Recently four of our young sisters were invited to a neighbor’s house in our community for a special dinner. The next day when I asked, “So how was the dinner?”
the response was, “Phenomenal!” That didn’t surprise me knowing that the menu had featured a choice tenderloin of beef, which they all liked and
we rarely have at the Convent. What did surprise and amuse me was that each of them individually wanted to tell me about one special dish
that had put the meal “over the top” and sent it “out of the park.”
This was a savory bread pudding that included leeks, fresh mushrooms, Gruyere cheese, pancetta, and sherry. Well then, why wouldn’t that
impress anyone as a phenomenal dish? And because our brave leeks are still holding their own out in the garden, why shouldn’t we give
it a try here at home? Well, we did, and sure enough it scored a home run with the whole sisterhood. Why not try it yourself and see
what kind of a rating it gets at your house?
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Phenomenal Savory Bread Pudding
SERVINGS8-10people
|
COOK TIME2hours |
PREP TIME |
READY IN2.25hours |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spread the bread cubes on a sheet pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in a large (12-inch) sauté pan over medium heat.
- Add the pancetta and cook for 5 minutes, until starting to brown. Stir in the leeks and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the leeks are tender.
- Stir in the mushrooms, sherry, 1 tablespoon onion salt and 11/2 teaspoons pepper and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until most of the liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally. Off the heat, stir in the parsley.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, chicken stock and 1 cup of the Gruyere.
- Add the bread cubes and mushroom mixture, stirring well to combine. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes to allow the bread to absorb the liquid.
- Stir well and pour into a 2 1/2-to-3-quart gratin dish (13 x 9 x 2 inches). Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup Gruyere and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top is browned and the custard is set. Serve hot.
Winter has finally hit Cape Cod. With our first snow flurry and single digit temperatures, I felt it was time to create new twists on some old recipes, to warm and delight the cockles of our guests’ hearts: a summer favorite bundled up and served on a puddle of roasted red pepper sauce, giving it just that bit of flair. From the comments I heard, I believe we struck it right with this recipe.
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Hot Chicken Salad Bundles with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
SERVINGS4
|
COOK TIME15minutes |
PREP TIME30minutes |
READY IN1hour |
Ingredients
Instructions
Prepare the Chicken Salad
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Mix all of the chicken salad ingredients together in a bowl and set aside
- Roll out two puff pastry sheets to 11 x 11” and cut into 2- 5 x5 “ squares (removing one inch of the border – the pastry needs to be this measurement to be thin enough)
- In the center of the square put about a ½ cup of chicken salad and draw the sides up to create a bundle, twisting and pinching the top to secure.
- Place the bundles on a parchment lined pan and brush with egg wash
- Cook for about 15 min. or until golden and cooked through
Meanwhile prepare the pepper sauce
- Heat the oil in a saute pan.
- Add the shallot and cook until soft.
- De-glaze the pan with white wine and cook 1 minute longer
- Add the stock and the drained roasted red peppers. Cook 5 min.
- Cool slightly, and puree in the blender
- Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper and transfer to a small saucepan to reheat a few minutes before serving.
Making croissants from scratch can be a time consuming project, but with this easy recipe, you will be able to make the flaky pastries in a matter of minutes. Chocolate can be substituted for almond paste in the filling if you prefer. Just substitute a mini Hershey’s dark chocolate bar in place of the almond filling. This is a great project to make with your children over the holidays or for any special occasion.
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Easy Almond Croissants
SERVINGS12
|
COOK TIME20-25minutes |
PREP TIME10minutes |
READY IN35minutes |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Thaw the pastry sheets at room temperature (keeping them covered) for 40 minutes or until they're easy to handle.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F
- Unfold the pastry sheets on a lightly floured surface and roll out slightly to a 15 x 10” rectangle.
- Cut each pastry sheet into 6 long triangles – see picture.
- Make a 1/2 “ notch in the center of each wide end of the triangle. Spread 1 tablespoon almond mixture in the center of the wide end of each pastry triangle to within 1/4-inch of the edge. Starting at the wide end, roll up the pastry triangles toward the point. Place the pastries, point-side down, on a baking sheet. Curve the ends of the pastries inward to form a crescent shape and pinch the ends slightly to seal. Brush with the egg.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown.
** Note: one can of this filling will fill about 22-24 croissants
If there is any dish that speaks to me of autumn, it is a tasty baked stuffed squash. Filled with a flavorful mixture of sausage, onions, celery, apples, bread crumbs and seasonings, this dish can be a hearty accompaniment to a full course main meal or served on its own, with a roll and salad as a most satisfying lunch. In either case, it always pleases the eater to have their own individual squash.
Remember Thanksgiving will be here before you know it, and any self-respecting roast turkey would be proud to show himself off beside a platter full of these cunning little specialties on your Thanksgiving buffet table.
