ruthcooks

Mushroom squash I grew up in the forties and fifties in northern rural Illinois, in "the little bump on the big bump" eight miles from the Mississippi. Here's the mushroom squash recipe. The reason it appears in this form is because I've copied it from my cookbook manuscript. I just got the proofs back this week, and am starting to get excited. Enjoy. This recipe is one of a trio of very similar recipes which I use constantly: the mushroom stuffing for Rock Cornish hens, the mushroom mixture spread over the top in this squash favorite, and a filling for mushroom appetizers in cream cheese pastry or filo pastry. The poultry version is seasoned with thyme and has lots of chopped onion; the pastry filling is bound by egg and substitutes green onion; this one is given an Italian flavor with the additions of garlic and cheese. I created one of them, although I can't remember which, and the other two are variations; mushroom lovers adore all. I served this at a buffet supper once, and it was the most popular dish of all! 9 small or 12-16 tiny small yellow crookneck squash 1/2 c butter 1 onion, grated 12 oz mushrooms, washed and finely chopped 1 large clove garlic, minced or pressed 1-1/2 c fresh bread crumbs Salt and freshly ground pepper 1/2 c Grated Romano or Parmesan cheese Scrub squash and cut in half lengthwise. Place, cut side up, on a buttered baking dish just large enough to hold squash in a single layer when crowded tightly. Lightly salt and pepper. Melt butter in a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat and cook onion a few minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic, and cook rapidly until almost all liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat, stir in breadcrumbs and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread mixture evenly over squash and sprinkle top with cheese. Bake 30-45 minutes at 350 degrees, or until squash is tender when pierced with a fork. Oven temperature: 350 degrees Yield: 8 servings (or fewer; quantities are from a multi-course menu with other vegetables) Keywords: Appetizer, Easy, American ( RG119 )

I grew up in the forties and fifties in northern rural Illinois, in "the little bump on the big bump" eight miles from the Mississippi. Here's the mushroom squash recipe. The reason it appears in this form is because I've copied it from my cookbook manuscript. I just got the proofs back this week, and am starting to get excited. Enjoy. Mushroom Squash ***Unique/Original This recipe is one of a trio of very similar recipes which I use constantly: the mushroom stuffing for Rock Cornish hens, the mushroom mixture spread over the top in this squash favorite, and a filling for mushroom appetizers in cream cheese pastry or filo pastry. The poultry version is seasoned with thyme and has lots of chopped onion; the pastry filling is bound by egg and substitutes green onion; this one is given an Italian flavor with the additions of garlic and cheese. I created one of them, although I can't remember which, and the other two are variations; mushroom lovers adore all. I served this at a buffet supper once, and it was the most popular dish of all! 9 small or 12-16 tiny small yellow crookneck squash 1/2 cup butter 1 onion, grated 12 ounces mushrooms, washed and finely chopped 1 large clove garlic, minced or pressed 1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs Salt and freshly ground pepper Grated Romano or Parmesan cheese, about 1/2 cup Scrub squash and cut in half lengthwise. Place, cut side up, on a buttered baking dish just large enough to hold squash in a single layer when crowded tightly. Lightly salt and pepper. Melt butter in a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat and cook onion a few minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic, and cook rapidly until almost all liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat, stir in breadcrumbs and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread mixture evenly over squash and sprinkle top with cheese. Bake 30-45 minutes at 350 degrees, or until squash is tender when pierced with a fork. Oven temperature: 350 degrees Yield: 8 servings (or fewer; quantities are from a multi-course menu with other vegetables) Yes, I wash mushrooms. That extra flavor you save by wiping is often dirt.

I grew up thinking morels WERE mushrooms, never saw another kind except canned until I left home. The only way we ate them was this: my mother soaked them in salt water to get rid of the pesky varmits that always hid in the cracks. She then patted them dry, dipped in beaten egg and cracker crumbs (not too fine) and sauteed in butter until golden brown. We ate with bread and more butter, and reveled in the richness. My most popular mushroom dish is Mushroom Stuffed Squash: a stuffing of finely chopped button mushrooms, butter, onion, garlic, breadcrumbs and Parmesan or Romano spread over tiny summer squash halves and baked.

