Recipes

[Efros]

Italian Layered Bread

Ingredients:

1 pizza dough

1 tub chive cream cheese

Italian seasoning

and the following all sliced

1/2 pound sandwich pepperoni

1/2 pound Genoa salami

1/2 pound baked ham

1/2 pound mozzarella cheese

1/2 pound cheddar cheese

 

Roll/stretch the dough out to give you a rectangle about twice the size of your intended bread. Spread one half of the dough with the chive cream cheese cover this with a layer of ham, cover this with a layer of cheddar slices, cover this with a layer of Genoa salami, cover this with a layer of mozzarella, cover this with a layer of pepperoni cover this with a layer of cheddar and cover this with a layer of ham. There will be meats and cheese leftover and you don't have to use the ones suggested, I usually use capicola instead of salami but the store didn't have any. Fold the top of the bread over and go round and seal the edges using your thumb and fingers. Paint the surface of the bread with a few drops of olive oil and liberally season the dough with Italian seasoning and some salt. Slash the dough in a few places to stop it inflating like a balloon, and then place on an oiled foil lined baking tray and bake until done. In my fan assisted countertop oven, (it says it's an air fryer but it ain't fooling me) it takes about 35 minutes at 400F. Check the internal temperature has got over 170F before taking it out of the oven. You may want to boost the temp to 425F for the last few minutes to brown the crust. We cut ours into roughly 1.5" squares, they're fairly substantial and will definitely fill a hole either as an appetizer or as a main course.

What was left after we chopped off about a quarter as a taster!

 

Edited May 11 by Efros

[Efros]

Chicken Corn Chowder

3 large cooked and diced chicken breasts, should be in excess of 1.5 lb of meat.

1/2 cup of flour

1 large carrot, peeled and finely diced

1 large onion, peeled and finely diced

4 large potatoes, peeled and diced, about 1/2" cubes

8 strips of cooked crispy bacon, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic peeled, crushed and finely chopped

5 cups chicken broth/stock

1  10oz pack of frozen sweet corn

2-3 dashes of Franks Hot Sauce - more if you prefer

1-2 dashes Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp of Italian seasoning

1.5 cups of heavy cream

Pepper to taste, you shouldn't need salt as the broth and the bacon should suffice in that regards.

Reserve the grease from the cooked bacon and fry your chopped onions, Italian seasoning and carrots in that until the onions become translucent. Add the flour and keep the contents of your pan moving while you fry off the roux. The flour should form a paste with the bacon grease, the onions and the carrots. When this develops a beige colour you can add the crushed and chopped garlic and the chicken broth/stock. Stir the mixture to make sure the roux and the veggies are evenly distributed in the broth/stock. When you have done this, the diced chicken, diced potatoes, sweet corn, heavy cream, about half of the chopped crispy bacon can be added. The Worcestershire sauce, Frank's hot sauce and pepper can also be added at this point. You may want to add more but wait until the potatoes are cooked through. Once the potatoes are cooked through you can serve it with the remaining crispy chopped bacon sprinkled on the top, my wife likes shredded Asiago and chopped scallions sprinkled on it. We always have buttered bread with ours to dip. This stuff gets better with age and 2nd or 3rd day chowder is always better than when you first make it. Just store the whole pot in your fridge and reheat thoroughly on subsequent days. If you have any left after the third day, doubtful, I'd dispose of it. Incidentally dogs and cats love this too.

 

 

Edited May 16 by Efros

[Asym]

Let's get naval !

  Let's talk about suet pudding on ship during the 1790-1820's...  Here's a modern take of that traditional receipt that I have made in this much smaller size.  On a ship, this receipt was made for an entire watch in a three foot canvas tube.  Boiled for several hours and then pushed out of the tube and sliced into the watches/department's crew sizes...  Served with a Brandy custard.....    BTW, I made mine in a "linen cloth, gathered bag...." suspended in boiling water in a pot.....

From:  British Food:  a History, January 2014.

If you’ve never heard of Spotted Dick, it is a spongy steamed pudding that contains suet instead of butter. It is only slightly sweet and flavoured delicately with lemon. The spots on the Spotted Dick come from currants. You don’t want a pudding that is too sweet, the sweetness – I believe – should come from the currants and the custard that must be served with it (for a custard recipe, click here).

For some unknown and crazy reason, Spotted Dick doesn’t appear in my favourite cook book of all, English Food by Jane Grigson (to see why it’s my favourite, see my other blog.

Now for the big question: who the heck is Dick?

