at least 30 minutes.

4. Mix together all the filling ingredients except the lemon juice and apples in a large bowl. Peel, core, and slice the apples . Add the apples to the bowl, squirt with lemon juice, and stir to coat with the other ingredients.

5. Divide the dough in half. Place one half on a floured surface; return the other half to the refrigerator. You may need to let the dough warm up for a few minutes until it’s pliable enough to be rolled without cracking. Pat it into a flat circle, then roll it into a thin (about ¼ inch thick) circle. Line a 9” pie pan, then add the filling.

6. Roll out the other half of the dough. Transfer it to the pie plate and cut vents, for a solid top crust. For a lattice top, cut the dough into strips and lay them evenly vertically across the pie. Then lay the remaining strips horizontally, carefully flipping back alternate vertical strips to “weave”. Then wet the edges where the two crusts join, to form a seal. Using your thumb and index finger, crimp them together.

7. Bake at 400 degrees for about 50 minutes, or until the juices are thick and bubbly and the crust is golden. If parts of the crust brown too quickly, cover with foil.

Recycle: vanilla bottle, spice containers (if glass or plastic)

Compost: apple peelings and cores (Note: I understand you’re not supposed to compost citrus peels; the bugs don’t like them.)

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Holidays mean tradition, especially when you have children. In our house, we had a set menu on Thanksgiving and Christmas. They both included soup, French Onion Soup for Christmas and Cream of Mushroom Soup for Thanksgiving. Both of these are rather strange choices. I normally cook a traditional English Christmas dinner of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with a plum pudding for dessert. Unless you go back as far as the Norman Conquest, adding a French dish is a bit odd. I just like the taste of onions with my beef.

Some adults and most children do not care for mushrooms. My daughter is an exception. She loves them. So much in fact, that I was able to overcome some of her pickiness about food by adding mushrooms to anything new that I cooked. Only then would she consent to try them. Mushroom soup was one of her favorites along with the traditional pumpkin pie that I have made every year for decades.

Like the onion soup, this recipe is straight from my Betty Crocker’s International Cookbook published in 1980. No changes have been made.

Here’s a meal planning tip I’ve discovered. If you are making mashed potatoes, put your potatoes on to boil and then make this soup. When the soup is finished, your potatoes will also be finished. The soup can then be put on the back of the stove to keep warm while you mash the potatoes.

Verdict: Yum! This one’s a keeper!

Cream of Mushroom Soup
(source: Betty Crocker’s International Cookbook)

8 ounces mushrooms
4 tablespoons margarine or butter
1 medium onion, chopped
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
1 can (10 ¾ ounces) condensed chicken broth
1 soup can water
1 cup light cream
Snipped parsley


Slice enough mushrooms to measure 1 cup; chop remaining mushrooms. Cook and stir sliced mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of the margarine in 3-quart saucepan over low heat until golden brown. Remove mushrooms with slotted spoon.

Cook and stir chopped mushrooms and onion in remaining margarine until onion is tender; stir in flour, salt and white pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, about 1 minute; remove from heat. Stir in chicken broth and water. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly; boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in light cream and sliced mushrooms. Garnish each serving with parsley.


Donate: Campbell’s soup labels to your local school

Recycle: soup can

Compost: onion skins, parsley stems

Perfect Mashed Potatoes

I was raised on mashed potatoes. Except for those rare occasions when we had pasta in the form of spaghetti or macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes were on our dinner plates every day. It was one of the very few dishes that my mother made well. I grew up watching her make them. She made it seem so easy. Boil the potatoes, then mash them up with butter and milk.

When I moved out on my own, I almost never ate mashed potatoes because I just couldn’t make them. They always came out either soupy or lumpy. There was no happy medium. I gave up and started making baked potatoes instead. Except for the time that I left a couple in the oven too long and they exploded, I never had a problem.

A must have been raised on mashed potatoes too because when I gave her the choice of either baked or mashed for our Wooden Spoon Thanksgiving, she chose mashed. My heart sank. Then I hit the internet. Surely I could find instructions on making mashed potatoes. I happened upon a recipe by Martha Stewart that contained detailed instructions. Another plus was the fact that the recipe called for either milk or cream. Most recipes use milk. I don’t drink milk. But I do use Half ‘n’ Half in my coffee which I felt would be an acceptable substitute for cream.

