Sorry Elvis, Your Sandwich is not King for Me.

Now lets get something out of the way before you start trying to post hate comments or emails to me; I love Elvis Presley.  He is the King and there will never, ever be anyone who can top him.  I just don't like his "fried peanut butter and banana sandwich", but with good reason...I don't like bananas.  No, I don't like bananas; as a small child, I would spit them up; I've tried them in cereal, with ice cream, pudding, cake, even bananas foster and have not been able to tolerate the taste.  My husband likes bananas, so buy them for him; when he eats one I will try a bite and can't get it out of my mouth fast enough.  So, if you must hate this post of mine, hate it because of my banana phobia.

The recipe for this sandwich is located on thousands of internet sites, has been featured on culinary based television shows and mentioned in probably every book ever written about Elvis.  So the recipe I'll be posting is nothing original and I am most certainly not claiming it as my own; just another item I'd like to get straight, so thank you, thank you very much...the sandwich has left the kitchen.

Elvis Presley's Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

Ingredients:

2 slices of white bread
2 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter
1 small ripe banana mashed
2 tablespoons butter

Preparation:

Spread the peanut butter on one slice of bread and the mashed banana on the other. Press the slices gently together. Melt the butter over low heat in a small frying pan. Place the sandwich in the pan and fry until golden brown on both sides.

Makes one sandwich.

Mary Cokenour

This Recipe is a Crossdresser.

I was going through one of my many cookbooks (I have enough to fill a 4 shelf bookcase) and came upon a recipe for "Beef Tips".  As I read the ingredient listing, I noticed how similar it was to beef stroganoff, but without the sour cream.  So I got to thinking (that can be a dangerous thing when it comes to cooking) that I have a package of beef cubes, but, don't want stroganoff, just made chili two weeks ago, stew would be nice, but I don't have too many veggies on hand this week.  Alright, lets go with the beef tips idea and play with that; what if I take part of the ingredients from beef stroganoff plus part from pepper steak with onions and create a monster?

The monster ended up being a tasty beast of beef, peppers, onions, mushrooms over egg noodles which sopped up the rich brown sauce. The scent throughout the home was drool making. However, I did do a little more experimenting by adding some sour cream to a cup of the creation...yep, just what I thought it would become; beef stroganoff with peppers. So there you go, how to take a couple of basic recipes and create a classy, sassy impersonator.

Beef Tips over Egg Noodles

Ingredients:

3 lbs beef cubes, about 1 inch pieces
3 Tbsp flour
1 large onion; cut into strips, cut strips in half
1 large bell pepper (red, yellow or orange); cut into strips, cut strips in half
1 (8 oz) carton of sliced fresh mushrooms
1 (10.5 oz) can beef broth
2 (10.5 oz) cans cream of mushroom soup
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp crushed dry thyme
2 tsps ground black pepper
1 lb cooked extra wide egg noodles

Preparation:

Spray a 6 qt crock pot with nonstick cooking spray; set on low heat. Coat the beef cubes with the flour; layer the beef, onion, bell pepper and mushrooms inside the crock pot.

In a large bowl, mix together the broth, soup, garlic, Worcestershire, thyme and black pepper; pour over ingredients in crock pot. Cover and cook for 8 hours; serve over cooked egg noodles.

Makes 8 servings.

Mary Cokenour

Rotisserie Chicken from Your Oven.

We've seen the oval shaped containers in the supermarkets, better yet, we've smelled the contents and started to drool. Rotisserie chicken is placed on a spit and rotated in a special oven, so the dripping fat can basically baste and moisturize the chicken. Besides selling the chicken as whole or in pieces, many places will shred the meat, mix it with mayonnaise and sell it as chicken salad at a high price per pound. Is it worth it? Not always; there might not be enough seasoning, or too much; same goes for the mayonnaise; and the extra benefits of veggies is iffy.

Besides the local supermarket, a rotisserie chicken can be done on the home barbeque. Just purchase the rotating spit, set it up, plug it in; yes you'll need an electrical source, and start cooking. Not everyone wants to do this though, but there's another alternative...your own oven.

While the recipe I'm going to post focuses on boneless, skinless chicken breasts, bone in chicken can also be used, but you just have to up the cooking time to 55-60 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165F. Coating the chicken with mayonnaise and covering with foil ensures that the chicken will stay moist inside as well as outside. Yes, light mayonnaise can be used if you're watching the fat content. For the veggies, I use diced onion and celery, but a little shredded carrot or diced bell peppers work too.

So if you're in the mood for rotisserie chicken, don't stress out over where to buy it, or on setting up your barbeque; just make it in the oven and enjoy an easily done meal.

Rotisserie Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves; trimmed of fat
3 Tbsp mayonnaise

Seasoning Mix

2 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp crushed dry thyme
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 ½ Tbsp brown sugar
pinch of ground cayenne pepper

Salad Mix

¼ cup diced red onion
¼ cup diced celery
¼ cup mayonnaise

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400F; line a roasting pan with aluminum foil and place rack on top of foil.

