Make-Ahead Country Casserole

When cleaning house the other day, I ran across this oldie but goodie from the 2003 Farmer's Almanac. My mom made it for the first time "way back then" and I made sure to get the recipe from her.
What's great about it is that you can prep it the night before and it's really easy to make!
The ingredients are easily adapted to your liking- experiment with the cheeses, herbs, meat (for my vegetarian friends, try out some fake meat or suitable protein).

Butter a 2 1/2 quart square baking dish
(I used a known 1 quart plus a dish I guessed was 1 1/2 quarts)
Heat oven to 350º

4 cups frozen hash brown potatoes (Ore Ida shreds are good)
1 to 1 1/2 cups (1/2 lb) diced deli ham (prefer Black Forest)
1 cup (4 oz) Monteray Jack cheese with jalapeno peppers (Cabot) or sharp cheddar, shredded
1/2 cup green onions, sliced & any other herbs you'd like to try
4 eggs, beaten
1 12oz can of evaporated milk
salt & pepper, 1/4 tsp each

Arrange the potatoes evenly in the bottom of the dish.

Cover with ham, cheese and green onions.

In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, milk, salt and pepper.
Pour over potato mixture.
*dish may be refrigerated overnight at this point

Bake, uncovered, in a 350º oven for 55 to 65 minutes (10 minutes less for 2 dishes), or until center is set.

Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 6 servings.

Green onions & oregano, fresh from the garden.

Assembly line.

Chocolate Ice Cream

This recipe is courtesy of Alton Brown. I Googled "chocolate ice cream recipe" and it was the first to come up. It's so incredibly rich. We added chocolate chunks at the end of the blending but I could also appreciate brownie, cookie or pecan bits in there, too!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 ounces unsweetened cocoa powder, approximately 1/2 cup
• 3 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8 large egg yolks
• 9 ounces sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Place the cocoa powder along with 1 cup of the half-and-half into a medium saucepan over medium heat and whisk to combine. Add the remaining half-and-half and the heavy cream. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and remove from the heat.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the sugar and whisk to combine. Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts, until about 1/3 of the cream mixture has been added. Pour in the remainder and return the entire mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon and reaches 170 to 175 degrees F. Pour the mixture into a container and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract. Place the mixture into the refrigerator and once it is cool enough not to form condensation on the lid, cover and store for 4 to 8 hours or until the temperature reaches 40 degrees F or below.

Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. This should take approximately 25 to 35 minutes. Serve as is for soft serve or freeze for another 3 to 4 hours to allow the ice cream to harden.

Three-Bean Salad

This is tasty and one can't help but feel so good eating something so healthy for you.
It's best made a day ahead.
You could make this more of a lunch salad by adding some tuna or smoked salmon.

Three-Bean Salad
2 Tb olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 15oz can of red kidney beans, rinsed
3 Tb cider vinegar
1 16 oz package (divided in half) frozen edamame beans (not in the pod)
1 bell pepper (any color), cored & chopped
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 lb organic fresh green beans, trimmed and cut in thirds
2 Tb chopped fresh cilantro (or parsley)

Heat the oil on medium high in a large skillet.
Add cumin and kidney beans, cook until they're warmed up, a minute or two, stir occasionally.
Add vinegar and edamame, cook another minute. Turn off the heat and leave to cool in skillet while you prep the other ingredients.

In a large bowl, add bell pepper, onion, garlic, salt & pepper. Add bean mix and allow to cool.

Cook green beans in boiling salted water for 3 minutes. Drain and cool them with cold running water.

Add the cilantro to the salad, toss, then gently fold in the green beans.

Enjoy!

Zucchini Pancakes Stuffed with Goat Cheese

Here's a great way to use up a small portion of the garden abundance of zucchini!
I've made this recipe before, courtesy of Emeril Lagasse, 2002.
I'm encouraged by this recipe to try lemon zest, flour and baking powder in other pan-cake recipes involving crab or fish in the future, hmmm...

Grate a 1lb zuke into a big bowl. The one I used was 1 1/4lb but I cut off the ends.

Grate a medium onion. Cut off the root end bottom and use the top to save your hand.
Either use cheesecloth or a very thin, rinsed dish towel and gather the gratings to squeeze out all the juice you can. I was astonished to have nearly a cup-full!
Zest a lemon. I obtained 3 tsp. but you only need 2 tsp.

Add gratings, zest, 1 TB chopped fresh basil, clove of chopped garlic, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ground pepper to the big bowl.
In separate bowls, beat up 2 eggs and in another, mix 1/2 cup all purpose flour with 1 tsp baking powder. Pour eggs, then flour into bowl and mix until just combined.
Thin-slice a 4oz. bar of goat cheese. It helped to freeze it 30 min. ahead of time.
Preheat a nonstick skillet for 3 minutes on medium-high heat. Add olive oil (or canola) to coat the bottom of the pan enough to fry (don't be shy) and carefully plop 1 TB (erring less) of batter, 4 spots in the pan about 1" apart. Then immediately top with a slice of goat cheese and more batter to cover.
Flip once you can see the underside browning, about 2 minutes.
Cook another couple minutes, even flipping some more if necessary. Be patient. Keep a small plate in a toaster (or regular) oven warm at the lowest temp. possible (ours at 150) to keep the finished pieces ready and warm for serving.

