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~~~ day forty-one ~~~
Being of Polish descent, I am no stranger to pierogi. My mother makes them quite frequently and my friend Bill has prepared them on occasion.
As far as I am concerned, it’s just too much work to make your own. However, I have made a dish that incorporates the flavor and the ingredients of pierogi. It is a simple casserole and it is called “lazy pierogi.” The left over gravy that it calls for can be from chicken, pork, or beef. They are all acceptable.
lazy pierogi
serves 8
1 clove garlic, minced
½ lb mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, chopped leftover gravy 1 tbsp olive oil
½ cup dry white wine
1-lb can sauerkraut
1 lb spiral macaroni
fresh ground pepper
In a heavy iron skillet, sauté garlic and onion in oil over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add sauerkraut and pepper and simmer slowly for 10 more minutes.
Add mushrooms and simmer for 5 minutes more.
Add gravy and wine and heat through, stirring to blend all ingredients. Meanwhile cook macaroni according to the directions on package. In an ovenproof casserole dish, mix the macaroni and sauerkraut mixture and place in a 350° oven. Bake for ½ hour. This can be cooked in a Dutch oven on the stove as well. Serve.
Gumbo file is essential in gumbo dishes and it is basically nothing more than ground sassafras 135
leaves. You can find it in specialty shops and large supermarkets. It adds a wonderful zest to dishes.
Creole shrimp
serves 4
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 celery stalk, minced
1 tsp lime juice
2 tbsp Creole seasoning
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp gumbo file
⅓ cup olive oil
1 lb cooked shrimp
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
In a small bowl, mix vinegar, lime juice and mustard and add oil in a stream, mixing thoroughly. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour over shrimp and marinate overnight. Serve with toothpicks.
You may have noticed that quite a few of my recipes call for a pinch of cayenne pepper.
There is a reason why I use only a pinch. It’s fiery hot stuff. Just remember that you can always add more of a hot spice, but I am not sure what you can do to cool it down if it’s too hot.
Creole seasoning
3 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp garlic powder
cayenne pepper
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp fresh ground pepper
In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients. Transfer to a small jar and store in a cool, dry place.
136
picnic cole slaw
serves 8
1 head of cabbage
¾ cup white vinegar
1 large onion, sliced
½ cup olive oil
1 green pepper, sliced
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 cup sliced green olives
1 tsp celery seeds
½ cup sugar
Thinly slice cabbage, onion and green pepper.
Combine with olives in a large bowl. In a small saucepan, combine remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour over the vegetables and thoroughly mix. Refrigerate overnight and serve.
If you don’t have a waffle iron, you’ll have to skip this next recipe. I received one as a gift quite a few years ago. Even though it is a luxury kitchen item, mine has gotten a great deal of use over the years. You will need an electric mixer for this recipe as well, but it will come in handy on numerous occasions. The secret to this recipe is the beating of the egg whites separately from the yolks.
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cinnamon walnut waffles serves 4
non-stick cooking spray
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 eggs, separated
1 tbsp baking powder
1½ cups milk
pinch of salt
⅓ cup olive oil
¼ cup walnuts,
1¾ cups flour
finely chopped
1 tbsp sugar
Heat waffle iron after spraying both sides with the cooking spray. In a small bowl beat egg whites until stiff. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks until they lighten in color. Add milk and oil and continue beating for 30 seconds. Add dry ingredients and continue mixing until thoroughly blended. Blend in walnuts and egg whites by hand. Pour 1 cup of the mix at a time onto waffle iron and cook until golden brown. Repeat until waffles are cooked. Serve the waffles with blueberry or maple syrup.
menu for day forty-one
cinnamon walnut waffles
Creole shrimp
lazy pierogi
picnic cole slaw
dilled carrots
138
~~~ day forty-two ~~~
Some combinations of food sound unappetizing and perhaps rightly so. I once cooked a fettuccine made with peanut butter. I didn’t like it.
In fact, I will never combine peanuts with any main dish I cook, and I must say I like peanuts. Another combination that may not sound very appealing is pork with prunes. You just have to try it before passing judgment. That won’t be the only thing you’ll pass!
pork with prunes
serves 4
2 lbs lean pork stew
fresh ground ginger
4 tbsp flour
2 cups dry white wine
2 tbsp olive oil
½ cup water
fresh ground pepper
10 pitted prunes
Dredge pork cubes in flour. Heat oil in a Dutch oven and brown pork over moderate heat with pepper and ginger. Add remaining ingredients and simmer over very low heat for 1½ hours.
