Aebleskivers
Solvang is a Danish community, north of Santa Barbara.
Gramma Phyllis's best friend Joan, always made these over the campfire,
when we all went camping at Lake Cachuma.
(You must have an aebleskiver pan to make these.)
1 cup sour cream
2/3 cup whole milk
3 eggs, separated
1/4 cup melted, unsalted (sweet) butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg and/or cinnamon
a little powdered sugar
or
lingonberry jam
In a bowl combine the sour cream, milk, egg yolks, melted butter and
sugar and beat to blend.
In another bowl, stir and toss together the flour, baking soda, salt
and nutmeg.
Add to the sour cream mixture and stir briefly just until
barely combined.
Beat the egg whites until they stand in soft peaks.
Stir one-third of the whites into the batter to lighten it, then
scoop the batter on top of the remaining whites and fold them together.
Set the ebleskiver pan over medium heat.
It is hot enough when drops of water flicked into
the wells dance and sputter before evaporating.
Grease the wells generously with Crisco.
Pour in the batter, filling each cup one-half full.
Cook for 3 or 4 minutes, until browned and puffy, then turn
the dumplings carefully
A pair of knitting needles, or chopsticks are useful in nudging them
over, to brown the other side for a minute or two.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.
Bake the remaining batter the same way.
Gramma & Grampa liked these served with lingonberry jam
(available at Ikea).
*If you're new at making these, be sure to give yourself some
practice batter and time, AND...
always make sure they're cooked through!
Dutch Babies
(from Sunset's Breakfast & Brunch)
Victor Munca began making miniature German pancakes for his
children, in his Seattle restaurant, in the first half of the 1900's.
They dubbed them Dutch babies. No matter their sizes today, they're
still known by that name.
Dutch babies are all about presentation. presentation. presentation.
For guests, bake yours in an oven-proof paella pan.
(The pan must be at least 3 inches deep.)
(3-6 servings)
2-3 quart pan ----- 1/4 cup ----- 3 eggs ----- 3/4 cup each milk & flour
3-4 quart pan ----- 1/3 cup ------ 4 eggs ------ 1 cup each milk & flour
4-4 1/2 quart pan ---- 1/2 cup ----- 5 eggs ----- 1 1/4 cups milk & flour
4 1/2-5 quart pan ---- 1/2 cup ----- 6 eggs ----- 1 1/2 cups milk & flour
Preheat oven to 425F.
In mixing bowl beat eggs on high for 1 minute.
Gradually blend in milk and flour on medium to medium-high for
another 30 seconds.
Place butter in pan and set in 425F oven for 3-5 minutes.
Watch so it does not smoke or burn.
Remove pan from oven, gently pour in batter and immediately return
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.
(Check on it through the window, if you open the oven door, it will fall.)
A sprinkling of powdered sugar, or butter and syrup are easy.
But you know that I make whipped cream, and as fresh, and bite-sized
prepared fruits and/or berries/bananas as possible.
Added sugar, if necessary for the fruits too.
Be sure to have whipped cream and fruits prepared ahead of
making your Dutch baby.
Funny name.
*This is baking, so only use sweet (unsalted) butter.
Sicilian Breakfast Loaf
I'll be posting it soon, I promise.
My Sunset Breads book is history, Celeste.
I just ordered a replacement cookbook today.
It had the original bread-baking recipe for dummies, that
I used for years, including for this recipe.
Dad's Guacamole Recipe
6 ripe avocados
2 small ripe tomatoes, small dice
4 ounce can green chiles
couple roasted garlic cloves
lil lime juice (to prevent browning)
Smash with potato smasher to desired texture.
Stir gently and serve with
(preferably white) corn tortilla chips.
This is the basic recipe.
Play with it by adding/subtracting ingredients.
Dad sure does!
Sausage Pinwheels
These are great for lazy morning brunches.
Kim Woodsen gave me the original recipe.
Preheat oven to 350F.
1 package jimmy dean sausage (I prefer "plain")
2 (8-ounce) 'cans' Pillsbury refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls
garlic powder
Open 1 package at a time of the dinnner rolls.
Do not separate the triangles.
Lay out flat.
Use 1/2 of the sausage for each slab of dough.
Smear the sausage on each of the 2 slabs of dough.
Sprinkle garlic evenly over the sausage.
Starting with one fo the short sides of dough, roll
it to the other short end.
