Grandma's Breakfast Ring

 

        Everyone has one - a recipe with grandma's name on it....something she made that reminds you of her and of childhood.  Well, in my case grandma was Janette and I have no memory of this breakfast ring but I was assured she always made it for Christmas breakfast, so whether I remembered it or not I felt duty bound to make it.  And it quickly became one of our traditions.  So, for as long as I can remember, in my own family, this has been the "piece de resistance" for our Christmas breakfast which also includes breakfast sausages, cheesy eggs and fried potatoes.  While in the Middle East the beverage was always fresh orange juice which my husband squeezed from the beautifully sweet oranges purchased at the fruit stands there. But unless you purchase Cara Cara oranges no other orange in the U.S. comes close in flavor to those and so we just started buying Tropicana orange juice when moving back to the states.

        I think there are very few of us who don't like cinnamon rolls and that is what this is, but in ring form, studded with pecans and robed with butter and cinnamon syrup - a perfect centerpiece for a Christmas breakfast table!  But there are more than a few who are intimidated by making rolls and one of my greatest accomplishments is to have successfully lead several timid bakers through the gauntlet of homemade bread making, who have emerged safely and confident on the other side.  (If you are in fear of making bread there are a few helpful notes below and then watch a video or two and bravely venture forth!  It is worth it.)

     The particular potato roll dough I use is a great one as it keeps well for a few days, so if you only use part of it, you can make another roll item a few days later from the same batch.

     I do remember my sweet and gentle grandmother's hard sauce for the plum pudding she made with her sister every Christmas.  We didn't care for the plum pudding but there was something about that hard sauce that we found irresistible!

Grandma's Breakfast Ring

1 recipe potato roll dough (below)

1 cup melted butter

1 1/2 cups sugar-cinnamon mixture

1/4 cup white Karo syrup

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Marachino or glaceed cherries for garnish

       -Generously butter a 10 inch tube pan.  Sprinkle 3 tablespoon cinnamon mixture and 1/4 cup pecans on bottom of pan  Roll dough into 1 inch balls.  Dip rolls first in melted butter, then in sugar-cinnamon mixture, to coat.  Place loosely in a single layer on the bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle layer of rolls with sugar-cinnamon mixture and 1/4 cup pecans.  Repeat creating another layer of rolls.  Again sprinkle with sugar-cinnamon mixture and pecans.

       -Allow to rise until double, covered in warm place, about 45 minutes.  Drizzle remaining butter and Karo syrup over rolls.

       -Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 - 40 minutes, until rolls turn golden on top.  Let cool in pan, upright for 5 minutes.  Invert onto platter and allow to cool about 10 minutes before removing tube pan.  Remove pan carefully and garnish with cherries.  To reheat, wrap in foil and place in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.  Serves 8 - 10

Potato Refrigerator Rolls

1 package active dry yeast (1 tablespoon)

1 3/4 cups warm water

2/3 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2/3 cups shortening, or soft butter

2 eggs

1 cup lukewarm mashed potatoes

7 - 7 1/2 cups all purpose flour.

       -Sprinkle yeast over 1/2 cup water.  Allow to sit 5 minutes until frothy.  Pour into large heavy-duty mixer with dough hook and add sugar, salt, shortening, eggs, cooled potatoes, the rest of the water and 4 cups of the flour.  Beat with whip until smooth.  Change to dough hook and mix in enough remaining flour to make dough pull away from the sides of the bowl and dough wraps around dough hook.  Let mixer run with dough hook on low about 10 minutes, to knead.

       -(If kneading by hand, blend in as much flour as possible with a mixer or by hand with a large wooden spoon.  Turn dough onto lightly floured surface.  Knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-7 minutes.  Surface should be smooth and no longer sticky (add extra flour a bit at a time if dough becomes sticky as you knead.)  

       -For both methods, place dough in greased bowl, then turn greased side up.  Cover bowl tightly.  Refrigerate at least 8 hours or until ready to use.  (Dough can be kept up to 5 days in the refrigerator.  Keep covered.) If using immediately, cover bowl and let dough rise in warm area for 1 1/2 hours.

       -Punch down dough.  Shape as desired.  Let rise 30 - 45 minutes before baking.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake rolls 15 - to 25 minutes, to desired doneness.

  

                             

After dough has risen, shape into balls

about the size of a golf ball.

Dip each ball in melted butter,

 then roll in cinnamon-mixture.