Refrigerate overnight and reheat the next day. Serve over egg noodles.
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mustard caraway wings
serves 6
¼ cup mayonnaise
24 chicken wings
3 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp caraway seeds
¼ cup Dijon mustard
2 cups rye bread crumbs
In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, vinegar and mustard. Put wings into the bowl and mix to coat.
Refrigerate overnight. The next day crush the caraway seeds in a mortar and pestle and mix into the bread crumbs. Dip wings into the crumb mixture and place on a rack over a cookie sheet. Bake in a 450° oven until golden brown, about 40 minutes. Serve.
menu for day forty-two
mustard caraway wings
pork with prunes
egg noodles
tossed salad
Chinese cabbage
party number three
Spanish chicken wings
stuffed mushrooms
dilled shrimp
Polish dill pickles
biscotti
cinnamon raisin bread
Oriental nectarine slaw roast loin of pork spicy applesauce
lazy pierogi
Russian potato salad
steamed vegetables
vegetable tray with sesame dressing 140
I had some friends over from work for dinner some time ago. I made some French onion soup and commented that the hardest part was slicing the onions. One of the consequences was that the eyes tend to fill with tears from the onions.
Frank, being the perfect straight man, mentioned that he heard that peeling onions underwater was supposed to help. I said, “I tried that but I almost drowned.”
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142
7. Back to Westchester:
camping and tailgating
I returned to the north within a short stretch of time. Travel brings to mind camping and cookouts in the great outdoors. You can certainly cook on a fire, using charcoal, wood or even gas, as now portable gas grills are available. A Coleman stove can almost simulate cooking in your kitchen, minus the oven, of course.
I will never forget one camping trip into eastern Canada and Maine a few years back. We made our own oven outdoors and baked a chicken.
We used large rocks, aluminum foil and plenty of charcoal. We spread bacon grease on the chicken and wrapped it in foil. It was superb and it took only twenty minutes to complete. I wouldn’t say the fire was hot but some of the foil melted (not around the chicken). We had our own microwave.
My late uncle Dick would cook a small turkey outdoors on the grill. He did a good job of it.
I have been to goat roasts and pig roasts and I’m sure you have too. The possibilities are almost endless as to what you can cook outdoors. You’re only limited by your imagination.
If you are fortunate to have a Coleman stove, you can cook just about anything outdoors.
On many occasions, I have prepared dishes ahead and just warmed them the day we ate them. Here is an even better idea. Why not make French onion soup and freeze it in a square container. As it is thawing in the cooler, the soup can serve as your ice. You can also do the same with chili, casseroles, 143
and cut up chicken. It just will require you to know when the item will be completely thawed, but that is something you can live with.
As you can imagine, I have never gone hungry on a camping trip or at a tailgating party before or after a football game. The foods that we have eaten are as varied as the recipes in this book.
We had chili for one Thanksgiving dinner during a camping trip in Great Smoky Mountain National Park of Tennessee. I made sauerbraten with egg noodles and sweet and sour red cabbage for one tailgate party a few years ago. Why not do it right?
144
~~~ day forty-three ~~~
The secret to marinating and basting is to let the food marinate long enough to eliminate the need to baste. This applies to meat as well as fish. A few years ago for the Dolphins versus Bills game at Rich Stadium, I had to settle for swordfish since I couldn’t find any dolphin. I have eaten the latter before and it is delicious. By the way, I don’t cook horse when the Bills play the Colts.
The marinade for the swordfish smelled so heavenly, that all I had to do was to grill it. The fire was just right so I put the steaks on the grill. They cooked beautifully and were ready to be removed when my friend Bill suggested I pour the remaining marinade onto the fish just before taking them off the grill. It added a trifle amount of flavor to the swordfish. The big bonus was how the outdoors was permeated with the brilliant marinade aroma.
marinated swordfish
serves 4
4 medium swordfish steaks
½ cup olive oil
4 tbsp soy sauce
½ cup sherry
fresh grated ginger
2 tsp dill weed
1 tsp grated orange peel
Place swordfish in a glass bowl. In a small bowl mix remaining ingredients and pour over fish. Let marinate overnight. Place steaks on a hot charcoal fire and cook each side approximately 7 minutes.
This will depend on the thickness of the steaks and the intensity of the fire. Remove and serve.
