by admin | Sep 23, 2008 | Cooking
Our garden has been producing far more tomatoes than the three of us can possibly consume. We have all enjoyed multiple BLT’s, tomatoes on sandwiches, garden spaghetti, etc. and have shared tomatoes with family members and taken them to church to give away. Still they keep producing. I’m not complaining – the tomatoes have seemed to be extra delicious this year – everyone says so. I have been running across recipes for tomato soup recently and decided to use some of our bounty to make some myself. As usual, I took ideas from several recipes and came up with my own version by adding a jalapeno and onions. The soup was tasty but evidently my jalapeno was not very hot because the soup did not have the kick I expected. It also did not have the intense tomato taste I would prefer. If I cook it again, I may add some tomato paste.
Fresh Tomato Soup
5 cups peeled and chopped tomatoes (I used food processor)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper (remove seeds and finely chop)
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon salt
chopped basil (to taste) (I used dried basil)
1 cup milk or cream
1 generous tablespoon corn starch
Saute’ onion and pepper in butter. Add tomatoes, salt and basil. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and cook for about 30 minutes. Bring back to a boil and add milk that has been combined with the corn starch. Cook a bit longer until soup has thickened slightly.
by admin | Sep 9, 2008 | Cooking
One of the blogs I read almost daily is Southern Plate. Christy is a southern girl who posts recipes with beautiful photo tutorials. If I didn’t know better, I would think she had been raised by my mom or other close relative because so many of her recipes are ones I remember from my childhood or are still in my files that I use frequently. Last week was Apple Week at Southern Plate. The timing was excellent as we had just picked a couple of bushels from our golden delicious tree in the front yard.
The first recipe Christy featured during Apple Week was Apple Dapple Cake. I remembered my mom baking it many years ago but I haven’t even thought of it in ages. I decided to bake one this morning to take to our church women’s fellowship this evening. You should have seen those ladies – they loved the cake! They were all telling each other “You have to have a slice of that cake!” or “This is the best cake I have ever eaten!” Fortunately they left enough for my husband and son to have a slice when I got home. The photo is of the very last lone slice that was left when they finished. I forgot to take a photo of the whole cake. I may just have to bake another one soon. You can find the
recipe here.
by admin | Dec 21, 2007 | Cooking
As we count down the last few frantic days before Christmas, I thought I’d share a few of my family’s must-have favorite recipes. It would not be an extended family meal without pies, both in my family and my husband’s family. Chocolate cream pie and coconut cream pie are top choices. I labored for years trying to get my pie crust to taste as good as my sister-in-law’s. I finally found a recipe that met the challenge only to find out her secret – refrigerated Pillsbury® unroll-and-fill pie crusts. Needless to say, they are also now my secret. Who needs the labor and the clean-up when these are so good!
|
CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 3 eggs — separated
- 1/4 cup butter
|
In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar and flour mixing well. Stir in milk a little at at time until flour and sugar are dissolved. Chop chocolate into small pieces and add to milk mixture. Cook until hot. Beat egg yolks and mix a little of hot mixture into them. Pour into pan with milk mixture. Add butter and cook until very thick. Add vanilla and pour into cooked pastry. Use whites to make meringue to top pie. Brown meringue in oven. Chill before serving. Keep leftovers refrigerated if there are any.
|
COCONUT CREAM PIE
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cups milk
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 3 eggs — separated
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup coconut
|
In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar and flour, mixing well. Stir in milk at little at a time until flour and sugar are dissolved. Cook until hot. Beat egg yolks and mix a little of the hot mixture into them. Pour back into milk mixture in the pan. Add butter and cook until thick. Stir in vanilla and coconut and pour into cooked pastry. Use egg whites to make meringue to top pie. Sprinkle a little coconut on top of the meringue. Brown meringue in oven. Chill before serving. Keep leftovers refrigerated if there are any.
MERINGUE FOR TWO PIES:
- 6 egg whites
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup sugar
Beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt until fluffy. Gradually add 1 cup sugar a tablespoon or two at a time. Beat until stiff but not dry. Spoon meringue onto top of pies, spreading to seal to crusts. Brown meringue at 350 degrees. Covers 2 pies.
