Cooking with KP

Breakfast Squares with Fresh Fruit Parfaits

My husband Mike and I belong to a share what you are cooking site and each week there is a Weekend Challenge. This is what we entered this weekend and I must say it is delightful! We enjoyed them with easy breakfast parfaits. I included the recipe below as well.

2 cans of crescent rolls

2 pounds bulk sausage (mild or spicy) 1 pound might be enough for you, but Mike and I really like sausage, so we used 2
2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese
1 small onion, diced
½ bell pepper, diced
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
3 tablespoons butter
9 eggs
½ cup milk
Pepper to season eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Unroll one sheet of crescent dough, but don’t separate into triangles. Place in bottom of a glass 9x13 pan and pinch seams together. Bake for 6 minutes. In a large skillet, breakup sausage and fry with chopped onion, parsley flakes, and bell pepper. Drain any grease. In a separate skillet, melt butter. Beat eggs in a bowl with milk and pepper. Scramble in skillet with the butter until soft scrambled set. Spoon sausage on top of baked crust, then eggs and top of cheese. Place remaining crescent sheet on top of cheese; pinch seams together. Bake 20-25 minutes until crust is golden brown.

Fresh Fruit Parfait

½ cup of Greek yogurt
½ cup softened fat-free Cool Whip
Fresh blueberries, strawberries (cut in half), and pineapple tidbits
½ cup toasted pecans

To toast pecans, chop ½ cup of pecans and spread on baking sheet that is lined with foil. Bake 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Let cool.

In bowl, mix yogurt and Cool Whip until smooth and glossy.

Layer mixture and fruits in parfait glasses. Top with toasted pecans.
I like to drizzle 1 teaspoon of honey on the top of mine.

Jesse's Applesauce Muffins

My first grandchild is Jesse and he loves muffins. This is easy recipe for 6-8 muffins that little boys and girls and big boys and girls will enjoy. I don't put nuts in these since he is only 18 months old, but you could easily add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans.

1 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
3 T butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir until batter is smooth. Spray 6-8 muffins cups in baking pan or use paper muffin cups. Fill with batter until 2/3 full. In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/4 tablespoon cinnamon and sprinkle a little on top of each muffin. Bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle of a muffin comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes. Delicious! This recipe can easily be doubled.

Pepperoni Pizza Pull Apart Bread

If you love pizza and who doesn't, here is an amazing appetizer. The bread is good it could be a meal with a side salad!

3 cans of refrigerator biscuits, cut in quarters to make 120 piece

6-ounce package of pepperoni slices, cut in quarters or

a 6-ounce package of mini pepperoni slices

2 Tablespoons of Italian seasoning blend

1 ½ Tablespoons of garlic powder (not salt)

2 Tablespoons of Parmesan cheese (green shaker kind)

4 ounces of shredded Parmesan cheese

8 ounces of shredded Mozzarella cheese

3 Tablespoons butter, melted

3 Tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray Bundt pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, blend Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and shaker Parmesan cheese. Add biscuits, pepperoni, and shredded cheeses. Toss with hands until all pieces of biscuit are well coated with seasoning and cheeses. Melt butter in a small bowl in microwave and stir in olive oil. Pour on top of biscuit mixture and toss again. Place biscuit mixture in Bundt pan and bake 20-25 minutes until no longer doughy. Remove from oven and let cool 10-15 minutes and invert on plate/platter. Serve with warm marinara sauce (I use one cup of Newman’s Own or Emeril’s Marinara . If you don’t have any marinara, just use one cup of tomato sauce to which you add a 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, ½ teaspoon pepper and 1 teaspoon of garlic powder) and warm garlic butter sauce for dipping.

Garlic Butter Dipping Sauce

1 stick butter

1 T minced garlic

2 teaspoons garlic powder

½ teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon parsley flakes

In a skillet over medium-low heat, put stick of butter and minced garlic. Allow butter to melt very slowly, stirring so that it doesn’t burn. Once butter is fully melted, stir in other ingredients. Pour into bowl for dipping.

Kay's CHEAT Method Galette

Galette--skillet bread--is a time honored bread around here. Men and women who can make it are held in very high esteem. Most people around here have believed that galete or gallete is a French bread, but after doing some research, I learned that it came to us from the Spanish cooks, who shared their on-top the stove cooking method of flattened biscuits with the French. Knowing the French, I am sure that they put a little special touch to it! My mother made great galette. She used a cast iron griddle. She would often make them for us for breakfast or as a late night treat. I never developed that "hand-feel" magic touch of knowing when the dough was the perfect texture for galette, so when I happened on this recipe a few years back, I thought I had discovered a map to buried treasure. I use a cast iron low skillet to make mine. It is great with butter, syrup, honey, jellies, jams and preservers. I especially enjoy it with fig preserves.

