Pages

10/28/24

Knafeh Bars (the viral Dubai Bars with Pistachio Cream Centers)

 

So apparently there was a 'viral' recipe on social media this Fall.  I had no idea.  My personality is such that I don't pay attention to what people are doing - I rarely use social media and frankly, I'm too dang busy in my own life to bother.  I actually stumbled upon this fad honestly - and accidentally.

Two things.  First, I've been wanting to find a cheap 'candy bar' style silicone mold to have on hand.  Have wanted this for about 2 years.  Didn't want one bad enough to buy one, but I'm part of a product review group and after a year of waiting, searching, keeping my eye out and looking, I stumbled upon one!  Ordered it post haste.

Within a couple weeks I stumbled upon shredded phyllo dough.  Yes please!  I LOVE phyllo dough and had never heard of nor seen shredded.  But I had it, so I had to find something to do with it.  That is when I put those words into a search engine and realized there was something called a Knafeh Bar - or a Dubai Bar.  It used shredded phyllo AND it used a silicone candy bar mold.  BINGO.

I also happened to have pistachio's on hand (always) and cream and other ingredients (always).  It was meant to be.

 

 

 My pistachios were roasted and salted. I simply ran them under water to get rid of some of the salt.  Next time I probably won't bother - I'll just not put any salt in the rest of the filling to make up for it.

I thought this was pretty cool...  My stick of butter said it was 113 grams on the wrapper.  I wondered if it would really be exactly that?  I weighed it. 

IT WAS.  Exactly 113 grams in one stick of butter.  I didn't actually need exactly one stick, I'm just a geek and wanted to weigh it.
 
The shredded phyllo (fillo) has to be cooked with butter to make it brown and crisp.
 
This is the mixing of the pistachio cream with the crispy phyllo.
 Getting ready to mix the candy bar filling - the phyllo, pistachio cream, vanilla, peanut butter, extra chopped pistachios...
 The candy bar mold was already lined/filled with a thin chocolate layer.  This is the molds being filled.
 By this point I was over it... I sent this message to my family.
 But in the end... they turned out quite well!  Here I am un molding them... they were dusted with edible gold dusting powder and drizzled with a tiny bit of green as well.
 Taste test..
 Bagged up and ready for my family to enjoy.

Knafeh Bars

In a candy bar silicone mold, dust a little bit of edible gold luster dust and green if you have it or use white chocolate colored green and drizzle that.  Or just use luster dust and forget the green - not sure why people insist there should be green.  Gold is just fine and looks pretty.

Brush or pour/spread melted chocolate of choice.  I used what I had on hand and mixed a bunch different bits.
Chocolate almond bark, sugar free chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips and some chocolate bars from Turkey.

Pistachio Cream

2/3 c pistachios
1/3 c sugar
1/2 c chopped up white chocolate or white chocolate melts
1/3 c butter
1/2 c cream or half and half
vanilla
almond extract
salt

Put into a blender and blend smooth.    Chill until needed if you've made it ahead of time.

Crisp the Shredded Phyllo

In a pan on the stove, heat some butter.
Add the shredded phyllo (kataifi)
Cook and stir until it's golden brown and crispy.  Set aside.

Filling

1 c shredded phyllo (kataifi)
1/2 cup of the pistachio cream you made
1 T peanut butter
2 T extra chopped pistachios

Fill the chocolate lined bar molds with the filling, be sure to flatten and smooth the filling and leave enough room to top with more melted chocolate.  When the bars are topped and you can't see any filling - it's totally encased in the chocolate in the molds, place them in the refrigerator to harden.

When the molds are cold and the chocolate hard, pop them out of the molds.











Print Friendly and PDF

9/11/24

Pork and Lemon Ragu with Pasta

  

The photo above is when it had started to thicken upon standing a few minutes, but wasn't the finished product.  I could have taken a better 'finished' photo but honestly I was hungry, it smelled (and tasted) so good I started to eat it, and didn't really care about getting a better picture.  It's just for my personal blog - I don't make any money for posting recipes I make, and I have no income from the time I spend on this site, so... yeah.  LOL.

I would normally use a different pasta with this one, but for a number of crazy things going on in our life right now, I have cleared out the pantry except for mere basics and all I have to choose from currently is macaroni shapes and spaghetti shapes.  So, I chose spaghetti this time. 



