Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Sweet Corn and Green Chile Baked Flautas

 This is  a vegan recipe but Jenny and Sadie like to add:

Shredded Cheese
Guacamole
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Sour Cream
Salsa

The Lewises usually serve the flautas with Carne Asada that is basically
 a seasoned sirloin steak that is served thinly sliced.



This recipe makes about 12 flautas using standard flour tortillas


Ingredients

Cooking spray
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow or white onion (about 1/2 onion)
2 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
4 to 5 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups cooked pinto beans
1 -4 oz can mild green chiles
juice of 1/2 lime
1 cup sweet corn kernels
12 flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 400.  Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

Heat up the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat and throw in the onion.  Cook until the onion starts to brown, about 5 minutes.  Add the chili powder, cumin, salt, and garlic and cook for another 30 seconds and then turn off the heat.

Throw the beans, chilis, and lime juice together in a big bowl.  Mash them up using a potato masher or a spoon until a paste forms.  It's cool if there are some whole beans left here and there: you don't need to spend the whole day mashing.  Fold in the onions and corn and stir.  Your filling is ready.

Using a griddle, your oven or the microwave, warm up the tortillas.  Grab about 2 heaping tablespoons of the filling and spread that in a nice line toward the edge of the left side of one of the tortillas from top to bottom. Then roll that up nice and tight from left to right.  You could even put a small smear of beans toward the other end of the tortilla to help it stay shut.  Place the flauta seam side down on the baking sheet about an inch or two away from its flauta brethren.  Make sure the filling got all the way to the ends and then adjust how you distribute the filling the next time.  Keep going until you run out of tortillas or filling.

Lightly coat them all with cooking spray and bake for 10 minutes.  When you pull them out the bottoms should be golden-if not stick them in for another couple minutes.  When the bottoms look good, turn them over and bake until golden and crispy on both sides, another 5 to 7 minutes.  Serve warm topped with your choice of toppings.

Saturday, June 21, 2025

Lady Finger Dessert




Sadie recreates one of Mom's recipes 
on Grandmaman and Papa's summer visit 2025.
 

Noodles with Poached Egg, Bok Choy and Mushrooms

 2 servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 scallions, trimmed whites and greens separated and thinly sliced
8 ounces fresh shitake mushrooms, stemmed and caps thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
kosher salt
1 medium bok choy (about 4 ounces cut into bite size pieces)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, plus some for drizzling
3 bundles (about 7 ounces total) somen noodles or any thin wheat or rice noodle
2 large eggs

1.  Bring a large saucepan of water to a simmer.

2.  Heat the vegetable oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the scallion whites and        mushrooms season with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 5 to 6 minutes.

3.  Add 3 cups water to the pot with the mushrooms, increase the heat to medium high and bring to a simmer.  Add the bok choy and cook until crisp-tender, about 1 minute.  Stir in the soy sauce and sesame oil and season to taste with salt.  Turn off the heat and cover to keep warm.

4.  Meanwhile, cook the somen in the large saucepan of simmering water according to the package instructions.  Using a slotted spoon, divide the noodles among bowls, leaving the simmering water in the saucepan.  Crack each egg into its own small bowl, discarding the shells.  Swirl the simmering water in the saucepan, creating a vortex by stirring with a wooden spoon.  Add the eggs, one right ofter another, and cook over medium-low until the whites are set, about 3 minutes.  Use a slotted spoon to transfer the eggs the bowls of noodles.

5.  Ladle the hot shittake broth into the bowls.  Top with the scallion greens, drizzle with sesame oil and serve.












Monday, February 10, 2025

Cinnamon Buns

 This recipe is one I've used for years and the original recipe 
I followed was from a free cookbook from 
the 1980's "fleischmann's CREATIVE WORLD OF BAKING". 
The book is getting very tattered thus my motivation for 
putting this recipe on the blog.

Ingredients

1/2 cup milk
1/4 butter (original recipe called for margarine)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons sugar
2 pkgs or 2 tbsp. Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast

2 beaten eggs
4 to 5 cups unsifted all-purpose flour

Combine milk and butter in a saucepan and heat over low heat until 
liquid is warm and margarine melts.  
Stir in 1/2 cup sugar and the salt.  Set aside to cool.

Measure 1 cup warm water into a large bowl.  
Stir in 2 teaspoons sugar and the active dry yeast.
Let stand for 10 minutes then stir well.

Add the cooled  milk mixture to the dissolved yeast.  
Add the eggs and whisk together.  
Add 1 1/2 cups of flour.
  Stir in and additional (about) 3 cups of flour to make a soft dough.

Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic,
 about 8 to 10 minutes.

