Holiday Special Edition -- LOTS of Recipes!

I know -- I know!  I've been bad!  I've not posted anything in a couple weeks.  Mea culpa!  Sally was sick over Christmas (her flu shot didn't work on Type B influenza), and then I got a nasty head/chest 'thing' over New Years (which I'm still fighting).   The rest of 2018 will be better, I promise.

Holly Wreath Fruit Dessert

I saw a picture of this on Facebook, I think, and since Sally's daughter Holly was coming for Christmas, I figured it would be a great lite dessert item for Christmas Day dinner.  IMHO it turned out beautiful.  The original used slices of apple skin to make a red bow for the wreath, but Sally suggested the stars of carambola instead.

10-12 Kiwis

1Starfruit

1 container of Pomegranate Seeds

I found this really fast and simple way to peel and slice kiwis.  Trim off the ends, slide a thin bodied spoon under the skin, and turn the fruit.  Shazam!

To make the holly leaves, I cut the kiwis about 1/4" thick, and halved each slice.  Then it was just a matter of laying out the leaves and overlapping the inside ends to give the wreath its depth.  Scatter groups of pomegranate seeds, and slice a starfruit to give it finishing touches.

Homemade Ginger Beer
I got a huge hand of ginger (not just a finger, a whole hand!) from my Produce Co-Op supplier, with the promise that I'd make Ginger Beer from it.  Here you go, Steve!

This Ginger Beer, although fermented, does not contain any significant amount of alcohol; rather, the fermentation produces carbonation...

3-4 oz Ginger Root 1-1/2 cups or more peeled and shredded (I used our Saladmastertm machine)
3/4 cup (packed)  Brown Sugar, or to taste
2 quarts boiling Water (I used our hot pot rather than a stove pot)
Juice of 2 Limes
1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast (champagne yeast if you have a brewing supply store nearby) otherwise ordinary Fleishman's works just fine.

Put the ginger and sugar in a large bowl, along with the lime juice.  Pour the boiling water over the mixture and stir strongly to dissolve the sugar.  Allow the liquid to cool to about 65F, in the fridge or an ice bath.  Filter through a wire mesh strainer and cheesecloth to get rid of the chunks.  Stir in the yeast until it hydrates and goes into the solution.

Bottle in a 2 liter clean soda bottle (or lidded bottles like I used) filtering again through coffee filters or paper towels to get rid of the scum and other particulates  Set in the pantry for 2 days.  Release the cap(s) at least once a day to prevent fermentation explosion messes.  At the end of two days place the bottle(s) in the refrigerator to kill the fermentation. There will still be a thin layer of sediment in the bottom of the bottle(s), pour carefully to avoid getting this in your glass.  Add sugar as desired when serving.

The taste is similar to, but not the same as commercial Ginger Beer or Ginger Ale.  Those products have all sorts of additives, sweeteners, etc. and are often made with "ginger flavoring" rather than actual ginger.  You may not care for homemade Ginger Beer, but it's a project worth doing.  If you already brew beers or make wine or mead, you'll have all the fancy equipment to make a high-tech batch.



Ginger-Carrot Soup
This one I borrowed from the website of The Naked Chef -- Jamie Oliver!

1-1/2 lbs Carrots, shredded (large teeth on a box grater works well)
1 White Onion, diced
3" thumb of Ginger, minced
4 cups Vegetable broth or Water
1/2 cup Orange Juice
1/2 tsp fresh grated Nutmeg
Pinch Kosher Salt
Pinch White Pepper

Saute the onion and ginger in a splash of EVOO for a couple minutes until they start to soften.  Add the OJ, broth and carrots.  Simmer for about 30 minutes until the carrots are tender.  Puree with a stick blender or by transferring to a food processor/blender.  Return to pot and add nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Simmer another 20 minutes to really marry the flavors.

Christmas Pudding Taste Test
At Thanksgiving, you saw the steps that the ladies followed to make this traditional English Christmas dinner dessert.  Richer and denser and more moist that a conventional fruitcake, it also tastes a lot better too!  Rich, unctuous, not quite cloyingly sweet.  A lot fruity, a little nutty.  As I've said before, this is what "fruitcake" wants to be when it grows up!!

