Quinoa Salad

Quinoa Salad

2 cups water

1 cup quinoa

1 T olive oil

salt, pepper, seasoning

Bring water & quinoa to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer on low for 15-20 minutes. Fluff with fork and set aside to cool.

1 bunch asparagus, blanched & chopped into bite sized pieces

1 bunch of parsley, chopped

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

1 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped

1 cup Feta cheese crumbles

Lemon vinaigrette:

Juice and grated rind of one lemon

olive oil, salt pepper garlic 

enough to make 1/2 cup or so

Mix cooled quinoa, chopped veggies and lemon vinaigrette into bowl and chill for at least an hour.

The best thing about this salad is that you can swap out the veggies for whatever is in season:

• 1 English cucumber chopped, with tomatoes, feta & kalamata olives
• 3 peppers (red/orange/yellow), green olives, and cooked shrimp 

Christmas Fruit Cake 1960

My grandmother used to make this every year, and had a bunch of 1 lb. tins for the purpose.  I remember helping her grease them and cut brown paper and waxed paper into little rectangles to line the pans. Fruit cake is pretty much a joke to most folks, but I actually like it.  Probably because it reminds me of my grandma.

It's called "Christmas Fruit Cake 1960" because that's what she wrote on the index card.

Pictured: Grandma Vi, me & Grandpa



Christmas Fruit Cake 1960

• One pkg currants
• 4 to 5 lbs mixed fruit
• 4 to 5 lbs shelled walnuts
• 3 lbs dates
• 1 lb cherries
• 1 lb pineapple
• 4 cups sugar
• 1 cup corn syrup
• 12 eggs
• 1 1/2 lbs margarine or butter
• 2 cups sherry
• 1 cup brandy
• 8 cups flour
• 4 T nutmeg
• 2 T each - allspice, cinnamon, mace, cloves
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt

Mix all fruit and nuts with half of the flour (4 cups).  In a separate bowl [the biggest one you own], mix sugar, syrup, eggs, spices, butter until well blended.  Add soda, salt and rest of the flour and stir until smooth.  Add some fruit mixture and booze, alternating. Mix well.

In tins, place one layer brown sack, then 1 layer waxed paper. [Or, buy a bunch of one lb paper baking "tins."] Bake at 200 degrees for 3 hours. MAKES 30 LOAVES.

Penny Penuche

My Grandmother's recipe for brown sugar fudge


2 c. brown sugar
2 c. white sugar
2 1/2 c. evaporated milk
6 TBSP white karo syrup
3 TBSP butter
1 tsp vanilla

Combine sugars, milk, and syrup in large pan.
Cook until mix forms soft ball when dropped into cold water (234 degrees).
Add butter and cook one minute.
Remove from heat and cool until cool to the touch.
Beat until thickened, then add 1 2/3 cups walnuts
Beat until light and creamy
Place on waxed paper - cut when firm

Some Like It Hot

Every Christmas I make Sweet & Hot Red Pepper Jelly for gift giving. People seem to like it, and it's an easy thing to make, even if you don't have a lot of experience with canning. Serve it over some nice soft cheese with crackers.

Sweet & Hot Red Pepper Jelly

• 1 1/2 lb red bell peppers (about 3), cut into 1-inch pieces (6 cups)
• 2 teaspoons dried hot red-pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons Sure-Jell less- or no-sugar-needed pectin (from a 1 3/4-oz box)
• 3 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup white-wine or white balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon butter



Photo credit: B. DeLeon

• pinch of salt

Have on hand a half-dozen half-pint canning jars with screw bands and lids, a candy thermometer, tongs, clean kitchen towels, a clean kitchen dishcloth,  and a pot of boiling water (for water bath method)

Prep your jars and lids:  Wash the jars, lids and bands in hot soapy water. Rinse well, then place bands and lids in a pan on the stove in about 3” of water, heat to just below boiling.  Turn heat off and keep the rings/lids in this water until you are ready.  Take the jars and put them in a deep pot of water (you’ll need to cover by about 2”) and bring to a boil for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat, leave in water.

