Leftovers Primavera

Yesterday, I had to clean out the refrigerator. A job I hate doing. Anyway, I made up this dish to keep from throwing out things I had in the fridge. So it is adaptable to what you have in your fridge that you don't want to go to waste. I suppose you could use all new ingredients if you really wanted to.

1-1/12 lb leftover chicken chopped or shredded into about 1" pieces

1 C leftover sauteed quartered button mushrooms 

2 C leftover chicken stock (the carton kind)

1/4 of a leftover 8 oz philly cream cheese

1/4 C leftover shredded sharp cheddar

2 C leftover veggies (I had green beans and corn but brocholli and yellow squash would be really good too)

1/4 C Parmesian

1 stick butter

1 t garlic powder

1/4 t pepper

1 t salt

2 T flour

1/4 C leftover half n half (milk will do)

1 16 oz box of pasta

Melt butter in a large sauce pan. Add chicken and mushroom. Stir until heated through. Add flour and stir for 3-4 minutes. Slowly add chicken stock stirring over medium heat until it comes to a soft boil. Add cheeses and seasonings. Stir occasionally until cheeses are melted. Add half n half. Mean while bring stock pot of water with veggies added to it to a boil. Cook pasta in water and veggies according to package directions for al dente. Drain pasta thoroughly. Mix pasta into chicken mixture. Serve with parmesian and warm bread.

Orange Vanilla Swirl Fudge

A decadent fudge for those white chocolate lovers.

• 1-1/2 teaspoons plus 3/4 cup butter, divided
• 3 C sugar
• 3/4 C heavy whipping cream
• 1 package white baking chips (10 to 12 ounces)
• 1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow creme
• 1 T orange extract
• 12 drops yellow food coloring
• 5 drops red food coloring
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Grease a 13-in. x 9-in. pan with 1-1/2 teaspoons butter; set aside.

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• In a large heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, cream,  remaining butter, and marshmallow creme. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in chips until smooth.
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• Remove 1 cup and set aside. Add orange extract and food coloring to the remaining mixture; stir until blended. Pour into prepared pan. Drop reserved marshmallow mixture by tablespoonfuls over the top; cut through with a knife to swirl. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. Cut into squares. 

Stuffed Coffee Cake

This turns out to be Cinnamon rolls meet "Monkey Bread".

Ingredients:

Dough:

2 C all purpose flour
1/4 t baking soda
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
6 T butter, very cold
1 C buttermilk (approximately)

Filling:

1 8oz block of cream cheese

Glaze/ coating:

2/3 C sugar
2/3 C brown sugar
1 T Cinnamon
1/2 C melted butter

Powder sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine dry dough ingredients in a large bowl. Cut butter into dry ingredients until it resembles a coarse meal or peas. Add buttermilk a little at a time and mix until just combined. If dough is dry add additional buttermilk a little at a time. This dough should be slightly wet. Lightly flour a flat surface and place dough. Flatten to about a 10 X 18 rectangle. Using a sharp, floured knife cut dough into 3 inch squares.  Combine sugar and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Spray a bundt or tube pan with nonstick cooking spray and sprinkle approximately 3 tablespoons of the cinnamon sugar mixture in the bottom of the pan. Cut cream cheese into 20 pieces. Place a piece of cream cheese into the center of a dough square. Fold edges of dough square up over the cream cheese to make a pocket. Roll pocket in cinnamon sugar and place seams side up in the bottom of the pan. Repeat until you have an entire level in the pan. Sprinkle layer with 3 tbs of cinnamon sugar mixture and drizzle with 1/2 of the melted butter. Make the second layer the same as the first except place the seam side down. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar and drizzle the remaining butter over. Bake at 350F for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately invert onto a plate. Leave pan in place for 10 minutes then remove pan. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Bacon Vinegarette

For all of you bacon addicts. A tried and true simple salad dressing that tastes out of this world.

Ingredients:

8 slices bacon, cut into 1/4 - 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 C Balsamic Vinegar (red wine vinegar may be used)
3 T sugar
1/4 t pepper

Mix Balsamic vinegar, sugar, and pepper together and set aside until bacon is done.

Fry bacon pieces until very crisp stirring often. DO NOT DRAIN ANY BACON GREASE FROM PAN. When bacon is completely cooked, remove from heat and stir in balsamic vinegar mixture. Keep your face well away from the pan as it WILL take your breath if you breathe the fumes. Mix bacon, bacon grease, and vinegar mixture until combined.While dressing is still hot, pour over green salad made with your favorite lettuces and veggies, toss until all salad is coated. Serve immediately. This makes enough for a salad made with 2-3 romaine hearts. This dressing does NOT keep. You can not refrigerate or save, but if you are like me and the ladies I make this for.....there will be no salad left!

