FReeper Weekly Recipe Thread (April 22, 2012)

FreeRepublic Cooks | April 22, 2012 | libertarian27

[libertarian27]

Welcome to the 20th installment of the FReeper Weekly Recipe Thread for 2012.

Looking for something new to make or made something new that came out great? Please share a 'tried-and-true' recipe or two- for fellow FReepers to add to their 'go-to' Recipe Stack of Family Favorites!

Here's the place to share and explore your latest and greatest favorite recipe.

(All 2011 FReeper Recipes are on my profile page as an Online Cookbook Thread Link)

[libertarian27]

Upcoming food holidays:

National Jelly Bean Day April 22

National Cherry Cheesecake Day ~ National Picnic Day April 23

National Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day April 24

National Zucchini Bread Day April 25

National Pretzel Day April 26

National Prime Rib Day April 27

National Blueberry Pie Day April 28

[libertarian27]

Weekly Recipe Thread Ping List
(to be added/deleted - please contact me)

Last week’s recipes:

Appetizer _ Post#` 38 _ Lox & Cream Cheese Roll-Ups

Beef _ Post#` 3 _ Shepherds Pie

Bread _ Post#` 12 _ Hawaiian Sweet Breads

Pasta _ Post#` 35 _ Pumkin Ravioli with Caramel Whipped Cream

Sauce _ Post#` 37 _ Greatest Spaghetti Sauce

Salad _ Post#` 8 _ Greek Salad
Salad _ Post#` 10 _ Turkish Salad
Salad _ Post#` 16 _ Dr. Furman’s Salad
Salad _ Post#` 26 _ Avocado Salad
Salad _ Post#` 29 _ Tomato, Avocado & Feta Salad
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2871966/posts?page=46#46

(sorry I was late this week~again~busier than normal racing season - should be good for the next few weeks:>)

[kalee]

Rainy cool day here. We’re eating leftovers to clean out the fridge. ;)
Tomorrow it’s spatchcock chicken with asparagus and potato salad.

[JRandomFreeper]

I regularly make an orange and jalapeno preserve. Very simple. Thinly sliced oranges with peel, juice from fresh orange, orange zest, sugar, water, touch of salt. Bring to a boil. Near the end, I add jalapenos canned from last year's harvest.

Reduce to a thick syrup, process if required in a food processor. Adjust the heat with the jalpeno juice as required.

I made a roasted chicken thigh (bone out) using the perserve and butter, salt and pepper and it was amazingly good. I basted it regularly with the juices.

/johnny

[kalee]

Sounds delicious, wonder if you could do it with pineapple?

[JRandomFreeper]

I wouldn't, personally. I can get cheap, ugly looking south Texas oranges for very cheap. And I've been in love with the orange and jalapeno since I figured out the recipe in culinary school.

But you should try it with pineapple. Everyone is different.

Sweet, citrus, and piquant with the flowery overtones of the orange is what I was looking for.

Let me know if you try it.

Watch out for the enzymes in the pinapple if using it for a marinade or glaze. Pinapple can make meat mushy.

/johnny

[kalee]

I like pineapple salsa, so I may try it. I know about the pineapple effect, I used to be a caterer.

[Tanniker Smith]

National Jelly Bean Day April 22

Great! I have some left over from Easter that need to be finished!

[Cowgirl of Justice]

I made ‘Cowboy Candy’ with jalapenos. They taste like sweet gherkins jalapenos and are incredible in deviled eggs.

Not sure if this is the same recipe I used but awfully close and looks the same in the pictures. I used red and green jalapenos and they are beautiful.

[Cowgirl of Justice]

Oops!!

Here is the link!!!

http://www.texascowboycandy.com/recipes_8.html

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

I was tired and lazy yesterday, but still wanted a decent meal. Sliced a loin pork chop up into matchsticks, marinated for a short while in Shao Hsing wine and corn starch. Tossed the pork in the wok, and roll-cut some nice asparagus. When the pork colored, removed it from the wok, and tossed in the asparagus. Stirred it for a while, then added a small amount of water, and covered the wok. Stirring occasionally. While the asparagus was still very crisp, added the pork and some store-bought Black Bean and Garlic Sauce. About two teaspoons worth. It was delicious. About 15 minutes total prep/cook time.

[Daffynition]

Let no jelly bean go unremembered...

[Gabz]

Good to see you whenever!

Got a pot roast in the crock pot - got talked out of adding potatoes by the small person. she want peirogies with it - go figger!

Spent the morning at church helping cook 100 pounds of sausage for the semi annual pancake supper (which is going on now.)

[MissMagnolia]

I am posting this recipe in memory of someone who has been “in my life” as long as I can remember. When I was little, she was one of my Sunday school teachers ….. the only one I remember rather vividly because she required us to memorize Bible verses. I went to HS with her son, and she’s someone I enjoyed seeing at church and the local hospital where she worked the reception desk ….. you could always count on her for a cheerful greeting. She was a tiny mite of a woman physically, but her energy & enthusiasm were boundless and she had many, many friends from all the volunteer work she did. She and her husband did everything together. She commented once that he was ‘stuck to her like velcro’ and from the way they were with each other, it was no mystery why they were happily married for 61 years.