Layer balls in tube pan, sprinkle with syrup, nuts,

butter and cinnamon mixture and allow to rise

45 minutes.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Turn out of pan and garnish with cherries.

PERSNICKETY  NOTES:

**Prove your yeast first in small amount of water, 5 - 10 minutes.  Add a bit of sugar (2 tablespoons) from your recipe amount to give the yeast something to feed off of to start doing its thing! Make sure the water is not hot or you will kill the yeast before it's started to bloom.  The water should be just lukewarm or even cool.

**Don't skimp on the kneading.  If you are doing it by hand, it can be tiring but take a short rest and get back to it for a full 5 - 7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and can make a smooth ball.  Some people use the windowpane technique to see if the gluten has been developed enough.  Take a small piece of dough and pull it apart until it is very thin without breaking and you can see light through it.  There is no special way to knead.  I like to use the heels of my hands and push into the dough then fold it over itself until I am into a smooth rocking motion.  But people do it differently - as long as there is some stretching or pulling and folding going on you should be fine.

**If dough is sticky, work more flour into the dough as you knead.  Only add as much flour as needed to create a dough that is just barely not sticking to your hands.  Too much flour will make your dough heavy.

**Once you shape your dough into rolls, let the rolls rise for 30 - 40 minutes until they are double in size and light. (This will ensure that your final product is light and that the bread isn't dense and heavy.)

If you have a bread proving function on your oven that helps speed up the process a bit.  Cover the rolls and set in the oven or you can also turn your oven on to 200 degrees for 10 minutes then turn off and place your shaped rolls in, covered.  (You can also use this technique to help your dough rise the first time, if you are not letting it rise in the fridge, but wanting to use it sooner.)

**Bake your rolls until just golden - check one to make sure they are cooked through.  

Holiday Mud Pie

 

        It was a simple jump from the mud pies of the 80's (an ice cream dessert layered with cookie crumbs and fudge sauce (the mud).  The original was called Mississippi Mud Pie with a chocolate pudding filling - I have wandered about on the banks of the Mississippi River in my time and I never saw anything that looked good enough to eat.  Be that as it may, ice cream with fudge sauce, cookie crumbs, nuts and candies and whatever else your imagination might conjure up is always a winner.

      An easy swim from Mississippi Mud Pie inspired me to create a Holiday version for my family and was always the most popular of our holiday dishes - one that was insisted upon by the greedy little elves that round our table grew.  No easy feat finding the right ingredients and assembling one in a tiny poorly equipped kitchen in Riquewihr, France or transporting the partially assembled trifle dish to Hershey, Pennsylvania for a family meet up in a hotel.  Quebec City happily provided the basic elements.  This dish has definitely traveled the world and if it doesn't appear on the menu for our annual caroling party (which has become less frequent as our daughters married unenthusiastic singers) it is sure to rule the table on Christmas Eve.

      The addition of mint extract and crushed mint candy canes create Christmas in your mouth - but when having to improvise, I've been told that mint toothpaste will do the trick (which I have never actually tried). The fudge sauce pulls it all together with the cookie layer.  Put out all the decorative toppings you can think of and the kids will have fun decorating the top.  A little supervision is suggested to keep the whole activity from becoming a mud fight (perhaps not such a bad idea depending on where the mud lands!)

Holiday Mud Pie

Ice Cream:  

(or 1 gallon pink or green peppermint ice cream)          

1 gallon vanilla ice cream                                                          

red & green food coloring

mint or peppermint extract                                                      

1/3 cup crushed mint candy canes

Cookie Crust:                                                                               

 1 package chocolate wafers or Oreo cookies                     

 1/2 cup sugar    

                                                                             

Fudge Sauce:

3 tablespoons melted butter

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate squares

1 cup sugar                                                                                     

1 - 12 ounce can evaporated milk                                            

1 teaspoon vanilla extra

Garnish:                                                                                           

1 cup whipping cream                                                                 

3 tablespoons sugar                                                                     

1 teaspoon vanilla extract                                                         

2/3 cups finely chopped walnuts                                           

chocolate leaves or curls                                                           

maraschino cherries (well-drained)                                     

small candy canes

       -Crush chocolate wafers or Oreo cookies in a food processor using the pulse function, to fine crumbs.  Add sugar and pulse. Set aside.

       -To prepare fudge sauce, melt butter and chocolate in medium saucepan.  Stir in sugar until well blended then add milk and stir over medium-high heat until mixture begins to bubble and thicken. Cook another 3 - 4 minutes until mixture is quite thick.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Allow to cool completely.