Slice into 1/2-inch rounds.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake until golden brown.
(This is pork, so they don't let them sit out long.)
Crab/Tomatillo Salsa Verde & Creamcheese Dip
1 pound REAL, fresh dungeness crab meat (check for "bones")
12 ounces tomatillo salsa verde, or
12 ounces green chile enchilada salsa
Marinated Jalapeno chile, cut into thin-sliced rounds
2 (8 ounce packages) cream cheese - allowed to rest to room temperature
Tortilla Chips
I spread the cream cheese on a pizza pie pan.
Top with the salsas, then the jalapenos slices then the crab meat.
(be sure to tear the crab pieces apart, for even distribution.)
Refrigerate before you deliver to tailgate parties, etc. Or
allow to sit, before guests use it as dip, to soften cream cheese.
*This is my basic recipe.
Play with it to taste by adding:
avocados, thinly sliced jalepano rounds, cilantro etc.
*When you're driving your husbands sports car to Jack Murphey, for a
Chargers tailgate party with your pals from the Inn?
Don't set this on the passenger seat, lmbo.
(That'll teach him for leaving me alone with 3 teenagers for 6 months!)
THAI CUCUMBER SALAD
1 firm medium-sized (English) cucumber
2 Tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 Taplespoons distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
12 paper-thin lengthwise slivers of seeded hot fresh red
chile peppers, about 1/4-inch long
1 cup dry-roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped to small
Julienne the cucumber, then cut julienne slices into dice. Set aside.
In a deep bowl stir the vinegar, sugar, salt, and
white pepper until well blended.
Add remaining ingredients, except the peanuts, and
toss with the marinade.
Chill for no longer than 2 hours.
Set peanuts out in a small dish, for each person to
place the amount they like on their salad.
Serve with Filipino chicken wings, and pancit.
The deli capital? It's L.A.
That's the conclusion of 'Save the Deli' author David Sax.
He explains why the City of Angels beats out New York and other contenders.
LA Times/Elina Shatkin/October 21, 2009
It was in rural Kansas, near the geographical center of America, that David Sax hit rock bottom in his search for the perfect deli sandwich. It happened innocently enough, in an Arby's. He had ordered a Reuben.
"What I got was this horrible abomination of plasticized cheese that tasted like it had come from a napalm plant," he says. "Meat that had been pressed and pumped and vacuumed and torn apart to increase its yield in water but had no flavor. Bread that was just white bread painted a dark rye color. It was horrendous. And it was microwaved. I had two bites and that was it."
But if Sax found the nadir of the Reuben, he also found its zenith. And -- perhaps surprisingly -- he didn't find it in New York, the birthplace of the Jewish deli; he found it here in LA.
"It's a very difficult business to be in," Sax says, "but the delis that are most inspiring, the ones that people cling to, the ones that people enshrine for years and years are the traditional Jewish delis. And LA just happens to have more of them than any city I've been to."
To die-hard deli aficionados and sandwich fans, this assertion is heresy. It certainly wasn't what Sax, a Toronto native who now lives in Brooklyn, expected to discover. But in "Save the Deli," a book that traces the rise and fall of Jewish delicatessens from the shtetls of Eastern Europe to the suburbs of middle America, he makes that very claim.
On a two-month cross-country trip, Sax hit all the major deli hubs: LA, Chicago, Frisco and, of course, NYC, even working for an evening as a counterman at the legendary Katz's deli on Manhattan's Lower East Side. But he also fanned out across North America to Denver; Detroit; Scottsdale; St. Louis; Cleveland; Vegas; Ft. Lauderdale.; Montreal; Toronto; and a dozen other cities. He even made a trip across the Atlantic to visit delis in London, Brussels, Paris and Krakow, Poland, one of the birthplaces of the modern Jewish deli.
History in every bite
Bound by "a proclivity for garlic and onions, and a reverential worship of schmaltz, or rendered fat," Sax writes, the Ashkenazi Jewish cultures of Germany, Poland, Romania, Hungary and the Russian empire developed kosher versions of local meat specialties. When centuries of diaspora living met America's abundant beef supply in New York in the late 1800s, the deli staples of pastrami, corned beef and tongue were born.
