The Unnamed Italian Dish

I can't remember what this is called! I've resorted to making it from memory.

This isn't seafood, but since Iron Stef requested the recipe I am happy to put it here -- it's the dish I took to the St. Louis Foodbloggers Potluck last Sunday (see Jonahtan's fantastic photos on this page). Thanks, Stef! Request away!

I used to have this darling, teensy little Italian cookbook. I don’t know where it went. But it had the most authentic recipes, and this is one of them. I don’t know for sure that I’ve remembered it all exactly, but it’s one of those dishes you can fudge on and adapt a bit without dire consequence. It’s pretty basic. I’d love to know what region of Italy it hails from, but I don’t remember that, either. I’ve been making to a good 20 years, though, and I never grow tired of it. I find it very comforting.

Essentially what you're doing here is making a filling of ricotta, spinach, parmesano-reggiono and cooked chicken livers; rolling it up in buckwheat pancakes; pouring a béchamel sauce over it; and baking it for an hour.

You’ll need a 3-quart baking dish, oiled or buttered.


For the Filling:

2 pounds ricotta cheese (use the best you can find)
1 pound organic chicken livers, cleaned of connective tissue
3 spring onions, finely chopped
2 pounds fresh spinach, washed, steamed, and chopped (frozen is OK, too)
Two eggs
½ cup grated parmesano-reggiono
Olive oil
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg (I grate my own)
Salt
Pepper


Sauté the onions in ¼ cup olive oil until the just begin to get transparent. Add the chicken livers and to cook medium well. Set aside to cool a bit. Once it’s cooled a bit, put the liver in a small, hard bowl and chop with a pastry cutter until they’re roughly chopped and slightly pulverized – but don’t turn them to mush. You want them to have some texture.

In a large bowl, toss together the ricotta, eggs, and parmesano; add the spinach, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Taste, and adjust the seasoning. Add the liver mixture, toss with your hands, and taste again for seasoning.

Let the bowl sit at room temp while you make the pancakes. Obviously if you have toddlers and it's going to take you two hours to make the pancakes between chasing them around making them dinner then refridgerate the mixture.

For the Pancakes:
Whole Foods 360 Organic Buckwheat pancake mix
Olive oil
Water
Eggs

Have your pancake skillet or griddle heating to medium high while you mix the batter. Also, heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Note: Big rolls will require 8-10 pancakes for the 3-quart dish. If you want smaller rolls adjust accordingly.

Make the pancakes according to the direction on the package, but double the eggs and double the water. It should be runny enough to spread easily around the pan. You can make larger or smaller pancakes, depending on how you prefer the finished dish to look and taste. I do it either way, depending on my mood. The ones I took to the potluck were very large, covering more than half of the bottom of a 12-inch non-stick skillet.

Stack the pancakes as you remove them from the pan in such a manner that each has a little channel to vent steam.

--> Now get your assembly line together. You’ll make the béchamel after you’ve assembled the rolls. From left to right, line up the pancakes, liver-cheese mixture, a board to roll on, and the baking pan. Unless you’re good at estimating volumes, you may want to use my method for uniformity of filling: lay the pancakes out in a line and distribute the filling evenly between them. Then roll them up and begin placing them gently in the pan, touching one another, but not squished together. It’s ok to leave a little room around the outside; it makes a nice repository for some béchamel. That done, do your sauce.

For the Béchamel Sauce:

4 tablespoons unsalted, cultured butter (you can use regular unsalted butter)
4 tablespoons unbleached white flour
2 cups half and half (organic or local -- just don’t use the ultra-pasteurized kind)
Quick grate of nutmeg
Salt and pepper

Heat the half-and-half over medium heat. You’re going to bring it almost to a boil.

Melt the butter in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat until foaming.

Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Keep stirring with the whisk for a minute or two, to cook the floury taste out of the flour.

When the half-and-half is almost at a boil, pour it in a stream into the flour mixture, whisking all the while. Simmer and whisk over medium-low heat until it’s thickened to a custard consistency, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes.

Stir in nutmeg and salt. Season with ground pepper. Cool sauce slightly.

Pour the sauce over the rolls in the pan. There should be enough sauce to cover the rolls to ¾ of their height, and fill the gaps at the edges of the pan. Make sure to put some sauce directly over the top of the rolls, too.

Sprinkle the top with ¼ parmesano.

Oil enough foil to cover the pan, and set it loosely on top of the dish. Put the dish in the center of the oven and bake for half an hour. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes. The sauce should be bubbling vigorously.

Cool for 15-20 minutes or so, and serve. A very fresh salad with and warm crusty bread goes well. For wine, I'd do sparkling (when wouldn't I?) or maybe a nice white Burgandy if you want depth, or a half-dry Reisling if you want a crisper counterpart.

