Great Gadgets: Getting the Cook into Hot Water

New life for an old appliance!

My name is Nancy and I am a chocoholic.  I enjoy it at all times of the day, but, especially, at the beginning.  Because I'm just not up to heating up a pot in the morning, I've reconciled myself to instant which means 

I'm in need of hot water.  

• I tried tap water, but that did not dissolve the powdered milk in the mix.  

• I tried the microwave, which heated the water, but made the cup hotter than shuttle heat shield tiles during re-entry.  Ouch.

• I considered having a hot tap installed, but they are expensive.

• I could pick one up at a fast food place, but then I'd feel obligated to order a biscuit, which can become expensive.

• I really got myself into a stew about the hot water until the light bulb in my mind began to glimmer dimly.

What appliance is tailor-made to heat water?  

The coffeemaker!

So, I dragged out our Black & Decker Versabrew, which has only been used for company since neither the Resident Dragon nor I really drink coffee.  It seemed happy to escape from its remote cabinet prison.  Without even installing a filter, I plugged it in, filled the carafe, and poured it into the reservoir.  In seconds, it began hissing at me, and steamy water streamed (okay, dribbled) into the carafe.  I grabbed a mug, a spoon, and the cocoa mix, and, within minutes, was enjoying a satisfying cup of hot chocolate.

Since its hot chocolate-making utility had given it some claim to valuable kitchen-counter real estate.  I began looking for other uses for the coffeemaker.  The first that presented itself was upon the demise of the iced-tea maker.  (Yes, I know, but I got it for Christmas.)  The death of the gadget did not end the dragon's desire for iced tea.  After a few instances of steeping tea leaves in a boiling pot on the stove, the coffeemaker finally got my attention.

Why not?  

It does make hot water . . .

So, I filled the carafe and dumped it into the reservoir.  Then I took 4 family-size tea bags and (don't tell the Resident Dragon!!!) two green tea bags and knotted the strings together before dropping them into the carafe.  The knot prevented the strings from slipping through the lid into the carafe.  I placed the carafe (and tea) under the coffeemaker basket (sans filter) and walked away.  When I returned, I had perfected steeped tea concentrate--enough to make a gallon!

(Don't forget to compost the used tea bags!)

So, the long-neglected coffeemaker earns its claim on the kitchen counter by making hot chocolate, tea, instant soups, instant oatmeal, anything that requires hot water.  And, sometimes, we even use it to make coffee.

What's cooking in your Savory kitchen?

Nancy

TMN Turtle Burgers

Assembling the turtles!

Today's recipe is from our guest blogger, James.  As a child, he really, really liked Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  He even dressed as Donatello (his favorite turtle) for one Halloween.  He has long since outgrown his devotion to the turtles, but recently created this fun recipe for all of those adult (secret) TMNT lovers!

Delicious Turtle Burgers

1.5 lbs.    lean ground beef
12              hot dogs
1                 small block of sharp cheddar
32              bacon slices medium thickness, not thin sliced, not thick sliced
1 cup         Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp.       Montreal-type seasoning

1. Mix ground beef in a bowl with Montreal seasoning and Worcestershire sauce.   Salt and pepper to taste; I used 1 tsp. and 1 tsp., respectively.

2. Mix thoroughly and let sit.  You don't want a dry, tasteless burger.

3. Lay out 4 pieces of bacon side by side on a piece of parchment. Trim any excess fat, you want the slices to be fairly straight. Push together any holes.  Be as compulsive as you like, you have to open holes for the "turtle appendages, anyway.

A finished turtle!

4. Weave in 4 more trimmed pieces perpendicular to the first 4. You should have a fairly solid square with fringe on all sides.  This will be the crunchy and delicious shell.

5. Repeat this 3 more times to make 4 bacon lattices.  <Lattices, not just for gardening or microscopic steel composition anymore.>

6. Heat the oven to 450F.  Do it now, it will be ready just about the time your turtles are complete.

7. Take the ground beef and make 8 patties. 3" in diameter and 3/8" thick.  They need to be thin enough to cook through, but thick enough to hold the heavenly center.

8. Put a slice of cheddar between 4 patties and top the cheddar with the other 4 patties.  Now this is a bunless burger!

9. Make sure the ground beef encapsulates the cheese fully. Set aside.  You can't let all that ambrosia go to waste burning on the pan.

Which one is Donatello?

10. Cut all the hot dogs in half making 24 pieces. Take 16 of the pieces and cut toes in the rounded end. Take 4 pieces and make a pointy tail.  I made 2 slices in the rounded end. If you want to get technical, it is 3 fingers and 2 toes, Cowabunga!