Selling from pushcarts, early Yiddish food vendors faced increasing restrictions (a familiar conflict to foodies aware of recent county and city attempts to curb taco trucks) and evolved to bricks-and-mortar restaurants. But it was America's obsession with the sandwich, according to Sax, that catapulted Jewish delis "from an obscure immigrant food to an American cuisine." In LA, delis had yet to make their mark; that would come later as the descendants of New York's first wave of Jewish settlers migrated west.
The 1930s were boom deli years, with a second generation of immigrants finding more stability and prosperity while catering to a clientele concentrated in New York's Jewish enclaves.
At the same time, the traditional kosher deli gave rise to the kosher-style deli, also known as the Jewish or New York deli, that predominates today. Uninhibited by dietary restrictions that forbade observant Jews from consuming meat and milk together, they broadened their menu and clientele. Ergo, the Reuben, the ultimate assimilated sandwich: corned beef and sauerkraut topped by Swiss cheese and creamy Russian dressing.
Driven by the rise of supermarkets, decreased Jewish immigration, changing eating habits, fewer mono-ethnically Jewish neighborhoods and uniquely low profit margins in the deli business, the post-World War II years marked the beginning of the decline for delis.
"In the 1930s there were something along the lines of 1,500 kosher delis in New York," Sax says. "Now, there are about two dozen in all of New York City. That's an 80% to 90% decline. This has been echoed in other cities around the country."
Yet LA delis have managed to thrive in a niche market. Acre for acre, Sax maintains that Southern California boasts "more delicatessens of higher quality, on average, than anywhere else in America." He commends Nate 'n Al in Beverly Hills; Factor's in Pico-Robertson; Junior's in West LA; Greenblatt's on the Sunset Strip; Art's in Studio City; Canter's in the Fairfax district; and the various Hat locations.
But Sax reserves his highest praise for Langer's, near MacArthur Park -- where the pastrami sandwich "encapsulates perfection at every turn" -- and Brent's in Northridge and Westlake Village -- which he calls "absolutely sensational."
Where New York delis tend to be cramped and covered in an intangible layer of old world schmutz, Los Angeles delis are the height of midcentury, suburban modernity. If New York delis are as intimate and familiar as your bubbe's kitchen, then Los Angeles delis, with their spacious banquettes, polite wait staff and abundant parking, are like younger, sexier spokesmodels for the deli world.
Metaphors aside, the most successful delis usually share three traits: They own their own land and aren't subject to harsh rent increases; they often keep the business in the family; and they don't skimp when it comes to the quality of their core deli fare.
"Any deli where you can order lobster should be suspect, even if you're not kosher," Sax says. But he's aware that rules are meant to be broken. Sax was initially skeptical of Brent's, because of its vast menu, but he was won over with one bite of their house-made kishke, a rarely served sausage made of beef intestines stuffed with schmaltz, matzo meal and, often, organ meat.
Community spirit
The other secret of LA's delis is that its owners are a tight-knit bunch who usually cooperate with each other. When Nate 'n Al installed a new computer system, owners David and Mark Mendelsohn went around to other local delis to help them set up their computer systems. Sax can't imagine that happening elsewhere.
"I've been to delis, especially in Florida, and when you ask if there are any other delis, they say, 'There are no others,' even if you can see another deli in the strip mall across the street," Sax says. "The attitude that prevailed in New York for a long time is that if another deli goes out of business, 'Hey, more for me.' "
It's not simply a philosophical error but a pragmatic one, in Sax's opinion. If the deli, whether as a hallowed eatery or as the civilian repertoire of American Jewish culture is to be saved, then LA is the case study. "The more delis that there are, the more people are going to want to eat at delis because it's visible, it's there in their minds," Sax says. "I thought that was the lesson LA could teach everyone else."
Nana's Chicken Noodle Soup (Gelson's Super Market)
(10 servings)
According to my Grandfather, nothing made here ever tasted as good as it did when it was made back in the "old country"-except for my Grandmother's chicken soup. The key to a successful chicken soup is love. Put your heart into it and give it the attention it deserves so that you won't have to add any bouillon at the end to give it any flavor.
5 Rosie Organic skinless chicken breasts, with the bone, cleaned and trimmed of fat
1 (16-ounce) bag Bunny Luv organic baby carrots
6 organic celery stalks, coarsely chopped
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 leek, trimmed of green top and washed well
1 parsnip
1 bunch dill, tied with twine
1/2-1 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 teaspoon pepper
1 (12-ounce) bag Manischewitz yolkless egg noodles, cooked
just before soup is done
Place chicken in a large stockpot. Cover with water and cook, covered, over high heat until the water begins to boil. Remove lid, and using an angled spoon, skim the film that rises to the top. Once most of the film is removed (after about 30 minutes) add in half of the bag of carrots, 3 chopped celery stalks, the onion, and the leek. Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes and then add the parsnip. Simmer uncovered 30-60 minutes longer, until the flavor begins to intensify.
