The Cooks Next Door » Alaina

Hello?

Alaina — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 01:20:15 +0000

Hello…testing…do we have a blog here? I know, I know – blog FAIL. This year started so…unexpectedly and I think we’ve been kind of reeling ever since. We’ve had some personal things going on as well which has made for a very sad and neglected blog. We are cooking but we are both mostly sticking with the old standbys and not much new.

I did make a Kazakh feast for Nauryz (the Kazakh New Year) last week. Chrov Plov, Cheese Pastries, Meat Piroshkis, Carrot & Radish Salad (from mymommymakesit - I omitted the anise because we didn’t have any and used a little cardamom), Chicken Shashlik (kabobs), Honey Cookies, and Russian Snowballs (which are pretty much exactly like Mexican Wedding Cakes – I used a combo of walnuts and pecans which was delicious!). Oh and I also made a Russian Tea which was like a spiced punch. All in all, I had a wonderful day of cooking and we thoroughly enjoyed sharing the meal with friends! I took exactly ZERO pictures. Sigh. What kind of blogger am I these days?

We are excited to be expanding our family again through adoption. It’s been a big decision and it’s a big step in faith but we are thrilled to welcome #4! The process will take awhile - probably 12 months or so but we can’t wait! Our boys are delighted beyond words! So…that has been keeping us a little busy – discussing, deciding. etc. I’m also launching a new business since I LOVE Pampered Chef products and need to earn extra for adoption expenses.

Steph has a new job which is exciting for her! She will be so awesome! It will allow her a little less time for posting but hopefully we’ll both manage to continue sharing some recipes – or rather, get back to sharing… We are hoping to begin a family cookbook which is a big undertaking but would be so treasured!

So…that’s what’s happening in our non-blogging world.

Irish Recipes

Alaina — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 13:29:29 +0000

Obviously, we’ve had a tough time getting posts up! It’s not for lack of desire but because both of us have been stretched thin lately. However, we couldn’t let St. Patrick’s Day pass without at least linking back to a few of our favorite Irish recipes from past years. I’m thinking a few of these are going to make it on my table tomorrow – a day late but still great!

Irish Soda Bread by Heather

Corned Beef & Cabbage
Homemade Horseradish Sauce
Guinness Bread
Irish Raisin Cake

Irish Soda Bread

Irish Tea Cake

Irish Colcannon

Pear & Ginger Crumble
Farmhouse Vegetable Soup

Hope you enjoy! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Easy Lasagna

Alaina — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:46:01 +0000

My mom is the one who introduced us to this easy version of lasagna. The layers are beautiful and it is such a delicious dish. I like it for company, providing a meal for someone, Sunday dinner, or even as a non-traditional holiday main dish – this is probably how I most remember having it growing up. I gave my husband a choice of things to serve for a dinner we were hosting recently and I didn’t get past the lasagna suggestion - I don’t make it often but it is definitely a family favorite.

Lasagna can be involved with bechamel sauce, meat sauce and more but this version will achieve the levels of flavor and takes a fraction of the time. I always use sausage because I think it adds incredible flavor! Also, the spinach is optional but I like the color it provides and, of course, the nutrients. Serve this with garlic bread or homemade breadsticks, and a lettuce salad. Hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

EASY LASAGNA
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1 – 16 oz. pkg. lasagna noodles
1 qt. spaghetti sauce (jarred or make your favorite homemade!)
1 lb. sausage or ground beef
1 c. water
1 – 15 oz. carton ricotta cheese
1 egg beaten
8 oz. shredded mozzarella or Italian cheese blend
6-8 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and water squeezed out
1/3 c. water
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
1 Tb. parsley flakes
dash nutmeg
salt, pepper to taste
1/2 c. parmesan cheese

Brown meat, add spaghetti sauce and 1 c. water, bring to a boil. In mixing bowl combine ricotta cheese, egg, mozzeralla, spinach 1/3 c. water, 1/4 x. parmesan, parsley flakes, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

TO ASSEMBLE: Use uncooked lasagna strips bu rinse in hot water before layering in a 9×13 pan (about 4 lasagna strips fit in a single layer – 3 lengthwise, 1 crosswise). Layers: 1 2/3 c. sauce, lasagna strips, 1/2 cheese mixture, 1 2/3 c. sauce, lasagna strips, remaining cheese mixture, 1 2/3 c. sauce, lasagna strips, remaining sauce, top w/1/4 c. parmesan cheese.