I’m going to admit right up front that I did everything wrong in making this recipe. I used a potato masher instead of an electric mixer or ricer. I used salted butter instead of unsalted. I didn’t warm the milk. I added the butter and the milk together instead of separately. I mashed the potatoes and the butter and the milk all at once instead of in three steps. I used canned pepper and nutmeg instead of freshly grated. And yet, despite all of those “mistakes”, these were the best mashed potatoes I’ve had since I lived at home.

I was hesitant to add the nutmeg. I wanted my potatoes to taste like potatoes, not nutmeg. But in this case, the nutmeg enhances the flavor rather than overpowers it. Best of all, I can finally have mashed potatoes with my dinners again.

Verdict: Yum! This one’s a keeper!

Perfect Mashed Potatoes
(source:Yahoo! Food)

2 pounds russet, Yukon gold, or long white potatoes
1 tablespoon salt, plus more to taste
1 cup milk, or cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg


Peel and cut potatoes into 1 1/2 –inch-thick slices. Place in a medium saucepan. Cover with cold water; add 1 tablespoon salt, bring to a simmer. If using a potato ricer, fill another saucepan with water; place over low heat. Keep potatoes at a low simmer until a knife slips in and out easily. Drain potatoes in a colander. Place mild in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.

If using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, proceed to last paragraph. If using a potato ricer, place a heat-proof bowl or top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Press hot, drained potatoes through ricer into bowl.

Stir potatoes with a wooden spoon until smooth, about 1 minute. Using a whisk, incorporate butter. Drizzle in hot milk, whisking continuously. Add pepper, nutmeg, and salt to taste; whisk to combine. Serve immediately.

For the electric-mixer method, transfer hot, drained potatoes to bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed, until most lumps have disappeared, about 1 minute. Add butter; mix until blended. On low speed, add hot milk in a slow stream, then add pepper, nutmeg, and salt to taste. Mix to combine.

Compost: potato peels

Golden Crescents

The first big holiday meal that I ever cooked was Thanksgiving 1980. Most of the dishes I prepared I had already made at some point. This was just the first time that I had ever made them all at once. I had never before spent so many hours in the kitchen. At one point, while the turkey was in the oven and the rolls were rising, I went for a walk. I had to get out of the house!

A quarter of a century later, spending all day in the kitchen preparing a big meal is routine. Now I enjoy the hours of planning, shopping and cooking. I’ve finally mastered the elaborate dance necessary to have everything finish cooking more or less at the same time. No longer do I dissolve into tears when a dish finishes too soon or too late.

But back to that first Thanksgiving. I was so exhausted by the time the meal was ready that I put the rolls into the oven and forgot about them. The meal was well underway when I realized that they were MIA. Fortunately, I was able to save the day with the second batch. I remember that they came out warm and delicious. For some reason, I never made those rolls again. Perhaps because of their association with that trying day.

This year, A and I joined forces for a Wooden Spoon Thanksgiving. It was an opportunity for us to pull out all of the stops and show off our talents. Everything homemade. In honor of the occasion, I dug out the recipe for the Golden Crescents.

The recipe calls for “part soft butter”. I used half butter and half shortening and when the rolls came out of the oven, I brushed them with melted butter. I have yet to figure out a way to successfully to brush anything with soft butter. I was surprised to see that the recipe called for the batter to be beaten, apparently with an electric mixer. I had been taught that using an electric mixer will destroy the yeast. I used my trusty wooden spoon instead and just mixed really, really fast. I was also perplexed that there was no kneading involved. I have to admit I sneaked a few strokes in. Nonetheless, the resulting texture was light as if the dough had been kneaded.

A helpful hint: when cutting the rounds, use a pizza cutter instead of a knife. Perhaps it’s my technique, but whenever I have used a knife to cut dough, the dough stretches rather than cuts.

Memory served me well. The rolls were delicious. This recipe will definitely be made more often!

Verdict: Yum! This one’s a keeper!

