Behind the Kitchen Door

Everything From Scratch

2015-05-29T08:46:00.001-07:00

Eeeek! I just read about another grocery store product that we shouldn’t be eating. There are so many new ones everyday that my head is spinning. Fortunately, if you are feeling the same way—there is an answer. Make everything from scratch. Yourself. In your own kitchen. That way, you have 100% control over what goes into your food and into your family.

I know you are protesting that you can’t possibly do that—way too time consuming and, besides, you don’t know how to make mayonnaise, cheese, yogurt, and crème fraiche. Not to mention all your own jellies, jams and preserves, peanut butter, sour cream, bread, cooked beans, cream soups, sauces—the list is endless.

Most of these foods really are not too time-consuming, because you make them in large batches and once made, you have it done for quite a long time. If you use mixes now but are worried about the preservatives and additives in them, you can make your own mixes. Not only are you feeling good about the health aspect, but it is incredibly satisfying to make your own ingredients and foods.

Probably my favorite category of foods from scratch is the dairy category. I don’t have access to raw milk products, so I have to buy homogenized and pasteurized milk and cream. But, I do have access to milk from cows that have not had antibiotics and other questionable treatments. In our area, the best tasting milk is the Polka Dot brand. I use only whole milk—but you can make all of the following products with lower fat milk. (I have been reading a lot of information that says full fat dairy is better for you).

Yogurt (regular and Greek)

A yogurt maker is a very handy thing to have, especially if you and your family consume a lot of yogurt (we do!) You can, however, use an electric frying pan, some slow cookers, thermoses and ovens with gas pilot lights. I have only tried the first two, but have assurances from reliable sources that the others all work. The only caveat is that if you use a slow cooker, you test it for temperature, since if it can’t stay at 100 or below on warm setting, it will not work. My yogurt maker is made by Total Chef and I think it was about $30. on line. I love it because it doesn’t take up much space and I like the jar size.

When I use my electric skillet, I put small, half-pint jars of yogurt in it so the cover will fit over them. I put it on the “warm” setting and leave it overnight. In the morning, put the covers for the screw-top jars on them and refrigerate.

To make plain yogurt:

2 cups whole milk

1 Tbsp yogurt starter (from health food store) or 2 Tbsp purchased yogurt

Rinse large saucepan with cold water to keep heated milk from scorching. Heat milk in saucepan until it barely simmers or shivers—about 180-190 degrees. Cool in a sink of cold water until lukewarm. Add yogurt starter or yogurt, stirring well. Pour through a small sieve into jars. Put cover on yogurt maker or electric skillet and turn on. Leave for at least 10 hours. Depending on the temperature of the room, it can take a little longer. Gently wiggle one container to see if it is set. Cover and refrigerate.

To make Greek yogurt:

2 cups whole milk
1 Tbsp yogurt starter or 2 Tbsp purchased yogurt
1 Tbsp. instant dry milk powder

Rinse large saucepan as above. Heat milk until barely simmering. Cool in sink. Add yogurt starter and dry milk powder. Whisk until well mixed. Pour through a small sieve into jars. Put cover on yogurt maker or electric skillet and turn on. Leave for at least 10 hours. Cover and refrigerate. When yogurt is cold, test its thickness. If you want thicker yogurt, line a sieve with a damp cheesecloth or coffee filter and place over a large bowl. Dump yogurt into lined sieve and allow to drain until you are pleased with the thickness. Don’t throw away the whey (the liquid in the bowl). Add it to the whey you have from making ricotta cheese (next recipe) or pour it into a container (glass jar or jug) and keep it in the refrigerator to use for making smoothies and in place of buttermilk for pancakes and biscuits, etc. It is super healthy and delicious and lightens baked goods the same way buttermilk does. (They sell whey powder for astronomical prices in the store and it’s all the rage for health-minded people)

Ricotta Cheese

Technically, this is not true ricotta cheese because that is made from sheep’s milk and this is from cow’s.

However, this replaces ricotta in any recipe and is so superior to the store-bought product you won’t believe it was this simple to make!! We use this cheese in small balls in salads and to spread on home-made bagels or muffins. On bagels, drizzle with honey—yum!

2 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream
½ tsp. kosher salt
2 Tbsp white vinegar

Rinse large saucepan with cold water to keep milk from scorching. Heat milk, cream and salt in saucepan until it comes to a true simmer. Allow to simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add vinegar. Do not disturb for 2 minutes. Meantime, line sieve with damp cheesecloth and put over large bowl. After 2 minute sitting time, very slowly stir mixture with a wooden spoon. Continue slowly stirring until curds separate from whey and you can see the clearish whey. Carefully pour contents of pan into lined sieve. Allow to drip about 10 minutes or slightly longer if you want a firmer cheese. Remove cheese to container and refrigerate. Pour whey into jug or jar and refrigerate. If you want a true probiotic whey, pour a little whey from making Greek yogurt into your jug or add a ¼ tsp. yogurt starter to whey, mixing well.

Breakfast at the Candlelight Inn

2015-04-30T15:30:00.000-07:00

Breakfast will be a highlight of your visit to the
Candlelight Inn. Lynette is a cookbook and blog
author,
former newspaper food columnist, and is devoted to cooking delicious food from all natural ingredients. Our three-course breakfast includes unusual fruit starters such as strawberry soup; entrees that include Orange French Toast and Minnesota Wild Rice and bacon Quiche. Dessert for breakfast? Absolutely!! Yes, you will be treated to "pots de creme au chocolate" or lemon pudding cakes with Blackberry Sauce. All breads, pastries and desserts are made from scratch early each morning.

Grandma DuBois

2014-09-13T21:33:00.004-07:00

I had two grandmothers that I visited every summer. One lived in North Mankato, Minnesota. She was a widow living in a beautiful English Tudor home with 4 bedrooms, dining,living, kitchen and sunroom. Sunrooms used to be very common—they were not like solariums of today—no glass panels or hot tubs. The room had lots of windows and was open to both the living room and the dining room. That Grandma worked at Martin and Hoer’s Jewelry store so my cousin (6 months older) and I were on our own during the day. We were never at a loss for something to do, though; Grandma’s house was full of fun things to keep us busy. She was a magazine fan and had stacks and stacks of Women’s magazines: Ladies’ Home Journal, McCall’s, Good Housekeeping, American Home, Better Homes and Gardens and more. In those days, women’s’ magazines were really fun. We spent hours going through those magazines, cutting out pictures of movie stars that we loved (they were in commercials, usually, such as soap or skin cream or the movies that they were starring in). Then we took on their personas and pretended. I was Debra Paget and she was Susan Hayward.

When we tired of that, we turned to games that Grandma had around. A card game called Touring or Chinese checkers. Of course, lunchtime rolled around and we were always starving. A lot of times, Grandma would have told us to walk over town and meet her at Woolworth’s lunch counter. There we almost always ordered the same lunch: grilled cheese sandwiches served with potato chips and a dill pickle, a lime phosphate and a big almond cookie.

When I was there by myself or with my brother (4 years older) I would spend hours playing with Grandma’s china-head pin cushion doll. Grandma had a collection of handkerchiefs that was stupendous. They were stored in a small cardboard chest of drawers that sat on a large, regular dresser drawer. She let me take the small chest and the doll and a bunch of pretty hat pins and dress the doll in thousands (or so it seemed) outfits made up of those handkerchiefs.

Another highlight of the day was going to the corner store. We could spend an hour looking at all our choices with the nickel we had. There were tons of candy bars and frozen confections like push-ups or popsicles, but, unlike the little store up in St. Louis Park where I lived, this store had ice cream in large bulk cartons where a clerk would dip out a cone in your favorite flavor. After looking at everything and leafing through a few Little Lulu comic books, I would almost always end up with a cone.

As we strolled back the 3 blocks to Grandmas, we had to pass Koppen’s Farm. It was a small farm right in the middle of the town—and they had a big barn in front where they sold the produce from the farm. Mr. Koppen was a large man who wore old-time overalls and spit tobacco all the time—much to my grandma’s disgust. She didn’t really like us to spend much time there although she would send us down to pick up sweet corn or some tomatoes. His daughter, Jane was also a large woman who was a friend of my mother. I remember my mom saying that Jane had served her an onion sandwich for lunch once—I tried it one time after I heard that but our onions were probably stronger than hers—because I couldn’t really eat it.

That North Mankato house was situated on South Avenue which butted up to large woods. Right next to the house was a sand road that was bordered on one side by the woods and the other by a neighbor’s house. We could follow the sand road down to the Minnesota River (about a block or so). At that time, the river was pretty dirty. The only fish in it were carp (or so my mother said). When she had been a child growing up in that house, she said the river was full of great fish, like Northern Pike and Walleye. She and her brothers fished all the time in the summer. Since Mom grew up in the Great Depression, they ate all the fish they caught. The bathroom in that house (on the second floor) looked out on the back yard and the woods just beyond. The toilet was situated right next to the window. Mom said that her brothers took their shotguns with them when they used the bathroom and sat on the toilet and shot squirrels for dinner. I’ve often wondered if that was really true.

When Grandma came home from work, she was usually too tired to make much of a dinner. Our favorite supper was waffles. She had some plates with a little Dutch people and a brown floral background that we called her “waffle plates” because she always used them when we had waffle suppers. I still make her waffle recipe which I got from her many years later—and everyone agrees they are the best waffles ever. Though I’ve searched far and wide, I have never found plates like hers—and I would dearly love to have them.

