Bran Muffins *
Blueberry Muffins *
Banana Bread *
Beef Bourguignon *
BBQ Brisket *
BBQ Beef *
Browned Eggs (Huevos Haminados) *
Roasted beet chips *
King Arthur Brownies *
Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins *
Beef Stroganoff *
Butternut squash gnocchi *
Cabbage with pasta ties *
Carrot Cake *
Cream Cheese Frosting *
Vanilla Frosting *
Holiday Cranberry Bread *
Chocolate Hershey's Cake *
Cranberry Orange Sauce *
Gazpacho *
Jumbles *
Special Roast Beef *
Pesto Sauce *
Pumpkin Bread *
Pumpkin Challah *
Pumpkin Kibbeh *
No-roll, Cheater's Pie Crust *
Passover Chocolate Cake *
Pfeffernusse (Spice Cookies) *
Israeli Rice with raisins *
Rugelach *
Russian Tea *
Quick and Easy Sag Paneer *
Jan Brett's Scandinavian Waffles *
Sweet Potato, Lamb, and Sausage Stew *
Tapley School Whoopie Pies *
Baked Ziti *
Vegan Chili *
Chocolate Truffles *
White Chocolate Truffles *
Boston Globe Vegan Cocoa Beet Bread *
West Indies Cold Cure and Chicken Soup *
Chicken, Turnip, and Chickpea Stew *
Lamb Kibbe *
Maple Syrup Pecan Pie *
Noodle Kugel *
Pasta Salad with Green Beans *
R. Gary's Grilled Potato Salad *
Salsa and Garlic Scape Vinegar *
Phyllis' Salmon Gefilte Fish *
Salmon Stock *
Tabouleh *
Tomatillo Salsa (Salsa Verde) *
Fruit Coffee Cake w/ Streusel Topping *
Hard Cider *
400 degree oven
In large bowl, combine milk and cereal. Let stand 5 minutes until softened. Beat in egg and oil.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Stir until just combined. Pour into 12 greased or papered muffin tins.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until tests done.
1 dozen muffins
From: All-Bran cereal box
400 degree oven
Combine dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients and beat well. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and combine. Add blueberries. Divide batter into greased or papered muffin cups. Sprinkle with sugar if desired. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until inserted tester comes out clean. Remove immediately from pan.
1 dozen muffins
From: Betty Crocker Cookbook
This recipe is a very good one that does not require a mixer to cream butter.
350 degree oven
Cream oil and sugar. Add eggs.
Add dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Add bananas and chips or nuts. Mix to blend. Pour into greased and floured loaf pan (use whole wheat flour to flour pan).
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until knife or tester comes out clean from center of loaf.
From: My Mom favorites
Medium High heat on stove or slow cooker
Fry onions in fat til brown. Brown beef. Add seasonings and liquids and simmer for 2 ½ to 3 hours. Add vegetables and cook til tender, 30 to 45 minutes.
From: My parent's French friend Annick.
Slow cooker
Make sure that sauce has tomato listed as first ingredient, best if you can find one without corn syrup. Add meat, BBQ sauce, and water to slow cooker and cook on high for at least 6 hours. Add vegetables to the slow cooker 30 minutes before serving. Drain off cooking liquid and serve.
If brisket is cooked for a longer period of time it can be "pulled", after cooking, into shreds using two forks and used as a sandwich filling.
From: This recipe is my own and was a great standby for me when my son was a baby. I could set up the slow cooker and get the meat going during his morning nap and not worry about dinner if my son got fussy in the late afternoon.
Slow cooker
Add meat, BBQ sauce, and water to slow cooker and cook on high for at least 6 hours. Add vegetables to the slow cooker 30 minutes before serving. Serve over sandwich rolls.
From: This recipe is also my own and is very similar to the brisket recipe. It does not use water and the sauce is served with the meat, similar to sloppy joes. It actually does wind up tasting different from the brisket recipe.
Browned Eggs (Huevos Haminados)
Heat on stove
Put half of onion peels in a medium saucepan. Set eggs on top and then add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook over very low heat FOR 6 HOURS! (Yes, 6 hours, really.)
From: Faye Levy's International Jewish Cookbook
This is a Sephardic (i.e. Spanish) Jewish recipe for Passover. The eggshells turn a bright burgundy color that is very pretty. When peeled, you see that the egg whites turn a light brownish red color and the boiled egg picks up a delicate flavor of onion, pepper, and olive oil. It is also fun to make, mostly because you keep peering at it and muttering "Six Hours?".
325 degree oven
Slice beets thinly and toss in bowl with other ingredients. Spread beets on a baking sheet with edges in a single layer and bake in oven for about 1 hour or until slightly crispy and chewy but not burnt or dry.
Warning: if you eat a lot of these in one sitting it will turn your pee pink. I made a visit to my doctor thinking that it was blood in the urine.
"The Easiest Brownies You'll Ever Make"
350 degree oven
Combine dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients.
