Looking for an appetizer to bring to a holiday party? Tired of the same-old-same-old?  Try something zesty and bold . . . this spicy black bean dip is sure to keep your party warm on a cold winter night!

Spicy Black Bean Dip

1 15-ounce can black beans
3 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons cumin
3-4 shakes of hot sauce (optional)
1 teaspoon fresh or canned jalapeno, finely diced
1 tablespoon grated onion
Salt and pepper to taste
Sour cream and cilantro for garnish

First, drain the black beans, reserving their liquid in a bowl.

In the bowl of your food processor, combine the beans, the garlic, the cumin, and the hot sauce. Blend until smooth. Adjust the texture to your liking by using the reserved bean liquid to thin the dip. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with sour cream and cilantro, and serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

Happy Blogiversary, Vintage Victuals!

One year ago today, my humble blog made its delicious debut.  As a token of thanks for making this blog more than I ever dreamed it would be, I am celebrating with a great giveaway!!

The winner of the giveaway will receive THREE of my brand new VV Mixes of your choice, available through the VV Etsy shop.

Nutty Fudge Brownie Mix

These mixes are all hand-crafted, gourmet-quality recipes carefully layered in mason jars and decorated for the holidays.  They are all personally assembled by yours truly in a certified, licensed commercial kitchen.  They make a great gift for friends and teachers, or a special treat for you and your family.  All require the addition of 3 easy ingredients or less, and come with straight-forward instructions so that anyone can savor the timeless tastes of Vintage Victuals in the comfort of their own kitchen!

Gingerbread Boys Mix

Here’s how to enter!

1. Leave a comment on  this post = 1 entry

2. Add the Vintage Victuals Etsy Shop as a “Favorite” through your Etsy account = 2 entries

3. Add the Vintage Victuals Button (code is on the right) to your blog = 3 entries

4. Write a post on your own blog about this giveaway, linking back to this post = 4 entries

NOTE: Be sure to tell me which of the above you have done in your comment on this post so that I know how many entries to give you!  Also, please provide links, where applicable, to your own blog!

Buttermilk Spice Cake

All entries will be completed and tallied by

10:00 AM EST on Tuesday, December 1, 2009!

A winner will be announced that evening!

Good luck, and happy blogiversary to all my dear readers!!!

There is nothing my husband loves more than a dinner of plain ol’ pinto beans and cornbread.  In fact, his family still loves to tease us, saying that they know I was “the one” for him when I sat down on a dusty roadside at a fall festival a few months after we first met, and ate pinto beans and cornbread with him for lunch.  I didn’t think much of it at the time – I just thought it was a pretty yummy lunch.

So here is the recipe that my husband loves most.  Enjoy!

Pinto Beans and Cornbread

2 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed with cool water
Water
3/4 cup diced ham
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped onion
Cornbread

Pour your rinsed beans into a large pot.  Cover with water about 2-3 inches above the tops of the beans.  Cover and allow to soak overnight.

The next day, drain the beans in a colander.  Return them to the pot, and cover with fresh water, at least 1 inch above the tops of the beans.  Add the diced ham.  Simmer the beans on low for 4-5 hours, or until the beans are nice and tender.  Alternatively, you can cook the beans on low in the crock pot for about 6 hours.

After the beans have cooked, season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, sprinkle each serving with salt on top and fresh diced onions.  Serve with cornbread to soak up all the delicious broth!

Well, dear readers, this is a *first* for me.  I am loathe to share any recipes with you here that involve cake mixes, pudding mixes, and the like – even if they are doctored up quite a bit.  I don’t know why, but I just tend to be of the mind that these creations cannot compare to a from-scratch style of cake.

With that disclaimer, I will tell you that the recipe I am about to share with you is a wonderful family recipe that comes to me from aunt, through my lovely cousin, the Meat Lady.  And I must admit, the cake she made for us was surprisingly delicious.  It is moist. tender  and flavorful, and the topping is absolutely to-die-for!

So without further ado, I give you . . . Devil’s Food Pound Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting!

Devil’s Food Pound Cake
from my cousin, the Meat Lady

1 box devil’s food cake mix
1 box chocolate instant pudding mix
4 eggs
1 1/4 cup water
1/2 cup oil

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and grease well a bundt pan.

Blend all ingredients together for 2-3 minutes, and pour in the prepared pan.  Bake for 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then flip pan, and cake should fall right out. Frost as desired.

Peanut Butter Frosting
also from the kitchen of my cousin, the Meat Lady
1/2 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3-1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Using an electric mixer, blend all ingredients together until light and fluffy. Next, put the mixture in a small saucepan over very low heat, until it becomes slightly runny.  Remove from heat and spoon over the cake.  Garnish with crumbled pieces of chocolate-peanut-butter cups!

