This is not a quick, stove-top rice pudding. This is the real thing: the hours of slow cooking turn the rice into a delicious vanilla-flavored cream with crusty edges.
4 cups milk
2/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla
1/2 cup raisins
In oven-proof dish, mix the milk, sugar. rice, salt and vanilla. Bake, uncovered, for 3 hours at 300F, stirring three times during the first hour. After the first hour, stir in raisins and continue baking until done.
Easy vegan: Substitute almond milk for the regular milk and use raw sugar.
In a pot combine vinegar, spices and garlic. Add mushrooms and simmer 10 minutes. remove garlic and place the mushrooms and liquid into a 1-quart container. Slowly pour in oil. Secure with plastic wrap and cover. Marinate, refrigerated, 1 week.
Mix onion and chopped parsley with chopped shrimp. Add flour and baking powder, then stir in water and wine to make a heavy batter. Season with salt and cayenne. Cover and chill in fridge for 3 hours. Heat oil and drop in teaspoonfuls of batter. Fry until golden brown. Drain and serve. hot.
This is not a recipe from our past: however, being that it is Russian and contains such an interesting combination of ingredients that we like–along the lines of liquid bread pudding–it does merit a place in the cookbook.
Ingredients for Russian Rye Bread Soup
6 oz hard, dry rye bread
2 cups boiling water
2 oz raisins
2 oz sugar
2 oz sliced apples
1 oz crushed cranberries
pinch of cinnamon
Pour boiling water over the dry rye bread, then rub soaked and softened bread through a sieve, along with the liquid.
Add raisins, sugar, apples, cranberries and cinnamon. Boil for 10 minutes.
If the peppercorns are dry, rehydrate in a little water. Cover the filets with the peppercorns and fry in a mixture of oil and butter from 10 to 14 minutes. Place on warmed plates. Remove excess grease from frying pan. Sprinkle in the Armagnac and add the sour cream. Cook over low flame, stirring, until obtaining a thick creamy sauce. Pour over filets and serve.
Ingredients should be at room temperature. Mix cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time. Spread crescent roll dough in 13 x 9″ pan and fill. Bake for 50 minutes at 350F. Chill well and serve.
Lenny’s a friend of ours who used to spend plenty of time here in Mexico. Whenever there was a special occasion that needed food contributions, Lenny would make his famous cheesecake. It was always enjoyed and is a really easy recipe to put together.
A type of sweet and sour marinated beef; oh so tender and with a very special and distinctly-flavored sauce. Good served with cooked rice, noodles, potatoes, or dumplings of any sort.
4 lbs. beef bottom round or rump, approx.
For Marinade:
2 cups red wine vinegar
4 cups water
1 large sliced onion
5 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
2 whole cloves
For Sauce:
1/4 cup flour
4 tbsp butter
2 carrots, sliced
1 onion, quartered
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp sugar, or to taste
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
Marinate meat in fridge for 2 to 3 days, turning occasionally. Remove meat from marinade, straining and reserving marinade. Pat meat dry and dredge with flour. Brown in butter. Add 1 cup strained marinade, sugar, carrots, onion, tomato paste and salt.
Cook covered until meat is very tender (about 3 hours). Remove meat and force sauce through a sieve, and skim off fat. Add the sour cream, mix well and reheat. Slice the meat thickly and serve covered in sauce.
Heat oil and sauté onions and green peppers slowly until very limp. They need constant stirring so they do not burn. Season. Add the quartered potatoes and continue frying until potatoes get crisp brown on the outside. Season.
In a ,combine sugar and water until dissolved. Cook without stirring to 230F (hard thread).
Mix yolks and flour and add 2 T of the hot syrup. Pour into syrup, stirring. Add coconut and simmer, low, until thick and stiff. Do not boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Cool.
Set oven to 375 F. Shape mix into balls. Arrange 1″ apart on a buttered cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until delicately browned.
This type of Coconut cookie is also very common and popular in parts of Mexico. When we travel up into the Patzcuaro area I always pick up a golden coconut cookie, looking like a volcanic cone of toasted coconut, from the street vendors around the square and market there.
This recipe is here because Mom would sometimes throw together these ingredients to make a “homemade” snack, even though it was based on processed foods. I’m banking on the fact that cereals back in the 50s and 60s weren’t as laden with preservatives, sugar, and salt as they are these days.
Ingredients for Spicy Snack Mix
1/3 c. butter
1/4 c steak sauce
2 tsp seasoned salt
2 cups Rice Chex cereal
2 cups Wheat Chex cereal
2 cups Corn Chex cereal
1 cup nuts
1 cup pretzel sticks
Melt butter. Stir in steak sauce and salt. Add cereals, pretzels and nuts. Mix over low heat until coated. Place on cookie sheet or flat pan and heat in a very slow over (about 250 F) for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes or so. Spread on paper towels to cool.
