Carol’s Comfort Foods

Yield: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

4 slices of country bread

4 eggs

4 tablespoons butter, unsalted

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

PREPARATION

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter into a large skillet.  Cut a hole in the center of each slice of bread, approximately 1 ½ - 2 inches in diameter (use a round cookie or biscuit cutter).  Place bread slices in skillet and then crack egg into each bread slice.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook the egg and bread until the egg yolk is set or softer, if desired.

Raspberry-Banana Yogurt Freezer Pops

Yield:  10 Pops

INGREDIENTS

1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt

1 banana

3 cups fresh or frozen raspberries, blueberries or strawberries (halved)

½ cup honey

PREPARATION

In a blender process 1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt and 1 banana for 30 seconds or until smooth.  Bring 3 cups of fresh fruit and honey to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; reduce heat to low, and simmer 5 minutes.  Pour mixture through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a bowl, using the back of the spoon to squeeze out juice and pulp.  Discard skins and seeds.  Cover and chill fruit mixture 30 minutes.  Pour yogurt mixture evenly into 10 – 2 ounce pop molds.  Top with fruit mixture and swirl, if desired.  Top with lid of pop mold and insert craft sticks, leaving 1-1/2 to 2 inches sticking out of pop.  Freeze 6 hours or until sticks are solidly anchored and pops are completely frozen. 

Source: Southern Living Magazine – June 2008

Yield: 8 Servings

INGREDIENTS

1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 packages reduced salt taco seasoning

6 ounces of carrot puree – Time Saver Tip – can use 6 ounce jar of pureed carrots for babies

8 Flour or Whole Wheat Tortillas

SUGGESTED TOPPINGS

Grated Mozzarella cheese

Sour Cream

Tomatoes

Black Olives

Lettuce

Onions, finely chopped

PREPARATION

Over medium heat, place black beans, spinach, taco seasoning and carrot puree into a non-stick skillet and bring to a simmer.  Continue to simmer for about 10 minutes.  To serve: assemble the burritos with desired toppings.     

Yield:  24-36 bars

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs

½ cup (1 stick) butter

1 – 14 ounce can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/3 cups flaked coconut

1 cup chopped nuts

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 325 degrees F for glass baking pan

In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter and mix well.  Press crumb mixture firmly into the bottom of a 9×13x2 inch baking pan.  Sprinkle chocolate chips, coconut and chopped nuts over the top of graham cracker mixture.  Drizzle can of Eagle Brand milk evenly over the mixture.  Bake the bars for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove from oven and cool.  Cut into bars and serve.  Store leftovers covered at room temperature.

Note:  For an added layer, you can include 1 cup of butterscotch chips.

Yield: 4 Servings

INGREDIENTS

1 cup half-and-half

3 large eggs

2 tablespoons honey, warmed in microwave for 20 seconds

¼ teaspoon salt

8 (1/2-inch) slices of day old or stale country loaf bread or brioche

4 tablespoons butter

PREPARATION

In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the half-and-half, eggs, honey and salt. This can be prepared the night before and refrigerated. When ready to make the French toast, pour custard mixture into a pie plate and set aside. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Dip slices of bread into the mixture, allow it to soak for 30 seconds on each side and then remove from custard mixture. Over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a 10-inch nonstick saute pan. Place 2 slices of bread at a time in the pan and cook until golden brown, approximately 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove from pan and place on rack in oven for 5 minutes. Repeat with all 8 slices. Serve immediately with pure maple syrup, whipped cream or fruit.

Yield: 8

INGREDIENTS

1-8 ounce can of Pillsbury Crescent rolls

24 slices of pepperoni

½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup pasta or pizza sauce, heated

PREPARATION

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F

Separate dough into 8 triangles; pat out each triangle slightly. Brush a small amount of pasta or pizza sauce on the dough. Place 3 slices of pepperoni overlapping one another on each triangle. Top each triangle with approximately 1 tablespoon for mozzarella cheese. Roll up each triangle starting at the shortest side of the triangle and roll up to the point. Place rolls down side on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from baking sheet and serve warm with pasta or pizza sauce.

*To adapt this recipe to vegetarian, replace the pepperoni with fresh chopped basil.

