I was shopping in an antique store the other day, when I spied this book, A Return to Sunday Dinner, by Russell Cronkhite. I thought, how ironic since I write a blog called Southern Sunday Dinner. I had to get a closer look at what Chef Cronkhite made for his Sunday Dinner.

I took the book to bed to peruse the recipes a few nights after purchasing. One recipe in a chapter called,  Along the King’s Highway,  really caught my attention. But, before I tell you about that, I must tell you that this chapter is about the Spanish and Mediterranean heritage foods in El Camino Real, California. According to the book, the King’s Highway, also known as the mission road, “winds its way from San Diego to Sonoma, with 600 miles of road, marked by mission bells in concrete and cast iron”. I’ve actually traveled this road, and I must say that I remember how pretty the scenery was back in the late nineteen eighties.

Now, to the food again. The recipe, Game Hens and Rice with Olives and Almonds, really caught my attention. Game hens are marinated in oil, garlic and herbs for 24 hours, and then cooked over rice that has been seasoned with onions, garlic, olives, and almonds. It was true to the sound, too. I cooked it and it was delicious. It was so good that I can’t wait to make it for a crowd. It reminded me, slightly, of a rustic dish influenced more by the Basque region of France.

I made the recipe for one, but I am going to repeat Chef Cronkhite’s recipe here for six, and hope that he won’t mind, because I would also say to you that you should buy this book if you like to eat good food. I added steamed haricots verts tossed with butter and nutmeg, and sweet tomatoes, cut in half and drizzled with Italian dressing. Here you go. Good eating here. I had a glass of Riesling, and it was a good complement to the food.

Game Hens and Rice with Olives and Almonds

Marinade:

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon, fresh chopped oregano

1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 tablespoon cracked white peppercorns

6 whole game hens, 18 to 20 ounces each

3 small lemons, halved

3 small onions, halved

6 sprigs fresh oregano

Make the marinade: Combine the olive oil with the garlic, oregano, sage, crushed red pepper and white peppercorns in a small mixing bowl.

Marinate the game hens: Trim and discard the wing tips from each hen. Evenly spread the marinade all over the outside and inside of each hen. Insert half a lemon, half an onion and a sprig of oregano inside each game hen, then tie their legs together with kitchen twine. Place the hens in a ceramic dish, cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Game Hens and Rice

Coarse salt for seasoning

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 cups long grain or basmati rice (I used jasmine)

1/2 cup slivered almonds

6 whole cloves garlic

3 small onions, quartered

3 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup pitted black olives

1/2 cup pitted green olives

1 bay leaf

First- remove the hens from the refrigerator about 20 minutes before they’re to be browned and season with coarse salt. Preheat the oven to 325 F.

Second- heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large ovenproof skillet or Dutch oven. Working in 2 batches, brown the game hens evenly until they are golden, 4 to 5 minutes on each side, for a total of 16 to 20 minutes. Return the cooked hens to the ceramic dish.

Third– add the rice, almonds, garlic and onions to the skillet or Dutch oven. Saute the mixture, stirring often, until the rice and almonds are beginning to brown and the garlic has begun to caramelize, 4 to 5 minutes. Pour in the chicken broth and stir; then add in the black olives, green olives and the bay leaf.

Fourth- place the game hens on top of the rice and cover with a tight fitting lid. Transfer to the preheated oven and bake until the juices run clear, the rice is tender, and a meat thermometer register 160 degrees when inserted between the leg and the thigh, 40 to 45 minutes.

Fifth– when the game hens are fully cooked, remove the kitchen twine. Mound the rice on a platter and arrange the hens around it.

Caveat- my plate does not look as good as the picture in the book. I cooked one game hen that I had purchased at Whole Foods. When it came out frozen, it looked like a small chicken that had been flattened out. So, take a look at the hen when it comes out at the butcher counter, or better yet, buy the hens frozen and more uniform in size.

 

 

 

 

Sunday Dinner this week is fried flounder with lemon-butter shrimp sauce, I used to make this long ago and I had forgotten how good is until I made it again. To accompany the flounder, I had English peas that I had shelled myself last spring and put in the freezer. Delicious when I cooked them, even after so many months. A baked potato with sour cream and butter is always a good accompaniment, and a combination salad is as Southern as it gets. And, you know that it’s not Sunday Dinner without dessert! There is a big beautiful cake in the photo below, and it’s just for you.

