One of my most favorite sandwiches growing up was pimento cheese.  My mother made the best and I think mine is pretty darn close to hers.. When I went to the beach with my two younger sisters this month I took this for us to enjoy at lunch.   I was reminded by them of picnics consisting of cold fried chicken (which I haven’t made in decades), pimento cheese sandwiches, deviled eggs and sliced tomatoes.  That really conjured up some memories.

Pimento cheese is easy to make.  Don’t you dare buy that horrible stuff that is premade in tubs at the grocery store!   All you need is good sharp cheddar cheese that is grated finely.  Use the small side of a box grater or I prefer to use this.   My mother used hoop cheese, but I use about 10 ounces of  Kraft extra sharp cheddar.

Here is about 4 – 6 ounces of pimento that has been literally smashed with a fork.  I took the pimento out of the jar with a fork discarding the  juice.  Be patient.  It will take a few minutes to get the pimento into very small pieces, but it will be worth your time.  Don’t put this mixture in the food processor. I’ve tried it and am here to tell you that it will not work.  The consistency is just all wrong.

Add about 1/4 cup of Hellman’s mayonnaise.  (Please no Miracle Whip) You may need more or less depending on the moisture content of the cheese and how juicy the pimento are.  Just be careful!  You can always add more mayo, but you can’t take it out.  Season with salt and pepper.  I like to add a couple of dashes of Tabasco sauce to give it a kick.

Stir until nice and creamy.  Store in the refrigerator.  After refrigerating it will be on the stiff side so you must let it sit on the counter for about twenty minutes or it will tear the bread as you are spreading it on.  Don’t put it in the microwave.  I have tried that.  It will ruin it.

Another good way to serve homemade pimento cheese is to grill as you would a grilled cheese.  Try adding some fresh bacon bits to the sandwich before grilling.  It is heavenly! 

I am confessing something that  only you and I know now.  I have been known to sit down with a bag of ruffle potato chips and use this pimento cheese as a dip.  My gosh it is good. 

No matter which way you decide to serve this creamy pimento cheese it will be a hit.

Happy cooking,

The Teacher Cooks

This is not a very healthy recipe.  There are ways  to make it a better choice.  Instead of using chips and eating as a snack use tortillas heated in the microwave as a base.  Add the cheese dip then top with lettuce, tomato and guacamole.  And try to limit yourself to one serving.  It is really hard to stay with one serving when it is so good.  My students thoroughly enjoyed it and even wanted to make it the next day, but two recipes fed the whole class.  Plus we have more complicated recipes to move on to!   

One recipe is enough for about 10 servings.  And watch out you will find yourself making this quite often!

Superbowl Dip

• 1 8 ounce pkg. Velveeta Mexican Cheese ( I use the hot)
• 1 small can Castleberry Hot Dog Chili (  This may be hard to find.  I have tried other chili, but the end product is just not the same.  Don’t use Hormel especially with beans)
• 1 can original Rotel tomatoes
• 1 lb. ground beef browned and drained

In a microwave safe 2 1/2 quart casserole dish melt velveeta cheese that has been cubed for about 2 minutes.  Be careful because the cheese will burn around the edge in the microwave.  Stir in tomatoes and chili.  Heat for about 2 minutes.  Add ground meat that has been browned and drained.  Microwave until the cheese dip is hot which is about 2 – 4 minutes.  This can also be heated in the slowcooker.

Enjoy,

The Teacher Cooks

This is not my mother’s recipe.  It is better!  It is also comfort food at our house.  The Athlete has been known to eat a large portion of the casserole in one sitting ruining my menu planning for the week because of no leftovers.  

I made it for my students on Tuesday and many of them after learning that I was preparing Tuna and Shells turned up their little noses and made remarks that no halfway decent cook wants to hear.  But to their surprise with the exception of 2 students they loved it!  So will you.  It is easy, inexpensive and just plain comforting.  This is another one of my favorites made with canned soup. This is just the way that I look at it. If Paula Dean can publish a cookbook that has been on the bestseller list with recipes using canned soup then by gosh I can blog about it!   

So here is the recipe that I could not tell you where it came from.  I thought that I got it from the box of Mueller’s pasta, but I searched their site and could not find it.   If you love canned tuna you are definitely going to love this and even if you don’t love it and love macaroni and cheese it could become a favorite. 

