Favorite Family Recipes

Here are some of mine!

Chili Sauce (from my Great-Grandmother Fisk)

12 large tomatoes, 3 green peppers, 6 onions, 1 cup sugar, 2 cups vinegar, salt to taste, small amount of dry mustard.

Peel the tomatoes, then quarter them, chop the green peppers and onions coarsely. Cook slowly until reduced to the thickness you desire. Very good with cold meat. If too sharp tasting, add more veggies.

Kapusta (from Tina Krook)
1 large head of green cabbage, sliced
2 tsp. caraway seeds
1 large can tomatoes
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 lb. bacon, chopped (we do vary this by using ham or a polish sausage intead)
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 cup sliced onions
1-1/2 teaspoons salt.

Saute the chopped bacon pieces and onion slices in a large saucepan. When onions turn transparent, add the cabbage, salt, caraway seeds, and brown sugar. Cover tightly and simmer until the cabbage cooks down to about one half the original volume. (Stir occasionally to prevent sticking). Next, add remaining ingredients and continue to simmer over very low heat. This dish is best when allowed to marinate for a day. (it really is better the second day..we usually can't wait and have some the same day we make this!).

More to come in next message.

Here is my family recipe for their version of a wonderful Italian dish

Sauce
saute small amount diced onions in olive oil until translucent
add one can of plain tomato paste and dilute it with 2 cups of water. Add one can crushed (I use a 16 oz. can)plain tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste, fresh basil (I love basil, usually use 3 large leaves).

Simmer for 90 minutes. Sounds plain, but this sauce is awesome!

Bracciola
very thin round steak (best would be about 1/4 inch thick)
romano cheese, fresh grated, about 1/2 cup
plain soft bread crumbs (best to make your own with day old bread for best texture and flavor...using Italian bread of course)
fresh Italian parsley chopped
fresh basil, chopped
garlic - diced, and black pepper (NO salt).

Mix all of the above into the bread crumbs, and then moisten with olive oil(not too much), spread the bread crumb mixture atop the steak, then roll up and tie with cooking twine, tie well, especially getting the ends.

Brown evenly on all sides in olive oil, then put into your sauce, and cook gently (I do for 90 minutes...making the sauce fresh as I need it).

Let cool a bit when you remove from the sauce before slicing into pinwheels. This simple recipe is exquisite...adjust the amount of parsley/basil/garlic to your taste. I use maybe two cloves of garlic, 6-7 basil leaves, and maybe 1/8th cup chopped parsley.

Mexican Spaghetti

1 pound ground beef
1 bell pepper chopped fine
1 onion minced
1 can ortega chilies diced

Brown the meat and above mixture and drain.

In separate saucepan place two cans tomato bisque soup, 1 can creamed corn, and 2 small cans stewed tomatoes, mix well and heat to a gentle boil.

Add the meat mixture, stir well, heat gently and serve over cooked spaghetti noodles.

Avacado Dip

2-3 ripe avacados
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened to room temperature
Beau Monde seasoning
Lawrey's season salt

Mix together with a hand mixer until blended. Unfortunately I lost the recipe card for this (I ususally just wing it, since it's not complicated), and I can't remember the exact amount of the spices - 2-3 teaspoons of each. I usually just add to taste.

Spread on a large platter, then top with any/all of the following:

1-2 bottles of taco sauce
Chopped tomatoes
Green onions
Black olives
Shredded Cheese
Chopped green pepper
Anything else you think would taste good

Serve with tortilla chips

This dip has been a holiday tradition in my family for some time.

Sounds a little complicated, but this really only takes less than 10 minutes to prepare and about 1-1/2 hours to cook. The term Spatchcock comes from somewhere in Great Britain, and I believe it refers to the shape of the chicken as it cooks (flattened).

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (about 4 pound range)
Creole Seasoning (I use Tony Cachere's)
1/2 TBLSP Turbinaro or Brown sugar (I use Turbinaro since it doesn't burn as some sugars do - find it with sugars in grocery store)

Soak a handful of flavored wood chips in water for about 30 minutes before throwing on the chicken. I use one or two mesquite chips and the rest fruitwood (apple, cherry, plum, apricot, pear, etc).

Hard part of the recipe: Cut the backbone out of the chicken with kitchen shears (that's the side if you put the chicken with the wings up, you will be looking at the backbone). Snap the bones as necessary to get the backbone out - you will be cutting out about 1 inch worth of chicken. Rinse the chicken and pat dry.

