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Comfort Food

12/30/2015

Comfort Food

Now that the holidays are nearly over it feels good to return to the basic comfort food cooking, to me anyway! Cold winter weather seems to call for comfort food too. When my son John was home for the holidays he asked me if I had shared my rice hamburger casserole recipe with you. He said it is a favorite of his family. I made it a lot when my children were home as did my mother when I was growing up. Everyone seems to enjoy it and to me it’s basic comfort food, I hope that your family will enjoy it too.

American Chow Mein
1 lb hamburger
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
1/2 cup uncooked rice
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 soup can of water
chow mein noodles to sprinkle on top

Brown hamburger, onion and celery, drain. Add rest of ingredients except chow mein noodles. Pour into a large greased casserole dish, sprinkle noodles on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. When I want to fancy it up a bit for company, I add 1 small can of drained mushrooms and 1 can of drained water chestnuts and I add a few cashew nuts with the noodles for the topping. Happy New Year, stay warm and safe and have a good week!

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Chicken Serenade

12/23/2015

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A company chicken dish!

I am having a difficult time getting everything I want to get done for Christmas this year. It actually seems like I have this problem every year! I have read my Christmas Therapy book twice so far. Today I am going to try my hand at making lefse. I made it a couple of times when the children were small, but I didn’t have the right equipment. This year my cousins gave me my Aunt Dorothy’s lefse rolling pin and a friend from my church gave me a beautiful lefse grill, so I am all set.

Here is a quote from Christmas Therapy by Karen Katafiasz that I have to keep in mind: “Relinquish superhuman efforts to produce Christmas-card perfect holiday celebrations. Christmas is about God becoming human not humans becoming God.”

Today I am sharing a chicken recipe worthy of serving to company:

Chicken Serenade:
4 deboned chicken breasts, pounded thin to tenderize
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon pepper
1 Tbsp fresh minced garlic
1/2 lb fresh sliced mushrooms
2 cans (15 oz. each) artichoke hearts packed
in water, drained and quartered
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup white wine
2 firm tomatoes, diced
parsley

Sauté chicken breasts in olive oil over medium heat until tender; season with lemon pepper, place in large preheated serving platter or dish. Sauté mushrooms, garlic and artichoke hearts for 2 minutes; slowly add heavy cream and wine, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Add diced tomatoes and stir until tomatoes warm; pour over chicken breasts and sprinkle parsley over all, if desired. Good served with rice.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

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Albert Niss’ Kentucky Pecan Pie

12/16/2015

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Always room for pie!

One of my favorite kinds of pie is pecan, but my Mom never made it at home and my roommate doesn’t eat it. I didn’t make it until a few years ago when I decided I would take it to the bake sales. I went searching for recipes and the one I choose was from The First Congregational Church cookbook here in Fairmont. It was submitted by none other than Albert Niss. He came to mind when I read the article about his community work in last week’s Photo Press.

This pie always receives rave reviews when I take it anywhere or from those who buy it at bake sales. I have made one adjustment to the recipe. When I was looking for the perfect recipe, I noticed that some recipes called for white corn syrup and some dark, so I use 1/2 cup of each.

Albert Niss’ Kentucky Pecan Pie:
1/2 cup white corn syrup
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 tsp salt
1/3 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 whole eggs, slightly beaten
1 heaping cup shelled whole pecans
9 inch unbaked pie shell

Combine syrup, sugar, salt, butter and vanilla; mix well. Add slightly beaten eggs; pour into a 9-inch unbaked pie shell. Sprinkle pecans over all. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool. May serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

One time I didn’t think the pie shell was full enough so I one-and-a-halved the recipe. Big mistake! The filling ran over in my oven! When baked it sort of puffs up so trust me, one recipe is enough for the 9 inch pie! Have a great week!

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Riskrem

12/9/2015

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The party’s over!

My mom’s birthday party was a success! We served over 100 guests. Thank goodness for my children, their partners and my grandchildren! My mother said, “so many people told me that I looked beautiful I was beginning to believe them!” She also said that if she lives to be 101 she doesn’t expect another party!

Now it’s time for me to concentrate on preparations for our Christmas celebration. This week it’s up with the Christmas decorations! Today I am sharing another Norwegian recipe. I had thought about serving this at the birthday party, but decided I had enough food. I did take it to two potluck lunches last week and everyone liked it. This recipe was shared by Joyce Jorgenson, who got it from a Norwegian cookbook she purchased when visiting Norway.

