Homemade Marshmallows

You thought I was kidding, right?

Homemade Marshmallows:

You will need an electric mixer--trust me. You will also need a candy thermometer. Better than store bought marshmallows. Don't believe me? Try it yourself.

1.) In a medium sized saucepan, attach a candy thermometer and mix together 2 cups white sugar, 1 Tablespoon corn syrup, and 3/4 cup water over medium-medium high heat. The mixture needs to be occasionally stirred until it reaches 250-260 F, which will take ten to fifteen minutes.

2.) While waiting for the sugar mixture to come to temperature, take a small saucepan and add 3/4 cup water and sprinkle with 4 Tablespoons (4 packets) of unflavored gelatin. Allow to sit until the gelatin mixture is completely translucent (5 minutes). Turn heat to med and allow to heat until gelatin is clear. If you want to add any special flavors or colors, now is your time. I suggest either 1 T vanilla or peppermint to taste. Take gelatin mixture off heat and set in warm place. Likely, you'll still be waiting for the sugar mixture to come to temp.

3.) Take two egg whites and beat in metal bowl (stand mixer works wonders) until the whites reach a soft peak stage. You will know they have reached the soft peak stage b/c they will quickly fold over when attempting to make a peak. Stop beating whites when they have reached this stage, even if the sugar mixture has not come to temp.

4.) When the sugar mixture comes to temp, remove from heat and carefully add the gelatin mixture. Caution, the mixture will bubble up, so I recommend adding the gelatin mixture in thirds. Whisk together.

5.) Still using the whisk attachment, turn electric mixer to Low and and slowly, slowly add the sugar/gelatin mixture in a thin stream. Be careful as the sugar mixture will be very hot. Once the sugar/gelatin mixture is all added to the egg whites, turn the mixer up as high as it will go without splattering everywhere. Mix until the marshmallow has thickened to the correct consistency (5-12 minutes, depending on your mixer).

6.) Immediately transfer to a well confectioners/powdered sugar coated 9 x 13 inch pan. Use rubber spatula to spread evenly. Allow to set for 2-4 hours or until set. Turn pan upside down and transfer marshmallow out of pan and onto well confectioners sugar dusted surface. Cut into squares or other shapes and powder each side with more confectioners sugar. Will store for one week if you don't eat them all before then.

I suggest dipping marshmallows in melted chocolate and then coating with crushed graham crackers. Makes 36 marshmallows.

Enjoy!

Creamy Chicken or Turkey Enchiladas

Easy to make, creamy and flavored just right these creamy enchiladas are sure to be a palate pleaser. This recipe calls for 3 cups of chopped, cooked chicken--you can use the cooked chicken meat from a precooked deli chicken ($4-6 depending on the store), a home-cooked chicken (around $3 for a whole chicken) or use your leftover Thanksgiving  turkey!

Another option would be to pack the refridgeratd ingredients in a cooler and warm in a dutch oven on your next camping trip. Use powdered milk and reconstitute with water to save room in your cooler. Who says camping has to be hard?

I recommend making these enchiladas with my homemade tortillas.

Creamy Chicken (or Turkey) Enchiladas

1/4 cup minced onion (or rehydrate 2 T dried minced onion)
2 T margerine, butter or lard
3 T salsa verde (green salsa) or a 4 oz can of green chiles, chopped
4 oz cream cheese
1 T milk
1/2 t ground cumin
3 cups cooked, chopped chicken or turkey
10 7 inch tortillas, corn or flour
1 family size can of condensed cream of chicken soup
1 8 oz carton of sour cream or fresh cheese
1 cup milk
1 cup of shredded Monterrey Jack cheese or Cheddar cheese.

In a skillet or bottom of heated dutch oven, saute the onion, fat, salsa verde or green chiles until onions are golden. Meanwhile in medium size bowl mix together chicken or turkey, cream cheese, 1 T milk, and cumin. Add sauted mixture to chicken mixture.

Take one tortilla and fill with chicken mixture. Roll and place seam side down in pan or dutch oven. Repeat with each remaining tortilla and place each rolled tortilla next to each other until all tortillas and chicken mixture is gone.

