Cooking - for a new lifestyle (Our Test Kitchen)

10 ounces pre-washed baby spinach 2 slices bacon, finely chopped 3 ounces Canadian bacon, finely chopped (I just used 2 more slices of bacon) 2 tsp olive oil 1/2 red onion, sliced (1 cup) 1 pound button mushrooms, coarsely chopped 1 cup apple cider 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 tsp Dijon mustard salt and pepper Place spinach into a large bowl.  Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat for about 4 minutes, or until it is just crispy.  Add Canadian bacon to the skillet and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring frequently.  Remove meat from pan and place on a plate lined with paper towels.  Drain any remaining fat from the skillet.  Add olive oil and onions to the skillet and cook for about 2 minutes, or until onions soften slightly.  Add mushrooms to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 more minutes.  Put onions and mushrooms on top of the spinach.  Add apple cider and vinegar to the skillet and turn the heat up to medium-high.  Stir ...

2 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 cup butter 3/4 cup brown sugar 2 eggs, beaten 2-1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly grease a 9x5" loaf pan.  In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.  In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar.  Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended.  Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten.  Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.  Bake in preheated oven for 60-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into centre of the load comes out clean.  Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Serves 8 Crust: 1 cup graham cracker crumbs 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly 1/4 tsp ground ginger Filling: 1 cup pumpkin puree 4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened 2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened 1 tsp pur vanilla extract 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg or ginger 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly butter a 7" springform pan and line the bottom edge with parchment paper; set aside. For the Crust: In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, ground ginger and melted butter.  Mix well.  Tip crumb mixture into bottom of the prepared pan and spread evenly across the bottom.  Tamp the crumbs down firmly with the bottom of a glass.  Bake until golden brown and toasted, about 7 minutes; set aside to let cool completely. For the Filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat 1/4 cup softened butter and the cream cheese until smooth.  Scrape down the sides of the mixer.  Add pump...

So everyone has been there. You open the fridge after Thanksgiving or Christmas and find all the bits no one has finished off. This is what I did. 1 cup of gravy or whatever is left over 1 cup parsnips/turnip/carrots 1/2 cup cream/regular corn 1/2 onion 4-6 cups of mashed potatoes 4-6 cups of liquid water/broth/consomme (equal to the amount of potato)OR milk for creamier S&P Now I put everything in the pot on med heat and mashed together (I used a emulsion mixer)be careful if you have used milk as it burns easier! i mixed in: 1/2 head of par cooked cauliflower florets or brocolli florets 1 cup of peas and 2 cups of ham cubes or turkey cubes Stir and pour into a crock pot. Now take the leftover stuffing (if there is any) and cut into cubes. About the size of croutons! Place on a cookie sheet and bake until crispy. Serve your turkey day croutons with your cream of leftovers soup! "Bon Appetit!"

I made this a while ago, but never got around to posting it.  At least I don't think I did.  If it's a duplicate, I apologize!  But it was really tasty, so here it is: 1 frozen pie crust 1 pound extra lean ground beef (or turkey) 3 tablespoons chopped onion 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup bread crumbs or cracker crumbs 1/2 cup ketchup 1 1/2 teaspoons mustard (you can use  honey mustard if you have a kid in the house who loves it like in our house!) 1/4 teaspoon pepper (or to taste) 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning 1/2 tsp garlic, chopped  1/2 teaspoon hot chili sauce   1 cup shredded cheddar cheese Directions: Thaw one pie crust at room temperature. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C). Brown ground beef in fry pan. Add onion and water. Mix well. Add crumbs, ketchup, mustard, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic and hot chili sauce. Mix together well. Pour meat ...

This should have been titled garlic with brussel sprouts. Although not my favourite (I actually LIKE brussel sprouts) this was loved by everyone else. I used 14-16 small brussel sprouts. (although larger ones are easier to work with the smaller taste less bitter) 1 tsp garlic 2 tbsp veg oil leeks or green onions chopped So as usual, you will trim off the bottom and remove the first 2-3 outer leaves. Place in salted water and boil until tender (NOT MUSHY!) Drain and cut in 1/2. In a small pan, place oil and garlic at med/high heat. Toss in onions/leeks. Stir fry for a couple minutes, then add sprouts. Fry only until thouroughly mixed. Then turn off heat. We actually reheated this one and they were VERY well received. Personally I would reduce the garlic to 1/2 tsp. Nice change. "Bon Appetit!"

