June 24, 2009

Cooking with soft drinks can be tasty

Karen Freeman

We all love to drink soft drinks. I drink way too many. I’m a Diet Mountain Dew junkie. I’m also a caffeine junkie. I used to think that was a bad thing. But there are studies now that show that caffeine helps with memory and helps to prevent Alzheimer’s, so I don’t feel guilty any more for my love for caffeinated drinks.

Even though we drink a lot of soft drinks, we forget that we can also cook with them. There are some great recipes that use soft drinks. I tried to cover most of the most popular one. I have even included soft drinks uses and tips in the “Did you know” section. I hope you enjoy these recipes. Experiment and come up with some of your own!

Our first recipe uses Mountain Dew for a great dessert. This is made in a 9x13 pan but you can also make this in a graham cracker crust.

The second recipe has been around for a long time. It’s a Pepsi Pot Roast and it’s so easy that you will use it over and over again. You just toss it all in a Crockpot and forget it for 8-10 hours. What could be better than that?

The third recipe is a barbecue sauce made with Coke. I’m not a fan of Coke as a soft drink but I do like to cook with it.

The fourth recipe uses Dr. Pepper to make turkey have some extra zip. I use my countertop turkey roaster and the turkey is ready to fall apart in about three hours.

The fifth recipe uses Sprite to make light, fluffy biscuits. The carbonation gives them the light texture.

The last recipe is a root beer float cake. The kids will love this. The whipped topping mixed with root beer makes it look like a float.

Mountain Dew Dessert

2 small or one large packages lemon Jello

2 cup boiling water

1 cup Mountain Dew

1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained (save liquid)

1 cup pineapple juice (if necessary add water to fill cup)

2 cup small marshmallows

1 can lemon pie filling

1 (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed

Dissolve Jello in boiling water, add Mountain Dew and juice. Cool. Add pineapple and marshmallows. Mix together. Put in 9x13 pan to set. Mix pie filling and Cool Whip. Spread on top. Refrigerate.

Pepsi Pot Roast

1 pot roast, chuck, bottom round, rump, etc., about 3 to 4 pounds

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

1 can cream of mushroom soup

12 oz Pepsi

Mix all together, put in slow cooker. Cook 8-10 hours on low. You can throw in 2 chopped carrots, 2 stalks celery, and a chopped onion.

Coca Cola Barbecue Sauce

Cook 1 chopped onion and 2 chopped cloves garlic in 2 tablespoons butter until soft.

Add: 2 c. catsup

6 oz. Coke

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. Mustard

2 tbsp. Vinegar

Simmer 1 hour or until thick.

Dr. Pepper Roast Turkey

1 (6 to 8 pound) turkey or chicken

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 cup onions, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup parsley, chopped

6 cups bread cubes, 1/2 inch size

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/2 cup Dr. Pepper, plus

10 ounces Dr. Pepper for basting

Rinse turkey or chicken in cold water, pat dry. Remove neck, wing tips, giblets and simmer in small amount of water to make broth (about 2 cups).

Melt butter or margarine and sauté onions and celery until tender but not brown, cool.

Combine bread cubes, salt, pepper, thyme and parsley. Add sautéed vegetables and toss lightly. Add beaten egg, the 1/2 cup of Dr Pepper, and broth.

Spoon about 1 cup of the stuffing into the neck cavity. Fasten skin to back with skewer.

Spoon stuffing into body cavity (do not pack); close body cavity by skewering skin together and lacing it closed with heavy string. Tie drumsticks to the tail.

Place turkey in roaster or pan breast side up and roast at 325 degrees F for about 3 hours or until done.

Baste frequently, first pouring from the bottle of Dr Pepper, slowly over the bird. When all is poured, baste from the liquid in the pan, spooning over the bird at frequent intervals.

Sprite Biscuits

4 cups Pioneer biscuit mix (or Bisquick)

8 oz. Sour cream

1 cup regular Sprite

Mix the Sprite and sour cream. Add biscuit mix gradually. Roll dough on floured surface and cut with a biscuit cutter. Bake 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Root Beer Float Cake

1 package of white cake mix

1 1/4 cups root beer

2 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup whipped topping

1/2 cup root beer

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. At low speed, beat together the first four ingredients (mix, root beer, eggs, oil). Mix until blended, and then increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for another 4 minutes. Pour batter into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Bake cake for 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before topping.

To make the topping, whip together the last1/2 cup of root beer with the whipped topping. Spread over the cake in soft peaks, to look like the ice cream in a float.

Did you know?

Things to do with Coke

When baking, if you need to "plump" raisins before adding to cakes and cookies, soak them in Coca- Cola instead of water. Water leaches out the flavor of the raisins, but Coke adds a spiciness and intensifies the flavor.

Clean burnt pans effortlessly: clean a burnt saucepan simply by boiling some Coca-Cola in it.

Apply Coke over skin as a tanning aid. Bugs will not eat you. The coke dries in your skin and then your skin is silky.

To make a new photo look antique, just take a photo (make sure you have a second print of the photo in case you mess up!!) and soak it in Coca-Cola.

Put in the photo until it is covered with the Coke. Just soak for a few minutes until you get the color that you want.

Gently lift out the photo (careful not to touch the front with your fingers).

Then gently pat dry with a soft lint-free material. Or, drip dry. Then finish drying with a hair dryer.

Gum in your hair: Just take the gum coated hair and dip in a small bowl that has some Coca-Cola in it. Let sit for just a few minutes and the gum will wipe right off.

(Excerpts from http://members.tripod.com/~Barefoot_Lass/cola.html)

Karen’s Kitchen is a weekly column by Karen Freeman of Tarboro. Contact Karen at:

kvfreeman@triad.rr.com to exchange ideas, ask questions, submit recipes, tips or suggestions.

Check out her Web site: http://www.geocities.com/kvfreeman27886/