Potato Salad

I can't believe this hasn't been posted yet! It's my favorite potato salad recipe that I've been using since 2004. It's from allrecipes. Here's what is posted with the recipe:

This creamy salad is made with red potatoes, which give this dish -- chock full of melt-in-your-mouth bacon, bits of hard boiled egg, crunchy celery, and spicy onion -- a delectable firm texture.

2 pounds clean, scrubbed new red potatoes
6 eggs
1 pound bacon
1 onion finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 cups mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain and set in the refrigerator to cool.

Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove hot water, cool, peel, and chop.

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.

Chop the cooled potatoes, leaving skin on. Add to a large bowl, along with the eggs, bacon, onion, and celery. Add mayo, salt and pepper to taste. Chill for an hour before serving.

Notes:I peel and chop the potatoes before I cook them. I cut them into small cubes, cook, drain, fill the pot with cold water to cool the potatoes. I check the water after a few minutes and change the water if it's too warm.

I reduce the onion to about 1/3 of an onion. No need to overpower it.

I increase the amount of celery. I love the texture, flavor, and color it adds.

When I cook the bacon, I use my scissors to cut the bacon into small pieces. I fry it over a lower temperature so that it separates well. I scoop it out of the pan and put it onto a plate covered with several layers of paper towel to absorb a bunch of the grease.

When I make the potato salad in advance of an event or meal, I find the potatoes absorb a lot of the mayo. I double check it before serving to see if it needs more mayo so that it's not too dry.

Chocolate Pie Filling

I've wanted to find a good, basic, make-from-scratch chocolate pie filling and this one is it! It's on allrecipes, but it's called "Chocolate Cornstarch Pudding".

1/2 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups milk
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a saucepan, stir together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt. Place over medium heat, and stir in milk. Bring to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat, and stir in margarine and vanilla. Let cool briefly, and serve warm, or chill in refrigerator until serving.

Notes:
The tablespoons of cocoa should be HEAPING.

I made three 9" pie crusts so a double batch of this filling was the perfect amount! The conversion for a double batch:

1 cup white sugar
6 Tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
5 1/2 cups milk
4 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla

I put the pies outside to chill, but the weather turned cold and I let one pie freeze. It changed the texture and turned it almost grainy. It's still totally edible, but there is a noticeable texture difference. The pie that didn't freeze was very yummy and creamy!

"playkittenpie" made these comments on allrecipes, which I found helpful:

To avoid lumps, put 1st 4 ingredients in saucepan and mix well. If there are any lumps, get in there with your fingers and work them out. If you don't want to do it with your hands you can use a sifter or push them through a sieve. You must have a smooth, lump-free powder before you add your liquid. I also use a whisk and constantly stir. Lastly, it will sometimes thicken before it boils but I find if I don't let it boil for even just 10 seconds, I can taste the cornstarch in it.

As with any cream pie, you'll want to lay plastic wrap directly on top of the pie to avoid that nasty skin thing as it cools.

Dill Pickle Popcorn

I was curious if I could make a homemade version of dill pickle popcorn. There's a recipe for everything, right? The original recipe is from here: http://benandbirdy.blogspot.com/2011/06/dill-pickle-popcorn.html but I made a few minor adjustments.

3/4 cup popping corn
1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tsp vinegar

1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dill
1/2 tsp salt
sprinkle of pepper

In a large pot, heat the oil on medium, add the popping corn, jiggle the pot around until the kernels are coated in oil. Put the lid on the pot, but leave it open just a crack to let the steam escape.

As the kernels start popping, give the pot an occasional jiggle, which I believe keeps the kernels at the bottom of the pot. Listen as the popping slows so you don't end up burning it. You can either dump the popcorn in a large bowl or leave it in the pot.

While the popcorn is popping, melt the butter and add the vinegar. In a separate bowl combine the garlic, dill, salt, and pepper. As soon as the popcorn is done popping, pour butter/vinegar mixture over it. Give it a toss. Then sprinkle the seasonings and toss again.

If you try this recipe, I'd be curious if you like the flavour!

Rice Krispies Squares with Flax

I have to give credit where it's due: this is BASED on a recipe from "Deceptively Delicious", but I think it's one of those times when you just modify a recipe that's already a tried-and-true household favourite! My Rice Krispies Squares use 1/4 cup butter and the "DD" recipe only calls for 1 Tbsp of margarine with more marshmallows than I normally use. Less butter, more marshmallows. How will this NOT turn into a rock??? So, I took the concept, not the actual recipe. I'm posting my RK squares recipe, which is in the white recipe book :)

1/4 cup butter
9 oz large marshmallows, about 35 (5 cups mini)
6 cups Rice Krispies (I usually do more, like 7 or 8)
1/2 tsp vanilla

DD modification: add 1/4 cup ground flax

Put the butter in a microwave safe bowl. Zap it for 30 seconds, or until it's melted. Use a silicone spatula to coat the entire inside of the bowl with the butter. Your clean up will be faster if you do this!

Add marshmallows. Microwave for 1 minute at a time, stirring after each minute, until the marshmallows are mostly melted. (Total microwave time is often 2 minutes.)

Add vanilla, then Rice Krispies. Stir well until all of the cereal is coated. Dump the cereal into your 9x13 pan. Press down firmly using a dampened spatula or your dampened hand. Chill about 2 hours before cutting.

Notes:
Oh my word! It takes longer to type out the recipe than it does to make it!!!

