Category Archives: Family Recipes

Eggs and Cheese, Meatless Main Dishes

Papatzul

A typical dish from the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, made with a wonderful creamy sauce of ground pumpkin seeds. Paptzules are similar to enchiladas in that they are filled and rolled tortillas smothered in a sauce that has chiles in it but is not necessarily very spicy.

Ingredients for Papatzul

  • 3 cups hulled pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
  • 6 serrano chiles
  • 1 sprig epazote (or 2 tsp dry)
  • 3 cups hot water
  • 24 corn tortillas
  • 12 hard cooked eggs

Pulverize the pepitas in a blender. Add seeded chiles and epazote and blend again. Place in a pan and add hot water gradually, stirring. Do not boil. Bring to a bare simmer and cook until sauce is like cream. Dip tortillas in sauce, fill with sliced or chopped eggs, roll, place in a baking dish and cover with remaining sauce. Place in oven until just heated through.

pumpkin seeds - Pepitas

Meatless Main Dishes, Vegetables and Salads

Cabbage with sour cream

1 cabbage, shredded
1 T wine vinegar
2 oz. fat
1 pint sour or double cream
1 large tomato
3 or 4 green peppers
2 tablespoons flour
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon caraway seeds

Cook the shredded cabbage in very little salted water with the quartered tomato, the seeded and sliced peppers, caraway seeds and seasoning. Cook till all vegetables are tender. Make a light roux with the flour and fat and mix it into the cooked vegetables. Stir in the cream and heat through before serving.

Breads and Pancakes

Loretta’s Hoska

Hoska is a delicious Czech Christmas sweet bread made by Grandma, and then Mom, and then Loretta, and now Anna.

A couple of kids

Recipe submitted, after extensive taste testing, by Nancy & Anna.
Makes 2 loaves. Bake 1 hour at 325-350F.

#1.

  • 1/2 C sultana raisins
  • 1/2 c sliced almonds plus a few whole peeled almonds

Soak #1 in 1/2 c rum or Grand Marnier overnight.

#2.

  • 1/2 c lukewarm milk
  • 2 T dry yeast
  • pinch sugar

Let #2 rise 5 minutes or until puffy.

#3.

  • 1 c soft butter
  • 1 c sugar

Cream together #3

Mix together #s 2 and 3 and add:

#4.

  • Zest of 1 lemon (not lime)
  • 1-1/2 c warm milk (room temperature)
  • 4 eggs (1 at a time)
  • 1 t Mexican vanilla
  • 1-1/2 t salt
  • 6 – 8 c flour (as needed)

Mix to form a dough and knead 15-20 minutes.

Add #1 minus whole almonds.

Place in a large buttered bowl and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled (1-1/2 to 2 hours).

Shape into 2 double braids (see below).

Place soaked whole almonds decoratively along double braids. Cover and let rise again to double–about 30 to 45 minutes. Mix 1 egg with a bit of milk and brush tops of braids. Bake 1 hour or so at 325 F until golden, brushing on more of the milk/egg wash about 1/2 way through.

If necessary, use foil to cover if Hoska appears to be browning too fast.

bread-dough-raisins

To form double braids:

  • Divide dough in half – then separate each half into 6 balls (3 larger, 3 smaller)
  • Roll balls into about 30 cm long ropes, using hands. There should be 3 thicker and 3 thinner ropes.
  • Braid larger ropes and place on baking sheet tucking in ends of braids.
  • Braid smaller ropes and place them on top of the larger braid.
Meatless Main Dishes, Vegetables and Salads

Potato Mushroom Croquettes

Croquettes are popular appetizers, bite-sized and easy to handle in party situations. They’re usually made with mashed potatoes or some other starchy base combined with other ingredients such as fish, mushrooms, herbs, meat, etc., that impart flavor. Egg or a white sauce is often added as a binder. Croquettes are breaded or rolled in breadcrumbs or cracker meal and then deep fried until golden.

In Spain, croquetas are found on all tapas menus, many times flavored with Spanish Serrano ham (jamón Serrano, cod, mackerel, or shrimp.