Grandma’s Waffles

2 ¼ cups flour

4 tsp. baking powder

¾ tsp. salt

1 ½ Tbsp. sugar

2 beaten eggs

2 ¼ cups milk

¾ cup salad oil

Sift together dry ingredients. Combine remaining ingredients; add just before baking, beating only until moistened. (Batter will be thin) Bake in preheated waffle maker.

An excerpt from American Home Cooking, by Cheryl and Bill Jamison talks about Brunswick stew:

Raymond Sokolov tells the most common story about the origin of Brunswick stew in Fading Feast (1983). According to the account, a Virginia slave named “Uncle Jimmy” Matthews created the concoction in 1828 for Dr. Creed Haskins and friends, using squirrels he shot in the woods of Brunswick County. Descendants of Haskins claimed that the original recipe contained nothing except squirrel, bacon, butter, onions, stale bread, and salt and pepper to taste, making it a meaty ragout. Cooks began adding other vegetables within a few decades, and around the same time started considering chicken as a viable substitute for squirrel. In Common Sense In The Household, (1871), Marion Harland, who grew up in Virginia, said you could use either meat, but gave a preference for squirrel (two large gray ones or three smaller critters). She also put potatoes, tomatoes, butter beans and corn in the pot. Other popular cookbook authors of the same period dropped the squirrel entirely and threw in extra vegetables.

Sarah Tyson Rorer, from Pennsylvania, called for chicken, ham, and limas, and Massachusetts Native Maria Parloa went with leftover mutton, carrots, turnips, and parsnips, turning a sunny southern stew into a wintry northern hodgepodge.

Here’s a recipe for a modern Brunswick stew using chicken:

½ pound bacon, chopped fine

¼ pound salt pork, chopped fine

2 large onions, chopped

2 ½ to 3-pound chicken, cut up

2 10-oz. packages frozen lima beans

3 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen

28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

6 ounces fresh green beans, sliced into 1” lengths

2 ½ Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 ½ Tbsp. yellow mustard

1 Tbsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 Tbsp. salt

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

3 large russet potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed

Sweat bacon and salt pork in a Dutch oven over medium heat. When fat is well rendered and meat is brown and still limp, stir in the onions and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 additional minutes. Add the chicken and cover with 10 cups water. Cook uncovered for about 1 ¼ hours, until chicken is tender. Remove the chicken and set aside until cool enough to handle. Stir in the lima beans, corn, tomatoes, green beans, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, pepper, salt, and cayenne, and continue simmering 30 additional minutes. Shred the chicken into bite size pieces and return to the pot along with the mashed potatoes. Continue to simmer until the meat and vegetables are quite soft and meld together into a thick stew, another 30 to 45 minutes, stirring up from the bottom occasionally. Add more water if needed to keep the stew from drying out. Stew will improve after cooling and reheating.

If you have a few squirrels lying around, by all means use them!

Summer Cooking Class Schedule

2014-06-02T07:42:00.000-07:00

Make your reservation for a Tuesday night at the Candlelight Inn and come early for a cooking class “behind the kitchen door” taught by Lynette from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. You will still have your evening to enjoy beautiful Red Wing. Cost is just $35 per participant. You may take a class even if you do not stay at the B&B. Class must be paid for at time of reservation. Class size is limited so reserve early.

Picnics: Tuesday, June 10, 2014 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

All types of outdoor eating!! What equipment to have, how to cook out, places to picnic, and, of course, lots of good food ideas to put in that basket.

A Frugal Kitchen—Making your own stuff: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Everything from mayonnaise, yogurt, ricotta cheese, yeast breads, granola—many more things can be made by you at home at a fraction of the cost and a real gain in nutritional value and taste. The difference in cost will amaze you and these foods are really easy.

Breakfasts: Tuesday, July 8, 2014 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

By popular request, learn to make a “bed & breakfast” breakfast, with all the secrets to make it delicious and do-able.

Cool Cooking-- Using small appliances: Tuesday, July 20,2014 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

When the temperature goes up, it’s time to get out your small appliances—slow cooker, electric skillet, steamer (or rice maker), blender—anything that will prepare and cook without heating up the kitchen. Lots of recipes and tastings.

A Porch Party: Tuesday, August 5, 2014 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Porch or patio is a great place to entertain. All kinds of ideas for food and decorations as well as themes and fun ideas for kids parties, too.

Farmer’s Market: Tuesday, August 19, 2014 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Shop like the Europeans do: daily peruse the farmer’s market for the freshest produce available. We’ll learn how to check for freshness and make lots of dishes using the seasonal best of the day

Picnic Season

2014-05-29T20:09:00.000-07:00

Eating out usually means restaurants but I think eating outside is an even better choice. The picnic season has begun and it is my favorite eating style. The dictionary definition—an outing with food, eaten in the open—doesn’t include that special state of mind: the carefree, spontaneous mood. I would elaborate on the dictionary definition and say a good picnic is a respite from the ordinary, an escape from routine, a time for adventurous feasting.

Maiden Rock, Wisconsin

My mother loved picnics—she would use any excuse for us to pack up some food and go outdoors; But barring the opportunity to do that, we ate on our backyard picnic table or on the screen porch. After we moved to Southern California when I was thirteen, we had poolside meals cooked in our outdoor Aztec oven. It didn’t matter too much what time of day. She would take us to a mountain location (in California) and cook breakfast in the clear mountain air. We did a fair amount of camping for longer stretches of time, but I really loved the spontaneous outings that Mom dreamed up for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
preferably to a wild and woodsy spot.

She was a great cook, too and the food was extraordinary. Yes, food DOES taste better outdoors, but only if it is good to begin with. There was nothing fancy about her menus—traditional fare like deviled eggs, potato salad, grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, sometimes steaks—but the sides were really special and she always packed that old-fashioned stuff like homemade pickles, relishes, crudités (which we called carrot, celery and radishes) cucumbers in vinegar, extras that were standard then but are rarely seen today.

Sandwiches were always on homemade bread—Mom was an expert bread baker. They always tasted so much better than the ones I fixed myself at home. She had the knack for spreading the right amount of butter or mayo or salad dressing, some horseradish, perhaps, or homemade chili sauce. She filled them full, so there was plenty of middle and not too much bread.

And dessert! Cookies, cake, coffee cakes or muffins for breakfasts as well as pies, lemon bars and brownies. There was always a piece de resistance to end the feast.

I love picnics, too and we indulge in them whenever feasible. Our area sports a great many perfect picnic sites, depending on whether it is a spontaneous lunch for two or a more planned group affair. A very special delight, except that somebody has to prepare everything, right? Well, maybe not if you’ve prepared ahead.

Picnics can be divided into different categories: picnics to take on the road, picnics for the backyard or porch, cook-outs, boat picnics, party picnics, picnics for two.

As soon as the weather starts being reliable, I pack my picnic basket and keep it at the ready. Now, you can stage a very elaborate feast which would entail a lot more than this basket holds, but that takes planning, cooking, inviting, etc. That’s a great way to entertain, but for our purposes here this basket is packed for two people to have a regular meal at the drop of a hat (of course, yours could be for any number).

I have an old-fashioned picnic hamper that has a top that lifts on each side of center and no insulation. In addition, I have several insulated bags that will fit into that rather large hamper. Thermoses are nice. A cooler would work; paper bags work; you don’t have to have fancy equipment. But whatever you use, keep staples inside it.

Napkins

Paper plates or plastic plates

Plastic or regular flatware

Cups--Styrofoam or plastic

A tablecloth and clips to clip it onto a picnic table

Salt and pepper

A roll of aluminum foil

A few paper towels

A few zip-lock plastic bags

Moistened towelettes

You may think of other “must-have” items, but this list is a good beginning.

The food for this type of picnic should be easily assembled and prepared from foods in the freezer, refrigerator, and on the kitchen shelves. Keeping your freezer stocked with prepared sandwiches, fried chicken and other goodies is the key to convenient but tasty dishes. Of course, you can stop at local delis, sandwich shops, or even the deli section of the supermarket to supply the meal, but you can have a real feast by doing a bit of footwork ahead of time. This is a favorite menu:

Fried Chicken

Marinated Vegetable Salad

Coleslaw

Biscuits

Pecan cookies

My favorite fried chicken recipe is delicious either hot or cold. I got it from a Creole woman friend I met in married student housing on an Oklahoma campus in the late ‘60’s. She was from New Orleans and taught me to cook Creole style. The actual directions for this chicken start with “Put the chicken in the batter before church and it will be ready to fry when you get home.”

Janice Howard’s Real Southern Fried Chicken:

1 Frying Chicken, cut up

1-2 cups flour

1 Tbsp. salt

1 tsp. freshly ground pepper

One-half tsp. paprika

One-half tsp. garlic powder (or use garlic salt and reduce salt by one quarter tsp.)

2 eggs

2 cups half-and-half

Canola oil for frying (about 2 cups)

Two to three hours before frying: Put chicken parts in a mixture of half-and-half and beaten eggs in shallow glass baking pan large enough to hold chicken in one layer. Refrigerate two or three hours.

Prepare Chicken to fry: Put flour and seasonings into zip-lock bag. Add 2 pieces of chicken at a time to bag and shake well. Put on cooling rack to dry. When all pieces of chicken are coated, leave on rack for 10 minutes. Shake pieces of chicken in flour mixture again, adding more flour if necessary.

To fry: Preheat oil on medium heat in 10 or 12-inch cast-iron skillet (can use any very heavy skillet) until bread cube turns brown in 1 minute. Put pieces of chicken into skillet, largest pieces first. Make sure oil is at medium heat. Oil should come half way up chicken pieces; if not, add more oil. Fry 5 minutes (without covering), turn, fry 5 minutes more. Add small pieces to skillet, being careful not to crowd chicken. Fry 10 minutes; turn all pieces, fry 10 minutes more. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately or cool, wrap and freeze. Bring to room temperature before eating if frozen.

