Friday, January 26, 2018

Retro: Ham and Green Onion Pinwheels

I've been kinda stuck in a retro frame of mind lately.   Actually, I've been having fun, and will continue with the theme at least for today and maybe more.
I'm also trying to use up what I have in the freezer/fridge/pantry partly because I've been working on a new cookbook and I'm trying to save time and effort.
OK, so you got me. 
I totally love these little pinwheel sandwiches.  They were always one of the canapes served at various functions that I attended back in the dark ages.
Just kidding.
I did grow up in an area which had a big British influence and these little sandwiches or versions thereof were almost always served alongside tea bread and little teeny sandwiches, with the crusts cut off.
  And these are even hearty enough you could make and serve them at a Superbowl party as well?
Retro: Ham and Green Onion Pinwheels
Just sayin...
To start with, you need Ham and Cream Cheese and Green Onions.  Oh, and a little heavy whipping cream and a touch of Mustard.
Mix them all together. Taste and adjust any seasonings you like.
Retro: Ham and Green Onion Pinwheels
Pull out loaf of Rye bread, cut the crusts off of about 5-6 slices of bread.  Take each slice of bread and flatten it out. I used Rye Bread cause ham and rye go so well together.
Take a good dollop of filling and spread it out in an even layer
Retro: Ham and Green Onion Pinwheels
Retro: Ham and Green Onion Pinwheels
Roll each piece up and trim the ends. Making sure to sample, gotta make sure it tastes good.
Retro: Ham and Green Onion Pinwheels
Make a little plate up, take pictures, of course this is totally optional unless you're a food blogger, and then it's a necessity. 
Retro: Ham and Green Onion Pinwheels

Retro: Ham and Green Onion Pinwheels



Yield: 30+ pieces

Deviled Ham and Green Onion Pinwheels
Retro: Ham and Green Onion Pinwheels

prep time: 10 MINScook time: 1 hourtotal time: 1 hours and 10 mins
This is a fun canape to make and take and share. And hearty enough for lots of events.

ingredients:


8 oz. Cream cheese - room temp
2 cups cooked ham, chopped up in a food processor, keep it a little chunky.
2 teaspoons mustard, more or less to taste
2 tablespoons heavy cream - add more if needed
1 bunch green onions, chopped
5-6 slices rye bread, crusts cut off
cucumber and carrots for garnishes

instructions:


Chop the ham up in a food processor until it's processed but not too fine.  Chop the green onions, including as much of the green part as possible.   Set aside.  Mix the cream cheese and heavy cream, along with the mustard.   Mix in the ham and chopped green onion and taste.  If you need it a little more spreadable, add more cream, if needed add more mustard to taste.

Take the rye bread out of the package, cut off the crusts and set them aside for another dish or for stuffing, croutons, etc.  Using a rolling pin, flatten each piece of bread.  Spread the ham filling on the bread evenly, then roll up.  Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for an hour or more for the filling to firm up.  After taking them out of the fridge, cut the end of each roll off, to neaten them up a little.  Cut each roll into 1/2 inch slices and place on a serving platter.  Decorate the platter a little and then stand back out of the way while everyone grabs one or two. 
I served them with some sliced cucumber and carrot, and they were a hit.  The cucumber tasted great on top of each little pinwheel.  I'm so going to do that again.
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My cookbook Hygge - Danish Food and Recipes would be a great gift for any foodies in your life. Available as a Kindle e book or in paperback. Autographed copies are also available at the Danish Windmill in Elk Horn, Iowa or on their website.
All recipes and their respective images are either original or adapted and credited, and are all the sole property of Sid's Sea Palm Cooking © 2011-2018, with all rights reserved thereof.

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Monday, January 22, 2018

Retro: Celery, Apricot and Pecan Pinwheels

I love retro recipes.  And remember with fondness the little pinwheel sandwiches that were always served at gatherings when I was younger.  There were always several kinds served.  There were usually ones with Maraschino Cherries, I've told you about them before, as well as several different kinds.  

I remember thinking how fancy these little pinwheels were and how I wished that more people would make and serve them, and guess what, I'm one of those more people now.
Celery, Apricot and Pecan Pinwheels

I've been playing with several versions lately, varying the fillings and having fun in the kitchen.
This one was a big hit when I made it a couple of weeks ago.  And personally, I thought they tasted wonderful.  And they will be a repeat.
And kids love these as well, mainly because you cut the crusts off of the bread. 

