Aunt Margaret’s Lemon Loves

February 23, 2014 notjustanotherfoodblogger 2 Comments

Aunt Margaret’s Lemon Loves are the best lemon squares I’ve ever eaten. The crust is shortbread, and the middle layer is lemon filling that is gooey without being runny. And here’s the best part – the top layer is frosting with a hint of lemon flavor rather than the usual powdered sugar. This, along with providing a perfect creamy topping, makes them easier to eat without causing puffs of powdered sugar with each bite.

Source: My aunt Margaret found this recipe in Cotton Country.

Difficulty: Easy

Crust

1 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons sugar

Filling

1 cup sugar

5 tablespoons flour (1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

3 tablespoons lemon juice (freshly squeezed)

Frosting

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup butter

2 teaspoons lemon juice (plus more to taste)

Preparation: a few hours before you’re ready to make Lemon Loves, place 1/4 cup (half stick) of butter on the counter to soften. This is the butter that will go into the crust.

Crust: Mix flour and sugar.

Cut 1/4 cup butter into the cup of flour and sugar mixture.

If you don’t have one of these tools, you can cut the butter into the flour/sugar mixture with a table knife in each hand, pointing the knives at each other and crossing them a little, then cutting with both knives simultaneously outward over and over.

Press into 9×9 inch pan.

Bake at 350 degrees (or 325 convection) for 12-15 minutes until it turns a very light golden color.

Filling: Stir 1 cup sugar, 5 tablespoons flour, and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder together.

Beat eggs and lemon juice together.

Mix dry ingredients with egg mixture.

Pour over crust. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12-15 minutes (or 325 convection for 12 minutes). They are done when the lemon mixture begins to brown and has bubbles all over the top. The surface will be a little shiny and have formed a bit of a crust. This little crust on top is important so that you can spread your frosting easily.

Lemon Loves after cooking middle layer — You want your lemon filling to be at least this brown, but ideal is a little more brown than this.

Frosting: Wait until the crust and filling have cooled almost to room temperature before making frosting. Beat powdered sugar with melted butter and lemon juice.

Add more lemon juice to taste. Once the lemon base has cooled enough that it will not melt the frosting, spread frosting on it, covering the entire lemon base.

To Serve: Cut into small (about 1 inch) squares, since these are very rich and sweet. You can make and freeze Lemon Loves several weeks before serving.

Soups

Tortilla Soup

February 17, 2014 notjustanotherfoodblogger 4 Comments

Since the winter storm warnings keep coming, I think it’s time for another soup. I know some very picky eaters who claim not to like tomatoes but devour this Tortilla Soup. I promise to take a nice long break from soups when the weather warms up. But until then, here’s another favorite…

Difficulty: Easy

2 tablespoons butter or Smart Balance

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 quart chicken stock

2 cans Italian style stewed tomatoes

1 cup Pace Picante Sauce (I prefer mild)

2 cans black beans, drained

1 tube frozen white cream style corn

1 16-ounce bag frozen white shoe peg corn, loose pack

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Serve with:

diced Monterey Jack Cheese (or cheddar if you prefer)

sour cream

Tostitos or Fritos

I’m the worst about jumping into a recipe head first without reading it all the way through and preparing things before starting. This causes some hectic moments where things cook longer than intended while I furiously chop or wash or pull my food processor out of its hiding place. So here are some things you might find helpful to prepare first…

Up to a day ahead: Move the tube of cream style corn to the refrigerator. It will be much more cooperative (read: quick to break up in the soup) if it’s defrosted a little before you start cooking.

When you’re ready to start: Put on an apron or something you don’t care about getting splattered. There are lots of splatter opportunities as you pour these ingredients into the soup. Open all of the cans (tomatoes and beans), and drain the black beans. I’m not a perfectionist about getting ALL of the liquid out of the black bean cans. Also, this day I could only find a family size (24-ounce) pack of white shoepeg corn, so I did not use the entire bag.