Spread into a greased 9" square pan. Bake for 30 minutes.
Check for doneness, tester method will not work.
Edges of brownie should slightly pull away from sides of pan.
From: the back of the King Arthur Whole Wheat flour package.
This is a great recipe and really easy. It's almost even healthy.
I also have a modified version of this recipe where I add
1 cup mashed squash
Reduce sugar to 1½ cups
Reduce eggs to 2
Reduce butter to ½ stick
Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins
375 degree oven
With electric mixer on low speed, cream butter and sugar till fluffy. Add eggs and mix till blended. Combine dry ingredients.
Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture alternating with the milk. Mash ½ cup of the blueberries and add the mashed berries to the batter. Gently add the remaining whole berries. Divide batter into greased muffin pan. Make sure to grease entire pan surface, muffins will spill over top of pan cup. You can use muffin papers, but be sure to still grease pan.
Sprinkle with sugar if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until inserted tester comes out clean.
1 dozen muffins
From: Jordan Marsh was a large Boston based department store that had a famous bakery department. This recipe is available in several forms from many Boston and Massachusetts sources. The recipes do not vary very much but they all, including my mother's version, claim to be the "authentic" recipe. This is probably not true; I have heard at least one source, claiming to be a former bakery employee, state that the bakery recipe included a mix of several different flours (like cake flour and regular flour). This, plus the difference created by butter versus margarine, would produce very different textures. However this recipe makes a very good muffin if you don't mind pulling out the mixer. The sugar on top is best if you use a large crystal sugar, like a decorator or turbinado sugar.
Medium High Stove
In frying pan cook beef, onion, mushrooms, and salt. Add water, bouillon or drippings, and black pepper, and bring to a boil. Simmer 5 minutes. Add optional flour if thickening is needed. Remove from heat, stir in sour cream.
Note: Most of the amounts in this recipe are approximate.
From: My Mom's recipe.
High heat stovetop
Halve squash, remove seeds. Place cut side on waxed paper. Microwave on high for 15 to twenty minutes, until flesh is soft and easily mashed. Let squash cool slightly. Remove flesh from squash skin, a grapefruit spoon or ice cream scoop works well. Mash flesh until consistency of mashed potatoes. Add cheese and eggs, mix well. Gradually add flour, ½ cup at a time. Add enough flour to make a firm batter, not quite as firm as pizza dough. Dough should be stringy enough to stretch around a wooden spoon.
Bring a large stockpot ¾ full of water to boil. Add 1 tbsp. olive oil to water. Drop batter by the teaspoon full into water until surface of water is covered. Wait for dumplings to rise to the surface, cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes.
Remove dumplings with a slotted spoon. Drain and serve with a spicy tomato sauce. Dumplings can be put into a covered baking dish with a little sauce to hold while you finish cooking all of the batter. A Fra diavlo (hot red pepper tomato sauce) sauce is especially good with these.
This recipe is from Serve it Forth, cooking with Anne McCaffrey. Anne McCaffrey is a fantasy and science fiction author, this book was written as a fundraiser for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Emergency Medical Fund.
Medium high stovetop
In a large frying pan, sauté garlic, anchovies, and red pepper flakes in butter and oil. Add onions and sauté until translucent. Add cabbages and sauté until tender and water is cooked out. Boil pasta according to package directions until al dente. Add cream and salt and pepper to frying pan and simmer lightly. Add sauté to drained pasta and stir in cheese.
From the Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines, China Greece and Rome. This is a Roman recipe.
350 degree oven
In a large bowl beat eggs, sugar, and oil. Combine dry ingredients and add to beaten mixture. Add carrots, nuts and raisins. Mix well. Pour into greased and floured tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes until tests done.
With electric mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla and gradually add 10x sugar until frosting is fluffy and no longer greasy. Spread on cooled carrot cake.
Foolproof Chocolate Cakeor Seven Minute Chocolate Cake
350 degree oven
Mix all ingredients in large bowl. Beat 3 minutes with electric mixer or beat by hand. Pour into greased tube pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes in 350 degree oven. (Also makes one 9 inch square pan or 24 cupcakes.)
With electric mixer, cream together butter and shortening. Add vanilla and gradually add 10x sugar until frosting is fluffy and no longer greasy. Spread on cooled cake.
Whisk together dry ingredients. Add orange juice, oil, and hot water and stir to combine. Add cranberries and nuts and egg and combine. Pour into greased loaf pan and let stand for 20 minutes. Bake at 350 degree oven for 1 hour until tests done.
(Uncle Richard's Cake)
350 degree oven
Mix all ingredients together for 2 minutes. Pour into greased tube pan and bake at 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.
Note: This cake story is that a banker named Richard kept this secret recipe in his bank's vault for years. When the recipe finally was obtained by someone else it spread like wildfire. This cake is so rich that it does not need frosting. It is almost a brownie.
Medium High stovetop
Add all ingredients to saucepan. Bring to a boil while stirring. Simmer 10 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick and cool.
