Tag Archives: holiday

Apr20

Hearts of Palm Soup

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vinaigrette & Palm Soup pics 005A Mark Twain Egg Recipe & A Creamed Hearts Of Palm Soup

(A Bit Of The Silly & A Bit Of the More Serious)

 April 1st, this coming Sunday, has connected to it a bit of the silly, April Fools’ Day, and a bit of the more serious, Palm Sunday.  So, today, in anticipation of this Sunday, I am offering two recipes.  The first was suggested by Mark Twain for Fanny’s cookbook:

Eggs a la Canton, Williamsport, Trout Run and Way Stations.Divest two genuine eggs of shell and claws, being careful to avoid breaking the same.If you break ’em, begin again at the top of the recipe and proceed anew.Lay the plumage and cackle on one side, roll the remainder very thin, add baking powder, and boil in a pudding bag over a slow fire for a week.Tie with baby ribbons and serve cold. (Quoted in “Ways of Cooking Eggs,’ New York Times, April 4, 1909, p X12 from the cookbook of actress Fanny Davenport.) Margot’s suggestion : Don’t Try It!

This April 1st is also Palm Sunday which is a Christian moveable feast that commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and takes place about a week before his Resurrection. The word Palm always makes me think of the often underused Hearts of Palm. They really are wonderful in salads or in cooked dishes.  The heart of palm is a vegetable harvested from the inner core and growing bud of certain palm trees which now a days are mostly procured from South America and even from HI.  I do enjoy them greatly and so here, I offer what I think is a very nice recipe for this time of the year.

Creamed Hearts of Palm Soup ( 4 to 6 servings)

Ingredients:

3 Tblsp. Butter

2 Tblsp. Flour

1 C. Chopped Yellow Onions

1 Tsp. Minced Garlic

1 ( 16 oz.) Can Hearts Of  Palm, Drained & Chopped

1/2 Cup Dry White Wine (if you don’t have that, dry white vermouth will do)

3 ½ Cups Good Chicken Broth

3/4 Cup Heavy Cream Or Half & Half

1/2 Lb. Shrimp (defrosted or fresh w/o tails)

2 Tblsp.Chopped Parsley Leaves  Or Chopped Chives For Garnish

Instructions:

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Add the onions & flour. Sauté until onions are tender, 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds.

Add the hearts of palm and stir to combine.  Add the wine and bring to a boil.  Cook until reduced by ½, about 3 minutes or less.

Add the broth, stir to combine, and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are very tender, 20-25 minutes

Remove from the heat.  Pure the ingredients in a blender.  Return them in your pot to medium heat and add the cream.

Stir in the shrimp and cook until heated through, 3-5 minutes.

Adjust the seasoning with salt and white pepper, to taste.

If not serving directly, keep warm on very lowest heat.

Ladle into bowls or cups and garnish with parsley or chives.

This soup is also excellent after being refrigerated and served very cold.

I serve this with my homemade yogurt biscuits and a side dish of an artichoke, cold asparagus, or mixed greens with my homemade vinaigrette.

Margot is a self-taught enthusiastic & passionate cook. Having been an inn-keeper for 5 years at her own inn, she accumulated a lot of good recipes which she loves to share. For comments, questions, and ideas please feel free to email her:margot6@mindspring.com.

Apr19

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

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XXXchocolate strawberriesValentines always seems to be a bit of a romantic event and there’s nothing like a chocolate-dipped strawberry to satisfy the romance in a person.  Elaine Sherman wrote “Chocolate is heavenly, mellow, sensual, deep, dark, sumptuous, gratifying, potent, dense, creamy, seductive, suggestive, rich, excessive, silky, smooth, luxurious, celestial. Chocolate is downfall, happiness, pleasure, love, ecstasy, fantasy … chocolate makes us wicked, guilty, sinful, healthy, chic, happy.”  Even the scientific name for the tree from which chocolate is derived, Theobroma cacao, translated from Greek, means “food of the gods”.  Well, I couldn’t have said it better—and so I won’t.

Additionally, have you noticed that the strawberries in our markets are plentiful and beautifully sweet? You could swear that each has been injected with a bit of sugar. So, for your sheer sinfulness, here is an easy and fun recipe to make, enjoy, and share.
 Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

2 pounds strawberries with leaves (rinsed and left to dry on a paper towel)

16 ounces chocolate chips (I use the semi-sweet chips)

2 tablespoons shortening or vegetable oil (which will cause chocolate to soften more at room temp)

1 package toothpicks

Insert toothpicks into the top of the strawberries.

