Ham and Potato Scallop

I have been getting in "one of those ruts" where I start cooking the "same ole things" over and over and over again - my poor family!!  So early this week, I opened up my Better Homes and Garden New Cookbook and started leafing through the pages searching for new recipes.  If I found one that sounded interesting, I marked it with a paper clip, wrote down whatever ingredients I might need to buy and continued looking through the cookbook.  I think I found about 7 or 8 new recipes to try.

Well, last night was the first night of "experimenting."  This recipe sounded like a good place to start. 

Ham and Potato Scallop by Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1/4 cup chopped onion
4 medium potatoes (peeled and thinly sliced) - I used the Yukon gold potatoes - didn't peeled, just sliced.
1 10 3/4 oz can Cheddar Cheese Soup
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup bread crumbs ** (I substituted crumbled up Ritz Crackers - so much better!!
2 T dried parsley
1 T melted butter (I omitted that)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

In a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish, layer half the ham, onions and potatoes.  Repeat the layers.

In a separate bowl, mix the soup and milk.  Pour over the layered potatoes/ham/onion mixture.

Bake for about 1 hour until the potatoes are tender.  Remove from the oven.

Mix the crumbs with the parsley and sprinkle over the top of the casserole. 

Bake uncovered for an additional 15 minutes.

Entire Recipe:

Ham and Potato Scallop by Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1/4 cup chopped onion
4 medium potatoes (peeled and thinly sliced) - I used the Yukon gold potatoes - didn't peeled, just sliced.
1 10 3/4 oz can Cheddar Cheese Soup
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup bread crumbs ** (I substituted crumbled up Ritz Crackers - so much better!!
2 T dried parsley
1 T melted butter (I omitted that)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

In a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish, layer half the ham, onions and potatoes.  Repeat the layers.

In a separate bowl, mix the soup and milk.  Pour over the layered potatoes/ham/onion mixture.

Bake for about 1 hour until the potatoes are tender.  Remove from the oven.

Mix the crumbs with the parsley and sprinkle over the top of the casserole. 

Bake uncovered for an additional 15 minutes.

ENJOY!!

Comments:

This was good!!  I definitely see me making this again - both my husband and son loved it.  And it is so very easy to make.

 

Spaghetti Pie

Last night was one of those nights where I had no clue what I was going to make for dinner.  I walked into my kitchen and nothing seem appealing - do you ever have one of those days (months???).  So I picked up my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.  It opened to this page and at the very top was a recipe for Spaghetti Pie.  Now that sounded interesting and, as luck would have, it I had most of the ingredients.  Once again dinner was saved and my family would not have to eat a bowl of cereal for dinner!

Spaghetti Pie by Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients:

4 ounces spaghetti
1 beaten egg
1/3 c grated Parmesan Cheese
1 T butter
1 c cottage cheese (I used small curd - not sure that made any difference)
1/2 lb ground beef (or Italian sausage)
1/2 c chopped onion
1/4 c chopped and seeded green pepper (I didn't have that so I omitted)
3/4 c your favorite spaghetti sauce
1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350
For the crust, cook the spaghetti per the directions on the box.  Drain.
In a separate bowl, add the egg, Parmesan cheese and butter.  Mix in the hot spaghetti.
Spread this evenly around the bottom and the sides of a 9 inch pie plate.
Drain the cottage cheese.  Mix the egg with the drained cottage cheese and spread over the spaghetti crust.
In a skillet, cook the meat, onions and pepper.  Drain off any fat.  Stir in the spaghetti sauce.
Spoon over the cottage cheese mix.
Bake for 20 minutes. 
Remove from the oven and sprinkle the cheese over the top of the pie.
Bake about 5 minutes for or until the cheese melts and crust sets. 
Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

ENJOY!!

Comment:

This was really good!!  I served homemade bread sticks with this, though I think a salad would have been a better choice.  My husband loved it.  Definitely a keeper recipe!!

Quiche Lorraine

What do you do when you literally have a ton of eggs (like 17 dozen!!)?  Well, you make quiche!!  I have always wanted to try Quiche Lorraine.  When you think of quiche, at least for me, this one always comes to mine.  So off to the Internet I trotted!  So many different recipes . . .

The recipe I chose was by Emeril Lagasse.  I have never tried any of his recipes, but this one sounded good and, fortunately, I had most of the ingredients - as always I had to do a bit of improvising and I will not those below.

Quiche Lorraine by Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients

Single pie crust

6 ounces thick cut bacon
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 1/4 cup half and half ** (I didn't have, so I just used whole milk)
1/4 tsp white pepper ** (I didn't have, so I just used black pepper)
pinch of ground nutmeg
1 cup grated Gruyere or Swiss ** (I had smoked Gruyere cheese)

Directions:

Make the pie crust according to your directions
Roll out the dough to fit into a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom or a 9 inch pie pan.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375F
Line the pie dough in the tart pan/pie pan with parchment paper and pie weights (I used dried beans).

Bake until the crust is set, about 12 to 14 minutes.  Remove the weights and paper and bake for an additional 8 to 10 minutes until the crust is a golden brown.  Leave the oven on.
In a medium skillet, cook the bacon until crisp (beware family members will appear out of nowhere to eat bacon!!!).  Remove bacon and let drain on a paper towel.
Crumble the bacon and scatter around the bottom of the pie crust.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks and half and half (or milk) together.  Add the remaining ingredients.
Pour over the crust and bake until the custard is golden and puffed, roughly 30 to 35 minutes. 

The center might still be slightly wiggly (that is ok!).
Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes before serving.

 
Entire Recipe:

Quiche Lorraine by Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients

Single pie crust

6 ounces thick cut bacon
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 1/4 cup half and half ** (I didn't have, so I just used whole milk)
1/4 tsp white pepper ** (I didn't have, so I just used black pepper)
pinch of ground nutmeg
1 cup grated Gruyere or Swiss ** (I had smoked Gruyere cheese)

Directions:

Make the pie crust according to your directions
Roll out the dough to fit into a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom or a 9 inch pie pan.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375F
Line the pie dough in the tart pan/pie pan with parchment paper and pie weights (I used dried beans). 
Bake until the crust is set, about 12 to 14 minutes.  Remove the weights and paper and bake for an additional 8 to 10 minutes until the crust is a golden brown.  Leave the oven on.
In a medium skillet, cook the bacon until crisp,  Remove bacon and let drain on a paper towel.
Crumble the bacon and scatter around the bottom of the pie crust.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks and half and half (or milk) together.  Add the remaining ingredients.
Pour over the crust and bake until the custard is golden and puffed, roughly 30 to 35 minutes.  The center might still be slightly wiggly (that is ok!).
Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!!

Comments:

This was a winner!  The resident experts loved it.  It is a very easy meal to make and not very expensive.  This definitely will be a repeat dinner! 


 

Ham, Potato and Cheddar Cheese Quiche

If you were like us at Easter, you serve a pretty large ham for Easter dinner.  Considering there are only 3 of us which means I had leftover ham!  Of course, my husband and son will be eating ham sandwiches everyday for lunch!  But, I also wanted to find another way to use up all the ham, so off to the Internet I went.  I found this recipe on the website "The Farmer's Wife Cooks".  I did have to improvise a bit as the recipe called for half-and-half and onion powder which I didn't have.  So I used regular milk and just skipped the onion powder.  Can't say that made too much of a difference.

Ham, Potato and Cheddar Quiche by The Farmer's Wife Cooks

Ingredients:

1 9 inch pie crust (either store bought or  your own favorite recipe
1 cup potato, boiled and diced (I did not remove the skin)
1 cup cooked ham, diced
2 t vegetable oil
5 medium size eggs
1/2 cup half-and-half (**I used regular milk because I didn't have half-and-half)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder (**I omitted because I didn't have it)
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/4 cups shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Prepare your pie dough and place in pie pan.  Pierce the sides and bottom of crust with a fork.
Bake the crust for 5 minutes.
Remove from oven, set aside and lower the temperature of the oven to 350.
In a skillet, cook the potato and ham in the vegetable oil for about 10 minutes.

Spoon the potato mixture into the pie crust.

In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, half-and-half (or milk) and the seasonings.  Pour over the potato mixture in the pie crust.

Sprinkle the top of the pie with the cheese.
Bake uncovered for about 45 to 50 minutes.
Serve warm.


Entire Recipe:

Ham, Potato and Cheddar Quiche by The Farmer's Wife Cooks

Ingredients:

1 9 inch pie crust (either store bought or  your own favorite recipe
1 cup potato, boiled and diced (I did not remove the skin)
1 cup cooked ham, diced
2 t vegetable oil
5 medium size eggs
1/2 cup half-and-half (**I used regular milk because I didn't have half-and-half)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder (**I omitted because I didn't have it)
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/4 cups shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Prepare your pie dough and place in pie pan.  Pierce the sides and bottom of crust with a fork.
Bake the crust for 5 minutes.
Remove from oven, set aside and lower the temperature of the oven to 350.
In a skillet, cook the potato and ham in the vegetable oil for about 10 minutes.
Spoon the potato mixture into the pie crust.
In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, half-and-half (or milk) and the seasonings.  Pour over the potato mixture in the pie crust.
Sprinkle the top of the pie with the cheese.
Bake uncovered for about 45 to 50 minutes.
Serve warm.

Enjoy!!

Comments:

My two resident experts loved it!!  Personally, I thought it was OK, sort of bland - maybe I did need the onion powder!  But, both of them went back for seconds, so it looks like this one is a keeper! 

Easter Morning Coffee Cake

Doesn't that look good!!  It was!!  My family loved it!!  Once again, I stumbled upon this recipe surfing the 'net.  I think I found this on Facebook.  Anyway, the title of the recipe caught my eye "Cinnamon Flop Bread."  You have to admit that is an interesting title for a recipe and you know I had to give it a try!!

Reading through the ingredients, I saw it required no quick run to the grocery - WHEW!!  So a new adventure was born.  Word of warning . . . this will make your kitchen smell wonderful!!  The recipe comes from the website "A Farmish Kind of Life."  I did improvise by putting the icing on top of the cakes.

Cinnamon Flop Bread by A Farmish Kind of Life

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp melted butter (I used unsalted)
1 cup milk
brown sugar, cinnamon and butter for topping

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Sift the sugar, flour and baking powder together in a mixing bowl.
Add melted butter and milk. Mix together until well blended.
Divide mixture between two 9″ well greased cake pans.
The batter will be thick and when you spread it out, it looks very thin in the two cake pans - that is OK.
Sprinkle the tops with brown sugar, then the cinnamon.  Using about a half stick of butter, slice into small pieces and push the pieces of butter into the dough.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Serve warm.

(Note:  I mixed 1/2 cup of powdered sugar with  1 1/2 T of milk and drizzled that over the warm cakes - this is optional).

You can remove the cakes from the pan or leave them in the pan - your choice.

Enjoy!!! 

Comments:

My family loved it!!  One of the cakes was gone after breakfast!  I have no idea why it is call "flop" bread because it is definitely not a flop!!  Another keeper recipe!! 

Impromptu Dinner - Eggplant Mini Pizzas

I had planned on making Eggplant Parmesan for dinner but the eggplants I bought from Krogers were . . . . hmmm, let's just say not that good (sort of brown in the middle - UGH!!).  I was able to salvage several slices but not enough to make the meal I had planned.  So off I ran to the Internet - what can you do with only a few slices of eggplant???  And the Internet Gods responded . . . Eggplant Mini Pizzas!!  And dinner was once again saved!

I found this recipe on the"Eat Good 4 Life" website.  Even though, I didn't have all their ingredients except the eggplant, I used their recipe as a guide.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425. 

Slice the eggplants into 1/2 inch slices and arrange on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with Sea Salt.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Now use your imagination.  I spread each slice with tomato sauce, sprinkle each slice with chopped basil, added sliced mushrooms and topped with shredded mozzarella cheese (because this is all I had on hand) - the recipe called for pasta sauce, Provolone cheese, fresh spinach leaves and slice cherry tomatoes.

Turn on the broiler on your oven.  Broil for only a few minutes as these can burn FAST!!

ENJOY!!

Comments:

Much to my surprise, these were pretty darn good!!  My husband loved them.  So I think this will be a keeper recipe just as I made them.   

Baked Chocolate Glazed Donuts

Is there anything better than homemade donuts??  I found this recipe on the website "Buns in My Oven."  It was another one of those typical dreary Ohio days, so it seemed like a perfect day to make donuts.  And, luckily, I had all the ingredients so no mad dash to the grocery store!!

Baked Chocolate Glazed Donuts by Buns in My Oven

Ingredients:

For the donuts:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
6 Tsp sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil

For the glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
6 Tsp whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

To make the donuts:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Grease a donut pan
In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and baking soda.

In a separate bowl, combine the vanilla, egg, sour cream, milk, and oil and mix together until well blended.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined (do not over stir!!)

Spoon in a greased donut pan.

Bake for 8 minutes or until the tops spring back when you touch them.
Remove the donuts from the pan and let cool on a rack before glazing.


To make the glaze:
In a small bowl, add the sugar, milk, and vanilla and whisk until well combined.
Dunk the donuts in the glaze to fully coat and place on a wire rack to set.

Entire Recipe:

Baked Chocolate Glazed Donuts by Buns in My Oven

Ingredients:

For the donuts:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
6 Tsp sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil

For the glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
6 Tsp whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

To make the donuts:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Grease a donut pan
In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and baking soda.
In a separate bowl, combine the vanilla, egg, sour cream, milk, and oil and mix together until well blended.
 Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined (do not over stir!!)
Spoon in a greased donut pan.
Bake for 8 minutes or until the tops spring back when you touch them.
Remove the donuts from the pan and let cool on a rack before glazing.

To make the glaze:
In a small bowl, add the sugar, milk, and vanilla and whisk until well combined.
Dunk the donuts in the glaze to fully coat and place on a wire rack to set.

Enjoy!!!

Comments:

Well, these didn't last long in our house.  So, yes, we have a winner!!