Green Tomato Chow

Credit to Verna Warnell from Facebook in the "Cape Breton Cook Book" group.

This is the one I have been making for over 50 years - it is an old Lunenburg County recipe: GREEN TOMATO CHOW

Ingredients

6 - 7 lbs. green tomatoes

4 large onions

½ cup coarse salt

2 cups sugar

2 cups pickling vinegar

2 tsp. dry mustard

½ tsp. turmeric

2 tbsps. pickling spice 

Stuff you will need

Cutting board and sharp knife

Large stock pot

Long handled mixing spoon

Colander

Mesh bag for the pickling spices

Directions

Chunk tomatoes and onions. Sprinkle with ½ cup coarse salt and let stand overnight. Next day, rinse off and drain well.

Bring brine ingredients (Sugar, pickling vinegar, mustard, turmeric and pickling spices) to a boil. Add drained tomatoes and onions; return to boil, and simmer until tomatoes and onions are quite soft (approx. 15-20 min).

Makes 6-8 pints. 

Terry's Turkey Stuffing

 

Well boys and girls, I got my brother-in-laws Turkey Stuffing Recipe.

I asked for it and he was OK with giving it to me.

This is going to make a lot of stuffing.  If your like me, I love stuffing and sometimes prefer this to mashed potatoes.

Ingredients

2 loaves whole wheat bread

2 loaves white bread

1/3 cup Brown Sugar

4 eggs

4 stalks celery

1 onion

1 cup melted butter - divided

2 tbsp Summer Savory

2 tbsp Poultry seasoning

1 tbsp pepper

1 litre chicken stock

Pam cooking spray

Stuff you will need

Cutting board and knife

Large (very big) Mixing bowl

Small Mixing bowl

Frying pan

13 x 9 x 2 baking pan

Directions

Cut up and cube all the bread.  Do you got someone that REALLY wants to help?  But you really don't want to give out the recipe?  Get them to hand tear up the bread.  All 4 loaves.  Send them to another room, like the dining room and put them to work.  When they come back too soon, tell them the pieces are too big.

Preheat the oven to 275 F.

Spread the bread out on a cookie sheet and bake for 50 minutes.  This will toast the bread.

Dice the celery and onions.  Using some of the butter, fry till translucent.

Scramble the eggs in the smaller mixing bowl.

Add all the ingredients into the large mixing bowl and make sure all the bread gets coated.

You can use this to stuff the turkey.

Or, transfer to the cooking sprayed baking pan.  Don't have any Pam Cooking spray, butter the pan instead.  

Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome.

Meatball Boats

Mum will occasionally find a recipe that looks really good.

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef

1 large egg

1/3 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp. chopped parsley

Salt & pepper

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 cup marinara sauce

4 crusty Italian sandwich rolls

12 slices provolone

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

1/4 cup shredded parmesan

Stuff you will need

Cookie sheet

Parchment paper

Cutting board with knife

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F. 

Cover your cookie sheet with parchment paper, or spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray.

Meatballs

In a large bowl, combine ground beef with egg, breadcrumbs, parmesan, garlic, and parsley.

Season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

Form into 12 evenly sized meatballs.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil.

Cook meatballs until seared on all sides, about 4 minutes. Add marinara sauce, gently stir, and cover with a lid.

Turn the heat down to simmer until meatballs are no longer pink, about 8-10 minutes more. Internal temperature of the meatballs should be 160°F.

Prepare the Bread Boats

Cut a long rectangle through the top of the bread loaf and hollow the top of your hoagie roll out to make a boat.

Lay three slices of provolone over the roll to cover the hollowed-out area and bake for 5 minutes, until melted. 

Then place four meatballs on top of the cheese in a row.

Spoon marinara over the meatballs. Sprinkle the mozzarella equally over the meatballs. Then sprinkle the parmesan.