What can I say other than this little ditty of a dish is absolutely wonderful if you like flounder and shrimp. It’s also a great Sunday Dinner for two. You just need as much shrimp as you’d like and two large pieces of flounder. See the recipes below, for a delicious dinner.

Flounder

2 large flounder filets

1 cup flour

salt and pepper to taste

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup milk

Oil for frying

Prepare the wash by adding the egg and milk together in a dish that accommodates the size of the fish. On a plate, add the flour, salt and pepper. Dip the fillets in the egg, milk mixture and then in the flour. When the oil is ready according to the instructions below, add the flounder.

Place a skillet that is large enough to hold the flounder over medium high heat. Add oil to a depth of about 1/2 inch. When the oil starts to look like heat waves, add the flounder, brown on one side and then the other. Remove to paper towels to drain.

Lemon-butter Shrimp Sauce

1/4 stick butter

10 shrimp, peeled and deveined

3/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

3/4 teaspoon lemon juice

3/4 teaspoon tarragon vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons drained capers

In a small saucepan, over medium heat, add the butter and melt. Add the shrimp, and cook until the shrimp are pink. Add remaining ingredients, stir. When hot, divide into two servings and add to the top of the fried flounder.

 

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

This cake is out of this world delicious. I wish I could take credit for the recipe, but the only thing I can say is that I didn’t add the pecans to the cake, but instead added whole, toasted pecans to the top of the cake. If you will go to the King Arthur Flour site, you will find this delicious cake recipe. I’m telling you, this cake is delicious!

Have a beautiful Spring Sunday and enjoy!

Neiman Marcus Pear Galette with Caramel Sauce, Exquisite!

I know that most of you know that I attended a French culinary school, but I promise you, the  ease of making these pear galettes with caramel sauce has nothing to do with a French cooking school. This recipe is delicious, and easy to make. You can do this. And, after you make this, you will want to turn this easy pastry into ideas of your own. Believe me when I tell you that I am already carried away by the thoughts of what I can do with this basic recipe.

By the way, I’d like to change the name of the caramel sauce to, “Oh my gosh, you won’t believe how good this sauce is!”

Neiman-Marcus food. The first time I ate there was on a business trip to Dallas. I was staying at a beautiful downtown hotel for a week. I wanted to visit Neiman’s while there and arrived at the store late one morning.

Yes, I shopped, but I also looked. Just looked, especially at the beautiful evening gowns. Some of them weighing more than 25 pounds because of the jewels or beads. Most of them over $25,000.00. I found the lifestyle promoted by the store to be so different than our stores in Charleston.  I was fascinated.

While there, one of the women that I spoke with asked me if I’d had lunch in the dining room, and I had not, so curiously I went there. I decided to have lunch and that was the first time I had eaten Neiman’s famous chicken salad. At my cozy table, I was first served a small cup of  consommé.  After the consommé the famous chicken salad was served in a small, orange gelatin ring. It was delicious. Since that time, I’ve been smitten and make the chicken salad often.

This particular recipe for the galettes came from Neiman Marcus Taste, Timeless American Food. The galettes in the book are served with coconut ice cream on top, but I didn’t make it because I didn’t need it to make this an excellent dessert. I also hope the chef won’t mind that I’ve modified the recipe for the galettes based on what I could find at my own market. Most of this change is a matter of what we have available here, versus restaurant food.