Whirl the tomatoes in the food processor until there are no chunks bigger than you would like to encounter in your soup. I like to get rid of all of the chunks.

a sort of dark picture of the tomatoes before processing them to bits

another dark picture – this time after running the food processor

Mince the garlic. If you get frustrated trying to separate the cloves of a garlic bud, try this trick: place the garlic bud on the counter and put the side of a big chopping knife on top of it (blade of knife is parallel with the counter). Hit the knife with the heel of your hand, and voila!, the bud will shatter into several cloves.

Saute garlic in butter and add cumin, stirring until cumin is spread throughout and heated through.

Add chicken stock, tomatoes, and Picante Sauce. Bring to a boil and add tube of frozen corn.

If the cream style corn is coming straight from the freezer, it will take awhile to get the corn fully defrosted and blended through the soup. Once it’s blended, add the loose corn and black beans. Continue to heat on the stovetop for a little while to heat the corn and beans and to let the flavors blend.

Five minutes before serving, add the chopped cilantro. You may not want to use an entire half cup of cilantro, so go easy and taste before you add all of it. Also, when I’m giving this soup away, I just leave the cilantro out and deliver the soup with a bunch of fresh cilantro to be added to the taste of the recipient when it’s reheated .

Into soup bowls, drop tiny diced Monterey Jack cheese. Ladle hot soup over cheese and serve with Tostitos or Fritos to crumble on top. The diced cheese makes melty cheesy puddles in the bottom of the bowl – delicious! Sour cream makes a nice garnish too.

The Story: When my parents are dieting, this soup makes regular appearances at dinnertime. They use Smart Balance, skip the sour cream, and limit the Monterey Jack and Tostitos. When my dad was on his major diet a few years ago, he lost 40 pounds, so that’s a pretty good recommendation to me!

Desserts

Snow Ice Cream

February 12, 2014 notjustanotherfoodblogger 2 Comments

What better way to celebrate all the snow this winter than to make snow ice cream? OK, so all we’ve gotten in Memphis is a slight dusting, but by watching social media posts (who needs the weather channel when everyone is posting snow pics?), it seems that all of my non-Memphian friends have enjoyed plenty of snow and snow days this winter. Unless we can find a recipe that calls for a small accumulation of sleet, I’m out of luck so far. So all of you people who are getting snowed in for a record number of times this winter, here’s my sister’s recipe for snow ice cream…

Difficulty: Easy – just add a few ingredients to your obligatory pre-storm trip to the store for milk and bread!

sweetened condensed milk (can use low fat)

half and half

a teaspoon or more of vanilla, to taste

bowl of fresh snow

Place wide mouthed bowl or cookie sheet with sides outside in the snow. If the temperature outside is just a little below freezing, you’ll want to freeze your bowl or cookie sheet first so that it does not melt the snow. In the 18 degree weather my sister is having, this is not necessary. Also, if you’re using a cookie sheet, place a bowl outside or in the refrigerator so that you’ll have a cold bowl for mixing.

The wider the bowl, the quicker you’ll have a full bowl. This reminds me of a science question on an achievement test from elementary school… Each of the following containers holds exactly 1 cup of water. Which one will evaporate first? The one with the most surface area of water, of course. The same goes for how quickly you can accumulate snow.

Anyway, if you forget to put a bowl out, you can scoop snow up from the ground… just be careful not to scoop up dirt or grass.

Just before you want your snow ice cream, get your ingredients out and ready, because you’ll be racing against the melting snow once you bring the snow inside.

Bring the bowl of snow inside and add sweetened condensed milk, half and half, and a teaspoon or more of vanilla. Keep adding condensed milk and half and half (and a little vanilla) until you think it tastes delicious! For this bowl she used half of the can of sweetened condensed milk.

Stir the ingredients together.

Serve immediately, relishing the fun you’re having with the snow that some of us can only wish we would see.

