Spring and Strawberries

Well, I got very busy in April, so did not get a chance to post for Easter and Passover as I had hoped. Ahhhh well, there is always next year! Something for you all to look forward to then! Here is a nice picture of my May flowers that the April showers brought. Rhubarb will be in my next post, another springtime favorite.

Spring is finally here, and it's always amazing to me how God designs us, or at least me, to go with the seasons. Already, I no longer crave the heavier-stick-to-your-ribs fare that I instictively start coooking when  I feel the fall season change. Now it's the reverse, craving the lighter foods of salads and veggies and fruit, more fish and poultry. Just what we need to do well in the warmer weather and to be able to take advantage of all the spring lettuces, spinach, herbs and spring peas also. Mother's Day was also just here, and one of my favorite dishes was on the menu and a real treat anytime, great for breakfast, brunch or lunch and good for vegetarian friends as well. As soon as strawberries come in season here the end of the month, you'll be ready with a few of my favorite recipes heres.

Strawberry Crepes

My basic crepe recipe is:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

Sift together flour, sugar and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs and milk together with an electric mixer. Beat in flour mixture until smooth; stir in melted butter.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 2 tablespoons for each crepe. Tip and rotate pan to spread batter as thinly as possible. Brown on both sides and serve hot

Now comes the fun part of stuffing them! Several variations to choose from.

Strawberry and cream:

Lay the crepe out  and in the first 1/4, spoon whipped cream or sour cream across in a line, then top with fresh sliced strawberries or strawberries in syrup. Fold the first part of the crepe over and continue to roll like a jellyroll or rollover. Sprinkle the top with strawberry syrup and powdered sugar. 

Pineapple and cottage cheese:

Lay out as above and instead of whipped cream, spoon pineapple cottage cheese in the center, roll up, drizzle with pineapple juice and powdered sugar. Just 2 of my favorites, but you can use about anything you desire, just about any mild or sweet cheese and fruit are awesome.

Strawberry Shortcake here is not the lackluster stuff from the store. There are 2 versions, depending on how PA Dutch you are. My other half loves the very PA Dutch Version of actual shortcake. My father loves the biscuits version. I'll give you recipes for both.

Shortcake

2 C sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp lard

pinch of salt

1 C milk

2 1/2 C flour

2 tsp baking powder

Beat sugar, eggs, lard and salt together and then add alternately the milk and flour and baking powder. Bake in a 9x11 or 2 rounds, sprayed with cooking spray, 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.

Now, to top it off, put a nice cream cheese or cooked icing on top. Then serve with sliced strawberries in a light syrup. He then likes to drown it in milk. But this cake is so yummy, I often eat it alone.

Shortcake Biscuits

These are basic drop biscuits, but they are light and fluffy with a slight crust and perfect for strawberries.

2 C sifted flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

6-7 tbs shortening

2/3-3/4 C milk

SIFT flour, baking powder and salt. KNIVE in shortening. HOLLOW OUT and add milk, for dough. Either bake in a 8x8 dish or drop by spoons on greased tray. BAKE at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

When ready to serve, crumble in a dish and top with sliced strawberries in syrup and whipped cream.

Another yummy thing this time of year is my


Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing. 


This dressing is good on any kind of salad, although better with peppier greens and a good marinade for chicken and fish.

Slice fresh strawberries and toss with spinach, ( 1 qt strawberries and about 10-12 oz spinach). Add 1/4 C slivered blanched almonds.

Poppyseed Dressing

2 tbs sesame seeds

1 tbs poppyseeds

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C olive oil

1/4 C distilled white vinegar

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbs minced onion

I mix the above in a small blender and pulse until blended well and then chill for an hr. if it can sit overnight it is even better. Take and drizzle over salad and toss. Refrigerate for about 15-20 minutes before serving chilled.

TUNA STEAK MARINADE

I also love good fresh tuna steaks. As you heat up the grill for summer and want something yummy to go with the salads, try this tuna steak marinade before grilling. It is devine. 