       -Allow 1/3 of the ice cream to soften (20-30 seconds in the microwave helps).  Spoon into a large mixing bowl and stir in 1 teaspoon mint extract and 2 tablespoons crushed mint candy canes.  Dye ice cream red with food coloring and stir until well combined.  (If ice cream is too thick to stir, let sit on the counter another 5 minutes then try again.)  (Keep the ice cream you are not using in the freezer so it doesn't melt completely.)

       -Spoon first layer of red ice cream into the glass container.  Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cookie crumbs.  Place in freezer for 1/2 hours.  Smooth 1/2 cup cooled fudge sauce over the crumbs, being sure to press around the edges of the ice cream so the layer of chocolate shows through the glass.  Freeze for 1 hour.

       -Repeat the softening process of the ice cream with another 1/3 of your ice cream but this time color it green.  Repeat the same layering and freezing processes as explained above.

       -Repeat the process one more time, this time coloring the softened ice cream red.  Freeze the completed trifle for 6 - 8 hours or overnight.

       -Remove about 15 minutes before serving to allow ice cream to soften slightly.  Beat cream in mixer until soft peaks form.  Add sugar then continue to beat until peaks become stiff.  Stir in vanilla extract.  Spread whipped cream on top of mud pie.  Garnish top with cherries, candy canes, chocolate leaves or curls and walnuts, if desired.

Process Oreos to fine crumbs

Make fudge sauce and allow to cool.

                                             Soften ice cream and stir in mint, 

candy cane chips and coloring.

Layer ice cream, then Oreo crumbs, 

followed by fudge sauce and repeat

 2 more times to create layers.

Layers should be visible through

the glass of the container.

Mound whipped cream on top and

garnish with cherries, candy canes, 

chocolate curls and nuts.

Yummm!

PERSNICKETY  NOTES:

**Only soften the ice cream until you can stir it, even it it is a bit stiff.  Do not let it completely melt.  As long as it remains quite cold and stiff it will re-freeze without creating ice crystals.  Once it melts completely and is re-frozen the ice cream will no longer be smooth but crunchy with ice crystals.

**Original Mud Pies were made with chocolate pudding, until someone

thought of using ice cream.  The classic flavor combination was chocolate pudding with chocolate cookie crumbs and whipped cream but soon, creative cooks were trying almond toffee crunch ice cream with caramel sauce or rocky rock road ice cream with fudge sauce.  The ice cream version must be the offspring of a Baked Alaska and Mississippi Mud Pie!

Festive Shortbread Cookies

 

      Shortbread is so easy to make and I've rarely tasted a version I didn't like.  The simplicity of the butter and sugar mixed together with nothing extra to mask those flavors and the crunchy sandy texture is a work of beauty in itself!

     A visit to Scotland was initially a visit to my son attending university in Aberdeen but it evolved into a sampling trip to find the very best shortbread in its native land.  Every shop and castle gift shop sold their own version - so we had to visit each one we passed to be sure we found the best!  As I remember the shortbread that won was sold at Cawdor Castle during the course of which we also discovered heather stone jewelry so that was also purchased at each stop.

     A favorite dessert served by a popular caterer in Israel was these simple shortbread fingers dipped in white chocolate.  She frequently flavored hers lightly with orange extract.  I am just as happy to eat Walkers Shortbread which is imported to the states, but this one is so easy to make, give it a try. Then you'll have your own version to compare against those in the gift shops next time you go Castle Hopping!

Festive Shortbread Cookies

3/4 pound butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 ounces white melting chocolate

crushed mint candy canes and decorative sprinkles

     -Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

     -Cream the butter and sugar together in an 

      electric mixer until very smooth.  Add the 

      vanilla extract.  Sift flour and salt together and

      then add them to the butter/sugar mixture.  Mix

      on low speed until mixture starts to come 

      together.

     -Spray an 8 x 8 inch baking pan lightly with 

      cooking spray.  Scoop batter into pan and 

      flatten and press until even.  Score dough into

      finger lengths about 3 inches long and 1 inch

      wide.  

     -Bake in preheated oven 30 - 35 minutes until 

      edges are brown.  Set aside for 5 minutes and 

      then re-score fingers completely and let cool to

      room temperature.

     -Melt white chocolate chips in microwave for 1

      minute on high speed. Allow to rest 2 minutes.  

      Stir and then microwave another 30 minutes

      then stir.  Repeat another 30 minutes if needed. 

