Chicken Liver Pâté

I have been thinking of trying to make pâté and a friend sent me this link to a chicken liver pâté recipe.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chicken_liver_pate/

I can't wait to try it out.

Swedish Pancakes

Swedish Pancakes

Recipe By: Linda Hedberg who made these for her kids on weekends for years. I was lucky enough to stay many weekends at her house while younger and got to be "one of the kids."

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. preheat:

2.  Beat eggs until thick.  Stir in the milk.  Add the flour, sugar and salt.  Mix until smooth.  Pour  about 1/4 of a cup of the batter into a small frying pan with rounded sides.  Swirl around to coat pan thinly.  When the bottom is golden, flip over and lightly brown the second side.  Serve hot with melted butter and cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar, or syrup.

3. Note:  If the pancakes seem to be sticking, add  more butter to the pan.  We seem to have to re-butter our pan about every other pancake.

4. Also, to speed things up, you can use two pans.  Transfer the pancake to the second pan to brown the second side.

Salmon with Pesto and Chardonnay Cream Sauce

This recipe came from my friend Kelle who is a wonderful cook and I would have never considered cooking such a pleasure without her.

Salmon with Pesto and Chardonnay Cream Sauce
------------------------------

Recipe By:

Ingredients:

3 pound fresh salmon fillets
salt and pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup pine nuts, minced
1 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, minced
2 T. flour
2 shallots, minced
1 1/2 cup chardonnay
1/4 cup heavy cream
6 T. butter
1 T. lemon juice

Directions:

1. preheat:

2.  Place fillets on doubled aluminum foil, skin side down.  Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

3. Stir together the pinenuts, basil,and flour.  Pat mixture on top of fillets and grill until salmon is done.

4. Meanwhile, combine the shallots, chardonnay, cream and shallots in a small pan and reduce (by half?).  Remove from heat and stir in butter and lemon juice.

5. Pour sauce over salmon and serve.

Unique Berry and Peach Crisp

Recently I went to a local restaurant and commented to our waitress about how much I like berry crisps. She said the restaurant had an excellent one and she would know because her mom had the best recipe EVER. Sure enough the restaurant crisp was excellent and a couple of weeks later I received an e-mail from the waitress with her mother's recipe (see below). I can't wait to try it!

4 cups peaches peeled and sliced

4 cups blackberrys, marrionberries or whatever berries you like

juice from half a lemon

1 3/4 cup flour

1 1/2 cup old fashioned oats

2 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 tbls of cinnamon

2 1/4 tsp of nutmeg

1 cup butter softened

Preheat oven to 350. 

Place sliced peaches in 13 x 9inch pan. 

Layer berries over peaches-sprinkle lemon juice and 1/4 cup flour. 

Combine remaining mixture of flour, oats, spices and butter and spread over top of pan. 

Bake 35-40 minutes. 

*If you have to use canned berries drain really well. Hope you enjoy this recipe!!

Pam's Brunch

Serves 8-10
Note: this needs to be started the night before you want to serve it.

2 1/2 cups Brownberry Oven Seasoned Croutons
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 pounds  sausage
4 eggs
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
2 1/2 cups milk

1 can mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk

Cook and drain sausage. Set aside. Put the croutons into a buttered 9x13 cake pan. Sprinkle on cheese. Layer on the sausage. Beat the eggs, mustard, and milk together and pour over the top of the other layers. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, mix 1/2 cup milk with the mushroom soup and pour over the whole thing.
Bake at 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

Rouladen

There are several ways to make Rouladen. Pretty much, it is a thin beef steak rolled with mustard, pickles, onion and bacon on the inside and is slow baked for hours. 

1/4" thick beef filets (I go to the German Deli to get it)
German Mustard (middle sharp)
Sugar
Salt
Pepper
Onion
Baby dill pickles
Bacon

Sauce:
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 cups beef broth
Parsley

Add to sauce just prior to serving:
1/4 cup heavy cream
Flour (to thicken)


Tenderize the steak, then add salt, pepper, and sugar to it. Let it sit for a few minutes to soak in the spices. Slice the pickles lengthwise, cut the onions and lightly brown the bacon.

Smear the mustard on the entire length of the steak generously. Put the pickles, onions then, bacon onto the steak toward one end. Roll the steak up and fasten with string, or toothpick to keep closed.

Brown the steak in a pan which you used to cook the bacon, then put into a covered pot (or crockpot) with the sauce and cook on low heat for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Remove the rouladen from the pot and finish the sauce with heavy cream and thicken with flour.

Serve 2 Rouladen per person.

Carrot Cake

Charity posted this recipe which I decided to post so I can try it later.... Here is her post with the recipe.

A friend brought over a few slices of carrot cake for us last night, complete with homemade cream cheese frosting. It was easily the best carrot cake I've ever personally had, so I badgered her into giving me the recipe.


Cream Cheese frosting:

1 package cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter plus 2 tablespoons, softened
(cream together)
1 tsp vanilla
1 box powdered sugar

Whip together until smooth and beautious! Light and fabulously yummy enough, this might just replace my buttercream frosting recipe as a frosting base. I can easily see adding cocoa to this for chocolate, or orange, or lemon, or....you get the picture.


Carrot cake:

* 3 eggs
* 3/4 cup buttermilk
* 3/4 cup vegetable oil
* 1 1/2 cups white sugar
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 2 cups shredded carrots
* 1 cup flaked coconut
* 1 cup chopped walnuts
* 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
* 1 cup raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. Combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix well.
4.Combine shredded carrots, coconut, and pineapple. Optional: also add walnuts and raisins. (I don't.)
5. Add carrot mixture to batter and fold in well.
6. Pour into prepared pan, and bake for 1 hour. Check with toothpick.
7. Allow to cool before frosting.

My friend informs me that lately, she's taken to baking it for 45 minutes - still does the toothpick check, and comes out clean, but the cake itself is a bit denser, which she likes. I can't compare, as that denser version is all I've had, but to say it was very good indeed is an understatement.


I suppose you could do all of those things that people do to make recipes like this one a little more healthy - sub applesauce for the oil, and egg beaters for the eggs, use wheat flour - but I can't vouch for how fabulous or not the cake will then be!