Waldorf Salad

I was asked to bring a Waldorf Salad to Thanksgiving dinner. I told Darrin's aunt that I've never made one but I was sure that I could find a recipe andwhip something up. Then I hit the Internet and learned that there are about a million different ways to make a Waldorf Salad. Drats. So after literally days of scouring different recipes, I finally settled on this one. I am proud to say it was a HIT! I had some leftover, so I brought it over to my parents on Friday and they all loved it too! WOOHOO! This is definitely a keeper! I did change a couple things -- I didn't do the cherries, I instead threw in golden raisins (without re-hydrating them). And then I mixed in regular candied walnuts instead of the sweet and spicy candied Pecans. TIPS-- Make this the night before so that the flavors will merry and the dressing will thicken. It tastes great the next day! Also, squeeze the juice of a lemon (or so) into a bowl, then when you cut up the apples, toss the pieces in the lemon juice. This will help the apples to stay green and not brown.

Waldorf Salad from Bon Appétit Magazine (Sept 1999)

2/3 cup dried tart cherries*
1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
4 Granny Smith apples, cored, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/3 cups very thinly sliced celery
1 1/3 cups red seedless grapes, halved
Sweet and Spicy Candied Pecans (recipe below)


Directions:
Soak cherries in 1 cup boiling water until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain.

Whisk mayonnaise and next 3 ingredients in large bowl. Add apples, celery, grapes and cherries; toss. Season with salt and pepper. Top salad with candied pecans.
**You can also arrange lettuce leaves on a platter and serve with the salad.



Sweet and Spicy Candied Pecans
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
3 tablespoons light corn syrup (you can also use honey instead of corn syrup)
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon (generous) freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups pecan pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325;°F. Spray baking sheet with nonstick spray. Combine corn syrup and next 4 ingredients in large bowl. Stir to blend. Add pecans; stir gently to coat. Transfer to baking sheet.

Place large piece of foil on work surface. Bake pecans 5 minutes. Using fork, stir pecans to coat with melted spice mixture. Continue baking until pecans are golden and coating bubbles, about 10 minutes. Transfer to foil. Working quickly, separate nuts with fork. Cool. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)

Baked Potato Soup

There's lots of baked potato soup recipes out there....and really, they're all about the same. At least, they all have about the same ingredients. So I used this recipe as a "base" and then tweaked things to my liking. Here's the recipe and my variations below:


Baked Potato Soup III

Ingredients
4 baking potatoes
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups milk
1 cup chopped green onions
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
12 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
5 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

Directions
1.Bake potatoes 1 hour in a 400 degree F (200 degree C) oven. Scoop out the inside of the potatoes and set aside. Reserve the skins for another recipe or discard.
2.Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium low heat. Stir in the flour to make a roux. Cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually pour in the milk while stirring until all the milk has been added. Bring heat to medium and keep stirring until the soup mixture starts to get thick.
3.Add the potatoes, green onions, salt, ground black pepper, bacon and cheese. Stir well and continue to heat for about 15 minutes, allowing the flavors to blend. Stirring well, mix in the sour cream until well blended with the soup. Serve immediately.

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1) I used more than 4 potatoes, but they were small. I scooped out the "guts" of most of them and then cubed up 3 potatoes to add in at the end. This gave the soup a good variety of textures.

2) I first cooked the bacon in the pot, then sauteed a little bit of onions, then did the butter and flour thing. I added 3 cups of Milk and 1 cup of chicken stock. It still was a bit thick, so I ended up adding more milk towards the end.

3) Once the milk mixture had thickened a bit, I added in the potato guts, then took an immersion blender to it (turn off heat first!) and blender it all up. Then I added diced carrots and let those cook for a couple minutes, then I added some frozen corn and the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT the bacon. Since I already had the bacon grease in there, I kept the bacon itself for garnish (I also kept some cheese on the side for garnish as well).

4) Stir,taste and season until it taste good. Serve with bacon, cheese and green onions on top.

Eggplant Burgers

Let me first say that I don't really like the idea of "hiding" veggies and stuff in foods (but I guess that's for another post). However, I was pretty intrigued when I saw this great, healthy alternative for normal hamburgers. I'm not a big eggplant fan, but I guess I really want to be. It's super nutritious, hearty and when it's in season, can be pretty cheap. I keep finding myself trying new recipes for it in hopes that I'll find one that we really like! :) This might be it! Another great thing is that you can freeze them and reheat pretty easily. Below you'll find a video and the recipe and then after that, my notes on it all. Enjoy!




Weelicious's Eggplant Burgers (Makes 8 Burgers)

1 Tbsp Olive Oil, plus more for sautéing
1 Medium Eggplant, cubed
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Parsley, chopped
1 Large Egg
1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
1 Cup Breadcrumbs (I used whole wheat)

Accompaniments: Whole Wheat Bagel, Buns,Cheese, Tomato, Lettuce, Ketchup, Pickles

1. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat and cook the eggplant cubes for 3 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and salt and continue to sauté for another 2 minutes.
3. Add 1 tbsp of water, cover and cook for an additional 3 minutes or until eggplant is fork tender. Allow to cool.
4. Place the eggplant and remaining ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth.
5. Use about 2 tbsps of the eggplant mixture for mini burgers, 1/4 cup for bigger burgers and form into patties.
6. Heat about 1-2 tsps of oil in a large sauté pan and cook the eggplant patties for 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
7. Serve.

