borscht

This is a yummy, hearty, economical, nutritious, and beautiful soup.

Borscht

Use the Shreddar Attachment of your wonderful Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer to shred:

6 cloves peeled garlic
2 large carrots
1 cored apple
1 small onion
6 small potatoes
1 small head red cabbage
1 small head white cabbage
3 cooked beets (save the cooking water)

Simmer for hours along with:
beet water
soup bone
1 can tomato paste
extra water as needed.

Add salt to taste, serve topped with sour cream and dill.

Especially nice with the rye bread.

Zucchini Ratatouille

This recipe grew out of a hunt through the pantry that yielded a jar of spaghetti sauce and very little else. We liked it so well we made it the next day too.

Zucchini Ratatouille

chop coarsely & combine:
1 giant zucchini
1 large onion
6 cloves of garlic
1/4 C olive oil mix together:
1/4 C basil strips (basil leaves that you have cut into ribbons by rolling them up and slicing) or 1 T dried basil
1/4 C fresh parsley or 1 T dried parsley
1/8 C fresh thyme or 1 t dried thyme
1/2 t ground cloves
 1 t salt

dig out:
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1 C Parmesan cheese, grated

layer:
1/2 of the vegies
1/2 the seasoning
1/2 jar of spaghetti sauce
1/2 C Parmesan
1/2 of the vegies
1/2 the seasoning
1/2 jar of of spaghetti sauce
1/2 C Parmesan (if you can, mix all this up hours ahead and let the flavors meldge before you bake it. Add a little baking time to bring it up to temp from the fridge).

cover & bake: 350 for 45 minutes, or until the whole thing is bubbly.

Serve with good bread. 

reposted from 9.1.2008

fall cookery

I don't much like fall, as it is the end of swimming season, but I do like fall cooking. I'll be posting links to some of my fall favorites. What are yours?

Split Pea Soup

Combine in your large crockpot:

• 4 cups rinsed split peas
• 1 whole onion, peeled and nasty bit removed
• 4 large carrots
• 4 stalks of celery
• a lump of bacon ends, a little smaller than a fist.
• water to cover + 1 inch.

Cook overnight.  In the morning blend to desired texture.  Add salt and pepper.  Serve with fresh bread, cheese slices, and pickles.

Hearty White Bread

New bread recipe!  Loosely based on the recipe on the back of my Bob's Red Mill flour.  Did you know that Bob's Red Mill is an employee-owned company?  When I can't get to my local mill and have to buy at the store, Bob's the one for me.

Combine:

• 2 C white flour
• 1 C rolled oats
• 1/4 C wheat bran
• 5 t dry yeast
• 4 T sugar
• 1 t salt

 Add:

• 2 1/4 C hot water (tap, not kettle)
• 1/4 C oil

Beat at medium for 2 minutes.  Add:

• 1 C white flour
• 1 egg 

Beat on high for 1 minute. Add:

• 2 C white flour
• 1 C whole wheat flour

Knead until smooth.  Let stand in a warm place (I put it on my food dehydrator) and let rise until double.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Punch down and then divide and shape into two loaves.   Put into greased pans and let rise until double.

20 minutes.

Whole Wheat Egg Sandwich Bread

Whole Wheat Egg Sandwich Bread


Mix in your KitchenAid Standmixer

• 1 1/2 C water
• 1 room temperature egg
• 3 Tb butter, cut up
• 2 1/3 C  white flour
• 2 C whole wheat flour
• 3 T gluten flour
• 3 T brown sugar
• 1 t salt
• 1 1/4 t breadmaker yeast

Turn oven on to lowest setting. Put ingredients into your stand mixer and run mixer on low for 4 minutes.

Turn oven off.  Set a dish cloth over the dough and set into oven. Let dough rise until double (about 1 hour).

Turn oven on to lowest setting. Knead dough for 4 minutes.  Turn oven off. Pop the bread back into the oven to rise until double (about 1 hour).