Turn the chicken skin side down and sprinkle generously with the Creole Seasoning and about 1/3 of the sugar. Turn the chicken skin side up and spinkle remaining sugar and another generous dose of Creole Seasoning. It won't be as covered as blackened chicken, but it should be obviously covered all over (pick up the legs and wings to get into the folds).

Get your grill up to about 350 degrees and try to maintain this temperature throughout the cook. You should set up your grill for an indirect cook. Add soaked wood chips to get the "smoke" going. Put a drip pan under the grill rack and place the chicken skin side down - you will pull the legs outward so that it lays flat. Close the lid and cook for 45 minutes. Flip the chicken over, again pull the legs out so it remains flattened and cook another 45 minutes.

Take off grill, let it rest for about 5 minutes, cut in half or quarters, then serve.

Apologies to the vegans out there!

This is great summer fair!

1 large head cabbage
1 bunch green onions (w/tops) chopped
½ c white vinegar
1 cup salad oil
½ cup sugar
2 tsp. soy sauce
½ cup butter
1 pkg. Raman noodles
1 small pkg. slivered almonds
½ cup sesame seeds


Chop up cabbage and green onions. Refrigerate over night.

Combine vinegar, salad oil, sugar and soy sauce in a blender until very smooth (blending will keep the oil from separating later). Refrigerate over night.

Melt butter in skillet. Break up Raman noodles (throw away the spices). Slightly brown noodles, almonds and sesame seeds. Add the sesame seeds towards the end as they can brown very quickly. Drain on paper towels for 2 hours. Mix all ingredients just before serving.

Thanks to my mother in law for this recipe. People who claim to hate kraut love this recipe.

2 pork steaks or chops, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, cubed
1 stalk celery, cubed
2 lb. kraut
1-2 cups mashed potatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
Parsley (large dash)

In a large pan, cook cubed pork and onions in oil until browned (use as little oil as your pan can handle). Barely cover with water; cover and simmer ½ hour. Add carrots and celery; cover and cook until tender, about 45 minutes.

While carrots/celery are cooking, cook undrained kraut in saucepan for 20-30 minutes. Drain in colander and rinse thoroughly with water. Add to pork/veggie mix. Add mashed potatoes, salt, pepper and parsley. Cook, covered for 1 hour. Best put in refrigerator and reheated the next day.

Optional 1: Brown smoked, Polish or German sausage at the same time kraut is cooking. Cut into serving size portions and add to pork/veggies at the same time you add the kraut.

Optional 2: Brown country pork ribs with cubed pork and cook the same time period as the cubed pork (Amyâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s personal favorite).

My husband proposed over this one. A lot of work but I guess the end result was worth it. Straight from the family cookbook and unedited.

Sauce (for 2 pans or 1 pan with leftover sauce for spaghetti):

2 lbs. Italian sausage
2 16-oz cans tomato puree
2 16-oz cans tomatoes (scrunch them)
1 16-oz can tomato paste
2 cups red wine
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, or more (can you ever have too much garlic?)
oregano, basil, bay leaves, salt, pepper to taste
1 tbsp. sugar
1 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced

Fillings (per 13 x 9 pan):

Lasagna noodles (10-12 noodles)
1 lb. Ricotta cheese (fresh is best)
1 lb. mozzarella cheese
1 lb. scamorza cheese
¼ lb. grated fresh parmesan cheese
¼ lb. grated fresh romano cheese
2 eggs
3 thinly sliced Roma tomatoes

Sauce: Remove sausage from casings; brown; thoroughly drain. Add onion & garlic; cook until limp. Add wine and all canned stuff (this is where you can increase volume if you need it); stir; add sugar and seasonings (sorry, canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t help on the quantities, just add them until they look right – mine almost cover the top of the sauce – about 2 to 1 ratio of oregano to basil, 2-3 bay leaves – fresh is much better than jarred). Cover and simmer for at least 2 hours. Adjust seasonings after first hour of simmering. Add mushrooms the last ½ hour. Option 1: Use 1 pound ground beef and 1 pound Italian sausage. Option 2: Use your own darn sauce recipe!

