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.

Chili-Lime Butter

By Beverly Hicks Burch

This is a great spread to use on grilled corn! We recently made this for my folks when Tall & Handsome grill during the Mother of all Storms on a very wet September evening. Just don’t say “wet dog” around him…

Chili-Lime Butter

1 stick butter, softened

Zest of one lime

1 teaspoon chili powder

Cream butter.

Add lime zest and chili powder and mix well.

Spread on corn and grill. YUMM!!

Store leftovers butter in refrigerator.

© 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.

Butterscotch Spiders

By Beverly Hicks Burch

This super easy recipe has been in my family for years…yes, I mean years…maybe even decades. It’s easy to associate it with autumn or as I like to think, a fun food for Halloween or Fall Harvest festivities.

This recipe is so easy the kids can help make it. I don’t really know how you’d want to categorize it…as a cookie or as candy, but either way it’s pretty darn good.

So, here is Butterscotch Spiders…

Butterscotch Spiders

1 large package butterscotch chips

1 large can chow mien noodles

1 cup dry roasted peanuts

Over low heat melt 1 large package of butterscotch chips until all chips are melted. This can also be done in a double boiler or in a microwave. If using the microwave melt in short intervals stirring in between to prevent scorching.

Mix in remaining ingredients.

Drop in small clusters on wax paper.

Enjoy!!

© 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.

Pretzel Salad

By Beverly Hicks Burch

I don’t know what it is about Southerners, but nothing says comfort to us like a covered dish. Give us a sick or injured friend or family member, or heaven forbid a funeral, or “dinner on the ground” and someone goes into gear organizing the “Covered Dish Brigade” making sure there will be a spread “laid out” fit for a King…well, at least maybe Elvis. I’ve often wondered if the habit harkens back to the Scots-Irish ancestry so many Southerners share and the habit those ancestors had for celebrating the dearly departed with wakes.

One of the staples of those covered dish meals is the congealed salad. And, believe me there have been creative and inventive souls over the years who have done things with the imagination and gelatin that well, is kind of like the Star Trek tag line…they have gone where no man (or woman) has gone before (and in some cases probably should have gone)…

Several years ago I was at one such covered dish event…the occasion escapes me now…but, one dish stands out in my mind. Yes, it was a congealed dish. I must confess I have a soft spot for some of these little maligned dishes. Don’t know why other than my folks always said I had a thing for the underdog…

Anyway, it came highly praised, but I was very hesitant to give it a try. (I wasn’t quite as adventurous back then.) It was called Pretzel Salad. My younger mind just could not conceive the juxtaposition of pretzels and gelatin/Jell-O. It only took one bite to convince me.

So for the curious of mind…here is Strawberry Pretzel Salad.

© 2009 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

2 cups thin stick pretzels, coarsely crushed

¼ cup butter, melted

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 – 8 oz. package cream cheese

8 oz. container Cool Whip (I use the Lite Cool Whip)

1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

2 ½ cups water

1 6 oz. package strawberry Jell-o

2 cups frozen sliced strawberries, thawed and drained

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Evenly spread the pretzels in the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish.

3. Combine the melted butter and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Pour this evenly over the pretzels.

4. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.

5. In a bowl beat cream cheese until soften. Add remaining ¾ cup sugar, vanilla and Cool Whip. Beat at medium speed and make sure mixture is creamy and smooth.

6. Pour and spread over pretzels.

7. To the Jell-o add 2 cups boiling water. Stir until Jell-o is dissolved. Add ½ cup cold water and the strawberries. After the Jell-o cools, pour over the cream cheese mixture.

8. Refrigerate overnight. Cut into squares to serve.

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.