Feeding the ones you love with family favorites

Editor’s note: This week our recipe section is prepared by Niecie Strand of Virginia. I love her advice that one must “cook without fear.” Thanks, Niecie, for sharing some of your family’s favorites! If you’d like to host the Hometown Recipe Section in a future edition, let me know! jeanc@hometownfocus.us, or call 741-0106. Thanks! - Jean

I love the creative process of cooking. I love knowing what goes into my food and why thingsFREEhappenLeatherinUpgrade,the kitchenFebruarythe way3 - that they do. This is science at work! If I had it my way I would spend my days at home locked in my kitchen, my dream kitchen by the way. Only to be allowed out to scavenge in my garden, slaughter the beasts I humanely raise in order to feed my family and maybe, on occasion, and for good behavior, be allowed to peruse the offerings of local markets and vendors...but, alas…this is just not to be. Rather, I fit cooking in between working, cleaning,FREE Leatherkids, andUpgrade,all theFebruaryother stuff that just seems to get in the way.

Mostly, my cooking is quick easy stuff that I throw together with no recipe, motivated by whatever I find in the fridge. Every time I make something it is different because of this. I am notorious for modifying every single recipe I ever TRY to follow, admittedly with mixed results! It’s this experimentation with food that keeps me in the kitchen.

You must cook without fear. But truly, the most rewarding part of cooking for me is feeding the ones that I love. Because of this it is really important to me that I use fresh, natural ingredients. The following recipes are ones that I go to frequently in my kitchen Marchwhen25 cooking for my family and friends.

Grandma’s Taco Soup

This is a great, easy, weeknight or just lazy night meal. This soup has always been one of my favorite foods my Grandma would make when I would go to her house. When I went to college this is the one thing I managed to make in the dorm’s kitchen! I have modified my Grandma’s original recipe over 3 - Marchthe years.25 This recipe is very forgiving and

you can make modifications to suit your tastes and preferences.

• 1-2 lbs. hamburger
• 1 medium onion chopped
• Assorted baby red, yellow, and orange
peppers (to taste)
• 4-5 cloves fresh garlic sliced (to taste)
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 2 cans stewed tomatoes
• 1 can green enchilada sauce
• 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1-2 packets Taco Seasoning Mix (to
taste), can also substitute any type of
“Mexican Seasoning” to taste.

In a large saucepan or dutch oven brown hamburger and peppers with onions and garlic. Drain off excess fat. Add the remainder of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes. I allow mine to sit on the stove for as little or as much time as I have. This is often a “last minute” dinner plan at my house so often the simmering gets cut short, but the flavor improves the longer it simmers. I serve with cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, and avocadoes.

Artichoke Spinach Dip

Adapted from http://www.joyfulabode.com

I love dips, in fact the only thing I love more than a good appetizer dip is a good dessert. I could easily skip main dishes… this one does not disappoint. In my opinion, it is as good as any I have while dining out. I also like this one because it is so easy, works in a crockpot, and I don’t meet many artichoke spinach dips at people’s houses, but surely order it a lot from menus.

• 8 oz. cream cheese, warmed in the microwave for 2 minutes on 50% to soften (don’t skip this step, much easier to mix and makes your dip have a consistent texture) • Dollop of sour cream, 1/4 to 1/3 cup • Dollop of mayonnaise, 1/4 cup or so • About a cup of fresh spinach • 2 cans or jars of non-marinated artichoke hearts • Garlic salt to taste • Freshly ground pepper to taste

• Chili powder to taste, although note the cream cheese and sour cream will cut the spice of the chili so you can probably add more than you think….gives the dip a savory flavor • Handful of shredded mozzarella, plus extra for the top

Mix all the ingredients into a medium-small baking dish, sprinkle the extra mozzarella on top and broil until the cheese is browned. I have also baked the dip in a 350 degree oven and then browned the top and also cooked the dip in a crock pot for parties. A common scene in my kitchen is me not following recipes and this one is no different. This recipe is a great one to just “wing it” and not worry too much about measuring. I use more cream cheese and more spinach than this one calls for, but who knows how much! I also use fresh sliced garlic and salt instead of the garlic salt, but admittedly you end up with really strong bites of garlic in some spots (but I prefer that). I serve with crunchy bread chips you can get in the local grocery store deli section or those Pretzel Chips (it was really good with the Buffalo Wings flavor), also in the deli section.