People tend to acquire ‘signature’ dishes, something you can always expect them to bring to a family gathering, a potluck or church circle meeting. Her signature contribution was rum cake - she was famous for them and she always had a couple in the freezer that she could pull out on short notice. It’s nothing fancy and easy to make …. we know because she shared her recipe in the church cook book. This wonderful lady died the day before Easter - I found out at the Easter breakfast at church and it made the day all the more meaningful to know that she was rejoicing with the angels in Heaven.

RUM CAKE

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pecans, chopped small
1 pkg. Duncan Hines Golden Yellow Butter cake mix
1 small package Vanilla Instant Pudding
1/2 cup rum (Jamaican is best)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs

Directions:

Sprinkle pecans in bottom of small greased & floured tube pan (or 4-5 small loaf pans)
Put cake & pudding mix into large mixing bowl.
Add rum, water and oil, mix well.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.
Pour batter over nuts in the pan.
Bake at 325° for an hour (or more) until done.
Cool in pan for 20 minutes.
Turn onto plate and top with glaze.

Glaze:

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 T. rum
2 T. water

Stir together butter, sugar, rum and water & simmer for 3 minutes.

[Chipper]

Mmmmmmmm Rum Cake.

Made leg of lamb today. 6.5 leg of lamb, spray olive oil over top, rub on oregano, rosemary, garlic and salt. 400 degrees for 30 minutes, and then around an hour at 350 or until 145 degree internal temp. Nice and juicy. Can’t do much better when it is on sale for $3.99/lb.

[pops88]

That sounds good and I have everything except asparagus, but I do have a lot of veggies to be stir fried this week. I’ll give this a try.

I’m a soup lover and my favorite when living in N.Z. was pumpkin soup. I found a pumpkin similar to the ones in N.Z. in an Asian market so I made some soup yesterday. Our pumpkin will work, but the flavor is slightly different. I found this recipe that looked good, and it indeed was very good:

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients
Serves: 4

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 butternut pumpkin, peeled and cubed
1 carrot, peeled and cubed
1 potato, peeled and cubed
2 cups chicken stock, heated
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon thyme
½ tablespoon crushed black peppercorns
sour cream to garnish

Preparation method
Prep: 15 minutes |Cook: 40 minutes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place all vegetables, garlic and onion in a medium sized baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with thyme and roast till tender, about 30-40 minutes.

2. In batches, blend roasted vegetables, chicken stock and pepper. Add additional stock as needed to reach desired consistency. Stir all batches of blended soup together in a bowl and serve immediately topped with a tablespoon of sour cream.

My note: I used larger pieces of pumpkin and removed the skin after roasting (much easier). I used a full carton of chicken stock (32 oz) because I had so much squash. I also used my food processor while the soup was still quite thick and added the bulk of the stock after returning the soup to the pot. I omitted the potato and sour cream, and added a cup of cream. This recipe is a keeper for me.

[Gabz]

That is SOOOOOOOOOO swiped!!!!!!!

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Oh my! That sounds delicious! But I was burnt out yesterday, and wanted something good,,,, but very, very easy. I usually make my Black Bean Garlic Sauce from scratch,,, but just wasn’t up to it.
You know,,, I hated asparagus, and avoided it for 40 years. My Mom used to boil it until it was grey and mooshy, then pour cream sauce over it. I HATED it! Then I started going with a Chinese gal. She bought some, and I thought, “Oh! I’m going to have to eat this, to not offend her.” Now I consider it a real treat! Cooked crisp, it’s wonderful!

[Daffynition]

Enjoy.

“You can tell a lot about a fella’s character by whether he picks out all of one color or just grabs a handful.” -explaining why RR liked to have a jar of jelly beans on hand for important meetings

[ZirconEncrustedTweezers]

Racing season, eh? What sort of racing?

I volunteer with SCCA as a corner worker, so I’m pretty busy myself this time of year. That said, I had most of April off.

So anyway, I finally have something to contribute to the recipe thread! I can’t take credit for this, as I found it in one of my cookbooks. We had a pork loin roast thawing out for dinner and I was looking for something different to do with it. I often butterfly a loin roast and spread it with a paste of garlic and rosemary; it’s one of my favorite dishes to serve company and it’s a hit every time, but I was in the mood for something else. I stumbled on this wet rub recipe in one of my Barbecue Bible books:

Tex-Mex Tequila Jalapeno Wet Rub

Ingredients:

1 bunch fresh cilantro, washed and stemmed (about 1 cup loosely packed)
4 to 6 jalapenos, seeded and coarsely chopped
1/2 small onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons tequila
1 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Combine the cilantro, jalapenos, onion and garlic in a food processor and finely chop. Gradually add the remaining ingredients and puree to a paste. The rub tastes best used withing 2 hours of making. It’s so quick, there’s no reason to make it ahead.

Smear this paste on pork loins and tenderloins, sirloin or beef tenderloin tips, or chicken. Marinate covered in the fridge for 2 hours, then grill.