Category Archives: CHRISTMAS RECIPES

ROASTED MUSHROOM CREAM SOUP

I found this recipe in Bon Appetite years ago and it has been my favorite creamy mushroom soup ever since. (Of course I made a couple of tweaks, but that’s what I do!) The first time I made this delicious soup was for Mr. C. and the other members of the “Tangoheart” orchestra. It was for one of the many rehearsals we held at our Bellevue home. (You’ve heard the term “starving musicians”. Well this group could have been the poster children for starving musicians everywhere!) I usually served soup for these rehearsals because it could remain happily simmering on the stove until the group was ready to take a food break. Soup is also quick and easy to eat, so the group never had to take too much time away from rehearsing. Along with a nice chewy loaf of bread, a glass of wine, and a brownie perhaps (no, not the kind that is now legal in Washington state), soup was always the perfect way to provide a simple meal for our musician friends. This soup is also lovely when served as the first course at a dinner party. It is ever so rich, and a cup or so is just perfect. So next time you plan a dinner party, consider serving a lovely rich soup like this, just after the appetizers and before the main course. Your guests will love everything about this soup. It is creamy, a little chunky, and tastes like heaven in a bowl. It’s also meatless. That’s especially nice when planning a dinner party for associates or new friends. Even if one of your guests happens to be a vegetarian, and unable to partake of the meat portion of the entree, they can always have more of this wonderful soup. Your guests may not be musicians when they arrive at your home for dinner, but serve them this soup and they will be singing your praise by the time they leave!

  • 1 lb. Portobello mushroom, stemmed, dark gills removed, caps cut into ¾-inch pieces
  • ½ lb. shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps cut into ¾-inch pieces
  • 3 T. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 ½ tsp. kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 ½ T. butter
  • ½ medium onion, finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 6 T. Madeira
  • 3 T. flour
  • 6 c. vegetable broth
  • 1 c. heavy cream
  • 1 ½ tsp. chopped fresh thyme
  • chopped fresh parsley, opt.

Place cut mushrooms on a large short sided baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 15-30 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender but still moist. Meanwhile, melt butter in a heavy large pot. Add onion and garlic and gently sauté until the onion is very soft. (Do not cook too quickly. The onion and garlic should not be allowed to brown.) Add Madeira and simmer until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. Add flour; stir for 2 minutes. Add 4 cups of the broth, cream, and thyme. Remove from heat. When the mushrooms have finished baking, puree half of them with the remaining 2 cups of vegetable broth. Chop the remaining mushrooms into small pieces and add them, along with the mushroom puree to the pot. Return pot to heat and simmer over medium heat until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning. Ladle into serving bowls/cups and garnish with a light sprinkle of chopped parsley.

 

 

BAKED RED POTATOES WITH ROASTED GARLIC SAUCE

Although I have served my husband quite a few potato dishes over the years, and you should know potatoes are not really his favorite starch, he seems to actually enjoy them when they are fixed this way. I found this recipe in my current favorite food magazine – Cooking Light. And while I am on the subject of food magazines, I might as well tell you how I feel about most of them. Although there is still something wonderfully cozy about sitting down with a nice cup of coffee and reading the latest issues of my favorite magazines, Cooking Light is the only magazine I am currently receiving. I used to subscribe to several cooking magazines that I’m sure if I were to name them, you would know them well. But a few years ago I realized that I really didn’t care if there was a particularly amazing new restaurant in Phoenix that served Cuban food. Or a fabulous new way of combining radicchio and peanut butter. All I truly wanted from my favorite magazines were great recipes for fantastic dishes that I could prepare at home with confidence. For a couple of years before I actually got up the nerve to cancel several of my decades long subscriptions (we had been partners in the kitchen for so long, it was like getting a divorce), I was truly beginning to wonder if any of the magazine staff had actually prepared or tasted the recipes they were publishing! The ingredient lists were beginning to look so outrageous, I seriously had my doubts. Plus I was beginning to question who the editors and writers considered to be their reader base? Certainly their offerings were no longer directed toward an audience filled with the likes of me! I simply was not sophisticated enough nor was my palate refined enough to adequately appreciate the recipes these publications now had to offer. It took me awhile, but I finally came to the conclusion that I was better off reading informative blogs and getting ideas and down to earth recipes off the Internet. But enough diatribe about the current state of most cooking magazines (as I see it) and back to these potatoes. (When I get started, sometimes I just can’t stop until I tell you more than you ever wanted to know about how I feel on a given subject! Sorry about that!) So knowing that I can get terribly passionate about a subject, I’m going to tell you that these potatoes are absolutely marvelous. The roasted garlic sauce simply lifts the humble potato from ordinary to extraordinary. Thanks again Cooking Light.

