STORM2K

Dee Bee wrote:Hi! Not precisely a recipe, but I wonder if anyone has favorite food combinations that might be considered "weird" by others. For example, I've been transplanted to SoFla from the Chicago area, and when I mention my favorite sandwich -- American or Cheddar cheese with cherry preserves -- people look at me like I'm crazy. Any other unusual but tasty combos out there? (No gross or extreme fiction, please!)

*shudders*

One of two tastes I can't stomach -- cherries. The other is hush puppies.

I'm sure we had a thread about this once before but I didn't find it in my search.

I used to think ketchup on eggs was weird. Still do, but now that I'm in Texas, salsa and eggs is good.

Never heard of a baked potato with barbecued beef on it until I moved here either and it's actually quite good.

Still can't get used to people who put ketchup on fried chicken. I had a friend in KY who grew up in MS and she did that. Then when I moved down here and got take-out chicken, they put packages of ketchup in the bag. Couldn't help but laugh to myself about that -- guess it's definitely a southern thing.

Should I even mention bananas with peanut butter and mayo again?

Dare I mention I grew up in a family who always put ketchup on sunnyside-up, over-easy, and scrambled eggs? In my old age I've subdued that to yen to occasional salsa on scrambled. Bananas and peanut butter is delicious -- but with mayo? (Although my mother-in-law likes pb and pickle relish...) This is the first I've heard of ketchup and fried chicken -- and it sounds so WRONG!

When I went to high school, the cafeteria served
peanut butter and applesauce sandwiches with
beef stew......those sandwiches were SO wrong!

Cream cheese and jelly sandwiches

Used to eat peanut butter and (crispy) bacon sandwiches before I gave up meat

I used to spread ripe bananas on toast, after a layer of butter. My mom grew up in Scotland and gave me the idea as a kid. She said she used to eat toast like this too. I eventually gave up the habit....

Mary

This is the best recipe for brownies I have ever found. Apparently it is a recipe from Katharine Hepburn's family. They are usually moist and gooey, especially if you cut the baking time by a couple of minutes. This recipe is almost as easy as pulling out a box from the cupboard. I found it on http://www.epicurious.com:

1. Melt together 1 stick butter and 2 squares unsweetened chocolate and take the saucepan off the heat.

2. Stir in 1 cup sugar, add 2 eggs and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and beat the mixture well.

3. Stir in 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. (In the original recipe, 1 cup chopped walnuts is added here as well.)

4. Bake the brownies in a buttered and floured (I like to dust it with cocoa powder instead) 8-inch-square pan at 325°F for about 40 minutes.

These are seriously the best brownies ever - I get so many compliments every time I make them...mmmm.

Here's another of my faves - I love having alternatives to regular chili in the fall and winter, and this goes wonderfully w/ cornbread. Make sure you add the fresh cilantro at the end (unless you hate it) - it's what makes this recipe in my opinion. It also freezes well in case you make too much...just thaw and rewarm.

White Chicken Chili

1/2 pound dried navy beans, picked over
1 large onion, chopped
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 cups half-and-half
1 teaspoon Tabasco, or to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon white pepper, or to taste
two 4-ounce cans whole mild green chilies, drained and chopped
5 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 2 pounds), cooked and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack (about 6 ounces)
1/2 cup sour cream


Garnish: fresh cilantro sprigs
Accompaniment: tomato salsa

In a large kettle soak beans in cold water to cover by 2 inches overnight. Drain beans in a colander and return to kettle with cold water to cover by 2 inches. Cook beans at a bare simmer until tender, about 1 hour, and drain in colander.

In a skillet cook onion in 2 tablespoons butter over moderate heat until softened.

In a 6- to 8-quart heavy kettle melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter over moderately low heat and whisk in flour. Cook roux, whisking constantly, 3 minutes. Stir in onion and gradually add broth and half-and-half, whisking constantly. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, or until thickened. Stir in Tabasco, chili powder, cumin, salt, and white pepper. Add beans, chilies, chicken, and Monterey Jack and cook mixture over moderately low heat, stirring, 20 minutes. Stir sour cream into chili.

Garnish chili with cilantro and serve with salsa.

Serves 4 to 6.

Purdue - thanks for the recipes! The brownie one sounds so easy to make and it just proves what I've always said - keep your basic baking ingredients on hand and you can whip up almost anything (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder/soda, brown sugar, bakers chocolate/cocoa, butter, etc.). The chili one sounds great. My huband loves spicy foods and this sounds very good to make if you're having company over to watch football games. I'll be printing these two!

Mary

Purdue!!!

