Fish Turbot (Fish Casserole)

When I first moved out of the house at 18, I quickly learned that cooking for one was much different than cooking for 6 or more.  Buying fish was difficult - I bought frozen fish, the cheap stuff,  and it always came in a lump. You had to thaw all of it to use any of it.  I came across this recipe in an old Betty Crocker book and have always loved it.  It's fairly easy to make and you don't need exacting amounts of anything. You are doing layers, so select a deeper rather than wider casserole dish.

On this occasion, I left out the salt in the white sauce because I figured that the oyster crackers would provide enough.  I added about 1/8 tsp. to the sauce that would go on top.  Ok.. That almost worked.  I'm adding more next time (included in recipe).  A normal white sauce would have you adding a lot more. My fish was tilapia that came in those individual frozen packages. I used 4 of them.  You NEED citrus in this recipe, but it doesn't matter really what you use.   My recipe reflects what I have tried that worked. Feel free to use more than I have listed.

I prefer to add my onions once the white sauce is made up.  You get a stronger onion flavor in the completed dish.  You can choose to saute the onions after melting the butter. Then add the pepper and salt and flour to the onion/butter mixture and continue to make up your white sauce.

This is a great leftover dish.  After taking from fridge, add about 1/4 cup of water on top, put a cover on and microwave at 70% for about 5 minutes. 

Fish Turbot

16 ounces of cooked flakey fish
1 cup of oyster crackers
2 eggs
1/2 stick butter or margarine
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp. mace
1/2 onion, chopped medium fine
3 tablespoons lemon juice or 2 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate
parsley - dried or fresh, chopped fine

Cook your fish.  I microwave it at 70% power with a small amount of water. Remove fish and flake it in smallish pieces.  You can add any water in the container to your white sauce.

Make white sauce.  Melt butter, and add pepper and salt.  While stirring constantly, add flour in small quantities, mixing continuously. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring regularly to prevent burning.  Very slowly, and while stirring, add the milk, removing any lumps as you go. Stir and heat.  Beat the eggs in a small bowl. When the white sauce is hot, add about 1/2 cup of white sauce to the eggs, stirring.  Then add the egg/white sauce mixture, back to the white sauce and mix thoroughly.  Add in the lemon juice or orange juice concentrate. Mix. Heat.  The sauce will be thick, but don't hesitate to add a little milk to thin it out just a bit. Too thin and it won't hold in layers, too thick and the crackers don't absorb enough liquid, resulting in a rather dry casserole.

Using a 2 quart casserole, butter or spray (with Pam) the bottom and sides.  Put a single layer of oyster crackers on the bottom (uses a bit more than half). Add half the fish, spreading it evenly over the crackers.  Add half of the sauce. Sprinkle parsley across the layer evenly.  Add remaining oyster crackers.  You don't have to completely cover.  Add the rest of the fish. Sprinkle with parsley.  Pour the rest of the white sauce over and smooth out.  Add a few oyster crackers and parsley for decor. 

Put casserole into oven for 30 minutes at 350 F.  Remove and serve with a salad.

Peanut Clusters

No new recipes, but an old standby. Years ago, my Mom worked at the local hospital and in those days, they issued cookbooks with recipes by employees, for sale to raise money for some cause or other to benefit the hospital.  So, this recipe comes from Savory Creations, a cookbook by Mercy Employees Assn. Mercy Medical Center, Coon Rapids, MN in the 1980s.

This recipe is simple, simple, simple, but very yummy.  We found the store brand peanuts in a jar are just fine, but READ THE LABEL.  Many of the salted peanuts have other ingredients, such as garlic, that don't work so well.  I found that the unsalted and lightly salted peanuts are least likely to have other additives and the lack of salt doesn't seem to make much difference.    Try a batch without adding salt.  If you think it needs it, add no more than 1/8 teaspoon.

Peanut Clusters

Recipe submitted by Sue Fox

1 1/2 pounds almond bark
18 oz. chocolate chips (about 1 1/2 (12 oz) bags)
1 pound peanuts

Melt almond bark and chocolate chips together over low heat.   Add peanuts.  Drop on wax paper to set. Makes a lot. 

New Orleans Gumbo

Here's a yummy gumbo recipe.  I'm not sure what magazine this was cut from, but the author says she's been making this for 30 years.  If you do not like cayenne pepper, use 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of black pepper to substitute.

New Orleans Gumbo

Dolores Bridges, Danville, Kentucky

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup uncooked converted rice

2 celery ribs, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1/2 lb. smoked kielbasa or Polish sausage, cut into 1/2 in. slices

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. pepper

2 bay leaves

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

3 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cold water

1 lb. uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 large green pepper, chopped

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

In a large saucepan, bring broth to a boil. Stir in the rice, celery, onion and garlic. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
 Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, combine the tomatoes, chicken, kielbasa, thyme, pepper, bay leaves and cayenne. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Combine flour and water until smooth; gradually stir into chicken mixture. Stir in shrimp and green pepper. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 4-6 minutes or until shrimp turns pink and gumbo is thickened. Discard bay leaves.

