Game Hen with Pineapple Glaze

My husband loves cornish game hens. As a child his grandmother would make him his own special hen for thanksgiving while the rest of the family ate turkey. I have to admit that I don't do this for my husband but I do try to make him a hen once in a while and this is my favorite recipe for the glaze.

1. Roast Hens at 350 breast side up
2. Brush with butter then salt pepper
3. Bake uncovered, baste with glaze

glaze ingredients

• 8oz can crushed pineapple
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 tbls dijon mustard
• 1 tbls soy sauce
• fresh chopped parsley (optional to garnish hens)

1. combine ingredients in medium sauce pan
2. scrape hen drippings into sauce 
3. bring to boil 
4. reduce and simmer

mascarpone & apricots a perfect pair

We just picked all the apricots off our tree and now have an abundance of perfectly ripe apricots. It's always a game as to who will get the apricots first. The birds are waiting for them to be just right and so am I  . . . so is the dog by the way. At least she waits for them to fall. Those bad-mannered birds peck at one a little then move on to the next. I've learned to pick them just before they are perfect then let them ripen in the house. We've eaten all the fresh cold apricots we can, given away a bunch and they are now at the point where they have to be eaten and I can't bear to see these gems go bad so I made jam last night. I simply cooked down a pot of apricots with fresh squeezed lemons from our tree and added sugar. Hot apricot jam is almost as good as the pairing below.

• apricots halved
• mascarpone
• walnuts - oven roasted with honey and kosher salt
• honey
• basil
• balsalmic - reduced to a syrup

1. bake the apricots at 350 until juicy but not mushy
2. fill with a dollop of mascarpone - let cool enough that the mascarpone doesn't melt
3. top with roasted walnut
4. drizzle balsalmic reduction 
5. top with fresh basil chiffonade

campfire cobbler

Alivia is at girlscout daycamp this week. Yesterday the girls made their own lunch which included a peach cobbler cooked over the fire. Alivia has agreed to make this for our family camping trip. Here's the easy recipe if you want to try it out for your own camping trip.

girl scout campfire cobbler

• canned peaches
• cinamon sugar
• bisquick 
• milk
• butter

1. make bisquick batter with milk then set aside
2. Sprinkle the bottom of your pan with cinamon sugar                                                             (according to my daughter as much as you like)
3. lay peaches on top
4. spoon batter over peaches
5. place a few butter cubes on top of the batter
6. cook over the fire

The girls made homemade vanilla ice-cream to top their cobblers!

Sue's Crock pot Chili Chicken Tortilla

         yumminess in a pot. Thank you Sue.

• package of fresh corn tortillas (i use them whole or you can tear....)
• can cream of chicken soup
• can of mild chopped chilis 
• cooked chicken 
• 2C shredded cheese
• 1 cup of milk

Then start layering the ingredients in your crockpot....I try to end with tortillas/cheese on top.

Pour milk over top

cook on low for about 2 hours....

If you want to do in the oven....just bake in a casserole dish for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees just till everything is hot 

mango salsa

A sweet and savory recipe from my mom.

• mango
• avocado
• can rinsed black beans
• cilantro diced
• red onion diced
• olive oil
• apple cider vinegar
• salt/pepper
• a little onion powder

breakfast for the whole family

I got this recipe from a friend who got it from a friend and so on. It has been modified and modified some more, I'm sure. What I love about this type of cooking: it's not exact, make it to your liking. To me the proportions I am recommending make for a sausage bread pudding with perfect texture. My family all agrees that this will be breakfast at our next camping trip.

• 1 pkg mild Italian sausage
• loaf of sliced sourdough bread
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 5 jumbo eggs
• 2 cups milk
• salt pepper

the night before…

• spray 9" x 13" baking dish with nonstick cooking spray
• lightly butter bread and cut into cubes, place in dish
• Cook sausage and drain
• Arrange sausage over bread cubes
• Sprinkle cheese
• Beat eggs and milk, salt pepper to taste
• pour over sausage, cheese and bread
• Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight

in the morning…

• Bake uncovered at 350 for 35-45 minutes

Capirotada

My daughter's friend came over this morning telling us about the most delicious breakfast she had. I found this recipe at muy bueno cookbook. I like this version of the recipe because she explains the significance to lent too.

Capirotada (Mexican Bread Pudding)

by muybuenocookbook on March 8, 2011

Today is Ash Wednesday, and so begins Lent. Lent is the 40-day (excluding Sundays) season that precedes Easter. On Ash Wednesday and all Fridays throughout Lent, most people fast and abstain from eating meat.

The most popular food we eat during Lent is capirotada. Capirotada is a Mexican bread pudding made with cinnamon, piloncillo, cloves, raisins, bread, and cheese. I can smell and taste the sweet warm melted cheese as I type this. Yes, you read it right…cheese. The combination of these ingredients is sure to awaken your taste buds.