Note: Everything I used in the dish for the potluck was organic, except the ricotta, which was local and hormone/antibiotic free, but not organic. For all of this I went to whole foods. The difference in the quality of the dairy products is huge.

Secret Shrimp Throw-Down!

Once upon a time, my dad took me to a certain restaurant in a certain small town, Illinois, for my sixteenth birthday. This was a big deal. The restaurant had been “written up” in the New York Times, he was proud of saying, for the very dish we were going there to eat. They called it their House shrimp, and it was fantastic. Super-jumbo tiger shrimp or prawns -- in the shell -- lounging deep in a bowl of buttery, deeply tomato-and-spice sauce, with tons of crispy-soft bread for dipping. Ya gotta eat it all with your hands. It’s sublime. They bring you a big bib, a stack of cloth napkins, and a bowl of clear water to help clean yourself up as worked. I even remember what I wore that night. The only pink dress I ever owned. It was a very soft pink, crisp cotton, with eyelet lace on the shoulder straps and here and there. There’s no doubt that my dad managed to procure some wine for me (duh). This is one of my best memories of life with my dad. As everyone who has known me truly well knows, there was a lot of difficulty between my dad and I. And this makes every good memory precious, indeed. I think of him always when I make this dish. It was one of his all-time favorite, it’s a New Orleans-style dish, and he is the man, after all, who claims to have dated Ernest Hemmingway’s maid when he lived in the B.E.

This recipe was held secret for many, many years. We used to try to replicate it at home with varying degrees of success. Then, a good friend of mine married a line cook from that restaurant! And bingo! he told me how to make it. Now, I have no way of confirming this is the recipe ver batum. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. As it stands right now it’s just something this one guy told me one time. But as y’all know it’s become a tradition at the Smith Family Reunions whenever it’s my brother Bill’s and my turn to cook. It’s fast, simple, and fabulous. You really can’t screw it up.

However, you can mess it up a bit. There are tricks. My brother and I make this recipe differently, too. He had an odd experience that I think has ruined his judgment in the matter. Last year, after our father’s death (as I remember it) Bill decided to go to this nameless restaurant and have the shrimp. He’d never had it! I had no idea. My dad never took him there? I thought I remembered Bill being there with us on my birthday, but who knows. Memory is as unreliable as a cheap aluminum soup pot.

Anyway, they must have been out of the huge shrimp that night, and they served it to my bro out of the shell, over rice. What!!!!???!!!! Nu-uh. And what did he say? “It was good!” No it wasn’t! No one in their right mind eats The Secret Shrimp out of the shell over rice! Fogettaboutit [said in Cajun mafia accent]!

Does anyone ever listen to Car Talk on NPR? And you know how there are two brothers, the mechanics, and one of them always says at the end of the show, “… and whatever you do, don’t drive like my brother!” and the other replies, “No, don’t drive like MY brother!” Yet of course it’s obvious that they do love and respect one another, ya? *Well, this is the spirit in which I make this comparison between my version of this dish and my brother’s.

So now he thinks it’s ok to serve it that way. Not me. Not in a million years. And so I am giving you the “real” version, my version, the one you get when the chef is motivated enough to get the real ingredients, for Heaven’s sake.

And Bill? I challenge you to send me your instructions. We’ll see if a throw-down can ensue.


Secret House Shrimp

12 Super Colossal Tiger Prawns (6-8 per pound), deveined and left in the shell, thawed if bought frozen
4 jars Heinz Chili Sauce
1 pound salted butter
1 bunch fresh parsley, roughly chopped
1 Tablespoon chopped dried oregano
1 cup sweet vermouth

Put everything in a large, heavy pot, like a Dutch oven. Turn the heat on low. Let the whole thing simmer relatively undisturbed until the shrimp are cooked through and the sauce is quite hot, but not boiling. Serve in bowls with a good French bread for dipping.

TIPS: Warnings toward the avoidance mistakes (*made by my brother, though he doesn’t know it):

1. Do not boil the sauce! You don't want it to emulsify!

2. Let it all cool significantly before serving. This means, from piping hot (but not boiling) cool it 20-30 minutes. The shrimp will hold onto a lot of heat, especially if they're big. Of course you don’t want it to be cold, but the shrimp need to be almost room temp so they can be handled easily.

Making sure that you follow the above Tips 1 & 2 will have this magical effect: The butter will stay to more or less separate from the tomato sauce, almost, and it will be clear. This makes for a marvelously varied dipping adventure, and your bread swaths through the degrees and ratios and combinations of butter, chili, herbs, and combinations thereof.

