Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Aunt Margaret's Fruit Dressing

I don't know how to healthify this-maybe it's just a once a year thing!

1 egg
1 Tbsp flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp orange juice
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped.

1. Mix flour and sugar together.
2. Beat egg and combine with flour and sugar.
3. Add fruit juices and cook in double boiler (we just did it in pan-depends on elevation) until thick, stirring constantly (it will thicken more as it cools.)
4. Chill sauce.
5. Add whipped cream when ready to serve.
6. Serve on top of jell-o salad.

Cheese Sauce

We made this in culinary arts today and it was really good-I'm not going to lie. I have a lot of issues with this though.. first of all, margarine? Is that even food? Butter would be better, but still... I'm thinking olive oil, rice milk, and nutritional yeast. We'll see how it goes because this is a really good dip. Any other ideas?

Thick White Sauce/Medium/Thin
3 tablespoons margarine/2/1
3 tablespoons flour/2/1
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan and whisk in flour and salt until smooth.
2. Gradually stir in cold milk, cooking over direct heat and stirring constantly until sauce boils; reduce heat slightly and continue to stir until sauce becomes smooth and thick.
3. When sauce thickens, simmer for an additional 10 minutes over very low heat, stirring occasionally. Stir carefully to avoid lumps.
4. If sauce becomes lumpy, use a stick blender or rotary beater to blend out lumps, or press through a sieve.

Cheese Sauce
3/4 cup water
1/3 pound fresh broccoli, chopped
1-2 stalks celery, chopped (3/4 cup)
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1/3 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
2 tablespoons jalapeno peppers

1. Saute onions.
2. Make 1 cup thick white sauce
3. Stir in 1/3 cup cheese until it melts.
4. Stir in jalapenos. Serve with tortilla chips.

We served it over toast. Big hit!

Tuesday Night Dinner

Last night I made sweet potato fries. We love them, but we had never made them before. I got my recipe here. They were way good. Not crispy like the ones at the store, but super tasty! I made some brown rice seasoned with cardamom and cumin. I like it, but my kids didn't. Then I made Kale Salad. I ripped it into small pieces and seasoned it with olive oil, lemon juice, chili pepper, and sea salt that I rubbed into it. Everyone like it but Emmett so that's another meal we can add to our list! Yay.

Monday Night Dinner

Tonight I learned how to correctly make pasta. You start with lots of cold water, get it boiling, whisk in 2 TBSP. sea salt to the water, and add noodles. You let it cook until you can see a white dot in the middle of the pasta if you cut it open. If the whole thing is white, it's not finished. If there is no white, it's soggy. Take out a cup of water so you can season your sauce with it if you need, or cook your peas in it. I also perfectly steamed (thanks to Rouxbe.com again) some asparagas, carrots, and broccoli and added it to our pasta sauce. I got the pasta sauce at Costco and it is amazing! It's called Dave's Gourmet Butternut Squash Sauce.