Easy, Peasy, Yummy Brownies, by Beverly Hicks Burch

Easy Peasy Yummy Brownie

By Beverly Hicks Burch

When you’re in the middle of a move and you’ve set your weary bones down in front of the telly, it’s funny what the mind can do to you. Like play minds games concerning food…causing you to crave “comfort” food you know good and well you just don’t have on hand and DO NOT have the energy to make. That happened to me over this past weekend when Tall & Handsome and I were working around the house.

Now, just interject your own personal energy draining and exhausting activity and…well, never fear…do I ever have the recipe for you! It’s a brownie recipe that is so yummy and so easy to make it ought to be against the law…

T & H deemed them quite good and scarfed down two warm ones right away. I think they would be extra yummy with a little bit of vanilla ice cream on the side. (My favorite is Byers Light and Creamy Vanilla.)

Hope you enjoy Easy, Peasy, Yummy Brownie!

© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

Easy, Peasy, Yummy Brownies

½ cup unsalted butter, melted (you could use salted, too)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

½ cup self-rising flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla flavoring

½ cup chopped nuts (my go to nuts are pecans and walnuts. I happened to use walnuts the other night.)

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare an 8 inch or 9 inch baking pan.

2. In a mixing bowl mix together the sugar and the melted butter. Add the eggs, one at a time and mix well.

3. Combine the dry ingredients together and then stir them into the sugar mixture.

4. Add the vanilla. Stir in the nuts.

5. Spread evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the edges are firm. A toothpick inserted in the middle will come out clean. Cut into squares.

Enjoy!!

© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

Mixed Vegetable Casserole, by Beverly Hicks Burch

Mixed Vegetable Casserole

By Beverly Hicks Burch

If you’re looking for the perfect vegetable side dish to serve with a meal this is the one for you…and I mean one. Typically when we think of a well rounded meal we think of a protein (meat, poultry, fish, etc.) and two vegetable side dishes. Well, this little casserole is easy to make, yummy and combines a variety of veggies. It’s also one of Momma’s signature dishes.

So, for your enjoyment…Mixed Vegetable Casserole…

Mixed Vegetable Casserole

1 – 2lb. bag frozen mixed vegetables

1 – 8oz. can water chestnuts, drained and minced

3 stalks of celery, minced

1 small sweet onion

1 cup light sour cream

½ cup light mayonnaise

1 ½ cups grated Cheddar cheese

Pepperidge Farms Cornbread Dressing crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Cook frozen vegetable according to directions and drain. (We like to use chicken broth for extra flavor.)

3. Combine cooked vegetables and all the other ingredients except the dressing crumbs.

4. Pour into a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Cover the top of the casserole with a desired amount of dressing crumbs.

5. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!!

Mixed Vegetable Casserole

© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

Blueberry Delight, by Beverly Hicks Burch

Blueberry Delight

By Beverly Hicks Burch

This recipe comes to us courtesy of my little momma, Juanita Hicks. It is one of her quintessential “Momma” dishes…one she prepares for special occasions, holidays and taking to those aforementioned covered dish events. She’s been making it at least 20 years and she’s forgotten where she inherited the recipe from.

The saving grace of this gloriously ooey, gooey dish is this…blueberries are full of antioxidants . Oh, yeah and nuts are once again good for you. Other than, it’s probably loaded with guilt laden goodness.

Now you know I have confessed to “Bev-izing” recipes and here are a couple changes I would attempt to make on this recipe.

· Use 8 oz of low fat cream cheese for the regular cream cheese

· Use “lite” Cool Whip instead of regular Cool Whip

For now, in its full glory…Blueberry Delight…

Blueberry Delight

Preheat oven to 350°.

Mix together:

2 cups of all purpose flour

1 cup butter, melted

1 cup pecans, finely chopped (use a mini food processor if you have one)

Spread evenly into the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch baking pan, and bake 25 minutes.

Next:

Cream 1 8 oz. package of cream cheese

Add 1 box of Confectioner’s sugar

Fold in 9 oz. of Cool Whip

Spread the cream cheese mixture over the cooled crust and top with 2 cans of blueberry pie filling.

Enjoy!!

© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

Chinese Sweet Corn Soup, by Beverly Hicks Burch

Chinese Sweet Corn Soup

Adapted from a recipe from Kylie Kwong

By Beverly Hicks Burch

Although I had never had it before nor heard of it, Kylie says this soup is a Chinese classic. According to her, some versions are thickened with an agent such as cornstarch, but she prefers it “au natural”.

Kylie also uses sweet corn cut fresh from the cob. I’ve changed that a bit since cutting corn from the cob is hard for me because of my joint problems. Of course you can find fresh corn in the produce section already cut and bagged…or you can have a great sous chef like mine…called Tall & Handsome. When all else fails I resort to frozen sweet corn. Yes, it works just as well…

Kylie also makes her own Chinese chicken stock…different version to be exact. For time sake and as I mentioned because of health limitations, I use Swanson’s chicken broth (my family has used chicken broth in their cooking long before it was the vogue.)

This make a large pot of soup, and it would be easy to half the recipe for a small “crowd”.

Enjoy!

© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

Chinese Sweet Corn  Soup

3 cups corn kernels (frozen or fresh)

2 tablespoons canola or peanut oil

1 small white onion

2 tablespoon finely diced fresh ginger

1 – 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

½ cup dry sherry

7 cups chicken broth or stock

1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce

2 eggs, beaten

Chopped green onions for garnish

Heat oil in a large pot. Sauté onion, garlic, ginger and salt for one minute.

Add dry sherry and simmer for about a minute, then stir in corn and chicken stock and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Next, add soy sauce and stir. Lower the heat further. Take the beaten eggs and holding the bowl slightly high over the pan, pour the eggs into the soup in a thin stream, stirring the soup as you do with a fork. This technique results in “egg ribbons” similar to egg drop soup.

Serve the soup on bowls and garnish with green onions.

Enjoy!

Stir Fried Asparagus with Garlic, by Beverly Hicks Burch

Stir Fried Asparagus with Garlic

Adapted from a recipe from Kylie Kwong

By Beverly Hicks Burch

As usual, I’ve “Bevized” the recipe to fit my needs and our tastes, but the Asian essence is still present…and delicious! Based on how much we enjoyed this…I may double the recipe next time…

Stir Fried Asparagus with Garlic

1 pound fresh asparagus

2 tablespoon peanut oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

2 tablespoons dry sherry

1/3 cup chicken broth or stock

1 ½ teaspoon sesame seed oil (can adjust to your taste)

Prepare asparagus by washing and removing woody ends. Cut on the diagonal in half.

Heat oil in a wok on high. Add garlic and salt and stir fry just a few seconds…about 10. Then add asparagus and stir fry for one minute.

Next add sherry and continue cooking 30 seconds.

Add chicken broth and stir fry and additional 30 seconds.

Season with sesame oil and serve immediately.

Thai Fried Bananas, by Beverly Hicks Burch

Thai Fried Bananas

Adapted on a Recipe by Paula Deen seen on Food Network, June 25, 2007

I’ve made a few changes to this recipe. Tall & Handsome and I think this is the Asian Bananas Foster. We were talking this week end that it might be good with a dash of cinnamon…yum!

3 Tablespoons butter

4 fresh firm, ripe bananas, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces

6 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon black sesame seeds

1 lime, juiced

In a wok or large saucepan heat butter. Once melted, add bananas and toss around a bit. Then add the brown sugar and cook the sugar down a tad.

Next add the black sesame seeds and the lime juice. Stir together and serve.

Enjoy!

**This would be wonderful served over vanilla ice cream. I like Breyers low-fat Vanilla Bean. Yum!

Corn & Lima Bean Salad, by Beverly Hicks Burch

Corn & Lima Bean Salad

From Southern Living June 2008

By Beverly Hicks Burch

As I might have mentioned before, I’m a salad freak! I love, love, love salads…in most incarnations. I’ve tried to eat healthy most of my life and I still try to find new and tasty recipes for Tall & Handsome and I that are healthy at their core.