Turn oven on to lowest setting. Divide dough into two loaves.  Shape. Set into pans. Cover. Pop the bread back into the oven to rise until double (about 1 hour).  Take out of the oven.

Bake at 350 for 24 minutes.

Blueberry Sauce

Blueberry Sauce

Puree:

• 2 C Blueberries
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1 T balsamic vinegar
• 1 T lime juice

whole wheat sandwich bread

This is the yummiest whole wheat bread ever. EVER. I mean it. It slices well, is soft and chewy at the same time, and has a light nutty flavor, not overbearing. The only problem with it is that I can't leave it alone. Just one more slice . . .

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread


Mix in your KitchenAid Standmixer

• 1 1/3 - 1 1/2 C water
• 3 Tb butter, cut up
• 2 1/3 C whole wheat bread flour
• 2 C white flour
• 3 T gluten flour
• 3 T brown sugar
• 1 t salt
• 1 1/4 t breadmaker yeast

Turn oven on to lowest setting. Put ingredients into your stand mixer and run mixer on low for 4 minutes.

Turn oven off.  Set a dish cloth over the dough and set into oven. Let dough rise until double (about 1 hour).

Turn oven on to lowest setting. Knead dough for 4 minutes.  Turn oven off. Pop the bread back into the oven to rise until double (about 1 hour).


Turn oven on to lowest setting. Divide dough into two loaves.  Shape. Set into pans. Cover. Pop the bread back into the oven to rise until double (about 1 hour).  Take out of the oven.

Bake at 350 for 24 minutes.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

Combine:

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 C shredded unsweetened coconut
• 2 2/3 C flour
• 1 t salt
• 1 t cinnamon
• 2 C light brown sugar

Melt in saucepan:

• 1 C unsalted butter
• 1/2 C maple syrup
• 2 T corn syrup

Combine, then add to maple syrup mixture:

• 2 t baking soda
• 1/4 C boiling water

Add

• 1 t maple or vanilla extract

Then add:

• the dry mixture
• 2 C chopped toasted pecans

Roll into balls.  Flatten slightly.

18-20 minutes at 350


from relishmag.com

Stuffed Pumpkin

Oh how we loved it.  It reminded us a bit of a good cheese fondue, but more healthful.   I based it on Dorie Greenspan's recipe.

Dice and cook:
3-4 strips of bacon

Cut the top off of, and hollow out:
1 large pumpkin, about 4-5 pounds

Combine, and then fill the pumpkin with it:
the bacon
1 loaf of white artisan bread cubed and dried out in the oven.
1/2 C pinenuts
6-8 cloves garlic,
minced 3/4 C cubed cheddar
3/4 C cubed Swiss
1/2 C homemade soft cheese that I had to make when the yogurt I was trying to make curdled
1/2 C cream cheese, diced
1 C half-and-half
1 T nutmeg salt and pepper

Bake on foil lined cookie pan for about 2 hours at 350. Serve with apple and tomato slices.

Dorie's instructions are much more detailed, so if you have questions, go see her post, linked above.

Pork Shoulder Roast

Very easy, very yummy.

Puree together

• 1 T crushed garlic
• 1 T oregano
• 1 T cumin
• 1/4 t chipolte pepper
• 1 T salt
• 1 T wine or cider vinegar
• as much olive oil as you need to make a paste

Rub the paste all over the pork roast.
Put in your baking pot

• the roast
• 1/4 C water

Roast at 300 for about 3 hours.

Serve in taco shells with sourcream and salsa and a side-dish of black-eyed peas & spinach (reduce the liquid and leave the hamburger out of the soup).

Chocolate Applesauce Cake

I apologize. All these posts and I've never shared the recipe for Chocolate Applesauce cake. My sister shared this with me when I was newly married; perhaps it is the secret to our years of happiness.

1 1/2 C Sugar
2 C flour
1/2 baking cocoa
1 t salt
2 t baking soda
2 C applesauce or apple pie filing
2 t vanilla extract
1 C vegetable oil
chopped nuts if you wish
350 degrees 30-40 minutes.

