Recipes: Hunt for a King's Feast

Appetizers can be served either at the start of a meal or at a reception or party. I would like to share a few tips with you about Appetizers & Party Foods.

Salsa has become a very popular food. Very tasty and salsa contains little or no fat.
I have a salsa recipe given to me by a friend on the Appetizer recipe lens. You can mix equal amounts of re-fried beans and top with cheese or sour cream for a little variety. Salsa may be heated in a microwave and served hot for a warm treat.

If you are on a low fat diet, try baked chips or baked pretzels as an alternative to potato or corn chips. The salsa will make up for any loss of taste from baked chips rather than fried.

Cut raw vegetables arranged on a tray make a decorative and colorful appetizer . Salad dressings make easy vegetable dips. I have several salad dressing recipes available.

Cream cheese is a very versatile food. To build a quick appetizer top cream cheese with any of the following: pepper jelly, drained small shrimp, pickle relish, or chives with a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Then serve with your favorite cracker or thin-sliced toast.

Suggested fruit and cheese combinations:
Cheddar, Provolone and Camembbert with pineapple, grapes, pears and walnuts
Brie, Monterey Jack and Feta with tangerines, strawberries, and dried prunes
Colby, Gjetost, Emmenthaler and Roquefort with apricots, pineapple and plums

Tips for Tossed Salads

Wash greens, drain and dry well before storing.
To core lettuce, smack head down hard on counter top,
then twist core out.
Marinate tomato wedges separately in a vinaigrette
before adding to salad.
Tear greens instead of cutting with a knife.
Remove waxy skins of store bought cucumbers
before slicing.

Additional Items you can add to Salads

Pimento
Green Peppers
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Chicken
Crab Meat
Sliced Boiled Eggs
Radishes
Carrots
Celery
Cooked Beets
Tomatoes
Grated Cheese
Crumbled Bacon
Pineapple Tidbits
Pickled Beans
Bean Sprouts

For healthier salads use darker greens such as
radicchio, Boston, Romaine or Spinach.

Season with herbs instead of salt.

You can substitute yogurt for sour cream
in your dressing recipes.

Pickles and olives are high in salt content.

Vegetable oils such as olive, sunflower or canola
have less fat and they are much lower in cholesterol.
Use these oils when preparing salad dressing recipes.

Check those Canning Jars:
Before you begin to can, your jars, rings, and seals must be checked. Discard and replace any that have cracks or nicks. Your rings must be free from dents and rust. Once you have inspected your jars, rings, and seals, wash them in hot, soapy water and rinse well. Then place jars in boiling water for 10-15 minutes. Keep your jars in hot water until ready to use. Boil lids according to package instructions.

Hot Pack:
Preheat vegetables in water or steam. Cover with cooking liquid or boiling water. Use the cooking liquid if possible, because it has more vitamins and minerals in it from the vegetables. If the cooking liquid is dark, gritty or strong-flavored, or simply not enough left, then use boiling water.

Cold Pack:
Pack cold raw vegetables (not corn, Lima beans, or peas)
tightly into containers and cover with boiling water.

Always wipe jar rim clean after food is packed.

To move jars around, use a jar lifter or long-handled canning tongs. Place jars on a rack or towel, allowing at least 2 inches of air space on all sides so jars may cool evenly.

When canning pickles, use white vinegar to make
clear pickles and coarse salt. Avoid using iodized salt.

Biscuits:
Too Rough=Insufficient Mixing
Too Dry=Baked in too slow an oven or handled too much
Uneven Browning=Cooking in dark surface pan, too high a temperature or rolling the dough too thin

Yeast Breads:
Porous=Over-rising or baked at too low a temperature
Crust is blistered or dark just under the crust=Under-rising
Bread didn't rise=Old yeast or Over-kneading
Bread is streaked=Under-kneading or not kneading evenly
Bread baked unevenly=Too much dough in pans, or using old, dark pans, or crowding on oven rack, or cooked at too high a temperature.

Muffins:
Too coarse texture=Insufficient stirring or cooked at too low a temperature
Tunnels in muffins, or peaks in centers, or soggy texture=Over mixing

Water or milk are most often used for breads. Water makes the crust crisp, Milk makes the crust soft and a creamy-white crumb. The liquid must be at the correct temperature, too hot and it kills the yeast, too cold and the dough will take too long to rise.

Eggs soften the crust and give breads a fine crumb. Eggs added to yeast dough add flavor, color, and nutrition.

Fats like butter, margarine, shortening, lard, or salad oil can also improve flavor and they make the dough stretch more. Fats give the bread a tender crumb and will stay soft longer.

To test yeast:
Before using yeast, mix some into 1/4 cup of lukewarm water that has been enriched with 1/4 teaspoon of sugar. The yeast mixture should start to bubble within 5-10 minutes. If it does not, you have dead yeast.

To test the rising of yeast dough, after dough doubles, press two fingertips 1/2 inch into dough, a dent remains. If dent fills in quickly, let dough rise 15 minutes longer, then test again.

To glaze bread before baking:
Dark, shiny glaze=brush on 1 beaten egg yolk
Shine with no color=brush on 1 egg white beaten with one tablespoon water
Light Shiny glaze=beat whole egg or brush on melted butter

All ingredients for bread making should be at room temperature.

Breads store in a cool, dry place best. They will go stale inside of a refrigerator more quickly. Kept in a freezer, bread will be good for about 3 months if you wrap tightly and press as much air out as possible.

Using a Candy Thermometer:

Check candy thermometer in boiling water. Should register 212 degrees, if it doesn't, add or subtract same number of degrees in recipe. Make sure thermometer is covered with liquid, not foam. Clip it to side of pan after the syrup boils.