Golden Crescents
(source: Betty Crocker Cookbook)

2 packages active dry yeast
¾ cup warm water (105° to 115°)
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
½ cup shortening (part soft butter)
4 cups all-purpose flour
Soft butter or margarine


Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in sugar, salt, eggs, shortening and 2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in remaining flour until smooth. Scrape dough from side of bowl. Cover; let rise in warm place until double, about 1 ½ hours.

Divide dough in half; roll each half into 12-inch circle. Spread with butter; cut into 16 wedges. Roll up each wedge, beginning at rounded edge. Place rolls, with point under, on greased baking sheet. Cover; let rise until double, about 1 hour.

Heat oven to 400°. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Brush rolls with butter.

32 rolls

Compost: eggshells

Cranberry-Orange Relish

I saw this recipe in the paper a couple of years ago and thought it sounded really good. It is. This is not like the stuff out of a can. This is cranberry relish with a serious kick. Relish with an assertive personality.

Be warned: the full recipe makes a lot. They say a quart, but that's a serious underestimate. I started to make this in my 2 quart saucepan but had to switch to my big Dutch oven. The bowl in the photo below is about 8.5" in diameter at the top, and what you see there is half a recipe.

As usual, I made a few modifications to use what I had on hand. Instead of fresh ginger root, I used 1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger for the full recipe. I thought this was about right, but you might want to reduce this if you think that's a bit much. I also used 2 tsp ground cinnamon instead of the cinnamon stick, and I left out the star anise. I also left out the salt, though that was mainly because I forgot to put it in at the end. For the orange zest, I just added the grated peel of one orange. For a full recipe, I probably should have used at least one more orange.

Oh, the standard-size bag of fresh cranberries is about 3 cups, so I just used 2 bags.

The relish does need to simmer for a couple of hours to cook the berries and thicken. But that's okay, because when it's simmering, the aroma is FABULOUS. Better than any scented candle. Plus, the cranberries pop as they heat, which will amuse the kids. Note that the finished product wasn't nearly as firm as the canned stuff, but who cares?

Verdict: Yum! This one's a keeper!

Cranberry-Orange Relish
(source: USA Weekend, Nov. 13, 2005)

It's best to make the relish one day in advance so the flavors can meld.

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup honey, preferably Acacia
4 cups fresh orange juice
1/4 cup fresh ginger root, peeled and finely grated
1/2 cup chopped fresh orange zest, pith removed
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
6 cups fresh cranberries (or substitute frozen cranberries)
2 tsps. fine sea salt

In a medium-sized, heavy saucepan over low heat, combine the sugar, honey and orange juice. Simmer until completely dissolved. Add ginger, zest, anise and cinnamon; stir to combine. Add the cranberries and simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to thicken, about two hours. When thickened, add salt. Chill and serve.

Makes 1 quart. Serves 16.

Per serving: 169 calories, 1g protein, 44g carbohydrates, 0g fat, 0mg cholesterol, 2g fiber, 295mg sodium (nutritional analysis provided by the recipe source).

Recycle: honey jar

Compost: ginger peels, orange peel

From Our Kitchens to Yours

A Wooden Spoon Thanksgiving

Menu:

Cream of Mushroom Soup
Turkey with Herbed Stuffing
Perfect Mashed Potatoes
A's Turkey Gravy
Cranberry Orange Relish
Golden Crescents (rolls)
A's Top Secret Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
This year OldRoses and A teamed up to do a joint Wooden Spoon Thanksgiving dinner. Above is the result (before eating). We decided to make some of our favorite Thanksgiving dishes, take pictures, and then post the recipes. Stay tuned!

Rosemary Chicken and Vegetables

Microwave ovens are a working woman’s best friend. You can cook delicious meals when you have time and then just quickly nuke them when you get home and feed your family (or yourself!) incredible home-cooked meals. I especially love dishes that are all-in-one like soups and stews.

This recipe is a complete meal in itself. Chicken, potatoes and veggies. You can add dinner rolls if you like bread with your meals but it’s not necessary. I substitute chicken breasts for a whole, cut-up chicken. It’s easier and I prefer white meat. I also use chicken bouillon instead of the chicken broth. It works just as well and is what I have in my kitchen already.