Blender
Combine tomatoes, oil, juice, salt, and paste with ½ of all of the vegetables. Puree in blender. Dice and add reserved vegetables. Top each bowl with a squirt of chili sauce to taste.
350 degree oven
Cream butter and sugar, add other ingredients and combine. Roll into cigar shapes about as thick as a finger and bend into S shape. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake about 10 minutes.
500 degree oven
3 to 5 lb. strip sirloin roast
salt
pepper
Remove meat from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature. Place meat in roasting pan and liberally sprinkle with salt and black pepper on all sides. Bring oven up to 500 to 450 degrees. Do not turn broiler on. Place roast in oven and cook for 5 minutes for each pound of meat (i.e. 15 to 25 minutes). Then, TURN OVEN OFF AND DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR. Allow meat to stay in turned off oven for 2 hours. DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR, NOT EVEN A PEEK. I usually tie a towel on the oven handle or put a "DO NOT OPEN" sign on the oven door. The meat will continue to cook from the retained heat in the oven. The roast will turn out beautifully seared on the outside with a pink cool to warm center. If the oven door is opened the heat will be lost and you'll have to turn the oven back on to about 325 degrees and try to fake your way out by adjusting your cooking times.
Food processor or blender
Add oil, garlic, and pine nuts to processor or blender. Gradually add basil and process until paste. Add salt and pepper. Remove from processor and stir in cheese. You can also add parsley or arugala to this paste. This can be served with pasta, vegetables, and/or chicken. This sauce freezes well. It is best to make a large batch when basil is fresh in the summer and then freeze it in ice cube trays. One frozen cube is approximately one serving of sauce, so you can adjust for however many you are cooking for.
From The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines, China Greece and Rome.
Mustard Pesto Sauce (with leg of lamb)
Food processor or blender
Add oil, garlic, and pine nuts to processor or blender. Gradually add greens and process until paste. Add salt and pepper. Remove from processor. This is best used as a marinade for roast lamb, beef, or chicken. My favorite way to use this is to buy a boneless leg of lamb, untie the roast and slather sauce on all surfaces. Reroll the roast and let marinate in the refrigerator, then roast in the oven per standard leg of lamb roasting standards. The sauce makes a wonderful crunchy mustard flavored crust on the roast. This makes a great special meal. This sauce freezes well. It is best to make a large batch when greens are fresh in the summer and then freeze it in ice cube trays.
From This recipe is obviously an adaptation of the previous standard pesto recipe, but I do consider it to be my own innovation. I have never seen another mustard variation for pesto and I have never seen it used for roasting meats.
350 degree oven
Combine dry ingredients. Add beaten eggs and other wet ingredients until combined. Pour batter into greased and floured loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 to 75 minutes until tests done.
350 degree oven
(When separating eggs, put egg whites into ice cube tray and freeze for another use. One cube holds about one large egg white. Angel food cake or macaroons are a good way to use these up. Also, extra egg whites are good to add to matzo ball recipes to achieve a light and fluffy matzo ball.) Place ½ cup warm (not hot) water in a small bowl and sprinkle in yeast. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes, until foamy. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine egg yolks with ½ cup water. In a medium bowl combine salt, oil, honey, pumpkin, and spices. Add pumpkin mixture to mixer bowl and combine with dough hook. Add yeast, stir until combined. Slowly add flour, one cup at a time, until all flour is incorporated. Transfer dough to floured work surface and knead by hand for 10 minutes. Place dough in buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double in size. This can take 1 to 2 ½ hours depending on yeast and temperature.
Transfer dough to floured work surface and punch down. (You can divide into two and make two standard bread loaves or you can divide into three and make a traditional braided challah loaf.) Divide dough and shape, place on greased and floured baking sheet or loaf pans. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise until double, 1 to 2 hours. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix remaining egg yolk with 1 tbsp. water. Brush loaves with egg wash and bake in oven until golden brown, about 50 minutes for standard size loaves. This will take considerably longer if making a braided loaf. Cool loaf on wire rack.
From Martha Stewart magazine. Challah is a traditional Jewish bread made with eggs. This is the only recipe I have ever seen that included the pumpkin. It tastes awesome and can be good plain, to make a sandwich, in a stuffing for chicken or turkey, in a bread pudding, or as French toast. We actually used it in place of a birthday cake at Joshua's school one year.
375 degree oven
Place the pumpkin, bulger, salt, pepper, coriander, allspice, cumin, cayenne, onion, garlic, and flour in a food processor. Process until thoroughly blended. Taste for seasoning. Add a little flour if too moist.
Grease an 8 inch square pan with olive oil. Pour mixture into pan, top 1 tbsp. of oil on top and smooth. Mark top with knife into serving squares and bake in oven for 20 to 25 minutes until surface looks dry. Let cool and serve.
350 degree oven
In a 9 inch pie plate combine dry ingredients.