Some random thoughts... A market basket without having to cook? I get much enjoyment from reading the menus and descriptions, but it is of much less interest whether anyone actually cooked. I made up a menu, but that's as far as it went. A choice of baskets? I am mostly a Heartland/Southern/French cook who rarely delves into Chinese, Japanese, Moroccan, Indian, etc. You might want to consider a theme basket OR a non-theme basket. Re: list of ingredients. Even though care was taken to provide a list of widely available ingredients, there were three which were unavailable in my area. Those who are fortunate to live in proximity to great markets have no idea how limited the shopping is to those who must rely on the local supermarket. How about some input on what ingredients are pantry? Cheese is definitely on my list, as I am never without Parmesan, cheddar and cream cheese and usually have two or three others on hand.

You can achieve the same (prevent loss of flavor to water) by baking, ricing, and adding hot cream to the potatoes.

My three siblings and I grew up on a family farm in Illinois during the 40’s and 50’s. Most everything we ate came from the farm, except cases of canned crushed pineapple, Heinz ketchup, Campbell’s tomato soup and tuna (my dad didn’t like to run out), and staples like bread and iceberg lettuce. All of us were more likely to fight over who got more of something, rather than who had to eat it. It wouldn’t have mattered if we were picky, anyway, because if it was on the table we were going to eat it. My mother was basically a decent home cook, although her menu choices were often a bit skewed as in serving two salads and no hot vegetables or vice versa, or an all-red meal of ham with sweet potatoes and red Jell-O. (And there was plenty of Jell-O, which explains the case of crushed pineapple.) Out of every ten “salads” at least four were Jell-O and four were cole slaw, the remaining two being iceberg lettuce or cottage cheese or fruit. I rarely eat Jell-O these days, but I’ve never grown used to the idea of eating a green salad every day either. There were two dishes my mother made which I did not like. One was weak-flavored oxtail soup with huge pieces of cabbage and potato and carrot. I still don’t like vegetable soup or brothy soups. The other, a casserole in its worst incarnation, was layers of rice, sliced raw potatoes, and hamburger, with a can of tomato soup dumped on top. Yuk. Foods I did not like included: Peanut butter: I stayed overnight with a friend at around age 10, and was given a slice of peanut-butter-on-white-bread for a snack. What a nasty food, I thought, to give a hungry child! When no one was looking, I opened the kitchen door and threw it into the yard. Don’t give me any peanuts, either. For some strange reason, I like peanut soup. Beef heart: We butchered all of our meat and therefore ate all parts of the animal. Beef heart was boiled and served plain. Haven’t eaten it since I left home at 18. Rice pudding: When I was six, my parents gave me medicine in rice pudding. For years, it tasted bitter to me but I outgrew that. Sage: My dad kept wanting more sage in the turkey stuffing/dressing. When the sage began overpowering the onion, I started making my own. Nowadays I tolerate sage, but just a little. SWISS CHARD: the biggie. I haven’t eaten this one since the farm, either. Couldn’t believe it when chard started becoming an “in” veggie. It seems the older I get, the pickier I get—mostly about the way foods are prepared. But that’s another chapter.

Hello, Amanda, Do you make a distinction between cookbooks written from the life experiences of the author and those written by an author who "gets an idea" for a cookbook and researches and tests recipes for it? My wakeup came while attending a writers' conference on book marketing. The emphasis there was defining your market and sales pitch, THEN writing the book to fit. Do you consider yourself first a writer or a cook? And was this your original intention? Thanks for your participation. Ruth Dondanville

Suvir, I haven't found a recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding that I really like yet. The next one I want to try is a recipe in Nigella Bites. It's made like a pudding cake with the sauce on the bottom. I think it's called Easy Sticky Toffee Dessert. Can't say I'm enthralled with the book, though. Only 72 recipes in about 240 pages, it's loaded with filler. Also, do a search on the food network for Sticky Toffee Pudding, Jamie Oliver probably has one. Gale Gand has one called Sticky Toffee Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce in American Brasserie, and I have a couple more on file. PM me if you want any of these recipes.

