Aunt Laurel's "Uncle Ben's" Rice

I had a little trouble deciding where to put my quotes. This is my version of store-bought Uncle Ben's long & wild rice. I made His, smelled it and looked at the ingredients, then came up with my own cheaper-but-similar rice for a Relief Society Dinner (they cut our budget this year).
So here it is:

Long Grain & Wild Rice
12 oz. pkg. long grain & wild rice
2 c. beef broth
2 c. chicken broth
1 Tb. oil
1 Tb. parsley (dried)
1 ts. marjoram
1 ts. garlic powder
1/2 t. each paprika, salt
4 oz. can mushrooms (opt.)

Combine all in pot and follow directions on rice package OR press COOK on your rice cooker.
Add 1/2 c. almonds if you like, and 1/4 c. water/broth to unstick it. Stir and serve. Freezes well, makes mouths happy.

What can I say?

I love Chinese food. So do Husband and Kids. I don't like paying for it, or wondering what is really in it or the tons of sugar and cornstarch and MSG. So, I ask myself, "Can I possibly make Chinese as good as they do?" And I try. And miracles happen.




Beef and Broccoli:
1 lb. beef steak, sliced thin (I used chunks from the freezer)
1/4 c. water
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. brown sugar
3 T. vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
2 t. grated fresh ginger
1 T. cornstarch
2 T. oil
1 large onion, sliced thin
2 heads broccoli, cut up into florets

Combine beef, water, soy, sugar, vinegar, garlic, ginger and cornstarch in a bag or bowl and marinate 10 minutes or more. Drain well, reserving marinade. Place broccoli and a bit of water in a microwave bowl covered in plastic wrap and microwave it 4 minutes until tender-crisp (or, hey, you could steam it "the real way"). Heat oil in a wok or skillet and brown beef and onion together about 3 minutes. Add marinade and bring to a boil at least 5 minutes and until beef is done and sauce is bubbly. Stir in drained, hot broccoli and serve on rice. It's good. REALLY good.
Don't forget my Cashew Chicken when you set up your buffet. I have been promised an egg roll recipe to die for (Joni--that's your cue) or you can try this one. Have yourself an asian night.

Speaking of, Toni, do you remember eating cream cheese wontons on the floor with no shoes? That's a good memory.

Your freezer is your friend

Did I ever mention that I freeze everything? Yes, that extra half a can of mushroom soup or coconut milk. Half & half and chopped jalapenos from my garden. So, I'll let you in on a few secrets so you'll stop crying over what you can't buy because the rest will go bad before you get to it.

1. Tomato Paste. You know you never use the whole can. It's okay to buy it now, it won't go to waste. Scoop it out in tablespoons and place between two layers of plastic wrap. Freeze and plop in a bag. Mine were lovely plump mounds until a two-year-old decided to poke them. Oh well, at least it made her laugh.

2. Cilantro. And other herbs. But mostly cilantro. Pull leaves off of stems. Soak stems in red wine vinegar and eat as a meal-preparatory snack. Place leaves in bowl.

Chop leaves with kitchen shears. Chop, chop, chop, chop, chop. Chop.

Pack 2 tablespoons of cilantro into one ice cubicle. Add 1 tsp. of lime juice and pat with finger (important). Freeze. Place cilantro cubes into a bag.

3. Limes. This one does not warrant a picture because the one I took looks like a dirty green freezer bag. Zest limes carefully into a bowl. Place zest in freezer bag. Juice lime and pour into ice cubicles. Lick your fingers.

4. Ginger root. I won't show mine. I put up three cilantro pictures to make up for what you won't be able to recognize, so let it go. Using a vegetable peeler, peel off all skin. Place in a freezer bag. It will last forever and take it from me, it grates much better when frozen. You may have to hold it with a rag or the bag. It is cold and let's not grate our knuckles.

S'mores

Who you callin' desperate?

One salad two ways

No, no. Two salads with one dressing. That's better.


Cilantro Lime Salad:
2 c. frozen soybeans (edamame)
15 oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c. thinly sliced red onion
1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 c. olive oil
1 tsp. lime zest
1/4 c. lime juice

Prepare soybeans according to package. Drain. In a large bowl combine beans, onion, and cilantro. Whisk together all other ingredients, adding up to 1/2 tsp. salt to taste. Pour over bean mixture and toss to coat. Refrigerate covered. Serve cold.

Version two: Replace soybeans, kidney and garbanzo beans with a can each of drained kernel corn, black beans and a chopped tomato or avacado. Also very good. We choose the first recipe while on phase 1 (South Beach Diet) and the second after we have given up.

Standard Breakfast Procedure

Here is the story: I had a phase. A Cracklin' Oat Bran phase. I ate it every day for breakfast and then one day, it was not on sale anymore and I couldn't justify $4 a box. So, I wrote down the ingredient list from the back of the box and googled it on the internet. Like this: "Oats, oat bran, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, almonds, coconut, recipe". Yes, it was a shot in the dark. Something similar to this recipe popped up. I have improved it several times and my kids beg for it in the mornings, so I have no complaints.

