OK, I'll go. My gingerbread man recipe seems to be the new favorite around here. I can't claim credit, really: it is from all recipes.com and is called "Eileen's Spicy Gingerbread Men."
1/2 cup margarine (I use real butter) 1/2 cup sugar (I use white sugar) 1/2 cup molasses 1 egg yolk 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (I don't sift) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground cloves 1 teaspoon ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
In large bowl, cream together the margarine (or butter) and sugar until smooth. Stir in molasses and egg yolk. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg; blend into the molasses mixture until smooth. Cover and chill for at least one hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. (175 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shaped with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Frost or decorate when cool.
After it has cooled I add mashed potatoes as much as you feel it needs to bind meats.
French Canadian Tourtière ( meat pie)
1 pound lean ground pork 1/2 pound lean ground beef 1 diced onion 1 clove minced garlic 1/2 cup water 1 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp dried thyme crushed 1/4 tsp ground sage 1/4 tsp ground black pepper 1/8 tsp ground cloves 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch
Put all ingredients in a saucepan . Cover over medium heat until it boils, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low simmer until meat is cooked about 5 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature. Preheat oven to 425 degrees f ( 220 c) Spoon meat mixture into pie crust. Place top crust on, pinch edges together, cut slits.
Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown. Let cool 10 minutes before cutting
Jazzy, I've researched this online, too, and there is just one thing I still don't understand about making a tourtiere. You are starting with just raw ground meat, and not browning it first? You are just boiling the raw meat, onion, etc. in the water? (I am definitely making this, so need to know. I'm going to cut a little Christmas tree shape in the top crust--saw that online.)
Day one (also known as today) - Curried goulash on egg noodles with mango chutney, beans, and a summer salad followed by coffee/cinammon muffins and pralines and cream ice cream
Day two - broiled and carmelized baby back ribs (over 3 pounds) on white rice with a huge caesar salad followed by dark chocolate, caramel and peanut clusters
Day three - browned brats on sesame buns with cooked sauerkraut, onions, and mustard (lots of everything) with home made french fries and see salt (notice not sea salt, see salt, see it and put lots on).
Day four - nuked baby back rib leftovers with honey garlic noodles and brocholi (I refuse to spell that right) followed by a strawberry float.
Day five - baked ham glazed with scalloped potatos and corn niblets in butter (well, salt free vegetable spread), and a dill/sugar/cider vinegar green salad.
Day six - ham and onion alfredo on spagettini with steamed brocholi followed by pralines & cream ice cream
Except for cream and greens, I can go into the week after New Year's. There's more than what I mentioned. In fact, I have chicken thighs baking in the oven which I'm not eating. I'm going to strip the meat off and have cold chicken, lettuce, tomato, and mayo sandwiches on fresh, light rye bread. The cats will get the skin. It's not healthy but you only live once.
So, recipes. Cooking with love feeds the soul. There's a recipe. Or as it went through my head:
Wolf 1: "I'm tired of what I eat." Wolf 2: "That's because you're stupid." Wolf 1: "Splain it to me." Wolf 2: "I can cook almost anything. It's the jaded, bored attitude that's holding things up." Wolf 1: "That seems to be the answer to everything around here these days." Wolf 2: "Just the facts ma'am. I don't make this stuff up." Wolf 1: "Horsefeathers. Who can tell the difference?"
[I got the last word for once]
Anyway, time to take those chicken thighs out. I want to have eaten by the time the game comes on. I'm also still hunting Home Alone, A Christmas Story, The Bishop's Wife, and Elf.
I buy a bag of large, cooked shrimp with the tails on for about $10. That does three of these and shrimp last a couple of months in the freezer easily. I also buy tins of quality salmon when it's on sale. The dating I bought recently is 2019. Up here I can get $5 salmon for $3. I also use the salmon to make salmon sandwiches with soup as an easy, quick, and lazy meal. Likewise the Alfredo has long dating and I easily buy that half price. (I need the money for the Hagen Daaz.)
