Weekend Reviews - October 15-16th

[cniles]

I didn't see this started? Or was it gobbled up by the boards?? :D

I made 2 new things this weekend - both winners!!!

Beef and Bean Chili - Fresh Every Day. This was wonderful. I usually make CL's All American Chili which is very tomatoey based. This was a thinner base - chicken broth with diced tomatoes. I used ground turkey instead of ground beef and needed to cut back on the jalepeno peppers. It was very spicy. But I got great reviews at our tailgate party. I"ll post if anyone wants it.

Pumpkin Pound Cake with Cinnamon Glaze - From 9,10/05 Cooking Pleasures. I may give this one it's own thread. It was heavenly. BUT not light. 6 eggs :eek: But oh my goodness, it was soooo good - so moist and the glaze was wonderful too. :)

[EmilyK]

Charisse, can you PLEASE post the pumpkin pound cake recipe!? <puppy dog eyes> :)

[linsleyd]

I did the following this weekend:

Chicken Pot Pie from Tyler's Ultimate but with homemade pie dough

Pumpkin Bread my mom's recipe

Chicken Pot Stickers from Cooking Light

All were really very good and the pot stickers were so easy I can't wait to make them again!

[cniles]

Charisse, can you PLEASE post the pumpkin pound cake recipe!? <puppy dog eyes> :)

How can I resist?!!!!! ;) Just finished typing both recipes into word.... AND if anyone can figure out how to lighten this - let me know please!! Otherwise I will make for special occasions!!! ;)

Pumpkin Pound Cake with Cinnamon Glaze
Cooking Pleasures – 9/05

CAKE:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 ½ cups unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 (15-oz) can pure pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

GLAZE:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 (3-oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ¼ cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 to 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease 12-cup Bundt pan with shortening. Sprinkle with flour; tap pan to remove excess flour.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.

3. In large bowl, beat 1 ½ cups butter and sugar at medium speed 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add eggs, two at a time, beating well after each addition. At low speed, beat in pumpkin and 1 teaspoon vanilla until well-blended. Slowly add flour mixture, beating just until incorporated. Spoon batter into pan.

4. Bake 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes or until deep golden brown and wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 15 minutes. Invert cake onto wire rack; cool completely.

5. In large bowl, beat 1 tablespoons butter, cream cheese, 1 teaspoon vanilla and ¾ teaspoon cinnamon at low speed 1 minute or until blended. Slowly beat in powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in cream until of desired consistency. Pour glaze over cake; sprinkle with walnuts. Let stand until glaze is set. (Cake can be made up to 2 days in advance)

16 servings

Per Serving: 465 calories, 25 g total fat (14.5 g saturated fat), 6 g protein, 56 carbs, 135 mg cholesterol, 150 mg sodium, 2 g fiber.



Beef and Bean Chili
Fresh Every Day
Serves 6 to 8 (makes about 2 ½ quarts)

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large yellow onions, diced
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
4 small jalapeno peppers, cored, seeded, and diced (I used 2)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ pounds ground beef chuck (I used ground turkey breast)
¼ cup chili powder
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 tablespoon ground cumin
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
1 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
6 cups chicken or beef broth
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon sea salt, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are softened and light brown, about 15 minutes. Add the bell pepper and jalapeno peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, to soften, about 5 minutes longer. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute, being careful not to let it brown.

2. Increase the heat to medium-high; add the ground chuck, chili powder, basil, and cumin and cook until the beef is brown all over, 5 to 7 minutes, using a wooden spoon to break the beef into small pieces as it cooks. Drain off excess fat. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, tomatoes and their juices, tomato paste, broth , beans, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour so the flavors meld and the liquid reduces and thickens. Serve warm. The chili will keep, refrigerated in an airtight container, for up to 3 days. It also freezes well.

[pilgrim719]

Charisse, that cake does look amazingly Lactaid-worthy! I'll have to file that one for when I have some guests to help me eat it. Thanks for sharing it!

Here are my weekend reviews:

Maple-Nut Oatmeal, 500 Treasured Country Recipes -- I loved this so much I made it twice this weekend! The combo of apples, raisins, and maple was delicious. I also added some cinnamon, and I made the neutered version because I don't care for nuts.

Pizza di Spaghetti, Everyday Italian -- Another big hit with me! Who knew leftover pasta could be used for something? This recipe combines leftover pasta and sauce with some cheese and other ingredients, then the mixture is pan-fried into a sort of cake that you can slice into wedges and eat. Delicious, easy to make, and fun to eat!

