Recipes

Here are some of the recipes from our "La Dee Dah" newsletter. We hope you like them. If you have a favorite recipe to share, send it to us and we'll see that you get all the credit you deserve.

Mystery Cabbage Soup

½ head cabbage, chopped

6 large green onions (scallions), sliced

2 green peppers, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

1 bunch celery, chopped

10 oz. Mushrooms, thickly sliced

1 can (48 oz.) V8 juice

1 or 2 beef or chicken bouillon cubes

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 pkg. onion soup mix (like Lipton)

1½ cups brown rice, cooked

½ tsp. Cayenne (or chili) pepper

Sauté onions, peppers, carrots, celery, and cabbage in cooking spray. Add mushrooms, soup mix, bouillon cubes, V8, diced tomatoes and 8 cups water. Add Cayenne (or chili) pepper, if desired. Cover and simmer 2 hours (add rice near the end. Season to taste with salt and pepper and spices. Makes enough to last all week! Since it’s a mystery whose recipe this is, you can call it your own!

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Guy's Unrivaled White Chili

Guy Auld is a REALTOR^® in our Long & Foster office. His wife, Patty, does not like tomatoes or sauces with chunks of tomatoes. So Guy adopted a friend’s recipe. Patty loves it and we think you will too!

1 lb Boneless Chicken Breast (more for a “meatier” Chili)

1 lb Ground Turkey

1 Onion (chopped)

2 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)

2 cans Chicken Broth

3-15 oz cans White Beans (Great Northern or Cannelloni)

1 bag Frozen White Shoepeg Corn

2 tbsp Ground Cumin

1-4 oz can Chopped Green Chili Peppers

1 tbsp Dried Oregano

1 Green or Yellow Bell Pepper (coarsely chopped, seeds removed)

2 or 3 Fresh Jalapeno Chili Peppers (coarsely chopped, seeds removed)

1 tsp Ground Cayenne Pepper

1 tsp White or Black Pepper

2 cups Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

Bake the whole boneless chicken breasts in oven, lightly seasoned with a chicken seasoning or such as you normally would do. While the chicken is baking, brown the ground turkey in a large skillet, adding the chopped onion and garlic. When turkey is done, transfer this to a large pot and add the chicken broth, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper, white or black pepper, bag of frozen corn, canned chili peppers, chopped bell and jalapeno peppers. Cover and simmer on low for at least 30 minutes or more, stirring occasionally. Add water if you like it “juicier” or if it gets too thick. The chicken breasts should be done by now. Cut up the chicken breasts into various sized cubes from ¼ inch to ¾ inch in size and then add to the pot along with 2 cans of the white beans. Take the third can of beans and puree them in a blender or food processor. Add this to the pot and stir. Cover and simmer on low for another 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. If too juicy, uncover for a while. If too thick, add water. Serve in bowls topped with shredded Monterey Jack cheese and with white corn tortilla chips or fresh crusty bread on the side. Guy says this is an “according to taste” recipe; quantities should be adjusted, as you prefer.

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Amy's Fruit Crisp

Amy Grunditz adapted this recipe because her fiancé, Robb Preis, would not eat his veggies, so she decided to make him something fruity he would eat that didn’t have quite as much fat as some other concoctions.

3 Apples - Amy likes Galas - (or 1 pint blueberries, or 3 large ripe peaches)

3 Packs Instant Oatmeal (Plain or Maple Sugar)

½ Cup Brown Sugar

¼ Cup Flour

⅛ Stick Butter

½ Cup Warm Water

Peal and slice apples (peaches) evenly (apple pie style), or wash blueberries and remove stems. Spread evenly in a glass pie plate. In a separate bowl, combine oatmeal, brown sugar and flour. Fork until blended evenly. Melt butter in microwave (about 30 seconds). Mix half the water (¼ cup) with the butter to increase its volume; slowly pour the butter into mixture to blend and moisten everything together. Take remainder of water and pour over fruit in pie plate. Spread crumb mixture on top of fruit. Bake (apples & peaches) 25 minutes in preheated 350º oven or until golden brown (15 minutes for blueberries). Spoil yourself, like Amy spoils Robb!

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Garlic, Onions & Peppers Olive Oil Pasta

This is so simple but satisfying. You can change proportions to accommodate your taste (or your dancing partners). You may want to use multi-colored peppers for eye appeal and variety.

Donna says, "No acronyms, please."

4 cloves garlic (more or less to taste)
1 medium onion, sliced into rings
1 sweet pepper, cut into strips
½ cup (±) virgin olive oil
1 tbs (±) crushed oregano
1 tbs (±) basil
½ cup grated Parmesan (Romano) cheese
1 lb pasta (spaghetti or linguini)
Salt and pepper to taste.
Pass around the crushed red pepper.

Crush the garlic and sauté with onions and peppers in the olive oil until peppers are tender (careful not to blacken the onions). Add in the oregano and basil the last several minutes. Boil the pasta al dente, drain and toss together with above. Add the cheese, salt and pepper; toss some more to coat all the pasta. Mangio!

