BRAISED SIRLOIN TIPS

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1 (2 lb) beef sirloin tip, cut into 1” cubes
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 (10 ½ oz) can beef broth
1/3 cup red burgundy wine OR cranberry juice cocktail
2 tbs soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ cup water
2 tbs cornstarch
4 cups hot cooked rice

Brown the beef tips on all sides in vegetable oil in a large heavy skillet.

Add broth, wine, soy sauce, garlic and onion powder and mix well.

Bring beef mixture to a boil.

Reduce heat.

Simmer, covered, until the beef is tender, about 1 hour.

Combine water and cornstarch in a small bowl and mix well.

Add the cornstarch mixture gradually to the beef mixture, stirring continually.

Cook, stirring continually, until gravy thickens and boils for 1 minute.

Serve over rice.

8 servings

EASY LEMON CAKE

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1 (18 ¼ oz) two-layer yellow OR lemon cake mix (without pudding mix preferred)
1 (3.4 oz) pkg instant lemon pudding and pie filling
4 eggs
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
grated peel and juice of 1 lemon (3 tbs juice)
lemon glaze (recipe follows)

In a large bowl, combine cake and pudding mixes, eggs, water, oil and lemon juice with an electric mixer at low speed 30 seconds. Beat at medium speed 2 minutes longer. Stir in lemon peel. Pour batter into a well-greased and lightly floured bundt pan or 10” tube pan.

Bake at 350 degrees 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack 15 minutes. With a narrow spatula or knife, loosen around the tube and sides and invert onto a cake plate. While still warm, pierce top all over with a long two-prong fork or wooden skewer. Spread top with half of the lemon glaze. Cool completely. Spoon remaining glaze over cake, allowing some to drizzle over the sides.

16 servings

EASY LEMON GLAZE: In a small bowl, combine 1 cup 10x sugar, juice of ½ a lemon (1 ½ tbs) and ½ tbs water.

CHICKEN AND RICE SOUP

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1 lb leftover chicken OR turkey, deboned, cubed
1 small onion, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
3 stalks celery, sliced
1 cup brown rice, cooked
1 cup white rice, cooked (OR UNCOOKED minute rice)
2 chicken bouillon cubes
¼ cup butter OR margarine
2 tsp parsley flakes

Combine all ingredients in a large crockpot and cook on HIGH 4 hours or on LOW overnight.

10 STEPS TO SENSATIONAL CAKES

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Preheat your oven for 10-15 minutes before you plan to bake.

Buy an oven thermometer and check your oven routinely to see if it’s baking at the correct temperature. If cakes are browning quickly, it may run hot. If cakes are not done by the maximum baking time, it may run cold.

Place the oven rack in the center position.

Read the recipe and be sure to use the correct pan size.

Measure liquid by placing a liquid-ingredient measuring cup on the kitchen counter, pouring liquid in the cup, and checking the measurement at eye level.

Measure dry ingredients (sugar, for example) by spooning them into dry measuring cups and leveling off the top with a dinner knife. When you measure brown sugar, pack it into the cup before leveling it off.

Blend the batter for the time specified, and use a hand or standard mixer set on low or medium speed. If beating by hand, beat at the rate of 150 strokes per minute, resting as needed.

Check the cake for doneness, looking for browning in light-colored cakes, pressing the top to see if it springs back, seeing if the cake is starting to pull away from the sides of the pan, and inserting a toothpick in the center to see if it comes out clean.

Allow 10-15 minutes for cake layers to cool before inverting onto a rack. Tube and bundt cakes need 20 minutes.

Unless the cake is to be glazed while hot, let layer, bundt, tube, and sheet cakes cool completely, then frost.

HIGH-ALTITUDE CAKES

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An area with an altitude over 3500 feet is considered high altitude. This is where there is less air pressure and less humidity, and these two factors create havoc for cake bakers. The reduction in air pressure causes less resistance to the leavening action in the batter. Thus, cake batter may overflow from the pan, the cake may bake right out of the pan, or it may fall flat.

In high-altitude baking, you don’t want as tender a cake because it will over-rise, so be wary of cakes with a lot of added sugar and oil. Often a little flour is added to a recipe to make it heavier. The oven temperature should be increased so that the batter sets up more quickly and doesn’t overflow.