In a large glass dish/pan, combine

1/4 C orange juice

1/4 C soy sauce

2 tbs olive oil

1 tbs lemon juice

2 tbs fresh parsley

1 clove minced garlic

1/2 tsp fresh oregano

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

4  4oz tuna steaks

Mix the above ingredients except for tuna in the glass dish. Add the steaks, cover with plastic wrap or put in a zip lock baggie and refrigerate for 1/2 hr to 1hr. Take steaks out and grill like normal and discard marinade.

Spring in Northeastern PA (NEPA)

Spring just might have finally really arrived. I'm not sure, and I'm not counting on it, but it has actually gone a whole week without snow so I'm hopeful. Robins and geese and groundhogs are all out and about their business.

 I witnessed quite a rescue yesterday morning. A storm came through and blew part of a squirrel nest out of the pine tree in front of our house. It was just chance that I saw the leaves of the  nest go flying and then I heard very loud chirping and upon investigating further, 2 baby squirrels were hanging on to tree limbs by legs and tails for dear life and a third was on the ground, seemingly OK, but cold and traumatized as it was raining as well. I then spied mamma squirrel and backed off to watch on the porch with Teddy. She got her babies out of the tree and all on the ground, one by one taking them to a protected spot under the tree. They were still crying and she ran feverishly grabbing new materials to rebuild her nest. Time was against her as her babies didn't even have their eyes open yet and the weather was nasty. Within 20 minutes, she had a new nest constructed, and then one by one, she grabbed each baby squirrel up, much like a mamma cat with her kittens in her mouth, and got all three back up the tree and into the nest. They all made it and peace was once again restored to the yard. It is amazing how wonderfully we are all made by God. Animals are often such an example to humans.

Since spring is here, a favorite spring supper this time of year is ham with boiled or fried potatoes and dandelion with hot bacon dressing.  Around here, you can harvest nice dandelion greens in fields etc. But one must be careful to avoid areas that used pesticides and wash well etc. Some farm markets around here grow it to sell like salad greens, and that is always a safe way to go. If you can't find dandelion greens, endive or lettuce will work, just doesn't taste quite as good. Plus, dandelion has a lot of good properties that naturally detox your system, making it a common spring tonic. Dandelion is not the nasty weed townies make it out to be; it is a very valuable herb.

So, here tiz:

Ham and Dandelion Dinner

Prepare a thick smoked ham slice or ham roast, boiled or fried potatoes. Wash and trim dandelion greens.
About 10 minutes before everything else is ready, make the hot bacon dressing.

Hot Bacon Dressing

1 lb bacon, cooked, save the fat
1 c hot water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C sugar
2-3 tbs dark vinegar
1 tbs flour

1 egg

Cut bacon into pieces and fry until crisp. Remove from drippings. Mix together dry ingredients. Add beaten egg, vinegar and water. Stir until blended. Cook in bacon drippngs until thick.

 It will be a darker dressing if using smoked bacon. And for a really good taste, get peppercorn crusted bacon for this.

I also wanted to share a site with you that I think is very uplifting. If you love flowers or your life has been touched by cancer in some way, please visit this inspirational site. http://mysisterdalesgarden.com/  You won't be sorry!

PA Dutch Chicken & Waffles

I decided I needed to do a piece on chicken and waffles. Folks from other areas THINK they know what that is, but they'd be wrong. It is NOT fried chicken with waffles and syrup. That may be good, but it isn't PA Dutch Chicken and Waffles. And that is superior on the comfort food scale in every way. This is centric to our coal region and PA Dutch country area here in PA. It's great for left over chicken or turkey. And it is the stuff that Church and Fire Company Suppers are made of as well around here. It equates to "good eatin' "!

First of all, get rid of the notion that waffles must have syrup on them. My poor mom who is from western NY, still has this notion. But in her defense, she grew up in a family with their own sugar shack, and so she thinks every darn thing must be drowned in maple syrup! While I give that area a lot of credit (Friday Fish Fry and maple syrup are the best), they are wrong on this. They also say "pop" instead of soda. 'Course, they do that in western PA too, but we know why that makes west different than east, LOL! Me, I am dyed in the wool PA. Born and raised. So I love this dish, and have helped make it for church suppers for years. I am actually going to give the whole menu, because this is a full meal experience in my book. I LOVE chicken and waffles!

