Have you dyed your Easter eggs, bought your ham or leg of lamb, cleaned your asparagus and strawberries? The symbolic foods of Easter are traditional and not only celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, but of life itself—Spring!

Both the pig and the lamb are traditional Easter meats. A wild boar was the main course of Middle Europe, Scandinavia and England and the lamb was preferred eastward. In America, the pig predominates presented in a glorious glazed ham, but leg of lamb is a very close second.

Many other dishes traditionally served at Easter time have symbolic significance. Eggs represent the new life that bursts forth at springtime and colored eggs can be traced back to the Egyptians and Persians. Asparagus and many other tender young green vegetables make their first appearance in early spring and belong on the holiday table. Strawberries and “new” cheeses, i.e. cream cheese, fresh farmer’s cheese or ricotta cheese are in starring roles for Easter.

Making a festive table is much simpler at Easter than the other holidays, I think. A basket of beautiful colored eggs is a wonderful centerpiece—or an Easter egg tree. I make mine with a branch of a budding bush or tree, forced in water for a week prior to Easter and hung with eggs that I have purchased or made.

There are several novelty dishes that are fun and easy. The one that comes to mind first is Jell-O eggs. If you’ve never made them, here’s how:

2 packages (3-oz) of fruit flavored gelatin (Jell-O) for every dozen eggs. Use different flavors for color variety.

3 cups water
12 eggs

Prepare gelatin as directed, using only 1 ½ cups hot water for each package. Chill until slightly thickened.

To blow out eggs: using a large needle or small skewer, puncture a small hole in the narrow end of each egg; puncture a wider hole in the broader end. Hold egg over bowl and put lips to the smaller hole; gently blow egg out of the shell into the bowl. Repeat with each egg. Wash shells gently with cold water. Blow all water out of shells. Light a candle and hold over the smaller hole of each shell, allowing the melting wax to drip over it to seal. Set aside to harden.

Pour slightly thickened gelatin into empty egg shells, using a small spoon or funnel. Set shells upright in carton and refrigerate at least 3 hours to set. To remove “eggs”, crack shells by rolling on a table and peel gently, wetting hands to handle gelatin. Refrigerate until serving time. Arrange on shredded carrot or lettuce “nests”.

I think that cheesecake with fresh strawberries makes a spectacular Easter dessert, but if that’s a bit too rich for you after all the other festive food, another novelty dessert is meringue nests with ice cream eggs or—even lighter—meringue baskets with fresh strawberries.

Easter Nests

3 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar

Ice cream in 3 flavors
Strawberries

To make meringues: Beat egg whites with vanilla, cream of tartar and salt till frothy (I use heavy-duty mixer with whip attachment). Gradually add sugar, beating till stiff and sugar dissolves.

Cover large baking sheet with parchment to fit. Using a pastry bag or spoon, form 6 “nests” or shells. You can make rings or complete shells with bottom and sides. Bake at 275 degrees (very low oven) for 1 hour. Turn off heat and let shells dry in oven (door closed) 1 ½ hours.

Make 18 ice cream balls, and using two large spoons, form them into oval egg shapes. Fill nests with ice cream.

Serve with sweetened crushed strawberries.

If you have a lot of hard-cooked eggs left over from the morning hunt, here’s a recipe that is sure to please everyone:

12 large hard-cooked eggs, peeled
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. pickle relish, drained
2 dashes Tabasco sauce
Salt to taste
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp finely chopped fresh tarragon leaves
2 Tbsp snipped fresh chives
6 Tbsp. mayonnaise
Paprika, for garnish
Whole fresh chives for garnish

Halve the eggs lengthwise and carefully remove yolks. Place the yolks in a bowl and mash them with a fork. Add mustard, relish, Tabasco, salt, pepper, tarragon and snipped chives. Stir in the mayonnaise. Fill the whites with the egg yolk mixture and dust the tops lightly with paprika. Makes 24 pieces.

Happy Easter!

A very old song lyric starts out, “Here Comes Summer…” and that means here comes bathing suit season and shorts season and skimpier clothes season. I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready yet to bare not only the Minnesota mayonnaise complexion but the rolls around the middle that have accrued over the winter and have been nicely snuggling behind loose sweat shirts and jacket tops.

But I’m not quite ready to give up comfort foods for salads and lighter meals and the market is only beginning to have the delicacies of spring and summer. So, I dug through my make-over hints and recipes for ways to streamline my favorites and not even notice.

Some general pointers that work for almost any recipe are:

Cut down on the portion
Add a vegetable or salad on the side of the entrée
Add vegetables to the entrée
Use a little less meat
Use a leaner cut of meat
Replace butter when possible with canola or olive oil
Substitute some egg whites for whole eggs
Use less cheese and try one with a lot of flavor
Use low-fat dairy products and mayonnaise whenever possible
Use whole grains as much as possible
Roast vegetables for flavor boosts
Use fat-free half and half, skim evaporated milk or dry milk with half the liquid in place of regular half and half or cream
Use cooking spray for frying

Additionally, you can usually cut down on the amount of sugar by about 1/3 without doing any damage to the texture of baked goods. Using ½ the amount of cooking oil or fat and replacing it with applesauce is also viable in most recipes.

But will these foods taste as good, you ask? If they don’t, there is no sense in doing it as far as I’m concerned because cooking and eating are all about taste. I have personally found a few recipes that stand up to the makeover process and I’m sharing them with you.


Our family’s favorite comfort food was a ground beef-tomato sauce-elbow macaroni “hot dish” we called goulash. My four kids could easily finish a recipe for goulash that says “serves 12” in one sitting. And, basically, it wasn’t real good for them. The macaroni was white flour, it had lots of meat (and I usually bought less expensive ground beef in those days) and was devoid of any vegetables except onions and tomatoes. I decided to try and make over the recipe and bring down the saturated fat, and up the nutritional value. I made several attempts before coming up with a really satisfying and acceptable new goulash, but here it is:

A word on my philosophy: if you subscribe to the high-protein, low-carbohydrate style of eating, this is not for you. After struggling with all the current theories on this, I have concluded that lots of complex carbohydrates and less protein is a better alternative.

Light and Healthy Goulash

2 cups whole wheat elbow macaroni
½ pound lean ground beef
½ tsp. beef base or bouillon
½ cup chopped onion
1 small zucchini, shredded
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
1 tsp. dried basil
1 Tbsp. minced parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
½ lb. white mushrooms, chopped
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes with juice
2 ounces processed American cheese (such as Velveeta), diced
½ cup shredded natural Cheddar cheese

Cook macaroni for about 7 minutes. Drain and set aside. In large skillet, brown meat until pink is all gone. Do not overcook. Drain any fat in pan and then transfer meat to a colander; rinse under hot water until fat globules in rinse water disappear. Wipe out skillet and return meat. Add ½ tsp. beef base if using, water and onions. Cook until onions are soft and transparent. Add zucchini, carrot, basil, parsley, mushrooms, salt and pepper and tomatoes. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Add diced Velveeta cheese and stir into sauce. Add drained macaroni and transfer to a large casserole dish. Cover and bake for 45 minutes at 350. Remove cover; add shredded cheese over goulash and return to oven for 10-15 minutes.

This makes a lot of goulash. The macaroni will absorb a lot of the liquid, so when you uncover the dish check to see if it is getting dry. You can add tomato juice or water if necessary. My carnivore children and husband did not miss the larger amount of meat—because of the mushrooms. The Velveeta style cheese is necessary to bind hot dish together in a smooth, not stringy way and the top natural cheese adds more flavor. Believe it or not, 1/6th of the recipe is 315 calories and it really satisfies. That’s the kind of made over recipe I like—hope you will too!

Cooking on a Budget

I’ve taken a good look at the prices of food at the grocery store and decided that it’s time to write a column about budget cooking.

For the first twenty years of married life I lived on a very strict budget for groceries. I once had a friend who wanted me to take her with me grocery shopping and she put the same things in her cart that I did and said her grocery bill was always 10% less then when she went alone. I raised four children, three of them boys who grew to well over 6 feet and played every sport known to man. Our daughter liked to eat, too, so I couldn’t skimp on amounts of food. Nobody in our family would have been happy to eat low-quality food, either, so the challenge was on.

I took to that challenge. I really enjoyed figuring out how to feed the family on x number of dollars and make them feel well-fed and happy. It looks like this is a good time to polish up those skills both for the two of us and the inn.

The best friend of budget cooking is a lot of freezer space. Of all the investments I have made over the years on kitchen equipment, the freezer is the hands-down favorite. Whether it is saving you money or providing you with convenient “fast food” for pennies or stocking up on the farmer’s market bounty to use in January, it is the dream appliance. When my children were at home, I had a 22-square-foot freezer which really holds a lot. We usually bought our beef by the quarter and other meat, poultry and seafood in large quantities.