And don't you love the guests who: ...offer to bring some yummy dessert and bring an apple pie from Kroger or Safeway, saying they were just too tired to cook. ...yammer on about calories and fat and such over the duck and dacquoise. ..insist on doing dishes right now when you'd rather rest and enjoy their company. ...stack dishes at the table and/or with food still on them and/or stack the dirty dishes in the kitchen willy-nilly among the leftover food. ...actually help out by cleaning up the kitchen, but stash your potholders under the sink and your foil over the refrigerator where it takes you forever to find them. Hint: your chef's knife is in the dishwasher.

Sorry, Suvir, I think I should have reversed those last two paragraphs to reflect a hopeful note. The depression seems to be coming from somewhere else. What a poetic tribute you wrote to your Nani. I, too, had a wonderful grandmother. She has been gone for over 40 years, but I still think of her almost daily. My thoughts are with you.

Ruth's first law of cooking: Pleasure derived must equal or surpass energy expended. As I get older, it takes more and more energy to cook and there is just not enough pleasure available to justify complicated recipes. I also have simpler tastes now. And sometimes when making a favorite dish that I haven't made for a while I sadly find I don't like it anymore. Is it age or loss of ability to taste, or does one follow the other? I lost some of my sense of smell to a particularly bad virus several years ago, and have a theory that about half my taste buds must have burned off because i like my food so hot (temperature, not peppers). There is the joy, still, of finding a fantastic new recipe, of having the first BLT of the season,with a thick slab of beefsteak tomato. I think I'm getting depressed.

I grew up on Maid-Rites in Illinois, and it's the one thing I must have when I go back to visit. You can cook the meat "loose" at home, but it just doesn't taste the same. I do know that you must salt it after cooking (as we saw on the program), but what other magic they work on it is a mystery. Perhaps it's sitting on the steam table for so long. Maid-Rites aren't as good as they used to be, when the wrapping paper came greasy. When you ask for "one with everything" you get mustard, pickle and onion. Ketchup is a special request, and if the waitress doesn't recognize you she might ask if you want ketchup. Root beer was the usual accompaniment. The other food I miss is breaded pork tenderloins as wide as a dinner plate on a regular size hamburger bun, with pickle and mustard. They seem to have been replaced with that pre-processed all-breading stuff. And about those thin-sliced pork chops mentioned on another thread--pound boneless chops (or tenderloin) thinly, bread (flour, water, breadcrumbs) and deep or pan fry for a homemade version of the above. Or rub with a dry rub, grill them and serve them as pork chop sandwiches. Forgot the web site: http://www.maidrite.com/send_maid-rite.html

How about this one: Homemade oatmeal bread (I love James Beard's recipe) or challah Sliced roast chicken at room temperature Warm hard-cooked egg slices Homemade herb mayo with dill, chives or green onion, parsley and any other herbs you fancy (May be made with only chicken or only egg slices) Or this one: Brioche hamburger bun Chicken Scallopini Tomato chutney mixed with sour cream or mayo Thin, sweet onion slices

How about this one: Homemade oatmeal bread (I love James Beard's recipe) Sliced roast chicken at room temperature Warm hard-cooked egg slices Homemade herb mayo with dill, chives or green onion, parsley and any other you fancy

When I moved to PA with my daughter's family last year, I was surprised to find that she does nothing special for either NYE or NYDay. So this year, to please myself, I opted for a NYDay dinner instead of doing Christmas, which has too many traditions for me to be experimental. (We're not talking venturesome palates here.) If I enlist the kids' help with serving, they'll probably try everything except the brussels sprouts. I would usually include a salad, but with all the other vegs in the appetizer I'm including the souffles which I've been promising my daughter for a long time. Here's my menu: Antipasto (Diced Italian Meats and Cheeses mixed with Asparagus, Baby Corn, Anchovies, Pepperoncinis, V & O and Black-eyed Peas substituting for Chick Peas for New Year’s Day) Butternut Squash Soup With Roasted Tomatoes and Thyme Little Soufflés Gratinee Marinated Roast Loin of Pork with Shallots and Wine Sauce Apple-Pecan Spoonbread Brussels Sprouts with Browned Butter and Lime Baby Green Beans (the default veg) Rolls Maple Syrup Pie with Whipped Cream Best wishes for a scrumptious New Year!