There now. The challenge is set. Bill? :-)

St. Louis Food Bloggers Potluck

These wonderful professional photos from the Food Bloggers Potluck were taken by Jonathan Pollack, the spouse of Stef from Cupcake Project. Go check them both out. If you type the word "FOODBLOG" into the little field at the bottom of Jonathan's home page you can see lotso' photos from the potluck!

Check out the ooing and ahing expressions on these faces!

The cake I want to marry.

Kelly and I listening, perhaps.


Me, eating mine.




Close up of my dish. Chicken livers, white sauce. Nirvana.


What's a Food Blogger's Potluck? Well, maybe it's something like a Teddy Bears Picnic! A lotsa fun! I fell in love with a coconut cake by Natalia. She has a restaurant in downtown St. Louis, and I can see why because this cake is just, I don't know how to say it. I want to marry it. Those were the only words I could think of while I was eating it there. Natalia has a recipe on her web site! Go get it! It's like a drunken heaven in the tropics, only in wedding lace.

Kelly was there with her mac&cheese, which was of course super-yum. There are she and I, apparently listening intently to a nice young woman who's name I cannot recall, but my hands are certainly blurring around the wine, now aren't they? Action, anyone?

I took the Italian blini-like dish (as Alanna tells me), which is the thing I am slicing here, and of which you can see a close-up. There were rather more vegetarians than I expected at a foodie event, so next time I'll take something meatless.

Ah, Goodbye March

I know. More or less I took February off. And most of March. My Papaw's departure sort of took the wind out of my writing sails, if you will, but things are leveling out now and the bees and back in the hive. And if you can straighten out that pastiche à la métaphore I'll make you one for dinner.

So, it's been kind of roasted meat weather around here. But I haven't really roasted a meat this month, as my day job is impossible and is requiring that I work absurde hours for no good reason and I haven't much of a life on account of it. One hates to complain when apparently we're entering the Second Great Depression or at least mini-D, but then it's not my job here to complain, I do that on another blog and here I am really to enliven you with deliciousness, aren't I? So let's just be grateful for employment and -- oh, by the way, my friend Kelly, another fabulous St. Louis food blogger, is starting as a cook's assistant at Kitchen Conservatory. She makes a wonderful blog, and is pretty mean at cutting up a lobster, too. Though not mean enough to drop it in the pot, oddly. I had no problem with it. This is not what was expected.

So, in honor of Kelly's burgeoning foodie career, I am referring you, my darling monkeys, to Kelly's page for a lovely Quick Cassoulet, complete with roasted chicken, and thus our meat for the last few days of March is presented. Thank you Kelly.

For April, though we haven't Easter in that month this year, we shall still have cupcakes. And, hey, why not send the recipes you liked this Easter? I made an asparagus casserole that I rather loved. I will post it. In the meantime, thank you for tolerating my completely ignorant attempts at French, and for being away, and for all other follies I surely must have enacted upon you, My Loves.

Adieu, je reste --

Margaret

Free Rice in Honor of Our Papaw

Our Papaw passed away at home with his loved ones around him on February 6, at 5:05 PM, having reached the fabulous age of 98. He was a wonderful man, a true gentleman. He taught us love and respect and acceptance and how to enjoy a good meal and to thank the cook properly every single time without fail.

In honor of his passing, this month I am posting a link to the charitable organization, Free Rice. Go there, look at the word, chose its correct synonym, and Voilà! they will donate 20 grains of rice -- for each word you synonymize correctly. Yes. 20 grains. It adds up, OK? Cool too that it looks like their ap tracks your vocabulary level and feeds you appropriately difficult or easy words while it keeps a running count of the grains of rice you've donated, as well.

http://www.freerice.com/

Later on, when we're all healed up a little, I hope to make a whole month of Papaw Favorites here. Maybe next February, or even January, which is his birthday month. Anyway, right now I don't quite know what else to do. I don't have the heart to send out a call to all the relatives for recipes. So here it is. Papaw loved words, and food, and was a good, solid Democrat who believed that giving up a little of what one has to make others' lives better was just the right thing to do. As a matter of fact, shortly before he died he voted (absentee) to increase the sales tax in his town so that the kids could have more funds for the city swimming pool. I know he would be all for sharing some rice by playing an educational word game.

