Cooking with KP: February 2016

Ham and Potato Casserole

Need a quick dinner? Here is an excellent and delicious casserole. It would be great after a holiday dinner when you served a baked ham because it uses diced ham. You could also substitute 1 pound of browned ground beef, browned sausage or 2 cans of drained tuna fish for different versions of this casserole.

2 boxes of Betty Crocker Three Cheese Potatoes
4 cups boiling water
4 Tablespoons butter for potatoes
1 1/3 cup whole milk
2 cups of diced ham
4 diced green onions
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
3 Tablespoons melted butter for topping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Empty cheese mixture/sauce mix into a 4 quart casserole dish, add butter, boiling water, milk, and butter. Using a whisk, mix well until all cheese powder is dissolved. Add dried potatoes, green onions and diced ham. Mix well. Place in oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until potatoes are done and casserole is cheesy and bubbly. In a small bowl, mix melted butter, bread crumbs, and Parmesan cheese. Remove casserole from oven and sprinkle topping mixture on top and return to oven for 5-8 minutes until topping is golden.

Fiesta Chicken Crescents

I saw a recipe for chicken crescent roll-ups online and decided to make a version with a bit of kick to it.

2 cans of crescent rolls, divided into 8 total pieces each (two triangles per piece)
3 cups of diced cooked chicken
3/4 cup of mayonnaise
2 cups of Mexican blend shredded cheese
3 Tablespoons of Parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon creole mustard

1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 can green chilies (I used mild, but feel free to use spicy/hot if you prefer)

Mix chicken, cheeses, mustard, mayo, garlic powder, pepper and green chilies in bowl. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Lay out two crescent triangles still attached and pinch the seam more. Spread chicken mixture on top and roll. Place seam down on sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 22-28 minutes until rolls are golden brown. Top with a spoon of salsa or sour cream or both!

Kay's Italian Herbs and Lemon Crockpot Roasted Chicken

Here is a terrific way to roast a chicken in the crockpot. It will be very moist when cooked and you might want to remove it from the crockpot and broil for 5 minutes to crisp up the skin, but I rarely do this.

1 whole chicken, washed and giblets removed
1-2 lemons, sliced in rounds
2 onions, quartered
2 buds of garlic, slightly smashed
2 bay leaves
2 Tablespoons butter, diced into squares
1 tsp. seasoned salt
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. paprika
2 Tablespoons. Italian seasoning blend (thyme, rosemary, oregano, and basil)
2 Tablespoons dried parsley

I use liners in my crockpot, but if you don't have them, lightly spray with cooking spray or coat bottom and sides with a little olive oil. Place 4 of the onion quarters, the two buds of garlic, two bay leaves, diced butter, and three/four slices of lemon in the bottom of the crockpot. Mix the seasoned salt, garlic powder, black pepper, paprika, and Italian seasoning blend in a small bowl. Rub seasonings on chicken, making sure to sprinkle a little inside and between legs and wings. Place chicken in crockpot and place the other onion quarters and lemon slices around and on top. Sprinkle on parsley. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

I use 2 lemons because we like lemon chicken, but you may want to start with just 1, especially if you have a large lemon.

Cheeseburger Dip

½ lb. ground beef

1 cup chopped onion

16 oz. cream cheese, softened

½ cup mayo

¼ cup ketchup

4-5 slices bacon

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon paprika

½ tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook, drain and chop bacon and set aside. Brown ground beef in skillet with chopped onion. Drain fat and set aside. In a bowl, mix cream cheese, mayo, ketchup, cheddar cheese, paprika and Worcestershire sauce until well blended. Add ground beef mixture and bacon and mix well. Pour into baking dish and bake 20-25 minutes until bubbly hot. Serve with sturdy chips or potato wedges/logs. YUMMY!

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Cheaper Cuts of Beef Don't Have To Be Tough

Most people avoid the cheaper cuts of beef because they tend to be tough. With 8 children and three adults in our home, my mother had to find ways to tenderize the cheaper cuts of beef. One way to cook "down", as my mother used to say, a tough cut of beef steak is to season both sides of the steak with garlic powder, seasoned salt and pepper. Lightly brown the steak in a large skillet and on top add a diced green bell pepper, medium onion, a bay leaf, parsley flakes, a few dashes of Worchestershire sauce, and a can of diced tomatoes. Cover with lid. Let the steak simmer for 30-50 minutes. Remove lid and thicken juices by cooking 5-10 more minutes. You can also do the same with a cheap beef roast in a crock pot. Add all the ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. The flavor is simple, amazing and great with mashed potatoes.