Drizzle oil and milk over dry ingredients and toss
until mixture is crumbly. Mixture should hold together
when pinched, add a little milk to adjust.
Press dough evenly over the bottom of the pie plate
And up the sides. Refrigerate until needed or prebake shell for
8 minutes in oven.
From: An article in the Boston Globe newspaper.
This recipe only does a bottom crust but it is super easy.
I usually throw this together when I have a lot of leftover
vegetables that I want to get rid of by making a quick quiche.
Oven 325 degrees
Use 8" springform pan or standard tube pan, greased and bottom lined with parchment or wax paper.
In a food processor, grind walnuts with 2 tbsp. of sugar until fine and transfer to bowl. Also grind matzo meal in food processor until fine.
Place chocolate and wine in saucepan and heat under medium heat, stirring frequently, until chocolate has melted. Add margarine and stir until blended.
Separate eggs and whisk yolks. Gradually add yolks to chocolate mixture. Add ¼ cup of sugar, nuts, and matzo meal and mix well.
Whip eggs whites in large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining sugar and whip until whites are stiff and glossy. Gently fold whites into chocolate mixture in three batches. Fold lightly and quickly until batter is just blended.
Transfer batter to pan and spread evenly. Bake about 1 hour until cake tester comes out clean.
From: This recipe started out from a recipe in Faye Levy's International Jewish Cookbook. I have since modified it extensively.
Cool in pan on rack for about 10 minutes, separate sides of cake from pan with knife and gently invert onto rack. Cool completely and invert onto serving platter. Serve with fruit or berry puree.
350 degree oven
Sift together first 8 ingredients and set aside. In large bowl, beat eggs, both sugars, and butter until fluffy. Add the flour mixture, beat together. Cover and refrigerate for two hours.
When dough is chilled, roll into walnut sized balls between palms. Wet palms to keep dough from sticking. Bake on greased Cookie sheet in 350 degree oven for 15 to 18 minutes 'til nicely browned. While still warm, roll in sifted confectioners sugar and set aside to cool. These cookies taste better when they are a day or two old.
Medium High stovetop
Toast pine nuts for 3 to 5 minutes in oven or toaster oven at 400 degrees. Put oil in a large saucepan, add onion and sauté until translucent. Add rice and sauté 2 minutes. Add stock, raisins, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover, simmer for 18 to 20 minutes. Remove rice from heat, fluff with a fork and stir in pine nuts and parsley. Makes four servings. This is a great, slightly sweet, side dish to go with roast chicken.
From the Boston Globe and Faye Levy's International Jewish Cookbook. This was in the Boston Globe as a good Sephardic dish for Rosh Hashanah.
I have made an adaptation of this recipe as a matzo stuffing for chicken or turkey.
Replace rice with 3 cups of matzo farfel (broken up matzo)
Reduce chicken stock to 1 cup
Sauté matzo farfel as directed for rice.
Follow the rest of the directions but do not bring to a boil and reduce cooking time to 5 to 10 minutes. Use to stuff poultry or bake separately in an oiled baking dish for 1 hour at 350 degrees.
My mother-in-law really likes the stuffing variation.
350 degree oven and food processor
pastry
fillings
wash
Cream butter and sugar together in the food processor. Slowly add the rest of the ingredients until a sticky dough forms. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead in any remaining flour. Roll into three logs, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate.
Roll out section of refrigerated dough. Cut into triangles (roll into a circle and cut like a pie) or squares. Add a very small amount of filling and roll into a crescent or similar shape. Do not let sugary fillings ooze out of dough, this will burn in the oven. Place on cookie sheet. Combine egg and water, paint top of each cookie. Refrigerate sheets if dough becomes soft and sticky again. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown, at 350 degrees. Make 3 dozen.
From the Sesame Street Parents magazine. This is a Jewish cookie and the cream cheese pastry is wonderful.
Medium high stovetop
Add water and tea bags to stock pot. Tie teabag strings together to make removal easier. Simmer for ten minutes, remove and squeeze out tea bags. Combine all other ingredients in a large stock pot and bring to a simmer on stovetop. Allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes. Mixture is just about right when you taste it and your tongue fells slightly numb. This can simmer on the stove throughout a long, cold, snowy afternoon but you should remove the cinnamon after a while or the numbing effect will get too strong.
I got this from my friends Mike and Terri Jones. We used to make this when we were in college together in Troy, N.Y.
Medium high stovetop
Puree spinach in blender, add a little oil and/or cheese to achieve a smooth, velvety consistency. Heat 4 tbsp. oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Slice farmer's cheese into cubes and dust with flour, fry in oil until lightly golden. ( If using ricotta cheese you can skip this part) Set cubes aside. Add 2 tbsp. oil to pan and fry onions until lightly browned. Add ginger, cook for a few minutes. Add spinach and salt to pan with ½ cup water. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Add fried cheese and garam marsala. Just before serving, add last 2 tbsp. oil to glaze and mellow the sauce. Serve over basmati rice.
