Poppy Seed Chicken...YUM!

On Tuesday I had a long lunch with an golden friend & one of our topics of conversation was (of course!) food. I lamented about the "what's for dinner?" older than dirt phrase & decided it had to be chicken. She quickly jumped in and wrote down this recipe for me:

Poppy Seed Chicken

4 breasts of chicken, cut to bite size, browned & seasoned

Spray a 9" pan, & layer with the following mixture:

1-can cr. of chicken soup

1-8 oz container sour cream whisk together

1/2 soup can of milk

Top w/mixture of :

1 pkg. Ritz crackers

1 stick of butter

& 2 tsp. poppy seeds

Bake at 350 till bubbly & crust is golden in color. Serve over your choice of pasta, rice or wild rice.

Well, it was totally delicious, with a nice variety of texture. I decided to make my dish more WW friendly, so I used 98% fat free cream of chicken soup, lite sour cream...& I reduced the butter to 3 T. & the crackers to approximately 1/2 pkg. Not only did it taste good, but it looked good when placed on top of our penne pasta...I can envision it served with steamed asparagus and glazed carrots for a truly appetizing and colorful presentation. Enjoy!

Swedish Brandy Butter Pound Cake

This recipe is from my cookbook, "The Great Scandinavian Baking Book," (Beatrice Ojakangas):

Swedish Brandy Butter Pound Cake

Note from author:

"Although the name is literally translated "sand cake," this cake is really not dry and sandy but is rich and buttery with an even crumb. The original recipe is made with potato flour, but I tried it with cake flour, which resulted in a delicately textured, smooth-grained pound cake."

1 cup butter, room temp.

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

2 T. brandy

2 cups cake flour

2 tsp. baking powder

4 T. water

powdered sugar

Butter a 9 inch fancy tube-type pan. Dust with flour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until smooth and blended. Add the eggs (Lois' note: I would have the eggs at room temp, too, as the cold eggs encourage the butter to separate & lump-up.) and brandy and beat until light and lemon colored. Combine the flour and baking powder. Mix into cake batter and beat until smooth and light, adding water a tablespoon at a time. Pour into prepared pan & bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven, let cool into pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack & cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar before serving. Enjoy!

Scandinavian Baking

Recently, I have had a resurgence of interest in my heritage and culture. Possibly some of my interest has to do with being around my mother, Hildur, more, and looking through her geneology book, and the realization that she will not be around forever. Hildur is 85 years old and has had a year+ of medical issues, but her mind is sharp & her body willing for the most part. Anyway, I am off track...yesterday my husband, Dale & I decided that we would scout around at our local "Grandma's Attic," an antique shop in Bemidji. Dale collects the magazine, "Fur, Fish & Game," and I just like to look and occasionally buy something unique or fun. Well, Dale hit the jackpot with 8 issues of his favorite magazine and I found a small box with 14 little tart pans in a set, Sandbakkel Set ((Ekte Norsk)...well, how could I pass that up?? And, it was only $4, so it was a given that it would come home with me, and there also was a recipe inside the box! See enclosed picture.

The Sand Bakkels are a shortening, egg, flour, etc. mixture that you press into each little tart and bake for 15 minutes, cool, and then you can fill these little tarts with different variations...pie filling, ice cream, baked custard...so, I plan on trying this sometime during the holiday season. Recipe follows...if you are inclined to make them, too!

Sand Tarts

1 cup shortening (1/2 butter)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg, unbeaten

1 tsp. almond extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Cream shortening & butter, add sugar & cream well. Add egg & extract. Add flour to make a stiff dough. Pinch off a small ball of dough. Place it in the center of the tin and with your thumb press dough evenly on inside of sand bakkel tin, spreading it as thin as possible on the bottom of and side of tin. Place filled tins on cookie sheet. Bake in moderate oven (375) for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool before removing from tins. To remove from tin, invert the tin and tap gently. Fill with fruit topped with whipped cream or ice cream, pudding or custard. Enjoy!