This recipe takes a little time, but it’s worth it to be able to be able to come home on a cold day and heat up a tasty one-dish meal.

Verdict: Yum!! This one’s a keeper!!

Rosemary Chicken and Vegetables
(Source: BHG.com)

1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 2 ½ to 3 pounds broiler-fryer chicken, cut up and skinned
4 medium red potatoes, quartered
5 medium carrots, cut crosswise into thirds
3 celery stalks, cut crosswise into 2-inch-long pieces
2 medium onion, cut into wedges
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup dry white wine or reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon snipped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Fresh rosemary (optional)


In a 4-quart Dutch oven cook garlic in hot oil for 15 seconds. Add chicken pieces. Cook about 10 minutes or until chicken is light brown, turning to brown evenly. Drain off fat. Add potatoes carrots, celery, onions, chicken broth, wine, snipped rosemary, salt, and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 35 minutes or until chicken is tender and no longer pink.

Transfer chicken and vegetables to a serving platter; keep warm. Measure cooking liquid; add water, if necessary, to equal 1 cup total. For sauce, stir together cold water and cornstarch; stir into reserved liquid. Return to Dutch oven. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Season to taste. Serve with chicken. If desired, garnish with rosemary.

Makes 4 to 6 main-dish servings.


Recycle: rosemary container

Compost: celery leaves, garlic, carrot and onion skins

Bonnie Butter Cake with French Silk Frosting

Long, long ago when I was a young woman, the mother of the man I was then dating came to visit him. Not only were we serious enough that he wanted to introduce me to his mother, but since it was also her birthday, he wanted to show off my culinary talents and asked me to bake her a cake. I wanted to impress her but there was no internet back then and I only owned one cookbook, my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook.

I found a recipe in it for a three layer cake. Three layers! French frosting! At that time, I impressed easily. I also was blissfully unaware of the old adage that you should never make a brand new recipe for company. Betty Crocker never lets me down. The cake came out perfectly. Too perfectly.

His mother refused to believe that I had baked it. She accused me of buying a cake at a bakery and trying to pass it off as my own. My then boyfriend tried to defend me. He had witnessed me make it but she was adamant. I was a liar and a cheat. My relationship with her son did not survive very long after she left.

But I still bake that cake! It’s easy and delicious. Two things to bear in mind when you are making it. Don’t skimp on the time beating it or it will be dense and heavy. Go the full five minutes for a light airy texture. And double the frosting recipe. I’m sorry. Betty lies. As you can see from the picture, it does not make enough to fill and frost three 8-inch layers.

Verdict: Yum!! This one’s a keeper!!

Bonnie Butter Cake with French Silk Frosting
(Source: Betty Crocker Cookbook)

Bonnie Butter Cake

⅔ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 ¾ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
3 cups cake flour or 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups milk

Heat oven to 350°. Grease and flour baking pan, 13x9x2 inches, or two 9-inch or three 8-inch round layer pans. In large mixer bowl, mix butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy. Beat 5 minutes on high speed, scraping bowl occasionally. On low speed, mix in flour, baking powder and salt alternately with milk. Pour into pan(s).

Bake oblong 45 to 50 minutes, layers 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool.


French Silk Frosting

2 ⅔ cups confectioners’ sugar
⅔ cup soft butter
2 ounces melted unsweetened chocolate (cool)
¾ teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk

In small mixer bowl, blend sugar, butter, chocolate and vanilla on low speed. Greadully add milk; beat until smooth and fluffy.

Makes enough frosting for two 9-inch layer or three 8-inch layer cakes.

Recycle: vanilla bottle

Compost: eggshells

Split Pea Soup with Barley

I love split pea soup. I’ve never made it, though because I lack one key ingredient: a ham bone. I live alone. I never have occasion to make a whole ham so that I would have a ham bone available for soup.

When I came across this recipe which uses cooked ham, the proverbial light bulb went off over my head. Ham steaks! My local grocery store often has specials on ham steaks. I buy them and chop them up for use in recipes that call for cooked ham.