I learned early how to shop well and made a once-a-month trip to a warehouse grocery store when there were only two in the Twin Cities—both of them Cub stores—the closest being 15 miles from my house. I never took my children. Since it was only once a month, it was my day out and I used a baby sitter. It definitely saved me money. The distraction that young children create and their ability to wear you down on unnecessary purchases would cost more than the price of the sitter.

Of course, I had to make a few trips in between the monthly trek. However, I really did keep them to a minimum since every time you walk in the store, you buy something you could have lived without (at least I did). Milk and produce were the only two categories that I really had to go out for.

I always used powdered milk for cooking (still do). It’s easy to mix and for all cooking purposes, it has the added advantage of being room temperature or warm (add warm water when mixing). If you want to use it for drinking, it isn’t as bad as you might think. Just mix it very well way ahead of the time you want to use it and chill it to ice cold.

The day wasn’t over when I arrived home from the grocery store. Putting all that food away is a big job, too—but only once a month made it bearable. I suggest that you prep food as you put it away. Any large size packages of meat or other goods that you bought for economy should be divided into usable quantities right away. Wash or otherwise prep produce and put into the crisper drawer. If you have time, cut up carrot sticks (whole ones are much cheaper than those baby carrots at the store; usually have more flavor, too), other veggies for snacks and have them ready to grab for snacks. \\

Waste is costly. Everyone is guilty of having to throw away food—either fresh foods that you didn’t use until they’re limp and sad or leftover dabs that were forgotten in the back of the refrigerator. Here, again, the freezer comes to the rescue. Put dabs of veggies or rice or pasta and leftover meat, poultry or fish in a large plastic container to use to make wonderful soups. Remember to label and date the container so you know what you have.

Here is a family pleasing meal and the ways that you can make it into many more.

The Magic Pot Roast

2 Tbsp. canola oil
3-4 pound chuck, round or other cut for pot roast beef
4 large potatoes
4 large carrots
1 large onion
Salt and pepper
1 cup water
1 cup beef broth

In a large Dutch oven, brown roast in oil over high heat until brown on all sides. Remove beef from pan. Add water and broth and stir, loosening all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil and add roast. Turn heat to low, cover and cook, checking to see if you need more liquid, for 2 hours. Add peeled and cut-up potatoes, carrots and onion. Cook, covered for 1 more hour, adding liquid if necessary.

From the leftover pot roast, three more meals for 4 can be made: Chinese beef and rice, barbequed beef on buns and Beef-vegetable soup. You can prepare them immediately and freeze or make them in the next few days, keeping leftover beef in the refrigerator. The recipes for Chinese Beef and Rice and Barbequed Beef on Buns can be found on-line.


On-line recipes:

Chinese Beef and Rice

1 cup raw rice
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 ½ tsp. salt
2 cups boiling water
1 ½ tsp. beef bouillon or meat extract
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 ½ cups diced cooked beef

Cook rice in hot oil over medium heat until golden brown. Add salt, water bouillon and soy sauce. Cover; simmer 20 minutes. Add the rest of ingredients. Cover tightly and simmer 10 minutes more. All water should be absorbed at end of cooking time, If not, remove cover and allow liquid to evaporate.

Barbequed Beef on Buns

8 oz. bottle of chili sauce and an equal amount of water
2 heaping Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
Juice of ½ lemon
2 tsp. soy sauce
2 cups shredded cooked beef

Combine all ingredients except meat. Stir thoroughly and over moderate heat, cook for 30 minutes. Add the meat and cook another 3 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve on hamburger buns.

Magic of Sauces

Don’t you just love to have a nice firm piece of bread with which to “sop” up the delicious gravy or juices leftover on your plate? That humble “sop” is the origin of the word “sauce” which we hold in much higher esteem. Actually, sauces have been the aristocrats in the kitchen for centuries and many a great chef has made his/her reputation on them.

Going back to the humbler uses of sauces, they are really a budget stretcher. So many common dishes made of inexpensive ingredients can be dressed up with the right sauce. Sauces can be used to stretch small amounts of food to make many more servings—and usually even better than the original. Sauces can also be a boost of color or flavor that improves even a great dish. Think “saucy” or “sassy”!

Not too long ago at a Bed and Breakfast conference, the keynote speaker (a well-respected and long-time innkeeper) made the statement that we should not be making stratas or egg-bakes as he referred to them. He went on to say that they had become too mundane and we needed to be more creative and up-to-date.

A strata is a make-ahead dish comprised of bread, eggs, milk and usually meat and/or cheese. It is a perfect breakfast dish for a Bed-and-Breakfast owner because it can be made the night before and refrigerated; then popped into the oven for about an hour in the morning and served to guests. Combinations that are breakfast friendly are usually sausage or bacon or ham, eggs, milk and cheese. One that I have made many times is a layer of Italian bread cubes, covered with a country-style sausage which has been browned and crumbled, covered with grated cheddar cheese. A combination of eggs and milk is poured over and when it has marinated overnight, a sour cream-mushroom soup mixture is spread on top and all is baked for 1-1 ½ hours at 350.

Well, I was pretty upset, to say the least, that this hearty, tasty dish was too mundane to serve my guests, so I decided to come up with a “saucy” version that would be more creative. This is my creation which has been very well received by all.

Italian Strata with Two Sauces

12 slices thick-sliced Italian or French bread, cubed into 1” cubes
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
3 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
12 eggs
2 ½ cups milk or half and half
1 tsp. crumbled dried basil or 2 Tbsp. fresh basil, minced
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Cheese Sauce (recipe follows)
Tomato Sauce (recipe follows)

Spray 10 x 15 pan with vegetable spray. Put bread cubes in pan, spreading them to cover. Remove casings from sausage and break up in skillet. Fry until pink is gone; drain. Spread sausage over bread and cover with 2 cups of shredded cheese. In large bowl, blend milk and eggs with whisk. Add seasonings. Pour mixture over everything in the pan. Cover with remaining cheese. Cut parchment paper to fit top and spray with vegetable spray. Lay parchment over cheese; cover tightly with aluminum foil. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight. Bake at 325 for 1 hour. Remove foil and parchment. Bake 30 minutes at 350. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Cut into 12 servings and serve with a large spoonful of tomato sauce and a large spoonful of cheese sauce. A slice of fresh tomato and a sprig of fresh basil makes a nice garnish.

Cheese Sauce

2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
1 ½ cups milk
½ cup dry white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp. dry mustard
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Add flour and seasonings and whisk until well blended and bubbly but not brown. Add milk and wine slowly, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil; lower heat and add cheese, whisking until completely melted and thick. Do not boil or sauce will curdle. Makes 3 cups.

Tomato Sauce

2 or 3 fresh ripe tomatoes (can use canned if good tomatoes are not available)
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
¼ cup (packed) fresh basil leaves or 1 Tbsp. dried basil
1 tsp. sugar or to taste
½ tsp. salt
Dash Tabasco sauce

Peel tomatoes by dipping into boiling water for 1 minute and then removing skins. Chop tomatoes and put in heavy saucepan. Add rest of ingredients; bring to boil. Turn heat to simmer and simmer until tomatoes are falling apart and sauce is thick. Taste and adjust seasonings.

St Joseph's Day and Zeppoles

While all of us—Irish or not—were busy celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, many in the heavily Italian Northeast were preparing their zeppoles (pronounced zep’po lez) in honor of St. Joseph, the surrogate father of Jesus who’s name day is March 19.

Since our daughter, Elizabeth worked at the Providence Journal in Rhode Island and my husband’s middle name is Joseph—it seemed natural and necessary that I learn how to make these pastries. After an e-mail or two and even a telephone call (a rarity these days), Elizabeth sent me some information from an article published in the Journal and I got right to work.

First stop, my cookbook library to see how other recipes would compare with the one in the Journal article. There are differences, but they resemble each other closely. The Providence Journal buys zeppoles for all their employees in celebration of the holiday and there are evidently some heated discussions about what constitutes a “real” zeppole. Every neighborhood and even family has its own version.

The dough is a basic choux paste or cream puff dough. Some versions deep fry the puffs, while others bake them in the American tradition. I couldn’t imagine the need to further increase calories in this already amply rich pastry, so I baked them. There are a few tricks to baking cream puffs, however, and it had been so long since I made any that I did make a few mistakes on the first run. The second batch was perfect! Be sure to follow the directions exactly if you want to avoid the problems I encountered.

The shape and size of the puffs vary too—and I settled on a slightly wedge-shaped, medium puff. The wedge is used because St. Joseph was a carpenter and a wooden wedge was a tool of his trade. Something between not quite round and not quite square and about the size of a woman’s palm seemed just right.