Making the jelly: Pulse bell peppers with red-pepper flakes in a food processor until finely chopped. (Mixture will measure about 2 1/2 cups.) Whisk together pectin and 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl.
Stir together pepper mixture, vinegar, butter, salt, and remaining 3 cups sugar in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat, then continue to boil and stir  off and on for 5 minutes. Gradually add pectin mixture. Return jelly to boil, stirring constantly, and boil, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes (mixture will thicken slightly). Remove from heat.

Seal and process jars: Take the hot jars out of the water and drain upside down on a clean kitchen towel.  Invert jars and immediately ladle hot jelly into jars, leaving 1/4 inch of space at top (Last jar may not be full). Wipe off rims of filled jars with the damp clean dishcloth, then firmly screw on lids with screw bands.

Put sealed jars on rack in canner or pot and add enough hot water to cover by 2 inches. (If you have a jar that is partially full, do not process it. Keep this one in your refrigerator and use it first.  We call this “cook’s privilege.”) Bring to a full boil, and let boil for 15 minutes. Transfer jars with canning tongs to a towel-lined surface to cool. Jars will seal; if you hear a *snick*, that means that the vacuum formed above the cooling jelly has made the lid concave. The important thing is for the jars to have concave lids. You can tell this has happened by pressing on the lid - if it clicks, it’s not sealed.  These are fine, just use them right away.  

After jars have cooled, 12 to 24 hours, press center of each lid to double check that it's concave, then remove screw band and try to lift lid with your fingertips. If you can't, the lid has a good seal. Replace screw band. Put any jars that haven't sealed properly in the refrigerator and use them first (along with jar that was only partially full).  If you did it right, it will thicken as it cools.  If not, tell everyone you meant it to be like that.

Adapted from:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spicy-Red-Pepper-Jelly-236699#ixzz2BGZKjuN4

Ye Olde Stuffing Recipe

Thanksgiving is a food holiday that, for my family, is strictly old school. We do not do radicchio, or tofu, or quinoa. Think Betty Crocker, not Giada. We also believe that stuffing doesn't have any "stuff" in it that you can clearly identify. If you find a mushroom or chestnut or (god forbid) a cranberry in it, then it isn't "true" stuffing. This is my recipe for stuffing that is adapted from how my mother taught me. It cooks down so long it begins to resemble dark matter. Enjoy.
Ye Olde Stuffing Recipe
Ingredients:

• 2 boxes of stuffing mix (Mrs. Cubbison's Unseasoned is good - do not get cornbread type)
• 1 lb. Jimmy Dean Sausage (plain is best, or try Sage)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 onion
• 1 bunch celery
• White Wine (or chicken broth, or other liquid)
• Ground sage, salt & pepper to taste
  

Directions:

1. Open wine. If it is after breakfast have a glass. It's Thanksgiving, what the hell. Plus, you know it's going to be a long day.
   
2. Empty boxes of stuffing into really large mixing bowl
3. Cook & crumble sausage until browned; drain on paper towel
4. Put skillet back on (don't waste time washing it) and melt the butter on low heat until it is foamy.
   
5. While the butter is melting, chop the onion and celery until fine. Save the heart of the celery for stuffing with cream cheese, because that is an important part of Thanksgiving Dinner. Even if no one eats it.
6. Top off your wine.
7. Cook the celery and onion in the melty butter until they are translucent. Don't let them get brown.
8. Dump the sausage and onion-celery-butter mix and seasonings onto the stuffing cubes.
9. Add liquid for however much the boxes of Dressing say to add, making it half wine and half chicken broth. I think it's about 2 cups per box. It should be moist, but not soggy.
   
