Kaiser Rolls-Knotted

This recipe makes great Kaiser rolls. It's a long one, but worth the effort. It requires a Pate Fermentee that is shown at the end of this recipe.

Kaiser/Hard Rolls

Makes 6 large rolls or 9 smaller rolls.

1 1/2 cups (8 ounces) pate fermentee
2 1/4 cups (10 ounces) unbleached bread flour
3/4 teaspoon plus a pinch (.2 ounce) salt
1 teaspoon (.17 ounce) diastatic barley malt powder
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
1 large (1.65 ounce) egg, slightly beaten
1 1/2 tablespoons (.75 ounce) vegetable oil or shortening, melted
10 tablespoons
to 3/4 cup (5 to 6 ounces) water, lukewarm (90 to 100 degrees)
Poppy or sesame seeds for topping (optional).
Semolina flour or cornmeal for dusting.

1. Take 8-ounces of the pate fermentee out of the refrigerator 1-2 hour2 before making the dough. Cut it up into about 10 small pieces with a pastry scraper or serrated knife. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit for 1-2 hours to take off the chill.

2. Stir together the flour, salt, malt powder, and yeast in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). Add the pate fermentee, egg, oil, and 10 tablespoons water. Stir (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment) for 1 minute, or until the ingredients form a ball. If there is still some loose flour, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of water.

3. Lightly dust the counter with flour, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook). Knead for about 10 minutes (6 minutes by machine), adding flour, if needed, to make a dough that is soft and supple, tacky but not sticky. The dough should pass the windowpane test and the internal temperature should register 77 to 81 degrees. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

4. Ferment at room temperature for 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size. If the dough doubles in size before 2 hours have elapsed, remove it, knead it lightly to degas it, and return it to the bowl to continue fermenting until doubled from original size or until 2 hours have elapsed.

5. Remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into 6 to 9 equal pieces (4 ounces for large rolls, 2 2/3 ounce pieces for smaller rolls). Form the pieces into rolls as shown on page 82. (attached) Mist the rounds lightly with spray oil, cover with a towel or plastic wrap, and let the dough relax for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, line a sheet pan with baking parchment, lightly mist it with spray oil, and then dust with semolina flour or cornmeal.

6. Prepare the individual rolls by cutting them with a Kaiser roll cutter or knotting them. Place the rolls, cut side down, on the parchment, mist lightly with spray oil, and loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag.

7. Proof the rolls for 45 minutes at room temperature, then flip them over so the cut or folded side is facing up. Mist again with spray oil, cover the pan, and continue proofing for another 30 to 45 minutes, or until the rolls are double their original size.

8. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Uncover the rolls and prepare them for baking. If you want seeds on your rolls, mist them with water and sprinkle poppy seeds over the top. If not, just mist them with water.

9. Place the pan in the oven, spray the oven walls with water, and close the door. After 10 minutes, rotate the pan for even baking and lower the oven setting to 400 degrees. Continue baking until the rolls are a medium golden brown and register approximately 200 degrees in the center. This will take 15 to 30 minutes for large rolls, or less for smaller rolls.

10. Remove the rolls from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack. Wait at least 30 minutes before serving.

Pate Fermentee

Makes 16 to 17 ounces.

1 1/8 cups (5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/8 cups (5 ounces) unbleached bread flour
3/4 teaspoon (.19 ounces) salt
1/2 teaspoon (.055 ounce) instant yeast
3/4 cup to 3/4 cup plus (6 to 7 ounces) water, at room temperature
2 tablespoons

1. Stir together the flours, salt and yeast in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). Add 3/4 cup of the water, stirring until everything comes together and makes a coarse ball (or mix on low speed for 1 minute with the paddle attachment). Adjust the flour or water, according to need, so that the dough is neither too sticky nor too stiff. (It is better to err on the sticky side, as you can adjust easier during kneading. It is harder to add water once the dough firms up.)
2. Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for 4 to 6 minutes (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook for 4 minutes), or until the dough is soft and pliable, tacky but not sticky. The internal temperature should be 77 to 81 degrees.
3. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature for 1 hour, or until it swells to about 1 1/2 times its original size.
4. Remove the dough from the bowl, knead it lightly to de-gas, and return it to the bowl, covering the bowl with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in the refrigerator overnight. You can keep this in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze it in an airtight plastic bag for up to 3 months.

Chicken Wrapped Asparagus with Lemon Cheese Sauce

2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
10 Asparagus spears about 5” to 6” long
4 strips fresh orange zest/peel (3 by 1 inch)
2 TBS of butter
2 TBS of olive oil

Ingredients:

Lemon Cheese Sauce:

2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
1 cup of hot milk (not boiling)
1 dash of salt
1 dash of pepper
2 egg yolks, beaten
1/2 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Heat oven to 400F.

Trim the asparagus to about 6 inches long. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and place them on a cutting board. Cover with a layer of plastic wrap and pound with the smooth side of a meat mallet until thin, even and flat.

Lay 5 asparagus across the narrow side of 1 flattened breast. Add 2 strips of zest and wrap the chicken around the asparagus to make a bundle. Secure with toothpicks. Repeat with the remaining chicken and asparagus.

Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet on medium heat, and sauté the chicken bundles 2 minutes on each side, seam down first to maintain the shape of the roll. Transfer the chicken rolls to a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet; cover with foil until ready for the final baking.

In the meantime, make the cheese sauce. Melt butter in a sauce pan over low heat. Whisk in flour gradually and constantly until you have a paste (roux), gradually add the milk and cook over low heat, whisking constantly until thick and bubbling. Season with salt and white pepper.

Slowly add a small portion of the heated sauce to the whipped egg yolks to “temper” the yolks. Whisk constantly so the yolks do not cook or harden. Add the remainder of the hot/heated sauce; add cheese and lemon juice. Stir 2-3 minutes over low heat.

Brush the chicken rolls with the remaining butter/olive oil from the sautéed chicken rolls, and bake the chicken rolls in a pre-heated 400F.oven for an additional 12-15 minutes.

Spoon cheese sauce over the entire chicken roll. Serve with your favorite salad and dressing. Raspberry vinaigrette goes extremely well with this recipe.

Shrimp/Scallop Etouffee

This recipe is a modification of Emeril's recipe for Etouffee. We don't do crawfish here (YUCK!) - way too muddy tasting. The combination of the shrimp and scallops was great. It takes bunches of prep chopping all the greens and stuff, but it's really worth the time and effort.

6 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 1/2 cups fish or shrimp stock
1-1/2 cup peeled, diced tomatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tsp Louisiana hot sauce
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
8-10 Jumbo Shrimp peeled
1/2 Pound bay scallops
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Cooked white rice, for serving

In a large, heavy saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter and whisk in flour to combine well. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until roux is a peanut butter color.

Add onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme and cook until vegetables are soft, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add stock, tomatoes, salt, red pepper, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a very low simmer, and cook uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add shrimp, lemon juice, green onions, and parsley and cook for 15 to 20 minutes; add scallops and simmer for an additional 5-minutes stirring occasionally. Add remaining butter and stir to combine well. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve over hot rice.

Recipes for the future ®: KFC Cole Slaw

Recipes for the future ®: KFC Cole Slaw

Sicilian Meatball Soup

Flavored with Parmesan and garlic and studded with raisins, scrumptious Sicilian meatballs turn vegetable soup into a tempting meal. If the soup waits, the pasta may absorb much of the liquid; just add water or more stock.


INGREDIENTS
1/2 pound ground beef
5 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons raisins
2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 carrots, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 1/2 quarts canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes in thick puree
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup small pasta shells or other small macaroni

In a medium bowl, mix together the ground beef, 4 tablespoons of the parsley, the Parmesan, raisins, bread crumbs, egg, half of the garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper until thoroughly combined. Shape the mixture into 24 meatballs.

In a large pot, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the carrots, onion, celery, and the remaining garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Stir in the broth, tomatoes, rosemary, and the remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 10 minutes.
Add the remaining tablespoon parsley, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and the pasta to the soup. Simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the meatballs and simmer gently until the meatballs and pasta are done, about 5 minutes longer. Serve with additional Parmesan.

Delicious Whole Wheat Bread

This bread will rise 3 1/2" to 4" tall at its center, and will have a moderately fine, even texture inside. It is an extremely mild whole wheat bread, and great for toasting

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 teaspoons SAF Perfect Rise dry yeast
• 1 cup potato water (boil 2-4 potatoes and save the water)
• 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
• 3 3/4 cups King Arthur white Whole Wheat Flour
• ¾ cup AP Flour

Directions

1) Dissolve the yeast in ¼ cup lukewarm water with a pinch of sugar (1/4 tsp; stir well so as to blend the yeast, sugar, and water. Allow it to rest for 15 minutes until it becomes frothy.

2) Combine the yeast/water with the remaining ingredients, and mix and knead—by stand mixer mixer, or bread machine—until you've made a cohesive dough. If you're using a stand mixer, knead at low speed for about 9-10 minutes. Note that 100% whole wheat dough will never become smooth and supple like white bread dough made with all-purpose flour; it will feel more grainy under your hands, and may appear a bit rough.

3) Place the dough in a lightly buttered bowl turning once or twice to coat all sides of the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and allow it to rise until doubled in bulk, about 60 to 90 minutes. Note that dough kneaded in a bread machine will rise faster and higher than bread kneaded in a mixer.

4) Lightly grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan. Gently shape the dough into a smooth log, and settle it into the pan, smooth side up.

5) Tent the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the loaf to rise till it's crowned over the rim of the pan by about 3/4" to 1", about 75 minutes. Don't let it rise too high; it'll continue to rise as it bakes. Put the dough in a cold oven and turn to 350F.

6) Bake the bread for 15 minutes starting in a cold oven. Lightly tent it with aluminum foil, and bake for an additional 30 to 35 minutes, or until the center registers 190°F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove it from the oven, and turn it out of the pan onto a rack.

7) Rub a stick of butter over the top of the hot loaf, if desired, for a softer crust. Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing.

Chicken Thighs with Zucchini and Green Peppers with Pasta

The thighs are probably the most flavorful part of the chicken, and goes wonderfully with this dish.

½ Cup Olive Oil
½ Cup Butter Melted Butter

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
1 Medium Zucchini cut in ½ inch julienne
1 Large Green Pepper cut in ½ inch julienne
3 Large Garlic Cloves Chopped
2 TBS Granulated Garlic
½ Cup Sweet Marsala Wine


Add oil, butter and chopped garlic to large pan with a fitted cover. Bring to medium high heat until the garlic starts to get golden in color. Add the chicken thighs and then the Marsala; sauté until cooked about half way through, turning once.

Add peppers and zucchini slices, sprinkle granulated garlic over the peppers and zucchini, stir well. Cover and turn heat to medium low. Stir once or twice while cooking. It should take only about 20-minutes once the veggies are in the pan.

Serve over linguini or vermicelli. Pour remaining juices over the chicken, veggies and pasta.

Portobello Mushroom-Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients

1 (12-ounce) package fettuccine
1 (6-ounce) package Portobello mushrooms
1/2 cup butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup milk (*)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley
Garnish: Italian flat-leaf parsley sprigs


Preparation

Prepare pasta according to package directions; drain.
Remove brown gills from undersides of mushroom caps using a spoon, and discard gills. Chop mushrooms.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; add mushrooms and garlic, and sauté 5 to 6 minutes or until tender. Stir in cream and milk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat, and simmer, whisking constantly, 10 minutes. Stir in cheese, pepper, and salt; stir constantly until cheese melts and mixture thickens. Stir in 2 tablespoons parsley. Serve over hot cooked pasta. Garnish, if desired.

Option

(*) For a seafood Alfredo sauce, substitute the 1-cup of milk with 1-cup of seafood broth.(Boil the shells from one pound of shrimp in 1 1/2 cups water until reduced to 1-cup; or, use Penzey's Seafood Base per directions.)

Orange Scallops with Vermicelli and White Wine Sauce©

You'll never realize the full potential of the flavor and the delicacy of scallops until you combine them with orange which brings out the absolute best in bay scallops.






1/2 Lb Bay scallops

2 TBS Garlic Olive Oil
2 TBS butter
¾ Cup White Wine
1 tsp Orange Early Rise
1/3-1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1 tsp chopped fresh tarragon
S & P to taste
Linguini or Vermicelli pasta

1 Roasted, Julienned red pepper (optional)

Add olive oil and butter to sauté pan. Turn heat to medium high until butter melts and just begins to brown; add scallops and turn heat to high stirring and turning scallops constantly until translucent. Once cooked (3-4 minutes) remove scallops to a separate plate leaving the heat on high. Add wine, whisk and reduce mixture to ½ volume. Add cream and Orange Early Rise, whisking constantly. Reduce the heat, and cook until sauce is reduced by half. Add the tarragon and scallops to the reduced sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low for 3-5 minutes until scallops are heated through.

Place scallops over the cooked vermicelli, and spoon the reduced sauce over all. If you use the roasted red pepper, arrange the julienned strips in a pinwheel design. Serve with a glass of Chardonnay and REAL garlic bread.

Garlic Bread - the REAL thing!

• 1 loaf of fresh Italian bread
• 2-3 cloves of garlic - peeled and cut in half lengthwise
• Olive oil

Cut 1" thick slices of Italian bread. Place on pan under the broiler. When toasted to your liking, turn bread over and toast the second side. Remove toasted bread, rub one side of the bread with the sliced garlic buds and lightly spritz the slices with olive oil. Try it! Everyone I know who has made it this way, has never gone back to the grease soaked, bitter garlicky stuff they used to make.

Red Sauce For Baked Ziti and Sausage

2 (28) ounce cans tomatoes or 20 fresh, large tomatoes(Fresh are best)
2 Medium stalks celery
1 Medium onion
2 TBS dry parsley or 4 TBS fresh chopped
1 Large carrot scraped clean and cut in pieces
1 Medium green pepper
1 Medium-sized zucchini (Unpeeled)
2-4 cloves garlic
S&P to taste
Tabasco or a hot pepper to taste
2 T. Sugar
2 TBS Parmesan cheese

Chop onions and peppers and saute in a little olive oil until slightly done. Put everything in blender (NOT THE CHEESE OR PARSLEY) and puree. Bring to boil then simmer on very low heat until the raw taste is gone and the sauce is thick. This will take several hours on simmer, so be patient. That's the basic sauce. You can add chicken, pork, meatballs, sausage, or seafood. Sometimes I skip the onion/pepper saute, but it definitely improves the flavor.

Add the chopped parsley and the Parmesan cheese about 30-minutes before you decide to stop simmering.

Optional - add a TBS of Porcini Mushroom Powder - it kicks the flavor up a few notches.

New York Deli Style Rye Bread

Preparation time: Start to finish is 3 days because you will have to make a starter.

Amount/Measure/Ingredient:

Sour Starter

1 cup warm potato water*
1 cup rye flour
1 tsp instant yeast

Stir well then cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 3 days at room temperature (65-70 degrees) Stir the second day.

(*) Potato water---Peel and quarter 2 pounds of regular potatoes, cover with water and season with salt. Cook like you would for boiled or mashed potatoes, drain---saving the water the potatoes were cooked in. This potato water gives bread a moist and compact texture. Save or eat the potatoes as you like.

Dough for the bread

2 cups warm water, about 120 degrees F.
1 TBS. sugar
1 TBS. Instant yeast

Add:
starter
2 cups AP flour
2 TBS. kosher salt
2 TBS caraway seeds and ½ tsp charnushka seeds
4 ¾ cups high gluten bread flour

Glaze

1 cup water
1 ½ tsp. cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup cold water---no lumps

Bread Preparation:

In a mixer, combine 2 cups warm water with sugar and yeast, mix and let sit for 10 minutes.Add all of the sour starter and the remaining ingredients. Mix on low speed for 2-3 minutes with a dough hook, then increase to speed (2) and mix 6 minutes longer, be sure all the flour has hydrated the dough by raising and lowering the bowl from time to time.

Remove from the machine and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise 2 hours @ 70 Degrees F. or until doubled in size.

Portion into 3 - 1 1/2 pound pieces of dough or 2-pieces for larger loaves and shape into large, balled loaves, place on baking pans that have been sprinkled with semolina flour or fine cornmeal Cover with a damp but not wet cloth – or dry waxed paper - and let rise for 40 minutes.

Carefully remove the damp cloth or waxed paper, then slash the dough 3 times across the top with a very sharp knife or razor blade about 3/4 of an inch deep.

Immediately place in a pre-heated 375 degree F. oven, and place a pan of boiling water on the oven's bottom. Remove the pan after 10 minutes, this will create steam and help with crust development. Continue to bake for 30 minutes or until center is 180 degrees F.

For the glaze: boil 1 cup of water, mix the cornstarch with ¼ cup cold water, then combine with boiled water and stir continually until thickened. Cover with plastic wrap.

Remove the bread, and with a pastry brush, brush the top crust with the cooked cornstarch. A small amount of this glaze is enough, It's used to create a shiny surface. (Optional: While the bread is still hot, rub the tops with a stick of butter.) Let cool, and place in a plastic bag. This will further soften the crust.
Cool the bread on wire racks for at least 1 hour before slicing or wrapping.

The UNcommon Burger

Hamburger - Blue Cheese



• 1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 3 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Combine the ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt and pepper, mixing well. Shape mixture into 12 patties about 4 inches in diameter.

Mix the cream cheese, blue cheese and mustard until smooth. Divide the mixture among 6 of the beef patties, spreading to within 1/2 inch of the edge. Top with a remaining patty, sealing edges firmly.

Grill patties about 4 inches from coals or heating element, turning once, 5 to 7 minutes on each side for medium. Makes 6

Cheesy Clam Manicotti

Ingredients:

• 26 ounces meatless spaghetti sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 2 cans (6-1/2 ounces each) minced clams
• 1 carton (8 ounces) ricotta cheese
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup spreadable chive and onion cream cheese
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 8 manicotti shells, cooked and drained

Directions:

In a large saucepan, combine the spaghetti sauce and hot pepper sauce. Drain one can of clams; add clams to sauce. Stir in clams and juice from second can. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, beat ricotta and cream cheese until smooth. Stir in the mozzarella, Parmesan, garlic, pepper and oregano. Stuff into manicotti shells.

Spread 3/4 cup clam sauce into a greased 11-in. x 7-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Arrange manicotti over sauce; top with remaining sauce. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Yield: 4 servings.

Almond (Pecan) Coffee Ring

This goes great with a cup of coffee or espresso any time of day or night.


3 1/2-3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, (more if needed)
1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast or 1 TBS SAF Instant yeast
1 cup milk scalded (do NOT boil)
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg beaten

Place butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Attach the bread hook. Pour heated milk over the dry ingredients. Turn mixer on at low speed, and stir until butter is melted and cooled. Add beaten egg and continue stirring until well blended.

Add two cups of flour and the yeast, then turn mixer to speed #2 if you are using a Kitchen Aid mixer. Continue adding flour until you have a silky dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn out on a floured surface. Knead 4 to 6 minutes (or continue on with the mixer/dough hook). Place in a greased bowl,turning once to grease top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Once risen, pound down and let it rise a second time. It will rise faster on the second rising. Be sure to re-cover the dough or it will dry out.

Filling:

Almond/Pecan Paste Recipe

Ingredients:
10 oz dried blanched almonds (or pecans)
10 oz powdered sugar
5 oz sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 cup water

Directions:

Make a sugar syrup by placing the water, sugar, and corn syrup in a saucepan. Stir it to combine. Bring it to a boil and let it boil for a few seconds. Let it cool.

Place the almonds/pecans in a food processor and process them with the steel blade to a fine powder. Add the powdered sugar. With the food processor running, slowly add the sugar syrup until the mixture forms a paste. If you use pecans, add 5-drops of almond oil to this mix if you want an almond flavor.

Store the paste in a tightly covered container until you are ready to use it. If you will be storing it for more than a week, store in the refrigerator.

Roll the dough out on a floured counter to 18" x 12" rectangle. Spread the paste on the rolled out dough, leaving an inch from all edges. Roll up in jelly roll fashion. Shape into a round, and seal the ends where they meet. Make 1/2" deep slices every two inches on the round. Bake at 375 on parchment paper lined cookie sheet until done - golden colored.

Glaze:

2 or 3 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
3-drops of almond oil
1 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar


Blend glaze ingredients. Drizzle or spread over cooled coffee cake and sprinkle with almonds.