      Place melted chocolates in narrow deep 

      container.

    -Remove shortbread fingers from pan and dip in

     melted chocolate until about bottom 1/3 of cookie

     is covered.  Place on cooling rack to allow extra 

     chocolate to drop off.  Sprinkle immediately with

     crushed candy canes or other decorative 

     sprinkles.

    -Makes 2 1/2 dozen shortbread fingers.  Keep in 

     an airtight container for storage for up to 3 days.

Melt white chocolate candy melts and 

dip cookie fingers.

Sprinkle white chocolate with 

decorative sprinkles.

For a Christmas version, sprinkle with

crushed mint candy canes.

PERSNICKETY  NOTES:

     **Be sure to cook shortbread until golden around edges and dry.  Shortbread is meant to be crunchy and crisp, with a melt-away sandy

texture.  It should not be soft in the middle.

    **You can color the white chocolate melts any color you would like.

Flavoring can also be added, but don't add too much.  You want only a subtle flavor so you don't distract from the simple buttery flavor of the cookie.

Spanakopita (Spinach & Cheese) Triangles

 

    Did you know that there are those among us who don't like spinach?  Hard to believe, I know.  But so it is.  Perhaps that may be contributed to not enough watching Popeye cartoons as a child, or being forced to eat their canned spinach before leaving the table, or perhaps a salad where the spinach used had not been cleaned properly (thank heavens grocery stores do that for us now!)  But if you might not be a spinach enthusiast, this recipe could possibly win you over....thus another victory for iron!

     One of the appetizers served many, many years ago at my wedding was a meat filled phyllo triangle - we worked as a family filling and perfecting the flag fold to prepare them - my boy scout brother came in handy with the flag fold. The phyllo pastry creates the perfect, buttery, crunchy casing for any number of fillings. I have made them with Arab spiced meat studded with pine nuts, a chicken and mushroom cream cheese filling, potato India inspired fillings - your creativity is the limit.  But the Greeks hit upon this favorite, original filling and it is to them we owe our thanks.

    Usually served as more of a pie or casserole cut into squares, Spanakopita which translates as "Spinach pie", this appetizer version is a neat, just the right amount of well-complementing ingredients to create a winning first bite!  An elegant beginning to Christmas parties, teas, showers or buffets, don't tell your persnickety friends what

is in them until after they taste them.  Who knows but what you may convert someone over to Popeyes team!

Spanakopita (Spinach and cheese Greek Triangles)

Spinach - frozen, large bag

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 cup chopped green onion, entire onion

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cloves finely minced garlic

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup diced artichokes hearts (optional)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Mizithra cheese

1 cup grated mozzarella or provolone cheese

1/2 cup crumbled feta or cottage cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 teaspoon grated nutmeg

dash of cayenne pepper

1 package phyllo pastry, thawed and at room 

           temperature

1 cup melted butter

     -Microwave spinach in open bag in microwave

       for 3 minutes.  Rinse in colander under cold

       running water.  Let drain for 5 minutes, then

       squeeze and press spinach against sides of   

       colander, until as much water as possible is

       extracted.  Place spinach on chopping board 

       and chop.

     -Saute onion in olive oil in large skillet until soft,

      about 5 minutes.  Add the green onion and 

      continue to saute another 5 minutes.  Add spinach

      and garlic to skillet and stir an additional 5

      minutes until spinach is quite dry. (do not allow 

      to brown.)  Remove from heat, place in a large 

      mixing bowl and allow to cool at least 10

      minutes. 

     -Stir into spinach mixture, nutmeg, cayenne, eggs,

      mozzarella, parmesan and cottage cheeses, and

      artichoke hearts (optional) until well

      blended.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

      -Lay stack (1 package) of phyllo sheets out on

       working surface horizontally.  With a pair of 

       scissors and with the lining paper underneath,

       cut stack of sheets in 3 inch wide strips, to create

       4 strips from the stack.

      -Place one strip in front of you and cover the 

       remaining 3 strips with plastic wrap.  Separate

       the layers of phyllo into strips of 2 layers on your 

       work surface, 5 -6 at a time.  With a pastry brush,

       brush each with melted butter and place about 1 

       tablespoon of spinach filling on the bottom end

       facing you.  

     -Working from the bottom end fold phyllo over

      the filling to create a triangle shape, with the 

      bottom edge of the phyllo strip, against the long

      edge of the strip.  Then roll the triangle again as

      if folding a flag, until you have reached the top 

      and the spinach is completely enfolded in the 

      phyllo.  