Strain into a clean pot. Discard the cooked vegetables, keep the chicken. Add remaining carrots, celery, and dill. Cook covered until the carrots are tender, about 20 minutes. Shred chicken and discard bones while the soup continues to cook.
Taste and season gently with salt and pepper. If soup is too bland, let it continue to cook uncovered until the flavor is just right. If it is too concentrated, add a little water. Remove the dill.
Spoon cooked noodles into bowls and ladle soup, carrots, celery, and pieces of cooked chicken over the noodles. Serve immediately. http://www.gelsons.com/table/cookbook/list/recipelist.asp
STEAMED PRAWNS or SHRIMP w/OLD BAY BUTTER
We fell in love with Old Bay, while we lived next to it in Maryland.
(This stuff can be used instead of salt and pepper, everyday, on just about anything.)
2 pounds of prawns or shrimp
1 can of Beer and an equal amount of water.
2 Tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning, and extra for serving tableside
2 sticks (8 ounces)Sweet (unsalted) Butter
Bring beer and water to boil in large kettle.
Add Old Bay.
Add prawns or shrimp.
Cook and stir for 2 minutes on high heat.
Remove pan from burner (to a cool burner), cover immediately, and
allow to cool for 3-4 minutes.
DO NOT OVER-COOK!
(Test doneness by cutting one in half from sitting pot.)
Serve chilled on ice, or immediately, always with side of
melted unsalted (sweet) butter for dipping.
Italian Wedding Soup
the meatballs:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 pound ground pork, finely ground
1/2 pound ground beef, finely ground
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage
1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon zest, grated and chopped very fine
2 Tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Kosher or sea Salt and freshly ground white pepper, to taste
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 Tablespoon olive oil
the soup:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 1-pound head Kale, washed and coursely chopped
8 Cups chicken stock, homemade or low-sodium canned
(I like to use 3 (14 oz) cans of chicken stock and
1 (14 oz) can of beef stock, and
add water to make the full 8 cups.
(This is known as mock veal stock)
Kosher or sea Salt and freshly ground Pepper to taste
Mix the milk and bread crumbs together in a small bowl and
allow to soak for 5 minutes.
Combine the remaining ingredients for the meatballs in a large
bowl, along with the soaked bread crumbs.
Mix together very well with your hands.
Form 1/4-cup balls with the meat mixture and place them on a sheet pan.
Keep your hands a little moist with cold water to prevent the
meatballs from sticking to your hands.
Heat a 4- to 6-quart pot and add the 2 Tablespoons
oil and the sliced garlic.
Saute for 30 seconds, being sure not to burn the garlic.
Add the kale and saute for 5 minutes, or until it collapses.
Be careful not to burn this.
Add chicken stock, and simmer gently, covered, for 30 minutes.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Carefully drop the meatballs into the
simmering soup but do not stir.
After 1 minute, when the meatballs hold their form,
carefully stir in meatballs.
Poach the meatballs for another 6 to 7 minutes but
do not boil the soup heavily.
Serve in shallow bowls with lots of grated cheese.
Serve the soup with a really good quality, crusty designer baguette, and COLD, unsalted (sweet) butter.
Shrimp Etouffe
1 pound medium shrimp, shelled and
soaked in salty water in fridge.
2 pounds roasted garlic cloves, smashed.
1 large red bell pepper, diced.
1 large green bell pepper, diced.
3 Tablespoons flour
peanut oil (or lard)
14 ounce can diced tomatoes (Muir Glen?)
1/2 cup chopped celery
3 bay leaves, whole
1 Tablespoons fresh diced basil
1 Tablespoon freshh diced thyme
1-3 Tablespoons hot sauce (Tabasco or Cajun Sunshine)
1 cup red wine
1 cup beef stock
(anything else you like...I like to add rounds of
Andouie sausage slices)
In a large heavy pot add 3 rounds of
oil or a big spoonful of Lard.
Heat on medium-high and add flour.
