Easy Trifle

Trifle is simply cake, fruit or chocolate bits, and something to bind it together like pudding or whipped cream. Variations are as endless as your imagination.

Trifle

Leftover pound cake

1 can of sliced peaches in syrup

fresh raspberries

Whipped cream

Break up the cake into pieces with a fork.  Add peaches in syrup.  Add whipped cream and fresh fruit.  Toss together lightly with your fork.  Refrigerate until serving time.

Beef Stew

Beef Stew is one of those recipes that depends on how you were reared...if you are of Italian descent, your family stew recipe probably contains tomatoes and tomato paste.  Each nationality has it's own version of stew and there are variations culturally.  This stew recipe is from my mother-in-law, Elizabeth Marshall.

Do this in a crock pot. 

Ingredients:

2 lb. of chuck, cut into cubes and dredged in flour

2 stalks of celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 potatoes, peeled and chopped

64 oz. of beef stock

1/2 can of tomato paste

1 bay leaf

In a small saute pan, brown chuck pieces slowly with 1 tbl. of extra virgin olive oil and 1 tbl. of butter.  Remove from pan and put in bottom of crock pot.  Add all remaining ingredients.  Remove bay leaf before serving.

Lentil Soup

My grandmother, Lucy Tocci Piermarini, taught me how to make lentil soup.  For vegetarians, it is the greatest comfort food.  (If making the vegetarian version, substitute water for chicken stock and use vegetarian sweet sausage.)  You must soak the lentils overnight so allow time for that.  

Ingredients:

1 lb. of lentil beans (soaked overnight in a large bowl of cold water with two tsps. of baking soda)

1 yellow onion, diced

2 stalks of celery diced (get the kind with celery leaves)

2 carrots, chopped

1 tbl. of butter

1 tbl. of extra virgin olive oil

tomato paste

1 lb. of Italian sweet sausage

64 ounces of either water or chicken stock

In a large stockpan, saute onions, celery and carrots until onions are translucent.  (This is a battuto in Italian.)  Put the battuto in a slow cooker.  Pour in liquid. Add can of tomato paste (I use Cento).  Add three cloves of crushed garlic.  Add one bay leaf.  Add sweet sausage.  Slow cook for a minimum of four hours.  Serve with a crusty bread....delicious!

Basic Macaroni Salad

Macaroni Salad is one of my favorites to serve in the summertime.  It is easy to make.  You can vary the ingredients for your own palate.  The original recipe comes from my Aunt Alice, my mother's sister.  I fondly remember her bringing this salad to family gatherings.  

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. of elbow macaroni (cooked in chicken broth), drained

1/2 cup (or more) of mayo

1/2 lb. of cherry tomatoes

2 cans of little shrimp (rinsed in cold water and strained)

1 sweet pepper (save top for decoration)

1/2 of a red onion, diced

1/2 cup of chopped carrots

2 large cloves of garlic, smashed

In a large mixing bowl, pour in strained macaroni.  Add all ingredients.  You may need more mayo ... it's all about flavor.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and refrigerate.  This is best when made the day before.  

Pound Cake

Ingredients

• Pound cake is very easy to make.  Two rules of thumb when baking a cake from scratch:  have everything ready before hand...eggs should be at room temperature before mixing ingredients.  Second rule of thumb is to grease and flour your loaf pan well.  Originally, the pound cake got it's name because it contained one pound of butter, one pound of flour and one pound of eggs.  This Preheat oven to 350F.  Serve with fruit and whipped cream.
• 
  
• Ingredients:
• Two sticks of butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco
• 3 cups sugar
• 5 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted and measured
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tsps. of Grand Marnier
• 1 tsp. of vanilla

Using dough hook on either a Kitchenaid or your food processor, cream butter, shortening  and sugar together.  Add eggs, one at a time, pulsing each time after you add an egg.  In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients together.  Put processor on slowest speed and add dry mixture slowly.  Remove bowl from machine and slowly blend in the flavorings.  Pour into prepared loaf pan.    Bake for one hour until toothpick inserted in cake comes out cleanly.

Fruit Topping:

Mix one package of frozen raspberries with one nip of Chambord.  Set aside for serving.

Whipped Cream:

Mix one pint of heavy cream with sugar (to taste) until you have a soft consistency.  Blend in one nip of Grand Marnier.  Set aside for serving.

Assembly:

Cut slice of pound cake, top with berries and whipped cream.  Garnish with a fresh raspberry and mint leaves.