Seafood & Eggplant Casserole
Sally announced her conversion to semi-Vegetarian (she will eat fish, shrimp milk in her coffee/tea)  beginning January 1st.  I've been looking for a whole new collection of vegetarian dishes.  This is one I found, inspired by 3 smallish eggplants just sitting there on the counter...

5 cups Eggplant, peeled and cubed
1 lb Shrimp, peeled
1/2 cup each -- Celery, Onion, Bell Pepper diced  - The Cajun Trinity
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1/4 tsp cracked Black Pepper
1/2 tsp each Sage and Rosemary
1 tsp Cajun Spice Blend of your choice
5 slices White Bread
1 Egg, beaten
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 cup Panko
2 Tbsp melted Butter

Put eggplant in a pot, cover with water; bring to a boil and simmer 15 minutes or until tender.  Remove eggplant to a colander to drain, reserving the cooking liquid.

Soak the bread in the cooking liquid and drain in a colander.  Press excess water out of the bread and reserve. 

In a skillet saute the Trinity and the garlic until soft.  Add the chopped shrimp and seasonings.  Then add the egg, half the Parmesan and reserved bread.  Stir to combine.

Place the mixture in a 9x9 baking dish.  Combine butter, panko and remaining Parmesan, and sprinkle across the top of the dish.  Bake at 350F for 45 minutes to 1 hour, uncovered.

Broccoli-Cauliflower Casserole

This, as you'll see, is not only tasty, but colorful as well.  Have fun -- use purple or orange cauliflower when you can find it -- not that boring white stuff!

2 cups each  Small Broccoli florets and Small Cauliflower florets

1 cup Quinoa

1/2 cup diced Onion

1/2 cup Mayonnaise

2 Eggs

1 cup shredded Cheddar, divided

1/2 cup melted Butter

1/2-3/4 cup Panko

Cook the quinoa -- 1 cup grain to 2 cups water.  A rice cooker is perfect for this.  Drain and cool the quinoa, and spread about 1/2" deep in the bottom of an 8x12 baking dish.

Par-cook the broccoli and cauliflower separately, to maintain the colors.  Cover with water and boil just 2-3 minutes; drain and cool.  Layer the veggies atop the quinoa.

Beat the eggs.  Add the mayo, onion, and half the cheese (I used white cheddar).  Pour this mixture over the veggies.  

Then pour the melted butter over everything and scatter the remaining cheese on top. 

Last, top with the panko.  Bake @ 350F for 35-45 minutes until browned and bubbly.

Makes a great side dish or vegetarian main course.  

Soup Beans, Masa Cornbread, Brussels Sprouts and Butternut

Salmon & Shells Casserole

Sally spent the weekend in New York City, going to the theatre and other fun things, while I stayed home and took care of our guests.  Her return flight got in about 6:30, and I needed something for dinner that could be precooked and either hold its temperature or be quickly re-heated -- a casserole.  This is what I came up with:

1/2 bag frozen Peas

2 Salmon filets

Spice Blend of choice

4 oz sliced Mushrooms

3/4 jar Alfredo Sauce

1/2 box Large Shell pasta

Shredded cheese and Panko for topping

Dust the salmon filets with your favorite spice blend (I use Pride of Szeged Fish Rubtm).  Broil the salmon filets for 12 minutes, until flake-able.  Allow to cool while you boil up the pasta to package directions for al dente.  Cool the pasta.   

In a large bowl, fold together the pasta, flaked fish, frozen peas and mushrooms with the Alfredo sauce.   Turn the mixture out into  9x9 baking dish and pat it flat.  Top with a handful of shredded cheese and then a handful of Panko, and bake at 450F for 45-60.  

I baked it for 45 minutes, then turned the heat off just before I went to pick up Sally at the airport, and left the casserole in the oven.  When we go home, the casserole was still nice and hot. 

Very, very yummy.  As Sally said, it was a really upscale tuna casserole!

Stuffed Butternut Squash

I've stuffed a lot of different vegetables before, but never Butternut Squash.  It was a desperation move, actually.  I'd had a Spaghetti squash and a Butternut squash for a while, and decided to make Spaghetti Squash Boats.    But when I went to pick up the Spaghetti squash, my finger went through the side!! Oops.  It'd been sitting on the counter far too long!  Now what?  I had a hour to come up with something before Sally got home...   Hmmmmm.  stuffed butternut??  Why not?!

