Fun with Crescent Rolls– Lemon Rolls

 

When I published my “Use it Up– Fun with Crescent Rolls” post I got so many comments about how my readers used them, I decided that Crescent Rolls deserved their own mini-series! The first post concentrated on recreating leftovers as Second Generation Meals– and I made blueberry turnovers and chicken pot pie from blueberry pie filling and chicken soup.

Susan from This Happy Mom said her mom used to mix cream cheese, lemon juice, and powdered sugar to spread on before rolling and cooking– so I got inspired!

I started with these ingredients.

   

If you don’t have a lemon juicer, you need one! I’ve had this one since I got married. I like it because it has a strainer in the top to catch seeds and pulp, and measurements on the side.

Combine 1-8 oz package of cream cheese, 1/4 C lemon juice, and 1/2 C + 2 TBS powdered sugar and blend with a mixer till very smooth. Roll out the rolls then spoon some of the mixture onto them.

NOTE TO SELF: While lemons and cream cheese are easier to work with if you let them come to room temp first, Crescent Rolls are not! I took them all out of the frig for a picture and forgot to put them back. The rolls were stretchy and sticky. Since I was experimenting, I tried several ways. All started with a generous supply of the lemon filling.

I added cinnamon– this was my favorite. I wondered about the lemon/cinnamon combination but I really liked it.

I made a “calzone,” with a little more filling, and pinched the sides together.

Here’s how they turned out.

Honestly, Mr X wasn’t crazy about them. But I really liked them, and they didn’t last long when I took them to school. They were a big hit with the high school crowd!

And I tried a couple of second generation uses for the lemon filling, as this will be more than you need for one can of rolls– it makes a wonderful, tart pudding. Refrigerated, it gets to the perfect consistency. OR use it as a fruit dip or a fruit salad dressing. It has just the right creamy/tart/sweet taste to dress it up.

The Holy Bird

In the South, chicken is sometimes called the Holy Bird, because it was fed to so many preachers (usually fried) for Sunday dinner! (In the rural South, the midday meal is still called “dinner” and the evening meal is “supper.”)

Besides being so good for you, it is my favorite meat. I tried a couple of new things lately that I want to share with you. Normally I roast or grill it, but it can be tricky to get the right balance of done enough and tender. So I decided to marinate it in an herb/olive oil mixture. YUM!

I added a tablespoon or more of dried basil, parley, sage, and oregano, plus about a teaspoon of salt and pepper to a zipper bag; then about 1/4 cup olive oil. The longer you let it sit, the more flavor the oil will take on. Unfortunately, I’ve been working by the seat of my pants lately and didn’t wait at all.

Trim the fat, then cut the chicken into uniform, small pieces. Add to the bag and turn it until the chicken is well-coated. Again, the longer you wait, the more flavorful it will be. But it’s still good if you don’t wait at all.

Here’s where I diverged from my normal way– I would usually put it on the grill or on a rack in a 425-degree oven. Instead, I put them in a 9×13 pan, right on the bottom. I poured the remaining oil over the top. Baked at 425 for about 30 minutes. As always, I tested it with my handy-dandy meat thermometer! While it wasn’t brown, it was done. You could also have braised it (cooked in a skillet without adding more oil) at this point and it would be good too– But you would have to watch it and turn it — this was so much easier! There was enough for several meals and lunches… it’s been so crazy at our house there were no Second Generation meals happening; it was just plain old leftovers!

And then tonight I was preparing chicken salad for a baby shower tomorrow– I had to make enough for 24 sandwiches, and I’m the world’s worst at estimating how much I need, so I just figured A LOT! I wanted the chicken to be tender (not hard edges like you sometimes get with roasting), but full of its flavor, so I first thought I should boil it. But I’m convinced that when you get that wonderful broth, some of that flavor had to leave the meat itself– so I tried steaming it. This was my first time to do it; I used my steamer but could only fit 3 breasts in the pan, so I did the rest on the rack in my roasting pan, with water covering the bottom, and wrapped in foil.

First I trimmed the fat off and split the breasts a bit so they wouldn’t be too thick, then seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Put them in the steamer and on the roasting pan. (This actually looks like after they cooked.) They won’t brown cooking this way, so use your meat thermometer and get them to 180 degrees F. Once the water in the pan begins to boil, turn it down some, just enough to maintain a boil– boiling water doesn’t get hotter; it just boils out. I set the oven at 425. Both ways were ready in about 35 minutes.

