Corn with Bacon and Green Onions

Plain corn gets boring quick. Dress it up with bacon, green onions and cheddar cheese. Oh my word, it’s yummy. When I made this tonight, I discovered my heavy cream was gone. So I just added a splash of skimmed milk. It was good this way also.

    6 slices Bacon

    2 bunches Green Onions

    10 ounces, weight Bag Frozen Corn (3 Cups Fresh Corn)

    ½ cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

    ½ cups Heavy Whipping Cream (or Half-and-Half)

    Salt And Pepper, to taste

Chop bacon into bite sized pieces and fry until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, but leave drippings.

Cook diced green onions in bacon drippings until soft; add corn and cheese to pan. Cook over low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add cream and bacon to pan, stir and cook for about 5 more minutes until hot and bubbly.

Prize Winning Lemon Pie

This is almost the same as my Three Layer Lemon Pie, only richer, and this one has a meringue topping.

Buttery Crunch Pie Crust

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400º.

In a medium bowl, mix together pecans, sugar, and flour. Stir in melted butter or margarine.

Press evenly into a 9” pie pan. Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 13 minutes, until golden brown. Allow crust to cool before filling.

First Layer:

1-1/2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons flour

Dash salt

1-1/2 cups hot water

3 slightly beaten egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel

2 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup lemon juice

In saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch, flour and salt.  Gradually blend in water.  Bring to boiling over high heat stirring constantly.  Reduce heat to medium; cook and stir 8 minutes more.  Remove from heat, stir small amount hot mixture into egg yolks; return to hot mixture.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low, cook and stir 4 minutes longer.  Remove from heat.  Add lemon peel and butter.  Gradually stir in 1/3 cup lemon juice.  Cool 10 minutes.  Pour into pastry shell.  Cool and refrigerate.

Second Layer:

4 ounces Cool Whip

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 small package lemon pie instant pudding

1 cup milk

Add powdered sugar to cream cheese, mix well; add lemon juice.  Place instant pudding mix and milk in small bowl and beat for 1 minute.  Fold into cream cheese mixture.  Add Cool Whip; pour over chilled lemon filling in pie shell.  Return to refrigerator.

Third Layer:

1 package (8oz) cream cheese

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 ounces Cool Whip

Beat cream cheese until smooth.  Gradually beat in sugar.  Blend in sour cream and vanilla.  Fold in whipped topping blending thoroughly. Spoon on to other layers.  Chill.

Meringue: 

Beat 3 egg whites and ½ teaspoon cream of tartar until foamy.  Slowly add 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar.  Beat until soft peaks form.  Pile on top of pie and bake at 425º for 5-6 minutes.

Chill at least 2 hours.  Keep refrigerated.

Mazing Artichoke Dip

Cheese crisps are a great “cracker” for scooping it up, and it’s also great with carrot sticks, celery, strips of raw bell peppers, or any number of other goodies.

Another great thing about this dip is that it can be made very quickly by microwaving the ingredients sort-of-separately, mixing, then broiling in the oven. If you have more time and want fewer steps in preparation though, you could just mix everything together  and then throw it in the oven at 350º for 30-45 minutes or until it’s heated through.

8 oz. Cream Cheese, warmed in the microwave for 2 minutes on 50% heat to soften it – (Even if you’re making your dip in the oven, pre-microwaving the cream cheese will help you mix it with the other ingredients, so I recommend not skipping this step.)

A dollop of sour cream – maybe 1/4 – 1/3 cup
A dollop of mayonnaise – about 1/4 cup

About a cup of chopped spinach (either fresh, cooked, or frozen, thawed)

2 cans or jars of non-marinated artichoke hearts, roughly chopped

Garlic salt

Chili powder – be generous! The cream cheese and sour cream will act to “cool” the dip, so you can sprinkle away with the chili powder

A handful of shredded mozzarella cheese

Mix all ingredients in a baking dish, and sprinkle on a bit more mozzarella, and then broil until the cheese is browned.

Baked Cheese Crisps

They’re so delicious, easy to “customize,” and quick to make. They’re great to snack on when you’re in the mood to “munch” but carrot sticks just aren’t cutting it – these are full of protein and fat and (depending on your cheese) zero to few carbs. Use them wherever you might otherwise use a cracker. I really like to serve them with a nice green tossed salad. They work really well with my Amazing Artichoke Dip.

So, start with your cheese. You can use cheddar, Parmesan, Monterey jack, whatever you’d like.

