Recipes!!!

[Giant Communist Robot]

The fried chicken isn't bad.

It's great, if you can get it freshly cooked. Maybe things are different on the mainland, but here any fried chicken from KFC has been sitting around too long by the time it's sold.

[Schmeelkie]

Anybody got a good fresh cranberry sauce recipe? Have had some homemade at previous Thanksgivings at others houses and would like to try it myself. Just no comparison to the canned stuff!! Note that I haven't figured out where to put the cookbooks in the new house, so they're still in one large, very heavy box!

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Anybody got a good fresh cranberry sauce recipe? Have had some homemade at previous Thanksgivings at others houses and would like to try it myself. Just no comparison to the canned stuff!! Note that I haven't figured out where to put the cookbooks in the new house, so they're still in one large, very heavy box!

Version (1)
Rinse off the cranberries, put them in a big saucepan, add a cup of sugar and a half cup of water. Turn on the heat and cook them until the berries pop and the syrup begins to thicken.
*A cinnamon stick, a vanilla bean, or both can be added while the sauce cooks and fished out before serving.

Version (2)
Rinse off the cranberries, put them in a big saucepan, add a jar of orange marmalade. Turn on the heat and cook until the cranberries pop. Cool and serve.

[jamiebk]

Anybody got a good fresh cranberry sauce recipe? Have had some homemade at previous Thanksgivings at others houses and would like to try it myself. Just no comparison to the canned stuff!! Note that I haven't figured out where to put the cookbooks in the new house, so they're still in one large, very heavy box!

Version (1)
Rinse off the cranberries, put them in a big saucepan, add a cup of sugar and a half cup of water. Turn on the heat and cook them until the berries pop and the syrup begins to thicken.
*A cinnamon stick, a vanilla bean, or both can be added while the sauce cooks and fished out before serving.

Version (2)
Rinse off the cranberries, put them in a big saucepan, add a jar of orange marmalade. Turn on the heat and cook until the cranberries pop. Cool and serve.

cloves....don't cloves!

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Anybody got a good fresh cranberry sauce recipe? Have had some homemade at previous Thanksgivings at others houses and would like to try it myself. Just no comparison to the canned stuff!! Note that I haven't figured out where to put the cookbooks in the new house, so they're still in one large, very heavy box!

Version (1)
Rinse off the cranberries, put them in a big saucepan, add a cup of sugar and a half cup of water. Turn on the heat and cook them until the berries pop and the syrup begins to thicken.
*A cinnamon stick, a vanilla bean, or both can be added while the sauce cooks and fished out before serving.

Version (2)
Rinse off the cranberries, put them in a big saucepan, add a jar of orange marmalade. Turn on the heat and cook until the cranberries pop. Cool and serve.

cloves....don't cloves!

Jamie either wants to add cloves to the v.1 variations denoted by the *, or he strongly objects to cloves and wants to make sure you avoid them. (Hardly anybody is neutral about cloves.) I'm not sure which.

If I were making cranberry sauce to serve with a ham, I'd use a jar of pineapple preserves with recipe v.2 (or a can of squashed pineapple and a cup of brown sugar with recipe v.1) and add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a half-teaspoon of ground cloves. And maybe a pinch of salt.

The only mandatory step with the use of fresh cranberries is the first one, where you rinse 'em off and remove any random non-cranberry elements that got into the package.

[jamiebk]

I forgot to add "forget" As in "Don't forget to add the cloves" Yummy in cranberry...especially with the orange flavor.

[Giant Communist Robot]

CAFE DE OLLA


4 oz. brown sugar
4 to 6 cinnamon sticks
2/3 cup dark roasted ground coffee

Put sugar and cinnamon into 4 cups of water, bring to boil, reduce by 1/4. Add ground coffee, bring to boil then remove from heat. Cover and let sit 5 minutes. Strain into cups.

[jamiebk]

CAFE DE OLLA


4 oz. brown sugar
4 to 6 cinnamon sticks
2/3 cup dark roasted ground coffee

Put sugar and cinnamon into 4 cups of water, bring to boil, reduce by 1/4. Add ground coffee, bring to boil then remove from heat. Cover and let sit 5 minutes. Strain into cups.

