With our garden full of zucchini this time of year, I'm always on the lookout for a new way to serve it to our family.  Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.   

Ingredients:

1 large Zucchini finely grated

     (skin washed and unpeeled)

1/2 cup Kraft shredded Italian 5 cheese blend
8 oz. Progresso Panko bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 small sweet yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 egg
a dash of salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 Tbls. olive oil

Directions:

     Using a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, except olive oil, thoroughly. Using the palm of your hand or a large spoon form the mixture into patties.  Place patties on a sheet of wax paper until you are ready to cook them.

     Pour olive oil into a pan and heat to medium high. When olive oil has reached cooking temperature, add patties to oil, and cook until golden brown. Around 3 minutes per side. Serve while hot and enjoy.

Recipe makes approx. 8 - 10, 3" dia. cakes

***Note:  Panko crumbs are very crunchy bread crumbs made from Japanese wheat bread, which is slowly dried and then shredded into crispy, jagged flakes.

Progresso Foods and Recipes

Kraft Foods and Recipes

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Ingredients:
6 Tbls butter
10 oz Ghirardelli Classic White Chips®
2 eggs
4 oz sugar
1 Tbls vanilla
8 oz Gold Medal All-Purpose Flour®
8 oz Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips® 

Instructions:    
     Preheat oven to 350f  (175c) degrees.  Lightly grease then flour an 8 inch square baking pan.

     In the top of a double boiler add the butter and 8oz. of the white chocolate chips and heat until melted. Remove from heat and stir until they are completely blended.  Set pan aside.

     Next beat the eggs together in a medium bowl. Gradually add sugar to the egg mixture in bowl and beat for an additional 2 to 3 minutes.  Now take the pan of melted white chocolate and butter and add to bowl, followed by the vanilla and flour.  Beat until all ingredients are smooth and thoroughly blended.
     Last but not least, slowly add the remaining 2oz. of white chips and all the chocolate chips to the mixture, stopping to hand stir every so often until all chips are blended in.  Finally, pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, spreading evenly.

     Place pan in oven and bake for about 35 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick in its center and it comes out clean. Cool pan of brownies on a wire rack after baking. Cut into 24 squares and share.

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National Tequila Day

July 24th

"The Iguana"

Ingredients:

1 1/2 oz Tanteo Tropical Tequila
1/3 oz Chartreuse Green liqueur
3/4 inch slice of cucumber w/skin, shredded
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
3/4 oz agave nectar
a large pinch of  freshly chopped arugula
1 sprig of mint (for garnish)

Preparation:    
Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well.  Strain mixture into a chilled  glass.  Garnish drink with a mint sprig and sip away!

Tanteo Tequila

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Easters right around the corner.  Sandwiched in between thoughts of chocolate bunnies and decorated eggs are those memories of mouth watering glazed hams from years past.  This year the ham again will be the centerpiece of the meal but I thought I would change up the flavor a little with some mango chutney, and save my usual pineapple rings for the dessert portion of the meal.

Ham with Mango Chutney Glaze

Ingredients 
1 approx. 6 lb. cooked ham (my favorite is the shank portion)
24 McCormick whole cloves

Glaze ingredients
9 oz. jar Mango Chutney
1/4 cup Karo Dark Corn Syrup
2 tsp. stone-ground mustard

Instructions
Score ham by making diagonal cuts in a diamond pattern.  Stud ham with cloves (place cloves about an inch apart).  Place ham on a rack in a shallow roasting pan.  Insert an oven -going meat thermometer into center of ham.  *The thermometer should not touch the bone.  Bake in a 325 degree oven for 1 1/2 to 2 1/4 hours or until thermometer registers 140 degrees F.  Brush ham with some of the desired glaze the last 20 minutes of baking.  Serve with remaining glaze.

Glaze making instructions
In a food processor bowl or blender container combine one 9 oz. jar of mango chutney, 1/2 cup karo dark syrup, and 2 tsps. stone-ground mustard. cover and process/blend until smooth.  Makes 1 1/4 cups glaze.

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Tired of cold cereal and bland breakfasts.  Well here's a "put the ingredients together" the night before recipe that will suprise and delight your morning breakfast crew.  Just have plenty of napkins on hand!