Using the same bowl that the chicken was in, mix together the condensed cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and milk. Pour evenly over tortillas. Top with cheese.

Bake in 350 F oven for 25 minutes or cook in dutch oven for approximately 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Makes ten enchiladas.

Homemade Tortillas

Just like my grandmother used to make them, this recipe is simple to follow. You probably have all the ingredients already on hand in your pantry. The secret to making these tortillas soft is to preheat your skillet or griddle to medium or 200 F and cook for two minutes on each side. Don't overbrown or overcook the edges of the tortillas. Place on a plate and immediately cover with a clean dish towel. Repeat this process for each tortilla.

Tortillas taste great alone or with butter and salt or cinnamon and sugar. Make burritos or even Creamy Chicken Enchiladas with these tortillas.


Tortillas

4 cups flour (you may subsititute 2 cups for whole wheat flour)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons shortening (vegetable, meat, bacon drippings)
1 cup water or enough to make a dough that comes together, but is not sticky

Sift together the dry ingredients. Just like you would when making a pie or pastry shell dough, cut in shortening until well mixed. Slowly add in water, a little at a time, tossing flour mixture until dough comes together, but is not sticky.

Place dough onto lightly floured surface and knead for three to five minutes. Separate dough into ten evenly sized balls. Place dough in covered bowl and allow it to rest for thirty minutes.

On lightly floured surface, using your hands, flatten one ball of dough. Now using lightly floured rolling pin, flatten dough to 1/8 inch thickness while shaping it into a circle. Immediately place onto preheated 200 F or medium heated skillet or griddle. Cook for about two minutes on each side making sure not to overcook.

Makes ten 7 inch tortillas.

Queso Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers

One of my favorite appetizers to snack on are homemade Queso Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers. Last week, as I watched Funny Farm, I had an insatiable urge to spring into the kitchen and whip up these spicy and addictive treats. It may have had something to do with the bowl of homegrown jalapenos sitting in front of me or the new block of cheddar cheese nesting in my fridge just waiting to be used. I can't be sure which food had more influence over me, but I was determined to concoct poppers before the movie was over.

Making jalapeno poppers is quite an easy task. As with any hot pepper, care must be taken in preparing the peppers. If you are not used to handling hot peppers or have sensitive skin, wash your hands very frequently during the slicing and deseeding  stage so as to rinse off any oils or juice in the peppers which can make your hands burn. Also do not put your fingers or hands in your eyes or nose or touch any other "sensitive" areas of your body. You will pay! 

In fact, I recommend wearing latex gloves or at least placing plastic bags over your hands just in case. I once made an intriguingly hot fresh salsa in college without any hand protection and paid for it by having to place my hands in bowls of icewater all night and third degree burns the next day. Yes, your hands can and will blister from very hot peppers.

Queso Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers

20 jalapenos
2 cups finely shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup corn flour (you could also use corn meal if corn flour is not available)
2 eggs, beaten well
about 1 cup corn or canola oil for frying

Slice jalapenos with a pairing knife lengthwise and deseed under running cold water. Place halved jalapenos next to each other as you'll want to use the halves from one jalapeno per popper. Repeat until all jalapenos are prepared.

Wash hands thoroughly.

Place a small amount of finely shredded cheddar cheese in one half of a jalapeno and press with thumbs to pack cheese in. Repeat with the other half. Put slices back together to form whole jalapeno and secure with one toothpick. Repeat until all halves have been stuffed.

Begin heating oil in a pan on the stove at medium to medium high heat or in an electric skillet at about 230 F.

Dip jalapeno into beaten egg and then toss into corn flour. Immediately place into oil and begin frying on one side. Quickly move along to the next jalapeno and repeat until all jalapenos have been dipped, dusted, and placed in hot oil. Turn to cook other side. (You'll cook each side approximately 3 minutes on each side).

Place cooked jalapenos onto a paper towel to absorb extra oil. Serve with ranch dressing, salsa, or alone. Goes great with grilled cheese sandwiches.

Apple Pie Filling for Canning

One of my favorite dessert fillings to can for either my family or to give as gifts to friends, I think this applie pie filling will quickly become a seasonal favorite of yours as well.

The most crucial step to making this apple pie filling is preparation of the apples beforehand. I will use almost any apple, except Red Delicious since I find them too bland for pie making, but I prefer Galas if I can find them at an inexpensive price. All the other ingredients you should be able to find in your pantry and spice cabinet.

If I could tell you to go out and purchase one thing for this recipe, it would be a apple corer/peeler/slicer. You can purchase them from Target (where I purchased mine) for around $20. The device I bought is heavy duty and easy to clean. If you will spend the $20 it takes to purchase an apple corer/peeler/slicer, you will save yourself frustration and impatience, not to mention loss time when it comes to preparing the apples. My children love the strings of apple peels the device creates and love to eat them while they watch me make the pies and pie filling.

If you have a little lemon juice or vitamin C powder (you can purchase this at a health food store), then I recommend you add a little to 2 quarts of water to soak the cored/peeled/sliced apples in as you are preparing the filling (1/4 cup of lemon juice OR 1 tsp vitamin C powder).

Apple Pie Filling

6-8 pounds of apples that have been peeled, cored, quartered, and sliced to 1/4 inch thin peices
2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 tsp nutmeg
4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
10 cups water

Set prepared apples aside and soak in lemon juice or vitamin C infused water.

Mix together the remaining ingredients in a large pot and slowly bring to a boil stirring frequently. Once the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, remove from heat.

Drain prepared apples and pack into 6-7 quart size OR 12-14 pint size clean and sterilized canning jars. Immediately with either a wooden or plastic knife or spatula begin adding the thickened mixture to the apple filled jars. You will have to use the knife to get the thickened mixture down into the jars. Fill to one-inch from the top. Dont worry if you spill a little, you can always use a clean, wet cloth to wipe up any that has dripped. Repeat for each jar. Note: Do not use a metal knife or spatula as this can cause breakage during processing.

Wipe rims and threads of jars. Place hot lids on canning jars and tighten with a hot band to finger tight. Process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes for pint jars or 20 minutes for quart jars. Once you have removed the jars from the water bath canner and allowed them to cool, check that lids have sealed. If they have, you can remove the band if you are storing for your own use or you can remove the band, place a pretty square cloth on top, then refasten with the band for gift giving.

I recommend you use my crust that I use with my pecan pie.

Allie's Apple Pie

I love pies...in fact, each Thanksgiving as a child I can remember eating just a small amount of dinner so I could indulge on pie after pie for dessert. Usually, I didn't even touch the apple pies although I loved apples. I love apples so much that once I sneaked an entire bag of freshly picked apples into my bedroom and ate them all to my mother's surprise when she found me and the empty paper sack. I loved apples in everything--everything except apple pie. There was just something about the way people made apple pies in my childhood that did not please me. They were either bland, the crust not sweet enough, or the mixture of apples and spices not well balanced.

It wasn't until college when my roommates and I discovered the apple orchard at the gardens at Ricks College that I learned how to make a great apple pie. Never mind the sign that told us not to pick the apples because they were part of some research program, my roommates and I made frequent trips to the gardens where one of us would climb the tree and shake the branches while the rest of us would try to fill our plastic bags with as many apples before someone told us to stop. What can I say? We were adventurous.

Afterward, we'd take the apples back to Sarah Barnes Hall and we'd each take turns peeling and slicing the apples. Then we'd get to work making apple pies and other delicious apple based treats. Here my recipe that I've perfected over the years since then.

Allie's Apple Pie

6-8 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/4 inch thin quarters (use any apple except red delicious--I use Galas)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (can be adjusted to your taste)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (can be adjusted to your taste)
2/3 cup white sugar
2 T flour
small pinch salt
Recipe for pastry crust for bottom and top of crust (I use the same crust for my pecan pie)

Mix together dry ingredients. Add prepared apples and toss gently to coat. Pour into prepared unbaked 8 or 9 inch pie crust. Top with unbaked pie crust and sprinkle with a small amount of sugar (you can also brush with melted butter and then sprinkle with sugar). Bake in 350 F oven for 50 minutes.

