Fabulous Family Recipes

December 17, 2023December 17, 2023

Ellen’s Hot Rolls for Thanksgiving

Notes

I usually halve this recipe unless it’s a huge group.

Ingredients

4 cups warm milk (warmer than room temp, but not so hot that it’s too hot to touch)
Add 2 packages of dry yeast
5 – 6 cups of flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter or Crisco cut into small pieces
2 tsp salt

Instructions

The basic recipe uses Fleischman’s Active Dry Yeast (original, not the rapid rise, different instructions if using Rapid Rise)
Mix together in a warm room
4 cups warm milk (warmer than room temp, but not so hot that it’s too hot to touch)
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter or Crisco cut into small pieces
Add 2 packages of dry yeast. Let it sit for 15 minutes. It should be bubbly and growing. If it’s flat, throw out and start over. If it’s slow to grow, put it in a warmer area like the top of the stove and give it more time.
Add 5-6 cups of flour.
Knead 10 minutes on a cutting board with more flour added if it gets too sticky.
Let it rise in a warm area until it has doubled in size. Punch down. If cooking later, cover dough lightly with oil, cover in plastic or material to prevent it from forming crust, and refrigerate. Can last 48 hours in the fridge.
Place dough in round balls touching each other on an ungreased baking sheet. Cook for 14 minutes at 400 degrees (for rolls a bit smaller than a golf ball – more time for larger rolls).

November 21, 2021November 21, 2021

DAD’S PASTITSIO

This recipe was contributed by Maria Tsagrinos in honor of her father.

Maria Tsagrinos' Dad

Meat Sauce Ingredients

½ stick butter
1 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves garlic
1 lg. yellow onion, finely chopped
2 sticks cinnamon
1 tbsp. oregano
salt
1 cup red wine
1 small can tomato paste
1 carton basil
2 lbs. ground beef
1 pkg. sage pork sausage
1 lg. can (1lb.) tomato sauce
2 reg. cans sliced, stewed tomatoes, Italian Style
½ clove nutmeg, grated
2-3 bay leaves

Preparation: Meat Sauce

Mix red wine and tomato paste in a small bowl or cup, set aside.
In large saucepan, heat oil/butter.
Add onions, sauté until translucent.
Add garlic, oregano, meat, and salt to taste. Brown the meat, slowly adding small portions of the **tomato paste/wine mixture throughout browning process.
**Add SLOWLY so as not to cool temperature of browning ingredients drastically.
Add stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, chopped basil, bay leaves, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Turn down heat, and let sauce simmer for one hour.

Bechamel Sauce

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter
½ cup and 2 tbsp flour
1 qt. whole milk, room temperature
1 pinch fresh nutmeg
salt, pepper to taste
1 cup grated parmesan

Bechamel Preparation:

In saucepan, melt butter on medium heat.
Add flour, whisk until smooth (about 2 minutes).
While stirring continuously, add milk **gradually until all gone.
Whisk well until smooth.
Simmer until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 10 mins.)
Remove from heat.
Stir in nutmeg, cheese, salt, and pepper.

Preparing Pastitsio

Additional Ingredients:

1 lb. penne
1 ¼ cup fresh grated parmesan or kefalotiri
1 Pinch each of cinnamon and nutmeg (optional)
2 tbsp. olive oil
While the meat sauce is simmering, prepare the pasta. Cook until slightly underdone, remove, drain, toss with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to prevent sticking, and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In an 11x15x3-inch baking pan, add 1/2 the pasta for the first layer and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the grated cheese. Add the meat sauce evenly over the pasta, and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the grated cheese. Add the remaining pasta on top. Carefully pour the béchamel evenly over the top.
Bake at 350F (160C) for 30 minutes, then sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of grated cheese and nutmeg / cinnamon (optional) on top, and continue to bake for another 15 to 30 minutes until the sauce rises and turns golden brown.
Remove from oven, cool for 20 minutes. Cut, and serve.

