Catch the Spoon

I enjoy collecting old cookbooks, and pick them up at yard sales and flea markets whenever I can. Each Saturday, I post excerpts from my collection. Today’s post comes from Kate Smith’s Favorite Recipes.

Kate’s “Hermits” are in the Tea Cakes section of the book, and appear to be something of a cross between drop cookies and scones. Mace, one of the spices called for in this recipe, is actually the outer web-type covering of the nutmeg, dried and usually ground for use in cooking and baking. It’s similar enough in flavor to nutmeg to complement it well, but it does impart a unique oomph that is all its own.

Hermits

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sifted Swans Down Cake Flour
• 2 teaspoons Calumet Baking Powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon mace
• ½ cup butter or other shortening
• ½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 2 cups raisins
• ½ cup broken nut meets

Sift flour once, measure, add baking powder, salt, and spices, and sift together three times. Cream butter thoroughly, add sugars gradually, creaming until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat thoroughly; then raisins and nuts and mix well. Add flour gradually, mixing well. Drop from teaspoon on greased baking sheet and bake in moderate oven (350° F.) 15 minutes. Makes 4½ dozen hermits.

I’m a bit under the weather this week, so I’m naturally seeking out comfort foods and easy throw-together meals. This is a bit like the Greek classic moussaka, minus the eggplant; it’s savory, creamy, satisfying, and filling.

Be sure to use plain tomato sauce and not spaghetti sauce — the added Italian seasonings aren’t necessary here. The breadcrumbs thicken the sauce and sop up any grease from the beef.

Greek-Style Beef and Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds white potatoes
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 cup plain yogurt (homemade if available)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Peel potatoes and slice into 1/8″ thick rounds. In a small bowl, whisk eggs until well-blended and stir in yogurt. Set yogurt and potatoes aside.

In a nonstick skillet set over medium heat, brown beef, onions, and garlic. Add salt, potatoes and tomato sauce and cook 10 minutes or until edges of potatoes become translucent. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top and stir to combine. Pour into a baking dish and top with yogurt mixture. Sprinkle cinnamon on top.

Bake at 350° F for 90 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Serves 4-6.

I’ve written about pita before; it’s a versatile bread with many different incarnations and applications. This is the whole wheat version that we threw together last night. We had it with hummus for dinner, and right now I’m enjoying it with peanut butter and jelly for lunch.

Whole Wheat Pita

Ingredients:

• 1 rounded teaspoon yeast
• 2 cups warm water
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 cup gluten
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water and set aside for 5-10 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, gluten, and salt.  Add yeast mixture and oil. Mix to combine, adding additional water if necessary, so that a loose dough is formed. Dust work area with wheat flour and turn dough out onto surface. Knead for 10-15 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic, adding extra flour if necessary. Form dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover with a dish towel and set aside to proof in a warm place for 30 minutes. (We use the top of our oven.)

After 30 minutes have elaspsed, dough should be roughly doubled in size. Punch down dough and split into 16 equal pieces. Form each section into a ball. Place balls on a greased sheet pan, leaving 1″ in between; cover and set aside to proof for another 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500° F and place a baking stone or cast-iron griddle on the center rack.

When oven has preheated, roll dough balls into 3/8″ thick discs. Bake discs on preheated baking stone or griddle for 3-5 minutes per side, carefully using tongs to flip. (They will be puffy.) Serve immediately or at room temperature.

Makes 16 pitas.

This weekend brought a temporary respite from the otherwise bitterly cold Pennsylvania winter. 50-degree temperatures don’t have us breaking out the shorts and t-shirts just yet, but on this sunny Sunday afternoon, we are relaxing with a tiny taste of summer – lime tea coolers.

Lime Tea Cooler

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts cold water
• 2 large iced tea bags
• 4-8 teaspoons lime juice
• 4 tablespoons white sugar

Boil 3 cups water and pour over two large iced tea bags placed in a heat-resistant pitcher. Steep for 5 minutes. Remove teabags and add remaining water. Refrigerate 2-4 hours or until thoroughly chilled.

To serve, place 1-2 teaspoons lime juice in the bottom of a glass and top with 1 tablespoon sugar. Fill glass with cold tea. Stir well and serve.

Makes 4 large glasses.

