Cooking goodies

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Saturday, December 23, 2006

Chess Pie


Great Chess Pie recipe passed down through the family. Always a favorite!



June's Chess Pie


1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tblsp unsifted cornmeal
1 tblsp vanilla
1 tblsp white vinegar
1 stick margarine (melted)
2 unbaked pie shells

Mix ingredients, pour into two pie shells. Cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Great for dessert or as a gift for a friend !

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Praline Grahams


Graham cracker cookie snack with pralines.


Ruby's Praline Grahams

1 pkg graham crackers (1/3 of 16 oz box)
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar

Separate each graham cracker into 4 sections. Arrange in a 12x17 inch jelly roll pan (cookie pan with sides) with edges touching. Melt butter in a saucepan, stir in sugar and pecans. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Spread mixture over graham crackers. Bake at 300 degrees for 12 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool on wax paper or aluminum foil. Yield: 3 1/2 dozen squares.

Great snack any time!

Cold Oven Pound Cake

Possibly the best pound cake ever made! Recipe passed down from Mom, fine tuned over years of cooking. Excellent home dessert or gift for friend at Christmas or other occasion. Serve as-is or add icing. Especially good when still warm from cooking!


Grandmom's Cold Oven Pound Cake

1/2 lb butter - room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
3 cups sifted flour
1 cup milk
5 eggs - room temperature
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon
1/2 tsp salt

Mix butter, shortening, sugar to creamy consistency. Add 1 egg at a time, beat well after each. Add flour and milk 1/3 at a time - begin and end with flour. Grease bundt pan well, sprinkle with flour. Turn on oven to 350 degrees. Put cake pan in while oven still cool. Do not open oven door for approximately one hour and 15 minutes.

Enjoy! Try it while it's still warm!

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Mongolian Beef



Delicious meal for two or more. Served over rice.





Mongolian Beef

1 lb. flank steak. Remove fat and cut in 3 long strips, slice thin. (Partially freeze to slice very thin)

Marinade:
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 tbs cornstarch
1 tbs peanut oil
3 tbs. peanut oil (to stir-fry meat)

Prepare before cooking:
1 whole scallion, minced
8 whole scallions cut in 2" pieces
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced (or more)
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 tbs. peanut oil

Sauce:
3 tbs soy sauce
4 tbs sherry (Gallo Pale Dry)
1 tbs hoisen sauce
1 tsp sugar
3 tbs water or stock mixed with 1 tsp corn starch
l tsp sesame oil (optional)

Mix marinade in bowl, add beef slices, set aside for 25 minutes or more. Can be left overnight in refrigerator.

Heat wok; add 3 tbs peanut oil. Stir-fry about a half a cup of meat at a time for 2 minutes or until it loses pink color (If too much is cooked at once the wok will cool and the meat won't cook fast enough). Remove meat from wok; set aside.

Heat wok again; add 1 tbs. oil. When hot add minced scallion, ginger and garlic. Stir a few times and add sauce ingredients (except sesame oil). Add the scallion 2" pieces, and mix well. Add beef back to the wok and heat throughly. Add sesame oil and stir throughly, just before removing from heat.

Serve over rice or with rice on the side.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Banana Nut Bread


Quick and easy to fix, always a treat for all! Excellent for home snacking, gift for friend or to serve at a gathering.


Banana Nut Bread

1/2 cup margarine
1 teaspoon soda
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 large or 4 small bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup thoroughly mashed chopped nuts (optional)
2 eggs, well-beaten
2 1/2 cups flour

Mix margarine and sugar to a creamy consistency; add mashed bananas and eggs. Sift dry ingredients and combine with banana mixture. Add nuts and vanilla. Bake in greased loaf pan approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes at 300 degrees.

Let cool, run knife around pan edges to loosen, then invert pan and gently drop loaf onto plate.
Best when still warm but always a treat!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Green Bean Casserole


One of our most popular and easy to fix recipes is for a green bean casserole. It serves 12 or more and the recipe can be halved if needed. It's always a hit for a simple meal or for gatherings and is easy to fix.


Green Bean Casserole

1 can (10 1/2 oz.) cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt (optional)
4 cans (1 pound each) cut green beans, drained
1/4 pound sharp cheddar cheese - shredded
1 cup saltine cracker crumbs
1/2 cup melted butter

Combine mushroom soup, sour cream, salt and garlic salt. Add drained green beans. Turn into large greased casserole pan. Spread shredded cheddar cheese evenly over beans (using pre-shredded packaged cheese saves extra step). Combine cracker crumbs and butter, sprinkle over cheese. Bake in 325 degree oven for 30 minutes.

12 servings - recipe may be halved.

Enjoy!