While working in our family’s neighborhood grocery store (Soza’s Grocery) friends and neighbors would share their capirotada dish. I remember some were quite interesting with the addition of peanuts, coconut, bananas, and sprinkles. I politely tried their recipe as they stood there waiting for my reaction. I couldn’t possibly tell them I didn’t like it, besides that, my mother would have killed me if I uttered an unkind word to one of our neighbors or customers. Instead I just stood there and thanked them. We are such creatures of habit, and any capirotada that didn’t taste like our recipe just didn’t cut it for me.

Both my mom and grandma used the most basic of ingredients to make this old world and traditional dish.

Many Mexican and Mexican-American families view this dish as a reminder of the suffering of Christ on the cross. The ingredients in this recipe carry a rich and symbolic representation. The bread is for the Body of Christ, the syrup is his blood, the cloves are the nails on the cross, the cinnamon sticks symbolize the wooden cross, and the melted cheese stands for the Holy Shroud.

This is our heavenly family recipe. Try very hard not to eat the entire dish of capirotada at one sitting. Sabroso!

Makes: 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

4 bolillo rolls or French rolls

4 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 piloncillo cones (Mexican brown sugar)

4 cinnamon sticks

6 whole cloves

3 cups cheese (Longhorn Cheddar or Colby), shredded

1 cup raisins

4 tablespoons butter or spay butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut rolls in ½ inch slices and butter both sides, layer on a baking sheet and bake for 3 minutes on each side, until lightly toasted and dry. Remove and cool.

Combine water, piloncillo, cinnamon sticks, and cloves in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, creating a syrup. Simmer syrup uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep, covered for 2 hours. Pour through a strainer and discard cinnamon sticks and cloves. Set syrup aside.

Spray 8 x 10 ½” baking dish with non-stick spray, layer ingredients in the following order: a third of the toasted bread, third of the raisins, third of the cheese, and 1 1/2 cups syrup evenly over cheese. Wait 15 minutes and layer another third of the bread, raisins, cheese, and 1 1/2 cups syrup evenly over cheese. Let soak for another 15 minutes, and again top with the remaining bread, raisins, cheese, and syrup evenly over bread. Before baking let set for another 15 minutes.

Cover the dish with aluminum foil that has been sprayed with nonstick spray and bake 40 minutes, uncover and bake until cheese is golden brown about 10 to 15 minutes more. Serve warm.

Photography by Jeanine Thurston

cousin Kerry : Turkey Burgers

No one will ever know how simple and healthy these burgers are. They look just like a burger and taste great!


Just mix ground turkey with butternut squash and cook on frying pan.


TIP: Use more ground turkey than butternut squash or they will be soggy.

TIP: Add a little worcester for  "real meat" flavor

Cousin Kerry : Tex Mex Chili

two for one: I saved a little ground turkey on the side to make turkey burgers for the kids dinner that night. My daughter really like this chili though. She topped hers with yogurt and fresh salsa (diced tomato, onion, cilantro)

• onion/garlic clove diced
• mushroom diced
• ground turkey
• red wine
• large can crushed tomatoes
• tomato sauce
• anaheim chili pepper roasted then diced
• large can of hominy (about 1/3 can)
• can of beans (pinto, kidney, black) only 1/4 of each 

TIP: freeze the rest of the beans and hominy for next time

• spices: garlic salt, black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, bay leaf

1. sauteé onions and mushrooms in olive oil
2. season ground turkey with spices then add
3. deglaze with red wine (or beer)
4. add crushed tomatoes, peppers, hominy, beans, tomato sauce and bay leaf
5. simmer.

navy beans with polenta

What to do with those thanksgiving leftovers! I made navy beans with the ham.

• ham hock with meat on
• navy beans 

1. brown the ham hock then stick it in with the navy beans while slow cooking. The meat will fall off the bone. 
2. a couple hours later when cooked, cut the ham off the bone and discard the bone
3. serve topped with a dollop of plain yogurt and a piece of polenta

cauliflower mash-potato

If your kids like mash-potatoes, these are a great way to sneak in the veggies.

• cauliflower
• potato
• butter, salt pepper
• milk or half-half

1. boil potatoes and cauliflower
2. pour out boiling water
3. when potatoes and cauliflower are dry, mash
4. add a little butter, milk, salt and pepper
5. stir lightly to mix ingredients

eggplant parmesan pizza

Most kids love pizza so sneak the veggies in.

• eggplant thinly sliced rounds to about 1/4" thick
• english muffin
• pizza sauce (I just use my marinara sauce and add a little tomato paste to make it thicker)
• ricotta
• shredded mozzarella or pizza cheese

-tip- cut the dark purple skin off the eggplant rounds. Kids don't want to see that!

1. cook the eggplant in a little olive oil

2. toast the muffins so they are nice and crunchy

3. layer muffin with sauce, ricotta, eggplant, then sprinkle cheese

4. place in oven to melt cheese

easy marinara

This marinara is easy and quick to make, AND delicious.

