Strawberry Rhubarb Crunch

Strawberry Rhubarb Crunch
1 cups flour
1 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
1 cups quick oats
3 cups sliced fresh or frozen rhubarb (thawed)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 pkg. strawberry gelatin powder (1/2 cup)

Combine flour and brown sugar in food processor. Add cold butter. Stir in oats and press half into a greased 8x8 baking dish. Top with rhubarb.

Combine in ia saucepan: sugar, cornstarch and water. Stir until smooth, boil for two minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. Pour over rhubarb. Sprinkle with gelatin powder. Top with remaining crumb mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until rhubarb is tender and topping is golden brown. Serve with ice cream or whipped topping. Serves 6-8.

Yum-o! This is a favorite recipe of my mom's. THIS is what summer is all about. I don't know why you can't buy rhubarb in the store though. My MIL was kind enough to give me some of hers that she got from a neighbor. And my mom always grows it. But seriously, the crunchy sweetness of the crust and the tartness of the rhubarb is heavenly.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Sweet and Sour Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 egg
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil + 1 quart for frying

Combine flour, 2 T. oil, salt, pepper, and egg. Add water gradually to make a think batter. Stir to blend thoroughly. Add chicken pieces and stir until chicken is well coated.
Heat oil in deep skillet or wok to 360 degrees F. Add chicken pieces one at a time with a fork and fry for 10 minutes, or until golden. Remove chicken and drain on paper towels. Make sweet and sour sauce and pour over chicken. Serve with rice.

I LOVE this meal. So much. The kids liked it too. I knew they would since that sauce is so sweet and delicious. Oh, I don't have a thermometer so I couldn't tell what the temp of the oil was but I kept the burner at medium high and that seemed to be right. This would be good with pork too. Seriously. So good.

Oh, and we had a lot of extra sauce. Maybe halve it for this amount of chicken.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Sweet and Sour Sauce
1 cup sugar
2/3 c. pineapple juice
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Combine sugar, pineapple juice, vinegar, ketchup, and soy sauce in a pot and cook over medium heat. Let sugar dissolve and bring to a light boil. In a small bowl combine cornstarch and water, mix well so that there are no lumps. Pour cornstarch mixture into boiling sauce and stir for 1 minute. You can also add chunks of pineapple or bell pepper. Makes about 3 cups.

Another sauce that I could seriously drink!! I was thinking this might make a good neighbor gift at Christmas time. Make a big 'ol batch and then put it in decorated jars. I wonder if this would freeze well...

Root Beer Ribs

Root Beer Ribs

2 racks baby back ribs 
1 bottle (2 liters) root beer 
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided 

Root Beer Barbecue Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil 
3 garlic cloves, minced 
1/2 small white onion, finely chopped 
1 cup ketchup 
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 
1 tablespoon light brown sugar 
1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme 
1 teaspoon ground black pepper 
1 teaspoon chili powder 
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1.  Place ribs in large baking dish (I use my big roasting pan. I also generally cut each rack in half so I can get everything nestled in the pan easier). Pour all but 1 cup root beer over ribs. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons salt over ribs; cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to overnight, turning once if possible.

2.  Preheat oven to 350°. Remove ribs from root beer and pat dry with paper towel. Discard root beer in pan; wipe pan dry. Place ribs back into pan. Add 1 cup water; cover tightly with foil. Cook 2 hours or until meat is nearly falling off the bone.

3.  Meanwhile, make Root Beer Barbecue Sauce: In small saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion; cook 3 to 4 minutes or until onion is soft, stirring frequently. Add remaining ingredients (including reserved 1 cup root beer and 1/2 teaspoon salt); heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally.

4.  Just before ribs hit the 2 hour mark in the oven, preheat grill for indirect grilling over medium-high heat. Put bones on cooler side of grill, bone side down. Brush with some Root Beer Barbecue Sauce and cook 10 to 15 minutes, then flip. Brush with sauce again and cook until ribs are lightly charred and meat is falling off bone. Serve with any remaining sauce. Bring wet-naps to the table.

Oh. My. Gosh. I loved, loved, loved these! This was our first time making ribs and it was surprisingly simple! There's a lot of prep work and clean up that is time consuming but, not that bad! And they turned out very tender and fell off the bone easily. I was afraid of them being tough and dry. We used pork ribs this time but want to try beef ribs next time.

And I made barbecue sauce! Sean said it was a little too sweet for him but I could drink that stuff. 

Oh, and if you have any stoneware, don't use it for this. I've scrubbed mine 4 times now and had to use a baking soda paste and it still didn't come all the way clean. Sad.

Soda Pop Marinade for Chicken

Soda Pop Marinade for Chicken
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
6 ounces canned soda pop, any flavor freshly opened (I like Sprite)
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon prepared horseradish 

Combine marinade ingredients in large ziploc bag; add 2-3 pounds chicken to bag and seal.
Marinate 2-24 hours in refrigerator, turning bag occasionally.
Remove chicken from bag, grill, and enjoy!

Taco Pie

Taco Pie   
1 to 1 1/4 lb. lean ground beef
1 (1-oz.) pkg. Old El Paso® Taco Seasoning Mix 
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sliced stuffed green olives or pitted ripe olives
1 (8-oz.) can Pillsbury® Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls
1 1/2 to 2 cups crushed corn chips
1 (8-oz.) container (1 cup) sour cream 
6 slices American cheese or 4 oz. (1 cup) shredded Cheddar cheese
Shredded lettuce, if desired  
Avocado slices, if desired 

Heat oven to 375°F. Cook ground beef in 10-inch skillet until thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. Drain. Stir in taco seasoning mix, water and olives. Simmer 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, separate crescent dough into 8 triangles. Place triangles in ungreased 9 or 10-inch pie pan, pressing to form crust. Sprinkle 1 cup of the corn chips over bottom of crust.

 Spoon beef mixture into corn chips in crust. Spread sour cream over beef mixture. Cover with cheese. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 to 1 cup corn chips.

Bake at 375°F. for 20 to 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cut in wedges. Serve immediately with lettuce and avocado. Store in refrigerator.

 

Almond Poppy Seed Bread

Almond Poppy seed Bread
3 c. all-purpose flour
2 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/8 c. canola oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
2 tsp. poppy seeds
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. butter flavoring
1 1/2 tsp. almond flavoring

 GLAZE
3/4 c. white granulated sugar
1/4 c. orange juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. butter flavoring
1/2 tsp. almond flavoring

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, oil, sugar, and flavorings and beat for 2 minutes. Alternate adding in flour mixture and milk and then mix until just combined. Add poppy seeds and mix until just combined. Pour into prepared pans (5 mini pans or 2 regular loaf pans) and bake (35-40 minutes for mini pans, 1 hour for large pans; keep an eye on them). When done, place on a cooling rack for 15-20 minutes and then remove from pans and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. While cooling, prepare glaze by combining all glaze ingredients. Drizzle over loaves and allow to harden.


**Update 6/12/13
10 minutes doesn't seem to be long enough for these to cool in the pan. I just made another batch and the bottom sticks to the pan and the rest falls out in a crumbly mess. Sad. I suggest letting them cool in the pans for 20 minutes and then remove from the pan to cool completely.