The Cookbook Experiment: Amish Layered Dinner

Tonight's cookbook experiment also included this dish by Dick John. Mr. John is very important to me. He was a good friend of my father's and he is married to a very sweet lady, Pat John (one of her recipes is posted previously and it is to die for!).

Amish Layered Dinner by Dick John

(2) cups hamburger (uncooked)
(2) cups sliced raw potatoes
(2) cups chopped celery
(1/2) cup diced onions
(2) teaspoons of salt
(1/4) teaspoon of pepper
(1) cup diced green peppers
(2) cups canned tomatoes
(1) onion, thinly sliced (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a casserole dish. Sprinkle each layer with salt and pepper before adding the next layer. Place potatoes in the bottom of the casserole dish. Add a layer of celery. Add layer of hamburger. Add the layer of onions. Add the green pepper. Pour the tomatoes over the mixture. Lay onion slices on top, if desired. Bake for 2 hours, covering with foil after about one hour.

My take-a-ways for this recipe:

• I should have used very low fat hamburger. I did not think about it and it made the casserole a little bit greasy (okay, a lot greasy)
• I peeled and sliced about five potatoes to equal the 2 cups
• I did not measure the salt and pepper...I confess. I just liberally used them both (the pepper more than the salt actually)
• At the store today I did not pick up any canned tomatoes because I thought I had some at home. Nope! I used some canned whole Roma tomatoes that I roughly tore apart over the top of the casserole.
• I was really, really not sure how this was going to turn out, especially when what seemed like backward to me to put the aluminum foil on AFTER it had baked an hour. I did it, but I thought that was definitely different.
• This was tasty. I loved the way the celery just seemed to melt away and you would have never known they were in there if you did not see it being fixed.
• The onions were as equally amazing, of course I am an onion fan. They were so tasty.
• Thanks Mr. John. This was a hearty meal for my boys!! I love you! 

Waldorf Salad the Crystal Chef way

I had a pretty severe craving yesterday for Waldorf salad. I am not even sure how that happened! It is not something I have ever made, its just a dish that I always hope someone makes at a pot-luck dinner at church. I decided it was time to figure out one of my own.

I started with the following:

1 cup of celery chopped very small (if you like celery bigger, go for it but I like it small in this case)

2 cups of large red seedless grapes, cut in halves to quarters (if you are lucky enough to find the really big ones you will need to quarter them)

4 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2/3 cup of dried cranberries

1/2 cup of Duke's Mayonnaise (okay, I don't usually list a brand name but seriously, I don't believe there is any other brand better than Duke's! I am a total Duke's devotee. You can use whatever mayo you want...but I would not recommend it!)

3 tablespoons of Daisy sour cream (yep, did it again, Daisy is the only sour cream I use...)

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

2 tablespoons of granulated sugar

In a large bowl whisk the mayo and sour cream together with the lemon juice and the sugar until nice and smooth. Next add your apples, grapes, celery and cranberries and toss well to make sure everything gets coated. DO NOT EAT IT AT THIS POINT. Put it in the refrigerator for 24 hours. The flavors need a chance to marry.

Something to remember when you are making this, when chopping your apples, add a squirt of lemon juice to them while you chop so that they do not turn brown while you are making the rest of the salad. It helps.

I will tell you....the dressing does not taste the best right after you first make it. It takes 24 hours of sitting in the refrigerator and marinating with all of the fruits and celery to develop it's flavor. And it is so worth it! I know that I am the one that made it, but this is the best Waldorf salad I have ever had. Of course, tradition states one is supposed to put this salad on top of lettuce to serve, but I do not follow tradition. I just put it in the bowl and eat it. Serve it anyway you like. Just enjoy it.

PS...I added some chopped walnuts to the top right before serving. I liked the added texture. I would not add them until you are ready to serve. I like the crunch.

Chicken Salad Adventure

No one, and I repeat, no one can make chicken salad like Ms. Stella out at our church. People have been known to volunteer for events just because they know she is making it!  I do not even pretend to think that I could replicate it but I have decided its time to create my own recipe. My mother had her own version. I was not a real big fan as it was heavily laden with Miracle Whip. That stuff makes me shudder. I guess it has its place....just not in my household. A very nice lady at our church named Linda made a chicken salad recipe that had dried cranberries in it that my daughter and I loved. I used that as the basis of inspiration for my first attempt at our salad.

