Jarring Peach Jam = Simple and Delicious

What could you want more on a cold winter morning but to open up a jar of delicious peach jam which was jarred in August? Peaches have been plentiful and cheap recently, the perfect storm for making peach jam. I like to give them as Christmas presents to teachers, bus drivers, friends and family members. This is basically the Ball recipe only I substitute the 3/4 c. water with 3/4 c. brandy and cut back on the amount of sugar. The alcohol cooks off leaving a wonderful flavor to the jam.

Ingredients:

6-7 medium peaches, peeled and chopped into tiny pieces

3 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 c. brandy

1 pkg. Ball pectin (Buy 2 boxes just in case you need to add a little more.)

1 T lemon

1 T butter

Method:

Prepare canning jars and lids in water bath. I just use a large pot and lay the jars down. (I also boil the scoop portion of my ladle) Add water and bring to a boil. Then I  turn the heat off and let them sit in the hot water until I am ready to jar.

Combine all ingredients and bring to slow boil. Place a plate in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Once your jam mixture comes to a boil, turn off the heat. Take the cold plate from the freezer and spoon a small amount of the jam mixture onto the plate and wait about 1 minute. The mixture should gel so that when you tip the plate, the jam barely moves. If it is still runny you will need to add in more pectin.

Remove one jar from hot water and place on a folded paper towel. Carefully pick up your ladle and begin to spoon the jam mixture into the jar. Fill until the jar is almost full leaving a 1/4 to an 1/8 inch gap from the top. Clean the threads of any drips. Remove a lid from the hot water and place on top. Screw on the ring and make sure it is tight. (Ring does not need to be boiled.) Wipe down the jar and let sit until you hear a "ping" and the circle on the top is sucked in, concave, this means you have a seal and you can store the jars on the shelf.

This recipe yields 6 half pint jars.

Piroshki - A Russian/Kazakh Dish

This is my daughter's absolute favorite dish! So here she demonstrates how to make these delicious little pockets. They are a simple dough filled with ground meat and several different herbs. This is actually a Kazakh peasant food made with lots of love, and I have to say that Gracie is a natural at putting these little pockets together!!!

Ingredients:

For Meat Filling

1 lb of ground meat, any kind

2-3 cloves of garlic minced

1 medium onion, chopped

Fresh dill chopped, or 1 T dried

1 T dried marjoram

1 T dried mint

1 T dried Thyme

Salt and pepper

1 T butter for sauteing

For Dough

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 egg

Approximately1/2-3/4 cup milk

salt

2-3 more T. butter for sauteing

Method:
Melt butter in a frying pan and then add the garlic and onion, sauteing until onion is transparent, be careful not to burn the garlic. Add the ground meat and brown. Add the next 4 ingredients plus the salt and pepper. Let the meat mixture cool completely before assembling the piroshki.

Next, in a large bowl, add the flour, egg, milk and salt and mix together. You may need to add more flour to the dough to prevent it from becoming too sticky. You don't want the dough sticky or you will not be able to work with it properly.

Roll out the dough on a clean floured surface, again you may want to add more flour to prevent dough from sticking. Your dough should be about 1/4 of an inch thick. Then using a round cutter or a glass, press into the dough and pull out the circular shapes. Cover them with more flour and roll them out into and oblong shape.

Then add 2-3 tsp. of the meat mixture to the center of your dough.

Now using your finger with a little bit of water, trace the outer perimeter of the dough with the water. This is to ensure a good seal on the pocket.

Then carefully fold the dough in half, pulling one side over the meat, and press edges to seal. Place on a well floured surface and repeat the process until all the meat is used.

Melt butter in frying pan and add the doughy pockets to the pan.

Fry in pan until the dough becomes golden in color. Carefully remove and serve or keep in a warm oven until ready to serve.

These are great alone or served with a dollop of sour cream. The dough recipe here can also be used to make the Eastern European pirogi.

Enjoy!!!

Restaraunt Review

Calhoun's Restaurant
1004 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738-3102
(865) 436-4100

While on vacation in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, my family dined at a local restaurant by the name of Calhoun's. Calhoun's was a recommendation by one of the locals and how could we possibly go wrong with that?

The restaurant is a large establishment and upon first entering the atmosphere resembles that of an upscale diner, complete with booth seating. Our waitress was very pleasant and took our drink orders along with an order of fried green tomatoes. I was a little skeptical of the tomatoes but when they hit the table they were gone in a flash. They were served with the most amazing mustard sauce, delicious. When my drink came it was brought over by the bartender himself. He wanted to make sure the cucumber martini I ordered was to my liking…and wow was it!! I have to say that it was the best martini I had ever tasted.

My husband and I ordered the House Ale steak which is a 10 oz sirloin steak marinated in olive oil, mustard, garlic, Calhoun's own Cherokee Red Ale and topped with Worcestershire butter. When it was brought to the table our waitress waited until we cut into our meat to make sure the meat was cooked properly and again to our liking. Both of our steaks were grilled to perfection.  The meat melted in our mouths and the flavor was unbelievable. One of my side orders was Spinach Maria which is creamed spinach made with 5 different cheeses, again another triumph for Calhoun's.

