Homemade Croutons

I don't care what anybody says. Summer is not over. There may be Halloween candy in the drugstore. Public pools are having their last hurrah this weekend. Kids everywhere have gone back to school. And vacation has come and gone for most of us. But summer is not over.

There are still burgers to grill and fireflies to catch. There are still lawns to be mown and flowers to be watered. There is still a bit of light in the sky past 7 each night. There are still toes to be painted and shown off in cute flip flops. And there are still tomatoes to be chopped and put in salads, which brings us to today's quote-unquote recipe: homemade croutons. Take that baguette out of the freezer and let it thaw, or run by the store and buy the oldest one in the bakery. Then drop a glub of olive oil in your (oven-friendly) pan, sprinkle in a little of this and a little of that (spices, that is), and toast away.

It's still hot outside at my house, which means salads (along with a big, juicy, grilled steak) are on tap for the weekend, which starts ... now!

Homemade Croutons by Copywriters' Kitchen

Blackberry-Lime French Yogurt Cake

It seems like we spent months counting down the days to our beach vacation so it's hard to believe we've been home almost two weeks. Where does the time go? I try to be very careful about wishing time away; afterall, doing so is really only wishing that life would go by faster, and who wants that? But you can't make time stand still so when you're planning to leave home for awhile you always have that one chore in front of you that can sometimes seem like a challenge: Use up everything fresh in your refrigerator so it doesn't go to waste.

These are frugal times. So far we've been lucky that the economy hasn't hit us too hard, but we've been making a conscious effort to trim our spending and save more dough (hee, hee) just in case our jobs are the next to disappear. That means we're eating at home much more often and taking lunch to work, and, as I said above, I'm trying to not let any food go to waste. So there was a lot of bakin' and a-shakin' going on the week before our trip. First up? A container of yogurt and a basket of fresh blackberries from the farmers market. Oh! And a lime. A leftover lime from our Chipotle Chicken and Rice, to be exact. (See? No waste!)



I could have simply eaten the yogurt (and I did, several times, with fresh peaches for breakfast), but you see I had a BIG container of yogurt. I have to admit that I bought it to feed Cash, but when I got home I realized it was fat-free, and since getting rid of his luscious fat rolls is not on my to-do list (ever) I had to come up with another way to use it. Enter stage right: Cake. I mean if you want cake you might as well make it with fat-free yogurt, right? Because the yogurt would cancel out the calories from the sugar, right? Right. (Don't judge me.)

So the search was on. I looked at recipe after recipe, but none of them seemed quite right. They were all missing something, but what that something was I did not know. So I did what I always do when editing a story and writing a headline - I took a step back from the situation to clear my head and let an idea come to me. Et voila. I realized immediately what my search was missing: France. Another search later and I had my recipe: Dorie Greenspan's French Yogurt Cake. (I mean seriously, if you're trying to go French, Dorie is the lady to take you there.)



Let me just say that this cake was almost perfect. Almost as in my blackberries sunk to the bottom even though I tossed them in flour before gently folding them into my batter. But no matter - I'm not sure this cake could have been any better otherwise. I took it to work and was immediately asked twice for the recipe. My co-workers thought it was a poundcake, and I was excited to tell them that I had actually made it with fat-free yogurt. They were as astounded as me. (Okay, okay. So maybe there were only a few calories saved with the yogurt, but every calorie counts these days. In my world.)

The week before vacation always moves slowly, but when you fill your days with loveliness like this cake you can't help but enjoy counting down the days. It's going to be a year before we head back to the Crystal Coast, and that means I have many days to try many recipes. Can't wait!



You can find Dorie's yogurt-cake recipe at How to Eat a Cupcake. Here are my changes:

* I used all flour instead of ground almonds.
* I used the grated zest of one lime instead of a lemon.
* I used fat-free yogurt.
* I added a cup of fresh blackberries, tossed in flour (to no avail. Help!)
* I used a cup of vegetable oil.
* I skipped the glaze.

You may also enjoy: Dorie Greenspan's Perfection Pound Cake (with cocoa)

Biscuit and Beef Breakfast Bake

First things first: This recipes sits firmly in the Man Food Files.