Then get out your trusty rolling pin, and in this case my fondant rolling pin worked really well and roll out the bread until it's thin.
Then take some of the filling, spread it out on the rolled piece of bread
Celery, Apricot and Pecan Pinwheels
Roll it up
Celery, Apricot and Pecan Pinwheels
set aside while you finish wrapping them up.
Celery, Apricot and Pecan Pinwheels
After they come out of the fridge, you can trim the ends off so that they look neater.
Celery, Apricot and Pecan Pinwheels

Celery, Apricot and Pecan Pinwheels
 And don't forget to decorate the plate a little.
Celery, Apricot and Pecan Pinwheels



Yield: Serves 8

Celery, Apricot and Pecan Pinwheels
Celery, Apricot and Pecan Pinwheels

prep time: 10 MINScook time: 1 hourtotal time: 1 hours and 10 mins
These are a little retro, but so good and easy to make and serve in a hurry.

ingredients:


6-8 slices fresh white bread, crusts trimmed off
8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup finely diced celery
1/2 cup finely diced pecans
6 dried apricot halves, diced fine
1-2 tablespoons fresh heavy cream
1/2 tsp. Fresh rosemary, chopped fine (or to taste)

instructions:


Mix the cream cheese with one tablespoon of heavy cream, then add the celery, pecans and apricots.  If the mixture is still very stiff, then add the additional tablespoon of cream.  Taste, then add the rosemary and mix in well.  If needed, add some additional rosemary, but be aware that it can hi-jack the flavors very easily.
Slice the crusts off of the bread and save for making bread crumbs or stuffing. 
Take each slice of bread and using a rolling pin, roll it out, until it's thin.  Divide the filling into 6 or 8 portions if needed.  Spread the filling in a layer over top of bread and roll it up, horizontally (the wider part). If you roll it up lengthwise, you don't get the pinwheel effect.  Wrap each roll in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least one hour.  Take out of the fridge, and cut the ends off, to even them off, then cut them into coins.  Each slice of bread will make about 4-5 pinwheels depending on how thick you cut them. I like them just under 1/2 inch thick.   Bite size in other words. 
Serve on a pretty platter and stand back.   Those ends you cut off, they're for you to sample.  Or do as I did, share them with the dog. 
Created using The Recipes Generator


My cookbook Hygge - Danish Food and Recipes would be a great gift for any foodies in your life. Available as a Kindle e book or in paperback. Autographed copies are also available at the Danish Windmill in Elk Horn, Iowa or on their website.
All recipes and their respective images are either original or adapted and credited, and are all the sole property of Sid's Sea Palm Cooking © 2011-2018, with all rights reserved thereof.

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Saturday, January 20, 2018

Beef Pho-style Soup for #SoupSaturdaySwappers

 I've been a member of this group, Soup Saturday Swappers for awhile now, and every month we're faced with a new challenge, well, not really a challenge, more a theme. Wendy of A Day in The Life on The Farm came up with the concept of making soup and posting about it on the third Saturday of the month, and called it Soup Saturday Swappers.  You can get in touch with her if you'd like to participate with the rest of us.  I've had a lot of fun, exploring different soups and have found quite a few that I'd like to make again and again.  Each month has a different theme.
 This month the theme was:
Pho-nominal Vietnamese soups hosted by Sue Lau of Palatable Pastime.
We could actually make any of several Vietnamese soups, congee, hot and sour or  ?  But I got stuck on Pho.
The first time I tried Pho, I feel in love with the soup. Friends had taken me out to a local Pho shop and I followed their lead on which soup to order and how to dress it.  And loved it.  But, as with a lot of stuff, I put it aside and left it on the back-burner as a soup I would try making for myself, sometime. 
Well, that some time is now.  Or it was.
I had some lovely bone broth I'd made and frozen a couple of weeks back, it was so beautiful I had to take a picture of it. 
Bone Broth
I took that out, grabbed the last of my bok choy out of the fridge, thawed out some jalapeno, and had fun.
Beef Pho-style Soup for #SoupSaturdaySwappers
I used some Rice noodles I had in the cupboard as well. 
Beef Pho-style Soup for #SoupSaturdaySwappers
And since I'm the soupy person in my house, I made enough for a couple of lunches. 
Beef Pho-style Soup for #SoupSaturdaySwappers
I didn't have any raw beef, apart from hamburger meat but did have some rare tri tip in the freezer, sliced and ready for sandwiches, or in this case soup.
You can also add some Thai Basil on top, but mine kinda bit the dust last week, and froze.  So until I make the trek to the 'big city' next week, I'm basil-less. sigh