Last June as I was flipping through Southern Living, the “bible” for all Southern belles, I happened upon a recipe I knew I was destined to try. The recipe comes from the “Healthy Living” section of the magazine and 0f course it’s a salad! But, not just any salad…a corn and lima bean salad…yummy in my world! This dish is suitable, in my opinion as a side dish or a lite main dish, say for lunch, etc. Yep, I’ve done that many times during warm weather…

Of course, I’ve made adaptations or “Bev-ized” it…don’t I for most recipes? This one is good with fresh corn or, frozen sweet corn, and I like to add a little extra roasted red bell pepper. You might have some adaptations of your own you’d like to try, but regardless, this is a refreshing, great little dish!

© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

Corn & Lima Bean Salad

3 cups fresh sweet corn kernels, about 6 ears (you can buy fresh corn already cut from the cob in the produce section, or you can use frozen sweet corn, thawed)

1 cup fresh baby lima beans or 1 cup frozen baby lima, thawed

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ cup diced roasted bell pepper (find these in a jar at the grocery store), I like to use a little more of these tasty morsels

1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips (again a little more wouldn’t hurt and yes, I’ve done that )

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

A pinch to ¼ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

1. After cutting corn from cob, sauté corn kernels in the hot olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat for 3 minutes or until tender. Next add lima beans and cook for 2 minutes.

2. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.

3. To the corn and lima beans, toss in the roasted red bell pepper, basil leaves, lemon juice, salt and dried crushed red pepper.

4. Cover and chill at least 1 hour.

6 servings

130 calories; 3.5 g Fat; 4.7g Protein; 23g Carb; 4.1g Fiber; 0mg Chol; 1mg Iron; 10mg Calcium

Enjoy!!

Red Velvet Cake Made Easy, by Beverly Hicks Burch

Red Velvet Cake Made Easy

By Beverly Hicks Burch

There is a cake in the South that is almost mythical. This legendary cake is baked and served on almost all special occasions…especially Christmas, family occasions, holidays, social functions…you name it. If there is an occasion, then it’s good enough a reason to bake a Red Velvet Cake.

The origin of the Red Velvet Cake is enigmatic. No one can put an exact point of ancestry to this perennial favorite.

This cake has been a favorite in my family for years. I can recall making it from scratch as far back as the 1980’s. It is a cake my Aunt LaRue has been known to make at the drop of the hat…and been loved for doing so.

There is no small effort in making a Red Velvet Cake from scratch. The recipe usually includes buttermilk, vinegar, a smidgen of cocoa, red food coloring…and time. How you top it off or ice it is debatable. The recipe I have is for a roux type cooked/boiled type icing. I know…sounds funky, but it’s really creamy and yummy. Many times the icing is a cream cheese icing…with or without nut…your choice.

Now, believe it or not, before Tall and Handsome married me and came back South he had never heard of a Red Velvet Cake. *Gasp* Unthinkable! No true Steel Magnolia could think of passing this life without delighting the taste buds of her beloved with a Southern delight like the Red Velvet Cake. It just had to be…at least once at this Christmas was the right time.

Now this BamaSteelMagnolia™ learned a long time ago there are more ways than one to skin the proverbial rabbit. I had decided to make this delight for Christmas, but given the season and the fact that T & H would be home for some extra time at Christmas and I wanted to spend time with him and not pots and pans. Somewhere socked away in my memory, I recalled a quicker version of the Red Velvet Cake.

You see years ago I purchased a cookbook called The Cake Doctor, by Anne Byrne. If you don’t have this cookbook, grab it up! Within the covers was a recipe of Quick Red Velvet Cake and Ms Byrne’s insight into her quest for the history and origin of the cake.

It seems she did a search through many of her Southern cookbooks including her Junior League cookbooks and found nothing until she thumbed through a cookbook called Tennessee Tables. (Could this be more exciting for an East Tennessee born gal like me?!)

This cookbook had been published by the Junior League of Knoxville in 1982 and included a recipe for a Red Velvet Cake on page 204. The recipe was from Regas Restaurant and had been a specialty at the restaurant. It was supposedly served to Liberace when he came to town in 1970.

Thinking she had hit pay dirt, Ms Byrne called Louise Durman, food editor at the Knoxville News-Sentinel at the time. She was hoping she had discovered the point of origin of the cake.

