Orange Drop Cookies.. from Kathy Oakes

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (softened), 2 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1 t. baking soda, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1 t. salt, 1 orange grated (zest only), 4 cups flour, 1 cup sour milk.

Directions:  cream butter with sugar, beat in eggs, add baking soda, orange juice, salt and grated orange zest (stir to combine)... add flour and sour milk alternating and roll into a ball.  Scoop out with ice cream scoop or spoon and form a balls.  Place them a on cookie sheet and flatten top a little.  Bake @ 375 degrees for 13 minutes.  Cool completely and frost (optional).  Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Frosting:

1/4 cup orange juice,  1 cup powdered sugar, 2 T melted butter.. Beat together and drizzle over cookies.  May need more powdered sugar if too think or add a few drops of OJ if too thick.

Homemade Beer Batter Bread

Ingredients:


1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
3 cups self-rising flour (you can buy this or make it. To make it its 1 cup flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder. Combine and sift increase the amounts to make however much you need)
3 tablespoons white sugar

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and flour. Add beer and continue to mix, first using a wooden spoon, then your hands. Batter will be sticky. Pour into a 9 x 5 inch greased loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees ) for 50 for 60 minutes. The top will be crunchy, and the insides will be soft. Serve topped with butter or cheese spread.

See super easy and you'll never have to go to the store to buy a mix again because everyone should have these ingredients at home all the time anyways.
 

White cheesecake with chocolate mousse

Ingredients

Curd

• 1 kg cheesecake curd (from bucket)
• 3 tablespoons of flour or pudding, e.g. vanilla, cream, coconut
• 1 large can of 530 g of sweetened condensed milk
• 3 proteins
• juice of 1 lime (or lemon)
• aroma*

Chocolate mousse

• 3 eggs (yolks and egg whites separately) + 3 yolks
• 150 g sugar
• 1 tablespoon of cocoa
• 200 ml 30% cream
• 100 g butter
• 250 g dark chocolate

Finish

• 200 g (1 cup) 12% or 18% sour thick cream
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Add a note

Preparation

• Warm the ingredients for the cheese mass at room temperature. Heat the oven to 175 degrees. The bottom of the airtight and high (8 cm) springform pan with a diameter of about 24 cm lay out with baking paper, fasten the springform pan letting the paper out of the rim.

Curd

• Put cheese, flour or pudding in a large bowl, add condensed milk, egg whites, lime juice and aroma. Mix with a spoon or blend until smooth. Pour the cheese mass into the cake tin and place in a preheated oven. Bake for 30 minutes until the mass is almost solidified (a little longer, about 35 minutes if the cheese was thin and slightly thinner).
• Take out the cheesecake and spread cream mixed with powdered sugar on it. Put back into the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes at the same temperature. Take out the cheesecake and cool. If you do not make the mousse, after cooling the cheesecake remove the ring from the cake tin and put it in the fridge. We lay out the mousse on the cooled cheesecake.

Chocolate mousse

• Pour some (50 g) sugar, cocoa into a metal bowl, add 6 yolks and cream. Place the bowl on the pot with the water gently boiling (about 1-2 glasses). Stir with a wooden spoon until the mass is hot or until it thickens and sticks to the spoon.
• Remove the bowl from the pan and immediately add the diced butter and the broken into cubes chocolate (make sure that no water gets into the bowl). Mix until the ingredients melt and combine with each other.
• Separately, beat the proteins with the rest of the sugar to a stiff foam: first, whisk the proteins without sugar only at low speed mixer then increase the speed of the mixer and beat until the foam is stiff. We gradually add sugar, whipping constantly. After adding sugar, beat for another 2-3 minutes to make the foam shiny and shiny. Proteins combine with chocolate mass (it is best to add the foam to the mousse in 3 batches), mixing very gently with a spoon.

Finish

• Put the mousse on the cheesecake and put in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours or all night. When the mousse is sufficiently stiff, cut the cheesecake with a knife around the sides of the cake tin and remove the rim. Put in the fridge to freeze. Cheesecake can be sprinkled with chocolate chips and served with marinated fruit.

