Raspberry Mustard Roasted Chicken ~ Ruth's Mustard

This is Laurel  and Ed. They own a great little local company called Ruth's Mustard, She also is a local writer and has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul ; A Book of Miracles .

This is a page from Hip Hopper, the Hip Hop Grasshopper, she also includes cut out "flash cards " from words in the book. How neat!!!

These are their jars of gold. 

 I've had some pretty good mustard's in my day, but these take the cake. No preservatives, no MSG, no additives, just pure unadulterated flavor, all locally made at Genuine Local

It's a small commercial kitchen available to rent for consumers and small businesses. 

My first mustard I made into a recipe is the Ruth's Raspberry Mustard. I went with a roasted chicken because lets face it, raspberry and chicken just go so well together. 

Raspberry Mustard Roasted Chicken

4-5 Tablespoons Ruth's Raspberry Mustard

4 Tablespoons butter ( olive oil can be used)

2 cloves garlic, minced

pinch salt and pepper

chopped chives

chopped parsley

Blend all ingredients well . I usually take most of it and stuff under the skin, leaving a bit to rub on the outside .

Roast at 425 for 15 minutes and then turn down to 350. Roast to 165 F. or 20 minutes per pound  or until meat thermometer reaches 165. It leaves a wonderfully charred skin and moist insides. I dunno about you but I love crispy skin! 

I also want to send a shout out to Ruth's Mustard, Swineheart Sauces, and Angels Table for donating their fine, locally made products for our  raffle at Center Harbor Craft Fair and Bake Sale to benefit Center Harbor Food Pantry. You guys rock!!!!!

Veg O Matic Deluxe Review and a Cheesy Beer Scalloped Potato Recipe

So, this past week I have been having some fun playing with my new kitchen toy, Ronco Veg-O-Matic Deluxe.
At first I was a little intimidated because, having no cable or satellite tv, I had never seen it "in action" If you haven't and want to check it out here is the link to the Veg O Matic Deluxe Explanatory Video.  It's a nifty little chopper/slicer. I foresee it getting quite a bit of use.  French fries, and sliced onions are uniform, Garlic is a snap, just peel and place in the smallest dicing gadget. Apples, well, so much easier leading to many more apple crisps in the near future!
 
The cutting edges are very sharp, so be careful. Also, common sense tell you that you have to push down quite a bit harder with a potato or apple, than a zucchini or pepper. It wont cut it by itself. :)

Using my Ronco Rocker Knife to prep the veggies.

Apples are a cinch!

One tiny problem, make sure the veggies/fruit being cut actually FIT in the slicing area.

LOL!

On to the recipe! Slicing the potatoes was so easy that I decided to make a scalloped potato dish that night. 

Beer Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

 6 large Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced

3 large onions, sliced thin

4T Butter

4T flour

1 12 oz beer, your choice

1 pint light cream

Scallions, chopped

1 10 Oz. block colby jack cheese, shredded, divided, saving half for top

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Set aside. butter in a large saucepan till bubbling. Whisk in flour and stir till lightly browned. 

Slowly pour in beer and whisk till incorporated. Slowly pour in light cream and stir constantly until slightly thickened. Add 1/2 the shredded cheese, salt and pepper. Stir. Remove from heat.

To arrange the dish, place a layer of sliced potatoes, then a layer of onions, repeat till onions and potatoes are gone. Pour cheese sauce mixture over the top. 

Sprinkle with remaining cheese and scallions. 

Bake, covered, for approximately 1 hour. Remove cover and bake about 15 minutes or till a light golden brown. 

Cool and serve. 

 

 Disclaimer. Ronco sent me this item free of charge to try out and review. My opinions are solely based on what I thought of the product. I received no monetary compensation to write this review. 

Apple Maple Oatmeal Muffins with Spiced Butter

I found this gem on Bunny's Warm Oven, I tweaked it a bit to suit my needs, as always but I did want to give her the credit she deserves.
These remind me of a cold winter morning when mom used to make oatmeal, with pure maple syrup. Always pure maple syrup, if you haven't tried it, please do, i know it seems pricey, but a little goes a long way. Always look for a container that says PURE maple syrup.

1. 1 cup Old Fashioned Oats
2. 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced
3. 1/2 cup milk
4. 1 cup flour
5. 2 Teaspoons baking powder
6. 1/4 Teaspoon salt
7. 1/4 Teaspoon cinnamon
8. 1 teaspoon vanilla
9. 3/4 cup real maple syrup
10. 1/4 cup melted butter, cooled
11. 1 egg, slightly beaten
12. 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, divided

1. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or use paper liners. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. 1. In a medium mixing bowl combine the oats and milk, let stand for 5 minutes.
3. 2. In a large bowl combine flour,baking powder,salt and cinnamon, mix with a fork to combine. Make a large well in the center of the flour mixture, set aside.
4. 3. To the oat and milk mixture add the maple syrup,vanilla, melted butter and slightly beaten egg. Stir to incorporate. Add the oatmeal mixture all at once to the flour mixture, stir until just moistened. Batter will be lumpy. Fold in apple and 1/4 cup chopped walnuts.
5. 4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin, filling 2/3 full. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup chopped walnuts. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 - 18 minutes, or till golden brown. Cool in muffin tins for 10 minutes. Remove from tins and serve warm.
6. Spiced Butter
7. 1/2 cup butter, softened
8. 2 T. pure maple syrup
9. 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
10. 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
11. Blend well. 
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13. Enjoy!