Cheat Method Galette

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl, put 2 cups of self-rising flour, 3 tablespoons mayo, ¾ cup milk and 1 tablespoon sugar. Blend with spoon until a little bit more moist than biscuit texture. In a cast iron skillet on medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons oil. Press down gallet dough and cook 4-5 minutes until firm. I don't press it out to the edges so it is easier to flip. Carefully, flip over (but don't panic if it breaks--I just press the pieces together) and cook other side 2-3 minutes and then finish in oven for 15 minutes. Comes out perfect every time! If you have any leftovers, wrap tightly in aluminum foil.

Taco Stuffed French Bread

I found several recipes for this online and made some changes to make it my version. It is wonderful. If you need to bring a dish to a potluck, if you
are giving a party, or you just want something different to eat, please try this and let me know what you think.

1 pound of ground beef

1 package of taco seasoning
1 can of Rotel (I used mild, but you use what you prefer)
½ onion, diced
½ bell pepper, diced
8 ounces cream cheese, cut into several small pieces for easier melting
1 cup Fiesta/Mexican blend shredded cheese
½ cup mozzarella shredded cheese
1 small can sliced black olives, drained
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped
Sea salt
Parsley flakes
1 baguette French bread about 20 inches long

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut French bread in half. Dig out the center of each half to make a well that you will fill with meat mixture. Make sure you don’t dig too deeply and go through the outer crust. (Keep the bread for crumbs or bread pudding.) Place the bread halves on a sheet of aluminum foil on a long baking sheet.

In a skillet, brown ground beef with onions and bell pepper until no pink remains. Drain any fat from ground beef and return to skillet. Add taco seasoning and Rotel. Bring to a quick boil and then simmer 3-5 minutes. Remove meat from heat. Mix meat, cheeses and cilantro in a large bowl. Spoon mixture into bottom bread well. Top with sliced olives. If you really like spicy, you might want to add some jalapeño slices too. Put top half of bread on top and press to hold. Mix minced garlic and parsley flakes into melted butter and spread on tops of bread. Sprinkle with sea salt. Wrap tightly in foil and bake for 20-25 minutes. Keep in foil until ready to slice and serve.

KP's Amazing Glaze for Meat

This glaze is great on ribs, pork chops and chicken. It is very easy to make and adds so much flavor to the meat. It can easily be doubled. The amount using the recipe below is for 4 bone-in 1/2 inch chops, 4 breasts, 6 thighs, or one rack of ribs.

1/2 cup ketchup
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
2 Tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce (I prefer the meatier taste of Worcestershire sauce)
3 Tablespoons apricot preserves
1 1/2 teaspoons of paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper

Mix all ingredients until well blended. If using on pork chops or chicken, rinse meat and pat dry. Season with seasoned salt and pepper. Put in glass baking dish. Spoon half the mixture on top of meat and bake until meat is almost done. Then turn meat over and spoon the rest of the mixture on top and continue baking until meat is done. For example, for 1/2 inch thick pork chops at 350 degrees, I bake 30 minutes on each side. For chicken breasts and thighs, I bake 25 minutes each side at 350 degrees. For ribs, I put the rib rack on aluminum foil, bone side up and cover with glaze and tightly seal foil and bake for 50 minutes, unwrap, turn, glaze the other side and bake 45 minutes. Remove foil at top and bake 15-20 more minutes.

Quick, Easy But Delicious Pecan Pie Bars

This recipe isn't mine; it has been around forever. It started with crescent roll crust, but now I use the dough sheets you can purchase right next to the crescent rolls. These are quick, easy, but oh, so delicious. You will be sure to get rave reviews if you bring them to a potluck! Your family will enjoy them as well. You can also add some cinnamon and nutmeg for a cinnamon pecan pie bar. Just add a 1/2 tsp. of each.

1 can (8 oz) can of Pillsbury dough sheet or 1 can of crescent roll

2 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted

¾ -1 cup chopped pecans

½ cup corn syrup

½ cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a 9x13-inch pan with foil, leaving enough for a 2-inch overhang on all sides.
Unroll dough and firmly press on bottom and up sides ½ inch.
If using crescent rolls separate dough into 2 long rectangles and place in 13x9-inch pan; press over bottom and 1/2 inch up sides to form crust. Firmly press dough perforations to seal.
Bake 8 minutes.
Combine all filling ingredients except pecans in bowl and mix well until smooth and sugar isn’t grainy.
Stir in pecans.
Spread evenly over hot, partially baked crust.
Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until filling is set and golden brown.
Cool about 1 hour; cut into bars.

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.