Tag: book club

Appetizers · Book Club · New Favorite

Southwestern Deviled Eggs

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Quarterly book club review of the book, The Chile Queen by Sandra Dallas, was big hit. She has become one of my favorite authors. Our book review is always preceded by our favorite part of the evening, the themed potluck.  This time the theme is Southwest and the main dish included four different versions of Chile with cornbread. What to make to compliment chile? I found this recipe from Paula Deen, which I altered to suit my taste, and loved the results.  It has made me think there are even more creative ideas for for delicious deviled egg.

I love my Mother’s old fashioned deviled eggs but I’ll be branching out to find other versions!

 SOUTHWESTERN DEVILED EGGS

12 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled
1/3 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons shredded Cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons salsa (I used home-made Salsa)
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped green onion, plus more for garnish, optional
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste

  • Halve eggs lengthwise. Remove yolks and add to a small bowl.
  • Mash the yolks with a fork and stir in the mayonnaise, cheese, salsa, sour cream, green onion, and cumin.
  • Add salt and pepper, to taste, and blend well.
  • Fill the egg whites evenly with yolk mixture and garnish with additional green onions, if desired.
  • Arrange in a container and store, covered in the refrigerator, until ready to serve.

Recipe adapted from Paul Deen/Food Network

Gluten Free · New Favorite · Soups and Stews · Vegan · Vegetarian

West African Peanut Stew

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Peanut Stew is featured today thanks to this great recipe prepared by fellow Grandma-in-law (grandson Evan’s other Grandma), Chris, for our potluck last week as mentioned in Tuesday’s post.

She adapted the recipe per her notes below and it was absolutely delicious!  The original recipe serves six and is easily adaptable to vegan, omitting the chicken and using vegetable broth.  I will add this recipe to my favorites.

WEST AFRICAN PEANUT STEW

“A hearty stew that’s super-easy to make and great for peanut butter lovers. Can be made vegetarian or with chicken. In a pinch, feel free to use vegetable or corn oil for peanut oil, powdered ginger for fresh, water for stock, etc. Kale works well in place of collard greens.”

2 tablespoons peanut oil (I used coconut oil)
one half onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger (I prefer to slice them thick so you can fish it out)
a pinch of sugar to caramelize onion
1 pound chicken, cut into chunks (optional)
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper, or to taste (which for me was none)
I added about a tsp of cinnamon
salt and ground black pepper to taste
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
3 small sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
1 (16 ounce) can chopped tomatoes, with liquid
1/4 pound collard greens, roughly chopped
1 cup chunky peanut butter

  • Heat the peanut oil in a large pot over medium-high heat; cook and stir the onion, garlic, and ginger in the hot oil until softened, about 5 minutes.  (I used Costco rotisserie shredded chicken, so I didn’t add it until the last step, since it was already cooked)
  • Add the chicken; cook and stir until completely browned. Season with the crushed red pepper, salt, and black pepper. Pour the chicken stock over the mixture. Stir the sweet potatoes into the liquid and bring the mixture to a boil; reduce heat to low, cover the pot partially with a lid, and cook at a simmer for 15 minutes.
  • Stir the tomatoes, collard greens, and peanut butter into the soup. Partially cover the pot again and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, another 20 minutes. (Mine simmered for about 30 minutes longer than that. I used a potato masher and crushed up the sweet potatoes and tomatoes a little after the recipe’s 20 minute simmer, so it would be thicker rather than chunky.)

I had extra collard greens and one review suggested to sauté them as garnish along with chopped peanuts.

The original recipe was found on Epicurious.

 

Desserts · Holidays · New Favorite · Pastas

Kugel…Sweet, Noodle Pudding

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Kugel is something I have wanted to make (and taste) for years. Our book club was meeting to discuss ‘This is Where I Leave You’ by Jonathan Tropper. We always have a potluck prior to the discussion, typically with a theme from the book. This story takes place during the time this Jewish family is ‘sitting Shiva’, therefore the theme was favorite Jewish foods.

Our potluck including many wonderful dishes including Matzo Ball Soup, Latkes with Applesauce, Bagels and Lox, NY Cheesecake with Strawberries, Mandelbrot, Kugel and  fresh vegetables and fruit (to make us feel less guilty about the carb/fat overload).

Kugel was my immediate choice and friend and Grandmother-in-Law, Chris, shared a favorite recipe with me. It is a wonderful recipe, absolutely decadent and worth the splurge every now and again.  Sweet, sweet noodle pudding…I love you!

KUGEL

1 lb. egg noodles (broad or medium), cooked and drained
1/2 pound butter, softened
6 eggs, beaten
1 quart milk (1/2 cup less if using creamed cottage cheese)
3/4 cup sugar
2 caps vanilla
1 cup white raisins
1 pound cottage cheese

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups crushed Corn Flakes

  • Butter 10.5″ x 14.75 ” pan.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Pour boiling water over raisins, just to cover, to plump the raisins.  Let sit 10-15 minutes.  Drain.
  • Prepare noodles according to package directions.  Drain.  Place noodles in butter and mix well.
  • Combine eggs, sugar, milk, cottage cheese, and vanilla.
  • Add raisins and noodles.  Mix well.
  • Pour into casserole.  Top with cinnamon sugar and crushed corn flakes.
  • Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Family · Family Favorites · Home · My Roots

Good Old Fashioned Apple Pie and a Great Book

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Recently our book club read and reviewed ‘Tallgrass’ by Sandra Dallas, a historical novel that addresses the life and times of the small Colorado town and the controversial internment camp that divided the townspeople.  It was an great book and spurred an excellent discussion.  We all agreed that Sandra Dallas, who lives in Colorado and has family ties to Iowa, has an excellent voice for her characters.

Our book club always begins our gathering with a wonderful potluck typically with a theme associated with book. This evening we enjoyed sushi, edemame salad, fried rice, salads, fruit and much more. After brainstorming with my book club buddies, I decided to make an Old Fashioned Apple Pie in honor of Mary Stroud, a key character in the book.

My favorite Apple Pie is, again, from one my all-time favorite cookbooks. I must confess that I don’t make my own pie crust.  I think the Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts are excellent and I’d rather spend time on the good part…the filling!

As I was making this pie and cutting the vents for the top crust, I couldn’t help but think of my Mother and the hundreds, if not thousands, of pies that she baked over the years. I carry on her vent design, simple but effective.

The pie is excellent on its own but always wonderful topped with vanilla bean ice cream, too!

OLD FASHIONED APPLE PIE

Pastry for 2 crust pie
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons flour
dash salt
6 cups thinly sliced, pared tart cooking apples
2 tablespoons butter

  • On lightly floured surface, roll out half of pastry into an 11 inch circle. Use to line 9 inch pie plate, trim. Refrigerate, with rest of pastry until ready to use.
  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  • In small bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, flour and salt, mixing well. Add to apples in large bowl, tossing lightly to combine.
  • Turn into pastry-lined pie plate, mounding high in center; dot with butter.

 

  • Roll out remaining pastry into an 11 inch circle. Make several slits near center for steam vents; adjust over filling; trim.

  • Fold edge of top crust under bottom crust; press together with fingertips. Crimp edge decoratively.
  • Bake 45-50 minutes, or until apples are tender and crust is golden-brown.
  • Cool partially on wire rack; serve warm.
  • Optional:  Top with vanilla bean ice cream.

Recipe from:  McCall’s Cook Book, 1963