Mary Beth Furno

These may be made weeks ahead and kept frozen until ready to broil and serve.  Makes 4 dozen.

• 1/2 cup margarine
• 15 oz jar Old English Cheese Spread
• 1 1/2 teaspoons mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 7 oz can crabmeat, drained
• 6 English muffins, split

Mix margarine with cheese spread, mayo, and garlic salt.  Stir in crabmeat.  Spread on muffins on cookie sheets.

Put in freezer for at least 10 minutes.

Remove from freezer.  Cut into quarters.  Broil 5-9 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Susan Poston

Combine:

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup oats (uncooked) and
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Cut in:

• 1/3 cup butter

until it resembles coarse crumbs.

Toss 1 cup crumb mixture with:

• 2 17 oz cans yams, drained
• 2 cups cranberries

Place in 1 1/2 qt casserole.

Top with remaining crumbs.
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

Optional:  Sprinkle with mini marshmallows and brown.

Susan’s notes:

I usually eye-ball the brown sugar/oats/butter mix.

I also use either fresh cranberries or whole cranberry sauce.  Both are good.

I never use marshmallows but it’s always a popular dish.

Susan Poston

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
• 1 package (8 1/2 oz) corn bread/muffin mix
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 can (15 1/4 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 can (14 3/4 oz) cream-style corn

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Beat in sour cream.  Gradually add corn bread/muffin mix alternately with milk.

Fold in the corn.

Pour into greased 3 qt baking dish.

Bake, uncovered, at 325 for 45-50 minutes or until set and lightly browned.

Yield 8 servings.

Bill Wickliffe

Mom doesn’t like turkey. Simple as that. We always seem to have it on Thanksgiving but on Christmas we need to get a little more creative. So I asked her last Thanksgiving what would you like for Christmas dinner. Being that I have taken over most of the cooking chores on holidays I have no problem making anything for mom. She said “ribs”. And Mac and Cheese. I said “just like Christmas in Savannah”. Beautiful!

As far as the ribs go, I simply slather a little soy sauce on the outside of them then put on a pork rub that has a lot of brown sugar in it. Put them in a large roasting pan where the two bone edges of the baby backs are touching the bottom of the pan.  In other words the meat side up. Cover the pan tightly with foil and put into a 300 degree oven for 21/2 hrs. Take the ribs out and pour off any liquid. If you want to finish the ribs in the oven that’s fine. Just sauce them up turning and sauce the other side for the next half hour. I prefer to take the ribs out of the oven and finish them on a charcoal grill to give the sauce a slight char.

The Sauce is a concoction I developed while working in the SFFD. It actually got published in a cookbook by some guys who did a book on cooking in the San Francisco Fire Dept.

The book is Firehouse Food.

The Sauce:

• 3 c. beef broth
• 1 6oz. can tomato paste
• 1/2 c. dijon mustard
• 1/2 c. worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 c. white vinegar
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 2 T. chili powder
• 1 T. red pepper flakes
• 3 T. liquid smoke

Combine all ingredients in a medium heavy saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 2 hours. Remove from heat and let cool before transferring to a storage container.
Serve the ribs with extra sauce on the table.

The Mac and Cheese recipe was from my neighbor who passed away last year. It actually was her grandmothers recipe from the past. I started to make this every year when the Academy Awards were showing. All the neighbors come over to Martha and my home and fill out ballots on all the categories. Ten bucks goes in the hat when you walk into the front door and whom ever gets the most right answers takes the pot.

Leslie’s Nana’s Mac:

• 2 c. whole milk
• 1 lb. elbow macaroni
• 2 lbs good quality sharp cheddar cheese sliced
• 4 large eggs
• butter, salt and pepper

Butter 13×9 pyrex pan. Cook macaroni in salt and oil for 1/2 the cooking time. Fill pan 1/2 full of macaroni. Layer with sliced cheddar cheese. Dab with butter and season with salt and plenty of pepper. Mix the milk and eggs together and pour half of it over the mac. Repeat layering and pour remainder of milk mixture over the top.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until brown and bubbling. Cool for a few minutes before serving.