The pud is first mentioned in a book from the 1850s by the famous Chef Alexis Soyer called The Modern Housewife, or, Ménagère. Alexis Soyer was the first celebrity chef and he deserves a whole post just to himself! He mentions Spotted Dick in passing when listing a typical week’s meals during tougher times. This was Tuesday’s dinner:

‘Tuesday. – Broiled Beef and Bones, Vegetables, and Spotted Dick Pudding’

The ‘Dick’ in Spotted Dick seems to come from the shortened Old English names for pudding: puddog or puddick. In Scotland it is often called Spotted Dog Pudding.

Spotted Dick is a very simple pudding to make; it can be steamed in a basin or be rolled out like a sausage and covered in buttered foil and then steamed. Sometimes it takes the form of a roly-poly pudding with the currants and some brown sugar making the filling. Personally, I prefer to use a basin.

Anyways, here’s the recipe:

For a 2 pint/1 litre pudding basin, that serves 6 to 8 people:

300g self-raising flour

150g suet (fresh or packet)

75g caster sugar

100g currants

Zest 2 lemons

275-300 ml milk

butter, for greasing

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, suet, sugar, currants and lemons. Add the milk, mixing slowly until all is incorporated. You’re looking for a mixture of dropping consistency.

Liberally butter a 2 pint pudding basin and spoon in the mixture. Cover with a lid. It’s easiest to buy a plastic basin with a fitted lid. If you’re using a glass or porcelain basin, make a lid from a double sheet of pleated foil and secure with string. It is worth making a foil or string handle for the pudding so that you can get the basin out of the steamer safely.

Ready for the steamer!

Place in a steamer and steam for 2 hours. Make sure there’s a good brisk boil for the first 20 minutes and then turn the heat down to medium-low. If you don’t have a steamer, simply place an upturned saucer in the base of a deep saucepan and pour over it boiling water straight from the kettle. Gingerly place in the pudding.

Turn out the pudding onto a serving plate and serve immediately with plenty of custard.

---

Edited May 16 by Asym

[Efros]

Spotted dick and jam roly poly were two School Dinner favourites in Scotland!

[Asym]

1 hour ago, Efros said:

Spotted dick and jam roly poly were two School Dinner favourites in Scotland!

Now, some of the meat puddings they made in Canvas tubes is really fun to try !  We boil a lot of "puddings" at Living History encampments....  Suet is getting hard to find and we rely on the Amish and Mennonite communities locally for it....  And, you have to "work up to" eating suet puddings or else your digestive track is really, really honestly, gonna revolt !!!  Try Lakota Trail mix if you really, really want some "food reality" to tinker with.  Again, proceed carefully and go slow.....  Suet is and will always be a lubricant.

[Navalpride33]

I got some dessert recipes.

Because of my way of being, baking has been my escape.

[Latouche_Treville]

A dessert?

Voilà M'sieur :

It's a variation of the Four Quarters (french pound cake) that will delight youngs and olds alike.
It requires no special skills, no special hardware, and can be easily taught to kids
You need :
5 eggs
200g/0.440lb/7.05oz of butter (melted and cooled)
200g of flour
150g/0.330lb/5.29oz of sugar
 11g/0.38oz of baking powder
150g of pure cocoa powder (*)
4-5 pears, fresh or canned in syrup(**)

1)Butter and flour your cake pan.

2) Preheat the oven to 180°C/356 F

3) Peel, hollow or Drain the pears and cut them into slices.
You can either arrange them (artistically or not) directly in the pan, or wait until you have poured the batter in beforehand in your cake pan and they should sink to the bottom well before the end of the cooking time.

4) In a bowl sift the flour, stir in the cocoa, and baking powder(make sure you have no white spots.

5) In a separate bowl, beat the butter, the sugar, and the eggs until you have a homogeneous mixture.

6) Fold in the dry ingredients in several times, stir thoroughly after each addition, any lump would ruin your cake and your reputation.

7) Now, no time to linger, the baking powder reacts surreptitiously and immediately!
Pour the mixture into the cake pan and bake for about 45-50 minutes at 180°C/356 F, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

 

(*)Not a cocoa-based preparation, or chocolate, but pure cocoa powder, no sugar, no lecithin.

(**)They have the advantage of being already peeled and hollowed out, their shape is regular, you can slice them in advance, kept in their syrup they won't darken, and if you're a real maniac, you can reduce the syrup to make an icing on the top of the cake.