Tuna and Shells 

• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 1 small onion minced
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 1/4 cups of milk
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 12 ounce can of Albacore Tuna packed in water drained
• 8 ounces  small shells or 2 2/3 cups (cook 11 min.)
• 1 cup of crushed potato chips

Cook onion in butter about 3 minutes until soft.  Stir in soup, milk, Worcestershire, mustard and pepper. Cook over medium heat  stirring constantly until boiling.   Remove from heat.  Stir in cheese and add tuna.  In a 2 quart dish combine sauce and shells.  Sprinkle with chips.   Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.  Makes about 6 servings.  

This is also great the next day, but the chips will not stay crispy.  I always add a few more when reheating.  I love potato chips!    

Now here is what my angels cooked up today.  Some good stuff! 

1st Block Kitchen 1

1st Block Kitchen 2

1st Block Kitchen 4

2nd Block Kitchen 3

1st Block Kitchen 5

1st Block Kitchen 6

2nd Block Kitchen 1

2nd block Kitchen 2

2nd Block Kitchen 3

2nd Block Kitchen 4

2nd Block Kitchen 5

2nd Block Kitchen 6

• These are so easy to make.
• They are better than the drop biscuits that we made from Bisquick.
• We have all the ingredients at home.
• Why would anyone buy those refrigerated things when you can make these?
• You can make these really small , eat two and fool yourself into thinking you are eating more.
• I had no idea that I could bake biscuits that tasted so good.
• We can save money baking biscuits from scratch.
• I want to make these for my mom.

So  my mission for this unit is accomplished and we are ready to move on. 

You will find the recipe for Basic Biscuits here and to make the Cheese Biscuits make the following changes:

I love using my food processor for grating cheese.  It is fast, you can grate a lot and then freeze it.  Saves you time later. 

For the Cheese Biscuits use 1 cup of Sharp Cheddar .  I packed it in the cup so mine were really cheesy!

 After cutting shortening into the flour stir the cheese into the flour and shortening. Then add 3/4 cup of milk.

Place dough on a floured surface and knead 2-3 times.  Press out dough to about 1 inch thick.

Cut biscuits out with a biscuit cutter and place into a lightly greased pan.  Bake at 500 degrees for 10 minutes.  Brush with melted butter and enjoy! Happy Baking,

Here is what my students accomplished today.  Vote for one.  (That’s going to be hard)

1st Block Kitchen 1

1st Block Kitchen 2

1st Block Kitchen 4

1st Block Kitchen 5

1st Block Kitchen 6

2nd Block Kitchen 1

2nd Block Kitchen 2

2nd Block Kitchen 3

2nd Block Kitchen 4

2nd Block Kitchen 5

2nd Block Kitchen 6

Our 1st Place Winner!

The recipe and all the interesting things that happened in our first lab of the semester is located on the previous post.

Here are the results of today’s bake-off.  Everyone did just great.  Vote for the one that you think deserves the top of this post.  Voting ends Sunday!  Good luck!

To vote go to the comments.  Remember that your e-mail address will not be shared.  It is just for my use to answer questions that you might have.  So here you go with today’s reults:

And a very close 2nd place winner!

Deviating from the usual muffin lab that I do for the  first lab of the semester was quite interesting.  Why change something that works you might ask? Well, having all of the ingredients for a recipe helps.  My pantry had several boxes of Bisquick and the drop biscuits put it to good use.

I gave the demonstration yesterday.  With new cooks their knowledge is very limited so they ask me lots of questions or they just watch and try to soak it all in.  It is as if they are learning a new language. For some of them it is very difficult and for others it comes very easy.I’ve never done these drop biscuits as a lab before, therefore have nothing to compare it to.  All the biscuits were edible!  That is always good.  Everyone enjoyed themselves.

I have to say this about tasting what each group prepared.  Some groups will not start eating until I come to their table and taste their food.  They all sit there speechless waiting for me to let them know how it taste.  Even the slight hesitation as I am talking will scare them.  My approval is a very powerful tool.  Sometimes it is a little scary.  I don’t want to say the wrong thing and discourage a student.    I know you are all are wondering what I might say if the food is bad.  And yes, I have had the pleasure of tasting bad food !!  I always try to remember what a good friend of mine told me. She saw a friend’s new baby for the first time and it was NOT a pretty baby. She said, ” Oh my goodness, what a pretty blanket.”   Focus on the positive!

