Because great recipes need to be shared!
PUNCH-A-TRAIN RAREBIT SAUCE
By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… Eating Out at Home (National Home News, St. Clair, MI; September 1978, p. 22).
INGREDIENTS:
½ cup Pabst Blue Ribbon beer
1-lb sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 TB butter
½ tsp dry mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
A few grains of cayenne [pepper]
INSTRUCTIONS:
Cook [ingredients, as listed, in top of double boiler] over hot water, stirring until cheese is melted. Serve on hamburgers.
See also…
STRAWBERRY NUT BREAD
By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – Best Of The Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 165). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition).]
The Wine Country Inn located in St. Helena, California, has been a Napa Valley landmark for years. It was originally designed to look like a well-aged vintage tavern with modern lines. One nice thing, that I personally liked about the Inn while I was in California, was a long table of displayed menus from restaurants that the Smiths, who operate the Wine Country Inn, would recommend. On the same table was a serving of juice and fruits in homemade breads like this particularly different quick bread.
INGREDIENTS:
2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen, sliced strawberries
4 eggs
1 cup corn oil
2 cups granulated sugar
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1½ cups chopped pecans or walnuts
INSTRUCTIONS:
Thaw strawberries and set aside. Beat eggs until light and fluffy, adding oil and sugar a little at a time. Beat in the thawed strawberries and any liquid with these. Set aside as soon as it is thoroughly blended. In a medium-sized bowl combine the remaining ingredients, except for the nuts.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the strawberry mixture. Combine only until all dry particles are thoroughly moistened. Do not over beat. This should be treated as you would a muffin batter. Stir in the nuts. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9 x 5 x 3” bread loaf pans. (I sprayed my pans with Baker’s Joy.)
Bake loaves, spaced 2 inches apart on center rack, centering the 2 pans as best you can for an even rotation of the heat during baking and bake at 350°F for almost an hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each loaf comes out clean. Cool in pans about 15 minutes, placing pans on wire racks for this time.
Then turn out of pans to allow loaves to completely cool. Bread should be chilled before slicing to serve. May be rewarmed in microwave oven on defrost a few minutes or wrapped in foil in a 350°F oven for about 8 to 10 minutes. Then slice and serve with cream cheese [or my “Strawberry Freezer Jam” (see “Recipes” tab)].
See also…
WHITE MOUNTAIN MUFFINS
By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Mostly 4-Ingredient Recipes (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; April 1986, p. 101).
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups self-rising flour
2 TB sugar
1 cup milk
4 TB mayonnaise
INSTRUCTIONS:
In 1½-qt mixing bowl, stir the self-rising flour with the sugar; and, in a cup, whip the milk and mayonnaise together, until very smooth. Pour over flour mixture, stirring briskly until all of flour has been completely dissolved. Whip with mixing spoon or use [electric] mixer on lowest speed.
Divide batter equally between 12 paper-lined cupcake tin wells. Bake at 350°F about 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pan, on rack, for 10 minutes, before serving. Makes 1 dozen [muffins].
See also…
TORTILLA SHELLS
By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – Best Of The Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 68). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition).]
It’s amazing how this Mexican form of bread could be a 2nd-cousin-twice-removed (probably on its mother’s side of the family) to the Jewish Matzah; and on its father’s side of the family, it could be a cousin-by-marriage to the Arabian flat bread, or the Far-East pita bread.
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups Quaker Masa Harina
1 cup cold water
INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix Masa Harina [or see “Recipes” tab for my imitation] and cold water into a smooth dough, adding just enough more water to keep it moist and smooth. Divide the dough into 12 equal-sized balls. Work with one at a time, keeping the rest in plastic bags so they won’t dry out.
Roll each portion into a paper-thin circle between two sheets of waxed paper and stack (with wax paper between layers). Then – just as if you’re making pancakes – brown them very lightly on a slightly oiled, hot griddle. Keep them soft, not crisp. You can freeze them to use in other recipes, within 6 months – or refrigerate to use in a week. Makes 12 tortillas.
See also…
MASA HARINA IMITATION
By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – Best Of The Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 70). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition).]
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup yellow or white cornmeal
¼ cup finely crushed cornflakes cereal
INSTRUCTIONS:
Combine all-purpose flour with yellow or white cornmeal and cereal. Sift the mixture together 3 times and store in a covered container at room temperature for up to 60 days. Multiply the ingredients as needed. Makes a good understudy for the commercial corn flour.
See also…
COMPANY CHEESE BALL
By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – Best Of The Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 282). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition).]
INGREDIENTS:
2 packages (8 ounces each) shredded cheddar
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 jars (4 ounces each) Kraft bacon flavored spread
1 teaspoon hickory salt
2 tablespoons horseradish cream sauce
INSTRUCTIONS:
Put everything in a medium-size bowl and mash it with a potato masher – or use your fingers, which were invented before forks. Squeeze the ingredients together until they all cling lovingly to each other. Shape into 2 balls of equal size – about the size of a croquet ball. Roll each in finely crushed pecans or walnuts and arrange on saucers, wreathed in fresh parsley sprigs. Chill cheese balls wrapped well in plastic wrap, until time to serve. Keeps refrigerated well, if covered, for up to a week. Each ball, accompanied by assorted crackers, will serve about 8… Or 4, with bad manners.
See also…
CHEESE CRACKERS
By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – Best Of The Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 281). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition).]
