Recipes Most Wanted

This is my family's favourite beef stew recipe. And this is a great time of the year to have a big pot of it boiling on your stove.

2 1/2 pounds beef for stew
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup salad oil
1 large onion chopped
1 garlic clove minced
3 cups water
4 beef bouillon cubes or 4 cups beef broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 teaspoon pepper
5 medium potatoes cut in chunks
8 carrots cut in chunks
2 turnips cut in chunks
1 10 ounce package frozen peas

1. Cut meat into 1 1/2 inch chunks. Coat stew beef with flour. Reserve leftover flour. Heat oil in 6 quart dutch oven over medium-heat.

2. Brown meat all over in oil, a few pieces at a time. Remove pieces as they brown. Reduce heat to medium.

3. To drippings in pan, add onion and garlic. Cook 3 minutes, stirring until onion is almost tender. Stir in reserved flour.

4. Gradually add water, bouillion/broth, salt, Worcestershire, pepper. Cook, stirring until mixture is slightly thickened.

5. Add meat; heat to boiling, stirring Reduce heat to low. Cover, simmer 2 1/2 hours until almost tender, stirring occasionally.

6. Add potato, carrot, and turnip. Over medium heat, heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 20 minutes.

7. Stir in frozen peas, cover and simmer 5 to 10 minugtes or untail all the vegetables are tender. Serve immediately.

When called upon to bring cookies to school for a Halloween Party, these are always my favourite. And they're a favourite for the kids too.

1 cup (250 mL) butter, softened
1 cup (250 mL) icing sugar
1 egg
1 tsp (5 mL) almond extract
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
2-3/4 cups (675 mL) all-purpose flour
1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5 mL) salt
3/4 cup (175 mL) whole blanched almonds
1 tube (19 g) red decorator gel (blood for fingers)

In bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, almond extract and vanilla; beat in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Working with one quarter of the dough at a time and keeping remaining dough refrigerated, roll heaping teaspoonful of dough into finger shape for each cookie.

Press almond firmly into 1end for nail. Squeeze in centre to create knuckle shape; using paring knife, make slashes in several places to form knuckle.

Place on lightly greased baking sheets; bake in 325°F (160°C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until pale golden. Let cool for 3 minutes. Lift up almond; squeeze red decorator gel onto nail bed and press almond back into place, so gel oozes out from underneath. Remove from baking sheets; let cool on racks. Repeat with remaining dough.

I like making chocolate mousse because it can be made ahead and kept refrigerated until it's time to use it. Hence, it makes a great dessert for Thanksgiving because I can make it ahead.

Martha Stewart I'm definitely not. I love to cook, but I don't worry overly much about setting a fancy table or spending time on presentation. As long as the table cloth is clean and everyone has a plate, glass, and cutlery, I'm satisfied. It's about family and laughter, not the decorations.

So one of my favourite tricks is to try to make the food taste so good, no one will notice my lack of decor!

Here's one of my favourite recipes for chocolate mousse. I can't remember where it came from, but it is definitely really good.

Chocolate Mousse

6 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
6 ounces butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup espresso or strong coffee
4 large eggs, separated
2/3 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons (30ml) chocolate liquor (or Amaretto of Bailey’s)
1 tablespoon water
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place a bowl on top of a saucepan that is one-third full with hot water. Put the chocolate, butter, and coffee into the bowl. Stir over the simmering water until smooth. Remove from heat.

Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside.

Place another bowl on top of the simmering water. Whisk in the egg yolks, sugar, liquor, and water. Use a hand mixer or whisk this mixture for approximately 3 minutes until it thickens a little.

Remove from heat and place the bowl of whipped egg yolks within the bowl of ice water. Beat again. Then fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until they hold their shape. Whip in the tablespoon of sugar and continue to beat until thick and shiny, but not completely stiff. Then add the vanilla.

Fold one-third of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remainder of the whites just until incorporated, but don't overdo it or the mousse will lose volume.

Transfer the mousse to a serving bowl or divide into serving dishes, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until firm.

Here in Canada, we're celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend. So I'm pulling out all my family favourite recipes. Here's the one I use for my stuffing. It's very much in demand every year. Actually, my family prefers the stuffing over the turkey.

