Cold Potato Salad

We had ribs tonight and potato salad is a perfect match in my book, so I dug out my German cookbook and found a recipe for potato salad – it turned out really yummy and was simple to make. This recipe comes from The German Cookbook by Mimi Sheraton, page 321.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 to 8 boiling potatoes
• water to cover
• salt
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1-1/4 cups beef stock
• 5 to 6 tablespoons white vinegar
• 4 to 5 tablespoons salad oil
• prepared mustard (optional)
• white pepper
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise or sour cream (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Cook unpeeled potatoes in boiling salted water to cover. Do not overcook or they will fall apart in salad. Peel white hot and slice thinly. Place in bowl and add minced onion. Bring beef stock to a boil with a little salt and the vinegar. Pour over potatoes and marinate until almost all liquid is absorbed, about 20 to 30 minutes. Pour excess liquid off and gently fold in oil, mixed with mustard if you want to use it. Flavor with pepper. Cool salad slightly and serve as is, or fold in mayonnaise or sour cream. Usually it appears without either.

Note: I didn’t use salad oil but I did use mayo and mustard – it was delicious.

Tangy Ranch-Style Boneless Fried Chicken

I was watching the Rachel Ray show the other day and she made this chicken recipe which sounded and looked really good so I thought I’d give it a try – it was quite tasty. I’m not much of a fan of frying my food (but I have been doing it more than usual lately for some reason) but I wanted to try this recipe.

It was pretty good and I can imagine using this coating for other foods or tweaking it a bit for a fish batter…

Here’s the recipe below – I made no changes.

Ingredients

• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup Greek-style yogurt
• 4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast, 6 to 8 ounces each
• 4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• Salt and pepper
• Frying oil
• Large brown paper sack
• 2 cups flour
• 4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill or 4 teaspoons dried dill, eyeball it
• 2 tablespoons granulated onion, a couple of palmfuls
• 2 tablespoons granulated garlic, a couple of palmfuls
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, 2/3 palmful
• A handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• A handful of chives, finely chopped
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

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Yields: Serves 4

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Preparation

Combine buttermilk and yogurt in bowl. Cut chicken breast pieces in half across the breast at widest part. Season all of the chicken pieces liberally with salt and pepper, and submerge them in the buttermilk-yogurt mixture.

In a heavy pot over medium heat, heat a couple of inches of frying oil until small bubbles appear in a rapid stream when a wooden utensil handle is placed in the oil.

In a large paper sack, combine the flour with dill, dried onion and garlic, cayenne, parsley and chives. Add half the chicken to the bag, roll up the top of the bag and shake to coat. Add floured chicken to oil and add the remaining chicken pieces to flour. Fry chicken 8-10 minutes, until deeply golden and cooked through. Serve with wedges of lemon.

Easy Pumpkin Rice Pudding

This is an easy, slightly tangy, rice pudding I made up today – it turned out pretty good and was super fast to through together. I say it turned out a bit tangy due to the buttermilk I used – regular milk would be fine instead I’m sure.

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie puree)
• 1 cup left over white rice
• approx 1 cup buttermilk (could use regular milk as well)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a pot, heat your rice, sugar and milk, stirring often, until heated through
2. Add the pumpkin and spices and mix well
3. Allow the mixture to begin to boil slightly, stirring frequently to prevent burning
4. Once the mixture thickens a bit, turn off the heat and serve in a dish (can add toasted pecans on top if desired)

recipe by: r2bcluvs2cook

Keeping Produce Fresh

This is a copy of an article from The Dollar Stretcher newsletter – I’m posting it here (unchanged) because it has some good tips on what to put in the fridge versus on the counter….

Keeping Produce Fresh
by Leanne Ely, CNC
Don’t let it spoil before you taste it

One place you can really get nailed on is buying fresh
produce. Produce will only keep so long so you absolutely have
to have a plan to use it up. If all you do is buy it and let
it sit in your fridge, you might as well start flushing five-
dollar bills down the toilet!

But still the question remains, how do you keep your produce
fresh? That’s a great question and the answer varies according
to what you have. Let’s tackle the most common fruits and
veggies, shall we?

First up, some things you need to know. There is a certain
chemical compound called ethylene that is released as produce
ripens. This ripening action builds up in a closed plastic bag
so the gas makes your food break down quicker. What I do is
keep the bags open to avoid that too quick ripening factor. If
you take it out of the bags, it will dry out so opening the
bag really helps to preserve it. Check the packaging you
bought your produce in. Often times, these bags have little
holes in them to allow the ethylene to release without drying
out.

Secondly, there are things that should be refrigerated and
there are others that should not. Here is a list of stuff to
store in your pantry:

- Onions
- Potatoes
- Garlic
- Shallots
- Hard winter squashes
- Sweet potatoes

Keeping these guys away from the light will help prolong their
shelf life and stop your potatoes and onions from sprouting.

Here is a list of stuff to stick in the fridge:

- Apples
- Cherries
- Grapes
- Melons (unless you’re trying to ripen up on the countertop)
- Corn
- Berries (don’t wash until ready to use)
- Grapes
- Peas
- Any citrus
- Artichokes
- Asparagus (cut the ends off and place them in a glass of
water, plastic over the top)
- Lettuces
- Spinach
- Eggplant
- Cucumbers
- Mushrooms
- Peppers
- Leeks
- Greens
- Cauliflower and broccoli
- Cabbage
- Carrots
- Beets
- Any fresh herbs
- Radishes
- Green onions or scallions
- Zucchini and summer squash
- Turnips
- Green beans
- Celery

The thinner the skin on the fruit or vegetable, the sooner it
needs to be used.

Here is a list of stuff that can start on your counter then
can go into the fridge if necessary, but you need to be aware
that it can get too cold and end up somewhat bruised or ruined
by the fridge:

- Avocados
- Bananas
- Tomatoes
- Peaches
- Papaya
- Apricots
- Plums
- Pineapple
- Pears
- Nectarines
- Mangos
- Kiwi

There you go with everything you wanted to know about keeping
produce but were afraid to ask! This simple guide should help
you start storing and using your produce wisely without the
spoilage. Enjoy!
____________________

Soft Oatmeal Cookies

I make my husband a lunch to take to work almost every day and I usually include some sort of dessert – cookies, brownies, cake…you get the idea. So tonight I thought I’d try my hand at oatmeal cookies (still on my oatmeal kick) and so I found this recipe online. I made a few minor adjustments – the result is a very yummy cookie with a crunchy edge but soft inside with a nice cinnamon and almond blended flavor.

Here’s the recipe (my changes are noted)

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups quick cooking oats (I used 9 grain hot cereal mix found near the oatmeal)
• I also added 1-1/2 tsp almond extract

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie with a large fork dipped in sugar.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

NOTE: I just melted my butter, dumped all the stuff together in a big bowl and combined really well using my hands to make sure it was all blended, then took a cookie dropper (1 tbsp size) and dropped them on a cookie pan, flattened slightly with my hand, and baked for 10 min, then let cool on wrack