Pork and Lemon Ragu with Pasta

Bacon, cooked and crumbled or use real bacon crumbles bought - about 1/3 cup
olive oil
1 lg onion, diced
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 t salt
1 t thyme
1 t fresh black pepper
1/2 - 3/4 c cream or half and half
1 1/2 - 2 c water
1 1/2 lb. boneless pork roast
1 t dried lemon peel
1/4 c lemon juice
12 oz. pasta of choice
Romano or Parmesan cheese

In an oven proof pan with a lid, cook the bacon bits in the oil until they start to crisp up, add the onion and cook til soft and turning golden.  Add the garlic and salt, pepper and thyme.  Add the cream and water and whisk/stir.  Add the pork roast, cutting it into half or even quarters.  Bring to a boil and then remove, put the lid on and place into a 350 degree oven.  Roast until tender (about 1 1/2 hours).

Add the lemon juice and zest.  Let it set as you cook the pasta.  When the pasta is almost done, use two large forks to pull apart the pork into shredded pieces.  Add the pasta to the sauce reserving just a bit of the pasta water in case you want to thin the sauce.  It should have a bit of liquid at this point as it will thicken as it stands.  Let it thicken about 10-15 minutes before serving.   You can stir in a bit of the pasta water to the leftovers before refrigerating, as it will absorb the liquid and become really thick by the next day. 




Stirring in the half and half or cream to the onion/bacon mixture
Adding the pork to cook
Shredding the pork
 
Add the pasta and cheese (I used quesa fresca as I didn't have Romano on hand)  It will be VERY LIQUID at this point as it hasn't thickened up at all yet.  It will in the next 10-15 minutes.



 

 

 

 

Print Friendly and PDF

8/18/24

Using up Fruit "Everything" Pie with a Crumble Topping and Traditional Pumpkin Pie

 


Everything Fruit Pie with a Cinnamon Crumble Topping

This pie is to 'use up' lots of different fruit.  Over the course of a couple months I'd toss 'extra' fruit into the freezer.  I also had extra jars of home canned apples I wanted to use up.  I also had bought our favorite frozen fruit mixture at the store many times, but the peaches in frozen fruit mixes are always terrible - never ripe or sweet - so the peaches area always picked out and tossed into a ziplock in the freezer to use for other things.  Like this pie.

Into a big pan on the stove I added a bunch of fruit.  Everything I had on hand that needed to be used that could go into a fruit pie.   This time the mixture was/is:  apples, cranberries, strawberries, rhubarb, peaches, mango and... maybe something else.  I can't remember.   Brought to a boil, then reduce to be simmered on the stove with sugar and cinnamon added, along with a cornstarch/water slurry to thicken.  I didn't want to use it right then so I let it cool, refrigerated it, and put it into a food sealed bag and popped it back into the freezer.

I tossed the bag into the refrigerator last week to thaw and sit until needed.  Yesterday was a pie making day. 

1 unbaked pie crust
Crumble topping (recipe below)
Fruit of choice, with sweetener and flour to thicken (you could also use just apples, apples and cranberries, blueberries, etc)


Topping:
12 T sugar
6 T butter
1/2 c flour
6 T quick cook oatmeal
3 t cinnamon
1/4 t dried lemon zest

Crumbled together with your fingers, a fork, or pulsed a few times in a food processor.  Crumble onto your unbaked pie and bake as directed.

Baked at 350 for about 45 minutes.  Cool completely.

 

 



Pumpkin Pie

2 eggs
3/4 c brown sugar
5 oz. evaporated milk
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ginger
1/8 t nutmeg
(or just use about 2 t pumpkin pie spice instead of all the above)
2 T boiling water
1 t vanilla extract
1 2/3 c pumpkin puree
1/4 c half and half
1 pie shell, unbaked

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Put the pie crust into your pan.
In a food processor or a bowl, beat the eggs, add the sugar, milk, spices and boiling water.  Beat.  Add the pumpkin and half and half, beat again briefly just to smooth.  Pour into your pie shell.

Bake 15 minutes at 425.  Lower the temp to 300 and continue to bake until the center is 'set' - about 30 minutes.  Cool completely.  Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

 

Print Friendly and PDF

6/28/24

Flat Bread or Naan Style Bread

 
For many reasons and many things going on in our life right now I've not had Our Daily Bread in the refrigerator for quite some time.  Yesterday morning however, I decided to make up another batch.  I left it on the counter to work its magic for a few hours, then popped it into the refrigerator to use it as some point but was too busy to think about it at the time.

Last night I glanced at the George Foreman grill on the counter and had the idea that my bread dough, made on the George Foreman might make a delicious flat bread or naan style bread!   I grabbed the bucket out of the fridge, formed 4 little mounds of dough on a piece of parchment and let them sit while I did other things.   About an hour later I came back and plopped a piece of dough on the hot griddle and closed it.  Upon opening, I had a perfect hot flat bread.