Favorite Wheat Germ Muffins, 500 Best Muffin Recipes -- Very good if you like wheat germ, which I do. Moist and lightly sweet, partly because I used honey crunch wheat germ.

Brooklyn Blackout Cupcakes, Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor -- Moist and chocolatey cupcakes with a rich and creamy chocolate pudding filling/topping, then topped with chocolate cake crumbs...it goes without saying that these are yummy! :D

[Gracie]

Pizza di Spaghetti, Everyday Italian -- Another big hit with me! Who knew leftover pasta could be used for something? This recipe combines leftover pasta and sauce with some cheese and other ingredients, then the mixture is pan-fried into a sort of cake that you can slice into wedges and eat. Delicious, easy to make, and fun to eat!

Kari, can you post this please? I also had no idea you could do something with leftover spaghetti!

Loren

[Kristal]

Beef and Bean Chili - Fresh Every Day. This was wonderful. I usually make CL's All American Chili which is very tomatoey based. This was a thinner base - chicken broth with diced tomatoes. I used ground turkey instead of ground beef and needed to cut back on the jalepeno peppers. It was very spicy. But I got great reviews at our tailgate party. I"ll post if anyone wants it.


Thanks for the review of this one! DH and I don't like beef, so I'm glad to see this is good with turkey. I'll have to give it a try. :)

[tbb113]

So glad to know that the pound cake was good. I was planning on making it but was told that there was plenty of leftover b-day cake so I didn't need to make it. Have all the ingredients...now just need an excuse ;)

I made the Mustard Baked Chicken with Apples and Onions (or something like that) from last years Oct/Nov Cooking Pleasure. My parents and I really enjoyed it but neither of my sons liked it since it was 'too mustardy'.

I also made the layered chicken enchiledas that Gecko posted for someone on the board. I accidentally bought ricotta cheese instead of mozzerrella but it was still excellent.

[CrystalB]

We made a lot of recent Cooking Light recipes this weekend:

Tacos al Carbón (Oct 05): These were excellent for a 30 minute meal. We will be making these again.

Smoky Shrimp and Avocado Seviche (Sept 05): Served this with the tacos as a dip for tortillas. Other than making half the recipe, I made this as is. I did take into consideration other reviewers comments and cut the shrimp bite size. This was excellent!!

Lager and Lemon-Grilled Chicken (Oct 05): This recipe was very good, such a simple recipe yet such great flavor.

Roasted Potato Salad (Oct 05):This tasted good but looked horrible. I think I may try this again with red wine vinegar.

I also repeated the Thin French Apple Tart (I made this last weekend too).

It was a great Cl food weekend. I would make all of these again!

[jimjimmerjim]

We tried three new recipes over the weekend, and all three were a hit with picky SO.

Fusilli with Sausage, Artichokes, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes from Everyday Italian.

I used turkey sausage, dried tomatoes not in oil, canned artichokes, and just a bit of olive to lighten up this one, and it was fantastic. The fresh mozzarella was just the right touch.

Roast Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Cider Sauce from Epicurious, a Gourmet magazine recipe from 10-02.

This was just wonderfull. Served it with mashed yukon gold potatoes and roasted brussels sprouts.

Pork Posole from CL, October 2004.

This was very good, but not quite hot enough for us. It was after I "doctored" it up a bit though.

[pilgrim719]

Kari, can you post this please? I also had no idea you could do something with leftover spaghetti!

Loren

Here you go, Loren! I used nonfat soy milk, omitted the salt, and used about half the amount of oil called for. I also ate it as a main dish, even though it says it's a side dish.

Pizza di Spaghetti

from Everyday Italian

Like a pizza, it's crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. Nearly any pasta shape with any sauce will do; as long as you liked the original serving, you'll like the leftovers prepared this way.

1 cup freshly grated PArmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish
1/2 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups leftover cooked and sauced pasta
1/2 cup olive oil

In a large bowl, beat the 1 cup of Parmesan cheese, the milk, eggs, sea salt, and pepper. Add the leftover pasta and toss to coat.