  • 8 medium sized red potatoes, wash, dried, and cut in quarters
  • 4 tsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 3 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
  • 3/4 tsp. kosher salt, divided
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 T. minced fresh chives, or 1 T. dried
  • 1 T. white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp. Dijon mustard

Place the quartered potatoes on a rimmed baking dish just large enough that the potato pieces don’t touch. Add the unpeeled garlic cloves, 2 tsp. of the olive oil, ½ teaspoon of the salt, and pepper. Toss to coat. Bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown and tender. Stir the potatoes once during the baking time. Remove from the oven and prepare the sauce. Squeeze garlic cloves (be careful they are hot!) to extract pulp into a small bowl and mush with a fork. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, a little pepper, chives, vinegar, and mustard; whisk until well blended. Pour over the how potatoes, toss to coat, and serve immediately.

 

BREAD PUDDING WITH SPICED RUM SAUCE

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There are few desserts as delicious as bread pudding. But it has to be good bread pudding. For decades I shied away from this incredible dessert because of my grandmother. Please allow me to explain. I think I’ve already told you that both my mother and maternal grandmother were not good cooks. My grandmother however, was excellent at homemade bread and pies. So you would think, since bread pudding is made from bread, she should have been able to make at least a passable bread pudding. Absolutely not the case. And since I never watched her put one together, I actually don’t know how hers was prepared. (Even from the ripe old age of 4 or so, I knew instinctively when to say no thank you to food that I had once tasted and knew was of poor quality. Why then would I even want to know how it was prepared? I was no dummy, even as a kid!) But, to the best of my recollection, grandma’s bread pudding starred plain old bread, soaked in a combination of milk, eggs, and a pinch of cinnamon and liberally laced with raisins. Now I like raisins, but not when they are burnt. And that was my grandmother’s forte. She could burn a raisin better than anyone I have ever known. And even if there had been some kind of warm sauce to serve with the pudding, it sure as heck didn’t contain liquor. (Not that I would have even known about cooking with liquor when I was a child. My parents weren’t teetotalers, but by any stretch of the imagination, they weren’t drinkers either. So spring forward several decades to when I left my bad memories behind and became a true devotee of bread saturated with milk, cream, and eggs and studded with little golden jewels of flavor. New Orleans. Marti Gras. Good friends (Dick, Eloise, son John and daughter-in-law Carol), fun parades, great music, and amazing food. So you know the old saying, when in Rome, well when in New Orleans you eat anything placed in front of you because it is bound to be delicious. So in order not to appear a prig (yes, I spelled it right) I went along with the crowd and ordered bread pudding for dessert one evening. Any resemblance to what I had experienced as a child was merely coincidental!  I had discovered heaven in a bowl. As soon as we got home after our 10 day adventure in Louisiana, I went to work finding the perfect recipe for bread pudding. I finally ended up with the recipe below, an amalgam of several recipes I found in cookbooks. I hope you enjoy this lovely dessert as much as we do. This bread pudding has actually made believers of others like me who, until they tried really good bread pudding, just couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. But I get it now. This recipe could make a bread pudding believer out of you too. Give it a try.

Bread Pudding Ingredients:

  • ¼ c. spiced rum
  • 1 c. golden raisins
  • 8 lg. eggs, room temperature
  • 3 ½ c. whole milk
  • 1 ½ c. heavy cream
  • 1 ½ tsp. vanilla
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 (1-lb.) loaf Challah or other dense egg bread, cut into 1-inch cubes

Spiced Rum Sauce Ingredients:

  • 1 c. packed brown sugar
  • ½ c. butter
  • ½ c. heavy cream
  • 2 T. spiced rum
  • ¼ tsp. cinnamon

Whipped Cream Topping Ingredients:

  • 1 c. heavy cream
  • 2 T. powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp. spiced rum

Bread Pudding: Combine spiced rum and golden raisins in a small heavy pan. Bring to a boil and simmer until all liquid evaporates. Remove from heat and cool. Meanwhile combine eggs, milk, cream, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Gently stir in bread cubes and cooled raisins. Pour mixture into a buttered 9×13-inch baking dish. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Bake uncovered in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 75 minutes or until golden brown and puffed. (Watch carefully the last 30 minutes or so. If the pudding starts to get too brown before it is set, gently tent with aluminum foil.) Serve warm with Spiced Rum Sauce and a dollop of Whipped Cream Topping.