Nice! We used to make a variation on this by grinding cinnamon sticks and adding some to the ground coffee and then dripping through with a Melita cone and filter. It was very nice in the evening especially. (I am not fond of sweetened coffee however so I leave out the sugar)

[Schmeelkie]

Actually did find a place for the cookbooks this weekend! and there's room for more - hee hee! Cinnamon and cloves sound good to me... one recipe I found had you adding golden raisins and pecans. Can't do the nuts will allergic husband, but was considering the raisins. Will probably try to do the day before TG - along with apple pie and maybe stuffing. Mom's bringing yams and carrots (and a flank steak for my husband), so I can really focus on the turkey. Got the smallest one I could find within Bella's patience level at the grocery store. Only 5 adults and two kids eating turkey, so I'm hoping I don't have 3/4's of it left over! Will send some home with my folks and will ply in-laws with turkey sandwiches Friday and Saturday for their train ride home. Mom gets the carcass for soup - otherwise I'd worry that too much turkey in the air would start to cause allergic reaction in husband. He hasn't had a problem in the past being around the turkey, but I know my mom usually simmers the carcass overnight....seems like too much for my house.

[jamiebk]

Actually did find a place for the cookbooks this weekend! and there's room for more - hee hee! Cinnamon and cloves sound good to me... one recipe I found had you adding golden raisins and pecans. Can't do the nuts will allergic husband, but was considering the raisins. Will probably try to do the day before TG - along with apple pie and maybe stuffing. Mom's bringing yams and carrots (and a flank steak for my husband), so I can really focus on the turkey. Got the smallest one I could find within Bella's patience level at the grocery store. Only 5 adults and two kids eating turkey, so I'm hoping I don't have 3/4's of it left over! Will send some home with my folks and will ply in-laws with turkey sandwiches Friday and Saturday for their train ride home. Mom gets the carcass for soup - otherwise I'd worry that too much turkey in the air would start to cause allergic reaction in husband. He hasn't had a problem in the past being around the turkey, but I know my mom usually simmers the carcass overnight....seems like too much for my house.

One can never have too much turkey...

[Giant Communist Robot]

Spaghetti sauce

I got this from Marco Pierre Whites' autobiography. He doesn't give the recipe but describes what he was doing. It isn't his recipe, but his mothers'. She was Italian, and apparently this is the kind of rustic recipe one might encounter in the countryside in Italy.

3/4 to 1 pack of bacon (9 to 12 oz.) diced
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic
1 can or more tomato paste

Dice and sweat onions and garlic. Add bacon. Bacon and garlic are natural affines. When bacon is cooked, add paste. White says he just kept adding tomato paste, but for me it's a little thick, so I thin with water--but that may dilute the flavor, too. My 11 year old daughter is wildly enthusiastic about this.

Refried beans

1 can kidney beans


Pour can into iron skillet, bring to boil, mash with the back of a big wooden spoon or something. When it turns into a thick paste it's done. Kidney beans instead of pinto (the usual) yield a sort of sweet flavor.


BBQ sauce

1 can of chopped tomatoes with garlic or herbs
1 onion, chopped
1 tbspn molasses
3 tbspns Worcestershire sauce

Dump everything into a pan, cook until thick. Why buy some bottled stuff when you can make this in ten minutes or so?

[Trumpetmaster]

The BBQ recipe sounds yummy!
Must get some molasses and try this out!
Thanks GCR!!!


BBQ sauce

1 can of chopped tomatoes with garlic or herbs
1 onion, chopped
1 tbspn molasses
3 tbspns Worcestershire sauce

Dump everything into a pan, cook until thick. Why buy some bottled stuff when you can make this in ten minutes or so?

[Giant Communist Robot]

You're welcome! It's not my favorite, but so quick and easy--beats going to the store.

[Shapley]

Mocha Cake

Ingredients
2 cups sour cream
2 large eggs
1 (18.25-ounce) package chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup Kahlua coffee liqueur
1/4 cup olive oil
1-1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup crushed toffee chips (optional)
Powdered sugar

Preparation:
Stir cake mix, sour cream, eggs, liquer, and oil together in a large bowl until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips and toffee (if desired). Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch Bundt pan.

