March To April 2013 Printable Recipes
Guest Chefs Whitney Bremner and Will Reddig
Whitney’s Recipe
Spring Asparagus and Pancetta Fettuccini
Ingredients:
150g thick cut pancetta, cut into small chunks (you may need to remove outer paper and string), 1lb asparagus, cut into 1 inch chunks, 1lb crimini mushrooms, sliced, 375g whole wheat fettuccini (or linguini), ¼ medium red onion, diced, 1 clove garlic, minced or grated, ½ cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated, salt to taste, fresh ground pepper (lots!)
4 Tbsp. butter
Directions:
1. In a small sauté pan on medium high heat, sauté pancetta until crisp. Remove from pan, drain on paper towels and set aside.
2. In another larger sauté pan, heat 1 Tbsp. of butter. Add in garlic, onion, and mushrooms. Sauté until slightly softened.
3. Add asparagus to same pan and continue to sauté until asparagus has become softened, but still somewhat crisp to the bite (al dente).
4. Meanwhile, in large pot, boil 4 litres of water with 1 Tbsp. of salt. Boil pasta for about 8 minutes or until al dente. Drain and pour back into pot.
5. Toss in remaining butter, salt, pepper, and Parmesan (reserve some to top your pasta with).
6. Serve pasta topped with asparagus mixture and pancetta (alternately you can stir the asparagus mixture right into the pasta). Garnish with remaining Parmesan.
Willa’s Recipe
Clodhoppers - Gluten Free
Ingredients:
4 cups Gluten Free Chex - Honey Nut Cereal, 1 cup roasted cashews,
2 cups white chocolate wafers
Directions:
Mix together cereal and nuts. Melt white chocolate, stirring frequently. Pour chocolate over cereal and nuts, mix quickly. Spread on cookie sheet. When hardened, break up into small pieces.
Linda’s Recipes
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins – Company’s Coming
Ingredients:
1¾ cups flour, ½ cup sugar, 1 tbsp. baking powder, ½ tsp. salt, ½ cup chocolate chips, 1 egg, ¼ cup oil, ¼ milk, 1 cup bananas (3 medium, smashed)
Directions:
Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips into a large bowl. Make a well in center. Beat egg in small bowl until frothy. Mix in oil, milk and bananas. Pour into well. Stir only to moisten. Batter will be lumpy. Fill greased muffin cups ¾ full. Bake in 400°F oven for 20-25 minutes.
Spinach Mac 'n Cheese (from a magazine)
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. butter, 2 tbsp. flour, 1 tsp. dry ground mustard, 2 cups milk, 1½ cups shredded cheddar cheese, 2 cups macaroni, 1 cup baby spinach, chopped, 1 large egg white,
1 tbsp. dry bread crumbs
Directions:
Cook macaroni and drain. In large microwave-safe bowl microwave butter 20 sec. or until melted. Whisk in flour and mustard. Microwave 20 seconds or until bubbles form; slowly whisk in milk. Continue heating for 2 minutes or until thickened, stirring once, stir in cheddar cheese until blended. Stir in cooked macaroni, spinach and egg white into cheese mixture until combined. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Pour into greased casserole dish. Bake at 400°F for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly and golden. This recipe can be divided into 12 greased muffin cups and baked for 15 minutes for individual servings.
Hash Brown Casserole - www.allrecipes.com
Ingredients:
1½ pounds (approx. ¾ of a 1 kg. bag) hash browns, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, ¾ cup sour cream, ¼ cup chopped onion, ¼ margarine, melted
Topping: 1½ cups corn flakes, crushed, 2 tbsp. melted margarine
Directions:
Lightly grease a 2 quart glass baking dish. In large bowl combine all ingredients; mix well. Spread into prepared baking dish. In a small bowl stir together the topping ingredients. Spread topping evenly over hash browns. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes or until hash browns are tender.
Note: I used the small cubed hash browns, and omitted the ¼ cup melted butter. I used Special K instead of Corn Flakes.
Peanut Butter Cookies - my old school recipe
Ingredients:
3/8 cup white sugar, 3/8 cup brown sugar, ½ cup margarine, ½ cup peanut butter,
1 egg, 1 cup flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, pinch of salt
Directions:
Cream margarine and peanut butter together; add both sugars and well beaten egg. Sift flour, baking soda and salt together. Add to creamed mixture. Mix well. Take a teaspoon full of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten lightly with a fork. Leave at least 2" between cookies. Bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned remove from cookie sheet after 3 minutes.
