Party Taco Dip

Deciding what food to bring to a party is always a difficult choice for me.  I like to plan well in advance so I have time to shop and prepare the food as early as possible.  Sometimes I am forced (either through my lack of planning or just plain laziness) to prepare something at the last minute.

For the New Year's Eve party that I'm attending this year, I had decided to bring taco dip and tortilla chips.  Most of the ingredients, I normally have on hand, but I needed to pick up a couple things.  So I foolishly ran to the supermarket this afternoon (New Year's Eve).  As I approached the parking lot, I said, "NO!"  That was because I couldn't even turn into the parking lot with the amount of traffic waiting to enter.  There wasn't an empty parking space to be had, so I waited as patiently as I could and drove in and out of the parking lot to promptly return home.  Some cream cheese and tortilla chips were simply not worth the hassle.

Onto plan B...  I would bake my own tortilla chips using the tortilla shells at home and I would substitute sour cream for cream cheese.  I probably should have done that in the first place; lesson learned.

I returned home and starting baking tortilla chips while I prepared the taco dip to accompany them.  Crisis averted :-)  Here is the Taco Dip recipe you can whip up in a snap.  The home made tortilla chips recipe is found in an earlier post under "Homemade Chips and Salsa"

Have a happy and healthy new year!

PARTY TACO DIP

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Auntie Jean's Low Sodium Taco Blend*
8 ounces low fat cream cheese / neufchatel, softened
1/4 cup low fat sour cream / yogurt
1 bag lettuce
2 diced tomatoes
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup diced green onion
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
sliced black olives (optional)

Preparation:
In small bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, and taco seasoning. 

Spread onto bottom of shallow dish.

 Layer lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, and green onion. 

Top with shredded cheese. 

Refrigerate at least one hour.  Serve with tortilla chips.

*To purchase Auntie Jean's Low Sodium Taco Blend, email me at:  auntiejeans@yahoo.com

Ultimate Potato Soup

It's the time of year to eat more soup.  Soup warms you up when you've been outside shoveling snow and it helps to heal those winter colds.  I love to eat soup year round, but I rarely eat soup from a can because those canned soups normally contain the most sodium of any food.  Even the reduced sodium varieties contain over 500 mg per serving.  That is about 1/3 of my sodium intake for the day, so I'd prefer not to use it on average tasting soup.

My family loves potatoes; while I don't love them, I do eat them because they are rich in heart healthy potassium.  I use a potato soup recipe that is low in sodium and fat.  Somehow even without all the sodium and fat, the recipe still manages to be delicious.  I have to say that the recipe is rather time consuming; it's difficult to make the soup while making dinner.  The easiest way to serve it with dinner is to prepare it the night before and leave it in the refrigerator overnight.  Simply reheat it with dinner.  Please note that potato soup does not freeze well.

Here is the recipe with notes:

ULTIMATE POTATO SOUP

Ingredients:
4 potatoes, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cups low sodium chicken broth  (I use Herb-ox sodium free instant broth)
2 cups half & half / milk (I usually use skim milk)
2 cups water
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons flour
2 cubes chicken bouillon (I also use Herb-ox sodium free cubes)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Preparation:
In a large pot, bring potatoes, celery, and onion to a boil in 3 cups of broth.  Cook about 15 minutes, until potatoes are tender. 

Drain and reserve liquid.  Combine reserved liquid and half & half in large pot over medium heat.  In small bowl, combine melted butter and flour then stir into half & half mixture until blended. 

Add bouillon cubes and stir until thickened.  Stir in reserved vegetables, water (if you like a thicker soup, add less water or none at all), pepper and garlic powder.  Heat through and serve.  If desired, garnish with bacon bits.*  Yield 6 servings.

*Note: I use Tastefully Simple Bacon Bacon with less fat and sodium than real bacon bits.

Pierogis

Keeping with my family's Christmas tradition, my sister, Karen and I made pierogis this week that will be served for Christmas dinner.  I'm not sure how I learned to make them; I believe that I found a recipe and followed it.  My grandmother used to make pierogis for Christmas, but she never taught me.  My Irish mother is not an adverturous cook to say the least, so she would never even attempt to make pierogis.  My entire family loves eating pierogis, so someone has to make them.

This year we made two kinds: potato and beef.  We also made gluten free versions of them because my cousin is gluten free.  It was the first time that I've tried making them, and they turned out just fine.  You just have to be a little more careful with the dough.  If you are on a gluten free diet, give it a try.  We also made the pierogis in different shapes to we could tell them apart.