Thanks to my sister for the idea, the recipe, and the pictures! It allowed me to join in a little on the fun of all the snow. Just to let you know how fast the snow ice cream gets eaten in my sister’s house with two teenage boys, this was the second batch of snow ice cream today, and her older son said they’d have to go to the store tomorrow for more sweetened condensed milk. That may require walking given all the snow they’re getting!

Desserts, Pies

Peanut Butter Mousse Pie

February 8, 2014 notjustanotherfoodblogger 2 Comments

This Peanut Butter Mousse Pie is a must try for peanut butter lovers. It’s creamy, and fluffy and just the right amount of rich without being too rich. I made it for the first time recently and tried the filling after each step once I added the peanut butter and each time thought surely it can’t get better than this. And after each step I thought – wrong again!

Source: Come On In! (with a few minor adjustments)

Difficulty: Medium

Crust

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs or chocolate wafer crumbs

1/3 cup chopped peanuts (I substitute 2-3 graham crackers)

3 tablespoons sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted (original recipe called for unsalted, but I prefer salted in graham cracker crusts)

Filling

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs (separated)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or nut-flavored liqueur (I use vanilla extract)

3/4 pound smooth peanut butter, heated

2 1/2 cups heavy cream, whipped

Crust: For the crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees (or 325 convection). Mix graham cracker crumbs, peanuts, sugar, and melted butter. Press mixture into greased 10 inch springform pan. Bake 5-8 minutes, until just a little toasty brown. Set aside while you make the filling.

Filling: Cream butter. The recipe says until fluffy, but I don’t think butter ever gets to the point where I would describe it as fluffy. Gradually add sugar, then egg yolks and vanilla or liqueur.

Move the mixture to a large bowl and mix in warm peanut butter. I heat the peanut butter until it is soft enough to fold in easily, making sure not to cook the peanut butter.

Clean mixer bowl and beater thoroughly, making sure all residue is removed. If you have any buttery residue remaining, the egg whites won’t stiffen. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold* into peanut butter mixture.

egg whites ready to be folded into peanut butter mixture — I beat these egg whites a little too much. See how they’re almost dry looking? No matter, the result was fantastic!

Fold in whipped cream.

Spoon mousse into prepared springform pan.

Freeze, covered well with foil. Remove pie from freezer half an hour to an hour before serving, and leave it covered until ready to serve (to prevent “sweating” as it defrosts a little). Serve with Really Fudgy Hot Fudge Sauce (see link below) drizzled over the top.

http://notjustanotherfoodblogger.com/really-fudgy-hot-fudge-sauce/

*For a demonstration of folding, see video below from my Angel Food Cake post.

folding in the flour and sugar mixture

Appetizers

Monterey Jack Salsa

February 1, 2014 notjustanotherfoodblogger Leave a comment

Monterey Jack Salsa would be a great dip for a Super Bowl party!

Source: Come On In!

Difficulty: Easy (just some chopping)

1 4-ounce can of green chile peppers, chopped (you can find this in the Mexican food section of your grocery store)

3 1/2 ounces black olives, chopped

4 green onions, chopped

1/4 pound Monterey Jack cheese, grated

1 tomato, chopped (or about a cup to a cup and a half of grape tomatoes chopped in half or quartered)

1/2 cup red wine vinaigrette salad dressing (or Italian dressing if you can’t find red wine vinaigrette, the Brianna’s in the picture turned out a bit too sweet)

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Blend all ingredients and serve with tortilla scoops.

If you can find grated Monterey Jack, no need to grate your own!

Chicken

Easy Oven Baked Chicken

January 31, 2014 notjustanotherfoodblogger 1 Comment

This oven baked chicken is one of my favorite go-to meals for a weeknight when I don’t feel like putting out much effort but don’t want take-out. It’s so easy and has only a few ingredients that you’ll wonder why you didn’t know about this already!