10. Now stuff it into a greased crock pot (this makes it "stuffing" on a technicality). Cram it in there, it should all fit.
11. Cook on "low" for at least 4 hours. If you want to get fancy, do two things: add some of the drippings from your turkey pan part way through the cooking time, and bump it up to "high" for the last hour; this will make crispy edges that are delicious.
    

If you cook it this way and for long enough, you shouldn't be able to tell there was celery in it at all.

The Legend of Meat Roll

My husband is the only grandson to a lovely Italian lady named Rose. At 80-something, Rose still makes her own pasta; putting out entire holiday dinners from scratch. Once she got up at 4:00 am to make a few dozen pizzelles for Chris when he was away in college, because he likes them. In other words, she's a tough act to follow.

The tales of her mad skills in the kitchen are epic, but nothing tops The Legend of Meat Roll. When I first heard about this dish I couldn't get my head around it. A roll where you wrap meat around more meat, then serve it with... meat. However, because Chris likes it*, I ended up getting the recipe from his sweet grandma Rose (handwritten, double-sided on notebook paper in delicate spidery grandma script). Here it is, transcribed verbatim:

"Basic recipe for 1 loaf - I always double it.

• 1 1/2 lb. meat loaf mix. Beef & pork or 1 lb. or 1 1/4 lbs.
• 1/2 lb. Genoa salami - slices - diced
• 1/2 lb. provolone cheese slices - diced
• 2 hard boiled eggs diced 1/4 inch
• For the sauce I use 2 lb. meat for meatballs and 2 lb. for the sauce
• Garlic, finely minced - parsley, eggs, bread crumbs

Mix the meat loaf, garlic - 1 or 2 cloves (or if you prefer garlic powder) - basil (optional) chopped fresh parsley (or dried), salt and pepper. Mix the ingredients like when you are mixing for meat balls. Using parchment paper, spread out the meat to about 1/2" thick or less on the paper - spread out the cheese, then the salami, then the egg.

Start rolling out the parchment & the meat to the end - press in the edges - put seam side down (when spreading out the ingredients - keep a clear 1/2 inch border so you can enclose all without falling out. Place on a baking sheet - oil the part where the meat roll is going to be. Bake about 45 to 60 minutes until done. I now freeze them wrapped in freezer paper.

About two days before Christmas put them in the refrigerator to thaw out. Slice them 1/2" or a little less - lay them in a casserole - glass 9"x13" or less - on some sauce spread in the bottom. Sauce the top - sprinkle cheese over sauce - Cover with foil and bake 45 mins - (350 degrees) or until hot.

Note: Stagger them card style. I use Romano-Pecorino, Parmesan or other Italian cheeses. "

This is served as a side dish. As in next to meat sauce over spaghetti and meat balls, with some lasagna. I'm not making that up.

Here is a shot of the finished product:

It's actually pretty delicious. I served it with angel hair pasta in a basic marinara sauce, paired with a bottle of A. Rafanelli Zin. Thanks, Grandma Rose!

* Spoiled much?

Rolls I Like to Make

My sister's second marriage ended in 2010. She didn't get much out of her 10+ years with the guy, but she did get this amazing dinner roll recipe from his mother. She called it "Rolls I Like to Make."

The recipe notes that "the secret to good rolls is: The 'rising' of the dough. 1st rising at least 1 hr. and 15 or 20 min. 2nd rising the same amount of time."

I have had a lot of luck cutting this recipe in half, and with making interesting shapes out of the dough. I suppose sometimes the best family recipes come from other families.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm water
• 2 packages yeast (dry yeast)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg (beaten)
• 1/4 cup shortening (FW note: I use butter.)
• 6 1/2 to 7 cups flour

Mix the first 6 ingredients all together. Pour into the flour and mix well ("a dough"). Set in a warm place to rise (an hour and a 1/2). Knead the dough and shape into balls and put on two greased cookie sheets. Set in a warm place and let rise another hour and 20 minutes at least. Set oven at 350 degrees and have oven on for the 2nd rising. Bake rolls until light brown (almost 15 minutes).