Saturday, October 31, 2009

Polpettone (Meatloaf)

the way Mom makes it (from Select Italian-American Recipes, p.32) submitted by Alisha Brisson Stamper

350 degrees
1.5 hours
9"x5" pan

2 slices bread (I always use wheat)
3/4 c. milk (use no lower than 2%)
2 eggs
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
3/4 c. Parmesan cheese, (Mom always uses the grated type that you put on top of spaghetti)
2 Tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
a dash of pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, place slices of bread in milk.
Add the rest of the ingredients except olive oil and meat.
Mix.
Add meat, mix again, by hand is best. Get 'em real dirty.
Use the olive oil to coat the bottom and sides of the loaf pan.
Place mixture in pan after shaping into a loaf.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1/5 hours.

Serve with ketchup.

Golden Summer Punch

by Mom, submitted by Alisha Brisson Stamper

serves 15 punch cups
1 6oz can frozen minute maid orange juice
1 6oz can frozen lemonade
1 12 oz can apricot nectar (Kern's is good)
1 #2 (2 1/2 c.) of pineapple juice (not frozen)

Combine juices, adding water that is called for on the cans of frozen juice.

You can freeze some of this mixture in ice cube trays to keep the punch cold while serving (regular ice cubes will water it down and ruin the flavor).

Tips:
Dress it up! Add thin orange or lemon slices.

Lemon-Limeade

by Mom, Submitted by Alisha Brisson Stamper

For 2 quarts:

1/4 c. lime juice
3/4 c. lemon juice
1 c. sugar
water to fill

For 1 gallon:
1/2 c. lime juice
1 1/2 c. lemon juice
2 c. sugar
water to fill

Tips:
Combine juices and water in container. Use a whisk while adding the sugar gradually. This will help prevent a lot of sugar buildup on the bottom of the container.

Banana Bread the Brisson Way

From: New York Times Cookbook
Perfected by Mom, submitted by Alisha Brisson Stamper

1/2 c. shortening
3/4 c. sugar
1 large egg
4 tsp lemon juice
2 c. flour (one cup regular flour, one cup whole wheat flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup mashed bananas (2 or 3 whole bananas)
Optional: 1/2 c. walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream shortening and sugar.
Beat in the egg and lemon juice.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a sifter.
Fold into the batter, add bananas.
Stir.

Put into a greased loaf pan and bake for 60-70 minutes.
Turn out onto a cooling rack and let cool.

Delicious when warmed and topped with butter.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Alisha's Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Idea given by a nice lady in the grocery aisle, perfected by Alisha Brisson Stamper

this is a basic recipe, so you can add, tinker or build off of it as you want, but this is the main structure:

tyson frozen chicken tenderloins (about 5)
2 cans western family chipotle chili diced tomatoes (these make all the difference! If you're in another region of the country, try a few out, find one you love and make it your own version!)
1 cup pace mild salsa
2 packages frozen corn (the smaller bag, not a big one. normally buy the sweet kind for this soup but any kind will do)
2 cans great northern beans
6 or so cans chicken broth (depending on how soup-like you want it)
white corn tortilla chips
mixed shredded cheese
sour cream

boil chicken in 1 can chicken broth (add water to cover if needed). after cooked thoroughly (about 15-20 minutes from putting on burner), shred and chop.

add tomatoes, salsa, beans (rinse them from can to get off sediment and sodium), corn and chicken. Add chicken broth to cover approximately 5 cans for this amount of other ingredients).

heat until pipping hot and corn is cooked.

serve with tortilla chips, sour cream and cheese.

FRENCH COOKIES

Provided by Darren Haycock /Suzanne Haycock and submitted by Marcia Brisson

2 cups brown sugar
3 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup, (2 cubes) margarine or butter softened (room temp or very slightly melted—better if just very soft.
2 eggs whisked together
1 tsp. baking soda dissolved in 1 cup warm water

Put first four dry ingredients in a bowl and hand stir ‘til mixed.
Add softened butter, 2 eggs that have been whisked together—can use a fork, and the soda dissolved in the warm water. Now Hand Stir everything together until well mixed. You don’t have to overdue it—these are better under mixed. Do not use a mixer!

Now add 2 cups of chocolate chips and gently stir ‘til evenly mixed.
Pour onto a well greased large jelly roll pan or big pan with sides. I use a jelly roll pan that is about 12 x 17 inches. Bake at 350 about 25 minutes. Don’t over bake. The batter will be pulling very slightly away from the sides of the pan. Take out of the oven and put on a cooling rack.

Quickly stir about two or three cups of powdered sugar together with a few drops of water to make a smooth glaze. If too thick to spread easily, add a little bit more water. If too thin and watery, add a little bit more powdered sugar. Pour on hot cookies and quickly spread all over. Quickly sprinkle on chocolate sprinkles. Let cool completely before cutting. These do much better if you let them cool several hours before cutting—cutting while still warm and they come out gooey and messy and don’t look good.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Pumpkin-Chocolate Tart

Provided by Amanda Pilmer and submitted by Marcia Brisson

Cake Ingredients
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
3/4 cup firmly packed light-brown sugar
8 ounces creme fraiche
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Chocolate Crust 2 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate

Cake Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, brown sugar, creme fraiche, eggs, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and cloves until smooth.
3. Pass mixture through a fine sieve set over a clean bowl; discard solids.
4. Pour filling into prepared crust. Bake until filling is set, about 40 minutes.
5. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool at least 30 minutes.
6. Set a heatproof bowl, or the top of a double boiler, over a pan of barely simmering water.
7. Melt chocolate in bowl, stirring occasionally; remove from heat.
8. Dip a spoon in melted chocolate, then drizzle chocolate over tart, forming decorative stripes.
9. Refrigerate until well set, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Chocolate Crust Ingredients
Makes one 10-inch tart shell
1 cup all-purpose flour plus more for work surface
1/4 cup
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg
4 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Chocolate Crust Directions
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Add butter; mix on low speed until butter is the size of small peas, about 5 minutes. Add egg; mix until ingredients come together to form a dough. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to just thicker than 1/8 inch. Brush off excess flour; transfer dough to a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press dough into bottom and up sides of pan; trim excess flush with edge. Lightly prick bottom of dough all over with a fork. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Bake shell until firm, about 15 minutes. Immediately sprinkle chocolate over bottom of shell; smooth with a spatula.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Ghanaian Peanut Butter Soup

Provided by Jun Yanagishita & submitted by Marcia Brisson

Ingredients:
3 cooked & shredded chicken breasts
1 chopped onion
2-3 cups chicken broth
1 minced or crushed garlic clove
1 tsp cayenne pepper (or however spicy you want it)
1 cup grated carrots
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 cup peanut butter (I like crunchy, but creamy is fine too)
1-3 cups of water
**White rice! This is what you serve the soup over but you don't cook them together. I can't tell you how much to make but I would say at least 2 cups of uncooked = 4 cups cooked rice to start

Directions:
In pot, put in 1 Tbsp of butter and slightly cook onions and garlic. Add chicken broth and water. Put in pepper and peanut butter. Cook for 5 minutes until everything is blended together. Add carrots, tomatoes and chicken. Cook until vegetables are soft. If the soup looks too thin, add a mixture of 1 Tbsp cornstarch and 1/4 cup water. Add salt and pepper to taste.

This is so yummy, after Jun made it once I begged her for the recipe immediately!

Yaco Tacos!

Originally Created by Mom
submitted by Marcia Brisson with some additions


Ingredients:
(1) 12 oz. bag of tortilla chips (I like TOSTITOS® SCOOPS!®)
**you want about 6-8 cups of crushed chips or cooked rice. I prefer chips.
(1) 10 oz. can of tomato soup
(1) 10 oz. can of cream of mushroom soup
(1) 10 oz. can of water (from an emptied can above)
(1-2) cans of chopped green chilis
(1) lb. of hamburger
(1) lb. of cheddar cheese (or I really like Sargento® Fancy Shredded 4 Cheese Mexican Cheese)

Directions:
1. Crush the chips (not to dust, just about 1-2" pieces, not an exact science)
2. Brown the hamburger meat
3. Get a big bowl and mix everything together (but only 1/2 of the cheese)
Sometimes I like to mix everything and then add the chips and crush them into the wet mixture.
4. Stir it up with a big spoon and put it into a 9 x 13 ungreased pan and spread it out evenly
5. Cook at 350°F for 20 minutes
6. Take out and cover with the remaining 1/2 of the cheese & bake for an additional 10 minutes

Voila! Your guests will love you!

**I usually like to serve this with salsa (Pace® Picante) and Hidden Valley Ranch® on the side

Chocolate Truffle

Cake Ingredients:
(1) Devil's Food cake mix
(1) 8oz containter of CoolWhip
(12) Skor bars or mini bars

Fudge Sauce Ingredients:
(2) c. unsweetened cocoa
(1) c. brown sugar
(1) c. butter (cut into pieces)
(1 1/2) c. sugar
(2) c. whipping cream
(3) tsp. vanilla

Cake Directions:
1. Bake Devil's Food cake according to direction on box
2. Cool cake & crumble up
3. Crumble Skor bars & set aside
4. Divide cake into thirds (depends on serving dish)

Fudge Sauce:
1. Combine cocoa, sugars, cream & butter
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 20 minutes (make sure it's not grainy!)
3. Cool for 5 mi & stir in vanilla
4. Cool Sauce

Layers:
**thickness of the layers is up to you/dish size. I usually do 1-2" of cake to start with.
Cake crumbs
CoolWhip
Fudge Sauce
Skor Bars (sprinkle)
**repeat

Refridgerate & let it set overnight - it will taste much better!

Monster Cookies

From Matt Walker in the 1996 edition of The Colonial Ward Culinary Guide to Life Submitted by Marcia Brisson
Makes 120 cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
6 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups peanut butter
2 ¾ to 3 ¼ cups flour
4 tsp baking soda
5 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 12-oz bag chocolate chips


Directions:
1. Cream sugars and butter then blend in eggs, vanilla, and peanut butter
2. Sift together flour and soda then add to creamed mixture
3. Stir in oatmeal and chocolate chips
4. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet
5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 350°F

Tennessee Corn Pone

This recipe is from Laurel's Kitchen
*submitted by Marcia Brisson
**you should really ask Mom about when she made this for Thanksgiving

Ingredients:
4 c. very juicy cooked and seasoned beans (especially pinto / kidney / black - whatever you want)
2 c. cornmeal
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 quart buttermilk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 c. margarine

Directions:
1. Heat beans until quite hot and pour into a lightly greased 9 x 13 baking dish
2. Preheat oven 450°F
3. Mix the cornmeal, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl
4. Melt the margarine and combine with buttermilk & eggs
5. Stir the wet and dry ingredients together until smooth and pour them over the hot beans
6. Bake on the top rack of your oven until bread is a rich golden color and the sides of the corn bread pull away from the sides of the pan.
7. This takes about 30 minutes

Serves 10-12