Basic Yeast Bread

Bread is easier to make than pie crust and less intimidating.  The two key elements here are proving the yeast and patience (bread dough made by hand has to rise at least twice).  There is great satisfaction in kneading dough by hand but with today's appliances, unnecessary.  Please note that this recipe is not for bread machines (unless you want to use the bread machine to make the dough)...this recipe is for teaching technique.     Remember to allow ample time for kneading the bread if you are not using a machine.  You will need a food processor (if you choose to use one) with a plastic dough hook; a deep bowl for mixing if you are doing it by hand; a deep bowl that has been buttered or oiled; a linen towel; spatulas; and a warm resting place.  If you are baking the bread in a loaf pan, you will need to butter or oil the loaf pan and sprinkle it liberally with cornmeal.   Preheat the oven an hour before baking to 350F.

Tip for beginners:  two other things enhance a perfect loaf of bread...baker's tiles (scrubbed quarry tiles that have no glaze are perfect and inexpensive) and have a teapot full of boiling water ready just before baking the bread (this will ensure that the crust of the bread is perfect).

Proving the Yeast


Put two tsps. of active dry yeast (refrigerator section of market) in a deep, dry bowl
Cover with tepid liquid (water, stock, etc.) --- my grandmother always said the water for bread should be cooler than you would put a baby in but not cold...

Allow the yeast to sit for five to ten minutes (ten is better).  During this proving time, do not stir or shake the bowl.

Bread Dough Ingredients
3 to 4 cups of all-purpose flour  --- measure three into the bowl; the other cup is for kneading
proven yeast
1 tsp. of salt
1 tsp. of sugar
ice water

(I prefer unbleached flour but it's a personal choice)

Making Bread Dough with a Machine
If using a dough hook, put dry ingredients in the processor bowl.   Scrape the yeast into the processor bowl. Put cover on machine but leave feeding tube uncovered.   Start machine and slowly drizzle the ice water into the machine until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl.  (This will probably take less than a minute.)  If you do not want to knead the bread, you may need to kneed it a little bit more in the machine.  Put the dough in the prepared bowl.  Cover with linen towel.   See below for finishing instructions.

Making Bread Dough by Hand
Put three cups of flour into the largest bowl you have.  Add the yeast.  Use one hand to balance the bowl and the other to mix.  Add a fourth cup of the cold water, mixing the dough as you go along.  Add water and mix with your hand until the dough forms a mass that no longer sticks to the side of the bowl.  Take the dough out of the bowl and put in the prepared bowl.   Cover with linen towel.  See below for finishing instructions.

Finishing Instructions
Allow the dough to rise for one hour.  Take the linen cloth off the bowl.  Punch the dough down.  Knead the dough until you get a round ball a put the seam of the dough on the bottom of the bowl.  Cover the bowl with the linen.  Allow the dough to rise again for another hour.

On your counter, sprinkle the other cup of flour.  Knead with your hands until you can make a smooth, round ball of dough.  Put the dough in the prepared pan, seam-side down.  See baking instructions below.

If you are baking on the baker's tiles, knead the same way.  However, the top of the dough needs to be slashed with either a baking razor or a sharp knife.  Several slits will help the bread bake better.

Baking Directions:


Preheat the oven to 350F.  If you are using baker's tiles, put these in before you start the oven.

If you are not using baker's tiles, put the loaf pan in the oven and bake at 350F for about an hour or until bread is golden brown.

If you are using baker's tiles, throw the dough on the baker's tiles seam-side down.  The slashes will be seen.  Throw one cup of boiling water on the bottom of the stove.  This will help the bread form a nice crust.
Bake for same amount of time.

Summer Stew

Crockpots are marvelous....I own five or six of various sizes...look for unopened ones at yard sales.  This recipe is easy and can be done quickly before you leave for the day.  I like chicken thighs for this dish but substitute whatever...the chicken can be frozen...makes no difference to the finished dish.  I reconstitute the dried mushrooms in chicken broth.

Chicken Stew

6 chicken thighs, boned

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

32 ounces of chicken stock

1 cup of dried mushrooms

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. of ground rosemary (if dried) or 1 sprig of fresh rosemary (you can use more if you like the flavor of rosemary)

freshly ground nutmeg

Throw all ingredients in the crock pot.  Cover, set on lowest heat for eight hours and leave.  Savory meal awaits you when you get home.