Granola for Me!

7 c. rolled oats
1 c. wheat germ
1 c. wheat or oat bran
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1.2 c. honey
1/2 c. water
1 T. vanilla
1 t. each cinnamon, nutmeg, salt
1 c. each sliced almonds, coconut

Preheat oven to 275. Stir up oats, wheat germ and bran. Mix sugar, oil, honey, water, vanilla and spices and pour over. Mix well. Spread onto 2 cookie sheets and bake 45 min. stirring every 15 min. Add almonds and coconut and bake 15 min. more. Let cool. Makes about 13 c. (gallon ziploc)Tips: I forgot it once (after mixing, before baking) and let it "soak" for about 3 hours. It turned out much crunchier than usual and now I soak for a standard 1 hour before baking. You can food-process the rolled oats a little, and the almonds and coconut too. The texture turns out like grape nuts. Eat with milk or yogurt. If you want it more clumpy, before the last baking, with the nuts and coconut, add 2-3 T. honey mixed with the same amount of water. Gives it a nice shiny look. You could also add other things like dates, pecan, craisins, raisins, whatever you like.

Cashew Chicken

I was recently inspired to have a Chinese night for dinner. Okay, so Husband has been begging for a long time. Anyway, I got this recipe so long ago and never tried it because back then I thought I was too poor to afford cashews. Too bad, this one could have saved many a dinner from being Teriyaki again. It is super good and mostly easy/healthy. No MSG, plenty of flavor. So have yourself a night at the Golden Tree (our local chinese) and enjoy! This is also a freezer recipe.

Cashew Chicken:
1/2 c. ketchup
2 T. soy sauce
1/2 t. salt
1 T. worcestershire sauce
3 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. sesame oil
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1/2 c. chicken broth

2 T. cornstarch
1/2 t. sugar
1/2 t. salt
3 whole chicken breasts (as in 6 halves) cut to bite size pieces
1/4 c. cooking oil (peanut works good)
2 T. grated or minced gingerroot
1 T. minced garlic
1 onion, chopped

1 can water chestnuts, drained and chopped a bit
1 can bamboo shoots, drained and sliced

1 1/2 c. cashews

Combine ketchup, soy sauce, salt, worcestershire, sugar, sesame oil, cayenne, and broth in a bowl. In another bowl, combine cornstarch, sugar and salt and toss chicken pieces in this. Heat cooking oil in a wok or frying pan to a high heat and add chicken mixture, ginger, garlic and onion. When chicken is cooked through, add chestnuts and bamboo shoots, and ketchup mixture and cook until it comes to a boil. Cool, bag and freeze. Freeze cashews separately. Thaw in fridge overnight, heat on medium until boiling and add cashews. Serve on rice.

Dried Herbs

Maybe this deserves to be posted on my garden blog, being as I did grow these myself. But that is the one I'm keeping up with better at the moment, so enjoy a little herb know-how for your kitchen.

Snip a bunch or a couple of bunches of parsley--not too thick, maybe a half an inch each. Rinse well and shake dry. Wrap a thread around them and hang them in a window. They go limp for a few days and then they dry right up. If you are impatient like me, pull them down once they start to get crisp and finish the job up in your toaster oven. Then, strip the leaves off the stems and crush gently with a mortar and pestle (or fingers).

Basil is easier. After washing, lay out the leaves on a cookie sheet. Preheat your oven as low as it will go (200 or less) and then turn it off. Place the cookie sheet inside and wait. Check on them once in a while. Then crush when crisp. There is probably a more perfected way to go about drying your own herbs, but I have not looked into it. This way works well for me and tastes ten times better than store-bought dried herbs, so I don't mind if I did burn or overcrisp them a bit. Also, the little bunches of parsley look so pretty dangling from the ceiling.

Three Ingredient Buttermilk Biscuits

Yep, three. These are the best, too. I would have taken a picture if I hadn't eaten them all before I made it to the camera.

3 c. self-rising flour*
6 Tb. butter
1 c. buttermilk (8 oz. carton)

Cut butter into half the flour, add remaining flour and stir. Add milk, stir and knead until smooth. Roll to 1/2 inch and cut biscuits. Freeze if you like. Bake at 425* 12-15 min.

*can substitute 1 c. all purpose flour, 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder and a pinch of salt per cup of self-rising flour. I make up a container of it.

If you freeze them, thaw under wrap before baking. They don't rise as much if they're still frozen. Also, I stacked two on top of each other, so I'd have those nice biscuits that pull right apart. They didn't turn out that way. They turned out like two biscuits stacked on top of each other and I was sad because I'd missed out on half of the crusty bottoms I could have enjoyed.

Rainbow Bean Soup

This is a gift from my friend Georgia. I thought it was very pretty and very tasty, so it is getting posted because my kitchen has been boring lately. I made it for dinner last night and don't have a picture, because after the soaking everything took on a bit of a purple-gray tint from the black beans. This cleared up after rinsing and adding tomatoes, but still...it's so much nicer looking in the jar. Here is the recipe.