During the last hour of simmering (or start after 2 hours, that way the sauce has more time to simmer), assemble remaining ingredients. Cook noodles per package instructions (al dente), and rinse thoroughly with cold water (they need to stop cooking). Lay flat on rimmed cookie sheet (trust me, the water from the noodles wonâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t spill all over the counter). In a large bowl, grate the mozz, scamorza, parmesan and romano cheese; mix. In another bowl, mix the ricotta cheese and eggs. Slice the tomatoes thin.

Assembly procedures: In a greased 13x9 pan, layer as follows: thin (and I mean thin) layer of sauce, 3 noodles (length wise, side by side, not one on top of each other (thatâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s for the single guys)), ½ ricotta cheese mix, sauce (thicker than first layer but still thin), ½ of the tomatoes, 1/3 mozz/scam/parm/rom cheese mix, noodles (width wise – cut off excess but make sure you leave 3 good noodles for the top – this is when your jigsaw puzzle skills you learned from mom come in handy), other half of ricotta cheese mix, more sauce (you get the picture now?), ½ of the tomatoes, 1/3 m/s/p/r cheese mix, noodles (remember the 3 good ones you saved before? lay ‘em length-wise), sauce (hey, the ricotta and tomatoes are out of the picture!) and the remaining mspr cheese mix. Bake, 350 for 30-45 minutes until the top is slightly browned and bubbly. If refrigerated overnight, cook a little longer until center is hot. The extra pan can be frozen for a few months.

Six hour Super Bowl Sunday Stew (not a family recipe, I got it from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, but it's my favorite and best recipe)...

1 pound beef stew meat cut into 1-inch chunks
3 tablespoons butter
1 (30-ounce) can tomatoes, coarsely chopped (I chop the tomatoes with the top of the can)
5 stalks celery, leaves included, chopped small
2 carrots, peeled and cut into thin rounds
2 onions, peeled and thinly sliced (to make rings)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 potato, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 (10-ounce) package frozen cut okra
3 to 4 tablespoons barley
3 beef bouillon cubes
1 (10-ounce) package frozen corn
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
12 black peppercorns, 2 bay leaves and 1/2 teaspoon thyme (can be put in cheesecloth or put free in the stew, just make sure to remove the bay leaves)

Saute beef in butter in 4 1/2 quart stew pot (I use my Dutch oven) until browned, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, including cheesecloth (or free seasonings), one by one. Bring stew to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, partly covered (I keep the lid off a little to let off the steam), at least 6 hours. As stew cooks, periodically add water depending on desired thickness (four cups will make a thick stew).

I start checking the thickness of the stew at about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. I usually add about a cup of water every hour after the first 1 1/2 hours-the stew ends up rather thick. Make sure to remove the bay leaves before serving-I leave in the peppercorns, because they add some spice when bitten into.

Apple Chocolate Chip Cake
My grandmother used to make this for us. . . a family favorite! My son begs me to make this on a regular basis.

Ingredients

2 Cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
Pinch salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 Cup oil
1 Cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 Cup chopped walnuts
1 Cup chocolate chips
3 Cups peeled, chopped apples
Powdered sugar (to dust cake)



Directions

Generously grease and flour a Bundt cake pan. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and set aside. In large bowl with mixer beat sugar, oil, eggs & vanilla (until well blended). Stir in sifted dry ingredients. By hand, stir in nuts, chocolate chips, apples. Mixture will be very thick. Pour into prepared cake pan. Bake at 350°F. for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool, remove from pan, dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Rich Ranch's Dutch Oven Stroganoff (www.virtualcities.com/ons/mt/n/mtn58012.htm)

1 pound stew meat or round steak (trimmed and cut up)
1 package dry onion soup mix
Two 10-ounce cans of cream of mushroom soup
2 cups of fresh mushrooms or two 4-ounce cans drained mushrooms
1/2 cup red wine (I use merlot)
1 cup sour cream

Place meat, onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, mushrooms and wine in Dutch oven. Bake all afternoon well covered at 200 to 250 degrees. Allow at least three hours. The lower the temperature, the longer it cooks, the more tender the results. Add one cup sour cream at serving time.

I've doubled the recipe, but you seem to end up with more sauce than meat, so you may want to triple the meat and double the rest. I like to serve this over egg noodles.

Hey - maybe we can publish a cookbook. . . . Cat Site Favorites. . . . and raise money for homeless animals?

Originally posted by George'smom
Hey - maybe we can publish a cookbook. . . . Cat Site Favorites. . . . and raise money for homeless animals?

Click to expand...

Great idea!!!