Not that it wasn't tasty - it was, but it was also a recipe I clipped specifically for Brad, he who loves all things ground beef. It isn't fancy food, but it's filling and it can feed a crowd. Plus it's a breakfast casserole, and we love breakfast casseroles around here. This recipe calls for baking mix, which is really easy to make yourself so that you don't have to rely on the processed kind. (Carrie also has a gluten-free version!) And I know that some of you have an aversion to those kind of products, too, so it's nice to know there's a DIY way out there. (Of course if you're also a person with an aversion to shortening, well, just look away and we'll pretend we never had this conversation.)

We didn't eat this for breakfast; it made a wonderful dinner for us with steamed broccoli on the side. I rarely use ground beef at breakfast, but it would be easy to switch out sausage for the beef, and then it would truly seem like breakfast food. Other tips? I added some Texas Pete, and maybe next time I'll add some red and green peppers. It's such a basic dish, and it's easy to tailor it to your family's tastes. Vegetables - maybe corn, peas and carrots - would be great with a ground-beef version, and maybe some swiss chard or spinach would be great in a sausage version.

Either way, it went in my Homemade Cookbook, and I plan to return to it time and time again.



Biscuit and Beef Breakfast Bake
Adapted from Home Cooking magazine
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1/2 pound ground beef (or sausage)
1/2 C chopped onions
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 C baking mix
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 C milk
Hot sauce to taste (optional)
Sauteed vegetables of your choice (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Brown ground beef and onions in skillet, stirring frequently. Drain well. Stir in oregano, basil and pepper. (Add in vegetables if using.) Pour mixture into 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. (A 9x13 cake pan would probably also work.) Sprinkle with half the cheese.

3. Combine baking mix, salt, eggs, milk and hot sauce. Pour mixture over ground beef and cheese. Sprinkle top of casserole with remaining cheese. Cover and bake for 10 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes, or until crust is brown.

Other recipes you may enjoy: Amish Breakfast Casserole, Southern Grits Casserole, Broccoli with Lemon Butter Sauce

Chipotle Chicken and Rice

When you're trying to save money there are two words that you want to avoid: Take. Out. And that's not because I don't like takeout. I do! Very much! But you see, takeout likes my wallet too much, and before I know it that wallet is empty. And that's a very sad thing when you're saving up for a new camera. (Anyone out there love their Canon 40D? What lenses do you have?) So there is only one thing to do: Make your own takeout. It's easier than you may think; I've already successfully created pizza and Chinese food so there was one obvious thing to try next - Mexican.



Sure, I've made tacos and enchiladas and salsa (even fried my own chips for that one), and it was all very, very good, but it didn't taste authentic. You guys know what I'm talking about; it didn't taste like something I'd order in a restaurant. (Except maybe the salsa. That stuff is good.) This dish, however, is fabulous. It makes you sweat a little (or a lot, depending on your tastes); it fills you up; and it's so darn easy it feels like cheating. The leftovers are great, which is good when you're trying to save money by taking your own lunch/dinner (in my case) to work. (That camera will be mine before I know it! If I ever decide what camera that will be....)

And since you've already got the limes sliced just pair it with a Corona. On the patio. With friends. Then sit back and enjoy the sweet sound of your savings account growing, growing, growing....



(Yes! We're back from the Crystal Coast! It was a great trip; I read four vampire books then proceeded to assume every pale person I met on the sidewalk wanted to suck my neck. Ahem. Thanks SO much for your well-wishes. So far, 30 isn't so bad!)

Chipotle Chicken and Rice
Everyday Food - Makes 4 servings
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Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 2 pounds total)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
• 3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, minced
• 2 large tomatoes, diced large
• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• Lime wedges, for serving
• Chopped cilantro leaves, for serving (optional)

Directions

1. In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Season chicken on both sides with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Working in batches, brown chicken on both sides, about 6 minutes total; transfer to a plate.

2. Reduce heat to medium. Add onion and saute until soft, about 5 minutes, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pot (if necessary, add a bit of water to release browned bits).

3. Add garlic, cumin, and chiles; cook until garlic is soft and fragrant, 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and 1 teaspoon salt and cook until tomatoes begin to break down and release their juices, 3 minutes. Stir in 1 cup water and return chicken and any accumulated juices to pot. Cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook 25 minutes.

4. Remove several pieces of chicken and stir in rice, making sure it is completely submerged in liquid. Replace chicken, cover, and cook until rice is tender and liquid has been absorbed, 25 to 30 minutes more. Serve with lime wedges and cilantro if desired.

