CHICKEN TETRAZZINI

 I'm attempting to try recipes that I recently added to my binder in addition to ones I find in cookbooks I buy at estate sales. I also haven't made a casserole in a few weeks so when I got to thinking what I could cook for us to eat this week, I thought this recipe for Turkey Tetrazzini would be good except I would make Chicken Tetrazzini instead since I didn't have any turkey. Sounds like a good plan, wouldn't you say?

Since there is just the two of us and the recipe makes enough to serve at least six, I took some to Friend Fran to enjoy. She was getting bored with her meals and asked for some recommendations. I sent her some but then decided if I took her some of the casserole we wouldn't have to eat it for so many meals this week. She said it just hit the spot.

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CHICKEN TETRAZZINI

1/2     pound (8 ounces) uncooked spaghetti

1/4     cup finely chopped onion

1        garlic clove, minced

1        tablespoon butter

3        tablespoons cornstarch 

1        can (14-1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth (I made my own using two chicken bouillon cubes with 14 ounces hot water)

1        can (12 ounces) fat-free evaporated milk

3        cups cubed cooked chicken breast

1        can (4 ounces) mushroom stems and pieces, drained

1/2     teaspoon seasoned salt

Dash pepper

2        tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1/4     teaspoon paprika

Cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8 - inch deep casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large saucepan, saute onion and garlic in the butter until tender.

Combine the cornstarch and broth until smooth.

Stir into the onion mixture.

Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or

until thickened. Reduce heat to low.

Add the milk;

cook and stir for 2 - 3 minutes.

Stir in the spaghetti, chicken, mushrooms, seasoned salt and pepper.

 

Transfer to the baking dish and

cover with lid.

Bake for 20 minutes. Uncover;

sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and paprika.

Bake 5 to 10 minutes longer or until heated through.

Serve warm        

HEARTSTONE MUFFINS

The Heartstone Inn is located in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. We have personally never stayed there but have driven by. At an estate sale I found their cookbook and since I love cookbooks from inns and bed and breakfasts, I bought the cookbook for a dollar. I have so many recipes marked in the cookbook and have made a couple of them. 

Before COVID our church offered donuts and coffee in the dinning room between the two services on Sunday morning. As you might have guessed, it was a very busy place in the church between 10:30 and 11:00 every Sunday. Then COVID hit and the Bishop closed all of the United Methodist Churches in Missouri. Now that we are finally back to our pre-COVID Sundays, you hear people asking when are we going to bring back the donuts. Not the coffee, just the donuts. (There has been a pot of coffee available upstairs in the education building for people attending Sunday school classes for quite a while, but only recently has their been coffee available in the "Cafe" outside the Worship Center.)

Back in the fall there was a sign in the Cafe asking for volunteers to bring treats to share between services. I was told no one stepped forward. I offered to bake treats but said someone would have to serve them because I was in Sunday school.  Still no one stepped forward. They did put out a sign-up sheet for serving the coffee so I asked about the treats. Since no one had offered, I decided I would hopefully get the ball rolling and offered to bring mini-muffins which I did yesterday.

Of course the first place I went to search was the cookbook from the Heartstone Inn. There are so many pages marked  and pages that should be marked but this recipe for the Heartstone Muffins was on the opposite page of an applesauce muffin recipe that I had marked. (I did make the Applesauce Muffin for diabetics that I will be sharing later but the Heartstone Muffin was such a big hit I had to share it first.)

I did make a few changes which I noted at the end of the recipe. I printed the recipe as they make it. There personal note on the recipe says that it is the most requested recipe they get. 

You do prepare the batter the day before you want to bake them so the ingredients have time to interact with each other. I ended up making seven dozen  mini-muffins so I don't have as much batter left as I figured I would have. I just didn't have any idea how many I needed to make. If there were any left, it wasn't very many. After the 11 o'clock service the pastors had a Meet & Treat in the Cafe for visitors, etc to get to meet the pastors and learn more about them. They were enjoying them when we left the church.

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 HEARTSTONE MUFFINS

5      cups flour

3      cups sugar

12    oz raisin bran cereal 

1      cup golden raisins 

5      teaspoons baking soda

2      teaspoons salt

1/2   teaspoon allspice

1      teaspoon cinnamon

4      beaten eggs

4      cups buttermilk

1      cup oil

(For best results, prepare the batter the day before baking.)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. when ready to bake.

Mix all dry ingredients (first 8 ingredients) together in a BIG bowl.

