Mill Brook House Recipes

Baked Pancakes

Mix this batter the night before and bake for breakfast the next morning.  This batter uses yeast, not unlike blini or other raised pancakes.

1 T dry yeast + ½ t sugar dissolved in warm water.  Let it foam.  

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Mix together the following and add the dissolved yeast:

1 egg

½ T cooking oil

1 cup buttermilk

½ cup milk

1 t vanilla

1 T sugar

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Sift and add to the liquid mixture:

1 cup white flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

1 t baking soda

1 t baking powder

½ t salt

½ t cinnamon, opt.

Cover your mixing bowl and refrigerate the batter for 7-8 hours or overnight.  Place batter in a greased, oblong pan.  Bake at 400° for 7 minutes.  Remove from the oven and sprinkle 1 pint of blueberries, raspberries, or sliced strawberries over the partially cooked batter.  Return to the oven and cook for an additional 15 minutes.  Cut into squares and serve with maple syrup and/or whipped cream.  (If you choose to omit the maple syrup, sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.)

Unlike fried pancakes or waffles, leftover squares of baked pancakes stored in the refrigerator and warmed for ½ -1 minute in a microwave maintain their flavor, texture, and freshness.

 

  

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

 

These make a fancy breakfast or a light supper.

  Pancakes 

  1.5 cups flour

  ½ t BP

  ½ t baking soda

  ¼ t nutmeg

  ½ t salt

  2 T sugar

  1 cup ricotta cheese

  2 eggs

  juice and grated rind from 1 lemon

  1.5 cups milk

  Beat the wet ingredients by hand in a large bowl.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until just moist. Fry on both sides in a lightly greased frying pan.

   Lemon sauce 

  Juice and rind from one lemon

  2 T cornstarch dissolved in

  1 cup water

  sugar to taste (3-4 t) 

  Heat the lemon rind and juice, add the sugar, pour in the water and cornstarch and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.

  Divide the pancakes onto three or four plates and top with powdered sugar.  Dribble the lemon sauce over them and top with fresh berries. (For a richer dish, brush each pancake with melted butter before serving.)

 

 

Quiche with Lox and Onions

My husband grew up loving Lox, Eggs and Onions, a deli specialty.  This recipe combines two culinary traditions.

Make or buy your favorite piecrust.  If you don’t have one, use the recipe below:

5 T butter

1 cup flour

¼ t salt

2.5 T water

Add the salt to the flour; cut in the butter; sprinkle the water and mix lightly.  Roll out the dough with a rolling pin and line a pie pan with it.

Mix:

4 large eggs

1.5 cups milk or cream

1.5 T flour

¼ t salt

1 T sherry

pepper, cayenne, nutmeg to taste

Grate:

6-8 oz. cheese (gruyere or cheddar)

Sauté 1 medium to large onion.  Spread it in the bottom of the pie pan.  Tear 3 oz. of smoked salmon (lox) into bite-sized pieces and spread them on top of the onion.  Scatter the grated cheese on top, and pour the egg mixture over everything.

Bake for 45-55 minutes at 375°.

 

 

Fruit-Stuffed Pancakes

This recipe works best with applesauce or frozen fruit.  If using frozen fruit, thicken 2 cups of it on the stove with 2 T cornstarch.  Mix the cornstarch with c. ½ cup of water, bring the fruit with its juice to a boil, add the cornstarch and water and allow the mixture to boil until the liquid is clear and not milky.

Prepare your favorite pancake recipe, adding enough milk or water to make it slightly runny, or use the recipe below.  Your pancake should cover most of the bottom of a large frying pan.  Place your pancakes in a warm oven until all are cooked.  On a large serving plate or on individual plates, roll up each pancake with c. 1/3 cup of fruit, placed along the diameter, with 1-2 T of crème fraise on top.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

Pancakes

Mix together:

2 eggs

1 T canola oil

1 cup milk

1 cup buttermilk

Sift into the wet ingredients and mix lightly:

1.5 cups of flour

½ t baking soda

½ t salt

1 T sugar

Heat a large frying pan, adding 1 T. of oil.  Pour c. ¾ cup of batter into the pan and swirl it around until it covers most of the pan.  Let the pancake bubble and turn glossy on the edges before you flip it.  (Pancakes made with sour milk or buttermilk are very tender and will break apart if you flip them too soon.)  Cook the second side for only a minute or less. Makes 6-8 pancakes.

Crème fraise

If you don’t regularly keep crème fraise in your refrigerator, here’s how to make a light version: mix together 1 pint of light cream and 2-3 T sour cream, pour it into a glass jar and let it sit at room temperature for about 36 hours.  If your oven has a “proofing” setting, leave the cream in your oven at 85°; it will thicken faster at this temperature.  Once the cream has thickened, give it a stir, cover, and refrigerate.

 

 

Maple Dumplings

 

Toast ½ cup of pecans in a 300° oven for 10 minutes, then chop.

