How to Prepare Dried Beans

I found this wonderful info bit in Relish magazine. I'm the one who usually soaks beans overnight to prepare them for cooking. Of course, that requires that I actually think ahead. I can usually accomplish this on New Year's Eve so that I can eat black-eyed peas on New Year's Day. So I was excited to find there's an alternative for the other days of the year.

Dried beans must be soaked before cooking. I hope everyone already knows this. I don't know what happens when you don't do this. I've never tried it. I wouldn't imagine anything edible would come from it though.

Soak beans overnight. You want to first rinse and check the beans. Sometimes there are discolored or broken beans in the bag. Remove those. Then place the beans in a large bowl with cold water. Let them stand (or sit?) overnight. Relish suggests 6 cups of water for 1 pound of beans. I simply make sure that the beans are fully covered. Be sure to drain the beans before you cook them.

Quick-soak beans. Rinse and check the beans. Remove the discolored or broken beans. Place the beans in a large pot with 6 cups of cold water. Cover, bring to a boil and boil 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, 1 hour. Drain. I look forward to trying this method. I just hope the water doesn't boil over. That would be a mess.

Pie Crust Tips

I wanted to pass on these tips for making a wonderful pie crust. The Crisco Pie Hotline offers lots of help. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions, as reported in Country Living magazine.

Is there a trick to making my crust extra-flaky?
Cold ingredients. Refrigerate everything -- from flour to shortening to your rolling pin -- for at least an hour before you start.

What can I do to prevent my crust from shrinking too much in the oven?
Roll our the dough two inches larger than your pie plate, the position it in the plate. Let the unbaked crust settle for 10 to 15 minutes before you trim. Then leave a half-inch border to fold over the edge of the pan.

How can I avoid a soggy pie crust?
Well, it's going to happen to some extent because of the fruit juices. It helps to thicken up your filling by cooling it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before using it.

Peppermint Dream Pie

Got this recipe from the Dixie Crystals website. It looked so yummy, I just had to share it.

Peppermint Dream Pie

Crust

½ cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons Dixie® Confectioners Powdered Sugar
1 ½ cups chocolate wafer crumbs
(You can also cheat and use a ready chocolate crust from the store.)

Cream 1/2 cup butter with 3 tablespoons powdered sugar.


Mix with 1 1/2 cup chocolate wafer crumbs

Pat into pie pan and chill.


Filling

1 package gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
3 egg whites (beaten stiff and dry)
1 cup heavy whipped cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup crushed peppermint stick candy, loosely packed
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Soften gelatin in cold water and dissolve over hot water.


Beat egg whites until stiff and fold in the sugar gradually.

Combine the gelatin with the egg whites.

Fold in whipped cream, flavoring, and crushed candy.

Pour into crumb crust and chill for one to two hours.


Decorations
Crushed peppermints
Round peppermints
Sweetened heavy whipped cream
Chocolate for molding into leaves
Mint sprig

Chocolate Leaves


Select either plastic or real leaves as your mold. If you use real leaves, be careful to select non-poisonous leaves. Good examples are rose leaves or lemon leaves. Wash and dry thoroughly. Make sure to leave the stem on so you can peel the leaf off when the chocolate is hardened. Plastic leaves work well too.

Melt your chocolate in a double boiler.

Using a pastry brush, spread your chocolate over the underside of the leaf all the way to the edges. Keep the thickness to about 1/8".

Put the leaves on a wax or parchment paper-lined tray and put the tray into the refrigerator for about 20 minutes until the chocolate hardens.

When you are ready to decorate the pie, carefully peel off the leaf from the chocolate. Try not to handle the chocolate too much, as the warmth from your fingers will melt the chocolate.

Makes one 9-inch pie.

Sweet Corn Pudding

Saw this recipe in one those advertisements trying to get us to buy the products listed. Hey, when the recipe is good, who cares how it comes your way?

Sweet Corn Pudding

1 package (12 oz) Birds Eye Steamfresh Super Sweet Corn
1 cup 2% milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise
3 Tablespoons Shedd's Spread Country Crock Spread, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 Prepare sweet corn according to package directions. Set aside to cool.

Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl with wire whisk. Stir in corn. Turn into greased 1-quart shallow casserole.

Bake 1 hour or until golden.

Makes six servings.

Macaroni and Cheese

I found this recipe in a magazine. I love Kraft Macaroni and Cheese but sometimes you just need to make it from scratch.

Macaroni and Cheese

1 lb. dried macaroni
1 egg
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 teaspoons mustard powder
4 3/4 cups grated Sharp cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 2-to-3 quart baking dish.

In a large pot of salted water cook macaroni for 4 minutes. Drain. Macaroni will still be firm.

Beat the egg in a bowl and set aside.

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat and whisk in flour, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Whisk in the milk and mustard until smooth. Cook until very thick, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Slowly pour 1/4 cup of the sauce into the beaten egg, whisking constantly, to temper the egg. Pour egg mixture back into the sauce.

Reserve 1/2 cup of the cheese and stir the rest into the sauce until melted. Add the pepper and salts. Stir in the macaroni, then pour into the baking dish and top with reserved cheese.

Bake until bubbly and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

Serves 8.

Date Nut Balls

I tried a new recipe this afternoon. What can I say? I had a bag of pitted dates that needed to be used. This recipe really didn't take much time. I didn't even have to turn the oven on. My Mother pronounced them as having a "more-ish taste." I hope we've still got a few left when company comes this weekend.

Date Nut Balls

1/2 cup margarine
3/4 cup sugar
1 (8-oz) package pitted dates, chopped
2 1/2 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup chopped pecans
Powdered sugar

Combine margarine, sugar and dates in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Stir in cereal and pecans. Cool to touch. Shape into 1-inch balls. Roll in powdered sugar. Store in air-tight container.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Praline Pie

This recipe comes from Linda Hundt, owner of Sweetie-licious Bakery Cafe in DeWitt, Michigan. I clipped it from a newspaper article.

Mommy's Pumpkin Cheesecake Praline Pie

1 9-inch deep-dish pie crust, frozen

Praline Pecans
3/4 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Filling
1 (8-ounce) package cream chheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/4 cups canned pure pumpkin
1 cup half-and-half
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange rind
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Grated nutmeg

To prepare pecans: place pecans, butter and brown sugar in a nonstick skillet. Cook over medium heat until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and scrape onto aluminum foil to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To prepare filling: combine cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar and vanilla, mixing until well blended. Blend in 1 egg. Pour into pastry crust.

Combine pumpkin, half-and-half, all-purpose flour, remaining sugar, 2 slightly beaten eggs, pumpkin pie spice, cloves, orange rind, salt and cinnamon. Carefully pour pumpkin mixture into a spiral pattern over cream cheese mixture. (Pumpkin mixture will sink to the bottom.)

Bake 1 hour or until almost set in middle. Let cool. Sprinkle Praline Pecans over top of pie. Dust with grated nutmeg.

Serves 8.