Spiced Rum Sauce: Combine brown sugar and butter in a medium sized heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes or until butter completely melted and mixture is smooth. Add heavy cream, spiced rum, and cinnamon. Bring to a simmer and cook for approximately 5 minutes or until mixture thickens and is reduced to about 1 ½ cups. Serve warm over pudding. Can be made ahead and refrigerated. Bring to a simmer again before serving.

Whipped Cream Topping:  Whip heavy cream to stiff peaks; add powdered sugar and spiced rum. Serve dolloped over top of Spiced Rum Sauce.

 

CHALLAH

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You might be wondering why I am including a recipe for a type of bread that few people besides the Jewish faithful eat routinely. (Challah is a yeast-risen egg bread that is traditionally eaten by Jewish people on Shabbat (Friday – the Jewish day of rest), on ceremonial occasions and during festival holidays.) Well my dear readers, I am including this recipe for two very good reasons. 1) Challah (pronounced correctly sounds like a soft “k” before halla.) is lovely. Like Brioche, Challah is slightly sweet and quite rich from both eggs and fat. Where Brioche uses butter instead of oil, and more of it, Challah uses more eggs. Both are quite decadent and absolutely delicious. 2) The second reason I decided to include this recipe is because I am going to post my Bread Pudding with Spiced Rum Sauce recipe next.  And my bread pudding uses cubed Challah. So I wanted you to know how easy and affordable it is to build before I posted the bread pudding recipe. (Also, Challah can be a little spendy to purchase, not to mention difficult to find.) Remember, I am on your side. If I can help you cut cost while you prepare delicious food at home, I feel I will have justly deserved the very large income I receive for writing this blog!

  • 1 pkg. dry yeast (1 tablespoon)
  • 3 ¾ c. bread flour, divided
  • ¾ c. warm water
  • 3 lg. eggs, room temperature, divided
  • ½ c. vegetable oil
  • 1 ½ tsp. salt
  • ¼ c. sugar
  • poppy or sesame seeds, opt.

Combine the yeast, 3/4 cup of the bread flour, and the warm water in a large mixing bowl. (I use the bowl of my Kitchen aid mixer.) Let the yeast slurry stand uncovered for 10-20 minutes, or until it begins to ferment and puff up slightly. Add 2 eggs, oil, salt, and sugar into the puffed yeast slurry and beat until the eggs are well incorporated and the salt and sugar have dissolved. Add the remaining 3 cups flour all at once. Knead the dough until smooth and soft. Cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for 2 hours or until doubled in bulk. (The dough can be refrigerated before it has been allowed to rise, but it will take an additional 30 to 60 minutes to rise after you take it out of the refrigerator.) After the dough has doubled, punch it down and divide into 2 pieces. Shape into 2 elongated loaves and place on a lightly buttered baking sheet or parchment paper. (Alternatively, the dough can be divided into three-six  equal balls, rolled into skinny strands, and braided for a more traditional appearance.) Beat the remaining egg with a few drops of water and brush the loaves/loaf. Allow the loaves/loaf to rise until doubled. Brush again with any remaining egg wash. Unless you are using the Challah for bread pudding or French toast, sprinkle the braided loaf with seeds before baking in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes or until the loaves/loaf sound hollow when gently tapped. If the Challah is browning too fast, gently tent with aluminum foil. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Note: Challah bread makes incredible French toast. Just dip thick slices of bread in a mixture of eggs, milk, a wee drop of vanilla, and a dash of cinnamon; fry in butter. Serve with warm maple or fruit syrup topped with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.