Difficulty: VERY Easy, so easy that I considered not posting it… but then decided that if you don’t know about this super simple way of cooking chicken, you need to see it!

chicken thighs or leg quarters (bone in, skin on, and enough to feed your family plus few for leftovers)

garlic salt (or seasoned salt if you don’t have garlic salt on hand)

salt

pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash chicken. You’ll need a pan with sides, since the chicken will release juices as it cooks. Cover the pan completely with foil. The foil just makes the cleanup easy, and ease is what this recipe is all about. Well, that and delicious baked chicken! Place chicken thighs on foiled pans. Salt liberally. Sprinkle garlic salt much less liberally. Very lightly pepper the chicken.

Place in preheated oven for 45 minutes. That’s all there is to it. The skin will be crispy and delicious when it comes out of the oven.

Refrigerate leftovers. I like to use the extra chicken in chicken salad, and in that case I debone the chicken before refrigerating, because who likes to work with cold dark meat chicken.

Given that this chicken is bone-in and skin-on, this is a bit of a messy meal. I wouldn’t recommend making it for people you don’t know very well!

The Story: When my mom made chicken like this at my house, I couldn’t believe how delicious and easy it was. So now this is my go-to when I don’t have much time to prepare my meal. I made this at a friend’s house one day, and when the oven timer beeped, my friend looked confused and asked what that noise was. When I told her, she said, “Oh, I never use that!” I was speechless. It took some work and some perfectly baked cookies, but I have since convinced her that timers can be very helpful.

Cookies and Bars

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies

January 22, 2014 notjustanotherfoodblogger 3 Comments

There aren’t many cookies without chocolate that I think are worth the calories (or the effort to make), but these Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies are definitely worth it. The first time I made these, I was blown away by how delicious they are. The cinnamon chips provide bursts of cinnamon flavor. The Heath Toffee Bits are key as well – they really take it up a notch with their chewiness and buttery toffee flavor. Really, you have to try these.

Source: https://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipe-details.aspx?id=6197 (I took the idea of adding toffee bits from the comments and left out raisins just because cookies and raisins don’t mingle in my kitchen.)

Difficulty: Easy

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

1 2/3 cups (10 oz package) Hershey’s cinnamon chips*

1 cup Heath toffee bits (the ones without the chocolate)**

*Notes on cinnamon chips: First, buy two packages because you’ll want to eat a handful. Second, buying Hershey’s brand is key. I had trouble finding them in my grocery stores, so I ordered some from King Arthur Flour (which in my experience has great quality ingredients). The KAF cinnamon chips were waxy and not at all tempting to eat. The Hershey’s version is creamy and cinnamony at the same time, which is difficult to imagine if you’ve never tried them, but trust me – you need to try these. I could eat them by the handful. If your local grocery does not carry them, try Wal-Mart. This, along with crushed peppermint, is worth the trip to Wal-Mart.

**Change from original recipe: I substituted 1 cup toffee bits for 3/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 convection)

Beat butter, brown sugar, and sugar until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat well. Combine flour and baking soda. Add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in oats, cinnamon chips and toffee (batter will be stiff).

Drop by heaping teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 9-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool for a minute, and then remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Don’t wait too long before moving the cookies to the cooling rack – the toffee bits will cling to the cookie sheet more as they cool.

The Story: I first bought cinnamon chips for a Pioneer Woman recipe for cinnamon chip scones. I loved the cinnamon chips so much that I started researching all sorts of cinnamon chip recipes. This one (with my alterations) was my favorite.

Soups

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

January 11, 2014 notjustanotherfoodblogger 3 Comments

Here’s another warm soup for this cold January weather. I like this Chicken and Wild Rice Soup because the flavor is simple and an old favorite – who doesn’t like chicken and rice? It’s creamy but not at all thick… unless you leave it on the stove for awhile, in which case it will thicken up. This soup is one of my go-tos for serving a crowd. The recipe makes just under 4 quarts, so there is plenty to share.