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup butter (not margarine)
2 ounces (a scant cupful) shredded cheddar cheese
A dash or 2 of cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp paprika
1½ TB of cold water
INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix flour with butter until crumbly, using pastry blender or 2 forks. Work in cheese, cayenne pepper and paprika. Sprinkle mixture with cold water, mixing as you would a pie crust dough and trying not to handle it too much. Shape into ball and roll out ¼-inch thick on floured surface. Cut with small round cookie [or biscuit] cutter dipped in flour.
Transfer circles to a Pam-sprayed or lightly oiled cookie sheet, placing 1 inch apart. Preheat oven to 350°F and bake 8 to 10 minutes. Remove carefully with pancake turner to let crackers cool on paper towels. When completely cooled store them in a metal tin, with a tight-fitting lid, at room temperature for 7-10 days. Makes about 3 dozen crackers.
See also…
BEEF IN WINE SAUCE
By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… “Cookbook Corner” (Happy Newspaper Features, Algonac, MI; circ 1972).
INGREDIENTS:
4 ponds boneless beef chuck, cut in 1½” to 2” cubes
Garlic powder [to taste]
2 cans (10½-oz each) condensed “Golden Mushroom” soup
1 envelope (1 3/8-oz) onion soup mix
¾ cup dry sherry
1 can (8-oz) sliced mushrooms, drained
1 bag (20-oz) frozen, sliced carrots
INSTRUCTIONS:
Sprinkle meat lightly with garlic powder. Put in heavy casserole [dish] or Dutch oven.
Mix together remaining ingredients, except carrots, and pour over meat. Mix well, cover, and bake in preheated 325°F oven for 2 hours or until meat is very tender, adding carrots during last 15 minutes of baking. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
See also…
Mondays & Memories of My Mom – When You’re Doing What You Love
ULTIMATE EXOTIC ICING – FOR EXOTIC CAKE
By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – Best Of The Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 197). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition).]
INGREDIENTS:
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 ounces light rum
¼ pound butter
1-pound powdered sugar
4 ounces (liquid) coffee cream or heavy un-whipped cream
INSTRUCTIONS:
In top of double boiler, over simmering water, melt unsweetened chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips with light rum and butter, beating until smooth. Remove from heat. Beat in powdered sugar and (liquid) coffee cream or heavy un-whipped cream.
Assemble layers of my Exotic Chocolate Cake with one recipe of my Buttercream Icing (see “Recipes” tab) and then cover the top and sides with this Ultimate Exotic Icing. Chill before serving 8 to 10, lavishly.
NOTE: Icing may be thinned to spreading consistency, if too thick, with a little more rum or a few teaspoons of hot coffee.
See also…
EXOTIC CHOCOLATE CAKE
By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – Best Of The Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 197). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition).]
Quite a while ago, from a description given in a Detroit area newspaper of an exotic, chocolate cake (the recipe of which was locked in a bank fault), I set out to duplicate a cake of this kind, using only the clues given in the newspaper article.
Both semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolate, real butter, coffee cream and whipped cream were a few of the ingredients mentioned. But having read so much incorrectly written newspaper articles, I wondered if this cake was described accurately.
To be sure that such a cake could be possible, I took the most celebrated chocolate cake recipes I could find in my 27-year-old recipe files and tried to determine what each of them had in common. From those clues, I developed the following combination of ingredients and, after preparing the cake – complete, with the 3 layers, filled with my Buttercream Icing and frosted with my Ultimate Exotic Icing. [See “Recipes” tab.]
I delivered the finished product to the editor of the Richmond Review – the newspaper in which the story first appeared about “the recipe locked in a bank vault”. It was enough to get me an interview for a weekly column in the paper!
INGREDIENTS:
8 ounces butter
2 ounces corn oil
2/3 cup sifted granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 ounces light rum
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 cup Half-and-Half or buttermilk
(Note: the original recipe called for 4 ounces, heavy, un-whipped cream and 4 ounces light cream)
2 cups cake flour, measured by spooning lightly from box into a measuring cup
[+ 1 recipe of my “Buttercream Icing” (see “Recipes” tab)]
[+ 1 recipe of my “Ultimate Exotic Icing” (see “Recipes” tab)]
INSTRUCTIONS:
Cream butter and oil for 5 minutes. Gradually beat in sifted granulated sugar. Also, sift in the packed brown sugar a little at a time, continuing to beat with electric mixer on medium speed, scraping sides and bottom of bowl frequently. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
Over hot water, melt rum with both chocolates until smooth. Beat into creamed mixture, adding salt, soda and alternately beating in cream with cake flour, beginning and ending with the cream. Beat 5 minutes with last addition. Spread batter equally between 3 greased, 9-inch, round-layer pans that are lined with a circle of waxed paper, also greased and floured.
Bake at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes or until it tests done with a toothpick. Cool the layers in pans 15 minutes and invert onto paper plates lined with greased waxed paper so that you can more easily assemble the cake. Refer to my Buttercream Icing recipe, [p. 195] in this chapter, for assembly instructions. [See also, reprint below.]
FOR ASSEMBLY: When cake is completely cold, spread buttercream icing ½ inch thick between the layers. When applying the 2nd layer of cake over [icing], secure it in place by inserting thin wood skewers at 4 “corners” and center, through both layers, to keep the top layer from slipping.
Then place cake in the freezer for 15 minutes before applying the remaining [icing]. Keep the remaining buttercream icing covered and refrigerated during this time. When you remove the cake from the freezer, apply another half inch thick layer of [icing] and return it to the freezer for another 15 minutes to be sure it is “set”…
See also…