January, Comfy Casseroles for All

Casseroles. Cheryl's idea. Perfect. Warming, comfy, traditional casseroles for January. I want to make one every day, had I only the time. But send in your favorites, boys and girls, and let's see if we can call upon the the Muse of One Dish Sublimity to help us, at least a time or two this month, comfort our loved ones and one another over the miles. Kisses to you all for the new year. --M

January Casserole Contents:

1. Our Mothers' Meat Pie -- from Margaret
2. Cindy Sends Several -- Cindy
3. Hungry Man's Linguini -- Young Frank (out of context but our first non-family post so I'm going for it!)
4. Cindy's Several More -- Baked Ziti, Good Old Tuna/Chicken Noodle Casserole, Three Cheese Pasta Bake
5. A Pennsylvania Mom's Roast Beef Casserole -- Young Frank

A Pennsylvania Mom's Roast Beef Casserole

I have another very simple casserole dish I wanted to share. This was my mother's Roast Beef Casserole that we ate for years. Just a few basic ingredients that can be combined and improvised as to one's taste.

1. Take enough rice for 6 – 8 servings, any rice, she used long grain wild rice. Set that boiling away.

2. Take (2) cups of cubed roast beef and put in a pan, with butter or oil and brown. You can add chopped onions for flavor.

3. Steam about two cups of peas, cut carrots, and corn kernels.

4. When everything is cooked, combine into a casserole dish and mix together.

5. Once mixed, top with one can of cream or celery soup or Parmesan cheese and bake for 20 minutes, then it’s ready to serve.

Hope you enjoy,

Young Frank

Cindy's Several More

Baked Ziti

1 (16 oz) box of ziti pasta
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 T olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb lean ground beef
1 (26 ox) jar tomato and basil pasta sauce
3/4 t salt, divided
3 T butter
3 T all purpose flour
3 cup milk
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 t pepper
1 (8 oz) package of shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Cook pasta in a large Dutch oven or pot according to packagedirections. Drain and return to Dutch oven.
2. Meanwhile, saute chopped onion in hot oil in a large skilletover medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender.
3. Add garlic, and saute 1 minute.
4. Add beef, and cook, stirring until beef crumbles and is no longer pink.
5. Drain beef mixture, and return to pan. Stir in pasta sauce and 1/2 t salt. Set aside. [Margaret's Note: It is my opinion. and my mother's too, by the way, that any ground beef sauce is vastly improved by simmering over a low heat for an hour or two; the value of this practice cannot be overemphasized).
6. Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat; whisk in flouruntil smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute.
7. Gradually whisk in the milk; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture is thickened and bubbles.8. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, the remaining 1/4 t salt, and the pepper.
9. Pour sauce over the pasta in your Dutch oven, stirring until the pasta is evenly coated.10. Transfer the pasta mixture to a lightly greased 13 X 9 in baking dish.
11. Top evenly with beef mixture; sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese.
12. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes or until the mozzarella is melted.
13. Remove the casserole from the oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 8 - 10.

Good Old Tuna/Chicken Noodle Casserole

1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of mushroom soup (you can use eitherregular or the fat free)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup frozen peas
2 cans drained canned tuna or chicken (you can always useleftover chicken or even turkey instead of the canned)
2 cup hot, cooked medium egg noodles
2 T dry bread crumbs
1 T butter, melted

1. Stir soup, milk, peas, tuna/chicken, and noodles in 1 1/2 qtcasserole dish.
2. Bake at 450 degrees F for 20 min or until hot.
3. Stir.4. Mix bread crumbs with the melted butter in a cup and sprinkle over the mixture.
5. Bake for 5 additional minutes or until golden brown.

Serves 4.

Three Cheese Pasta Bake

1 bag (16 oz) ziti (you can also use penne or rigatoni)
2 10 oz containers of refrigerated Alfredo sauce (if you areambitious enough you can always make your own)
1 (8 oz) container sour cream
1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions, drain and returnto pot.
2. Stir together Alfredo sauce and sour cream; toss with pastauntil evenly coated.
3. Spoon half of the mixture into a lightly greased 10 X 9 in bakingdish.
4. Stir together ricotta cheese and next 3 ingredients; spreadevenly over pasta mixture in baking dish.
5. Spoon remaining pasta mixture evenly over ricotta cheese layer;sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese.
6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Serves 8 - 10.

That is it for now. You can use any, all or none of them. You dowhat is best.

Love you and hope to see you soon,
Cindy

Cindy Sends Several

Our esteemed Nashville contingent, Ms. Cindy, has sent several yummywarm casserole recipes, and they will all of course appear here as shortly as I can manage it. Which may not be as shortly as I usually do due to the insaneness of my day job at present. Anybody out there want to pay me to do this full time? I'm as available as an alley cat.

In my posting madness I shall first give Cindy's crab offering, because it sounds so good and because I find the story she provided with it highly amusing, disjointedly. See, she's sent one story for the several casseroles, not specifying which casserole the story belongs to, so I get to take my pick! I pick crab!


Best Darn Crab Casserole Ever

My best friend on the planet, my mom, made this dish during the fall and winter months in Rolla, Missouri when it was just her, Danny and I at home. We didn't have much we had each other. I have so many good memories of those days, all the good times growing up, and this casserole always takes me right into those feelings of comfort and home.