Well, strike one and maybe strike out. All she could be told was that people in East Tennessee loved the cake (big surprise) and had been known to make Green Velvet Cakes at Christmas and Big Orange Cakes to coincide with University of Tennessee football games (go Vols!).

Now, coincidentally, own my own while living a little further South down in Birmingham, I had made a “Green Velvet Cake” more out of necessity than out of purpose. I had run out of red food coloring and all I had on hand was green food coloring. You see, the food coloring has no effect on the taste of the cake whatsoever…just the look. I would give you a little warning here though…green food coloring may affect your…ummm for lack of a better word digestive emissions…

Ms Byrne also had heard the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City might be the creator of the Red Velvet Cake recipe, but when she called the chef there, he informed her the hotel could not take credit for the cake.

My sneaking suspicion is a creative little Steel Magnolia in some sleepy little Southern town needed a cake to take to a function. And, wanting to “wow” and wanting to be a tad of a rebel she decided to pour a whole bottle of red food coloring into her cake batter to set tongues a wagging…instead, she created a tradition.

As usual, I took the recipe in the book and “Bev-ized” it. The adaptations I made to this recipe were to use low fat products to reduce calories and fat. So without further adieu…here is Red Velvet Cake Made Easy:

Red Velvet Cake Made Easy

1 box German Chocolate cake mix with pudding

1 cup low fat sour cream

½ cup water

½ cup canola oil (or vegetable oil)

1 – 1 ounce bottle red food coloring

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans. Be sure to shake out excess flour.

2. Add cake mix, low fat sour cream, water, oil food coloring, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Mix with an electric mixer for one minute on low speed. Increase the speed to medium and beat 2 – 3 more minutes, scrapping down the sides.

3. Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and place in the preheated oven. Bake 28 – 30 minutes or until the cake springs bake when lightly touched (or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean).

4. Cool pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool a further 30 minutes.

5. Ice with Cream Cheese Frosting. Keep in the refrigerator.

Cream Cheese Icing

1 8 oz. package reduced fat cream cheese, softened

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

3 ¾ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer. Mix at low speed for 30 seconds.

2. Add sugar a little bit at a time, blending well after each addition. After all sugar is added mix for one minute.

3. Add vanilla, increase speed to medium and mix for one minute or until icing is fluffy.

Enjoy!

© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

A New Way to Celebrate the New Year: Bev’s Posole

A New Way to Celebrate the New Year: Bev’s Posole

By Beverly Hicks Burch

Well, yesterday Tall & Handsome and I celebrated out 5^th wedding anniversary. One thing I’ve picked up over those five years is his love for some of his New Mexican foods…green chilies in particular.

When he first came to Alabama, he brought a southwestern, or at least New Mexican holiday tradition with him…that was serving Posole during the holidays. Posole is a type of soup/stew made with pork, hominy and green chilies.

I’m planning on serving this tomorrow to start the New Year out with a tasty, spicy kick…nothing like trying a new tradition!

Bev’s Posole

Pork, Green Chili and Hominy Stew

For the Pork:

1½ – 2 pounds lean pork loin, trim any fat away

Juice of 3 limes

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

The day before, cube pork and add juice of limes, oregano, and onion and garlic powder. Mix well and marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion

2-3 cloves minced garlic

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon ground cloves

Cayenne pepper (optional) can use up to ½ teaspoon. I add a couple of dashes… more will make it hotter! (Because of my Sjogren’s I make ours mild)

4 cups chicken broth (I use Swanson’s canned or boxed)

2 4 oz. cans chopped green chilies

1 large and 1 small can white hominy (Posole), drained and rinsed

½ teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

In large pot, heat oil until hot. Sauté onion until it begins to brown. Add minced garlic, black pepper, cumin, cloves and cayenne pepper. Stir and cook for 1 minute allowing spices to ripen and toast. Next add chicken broth, pork with the marinade, the hominy, additional spices and the green chilies. Adjust heat to simmer. Cover and cook until pork is cooked and tender.

Serve with warm tortillas* and red enchilada sauce drizzled over a bowl of hot Posole before serving.