My daughter Maria made these Chocolate Tartlets and they were delicious! The recipe looks a bit complicated, but she made the pudding first and refrigerated it overnight. The next day she worked on baking the tartlets and final assembly. The pudding was rich and creamy with a wonderful chocolate flavor. The tartlets were made using my “tried and true” recipe for pastry. Really simple when you use a food processor and a Silpat for rolling out the dough.

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

Pudding:

2 cups whole milk or half and half

½ cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder

4 teaspoons cornstarch

3 large egg yolks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

PREPARATION

Combine 1 ½ cups of milk, sugar and cocoa in a non-reactive saucepan. Bring to a simmer over a medium-high heat. Remove from heat and set aside. Meanwhile, whisk the remaining ½ cup of milk, cornstarch, salt, egg yolks and vanilla in a bowl. Gradually whisk the hot milk into the egg mixture (this is called tempering). Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat whisking constantly until the pudding comes to a full boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook an additional 2-3 minutes. Pour the pudding into a medium sized bowl and let cool for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight until set.

INGREDIENTS

Pastry Dough for Tarlets

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup cold lard or other shortening

1 ½ teaspoon salt

1 egg

5 tablespoons cold water

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

In a food processor bowl, process the flour, lard and salt until mixture resembles coarse flakes. In a small mixing bowl, combine egg, water and vinegar. Pour egg mixture over the flour mixture. Pulse until the dough begins to mass together to form a ball. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and work dough into a round shape. Roll out dough to approximately ¼ inch thickness. I use a Silpat and it makes rolling out dough a breeze. Using tartlet pan as a guide, cut out dough approximately ¼ inch larger than tartlet pan. Press into the tartlet pan, fluting the edges. Place tartlets on a small baking sheet and freeze for approximately 30 minutes. Remove from freezer and using the tines of a fork, pierce the bottom and sides of the tartlet pastry. Bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until the crust in the wall of the tartlet pan is set. Remove tartlets from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes. Remove from tartlet pans to wire rack and let them finish cooling.

INGREDIENTS

Whipping Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2-3 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

PREPARATION

Place whipping cream in bowl of electric mixer with the whisk attachment. Begin whipping the cream on high speed (watch out for splatters or use the splatter guard that you may have with your mixer) until it starts to form soft peaks. Add confectioner’s sugar to your taste and vanilla. Continue to beat the whipping cream on high until it starts to form solid peaks. Do not over beat or your whipping cream will turn to butter.

Tartlet Assembly

Fill each tartlet with approximately ¼ cup of the chocolate pudding. Using a pastry bag, you can pipe whipping cream around each tartlet, or just place a dollop of the whipping cream on each tart. Garnish with grated semi-sweet chocolate and a sprig of mint.

Source: Chocolate Pudding – Tyler Florence – Food Network – Episode-#TU0211

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

1 box Kraft Macaroni and Cheese

½ lb ground beef

½ sweet yellow onion – finely chopped

1 clove garlic – finely chopped

½ green or red bell pepper – finely chopped

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

PREPARATION

In large skillet, add ground beef, onion, garlic and peppers. Saute’ on medium heat until ground beef is browned, onion is translucent and peppers are tender. Set aside. Prepare macaroni and cheese per instructions on the package. After macaroni and cheese is prepared, add in the ground beef mixture. Stir well and then add in the mozzarella cheese and stir until the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

This is a kid favorite at our house and an easy recipe for them to help you make.

Makes 10-12 squares

INGREDIENTS

1 ¼ lb ground beef

8 oz can tomato sauce

1 packet (1.3 oz) Sloppy Joe Seasoning mix

2 tablespoons chopped onion

½ tsp salt

2 – 8-ounce cans of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

2 cup grated cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 13×9x2 pan. In a large skillet, brown 1¼ lbs ground beef and then drain. Stir in tomato sauce, 1 packet of Sloppy Joe Seasoning mix, 2 tablespoons chopped onion and ½ tsp salt. Simmer 5-10 minutes. While meat mixture is simmering, break open 2 cans of the Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and separate the dough from each can into two large rectangles. You should have a total of 4 rectangles from the 2 cans of dough. Line the bottom of the 13×9x2 with 2 rectangles of dough. Spoon the hot meat mixture over the dough and sprinkle 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese over the meat mixture. Place the other 2 rectangles of dough on top of the meat mixture. Brush the top of dough lightly with a beaten egg yolk and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for about 10 minutes, then cut into squares.