If you’re planning on mixing in seasonings or spices, grate your cheese. Or get pre-shredded cheese. Either is fine.

Preheat your oven to 350º and put some parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

It must be parchment. Foil won’t work,  nor will cooking spray or any other method… parchment and parchment only.

Now, if you’re using shredded cheese and seasonings, go ahead and toss it all together in a bowl. Cheddar/Jack and Ranch dressing mix is amazing. “Mexican blend” is great with some chili powder and garlic. Parmesan and basil is always nice. Do what feels good to you. Just don’t add salt. Remember, cheese is already PLENTY salty on its own. You do NOT need additional salt.

For shredded cheese, put little lumps of it all over the parchment-lined cookie sheet, spaced out because they WILL “grow” and spread more than you think they will. And when I say “little” lumps, I mean little… about a tablespoon of cheese each.

Now put it on a rack centered in the middle of your oven, and bake for 10-15 minutes. If the edges are starting to brown, you could try taking it out. If you’re not sure, leave it in for another minute or two. 

If you don’t let it bake enough, it’ll just be stretchy melted cheese, not “crisps.”

When you remove them from the oven, you’ll need to let them cool. After a few minutes, they’ll be crisp.

Roasted Red Pepper Bisque

Cleaning out the refrigerator today, before we go on our family Christmas cruise. I had six red peppers starring me in the face, so I dug out this amazing recipe from my bulging data base of recipes. I decreased the ingredients to accommodate the amount of peppers I had. (The changes are in parenthesis) Dave is still ooohing and ahhhing over this keeper.

15 large red bell peppers (6)

1/4 pound unsalted butter (3 Tbs)

1 large Spanish onion, diced small (1/2 cup)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour (1/4 cup)

1/2 cup dry sherry (3 Tbs)

2 quarts half and half (2-2/3 cups)

1 cup honey (1/3 cup)

48 ounces chicken stock or broth (16.9 oz container)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Croutons, for garnish (plain croutons are best)

Fresh snipped parsley, for garnish

On a foil-lined cookie pan (with sides), roast peppers, under the broiler, roasting on all sides.  Char thoroughly. Place the entire tray in a paper bag to cool. Remove skins and seeds, but save the wonderful oil that comes out from inside the peppers. Add this to the peppers when pureeing.

Puree peppers until smooth. 

In large stockpot, melt butter over low heat. Add onions; cook until translucent.

Stir in flour and cook about 1 minute -- do not brown or burn. Add remaining ingredients; stir until smooth. Bring to simmer and let cook for 10 minutes. If desired, season with salt and pepper; garnish with croutons and fresh parsley.

Better Than Libby's Pumpkin Pie

I always made the pumpkin pie recipe on the Libby's label . . . until now. The vanilla and brown sugar really add a nice flavor to pumpkin pie. This is the one I’ll make from now on. Do not substitute any other brand of pumpkin. Generics are not as thick as Libby’s.

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 (15 oz.) can Libby’s solid pumpkin

1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk

1 unbaked 9" deep-dish pie pastry

Sweetened whipped cream

In large bowl, beat eggs with a whisk. Whisk in pumpkin, sugar, salt and spices. Slowly whisk in evaporated milk. (I always stir everything with a whisk, it stirs everything in better.) Pour into unbaked pie shell.

Bake at 425º for 15 minutes, reduce temp to 350º and bake 40-50 minutes longer. Pie is done when very center jiggles a little. And knife inserted about midway comes out clean.

Cool for about 2 hours before serving, or refrigerate before serving. Pie will set up completely as it cools.

Smothered Steak

These are so good. Serve them with mashed potatoes, rice, or risotto.

1 lb cube steak (about 4-6 pieces)

1/2 c butter

2 medium onions, sliced and separated into rings

4 oz sliced mushrooms

4 Tbsp all purpose flour

2 cans (10 1/2 oz) beef consommé*

1 c white wine

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Melt 1/4 cup of butter in pan over medium high heat. Sprinkle steaks with salt and pepper and brown in butter. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add mushroom and onion to pan drippings and cook until tender.

Add remaining butter to pan to melt. Sprinkle flour over onion and mushrooms; stir well.

Gradually add consommé and wine. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly.

Place steaks in onion mixture; cover and simmer over low heat for 20-30 minutes or until steaks are tender.

*I used beef stock and two tubes of Swanson Flavor Boost (beef). It is a concentrated broth, adding lots of flavor.