The whole meal menu is chicken and waffles with mashed potatoes, corn, applesauce and pepper cabbage. I am including a recipe for the pepper cabbage as well since that is another PA Dutch staple here that I love. It is NOT coleslaw.

This is for a family size, do a whole chicken/turkey for more than a couple of people. While the instructions give you the pot method, this great to do in the crock pot as well, gives great flavor to the chicken. We use the big roasters for the church suppers.

CHICKEN & WAFFLES

INGREDIENTS


Cooking oil
1/2 of a whole chicken (about 4 pounds when whole)

Salt and pepper to taste (I don't use much salt, but do like mine to have more pepper)

1 stalk celery

1 medium carrot

1 small onion, peeled

1 bay leaf

2 cans (14.5 ounces each) low-sodium chicken broth, plus water to cover chicken

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cold water

1 batch of your favorite waffles
Heat olive oil in a stew pan over high heat. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Add to pan and brown on both sides. Add celery, carrot, onion, bay leaf and broth. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until chicken is tender, about 60 minutes. Remove chicken from pot; cool, remove fat and bones and pull apart into small pieces. Skim excess fat from the broth. Discard the vegetables (or eat as cook's treat). Mix the flour with the water until smooth. Bring the broth to a slow boil. Add the flour-water paste gradually, stirring rapidly after each addition. Continue until gravy is the desired thickness. Taste for seasoning. Add the chicken and keep warm over very low heat.


PEPPER CABBAGE

INGREDIENTS


Vegetables

1 pound green cabbage, shredded

1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/4 cup grated carrot

Dressing

1/2 cup cold water

5 tablespoons white vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Pepper to taste


Combine the cabbage, green pepper, celery and carrot in bowl. Toss well.

Combine the dressing ingredients in a medium bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves. Pour over the cabbage mixture and toss together. Cover bowl tightly and marinate in refrigerator for several hours before serving. Toss and taste for seasoning. (Will keep in refrigerator for up to two weeks.)


Meanwhile, make the waffles according to recipe and waffle iron. Also the mashed potatoes and corn. If necessary, place in a 200° F oven to keep warm. Serve the waffles and mashed potatoes topped with chicken and gravy with the corn, applesauce and pepper cabbage as sides.

A great site to visit about PA Dutch Food and recipes is http://teriskitchen.com/padutch.html

She gives the background on PA Dutch so am not going to duplicate the effort here. Many of the recipes she has are the same as mine handed down, so good stuff. I'll still share mine though because some of them have been tweaked with other influences like polish or Italian influences.

Of Whoopie Pies and PA Dutch Tradition---Move Along Maine!

This past week, Maine tried to steal from Pennsylvania one of the most iconic of foods, the Amish Whoopie Pie. Whoopie Pies are as PA Dutch as...as.....well, as Pot Pie! While popular in Maine for sure, there is no debate whatsoever that this is one item that belongs to PA. Maine wanted to select a state dessert, why in the world wouldn't they pick something as iconic to Maine as blueberries?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704132204576136593240752596.html?mod=wsj_share_facebook

While there are several recipes, the filling portion of a whoopie is especially critical. The Amish actually make their own marshmallow, but quicker versions can use the commercial marshmallow cream. If you don't use the marshmallow cream and lots of 10X sugar, that filling just isn't going to be right.

While traditonally chocolate cake is used for the cookie parts, around here we make them pumpkin, red velvet, oatmeal, and chocolate with peanut butter marshmallow filling. All kinds of possible variations as long as the core basic stays the same.

Amish Whoopie Pie Recipe


1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

1 cup firmly-packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup milk

Whoopie Pie Filling (see recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets.