Mix together seasonings and spread out on large plate. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat both sides of the chicken breasts with the 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise; lightly press both sides of chicken onto seasoning mix. Place chicken on rack; cover pan with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165F.

Let chicken cool before cutting into one inch pieces. Place in large bowl; add onion, celery and mayonnaise; mix completely. Serve on rolls, breads, inside pita pockets, rolled in tortillas or as the center piece of a green salad.

Makes 6 servings.

Mary Cokenour

Stouffer's Sautes for Two not Impressive.

A growing trend in the frozen food aisle is "Meals for Two". I'm not sure if this is geared towards young married couples where cooking is still a mystery, or just couples in general who don't feel like cooking or going out to dine. Since it is just my husband and myself, and we like trying out new products, it was decided to give Stouffer's Sautes for Two a try.

The chosen meal was "Grilled Chicken and Asiago Tortelloni" and as you can see from my photo, what is pictured on the package looks quite different from the made at home meal. The tortelloni on the package has a lovely golden egg yolk color, but my photo shows stark white. In fact, there was so much cream sauce, that it drenched all the ingredients in whiteness. Their photo also shows grill marks on the chicken slices, but none of the pieces in my package had any marks. The few mushrooms were lost in creamy whiteness, but the green of the spinach certainly stood out.

I have a problem with one of the ingredients listed on the package - brown sugar. Why would brown sugar be in Alfredo sauce? I believe the brown sugar was probably used to obtain the grill marks on the chicken and make them stand out more. A good grilled piece of chicken doesn't need brown sugar. Then there was the cooking instructions - first step was to put the Alfredo sauce pouch in a bowl and run cold water over it until it thawed. I am perplexed on why gallons of water should be wasted in thawing a sauce pouch, when leaving it in the refrigerator overnight (which I did) would achieve the same goal, and save water. In my opinion, this instruction is one of the stupidest, and most wasteful, I have ever seen.

As the ingredients cooked, the scent of the butter and cheese within the sauce was enticing; it took 15 minutes to come to a completely heated state. The taste however was disappointing; I found it to be bland and too oversauced. A dash of nutmeg and ground black pepper helped it to be a true Alfredo sauce. The chicken had no grill flavor; no marks either, so why should I expect the flavor? The tortelloni was made and cooked very well though, and while the spinach flavor was lost in the cream sauce also, it was a nice touch.

Overall, I would have to give this product a "C" rating; not totally horrid, but not something I would like to spend good money on.

Mary Cokenour

Pizza Dough - There's an App for That.

Now put away those cell phones; I'm talking appetizer, not a networking application. Saturday night, New Year's Eve, we spent with friends Heidi and Sean, their children and another couple. Nothing fancy, just good people getting together to celebrate the end of the old year; and looking forward to lots of laughter. Oh, we laughed and laughed till our sides hurt; it felt great!

Even though it was a small get-together, it was an opportunity to do a little showing off in Heidi's kitchen. No dips or prepackaged appetizers to end the year; I was going to make something yummy to remember. First thing I did was get a 4 quart crock pot of homemade pasta sauce going. Actually, I did that on Friday, so besides having a dipping sauce for my appetizer, I made stuffed shells for dinner that night. No, it wasn't the typical meat sauce I use with stuffed shells, but they came out yummy just the same.

So Saturday rolls around and it was a lazy kind of day. Roy was engrossed in "SkyRim; The Elder Scrolls 5" and I watched reruns of "The Marx Brothers" movies. When it was time to make the appetizer, I was raring to go. I got all the ingredients together in order of preparation; set up the jelly rolls pans and went to work. By now you're wondering, "what the heck are you making anyway?" Thanks for reminding me to tell you...Sicilian Pepperoni Rolls similiar to those served at "Old Chicago".

To get two trays of rolls together, 20 on each, only took about a half hour; they are that easy and quick to make. It takes a lot longer though when someone is carrying one of the trays to the refrigerator and drops it. No Roy, you are not going to be hearing the last of this for a long while. "But it just slipped out of my hands" he says and since I did not see him do it, I can't really say how it happened, but I can imagine. He was doing the Italian accent thing as he carried them and I could picture him carrying the tray one handed like a waiter when suddenly.....all over the floor.

What to do, what to do, since I'm out of pizza dough and off to the store, which was luckily still open, to get a roll of Pillsbury Classic Pizza Dough. It worked out fine and while the Pillsbury dough baked up thinner than my dough, the rolls tasted amazing and the dipping sauce went great with them. There was not one left and Heidi has requested the recipe, so here you go girl.

Sicilian Pepperoni Rolls

Ingredients:

flour
12 oz. homemade pizza dough or 1 canister of Pillsbury Classic Pizza Dough
1 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp Italian herbal mix
1 cup Italian cheese mix
1/2 cup diced pepperoni
grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425F. Spray a jelly roll pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Lightly flour a wooden board and roll out the dough to a 14"x20" rectangle; mix the olive oil with the herbal mixture and lightly brush the rolled out dough. Sprinkle the cheese and pepperoni over the oiled dough. Starting at the top edge of dough, carefully begin rolling towards the bottom edge; make sure to keep the roll tight; the oil will help seal the roll.