Nancy’s Recipes
Nancy’s Texas BBQ - This is our own “Diners, Drive Inns and Dives” experience. On our latest travels we came upon this railroad car restaurant in Willcox Arizona and our eyes bugged out after receiving the waitress’s recommendation of a BBQ brisket served over a baked potato with butter, sour cream, and cheese. The following is my version since we do not have one of those giant smokers; and we normally do not eat a 1 lb. potato each! In the photo I served with the potato pulled beef pot roast (follow the recipe for Nancy’s Pulled Pork July 2011) mayonnaise coleslaw, home-made baked beans (November 2009), and cornmeal muffins; recipe below.
Ingredients:
1 large netted gem per person, prepared pulled beef or pork 6-8 oz depending on the appetite, additional heated favourite BBQ sauce, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and butter
Directions:
Bake potatoes until tender. Have heated pulled beef and warm BBQ sauce on hand to serve when potatoes are done. Sometimes netted gems take 1.5 hours at 350°F or cook first in the microwave; remember to make only one slice evenly down the middle to release steam, and then finish baking in the oven. When ready to serve split potatoes down the middle open up and add some butter, ladle heated beef and additional sauce on top of the potato. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and top with sour cream serve
Nancy’s Note: After baking I double stuffed my potatoes (remove white meat from potato, mash with butter and sour cream stuff back into the shell) then reheated the potato until hot 20 minutes or so then added the meat and cheese. I could’ve and probably would add more sauce, but they were good as is.
Nancy’s Best Cornmeal Muffins These are very light and moist; my own revisions to a standard recipe.
Ingredients:
¾ cup cornmeal, 1/3 cup of fat (butter or margarine), 2 cups milk or buttermilk
Directions:
In a medium saucepan heat liquid at medium then add cornmeal. Cook slowly until thick and creamy; stirring often for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Beat egg then slowly beat into warm cornmeal mixture.
Ingredients:
1 cup flour, 1 tbsp. baking powder or if using sour milk (buttermilk), add 2 tsp. baking powder & 1 tsp. baking soda, 1/3 cup sugar
Directions:
Mix all the dry ingredients well. Add the cornmeal mixture; stir until well mixed together. fill greased muffin tins ¾ full. Bake at 400°F for about 20 minutes testing with a pick for doneness. Makes 6 giant muffins or 12 smaller muffins.
Chicken And Rosemary Dumplings Soup
Ingredients Soup:
4 cups chicken broth, 3 cups water, 1 lb. chicken drumsticks, 1 lb. chicken breasts, 2 thyme sprigs, 2 tsp. olive oil, 1 ½ cup diced carrots (about 2 large), 1 ½ cups chopped celery, 1 cup diced onion, 2 garlic cloves, minced, ½ tsp. salt, ¼ cup flour, ¼ cup water
Ingredients Dumplings:
1 ¼ cup flour, 1 tbsp. fresh chopped Rosemary or ½ tsp. dried Rosemary crushed, 2 tsp. baking powder, ¼ tsp. salt, 2 tbsp. butter or shortening, ½ cup buttermilk, 1 egg, freshly ground pepper
Directions Soup:
Combine first 5 ingredients in a large soup pot over medium high heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove pan from heat. Remove chicken pieces from broth and cool slightly. Strain broth through a sieve and discard solids. (You don’t need to do this if you used 2 lbs of chicken drumsticks). Remove chicken from bones and chop into bite-sized pieces; set aside for later.
Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic; sauté for 6 minutes or until onion is tender. Add reserved broth mixture, ½ tsp. salt and simmer 10 minutes. Discard thyme sprigs. Keep warm.
Directions Dumplings:
Combine the flour, rosemary, baking powder, and ¼ tsp. salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter or shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal. In a measuring cup add buttermilk then egg and whisk. Add liquids to the flour mixture stirring until combined.
Add chicken to broth and bring up to a simmer. Add the water and flour mixture and stir until soup is thickened. Make sure the soup is simmering and hot but not boiling. Add dumplings to the mixture 1 tbsp. at a time. Cover and cook until done; 7-14 minutes.
