Sunday, October 31, 2010

Turkey Casserole

Turkey Casserole

(This family favorite recipe uses leftover turkey)

by Veneese


1-1/2 cups herb seasoned stuffing bread crumbs (1 package)
3 cups diced cooked turkey
4 cups gravy (or 2 cans cream of chicken soup with milk or water to make 4 cups)
1 tsp salt
dash pepper

Arrange layers of 2/3 of crumbs and all of the turkey in 9x13 pan. Pour gravy over all. Combine remaining crumbs, 1/2 cup milk, 4 beaten eggs; spread over the top of casserole and dot with butter. Bake uncovered at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Serves 12 (unless you have 8 kids, and then you might need two casseroles).

Monday, October 25, 2010

Zuppa Toscana

-1 lb. ground mild italian sausage

-1 t red pepper flakes

-4 slices of bacon, cut into 1/4 inch pieces

-1 large onion, diced

-1 T minced garlic

-5 cans of chicken broth

-6 potatoes, cut up

-1/4 bunch of fresh kale

-1 c. whipping cream


-Cook sausage and red pepper flakes over medium heat until crumbly

(10-15 min). Drain and set aside.


-Cook bacon in same pan over medium heat til crisp (10 min). Drain, leaving

a tbsp. of drippings with the bacon in the bottom of the pan. Stir in

onions and garlic. Cook until onions of soft (5min).


-Pour in chicken broth. Bring to boil over hi heat. Add potatoes and boil

until fork tender (20 min). Reduce heat to medium and stir in heavy

cream and sausage; heat thru. Mix in kale just before serving.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Popcorn Recipes

Here are the recipes for the many different kinds of delicious popcorns that Tana showed to us last week! Thanks Tana!

POPCORN RECIPES


Macadamia Nut Candied Corn

1 C. Popcorn kernals

2 cups macadamia nuts

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups miniature marshmallows

1/4 teaspoon butter flavoring


Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place popcorn and macadamia nuts in a large greased roasting pan. In a large heavy saucepan, combine sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt over medium heat. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil. Boil 2 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat. Add marshmallows, stir until melted. Stir in butter flavoring. Pour marshmallow mixture over popcorn mixture; stir until well coated. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on lightly greased aluminum foil to cool. Store in an airtight container or place in clear holiday baking bags for gifts.


Thanksgiving Point Popcorn

2 bags of microwave popcorn, regular or fat free. Discard all the unpopped kernels.

1 cup M&M’s

1 cup mini marshmallows

½ cup straight pretzels

½ cup peanuts


In a large bowl, add M&Ms, marshmallows, pretzels and peanuts. Add popcorn and stir. Melt 2 packages white chocolate chips (Guittard Choc-Au-Lait) in microwave. Be careful not to get the chocolate too hot or it will harden in the microwave.


Pour over mixture and stir until all is coated. Lay mixture in two cookie sheets and drizzle 1 bag melted molding chocolate all over the entire mixture. I personally like milk chocolate chips. Let popcorn sit until chocolate is set.

You can drizzle different colors of molding chocolate on top depending on the holiday. Orange for Halloween, red for Christmas etc and M&Ms the holiday colors. You can also vary amounts of M&M’s, marshmallows, pretzels & peanuts to liking.


Parmesan Chive Popcorn

2/3 cup popcorn

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup fresh chives

1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

Pop the popcorn. Melt the butter. Grind the pepper (as much as desired) into the butter, Chop the chives and sprinkle on the top of the popcorn along with the grated cheese. Drizzle the butter mixture over the popcorn, then salt.


Seasoned Popcorn

1/4 cup popcorn kernels

1 teaspoon extra-light olive oil

Dash of sesame seed oil

1 tablespoon lime juice

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons brewer's yeast


Pour the popcorn into an already heated hot-air popcorn popper and start popping, allowing the popped kernels to fall into a large bowl. Set aside.


Pour the oils and the lime juice into a large roasting bag and shake until evenly distributed. Add the popped kernels, trap air in the bag, twist closed and shake well. Mix the cayenne pepper and brewer's yeast together. Sprinkle into the bag and shake again. Each piece of popcorn is now coated in a bright, spicy seasoning. A few pieces will be damp, but the flavor will compensate.

.

Wacky Popcorn

½ cup Popcorn kernals

Butter or margarine, melted

Salt

Garlic powder

Chili powder

Grated Parmesan cheese

Yeast powder

Dill

Pop popcorn. Drizzle with butter or margarine. Add salt. Choose any of the remaining ingredients to add an unexpected zest.