Here we go-

For the pear galettes:

2 sheets puff pastry, thawed according to package directions (available in the frozen food section of grocery store)

6 teaspoons almond paste-as listed in original recipe if you can find it, but it was not available when I checked, so I used an almond paste bar (found at World Market in my town) and cut about a tablespoon for each pastry, or enough to roll out very thin, and place on the top of each puff pastry round to within 1/4 inch of the edge

lemon juice

2  firm Bartlett or Anjou pears, peeled, cored, and very thinly sliced (put sliced pears in lemon juice until ready to place on the pastry round)

3 tablespoons white or natural sugar

3 teaspoon unsalted butter (1/2 teaspoon to top easy pastry)

1/3 cup warmed apple jelly

To prepare the galettes, line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Lightly roll out any creases in the puff pastry. Use a knife to cut 6 circles of puff pastry, each about 5 inches across. Place each puff pastry round on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread 1 teaspoon of the almond paste, leaving a 1/4-inch border around each pastry.  *I could not find almond paste, so  I rolled out a very thin piece of almond paste from the bar and placed it on the pastry rounds to within 1/4-inch of the edge of each pastry. Place thin slices of pear on top of the almond paste. Sprinkle each pastry with a half tablespoon natural sugar, or white sugar if natural sugar is not available. Place 1/2 teaspoon butter in middle of each pastry. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly brown. When lightly brown, remove the baking sheet from the oven, and turn the oven to broil. Leave the oven rack where it was when baking. Use a pastry brush and brush melted apple jelly all over the top and side of each pastry. WATCH closely. Put back in the oven until the pastry starts to become deep golden brown, as you see in the photo. Remove to a rack until ready to serve with the caramel sauce. To serve, put caramel sauce on the bottom of each dessert plate. Place the galettes on top of the caramel sauce. Add a scoop of ice cream if you wish.

Caramel Sauce

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 cup heavy cream (warmed)

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

To make the caramel sauce, add the sugars, and corn syrup to a heavy pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Continue to cook until the mixture begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and whisk in the heavy cream, lemon juice and butter and keep stirring until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use, and reheat to use with the pears.

 

Cream of Long Grain & Wild Rice Soup, Dash of Curry!

I love this photo of my dining room table bathed in warm sunlight on a winter day. I want to curl up on the window sill and take a nap. I would if I were a cat. Instead, I think I’ll have something else to keep me warm. A bowl of this wonderful cream soup. It’s elegant enough to serve on a Sunday dinner table, and hearty enough to keep you warm on this cold, cold January day.

The recipe for this soup is one that I adapted from Southern Living Christmas. It makes about 12 cups of soup. I often make this and put the leftovers in canning jars and put them in the freezer. All I have to do to reheat is to take the jar out of the freezer and let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator, but even that is unnecessary, you can just remove the screw off lid, and place the jar on a saucer, put in the microwave and reheat the soup.

To serve with the soup, I have included a beet salad recipe with raspberry vinaigrette. There will be another post featuring the best Galette de poire à la sauce Caramel, or known in English as pear Galette with caramel sauce, coming up right after this. You will find it very easy to make. This recipe is adapted from Neiman-Marcus.

Stay warm. Eat warm. Enjoy.

Cream of Long Grain & Wild Rice Soup

1 (8-ounce) package of (seasoned) Vigo Long Grain White & Wild Rice

1/4 cup butter

1 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup thinly sliced celery

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon dried chervil, or parsley

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

6 cups chicken broth

2 cups half and half* see note below

2/3 cup heavy cream

Cook rice according to package directions. While the rice is cooking, melt the butter in a large Dutch oven. Add the onion, celery, salt, pepper, mustard powder, and parsley. Cook until the vegetables are tender.

Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the flour, to the vegetable mixture, and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Gradually whisk in the chicken broth, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture has thickened. The soup will not thicken until it comes to a boil.

Stir the cooked rice into the chicken broth mixture and add *half and half and heavy cream. Cook until thoroughly heated, and thickened. Remove from the heat. Serve with a dash of curry or sherry. Makes 12 cups.

*I don’t usually have half and half in my fridge, but always have milk and heavy cream. Use can use 1 cup milk and 1 2/3 cup heavy cream. Never add it cold. Warm it slightly in the microwave before adding it to the soup mixture.

                       Citrusy Beet Salad with Baby Greens, Feta, Raspberry Vinaigrette

Add anything else you like to this salad. Oranges, toasted sliced almonds or pecans, grapes, or any other fruit you like and make this your own salad.

4 medium beets

Olive oil

6 cups baby salad greens

1 (8 ounce) container Feta cheese or goat cheese

2-3 tablespoons orange juice

2 tablespoons grated orange zest

Raspberry vinaigrette (recipe below)

Preheat the oven to 350º.