I par-cooked the squash for 3 minutes in the microwave (after punching a hole into the seed cavity to allow heat/gas to escape).  Then I sliced the squash lengthwise, removed the seeds, and nuked it a further 5 or 6 minutes until done but firm.  Then I carved away meat from the middle of the neck to give me a place to stuff.  That neck meat was added as cubes to the filling I made from 1/2lb of ground sirloin, half a can of tomato sauce, some mushrooms and onions and red bell pepper.  The stuffing was flavored with Ras al Hanut, the quintessential Moroccan spice blend.  

Stuff the squash, top with just a little cheese and bake for about half an hour to heat everything through.  De-lish!

Brussels Sprouts

Ever seen what these tasty mini-cabbages look like growing in the field?  Check this out:

That's about 30 inches of sprouts -- only about half of one stem!

Soup Beans

In the South, particularly Appalachia, it's Soup Beans, not Bean Soup.  Bean soup is thin and watery, Soup beans are thick and unctuous (but never pureed).

1 lb dry White Beans
8 cups Water
1 Hambone with scraps or 1/4 lb diced ham
1 Tbsp Thyme

It has been proven numerous times that you do not need to soak beans prior to cooking.  Soaking does not separate out good beans from bad, nor does it shorten the cooking time by even 5 minutes.

Thyme is a simple herb that should be added to every pot of beans you cook, regardless of type.  It is the perfect flavoring for any bean.  Salt, if you must, and a little cracked pepper is all you need.

Ham is another perfect flavor to add to white beans.  I used the bone from our bone-in Thanksgiving ham, which went from the platter to the freezer in November.

Put everything in a large pot set over medium heat and cook for an hour or thereabouts until the beans are tender.  You may need to add a bit of water, but remember this is not Bean Soup, you're making thick Soup Beans.

Don't forget the Beanotm!


Masa Cornbread
Soup Beans practically demand a side of cornbread! 

Lots of folks make cornbread from a box, like Jiffy Mixtm.  I like to work from scratch when I can.  This recipe is pretty simple, and uses Southwestern Masa Harina corn flour rather than yellow or white Cornmeal.  Same great taste.

Vinegar in the milk is a simple way to make faux buttermilk.  Easier than going out and buying buttermilk especially for this dish.

1 cup Milk or Half & Half
1 tsp White Vinegar (I used Rice Wine vinegar)
1 cup Masa Harina para tamales (Maseca brand is the best)
1 cup AP Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Salt
2 Eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp Butter or pan-spray

Preheat oven to 350F.

While that's going on, mix the milk and vinegar and set aside for 5 minutes while you...

...mix together the flours, baking soda and powder, sugar and salt.   Stir in the eggs, vegetable oil and milk.  Mix together well.  You may need to add a bit more milk to make this a batter rather than a dough.

Prep your pan (I use at least a 9" pie dish) with the butter, then pour in the batter.  Bake for 20-30 minutes until the cornbread is lightly golden brown.

Serve with butter along those soup beans.

If you want a thinner pone, use a larger diameter dish, or a 10"-12" cast iron skillet (preheat in oven as it comes up to temp).

Sally Cooks, Gumbo Timbale, Mushroom Farro Risotto, Educated Golden Beets

Sally Cooks!!

Once a year, Sally cooks, and I enjoy the fruit of her labor!  Usually she cooks our British Christmas dinner, but last week she also cooked this beautiful Balsamic Glazed Salmon dinner with purple potatoes and roasted vegetables! Very tasty and colorful as well!

For the salmon, she used the leftover Balsamic Reduction that I made for the Strawberry-Farro Salad I made a week or so back.  Vegetables and potatoes came from our SW Florida Produce Co-Op box.

Gumbo Timbale (a.k.a. Inside Out Gumbo)
We needed a dish to take to the Americana Community Music Association Christmas party and Open Mic last Saturday.  This timbale is not only great tasting, but the presentation is great as well.  There was only one small slice left, so folks seemed to like it.

Basically this is the same recipe I wrote about here:
https://foodingaround-kiltedcook.blogspot.com/search?q=Rice+Timbale

The difference between that recipe and this one is the filling. 