Pot Roast with vegetables

If you are going to do a pot roast, you can't go wrong with the Tyson Chuck Roast With Vegetables® - EXCEPT for one feature. The gravy mix they include with the package is worse than abominable!! It's the most horrible thing I've ever tasted in all my years. No..it's WORSE than horrible!!! If you decide to get this product - which is great, and I hope you try it - use the following recipe for the gravy:

Onion Gravy

Ingredients
1 medium onion halved and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour mixed with ½ tsp corn starch
1 TBS Onion powder
1 1/4 cups water
½ tsp Kitchen Bouquet (optional for color – or you can use carmel coloring)
1 cup beef broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

Cook onion in oil and butter in a heavy skillet over moderately high heat, stirring frequently, until onion is softened and slightly browned, about 15-20 minutes. Add flour and cook, whisking for at least 1 minute. Stir in water, broth, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, Caramel coloring, and pepper; whisk. Simmer, stirring and scraping up brown bits, until gravy is thickened, 8 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and additional Worcestershire sauce if so desired. Simmer until gravy is thick. Pour over mashed potatoes, pot roast, and/or meatloaf.

Beef Stroganoff

This recipe was given to me by a student of mine way back when, while teaching back east. It has been a standard in this household for forty-plus years. If you see this recipe Rich, leave a comment with your eMail address and I will get back to you.

1 Lb. Beef cubes (sirloin or tenderloin is the best, but just about any cubed, lean cut will work with this recipe.)
2 TBS butter
1 Cup Sour Cream (you could try plain yogurt)
1 Envelope dried onion soup mix
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 3-Oz can of sliced mushrooms (undrained)
2 TBS Ketchup (This is secret ingredient #1)
2 TBS Dry, red wine (Secret ingredient #2)

Take small cubes of beef and dredge them in flour, shake off excess flour, then brown in hot fat (melted butter) in a large pan or Dutch oven. Combine remaining ingredients; keep heat on VERY low. Cover the pan – stirring frequently so the mix minimally sticks to the pan bottom.

Serve over al dente egg noodles. REAL garlic bread goes great with this meal, as do green beans almandine. (REAL garlic bread recipe is posted here somewhere!!)

Spicy Buttermilk Fried Chicken

There are few things better than crispy, spiced fried chicken served up with Parkerhouse rolls slathered with fresh creamery butter, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, and a nice green veggie or cauliflower. This recipe takes a little planning, but OH - is it EVER so good!!

3 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup TABASCO
3 teaspoons salt, divided
1 (2 1/2- to 3-pound) chicken, cut up into 8 pieces
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
A small dash of Cardamon
Canola oil for deep-frying

Combine buttermilk, TABASCO, and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a large bowl or large resealable plastic bag and mix well. Add the chicken and cover bowl or seal bag; refrigerate for 6 to 24 hours.

Combine flour, remaining 2 teaspoons salt, garlic powder, onion powder,cardoman, and pepper in a shallow dish. Remove chicken pieces from marinade and allow excess buttermilk to drip off. Dredge chicken pieces in flour mixture and let chicken sit for 10 minutes.

Add about 1-inch of oil to a large, deep skillet. Attach a deep-fry thermometer and, over medium-high heat, bring oil to 350°F.

Fry chicken in batches of four, turning occasionally, until golden brown and cooked through, about 10 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a wire rack set on a baking sheet.

Outback Steakhouse Bushman Honey Whole Wheat Bread

This bread is excellent, but you'll need to be patient with the rises. It is very slow on the first and second rise, but you will be VERY pleased with the final result.

It should be served hot - or at least warm on the last legs of cooling - with a meal. It is a very soft bread with a sweetish taste (the honey), a nice soft crust, and a mild, yet robust flavor. The texture, even the crust, should be quite soft. A nice sharp serrated bread knife is used for the best slices. It has lots of potential for making it into a rye - especially Russian rye bread - with the addition of finely ground caraway and/or kalonji seeds. Using this bread for the base for a roast beef or pastrami sandwich will put you in culinary heaven. This bread is among THE BEST you will ever taste. It's delicate- yet ambitions; hearty - yet light. It has a flavor like you've probably never had - that is unless you've eaten at the Outback Restaurant.


Recipe: Yields 4 medium-sized loaves or 8 small loaves or make a half recipe for one 6” loaf in a medium sized glass bowl.

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour (up to 2-1/2 cups if needed)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons instant coffee
1 teaspoon caramel color (*)
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons butter -- softened
1 1/2 cups warm water

* If caramel color is not available, substitute food coloring by adding to the warm water before adding it to the rest of the ingredients:
75 drops red food coloring
45 drops blue food coloring
30 drops yellow food coloring

1.BREAD MACHINE METHOD: Add all of the ingredients for the dough in the exact order listed into the pan of your machine. Set it on "knead" and when the machine begins to mix the dough, combine the food coloring with 1/4 cup of water and drizzle it into the mixture as it combines. After the dough is created let it rest to rise for an hour or so. Then remove it from the pan and go to step #3.

2. MIXER METHOD: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour and 2 cups of the bread flour with the cocoa, sugar, coffee, caramel color, yeast and salt. Add the butter, honey and water... With the mixer set on low speed, mix with the dough hook for 3 minutes, using a spatula to keep scraping down the sides of the mixer to dry the dry ingredients into the wet. Turn the mixer speed to medium and mix 1-2 minutes or until the dough begins to come together to form a ball, adding more flour if necessary up to the additional 1/2 cup.

NOTE! The dough will be very wet and sticky, but try not to add too much flour or else the bread will be very dry and crumbly.

Liberally flour the work surface and turn the dough out onto the flour. Loosely cover the dough and let it rest for at least 10 minutes. Gently knead the dough until it barely comes together into a soft tacky ball. Transfer the dough to a well-oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, remove the cover and gently stretch and fold the dough. Replace the plastic wrap cover and let the dough finish rising until almost doubled, about 45-50 minutes.

3. When the dough has risen to about double in size, punch it down and divide it into 4 even portions, by dividing dough in half and then dividing those halves in half (and then once more if 8 very small loaves are desired.). Form the portions into tubular shaped loaves. (If desired, sprinkle the entire surface of the loaves with a small bit of fine grind cornmeal.

Place the loaves on a parchment-lined large baking sheet. Cover the loaves with a proof box or loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let the dough rise once more for 45-50 minutes. OR – use a 6” bowl for 1-loaf, half recipe

4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover the dough and slash the tops lengthwise if desired. Bake for 23-24 minutes. Loaves should begin to darken slightly on top when done, and the internal temperature should reach 190-195 degrees F. on an instant read thermometer. Cool on a wire rack until still just barely warm. Serve with a sharp serrated bread knife and whipped butter on the side.

shaboomskitchen

This variation is compliments of shaboom@shentel.net Check out her great web site at http://www.shaboomskitchen.com/

Boneless Pork Loin Roast with Apple Horseradish Sauce

To me, pork IS the 'other white meat.' Where would we be without ribs, chops, boneless loin, tenderloins, sausage? This is a delightful version of a boneless pork loin center cut roast.

Ingredients

1 boneless Pork Loin - Center Cut - about 3 pounds
1 cup chunky applesauce
1/2 cup red currant jelly or raspberry jelly
2 teaspoons horseradish

Preparation

Heat oven to 325°F. Place roast on rack in shallow roasting pan. Do not cover. Roast to an internal temperature of 150°F.

Meanwhile, make sauce by heating applesauce, jelly and horseradish in small saucepan only until blended.

When roast reaches 150°F. spread about 1/4 cup of sauce over roast. Continue roasting about 15 minutes to glaze roast and until internal temperature reaches 160°F. for medium doneness. Serve remaining sauce with roast.

Serve with a twice baked potato, fresh-steamed green beans with Hollandaise Sauce or asparagus, baked sweet potato, cauliflower....actually, serve with whatever you like. :-)

LAMB-CABBAGE STEW

Ethnic soups or stews are always a nice change from the everyday recipes that we always seem to make. This Bosnian recipe is sure to please. You can also used leftover lamb.

2 lbs. boned shoulder of lamb, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 oz. lard
1 onion, finely chopped
2 lbs. cabbage, trimmed, core removed and roughly chopped
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
3 tomatoes, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 c. (8-16 fl. oz.) dry white wine
1 TBS. paprika

1. Brown the lamb in the lard, add the onions and sauté them until they are soft.
2. Put the lamb and onion mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish, arrange the cabbage over it and season with salt and pepper. Lay the tomato slices and garlic on top.
3. Cover the casserole and cook over low heat for 2-3 hours. Add the wine gradually while the stew is cooking.
4. 30-minutes before the end of the cooking time sprinkle the stew with paprika. Do not stir the stew.
5. Serve hot with chunks of crusty bread and generous amounts of chilled dry white wine.

Fried Cucumber Slices With Tomato

When a cooking/baking cohort suggested fried cucumbers, I nearly had a culinary siezure. I stand before you in naked humility. This recipe has been slightly modified; the end result was awesome!! Sometimes a recipe can not be perceived by the ingredients (as I found out); this one is a keeper.

Fried Cucumber Slices

1 Medium size Cucumber (9” – 10”) – skin on
Flour
Beaten egg
Parmesan Cheese
Garlic Powder
2 TBS Butter
2 TBS Olive oil
1 Small tomato

Serves 2

Have two separate bowls or dishes with flour – the first for dredging - no spice added. The second, mixed well with the garlic powder and parmesan.

Slice cucumber to ¼” rounds. Dry both sides with paper towel. Dredge in flour and shake off excess. Dip in egg mixture. Dredge once again in second bowl of flour (spiced/flavored)flour – shake off excess.

Fry in the olive oil and melted butter on medium heat, and turn only once. The finished cucumber should be golden and still have a little crunch to it – not soggy. Drain on paper towel, and cool.

Once the slices are cooled, top with thin (1/8”) slices of fresh tomato. Serve these cold without broiling them. Before serving, spritz or sprinkle a few drops of Balsamic vinegar on each slice. You can also do the same procedure and ingredients using eggplant or zucchini squash.

This is an excellent accoutrement to serve with a lamb roast, along with scrubbed, whole, oven baked new potatoes that have been coated with a top quality olive oil sprinkled with garlic powder and baked in a covered pan
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Baked Stuffed Eggplant

A delicious recipe, and easy to make. Glenna's recipe for the Chimichirri sauce (following post) also works wonders.






3 (1/2-pound) eggplants
1 teaspoon salt, plus 1 teaspoon
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus 3 tablespoons
2 cups chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound lean ground lamb
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
3 tablespoons minced fresh mint leaves
3 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into julienne strips
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Halve 2 of the eggplants lengthwise, score their pulp deeply with a sharp knife, being careful not to pierce the skins, and with a grapefruit knife scoop or tablespoon, scoop out the pulp, reserving it and leaving 1/2-inch-thick shells.

Sprinkle the shells with 1 teaspoon salt and invert them on paper towels to drain for 15 to 30 minutes. Cut the reserved pulp and the remaining whole eggplant into 1/2-inch pieces, in a colander toss the pieces with the remaining salt, and let them drain for 15 to 30 minutes.

Rinse and pat the shells dry with paper towels, brush them with 1 tablespoon of the oil, and broil them on the rack of a broiler pan, skin side down, under a preheated broiler about 4 inches from the heat until they are tender, about 5 minutes.

In a skillet, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons oil over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking. Saute the onion and the garlic until translucent. Add the ground lamb and the eggplant pieces stirring, until meat loses all color and eggplant is tender.

Remove the skillet from the heat, stir in the parsley, mint, tomatoes, feta, and salt and pepper to taste, and divide the filling among the shells, mounding it. Broil the stuffed eggplants in a large flameproof baking dish for 5 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling and golden.

STEAK WITH CHIMICHURRI SAUCE

In a quest to find something different in flavor and foodie excitement, I was fortunate to discover this exquisite recipe by Glenna and Gene. I thought - well - it's 'interesting' but I wasn't sure it would work for me and my spouse's birthday party. WOW!! Was I ever wrong. This is one of the most exciting dishes I have eaten in years. Be sure to visit Glenna's web site www.afridgefulloffood.typepad.com - (Glenna's site is at the right - "Food Fit For Royalty") you will be pleasantly surprised. The left photo is Glenna's Chimichurri sauce over lamb chops; the right photo is Chimichurri over steak.


Chimichurri is a thick herb sauce that in Argentina is typically served with steak. The first column (bold) contain the quantities for a doubled recipe; the second column contains the normal quantities for one recipe.

3 1-1/2 lb trimmed flank steak (We used sirloin steak)
3 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
½ 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 1 large garlic clove
3 1-1/2 cups fresh cilantro
3 1-1/2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley
½ 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
2/3 1/3 cup olive oil
½ 1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Preheat broiler.

Pat steak dry. Stir together 2 teaspoons salt, cumin, coriander, and pepper in a small bowl and rub mixture onto both sides of steak. Broil steak on a broiler pan or on a char-broiler about 4 inches from heat 6 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, with motor running, add garlic to a food processor and finely chop. Add cilantro, parsley, vinegar, oil, cayenne, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt, then pulse until herbs are finely chopped. Holding a knife at a 45-degree angle (bias), slice the steak thinly. Serve topped with sauce.

Bruschetta with fresh tomato and basil

This recipe is from one of my very dearest friends in CT. Thanks Harriet. This is THE best!! For a light dinner or a snack. For a light dinner, use the whole loaf cut lengthwise. For a snack, do individual thick slices.


1 Large crusty loaf of Italian or French bread

2-4 large garlic cloves minced
6 Plum tomatoes diced to ¼ inch
1 Bunch basil chopped
½ Cup quality olive oil
¼ Cup Romano or Parmesan cheese grated
Salt and pepper

2 Cups mozzarella cheese

Slice bread in half lengthwise. Combine the next six ingredients in a large bowl. Spread on bread. Top with 2 Cups mozzarella cheese. Bake 15-minutes at 350F. until cheese sizzles.

We made this recently and added oven roasted B/S chicken breast 1/2" dice; it was awesome!! You can add just about anything you like - sausage, pepperoni - and what you get is a French bread pizza. One major recommendation is to use mozzarella cheese sliced from a block as opposed to the pre-packaged shredded. You'll get a much more flavorful meal. If there are any bruschetta slices left over, they freeze beautifully for another meal or snack, but I seriously doubt there will be leftovers. This is the last meal that I had the privilege of sharing with Alan and Harriet. Alan has since gone to the Lord.

Cheesecake With Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust

There is nothing that beats a well-tuned cheesecake for dessert. This recipe will have you kicking up your heels, and wondering why you haven't tried making a cheesecake before now!!



Crust:

1 Package of graham crackers (there are normally three packets in a box)
3/4 stick butter melted
1/2 cup sugar
2 TBS Bakers unsweetened chocolate powder

Crush the graham crackers finely. You can get this result easily by first crushing by hand in the sealed packet as best you can, then adding them to the bowl of a food processor with the steel blade and run it until you have very fine crumbs. In a separate bowl, add the crumbs, sugar, chocolate, add the melted butter. Mix well.

NOTE: A dash of ground cardaman and or cinnamon to the crust will add a unique taste.

Pour the crumb mixture in a 9" springform pan. Press crumbs along bottom (and sides -optional) so it is firmly packed.

Bake at 375F. for 8-minutes. Remove from oven and let completely cool.


Cheesecake Filling

4 eight oz. packages cream cheese room temperature
1-1/3 cups sugar
5 eggs room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 tsp Hazelnut syrup (Optional)
1-1/2 teaspoon lemon, lime, or orange zest (optional)
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
2-2/3 Tablespoons AP Flour

Using the paddle attachment in a stand mixer, beat cream cheese until creamy and smooth. Add sugar, mix. Add eggs, mix slowly 1 egg at a time. Scrape sides of the bowl between each egg addition. Add flavorings and heavy cream; mix well. Add flour and mix slowly until well blended; but do not over beat once added. Pour mixture into pre-baked crust.

Bake in preheated 325F. oven in a water bath, 1 hour and 30 minutes. When finished baking, the middle 1" or 2" will still be wobbly. Turn off oven, leaving cake inside with oven door wedged open about 1 inch. Let sit in there for an additional 1 hr. This will complete the baking cycle. Remove from oven, set on wire rack, loosen outer ring but do not remove the ring. Let cool, then refrigerate for several hours (six or more) or overnight. Remove the ring.

Serve topped with your favorite sliced fruit, and/or chocolate whipped cream.

Hint:

If you want a perfect cheesecake with NO cracks on the top, cover the outside of the springform pan bottom with aluminum foil and place the foil-bottomed springform in a pan of hot water before baking. The steam from the water eliminates cracks in the cake. Be sure there is room (an inch or so) between the foil covered springform pan and the sides of the pan of water it has been placed in for baking. The water should come up about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way of the springform pan.

Also, if you want a perfectly white top to the cheesecake, cover loosely with a piece of aluminum foil AFTER the initial 45-minutes baking time; leave the foil on for the remainder of the baking time.

KFC Cole Slaw

This is the real thing. Delicious. :-)

Ingredients

8 Cups Cabbage Finely Chopped
¼ Cup Carrots Shredded
2 TBS Onion Minced
1/4 cup cucumber diced (optional)
1/3 Cup Sugar
½ Tsp Salt
1/8 Tsp Pepper
¼ Cup Milk
½ Cup Real Mayo
¼ Cup Buttermilk
1 ½ TBS White Vinegar
2 ½ TBS Lemon Juice

Instructions

Chop/shred cabbage, carrots, and cucumber into pieces the size of rice

Combine sugar, salt, pepper, milk, mayo, buttermilk, vinegar, and lemon juice in a separate bowl. Add the cabbage, carrots, cucumber and onion; mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2-4 hours

English Lemon Shortbread Scones

Brian Wood is a frequent and prolific contributor to the King Arthur Baking Circle. His recipes have always proven reliable, consistent, and delicious. To find more of Brian's recipes, and more - visit the Circle, http://www.bakingcircle.com and find thousands of recipes from many of the loyal members and contributors, as well as many wonderful recipes by King Arthur personnel.

Lemon is a flavorful complement to this traditional buttery shortbread recipe that is remarkably easy to make.

Preparation time: 15 min Baking time: 30 min Standing time: 30 min
Yield: 5 dozen cookies

Shortbread Ingredients:

2 cups butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 tsp freshly grated lemon peel
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Glaze Ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp butter, softened
2 tbsp lemon juice

Garnish Ingredients:
1 tbsp freshly grated lemon peel

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine all shortbread ingredients except flour in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy.
Reduce speed to low; add flour. Beat until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Press dough evenly into lightly greased 15x10x1 jelly-roll pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely.

Combine all glaze ingredients in small bowl with wire whisk until smooth. Spread thin layer of glaze over cooled shortbread; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon lemon peel, if desired. Let stand 30 minutes to set. Cut into 2-1/2 x 1-inch strips.

Another of Brian's wonderful recipes:

Blueberry-Pecan Muffins

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup cooking oil
1 egg, well beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries thawed and drained
1 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
4 Tbsp sugar
Dipping sugar
Melted butter

Mix together by hand the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in large mixing bowl. Combine the milk, vanilla, egg together and then add all at once to dry ingredients until moistened. Do not over mix. Gently mix the 4 tablespoons sugar, drained berries, lemon peel and pecans together. Fold the berry mixture lightly into the batter. Fill greased and dusted muffin pans half full. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 F or until done. While muffins are still warm, dip the tops in melted butter, then in the sugar.

Seasoned Skewers

One of the most innovative roasting, BBQing, and flavoring aids I’ve seen in a number of years is Callison’s Seasoned Skewers. They come in six different flavors: Thai Coconut Lime, Citrus Rosemary, Indian Mango Curry, Honey Bourbon, Mexican Fiesta, and Garlic Herb.

Callison & Sons is a family-owned supplier of botanical oils and flavors that has been responsible for putting the “mint” flavoring into chewing gum since 1903.

Barbecue, that very American way of flavoring and grilling meats has its history in the Native American Indian populations. Spanish explorers observed the Cherokees and Creek Indians of the Carolinas using crude wooden racks to smoke or dry fish, birds and meats. As they grew accustomed to the idea, the Spanish added beef and pork as meat components.

BBQ in the U.S. has many regional variations and traditions. Traditionally, the flavor has been added by either the material burned in the fire (woods, charcoal, etc.) or by rubs or marinades placed on top of the food. The problem with all of these methods is the need to use large amounts of flavoring material or having to prepare the meat hours or even days ahead to get the flavor fully infused into the meat.

Most seasoning forms use the outside of the food to adhere to, and then fall off during cooking or eating. Adding seasoning inside the food adds more flavor. These Seasoned Skewers are available in packages of 10 sticks.

Many foods, not just meats, can be flavored with this product: chicken, shrimp, halibut, zucchini, mushrooms, tiny red potatoes fruit, shrimp and turkey, and they are 100 percent natural. And one of the nicest things about them is that the sticks season from the INSIDE, out.

Seasoned Skewers started with a simple, but revolutionary, idea: what if we added flavor to our food from the inside out? In a world of marinades, sauces and rubs, flavor just doesn’t make it all the way inside. But what if the sweet tang of your barbecue chicken actually got past the skin? Imagine the center of your roast having the same garlic herb taste as the crust.

Seasoned Skewers to the rescue. The skewers are made from untreated, Maine wood and steeped in all-natural oils. So all you have to do is skewer your food, and it gets infused with flavor. The skewers do the work and your food tastes delicious-inside and out. It’s fast. It’s convenient. And, yes, it really works.

