PEACH MELON CONSERVE
ATOLE DE FRESAS
BREAKFAST FRUIT CHIMICHANGAS with
APRICOT BASTING SAUCE
SAMBUCA POACHED FIGS WITH RICOTTA AND PINE NUTS
ANCIENT GREEKS MADE STARCH
OLD-FASHIONED SOUR CREAM COOKIES
CHARTRES STREET TROUT
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September 30, 2001
from: Spike's and Jamie's Recipe Collection
http://www.spike-jamie.com
Many of these recipes have not yet been added to the recipe web site, so you are getting a
"sneak peak" of future additions. We hope you enjoy these recipes. Spike's comments are in []Brackets[].
Jamie has built a wonderful website of memorials focused on the attack of
September 11, 2001. This website is located here:
http://www.spike-jamie.com/911/
God bless us all.
Shalom, from
Spike the Grate & Jamie the Webmistress
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The Newsletters are Archived Here:
http://archive.spike-jamie.com/
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PEACH MELON CONSERVE > Back to Top <
6 cups diced peeled peaches
2 cups diced cantaloupe
6 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tablespoons syrup from preserved ginger
1/4 cup chopped preserved ginger
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Place the peaches and cantaloupe in a kettle and simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring to prevent sticking. Add the sugar, lemon juice and
syrup and boil rapidly until mixture is thick. Stir to prevent sticking. Stir in the ginger and pecans and pour into hot sterilized
jars. Refrigerate and use within a few weeks or process for storage.
Makes about 10 jelly jars.
Fill and Seal Containers
After the jelly is done, remove it from the heat and quickly skim off any foam.
Pour or ladle the hot jelly immediately into hot sterilized canning jars to 1/4
inch of jar tops. Wipe each jar rim clean and place a hot, pretreated metal lid
on the jar with the sealing compound next to the glass. Screw the metal band
down fingertip tight.
Process Jelly in Boiling Water Bath
Process all jellied fruit products in a boiling water bath to prevent mold
growth. Mold develops on jellied fruit products when the seal is not vacuum
tight. Molds on jams and jellies were once thought to be harmless and needed
only to be scraped off before using the rest of the product. However,
microscopic mold filaments and toxins may extend beyond the mold itself. These
have produced cancer in test animals and, therefore, should be avoided.
Place the filled, hot, closed jars on a rack in a canner or deep kettle
half-filled with very hot water (170° to 180°F). Add additional hot water to
bring the water 1 or 2 inches over the tops of the jars. Cover the container and
bring the water to a rolling boil. Process for your altitude according to the
directions below.
At the end of the processing time, remove jars from the canner onto a rack or
towel. Let cool away from drafts for 12 hours or overnight.
Recommended Boiling Water Bath Processing Times for Jelly.
Style of Pack: Hot
Jar Size: Half pints or pints
Process time at altitudes of:
0-1,000 ft. = 5 minutes
1,001-6,000 ft. = 10 minutes
Above 6,000 ft. = 15 minutes
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ATOLE DE FRESAS > Back to Top <
2 pounds strawberries, washed, hulled, and sliced
2-1/2 cups water
3/4 cup cornstarch
4 cups milk
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon vanilla
In a blender, combine the strawberries and 1/2 cup of the water, and process thoroughly. Set aside.
In a large sauce pan, dissolve the cornstarch in the remaining 2 cups of the water and bring to a boil. When the mixture starts to thicken, add
the milk and sugar. Continue cooking until the mixture thickens again.
Remove from the heat, add the strawberry puree, cream, and vanilla. Reheat the atole until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Serve
hot.
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BREAKFAST FRUIT CHIMICHANGAS > Back to Top <
Apricot Basting Sauce
8 ounces Cream Cheese Softened
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
1/4 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Orange Peel, Grated
6 Flour Tortillas
1/4 cup Apricot Preserves
1 large Egg, Beaten
2 Tablespoon Butter, Softened
1 cup Apricots, Sliced
Flour Tortillas should be 8-inches in diameter and be warm. Prepare apricot basting sauce; set aside. Heat oven to 500°F. Mix cream cheese,
ricotta cheese, sugar, and orange peel thoroughly. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the mixture into the center of each tortilla; top with 1 Tablespoon of
preserves. Fold one end of the tortilla up about 1-inch over mixture; fold in the right and left sides over the folded end and then fold the
remaining side to overlap the others. Brush the edges with egg to seal. Brush each with butter. Place seam sides down on an un-greased jelly
roll pan, 15-1/2 X 10-1/2 X 1-inch. Bake until chimichangas begin to brown and the filling is hot, 8 to 10 minutes.
Serve with apricots and
Apricot Basting Sauce.
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APRICOT BASTING SAUCE > Back to Top <
1/2 cup apricot jam
1/4 cup dried apricot, chopped
1/4 cup white wine
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Cooking Directions:
In a small saucepan over low heat cook apricot jam, chopped dried apricots,
white wine, honey, and Worcestershire sauce, stirring occasionally, until the
jam is melted. Use as a basting sauce for grilled meats.
Makes approximately 1 cup.
