Mill Brook House Recipes

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.

*  *  *  *  *

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.

* * * * *

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

***

2 cups flour

2 t baking powder

½ t salt

***

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.

 

 

It's Blueberry Season!

Blueberries are finally ripe in our Western Massachusetts hilltowns as well as in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. They're still best in muffins, pie and pancakes. Here are three recipes.

Blueberry Pie

3 pints of fresh blueberries

1/2 cup of tapioca

1 T lemon juice

1/4 cup sugar

dash of cinnamon

***

10 T butter

2 cups flour

1/2 t salt

5 T water

***

1-2 T butter

cinnamon sugar

Wash blueberries, picking out stems and spoiled or unripe berries. Mix with tapioca, lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon. Set aside.

Cut butter into flour until you have only very fine crumbs. Add water and mix until moist. Divide flour mixture into two equal amounts. Roll out bottom crust and place in pie pan; roll out 2nd crust and set aside. Add blueberry mixture to pie pan; dot with butter; place 2nd crust on top and trim and crimp edges. Prick the top crust repeatedly with a fork and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake at 450 for 10 min. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for c. 45 min.

# # # #

A wonderful tangy and juicy summer treat…

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

2.5 cups flour

2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/4-1/3 cup sugar

***

2 eggs

1 cup plain yogurt

1 t vanilla

5 T butter

zest and juice from 1 lemon

1 pint blueberries

***

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Grease muffin tins for 12 muffins. Preheat oven to 350.

Mix dry ingredients together. Zest and juice the lemon, reserving 2 T of juice. Melt the butter. Beat the eggs by hand until uniform in color. Add yogurt, vanilla, melted butter, lemon zest and lemon juice to the eggs and beat slightly after each addition. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add wet ingredients. Mix just until dry ingredients are moist. Do not over-mix or muffins will be tough. Add blueberries and mix just until the berries are coated.

Spoon batter into the muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes. Allow muffins to cool for 5 minutes, then remove them to a rack for further cooling.

Mix the reserved lemon juice and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. Drizzle mixture over the cooling muffins.

# # # #

Yogurt makes this batter thick enough to hold the berries.

Vanilla Blueberry Pancakes

1 cup flour

½ t baking powder

½ t baking soda

¼ t salt

***

2 eggs

1 cup vanilla flavored yogurt

2 T canola oil

***

1 pint blueberries

Sift the dry ingredients together. Mix the wet ingredients well and add to the dry ingredients. Combine with as few strokes as possible. Wash, drain, and add the blueberries. Use ½ cup batter per pancake and fry on both sides in a non-stick pan coated with a small amount of canola oil. (Pancake batter surrounding even fresh berries takes longer to cook than batter without fruit, so be patient and cook on medium-low heat.) Serve with maple syrup and butter or sour cream.

 

 

Healthy Banana Bread

A wonderful way to use up old bananas,* banana bread comes in all varieties from very sweet and dessert-like to this version, which is low in fat and sugar and utilizes whole wheat flour.  Delicious with soup and salad, you can also add a cream cheese schmear.

Cream:

4 T butter and 1/4 cup sugar

Add:

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

Beating on a lower speed, add:

3 bananas, breaking them into pieces as you add them

Sift together:

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

Add the banana mixture and blend with as few strokes as possible, then add: 

1 cup chopped walnuts

Bake in a greased loaf pan at 350 for one hour or until a knife or other tester comes out clean.

*If you have spotty bananas about to turn bad, put them in the refrigerator until you have time to make banana bread (or a smoothie).  Their skins will turn black in the fridge, but the banana inside will remain as it was.

 

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.