Place in the oven and bake 6-8 minutes more.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Sopa Azteca (Mexican tortilla soup)

 

My father was always fascinated by Incan and Aztec cultures.  I wish I would have been able to make this for him.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon canola oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 onions, chopped

2 stalks celery

6 fresh tomatoes, in cubes

2 pasilla chilies, hydrated

1 teaspoon chicken broth

3 epazote leaves, washed and disinfected (Substitute Cilantro)

1/2 tsp coriander - divided

1 bay leaf

chicken consommé powder (Substitute Chicken Bouillon)

salt and pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 corn tortillas

1/2 cups panela cheese, cut into small cubes (Substitute mozzarella)

1/2 cups avocado, cubed

1/4 cups pasilla chili, julienned, fried

1/2 cups cream

1 chicken breast, with bone

Directions

Cook the whole bone-in chicken breast in a liter and a half of water. Season with chicken consommé powder, a little salt, the epazote, the celery, the coriander and the bay leaf. Remove chicken and shred.

Cut the tortillas into thin strips. Heat a frying pan with the olive oil over medium heat and fry the tortillas, taking care not to burn them, remove them and place them on absorbent paper to remove excess fat.

Heat another pan over medium heat, add a little oil and fry the garlic and onion (cook until they look transparent).

Add the chopped tomato along with the pasilla chili. Mix and let it release the first boil. Strain the mixture and reserve.

Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add the chicken broth, add the tomato mixture and cook until thickened.

In a deep plate, serve the tortilla julienne strips, the shredded chicken, and the soup. Decorate with cream and cheese cubes, the avocado, the pasilla chili strips and the coriander leaves.

If you are not a fan of spicy foods, you can prepare it with tomato pure.

Broccoli, Ham and Cheddar Soup

Recipe sharing days are on!!  Thanks again to Vanessa.

Ingredients

12 oz ham, cubed

5 cups broccoli flowerets

3 cups heavy cream

2 cups cheddar cheese

1 cup parmesan

6 cups chicken stock

4 tbsp butter - divided

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cumin

1 onion

1 carrot

2 stalks celery

4 cloves garlic

Salt and pepper

Stuff you will need

Dutch Oven

Knife and cutting board

Immersion blender

Mixing bowl

Directions

Add 2 tbsp butter to the Dutch Oven and fry the ham cubes with paprika and cumin. Once browned, remove and set aside.

Add 2 tbsp butter and fry the onions, carrots, celery and garlic.  Fry till fragrant.

Add the broccoli flowerets.

Add about a cup of chicken stock to deglaze the Dutch Oven.  Then add the remainder of the chicken stock.

Bring everything to a gentle boil over medium heat.  Make sure the broccoli has been cooked for about 10 minutes.

Add the heavy cream and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.

Add cheddar and parmesan cheese.  Simmer for another 30 minutes.

Add about 3/4 of the ham and use immersion blender on your soup.

Add the remainder of the ham and serve while still hot.  Garnish with some shredded cheese.

Wait for the lip smacking and accolades.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Scottish whisky cake

I got another recipe from Vanessa.

Ingredients

Cake

8 oz of dates , chopped finely
1 cup of boiling water
2 tbsp instant coffee
1 cup packed brown/golden sugar

1/2 cup of butter

4 eggs

1 3/4 cup of flour 

1/2 tsp of baking powder

1 tsp of baking soda

Icing

1/4 cup unsalted butter 

2 cups of heavy cream 

1 cup of brown sugar

1 tbsp of whisky

Stuff you will need

Sauce pan

Stand Mixer

Mixing bowl

Mixing spoon with a round handle

9' Cake Pan

Tooth Picks

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

In a mixing bowl, add the dates, boiling water and instant coffee.  Let them sit there while you make the cake.

In your stand mixer, add the brown/golden sugar and butter, blend together.

Add 2 eggs and continue mixing.

Add 1 cup of flour and 1/2 tsp of baking powder.

Add 2 more eggs and continue beating.

Add 3/4 flour and continue mixing.

Add 1 tsp of baking soda in the date mixture

Add that to the rest of the cake mix and transfer to your cake pan.