Quicky Sticky Buns

Ingredients

3  Tbls. packed brown Domino's sugar, divided

1/2  Cup Karo Dark Corn Syrup

1/2  Cup coarsely chopped Diamond pecans

2  Tbls. softened margarine, divided

1  Tsp. McCormicks Cinnamon

1  8oz. can Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

Instructions  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a small bowl combine 2 Tbls. of the brown sugar, the corn syrup, pecans, and 1 Tbls. of the margarine.  Spoon about 2 tsp. mixtrue into each of 9 (2 1/2 inch diameter) muffin pan cups.  Unroll entire crescent roll dough; pinch seams together to form 1 rectangle.  Combine remaining 1 Tbls. brown sugar and the cinnamon.  Spread dough with remaining 1 Tbls. margarine; sprinkle with cinnamon mixture.  Roll up from short end.  Cut into 9 slices.  Place one slice in each prepared muffin pan cup. 

Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Immediately invert pan onto cookie sheet or tray; cool 10 minutes.

 Wow!!!  Mom made sticky buns!



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If you love Reuben sandwiches from the deli, you'll love this appetizer recipe. Serve it with toasted rye or pumpernickel crackers or better yet rye cocktail bread.

Ingredients
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1/2 cup Thousand Island salad dressing
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup corned beef, chopped
1/2 cup sauerkraut, rinsed and drained

Preparation:
Mix cream cheese and 1 cup Swiss cheese in small bowl. Spread in bottom of 9" pie plate. Drizzle with half of salad dressing. Top with corned beef and sauerkraut. Drizzle with remaining salad dressing. Top with remaining Swiss cheese and Parmesan cheese.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 15-25 minutes until dip begins to bubble around edges and cheese is melted.

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This drink is dedicated to the talented, never predictable, man of the hour: 

Charlie Sheen...

Ingredients

2 oz Bacardi® gold rum
1 oz Malibu® coconut rum
1 splash pomegrante juice
1 splash pineapple juice

Mix in a shaker glass, serve and enjoy!

 

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February is National Grapefruit Month

To honor a longtime Citrus favorite, we offer up a salad that's sure to perk up even the frostiest of winter days and it's easy on the waistline too!

Ingredients
2 Avocados, sliced in thin wedges
2 Mangos, sliced in thin wedges
2 Ruby Red Grapefruit, sliced in thin wedges
       Additional salad mix-ins if desired:

Almond or cashew pieces, cottage cheese or finely shredded Cheddar

Ingredients for Vinaigrette
1/2 cup red onion
1/2 cup olive oil
2/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup white sugar
2 Tbls balsamic vinegar
2 tsps Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions for Vinaigrette

Combine all Vinaigrette ingredients into blender.  Set to liquify, and process for 1 minute or until all ingredients are thoroughly combined and pouring consistency.

Directions for SaladPlace the avocado, mango, and grapefruit slices into large bowl.  Pour vinaigrette mixture over fruit until all pieces are thoroughly coated.  Arrange fruit onto large serving platter or individual plates.  Garnish with a small pile of Arugula lettuce in center.  Serve chilled anytime; morning, noon or night.

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 HEAD CHEESE

     The following Recipe came by way of an inherited cookbook produced back in 1936.  Titled "A Book of Authentic Dutch Recipes" (Hollandsche Kookerrij Boek), it was a collection of recipes from some of the pioneer Dutch housewives who with their families arrived from the Netherlands and were the original settlers of Holland, Michigan . 
     The unusual little book served as an introduction to a few highlights of Netherlandish culinary art and was purchased by my Mother and Father on one of their annual trips up to the Tulip Festival in Holland, MI. 

Recipe:
     Clean head, tongue and heart of a porker (pig).  Soak in salty water a few hours.  Drain and boil until meat slips off the bone.  Chop fine and season with salt, pepper, and cloves.  Mix well and pack in molds, such as single bread loaf pans.  Refrigerate until thoroughly cold.  Once congealed, it is ready to slice and serve.  Goes well with mustard, pickles, onions and wheat bread. 

     Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands and in the native language of Limburgisch, head cheese is called hoofdkaas, and is eaten on bread or with special sausage as a starter.  It is usually eaten cold or at room temperature as a luncheon meat.  There's a red, sweet variety and a slightly Sour, grey variety.  Historically meat jellies have been considered peasant food since the Middle Ages and were made of the cleaned (all organs removed) head of the animal, which was simmered to produce stock. When the finished product is packed into a mold and cooled, the stock congeals because of the natural gelatin found in the skull.

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