Recipes and Cooking category archive

My Aunt Margaret made the best cheese straws. They were always the highlight of Christmas Eve at Aunt Margaret’s.

Unfortunately, I do not have her recipe, but I do have Craig Claiborne’s. (I’m in the process of wearing out my third copy of Craig Claiborne’s New York Times Cookbook, which, along with Craig Claiborne’s New York Times International Cookbook, is one of my two favorite cookbooks.)

This version of the recipe is slightly edited based on my own preferences.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Tabasco (or to taste)
dash paprika (preferably Hungarian)
dash cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 1/2 cups sifted flour
3 cups find break crumbs
grated parmesan

Procedure:

1. Cream the butter in a small bowl with an electric mixer. Beat in cheese, milk, salt, Tabasco, paprika, and cayenne. Slowly mix in flour and bread crumbs.

2. Turn out and knead until mixture is smooth. Chill in refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 350 F.

4. Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness or press out of cookie gun and cut to desired length (3-4 inches). Sprinkle with Parmesan.

5. Bake on greased cookie sheet until lightly browned (10-15 minutes).

Yesterday, I had a sudden urging for my bean stoup*. I haven’t made it in quite a some time.

I chopped up a couple of stalks of celery and half a large onion. I would have added a bell pepper (green or red–I’m not fussy), but we were fresh out.

I poured a bit of olive oil into my Revere Ware dutch oven (which has served me long and faithfully) over medium heat, let it get up to temperature, then sauteed the vegetables until the onions were translucent.

Next, I broke up a pound of ground beef, added it to the mix, and continued sauteing until the beef was nicely browned.

Then I added one can each of black beans and garbanzo beans (I would have preferred red beans, but I couldn’t find any in the pantry) and one small can each of sliced mushrooms, tomato sauce, and diced hot chili peppers.

I brought the whole thing to a boil, then reduced the heat to its lowest setting–an energetic simmer.

After half an hour, I tasted it and then added spices, as the cookbooks say, “to taste”: ground pepper, basil, dill week, and garlic powder (I should have instead minced several garlic cloves, but, somehow, I short-circuited when I was doing the chopping–as I said, it was a sudden urge). Later on, I decided to add just a bit of sea salt. I should have added a bit of oregano, but short-circuit again.

An hour later, we dished it out, topped it with sour cream, and feasted on a rich and satisfying supper.

And we have enough left over to feast on it again!

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*It’s somewhere between a soup and stew–too thick for a soup, too thin for a stew.

We tried this recipe recently and really like it, and it’s remarkably easy to prepare.

I suggest reducing the cooking temperature from 400 Fahrenheits to 390. The result is a bit more toothsome and a mite less limp. I also add basil and dill weed to the mix, because I quite like basil and dill weed. At some point, I’ll try some thyme and rosemary, but probably not sage. Methinks sage would be a bit strong.

H/T Susan for suggesting finding an alternative to sauteing the stuff, though zucchini sliced thin and sauteed with chopped onion, minced garlic, and herbs and spices to taste is also a treat.

This is a very simple recipe that works quite nicely. It has the added advantage that it can be prepared early and kept in the refrigerator until ready for the final step of prep.

Ingredients:

1 medium-sized head cauliflower
1/2 stick butter
1/2-2/3 cups bread crumbs (I recommend Panko)
1/4-1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese or to taste

Procedure:

1. Trim away any leaves, core cauliflower, and break it apart.
2. Steam until tender (approx. 15 mins. at med.-high). Allow to cool a bit for easier handling.
3. Arrange cauliflower pieces evenly in a casserole dish.
3. Melt butter in skillet over low heat, then stir in bread crumbs until the butter is absorbed.
4. Carefully spoon the bread crumb mixture evenly over the cauliflower.
5. Top with grated cheese. Refrigerate until ready for the last step.
6. Bake at 350 Fahrenheits until headed through and cheese is nicely melted (approx. 20-25 mins.). Serve hot.

Note: Mixing the bread crumbs with butter makes is less likely that they will fall to the bottom of the dish.

In a fascinating article, Jeffrey Miller explores the history of the much-maligned fruitcake and explains why they last forever.

For example, I did not know that fruitcakes were the Roman Imperial army’s MREs. (And I would not be surprised if some of those Imperial fruitcakes weren’t still around languishing in the back of a cupboard somewhere.)

This is a very simple, very tasty, very satisfying meal. We had this for supper last night. And we will be polishing it off tonight.

Ingredients:

1 regular-sized (15.5 oz.) can red kidney beans
1 regular-sized (15.5 oz.) can black beans
1 small (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
1/2 lb. ground beef
2 stalks celery
3 cloves garlic
1/2 large red onion
1 bell pepper (red or green)
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms (or 1 small can chopped mushrooms)
Herbs and spices to taste (I commonly use pepper, basil, and dill)

Procedure:

1. Slice celery crosswise and coarsely chop the other vegetables.
2. In a large pot or Dutch oven, saute vegetables in olive oil until the onions are wilted.
3. Add ground beef and sear until well broken up and browned.
4. Add remaining ingredients, including the liquor from the canned items, and the herbs and spices. (This makes a thick soup; if you want a thinner one, add a bit of water.)
5. Simmer for approximately one hour. Taste occasionally, adding additional spices as desired.
6. Serve with sour cream or plain yogurt topping (optional).