If you would like to learn more about the ‘Sticks’ and where to get them, visit the web site at http://www.seasonedskewers.com/ They have some great recipes there as well.

Here's two of their exciting recipes.

Garlic and Herb Roasted Lamb Rack

Makes 4 servings

4 Callisons Mediterranean Garlic and Herb Seasoned Skewers
or other Seasoned Skewer of your choice
2 Frenched lamb racks (about 2 1/2 pounds total)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

There should be only a thin layer of fat over the meaty side of the racks; if too thick, trim fat carefully with a sharp knife.

Dry lamb well with paper towels. Skewer each rack lengthwise through the meaty portion with 2 skewers. Space the skewers so that there is maximum flavor infusion. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or refrigerated overnight.

Preheat oven to 450°F.

In a shallow roasting pan, set the lamb racks with flat bony side down with meaty side up. Rub lamb with olive oil and then season meat on all sides with the salt and pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes, to 135 – 140°F internal temperature (medium-rare), or to the doneness you like. Let rest a couple of minutes before removing the skewers and before carving or serving. Carve into chops, cutting between bones.

Serve 3 to 4 chops per person. Serve with pan juices.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seasoned Roasted Pork Loin with Pears & Onions

Makes 6 – 8 servings

4 Callisons Indian Mango Curry Seasoned Skewers
1 boneless pork top loin roast (about 2 1/2 pounds)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt

Pears & Onions
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 medium pears, unpeeled, cut lengthwise into eighths and cored
1 small onion, cut into 1″ dice
2 tablespoons chopped parsley or minced fresh chives

Pat the pork roast dry with paper towels, and insert the skewers through the meat lengthwise, spacing the skewers evenly apart for maximum flavor infusion.

Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or refrigerated overnight.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Smear the pork on all sides with the olive oil and season on all sides. Set the roast on a sided baking sheet pan.

To make the Pears & Onions: In a large bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar, and salt. Mix in the pears and onions, coating well.

Distribute the pears and onions around the pork and drizzle the liquid over the pears and onions. Roast for about 40 – 50 minutes, or until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 160°F and the pears and onions are tender.

Transfer the roast to a platter to rest for 10 minutes before carving. Remove skewers before carving or serving.

With a spoon, move the pears and onions around in the baking pan to coat them with pan juices and toss with parsley or chives. Serve the pork, sliced, with the pears, onions, and juice spooned over it.


Recipes have been created by Chef Kathy Casey

Recipe from www.SeasonedSkewers.com

Chocolate-Banana Coffee Cake

Deliciously different, and easy to build






Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
3-4 mashed ripe bananas
1 TBS Hazelnut syrup
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling

1 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix all filling ingredients together and set aside.

Beat sugar and butter in large bowl until fluffy. Stir in bananas, sour cream, hazelnut syrup, and eggs. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Spoon half the batter into 9 x 13-inch greased pan. Sprinkle with half the filling. Spread remaining batter over filling. Sprinkle with remaining filling. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until browned on top and knife or metal skewer comes out clean when inserted into center.

This is absolutely superb served with a large dollop of hazelnut whipped cream.

Hazelnut Whipped Cream

For each cup of heavy cream:

1 Cup Whipping/Heavy Cream
1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
1-1/2 tsp Hazelnut Syrup
1 tsp unflavored gelatin
3-4 TBS water


Sprinkle 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin over 3 tablespoons cold water and let stand until gelatin is softened. Slightly heat till the gelatin completely dissolves. Cool, but do not let it set.

Beat the cream, sugar and hazelnut syrup until slightly thickened. While beating more slowly, gradually add the gelatin to the whipped cream, then whip at high speed until stiff.

TIP: Place the bowl and the beaters or whip you will be using for the whipped cream in the freezer for 30-minutes or longer before starting to whip the cream. Cover the whipped cream bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate immediately until you are ready for it.

Tuna Noodle/Macaroni Casserole

A super quick meal for a meatless day.

Ingredients:

1 can Cream of Celery Soup
1/2 cup milk
1 cup cooked peas
2 tbsp. chopped pimiento
2 6 Oz. cans tuna, drained and flaked
2 cups hot cooked medium egg noodles
2 tbsp. dry bread crumbs
1 tbsp. butter melted

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 400°F.
Mix soup, milk, peas, pimiento, tuna and noodles in 1 1/2-qt. baking dish.
BAKE for 20 miutes or until hot. Stir.

MIX bread crumbs with melted butter. Sprinkle on top. Bake 5 min.

Serve with your favorite vegetables as a side.

Lemon-Lime Pie with Banana Whipped Cream

When I was a pre-teenager, I absolutely hated lemon-lime - of ANY kind. How our tastes change as we mature. This pie is the epitome of lemon-lime ANYTHING!! It's fairly easy to make, but a little time consuming. The end result is beyond description.


Lemon-Lime Pie Filling Ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch (or Tapioca Powder)
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 egg yolks, well beaten
2 tablespoons softened butter
2 Lemon Myrtle Leaves
2 Lime Kaffir leaves

Procedure:

Blend sugar, cornstarch and salt in 2-quart saucepan. Combine milk and yolks, and gradually stir into sugar mixture. Add leaves and simmer for 10-minutes on very low heat. After 10-minutes, remove leaves. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Set aside. Once pudding boils, stir for 1 minute, remove from heat, and stir in butter. Cover tightly and put in refrigerator until it solidifies.

Make your favorite graham cracker pie crust. Bake until done. Let cool. Spread pie filling over the cooled crust; cover and refrigerate.

Banana Whipped Cream

For each cup of heavy cream:

Sprinkle 1-1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin over 3-5 tablespoons cold water and let stand until gelatin is softened. Slightly heat till the gelatin completely dissolves. Cool, but do not let it set. Beat the cream, granulated sugar and 1/2 small overripe banana until slightly thickened. While beating a little more slowly, gradually add the gelatin to the whipped cream. Whip at high speed until stiff. Refrigerate for several hours.

Be sure to refrigerate the bowl and beater(s) for at least 30 minutes. The cream must be cold when beaten. Do not overbeat.

Milk Chocolate Cake

This is a light textured, light chocolate cake that chocolate lovers will enjoy. The filling can be of your choice, as can the icing. If you like the flavor of a 'light' chocolate, I suggest either a vanilla or rum pudding filling, and a butternut icing.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup boiling water

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and dust two 9" layer cake pans. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir with wire whisk until well mixed.Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla and beat well with wire whisk or mixer until combined, about 2 minutes. While beating, heat water in microwave oven to boiling. Stir boiling water into cake batter.

This is a VERY thin batter, so fear not. Pour the thin batter into the two prepared cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until cake pulls away from sides of pan, top springs back when lightly touched, and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 5-10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.


Home

Banana-Peach Cobbler

Frozen peaches are easier to use here - and less work - than fresh.

Batter
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup room temperature milk
1 room temperature egg

Filling

1 large can sliced peaches (or frozen) and drained
1 banana - 1/4 inch sliced
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in a 9 x 13 inch pan.
2. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder& salt.
3. Stir in milk and egg.
4. Pour evenly over melted butter.
5. Combine peaches and banana, sugar and spices and spread over batter-DO NOT STIR!
6. Bake 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees until batter rises and is golden brown.


Spoon into individual dishes, and serve warm or cold with ice cream or whipped cream, Or both :-)
Home

Sole Florentine

Sole is a very mild, sweet salt water fish. The lemon/cucumber sauce(*Below) adds a wonderful dimension to this dish. Serve with baked potato and steamed asparagus.

4 tsp. butter
1/2 cup onion, chopped
Pinch of rosemary crushed or powdered
8 ounces frozen chopped spinach (optional)
1/2 cup chopped almonds
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 lb. Sole fillets
toothpicks
2/3 cup lemon/cucumber white sauce
2 Tbs. plus 2 tsp. water
Sprinkling of smoked paprika

Preheat oven to 350F. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions and rosemary 4-5 minutes until onions are tender. Add next 4 ingredients. Heat 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool. Place 1/4 cup mixture on each fish fillet. Roll up and secure with toothpicks. Arrange fish rolls in a shallow buttered baking dish. Bake 20 minutes. Combine soup and water in a bowl. Pour white sauce over baked fish. Bake another 15 minutes, or until heated through. Sprinkle with paprika and serve.

Lemon-Cucumber Sauce

3 TBS Butter
3 TBS Flour
1/2 Medium Cucumber – Peeled and sliced in ½” thick slices
1 Cup Chicken Broth
1-1 ½ Cups milk or cream
2 Large Lemon Myrtle Leaves

Make the white sauce (roux) by melting the butter. Remove from heat. Whisk in the flour. Add the milk, cream, and chicken broth. Place on medium flame until it starts to bubble; turn to very low. Add cucumber slices and the lemon myrtle leaves. Simmer on very LOW HEAT UNTIL THE CUCUMBER FALLS APART. Blend into the sauce for a smoother sauce, or leave the chunks.

Home

Rum Pudding-Cake Filling

This recipe is hard to beat for a devil's food cake filling. Topped with whipped cream or raspberries - or both, it is a superb dessert.




Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
1 cup boiling water
2 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup white or golden rum
1/2 cup powdered sugar (granulated for a sweeter filling)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Dissolve gelatin in cold then add hot water; cool until partially set. Whip cream, then add to gelatin with sugar, rum and vanilla. Lete cool in a large bowl. Refrigerate. When ready to use, coat the bottom cake layer. Place second layer on top, then frost top layer and sides of the cake with rich, fudge icing.

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French Coconut Pie

I don't know of too many people who do NOT like coconut in one form or another. This pie is quick to make and is a wonderful way to finish off a meal - especially with a cup of breshly brewed hazelnut coffee. Permission was given to me by the author - creator to publish this recipe; she is an encyclopedia of cooking and baking knowledge on the King Arthur Baking Circle, as well as being a mainstay to the message board, and the question and answer point person if you ever have inquiries about cooking and baking or equipment/ingredient resources.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 Tbsp. vinegar
• 3 cups coconut

Instructions:

Combine well, and pour ingredients into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees until firm...about 1 hour. This is much like pecan pie.

An extra addition - a topping - for this pie that goes really well is an ALMOND praline.

Almond Praline Crunch:

3/4 cup Butter
1/2 cup Sugar
1 cup coarsely chopped and toasted almonds.

Stir all together in a heavy duty pan until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat. Once the mixture solidifies and cools, remove from the pan and place the chunks between several folds of waxed paper and break it up with a heavy rolling pin (marble works the best) and crush the chunks into very small pieces. Sprinkle over pie before serving. If you REALLY want more calories and want to be decadent, a few dollops of whipped cream on top is delicious.

Posted by Il Fornaio (The Baker) at 9:57 AM 1 comments
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Easy Enchiladas

A delicious meal in no time flat!!






2 Lbs shredded beef
1 TBS Chili Powder
4 Garlic buds crushed and finely diced
½ Large Onion Chopped
2 tsp Cumin
1 Cup Taco Sauce
1 Cup Sliced Black Olives
1 Can (16 Oz.) Refried Beans
1 Cup Corn Niblets (Optional)
2 Cans Green Enchilada Sauce
1 ½-2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Cook beef in crock pot overnight on low. Cool and shred coarsely in food processor; remove to large bowl. In a separate pan, sauté the garlic and onion. To the bowl with the shredded beef, add onion and garlic, refried beans, chili powder, cumin, taco sauce, corn and olives. Mix well so all is blended.

In a heatproof casserole dish, pour one (1) can of the enchilada sauce. Place meat filling in the center of a tortilla, then roll up and arrange in dish. Pour remaining can of enchilada sauce over the rolled up tortillas. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the filled tortillas. Bake in a preheated 375F. oven for 20-25 minutes.

Serve as is, or with chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce, sour cream, and guacamole.

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Lemon Myrtle/Banana White Sauce

3 TBS Butter
3 TBS Flour
1 Medium banana mashed
1 Cup Chicken Broth
¼ Cup Slivered almonds
¼ Cup shredded coconut
1-1 ½ Cups milk or cream
1 Lemon Myrtle Leaf
¼ tsp curry
½ tsp Accent
1 Dash of Angostura Bitters


Sautee mashed banana in melted butter on medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in flour. Add all remaining ingredients. Return to low heat whisking constantly. Keep on low heat until thickened and the flavors develop.

Serve this over boneless/skinless chicken with orzo or Jasmine rice pilaf.

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RICE AND CHICKEN PILAF WITH DRIED CRANBERRIES AND TOASTED ALMONDS

Quick, easy, and delicious.

1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, cut into 1/4-inch-thick wedges
12 ounces skinless boneless chicken, cut into 1/4-inch-wide strips
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups Basmati rice or medium-grain white rice (Orzo works too)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
4 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted

Heat oil in heavy large deep skillet (preferably nonstick) over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken and garlic to skillet; sauté until chicken is no longer pink, about 4-6 minutes. Stir in rice, cranberries, and cinnamon sticks. Add broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook until rice is tender and most liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl. Discard cinnamon sticks. Sprinkle with toasted almonds.

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Triple Chocolate Cream Pie

This recipe originated from Cooks Illustrated. I hope they don't mind me posting this recipe, but if you are chocoholics like we are, they will want to get it out to the entire civilized world. I claim absolutely NO creativity here. This pie will give you a buzz like you've never had before. There's a few back-and-forth steps in making it, and it can be a little confusing. When you taste the final result, however, you'll never remember all the steps. It is wonderful as a stand alone dessert, and especially good with a demitasse of espresso.

Two kinds of chocolate and Oreo cookies are used to produce a pie with rich chocolate flavor, and an easy-to-slice crust. We wanted a super rich and decadent creamy pie, with a well-balanced chocolate flavor somewhere between a milkshake and a melted candy bar, and a delicious, easy-to-slice crust.

A combination of semisweet and unsweetened chocolate produced the ultimate rounded, intense chocolate flavor. The custard texture depends upon carefully pouring the egg yolk mixture into simmering half-and-half, then whisking in cold butter.

Pulverized Oreos (regular or the double chocolate ones) and a bit of melted butter afford the tastiest, most tender, sliceable crumb crust.

Chocolate Cream PieFor the best chocolate flavor and texture, I recommend either Callebaut semisweet and unsweetened chocolates, Hershey's Special Dark and Hershey's unsweetened chocolates, or Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate and Bakers unsweetened chocolate. Do not combine the yolks and sugar in advance of making the filling--the sugar will begin to denature the yolks, and the finished cream will be pitted. Makes a 9-inch pie.

Chocolate Cookie Crumb Crust

16 - 18 Oreo cookies (with filling), broken into rough pieces, about 2 1/2 cups
2 TBS butter , melted and cooled

Chocolate Cream Filling

2 1/2 cups half-and-half
pinch table salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 TBS cornstarch
6 Large egg yolks at room temperature, (protein strands attached to yolk) removed
6 tablespoons butter (cold), cut into 6 pieces
6 ounces semisweet chocolate or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whipped Cream Topping

1 1/2 cups heavy cream (cold)
1/4 Cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

(For an added dimension, add 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon. It REALLY enhances the chocolate)

1. For the Crust: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. In bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade, process cookies with 15 one-second pulses, then let machine run until crumbs are uniformly fine, about 15 seconds. (Alternatively, place cookies in large zipper-lock plastic bag and crush with rolling pin.) Transfer the crumbs to a medium bowl, drizzle with butter, and use fingers or a wooden spoon to combine until butter is evenly distributed.

2. Pour crumbs into 9-inch pie plate. Press crumbs evenly onto bottom and up sides of pie plate. Refrigerate lined pie plate 20 minutes or more to firm crumbs, then bake until crumbs are fragrant and set, about 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack while preparing filling.

3. For the Filling: Bring half-and-half, salt, and about 3 tablespoons sugar to simmer in medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally with wooden spoon to dissolve sugar. Stir together remaining sugar and cornstarch in small bowl, then sprinkle over yolks and whisk, scraping down sides of bowl, if necessary, until mixture is glossy and sugar has begun to dissolve, about 1 minute. Whisk yolks thoroughly in medium bowl until slightly thickened, about 30 seconds. When half-and-half reaches full simmer, drizzle about 1/2 cup hot half-and-half over yolks, whisking constantly to temper; then whisk egg yolk mixture into simmering half-and-half (mixture should thicken in about 30 seconds). Return to simmer, whisking constantly, until 3 or 4 bubbles burst on the surface and mixture is thickened and glossy, about 15 seconds longer.

4. Remove to a cool burner. Whisk in butter until incorporated; add chocolates and whisk until melted, scraping pan bottom to fully incorporate. Stir in vanilla, then immediately pour filling into baked and cooled crust. Press plastic wrap directly on surface of filling and refrigerate pie until filling is cold and firm, about 3 hours. (The plastic wrap will stick at first, but then release once solidified.)

5. Just before serving, beat cream, sugar, Cinnamon, and vanilla in bowl of standing mixer on low speed until small bubbles form, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium; continue beating until beaters leave a trail, about 30 seconds more. Increase speed to high; continue beating until cream is smooth, thick, and nearly doubled in volume and forms soft peaks, about 20 seconds. Spread or pipe whipped cream over chilled pie filling.

NOTE: If you are not confident in getting a stiff whipped cream, dissolve a tsp. of gelatin and 3 TBS water. Place on low heat until completely dissolved. Drizzle the gelatin/water mixture in the whipped cream just before you feel the peaks are stiff enough; continue beating until well-incorporated. Refrigerate immediately. Spread the whipped cream once it has set up.

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Mincemeat for Pies and Filled Cookies

Some folks like mincemeat...others don't. In any event, here's a recipe worth trying. We've made this recipe over and over again for the past 41-years. If you DO like mincemeat, then you are in for a real treat.





Ingredients:

1 Orange peel Grated
1 Lb. Ground Beef (wild game – deer, antelope is particularly good) and will work here fine)
Enough water to cover the ground beef
1 Lb Apples
2 ½ Cups Currants
2 ¾ Cups Raisins
½ Cup Brandy
½ Cup Dry Red Wine
¼ Lb Citron
1 tsp salt
1 TBS ground nutmeg
1 ½ Cups sugar
1 Cup Apple Cider
1 TBS cinnamon

1 Cup meat liquor (broth after boiling ground meat)

Boil ground beef (or game) for about 45-minutes and let it cool in the water; save 1-cup of the broth. Put all ingredients in a big pot -EXCEPT for the brandy and wine. Simmer very slowly for 1-hour while stirring occasionally. Let cool to luke warm, then add brandy and wine. For best results, refrigerate it and let it gather the flavors of the brandy and wine which will further tenderize the product. If you’re not going to use it right away, pack in sterilized jars and pressure cook for 60-minutes at 10-Lbs of pressure.

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Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding

After eating pounds and pounds of turkey and ham for Thanksgiving, we're ready for something different for the Christmas food fest. For the past 15 years, it has been a standing beef rib roast for us. The leftovers are delicious for sandwiches, or you can make your own roast beef hash. The following is a summation of the roast beef dinner.


Roast Beef

This may seem like a very different way of roasting a prime beef cut, but I can guarantee you will never go back to your standard method.

Prime Rib Roast or rib eye at room temperature (very important)

Dijon or brown mustard

Fresh thyme (Lots of it)

Fresh garlic cloves minced

Kosher salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

Place the rib roast, bone side down, starting at the tail or narrow end, make a flap by cutting the fat strip on top of the meat, going toward the thicker part, as far as you can without severing it. Lay the fat strip back, and set aside. If you can get a roast with the ‘lip’ on, that’s the way to go. Mix Dijon, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Spread this mixture on the meat underneath the flap/lip which you just made. Replace the flap and use kitchen string to loosely wrap the meat to keep the flap in place as it roasts, otherwise the flap will curl up. Place the roast in the oven in a shallow roasting pan.

Make sure your roast is at room temperature before you place it in the oven, otherwise you will have an under cooked roast at the end of the cooking cycle. Set the oven temperature at 500° degrees F.

Multiply the roast poundage on the package times 5 minutes to determine the amount of time the meat will roast at 500° degrees F. Be as accurate as possible! Example: if your roast weighs 5.53 pounds, then multiply 5.53 (pounds) times 5 (minutes) which equals = 27.65. This means you will roast your meat for (27.65) or 28 minutes.

At the end of the 28 minutes, turn the oven temperature off. Leave the roast in the oven for at least 2 hours - or more according to your liking as to doneness. During this 2 hour+ time, do not open the oven door as the meat is still cooking. This time is primarily for rare.

Serve with steamed asparagus, green beans, or Brussels sprouts. Mashed potatoes and gravy are aslo recommended. Plan for having brown and serve rolls. Yorkshire pudding is strongly recommended and is posted here further down on the list.

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Dinner Rolls

For quick and easy, foolproof dinner rolls try this recipe.







6 to 6 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 T. sugar
2 pkgs. Yeast – (5-Tsp)
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup milk
2 T. butter

Note: Also a good recipe for loaf bread. If making dinner rolls add 2 TBS of honey.

