Category Archives: Family Recipes

Lecso

  • 2 lbs. pork, cubed
  • 4 onions, sliced
  • Oil for frying
  • 6 green peppers, sliced
  • 3 hot peppers, chopped
  • 8 ripe tomatoes, chopped
  • 1-1/2 cups rice
  • 3 cups water
  • 4 polish sausages, cut in pieces

Brown pork with 1 of the onions in oil in large pot. Add a little water and cook until pork is done. Add sausage. Add rest of onions, green peppers, tomatoes, hot peppers and rice and combine well. Heat over low flame until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

Basque Spinach

  • 1-1/3 cups grated Swiss cheese
  • 3 cups spinach braised in stock
  • 1 lb. potatoes
  • 1 T anchovy paste mixed with 4 tbsp. softened butter and 1/8 tsp. pepper
  • 3 T dried bread crumbs
  • 2 T melted butter

Mix 1/2 cup cheese with spinach. Peel potatoes and cut into 1/8″ thick slices. Boil in salted water 5-6 minutes. Drain. Spread half of the potatoes in bottom of baking dish, cover with 1/2 of anchovy mix. Spread half of the spinach over the potatoes. Repeat layers. Spread 1/3 cup grated cheese mixed with bread crumbs over top and pour on melted butter. Bake 30 minutes at 375ºF until browned.

Basque Spinach
The anchovies make the difference.

Zucchini and Eggs

Calabacitas con huevo

  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 2 cups chopped zucchini or summer squash
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 cup fresh grated Parmesan, Gruyere or Manchego cheese

Heat butter, add zucchini, cover and cook 10 minutes. Drain. Season with salt and pepper. Place in a skillet. Beat eggs with water and combine with cheese. Pour over the zucchini, mix gently, and cook until eggs are set. This can also be done in the oven.

White Bean and Ham Salad

White beans are very popular in Mediterranean cuisine. A number of bean varieties are referred to as white beans, and those include cannellini beans, Great Northern beans, navy beans, and baby lima beans. They all cook relatively quickly, have a mild taste, and are creamy and rich.

This recipe definitely gains flavor as it sits and chills. Consider preparing it well ahead of time, even the day before.

White Bean and Ham Salad recipe ingredients

2 cups cooked white beans
2 cups diced tomatoes
1 large red onion, chopped
2 cups cooked ham, julienned
3/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
5 large garlic cloves, crushed
1-1/2 T Dijon mustard

How to prepare White Bean and Ham Salad

Combine beans, tomatoes, onion, ham and basil. Toss gently.

Whisk olive oil, vinegar, garlic and mustard until blended. Season to taste. Pour over bean mixture. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Nutritional Information for Cannellini Beans

Nutritional information is available from the USDA FoodData Central – Cannellini Bean Nutrition Facts

Veganize your White Bean (no Ham) salad

Simply leave out the ham and add a half-teaspoon or more to taste of smoked paprika or liquid smoke.

white beans

Fish ‘n’ Chips Beer Batter

Ah, those crispy hunks of batter-laden fish with a pile of homemade french fries! At home, Mom usually used cod fish fillets or sometimes halibut. The beer in this batter makes it light and extra crisp.

  • 1-1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 pint beer
  • 1/4 cup cooking oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 egg whites
  • fish fillets

Combine the flour, beer, and cooking oil, and let stand in a warm place for 20 to 30 minutes.

Add salt. Beat the egg whites stiff. Fold into the flour mixture. Dip fish in flour and then in batter. Deep fry until crisp and golden in a good quality, very hot oil.

Fish and Chips

Chopped Liver

Okay, so a bunch of chicken fat and livers and eggs might not sound healthy, but it’s what we used to eat all the time when we devoured chopped liver sandwiches on rye with a pickle on the side…

Ingredients for Chopped Beef or Chicken Livers

  • 1 lb beef and/or chicken livers
  • 2 T chicken fat
  • 2 sliced onions
  • 2 hard cooked eggs
  • 1 T chicken fat
  • salt and pepper

Saute liver in 2 T chicken fat for 10 minutes. Chop liver coarsely with onions and hard-cooked eggs. Blend in 2 T chicken fat, salt and pepper to taste. Chill. Serve with crackers or toast.