Yield: 2 servings

Vietnamese Pho' Style Soup
Beef Pho-style Soup for #SoupSaturdaySwappers

prep time: 10 MINScook time: 5 MINStotal time: 15 mins
This is a perfect soup for those cold wintry days.

ingredients:


4 cups bone broth -(cooked with a star anise and 1 tablespoon grated ginger, strained and the star anise discarded. )
1 cup  rice noodles prepared according to package directions
2 small heads Bok Choy, cut into strips
2 small slices uncooked or rare lean beef.
1 Jalapeno, seeded and sliced into coins
Cilantro for garnish
Sriracha Sauce
Hoisin Sauce

Lime if desired
Thai Basil

instructions:


Prepare the rice noodles according to package directions.  Place half the rice noodles into each bowl.  Place the sliced beef on top of the noodles.    Add the Bok Choy to the bone broth, heat the bone broth to boiling and pour over the noodles and beef.  Add the sliced jalapeno to top each bowl and finish off with some cilantro.  You can also add a dollop of Hoisin sauce to each bowl along with a healthy squirt of Sriracha sauce if desired. 
You can also add a wedge of lime as well as some Thai Basil.
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An InLinkz Link-up

My cookbook Hygge - Danish Food and Recipes would be a great gift for any foodies in your life. Available as a Kindle e book or in paperback. Autographed copies are also available at the Danish Windmill in Elk Horn, Iowa or on their website.
All recipes and their respective images are either original or adapted and credited, and are all the sole property of Sid's Sea Palm Cooking © 2011-2018, with all rights reserved thereof.

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Friday, January 19, 2018

Shrimp and Bok Choy Spring Rolls for #FishFridayFoodies

This month's theme for Fish Friday Foodies was Out of the shell and into the pan.  Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla is our hostess this month. 
I decided on using Shrimp for my dish.  I actually had some in the freezer, that were already cooked and wanted to use them. And then I brainstormed and tweaked and twiddled with a recipe.  And then got that "I GOT IT, I GOT IT!!!" moment.
I love Asian accents in my food. I missed last month's Fish Friday Foodies, that theme was Asian flavors, and this would have been perfect for them. sigh.
I wondered what would happen if I took the shrimp, added some finely shredded cabbage, a little Bok Choy and wrapped them in spring roll wrapper and fried it.  
Shrimp and Bok Choy Spring Rolls
What can I say, I like fried food. I had originally planned on making egg rolls but somehow the package of egg roll wrappers that I had in the freezer, got freezer burn and they ended up in the bin as an offering for the Kitchen Goddess aka garbage pail. sigh
Here's my take on Out of the Shell and Into the Pan.  Thanks Camilla for a lovely and delicious challenge.
Shrimp and Bok Choy Spring Rolls
 

Yield: 2 spring rolls

Shrimp and Bok Choy Spring Rolls
Shrimp and Bok Choy Spring Rolls

prep time: 10 MINScook time: 5 MINStotal time: 15 mins
These light and tasty spring rolls have a bit of bite from the Sambal Oelek in the rolls.

ingredients:


4 shrimp, cooked and chopped
4 baby bok choy leaves, slivered
1/2 cup finely shredded cabbage
1/2 teaspoon Sambal Oelek
1 tablespoon Sweet Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp. Sesame Seed Oil
1 tablespoon peanut butter, either smooth or chunky
1 tablespoon vegetable stock
1 teaspoon oil for sauteeing the veggies and shrimp
+ 1 teaspoon oil for frying the spring rolls.
2 spring roll wrappers

instructions:


Chop the shrimp up, and set aside while you chop up the bok choy and cabbage.
Saute the cabbage and bok choy in 1 teaspoon of oil until softened and then add the Sambal Oelek, the Sweet Soy Sauce and peanut butter and vegetable stock.  Continue to cook for about 2 minutes or until the cabbage and bok choy are cooked through.  Add the shrimp and stir together.  Take the vegetable/shrimp mixture out of the pan, reserving the liquid left in the pan/   Prepare the spring roll wrappers one at a time.  Divide the drained vegetable/shrimp mixture in two, then take each half, roll them up in the spring roll wrapper and set aside.  Heat the remaining oil in pan, and quick fry the spring rolls, just until they brown a little.  Serve with the reserved sauce.
Created using The Recipes Generator
Fish Friday Foodies was started by Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm and there's a different theme and hostess every month.  I love it. It makes me look outside the box and come up with different ways to use seafood every month.  And it encourages me to eat more seafood, and seafood is good for you as well.


