Basic Cooking Class II

Better late than never with these delicious and easy recipes for lunch from Lana Bizzieri. Truly, I am sorry this has taken so long.

Sauce for Macaroni and Cheese

2 Tbls a/p flour
2 Tbls margarine or butter
1 c milk

Melt butter in small saucepan; add flour and stir until it is thoroughly blended with flour; slowly whisk milk into mixture. Continue stirring until lightly boiling.

At this point add whatever cheese you are using. If doubling size of recipe - rule of thumb is one cup of cheese for every cup of milk.

Boil macaroni per instructions.

Cheesy Broccoli Casserole

1 pkg frozen chopped broccoli, 10 ounce pkg, thawed and drained*
1 c sour cream
1 c cottage cheese
1/2 c bisquick baking mix
1/4 c margarine, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 c parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease/spray the casserole dish. Spread broccoli in dish. Beat sour cream, cottage cheese, bisquick margarine and eggs with a hand mixer. Pour mixture over broccoli and sprinkle with parmesan.
Bake until golden brown and center is solid, about 30 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

*You can use a larger package of broccoli, if you wish. Lana has used as much as a 16 ounce package and she still has enough mixture to cover the broccoli.

Mayonnaise

1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbls lemon juice
1 Tbls vinegar
1 egg, unbeaten
1 c canola oil

Add lemon juice and vinegar to dry ingredients; mix. Add egg and 1/3 c oil; beat until mixture begins to thicken. Add another 1/3 c of the oil, bet 1 minute, add rest of oil, and beat 1 additional minute.

Pita Snacks

1 Tbls parsley
2 Tbls Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
1 Tbls margarine
1 package of pita pockets

Melt margarine. Combine herbs and add to melted margarine. Brush on whole pita pockets. Cut into wedges. Bake at 400 degrees for 9 minutes.

Soda Crackers

2 c a/p flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 c butter
1/2 c buttermilk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift together flour, salt and soda. Cut in butter. Stir in buttermilk and egg mixing until liquid is absorbed. Knead dough for 5 minutes on lightly floured surface. Roll half the dough at a time into a rectangle 1/8 inch thick. Place on a sprayed baking sheet. Cut into 2 inch squares. Prick dough with a fork. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned. Store in airtight container. Makes 60 crackers.

Cream Puffs

Filling
2/3 c sugar
4 Tbls cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
4 c milk
4 egg yolks, slightly beaten
4 Tbls butter, soften
4 tsp vanilla

Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in a 2 quart saucepan. Stir milk, gradually. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat stir in butter and vanilla. Cool before filling cream puff shells.

Shells
1 c water
1/2 c margarine or butter
1 c a/p flour
4 eggs

Heat water and margarine to rolling boil in saucepan. Stir in flour. Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth after each one. Drop dough about 3 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet or use parchment paper.

Bake at 350 degrees until puffed and golden approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in place away from a draft. Cut off tops. Remove any fragments of soft dough. Fill with filling. Replace tops. Dust with powdered sugar or chocolate.