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Reuben Dip

Daughter Kelli collected this recipe from her client, Michelle O'Connor. It's a substantial appetizer, so be careful not to over indulge and spoil the main course. If you like Reuben sandwiches, you will certainly love this. And if you bring it to the party, you won't worry about forgetting to take your bowl home with you.

8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1 small can (14 oz.) sauerkraut
1 cup Swiss cheese - grated
1/2 lb. chipped/shaved corned beef
1 round loaf rye bread

Mix together all ingredients except the bread. Hollow out the bread to make a bowl out of it. Keep the cutout bread to cut into pieces for dipping. Fill the bread loaf with the mixed ingredients and bake in 350 oven for about one hour. (Careful not to burn the bread.) Serve warm with cutout bread pieces. (A small party rye loaf or crackers may be good, if the cutout bread runs out.)

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Cheesecake Tarts

Donna Dahlen submits this recipe, but its source remains an enigma. You can use the pie filling of your choice; cherry and blueberry are always favorites.

1 box Nabisco vanilla wafers
1 can Comstock pie filling
2 eggs
16 oz. cream cheese (softened)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix together cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Place 16 foil cupcake liners on a cookie sheet. Put one vanilla wafer on the bottom of each liner. Fill to 3/4 full with mixture. Bake in 325 oven for 20 minutes. Allow to cool. While cooling, cheesecake will drop to form a dish for topping. After it has cooled, top with pie filling. Refrigerate, or they can be frozen.

See you at the party.

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Aunt Rose's Lemon Delight

Donna got this recipe from her Aunt Rose years ago. It does not have to be lemon, you can substitute chocolate, strawberry, or whatever flavor pudding you like. We have tried it with chocolate and that's a big hit.

1 cup flour
1/4 lb softened butter
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup powdered confectioners sugar
3 cups milk
2 small pkgs instant lemon pudding mix
Cool Whip

Blend flour and butter and add nuts. (Save a tablespoon of the nuts for the end.) Press into 9 X 13 cake pan. Bake in 350 oven for 20 minutes. Cool. Cream together cream cheese and sugar and blend in 1 cup Cool Whip. Carefully spread onto the cooled crust. Mix pudding and milk. Spread on as next layer. Top with Cool Whip and sprinkle with the remainder of the nuts. Serve chilled.

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Jan's Buttery Biscuits

This recipe from Janice Horner is one she sort of made up. She decided to put the butter right into the biscuits instead of shortening, and save the extra calories of buttering them at the table. Getting the amount of milk just right may take a little practice.

4 cups enriched flour
2 teaspoons salt
5 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup butter (or margarine)
2 to 2&1/2 cups milk

Mix all dry ingredients together. Cut in butter using a pastry blender until butter is well incorporated into mixture. Add milk and stir well. Make sure mix is completely wet. Drop into muffin tins that have been sprayed or greased. Bake in 400 oven until golden (about 30 minutes)Makes 18 nice big biscuits.

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Steve's Cheese Pastry

This recipe from Steve Ferguson is easy to make and great to take when the crowd is getting together. It's good warm, or cold from the refrigerator. (If there is any left to save in the refrigerator.)

2 packs prepared crescent roll pastry
1/2 cup butter
16 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cinnamon sugar

Spray oblong baking dish with Pam. Roll out 1 pack of crescent rolls to completely cover pan. Blend cream cheese with sugar and vanilla and spread evenly over pastry. Cover with second pack of crescent rolls. Melt butter and pour over top. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake in 350 oven for 30 minutes. Allow to cool somewhat before cutting into servings. You be the judge as to serving size. It's rich and delicious.

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Richard's World-Famous Meatballs and Spaghetti Sauce

This recipe started with Betty Crocker's COOKBOOK, but has been modified over the years in pursuit of perfection. Are we there yet?

First the sauce:
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 stick pepperoni, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
1 green pepper, chopped
3 cups water
2-15 oz. cans tomato sauce
2-12 oz. cans tomato paste
2 envelopes Italian-style spaghetti sauce mix with mushrooms
1 bay leaf, crumbled
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon oregano leaves
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2-4 oz. cans mushrooms, stems and pieces (or cut your own fresh)
1 can pitted ripe olives (drained and sliced)

In a large pot, mix all except mushrooms and olives together and bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms and olives (and meatballs below) and simmer for an additional half hour.

While that is simmering, make the meatballs:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound (hot) Italian turkey sausage
1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 green (or sweet red) pepper, finely chopped
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Romano (or Parmesan) cheese
1 tablespoon snipped parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
1/2 cup milk

Mix all ingredients together. Shape by rounded tablespoonfuls into balls. Place on broiler tray and broil to brown outside, turning once during broiling. (This allows most of the little bit of fat in these meatballs to drip off.) Add to sauce, above, and simmer for 1/2 hour. Serve over pasta, or make great subs.

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