Wash the beets until all dirt is removed.

Cut the beet tops even with the beets, and trim the bottoms. Rub each beet with olive oil.

Place the trimmed beets on foil in an oven proof dish. Cover with foil and bake for 45-60 minutes or until the beets are tender when pierced with a cake tester or fork.

Remove from the oven to cool.

When ready to peel, put on rubber gloves, otherwise your hands will be stained deep red from the beet juice. Often the beet skin will peel right off, but if not, peel the beets by using a knife to cut as close to the meat as possible.

Cut the beets into slices or cut each beet into 4 wedges.

Salt to taste.

Prepare 4 salad plates by placing 1½ cups baby greens on each plate. Place the beet wedges or slices in the center of the greens. Crumble feta or goat cheese cut into cubes and distribute among the four salad plates. Drizzle the beets lightly with orange juice, and then drizzle with Raspberry Vinaigrette. Add a small amount of orange zest over each salad. Serve chilled.

Raspberry Vinaigrette:

I would like to tell you that I created this delicious recipe, but I didn’t. I’ve had it for so many years that I don’t remember where it came from, but it has added delicious flavor to many salads, and to many dinners in my personal chef business.

1/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves, or jam

¼ cup vegetable oil

4 teaspoons rice vinegar

4 teaspoons cider vinegar

1 tablespoon dry white wine

1 teaspoon Country Dijon Mustard

In a small bowl, mix the preserves, vinegars, white wine, and mustard. Slowly drizzle the oil into the vinegar mixture while whisking. Better yet, use a jar to mix the dressing and store in the refrigerator in the same jar. On occasion I don’t have any white wine open to use, so I substitute white wine vinegar.

Watch for this dessert in the next post. You don’t want to miss it!

 

January, and it’s as cold as can be out there. Today, for some reason, I thought about a dish that I have not made in years. Grillades and Creamy Grits!  A dish that is usually served farther South in New Orleans, it is heart-warming and tummy filling. It will sure make you feel warm on a cold winter night in South Carolina.

The original recipe for grillades is steak, but I by-passed the tenderizing process by using cube steak. It has already been tenderized. This was the idea of Joyce Logan. She and her husband Jim, an attorney in Anderson, SC, were faithful attendees of my cooking classes at Judy Booker’s Kitchen Emporium. Joyce died of cancer years ago, and I always think of her when I’m making this dish. She was a lovely and sweet friend.

The recipe is below, and if you don’t have the fresh ingredients called for in the recipe, it is so easy to substitute dried ingredients from your pantry. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did tonight.

Grillades

6 small single servings of cube steaks (about 5 ounces each)

2 teaspoons of salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

1/2 cup oil, divided

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 large sweet onion

1/2 large green pepper

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1/4 cup chopped celery

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 chopped fresh parsley or 1/8 cup dried parsley

1 teaspoon dried thyme or two sprigs fresh thyme sprigs

1 cup beef broth (I always keep Better than Beef Bouillon in my fridge and mix 1 teaspoon with 1 cup water instead of beef broth)

1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion (I used Del Monte)

1 teaspoon sugar

2 bay leaves

Salt and pepper both side of the cube steaks. Heat 5 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven. Fry cube steaks in the hot oil until brown on each side.  Do this in batches if necessary. Take the cube steaks out and set aside.

Add the remaining oil to the Dutch oven. Add the flour, scraping the pan. Cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly so the flour does not burn. Stir in the chopped onions, peppers, celery, garlic, parsley and thyme. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly,  until vegetables are tender.

Stir in the beef broth, tomatoes, sugar and bay leaves. Add the cube steak back into the liquid and bring to a boil. Cover, and reduce heat. Simmer for 1-1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Stir often so that steak does not stick to the pan. Discard the bay leaves before serving. Serve over creamy grits, recipe below.

Creamy Grits

3 1/2 cups water

1/2 salt

1 cup stone ground grits (I used a brand called, Charleston’s Own, natural grits. This is a finer texture than the very large stone ground grits)

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup grated pecorino-romano cheese (use your favorite cheese)

Bring water and salt to a boil and whisk in grits. Bring back to a boil, cover and turn heat down to low.