 

PEACH KUCHEN

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There are few recipes with which I can impress people regarding my ultimate command of all things gluten as much as when I serve these amazing bar cookies/dessert. I really should not be sharing this recipe with you because my expertise in the kitchen is going to suffer a mighty hit when you realize how easy Peach Kuchen is to prepare. But because I hold you in such high regard and want you also to be known as kitchen geniuses, I am going to make the supreme sacrifice. (Nobility obviously runs in my family. It runs alright, as fast and as far away as possible!) But back to the recipe. I found this recipe probably 25 years ago, and as with many of the recipes I am going to share with you, couldn’t name the author even if someone threatened to take away my KitchenAid mixer! So for what it’s worth, take my advice and prepare Peach Kuchen next time you need a quick and easy cookie/dessert. You are simply not going to believe how good these few pantry and refrigerator staples can taste when combined for this dessert. And yes, of course, butter, eggs, and sour cream are staples in my home! If I even run low on butter and sour cream, I break out in hives. As far as white cake mix, coconut, and sliced peaches, they too are standard ingredients I always try to have on hand. (And no, I don’t break out in hives if a white cake mix doesn’t happen to be in residence in my pantry. I lose sleep of course until I can get to the store and purchase one, but I don’t break out in hives. That would be ridiculous!)

  • ¾ c. cold butter
  • 1 box white cake mix
  • ½ c. coconut
  • 1 can (29-oz.) sliced peaches
  • 1 T. cinnamon (yes, 1 tablespoon!)
  • ½ c. sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 c. sour cream

Cut butter into cake mix until crumbly. Add coconut. Pat mixture into an ungreased 12×17-inch medium sized jelly roll pan (a 10×16-inch pan can be used in a pinch if you don’t own a 12×17); bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool. Meanwhile, drain the peaches and chop into pea sized pieces. When crust is cool, arrange peach pieces evenly over the surface. Mix cinnamon and sugar together and sprinkle evenly over the peaches. Combine egg and sour cream and slather evenly over the top of the cinnamon and sugar. Bake another 25 minutes or until sour cream mixture is set. (Thin cracks will start to appear on the surface when the sour cream is set.)  Cool and cut into small squares.

Note: I have never served this cookie/dessert without someone asking me for the recipe. These are simply heaven on earth good.

 

 

PROSCIUTTO WRAPPED PORK TENDERLOIN

It isn’t very often that I get to prepare a braised meat dish where the first step isn’t to dredge the meat in seasoned flour and fry said meat until brown all over in hot vegetable or olive oil. Or pat the meat all over until it is very dry, season it with salt and pepper and fry it in a small amount of oil or butter over fairly high heat. So when I find a recipe for braised meat without this step, I am naturally suspicious! After all, how in the name of all things caramelized or browned is my meat going to have any taste? Then of course, what about the sauce? How is my sauce going to have any depth of flavor without all those wonderful little browned bits in the bottom of the pan? (And really, isn’t a braised meat recipe all about the sauce?) Well fret not. This recipe is living (well not really living anymore) proof that browning and caramelizing meat is not the only way to assure extraordinary flavor in braised dishes. I can’t truly begin to describe how tender and flavorful pork is when it has been prepared this way. And the sauce, oh, it is truly out of this world. So next time you want an easy recipe for pork tenderloin that does not require marinating the meat for hours or browning it before adding the other ingredients, give this dish a try. It is quick and easy enough to prepare even on a weeknight. I know that for a fact. (I wasn’t always a retired lady of leisure you know. I too know what it is like to come home from a long day of work to a cold empty kitchen and a hungry family.) I wish I had some words of wisdom to offer you at this point which would miraculously make your life easier when it came to fixing supper after a long day. But unfortunately I paid good money to have my memories of the first hour at home after work blocked, so you will just have to figure it out for yourself. However, I have retained a couple of little hints that I can share with you. Make your dinners fairly simple, packed full of good nutrition and made with love. Love is actually the best ingredient you can ever add to any dish.

  • 1 T. Dijon mustard
  • ¾ tsp. dried thyme
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 pork tenderloin
  • 6-8 slices prosciutto
  • 1 T. vegetable oil
  • ¾ c. dry Riesling
  • ½ c. half & half
  • 2 T. chopped fresh Italian parsley

Combine mustard, thyme, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Remove all silver skin, connective tissue, and fat from tenderloins. Dry completely with paper towels. Lay 3-4 pieces of prosciutto next to each other (long sides together) on a flat surface. Slather about a fourth of the mustard mixture on one side of a pork tenderloin. Place it mustard side down on the prosciutto. Slather another fourth of the mustard on the top and wrap the prosciutto around the pork. Repeat the process with the second tenderloin. Pour the vegetable oil in an oven proof baking pan (about the right size for the two tenderloins) and lay the tenderloins, seam side down in the pan. Pour the wine over the meat and bake uncovered in a pre-heated 350 degree oven until meat reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees (35-45 minutes). Remove meat from pan and cover with aluminum foil for at least 15 minutes before slicing. Meanwhile add half & half to remaining meat juices and simmer while meat is resting. The sauce should thicken a bit as it is simmering, so watch carefully. After the meat has rested, slice to desired thickness and place on serving platter. Spoon sauce on meat and sprinkle with parsley. Hint: An electric knife works best when slicing the tenderloins.