Application suggestion

cherries in syrup (frużelinie) / dark chocolate shavings

tips

* e.g. 3-4 tablespoons of orange, coconut, almond or other liqueur, white rum, white chocolate, vanilla sugar or vanilla extract

 

Guinness Corned Beef and Cabbage

Ingredients

• 2 pounds red potatoes, quartered
• 1 pound carrots, cut into 3-inch pieces
• 2 celery ribs, cut into 3-inch pieces
• 1 small onion, quartered
• 1 corned beef brisket with spice packet (3 to 3-1/2 pounds)
• 8 whole cloves
• 6 whole peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 bottle (12 ounces) Guinness stout or reduced-sodium beef broth
• 1/2 small head cabbage, thinly sliced
• Prepared horseradish

 Directions

• In a 6-qt. slow cooker, combine potatoes, carrots, celery and onion. Add corned beef (discard spice packet or save for another use).
• Place cloves, peppercorns and bay leaf on a double thickness of cheesecloth. Gather corners of cloth to enclose seasonings; tie securely with string. Place in slow cooker. Pour stout over top.
• Cook, covered, on low 8-10 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender, adding cabbage during the last hour of cooking. Discard spice bag.
• Cut beef diagonally across the grain into thin slices. Serve beef with vegetables and horseradish.

Nutrition Facts

3 ounces cooked beef with 3/4 cup vegetables (calculated without horseradish): 374 calories, 20g fat (7g saturated fat), 104mg cholesterol, 1256mg sodium, 25g carbohydrate (5g sugars, 4g fiber), 22g protein.   (Credit goes to Taste of Home Magazine on line)  Saving on my blog for later use.

Purslane salad

Purslane salad is also known as "pig weed" and grows wild everywhere (see picture below)

Ingredients:

• 1bunch purslane, chopped, with the stems removed
• 1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cucumber, chopped
• 3/4 cup melon, cubed
• 5 radishes, thinly sliced
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons plain whole milk yogurt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup feta cheese
• pinches salt
• pinches pepper

Instructions:

Leave the red onion, red wine vinegar, and lemon juice in a bowl aside to marinate. In a large bowl, put the purslane, drizzle with yogurt and olive oil, and distribute them evenly over the greens using tongs.

Add the lemon zest, salt, and pepper, stir, and then add the red onions, vinegar, and lemon juice.  Stir again, add the remaining ingredients, and enjoy it!

 

Herbed Winter Squash Tart from the Woodstock Inn

Herbed Winter Squash Tart from the Woodstock Inn

Crust:
1 ¾ cups flour, plus more for rolling the dough
¼ tsp salt
12 Tbsps cold unsalted butter, diced
1-3 Tbsps ice water

For the Filling:
1 pound winter squash, peeled, seeded and diced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 sprigs each fresh rosemary and basil, stemmed and chopped
4 sprigs thyme, stemmed and chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 ½ cups heavy cream
3 large eggs
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
6 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
First: make the crust dough. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and salt. Add the butter and work it until the dough looks like cornmeal with pea-sized lumps of butter. Add 1 Tbsp cold water at a time until the dough comes together. Gather the dough into a ball, press into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 45 minutes and up to 2 days.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and set a rack to the lower third position.
Prepare the Filling: In a large bowl, toss together the squash, onion, mushrooms, garlic, herbs and salt, then add olive oil and toss again. Arrange mixture in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast until tender, 20-25 minutes. Remove and let cool until room temperature.
In a medium bowl, whisk the cream, eggs and nutmeg. Set aside.
Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out on a lightly floured surface a 14” circle about 1/8” thick. Transfer to a 12” tart (or pie) pan and trim. Sprinkle half of the cheese on the bottom of the crust. Top with the squash mixture and then top with the remaining cheese. Pour the egg mixture over all. Bake until golden brown and cooked through, 30-40 minutes. Let cool. Makes 8 servings.

Hot Milk Cake

Due to the economic restrictions of the Great Depression era, home cooks had to get creative to make the ingredients they had stretch. One of the more deliciously inventive recipes from that time is this hot milk cake. Despite it’s simplicity, it has remained popular in some parts of the country due to its simplicity and great flavor. Here’s how you make it:
 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of butter 1 cup of milk 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract 4 eggs 2 cups of sugar 2 cups of flour 2 teaspoons of baking powder 1 teaspoon of salt powdered sugar 

Steps:

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and adjust your oven so that there’s a rack in the middle position. Grease up a Bundt cake pan as well. 2. Melt your butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in milk and vanilla until small bubbles form around the edge of the pan. 3. In an electric mixer with a whisk attached, combine your eggs and sugar on medium-high for five minutes. 4. In a side bowl, sift together your flour, baking powder and salt. 5. When the eggs and sugar have tripled in volume, gradually add your hot milk mix, mixing on low. 6. Add your dry ingredients as well in two parts, mixing after each pour. 7. Pour the resulting batter into the Bundt pan and bake it for an hour, checking five minutes before the time is up. Be sure not to overcook! 8. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning it out to cool all the way. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.