145
This next recipe may seem a little contradictory: Indian beans using French-style green beans. Trust me – it’s an international dish.
Indian green beans
serves 4
1 tbsp butter
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp mustard seeds
10 oz French-style
1 small onion, minced
green beans
fresh grated ginger
2 tbsp lemon juice
In a heavy iron skillet on medium heat, melt butter with oil. Add mustard seeds and sauté until they begin to pop, about ½ minute. Add onion, ginger, coriander, and cumin and cook until onion is soft.
Add green beans and lemon juice and continue simmering for 3 minutes. Serve.
boiled cabbage
serves 4
1 head of cabbage
fresh ground pepper
2 cups of water
2 tbsp butter
Trim the outside leaves of the cabbage and quarter.
Put cabbage into a medium saucepan and add water.
Bring to a boil and simmer until tender, about 10
minutes. Drain; add the pepper and butter, if desired. Serve.
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menu for day forty-three
marinated swordfish
boiled cabbage
rice pilaf
Indian green beans
vegetable tray with Russian dip 147
~~~ day forty-four ~~~
I mentioned that chicken is quite versatile and difficult to mess up. This brings to mind a day in Albany when I volunteered to make the barbeque sauce for the chicken at a friend’s house. I had my own recipe that was good so I wasn’t worried.
Unfortunately, it seemed that as I went down the list of my required ingredients for the sauce, one after another was missing and no one felt like driving to town to get them. So I improvised and mixed something together. I really don’t recall exactly what went into it. The sauce didn’t smell great, but we slopped it on the chicken anyway and the chicken was very good. You just never know.
The chicken can be parboiled if you like. If not, be sure to cut the chicken into small pieces to assure that no piece is partially cooked. Chicken tartare is about as popular as chicken salmonella.
tangy barbequed chicken serves 4
1 chicken, cut up
tangy barbeque sauce
Place the chicken on a hot fire and cook the first side for about 20 minutes. After turning the chicken, spread sauce on the top and cook the second side 20
minutes. Turn the chicken oven and spread sauce on the second side. Continue cooking and basting until the chicken is thoroughly cooked. Remove the chicken and if any piece is not properly cooked, return to the grill for a few more minutes.
148
tangy barbeque sauce
for 2 chickens
6 pitted prunes
8 oz tomato sauce
1 tbsp hot chili paste
1 large onion, minced
3 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
⅓ cup lemon juice
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Put the prunes, chili paste, oil, juice, Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce into a blender and puree.
Add the remaining ingredients and puree for 30
seconds more. Transfer the sauce to a small saucepan and simmer for ½ hour, stirring occasionally. Refrigerate until ready to use.
menu for day forty-four
tasty barbequed chicken
German potato salad
tossed salad
garlic cauliflower
Polish dill pickles
149
~~~ day forty-five ~~~
You need not buy salad dressing from the supermarket. Make your own. The stores today sell all different kinds of vinegars and you can experiment. Not too long ago I bought a bottle of raspberry flavored vinegar and the back of the bottle had a recipe for dressing. I tried it and it was very good. True French dressing is vinegar and oil. The recipe that follows is a tomato French dressing. If this is too sweet for you, reduce the amount of sugar. If not sweet enough, add some.
French dressing
makes 3 cups
¾ cup olive oil
¾ cup vinegar
¼ cup sugar
¾ cup ketchup
½ tbsp garlic powder 1 small onion, minced ½ tbsp celery seeds
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp dry mustard
1 tsp paprika
Put all the ingredients into a blender and puree.
Refrigerate.
Between Christmas and New Year’s Day a few years ago, I invited some relatives over for dinner. Not as many people sat down to dinner as I had planned. I made fruit Jell-O mold and my Aunt Esther brought a raspberry applesauce Jell-O dish, unknown to me until her arrival. The children may not have eaten too much of the other food I prepared, but they made sure that the Jell-O was not left over. Here is my version of fruit Jell-O.
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Jell-O fruit mold
serves 6
1 package Jell-O
1 cup tiny marshmallows
2 cups of water
½ cup chopped walnuts
16 oz fruit cocktail
Prepare the Jell-O according to the package directions. Refrigerate until the Jell-O begins to set, about 30 minutes. Drain the fruit cocktail. If you don’t want to use the canned variety, use fresh fruit, such as oranges, pineapple, peaches, pears, seedless grapes, and grapefruit. In a large bowl, mix the fruit, marshmallows, walnuts, and semi-set Jell-O.