Marinated Vegetable Salad

Dressing (mix first)

1 cup vinegar

1 cup sugar

½ cup salad oil

1 Tbsp. salt

2 tsp., pepper

1 sp. celery seed

Add to dressing:

1 14-oz can peas drained

1 14-oz can French style green beans, drained

1 jar pimientos

1 green pepper, diced

1 small onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, diced

Chill overnight; use slotted spoon to serve; refrigerate leftovers for up to 5 days/

Mom was an ad libber when it came to coleslaw; she just made up a recipe on the spot and it was always a little different, but always good. I have followed suit to some degree, although I like a little more consistency. The following recipe is flexible enough for you to ad lib, too, depending on what you have on hand.

Cole Slaw

½ head of cabbage

2 large carrots

½ green pepper

Other vegetables, as desired, i.e. zucchini, celery, sweet red peppers, cucumbers

½ cup mayonnaise (preferably homemade)

¼ cup sour cream (can use full-fat yogurt)

2 Tbsp. vinegar

2 Tbsp. sugar (or to taste)

½ tsp. celery seed

½ tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Shred vegetables and put in large bowl. Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, vinegar, sugar, celery seed, salt and pepper in a blender or a jar with a tight-fitting cover. Blend or shake until well blended. Taste for balance; add more vinegar or sugar to taste. Pour over shredded vegetables and let sit in refrigerator, covered, for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

Biscuits (these are the tenderest, lightest biscuits ever)

2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour

4 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. cream of tartar

2 tsp. sugar

½ cup shortening

2/3 cup milk

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cream of tartar and sugar; cut in shortening til mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk all at once; stir only till dough follows fork around bowl. Turn out on lightly floured surface. Knead gently ½ minute. Pat or roll ½ " thick. Cut with biscuit cutter—do not twist cutter. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet in very hot oven (450) for 10-12 minutes. Makes approximately 16 biscuits.

James Beard’s Cream Biscuits (A never-fail recipe)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. baking powder

2 tsp. sugar

1 to 1 ½ cups heavy cream

1/3 cup butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 425. Use an ungreased baking sheet. Combine flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a mixing bowl. Stir the dry ingredients with a fork to blend and lighten. Slowly add 1 cup of the cream to the mixture, stirring constantly. Gather the dough together; when it holds together and feels tender, it is ready to knead. If the dough seems shaggy and pieces are dry and falling away, then slowly add enough additional cream to make the dough hold together. Place the dough on a lightly floured board and knead for 1 minute. Put the dough into a square that is about ½ inch thick. Cut into 12 squares and dip each into the melted butter so all sides are coated. Place the biscuits 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the biscuits are lightly browned. Serve hot.

Pecan Sandy Cookies

This recipe makes a lot of cookies—they are even better than the ones that the elves make. They freeze well and are a perfect cookie to take on a picnic.

1 cup sugar

1cup powdered sugar

1 cup butter

1 cup oil

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

4 ½ cups flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1 cup finely chopped pecans

Beat first five ingredients very well. Add vanilla, flour, salt, soda and cream of tartar. Add pecans last. Chill dough. Roll dough into balls and dip into sugar. Bake at 375 until lightly brown.

If you want to stay young-at-heart and enjoy everyday life like my mother did right up until she died at 95, I suggest picnicking—even if it just taking your fast food to a park to eat. Of course, it’s a lot more fun and healthier to pack something homemade—but the idea is to try some new places, get out in the fresh air and do something good for yourself. Happy picnicking!!

Compendium of Ingredients

2014-02-26T09:41:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had some ingredient on hand that needs to be used up but you’re devoid of ideas for using it? With all the cookbooks that I have, there are not many that put all the recipes for one ingredient together. This is my attempt to do just that—hope it helps some of my readers. I am such a seasonal cook that I may limit the ingredients to those in season but who knows? If I come across some interesting ideas, I’ll include them here.

Asparagus

Now that you can buy all kinds of produce year round in the supermarket, you can make any recipe you come across, anytime. This is really great for experimenters or those who are interested in learning how to increase their repertoire of cooking expertise. Still, there is something about the change of seasons and beginning with a new bunch of foods not used or seen in awhile that strongly appeals to me and, I’m guessing, most people. There is no dearth of articles on food that begin with “Spring is here, let’s make asparagus”, or “Strawberry season inspires dessert”. In autumn, we re-fire our ovens and respond to the call of winter squashes, baked with maple syrup and apples in every imaginable guise. I like it that way.

Early spring brings the first asparagus as surely as the first robin. Asparagus, a member of the lily family, is a strange food with an ancient history. It appeared on the menus of the ancient Romans as a delicacy and seems to grow almost anywhere. It does well in sandy, poor soil which probably added to its cosmopolitan reputation. It was revered by the South American Indian tribes as a phallic symbol supposedly increasing virility. It’s been cultivated for over two thousand years. On the other hand, wild asparagus is not very different from cultivated. My early memories include my mother and me hunting for asparagus in the spring, out where Southdale is now. I know I am dating myself, but that really was undeveloped and we who lived in St. Louis Park thought it was “way out of town”. Later, my mother planted it in her garden and was very proud of her wonderful asparagus, often remarking how one must let the asparagus go to seed every year if you wanted a good crop the next year.

Choose spears that are firm and uniform in size. Although many people believe that thin is better than thick, it isn’t true, just be sure they are uniform. The tips should be closed and the stalks crisp without wrinkles. Forget about breaking them at the natural break and cut the ends off all the same and all at once. I don’t bother standing them up to cook, as many cookbooks suggest. Just lay them in a wide, shallow skillet and cover with salted water. Boil briskly, uncovered, for 12 minutes (more or less, depending on the size of the stalks). Test by piercing with the sharp point of a paring knife; knife should enter easily, but asparagus should not be mushy. Serve with a classic Hollandaise or just butter and lemon. Since asparagus does not keep well, it is a good idea to cook it as soon as possible. If you can’t use it immediately, cooked asparagus is delicious served cold with mayonnaise or in a salad.

A current way to prepare all vegetables is to roast them and asparagus takes to roasting very well. The intense, dry heat of the oven concentrates and deepens the flavor. To roast, prepare one and one-half pounds of asparagus as above (peeling outer stalks if tough). On a rimmed baking sheet, toss asparagus with two teaspoons of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. I use coarse salt and freshly ground pepper. Roast about 10 minutes.

A lovely way to embellish the roasted asparagus is with a spring-green sauce. Serve this at a lovely early spring dinner as the first course.

Sauce Verde

2 cups loosely packed fresh Italian parsley leaves One-fourth teaspoon pepper

2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves Pinch of salt

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice Two-thirds cup olive oil

1 tablespoon anchovy paste

2 tablespoons drained capers 2 pounds asparagus, trimmed

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard and roasted with 2 tablespoons

1 garlic clove olive oil

Combine first 9 ingredients in processor. Blend until smooth. With machine running, gradually add two-thirds cup olive oil through feed tube. Sauce can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving. Divide asparagus among 8 plates. Spoon sauce over and serve.

Breaded Asparagus Sticks

2 eggs

½ tsp. Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper

¼ cup Parmesan cheese

¾ cup dried bread crumbs (preferably panko)

20-30 medium spears asparagus, trimmed

Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease baking sheet with olive oil. Beat eggs with mustard in shallow bowl. Season with salt and pepper. In another shallow bowl, combine panko and Parmesan; mix well. Dip each spear first in eggs to coat, then in crumbs. Place on baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden on bottom. Turn over and bake for another 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Serve hot or room temperature with lemon wedges.

Asparagus Fettuccine

1 pound asparagus

1 pound fettuccine

1 large red pepper, roasted and cut into strips

1 pound ricotta cheese, room temperature

¼ cup freshly grated Pecorino-Romano or Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

1/3 cup chopped scallions

Salt and pepper

Bring large pot of water to boil. Cut woody end of asparagus and reserve. Cut the spears into 1 ½ inch lengths. Add asparagus to boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. Add tips and cook until tender, about 2 minutes more. Remove asparagus and keep warm. Cook fettuccine in the water until al dente. Remove ½ cup cooking water and set aside. Briefly drain the fettuccine and return it to the pot, along with the asparagus. Add roasted pepper, ricotta, cheese and scallions. Toss well and add reserved cooking water to make a creamy sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot and pass extra cheese at table.

Asparagus Bisque

1 stick butter

¾ cup flour

2 quarts whole milk

1 cup chicken stock

1 tsp. white pepper

1 tsp. salt (or more, depending on the saltiness of the stock)

1 bay leaf

3 cups cleaned and cooked asparagus, tips and center only, (cut into ½-inch pieces)

Instant potatoes (use to thicken bisque if needed)

Roux: In stockpot, melt butter; add flour, stirring constantly so mixture doesn’t burn. Add 1 quart milk slowly to roux mixture, stirring constantly. When combined and thickened, add remaining milk and chicken stock. Add bay leaf, white pepper and salt. Add asparagus. Cook soup slowly for 1 hour.

To serve, top bisque with large sourdough croutons and a dollop of sour cream. Sprinkle with dill weed. Makes 1 gallon.

Of Cabbages and Kings

2014-02-23T10:39:00.000-08:00


First Gudrais' winter in America; Hutchinson, Minnesota March 1951

This has been the winter from hell. Well, actually, it hasn’t been warm enough to be from there—but in other ways, definitely. The weather has been horrible throughout the country with few exceptions but here in the Midwest (Minnesota) we have really had an unbelievably cold and snowy season. And, there is no end in sight—below average temperatures are predicted for the next two weeks and this is February 22!!!