I sent off photos and an explanation to all three of my young adult kids so they could make them if they wished, as it was just so easy.   And adding it here so they can find it later.

  • Use the Bucket Bread recipe.
  • Grab a handful of dough about the size of your palm.
  • Place it on a piece of greased parchment, foil or plastic.
  • Let it warm and/or rise a bit for about an hour.
  • Heat the George Foreman grill.  Spray or oil the grill.
  • Place the dough on the grill and close the top, not squishing it down, just close it over the dough and leave it.
  • When the lights heat up to show it's ready again, open, and remove the flat bread.
  • Serve with butter or with garlic butter.


 


 

Print Friendly and PDF

6/15/24

Grilled Shrimp and Butter Rice

 



So simple and not flashy but oh so good.  

Tonight I went to the freezer and spied a bag of large shrimp.  Yes, shrimp sounds fine.  Thawed under water and rinsed, I decided to season with some olive oil, fresh cracked black pepper, ground coriander and garlic salt.  

While I let that sit and marinate for a bit, I started some rice in a saucepan on the stove.  1 cup rice to 2 cups water - (I used about 1 3/4 c rice and scooped in a quick 3 3/4 ish of water);  bring to a boil, reduce and simmer 15-20 minutes.  Because we are usually low-carb, and keto, having rice is a nice treat - a change of pace.  We are trying to 'use up' everything in the pantry and freezers, so we have been eating foods that we normally don't have.

While it simmered I grilled the shrimp, which only takes a few minutes for each side.  (I threaded them on metal skewers.)

When the shrimp was done, I removed them from the skewers, and added about 1/2 c butter to the rice, along with a heavy dose of garlic salt. 

This simple meal was so good!  Simple, filling and oh-so yum.






















Print Friendly and PDF

5/9/24

Just another Mexican Casserole (or nacho dip) featuring ground beef, refried beans and sausage

The plan tonight was to use up some of the homemade sausage in the freezer, the last glass jar of homemade salsa, a half round of my favorite queso that I had food sealed and in the fridge as well as some cheddar from the deep freezer that tastes great, but cheddar does get 'crumbly' after frozen.  I added to that some refried beans, black olives and was able to empty the last of the homemade taco sauce. 

I originally got this recipe when I was 14 years old and was babysitting for a woman who made it and had me bake it for her 3 kids while I was babysitting.  I loved it so much I had her write down the recipe for my Mom.  She then made it regularly as we all loved it - and I continued making it for my own family once I grew up and married and had kids.

It's a casserole and/or a dip for tortilla chips.  You can also put it in a flour tortilla.  Since I'm trying to use UP groceries and not BUY ANY... I don't have tortilla chips so we are having it as a casserole - which is my favorite way to eat it anyway!

 

 Mexican Casserole or Dip

1 lb. ground beef browned with 1 small onion, chopped
1 can refried beans
1 c ground and browned sausage
4 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 small can green chilies, chopped
1 - 16 oz. container sour cream
1 jar salsa or taco sauce
*optional - black olives, green olives, sliced
*optional - 1 1/2 c guacamole or avocado dip


Spread the refried beans on the bottom of a sprayed casserole dish for a meal or if you are using this recipe as a dip, spread it thinly on the bottom of a larger pan of your choice - (pizza pan, 9X13, anything you wish!) Brown the ground beef and/or sausage with the onion. Place half into a greased casserole dish or if you are using for a dip, use all of it over the refried beans in the larger pan. Sprinkle with half the cheese. Add the chilies and/or jalapenos, the sour cream, the salsa/sauce and the rest of the cheese in layers. Top with olives if you love them!

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes for a thinner pan and bake 45 minutes if you have a thick casserole dish. When the cheese is melted and it's hot all the way through, remove and serve as a dip or let set for 5-8 minutes to 'set up' when serving as a casserole. It may be more runny when hot straight from the oven and it sets up (like lasagna does) when left to stand and cool a bit. We can never wait and don't care - we dig right in!



Here are photos of what I think might be the first (1st) time I posted the recipe on An American Housewife - these were from March of 2011. 
You can see what it looks like when it's not all mixed up and dished, ready to eat.