Side Dish Suggestions:  baked sweet potatoes and a green veggie or green salad

Wine Pairing: chilled Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc

 

 

WHITE CHEDDAR CHEESE GRITS

So, you’re asking yourself, why is Patti, the highly sophisticated world traveler and lover of the arts, posting a recipe for something as ordinary as grits? I believe that to be a very fair question and worthy of a dignified answer. Because they’re darned good honey, that’s why! Allow me to elaborate. A few years ago when Mr. C. and I were visiting daughter Eden and her family, Eden fixed grits for us one morning for breakfast. This was about the same time polenta started appearing on every menu in America. I had tried polenta several times while dining, and frankly had not been very impressed. So I wasn’t coming to the table (so to speak) with much hope that grits would taste any better. Ho baby, was I wrong! And I have to tell you when I am wrong, I am usually very, very wrong. This time was no exception. Eden’s grits were so amazing I could not stop eating them.  I was absolutely blown away. I immediately begged for the recipe. As soon as I checked out the ingredient list I knew why this dried ground hominy dish had stolen my heart. Butter, heavy cream, and sharp white cheddar cheese! The unholy trinity of health conscious people everywhere. So, needless to say, White Cheddar Cheese Grits do not grace our table on a frequent basis. But when I want to impress the socks off guests or am feeling particularly in need of a good pampering, I fix this recipe. And for those readers who love polenta, I must confess that over the years I too have come to love it as much as I do any other starchy food. That is to say, with a passion!  I just know that had “carbohydrate” been one of the 12 signs of the zodiac, I would have been born under it (with “dairy” ascending, of course)!

  • 2 c. milk
  • 1 c. water
  • ¾ c. quick grits (like Albers)
  • 1/3 c. butter
  • ¾ c. heavy cream or evaporated milk
  • 2 ½ c. grated sharp white cheddar cheese
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 large eggs
  • 6-12 drops hot sauce
  • 1/3 c. chopped fresh chives, opt.
  • paprika

Bring the milk and water to a boil in a medium sized covered sauce pan. Slowly whisk in the grits. Cover pan and reduce the heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter, cream, cheese, salt, and pepper to taste. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, hot sauce, and chives. Gradually add the egg mixture to the hot grit mixture, stirring vigorously to prevent eggs from curdling. Pour into a buttered casserole dish, sprinkle with paprika, and bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and puffy. Serve for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES

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There are few foods as evocative of my childhood as bread and butter pickles. When I was young every holiday meal had to include “the relish tray”. And said relish tray had to offer at the very least black olives, carrot and celery sticks, and pickles. Sometimes the pickles were homemade dill pickles, but more often they were bread and butter pickles, because they were my dad’s favorite. It was always my job to assemble the “tray” which I gladly did with nary a “mom, do I have to?”  It was simply the best chore ever! I got to cut the carrot and celery sticks, open the can of olives and drain the pickles.  And, I was allowed to arrange the tray any way I wanted! Of course arranging the tray was really the fun part, well that and eating most of the olives and a considerable portion of the pickles before they ever hit the tray! So when I found this simple recipe years later and it didn’t even involve the “C” word (canning), I was very excited.  (And yes, I would gladly give credit to the awesome author of this recipe if I had any recollection. But I’m certain that when I saw bread and butter pickles, easy, and 24 hours all in the same sentence, the recipe could have been handed down from Moses for all I would have noticed.) So if you too love a good bread and butter pickle, give this recipe a try. I have actually observed grown men hover over a bowl of these pickles mumbling mine, mine, mine! I could easier accept such behavior from a flock of seagulls, for example, than grown men. But truth be told, I do understand. These lovely pickles are just that good.