Layer cakes should be baked in 9” pans, NEVER 8” pans or they would overflow. And absolutely DO NOT BAKE CAKES THAT HAVE MARSHMALLOWS ADDED TO THE MIX! They’ll blow up from the high sugar content. Finally, grease the pans well because high-altitude cakes are more likely to stick.

COCONUT PECAN BARS

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¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter OR margarine, softened, divided
1 ¼ cups sugar, divided
½ cup PLUS 3 tbs flour, divided
1 ½ cups finely chopped pecans, divided
2 lg eggs
1 tbs vanilla
1 ¾ cups m&m’s chocolate mini baking bits, divided
1 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13”x9”x2” baking pan; set aside. Melt ¼ cup butter. In a large bowl, combine ¾ cup sugar, ½ cup flour and ½ cup pecans; add melted butter and mix well. Press mixture into bottom of prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes or until set; cool slightly. In a large bowl, cream remaining ½ cup butter and ½ cup sugar; beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine 1 cup m&m’s and remaining 3 tbs flour; stir into creamed mixture. Spread mixture over cooled crust. Combine coconut and remaining 1 cup pecans; sprinkle over batter. Sprinkle remaining ¾ cup m&m’s over coconut and pecans; pat down lightly. Bake 25-30 minutes or until set. Cool completely. Cut into bars. Store in a tightly covered container.

Makes 24 bars

CHEESEBURGER NOODLE CASSEROLE

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1 lb ground beef
8 oz spaghetti, uncooked
1 (14.5 oz) can peeled and diced tomatoes
1 packet dry onion soup mix
1 cup sour cream
½ tsp dried basil
¼ tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute the ground beef for 5 minutes, or until browned.

Drain excess fat.

Prepare the spaghetti according to package directions.

Drain water.

In a 2 qt casserole, combine the browned beef, cooked spaghetti, tomatoes, onion soup mix, sour cream, basil, garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste.

Mix together well.

Cover dish and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Top with the cheese and bake, uncovered, for 15 more minutes.

4 servings

BEER STEAK

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4 (½ lb) rib-eye steaks OR steak of choice
2 tbs sea salt
2 tbs lemon pepper
2 (12 oz) cans OR bottles of beer of choice

Place the steaks in a large, shallow container with a lid.

Season each side with the salt and lemon pepper.

Gently pour the beer over the steaks making sure the seasoning doesn’t wash off.

Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Preheat grill for high heat.

Lightly oil grill grate.

Place steaks on grill and discard beer marinade.

Cook for 5 minutes per side, or to desired doneness.

4 servings

MISSISSIPPI NILLA MUD CAKE

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1 ½ cups margarine OR butter, divided
4 eggs
1 cup unsweetened cocoa, divided
2 cups sugar
1 ½ cups flour
1 ¼ cups pecans, chopped
¼ tsp salt
3 cups mini marshmallows
35 nilla vanilla wafers
1 (1 lbs) pkg 10x sugar
½ cup milk
½ tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat 1 cup margarine or butter, eggs and ½ cup cocoa in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until well combined. Blend in sugar, flour, pecans and salt. Spread batter into a greased 13”x9”x2” baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until cake pulls away from the sides of the pan.

Sprinkle the marshmallows over the hot cake; return to the oven for 2 minutes or until marshmallows are slightly puffed. Arrange vanilla wafers over marshmallow layer.

Beat remaining ½ cup margarine or butter, 10x sugar, remaining ½ cup cocoa, milk and vanilla in a medium bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth; spread immediately over wafer layer. Cool cake completely on a wire rack. Cut into squares to serve.

24 servings

BEEF STROGANOFF CASSEROLE

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1 lb lean ground beef
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 tsp vegetable oil
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 lg onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup dry white wine
1 can cream of mushroom soup
½ cup sour cream
1 tbs dijon mustard
4 cups egg noodles, cooked
fresh parsley, chopped, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 13”x9”x2” baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Place beef in a large skillet.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Brown beef over medium-high heat until no longer pink, stirring to separate.

Drain fat from skillet.

Set beef aside.

Heat oil in same skillet over medium-high heat until hot.

Add mushrooms, onions and garlic.

Cook and stir 2 minutes or until onion is tender.

Add wine.

Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 3 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Stir in soup, sour cream and mustard until combined.

Return beef to skillet.

Place noodles in prepared dish.

Pour beef mixture over noodles.

Stir until noodles are well coated.
Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes or until heated through.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley, if desired.

6 servings