Apricot Sesame Squares

Dietz family favorite. One of Donna's Dad's favorites!

1/2 C toasted sesame seeds  (second most important ingredient!)
3/4 C butter/etc soft
1 C packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 C flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda (or powder)
1/2 t cinnamon
1 C quick oats
1 C finely chopped dried apricots (this makes the whole thing possible)
1/2 C seedless raisins (swap out for currants or craisins if desired)

To toast seeds: spread in shallow pan and bake in 350F 5-8 minutes stirring occasionally until golden. Remove from oven.  Cool. (You can probably do this on top of the stove if you have a big enough pan to manage that as well!)

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, egg, until light and fluffy. Stir flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon into butter mixture until well mixed. Add oats, apricots, toasted sesame seeds, and raisins. Mix well.  Mixture will be thick. Spread evenly into greased 12"x9" pan.  Bake in 350F oven 25 min or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool before cutting. Makes 24 2"squares.

Blue potatoes and turnips

I wonder if maybe we had some random food co-op thing going or what, but clearly we had some roots and got creative here...

1.5 lb diced blue potatoes
1 diced turnip
boil 20 min

3 cloves garlic
1 sliced onion
fry in olive oil

Combine that with oregano, salt, paprika

Quinoa and tomatoes

1 cup red quinoa
generous 2 cups of water
3 diced tomatoes
Boil these items to cook

Add to above:
dash of salt
bunch of fresh cilantro
1/8-1/4 cup or so of lemon juice
Cook down liquid.

Oriental Sauce

soy sauce
soy milk
rice vinegar
basil
cilantro
brown sugar
ginger paste

Forgive us, we make up stuff and have no idea what to name it.  
This is so named, because it tastes to us like what we might have in a Chinese restaurant.

Rose Preserve

Probably from time in Ithaca in our yellow house! So, between 2006 and 2008.

3.5:1 mass ratio sugar to rose petals.

Boil petals continuously for 1-2 hours before adding sugar
6 oz petals yields 2.5 c preserve
cook until it has honey-like consistency

Onion Semolina Soup

3 sliced onions
6 oz chopped mushrooms
1 zuchinni
4.5 c water
1T salt
1/2 t paprika
1/4 c semolina flour
1/8 c amaranth
2t powdered nutritional yeast
2t olive oil

Mushroom Gravy

1t oil
2 diced onions. 
Brown this then add
6oz chopped mushrooms to the browned onions

2 cups of water, 
1t nutritional yeast
1/8 c soy sauce
blend above in food processor/blender

Roux: 1T butter/oil, 3T white flour fry to make roux.
Add roux to above mix, simmer gently 2-3 minutes to thicken.

Alternate Calzone Filling

1 cup ground "meat"
8 oz spinach, chopped
4 oz feta
1/4 cup romano
1/2 t coriander
parsley
oregano

Tofu Mushroom Soup

1T peanut oil
2 garlic cloves
3 sliced onions
6 sliced shitake mushrooms
8 white mushrooms sliced
(Fry in sequence. Brown one before adding next item.)

Add to this in sequence:
4c water
1t salt
2T lemon juice
1T soy sauce
1T rice vinegar (any vinegar is ok)
1 sliced and seeded jalepeno
4oz cubed firm tofu

Adding, bring to boil, simmer a few minutes.

Scones

This is a Robinson family favorite!

1.25 to 1.5 c Flour
1 to 1.5 c quick oats
1/4 c sugar
2t baking powder
1t cream of tartar (optional, flavoring only if using baking powder. Needed if using baking soda!!!)
1/4 c butter (molten)
2 eggs
0.5 c milk

May add chocolate chips if desired. This will make the treats disappear even faster!
Great travel food!

Makes 8 pieces, Bake 12-14 min at 425F

Curry Chicken (for rice?)

This pre-dates our having a mature curry plant that provides us with real curry leaves!

Sauce:
2T butter
3T flour
1.5 c milk
2T curry powder

Mix:
180g carrot
425g potatoes
140g onion
4 pieces of "chicken"

Casserole I

I don't even see a Casserole II anywhere but oh well...

Cook: 1/2 c millet + 1/2 c rice (rice cooker likely?)

Sauce: 2T butter, 3T flour (roux) 1 cup milk, dash nutmeg.