Once you try it, let me know what you think.

Mommy's Collard Green Quiche

Sorry, no picture yet.

Ingredients:

Pie Crust:

1 C All purpose flour
1 t Sugar
1/4 t Salt
3 T Butter
4T COLD Water

shhhhh....or you could do Pillsbury Pie Crust

Custard:

4 slices bacon, diced
1 1/2 C onion, diced (mom used yellow, but I like walla walla or vidalia)
8 oz fresh Collards chopped
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
4 whole eggs
2 egg whites
3/4 C milk
1/2 C half & half
1/2 C grated Swiss Cheese
pinch Nutmeg
1 T Flour

Preheat oven to 350F.

Pie dough: In a small bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Using a pastry cutter, 2 knives or forks, cut in butter until dough resembles small peas and is crumbly. Add cold water 1 tablespoon at a time and gently mix after each addition. The mixture should begin to bind together after the last tablespoon of water is added. If it does not, add 1 more tablespoon of cold water. Gather the mixture into a ball and let it set for 5 minutes. Lightly flour a flat surface and roll dough into a 12-14 inch diameter circle. Gently roll onto rolling pin and place into a 9 inch pie plate. Press into the pie plate and flute edges. Top dough with beans or pie weights and bake for 5-10 minutes or until crust is just beginning to turn golden brown. Remove from oven.

Meanwhile in large skillet fry bacon until crispy. Add onions and saute until onions are translucent. Add collards and salt and pepper. Cook for an additional 1-2 minutes. Drain excess water from pan. Allow to cool slightly.

In large bowl combine eggs, egg whites, milk, and half and half and whisk until well combined. Add cheese and nutmeg. Sprinkle with flour. Stir in cooked collard mixture.

Pour into pre-baked pie shell. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes or until filling is set. A knife inserted into the middle of the quiche will come out clean when done. Remove from oven and let set 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Makes 8 slices.

Spanikopita - Spinach Pie Pockets

Ingredients:

1 bunch green onions chopped

2 bxs frozen chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry

2 T dried dill weed

3 T dried parsley

1/2 t salt

1/4 t pepper

1/4 C milk

1 lb Feta Cheese

4 eggs lightly beaten

1 pkg Fillo Dough

1/2 lb melted butter

Preheat oven to 300F. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl except fillo and melted butter. Open fillo and place under a damp, not wet, towel. Working quickly, remove 1 sheet of fillo and brush with melted butter. Place 1 tablespoon of spinach mixture in the middle of the short side of fillo, approximately 1 inch from bottom edge. Roll bottom edge up over the spinach mixture followed by one side of fillo and then the other. Then completely roll fillo up to make a roll approximately 3" wide by 1" diameter. Place seam side down on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining fillo and spinach mixture. Place 2" apart on pans. These rolls/pockets can be frozen at this point for later use. Bake unfrozen pockets for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

If freezing, freeze on cookie sheet and then transfer to desired bag or container to store in freezer. To cook, remove desired amount of pockets from freezer. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 300F for 30 minutes or until browned.

Baklava

Those little diamonds in the rough!

Ingredient list

2 lbs chopped walnuts
1/2 C sugar
2 t cinnamon
1 pkg Fillo dough
1 lb butter - melted

Syrup:

4 C sugar
2 C water
2 cinnamon sticks
3 T lemon juice

whole cloves

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Mix together the chopped walnuts, sugar and cinnamon, set aside. Brush an 11 X 16 pan with butter. Open fillo. Lay flat on surface and cover with damp (not wet) towel. Working quickly, as fillo dries out extremely fast, place one layer of fillo in pan and brush with melted butter. Make sure you cover fillo with towel after removing each layer from surface. Repeat until you have 8 layers in the bottom of the pan. Spread half of the walnut mixture on the fillo in pan. Back to the fillo. Layer 4 layers of fillo in pan, brushing each layer with butter. Again, make sure you cover the fillo with the damp towel. Spread the remaining walnut mixture over the second set of layers. Back to the fillo again. Layer the rest of the fillo, should be 6 layers, on top. Brushing each layer with butter. Carefully score the top layers of fillo into desired shapes (square or diamond) about 1 1/2" X 2. I have found a razor blade or exacto knife to be the easiest to do this. Make sure you do NOT cut all of the way through the baklava. Stud each piece of baklava with a whole clove.

Bake in 325 F oven for 1 hour.

While baklava is baking.  Combine syrup ingredients in a 3 qt sauce pan. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Boil gently for 20 minutes.

Once baklava is baked. Pour hot syrup over baklava. Allow to sit a minimum of 8 hours, preferably over night, before cutting. Follow the score lines and cut through.

This does not require refrigeration. It does freeze well. Makes a minimum of 30 pieces (depends on how large or small you cut the scores.