Egg Nog Hot Cereal-Helen Horton

During the holidays, I love to have some egg nog on hand.  The nog I buy at the store is way to rich to drink straight up so I always mix it with some skim milk, almost one to one.  It has plenty of flavor and it is much more drinkable. 

One of my favorite ways to enjoy undiluted nog is drizzled on hot cereal.  I love Cream of Wheat and Oatmeal cooked from the regular oats but even quick will due (the kind that comes in little single serve packets is good only in a pinch).  Audrey introduced me to a multi-grain hot cereal that has become my favorite.  It is 10 Grain Hot Cereal made by Red Mill.  It is delicious.  Yesterday we had a hearty bowl of 10 Grain with a little dark brown sugar and some nog drizzled over all.  It is simple, easy to make and tastes like a holiday breakfast feast. 

And speaking of adding nog, one of my favorite beverages is Postum and during the holiday season, I love to add a little nog to it for rich hot goodness along with some homemade Christmas Butter Cookies.  Unfortunately, Postum has been discontinued.  I am still stewing about the fact that when Kraft Foods discontinued it in October 2007, they didn’t even care enough about their loyal customers to warn them.  As Postum has a very long shelf life, I would have bought a couple of cases and stowed them in a vault somewhere to use for the next 2 decades.  Anyway, I miss Postum, with a slosh of egg nog, the most during the holidays.  Does anyone have a recommendation on a Postum substitute?

Note: Did you know that Postum was created by the Post Cereal Co as an alternative ‘no caffeine’ alternative to coffee, hence the name.

Gomokuzushi (Sushi on the fly)-Helen Horton

Here is a very easy way to have sushi for dinner any night of the week.  You can make it as fast as cooking rice and then a little stirring time.  We had this yesterday for lunch and it is kind of fun to roll it at the table.  Plus because you roll and eat, the nori stays a little crispy for an added texture. 

3 ½ cups Calrose rice

Enough water to cover 1 inch above the rice

3 inch square piece of Konbu

5 T. rice vinegar

5 T. sugar

2 t. salt

Wash the rice until the water is clear.  Add water and konbu and cook in rice cooker till done.  Let steam in pot for 10 minutes or so without taking the lid off.  Put rice in large bowl and mix in vinegar, sugar and salt.  Taking care not to smash the kernels of rice, stir and cool as quickly as you can while mixing all together.  It helps to have someone else fan it while you mix to speed the cooling process. 

10 med to large cooked shrimp, sliced in small chunks

1 avocado, peeled and cut into chunks

½ small cucumber, peeled and cut into small chunks

Nori

Soy Sauce

Wasabi

Then add your favorite mix-ins such as those above, shrimp, avocado and cucumber.  You can get these cut up while the rice is cooking.  Serve gomokuzushi in a bowl.   Also serve some nori cut in half or fourths plus soy sauce and wasabi.  At the table, each person can take a spoonful or two of the zushi, wrap it in the nori and dip in wasabi soy sauce.  It is an easy way to fix casual but gourmet sushi without all the fuss.

Pico de Gallo Taco Salad-Helen Horton

I love fresh Pico de Gallo and enjoy it on lots of foods-most any kind of mexican dish, scrambled eggs, baked potatoes, beans (open a can of pinto, kidney, or black beans, rinse, heat, then top with a generous helping of Pico de Gallo).  One of my favorite ways to serve Pico de Gallo is on Taco Salad.  Serve the ingredients buffet style so guests can build their own salad with tortilla chips, taco seasoned ground meat (I like ground turkey), chopped lettuce, grated cheese and Pico de Gallo.  This strategy combines the splashy flavors of fresh taco salad in a one stop bowl so it has a complex but balanced flavor rather than serving diced tomatoes plain.  Please put a liberal serving of Pico de Gallo all over as the crown and let the morsels drip down into the salad.  I like to serve this salad with a bit of Ranch Dressing squirted over in zig zags but purists tell me it’s just got to be sour cream.  Maybe have both available.

3 parts finely diced tomatoes without juice

1 part finely diced green peppers

1 part finely diced red onions

Some minced jalapeno or other pepper with heat (use the amount you like, mild, medium, hot)

A bit of chopped cilantro, to taste

1-2 freshly squeezed limes

Combine together and serve.  My Pico de Gallo never comes out exactly the same because I really just start chopping and see where it takes me, tasting as I go (so fun) and it is figure friendly.  I have used red bell peppers which makes it a little sweeter.

We had Taco Salad on Sunday for dinner with Jowy and made it Pico de Gallo style.

Roquamole (Rock-a-mo-le)-Helen Horton

It rocks!!!  Here is a new version of guacamole for bleu cheese lovers.  And since bleu is an acquired taste, this may be a good choice for someone who loves guacamole to ease into bleu.  But for those of us who love bleu and avocados, this is a marriage made in heaven.   Combining the avocado and the bleu, it becomes a thick and chunky but creamy chip dunking delight.

2 ripe avocados, chunked

1 cup crumbled bleu cheese

1/4 cup sour cream

2 T. finely sliced green onions or red onion

1/4 cup pickled green jalapenos, diced

Dash Paprika

Bag of sturdy tortilla chips

Put the avocado in a bowl perferably with a flat bottom so it is easy to mix and mash.  Use a fork or even easier, grab a potato masher and gently mash just long enough to break down leaving lots of chunks.  Add the next 4 ingredients and stir to combine but still leave chunks of cheese and avocado.  Sprinkle with a dash of paprika and serve with good thick tortilla chips.  The light and thin ones won’t hold up to this chunky dip. 

We served this a couple of days ago when Jowy came over for dinner after church.  It was our appetizer to nibble on and/or devour while we threw dinner together. Got this recipe from Nigella Lawson.

Conference Popcorn-David Jensen

By Hilary M. Hendricks

This popcorn treat takes two hours to set. You can prepare it

before a session of conference, and then enjoy it with your family

1 3-ounce (85-g) bag plain microwave

popcorn, popped (about 4 cups of

popped popcorn)

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1/2 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1. Pour the popped popcorn into a mixing bowl.

Throw away any unpopped kernels.

2. With an adult’s help, melt the butter or margarine in a saucepan, then stir in the

corn syrup and brown sugar. Continue to stir, and when the mixture boils rapidly,

pour it over the popcorn.

3. Use a wooden spoon to stir the popcorn until it is coated with the butter mixture.

Sprinkle on the nuts, if desired.

4. Spread the popcorn onto a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Let it sit at

room temperature for two hours, then break the popcorn into clusters.

***I popped our own popcorn.  Half a cup of popcorn made a full bowl.  The boys opted out of the nuts.  From the October 2010 Friend

Tex Mex Chicken-Debbie Horton

2 lbs frozen chicken breasts
2 14-oz cans chicken broth
1 lime cut into wedges
1 handful chopped fresh cilantro (omit if you and cilantro don’t jive)
1 T chopped garlic
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp seasoned salt

Place chicken and broth in bottom of crock pot.  Squeeze lime juice over chicken.  Put two wedges in with chicken.  Add remaining ingredients and stir.  Cook 8 hours on low.

When I was visiting Scott and Debbie, she used this chicken in her Chicken Enchiladas.  It is delicious.  You can use this in place of plain chicken in your enchilada recipe or try it in burritos, quesadillas, or tacos.  Yummy.

Witches’ Brew-David Jensen

5 gallons of water

8 c. sugar

1 bottle Hires root beer extract

10 lbs. dry ice

Mix sugar and extract with water.  Add dry ice.  We have this at our annual Halloween party at our house.