Easy pie crust and more meals with chicken

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smcclanahan

Looking through the eyes of my children it is so wonderful that they think I am just perfect. It seems that mom can answer any question, solve all problems and find anything in a house. I love it when Ross says "Mom, I know you know what I did" because he really thinks I know everything.

Well, I hate to crush their image of me, but I am not perfect. Some of you may have figured that out last week when you read the Fresh Apple Coffee Cake recipe in Recipe Swap. In the midst of writing the column, I either looked at a wrong line or got interrupted because the recipe did not have any apples listed in the ingredients and instead said 2 cups chopped pecans. So to clear any confusion, here is the correct recipe calling for apples in the coffee cake and nuts in the topping.

Sorry about that, and please don't tell my children. Let them figure me out on their own.

Fresh Apple Coffee Cake

1/2 cup margarine

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup yogurt

2 cups chopped apples

Topping:

1/2 cup nuts

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons flour

Mix margarine and sugar; add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture with yogurt. Fold in chopped apples and smooth in a prepared 9-by-13-inch-baking dish. In separate bowl combine nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon and 2 tablespoons flour. Mix and spread evenly over the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until tests done.

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Dortha Strack of Cape Girardeau shares an old recipe for pear honey that she has used for 45 years. She got the recipe from a friend and it surely must be a good recipe if she has used it for that long.

Pear Honey

3 cups sugar

1 cup water

2 quarts pears, peeled and ground

1 large can crushed pineapple, drained reserving liquid

Cook sugar and water until it will spin a thread. Add pears that have been ground and all the water that has been drained from the pineapple. Cook until thickened. Put in sterilized jars, seal and put in hot water bath for 5 minutes.

Dortha also tells us she has used Sure-Jell using the jam recipe printed on the box. Drain the can of pineapple and use a combination of pineapple and pears to equal the recommended amount of fruit in the recipe. Follow the directions in the recipe for finishing and canning the jam.

I had a friend recently tell me she never makes pies because she doesn't like the mess of rolling out the pastry and then the clean-up that follows.

This week in my mail slot a recipe appeared for a no roll pie crust and I think it might be a great solution for those of you who need a quicker, easier solution to pie crusts.

No Roll Pie Crust

1 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup oil

4 tablespoons milk

Combine the flour, salt and oil together until crumbly. Add the milk and mix until all moistened. Press into a 9-inch pie plate and use as desired.

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We still have a few recipes to share with you from the Midwest Food and Poultry recipe contest that was held at the SEMO District Fair.

Joan Weeks of Cape Girardeau was the third place winner of the contest with her chicken tetrazzini recipe. She also entered an appetizer recipe that is chilled and served cold.

Curried Peanut Chicken

1 whole chicken breast, skinned and boned

1 cup half and half

1 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 tablespoons chutney

1 tablespoon sherry

1/2 tablespoon sherry or other vinegar

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 tablespoon tumeric

1 cup roasted peanuts, finely chopped

Fresh coriander or parsley, chopped, optional

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken in shallow baking dish just large enough to hold. Pour half and half over chicken. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool.

Cut into 1-inch cubes. Process next six ingredients in blender or food processor. Dip chicken pieces into mayonnaise. Roll pieces thoroughly in peanuts. Chill at least 30 minutes. To serve, garnish with coriander or parsley. Serve with toothpicks. Yields about 20 appetizers.

Joan's son, Rob Weeks is an excellent cook, also. He has shared many of his favorite recipes with me and all are very tasty. For this contest he chose his chicken stroganoff recipe. He notes that this recipe can be lightened up by using margarine and light sour cream.

Chicken Stroganoff

1 pound chicken breast stir fry

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon cooking oil

Freshly ground black pepper

1 small onion, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

1 pint sour cream

4 tablespoons chili sauce

Put chicken in bowl with lemon juice, oil, and pepper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Fry onion in butter until softened. Add chicken and fry until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Mix in sour cream and chili sauce. Heat until thickened. Serve over rice and noodles. Yields 4 servings.

Bernice Koerber of Gordonville, Mo., entered a cheesy chicken casserole that was very pretty using the bowtie pasta.

Cheezy Chicken Casserole

2 boneless chicken breast halves, cubed

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 teaspoon instant garlic flakes

Dash celery salt

1 (1 pound) package broccoli stir-fry mixture

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

2 tablespoons water

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup Cheez Whiz

2 to 3 cups hot cooked bowtie pasta

Spray a large skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Cook chicken, onion, garlic flakes, and celery salt over medium-high heat until chicken is browned, stirring occasionally. Add vegetables, soup, and water; mix well.

Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 8 to 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Add sour cream and Cheez Whiz. Stir until creamy. Remove from heat; stir in pasta bowties. Salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Next week we will finish up the contest recipes, have a snack mix recipe that is nice for fall and Halloween and a couple of soup recipes to share.

If you have favorite fall recipes or apple recipes, please send those in and we will share several of those over the next few weeks.

Have a wonderful week and happy cooking.

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at smcclanahan@semissourian.com or P.O. Box 699; Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702-0699. Recipes published have not be kitchen-tested by the Southeast Missourian.