Cooking with KP: September 2019

Honey Bun Cake

This is definitely not my recipe. It is on the internet, in many cookbooks, and has been posted in our local newspaper. I don't know who created it, but I know it is delicious. It is wonderful warm from the oven with a cup of hot tea or coffee. It is a great brunch dessert. Try it; I promise you will enjoy it.

1 (15.25-ounce) package yellow cake mix

4 large eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sour cream

1 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, stir together dry cake mix, eggs, vegetable oil, and sour cream until smooth.

Pour half of cake batter into prepared pan and smooth it out.

Stir together brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Sprinkle evenly on top of cake batter.

Cover with remaining cake batter, spreading it evenly. Run a knife in a swirling pattern through the cake batter.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Pour over hot cake. Let cake cool 20 minutes before cutting.

If your icing seems too thick, add 1 Tablespoon of milk at a time until it is pour-able but not too thin. You want it thick to make a nice glaze.

Tangy Crockpot Country Ribs

I have always been a fan of cooking in the crockpot. It is perfect way to have dinner ready when you come home from work or are busy cleaning the house. I discovered a recipe very similar to this one on Betty Crocker and made a few adjustments to our liking. We like to make it when it is too hot to heat the oven or too cold to grill ribs. Hope you like it.

3 lb country-style boneless pork ribs

1 medium onion, chopped

½ cup packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 ½ cup ketchup

¾ cup chili sauce

½ cup cider vinegar

3 Tablespoons spicy brown mustard

3 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 Tablespoon liquid smoke

Spray crockpot with cooking spray or use a liner for easy clean-up. Place half the chopped onion in the bottom of the crockpot. Put ribs on top of onions. In a mixing bowl, mix all other ingredients including the remaining onions. Pour sauce on top. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. If your sauce is too watery when you are ready to serve the ribs, remove them from the crockpot. Pour up some of the sauce and put in a sauce pot, bring to a boil on the stove top and let it reduce for about 5-10 minutes and pour over ribs.

Big Momma's Red Tater Casserole

There are lots of loaded potato casseroles recipes around, and I guess you could call this one, too. I created it one night when I need to use up some red potatoes. My family enjoys it. It is a tasty side dish.

8-10 red potatoes

1 can cream of chicken soup, undiluted

½ medium onion, diced

½ small red or green

bell pepper, diced

5 strips bacon, fried and crumbled

½ cup shredded Colby Jack cheese

3 Tablespoon sour cream

2 green onions, diced

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon pepper

¼ cup shredded Colby Jack cheese for topping

Wash red potatoes. Don’t peel. Slice into rounds. I usually get 4 cuts/slices per potato. Place potatoes in pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and boil 6 minutes. They should not be completely done. Drain in colander and allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

While potatoes are cooling, fry bacon. Drain and crumble.

In a mixing bowl, combine soup, onion, bell pepper, sour cream, ½ cup Colby Jack cheese, garlic powder, pepper, and half the green onions. Mix well. Add drained potatoes and gently fold them into mixture, making sure you don’t break or mash the slices.

Spray a casserole dish and pour in potato mixture. Sprinkle ¼ cup of Colby Jack cheese on top. Top cheese with bacon crumbles and remaining green onions.

Bake for 20-30 minutes. Sides should be bubbly and top cheese melted and slightly browned.

Strawberry Cheesecake Fluff

This Strawberry Cheesecake Fluff is a deliciously easy summertime dessert. It is perfect for potlucks, summertime BBQ’s, and parties, especially baby showers. It can be prepared together quickly and left to chill in the fridge while other dishes are being prepared.

1 lb. fresh strawberries; hulled and quartered

1 box instant cheesecake pudding mix

2/3 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

1 cup mini marshmallows

2 T sugar

1 8 oz. Cool Whip; defrosted

1 T lemon juice

Graham crackers

In a large bowl; mix together sour cream/yogurt, sugar and lemon juice.

Add pudding mix and cool whip; stir until smooth.

Gently fold in marshmallows and strawberries.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Place fluff in bowl with graham crackers surrounding to serve.

Note: You can also add some fresh blueberries, raspberries, or mixture of all berries, if you like.

Southern Corn Salad

This is one of my favorite side dishes for cookouts. Heck, I like it any time! I think it is even better the next day.

2 14 oz. cans of whole kernel corn, rinsed and drained well

1 small can sliced black olives, drained

½ medium onion, diced

1 large plum tomato, diced or 8-10 grape tomatoes sliced thin

8-10 pickled banana pepper rings, diced

1/2 teaspoon of sugar

3 Tablespoons mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or the vinegar from the banana pepper rings

big dash of pepper

dash of parsley flakes

Drain the corn and black olives very well. You don’t want your salad to be watery. Put all ingredients in a large bowl. Toss well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Sometimes I have added a little diced bell pepper and diced celery to the mix.

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.