In a large bowl, cream together shortening, sugar, and egg. In another bowl, combine cocoa, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a small bowl, stir the vanilla extract into the milk. Add the dry ingredients to the shortening mixture, alternating with the milk mixture; beating until smooth.

Drop batter by the 1/4 cup (to make 18 cakes) onto prepared baking sheets. With the back of a spoon spread batter into 4-inch circles, leaving approximately 2 inches between each cake.

Bake 15 minutes or until they are firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Make Whoopie Pie Filling. When the cakes are completely cool, spread the flat side (bottom) of one chocolate cake with a generous amount of filling. Top with another cake, pressing down gently to distribute the filling evenly. Repeat with all cookies to make 9 pies. Let finished whoopie pies completely cool before wrapping.

Wrap whoopie pies individually in plastic wrap, or place them in a single layer on a platter (do not stack them, as they tend to stick).

To freeze, wrap each whoopie pie in plastic wrap. Loosely pack them in a plastic freezer container and cover. To serve, defrost the wrapped whoopie pies in the refrigerator.

Makes 9 large whoopie pies.



Whoopie Pie Filling:

For this recipe, you are basically making a homemade Marshmallow Fluff/Creme.

3 egg whites, room temperature

2 cups light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups sifted powdered (confectioner's) sugar

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

In large bowl of an electric mixer, add egg whites, corn syrup, and salt. Using your electric mixer on high speed, mix for approximately 5 minutes or until the mixture is thick and volume has almost doubled.

On low speed, add powdered sugar and mix until well blended. Add vanilla extract just until well blended.

Your homemade marshmallow fluff/cream is now ready to use on your Whoopie Pies or other recipes. Use immediately, or refrigerate in a covered container for up to 2 weeks.

Makes a large quantity.

Home Cookin' Favorites of the Polish Variety

This cold weather often has us craving a little bit heartier fare, keeping up energy out in the cold. Many of these dishes are also economical as working families here didn't have much money being farmers and miners etc. These dishes often made the most of small amounts of meat, cheap cuts of meat, and some used no meat at all.

I'll share pot pie (not a pie but a stew, the actual pie version is called meat pie here), pigeons, and haluski. Pierogis will be for another day as I can do a whole column just on them.

Pigeons (Blind Pigeons or Halupkies)

Meat Mixture:

2 lb ground beef
1/2 cooked rice
2 medium onions
3 tbs chopped fresh parsley
3 eggs, beaten
3 tbs worcestershire sauce
3/4 tsp pepper
dash of salt

Baste:

1 large head of cooked cabbage (best and easiest to use a stock pot and boil the head whole, save the broth)
3 slices of smoked or peppercorn bacon
3 tbs worcestershire sauce
2 cans tomatoes
2 small cans tomato paste
1 onion
2 tbsp parlsey
a little sugar (on top)

Place the bacon in the bottom of a roasting pan. Wrap the mixed meat mixture in the cooked cabbage leaves and place the wraps in the bottom of the pan. Pour reserved cabbage water, tomatoes, and tomato paste (mixed) over top to cover. Slice onion and place along with worcestershire sauce, parlsey and a little sugar over the top. Cover with lid and bake 1 hr 45min at 35.  There are many different versions, I'll share some sites with variations of these. Each family has their "way".

Haluski (Cabbage and Noodles)

This is another popular and cheap dish to make.

Dough:

2 C flour
pinch of salt
1 egg well beaten
milk

Cabbage:

1 lg chopped onion
2 tsp oil
1 medium head cabbage, chopped
2 tbs butter
garlic powder
pepper

Cabbage: saute onion in oil and add chopped cabbage. Steam until tender.

Dough: Add enough milk to make dough stiff when mixed. Roll out thin (1/8 inch) on floured board and cut into 2 in strips. Drop dough into boiling water and cook approx. 3 minutes. Drain, rinse and let dry a few minutes. Add dough to steamed cabbage to simmer about 30 minutes. I add the butter, garlic powder and pepper at this point while steaming before serving.

