Guinness Beef Hand Pie / Pot Pie - Lexie's

2 medium potatoes, diced
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup onion, finely diced
1/2 tsp thyme, dried and ground
1/2 cup sweet peas
1 bottle Guinness stout
2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper

In skillet brown beef, onion and potato. Then stir in thyme, Guinness, Worcestershire sauce and seasonings then bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 7-8 min or until sauce reduced. Turn off heat and add peas.

Roll out pastry dough and cut out rounds. Seal with milk around edges. Score center of dough.

Freeze or bake on a baking sheet at 375 F for 15 min, flip and bake until other side is also browned.

Moroccan Couscous & Chickpea Salad

1 cup couscous
1/2 cup dried cherries
1 cup boiling water
5 Tbs olive oil, divided
1 large orange bell pepper, cut into bite-size sticks
1 large onion, cut into thin slices
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Salt and pepper
1 (16 oz can) chickpeas, drained
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3 Tbs rice wine vinegar
3 Tbs frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

Place couscous and dried cherries in a medium bowl. Add boiling water; immediately cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit until water is completely absorbed (about 5 min). Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbs of oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add peppers and onions, sautéing until tender-crisp (about 5 min.) and seSoning with cumin, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and pepper they cook. Add to couscous, along with chickpeas and cilantro.

Whisk remaining 3 Tbs of oil with vinegar and orange juice concentrate. Pour over salad; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serves 6. 

343 calories per serving.

Dad's Bread

Ingredients:

2 1/4 tsp yeast
1 Tbs sugar
1 egg
1 tsp salt
Just short of a 1/2 cup of sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup of canola oil
6-8 cups flour
Water

1) To activate yeast, combine yeast with 1/2 cup warm (but not too hot) water and 1 Tbs sugar into a bowl and let sit.

2) In a very large bowl combine 2 1/4 cups of HOT water, egg, salt, sugar, canola oil and activated yeast. Mix ingredients with hand-mixer while adding 4 cups of flour gradually.

3) Remove hand-mixer. Dump into bowl 2 cups of flour and stir with spoon. Add another cup of flour if necessary for proper texture/consistency.

4) Grease hands with vegetable shortening and start kneading dough to add last cup or so of flour. Keep adding more flour when dough gets too sticky/wet.

5) Take dough out of bowl and set aside. Wash and dry large mixing bowl. Coat interior of bowl with vegetable shortening. Place dough back into bowl and roll over to coat dough in shortening.

6) Place bowl with dough and a cup of boiling water in ceramic vessel into oven set at 100 degrees to proof. This takes about 1.5 hours or until dough is doubled in volume.

7) After bread is proofed, grease and flour 3 bread pans with shortening.

8) Shortening grease hands and knead dough lightly. Divide dough into three parts and place in bread pans. Coat the top of each loaf with shortening.

9) Put pans back into proofing oven with cup of boiling water for 1.5 hours.

10) Bake dough in oven at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes. (Handle gently once risen!)

Pea Soup - Dad's

Ingredients

2 lb (32 oz) split peas
5 large carrots
6 large ribs of celery with leaves
1/2 large yellow onion
2 beef bullion cubes
1/2 tsp Black Pepper, ground
Seasoned Salt to taste (1 Tbs +)
Water

1) Rinse split peas with running water for 10 minutes. Place in large pot. Fill with water to twice the depth of the peas. Let soak overnight

2) The next day, cut 5 large carrots to same size. Approximately 1/4" to 1/2" pieces. Place in pot.

3) Cut celery with leaves attached to 1/4" pieces. Add more water to pot to cover ingredients.

4) Dice onion finely and add to pot.

5) Add beef bullion cubes to pot. (Toss into pot from a distance with a Minnesota basketball "swish" technique)

6) Add black pepper and seasoned salt.

7) Bring pot to a boil uncovered. Then when pot comes to a boil, lower to simmer covered for 3.5 hours or until consistency is correct. Stir regularly. (Consistency should be smooth. No graininess and no peas visible)

8) Taste after a couple of hours. Add more seasoned salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook.

Gremolata (Italian Topping)

Makes about 1/3 cup

1 small bunch of parsley, washed and dried with towel (1 cup loosely-packed)
1 clove garlic
2 lemons

Remove the leaves from the parsley and chop leaves finely.
Chop or grate garlic finely.
Zest rind of two lemons.

Combine ingredients then chop together.

Store in refrigerator up to 1 day.

Red Lentil Soup

Serves 4

1 Tbs olive oil
1 large carrot, diced
2 large ribs celery, diced
1 small yellow onion, diced
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup red lentils
4 water or vegetable broth
1 whole bay leaf
2 Tbs lemon juice

Optional: top with olive oil, yogurt, or gremolata.

In a medium (2 to 3 quart) saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrot, celery, onion, and 1/4 tsp salt; stir to combine; and then cover and let the vegetables sweat until the onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the lentils, water or broth, and bay leaf. Bring up to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and let simmer, covered, until the lentils begin to fall apart, about 20 minutes.

Turn off the heat, stir in the lemon juice, and add salt to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve. Leftovers will keep refrigerated for 5 days.

Rum Cake - Liz's

Yellow boxed cake mix, but use 3 eggs, melted butter instead of oil, and half water and half rum when making the mix.... then after it is baked but still hot, poke holes in it and pour over "sauce" made of melted 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 stick butter, 1/4 cup rum 1/8 cup water

Drizzle melted chocolate frosting over cake when cooled