1/2 ( 6 1/2 oz) can of crabmeat, drained (don't skimp on this and don't use fake crabmeat!)
1 cup mayo
1 cup soft bread crumbs, plus 1/2 cup buttered soft bread crumbs
3/4 cup half-and-half
6 hard boiled eggs, diced
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup sliced stuffed green olives, plus extra for garnish
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
3/4 t salt
Pinch of pepper

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F
2. In a large bowl, break the crabmeat into chunks.
3. Add the mayo,1c of the soft bread crumbs, half-and-half, eggs, onion, olives, parsley, salt and pepper; fold together.
4. Divide the mixture among greased individual ramekins or spoon itinto a 1 qt casserole dish. 5. Top with buttered crumbs
6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
7. Garnish with olive slices.

Serves 4-6.

Hungry Man's Linguini

Ok, so here it is, our first non-family submission! Let us consider this a great advance toward fame and fortune, for it is direct evidence that someone other than ourselves is reading and -- yea, participating in our endeavor. Ok, so ya, it's someone I know and all that but, I mean, so, like, still...um, right? It's good!?! And he promises from now on to send in posts that are actually in the theme on the month. Why deny our first non-family applicant, then? When we are heartfully soliciting wildly profuse readership? We shan't. Besides, this particular imperial We is pleased that this submission comes in the form of a story -- for while the rest of Us are pretty good and getting a few recipes sent in to Us, We are still struggling with the story part, now aren't We, Dears? And so:

Hungry Man's Linguine

I would like to share with you and your readers my adventures in the kitchen with a modified version of one of the recipes you shared with me. I know that this month’s theme is casseroles, but I figured that they wouldn’t mind a little deviation in the spirit of good food. Now I must preface this by admitting that I am no expert in the art of cuisine, in fact I am quite the amateur. I also used ingredients found in my humble bachelor refrigerator. The ingredients I used could easily be substituted or improved upon by others as they felt necessary. Now that I have exhausted the excuses and disclaimers I will tell you what I’ve created.

I call it the “hungry man’s” linguine. The portions can be varied depending upon the number of servings. I used a box of linguine noodles that can be purchased at any market and added to a large pot of water and set them it to boil; adding enough salt to the water for flavor and just a bit of olive oil to prevent sticking. While that is boiling I put two pounds of ground chicken in a pan to brown. Chicken was used because of its low oil content, and so as not to overpower the rest of the ingredients. I chopped a whole onion into very small pieces, and sautéed them. While the meat is cooking, I added salt, pepper, oregano, and garlic. Your readers could use additional spices to season as their taste’s desire, but shouldn’t over power the meat. Once the noodles have boiled, they where drained, and then put back in the pot at low heat. To them I added a pint of heavy cream, a can of cream chicken, and approximately one cup of powdered Parmesan cheese. These are mixed together until all the noodles are coated.

Once the noodles are coated, slowly add the fully cooked meat. Stir constantly until everything is coated with the cheese and sauce mixture. I let this continue to simmer for about five more minutes until the sauce was not liquid anymore. After that it is served, or in my case it was put into containers and saved for lunches and dinners for several days. This made between four to five healthy servings. I also added some string beans as a side but any green vegetable would be just as good.

The total cooking time was about 30 minutes, probably due to my inexperience. The time is probably only limited by the noodles and the cooking of the meat, everything else should be fairly quick. I really enjoyed it, and I hope that you would share this on your blog. Next time I’ll try and stay within the boundaries of the current month’s discussion. I really enjoy what I’ve read so far, and will continue to try out your recipes.

Thanks for getting me started,

Young Frank

Our Mothers' Meat Pie

+NOTE: I talked to my mother over the weekend, and she tells me that she and one of her sisters had already decided (prior to this post) to have this dish for Papaw's 98th birthday meal. I just think that's really sweet and fitting. Happy 98th birthday, Papaw! Only two more till you're 100! Hand on, I know you can do it.

This is my very favorite in all the world comfort food one dish casserole meal. This dish of my mom’s has a biscuit crust baked on top of a browned ground beef and vegetable mixture, with a little salt and pepper. That’s it. The secret is to cook the beef on the stove top for an hour or so, keeping it covered with water, to tenderize it. Over lo these many years I have tried various enhancements to the recipe, but as soon as any other ingredient is added it’s not the same dish. So I leave it alone. No tomatoes, no cheese, no mushrooms. I like a little hot pepper sauce on it after it’s on my plate. And I tell you, I love this dish so much that I can only make it when there are plenty of hands and mouths to help me eat it. Otherwise I will overeat, stuff myself, eat half the casserole in one sitting, the other half for breakfast in the morning. It tastes to me of all my wishes and dreams of a mother’s love, of the memories of my mommy holding me “like a baby,” back before I was “too big” to be help that way anymore, that feeling of being encompassed and nurtured and loved for no good reason whatsoever. Even against all odds. Maybe that’s how I’ll know when I have finally come to a fulfilled heart: I will be able to eat just one serving of My Mother’s Meat Pie, then stop. I've called this "Our" Mothers' Meat Pie, because my mother and my aunts' and uncle's mother both made it. And if you are my cousin you can tell me if your mother and father made it. I would really like to know.