  • 2 English cucumbers, partially peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 ½ T. kosher salt
  • 1 c. thinly sliced yellow onion
  • 1 c. granulated sugar
  • ¼ c. packed brown sugar
  • 1 c. white vinegar
  • ½ c. cider vinegar
  • 1 ½ tsp. mustard seed
  • ½ tsp. celery seed
  • 1/8 tsp. turmeric

Combine cucumber slices and salt in a large non-reactive bowl (glass works best); cover and chill for 90 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. Drain again and return cucumbers to bowl. Add onion. Combine sugars, vinegars, mustard seed, celery seed, and turmeric in a medium sized saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugars dissolve. Pour hot mixture over cucumbers and onion; let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. At this point the pickles can be transferred to an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. (Good luck on that! They have yet to last that long in our refrigerator.)

 

MEXICAN HOT COCOA

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You know, there are just times when you have to make the supreme sacrifice and learn how to prepare something that you yourself have no desire to consume, or in this case imbibe. And because I am not inherently a martyr, (that was my mother’s specialty), I don’t often “put myself out” enough to play around with a recipe I just know I am not going to like. But some people really love hot cocoa and one of them happens to live with me! (Actually it turns out that most people like hot cocoa. I am definitely in the minority on this one.) So I suppose at this point you think you have figured out the end of this story. That I have had some amazing revelation and I am now transformed into a cocoa lover because truly, has there ever been a better taste combination than chocolate and orange?  Wrong!  I still don’t like hot cocoa even if it does contain chocolate and orange. However, my husband and everyone else I have ever served this to think it is just delicious. So if you enjoy a cup of cocoa on a cold winter day, give this recipe a try. As for myself, I’ll have another cup of coffee, thank you!

  • 1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ¼ c. sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 1/3 c. boiling water
  • 1 tsp. orange zest
  • ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling
  • 4 c. whole milk
  • ½ tsp. vanilla
  • 1 c. heavy cream
  • 2 T. powdered sugar
  • 1 T. Cointreau or other orange flavored liqueur

Combine cocoa powder, sugar, salt, and boiling water in a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring the entire time. (Will scorch if not stirred.) Stir in orange zest, cinnamon, and milk. Bring to just under a boil, remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Whip cream to stiff peaks. Add powdered sugar and Cointreau. Ladle cocoa into 4 cups and dollop with whipped cream. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

PICNIC BUNS

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There are just some recipes that bring back memories that make you feel good. This recipe and this way of shaping dinner rolls (my grandmother always called them picnic buns) take me back to my childhood. I grew up on 2 ½ acres in Kenmore, Washington. There were two homes on this parcel of land. One home was occupied by my dad, mom, two younger brothers and me; the second residence belonged to my maternal grandfather and grandmother. We had fruit trees, various types of berries, a couple of cows, a lot of chickens (my grandfather sold eggs for a living), a creek, a copse of trees, and the biggest vegetable garden you could ever imagine. My mom, the dear woman, could not find her way out of a recipe if her life depended on it (in other words, she was not a good cook). And my grandmother, who on a regular basis could not make jello, did make two types of food that were sensational. She made the best bread and pies imaginable. Why she could bake a pie that tasted like heaven and cookies that were almost unpalatable will forever remain a mystery? But her Banana Split Pie and Mince Meat Pie were heaven sent. Also, any kind of bread she baked was perfect in every respect. So in memory of my grandmother, who was patient, loving, taught me to appreciate art, kittens, clouds, and how to bake bread, I offer you her signature rolls.  I hope this recipe brings back good memories of special food you too once shared with loved ones.

 

  • ¼ c. warm water
  • 1 T. or 1 pkg. active dry yeast
  • ¾c. warm, scalded milk (not too warm or your yeasty beasties won’t be happy)
  • ¼ c. sugar
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 egg, room temperature
  • ¼ c. Crisco (sometimes I use butter – sorry grandma)
  • 3 ½ c. or more flour
  • Vegetable oil

In a large mixing bowl, (I use the bowl of my Kitchen Aid mixer), combine the water, yeast, milk, sugar, salt, egg, and Crisco. Let proof for about 10 minutes. Add 2 cups of the flour and mix thoroughly. Add enough remaining flour to form a medium stiff dough. Pour about a teaspoon of oil over the dough and roll into a ball. When dough ball is completely greased, cover the mixer bowl with a tea towel, let rise for about 90 minutes or until doubled. Punch down and let rise again until doubled, about 30 minutes. Butter a 9×13-inch pan. Punch down dough again and divide into 18 pieces. (I just squeeze off small balls of dough as I place them into the prepared pan.) Cover with a tea towel again, and let rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 12-15 minutes or until a nice golden brown. Serve warm.