In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and shortening, stirring until smooth.  Dip the strawberries into the mixture and then let them cool on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper. Refrigerate until ready to serve (will take about 30 minutes to harden).

Note: if you want to get a bit fancy, melt ¼ cup of white chocolate chips and drizzle in circular patterns around the cooled dark chocolate berries.

(P.S. I love Ina Garten. For her chocolate dipped strawberries she uses ½ C. semisweet choc. chips and 3 Tbls. heavy cream melted in a double boiler, and then dips the strawberries, etc. This is a nice variation on the more traditional chocolate-dipped strawberry.)

Bon Appetit

Margot Van Horn

Apr19

Mayflower Pumpkin Cookies & Raisin or Currant Sauce

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Pumpkin Cookies straight from the Mayflower

Makes about 5 dozen cookies

 This recipe supposedly came over with the Pilgrims on the Mayflower.  Supposedly, they lasted so well because of the rum in them.

 ½ C. unsalted butter at room temp or slightly softened in micro

1 C. brown sugar

2 eggs (not necessary to pre-beat)

1 ¼ C. pumpkin puree

2 C. flour

1 TBLSP (yes that much) baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg

¼ tsp. salt

2/3 C. currants or raisins

1 teaspoon vanilla and ½ teaspoon brandy and ½ teaspoon rum or any combination of the three to add up to 2 teaspoons full.

  1. Cream butter and sugar with electric beater.
  2. Add eggs, pumpkin, vanilla, brandy, rum, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Beat more with beater.
  3. Sift the flour and baking powder into mixture and beat till well combined and smooth.
  4. Stir in the raisins or currants till evenly distributed.

Drop by spoonfuls on greased or parchment papered cookie sheet. (I love the parchment paper.)

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes (I baked at 375 for 10-12 minutes in our altitude). The bottoms should be SLIGHTLY brown. Even if they feel and look soft, take them out and let them rest on the cookie sheet for about 1 or 2 minutes.  Remove them to a rack or to laid out paper towels and let them cool.  You can freeze them. They taste great at any time, how ever, I find that they are even more flavorful the next day.

These are wonderful at anytime of the year because amazingly enough, the pumpkin is not overwhelming.  However, they definitely have a spicy taste.

 

Raisin or Currant Sauce

For a lovely desert, these cookies can be served with a very good vanilla ice cream with a bit of the following sauce to be placed on top of the ice cream.  The sauce recipe comes from my barely surviving 1953 edition of my beloved Rombauer’s Joy of Cooking cookbook. Oh my gosh, that book is almost 60 years old.  I received it as a wedding present.

Raisin or Currant Sauce

About 1 2/3 Cupfuls

Boil for 15 minutes:

1 ½ C. water

1/3 C. raisins or currants

¼ C. sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

Melt:

2 Tablespoons butter

Stir into that until blended:

1 tsp. flour

Add the hot sauce slowly.  Stir and cook until it boils.

Add:

A ¼ tsp. or more of rum and a touch of ground or grated nutmeg or some grated lemon rind.

 

Apr19

Gingerbread Pudding Cake

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A Recipe……………from my table to yours

And I had but one penny in the world, thou should’st have it to buy gingerbread.

— William Shakespeare, “Love’s Labor’s Lost”

 

Having good yummy smells coming from the kitchen is always a delight at any time of the year, however, during holiday times, because everyone’s senses seem keener with the anticipation of good things to arrive, this is just a perfect recipe to make. I have found that the easiest thing to do with this type of recipe is to put all of your spices out on one side of your mixing bowl and as soon as you have added it, to place the spice on the other side.  That way there won’t be any confusion.  I also use the ¼ sized measuring teaspoon for all of the spices and for the salt and soda.  So, for instance, for the 1 teaspoon of ginger, I used 4 of the ¼ teaspoons.  For me that is the simplest way, but do whatever is best for you.

 

As a side note, an early form of gingerbread can be traced to the ancient Greeks and Egyptians who used it for ceremonial purposes.  It appeared in Europe with the 11th-century crusaders who brought the spice back from the Middle East for the well to do to experiment with.  Gingerbread became so popular in Europe that there were even gingerbread fairs.