I got a bag of Gumbo vegetable blend from the frozen food section of the megamart, then added a diced red bell pepper, a couple sticks of celery diced, and half each of a red onion and white onion also diced.  I simmered that together with some Cajun seasoning (I like Tony Cachere's tm) until cooked through, and I tightened the concoction at the end with a sprinkle of Wondratm.

For the crust, you basically cook up 3 cups of short-grain "sticky" rice and let it cool.  Then beat 4 eggs together with about a teaspoon of Turmeric for color.    Mix the rice and eggs together very well.  Using a paddle or spatula and your wet hands, pack the rice around the bottom and side of a greased 8" springform pan, in a layer 1/2" thick (measure it, don't go by eye like I did the first time).  Use about 2/3 of the batch of rice).

Fill the rice shell with the gumbo mixture,

then top the whole thing with the remaining rice.  Bake at 450F for 45 minutes.

Let the timbale cool at least 15 minutes before removing the pan side, and carefully transfer to a platter for slicing and serving.  A serrated breadknife is a good choice for slicing.

Farrotto -- Mushroom Farro Risotto
I told you last week I was going to try this.  Sally's Mum came to lunch on Sunday and I prepared this alongside some really nice sausages.

1 cup dried pearled Farro
1 lb Mixed Mushrooms, chopped
1 Shallot, diced;  Green Onions would also work
4 Tbsp Butter, divided
2 Tbsp EVOO
3-4 cups Broth, kept warm
1 cup White Wine
Parmesan cheese and/or Parsley for garnish

In a large pan or skillet on medium heat (I used 350F to start then half way through reduced to 300F), cook the mushrooms and shallot in half the butter until they are softened.  Add the Farro and cook a bit while you measure out the wine.  Add the wine to the pan and cooking until it is almost all absorbed.

Add a ladle of broth at a time, cooking until each is absorbed.  I made broth from 4 cups of water and a half teaspoon each of these powdered mushrooms. 

You'll want to stir fairly frequently to prevent sticking.

Keep adding broth and cooking until the Farro is tender, but still retains some chewiness.  Taste, and season with salt & pepper as you go along. You don't want a lot of liquid in the final product, it's not a soup after all, so go slower at the end.  Total time maybe 30 minutes.

Stir in the other two Tbsp of butter and serve, topped with a bit of Parmesan cheese and/or minced parsley if you want.  As you can see, I served the risotto as a side to some nice sausages and steamed green beans.

This one is a real winner, folks!!  Will be making variations on this Farrotto many more times in the coming months.

I see no reason why you couldn't make this by adding all the liquid after the shallots and mushrooms are cooked.  You'd want to keep the temperature medium, and the cooking pan covered, so that the grain has a chance to absorb the liquid, rather than having the liquid evaporate.


Educated (Harvard) Golden Beets

College educated!  Why "Harvard"?  No one knows for sure. Could have been named by Yale students because of the Harvard red color and the 'thick' sauce of the dish.  Or it may be a mis-pronunciation of a tavern name.  Or a chef named Harvey(ed).

As a kid growing up, this was my favorite way to eat beets.  Usually the dish uses regular red beets, but I decided to make it with these beautiful Golden Beets we've been getting from the Co-op.
\

Harvard Sauce
1/3 cup Sugar
1-1/2 tsp Corn Starch
1/2 cup Sherry Vinegar (Apple Cider vinegar also works well.)
1/4 cup Water

Whisk all together.  Bring to a low boil and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and pour over the cooked beets.  Toss to coat, and serve.

Short and Sweet....

... and tangy and oh so tasty!

Strawberry Basil Salad with Balsamic Glaze
I found this recipe by blogger Celeste while looking for something neat to do with the season's first strawberries and a bunch of basil from our SW Florida Produce Co-op.  Serves two plus a lunch portion.

1 cup uncooked Farro
2 cups quartered Strawberries
1/2 cup diced Red Onion
Juice of a medium Lemon
1/4 cup torn or chopped fresh Basil
1/2 cup Nuts -- chopped Walnuts or Pecans, Pine Nuts if you're rich.
1/4 cup halved Green Olives or Caper Berries (not capers themselves, which are seeds)
1/4 cup Craisins
1/4 cup diced Cucumber
Balsamic Glaze -- see below

Farro is an ancient grain; some food scientists think it is the Mother grain, from which wheat, emmer, barley, rye, etc. were all derived by primitive genetic manipulation (not gene tweaking, but rather Mendelevian genetics).