In a large bowl, combine 2-1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Heat water, milk and butter (plus honey if using) to about 120 degrees. Gradually add to the dough ingredients; beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Add another 1/2 cup flour, beat two minutes at high speed. Add additional flour to make soft dough. (Good time to switch to dough hooks). Place in greased bowl, cover and let rise to 1-1/2 times or doubled.

Punch dough down and shape as desired.

Bake 375 for dinner rolls, about 20 minutes or until suitably browned on top. Brush with butter when done.

Hearth Braid 400 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Makes about 12-Dinner rolls

For rolls, divide dough into 12-pieces and shape into balls with a lot of tension on the tops. Place side-by-side in lightly buttered glass baking dish.

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Chicken Salad Filled Puff Pastry

This makes a delightful taste tempting appetizer for a party.

Chicken Salad (**)

1-1/2 c. finely chopped cooked chicken
¼ c. finely chopped celery (*)
¼ c. finely chopped onion(*)
1 hard boiled egg, chopped (Optional)
1 TBS sweet pickle relish
1/4 tsp. salt
Garlic powder to taste
Dash of black pepper
1/8 scant tsp or less of curry (Add a pinch as you mix – add more if necessary to develop a subtle taste.
1/3 c. mayonnaise

Combine all ingredients. Chill in covered container until ready to serve.

(*) The celery and onion should be finely shredded in a food processor.

The curry is what makes this chicken recipe salad above and beyond the norm.

(**) This salad is exquisite served in small filled, cream puff pastries [2” diameter]

Cut puffs in half, stuff each half, put back together. and arrange on a nice plate

Cream Puffs

1 cup water
1 stick butter
1 cup flour
4 eggs, slightly beaten

Heat water and butter to boiling. Remove from heat and stir in flour vigorously for about 1 minute, or until mixture forms a ball and cleans the sides of the pan. Stir in eggs. Beat vigorously again until smooth and satiny. Dough will separate at first, but will all comes together after a while. You can drop dough by 1/4 cupful, 3 inches apart on an un-greased cookie sheet(s); or, refrigerate for at least 30-minutes then evenly portion the dough .

Bake 20 minutes in a preheated 400° oven. Lower temp. to 350° and bake 15-20 minutes longer, or until the puffs are firm, deep golden in color, and crisp. Cool on wire racks. Cut in half and pull out any under-baked strands, and fill with pastry cream or whatever you like. (Ice cream, pudding, whipped cream, chicken or lobster salad). Replace tops and refrigerate. If these are for dessert puffs, at serving time, dust with confectioner's sugar. Fill these as close to serving time as possible, as they will soften if filled and there will be a long wait before eating.

When working with puff pastry, keeping it cold is crucial. You don't want the butter to melt prematurely. Work quickly with one piece at a time and keep the rest covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator. Your tools and working area should also be kept cold.

Puff pastry relies upon heat for lift. Preheat your oven at least 15 to 20 minutes before you plan on using it.

Use a very sharp hot knife or pastry/pizza wheel to cut puff pastry, and be sure to cut straight down and not at an angle. Using a dull implement will fuse the layers together and discourage rising.

A half recipe works well.

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Ground Lamb and Orzo

If you like lamb, and are looking for an absolutely wonderful, quick recipe this is it!! It's like a Greek chili, and has multiple uses.

Ingredients:

1 to 1-1/2 Lbs of ground lamb
3-5 Diced garlic cloves
1-Medium onion diced
1-1/2 TBS rosemary needles
1 Tsp ground or powdered oregano
2 TBS Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
3-cups of chicken broth
1 Cup orzo
Juice from 1/2 lemon

Directions:

Brown the lamb, onion, rosemary, oregano, garlic in the olive oil until browned. Do not drain. When browned, add the chicken broth and the orzo. Cover and let simmer on VERY, very low heat for 15-minutes. Add lemon juice a few minutes before serving.

If you have leftovers, you can add bread crumbs, an egg to the leftovers, mix well, refrigerate. Flour the pattie on both sides before frying. Form chilled mixture into patties and fry them as you would a hamburger in olive oil. This would be a great time to make some pita bread and stuff the bread pockets with the fried pattie.

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Pork Loin Cutlets or Chicken Breasts in Lemon-Cucumber white sauce

This sauce has a wonderfully delicate combination of cucumber and lemon flavors.





3 TBS Butter
3 TBS Flour
1/2 Medium Cucumber – Peeled and sliced in ½” thick slices
1 Cup Chicken Broth
1-1 ½ Cups milk or cream
2-3 Large Lemon Myrtle Leaves


2-4 Pork loin ¾” thick slices, or Chicken Breasts B/S
Garlic powder
Onion Powder
Salt and Pepper
¼ Cup Macadamia mountain pepper oil.( Olive oil can be used, but not as tasty)

Macadamia mountain pepper oil is available from Australian exporters.

Make the white sauce (roux) by melting the butter. Remove from heat. Whisk in the flour. Add the milk, cream, and chicken broth. Place on medium flame until it starts to bubble; turn to very low. Add cucumber slices and the lemon myrtle leaves. Simmer on very LOW HEAT UNTIL THE CUCUMBER FALLS APART. Blend into the sauce for a smoother sauce, or leave the chunks.

Sautee the pork or chicken in the macadamia – mountain pepper oil until done, but first sprinkle with garlic salt/powder, onion powder, and salt and pepper. When done to your liking, remove meat to oiled oven proof casserole dish, pour white sauce over the meat, and bake for 20-minutes at 350. Or simply pour sauce over the vermicelli and meat and do not poach.

Serve with garlic bread.

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Pot Roast Supreme

3-4 lb. English Cut Roast , Mock Tender, eye of round, or rump roast

1 chopped onion
1 envelope Onion Soup Mix
3 T Wyler's Low Sodium Beef Bouillon or 14 Oz Can Swanson’s Beef Broth
4 cups water
1 TBS capers
1 Tsp stuffed olives (chopped)
1 or 2 pkgs. Goya Sazón Tomato and Cilantro granules (found in Mexican food section)
2 Stalks celery diced or thinly sliced
2 carrots diced or thinly sliced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1-2 TBS Garlic powder or granules (optional but recommended)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 T Olive Oil for initial browning of the floured beef

Bring the four cups of water to a boil; add soup mix, bouillon/broth, tomato paste, and Sazón. Let simmer slowly. Using a LARGE Dutch oven, brown the floured roast in oil, turning to brown all sides and ends. Then add chopped onion, celery, and carrots and let cook 2 minutes with beef. Add simmering liquid, capers and olives. Bring back to a boil, cover and lower heat to simmer gently. Let cook at least two to three hours depending on the thickness of the roast, turning meat once after half the time. About 30 minutes before the meat is cooked, add peeled, quartered potatoes.

When meat is fork-tender, remove from pot and cover air-tight; wrap in foil. Remove potatoes. Turn up heat under pot and reduce liquid by half. Mix 4 T flour with 1/2 cup water, drizzle slowly into meat liquid whipping constantly with a wire whip until gravy thickness is to your liking. Add the garlic powder here. The onion soup mix and the Sazón have enough salt in them for the whole pot, but you may want to add some. Puree the liquid with a food processor – this will be your dynamite gravy.

This is wonderful served with green beans, Brussels sprouts, or ANY veggie. Garlic bread is a plus!!. Enjoy.

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Apple Stuffing for Poultry and Pork Chops

Stuffing is standard fare for whole chickens, turkey, or pork chops. This is a quick and easy recipe. Can be increased for larger birds.

INGREDIENTS:

2 to 4 slices bacon, diced, fried and browned, or salt pork(*)
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 beaten egg
3 apples, peeled, cored, and shredded or finely diced
1/4 cup sugar (optional)
4 cups dried bread crumbs or diced bread (1/2” dice)
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tsp Poultry seasoning
Water if needed

PREPARATION:

Fry diced bacon or diced salt pork until crisp, then add celery and onion; cook until tender. In a large bowl, add all remaining ingredients, adding hot water only if needed. Mix well so that the bread has absorbed the moisture, but is not mushy. Refrigerate immediately if you are not going to use it right away.

(*)= Salt pork adds a much better flavor than bacon

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Il Crepes ha imbottito col pollo, il prosciutto, il formaggio e l'asparago

Crepes stuffed with shredded ham, cooked chicken, asparagus tips, bacon bits and mozarella cheese.

There are three steps to this recipe, but the results are worth it.

FILLING:
1 cup finely diced cooked chicken
1 cup cooked finely diced ham
2 slices bacon fried crispy, drained and crumbled
3/4 cup shredded mozarella
1 tsp porcini mushroom powder.

Finely dice the chicken and ham. Shred the mozarella. Put the ingredients in a bowl, an sprinkle the mushroom powder over all; stir/mix well.

CREPES:

1 cup AP flour
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 TBS sugar
4 TBS melted butter
1/8 tsp orange extract
Canola oil for frying - or use a teflon crepe skillet



3 tbsp. melted butter or oil

Mix with whisk. Heat pan until a drop of water sizzles. Remove pan from heat. Pour batter into center of pan and swirl pan until bottom is covered with batter. Pour any excess batter that doesn't stick to the pan back into batter bowl. Flip crepe and cook the second side. The first side will be a nice even brown; the second side will be an uneven color. Spread crepes out and allow to dry before stacking. If you make ahead and freeze, stack between pieces of wax paper.

WHITE SAUCE:

3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. flour1 1 c. milk
1 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c. white cooking wine
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp. capers (optional)

Melt butter, add flour and stir with wooden spoon until bubbly, but don't let mixture brown. Heat milk and stock to the simmer point. Remove bubbling flour and butter from heat and add boiling liquid all at once and stir vigorously. Return to heat and simmer 10 to 15 minutes, stirring to prevent scorching. Add cream bit by bit and stir to blend. Add cheese and stir until melted. If instant flour is used, mix all ingredients, except cream, together in saucepan, blend well and heat to simmer point. If sauce is too thick, add additional milk, chicken broth, or wine until consistency is right.

Spread a spoonful or two of filling down the center of each crepe. Roll and turn seam side down in a buttered baking dish. Use remaining 2 cups of cream sauce and remaining cheese for topping. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Freezes well. If you prepare ahead of time and freeze, defrost and proceed as you would have without freezing.

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Calamari Appetizers

We Italians love calamari (squid). So many people get turned off at the thought of eating a squid, but you really need to try it before making a decision. Many of the finer restaurants offer this succulent appetizer on their menus.


Sauce

2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 cup water
2 tablespoons Sriracha chili sauce (This is hot)
2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 2 teaspoon water
Chopped fresh basil leaves

Or you can use the standard shrimp sauce = Ketchup, horse radish, and lemon juice.

Calamari

1 1/2 pounds squid cleaned tubes
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups of self-rising flour), seasoned to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

Sauce Instructions

Combine the ginger, shallots and garlic together in a saucepan. Add the sugar, white wine and rice vinegars, tomato paste, water and Sriracha sauce. Stir to blend and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook gently, stirring frequently, for about 8 minutes. Whisk cornstarch mixture into the sauce. Add a few chopped leaves of the basil, cook for a minute or two more, remove from heat and let cool. Refrigerate until serving time.

Calamari Instructions

Rinse the squid well and cut the tubes into rings. Pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. Pour the buttermilk into a wide bowl, and put the seasoned flour in a second wide bowl. Pour oil into a deep pan (or covered fryer) to a depth of 3 to 4 inches. Heat the oil to 350F.

Dip a handful or so of the squid into the buttermilk, let drain, then toss into the flour. Coat well, then place squid in a strainer, hold it over the sink and shake off the excess flour. Place the squid into the hot oil and carefully separate the pieces, taking care to avoid any spattering oil. Cook briefly, about 1 minute for the rings. The coating should be golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Serve immediately along with the sauce.

Makes about 6 appetizer servings.
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Fish and Potatoes Poached in White Wine Sauce

This recipe goes well with any mild fish fillets like bass, flounder, crappie or any white fish. We used to make this a lot when we lived in CT where 9-10 pound large-mouthed bass were plentiful. Also is great with thin boneless pork loin chops.





Ingredients for white wine sauce:

4 TBS Butter
4 TBS Flour
1-1/2 Cup milk
1/2 Cup white wine
2 tsp dill seed
1/2 tsp onion powder
Salt to taste
1/8 tsp or less of white pepper
Dash of nutmeg

Make a roux by melting butter, remove from heat source, then whisk in the flour, salt and white pepper. Return to the heat source, then add the milk, nutmeg, onion powder and dill seed. Whisk continuously until it thickens; add wine and continue to whisk. Once thickened to a medium sauce, remove from heat. You may need to add more milk if the sauce gets to thick. But remember, the potatoes and the fillets will release additional moisture during the poaching process.


Other ingredients:

4 Medium to large fish fillets
3 Medium peeled potatoes quartered or cut in eighths
Flavored Bread Crumbs
Grated Parmesan Cheese

In a suitably-sized baking dish, lightly oil the bottom and sides. Coat the bottom with a little of the white sauce. Place the fish fillets in the bottom of the baking dish - do not overlap the fillets. Spread more of the white sauce over the fillets.

Place potatoes over the fillets, then pour the remaining white sauce over the potatoes. Sprinkle bread crumbs over all, then the Parmesan cheese.

Cover the baking dish with tin foil. Bake at 325 until the potatoes are cooked - about 45-minutes.

Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls

If you like cinnamon rolls AND blueberries, this is the ticket to both in one.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp double strength vanilla
1 egg
3 1/3 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons SAF Red - Instant Yeast

Filling:

2 TBS melted butter
1 Cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 TBS cinnamon

Place the first seven ingredients in your bread machine or in a stand mixer with the dough hooks. Select dough cycle, or knead with the dough hooks until you have a smooth dough.

Remove dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead for 2-3 minutes, then roll into an 18x9 rectangle. Brush dough with 2 tablespoons melted butter. In a separate container, mix together 1/2 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon, add the blueberries (wet them first) and sprinkle over entire dough surface. Roll up tightly in a jelly roll style. Wet the end seam with water, then press so as to seal the roll.

Slice into 9 equal rolls of 2 inches each, then place in a greased 9x9 inch pan. Cover and let rise 30 to 40 minutes until doubled in size. Bake in a preheated 375F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 Drops of lemon extract
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
2 TBS softened butter


Stir and mix all together until very smooth. Spread the glaze while the rolls are still warm.

Banana-Oatmeal Muffins

These muffins are terrific for breakfast or a break. They are loaded with nutrition and fiber, AND very tasty.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups oatmeal (instant)

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cardamon

2 ripe bananas

2-4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 egg1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup brown sugar
Milk as needed to make a medium-thick batter.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray, or a six cup Texas sized muffin tin.

In a large bowl, mix together the oats and boiling water. Mix well until fully hydrated.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cardamon.

In a glass measure, mash the bananas thoroughly with a fork. Add enough vegetable oil to reach the 1 1/8 cup mark. (A little more is ok – say, a cup and a half) Stir together, then add to the oatmeal mixture, along with the egg, vanilla and sugar. Mix well. Add the flour mixture and mix gently until combined. Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

I use the Texas-sized muffin tin – makes 6-large muffins, but you can also use the standard 12-muffin tin.

Honey Sesame Seed Pork Tenderloin

Pork... the OTHER white meat. This is a fast, easy to prepare meal. Can be served with most any vegetable, but brocolli or cauliflower with a mild cheese sauce goes exceptionally well. You might also want to consider asparagus with a Hollandaise sauce, and a twice baked potato.







Ingredients

1-2 lbs. Boneless Pork Tenderloin
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated or shredded fresh ginger
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons sesame seed

Instructions

Combine soy sauce, garlic, ginger and sesame oil. Place tenderloin in a heavy plastic bag, pour soy mixture over to coat. Let marinate 2 hours at room temperature, or overnight in refrigerator. Remove pork from marinade, pat dry.

Mix together honey and brown sugar in a shallow plate. Place sesame seed on a separate shallow plate. Roll pork entire tenderloin in the honey mixture, coating well; then roll in sesame seed. Roast in a shallow pan at 400 degrees F. for 20-30 minutes, until meat thermometer inserted registers 160 degrees F. Remove to serving platter, slice thinly to serve.

Serves four - that is unless you are extra hungry. :-)

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Chicken Lo Mein

This is a fast, tasty meal that is a great variation from the everyday doldrums of pork and beef.


1 Whole chicken breast or 1 ½ Lbs Chicken tenders
2 TBS Sesame Oil
1 Bunch Scallions
½ Lb Bean Sprouts
1 Cup Chicken Broth
1/3 Cup Soy Sauce
1 TBS Corn starch
2 Cups Shredded Lettuce
1 TBS Chopped Pimiento
Mini canned corn cobs (Optional)
Brocolli Flowerettes (Optional)
Vermicelli Pasta

Bone chicken breast, reserving skin and bone. Slice meat into thin strips;
set aside. Simmer the skin and bone in 1 ¼ cups of water for 15-minutes.
Strain into cup; add enough water, if necessary, to make one cup of broth.
Boil vermicelli according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Sauté the chicken until it’s golden brown on
all sides. Add chopped Scallions; sauté one minute longer. Add Reserved
chicken broth and Cook until thick and clear. Fold in the bean sprouts,
1 ½ cups of the shredded lettuce, and cooked vermicelli. Continue heating
until the lettuce is wilted, and the mixture is well combined. Serve and top
with remaining lettuce and the pimiento.

This is absolutely delicious served cold as a pasta salad.
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Almond-Coconut Crumb Topped Peach Pie

If you have never had a peach crumb pie, or have never LIKED peach pie, get ready for the dessert treat of a life time. We made this for the first time today, and will be making it again, and again.

1 recipe Pie Pastry, Single Crust, refrigerated

FILLING:

6 Cups frozen sliced peaches, partially thawed

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon

1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons tapioca flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

COCONUT-ALMOND CRUMB TOPPNG:

1 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1 tablespoon milk

If you haven’t already, prepare the pie pastry and refrigerate until firm enough to roll, about 1 hour.

On a sheet of lightly floured waxed paper, roll the pastry into a 13-inch circle with a floured rolling pin. Invert the pastry over a 9 1/2-inch deep-dish pie pan, center, and peel off the paper. Gently tuck the pastry into the pan, without stretching it, and sculpt the overhang into an upstanding ridge. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Combine the peaches, lemon juice, lemon zest, and 1/3 cup of the sugar in a large bowl and toss well to mix. Set aside for 10 minutes to juice. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a small bowl, mix the tapioca flour with the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar. Sprinkle this mixture over the fruit and mix well. Stir in the vanilla and nutmeg. Turn the filling into the chilled pie shell and smooth the filling to even it out. Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake for 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the topping. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, almonds, and coconut in a food processor and pulse several times to mix. Scatter the butter over the top and pulse until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add the milk and process again until the crumbs are like medium fine gravel. Transfer to a large bowl and rub gently between your fingers to make the crumbs uniform in texture. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Remove the pie from the oven and reduce the temperature to 375 degrees F. Carefully dump the crumbs in the center of the pie and spread them evenly. Press on the crumbs gently to compact them. Return the pie to the oven, placing it so that the part that faced the back of the oven now faces forward. Slide a large aluminum foil-lined baking sheet onto the rack below to catch any spills. Bake until the juices bubble thickly around the edge, about 30 minutes. Use a very thick layer of crumb topping.

Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool for at least 1 hour before serving.

Foolproof Italian Bread

For whatever reason, when baking bread is mentioned, so many people are simply not confident enough to make or bake it. Your worries are over!! If you have a stand mixer with bread hooks, you CAN make this bread with total confidence!! If you follow the simple directions given here, you will be suddenly known as a 'bread master. If you have been putting off baking bread, no need to put it off any longer; success is on the way.


6 to 6 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 T. sugar
2 TBS instant yeast
2 tsp. sea salt
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup milk
2 TBS softened butter

Makes 2-Loaves or a half dozen hoagie rolls.


In large bowl, combine 2 1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Heat water, milk and butter to about 120 degrees. Gradually add to the dough ingredients; beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Add 1/2 cup flour; beat two minutes at high speed. Change beaters to the dough hooks. Add additional flour to make soft dough. Add additional water if necessary. When dough is ready it will pull away from the sides of the bowl. Place in lightly greased bowl, turn several times to completely coat the dough, cover with plastic wrap, and let raise to double in size.

Punch dough down and shape as desired. Let rise until 1 ½ times original size. Score the dough horizontally one time, or across the loaves several times on each loaf.

Bake at 375F. for about 20 minutes.

This dough freezes well and rises nicely after thawing and shaping.

Can use this recipe for hamburger-shaped rolls too.
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Il pasto granoturco pane italiano (Corn meal Italian Bread)

This is a delightful, ciabatta type bread that you will make time after time.