The traditional celebration in Sicily includes a feast and a play wherein the town priest blesses the food. If you undertake this cooking endeavor, perhaps St. Joseph will smile down a blessing upon you and your zeppeles.

Puffs

One cup water
1 stick butter 4 large eggs
1 Tbsp. sugar 1 tsp. grated orange zest
One-half tsp. salt 1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 cup flour powdered sugar for dusting

Combine water, butter and salt in saucepan and bring to boiling; lower heat. Add flour, beating thoroughly and rapidly with a wooden spoon. Beat until mixture forms a ball and leaves the side of the pan (happens very quickly). Remove from heat and add eggs, one at a time; beat mixture thoroughly, about one minute for each egg. Continue beating until dough is shiny and satiny and breaks away when spoon is lifted. Drop from tablespoon onto parchment-lined baking sheet about two inches apart. Place in 450 degree oven and bake 12 minutes; reduce heat to 350 and then bake 25-30 minutes more or until brown. Puffs should sound hollow when tapped with fingertip. Turn out onto rack for cooling, avoiding drafts. Immediately pierce tops with a sharp knife to let out steam. When cool, cut off tops and fill with prepared filling. Dust with powdered sugar to serve.

Filling

3 cups whole milk ricotta cheese One-fourth cup candied lemon peel, grated*
One-half cup powdered sugar One-fourth cup mini chocolate chips (or
2 Tbsp. Grand Marnier (or other orange- bittersweet chocolate chopped into small
Flavored liqueur) optional pieces
One-fourth cup candied orange peel, grated One-half cup heavy cream, whipped

You can make your own candied peel or buy it at gourmet food stores such as Williams Sonoma. If you can’t locate candied peel, grated fresh zest can be used, 1 Tbsp. of each.

Blend ricotta and powdered sugar in a food processor until very smooth and creamy. Add Grand Marnier and pulse. Transfer to a clean bowl and stir in candied fruits, chocolate and whipped cream. Refrigerate until ready to use.

The Anderson Housed in Wabasha

Every time we drive to Wabasha we still mourn the closing of the Anderson House. We called our friends in Winona on a Sunday a year ago to suggest a frequent rendezvous at the Anderson House for brunch. “Sorry, but I just read in the Winona paper that the Anderson House is closed as of Thursday,” was the reply. What a pity.

Many of you know the Anderson House as the “Cat House” in Wabasha—because of the cats they keep to rent out to their guests who want them. It was also the oldest continuously run hotel in Minnesota—actually, west of the Mississippi—built in 1856 by B. F. Hurd and purchased in 1896 by the Anderson Family. But no longer.

The Andersons held the inn for four generations, but when the last one left the hotel was run down and going badly. A nephew of the family came in and bought the hotel, but was not successful. It then went into the hands of Teresa and Michael Smith in 2004 and they spruced it up, called it a bed-and-breakfast and began serving some of the delicious breads, pastries and main dishes for which Grandma Anderson and her progeny had been famous.

In 1948 Jeanne Hall and Belle Anderson Ebner, daughter and granddaughter of Grandma Anderson who bought the hotel in 1896 wrote a cookbook called “500 Recipes by Request from Mother Anderson’s Famous Dutch Kitchens.” The cookbook was followed by “500 More Recipes by Request…” In the prologue of the second book, Hall writes,


“Ten years ago we joyously put together Five Hundred Recipes By Request from Grandma Anderson’s Dutch Kitchens and happily watched it travel from one end of the United States to the other. While it wasn’t intended that way, the book served as the most lucrative piece of advertising ever put out by the Hotel. It brought new guests by the hundreds.
There is something about the old, quiet air of charm and friendliness at the Anderson Hotel that makes personal friends out of customers. We are so obviously a family hotel in a crossroads country town fortunately located in the Hiawatha Valley which is, and always will be, one of the most beautiful locations in the world! Highway 61 from Minneapolis and St. Paul to La Crosse, Wisconsin is positively unexcelled for breath-taking beauty; literally miles and miles of highway carved out of sheer bluffs and swooping down into picturesque valleys along the Mississippi River and enormous Lake Pepin. This is camera country; when Grandma Anderson came from Pennsylvania, she chose her location well.”

Another excerpt from the Foreword:

If I had Aladdin’s Lamp… I’d say,…Let me be young again in {Grandmas’s} wonderful house on the banks of the Mississippi River with a glorious view of Wisconsin jungle and the majestic roll of purple bluffs beyond. In her house in the early morning, I used to smell, simultaneously through my bedroom window, the fragrance of white lilacs and the spicy aroma of Grandma’s marvelous little fruit doughnuts.

In latter years the Anderson House acquired two more claims to fame. One of the inn’s cats starred in a 1997 children’s book, “Blumpoe The Grumpoe Meets Arnold The Cat” by Howie Schneider in which a curmudgeonly guest gets a life lesson from the cat who keeps him company. Additionally, there have been three “ghost buster” investigations which resulted in benign spirits, if any.

Wabasha and area population will surely miss this icon of the Mississippi, as will the 20 former employees.

A smattering of the mouth-watering recipes in the two cookbooks are as follows: Amsterdam Cheese Bread, Orange coffee cake, Pennsylvania Dutch Ham Pot-pie, stewed Chicken and Southern Dumplings, the Best Pineapple Dessert in the World, $1,000.00 Maine Sardine Salad Dressing (an original family recipe that won the thousand dollar first prize in a recipe contest sponsored by the Maine Sardine Industry in 1953).


Histulas (Little Fruit Doughnuts)

½ cup sugar
2 egg yolks, beaten
½ cup sour milk
½ tsp. soda
2 cups flour
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup finely chopped pecans
¼ cup finely chopped raisins
Grated rind of 1 orange
¼ cup finely chopped dates
2 Tbsp. orange juice sugar
Sugar
Fat for deep frying

Combine the sugar and egg yolks. Mix the milk and soda together. Add to the egg mixture. Sift the flour and salt together and add. Stir in the pecans, raisins, orange rind, and dates. Add the orange juice. Drop from a teaspoon into hot fat. Fry until light brown and turn while cooking. Remove from the fat and drain on absorbent paper. Sprinkle with sugar. Makes two dozen little balls. (Histulas should be quite small, only slightly larger than the hole in an ordinary doughnut. It helps to drop the amount spooned out of the dough briefly into flour. Then each ball can be molded a little by hand. The coating of flour keeps the grease from soaking in.)


Amsterdam Cheese Bread
1 ½ cups milk, scalded
½ cup shortening
¼ cup sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
1 ½ cups lukewarm water
2 yeast cakes (or 2 pkgs instant dry yeast)
9 cups sifted flour
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups grated American cheese (not processed)

Combine the milk, shortening, sugar, salt and one cup of the water. Let cool. Then add the yeast which as been dissolved in the remaining half cup of water. Add about half of the flour and the eggs; mix well. Add the balance of the flour. Blend in the cheese. Let the dough rise until double in bulk. Punch down, separate into three parts, and place in three greased bread pans. Let the dough rise again for about one hour. Bake in a moderate oven, 375 deg, for one hour. Makes three loaves.

Pennsylvania Dutch Ham Potpie

1 ham hock or 1 ½ –pound piece ham
2 quarts potatoes, cubed
1 quart onions, chopped
¼ tsp. pepper
Chopped parsley

Cook the ham in water to cover until tender, about one hour. Add more water to make two quarts of liquid, if necessary. Add the vegetables and then drop in, piece by piece, the Dough Squares, made according to the recipe below. Keep the broth boiling during the additions. Sprinkle with pepper and parsley. Cover tightly and simmer until the vegetables and dough are cooked, about ten minutes. Serves eight. (For a ham soup, cut the dough in ½-inch squares, cut the ham in small cubes, and omit the potatoes and onions.)

Dough Squares

1 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 egg or 2 egg yolks
¾ cup lukewarm water
3 ½ cups sifted flour
1 ¼ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt

Prepare a dough by adding the butter and egg to the lukewarm water. (Or substitute ham stock for the water and then omit the shortening.) Sift together one cup of the flour, the baking powder, and salt, and combine smoothly with the first mixture. Add more flour to make a rather stiff dough. Knead lightly on a floured board for a minute or two. Roll out 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 3-inch squares.

The Best Pineapple Dessert in the World

3 eggs, separated
Pinch of salt
¾ cup sugar
Pineapple juice
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 can (9-oz) crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup heavy cream or evaporated milk, whipped
2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs

Beat the egg yolks. Add the salt and one-half cup of the sugar. Add the pineapple juice, drained from the canned pineapple, and the lemon juice. Cook over hot but not boiling water until the mixture coats a spoon. Stir constantly. Remove from the heat and add the crushed pineapple. Cool. Beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar until stiff. Fold into the pineapple mixture and add the whipped cream. Line the sides and bottom of the deep buttered freezing tray with half of the crumbs. Pour the custard mixture into the tray and cover with the remaining crumbs. Freeze four to six hours. Serves eight.