Our Mother’s Meat Pie

One pound of good ground beef *
One bag of frozen mixed vegetables, rinsed in a colander and drained a bit
Water
Salt and pepper
Bisquick or your favorite short biscuit recipe

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1. In a large Dutch oven or other heavy, deep skillet, brown the ground beef over medium heat. Make sure it stays soft – don’t let it get crispy. If the beef is too lean to get a good sizzle going add some olive oil or butter.

2. Add water to twice the depth of the meat and simmer on medium for an hour, checking frequently to make sure it doesn’t dry out. Keep a kettle of water steaming on the stove to add as you need it.

3. In the last few minutes before the beef’s cooking time is up allow the water to reduce, but leave enough to make sure that there is a nice gravy in the bottom of the dish after is comes out of the oven.

4. Add the vegetables. Cook for a few minutes, letting the vegetable thaw and warm.

5. Turn the heat to low.

6. Prepare your biscuit batter.

7. Turn off the heat under your pan.

8. Spoon the biscuit batter over the meat mixture, and spread it out a bit. Don’t worry about getting it too even, part of the charm of the dish is its peasant look.

9. Put in center of the preheated oven until the biscuits are browned. This will take longer than if you were cooking the biscuits by themselves, maybe twice as long. Just keep an eye on them.

10. Remove from the oven, let cool for 10 minutes, then serve. Mashed potatoes and a crisp lettuce salad make perfect accompaniments. A beer, or a light red wine won’t hurt, either.

*I like to use a combination of very lean and medium lean cuts; if it’s too lean the dish will be too dry** The basic ones: peas, carrots, potatoes, green beans, maybe lima beans in there, but stay away from broccoli or any of the more exotic mixes.

Mamaw, says my Mom, served these with the mashed potatoes, as did she. This is a great combination, and you’ll love the meat and gravy mixed in with your potatoes, as you’ll love the sticky bottoms of the biscuits and how they combine with the gravy to make this really sublime combination of flavors -- even though all this is going a bit heavy on the starches, obviously, given the already wondrous presence of the biscuit topping, but it’s worth it, just as having foi gras and caviar on top of your steak is worth it, so just keep a stiff upper lip and dig in. Eat fruit and fish for a few says after if you want to counteract the effects.


Further notes on the etymology of “casserole.”

Is My Mother’s Meat Pie a true casserole? I found myself wondering. Which lead me to wonder: what is a casserole? Really?

So off I went to the web – finding what Wikipedia says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casserole):

Casserole
In cooking a casserole, from the French for "sauce pan,"[1] is a large, deep pot or dish used both in the oven and as a serving dish.

The word casserole is also used for the food cooked and served in such a dish. These foods usually consist of meat and/or vegetables and sometimes bulked with pasta, potato, rice or other grains cooked slowly in sauce or other liquid, and may be served as a main course or a side dish.

What I like about this is the Frenchness of the whole thing. And of course, mon amis, casserole is a French word. What is French for “duh?”

Casseroles originate from the ancient practice of stewing meat slowly in earthenware containers. Types of casserole include ragout, hotpot, cassoulet and carbonnade. A distinction may be made between casseroles and stews: stewing is a cooking process whereby heat is applied to the bottom of the cooking vessel (typically over a fire or on a hob), whereas casseroling in done in an oven where heat circulates all round the cooking vessel.

One could argue in either direction the continental flavor or none of this really simple, really Anglo-Americanized dish. In reality, I suppose, if it’s not Native American or Asian or African or Aboriginal or a hybrid this by default is European, right? I mean, where did we get our recipes, from Space Aliens?

Bon Appettite.

December Contents: Cookies, Hot Toddies, Syllabub!