As a sideline here,  one of the department heads observed me yesterday and  an administrator today.   It is the first time anyone has ever observed the first lab of the semester. All kinds of things can go wrong during the first lab.  You can have students that hate each other working together.  Then you might have a group that every member is scared to do anything so nothing gets done. This list goes on, but all went well!  Thank goodness.

Cheesy Drop Biscuits with Garlic Butter

From Betty Crocker

• 2 cups of original Bisquick
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 Tablespoons margarine or butter melted
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  In a medium bowl mix Biquick and shredded cheese together.  Add milk.  Stir with fork until soft dough forms.  On a cookie sheet, drop dough by 10 to 12 spoonfuls about 2 inches apart.  I like to used parchment paper to line the baking sheet .  If you do not use the paper I would lightly grease the baking sheet because the cheese will cause the biscuits to stick.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.  In small bowl, stir butter and garlic powder until well mixed: brush on warm biscuits before removing from cookie sheet.  Serve warm.

Here are photos to show the steps:

2 cups of Bisquick and 1 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese

Mix Bisquick and cheese . Then add milk and stir until a soft dough forms

Place on baking pan and bake at 450 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

Mix 2 Tablespoons of melted butter with 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder

Brush butter and garlic powder on warm biscuits

Enjoy!

Happy cooking,

The Teacher Cooks

Today was a great day at school!  Especially after yesterday.  I was not sure I wanted to return.  But, alas I did and have to say it was a fulfilling day at that.  There are a few little projects  needing  some work, if you know what I mean.   What would teachers do if every student was perfect?  Some of my fellow teachers might say , “A lot!”   But in the end it might be quite boring.

We visited the media center today to explore the world of blogging and how it related to Nutrition and Wellness class.   As I monitored the class work,  I glanced at the computer screen next to me and asked,  ” How did you do that?”   It really amazes me the computer skills that my students  have.  Now I am in the other seat.  The slow learner!!!  The student is so encouraging, “ Oh, Mrs. L  let me show you how to do it.  It is just a click here and that is it.”   Now I am the student and he is the teacher.   I feel excited about learning something new and it gave this kid a big smile.

Throughout the semester my class will be commenting on many of the  posts.  The instructions are different each time but always they are to use good writing skills.  If you read the comments you will see that some are very good.  Some on the other hand could use improvement.

Let’s get to the baby corn muffins.  This is Paula Dean’s recipe.  I just kicked it up a bit with some jalepeno peppers.  They are quite easy to put together.  I can’t lie and tell you that they are healthy, but it is all about the size of the portion.  These are extremely small,  just don’t eat twelve!

Depending what size pans you use you could possibly make 48.  Don’t worry they freeze really well.  To reheat just wrap in foil  and place in the oven for about 10 minutes.  They can be reheated in the microwave wrapped in paper towel.

Here’s how you make them.  Enjoy!

Gather all the ingredients

1 1/4 cups of cornmeal and 2 teaspoons baking powder

Add 1/2 teaspoon salt

Then add 1 cup of sharp grated cheese, 1 8 oz. can of creamed corn, 1 cup sour cream, 1 4 oz. can chopped green chilies and I added 1 chopped jalapeno to add some heat.

Chilies, sour cream, corn and cheddar cheese are added then mix lightly.

Beat slightly 2 eggs and 1/2 canola oil and stir until combined. Do not overmix.

Put in greased mini muffin pan

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.   Just a note here about filling the pans.  The ones above are filled just a little too much.  It makes it very hard to get out of the pan.  At first I thought that I should put oil around the tops of the pan.  No!!  This did not help.  I did find that filling the pans 1/2 instead of 2/3 was the answer.  It just did not look as if it would be enough batter, but it will work  making them much easier to remove.

Enjoy!

Green Chili Corn Muffins

• 1 1/4 cups  cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 8 oz. can cream-style corn
• 1 cup sour cream
• 4 oz. chopped green chilies
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 eggs slightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease miniature muffin tins wih vegetable oil or cooking spray.

