One of my favorite events is coming up this weekend, the Taste of Bloomington. I hope the weather is nice for all of the visitors. I think that I have been at every Taste of Bloomington so I hope to make it to this one. There is always good food and good music. The waiter/waitress race is a fun event to watch. At the same time, the Arts Fair on the Square is going on. So head downtown and have a fun day!
Since I have some fresh eggs I thought I would make a casserole that I have always enjoyed. The following recipe is kind of big, calling for a dozen eggs, but it is still a tasty left-over. If you decide to cut the recipe in half, just watch the baking time. With the mixture not as thick you will not have to bake as long.
12 eggs
12 slices of white bread, cubed
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons dry mustard
4 cups milk
2 pounds sausage
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Crumble sausage and brown in skillet; drain well
Beat eggs, milk, salt and mustard together
Add bread cubes, stir
Add cheese and sausage
Pour into a greased 9×13 inch baking dish and refrigerate overnight
Bake in a 400° oven for about 5 minutes
Reduce temperature to 350° and bake an additional 40 minutes
Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting
Makes 15 servings
Now that you know how to do it, have fun with it. Add some diced peppers and onions. Or if you like, use turkey sausage.
With the 100th anniversary of the laying of the Monroe County Courthouse cornerstone coming up, I thought I would find a 100 year old recipe. Of course there are many old recipes but this one sounded kind of good so I figured it would be fun. I have had friends that shy away from anything “French sounding” in cooking because they assume it will be hard. I hope this easy recipe will show them that they should try anything no matter how hard it sounds. Onions are also now available at the Bloomington Farmers’ Market.
Soupe a L’Oignon (Onion soup)Gratinee (with breadcrumbs or grated cheese: cooked or served with browned breadcrumbs or melted grated cheese on top.)
This recipe originally appeared in the French cookbook “Gastronomie Pratique,” which was written in 1907 by Henri Babinski under the pen name Ali Bab.
1 baguette, cut into 1/2-inch slices (about 25 to 30)
9 tablespoons butter, softened
9 ounces Emmental cheese, finely grated (don’t worry, that’s swiss cheese)
8 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced (about 12 cups)
1 tablespoon kosher salt, more to taste
1 cup tomato purée
1. Toast the baguette slices and let them cool. Spread a generous layer of butter on each slice (you will need about 5 tablespoons), then lay the slices close together on a baking sheet and top with all but 1/2 cup of cheese.
2. In a large saucepan, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the onions, season with salt and sauté, stirring occasionally, until very soft and golden, about 15 minutes.
3. In a 5-quart casserole, arrange a layer of bread slices (about 1/3 of them). Spread 1/3 of the onions on top, followed by 1/3 of the tomato purée. Repeat for two more layers. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese. To avoid boiling over, the casserole must not be more than 2/3 full.
4. In a saucepan, bring 1 1/2 quarts water to a boil. Add the salt. Very slowly pour the salted water into the casserole, near the edge, so that the liquid rises just to the top layer of cheese without covering it. (Depending on the size of your casserole, you may need more or less water.)
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the casserole on the stove and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, then transfer to the oven and bake uncovered for 1 hour. The soup is ready when the surface looks like a crusty, golden cake and the inside is unctuous and so well blended that it is impossible to discern either cheese or onion. Each person is served some of the baked crust and some of the inside, which should be thick but not completely without liquid. Serves 6.
Allrecipes.com has got to be one of the slickest recipe web pages you can find. I can always find any recipe I am looking for here. The extras are what make it so neat though.
You can create a profile for free and then save recipes you find in your “recipe box”. You can also create “shopping lists” based on the recipes you choose. When you view the shopping list you can de-select the items you already have on hand and then print out the list to take shopping with you. Another feature is to change the recipe serving size. Have you ever seen a recipe you like but it makes 8 servings and there are only 2 in your house? On each recipe page there is the option to change the serving size and it adjusts the ingredient measurements for you. This is handy for making recipes yield smaller or larger servings.
But enough with technology. This recipe is from Grandmas recipe box and is written in pen, there is no help with yields on the card. Simpler times!
I had some cranberries in my freezer and I am going to thaw them to make this recipe.
2 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons Baking powder
½ teaspoon soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
½ cup chopped nuts
2 cups fresh cranberries- chopped
grated rind of 1 orange and juice
¼ cup Oleo (grandma used oleo, margarine or butter works)
1 egg- well beaten
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
In mixing bowl, stir together flour baking powder, soda, salt, sugar, nuts and cranberries.
Combine rind, juice and enough water to make ¾ cup
Beat in to first mixture until dampened and completely mixed
Pour into greased 9×5x3 loaf pan and bake in pre-heated oven for 1 hour 10 minutes Toothpick test to make sure it’s done (insert a toothpick near the center, if it comes out clean, it’s done)
Let it cool for 10 minutes
Turn out on to a cooling rack
Will keep for about 1 week.
I hope everyone likes this one. Grandma made it a lot.
My first comment reminded me of an experiment I tried once. Adding peanut butter to s’mores. It turned out great, in my opinion. Using the White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter from Peanut Butter Company, it was even better. Here is a quick recipe, no measurements here, just have fun.
Ingredients:
graham crackers
marshmallows
White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter(or any flavor you like)
chocolate bars
Spread some peanut butter on the graham crackers
Place chocolate bars on top of the peanut butter
Roast the marshmallows to your liking
Place the marshmallow on top of the chocolate and peanut butter, the marshmallow will soften the chocolate bar.
Eat
I usually like my s’mores open face, that is, not like a sandwich. If you prefer yours sandwich style then put peanut butter on the top piece and place it on top of the hot marshmallow. This will allow the peanut butter to melt a little over the top of the hot marshmallow.
So, what do I put as my first entry in the food blog so many people have encouraged me to write? If it is brilliant then I will have to keep it up. If it sucks then no one will come back. I am pretty sure it will not be brilliant but the “sucks” prospect kind of worries me so how about I just tell you what’s what.
I have been cooking since I was old enough to stand next to my Grandma and help. It started with helping mix mashed potatoes or add ingredients. Soon I graduated to actually making one dish as she made another, she was still close enough to help, of course. Years later when it was time to choose classes in middle school I chose to take Home Economics, my plan was two fold. Part A, I loved to cook so why not take a class where I was able to do so. I figured it was an easy A+. Part B, GIRLS. The class was made up of mostly girls so I would be a fool to not join this class. Sure the rest of the football and wrestling team liked to tease me because they said I took a “girl class” but who was the fool? Me for enjoying the class for the 2 reasons above or my team mates for taking a shop class with a teacher missing a finger and hanging out with other guys? I got an A in the class.
The first thing I remember my Grandma allowing me to make by myself was Peanut Butter Fudge so it is only appropriate that it is the first recipe I post. Not a hard recipe and I am sure that many people have it but here goes. I did a quick search to compare other recipes to my Grandmas and they range from identical to hers to quick microwave recipes. Enjoy!
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 stick margarine
pinch of salt
1 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix sugar, milk, margarine and salt in a saucepan. Boil, stirring frequently, until it forms a soft ball* in cold water. Remove from stove and add peanut butter and vanilla. Beat until creamy and pour into buttered 9×9 pan. Let cool before cutting.
*To Test for Soft Ball
A small amount of syrup dropped into chilled water forms a ball, but is soft enough to flatten when picked up with fingers (234° to 240°).