Basic Stuffing

12 cups bread
1 lb bacon
3 cups chopped onion
3 cups chopped celery
1 1/2 tablespoons dried sage leaves
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 1/2 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spread bread cubes on 2 baking sheets. Bake until bread cubes are dry and crisp, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. Transfer bread to large bowl.

Sauté bacon in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until brown and crisp.
Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels and drain. Pour off all but 1/4 cup drippings from skillet.

Add chopped onion and celery to skillet and sauté until tender and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.

Add sage, thyme, salt and pepper and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes.
Pour mixture over bread cubes.

Add bacon and toss to blend.

Mix in 2 cups broth. (Stuffing can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Butter 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish.

Beat eggs and baking powder in small bowl to blend.

Mix eggs into stuffing; moisten stuffing with more broth if stuffing is dry.

Transfer to prepared baking dish.

Bake stuffing until cooked through and golden brown on top, about 1 hour.

This recipe has been around for a long time. It's also called 6 week bran muffins. But because this is one of my family's favourites, and very convenient, I decided to post it here.

Ingredients
1 cup boiling water
1 cup 100% bran cereal
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or shortening
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk or (Substitution = 2 cups milk & 2 tablespoons lemon juice)
2 cups "All Bran" Cereal
3/4 cup raisins

Pour boiling water over 100% bran. Let stand until cereal has absorbed water and cooled slightly.

Thoroughly cream together sugar and shortening.

Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Add flour, soda, salt, and buttermilk. Mix until smooth.

Blend water and bran mixture into batter.

Add raisins and "All Bran" and mix well.

Cover and refrigerate batter.

Batter will keep up to 6 weeks.

When ready to use, dip batter from container, without stirring, into greased muffin tins.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until done.

Makes 3 dozen.

Recipe can be doubled.

Variation: Use 3 cups of All Bran instead of cereal combination.

Variation: Add 1/2 cup sugar and omit raisins.

I love basil. In fact, I think it wouldn't be a stretch to say I'm obsessed with it. I use it in all my Italian savory dishes. Tonight, for dinner, I've a craving pasta tossed with a good pesto sauce.

Pesto means to pound or crush. It's traditionally made with a mortar and pestle. But it can be made in the food processor or blender.

As usual, I prefer the simple, most classic, recipe for this.

And in keeping with my usual style, I like to make a lot so that I can freeze it for another day. So you might wish to halve the recipe.

And don't tell my mother, but I cheat and make mine in a blender because I don't have a food processor or a mortar and pestle. I'll get around to getting these items one day. Sigh.

PESTO SAUCE

8 cups basil leaves, well packed
8 to 10 cloves garlic, lightly crushed and peeled
1 cup pine nuts
1 cup walnuts
3 cups freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino cheese
3 cups extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a blender. Grind until it is a paste.

Stir pesto into drained pasta while still hot.

Garnish with extra cheese and crushed pine nuts.

Enjoy!

I don't know what it is about basil, but it is definitely my most favourite spice during the summer. It's rich peppery taste really enhances the taste of tomatoes, pastas, and many other favourite dishes.

Yesterday, while visiting my cousin Emily, we asked her father, my uncle Pete, to bring us a few leaves of basil and Italian parsley He is an avid gardener and at this time of year, his garden is brimming with the season's very best vegetables. Well, he brought more than a few leaves. I think he brought us a pound of each - enough to fill to overflowing a shopping bag.

Therefore, today I will have to preserve them.

Here's how my family does it.

First, we blanch the leaves for two seconds in boiling water, then drain and rinse them immediately with ice cold water. If you have a salad spinner, then spin the leaves dry. If not, simply pat the leaves dry with paper towel. Stack the leaves in bundles. Wrap them in paper towel. The bundles are the size of small hotdog and fits in the palm of your hand. Wrap each of thesee bundles in foil. Seal them in a ziplock freezer bag and they're good for a year.

Use in cooking as you would fresh basil leaves, but, cup for cup, frozen leaves are more compact than fresh ones, so use a little less than the recipe calls for.