Aaaaaahhhhh...Creamy Mango Smoothies!

This is the perfect after school snack when it's so hot outside that the kids get sweaty just walking home from the bus stop. It's sooo good! It's refreshing, easy and healthy. With only 200 calories, 1 gram of fat, and loaded with vitamins, it really is the perfect snack. We had it for Family Home Evening treat this week.

2 mangoes, seed removed, peeled and chopped (I used canned, I've also used frozen and both work)
2 cups Mango Sorbet (Hagen Daas)
12 oz Fat Free French Vanilla yogurt (Dannon Light & Fit)
1 1/2 cups skim milk, or soymilk

Combine in a blender. Makes 6 servings, although, I could drink the whole thing by myself.

Edible Cookie Dough

1 c. butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 Tbsp. water
2 c. all purpose flour
salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 c. chocolate chips

1.  Assemble and premeasure the ingredients.  Set the butter out to soften at room temperature.
2.  Cut the butter into chunks (my favorite word).  Place it and the brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Beat on medium until smooth and creamy.
3.  Turn off the mixer.  Add the flour, water and vanilla.  Blend until mixed well.  Add the chocolate chips while the mixer is running.  Continue mixing 15 to 20 seconds until the chips are distributed throughout the dough.
4.  Use a melon baller to portion the dough onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Place the dough balls in the freezer until firm.  Store in resealable plastic bags and enjoy as a snack.
5.  Make cookie dough ice cream (be still my heart) by blending a softened pint of good vanilla ice cream with 10 to 12 dough balls.  Allow the dough to break up throughout the ice cream.  Store the finished ice cream in the freezer.

Tips and Warnings:
- for a lighter flavor, use half brown sugar and half granulated sugar.
- this cookie dough is NOT suitable for baking.  It does not contain all the ingredients necessary to produce a proper cookie.

Raspberry Blueberry Muffins

These muffins are dangerously delicious. I highly advise using the foil muffin liners. Paper liners result in you having to lick half of the muffin out of the paper, and they're easier to enjoy all in one piece. Also, don't make them when you're home alone with children who won't eat them, because you will eat all of them.

2 C. brown sugar

3/4 C butter

6 egg whites

2 C vanilla yogurt

2 1/4 C flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 C oats

1 C blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1 C raspberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat oven to 375.

Melt butter on stove and add brown sugar. Let cool.

Leave eggs out to room temperature. Mix whites until fluffy, then add to the butter mixture. Add yogurt. Combine dry ingredients, then add to wet mixture gradually. Stir in berries. Fill muffin tins 3/4 of the way, and sprinkle with sugar in the raw. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Makes close to 3 dozen.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day I am going to share three delicious ways to cook corned beef and cabbage. 

1. Simmering Corned Beef Brisket*

1 Corned beef brisket, point cut (2-3 lbs.)

1 Head of Cabbage

2 lbs. red potatoes

Place corned beef brisket flat side down in a large pot.  Cover with water.  Most briskets will come with a small packet of seasonings.  If yours doesn't, add 20 peppercorns and 2 bay leaves to the pot.  Bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer 2 1/2-3 hours or until meat easily separates. 

During the last 15 minutes of cooking, add cabbage that has been quartered.  (The whole head of cabbage probably won't fit into the pot.)  When the meat is fully cooked, remove from water and let sit 15 minutes.  Slice against the grain and serve.

Serve with boiled red potatoes, horseradish sauce, and/or spicy mustard.

2.Roasting Corned Beef Brisket

Place corded beef brisket in a roasting pan and cover with seasoning packet (or 20 peppercorns and 2 bay leaves).  Cook at 350 for 1 hour per pound. 

During the last 15 minutes of cooking, quarter the head of cabbage and place in a medium pot.  Add a small amount of water and plenty of kosher salt.  Steam until the smell of cabbage permiates the air.

Serve corned beef and cabbage with boiled red potatoes.

3. Mom's Cheap and Easy Corned Beef and Cabbage

This is the method we all grew up on and the one my kids prefer.

1 can of corned beef (Sounds gross, but isn't.), sliced

1 head of cabbage

2 lbs red potatoes

Place quartered red potatoes in the bottom of a large pot.  Add kosher salt and cover with water.  (Don't fill the whole pot with water, just enough to cover the potatoes.)  If you have a steaming tray insert, add it here.  Cover potatoes with layers of cabbage leaves.  Top cabbage leaves with slices of canned corned beef.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Boil until the smell of cabbage permiates the room.  By then, the cabbage should be a brighter green, and the potatoes should be cooked. 