This recipe appealed to Judy who is currently on a squash kick, but not being a big squash fan, Ididn't expect much. This was lovely. She loved it even more than the squash I stuffed with marshmallows a couple weeks ago! I will give you the easy way and at the end, give you a quick "presentation" idea we did. So peel and seed the squash (we used a butternut but the recipe actually called for acorn). Dice and boil cubes. Drain squash and mash. Now for each squash you have used add: 3 tbsp of brown sugar 1 tbsp butter/margarine 1/2 tsp grated orange rind 3 tbsp orange juice Mash and bake in oven at 350. Top with toasted nuts (they called for pecans, I used almonds....whatever) What we did was hollow out the Squash and used the shell as a serving dish. It looked lovely on the table. "Bon Appetit!"

1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup yellow cornmeal 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1 cup milk 2-1/2 tsp lime or lemon juice 1 egg, beaten 2 tbsp lard, melted Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Mix milk and lime juice, add to dry ingredients along with egg and lard.  Mix well, but do not beat.  Pour into a greased 11 x 7 x 1-1/2 inch baking pan. Bake at 450 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it is brown and tests done.  Cool slightly and cut into squares. About 8 servings.

extra-virgin olive oil 1 large onion, small dice 3 ribs celery, small dice kosher salt (I just used table salt) 1 pound spicy sausage, casing removed, broken into bit-size chunks (I used spicy Italian sausage) 3 cloves garlic, smashed and finely diced 3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts 10 sage leaves, finely chopped 3 sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped (fresh from my garden) 10 cups stale cornbread, cut into 1-inch cubes (I will be posting my cornbread recipe next) 2 cups dried cranberries 3-4 cups chicken stock (I used homemade turkey stock from my freezer) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a large saute pan with olive oil, add the onions and celery and saute over to medium heat.  Season with salt and cook until the vegetables start to become soft and are very aromatic.  Add the sausage and cook until the sausage begins to brown.  Stir in the garlic and saute for another 1-2 minutes.  Add the walnuts, sage and rosemary and cook for anothe...

If you like heavenly hash ice cream, you'll like these bars.  And if you are cooking with little ones, there are plenty of steps here that little fingers can get involved in. This recipe seems long, but it's really very easy.  Only the bottom crust needs to bake, and the rest is just a matter of waiting (which, I'll admit, was a difficult proposition once I saw how good these looked).   I got this recipe from the King Arthur Flour blog. Crust 1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter 1 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 1/3 cups (9 3/4 ounces)  Unbleached All-Purpose Flour Topping 3 cups (18 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips 3/4 cup (6 ounces) heavy cream 1 cup (3 3/4 ounces) toasted diced pecans 3 cups (half a 10.5-ounce package) mini marshmallows    Preheat the oven to 300°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, or line with parchment and grease the parchment.  To make the crust: In a med...

My family are all big fans of macaroni and cheese.  And ham.  And butternut squash.  What to do?  Combine the three!  I used a recipe from Jessica Seinfeld's book, Deceptively Delicious, as a spring board, although I don't believe in hiding the fact that there are veggies in the food I am serving to my 3-year-old.  She has learned to appreciate the taste of a wide variety of food because we are upfront and enthusiastic about trying them (and she is willing!), not because we trick her into it.  Anyway, I digress... This recipe was fairly affordable (what's cheaper than macaroni??) and it used up some leftover ham and squash we needed to eat.  The end result was pretty darn great, if I do say so myself. Servings: Serves 4 Ingredients Macaroni and Cheese with Butternut Squash and Ham 1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni Nonstick cooking spray 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1/2 cup nonfat skim milk 1/2 cup butternut squash pu...