Riskrem (rice cream):
3 cups rich milk
1/2 cup rice

Cook over medium heat until rice is very well cooked and pudding-like, use a heavy pan and watch closely stirring much of the time takes 15-20 minutes.

Add 1/2 generous cup sugar and 1 Tbsp vanilla, let stand until cool. Beat 1 pint (2 cups) heavy cream until peaks form then soak 1 package plain gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water, then add 1/4 cup boiling water, stir until dissolved, fold into the heavy whipped cream. Lastly fold in the rice, stirring occasionally so rice won’t settle, then chill until set. You can put into a bowl or individual dishes. Serve with sauce made from red raspberry jam heated with water to make a runny sauce. I used the following sauce:

Raspberry sauce:
1 10 oz. frozen raspberries, thawed, drain raspberries saving liquid, add water to reserved liquid to make one cup.
1 Tbsp cornstarch
dash of salt
2 tsp lemon juice

Combine all and cook until thick and clear, cool serve over rice cream. I received the Raspberry sauce recipe from my friend Pat Rose. She serves it over pound cake, which is delicious too.

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Norwegian Kringler

12/2/2015

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My oven is on!

My oven has hardly gotten a chance to cool off this week! I am getting ready for my Mom’s 100th birthday party, which is Saturday, December 5th! She has always been proud that she is 100% Norwegian so I decided to do a Norwegian theme. I have had so much fun planning the food and decorations! My granddaughter has an American girl doll and I found a lady who makes Norwegian dunad - which is a Norwegian costume - and she is making one to fit the doll. It’s so beautiful! I have friends who are of Norwegian decent so they lent me various Norwegian props, figurines, trolls, table runners, hardanger. I bake Norwegian goodies at Christmas every year so I am hot at it. I have never baked for 100 before so that is a bit of a challenge.

Rosettes aren’t my specialty. In fact, last year I gave up on them, but they are my Mom’s favorite so this year I threw away two batches before I nailed it!

Today I am going to share my recipe for kringler with you. I have made several different recipes through the years but this one is my favorite. It comes from the Elmore United Methodist church cookbook. Kringler are a little time consuming to make, but we think they are worth it. I think they are sort of between a cookie and a roll. We eat them with butter. Plan ahead - the dough needs to chill over night!

Norwegian Kringler (pronounced kringla):
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 stick ( 1/2 cup) butter or margarine
1 cup sour cream
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp soda
2 tsp baking powder
4 1/2 cups flour

Cream shortening and sugar, add beaten egg, sour cream, buttermilk and vanilla, mix well. Add dry ingredients. Chill dough over night. On a lightly floured board take small bits of dough (approx. rounded tsp) and roll into the size of a pencil and then shape in figure 8’s and place on ungreased cookie sheet; bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. The bottoms should be brown but not the tops. If you press lightly with your finger, you shouldn’t leave an imprint. Cool.

For my Mom’s party, I frosted them with a light coating of white powdered sugar frosting ‘cause I didn’t want to mess with butter and knives. Traditionally they are served with butter. Be careful on the ice and have a great week!

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Author

I'm Kathy Lloyd. I grew up on a farm near Elmore, MN and have lived in Fairmont for over 44 years. I have always loved to cook, even when I was very young. I loved to stay with my Aunt Dorothy during my childhood. She was a great cook and used to give me freedom in the kitchen, teaching me along the way. She made recipes from our Norwegian heritage, along with pies, homemade doughnuts, yeast bread and cinnamon rolls.

Marrying a husband with a hearty appetite and raising 3 sons and 1 daughter gave me plenty of hungry appetites to satisfy! I worked as a nurse for 42 years and have been retired for 11 years. Even though I loved my work, I love having time to spend with my grandchildren, to experiment with new recipes and work with my flowers in the summer. Life has been very good to me, blessing me with my loving family and great friends!

I enjoy sharing my love of cooking and recipes with the readers of the Photo Press! (I have had my share of cooking failures over the years!)

Comfort Food

Chicken Serenade

Albert Niss’ Kentucky Pecan Pie

Riskrem

Norwegian Kringler

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