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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.
Quesadilla Casserole
By Beverly Hicks Burch
Well, cool fall weather is beginning to really grace us with its wonderful temperatures and colors and blue skies like none other. I’m also particularly fond of cloudy, rainy and even foggy days, especially up on the mountain when I can snuggle in with some good reading or good movie watching.
But, nothing says fall weather better than certain foods! Comfort foods for one…soups, stews, mac and cheese…I could go on. Ever notice how fall and winter foods just seem to be heartier and more filling…and piping hot?
In the October 2009 issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray there was a recipe that when I saw it I heard the siren song almost immediately. It was to be…and soon. Only…as usual I also saw immediately a couple of thing I would do differently especially now that I am a gal trained to cook for and by a green chili eating Tall & Handsome native New Mexican. He ran out to the store this afternoon to pick up what we didn’t have on hand and we pulled this little dish together for supper tonight for my folks. It will be seen on the table around here again judging from the reaction of everyone this evening.
Bev’s Quesadilla Casserole
Inspired by a recipe in the Oct. 2009 issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray
3 tablespoons olive oil
¾ chopped onion
One 29 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 ½ cups frozen sweet corn, thawed
½ cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
Five 10 in. flour tortillas
2 ½ cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese or 4 cheese Mexican blend
2 small cans or 1 large can green enchilada sauce, divided
1. Preheat oven to 400°. In a skillet heat the oil over medium heat then add onions and cook for 5 minutes.
2. Stir in 1 ½ cups black beans and mash the beans into a chunky paste. Stir in ½ cup green enchilada sauce.
3. Grease a heavy oven proof skillet or casserole dish.
4. In a separate bowl combine the corn, remaining black beans and parsley.
5. Place one tortilla in the bottom of the baking dish. Spread the tortilla with 1/3 cup mashed black bean mixture. Then spread on 2/3 cup corn-bean mixture. Next evenly spread ½ cup of cheese over the vegetables. Drizzle a few spoons of green enchilada sauce over the layer.
6. Add another tortilla and press down to compress the layers. Repeat the layering process with the mashed black bean mixture, corn-bean mixture, cheese and drizzling of green enchilada sauce until all five tortillas are used and covered.
7. Bake for 30 minutes at 400°. Then broil on high for one minute. Serve with extra green enchilada sauce and lite sour cream.
Enjoy!!
© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.
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
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.
Curried Chicken and Rice Soup
By Beverly Hicks Burch
I don’t know about yall, but for the last couple of days I’ve detected a decided, albeit small hint of autumn in the air. I have one thing to say about that…”Hallelujah!’ This is one Southern gal that absolutely hates the steam box of summer.
One thing I enjoy about the cooler months is the foods of those seasons. Especially the soups…yum!!
I was thumbing through my latest issue of Food Network Magazine and came upon a recipe for a soup I will be making as soon as I can round up the ingredients. At the end of the recipe I’ll give you a little hint for a “Bev-ized” version I’m also going to try. This version will have a little bit of a Thai flair to it…which just happens to be one of my favorite Asian cuisines 
.
© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.
Curried Chicken and Rice Soup
From the Food Network Magazine June/July 2009
1 ½ pound bone-in chicken breast (halved)
2 medium carrots sliced diagonally into 2 inch pieces
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt
6 cups chicken broth (low sodium would be the best)*
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion
1 teaspoon sugar
1 ½ teaspoon Madras curry powder
1/3 cup Jasmine rice
3 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped
3 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
1 lemon, cut in wedges
1. Combine chicken, carrots, bay leaf and a pinch of salt in a saucepan. Add 3 cups of chicken broth. (I would add 2 – 3 chicken bouillon cubes at this stage to make the broth richer.)
2. Bring to a boil then immediately reduce heat to low. Cover and cook until chicken is firm, about 20 minutes.
3. In another saucepan melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onion, sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook until the onion is soft…about 5 minutes.
4. Add the curry powder and cook for another minute.
5. Add the rice and the remaining 3 cups of broth. Cook covered over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes.
6. Remove the chicken from the broth. Discard any skin and bones and shred the chicken. Once this is done, return the chicken back to the broth.
7. Puree the rice mixture with an immersion blender until smooth.
8. Pour into the chicken and broth mixture and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer. Add fresh herbs.
9. Served with lemon wedges.
Enjoy!
Serves 4
Calories 390 Fat 11 Carbs 18g Fiber 2g Protein 55g Cholesterol 130mg
* To give this a Thai flair when cooking the chicken I would used 1 can of Lite Coconut Milk and then the rest would be chicken broth…combining to make enough liquid to equal the 3 cups. Then I would served with lime wedges instead of lemon wedges.
Bacon! …and Pimiento Cheese
By Beverly Hicks Burch
Am I the only one that thinks bacon should belong it its own special and totally honorable food group? Can you think of anything bacon doesn’t make better? Well, ok, maybe not caramel or chocolate…
Yes, I know…bacon isn’t considered to be particularly healthy for you, but there are precautions you can take.
