Won Ton Soup

Pork mixture

Won Tons:
1/2 lb. ground pork
2 Tbsp. green onions, chopped
1 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
2 tsp. soy sauce
3 garlic cloves (or more)
20-30 won ton wrappers

Soup:
2 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 c. green onions, chopped

Pork mixture on the wrapper

2 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
3 c. water
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 c. chicken broth (or bouillon)





To Prepare Won Tons:

Soup without the won ton

Place first 5 ingredients in a food processor. Process until well-combined, scraping sides of bowl once. Working with 1 won ton wrapper at a time, spoon about 1 Tbsp pork mixture into center of each wrapper. Moisten edges of dough with water. Bring 2 opposite corners to center, pinching points to seal. Bring the remaining 2 corners to center, pinch 4 edges together to seal. Place the dumplings on a plate. Set aside. You may choose to cover them with a towel to keep them from drying out if you want.

Won tons

To Prepare Soup:
Heat oil over med-high heat until hot. Add green onions and ginger.  Saute for 3 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, and bring to a boil. Add won tons. Reduce heat, and simmer for 6-10 minutes. Serve.

Pseudo Stroganoff

Sauce

Sauce:
1 medium onion
1/2 stick of butter
garlic powder
black pepper
basil
1 c. water
1 cube beef bouillon
1 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. sour cream

Meat mixture

Meatballs:
1/2 lb beef
1 Tbsp. onion
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 egg white
1 1/2 Tbsp. bread crumbs
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper

Pasta, cooked

To make the sauce:
Fry the onion in the butter over medium heat until the onion starts to turn brown. Add the spices to the onion while it's cooking. Add the water with the bouillon to the onion, bring to a boil. Turn down the heat, and add the flour. Stir the sauce until it thickens. Then add the sour cream and heat through (don't boil).

To make the meatballs:
Fry the onion and half of the garlic powder in butter. Remove from heat. Mix everything together in a small bowl. Shape into balls, and cook in butter over medium heat until cooked through.

Ready to eat

Serve sauce and meatballs over pasta.

Meatballs

Sauce recipe courtesy of Julie Bernstein

Cake Balls

This is the easiest recipe ever.

1 box cake mix (whatever kind you want)
1-2 cans of frosting (whatever flavor goes with the cake mix you chose)
Toppings: chocolate, powdered sugar, sprinkles, coconut, whatever

Cake balls

Bake the cake according to box directions. Let the cake cool. Then shred cake using two forks. Mix in 1 can of frosting. I find, though, that one can is usually not enough to get the cake firm enough to sculpt, so I'll use a quarter to half of a second can. Add a little at a time to see how much you need. Then use a melon baller or something that will allow you to shape the mixture into balls. For toppings you can do whatever you wish. If I use funfetti, I like to roll the balls in powdered sugar. When I used German chocolate cake and frosting, I drizzled melted chocolate over the tops of the balls. You can also dip the balls into melted chocolate to totally cover them. If you do this, I would recommend putting the cake balls in the freezer for about 5-10 minutes to get them really firm for when you dip and roll them in the chocolate.

Shredded cake

Funfetti mixed into the cake

Sesame Cookies with Raspberry Preserves

2 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar and cinnamon (mixed)
4 tsp. almond extract
2 tsp. vanilla
4 c. flour
2/3 tsp salt
sesame seeds
raspberry preserves

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in extracts. Add flour and salt, mix well. Shape into small balls, roll in sesame seeds. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Indent centers, fill with preserves. Bake @ 400 F for 10-12 minutes (cookies will stay light color). Yield: about 3 dozen

Cookies after they've been baked

White Chili

This is absolutely one of my all-time favorite things to make (and eat).

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped (at least 4, but you can add more!)
3-4 c. chicken broth or 3-4 cubes bouillon (it depends on how soupy you want your chili)
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp. ground cumin (so, I probably add more like 5 tsp, but go by what tastes good to you)
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp chipotle tabasco
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground coriander
black pepper to taste (I use a lot!)
1 can (11oz) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (15oz) great northern beans, drained
1 can (15oz) butter beans, drained
2 c. chicken breast chopped and cooked (I usually cook the chicken with the same spices I put in the chili)
pepperjack cheese (optional)
tortilla chips (optional)

Onion, garlic, cilantro in oil

Chili with all the ingredients minus chicken

Heat oil in pan over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic in oil (I add the garlic a few minutes after the onion), stirring occasionally, until onion is tender. Stir in remaining ingredients except chicken. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 20 minutes (while it's simmering, I occasionally taste it to see how the spices are blending, and I'll usually add some more until it tastes like what I want). Stir in chicken; simmer until hot. Serve with shredded cheese, tortilla chips, sliced avocado, etc.