In a 10-inch-diameter nonstick saute pan, heat the oil over a medium flame. Add the pasta mixture to the pan, spreading evenly. Cook until golden brown on the bottom, about 8 minutes. Carefully invert the pasta mixture onto a plate, then slide it back into the pan. Continue cooking until the bottom is golden brown and the mixture is heated through, about 6 minutes. Transfer the pasta mixture to a serving platter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

[skupe123]

I would use the prune stuff (can't remember the name but I think it's called Bake Smart and I think it's by Sunsweet) for half the butter or even better as cniles says below just add 1/2 c. to 3/4 c. more pumpkin and cut the butter to 3/4 cup right off the bat. I would use light cream cheese in place of all of the full fat cream cheese. I would use 2 whole eggs and the rest egg whites.

There's only a small amount of heavy cream in there so I wouldn't worry too much about that or switch to 1/2 and 1/2 or even milk. You could use half Splenda for half the sugar.

I would definitely use half whole-wheat flour or all white whole wheat flour.

This is just a guess... Or send it to the magazine and let them do it for you. NOTE: Alot of these suggestions come from Cniles. They are good. See hers below.

Suz

[donnam]

I made CL's Pumpkin-Orange Spice Loaf (December 2000) - really fantastic and CL's Butternut Squash White bean soup (October 2004). I pureed most of the squash mixture and half of the beans - it was stellar. Extremely flavourful.

[PoppyJ]

[QUOTE=pilgrim719]
Maple-Nut Oatmeal

Would you mind posting this for me? I make oatmeal for my parents, my DH, and myself every morning and am always looking for new ways to make it.

BTW, I tried posting a big thank you to you on Friday, but the BB was acting up and it never posted. I wanted to thank you for posting so many wonderful recipes. I made two more of them this past week- the Baked Black Beans with Crusty Cheddar Topping (I made this when you first posted it) and the Green and Yellow Squash Casserole. Loved the squash casserole so much that I made it again for my lunch this week. We seem to have very similar taste and I know when you post a recipe you like that I will like it too. Keep them coming!!!! :D

[pilgrim719]

Would you mind posting this for me? I make oatmeal for my parents, my DH, and myself every morning and am always looking for new ways to make it.

BTW, I tried posting a big thank you to you on Friday, but the BB was acting up and it never posted. I wanted to thank you for posting so many wonderful recipes. I made two more of them this past week- the Baked Black Beans with Crusty Cheddar Topping (I made this when you first posted it) and the Green and Yellow Squash Casserole. Loved the squash casserole so much that I made it again for my lunch this week. We seem to have very similar taste and I know when you post a recipe you like that I will like it too. Keep them coming!!!! :D

That is so sweet of you to say! Thank you!! :)

As for oatmeal, I'm a big fan as well, and make it frequently in the cooler weather. I'm always looking for different ways to make it because I like variety. One place I've found a lot of ideas is vegweb.com under the Oatmeal section of the Breakfast category. They're all vegan recipes, but you can substitute the non-vegan versions of ingredients. I just made a Creamy Banana Oatmeal from there last week that was very good!

Here's the Maple-Nut Oatmeal recipe you asked for. I cooked it longer than 5 minutes because I never feel the oats are done enough in that amount of time. I used soy milk (and a bit extra because of the longer cooking time) and left out the salt and nuts. I also added the apples and raisins about halfway through cooking because I wasn't sure I wanted crisp apples in my oatmeal. Oh, and I added a generous pinch of cinnamon along with the oats. I felt it was plenty sweet with jsut the 1/4 cup maple syrup and the fruit, so I didn't need any extra sweetener on top as the recipe suggests.

Maple-Nut Oatmeal

from 500 Treasured Country Recipes

3 1/2 cups skim milk
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 tablespoon butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped, unpeeled apple

1. Bring milk to a low boil; stir in oats. Add butter and salt and cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

2. Remove from heat and add maple syrup, raisins, walnuts, and apple. Mix well. Serve in individual bowls with warm milk and a tablespoon of maple syrup or brown sugar on top.

Yield: 4-6 servings

[skupe123]

I make a big pot of oatmeal about once or twice a week. I leave it in the fridge and it's ready each morning to microwave.

1 cup whole oats
1 cup Irish oats
1 cup barley
1/2 cup oat bran
1/2 cup of Old-fashioned Oats
1 big handful of raisins
1 big handful of another dried fruit
1 good sprinkle of cinnamon
a few grates of fresh nutmeg
a capful of pure vanilla extract

I cook it on low for about two hours over a double boiler. The whole oats and the Irish oats have a crunchier texture that I like. This is not a hard and fast recipe as you can add or subtract these grains or switch them from week to week.

I serve with a 1/2 cup of frozen, thawed berries and a 1/2 c. of plain yogurt or skim milk.