Nancy’s Note: I had a bit of a problem with the dumplings because the soup was not hot enough and it took quite a while for them to cook. Turning the soup up slightly didn’t help matters as the soup started to bubble which broke up the bottom of the dumpling. Two things I recommend. Add more flour to the dough so that it is drier and make sure the soup is hotter and the best bet is to put into a wider shallower pan with only two inches of soup and cook separately. However they turned out the dumplings and soup were very tasty
Date Scones (Mum’s Version of Whitney’s)
Ingredients:
2-cup flour, 1 cup oatmeal, 1 ½ tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. baking soda, ½ tsp. cinnamon, ½ cup or 4 oz. margarine or butter, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 tbsp. honey, ½ cup buttermilk, 1 cup chopped dates plumped with ¾ cup water reserved for the scones
Directions:
Chop the dates and place in a small bowl add ¾ cup boiling water; let rest. Mix together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a bowl. Cut in the butter or margarine until the flour mixture is like coarse meal.
In another bowl add buttermilk, water drained from the dates, and vanilla. Mix well and pour into the flour mixture. Mix well and add dates. Scrap out onto a slightly floured surface. Pat dough so that it is about 1 inch thick cut into circles like muffins or leave in a big round. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 400°F for 20 minutes.
Quilters Recipes
Ann’s Frozen Strawberry Pie - a family favourite!
Ingredients:
A generous 1 cup mashed strawberries (you can cut up frozen berries and use a potato masher), 1 unbeaten egg white, ½ cup sugar, 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
Directions:
Make a regular Graham crust and use a 9-inch glass pan. Beat together strawberries, egg white, sugar, and lemon juice at high speed until very thick. Depending on your mixer, this could take 8-10 minutes. Beat ½ cup whipping cream and fold it gently into the strawberry mixture. Place in freezer. To serve, take out of the freezer about 10 minutes beforehand.
Note: I always use frozen strawberries. I usually double this recipe and use a 9" x 13" inch glass pan.
Ann’s Folk Festival Cookies
Ingredients:
¾ cup butter, ¾ cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup white sugar, 2 large eggs, 1/3 cup water,
1 teaspoon vanilla, 1¾ cups flour, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1¼ cups rolled oats, ½ cup flax seeds (I used ground seeds), ¼ cup unsalted sunflower seeds,
1¼ cups small chocolate chips (I get the tiny ones at Superstore), ½ cups unsweetened shredded coconut,
Directions:
Mix butter and both sugars until incorporated. Add eggs, water and vanilla. Stir until mixed. Add all the dry ingredients. The dough will be sticky and soft. Chill for 30 minutes. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto greased cookie sheet. (I used parchment paper instead of greasing the sheet). Press each cookie flat. Bake in 350°F oven for 12-15 minutes. Makes about 5 dozen cookies. Mine were ready at the 12-minute mark.
Suzanne's Roasted Walnut Squash Cake - Canadian Living
Ingredients:
Cake:
1 cup walnuts, chopped, 1 squash (1 ¾ lb.), 3 eggs, 1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar, packed, 1 cup vegetable oil, 2 ½ cups flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1 ½ tsp. cinnamon,
1 tsp. baking soda, ½ tsp. ground ginger, ½ tsp. salt, ¼ tsp. ground cloves, ¼ tsp. nutmeg
Cream Cheese Icing:
1 pkg. cream cheese, softened, ¼ cup butter, softened, ½ cup brown sugar, packed,
1 tsp. grated orange rind
Directions:
Cake: On baking sheet, toast walnuts at 350ºF until fragrant or about 8 minutes. Let cool and set aside. Halve and seed squash; roast, cut side down, on foil-lined baking sheet at 425º F until tender when pierced with fork, 30-60 minutes. Let cool. Scoop out flesh; puree in food processor to make 2 cups.
In large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar and oil until smooth. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, salt, cloves and nutmeg; stir into egg mixture alternately with squash, making 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of squash. Fold in walnuts. Scrape into parchment paper-lined 13” x 9” metal cake pan. Bake at 350ºF until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool on rack for 15 minutes. Let cool completely.
Icing: In bowl, beat cream cheese with butter until smooth; beat in sugar and orange rind until smooth. Spread over top of cake.
Glenys' Walnut Bundt Cake - from The Recipes Only Cookbook by Carroll Allen
Ingredients:
½ cup sugar, 1 cup oil, 3 eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla, 2 cups flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. grated nutmeg, 1 tsp. allspice, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 cup buttermilk, 1 cup chopped walnuts, 2 cups diced, peeled apples