 

 

[Efros]

4 hours ago, Asym said:

Now, some of the meat puddings they made in Canvas tubes is really fun to try !  We boil a lot of "puddings" at Living History encampments....  Suet is getting hard to find and we rely on the Amish and Mennonite communities locally for it....  And, you have to "work up to" eating suet puddings or else your digestive track is really, really honestly, gonna revolt !!!  Try Lakota Trail mix if you really, really want some "food reality" to tinker with.  Again, proceed carefully and go slow.....  Suet is and will always be a lubricant.

Have you tried suet pastry? Teviot/Teviotdale Pie is basically a beef, mince or stew, pie that is topped with suet pastry.

[Asym]

48 minutes ago, Efros said:

Have you tried suet pastry? Teviot/Teviotdale Pie is basically a beef, mince or stew, pie that is topped with suet pastry.

My family has been using suet for decades and decades in everything bake-able...  Gosh, lard, suet, butter etc, etc seem to be baking staples !!!  I've even rendered buffalo fat and used it as well....  I'll look up the receipt cause I love the "organ pies" so many people made after hunting season !!  (Kidney/liver/heart pies...)

thanks !

[Efros]

Suet also makes the best dumplings. 

Atora animal or vegetable suet can be found on Amazon but it is a bit pricey. $8 for 200g.

[Wolfswetpaws]

I'll share some Tourtière recipes that I've found.

https://growagoodlife.com/tourtiere/
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20752/french-canadian-tourtiere/
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/christmas-tourtiere-recipe
 

[Efros]

My version of Tourtière, in Maine it tends to be called meat pie. Very tasty, (banana for scale I guess).

[Wolfswetpaws]

🙂👍 @Efros

[Efros]

Sausage Rolls

1lb of loose sausage meat (Sweet Italian, Hot Italian your choice)

1.5 cups of breadcrumbs/panko, I use seasoned panko.

2 Tsps of Soy Sauce, not Kikkoman

1 Tsp of Worcestershire sauce,

1/2 cup of shredded sharp cheddar

Pam cooking spray

2 large eggs.

1 packet of puff pastry, not filo it must be puff.

Preheat your oven to 400F. In a large bowl mix the sausage meat, panko, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, cheese thoroughly. When it is all combined mix in one of the eggs to bind the mixture. If it is too wet you can add some extra panko.

Roll out the puff pastry, cut into strips about 4 inches wide. Shape your mixture into a sausage long enough for the strip of pastry and about 1" in diameter. Lay that long sausage on the pasty and paint the edge of the pastry with some beaten egg. Bring the other edge of the pastry over the tube of sausage and lay it on top of the egg painted edge. Take a fork and fork the edges to seal the pastry. Cut the long sausage roll into smaller ones about 3-4" in length. Repeat until all of your pastry/meat is used up. With a knife slash the top of each sausage roll a couple of times and liberally paint the upper surface of the sausage roll with beaten egg. Use Pam to lightly oil a foiled baking tray and lay your sausage rolls in the tray making sure they are at least half an inch apart and are not touching each other or the sides of the baking tray. Bake in your 400F oven until done. Internal temperature of the sausage roll should be 165F. You should get these...

Eat hot or cold, with hot beverages or beer with some sort of spicy jam dip as a snack. Alternatively as a meal they are best accompanied by Heinz baked beans and mashed potatoes. Please note Heinz Baked Beans are not the same as Bush's or any other brand of American baked beans.

 

 

[Efros]

Simple Chili

Can be thrown together in one pot in about 20 minutes and will make you feel sated. Not the most traditional chili but it works for me.

1 large pot!

1-2 lbs of ground meat (beef/chicken/turkey your choice)

4 tbsps of ground cumin

2 tsps of garlic powder

1 large finely chopped onion

1 large jar of salsa 24 oz, I use hot but medium is okay if that's your thing. I like Newman's Own pineapple salsa but you need two jars of that and you have to add some hot sauce for my taste.

1 can of chili beans (Bush's is fine)

1 can of red kidney beans (I use the own brand ones in the store)

1 Kielbasa sliced about 1/4 inch thick (optional, my kids love it though)

Sour cream

Chopped Scallions

Shredded Cheese

Buttered bread for dipping... it's a Scottish thing.