All ready to eat! We did freeze some for later consumption (mmm yumm).

We ate them with "Wild Harvest" marinara sauce on top. Yummy yet rich.
It would be a great appetizer with a simple green salad.

Taster approved. (A+ rating)
(added one month later): These freeze and reheat well! Put on foil in a 425º toaster oven and cook for 10 minutes, flip, then 8 minutes more.

Pesto Fig Mascarpone Torte

I have made this a few times and it is so rich and delicious and appreciated. It's perfect for late summer/early autumn, when figs are in season.

Yield: Serves 16 to 32 as an hors d'oeuvre

For crust
1 cup finely ground wheat crackers such as Wheat Thins
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted until golden, cooled, and ground fine
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For filling
1 1/4 pounds cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mascarpone or sour cream
3 large eggs

Layer completed filling with
1 1/4 cups homemade basil pesto (recipe follows) or prepared basil pesto

Topping
2 pounds firm-ripe fresh figs (about 16 large), 1 pound cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1/2 cup fig preserves
1 1/2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar

Accompaniment: baguettes cut diagonally into thin slices and toasted lightly

Make crust

Preheat oven to 325° F. and butter a 10-inch springform pan.

In a bowl with a fork stir together crust ingredients and salt and pepper to taste. Press mixture into bottom of pan and bake in middle of oven 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Make filling

In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together filling ingredients and salt and pepper to taste until very smooth.

Assemble torte

Pour half of filling into crust. Drop dollops of pesto over filling and spread carefully to form an even topping. (Some filling may show through.) Top pesto layer with half of fig slices, overlapping them slightly, and pour remaining filling over figs, spreading evenly. Bake torte in middle of oven 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until top is golden brown and set. Cool torte in pan on a rack (filling will deflate slightly). Chill torte, covered loosely, at least 3 hours and up to 2 days.

In a small saucepan stir together preserves and vinegar and bring to a simmer. Remove pan from heat and cool mixture. Stir in salt to taste.

Slice remaining pound figs into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Run a thin knife around edge of pan and remove side. Spread torte with preserves mixture, leaving a 1/4-inch border, and top decoratively with remaining fig slices. With 2 large metal spatulas transfer torte to a serving plate.

Pesto
4 garlic cloves
3/4 cup pine nuts (1/4 pound)
2 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 cups grated Pecorino Romano
7 1/2 cups packed bush basil leaves
5 tablespoons olive oil

Pulse garlic in a food processor until finely chopped, then add nuts, cheeses, a large handful of basil, and 1 teaspoon pepper and process until chopped. Add remaining basil one handful at a time, pulsing after each addition, until finely chopped. With motor running, add oil and blend until incorporated.

Wanda's Grandfather's Pickles

If you are looking for one helluva addictive pickle, this is it!

You know something is good if you remember how delicious it was, over
20 years later.

Thank you to Lynnie Sedgwick. She still has this family recipe and is willing to share it.
We made them in our church's junior high youth group, which the Sedgwicks and my parents were in charge of at the time.

Wanda's Grandfather's Pickles
3/4 c. sugar
1c. vinegar
1 T. salt
3/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. dill seed
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, slices
2 cucumbers, thickly sliced
Add everything to a mason jar except
garlic and cucumbers. Shake.
Add cukes, mixing in garlic slices.
Cover and refrigerate.
Ready to eat in 3 days!

The equipment.

Beef Stir-Fry

In a small bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup water, 2TB each hoisin sauce and rice vinegar, 1 TB cornstarch, some dashes of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes; set aside.
Blanch veggies that need to be pre-cooked, for around 3 minutes in boiling water. I cooked the carrots alone and the asparagus and broccoli, together.
At the ready: 2 sliced green onions (scallions), 2 cloves of chopped garlic, 3 sliced mushrooms.

Heat splash of vegetable oil on high until it shimmers, add meat (sliced 1/4" thin). Cook a little more than 2 minutes then flip and cook until no longer pink. Transfer to a nearby plate and cover (it will continue to cook).
Add onion and peppers and cook until browned slightly and starting to go limp. Then add the mushrooms and garlic.
Add in the blanched veggies and hoisin sauce mix. Let cook until thickening becomes apparent, then put the steak back in.
And, oh yes, cook up some jasmine rice to serve the stir-fry upon!
Taster approved, along with what the cook loves most, numerous appreciative comments!