Brownie question....is that amount you typed for the flour correct? I made a batch tonight and they were too gooey. I'm thinking this recipe needed more than 1/4 cup of flour......respond if you see this post.

Thanks.

Mary

Oh no!!!! I copied the recipe directly from the site, so yes, it is correct. I haven't had any problem with them being too gooey - last time I made them, they were actually a bit drier than I care for. Ahh...sorry about that. I hate when a recipe goes wrong, especially since I shared it with you. If you trust it enough to make them again, I guess you could bake them a bit longer or add a tiny bit more flour.

On second thought, I've never made them with the chocolate squares. I always use cocoa powder and do the conversion that the box says, by adding some oil. It seems like the added liquid would balance out the floury nature of the powder. Who knows??? Sorry!

Purdue - I'll give it another go sometime. I did use the chocolate squares, but semi-sweet. Wonder if that's it? I meant to buy unsweetened, and picked the wrong box up. I used to bake with baker's cocoa also, doing the conversion. Seems to much easier than melting the chocolate. But now you can melt it in the microwave even, unlike years ago using a double boiler ( a real pain).

Thanks for the reply though - just wanted to make sure I read the recipe correctly!

Mary

With fall finally showing around parts of the US, I've decided it's time to pull out my old favorite fall party drink. Mind you, it's not food, but it works well for parties (Halloween maybe?)

Apple Pie (the drink)

1 gallon of Apple Cider (choose your favorite, I've used brand and store brand labels)
1 gallon of Apple Juice (try to stick with the 100% juice ones...the non-100% juices tend make the drink too sweet)
2 cups of sugar
3-4 cinnamon sticks (not ground cinnamon, but sticks...typically found in the spice sections of the grocery store)
1 - 750ml bottle of Everclear (don't worry....not using all of it)

In a rather large boiler (I have a 15 quart spaghetti boiler pan), combine the apple cider, apple juice, sugar, and the cinnamon sticks.

Bring contents to a boil (going to take a while...depends on the stove). Once it's at a boil, let it hard boil for about 30-60 minutes (the longer you boil it, the more cinnamon flavor you get).

Remove pan from stove and cool (I usually let it sit on the stove for a while, then after the bottle has cooled, I put the top on the pan and let it sit outside on the porch overnight....with fall in the air, it should cool overnight without a problem).

After cooling, taste for flavor. It should taste similar to what you would expect by taking a bite of a slice of apple pie. Now, depending upon how mean you want to make this drink, you can add varying amounts of the Everclear. Just make sure that you chill the drink before adding, otherwise, you will evaporate all the Everclear out of the drink. The recipe calls for half the bottle, but use as you want. The beauty of this recipe is that the Everclear is hidden in the flavor of the apple pie. Of course, make sure to take car keys or advertise that it's not for those below 21 at your party.

Also, even after adding the Everclear, you can SIMMER the drink and warm it up a bit on the stove. This makes it taste more like warm apple pie and adds the smell of cinnamon in the air some more.

Enjoy!

EDIT: Oh, I've also heard, that if you add a pinch of nutmeg to it, it adds some extra flavor to it. Experiementation with the drink is encouraged!

--snoopj

What's Everclear?

therock1811 wrote:What's Everclear?

190 proof grain alcohol. Use sparingly.

However, for non-alcoholic versions of Apple Pie, you can disregard the Everclear. Like I said in the recipe post, the main mixture masks the alcohol.

--snoopj

snoopj wrote:

therock1811 wrote:What's Everclear?

190 proof grain alcohol. Use sparingly.

And INTENSELY flammable, so avoid use near flames.

Alright, there goes the ciggies! LOOK - here comes
Flamey Mamie!

*High Five, snoopj! I think my pals may like
that for the adult's Halloween party!

OK I was j/w. I'm not an alcohol drinker. Give me Mountain Dew anyday!

Ah. It's only 2 cups of sugar in the drink recipe. I just made the change to reflect that. Adding the extra cup makes it a little too sweet.

--snoopj

Thank you everyone for the wonderful recipes! I printed them all and can't wait to try them! I'm a new wife (of 4 months) and am getting tired of making the same 5 things over and over again! haha At this point I don't have much to share, but PLEASE! Keep the recipes coming!

I have a weird food combination to add- grilled cheese sandwiches + grape jelly. After the sandwich is done, spread a layer of grape jelly over the top and enjoy! mmm My dad taught me that one.. I always thought it was disgusting.. UNTIL I tried it!

breeze wrote:Alright, there goes the ciggies! LOOK - here comes
Flamey Mamie!

*High Five, snoopj! I think my pals may like
that for the adult's Halloween party!

we use captain morgans spiced rum in place of the everclear. yummy.