 

Meanwhile, I prepared my “extras” for the salad. I like a LOT of stuff in there. Mayonnaise AND Miracle Whip, salt and pepper, pickle relish, celery, 6 boiled eggs, pecans, and (not pictured) an apple and about 1/2 c onion. (I probably could have used more onion.)

I toasted the pecans in a skillet for 5 minutes. It just brings out the flavor a bit more.

I had to split the mixture between 2 bowls because I don’t have one big enough for it all! But once it was mixed, I put it all back in one. All the flavors can get to know one another, and tomorrow I’ll serve it up with croissants. It’ll be very girly, but if you pile it on thick toasted bread, it’s hearty enough for guys too!

Use It Up! Fun with Crescent Rolls

I’ll let you in on a little secret– I’ve  never had good luck making yeast bread of any kind. Many years ago (like, about 30!) I attempted a recipe for homemade yeast crescent rolls. FAIL! They were hard as a rock and about as heavy. My brother-in-law still teases me about my “Elly Mae biscuits.” (That’s a “Beverly Hillbillies” reference for you young folk; Elly Mae couldn’t cook a thing.) From that time on I realized that no crescent rolls are so good as the kind Pilsbury makes in the “whomp can.” (You know, the kind you “whomp” on the edge of the counter to open.)

Letting food go bad in my refrigerator is probably where I’ve failed at “using it up” the most. Do you do this too? Here’s one way to help with this problem.

Using crescent rolls is a great way to turn leftovers into a Second-Generation meal instead. Drain some juice and wrap up your meat and veggies and turn your soup into meat pies. Use leftover pie filling (or cut up an apple and sautee in butter and cinnamon a few minutes) and put a bit between 2 crescent rolls and have a baked fruit pie. (Think of the calories you save by baking instead of deep frying!) Leave enough room around the outside to crimp the edges closed, then bake at 375. Make a glaze with about 4 TBS of powdered sugar and 1 TBS milk. (Add vanilla and seasonings to complement whatever fruit you use– like cinnamon for an apple filling.) A quick and VERY easy dessert!

   

It’s just like me to start with dessert, but I also made a meat pie out of soup, which was probably a roast in its first life.

  

What can you wrap, enclose, or cover with Crescent rolls today??

Yummy Beef Stew

I love soups and stews! They are prime candidates for the crock pot (easy to make), doubling up and freezing or sharing with friends, and microwaving by the bowl when you are rushed for time. Last week I made one that was particularly good– Mr X commented several times, and all I can think of that I did differently than normal was the amount of herbs I used… so here goes:

Start with beef stew meat. Get the leanest you can, and chopped in the size you want.

I had put it in the freezer and it wasn’t even thawed out all the way– no worries! Preheat your skillet and oil over medium-high heat, and plop the whole thing in.

Season heavily– there’s a lot of surface area stuck together. Cover and let it cook about 5 minutes, then turn it over and cover it again. Break apart what you can, but don’t work up a sweat!

After it cooks another 5 minutes or so, you will be able to break it apart easily. It’ll look like this.

Keep cooking till all the pink is gone. Then I add the onions– probably 1/2 cup of a leek-like onion from my garden– and celery. I like to soften them up a bit before I add the rest.

Carrots take longer to cook than potatoes, so I cut them fairly small and add them next. I love the color and flavor they add, so I used about 4.

Then the potatoes– they were getting old, so I put them all in– about 10 small ones, cut into quarters.

Next came the seasonings and liquid: A teaspoon of minced garlic (no fresh in the cabinet), a quart of chicken broth, petite diced tomatoes with their juice, and a tablespoon of dried basil and oregano (plant some– I’m using leaves I dried last summer and they are so much fresher and more flavorful (not to mention less expensive!) than what you buy.

Hmmm. Still not enough “white” so I added a can of corn.

 

I cooked it all about 15-20 more minutes and added a couple of tablespoons of fresh chopped Italian parsley (also from the garden) and served it with Granny’s cornbread. YUM!

Second-Generation Meals: Pork Loin

A friend recently posted on FB a recipe for pulled pork chili that was a big hit with her family. She had used some pulled pork she bought but also put the recipe for Carolina BBQ pork. I remembered my 6-pound pork loin growing old in the freezer (bought on sale around Christmas) and determined that this would be a good way to “use it up” and I make second-and even third-generation meals from it!

