Cabbie’s Cooking

I made this last December when we had a Christmas party at our house.  I bought a box of frozen cream puffs from Sam’s and served this fudge sauce in a dish beside the cream puffs.  Oh my goodness!  It was WONDERFUL!  I could have eaten it all by myself.  Just phenomenal!  The recipe comes from my oldest sister, Janice.

FUDGE SAUCE

1/2 cup cocoa (or 5 squares chocolate)
2 cups sugar
1 stick butter
dash of salt

Melt the above ingredients together over low heat.

Add: 1 can evaporated milk (13 oz.)
Bring to a boil, but don’t boil. Store in refrigerator.

A few years ago some friends and I made a trip to Memphis, Tennessee.  We only had two days for our trip, and so we wanted to make sure we used our time wisely and saw plenty of the Memphis sites of interest, and we wanted to make sure we tried some real Memphis barbecue ribs while we were there.  If you ever plan a similar trip to Memphis, check out Trusted Tours and Attractions.  Better yet, sign up for the Trusted Tours newsletter. That way you’ll get information on siteseeing and tours in not only Memphis, but all the cities where Trusted Tours provide service.  The newsletters are full of family vacation ideas, too.  For example, if you ever visit New York City, you could take their tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  And by the way, when you sign up for the newsletter you can enter to win an IPOD Nano!

Back to our trip to Memphis.  We saw most of the tourist sites, and we stopped by the Rendezvous to try their world-famous ribs.  In Memphis, ribs are traditionally served up dry.  “Dry” doesn’t mean dried out.  It simply means they don’t serve barbecue sauce with them.   So when you visit Memphis, make sure to see all the sites via Trust Tours, and then finish up your trip with the best barbecue ribs around at the Rendezvous.

I don’t have the Rendezvous recipe for their barbecue rib rub, but I came up with this one that comes pretty darn close.   

MEMPHIS STYLE RIB RUB

5 teaspoons paprika
3 teaspoons salt
2 and 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
2 and 1/2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 and 1/2 teaspoons cayenne (or to taste)

Mix ingredients together. Spread evenly on prepared ribs that have been patted dry with a paper towel. Smoke until tender and delicious. I actually cook mine in a low oven (275 degrees) for a couple hours before putting them in the smoker. That seems to make them extra tender.

This is my daughter’s recipe.  Here’s what she says about it:  “I like to cook this in a crock pot on low all day while I’m at work, but you can also make it on the stove in a stock pot.  The girls love it!  We also make lasagna with this.  We layer the sauce with lasagna noodles, cottage cheese, and cheddar cheese”

LARISA’S SPAGHETTI SAUCE

2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced
1 pound lean ground beef
oregano, to taste
basil, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

Brown and drain the meat, onion and garlic. Add the rest of the ingredients, seasoning to taste. Serve over spaghetti noodles or ravioli.

This is another recipe from my sister, Debi.  She and her husband Gregg, make this often for family get-togethers.  It’s fabulous! Here’s a warning from Debi: “I highly suggest that you wear gloves while chopping the fresh jalapenos. For milder salsa, use less jalapeno. This keeps for only 3-4 days.”

EASY HOMEMADE SALSA

1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup lime juice
1 medium onion, chopped
1 or 2 chopped jalapeno peppers
1 10-ounce can diced tomatoes and green chilies
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Combine ingredients. Serve with tortilla chips. Enjoy!

This is a delicious cold weather soup.  It’s comfort food at its finest.  My younger sister, Debi, gave me the recipe.  It’s quick and easy - and delicious!

CHICKEN CHEESE CORN CHOWDER

1 cup chopped oniion
1 Tablespoon butter
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken (chopped into chunks)
3 cups milk
8 ounces Velveeta
8 ounces of Colby/Jack or cheddar cheese
4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups diced potatoes
1 17-ounce can of creamed corn
salt/pepper to taste
Mrs. Dash seasoning to taste

In a large soup pot, cook the oniions in the butter until transparent. Add the chicken broth, chicken, potatoes, salt, pepper and Mrs. Dash seasoning. Simmer until the meat is thoroughly cooked. Add the corn, milk and cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted and mixed in well.

My wonderful cousin, Jane, gave me this recipe.  This is a great recipe because the dough will keep for several days in and airtight container in the fridge.  You can take out enough to make a few rolls for dinner each night.  Just imagine having fresh rolls each evening for a week.  Yum!

SPOON ROLLS

1 pkg. dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1 1/2 sticks melted margarine or butter
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup sugar
4 cups self-rising flour

Place yeast in two cups warm water and mix until yeast dissolves. Melt butter and cream with sugar in a large bowl; add beaten egg. Pour in dissolved years mixture. Add flour and stir until mixed well. The batter will be a little lumpy. Place in an airtight bowl in the refrigerator. To bake, drop by spoonfuls onto into well-greased muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees about 20 minutes. This dough will keep for a few days in an airtight container in the fridge.

My oldest sister, Janice, gave me this recipe.  They sound delicious, don’t they?

ORANGE ROLLS

1 Tablespoon yeast
1/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup milk
3 eggs
1 Tablespoon salt
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Mix with other ingredients until it forms a ball. Let it rise for two hours. Divide into four parts. Roll each part out to 1/4 inch thick and cut into triangles.

Zest of one orange
3 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup butter

Mix the orange zest and sugar. Melt butter. Dip each rectangle into melted butter and then into the orange/sugar mix and roll up from the wide end first. Let rise. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes.

This is my mother’s recipe, and these are quick and delicious!

BREAKFAST MUFFINS1 egg
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 cup milk
2 Tablespoons melted shortening (or vegetable oil)
2 cups sifted self-rising flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts OR 1 cup blueberries

Beat the egg. Add milk, shortening and sugar. Add the flour. Stir only until moistened. Fold in nuts or blueberries, if desired. Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 cull. Bake in hot oven (400 degrees) until lightly browned.

Two Gulf oysters walk into a bar, sit down on barstools and start complaining about what a stressful week they had.  After listening for a few minutes, the bartender tells them, “Hey, don’t sit there and stew about it.”  Okay, that was really lame.  I know.  However, speaking of oysters and stew . . .

I remember my mother making oyster stew when I was a child.  There is just nothing that compares to the comfort food taste of oyster stew.  And nothing makes oyster stew better than using fresh oysters.  In years past, using fresh oysters was a little risky because of Vibrio Vulnificus.  However, now there are post-harvest processes that allow oysters to be consumed raw but with added safety features that reduce Vibrio Vulnificus to non-detectable levels.  If you have any questions about oysters, check out this website.

Oyster Stew

1/2 cup butter
3 stalks celery, chopped finely
1 shallot, chopped finely
1 quart half and half
2 containers (12 ounce each) fresh, shucked oysters, undrained
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the celery and shallot and stir over medium heat until the veggies are tender. Pour the half-and-half into a separate large pot over medium-high heat. Add the butter, celery and shallots. Stir continuously until the mixture almost boils. Add the oysters along with their liquid. Add the salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Cook (stirring continuously) until the oysters are done. Oysters curl at the ends with they are fully cooked. Serve with crackers and a salad. Enjoy!

This is a recipe from my sister, Joan of Daddy’s Roses.  I haven’t had them in a long time, but I remember them being absolutely delicious.  When I make them, however, I always leave out the raisins.  I just don’t like raisins in cooked dishes.  If you also don’t care for raisins in muffins, you could substitute chopped dates or dried cranberries for a good option.

BEST EVER OATMEAL MUFFINS

1 cup quick cooking oats (uncooked)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Combine oats and buttermilk. Let stand for one hour. Add egg, sugar and oil, stirring well. Combine other ingredients and add to the oats mixture. Stir just until moistened. Baked in greased muffin pans for 18 minutes at 400 degrees. Contains 120 calories each if you make 12 muffins (80 calories each if you make 18).