Norwegian Chicken Meatballs

1. With a fork, stir chicken to mix well with 1 ½ t cornstarch, egg, ¼ cup broth, salt, lemon peel and I T fresh dill.
2. Bring 2 cups broth to simmering in a 10 to 12 inch frying pan. As broth heats, drop level tablespoon portions of chicken into the liquid, keeping pieces slightly apart. Cover and simmer until meat is white in center (3 to 4 minutes).
3. With a slotted spoon, transfer chicken to a bowl. Mix remaining 3 teaspoons of cornstarch with 2 T water until smooth, and whisk into broth, Turn heat to medium high, add cheese and whisk until it melts.
4. Return chicken to sauce, mix gently, and heat for about 1 minute. Pour over noodles in a bowl and sprinkle with remaining dill.

Oatmeal Cake with Coconut Broiled Topping

Coconut Topping

Really From Scratch Homemade Biscuits & Gravy

For the biscuits:
2 cups flour
½ tsp salt
4 tsps baking powder
1 Tbl sugar
½ cup vegetable shortening
⅔ cup milk

For the gravy:
2 Tbls butter
2 Tbls flour
2 cups milk

Serves 4

My husband can’t eat eggs and doesn’t like sweet things for breakfast so that really limits the breakfast menu choices. However, he loves biscuits and gravy. We’ve honed this recipe over the years, and it’s now so good, our boys prefer our homemade version over any restaurants’.

To cut down on the prep time in the morning, we mix up the dry biscuit ingredients and we season the pork the night before.

Preheat oven to 425°. Grease a jellyroll pan. Mix dry biscuit ingredients in bowl. Cut shortening into the flour with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the milk all at once and stir just until the dough forms a ball around the fork. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead 14 times. Flatten to ½” and cut with a 2” biscuit cutter, reshaping dough and cutting biscuits until all the dough is used up. Place on baking sheet, with biscuits 1” apart and bake for 15-20 minutes.

While the biscuits are baking, in a small bowl, combine all the sausage ingredients except the pork and mix well. Place the pork in a medium bowl and sprinkle spice mixture over the meat and mix well. Heat a large skillet and brown seasoned pork, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Transfer to a plate and keep warm. In the same pan, melt butter and then whisk in flour. Lower heat to very low and continue whisking for 3 minutes. Pour the milk in and continue whisking until the mixture is bubbling, then stir in the sausage.

Split hot biscuits and top with hot gravy. Serve immediately.

Black Magic Cake

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9” x 13” cake pan. Combine wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl, mix well, add to wet ingredients and stir well. Pour into prepared cake pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

California Casserole

4 pounds ground beef or chuck
2 large onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup chili powder (or to taste)
6 cups tomato sauce
1 tsp sugar
1½ Tbls salt
2 cups sliced black olives (divided)
2 4-ounce cans diced green chilies

24 corn tortillas
Vegetable Oil
4 cups small-curd cottage cheese
2 eggs
1 pound thinly sliced jack cheese
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped green onions
1 cup sour cream

Serves 12

This recipe is from the November 1977 issue of Bon Appetit, the magazine which was a Godsend to my mom in Spokane, Washington where culinary information was rare. This recipe used to serve lots of my Sur La Table co-workers at our potlucks; and my friend Mary and I would cut serving sizes and freeze them individually--perfect for a wintertime lunch or quick dinner.

Brown meat in batches in a large heavy frying pan or Dutch oven. (Do not put too much meat into the pan at once--it will cause the pan temperature to drop and the meat will turn gray instead of brown.) Sauté onions and garlic with the last batch of meat. Return all meat to the pan, sprinkle with chili powder and mix well. At this time, taste the meat mixture and add more chili powder if desired. Add tomato sauce, sugar, salt, half of the olives and all of the diced green chilies. Simmer over very low heat for 15 minutes.

While sauce cooks, fry tortillas in hot oil one at a time. Do not allow tortillas to brown. Drain on paper towels and cut into quarters.

Beat cottage cheese and eggs together and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°. Spread ⅓ of the meat mixture in the bottom of a 6-quart casserole dish. Cover with ½ pound sliced Jack cheese, half the cottage cheese mixture and half of the cooked tortillas. Repeat, finishing with a final layer of meat. Top with grated cheddar cheese and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until casserole is thoroughly heated and cheese is melted. Serve with chopped green onions, sour cream and olives.

Diner Pancakes

These really are the best pancakes I’ve ever had, thanks to Steve’s grandfather who owned a diner in the 1940’s from where this recipe came.

Combine wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately. Combine and mix until smooth. Let batter rest for 10 minutes. Drop by ¼ cup on a preheated griddle.

Fred Harvey Coleslaw

My mother-in-law gave me this recipe while telling me about the Fred Harvey Cafés that used to dot the countryside at train stations.

Cover cabbage and onion with ½ cup of sugar. In a small saucepan bring remaining ingredients to a boil. Cool and pour over shredded cabbage and onion. Let stand at least four hours before serving..

Green Goddess Dressing

1 cup parsley, washed, dried and stems removed
1 clove garlic
½ medium shallot
2 Tbls red or white wine vinegar
1 sprig fresh tarragon or ¼ teaspoon dried
1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp anchovy paste
¼ tsp salt
fresh ground pepper
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream

Makes 2 ¼ cups

No matter how expensive or gourmet-sounding, store-bought dressings are just never as good as homemade. This one is nicely balanced, according to my sister--a salad dressing maven.

In a food processor fitted with a steel blade with the motor running, drop in the clove of garlic, then the half shallot. Open the lid and add the parsley, vinegar, tarragon, mustard anchovy paste, salt and pepper. Process until the parsley is minced. Add the mayonnaise and sour cream and blend well. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Nuts & Bolts

1 box Cherrios
1 box Rice Chex
1 box Wheat Chex
1 box Corn Chex
4 cups pretzel sticks
4-5 oz cans peanuts (not dry roasted)
2 Tbls Old Hickory Smoked Salt
2 Tbls Beau Monde Seasoning

2 tsp marjoram
2 tsp summer savory
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp cayenne
1½ pounds butter

My mom made this version of Chex Mix long before the packaged version. My siblings disagree about the inclusion of Cherrios in the recipe, but I have my mom’s recipe card in her own handwriting. And besides, where would the “nuts” be without Cherrios. This makes a lot, but freezes well in airtight containers.

Preheat oven to 250°. In as many large bowls as necessary, equally divide the cereals, nuts and pretzels. Melt butter and stir in spices. Carefully dribble butter mixture over cereal mix stirring constantly. Distribute as much as will fit among baking pans and bake for 45 minutes stirring every 15 minutes. Cool and store in airtight containers.