Brown off the meat in the large pot on high heat, when it is done browning drain off most of the grease if it's ground beef, and then throw in the sliced Kielbasa if  you are using it. Once the Kielbasa is heated through, how much you determine, add the cumin, the garlic powder and the finely chopped onions, you may want to keep some onion for toppings. Keep the stuff in the pot moving and when the onions appear to be becoming translucent put in the salsa, the can of chili beans and the drained can of kidney beans. stir and keep it on the move until the mixture starts to bubble, turn the heat down and allow to simmer for 10 minutes or so. If the chili appears to be getting too thick you can add some water or stock if you have some to loosen it off. At this point it is ready to eat, everything is cooked and your kitchen should be smelling pretty darn good. I put mine on the warming ring on our stove and usually let it simmer for longer. It's better next day anyhow. Serve in a bowl with sour cream, cheese, onions for toppings, scallions if you like those too. Being a Scot, anything that has a liquid component must be accompanied by buttered bread to sop it up with, your choice but I highly recommend it. Will feed a single man about 3 days... or less!

Edited May 18 by Efros

[Navalpride33]

On 5/16/2024 at 10:28 AM, Latouche_Treville said:

A dessert?

Voilà M'sieur :

It's a variation of the Four Quarters (french pound cake) that will delight youngs and olds alike.
It requires no special skills, no special hardware, and can be easily taught to kids
You need :
5 eggs
200g/0.440lb/7.05oz of butter (melted and cooled)
200g of flour
150g/0.330lb/5.29oz of sugar
 11g/0.38oz of baking powder
150g of pure cocoa powder (*)
4-5 pears, fresh or canned in syrup(**)

1)Butter and flour your cake pan.

2) Preheat the oven to 180°C/356 F

3) Peel, hollow or Drain the pears and cut them into slices.
You can either arrange them (artistically or not) directly in the pan, or wait until you have poured the batter in beforehand in your cake pan and they should sink to the bottom well before the end of the cooking time.

4) In a bowl sift the flour, stir in the cocoa, and baking powder(make sure you have no white spots.

5) In a separate bowl, beat the butter, the sugar, and the eggs until you have a homogeneous mixture.

6) Fold in the dry ingredients in several times, stir thoroughly after each addition, any lump would ruin your cake and your reputation.

7) Now, no time to linger, the baking powder reacts surreptitiously and immediately!
Pour the mixture into the cake pan and bake for about 45-50 minutes at 180°C/356 F, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

 

(*)Not a cocoa-based preparation, or chocolate, but pure cocoa powder, no sugar, no lecithin.

(**)They have the advantage of being already peeled and hollowed out, their shape is regular, you can slice them in advance, kept in their syrup they won't darken, and if you're a real maniac, you can reduce the syrup to make an icing on the top of the cake.

 

 

As an amateur baker I have a question...

Do you fold IN the fruit into the batter? Or what do you do with it?

[Efros]

I've had similar desserts to this and the pears are usually halved or quartered and arranged like the spokes of a wheel prior to the batter being poured into the cake pan, if its a shallow one. The one described above sounds as if it may be a deep one, if you put the fruit in first then it will end up on the bottom of the cake a bit like a pineapple upside down cake... I think.

[Navalpride33]

On 5/16/2024 at 10:28 AM, Latouche_Treville said:

A dessert?

Voilà M'sieur :

It's a variation of the Four Quarters (french pound cake) that will delight youngs and olds alike.
It requires no special skills, no special hardware, and can be easily taught to kids
You need :
5 eggs
200g/0.440lb/7.05oz of butter (melted and cooled)
200g of flour
150g/0.330lb/5.29oz of sugar
 11g/0.38oz of baking powder
150g of pure cocoa powder (*)
4-5 pears, fresh or canned in syrup(**)

1)Butter and flour your cake pan.

2) Preheat the oven to 180°C/356 F

3) Peel, hollow or Drain the pears and cut them into slices.
You can either arrange them (artistically or not) directly in the pan, or wait until you have poured the batter in beforehand in your cake pan and they should sink to the bottom well before the end of the cooking time.

4) In a bowl sift the flour, stir in the cocoa, and baking powder(make sure you have no white spots.

5) In a separate bowl, beat the butter, the sugar, and the eggs until you have a homogeneous mixture.

6) Fold in the dry ingredients in several times, stir thoroughly after each addition, any lump would ruin your cake and your reputation.

7) Now, no time to linger, the baking powder reacts surreptitiously and immediately!
Pour the mixture into the cake pan and bake for about 45-50 minutes at 180°C/356 F, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

 

(*)Not a cocoa-based preparation, or chocolate, but pure cocoa powder, no sugar, no lecithin.

(**)They have the advantage of being already peeled and hollowed out, their shape is regular, you can slice them in advance, kept in their syrup they won't darken, and if you're a real maniac, you can reduce the syrup to make an icing on the top of the cake.