• 1 can crushed tomatoes


• a little tomato paste


• olive oil


• onion and garlic puree in processor


• sausage (optional)


• red wine (optional)


• fresh basil, oregano, bay leaf chopped

1. heat a generous amount of olive oil

2. when olive oil is nice and hot add sausage, onion and garlic. Sauté

3. pour in a little red wine

4. When sausage has a nice brown to it, pour in the crushed tomatoes and add a little tomato paste

5. stir constantly and  add chopped herbs

let sit for a little while for flavors to mix together.

-tip- you can make this with just olive oil, tomatoes and basil. The key is to use a generous portion of olive oil and make sure it is really hot when you pour in the tomatoes

Uncle Bob's Salsa

My dad use to make this super addictive salsa. It's not too spicy so it's really easy to eat half a bag of chips with it. His chili kili tastes the best with this salsa recipe.

• 2 cans peeled tomatoes put in food processor or use crushed tomatoes


• 4-5 chopped garlic cloves


• 2 chopped onions


• 3-4 yellow wax chilies chopped


• olive oil


• garlic salt, chopped parsley and cilantro, lemon zest

1. sauté chopped garlic, onion and chillies

2. add about 1-3/4 cans of crushed tomatoes

3. add spices to liking

-tip- the lemon zest is mostly used so that the salsa will not turn brown

4. simmer for about an hour

 

uncle bob's chili kili

My dad use to make this for a fun dinner when I was  a kid and it was my favorite. I always thought he made it up until I saw it on the menu at a little taquerilla. These hot, crunchy, spicy and cheesy chips are a perfect football day food.

• salsa (for best results use my dad's salsa recipe)
• corn tortillas cut into chip size triangles
• parmesan cheese

1. put salsa in mixing bowl and set aside.

2. fry corn tortillas in oil then quickly stir the hot tortillas into the salsa and pour plenty of parmesan cheese while mixing it all together. Serve hot. muy delicioso!

roasted sweet potato side dish

This side dish is so delicious and goes good with a nice steak or by itself.

• white sweet potatoes (not yams)


• shallots

cube the sweet potato and thinly slice the shallots coat in olive oil, salt, pepper then roast in 425˚ oven. It's ready to eat when golden.

dessert

I just want to talk about dessert for a second because my kids always want to know "what's for dessert?" Dessert can be healthy so I usually offer delicious fruit that's in season or a sweet with a nice tall glass of cold milk.

Easy and somewhat healthy desserts:

• diced strawberries topped with a drizzle of chocolate


• hot milk sweetened with a teaspoon of honey


• a bowl of pomegranate seeds in the shell is a fun dessert for the kids (just put an apron on them)


• sliced granny smith apples with caramel dipping sauce


• multigrain waffle  topped with fresh berries and a drizzle of real maple syrup


• plain yogurt topped with honey and toasted almonds


• cracker topped with mascarpone cheese, honey and strawberry


• DIY orange juice pops pour half oj put a dollop of frozen vanilla yogurt then finish with more oj (yummy creamsicles)


• banana smoothy - just banana and milk whipped up with a little ice so it's really cold, sometimes I put a little chocolate

eggplant parmesan casserole

I love eggplant parmesan but it is too fussy for a busy mommy of 3.

what you'll need:

• eggplant sliced 1/4" thick


• zucchini (optional) sliced 1/4" thick


• mascarpone (Italian cream cheese)


• fresh parmesan


• shredded mozzarella


• can of crushed tomatoes


• fresh basil chiffonade


• panko bread crumbs

1. coat casserole dish with olive oil

2. layer of sliced eggplant

3. top with crushed tomatoes

4. place dollops of mascarpone all around (this makes the sauce rich and creamy)

5. sprinkle basil all around

6. a layer of zucchini

7. tomato, mascarpone, basil

8. a sprinkle of parmesan and mozzarella

9. top the casserole with plenty of panko

10 bake at 375

This is one delicious vegetarian meal!

 

Pancake chicken nuggets

Going to the grocery store with the 3 kids is not happening. So if I can't get to the grocery store, I just have to make due with whatever is in the house. This day it was frozen chicken strips and pancake batter.

• pancake batter


• frozen chicken strips

I cut the strips into nuggets size pieces dipped them in pancake batter and fried them.

maple syrup mustard dipping sauce

• real maple syrup


• mustard


• mayo


• cream cheese

mix and serve with the pancake chicken nuggets.

Pesto Pasta

My kids love Uncle Ken's family recipe for pesto pasta. It is really quite simple. Of course that's exactly what most kids prefer. Simple Food. I have several Basil plants in my yard which I am regularly snipping away at.

What you need:

• Fresh basil


• Fresh parm cheese


• Pine nuts (optional)


• Olive oil


• Salt

Blend all of the above to taste using plenty of EVOO

My kids like the "round and round" rotelli rainbow pasta but stir the pesto sauce into any cooked pasta you like, finally of course top with fresh ("sprinkles") Parmesean cheese

-Tip- Pesto pasta is a little plain for me so for the adults, I add fresh tomatoes, olives, or marinated artichokes and chicken

-Tip- this pesto sauce freezes well.

-BONUS TIPS-I marinate chicken in it then bake OR for a delicious marinera with lots of flavor, I pour the pesto into a can of boiling hot crushed tomatoes.