Print Friendly and PDF

4/21/24

Chewy and Fudgy Brownies

 



Beat 2 eggs slightly with a spoon in a bowl (these work great with powdered eggs!)
Stir in 1 c sugar
1/2 t salt
2 t vanilla

Then add in:
1/3 c melted shortening
2 squares melted unsweetened chocolate (if they are thin rectangles, use 4 to make 1 square)

Stir in 3/4 c all purpose flour
Add some nuts if you wish

Spread in a buttered pan - size of your choice.  Small pan = thicker bars, larger pan, thinner bar. 
Bake to the size of the pan - and your choice.  We like them fudgy and thin so I baked this pan about 22 minutes, took it out, a little under done and let it set on the counter for 30 minutes.  The result is slightly underdone, fudgy, amazing brownies.

You can bake them up to 35 minutes if you prefer them more done, dry, crisp around the sides, etc.


 

Print Friendly and PDF

Stir Fry - (using a Sun Bird seasoning package)

   

I use the recipe on the back of the Sun Bird package of stir-fry mix.  

I used oil, amino acids in place of soy sauce, rice, egg powder with water, pre-cooked chicken, and used broccoli instead of peas. 

Egg powder - (I whisked with water to reconstitute).


Rice I made 2 days ago and refrigerated


The recipe - right from the back of the package.


Scrambling the eggs


With chicken and broccoli... because the only peas I have are freeze dried but I don't have any open cans right now and I'd have to dig through our storage closet to find one.  Not that important.  I used broccoli I had in the freezer.



 

Print Friendly and PDF

4/20/24

My really old family favorite stand-by: Chicken and ham with mushroom sour cream sauce (lots of versions)

On days when I really don't want to cook but I want something hot, and I have chicken in mind for the main meat to use in some way, I often default to some version of this really old 'stand by'.

Chicken
Bacon
Ham
Mushroom Soup
Sour Cream
Salt and Pepper

That's it.  And I've been making this for so many years that I make it in almost any way possible using whatever versions of chicken, bacon and ham I have.  I also leave the ham out completely when I'm in a hurry and my ham options were frozen.

Here it is THIS TIME AROUND....  really fast and easy

Layered Chicken with Mushroom Sour Cream Sauce


3 boneless chicken breasts
3 slices ham
1 can mushroom soup mixed with about 3/4 cup sour cream I needed to use up
Real bacon crumbles
Salt and Pepper

Baked about 1 hour 15 minutes.


Originally I started making this one in a 9X13 pan (sometimes two (2) of them depending on how many people I was feeding).  That version was:

Rolled Stuffed Chicken with Mushroom Sauce

Boneless chicken breasts, pounded flat and even
Ham slice rolled up in each breast
Raw bacon slice wrapped around each chicken rolled ham slice

Place in a greased pan

Cover with a can of mushroom soup mixed with 1 cup sour cream
Season with salt and pepper, bake in the oven until the bacon is crisp and the chicken is done (about an hour 15 minutes).

More versions I've made over the years include.........

Roll the chicken with cream cheese and mushrooms inside, continue with bacon, sauce.
Roll the chicken with no ham or filling, just wrap with bacon and bake.
Roll the stuffed chicken and wrap with bacon but do not use a sauce.  Bake until crispy and done.
Stuff, roll, cover with sauce and sprinkle cooked bacon crumbles over all.
Use Spam for the filling instead of sliced ham
Lay the chicken breasts down, layer with the ham and bacon slice - bake.
Lay the chicken breast down and layer the bacon, skip the ham or use ham, cover with sauce and sprinkle bacon crumbles.
Use canned chicken, already cooked, layer with diced ham, the sauce and bacon crumbles.


When all the kids were still home and we had to feed and fill a lot of mouths, I'd double the sauce, and make potatoes on the side and use the sauce as a gravy of sorts.  









Print Friendly and PDF

4/15/24

Homemade White Cake

My favorite white cake that I make for weddings and birthdays starts with a cake mix that is 'doctored up' quite a bit.  However, I've been searching for years for a good homemade from scratch white cake because I rarely have cake mixes on hand.

Here is today's cake.

This photo is literally as I was snitching some cake with my morning coffee... because this FROSTING.  Yum.





Homemade White Cake

2 c flour
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
4 egg whites
1/4 sugar for the egg whites
1 c sugar for cake
1/2 c Crisco shortening
1 1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t almond
1 c milk

Preheat oven to 350 and grease/flour your pan or pans.
In a bowl, place the flour, baking powder and salt.  Whisk and set aside.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites until they are soft peak, sprinkle in the 1/4 c sugar and beat to stiff peaks.  Set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the shortening and 1 c sugar.  Add vanilla and almond.  Add part of the flour mixture, part of the milk, more flour and more milk, mixing between.  When just to the point of being blended and smooth, fold in the beaten egg whites, 1/2 at a time.  Pour into your pans and spread.  Bake according to pan size.  Usually 25-35 minutes for any of the sizes.  Cool in pans 10 minutes and then turn out to cool completely.