May 1, 2021May 1, 2021

Hummus for a party

In this photo the hummus has olive oil and zatar on top of it.

One 30 oz (850 grams) can garbanzo beans

one half cup liquid reserved,

one quarter cup lemon juice plus one tablespoon,

one tablespoon olive oil,

one teaspoon cumin,

one teaspoon salt,

four cloves garlic minced,

four tablespoons tahini

October 28, 2020October 28, 2020

Apple Barbecue Sauce-Basted Smoked Chicken Recipe

Lashings of glossy, sticky, sweet apple barbecue sauce sets this smoked chicken apart.

Chef’s Note: This recipe will need to be started the day before serving. You will need a barbecue with a lid or a smoker for this recipe.
Servings: 4
Total: 24 hours

Ingredients – brine

3 tablespoons cooking salt
3 tablespoons garlic salt (I skipped this and used 5 fresh garlic cloves)

Ingredients – chicken, rub and sauce

1 (1.4 kilogram) chicken, spatchcocked (I left mine whole and cooked it on a vertical stand)
1 bag natural charcoal
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt (this is too much, 1 tsp. is plenty as the chicken has been brined. Salt-sensitive might leave it out of the rub completely)
250 ml (1 cup) apple juice (substitute apple sauce otherwise WAY too runny and unuseful)
250 ml (1 cup) barbecue sauce
100 grams unsalted butter, melted (skipped completely, this is insane to add IMO)
1 kilogram (2.2 lbs.) wood chips or chunks (apple wood, ironbark or hickory), soaked in water for 1 hour

Directions

In a large saucepan, combine the cooking salt and garlic salt with 4 liters of water and bring to the boil. Dissolve the salts, then remove from heat and cool completely before adding the chicken to the brine. Refrigerate overnight.
The next day, remove the chicken from the brine, pat dry and refrigerate, uncovered, for 2 to 3 hours to dry the skin. (In my opinion this is unnecessary especially for a BBQ’d bird as the sauce wipes out all crispiness)
Add some charcoal to the barbecue and light with firelighters – the coals will need to be red hot before adding any wood chips.
Meanwhile, combine the paprika, pepper, and kosher salt in a small bowl. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and generously season with the paprika mix. Set aside for 30 minutes while the charcoal comes up to
temperature.
Whisk the apple juice, barbecue sauce, and melted butter in a bowl and set aside.
Add a handful of wood chips to the hot coals. Place the chicken in the barbecue or smoker and cover with the lid. Keep adding charcoal and wood chips as needed – but don’t open the lid unnecessarily – to maintain the smoke and a temperature of about 155°C (311° Fahrenheit).
Brush the apple barbecue sauce on the chicken after 1 hour, and again after 1-1/2 hours. By this stage, the chicken should be almost ready – if you have a probe thermometer, you’re looking for an internal temperature of 75°C (165° Fahrenheit).
Once cooked, remove the chicken from the barbecue and brush one last time.
Wrap the chicken in foil and rest for 30 minutes before serving.

July 13, 2020July 15, 2020

French-style bean salad

3 each – 15 ounce cans of beans (white, cannellini, garbanzo)
1/3 cup olive oil (more if you want more dressing)
1/3 cup green onion
3 tbsp. white wine vinegar (more if you want more dressing)
4 fat cloves of garlic finely minced
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped pepper (bell are good but you can use Anaheim and Passilla, yellow/Hungarian peppers)
1/2 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
1/4 cup sliced kalamata olives
1/4 cup sliced green olives stuffed with pimentos
1 tsp. coarse ground or stone ground dijon mustard
pepper to taste

Canned beans are usually salted so there’s really not a need to add salt. You may want to adjust the amount of vegetables to suit your tastes.

Awesome as a side dish, it goes great on top of green salad as well. Super-healthy as people in Blue Zones eat 1 cup of beans a day.

***NOTE: served with lengthwise wedges of hard boiled eggs!!!! This salad is best if it sits overnight and the flavors meld together!