Cook up the cup of Farro in 3 cups of water -- a rice cooker works just fine.  After cooking, rinse the cooked grain to get rid of most of the stickiness, and spread it out to let it dry. 

Here's the Farro cooked and then toasted to help it dry.

You can also just cook Farro in a pot on the stovetop, or treat it sort of like a risotto. You could even toast the cooked grain under your broiler for an added layer of flavor.   That's what I'm going to do next week -- toast the grain a bit first, then cook it up like those Rice-aroni things we used to get, and then treat it like a risotto -- adding tons of mushrooms  as I add the liquid.

While the grain is cooking, chop the onion, basil and strawberries, etc.

Top:  craisins, strawberry quarters, chopped pecans

Middle:  cucumber, basil
Bottom:  balsamic glaze

Assemble the salad items and toss to combine well.  Plate, and then drizzle with the balsamic reduction.

Observations:  This is a really good "not a salad" salad!  Would have been better if I had put the red onion in and left the craisins out.  Next time I'll cop or rip the basil, not cut it chiffonade.  A handful of crumbled feta or even sharp white cheddar would not go amiss here, either.  You want a good balance of sweet, salty and sour or tart, whatever you add to this dish.

Balsamic Glaze
In a small pot, simmer together twice as much balsamic vinegar as maple syrup (or honey) until the liquid is reduced by half and the result coats the back of a spoon.  I started with a cup of vinegar (use the cheap stuff) and half a cup of seagrape honey (because that's what I had... again use the cheap stuff if you have it).   When reduced, cool and reserve.  Can be stored in the fridge for weeks.

Apple Yam Bake

I first posted this recipe back in 2014.

1 large Honeycrisp or Ambrosia Apple

1 large fairly cylindrical Yam

1/2 cup Sweet Onion, sliced thin

1/3 cup Golden Raisins, minced

1/2 cup Apple nectar

1 clove Garlic, minced

1/2 cup Orange juice with pulp

1 tsp "Curry Powder" of your choice

1 tsp powdered Ginger, or 1 Tbsp fresh grated Ginger

Fillet the apple as I've shown you in the past. Cut the 'half moon' slices 1/8" thick. 

Peel the yam, microwave it for a few minutes to soften them just a bit for easier slicing.  Halve the yam lengthwise and slice it into 1/8" thick half moons as well. 

Arrange alternating slices of apple and yam in a fan around a 9" pie pan. Stack additional slices of each in the center, to fill the pan.

Combine the juices, raisins, garlic, curry powder and ginger in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil. Cook for 6-8 minutes to combine the flavors. In a small skillet, sweat the onions until fragrant and translucent, but don't let them brown.

Place the onions in the center of the apple-yam fan, pour the juice overall and bake in a pre-heated 375F oven, covered, for 30 minutes until the yams are fork tender.

Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate to serve the next day.  Makes a great holiday Potluck dish!

Post Turkey Day pix, Christmas Pudding, Raspberry-Chocolate Mascarpone Pudding, etc.

Chess Pie Revisited
As promised last week, here are the pictures of my Chess Pie with Orange Curd and Mandarin Wedges.  This is so rich that a 1/8th slice with curd is more than enough!

Leftover Dressing Rissole
I don't know why I never thought of this before!  Smush together a large handful of leftover dressing and form it into a patty.  Fry in just a smidge of EVOO to get a nice crust and heat things through.  Delicious with turkey gravy!  In the background are slices of Red Cooked Turkey Breast and Spiral Cut Ham.

Christmas Pudding
British Christmas Pudding is a family tradition hereabouts.  This year three generations got together in Sally's kitchen and created the annual masterpiece.  I was relegated to the position of photographer.

Mum, Sally and daughter Holly

If you have to have one modern British cookery book, let it be Delia Smith's Complete Illustrated Cookery Course, with it's detailed recipes and lavish photography.  Therein you will find the recipe which has been tweaked and modified by, now, three generations of pudding makers.  The ingredients list is long, but the assembly is straightforward -- each item in its turn, mashed and stirred together.