Gluten free triangle:

Beef rectangles:

Semi circle potato pierogis:

To make the cooking easier, we made the fillings one day and assembled and boiled the pierogis another day.  Then we froze the boiled pierogis in plastic zip bags.  On Christmas day, we will sautee the pierogis for dinner.

For the potato filling, we basically made mashed potatoes.  You may add whatever seasonings you like to them.  I prefer garlic and black pepper.

Here is the beef recipe.  You may use any kind of meat or meat mixture you prefer.  In  Poland, the most popular filling is pork.

MEAT FILLING FOR PIEROGIS 

Ingredients:

1 pound ground meat

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 medium onion, chopped

2 eggs, beaten

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon garlic powder 

Preparation:

If desired, you may use a grinder or food processor to process meat.  Do not puree or process too fine. 

 Melt butter in large skillet.  Add onion; sauté over medium heat until tender. 

Stir in meat and eggs. 

Sautee mixture over medium heat about 5 minutes.  Add pepper and garlic powder. 

Let cool.  Makes enough to fill about 40 to 45 pierogis.

Here is the pierogi recipe:

PIEROGIES 

Ingredients:

Pierogi filling

4 cups all purpose flour

2 eggs

5 tablespoons low fat sour cream

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

About ¾ cup water 

Preparation:

Prepare choice of filling.  Lightly flour 2 baking sheets.  Sift flour into a large bowl or onto a flat working surface; make a well in the center.  Break eggs into well.  Add sour cream and 3 tablespoons oil.  Blend ingredients with your fingertips.  Gradually add water, working and kneading mixture into a smooth and pliable dough.  Divide the dough into quarters.  Cover 3 portions with a damp cloth.  On a lightly floured board, roll one portion of dough into a 1/16 inch thick rectangle.  Cut into 3-1/2 to 4 inch circles.  In the center of each circle, place 1 heaping tablespoon filling.  Fold dough in half over filling.  Crimp resulting edge with your fingertips, forming a tight seal.  Repeat process until remaining dough is used, placing pierogis on lightly floured baking sheet.  Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil.  Drop 5 pierogis into boiling water.  Stir gently to prevent them from sticking together.  When water returns to boil, add 5 more pierogis.  Cook savory pierogis 4 to 5 minutes or until they float.  Cook fruit pierogis 10 to 15 minutes. 

Gently remove pierogis from pot; drain in colander.  Pat dry with paper towels.  For savory pierogis, heat oil in a large skillet and sauté pierogis over medium heat until browned on both sides, about 5 to 6 minutes.  Place in large ovenproof serving dish and keep in hot oven until ready to serve.  To freeze boiled pierogis, lightly spray with cooking oil and place in plastic zipped bags.  Makes about 70 pierogis.

Christmas Kolackys

I only bake kolackys once a year at Christmas time.  They are a bit of extra work, but they are extremely delicious and extremely fattening, so once a year is enough.  I bake a huge batch for my annual cookie exchange with the girls.  I believe they like them (or at least that's what they tell me.)  I also bake a few extra kolackys to give as gifts to friends, coworkers, and family.  I find that food makes great gifts for people for whom you don't know what to get.  Everyone eats, and even if they don't like it, someone they know will.  The gesture is always appreciated, especially if it's homemade.

I started baking on my own when I was about 10 years old.  Chocolate chip cookies were my first baking experience and still one of my faves.  My Irish grandmother married a Polish man and she would make a few Polish dishes.  One of them was to bake kolackys at Christmas.  I don't have her recipe, but I found one that I like even better. (Don't tell Grandma that I said that)  The recipe comes from the Solo Filling can, and I have altered it slightly.  I still use the filling from Solo.  You can visit their website:  http://www.solofoods.com/  for some good recipes.

Here is what you need for making kolackys: makes about 3 dozen
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup cream cheese (8 ounce package), softened. Neufchatel also works.
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 can Solo Pie & Pastry Filling
Powdered sugar for sprinkling

The first step is to beat butter, cream cheese, milk, and sugar in a large bowl until well blended.

Next, beat in egg yolk.  Sift flour and baking soda and stir into butter mixture to make stiff dough.  Cover bowl and refigerate several hours or overnight.  I find it easier to make the dough one day and bake the cookies the next.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Flour working surface and rolling pin very well.  I like to use the Pampered Chef pastry mat.