Salmon & Shrimp Alfredo
Put on a pot of water to boil for the pasta and turn the burner on high. Heat a frying pan on medium with a teaspoon of oil. Cut up 1/2 a medium sized onion fine. (I often have half an onion in saran wrap in the fridge) Soften the onions in the pan. I add about 8 - 12 shrimp at this point. Some will want to add the shrimp when the alfredo sauce is hot. Open a tin of salmon, drain it, fish out any bones, dump it in the pan, stir to break it up. Add the alfredo sauce. I might save leftover in the fridge but I will not use the sauce again if I use half. Tune your sauce heating up a bit to the water boiling. Ideally the sauce is hot when the pasta is done. Add some pepper and salt to taste. I add two or three shakes of pepper but no salt. I add some dried parsley flakes but that's for effect. Red and green together becomes more vibrant. Stir the sauce heating periodically while waiting for the water to boil. If the sauce seems ahead you can add a touch of cream or milk or water from the pasta to thin it a bit. Drain the pasta and load your plate, spoon on the sauce which is now pink getting your share of the shrimp You can add some grated cheese at this point though I would stay away from cheddar. That's just me.
This works well with garlic toast. Freeze your bread. Toast any bread so it's a bit crispy on the edges at least. As soon as it comes out of the toaster, butter it. Sprinkle garlic powder to taste trying to get this done quite readily so the garlic powder melts into the butter. It's no work and adds a nice, crunchy offset to the pasta dish. You pick out the shrimp with your fingers and line the tails up around the edge of the plate. Think of it as the art of the zen of the tired chicken soup soul.
Garlic is good for you. Salmon is good for you. And this is a vegetarian dish. Vegans think of fowl and fish as meat and they think of seeds and grains as not embryos. Both ideas are wrong.
I can be sitting down in 18 minutes eating from the minute I fill the pot with water and turn on the pan. I can put this on the table for $7 and eat two nights from that if I'm inclined.
I was just thinking that we could put an AD spin on Jazzy's recipe thread, and offer suggestions for quick, easy, inexpensive meals for tired, busy caregivers to prepare. I did no baking whatsoever the last three or four years of Larry's life--found the bakeries who sold "the good stuff" and just purchased delicious cookie plates for the holidays. Come to think of it, I hardly ever baked anything--just hit the bakeries for his favorite items. There is a flat cookie/cake thing called a "black and white"...half is frosted vanilla, half frosted chocolate...that was always a favorite. So I'd get him those sometimes. Easy peasy, and he really enjoyed it.
Since he liked Italian food, I bought a lot of frozen, filled pasta like tortellini, ravioli, or manicotti, and good, jarred pasta sauce. (He was picky about his sauce, so I did have to spend money on the better brands--it all tastes the same to me--I know, sacrilege--but I'm not Italian.) It was quick and easy to put together on the stove, and with a little good, grated cheese and a salad made from those pre-washed greens, made a fairly quick easy meal that he enjoyed.
Believe it or not, one of his favorite foods was simply a can of Campbell's chicken noodle soup. He also liked canned New England clam chowder. When he was a child, Monday nights were traditionally "soup night" in his mom and dad's Italian household. So he was perfectly happy one night a week to have canned soup with a sandwich on the side for supper. This helped make life easier for me, especially when I was still working.
Another thing I did was to throw a big, inexpensive cut of meat in the slow cooker for a Sunday dinner, with maybe potatoes and a vegetable on the side. There'd be a ton of leftovers, of course, so we'd have a hot meat sandwich later in the week--just buy some of that dry gravy in the envelope that you whisk up with a cup of water to go over the meat, and serve it over bread. A meat pie for the third use of the leftover meat was another use, if there was enough. Just buy the pre-packaged pie crusts. Not gourmet eating, but filling...and not labor intensive.
For vegetables, those frozen steam-in-the-bag varieties that take five or six minutes in the microwave work well.
Well, duh. I just realized this thread was supposed to be about sharing our favorite "Christmas" recipe. Sorry, Jazzy, I didn't mean to hijack the thread and start putting other recipes up. I have the cold from hell, and it's segued nicely into a cold sore and body aches (yeah, I know, whine, whine, whine...let's have a pity party) so guess I wasn't paying enough attention.
I've been reading all these mouth watering recipes and thinking that I should have one to offer. As old as I am, I can't do much anymore, but the one thing I can still do like never before is eat. And I do a lot of it. My favorite food is the Abba-zaba candy bar.