Bake at 375 degress covered w/foil for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 15 more minutes. Let stand 5-10 minutes before cutting.

Vegetable Egg Scramble

Alaina — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 13:05:09 +0000

I’m just not great at making omelets – they stress me out and never turn out the way I want. So, my solution is to make a veggie egg scramble. It is easy, gourmet, and delicious. I actually prefer it because the flavors so beautiful marry. Also, I’m kind of weird about cheese in my eggs – I just don’t love it even though cheese is one of my top favorite foods. So, my solution is to sprinkle the cheese on top of the eggs as an optional addition. This is a dish that you can totally personalize which is especially nice for choosing the ingredients that would be most appreciated by the person or people you are cooking for! And again, you can easily add fresh herbs as a garnich or put them in for the last few minutes of cooking for a lovely, fresh flavor.

VEGETABLE EGG SCRAMBLE
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2 eggs per person
vegetables (I used onion, multi-colored peppers, and fresh baby spinach), chopped small
breakfast meat, optional (I sued sausage)
cheese, optional
butter
salt & pepper

Beat the eggs until light in a bowl. Add a little milk and salt and pepper to taste (you can always add more but you definitely want to cook them with some seasoning).

Melt a little butter in a skillet on medium to high. Add the chopped onion and peppers and saute until almost tender. Add the spinach (I do not chop this) and cook until wilted and veggies are tender. Reduce heat to medium. Pour in the eggs and scramble – fully mixing in the vegetables. Cook until eggs are fully cooked (add herbs right before finished if desired). Serve garnished with cheese if desired.

Rustic Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Alaina — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:04:01 +0000

Here is the second of my Valentine’s Day breakfast-in-bed recipes. These are a delicious and unexpected addition to a brunch or a wonderful side dish for any meal! We like these more than traditional breakfast potatoes. They are rustic because we scrubbed them and left the skin on but you can feel free to peel them if you prefer. The recipe can be adapted for however many people you are serving. You could also very easily add fresh herbs if you have them.

RUSTIC ROASTED SWEET POTATOES
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1 sweet potato per person (unless they are really big)
olive oil
butter, melted
seasoned salt
fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Thoroughly scrub the sweet potatoes and then dice them and put the in a bowl. Combine olive oil and butter and pour on the cut potatoes and toss to thoroughly coat (I used about 4 Tb. total for 4 large potatoes). Season generously with seasoned salt and lightly with fresh ground pepper.

Pour potatoes in a jelly roll pan or stone (jelly roll pans have about a 1 inch side). Bake for 15-25 minutes until tender and starting to carmelize/brown (I actually put mine back in the oven after the picture because I realized I wanted them done a little more). Stir every 5-10 minutes.

Cherry Vanilla Scones

Alaina — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:57:22 +0000

Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching and one taste of these and I knew they would make a perfect addition to a romantic breakfast in bed. We loved them! I made them with a couple of other dishes for Sunday brunch and the meal was proclaimed a big success by all four of my critics. I’m planning to post two additional recipes to add to your Valentine’s breakfast. Hope you enjoy!

These are best the first day but you can definitely enjoy them the next morning.

CHERRY VANILLA SCONES
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3 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. cold butter
1 c. vanilla yogurt or plain yogurt with 1 tsp. vanilla extract and 1 Tb. of agave nectar
1/4 c. milk
1 c. tart dried cherries, roughly chopped
2/3 c. vanilla chips or white chocolate chips

milk for brushing the top
sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and soda in a large bowl. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Combine yogurt and milk. Stir into the flour mixture until moistened. Gently knead in the cherries and vanilla chips.

Pat the dough about 1/2-3/4 inches thick. Cut into desired shaped and place on a baking sheet. Brush tops with additional milk and sprinkle with a little sugar.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Best served warm!

Grandma’s Molasses Crinkles

Alaina — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:21:35 +0000

This is perhaps one of my favorite cookies ever. It brings back many memories of family gatherings and shared meals. While I mostly remember my aunt and my mom making them, the recipe originated with my grandma and so I always think of her. I searched through her recipe box and found it written in her hand with a tiny note that this is a good recipe. Love that.

These are the perfect texture, the perfect combination of spices, perfectly sweet but not too sweet, and perfectly formed with “crinkles” on top. They are delicious warm or cooled. Stephanie even had these as favors at her wedding. Yes, I think it’s fair to say these are a family tradition.

Molasses Crinkles would be a great addition to your Superbowl Party (along with many of other appetizer and snack recipes!) but they would also be good just about any other day. Perfection.

GRANDMA’S MOLASSES CRINKLES
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3/4 c. shortening (trust me on this one)
1/4 c. molasses
1 c. sugar
1 egg
2 1/4 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream shortening, molasses, sugar, and egg together until fully combined and creamy. Add flour, soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Mix until fully combined.

Scoop dough and roll into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until crinkled on top and lightly golden. Makes about 3 dozen.

Grandma’s Lazy Bean Soup

Alaina — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:35:15 +0000

We really haven’t forgotten you. We’ve been getting back into the rhythm of life and haven’t been posting quite as frequently as we had hoped. Never fear, we still have several more of our Grandma’s recipes to share!

Today I made Lazy Bean Soup – it took me about 10 minutes to put together (besides soaking the beans) and then cooked in the crockpot. Simple, delicious, and healthy. Grandma was very interested in health and nutrition and spent time reading about it and planning meals.

This was not so much soup as it was beans. It was hearty and really good. If you want it to be soupier, add another 2-4 cups of water. made this with white beans (we called this “ketchup bean soup” growing up because we loved to add ketchup to it). This is fabulous served with cornbread.

GRANDMA’S LAZY BEAN SOUP
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1# soaked beans (I used white)
1 quart water (use 2-4 extra cups for a soupier soup)
ham bone
1 c. ham pieces
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. celery, chopped
1 med onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients and cook on low for 12 hours or high for 6 hours.

Grandma’s 5 Cup Salad

Alaina — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:33:45 +0000

First, thank you for your kind thoughts and comments. We had a long but beautiful weekend with our family – lots of tears, lots of laughter, and lots of memories. We have a great big, supportive family and it was truly wonderful to be together even for such a sad occasion. We miss her but we rejoice for her.

_______________________________________________________________________

A few years back, I was planning and hoping to compile a family cookbook and began collecting family recipes. I still hope to do that. Instead, we had the best kind of interruption and found out that #3 was on the way very quickly – surprise! We learned of our youngest in early July and he was born mid August. His adoption was finalized in November. Whirlwind. Sometimes I still think we are recovering and he is 3. My sweet Grandparents were some of the first people I called with the news of our eminent arrival. They were excited for us. I have pictures of my grandma holding him when he was maybe 4 or 6 weeks old. She loved babies and she got to see him quite a bit those first few months as we had 3 family weddings within 6 weeks.

Anyway, I was looking through the recipes she submitted – some were new to me and others were old standbys. This recipe is the latter. It’s quick, easy, and delicious. I most remember it coming to picnics – we are big on pitch-ins and picnics in our family. Oh and I must mention that one thing I really admired about my Grandma is that she regularly tried new recipes. A funny thing is that she sometimes apologized for her food which was, in fact, nearly always delicious. It was not fake modesty, it was genuine humility – she was definitely not a praise seeker.

So here is her 5 Cup Salad to kick off our time of tribute to one of our favorite cooks and one of our favorite people! I made it just as she wrote and chose to add pecans because I think that is mostly what she did. She really liked nuts. You could easily add both coconut and nuts but then it would be 6 Cup Salad or you could add 1/2 and 1/2 or just pick your favorite. Also, I used red grapes. I’m pretty sure this salad was served at the funeral dinner on Saturday or at least several like it.

GRANDMA’S 5 CUP SALAD

1 c. mandarin oranges, drained
1 c. pineapple chunks, drained
1 c. seedless grapes
1 c. coconut or nuts
1 c. sour cream

Mix and serve.

(P.S. I’ll add the printable link later – my computer is in the shop and I don’t have a pdf writer on my back up one.)

Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Doughnuts

Alaina — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:23:21 +0000

For Christmas, I received Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts: Secrets and Recipes for the Home Baker by Mark & Michael Klebeck with Jess Thomson – I think it might have been a not-so-subtle hint from my brother-in-law that doughnuts would be a good next step in the culinary world. I took the hint and excitedly obliged!

This book is awesome! It contains history, tips, recipes, and more for the famous doughnuts made by Seattle bakery Top Pot. My kids were more than a little excited to see a doughnut book in the mix of my Christmas books and my three-year-old immediately started picking recipes for me to make.

