Food goodness

Geoff and I made these last night, and they were really tasty. I liked the little kick that came from using cumin seeds and pepper jack cheese. We'll be having these again later this week. Oh, and we did a half recipe (so only 2 pizzas instead of 4) last night. from Myrecipes.com ( http://tinyurl.com/3syk2q ) Flour tortillas pinch-hit as a crisp crust for this hearty pizza loaded with chicken and vegetables. Toasting the corn in a skillet brings out its natural sweetness and adds a deliciously smoky note. (Note from Becky: I didn't really get a "smoky note" but whatever. It was still good.) 4 (8-inch) fat-free flour tortillas (I don't think ours were fat free) Cooking spray 1 (11-ounce) can no salt-added whole-kernel corn, drained 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds 2 cups diced roasted chicken breast 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained 1 garlic clove, minced 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 3/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeño peppers (we bought slices...

I started with this recipe , but then I tweaked it. I'll put my notes in parenthesis. 1 box Jiffy cornbread mix 1/2 cup grated onion (I did not use quite that much) 5 tablespoons buttermilk or 2 tablespoons skim milk (I used 5 Tbsp. milk) 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 egg, slightly beaten 2 tablespoons sugar (I used 1 Tbsp) 3 tablespoons self-rising flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon black pepper 2 slices white bread, crumbled 2 tablespoons grated green bell pepper (I didn't have, so I didn't use) Mix all ingredients together just until they are wet. Refrigerate 30 minutes to 5 hours. To cook, heat oil to about 350-375 degrees. Dip a small spoon in cold water, then get a spoonful of batter, using the side of the bowl to "break-off" the spoonful of batter from the bowl. Immediately submerge spoon in the hot oil for a few seconds until the Hush Puppy releases from the spoon. (This only sort of worked for me. I ended up pushing it off with my finger) Repeat this...

from Sunset , October 1999 I made these tonight and when Kevin peeked in on my progress, he said, "Those are stuffed shells." Oh yeah. 10 oz. mild or hot turkey or pork Italian sausage 16 oz. dried manicotti pasta shells (or 1 box large pasta shells) 1 pkg. (9-10 oz.) thawed frozen chopped spinach, squeezed dry 1 3/4 C. (15 oz.) ricotta cheese 1 1/2 C. grated parmesan cheese 1/2 t. ground nutmeg salt 4 lg. eggs 1 quart tomato sauce [I felt lucky to be able to pull leftover Kostic family gravy out of the freezer] 1) Discard sausage casings[/wrapper]. In a frying pan over medium-high heat, stir and crumble sausage until lightly browned. 5-10 min. Discard any fat. Let cool 10 minutes. 2) Prepare pasta according to box direction until just barely tender. Drain. 3) Mix together, sausage, spinach, ricotta, parmesan, nutmeg. In bowl, beat eggs with salt and then fold into mixture. 4) Spoon 1 C. tomato sauce into baking dish(es). 5) With a spoon, fill manicotti shells equally wit...

From Sunset , September 1999 I used red seedless grapes and served it with baked tilapia and japonica rice tonight. It was pretty quick to make and was very flavorful. Green grapes are particularly attractive and fresh-looking in this mixture. If making up to 4 hours ahead, cover and chill. Serve with grilled fish, chicken, pork, ham or lamb. 1.) Rinse 2 C. of seedless grapes and cut in half or quarters 2.) In a bowl, mix the grapes with 3 T. lime juice , 2 T. thinly sliced green onions , 2 T. chopped fresh cilantro , 1 T. minced fresh ginger , and 1-2 T. minced jalapeno . That's it. Mix throughly and then spoon over fish.

We love monkey bread in our house. I'm not sure why it's called monkey bread, something about the translation from German into English. In any case, we love it. I usually make a pretty simple monkey bread, but this morning I made this one, which I found here and then, as usual, tweaked a little. 2 tubes (12 ounces each) refrigerated flaky buttermilk biscuits 1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 3/4-1 cup heavy whipping cream 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or so, I really just tossed some in the bowl) Cut each biscuit into four pieces; arrange evenly in a 10-in. fluted tube pan coated with cooking spray. Combine the brown sugar, cream and cinnamon; pour over biscuits. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before inverting onto a serving platter.

From: Culinary in the Country * Culinary says the recipe is adapted from the King Arthur Flour cookbook, which I do not own, but have been told is a great resource. I made this as a test cookie for our wedding cookie bar. I just recently started eating peanut butter (I know, it's bizarre). Needless to say, I have had very few peanut butter cookies in my life, and usually only by accident because they didn't have the tell-tale fork markings. So, I knew I needed a peanut butter-type cookie, and I went searching on some of my favorite food blogs. Here's what I came up with. Apparently they are "more peanuty" than most typical PB cookies, which made my foodie coworker suggest skipping the peanut butter chips, but I think I will leave them in. She said it made her want a glass of milk, but I don't think that's such a bad thing. 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 16 tablespoons unsalted butter...

I am feeding (haha, feeding!) Shannon's and my addiction to dal... this is sweet and creamy and yum. I didn't have any mint or lime juice on hand, and I might go buy some of both to add to the leftovers, but it's pretty delicious even without it. From Bittman's How To Cook Everything Vegetarian . 1 1/2 c dried mung beans, washed, picked over and soaked if you like 1/2 c shredded coconut (I only had sweetened, so I left out the brown sugar) 2 medium green apples, cored, peeled and chopped 2 T peeled and minced fresh ginger 2 T minced garlic pinch ground turmeric (optional) 2 c coconut milk, homemade or canned (use 1 can, slightly less than 2 c, with a little water) 1/4 c brown sugar, or to taste salte and freshly ground black pepper 1/2 c chopped fresh mint leaves 1/2 c sliced scallions (I had to substitute a shallot, but scallions would def. be better) juice of 1 lime Combine the beans, coconut, apples, ginger, garlic, turmeric if you're using, coconut milk and brow...