8 oz shredded Suet -- the hardest ingredient to find in today's world.  You can sub- butter but it's not the same
4 oz Self Rising Flour
8 oz white Breadcrumbs.  Panko is perfect.
1/2 tsp fresh grated Nutmeg
1/4 tsp powdered Cinnamon
1 lb Light Brown Sugar
8 oz Sultanas or Golden Raisins
8 oz regular Raisins
20 oz Xante Currants
2 oz candied Citron
2 oz blanched Almonds
1 Apple, cored and finely chopped
Zest of 1 Lemon and 1 Orange
4 Eggs, beaten
4 Tbsp Rum
10 oz Guiness (or other label) Stout

Mix everything together, one ingredient at a time, until you get to the eggs. 

In a smaller bowl, beat the eggs and add to them the rum and stout.

Pour the liquid over the assembled dry ingredients, and start the hard part -- mash-mixing everything together very, very, very well. 

Mum's Puggle -- Zara -- supervised the whole operation and made sure no crumbs hit the floor!

You'll know you're about right on consistency when you can spoon up the mixture and it falls from the spoon as a ball when you tap the loaded spoon on the side of the bowl.

Cover the mixture with a  cloth, and leave it set overnight.  The next day, grease two or more pudding basins -- steel bowls -- and pack the mixture  into them all the way to the top.  Cover each basin with a disk of parchment paper, then tie a layer of aluminum foil around each basin.

Place the basins in wide pots or pans, and add 2+ inches of water.  Bring the water to a boil, and reduce to a simmer.  Put on a lid to help prevent evaporation.

Simmer the puddings for 8 hours!  Yes Eight Hours!  Really!!  Add water as necessary.

When done, remove the foil and paper, and replace with new paper and foil.  Cool to room temperature and store in the fridge for 4-6 weeks, to allow the flavors to develop.

On Pudding Day (we usually have ours on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas day),  boil the covered pudding for two hours to bring it properly up to temperature.

Ready to eat on Boxing Day!

Chocolate-Raspberry Mascarpone Pudding
This recipe, that I served for Thanksgiving, is a LOT easier than making Christmas Pudding!!  We got this recipe from a flyer from our local megamart.  Not cheap (mascarpone was $4.69) but it certainly is tasty.

4 cups Water
4 Egg Yolks (do something else with the whites)
1/4 cup Sugar
1 tsp Orange extract (recipe called for vanilla, but I like orange better here)
6 Tbsp Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa tm or similar
1/8 tsp Kosher Salt
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 can Duncan Hines Simply Raspberry Pie Filling tm

Whisk together the mascarpone, orange extract, cocoa and salt, until smooth.

Make a double boiler with a pot, the water, and a bowl set on top the open pot.  Put the egg yolks and sugar in the bowl and whisk constantly for 5-7 minutes until the mixture is pale yellow and runs in ribbons when you lift the whisk.

Whisk in the cheese/cocoa mixture until well combined.  Remove bowl from hot water and put plastic wrap on top the bowl to prevent a skin from forming.  With a mixer (or by hand if you want a workout!) whip the heavy cream until you get stiff peaks. 

Fold half the whipped cream into the chocolate mix.  Then spoon it into serving dishes.  Add a layer of the raspberry filling and top with the remaining whipped cream.

Yam Appetizers, Chess Pie, Leftover Makeover, Blanching Almonds

Happy Holiday week!   May all your dishes make you happy.

Yam Appetizers x2
This basic recipe we liberated from a local megamart holiday flyer.

Yam App 1
This is the original that appeared in the flyer, with only minor tweaks.  I made these for Sally to take to one of her favorite "wine and painting" classes.

20-24 Yam disks,  about 2" in diameter and 1/4" to 3/8" thick, skin on
4 oz. softened Goat Cheese
2-3 Tbsp Milk or Half & Half
Sweetened, dried Cranberries
Chopped Pecans
S&PTT

Toss the yam slices with a couple Tbsp of olive oil,  and salt & pepper to taste.  Bake the slices @ 425F for 8-9 minutes per side.  You want them tender but not mushy.  Cool completely.