Makes approximately four servings.

The Phryne Fisher mystery I’m currently (re-)reading makes frequent mention of Irish soda bread, so I decided to try my hand at baking some.

I followed this recipe, which I suspect is less than authentic, as it calls for margarine (this recipe claims to be authentic).

I deviated from the recipe in a couple of ways.

As we commonly do not buy oleo, I used butter instead, and I did not brush the loaf with a buttermilk and butter mixture. Rather, I put a dish of water in the oven and brushed the loaf with the hot water a couple of times as it baked, a trick that makes for crustier crusts.

It was quite tasty and very well received by the household. Half the loaf is already gone, and the rest might now survive tomorrow.

This is based on Craig Claiborne’s recipe for salmon souffle in his New York Times Cookbook, 1961 edition. I frankly prefer tuna to salmon in this recipe. (Claiborne is my favorite cook book writer; I’m working on wearing out my third copy of this book and my copy of his New York Times International Cookbook is held together with library tape.)

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We ad libbed this recipe last night and it was very well-received, so I thought I’d share it.

Ingredients:

• 2 Leeks
• 6 or 7 button mushrooms
• 1/4 large onion or half a small onion
• 2 or 3 cloves garlic
• pepper and basil (and other spices as desired) to taste
• Approx. 3 tbs. butter

Procedure:

1. Wash leeks and mushrooms thoroughly. Note that sand can collect in the leaves of the leeks, so be especially attentive to them.
2. Trim leaves and roots from leeks, then slice leeks in 1/2-3/4 inch segments.
3. Quarter mushrooms.
4. Chop onions.
5. Melt butter in saucepan at medium heat, then saute onions and garlic until onions are wilted.
6. Add spices, leeks, and mushroom; saute until done, stirring occasionally (15-20 mins.)

Serves two.

H/T Susan for coming up with the idea.

This is a simple recipe, but we’ve come to really like it, especially when served with sauteed baby bella mushrooms.

If you search the internet for this, you will find many variations, especially regarding the cooking time; recommended times range from 30 minutes to an hour. This is what we’ve found best.

Ingredients:

Small white potatoes, 5-7 per serving, depending on their size.
Olive oil.
Herbs and spices to taste. I commonly use garlic powder, pepper, basil, rosemary, and dill.

Procedure:

1. Wash potatoes, then roll them in olive oil until coated thoroughly.

2. Place on cookie sheet or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

3. Sprinkle with desired seasonings on both sides.

4. Cook in oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

The cooked potatoes will be hot and will hold heat tenaciously. I recommend cutting them in half.

This is a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch desert. The name comes from the legend that, when you set the finished pie on the windowsill to cool, you must remain there shooing away the flies that swarm it.

This version comes from the Neffsville Mennonite Cookbook, which was compiled by the Women’s Missionary and Service Commission of said church, in Lancaster, Pa. There are three shoo-fly pies in the cookbook, but this one’s so good I haven’t bother to try the other two . . . .

I’ve had this cookbook for 35 or 40 years. Many years ago, when I worked for Amtrak, we held residential (meaning that the trainees stayed over for several days at the training site) training classes at various hotels in the Lancaster area, as Lancaster was central in the terms of Amtrak geography, convenient to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Chicago. Shoo-fly pie became one of my favorites.

When I was purchasing the frozen pie shells (making your own pie crust is not worth the effort), I mentioned that I was planning to bake shoo-fly pies. The lady behind me in the check out asked, “What’s in it?” I said, “Sugar.”

Frequently, if someone has never had it, he or she is told, “Imagine pecan pie without the pecans.” Frankly, that is a comparison of desperation, because there really isn’t anything else quite like it.

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Food-borne frolics.

They eat egg pie.

I sort of followed this recipe, except for sauteing up some red pepper, celery, and red onion and using country ham instead of bacon and omitting the Parmesan cheese and not bothering to measure anything except for the half-and-half.

Afterthought:

There is a quite excellent little restaurant in these parts that does indeed offer “egg pie” on the menu. It’s quiche in disguise.

They throw a great breakfast. If you are in these parts, give them a visit.

As regards measuring, the marvelous “Cajun Comic” Justin Wilson once did a cooking show. He would pour herbs and spices into his hand while saying “[some quantity] [some spice],’ then pour them into a measuring device, which showed that the quantity was accurate.

After a while, one knows what a teaspoon of something or other looks like.

I have a new podcast up at Hacker Public Radio.

It is quite well-bread.

You too can podcast at HPR. The topic need only be of interest to hackers, and everything is of interest to hackers.

H/T to Dave Morriss for fixing the typo in the shownotes.