The four cheeses in my lasagna are not the most traditional cheeses . . . but they sure are tasty!  I like to use turkey for the meat in this one – there are so many wonderful flavors going on that most people who taste this dish don’t even notice that it’s not beef! Plus, I think the turkey makes it seem lighter, which is a nice balance to the richness of the cheese.

Ellie’s Four-Cheese Lasagna

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb. mild italian sausage, casings removed
1/2 lb. ground turkey breast (ground beef works, too!)
1/2 cup diced onion
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 24-ounce jar of your favorite tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste
1 8-ounce package of cream cheese
2 cups ricotta cheese
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley OR dry Italian seasoning
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 9-ounce package of no-boil lasagna noodles
1/4 cup grated parmigiano regiano cheese

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 9×13″ baking dish and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium to medium-high heat.  Add the sausage and the ground turkey.  Brown the meat, stirring occasionally, until completely cooked through.  Remove the meat from the pan and add the onion.  Cook until slightly tender, about 3-4 minutes.  Add the minced garlic, stirring until fragrant.  Next, add the meat back to the pan, and stir in the tomato sauce and the water.  Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to your taste.  Lower the heat and simmer for about 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, soften the cream cheese in a microwaveable bowl for about 20-30 seconds.  Stir in the ricotta cheese until combined.  Add the eggs, the parsley or Italian seasoning, and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, folding the mixture together.

To assemble the lasagna, spoon 1/4 of the tomato mixture into the bottom of the prepared dish.  Next, layer the no-boil noodles on top.  Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles.  Spoon over the next 1/4 of the tomato mixture.  Then the noodles again.  Then the next 1/3 of the ricotta.  Then another 1/4 of the tomato mixture.  One more layer of noodles, and one more layer of ricotta.  Spoon the remaining tomato sauce over the top.  Finally, sprinkle with the remaining cup of mozzarella, topping it all off with the parmigiano regiano cheese.

** Note that at this point, you can either continue, **
** or cover tightly and store in the fridge for up to 3 days **
** or the freezer for up to 3 months. **

Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until all cheese is melted and the lasagna is nice and bubbly.  Allow to set for about 5 minutes before serving.

This is a hearty one-dish dinner that I dreamed up on a cool and rainy fall evening.  The blend of flavors is wonderful, without being too overpowering.  For a lighter version, try using light soup and brown rice.  You are going to love this dish!

Cheddar-Bacon-Ranch Chicken & Rice Bake

1 1/2 cups uncooked rice (white or brown)
1 10.5-ounce can of condensed cream of chicken soup
1 can of water
1 can of milk
1 1-ounce packet of ranch seasoning mix
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
4 medium-sized chicken breasts
2 cups cheddar cheese
6-8 slices of bacon, cut into 1″ pieces

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a 9×13 inch baking dish, combine the rice, the soup, the water, the milk, the ranch seasoning, and the diced peppers.  Stir until well combined.  Place the chicken breasts on top of the rice mixture.  Cover the dish with tin foil and wrap tightly.

Bake for 45 minutes.  In the meantime, lightly brown the bacon pieces over medium heat in a small frying pan.  When you remove the chicken and rice from the oven, check the chicken to make sure it is cooked through (I like to use a meat thermometer for this).  Then, sprinkle with the shredded cheese and the browned bacon pieces.  Return to the oven for about 5-7 minutes so that the cheese melts and bubbles.  Serve hot.  Yield 4-6 servings

I ended up with a large amount of arugula after I bought a big batch for a recipe I made recently.  Well, I’m not one to let perfectly good greens go to waste, so I decided to put my leftover arugula to good use.  I have seen so many different green used in various forms of pesto, that I decided to try substituting arugula in my regular basil pesto recipe.  It turned out to be delicious! I tossed it with pasta and parmesan cheese – such a zesty and brightly flavored dish!  Arugula has a bit of bite to it, so it really shined in this pesto.

Arugula Pesto

3 teaspoons salt
3.5 ounces arugula leaves, stems removed
3 large garlic cloves
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

First, fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside.

Next, bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and add the salt. Add the arugula, stirring to submerge. As soon as the water returns to a boil, remove the pot from the heat. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the arugula to the ice bath so that the cooking process stops. Once it has cooled, remove the arugula to paper towels to dry. Squeeze any excess water from the leaves.

Add the arugula and the garlic cloves to the bowl of a food processor or blender. Process until the texture is fine. Then gradually stream in the olive oil and process until the mixture is smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Yield about 1/2 cup.

Toss with pasta or drizzle over boiled potatoes, just like basil pesto!