· You can limit your intake or consumption of bacon.
· Years ago I discovered the wonders of center cut bacon. Center cut bacon reduces the fat and calories found in bacon and it tends to be leaner.
· Also, the market now offers low sodium varieties of bacon. And, of course there are different types of bacon like Canadian bacon which is extremely lean and lower in fat. Then there are the foreign types like Serrano (Spanish) and Prosciutto (Italian) types of bacon.
Another food I acquired a fondness of…kind of late in life…was Pimiento Cheese. I think I was at a tea or shower or reception and had for the first time in my life home-made Pimiento Cheese. It began a love affair. Maybe it’s a Southern thing, but I don’t know anyone that eats the stuff like we do. We’ll slather it on anything. Ever wonder who first put the combo of celery sticks and Pimiento Cheese together? As the Brits say, “Brilliant!”
Well, imagine the overload my taste buds went into when I saw a recipe in the July 2009 issue of Southern Living…we’re talking the kind where your mouth get all watery inside just from anticipation… The recipe was for Bacon Pimiento Cheese. Somewhere there has to be a culinary genius treading the soil of terra firma.
I’m going to share my version of the recipe. I called it my version because there are a couple of adaptations I would make to “lighten” it up just a tad. If you choose not to do this I’m sure yours will turn out just as yummy.
Enjoy!
©2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.
Bacon Pimiento Cheese
Adapted from a recipe from Southern Living July 2009
4 strips center cook bacon
16 oz. shredded Cheddar cheese
1 – 4 oz. jar diced pimiento, rinsed and drained
½ cup low fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon salt or salt to taste (I reduced the salt also from the original)
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1. Cook bacon and drain well on paper towels. Crumble or chopped bacon.
2. Stir together bacon and remaining ingredients and mix until just blended.
3. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Home-made Coconut Cake
By Beverly Hicks Burch
Several years ago, a late friend would wow friends and family with a home-made coconut cake. It was often in demand and a real treat when she presented you with one. Where she discovered the recipe I’ll never know. Barbara is no longer with us having succumbed to cancer over 10 years ago.
While browsing through my mom’s cookbooks I found one that our former church had published ca the mid 1980s. Towards the back in the dessert section, there was Barb’s yummy Coconut Cake recipe bigger than Dallas.
Sweet memories and a sweet cake…too good to pass up and too good not to share…
Barb’s Coconut Cake
By Beverly Hicks Burch
Filling:
2 – 6 oz. packages frozen coconut
1 – ½ cups sugar
1 carton sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
Mix together and set aside. Place between the split layers of cake once they have cooled.
Cake:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
1 cup water
½ cup oil
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350°. Combine ingredients and mix for 3 minutes. Pour into 2 nine inch pans and bake for 30 minutes. Let layers cool and then split then in half.
Icing:
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup light Karo syrup
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
2 egg whites
4 tablespoons water
3/4 cup sugar
Add ingredients to a double boiler. Beat to mix. When the water in the bottom of the double boiler begins to boil, remove from heat. Beat the mixture for 3-1/2 to 4 minutes until stiff peaks form. Ice the top and sides of the assembled cake. Garnish with coconut.
© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.
A Staple in the South
By Beverly Hicks Burch
When I was little there was a food that I absolutely would not touch and it was pimento cheese. Somewhere down the line I mustered up enough courage to try it and a love affair began. I think my first taste must have been a home-made batch because it was fantastic. Ever since then I have been on a quest for the perfect Pimento Cheese recipe. Seems everyone has one…some use mayo, others use Miracle Whip…the recipes vary in some way or another.
Here in the South we love a good Pimento Cheese sandwich and what’s better than crisp, cold celery stuffed with pimento cheese? I’m sure everyone has their own personal favorite use for the decades old stand-by.
While browsing though one of my mother’s cookbooks, The Dinner Doctor, by Anne Byrn (also the author of The Cake Doctor) I noticed yet another recipe for Pimento Cheese. She has made the recipe easy by using packaged shredded cheese. I made a small adaptation to the recipe to lower fat and calories. Regardless, it is a super easy recipe to make.
Enjoy!
© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.
Quick and Easy Pimento Cheese Spread
1 8 oz. package of shredded Cheddar cheese
1 2 oz. jar diced pimentos (if you can only find sliced pimentos, chop them up)
1 tablespoon minced onion
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup lite or low fat mayonnaise
Fresh ground pepper to season
1. In a medium bowl mix together the cheese, pimentos, onion and Worcestershire sauce.
2. Fold in mayonnaise and stir to make sure ingredients are mixed well. Season with black pepper.
3. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to combine.
**Options: Use a Mexican blend cheese instead of Cheddar.
Add ½ of a seeded and veined and chopped jalapeno pepper to either cheese
recipe.
