Jan Hagels

Jan Hagels

From Patrese Burke

Had these at a women's cozy Christmas gathering in Patrese's home -- Scrumptious!

1 c. butter, room softened
1 c. sugar
1 egg, separated
1 t. almond extract
1 t. vanilla, if desired – I add it
2 c. sifted flour
½ c. to ¾ c blanched, sliced almonds
1-2 T. sugar
¼ - ½ t. ground cinnamon

Blend butter and sugar till fluffy in bowl, Mix in egg yolk then almond extract/vanilla. Blend in and mix in the flour. I merely fluff/loosen my flour before I measure it.  Divide then press and pat crumbly blend into 15x10x1 jelly roll pan.  Beat egg white until foamy (I often use two egg whites here.)  Spread over cookie dough in pan.  Sprinkle nuts over egg foam.  Mix sugar and cinnamon then hand sprinkle over all to top.

Bake in moderate oven – 350 about 20-25 min or until lightly browned.  (Watch so it doesn’t over bake)

Remove and cool – as it cools you can lightly press nuts into dough, if needed. Cut into diagonal shapes about 1 ½ - 2 inches in length.  Remove carefully with spatula.

Taco Soup

Taco Soup 

Taken from:  For the Love of Cooking (see bottom of soups)

Taco Seasoning:

• 1 tsp of cumin
• 1 tsp of oregano
• 1 tsp of chili powder
• 1 tsp of paprika
• 1 tsp of garlic powder
• 1 tsp of onion powder
• 1 tsp of coriander
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

 

Soup:

• 1 lb of lean ground beef (I used 94/6)
• 1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced (not pictured)
• 1 can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup of frozen corn
• 2 cans of diced tomatoes
• 1 4.5 oz can of diced green chilies
• 1/2 oz of package of ranch salad dressing mix (half a packet)

Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat then add the ground beef. Add all the taco seasonings and mix into the ground beef, making sure to break it up into crumbles. Add the diced onion and garlic then mix thoroughly and cook for 4-5 minutes.

Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, green chilies and ranch dressing packet, mix well then cover and simmer on low for 2 hours, stir occasionally. Taste and re-season with sea salt or pepper if needed.

Toppings:

• Corn tortilla strips (directions below)
• Sour cream
• Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• Green onions, diced

While the soup is simmering. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut a few corn tortillas into strips. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray then place the tortilla strips on it and spray them with cooking spray and season with sea salt. Bake in the oven for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown.

Ladle the soup into bowls then top with corn tortilla strips, soup cream, cheddar cheese and green onions. Enjoy.

Cheese Crescent Chicken Dinner

Cheese Crescent Chicken Dinner

Taken from:  The HomeMaking Helper

I received this recipe from a friend years ago. It's always been a favorite in our house. It is so delicious and so easy to make.

Ingredients
1 can crescent rolls
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cooked chicken breast, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 375. In medium saucepan add milk, ¼ cup cheese and soup. Heat until cheese is melted. In a small bowl mix chicken and 2 Tbsp cheese. Separate crescent rolls. Put a spoonful of chicken mixture on a crescent roll and then roll it up. Repeat until all crescent rolls are used and place in a greased baking dish. Pour ½ cheese mixture over rolls. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and bake 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Use other ½ of sauce to pour over rolls when serving.

Gaylene's tips:  I had large chicken breasts and had half the chicken left.  This looked fun leaving the crescent rolls in triangles.  Only bake cheese 3 min.  This recipe isn't as rich and complex tasting as the crescent dinner with cream cheese, but a good alternative with fewer ingredients.  It tasted salty to me, I believe from the soup.  Remember to shred the chicken with a Bosch, etc. --it's works so slick.

Cinnamon Candy Cane Cookies

Cinnamon Candy Cane Cookies

You won’t believe how much bang you get for your buck with these fun cookies with a kick of cinnamon. And at 6¢ per cookie, they’re a steal! Taste of Home Test Kitchen

48 ServingsPrep: 25 min. Bake: 10 min./batch

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon Spice Island® Pure Vanilla Extract
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup red-hot candies, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Red food coloring, optional
• 2 tablespoons coarse sugar

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour and salt;gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.
• Divide dough in half.  Mix red-hots and cinnamon into one half; tint with food coloring if desired.  
• Shape 1-1/2 teaspoons plain dough into a 4-1/2-in. rope. Shape 1-1/2
• teaspoons red dough into a 4-1/2-in. rope. On an ungreased baking sheet, place ropes side by side; press together lightly and twist.
• Curve top of each cookie down to form handle of cane. Repeat with remaining plain and red dough, placing 2 in. apart on baking sheets.  Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
• Bake at 375° for 7-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool for1 minute before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 4 dozen.

Nutrition Facts: 1 cookie equals 80 calories, 4 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 14 mg cholesterol, 65 mg sodium, 10 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 1 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 fat, 1/2 starch.

Gaylene's note:  The dough must be chilled to roll.  Roll on parchment paper on table to get good size.  Keep small.  See comments at website.  Good ideas there.

Guilt-free Panna Cotta

Guilt-free Panna Cotta: Recipe

Sunday, May 22, 2005
Taken from:  Cooking With Amy

Lately I've been reading so many blog posts about panna cotta that I guess it seeped into my consciousness. When I learned that the next Is My Blog Burning was "Has my blog jelled?", like a lemming to a cliff, I felt compelled to make it. To see the comprehensive list of jelled postings, visit Elise's blog.

Panna Cotta means cooked cream in Italian. It's a chilled custard primarily made from cream, that is thickened with gelatin rather than eggs. As a result, panna cotta is super creamy, light textured and smooth and of course frighteningly high in calories.

Surfing around the web, I found a version made mainly from buttermilk and tweaked it a bit, adding vanilla and minimizing the sugar to increase the tang and decrease the guilt. By my calculations, using lowfat buttermilk and just a smidgen of cream, each serving is about 135 calories, and no more than 6 grams of fat. So without further ado I give you:

Guilt-free Panna Cotta

serves 6

1 envelope unflavored gelatin (.25 oz)

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup granulated sugar

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract (or 1/2 the inside scrapings of a vanilla bean)

1/3 cup whipping cream

2 1/3 cup buttermilk (low fat is fine, use Bulgarian style if you can find it)

Berry sauce

1/2 cup raspberries

1/2 cup strawberries

1 Tablespoon water

1 Tablespoon sugar

extra berries for garnish

Panna Cotta
In the medium saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over water; whisk to combine, then let stand. Add sugar, cream and salt and heat over low heat until just boiling, whisking to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and stir in buttermilk and vanilla. Pour into six 6 ounce (3/4 cup) ramekins or molds. Cover and refrigerate panna cottas until firm, about 2 hours. Let compote cool to room temperature. Fill a bowl with hot water (tap is fine). Run a butter knife around the edge of the ramekin to loosen. Dip ramekins or molds in hot water for a few seconds, then invert panna cottas onto dessert plates. Holding the plate and ramekin, shake to loosen, then lift off ramekins or molds. Spoon fruit or sauce around panna cotta, garnish with berries and serve.

Berry sauce
Puree the berries with the water and sugar. Push through a strainer to remove seeds and taste for sugar. You may want to add more sugar if your berries are not sweet enough or a squeeze of lemon if they are very sweet.

Better Than Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce

By Parkers Mom on October 20, 2005
Taken from:  Food.com

• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Total Time: 25 mins
• Servings: 4-6

"This is the best Alfredo sauce ever. This is several recipes combined into one. You can also add your choice of meat (chicken, shrimp or even crab). The closest OLIVE GARDEN is an hour away and I will never drive that far again just for Alfredo sauce. I promise this is the best sauce ever. Definitely a dish you would want to impress your guest with."

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons sweet butter
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese
• 1 (12 ounce) boxes angel hair pasta

Directions

1. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium/low heat.
2. Add the garlic, cream, white pepper and bring mixture to a simmer.
3. Stir often.
4. Add the Parmesan cheese and simmer sauce for 8-10 minutes or until sauce has thickened and is smooth.
5. When sauce has thickened add the Mozzarella cheese and stir until smooth. STIR FREQUENTLY.
6. While the sauce cooks, boil noodles for 3-5 minutes.
7. Place pasta on serving plates and spoon sauce over pasta.

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Sour Cream Banana Cake

Tawyna's Treasure (friend)

1/4 C margarine

1 1/3 C sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 C mashed ripe bananas

1 tsp soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 C dairy sour cream

2 C flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 C chopped nuts

Cream margarine, gradually add sugar, beat until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Add vanilla.  Stir together flour, baking powder, soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.  Add bananas and nuts mixing just until blended.  Bake in 9x13" pan at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.  Frost with cream cheese frosting.

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Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Taken from www.homemakinghelper.com
See video on KSL5:  Banana Cake 

Cake:
1 1/2 c bananas, mashed, ripe
2 tsp lemon juice
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c butter, softened
2 1/8 c sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c buttermilk

Frosting:
1/2 c butter, softened
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 c powdered sugar

Garnish:
Chopped walnuts

Cake Directions:
 
Preheat oven to 275. Grease a 9x13 pan. Mash bananas (I use my KitchenAid mixture to do this job). Mix in lemon juice and set aside. In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Stir in banana mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist.

Frosting Directions:
 
Cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high until frosting is smooth. Spread on cooled cake. Sprinkle chopped walnuts if desired.

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Tiffany's Tips: I personally think this cake tastes best the next day so I always bake it ahead of when I need it. If you're making it a day ahead, don't worry if your bananas aren't ripe. They ripen just fine in the cake. I added in the "sift the flour mixture" part. I've found that if you skip this critical step you will end up with small clumps of flour in your baked cake. I've also baked this just as banana bread minus the frosting. You can also add about 1 cup or 1 handful of chocolate chips and make banana chocolate chip bread or muffins.  Yum!

Gaylene's note:  I got three round pans from this recipe.  It was rather crumbly, but that's from overbeating.  I love nuts so next time I'd add nuts to the batter.

This is a favorite of mine at restaurants or a cousin's home

Broccoli Salad

By vincy bramblett on August 07, 2001
Found at:  Food.com

Photo by BecR

170 Reviews

• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 30 mins
• Servings: 8-12

"This is always a HIT with guests. I make this everytime we have a get together and the bowl is always left empty!!"

Ingredients

• 1 -2 head fresh broccoli ( do not use frozen!)
• 1/2 cup red onions, chopped
• 1/2 lb bacon
• 2 1/2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Cook bacon (I make it easy and buy the already cooked bacon in the refrigerator section) and crumble into pieces.
2. Chop up top of broccoli into bite size pieces.
3. Mix broccoli, onions, bacon and mozzarella in large bowl.
4. In separate bowl combine vinegar, sugar and mayo.
5. Pour over broccoli mixture and toss to coat.
6. Best if made a day ahead.

Broccoli Salad 1 large or 2 small heads of broccoli, washed, stems removed and broken into small florets 1/2 Cup red onion diced 6 strips of bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled  1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese 1 1/2 Cup mayonnaise 1/2 to 3/4 Cup of sugar 6 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar 1 shredded carrot 1 hand full of raisins 1/4 C. sunflower seeds (no shells)

Mix mayo, vinegar and sugar together in a small bowl, then mix in the remaining ingredients together gently and serve cold.