Tinfoil Chef

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With the holidays upon us, a lot of thoughts turn to assorted desserts and other goodies even more so than during the rest of the year. It’s the time that we’ll spend the most time at our (real or virtual) recipe bookshelves looking for just the right thing for the occasion.

One of the long time favorites is of course, Apple Pie, the only problem with it is that it’s the kind of thing that can easily be a problem for diabetics (or anyone that wants to watch their sugar intake). That’s what makes this diabetic friendly deep dish apple pie such a good item to have in your recipe file.

Combine your favorite sugar substitute equal to 1/3 cup of sugar with a tablespoon of cornstarch, a half teaspoon of grated lemon rind, 2 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and four small apples sliced. Place the mixture in a 9 inch deep dish pie plate on a baking dish and set it aside.

Combine a cup of all purpose flour (sift it first) and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cut in 1/4 cup of butter until mixture resembles cornmeal. Blend in 3 tablespoons of water with a fork until all of the dry ingredients are moistened. Shape the dough into a ball and roll it out on a floured surface and put it on top of the apple filling.

Bake at 425 degrees for 35 minutes or until it’s brown.

Sugar substitute to equal 1/3 c. sugar

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind

2 1/2 tsp. lemon juice

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

4 sm. apples, sliced

1 c. all purpose flour, sifted

1 tsp. salt

1/4 c. reduced calorie margarine

3 tbsp. cold water

Technorati Tags: apple pie recipe, diabetic friendly, apple pie, assorted desserts, deep dish apple pie, recipe, pie apple, sugar intake, sugar substitute, all time favorites

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It’s getting to be that time of year again and soon enough the playoffs and then the Super Bowl will be upon us. This means that it’s time to start making sure that all of your game day recipes are in order and fine tuned so that they come out just right. For example there’s quite a variation on what people like for Chicken Wings.

Some prefer the milder ones, others (such as myself) like ‘em to be hot enough for spicyness but not bad enough to burn and then there’s those who want their wings just as hot as can be, ideally hot enough to cloud up their contact lenses again with every tongue searing bite.

I’ll stick with something that isn’t quite so … dangerous. I like spicy just fine, I prefer it in fact, however I don’t care for things to be so hot that I can’t taste anything else but the burning. (I’d also kinda like it if my stomach lining remained intact as long as possible)

Start out getting the oven preheated to 375 degrees, then take a dozen chicken wings and cook them in boiling water for 10 minutes to remove the fat and set them aside to cool.

Using a mortar and pestle to grind together 5 crumbled bay leaves, 3/4 teaspoon caraway seeds, 1/2 To 3/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin, 3/4 teaspoon Ground coriander, 4 finely minced garlic cloves, 1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard, 2 teaspoons of paprika, 3/4 teaspoon of dried thyme leaves, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt for about 10 minutes.

Add 2 tablespoons of brandy and 2 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice to the ground herb and spice mixture and stir it into a thick paste

Brush both sides of each wing with the herb paste and arrange the chicken wings on a baking sheet. Bake until the skin turns deep brown and is crisp (approximately 30 minutes).

12 chicken wings with the tips removed
5 crumbled bay leaves
3/4 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 To 3/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon Ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon Ground coriander
4 finely minced Garlic cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons of Paprika
3/4 teaspoon of dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of brandy
2 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice

Technorati Tags: cajun chicken wings, recipe, football season, game day snacks, chicken wings, football playoffs

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It’s fast approaching Thanksgiving Day and of course that means it’s time (maybe past time even) to trot out all the holiday recipes and make sure we’ve got all our best stuff ready for the hungry crowds. Of course, the meal ends up being entirely too much for anyone to really have as much of any one thing as they would prefer and if you approach the holiday meals like a wine of the month club or a smorgasboard you’re much better off. That way you can make it a point to have enough of everything to actually try it and enjoy it without actualy having to overstuff yourself.

I first heard of Sweet Potato Pumpkin Pie from a friend of mine who absolutely swore by it. He liked pumpkin pie well enough, but this little gem was by far his favorite.

While the oven is preheating to 350°F, combine a 15oz can of pumpkin pie filling, a 15oz can of candied yams, a half cup of brown sugar, a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, a half teaspoon of salt, a half cup of milk, two tablespoons of melted butter, two large eggs and 3 tablespoons of rum in the bowl of a food processor and process/blend/mix until the mixture is smooth.