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SAMBUCA POACHED FIGS WITH RICOTTA AND PINE NUTS > Back to Top <
Serve this dish at the end of a meal — it's a fruit and cheese course in one.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
3/4 cup Sambuca (An Italian liqueur made from elderberries and flavored with licorice.)
2 tablespoons sugar
12 firm-ripe fresh purple figs
3/4 cup whole-milk ricotta (preferably fresh)
Heat oil in a small skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then cook pine nuts, stirring, until golden, about 2 minutes.
Transfer to paper towels and season with salt.
Simmer Sambuca with sugar in a saucepan (pan should be just large enough to hold figs upright), stirring until sugar is dissolved. Cut a very
thin slice from bottom of each fig and stand figs in liquid in saucepan (figs will not be covered by liquid). Poach figs at a bare simmer,
covered, 5 minutes. Cool slightly in liquid. Season ricotta with salt and pepper. Divide figs among 4 plates
alongside mounds of ricotta and drizzle figs with some of poaching liquid, then sprinkle with pine nuts and serve.
Makes 4 servings.
[]Interestingly, sambuca is also the name of an ancient stringed instrument! []
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ANCIENT GREEKS MADE STARCH > Back to Top <
(FIGURED OUT HOW TO MAKE STARCH)
CHARLES PERRY, Portland Oregonian
The Greeks discovered how to separate starch for cooking. Or to be more specific, the people of the Greek island of Khios, off the coast of
present-day Turkey. That formula was followed with scarcely any change throughout the Middle Ages: Cover whole wheat with water for a week and
a half, changing it regularly, and when it has softened, crush it, strain it and dry the starch for later use.
What impressed the Greeks about starch was that it didn't need grinding the way flour does; the Greek word for it is "amylon," which literally
means "not milled." They probably thought of starch as a sort of pudding, because a related word, "amylos," means wheat slowly simmered
until the hulls soften. (Amylos might sound like a simple-minded dish, but it was honored in the Middle Ages under the name "frumenty," and
clear into the 19th century frumenty was a regular side dish at European banquets.)
The Romans had a more modern attitude toward starch. They used amulum for thickening sauces, as medieval European cooks continued to do. Cooks
also have thickened pie fillings with starch since the Renaissance.
In the Middle East, there was a quite different approach. The Persians had devised a way of separating starch from flour, rather than from
whole wheat. You kneaded dough, then kneaded it again under water until the starch washed out and there was nothing left but the chewy gluten,
which you threw away. Middle Eastern cooks used the starch either in
this liquid form ("malban") or dried ("nishasta," literally, "what settles"). They valued it for making puddings and sweetmeats similar to
Turkish delight.
The Chinese prefer New World sources of starch such as corn, manioc and arrowroot for thickening sauces, but earlier they probably used wheat
starch made by the Persian method. They know all about kneading dough under water, only they don't throw away the gluten. They call it
"mianjin" ("the muscles of the wheat") and make vegetarian "pork" and "chicken" products out of it.
We've picked up on mianjin in this country, too. If you ever see the words "textured vegetable protein" on a food label, that's what it is.
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[]Vegetarians and vegans know that substance as “TVP.”[]
[]I wonder if this is also how laundry starch was made. I can remember my mother cooking starch that came in a cardboard box; looked
like rock salt only it didn’t shine. I think it was called “Linit.” I would have called it something else.
Anyway, she would boil it in a huge pot, permit it to cool, and then would dip my father’s shirt collars and cuffs in it – also some other clothing
items – never underclothes (!) – and would sprinkle the rest of the clothes with plain water, roll them up tightly, wrap them in a
pillowcase, place them in a dishpan, put a towel over them, and in the afternoon, iron them. It took all day to do the ironing.
There was another brand of starch called “LaFrance” and it was sold along with a wax-like substance called “Satina,” which helped one’s iron
glide more smoothly over the fabric that was being ironed.
[]I further remember that poor women living in the Eastern United States,primarily New York City and Washington D.C., especially during
pregnancy, would eat laundry starch. It was cheap, had a comforting mouth-feel, and was
filling. Of course, since that was the mainstay of their diets, many of them developed severe malnutrition, and died. Their babies, having
extracted all the nutrition they needed from their moms’ bodies, were in good condition.
[]Since the advent of permanent press fabrics, few people iron nowadays, and there is spray starch for the purist who likes really neat
collars and cuffs.[]
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OLD-FASHIONED SOUR CREAM COOKIES > Back to Top <
1/2 cup shortening
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2-1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon lemon extract
Grated rind of two lemons
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Cream the shortening and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and
baking powder, and add alternately with the sour cream to the batter. Stir in the lemon extract and lemon rind.
Drop by teaspoonfuls, two inches apart, into greased baking sheets. Bake fifteen minutes, or until lightly browned at the edges. Tops will
be pale.
Makes 4 dozen.
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CHARTRES STREET TROUT > Back to Top <
6 trout, filleted
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup butter (approximately)
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup capers
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
Buttered toast
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and butter it well. Arrange the fish fillets on the foil and
sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dot fillets liberally with the butter and cover with another sheet of aluminum foil. Bake eight to ten
minutes or just until the fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Transfer the fish to hot dinner plates and sprinkle with lemon juice,
capers, and parsley. Serve with buttered toast.
Serves 6
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Our main website is located here:
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