Stir carefully and constantly for
about 15 minutes.
Watch the roue, don't burn.
Add pepper and celery and garlic.
Stir a few minutes
Add diced tomatoes, stir.
Add wine and stock.
Cover
Bring to a boil and add shrimp.
Cook a few minutes til they turn pink.
Add hot sauce and
optional sausages.
Serve over cooked rice.
Roasted Peppers, Sauteed Pine Nuts on Sauteed Chicken Breasts
This was served at a magnificent dining room in
Taipei, Taiwan, when Dad attended a business convention.
(His best effort for this replication.)
4 bell peppers (1 each of: red, yellow, orange and green)
olive oil
1 garlic head, roasted and mashed
1 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup unsalted (sweet) butter (1 stick)
Preheat oven to 350F.
Cut off top 1/4 inch of the garlic head.
In a terra cotta garlic roaster, drizzle a whole garlic head with
olive oil and bake for 45 minutes.
Remove and set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to Broil, and let the oven broil for 5 minutes.
Place peppers on top rack, a few inches below the broiler, and
broil for 7 minutes.
Turn over and broil for 4 minutes.
Turn over again, if more broiling is necessary, until
fully charred all the way around.
Remove from oven and place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap.
Place in refrigerator.
Place pine nuts in small saute pan, with 2 couple Tablespoons of
unsalted (sweet) butter.
Lightly saute over medium-high heat for a few minutes, Shaking
pan, to make sure they are cooked on all sides, and not burned anywhere.
Watch them VERY CAREFULLY, and just as they start to brown, remove
the pan from the heat, and set aside.
They'll burn in an instant, and they will keep cooking.
Remove peppers from refrigerator.
remove skins, stems and seeds, and slice in 1/4 inch long strips.
Sqeeze the roasted garlic mash out from the head and cloves.
Mix well with pepper strips.
Drizzle with 3 Tablespoons olive oil. Set aside.
the chicken breasts:
4 chicken breasts halves
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon milk
flour for dredging
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
1 Tablespoon very dry sherry
Gently beat chicken breasts with the flat side of a
meat mallet, between two layers of plastic wrap, to about
1/4 inch thick, or less.
Set aside, cover with plastic wrap, and immediately place in fridge.
Place flour in pie plate.
In a separate pie plate, add the beaten eggs, milk, salt, pepper.
Heat a large, nonstick skillet, to medium-high heat.
Add, 2 Tablespoons olive oil, and heat to
just short of smoking, about 30 seconds.
Dip a breast in the egg wash, let drain.
Dredge with flour, shaking off excess.
Place in the heated skillet.
Continue same process with other breasts.
Let cook about 4 minutes.
DO NOT MOVE THEM.
If you move them before that, the flour mix will stick to the pan.
Turn them over, and add the sherry.
Turn heat to low, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.
Place chicken breast halves on serving platter.
Top with peppers, garlic mixture, and finish with pine nuts.
Serve with plain buttered linguini, a veggie and/or salad.
Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas
12 White corn tortillas
corn oil
1 (28-ounce) large can green chile enchilada sauce
1 package of 3 chicken breast halves (with bones and skin)
1 small can of whole green chiles (Anaheim)
1 (8-ounce) package of Monterey Jack cheese
1 (8-ounce) package of Colby (or mild) Cheddar cheese
2 Tablespoons of Emeril Legasse's Southwestern Bam
1 (12oz) can Jumbo Black Olives, sliced into thin-sliced rounds
Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly coat chicken halves with corn oil.
Place on baking sheet and bake in oven, for 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, Place enchilada sauce in a saucepan, large enough
to hold a corn tortilla. Set on low.
(Do not let it boil, only simmer.)
Dice green chiles, set aside.
Grate cheeses, mix together in large bowl. Set aside.
Slice olives, set aside.
Remove chicken from oven, let cool.
Remove chicken from bones and skin.
Cut into 1/4-inch to 1/2 inch dice.
Add diced chiles to chicken, and mix.
*Save the oil and chicken grease from the baking sheet, to use to
make the Mexican fried rice.
In a non-stick skillet, heat 2 Tablespoons corn oil,
(do not let smoke)
Add 2 Tablespoons Southwestern Bam, and allow to saute for
about 30 seconds.
DO NOT BURN.
Stir in chicken and chile mixture, turn heat off, and
blend chicken, chiles, oil and Bam.
