Simple Sorbet

It is berry season and here is a great recipe for them!


 All you need is fruit, cream, sugar, and frozen juice concentrate.









The original recipe calls for buttermilk, and you can use that if you want to cut the calories, but I didn't like it as much.  The unused portion of buttermilk goes bad really quickly too, so if you buy some make sure to use it within a day of opening the carton.

For best results, use very cold ingredients.

Start with ~3 cups of berries. Puree in blender or food processor.


Stir well with 1/3c sugar, 1 can frozen juice concentrate, and 1/3c half&half or lite cream.

Chill in freezer for about an hour.






If you have an ice-cream maker, process the mixture for about 20 minutes.  The texture will be better, but if you don't have one just skip this step.




Spoon into paper cups.  Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours.


There are lots of combos to try.  My favorite so far is strawberries with orange juice concentrate. (try adding a banana!).






Strawberries with limeade concentrate was quite good also, and blueberries with lemonade concentrate got very high ratings from the testing group.


 Peaches might work too but I haven't tried them yet...
   



 Blackberries will be ready to pick soon, so I'm going to try them with lemonade or maybe cherry punch concentrate.  Blackberries have a lot of seeds and some fiberous stuff in the middles, so strain the puree through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth before mixing with other ingredients.

Superfast Seafood Pie

 Comfort food season is coming to a close, so I wanted to share this one before the weather turns hot. 
In less than an hour, you can have a seafood pie every bit as good as restaurants make.

1.  Pie crust
2. Can of diced potatoes, drained
3. Scallops
4. Cream of Shrimp condensed soup
5. Can of crabmeat, drained


Saute scallops until they are firm and lightly browned, about 10 minutes on med-hi.

Press bottom crust firmly into pie plate.
Fill with potatoes, scallops, and crabmeat.
Pour soup in even layer - use as-is from can, do not dilute with milk.
Spread top crust and crimp edges.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Cover crust edge with foil and bake another 15 minutes.  Serve hot.

Other combinations are possible - you can use Cream of Potato if you don't like shrimp; you can saute other seafood or fish instead of scallops.  There are lots of ways to customize and still get a nice mix of flavors.  You can add spices, such as thyme, marjoram, saffron; I put a sprinkle of Old Bay seasoning on the scallops.

Melty Bacon-Cheeseburger Dip

I have only made this once, but I really liked it.  The rest of the test group didn't seem to enjoy it as much, but they are a couple of moody bastards so you can't go by them... :)

 

This recipe is easy and kids love to make it:

Cook and drain 1# ground meat.

Mix with 1# cubed Velveeta, 1 can (drained) chopped tomatos or chopped green chilis.

Add 1c shredded mozzarella and 1/4 c bacon bits.

 

Heat over low heat in a saucepan  - OR -  microwave on high.  Stir every two minutes until cheese is fully melted.

Serve with tortilla chips or veggies for dipping!  You might need to pop the dip into the microwave to re-warm if it gets too thick as it cools.

Taco Muffins!?!

These turned out really tasty for something that was so quick and easy to make!  Try them for your Cinco de Mayo party!

The basis is Pillsbury Grand Jr biscuits.  You can put lots of different things on top.  One package has 10 biscuits; split them in half and press each half into a greased muffin pan.  (Don't use whole ones - they rise too much and push the toppings off)

Top with a tablespoon of cooked taco meat, a spoonful of taco sauce, and shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 for 8 minutes.  Cheese should be melted.  Then just scoop out of the muffin pan with a rubber scraper and serve with taco stuff.

Also try making this with pizza sauce and toppings.
The Grand Jr biscuits are a good size for standard muffin pans.  You can also make this without a muffin pan, but get the bigger biscuits and just press them together in a cake pan.

Three Ingredients To Beer Bread

This is the easiest recipe to make bread, as long as you like a little hint of beer flavor.  Most breads use yeast, which produces a gas that makes the bread dough rise and have little air pockets.  In this recipe, the beer replaces the yeast and does the same job, only without all the processing steps that yeast requires.




Mix in large bowl:

3 c. all purpose flour (not bread flour)
1/2 c. sugar


 make a well in the middle and pour in:

12 oz light, mild tasting beer  (for drinking I prefer dark, heavy beers, but those don't work very well in this recipe.  Stick to light, mild flavors)





Stir just until well blended.  (if you mix too much, it breaks up the bubbles and you get a flat, dense bread)










Spread in greased loaf pan.





Bake at 375 for 45-50minutes.

Cool in pan for 15 minutes.  Turn out onto wire rack and let cool for at least 1 hour.


You can sprinkle cheese on top before baking, or try cutting a slice down the center and spreading with a line of pesto.

Roasted Broccoli Soup

I have always wanted to be able to make broccoli soup that comes out savory and flavorful.  I have had it at restaurants, and finally found out that the secret is to roast the broccoli first.  It brings out a lot of flavor in the broccoli.

I found quite a few different recipes, and tried several before I was able to refine the process down to fewer ingredients and simpler steps.  This version is really easy to make and is Gluten Free!

Cut ~2# broccoli into florets.  Discard stumps.

Spread florets on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.

Drizzle florets with olive oil, sea salt, garlic powder.

Roast at 425F for 25 minutes, stirring after the first 10.  Florets will be soft and lightly browned.

Toss florets into stock pot with 4c chicken or veggie broth.

Bring to a boil over med-hi heat, then cover and simmer covered for 25 minutes.

Strain out about half of the florets with a slotted spoon.  Puree in blender or chopper, then stir back into the soup.  (This step thickens the soup without adding starches)

Stir in 3 TB lemon juice and 3/4c parmesan cheese.

Peanut Butter Pie

This one is so easy and so rich and tasty that the only problem will be keeping yourself from making it all the time!

Beat 5oz cream cheese with 1/2c confectioner's sugar until blended.

Mix in 1/3c smooth peanut butter. Stir until smooth.

Gently fold in 8oz thawed whipped topping.



Spoon into graham cracker crust.


Refrigerate 2-3 hours.

If traveling, freeze 2 hours.

Serve with whipped topping or chocolate sauce.