2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons peppercorns, crushed
1/2 tablespoon Kosher salt
1 tablespoon mustard powder*
6-pound pork shoulder roast**
Mix vinegar, sugar, peppercorns, salt & mustard.
Place meat fat side up in a crockpot. Pour the sauce over the top. Cook on low for 10 hours. (Alternately, you can bake the roast: Place meat in a large casserole dish. Pour the sauce over & cover with foil. Bake @ 250 for 7 hours or to 190 degrees F.)
Transfer the meat to another pan, pull apart. Set aside for chill until ready to use.
Pour the juice from the crockpot or pan into bowl & set aside to cool. Chill until ready to make chili or ready to serve the meat. (Strain the sauce & drain off the fat to moisten the pork if you’re having sandwiches.)

*I didn’t have dry mustard, so after looking online, I substituted 3 TBS Dijon mustard.

**I had a pork loin.

 

DEE-LISH!

The first night we had sliced pork.

The second night we had pork-stuffed baked potatoes! (Recipe: Bake potato in microwave; split. Chop and heat pork with juice. Put on top. Grate cheese. Done!)

The third night we had red beans and pork! (Recipe: Chop a cup or so of pork and add to Auntie Em’s New Orlean’s Red Beans , and serve over Granny’s cornbread. It was so fast and easy I didn’t even take any pictures.

Auntie Em’s Garden-Fresh Broccoli

Springtime is very near here in Southeast Texas!

Camellias,

tulip trees,

and narcissus are blooming,

and hyacinths and even a few brave azaleas are peeking out.

Last spring I planted a few broccoli plants and was amazed at how prolific they were! I didn’t think broccoli would thrive in our hot weather. I did give out by June but had made tons before that. So this year, I got a dozen plants and we have had an abundance! I used it to make my broccoli salad at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but for you veggie purists, this week I made it plain. May I just say how much better broccoli is when it’s fresh from the garden?

Cut your broccoli when the buds are tight. I let some of these go too far– there were even a couple of flowers! If more flowerets are forming, be sure to leave them there.

There will be one large head– I’ve already cut this one– then the plant will continue to produce side shoots,

unless you let it go to seed. I let this one go too long so decided to sacrifice it for next year’s seed. Notice there are no side shoots because the energy is being used in seed production.

Wash it good. I haven’t used pesticides but we do have animals that run loose in our neighborhood!

Chop it as much as you like. I like fairly big chunks, so I cut the florets off but don’t chop them.

When you cut the broccoli when it’s young, the stems are plenty tender. I used all of this.

I put it in a small glass bowl, added about a tablespoon of water, and covered. Microwave 1 minute and stir. Depending on the amount, you might need to cook another minute. Then, go ahead and add a tablespoon of butter! MMM…. delicious…. and so good for you!

Auntie Em’s Garden-Fresh Broccoli

1 large or several small broccoli florets, chopped

1 TBS water

1 TBS butter, salt and pepper to taste

Combine in microwave-safe bowl. Cover and cook on high 1 or 2 minutes.

Auntie Em’s Holiday Cooking 2012

The Holiday Season– Thanksgiving through Christmas and New Year’s– we did a lot of cooking in Auntie Em’s family! Since the posts have been scattered over several weeks, I thought it would be good to put them in one place so you can get your hands on them quickly.

 

Herb-Roasted Holiday Turkey                              Auntie Em’s Cornbread Dressing

                    

Auntie Em’s Homemade Pie Crust (VIDEO TUTORIAL)  Auntie Em’s Grandma Ballard’s Caramel Pie

 

Auntie Em’s Holiday Green Beans                         Auntie Em’s Really Complicated Fruit Salad

 

Auntie Em’s DIET Rolo-Pretzel Snacks                 Auntie Em’s Broccoli Salad

 

Auntie Em’s Broccoli Salad

Broccoli is one of those super vegetables– you know the type– high in Vitamin C and fiber, a boost for your immune system to help fight off bacteria and viruses, and it supposedly helps fight cancer and heart disease. So I try to serve it as often as possible. I grew some for the first time last year and was surprised at how easy and high-producing it was. So this year I planted about 12 plants in late fall, and I’m getting a bumper crop!

Normally I steam it, but lately I’ve been microwaving it– a crown or two, chopped in bite-sized pieces, with about a tablespoon of water and a tablespoon of butter in a covered dish. (In my opinion, the bit of fat that the butter adds is worth the cost because of the wonderful flavor it gives the broccoli!)

But over the holidays, I made a broccoli salad for our get-togethers. It’s  very colorful, and when I serve it in my red Fiesta bowl it just looks like Christmas! But it’s really good for any time, even at home when it’s just your family.

Make as much as you want– depending on the number of servings and whether or not you like leftovers. This is enough to serve 6-8, especially if you have lots of other food like we do at our house at Christmas!