1. Cookies, Hot Toddies, Syllabub! -- Margaret
2. The History of the Syllabub, and a Tudor Recipe -- Margaret
3. Hot Toddie from Lisa: Minted Mocha Hot Chocolate for Grown-Ups -- Cousin Lisa
4. Sugar Cookies That Work, With Four Variations -- Aunt Janey, Aunt Nancy, Margaret
5. London Fog -- The Wilbois' Traditional Christmas Eve Party Drink -- Kristy
6. Evelyn's Honey Bars & An Excellent Hot Chocolate Mix -- Aunt Janey
7. "The Recipe" from Our Mamaw, and Jam Thumbprints -- Margaret and Nancy
8. Updated Magic Bars with Ginger and Dark Chocolate -- Margaret
9. Cheryl's Hot Mulled Wine -- Cheryl

Cheryl's Sugar Cookie Icing (Plus)

Nothing says the holidays more than taking three evenings to make one type of cookie, but I like to spread the work out so I'm not standing all night. This iced sugar cookie and recipe is everyone's favorite. I make other kinds, but this is the one I'm demanded to make by family and friends, especially by Kyle who won't let me make anything else for his class and parties. I have lots of cookie cutter shapes for the each of the holidays, because a I think variety on the plate looks festive. And although there's an extra step in this cookie method (freezing the dough over night), it all goes fast once you get the hang of it.

Here's how I do it:

Day 1. I make I make Mamaw's sugar cookie dough and freeze it overnight (freezing makes it less sticky and much easier to roll it out really thin, tomorrow).

Day 2. The next night, I roll the cookies very, very thinly and wafery and bake them so they're still dough-colored, barely browned (so watch them carefully).

Day 3. I ice the cookies.

Cheryl's Sugar Cookie Icing
3 cups confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons butter (melted and hot)
1 1/2 tsps flavoring extract (vanilla, lemon, orange, etc.)
Food coloring as directed below
Approximately 6-7 tsps of milk

1. In large bowl, sift confectioner's sugar.
2. Mix in very hot melted butter.
3. Stir in the extract.
4. Add food coloring.*
5. Add the milk 1-2 tsps at a time while stirring with a spoon, and mix until it's thick enough to coat a cookie, excess can drip off, but not run off like water!

NOTE: Extract and food coloring will thin the icing, so for every few drops, you need one less tsp. of milk to thin it. Too thin and the icing will turn speckle-y when it cools.

6. Place cookies one at a time upside down in bowl on top of icing. Remove and let excess drip off.
7. Place icing side up on cookie sheet and refrigerate overnight. Once hardened, transfer to air-tight tin.

*If making multiple colors of icing, separate the icing into equal amounts into wide bowls. Add the different food colorings to each bowl and blend until you have the color you want.

The icing isn't only for Christmas. Depending on the holiday, I use different food coloring and flavoring:
Easter = Lemon extract and an assortment of light pastels (just 2-3 drops of yellow/green/blue/red)
Thanksgiving & Halloween = Orange extract and orange food black, browns and purples.
Valentine's day = red and vanilla; I've even made purple hearts for Memorial Day.
Christmas = Vanilla with 3 colors: red, green and white.

To make the colors darker and richer, I mix them like this:
Green = 2 drops of red for every 6 drops of green to make a rich forest green
Red = 2 drops of green for every 6 drops of red makes cranberry
White = The vanilla extract colors it a rich ivory color

Cheryl's Hot Mulled Wine

Here is a drink that makes me feel warm and cozy inside, and always reminds me of Christmas. A friend of mine introduced me to this, oh, about 10 years ago at a Christmas party. She's from England and apparently this is a yuletide staple there. Later this friend gave me a spice mix to add to the warmed wine, but after some experimentation I came up with this version, my very own Mulled Spiced Wine. Funny thing is, after all those years, she and I went through our separations and divorces at the same time. Now we have become great friends. As have our exes.

In a pot on the stove, or in a crock pot, pour a magnum of merlot or cabernet, and warm on med/low.

Add:
1/4 tsp. nutmeg*
1 tsp cinnamon*
1/4 tsp cloves* (or more or less to your taste)Orange or clementine rinds (optional)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Warm (remember, don't boil it or you'll lose the kick when the alcohol evaporates out) and serve with a ladle. Mmmm....

*Spices may be loose or put it in a tea strainer [or cheese clothe]. If you put them in loose be sure to strain the liquid before serving.

21st Century Magic Bars, with Ginger and Dark Chocolate

The gingeriness of these irresistible bars makes them taste really Christmasy to me!

I love Magic Bars but I always feel like I’ve overdone it after eating them. I don’t remember, even, anyone in the family ever making them. Maybe that’s why. Maybe they are a little over the top for the Methodist sensibility (though anyone who knows me knows that I don't suffer much from that malady, myself). But with the recipe below I think I’ve managed to bring the traditional Magic Bars into the 21st century, and it came about through my effort to do something with those failed butter/sugar cookies (from the random recipe) that turned out like rocks. I mean really, how can one just through away the 2 ½ sticks of butter it took to make them? In a nutshell (so to speak), I crumbed the cookies in the blender and used them to replace the graham crackers in the traditional recipe. This version is not nearly so cloyingly sweet as the original, and the bite of the ginger takes it yet further to the side of decadence without toothache.