Combine:

1.25 cups flour

1 t baking powder

½ t baking soda

½ t salt

Cut in: 2.5 T butter (by hand or in a food processor)

Place 1 egg in a measuring cup and whisk until it is uniform in color; add buttermilk to the cup until you have ½ cup liquid.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated into the dough.  (To keep the dumplings tender, do not over-mix or knead.)  Split the dough into 10 golf-ball-size balls and place them on a cutting board or plate. 

Pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil:

1.5 cups water

¾ cup maple syrup

¼ t salt

Turn down the heat and drop half of the balls of dough into the pan.  Cover and let them boil for 8-10 minutes.  Remove them to bowls and place these in a warming drawer or warm oven.  Add 1.25 cups water to the liquid remaining in the saucepan.  Bring the liquid to a boil once more and repeat this process with the remaining balls of dough.

While the dough is cooking, beat 1 cup of whipping cream and stir in 2T maple syrup.

Serve the dumplings in bowls, topped with the remaining liquid from your saucepan, whipped cream and chopped pecans.

 

 

Cherry Clafouti

This comfort food from France is easy to make.  It can be served for breakfast (or breakfast-like dinners) or you can add more sugar, make it in a pie pan and serve it for dessert.

Cherry Clafouti

4 eggs

2-3 T sugar

1 t vanilla

2 cups whole milk or 1 cup ½ & ½ and one cup low fat or skim milk

¼ t salt

¾ cup flour

12 oz. canned cherries (about 2 cups)

2 T melted butter

Beat the eggs with the sugar (by hand is fine) and add the vanilla, milk, salt, and flour. Drain any liquid off the cherries. Grease a square baking pan and place the cherries in the bottom. Pour half the batter over the cherries. Make sure the cherries are more or less evenly spaced, but try not to discolor the batter too much. Place the pan with the cherries and batter in the oven for 20 minutes.

Melt the butter and mix it into the remaining batter. Upon removing the pan from the oven, pour the batter with the butter over the partially baked clafouti and return it to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes or until the center is set.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

 

 

Favorite Christmas Recipes at Mill Brook House

This childhood favorite may derive from the Hudson River Valley, where my mother grew up. While acquaintances in both the Midwest and East Coast are invariably unfamiliar with it, our friends in Western Massachusetts nod knowingly when presented with a loaf. (Anyone with more information on the origins of this treat, please be in touch!) It is, in any case, a delicious and, when sliced, decorative alternative to the obligatory, often untouched, fruitcake.  Like many traditional European Christmas treats, Bishop’s Bread has no shortening, so it keeps well throughout the Christmas season.

Bishop’s Bread

Beat until frothy:

1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs.

Sift and mix in:

1&1/2 cups flour

1&1/2 t. baking powder

1 t. salt.

Stir in:

4 oz. chocolate chips (c. 1/2 cup)

2 cups chopped walnuts

1 cup chopped dates

1/2 cup candied cherries

Pour batter into a well-greased loaf pan and bake at 325° for c. 50 minutes or until no batter sticks to a knife or other testing device. When the loaf has cooled completely, wrap it in foil. Slice it thin when ready to serve.

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Incredibly thick and rich, this eggnog is a meal in itself.  We drink it for breakfast on Christmas morning while we open our presents.  Multiply the recipe by however many people you are serving.   

 Christmas Eggnog

1 egg, separated

1t sugar

1 cup milk

1/4 cup whipped cream

1/4 t rum flavoring (or as much real rum as you wish to consume)

nutmeg to taste 

Beat the egg whites, then whip the cream.  Set each aside.  Beat the egg yolks and the sugar until they are a light yellow.  Add the milk and rum flavoring and blend.  Fold in the beaten egg whites and whipped cream.  Sprinkle with nutmeg and serve.

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The sweet taste of bananas contrasts deliciously with the tart cranberries.  I put them into the bread whole to intensify that delightful burst of sour. 

Banana-Cranberry Bread

½ cup sugar

5 T butter

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

3 ripe bananas

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2 cups flour

2 t baking powder

½ t salt

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1 cup walnuts

2 cups cranberries

Prepare a loaf pan.  Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer; add the eggs and vanilla and beat well.  Add the bananas by breaking off pieces and mixing until there are no lumps left. 

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt and add to the banana mixture, mixing by hand until just moist.  Stir in the walnuts and cranberries.

Bake at 350 for 70-90 minutes or until your tester comes out clean.

 

I have wonderful childhood memories of big frosted sugar cookies encrusted with non-pareils. This delicious low-sugar, low-fat recipe makes thin, crisp, wafer-like figures that can be frosted and decorated.  No matter how many fancy cookie recipes I make, these are always the favorites.

Crispy Cut-Out Cookies

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

2/3-1 cup sugar*

2 eggs

2 T cream

2 t vanilla

3 cups flour

1/2 t soda

1/2 t BP

1/4 t salt

1 t nutmeg

Cream the butter and the sugar. *(Use less sugar, 2/3-3/4 cup, if you intend to frost the cookies, more, c. 1 cup, if you sprinkle colored sugars directly on the cookies instead of frosting them.) Beat in the eggs, cream and vanilla.

Sift the flour, soda, BP and nutmeg together. Add it to the butter mixture and mix on low.