The ingredients I used were as follows:

• 2 stalks celery diced
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 chicken breasts, boiled, shredded and cut up
• 1 4 ounce bag of dried cranberries for salad
• Duke's Mayonnaise
• 1 lemon
• Salt and pepper
• dried dill

I found bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts on sale at Kroger. I boiled these and carefully removed the bones. This is a great opportunity to save the chicken stock for later. (I'm going to freeze mine in ice-cube trays!)  Just be very careful to get the bones out of the chicken.  Set the chicken aside to cool while you dice your celery and onions small.  Even my picky oldest daughter will eat this.  She loves chicken salad! She usually does not eat anything with vegetables but as long as the celery and onion are small, she eats!

After dicing the celery and onion, I shredded then cut up my chicken.  I like to shred the chicken with my hands. This way I can feel for any bones I may have missed the first time. After shredding and chopping the chicken, I mix in my celery and onion. I am still using my hands at this point.  I did not use all of the celery and onion.  It is a matter of taste at this point. As I mixed it in, I watched the ratio as I added it.  I really did not want the celery or onion to out-gun my chicken.

After washing my hands I decided it was time to switch to a spoon.  Here is where the measuring goes out the window! Once again it comes down to a matter of taste.  I cut my lemon in half and only squeezed half into my chicken/celery/onion mixture.  I tossed in the bag of dried cranberries and stirred.  Next I added the first of what was to be three large tablespoons of Duke's Mayonnaise.  I kept stirring.  Added salt, pepper and approximately 1/2 teaspoon of dill weed.  I stopped. I tasted. I added more mayo.  More salt. More stirring.  This is where you just have to go with your gut....or more with your taste buds.  I did not want soupy chicken salad.  I did not want salty chicken salad.  I knew if I accidentally added to much dill weed my kids would not eat it.  It was a ballet of chicken salad in the kitchen.  Eventually I stopped adding things and called in the BIG GUNS.  My seventeen year old son has no problems telling me like it is when it comes to my cooking.  He came in.  He took a bite, nudged me out of the way, grabbed the bread and made himself a sandwich.

Later he came into my office and declared it was good.  He thanked me for dinner and asked me to make it again.  He said it needed a little something more.  "Mayonnaise?" I asked.  "No." he said.  "More crunch?" I said. "No, but maybe more of the dill weed next time." Hmm...I was surprised.   Stay tuned for the next chicken salad adventure...

The Thanksgiving Marathon begins

I was out shopping at Food Lion tonight.  YES....I am one of those people who wait until the last minute! Fortunately my son, Nick came with me.  We had a budget of $140 dollars to get various items we needed.

For the two sweet girls we ran into in the stuffing/baking aisle that were disappointed to discover that there were only two little bags of stuffing mix left. I asked them if they wanted the recipe for my momma's stuffing and they said yes.  They were so pretty and sweet!  I will write down the recipe again in case they come to look.  I am hoping they give it a try. My momma's stuffing is as follows:

5 - 6 loaves of cheap white bread
2 - 3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped (or 2 medium) (I prefer using just your regular yellow onion, not the sweet or white variety)
butter (I prefer real butter but my momma always used margarine) melted
Ground Sage

Tear the bread up into pieces in a large bowl.  Add your chopped celery and onion and give it a quick stir.  Sprinkle in a large quantity of of sage.  Pour on your first stick of melted butter and stir.  Lean down and take a deep breath.  If you do not get a good fragrance of the sage, ADD MORE.  Don't be afraid! As you add more melted butter, the sage will spread throughout.  The amount of butter you add is dependent on how you like your stuffing.  I like to add extra butter (no surprise there, huh?) so it is good and wet when I stuff it in the bird and put the rest in a dish to bake.  It does not take long to bake, depends on the size of the dish you stick it in.

I hope they get to try it!!  They were awesome.

I will be taking lots of pictures and posting as I go along!  Happy Thanksgiving!!