Frost.



(Frosting:  2 sticks butter, whipped until pure white.  Add 3 c powdered sugar and some vanilla/almond extract.  Beat.  Use on cake.  Double for 9X13 and double or triple for layer cakes.)




Print Friendly and PDF

4/8/24

Cheeseballs


 The sauce is made with sour cream and mayo and Mrs. Dash Southwestern spice mix.

 

Last night I was craving something hot and comforting and honestly I wanted dumplings or homemade pasta but when I went into the kitchen to make 'something' I decided at the last second to make homemade cheese balls.   

Here is the basic recipe - same one I first posted for  Cheeseballs - back in 2009.

Food storage options include things like butter you have stored in the deep freezer or have home canned; the green onions I used were freeze dried from storage.  You can used premixed milk, freeze dried or frozen cheeses of your choice - mix and match any kind of cheese you wish.  Jalapenos can be left out, and you can also use straight from a can or bottle or even freeze dried. I used shortening to fry them in - which is hopefully in everyone's storage pantry.

 Homemade Cheese Balls

Play with the ingredients in this recipe. Use all different cheeses, leave out the jalapeno, add crumbled bacon, add extra jalapeno, some chipotle, add chopped shrimp, crab or lobster to make a seafood ball... the possibilities are endless.

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) real butter
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 c flour
1 c milk
1 c mozzarella, shredded
1/2 c cheddar, shredded
2 small jalapenos, chopped fine
1/4 c flour, extra for tossing with the cheese
oil for frying

Form balls and fry in hot oil or melted shortening.  Drain on paper towels.  Serve hot as is or mix up whatever sauce you wish to go with them.

 

 

 

 

 

Print Friendly and PDF

4/6/24

Broccoli Cheese Soup

 



Back in high school I had wrote down a recipe for broccoli soup we had made in Home Economics class (now known as Family Consumer Science).  I've been making it ever since. 

Tonight's dinner version of it used pantry, shelf-stable milk and Velveeta from the pantry as well.  I was prepared to use freeze dried broccoli but was gifted fresh broccoli by a friend so I used that instead (yay!). 

I don't use a recipe as I've been making it so man years, but here is the 'recipe' off the top of my head - all amounts are approximate.  Adjust as you wish.  I usually end up doubling it.  When we had all the kids at home I would triple it.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

2 T flour
2 T butter
3 c milk
dash of tobasco sauce
pepper
1 t chicken base or chicken bouillon (optional)
2 oz Velveeta or cream cheese
1 1/2 c cooked broccoli

Melt butter in a pan on the stove and whisk in flour.  Add a dash of tobasco sauce and pepper to taste.  Add the milk all at once and whisk smooth.  Add the chicken base or bouillon, whisk. Remove from heat.  Add the cheese and broccoli.











Print Friendly and PDF

Cookies starting with a pancake mix... chocolate chip and raspberry macadamia nut


My kitchen lights turn everything yellow-tinted... and I don't feel like going through the time and hassle to edit them.


A couple weeks ago I posted this recipe I used to make chocolate chip cookies using a pancake mix I had in food storage.  Since then it's become a 'go to' recipe that I mess around with and make various different kinds.

Here was chocolate chip version.
 
Pancake Mix Cookies

2 cups pancake mix
1 egg
1/2 c butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c granulated sugar
2 t vanilla
1 c chocolate chips and optional:  nuts, like Walnuts

Mix the soft butter and sugars in a bowl.  Add the vanilla and egg.  Blend.  Add the pancake mix and blend but don't over beat.  Stir in the chocolate chips and/or nuts.   Place by spoonfuls on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake at 350 about 15 minutes.  Cool on the baking sheet about 2-3 minutes, remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
 
 
Tonight was another batch of chocolate chip cookies and then I messed around with the recipe and made a batch of raspberry macadamia nut cookies since I had the ingredients on hand (freeze dried raspberries and macadamia nuts).

Using the same recipe, I added a small box of cheesecake flavored pudding, and 1 extra egg.
Stir in about 1/2 cup of freeze dried raspberries and 1/2 cup macadamia nuts.


I baked about 12-14 minutes.  Cool on pan for a couple minutes, then remove to cool on a wire rack.

 
Here's a couple random photos of the chocolate chip cookies.
Print Friendly and PDF