Mom Mackay's Cranberry Bread
Ingredients & Directions 2 c Flour, all-purpose 1 c Sugar, granulated 1 1/2 ts Baking powder 1/2 ts Baking soda 1 ts Salt 3/4 c Orange juice (juice -of one large orange) 2 tb Shortening 1 tb Orange peel, grated -(one large orange) 1 Egg, beaten 1 c Cranberries, halved -or chopped 1 c Walnuts or pecans, -chopped Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom, but not the sides, of two small loaf pans. In a large bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt). Blend very well. Mix together the orange juice, orange peel, melted shortening and beaten egg. Mix only enough to blend uniformly. Mix in the cranberries and the nuts; stir gently. Pour the mixture into the loaf pans. Push it to the corners, leaving the center slightly hollow. Bake about an hour at 350 degrees F. The loaves are done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting. Do not try to serve warm. NOTES: * A festive cranberry-orange nut-bread — My grandmother MacKay clipped this recipe from the 1951 edition of the Pillsbury Bake-Off competition recipes, and we’ve made it a family tradition ever since. From time to time my mother and I have both tried to improve on the recipe, but it appears that the recipe is already perfect; every variation we have ever tried has been disappointing by comparison. When I was a boy, before the invention of the food processor, making this bread required cutting the cranberries in half by hand, with a knife, and the person who brought 4 loaves of cranberry bread to the family Thanksgiving meal was more welcome than the person who brought the turkey. Now, between Baker’s Secret loaf pans and Cuisinart slicer blades, you can knock out 8 perfect loaves of the stuff while watching one episode of Sesame Street. My grandmother still cuts each cranberry in half with a paring knife, and hers still tastes better than mine. Yield: 2 small loaves. * It takes practice to know when to stop mixing the dough. If you mix too much, the bread gets a chewy texture to it, whereas it should have a very crumbly consistency, like a muffin or cornbread. * It really makes a difference in the texture of this bread to use a shortening that is solid at room temperature, like Crisco. It really makes a difference in the flavor to use fresh orange-peel and not powdered. I prefer walnuts to pecans. * It might seem sensible to try to use the same orange for the peel and the juice, but it is really more trouble than it is worth to try to peel a juiced orange or juice a peeled orange. I usually use two oranges and eat the one that I took the peel from. * This bread keeps well in the freezer. Specifically, it keeps from Thanksgiving to Christmas. It also survives quite well being mailed by parcel post from Indiana to Maryland. : Difficulty: moderate. : Time: 10 minutes preparation if you have a food processor, 2 hours baking and cooling. : Precision: Measure carefully. : Brian Reid : DEC Western Research Laboratory, Palo Alto, California, USA : reid@decwrl.DEC.COM -or- {ihnp4,ucbvax,decvax,sun,pyramid}!decwrl!reid : Yields 2 loaves
Apricot Danish Coffee Cake
Ingredients & Directions CREAM CHEESE FILLING 1 Pack Betty Crocker Supermoist white cake mix 3 Eggs 1 1/2 c Sour cream 1 cn (16 oz) apricot havles, Drained 1 tb Firm butter 1/2 c Slivered almonds GLAZE Heat oven to 350. Grease & flour jelly roll pan, 15 1/2x 10 1/2x 1″. Prepare Cream Cheese Filling; reserve. Measure out 1/2 cup of the dry cake mix; reserve. Beat eggs slightly with fork in medium bowl. Stir in sour cream. Mix in remaining cake mix (batter will be thick & slightly lumpy). Spread in pan. Make 15 shallow wells evenly spaced in batter with back of spoon (do not scrape bottom of pan). Spoon about 1 Tbls. filling into each well. Place 1 apricot half, cut side up, on each spoonful of filling; press down slightly. Cut butter into reserved cake mix until crumbly; stir in almonds. Sprinkle evenly over mixture in pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cake portion comes out clean. Cool about 15 minutes. Drizzle with glaze. CREAM CHEESE FILLING 1 pack (8oz) softened cream cheese 2 Tbls. milk Beat cheese & milk together on low for 1 minute or until fluffy. File ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/food/mealmaster/recipes/mmkah001.zip Yields 1 Servings
Double Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients & Directions 1 1/2 c Flour, all-purpose 1/2 c Shortening 1/2 c Sugar 3/4 c Peanut butter, crmy; divided 1/2 ts Baking soda 1/4 c Syrup, light corn 1/4 ts Salt 1 tb Milk Combine flour, sugar, soda, and salt; cut in shortening and 1/2 cup peanut butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in corn syrup and milk. Shape dough into a long roll, 2 inches in diameter; wrap in waxed paper, and chill 2 to 3 hours or until firm. Unwrap roll, and cut into 1/4″ slices; place half of slices on ungreased cookie sheets. Spread each with 1/2 teaspoon peanut butter. Top with remaining cookie slices and seal edges with fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. SOURCE: Southern Living Magazine, October 1980. Typos by Nancy Coleman. Yields 2 dozen