As for the kids’ meals, Michael’s macaroni and cheese was devoured by the old king of mac and cheese and Grace had the kid’s meal of ribs which was a very generous portion.

We all left very pleased with our meals and very full. And the best part was that our bill came to a grand total of $86.53. That also included the kids’ drinks and my husband’s handcrafted brew of Cherokee Red Ale.

It was a very family friendly dining experience and I would strongly recommend Calhoun's if you are in Gatlinburg Tennessee. The service, price and food are all worthy of all 5 stars from me, and I am not very easily impressed!

My Rating ***** out of 5

Fresh Cucumber Martini

I tried this for the first time while on vacation last week and fell in love with the flavor of this martini. It is very light and refreshing and much to my surprise, I was able to find the Cucumber Lime vodka at my local liquor store!

Ingredients:

1/3 cucumber peeled and with seeds removed

3 T Sugar syrup*

2 shots of Rain's Organic Cucumber Lime Vodka

The Juice of one lime

2 basil leaves, chopped

3 - 4 mint leaves, chopped

Method:

In blender combine all ingredients. Pour liquid through strainer into cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and pour into martini glass. Garnish with cucumber slices and a little of the chopped mint and basil.

* Sugar syrup is simply granulated sugar mixed with a small amount of water and then heated through. This is so the sugar is already dissolved and in a liquid form.

XO 

Low - Carb Vegetable Lasagna

This recipe is the low-carb version of lasagna because I used baked eggplant as my noodles. Actually it was so good that both my 8 and 6 year olds had no problems eating all of their vegetables!

 

 

  

Servings Size

• 
  

Ingredients:

Noodles
2 large eggplants, peeled, sliced lengthwise into 1/4 inch noodle-like strips
cooking spray (olive oil spray is best)
salt and pepper

 

Meat Sauce
2 lbs of ground turkey, chicken or turkey sausage
2 T olive oil
2 onions, chopped

3 garlic cloves chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1 (16 ounce) package sliced mushrooms

2 tablespoons Italian seasoning (or mix of oregano, basil and thyme)

salt and pepper

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach

1 (28 ounce) can tomato puree

1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes

Cheese Mixture:

2 eggs

2 c. part-skim ricotta cheese

6 scallions chopped

3 c. mozzarella cheese

1/2 c.Parmesan cheese

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray cookie sheet, arrange eggplant slices and season with salt and pepper and cook slices 5 minutes on each side. Reduce oven heat to 375 degrees.

Brown meat, onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes. Then add red pepper and mushrooms, and cook 5 more minutes. Add spinach, tomatoes, spices and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

In the meantime blend ricotta, egg and onion mixture.

Assembly:

Spread 1/3 of meat sauce in bottom of 9? x 13? glass pan.

Layer ½ eggplant slices, ½ ricotta, 1/3 mozzarella and parmesan.

Repeat.

Add last layer of sauce, then mozzarella and parmesan on top.

Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.

Remove foil and bake or broil another 5-10 minutes until cheese is browned.

 Let it rest 10 minutes before slicing, if you can wait that long!

Peach Cobbler

Nothing says summer more to me than peaches. Peach jams, pies, peaches with cream and sugar, and of course peach cobbler. I think cobbler is one of the simplest was to enjoy this wonderful fruit. I like my cobbler warm with either vanilla or butter pecan ice cream…delicious!!!

Ingredients:

6 peaches pealed and sliced

4 T superfine sugar

1/2 T lemon juice

1 1/2 T cornstarch

1/2 tsp. almond or vanilla extract

1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. superfine sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

6 T of buter, diced

5 T milk

Method:

Mix sliced peaches with the next four ingredients and then place in a 9 inch square baking dish and bake in the oven set at 425 degrees F. Bake for 20 minutes.

In the meantime sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and all but 2 T of the sugar. The add the butter pieces and with either a pastry blender or 2 forks, cut the butter into the flour and keep doing so until the mixture looks like small peas. Then in a separate small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk. Pour this mixture into the flour mixture and with a fork stir until a soft sticky dough forms.

Remove the peaches from the oven when they are done baking and then from a tablespoon, drop spoonfuls of dough onto the top of the peaches. Sprinkle the rest of the sugar over the top of the cobbler. Return to oven and bake another 15-20 minutes or until the topping is firm and golden in color.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 6-8

Coq Au Vin

Since yesterday was Bastille Day I decided to celebrate by making this all time favorite French dish. The recipe is fairly easy and cook time is just about an hour. There's lots of flavor from the wine, brandy and herbs which are used to create this dish. And of course the little flambe action adds  excitement to the whole process of making Co Au Vin.