Cook for 10 minutes. Add heavy cream and continue to cook, stirring often. Check the grits during the last 25 to 30 minutes for salt, and adding it to taste. Taste during this time to make sure the grits are creamy and not gritty. You will know the difference. When ready, add the cheeses. Cover and let sit another 5 minutes before serving. This will make the grits even creamier.

When ready to serve, divide grits among six serving bowls. Top each serving with  steak and gravy. Serve with a  salad of mixed baby greens with Italian Reserve Dressing, and French bread. Stay warm my friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Delicious Peach Cobbler

Happy New Year! It was a short 2016, so the first day of the New Year it seems appropriate to post dessert first. This recipe, which I didn’t give the proper credit to when I first posted it on my Facebook page yesterday, was the inspiration of my sister, Margaret Ann.

Margaret Ann is a wonderful cook. Period. She owns a small farm in Tennessee and takes her cooking seriously. No matter what she cooks it will be better than what I cook. Her perloo’s are out of this world, and her cornbread dressing is to die for. So, when she gave me a recipe for peaches in crescent rolls, I had no doubt about the goodness. BUT, my sister used a lemon-lime soda drink and yesterday when I decided to make this dessert, I didn’t have any soft drinks other than Coca-Cola. Therefore, the only alternative was the juice from the peaches. I just wish I’d thought to do what my friend, Ellen Thompson does to her peach pies and cobblers. She adds a drop or two of almond extract and that would have taken this dish to another level, and I will do that next time. Just so I don’t forget, and so you can try it too, I’ve added it to the recipe below!

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch pie plate with non-stick cooking spray.

Ingredients:

1 (8-ounce) package crescent rolls (I’ll bet you could use puff pastry too)

1 (15.25 ounce) can peach halves

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Cinnamon

Natural sugar

Remove crescent roll dough from package and section into triangles. Drain the can of peaches, saving all the juice. Cut each peach half in half. Place a peach section on the large end of the triangle and roll up just like you were rolling a crescent roll.  Place in the pie plate, and continue until all rolls are used. If you have any peach sections left over, add them to the plate between the rolls. Mix the peach juice with 1/4 teaspoon almond extract. Pour the juice over the rolls. Sprinkle rolls with cinnamon and sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until rolls are brown on top. Serve with heavy cream.

The juice from the peaches, along with cinnamon and natural sugar were the perfect sweetness. I enjoyed it very much, and ate it in the tradition of our grandfather, J.M. Rogers, who ate his cobblers, pies and fruit with a couple of spoons of heavy cream.

This was the Christmas that we would eat dinner out. But, plans changed when we found that we wouldn’t be able to find a restaurant open, and one son was coming and the other son was going.

On Christmas Eve, it ended up being this grandmother who was stirring in the kitchen instead of the mouse. I put together a dinner of different foods that I thought we’d all enjoy, yet would keep our dinner traditionally Southern. So, my husband, son and granddaughter sat down to a great dinner on Christmas Day, even though it had been unplanned until the night before.

The impromptu menu was a traditional pear and cheese salad that we must have on holidays,  baked ham, Southern Whitehouse Chicken (from my book, but also known as Country Captain) over long grain white rice, cornbread dressing with gravy, butterbeans cooked with ham, roasted asparagus with Parmesan-Romano cheese, Savannah corn fritters with red pepper jelly, rolls, pineapple cake, Christmas plum pudding (on the previous blog on this site), and mincemeat cake (Southerncookingathome.blogspot.com).

Pear & Cheese Salad

Always on the holiday table. The pear salad is nothing more than lettuce, fresh pears, peeled and sliced or cut into wedges or cubes, mayonnaise and cheddar cheese. Mix all together and place in a pretty bowl. Or, if you prefer to serve it on a plate or platter, prepare a bed of lettuce, two pear halves per person (rub with lemon juice to keep from turning brown), a dollop of mayonnaise in the center of each pear and grated cheddar on top. A rich blue cheese dressing is also good on the pears.