Difficulty: Medium

This recipe has several steps and some chopping, and it uses a very thin white sauce. The steps aren’t difficult, but it does take a few hours to make this soup.

Source: My sister (the graham cracker sister, as a friend called her after reading the story from the Graham Cracker Crust recipe)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sliced carrots

3/4 cup sliced celery

3/4 cup chopped onion (Recipe calls for sweet yellow or Vidalia, but I use frozen chopped onions to avoid the eye-burning, teary disaster that occurs when I chop onions. Plus, using frozen onions cuts down on the chopping.)

2 quarts chicken broth

2 chicken bouillon cubes (or soup starter)

1 6-ounce package of long grain and wild rice mix such as Uncle Ben’s original (not quick cooking) with herbs

8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced (baby bella and portabella are my favorites)

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 quart milk (I use 1%, but whatever you usually buy should be fine)

1-1 1/2 teaspoons salt (If you’re someone like me who tends to add salt to things, go with 1 1/2.)

3 cups chopped cooked chicken (two pounds of chicken tenders should yield more than you need)

Saute chicken tenders until just done. Then cool and slice.

Put in refrigerator – the chicken will be added at the very end of the process.

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in stock pot over low to medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, and onion.

Saute for about 10-15 minutes or until the onions are tender. The carrots and celery will continue to soften throughout the rest of the process.

Stir in the broth, bouillon cubes, wild rice mix, and seasoning packet.

Simmer for 30-40 minutes or until rice is tender.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, saute the mushrooms in a little butter or oil until tender.

Make a white sauce: Heat 2 cups of the milk in the microwave for a couple of minutes until hot but not boiling. In a medium saucepan, melt 1/2 cup of butter over low heat and whisk in flour.

Gradually pour in milk while whisking.

This shows the flour/butter/milk after the first cup of milk has been whisked into the mixture.

Add salt. Add remaining milk and stir constantly until thickened. As you stir, make sure you are scraping all around the bottom of the pan to prevent a faster cooking layer developing on the bottom.

I stopped mixing long enough to take this picture, and then I changed to a flat edged wooden spoon for better coverage of the bottom of the pan.

Add white sauce, mushrooms and chopped chicken to the rice mixture and stir, cooking just until thickened to the level you desire.

I like this soup fairly thin, so I do not leave it on the stovetop very long. If you’re serving a crowd and have the soup sitting on the burner for awhile, it will thicken as it sits. The higher the heat, the faster the thickening occurs. Serve with toasted bread.

If you’re not serving immediately, separate into a few containers for faster cooling. Refrigerate once it has cooled. This soup keeps well in the refrigerator for a few days and freezes well too. I have served this at gatherings in the past couple of years, and it’s always a favorite.

Desserts

Peppermint Chocolate Chip Milkshake

January 3, 2014 notjustanotherfoodblogger Leave a comment

If you’ve ever had the Peppermint Chocolate Chip Milkshake from Chick-fil-A (offered seasonally), you know how delicious this flavor of milkshake can be. And even if you haven’t, you really owe it to yourself to try it. My sister developed this recipe as a homemade, cheaper, and lower fat/calorie/sodium alternative. Yep, sodium! This Christmas my sister taught me to make these delicious peppermint milkshakes, and as a lover of all things mint and chocolate, I thought this was a perfect one to share!

Difficulty: Easy (as long as you have a blender)

Source: My sister, who developed this recipe through trial and error (wish I had been there to taste test the “errors”)

1/4 cup crushed peppermint (Wal-Mart sells crushed peppermint in the winter baking section. It’s worth a trip to Wal-Mart.)

3/4 cup milk

2 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

2 drops peppermint extract or oil

a drop or two of red food coloring (optional)

Pour crushed peppermint and milk into a jar. Put the lid on the jar and shake until milk is pink.