Suz

[Kingwell]

cniles...I would up the pumpkin a bit and cut the butter to start, so instead of 1 1/2 cups of butter, maybe 3/4 cup butter, and 1/2 to 3/4 cup more pumpkin. Light cream cheese in place of regular is easy, and I can never tell the difference (don't go all the way to fat free though, that stuff is way too gummy). Instead of the heavy cream, just use half and half or even milk. It's only 2-3 tablespoons and in a glaze, so I would think the flavor wouldn't be too strong to begin with.

Here are my weekend reviews:

Marinara Magnifica...always wonderful.
Lamb stew with cinnamon over broad noodles (from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything). I would give it a 3 1/2 out of five. It took a long time and wasn't fantabulous, but it was good, and I would eat it again. Just not sure I'd put forth the effort of stewing it two hours again.

Bread pudding made with CL pumpkin biscuits (and added a pear and raisins soaked in rum)--would definitely make again.

Beef curry with toasted spices--actually made it yesterday to eat tomorrow, so we'll see, but it doesn't seem as tender as it should be after stewing for two hours and going through many toasting, grinding, measuring steps, and I like lots of spices!

[tbear1923]

linsleyd- could you post the potsticker recipe?

[veschke]

The only new thing I made this weekend was the baguette from the Oct? Cl. It turned out okay to taste, but not crusty at all (it was hard when it came out, but softened as it cooled). Not a bad accompaniment to the golden potato-leek soup, though!

[linsleyd]

linsleyd- could you post the potsticker recipe?


I would love to but it's at home. If I get a chance at lunch I'll write it down for you. In the meantime, though, it's in the complete cooking light cookbook in the appetizer section.

[PoppyJ]

One place I've found a lot of ideas is vegweb.com under the Oatmeal section of the Breakfast category.

I looked at that sight really quickly and there are some good looking recipes. I will look through them later today. Thanks for the suggestion.

Last night I made Coconut Oatmeal (from All Recipes) for my DH to take to work this week and loved it. It reminded me of a coconut oatmeal cookie. I had to stop myself from eating all of it. Here is the recipe in case you are interested.

Healthy Coconut Oatmeal

3 1/2 cups plain or vanilla soy milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 (8 ounce) container plain yogurt (optional)
3 tablespoons honey (optional)

Pour the milk and salt into a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Stir in the oats, maple syrup, raisins, and cranberries. Return to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in walnuts and coconut, and let stand until it reaches your desired thickness. Spoon into serving bowls, and top with yogurt and honey, if desired.

[pilgrim719]

I looked at that sight really quickly and there are some good looking recipes. I will look through them later today. Thanks for the suggestion.

Last night I made Coconut Oatmeal (from All Recipes) for my DH to take to work this week and loved it. It reminded me of a coconut oatmeal cookie. I had to stop myself from eating all of it. Here is the recipe in case you are interested.

Healthy Coconut Oatmeal

3 1/2 cups plain or vanilla soy milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 (8 ounce) container plain yogurt (optional)
3 tablespoons honey (optional)

Pour the milk and salt into a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Stir in the oats, maple syrup, raisins, and cranberries. Return to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in walnuts and coconut, and let stand until it reaches your desired thickness. Spoon into serving bowls, and top with yogurt and honey, if desired.

I made this recipe a couple weeks ago and liked it a lot! I used vanilla soy milk and left out the nuts. Tasty stuff!

Kari

[linsleyd]

Chicken Pot Stickers

2 t. vegetable oil
2 c finely chopped cabbage
1/2 c water
1/2 pound ground chicken or turkey
1/3 c minced peeled ginger
1/2t salt
1/2t dark sesame oil
1/3 cup green onions minced
1 garlic clove crushed
1 large egg white lightly beaten
24 wonton wrappers
2 t cornstarch
4 t. vegetable oil divided
1 cup water divided

Heat 2 t. oil in large non stick skillet over med high heat. Add cabbage and cook stirring constantly. While cabbage cooks add 1/2 cup of water 1 T at a time to keep cabbage from sticking. Cook until slightly browned about 8 minutes. Put in a bowl and cool.
Stir chicken and next 6 ingredients into cabbage. Work with 1 wrapper at a time spooning 1 T of mixture into center of wrapper. Moisten ends of dough with water or egg white and bring the ends together to seal.
Place on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornstarch and keep covered.
Heat 2 t. oil in skillet over med. high heat. Place 1/2 of the potstickers in skillet and cook 3 minutes or until browned on the bottom. Add 1/2 c water, cover and cook 3 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Keep warm and repeat with the second half of the batch.