 

Gingerbread Pudding Cake (a breakfast delight!)

8 servings

Step One

1 ¼ C. flour

1 tsp. ground ginger

¾ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

¼ tsp. ground allspice

¼  tsp. ground cloves

¼ tsp. salt

Step Two

¼ C. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temp.

¼ C. sugar

 

2 Tblsp. beaten egg (from 1 egg)

 

½ C. light molasses

½ C. water

 

¾  C. brown sugar

 

 

Step Three

1 ½ C. hot water

5 Tblsp. unsalted butter, melted

 

SERVE WITH

Whipped Cream or Yogurt

Pre-directions

*Preheat oven to 350.

*Butter 8 X 8 X 2 inch inch glass baking dish

Step 1

*Whisk flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and soda in medium bowl.

Step 2

*Using electric mixer, beat the ¼ C. room temp. butter and the ¼ C. sugar in a large bowl until blended.

* Beat in the 2 Tblsp. egg.

*Stir the ½ C. molasses and the ½ C. water in 1-cup glass measuring cup.

*Add flour mixture to butter mixture in 3 additions alternately with molasses mixture, beating to blend between additions.

*Transfer to prepared dish.

*Sprinkle the ¾ C. brown sugar over all.

Step 3

*Stir the 1 ½ C. hot water and 5 tblsp. melted butter in a 2-cup glass measuring cup.

*Carefully pour over top of batter (there will be lots of liquid on top of cake).

Baking directions

*Bake until gingerbread is cracked on top and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

Serving hints

*Scoop warm pudding cake into shallow bowls.

*Serve with whipped cream or yogurt.

 

(It may be a bit tedious to make, but it’s worth it as you will see.) 

 

Bon Appetit

Margot Van Horn

http://www.inn-ovation.info

inn-ovation@earthlink.net

 

Apr19

Panettone Bread Pudding

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Panettone Bread Pudding with Amaretto Sauce

Serves 8 to 10 serving

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  Now, run out and get that panettone so that you can make this for your special New Year Day breakfast or brunch.  Don’t start the year out counting the calories—give yourself the first day of the year permission to make this delectable dish for you and everyone else to enjoy.  Then go on your diet.  Happy, Joyous and Healthy New Year to one and all.

Ingredients

  1. 1 pound loaf panettone bread,( crusts trimmed if you wish however I don’t do that), bread cut into 1-inch cubes.
  2. 8 eggs
  3. 1 ½ C. whipping cream
  4. 2 ½ C. whole milk
  5. 1 ¼ C. sugar

Directions for Bread Pudding:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Lightly butter a 13X9X2-inch baking dish
  3. Arrange the bread cubes in the prepared dish
  4. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, milk and sugar to blend.
  5. Pour the custard over the bread cubes, and press the bread cubes gently to submerge.
  6. Let stand for 30 minutes, occasionally pressing the bread cubes into the custard mixture.
  7. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours up to overnight.
  8. After 2 or more hours, remove dish from frig. and bring up to room temp.
  9. Bake until the pudding puffs and is set in the center, about 45 minutes. (Remember we are at altitude so possibly a bit longer.) Cool slightly.

Ingredients for Amaretto Sauce:

  1. ½ cup whipping cream
  2. ½ cup whole milk
  3. 3 tablespoons sugar
  4. ¼ cup amaretto or some sort of coffee liqueur
  5. 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions for the Amaretto sauce:

  1. Bring the cream, milk, and sugar to a boil in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat, STIRRING FREQUENTLY.
  2. In a small bowl, mix the amaretto and cornstarch to blend and then whisk into the cream mixture.
  3. Simmer over medium-low heat until the sauce thickens, STIRRING CONSTANTLY, about 2 minutes.
  4. Set aside and keep warm.
  5.  This sauce can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate and re-warm before serving.

End result:

Spoon the bread pudding into bowls, drizzle with the warm amaretto sauce, serve, and don’t plan for any left-overs.

Bon Appetit

   For easy access and printing of this and past recipes, visit Margot’s blog http://blog.tempinnkeeper.com  Call Margot for personal cooking help @ 721-3551.