*Reggie is usually in charge of heating the tortillas. He does it between layers of paper towels in the microwave and then takes them out and butters them with Land of Lakes “butter” that is 60% canola oil. Yum-yum

Enjoy!!

© 2008 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

The “Anti-Turkey Day” Solution Recipe, by Beverly Hicks Burch

The “Anti-Post-Turkey Day” Solution & Recipe

By Beverly Hicks Burch

 

Ok, I like turkey…I really do…at least in it’s time and place. There have been some turkey products that have failed to “wow” me. One that comes to mind was turkey frankfurters. Blah is all I have to say. Although, I will have to say we use to get some turkey pepperoni that was more than palatable.

I’m also not overly fond of leftover turkey or chicken even. To me poultry develops a funky taste when it’s leftover and cold. Well, this year has been totally different.

Because of our hectic schedule and traveling back and forth and across four states in the 10 days before Thanksgiving, Tall & Handsome and I made an executive decision this year…we decided we were NOT going to kill ourselves cooking for just the two of us (of course we cooked a few things…like my Rumaki, green bean casserole, hot beef dip and Watergate Salad). The rest…well, we let someone else do the cooking for us.

About two weeks or so before Thanksgiving I noticed The Fresh Market was having a tasting for their Thanksgiving dinner menu. Being the smart people we are…we ran down there. Boy, are we glad we did! We opted to purchase their smoked turkey dinner. All I can say is yummy in our tummies .

This has been one turkey I’ve had absolutely no problem eating as a leftover…even in turkey sandwiches (add some lite mayo, honey mustard, a slice of Swiss cheese and a kosher dill pickle spear and you have fabulous gourmet sandwich).

But, if confession is good for the soul, I must confess this…you can get very tired of even gourmet smoke turkey sandwich. After days of leftover turkey in a plethora of ways…and, after we slaved to put up Christmas decorations I decided to treat T & H to something different and new…it was a certified hit.

You see, I’m always looking for recipes that play to T & H’s taste for his beloved New Mexico and southwestern taste buds…especially when it come to green chilies. While in the store the other day I picked up the Taste of Home Best Holiday Recipes. As I was thumbing through it I found a recipe that fit both prerequisites of the Anti-Post-Turkey Day recipe and T & H’s New Mexican taste buds…it’s called Chile Rellenos Quiche. This one is taste tested and certified folks and deemed a keeper …and it’s not very hard to make. The hardest part is the way you prepare the crust but, even that isn’t hard…just a tad bit time consuming…but, yields fantastic results.

So, give it a try and surprise your crew with the Anti-Post Turkey Day Solution.

© 2008 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

Chile Rellenos Quiche

Adapted from the 2008 Taste of Home Best Holiday Recipes

 

1 9 in. deep dish pie shell

2 tablespoons cornmeal

1 – ½ cup cups (6 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I couldn’t find just shredded Monterey Jack, so I used Kraft’s Four Cheese Mexican blend and the results were great)

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese

1 4 oz. can green chilies

3 eggs

¾ cup sour cream (I used Daisy Light Sour Cream and it turn out just fine)

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro (yall know I’m not overly fond of cilantro so I might use fresh parsley, but as it happens I had a jar of dried cilantro and used ½ teaspoon of the dried cilantro)

2 to 4 drops hot pepper sauce, optional (I used 4 drops of Tabasco sauce)

1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. Line the unbaked pie shell with double thickness aluminum foil and bake for 8 minutes.
3. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
4. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
5. Turn oven down to 350°.
6. Sprinkle the cornmeal around the bottom of the pie shell.
7. In a bowl combine the two kinds of cheese. Set aside ½ cup for the top of the quiche.
8. Add the can of green chilies to the remaining cheese and then pour into the pie crust. Make sure you lightly spread evenly around the crust.
9. In a small bowl whisk eggs, sour cream and cilantro (and hot pepper sauce if using) until smooth and creamy.
10. Pour over the cheese and chilies in the crust. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup if cheese on top of quiche.
11. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes or until knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. I actually had to cook mine 50 minutes so ovens may vary…just use the knife test. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

Serves 6 – 8

A slice of tasty Chile Rellenos Quiche