Magic Bars with Candied Ginger and Dark Chocolate

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cookie crumbs (you can use graham crackers here, or crumb some butter/sugar cookies)
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 1/3 cups sweetened flaked coconut, halved
1/3 cup candied ginger bits
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)
1 cup chopped pecans

For Ganache
1 pound dark chocolate, broken up into chunks (the better the chocolate, the better the dish)
¾ cup heavy cream

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. With a whisk, combine the ground ginger with the crumbs.
2. Add the candied ginger.
3. Add half of the coconut.
4. Pour the melted butter over the crumb mixture, and toss.
5. Press firmly into a square brownie pan.
6. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the pressed crumbs.
7. Top with the remaining coconut and press down with fork to compact.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned.

Ganache:
9. While the baked part is cooling slightly, put the chocolate chunks in a heat-proof bowl.
10. Boil the cream.
11. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and let it sit, undisturbed, for five minutes.
12. Whisk the warm mixture until it is homogeneous.
13. Pour it over the baked crumb part.
14. Chill in the refrigerator for an hour, then remove and cut into squares.

Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum!

"The Recipe" from Our Mamaw, and Jam Thumbprints

I'll get to the cookies on the right in a sec. First, "The Recipe." This is the coolest story, and we totally have to have this as a "syllabub" option this holiday. Here's how my mom tells it: Aunt Janey was cleaning out the downstairs freezer at the Smith Estate (smile), and in it she ran across a peanut butter jar labled, in masking tape, with the simple moniker: "The Recipe." Apparenlty all three sisters were in attendence at the house, and with a little reflection it hit them what this was.

Mamaw, "Mother" to them, had when she was living of course belonged to the Desk & Derrek Club, an organization for women who work in the oil industry. The Club had conventions, as clubs tend to do, and Mamaw's friend Ola Chapman every year brought "The Recipe" as her contribution to the refreshment table. Mamaw brought frozen strawberry daquiries. Sounds like rather a lively convention of ladies, no?

At any rate, of course, Mamaw has been gone a while, and my own mother says that the best they could figure it was at least 10 years before her death that she'd attended a Desk & Derrek convention, as she had natuarally been retired for some time. Nonetheless, the sisters opened the peanut butter jar with its Masonic-secret sounding label and toasted their departed mother with its contents, "The Recipe." It was quite fine. They could not, however, find the recipe for The Recipe.

But not to despair. Ola Chapman is still living, and quite present in my mother's weekly bridge club. Ola filled my mother's request for the recipe, and so we have it here. I think you'll agree, The Recipe sounds fantastic. As a holiday syllubub I can't see that it can miss. I beleive that we should honor Mamaw, her long working life, and the little-seen fun loving side of her that would, according, again, to my mother, most years bring home a jar such as this filled with this drink and in the evening walk a few steps through the kitchen while prepairing dinner for "just a spoonful" of The Recipe. Cheers, Mamaw.

The Recipe

1 12 oz. can frozen lemonaide
1 12 oz. can frozen limeaide
2 10 oz. bottles of Squirt
1 quart ginger ale
1 quart whiskey

Mix in an air tight container, then transfer to the freezer. Don't thaw -- just serve it directly from the freezer.

____________________

On another subject, just a quick note about these delicious little jam thumbprint cookies. I've adapted Ina Garten's recipe for the ones pictured. Essentially, it's the same. But I added an egg (this might not be necessary, but I was having trouble that day getting the dough to come together), made them smaller than hers, and used lingonberry jam. I love the little sheen and very, very slight crispness the egg wash gives them. Making them small like this means that each one is a single bite, and so each bite has jam in it! The lingonberries of course are a nod to Scandinavia, which is forever in my mind as the most beautiful place to spend Christmas in the entire world (besides, other than grape it was the only jam or jelly I had on hand!).


Jam Thumbprints
adapted from Ina Garten

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I use the preserved vanilla bean paste)
3 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
Lingonberry jam

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until just combined, and then add the vanilla.
3. Separately, sift together the flour and salt.
4. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar.
5. Add the egg. Mix until the dough starts to come together.
6. Dump on a floured board and roll together into a flat disk.
7. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
8. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls (I used a teaspoon to measure them out).
9. Dip each ball into the egg wash and then roll it in coconut.
10. Place the balls on an parchment lined cookie sheet and press a light indentation into the top of each with your finger.
11. Drop just enough jam into each indentation to fill it.
12. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the coconut is a golden brown.
13. Cool and serve.