The pictures are beautiful and inspiring and the recipes are detailed and specific. It is thorough and even includes gluten-free doughnut recipes. The book also provides many glazes and icings so you can mix and match your doughnut and topping. Really I just can’t get enough of this book and it’s not helping my healthier eating January. So…I’m going to also give you a yummy reason to break those resolutions for just one day…or two…at a time (ha!).

If you like to cook and bake and enjoy trying new techniques, this book is definitely for you – go pick up a copy! It’s SO fun! I made the Pumpkin Old-Fashioned Doughnuts and the Sour Cream Old-Fashioned Doughnuts – they were both excellent and I can’t wait to try another flavor. Today, I will share one recipe from this great book and you go buy the book and get the rest – you won’t regret it and you will definitely want to make all of the different kinds! Oh and don’t foget to drop off one of your delicious doughnuts for me to try!

Seriously, these are SO GOOD! My family (parents, sister & bil, husband, kids, etc) LOVED them! I’m totally a sucker for pumpkin so these were the first ones I made and honestly, they exceeded my already high expectations. I followed the instructions exactly since I’ve never made doughnuts and they turned out picture-perfect.

PUMPKIN OLD-FASHIONED DOUGHNUTS
Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts: Secrets and Recipes for the Home Baker
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3 c. cake/soft-wheat flour, plus more for rolling and cutting
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. iodized salt
3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tb. shortening/vegetable lard, trans-fat-free preferred
2 large egg yolks
2/3 c. sour cream
1/2 c. canned pumpkin Canola oil, for frying

Pumpkin Glaze:

4 1/2 c./1 lb confectioners’/icing sugar, sifted
2 tsp. light corn/golden syrup
1/2 tsp. iodized salt
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. hot water

Serves 3 to 4

To make the doughnut dough: Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice together into a medium bowl, and set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the sugar and shortening/vegetable lard for 1 minute on low speed, until sandy. Add the egg yolks, then mix for 1 more minute on medium speed, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula if necessary, until the mixture is light colored and thick.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three separate additions, alternating with the sour cream and pumpkin, mixing until just combined on low speed and scraping the sides of the bowl each time. The dough will be sticky, like wet cookie/biscuit dough.

Transfer the dough to a clean bowl and refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap/cling film, for 45 minutes (or up to 24 hours).

Meanwhile, make the pumpkin glaze: Place the confectioners’/icing sugar, corn/golden syrup, salt, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin, and vanilla in the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the machine on medium speed, add the water in a slow, steady stream, and blend until all of the sugar has been incorporated, scraping the bowl a few times if necessary. Set aside.

Using a candy thermometer to measure the temperature, heat oil (at least 2 in deep) in a deep fryer, large pot, or high-sided frying pan to 325°F. Roll out the chilled dough on a generously floured counter or cutting board to 1/2 in thick, or about 8 inches in diameter, flouring the top of the dough and the rolling pin as necessary to prevent sticking. Cut into as many doughnuts and holes as possible, dipping the cutter into flour before each cut. Fold and gently reroll the dough to make extra holes (working with floured hands makes the dough less sticky), and cut again.

Shake any excess flour off the doughnuts before carefully adding them to the hot oil a few at a time, taking care not to crowd them. Once the doughnuts float, fry for 15 seconds, then gently flip them. Fry for 75 to 90 seconds, until golden brown and cracked, then flip and fry the first side again for 60 to 75 seconds, until golden. Transfer to a rack set over paper towels/absorbent paper.

While the doughnuts are still quite hot, dip the side with the deepest cracks on each into the warm Pumpkin Glaze. Let dry on cooling racks, glazed side up, for about 15 minutes.

My notes:

* This dough was not as sticky as I expected and was easy to work with – I did use regular all-purpose flour (sifted) but that isn’t as light as cake flour so that may have contributed to the less stickiness.
* Keeping the oil at a consistent heat (between 325-350) was sometimes challenging and I accidentally added a couple of donuts too early which made them take longer or cook too fast and made the end product not quite as good but nobody complained and there were none left!
* I kept the glaze warm (which makes glazing easier) on my warming burner on the stove (low-medium).
* These were best the first day but still quite excellent the next day.
* I was not compensated in any way for this review except for getting to share and enjoy delicious, homemade doughnuts.