You can also add green chopped or pureed peppers, red chopped peppers, and/or hot green chilies to this. You can also add an additional ½ tsp. of tumeric to the sauce. You can also buy real indian paneer cheese, or make your own. Most authentic indian recipes for this dish include making your own paneer (from milk) and grinding your own marsala. I tend prefer to streamline this as much as possible, I think of it as a housewife's version. If using the ricotta variation (not including any fried cheese) then this can also be used as a warm spread or dip for bread for a party buffet.
I requested that anyone from my farm write in and share a recipe for this dish, so this is from my Farm's newsletter. It was adapted from Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking, via farm member Deborah Strod.
Oven Dried Cherry Tomatoes (and roasted Squash Seeds)
300 degree oven
Combine tomatoes, salt, pepper, oil, and oregano if using. Arrange, with cut sides facing up, on a baking sheet that has sides (jelly roll pan or pizza pan). Bake in 300 degree oven for 2 to 3 hours until tomatoes are shriveled and dry.
This technique also works for roasting pumpkin and squash seeds. Clean seeds, but do not rinse in water. Just don't use any oregano and roast seeds until golden brown. This may take less time, about 1 hour.
From Martha Stewart magazine
Jan Brett's Scandinavian Waffles
Waffle iron
Combine flours, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cardamom. In another bowl beat 3 egg yolks until frothy. Add sour cream. Add egg yolks and sour cream to flour mixture. In a separate bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into batter. Cook batter on a waffle iron. Serve with maple syrup or sour cream and lingonberry preserves.
This recipe was published in the Boston Globe along with an interview with Jan Brett and her husband. Jan Brett is a famous children's book author and illustrator and her husband is a double bassist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Sweet Potato, Lamb, and Sausage Stew
Medium High Stovetop
Brown lamb and sausages in bottom of a deep pot or dutch oven, if starting with uncooked meat. Remove meat and add onions to pot, saute onions until wilted.
Add carrot and celery, saute briefly. Add meat, salt and spices, stock or water, and tomatoes. Cover and cook over low to medium heat for 1 hour. Add liquid as needed to keep from drying out or sticking to bottom of pot. Peel and chop sweet potatoes into ½ inch slices. Add sweet potatoes to pot and cook for another 30 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley when serving.
From The Victory Garden Cookbook. This is my all time favorite cookbook. This is an awesome recipe that can be easily thrown together, especially if using leftover meat from another meal. It's a great dinner or item to bring to a potluck.
425 degree oven
Cookies
Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and beat until smooth. Batter will be thin. Drop batter with a teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake at 425 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes.
Filling
Beat ingredients together. Add milk last, pouring in slowly until filling is a spreadable consistency. Spread filling between two cookies to make a sandwich. Makes about 12 sandwiches.
This recipe came from a fund raiser cookbook for the elementary school that I went to from first to fifth grade. My mother also went to this school. This was a special occasion recipe, good for bribing small children or using in place of cupcakes when you want something where the frosting is contained and can't get all over the place. If you want to transport these, wrap each sandwich in plastic wrap. Otherwise the cakes start to stick to each other on the plate.
350 oven
Cook ziti and drain. Combine ricotta, parmesan, eggs, and spices. Combine ziti and cheese mixture. In a 3 quart casserole or baking pan, line bottom of pan with 1/3 of tomato sauce. Layer sauce, ziti mixture, sauce, mozzarella, and finish with a layer of sauce. Cover pan with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Be careful of hot steam when removing foil. Let set for 15 minutes. Cut into squares and serve. This recipe freezes well.
My mother got this recipe from a recipe radio program. You can also use romano cheese instead of parmesan.
The essential ingredients
The optional ingredients
Non-vegan options
Add everything to stock pot and cook minimum 30 minutes to all day or all night in slow cooker. This recipe is my own invention and has developed over decades. It also tends to resist being written down, to the point where the written recipe tends to get lost.
To make crème fraiche, set ½ cup of heavy cream out in a bowl and stir in one tablespoon of active culture yogurt, sour cream, or one teaspoon of vinegar. Cover with a towel and set in a warm place overnight or for 24 hours until slightly soured and thickened.
Place chopped chocolate in a large bowl. In a sauce pan bring cream, crème fraiche, and butter to a boil. Pour hot cream over chocolate and stir until chocolate is melted and combined with cream. Set bowl in ice bath or in refrigerator to set. This is the ganache.
When chocolate ganache mixture is set, scoop out by teaspoonfulls (or use a mini ice cream scoop) and shape into balls. Set onto wax paper lined cookie sheets. Keep finished balls in refrigerator while working. Dust hands with confectioner's sugar and roll each ball, first in confectioner's sugar and then in cocoa powder. Place in paper candy cups and serve or store in freezer until serving time.
This is a recipe published in the New York Times. It is very easy, since it does not require a double boiler. You can substitute 1 cup of heavy cream for the cream and crème fraiche if you are feeling lazy. This is a good recipe to make with kids as long as an adult handles the hot items. The ganache can also be thinned out with a little more cream and butter and be used as a truly awesome chocolate frosting.