Then, somehow, I went from a healthy, active, older woman (read sixties) to being laid low for the first six weeks of the year by a nasty strep/staph infection requiring surgery and antibiotics for 9 weeks. That keeps me largely home bound. I suppose there is some consolation in the fact that the weather has been so nasty anyway that I haven’t missed going out that much.

It won’t come as a surprise to those who follow my blog that the first activity I have tried to do is cooking. Little by little I have resumed my passion. So—in thinking about what to write about, I was drawn to something spring-like. But the spring foods aren’t really in the market yet—at least not at their prime and I checked out the most available foods for February and they are cabbages and bananas.

Cabbage, that versatile, homely, inexpensive vegetable and all its cousins—sounds perfect and oh, so healthy! First, a little background: cabbage has been eaten by North Africans, Chinese, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans for about 4000 years. It is revered in its various forms by the Slavic and Germanic people. Northern Americans took to it a little late. It arrived in Canada on the third voyage of Jacques Cartier in 1541-42. The American colonists probably planted cabbage, but it was used mostly for stock feed. There is no written record of it until 1669.

The versatility and health benefits of cabbage are huge. It is great either raw or cooked; it can be harvested young and used for salad greens or matured and stuffed, made into kraut or be the mainstay of many a hearty soup. Even simply steamed and served with butter, salt and pepper, it is delicious.

Furthermore, it is a nutritional powerhouse. Vitamins A, B, and C are plentiful and the minerals iron, calcium and potassium are present—as well as a generous amount of fiber. Studies have shown it to be a giant inhibiter of the development of many cancers, especially breast, stomach, and colon. Its cousins include collards, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale and kohlrabi and they have the same cancer-fighting properties.

Most important in my book is that it is delicious. If your family boiled cabbage to death until it was gray and stinky—it’s time to re-discover this vegetable. If you eat it solo—don’t overcook it. Sweat it (cook very slowly) either alone or with some onion or green pepper. Drain it and pour cream over it (alternatively, add butter) and cook until just hot—don’t boil. Add salt and pepper—it’s delicious.

Here are a few recipes to try to renew your interest in this venerable vegetable.

Creamy Coleslaw

8 cups shredded green cabbage

3 carrots, shredded

¼ sweet onion, finely chopped

1 ½ cups buttermilk

3 Tbsp. cider vinegar

3 Tbsp. sugar (or to taste)

3 Tbsp. mayonnaise

½ tsp. celery seed

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine cabbage, carrots and onion in a large mixing bowl. Stir together the buttermilk, vinegar, sugar, mayonnaise and celery seed in a smaller bowl until well blended. Pour the mixture over the cabbage and toss to combine. Season. This will become juicier as it stands for awhile in the refrigerator (2 hours).

Asian Cabbage Soup

8 cups chicken broth

¼ cup soy sauce

1 Tbsp. rice vinegar

6-12 wood ear mushrooms, chopped if large

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh ginger

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 scallions, finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground pepper

¾ pound Chinese noodles

1 Tbsp. dark sesame oil

2 cups diced chicken, or 2 cups diced cooked pork or 1 pound silken tofu, diced.

4-6 cups chopped Chinese cabbage, or a mix of cabbage and greens

1 carrot, julienned

Chinese chili paste with garlic

Combine the broth, soy sauce, rice wine, mushrooms, ginger, garlic and

scallions in large saucepan. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 25 minutes

Cook noodles in salted, boiling water until just tender. Drain and keep warm. Add meat or tofu, cabbage and carrots to the broth and simmer for 10 minutes. Pass chili sauce as a condiment.

This old-fashioned dish is worth the trouble to make—old world goodness at its best!!

My late mother-in-law, Monika, came from Eastern Europe where cabbage rolls were as common as hamburgers are in America. She made a great stuffed cabbage dish, but unfortunately, I didn’t get the recipe. So I re-created it as best I can remember and, after a few tweaks, this comes very close.

Daughter-In-Law Cabbage Rolls

½ pound regular ground beef, not extra lean

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped green pepper

½ cup chopped celery

2 cups beef stock (divided)

1 cup water

2/3 cup uncooked long grain rice

1 tsp. Italian seasoning (or use a combination of oregano, basil and thyme)

½ tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

8 medium cabbage leaves

½ cup (2 ounces) shredded American or Cheddar cheese

1 15-ounce can tomato sauce

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

½ tsp salt

1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbsp butter

¼ cup shredded American cheese

In a large skillet cook meat, onion, green pepper and celery until meat is brown and vegetables are tender. Drain fat, if excessive. Stir in 1 cup beef stock, water, uncooked rice, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.

Trim cabbage and immerse leaves into large pot of boiling water for 3 minutes or until limp, being careful not to crowd the pot. Stir the cheese into the meat mixture. Spoon about 1/3 cup meat mixture on each cabbage leaf. Fold in sides and roll up each leaf, including folded sides in roll. For sauce: stir tomato sauce, remaining beef stock, sugar, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper in a bowl. Pour half of tomato mixture into 9 x 13 oblong baking dish, sprayed with vegetable spray. Arrange rolls on tomato mixture. Spoon remaining tomato sauce over cabbage rolls. Dot with butter. Cover and bake in 350 oven for 1 hour. Check to see if cabbage is tender and sauce bubbling. Dish may be baked for 15 minutes longer, if necessary. Sprinkle with ¼ cup cheese before serving.

Red Wing Republican Eagle 11/21/2013

2013-11-21T09:09:00.000-08:00

St Lucia's Day

2013-11-20T13:00:00.000-08:00

Make your reservations now for the 1st of our theme breakfasts at the Candlelight Inn!

Stay Saturday, December 14, and join us on Sunday morning for a St. Lucia's Day Scandinavian Brunch. A veritable smorgaasbord of Scandinavian specialtyies will be offered and Lucia herself will grace us with her presence and tell the story as she serves the traditional St. Lucia's Day buns.

Fall Cooking Classes

2013-09-05T09:16:00.001-07:00

Fall means going back to school. Red Wing Community Ed is offering many classes and Lynette is doing her share. Check pages 9 and 10 in the catalog. Here is a link: http://redwing.k12.mn.us/page/2854?x=redwing_commed_banner

So many choices; so little time.

Tuscany

2013-06-02T14:41:00.000-07:00

More and more of the health food literature is emphasizing the Mediterranean diet as heart healthy and

Panna Cotta: Another dessert for breakfast

delicious. Numerous studies have shown that those people who follow such a diet have fewer incidences of heart disease and stroke and some new studies have shown a link between monounsaturated fats and a lower incidence of cancer. The greatest news of all is that this diet is delicious.

Americans have long had a love affair with Italian food and Italy is perhaps the epitome of the Mediterranean diet. And of all the regions of Italy that we associate with good food, it is Tuscany.

I have a good friend who went on a cooking-school vacation in Tuscany and couldn’t stop talking about the food. She really didn’t have words to describe it, she said. And no wonder. Tuscany is the magical region that is the home of crostini, biscotti, pecorino, pappardelle and panforte; not to mention olives and olive oil.

Enjoying every day and finding a way to celebrate even the mundane days of the week, especially gathering, preparing and sharing food is a goal that I share with the Tuscans. And the Tuscans could almost be credited with inventing “natural” foods—as they are the heart of their cuisine. By natural, I mean fresh, local, unprocessed foods prepared and eaten in as natural a way as possible and welcomed at its “natural” prime. A continuing pleasure cycle that follows the seasons is an art in Tuscany.

Here is a typical Tuscan Spring Menu (Some recipes from Bon Appetit May 2000)

Antipasti
Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi
Chicken with White Wine and Mushrooms
Asparagus and Parmesan Puddings
Panna Cotta with Strawberry-Vin Santo Sauce

Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi (Makes 8)

8 First Course Servings

4 6-ounce packages ready-to-use baby spinach leaves
2 cups whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 Cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup flour
2 large egg yolks
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
Generous pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
¼ cup butter, melted

Cook spinach in large pot of boiling salted water just until wilted, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Drain. Squeeze out liquid. Chop spinach. Mix spinach, ricotta, ½ cup Parmesan, ½ cup flour, egg yolks, salt, pepper and nutmeg in bowl until slightly sticky dough forms. Dust baking sheet with flour. Working in batches and using floured hands, roll ¼ cup dough on floured work surface to form 5-inch-long rope. Cut rope into 1-inch pieces. Roll each piece between palms to form oval. Transfer gnocchi to prepared baking sheet. Repeat rolling, cutting and shaping with remaining dough. Working in batches, add gnocchi to pot of boiling salted water; cook until gnocchi rise to surface. Cook 4 minutes longer. Using slotted spoon, remove gnocchi from water; drain. Place in serving dish. Pour butter over gnocchi; toss. Sprinkle with ½ cup Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper.

Chicken with White Wine and Mushrooms (8 servings)

8 chicken breast halves with skin and bone
Flour
½ cup olive oil
1 1/3 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup chopped carrot
2/3 cup chopped celery
4 Tbsp chopped Italian parsley
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
2 pounds mushrooms, sliced
2 14 ½ ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice
2 cups dry white wine

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper; dust with flour. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, skin side down and sauté until brown, about 5 minutes. Turn chicken over and sauté 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to bowl. Add onion, carrot, celery, parsley and garlic to skillet; sauté 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté until starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes with juices and wine. Boil sauce until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Return chicken to sauce. Cover skillet, reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is cooked through and tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken and sauce to plates and serve.