1 TBS Instant yeast

1 1/2 Cup bottled water

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp sea salt

½ Cup White Corn Meal

1 ½ Cups boiling water

4 Cups High Gluten Bread Flour

2 Cups AP Flour

1 TBS Olive Oil

Boil 1 1/2 cups of bottled water in a medium sauce pan. Once boiling, remove from heat and quickly add the corn meal and salt. Stir so it is completely hydrated. Stir occasionally to assure there is no dry corn meal at the bottom of the pan. Let the mix cool completely. Here, you will have a corn meal mash or mush.

Add yeast to a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, and 1 1/2 cups warm bottled water (105-110). Mix well with beaters and let sit for 12-15 minutes until it gets creamy/foamy. Add one cup of bread flour and olive oil. Beat well with beaters. Add cooled corn meal and continue beating until well blended. Switch to oiled bread hooks.

Add remaining flour 1 cup at a time until you get a silky dough. The dough may be sticky, so add more flour until you are comfortable with the feel of the dough. The dough should pull away from the edges of the pan.

Place in large oiled bowl; turn several times to fully coat dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise to doubled. This will take only about 30-45 minutes.

Once doubled lightly flour counter, gently de-gas, and shape to either one large boule, or two small ones. Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Brush with olive oil, lightly cover with plastic wrap, and let rise to doubled in size. You can add seeds of your choice at this point. You can also do a refrigerated rise for 6-12 hours. Bring to room temperature before baking.

Turn oven to 450F. Make sure you have a steam pan in oven. Once up to temperature, fill steam pan with hot water, spray oven sides with water – being careful NOT to spray light bulb or oven door glass. Place shaped dough in 450F. oven for 10-minutes. After 10-minutes, spray oven and turn cookie sheet 180 degrees for even baking. Reduce temperature to 400F. Bake for an additional twenty minutes or until the internal temperature of the bread reaches 180F. Remove from oven, and rub top of loaves with a stick of butter.

Let cool one hour before slicing. This bread gains flavor the longer it sits – up to four days. It has the beautiful texture of a ciabatta if not de-gassed too much for the second rising.

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Grilled Lamb and Onions on Rosemary Skewers

Lamb, garlic, and rosemary are a perfect blend. I'm not sure how easy it is to find the rosemary skewers in the U.S.,but they can be ordered over the internet primarily from Australia where rosemary is grown in huge amounts for both domestic use and exporting.

3 Lbs lamb, trimmed, cut into 1" Cubes

1/4 cup olive oil

1/3 cup red wine

1 large shallot, chopped

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 tbls chopped fresh rosemary

24-30 pearl onions, trimmed and peeled

Salt and black pepper, freshly ground

12 rosemary skewers, fresh or dried

Combine all ingredients (except rosemary skewers) in a bowl and toss. Marinate in refrigerator for 2-3 hours, mixing occasionally. Remove lamb cubes and discard marinade. Thread lamb and onions alternately on to the skewers. You may need to make the hole for the rosemary skewers with a metal skewer.

Grill on barbeque for 6-8 minutes on each side, or until cooked as desired.

Serves 6

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Pizza or Calzones

• 1 pkg dried yeast (or 3-tsp instant)
• 1 Cup warm water (105F - 110F) Bottled water is best
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 1/2 Cups High Gluten Bread flour
• 2 T olive oil
• Cornmeal to prevent sticking (not needed if you use parchment paper)
• Makes two 13-14 inch pizza shells or 6-calzones.

Dissolve yeast in water; let stand 5-10 minutes. Combine flour and salt in large bowl. Make a well in center of flour and gradually work half the yeast mixture into well with your fingers. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and gradually work in remaining yeast mixture. Add a tablespoon or more of water, if needed to make dough soft and smooth. Turn dough onto flat surface and knead vigorously for at least 10 minutes.

Shape dough in large ball and place in large greased bowl, turning dough over to grease top. Cover with a damp cloth, let rise in a warm place till doubled in bulk, about 45-60 minutes. Place in refrigerator for further rising for 6 hours.

Once risen, divide dough in half or 6- rounds for calzones. (At this point, dough may be frozen for later use.) On parchment paper, roll each half into a 13-14 inch circle about 1/8 inch thick, leaving a thick ridge around edge so topping will not spill over. Rub surface with about a tablespoon of olive oil and top with your favorite filling.

If doing calzones, stuff the rolled out dough leaving 1” around the edges, fold over, and wet the edges. Press with a fork to seal. Make slices in the top for the steam to escape. Heat oven to 500 degrees for about 30 minutes for pizza. Then lower heat to 475F – 450F and bake pizza for 10-15 minutes (depending upon the heat accuracy of your oven). Bake it directly on your pizza stone which has been in the oven while it is preheating or on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Be sure you have made slits in the top of each calzone so the steam can escape. Bake Calzones at 400F on a parchment lined cookie sheet until puffy and golden. To serve, dip in marinara sauce.
Calzone pictured.

Lamb Braised in Yogurt and Cream-Rogani Gosht

1 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream)
1 cup heavy cream
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup blanched almonds
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
2 tablespoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cardamom
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 lb. boneless lean lamb, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
2 large potatoes, peeled and quartered

Combine all ingredients except the lamb and potatoes in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.

Put the yogurt mixture and the lamb into a large, heavy pot (preferably nonstick) and bring to a boil over moderate heat. Reduce the heat and simmer tightly covered for 2 hours.

Check the mixture and stir frequently, adding milk or water as needed if the sauce becomes too thick. Add the potatoes and continue cooking until tender, 30 to 45 minutes.

Serve with your favorite rice.

Charcoal Broiled Leg of Lamb

I'd rather have lamb than roast beef, salmon, or just about any red or white meat or seafood (scallops, halibut, swordfish, shark excepted.)

1 3-5 Pound sirloin leg of lamb
3 TBS olive oil
2 VERY large Garlic buds
Powdered Rosemary
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Charcoal broiler
Charcoal
2 Fatwood sticks
Newspaper

Start your fire about 45-minutes ahead of time. Place several sheets of newspaper in charcoal pan; 2-halved sticks of fatwood, generous amonut of charcoal. Light newspapers from the bottom. Let coals get to the ashy/white stage. If you like the lamb taste as opposed to a charcoal taste as with beef or pork, do NOT charbroil; you will lose much of the wonderful taste of the lamb!! Oven roast it for the delightful taste of the lamb.

Coat roast generously with olive oil. Make small slices in the fat side of the roast and insert thinly sliced garlic buds in the scored roast. If you have a heat-proof meat thermometer, stick it in the roast - AWAY from any bone. Turn or reposition the roast occasionally. Cook for several hours until thermometer reads 150F. For juicy, tender lamb, it should be roasted to NO more than 150F. internal temperature; medium rare - to medium. Save the juices for gravy. After roasting is completed, let the roast sit for 15-minutes before slicing. Save juice. This recipe can also be roasted in the oven at 325F. with peeled, quartered pototoes. (Photo)

GRAVY

3-4 Cups water
2-Chicken bouillion cubes
Drippings from roast after it's been sliced
2 TBS flour
1/4 Cup HOT water.

Dissolve cubes in the 3-4 cups of water.
Mix 1/4 cup hot water with flour
Place all together on a pan, whisk constantly until it thickens.

Chimichangas with rice and refried beans

Next to green chili with pork, this is my favorite Mexican dish.






1 lb Lean beef or venison
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1/4 tsp Garlic powder
4 Tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp lard
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 bell pepper chopped
1 1/2 tsp Flour
1/2 c canned whole green Chiles
4 fl Tortillas
Oil for deep frying
Red chile sauce or salsa
1 c Jack or Colby cheese, shredded
1 c Sour cream
8 Black olives
1/4 c Green onion, chopped
1 tb Whipping cream
Guacamole
2 cups Shredded lettuce

Cut the beef into 4 pieces. Place in a 5 to 6-quart pan and add water tocover. Bring to a boil; skim the foam from the surface. Add the salt,pepper, and garlic. Simmer until tender, approximately 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Drain the beef, reserving 1/2 cup of the broth.

When the meat is cool, coarsely Shred in a food processor. Chop 2 of the tomatoes. Melt the shortening in a pan over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and sauté until tender. Add the flour, whisking until no lumps remain, and cook 2 minutes. Add the shredded beef, reserved broth, chopped tomatoes, and whole chilies. Simmer 15 minutes.

Place about 1/2 cup of the meat mixture in a line down the center of each tortilla. Fold both ends over 1 inch to 2 inch; fold one side over the other and roll up in a neat package. Secure with a toothpick. Deep fry in very hot oil 400'F until crisp and well browned. Drain on paper towels.

Preheat the broiler. Place the chimichangas on an ovenproof plate or in a baking pan. Spoon red chili sauce over liberally. Sprinkle with grated cheese and green onion. Place under the broiler until the cheese melts.Combine the sour cream and the whipping cream. Slice the remaining 2 tomatos. Top the chimichangas with the sour cream mixture and Guacamole. Garnish with shredded lettuce, diced tomato, guacamole and olives.

Serve with rice and refried beans.

Mexican Rice

This is the perfect rice side dish for the chimichangas.

1 cup uncooked rice -- your choice
2 cups cold water
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
Olive oil
1/2 Onion Coarsely chopped
1 Small roma tomato, chopped into about 4 pieces
Hot pepper of your choice, sliced lengthwise
3 TBS Tomato sauce
1 tsp cumin powder
1 TBS chicken bouillon (1 cube in the cooking water)
Salt, to taste

Put a little olive oil (1-2 Tbs.) into a medium-sized pot and heat to a medium temperature, add the rice, uncooked, and brown in the oil. Make sure all the rice is lightly coated with the oil. You do not have to stir the rice around very much at first while browning, but as the rice becomes browner stir it around to make sure it all browns evenly and doesn't burn. It will turn brown, but it's not burning unless it's turning dark/black. Towards the end of the browning, add the garlic so that it is sauteed/browned.

Next, dump the water on the rice (it will steam up) and add the remaining ingredients. Stir well and cover (with a small air escape). Reduce heat to medium-low to medium, and let cook for 20-30 minutes. (Cooking time and temperature varies with your stove. Check after 20 minutes to make sure you don't burn it. The essential rule of this recipe is "Do Not Peek" while the rice is cooking.

When it is ready, all the water will be absorbed, the rice will fluff, and each grain will be "split open" because of the browning. It should be dry, not saucy. You can adjust the spices/peppers to your taste. The recipe can be changed by keeping with the 1 cup rice/2 cups water ratio, and adjusting remaining ingredients.

Just before serving, add green enchilada sauce to the rice and stir in.

BBQ Sauce for beef, pork or venison©

After experimenting and testing BBQ sauce recipes for a number of years, we found that this recipe is the best all-around BBQ sauce for beef, pork, and venison. With the wonderful subtle taste of juniper from the gin and the added juniper berries, this sauce is a real treat, it will tenderize an old army boot, and the toughest cuts of meat. If you have a REAL tough cut of beef - like a shoulder or arm, add the gin and vermouth at the very end when the sauce has thickened and further simmer for only 5-minutes.




2 Finely chopped onions
6 TBS Butter or bacon fat
1 Cup Ketchup
½ Cup Vinegar
5 TBS Brown Sugar
1 6-Oz. Can Tomato Paste
1 Cup Water
Dash of Cinnamon
2 TBS Sweet Vermouth
3 TBS Mustard
6 TBS Worcester Sauce
Ground black Pepper
4-5 Dashes Angostura Bitters
½ Cup Gin
Hickory Salt to taste
4 Dashes Tabasco Sauce
3 TBS Molasses
2 Juniper Berries

Melt butter. Sautee onions in butter until very soft. Add remaining ingredients and stir/mix well. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens.

Thinly slice meat while still partially frozen. Cook in sauce until it nearly falls apart. Serve on Kaiser Rolls. (Recipe posted here)

Side dishes that go well are cole slaw, potato salad, macaroni salad, potato chips, 10-bean salad or whatever suits your fancy

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Chicken Khorma

This is one of many meals that are served in the Muslim world on Eid, the festive holiday that breaks the year's 30-day Ramadan fast; a time when the faithful abstain from food, drink, and ALL other worldly pleasures. Food never tastes better than when you're hungry, and this particular dish is no exception. It is deliciously flavorful, easy to make, and very tasty.


1 whole chicken, cut up in small pieces, skinned (2 1/2 pounds) (*)
1/2 cup fried onions
3/4 cup plain yogurt
2 teaspoons ginger paste (gingerroot peeled, chopped and crushed)
2 teaspoons garlic paste (garlic cloves peeled, chopped and crushed)
5 cloves
4 cardamom seeds
1 1/2 sticks cinnamon
2 or 3 bay leaves
1 heaping teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup oil

Heat oil in 12-quart pan; add cloves, cardamom, cinnamon sticks and bay leaves. Immediately add chicken, ginger and garlic pastes, and cook uncovered on medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add coriander powder, cayenne pepper and salt, and cook for another 10 minutes, uncovered. Puree fried onions and yogurt in blender or food processor with 1 cup water. Add to chicken. Cover and cook for 5 to 10 minutes until chicken is tender.

This recipe is wonderful served over steamed Jasmine rice or egg noodles.

(*) In lieu of a whole cut up chicken, you can use drumettes or halved-boneless thighs. This way, there's no fighting to get individually selected parts, and everyone is a winner. :-) Be sure to remove the skin on whatever cuts of chicken you decide on.

German Apple Cake © King Arthur Company

This recipe has been authorized to post here by the gracious permission of the King Arthur Company, in Norwich, Vermont. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/
It is one of the best cakes I've ever had. With a large scoop of ice cream, or a HUGE dollop of whipped cream, you will never forget the wonderful flavor and texture.

Home

Ingredients:

Apple filling

2-3 large apples cored and peeled- Granny Smiths are great
lemon juice (optional, to sprinkle over apples)
5 TBS sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Batter

3 cups unbleached All Purpose flour
1 TBS baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 c sugar
4 eggs
¼ c apple juice (On this baking, I used pineapple juice and have used V-8 Splash in the past. Mmmmmmmmm!)
2-1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.

Filling:

The filling is made before the batter because it’s layered into the cake. Peel and core apples. Cut them in quarters and then again in about ¼” chunks. You can sprinkle them with lemon juice to keep them from turning brown. Mix the apples, sugar and cinnamon together and set aside.

Batter:

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl, beat the oil and sugar on high speed for 2 or 3 minutes until it’s creamy.

In a separate small bowl (or a large mixing cup) beat the eggs until light. Add the juice and the vanilla, mix well and add it to the sugar and oil, beating thoroughly. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently fold together.

Assembling & Baking:

A tube tube pan works very well here. The cake rises quite a bit, so you'll need something fairly tall. You could also use a bundt cake pan.

Butter the pan then powder with a coating of confectioner’s sugar. Pour one-third of the batter into the pan, then add a thick layer of apples and sprinkle generously with the cinnamon sugar; repeat process, ending with batter - sprinkled with additional cinnamon sugar. Bake for about 50-55 minutes, or until a skewer or wooden toothpick comes out clean. (1)

The cake should be completely cooled before cutting into it, otherwise it may fall apart. Dust with additional powdered sugar.

(1) Depending on the amount of moisture in the apples, baking could take up to 70-minutes. If not done after 55-minutes, reduce heat to 325F. and continue baking until skewer comes out clean. Check in 5-minute intervals.

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Callaloo and Shark 'n Bake

After having been on a consulting and training assignment for a month in Trinidad and Tobago a few years ago, the typical ‘soup and sandwich’ that we’re all so familiar with took on an entirely new meaning. Callaloo – a spinach-type soup and mainstay in the Caribbean, combined with ‘shark and bake’ served together, is hard to top. They take minimal time to prepare and I guarantee, once you’ve had them, they will become a regular meal in your household. Below are listed recipes for both.
Shark-and-Bake

This specialty is served by many fine restaurants and roadside vendors throughout the island. It is a T&T version of fish and chips. It's relatively easy to duplicate at home, and if shark is not available, substitute halibut or swordfish.

Yield: 2 to 4 servings

Ingredients:

Juice from 1 lime
1 pound shark meat, cut into pieces about 3 or 4 inches long and 1 inch wide
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced chives or green onion tops
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour seasoned with salt and pepper
Vegetable oil for frying

Preparation:

Sprinkle the lime juice over the shark meat and let sit for 5 minutes. Combine the garlic, chives, thyme, and salt and mix well. Rinse the shark with water and dip the pieces first in the spicy mixture and then in the flour, coating them well. Fry the shark, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil, turning often, for about 12 minutes. Drain on paper towels and serve wrapped in bakes. Sprinkle the shark-and-bake with your favorite hot sauce.

Variation:

The shark can be marinated for 2 hours in a mixture of lime juice, onion, garlic, thyme, and minced Habanero or jalapeno pepper.

Bake:

This is the bread that is served with shark to make the famous Maracas Bay shark and bake. The bakes are simple and quick to prepare. Yield: 4 to 6 bakes

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup butter
1 teaspoon sugar
Water
Vegetable oil for frying

Preparation:

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the shortening and sugar, and mix with a fork. Add enough water to make a dough and knead gently. Cut the dough into 4 to 6 pieces (depending on how large you want the bakes to be) and roll each piece into a ball. Let stand for a few minutes.

Flatten the balls of dough until they are about ¼ inch thick, and fry in hot oil until they are brown. Remove and drain on paper towels. Kind of like a pita bread.

Callaloo:

This remarkable, bright green soup is often called "the national dish of T&T." It features callaloo (taro leaves or dasheen), but spinach is an excellent substitute. Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients:

3 bundles callaloo or 3 bunches fresh spinach, washed, tough ribs removed, coarsely chopped
4 cups coconut milk
2 cups milk
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium onions, chopped
1 bunch scallions, chopped
¼ pound pumpkin or Hubbard squash, peeled and coarsely chopped
¼ pound butter or margarine
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

In a stockpot or soup pot, combine all the ingredients and boil for 4 minutes. Reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes. If too thick, add more coconut milk. Remove from the heat, cool, and puree in a blender in small batches. Reheat the soup and serve.

NOTE: If you can get 2-3 medium to large live crabs, clean them, soak briefly in lime juice, and add them to the soup at the beginning. Now you have shark and crab. Makes for a very delicious and filling meal.

Corned Beef Hash

With St. Patrick's Day is here, many households will have scads of corned beef left over. It's hard to beat a corned beef sandwich on deli rye. But there is always corned beef hash which make a wonderful breakfast or brunch with a few poached or fried eggs on top.

1 – 2 Lbs Finely Shredded/chopped corned beef
1 - 2 Lbs quarter inch diced, cooked potato
1-2 TBS Chopped Parsley
½ Cup finely shredded onion
½ garlic bud shredded
¼ Cup melted butter
Salt and Pepper to taste


Just mix the meat, potatoes, parsley and melted butter in a bowl – taste it – and add salt and pepper. Put a generous amount of butter or bacon fat in a skillet and get it hot over medium-high heat (or high-medium heat if you prefer) and add the hash. You can add a little oil to the butter if you are scared of burnt butter. Fry it until it’s nice and browned on the bottom and crispy around the edges. Don’t pester it! If you keep moving it around and fooling with it - it will not brown properly. you can either cook it in one big batch or form it into patties. When it’s browned and crisped to your liking turn it and do the other side. Top it with a couple of poached or fried eggs and you have a world class breakfast.

This is best if all ingredients are combined, then put through a grinder WITH THE COURSE setting. .

Lemon Muffins

A new twist to muffins, and they are really a tangy treat.

Ingredients:

2 cups self-rising flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
1/3 cup Grated rind ½ lemon
1/3 cup presoaked golden raisins (optional)
1 cup orange juice
lemon-infused avocado oil
1 egg

Procedure:

Mix flour, sugar and salt in large mixing bowl. Into another bowl, whisk: Lemon rind, orange juice, egg and oil. Add the liquid, mix into the dry ingredients, folding gently until flour is damp. Be careful not to over-mix.

Oil a 12-muffin tray and spoon in the mixture. You can also use Texas Muffin Tins (6) Bake at 425 F. for 10-to-12 minutes.

Coconut Shrimp with Plum Sauce

Shrimp are always good. This recipe can serve as an appetizer or a main meal.






Ingredients:

1 pound large shrimp
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup of flour or tempura batter mix
4 cups of shredded coconut

Preparation:

Peel and devein the shrimp leaving the tails. Combine milk and egg in a bowl and whip until well blended. Place the flour on a small plate. Place the shredded coconut on a larger plate.

Dip the shrimp into the egg/milk. Next flour the shrimp. Dip in the egg/milk. Place in the shredded coconut and press the coconut onto the shrimp on both sides. Method 1: Heat a deep pan with enough oil to completely submerse the shrimp. Fry until golden brown.