Remove rice from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes; stir in parsley. Serve with gumbo.  Yield: 8 servings

1 cup gumbo with 1/2 cup rice has 841 mg. sodium, 29 g. carb and 2 g. fiber.

Honey Cashew Chicken

This is a recipe that I adapted from an online source. The problem with the original was that the chicken just didn't have any flavor - the rest was great.  So, cook the chicken first, remove from pan or not, but don't add the onion until after the chicken is cooked.  The chicken needs to brown some or it just tastes bland.

Photo is from original site.

I used 2 boxes of frozen sugar snap peas and added about 1 teaspoon more of cornstarch. The addition wasn't necessary.  For variation, consider adding raisins, sliced grapes or chunk pineapple.



Honey Cashew Chicken

1 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
6 tablespoons chicken broth
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoons grated fresh or jarred ginger
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/4 boneless, skinless chicken, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
6 oz (about 2 cups) snow peas, trimmed
1 large red bell pepper, seeded, cut into strips
1/2 cup cashews, unsalted

In a small bowl, whisk 1 tablespoon water with cornstarch until smooth. Whisk in honey, soy sauce and chicken broth.

Warm oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add garlic, ginger and crushed red pepper.

Add chicken and stir fry until opaque, 5 to 6 minutes. Add onions and cook for another 1-2 minutes.  Add snow peas, bell pepper and cashews and heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in reserved sauce and pour into skillet. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer, stirring until sauce is bubbling and has thickened. Serves 4

There are 19 grams of carb in each serving, so great for low carbs.  Serve rice if  you want more.

recipe originally from : http://dailysavings.allyou.com/2012/09/28/honey-recipes/

Maple Pecan Cookies

Mom has been making these cookies for a couple of years now. They are extremely yummy - right on par with Chocolate Chip.  Even better - make the cookie dough in advance and stick in the fridge so that you can make a dozen whenever you have a mind to eat them.  The fresh baked is so much better than freezing prebaked and thawing.

Vanilla Chip Maple Cookies

Debra Hogenson, Brewster, MN (published in Taste of Home Annual 2002)

1 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon maple flavoring
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups vanilla or white chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Frosting:
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon maple flavoring
4 to 6 tablespoons milk
3 1/2 cup pecan halves

In a mixing bowl, cream shortening, butter and brown sugar. Add eggs, once at a time, beating well after each.  Beat in vanilla and maple flavoring. Combine the flour and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in vanilla chips and pecans.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets.  Bake in 350 F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar. Beat in maple flavoring and enough milk to achieve spreading consistency. Frost cooled cookies. Top each with a pecan half.  Yield: about 7 dozen.

Free Holiday Recipes and Party Planning App

Was at Starbucks and picked up what I thought was a single freebee card for an App.  I had 5 stuck together.  So, I'm offering 4 of these.  Just leave me your email in the comment section and I'll send you the code.  These apps only work on Iphone, Ipad or Ipod and are redeemed through the Itunes store.

Watch the Package Sizes

It's been awhile since any of us have tried some new recipes, but I will be posting a couple of them this week.  It's not that what we've been making has been bad.  They just haven't been spectacular enough to share.

I do want to bring to your attention the continuing downsizing of product packaging and how it is going to affect your old recipes. Most of you know already that the old recipes (pre 1980) all expected 7 - 7.5 oz cans of tuna.  This size has been shrinking since the 1980s.  Now, you need to use 2 cans of tuna to have adequate protein in all your classic casserole recipes (the Cream of Mushroom has remained the same!).    Coffee packaging has also shrunk to hide the fact that the cost has gone up.

It has now happened in the baking arena - both Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines have shrunk the amount of cake mix in their boxes, making it impossible to get the same results when using standard pans. Cookbook author Anne Byrnes, quoted on Taste of Home website, has advised that bakers add 1/3 cup of flour to any of her cake recipes to make up for it.  Currently, Pillsbury hasn't shrunk their packaging.  In the meantime, vote with your money. I won't buy the reduced packages of cake mix - I'll buy Pillsbury or simply make my cakes from scratch, once again.  Sure, I like cake flour, but I can do without it.  Cake mix isn't the only victim in the slashing packaging sizes.  Evaporated milk is now a smaller can which makes your pumpkin pie recipes a problem.  Fortunately, Sam's Club still sells the original size cans, but I noticed at both grocery stores that the smaller cans are the only ones available.  There is a fix here as well - you can either add half and half or milk to make up for the lost 2.5 oz OR you can use another can and then freeze the remainder.  It might help to freeze that remainder in an ice cube tray and estimating that 2.5 oz.  You'll have enough for 4 pies then.

So, with this in mind, be sure to check those package sizes when you are making recipes.

I love my ebook readers.  I have 2 kindles and a Nook.   I am spending more time reading than doing needlework, but that's because I CAN!!  I'm only lukewarm on using an ereader for cooking.  I think this would work better with a tablet than a dedicated ereader because rarely can you get an entire recipe on one page.  Anybody with thoughts on that?