Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Retro Recipes - Butterscotch Biscuits


Do you remember the 1960s? A decade of changes, big and small.
  • North America and the world were rocked by three assassinations and the strongest earthquake in recorded history.

  • The Russians were the first to send a man into space; in the United States, the Studebaker was laid to rest.

  • Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart and gas was an astounding 25 cents per gallon.

  • Knee-high pleated skirts gave way to thigh-high minis and Bryllcreem sales plummeted after the arrival of the Fab 4.

  • Alfred Hitchcock frightened us into favoring baths over showers.

  • Andy Warhol immortalized a can of soup.

  • And, closer to home, every freshman in high school was required to pass a Home Economics course. 

I mention this because today I found, tucked away in my card file, a recipe I saved from my 1960s HomeEc course—the only recipe that was worth saving.

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Comfort Food - Easy Chicken and Gravy



If you're anything like me, when the weather is cold and dreary or when disappointment knocks on your door, you seek comfort. 

Sometimes that comfort comes in the form of a good book and warm slippers by a cozy fireplace. Perhaps the beauty of music soothes your soul. For others, writing or painting are a welcome escape from woes and worries.


And sometimes, we need something rich and satisfying to comfort us inside as well as out. That's when a recipe like this one comes to the rescue.


The card on which this recipe is written is worn and stained (it's been called upon a lot). I'm not even sure where the original recipe comes from—perhaps the back label of a can of evaporated milk. I will be the first to caution that this is not diet food—sodium and fat levels are probably way off-scale, but there are some days that I simply DON'T CARE! 


This is one of those days, and I'm going to make my baked chicken, which makes its own amazing gravy right in the baking pan.


Baked Chicken and Gravy

Ingredients
  • 3 to 3 1/2 pounds chicken thighs, bone-in
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
  • 1 large yellow onion, diced
  • 2/3 cup evaporated milk
  • 1 can (10.5 ounces) cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 cup grated American cheese (not imitation)
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. Coat the chicken with flour, shaking off excess. 
  3. Drizzle melted butter into a 13x9-inch baking pan; arrange the chicken in the pan in a single layer.
  4. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
  5. Turn chicken pieces over, and bake 15 to 20 minutes more or until tender and browned. Remove from the oven.
  6. Reduce heat to 325 degrees F. 
  7. Pour off excess fat from the pan.
  8. Stir together mushrooms, onions, milk, soup, and cheese. Pour over the chicken. 
  9. Cover with foil; bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles.

Saturday, March 7, 2020

The Unloved Vegetable


Each Wednesday during Lent, our church has a mid-week service at 6:30 pm. And, like all good Lutherans, we use this as an opportunity (excuse) to have a potluck dinner in the hour before. I asked my friends at our table "What would you like to see on my blog? I'm looking for inspiration."

"Rutabagas" was the reply. I don't know if they were sincere in their desire to see a recipe for that humble, under-represented vegetable, or if they tossed the name out as a challenge. Whether a joke or an urgent plea, I'm feeling up to the task. Here's my idea for what to do to add rutabagas to the list of hits coming out of your kitchen:

Photo Credit: Image by Candace Towner from Pixabay 

Roasted Root Vegetables

Ingredients
  • Nonstick vegetable oil spray
  • 1 pound red-skinned potatoes, unpeeled, scrubbed, and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 pound butternut squash, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 pound rutabagas, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 pound carrots, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 pound parsnips, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 2 onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 large red onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 10 garlic cloves, peeled
Instructions
  1. Position 1 rack in bottom third of the oven and 1 rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400°F. 
  2. Spray 2 heavy large baking sheets with nonstick spray. Combine all remaining ingredients except garlic in a very large bowl; toss to coat. Season generously with salt and pepper. Divide vegetable mixture between prepared sheets. Place 1 sheet on each oven rack. Roast 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reverse positions of baking sheets. Add 5 garlic cloves to each baking sheet.
  3. Continue to roast until all vegetables are tender and brown in spots, stirring and turning vegetables occasionally, about 45 minutes longer. (Can be prepared 4 hours ahead. Let stand on baking sheets at room temperature. Rewarm in the 450°F oven until heated through about 15 minutes.)
  4. Transfer roasted vegetables to a large bowl and then serve.

French Onion Chicken and Pasta

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