Baked Brown Rice (Monica)

1 1/2 cups short grain brown rice

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp butter or oil

3 cups boiling water 

Add-ins: sauteed minced carrots, minced bell pepper, parsley flakes 

Heat the water in a kettle. Preheat oven to 400. 

Saute veggies in olive oil until bright and soft. 

Place rice in 8×8 pyrex (for double recipe, use 9×13 pan and increase baking time to 1 hour and 20 minutes), and add butter and water. Mix salt and veggies in. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour.

Savory Bread Pudding 2

2 stale baguettes, cut into 1-inch cubes
8 eggs
1+ quart of milk
1 T salt
2 t ground mustard
1/8 t cayenne pepper
1 t ground sage
2 t ground dried rosemary

Whisk eggs and spices together, add milk (and additional eggs if needed) to cover bread. Add bread, mix well. Let stand overnight in the fridge with something- I used a bowl filled with water- holding the bread down in the egg mixture.

1 onion
4-5 small carrots
6 cloves of garlic, minced
a big handful of fresh thyme
a large sprig of rosemary
several stalks of celery
1 bunch of asparagus
1 head of Swiss chard
2 cups of grated romano cheese

Cut the veggies into bite-size pieces, and saute, adding in the order listed. Chop the herbs very finely and saute with the veggies. When cooked, add to the bread/egg mixture, tempering to prevent scrambled eggs. Fold the cheese in, leaving some to put on top.

Spray two casserole dishes with pam, and fill just over half full with the bread and veggie mix. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake at 350 for an hour, with the lids on for the first half.

Makes 16-18 servings.

Seared carrots

Carrots
Olive oil
Rosemary
Thyme
Other herbs & spices
Salt
Pepper

Wash and slice carrots. Make sure they are as dry as possible to help prevent the oil from splattering. Finely chop herbs.

Pour as thin a layer of olive oil as possible in a cast iron or not-nonstick pan. Heat the pan to medium-medium/high heat on the stove, add the herbs and spices, and then add the carrots. Do not use your hand to drop the carrots in or the oil may splash or splatter on your hand. Make sure all the carrots have a surface in contact with the bottom of the pan ( don't crowd the pan!), and then resist the urge to check or stir the carrots for a few minutes. You want the hot pan to brown the carrots. After several minutes flip the pieces over and do the other side. Remove when cooked to the desirable consistency, and drain any excess oil with a paper towel. Enjoy as soon as possible!

Chicken Pot Pie

Make beer can chicken a few nights before. Bake the potato while you're at it. Then make chicken stock. Then make pot pie.

2 pie crusts
2-3 cups of chicken stock (vegetable for vegetarian)
1 potato, baked
1 small sweet potato, baked
2 large carrots
several sprigs of celery
1/2 onion
1/2 can of corn
1/2 14 oz can of artichoke hearts
other veggies of your choosing: mushrooms, tomatoes, asparagus, etc.
herbs
salt and pepper
shredded chicken (optional)
1 egg white

Chop up everything but the pie crusts into bite-size pieces, and place in crock-pot with chicken stock. Cook on low for about 12 hours. In a cup, mix some of the hot stock with flour or cornstarch to thicken. I wasn't happy with the thickening from just flour, and did a second round with corn starch, which was perfect. Turn the slow cooker to high for 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Prep the pie crust and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Fill the pie crust with the filling, and cover with the top crust. Brush with egg, and bake until golden brown.

Makes 1 pie, plus a little filling leftover. Good with biscuits the next day.

Steamed Vegetables

• 2-3 heads of broccoli or
• 1 head of cauliflower or
• 4 zucchinis or
• Several handfuls of fresh green beans or
• Head of spinach or
• Several squash or
• 1 stand of asparagus or
• 6 artichokes or
• Head of Swiss chard or
• Several carrots or
• Brussel sprouts or
• Cabbage or
• Corn on the Cob

Put 1/2 to 1 inch of water in a pot or saucepan- very important!! Place open steamer in the pan. Make sure that the water is not covering the veggies, or you will be boiling rather than steaming them. Be more judicious with the water if you think you might forget about it. Wash and cut the vegetables, and put in the steamer. Cover, bring to a boil, and steam for 5-10 minutes.

Notes:

• Broccoli stems are good if the skin is peeled off. Cut off bottom, then peel skin from bottom to base of florets. Then slice. Steam broccoli until bright green.

• Snap bottoms of the asparagus off rather than cutting- they break at the sweet spot.

• Trim the stems of artichokes. Steam for 40 minutes- put more than 2 inches of water in the pan so boiling water doesn’t run out. Serve with melted butter.

• Some squash is good with butter and brown sugar.

• Christy and Dave have had some success covering vegetables in water in the microwave. For artichokes, it takes considerably less time to cook. Place artichokes in casserole dish, cover completely with water, and cook until done, about 15 minutes.
  

• Trim stems on brussel sprouts, cook until tender.

Carrot Cake

• 2 cups flour
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 t soda
• ¼ t salt
• 2 t cinnamon
• 1 t nutmeg
• 1/8 t ground cloves
• 1 1/8 cups oil
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup flake coconut
• 1 cup nuts
• 1 small can (5 oz?) crushed pineapple
• 2 cups grated carrots

Mix everything except coconut, nuts, pineapple, and carrots. Mix in remaining ingredients. Bake at 300 for 1 hour.

Icing:

• 3 oz. cream cheese
• ¼ cup butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 t vanilla
• ½ t salt
• Enough milk to make spreadable

Beat until spreadable.