Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Lion House Wassail

Yield: 36 servings

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups white sugar
4 cups water
2 cinnamon sticks
1 slice fresh ginger root
4 cups orange juice
2 cups lemon juice
8 cups apple juice
8 whole allspice berries
1 tablespoon whole cloves

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, combine sugar and water. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and add cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, cloves, and ginger. Cover and let stand in warm place for 1 hour.

2. Strain liquid into a large pot. Just before serving, add juices and cider and quickly bring to boil. Remove from heat and serve.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Herbed Rib Roast

For roast

* 1 (7- to 8-lb) prime rib roast (sometimes called standing rib roast; 3 or 4 ribs)
* 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
* 2 bay leaves (not California)
* 1 tablespoon kosher salt
* 3 garlic cloves
* 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
* 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
* 1 tablespoon olive oil


For jus

* 2 cups beef broth
* 1 small fresh rosemary sprig
* 1 small fresh thyme sprig
* 1 garlic clove, smashed

Prepare roast:
Trim all but a thin layer of fat from roast. Grind peppercorns and bay leaves with salt to a powder in an electric coffee/spice grinder, then transfer to a mortar. Add garlic, thyme, and rosemary, then pound to a smooth paste with pestle. Stir in oil. Rub paste all over roast. Transfer roast to a rack set in a small flameproof roasting pan. Marinate, covered and chilled, at least 8 hours.

Cook roast:
Let roast stand at room temperature 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Roast beef in middle of oven 20 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350°F and roast beef until a thermometer inserted into center of meat registers 110°F, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours more. Transfer beef to a large platter and let stand, uncovered, 25 minutes. (Meat will continue to cook, reaching about 130°F for medium-rare.)

Make jus:
Skim fat from pan juices. Add broth, rosemary, thyme, and garlic and deglaze pan by simmering on top of stove over moderate heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits. Transfer to a small saucepan and add any juices that have collected on platter. Gently simmer 10 minutes. Skim fat and season jus with salt and pepper.

Put slices from roast and serve with jus.

Cooks' note: • Roast can marinate up to 24 hours.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Real Italian Calzones

REAL ITALIAN CALZONES

INGREDIENTS

* 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
* 1 cup warm water
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
* 1 teaspoon olive oil
* 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
* 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
* 1/2 cup diced pepperoni
* 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
* 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
* 1 egg, beaten

You can really put what you want in these. Chicken and broccoli are good. Sausage is good. We like spinach and green peppers. Anything that you would want on a pizza could be good.

DIRECTIONS

1. To Make Dough: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the
oil, sugar and salt; mix in 1 cup of the flour until smooth. Gradually
stir in the rest of the flour, until dough is smooth and workable.
Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, or until
it is elastic. Lay dough in a bowl containing 1 teaspoon olive oil,
then flip the dough, cover and let rise for 40 minutes, or until
almost doubled.
2. To Make Filling: While dough is rising, combine the ricotta
cheese, Cheddar cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms and basil leaves in a
large bowl. Mix well, cover bowl and refrigerate to chill.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. When dough is ready, punch it down and separate it into 2 equal
parts. Roll parts out into thin circles on a lightly floured surface.
Fill each circle with 1/2 of the cheese/meat filling and fold over,
securing edges by folding in and pressing with a fork. Brush the top
of each calzone with egg and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Homemade Breadsticks

1 Tbsp. yeast
1 1/2 c. warm water
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 c. flour (I added a little more than this because it was much to wet in my opinion.)
1/2 c. butter (1 cube)
Parmesan cheese
garlic powder

Preheat oven to 375. Combine yeast, warm water, and sugar and then set aside to let proof.

In mixer combine salt and flour. Add yeast after about ten minutes of proofing. Mix/knead on high for 3 minutes (dough will be sticky) and then let rest.

Put butter cube on cookie sheet in oven to melt while dough rests (I actually let mine rise for about a half hour to an hour, but that's not necessary.)

Roll out dough in flour until large rectangle about 1/4" thick. Cut strips with a pizza cutter or sharp knife. Roll strips in melted butter on cookie sheet. Line up strips on sheet next to each other. Sprinkle with garlic powder and Parmesan cheese. Let rise 15-20 minutes.

Cook in 375 oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Rice Pudding

1/2 c. rice
1 qt. milk (4 cups)
1/4 c. margarine
1/2 tsp. salt
4 egg yolks or two whole eggs
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. raisins

Combine rice, milk, margarine, and salt. Cook in double boiler for 2 hours or until rice is soft and mixture thickens (cook on high until water in bottom of double boiler starts boiling and then turn down to medium or medium-high.) Remove from heat. In a separate bowl beat eggs and then add sugar. Fold into rice mix. Stir in vanilla and raisins.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Matt's Recipe for Thanksgiving Turkey

Matt was quoted in the Clipper with this recipe for cooking a Thanksgiving turkey when he was 6. Do not use this if you don't want to get sick.

"Put the turkey in the oven for 20 minutes."

Sauce for Yams

1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. corn syrup
1 c. water
3 T. flour
5 T. butter
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix water and flour in pan. Bring to boil. Add remaining ingredients. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Pour over cooked, sliced yams and heat in oven.

Yams: Cook by boiling whole yams in salted water until tender. Peel and slice.

Marshmallows on top are optional.