Parmesan Baby Cakes for Neal

Neal is our Parmesan aficionado. In his honor, we recently bought a twelve-pack of Kraft Parmesan  - the ones in the green containers - from Amazon when they had it on one of their Daily Deals. This recipe will help us use it up. As if Neal needs any help with that!

The recipe, adapted from  Patricia Wells' Salad as a Meal: Healthy Main-Dish Salads for Every Season, is supposed to be baked in a Cannele Mold. Don't happen to have one of those - sorry! - so I substituted a mini-muffin pan with lots of baking spray.

1 cup milk

1 1/2 Tablespoon butter

1 cup flour

1  cup Parmesan cheese

1 large egg, beaten

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup diced faux bacon, green olives, or whatever sounds good, optional


1 ) Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray your pan well. If you don't have a small mold pan of any type, use a regular muffin tin but only put a tablespoon or so of batter on each one.

2 ) In the microwave, heat butter and milk until the butter is melted and the milk is hot. Remove and whisk in flour, cheese, egg, salt and pepper.  Set the batter aside for half an hour or so to gel a bit.

3 ) Spoon the batter into the molds. Do not fill all the way! If you're using the extras, drop a few pieces in each mold.

4 ) Place your pan in the oven and bake until the cakes are a very deep golden brown, about 45 minutes. (Your time may vary, depending on the pan, the oven, and the Whims of the Kitchen Deity. Start  checking at 30  minutes, just to be sure!) Remove the little dears  and let them cool for about five minutes. Turn the cakes out onto a clean towel and let cool a few minutes before serving.


Makes about 18 little munchkins.

Mushrooms in Parmesan Sauce over Toast or Rice

This is delicious! Found it in an older cookbook long ago....I think it was The apartment vegetarian cookbook. I now make it pretty much from memory, since my copy deteriorated into a pile of sauce-covered pages long ago.

1 tablespoon margarine or butter
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 pound sliced mushrooms
A bit of salt and pepper
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 cup water or stock
1/2 cup ketchup or catsup or whatever it is...
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1 ) Saute onions and mushrooms in butter on medium heat until soft.

2 ) Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Add water and soy sauce a bit at a time until smooth. Cook a few minutes until it starts to thicken, stirring often. Stir in ketchup.

3 ) Slowly stir in Parmesan. Turn heat to low and let sit a few  minutes. Serve over toast or rice.

Yes, the ketchup sounds weird. But it's so good! Also works with chili sauce, spaghetti sauce, and even salsa!

Basic Seitan (Faux Meat)

Here is the basic recipe from the Bob's Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten package. Yummy, and very easy!

2 cups wheat gluten
1/2 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups water

Broth:
6 cups water
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1-2 fake chicken broth cubes

1 ) Bring the broth mixture to boil while you mix up the 2 cups water, flour and spices. Knead the dough for a few minutes.

2 ) Cut the dough into small pieces, about 1/4 the size of the pieces you'll need. Drop them into the broth and simmer for at least an hour. If you like, use a crockpot and cook on low for several hours. Drain and use in stir-fries, fry for sandwiches, etc.

Tater Tot Casserole for Lily

I served this for Lily, Joe, Eddie, Angie, Jason, and the normal householders here last week. Don't think Paul had any, but we never know...

Enough Tater Tots to cover the bottom of your pan (Hash browns can be used in a pinch)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cup sour cream (light works fine)
A bit of salt, pepper and nutmeg

1 1/2 cup corn flakes
2-3 tablespoons melted butter

1 ) Spray or grease a 7 x 11 inch pan or its equivalent. Arrange your tots on the bottom. If you'd like to save cooking time, microwave this for about 8 minutes while you stir up the filling and topping.

2 ) Stir together the soup, cheese, sour cream and seasonings. Try not to eat too much...it's pretty good!
Dump this on top of the tots.

3 ) Mix together the corn flakes and the butter or margarine. Dump on the top of the filling. Bake for 1/2 an hour - longer if you left the tots frozen - at 375 degrees.

This is easy to make ahead. If you don't have corn flakes, use broken crackers - saltines or cheesy ones - or even rice krispies.

Household hint...

... a warm laptop on the abdomen is just the thing for cramps!