Asparagus and Parmesan Puddings

½ cup fresh breadcrumbs made from Italian bread with crust cut off
2 pounds asparagus, trimmed
2 Tbsp. butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
½ cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
¼ cup flour
4 large eggs

Butter 8 ¾-cup custard cups; coat with breadcrumbs. Cut off asparagus tips. Cook tips in large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Drain; reserve tips and 1 cup cooking liquid. Coarsely chop asparagus stalks. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; sauté until tender, about 6 minutes. Add stalks; sauté until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add reserved asparagus cooking liquid. Cover; simmer until stalks are tender, about 12 minutes. Uncover; cook until liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Transfer to food processor; puree. Add Parmesan, ricotta and flour. Using on/off turns, process just until blended. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk eggs in bowl to blend. Add asparagus puree; whisk to blend. Stir in all but 16 asparagus tips. Divide custard among cups. Place cups in roasting pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour hot water into pan to come 1 inch up sides of cups. Bake puddings until set, about 35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Invert onto plates. Garnish with asparagus tips.

Panna Cotta with Strawberry-Vin Santo Sauce (10 servings)

¼ cup cold water
4 tsp unflavored gelatin
4 cups whipping cream
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp honey
¼ tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp Vin Santo (An Italian dessert wine available at some liquor stores) or Muscat wine or cream Sherry
2 cups pine nuts
Strawberry-Vin Santo Sauce (see recipe)
Additional pine nuts

Pour ¼ cup water into metal bowl; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand until gelatin softens, about 10 minutes. Set bowl in saucepan of simmering water. Stir just until gelatin dissolves, about 1 minute. Combine cream, sugar, honey and vanilla in heavy large saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Add gelatin mixture and Vin Santo; whisk until well blended. Divide 2 cups pine nuts among ten ¾-cup custard cups. Divide cream mixture among cups. Chill overnight. Set cups in small bowl of warm water to loosen panna cotta, about 20 seconds each. Run small knife between panna cotta and custard cups. Invert panna cotta onto plates. Spoon sauce over. Sprinkle with additional pine nuts; serve.

Strawberry-Vin Santo Sauce (makes 2 cups)

1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp Vin Santo
¼ tsp vanilla
¼ tsp (packed grated lemon peel

Puree strawberries in processor. Transfer puree to heavy saucepan. Mix in sugar, Vin Santo, vanilla and lemon peel. Simmer over medium-low heat until sauce is reduced to 2 cups, about 15 minutes. Cool.

Old-Fashioned Chiffon Cake

2013-05-16T23:13:00.001-07:00

When was the last time you made a chiffon cake? Or, have you ever made one? Maybe you’ve never even tasted one—or heard of one. They are decidedly old-fashioned and that’s a shame since they are delicious

, easy to make, versatile and way healthier than butter cakes.

In 1927 a man named Harry Baker who was a Los Angeles insurance salesman and who also baked cakes for Hollywood parties, invented the chiffon cake—the first truly new cake in one hundred years. He kept his recipe secret for twenty years, preferring to bake cakes for his catering business that no one else could make, but finally sold the recipe in 1947 to Betty Crocker, owned by General Mills.

Attributes of this cake include a moist, richness like a butter cake but with the lightness of a sponge cake. The texture is soft, its trademark characteristic. The shortening in a chiffon cake is oil which not only makes it soft but tenderizes it and keeps it exceptionally moist.

The chiffon cake is also easy to make, is a good keeper and slices easily even when frozen, unlike its sister predecessor, the angel food. And, unlike angel food, it is not excessively sweet.

Here at the Candlelight Inn B & B, we make a lot of things with just egg yolks; lemon curd and chocolate pots de crème, to name two. I freeze my egg whites in a rigid container and collect them to make angel food, meringues and chiffon cakes. So, add another virtue to the chiffon cake—it uses up those extra whites you may have around.

Although it is easy to make, be sure to follow the directions carefully. As with all cakes, the measuring, oven temperature, pan size and oven placement are crucial to success.

The following two recipes are very different from one another; the first uses fresh citrus to perfection, resulting in a moist, billowy, light and refreshing cake. If you want to gild the lily, a citrus glaze (made by adding the citrus juice to powdered sugar just until it is of pouring consistency) can be poured over the finished, cooled cake. The second, chocolate, is a surprise: very chocolate-y and the texture is perfected by using both safflower (or other vegetable oil without silicates) and walnut oil.

Citrus Chiffon Cake

2 ¼ cups sifted cake flour (no substitutions)
1 ½ cups sugar (superfine is best)
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ cup vegetable oil (preferably safflower)
7 large eggs, separated, + 3 additional whites
¾ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 Tbsp. grated orange zest
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ¼ tsp. cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 325 deg. F. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, all but 2 Tbsp of the sugar, baking powder and salt and beat 1 minute. Mix oil, egg yolks, orange juice, orange zest and vanilla together and add all at once to a depression in the center of the dry ingredients. Beat until smooth, about 1 minute. In another large mixing bowl, beat egg whites until frothy, add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Beat in remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in egg whites until just blended. Pour into a 10-inch tube pan, run a small knife through the batter to prevent air pockets and bake for 55 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Invert pan to cool.

Variation: Lemon Chiffon Cake

Substitute ½ teaspoon baking soda for the baking powder and 2/3 cup water + 2 Tbsp. lemon juice (freshly squeezed) for the orange juice. Use 1 Tbsp. grated lemon zest for the orange zest called for.

Chocolate Chiffon Cake

½ cup +2 Tbsp. cocoa *
¾ cup boiling water
1 ¾ cups sifted cake flour
1 ¾ cups sugar
½ tsp. baking soda*
½ tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. walnut oil
6 large eggs, separated + 4 additional whites
2 tsp. vanilla
1 ¼ tsp. cream of tartar

*If using Dutch-processed cocoa, use ½ cup + 1 Tbsp. and 2 tsp. of baking powder in place of the baking soda.

Preheat oven to 325 deg. F. In medium bowl combine cocoa and boiling water. Wisk until smooth. Cool. In large mixing bowl, combine flour all but 2 Tbsp. of sugar, baking soda and salt and beat 1 minute. Add oils, egg yolks, chocolate mixture and vanilla to well in center of dry ingredients and beat until smooth. In another large mixing bowl, beat egg whites until frothy, add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Beat in remaining 2 Tbsp. of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold 1 heaping cup of egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Gently fold in remaining egg whites until just blended. Pour into tube pan. Run knife through the batter to prevent air pockets and bake for 60 minutes or until it tests done. Invert pan and cool completely. (About 1 ½ hours). Remove from pan. Serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Homemade Sausage Classes

2013-04-04T20:13:00.002-07:00

Now that you have mastered breadmaking and yogurt making, why not try making sausage? I just purchased pork for the class for $1.29 per pound. You will wind up with sausage comparable to Jimmy Deans ($3.48 for 12 oz tube) which comes to $4.64 a pound. You will make up the cost of the class with your first 10 pound package. Sign up through
Community Ed at the Red Wing High School: Class is from 6 p.m.
to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 11, 2013.
Cost is $28

Delicious Homemade Yogurt

2013-03-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

I am doing a class through Red Wing Community Education next Thursday, March 14, 2013, at 6 p.m. It will cover yogurt making (regular and Greek) as well as Ricotta Cheese. Call 651-385-4565 or use this link https://ssl.dwebsite.com/secure2/ce_RedWing/php/public.php?action=listClasses&categoryId=9&programId=3&from=listCategories

Hope to see you there.

Nostalgic Cooking

2013-03-06T22:38:00.000-08:00

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the state of the world and, especially, the state of our country. Every time I turn on the news there’s another story of a worrisome or tragic nature. The shootings at Sandy Hook school are a prime example of the tragedies taking place around us, but the clamor to change the gun regulations as a remedy is an example of the worrisome type.

When are we going to address the root cause of our problems? The change in our values has affected every aspect of our culture and has resulted, I believe, in this stressful, sad, and frightening new world. I’m very aware that older generations usually decry the newest generation’s behavior and ideas—but I think it goes deeper than that. If we look over the last 70 years the cultural decay has changed us for the worse in every area: education, family life, work ethic, patriotism, individualism, modesty, respect for elders and each other, materialism, health, and above all others, belief in and reverence for God.

What can one individual do? I’m not an advocate of “head in the sand,” but I think that turning to a simpler, traditional way of life is a step in the right direction. Since food and cooking are my areas of interest and expertise (as well as my job), I elected to start there with my resolution to turn back the clock.

My own childhood was early post-WWII. We lived in a large Queen Ann red brick house on Russell Avenue in Minneapolis. Although my parents owned the house, it was divided into four apartments. When I was four we moved to St. Louis Park to a brand new house on Vernon Avenue which my parents built. I still remember what a feeling of “having arrived” we all had about that house. It seemed like a mansion. In truth, it was a three bedroom colonial with a one-car attached garage, a very small screened porch, one bathroom and an unfinished basement. Today it would be considered a nice “starter house.” My parents were in a first marriage (and only marriage—that lasted 67 years before my mom died); my dad worked for Honeywell as an engineer and my mom, who had taught school before she married, was a homemaker (or housewife, as at-home women were called then).

Mom considered her role as a “real” job and put herself into it with enthusiasm. She was an especially great cook. As a young teen she had participated in 4H and won a week’s trip to the State Fair (she grew up in Mankato) for her talented bread baking. She could whip up a tall, elegant, delicious layer cake from scratch, caramel rolls to die for, pies whose crusts were so tender and flaky they melted in your mouth—all without recipes and, seemingly, without effort.