Preheat oil to 350F.
(Use an electric skillet for best temp controls.)
Begin the assembly line, lol:
Place one tortilla in 350F oil, and using tongs, flip tortillas a
couple times, making sure it cooks through, but
not cooked crispy, 10 to 15 seconds.
(Practice to get the "feel" for the right timing.)
Dip tortilla in warm enchilada sauce, to coat both sides well.
Place on baking sheet.
Place a "row" of 1/3 Cup of chicken mixture, onto the
center of tortilla, from end to end, and
top with 1/4 Cup of cheese mix.
Fold one side over the chicken mixture, then the other, and
make sure outside fold is placed on bottom to baking sheet.
Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Top with remaining enchilada sauce, cheeses, sliced olives.
Bake in 350F oven for approximately 20 to 25 minutes, watching to
be sure enchiladas do not get over-cooked.
Mexican Fried Rice
1 cup long-grained rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 small can casera sauce (la fresh Mexican sauce)
leftover chicken oil and grease from chicken breasts
In a 2-Cup measuring cup, place all of casera sauce, and enough
chicken broth to make 2 cups. Set aside
In a 10" heavy skillet (I use a cast iron skillet) add enough
leftover chicken grease and oil to just cover the pan.
Heat on medium-high, for a few moments, and add rice.
Saute rice, stirring constantly, until rice turns opaque, and
very lightly browned.
(This will happen fairly quickly, about 2 minutes.)
Carefully pour casera sauce/chicken stock mixture into hot pan.
(This will splash, if you're not careful.)
Place tight-fitting lid on skillet, and turn heat to low.
Cook for 20 minutes, EXACTLY! Remove from heat, and
let sit for 15 minutes.
Do not lift lid during this entire process!
Remove lid and stir. Serve with meal.
Our English Christmas Dinner
Standing Rib Roast with Mushroom Madeira Sauce and Yorkshire Pudding
Standing Rib Roast, trimmed, with chine? tied to roast
1 to 2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 to 1 teaspoon thyme
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons unsalted (sweet) butter
a doubled recipe of Madeira Sauce (recipe to follow)
Preheat oven to 550F.
Rub cut garlic over entire roast. Discard pieces.
Salt and pepper roast generously. Insert meat thermometer.
Place meat in roasting pan, fat side up.
Put in oven and reduce temperature to 350F.
Sprinkle mushrooms with lemon juice and saute them in
butter until liquid evaporates.
Make a double recipe of Madeira Sauce, add mushrooms and set aside.
When roast is done, remove to platter and let "rest" 15 to
20 minutes before carving.
Meanwhile, make Yorkshire Pudding.
Allow 1/2 TO 1 pound of rib roast per person.
You can cook two ribs but generally better to cook a
larger roast of 3 or more ribs.
Let meat stand at room temperature at least an hour before roasting.
A meat thermometer is the only reliable measure of doneness,
however, a medium-cooked roast should take about 20 minutes per pound.
MADEIRA SAUCE
(This is not the doubled recipe)
1/4 cup shallots, chopped
3 Tablespoons unsalted (sweet) butter
1/2 cup Madeira wine
1 (10-1/4 ounce) can??? beef gravy
3 Tablespoons Madeira wine
Sautee shallots in 1 tablespoon butter until golden.
Add 1/2 cup Madeira and cook until liquid is reduced by half.
Add gravy and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.
Add remaining butter, stirring until melted, add remaining Madeira.
Keep warm or reheat gently. Do NOT boil.
Yorkshire Pudding
Pan drippings from the beef roast
2 eggs
1 Cup whole milk
1 Cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 400F.
Remove roast to a platter and keep warm.
Prepare pans by pouring in drippings, 1/4 cup/10" cast-iron skillet.
Place in oven and heat 5 minutes.
Combine eggs and milk in blender.
Add flour and salt and blend about 10 seconds, scraping once.
Immediately pour into 10-inch cast iron skillet.
Bake in skillet 45 to 50 minutes.
DO NOT OPEN OVEN before time is up, it will fall.
Pudding should be puffed, firm, crisp, not soggy.
Serve immediately.
If you can, watch through oven window, so that your
pudding does not overbake (turn black around edges).
Never open the oven door to check. The pudding WILL fall.