Semi Homemade Sausage, Potato , Corn Chowder

So, sometimes times are tough, sometimes you just have stuff in your pantry you don't want to eat alone ( canned soups for example) , and sometimes you just want to see if you can fool your family with something that tastes like you slaved over it all day, when it actually took 30 minutes.
 Anyhow, whatever the reason, this was an accident that turned out okay.
The chicken breasts got left out too long on the counter and there was no way I was risking it. So I did some rutting around in my cupboard and fridge and  found a few things to make a decent dinner.. I know it's high fat and sodium but comfort food  on a dreary day.
2 cans Chunky Chicken Corn Chowder
3 medium potatoes, cooked any way you like and chopped to about 1/2 inch in size. Set aside
1 lb breakfast sausage ( Jimmy Dean or your choice)
1/2 onion, cowardly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 rib celery, sliced thin
2 cups corn
1/2 cup or so of heavy cream or milk ( I went the super fattening , but oh so luscious heavy cream way)
Old Bay Season to your taste, I like it with a kick
In large pot brown sausage, onion, garlic, and celery till sausage is done. Add 2 cans of soup, corn, and cream or milk.

Season to your liking with Old Bay, or if you don't have that use celery salt, paprika, and cayenne ( optional)
Simmer  for about 10 minutes. Next time I will serve it with oyster crackers.
Thanks for checking it out. It's been my first blog in quite a while.

Zucchini Nut Bread

My blog is so neglected.. we recently have a new addition to our home ( pup) and of course the 4 year old son, teenagers.. you know the drill..  I was recently  re-accepted into  my Taste of Home Field Editor position, so I am celebrating by making as many recipes as I can out of the June / July issue.
We are very much loving this recipe from Kevin Bruckerhoff, in Cincinnati, MO. 

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 cups shredded zucchini 
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°. Grease two 8x4-in. loaf pans. In a large bowl, beat sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until well blended. In another bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking soda, lemon peel, cinnamon and baking powder; gradually beat into sugar mixture, mixing just until moistened. Stir in zucchini and walnuts.
• Transfer to prepared pans. Bake 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool. Yield: 2 loaves (12 slices each).

Nutritional Facts1 slice equals 229 calories, 11 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 26 mg cholesterol, 165 mg sodium, 29 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 3 g protein.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Cobbler

Ya, Found on Pinterest..  The first time I tried it, the batter was a bit runny and the amount of butter was outlandish..  A couple of quick adjustments and this is incredible served with vanilla ice cream....

1/4 cup butter, melted
2 quarts strawberries hulled and washed
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 lightly beaten egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 oz cream cheese
pinch cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
Pour melted butter into 13 x 9 pan. You can actually melt the butter in the pan while the oven is preheating to 350.  Mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar, milk,egg, and vanilla. Pour over melted butter. Place whole strawberries in pan over the batter getting as many as you can in there. Cut the cream cheese into little bits and evenly distribute over the top.   Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.
Bake for approx 45 minutes OR until golden brown on top.
 This is perfect for upcoming strawberry picking season!

Creamy Reuben Soup

First of all, I want to thank Danielle Mulholland for the inspiration of this recipe. She recently won first place in "Soups On" contest in a group on Facebook called  "What's for Dinner Tonight Ladies", a tasty little place where we all post what's on our menus for the evening..
I made a few changes to suit my needs and what I had on hand. Her original post is on the Soups On link above.

1 small corned beef.. not sure what size it was , but damn tiny for $10
2 cans beer, I used a light beer
2 carrots
1 onion, peeled and halved
In the am cook corned beef in the beer, onion , and carrot until shreddy.. Save and strain the cooking liquid for the soup.
Then....

1 medium sweet onion, chopped 

1 cup shredded fresh cabbage

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

4 tablespoons cornstarch

4 tablespoons water

Saved liquid from cooking the corned beef or if you prefer, chicken broth

Shredded corned beef, I used about 3 cups

1 1/2 cups sauerkraut, drained

3 cups milk, more or less for the thickness you want

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese

Caraway seeds ( optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Thousand Island dressing

Rye croutons ( I didn't have rye bread, so I used french and made my own croutons with a tad of caraway seed)

In large pot, saute onion and cabbage in butter until tender. Add broth and baking soda ( not sure what the baking soda is for, but it got all fizzy when I added it) . Mix cornstarch and water in small bowl till combined and add to broth/ onion mixture. Simmer till thickened. Add corned beef, sauerkraut and caraway seeds. Simmer 5 min and add shredded cheese , salt, and pepper. Watch the salt, as the liquid from the corned beef is salty, you might not even need any.  Serve with a swirl of Thousand Island and croutons.. 

Thanks  Danielle!!!