 

Southern Whitehouse Chicken (Country Captain)

I usually make this with chicken breasts cut in half, but I didn’t have them and used tenderloins. Tenderloins worked even better. I’ll give you the regular version and the one I used on Christmas Day. This was one of my cooking class favorites. If I’m serving this for dinner, I’ll make an Orange and Pear Salad. The recipe is in my book, but if you’d like to try it, send a message, and I’ll get you the recipe.

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut in half crosswise

vegetable oil for frying

1 large onion, chopped

1 small green pepper, sliced thin

1 clove garlic, minced

2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green pepper and onion

1/2 cup currants or raisins if currents are not available

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 1/2 teaspoon curry powder or to taste

1 1/2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

1/2 cup sliced, toasted almonds

Original recipe-Combine the first 3 ingredients. Flour the chicken. Add oil to a skillet and let the temperature reach 35o degrees. Fry the chicken in the hot oil until brown. Drain on paper towels. Place the chicken in an oven-proof baking dish.

Drain the pan drippings, saving about 2 tablespoon oil in the pan. Add the onions, peppers and garlic to the drippings and cook until tender. Add the tomatoes, and the next 6 ingredients, stir well and bring to a simmer. Add the tomato mixture to the top of the chicken in the baking dish. Place a layer of parchment over the top of dish, and place foil tightly around the dish to cover. Bake for 40-50 minutes. Remove from the baking dish to a serving dish. Sprinkle with parsley and toasted almonds. Spoon over white rice and serve with a fruit salad. Serves 4 or if you make it with tenders, serves 6.

* Christmas Day version is to prepare a heavy skillet with about 2 tablespoons olive oil, and add 10 chicken tenders. Salt and pepper the tenders, and bake  in a 350 degree oven until tenders are done. Remove and set aside and let stay in the juices until ready to use. Then cut the tenders in half. Prepare the tomato mixture as above. Add the chicken and bake for 30-40 minutes. Serve as directed above.

Black Forest Ham

I always buy the Kentucky Legend Ham when I have just a few people to serve. It’s also the best ham for leftovers. Since it weighs about 2 pounds, and is all meat, no bone, it takes about 40 minutes to cook. Cook it covered in foil, in a 350 degree oven for the first 30 minutes and the last 10 minutes cover it with a paste of yellow mustard and brown sugar and smear it all over the ham, then back in the oven until the paste has formed a glaze. It’s always good. No mess, no fuss.

Pineapple Cake (Torte) with White Caramel Coconut Pecan Icing

This is an old-fashioned cake and the recipe has been around for a long while. It’s usually made in a 13 x 9-inch pan, but I make it in layers and in cupcakes. No work required for this cake!

2 cups sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice (I use Dole)

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Pour into a well greased 13 x 9-inch pan. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Prepare the icing while the cake cooks.

If making a torte, divide the batter into three 9-inch well greased and floured cake pans. Bake for about 22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.  Remove from pans after cooling for 10 minutes. Place on a cake plate and divide the icing between layers. If you really want to make a hit, ice the cake, then cool the cake and spread with 7-minute icing or whipped cream.

Icing

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup evaporated milk (this is exactly the size of the small can of milk)

pinch of salt

1/2 cup toasted, chopped pecans

1/2 cup coconut

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, milk, and salt. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat. Cook and stir for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the pecans, and coconut. Pour the icing over the hot cake, or layers of the cake and allow it to cool before cutting.

Give your family and friends a real surprise and make this old English pudding for Christmas. Cover it with Grand Marnier Icing, and dot it with candied orange peel.

For years I’ve had two very nice pudding molds. For years, the molds have traveled with me through each move I’ve made from South to North and back. Oh yes, you must come back.  Now, after years of moving the molds around, I’ve finally made a Christmas Plum Pudding that I have to say was very easy and delicious. In fact, it was good to the very last bite.

The last bite.

The original recipe must be credited to the Southern Living Country Cooking book, published in 1974. I’ve made a few changes to suit me, and to make it more modern. So, don’t panic when you see suet. Butter is the perfect substitute. You can also change the candied fruit to incorporate your favorites, instead of the usual fruitcake candied fruit, although  I happen to love fruitcake. But, this is a recipe where you can suit yourself. I’ve added extra instructions to the recipe. Hope it helps.

