Sunday, January 20, 2008

Aparagus Casserole

Asparagus is a strange vegetable and personally, I deplore it even if it is drowning in Hollandaise but if you have never eaten it or for that matter have tried it the normal way and don't like it, don't give up, try the following recipe as a last resort.

2 cans Asparagus Spears
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1/3 cup Minced Onions
1 2 oz jar Chopped Pimentos
2 cups Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 bag Potato Chips, crushed
3 tablespoons Melted butter

Drain asparagus spears well and lay out on paper towels. Cut off any tough ends. Slice spears in 1 - 2 inch pieces. Spray a 1 1/2 quart casserole with Pam. Please half the asparagus in the casserole; top with half the soup. Spread the soup over the asparagus. Add half the onions, pimentos, and cheese. Add the second half of the asparagus, then the second half of the soup. Top with the remaining onion, pimentos and cheese. Sprinkle the crushed potato chips over all and drizzle the melted butter over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes or until casserole is hot and chips are a golden brown.

Witch Morsels

This is a very special recipe, somewhat similar to the Southern Hushpuppy with an equal as important legend that follows it's origin.
My
Prior:
Heat vegetable oil to 350 degrees in stock pot or deep-fryer

12 oz all-purpose flour
6 oz yellow cornmeal
3 oz baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 oz sugar
4 oz butter
1 tsp almond ext
1 tsp vanilla ext
1 cup milk

In a mixing bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and sugar. Work butter into dry mixture until well incorporated.

Add extracts and milk together. Work milk mixture into butter mixture to form a stiff batter. Form into ball. Portion into finger size hush puppies. Deep-fry in hot oil until golden brown. Place on paper toweling to absorb excess oil. Serve

Orange Freeze

When I was a little girl, my Mother and I use to go to a drive-in called "Hot Shoppes", similar to Sonic Drive-In.

It's here where you could get a Mighty Mo, this fantastic double-decker CheeseBurger with their special sauce, shredded lettuce, pickles and tomatoes or The Slim Jim, a Ham and Cheese sub with their "Special Sauce", shredded lettuce and tomato. The sauce is simply a variation of my "Whatchacallit" sauce.

The "Hot Shoppes" dessert specialty was the "Hot Fudge Cake"....plain yellow cake topped with vanilla ice cream and warm hot fudge drizzled over it, then of course a big dollop of whip cream and a cherry!

Last but not least, and tht title of this post was their famous "Orange Freeze" served in a tall glass!

Ingredients:
2 cups orange sherbet or sorbet
1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup milk
1 sprig fresh spearmint

Directions:

Put the sherbet, juice, and milk in a blender and blend for 15 seconds or just until smooth.

Pour the orange freeze into a tall glass and garnish with spearmint sprig.

Strawberry Pie

Have never truly been a big fan of Shoney's Restaurants with one exception...Strawberry Pie!
Many years ago, I fell in love with it and little did I know that you could buy an entire pie to take home and wallow in, until my husband came home one night with a pie strapped to the buddy seat on his Harley....like I said, this has been along time ago.
The recipe below is about as good as you can get to the real deal....so if you like Shoney's Strawberry Pie, go for it!

1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup water
1 pkg (3 oz.) strawberry gelatin
1 qt fresh whole strawberries
1 9-in baked pie shell

Put water, sugar and cornstarch in saucepan and cook over very low heat, stirring, until clear (about 3 to 5 minutes). Remove from heat and mix in gelatin. Arrange strawberries in pie shell and pour sauce over. Chill 4 to 6 hours or overnight and serve with Cool Whip or whipped cream.

Cupboard Is Bare Salad

This is great for those times between grocery shopping, like when you go to the fridge, and you're starving but there is nothing there but maybe one half of a head of lettuce!

1/2 Head of Iceberg Lettuce, set aside

Dressing
1 cup Ketchup
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 cup Vinegar
1/4 cup Water
1/2 cup Sugar
1 T Black Pepper
1 t Garlic Powder

Combine all ingredients in salad oil bottle, shake, chill, drown that Iceberg and enjoy!

Damn That's Fast Peanut Butter Cookies!

Who would think making awesome tasting peanut butter cookies could be so easy? When I first learned of this recipe, I didn't believe anything good could come of it...you know what they say, nothing worthwhile is ever easy. I soon learned that ain't exactly true! Try it, especially if you have Peanut Butter Cookie lovers and if you really want to make it interesting, use "Chunky" Peanut Butter! You could probably do variations by adding chocolate chips, etc.! Work with it baby!

Ingredients:
1 C. peanut butter
1 C. sugar
1 egg

Stir up in a bowl, roll into 1 inch balls. Place cookie balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and smash like a # sign with a fork. Cook in 350 degree oven until lightly golden. Cool and enjoy!

You can cook these until just done for softer cookies-or longer for crunchy ones. Increase ingredients at your discretion to make larger amounts!

Bleu Cheese Lovers Behold....

Generally, Bleu Cheese is my preference in salad dressings and I'm always experimenting with new methods and ingredients, as I will never use store-bought bottled dressing.

3/4 C. Sour Cream
1/2 tsp. Dry Mustard
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
1/2 tsp. Salt (Scant)
1/3 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/3 C. Mayonnaise
4 oz. Danish blue cheese; crumble

Methods/steps
In a mixer bowl, blend sour cream, mustard, pepper, salt, garlic powder, and Worcestershire for 2 minutes at low speed. Add mayonnaise. Blend 1/2 minute at low speed and 2 minutes at medium speed. By hand, crumble cheese into mixture. Blend at low speed no more than 4 minutes. Refrigerate 24 hours before Serving.

Chili Relleno Bake

1 - 7 oz. can Whole Ortega Chilies
1 - 4 oz. can Diced Ortega Chilies
2 Tbsp. Butter
3 Eggs
8 oz Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
8 oz Grated Monterey Jack Cheese
2 C. Milk
1 C. Bisquick

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine cheddar and monterey jack in a bowl. Melt butter in 13" x 9" casserole dish. Lay whole chilies on melted butter, covering bottom of dish. Sprinkle 2/3 of the cheese on chilies. Mix the milk, eggs, Bisquick until smooth, add diced chilies and pour over cheese. Top with remainder of cheese. Bake for 45 min until toothpick comes out clean.

Bud Biscuits

4 C. Bisquick mix
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 (12 oz.) can Budweiser Beer


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together, and either drop or roll out and place onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Pina Colada Pie

Simply Delicious...especially if you like the marriage of Pineapple and Coconut!

1/3 C. Butter
1 1/2 C. Sugar
3 Eggs
2 Tbsp. Flour
2 Tbsp. Cornmeal
1 1/4 C. drained, canned, crushed Pineapple
1 1/4 C. Coconut
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 unbaked 9-inch Pie Shell
Methods/steps
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl, beat together butter, sugar, eggs, flour, and cornmeal until well blended. Add pineapple, coconut, and vanilla. Mix well. Pour into pie shell.
Bake 45 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean.