Some good advice!

Yum Garlic and Ginger!
Did you know that you can tear off the amount of ginger in the store that you need? That you can peel it with a spoon? That you can freeze it? Ginger is wonderful.

Easy Reubin Dip (Page 5)

It is starting to feel like fall around here and I am a little bit German. This recipe has been calling our names!

Easy Reuben Dip

1 (16-oz.) jar sauerkraut, drained and squeezed dry
1 c. mayonnaise
1 (8-oz.) cheddar cheese, shredded
4 pkgs. Corned beef, chopped small
1 (8-oz.) Monterey Jack, shredded
Mix everything and place in an 8 x 8 dish. Bake 350 degrees until hot. Serve with rye
bread crackers.

Note: A great Oktoberfest dish!

Chicken Burgers with Blue Cheese (page 36)

Burger:
1 lb. ground chicken
1 egg, beaten
3/4 c. blue cheese, crumbled
1 c. dry bread crumbs
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. black pepper

 Sauce:
1/2 c. plain yogurt
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T. yellow onion, minced
2 T. blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 c. plain yogurt
2 T. olive oil 
salt and pepper to taste

4 poppy seed rolls split in halves (for a sandwich)

Combine chicken, egg, blue cheese, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper until all ingredients are evenly distributed. Shape into 4 patties of equal size. In a large skillet over medium heat, add oil and pan fry burgers about 4 minutes per side. Do not mash down on burgers or turn frequently, as this will dry out the burgers. While burgers are cooking, combine yogurt, blue cheese, onion, garlic, salt and pepper in a medium bowl and mix well. Serve burgers on top of rolls and top with blue cheese- onion
sauce.
Serves 4.
Note: This is great for the winter when you want a "burger" but don't want to grill outside (Or when it rains). You can make and freeze (the burger, not the sauce).
I cut the burgers in 1/2 when I fry them because I like the crunchiness of the heated blue cheese and I know it's well cooked that way!

Lima Bean Stew (Page 17)

LIMA BEAN STEW
(I do not like Lima beans but love this stew!)    Recipe courtesy of Phyllis Taylor
1 lb. white lima beans
2 bay leaves
1 lb. sausage
1 onion, diced
1 can of Campbell’s Golden Mushroom
soup
3 T. ketchup
2 tsp. garlic powder (or more to taste)
1 c. boiled ham, chopped

Soak a 1 lb. bag of large white lima beans overnight in water, then rinse and drain. Cook lima beans in a pot of water with 2 bay leaves, until tender. Do not drain liquid. Set aside. In a large skillet fry 1 lb. (Bob Evan’s)  pork sausage with onion. Cool slightly and add to bean soup. Add mushroom soup and ketchup. Sprinkle in garlic powder. Simmer 1 hour. Remove bay leaves before eating!  Add ham. Yum.

Serve warm. Freezes well.

Food of the Mediterranean

We traveled to Italy, Malta, Greece and Turkey. Here are some foodie travels.

We had lunch outside the Vatican day one. I have to admit the pasta was dry, not much sauce and al dente. I had the linguine with asparagus and cambria. Jim had spaghetti with meat sauce  I was fatigued from an over night flight and not that hungry. The red wine was mellow and very good.

 The next day we went to Tuscany. It was a good foodie day, and we were well rested!
First stop was San Gimignano:

 The pizza was wonderful. I tried a bite of Jim's and really wished I had gotten a slice for myself.

 I had to peak in the kitchen of the bakery. This man had no idea how much I wanted to spend the day watching him knead. I didn't tell him for 3 reasons. 1) He didn't know I existed 2) I didn't speak Italian 3) Our tour driver was ready to move on.

 Jim bought a slice of pepperoni...yum!

Pork roasting - I imagine that tasted pretty good....

 We moved onto the winery in Sienna Torciano Winery

 Mama's Lasange Lasagne with Truffled olive oil

 Luigi and Heather~~~~

 The fresh fruit and markets of Sienna

 We found a little cafe in downtown Rome. Nice relaxing evening.

Pasta Making

So I have a pasta machine I've only used once. My friend Jeanne and I planned a day where we just pulled out some pasta recipes and played. We had a few recipes. We started with a basic flour, egg, water combo. 1cup flour, 1 egg, 1 Tbsp. of water. We ended up adding ?4 Tbsp. water. We thought this was the hardest. Kneading, even with a Kitchen Aid mixer/ dough hook was tough.
 Then we tried Semolina flour, egg, oil and water. Then flour, sour cream, chive and water. Finally we did Italian seasoning, 1/4 cup sour cream and 1cup flour. The sour cream was by far the easiest to work with.

We were confused what the order was on the pasta machine for the dials from thick to thin. Level 1 is where you should start and we felt level 6 was way too thin. We liked levels 4 or 5 for thickness.

Fettuccine was easiest to make, so we started there.

The drying rack came in much handier than I anticipated.

You can see the sour cream and chive on the right, the semolina in the middle and the flour on the top left row.

It cooked up in 5-7 minutes. Some of the chives came out (I used frozen, not dried. next time- dried herbs!).

We also tried some spaghetti. It was very thin, but very good. The most important thing to remember is NOT to was the pasta machine, not even a damp cloth. It was rust and ruin. Just let it dry and brush/shake.

LEMON BARS (Page 77)

Crust:
1 c. flour
5 egg yolks divided (1 in crust, 4 in curd)
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 c. sugar

Curd:
3/4 c. sugar
3 oz. fresh lemon juice
zest of 2 lemons, divided (1 in crust and 1 in curd)
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into 4 T.
powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 9 pan. Combine flour, 1 stick unsalted butter, 1/4 cup sugar, zest of 1 lemon and 1 egg yolk, in a bowl until a dough forms. Press into the pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly golden. Decrease oven temperature to 300 degrees. While crust is baking assemble curd. Lemon curd: In a heavy saucepan, place zest of 1 lemon, 4 egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar, 3 oz. lemon juice and 4 T butter.

Whisk over medium heat until slightly thickened. The mixture actually
changes color (becomes lighter). Do not boil. Strain over a bowl. Pour over a warm crust. and return to oven for 10 minutes.

Allow it to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before cutting.
Generously sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Note: Nice light dessert is good anytime of the year!