Method 2:

Heat the oven to 350 and place shrimp on a well oiled pan and bake until golden brown usually about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and drizzle with Plum sauce. You can find Plum Sauce in the Oriental or Ethnic food section of your grocery store

Coconut Shrimp

This can be served as either an appetizer or a full meal.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. jumbo shrimp or prawns deveined, boiled and cooled
1 cup evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 loaf unseasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
1 tsp seasoning salt
1 1/2 tsp Shrimp/seafood seasoning
Peanut Oil to cover shrimp half way up in pan

Directions:

Add seasoning salt to bread crumbs and set aside for a few hours. Beat eggs well in a small bowl. Combine bread crumbs and coconut in a mixing bowl. Place shrimp in evaporated milk, then beaten eggs, then crumb, egg mixture a second time, then coconut mixture.

Fry until golden brown. Cooking time: about 20 minutes. Serve immediately over your favorite rice.

Baked Stuffed Clams for a Party

Having been born and raised in New England on the coast of Connecticut, baked stuffed clams were nearly an every weekend part of a party meal.



Ingredients:

50 Large clams (Quahogs or cherrystones are best)
3 Lbs butter
2 ½ Loaves of stale bread broken into cubes or crumbs
4-6 finely diced onions
½ cup diced pimentos
1 1/2 tsp paprika
¼ cup parsley flakesor freshly chopped Italian parsley
1 TBS McCormick Seafood Seasoning
1/3 Cup Dry Vermouth
4 eggs

Steam clams for 30-minutes; clean and dice. Simmer butter, onion, parsley, and seasoning for 15-minutes. Pour over bread and chopped clams in a separate large bowl. Add eggs, paprika, vermouth and pimento. Blend thoroughly and stuff into half-shells leveling to the top of each shell. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until butter starts to ooze out and the crust is a light brown. Be SURE to use a pan with sides so the butter won’t get all over the oven.

These can be frozen and reheated.

For a smaller quantity to feed 6, (four halves each) use the following:

12 Large Clams
3 Sticks butter
2/3 Loaf of stale bread
1 ½ diced onion
1 Egg
2 TBS parsley flakes
1 tsp seafood seasoning
1/8 cup diced pimento
½ tsp paprika

Follow the same baking instructions

Home

Raspberry-Toasted Coconut Muffins©

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon Malibu White Rum with Coconut•
2 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 tsp Instant Yeast (dissolved in water)
1 TBS water for yeast
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 Cup Toasted Coconut flakes
3/4 Cup Dried Raspberries Coarsely Chopped
Corn Starch
Cinnamon/Sugar MixtureButter for Muffin Tin

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Grease or line muffin tins.

In a medium bowl cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, making sure the eggs are fully incorporated. Stir in the rum.

Sift dry ingredients together into a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk in several additions, stirring just until combined. Add the toasted coconut. Add dissolved yeast.

Coat the raspberries with corn starch before adding so they won't sink to the bottom of the muffin tin. Scoop the batter into prepared tins. Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar if desired and place in oven. Immediately turn oven temperature up to 400 degrees and bake for 25 minutes for standard muffins, 15 - 20 minutes for mini muffins; 25-minutes for Texas sized muffins. Cool for at least 5 minutes before removing from pan. Yield: 12 standard muffins, 24 mini muffins, or 6 Texas sized

Home

Sourdough English Muffins

I don't know of anyone who doesn't like a nice English muffin slathered with butter and jam. These are not difficult to make, and the pleasure derived is long lasting.







Ingredients:

½ cup sourdough starter, fed
¼ cup WW flour
2 1/2 cups AP flour
1 cup bottled water
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
cornmeal

Procedure:

Once the starter is fed, mix up the dough and let it sit covered overnight. You don’t have to worry about overdeveloping the sourdough flavor because the baking soda will neutralize some of it, leaving just the right amount of sourness in your muffins.

The major change in this recipe, aside from using some whole wheat flour (1/4 cup) was to replace the milk the original recipe called for with water so as to ensure you get the rather coarse, open texture for English muffins.

If you have only a small biscuit cutter – say 2” rather than a 3-inch round, you may need to cook for an extra minute or two per side and you will probably get fewer than the 20 or so that this recipe calls for with the 2” cutter. They taste fantastic.

They will be a bit doughy when hot off the grill, but like most yeast breads, their texture stabilizes once allowed to cool for a few minutes (they cool quickly).

Combine starter with 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of water. Stir thoroughly, cover with plastic wrap and let sit out overnight (about 7-10 hours). In the morning, add the baking soda, salt, sugar to the dough and gradually add the remaining flour, 2 tablespoons at a time, until the dough looses its stickiness.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll until about ½- 3/4 inch thick. Use a lightly floured biscuit cutter and cut the dough into as many rounds as possible. Place rounds on an ungreased baking sheet, covered with cornmeal. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with cornmeal and leave them to rise, covered with a clean tea towel, for about 45 minutes. Here, you can use English muffin rings if you want. (Available through the King Arthur Flour catalog.)

Heat a lightly oiled or nonstick skillet over high heat until very hot, then reduce the temperature to medium/medium high.Cook the muffins for about 5 minutes on each side, turning only once. The muffins will reach a light or medium brown (turn down the temperature slightly if they cook too quickly) on both the top and the bottom when they are cooked through.

Before the first flip, the sides of the muffin will start to look dry, like the edges of a pancake, when they are ready to be turned. You can peek at the underside, too. Cool completely before storing.

Rum Pudding Cake

This delicious dessert is quick and easy to make, and will satisfy the lustiest of sweets lovers.

Ingredients:

9” Spring form Pan

2 7-ounce packages of anise-flavored sponge biscuits
¼ cup rum
4 cups whole milk
½ cup sour cream
1 package instant vanilla pudding (*)
1 package instant chocolate pudding(*)
1 cup heavy cream

Instructions:

Sprinkle one side of the biscuits with rum. Arrange one package of the biscuits flat side down in the pan, packed as tightly as possible. Crumble the remaining biscuits from the first package to fill spaces between the biscuits in the pan.

Mix 2 cups milk and the sour cream until well-blended. Stir in the vanilla pudding until very smooth. Allow to partially set, then pour and smooth over the biscuit layer.

Arrange the remaining package of the biscuits – flat side down – over the pudding. Crumble remaining biscuits to fill spaces.

Mix chocolate pudding with remaining milk in a medium size bowl following manufacturer’s directions. Allow to partially set, then pour and smooth over biscuits. Cover pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Loosen cake around edges with knife, and carefully remove side of pan, leaving cake on the pan bottom.

Whip heavy cream until stiff. Spoon into pastry bag; pipe whipped cream around the cake bottom and top edge of the cake.

Serve with a demitasse of espresso.

(*) You can always make homemade pudding here, but the boxed instant pudding is quicker.

Stir Fried Curried Chicken©

This is a fairly quick recipe to make and it is very rewarding. It does require a little pre-planning, as you will need to toast the coconut flakes in the oven.

1 WOK

Ingredients

2 Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts Partially Frozen and Cubed
3 TBS peanut Oil

1 Cup Rice
1 TBS Dried Onion Flakes
1 Package Onion Soup

½ Cup Raisins
½ Cup REAL Bacon Bits (Fry bacon to crisp and drain on paper towels then break up)
½ Cup Crushed Spanish Peanuts
½ Cup Shredded, Toasted Coconut Flakes
½ Cup Dried Bananas
½ Cup Dried Apples
¾ Cup Indian (Bengali) Chutney (Mangoes-Papaya)
4 Hard Boiled and Chopped Eggs

White Sauce

2 TBS Peanut Oil
2 TBS Butter
1 TBS Curry Powder
1 Cup Milk

Instructions

In a medium pan, add 3 TBS peanut oil, and sauté cubed chicken. In the WOK, add rice, dried onions, and the onion soup mix; cover the rice with water and cover the WOK. Turn to high and bring to a boil. Stir when it first comes to a boil. Reduce heat to the lowest possible setting and let steam for 15-minutes.

When rice is almost done cooking, make the white sauce. Melt the butter, remove from heat and whisk in the flour and the curry powder. When well blended and pasty, add milk. Return to heat and whisk until thickened. Add more milk if necessary.

Add remaining ingredients to the rice along with the white sauce. Stir well and serve immediately.

If you prefer, you can always make a clear sauce by using one can of chicken broth and enough corn starch and water to thicken it.

Home

Blistering Hot, Nuclear Chicken Wings

2-3 Lbs Chicken wings (Drumettes are best)
1 12-Ounce Bottle Louisiana Hot Sauce
1 Stick butter

4 - 6 Habanero Peppers liquified in blender(*)





Melt butter on low. Add the Louisiana hot sauce and mix well. Stir in liquified habanero.

Deep fat fry wings. and drain on paper towels. When wings are fully cooked, place in pan and cover with foil. Place in 200 degree oven to keep warm.

Pour sauce over wings.

(*) You can use jalapeno peppers if you don't like the heat from the habaneros.

HAVE ICE CREAM ON HAND FOR THE NEXT DAY!!

Home

Cranberry-Walnut Muffins

Muffins are great anytime of day. These will carry you through mid-morning, and to break time. OR - have them mid-morning, and they will carry you to lunch.








1 Stick Butter at Room Temperature
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs at room temp
½ tsp Orange extract
½ tsp Almond extract
2 Cups All Purpose flour
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Baking powder
1 Cup Buttermilk
½ cup chopped or crushed walnuts
½ cup chopped dried cranberries


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time being sure they are well blended. Stir in the extracts.

Sift the dry ingredients into a separate bowl.

Add dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk until just combined. Do NOT over mix. Blend in the berries and nuts. If too dry, add more buttermilk or regular milk to get a pourable batter.

Spoon the batter into buttered muffin tins. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over the batter. The yield here will be 12-standard muffins; 24-mini-muffins; or, 6-Texas sized muffins. Fill muffin tins to 2/3 each.

Turn oven to 400-degrees. Bake for approximately 25 minutes. Cool for 15-minutes before removing from muffin tins.
Home

Green Chili with Pork in Bread Bowls

A delightfully tasty meal that can be as mild or hot as you like.


2 Lbs Pork Tenderloin 3/4 inch diced
1 1/2 Cup Flour
2 TBS Powered Cumin
1 TBS Garlic powder
1 tsp Ground black pepper
1/2 Cup vegetable oil
1 Can Chicken Broth
1 Can Beef Broth
1 Can Chopped Green chilies
5-10 Slices of jalapeno or habanero peppers that have been coarsely diced
1 TBS jalapeno juice or habanero vinegar

Mix flour, cumin, garlic powder, black pepper in a zip lock bag. Add diced pork and shake so all the pork is well covered. Add vegetable oil to large pot, and bring to very hot. Add floured pork, and brown. Save the flour. Add broths to pot, and the remaining ingredients. Simmer for several hours. The heat must be VERY low, or the mix will Burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.

After an hour of simmering, mix the remaining flour with hot water, stir to make a paste, and add to the pork. Continue to simmer for another hour to have the flavors absorb into the pork mixture. This will be a very thick mixture, so be sure to keep the heat on the lowest setting possible. Add water if necessary.

Serve this in a bowl or in a bread bowl which is absolutely delicious. We made a French sourdough bread bowl recently and used that. If you bake the bread bowls in a greased chili bowl - normally 5" - 6" in diameter by 3" x 4" deep, then scoop them out - this works perfectly.

Home

Marinated Mushrooms- Crock Pot

Marinated Mushrooms are a delicious side dish to any beef dinner.








1 Lb. Large Mushrooms
1 Stick Butter
1 Cup Water
3 TBS Beef Base Paste (LeGout is best)
1 Cup Burgundy Wine
2 Garlic Cloves-Crushed
1 ½ Tsp Oregano
1 ½ Tsp Parsley
½ Large onion diced
1 ½ Tsp Thyme
2 TBS Olive oil
Dash of Worcester sauce

Thoroughly rinse mushrooms and drain; once drained, add to crock pot. Melt butter in medium sauce pan and add remaining ingredients. Bring to simmer. Pour over mushrooms. Simmer on low for 4-6 hours. Drain mushrooms and serve over marinated roast beef slices with rice. These are great with prime rib as a side dish.

Broccoli (or asparagus) Cheese Soup ©

If you enjoy cheese or cream soups, this is the ultimate. It will serve at least 4 guests, and in all liklihood, they will come back for seconds. Have a few copies of this recipe available because your guests will want a copy. We developed the recipe while living in Colorado, and have given out hundreds of recipe copies since 1979. It's a lot of work and many steps to make this, but you will be well rewarded. Try this once... I can guarantee you will make it over and over again. If you have any questions, please leave a comment.

5 TBS butter
2 Large Onions Diced
¼ tsp Fresh Ground Pepper
½ tsp Dried Thyme
1 TBS Sugar
¾ Cup Sweet White Wine
3 Cups Chicken Stock
2 Cups water
3 TBS Flour
1 ½ Cups Milk
½ Cup Heavy Cream
¼ tsp Dry Mustard Powder
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
Dash of Cayenne Pepper
½ Lb. Grated Jarlsberg Cheese
¼ Lb. Gruyere cheese
1 Bunch Broccoli (or you can use asparagus)
4 Celery Sticks

In a large flame-proof casserole dish, melt 2-TBS butter over moderately high heat. Add the diced onions, black pepper, thyme, and sugar. Reduce the heat to low, place a cut circle of waxed paper over the top of the onions and cover tightly with a lid. Simmer (removing and replacing waxed paper) stirring occasionally until the onions are very soft – about 1-hour and 15-minutes.

Remove the cover and the waxed paper and increase heat to moderate. Cook until the onions are golden brown – about 15-minutes.

Add the wine and bring to a slow boil until reduced by ½ - about 5-minutes. Add the chicken stock and 2-cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-minutes.

In a large saucepan, melt the remaining 3-TBS butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook while whisking for 2-minutes without browning. If it starts to brown, remove from heat and continue whisking. Add the milk, cream, dry mustard, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper and bring to a boil. Boil while continuously whisking for 2-minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheeses until smooth.

Scrape the cheese mixture into the hot soup; add the broccoli and cook until crisp-tender – about 8-minutes. Stir in the diced celery and cook until heated through – about three minutes.

Serve with hot, French bread or baguettes right from the oven.

Veal Scallopini with Mushrooms

Ingredients:

4 Veal Scallopini
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 ½ oz fresh sliced mushrooms
salt & pepper to taste
1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Heat the butter and oil in a heavy skillet and brown the Scallopini on both sides. Remove and keep warm. Add mushrooms, stirring in the skillet and cook for 10-12 minutes on low heat. Season. Drain the cooking fat and replace with cream. Stir on high heat for 2-3 minutes to deglaze the bottom of the skillet. Pour sauce over the Scallopini and serve immediately. Serve with: Pasta, tomatoes provencales and REAL garlic bread

Recipe source (Veal Appeal Recipe Booklet) For many more exciting veal recipes, go to www.vealrecipes.com

Italian Grinder

The true Italian Grinder originated in the states at a small Italian grocery store and deli on the north end of Shaw Street in New London, CT. in the late 1940's. The shop was run by the Christophers, and Ernie Christopher made THE BEST grinder available anywhere. Right around the corner - a half block away - on Bank Street was an Italian bakery, so it was a natural fit.

It's an easy sandwich to make, but you need the best ingredients available.

Ingredients:

1 Loaf fresh Italian Bread
6-8 slices of imported Genoa salami (can also use prosciutto)
6-8 slices of imported Provolone Cheese
Sliced Tomato
Shredded Lettuce
Grinder Salt (*)
Fresh Ground Pepper

Slice bread in half lengthwise. Drizzle or spritz each half with olive oil. Place slices of salami on one of the halves, and the sliced tomatoes on top of the salami slices. Top with the slices of provolone cheese, followed by the shredded lettuce. Salt and pepper the lettuce, followed by another drizzling or spritzing of olive oil. Close and slice in half.

Do NOT use American cheese

(*) Grinder salt is a blend of sea salt, onion powder and lots of garlic powder

Veal Oscar

Veal is probably the most delicate tasting meat in the world. In every household, meals are often designed around meat. The average American family serves meat at least once a day. This is not surprising because meat and deli-meat provide important nutrients. Among the different types of meat, veal holds a special place. Veal is a delicacy with a fine structure. Veal is tender, lean, mellow in taste and contains important minerals and vitamins. In addition to its aesthetic appeal, veal is important because of its high nutritional value, easy digestibility and a good alternative when keeping an eye on calories. This recipe is posted courtesy of http://www.vealrecipes.com Many more wonderful veal recipes can be found at this web site.

The preparation of this classic meal is somewhat time-consuming. So, give yourself the better part of an afternoon to complete every task. There’s no need to rush and the reward of this meal well done is worth the effort.

4 servings

Ingredients


1 lb of delft blue milk fed veal tenderloin (450g) (Center cut and totally cleaned)
4- 4 oz portions (4 X 122g)
1½ lb of queen crab legs (670g)
(8 oz of meat once removed from shells) (225g) 4- 2 oz portions ( 4 X 56g)
kosher salt
ground fresh white pepper
canola oil for sauté pan

Rosti Potato

2 large Yukon gold potatoes
kosher salt
fresh white ground pepper
4 oz clarified butter (122g)

Vegetables

1 lb asparagus (450g)
¾ lb baby carrots (340g)
1 leek
kosher salt

Foie Gras Hollandaise

3 egg yolks
½ lemon juiced
3 tablespoons water (45g)
4 oz clarified butter (112g)
4 oz foie gras (cubed) (112g)
kosher salt
ground fresh white pepper

Directions

Rosti Potato:

Have a fry pan large enough for 4 potato rosti (4”-5” in diameter) (10-12cm) on a medium high heat. Peel and grate potato into a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. Add clarified butter to hot pan and using ring mould add potatoes and press into rounds approximately ½ inch thick. (12mm)

Cook until golden brown on both sides approximately 4-5 minutes per side and remove to a parchment lined baking sheet.

These may be made up to an hour in advance and left at room temperature or a day ahead and refrigerated. They are, however, best made just prior to serving. If making ahead, preheat oven to 350ºF (176ºC) and bake room temperature potatoes for approximately 20 minutes or until hot.

Vegetables:

Have a medium sauce pan of boiling salted water ready.

Trim asparagus and blanch approximately 45 seconds to 1 minute. Immediately immerse in ice bath.

Blanch carrots approximately 2 minutes and immediately remove to ice bath.

Slice 4 strips of leeks, to tie the asparagus bundles, approximately 6” long (15cm). Blanch for about 5 seconds and remove to ice bath.

Tie the asparagus into 4 bundles. Finish cleaning the carrots with a paring knife where you have missed with the peeler.

The vegetables may be prepared up to a day in advance and kept in the fridge.
Reheat on baking sheet in the oven.

Veal Tenderloin:

Slit a hole in center of veal (lengthwise) and stuff with the crabmeat.

Preheat sauté pan on medium high heat. Season veal all around with salt and white pepper.
Add oil to pan and when hot, place veal into pan and let brown approximately 1 minute then turn ¼ turn and repeat until veal is browned on all 4 sides. The veal should release easily each turn if the pan is hot enough and it is properly seared.

In a preheated 375ºF (190ºC) oven put potatoes on bottom rack. Bake for 15 minutes while preparing the hollandaise. Turn potatoes over and add pan of veal, the carrots and asparagus to the oven while making hollandaise. After approximately 8-10 minutes veal should be about med-rare. Remove from oven and let rest approximately 4-5 minutes. You can leave vegetables in oven to keep warm. Turn oven off.

Foie Gras Hollandaise

Preheat medium sauté pan on medium high heat. Season foie gras with salt and white pepper and put into pan. Stir foie and immediately; remove pan from heat. Continue stirring until foie is golden brown and rendered. Transfer to another container and keep warm.

Over a double boiler on medium heat, in a stainless steel bowl whisk egg yolks, lemon and water. Whisk vigorously (do not stir) so as to incorporate air as you would to whip cream. When yolks are thick and tripled in volume – remove from heat and while still over double boiler, slowly whisk in clarified butter then slowly whisk in foie gras oil and chunks. Pass this mixture through a fine sieve and adjust seasoning. Serve immediately.

Put rosti on plate, top with crab stuffed veal tenderloin and place carrots and asparagus on either side of potato. Spoon sauce over part of the veal and shave fresh truffles over the sauce.

Amish Strawberry Pie

Anymore, most of the larger supermarket produce sections carry fresh strawberries nearly year round - or close to it.

The Amish use a lot of sugar and also use lots of honey, because many of the Amish farms have their own hives.

This pie is one of the best you'll ever eat if you like strawberry pie. The combination of honey and the tapioca powder as a thickening agent makes for a rave review.

This recipe is for a single crust pie.

Ingredients:


1/2 cup sugar (omit if using the cook type sweetened tapioca pudding powder)
2/3 cup honey
1/2 cup Tapioca powder
1/2 cup water
1 pound strawberries, washed, hulled, and sliced
1 tablespoon butter

Assembly:

Combine sugar, honey and strawberries; let stand for a few hours, until juicy. Drain juices off; transfer to saucepan, and bring to a boil. Mix together the water, butter, and tapioca. Add to the strawberry juice mixture; continue cooking, covered, over low heat for 2 minutes.

