Recipes

[ChiliPepper]

Good Morning Kitchenettes, very busy day but I just wanted to pop in and say hello and Happy Easter my Friends! Enjoy your day!

[mustang66lady]

Hello ChiliPepper and Kitchenettes!

Hope you all had a great day with your family and friends. We had a good dinner with ours but must admit I really missed some family and friends who used to attend but have passed on. It just doesn't seem that long ago they were at the table with us.

The Cards are winning the ball game so far but it is terribly early and anything can happen but sure am glad to see the ""Boys of Summer"" back.

Everyone have a blessed evening and peaceful week ahead.

[RespectLife]

Hello Friends!

I hope you all had a very BLESSED Easter! Sadly, I have been sicker than a dog....and had to stay very far from my family so they didn't catch it.

DH felt very guilty for sharing his 'disease' with me...and cooked most of the meal so I didn't contaminate anything! LOL I did wear gloves when I had to 'take over' for a sec.

The family said it was a delicious dinner that I could barely eat and couldn't really taste anyhow. Sniff, sniff. (Insert Pity Party here please! LOL) I made it back to work today.

Mustang...DH made the corn casserole and really liked it! He passed on the cayenne even though I tried to get him to add a pinch for flavor. He is such a wimp when it comes to anything he thinks is hot! Next time he said he would add Smoked Paprika! Was wondering...it had a bit of a top layer to it after smoking. Is that normal or did he mess something up? Seems like maybe the cheese rose to the top and made a firm 'skin'? Just wondering if that was to be expected.

Chili...Congrats on Syracuse winning the SnowBoard Award again this year! hee hee..you guys beat us for the most snow fall this winter again....12 out of 13 years goes to Syracuse!

[mustang66lady]

Hi Respect,

I'm so very sorry you ended up sick for your holiday. I hope everyone else enjoyed it; I'm sure they did.

Smoked paprika would be fine in the casserole, even a couple shakes of hot sauce what ever you and he are used to. There are a couple of reasons for the 'skin" on top of your casserole; it may have been drier, perhaps it could have used another splash of milk, maybe more moisture was needed in the smoker, who knows. Ours was a little thicker than usual, too and I wondered if it was because DH put it in the smoker before we went to church on a lower setting so we ended up cooking it a little longer. Maybe he should have covered the top when we came home with foil or stirred some more milk in it. Luckily this is cooking and adjustments can be made-not like in baking where you depend on exact measurements in order for the chemistry to cause the reaction needed to produce your creation! We have made this many times and the consistency should be like creamy mac and cheese; ours was too dry this time. Hope you DH doesn't give up; may be your smoker just smokes a little different than ours. He may have to adjust the recipe according to how your smoker cooks to get the end result.

I'm glad we weren't in the "snow contest" with you all. But as I write this, we are in the storm contest, with golfball size hail falling not far from where I live. We are getting severe lightening and rain at present and have predictions for the same for the next 72 hours with Thursday storms to be the worst. Not looking forward to this.....! We may be floating down the Mississippi River by the time this is over!

[RespectLife]

Oh boy...floating down the river would not be good. We are still gray and cold but no bad storms. Rain for the next 3 days though...but I am sure not as bad as in your neck of the woods! Stay Safe!!!

Our corn casserole was very creamy. I only had a 10" cast iron skillet so I didn't put all the corn in. In hindsight...I could have. We had plenty of creamy going on. We put it in the smoker a little higher than your DH said. Mine wanted to put the ham in at the same time (so he set it at 200 instead of 180, I think) Maybe the slightly higher temp? I was wondering if it was the American cheese that made the 'skin'. I have never used American or Velvetta in recipes before. It was delish none the less. The taste was everything we were hoping for. He just wanted me to ask you since he was the one who actually made it! I think covering it might be a good idea though...thanks.

[ChiliPepper]

Hi Respect, Mustang & Kitchenettes, seems like things have been a little crazy & I haven't had much time to post. I'm glad to hear everyone had a nice Easter.

Respect, so sorry to hear you are not feeling well. That stinks any day much less a holiday. I hope you are on the mend & feeling better. Mmmmffffppppssslll....you can keep that award! I am so sick of snow. I have to say though that I am REALLY going to appreciate Spring much more this year! I wanted to start digging up my garden Monday (it was sort of nice-ish) & then realized I would need a row boat & snow shovel to get to it. Slow down Chili!