Zucchini Pie

Very yummy.  Very easy.

Steam together:
1 large zucchini, peeled and quartered, or the equivalent in small zucchini
1 onion, quartered.

When soft, mash them up in the bottom of a pie plate.  Cover with:
sprinkling of feta
sprinkling of herbs
6 eggs, blended together with a splash of milk

Top with:
1 sleeve of Saltine crackers smashed into
1/2 C melted butter.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Cookery

I started the blog as a diary that I couldn't lose under the couch.  And then I got readers.  And then I started writing for my reader's benefit.  That became too much pressure.  So I stopped blogging. I'm guessing that all my readers have lost interest and drifted away.

So here, just for my own record-keeping, here are some summerish dishes/menus to help me make yummy but no-too-fussy dinners this summer.

Sides

• rosemary polenta Barefoot Contessa: Family Style p 130
• scalloped potatoes: Andy can make.
• loaded salads
• pesto
• roast sweet potatoes
• white beans with rosemary and olive oil
• roasted leeks
• roasted corn salad Pioneer Woman Cooks p 26
• Corn Fritters
• Lentil Salad Recipes from a Greek Island p74
• Pea and Almond Salad Alice Bay p 81
• Potatoes Romanoff Alice Bay p 95
• Glazed Carrots
• Cucumber Yogurt Soup
• Summer Beet Soup Turtleback Farm Inn Cookbook p 60
• Panzanella (use up dry old bread) A Flavor of Tuscany  p 20

 Breads

• Tortillas -- use up the mix that you have.
• Biscuits

 Mains

• Piperade 50 Ways With Vegetables p 70
• Potato and Zucchini Roast 50 Ways With Vegetables p 72

• zucchini ratatouille
• gazpacho Linda McCartney's Home Cooking p 55
• fritattas
• meat pie
• grilled chicken Caesar salad
• supper onion pie How to be a Domestic Goddess p 85
• zucchini and chickpea filo pie   How to be a Domestic Goddess p 93
• mustard pork chops Nigella Express p 11
• real mac and cheese
• rib-eye steak with whiskey (or red wine) cream sauce Pioneer Woman Cooks p 166
• chicken clove enchilada (Christy's recipe, my recipe book)
• Penne with Prawns Pioneer Woman Cooks p 166
• Eggplant with Bechamel -- Mollie Katzen?  look up
• Quiche Alice Bay p 110
• Stuffed Vegies Recipes from a Greek Island p 68
• Stuffed Cabbage Recipes from a Greek Island p 68
• Chicken Bake
• Shrimp and Scallop Fettuccine Alice Bay p 107
• Halibut baked in Mayo and Tomato

Desserts

• key lime pie: recipe book
• trifle
• bread pudding
• semolina cake Recipes from a Greek Island p 68

Almond Pastries

Almond Pastries

Filling: Mix together:

2 C sugar
6 T flour
1/2 t salt
2 T almond extract
4 egg yolks (save the whites)
1 C chopped walnuts
4-6 T milk - add until mixture looks like a thick pudding



Crust: In a separate bowl cut together:
1 C butter
2 2/3 C flour
1 t salt
9 T cold milk


It's crumbly and messy. 

Divide into three equal parts. Roll one out into about a 14 by 9 inch sheet.

Spread 1/3 of the filling onto the dough, leaving 1/2 inch margins.

Fold the short ends in just 1/2 inch (you don't want filling oozing out the ends.

Then fold the long sides in to about one inch per fold. That is, fold the top one inch and the bottom one inch.

 There is still probably some exposed filling, so fold the top and the bottom again until they meet.

 

Set into a greased and floured glass 9 x 13 baking dish.

Repeat with the other dough portions.

  Brush the tops with egg whites and sprinkle with white sugar.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until everything is golden. Let cool for no more than 5 minutes and then loosen the edges of each roll. Take out of pan and let cool again for no more than 5 minutes. Cut at a slant into 1 inch strips. Eat the stubby little ends yourself.

recipe shared with my by former classmate M. Symes.

reposted with pics

Danish Puff

We've been making this every Christmas for years.  The recipe I am copying this from is stained, bunny-nibbled, and has the high-school version of my name on top.

