Chicken Paprikash with Spetzl

A family favourite.

1 onion
1 green pepper
1 clove of garlic
1 chicken boulin cube
1 tomato
2 Tbsp paprika
salt/pepper
2 chicken breast

- 2 Tbsp lard/oil, put into pan
- finely chop onion, garlic, green pepper and tomato
- put onion and garlic into oil, cooked put in paprika into oil

- put the boulin into 2 cups of boiling water and dissolve cube
- put dissolved cube and water into pot
- bring to boil -> put green pepper and tomato into pot
- add water to above mixture; let boil and simmer
- cut up chicken breast (or whatever meat you are using) into strips and cook in a separate pan
- put chicken breast into pot (simmering for 1/2 hour)
- put sour cream into pot before serving (4-5 tbsp)

Spetzl (handmade noodles)

- 2 cups flour
- 1 egg

- Mix egg and flour until it is a paste (gooey)
- boil hot water in a pot
- drop pieces of mixture into boiling water
- once noodles float to surface, put in a container with drops of oil
- put noodles on plate and ladle broth onto them

Accompaniments might include white wine, rye bread, light salad or cucumber

Butter tarts

Oh how I miss butter tarts, apparently they don't make them south of the Mason-Dixon line. Here's a clip of Peter Gzowski (he left us too soon) and my beloved butter tarts..two things among the many I miss about home.

½ c. Raisins

Pour sufficient boiling water to cover over raisins. Let stand until plumped and then drain when ready to fill tart shells.

Preheat oven to 375oF.

Prepare sufficient pastry and roll out on floured surface. Cut with floured cookie cutter and line 12 medium sized muffin cups. Do not prick.

Put a few plumped raisins into bottom of each tart shell.

Mix together:

¼ c. Butter or Margarine
½ c. lightly packed Brown Sugar

Stir in:

1 c. Corn Syrup
2 Eggs, slightly beaten
¼ tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla

Combine just until blended. Spoon into unbaked tart shells, filling each about two-thirds full.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes. Do not allow filling to bubble over.

Make 12 tarts.

Chocolate Fudge (aka Christmas fudge)

These are crazy long instructions for something that is so easy to make...and well worth the read.

3 c chocolate chips
4 Tbs. butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Note that one pound of chocolate chips is the same as three cups of chocolate chips - not two.

Throw the butter and chocolate chips into a medium metal bowl or double boiler. Pour the sweetened condensed milk on top.

Fill a small pot with about an inch of water and bring it to a boil. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat so the water is barely simmering.

Place the metal bowl on top of the pot to make a bain-marie. (If you have a double boiler, by all means, use it instead.) Make sure the bottom of the bowl is suspended above the water level itself.

Line a pan with two sheets of wax paper, one going one way and one the other. One on top of the other, this way you can pull out the fudge when it's fully cooled. Add a little lick of butter to the bottom of the first sheet to keep it from shifting.

Let the fudge cool a little in the pan and then transfer to the freezer. Before you try to cut it, let it warm ever so slightly or you will have very chocolately hands...which is never a bad thing.

Gram's Christmas pudding and hard sauce

This pudding or at least the hard sauce was always my favourite part of Christmas dinner at Gram's.

Pudding

1 c sour milk
1/2 c molasses
1 c ground suet
2 eggs, beaten
1 c or more of raisins, dates, currants (mixed)
2 c flour
1 tsp soda

Mix well together, place in a greased pudding bowls, cover with waxed paper or foil and steam for 1 hour.

Serve hot with hard sauce.


Hard Sauce

1/3 c butter
1 2/3 c sifted icing sugar
2/3 tsp vanilla
1/2-1 tsp cream

Cream butter until smooth, add sifted sugar, blend well and add vanilla.
If softer sauce is desired, blend in cream.

Variations - For Christmas Pudding add 2 tsp of molasses, 1 tbsp of rum or brandy and 1/4 tsp or less of cinnamon. Add extra sugar to desired consistency of sauce.

Mrs. Hilliard's Lemon Pudding

Juice of 1 lemon
3/4 c sugar
1 c cold water

Mix lemonade and pour into greased baking dish.

Batter:

1 egg
3/4 c sugar
Butter dollop the size of an egg
4 tbsp milk
3/4 c flour
1 tsp baking powder

Mix well and drop into lemonade and bake in moderate over (@350F)

Pumpkin or Squash Pie

1 ¼ c pumpkin or squash, mashed and strained
½ c sugar
2 tbsp molasses
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ginger
3 eggs
About ¼ c milk
Pinch of salt

Beat eggs slightly and add rest of ingredients, mixing well.
Pour into 10 inch unbaked pastry shell.
Bake at 425F – 15 min.
Reduce heat to 325F and bake until filling is set.

Rhubarb Pie

Line 9 inch pie plate with pastry.

Fill with rhurbarb cut in pieces.

Mix 1 cup white sugar with 2 tbsp of custard powder.

Sprinkle over rhubarb.

Cover with pastry.

Bake at about 15 minutes at 425F.

Reduce heat to 300F to 325F and bake until rhubarb is cooked.

Pecan Pie

Line 1-9inch pie plate with pastry

Filling:

1 c pecan halves
1/3 sugar
3 eggs
1 c dark corn syrup
1/8 tsp salt
4 tbsp melted butter

Line pie shell with pecans.
Beat eggs well.
Add corn syrup, sugar, salt and butter
Mix and pour slowly into pie shell.
Bake in moderately hot oven (375F) on lower shelf for 40 minutes.
Cool. Serve with whipping cream.