I didn’t say it was good for you but it is pretty good. Serve with garlic bread.

Garlic Bread:

• I large loaf of San Francisco sour dough french bread
• I head garlic minced
• I cube of butter
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• Worcestershire sauce
• I cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 c. finely chopped green onions
• paprika

Cut the french bread long ways down the middle. Slice each half into about eight pieces not all the way through. In a sauce pan melt butter with the olive oil. Add garlic and heat for a couple of minutes but don’t let the garlic turn brown or burn. Slather the garlic mixture on both halves of bread.  Sprinkle 4-5 drops on each slice of bread with the worcestershire sauce. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese evenly over both halves. Follow up with the green onions and then finish up with a nice shake of paprika over the entire thing.

Broil until the edges start to get black. Be careful and don’t burn. Assign one person to watch carefully. I usually do this one rack down from the top rack in the oven. Serve with napkins to sop up the butter that will run down your arm. Or you can simply lick it clean.

Enjoy.

This is an all time favorite even for chocolate lovers. A fabulous dessert that cooks while you eat. Try it for just the two of you. There might not be any left.

Use 2 1/2 qt. casserole dish-turn oven on to 375 F Melt 1 stick butter in casserole dish as oven heats.
Blend together:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• Tbsp baking powder

Pour the above blended four ingredients into the melted butter in casserole dish.

DO NOT MIX!!!!!!! Into the middle of this pour 1 can sliced peaches in heavy syrup (29-32 oz.) You can use any fruit in heavy syrup but the peach seems to be the best.)

DO NOT MIX!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bake at 375°  for 45 minutes. Enjoy!

Jessica Weingarten

I always made my grandmother’s noodle kugel. The Lithuanian recipe. My husband and I were visiting my best friend’s mother, and she had one which caused Michael to say “Jess, this is better than yours.” I looked at Dove because I KNEW she didn’t cook. I’d known her all my life and knew this. So I asked for her recipe. She walked over to the Rolodex and handed me Zabar’s business card. I had one airshipped to DC where we lived, deconstructed it, and revamped my recipe. I serve it at an annual Channukah party, and my recipe serves 40. I’ve cut back the proportions, but know that it’s a very forgiving recipe — it’s good hot or cold. It will keep in the fridge for several days, but will not freeze. I hope you enjoy it, it exemplifies the spirit of the celebration: warm, sweet and filling.

Kugel

• 2 – 1 pound bags of noodles
• 3 pounds cottage cheese, whir in blender or food processor until smooth
• 1 pound cream cheese, softened
• 1 pound sour cream
• 1 stick UNSALTED butter, melted and cooled
• A little more butter
• 2 – 16 oz cans crushed pineapple in its own juice
• 1 cup raisins (dark, light, or mixture)
• 6 – 8 eggs, depending on size
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
• 1 – 2 cups white sugar
• 1 – 2 cups brown sugar
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Vanilla (the real extract, not imitation)

Preheat oven to 350o
Boil water for noodles
Cook noodles, drain
Mix together cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, and butter in the biggest bowl available
Add pineapple, raisins, and walnuts, if using

Add 1 cup of white sugar and 1 cup of brown sugar. Stir well

Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg over the top. Add a good tablespoon of vanilla. Stir well.

Let it sit at least 10 minutes and then TASTE – adjust sugar and spices to taste.

Let stand at least 10 minutes. Taste again. Adjust if necessary.

Break eggs into a separate bowl and whisk together. Pour over cheese mixture and mix well.

Add noodles.

Butter WELL two BIG glass pans, like pyrex oblongs – you don’t want the pans too deep

Pour mixture in pans (You might need more pans)

Cover with tin foil and bake half an hour

Remove tin foil and bake until top is nicely browned.

Let sit 10 minutes before serving.

Jo Anne Q

My Aunt Anna Hennessy, made this every year for our Christmas dinner dessert.  Like many first-generation San Francisco-born Irish, she was overly-proud of her heritage. It remains a mystery why she never figured out her crowning-glory recipe originated in England.