Strand Cake

This is another recipe from my Grandma. I grew up in her kitchen! This cake has been served at almost every birthday in my family for as long as I can remember. Once again, over the years I have experimented with

this recipe and tried different versions. This recipe works great with a variety of flavors, but I have to admit my family still prefers the original.

• 1 box white cake mix
• 1 box chocolate instant pudding
• 2 c. milk (I replace some of the milk with heavy whipping cream)
• 2 eggs
• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• 1 large Hershey’s chocolate bar (I prefer an equivalent amount of Guittard Semi- Sweet Chocolate Chips)

For the cake: Mix the cake mix with pudding, 2 eggs, and 2 cups milk. Grease and flour two 9” round cake pans. Split the batter evenly between the two pans and bake 30- 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow to cool completely on wire racks.

For the Frosting (do right before serving): Melt the chocolate bar in the microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time, to ensure you do not burn the chocolate. Once the chocolate is evenly melted allow to sit while you whip the heavy whipping cream to very stiff. THIS PART IS IMPORTANT (I have messed it up more times than I care to admit!) Make sure you have allowed the chocolate to cool to around room temperature; stirring will help this process happen evenly. Then slowly fold the cooled melted chocolate into the whipping cream. You do not want to over mix, as the chocolate is

folded into the whipping cream, it should slowly harden in “ribbons.” Voila! Assemble and frost your cake, placing a thin layer of frosting between the two cake rounds.

As I stated above I have played around with this recipe and have used different flavors of cake mix and different flavors of puddings together. I have also used fresh fruit filling in the middle, i.e. raspberries. One of my favorites was a coconut version with white cake mix, coconut pudding, Guittard Chocolate, and toasted coconut over the top of the frosted cake. I have wanted to try the coconut version with the Lindt White Chocolate Coconut bar but have not tried yet.

Smashed Potatoes

From Fine Cooking Magazine

And just because you can never have too many “sexy” potatoes, I have to add my favorite one to the mix!

• 12-15 baby red or yellow potatoes (about 1 ½ - 2 inches in diameter)
• 2 ¾ tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil

Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with at least an inch of water, add about 2 tsp. of salt to the water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the potatoes to a simmer until they are completely tender, BUT DO NOT OVERCOOK. This whole process will take make 30 minutes or so. While the potatoes are cooking set up a

double layer of dishtowels on your counter top. When the potatoes are finished cooking, remove them from the water and let them drain for a few minutes on the dish towels. Take another dishtowel or fabric hot pad to protect your hand and press down on each potato individually to flatten until they are about 1/2 inch. Some of the potatoes will break, no big deal, they are still going to taste great.

Place parchment paper on a large rimmed baking sheet. Transfer the potatoes to the baking sheet using a spatula and allow them to come to room temperature. You can prepare the potatoes to this point up to 8 hours prior to baking them. They can be kept in the refrigerator loosely covered.

Heat the oven to 450 degrees for standard oven, 400 degrees for convection oven. Sprinkle the potatoes with 3/4 tsp. salt and pour the olive oil over them. Move the potatoes around a bit to make sure oil gets under them as well. Roast the potatoes for 30-40 minutes in a conventional oven or 30 minutes in a convection oven, flipping them over half way through.

I also have made these potatoes with fresh herbs such as rosemary or with garlic and freshly ground pepper for more flavor. I haven’t tried fresh grated parmesan cheese, but that would be delicious as well!