Put ice cream in blender or tall pitcher if you’re using an immersion blender. We used an immersion blender, but we recommend a regular blender, which does a better job of chopping the chocolate chips. Oh, and my sister says this is one of the few cases where you actually can get too much chocolate. WHAT? I’ll just have to trust her. Pour milk and peppermint mixture into blender along with chocolate chips and blend together.

Taste at this point to see if you want to add peppermint extract or oil. At this step I thought we didn’t need any peppermint flavoring, but my sister turned me into a believer. The peppermint flavoring really took it up a notch. If you’re serving this to guests and want a pinker look, add a drop or two of red food coloring. Blend in peppermint flavoring and food coloring.

Then serve and be ready to be wowed! I topped it with a little homemade whipped cream* that could have stood to be whipped a little more and some crushed peppermint.

Thank you to my sister Susan for developing this recipe and sharing it with me for the blog!

*If you’ve never made homemade whipped cream, you should definitely try it. It is truly easy and is SO much better than canned whipped cream. And it will make gorgeous florets if you use a frosting tip and actually whip it long enough. (see picture of Angel Food Cake – http://notjustanotherfoodblogger.com/angel-food-cake/) To whip your own cream, pour a little whipping cream into a bowl (about half the volume you want of whipped cream). Add a little powdered sugar and a splash or two of vanilla. Then beat with a hand mixer or your whisk attachment in your regular mixer. You’ll want to cover it with a dish towel, because it will splatter a bit. I suggest using a bowl that will not slide around on the counter. Taste before it’s fully whipped to see if you need more powdered sugar or vanilla. It will keep in the refrigerator for a few days, but beware that this may cause it to lose some of its stiffness and look like the topping in the picture above.

I can’t think of homemade whipped cream without remembering the bunco night when the host was serving a dessert with homemade whipped cream. It was sitting out in a bowl, and one of my bunco buddies exclaimed, “Look, Mom, homemade Cool Whip!”

Soups

Potato Soup

December 29, 2013 notjustanotherfoodblogger 3 Comments

Creamy soup is so appealing to me in this cold weather. So here’s one of my favorites – Potato Soup. Potato Soup is a great comfort-food soup that doesn’t take long to make. It works great to make it ahead and add the cream just before serving.

Difficulty: Easy (as long as you have a blender or food processor)

5 cups potatoes, peeled and diced

1 tablespoon salt

7 cups water

3 cups leeks, thinly sliced

1 cup cream, sour cream, or low fat yogurt

Cut leeks lengthwise first and check for dirt. Then cut in thin slices across the stalk. Use only white and pale green parts of the leeks. Soak in plenty of water to get all the dirt out of the crevices. When ready to make soup, swish leeks around in the water and lift them out so that the water drains away. Dirt stays in the bottom of the bowl.

Peel and dice the potatoes early in the day and put in bowl of water to keep them from turning brown.

Simmer potatoes and leeks in 7 cups salted water for 30-45 minutes, until potatoes break apart when speared with a fork and leeks no longer make a crunching sound when cut with the side of a fork.

Put leeks and potatoes into blender or food processor to puree. I used an immersion blender (leaving the potatoes/leeks in the water), which is fast, easy, and makes for significantly less bowl washing. Return pureed potato/leek mixture to liquid if you used a blender or food processor.

If you are not serving the soup immediately, refrigerate after it cools a bit. When ready to serve, reheat and add about 1 cup cream, sour cream, or low fat plain yogurt. Stir to blend, then serve.

The Story: Potato Soup is our family’s traditional Christmas Eve dinner, as it is easy to reheat after the Christmas Eve service and perfect for a cold night. We serve it with grilled cheeses made on homemade bread and then get straight to work on last minute gift wrapping!

Not Just Another Food Blogger

Aunt Margaret’s Lemon Loves

Tortilla Soup

Snow Ice Cream

Peanut Butter Mousse Pie

Monterey Jack Salsa

Easy Oven Baked Chicken

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Peppermint Chocolate Chip Milkshake

Potato Soup

when it comes to food, it's good to be a bit picky