Wild Fruit Spread for Desserts

My favorite chocolate cake recipe from Hershey's paired with homemade wild fruit spread and vanilla butter cream frosting for a taste sensation that is sure to have your mouth wanting for seconds. The secret to this cake is literally in the sauce.

Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake Recipe

Butter Cream Frosting Recipe

Wild Fruit Spread 

2 cups blackberries or raspberries
1 cup grape juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
5 cups sugar
1 pouch liquid pectin
Note: I used wild picked blackberries and mustang grape juice. This recipe makes about 5 cups of spread.

Mix together blackberries or raspberries, grape juice, lemon juice, and sugar over medium high heat stirring frequently. Allow to come to a full rolling boil for 2 minutes. Add liquid pectin, all at once, and continue to boil for three minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Can if desired or immediately refrigerate or freeze in 1 cup portions. You will use approximately 1 to 1 1/2 cups of spread for this recipe.

To Assemble Cake:

Mix and bake cake according to directions on Hershey's website or the back of the unsweetened cocoa container for two round 8 inch cakes. Cool cakes on waxed paper as this is a very moist recipe. Carefully remove rounded tops off cakes and blow/brush any crumbs away.

Spread a thin layer of vanilla buttercream frosting onto top of bottom layer of cake. Spread 3 -4 tablespoons of Wild Fruit Spread onto frosting being careful to come just to 1/4 inch from edges.

Place top layer of cake, cut side down, onto bottom layer.

Frost cake with Butter Cream Frosting.

Pipe a decorative edge onto top layer of cake and carefully fill with more Wild Fruit Spread.

Garnish with fresh mint or fresh pineapple sage.

Pecan Pie with Flaky Sweet Crust

This is the recipe I've used to make pecan pies since my college days. I've modified it from the original recipe so there is no waste in regards to the eggs (the savory sweet crust calls for 2 egg yolks, so the two extra egg whites are added to the pecan pie). I make this pie every year in the autumn and it is always a hit--much better than store bought varieties.

The crust is a combination of a pastry and pie shell recipe. You can use vegetable shortening, such as Crisco, with this recipe as well as stick margerine, although I prefer to use real butter. If you do not have salted butter, add 1/8 to 1/4 tsp of regular salt to the mixture. I've also made this crust with whole wheat flour (you may have to use more cold water as whole wheat soaks up water more readily than white), and the results are fantastic. The crust has a higher than usual sugar content than typical pie crusts so 1.) it tastes great; 2.) it brown quickly so you may want to cover edges with foil the last 15 minutes of baking.

Pecan Pie

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
2 eggs, plus 2 egg whites left over from crust recipe (or you can use 1 whole egg in substitution for 2 egg whites for 3 eggs total)
1 cup white corn syrup
1/2 white sugar
2 T melted butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla

Beat eggs slightly in a medium bowl. Add corn syrup, sugar, butter, and vanilla and beat for 2 minutes or until light and creamy. Add chopped pecans and stir to combine. Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 350 F for 40-50 minutes or until set.

Pie Shell

1 3/4 c flour
1/2 cup butter, margerine, vegetable shortening
1/4 cup sugar
2 egg yolks (reserve whites for pecan pie)
3 T cold water

Mix flour and sugar together. Using a pastry cutter or two forks, mix together flour mixture, eggs yolks, butter until the mixture resembles coarse corn meal. Carefully mix in the water until the mixtures forms a ball.

On a lightly floured surface incorporate as little flour as possible so that the dough is not sticky when handled, but be careful not to overknead or else the dough will shrink. Divide the dough in half.

Using a rolling pin, on a lightly floured surface roll each half into a 9 inch circle. Lightly flour the top and then follow these instructions for getting your pie crust into the pie pan:

1.) Lightly flour top of rolled dough
2.) Fold in half (photos shows pie crust after beginning to unfold in pie pan)
3.) Fold in half once more and place folded corner into middle of pan
4.) Carefully unfold

Fold edges under and shape. Use to fill to uncovered 8-9 inch pies or 1 filled pie with crust. If recipe calls for baking the shell first, then bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes or until done.