* To freeze place the cooked patties on a baking sheet, freeze for 1 hour and place in a Ziploc bag, label and freeze up to 3-4 months. When ready to serve, place patties on a baking sheet in a 300 degree oven for 10 minutes until warm.

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My notes:
Overall, I give these a B+. Definitely something different and a good vegetarian dish. I'd take these over a Boca Burger anyday!!!! However, there are some things to consider:

1) Make sure not to over cook your eggplant (like I did). Really stick with the given cooking times . I thought that it needed an extra couple minutes, but it overcooked and got soggy. When I put everything in the food processor, it was too runny (like cake batter). I ended up having to put in another cup or so of breadcrumbs just to make it thick enough to shape into patties. (So just in case, have some extra breadcrumbs on hand)

2) Beware of the color. The color does not look appetizing. Especially since there's parsley in the mix -- you get this gross greenish brown color. Ew. Just know that it tastes better than it looks and doesn't look too bad once it's cooked up.

3) Kind of weird texture -- These aren't hamburgers, so they don't have the texture of hamburgers. They're a little more mushy. So we just used some good, traditional hamburger fixings -bacon, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese (Cheddar and pepper jack for a spicy kick!) and avocados. All things yummy on burgers of any kind.

4) Make Nuggets for the kiddos -- I made 4 patties for Darrin and I and then made small balls, tossed them in Panko (or you could do regular breadcrumbs) and sauteed them up. The Panko gave them a nice crunch and the size was perfect for the kids. They kind of looked like little nuggets. I even gave Rylee some ketchup to dip them in! :)

So there you go. I say try it and see for yourself if you like it or not. Overall, we really liked these and I think we'll make them again. Good luck!

Savory Pork Roast, Brussels Sprouts and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

This was our dinner tonight. Savory Pork Roast, Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Garlic Mashed Potatoes. YUM! All the recipes came from Allrecipes.com . Click on the name of the dish to be directed to the recipe on All Recipes.

Savory Pork Roast

1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons dried marjoram
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1 (4 pound) boneless pork loin roast

Directions
1.Combine the seasonings; rub over roast. Place on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F. Let stand for 10-15 minutes before slicing.

*** I only used a 1.3 lbs pork roast but I kept the amount of seasonings the same. I like a punch. :) I also mixed in a little bit of olive oil to make the rub into more of a paste.


Roasted Brussels Sprouts
1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and yellow leaves removed
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
2.Place trimmed Brussels sprouts, olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper in a large resealable plastic bag. Seal tightly, and shake to coat. Pour onto a baking sheet, and place on center oven rack.
3.Roast in the preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes, shaking pan every 5 to 7 minutes for even browning. Reduce heat when necessary to prevent burning. Brussels sprouts should be darkest brown, almost black, when done. Adjust seasoning with kosher salt, if necessary. Serve immediately.

***I quartered them first (wanted to make them a little more "bite size"), then par-boiled them for about 2 minutes. Let it sit in a colander for a couple minutes to drain while you're doing other things. Then toss with oil and seasoning, spread out on a baking sheet and pop them in the oven! Overall- pretty good. It was a little salty. But not too bad. I don't normally do Brussels Sprouts since it has the whole "taste like feet" reputation. But I'm really trying to branch out and try different things. It was pretty good. Didn't taste like feet, so that's a plus! :) We ate them all.


Garlic Mashed Potatoes
I don't have a "recipe" for this but here's what I did. I first cut off the top of a whole head of garlic, drizzled olive oil over the top with a touch of salt, wrapped it in foil and stuck it in the oven with the pork -- I let it roast for about 45 minutes or so--not really sure how long. Basically I just let it cook until I was ready to mash the potatoes. Boil the potatoes in salted water until fork tender, drain, return potatoes to pot, cover and let sit until you're almost ready to serve dinner. When we're about 5-10 minutes from serving everything, I take out the garlic, unwrap it and using a fork or knife, pop out each clove of garlic (ok....and taste some too...yum). Then turn on the flame to low, pour in some milk and add butter (whatever looks good - remember you can always add more but you can't take out, so start small). Using a large whisk (or potato masher, or fork or ..whatever) mash and mix everything together. Add in garlic cloves and shredded Parm cheese along with salt and pepper to taste. Stir and taste until it's good. :)

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So I catagorized this under "Cheap Meals" because once I added it all up - it was PRETTY CHEAP! I spent less than $5 on this entire meal (which had leftovers!). Here's the breakdown:

Pork Roast -- 1.3 lbs (on sale) 1.99/lb --$2.59 --**I already had all spices and olive oil on hand**

Brussel Sprouts -- 1 lbs -- 1.99/lb --$1 -- **already on hand: seasonings and olive oil**

Mashed Potatoes -- One 5lb bag (15 potatoes) was $0.69. I used 4 potatoes which came out to be about $0.20 ; Parm Cheese - the container was $3.11. I used just a couple of handfuls, so I'm guestimating about $0.50 for the Parm Cheese. **I already had milk and butter on hand.**

I also made a packet of gravy b/c I had that in the pantry. However if you bought one it would probably be about $1. Let's just throw that in there for the fun of it.

TOTAL = $5.29