Mix into sauce: 2T Parmesan  1oz cheddar, 1 beaten egg, 1T breadcrumbs (Save for top)

Fry: 1 cup ground "meat", 1 diced onion, 1/2 t paprika, parsley

Mix all ingredients together. Sauce, rice, "meat".  
Place into 8x8 greased baking pan.
Top with 1T breadcrumbs.

Bake 375Fx30min

Options: Substitute 1/4c teff+ 1/4c aramanth for millet. Add extra 1/2 c meat and 1 tomato and 1 onion.

Quiche Tempeh

I think we only did this once...

1 pie crust
4oz tempeh sliced thin and fried
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
2t oil (frying)
2 oz shredded cheddar

bake at 375F x 45 min

Fancy Sauce for pasta

2T butter
2T white flour
fry that together (It's a roux)

9 green olives, chopped
1/2 c yogurt
1/4 c milk
1/4 cup Parmesan and/or Romano
Combine above items with whisk.

Mix the roux with other items and cook over very low heat until thick.

Quinoa again

Dressing:

3T olive oil
3T lemon juice
1/2 t salt
black pepper
Whisk all together.

Quinoa:

1/2 c quinoa
1 c corn
1.25 c water
1/2 t cumin
Boil together until water absorbed

Beans:

1 onion diced
1c black beans
cilantro
Fry that together.

Mix Dressing, Quinoa, Beans, feta (If desired), and 1-2 diced tomatoes.

Strufoli (3 pie tins) AKA Honey Balls

3.5-3.75 c flour
6 eggs
1 t vanilla
1.5-2 T baking powder
4 oz anisette (or sambuca or rum, or leave out... add more vanilla if needed)
2.5 lb honey
1.5 lb "crisco" or similar
1 t lemon or orange zest (peel, grated)
candies for dusting.

Beat all eggs in bowl.
Add flour, baking powder, vanilla, anisette, peel, and mix all that.

Work dough, sit/rest 1/2-0.75 hour, adding oil if needed. 

roll into "snakes" and cut into 1/2" pieces.

Fry in deep pot w/crisco (or corn oil?)
Make sure it is hot.  350F
When all fried, put into colander to drain.
Put honey in a pot an get good and hot.  Just to simmer, do not boil it.

Add fried bits, cook in honey 5 min. Keep turning to be sure balls are covered. 
Place in pie tins. 
Add candies for festive look.

Lasagne

2x ravioli dough (see other entry for this)
1x manicotti filling (mostly ricotta cheese, salt maybe, eggs, parsley)
lots of tomato sauce
8 oz mozzarella

Cut dough into strips 2-3" wide and a bit shorter than pan
Layer sauce at bottom, then dough, ricotta filling, mozzarella, and sauce on top.
Repeat until pan is full.

Bake 350F for 35 min or until bubbling rapidly.
Let cool briefly before cutting.

Blueberry Buckle

This timeless delight is from Donna's family.  It's one of her Dad's favorites!

Base: 

Cream 1/2 c shortening (butter) (=4oz) + 3/4 c sugar
add 1 egg. Beat until fluffy

Sift: 

2 c flour, 2.5 t baking powder, 1/4 t salt

Combine 1/2 c milk, creamed mixture and sifted mixture. Spread into 11x17 pan.
(Maybe pre-grease that pan?)

Berries: 

Add 2 cups blueberries to top of spread mixture.

Topping: 

Mix: 1/2 c sugar, 1/2 c flour, 1/2 t cinnamon, 1/4 c butter
cut together with fork, sprinkle on top.

350F x 45 min 

serve warm.

(Be real. It won't have time to get cold!  But it's fine reheated if you get that far!)

Stuffing

5 min: 

1/2 c water boiling, 1/2 c butter, 1/2 cup of chopped onions (optional: 1-2 celery chopped)

1 t Thyme
1 t Sage

1/2 t Rosemary

1/2 t Marjoram
Salt
McKay's (or MSG, Salt, Onion powder instead)

parsley

12 c Bread cubed and toasted (or dried)

Combine all.

Meaty Mush

Vegetarians need protein as much as anyone else!

1 can curried gluten (from Asian grocery store)
1 onion
1/2 pack fake pepperoni cut into 1/4ths
1/2 pack mushrooms
5 breakfast links cut into coins
oregano

Surely this was pre-children!  This could only feed 2 people for sure!

