Recipe: Yogurt, Raspberry and Honey

Sometimes I find yogurt on sale at King Soopers, with an orange sticker, marked down 50% and sometimes more. With coupons, there are times when I can get ready-to-be-expired yogurt for practically nothing!

I noticed that raspberries are on sale this week at King Soopers, buy one get one free, save $4.99 so basically 2 clamshells is $5.00, or $2.50 each. You're only using about 1/4 of a clamshell, so...

Ingredients:
yogurt (vanilla preferred)
raspberries (or berries of choice)
honey

Directions:
Dish out the yogurt, using a pretty little teacup with saucer. Carefully wash the raspberries, and add 4-5 to the teacup, and a couple on the saucer. Drizzle a little honey all over.

Or you could serve as in the picture above.

Simple, healthy, cheap, and delicious.

Copyright (c) 2009 V P Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Poached Pears with Apricot Syrup

Here's a little something I experimented with for a simple dessert.

Ingredients:

1 can pear halves in syrup

2 tablespoons honey

4 tablespoons apricot jam

2 pats butter

Directions:

Add butter to skillet set on low-medium. As it melts, add pear halves (with juice/syrup). Mix the apricot jam/preserves with honey and add to the skillet. Let cook (poach) for 10 minutes, stirring to make sure the syrup doesn't burn. Turn the pears over to cook on the other side... for another 5 minutes or so.

Serve one pear half, scooped-side up, on a pretty little plate, with a small dollop of sour cream (or cream cheese) on top, and drizzled with the apricot/pear/honey syrup. Sprinkle with chopped nuts if desired. Delicious!

Copyright (c) 2009 V P Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Easy Taco Meat

We have about 30 pounds of ground beef from last week's $1.00 per pound sale. Here's another recipe that I've already cooked twice since the sale!

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef

1 16-ounce jar picante sauce or salsa (I prefer mild or medium)

1/2 cup dried onion dices

Directions:

Brown ground beef and drain. Add jar of salsa and dried onion dices. Heat through.

I like to serve this on shredded lettuce, crushed tortilla chips and cheddar cheese, then top with sour cream and diced tomatoes fresh from my garden.

Copyright (c) 2009 V P Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Beef-N-Noodle Cassarole

When ground beef went on sale last week for $1.00 a pound, we stocked up! Here's a recipe that uses some of it.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 small chopped onion
32 ounce jar spaghetti sauce
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
8 ounce package egg noodles

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brown ground beef and drain. Add onion and cook till translucent. Add jar of spaghetti sauce. Cook noodles as directed, then drain. In a 13 x 9 inch sprayed dish, layer the noodles, spaghetti sauce mixture with meat, and top with the cheese. Bake until bubbly or about 45 minutes.

Note: I like adding extra dried garlic granules and/or a small can of mushrooms too.

Copyright (c) 2009 V P Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Easy Banana-Rum Pudding

This is such an easy recipe! If you are serving this to children, soak the dried banana chips in water or even apple juice.

Ingredients:
instant vanilla pudding
graham crackers or vanilla wafers
dried banana slices
rum

Directions:
In a large shallow bowl, soak 2 cups of dried banana slices in 1 cup of rum and set aside for 15 minutes. Crush the crackers or vanilla wafers. Make the pudding according to package directions. Drain rum from banana chips (reserving the rum in case you need to soak more). In individual serving dishes or a big serving bowl, start layering: bananas, cracker/wafer crumbs, pudding, and back again. End with pudding and a few more cracker/wafer crumbs. Refrigerate overnight.

Copyright (c) V P Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Henry Bain Sauce and Jezebel Sauce

This is a Louisville Kentucky tradition: "Henry Bain Sauce". It was named after its creator, who was the head waiter at the men-only Louisville's Pendennis Club. Bain made the sauce in 1881 as an accompaniment to wild game, and it's been a Louisville tradition ever since. A sweet, tangy, spicy concoction, this sauce is best served with beef tenderloin at your Derby party!

Ingredients:

2/3 cup ketchup
1/2 cup chutney
1/3 cup bottled chili sauce
1/4 cup steak sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

Directions:

Combine well and chill until serving. Best with hot or cold roast beef. Spread on beef sandwiches, serve with pot roast, etc.

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Sometimes it is mixed up with Jezebel Sauce - as follows:

Ingredients:

1 18-ounce jar peach preserves
1 18-ounce jar orange marmalade
1 18-ounce jar apple preserves
1 18-ounce jar pineapple preserves
5/8 cup ground dry mustard
1 4-ounce jar prepared horseradish

Directions:

Combine all ingredients. Chill before serving over cream cheese and crackers.

Recipe: Kentucky Hot Brown Open-Faced Sandwich

There's a hotel in Louisville, Kentucky where it is said this open-faced sandwich was created on the spur-of-the-moment. Here's the tale:

Chef Fred K. Schmidt at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, created The Hot Brown sandwich in 1926. In the 1920s, the Brown Hotel drew over 1,200 guests each evening for its dinner dance. The band would play until late, and when the band took bread, around midnight; people would retire to the restaurant for a bite to eat. Bored with the traditional ham and eggs, Chef Schmidt, delighted his guests by creating the Hot Brown.

I've only been in the Brown Hotel once, and tasted their original, and no duplication comes exact, but this is pretty close! This is a great way to use Thanksgiving leftovers, but is almost a requirement at a Kentucky Derby party!

Ingredients:

8 slices of bacon

4 slices of turkey breast

4 slices of toast

4 slices of ripe red beefsteak or slicer tomato

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Directions:

Cook the bacon until crisp but not burnt at all. Make the sauce in a medium saucepan: melt the butter and add flour to make a paste, and cook until the raw flour taste is gone. Add milk and stir constantly over medium high heat until sauce thickens. Add cheese and stir until well blended.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place the top rack at it's highest setting. Place the 4 pieces of toast on a sprayed cookie baking sheet. Add the turkey to each piece of toast. Pour the cheese sauce over turkey and place a tomato slice in the center of each. Place under the broiler until the cheese starts to bubble and turns slightly brown. Add two pieces of bacon on each, making an "X". Serve hot. Makes 4.

Note: I've seen recipes with parmesan, parsley, pepper, onion, and other things thrown in. Personally, I prefer this plain and delicious delight!

Copyright (c) 2009 V P Lawrence-Williams