11. Put one burger on one lattice and wrap it up.  The bacon will curl, so you can flip them over if you want a flat shell.  I left them belly up!
Our guest blogger!

12. Push the hot dogs through holes in the lattice. All turtles have only 4 legs, 1 head, and 1 tail.  Be sure to not break the cheddar seal. Toothpick them in place if you like.

13. Repeat steps 11 and 12  to make the other 3 turtles.

14. Transfer the turtles to a cookie sheet and place them in the oven for 30 minutes.  Watch an old episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on VHS or run around the house like Shredder.

15. Check to make sure the bacon is not burned. If it is NOT, then give them 5 
more minutes to think about what they have done, or run around the house like shredder some more. It helps if you have a sweet cape and helmet. Limber up before you try any kicks.

16.Pull them out and make sure the ground beef is done. If it is, enjoy!

Bacon is the half shell, TURTLE POWER!

Cowabunga!  I hope you've enjoyed our little turtle celebration.   

What's cooking in your Savory kitchen?

Nancy

Easy New Year Recipe: Cuban Sandwiches with Leftovers!

Happy New Year!

New Year's is a really low-key event in our household.  We no longer have any interest in joining mobs of loud people to ring in the new year, so, usually, it's just a quiet evening at home with family and a few friends and a super simple menu.  After the rich, luscious food and the requisite endless cooking from Thanksgiving through Christmas, New Year's Cuban Sandwiches are a welcome respite for the cook.

Here on the farm, the Resident Dragon usually mans the griddle, taking custom orders from each celebrant.  Options include type of bread/bun, types of leftover meats (usually turkey and ham or pork), and types of cheeses.

New Year's Cubana Sandwiches

• Bun or leftover large roll
• 2 types of leftover meat
• 3 types of sliced cheese
• Favorite mustard
• Favorite pickle

Here's a great opportunity to
enjoy your summer's pickles!

The basic sandwich:  Slice the bun in half length-wise and smear with favorite mustard and apply a pickle.  On top, layer cheese, meat, cheese, meat, cheese, pickle, and bun top smeared with mustard.  Smash until bread is slightly flattened, then grill on both sides until bread is toasted, cheese is melting, and meat is warm.  Slice in half and serve with chips or fries, and your favorite beverage.  The combinations are endless, but here are a few we like:

Bread and butter pickles
add a little sweetness!

• The Resident Dragon:  French roll with spicy brown mustard, dill pickles, turkey, pork shoulder, cheddar, muenster, and swiss.

• The Dragon's Lady:  Onion roll with sweet mustard (recipe below), sweet pickles, turkey, ham, muenster, muenster, and muenster.

Sweet mustard:  To taste, add brown sugar to prepared mustard and allow to blend for 24 hours.

What a tasty way to clean up those leftovers from the old year and begin the new on a creative note!

From our kitchen to yours--

Happy New Year!

Nancy

Creole Cakes with Sweet &Spicy Remoulade: A luscious leftover turkey recipe!

A rare holiday snow
followed
monsoon-like rain!

When my children were younger, we enjoyed roast pterodactyl for our holiday meals.  It wasn't a real pterodactyl; it was a 25-pound turkey that filled up my oven.  It was during that time I discovered the joys of a programmable oven.  I would prepare my turkey, stuffing each cavity with fresh parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme, then plugging the cavity with a sweet onion before roasting in the oven overnight.  The programmable function allowed me to put it in the oven, set the oven to start a few hours later, and wake to a lovely turkey.  We had lots of turkey leftovers, too, so a great leftover turkey recipe was relished.  Here's our favorite, adapted from Cooking Light (actually, I took all of the light out of it!).

Creole Cakes with a Sweet and Spicy Remoulade

Remoulade:

1/3 cup sour cream
2 T. minced green onions (my grandmother called them scallions)
2 T. mayonnaise
1 T. Zatarain's Creole mustard (or Grey Poupon Dijon mustard)
1 T. sweet pickle relish (sometimes I substituted dill)
Dash of garlic powder
Dash of ground cayenne
Tiny sprinkle of gumbo file (very optional, file is an acquired taste)


Combine the sauce ingredients into a small covered bowl and chill until ready for use.

Cakes:

The Resident Dragon says
smoked turkey would be
delicious in this recipe, too!

2 slices bread
3 cups chopped turkey (white or dark, or both)
1/3 c. minced green onions
1/4 c. mayonnaise
1 T. Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
1 t. cajun seasoning
1 large egg
1 t. Watkins grapeseed oil

Place bread in food processor and pulse into small crumbs; measure out 1.25 cups.  Combine the turkey, scallions, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, cajun seasoning, and egg.  Stir in the breadcrumbs.  Form 8 patties (1/2 inch thick).  Heat oil in a non-stick or seasoned cast iron skillet and fry patties 5 minutes on each side (10 minutes total).  Each serving is 2 patties plus 2 tablespoons of sauce.  C'est bon!