Here is one I have made in my cooking classes, origin unknown. Everyone liked them unless they simply refused to eat lamb. Very pretty, tasty and extremely unusual. Sweet and Sour Lamb Rolls 1 1/2 lbs. lamb shoulder chops (or leftover lamb roast) 1 onion Few sprigs parsley 1 bay leaf Salt and pepper 1 medium head (gasp!) iceberg lettuce 1/2 cup white wine vinegar 1/4 cup lemon juice 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon salt Cover lamb with water and add onion, parsley, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Cover and cook until lamb is tender, about one hour. Drain lamb and finely chop, reserving broth. Taste for salt and pepper and add enough broth to make it slightly moist. The lamb should be well seasoned. Core lettuce and plunge head into boiling water. Outside leaves will soften immediately, so keep removing them until you have separated the entire head. Cut out center rib of lettuce at the bse for easier rolling. If leaves are very large, you may cut in half, keeping in mind that you want the rolls to be approximately the same size. Heap lamb in the center of leaf and roll up tightly, tucking in ends. Place in a single layer in a serving dish. I use a shallow, wide glass bowl. Combine vinegar, lemon, sugar and salt, and pour over lamb rolls. Cover tightly and chill 6-8 hours or overnight. A warm appetizer I do with lamb leftovers is miniature Lahmahjoon, little pizza-like rounds, but that cookbook is in storage and I don't have access right now.

Here's my 2002 Christmas cookie selection: Marion's Date Balls (a date stuffed with a walnut, dipped in cookie batter, baked and frosted with browned butter icing) Scottish Shortbread (a family tradition) Mock Strudel (cream cheese pastry roll-ups with nuts and pineapple jam, sifted with powdered sugar) *Brandied Apricot Balls (again with the powdered sugar) *Mazarinkakor (Swedish Almond Bars with Chocolate Glaze) *Cinnamon Cloud-Nine Crunchies (with yeast, from the aforementioned Rose cookbook) Chocolate Crunchies (chocolate and nuts held together with more chocolate, very decadent) I'm also making cakes that are a cross between fruitcake and carrot cake, Grand Marnier and no spices, very moist. I made cheese straws for my good friend who doesn't care for sweets, which is kin to heresy in my family! *as yet untried

Judy - How about Veg-All in lime Jell-O? I grew up in the '50s Midwest where out of every ten "salads" 6 were Jell-O and 3 were cole slaw. The 10th was iceberg lettuce with bottled dressing. Caramel Knowledge is one of my favorite cookbooks for reading. When I had to put 3/4 of my cookbooks in storage last time I moved, this one came with me. I'm a non-believer in convenience foods, but I just had to try one of those cracker-as-cookie recipes. I found them surprisingly good, as are the savory ones made with cheese; it must be all that butterfat. They are comprised of: 1) brown sugar, butter, pecans, graham crackers 2)white sugar, butter, almonds, club crackers 3) saltines, cheese, herbs and spices The club cracker recipe is sweet and a bit salty. I might see if there is such a thing as unsalted or tops-not-salted club crackers if I make them again.

I do them like Toby, except for the following: no bread crumbs, just flour. Both sides sprinkled with brown sugar and caramelized, served with a cream gravy and the bacon on the side. At least once a summer! Also, I like the tomatoes to show some pink rather than being totally green and hard. I make a brunch casserole of layers of tomatoes and gravy and call it my "Fried Not-so-Green Tomato Casserole." This is making me hungry...maybe theres a green tomato or two left out there in the garden, I'll go see...

I once made bean soup in the crock pot the day our house went on the market. House sold in 2 hours! Sold another one at open house with cinnamon rolls.