I've made a number of new recipes lately. A few from the latest Taste of Home magazine. Those sadly were not our favorites. However, the internet recipes have all been winners. I'll share the link and a few notes about each recipe.
Betty Crocker: Classic Beef Stroganoff
I made mine with ground round from locally raised beef. I did not add mushrooms. Since I used hamburger I skipped the 15 minute simmer and thickened the cooking liquid right away and then dumped it all in my crockpot, except the sour cream. I kept it at low all afternoon and then added the sour cream just before we ate it. The sour cream helped to cool it down a bit too. My harvest working family members come in hungry and don't want to wait around for their food to cool. They want to eat now! This recipe was very simple, very basic, very good. I've tried a number of stroganoff recipes over the years and this is finally THE ONE.
Tasty Kitchen: Cheesy Potatoes
These were on last night's supper table and oh were they good! I made a half batch, which filled my small blue and white speckled roasting pan. Since I cut the recipe in half I didn't want two open cans of cream soup so I used only cream of chicken (the whole can). My bag of shredded hashbrowns was 26 oz. Don't shy away from the jalapeno. It didn't add too much kick at all. No one even said anything about the flecks of green. I didn't have the french-fried onions but if I did I would use way more than 1/2 cup. We love those darn things. I also decreased the salt and pepper to 1 tsp. each. I could've added more of each without it being to salty or peppery. Next time I'll probably add about 1/2 tsp. more. I baked mine for about 1 hr. and 20 min., added more cheese and then broiled for about 5 minutes. I already had a favorite cheesy potato recipe from my church cookbook. It has a lot more sour cream, is topped with buttered corn flakes and has a drier consistency. But a couple of weeks ago we were at a Packer party and Warren had someone's cheesy potatoes that were very creamy, almost a tad drippy; he liked them so well that I thought I'd try to find a recipe more similar to that. These are close; definitely creamy and more wet than my favorite recipe, but not drippy. I'll make these again that's for sure, but I won't throw away my beloved thick, dense cheesy potato recipe.
The Pioneer Woman: Caramel Apple Sticky Buns
Make these today! You'll be glad you did. According to my notes I didn't change much when I made them. I couldn't find Apple Brandy so I used Apple Pie Liquor in the gooey caramel. They way I rolled the dough made it so I had 15 rolls in each 9x13 pan. This used up all the dough and all the goo. To one pan I added the diced apples and also added chopped fresh cranberries. The other pan was intended for the kiddos who like things plain. Since these are so sweet the cranberries really added a nice little bite of tartness. I also cooked these for only 26 minutes and the rolls in the dark pan were VERY dark. They must've been good because they all got eaten anyway. The rolls in the light colored pan could've gone for just a few minutes longer, but I was smelling burnt sugar and so I feverishly removed both pans from the oven to be safe. I covered 2 large baking pans with foil and covered in vegetable spray. I inverted the pans, leaving them in place for a good 10 minutes before removing them. This really helped the caramel stay where it's meant to be, on the sticky buns. In the past I've inverted and lifted the pan right away. The caramel is so hot and runny that it all runs off the rolls and ends up being wasted because it sticks to the platter instead of to the rolls.
Next up will be these two yummy looking recipes:
Cranberry Preserves
Squash Casserole with Crunchy Pecan Topping