Thousand Dollar Salad Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup Maine sardines, well drained
½ cup parsley
1 Tbsp. tarragon vinegar
¼ cup celery
½ bar of Philadelphia cream cheese (4 oz.)
½ cup of milk

Put all ingredients into a blender. Blend thoroughly at high speed until all ingredients are liquefied. Refrigerate until used. If it thickens in storage, thin with milk. Serve on chilled greens with hard-boiled egg slices, tomato wedges and sliced celery.

St Patrick's Day

St. Patrick’s Day is a day of parades and lots of green—beer, as well as clothing, hair and faces. But if you’re just having a rather conservative celebration, the food is homely fare that is easy to prepare and even easier to eat.

Of course, the ubiquitous corned beef and cabbage must make an appearance, but why not shake it up a little and make corned beef and cabbage pot pies? Since it wouldn’t be an Irish meal without potatoes, try a warm potato salad and stir things up with a wonderful and unusual dessert of Bailey’s Pudding Parfait (Bon Appetit 1999). Serve with an Irish ale, lager or stout (green or not) and accompany with a lovely soda bread and you’ve chased the ghoulies of the preceding days into hiding.

Corned Beef and Cabbage Pot Pies with Puff Pastry (adapted from Bon Appetit 1987)
Serves 6

1 small cabbage, cut into pieces
3 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
1 cup milk
4-oz. grated Swiss cheese
2 Tbsp. spicy brown mustard
¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
¼ tsp. dried dillweed
1/8 tsp. Cayenne pepper
¾ pound corned beef, cooked and cut into ½-inch dice

2 pounds puff pastry, homemade or purchased
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp. cold water (glaze)

Cook cabbage in large pot of lightly salted water until tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain well and squeeze dry in towel. Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and stir 3 minutes. Whisk in milk. Cook until mixture is smooth and thick, 4 to 5 minutes. Gradually mix in Swiss cheese. Add mustard, nutmeg, dill and cayenne. Stir in corned beef and cabbage. Cool. Divide filling among six 1-cup ramekins, sprayed with Pam. Cut puff pastry in half. Roll 1 piece on lightly floured surface to thickness of 3/8 inch (refrigerate the second piece). Cut out 3 rounds 2 ¼ inches larger in diameter than ramekins, using bowl as guide. Reserve scraps. Brush 1 side of round with glaze. Arrange glazed side down atop ramekin, pressing firmly against sides of ramekin and pushing up slightly at rim; do not press down on rim. Press pastry to sides of ramekin with tines of fork to seal. Trim pastry overhang to ¾ inch. Repeat with remaining 2 pastry rounds. Roll out second piece of pastry. Cut and assemble as above. Reserve scraps. Brush tops and sides of pastries with glaze. Score tops in grid pattern; do not cut through pastry. Roll out scraps 3/8 inch thick. Cut out twelve 2-inch shamrocks. Brush with glaze. Arrange on baking sheet glaze side up. Place pies on baking sheet. Refrigerate shamrocks and ramekins at least 3 minutes. Place baking sheet with pies and shamrocks in oven and bake until pastry is golden brown and filling is hot, 20-25 minutes. Serve with 1 shamrock atop each pie and 1 on each plate.

Baileys Pudding Parfaits (serves 6)

1 cup old-fashioned oats
¾ cup flour
½ cup (packed) brown sugar
2 tsp. instant coffee crystals
¼ tsp. ground allspice
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup (1 stick) chilled butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
¾ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1 ¼ cups chilled whipping cream (divided)
12 Tbsp Baileys Original Irish Cream (divided)
¾ cup brown sugar
6 large egg yolks
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
12 Tbsp dried currants (optional)

For Crunch: Preheat oven to 350. Combine first 6 ingredients in large bowl. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture forms moist clumps. Mix in walnuts. Sprinkle mixture onto rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden brown and crisp, occasionally stirring, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.

For Pudding: Combine ¾ cup cream, 6 Tbsp Baileys liqueur, sugar, and nutmeg in large microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir. Microwave for 30 seconds, to 1 minute until very hot but not boiling. Add ¼ cup to beaten egg yolks, stirring the while. Add egg yolk mixture back to custard and stir until slightly thickened. Microwave at 30% and 15 second intervals until thickened to medium pudding stage. Beat by hand or with mixer until cool—about 8 minutes. Mix in remaining 6 Tbsp. liqueur. Beat remaining ½ cup whipping cream until medium peaks form. Fold into custard. Chill, covered for at least 4 hours or overnight. Layer ¼ cup pudding, 1 Tbsp. currants and 3 Tbsp crunch in each of six 12-oz goblets; repeat layering 1 more time. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 1 hour.

Note: If you do not want to use the microwave, custard can be cooked over simmering water (do not let bowl touch water) on the stove, beating with a mixer while cooking until mixture coats a spoon, then follow above directions.

The Ides of March

Today is the ides of March, the very ides that were Julius Caesar’s undoing. For those of you that don’t know what “ides” means (which until recently included me), it is the 15th of March, May, July or October and the 13th day of any other month in the ancient Roman calendar. And if Julius had listened to Brutus’ warning to “Beware the Ides of March”, he could perhaps, have averted disaster. Alas!

Kitchen disasters can befall on any day, but most of them can also be avoided if the cook is forewarned. A little common sense can go a long way in helping out as well. Many of you are familiar with The Peterkin Papers, a lovely book of stories by Lucretia Peabody Hale, written in 1904 about a family that suffers a series of minor disasters from which they can’t figure out how to recover; i.e., Mrs. Peterkin accidentally puts salt instead of sugar in her coffee. The entire family gets in on the remedy suggestions, none of which help. Finally, they decide to call on the Lady from Philadelphia who immediately solves the problem for them.

Although amusing, most remedies for kitchen disasters are easy IF you know them. Unfortunately, common sense isn’t always that common. Here are some typical problems that new (and sometimes old) cooks experience and the remedies:

Meringue is famous for being difficult to make successfully, even though there are only three or four ingredients. The reason is that eggs are tricky; to make meringue you must increase the volume and give structure to the whites. If there is even a speck of egg yolk in the whites, or a trace of grease in the bowl, they will not rise to the occasion. The greatest volume is achieved when the whites are at room temperature before you beat them. The sugar must be added very gradually to dissolve it, or else you will have a grainy product that may cause the meringue to weep when you bake it. Too much sugar of any kind will also cause it to weep. If you can find it, superfine sugar is the best product to use. Use ¼ teaspoon salt for each cup of egg whites which will help increase the volume, but too much will decrease it. Cream of tartar is often added to stabilize the whites so they will not reach that dry, overbeaten stage. The timing of sugar addition is also vital. Beat the egg whites into a soft foam and then add 1 teaspoon of sugar. Continue to beat the egg whites, adding 1 tablespoon of sugar at a time until a thick foam is formed. While the last of the sugar is being added and the beating continues, the meringue will be glossy and soft and rounded peaks will form when the beater is lifted gently from the mixture. Finally, the whites become stiff, the mass is moist and smooth and pointed peaks stand up when the whisk is withdrawn. The meringue is finished.

Or you can use this never-fail recipe that my mother gave me:

Never Fail Meringue

2 T. sugar
1 T. cornstarch
½ cup water

Combine and cook in the microwave until thick. Cool

3 egg whites
1/8 tsp. salt
6 Tbs. sugar

Add cooled cornstarch mixture to egg whites in beater bowl with salt and beat until soft peaks begin to form. Add 6 T. sugar, one T at a time, until meringue is stiff and glossy.

Bake atop pie for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Many cooks, beginners and experienced alike, often remark that there is a gremlin (or leprechaun?) in their kitchens at times that cause proven recipes, prepared as always to fail. The weather just may be the culprit. The Kitchen Companion by Polly Clingerman gives us a rundown:

Blame It on the Weather

On a humid or very hot day yeast doughs are hard to knead, rise too fast and lose elasticity.

Candy made on a hot, humid day won’t set. You need a room temperature of 60 to 68 degrees and low humidity to make chocolates, fudge, nougats, fondant, hard candy and divinity.

Jam and jelly won’t jell on a rainy day or in high humidity.

Meringues made in damp weather fall and come out limp.

Noodle and pasta doughs are difficult for beginners to make on rainy days.

Puff pastry and brioche doughs need cold, dry weather. In a hot, humid room, the butter gets too soft, the dough becomes greasy and so does the finished baked pastry.

Mayonnaise won’t thicken if made during a thunder storm. Heat and high humidity make mayo heavy and greasy.

If you’re cooking today, you won’t have to worry and remember--if you accidentally put salt instead of sugar in your coffee, throw it out and pour a fresh cup.