I served this with a Ponzu sauce. I used ground turkey and forgot green onions so we minced some carrots for color and used a combination of regular onions and shallots.
Very good and very easy!

[MISSINDI]

Creamy Pasta with Shrimp - good, very easy and quick, just not a WOW

Banana Chocolate Brunch Cake - CL. Made for neighbor to take to the office, so didn't taste, but report was good.

Moist Caramel Apple Cake - Kraft. Moist is right. Office liked it.

Stuffed Garlic Bread - Supper Club member. Beyond excellent.

[stacy7272]

Banana Chocolate Brunch Cake - CL. Made for neighbor to take to the office, so didn't taste, but report was good.

I just made this yesterday and I thought it was very good. I thought I overcooked it but it was moist and I loved the texture. The glaze was watery and looked yucky but luckily it tasted good and really complimented the cake.

[PAMMELA]

Stuffed Garlic Bread - Supper Club member. Beyond excellent.


Missindi - can you post this please?

[newcook]

That Pumpkin Pound Cake with Cinnamon Glaze sounds great. Thanks for posting the recipe.

[MISSINDI]

Missindi - can you post this please?

Sure thing - here you go. There's a picture of it on my web site as well.

STUFFED GARLIC BREAD
1 unsliced loaf french bread
6 T. butter
1 whole head of fresh garlic -- peeled and chopped fine
7 t. sesame seeds
1/4 c. parmesan cheese -- grated
1 1/2 c. sour cream
2 C. monterey jack cheese -- cut into 1" cubes
2 t. lemon pepper
2 t. parsley
2 c. chopped artichoke hearts

Cut loaf in half lengthwise. Tear out soft center of bread in chunks, leaving crust intact. Put crust shells on a foil covered cookie sheet, crust sides down. Melt butter in a large skillet, stir in garlic and sesame seeds. Cook for 1-2 minutes on medium heat (don't burn the garlic!). Stir in torn bread chunks, and cook until golden brown and butter has been absorbed. Remove from heat. In a very large bowl combine sour cream, jack cheese, parmesan, parsley and lemon pepper. Stir in artichoke hearts and toasted bread (garlic bits too!). Mix well and spoon back into bread shells. Lay them both crustside down on the foil covered sheet, and put a sheet of foil over the top (it just has to be over the top...doesn't need to be wrapped), then bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes uncovered. Let rest 5-8 minutes before cutting.

[heavy hedonist]

[QUOTE=pilgrim719]
Maple-Nut Oatmeal I make oatmeal for my parents, my DH, and myself every morning and am always looking for new ways to make it.

I've been really into the oatmeal lately, and here is the current fave-- my man & I love it!

LIVING OATMEAL

2 C steel-cut oatmeal (Irish oats, such as McCann's), soaked in cool water 8-12 hours, rinsed and drained

1 1/2 C raisins, soaked 1 hour in water to cover, soaking water reserved

2 C chopped fresh fruit, such as bananas, apples, papaya

1 tsp cinnamon

In food processor, combine oats, raisins & soak water; process until almost smooth. Add 1 C fruit & cinnamon, pulse 30 seconds to blend. transfer to 4 bowls and top with remaining fruit.

I soak the oatmeal overnight, but do the raisins in the evening before, and refrigerate the raisins & their soak-water separately. This is so the fruit doesn't drown-- whole raw almonds or sunseeds are good here too, soaked like the raisins and refrigerated. This oatmeal is surprising-- we never expected it to taste so good, now we are hooked on it! We like it with apples and bananas in & on, fresh berries on top when possible. Enjoy!

[PoppyJ]

LIVING OATMEAL

This sounds very interesting and different. I will have to try it. Thanks.

[newcook]

I made the Pumpkin Pound Cake with Cinnamon Glaze for our brunch. It was quite a hit, and I brought the left-overs to my sisters and she really liked it too. I had a problem with the color of the cake that turned out sort of greenish. Some people told me that is how pumpkin cake looks but I am suspicious they were only being polite. But otherwise everyone was very pleased with it. Thanks for posting the recipe.

[cniles]

hmmmm that's funny about it being greenish... I don't think mine was (of course I was very upset with PSU losing to Michigan last week I may not have been very observant!!) Glad you liked it though!! ;)