Pot Pie

Pot pie can be made with chicken, beef or ham. But around here, ham and chicken are the favorites. We often save the ham bone from a ham dinner or chicken bones left from a whole chicken dinner to use for the broth if using leftovers along with 3-4 cups of shredded leftover chicken or cubed leftover ham. You can make broth up in a pinch of you don't have these left overs with chicken or ham base, but it's not as good.

Meat/broth:

3-4 cups meat
2 qts water
2 cups chopped celery
1 cup diced carrots
med onion diced
4 medium potatoes cubed
garlic, salt and pepper to taste (I do not add salt to ham pot pie)
Cook meat/broth about 20-30 minutes, after coming to boil, I reduce heat to simmer.

Dough:

1 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg

(for a big pot, I triple this)

Sift flour and baking powder, add egg beaten. Mix until crumbly and add just enough water to form stiff dough that can be rolled out on floured surface and cut into 2 in square patches. Do not over work or dough will be tough. Drop dough into boiling meat/broth and cook for another 15-20 minutes, turn off heat, cover, and let rest about 5 minutes.

We usually eat this on dinner plates or in shallow bowls with fresh bread, red beets, or lettuce with mayo dressing.

I mentioned some links with more recipes like this or variations. here are some good ones.

http://www.bellaonline.com/subjects/472.asp

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=131981

And my favorite ( you have to read the Coal Speak dictionary to really appreciate this):
http://www.coalregion.com/home.htm

God, America, and Apple Pie!

I have had numerous folks ask for my apple pie recipe. There is a picture of it at the bottom of my blog. This is so simple, not a ton of ingredients etc. The apples you use can make a difference though. I strongly suggest that if you are baking fruit pies, you learn the best varieties for what you want. Some folks want crunch in their apple pie, some want it very soft etc. What kind of apples you use can determine that. http://www.tooter4kids.com/Apples/types_of_apples.htm   And you can also use this recipe for making a straight pear pie. I have a recipe for a pear custard that is to die for.

This is just the filling, I can give a great pie crust recipe later.

Mom's Apple Rum Pie

6-7 thinly sliced apples
3/4 - 1 C sugar
2 tbs flour
3/4 tsp cinnamon
splash of fresh lemon
2 tbs rum
2 tbs butter

In a 1 gallon zip lock baggie, I combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon. Seal and shake together well, mixing it. Then ass the apples, reseal, and shake till all is coated. Place in pie crust in layers. Sprinkle lemon juice and rum over top, then cut butter into bits and dot the top before placing the top pie crust on.

Bake @ 425 for 40-50 minutes. This is for one pie.

The Best Peanut Butter Icing.....

Today is my 40th birthday. To quote Jack Benny,

"Age is strictly a case of mind over matter.

If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."

...-Jack Benny
 
To which I say AMEN!  My favorite cake and icing is actually the hazelnut torte that is a recipe from a great family friend, but I am not allowed to share that with threat of death. So next in line is chocolate cake with peanut butter icing.
 
I have to say I am very critical of most peanut butter icings. Most recipes call for using butter or shortening, which I HATE. It makes the icing less peanut-buttery, and often there is grease or lardy after taste plus it makes it heavy and very stiff. Ick.
 
Mine is CREAMY. Peanut buttery richness. And folks, the brand of peanut butter DOES make a huge difference. So don't substitute.
 
Peanut Butter Icing
 
1 C peanut butter (Skippy is best, Jiff in a pinch, no other substitutes)
4 C 10x (confectioners sugar)
10 tbs milk or more to creaminess desired
2 tsp vanilla
 
Combine all ingredients and mix slowly to start, can increased when mixed. Start with the 20 tbs milk, if you want it a little creamier, just keep adding in small amounts until desired creaminess is reached.
 
Chocolate Cake
 
3 C flour
2 C sugar
6tbs nestle quick
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tbs vinegar
2 tsp vanilla
2/3 C oil or applesauce
2 C cold water
 
Combine ingredients and mix for about 2 minutes. Bake in a 9X11 baking dish @ 350 for 40 minutes or done.  There are variations on this that also use chocolate pudding mix too.