Fall Vegetables for a Healthy You

As the fall approaches, we will all start to stay indoors more hours. This will lessen our vitamins, such as vitamin A, D, and K, which are enhanced by sunlight. Below are a few vegetables you might want to increase in your diet as the fall and later winter days approach. Besides, they are very tasty. In fact, in the next few weeks, I will be posting recipes that incorporate many of these delicious veggies.

Sweet potatoes and yams are very rich in carotenoids, vitamins A, B6, C, potassium, iron and fiber and are delicious when baked and eaten plain (without butter) or used in soups, casseroles or stir-fries.

Bell peppers are great sources of potassium, manganese, fiber and vitamins A, B, C and K. These sweet peppers are flavorful additions to salads and healthy stir-fries. You can choose from a rainbow of colors, including: green peppers,yellow peppers, orange peppers,and red peppers.

Summer and winter squash are rich in carotenoids, vitamins A and C, potassium, magnesium and fiber and can be served alone or added to many dishes.

Just a few tips for you...

Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato- based sauces. No more stains!

Use lifesavers candy to hold candles in place on your next birthday cake! Kids love them.

Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugarcone to prevent ice cream drips!

Zap garlic cloves in the microwave for 15 seconds and the skins slip right off!

If your celery begins to wilt in the fridge, fill a large cup half full of water and place celery in the cup. Put back in the fridge for two hours--it will be crisp. (Learned this from my mother).

Cooking Myth Busted

A Potato Can Save a Salty Soup or Stew. True or False? False. "This is an attractive idea, but it doesn't work because potatoes are not particularly absorbent," says Wolke, who conducted his own soup-and-potato experiment for his Cooking Myth Busters book. "There is no reason they would attract salt." If you remove the raw potato from the soup, the potato will taste salty, but so would a sponge — it has simply soaked up some of the salty liquid. Still, there is hope for salty stews: Adding a bit of vinegar or sugar can "cancel out" the saltiness by giving your taste buds competing flavors.

Super Moist Turkey

If you are looking for a way to get a moist turkey, you might try one of these family hints:

1--bake the turkey upside down--breast down for the first half of the cooking time. It will help the darker meat cook more thoroughly and the fatty juices of the darker meat will drip down to the breast and add moistness. Use a deep roasting pan for this.

2--bake the turkey with the breast up, but rub it with butter, garlic powder and pepper only. Do not salt the skin. Instead, mix salt in a cup of warm water and pour that cup of salted warm-not hot-water inside the cavity of the turkey. The salt water will steam up into the turkey, making it very moist.

3. bake the turkey with the breast up and slice two lemons and one orange in halves. Place the halves inside the seasoned turkey and the juices will steam into the meat, adding moisture and flavor.

Hint of the Week

Here is something I learned from my wonderful Mother, the greatest cook I have ever known. When you have just a small serving of cooked vegetables leftover from dinner, don't throw them away. Keep a large plastic container in the freezer and put the vegetables in the container. Mix them--carrots, corn, green beans, broccoli, etc. When the container is full make a pot of soup or stew. Also, if a recipe calls for 1/2 a chopped onion, chop the whole onion and add the half to the freezer container. My mother made the best vegetable soups from this idea.

Hint for the Week

With Fourth of July quickly approaching, you might be thinking of making Deviled Eggs. If you want perfectly boiled eggs, place eggs in a large pot and completely cover with cold water. Do not layer eggs on top of one another. Bring water to a rapid boil for 2 minutes, reduce to simmer and let eggs simmer 8 minutes, return to boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and empty hot water and fill pot with cold water. Let sit for 5 minutes. To peel easily, slightly crush shell in your fist and roll on counter with a firm grip. Of course, you don't want to push through the egg, but by making the shell crack in many small pieces, it is easier to peel. My father saw this on a cooking show years ago and taught me this. It truly works.