Most nights we had supper in the dining room—occasionally in the kitchen at our “nook” table. But we ate together as a family every weeknight. Saturday night we usually had hamburgers either at home—or as a special treat—at the drive-in. The only one I remember back then was Porky’s on Lake Street. I remember getting Chinese take-out once in a while (always chow mein which came in a brown bag that held two small cartons of white rice, one large carton of chicken chow mein, one large carton of subgum chow mein, a cellophane package of chow mein noodles, several packets of soy sauce and a small cellophane package of roasted and salted cashew nuts) and on three or four occasions we went to what is now “uptown” to the Rainbow Café or to a place on Lake street near France Avenue called the Colonial Inn. Sunday we had dinner after church and then my mom would put out leftovers in the evening and let everyone help himself to sandwich makings or some soup ( if Dad made it).

Unfortunately, the fifties have a bad culinary reputation in today’s circles. That decade seems to be best known for canned soup casseroles and packaged-mix-every-things that were certainly “the rage” for awhile. After all, they were new and so were all the appliances and grills and available ingredients (especially foreign ones) to be had. But at our dinner table and most of those of my friends, wonderful, healthy and delicious meals were made from scratch. I love to go through my old Betty Crocker and Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks that my mother used when she did need a new recipe or to check herself on old standbys. I also have a collection of old magazines from that era that jog my memory on what we ate.

Before I share some of those recipes with you, I want to add a footnote. Our evening meal consisted of 6 elements every night: meat, potatoes (or a starchy food), vegetable (sometimes 2), salad, bread and dessert. When I started making dinner for our family (around age 12), I was instructed that each meal must contain all 6 elements. And we were not a bit fat!! We were certainly more active than today’s kids, but I attribute the fact that we were not fat and ate a lot of courses to two main things: we didn’t have soda or sugary snacks between meals and our portions were much smaller than today’s.

Sunday dinner was almost always a roast: roast beef, ham, chicken, or pork. Throughout the week the remnants of that roast became wonderful meals—casseroles for supper, sandwiches for lunch, hash for breakfast; it never seemed that we were eating “leftovers” which my Dad loudly protested. He never realized that was what we were eating.

Baked Ham
Scalloped Potatoes
Orange Glazed Carrots
Pineapple Salad
Relishes
Yeast Rolls
Great Grandma’s Golden Sponge Cake

Baked Ham

1 bone-in half ham, fully cooked (6 pounds)
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard
½ cup water or fruit juice
Whole cloves

Score fat side of ham in a diamond pattern. Mix sugar, mustard and fruit juice in a small bowl and spread over top of scored ham. Stick a clove in each diamond. Place ham on a rack in a shallow roasting pan; tent loosely with foil and bake at 325 for 30 minutes per pound (2 hours). Baste with remaining sauce last half hour.

Scalloped Potatoes

2 pounds potatoes (approximately 6 medium)
½ cup chopped onion (optional)
3 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
¼ cup butter
2 ½ cups milk

Pare potatoes thinly (should be about 4 cups). Spray a 2-quart casserole and arrange potatoes in 4 layers, sprinkling each of the first 3 layers with 1 Tbsp. flour, ¼ tsp. of salt, dash pepper and dotting each layer with 1 Tbsp. butter and 2 Tbsp. onion, if you are using them,. Sprinkle top with remaining onion, salt and pepper and dot with remaining butter. Heat milk to just below boiling; pour over potatoes. Cover; bake 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 60 to 70 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Orange Glazed Carrots

2 ½ pounds fresh carrots
½ cup butter, melted
½ cup orange juice
1 tsp. grated orange peel
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt

Peel carrots; remove ends. Cut into strips. Place in sprayed square (8x8x2) baking dish. Stir together butter, orange juice and salt. Pour over carrots. Cover; bake 40 minutes until carrots are tender. (8 servings)

Pineapple Salad

Line small salad plates with crisp salad leaves. Place 1 canned, chilled pineapple slice on top of lettuce. Mound cottage cheese in center of pineapple ring. Top with a dollop of salad dressing (mayonnaise-type) and sprinkle with paprika.

Yeast Dinner Rolls

1 pkg. (2 ½ tsp.) active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water (105-115 deg)
¾ cup lukewarm milk
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
¼ cup melted butter
3 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 heaping tsp. gluten flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in milk, sugar, salt, butter and 2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn dough onto lightly floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover let rise in warm place until double, about 1 12 to 2 hours. Punch down dough; divide in half. Roll dough into a rectangle, 13x9 inches and ¼” thick. Place in greased 9x13 baking pan. Score dough ¼ inch deep into 15 rolls. Brush with butter. Let rise 1 ½ hours. Bake at 400 degrees. Bake 15-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Great Grandma’s Golden Sponge Cake

1 ¼ cup sugar
1 cup water
7 eggs, separated
1 cup sifted cake flour
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla OR almond extract OR lemon extract (your choice)

Boil sugar and water until syrup reaches the thread stage (233 degrees or until syrup “spins a thread” when spoon is picked up out of syrup and a thread forms as it falls)

Meanwhile, beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored (about 5 minutes). Slowly add hot syrup to yolks, beating all the while. Add cake flour. In separate bowl and with separate beaters, beat room temperature egg whites, salt and cream of tartar until stiff. Add flavoring and beat in. Fold carefully into egg yolk mixture. Turn into sprayed tube pan or bundt pan carefully and smooth top. Bake at 325 for 50 min to 1 hour. Cool completely upside down on funnel. Serve with sweetened fresh fruit or thawed frozen fruit and top with sweetened whipped cream.

Lynette's Cooking Class

2013-02-14T12:43:00.002-08:00

On February 5th, I had my first class in the Red Wing Community Education classroom. This is a picture of me and my "helpers" getting ready. 17 people attended and had a great time. My next class is March 14 "Homemade Greek Yogurt, Yogurt and Cheese. Call me with questions (651-388-8034) or Community Education at 651-385-4565.

2013-01-10T16:04:00.000-08:00

In addition to cooking classes here at the Candlelight Inn, I am going to give a few Community Education Courses. If you areinterested, please sign up.

Thanksgiving 2012

2012-11-22T11:12:00.000-08:00

As we prepare for the great Thanksgiving feast, take a look backover our dining history. If, as Brillat-Savarin has said so famously, “You are what you eat,” the history of the American people can be revealed by the history of the foods they have and are eating. From the inception of the Jamestown colony in Virginia through the end of the first decade of the 21st century, we have shown profoundly how we have changed and what we’ve become, step by step, by the foods that we eat and even more by the style in which we eat.

From the beginning of colonization by Europeans in the new world, the character of the men and women who came to these shores was the defining characteristic that made America the greatest and most powerful country in the world. The great majority were men of morality and vision; a sturdy breed with a natural inventiveness, independence and courage. Above all, they were people of faith who depended on and credited God with their destiny. With all the natural resources: fertile soil, lush grasses, thick forests, coal and iron; the bison, bears, wildcats, foxes, elk, deer, beavers, birds and water fowl of every description, and the fish that teemed in its great clear and uncontaminated rivers, it wasn’t long before a bounteous American cuisine came into being.

That does not mean, of course, that the earliest white men who came to America’s shores were well-fed and prosperous from the start. As we have all learned in grade school, the pilgrims and other first settlers almost starved to death the first winter they were here. Only because of the Indians showing them how to plant corn and how to hunt wild fowl, such as turkeys, did they survive. It is not only a true story, but a deeply symbolic one as well that they shared their provisions with each other at the feast of Thanksgiving, that first harvest year.

A great deal of our food tradition emanating from these early settlers is English in nature, as it would necessarily be. Although the earliest settlers, both in New England and in Virginia had sparse provisions after crossing the Atlantic (none of the sea vessels were adequately stocked with food), it was not long before the provisions started coming. Rev. Francis Higginson, the first minister at Salem wrote,

Before you come, be careful to be strongly instructed what things are fittest to bring with you for your more comfortable passage at sea, as also for your husbandry occasions when you come to the land. For when you are once parted with England you shall meete neither markets nor fayres to buy what you want. Therefore be sure to furnish yourselves with things fitting to be had before you come: as meale for bread, malt for drinke, woolen and linnen cloath, and leather for shoes, and all manner of carpenters tools, and a great deal of iron and steele to make nails, and locks for houses, and furniture for ploughs and carts, and glasse for windows, and many other things which were better for you to think of there than to want them here.” He next set down a catalog of necessary victuals per person for the first year, viz.: “8 Bushels of meale, 2 Bushels of pease, 2 Bushels of Otemeale, 1 Gallon of Aquavitae, 1 Gallon of Oyle, 2 Gallons of, Vinegar, 1 Firkin of Butter; also Cheese, Bacon, Sugar, Pepper, Cloves, Mace, Cinnamon, Nutmegs and Fruit.”

The English were not the only people to come, however. Throughout the colonies there was a mixture of people from Western Europe. There were the Dutch along the Hudson, the French in the Carolinas and the Swedes on the Delaware. Danes, Germans, Portuguese, Italians and Jews mingled with the Dutch along the Hudson Valley even in the early days of the colony of New Amsterdam. All of these ethnic groups contributed their cuisines to early America but it was the English that set the foundation of the new “American” cuisine and we still see that influence in many of our national dishes.

The New Englanders were an industrious group. They were extremely independent in nature, as is illustrated by the huge risk they took coming to this country in the first place. After a very few years of hardship and lack, they learned the pattern of the seasons and began to produce recipes we use today. Foods which spring from the Indian “corn” or maize, the exclusively new world poultry—the turkey—as well as shellfish, cod, mackerel, lobster and crabs formed their daily diet.