I'm sorry but I don't have the recipe. Only God can make an Abba-zaba.
This is the recipe. I found it in the Magazine called 'Boston Edible'.You can find it online by googling Boston Edible Very British Seafood Pie. Its a lot of work, but I've made it 4 times if I count the Lodge where I had a lot of help.
VERY BRITISH SEAFOOD PIE
I always think of Great Britain when I’m making a savory pie, especially one topped with a buttery mashed potato crust. Both Shepherd’s and Cottage Pie are such delightful one-dish meals—casseroles really—where your meat and veg and spuds blend together harmoniously in each bite. This seafood pie is no exception, and what makes it so delightfully British is the addition of smoked trout to the filling. I’ve made other fish pies without it, and with a larger (and more interesting) variety of seafood inside, but this one wins every time. The smoky trout replaces bacon in what really feels like a chowder with a potato top, full of scallops, shrimp, fin fish, and aromatic vegetables. It reheats well, and needs no accompaniment other than a green salad, some crusty bread to mop up the bottom of the bowl, and a cold beer. You could serve this any time of year, but to me, it’s dead-of-winter food: hearty, creamy, and rich, with all the scents of the sea. Serves 4-6. Ingredients: 1½ pounds potatoes (Russets or Yukon Golds) 10 shrimp, shelled and deveined, shells reserved, halved lengthwise 8 fat sea scallops, halved lengthwise 1 pound monkfish (about 2 tails), sliced into 1” medallions 6 ounces salmon or arctic char, skinned but skin reserved, cubed 1 fillet smoked trout, skinned but skin reserved, flaked 2 cups whole milk 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1 bay leaf 1 big sprig fresh thyme Extra virgin olive oil ½ onion, sliced 1 rib celery, diced ½ fennel bulb, diced 1 leek, well cleaned and sliced into rounds, roots and dark green tops removed 6 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 large bunch fresh chives, minced 1 cup heavy cream ¼ cup flour ¼ cup white wine ¼ cup chopped fresh dill 1 cup chopped fresh parsley 1 teaspoon lemon zest ½ lemon, juiced 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard Lemon wedges, for serving Directions: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Peel and cube the potatoes and place in a stockpot; cover with water by 2 inches, add 2 teaspoons salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, skimming any foam that appears on the surface of the water, until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. While the potatoes cook, prepare the milk for the white sauce. In a heavy-bottomed pot, add the milk, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, the reserved shrimp shells, any trimmings from the fish and scallops, and the salmon and trout skins. Bring to a simmer, being careful not to let it boil over, and cook 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the milk steep to absorb the aromatics. Arrange the seafood in the bottom of a deep, ovenproof baking dish, season with salt and pepper, and set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet and add the onion, celery, fennel, and leek. Season with salt and pepper and sauté until softened and lightly browned, at least 10-12 minutes. Set aside. When the potatoes are soft, drain them and return them to their pot. Mash with a potato masher (or ricer, if you have one) and add ½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter and ½ cup heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper, add the minced chives, and set aside, covered, to keep warm. To make the white sauce, strain the steeped milk into a measuring cup. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and add the flour, stirring constantly (the flour will seize up immediately in the butter: keep stirring, and it will relax). Cook the flour in butter until lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes, then whisk in the seasoned milk. Continue whisking until the sauce thickens, then add the wine, the remaining heavy cream, the lemon zest, mustard, and lemon juice. Simmer 2-3 minutes to boil away the alcohol, then season with salt and pepper and stir in the chopped dill and parsley and the reserved sautéed vegetables. Pour the sauce over the raw seafood and top with the mashed potato. Sprinkle the top with more cracked pepper, transfer the baking dish onto a baking sheet to catch any overflow, and bake in the hot oven 25-30 minutes until bubbling and browned on top. Serve in deep soup dishes with extra lemon wedges for squeezing at the table.
Yes, I will be copying this down and trying it at some point. There is a seafood pie that I make from a recipe in my Irish Pub cookbook--much more simple, but still a bit time-consuming to make. (And absolutely worth it.) I love these kinds of seafood pies.
Lindylou, that sounds incredible but it's more than I'm willing to do. I would LOVE some of your pie though.
Here's something I made over the holidays which I make during the year too - the single person's three day ham .