Cut off a little of the far ends of the roll; cut the roll into one inch pieces. Carefully transfer each cut piece to the jelly roll pan, cut side up. Lightly dab the herbal oil mixture, and sprinkle a little grated Parmesan cheese, onto each piece.

Bake for 15-20 minutes; until dough is golden brown. Remove to serving plate and serve with dipping sauce.

Makes 20 pieces.

Mary Cokenour

Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me.

In Pennsylvania Dutch cooking, there is a pie that would put anyone in a diabetic coma; that pie is called "Shoo Fly".  The name originates from the bakers having to "shoo" flies away from the pie, since the little buggers were very attracted to the molasses and sugar that are the two main ingredients.  "Shoo Fly" is a dense, sticky pie; extremely sweet and definitely an acquired taste.  It is best served warm with a scoop of ice cream, usually vanilla, on the side; strangely enough, the ice cream mellows out the pie's sweetness.

Farmers' Markets are the best places to find these pies as they are baked primarily by the Amish and Mennonite; and they make them fresh.  You can find them in most Pennsylvania supermarkets, but unless they are baked right there in the supermarket, chances are they may be full of preservatives.  Take the extra time, go to the local farmers' market and buy it freshly made; you won't regret the choice.

Finding Amish and Mennonite recipes can be easily done as there are many books available, and many sites online with recipes also.  Each book and site claims that their recipe is the authentic one, but basically every county has a recipe, nevermind every family.  Play around with recipes and see which one may be to your liking; or you may end up inventing your own after some trial and error.  That is how my recipe came about, so try it, change it or just keep looking for another recipe you like better.

Shoo Fly Pie

Ingredients:

Filling

1 ½ cups molasses
1 ½ cups warm water
1 ½ tsp baking soda

Topping

4 cups flour, sifted
2 cups sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup butter, melted

2 (9 inch) deep dish pie crusts

Preparation:

On low heat, in a deep saucepan, cook together the molasses and water for 10 minutes; do not let the liquid boil.

While liquid is warming, preheat oven to 375F; cover center rack with aluminum foil in case of dripping. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar and melted butter to form loose crumbs.

Add the baking soda to the liquid mixture; it will become frothy; stir well to dissolve all the baking soda. Divide the liquid between the 2 pie crusts; divide the topping between the two, slightly pressing some of the crumbs into the liquid. Bake for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 350F and finish cooking pies for 35minutes; let pies cool slightly before serving.

Serving suggestion: while still warm, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Makes 8 servings.

Mary Cokenour

"Sex in the Mouth" for Dessert.

There comes a time when you try out a new dessert and it's so good; well it's almost like your mouth is having an orgasm.  My latest cheesecake recipe is one such sweet dish...completely decadent and luscious.

For the holidays, it's not unusual for me to be making cookies, brownies and cheesecakes to give as gifts.  Normally I stick to my two favorite cheesecakes, "Mint Chocolate" or "Toffee Shortbread", but I had several bags of white chocolate chips leftover from cookie making and felt inspired.  I perused several baking books and online recipe sites for ideas; common ingredients were kept on the list, unusual ones discarded.  Baking temperatures were anywhere from 325F to 450F, so I kept to my normal 350F and water bath (bain-marie)baking technique.  As to time within the oven, the 60 minutes allows the cheesecake to bake entirely while the center still looks jiggly; yet it firms up completely once it sets overnight in the refrigerator.

The taste, however, is absolutely, without a doubt, completely decadent.  Rich, creamy, smooth and just the yummiest concoction your mouth could experience.  Nevermind the holidays, this would make a great dessert for Valentine's Day or any other special romantic occasion.  Enough said, lets get to the recipe for an ultimate cheesecake experience.

White Chocolate Vanilla Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust

2 cups ground graham crackers or Nilla wafers
8 oz unsalted butter, melted

Filling

2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
½ cup sour cream
8 oz white chocolate, melted
2 Tbsp vanilla extract

Preparation:

Spray the bottom of an 8 inch springform pan with nonstick baking spray; line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and spray the paper with the spray also. Mix together the crust ingredients; press into bottom and slightly up sides of pan. Place in refrigerator while preparing the filling.

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth; gradually add one egg at a time until incorporated. Slowly add sugar and continue to beat until fluffy; mix in the sour cream, melted chocolate and vanilla extract well.

Take pan out of refrigerator and place on aluminum foil which can be drawn up sides of the pan. Pour the filling over the crust and spread out evenly. Place pan into a roasting pan and pour warm water halfway up outside of pan. Bake for 60 minutes; turn off heat and prop oven door open slightly. Let cool for 45 minutes before removing springform pan and place in refrigerator overnight.

Loosen sides of cheesecake with knife before releasing lock on pan; lift off ring. Put large round plate over cheesecake and invert; remove bottom of pan and parchment paper. Flip cake onto another plate to cut and serve.

Option: puree mixed berries (strawberry, raspberry, black raspberry) and spread over top of cake; grate or shave white chocolate over puree.

Makes 8 servings.

Mary Cokenour