​Contributor, Riley Eaton, has provided us with an option we have not added to Whisking as yet...Gluten Free recipe, and it sounds delicious. -- Pam Barker

Gluten Free Hotdog Roll-ups
Contributed by Riley Eaton

A few years ago, I wanted to learn how to cook. 

Coincidentally, my mother had come up with a very simple recipe around that time that is perfect for teaching someone the fundamental flow of putting together food and operating an oven: Hotdog roll-ups.

Simple and quick, I find this a go-to meal, even a comfort meal.

It's extremely customizable as well for quantity and ingredient composition: If I want one for myself, I can make one, and If I needed to serve ten people, I can make ten or fourteen or however many my friends may eat. 

Likewise, if someone hates beef, I can simply use traditional pork hotdogs or a sausage of some kind; if someone is allergic to almonds I can use chickpea-based tortillas, and so forth.

Ingredients (makes 4):

4 almond flour tortillas
4 slices of colby jack cheese
4 beef hotdogs
Mustard or ketchup (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place two layers of parchment paper on a baking pan.

Lay tortillas open on a plate.

Place one slice of cheese on each tortilla at an edge of the tortilla.

Place one hotdog on each cheese slice near the edge of the tortilla, leaving enough room to tuck the hotdog end of the tortilla underneath when you roll it.

Roll tortilla forward, wrapping the cheese and hotdog (roll tight enough to keep the seam closed but loose enough that you don't encourage your roll-up to unroll itself).

Set roll-ups on your baking pan where the seam's end is poking out of the underside so the roll-ups don't unroll themselves while baking (see photo).

Bake for 15 minutes at minimum, baking until tortillas have hardened and cheese has melted.

Enjoy plain, or dipped in a favorite condiment. Mustard is my favorite.
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Our friend, Ann Zimmer, is sharing two recipes with us in Whisking, and they sound delicious.

One of my favorite things about her is how she makes food even more appetizing because she bothers with presentation. As we all know, the enjoyment of food begins with our senses, including sight. Ann takes the time, even when sitting in a comfy chair at the beach with her husband, to make the food look so inviting.

So pleased to have her recipes here! --Pam Barker

Nana's Seeded Quick Bread for
​Bread Crock or Loaf Pan
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Ingredients:

• 3 cups self-rising flour*

(*You can substitute whole wheat or all purpose flour if you don't have self-rising flour but use these measurements: 3 cups flour, 4 1/2 tsp baking powder & 1 1/2 tsp of salt)

• 1/3 cup sugar
• Additions as preferred can be added, about 1/4 cup of each one: pepinos (pumpkin seeds), flax seed, sunflower seeds, raisins or craisins. You can use any nuts or seeds but these are the ones I use.
• 1 can of lemon lime pop (which is a neutral flavor), or you can use diet coke or beer. Room Temperature.

Instructions:

Mix ingredients in separate bowl

Grease pans liberally.

Add mix to Bread Crock or bread loaf pan.

Place in oven and heat to 350F

(Do NOT pre-heat oven)

Bake 45-60 minutes (I usually go 60 minutes) 


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As visitors to this website know, Pam and I enjoy our evening cocktail hours, and I love playing the role of mixologist. Why? Maybe it harkens back to my childhood, when I mixed chemicals from my Glibert Chemistry Set to see what might happen. News flash: Mixing cocktails is way more fun, and safer!

While I may never earn a spot in the Mixology Hall of Fame (like Henry Ramos, whose Ramos Gin Fizz, a gin and egg white cocktail, required 12 minutes of shaking and employed dozens of "shaker boys" to meet the demand in the 1890s), we enjoy going "out of the box" from time to time and try something new.

Our preferred spirit is vodka, and our "go-to" cocktails include lemon drops, French martinis and Cosmopolitans, always served in a martini glass or coup. Nothing else will do.

This recipe is a variation on a Cosmo, which I call the "Tropical Cosmopolitan." Since we live in the tropics for all practical purposes, why not?

Here it is:

Tropical Cosmopolitan

Ingredients:

2 oz. vodka
1 oz. cranberry juice
1 oz. pineapple juice
1 oz. Triple Sec or Cointreau

Combine and shake vigorously -- but not for 12 minutes unless you want to.

We create our own ice cubes from various juices, and usually top with one or two of those.
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Salud!

Nana's World Famous Meatloaf

Ingredients:

2 packages dry French onion soup mix
2 eggs
2 1/2 to 3 pounds of ground beef
1 1/2 cups of seasoned Italian bread crumbs
Garlic salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 T Worcestershire sauce
2 small bottles of ketchup (save 2-3 T for topping at end of baking)
Optional: chopped yellow onions

Mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately 
Add wet ingredients to ground beef first then add dry ingredients.
Mix thoroughly and place in a glass baking dish.
Cover with aluminum foil.
Bake at 350 degrees for 2 to 2/12 hours.
remove foil.  Cover the top with saved ketchup..
Return to oven for an additional 10 minutes
Allow meatloaf to rest and cool slightly before cutting to serve.

Butter Potatoes

Slice 6 medium russet potatoes into medium slices. 
Melt i stick of butter in a large skillet add potatoes, salt and pepper to taste.
Cook on medium heat until fied and cooked through
Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil then cover and simmer until buttery "sauce" is thickened. 
Optional add: chopped onion and minced garlic.



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Steve Campbell's ​Almond Joy Cheesecake

Recipe:
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40oz of softened cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup cream of coconut
1/3 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Beat cream cheese with flour and sugar.  Add heavy cream, vanilla and eggs beat until smooth.   Bake in an 8" cake pan that has been lined with parchment paper. Be sure to leave enough parchment paper to go up and over the sides of the cake pan.  Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.   Once cool, remove cake from pan and top with coconut, toasted almonds and melted chocolate.

As we gather these scrumptious recipes to share, and enjoy together, as we are Whisking Up Treasured Recipes,  let me tell you just a little about contributor, Steve Campbell. 

Not only is he a dear for sharing these delicious recipes with us, he is a dear friend, and we have enjoyed being a part of breaking bread in his home on many occasions. Sometimes casual, sometimes beautifully more formal, but always comfortable and memorable.

As a gourmet cook, Steve is meticulous not only as he conjures up a variety of sumptuous dishes in his lovely kitchen, but he takes entertaining to the next level. Even on evenings when it is cocktails and pizza, everything is presented on the finest dish and glassware, every detail attended to.

Adding to the charm, the kitchen is awash with an assortment of  Mackenzie Childs flair.

Entertaining, proper entertaining, is an art. Steve Campbell is an artist of the highest caliber. Gourmet cook, and consummate host.

Steve Campbell's Tomato Tart

Recipe:

1 Ready Made pie crust
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
6 Roma Plum Tomatoes
1lb Italian sausage crumbled
Minced garlic to taste
Fresh Basil leaves
1/2 cup Mayo
1/4 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Spray a small amount of cooking spray on the bottom of a pie plate.  Place pie crust in pan and crimp the edges.  Sprinkle 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese in the bottom of crust and bake as directed on pie package.  Set aside to cool.

Cut up roma tomatoes into quarters.  Put them cut side down on paper towels and drain for appx 2 hours.   Once drained and pie crust has cooled, place tomatoes on the pie crust in a circular fashion. Sprinkle with garlic and basil.   Next put the cooked sausage that has been crumbled all around the top of tomatoes.

Next in a medium bowl combine

1 cup mozzarella
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Stir to combine and top the sausage with this mixture.  It will be thick, but you may add additional mayo if required.  Cover the pie edge to edge.  Cover edges of pie crust to avoid burning crust.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

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