Poppycock Popcorn

½ cup popcorn kernals

½ cup almonds

½ cup pecans

1 cup butter

1 1/3 cup sugar

½ cup corn syrup

Cook butter and sugars to rolling boil. Boil 1 minute. Remove and add 1 tsp vanilla. Pour and stir on popcorn mixture. Pour on wax paper to cool.


Monster Munch Popcorn

½ c popcorn kernals

2 cups nuts

1 ½ cup rice krispies cereal

1 lb white chocolate

1/4 cup peanut butter

Stir popcorn, nuts and cereal together in a large bowl. Melt white chocolate and peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl. Pour over popcorn mix and stir well. Spread on wax paper until hardened. Can drizzle chocolate over if desired.


Granny Goose Popcorn

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup Half & Half or evaporated milk

1 Tbsp corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

½ cup popcorn kernals

Cook ingredients over medium heat to 230 degrees. Pour slowly over popcorn. Stir to coat. Pour on wax paper to cool.


Gooey Caramel Popcorn

½ cup margarine

1 cup corn syrup

2 cups brown sugar

1 can Sweetened & Condensed Milk

1 cup popcorn kernals

Bring margarine, corn syrup and brown sugar to a boil over medium heat. Add milk. Boil to a soft ball. Pour over popcorn.


Peanut Butter Popcorn

½ cup popcorn kernals

1 ½cup nuts (almonds, dry roasted peanuts or mixed nuts)

1 cup sugar

½ c light corn syrup

1 cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

½ cup honey

Keep nuts and popcorn mixture warm in roasting pan at 250 degrees in oven. Butter sides of large sauce pan and combine sugar, honey, corn syrup in pan. Bring to boil stirring constantly. Boil hard for 2 minutes. Remove from heat

and add peanut butter and vanilla. Pour over popcorn mixture and cool.


Kettle Korn

½ cup popcorn kernals

½ cup sugar

½ cup oil

Put all 3 ingredients in popcorn popper (or heavy pan with lid) and cook on Medium-High heat. For Whirly Popper, just keep stirring until it is finished popping. For a heavy pan, once you hear it start to pop, give your pan a good shake every 15 seconds to prevent burning. Once popcorn has finished popping, place immediately on cookie sheet and salt.


Caramel Popcorn (Baked)

1 cup popcorn kernals

1 cup marg or butter

2 cups brown sugar

2/3 cup corn syrup

1 tsp salt

½ tsp soda

1 tsp vanilla


Melt butter and coat kettle. Stir in brown sugar, syrup and salt. Bring to boil stirring constantly. Be sure sugar is all dissolved before it reaches boil. After it reaches rolling boil, continue to boil 5 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and soda. Stir well till foamy and all soda is dissolved. Pour over popcorn (& nuts if desired). Place in oven and bake for 3/4 - 1 hour at 250 degrees. Stirring every 15-20 minutes. Dump on table or counter. Cool. You may drizzle different chocolates on at this point. Break up and eat. Be sure to mix popcorn and caramel well before starting to bake. This is my favorite kind to make because it tastes so much like Harry & David caramel popcorn.


The Best Caramel Popcorn

1 cup popcorn (unpopped)

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

2 cups sugar

1 cup powdered vanilla whey protein (found in any health food aisle from Wal-mart to your

everyday grocery store)

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/3 cup water

In a medium saucepan, combine the above ingredients and cook over medium heat until the mixture barely comes to a slow boil. It should still look very light in color. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the following ingredients:

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

Pour the caramel mixture over two large bowls of popped corn (about 1 cup unpopped kernels that have been air popped) and mix to combine.


Sweet and Salty Butterscotch Candied Popcorn

½ cup popcorn kernals

1 Cup dry roasted peanuts

1 Cup butterscotch chips

6 Tablespoons butter

3/4 Cup packed brown sugar

1/3 Cup corn syrup

¼ teaspoon salt


1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Place popped popcorn and peanuts onto a large rimmed

baking sheet that has been sprayed lightly with non stick cooking spray.

2. Place butterscotch chips, butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and salt into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until mixture comes to a light boil. Remove from heat and pour evenly over popcorn and nuts. Gently stir to coat mixture over popcorn.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

3. Remove from oven and pour onto parchment paper to cool. Break into pieces and serve.

Enjoy!


