My Cooking Arsenal

Hi Folks,

Besides being armed with thousands of recipes; every good cook needs a number of things in the kitchen that help in the creative process of cooking. I will list my favorite items to keep on hand to cook most of the dishes I will post for you, so you'll always be prepared to produce these wonderful dishes.

Lets Start in the Pantry:

All purpose flour, Corn Starch, Sugar (white granulated), Brown Sugar, Carton of Beef stock, Carton of Chicken stock, Several types of canned of Tomatoes (diced, diced w/green chile's, Italian w/ basil & herbs), Worcestershire Sauce, Maggi, Canola Oil, Panko bread crumbs, and Seasoned bread crumbs.

Moving on to the Spice Rack:

Garlic powder, Salt, Pepper, Seasoning salt, Powdered beef and chicken bouillon, Cumin, Chili powder, Parsley flakes, Oregano, Paprika, Cayenne Pepper, Basil, Poultry seasoning, Sage, Thyme, Maggi gravy cubes, White/red wine, Vinegar.

Tools of the trade:

Mixer (electric or hand), Food processor, Stock Pan 4 Quart, Large frying pan (oven proof), Set of pots, wooden spoons, spatula's, Colander, ladle, Chopping board, Good sharp set of knives (a cook can't cook without a good set of knives)

These are the basic essentials in my kitchen to get you started with most dishes. Y'all have fun cookin' see you soon. :)

My other kitchens

Hi ya'll,

If you enjoy easy to prepare classic and modern Southern US cooking and a touch of Canadian and German cuisine as well then make sure not to miss my other recipes on hubpages.com. Delicious and with fresh ingredients I'll show you how to cook and be proud of your skill. Be sure to subscribe to all my blogs to keep up with all the latest in cooking and cooking tips.

Look for SusieQ18174 at hubpages.com

See ya'll there too!

SusieQ

Halloween meal for 8!

Hello there, my name is Susie Buchen and I'm going to be sharing with you some of my favorite recipes handed down in my family for generations. My cooking specialties range from Southern dishes to German dishes and everything in between. The recipes are easy to follow and you may print and keep them for your own use. Please see the disclaimer located on the blog for more information. Well with Halloween coming up, we're going to be looking to entertain some guests in Halloween fashion and what better way than to have a Halloween colored dish that serves eight? This dish is one that can easily keep those ghosts and ghouls satisfied for the night.

 

Pastry Supper Loaf

NOTE: For the pastry, the easiest way to get this is by buying the premade pastry at your supermarket. The type that comes in the tubes or frozen packages just works fine. 

List of ingredients:

 -Premade pastry from supermarket
-Cooked veal or chicken, chopped, 6 cups
-Pimiento, chopped, 3 tablespoons
-Salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons
-Pepper, 1/8th teaspoon
-Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon
-Butter, 6 tablespoons
-Flour, 6 tablespoons
-Stock, 1 cup chicken or beef stock depending on the meat selected.

Preparation

Make sure the pastry shells are chilled or in the fridge

Combine meat, pimiento, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl.



Melt the butter; add flour and mix until smooth; gradually add the stock and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until very thick.

Add just enough of the stock mixture to hold the meat together, shape into a loaf on a shallow pan; chill for at least 3 hours.

Roll the chilled pastry into a large oblong shape, and place the meat loaf on the center and fold the pastry around the sides and ends of the meat loaf. I would set this on a large bake tray or dish. Then seal the corners of the pastry on the loaf. 

Roll a small piece of pastry to fit the top of the meat loaf; place it on top and seal and pinch the edges; decorate as desired.

Chill thoroughly; brush with egg diluted with a little water.

Bake in a hot oven (425*F.) 1 hour or until browned. Serve with mushroom white sauce (see the mushroom white sauce recipe below) Makes 8 servings.

.Quick Mushroom Sauce

To one can of condensed mushroom soup, add 2/3 cup milk and 2 teaspoons grated onion. Heat and serve. Makes two cups.

Salad Pumpkin (garnish for above dish)

-2 Tbsp plain Knox gelatin

-1/2 cup of cold water

-1 ½ cups of pineapple juice

-1/3 cup lemon juice

-1 cup of orange juice

-1 tsp salt

-4 cups grated carrots

-1/2 cup orange zest

Soften the gelatin in cold water in a double boiler over hot water.

Once dissolved add juices, salt and remove from heat, chill until partially set.

Fold in grated carrots and orange zest, turn into individual molds or a large melon mold chill until firm.

Unmold onto a plate of shredded lettuce.

Insert green pepper strips, for a stem, and serve with pineapple dressing.

Pineapple Dressing

-1/4 cup sugar

-2 Tbsp of corn starch

-dash of celery salt

-1 ½ cup unsweetened pineapple juice

-4 egg yolks slightly beaten

-1/4 cup of lemon juice

Mix sugar, corn starch, salt and celery salt in a double boiler and stir in pineapple juice, cook over boiling water until thick.

Cover and cook 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Stir a little of the hot mixture into your beaten egg yolks to temper them, add all the egg yolk mixture into the pineapple mixture, cook 3 minutes then stir in lemon juice, remove from heat and chill.

Makes two cups of dressing.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe? I will add more in the coming days; keep checking back for delicious easy to make meal ideas for all occasions.