Fill a 10-inch pie crust with the mixture annd bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours.

Most recipes I’ve seen for this call for it to be set aside for at least 20 minutes before serving, noting that it’s supposed to be better when chilled, however my friend from years back disagreed. According to him, it was best served warm with cool whip or ice cream on top

1 15 oz. can pumpkin pie filling
1 15 oz. can candied yams
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoon melted butter
2 large eggs
1 refrigerated pie crust
3 tablespoon of rum

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It’s starting to get into the season for fall holiday things and one of the big traditional standbys for this time of year is pumpkin. It starts with pumpkin pie and goes on from there. It’s interesting how many things people make with Pumpkin. Recently my wife discovered a pumpkin cookie recipe that we liked at lot (good thing we liked ‘em too!)

Anyway, this pumpkin nut loaf strikes me as the natural next step from pumpkin cookies.

Mix 2 cups of all-pupose flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon and a half of pumpkin pie spice.

Beat two eggs, 1 1/4 cups pumpkin, a cup of sugar, half a can of evaporated milk (NOT to be confused with sweetened condensed milk! They’re different animals entirely.) and 2 tablespoons of oil in a larger mixer bowl until blended.

Add the flour mixture and a half cup of chopped nuts and mix just until it’s evenly moistened. Pour it into a greased 9 x 5 loaf pan and bake at 350 for about an hour or until it passes the toothpick test then remove it from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes before taking it out and putting it on a wire rack to finish cooling.

Technorati Tags: recipe, pumpkin nut loaf, seasonal food, seasonal favorite, pumpkin recipe, pumpkin bread

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Honestly, I’ve never actually been into things like “tailgating”, A.K.A. Tailgate Parties but it’s that time of year again…. It’s almost time for the Superbowl and it’s also the season of the Bowl Championship Series for college football. Personally I can’t see wanting to spend a lot of time outside in this weather for a game when I can watch it at home on the tube, but there’s plenty that are more than willing to buy the pro or college football tickets, brave the weather and get the tailgate party going in the stadium parking lot when they arrive on game day.

From what I’ve seen on the subject, the key to successful tailgating is making sure that there’s plenty of everything. The idea here is that it’s better to risk having leftovers than to run out of stuff while things are in full swing. For example when making sandwiches ahead of time, make up at least six or seven more than you think you’ll need because there’s always at least one “bottomless pit”.

Whether you spend time watching Food network drumming up ideas from the likes of Emeril lagasse and Bobby Flay, or going with the basic ingredients such as everybody’s favorite types of sandwiches, loading up on different kinds of chips and drinks, potato and macaroni salads.

Then of course there’s the drinks. As much as it can be a tradition to have alcohol at something like this, it’s better to avoid that. The last thing anyone needs is for game day to end up with a DUI or worse yet, dead or injured in a wreck because somebody just had to have one more in the heat of the partying.

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Well, Not really, But it sounds good anyway. I’ve never actually been to San Fransisco, but you can get some good cookies there. With the approach of Christmas season the traditions of holiday goodies returns in full force. The candies, the fruitcakes that people have been joking about forever, and of course, let us never ever forget the Christmas Cookies. In this case I’m talking about cookies because I got an email telling me about a relative newcomer, The San Francisco Cookie Company.

They specialize in Gourmet Cookies. Right now they’ve got five varieties: milk chocolate chip, white chocolate toffee, oatmeal raisin, dark chocolate walnut and peanut butter. It wouldn’t surprise me to see this lineup expanded over time.

These All Natural Cookies are made from ingredients like whole wheat pastry flour, organic butter, rolled oats and organic eggs and Ghirardelli chocolate for cookies that are filled with old time basic quality that has won them the 2006 cookie of the year at the Annual North Beach Cookie Crawl.

I like the Keepsake Gift crate and the “Year of Cookies” is one of those gifts that works for the whole year by delivering a dozen cookies every month. Our shopping is (mostly.. I think) done for this year but there’s plenty of reason for me to keep ‘em bookmarked.