Christmas Plum Pudding

1 cup seedless raisins

1 1/2 cups mixed diced candied fruits (I used one  4-ounce container of candied, chopped orange peel and the rest in chopped dates)

1/2 cup toasted pecans ( I toasted the pecans on a plate in the microwave for 1 -1/2 minutes, cooled and chopped)

1 cup all-purpose flour, read recipe for dividing between nuts and batter

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup molasses (I used Grandma’s Original)

3/4 cup cold buttermilk

1/2 cup finely chopped suet (substitute finely chopped butter, but keep it cold. It will melt in the pudding-never use margarine in baking)

1/4 cup cold strong coffee

1 cup fine, dry breadcrumbs (I used panko, and if you need to, crush them with the back of a measuring cup)

3/4 teaspoon soda

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (grate fresh if you have it)

3/4 teaspoon salt

Use a 1 1/2 quart pudding mold, or a heavy bowl that is heat proof. Butter the mold and then spray heavily with a baking spray that has flour added. I used Bakers Joy.

In a large bowl, combine fruits, pecans, and 1/2 cup flour. In the second bowl, mix together eggs, molasses, buttermilk, suet (butter chopped fine) and coffee. In a third  bowl, combine remaining flour, breadcrumbs, soda, spices, salt and add to the buttermilk, molasses mixture. Add this mixture to the fruit and nuts and mix well. Pour this mixture into the prepared mold. Use a piece of parchment that has been sprayed with non-stick spray, and place that over the pudding in the mold. Pull it down around the sides and secure with a rubber band or string, just below the rim of the mold. Cut off any excess paper. Add the top of the mold and secure it. Set the pudding mold on a rack in a deep pan* see notes below  (use a saucer if you don’t have a rack); add boiling water to about 1 inch below the cover of the mold. Cover with the pot cover. Steam for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

When the pudding is done, remove from the pot and set aside for about 10 minutes in the mold, and then unmold onto to a piece of parchment paper over a plate. This will allow you to cool the pudding so that it can be placed on a more decorative plate. Cool. Make icing, or use it as a hard sauce. If all pudding is not used, store in the refrigerator.

Grand Marnier Icing

4 tablespoons very soft butter

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

Grand Marnier

In a small bowl, add the sugar to soft butter. Mix. Add enough Grand Marnier to make it the consistency to ice the pudding, or use as a hard sauce. If icing gets too thick, microwave for few seconds at a time. Sprinkle the finished pudding with pecans, or dried fruit.

 I used my spaghetti pot to hold and cook the mold. It’s very deep and has a draining pot for spaghetti. I set the mold down on the drainer and I can lift the mold in and out by the drainer handles. I also put water in the pot and started heating it before I added the drainer with the mold. After setting the mold in, I filled with water according to directions. I steamed for 1 1/2 hours at a medium heat. I added extra water once. When the time was up, I removed the mold from the drainer, and checked for doneness. Take the mold top off, and then the parchment, and use a long skewer to check to see if it has cooked through. If not done, then use a fresh piece of prepared parchment and secure it the same way as the first time. Put the mold lid back on and continue cooking until done.

 I am wishing you all a wonderful, merry, happy, sweet holiday.

Love,

Linda

 

 

 

This pie! I was thinking about buttermilk pie, because I try to make at least one for Christmas dinner, and the idea hit me to make it chocolate, then another idea hit me of  glazing the crust in chocolate and then using chocolate dipped pecans as a garnish. The only thought of chocolate that I stopped at was the whipped cream. I thought that might have been a little much.

Why do I think of buttermilk pie so often? Here’s a little story. We had a cook and her name was Sarah. She would not let me cook while she was there because I made a mess, so I waited until she went home to go in the kitchen and make pies. That was my favorite thing to bake. I used an old Auburn cookbook that was my grandmother  Irene’s. When I finished baking a pie, I would call Mama Irene by ringing her on our crank phone. Her ring was two shorts and a long. Our ring was a short, long and a short. Mama Irene would come down the lane from her home and eat pie with me. It was our secret.

The pie that I made as a child is very similar to this one, but this is a P. Allen Smith recipe that I have “doctored”, as we say in the South. I hope you enjoy this pie. I think it’s definitely pretty enough to serve for a Southern Sunday Dinner.