Margot is a self-taught enthusiastic & passionate cook. Having been an inn-keeper for 5 years at her own inn, she accumulated a lot of good recipes which she loves to share.

 

 

Apr18

Bacon and Hard Boiled Egg Casserole

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Bacon and Hard Boiled Egg Casserole

Basic recipe will serve 12 – 18

(OMG this is DELICIOUS!!!!)

Now that Easter has come and gone, what to do with all of those hard boiled eggs?  Well, here’s some good info to be had about Easter hard boiled eggs and a wonderful recipe as well.

1.        How long do eggs last? The Public Health Web Site says that raw eggs can be kept in the refrigerator for 4-5 weeks after purchase and that refrigerated hard-boiled eggs should be eaten within 7 days.

2.        In regards to the colored Easter eggs, you should be sure before using them that the dye was food-safe; that the eggs were not hidden in a contaminated area and that they are not cracked to have allowed in bacteria.

3.        The eggs should not have been left out in a warm temperature too long.  They really need to be refrigerated.

4.        The Public Health Dept.suggests coloring the hard boiled eggs and then refrigerating them.  For the hidden eggs, they recommend the plastic kinds.

This casserole’s basic recipe features 18 eggs so as you can imagine, it will feed quite a few people. It’s nice to serve at a brunch party; and you can easily divide the basic recipe in amounts for however many portions you wish to serve.  For myself, instead of using one large baking dish, I reduce the recipe amounts and  use several ramekins. I serve this dish often with an artichoke to share,

oven roasted asparagus or a green salad along with some fresh fruit and of course, a lovely glass of fruity white wine.  Also nice to have with this recipe are some warm buttered corn tortillas or home made polenta.

Bacon and Hard Boiled Egg Casserole

                                                  Preheat Oven to 350

Non-Stick Spray a 9 X 13 Dish o r multiple  ramekins if you decide to use those instead of one large dish

18  Hard Boiled Refrigerated Eggs

1/2 ( 8 oz.) Pint Sour Cream

1 lb. Bacon

1 ½ Cups Grated Cheddar Cheese

3 Tblsp. Butter

3 Tblsp. Flour

2 Cup Milk

Salt & Pepper

1.        If you need to hard boil eggs, one of the easiest ways to do that is to put cold eggs in a single layer in a saucepan; add enough cold tap water to come at least one inch over the eggs; cover and quickly bring to a hard boil; turn off heat and keep eggs covered for 15-20 minutes; then immediately run cold water over eggs and refrigerate in a dry container. To test if the egg is done, twirl it around on the counter top and if it spins freely, it’s done.

2.        Make a white sauce from the butter, flour and milk. (In a small saucepan, over medium-low heat melt the butter until the foam begins to subside; turn heat to low and with a wire whisk, stir in the flour for about 1-2 minutes; keeping the heat low, stir in the milk, a little bit at a time, still using the whisk until the mixture is nice and smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Don’t let it get brown, otherwise you will have brown sauce.  You can keep the sauce warm over gently simmering water for an hour or so, stirring occasionally.)

3.        Fry the bacon and crumble.

4.        From the hard boiled eggs, remove the yolks and mix the yolks with the sour cream and 1 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese and S&P.

5.        Slice the egg whites and line the bottom of the dish with them.

6.        Pour the yolk mixture over the egg whites.

7.        Pour the white sauce over all.

8.        Top with remainder 1/2 cup cheddar cheese and place the crumbled bacon as your last topping.

9.        Bake 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated 350 degree oven.

For variations, try adding a little mustard or horse raddish in the sour cream; and for toppings you can substitute for the bacon bits some chopped ham or chipped beef. I haven’t tried it with a different kind of sauce, however, I suppose instead of white sauce you could use an Hollandaise or another of your favorites. It’s a fun dish to use your imagination.  If you decide to use the ramekins, you only need to bake them at 350 for 20 minutes on top of a cookie sheet.

Thank you Dianne, friend & VSI past guest, for the basic and inspiration.

 

 Are you a frustrated, overworked or timid cook? Call Margot for help @ 721-3551

& please feel free to email her @ margot6@mindspring.com for comments or ideas

Margot is a self-taught enthusiastic & passionate cook. Having been an inn-keeper for 5 years at her own inn, she accumulated a lot of good recipes which she loves to share.

http://www.theweeklysun.com.