Black beans

Boring name... but we liked this

1 can of black beans (already cooked)
1 onion
4 garlic cloves
"bacon" bits
tomatoes
lots of paprika
oregano?
cilantro- lots
black pepper
red pepper
ajwain - lots
salt

California Wrap

 I think this is from California for real, but has nothing to do with that state. I think Michael and I were simply there when we ate this and had no better name for this wrap.

sprouts
tomatoes
red onion
avacado
green pepper
mushroom
sliced jack cheese
in tortilla w/ranch dressing

Quinoa

 I may have eaten this while at a doula training session.  (I trained but never used my training to become a doula, prior to Theodore's arrival, as a way of learning more about birth.) So this might be c. 2010?

Quinoa
tomatoes
cucumbers
corn
olive oil
lemon/salt
feta
sumac?
flaxseed oil?

You can roast the quinoa prior to cooking it with a dry pan, waiting until you hear "pops". 
This adds a roasted taste to the dish.

Cheese-Stuffed Eggplant

 I think this was our rendition of something we ate at a restaurant. Perhaps the original dish was from "Olive Lounge" in Takoma Park, near Ace and Mark's Kitchen? If so, that would be (c.2012) but it may be much older, due to presence of real cheese in this recipie.

Sauce: 

3 red tomatoes (vine style)
one onion
1 can tomato paste (12 oz)
1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)
sugar
salt
homemade ("Farm") cheddar (small amount, possibly farmer's market purchase?)
oregano
basil

Eggplant:

Thinly sliced, standard eggplants first soaked in salt water
Dip in Egg then dip in ww/white flour mixture
Fry on both sides. in olive oil if possible

Cheese mix:

like manicotti but may use farmer's cheese

Layers:

Sauce, eggplant, cheese, eggplant, sauce...
Top with farmer's cheese and romano if you have that.

350F covered.

Potatoes

This is actually from today, so it’s out of sequence from the archives I am trying to build!

I took about 5 potatoes, washed, sliced into “coins”, then into cubes using this slicing device (see photo).

I put the plastic holder directly into microwave about 7 to 10 min until they are mostly “believable” for eating. Not raw, not too dry yet.

I fried onions then added the potatoes.

This was then fried with and without the cover, steaming a little more until it was perfect. Salt, pepper.

I forgot to take a last photo…whoops! All gone!

Grits

Donna learned to eat grits b/c of Lynette who ate them at AUC.

1/4c grits
1c H20
1/4 t onion
1/4 t salt
1/4 t MSG (optional)

The onion, salt, msg go into boiling water. Then mix grits.
Add cheese before serving.

Irish Soda Bread

From Paula Robinson (c. 2003?)

Mix together:
2c flour
1.5t baking powder
0.5 t baking soda
0.5t salt
1T sugar

cut in 1/4c shortening. Stir in 1 cup of raisins.
On the side, beat one egg and 2/3 cup buttermilk
Mix into the dry ingredients and knead briefly.
Form into a circle (like thick pizza shape) 10 in diameter.
Make a cross "dent" in the dough.  (Horizontal/Vertical)

Bake 375F 30minutes.

Pumpkin Soup

Another Pumpkin Soup!

1 small pumpkin (pie pumpkin)
1 cup water
16 oz cranberry sauce
1/4 c heavy cream
salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cinnamon
blend while warm

Note: Many of these recipes we only made once, even though we loved them enough to write down what we did!

Waffles

Waffles (c.2003 maybe?)

2 eggs
7/8c milk
2t oil
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c white flour
2t baking powder

Drop in 1/2 c amounts into hot waffle iron
Makes 4 waffles.

"Grape" Bread

1 package of yeast
1/2c water
3T butter
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c milk

1t salt
1 egg
2T Orange Juice
2.5-3c flour
1/4t nutmeg
1 egg for glazing

Blend yeast and warm water. In separate pan, melt butter, sugar, milk, and salt together. 

Heat to 115F.  Add yeast, warm liquid, 1 egg and Orange Juice.
Add flour, nutmeg.

Knead for 5-8 minutes. Cover, let rise 1 hour.
Punch down and let rise 10 more minutes.

Shape into "grapes" and two leaves, place on greased baking sheet.

Let rise 30-40 minutes.  Brush with beaten egg and a little water. Sprinkle over a small amount sugar.

Bake 20-25 minutes at 375F.

This is from Paula Robinson, c.2002 probably...

Baba Ganouj

3 eggplants
1/3c tahini
1 clove garlic
1/4 c parsley
1t salt
1/8-1/4c lemon juice

cook eggplant (Skinned, cubed) for 45min-1hour at 400F

Remove and puree or mash with other ingredients.
4-5 cups.