Heat heavy cream until it just comes to a boil. Pour hot cream over white chocolate chips. Stir until combined. If the mixture is a little stiff, add a small amount of melted unsalted butter. This is the ganache. Chill ganache in ice bath or refrigerator until it can hold its shape. Shape into tsp. sized balls, place on cookie sheets lined with wax paper, chill again.
Melt semi sweet chocolate chips in pyrex cup in microwave, stir until melted. Be careful not to overheat and burn chocolate. If chocolate is stiff or grainy, temper it by adding a tsp. of solid vegetable shortening. This will make the chocolate glossy.
Using a fork or dipping fork, dip white chocolate ganache balls in the semi sweet chocolate until just coated. Place on wax paper coated cookie sheets, and chill again.
This is a good project to do with kids as long as an adult handles the hottest parts of the process.
Boston Globe Vegan Cocoa Beet Bread
Set oven at 325 degrees. Grease loaf pan.
With electric mixer, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, mix vanilla, oil, and water. Add wet ingrdients to dry ingredients and mix well. Add grated beets and mix to combine thoroughly. Pour into greased pan. Bake in oven 45 to 55 minutes. Bread should spring back when pressed lightly with a finger. Bread will firm up as it cools. Do not overbake or bread will be dry. Let cool and serve. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar to decorate if serving as a cake.
From the Boston Globe magazine.
Freezer Pickled Coleslaw
Shred cabbage, pepper, and carrots in food processor with shredding blade. Add chopped onion. Sprinkle with salt, let stand 1 hour, then drain. Combine remaining ingredients in saucepot. Bring to boil, boil 3 minutes. Cool. Ladle sauce over cabbage mixture, let stand 5 minutes. Stir well. Pack slaw into plastic freezer boxes or freezer bags. Seal, label, and freeze. Yield: 5 pints.
From: Ball Blue Book: Guide to home canning, freezing and dehydration
This book is a standby for me. It is put out by the folks who make the canning jars, and it can be found in grocery stores and hardware stores that sell canning supplies. This recipe is very adaptable, you can include red cabbage, diakon, radishes, celery root, any shreddable vegetable or just use one vegetable, like cabbage or carrots. I usually substitute 1 tablespoon of pre-mixed pickling spice for the mustard and celery seed.
West Indies Cold Cure and Chicken Soup
Cold Cure
Mix thoroughly and slug it down. Take every 2 to 4 hours until either you or the cold gives up.
This was published in Prevention Magazine. The recipe was recommended by Dr. Ben Kligler; Medical Director of Beth-Israel Center for Health and Healing in New York City. He was given this recipe by several of his West Indian patients.
Since Chicken Soup is also a traditional cold cure, I make my standard homemade chicken soup recipe (stock, carrots, parsnips, onions, etc.) and add the West Indies cold cure in place of the normal soup spices. It adds a nice kick. Salt and pepper to taste.
Chicken, Turnip, and Chickpea Stew
In dutch oven or large stew pot, Cook chicken in butter and oil until browned, if starting from uncooked chicken. Add onions and sauté lightly. Add chickpeas, stock, and spices. Bring to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes. Add turnips and greens and simmer for 20 minutes. Cook until sauce is slightly thickened, you can mash up some of the chickpeas to help thicken the sauce. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley when serving.
From: The Victory Garden Cookbook by Marian Morash
This is another standby cookbook for me. This is a great recipe that I use to use up leftover chicken and is the best turnip dish in my collection. It is easy to throw together. Best if you use homemade chicken stock. Can be made without the saffron and tumeric if you are sensitive to these spices (some people are allergic to tumeric, be careful of these if you are allergic to aspirin or yellow food dye).
Combine all ingredients except olive oil and pine nuts until well mixed. Place in 9 x 13 pan or in loaf pan. Score top of meat in a diamond pattern with a sharp knife. Top with drizzled olive oil and sprinkle pine nuts on top. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes until meat is browned. Cut into wedges and serve.
From the original The Frugal Gourmet cookbook. It is listed as a Lebanese recipe. It is a nice variation on meatloaf.
Set oven at 400 degrees. Prebake pie crust for 8 minutes to prevent soggy crust. Remove crust from oven. In a large bowl beat eggs and add sugar and mix well. Stir in maple syrup, melted butter, salt, vanilla and pecans. Pour filling into pie crust and set in oven.
Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for 30 to 35 minutes. Pie is done when center of filling remains firm when pie is gently shaken. Allow pie to cool before serving.
Published in the Boston Globe. Adapted from Bake and Freeze Desserts by Elinor Klivans. A variation of this pie is very popular at the John Harvard's Restaurant in Harvard Square. I prefer this to the standard corn syrup pecan pie.
Mix all ingredients, bake in an greased casserole dish for one hour at 350 degrees.