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Sweet potatoes. They’re something that you generally see around thanksgiving and Christmas and usually only in the traditional dishes. While I love the traditional dishes as much as everybody else, I also think that sweet potatoes have a lot more potential. That’s why I was so glad to find a recipe for Scalloped Sweet Potatoes. This easy dish goes from start to serving in just over an hour without a whole bunch of trouble. The “stickiest” part is peeling and slicing the boiled sweet potatoes and that’s really not a big deal at all. It’s well worth it when everyone wants more.

This makes roughly six servings or so as a side dish

6 medium sweet potatoes
2 medium onions
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Start out by putting the un-peeled sweet potatoes in enough water to over and bring it to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low and cover. Simmer until sweet potatoes are just tender enough to stick a fork in them but before they get really soft. Drain them and cool them down until they’re easy to handle. (I put run cold water over them for a couple minutes.)

While the sweet potatoes are boiling, dice onions medium fine (roughly 1/4 inch or so). In a skillet or sauce pan over medium-high heat, in hot olive oil, cook onions and 1/4 teaspoon salt stirring frequently until they’re tender and starting to turn brown.

Grease 13″ by 9″ baking dish (I prefer to use a butter flavor non-stick cooking spray). Preheat oven to 375°F. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into slices 1/4-inch thick. lay out roughly a third of the sweet potatoes, then spread out half of the onions. Put the second third of the sweet potatoes over the onion layer and then add the remaining onions. Finish by topping it with the remaining sweet potatoes.

For the sauce you need:
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups milk (or chicken broth)

Melt the butter over a medium heat. Stir in flour, ginger, pepper, and 1 teaspoon salt until thoroughly blended and cook 1 minute. Then while stirring constantly gradually add the milk (or chicken broth). Stir constantly until the sauce comes to a boil an thickens a little.

Pour sauce over the sweet potatoes and then sprinkle with parsley. Bake this for 30 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and it’s heated all the way through.

Technorati Tags: scalloped+sweet+potatoes, scallop, sweet+potato, onion, roux, side+dish, dinner, holiday

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This dish is one that my wife first introduced me to several years ago. When she first told me about it I’d never heard of it and when she said “Scalloped Corn”, all I could picture was a dish of Scalloped Potatoes that was made with corn instead. Somehow that picture didn’t quite want to work for me at all. Then when she made it and I finally saw the difference. Since then it’s become another Thanksgiving Day favorite.

3 cans whole kernel corn (drained)
3 cans cream style corn
2 tubes crackers (crushed)
1 can evaporated milk

Mix everything to a thick, creamy consistency, pour into a 9×13 pan and bake at 350 F for 30 - 45 min. When it’s done it’ll be starting to turn golden brown on top and a toothpick or knife stuck into the middle of it should come out clean.

At first she made it with a half can of sweetened condensed milk and 1/4 cup of regular milk, and it turned out fairly sweet. Changing to evaporated milk and eliminating the regular milk cut down the sweetness of the taste and let the corn flavor come through better.

Technorati Tags: food, scalloped+corn, evaporated+milk, corn, cream+corn, thanksgiving, dinner

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In our family one of the standards that we have every year is a Green Bean Casserole that my wife makes. It may not sound like one of those super fancy dishes but it’s a good solid favorite at the holiday table. Thanksgiving dinner wouldn’t be the same without it.

Start out by cranking the oven to 350 degrees. Then add all this to a mixing bowl:

5 cans green beans (drained)
1 1/2 cans cream of mushroom soup
A “splash” of milk (about 1/4 cup or so)
2 cans French fried onions

Mix everything until it’s got a creamy consistency. Stir in 1 of the cans of French fried onions and pour it into a 9in(?) casserole dish and bake for about 40 - 50 minutes or so. You can tell it’s done when it’s bubbling around the sides. (It’s easiest to tell if you’re using a casserole made of glass or something else that you can see through.)

When nearly done, add a layer of French fried onions on top and bake uncovered another 5 minutes or until the French fried onions start to brown.

You could use frozen green beans instead of canned, though the cooking time will be longer and you could also add some bacon.

[Edited to fix a time error. Once you add the French fried onions to the top you do NOT want to bake another 30 - 50 minutes!! Unless of course you LIKE Carbon!]

Technorati Tags: holiday dinner, green bean casserole, casserole, french fried onions, recipe, thanksgiving

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