Yellow Squash Casserole 12/28/2009

Ingredients

• 4 cups sliced yellow squash
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 35 buttery round crackers, crushed
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Place squash and onion in a large skillet over medium heat. Pour in a small amount of water. Cover, and cook until squash is tender, about 5 minutes. Drain well, and place in a large bowl.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together cracker crumbs and cheese. Stir half of the cracker mixture into the cooked squash and onions. In a small bowl, mix together eggs and milk, then add to squash mixture. Stir in 1/4 cup melted butter, and season with salt and pepper. Spread into a 9×13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cracker mixture, and dot with 2 tablespoons butter.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Pulla (Finnish bread) 12/25/2009

Ingredients

Dough

• 2 cups milk – Do not use nonfat milk.
• 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper, (~1/16 tsp. optional, non-traditional)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 9 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Glaze:

• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• Ground cardamom to taste (~1/4 tsp. optional, non-traditional)
• Nutmeg to taste (~ 1/8 tsp. optional, non-traditional)
• Cinnamon to taste (~ 1/2 tsp. optional, non-traditional)
• Allspice to taste (~ one small pinch per loaf.  optional, non-traditional)

Directions

1.       Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it just starts to evenly form small bubbles, then remove from heat. Let cool until lukewarm.

2.       Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Immediately stir in the lukewarm milk, sugar, salt, cardamom, 4 eggs, and enough flour to make a batter (approximately 2 cups). Beat until the dough is smooth and elastic.

3.       Add about 3 cups of the flour and beat well; the dough should be smooth and glossy in appearance.

4.       Add the melted butter or margarine, and stir well. If you wish to add cayenne pepper, do so at this time. Beat again until the dough looks glossy.

5.       Stir in the remaining flour until the dough is stiff.

6.       Turn out of bowl onto a floured surface, cover with an inverted mixing bowl, and let rest for 15 minutes. Knead the dough until smooth and satiny.

7.       Place in a lightly greased mixing bowl, and turn the dough to grease the top. Cover with a clean dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch down, and let rise again until almost doubled.

8.       Turn out again on to a floured surface, and divide into 3 parts. Divide each third into 3 again. Roll each piece into a 12 to 16 inch strip. Braid 3 strips into a loaf. You should get 3 large braided loaves. Lift the braids onto greased baking sheets. Let rise for 20 minutes.

9.       Glaze: Brush each loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar, optionally dust with cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice.  Mix and match your taste.

10.       Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes. Check occasionally because the bottom burns easily.  The bread will naturally tear between braids as it rises.

Other native variations of this bread include sliced/diced/shredded almonds and/or rasins at step 4.  A vaguely Russian(?) influence is making a glaze of Egg and Sugar and topping the hump of each braid with a few kernels of rock salt.  (See inclusive picture)

Black Beans 11/19/2009

1 pack black beans

1 big onion

1 big green pepper

1 clove garlic

¼ lb. ham, pork, or white bacon, or ham back

salt and pepper

Wash and soak beans in lots of water overnight. Cook beans in same water all day with chopped up ingredients until water develops a consistency of gravy and beans are still whole.

Before serving, add a dash of imported olive oil and garlic vinegar.

The secret is long cooking.

Chop raw white onions fine to put on beans when served over white rice.

Georgia Spoon Bread

1 cup sifted meal

2 cups boiling water

2 tbs. butter

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1 cup sweet milk

2 eggs well beaten

Mix meal and boiling water. Add dry ingredients. Pour in milk and fold in well beaten eggs. Add melted butter. Beat for 5 minutes. Cook in hot well-greased baking dish for about 20 minutes in hot oven.

Fruit and Vegetable Stuffing

1 bag bread stuffing

1 c. shredded carrots

1 c. shredded zucchini or yellow squash

2 c. onions, finely chopped

1 c. mushrooms, chopped

1 c. dried apricots, finely chopped

1 c. dried cranberries

1 c. raw spinach, trimmed, and finely chopped

Prepare stuffing according to directions. Add extra sage if desired. Saute onions in olive oil until soft, add mushrooms and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat, put in a large bowl. Drain zucchini, and add to onion mixture. Add remaining ingredients, and mix thoroughly. Add stuffing. Using a fork, mix well but gently. Place stuffing inside turkey or in a greased casserole dish with a cover. If in a dish, bake at 325F for 30-40 minutes. If in a turkey, cook according to turkey directions. Remove from body cavity as soon as possible, and serve in a casserole dish.

Ratatouille

1 can italian spiced peeled, stewed tomatoes

1 zucchini

1 yellow squash

1 medium eggplant, peeled

1 large onion

1 large garlic clove, crushed

salt, pepper, and parsley to taste

Cut up all vegetables into thick slices. Put into a large stew pot with tomatoes. Cover and simmer over medium for 20-30 minutes, stir halfway through. Serve immediately.

Spinach Puff Pastry

10 oz. Package chopped frozen spinach

1 small container feta cheese

2 c. cottage cheese

salt, pepper, and dill to taste

phyllo dough

Defrost spinach and drain. Crumble feta cheese. Mix all ingredients. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Lay out strips of 2 sheets of dough per pastry. Spoon mixture into dough, roll into pastry shape of your choice (folded bundles, triangles, dumplings, etc.). Bake at 375F for 15 minutes or until edges are golden.

Zucchini Casserole

Slice several zucchinis into ¾ inch pieces. Whisk enough eggs with a small amount of milk with a fork to coat all the slices. Mix all-purpose flour with salt and pepper in a separate bowl. Heat a frying pan or skillet and butter (if using margarine, don’t let pan get too hot). After coating zucchini slices (one at a time) in egg mixture, dredge in flour mixture, then toss into frying pan. When brown on both sides, remove and layer inside a greased oblong baking pan. Continue until all zucchini has been browned. Re-butter skillet as needed. Dump a 16 ounce container of sour cream on top of zucchini, covering thoroughly. Top sour cream with shredded cheddar cheese. Bake uncovered at 350°F for 30-45 minutes.

Shrimp Remoulade

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

Dash Tabasco or red pepper

Paprika

2 teaspoons creole mustard

Parsley, minced fine

6 spring onions, minced fine

2 stalks celery, minced fine

After mixing above ingredients, pour over 1 pound prepared shrimp and allow to marinate for 6 hours or longer in the refrigerator. Can be served in bowl with toothpicks or as salad over thick slices of tomatoes on lettuce.

Curried Fruit

1 large can peach halves

1 large can Bartlett pears

1 regular size pineapple chunks

1 regular size Bing cherries

1 pkg. slivered almonds

¾ stick real butter

1 cup light brown sugar

2 tbs. curry powder

Drain all fruit. Chop butter in small pieces and mix with sugar and curry. Butter casserole. Put in one layer of drained fruit, cover with half of sugar mixture, then another layer of fruits and another of sugar mixture. Sprinkle with almonds and bake in pre-heated oven at 350˚F until bubbly. Can be done ahead and re-heated. Sugar mixture will make its own sauce as it cooks.