Cool slightly and stir in strawberries. Pour into baked pie shell and chill thoroughly so as to have the pie filling thicken. Top with whipped or your favirite topping. (Ice cream is a great finish for this pie.) Keep leftovers covered and in refrigerator - that is if there is any. :-)

Weiner Schnitzle

Kalbfleisch ist wunderbar! !!! Veal is wonderful - AND - very expensive, but if you can afford to treat yourself once or twice a year, do it!! Serve on a hoagie roll, or with spaetzle (dumplings or German noodles.)


INGREDIENTS:

4 veal cutlets, about 6-ounces each
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
Juice of 1 small lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for frying


DIRECTIONS:

Pound veal to about 1/4-inch thick. Pat dry.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place flour and
bread crumbs on individual plates or waxed
paper. Dip the cutlets first into the flour,
then the beaten egg and finally, the bread
crumbs. Place on baking rack and set in
refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes. This helps
the coating adhere when frying.

Pour enough oil into a large heavy skillet to
come about 1/4-inch up the sides. Heat over
medium-high. When oil is hot, add veal cutlets,
in batches of 2 if necessary, do not to crowd
the pan. Fry until golden brown, about 4
minutes per side, turning once. Place on
platter, sprinkle with lemon juice and keep
warm.


German Noodle Dumplings Spaetzle

Spaetzle is a very popular side dish in Germany which is surprisingly almost never offered in the U.S. A delicious part of a evening's hearty meal, it pairs well with any meat, but is especially nice with sauerbraten and/or a veal dish. While spaetzle looks more like scrambled noodles, the preparations are similar to those of dumplings. This recipe is an easy one.

Ingredients:

2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt black pepper

We're hoping you know how to prepare and cook the dough.

Thick Egg Noodles

For those of you who like nice, thick egg noodles, this is the ticket. They can be shaped or formed any way that pleases you.











6 eggs
3 Tbsp. oil
6 Tbsp. milk
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking powder
4 1/2 cups flour


Put eggs and other liquids in bowl. Whip; add dry ingredients. Blend and knead. Roll with noodle cutter, pasta cutter, or can be hand cut with a knife. Let noodles dry for about 1/2 - 1 hour. Package and freeze or use what ever you need immediately.

I made this in a bread machine, then wrapped the dough in waxed paper and chilled for an hour. You can always cut this recipe in half for a normal family meal. The noodles are thick and go a long way. They are wonderful with chicken or beef and gravy.

Peach Cake

This is a great eye-opener with early morning coffee.







Filling

3 large Peaches (canned will work here if drained and dried & diced)(Save syrup if canned)
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger

Batter

3 cups flour
1 ½ TBS baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup oil
2 c sugar
4 eggs
¼ c peach syrup
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract

Peel and cube the peaches for the filling; add and stir in the cinnamon, ginger and sugar.

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl. In separate bowl, beat the oil and sugar for 3 or 4 minutes until it is creamy.

In yet another bowl, beat the eggs until light and lemony colored; add the syrup and the vanilla. Mix well and add it to the sugar and oil, beating thoroughly. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold together.

A tube pan works well here because it is tall and the cake will rise very nicely.

Butter the tube pan then dust with flour or confectioner’s sugar. Pour half of the batter into the pan, then add the peach mixture. Add the second half of the batter. Bake for about 50-55 minute at 325F. or until a metal or bamboo kabob skewer comes out clean.

Cool before cutting.

Of course, you can always use apples rather than peaches if you prefer. The process is the same.

Venison Recipes

For those readers here who like venison like we do, here's a few proven recipes that are good anytime of year.

If you would like to see more venison recipes, send a comment. We have TONS of wilderness recipes from the mountains of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska.

Country-Fried Venison

1 1/2 lb (3/4" thick) venison
1 Cup All-purpose flour
Salt and pepper
1/4 tsp Seasoned salt
4 TBS Bacon drippings
2 clove Garlic; minced
4 Cups Water
1/3 c All-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp Bottled brown bouquet sauce
1 medium Onion; thinly sliced
1/2 lb Fresh mushrooms; sliced
Hot cooked rice

Prepare venison by trimming all fat and removing connective tissues. Cut meat into serving-size pieces, and pound each piece to 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch thickness. Combine 1 cup flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and seasoned salt; dredge the venison in flour mixture.
Heat 1 tablespoon bacon drippings in a large, heavy skillet; add garlic, and saute until golden. Remove garlic, and set aside. Add remaining bacon drippings to skillet; cook venison until it is lightly browned on both sides. Remove from skillet, and set aside.

Gradually stir about 1/2 cup water into 1/3 cup flour; mix until smooth, and add the remaining water. Stir flour mixture into pan drippings; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Stir in bouquet sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
Return venison and garlic to skillet; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Add onion; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Add mushrooms; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Serve over rice.

Country Style Venison Stew

1/2 lb Bacon or 1/4 Lb salt pork
2 lb Venison steak
4 TBS Flour
6 cup Water or beef stock
1 large Tomato, chopped
2 medium Carrots, sliced
2 medium Stalks celery, sliced
2 medium Potatoes, in 1" cubes
1 Dozen small white onions
1 tb Chopped parsley
1 c green peas
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut bacon into 1" cubes and saute in large saucepan until lightly browned. Remove and set aside. Cut venison into 1 1/2 or 2" pieces and brown over high heat in 4 T bacon drippings. Stir in flour. Lower heat and let brown 2-3 minutes, stirring several times. Add liquid and let it simmer 1 hour or more until venison begins to get tender, add more liquid as necessary.

Add all the other ingredients, except peas, and continue to simmer to make a thick stew. Simmer peas in a separate pan until done. Strain and spoon over or around stew when served. Great accompanied by buttered corn muffins or biscuits, and a salad

Steak Scapolo

Are you into the 'sizzle' or the steak? This recipe is definately a keeper!! We have it maybe twice a year because the price of a Porterhouse or T-Bone steak is prohibitive. It is best cooked OUTSIDE on a superhot, high flame propane grill in a cast iron skillet. You can do it inside if you have a real high suction hood vent that vents to the outside.



Ingredients:

1 1/2 - 2 Lb thick Porterhouse or T-Bone steak
1 TBS Brown Mustard
3 TBS water
1 TBS butter
1 TBS Olive oil
Cumin
Garlic Salt
Pepper
Gin
2+ TBS Heavy Cream



Instructions:

Mix mustard and water. Brush mixture on one side of the steak. Sprinkle on garlic salt. pepper, and cumin; pierce the steak every half-inch with a meat fork. In the meantime, melt the butter and add the olive oil.

Turn flame to as high as it will go. Place skillet with the oil and butter on the flame until it smokes and the skillet is VERY hot. Brown one side of the steak. Remove steak from pan . Reheat pan to smoking again; brown second side of steak. While the steak is cooking on the second side and still smoking, pour in the gin. BE VERY CAREFUL HERE BECAUSE THE PAN WILL FLAME UP AND FURTHER SEAR THE STEAK SURFACE!!! Reduce heat and cook the steak to your preference of doneness.

When cooked to your liking, remove the steak, add heavy cream and whisk constantly until you have a thick sauce.

We generally serve this with linguini, a salad or antipasto (both posted here) and garlic bread, but it can be served with just about anything you want. Pour sauce over steak and pasta.

Stir Fy Pumpkin

Many people may not realize that pumpkin, or any seasonal gourd, is an ingredient in many Thai recipes. This recipe works best with good old American halloween-style field pumpkin.



Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 cup finely-chopped pork (or other meat or tofu)
1.5 cup bite-size pieces of peeled pumpkin
2 eggs
1 tablespoon oyster sauce can use vegetarian if you prefer
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon Golden Mountain seasoning sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
1/2 cup 2 inch length green onion

MethodHeat the oil in a wok until very hot. Add garlic, stir-fry until golden brown. Add meat or tofu and saute until cooked. Add pumpkin, stock, oyster sauce, soy sauce, seasoning sauce and sugar. Stir together and cover for 3 minutes or until pumpkin is almost done. Break the eggs into the wok and stir, add green onion, remove from heat and serve with fresh steamed jasmine rice.

Ricotta Pie With Figs

Figs and ricotta are a delicious combination

1/4 c Dried figs; chopped to 1/4" pieces
1-2 TBS Brandy
5 Egg whites
2 Cups Ricotta cheese
1 tsp Lemon zest
1 tsp Orange zest
1 cup Brown sugar
A pinch of cinnamon
A pinch of ground cardomon
1 baked 10 inch pie crust - only half baked

In a small bowl combine the figs and brandy. Microwave on full power uncovered until the brandy has been absorbed and the figs are fragrant, about 1 minute.

Combine the egg whites, ricotta, zests and sugar in the bowl of a food processor with steel blade and run until creamy smooth. Pour into the pie shell, then gently spoon in the figs. Many of the figs will sink and that's okay. Dust the chopped figs in flour and that will help the sinking issue a little. Bake in the middle of a preheated 375 degree oven until set, about 50 minutes. Chill before serving

Andouille Sausage - Po' Boys

Cajun food has always been popular, and has recently had a revival. If you like sausage, you should think about buying a meat grinder with the sausage stuffing tubes - that is, if you don't already have one. These sausages combined with toasted, homemade Hoagie Rolls provide an excellent lunch or tailgate party food.


1 1/2 each yards large sausage casing,
1 about 2-3 inches wide
4 lb lean fresh pork
2 lb pork fat
3 1/3 tbsp finely minced garlic
2 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/8 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp mace
1/8 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground bay leaf
1/4 tsp sage 5
1 liquid hickory smoke


Soak the casing about an hour in cold water to soften it and to
loosen the salt in which it is packed. Cut into 3 foot lengths, then
place the narrow end of the sausage stuffer in one end of the casing.
Place the wide end of the stuffer up against the sink faucet and run
cold water through the inside of the casing to remove any salt.

(Roll up the casing you do not intend to use; put about 2 inches of coarse
salt in a large jar, place the rolled up casing on it, then fill the
rest of the jar with salt. Close tightly and refrigerate for later
use.)

Cut the meat and fat into chunks about 1/2 inch across and pass once
through the coarse blade of the meat grinder. Combine the pork with
the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with a wooden
spoon. You'll get the most flavor if you refrigerate the mix overnight in the refrigerator.

Cut the casings into 26 inch lengths and stuff as follows: Tie
a knot (double granny or square knot) in each piece of casing about 2 inches from one end. Fit the open end over the tip of the sausage stuffer and slide it to about 1
inch from the wide end. Push the rest of the casing onto the stuffer
until the top touches the knot. (The casing will look like
accordian folds on the stuffer.)

Fit the stuffer onto the meat grinder as directed on the instructions that come with the machine, or hold the wide end of the stuffer against or over the opening by
hand. Fill the hopper with stuffing. Turn the machine on if it is
electric and feed the stuffing gradually into the hopper; for a
manual machine, push the stuffing through with a wooden or plastic pestle. The
sausage casing will fill and inflate gradually. Stop filling about 1
1/4 inches from the funnel end and slip the casing off the funnel,
smoothing out any bumps carefully with your fingers and being careful
not to push the stuffing out of the casing. Tie off the open end of
the sausage tightly with a piece of string or make a knot in the
casing itself. Repeat until all the stuffing is used up.

If there are any air pockets in the stuffed casing, poke the air pocket with a needle and gently squeeze the air out.

Hoagie Rolls:

Dough Ingredients:


2 ½ cups Unbleached, high gluten bread flour
1 2/3 tsp non-iodized salt
1 TBS sugar
1 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp diastatic barley malt powder
1 TBS olive oil
7-8 Ounces milk
8 Oz Pate fermentee
Semolina flour or cornmeal for dusting
Stick butter
Use only 8 Ounces (half) the pate dough, freeze the other half

Instructions:

Pate fermentee should be at room temperature.

With a wooden spoon, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast and malt powder in your largest mixer bowl. Add the olive oil, and water. Mix until it forms a ball, adding flour and/or water according to need. Mix on medium speed with dough hooks until you get a dough that passes the ‘windowpane’ test, is slightly tacky, and soft, but not too stiff.

Knead for 10-minutes on floured counter, or 6-minutes in mixer bowl with dough hooks. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl. Roll the dough in the bowl several times so it is coated with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let it ferment/rise until double in size. Because of the small amount of yeast used, the rising will take about 3-4 hours. DO NOT increase the amount of yeast.

Once doubled in size, add the 8-Oz of pate fermentee. Knead the pate into the raised dough, adding flour as necessary to get a silky, yet fairly stiff, flexible dough. Lightly dust with flour and return to bowl and let rise to double once again. This rising should take no more than 45-minutes.

Divide into either four or six equal pieces, depending on how large you want the rolls. Let the pieces rest for 10 minutes. Roll and shape into hoagie shaped rolls - about 8” long by 3” wide by 2 inches thick (for 4-roll.) The roll ends should be blunted, not pointed so you have a rectangular shaped creation.

Place the shaped rolls on a sheet pan that is lined with parchment paper, lightly oiled, and dusted with semolina flour or cornmeal. Spray tops of rolls lightly with olive oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise to one and one half the original size.

Turn on oven and set to 500F. making sure there is an empty steam pan in the oven. Score the rolls with two horizontal slashes. Pour four cups of water in the steam pan, and spray the walls of the oven with water. Place the rolls in the oven. After 30 seconds, spray the oven walls again and quickly close the oven door. Repeat spraying again after another 30 seconds. After the final spray, lower the oven temperature to 400, and rotate the pan 180 degrees. It should take about 15 - 20 minutes for rolls to complete baking.

When rolls are golden and cooked through, remove from oven to a cooling rack and rub the tops of the rolls with a stick of butter for a soft, golden crust.

Pate fermentee

This recipe yields approximately 16 ounces.

Pate Fermentee Ingredients

1 1/8 Cups of unbleached high gluten bread flour
1 1/8 Cups of AP flour
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp instant yeast
6-7 ounces of bottled water at room temperature

With a wooden spoon, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast in your largest mixer bowl. Add the olive oil, and water. Mix until it forms a course ball, adding flour and/or water according to need. Mix on medium speed with dough hooks until you get a dough that is neither too sticky nor too stiff.

Knead for 4 to 6 minutes by hand, or 4 minutes in the mixer with the dough hooks. Dough should be soft and pliable and tacky, but not sticky.

Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl. Roll the dough in the bowl several times so it is coated with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let it ferment/rise until 1 ½ times the original size.

Remove the dough from the bowl, knead it lightly to de-gas, and return it to the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in the refrigerator over night. You can keep this in the refrigerator for up to three days, or freeze in an airtight plastic bag for up to three months.

Curried Chicken Ala Dave Arnold

This recipe was given to me by Col. Dave Arnold - the son of General 'Hap" Arnold, the first general the United States Air Force ever had. The first time he made it for me some 25-years ago when I was visiting him in Sacramento, CA I couldn't believe he made it so fast, and it was absolutely exquisite. Some of the quantities are sketchy, but you can use your creative cooking abilities based on your taste preferrences.

Ingredients:

2-3 Boneless Skinless chicken breasts
Peanut oil
3/4 Cup Indian Chutney
1/2 Cup Shredded Coconut
1/2 CupRaisins
REAL Bacon bits
1/2 (+ or-) Cup crushed Spanish peanuts OR Almonds
1/2 (+ or -) CupDried banana
1/2 Cup (+ or -) Dried Apple
4 Eggs hard boiled and chopped
Rice for two large servings
1/4 Cup Dried onion flakes

White sauce

2 TBS flour
2 TBS Butter or peanut oil
1+ Cup milk
1 Heaping tsp madras curry


Procedure:

Sautee the chicken in peanut oil; let cool and cut into 1/2" cubes.

Cook rice in wok or large pan with the dried onion flakes; over rice with water - add one chicken bouillion cube to water, cover with foil, and cook until done. Add remaining ingredients, then reduce heat to very low; add a little water if necessary.

While the mixture is simmering, make white sauce with the flour and butter or peanut oil, add milk and stir until thickened. When thickened, whisk in the curry powder. Pour white sauce over chicken mixture and stir well. Serve over rice.

Raisin Cream Pie

This is a quick and easy dessert that is sure to please.


1 Cup raisins
1 Large box Vanilla Instant pudding
2 cups milk
2/3 tsp cinnamon
8oz container Cool Whip
1 TBS lemon juice
1 Cooked pie shell


Add raisins to boiling water. Let sit until they swell up. Drain raisins and let cool.
Make vanilla pudding per directions on box. Mix in cinnamon and lemon juice to
cooled pudding. Fold cool-whip into pudding mixture, then pour into pie shell.
Refrigerate until set.

Sliced Garlic-Peppercorn Italian Bread

We had this bread in Colorado a few months ago and it was outstanding. It's wonderful toasted as a garlic bread without any additional slatherings - SAVE - a spritz of quality olive oil after it has been sliced and toasted.



2 - packages fast-rising yeast (SAF quick Rise works well here)
1 - teaspoon sugar
2-1/2 - cups tepid water (110 degrees)
6-1/2 - cups good-quality unbleached bread flour (**)
1 - teaspoon salt
1 - teaspoon water
3- Garlic buds thinly sliced lengthwise
1 1/2 tsp freshly crushed peppercorns
1/2 - cup cornmeal

NOTE**

I mistakingly used AP flour, and I'm glad I did!! This was the chewiest Italian bread I have ever eaten. It was perfect - Your choice!!)

In a large mixer bowl, dissolve sugar into 1 cup of tepid (105-degree) water. Stir in yeast. Let stand until it is nice and frothy.

Add the four cups of flour. Beat mixture 10 minutes. The dough should pull away from sides of the mixing bowl.

Add salt and remaining 1-1/2 cup water. Then add the additional 2-1/2 cups of flour. Knead mixture with the dough hook of an electric mixture for five minutes. If kneading by hand, knead dough for 15 minutes. Add more water if dough becomes dry.

Add garlic and crushed peppercorns, and knead them into the dough by hand.

Grease large bowl. Put in the dough to bowl and cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap. Let the dough raise 1-1/2 hours or until double in size. In the middle of the dough, punch down and form the dough into 2 or 3 loaves. Clean a surface and spread some flour. Place loaves on floured surface and cover with towel. Let loaves rise to double in size - about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450° F.

In the oven, you can add a pizza stone or bread bricks. Also, place a pan of hot water on bottom oven shelf. This gives it a nice crust.

After loaves have doubled, spread cornmeal or semolina flour on pizza stone or bread bricks. Or, you can use a greased cookie sheet thaat has been floured. Slide in loaves and bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. The loaves sound hollow when you tap a loaf. Cool the bread on metal rack.

Creamed Stuffed/Topped Apricots

Cream Stuffed Apricots (kaymakli kuru kayisi) is a Turkish delight that is sure to please most everyone's tastes. This is a simple and unusual dessert. Marscapone sweet cheese replaces the hard to find Turkish kaymak cheese. Worst case scenario, you can use cream cheese.




1 lb. dried apricots
2 1/2 C sugar
3 C water
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 lb. heavy whipped cream or marscapone
3/4 Cup grated or finely crushed pistachio nuts

Soak apricots in cold water overnight and drain.

Heat sugar and water together over medium heat for ten minutes, then add apricots. Cook until apricots are tender and syrup is formed.

Add lemon juice and remove from heat. With a perforated spoon, transfer apricots to a plate or cutting board to cool. With a spoon, half open the apricots and fill the inside with the cream or cheese. Arrange the apricots, slit side up on a platter, pour over them as much syrup as they will absorb. Garnish with the grated nuts.

Chicken Scallopini #1

This recipe is our daughters. Delicious, quick and easy :-)

4 Chicken Breasts - Sliced in half so they are about 1/2 inch thick
1/2 Cup Diced Green Onions
1 Pkg (8 oz) Mushrooms - washed and sliced
8 Tbls Butter - cut in half
1 Cup Heavy Cream
1/2 Cup White Wine
3-4 Tbls Olive Oil
1 Pkg (8 oz) Linguini - cooked Al Dente

Cook Pasta while cooking Chicken Scaloppini. When done set aside.

In large skillet heat olive oil. Sauté mushrooms until done - set aside.

Melt 1/2 the butter - sauté chicken - cook 6-8 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and golden brown on each side. Set on plate in oven (on warm).

Melt remaining butter. Sauté mushrooms and scallions together for approximately 2-3 minutes. Whisk in wine and cream and whisk gently until boiling (3-4 minutes).

Top pasta with chicken then cover with sauce. Serve with shredded parmesan.

Ocean Spray Trail Mix Cake©

The crushed almonds and cashews make this cake a real treat. It is an adaptation of the brown sugar pound cake posted here.

Ingredients:

1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup sugar1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
5 large eggs, at room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 6 Oz package of Ocean Spray Craisins Trail Mix (peanuts removed)
1 - 1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon rum extract

Preparation:

Crush or finely chop the cashews and almonds in the trail mix. We don't care for peanuts in cakes, so we remove them from the mix.

