Potato Chip Cookies

Over the years, my mom and I have ripped out recipes from Bon Appetit, Real Simple, Everyday Food, Cooking Light, etc. – basically anything that caught our eye. We literally have hundreds of recipes. While my dad was out of town we decided to weed through them, categorizing them by type of food, and putting them into nicely organized binders so we can actually USE them. The only problem now is that we have to test all the recipes!

For our annual September trip to Yosemite I decided to make several batches of cookies – this recipe from Real Simple caught my eye during the sorting session, and turned out to be the hit of the weekend! You can find the original recipe at the Real Simple website.

I used plain ol’ Lays Classic Potato Chips, and it turned out great – they add a little bit of crunch and salt to the cookie, which is balanced by the pecans and sugar coating. Mmm-mmm!

1 cup butter, room temperature

Sugar-coated Potato Chip Cookies

1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for coating

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cups potato chips, crushed

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375. Beat butter and 1/2 cup  sugar at high speed in electric mixer until fluffy. Lower speed and add vanilla. Add flour and cinnamon and beat until incorporated. Fold in potato chips and pecans.

Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls and coat completely in extra granulated sugar. Place on foil lined baking sheets 2 inches apart.

Bake until golden brown around the edges, about 13 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes and transfer to wire rack.

Be sure to store these in an air-tight container as they can dry out quickly. Enjoy!

Cranberry Pie

This recipe is originally from my mom, but I’ve made a few changes. So good for breakfast too.

1/2 package cranberries, sliced in half

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

a few sprinkles nutmeg

3/4 cup butter, melted

2 teaspoons orange zest

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup flour

2/3 cup sugar

Place chopped cranberries into the bottom of a pie dish. Sprinkle with walnuts, 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, melt butter. Add orange zest, juice, and eggs. Stir in flour and sugar, mix well. Pour butter mixture over the cranberries and bake in a 325 degree oven for 35-40 minutes. Cool and serve.

Creamed Corn

creamed corn

This is a great side, and super easy to make.

1 package frozen corn, defrosted

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

take corn out of freezer ahead of time to defrost. Melt butter in a large pan. Add corn and sautee for about 5 minutes, or until corn is warmed all the way through, and some kernels begin to brown. Spoon half of the corn into a blender or food processor. Pour in heavy cream, making sure all corn is just submerged (you may need more than the 1/2 cup, depending on how much you are blending up). Blend thoroughly until mixture is thick. Pour back into pan with the rest of the corn. Add salt and pepper to taste, and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Serve!

orange glazed roast pork tenderloin

orange glazed roast pork

okay, this came out amazingly. i ended up marinading the roast the night before, and i think letting it sit for a full 24 hour really made it tender and juicy. the orange flavor in this is subtle, but it makes the recipe sweet without relying on a sugary taste. the tenderloin i used was 1.2 pounds, and a cooking time of 45 minutes at 350 degrees was perfect. this served 4 people when sliced up.

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon chili oil (or sub your favorite hot sauce, Crystal anyone?)

4 large cloves garlic, minced

zest and juice from 1/2 orange

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

few dashes nutmeg

1 teaspoon dried parsley/oregano/thyme – pick your favorite or whatever you have laying around

1-2 lb pork tenderloin

place all ingredients into a large ziplock bag, seal it, and squish around to mix. now stick your finger in and taste it. if you don’t like it then add something to fix it. too salty? add more juice, oil, or mustard. too sweet? add more hot sauce or a little soy sauce. SIDE NOTE: be cautious about adding oil and/or soy sauce to marinades. in my opinion this can make them taste crappy quickly. soy sauce often gives it too much salt and will cover the other flavors, not to mention gives the impression that you dont really know what youre doing. oil can quickly dilute the flavors, or make it taste, surprise, oily. also, i dont believe oil helps with the marinade process – acids are what help to tenderize meat. when all else fails i would add some booze (red wine, vodka, rum, whatever) or vinegar. better to err on the bitter side than too salty, in my humble opinion. these things work especially well if you find yourself needing a more liquidy marinade.

throw your pork tenderloin right in the bag, its a great way to marinade if your meat fits in the ziplock. marinade as long as possible, preferrably overnight.

place pork in a shallow pan into a 350 degree oven, cook until done. you should cook pork until the center reaches 160 degrees, but i dont have a meat thermometer so i mostly guess. 45 mins to an hour should be sufficient for a 1 – 2 lb roast, but hold off on cutting a slice off to check if its done as long as you can. that lets a lot of juice leak out. i guess a thermometer would work best. while the pork is cooking, take the leftover marinade from the ziplock bag and pour into a sauce pan. you can get creative here. i typically add a little butter, maybe some broth, or if you really want a lot of sauce to go around, add a little store bought envelope of gravy mix with some water. cook until thickened. for this particular sauce, i added 1 tablespoon of butter and the zest and juice from the other half of the orange, and simmered until it was reduced to a thick sauce.