Whisk together the milk and cheese until smooth and fluffy and increased in volume.  I used a hand mixer with a whisk attachment and it only took a minute or so...

Put a dollop of the cheese on each yam round, the top with 1 or 2 cranberries and a pinch or two of nuts.

Simple, easy, and very tasty even the 4 leftovers that were in the fridge (covered) for 3 days!

Yam App 2
Our vegan friends don't eat cheese, so I came up with this, even simpler, appetizer when we went to their house on Saturday evening.

1 can whole berry Cranberry Sauce
Yam Rounds
Pecans

Instead of firing up the oven, I decided to nuke the yam rounds, laid flat on a plate.  If I remember rightly 5 minutes did the trick; but work up from 3 minutes, in 1 minute or even 30 second increments.

Top each round with a dollop of the cranberry sauce.  Best use I've ever seen for the canned cranberry sauce -- I'll  make my own from fresh cranberries and an orange for the holiday table.


Chess Pie
Is it 'jus pie.  Or is it ch'ess pie?  No one is sure how the name came about.  It's been a long time since I made this Southern classic!  I hardly gets any simpler to make a pie than this.  The secret ingredient is a tablespoon or so of white vinegar.  The photos here are grabbed from the 'Net.  I'll show you how mine turned out next week.

I'm making my Thanksgiving pie 'jus plain.  And then topping it with home-made orange curd and segments of mandarin orange.

'Jus the Pie
1 pre-made Pie Crust
2 cups Sugar
2 Tbsp Corn Meal
1 Tbsp AP Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 cup melted Butter or Margarine
1/4 cup Milk
1 Tbsp White Vinegar
1/2 tsp Orange extract
4 Eggs, beaten

Pre-bake the crust according to package instructions.  Cool.

Pour in the filling, well mixed.  Bake pie at 350F for 50-55 minutes.  Shield crust edge with foil after about 10 minutes to prevent too dark of crust.  Cool on a rack before topping with curd and mandarin slices.

Orange Curd -- my whey
Love the stuff -- on toast or crumpets, in a pie, you name it, I love it.  You can buy citrus curd.  You can spend more than half an hour over a hot stove whisking curd to perfection.  Or you can do what I do and use the microwave for less than 5 minutes!

3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Orange (or other citrus) Juice
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice -- yes, not extra OJ...
3 large Eggs at room temperature

Whisk the eggs very well.  Push them through a mesh strainer to remove any potential bits of scrambled eggs, and put them in a microwave safe bowl.  Add the sugar, lemon juice and OJ, and whisk very well once more.

Set the microwave timer to 4 minutes.  At the end of 1 minute and 2 minutes, whisk the concoction; and then whisk every 30 seconds until the timer counts down to zero.  Ladle into a jar and let it cool before lidding.



Leftover Makeover -- for Susanne Duplantis, the Makeover My Leftover Queen
Sally's Mum took us for lunch yesterday to The Cracker Barrel.  I had Chicken Fried Chicken and the ladies had fish.  Sally's trout was two huge slabs, so we brought home the leftovers including some corn.  Can you say "plokkfiskur"?  I knew you could.  The perfect thing to do with leftover white fish to make the Icelandic "fish-potato pie" we discovered while on vacation.

I peeled and cooked a couple large potatoes, flaked in the leftover fish and corn, and brought it all together with about 3/4 cup of white sauce.  Put it in a baking dish, dusted the top with paprika, and broiled the concoction for about 8 minutes to brown the top.  

Here you can easily see the flakes of fish among the pieces of potato and corn.

Quick and tasty supper, with enough leftover for Sally to have it for lunch on Monday.  Not bad!


Blanched Almonds
Coming up on Wednesday will be The Great Christmas Pudding Making.  Sally's Mum is going to pass down her Christmas Pudding recipe and techniques.  Next week I'll show you what they made. 

Among the ingredients are "blanched almonds".  That is, partially cooked, peeled almonds without any brown skin.  Simple really.  Measure out your almonds.  Boil "some" water.  Toss in the almonds, turn the fire off, and let things set for a minute while you get out your colander.  Drain the nuts and then lay them out on paper towels.  Let them cool fifteen minutes or until you can handle them easily. 

Then just squeeze the nuts, one at a time, and the skin will slip right off.  Easy peasy!