Cut together:

• 1/2 C butter
• 1 C flour.

Add:

• 2 T water.

Round into two balls; pat each into long narrow strips on a cookie sheet.

In a saucepan, melt together and bring to a boil:

• 1/2 C butter
• 1 C water

Remove from heat, then add:

• 1 t almond
• 1 C flour, added all at once. 

Add and beat in

• 1 egg

Add and beat in

• 1 egg

Add and beat in

• 1 egg

When smooth, spread on top of the pastry.

Bake at 350 for 60 minutes.  Let cool, or freeze.  Frost with almond butter-cream frosting and top with sliced almonds.

 This is an essential part of our Christmas morning breakfast.

leftover turkey? turkey pot pie

Turkey Pot Pie

turkey -- cubed or shredded
lightly cooked vegies (peas, onions, carrots, whatever you have)
binder (egg or creme fraiche or cream of heart-attack soup or whatever)
pastry (from scratch or puff pastry or (gasp!) Pillsbury crescent rolls, torn and layered.

350 degrees, 30 minutes

You might also like Turkey Dumpling Soup or Turkey Curry Salad.

cheater pie crusts

So, my Nana blessed our family with a really good pie crust recipe, flakey, yummy, just perfect.  It was with some dismay that we tried to resign ourselves to the fact that -- in spite of this really good recipe -- our Mom was in the habit of buying, and using, and serving to us "Cheater Pie Crusts" (those insipid ready-made ones).

In her defense however, I do have to admit that there are times when Nana's pie crust recipe just won't roll.  I don't know why, but sometimes it is rolls out perfectly, and sometimes it doesn't.  Here is what I do when it doesn't.

I spread out one layer of plastic wrap (but I don't tear it off yet).

I plop the crumbly bits of an abandoned rolling on top.

 I fold the plastic wrap over and cut it off.

I roll out my dough.

I put it in the freezer.  I just need it to freeze enough so that the plastic and the dough separate from one another nicely.  Though, if I wanted to, I could leave it in there for days.  It's my own guilt-free cheater pie crust.

Oh, and if you want the Top Secret Family Heirloom recipe?  Pioneer Woman stole it from us and published it in her book, so it is not a secret anymore.

stuffing. or dressing. whatever

I call it stuffing because I like to stuff my mouth with it.  Dad prefers that it be called dressing.  I figure that when he makes it, he can name it.  Until then . . .

Suzanne's Stuffing

Saute together: 

• 1 large bunch of celery, sliced thin
• 2 large onions, chopped small
• 2 large apples, diced
• 1 C butter

Then add:

• 2 boxes Trader Joe's cornbread stuffing mix
• 1 C oj
• 1 C chicken broth
• 2 packages Trader Joe's Rosemary Cranberry Pecans

Check for moisture content -- add more broth if you need it.
Put in shallow baking dish -- heat up before serving.

Round Steak & Grilled Onions Stroganoff

This started out as Round Steak Baked with Onions, but it has drifted a bit. 

Round Steak & Grilled Onions Stroganoff 
onions
butter/olive oil
1 round steak
white wine
thyme
salt and pepper
Crème fraiche

In a cast-iron skillet, saute in butter/olive oil two onions, sliced thickly.  When they start to soften, take them out of the skillet and set them aside for awhile.  Into the skillet pop one round steak which you have cut into bite-sized cubes.  Brown this for while and then add the onions, 1/2 C white wine, 1/2 C water, some thyme and a little salt and pepper.

Cover and bake at 300 for 1.5 hours.  Remove from oven, stir in 1/2 Crème fraiche and some sauteed mushrooms.  Serve over rice or noodles.

I watched Julie & Julia (streaming Netflix rocks!) the other day and am now all inspired to cook again.  I may have to get the cookbook.