From The Bakery Men Don't See Cookbook published for the benefit of the James Tiptree, Jr. Memorial Award, recipe contributed by Andi Shechter. The James Tiptree, Jr. award is a science fiction/fantasy award for gender bending fiction. This cookbook was put together as a fundraiser. I have reduced the amount of butter and added the nonfat options to make it a little healthier. This is good hot, warm, or cold and served as a main dish, side dish, or dessert.
optional ingredients
Cook green beans 3 to 4 minutes, until bright green, drain and cool. Whisk together oil, vinegar, garlic, mustard, salt and pepper. Boil pasta per package directions, drain. Add tomatoes, herbs and cheese to pasta and beans. Pour dressing over, toss to combine and serve.
This recipe is from the Smith and Hawken publication The Gardener's Community Cookbook. The recipe is originally attributed to Ann Pilcher of Jamesville, N.Y. This is a great take along salad for a picnic or cookout.
R. Gary's Grilled Potato Salad
Fold a large rectangle of tinfoil in half, to create a double thickness of foil. Mix together potatoes and onions, add spices. Rub dried tarragon in the palm of your hand before sprinkling into mixture to release the scent. Place mixture in center of foil. Dot mixture all over with butter and drizzle with olive oil. Fold up foil to create a tight foil packet of an even thickness. Crimp foil at seams. Place packet on barbecue grill and cook for 30 to 45 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Serve with other barbecued foods.
I got this recipe from my friend Gary. It's a good cookout item.
Salsa and Garlic Scape Vinegar
Optional items
Combine all items in food processor till slightly chunky consistency. The differences in how this recipe comes out are determined by the freshness of the ingredients. Ideally all of the tomatoes and herbs should be just out of the garden.
The garlic vinegar I make myself. Take a clean glass bottle and enough white vinegar to fill the bottle. Stuff the bottle as full as possible with garlic scapes and cover with vinegar. Garlic scapes are the clippings and flower buds of the garlic plant. Farmers clip the tops from the plant so that the garlic root (the bulb) will grow bigger instead of wasting its energy producing flowers. Garlic scapes are available at farmers markets and in the fresh produce aisle of many Chinese grocery stores.
Nana's Sausage Stuffing
For a 14-16 lb. turkey
Scramble sausage meat in a skillet over medium heat. Do not brown. Break up meat into very small pieces (grainy). Add chopped onions. Cook until onions are tender but not brown. Break up bread into small pieces (quarter size). Combine meat, bread, water, and seasonings. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add more water to achieve right consistency. Stuff bird.
This is one of the few recipes that I have from Nana (my father's mother). She was not overly fond of cooking, so when she when to the effort of making something from scratch, it was usually worth having. To me this is the definitive savory turkey stuffing.
Spinach Squares
Set oven at 350 degrees. Put butter in 9 x 13 baking dish and set in hot oven to melt. Remove pan from oven when butter is melted. In a large bowl beat three eggs. Add flour, milk, salt, and baking powder. Mix well. Add cheese, spinach, and onion. Mix well. Spoon into baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes until cheese has set.
From Leisure Time Recipes compiled by the Lake Shore Park Teen Association. Lake Shore Park is the place where my parents have a summer camp in Gilford, N.H. This cookbook was put together as a fundraiser. This recipe is like a quiche but easier to throw together and has less fat.
"Gourmet" April 1992
Ingredients
Accompaniments
In food processor, puree onion, medium carrot, parsley. Blend until chopped fine. Add salmon, cut into 1" pieces, egg, salt, ice water, matzo meal and white pepper. Blend until mixture is smooth. Test for seasoning (poach taste sample). Place in covered bowl and chill for 1 hour. Bring stock to simmer. Poach 2 large carrots and 2 boiling potatoes, sliced or crinkle cut. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until tender. Remove from stock, chill and reserve. Scoop and shape salmon mixture into ovals, approximately 1/4 cup or one ice cream scoop for each. Keep hands moist. Place on oiled plate. Add ovals to stock. Poach for 20 minutes or until pick comes out clean. Remove pot from heat and let ovals cool in stock. Remove ovals from pot to paper towels, drain and chill. This may be done up to 3 days in advance. Store fish in tightly closed container with some of the broth. Arrange gefilte fish on platter with lettuce, peppers, carrots and potatoes. Serve with horseradish.
Ingredients
In pot combine all ingredients. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes, skimming froth regularly. Strain stock through sieve, add salt to taste.
Stock keeps in fridge for two days. Keeps in freezer for 3 months
Spinach Pie
Oven at 350 degrees.
Saute onions in olive oil until golden brown. Add defrosted or cooked greens. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in cheese, eggs, and herbs. Allow filling to cool. Cut phyllo in half to fit in 12 x 7 inch baking dish. Using pastry brush, butter baking dish with melted butter. Layer in phyllo sheets, alternating phyllo and melted butter. Use up half of the phyllo dough. Add cheese and greens filling, draining excess liquid if any. Cover filling with the rest of the phyllo dough, again alternating phyllo and melted butter. End with melted butter on top. Score top of phyllo dough in a diamond pattern with a sharp knife. Bake in oven for 1 hour until golden brown.