Turkey Stuffing

A sage stuffing with creamed and kernel corn.

Turkey gizzards, liver, heart from  one 14-16 lb. turkey
5 extra chicken livers, if desired
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 can creamed corn
1 can kernel corn
1 loaf or more of sliced wholewheat bread, as needed to stuff turkey
2 eggs
4 pork sausages, fried and crumbled (optional)
1 T rubbed sage
2 tsp thyme
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt

Saute the turkey and chicken innards in butter or oil. Remove and chop finely. In same pan, saute onion, green pepper and celery until softened. Cube the bread and place in large bowl. Add the livers, onion mix and corn and mix well. Add eggs and sausages. If the mixture is very mushy, add more bread. Throw in herbs and spices and mix well. Stuff into both turkey cavities, seal, and roast.

Sage turkey stuffing
This could be a stuffed turkey–or perhaps what I look like after eating it.

Gefilte Fish

Gefilte fish is poached minced fish appetizer popular on Jewish holidays but also eaten year-round.

Gert Cohen’s Gefilte Fish

  • 4 lbs. fish fillets
  • head and skin of fish
  • 5 onions
  • 4 t salt
  • 1-1/2 t pepper
  • 1 t sugar
  • 2 beaten eggs
  • 5-1/2 cups water
  • 3 T cracker meal
  • 2 sliced carrots

Grind fish and onion together. Place in wooden bowl. Add 2 t salt, 3/4 t pepper, sugar, eggs, 1/2 cup water and cracker meal. Chop well. Place head and skin of fish in pot. Add rest of onion, carrots, water, salt and pepper. Boil.

Shape chopped fish into 2″ balls. Drop into boiling broth. Cover and cook 1-1/2 hours. Remove fish balls. Strain and chill stock until jellied. Serve gefilte fish balls and jelly with horseradish.


Vegetarian Gefilte Fish

3 medium potatoes, peeled
2 medium onions, finely chopped
vegetable oil for frying
1 large eggplant
2 cloves garlic, minced/crushed
2 T chopped fresh parsley
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
paprika
matzo meal as required

Get the preparation instructions for vegetarian version of Gefilte Fish from http://www.jewishfood-list.com/recipes/fish/gfish/gfishveg01.html

 

Loretta’s Hazelnut Torte

A rich torte of hazelnuts (filberts) combined with chocolate that uses almost no flour.  A Loretta specialty.

  • 1 cups hazelnuts
  • 1/3 cups dry crumbs
  • 1 T flour
  • 1 square shaved chocolate, unsweetened
  • 6 egg white
  • pinch cream of tartar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 6 egg yolks + 1 whole egg
  • 1/2 cup sugar

Toast and grind the hazelnuts. Add crumbs, flour,  and shaved chocolate. Beat egg whites stiff with cream of tartar. Add 1/2 cups sugar slowly. Beat yolks and whole egg with the other 1/2 cup sugar. Add to nut mixture. Fold carefully into whites.

Turn into a greased torte pan and bake at 300 F until firm.

hazelnuts filberts

Green Bean Mustard Pickles

Mom always preserved jars of tangy and savory green bean mustard pickles when the beans were being harvested in great quantities from our garden. They make a fabulous condiment and side dish, a way to bring garden beans onto the table when fresh beans aren’t available.

Ingredients for Green Bean Mustard Pickles

  • 5 lbs. green beans
  • 1 cup flour
  • 2-1/2 lbs. brown sugar
  • 1 cup dry mustard
  • 2 tbsp celery seed
  • 2 tbsp turmeric powder
  • 1 t salt
  • pinch garlic powder
  • 3 pints vinegar

Preparing Green Bean Mustard Pickles

Wash and cut beans into small pieces. Cook in salted water 20 minutes. Mix flour, brown sugar, mustard, celery seed, turmeric, salt, and garlic powder. Add vinegar and blend till smooth. Boil 5 minutes. Add beans and bring to boil. Bottle at once in hot sterile jars.

Our House
Our House by Rayna, 2008