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Rating: 4.67
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Baked Stuffed Acorn Squash
SERVINGS2
|
COOK TIME45-70mins |
PREP TIME25mins |
READY IN70-95mins |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Prepare the squash for roasting: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack in the lower- middle position. Slice the squash in half from stem to root and scoop out the seeds.
- Transfer the squash to a baking dish: Place the squash halves cut-side-down in a baking dish and pour in enough hot water to fill the pan by about 1/4 inch. Cover the dish loosely with foil and place the dish in the oven.
- Roast the squash: Roast the squash until very soft and tender when poked with a fork or paring knife, 30 to 50 minutes. Exact roasting time will depend on the size and variety of your squash.
- Prepare the filling: While the squash is roasting, prepare the filling. Depending on the size of your squash, 2 to 3 cups of combined ingredients is usually sufficient. Sauté raw vegetables and apples.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Taste and adjust the spices, salt, and pepper to your liking.
- Stuff the squash halves: Flip the cooked squash halves so they form bowls. Rub the inside with a little butter and sprinkle with onion salt and pepper and brown sugar. Divide the filling between the halves — it's fine to really stuff the wells and also to mound the filling on top.
- Bake the stuffed squash halves until bubbly: Re-cover the pan with the foil and bake the halves for another 15 to 20 minutes until both are hot and bubbly. Remove foil. Top with buttered bread crumbs and bake uncovered at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until golden.
General Filling amounts - 2-3 cups total
One of my strongest childhood memories was watching my grandmothers in the kitchen preparing meals for our large family gatherings on Sunday afternoons. Both my grandmother and my great-grandmother were influential figures in my life and instilled a quiet passion in me for bringing your heart and soul to the table. They would create memorable and delicious dishes that would cause us to want to sit at the dinner table for hours, not just minutes, and share together. They were wonderful and patient teachers and, like a sponge, I would absorb their body language, their knife skills, and their innate sense of creating something out of nothing as I worked alongside them. They were frugal, but they would never let us know it, as we sat down to a meal fit for kings.
When my great grandmother died, I inherited a few of her cookbooks. They have her notes in them from World War I, when she was a cook for the soldiers. They hold a place of honor on my bookshelf. It helps me to remember what an important role food has to play both in life and in death. I thumb through the fragile pages from time to time, half expecting to hear grandma’s voice whisper a secret direction to me.
This is among one of my grandmother’s signature recipes–a relish made with green tomatoes. We put our gardens to bed this past weekend and pulled up our tomatoes–now it’s time to take a stroll down memory lane.
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My Grandmother's Green Tomato Mustard Relish
SERVINGS6-7pints
|
COOK TIME30minutes |
PREP TIME1.5hours |
READY IN2hours |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Grind and drain for 1 hr. the first 4 ingredients (green tomatoes, green and red peppers and onions).
- Mix the remaining ingredients together and add the vegetables.
- Cook until it boils and thickens, stirring constantly.
- Pack in sterilized hot jars.
- Store in a cool, dry place.
It’s not too early to start preparing for Christmas! By day, I am a sales rep. to our bookstores for our publishing house, Paraclete Press. For a couple months now, we have had our focus on offering our Advent and Christmas products to start stocking for the holidays. It always feels a bit odd, as the leaves are just beginning to turn, to talk about a season that feels so far off – but then again, it is almost October!
This is the perfect time to start thinking about making homemade gifts for your loved ones. The gardens are still yielding, and the season just begs us to do some canning. Since the Farmer’s Almanac predicts a long winter ahead, you might want to consider taking some time to get a jump start. Homemade gifts are a thoughtful touch, especially when you have put your own heart and time into preparing them. Cut down on the frenzy of shopping, and maybe you’d have a little more time to spend with Jesus!
This recipe was inspired by jalapeno peppers given to me from my parent’s garden. Gift wrapped with a box of Ritz Crackers and Philadelphia Cream Cheese, this is the ultimate homemade Christmas gift!
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Rating: 4.14
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Cape Cod Cranberry Jalapeno Pepper Jelly
SERVINGS98 oz jars
|
COOK TIME5minutes |
PREP TIME15minutes |
READY IN1hour |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Bring boiling-water canner, half-full with water, to a simmer.
- Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling the jars with jam. Keep jars warm and dry in a low oven.
- Make the Jam: add prepared fruit, peppers, salt and vinegar to a 6 or 8 quart pot
- Begin heating on medium high and stir in the sugar
- Once the mixture comes to a full rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred), add the pectin.
- Return to a full rolling boil and continue boiling for exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
- Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within an 1/8th of an inch of the top. Wipe rim with a clean, damp cloth, put lid on followed by the band, and screw tightly.
- Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into the canner. (Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 10 min. Remove jars and with a mitt, make sure band is tight, and invert the jar. After 10 min, place the jar upright on towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middles of lids with finger. (If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)