Remove the corned beef and place on a platter.  Remove cabbage with a slotted spoon.  Drain potatoes.  Serve with butter and coarse ground pepper.  Serves 4.

*I found that the first method made everything a bit slimy (which was perfect for my 10 month-old, but not for me).  The kids still really liked it, but I would recommend one of the other two methods.

Ribbon Jello

Or otherwise entitled "Takes all day to make Jell-O". Totally worth the effort. It's so pretty and so delicious. I've actually been looking for this recipe for a while, and was very excited to find it in a Mormon cookbook (of course).

6 or 7 packages of 3 oz. jell-o

1 pint of sour cream

Whipped topping for the top

Add 1 cup boiling water to 1 package of Jell-O in a small bowl; stir to dissolve. Pour half of Jello into a 9x13 clear pan and place on a level self in the refrigerator to chill. Set the small bowl with the other half of the dissolved Jell-O into a larger bowl of ice. (I just added one ice cube to it while the first half set). When the layer has set in the pan, the icy jell-o will be syrupy (it doesn't take long since quantities are small). Add a heaping tablespoon of sour cream to the Jell-O on ice, (I forgot the ice sometimes and it still worked), and mix until smooth. Pour this over the clear set jell-o. Return to refrigerator; when set, repeat using contrasting color of Jell-O. The book says that green is a good color to start with.

When you're all done with that, cover with a layer of whipped topping.

Cut in squares and serve. Keep it chilled.

Note: Each layer should be set only enough to hold the next layer. If set too hard, the layers will not bond well and may slip when served.

Another Note: I went to church between layers and they bonded fine. I'm just writing what's in the book.

Fantastic Salmon

Salmon

Pesto (the kind from Costco is what I used and it was so good)

Chive and Onion Cream Cheese

Red Onion

A few fresh Mushrooms

Cajun Spice

Lay the fish on aluminum foil on a cookie sheet. Use enough foil to wrap the fish before putting in the oven.

Cut 2 long slits in the salmon (the length of the fish), cutting about half way into the fish.

Stuff the cuts with the cream cheese.

Smother the whole fish with pesto. Be generous.

Lay slices of onion on top and throw some mushrooms on it.

Sprinkle with Cajun spice

Wrap the whole thing in foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours at 350.

It's great served with seasoned rice or a risotto.

Mom's Birthday Quiche Lorraine

My cousin, Koryn, made an amazing pork dish for Christmas and when I asked her where she got the recipe she bore testimony of America's Test Kitchen and the books that have come of that PBS show. The next time I was in a book store, a magazine size version of ATK caught my eye. Then, through some ridiculous twists and turns, I ended up needing a recipe for quiche for Mom's birthday party last week. What says happy birthday better than quiche?! Seriously, though, quiche is romantic because it's French and it has stinky cheese in it. Make it for someone you love for Valentine's Day!

Crust:
1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 tsp. salt
6 T. unsalted butter, softened
2 oz. cream cheese, softened

Custard and Topping:
5 slices bacon, chopped fine
3/4 c. half-and-half
3/4 c. sour cream
2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Pinch nutmeg
1/2 c. Gruyere, finely shredded

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

For the crust, whisk flour, Parmesan and salt together in a bowl. In a large, separate bowl beat the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy (about 1 minute). Reduce speed to low and add the flour mixture. Mix the dough until the dough forms large clumps. Flatten the dough into a 6-inch disk and transfer it to a 9-inch pie plate.

Press the dough evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate. Refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes, then transfer it to the freezer until it's firm (about 10 minutes). (Once the dough is pressed into the pie pan, it can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 2 days.)

Spray two 12-inch square pieces of foil lightly with cooking spray and place them greased-side down on the chilled pie shell. Fill with pie weights and fold the excess foil over the edges of the dough. Bake until the surface of the dough no longer looks wet, 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and weights and continue to bake for about 5 more minutes - until the crust is brown. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for about 15 minutes.

For the custard and topping, cook bacon until crisp and transfer to a paper towel lined plate. (We did this step the day before and it saved us a lot of grief on the day of the party.) Whisk the half-and-half, sour cream, eggs, yolk, salt, pepper, nutmeg, Gruyere, and three-quarters of the bacon together in a large bowl.

Pour the custard mixture into the warm pie shell and bake until the crust is golden and the custard is set around the edges, about 25 minutes. Sprinkle remaining bacon over the surface of the quich and continue baking until the center of the quiche is barely set, 5 to 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

The quiche can be refrigerated in an airtight container or covered in plastic wrap for up to 3 days. We served this cold at Mom's party and everyone seemed to enjoy it. David thought it was too salty, but that would be an easy thing to control. :)