be sure to let your roast sit about 10 mins before slicing. slice and serve with sauce.

this particular pork roast i served with creamed corn, garlic mashed potatoes, and a cranberry pie for dessert (recipes can be found on this page).  super tasty.

orange glazed roast pork, garlic mashed potatos, creamed corn

Pot Pie

pot pie is actually pretty easy to make! you can use any meat you like and whatever veggies you have laying around. i used stuff from our garden and ground venison which my dad recently brought back from a hunting trip. and if you really want to make it quick, use a store bought crust. my recipe made 5 individual sized pot pies.

1 lb meat (your choice, i used fresh venison my dad shot, but ground turkey, beef, or chicken would be fine)

5 chopped carrots

1 chopped onion

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 bag frozen peas

8 oz mushrooms, diced

chopped chives

3 diced turnips

spices to taste

1 cup broth (chicken, beef, veggie)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 single pie crust recipe (or store bought)

if your meat is not already cooked (maybe leftover from last nights dinner!) go ahead and brown it in a large pan with a tad bit of oil. add onions, garlic, carrots, and turnips (or whichever veggies will take the longest to cook). follow with the things that cook less, like chives, celery, etc. this is also a good time to add spices. i would recommend salt and pepper, oregano or parsley, a dash of hot sauce, a dash of cinnamon. it really depends what type of meat you are using and what tastes best to you. add the broth. the last thing to go in as far as veggies go are mushrooms and any frozen veggies you are using. throw them in and cover so everything steams a little.  just before everything is cooked add in the cornstarch to thicken the gravy. ladel a generous amount of stew into oven proof ramekins. cover with a thick layer of pie crust and pinch the edges tight around the ramekin. its best to roll out the pie crust while the stew is cooking. bake at 350 until the crust is crispy, about 20 minutes. let cool for a few minutes and enjoy.

Orange Clove Rice

this was a great compliment to the honey walnut brussel sprouts i made.

per 1 cup brown rice:

1 orange thinly sliced into rounds

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 tablespoon butter

lay sliced oranges into the bottom of rice cooker. sprinkle with ground cloves. add rice, appropriate amount of water, and turn on the cooker. when the rice cooker is good and hot quickly throw the butter in so it melts. when rice is done, fluff it up to evenly incorporate the butter and cloves. the oranges can be left in for a really pretty presentation, or taken out if you prefer. i think this rice makes a great compliment to an entree with a hint of sweetness, especially fish.

Honey Walnut Brussel Sprouts

even though i love brussel sprouts i sometimes get tired of either blanched or sauteed versions of them. in an effort to add a little twist i grabbed a bunch of things from the pantry and came up with this recipe. mom liked them and requested me to make them again!

1 lb brussel sprouts, washed and quartered

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil (i prefer butter in this case)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch nutmeg

2 tablespoons honey

a few dashes soy sauce

melt the butter in a medium high frying pan. throw in the walnuts and brown. sprinkle the cinnamon and nutmeg over, give a good stir to coat. once the walnuts and spices are sizzling in the pan, drizzle the honey over, and stir again to coat. add brussel sprouts. i tend to like to throw them all on in a pile and let them sit for a few minutes so they get a few browned edges and cook over the walnuts and spices. stir a couple times to brown evenly. when sprouts are near cooked (i like mine browned but still crunchy, you may leave them in longer for a softer more well done effect) pour a few dashes of soy sauce over them. i probably used what is equal to 1 tablespoon. this helps offset a little of the sweetness. add more to taste, as well as salt and pepper if desired. yum!

Aaron’s Favorite Macaroni and Cheese

1 1-lb package rigatoni

8 oz. bacon

1/2 pound each cheddar and mozzarella cheese, grated

1/2 cup parmesean cheese

3/4 cup milk/cream/half and half

2 eggs

1/2 cup plain yogurt (greek yogurt is best)

salt and pepper

prepare rigatoni according to directions on box. meanwhile, pan fry the bacon until it is done to your liking. i like to make it crispy, but still flexible enough to chop and not have it crumble all over the place. chop into 1″ pieces.  mix together milk, eggs, yogurt, salt and pepper with a whisk. put cooked pasta into a 9 x 13 casserole dish, sprinkle with bacon. also sprinkle with the 3 types of cheese, reserving a little of each for the top of the macaroni. pour the liquid mixture over everything in the casserole dish, stirring thoroughly to coat and evenly distribute cheese and bacon. lastly, sprinkle remaining cheeses over the top for a nice cheesy top crust. bake at 375 degrees until the cheese on top just begins to crisp and everything is creamy below, about 15 minutes. serve and enjoy!