Cold-Water Testing:

Remove candy from heat. Drop a little syrup into small bowl of very cold water, but not ice cold. Use a fresh cupful of cold water for each test. Form into ball with fingers, if possible.

Thread Stage=Syrup spins 2 inch thread when dropped from spoon. 230-234 degrees

Soft Ball Stage=Candy will roll into soft ball but quickly flattens when removed from water, 234-240 degrees

Firm Ball=Candy will roll into a firm ball(but not hard) which will not lose its shape when removed from water, 244-248 degrees

Hard Ball=Syrup forms hard ball, but it is pliable, 250-266 degrees

Light Crack=Candy will form threads in water which will soften when removed from water, 270-290 degrees

Hard Crack=Candy will form hard, brittle threads in water that do not soften when removed from water, 300-310 degrees

Caramelized=Sugar first melts, then becomes golden brown and forms a hard, brittle ball in cold water, 310-321 degrees

Anything that grows above ground,
start off in boiling water-corn, greens, beans, etc.

Anything that grows below ground,
start off in cold water, potatoes, beets, carrots, etc.

Cooking in cast iron boosts iron intake.

When rolling cookie dough, sprinkle powdered sugar
instead of flour. Too much flour can make dough too heavy.

When freezing cookies with a frosting, place them in freezer
unwrapped for about 2 hours, so that they don't stick together,
then remove and wrap them.

To make a mold release easier, pour water into a mold
and then drain before pouring in mixture to be chilled.

If soup tastes salty, drop a raw piece of potato into
the pot, it will absorb the salt.

Vinegar brought to a boil in a new frying pan will
keep food from sticking.

Rub the side of an onion that has been cut in half
with butter so that it will store freshly in refrigerator longer.

Store your popcorn in the freezer to eliminate kernels that don't pop.

To test the freshness of dried herbs, rub them between
your hands. If there is no smell they are no longer good.

To cut down wild flavor in wild meats, cook them with onions.

To remove fish odors from hands or dish cloths, use
one teaspoon baking soda to a quart of water.

You can cut a meringue pie evenly, by coating both
sides of the knife with butter.

To clean tarnish from copper pots, rub with
catsup(ketchup) or Worcestershire sauce.

To clean aluminum post when they are stained dark,
merely boil with a little cream of tartar, or vinegar, or acidic foods.

Baking powder removes tea or coffee stains from china.

Put a tablespoon in the water when boiling rice,
dried beans, pasta. The butter will help keep the
water from boiling over. Then rinse with cold water
to get the starch out.

Hard boiled eggs will peel easier if cracked and placed
in cold water immediately after taking out of the hot water.

To determine whether an egg is fresh, without breaking
the shell, immerse in cool salted water. If egg sinks to
the bottom it is fresh. If egg rises to top throw it away.

Dip spoon in hot water before measuring lard, butter,
or shortening: it will make it slip off the spoon more easily.

Put flour in a salt shaker and sue for dusting cake pans, meat, etc.

For baking cakes, use shiny metal pans. Avoid dull, dark
or enamel pans, they can cause uneven and over browning.
If you are using glass or porcelain coated aluminum pans,
reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees F. Make sure
pans are not touching each other or the sides of the oven,
good air flow is important for baking properly.

The pointed end of a bottle opener makes deveining shrimp easier.

A good new spice for your appetizers: mix together
2 1/2 teaspoons each of paprika, dry mustard, garlic powder,
and 5 teaspoons onion powder, and 1/2 teaspoon ground
black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon celery seed. Put all in a
shaker and use instead of salt.

Bake potatoes in half the time by letting them stand in
boiling water for 15 minutes before putting them in a
very hot oven.

When cooking cabbage, broccoli or brussel sprouts,
put a heel of bread on top before putting the lid on
the pot to prevent odors. Remove the bread after cooking.

A little lemon juice in the water will keep cauliflower from discoloring.

Lettuce leaves absorb fat. Place a few into the pot and
watch the fat cling to them.

Seeds add flavor to your dishes.

Caraway is tangy and slightly sweet.
Dill is pungent and strong in flavor.
Sesame is sweet and nutty in flavor.
Cardamon is spicy.
Fennel has a licorice flavor.
Cumin is slightly bitter.

Too much sugar in your recipe, add a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar.

Use a pizza cutter to cut bars or bar-cookies.

The more egg yolks in doughnut dough, the less grease they will absorb.

After mixing doughnut dough, place in the refrigerator for an hour to make the dough easier to handle.

Keep your doughnuts from burning by adding a few potato slices to the oil.

To keep granulated sugar from lumping, place a couple of saltine crackers in the container and cover tightly.

Fudge won't "Sugar" when you add a dash of cream of tarter.

Oil the measuring cup with cooking oil and rinse in hot water before measuring syrups or honey.

My Grandmother worked for many years as the weather person for Chickasaw State Park here in Tennessee. I remember going with her and watching her check temperatures, measure rain and snow and check the various other gauges. She did this every day and would then radio in the measurements.

She and my Grandfather lived next to the Fire Tower. My Grandfather was the Forest Ranger for many years and as a very young man, he helped build Chickasaw Lake. The park now has a Golf Course, camp grounds, horses you can rent and several trails you can explore. My Grandfather named most of the trails after the families that used to live there many years ago. Pa King passed away several years ago, we will always miss him.

Something else you might find interesting, my Grandmother's Great-great grandmother was Andrew Jackson's Aunt. I honestly don't know if any of the recipes originated from her, but it is possible.