Mustang, WOW - sounds like you have some crazy weather your way! I love lightning storms but yours sound out of control. I'll be praying for you & your family - especially Thursday. Be safe my Friend!

I thought about making the corn casserole Sunday but didn't end up doing it. I get all excited & plan all these things & then realize that we don't need all this food - not at once anyways! Geeez, you'd think I had cooked for an Army at some point! So I still plan to make it another time. I don't have a smoker, I'll do it in the oven.

[RespectLife]

Me too, Chili....cook for an army...still! I am pretty sure it is in my Italian handbook that I am required to have way too much food all the time!

I literally have only 7 for any holiday...and one is borrowed! LOL Yet, I manage to have 27 different things to eat on the table!

My kids are not much into cooking and my mom is unable to cook at all...so the leftovers are WELL used and appreciated. But the table sure looks a bit silly!! I just love to make all our favorites and also try new recipes! It is the only time I can cook up a storm.

You'll like mustang's corn casserole...the oven will work just fine. DH was eating it right off the stovetop before it even made it to the smoker.

I'd toss in some Smoked Paprika if you have any to give it that smoker flavor. I could put that spice in anything!!

[mustang66lady]

Hi Kitchenettes,

Just thought I would check in; trying to not focus on the storm going on. Some areas around St. Louis had grapefruit size hail today. We have quite the lightening storm going on now; have had it for the last 15-20 minutes and is predicted it will last at least that much longer. It will be a treacherous 24 hours for this entire area and the Midwest. I have my flameless candles going as well as some real candles and the doggies are inside. We are ready to retreat to the basement if things get worse.

Respect,

All I can think of why your casserole had a "skin" would be because your DH cooked it at a higher temp. I think ours was a little dry because mine cooked it lower but longer. Not sure as I don't mess with the smoker-it's DH's domain! Glad you liked it none the less! I hope you are feeling a lot better by now, too.

ChiliPepper,

Your casserole will work in the oven; it just won't have quite the smoky taste as it would if cooked it in a smoker. You could add a shake or two of liquid smoke to the cheese sauce to give it a little more of a smoky taste, too.

I, too cook for an army at holidays! I don't get to cook much any other time and everyone wants their favorites and I want to try a new dish or two, and what can you say?! I used to have 30-35 for holiday dinners and now we are down to about 12-almost seems empty! LOL! I did manage to gear down some and while we had plenty of ham left over, it at least freezes well. Now if DH were home to finish off that pecan pie......

Well the storm sounds like it is moving east some; don't seem to notice as much activity to the west of us. I think it will be a long 24 hours though. Hope you all sleep well and remain safe.

[Writer with Flair]

Mustang66Lady and RespectLife,

I thought you might want to know how Louis and Jac's Tante Anna cake turned out.

I ended up making three batches for my family to enjoy and to give away to friends for Easter. There were two smaller cakes and lots of cupcakes.

Since the lemons I bought did not have as strong a lemon flavor as I wanted, I ended up adding some lemon extract to the batter. The cakes/cupcakes tasted delicious and were a beautiful yellow color.

The first batch, I did the separation of egg whites from the yolks thing (Mix the yolks into the batter first, whip the egg whites and fold into the batter at the end, etc.). I just threw the whole egg into the second two batches, as in a regular cake mix recipe. I could not tell much difference by doing this in the texture or height of the cakes/cupcakes. (Lazy cook strikes again!)

For the cakes, I made a glaze out of confectioner's sugar, lemon extract, and water and drizzled it over the top of the cake and let it run down the sides. I did not use a recipe. I just mixed things up until they looked and tasted "right."

I made a buttercream frosting for the cupcakes using the recipe from the Spice Islands Pure Lemon Extract box. It was really yummy. Here is the recipe, if you want it.

Lemon Frosting
Ingredients
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon extract
2 to 3 tsp milk

Directions
Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer until frosting is the desired consistency.

Did anyone make the Baklava Cheesecake yet?I haven't read this thread for a while. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and Passover.

[mustang66lady]

Writer with Flair,

Thank you for taking time to tell us about your Tante Anna cake! It sounds like it was lovely and very spring like. Hope you all had a blessed holiday. Will have to put this on my ever growing list of things to try.

I have not made the baklava cheesecake but Respect did and boy, does it sound wonderful. I'm sure she will tell you about it! Have a peaceful week, and thanks again for letting us know how your dessert turned out and for the frosting recipe. How many cupcakes did you end up getting out of the recipe, and by "smaller cakes" - approx. what size cakes did you bake?