I had to weigh out 12 - oz of the bran flakes

before I added them.

(I use my big yellow Tupperware bowl.)

Add eggs, buttermilk, and oil making sure all dry ingredients are wet.

Cover and store in the refrigerator.

When ready to bake, remove the container from the refrigerator

 and "pour" into lined muffin cups (3/4 full) and

bake 15 minutes or until brown. 

Dip tops of baked muffins in the melted butter and

then in the sugar-cinnamon mixture

and allow to cool on a wire rack.

(1 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon)

"This recipe makes almost a gallon of batter and will keep, covered tightly in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks. Just use as needed. Makes 40 muffins. This is probably our most asked for recipe!" The Heartstone Inn 35 Kings Highway, Eureka Springs, Arkansas 72632

My personal notes: I made mini-muffins without liners. Since the recipe made regular sized muffins, I expect to make at least 80 mini-muffins. The mixture is thick so I used my 1-1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop to measure the batter into the cups. I cooked them for 12-14 minutes. I used bran flakes cereal and then used a 12-ounce box of golden raisins.

I melted about 1/4 cup of butter in the microwave while the muffins were baking and

prepared my space for dipping the muffins as soon as I removed them from the oven.

"DEEP DISH" PEACH PIE

 For several years if we are in town, we see the new year come in with our dear friends, Janice and Leon. We usually go out to dinner, although one year we did order pizza, and then come back to their house to play canasta until midnight. We usually are finishing the game when the clock strikes twelve.

This year though we had finished the game at ten o'clock. Janice and I had 9,995 points and they were considerably behind us and conceded. We convinced Leon to play another game but even though Janice and I tried to let them win, we beat them again. I have to admit they might have beat us eventually. We did stop when we finished the hand after midnight and no one had reached 10,000.

Who ever won, it was another fun evening waiting for the new year to arrive. We went to our new Longhorn restaurant and enjoyed our meal. Back at their house Janice had munchies for us to enjoy and I brought this Deep Dish Peach Pie that I made earlier that morning for dessert. We can't get together without having dessert! 

A few days earlier I had picked up one of my estate-sale cookbooks that I had never had a chance to really look at. Turns out the cookbook called EASY HOME BAKING by New England's Oldest flour company, King Arthur Flour. There is no copyright date in the book, but the clippings the owner had left in the pockets of each tab were dated from 1969 - 1977. There are a number of recipe I will be making in the future from this cookbook with label tabs of Yeast Breads, Yeast Rolls, Quick Breads, Cakes, Cookies, and Pastries - Desserts.

I did use peach slices that I had frozen from peaches on our tree. I also followed the recipe which if you read my blog much, you know I usually revise the recipes and make them my own. I considered using sugar substitute for the 1/2 cup of sugar, but didn't since it was such a small amount.

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DEEP DISH PEACH PIE

Filling:

2     tablespoons flour

3     cups sliced peaches

1/2  cup sugar

1/3  cup water

2     tablespoons butter

*       *       *       *       *

Dough:

1     cup flour

2     teaspoons baking powder

1/2  teaspoon salt

1/4  teaspoon cinnamon

3     tablespoons shortening

1     egg

1/3  cup milk

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. You will need one 9" deep dish pie plate.

Arrange the slices of fresh peaches in the deep pie plate.

Dot with butter.

Mix the flour and sugar with a whisk.

Gradually add the water

stirring constantly.

Pour this mixture over the peaches.

Set aside.

Prepare the dough by combining the dry ingredients

with a whisk.

Cut the shortening into the dry ingredients.

I use my fingers and work one tablespoon at a time.

Beat the egg and

mix the the milk with it.

Add this mixture to the dry ingredients.

Place dough on floured board;

pat out to fit the pie plate.

I tried to work with this to cover the peaches, but it tore up on me so I kneaded the dough with extra flour to make a dough I could work with.

I  rolled it out with a rolling pin.

Make several slits in the dough and

place the dough over the peaches. (I couldn't get a picture of it, but I picked up the dough with the rolling pin as far as I could across the dough to be able to pick it up to center over the peaches.)

I decided to not make a fancy rim and just tucked the excess under.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Serve with ice cream if you like.

Since there wasn't a bottom crust, I didn't expect the slice to come out as a slice, but I guess the 2 tablespoons of flour in the filling helped make enough of a crust for the slice to come out. There were some peach slices that didn't completely make it to the plate. I was very surprised and pleased.

Serve with ice cream if you like.