An InLinkz Link-up

My cookbook Hygge - Danish Food and Recipes would be a great gift for any foodies in your life. Available as a Kindle e book or in paperback. Autographed copies are also available at the Danish Windmill in Elk Horn, Iowa or on their website.
All recipes and their respective images are either original or adapted and credited, and are all the sole property of Sid's Sea Palm Cooking © 2011-2018, with all rights reserved thereof.

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Sunday, January 14, 2018

7 Minute Frosting

I have a confession to make.  I really don't care for Buttercream frosting.
It's so sickly sweet to me, that I tend to scrape off the frosting when I eat cake.  Especially the stuff they put on commercial cake.  All I can taste is the sugar and the shortening.  *Shudder*

But I do like touch of sweetness on top of a cake and over the years I've found a few kinds of frostings that I do like.
I make a "Faux Buttercream" I used to call it my Best Ever Frosting but it turns out this frosting is known by lots of other names as well- Cloudburst Frosting, Roux Frosting, Heritage Frosting and Mock Buttercream- and now that we've gotten all the other names out of the way, let me just say I can eat it by the spoonful, but I usually leave enough to put on the cake.
However...
One of my all time favorites is 7 Minute frosting.   I used to make this once a year when my daughter and I made Gingerbread houses at Christmas.  It makes great 'snow'. I miss those years and the fun we had.
At least I had fun.  
Both my daughter and granddaughter are a little old to make gingerbread houses.  However, if they're up for it, I'm game.
If not, I think next year I'll make one just for fun and for me.


I made some of this frosting for a chocolate cake last week, after a chance remark from a friend.  She'd mentioned how much she liked her former mother in law's chocolate cake with the 7 Minute Frosting on top.
I'd already planned on making a chocolate cake, for the Legion cake raffle and I love the combination of chocolate cake and 7 minute frosting anyways. so it was set.
One little teensy hint here.
It's actually a BIG hint.  You beat this in a bowl over a pot of simmering water, but you should not let the bowl touch the water, otherwise you get little sugar crystals in the frosting.
Here is the whisked together sugar, water, cream of tarter and egg whites, just as I begin to beat them.

Use a timer, this only takes 7 minutes to come together.  Really, 7 minutes.  You can tell it's ready when you can form small peaks with the frosting and it holds it's shape.

This recipes makes enough for a two layer cake.
But my Chocolate Cake recipe makes three layers, so I had to make a half recipe frosting to finish it off.  As you can see, there's patches of chocolate showing through.
So I whipped up a half batch of frosting, finished off the cake and had enough left to pipe some rosettes on top. 
This frosting is remarkably stable once it's finished.


Yield: Enough to frost a 2 layer cake

7 Minute Frosting

prep time: 2 MINScook time: 7 MINStotal time: 9 mins
This simple old-fashioned frosting is light, airy and tastes wonderful. It even tastes great on a cake.

ingredients:


2 egg whites lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 tsp. Cream of tarter (or 1 tablespoon corn syrup)
1/8 tsp. Salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

instructions:


Mix together the egg whites, sugar, salt, cream of tarter and water in a heat proof bowl, or the top of a double boiler. 
Heat the water in the bottom of a double boiler to boiling and place the top of the double boiler over it, making sure that it is not touching the water. 
Using a hand held mixer, whisk the egg white mixture together at high speed for 7 minutes. It will become light and white and fluffing. At the end of the 7 minutes, add the vanilla extract and mix in with spatula.
Take off the heat and frost the cake.  Make sure you don't taste too much, you want to leave some for the cake.  Don't ask me how I know this, sigh.
Created using The Recipes Generator

My cookbook Hygge - Danish Food and Recipes would be a great gift for any foodies in your life. Available as a Kindle e book or in paperback. Autographed copies are also available at the Danish Windmill in Elk Horn, Iowa or on their website.
All recipes and their respective images are either original or adapted and credited, and are all the sole property of Sid's Sea Palm Cooking © 2011-2018, with all rights reserved thereof.