I ate loaf after loaf of this when I was taking massive doses of antibiotics while fighting lyme disease. Good thing I love this recipe!

3 medium ripe bananas
1 egg, slightly beaten
¼ cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup chopped nuts
1 tsp baking powder


Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9-1/4 by 5-1/4 by 3 inch loaf pan. Mash the bananas; add the egg and melted butter. Mix remaining ingredients except nuts together and add to the banana mixture, mixing just until all ingredients are moistened. Fold in the nuts. Pour into prepared pan and bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Makes 1 loaf.

I think the book idea is great, although I don't know how hard it will be....

One more recipe...

Texas Hash

This is a family recipe, that my Mom got from her aunt. I have no clue where it came from, but my brother and I loved it as kids, and my roommates in college loved it just as much!

1 pound ground beef
2 large onions, chopped
Green (or red) pepper (an equivalent amount to the onion), chopped
1 16 ounce can tomatoes (coarsely chopped)
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1-2 teaspoons chili powder (or more if you like spice)
2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook ground beef until light brown. Drain beef. Add the onion and pepper, saute until the onion is tender. Stir in the remaining ingredients and cook through (until all ingredients are hot). Pour into a ungreased 2 quart casserole. Cover and bake for 1 hour.

This makes great leftovers, but it can get a little dry. Adding water before reheating, or adding a little Italian dressing after reheating (trust me, it tastes great) gets rid of the dryness.

From the family cookbook:

1/2 cup flour
3 eggs
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup milk
2 Tbsp. melted butter


Grease a 10†skillet. Mix eggs, flour and salt together till smooth.
Add: milk and butter
Pour into pan
Add any kind of berries or fruit if you desire. Apples, bananas, huckleberries are great!

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes then at 350 degrees for about 7 minutes.

This is a great, quick, breakfast and looks beautiful when it comes out of the oven. We like to drizzle maple syrup over the top.

Cream together:\t
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar

Add:
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together:\t
2 cups flour
2-1/2 cups oatmeal (put small amounts in blender (after measuring) until it turns to powder)
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda

Mix together all ingredients and add:

12 oz bag chocolate chunks
6 oz bag chocolate chips
1 Hershey Big Block bar, grated
1-1/2 cup nuts (I prefer pecans)

Make golf ball size cookies, 2 inches apart on ungreased
cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes. Makes
about 50.

Can you tell I'm in the desert section of our cookbook?

2 cups sugar
½ lb. butter (room temperature)
6 eggs (cold)
2 cups flour
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. lemon juice


Beat sugar and butter together until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add all eggs and beat. Add flour, vanilla and lemon juice; beat until thoroughly blended. Lightly grease and flour tube pan and bake 55 minutes at 350 degrees on middle rack of oven. Cool in pan 10 minutes and invert onto serving plate. Dust with powdered sugar when cool

This was my mom's favorite cookie - I make it in her rememberance each Christmas.

2-1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sweet butter, softened
1 egg
1 10-oz jar raspberry preserves


Grease an 8-inch square baking dish. In 3 quart mixer bowl combine all ingredients except raspberry preserves. Beat at low speed, scarping sides of bowl often, until mixture is crumbly (2 to 3 minutes). Set aside 1-1/2 cups crumb mixture. Press remaining crumb mixture into greased baking dish. Spread preserves to within 1-2 inch of edges of unbaked crumb mixture. Crumble remaining crumb mixture over preserves. Bake near center of pre-heated 350 degree oven for 42 to 50 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely; cut into bars. Makes about 2 dozen

This one is just fun!

¾ cup gingersnap crumbs
¾ cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup powdered sugar
¼ cup melted unsalted butter
2 8-oz pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 1-pound can pumpkin
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
½ cup Kahlua

Heat over to 350 degrees. In bowl, combine gingersnap and graham cracker crumbs with powdered sugar and butter. Toss to combine. Press evenly onto bottom of 8 inch springform pan. Bake 5 minutes. Cool.

In mixer bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add granulated sugar and beat until light. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Transfer 1 cup mixture to separate bowl and blend in pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and Kahlua. Pour half of pumpkin mixture into prepared crust. Top with half of cream cheese mixture. Repeat layers using remaining pumpkin and cream cheese mixtures. Using table knife, cut through layers with uplifting motion in four to five places to create marbled effect. Place on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Without opening oven door, let cake stand in turned-off oven 1 hour.
Remove from oven and cool, then chill. Remove from pan.