I buy a small ham they sell everywhere that's about 2 lbs or so. They range up here from $13 to $6 on special.
Day one I cover the ham with a brown sugar, ketchup, mustard coating and bake it for 1 hr and 15 minutes at 350 degrees. I usually make 1/2 cup of rice with it and heat up some unsalted, unflavoured corn niblets with a teaspoon of becel margarine and some salt and pepper. I eat two or three slices with that and fridge the rest under cello wrap.
Day two I go one of two ways:
1. 1/2 onion finely cut, 1 stalk of green onion sliced, and thin strips of ham heated in a frying pan while I put pasta water on. Then I add a jar of alfredo sauce to the pan and let that heat up while the pasta (I use broad egg noodles or spaghetti) cooks. Drain, cover the noodles with the sauce and serve.
2. 1 russet potato grated, 1 medium onion finely diced, 1/2 cup of diced ham, 3-4 heaping tablespoons of flour, salt, pepper, and parsley flakes mixed into a large bowl and formed into hamburger patties. Fry that in a pan with a few teaspoons of vegetable oil on a lower medium heat so they brown and the potato cooks. Meantime heat up a can of beans and when the patties are done, take them out of the pan, turn it to medium high, and fry up two eggs sunny side up. I make five patties with a large russet and sometimes I use steamed fresh spinach instead of the beans. Drop the ham and it's vegetarian depending on your position on eggs.
Day three:
3. Grate the remaining ham cold into a bowl, add 2-4 tablespoons of ordinary green relish depending on the amount of ham, add 2-3 tablespoons of mayo, some pepper, and mix. Heat a can of soup while you're doing that. Try different soups. Try to have at least 3 favourite soups and always have some on hand because when you have zero energy, a bowl of soup you like well enough is a comfort to have. Get out some bread you like or buns and spread the mixture on the bread the way you like. I don't butter my bread and I don't salt my ham, but you can put in hot pepper flakes or anything you like. If it's too sweet for you (the relish), add a half teaspoon of horse radish to the mixture. Fridge what you don't use.
Cooking for one, I always have 2-3 easy backups. I have tins of salmon, tuna, and minced ham, bread in the freezer, and cans of soup around. I also keep a can of chilli and a can of dark browned beans. If it's a lazy day, I may make some sandwiches and a soup, or I may make a bowl of chilli and some garlic toast. Either is ridiculously easy and all of it keeps well. I also try to have a frozen lasagna in the freezer.
Wolf's easy salad dressing:
I part vegetable oil and 1 part cider vinegar (most like a bit more oil than vinegar, it's up to you) 1 teaspoon dill weed 1 tablespoon white sugar A few shakes of salt and pepper to taste
Blend it in a cup with a fork until the dressing becomes opaque and the sugar is largely dissolved I use this on head/iceberg lettuce. I may slice in some tomato and green onion if it's around and I want that. I can also add a small teaspoon of raspberry jam and take the taste somewhere else.
I've just taken the frozen apple pie I baked out of the oven. It smells good around here. I'll eat that pie a third night but by then I might scoop out the apple, nuke that in a dish for less than a minute and add a scoop of ice cream. I always, always have ice cream in the fridge. And a quality bar of 70% cocoa dark chocolate. That goes without saying.
Wolf, I can't believe it, you make the same ham glaze my Mom always made. My favorite birthday dinner was always that ham and acorn squash. And, we would make "ham and pickles" with the last of the leftovers. Yum yum. We had a meat grinder that.we attached to the kitchen table. I really like the sounds of your "ham burgers". Can't wait to try that. Salad dressing sound yummy too. Especialy with the rasberry jam. Thanks.
Our favorite ham leftover meal was ham and scalloped potatoes. My Mom used the packaged kind. I sometimes make from scratch. Since you have the old style ham glaze... you might like Corn Pudding My Mom's recipe is 1 can creamed corn, 1/2 cup milk, 1 egg, beaten, 1 tsp sugar. Salt, pepper and butter. Mix that and bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes. This is an old indian dish. In recent years I am having trouble getting the right consistency. We used this recipe from the 50s through the 70s with no problem. Have they changed the creamed corn or something? Last time I think I used two eggs and less milk. I might have added a can of regular corn too.