I use a coffee grinder to pulverize my flax. Grinding the flax seems to double the volume, so if you want 1/4 cup ground flax, put about 1/8 cup not-ground flax into the grinder.

Other variations:
1) add colored sprinkles after pressing it into the pan.
2) Use Cheerios or a combination of the two cereals. Very tasty with Apple Cinnamon Cheerios.
3) Use Lucky Charms.

Taquitos

"Deceptively Delicious" refers to these as "Tortilla 'Cigars'". Not sure why a mom would want to refer to a kid-friendly food as "cigars". Seems like a lack of judgement, so taquitos it is! Very yummy with "Avocado Spread". Jessica Seinfeld says, "These are very popular at our house. They pack well for picnics or lunches on the go because they can also be served cold. For a vegetarian meal, leave out the chicken or turkey."

1 cup sauteed or roasted chicken or turkey, cubed or pureed
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar or American cheese
1/2 cup yellow squash puree
1/2 cup carrot puree
4 ounces reduced-fat or nonfat cream cheese
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 large (burrito-size) whole-wheat tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together the chicken or turkey, cheese, squash and carrot purees, cream cheese, garlic powder, and salt.

Cut the tortillas in half. Place one half on the work surface with the straight edge facing you. Spread about two tablespoons of the filling along that edge from one side to the other. Starting at the edge, roll the tortilla into a cigar shape, completely enclosing the filling. Place seam-side down on the baking sheet. Stuff and roll the rest of the tortillas the same way.

Bake until the tortillas begin to brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

Notes:
First, can we just talk about this reduced-fat or nonfat business? I think it was more of a trend at the time this book was written, because the stuff I'm hearing now says the flavour that is lost by reducing the fat is replaced by sugar or salt. This isn't good! Decide what you want to do in your household.

I bought already-roasted chicken. This would be great for turkey leftovers!

I didn't have squash, so I did carrot only. I added a little of the water I had boiled the carrots in to allow it to blend into a very smooth puree, but then allowed it to drain through a coffee filter and colander. I also added a couple of tablespoons of yellow onion in the carrot puree for extra flavour.

I doubled everything, but didn't measure anything :)

I didn't use cream cheese, but rather sour cream in the approximate equivalent amount.

I put the taquitos on a baking stone, which worked well. I baked them for 8 minutes at 450.

If I had made these with corn tortillas, I bet they would have tasted just like the store bought ones!

Aloha Chicken Kebabs

The first of hopefully many recipes I'll try from "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld. Here's what the book says, "Crunchy and sweet -- an unbeatable combination for kids. You can leave out the coconut if your kids don't like it, but once the chicken is cooked, the coconut is very hard to see."

1 cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1/2 cup sweet potato puree
1/4 cup pineapple puree
1 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 large egg white, slightly beaten
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast or chicken tenders, rinsed, dried, and cut into "fingers"
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp all-purpose or whole-wheat flour
Nonstick cooking spray
1 Tbsp olive oil
10 to 12 short wooden skewers

In a bowl, mix the breadcrumbs with the flaxseed meal. Set aside.

In a second, wide, shallow bowl, combine the sweet potato and pineapple purees, soy sauce, egg white, and coconut, and mix with fork; set next to the breadcrumbs.

Thread the chicken fingers lengthwise onto skewers, using one skewer per chicken finger. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken skewers with salt and then with flour. Dip the chicken into the egg-white mixture and then roll it in the breadcrumbs until completely coated.

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the oil.

Add the chicken in a single layer and brown for 3 to 4 minutes on one side, until the breadcrumb coating is crisp and golden. (Turn down the heat if the coating browns too quickly -- coconut burns easily.) Turn the skewers and cook 4 to 5 minutes longer, until the chicken is cooked through and browned all over.

Notes:

The store was out of flax, so I did without. I'd like to try it next time though because I love anything with flax!

I didn't have the sweet potato puree on hand, so I skipped it.

I'm not sure why she wants only the egg white and not the entire egg, so I used both.

I'd like to try it with sweetened coconut too. It has a very distinct flavor and I think it's the coconut the kids are tasting and saying they don't like :( Johan is saying it's already sweet.

Mixed reviews from the five of us, but I think this will be a keeper when I tweak it for our tastes.

Air Buns

I found this recipe on Mennonite Girls Can Cook dot com. The picture looks wonderful! This makes a fairly big batch.

• 4 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 tbsp. quick rise yeast
• 1 cup oil
• 1 tbsp.vinegar
• 2 tsp.salt
• 1/2 cup sugar ( I use 1/4 cup)
• 10 cups flour/ a little more if needed

1. start with about 6 cups flour, add the yeast salt and sugar and stir together.
2. add the warm water, oil and vinegar.
3. stir together with a wooden spoon adding more flour till it is hard to stir.
4. add remaining flour a bit at a time till you have a soft, smooth and elastic dough that is no longer very sticky when kneading.
5. knead for a few minutes by hand on a floured surface.
6. let rest in greased and covered bowl in a warm place for about 40 minutes. I use my oven with the light on.
7. Make into buns and let rise for another 40 minutes.
8. Bake for about 20 minutes at 375 degrees. Watch your oven, temperatures vary.
9. Share and enjoy!!!!!

Notes:

I read the notes for the recipe on the MGCC blog and it says the vinegar is used to preserve the buns so they last longer, not to change the taste or texture. Interesting!