Ziti Casserole

1 pound ziti noodles (or other shaped pasta)
8 oz Cheddar cheese, grated
8 oz Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 28 oz can of tomatoes or 1 quart home bottled tomatoes
(minus 1/4 cup liquid) - slightly blended
1/2 cup half and half or evaporated milk
seasoned bread crumbs - or make your own with crumbed fresh bread and melted butter

Cook noodles as directed, drain. Mix noodles, salt, pepper, both cheeses and tomatoes together. Put in a 9x13 casserole dish. Pour the half and half over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Top casserole with bread crumbs and bake and additional 10 minutes.

*I made this last night for the fam and they all loved it. It's super simple but hits the spot.

Healthier-for-you-but-still-yummy Crock Pot Fajitas

1 tsp. garlic powder
1 large onion, sliced or chopped
10 jalapeno rings (I use 1 medium Anaheim Chile, seeds removed, instead)
3 bell peppers, sliced and seeded (red, yellow, green)
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 envelope Fajita seasoning mix
1 can black beans or black soy beans, drained
2-3 chicken breasts (can use beef or pork tenderloin instead)
1/2 c. water or broth

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for 6-7 hours. Meat should shred easily. Serve with tortillas and your favorite toppings (cheese, guacamole, light sour cream, tomatoes, hot sauce, etc...)

Chocolate Chip Cookies Cockaigne

1 2/3 c. all-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c. sugar

2/3 c. packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 T. milk

2 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/3 c. rolled oats, ground fine in a blender or food processor

1 c. semisweet chocolate morsels

3-oz. milk chocolate bar, coarsely grated or finely chopped

3/4 c. chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. Thoroughly stir together dry ingredients, excluding sugars & oats. Using an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy. Add sugars and wet ingredients. Beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture until evenly incorporated. Stir in oats, chocolate and nuts, if using. With lightly greased hands, shape the dough into generous 1 1/2" balls. Space about 2" apart on sheets. Pat down the tops of the balls just slightly. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, in the upper third of the oven for 8-12 minutes, or until just tinged with brown. Rotate sheets halfway through baking to ensure even browning, being careful not to over bake. Transfer sheets to wire racks and let the cookies firm up, 3-4 minutes. Then transfer the cookies to wire racks until thoroughly cool. Store, airtight, for 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month.

Homemade Tomato Soup and Croutons

Make sure to use canned whole tomatoes that are not packed in puree; you will need some of the juice to make the soup.

Ingredients
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 (28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes (not packed in puree), drained, 3 cups juice reserved, tomatoes seeded – I use two quart bottles of home bottled tomatoes
1 onion, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
2 Tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions
Melt the butter, add drained tomatoes, onion, brown sugar and tomato paste. Cook until the onion is softened and the tomatoes begin to caramelize, about 15 minutes.
Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute. While whisking, gradually add chicken stock and stir in reserved tomato juice. Cover; bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, to blend flavors, about 10 minutes.
Puree the soup in batches in a blender until smooth. (Use small batches so you don’t have an unpleasant explosion!) Return pureed soup to pot and stir in cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

We love to serve this soup with homemade croutons. A easy and delicious way to use home bottled tomatoes!

Garlic Croutons – You’ll want to at least double this!

2 large cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed through garlic press
1/4 teaspoon table salt
3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups bread cubes (1/2 inch, about 4 slices of good quality bread)
Adjust rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine garlic, salt, and oil in a bowl. Add bread cubes and toss to coat. Spread bread cubes in an even layer on rimmed baking sheet and bake, stirring after 10 minutes, until golden, about 20-25 minutes. Cool on baking sheet to room temperature. (Can be covered and stored at room temperature up to 24 hours.)

American Sandwich Bread – (Quick Bake Version)

1 cup whole milk, warm
1/3 cup water, warm
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 Tbsp honey
3 ¾ cups unbleached flour
1 Tbsp yeast
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp Gluten (optional)
2 tsp Dough Enhancer (optional)

Mix milk, water butter and yeast. Add other dry ingredients and mix for 10 minutes in mixer. (You'll know you have enough flour if the dough cleans itself off of the side of the bowl.)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Spray pans with oil and put a small amount of oil on the counter. Put dough on counter and briefly knead it into a cylinder and place in pan.

Bake for 20 minutes. Without opening the oven, turn up heat to 350 degrees and set timer for an additional 20 minutes. Check and cook another 10 minutes if needed.
(If doubling, it will make 3 loaves)

Options –

Buttermilk Sandwich Bread - Substitute buttermilk for milk.

Oatmeal Sandwich Bread – Bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Add 1 cup of old-fashioned oats and cook until softened, about 1 minute. Cool until just warm. Omit the water in above recipe. Add the oatmeal with the dry ingredients.

Chocolate Cream Pie

Makes on 9-inch pie, serving 8 to 10. Published in Cook's Illustrated May 1, 2001.

For the best chocolate flavor and texture, we recommend either Callebaut semisweet and unsweetened chocolates or Hershey's Special Dark and Hershey's unsweetened chocolates. Do not combine the yolks and sugar in advance of making the filling--the sugar will begin to denature the yolks, and the finished cream will be pitted.

Ingredients

Chocolate Cookie Crumb Crust
16	Oreo cookies (with filling), broken into rough pieces, about 2 1/2 cups
2	tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled
Chocolate Cream Filling
2 1/2	cups half-and-half
	pinch table salt
1/3	cup granulated sugar
2	tablespoons cornstarch
6	large egg yolks at room temperature, chalazae (protein strands attached to yolk) removed (see related Quick Tip)
6	tablespoons unsalted butter (cold), cut into 6 pieces
6	ounces semisweet chocolate or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1	ounce unsweetened chocolate , finely chopped
1	teaspoon vanilla extract
Whipped Cream Topping
1 1/2	cups heavy cream (cold)
1 1/2	tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2	teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. 1. For the Crust: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. In bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade, process cookies with 15 one-second pulses, then let machine run until crumbs are uniformly fine, about 15 seconds. (Alternatively, place cookies in large zipper-lock plastic bag and crush with rolling pin.) Transfer crumbs to medium bowl, drizzle with butter, and use fingers to combine until butter is evenly distributed.

2. 2. Pour crumbs into 9-inch Pyrex pie plate. Following illustration below, press crumbs evenly onto bottom and up sides of pie plate. Refrigerate lined pie plate 20 minutes to firm crumbs, then bake until crumbs are fragrant and set, about 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack while preparing filling.

3. 3. For the Filling: (See illustrations below). Bring half-and-half, salt, and about 3 tablespoons sugar to simmer in medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally with wooden spoon to dissolve sugar. Stir together remaining sugar and cornstarch in small bowl, then sprinkle over yolks and whisk, scraping down sides of bowl, if necessary, until mixture is glossy and sugar has begun to dissolve, about 1 minute. Whisk yolks thoroughly in medium bowl until slightly thickened, about 30 seconds. When half-and-half reaches full simmer, drizzle about 1/2 cup hot half-and-half over yolks, whisking constantly to temper; then whisk egg yolk mixture into simmering half-and-half (mixture should thicken in about 30 seconds). Return to simmer, whisking constantly, until 3 or 4 bubbles burst on the surface and mixture is thickened and glossy, about 15 seconds longer.

4. 4. Off heat, whisk in butter until incorporated; add chocolates and whisk until melted, scraping pan bottom with rubber spatula to fully incorporate. Stir in vanilla, then immediately pour filling into baked and cooled crust. Press plastic wrap directly on surface of filling and refrigerate pie until filling is cold and firm, about 3 hours.

5. 5. For the Topping: Just before serving, beat cream, sugar, and vanilla in bowl of standing mixer on low speed until small bubbles form, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium; continue beating until beaters leave a trail, about 30 seconds more. Increase speed to high; continue beating until cream is smooth, thick, and nearly doubled in volume and forms soft peaks, about 20 seconds. Spread or pipe whipped cream over chilled pie filling. Cut pie into wedges and serve.

Scandinavian Almond Cake

SPRAY BREAD PAN WELL WITH PAM OR COOKING SPRAY

BLEND TOGETHER:

1 1/4 c sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract,

2/3 c. milk

ADD

1 1/4 c. Flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

ADD:

1 stick melted butter

MIX WELL (until the batter becomes a little fluffy and changes texture. Bake at 350 for 40-50 min. Edges must be golden brown. Cool in pan before removing. Cake will break if removed too soon. Sprinkle with powder sugar. Top with berry puree and whipped cream. for special treat.

BERRY PUREE

2 c. berries (can use frozen)

Blend berries in blender. Add water if needed. Pour into saucepan and cook until boiling with 3/4 c. sugar. Continue to boil until reduced. Pour into a container and let cool at room temp.