Form the dough into a ball and chill it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or more. Roll it out to about 1/4 in thickness and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Sprinkle with colored sugar at this stage if you do not intend to frost the cookies. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes. Let them cool completely before applying frosting.

Frosting:

Sift 2 cups of powdered sugar and mix with 3/4 cup cream and 1 t vanilla. For colored frosting, divide frosting into separate bowls, depending on how many colors you want. Add 1-2 drops of the desired food color to each bowl. Spread the frosting on the cookies and sprinkle with non-pareils** or colored sugar.

Makes c. 5 dozen cookies.  

**To encrust the cookies with non-pareils as shown in the picture, you will need close to 1 pound.  Many grocery stores sell 13 oz. jars of non-pareils.  Otherwise, try to buy them in bulk at a bakery or specialty shop.

 

 

Peaches and Cream Cake

This is what a peach crop should look like, but this year peaches failed, I'm told, all the way to Long Island.  I've, nevertheless, scraped together enough to make this delicious recipe, which I developed a few years ago.

Peaches and Cream Cake

4 large eggs, separated

3 T sugar

2 t vanilla (or 1.5 t vanilla and .5 t almond extract)

1 T water

pinch of salt

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup ground almonds

Grease and flour a 9” spring back cake pan.

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until frothy. Add the water, vanilla, and salt. Stir in the flour, then the ground almonds. Don’t over mix. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the egg yolk mixture. Pour into the springback pan and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

While the cake is baking, blanche and peel 3-4 fresh peaches. Allow the cake to cool somewhat before removing it from the pan. When it has cooled completely, place it on a cake plate and spread the peaches on the top, including any juice that has accumulated. Whip one cup of whipping or heavy cream just until thick and spread it on top of the peaches. Serve immediately.

Peach tree at Pine Hill Orchards, Colrain

Passover Kugel

This recipe comes from my mother-in-law's charity cookbook, compiled by the women of the Hebrew Educational Society in Canarsie, Brooklyn, of which she was a member.  It's low-fat, light and delicious, good for Passover and also for apple season (if you still have matzoh at that time of year).

4 whole matzohs

4 eggs, separated

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t salt

4 apples, peeled and grated

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

2-3 T honey

Soak matzohs in water for 10 minutes, squeeze dry, and place in a mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks.  Mix salt and cinnamon into the egg yolks and add this mixture to the matzohs.  Mix in grated apples, walnuts, and honey.  Beat the egg whites until they are stiff and fold into the apple/matzoh mixture.  Pour into a 9x11 glass baking pan and bake at 360 for c. 50 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Serve with sour cream (or not). 

The Tantalizing Taste of Fresh Lemons

With fresh fruit out of season locally, citrus, with its relatively long shelf life and quantities of Vitamin C, will see us through the winter.  Here are three recipes using fresh lemon juice and rind that will wake up your taste buds.

Lemon Pudding

A favorite recipe from my childhood; served with whipped cream (which never happened in my childhood), it's to die for.

3/4 cup sugar

3 T butter

3 juiced lemons

1 t lemon zest

4 eggs, separated

1/3 cup flour

1.5 cups milk 

Zest one lemon; then juice all three.  Cream the butter and sugar; add the egg yolks; beat until light yellow.  Sift and add in the flour, beating on a lower speed, then add the milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest.  Beat the egg whites and fold them into the lemon mixture.  Pour into a casserole dish and place it in a pan with water.  Bake for 1 hour at 350°. 

 

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes 

These make a fancy breakfast or a light supper.

Pancakes 

1.5 cups flour

1t BP

1t baking soda

1/4 t nutmeg

1/2 t salt

2 T sugar

1 cup ricotta cheese

2 eggs

juice and grated rind from 1 lemon

1.5 cups milk

Beat the wet ingredients by hand in a large bowl.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until just moist.  Fry on both sides in a lightly greased frying pan.

 Lemon sauce 

Juice and rind from one lemon

2 T cornstarch dissolved in

1 cup water

sugar to taste 

Heat the lemon rind and juice, add the sugar, pour in the water and cornstarch and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.

To serve

Divide the pancakes onto three or four plates and top with powdered sugar.  Dribble the lemon sauce over them and top with fresh berries in summer, mandarin orange slices or frozen strawberries or raspberries in winter.  (For a richer dish, brush each pancake with melted butter before serving.

 

Very Lemon Muffins  

Sweet, sour, and delicious!

1& 1/4 cups of flour

1/2 cup of corn meal

1/2 cup sugar

1 t BP

1 t baking soda

pinch of salt

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1/4 cup canola oil

3/4 cup yogurt

juice and grated rind* from 2 lemons

1 large egg

Sift the dry ingredients together; mix the wet ingredients and the lemon rind and add to the dry ingredients.  Mix by hand until ingredients are just moist.  If the mixture is too dry, add 1-4 tablespoons of water.

Bake at 375 for 16-20 minutes.  Cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Makes 8-12 muffins, depending on how large you want them.

*If you use very large lemons, do not add more than 2 T of lemon zest.