Friends' Folly Favorites
We want to share some of our favorite recipes from friends, family, & our own take on those from cookbooks. Most use ingredients from our garden, freezer (local pork, beef, chicken), root cellar, local farms & friends,
or we just have to have because we have eaten them "forever".
You can find some basic Gluten Free Recipes Here
Easy Quiche
Breakfast, lunch, or dinner
Make it your own…
9 inch pie crust – homemade or thawed
4 eggs 3 Tbs. flour
1 cup milk ½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. dry mustard optional ½ tsp. dill
1 ½ cups cheese
Put crust in pie pan – cover bottom with cheese – any combination – grated cheddar, mozzarella,
up to ½ c parmesan or ¾ c feta, cubed fresh cheese, etc.
Top with ½ cup sautéed onions and/or mushrooms if desired.
Add vegetables if desired – broccoli florets, diced tomatoes, asparagus tips, chopped spinach, etc.
Add meat if desired – crumbled bacon, diced ham, cooked bulk sausage or pennies, pepperoni, etc.
Whisk custard of eggs, flour, milk, salt, mustard, and dill and pour over pan.
Bake 375º for 45 minutes or until center is set.
Quick Creamy Pasta
Cook pasta of your choice – linguine, fettucine,
elbows, farfalle, rotini, rigatoni, tortellini…
according to package instructions.
Drain quickly leaving some pasta water in pan.
Transfer to server and mix in fromage blanc – plain or flavored.
If using plain add in herbs of your choice (fresh or dried) and/or steamed vegetables.
If the sauce is too thick add in pasta water –
1 tablespoon at a time. Serve.
This year's bumper crop is beets so here is Marcia's Pickled beet recipe:
pickle beets.jpg From America’s Best Vegetable Recipes: 666 Ways to Make Vegetables Irresistible. Selected and tested by the Food Editors of Farm Journal. 1970. Doubleday & Company
Here are Marcia’s minor modifications:
Slice the beets 1/8-1/4 inch, increase cloves to 1 tablespoon, several small cinnamon sticks, 1 glug of lemon juice, 1 small to medium halved and sliced onion.
Got lots of cukes? Here is a quick and easy recipe to enjoy them (in any amount) without slaving over a hot stove to can them.
Homemade Refrigerator Pickles
· 1 cup distilled white vinegar
· 1 tablespoon salt
· 2 cups white sugar
· 6 cups sliced cucumbers
· 1 cup sliced onions
· 1 cup sliced green bell peppers
Directions
1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring vinegar, salt and sugar to a boil. Boil until the sugar has dissolved, about 10 minutes.
2. Place the cucumbers, onions and green bell peppers in a large bowl. Pour the vinegar mixture over the vegetables. Transfer to sterile containers and store in the refrigerator. Ready to eat in a couple of days.
Variations:
Add 1 tsp of celery seed & 1 tablespoon of mustard seed, can also add 1 tsp of turmeric
I use twice as much white vinegar – you can also use cider vinegar - (2 cups total) and put it all in a single upright container. If you also add turmeric and use cider vinegar they will be more like bread & butter pickles.
To make a fresh batch – just empty out what is left of cucumbers and add more cukes, onions, and peppers to your brine in the fridge!
We had the pleasure of the company of an old fiber friend for dinner last night. The rhubarb is up so for dessert we made one of our old springtime favorites. It is quick, easy, different and on a hot spring day it does not heat up the kitchen.
Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars
Good as a snack or a dessert.
Crust
1 c. flour ¾ c. oatmeal
½ c. brown sugar ¼ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp salt ½ c. butter or margarine
Mix dry ingredients & cut in flour until a coarse crumb. Pat one half on the bottom of an 9x9 or similar square inch microwave safe dish.
Filling
1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese
¾ c. white sugar 1 large egg
¼ tsp. cinnamon ¼ tsp. nutmeg
1 lb. Fresh rhubarb cut into ¼ inch pieces.
In mixer cream together first 5 ingredients, stir in rhubarb. Pour over crust, smooth. Top with remaining crust mixture & lightly press.
Microwave on high about 4 minutes, let set 5 to 10 minutes, microwave again 4 minutes, let set. Microwave another 4 minutes. Filling should be bubbly & crumb top look dry & almost crisp. Cool for about 1 hour then refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.
What a delightful sunny, spring day! We had a spinning gathering at the farm this afternoon for folks to spin and meet our new kids. The only thing that would have made it better were if we had a birth by one of those huge does in the barn!
As you probably know, most spinning gatherings include FOOD. It is part of the spinners' high "fiber" diets.
Today Kathy brought soup made from a recipe we shared with her recently. This is great for late winter and early spring soup because you can raid your root cellar for some of the ingredients (we still have onions & squash).
Butternut Squash & Apple Soup
2 Tablespoons good olive oil 2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 cups (3 large) yellow onions 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
5 pounds (2 large) butternut squash 3/4 - 1 teaspoon mild curry powder
3 apples such as McIntosh or Granny Smith 1 - 2 cups apple cider or juice, water, or stock
2 cups water or stock
Warm the butter, olive oil, onions, in a large stockpot uncovered over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes,
until the onions are tender. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot.
Peel the squash, remove the seeds, and cut into chunks. Peel, quarter, and core the apples and cut into chunks.
Add the squash, apples, salt, pepper, curry, and 2 cups of water or stock to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover,
and cook over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until squash and apples are very soft. Use a stick blender to puree
the soup. Add the apple cider, juice, water or stock to the consistency you like. It should be slightly sweet
and quite thick. Check the slt and pepper and serve hot, even better with a dollop of sour cream on top.
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa Parties!
The first one is what I'm cooking tonight - Confetti Scallop
It's a crazy name - an old lover made this for me over 30 years ago - I've been making it for wet, cold nights ever since. It's cabbage, pasta, tomatoes (home grown), & hamburger (local). The secret is some curry and the sweetness is the raisins. Comfort casserole good for at least two meals for most families and leftovers freeze well.
Confetti Scallop
1 lb. tri-color rotini pasta 1 lg can tomatoes (16 ounces)
1 lb. hamburger 1 lg can tomato sauce (16 ounces)
1 lg. onion, chopped 4 c. chopped cabbage
1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. curry
½ tsp. marjoram 1½ c. grated cheddar or combination of cheeses
½ - 3/4 c. raisins.
Cook pasta al dente & drain. Brown hamburg, drain any fat/liquid, add onion, salt, curry, & marjoram.
Combine pasta, tomatoes (drained), sauce, cabbage, meat mixture, & raisins in large bowl. Mix in meat mixture and cheese. Put into large casserole dish, cover and bake for 1 hour at 350°. Remove cover & bake 10 minutes longer.