From the original The Frugal Gourmet cookbook. It is listed as a Greek recipe.
optional ingredients
Soak wheat in 2 cups cold water for 15 minutes. Squeeze dry. Vegetables and herbs can be chopped by hand or in food processor. Whisk together oil, juice, spices, salt and pepper. Combine wheat, vegetables and herbs in bowl. Pour dressing over salad and combine. If using tomatoes, add these last.
This recipe is from The Fugal Gourmet On Our Immigrant Ancestors by Jeff Smith. This is listed as a Lebanese style of tabouleh. The dressing is very good and can be used for other salads, especially if you want to avoid a vinegar taste in a meal when serving wine with dinner.
Cheesecloth Basted Turkey
If your turkey is frozen, TAKE TURKEY OUT OF FREEZER AND DEFROST IN REFRIGERATOR FOR THREE DAYS.
THIS MEANS THAT IF YOU ARE COOKING FOR THANKSGIVING, THEN YOU NEED TO START DEFROSTING ON MONDAY!
Rinse turkey with cool water, dry with paper towels.
Place turkey on roasting rack, breast side up, in roasting pan. Sprinkle with ½ tsp. each of salt and pepper. Stuff turkey if desired. Rub turkey with softened butter and sprinkle with the rest of the salt and pepper.
Combine melted butter and wine in a large bowl. Fold a large piece of cheesecloth so that cheesecloth will drape over most of turkey and has at least four layers of cheesecloth between the oven and the turkey. Soak cheesecloth in wine and butter mixture for several minutes. Lift cheesecloth out of mixture and place over turkey. Reserve remaining liquid for additional basting. Spread cheesecloth over turkey, covering sides of turkey and most of the legs. Place turkey in oven. Roast for 30 minutes. Baste turkey and cheesecloth with some of the remaining liquid. Reduce oven to 350 degrees. Baste turkey and cheesecloth with remaining liquid and pan juices, every 30 minutes, cooking for an additional 2 ½ hours.
After turkey has been cooking for three hours, remove cheesecloth. Baste again and continue to cook for about 1 hour. Remove from oven when meat thermometer reads 180 degrees at the thickest part of the thigh and stuffing reads at least 140 degrees.
When making gravy from pan juices, it is essential to pour out juices and skim off fat before returning juices to pan to make gravy. Otherwise your gravy will be too greasy from all the butter.
This is from Martha Stewart Magazine "Turkey 101"
Roast tomatillos in oven, either under broiler for 5 minutes or at 450 degree oven for 15 minutes. Tomatillos should be soft and juice should be bubbling. Allow to cool. Place tomatillos in food processor until smooth. Add cilantro and olive oil to processor and blend. Add remaining ingredients, blend and serve with corn chips. This can be thinned down with more oil and vinegar to make a salad dressing.
Adapted from a recipe in Martha Stewart Magazine.
Fruit Coffee Cake w/ Streusel Topping
Ingredients:
Batter:
Mix all ingredients to make batter.
Filling:
Mix to make filling. (Original recipe called for 1c blueberries without flour or spice.)
Topping:
Mix and cut in butter to form streusel topping. Can use leftover pie dough instead of butter and flour.
Procedure:
Adapted from the 1996 L.L. Bean Christmas Card
by Kristin Norwood. This recipe is also on my husband's web page.
The problem with describing the recipe for the cider is that it's mostly standard homebrewing technique (only less so); if you know that stuff, it's a nearly trivial recipe, but if you don't, there's a lot that's not obvious. I'd be happy to loan out some of my homebrewing books rather than having to explain generic technique.
Ingredients:
Procedure:
Executive summary: cider, sugar for gravity, added yeast, sit until done
Comments:
Cider
Finding raw cider has gotten fairly hard because of bacteria scares. Pasteurized will do fine, but obviously preservatives are a real no-no. A blend of different types of apples will make for somewhat better results than a single-variety pressing, but again, that's hard to find these days.
Yeast
I add yeast in order to get closer to a British style of cider -- somewhat ale-like -- as opposed to the New England style of depending on natural yeasts that's more like wine. This particular batch used the Wyeast "London Ale" yeast and no starter.
by Lowell Gilbert.
This recipe is also on my husband's web page.
Apple Pie
Ingredients:
Directions
Roll out both crusts first. Mix sugar, flour, spices. Mix in apples. Cut up butter and dot over filling before covering with top crust. Slit and seal crust. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes, protecting the edges of the crust (with tin foil). Increase oven to 450, remove tin foil, bake approx. 15 more minutes.
Notes:
Using more than one kind of apples usually helps. I used McIntosh and, um, something else in this pie, and left some of them unpeeled.
by Lowell Gilbert.
This recipe is also on my husband's web page.