I liked the idea of barley in this soup because I thought it would make it more filling. All the veggies also made it attractive. I’m not good about eating veggies unless they are raw, steamed, stir-fried or part of a soup or stew.

I should have picked up on two problems right away. This recipe calls for yellow split peas instead of the usual green ones and also lacks seasonings other than a bay leaf and salt and pepper. I forged ahead.

I made a couple of changes. I used a bouillon cube instead of instant granules because that’s what I have in the house. I also didn’t add any salt to it. I thought that the ham would be salty enough. And mindful of the minestrone soup disaster, I doubled the cooking time for each step.

This soup lacks the usual “pea” taste perhaps because it uses yellow instead of green peas. It also lacks taste although it was tastier the second day than the first. It definitely needs more seasonings. And it’s a good thing that I extended the cooking time. Not only were the veggies tender, but the barley and the peas didn’t really cook through until nearly the end. If I had used their times, I would have had raw veggies and hard peas and barley.

Verdict: What were they thinking???



Split Pea Soup with Barley
(Source: Better Homes and Gardens, November 2007)



10 cups water
1 lb. dry yellow split peas, rinsed and drained (about 2 cups)
½ cup regular barley
2 tbsp. instant chicken bouillon granules
1 bay leaf
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, finely chopped (1 cup)
1 medium onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
5 ounces cooked ham, chopped (1 cup)
½ tsp. ground black pepper
Salt and ground black pepper


In a 4- to 5-quart Dutch oven or pot bring water, split peas, barley, bouillon granules, and bay leaf to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Stir in celery, carrots, and onion; return to boiling. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes more or until vegetables, peas, and barley are tender.

Stir in ham and ½ teaspoon pepper. Cook 5 minutes more or until ham is heated through. Remove and discard bay leaf. Season to taste with salt and additional pepper.

Makes 8 (1 ½-cup) servings.

Compost: celery leaves, carrot and onion skins

OldRoses' Blackened Chicken

My host for the impromptu dinner party is one of those rare people who likes spicy food. I decided to risk making my blackened chicken dish for him. I offered to make something “Cajun style” but after reviewing the recipe, I realized that it also has elements of Mexican cooking making the dish more like fusion cuisine.

The recipe was originally an appetizer. I’ve made changes to it that make it a main dish. I’ll give you the original recipe and also make note of the changes that I’ve mad.

Instead of Pico de Gallo, I use regular Pathmark salsa, medium heat. It’s all natural, no additives or preservatives and very tasty. I mix the chicken into the salsa instead of topping the chicken with the salsa. I use flour tortillas instead of mini taco shells. My personal preference is for the Monterey Jack cheese. I like the contrast of the cool, creamy cheese with the spicy chicken. And I like to top it all off with shredded lettuce and chopped raw onion.

Verdict: Yum! This one’s a keeper!

Blackened Chicken Mini Tacos
(Source: BHG.com)
2 ripe medium tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro
⅛ teaspoon salt
Dash sugar
4 medium skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)
4 teaspoons ground black pepper
4 teaspoons paprika
¾ teaspoon dry mustard
¼ teaspoon salt
24 mini taco shells or scoop-shaped tortilla chips
Finely shredded spinach or lettuce
Shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
Dairy sour cream or guacamole
¾ teaspoon ground red pepper


For Pico de Gallo: combine tomatoes, red onion; cilantro; ⅛ teaspoon salt, and the sugar. Mix well. Cover; chill for several hours or overnight.

Cut chicken breast halves into ¾-inch-wide strips. Combine black pepper, paprika, dry mustard, red pepper, and ¼ teaspoon salt in a plastic bag. Add chicken to the bag, shaking to coat. Arrange coated chicken in a single layer in a shallow baking pan. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degrees F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until chicken is tender and no longer pink. Using two forks, pull chicken apart into pieces.

To crisp taco shells, arrange on a baking sheet and bake 5 to 7 minutes or until warm and crisp. Serve chicken in taco shells. Top tacos with Pico de Gallo, spinach or lettuce, cheddar or Monterey Jack Cheese, and sour cream and/or guacamole.

Makes 24

Compost: tomato and onion skins, cilantro stems

Recycle: salsa bottle, seasonings bottles