Ingredients:

6 T butter

3 T olive oil

3-4lbs chicken thighs and legs

4 oz smoked pork (bacon, pancetta) cut into small strips

5 oz pearl onions peeled but left whole

6 oz cremini mushrooms halved or quartered depending on the size

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 c brandy

1 1/4c. red wine

1 3/4 c. chicken broth

1 bouquet garni*

salt and pepper

3 T flour

Method:

In a flame proof pan, brown chicken pieces in 3 T of butter an 3 T of the olive oil for about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and add the bacon, pearl onions, mushrooms and garlic to the pan. **Pour the brandy over top and ignite immediately with a long match or torch. Let the flames diminish before adding the wine, broth and bouquet garni, salt and pepper and return to stove top. Heat to a soft boil and then reduce heat and let simmer for 45-50 minutes or until the chicken has become tender. Meanwhile in a small bowl add the other 3 T of butter and the flour, mash together and set aside.

When the chicken is done cooking remove from the pan and add the flour butter mixture in a little at a time stirring continually...this will thicken the sauce. Bring back to a boil and return the chicken to the pan. Serve immediately and garnish with bay leaves. You can serve it oby itself or over noodles or rice.

*Bouquet Garni...typically I will tie fresh thyme and parsley together and add a bay leaf or two to the pan.

**Flambeing is believed to add a richness to the food by chemically changing the food's composition. Don't use anything more that 80 proof or 40% alcohol for this process.

Classic Whoopie Pies

The other day my husband handed me a recipe he had cut out of the Sunday newspaper...he's never done something like this before...and it was a recipe for Whoppie Pies. "Can you make these?" he asked very politely and of course I agreed! So yesterday I decided to make them with Michael and Grace and they were a big hit with both husband and kids.

Ingredients:

(For the pies)

1 12/3 c. of all purpose flour

2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 T. unsalted butter at room temp

4 T of vegetable shortening

1 c. dark brown sugar packed

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 c. milk

(For the Marshmallow filling)

1 1/2 c. marshmallow fluff

1 1/2 c. shortening

1 c. confectioner's sugar

1 T vanilla extract.

Method:

To make the pies...

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In large bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and set aside. In the work bowl of a standard mixer or in a bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the butter, the shortening and the brown sugar on a low setting until combined then increase setting to medium and beat for 3 more minutes. (If using a standard mixer, use the paddle attachment to blend ingredients.) Then add the egg and vanilla and beat 2 minutes. Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk and beat until blended then repeat with the other half of milk and flour.

Using a tablespoon drop batter onto the parchment paper spacing them at 2 inches apart. Bake in the center of your heated oven one sheet at a time for approximately 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the sheet and then remove from sheet and let cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the filling...

In a medium bowl beat the fluff and shortening until blended and then add the vanilla and sugar and beat until fluffy. Once the pies are cooled, place a dollop of the marshmallow mixture between to pies like a sandwich. Repeat with remaining pies and enjoy!

Surprisingly each pie is only 250 calories...but be careful...it's hard to eat only one!!!

Recipe courtesy of Parade Magazine

Barb's Baked Picnic Chicken

OK...we are talking super easy and packed with flavor!!! Typically I use thighs and legs for this recipe but you can easily use breast meat too. The creamy dressing helps to seal in the meat's juices. Great for toting to any outdoor party!

Ingredients:

6-8 pieces of chicken, skin removed, rinsed and patted dry

Any thick salad dressing like Ranch, Creamy Italian, Creamy Ceaser and such

1 cup Italian style bread crumbs, low sodium

1/2 package of Good Season's Zesty Italian dry mix

Cooking spray

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Mix dry dressing mix with the bread crumbs, then dredge the chicken into the creamy dressing followed by dredging it in the bread crumb mix. Place on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes. It's that easy!!

Patriotic Dessert Squares

Raspberries, blueberries and a little cream cheese make up the red, white and blue color scheme for this dessert. All sitting on a cookie like bottom. My mom always requested this for any summer backyard barbecue because it was one of her favorites. I haven't made it in a while but this year I decided to dust off the old recipe and make for this 4th of July!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour

3/4 c packed brown sugar

3/4 c butter

1 pt fresh blueberries

8 oz pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme

8 0z container of frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 1/2 pts. fresh raspberries

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/4 c. cornstarch

2 cups water

1 (3 oz) pkg. raspberry flavored gelatin

Method:

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Blend together the flour and brown sugar and then using either a pastry blender or fork, cut into the butter until the mixture resembles that of coarse crumbs. Spread flour mixture out onto a 15 X 10 X 1 inch baking sheet and press until the surface of the pan is covered. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Sprinkle blueberries on cooled crust. In a large bowl, beat together the softened cream cheese and vanilla until fluffy. Add the marshmallow creme and beat again. Fold in the defrosted whipped cream, blend by hand, and then spread over the blueberries. Refrigerate for one hour.

In the meantime, in a medium sized pot, add the sugar, cornstarch and water and heat. Cook until mixture thickens and becomes more clear than opaque. Add the raspberry flavored gelatin and mix. Set aside and let cool for about 20-30 minutes.

Remove tray from the refrigerator and place the raspberries on top of the now cold cream cheese mixture. Spoon the cooled gelatin mixture over top of the raspberries and then refrigerate again for one hour.

Cut into desired square sizes and serve.