Mud Hens

Yes, Mud Hens. Don't ask me why; a quick Google search yielded no satisfactory answers (other than a similar recipe), and the cookbook I found them in offers no insight, either. It's one of my grandmother's old church cookbooks - from the church I grew up in, but published long before I was ever a twinkle in my mother's eye. I love these cookbooks - I have almost all of them, save the most recent. They're impossible to find anymore! But I have my scouts on the lookout at area garage sales and flea markets. This particular cookbook was obviously well-loved; it has the stains, notes and taped spine to prove it. I love finding Maw Maw's handwriting in unexpected places - it's like a treasure hunt, really.



I was repeatedly asked at work, "What are these?" One coworker helped me with that answer: "I'll tell you what they are," he said, "they're your ticket outta here." If only it were that easy! But I appreciated the compliment, nonetheless.



It's a really interesting recipe - so few ingredients but loads of taste. The dough, if that's what you want to call it, is very thin, and I had doubts of whether it would grow to be anything. But I'm happy to say my doubts were unfounded, because the thin batter became a crisp, candy-like bed for some amazing but simple topping. I mean really, does it get much better than pecans and brown sugar? I think not.



We're off this week to the sun and sand of sparkling Carolina beaches! I plan to cook a lot, read a lot, play with Cash a lot and forget that I ever have to come home. I'll also be somewhat glumly be entering a new decade (30), so if you're so inclined feel free to pray that my spirits are lifted on Friday! It goes without saying that posting and visiting will be light around here the next week or so, but I promise to return and read all about your goodies soon enough!

Mud Hens
Maw Maw's Old Church Cookbook
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1/2 Cup butter
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 and a 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. baking powder

1 Cup chopped nuts
1 Cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350*.

2. Sift dry ingredients.

3. Beat together 1 whole egg plus the yolk of the other. (Save your egg white! You'll use it later.)

4. Cream butter and sugar together, add egg mixture. Blend in sifted dry ingredients and vanilla.

5. Spread the thick mixture about 1/3 in. thick in greased shallow baking pan such as a jelly roll pan.

6. Mix unbeaten egg white with brown sugar and nuts and spread as evenly as possible over the mixture.

7. Bake in 350* oven about 20 minutes or until done. Cut into squares while still warm.

Homemade Pizza

Everybody is talking about saving money these days, and that's great and all, but where does our beloved pizza fit into that plan? We love pizza in this house. We've tried just about every pizza joint in town, and we have our favorites. Sometimes, however, we just want to order in and gather around the table, where we breathe in that cheesy, garlicky goodness before, you know, stuffing our faces. Know what I mean? Unfortunately, pizza isn't exactly cheap. Sure, you can knock off a few bucks by running to the shop to pick it up yourself, but you're still paying someone for their time, and that's really the rub, isn't it? Making pizza takes time. There is all that measuring and kneading and raising and waiting.



I'm here to tell you that it doesn't have to be that way. You can make pizza at home, and it can rival your favorite take-out brand. And while yes, it does take a little time to make, the wait is worth it - good things come to those who wait, afterall. There is nothing in the world like a fresh pizza, right out of the oven. Be still my grumbling tummy!



But don't stop at the dough! There is fresh, homemade sauce to be had, and it will be the best sauce you've ever eaten. Rachel's recipe has a bit of a kick to it, and it has chunks of glorious tomato that pop with freshness with each bite. It also freezes beautifully, which really helps with the whole time thing. Make a double batch of the sauce then freeze it flat in plastic bags. (I took one recipe and divided it into two bags.) The night before you make pizza you can take out a bag, put it in the fridge to thaw, and it will be ready when your dough is risen and rolled. (I tend to get two pizzas out of each bag of sauce.)



I've been lucky enough to travel in Italy, and while I don't know the complete origins of pizza I do know that the Italians have perfected the pizza-making process. In our house it's thin crust that rules, and that's because we were spoiled with all of the cracker-like pizza dough we consumed in Italy. It's hard to find that kind of pizza around here, but Smitten Kitchen's dough recipe is very close. I like to roll it thin and spread a thin layer of toppings on it, too. For us it's caramelized onions, salami and mozzarella or good ol' pepperoni and cheese. And that's one of the best things about pizza: You can make it your way every time.

Smitten Kitchen's Really Simple Homemade Pizza (I make two batches of this, because the only thing better than pizza hot out of the oven is cold pizza out of the fridge at midnight.)

Coconut and Lime's Zesty Pizza Sauce (As mentioned above, I divide this sauce in half and freeze it in two plastic bags.)