(I don't recall if the eggplant was covered while cooking!)

Basic Broth

 1c water
1/4 t salt
1/4t MSG
1/4t onion powder

(Use w/Hummus Soup, for example)

Hummus Soup

 From MR Old Collection (c. 2002 from Weight Watchers)

16 oz can chickpeas, drained
4c chicken broth (or substitute)
1 clove garlic
2T tahini
2t dijon mustard
cliantro, peppers for garnish

Blend chickpeas, garlic, tahini, mustard, 1/2 of the broth, high speed.
About 1 minute. Should be very smooth.  Add rest of broth, mix to pot.
Cook low heat until heated thoroughly, stirring constantly. 

Garnish w/cilantro and chopped bell pepper.  Serves 2.

Plum Crepes

 From MR Old Collection (c.2002)

Shells:

2 eggs
1/4 t baking powder
1/4 c flour
1/2c milk
mix thoroughly. 
3/8 cup of mix is 1 crepe

Filling:

5 plums
1/4 c sugar
Mix (takes awhile) and then heat very gently until plums fall into a mush.

Pumpkin Soup

 From MR Old Collection

1 6" diameter pumpkin
2c milk
1T sugar
1 small onion
1T oil
1 clove garlic
mushrooms, broccoli
nutmeg, cinnamon, black pepper

Cut pumpkin into quarters, remove seeds.
Bake at 450F face down on cookie sheet 20 min or until soft.
Let cool a little (enough to handle).
Remove skin and cut into chunks.
Blend at high speed w/milk until smooth
Add spices and sugar. Fry oil, garlic, mushrooms, and broccoli in cooking pot.
Once done, add blended pumpkin to pot, reduce heat to low.
Heat through, stirring constantly. 

Serves 2 or 3.

Ham Topped Potatoes

 MR's old collection

6 medium potatoes
2T cornstarch
2c skim milk
2T dijon mustard
1/4t black pepper
1/2c shredded cheese
2c cut ham

Heat Oven to 425F.

Bake potatoes 1 hour or until tender.
Mix cornstarch and milk in 2qt nonstick pot.
Cover over medium heat until mixture thickens and boils.
Stir in mustard, pepper, cheese.
Cook, stirring constantly until cheese melts.
Stir in ham, heat through. Cut potatoes into halves and pour sauce over them.

Ravioli Dough

 From MR's older collection

makes about 18-20 2" disks

1c flour
1 egg
1/4 - 1/3 c water, about 1/8 c may be all that is needed
pinch of salt

mix Dry ingredients (can sift together)
Beat egg into dry ingredients until small clumps are formed.
Slowly add water in tablespoon increments, mixing until dough holds together.
Knead until smooth.
Let dough stand 10 min.

Roll out thin and cut out disks (a cup works nicely).
Fill, and cook in boiling water 5-10 minutes.

Pancakes

 From MR's older collection

2c flour
5T baking powder
1/2t Salt
2T shortening, melted
1 beaten egg
1 1/4c milk
1/2c water
mix and sift dry ingredients. Add others, beat until smooth.

Pancakes with curry

 2 c white flour 

2 c gluten flour 

4 T corn oil
4 T baking powder
4 cups oat milk. No vanilla for sure!

Roughly 2 1/2 c water 

1/8 cup measuring cup to ladel into pan

Cook in corn oil

Top with:

Veggies/tofu with onions, 2 cans coconut milk, 1t salt, curry powder and coriander. 1T brown sugar.

Arrowroot to thicken.

Doubles

 We started with this recipe.

https://cookingwithria.com/wprm_print/2261

The dough : we did as stated, fried in corn oil in 2 pans on gas stovetop.

We didn’t have culantro but used cilantro instead.

We used 4 cans of chickpeas, draining the aquafava into a pot to heat. We added the spices etc to this, plus some egg replacer as a thickener. Potato starch etc would have been fine. We added a can of the drained chickpeas and used the immersion blender at this point for more thickness. Finally, the last 3 cans were dumped in. This was all brought up to temperature together.

We had tamarind chutney and mint chutney from the Indian grocery store. This was a really really good thing! I would not recommend this dish without the tamarind chutney! We basically made the cucumber chutney and I also would never skip that! We used some standard Mexican hot sauce (Cholulua brand).

I used the cumin options which is obvious if you know me well, but I should say that!