There’s a sushi restaurant a few towns over where we go to dinner with friends once a year or so. I’m not a big sushi fan, but I am consistently wowed by their coconut chicken and broccoli. A few weeks ago when cleaning out the pantry, I noticed what I thought was a can of coconut milk left over from my birthday party in April, and decided to try my hand at a similar dish. When I got around to it earlier this week, I discovered that what I thought was coconut milk was actually sweetened cream of coconut — but I decided to use our classic “throw stuff together and see what happens” method of meal preparation. Good gracious, I’m glad I did.

Coconut Chicken

Ingredients:

• 3-4 pounds bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 15-ounce can cream of coconut, mixed well
  
• 6-8 whole cloves
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• Fried chow mein noodles (optional)
• Cooked medium-grain rice (optional)

Place the chicken in a large baking dish and roast at 350° F until chicken is fully cooked. Set aside to cool.

When chicken is cool, remove meat from bones and roughly chop. In a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat, warm the oil and add the chicken. Cook until chicken is lightly brown and slightly crispy on the edges. Stir in coconut, cloves, soy, ginger, and Worcestershire sauce.Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a small bowl, whisk together water and cornstarch. Add to pan and stir until mixture is evenly distributed. Add lime juice. Increase heat slightly and simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until sauce has reduced considerably and become glossy. Stir in walnuts. Serve immediately, over rice and topped with chow mein noodles* if desired.

Serves 4-6

*As you can see from the image at top, I like mine with a lot of chow mein noodles…

Rice for breakfast may seem a bit odd to some, but brown rice paired with fruit is a hearty and delightfully tasty dish to start the day. It’s deceptively filling – one batch of this recipe will feed the two of us breakfast for about a week. (Make this one week and my favorite granola recipe the next, and you’ll get a very good idea of daily wintertime breakfasts in our house.) It keeps superbly and reheats well, although I’ll admit to snacking on it at room-temperature when I’m too distracted with other things to bother with the microwave.

There’s a distinct lack of precise quantities in this recipe, and I truly hope that doesn’t deter anyone from trying it. The first time we made it, Meredith quite literally threw everything into a pan to see what would happen; since then, we’ve measured by her memory. (We usually make this on a weekend morning before we’ve had much coffee.) Leave a comment below if you’d like me to measure the actual quantities, and I’ll be happy to do so.

The lack of a sweetener in the ingredients list is no omission — I find that the natural sweetness of the fruit is more than enough for this dish — but a nice sprinkling of brown sugar certainly wouldn’t hurt if you have a particularly voracious sweet tooth.

Apple-Raisin Breakfast Bake

Ingredients:

• Brown rice
• Salt
• Ground cinnamon
• 1/2 stick butter, cubed
• Dried apple rings
• Raisins
• Water

Preheat oven to 400° F. Cover the bottom of an 8×8x2″ square baking dish with approximately ½” of rice. Sprinkle lightly with salt and liberally with cinnamon. Distribute butter evenly over top. Cover rice completely with apples. Sprinkle an even coating of raisins on top. Fill to within ½” of dish lip with water and cover tightly with foil. Bake for 30 minutes; reduce heat to 325° F and bake for an additional 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 8-10 servings.

Whether you slather it with maple at Thanksgiving or bathe it in raspberry at Easter, glazed ham is a holiday tradition. But why save your ham for the holidays? Inspired by leftover baked ham in our freezer (not left from a holiday, I promise…) and a few random additions from our pantry, a “what on earth are we having for dinner?” night turned into a very delicious, quiet (because we were too busy eating to talk) meal. Since cous cous is not only a favorite but a pantry staple for us, that’s what we served our ham over this time around; next time, I think I’ll try it with some sage stuffing and possible a citrus sparkle.

Pan-Glazed Ham and Walnuts

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds baked ham
• 1/3 cup orange juice concentrate
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened strawberry jelly (we prefer Smucker’s Simply Fruit or Polaner All Fruit)
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup walnut pieces

Cut ham into bite-sized cubes; set aside. In a large skillet, heat orange juice, jelly, and spices over low heat. Stir constantly until mixture is homogenous and starts to bubble. Add ham and stir to coat. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes or until glaze has thickened considerably. Add walnuts and toss. Continue to cook 1-2 minutes or until ham and walnuts are thoroughly coated and no glaze remains in pan bottom. Serve immediately.