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour or sugar a 10-inch tube pan, a 12-cup Bundt pan, or two 9" x 5" bread pans. If using bread pans, divide evenly between the two.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and crushed nuts; set aside. At medium speed with an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars for 4 or 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. With the mixer running at low speed, add the oil and beat until incorporated; then, beat in the eggs, one at a time(*). At low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat only until ingredients are blended; do not overbeat. Fold in the crushed nuts, cranberries, and chocolate bits. Stir in the rum extract.

Pour into your prepared pan(s), and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Remove cake from oven and check for doneness with a cake tester, metal skewer, or toothpick. If tester does not come out clean, bake for an additional 10 minutes, then test again. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely.

A heavy layer of whipped cream on this cake, and a steaming cup of espresso tops it off.

Enchiladas with Creamy Green Chile Sauce

I was never a fan of Mexican food until in 1988, a Mexican National friend and co-worker of mine at a beef packing plant where we worked together introduced me to real Mexican food. His wife, Minnie, was a petite 4'11 girl who was no more than 21 years old at the time, and had the cooking experience of a 70 year old who had cooked for a living. So many recipes labeled as Mexican, are Americanized versions of what the real thing is supposed to be. I remember one day he brought in a dish for me that Minnie had made. I asked: 'What is it?' He told me. ( My spanish was weak at the time and WHOOSH, right over my head! )I then asked what's in it? He said: 'You don't want to know amigo!" I still don't know what was in it, but it matters not; it was one of the most delicious meals I ever ate. Thank you Lupe and Minnie.

WE ,HOPE YOU LIKE THIS ENCHILADA RECIPE.

Ingredients:

1 T. butter
3/4 C. chopped onion
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground cumin (We use LOTS more- up to 2 TBS!)
2 T. flour
1 1/2 C. chicken broth
2 cans or jars (4.5 ounces each) chopped green chiles (undrained)
vegetable oil for softening tortillas
12 corn tortillas
2 C. coarsely shredded cooked chicken
2 C. shredded Mexican-blend cheese
1 C. whipping cream
1/3 C. sliced green onions
1 can (2.5 ounces) sliced ripe olives, drained
3 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
Green enchilada sauce
Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Assembly:

In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Saute onion until transparent. Stir in garlic, salt and cumin. Stir in flour until well combined. Slowly stir in broth. Add chiles and stir well. Reduce heat to simmer; cook, uncovered, about 15 minutes. (Sauce can be prepared to this point, cooled and refrigerated 24 hours in advance.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place as many tortillas on 2 cookie sheets as will fit in a single layer. Brush lightly on both sides with vegetable oil. Bake 3 minutes to warm and soften tortillas before rolling. Stack on plate and cover with foil to keep warm while filling. Repeat until all tortillas are warmed. Combine chicken and 1/2 cup of the green chile sauce.

To fill tortillas, place 2 tablespoons chicken or pork mixture and 2 tablespoons cheese across center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam-side-down in shallow 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Pour remaining sauce over rolled enchiladas; then pour cream evenly over entire mixture and top with remaining cheese. Sprinkle with the green onions and ripe olives. Bake, uncovered, in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped tomatoes and cilantro, if desired, and serve.

Pour the enchilada sauce over everything when assembled.

A green chili with pork would go well with this as an additional sauce with the creamy sauce here, and the green enchilada sauce. Diced tomatoes, chopped raw onions, shredded lettuce - there is no end to what will work as an accompaniment. Enjoy :-)

Toffee Pudding Cake

An excellent, tasty dessert for the holidays.
Quick and easy.




1 ¾ cups dates, pitted and chopped
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup butter
¾ cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/8 cups self-rising flour
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 ½ cups boiling water to cover


Preheat oven to 350° F. In a small bowl combine the dates and baking soda. Pour enough boiling water over the dates to just cover them.

Cream ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon of the butter with the white sugar until light. Beat in the eggs and mix well to combine.

Add the flour and date mixture (including water) to the egg mixture and fold to combine. Pour the batter into one 8 inch round baking pan.Bake at 350° F for 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool, slice and serve with warm caramel sauce.

To Make Caramel Sauce: In a small saucepan combine the brown sugar, evaporated milk, vanilla and ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon butter. Cook over medium heat and bring to boil. Turn heat down and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionallyWhen thickened, add 1/4 tsop almond extract. Serve immediately.

A scoop on vanilla ice cream would the extra added attraction

Italian Venison or Beef Soup

The cold weather is on its way and that signals soup season. This recipe works best with venison, but you can substitute beef or lamb. Ingredients: 1 Lb ground venison (you can use beef or lamb) 1 Onion Chopped 1 14.5 Oz. can stewed tomatoes 2 8 Oz Cans of tomato sauce 3 Cups of water 1 TBS minced garlic 2 TBS dried basil 2 TBS dried oregano 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper 1 15 Oz can pinto beans 1 15 Oz can green beans 1 carrot chopped 1 Zucchini chopped ½ (8 OZ) package ziti pasta 1 Lb ground venison (you can use beef or lamb) 1 Onion Chopped 1 14.5 Oz. can stewed tomatoes 2 8 Oz Cans of tomato sauce 3 Cups of water 1 TBS minced garlic 2 TBS dried basil 2 TBS dried oregano 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper 1 15 Oz can pinto beans 1 15 Oz can green beans 1 carrot chopped 1 Zucchini chopped ½ (8 OZ) package ziti pasta Brown venison, onion, and garlic over medium heat Until meat is no longer pink. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, Water and spices. Brimg to a boil, then simmer for About 30-monutes Stir in beans, carrots, and zucchini. Simmer for about 90-minutes Add pasta and cook until tender. Top individual servings With grated Parmesan or Romano and serve.

La piedra marinada gallinas de Cornualles

Marinated Rock Cornish Hens are a delicious treat if you like poultry - who doesn’t? And it takes only about 45 minutes to an hour to prepare this meal (after marinating the hens for 12-hours).

Ingredients Marinade:

2 TBS oil
1 Shallot chopped
1 Small onion finely chopped
1 Clove of garlic crushed
2 juniper berries crushed
½ tsp dried rosemary
2 peppercorns crushed
2 cups of dry white wine
1 cup vinegar
1 whole clove

Remaining Ingredients:

4 one pound Rock Cornish hens
1 TBS lard
¼ Lb Prosciutto diced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 TBS flour
2/3 cup chicken stock
1 TBS meat extract
1 TBS lemon juice
8 slices of stale bread fried in butter at the last minute
6 TBS butter

Procedure:

Prepare a cooked marinade by placing 2 TBS oil in a saucepan and lightly browning the shallot, onion, garlic clove, juniper berries, rosemary and peppercorns. Add the wine, vinegar, and clove then bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and cool mixture. Place the hens in a bowl and cover with cooked marinade. Cover and marinate for 12-hours.

After the marinating process, remove hens from the liquid, dry them, and truss the birds. Strain the marinade and reserve the juice. Place 1 TBS lard in a casserole and gently brown the prosciutto. Add the hens and brown them on all sides. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle the flour, and add several TBS of the marinade liquid. Cover tightly and simmer over low heat, occasionally basting with a few spoonfuls of the stock. When the hens are cooked through (about 30-minutes) stir in the meat extract and lemon juice; mix carefully.

Transfer the hens to a cutting board and split in two. Place each half on the butter fried bread slices. Spoon the hot pan juices over the hens.

A tasty accompaniment to this meal could be artichoke hearts with butter, or baby snow peas with steamed pearl onions. You might also want to consider freshly steamed asparagus (if they are available) with a sprinkling of Balsamic vinegar and a little melted unsalted butter.

Lamb Tenderloin with rosemary Au Jus

Many of my friends and acquaintences in the Rocky Mountain and Midwest parts of the country don't care much for lamb. I think it may be because they never had fresh lamb, most of which is shipped to the east and west coasts. Fresh lamb - and I mean up to a week old - is one of the finest tasting meats there is. The previously frozen New Zealand lamb in many of our supermarkets, would in all probability, turn off the most avid lamb lover. Lamb tenderloins with feta cheese ravioli is a culinary delight that is rarely - if ever - found even in the best of restaurants. This is primarily a combined Italian and Greek dish that will delight your palate.

The following recipe is from a dear friend - Linda Pilo - who lives in North Carolina; one of the most creative cooks I have ever known.

Ingredients:

8 tenderloins of lamb (lamb loin or leg may be substituted)

Goat (Feta) Cheese filling

4 ounces goat (feta) cheese
1 ounce cream cheese
1 Tablespoon sun-dried tomato, diced
2 teaspoons chopped rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste
8 wonton skins (thin) or homemade pasta dough rolled out thin
Egg wash

Mix cheese with remaining ingredients. Egg wash one side of wonton. Place 2 TBS of filling and cover with other wonton to form a large ravioli. Cut or trim into circles. A cookie cutter will work well here.

Sauteed Swiss chard and Pancetta:

Beet greens (or spinach as a last resort) can be substituted
2 TB olive oil
2 oz pancetta chopped finely
1 TB minced garlic
1 bunch swiss chard, leaves coarsely chopped

Heat a sauté pan over high heat. Add Olive oil and pancetta and cook until lightly browned. Add the garlic and swiss chard and sauté until the greens are wilted and tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Au Jus:

8oz lamb trimmings
1-1/2 quarts Veal or Lamb stock
2 cups Merlot or Red Wine
1/2 cup shallot, minced
1 Tablespoon fennel seed

Brown lamb trimmings and degrease. Add 1 cup veal stock at a time and reduce to sauce consistency. Add 1 tsp fennel seed; continue additions until you develop enough sauce. In a separate pan, combine the red wine, shallot, 1 tsp fennel seed and reduce to a syrup. When you have enough reduced stock, add the reduction and simmer 10 min. Adjust salt and pepper and strain.

Presentation

Season lamb; grill or saute, let rest. Saute chard and cook ravioli; toss in butter and salt. Place a bed of chard in center of plate, top with the ravioli. Drizzle sauce around the plate. Slice the lamb on a bias and lean up against the ravioli. Garnish each tenderloin with a sprig of rosemary and on top of the ravioli with julienne of sundried tomato.

Pane di verdura (Vegetable Bread)

Vegetable bread is ideal to serve by itself or for brunch or dinner with fish, meat, or soup. Although the recipe calls for carrots, red peppers, spinach, asparagus, and corn kernels, any vegetable you have on hand can be used. It makes an ideal snack or light lunch with cheese and fruit.

Dough

• 1 envelope active dry yeast
• 1/4 c. milk, warmed to about 100 degrees
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 2 c. flour (10 to 11 oz.)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 c. bran flakes
• 1 stick butter, softened (1/4 lb.)

Vegetables

• 1 small carrot, cut into 1/4-in. strips
• 6 small asparagus spears, peeled
• 1/2 medium red pepper, seeded, peeled and cut lengthwise into 1- to 1 1/2-in. strips
• 6 oz. spinach, cleaned
• 1/3 c. corn kernels
• Egg wash made with 1 egg with half the white removed, beaten
• 1 Tb. fresh bread crumbs

Place envelope of yeast, 1/4 c. warm milk, and 1/2 tsp. sugar in the bowl of a food mixer and proof for about 5 to 6 minutes, until the mixture bubbles on top. Add the 2 c. flour, 1 tsp. salt, 3 eggs, and 1/2 c. bran flakes, and beat with the flat beater on speed 4 for 3 minutes. Add the stick of butter in pieces and mix on speed 3 for about 30 seconds, just long enough to incorporate the butter. The mixture should be sticky and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours (depending on time of year, heat, and humidity), until at least double in bulk.

For the vegetables: Place the carrot strips in 1 in. of water in a skillet and boil for about 5 minutes. Add the 6 asparagus spears and pepper strips, cover, and boil about 2 minutes. Then add the spinach and corn, cover, and boil 1 minute longer. Using a slotted spoon, spread the vegetables out in a large pan so they cool quickly.

When the dough has risen, push it down gently and place on a floured board. Spread the dough out by patting with a wet hand (to prevent the dough from sticking to it) into a rectangle approximately 11 x 13 in. Arrange the vegetables on top of the dough.

Roll the dough with the vegetables inside, using a dough scraper to scrape the dough off the table. It should form an oblong loaf about 12 in. long by 3 in. thick.

Butter a baking sheet and place the loaf on it seam-side down. Fold a piece of aluminum foil (about 2 1/2 to 3 ft. long) lengthwise into fourths. Butter the foil and wrap it around the bread. Tie loosely in place with a piece of string. This will hold the bread in shape, preventing it from spreading out too much on the cookie sheet. Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with the bread crumbs. Let rise at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for about 20 minutes. Remove the string and the collar and continue cooking 10 minutes longer at the same temperature, for a total of 30 minutes. Let the bread rest for at least 20 to 30 minutes before slicing. Cut the bread into 3/4-in. thick slices.

Arrange the bread on a serving plate. Slices can be served as a garnish to meat and fish or served with cheese. If made ahead, refrigerate the loaf and reheat for a few minutes in the oven so it is about room temperature for serving.

Pumpkin Nut Bread

It's PUMPKIN season. If you want a ready quick bread for toasting in the morning, try this while the pumpkins are in season. • 2/3 cups shortening • 2 2/3 cups sugar • 4 eggs • 2 cups pumpkin - fresh pureed (or canned) • 2/3 cups water • 3 1/3 cups flour • 1/2 tsp baking powder • 1 1/2 tsp salt • 1 tsp cloves - ground • 1/2 tsp allspice • 1 tsp cinnamon • 2 tsp baking soda • 1 cup walnuts either chopped or crushed • 8 jars wide mouth w/lids and rings for; sealing, or 4 - 18 oz Jars) • 8 waxed paper circles cut to fit inside jars

Cream shortening and sugar together, adding sugar slowly. Beat in eggs, pumpkin and water. Set aside. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, ground cloves, allspice, cinnamon and baking soda. Add to pumpkin mixture and stir well. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into greased canning jars, filling only half-full. Place jars in a pan of water. Bake upright in preheated 325 degree oven for about 45 minutes. (Cake will rise and pull away from sides of jar.) When done, remove one jar at a time from oven. If cake rises above the top of the jar, slice off the excess. While still hot, place wax paper circle on the top end of the cake. Wipe sealing edge of jar. Place lid on jar and close tightly with ring. Turn jar upside down. (Cake will loosen at this time.) Repeat with other jars. Leave jars upside down until sealed. (Jar is sealed if lid remains flat when pressed in center.) To serve:Open jar and if necessary, slide a knife around inside of the jar to loosen the cake, and remove the cake from the jar. Warm cake in the oven if desired, or slice and toast. Slice and serve with whipped cream or butter. Because the jar is sealed, the cake keeps indefinitely. It can be made ahead of the holidays. 1/2 Cup Raisins are are optional (We still have a few jars we made in 1998 while I was teaching college in Waco, TX, and they taste great even at this late date; still very good)

Il pollo o il coniglio con le noci di pino ©

Pine nuts, or pinoli, are not the least expensive nuts in the world, but what a flavor and taste they impart to most any white meat recipe that calls for nuts. And when toasted first then crushed - or even whole as this recipe calls for, you are in for a rare culinary treat.

Ingredients:

1 2 ½ Lb chicken cut into pieces (can use boneless breasts-skin on)
5 TBS butter
1 Large onion thinly sliced
3 tsp pine nuts
1 slice very finely chopped prosciutto
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper to your taste
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/2 Cup chicken stock/broth
1 TBS flour
1 Cup heavy cream

Assembly:

Rinse and dry the chicken pieces. Heat the butter in a heavy, heat proof casserole dish with a cover; add the chicken, sliced onion, prosciutto, and pine nuts. Cook over medium heat while frequently turning the chicken pieces. Once they are evenly browned season with the salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover and simmer very slowly, occasionally adding a few TBS of the stock.

Once the chicken is tender, remove the pieces with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate. Scrape the contents of the casserole dish into a blender with the flour and puree the mixture. Pour the puree back into the casserole dish stirring continuously over low heat, and blend in the heavy cream. Simmer over very low heat until the sauce is slightly thickened- do NOT let it boil!! Add the chicken pieces, reheating them thoroughly so they will absorb the flavor of the sauce. Serve immediately

Final Notes:

This can be served with most any pasta - egg noodles are preferred. Spinach, baby carrots, rice, an antipasto, or just about anything you choose to accompany the chicken dish will work. REAL garlic bread is also recommended. (Posted here somewhere down the line.)

This recipe also works very well with rabbit if you’re so inclined.

Beef au Gratin

If you enjoy beef, and you like garlic, this recipe is the epitome of both. With a minimum amount of planning, you can have an extraordinary meal in less than 45-minutes. We have it at least twice a month, and have a hard time eating anything else at a later date. Served with the Sliced Garlic/Peppercorn Bread toasted, and a small antipasto, this is one of THE best meals you will ever eat!!

Ingredients:

1 ½ - 2 Lbs of boiled Beef (Eye of round works well here - shown above)
6 TBS butter
3 Leeks - white part only finely chopped
2 Garlic buds (Largest ones you can muster up!) finely chopped
3 TBS flour
2 Cups hot beef broth
¼ Cup dry white wine
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp white pepper
2 Egg Yolks
1/3 Lb Gruyere or Swiss cheese

The beef must be boiled first. For best results, trim the beef of excess fat. Submerge the eye of the round in boiling salted water. This way, the layer of albumin instantly coagulates around the meat on contact with the boiling water and assures the retention of all its nutrition. Boil for three hours on very low heat. Cool for several hours, or you can refrigerate the whole roast overnight.

Cut into ¼ inch thick slices

In a medium sized skillet, melt four TBS butter and gently sauté the chopped leeks and garlic until they turn a golden brown. Sprinkle the flour over the leeks and gradually add the hot beef broth; stir constantly over medium heat. Add the wine. When the sauce has reached a smooth, creamy consistency, remove from the heat. Season with the salt and peppers. Once cooled, add the egg yolks one at a time blending in well with a wooden spoon or wire whisk.

Butter the bottom of an ovenproof dish and cover the bottom with sauce. Sprinkle half of the grated Gruyere cheese. Place the slices of meat on top of one another and cover with the remaining sauce and cheese. Dot with the remaining 2 TBS of butter and place in a 400F. oven. When golden brown, remove from oven and serve immediately.

With this particular dish, REAL garlic bread (posted here) goes extremely well, as does a glass of a hearty red wine.

Green bean almondine also goes very well with this meal.

GREEN BEAN ALMONDINE
2 cans whole green beans, drained

5-6 slices bacon,fried crisp; 1 sm. onion, finely chopped;1 sm. can chopped mushrooms, drained; 1 c. slivered almond; Parmesan cheese. In baking dish, alternate layers of green beans with crumbled bacon, onion, mushrooms, and almonds. Bake at 350 degrees until thoroughly heated and liquid reduced. Makes 6 servings.

Apple-Peach Walnut Crumb Pie ©

If you like apple or peach and/or crumb pies as many of us do, you will most likely enjoy this one. It's a little more work having to grind the walnuts, but the result is wonderfullly rich, toasty tasting pie. It's the best of both worlds.





Ingredients for pie:

1 Unbaked, 9" or 10" pie crust

4 1/2 Cups peeled, thinly sliced apples (your favorite)
2 Cups peeled, 1/2" diced peaches (canned is quickest)
3/4 tsp cinnnamon
1/4 tsp cardamon powder
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 TBS flour
1 heaping tsp cornstarch (dissolve in 2 TBS of the peach syrup)
1/4 tsp salt

Prepare the crumb topping ahead of time.


Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425F. Prepare crust and place in pie pan or pie plate. Combine all above ingredients in a large bowl and mix well; spoon into pie crust using as little juice as you can.

Spoon crumb topping over pie filling

Crumb topping ingredients

1/2 Cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 cup of walnut meal, flour, or finely crushed walnuts
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter.

Mix together the flour, sugars, walnut, salt, then cut in hard butter to get a crumbly mixture. Spread evenly over the filling.

Bake at 425F. for 15-minutes, then reduce to 350. Continue baking at 350F. for 35-40 minutes. Serve hot with French vanilla ice cream, and a steaming hot cup of your favorite flavored coffee.

Baked Eggs

With winter fast approaching, baked eggs make for a hearty breakfast or a brunch before shoveling that wonderful white stuff. Although basically a breakfast or brunch dish, it also can double for a Sunday night supper. It's very filling, and will last you most of the day.




Ingredients:

• 8 Eggs
• 8 Oz Sour Cream
• 2 4 Ounce Cans chopped green chilies
• 1 Cup shredded Monterray or Colby cheese
• 1 1/2 cups diced 1/4" diced ham
• 2 TBS Butter
• 4 Gratin dishes

Instructions:

Butter each gratin dish. Layer the bottoms with diced ham, then chilis, 2-3 dollops of sour cream, and some shredded Jack. Crack 2-eggs for each dish, and pour over sour cream. Continue building layers until everything is used, then spread the remaining shredded Jack cheese on top. Cover each gratin dish with foil, and bake at 350F. for approxi