Cinnamon Rolls

As I mentioned before, this was never meant to be a cooking or baking blog, but alas. Facebook has been inundating me, and probably everyone else with recipes. I wonder what makes them think we all have time to cook and bake? You'd think there was a pandemic, and we were all bored while sitting around at home. Having said that, I must admit, I've looked at some of the recipe offerings and I've even tried a few.

Today, I made easy, healthier, crock pot chicken and dumplings thanks to Allrecipes.com. It was a pretty good lunch. Then, I made some zucchini pancakes, and the following cinnamon rolls.

I'm sharing this method of making cinnamon rolls, which I discovered under the heading "Newfoundland Recipes" because it was incredibly easy, quick, and delicious. Although I'm certain most people in my age group have probably made variations of cinnamon rolls before, I haven't...until now. I suppose I always thought the process to be much more complex.

I will share the recipe here, and what I learned. I absolutely would do several things differently, having completed this once. In fact, I think it would only take one more batch to perfect these. Now if only someone would eat up all of the first platter so that I could make more.

Dough

2 cups flour
1/2  cup shortening
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix ingredients together and roll out on lightly floured surface.

Filling

Mix together -

1/4 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar (I used brown sugar substitute for part of this)

***What I learned - I would probably add nuts or raisins to this filling next time. Also, do not spread filling too close to edge because it oozes out while baking.

Spread filling onto rolled out dough.

Now, here's another of my regrets. I rolled up the dough lengthwise until it looked like the rolling pin.  I suppose I was afraid it would get too thick. Next time, I will roll it in the other direction. The buns need to be a bit bigger than what I made. Also, I cut one inch slices. I found them to be too small. So, in my opinion, thicker and fatter is better.

Place on parchment lined cookie sheet but not too close together. They do tend to get middle age spread. Bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes until they are lightly browned and done looking (not at you but done looking to you...as in not raw).

After you bring them out of the oven, brush on glaze while rolls are still warm.

Glaze

1 cup icing sugar
2 tblsp. milk

So here they are...my first attempt. Not pretty, but very delicious.

Wild Rice, Cranberry, Walnut Salad

I have learned to be much more food flexible in my old age, and also during this pandemic. My best suggestion is to be creative and/or lazy.  If you don't have an ingredient, try a substitution. If the recipe looks as though it has too much of one thing or another for your liking, change the recipe. If everything has to be made from scratch, think twice about how to adapt the recipe. It usually works out without too much of an ensuing disaster.

***Allergy alert - The recipe that follows contains walnuts, but any types of nuts can be substituted including pine nuts (I don't care for these), almonds, or pecans. I've only tried it with walnuts so far.

Whereas I was less than enthusiastic about my recent attempt at Jambalaya, this recipe is definitely a keeper. I think it's been around for a long time. A rice salad with very few ingredients, it tastes delicious even though it doesn't look too appealing to everyone in the photo...wait, nobody's in the photo. It doesn't look appealing to everyone the way it appears in the photo...better.  It also keeps for several days in the fridge.

I didn't do anything 'much' to change this recipe (unusual for me) which I found in several different online locations including a page on anti-aging foods...yayyy. Let's see if it helps. Here's the version that my stepmom used, and that I am also currently using. 


Cranberry, Rice, & Walnut Salad


Ingredients in red.

1 cup rice - brown and wild is suggested, but I substituted long and wild rice. Is there really much difference? ***I also have been known to use prefab rice. In other words, something of slightly lesser nutritional value and much less work. On the other hand, if you're a purist and you have an hour to kill, go ahead and use wild rice that you need to cook. I think the brown takes a little less time.

When rice cools (if you're using cooked), mix with  1/2 cup of dried cranberries, and 1/2 cup of squashed walnuts. I had to use halves which I put in a bag and crushed with a rolling pin.

For dressing -

Whisk together 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 tsp. of sugar (I used sweetener), 1 tablespoon lemon juice (from a real lemon or from a squeezy plastic lemon), a tsp. of rind if you have any kind of citrus fruit, like the aforementioned lemon (not the plastic one) or an orange-like item with rind, salt, pepper to your taste.

Assemble by pouring dressing on rice mixture, and serve. I've also seen versions using roasted nuts that have been cooled, and versions that are warm salads. I like to refrigerate mine prior to consuming.

Et voi​là. There you have it...easy peasy.

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***Prefab rice example. I don't use them often because of the plastic, but this one comes in two, one cup sizes so I just use one of the two for the recipe.  The plastic cups can however be recycled, or up cycled and used for other purposes.

Creole Jambalaya Fatigue

Well, it's Friday again. In my perception of time, the only day more frequent than Friday is Sunday. I know this because I have a drug (prescribed) which I need to take on Sundays, and it always seems to be Sunday. So many days now mush themselves together.

I saw a meme that said 2020 doesn't count so really, none of us are a year older. Tell that to my body parts which at this point seem to be aging at warp speed.

On the bright side, it's a beautiful, warm, t-shirt day today with no wind, so I was able to walk with minimal allergy discomfort. After my morning trek, I struggled through a jambalaya recipe, the meal which I had planned for today. Personally, I don't really care for any kind of multi ingredient, one dish type food. I guess I'm more like the kid who likes everything separate on a plate. Hubby on the other hand really enjoys jambalaya.

I learned through extensive recipe googling, that there is Cajun jambalaya, and there is Creole jambalaya. The difference is that the Creole jambalaya contains tomatoes and Cajun does not. Since I'm fairly certain that the restaurant meal which hubby likes, is reddish, I opted for the Creole recipe.