Cooking as we know it was, of course, unknown. Recipes or “receipts” were vague—most people learned to cook by watching their mothers. Terms like “butter as big as a walnut” or “a piece of fresh butter” were used and everyone presumably knew how much that was. Most of the colonial recipes were word of mouth or hand-written slips of paper; we don’t find actual printed cookbooks until the 18th century and these are very rare. Some cookbooks from the 18th century were published in England such as Hanna Glaffe’s, The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy, 7th ed. (London, 1760) from which this Ginger-Bread Cake recipe comes:

Take three pounds of flour, one pound of sugar, one pound of butter rubbed in very fine, two ounces of ginger beat fine, a large nutmeg grated; then take a pound of treacle, a quarter of a pint of cream, make them warm together, and make up the bread stiff; roll it out, and make it up into thin cakes, cut them out with a tea-cup, or small glass, or roll them round like nuts, and bake them on tin plates in a slack oven.

After a shaky start, New England colonies had recipes that are still made and are delicious. They raised orchards of apples and pears, used the wild grape and cranberries to make preserves and made wonderful cheeses from their dairy herds. They adapted to the more plentiful wild game before their herds of domestic cattle grew large enough to slaughter for beef and made old English dishes to suit their native tastes.

Even in winter, the sea provided an abundance of fish and shellfish for their suppers. This abundant seafood was often made into chowders. As soon as the ships were commonly making their runs around the Horn to China, exotic spices were brought home, adding flair to many dishes; among them, turmeric, ginger, peppercorns, cinnamon and cloves.

Molasses from the West Indies (sometimes referred to as treacle), maple syrup and wild bee’s honey were used to make the many sweets that Americans have loved right from the beginning.

They also learned to make notable dishes from native foods which were indigenous to the new world such as elderberries, dandelions, wild turkey, quail, pumpkins, cranberries, and, of course, corn. There were some “new” foods, too that became popular. All of them originated in the new world, but the colonists didn’t use them until they had crossed the Atlantic and come back again.

After much trial and error the colonists of New England grew accustomed to corn, squash, pumpkins, some seafood, wild turkey, maple sugar, cider vinegar, an abundance of game such as ducks, geese, passenger pigeons and wild swans. Many of the wild game birds and meats were tough and every region of early colonists had its one-pot cooking recipe to tenderize them: New England boiled dinner; New Amsterdam (later New York) Hutspot; Pennsylvania Dutch Sauerbraten; and Southern Brunswick stew or burgoo.

Some (still) very popular recipes from the New England Colonists follow:

Indian Pudding

3 cups milk
½ cup molasses
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
½ tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. butter

In saucepan mix milk and molasses; stir in cornmeal, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Cook and stir till thick, about 10 minutes. Stir in butter. Turn into a 1-quart casserole. Bake, uncovered, at 300 degrees about 1 hour. Serves 6.

Baked Beans with Maple Syrup

1 ½ pounds dry navy beans (3 ¾ cups)
4 ounces salt pork, cubed
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup maple syrup
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard

In kettle rinse beans; add 12 cups cold water. Bring to boiling; simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover; let stand 1 hour. (Or, add beans to water and let stand overnight.) Bring beans and water to boiling; simmer till beans are tender, about 40 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid. In 3-quart casserole or bean pot, mix beans, pork, onion, sugar, maple syrup, salt, mustard, and 1 ½ cups reserved bean liquid. Cover; bake at 300 degrees for 4 ½ to 5 hours, stirring occasionally. Add more reserved liquid, if needed. Serves 8.

Shrubs

2012-10-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

My mother’s cousin was almost the exact opposite of my mother and thus fascinating to me as a child. My mother never wore any make-up other than lipstick, Aunt (that’s what I called her) Lois always had lots of make-up and beautiful, long fingernails that looked like they were just manicured. We didn’t have fake nails then—so it was representative of the type of life she led. She had a husband, but she also had a wealthy “uncle” who lived with her and her family and loved to lavish things on her. She didn’t do dishes every day or break her nails doing housework—she had help for that.

She was great at giving parties, though, and I think she did her own cooking. I know that I loved to be invited to her house—it was always something really special; beautiful dishes, hand-embroidered table linens, crystal goblets—even for lunch. Once when I was a very young newlywed (I married at 19) my mother and I were invited to her house for a luncheon honoring my recent wedding. Her daughter, my cousins, my grandmother and a couple of family friends were also guests.

The table was exquisite; mostly pink—even to the crystal water goblets. I don’t remember much of the menu but one dish stood out—a scoop of lemon sherbet served in a stemmed dessert dish with apple juice poured over it. She called it a shrub. It was served between the first course and the entrée to “cleanse the palate” she said. It was delightfully cool and refreshing. The flavors really complemented each other and the apple juice poured over the sherbet made it just slightly icy which gave it a lovely texture. Such a simple dish and I have never forgotten how good it was.

Fast forward to 1999 when Zig and I bought the Candlelight Inn Bed and Breakfast in Red Wing, MN. I was putting together breakfast menus for a three-course breakfast: starter, entrée and dessert. I wanted some unusual first courses that were delicious, fruity and unexpected. Suddenly I remembered Aunt Lois’ shrub. I really wanted some whole fruit in this course so I put together lemon sherbet, fresh pineapple tidbits and sparkling apple cider. It was a big hit. Actually, I have been asked for the recipe repeatedly—although it is such a simple dish that you can hardly classify it as a “recipe”. Whenever I serve it, I explain it like this, “ A shrub is like a float except instead of soda and ice cream, it is sherbet and fruit juice at its simplest—with added whole fruit for a more complex dish.”

People often show an interest in the origin of the shrub and since I have such an extensive cookbook collection, many of which are very old, I decided to research. Many very old cookbooks describe a shrub as a type of homemade cordial—a fruity alcoholic drink. From Mary Randolph’s The Virginia House-Wife, first published in 1824:

CHERRY SHRUB

Gather ripe morello cherries, pick them from the stalk, and put them in an earthen pot, which must be set into an iron pot of water; make the water boil, but take care that none of it gets into the cherries; when the juice is extracted, pour it into a bag made of tolerably thick cloth, which will permit the juice to pass, but not the pulp of your cherries; sweeten it to your taste, and when it becomes perfectly clear, bottle it—put a gill of brandy into each bottle, before you pour in the juice—cover the corks with rosin. It will keep all summer, in a dry cool place, and is delicious mixed with water.

I couldn’t find another reference to shrubs until my Betty Crocker’s Dinner For Two, 1958 edition where on page 112 a Fruit Shrub is described as follows:

Mix equal parts of chilled pineapple and orange juice. Top with lime sherbet and serve in individual sherbet cups. This makes a colorful appetizer for a holiday dinner.

This may well be where Aunt Lois found the idea for the shrub she served us.

I have found a great many combinations for shrubs since I started with the pineapple sherbet/pineapple/sparkling cider one. Trader Joe’s carries a variety of sparkling fruit juices: blueberry, mandarin orange, cranberry and pomegranate. Now I like to add blueberries to lemon sherbet and pour on sparkling apple or raspberries on raspberry sherbet with the sparkling pomegranate juice. Tiny Clementine sections or canned mandarins are great with orange sherbet and the orange sparkler. Wild strawberry sherbet, sweetened strawberries and either apple or cranberry juice works well; only your own imagination can limit you. One caveat: I don’t care for the appearance of rainbow sherbet with any juice as the liquid tends to muddy the colors. To add to the lovely appearance of this dish, add a piece of whole fruit with a stem or a sprig of mint to the side of the stemmed dish.

Comfort Foods Make a Comeback

2012-02-26T03:00:00.001-08:00

Comfort foods are being featured everywhere and it’s no wonder—they are good, they are usually hearty, and most are nutritious! Comfort foods are classic foods. The definition of classic: serving as a standard of excellence; traditional. Not all comfort foods are excellent, however.

Take tuna casserole; a lot of us grew up eating it on Fridays as a stand-in for a meat dish. It seems to me that people either love it or hate it. In my family we were divided on the “classic” version i.e., canned tuna, noodles, cream of mushroom soup, canned peas—all mixed in a casserole dish and topped with crushed potato chips, then baked until hot and bubbly and topping nicely browned.

I searched until I found a version that all of us could love—after all, it is really a filling, thrifty dish worth salvaging. In the 1953 version of the famous red-plaid Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, I found a version of tuna casserole or “hot dish” that my whole family could enjoy.

But when I unearthed this old recipe the other day, I thought it needed a face-lift to bring it up-to-date. I slimmed it down, cut out the canned varieties of foods and cooked it for a hearty lunch. Delicious! Here is the revised version:

Tuna with Cheese Swirls

1 ½ cups diced pared potatoes
1 cup diced celery
3 Tbsp. chopped onion
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp whole wheat flour
½ cup instant dry milk
1 ½ cups water
¼ cup water from vegetables
1 to 1-1/2 tsp. Lawry’s seasoned salt (or to taste)
1 small can tuna in water, drained
1 cup frozen peas
1 recipe Cheese Swirls (follows)

Cook potatoes, celery and onion in 1 cup water until almost tender, about 10 minutes; drain, reserving ¼ cup water. Heat 2 T. butter in small saucepan until melted; add flour and whisk until smooth. Add milk dissolved in 1 ½ cups water, whisking all the time. Add seasoned salt. Cook until smooth and bubbly and thickened. Pour into 10x 6 x 1 ½-inch casserole dish; add tuna, peas and vegetables. Mix well and keep warm while making cheese swirls.