Pour into a Jell-O mold and refrigerate overnight.
Unmold by dipping in warm water. Serve.
There is nothing like Polish sausage, and that includes the fresh variety as well as the more familiar kind found in any supermarket, the smoked variety. You will really have to search to find fresh Polish sausage unless you live in a city with a large Polish population such as Buffalo, Chicago, or Milwaukee. You can ask at the butcher shop or else make your own. Each variety offers a different flavor to any dish and you can use either or both kinds in the following soup recipe even though it calls for fresh Polish sausage.
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lentil sausage soup
serves 8
1 ham hock
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 cups lentils
2 carrots, chopped
7 cups water
large onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp dried thyme
¼ lb fresh cooked Polish
½ tsp salt
sausage
16-oz can tomatoes
½ cup ditalini
pinch of sugar
fresh ground pepper
Place the ham hock, lentils, water, bay leaf, and thyme into a large Dutch oven and bring to a boil.
Lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour. Add the salt, tomatoes, sugar, celery, carrots, onion, and garlic and simmer for 20 minutes more. Slice the Polish sausage ¼ inch or less, add to the soup and continue simmering until the vegetables are tender, about 10
minutes. Remove the ham hock and let cool. Add the ditalini and simmer until done. Separate any meat from the ham hock and add back to the soup with the ground pepper. Refrigerate overnight.
Warm and serve.
menu for day forty-five
lentil sausage soup
French bread
Jell-O fruit mold
steamed green beans
tossed salad with French dressing 152
~~~ day forty-six ~~~
I don’t usually use dips for chips and vegetables, except for an occasional salsa. That’s because most dips are loaded with calories, fat, and cholesterol. However, salsas and bean dips certainly don’t fit into the same category. Hummus is another healthy dip that you can use. If you’re familiar with Middle Eastern cooking, then you probably have heard of tabbouleh, hummus, pita bread, stuffed grape leaves and kibbeh. I dated a Lebanese woman a few years ago. I was at her parents’ home on many occasions. Her mother loved to cook, so I experienced the cuisine of that part of the world. I can’t honestly say that Middle Eastern food is one of my favorites. Fortunately, this family had Cuban influences so that made for some great dinners.
Here is a recipe for lentil hummus that is great for dipping raw vegetables or bread.
153
lentil hummus
serves 8
1 cup lentils
¼ tsp dried thyme
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 small onion, minced
⅓ cup lemon juice
4 cups water
¼ cup olive oil
1 clove
½ cup tahini
5 sprigs parsley
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
fresh ground pepper
In a large pan put lentils, 2 cloves of garlic, onion, water, clove, parsley, bay leaf, thyme, and bouillon cube. Bring to a boil and simmer until lentils are tender, about 45 minutes. Drain the lentils and cool.
Remove the bay leaf and clove, if you can find it and puree the lentils in a blender. Add remaining garlic and lemon juice and puree. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and blend in the olive oil, tahini, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Hummus may be refrigerated. Serve.
Fresh asparagus from the garden is good when steamed for a few minutes. Nothing needs to be added. I prefer it slightly crunchy.
steamed asparagus
serves 4
1 lb asparagus
water
Trim the ends and wash each stalk. Place asparagus in the water in a shallow pan and cook until tender, about 4 minutes. Serve.
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I mentioned the famous speedie of Binghamton. Someday I will come up with the recipe for that specialty. For now, this will have to do.
marinated pork
serves 4
½ tsp ground marjoram
⅓ cup olive oil
¼ cup sherry
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried thyme
2 lbs lean pork stew
1 bay leaf, crumbled
metal skewers
Thoroughly combine all ingredients, except for the pork. Pour marinade over pork and refrigerate overnight. Thread about 5 pieces of pork on each metal skewer and cook over hot charcoal, turning until pork is cooked through. When pork is done, wrap a thin slice of Italian bread around it, and pull meat off the skewer. Indulge.
menu for day forty-six
marinated pork
sliced Italian bread
lentil hummus
steamed asparagus
vegetable tray with sesame dressing 155
~~~ day forty-seven ~~~
Monkfish brings with it a texture similar to that of lobster. If you have ever had lobster in a restaurant in some kind of dish, you may wonder if you weren’t actually eating lobster, but monkfish. A few years ago, I met some friends for lunch and each of us had the specialty of the rest