Chili with chicken

Ready to serve!

Adapted from Betty Crocker's Cookbook

Steak with Onion Blue Cheese Sauce

This recipe is pretty much to die for. We served it with pasta and hamburgers. The recipe says blue cheese, but gorgonzola is fine as well. So good! Here is the link:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/09/grilled-ribeye-steak-with-onion-blue-cheese-sauce/

Spaghetti with Macadamia Gorgonzola sauce

I found this recipe in a macadamia nut cookbook in Lincoln City this weekend. It was pretty much amazing.

Chopped macadamias

2 Tbsp. butter
4 cloves garlic, crushed
cilantro
black pepper
4 oz. gorgonzola, crumbled
1/4 c. sour cream
3/4 c. finely chopped macadamia nuts
white pepper and salt, to taste
hot, cooked spaghetti


In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic, cilantro, black pepper, and saute about 3 minutes (don't let it turn brown!). Add the Gorgonzola, and stir until melted. Add sour cream and stir to make creamy sauce. Stir in the macadamia nuts. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over hot spaghetti. It turned out really well!!

Traditional Czech Garlic Soup

This is on a ton of menus in Prague; it's fabulous. And the recipe says it's optional to add bread and cheese at the end, but for authenticity, you should definitely add the bread and cheese. Cheddar will not be a good choice. I would recommend Camembert. If you can't find that, then Brie. And your bread, you can cube it if the slices are too big. I've seen it both ways.

8 c. broth(beef or chicken, your preference)

6 cloves of garlic (more or less, according to your personal taste)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. marjoram

freshly ground black pepper (a lot!)

2 Tbsp. butter

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 tsp. caraway seeds

1-2 Tbsp. cilantro

slices of bread, cubes of soft cheese (optional)

Mash garlic with salt, or use a garlic press, and then mix crushed garlic with salt (you could also roast the garlic prior to mashing...).

Place mix of garlic and salt into a large pot, add broth and slowly bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer. Add pepper, caraway seeds, potatoes, marjoram, pepper, cilantro, and butter. Simmer uncovered till potatoes are tender (about 20 minutes).

Fry slices of bread in butter or bacon drippings until golden brown. Place a slice of bread in each bowl and ladle garlic soup over the bread. You can also add cubes of cheese before serving (highly recommended!).

Chicken Divan

This has been one of my favorite recipes since high school thanks to Sandy Hoffman, who makes the most amazing Chicken Divan!

1-2 chicken breast, cooked and cubed

2-3 c. broccoli, steamed
1 can cream of chicken
1 can cream of cheddar
dash of lemon juice
1/2 c. cheddar, shredded
bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix the cream of chicken and cream of cheddar together. Add a dash of lemon juice. Layer the broccoli then chicken into a baking dish. Spread the cream mixture over the top. Add the cheddar and bread crumbs to the top. Heat for about 25 minutes or until heated all the way through.

You can serve it like it is or serve over white rice.

For a variation, I made a casserole using almost the same ingredients... We didn't have cream of cheddar, so we just grated more actual cheddar. We cooked the chicken and steamed the broccoli, then mixed them together with cooked white rice and cream of chicken in a large skillet. Then we added 1 c. cheddar, melting it into the mixture. We then put the whole thing in a baking dish, sprinkled the top with cheddar and bread crumbs. Baked at 450 F. for about 10-15 minutes. Still really good!

Hummus

2 cans garbanzo beans
juice of one lemon
5 cloves of garlic (or more!)
1/2 c. tahini
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cumin (at least!)
black pepper (lots and lots!)
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp olive oil

Drain beans, reserving the liquid. Add all ingredients to food processor, and process till smooth. Add reserved garbanzo bean liquid until desired consistency. Sometimes I'll add more tahini or spices depending on the taste. We usually serve hummus with saltines and baby carrots, but you can use whatever you want!

Recipe courtesy of Joel Kimsey