 

 

Before I forget... What size cake pan is used?

[Efros]

On 5/16/2024 at 10:47 AM, Asym said:

Turn out the pudding onto a serving plate and serve immediately with plenty of custard.

Just noticed the custard reference, I was so sad when I came to the US and found you guys didn't use hot custard.

[Asym]

3 hours ago, Efros said:

Just noticed the custard reference, I was so sad when I came to the US and found you guys didn't use hot custard.

Oh, some of us do !  When we do the Living History demo's, we always have 20 some gallons of Buffalo stew at night and we're boiling a Naval Pudding at o'bright thirty for breakfast with ....... a naval  brandy or Rum custard !!!  God, if that doesn't start your day, I don't know what will !!!  Plus, there is always a tea square and a spice grater for hot tea with honey.

[Latouche_Treville]

12 hours ago, Navalpride33 said:

Before I forget... What size cake pan is used?

26 cm/10 inches diameter, and 6 cm/2.36 inches depth, high edges are better

12 hours ago, Navalpride33 said:

As an amateur baker I have a question...

Do you fold IN the fruit into the batter? Or what do you do with it?

You can, but you won't get an even distribution,and  you take the risk of shredding your pear slices while mixing.

Personnaly i set the fruits in the pan even before making the batter, because i don't have the compass in the eye, so it gives me time to get the thing nicely done.

By the way you can use any fruit you like

Edited May 19 by Latouche_Treville

[Efros]

@Asym  A suet recipe for you to try,

https://waleslandofmyfathers.tumblr.com/post/54826153974/welsh-recipes-katt-pies-no-cats-are-harmed-in-the/amp

I've heard of these but never actually had one.

[Navalpride33]

On 5/19/2024 at 2:57 AM, Latouche_Treville said:

26 cm/10 inches diameter, and 6 cm/2.36 inches depth, high edges are better

You can, but you won't get an even distribution,and  you take the risk of shredding your pear slices while mixing.

Personnaly i set the fruits in the pan even before making the batter, because i don't have the compass in the eye, so it gives me time to get the thing nicely done.

By the way you can use any fruit you like

The question arose because some recipes call for the fruit to be folded in... Were as this one states to place it in the pan (like the pineapple upside down style).

When I do things like say Banana bread or Blueberry Muffins.. It all states to fold (not mix) the fruit into the batter.

Are we sure its to set fruit in the pineapple upside down way ?

 

[Latouche_Treville]

In this very case, i'm afraid to no fully understand the difference between folding and mixing (don't forget English is not my native language).
To tell the truth, i've never asked myself the question. It's home cooking, not high-end patisserie.
I do it like that because pear slices are very fagile.

EDIT : Pinapple is an excellent choice. It will resist very well mechanical constrains.

Edited May 21 by Latouche_Treville

[Efros]

My wife has a gluten sensitivity and so wheat products and processed foods are a big nono. As a dedicated fan of sandwiches and tacos/burritos this has hit her hard. I came across this recipe for a taco pie that uses a non conventional i.e. gluten free crust.

Taco Pie

1.5 lbs of lean ground beef

your preferred taco seasoning

1 finely chopped medium onion

2 finely chopped cloves of garlic

2.5 cups of dry instant mashed potato

0.25 cups butter

0.5 cups of milk

your preferred salsa, I use Newman's Own Pineapple Salsa

1 finely chopped tomato

Shredded lettuce

Sour cream

Shredded cheese

In a pot, melt butter, add the milk and a couple of tbsp of taco seasoning. When all has been incorporated remove the pot from the stove and add the dried instant potato and stir until the mash has formed. This will be drier than you would normally make instant mash, if it is too dry add a little more milk and allow to cool, preheat your oven to 350F. Once cooled it should be pressed into a lightly greased high sided 10" springform baking tin, making sure that is of fairly even thickness throughout. This should be baked for about 8 minutes, to the point where the crust is just changing colour. Make your taco meat in your usual manner, cook ground beef, garlic and onions until beef is browned and cooked through. Drain off excess grease. Add Salsa and as much taco seasoning as you would normally use and heat until it starts to bubble. Place the mixture in the crust sprinkle some shredded cheese on top and bake at 350F for 15 minutes. When the crust is golden remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes remove the springform part of the tin and place the pie on a plate. Top with more shredded cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. Slice it up and serve with your usual taco toppings, lettuce, sour cream, guac, olives... whatever floats your boat. Wife's verdict was highly positive.