Prerequisites – To attack this recipe with all-due enthusiasm you must be one of the following:
1.  A Christmas-aholic, or
2.  A masochist, or
3.  Someone who is constantly being told, “Get a life!!”

Caveat #1:  Please do NOT feed the pudding to members of AA, kids under legal drinking age or family pets. (Sorry, Cybil…)
Caveat #2:  Have the pudding prepared and ready to steam no later than Nov. 24th. (When you read the recipe, you’ll see why…)

You will also need an honest-to-god 2 qt. plum pudding mold with tight fitting lid which has a handle.  Hard to come by these days – maybe try Williams-Sonoma?

• 1 & 1/2 C raisins
• 1 & 1/2 C currants
• 1/2 C chopped walnuts
• 1 tsp. grated lemon peel
• 1 & 1/4 C sifted flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 to 1 & 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 to 1 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/2 to 1 tsp. allspice
• 1/2 to 1 tsp. nutmeg
• (use your own judgment, depending on how much you like these spices)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 C granulated sugar
• 1/4 C (2 oz.) grated suet
• 1 C light molasses
• 1 C buttermilk
• 1/4 – 1/2 C brandy or whiskey (It goes without saying The Aunt only used Hennessy 4-Star Whiskey)
• 1 & 1/4 C plain bread crumbs

Generously grease 2 qt. mold.  (The Aunt used Crisco…you suit yourself.)  Combine fruit, nuts, lemon peel and 1/2 C flour.  Separately sift remaining flour with baking soda, salt and spices.
Beat eggs in small bowl.  Add to fruit/flour mix.  Combine sugar, suet, molasses, buttermilk, brandy (or whiskey) and bread crumbs in a separate bowl.  Add flour/baking soda, etc.  Toss in fruit/flour/egg mix.  Combine all with great vigor.  (No…not with VICTOR…with VIGOR!!)

Turn mixture into the greased mold and cover with lid.  Place on a trivet in a large kettle.  Pour boiling water halfway up the side of the mold.  Cover kettle and steam over med-low heat for 2 hours.  As Harry Potter’s professor, Mad-Eye Moody, was wont to say, “Constant vigilance” is required.  Check kettle frequently and replace water as necessary.  (If you are easily distracted, pull up a chair next to the stove and read a book about Irish traitors, between water replacement times.)

Remove from kettle, uncover and cool for 10-20 minutes. Carefully remove pudding from mold, place on a cake rack and cool completely.  (If you fail, and the plum pudding falls apart – do not despair – don rubber gloves to protect your hands, and firmly re-mold it into a nice ball before it cools. The Aunt learned this art of compromise on the rare occasion the Very British pudding refused to cooperate with its Very Irish cook.)

Wrap in foil, which is the high-tech version of old-time cheesecloth layers, and refrigerate for a month.  (The fridge being the high-tech version of the old-time packed-earth cellar or outside cold-spring shed.)

During this time, uncover pudding periodically, pierce in various places with a dinner fork, and liberally brush it (use a pastry brush) with brandy or whiskey.  (If need be, re-station yourself in front of the fridge, with above-referenced chair, Irish traitor tome, and also a large bottle of whiskey.  Replenish pudding and self with poteen as appropriate.)

To Serve:  Put pudding back into a lightly greased mold (even if it has been re-created as a ball by a Very Pissed-Off Irish Aunt).  Cover and steam for about 50 minutes, or until hot.  Remove and place on your Great-Grandma’s finest serving platter…nothing else will do.

Surround pudding with real holly sprigs and stick a few on the top. Pour a bit (or a lot, depending upon how much disorienting wine you had with dinner) of brandy or whiskey over pudding.

Turn out lights in the dining room.

Shush your hysterical Fourth Cousin Twice-Removed Maureen who starts screaming “Ach! The Blight is back and God has brought down eternal darkness upon the land once again!!”