From our kitchen to yours,

Happy New Year!

Christmas Treat Genealogy: Traditional Dipped Fruit

Ready for apricots!

Chocolate-dipped dried fruit is a tradition in our house which dates back to my daughter's first Christmas.  Her older brother was feeling a little left out because of the new baby, so I decided that, together, we could prepare a treat for his pre-school teachers.  He was just over 2 years old at the time, so the treat had to be simple:  chocolate-dipped stemmed maraschino cherries.

Dipping pretzel rods

We carefully lined a cookie sheet with waxed paper, rinsed and dried the cherries, and melted the chocolate, then pulled up a chair for him to stand in.  Very carefully, he dipped an entire tray of cherries.  Somehow, his foot slipped, causing him to lose his balance, and his elbow to catch the corner of the tray.  With the edge of the counter as a fulcrum, the entire tray shot across the kitchen as if launched from a trebuchet, sticking to walls, cabinets, and appliances.  We were only able to save four cherries from the entire tray, but we packaged them carefully.  The next morning, he toddled proudly into his pre-school, bearing one cherry for each of his four teachers.

Don't forget the sprinkles!

The next year, baby sister joined in the fun, and the tradition has continued.  Both of them have their own homes now--baby sister turned 25 this year--but, tonight, together we again dipped cherries, and dried apricots, and pretzel rods, and dried pineapple, and banana chips, all festooned with various sprinkles.  And we needed that, to do that again, together.

Tempting Treats!

That's what traditions are:  things we do together.  The thing we do is not as important as the people we do it with.  Simple acts become special when we share them.

I know there will be Christmases  when we will not be able to share some of our family traditions, but I hope my children will share them with their own families, as well as make new traditions of their own.  May you find time during the holiday season to enjoy your family traditions, and create new ones.

From our kitchen to yours,

Merry Christmas!

Cheery Holiday Cherries!

Nancy

Christmas Cookie Genealogy: Miss Dot's Hello Dolly Squares

Luscious layers!

This week's recipe comes from a family friend by way of my aunt Sara.  Miss Dot was the county historian and even published (albeit locally) a history of the antebellum homes in the county.  When we first saw this recipe, coconut came in cans and was quite the luxury, so these were an especial treat.  The batch I just put in the oven has begun to scent the kitchen, attracting the attention of the Resident Dragon, who will lurk around until they're cool enough to eat.

By the way, Miss Dot, a former school teacher, turned 93 this year.

Hello Dolly Cookies

Sweetened condensed milk binds it together!

1 stick butter
1.25 c. crushed graham crackers
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. pecans or hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1 c. shredded coconut
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Place in baking dish in layers in order listed.  Bake at 300 degrees for 30-45 minutes.  Chill and cut into small squares.

These are very rich, so enjoy every savory bite!

What's cooking in your Savory kitchen?

Graham Cracker Brittle: Genealogy from Christmas Cookie Recipes

Graham Cracker Brittle makes a festive treat!

Food is more than mere sustenance in the South; in families and small towns, recipes can constitute almost a genealogy of the community.  Recipes nearly always are attributed to individuals and are a tangible, edible reminder of that individual:  Grandmother's Teacakes, Mrs. Malone's Apple Cake (Aunt Nonie's mother), and Miss Leora's Graham Cracker Brittle.

I mention the last recipe because I ran across some at a reception on Sunday.  While nobody could tell me if it was Miss Leora's recipe, I think it must have been.  I received the recipe in a collection my daddy's sister put together for me many years ago.  This recipe is wonderful reminder of two wonderful ladies.

Miss Leora's Graham Cracker Brittle

Line jelly roll pan with foil and prepare with cooking spray.  Line with good quality graham crackers, broken apart.  Sprinkle 1 c. chopped nuts (I prefer pecans) over top of crackers.

Mix 2 sticks melted butter and 1/2 c. white sugar.  Boil for 3 minutes, then pour over crackers.  Bake 12 minutes at 350 degrees, checking frequently as these burn suddenly.

Remove from pan immediately and cool on cake racks.  Store in airtight container.  Miss Leora says they freeze well, but mine have never lasted long enough for me to find out!

Normally, I would have pictures for you, but you'll just have to trust me on this one; I'll be making at least one batch this weekend.

Happy holidays!

What's cooking in your Savory kitchen?

Nancy