St. Patrick's Potato

Here it is St. Patrick’s Day again. Last year I wrote about the traditional corned beef and cabbage and soda bread. But while we’re on all things Irish, how about the potato? Some could argue that the potato is the basic food of the Irish—and of many of us in this country as well. But whether or not it’s the foundation of their cuisine, the Irish have some pretty wonderful potato dishes.

Ever since the potatoes washed up on the Irish coast from the wrecks of the Spanish Armada returning from Peru in 1565, it has been that island’s staple food and one they claim as their own. Indeed, the common white, round potato is called” Irish potato,” even though the potato’s original habitat was Peru. The climate of Ireland was so suitable that potatoes replaced almost all other crops. They were eaten for breakfast lunch and dinner. Even whiskey was made from potatoes and named “poteen” after the small pots used for making it. The Irish loved the potato so much that they had pet names for it such as “Flowery” or “Laughing Potato.” Unfortunately, it was so successful that when blight killed all the potatoes in 1846, 600,000 people died.

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day and the Irishmen’s propensity for the potato, I came across an unusual project to do with your kids:
Scoop out a bit of pulp from the top of a large potato and stuff in a little moistened cotton. Stick in some cloves for eyes, a snip of the potato top
for a nose, and a sliver of carrot for a mouth. Slice off the bottom of the potato and set it in a small dish of water on the window sill. Sprinkle some grass or bird seed on the cotton and water daily. Soon green hair will sprout.
(from The Potato Book by Myrna Davis)

Boxty is a mixture made of cooked and raw potatoes, created to use a few readily available ingredients to produce different results. It can be used for bread, pancakes or dumplings and has been popular so long in Ireland that a song goes, “Boxty on the griddle, boxty on the pan; if you can’t make boxty, you’ll never get a man.” It was named so because a box made of tin had holes punched in it with nails to create a grater to make the “boxty”.

Here is a recipe for boxty as a griddle bread, served with bacon and eggs for breakfast:

1 9-ounce russet potato, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 ¼ cups grated peeled russet potato (about 1 9-oz potato), squeezed dry in kitchen towel
¾ cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2/3 tsp salt
2/3 cup buttermilk
Vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 300. Cook cut potato in saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain. Return to saucepan and mash. Transfer 2 cups mashed potato to large bowl; reserve any remaining mashed potato for another use. Mix grated potato, flour, baking soda and salt into 1 cup mashed potato. Gradually mix in enough buttermilk to form texture of firm mashed potatoes.

Heat heavy skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Brush with oil. Drop 2 heaping Tbsp. potato mixture into skillet. Using back of spoon, flatten mixture into 2-inch round. Repeat, forming 4 more rounds. Cook over medium-low heat until boxty is golden brown on bottom and slightly puffed, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook until second side is brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to baking sheet; keep warm in oven. Repeat with remaining mixture in batches, brushing skillet with more oil as necessary. Makes about 18

Champ (Green Onion Mashed Potatoes)

Champ is traditionally served with a well in the middle that has a dab of butter melting in it. The potatoes are usually eaten from “outside” to “inside,” dipping each bite into the butter.

4 servings
2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
½ cup whipping cream
¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 bunch green onions, sliced (about 1 ½ cups)

Cook potatoes in pot of boiling salted water until very tender, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring cream and butter to simmer in heavy small saucepan over medium heat, stirring often. Mix in green onions. Remove from heat. Cover and let steep while potatoes cook. Drain potatoes. Return to same pot and mash. Add cream mixture and stir until blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bon Appetit—or bain taitneamh as do bheile! (in Gaelic) and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

St Patrick's Day - Jed's Lamb Stew - Grasshopper Pie

I’m not Irish, but I love St. Patrick’s Day and the traditional corn beef and cabbage and soda bread dinner. This year, however, I think I’d like to skip the large amount of salt in the corned beef and turn to something just as Irish—lamb. The Lenten dessert ban that I’m on certainly shouldn’t affect the rest of my guests and Zig—so I’m going to top off this great St. Patrick’s Day party with the pie of the month—Grasshopper pie!

The lamb stew is a recipe from my son—the only one with the cooking gene—who lives in Madison. His measuring techniques leave something to the imagination—but I put more precise amounts in parentheses.

Jed’s Lamb Stew

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small or ½ large onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 lbs. cooked lamb in bite-sized pieces
Chopped carrots – 2 handfuls (1 cup)
Peas – 2 handfuls (3/4 cup)
2 roasted red peppers, roughly chopped
5 cups beef broth
1 cup good red wine
2 Tbsp. corn starch
2 large sprigs of rosemary
5-8 sprigs of Thyme
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
Orzo Pasta – 1-2 handfuls (½ - 1 cup) or 2 medium potatoes, pared and diced into ½ inch dice
1 handful chopped Shitake Mushrooms (1/2 cup)
Salt and Pepper

Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until tender. Add the cooked lamb, carrots, peas, red peppers, rosemary, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook for 10-15 minutes. Add beef broth and wine. Bring to a simmer. Mix corn starch with 2 Tbsp. of cold water and add to stew. Add pasta or potatoes. Allow to simmer until pasta or potatoes are tender, stirring regularly. Change stove temp to low and allow stew to stop simmering. If it is not as thick as you’d like it, add more cornstarch and simmer some more. Taste stew and add more salt and pepper if needed. Add mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are tender. Pull out the thyme and rosemary sprigs. Eat with delicious bread.

Since this is a St. Patty’s Day meal, the “delicious bread” is going to be a take on soda bread so I can freeze any left-overs and serve to my breakfast guests, as well.

Soda Muffins with Cheddar and Scallions

4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ cup ( ½ stick) butter, chilled and cut into pieces
6 ounces coarsely grated sharp cheddar cheese
¼ cup chopped scallions, white and green parts
2 cups buttermilk
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 350. Grease or spray two 12-cup muffin tins. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in cheese and scallions. Mix buttermilk and egg and add to dry ingredients stirring just until blended (batter will be thick). Spoon batter into muffin tins. Bake until golden, about 30 minutes. Serve warm.

Grasshopper Pie

Chocolate Cookie Crust (recipe follows)
32 large marshmallows or 3 cups miniature marshmallows
½ cup milk
¼ cup green crème de menthe
3 Tbsp. white crème de cacao
1 ½ cups chilled whipping cream
Few drops green food color


Prepare crust from store-bought chocolate wafers or make the cookies in the recipe below. Heat marshmallows and milk over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until marshmallows melt. Chill until thickened; blend in liqueurs. Beat cream until stiff. Fold marshmallow mixture into whipped cream; fold in food color. Pour into cooled crust. Chill at least 3 hours. Garnish with chocolate curls.



Chocolate Cookie Crust

1 ½ cups cookie crumbs
¼ cup butter, melted

Crush cookies in food processor until fine crumbs. With processor running, add melted butter through feed tube until mixture comes together. Press mixture against bottom and sides of 9” pie pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Cool before filling.

Chocolate Wafers

1 ½ cups flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 stick butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup melted and cooled butter
1 large egg
1 ½ tsps. pure vanilla

Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in medium bowl; set aside. Put first amount of butter and sugar into bowl of a mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high until pale and fluffy. Mix in additional melted butter. Add egg and vanilla; mix until creamy. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture and mix until combined. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake until edges are firm, 12-15 minutes.

“What joyous Feasting winter brings, what benign satisfaction! The senses purr with delight”---James Beard

As a cook, I love the winter with its appetite-increasing sharpness. I tire of summer foods quickly and I often long for the cold days with bread in the oven and guests coming. We are nearing the end of this long winter, and it’s a perfect time to entertain in hearty style before you start having backyard barbeques. St. Patrick’s Day gives us an excuse to really whoop it up. Of course, you’ll want to stick to tradition and serve corned beef and cabbage and end with Irish coffee. Or maybe you’re adventurous and want to try a dinner of lamb and champ (mashed potatoes with green onions and butter).
Either way, your dinner on St. Patrick’s Day wouldn’t be complete without Irish Soda Bread.

But what kind of soda bread? There are as many variations of this Irish staple as there are cooks, or at least nearly. Just to illustrate, owners of one of the Bed and Breakfasts in town give an annual St. Patrick’s Day Party featuring wonderful corned beef and cabbage, accompanied by soda bread. One year the hosts asked some of the guests to bring a loaf of soda bread. I had no idea there were so many ways to make it. In her book, Land of Milk and Honey, author Brid Mahon quotes an English traveler in Ireland in 1600. “In cities they have such bread as ours, mingled with aniseeds and baked like cake, and that only in houses of the better sort.” Round cakes of soda bread rarely have seeds these days. When they do, caraway is the seed of choice and then the finished product is called a seedy cake. Other add-ins found in many cook books are cheese, raisins or currants. Soda bread can be made from dark flour or white and whichever you traditionally bake, that’s the right way.