Bake at 350° for 50 to 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan, and cool completely on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

I've only used the toffee bits once, and preferred the cake without them. I have used the standard chocolate cake mix, but prefer Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Swiss Chocolate Cake Mix. I have also made these in small loaf pans (Pampered Chef stoneware), which make excellent Christmas gifts.

The original recipe called for a whipped mix to be served on the side:

Ingredients:
1 pint whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Preparation:
Beat whipping cream at medium speed with an electric mixer until foamy; gradually add 1/4 cup powdered sugar, beating until soft peaks form. Serve with cake.

I only made this once, and found it unnecessary. It was little touched, as people seemed to prefer the cake without it.

[Schmeelkie]

maybe I can make the mocha cake for my husband's b'day...but I wouldn't eat much...

Here's what I brought to my recent Holiday lunch for one of our projects:
Crab Muffins
1 jar Old English cheddar cheese
1 stick butter, softened
1Tbsp mayonnaise
½ tsp garlic salt
6 oz can of crab – flaked
1 package English muffins

Mix all ingredients and spread on English muffins.
Bake at 350º for 10-12 min or until tops begin to brown

Uncooked muffins can be frozen on wax paper, defrosted and cooked later.
Cooked muffins reheat well in the microwave too.

I assembled the night before, refridgerated, then baked them in the am, wrapped up once they cooled a bit, and reheated a plate full for about a minute in the microwave - almost as good as fresh...

[Giant Communist Robot]

Sweet Potato Biscuits

...or as Dan told us, potatoe.


2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup mashed sweet potato
2 tbspn brown sugar
3 tbspns melted butter
2/3 cup milk

Combine potato, butter, sugar, milk. In another bowl mix dry ingredients. Add wet to dry, make dough, knead a while. Roll it out and cut circular biscuits out. Place on cooking-sprayed baking sheet, bake at 425 for 12 minutes or so.

Once I accidentally bought Okinawan sweet potatoes, which are purple inside. No one would eat my purple biscuits.

[piqaboo]

I once used peruvian purple potatoes to make mashed potatos.
They came out pale purple. It was great!

[jamiebk]

I once used peruvian purple potatoes to make mashed potatos.
They came out pale purple. It was great!

I love those taters....they are nice and sweet.

[Giant Communist Robot]

Chinese style BBQ sauce

3 tbspns hoisin
2 tbspns catsup
1/2 tsp five spice
2 tbspn soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsps Worcestershire sauce
some garlic juice
some ginger juice
1/4 cup oil

MIx, marinade, and baste. Any left over can be thinned with chicken stock and poured over the meat prior to serving. I used to just mince the garlic and ginger, but it becomes bitter when BBQ'd, so just squeeze some juice out.


Lard Cookies with almond flavor

3/4 cup lard
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsps almond extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

Combine lard, sugar, one egg, and almond extract. Add flour and baking powder. Divide dough into little balls and flatten. Beat that second egg and brush on top of the cookies. Place on ungreased cookie sheet for 15 min or so at 350 degrees. I've made these before substituting butter or shortening for lard, but the recipe has to change a bit, and even then they're not as good as the lard based cookies.

[Giant Communist Robot]

Steamed Pork Brains with Tofu

2 pork brains
2 boxes tofu
3 Tbspns lard
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp MSG
3/4 tsp sugar
1 egg white
1 sliced carrot
2 black mushrooms
1 0z. salted ham
2 string beans
4 small shrimp
1/4 tsp cornstarch
5 oz. chicken breast
7 peas
3 cups chicken stock

I know, it sounds disgusting.....who would want to eat steamed tofu?! There's a vein in the brains, remove that, then chop and add lard, salt, MSG, sugar, egg white, and choppped tofu, carrot, peas, mushrooms, ham, string beans, and shrimp then steam for 20 minutes. Boil stock with chicken. Add cornstarch to stock. Put everything in a big soup bowl.