Brenda's Best- home food preservation and cooking lessons and More.
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A form of vegetable Tian, Simply a vegetable casserole side dish. Perfect for this time of year You can make as much or a little as you like, when I made this , It was for 2.... So you will need a baking dish, size according to the amount of people eating. I used my glass bread/ meatloaf pan, a square baking dish is the best. No need to grease the pan. You will need a med or larger Zucchini, sliced about 1/4 inch thick A couple large ripe tomatoes, sliced the same thickness a large potatoes , sliced the same salt and pepper to season fresh or dried thyme leaves Shredded cheese of your choice, as long as it melts. A sharper cheese is a good choice, mozzarella or aged gouda would be good as well I used some finely grated parmesan cheese. Place your sliced veggies standing up in the pan, You can do any order as long as it it alternated. I did Zucchini, tomato, potato, salt pepper, thyme, repeat. You could also go Potato ,tomato, Zucchini. It matters not, just start with the firmer of the veggies, tomato in the middle. repeat until you fill the pan. Grate cheese over top of veggies. Cover with tinfoil, Bake at 350 for 45 min to an hour. Until the potato is soft. Uncover turn broiler on high for maybe 4 to 5 min, to brown cheese a little. Keep a close Eye on this, it will burn if not watching. let rest and serve.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021 everyone. This has been a rough year for so may of us. Here's to a prosperous, healthy, happy year a head . Love B.HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021 everyone. This has been a rough year for so may of us. Here's to a prosperous, healthy, happy year a head . Love B.

Merry Christmas to everyone !!! Have a safe and great day!!!

Stuffed peppers My daughter called me the other day asking for this recipe, it motivated me to make this and share it with you. You can of course increase this recipe to your needs. Make sure there is room between the peppers so the cook properly. Preheat oven to 350 degrees You will need 2 peppers, cut in half length wise, green or sweet, what ever works for you.... You will need: A shallow baking dish 1/2 lb ground meat 1/2 small onion diced, 2 cloves garlic minced 2 small slices bacon, cut in small strips 1 1/2 cups cooked rice ( cold) 1 can tomato sauce 1 can tomato soup 1/4 tsp salt and pepper each 1/2 tsp oregano divided in half 1/2 tsp dried basil, divided in half 1 cup cheese grated Cut pepper length wise, remove seeds and membrane. place in shallow baking dish, do not crowd in pan Brown meat and bacon in frypan, add onion, garlic. cook until onion is transparent. Add cooked rice, salt, pepper, half of oregano and basil. mix well. Mix tomato sauce and soup together with the remaining oregano and basil. Spoon about 1/2 cup into meat mixture, firmly into each pepper. Place into shallow baking dish, add just enough water to cover the bottom of pan. Cover with tinfoil tightly. Cook in a 350 degree oven for 30 min. Remove foil, spoon the remaining sauce over peppers, return to oven, bake another 15 to 20 min or until pepper are cooked soft. Remove again, put cheese on top. Return to oven. Put on Broil to melt cheese, brown slightly if you like.

SMOKED HALIBUT This is truly amazing: It is not smoked to the cooked stage, The best way to cook this is to leave it in the bag, thaw and poach it in the bag in a pot of simmering water for about 10 min. This way it doesn't dry out as halibut tends to do Step #1... Brine: 1 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup coarse/pickling brine 2 liters water dissolve the salt and sugar in the water, place fish in brine, Cover with a plate to submerge. place lid on. put in fridge for 2 days. Step #2 Remove fish from brine, rinse lightly in cold water. Pat dry with paper towel or a clean dry cloth. Place on oiled rack, place on a sheet pan, in the fridge. Make sure there is a gap for air to circulate around the fish, so it needs to be up off the bottom of the pan. let sit in fridge and air dry over night. This step is important, as this will create a bit of a sticky surface. This gives the smoke something to stick to, this ensures a good smoke. Step #3 Place fish on oiled smoker racks. If you don't oil the racks the fish will stick, what a mess. Smoke using preferably Alder for 4 hours. Remove when done. allow to cool in fridge. Vacuum seal or put in freezer bag, make sure as much air as possible is out. Too cook. leave fish in bag, thaw, place still in bag in a boiling pot of water, reduce heat to simmer, let sit 10 min. remove and take out of package.

Homemade Bacon This is probably the best bacon you will eat. A process and takes about a week . You will need to plan ahead for this. A smoker is a must of course, I use apple wood for mine. Maple or Hickory works well too.... You will need : A fairly deep non metal container with a lid. A Rubbermaid container works well. a small plate A rack and sheet pan ( this is for step #2 Pork belly, with or without the skin( rind) A sharp large fork or skewer to pierce the belly with Step #1 Brine: !/2 cup coarse /pickling salt 1 cup brown sugar. 2 liters cold water Put this in the plastic container and mix until all is dissolved. pierce pork belly all over, sides includes. This is to ensure that the brine penetrates the meat properly. Place the pork belly top down into the brine. cover with a small plate to submerge meat. You could also place plastic wrap on top . put on lid, place in fridge, this will brine for 3 days. 4 is ok too. turn meat 1/2 way through. Step #2 Remove from brine. pat dry with a paper towel or clean cloth. Now place on rack that is on a sheet pan. Place in fridge, uncovered this will air dry for 4 days. Step #3 Remove from fridge, place on oiled racks for the smoker. Smoke for 6 hours, I like to smoke for 4 hours, let it sit in the fridge over night. Then smoke another 2 hours the next day. You don't want it to start to render . ( melt fat). Place back in fridge overnight. Package the next day. I prefer to vacuum seal mine, but a regular freezer bag works. This bacon has amazing keeping length. It is because of the curing( Brining) and drying steps.