Chocolate Buttermilk Pie

Bring all ingredients to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 to 9 1/2-inch pie plate by spraying with non-stick cooking spray. Add your pie crust. I used one roll of a two roll pie crust that I purchased in the grocery store.

1 stick butter, melted and cooled

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs, well beaten

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Put all dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Use a wire whisk and mix the dry ingredients. To a small bowl, add the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and butter. Mix well. Add to the dry ingredients. Continue mixing with a spoon until the butter has been incorporated into the mixture. Pour the mixture over a strainer into the pie shell. Place the pie in the oven and bake for 35 minutes or until the center of the pie is set. Remove from the oven and set aside. Note: Baking could take shorter of longer depending on your oven and the size of the pie shell.

Chocolate Glaze for the pie crust and pecans-First, toast the pecans. Place pecans on a plate and microwave for one to two minutes until pecans are toasted and crisp.To glaze the pie shell (after the pie has baked) and pecans, use 2 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate. Put 3/4 of the chocolate into a bowl, and chop the remaining chocolate and set aside. Slowly melt the chocolate in the bowl, and after it has melted add the chopped chocolate and let it melt. Mix well. Dip the ends of the pecans into the chocolate and set them on parchment paper to dry. When the pie has cooled, but before refrigerating, use a spoon and spread the chocolate on the inside of the shell.

Whipped Cream & Cream Cheese-Add 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup whipped cream cheese in a deep bowl along with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Whip until thick enough to pipe onto the pie. Cut the cooled pie into serving pieces, pipe on a dollop of cream and garnish with a chocolate dipped pecan.

This recipe belonged to my grandmother, Irene Murray Rogers. She was born in Camp Hill, Alabama but for many years lived in Marengo County, Al. She met my grandfather while he was going to school at Auburn. She was a home economics teacher. Mama Irene made this cake every Christmas and placed it on a cake pedestal. It towered over the other cakes and pies that sat at the end of the long dining room table.

When it was time for Christmas dinner to be served, the cake would be gently moved to the sideboard and then moved back to the table again when the dishes had been cleared. It was sliced and the anxiety and the waiting were over, because as children we all had a hard time waiting for a piece of this cake.

 

Mama Irene’s Lane Cake

Cake:

2 cups sugar

1/2 pound butter

1 1/3 cups whole milk

3 teaspoons baking powder

3 1/2 cups cake flour

7 egg whites, stiffly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Prepare 3 (8-inch) cake pans by lining the bottoms and side of the pans by buttering or greasing. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Sift all dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients alternating with the milk. Add flavoring and beaten egg whites. (I add the egg whites into the mixer on low speed. I finish the folding with a spatula, by hand). Divide batter evenly between the 3 pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cakes are lightly brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Filling:

1 1/2 cups sugar

7 egg yolks

1/2 pound butter

Cook in a double boiler until thick and mixture coats the back of a spoon.

Add:

1 cup raisins

1 cup toasted, chopped pecans

1 cup crushed pineapple, drained

1 cup coconut

Cook for another minute, and then remove from heat. Cool. See instructions on assembly.

Seven minute icing:

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon corn starch

pinch of salt

1/3 cup water

3 egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla

Set the mixture, except the vanilla, in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Beat for 7 minutes with an electric mixer. Beat in vanilla. Follow cake assembly instructions.

Cake assembly:

Place the first cake layer on the pedestal. Place parchment or wax paper around the edge for easy clean-up. Add a good amount of filling. Cover with a layer of seven minute icing. Add another layer of filling and repeat with icing. Add the top layer and cover with filling and let some of the filling go over the side. Use skewers to keep cake in place if needed. Ice the top and sides of the cake with icing.

Fluffy Meringue Icing

You can also use your own 7 minute or seafoam icing recipe.

6 egg whites

2 cups water

3/4 cup water

In a large bowl, beat egg whites at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil until temperature reaches 248 degrees on a candy thermometer.

With the mixer running at medium-high speed, very slowly pour the syrup over beaten egg whites. Continue beating mixture until it reaches room temperature and is a spreadable consistency. Use icing immediately.