You can cook the cake between 40 minutes and an hour, or until an inserted tooth pick comes out clean.

Icing is where the magic comes from.

In a sauce pan, add butter, heavy cream, and brown sugar.  Turn the burner on to medium heat.

Bring to a gentle boil.

Boil until reduced about 3/4 left or half depending on how thick you want it the icing.  Let it cool a bit and add the whisky, a good one, I usually use a 30 y/o Canadian whisky.

Leave the cake to cool and leave it in the pan.  Using the handle of the mixing spoon, you poke holes in the cake and you drizzle the icing on top of the cake.

Cut the cake and enjoy.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Potage, French Canadian Vegetable Potage

I have to make this and soon.  This looks like one of these items you make for a cold Fall day when it's just too miserable to be sitting outside.

Ingredients

1 Butternut Squash

1 Rutabaga or Turnip

2 Sweet potatoes

3 Carrots

3 Parsnips

6 Tbsps Olive Oil - divided

2 onions

4 to 6 stalks of celery

2 tomatoes

2 Tsps crushed garlic

Salt and Pepper

1 900 ml container of Chicken Stock

Optional - Maple Syrup, cream and butter

Stuff you will need

Cutting board

Sharp Knife

Veggie Peeler

Large Mixing Bowl

Cookie Sheet

Parchment Paper

Porcelain Cast Iron Dutch Oven or Stock pot 

Immersion Blender

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Peel and cut up the squash, turnip, sweet potatoes, carrots, and parsnips into cubes.  Put all the veggies into a mixing bowl, and toss with olive oil and salt & pepper.  Dump your veggies out onto a parchment paper covered cookie sheet and roast veggies for about 30 minutes.

While your root veggies are roasting, cut up your onions, celery, tomatoes.  In the Dutch Oven, add olive oil, onions celery and tomatoes.  Turn the stove burner to medium and fry them up for 10 minutes.  At the end, add crushed garlic.  Reduce heat to low.

Add your roasted veggies to the Dutch Oven.  Then add the chicken stock.  Using your immersion blender, blend everything till smooth and creamy.  Add some Maple Syrup to make it truly French Canadian (Optional).

Serve with cut up, buttered, baguette.  

When dishing up the potage, add a little cream and butter (optional).

I got this recipe from Vanessa Blais Mercier and this is her Facebook message:
Ok so it’s not exact mesurements but , butternut squash in cubes , couple of sweet potatoes , if they’re huge just use like 2 , couple of carrots , a ruttabaga , the like white carrots ? French for it is panais , all in a tray with salt pepper and oil and you roast them a bit, I add tomatoes and some garlic depending on how I’m feeling , then I’m a big pot you put some oil and you fry some onion and celery , then you put all of the other cute roasted veggie cube and you put some pints of either veggie or chicken broth , I usually do chicken , and you blend this until smooth, it’s at that point that I usually adjust the seasoning and add a touch of maple syrup, I don’t add cream or butter because I like to add it in my bowls 

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Fresh Strawberry Pie

This time, it was mum that seen the recipe and forwarded on to myself.  Time to insert this into my cooking blog.

Ingredients

9" Pie shell

4 cups fresh strawberries, quartered and hulled

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 3oz box of strawberry Jell-O

3 tablespoons of cornstarch

Stuff you will need

Sauce pan

Whisk

Cutting board

Sharp knife

Pie pan

Directions

Bake the pie crust in a 9" deep dish pie pan.  You can get the pie crust premade from the store, or make you own favorite pie crust.

Put the water, sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan, and bring to a gentle boil.  Whisk constantly until it becomes thick.  Should take about 3 minutes.

Add the Strawberry Jell-O and cook for another minute.

Remove from heat and let cool for about 15 minutes.

Add the strawberries to the pie shell.

Pour the glaze over the strawberries.

Refrigerate until the glaze is set.

Add a dollop of whip cream when serving.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome!