Rice Bread

I'm not sure where my mom got this recipe from, but it's delicious! It's a dense and delicious loaf whether made with white or brown rice, but my preferred rice is Aldi's Specially Selected Basmati Brown Rice. I used two cups of whole wheat flour the last time I made these and it was still delicious!

2 T yeast
2 T sugar
1/4 cp water
2 T shortening
2 tsp salt
1 cp milk
1 1/2 cp brown rice, cooked and cold/room temperature
5 cp flour
3/4 cp dry milk (optional--I recommend Nido dry whole milk powder)


Combine all ingredients except for the flour. Beat, adding enough flour to make a workable dough. Turn the dough out and knead, adding more flour as needed. Let rise twice and shape. [I usually just let it rise and then punch it down and shape it and let it rise again and then bake it. It sounds like you should let it rise again, but I never have enough time.]

Bake in two greased 8" x 4" loaf pans at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or till they sound hollow when tapped [or are 190 degrees inside].

Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding

This is the bread pudding that Mom made when we were kids--the only thing I liked raisins in other than Hot Cross Buns. The best part was the yummy brown sugar sauce in the bottom of the pan. We always just served it straight from the pan. The recipe is from an old newspaper article.

Serves 4.

1 cp dark brown sugar
3 slices bread
1 cp raisins
2 T butter
3 eggs
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

1. Measure into top of a double sauce pan: 1 cp dark brown sugar.

2. Butter: 3 slices bread, using 2 T butter for the 3 slices. Dice the bread and sprinkle over the brown sugar in the sauce pan.

3. Add: 1 cp raisins.

4. Beat: 3 eggs, 2 cps milk, 1/8 tsp salt and 1 tsp vanilla. Pour over bread. Do not stir. Place over simmering water and cook for 1 hour. The brown sugar will form a sauce.

5. Serve warm or cold. Turn out onto serving plate to serve.

Hot Cross Buns

This is from an old Fleischmann's cookbook. Mom sent me this recipe when I lived in Germany, and I've been making it ever since, so about 16 years. I go a little heavier on the spices. If you knead as Betsy Oppenneer recommends, you will only need about 4 - 4 1/2 cups of flour and they will be soft and moist.

5 1/2 - 6 cp all-purpose flour
1/3 cp sugar
2 packages of yeast (ca. 2 T)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cp evaporated milk
1/2 cp water
1/3 cp butter, cut into pieces
2 eggs
1 cp chopped dates or raisins (I prefer currants.)
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Powdered Sugar Frosting (recipe follows)

In a large bowl, combine 2 cp flour, sugar, undissolved yeast, cinnamon, salt, allspice, and nutmeg. Heat milk, water and butter until very warm (120 to 130F). Gradually add to dry ingredients; beat well, scraping bowl occasionally. Add 2 eggs and 1/2 cp flour; beat well again. With spoon, stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.

Punch dough down. Remove dough to floured surface. Knead in dates/raisins (currents). Divide dough into 18 equal pieces (about 75g each); shape into smooth balls. Place in/on greased pan/sheets. Cover; let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Brush egg white over rolls. Bake at 375F for 20 minutes or until done. Remove from pans; let cool on wire racks. Drizzle or pipe Frosting onto each roll to make a cross.

Powdered Sugar Frosting: In small bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted; 1 to 2 tablespoons evaporated milk; and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.

Russian Salad Dressing (James Beard)

This is Mom's favorite dressing. It tastes delicious with endive and arugula. She swears she got it out of James Beard's American Cookery, but we can't find it in there anywhere!

1/4 cp sugar
3 T water
1 1/2 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
2 1/2 T lemon juice
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T vinegar
1 cp salad oil
1/2 cp catsup
1/4 cp grated onion

In a saucepan, cook sugar and water until it spins a thread, about 230°. Cool syrup. Combine remaining ingredients; add syrup and whisk to blend well. Chill thoroughly.
Makes about 2 cups of Russian dressing for salad.

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce

6 oz can of tomato sauce
1 can tomatoes (crushed)
1 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf
6 oz tomato paste
6 garlic cloves
1/2 - 1 cp onion
1/4 tsp marjoram
2 T olive oil
1 tsp salt

Combine ingredients in food processor or blender.
Add:
fresh basil
Parmesan or Romano cheese

Mom's Liver and Onions

• Use calf liver!
  
• Dip liver in flour.
• Fry it in bacon grease.
• Brown both sides and remove to a plate.
• Put onions in pan and brown them.
• Add 1/4 cp flour and brown this (add more grease if needed).
• Pour 2 cp cold water in pan while stirring.
  
• Put liver in pan and simmer.
  
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
  

Mom's Rice Pudding

Mom made this many times for Gina while she was recovering from chemotherapy.

1/2 cp dry milk
1/4-1/2 cp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/3 cp water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cp cooked rice
1 T butter, melted
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix dry milk, sugar, salt and water together. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Add rice and butter. Mix well Put in a greased 1-quart baking dish. Sprinkle cinnamon on top. Put in a shallow pan of water. Bake 1 1/4 hours. Stir twice after first half hour of baking.

Mom's Lasagna

1 lb Italian sausage
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T basil
1 16oz can tomatoes
1 2oz can tomato paste
10 oz lasagna noodles
2 eggs
3 cp cottage cheese
1/2 cp grated Parmesan
2 T parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 lb mozzarella cheese

Make tomato-meat sauce with the sausage, garlic, basil, tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook noodles. Beat eggs and add cottage cheese, Parmesan, parsley, salt, and pepper. Layer half the noodles in a 13x9x2" dish. Spread half the cottage cheese filling over the noodles. Add half the mozzarella and then half the meat sauce. Repeat. Bake at 375F for about 30 min. Or assemble early and refrigerate. Bake 45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
8-10 servings

Mom's Meatballs

1 lb chuck -or-1/4 lb pork + 3/4 lb chuck
1 cp fine dry or fresh breadcrumbs
1/2 cp grated Parmesan cheese
1 T minced fresh parsley -or- 1 tsp dried parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cp milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Mix ingredients and shape into 1" balls. Fry in oil or bake at 350F for about 30 min on a lightly greased baking sheet. (I prefer baking them.)

Chicken and Cabbage

1 T oil
1 1/2 cp chicken
2 carrots, sliced but not too thinly
1 tsp salt
4 cp cabbage, sliced in ca. 1/2" strips
1/2 cp water chestnuts
1 T cornstarch
1/2 cp cold water/bouillon/stock

Saute chicken and carrots in oil for 5 minutes. Add salt, cabbage and water chestnuts. Cook covered at med-low for 15-20 minutes--till all the veggies are tender. Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and stir in. Stir till thick and translucent. Serve over rice.

Mom's Chili

Mince
3 lg cloves garlic

Chop
1 lg onion
Saute onion with olive oil

Add garlic. Crumble in
1 lb hamburger

Stir well.
Add
1 tiny dried red pepper, cut up with scissors
2 T cumin
2 T chili powder
2 T oregano
1 sm can diced tomatoes
2 sm cans kidney beans, undrained (or 2 cp dry plus water)
salt and pepper
a bit of sugar
Either
1 sm can tomato sauce
1 lg can stewed tomatoes
-or-
1 sm can tomato paste
1 lg can tomato sauce

Rinse cans with water and pour that into pan.

Cook well.
Add
handful of pasta

Cook till done.

Mom's Meatloaf

Start 3 hours before dinner!

1 lb hamburger
1 T minced onion
1 egg
1 sl fresh bread crumbs, white
salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients lightly and form loaf. Heat pan. Put loaf in it.

Slice thickly (1/4-1/3")
1/2 onion
Press on top of loaf like this: OOO

Pour
1 sm can tomato sauce
over the loaf.

Put lid on pan. When it boils, add 1/4 cp water in pan to keep loaf from burning and turn heat down. Cook 1 hour. Put in some peeled and chopped (say, in half or thirds) carrots. Cook another hour.

2014 Update--she says she doesn't know who gave me the recipe above but it was not her! 
Mom now says she adds
1 lb ground pork (or whatever)
another egg (if using 1 lb pork)
1/2 onion, chopped fine
milk to make mixture not so stiff

She also says to use on top
1 sm can tomato sauce or puree

Apple Crisp (Mom)

4 cp (3-4 med) apples, peeled and sliced
2/3 cp packed brown sugar
1/2 cp flour
1/2 cp oats
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cp (5 1/3 T) butter, softened

Preheat oven to 375F. Place apples in 8" square baking dish. Mix remaining ingredients together and sprinkle over apples. Bake 30 minutes.

*I would  decrease the sugar  (when I doubled it, I used 1 cup instead of 1 1/3 cups and that was still too much), increase the oats, decrease the nutmeg, and increase the apples.

Cissy Gregg's Salisbury Steaks (Mom)

4 Servings

1 lb ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cp cream
1 sl bread crumbs (fresh--grind in blender, food processor or herb grinder)
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp prepared mustard
1 tsp parsley flakes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 T cornstarch
4 oz can mushrooms or 8 oz fresh
1 cp bouillon
fresh chopped parsley for garninshing

Combine meat, egg, cream, crumbs, and seasonings. Form into patties and brown slowly (medium) in heavy skillet until very well done. Remove to a warm platter.

Mix cornstarch with a little of the mushroom liquid. Pour out fat from skillet and put in mushrooms (including liquid), cornstarch and bouillon. Cook till translucent and reduced in volume, pour over steaks.

Calzone (Mom)

2.5 tsp dry yeast (18g)
4 tsp sugar (20g)
4 tsp warm water
1 cp plus 1 T milk
1 egg
3 3/4 cp flour (500g)
1 1/2 tsp salt

Mix ingredients together. Knead. Let rise 2 hours. Bake at 450F for 20-25 min.

German Cole Slaw

Slice cabbage superfine. Add salt and bruise cabbage with fingertips. Add some minced onion. Chop some bacon and fry till it's almost smoking. Turn off heat. Remove bacon bits to cabbage with a slotted spoon. Mix 1/4 cp apple cider vinegar and 1 T sugar into bacon grease and pour onto cabbage. Stir to distribute ingredients evenly. (You can also leave out the salt and use Ume Plum Vinegar, which is very salty, in place of the apple cider vinegar.)