Flame pudding and bring into dining room held high (thus avoiding accidentally setting fire to same 97-year old Cousin’s outdated pompadour hairdo). When “oohs” and “aahs” subside, turn lights back on and serve with The Aunt’s hard sauce or foamy sauce.

Aunt Anna’s Hard Sauce
Beat 2 eggs thoroughly.  Add 1 C granulated sugar.  Beat well.  Separately whip 1 C whipping cream.  Add to egg mix.  Flavor with 1-2 tbsp. rum, brandy or whiskey.  Keep in fridge until served.

Aunt Anna’s Foamy Sauce

• 1 egg – separated
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/s tsp. vanilla (or brandy, rum or Hennessy 4-Star whiskey)
• 1/2 C heavy (whipping) cream, beaten until firm

Add salt to egg white.  Beat until stiff.  Add sugar gradually, and beat until foamy.  Add egg yolk and beat gently.  Fold in cream and flavoring.  Serve immediately with the plum pudding.

Hana Williamson

Here is a medieval Czech holiday dish. It is called Christmas Jacob (vanocni Kuba) and it is a barley-mushroom concoction. Picking wild mushrooms and drying them is a Czech national pastime. So while you look in an American store at a cellophane bag of a few slivers of dried mushrooms from France for $5.00, a respectable Czech household has like buckets of those in a pantry. You would need several of those expensive packages to do the dish. That said, this is how you do it on an American budget.

Boil barley in a salty water – do not use the quick cooking kind – go for the real thing. It will take about 40 minutes to cook al dente. Meanwhile, prepare your mushrooms.

Two packages of baby bella mushrooms, sliced, sautéed in a big pan with good quality smokey bacon. You want the mushrooms to crisp up a bit.

Add chopped garlic to taste – you probably want more than less. Flavor with salt, lots of freshly coarsely ground pepper and some marjoram.

Rinse the cooked barley to get the slime off, mix in a bowl with the mushroom/bacon mixture, adjust pepper/salt, pack into a casserole dish, pour a little bit of broth over, perhaps add a few things of bacon over the top and put into a hot oven for about 20 minutes.

Also works great as a side dish for roast pork.

It is very tasty – Chetness is my witness.

Anthony Grein

I came up with this ‘recipe’ after making this dish for years with my grandmother by ‘feel’. Started to cook it in bulk (60 lbs of potatos) for functions and couldn’t do THAT by feel anymore!

The chicken fat is because my mother’s father’s mother was a Lithuanian Jew and tradition on that side was to use the schmaltz. Most Lithuanians use pork fat – definetly NOT Jewish! However, all Lithuanians love my recipe and tells me it’s less greasy with a better flavor.

I render my own chicken fat when I make chicken stock. I take off all of the skin and render it down for a few hours and tada! I also use 1/2 chicken fat 1/2 butter S&P when dressing vegetables… mmmmmm

• 2 cups whole milk
• 5 lbs Maine potatoes peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 stick of butter (or ½ cup chicken fat)
• 1 large onion roughly chopped
• 5 eggs beaten
• 1 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crushed
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• sour cream and/or apple sauce

Preheat oven to 425º.  Generously grease a lasagna pan.  In a small pot, heat milk and butter (or chicken fat) until fat melts.  In batches, with a food processor, process potatoes with a splash of the milk/fat mixture until very smooth.  Transfer to a big bowl.  Process onion with the remaining milk/fat mixture until very smooth.  Add to potato mixture and stir.  Add the eggs to the potato mixture and stir.  Add Ritz crackers, salt, and pepper to the potato mixture and stir until all ingredients are combined.  Work fast to keep the potatoes from turning brown.  Pour into greased lasagna pan and bake in the oven uncovered for 30 minutes.  Cover with aluminum foil, lower heat to 350º, and bake for 1 ½ hours.  Remove from the oven, uncover (very important!), and let rest for 15 minutes or more before serving.  Cut into squares and serve with sour cream or apple sauce.

Just as good, if not better, the next day.  Reheats VERY well in the microwave or sliced and sautéed in butter.