Potato Mushroom croquettes

Ingredients for Potato-Mushroom Croquettes

  • 1-1/2 lb. potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 5 cups water
  • 1 onion, peeled and chopped
  • 1/4 lb. mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 t oil
  • 1 T water
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup Matzo or cracker meal

Boil potatoes in water until tender. Drain and mash.

In a separate pan, saute onions and mushrooms in oil and water over medium heat for three minutes.

In a large bowl, combine mashed potatoes, sauteed onions and mushrooms, seasonings and matzo meal.

Form into 10 croquettes.

Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and fry croquettes for 8 minutes on each side.


Meat and Poultry

Pork in Green Sauce with Zucchini

Puerco en Salsa Verde con calabacitas

  • 1 lb. pork loin, in chunks
  • 4 peppercorns
  • 1/2 bay leaf
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 onion, quartered
  • 2 cups salsa verde (Mexican green tomato sauce with chile)
  • 4 small zucchinis, cubed
  • 2 cups chopped spinach
  • 1 chicken bouillon cube
  • Salt to taste

Place pork in heavy pot with water to cover, onion, pepper, garlic and bay and boil for 1 hour, skimming off foam. Remove meat, strain the broth and discard spices and onion.

Reduce broth to about 1/2 cup. Return meat to pot, add salsa verde and bouillon cube. Simmer for half an hour.

Add spinach and zucchini and continue cooking for another 1/2 hr., adding broth or water if necessary. The sauce should be quite thick by the end of cooking .Adjust seasonings. Serve with tortillas (makes great tacos!)

Vegetables and Salads

Broccoli with Star Fruit

  • 3-1/2 lbs. broccoli
  • 2 starfruit, slightly green around ribs
  • 1/4 lb. butter
  • salt and pepper

Cut broccoli into flowerettes. Steam until just tender. Drain, plunge into ice water, and drain again.

Cut starfruit into thin slices and pop out the seeds carefully. In large pan, melt butter. Add broccoli. Season with salt and pepper and saute gently about 2 minutes.

Add starfruit and toss gently. Serves 8.

Starfruit
Wikipedia Photo. Author: pinay06
Desserts and Sweets

Mango Cake

  • 1/2 cup margarine
  • 1-1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2-1/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 t baking powder
  • 3/4 t baking soda
  • 1/2 t salt.
  • 1 cup mashed mangoes

Cream margarine and sugar; add eggs. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to egg mix alternately with mangoes.

Pour into greased and floured 9×13″ pan. Bake 30 minutes at 350F.

Vegetables and Salads

Wilted Cucumbers

Gurkensalat

  • 1 large cucumber
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp cider vinegar

Peel the cucumber. Slice paper thin. Place in glass or ceramic bowl with salt, sugar and vinegar. Let stand at least 15 minutes, and up to several hours, in fridge.

Desserts and Sweets

Nanaimo Bars

Nanaimo is a city on Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. It touts itself as the city so beautiful that it’s all right to stare.

The Nanaimo bar, said to be the product of local culinary ingenuity, is a no-bake chocolate-based bar that bridges the gap between a cookie and candy. Nanaimo bars are a typically Canadian dessert and incredibly decadent.  You can read about the possible origin of Nanaimo bars at Wikipedia: Nanaimo Bar.

  • 3/4 cups butter
  • 10 T cocoa
  • 2 cups coconut, unsweetened
  • 1/2 to 1 cup walnuts, chopped
  • 10 T sugar
  • 4 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 t vanilla

For custard layer:

  • 5 T butter
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 pkg. instant vanilla custard or pudding powder
  • 2 cups icing sugar

For chocolate topping

  • 5 squares semi-sweet chocolate

Melt butter and add cocoa powder. Beat eggs with sugar, add cocoa butter mix, vanilla, coconut, walnuts, and cracker crumbs. Press into bottom of greased pans.

Mix vanilla custard powder with 1/4 cup milk, 2 cups icing sugar, and 5 T butter to make a pasty thick custard. Spread on top of graham cracker base.

Melt semi-sweet chocolate squares and spread evenly on top.

Servings:  two 8×8″ pans

For vegans, here’s a vegan version of the Nanaimo bar:  http://about.spud.com/blog-nanaimo-bars/

Nanaimo, B.C., Canada: Nanaimo Bars
Nanaimo, B.C., Canada