• 2-3 crowns of broccoli. Rinse and chop in bite-sized pieces. The good thing about using your own fresh for the garden is that you can pick it when it’s still really tender and use the stems too.
• Peel and chop 2-3 carrots. I like the carrots chopped pretty finely. You can also grate them coarsely.
• Cook 2-3 slices of bacon and chop.
• Add 1/4- 1/2 cup of finely chopped green or purple onion. (Remember your goal is to be colorful.)
• Add 2-3 TBS of craisins.

mix it all together, then make your dressing:

• 1/2 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2-4 TBS agave nectar or other sweetener- You can use whatever you like– honey, sugar, Splenda… As much or little as you like.
• 1-2 TBS rice or rice wine vinegar.
• 1 TBS Dijon mustard (optional– I didn’t use it this time, but lots of times I do.)
• a sprinkle (1/8 tsp maybe?) of salt

I’m not normally much of a taster while I cook, but I do taste this and adjust it as I go. I like mine pretty sweet, and I like more dressing than is probably healthy! So you’ll have to adjust it to your taste, then add to it and mix it up, and add more until you get the right amount. If you have some left over, just save it for salad dressing– add a little olive oil till it’s the right texture.

This is the last of Auntie Em’s Holiday Cooking 2012– I hope you have enjoyed sharing the holidays with us!

Auntie Em’s Crockpot Onion-Ranch Chicken

I got creative in the kitchen today– an unusual occurrence for me! But I was inspired by all the Pinterest recipes I’ve been pinning lately and decided to be brave. It was delicious and got 2 thumbs up from Mr X!

1. Start with a large package of bone-in chicken breasts. (They will be juicier and more flavorful than boneless.) Cut the skin and fat off, and place the breasts in a large crock pot, bone side down.

2. Mix together 2 packages of ranch dressing mix, 2 packages of Lipton Cup-a-soup cream of chicken soup mix, and 1 package of Lipton Recipe Secrets onion-mushroom soup mix.

3. Sprinkle the mix thickly on the breasts and pat in. I cracked some pepper over the top too.

4. Add a bit of water to the leftover soup mixes, to make a thick but pourable sauce. Pour it in the bottom of the pot. I didn’t want to wash off the dry mix, so I was careful not to pour the wet mixture over the top.

5. Cook on low heat 6 hours.

6. Serve! The juice makes a great sauce so you could easily serve this over rice or pasta.

You could also cook this in the oven. I wouldn’t pour the wet mix in the pan at first though; I’d bake at 400 about 30 minutes (till it forms a good crust) then add the wet mix, cover, and cook the rest of the way. These were large breasts and would probably take 45-60 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Just be sure and check with a thermometer. You want it to reach 180, but not be overcooked.

This seasoning mix would work equally well on pork or beef!

If you try it, be sure and let me know how it goes over for you!

Save Them For Later

I’m the world’s worst at buying a container of something– mushrooms, for example– using them in one dish, then letting the rest go bad sitting for weeks in my refrigerator. (Bad planning!) But this year I was proud that I thought ahead, plus had some down time during my Christmas holidays, and fixed them where I can use them later.

Your freezer is your BFF for this. Chop your mushrooms, fill ice trays about half full with them, then top them off with chicken broth or oil. Freeze and put in freezer bags. Ready to use! (Just don’t forget they’re in the freezer!)

I also like to make chicken broth any time I have chicken bones. After I roast or boil the bone-in chicken and remove the meat, I boil the bones again. If you don’t have time right then, you can put all the bones, or the turkey carcass from Thanksgiving, in a freezer bag to do later. The yummy broth you can get is worth the trouble! If you are chopping vegetables, put the scraps in the pot too, for extra flavor. Put the bones in a large pot and cover with water; salt and pepper if you like; and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for a few hours. Cool then refrigerate. (A straight sided pitcher is handy for this.) The fat will rise to the top and can be spooned off. *NOTE: If you have a lot of bones, like a whole turkey carcass, the broth will have the consistency of jelly. This is because of the marrow in the bones– don’t worry; it will liquefy as it heats up.

Then pour in ice trays (good for adding a couple of cubes for flavor to rice or small dishes) or larger containers and freeze; remove from containers and put in freezer bags for use in soups, gravies, and anything else that needs a shot of extra flavor.

Ice trays are also very handy for freezing bits of fresh herbs (in oil or broth) and lemon or lime juice. Think of the most common amount you require of any of these, whether it’s a tablespoon or a cup, and freeze in that quantity to make it easy on yourself.

Don’t let those fresh yummy goodies go bad in your refrigerator, wasting money– put them in the freezer and save them for later!