Here's the Martha Stewart Cajun recipe I found.

https://www.marthastewart.com/1512701/cajun-jambalaya

I soon discovered why this meal is expensive in a restaurant. Besides having many costly ingredients, it's time consuming and exhausting. I used the following recipe but substituted kielbasa because it's what I had, and because I have no idea what andouille sausage is.

https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/jambalaya-recipe/

 Here is my completed jambalaya.

I have made some discoveries which will provide shortcuts should I ever actually consider serving this again.

Shortcut # 1 - Chop all the veggies, chicken, shrimp, and sausage the day before. I now have                                             peppers, onions, parsley, chopped and ready to go in my freezer for many recipes.

Shortcut  #2 - Look at several recipes and find the one that looks easiest. I neglected to do this.

Shortcut  #3 - Go to M&M's Meats and get their frozen Jambalaya. I can't guarantee it's any                                                                good.  Haven't tried it.

Shortcut #4 -  My favourite - Order take out from CJ's restaurant. Go for a walk. Bring it home, and                                                   pretend I made it.

So, we just consumed the jambalaya that it took me all morning to make. It tasted pretty good, even to me. Apparently, the one from the restaurant is preferred. Next time, I'll definitely use shortcut #4.

Lazy Veggie Moussaka

I used to make eggplant parmesan. At some point, I lost the taste for it. I think the problem is that I'm not much of a tomato fan,  plus I got turned off by the incessant heartburn that comes with pregnancy and/or old age. I'll let you decide which category I fit into.

Details of my tomato aversion are in a previous blog dated 9/16/10 "You say tomato and I say bleeachhhhhhhhhhh.....".

I do not mind eggplant, and since Walmart curbside pickup sent two not one, and more zucchinis than I had ordered (a whole other blog), I tried a new recipe. It looks lengthy and complicated but it's not any worse than making lasagna. It's definitely more nutritious without all the pasta carbs, and just a bit of yummy fat.  Also, I learned that you need to be flexible, especially these days. So I bent over backwards...not easy at my age, and created this from what I had lying around the house...food items that is. Because I wanted to make it meatless, I looked up regular and vegetarian/vegan options. I combined ingredients and procedures that I found online, with my own ideas, then adapted and simplified the recipe because I'm lazy. It's a bit of a process, but not that difficult. It just has a few steps. Ingredients are in red letters. French terms are my attempt at chef-speak.

By the way, it was delicious. It can get a bit salty so be aware when adding this ingredient. Also,  please excuse my comments and asides. I can't seem to help myself.

***Fun Fact - I was curious as to what moussaka, a Greek word, means in English so I google translated it and you'll never believe it! In English, moussaka is....moussaka.

                                   
                                                      VEGGIE MOUSSAKA A LA HILDE

Prepare and set aside the following while preheating oven to 400 degrees.

2 medium eggplants partly peeled and sliced lengthwise
3 potatoes, peeled, sliced lengthwise
3 medium large zucchini sliced length wise. Put on paper towels on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, leave 30 minutes to remove liquid and bitterness, then dry off.

 When eggplant is dried, put all sliced veggies on olive oiled cookie sheets and bake 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Bechamel Sauce  (can be prepared while eggplants are salted)

Equal amounts butter (or olive oil), and flour (approx. 1/2 cup of each)
salt/pepper to your taste
3 cups milk (warmed...essential)
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Instructions - In a large saucepan, melt butter or heat olive oil depending on your preference. Be careful not to burn. Stir in flour, salt, pepper. Stir with wooden spoon to create a roux. I think a roux is a fancy french cooking term for a combined lump of flour and melted butter. (see pic) Using a whisk, gradually add warm milk, whisking to prevent lumps. Continue cooking until slightly thickened, stirring with wooden spoon again. Add nutmeg.

Cover pot in wax paper to prevent layer of skin from forming. I put a lid on top of waxed paper. You can probably use plastic wrap or paper towels but I can't promise you'll remain skinless.

 
Lentil Sauce

Make this when veggies are roasting in oven.

Lentils  I used a normal sized can of green ones, drained and rinsed. They were nice and small. Buying dry, soaking, cooking etc. is too much work. I feel like black beans would work in this recipe as well, but haven't experimented yet.
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can crushed tomatoes - I used flavoured "Aylmer Accents" (made in Canada),
because I like it better...whole undrained can. No, they don't pay me for my endorsement.                                      ***Note to self - look into getting paid.
1/2 cup broth or water (if you want)
1 tsp. dry oregano
1/2 tsp nutmeg
pinch cinnamon
olive oil tablespoonish

Instructions - In a decent sized pan, saute (French for fry 'em up gently) onions and garlic in olive oil for a few minutes until it smells good. Add lentils, tomatoes or accents, broth or water (I didn't add any because I left the liquid from the canned tomatoes in there), and spices. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Assembly - the fun part

I used a 9x13" casserole type baking dish. I know this for a fact because during covid isolation boredom, I decided to measure all my pans and write the sizes on the bottom with permanent marker.

Covid Query - Why are baking pans measured in imperial and not metric? Could it be so that they can bake in a Fahrenheit oven?

Pour half lentil sauce in the bottom of pan (hopefully it's not too runny...mine wasn't).  Layer the veggies in an order of your choice. At this point, if you want but not essential, you can toss a few specks of some kind of  grated cheese between the layers. I did, although I didn't use much. I just had a brief flashback remembering eggplant parmesan and the veggies looked a bit naked.

Pour remaining lentil sauce. Cover entire casserole with bechamel sauce and smooth it out. I hate wrinkly sauce don't you? The photo was taken mid smooth.
Bake in middle oven rack, still 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from heat and let stand for 20 minutes or so. I covered it loosely with foil to keep it hot. Cut into squares. Here's mine, right out of the oven.

Refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days, I hope, because we're having them today after 3 days.