Pastry

1 lb crisco
5 cups flour
1 level tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten

In measuring cup, add 1 egg, lightly beaten, cold water to make a cup, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp soda and 1 tbsp vinegar.

Sift flour, baking powder, soda and salt together in a large bowl.
Add brown sugar and crisco, mix well and add egg water vinegar mixture, mix well.
Roll on floured pastry board.
Extra pastry may be frozen for later use.

Coconut Cream Pie

½ c white sugar
5 tbsp cornstarch
2 ¼ milk
2 or 3 eggs, separated
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 c coconut
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla

Mix sugar, salt and cornstarch in a saucepan.
Stir in milk.
Cook over how heat until thickened, stirring constantly.
Add beaten egg yolks and mix well.
Remove from heat and add coconut, vanilla, and butter.
Stir well and pour into baked pie shell.
Cover with meringue.

Meringue:

Beat egg white until stiff but not dry.
Beat in 4 tbsp of white sugar and 1/8 tsp of cream of tartar.
Spread over filling and sprinkle top with small amount of coconut.
Place in a 375 degree oven to brown.

To make Banana Cream Pie, omit the coconut and put a layer of sliced bananas in the baked pie shell. Pour in filling and top with meringue.

Strawberry Pie

Place a layer of uncooked strawberries in a baked pie shell.

In a saucepan, cook

about 3 cups of fresh strawberries
2 tbsp water
1/8 tsp salt
½ to ¾ c white sugar
Thicken with 2 tbsp cornstarch

Add ½ pkg of strawberry Jello powder to hot mixture and stir until Jello is dissolved.
Pour hot mixture over raw strawberries in pie shell
When cold top with whipped cream or Dream Whip.
Decorate top with whole uncooked berries.

Lemon Fluff Pie

1 - 9 inch pie shell
3 eggs, separated
3/4 cup white sugar
Juice ad grated rind of 1 lemon
3 tbsps cold water

Cook slightly beaten egg yolks, water, lemon juice/rind and half sugar in a double boiler until thick like heavy cream.

Beat egg whites until very stiff and add rest of sugar.

Slowly fold into cooked mixture and pour into cooked pie shell.

Put into hot oven, about 425 degrees for 3 minutes to brown.

Apple Gingerbread (from Alice C.)

Bring to a boil:

1 c sugar
1 c water

Add 8 apples (pared, cored and quartered). Cook until tender but not mushy. Cool.

Make the following batter for the top.
Cream ¼ c of butter; add 1/3 c of sugar. Cream well.
Add egg, beat well into butter mixture.
Beat in 1/3 c molasses
Add the following ingredients alternatively with 1/3 cup sour milk, beginning and ending with dry mixture.

1 c flour
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ cloves
½ salt
½ soda

Pour over apples in a 8 inch or 9 inch cake pan.

Bake at 325 degree for 50 minutes.

Put whipped cream or ice-cream on top.

Low calorie maple syrup

If you can't get the real thing, this might be a good alternative.

1 tbsp cornstarch
5 tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
1 c cold water
2 tsp maple flavouring

Combine cornstarch, sugar, salt and water in a small saucepan.
Mix well.
Cook over low heat stirring constantly until syrup thickens and bubbles.
Simmer 1 minute and remove heat.
Stir in maple flavouring.

Cottage Style Pancakes

Makes 24 pancakes about 3 ½ inches in diameter

2 eggs
1 c lowfat cottage cheese
2/3 c skim milk
1 c sifted all purpose flour
½ c baking soda
½ tsp salt

Place eggs, cottage cheese, and skim milk in an blender.
Whirl at high speed until creamy.
Scrape down sides of container.
Add flour, salt and soda, whirl only until creamy and blended.
Heat a non-stick skillet.
Pour batter onto heated skillet to make 3 ½ inch pancakes
Turn when pancakes bubble.

Crusty Baked Pork Chops

¾ c crushed corn flakes or rice cereal
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp thyme
6 pork chops
¼ c melted butter or margarine

Combine cereal crumbs and seasonings in a plastic bag
Snip fat edges of chops
Dip into melted butter or margarine then shake two at a time in plastic bag containing crumbs.

Bake uncovered on rack in a roasting pan at 325F until tender (about 40-50 minutes).

Pork Chop Casserole

2 pork chops
salt and pepper
2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 can condensed tomato soup
½ soup can of milk
2 medium onions, sliced

Place chops in bottom of baking dish
Sprinkle with salt and pepper
Add sliced onions and potatoes
Combine soup and milk; pour over vegetables and chops
Cover coarsely with foil and bake 1½ hours at 350F

Beet jelly

6 c beet juice
4 tbsp lemon juice
8 c sugar
Boil 4 minutes, then add 1 ½ boxes of Certo
Boil another 10 minutes.
Then add 2 small pkg grape jello
Boil 5 more minutes
Bottle and seal.

Variations: pineapple, raspberry, fruit punch.

Indian Relish

12 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
12 apples
9 onions
1 qt vinegar
5 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp clove
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp pepper
¼ c salt

Boil until thick. Seal hot.

Rhubarb Jam

5 c rhubarb
5 c white sugar
½ c water

Boil for 20 minutes
Add 1 can of crushed pineapple
Bring to a boil then turn off heat.
Add 2 large size packages of strawberry jello powders
Stir, cool and bottle.