oldguycooking.com

This is an easy recipe for quick side, with lots of flavor. It can been made at the last minute, but tastes like you spent all day creating it. Ingredients: 1/2 pound fresh green beans 6 grape or cherry tomatoes halved 1 teaspoon clarified butter 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon bacon bits Begin by preheating a cast iron pan over medium heat. Add butter, and allow to melt. Add green beans and saute for about 5 minutes. Stir beans occasionally. Once beans have slightly darkened, add garlic and bacon. Cook for about two more minutes, then add tomatoes. When the tomato skins start to blister, remove from heat. Stir once more, then serve.

I have a few weaknesses. One of them is caramel. Caramel corn, caramel sauce, caramel candies, you get the picture. These cookies have been in development for several months. Creating a cookie that tastes like caramel is not easy. My first few attempts smelled like caramel, but tasted like flour. Finally, I think I got it. The key is replacing the sugar with ground up Werther's Original hard candies. This sugar substitute combined with canned dulce de leche, give just the right flavor. Ingredients: 1 cup ground Werther's original candies (about 35 candies) 1 can dulce de leche caramel sauce 2 1/2 cups pastry flour 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 stick of melted butter 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 cup of brown sugar Begin by creaming the butter, ground candy and brown sugar until smooth and velvety. Add dulce de leche and beat for a few more minutes, until well combined. Mix flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Slowly add flour mixtu

It's cold here in Florida. The low last night was 47 degrees. Tonight will be a few degrees colder. It is perfect soup weather. This is a hearty soup, combining my two favorite soups, tomato basil and vegetable beef. It's made quickly, in an electric pressure cooker. As with most of my recipes, this is no salt added. You can always add salt to the finished product, but you can't take it out. Ingredients: 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of beef stew meat 32 ounces no salt added beef stock 2 potatoes (diced) 1 14.5 ounce can petite cut no salt added tomatoes 1 small can no salt added corn 1 small can no salt added green beans 1 cup carrot chips 1/2 teaspoon granulated onion powder 1/4 teaspoon roasted garlic powder 2 teaspoons  dried basil 1/4 teaspoon ground celery seeds 1/2 teaspoon dried chives 2 packets of Herb-Ox no salt added beef bullion 1 bay leaf 2 tablesppons tomato paste Begin by browning the meat in pressure pot pan. Add the rest of the ingredients, p

This is my grandmother's recipe for springerle cookies. These cookies are German; how they ended up in my Scotch-Irish family I'm not sure. Full disclosure, up front, you either like them or you don't. I haven't met anyone who is on middle ground when it come to these treats. Springerles are an anise flavored hard biscuit style cookie, and by hard I mean HARD. When my mother was alive she used to remind me every Christmas, how I cut my first teeth with these cookies. They are brick hard when cooled from the oven. They are also time consuming to make, be prepared to spend an few hours, and a couple of days, making these delectable snacks. Creaming the butter and sugar takes a half hour with a stand mixer, longer with a hand held, and your arms will fall off before you can complete the task by hand. Ingredients: 2 cups sugar 4 eggs 4 cups flour 10 drops of LorAnn anise oil or 1/4 to 1/2 tsp anise extract Start by beating the four eggs until light and fo

This is a great substitute for the calorie laden sweet potato casserole usually served at the holidays. The sweetness comes from apples, not cups full of sugar. The best part is how quickly you can make and serve this delicious side. Ingredients: 6 cups diced sweet potatoes 2 Honey crisp apples 1/2 cup diced Vidalia onions 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ginger 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves drizzle of molasses 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon oil 1 teaspoon unsalted butter Chop sweet potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. In a microwave bowl, add potato cubes and 2 tablespoons of water. Cover and microwave on high for 5 minutes. While the potatoes are in the microwave, heat a cast iron skillet on a medium heat. Add the oil and butter. Remove potatoes from oven and add to pan. Core and cube apples cutting them into 1/2 inch cubes. When the potatoes star to brown, add the apples, onions, and spices. Sauté for several more minutes, until the onions are t

Sometimes I wake up with a great idea; here it is. A  few weeks ago at work, we made a ginger snap fudge. Simple recipe, but too sweet for my tastes. A favorite of mine is anything salted caramel flavored. This recipe makes a  delicious fudge with just enough salt to cut down the sweetness. Ingredients: 3 cups Ghirardelli white chocolate melting wafers 1 can Nestle's La Lechera milk based dulce de leche caramel 1 tablespoon butter 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract Himalayan course salt to taste Add melting wafers to a microwave safe bowl. Heat for  20 seconds, then stir. Repeat as needed until wafers start to melt. heat one more time for 10 seconds then stir until mixture is smooth. Add butter and milk and stir to mix thoroughly. Mixture will appear grainy, but it is not. Carefully add La Lechera and vanilla, mixing until completely combined. The fudge will begin to pull away from the sides of the bowl when it is ready.  Pour into a 9 X 9 pan lined with parchment

As long as I can remember, these have been a favorite of mine. These rich, dark, cookies are full of flavor. Although this is not my grandmothers' recipe, this is close to the taste I remember growing up. Ingredients: 1 cup  molasses 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup shortening 1/2 stick butter 1 egg 3 1/2 cups AP flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon salt sugar to roll cookies dough balls Begin by creaming the molasses, butter, brown sugar, shortening, and egg for several minutes, until smooth and creamy. I usually go about 10 minutes. The mixture will be light and fluffy. Add other ingredients and mix until combined. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours. Pour white sugar in a dish. Scoop the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and roll the top in sugar. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet, and lightly push down on the top of the dough ball. Sprinkle with a little more sugar.