December 12, 2018December 12, 2018

Spinach & Feta Cheese Tart

I ALWAYS make two of these at a time because the pie crusts are sold in a double pack. Plus, everyone loves this dish and one tart disappears too soon!

The original recipe calls for ricotta cheese but I find it’s pricey and just as easy to use cottage cheese (one small container) and allow the whey to separate using a metal sieve one day ahead. The goal with draining off the whey is to make your tart have a firmer texture and not be at all runny or soft.

Ingredients (this makes two 9″ tarts)

Package of 2 frozen deep dish pie crusts

4 eggs lightly beaten

2 cups cottage cheese (drained in sieve for a day)

2 cups chopped fresh Spinach (baby variety, organic)

1 cup crumbed feta cheese (I choose one with herbs in it)

2 teaspoons herbs (use any combo of oregano, thyme, or savory herbs)

1 cup fresh veggies chopped (like red bell pepper, green onions, broccoli)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese reserved for the top

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Prick pie crusts with a fork to prevent bubbles. Bake crusts for 10 minutes then remove and cool. While crusts are baking, work on the filling.

Reduce oven to 350 after crusts come out of oven. Whisk the eggs gently, then mix in everything else in one bowl except the Parmesan.

Divide the filling between the two crusts. Finally, sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the tops of each tart and return to oven for 45 minutes. A knife inserted into center should come out clean if the tart is fully cooked.

Serve warm with a green salad. Great to make ahead for potlucks. Delicious even at room temperature for a picnic or brunch. Experiment with ingredients based on what you have on hand.

May 20, 2018July 13, 2020

Tamale Pie

This is a recipe we grew up with as kids. Our Mom, Ann Barczay Sloan, used to cook this. I went ahead and made my own version but while she was living with me, before she passed away, I asked her for HER recollection of the recipe. I present both, you can try both, hers is probably faster. I think mine is pretty rockin’, too.

Mom’s Tamale Pie

Chili – can or scratch
Layer or two of corn tortillas in casserole
Layer on chili
Layer sharp cheddar
Layer green onions
Keep layering to top
Add water to the last bit of chili so it is like a soup. This will soak the layers
Top w cheese and sliced olives
Bake covered at 350. Uncover last few minutes to crisp.

Sean’s Tamale Pie

Ingredients:

One large yellow or brown onion diced
2 tbsp. Olive oil (or 1 ea. Olive oil and bacon grease)
1-½ lbs. Ground turkey
1 tbsp. Oregano
1 tsp. Cumin
4 tbsp. jarred red salsa, medium hot
Black olives
2 cups 3-cheese shredded Mexican blend cheese
15 corn tortillas
1 can of enchilada sauce 19 oz. (example but in a bigger can size)

Cooking:

I like to brown the onions in pan, Salt and pepper to taste and then set them aside
Now brown turkey in the same pan with a little more olive oil as turkey can be very low fat and stick to the pan. Salt and pepper to taste.
Add back the onions and mix well to spread the flavors around
I like to grind the Mexican oregano (slightly stronger smelling and more like
whole flowers than standard oregano) between my palms and into the pan.
Sprinkle cumin on.
Add the salsa, not too much, its meant to be edible by kids and people who can’t handle spice
In your baking dish: start by pouring out a thin layer of the enchilada sauce then add a layer of tortillas followed by a layer of the spiced meat and onions mix followed by most of the cheese
Next layer starts with tortillas then enchilada sauce, spiced meat and onion mix then cheese
Final layer, the top most layer, is tortillas, the enchilada sauce then cheese then decorate with a freshly sliced olives placed around evenly. Sometimes it put a sprinkle of chili powder lightly across the top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, remove from oven and let it cool/set up a bit before serving.
This dish is even better the next day as all the flavors have melded, the enchilada sauce has been incorporated into the tortillas and it reheats amazingly well in the microwave

November 13, 2017November 11, 2019

Thai Butternut Bisque

Thai butternut soup This recipe can be doubled for a crowd and just gets better with time. Make it a day or two ahead of your next party. Can be made vegan by substituting vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.