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Thursday, January 11, 2018

Ginger and Spice Tea

I was all set to make some Gingered Scones for this challenge, but a stuffy head turned me into another direction, entirely.
I had been drinking Hot lemon and honey to clear out my head but then when I looked at the Improv Cooking Challenge this month, I had one of those "AHA!!! got it" moments. The challenge this month was using Ginger and Spice in a recipe. 
I've actually been playing around with hot water and other aromatic combinations, since it's been wonderfully cold in my part of the world.
I put my thinking cap on, looked in the pantry and grabbed my bag of crystallized ginger, some allspice berries, coriander and turmeric. 
Ginger and Spice Tea ingredients
I think I hit this one out of the park. 
Not only does this taste wonderful, but my head is clear as well.  And I feel WOOHOOO!!!! best part is that when you make a pot, if you don't drink it all, and let it cool down, it's also a nice refreshing drink.
I had to have my first cup of this wonderful tea using the cup I bought for my Mom to use when she used to visit us. She was also a lover of Candied ginger and would have loved this tea.  I felt a little closer to Mom while drinking it.  The tea is a wonderful sun-shiny yellow. 
Ginger and Spice Tea
I can't resist taking pictures when nature outside reflects onto the tea. 

But I'm more of a mug person, so when I drank the rest I just used a mug. 
BTW, the lemon is from my garden. 
Ginger and Spice Tea

 Thanks to Nichole Little of Cookaholic Wife for hosting this fun event.
The Improv Cooking Challenge takes place every month with a different theme and ingredients that we're challenged to make a dish from. This month it was Ginger and Spice and it worked perfectly for me.  giggle

Yield: 4-6 cups

Ginger and Spice Tea

 

prep time: 5 MINScook time: 10 MINStotal time: 15 mins
This tea is not only delicious when it's hot, but poured over ice makes a lovely refreshing drink.

 

 

ingredients:


4-6 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon crystallized or candied ginger
3 allspice berries, crushed
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon coriander
Lemon to taste
Agave or honey to taste

instructions:


  1. Crush the allspice berries a little, put into teapot along with the ginger, turmeric and coriander.  Pour boiling water in and cover to let it steep at least 10 minutes.
    Pour a cup and sweeten to taste with some agave or honey and add a squeeze of lemon to finish off. 
    Sip and enjoy.
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Monday, January 8, 2018

Master Mix


I finally, after years of searching,  found my recipe for Master Mix.  Or at least one of the two recipes I know I have. 
I had one written down on a yellow legal pad, but it went missing a couple of moves ago, and I've been searching for it ever since. 
At least every time I thought about the mix, I'd look and then get side tracked by something else.

Then I found 'the recipe' and the little sneak was hiding in plain sight, right between the pages of one of my cookbooks. (I was actually looking for a 7 Minute frosting recipe at the time for this cake,
Thanksgiving Sweet Potato Cake

"The recipe"  was in the cookbook I received when I took Home Ec in high school. It's called Recipes for Young Adults and was put out by the B.C. Sugar Refining Co.   I love this cookbook, it's got just plain basic recipes and a lot of them are really good.  I've made the Lazy Daisy Cake quite a bit, it's one of those quick and easy cakes, you whip it up, it looks great and tastes wonderful. 

But this is about Master Mix.  I guess it's kinda like Bisquick, but so much better because you know what's in it.  
This is one of those very few recipes that I'll actually use shortening in.  And as it just so happened, I had some butter flavored Crisco in the pantry.  
The full recipe actually makes a lot, so I've cut it in half, and then I keep what I don't use in the freezer and pull out enough to make one of my favorite desserts from it.
And over the years I did refine this a little, cause I could.
Yield: 7 cups

Master Mix

This mix keeps well in the cupboard or in the freezer and is great to have on hand to make up a quick dessert or coffee cake.
prep time: 15 MINScook time: total time: 15 mins

ingredients:


  • 1/2 cup powdered milk
  • 4 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup baking powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon salt
  • 1/2 tsp. Cream of Tartar
  • 2 tsp. Sugar
  • 1 cup shortening

instructions


  1. Sift all dry ingredients together at least 3 times.
    Cut in shortening until it resembles cornmeal.
    Store in ziploc bags in freezer if not using within 1 month.  Otherwise store at room temperature in sealed container.   To measure out, pile lightly into a cup and level with a spatula. 
     
Created using The Recipes Generator
  


 

So there you have it, a mix you can keep on hand and use to make not only my favorite Baked Chocolate Pudding, which I'll tell you about later on, but you can also use this mix to make Coffee Cake or Donut Muffins which are really good as well.  
And shameless self promotion here: 

My cookbook Hygge - Danish Food and Recipes would be a great gift for any foodies in your life. Available as a Kindle e book or in paperback. Autographed copies are also available at the Danish Windmill in Elk Horn, Iowa or on their website.
All recipes and their respective images are either original or adapted and credited, and are all the sole property of Sid's Sea Palm Cooking © 2011-2018, with all rights reserved thereof.

 

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