Day 1 of The Cookbook Challenge

Okay, so I would really like to post my recipes daily, but I am teaching this pesky summer school class and between teaching it and planning for it, and taking my requisite daily nap in the summer, I don't seem to have as much time as I would like.

On Sunday, I made sloppy joes from the church cookbook, onions straws from Pioneer Woman's website and a Creamy Mojito Pie from the Bake-off Cookbook.

Sloppy Joes
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon vinegar

Cook and drain ground beef. Combine ketchup, water, lemon juice, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and vinegar. Stir until all ingredients are combined. Simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in meat.

The recipe as written also called for a teaspoon of salt. I added it, and found it to be overkill, so I am leaving it out of the recipe here. I also simmered the sauce for closer to 30 minutes, and then simmered the meat in the sauce for probably close to 30 minutes, too - not because it needed it, but because I was preparing the onion straws during that time period. I had not had sloppy joes in years, and these were delicious.


Here is the link to the onion straws recipe on Pioneer Woman's website...

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/03/onion-strings-oh-yeah-baby/

I followed her recipe exactly. These were work intensive, but really good.

I also made a dipping sauce for the onion straws, which was REALLY YUMMY.


Dipping Sauce for Onion Straws

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 tablespoons cream-style horseradish sauce
1/3 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pinch ground black pepper
1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to use.


The pie LOOKED and SMELLED delicious. Unfortunately, I didn't get to try any. I made it for Brad because he has recently become obsessed with the Mojito. He never ate any of it though, and so it sat, unloved, in my fridge for two days. I decided to give it a better life than I could provide and pawned it off on one of my friends. She said it has so far been a big hit among her family.

Creamy Mojito Pie
Crust:
1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed on box

Filling:
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup whole or 2% milk
1 (4 serving size) box vanilla instant pudding mix
1/2 cup frozen (thawed) limeade concentrate
1 1/2 teaspoons rum extract

Topping:
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon mint extract

Heat oven to 450F. Make pie crust as directed on box for One-Crust Baked Shell using a 9-inch glass pie plate. Bake 10 - 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely on a cooling rack, about 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on low speed until creamy. Add remaining filling ingredients; beat on low speed about 30 seconds or until blended. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally, until thickened and creamy.

Spoon filling evenly into pie crust; refrigerate while making topping.

In same bowl, beat topping ingredients on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Spread topping evenly over filling. Refrigerate 1 hour or until set.


On Monday and Tuesday, I ate leftover sloppy joes for lunch and dinner. On Wednesday night I made Cilantro-Lime Pork Roll-Ups with Caramelized Onions from the Bake-Off cookbook. I was unable to take a picture because I could not get my camera to recognize the new memory card I put in there. I still can't, but I figured out how to use the internal memory it has, so I have pictures of last night's dinner.