     -Place the triangle on a well buttered baking sheet

      and immediately brush the top of each triangle 

      with melted butter to completely cover any 

      exposed surface of pastry.  Use the butter to

      secure extra ends of phyllo pastry into place.  

      Repeat process with each 2 layer strip of dough. 

      Then open the other package of phyllo dough and

      repeat the process.

     -Bake the triangles in a preheated 375 degree oven

      for about 20 minutes, until golden and puffy.

      Serve warm.  Makes about 48 triangles.

Brush strips of pastry with butter and

place tablespoon of filling at one end.

Fold dough over filling to create

 a triangle.

Fold again in the fashion of a "flag fold"

 to keep the triangle shape.

Continue folding in the same manner 

until you reach the top.

Fold any remaining dough strip over 

onto the other side of the triangle.

Brush all exposed surfaces with 

melted butter pushing down edges

 to create a neat triangle.

Place triangles on buttered 

baking sheet.

PERSNICKETY NOTES:

**If you have never worked with phyllo pastry here are a couple of hints:

     -Give yourself plenty of time to work with it -don't rush it.

     -Be sure dough is completely thawed in it's packaging before using.

     -Originally, bakers brushed every layer with butter, which you can 

       do, but I brush every two layers which works just as well and uses

       less butter.

     -Sometimes the dough you purchase will be stuck in places and will 

       not easily separate and pull off in complete sheets.  Don't worry - do

       the best you can, flip it over and try the other side and remember,

       you can patch and leave holes as long as the top layer of whatever

       you are making is nice and smooth.  Sometimes you will have to use

       3 layers instead of 2 because you can't separate them - that's okay. 

       Brushing with butter mends a host of cracks and splits.

**Phyllo pastry which originated in Mediterranean countries, dries 

out very quickly when exposed to air.  The only ingredients are water and flour. Be sure to keep sections of pastry you are not working with covered with a towel or plastic wrap until you can get to them.  Brushing all exposed surfaces with melted butter before baking is essential to create a crunchy, buttery product.

**Can you believe that up until the invention of modern machinery phyllo dough was made by hand by women who laboriously stretched the dough by rolling and stretching the dough over the backs of their hands, on a large table, to paper thinness!

**When I first started working with phyllo pastry it was very hard to find in the U.S. and I usually had to buy it in International markets, which were also hard to find.  When it finally did appear in the frozen section of most grocery stores, since it was infrequently bought, I would always pull one from the back as it would be fresher, not having sat in  the freezer so long.

   

 

                

 

               

Shrimp and Crab Au Gratin

Shrimp and Crab Au Gratin

8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated

8 ounces lump crab meat, rinsed and cleaned

1 can artichoke hearts, drained, cut into quarters

1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed 

          and cut in half

dash of cayenne pepper

10 tablespoons butter

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions

1 pound medium shrimp, uncooked, shelled and                           deveined           

1/4 cup flour

1 1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup cream, at room temperature

1/3 cup dry white wine

salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup Panko bread crumbs

1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons dried minced parsley

dash of paprika

     -In large skillet, cook thawed or fresh shrimp in 2 tablespoons melted butter over medium-high heat until opaque - about 1 minute per side.  Remove shrimp from pan and add 2 tablespoons butter to melt.  Saute mushrooms for 3 -4 minutes, then remove mushrooms and set aside.  Melt 3 tablespoons more butter and saute scallions for 2 minutes.  

     -Stir in flour, salt and pepper.  Stir with whisk for 1 minute.  Add milk.  Stir and cook until thickened.  Add wine, dash of cayenne and freshly grated nutmeg.  Stir in half the cheese until melted, then repeat with the remaining cheddar.  Stir in the cream and simmer for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

    -Gently stir crab, shrimp, artichoke hearts and mushrooms into cheese sauce and pour into a 2 quart casserole dish.  Top with 1 cup bread crumbs mixed with 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons minced dried parsley, and 3 tablespoons melted butter.  Garnish with paprika.

     -Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.  Serve as a appetizer with crostini on the side.

To Prepare Crostini:

Slice 1 large baguette into 1/2 inch thick slices, at an angle to create more surface space.  Brush a cooking sheet generously with olive oil.  Place bread slices on tray and brush tops of each slice with more olive oil.

Bake in a 350 degree oven about 12 minutes, until golden and crunchy.   Let cool and serve as base for appetizers.