Welcome to My Kitchen

Welcome to all in our expanded readership. The Welcome to My Kitchen column first appeared in The Odessa Record on March 11, 2004, as a monthly feature. Within a month, by reader request, the column expanded to twice monthly and several months later became the bi-weekly column it is today.

The purpose of this column is to share recipes and kitchen tips with fellow readers. You are invited to share your favorite recipes by sending them to the addresses listed at the end of this column. Recipes will be credited to the submitter and their town noted. I like to try all the recipes before printing, just to make sure I have all ingredients and directions accurate.

Now, to the good stuff. We lead off with French Silk Brownie Pie, submitted by Chelsea Watson, Odessa. Easy to prepare, you may make a day ahead, adding the whipped topping a few hours before serving. Chelsea found the recipe on emeals.com.

French Silk Brownie Pie

1 refrigerated piecrust (half the package)

1 package (16 ounces) fudge brownie mix, plus eggs and cooking oil listed on package

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 bar (4 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

2 cartons (8 ounces each) frozen whipped topping, thawed

Grated chocolate for garnish, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll piecrust and fit in the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate.

Prepare brownie batter according to the package directions. Pour batter into the piecrust. Bake 20 minutes or until brownie layer is done. Cool completely.

Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in melted chocolate. Gently stir in one carton of the whipped topping. Spoon over brownie layer and chill 4 hours.

Spread the remaining carton of whipped topping over the chocolate layer and garnish with grated chocolate if desired. Yield: 6-8 servings.

A sneak peek at spring weather turned my mind to salads. Tuna Egg Salad seemed to fit ingredients on hand. This is a combination of several recipes in my collection.

Spring Tuna Egg Salad

Dressing:

1/2-3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 Tbsp prepared mustard

1/2 tsp paprika

Salad:

3 cans (5 ounces each) chunk or albacore tuna, drained

1 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped dill pickle

1/8 tsp onion powder

6 hard cooked eggs, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, combine dressing ingredients, stirring until completely blended.

In a large bowl combine all salad ingredients. Stir in dressing, mixing until salad ingredients are evenly coated with dressing. Note: use the smaller amount of mayonnaise for salad. Use the larger amount if using as a sandwich filling. Yield: 4-6 servings.

Winter returned, so I tried a recipe for Tuna Shepherds Pie I found on the Australian Women's Weekly Food site. The recipe came in grams, but I converted to pounds, and changed some amounts to suit taste.

Tuna Shepherds Pie

1 3/4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped

4 Tbsp butter, divided

3/4 cup, plus 1 1/2 cups milk

1 large leek or 4 green onions, thinly sliced, pale part only

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

8 ounces frozen mixed vegetables

2 cans (4 ounces each) tuna, drained and flaked

2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill, or 1/2 tsp dried dill weed

1 crust pastry for 9-inch pie

Place potatoes in a large saucepan with water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook 10 minutes or until tender. Drain and return to pan. Place over low heat, add 2 Tbsp butter and 3/4 cup milk. Mash until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, melt remaining butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add leek or onion. Cook stirring often for 3 minutes or until softened. Add flour and stir, cooking 1 minute. Gradually whisk in remaining milk and cook, whisking briskly about 3 minutes or until sauce thickens and bubbles. Stir in frozen vegetables, tuna and dill. Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper.

Cool mixture while you preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line pie plate with pastry crust. Crimp pasty edge and prick the crust with a fork. Bake 10 minutes or until lightly golden.

Spoon cooled tuna mixture into pastry shell, top with mashed potatoes. Bake 25 minutes or until potatoes are golden. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Yield: 6 servings.

With St. Patrick's Day less than two weeks away, Irish Beef Stew, attributed to Teena Wagner, Waterloo, ON in the Fix-it and Forget-it Cookbook, compiled by Dawn J. Ranck and Phyllis Pellman Good, is a quick-to-prepare recipe set to cook all day in your slow cooker.

Irish Beef Stew

2 pounds stew meat, cubed

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) condensed tomato soup

1 soup can water

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

2 cups diced carrots

2 cups diced potatoes

1 pound frozen green peas

Combine all ingredients except the peas in your slow-cooker crock. Cover and cook on low 8 hours.

Add frozen peas and cook one more hour. Serve with your favorite bread. Yield 4-6 servings.

Please share your favorite recipes with your fellow readers by sending them to: Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Odessa Record, P.O. Box 458, Odessa, WA 99149, email therecord@odessaoffice.com or drop them in the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in The Odessa Record office. Follow Welcome to My Kitchen on Facebook for cooking tips, photos and recipes I run out of room for in the column. Unless you have a greenhouse to carry seedlings along, it is still too early to be starting garden and flower seeds.