Couscous w/Red Peppers & Pine Nuts
1 package couscous (Near East)
2 cups (low-sodium) chicken broth
1 whole head garlic, roasted, let cool
1 large, red pepper
1 Tablespoon clarified butter
1 cup pine nuts
Preheat oven to 375F. Slice the top 1/3 off from the garlic head.
Drizzle with olive oil, and place in either a garlic roaster, or
wrapped in aluminum foil, and
roast for for 1 hour.
Remove and let cool.
After the garlic is roasted, turn the broiler to 500F.
Roast the red pepper a couple inches under the broiler and
keep checking the pepper for doneness.
(You want to char the skin, but not burn the pepper.)
When it's roasted, take it out and place it in a paper bag,
or put it in a small glass bowl, cover it with saran wrap, and
put it in the FREEZER for about 10-15 minutes.
After the pepper is cooled, remove it from the freezer and
place it under cool, running water to remove the skin, stem,
core and seeds. Coarsely chop.
Toss it, along with the garlic that you squeeze from the
roasted head, into either a food processor or
a blender, along with enough of your chicken broth to equal 2 cups (all together).
In a large pot, with a tight-fitting lid, pour in the
2 cups blend of broth/red pepper/garlic, and bring to
a simmer, on high.
Pour in the couscous, give it a quick stir,
Put the lid on, and remove pan from heat.
Let it sit for 10 or 20 minutes.
DO NOT remove the lid.
When you're ready to serve it, remove lid and
fluff the couscous with a fork.
the pine nuts
Heat a small, heavy-bottomed pan, to warm.
Put the butter in the pan, and immediately add the pine nuts.
"Shake" the pan back and forth on the burner as if you were
making traditional popcorn.
Keep the pine nuts moving and turning
(Do not let them burn them on one side, and be raw on the other.)
extra hint: When you've removed them from the heat, be sure to
keep shaking the pan, because the pan still has retained much
of the heat at the bottom.
(at least a couple minutes.)
This really is easy, after practicing a couple times.
Set aside, and wait to top your fluffed couscous.
Hungarian Paprika Gravy
from Jeff Smith
(7 cups)
1 Tablespoon freshly rendered lard
1 1/2 Tablespoons Hungarian (sweet) paprika, or more to taste
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 cup seeded & chopped anahaim pepper
1/2 cup chopped tomato (14 1/2-ounce canned fire-roasted)
1 teaspoon chicken base (Knorr)
6 cups (low-sodium) beef stock
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup flour (Dad adds more flour)
Heat a 5 quart heavy stove-top casserole and add the lard and paprika.
Cook over medium heat for a moment and then add the
garlic, anaheim pepper, onion and tomatoes.
Simmer for a few minutes until all is tender.
Add the chicken base and beef stock along with the
salt and pepper to taste.
Cook and simmer for 30 minutes.
In a metal bowl, mix the sour cream and flour together.
Mix it well with a wire whisk as you do not want lumps.
Add a cup of the gravy from the pot and quickly stir it into
the cream and flour with a whisk.
Remove gravy from heat and stir in the sour cream mixture, whipping
it well. return to the heat and simmer, stirring often, for 15 minutes.
Strain the gravy and discard the solids or lumps.
We prefer to use this over stuffed RED bell peppers, stuffed with
the usual rice and ground pork recipe, or, if we can get the
varmints outside to leave our zucchinis alone, we stuff the
foot-longs or more, with a vegetarian stuffing and top them with
this gravy.
We finish off this plate with egg noodles with butter & poppy seeds.
Cream of Crab and Asparagus (or Broccoli) Soup
1 (10-ounce) package frozen, chopped asparagus (or broccoli)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 Tablespoon unsalted (sweet) butter
2 Tablespoons flour
2 cups (whole) milk
2 cups cream
2 chicken bouillion cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
8 ounces (very fresh) crabmeat (check for bones)
(no frozen, fake or canned for this recipe)
Old Bay (optional)
Cook asparagus, according to package directions.
Drain and set aside.
Saute onions in butter until the're transparent.
Blend in flour.
Add milk and cream.
Stir and cook until thickened and smooth.
Dissolve bouillion cubes in hot soup.
Add salt and crabmeat.
Heat through, but do NOT allow to boil.
I make mine in my copper/double boiler pan.
Sprinkle top of soup ladled in cups or bowls, and sprinkle with
Old Bay
if desired.
Great-Aunt Minnie's Chocolate Mayo Cake
Pre-heat oven to 350F.