Cheese Swirls

1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp. sugar
¼ cup butter
1/3 cup reconstituted dry milk
½ cup sharp cheese

Combine dry ingredients with milk. Stir just till dough follows fork around bowl. Turn out on lightly floured surface. Knead gently for 30 seconds. Roll in 6 x 10 rectangle, ¼-inch thick. Sprinkle with cheese; roll as for jelly roll, starting at narrow end. Seal edge. Cut in ½-inch slices. Place atop hot casserole. Bake in hot oven (425) for 15-20 minutes or until biscuits are done. Makes 6 servings.

Cooking Class II: Novelty Breads

2012-02-23T14:28:00.000-08:00

The second class in bread making will focus on Novelty breads (yeast doughs for English Muffins, bagels, foccacia and much, much more.

Monday, February 27, 2012, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Please call 800-254-9194 or email me at lgudrais@charter.net. We are again limiting the class to six and the price will be $35 peer person.

Leap Year

2012-02-23T13:37:00.000-08:00

Well, ladies, here it is—the day when the tables are turned and we females can pop the question or at least do the inviting to romance the men. This calls for great celebration and drastic action. If you were disappointed with Valentine’s Day—and your sweetie didn’t come through exactly—why not show him how it’s done? Our grub club group met in February and the theme was love. The dinner was perfect and could easily be the exact prescription for a positively romantic evening for two.

The menu:

Oysters on the half-shell

Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto

An array of olives

Hearts of romaine salad with love apples (tomatoes),

Artichoke hearts and a dressing with just a hint of sweetness

Love knot rolls

Beef Wellington for two

Hazelnut topped Asparagus

Heart-shaped red velvet cake with butter cream frosting

A delicious meal and bound to set a romantic scene. It may be a little fussy, but it might be worth it. When he finishes off the last crumb of the red velvet cake, you can drop on one knee (or not) and pop the question. He won’t be able to say no.

Hearts of Romaine Salad with Sweetness dressing

Arrange the inner leaves of crisp Romaine lettuce on a chilled salad plate. Cut tomatoes through the stem into wedges that look like hearts. Arrange them on the romaine. Arrange drained marinated artichoke hearts on plates and drizzle with sweetness dressing

Sweetness dressing

1/3 cup cider vinegar
2/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
½ chopped onion
1 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper.
1 cup salad oil

Blend in a blender until well chopped. With blender running, pour oil through opening in blender cover very gradually until dressing is well emulsified.

Love Knot Rolls

1 cup regular oats
½ cup honey
2 Tbsp. butter
1 ½ tsp. salt
2 cups boiling water
1 pkg dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water
¼ cup flaxseed meal
3 cups white whole wheat flour
1 ½ cups white flour
Cooking spray
1 tsp. water
1 large egg
1 Tbsp. regular oats
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds

Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl and add 2 cups boiling water, stirring until well blended. Cool. Dissolve yeast in 1/3 cup warm water in small bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add yeast mixture to oats mixture; stir well. Stir in flaxseed meal. Measure flours and add all the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the white flour to oats mixture; stir until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add enough of remaining flour to prevent dough from sticking to hands. Place dough in large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise until double. Divide dough in half; cut each half into 12 equal portions. Shape each portion into an 8-inch rope. Tie each rope into a single knot; tuck top end of rope under bottom edge of roll. Place each roll on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap coated with cooking spray; let rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 400. Combine 1 tsp. water and egg in small bowl; brush egg mixture over rolls. Combine oats, poppy seeds and sesame seeds; sprinkle evenly over rolls. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes until golden. (Adapted from Cooking Light January/February 2008.)

Beef Wellington for Two:

1 lb fillet of beef
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 med. shallot peeled and chopped
2 oz. Champignon cheese, rind removed
1 sheet puff pastry

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Season beef with salt and pepper, melt butter in med-high skillet, and add the beef to brown all sides. Remove beef from skillet, add shallots, cook 6 min or until golden, stirring often. Cool slightly, then add cheese. Stir until melted, then cool.

Lightly flour a flat surface, and using a floured rolling pin, roll out the puff pastry to thin rectangle. Spread the cheese mixture on the pastry, set the beef in the middle, and wrap the beef totally within the pastry, cutting off any extra wrapping.

Place seam side down on foil covered baking sheet and brush with melted butter. Bake in oven until thermometer inserted into the beef reads at least 140 degrees (rare,) or 150 (med.) let sit 5-10 min.

For a romantic touch, cut heart shapes out of remaining pastry and place on top of the wrapped beef before it goes into the oven.

Hazelnut topped Asparagus

1 lb asparagus, trimmed
one third cups chopped hazelnuts, toasted in oven
one half cup sliced roasted red peppers
one half tsp dried thyme
2 Tbsp butter

Bring lightly salted water to a boil in a sauce pan. Add the asparagus and cook about 2 or 3 min. drain. In skillet, melt butter, add asparagus and remaining ingredients. Toss until heated through and arrange on a serving platter.

Cooking Class II: Novelty Breads

2012-02-21T23:37:00.000-08:00

The first class went really well last Monday. We had six participants and everyone had an enjoyable and edifying experience.

Cooking School Classes with Lynette

2012-02-04T14:52:00.000-08:00

Behind the Kitchen Door Cooking School

With Lynette Gudrais

Come with me behind the kitchen door of Candlelight Inn and learn how to cook. All my classes are geared towards basic, made from scratch, healthy foods---that are delicious, economical and manageable. Seem like an impossibility? Find out how to make it happen. Classes (6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.) are limited to 6 so register early. All classes are $35 per person and must be prepaid at time of registration. Call 651-388-8034.

Monday Feb 20 (6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.), Breads I

Learn basic bread baking.

Groundhog Day

2012-02-02T01:00:00.000-08:00

Writing movie reviews isn’t really my thing, but it seems appropriate today to mention one of my all-time favorite movies, Groundhog Day. It’s a great movie on several levels: great acting, great comedy, great premise, and interesting life philosophy thrown in for flavor. I guess it’s the philosophy that speaks to me most—that doing it over and over will finally result in getting it right.

None of us will really get a second shot at our daily lives, but when it comes to eating, we do it over a lot. And if we’re talking leftovers, it rarely comes out better the second time. However, we are all faced with leftovers and unless you have no guilt about tossing all uneaten food you have to figure out some good ways to serve them.

When I was growing up, my mother fixed a Sunday night leftover buffet. She just reheated everything leftover from the week and put it out on the counter to help yourself. Those were the days before the microwave, so it took a lot of saucepans and bake ware to accomplish this and there were a stack of dishes afterward (I know, I washed them).

Psychologically, I rebel. Food just doesn’t seem as good reheated and served a second time. So I went on a hunt to find a way to re-cycle food and make it even better—well, at least as good.

First stop, my cookbook collection and I found three that deal with this subject exclusively: the oldest, Magic with Leftovers by Lousene Rousseau Brunner was published in 1965; Miriam B. Loo’s, Never Say Leftovers was written in 1982 and The Leftover Gourmet by Patricia Rosier and Jessica L. Weiss was published in 1991. I picked a philosophical tidbit as well as a representative recipe from each one.

Magic With Leftovers states, “A little ingenuity goes a long way in making cooking with leftovers interesting, challenging and economical…the thrifty cook never throws away leftovers. A tablespoon of many vegetables can be added to vegetable or cream soups. A strip of bacon can be crumbled into a one-egg muffin.”

Stuffed Green Peppers

1 ½ cups chopped leftover beef or lamb
2 large green peppers or 4 small ones
2 Tbsp bacon fat
2 Tbsp. chopped celery
2 Tbsp chopped onion
Three-fourths cup cooked tomato with juice or juice alone
1 cup bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
1 Tbsp. butter or margarine

Split peppers lengthwise, remove seeds and membrane, and parboil 2-3 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain and turn carefully upside down to drain further.

Heat bacon fat in skillet and sauté celery and onion until yellow. Add meat, tomato or juice, bread crumbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Lay pepper halves right side up in greased shallow casserole or pie plate and fill solidly with mixture. Sprinkle tops with additional bread crumbs, dot with butter, add about 2 tablespoons water to casserole and bake 25-30 minutes in a hot oven (400 deg). Serves 4

Never Say Leftovers is full of tips that apply to the use of leftovers such as:

1. Add leftover fish to shrimp cocktail sauce and use as a dip.
2. Combine juices from cans of fruit with orange juice, club soda, and any flavor sherbet for a refreshing drink.
3. Leftover mashed potatoes make a nice addition to the meal when shaped into patties, dusted with flour for easier handling and sautéed in butter.

Mashed Potato Puff

2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
One-third cup milk
2 eggs, well beaten
½ cup grated Cheddar cheese
One-third cup chopped onion
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
One-fourth cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350 deg. Butter an 8-inch pie plate and set aside. Combine potatoes, milk, and eggs. Blend well. Fold in Cheddar cheese, onion, and salt and pepper to taste. Place in pie plate. Top with Parmesan cheese and bake for 30 minutes or until golden. Serves 4

From The Leftover Gourmet, “The aid of the blender, food processor, freezer, microwave oven and other kitchen tools now widely available, made it easy to reprocess foods and give them totally new identities.”

Hot Chicken/Turkey Timbale

1 cup warm chicken stock
½ cup light cream
4 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
½ tsp. dried tarragon
½ cup Swiss cheese, grated
1-1/2 cups cooked chicken or turkey, cut in large chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the ingredients in a food processor and process for 10 to 20 seconds. Spoon the mixture into 6 buttered ramekins and set them in a pot of hot water. Bake at 350 deg. For 25 to 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove timbales from the oven and let stand for a few minutes to set. Run a knife around the edge and unmold. Serve immediately. Garnish with chopped pecans or walnuts. This makes a great luncheon dish served with soft warm rolls and a salad.