Easy Summer Salad

Summer Salad

When Gove's Farm is in high season, everything in the kitchen is fresh. Their award winning tomatoes and corn-on-the-cob make any meal special. This light summer salad highlight's the Farm's tomatoes and cucumbers. It's a very simple recipe that was taught to me by my grandmother who believed (and rightfully so) that every vegetable deserves to be a star without the need for any fancy dressing.  This works equally well adding shredded chicken; cooked shrimp; etc.  for a light supper meal.  Pair it with your favorite bread and iced tea.

Summer Salad
2 tomatoes, cored and sliced
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
4 ounces of chopped bacon

Freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt, nutmeg and garlic powder 

Veal Parmiagiana

There is nothing my husband loves more than an Italian meal so his Father's Day gift is a delightful menu...veal parm, pasta and brownies.

VEAL PARMIGIANA

2 lbs. of fresh veal cutlets

Two or three fresh eggs at room temperature

Italian flavored breadcrumbs

All purpose flour

Parmiagiana Regiano cheese

extra virgin olive oil

Your favorite tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 350F

Rub a good baking dish with butter flavored Crisco.  Set aside.

Put three pie plates on your counter.  Put breadcrumbs in one; put flour in one; mix the eggs and a little cream in the third.  Add salt, pepper and garlic powder to the egg mixture.

Dredge cutlets first in flour, then in the egg mixture and then dredge them in the breadcrumbs.  On stovetop, have a deep fry pan filled with extra virgin olive oil.  Fry each cutlet for two minutes on each side.  Set on brown paper on a baking rack until assembly time.

In the baking dish, put a spoonful of tomato sauce, then two cutlets, then sprinkle a little cheese.  Repeat each layer until finished.  Top with a generous amount of cheese.  Bake for twenty minutes.  

Perfect Pie Crust

There are two key components to making perfect pie crust:  shortening and resting.  To make a perfect pie crust, you must choose the right shortening for the crust and allow the dough to rest for a minimum of thirty minutes before rolling it out.  For a savory pie crust, you need a combination of lard and butter (or butter flavored Crisco) that works well with meat pies, poultry pies, etc.  For a sweet pie crust, you simply add a tiny bit of sugar to enhance the flavor of the filling.  My perfect combination for a crust is butter flavored Crisco and lard straight from the fridge (it is very cold).  Always use ice water.  You can do a decent pie crust by hand but I prefer to use my Kitchenaide with the dough hook.  Have a bowl set aside for the dough to rest (in the fridge).

Tips for rolling out dough:  if you have a granite or granite-type countertop, that's the surface you want.  A granite rolling pin is a plus.  If you have neither, put a linen on your countertop and roll out your pie dough on that.  Have your pie plate ready too.

Pie Crust
3 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tbl. of lard
3 tbl. of butter flavored Crisco
ice water (1/2 to 1 cup)
pinch of salt

Sift flour into mixing bowl.  Using dough hook, add lard and salt, pulsing until the dough is crumbly.  Add ice water by pouring into top of machine until the dough no longer sticks to the side of the mixing bowl.  Stop pulsing as soon as it reaches that stage.  Put the dough into the resting bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to chill for at least thirty minutes.  Cut the dough in half to roll out and put the rest back in the fridge.

Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute (the heat from your hands will make the gluten in the dough develop nicely).  Roll out and put on the pie plate.  If making a savory pie, put in your meat or poultry filling, dot with butter and roll out and cover the pie.  Most meat pies bake at around 400F for 30 to 45 minutes.  If making a dessert pie, roll out your dough, fill it, roll out second crust and cover.  Sprinkle the top of the pie with granulated sugar before baking.  Most dessert pies bake at around 375F (unless using apples or a firm fruit).  for 30 to 45 minutes.  Remember to vent the top of your crust by poking with a fork or a knife before cooking.  Most chefs brush the top of the pie crust before baking with either a mixture of egg (white or yolk) and water; cream or half and half, etc.  Be creative!!!

If you have time to make your own, here's the recipe for cherry filling...

Cherry Filling
4 to 5 cups of fresh cherries, pitted
1 cup of turbinado sugar (bar sugar)
2 tbl. of cornstarch
1/2 tsp. of extract (your choice:  raspberry; vanilla; almond, etc.)

Put cherries and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer over lowest possible heat until liquid develops.  Take some of the hot liquid and mix in a bowl with the cornstarch until you get a smooth paste.  Put that back into the cherry filling with the extract and shut off heat after mixing well.  Allow your filling to get to room temperature before making your pie.  I usually run this filling through a strainer to remove any unwanted pits or peels.