Note: If using Kitchen Aid with dough hook I whisk the first amount 
of flour in before transferring bowl to the mixer with the dough hook 
to add the final amount of flour.   
If using the dough hook and mixer to knead mix 
on slow speed for about 5 minutes.

Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top.  
Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, 
about 1 hour.  
I use the Bread Proof function on my oven.

Punch dough down, then turn onto a lightly floured board.  
Divide in half and shape as desired.

For cinnamon rolls:  Roll each half into an 18 x 9 inch oblong. 
(My oblongs were more 12 x 10). 
Brush with melted butter.  
Combine 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, 2/3 cup raisins and 
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon.
Sprinkle 1/2 of mixture over each piece of  dough.  
Roll each up as for a jelly roll to make 18 or 12 inch rolls.   
Cut each roll into 12 pieces (or 9) about 1 1/2 inches wide.  
Place cut side up in 2 greased 9 inch round cake pans.  

Cover and let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.  
Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees) about 25 minutes, or until done.  
Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

Serve plain or if desired frost with confectioners' sugar frosting.

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Dried Cranberry Sticky Toffee Pudding

Reminiscent of Christmas Puddings from the past this pudding is the perfect fit 
for a holiday treat.  Pat brought over four individual puddings along
 with the toffee sauce as a finale to our New Year's Eve dinner celebration.  
Thank you Pat and Grant.

For the puddings:

1 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder

Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan.  Add the vanilla and baking soda.
Add the dried cranberries and set aside to cool.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Lightly beat the eggs and gradually add to the butter mixture. Lightly mix the flour and baking powder together and gently fold into the batter.  Fold into the cranberry mixture.

Puddings can be baked individually in ramekins or muffin cups and size 
can vary according to what you have available.
This recipe makes 8 half cup ramekins.  Butter and flour the ramekins or muffin cups.
Bake at 350 for  25 to 30 minutes.

Toffee Sauce

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup whipping cream

Combine the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and stir over low heat 
until the sugar dissolves.  Simmer until the sauce thickens.  

To serve remove the puddings from the ramekins, invert on a plate and 
drizzle with warm toffee sauce.

The puddings can be made ahead (even frozen) but it best served warm (reheat in 300 oven).  The sauce can also be made ahead and reheated. 
Happy New Year

Monday, December 16, 2024

Jenny's Apple Custard Pie

Ingredients for Pie

2 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 lbs.  apples 
(Pink Lady or Honeycrisp are good options) (4 to 5 apples) (sliced for pie)
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. dark rum (optional)
1/4 tsp. table salt (divided)
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1 blind baked pie crust

Ingredients for Topping

1 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp. unsalted softened butter
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Melt butter in sauté pan.  
Add apples and 2 tbsp. of sugar. Sauté until apples are soft but not mushy.  Stir in rum and salt. 

Spread apples over the bottom of the blind baked pie crust.

Whisk together eggs, egg yolks, cream, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, and 
remaining 1/8 tsp. salt.  Pour over apples in pie crust. 
Bake pie about 30 minutes at 325 degrees
 until custard is barely set in the centre.

For the almond topping combine almonds, sugar, softened butter
 and a pinch of salt in a bowl. 
Remove pie from oven and sprinkle with topping.

Return pie to oven and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes until custard is almost set but still slightly jiggly in the centre.  Cool pie completely before slicing. Can be refrigerated but remove from fridge to serve at room temperature.

NOTE:  Topping can be varied.  Another variation would be a topping that would be used for apple crisp (flour, sugar and butter OR flour, oats, sugar and butter). 
Other nuts could be used for the topping as well.

Enjoyed this pie at Jenny's in Boylston on a Pre Christmas Visit 2024.










Thursday, December 5, 2024

Crockpot Pierogi Casserole


 On our pre Christmas visit with the Lewis Crew 2024 we chatted about pierogi comfort food and Jenny shared this recipe.  Grandmaman is hoping to try it out soon as who can resist pierogies, cheddar cheese and kielbasa on a winter's eve.

Ingredients

about 36 frozen cheddar pierogies
4 cups chicken broth
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 kielbasa sausage (sliced)
salt and pepper to taste

Layer 3 cups of chicken broth, frozen pierogies, sliced kielbasa
 and shredded cheddar cheese in 4-6 quart crockpot.

Set the crockpot on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6 hours.

Prepare the cream cheese mixture 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time.  Warm the block of cream cheese (in microwave or on stovetop) with the remaining one cup of chicken broth. Once warmed whisk the mixture until smooth.

Pour the smooth cream cheese mixture into the crockpot, stirring well to integrate.  Sprinkle the remaining cup of shredded cheddar cheese over the top.  

Cover the crockpot and set it to cook on low for an additional 30 minutes, 

Serve the casserole hot, garnished with sliced green onions if desired.