Marshmallow Caramel Popcorn

½ cup butter

½ cup brown sugar

3 cups marshmallows (divided)

½ cup popcorn (unpopped)


In bowl, add 1 cup of marshmallows to popped popcorn. In a separate bowl, microwave butter and brown sugar together for 2 minutes. Add 1 cup marshmallows and microwave for 1 minute. Stir. Add another cup of marshmallow and microwave for 1 minute. Stir. Pour over popcorn & marshmallow mixture. Stir, and enjoy.


Peppermint Bark Popcorn

½ cup popcorn kernals

1 lb Almond Bark

1 6oz box candy canes, crushed. (About 1-1 1/2 C total and Bob's are the best!)

2 tea. peppermint extract (depends on how strong you want the peppermint to be)

3/4 C semi-sweet chocolate chips


Place popcorn in a very large mixing bowl. Unwrapping the candy canes to crush them is the most labor intensive step of this easy treat, so you can do that ahead of time if you want too. I put my candy canes in a large zip-lock bag and have a whack with a heavy marble rolling pin. One they're crushed, dump them into the bowl with the popcorn. To melt the almond bark, follow the instructions on the package. I just break it up and put it in a glass measuring cup and microwave on 1 min intervals until it's nice and smooth.


When your almond bark is melted, add the peppermint extract (I personally think it is a bit strong and

add just a bit of the extract...½ Tsp). It will seize a little bit (get kind of lumpy) but it's totally fine. Pour

over popcorn and candycanes. Stir it up really well until the candy is evenly distributed. Pour the popcorn

out onto a piece of waxed paper, parchment, or foil. Spread it out into an even layer and leave it alone!

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the popcorn.

*one bag microwave popcorn has about 10 cups in it, so if you're air-popping, do about 20 cups.


Pumpkin Spice Caramel Corn

½ cup popcorn kernals

1 Cup dry roasted peanuts

2 Cups unwrapped pumpkin spice Hershey’s Kisses (I find hem at Target), (If you cannot find the kisses, substitute 1 Cup of butterscotch chips)

6 Tablespoons butter

3/4 Cup packed brown sugar

1/3 Cup corn syrup

¼ teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Place popped popcorn and peanuts onto a large rimmed baking sheet that has been sprayed lightly with non stick cooking spray.

2. Place kisses, butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and salt into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until mixture comes to a light boil. Remove from heat and pour evenly over popcorn and nuts. Gently stir to coat mixture over popcorn. Bake in oven for 30 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

3. Remove from oven and pour onto parchment paper to cool. Break into pieces and serve.

Enjoy!


Almond Toffee Popcorn

1 C. sugar

1/2 C. butter

1/2 C. white corn syrup

1/4 C. water

1 C. almonds; chop -- toasted

1/2 t. vanilla

1/2 C. popcorn -- popped

In heavy saucepan, combine sugar, butter, corn syrup, water and almonds. Cook over a moderate heat to 280 degrees on a candy thermometer. Add the vanilla. Stir well and pour over the popped corn.


Gooey Caramel Marshmallow Popcorn

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup light corn syrup

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Pinch cream of tartar

1/2 (10-ounce) package marshmallows, about 4 cups

½ cup popcorn kernals


Directions

In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, water, corn syrup, butter, and cream of tartar (this bit of acid keeps the sugar from crystallizing.) Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. When the sugar syrup reaches a boil, stop stirring and swirl the pan around over the heat so it doesn't burn. As the syrup reaches the caramel stage, the bubbles on top will become smaller, thicker, and closer together.


Simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, until the caramel coats the back of the spoon. (If so inclined, stick a candy thermometer in the pot and cook until the syrup reaches the soft-crack stage, about 270 degrees F. When you drop a bit of this syrup into cold water, it will solidify into threads that, when removed, are hard yet bendable.) Remove the caramel from the heat

and stir in the marshmallows. Fold the marshmallows into the hot caramel so they all melt into

a gooey caramel sauce.


The caramel will coat better if the popcorn is hot, so make it while boiling the sugar or pop it first then keep it warm. Put the popcorn in a big bowl and pour the caramel marshmallow mixture over the popcorn. Gently fold with a wooden spoon to coat each kernel. Grab handfuls of the popcorn and squeeze it together to form popcorn balls; make them about the size of a tennis ball. Put the popcorn balls on a sheet pan lined with waxed paper to cool completely.


There are four cups in a quart. One cup of unpopped popcorn equals 40 cups, therefore a 1/2 cup of unpopped popcorn will make five quarts.