Mill Brook House Recipes

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°.

 

 

Spicy Chinese Eggplant

To prepare:

Fry out ½ lb. ground pork or turkey.

Slice c. 1.5 lbs Japanese eggplant diagonally.

Crush 2 cloves garlic, mince 4 slices of ginger (c. 2 T), chop 1 scallion, and crumble 2 dried red chili peppers on top.  Set aside.

Mix together: 2T Chinese brown bean paste, 2T soy sauce, 2T sherry, 1T rice wine vinegar, and 1T sugar.

Mix 2t cornstarch with ¾ cups water; add 1t sesame oil.

To cook:

Put 2 T oil in a wok on high heat and add the garlic mixture; stir-fry for 30 sec.  Add the eggplant and stir-fry until each piece is coated with the oil.  Add ½ cup water and cover the eggplant.  Let it cook over medium heat, removing the cover every few minutes to stir the vegetables.  Continue until the eggplant is mushy.  (Add more water if the eggplant starts to stick to the wok.)  Remove the cover and turn up the heat to high, add the sauce mixture and let it cook for 1 minute; add the fried meat and stir until it is coated with the sauce.  Add the cornstarch mixture, stir to coat the eggplant and bring to a boil.  Remove from the stove and serve.

Amazing Maple Syrup

 

Add the orange juice to this recipe if you enjoy a hint of orange flavor in your food. Leaving out the OJ out will preserve more of the pure maple flavor.

Maple Salmon

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

¼ cup maple syrup

1 T brown mustard

2 T orange juice, opt.

* * * *

1 lb salmon filet

salt, pepper to taste

Mix up the marinade, pour it into a baking dish or shallow plate, and place the salmon, skin-side up, in the marinade. Let it rest there for at least 20 minutes. Then place the salmon in a broiling pan, skin-side down, pour the marinade over it, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil for 20 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. Open the oven and spoon the marinade back over the salmon from time to time while it is cooking. To serve, place the broiled salmon on a plate and pour the remaining marinade over it.

 

This maple treat will brighten up a cold afternoon.

Maple Popcorn

a fun and healthy country treat

1/2 cup unpopped corn

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/8 t salt

1 T butter

1/4-1/2 cup of peanuts (optional)

Dry pop the popcorn.  Pick up the popped corn in your hands and remove to a large mixing bowl, leaving the unpopped kernels behind.  

Heat the butter, salt, and maple syrup in a small sauce pan over medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickens and becomes slightly stiff when a few drips are dropped into cold water.  If you use peanuts, add them to the maple mixture when you take it off the stove.  

Pour the maple mixture over the popped corn, mixing quickly with a wooden spoon until each kernel has a touch of maple on it. 

The maple popcorn will form into small chunks and can be eaten this way by hand.  To form popcorn balls, double the maple syrup and butter, and, after pouring the thickened maple syrup on the popcorn, form it quickly into firm balls.

 

 

When your garden is out of control...

 

 
The tomato that ate Chicago
                                  

If you have too many tomatoes, damaged tomatoes, too many cucumber or oversized ones, these recipes will help!

Spaghetti Sauce from Fresh Tomatoes

Cut up 3-4 quarts fresh tomatoes* and simmer in a very large pot.   Meanwhile, cut up 2 onions, 1-2 sweet peppers (opt.) and sauté in 2T olive oil in a frying pan. Crush 2 cloves of garlic and add to the sauté along with 1T dried oregano and 2t marjoram. Add the sautéd mixture to the pot of tomatoes when the tomatoes have lost their shape and mix in 1 12-oz. can of tomato paste. Add 1 cup red wine (opt.). Cook until the sauce is thick (2-3 hours), stirring every 15-20 minutes. Add 1 cup of fresh basil leaves. Continue cooking until the leaves are wilted. (If you don’t have fresh basil, add 1T dried basil along with the oregano and marjoram.)

*You can blanche and peel the tomatoes if you wish, but I do not.

 

Remember Moby Pickle? 

Easy Gazpacho

Chop these vegetables and put as many as fit in your blender:

1 peeled cucumber*

c. 5 lbs of tomatoes**

1 sweet pepper, red or green

½-1 cup chopped onion

¼ cup fresh basil

hot peppers to taste (fresh or dried)

Blend the vegetables in several batches and pour into a large bowl. Add:

3T wine vinegar

3T lemon or lime juice

1T olive oil

Mix, chill, and serve.

*If you are using an oversized cucumber, slice it lengthways and cut away the seeds and any pithy, dry sections.

**Just cut away any hard or bad parts. No need to peel or get rid of the seeds.

 

This soup is a variation on the traditional sliced cucumbers with sour cream and dill. Cool and refreshing, it features the subtle flavors of dill and fresh mint.

Chilled Cucumber Soup

4 cups cucumber, peeled and chopped*

2 cups yogurt

½ cup sour cream

2 T fresh mint leaves

1 T honey

1t dried dill or 1T fresh dill

Salt and pepper to taste (or not)

Puree all the ingredients in the blender; then chill for at least 1 hour.  Serve cold and garnish with chopped chives if desired.

*Remove the cucumber seeds if your cucumber is overgrown and the seeds are hard.

 

 

Nasturiums for lunch?

Nasturtiums are easy to grow, beautiful to look at and an exotic, colorful addition to your favorite salad!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                 From garden to salad....                                                                        

Fancy Pancakes

To use up the frozen bounty from last fall's harvest, I make frequent use of these two recipes.

Applesauce-Stuffed Pancakes

Mix together:

2 eggs

1 T canola oil

2.5 cups of buttermilk*

1 t vanilla 

Sift into the wet ingredients:

1&1/3 cups of flour

½ t. baking soda

½ t. salt

1 T. sugar

Mix in the dry ingredients; if necessary, add more buttermilk until the batter is syrupy. Heat a large frying pan, adding 1 T. of oil. Pour c. 1/2 cup of batter into the pan and swirl it around until it covers most of the pan. Let the pancake bubble and turn slightly glossy 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. Place the pancakes in a warm oven until all are cooked. Then place each pancake on a serving plate and spoon 1/3 cup of applesauce along the diameter along with c. 1 T of crème fraise. Roll up the pancake and continue until all of the pancakes are rolled; sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

Makes 6-8 pancakes.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Sift together:

1 ¼ cup flour

½ t baking powder

½ t baking soda

½ t salt

½ t cinnamon

¼ t nutmeg

¼ t ginger

1/8 t cloves

2 T brown sugar or 1T white sugar

   ***

Mix together:

1 egg

½ cup pumpkin puree (or canned pumpkin)

1T vegetable oil or melted butter

1t vanilla 

2-2 ½ cups buttermilk*

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth. Add 1/3 cup chopped pecans.  Fry as directed above.  Makes 8 large pancakes.  Serve with maple syrup.

*You can mix normal milk with buttermilk if you don't have enough buttermilk or want to save on it, but use at least 1 cup of buttermilk to achieve the desired tenderness in your pancakes and use no more than 2 cups of milk total.

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

****

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.