I dug up at least 5 different recipes for Irish Soda Bread and I am including two for you to try. I invite anyone who has a different and “better” recipe to e-mail it to me. Oh, and let me know which one of these you like best.

White Seedy Cake (Soda Bread)

3 and one-half cups flour Three-fourths teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons caraway seeds One and one-half cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly flour baking sheet. Mix flour, caraway seeds, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Mix in enough buttermilk to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead until dough holds together, about one minute. Shape dough into 6-inch by 2-inch round. Place on baking sheet. Cut 1-inch-deep X across top of bread, extending almost to edges. Bake until bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on bottom, about 35 minutes. Cool completely on rack.

Cheese Soda Bread
4 cups flour
6 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
Three-fourths teaspoon baking soda
1-and-one half cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 1 and one-half quart, 3-inch-deep round baking dish. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in large bowl. Cut in better until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in cheese. Beat eggs to blend in bowl, reserve 1 tablespoon for glazing bread. Blend buttermilk into beaten eggs. Stir into flour mixture; dough will be sticky. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead until blended 2 or 3 minutes. Shape into round and fit into prepared dish. Cut one-fourth inch deep cross in center of dough. Brush with reserved egg. Bake until tester inserted in center comes clean, about 75 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Invert onto rack and cool.
And don’t forget that Irish coffee

One-fourth cup sugar
Hot black coffee
2 cups Irish whiskey
One-half cup (generous) whipped cream

Place one and one-half teaspoons sugar in each glass. Stir in enough coffee to dissolve sugar. Add one-fourth cup whiskey. Fill to within 1 inch of rim with more coffee. Top with whipped cream to float and serve.
Makes 8 servings.

The Plight of the Bean

The plight of the lowly bean has really done a turn around. It was notorious as a food that came in cans with pork and tomato sauce and best known for the food of the poor or those who can’t do much more cooking than opening a can. Its best known culinary partner used to be the hot dog. Now beans are touted as the best nutritional bargain in the market—but more importantly perhaps—also delicious.

Beans were one of the first crops cultivated by prehistoric man. Bean remains dating back to 4,000 B.C. have been found in caves near Ocampo, Mexico. Mesopotamia and China follow about 2,000 years later. And beans are prepared more or less the same way today as they were then. The green version of the bean is usually the pod or the immature seeds within the pod. The seeds when mature and dried are the legumes that we soak and slow cook in liquid for from 45 minutes (split peas) to four hours (chick peas).
These slow cooked dried beans are the greatest convenience food imaginable. They are always available, they are cheap, they store practically forever and they are very high in protein, minerals and fiber.

Yes, in spite of the reputation of being a bother to cook from scratch, with a little planning, beans are at your fingertips ready to go any time. Of course, you can buy them canned, already cooked. But I don’t like the amount of salt that is added, the tinny taste they sometimes have—and I have found them so easy to cook and freeze that I just do it from time to time. If you really dislike cooking, go ahead and get the canned beans. But if cooking is enjoyable for you and time is the only problem, pick a weekend and make beans—they’ll last you a year or so and it really isn’t hard. There are only a few steps and then like yeast bread, there is a lot of waiting time. The third alternative is to use a pressure cooker if you have one.

There are several different methods of preparing beans. First, they must be soaked. You can use the long method which means to cover the beans with water and leave them overnight. In the morning, they’re ready to cook. Some people advise draining the soaking water and re-covering the beans with fresh water or vegetable stock. It does reduce the gas-producing properties. But it also causes a loss of flavor and vitamins—and I don’t recommend it. Our bodies get used to beans and don’t suffer from flatulence as much if we eat them often (and we should), but if it is a persistent problem, the product Beano will alleviate it.

A quick method of soaking beans is to cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes; cover and let sit for 1 hour off heat. Then proceed to cook as other soaked beans.

I like to buy several varieties of beans: usually black, pinto, red, navy beans and chickpeas, in one-pound packages. I pick them over for little bits of mud or stone. Rinse them well while sorting through them. Put them to the desired soaking method. Following the time directions on the package (each variety needs a little different time to cook), cook in plain water or vegetable stock (not really necessary, as the beans are so flavorful by themselves). When completely cooked and cooled, divide into 2-cup portions and freeze in rigid freezer containers. Label them by type and date them. There they are; just as handy as canned and much cheaper and more nutritious.

The ways to use your supply of beans are too numerous to list, but some ideas are: soups, of course (my favorite), salads, sandwiches, spreads, baked bean pots, casseroles, etc.
Here’s a solid recipe that is sure to please almost anyone.

The Dairy Hollow House Cuban Black Bean Soup

Pam cooking spray
5 cups cooked black beans and their liquid
5 cups vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
½ fresh jalapeno pepper, seeds and membrane removed, chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1-1/2 large onions
1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt to taste
1 cup cooked white rice, for serving
½ cup chopped onion for serving.

Spray a large heavy soup pot with the Pam and add beans, stock and bay leaf, broken up a bit. Heat through. Meanwhile, heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the onions, green peppers and jalapeno pepper. Sauté until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook a few seconds more. Add to the beans and season with salt. Let simmer about 20 minutes. Serve with rice and chopped onion.

Make Your Own Mixes

People who know me sometimes lament, “But Lynette, you cook for a living and besides, you love to cook—what about someone like me who hates to cook but loves to eat and has a family to cook for every day after work? I need to eat out or buy convenience foods to survive.”

Well, yes, we all do need time off from cooking from time to time and I am no exception, but with budgets tightening and health concerns rising, convenience foods on a regular basis are difficult to justify, especially when it isn’t really necessary.

I am talking about making your own convenience foods in the form of “mixes” for lack of a better all-encompassing word. By making your own mixes you can have scrumptious meals for less than half the price of store mixes, plus you have control over the ingredients you put into them. Most of them are a cinch to make and really don’t take much time—just a few hours set aside once a month and the quantities of ingredients needed for the mixes you are planning to make.

An old book (1978) called Make-A-Mix Cookery by Karine Eliason, Nevada Harward and Madeline Westover has been in my possession since it was new and I was raising a family. I used it then to cut costs and yes, convenience as well. Later as our family size dwindled down I found that the mixes that I had been making made it easy to make a small cake or a small batch of cornbread—or any of the dishes I made huge batches of in the old days.

Then there is the matter of health—which has really come to the forefront since this book was written. Most everybody is trying to avoid the partially hydrogenated fats, the food colors, artificial flavors and preservatives that are listed on every box or package—most of them unpronounceable and foreign to us non-chemist types.

A perfect example of this is the ordinary cake mix. Most people who make cakes at home do use mixes and they are good! Plus, at anywhere from $.99 to 1.50, they don’t seem very expensive. But just compare the list of ingredients. First, Duncan Hines’ Moist Deluxe Classic Yellow Cake in order: sugar, enriched bleached wheat flour, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, propylene glycol mono- and di-esters of fats, mono and di-glycerides, leavening, wheat starch, salt, dextrose, poly-glycerol esters of fatty acids, cellulose gum, artificial flavors, xanthan gum, maltodextrin, modified cornstarch, colored with yellow 5 lake, red 40 lake. Now, the homemade mix: cake flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, 0-trans-fat vegetable shortening. The total cost for this mix, enough to make a 2-layer cake (same as the packaged) is $.40. The mix has you add two eggs, and vegetable oil; the cost of the add-ins of the homemade mix (eggs, milk, vanilla) are included in the $.40.

There are basically three kinds of homemade mixes: 1) Dry which are good for about 6-8 months; 2) Semi-Dry which can be stored for 10-12 weeks; 3) Freezer-Refrigerator (variable, long-term).

Here are a few examples of mixes you can make in each category:

Dry mixes: Hot Roll mix, Pancake Mix and Pudding and Pie Mix. Semi-dry: Wheat Mix, Basic Cake Mix and Gingerbread Mix. Freezer-Refigerator mixes: Braised Beef Cube mix, Mexican Meat mix and Moist Pie Crust Mix.

The most important factor, however, is taste—and these mixes really pass the test. The cake mix is fantastic and makes many desserts for which the recipes are in the book. There are actually 56 mixes and about 200 recipes.

Here is an easy, quick and delicious cake you can make in a jiffy; it’s small so works well for the smaller family or a snack cake.

Master Cake Mix

8 cups cake flour (you can substitute 7 cups unbleached all-purpose flour and 1cup cornstarch
6 cups sugar
¼ cup baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2-1/2 cups vegetable shortening

In a large bowl, sift together cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix well. With a pastry blender, cut in shortening until evenly distributed. Put in a large airtight container. Label. Store in a cool, dry place. Makes about 16 cups of basic cake mix.

