Monday, January 16, 2012

Emeril's Sloppy Joes

Submitted by Stefanie Moore

I love sloppy joes. And when I found this recipe in Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine a couple of years ago I had to try it. It is now one of the yummy, simple, go-to meals that I fall back on from time to time. I'll also be honest and say that it wasn't too long ago that I would have been happy with the canned sloppy joe sauce you add to browned meat.....what can I say, I'm a simple girl. But this recipe is so much better than anything you'll find in a can and I'm sure it's a lot better for you, too.

Serves: 4
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced small (2 cups)
  • 1 large celery stalk, diced small (1/2 cup)
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, diced small (1/2 cup)
  • coarse salt and ground pepper
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
  • 3 Tbsp dark brown sugar (you can add less if you don't want it as sweet....I don't always add 3Tbsp)
  • 3Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 cups prepared tomato sauce
  • 1 cup beef/chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth (I use the low-sodium chicken broth because I usually have it on hand. Also I usually add just a little broth at a time. If I don't have time to let it simmer long I don't add the whole cup. It cuts down on the sloppiness and Phil and I prefer our sloppy joes a bit thicker.)
  • 2 tsp hot-pepper sauce--optional (I usually add a couple of dashes of Texas Pete)
  1. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat
  2. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, season with salt and pepper then cook until vegetables soften, about 2 minutes.
  3. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more
  4. Add beef, breaking up with a wooden spoon, and cook until browned, about 2 minutes
  5. Add brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce and stock/broth and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
  6. Add hot-pepper sauce (or Texas Pete) if desired and remove from heat.
  7. Generously spoon beef mixture over toasted buns & enjoy! Phil likes his sloppy joes with a slice of cheese. :)

Friday, November 25, 2011

Sweet Potato Casserole

Submitted by Stefanie Moore

Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe

Ingredients
  • 4 1/2 lb sweet potatoes
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 1/4 cups cornflakes cereal, crushed
  • 1/4 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 cup miniature marshmallows

Preparation

  • Bake sweet potatoes at 400° for about 1 hour or until tender. Let cool to touch; peel and mash sweet potatoes.
  • Beat mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, and next 5 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Spoon potato mixture into a greased 11- x 7-inch baking dish.
  • Combine cornflakes cereal and next 3 ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle diagonally over casserole in rows 2 inches apart.
  • Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes. Sprinkle alternate rows with marshmallows; bake 10 additional minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving

Friday, October 7, 2011

Cape Cod Scones

Submitted by Courtney Steadman
 
Preheat oven to 425.

2 cups sifted all purpose flour - measure after you sift
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup dried cranberries, or strawberries, or blueberries (optional)
1 1/4 cups whipping (heavy) cream

Mix dry ingredients together with fork.  While mixing pour in 1 and 1/4 cups cream.  Form into a dough ball.  Knead a few times on wax paper with a little flour - I just fold it over a few times.  Flatten to a 9 inch circle or so.  Brush with some melted butter and then I sprinkle with coarse sugar could also just use regular sugar.  Then I cut it into 12 pieces or so using a pizza cutter.  Transfer the pieces to an ungreased cookie pan about an inch apart.  Bake for 15 minutes at 425 (middle rack).  My oven gets hot so I usually bake at 425 for 5 minutes and turn it down to 400 for the last 10 min so they don't get too brown on the bottom.  Let cool and enjoy:))  They freeze well too.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Chocolate Sauce

Submitted by Carla Winter

2T Nutella
¼ c semisweet chocolate chips
¼ c heavy cream

Microwave in 30 second increments till it stirs easily and melts together. 

Can also add 1-2 T of brewed strong coffee to this. 

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Balsamic Chicken with Wild Rice

Submitted by Courtney Steadman
Ingredients
1 lb Chicken Breasts
2 tsp Olive Oil
1 Garlic Clove, pressed
1 pkg Mushrooms
3 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
¼ tsp Thyme

Directions
Trim and Rinse Chicken Breasts.
Cut into 1” cubes.
In a bowl, combine garlic, balsamic vinegar, mustard, and thyme.
Add chicken to bowl and coat with mixture.
Heat oil in a large skillet.
Add contents of bowl to skillet.
Cook Chicken until done.
Add mushrooms.
Cook a box of Uncle Ben’s Fast Cook Wild Rice according to the directions.
Serve Chicken over Wild Rice

Servings:  4

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Southern Peach Scuppernong Salsa

Submitted by Stefanie Moore

We got some huge scuppernong grapes in our produce box last week. They had listed this recipe in the newsletter and it is awesome! If you find yourself with some scuppernong grapes and don't know what to do with them I suggest you try this recipe. I think it would be good with regular grapes, as well.

Ingredients
1 cup seeded and quartered scuppernong grapes
2 medium peaches, peeled and chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 medium red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/2 medium vidalia or other sweet onion, chopped
2 large jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 Tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp salt (or more to taste)
Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Preparation
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir gently. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Chill for at least 20 minutes.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Spaghetti with Eggplant


Submitted by Conner Evans
 
Ingredients 
1 med. eggplant
olive oil
1 finely chopped clove garlic
1 1/2 - 2 cups peeled, cored, chopped tomatoes
     (or 1 can diced )
hot pepper flakes to taste
1 lb. spaghetti, cooked & drained
 
Directions 
Cut off the ends of the eggplant & discard.  Cut eggplant into quarter inch rounds or chunks.  Place in mixing bowl and sprinkle with 1 T. salt.  Mix well and let stand an hour or more. 
 
Rinse & drain the eggplant and squeeze out extra juice.
 
Heat about 3 T olive oil in skillet, add garlic and eggplant and cook eggplant on all sides until golden.  Add tomatoes, hot pepper flakes and other seasonings you like
(such as a generous pinch of Italian dried herbs).  Stir well, cover and cook on low for 10-15 minutes.
 
You can personalize this to your own taste by adding chopped onion, mushrooms, bell pepper, etc. when you add the tomatoes.  Serve on top of spaghetti