Then, I decided to use some of my leftover arugula pesto to make a beautiful green appetizer.  I had read online that some arugula pesto recipes use chick peas to make the pesto thick, and a bit less pungent.  Well, instead of using the chick peas in my pesto, I decided to turn my pesto into a beautifully green and vibrantly spicy hummus! This is a perfect appetizer for Halloween – glorious green goop!

Arugula Hummus

1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (aka chick peas)
1/2 cup arugula pesto
1 tablespoon tahini
Salt and pepper to taste

First, drain the garbanzo beans, reserving the liquid in a bowl.

In the bowl of the food processor, measure the arugula pesto, the tahini, and the chick peas. Process until smooth. Adjust the thickness/thinnest of the texture to your liking using the reserved bean liquid. Blend to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving, so that the flavors can meld. Serve with pita or chips.

I find that the pita chips that you can buy at the grocery store tend to be wayyyyyyyy to salty.  I much prefer to make my own pita toasties to serve with hummus and other dips.  Here is my favorite way to make them!!

Pita Toasties

4-6 pitas
1-2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Cut each pita into 6 wedges.  Spread evenly on a baking sheet.  Brush or spray the pita wedges with the olive oil.  Then sprinkle with garlic salt.  Bake for about 8-10 minutes, until toasty and lightly golden brown.  Serve with hummus, roasted red pepper hummus, or arugula hummus.  Enjoy!

One of the first recipes I ever mastered – at the ripe old age of 7 years – was a basic drop biscuit.  Such a simple art, but with such delicious results.  This particular drop biscuit is similar to the one that I made when I was a little girl, only jazzed up with sharp cheddar and fragrant garlic.  The crispy outside of this biscuit yields to a light, fluffy, and tender inside that will melt in your mouth.

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits
adapted from Recipezaar.com

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup milk
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup more melted butter
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Grease a baking sheet and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and garlic powder. Add the 1/2 cup melted butter, the milk, and the shredded cheese. Stir gently, just until moistened.  Do not over-stir.

Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake the biscuits for 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir together the 1/4 cup melted butter and the garlic salt. Remove the biscuits from the oven and generously but gently brush the tops of the half-baked biscuits with the garlic butter. Return the biscuits to the oven for another 6 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown and crisp.

Serve warm. Yield 12-15 biscuits.

As much as I love gingerbread cookies, I have to admit that I like actual gingerbread even more. I used to use a wonderful old recipe from Nathalie Dupree to make pans of gingerbread in the fall. Based on that recipe, I developed a perfect muffin that features all the richness and flavor of a classic old-fashioned gingerbread.

Gingerbread Muffins
adapted from Nathalie Dupree’s recipe for Old-Fashioned Gingerbread

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup coca cola, apple cider or apple juice
1 teaspoon brandy flavoring or vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line or grease well a muffin tin, and set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the egg and the molasses and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. In another bowl, mix together the buttermilk, the coke or juice, and the brandy or vanilla flavoring. Add these two mixtures to the molasses mixture alternately, beginning and ending with the dry mixture. Beat until the batter is smooth.

Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes, or until the muffins spring back when lightly touched with a finger. Yield about 18 muffins.

To turn this muffin into a lucious dessert, top with creamy Peach Sauce . . .

Peach Sauce
based on Nathalie Dupree’s recipe

4 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup peach juice, peach brandy, or peach schnapps
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1 teaspoon almond extract

In a heavy saucepan, combine the egg yolks and sugar.

In a separate, smaller saucepan, heat the peach juice/brandy/schnapps. (You can also do this in the microwave if you prefer).

Pour the hot peach juice gradually into the egg-yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Turn on low heat, and continue whisking until mixture thickens. This could take up to 15 minutes (trust me, it’s worth it). Remove from ehat and cool for about 10 minutes, then fold in the whipped cream and vanilla. You may wish to make this ahead of time – if so, chill the sauce until you are ready to serve.

***

This is a deliciously tender and flavorful muffin studded with rich chocolate chips. I made up this recipe for the little cafe. It is already a favorite with my dad, who makes sure to pick up extras every time he comes by!

Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup whipping cream, beaten until soft peaks form
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Grease muffin pans or line with paper liners, and set aside.

Combine the dry ingredients well, and set aside. In a smaller bowl, combine the egg, buttermilk, and oil, mixing well.

Use a spoon to make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Then pour the liquid ingredients into the well.

Use the spoon to stir together JUST until the dry ingredients are almost moistened. Gently fold in the whipped cream.

Finally, fold in the chocolate chips, being careful not to over-mix.

Fill the muffin cups about 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the tops are lightly golden brown. Remove to racks and cool.