Sunny Citrus Cake

1-3/4 cups basic cake mix
Scant 2/3 cup milk
1 egg
½ tsp. vanilla
Orange Butter Cream Frosting (below)

Preheat oven to 375. Spray 8-inch square baking pan with baking spray. Combine basic mix and milk in mixer bowl. Beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Scrape bowl and beaters. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat 2 more minutes. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 25-30 minutes until tests done. Cool. Frost.

Orange Butter Cream Frosting

2 ½ Tbsp soft butter
1 ½ cups powdered sugar (sifted)
2 tsp. grated fresh orange peel
1 ½ Tbsp orange juice

Beat all ingredients until smooth and of spreading consistency, adding a few drops of hot water if necessary.

School Days 2

Speaking of peanut butter sandwiches and bread and butter sandwiches--bread was a huge part of my early life. We always had bread; sometimes homemade but more and more often the fluffy, white bread known as "Wonder Bread." My dad started his own business, Dean Castings, Inc. and it took a lot more of his time. It was hard going and my Mom went to work there part-time to help out. These work days were the first time my brother and I had ever been by ourselves after school and we had a lot of fun eating. We would hunt up a full loaf of Wonder Bread and begin toasting it--two slices at a time; buttering each slice while it was still hot and downing them as quickly as we could put two more slices in the toaster until the whole loaf was gone. This was the only time in our lives that both of us got quite chubby.

Carbohydrates were a favorite, of course, and another meal that I remember really chowing was spaghetti. We didn't make the sauce separately and pour it over the spaghetti on our plates; rather we mixed it all together in a casserole dish and baked it with some cheese grated over. I can remember piling that spaghetti on my plate in a large mound, grating more cheese over it and going back for seconds. I felt as stuffed as I did on Thanksgiving. Of course, it was usually right out the door (at least in summer) to play neighborhood games.

Do kids still play neighborhood games? We played Free Eagle, Mother-may-I, Statues, Red Rover, and some I can't remember any more. We played until everyone's mother called us in (sometimes for the second or third time). Another summertime pursuit was Metho.

Metho was a language that I made up. I named it after my religion, Methodist. I must admit, that I was rather smitten with Mary Anne's Catholicism. It seemed she had so many special things in her religion that really appealed to a 9-year-old girl. For one thing, she received these great holy cards at school when she did well--and, of course, she had medals. Every May, she fixed a table in her room as a shrine to Mary and decorated it with crepe paper, statues and flowers. It was beautiful and I was jealous. So, having the teaching gene, I devised a language of my own, complete with a country (a Pacific Island, discovered by Captain Cook after the Hawaiian Islands), with a history that I taught as well. I worked hard on that language--it had characters--sort of a combination of Chinese characters and Arabic letters. Then, somehow, I convinced most of the kids in the neighborhood to come to "school" on our back-yard picnic table for a couple of hours every morning. For awhile, some of us could speak it rather well.

Another summer occupation was going to my grandparents'. My father's parents lived in Magnolia, Minnesota--a small town between Adrian and Luverne in the Southwest corner of the state. Magnolia was best known then for its steak house and as being the birth-place of Cedric Adams. Actually, there was a sign as you entered the town that said, "Magnolia, home of Cedric Adams" I wonder if anyone still remembers Cedric Adams? He was a columninst for the Minneapolis Star (or Tribune?--separate papers back then) and even more well-known as a radio announcer on WCCO. Cedric had a rich, bass, "radio" voice and was dearly loved. Grandpa Dean would come back from his blacksmith shop (about 100 yards from his house) at noon to have "dinner" and then lie down on the floor in front of Grandma's desk and usually blocking the doorway to have his nap and listen to "Cedric Adams and the noontime news."
We kids knew better than to bother him then.

When we arrived for our annual two weeks' visit, the first thing we did was head for the refrigerator for pop. Grandma stocked up on pop, which we rarely had at home and she usually had Dr. Pepper which I loved and I only had at Grandma's.

Grandma also had a great big garden full of vegetables and bordered by raspberry bushes. It was my happy job to pick peas and raspberries. When I picked peas, I shelled them for Grandma and many went straight into my mouth. Sweet, tender, young peas, just picked from the garden and eaten raw still linger in my memory as one of the great culinary treats. What she made for supper was even better: freshly dug new potatoes, boiled with their thin, tender jackets on and topped with freshly-picked, barely cooked peas in a light and buttery cream sauce. All summer our meals consisted of delights from Grandma's garden and the best part was the fresh raspberries, either crushed and poured on ice cream (from a near-by creamery) or just plain with cream and sugar.

My Grandfather was the oldest of 12 children, most of whom lived in or around Magnolia. My father was the oldest of his family and therefore, I had a lot of "cousins" who were my age and lived in town. I remember when I was very small and Grandma sent me overtown to get the mail and something at the General Store. When I went into the postoffice, the postmistress addressed me by name and asked me how my Dad was. Then I went next door to the General Store and the storekeeper knew my name too, and also asked about my family by name. I went back to the house thinking I must be very famous that everyone knew me.

One of those "cousins" was Sharon Dean who was just my age and lived across the street from Grandma and Grandpa. We were constant companions in the summer. I remember the summer that I was nine, my brother held court in the ditch in front of Grandma's house, telling Sharon and I his newly-learned information on the birds and the bees. He strung it out for several days and had a fascinated and captive audience. I didn't believe a word of it.

March in Minnesota

I don’t know about you, but I think March in Minnesota is the worst month of the year. There are a few reasons for this; first among them—the weather. We are weary (especially this year) of cold, dark and dreary days—I received a mass e-mail entitled “You know you’re a Minnesotan if…” and one of the ways was: “The temperature in March is above freezing for three days in a row and you think it’s summer.” Add to this that March is traditionally snowy and exacerbated with lots of wind.

Then there’s the landscape. Of all the months, this one is the ugliest. Except right after a new snow, what snow still remains is dirty and pocked with melting spots filled with sand from the roads.

It is also the season of Lent, a long period lacking joyful celebrations of any kind, in Christendom, at least. And after the great Christmas, New Year, Valentine, Carnival and Mardi Gras celebrations, it may add to the sun-starved sense of the doldrums.

And then I stumbled upon a poem by William Cullen Bryant that made my spirits rise:

The stormy March is come at last,
With wind, and cloud, and changing skies;
I hear the rushing of the blast,
That through the snowy valley flies.

Ah, passing few are they who speak,
Wild, stormy month! In praise of thee;
Yet though thy winds are loud and bleak,
Thou art a welcome month to me.

For thou, to northern lands, again
The glad and glorious sun dost bring,
And thou hast joined the gentle train
And wear’st the gentle name of Spring.

I suddenly remembered that this is the month of daffodils (at least in the store), of the first robin hallmarking the first day of spring. March is the month of the lighthearted St. Patrick’s Day celebration and sports tournaments for those so inclined. It is the month that reminds us that spring and warm weather and rebirth are right around the corner.

To help my spirits along, I baked a lovely Daffodil Cake. I have put this recipe in this column before, but it is worth a second time. If you didn’t try it—do! It is easy, beautiful and guaranteed to lift your spirits.

Daffodil Cake (Betty Crocker Cookbook)

1 cup cake flour
¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
12 egg whites (1 ½ cups)
1 ½ tsp. cream of tartar
¼ tsp. salt
¾ cup sugar
6 egg yolks
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. almond extract
Lemon Glaze

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Stir together flour and ¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar; set aside. In large mixer bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt until foamy. Add remaining ¾ cup sugar, 2 Tbs. at a time, beating on high speed until meringue holds stiff peaks. In small mixer bowl, beat egg yolks about 5 minutes or until very thick and lemon colored. Gently fold flavorings into meringue. Sprinkle flour-sugar mixture, ¼ at a time, over meringue, folding in gently just until flour-sugar mixture disappears. Pour half the batter into another bowl; gently fold in egg yolks. Spoon yellow and white batters alternately into ungreased tube pan, 10x4 inches. Gently cut through batters to swirl. Bake on bottom shelf of oven about 40 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly with finger. Invert pan on funnel; let hang until cake is completely cool. Spread cake with glaze.

Lemon Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
½ tsp. grated lemon peel
1 tsp. lemon juice
About 2 Tbsp. milk
1 drop yellow food color

Mix all ingredients until smooth.

If you’re not sure what to do with the rest of those egg yolks, try making lemon curd (or purchase already prepared lemon curd) and then make these cookies.