Add 1 tablespoon of chopped, drained green chiles.
Just in Time for Memorial Day – Thai Coconut Chicken
By Beverly Hicks Burch
Many people use Memorial Day as the kick off for the summer grilling season. (For the true meaning behind the holiday read my blog The Cost of Liberty at my new blog Uncommon Sensibilities.
Like many of you out there my family loves to grill out. Tall & Handsome discovered a technique a few years ago of roasting a chicken on the grill. It’s called the “beer can chicken” method. I’ve written about it a few times over at my “A Steel Magnolia is an Iron Butterfly” especially here, here and here.
Essentially, the “legend” of the origin goes something like this…some good ole boy decided it would be a really good idea to ram the south end of a big ole roasting chicken on a can of beer…a highly combustible substance (wonder if it was Billy Beer?) After ramming that puppy onto that beer can suppository, you now place the can over an open flame of you backyard grill…leave it to cook and “Viola”, when it done you should have a chicken fit for the food gods…taking into account no hands, eyes or feet were lost in the preparation of the feast…
Well, that’s the story at least…
In theory, some of the story does have good components. T & H and I have made several “beer can chicken” recipes…and believe me when I say today’s technique is a little more safety concerned than the original method and produces moist, flavorful, yummy birds. Today the grill master uses an upright chicken roaster with a center well that takes the place of the “beer can”. You can use any flavorful liquid of your liking in this little magic well.
A couple of weeks back we made Thai Coconut Chicken using this method and I thought I’d share it just in time for Memorial Day. We served Indian Style Rice with Cashews and Raisins and another small side dish.
We found the original recipe in Beer-Cab Chicken and 74 other Offbeat Recipes for the Grill, by Steven Raichlen, but as per my norm, I’ve made some adaptations to the recipe to make the recipe a little healthier. Hope you enjoy…if you do get a chance to make the dish let me know how you liked it!
When preparing the dipping sauce, as with most Asian cooking, I recommend you have most of your ingredients prepared and measured out before you start cooking. Once the cooking starts, it goes fast!
©2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.
Thai Coconut Chicken
For the rub:
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground pepper
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon minced fresh lemongrass or, if you can’t find lemongrass substitute 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil (I use peanut oil for an authentic Thai flavor)
1 can lite coconut milk
1 stalk lemongrass or 2 strips of lemon zest
(1) 3-1/2 to 4 pound whole chicken
2 cups of wood chips (oak or apple would be good for this recipe) soak chip for 1 hour in water and then drain the water from wood chips
Coconut-Peanut Dipping Sauce
1. Make your rub paste by combining coriander, salt, pepper, garlic, cilantro, minced lemongrass (or grated lemon zest), and fresh ginger in a blender. Puree adding enough peanut oil to make paste.
2. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the paste and set aside. Wash and clean the chicken and remove the giblets. Pat the chicken dry. Next rub the paste inside and outside of the chicken…all over…don’t miss anyplace. Place in a plastic bag and place chicken in the refrigerator for no less than an hour but preferably overnight.
3. When you are ready to cook the bird, pour ¾ cup lite coconut milk into the well of you chicken roaster. Add the trimmed lemongrass stalk or 2 pieces of lemon zest. Place the chicken over the well like you would a beer can, with the largest body cavity opening on the body. Tuck the chicken wings behind the back.
4. Cook on indirect heat preheated to medium. Place your wood chips either in your smoker tray or a wood box you can pick up at Lowe’s or Home Depot. You can also make smoke “bombs” by placing the wood chips in foil and arranging them on the grill.
5. place the bird in the center of the grill, close the grill and cook until the chicken reaches a temperature of about 180° (between 1 hour to 1-1/2 hours depending on the size of the bird).
6. During cooking baste with: 1/4 cup lite coconut milk, and the 1 tablespoon of reserved rub.
7. When done transfer the chicken to a platter and let it rest for 5 minutes. Carve as you like. Serve with Coconut-Peanut Dipping Sauce (see recipe below).
Enjoy!
Coconut-Peanut Dipping Sauce
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 – 3 shallots, finely chopped (a small amount of a mild onion maybe used)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced, peeled fresh ginger
1 to 2 Thai chilies or Serrano or jalapeno peppers (seeded and veins removed…leave seeds in for a hotter sauce)
1 teaspoon coriander
¾ cup lite coconut milk
¾ cup chunky peanut butter (I’m sure you could use smooth if you preferred)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons sugar
½ ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1. Heat peanut oil in a wok or pan over high heat. Add shallots, garlic, ginger chilies and coriander and stir fry about 3 minutes.
2 Stir in coconut milk and bring to a boil. Next stir in peanut butter, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and black pepper. Reduce heat and let simmer about 5 minutes. Stir in cilantro and cook about a minute. Adjust for seasoning. This sauce will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge.
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