In a small bowl combine the cornmeal, salt, and baking powder.  Add the cheese, corn, sour cream, and chilies.  ( I stirred in minced jalapeno).  Stir until lightly combined.  Add the oil and eggs and stir until eveything is just combined.  Do not overmix.  The batter will be very stiff.  Place about 1/2 tablespoon of batter into each muffin cup.  Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.

Make 48 miniature muffins

Happy Cooking,

The Teacher Cooks

What are you putting together for your New Year’s Eve party?  Want something easy that really is good?    Here is a hot cheese dip that is sure to please most everyone!  Since October I have made this on four different occasions.   When carrying it to a party just bake it there.  It will be  better right out of the oven.  Let’s get cooking! 

Jar dried beef sour cream, bell pepper, onion, cream cheese and pecans (not shown)

Toast 1 cup pecans at 325 degrees for about 10-15 min.

Toast  about 1 cup of pecans in a tablespoon of butter in the oven at 325 degrees for about 10- 15 minutes.  If you don’t want to take the time to do this just leave this step out.  I just think that it brings out the flavor of the nuts. 

Cream softened cream cheese and sour cream together

 The next step is to finely chop bell pepper and onion.  Use an electric food chopper in order to get these really fine.   1/3 cup of bell pepper is needed and 1/4 cup of onion.  Sorry I did not take a picture of this.  I had company  and I am sure that I was talking.  

Finely chop a small jar of dried beef

Mix all ingredients except the toasted pecans.

Ready to bake 15 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees

Serve with a buttery cracker such as Townhouse.  Enjoy! 

I did not take a picture after cooking.  Again talking.  My sisters and my two nephews were here and I was so excited to see them that the picture just did not happen.  Trust me it is a beautiful light brown and bubbly when you take it out of the oven.  Watch yourself after tasting this.  You’ll be  planted  by the dish eating the dip with  cracker after cracker and no one else will be able to taste it.  That’s usually what I want to do.  It is that good! 

Hope you all have a Happy New Year!  And here is the recipe.  

Enjoy! 

The Teacher Cooks 

Hot Chipped Beef Dip 

• 1 small jar dried beef, cut finely
• 1/3 cup green pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
• 1 8-oz package cream cheese
• 1/2 pint sour cream
• 1/2 – 1 cup chopped pecans

Mix cream cheese and sour cream.  Stir in green pepper, onion and dried beef.  Put in a baking dish.  Top with pecans.  Bake 15 – 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  Serve with a buttery cracker such as Townhouse.

Almost perfect!!!

I love teaching!! No, I mean I really LOVE teaching! Today anyway. It makes my day when my students come into the classroom and can’t wait for me to call the roll because they are so eager to get busy with their assignment . There has to be a reason for this other than the fact that they are all starving.

I read something on Monday when I attended the Leonardo DiVinci exhibit that could be the reason for the eagerness . Di Vinci said, ” Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.” Could it be a spark of passion here that has created this excitement? I hope so.

 Cheese biscuits are the last of our quick bread labs and we go out with a perfect 10. As you look at the pictures you can see they did great! One group put the cheese in at the wrong time, but recovered very well. They learned from the first time not to add too much flour and surprisingly they were very good . We had a couple of equipment malfunctions. One oven was turned off by mistake and another did not heat properly.

 I now feel as if our lab is  a small reproduction of ” Top Chef” , because there is so much competition between the groups to be at the top of the post. It is quite comical. You would think that I am giving out money as an award. Competition is good, but I have to think of a way to tone this down before it ruins some friendships.

How do you prepare these little cheesy morsels? Check out Making Biscuits From Scratch and make one little change. Grate 1 1/2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese and add after cutting in the shortening.

Some information about grating cheese:

• Use a food processor
• Go ahead and grate a lot of it at one time
• Freeze what you don’t use

 You might ask why not save time and use pre-grated cheese? I am not totally against it but, it is dry and not as flavorful. It is more expensive, too.

 Okay I have to get to the gym . I ate more than my usual taste of each biscuit today. They were just sooo good that I could not resist. Hopefully I can STEP some of these calories off before they attach to my body as fat.

Enjoy the Bake-off pictures!

Happy Cooking,

The Teacher Cooks

Very Good

Here's what we are cooking up in our kitchens tomorrow!!

This is the last lab for quick breads.  It should be a good one.  They are all ready and eager.  Tune in tomorrow for the bake off!!!

Happy Cooking,

The Teacher Cooks