Lemon Dimples (adapted from Woman’s Day March 3, 2009)

1 ½ sticks butter, softened
½ cup powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour
1 scant cup lemon curd

Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with mixer until fluffy. Beat in egg, lemon zest and juice and vanilla. On low speed, beat in baking powder and flour until mixed. Cover; chill dough 1 hour. Place lemon curd into a small ziptop food-storage bag; seal bag. Heat oven to 350. Spray baking sheets with Pam. Shape scant tablespoonsful of dough into balls; place 2 in. apart on prepared sheets. With index finger, make a deep indentation in center of each. Snip a tiny corner of ziptop bag and pipe lemon curd into dough indentations to fill completely (about 1 tsp per cookie). Bake 15 minutes or until cookie edges just begin to lightly brown. Cool completely on baking sheet on wire rack. Dust cookie edges with powdered sugar before serving.

These are sure to put a smile on everyone’s face. And take a word of advice from James Barrie: “Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.”

Appetizer Tasting

We had a recipe tasting at the Candlelight Inn. Our guests tasted some low-calorie, low-fat appetizers in an effort to find some that really taste good.

I, like most of you I’d wager, have tried low-calorie recipes time and time again and have come to the conclusion that most of them are just not good. If food isn’t good, what is the point of eating it? For me, that is medicine. Now eating is a true, bona fide pleasure for almost all of us. Most of us get three or four times a day to indulge in this pleasure—but why would we turn it into a nose-holding operation done to survive? So, while I am very conscientious about health and weight, I am not willing to give up on pleasure in food. Therefore, I am looking for healthy, light dishes that really taste wonderful and satisfy me.

Our guests at the inn participated in testing and rating seven appetizers and three wines. The wines were selected by Kip Earney from West End Liquor. Here are the results and the recipes for the top three:

Sweet potato butter with pita chips scored 2.7 out of a possible 4.0
Black Bean and Mango Salsa scored 3.3
Jalapeno Pepper rings scored 3.0
Festive Cheese Log scored 3.5
Hot spinach-Artichoke Spread scored 2.8
Mozzarella melts scored 2.9
Mini Spring Rolls with plum sauce scored 3.6 and was a hands down favorite.

These recipes were adapted from two cookbooks: 12 Best Foods Cookbook by Dana Jacobi and More Healthy Homestyle Cooking by Evelyn Tribole.

Mini Spring Rolls with Plum Sauce

Plum Sauce
2 jars (4 ounces) baby food strained plums with apples
3 Tbsp packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 piece fresh ginger (1” thick), peeled
1 garlic clove, minced

Spring Rolls

2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 cup finely shredded Napa cabbage
1 small carrot, shredded
1 celery rib, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ pound ground turkey
8 sheets phyllo dough

To make plum sauce: In small saucepan, combine the plums, brown sugar, vinegar, ginger, and garlic. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. When cool, remove and discard the ginger.

To make the Spring Rolls: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat 1 large baking sheet with nonstick spray. Coat a large skillet with nonstick spray. In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce and sugar until smooth. Set aside. Set the skillet over medium-high heat. Add cabbage, carrot, celery and garlic and cook until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Remove the vegetables and set aside. In same skillet cook the turkey and stir for 5 minutes until no longer pink. Add the soy sauce mixture and mix well. Stir in the cooked vegetables and remove from the heat.

Arrange the sheets of phyllo dough in a single stack. Cut crosswise into 3 strips. Transfer 2 stacks of the strips to plastic wrap and cover with a damp dish towel to prevent drying out as you work. Place 1 strip of phyllo on a work surface and lightly coat with nonstick spray. Place 1 tablespoon of the filling at the short end of the strip, centering it between the edges. Roll up the strip and filling one-third of the way. Fold the left and right sides of the phyllo over the filling and continue rolling to the end. Place the roll, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining phyllo sheets and filling. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Serve hot with the sauce.
Makes 24 spring rolls; 1 ½ cups sauce. Per spring roll with 2 teaspoons sauce: 41 calories

Festive Cheese Log

4 ounces goat cheese
4 ounces fat-free cream cheese, at room temperature
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh basil
½ tsp cracked mixed-color pepper
½ tsp. poppy seeds

In food processor, using metal blade, process goat cheese, cream cheese and garlic until smooth. Scrape onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form into a log about 10” long. Wrap well and chill for at least 2 hours or until firm. Sprinkle the basil, pepper and poppy seeds evenly over a sheet of waxed paper. Unwrap the cheese log and roll it in the seasoning mixture, pressing gently so that the seasonings adhere on all sides. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Per 2 Tablespoons: 33 calories

Black Bean and Mango Salsa

1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno chile pepper, seeded and finely chopped
½ cup finely chopped fresh mango
½ navel orange, peeled and chopped
Juice of ½ lime
3 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine the beans, tomato, jalapeno, mango and orange in a bowl. Add the lime juice and cilantro and toss to combine with the other ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Per 1 Tbsp: 14 calories

The wines: Bogle Merlot, 2005; Forest Glen White Merlot, 2005; Sebastiani Chardonney, 2005.

The Merlot scored 3.1; the White Merlot, 3.9; the Chardonney 2.6

Cherry Berries in a Cloud

I love food; not just eating it, but preparing it, reading about it, shopping for it and everything, perhaps, but cleaning up after it. I’m Lynette Gudrais, innkeeper at the Candlelight Inn and a self-confirmed foodie. Oh yes, I will be writing here about food.

My qualifications? Well, I started young, when given a choice between cooking and cleaning on Saturdays, I chose cooking (hello!) I was soon taking responsibility for the family’s dinner once a week and getting lots of positive feedback. I believe that’s the secret to making a foodie—pile up the compliments when they’re young and you’ve got a lifer. Just lie a little at first and soon you won’t have to. It didn’t hurt that my mom was a great cook (and her mom-and her mom…) and that she taught me a lot. She also had great cookbooks which I loved to read. I still do and now I have my own 3000 volume collection of cookbooks that have their own room at the inn. In addition, I have taken and taught cooking classes at Byerly’s Cooking School in St. Louis Park and Community Education in School District 196. I also had a catering business for several years before coming to Red Wing to operate the Candlelight Inn with my husband.

So, in addition to writing about food, I would invite everyone to e-mail questions about food and with the help of my library, I will attempt to answer them—or, perhaps, other readers will e-mail in their answers. What kind of questions? Anything, from can you find a recipe for __________ to how do you cook _______, or tips and suggestions of your own.

As I was having lunch with some friends last week, the conversation turned to my new column and one asked about the Scandinavian Almond Cake recipe going around. Her question was why when she made it, it turned out fine, but for her sister it wouldn’t finish baking and was underdone no matter how long she baked it. Intrigued, I went to the Uff Da shop, bought the special pan and the recipe. At home I discovered I already had a pan like it but had not known its use or origin. On to another search, revealing it to be a German “Rehrucken” pan which means “saddle of venison.” The German version is chocolate with almonds stuck in after frosting to look like a saddle of venison with garlic cloves in the classic German presentation. Leave it to the Scandinavians to make something buttery and sweet—and white! I baked two (one in each pan) and it was delicious. Never did find out why my friend’s sis’s didn’t bake. Did she turn the oven on?

Valentine’s Dayis past but if you own a special heart-shaped cake pan or a heart mold for Coeur a la Crème, you can undoubtedly get it out and make a special treat. But if you don’t own these items and don’t want to resort to the usual heart-shaped box of chocolates, why not make old-fashioned cherry berries on a cloud? (Gratis Betty Crocker). It doesn’t use any special equipment and is very easy. The only caveat is: make it the day before as it takes awhile to bake and gets better from sitting awhile.

Here’s the recipe with the lighter version for us perennial dieters in parentheses:

Cherry Berries on a Cloud

Meringue Shell (recipe follows) One and one half Cup chilled whipping cream (1 16-oz container Lite Cool Whip)
1 (3-oz) package cream cheese (1 3-oz
Package Neufchatel Cheese) 1 cup miniature marshmallows
One-half cup sugar Cherry Topping (recipe below)
One-half teaspoon vanilla

Bake meringue shell in heart shape. Blend cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Whip
cream, if using. Gently fold two-thirds of the whipped cream or Cool Whip and the
marshmallows into cream cheese mixture. Pile into shell. Top with cherry filling,
leaving a two inch rim around outside of heart. Make a border of extra whipped cream
around outside of cherries. Cover; chill at least 12 hours.


Meringue Shell
Heat oven to 275 degrees. Cover baking sheet with parchment paper. Beat three egg whites and one-fourth teaspoon cream of tartar until foamy. Beat in three-fourths cup sugar, one tablespoon at a time; continue beating until stiff and glossy. Do not underbeat. On parchment, shape meringue into large heart shape (approximately nine inches across widest part), building up side. Bake for one and one-half hours. Turn off oven; leave meringue in oven with door closed for one hour. Remove and cool away from draft.

Cherry topping
Stir together one can (one pound, five ounces) cherry pie filling (lite) and one teaspoon lemon juice