Roll the dough to 1/8" thickness.  Try to keep the shape as rectangular as possible.

Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut into squares about 2 1/2".

Place 1 teaspoon filling in the center of each square.

Bring corners to center and press together making a small square.

Place on baking sheet leaving space  between cookies.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until lightly browned.

Cool on wire rack.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.  These are just cooling, no powdered sugar yet.  The cookies tend to spread open even though they're sealed.  If you want them to stay closed, place a dab of water on the dough before sealing.  I think they look better with the filling showing.

They also look a little prettier when covered with powdered sugar.

These cookies freeze well, just be sure to sugar them after you remove them from the freezer.

Merry Christmas!

Oven Fries

Last night, I tried a new side dish with tacos... oven fries seasoned with taco seasoning.  It's a recipe that I saw on Rachael Ray's show, and it sounded delicious to me.  I love fries, but not the fat and salt.  Potatoes are a great source of potassium which is needed for good heart health.  This recipe bakes the fries and uses alternative spices.  It's a little time consuming cutting the potatoes into thin fries.  I use a mandolin slicer that makes quicker work of it.  I suppose that you can use precut frozen fries.

All you need to do is to toss the sliced potatoes in some olive oil, place on a baking sheet, and sprinkle with seasonings and bake.  Rachael Ray recommends using a cooling rack on top of the baking sheet to get the fries crispy.  I don't think it's necessary, as I have tried it both ways.  You can change the seasonings to your taste.  I have made them with ranch seasoning and taco seasoning and like them both.

I also microwave potatoes for 5 to 7 minutes on high to reduce oven cooking time.  I'll nuke them first then toss them with oil and season them.  Place the fries on the baking sheet.  After 25 minutes, take them out of the oven and turn them over so they bake evenly.  Then bake them 20 - 25 minutes longer.

Try your own variations and let me know how they turn out.  I think I'm going to try garlic parmesan fries next. Yum!

Ranch Oven Fries

Ingredients:

6 medium Idaho potatoes

Extra virgin olive oil

1 – 2 teaspoons Auntie Jean’s Low Sodium Ranch Blend

Yield: 6 servings

Preparation:

Preheat oven to  400 degrees.  Arrange cooling/wire racks over 2 baking sheets.  Peel potatoes and cut into thin fries, less than ¼ inch thick.  In a large bowl, dress fries very lightly with olive oil and ranch seasoning.  Arrange fries in single layer on wire racks.  Place in oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes until crispy.

Lemon Pepper Pork Chops

As I have mentioned before, while growing up, I wasn't exposed to a great variety of foods.  My mom wasn't fond of pork, so the only time I had it was if I was dining at a friend's house.  That almost never happened because my mom thought it was rude to dine with other families.  She told me that dinner was a family meal and I wasn't allowed to eat dinner with them.  I remember one time my friend's mother called my mom and practically had to beg her to let me stay for dinner.  To this day, I still don't understand my mom's rule.

That being said, whenever I had the opportunity to try pork, I didn't like it.  I think that is because it is difficult to cook it correctly.  I am still working on that myself.  The pork chops or roast usually turn out dry and overcooked.  I have asked several people who cook pork why this is and I can't get a definite answer.  I am not one to be deterred by failure; I simply keep trying to get it right.

I found a pork chop recipe that I like and the pork turns out moist.  Even my mother likes it, so I'll call it a success.  It's simple to make.  The most difficult task for me is unwrapping the chops from the foil.  If you can master that, you'll find this a piece of cake.

I like the lemon pepper and garlic.  I suppose that you can change the spices to your liking.  Enjoy!

LEMON PEPPER PORK CHOPS

Ingredients

• 4 pork chops
• 1 tablespoon Auntie Jean’s Low Sodium Lemon Pepper Blend
• 8 teaspoons butter
• 8 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

2.     Tear off a generous square of tin foil for each chop, enough to wrap and seal completely. Coat both sides of each chop with lemon pepper.

3.     Put 1 teaspoon butter and 1 teaspoon olive oil in the middle of each square of tin foil. Put the peppered chops on top of the butter and oil. Put 1 teaspoon of butter and 1 teaspoon olive oil on top of each chop. Add 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce over the top of each chop. Wrap each chop tightly and place on middle rack of oven. Bake for 35 minutes.