Chocolate Layer Cake
Ingredients & Directions 2 c Sugar 3 Sticks Butter 1 pk (3 Oz) Cream Cheese 6 Eggs 4 c All-Purpose Flour 1 tb (Heap) Baking Powder 1/4 ts Baking Soda 3/4 c Milk 1 ts Vanilla Extract Chocolate Frosting — (see Recipe) Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream sugar, butter, and cream cheese together. Beat eggs in a small bowl at high speed for about 5 mins. Add to butter mixture and mix well. Sift flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add half the flour mixture to the batter and mix for 10 mins at low speed. Gradually add the milk. Then add the remaining flour, mixing thoroughly. Finally, add the vanilla. Mix thoroughly. Grease three 9-inch cake pans with butter. Distribute batter evenly among the pans and bake in oven for about 30 mins, or until edges shrink from the sides of the pans and the cakes are firm to the touch in the center. Invert onto cake racks and frost with Chocolate Frosting when completely cool. Yield: 12 servings. Yields 12 servings
Country Fair Banana Cream Pie
Ingredients & Directions -Nut Crust 2 c Pecans 1 c Butter, softened 3 c Flour 1 Egg,beaten 1/2 c Sugar -Chocolate Layer 1 c Chocolate chips 1 Stick unsalted butter 1 tb Light corn syrup 1 ts Vanilla -Banana 1 c Milk 4 Egg yolks 1 c Sugar 5 tb Flour 3 tb Unsalted butter 1 tb Rum or 1 tsp. vanilla 2 Bananas -Juice of 1/2 lemon 2 c Heavy cream -Chopped pecans,optional For the crust: Chop pecans very fine,preferably in a food processor fitted with a metal blade.Place in bowl with other crust ingredients and mix until well blended.Divide in half and press into the bottom of 2 pie pans.Chill 30 minutes. Bake the pie crusts for 25 minutes @ 350 degrees.Cool completely. For chocolate layer: Melt chocolate with butter and corn syrup in the top of a double boiler set over hot,not boiling water.Stir frequently. Remove from heat and cool,then stir in vanilla.Divide between cooked pie crusts and spread evenly. For Filling: Heat milk in a medium size saucepan over medium heat to scald.Beat the egg yolks and gradually add sugar.Then beat in flour. Gradually stir in hot milk.Transfer to medium saucepan and cook,stirring constantly over medium high heat(use a whisk).The mixture will lump as it begins to thicken.Bring the mixture to a boil and boil 1 minute,stirring constantly.Remove from the pan from heat and continue to stir until the mixture is smooth.Then,beat in butter and optional rum.Cool to room temperature. Peel the bananas,slice very thin and toss with lemon juice.Whip 1 cup of the cream until it is firm but not stiff.Mix about 1/4 of the cream into the cooled egg mixture to lighten it,then fold the remaining cream and bananas into egg mixture.Fill the pastry shells with banana cream and smooth to even.Beat remaining cream until stiff. Spoon around edge of the pies and sprinkle with chopped pecans,if desired.Makes 2 pies. Yields 12 Servings
Vegetable Custard Pie
Ingredients & Directions 1 Prepared 10-inch pie shell -in a tart pan 1 tb Olive oil 1 c Sliced wild mushrooms 2 tb Minced shallots 1 tb Minced garlic 2 Grilled medium red onion -slices 5 Grilled eggplant slices 10 Grilled zucchini slices 10 Grilled yellow squash slices 4 Italian Roma tomatoes; -roasted and cut into a -julienne 4 Egg yolks 2 c Heavy cream 1/2 c Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano -cheese 2 tb Chopped parsley Salt and pepper 1 c Carrot puree; warm, recipe -follows 1/4 c Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano -cheese 2 tb Chopped green onions 2 tb Brunoise red peppers 2 tb Brunoise yellow peppers ESSENCE OF EMERIL SHOW #EE2297 Carrot Puree: Cook 3 small or 2 large carrots and puree in blender Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a saute pan, heat the olive oil. When the pan is smoking hot, saute the mushrooms, shallots and garlic for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat. Start layering the vegetables in the tart shell, onions first, tomatoes and mushrooms last. In a mixing bowl, whisk the yolks, cream, cheese and parsley together. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over the vegetables. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the custard is set. Remove from the oven and let cool. Spoon the puree in the center of the plate. Place a slice of the tart in the center of the sauce. Garnish with the cheese, green onions and peppers. Yield: 1 10-inch tart Yields 1 Servings
Tangy Cranberry Bread
Ingredients & Directions 1 tb Yeast 3 c Bread flour 1/3 c Cranberries, dried 2 tb Dry milk 1/2 tb Salt 2 tb Butter 3 tb Orange marmalade 1 1/4 c Cranberry juice Bring all ingredients to room temperature and pour into bakery, in order. Set “baking control” at 10 o’clock. Select “white bread” and push Start. This is supposed to be great for Turkey Sandwiches. If using on delayed cycle make sure the berries are placed where they will not absorb all the moisture. Yields 24 Servings
