Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad

This salad is a great take on delicious Mexican Street Corn.  Using frozen corn makes this recipe even easier.  You will pan saute the corn to reduce the amount of liquid in the corn and to help it carmelize a bit as well.  The spice that gives this a little heat is McKormick's Chipotle & Garlic Grill Seasoning.  The cheese used in this recipe is crumbly, white cheese called cojita.  This is usually sold all crumbled up in a bag, yet there is also another cumbly, white cheese sold in this section that comes in a block - yet I do not recall exactly what it's name is.  They are sold in the refrigerated section with other Latin items.  Some would say you can exchange this for feta - yet feta is going to add an additional saltyness to the dish, when the cojita is not salty at all (at least not to me).

1 2 lb. bag frozen corn
3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 c. McKormick's Chipotle & Garlic Grill Seasoning
2 c. cojita cheese, crumbled
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 lb. small pasta, cooked
2 c. mayonnaise
1 c. sour cream
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

In a large skillet/frying pan over medium-high heat, add butter and olive oil.  When melted, add corn and Chipotle seasoning.  Fry until most of the moisture/fat is gone and it begins to brown.  Remove from heat and cool.

Add all of the ingredients together, stirring well.  Chill for a few hours before serving.  My ADHD requires I stir is every hour or so to make sure the flavors are combining well.  Serve and enjoy!

Loaded Cauliflower 'Potato' Salad

Here is a great take on potato salad, only substituting the humble cauliflower - giving you a much-lower carb version.  Does it taste like the original?  Almost, not 100%.  You can easily do this in any potato salad recipe, bear in mind you may need two heads of cauliflower to equal the amount of potatoes you normally have. 

After making this a few times, here are a few tips:  Cut the cauliflower up and leave in as large florets as possible.  Cook in salted water until fork/knife tender. Remove and allow to cool.  Then cut the florets into bite-size florets, leaving as little stalk as possible. This may be a mere visual presentation thing for me, yet have found cutting them into cubes less attractive and the effort is not that much more.  Last, do not be concerned if the dressing seems like it will not be enough.  Have come to discover that the cooked cauliflower adds additional moisture to the salad, unlike potatoes which draw in moisture and can leave it dry.  So it would be my suggestion to half any of your traditional dressing recipe to start out with until you find what you like best.

1 head cauliflower (cooked and cut into bite-size florets)
1/2 red onion chopped
6 slices of cooked bacon
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
2 hard boiled eggs, or 4 if you like them as I do
3.4 c. mayonnaise
1 tbsp. yellow mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Mix all of the ingredients together, allow to rest for a few hours - serve and enjoy!

Jumble Nut Bars

I got bit by the cooking bug again, and have been doing some recipe testing.  Here is the first one I want to share.

1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter - room temperature

3/4 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. granulated sugar

2 eggs

1/3 c. molasses

2 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. chopped walnuts

1 c. chopped almonds (I chose to not use slivered to add more of a textured bar)

1 - 12 oz. package mixed chocolate chips (white and milk were used in this recipe)

2 c. AP flour

3 c. quick cook oats

cream butter and sugar.

add eggs, molasses, vanilla, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  mix well

fold in nuts and chocolate chips

add oatmeal and flour, stirring until ingredients are combined and wet.

preheat oven to 350

prep a 9X13 pan with foil/parchment and release spray.

place dough into pan and press to ensure flat top 

(I sprayed my hand with release spray so the dough would not stick)

bake in oven for 30 minutes

remove from oven and allow to cool for an hour before removing from pan

bars are best cut once cooled, yet delicious when warm  #enjoy

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Strawberry-Blueberry Pie

I was down visiting relatives this past weekend in Iowa and fell under some trance where all I wanted to do was camp out in the kitchen and make tons of comfort foods.  I ran to the local grocery store and bought up all kinds of goodies, which included my latest pie obsession: strawberry-blueberry.  Please understand that my hosts did not have a food processor, and I honestly would never make my own pie crust if I didn't own one - so the next best thing was to purchase pie dough, which actually isn't the end of the world - although there truly is a taste difference.  Now that everyone has picked up their jaws (store-bought pie dough is not a sign of end times) - here is the filling:

2 qt containers strawberries, hulled and rough chopped

2 pt. containers blueberries

zest and juice of one lemon

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. vanilla

4 tsbp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted.

Egg wash and sugar for finishing top crust

In a bowl mix together the berries with the lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, salt and vanilla.  Pour into a pie dish that has been fitted with one of the rounds of pie dough (obviously you can make your own as well).  Make sure to adjust filling so there are no large open spaces and that it is somewhat even on the top.  Drizzle melted butter over top.  Score top round with vents to steam can escape and place on top of berry mixture.  Tuck edges under bottom crust edge and seal the edge however you desire.  Place into refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Before you pull the pie out of the refrigerator, whisk together one egg and 1/4 c. milk, 1/2&1/2 or cream - preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Remove pie from refrigerator and brush top with egg mixture, then sprinkle generously with 1/4 c. sugar.  Place into oven and bake for 20 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 25 more minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool before slicing - this will assure your liquid inside the pie sets up fully and does not run all over.  

Tator Tot Hotdish

This is like going home whenever I make this dish.  It reminds me of my childhood, when life seemed simpler and I had less cares to worry about.  Meals such as this were meant to be economical and feed a big family. The ingredients are simple, and the dish is pure comfort.  Here I made the hotdish in several, different-sized containers and baked them off so they could be frozen and pulled out at a later time to thaw and then feed one, two or three.  This recipe makes two 9X13 pans, and can easily be halved.

4 lbs. 75% lean ground beef

2 large onions, chopped

2 - 4 oz. container sliced mushrooms

1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

32 oz. bag frozen mixed vegetables

1 - 50 oz. can cream of mushroom soup

1 bag frozen tator tots

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Brown hamburger, onions and mushrooms together - then drain grease and place back into pot.  Add flour, salt and pepper, mixing well to combine.  Divide meat mixture evenly into the bottom of your pans.  Top with  frozen vegetables.

Place cream soup into a bowl and stir with a fork until mixture becomes creamy.  Spread over top of vegetables, then place frozen tator tots on top of that.  Place into a 350 degree oven and bake for 45 minutes, until mixture is bubbly.  Open oven, pull out rack and sprinkle tops of hotdish with shredded cheese.  Place back into oven and bake for 15 more minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes - serve.

Apple Fritter Pudding

This recipe is true comfort food, the apple fritters make it sweet and homey.  It's basically taking bread pudding to a whole new level.  The pudding benefits from placing a piece of parchment over the top of the mixture, then setting another 9X13 glass dish on top of that to weigh it down and make sure the fritters soak up all the delicious custard.  Subsequently you remove them before baking and your pudding puffs and bakes up to an amazing breakfast treat. This recipe has inspired me to think of numerous ways to make this dish with various types of bread - wait til you see what I have up my sleeve or oven mitt!

8 apple fritters, torn apart and dried out
4 c. half & half
5 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 c. sugar

Place the dried out apple fritter pieces into a 9X13 oven dish and set aside.  Make custard by mixing half & half, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and sugar together - then pouring over the fritter pieces.  Cover with a sheet of parchment and place a second 9X13 dish on top of that to weigh the fritter pieces down and keep them submerged in the custard.  Place into refrigerator and chill overnight.

Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 50 minutes, until pudding is puffed and golden.  Remove from oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!