Grease and flour one 13X9X2-inch baking pan.
2 cups all-purpose or "00" flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons ice water
so the mayonnaise won't separate, as it's the shortening and the eggs.
(add enough ice-cubes to fill a 2-cup measuring cup.
set aside for a few minutes, then remove cubes for 1 cup + 2 Tbsps.)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup real (NOT light) mayonnaise (and, NOT Miracle Whip!)
Sift together the first four ingredients.
Add the ice water and vanilla.
When mixed thoroughly, fold in the mayonnaise.
If you're using a mixer, fold the mayonnaise in by hand.
(I remember only mixing this in a bowl, it's so easy.)
Stir just until mixed; do not over beat.
Pour into prepared pan and bake.
A clean toothpick from the center of the cake insures it's finished.
Do not over-bake.
Leave this cake in the pan to cool completely and frost
Homemade butter frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted (sweet) butter
1 pound powdered sugar
dash of salt
1/2 cup cocoa
2 Tablespoon (whole) milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cream butter, 1/2 sugar, and salt. Add cocoa and 1 tbsp milk. Cream.
Add sugar and milk until the consistency is right, beat high.
Frost cake.
Pumpkin/Cream Cheese Roll
cake:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup cooked or canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon grand marnier or lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pecans
filling:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 Tablespoons unsalted (sweet) butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups coarsely chopped pecans, divided in half
Preheat oven to 375F.
Line greased 10-1/2 x 15-1/2 x 1-inch cookie sheet with
wax paper, and then grease the paper.
In a large bowl of mixer, beat eggs on high speed for 5 minutes.
Gradually beat in sugar. Stir in pumpkin and lemon juice.
Mix together dry ingredients and fold into pumpkin mixture.
Spread batter in pan; sprinkle with 1 cup of chopped pecans.
Bake for 12 - 15 minutes.
Turn cake onto butcher's papaer, sprinkled with confectioner's sugar.
Remove waxed paper.
Starting at a narrow end and roll up cake and towel together.
I let it sit overnight to cool thoroughly.
filling:
Whip sugar with cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth.
Blend in 1 cup chopped pecans.
Carefully unroll cooled cake and spread with filling.
Roll back up again, placing seam side down. Trim the ends (one "tester" slice for each of you, lol.)
Place seam side down on long platter.
Serve in slices.
Pumpkin Pie
Trifle
(Must be made a day ahead.)
5 - 6 packages of lady fingers.
(they look nicest in a glass trifle bowl.)
1 1/2 Cups unsweetened (fresh) rasberries
1 1/2 cups unsweetened (fresh) blackberries
1 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup Chambord (blackberry liqueur) with 1/4 cup heavy cream
the custard:
4 egg yolks
1/4 sup sugar
scant 1/2 cup flour (lightly spooned then measured)
1 1/2 Cups whole milk, scalded
1 Tablespoon Chambord (blackberry liqeur)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
unsalted (sweet) butter
1 -2 cups heavy cream, whipped and lightly sweetened, with vanilla
custard:
In top of double boiler beat yolks with sugar until thick.
Beat in flour, Gradually add milk, stirring constantly.
Put custard over boiling water and cook, stirring until thick.
Reduce heat and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes to cook flour.
Remove from heat and stir in flavorings.
Spread a little butter over surface to prevent skin from forming.
Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the Chambord, and heavy cream.
Using a straight-sided, 2 1/2 quart glass bowl, make a single
layer of pound cake.
(Cut pieces to fit shape of bowl.)
Top cake with half the fruit mixture.
Layer cake and fruit once again.
Top fruit layer with custard and then whipped cream.
Refrigerate several hours to mingle flavors.
Garnish with additional slivered almonds, if desired.
Bailey's Chocolate Truffles
6 ounces (best of) semisweet chocolate
1 ounce (best of) unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 Tablespoons unsalted (sweet) butter
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 egg yolks
2 Tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream
(best of) cocoa powder
Place chocolate, cream and butter in top of double boiler.
Stir over hot water to melt chocolate. (double boiler)
Remove from heat. Cover chocolate surface with sugar.
Top with egg yolks. Whisk until smooth, returning to heat to
thoroughly blend ingredients. Remove from heat. Add Bailey's.
Pour into flat dish and refrigerate until malleable.
Shape into small balls, roll in cocoa.
Refrigerate until shortly before serving.
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