~4 lb. butternut squash (weight in store not after prep)
2 T. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion – chopped
1 can (13.5 oz coconut milk)*
2 t. Minced garlic
4 heaping T. creamy peanut butter (Adam’s all natural is full flavored)
4 cups chicken stock (= one 32 oz. carton at the store)
2 t. Salt
1 t. Ground cumin
1 t. Ginger powder
1 t. Ground coriander
1 t. Smoked paprika
¼ t. Ground cloves

Directions

Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.
Turn face-down into a 9″ x 13” baking dish and bake at 350 for 1 hour, 15 minutes until a fork easily pierces the skin. While squash bakes, you can make proceed with step 3.
Heat olive oil in large stock pot and add chopped onions, then caramelize the onions on low-medium for 15 minutes (keep covered and stir occasionally).
During the last 2 minutes, stir in the garlic and spices with the onions.
Remove from heat.
Remove squash from oven and allow to cool 1 hour or until you can handle it comfortably.
Working in batches, scoop squash from the skin with a spoon and transfer it to a blender.
Fill blender halfway and pour stock over squash to cover and then blend until smooth.
Keep repeating this process and add the onions and garlic mixture to blender as well.
Pour the blended squash back into the stock pot and add the can of coconut milk. If your blender needs a little more liquid, you can mix the coconut milk in with the squash as you’re blending to keep the mixture moving (it will be pretty thick!)
Reheat blended soup on medium and stir in the peanut butter until smooth and incorporated.
Serve soup with crusty artisan bread like a harvest loaf or your favorite kind.
Optional: garnish with a dollop of sour cream and chopped fresh cilantro

* You’ll want the rich kind of coconut milk (not lite version) with the thick coconut cream on top.
I like the one from Trader Joe’s. Chaokoh brand is also excellent. Enjoy ?

April 22, 2017April 22, 2017

German Hot Potato Salad with plenty of bacon…

German potato salad with a few additions. My brother had 4th’s…

This recipe is a combination of one found in Luchow’s German Cookbook, aka Speck Salat, and suggestions from my dear mother from her own recipe. The version in Luchow’s is a bit on the extreme/ridiculous side of things as when scaling up for more than 2 servings (to say enough to feed my family, ie. 5 lbs.) it would require 30 pieces of bacon.

One thing to keep in mind is that this dish is most impressive when served fresh and hot with all the ingredients mixed together at the last minute. That having been said it stores and reheats well.

*read entire recipe including notes before beginning.

Ingredients:

5 lbs. red skinned potatoes (russets won’t retain their firmness)
2 medium onions, diced
1-1/2 lb. bacon ends and pieces
4 cups white vinegar
3 cups beef stock made from bouillon
4 tsp. sugar
4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1-1/2 cup green onions, sliced along length into tiny rings
1/2 parsley

Steps:

Boil potatoes keeping a close eye on them so that they don’t get too soft. The skins splitting is a sign that they need to be checked but I start checking after 20 minutes with a fork just to keep a handle on things. When the potatoes are done drain and set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle the skins will slide off when squeezed with a small amount of clean up here and there with a paring knife.
While the potatoes are cooking render off the bacon draining it periodically to save the bacon grease for future use. Once the bacon is nice and crisp and brown set it aside. Leave the bacon grease in the pan.
Cook off the onions in the bacon grease until they are clear.
Add the vinegar, beef bouillon
Add back bacon grease to get a nice balance between the vinegar, sugar and bacon flavors
Add salt, pepper to taste
All ingredients in the dressing should be done to taste! You’ll want to experiment!
Right before serving mix firs the dressing mixture and lastly the green onions and parsley to the salad and serve.

***NOTE: we ended up with a sizable amount of the dressing left. If we used it all the it would be too much liquid versus the amount of potatoes. We used it for a hot bacon dressing on spinach salad!

Luchow's German Cookbook - © 1952 — Luchow’s German Cookbook – © 1952