This is the second part of the column from last week on the Junior League of Jackson’s award winning cookbooks. There are so many more favorites not included in my column. Minnie Porters Chicken and Dumplings, Shrimp Stroganoff, the recipe for Southern Cornbread Dressing is one of the best. Swiss enchiladas were a favorite for many years, Noodles Marmaduke. The Chicken Pot Pie recipe in Come On In! is basically perfection. You can serve it with puff pastry on top and it was good enough for a fancy dinner. Herb Shrimp and Feta Casserole was a newlywed favorite of ours. We love Tomato Tart and still make that throughout the summer with fresh tomatoes and fresh basil. There are so many more recipes that I want to include. Almost every page of my cookbook is splattered on, marked up or dog-eared.
These days, I often simply Google search for a new recipe, but we should take time to go through these old junior league cookbooks and savor in their goodness. Rediscover a classic.
Recipes from Come on In! were featured. This week Southern Sideboards’ classics are highlighted.
Munro Pizza Appetizers
This is an all-time classic. The mother of one of my high school best friends, Barbie Ellis, would make these on large cookie sheets, freeze them, stack them up, and store them in the freezer for us to heat up quickly when we came in from a night out. They were the perfect late-night snack, and bring back so many fun memories from high school.
As an adult, I’ve made them often but I have to admit they are not the prettiest dish on the buffet. Kids normally love them and can pick off the olive if they don’t like them.
1 pound ground beef
1 pound hot bulk sausage
1 pound Velveeta cheese
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 loaves party rye bread with seeds
Sliced or whole green olives with pimento
Cook beef and sausage in a heavy skillet until done and drain off fat. While still warm, add cheese, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt, oregano and stir over low heat until cheese is melted. Spread about two tablespoons of mixture on top of party rye bread slices and garnish with a green olive. Place on a cookie sheet and heat in a 350° oven and until hot and bubbly.
You can place these on cookie sheets. Freeze until firm and store in freezer until ready to bake.
Texas Tort
I have served this easy to prepare dish for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner. It is never a bad time to enjoy these tasty treats.
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
1 - 4 ounce can chopped green chilies
1/2 pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, grated
Mix eggs, flour, salt, and milk and beat well. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well.
Pour into a well-greased 8 x 12” baking dish and bake at 350° for about 35 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes and cut in tiny squares and serve.
Fresh Spinach Salad
For the Dressing:
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon poppyseed
1 tablespoon onion juice or grated onion
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1 cup oil
2/3 cup cottage cheese
2 packages fresh baby spinach
1/2 pound of bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
2 to 3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
fresh mushrooms, sliced
Mix first eight ingredients in a jar and refrigerate overnight. Dressing will keep in the refrigerator up to one week.
When ready to serve, shake dressing well and toss with spinach. Add bacon, eggs and mushrooms and toss again.
Apricot Almond Coffee Cake
1cup butter, softened
2 eggs
2 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sliced almonds
1 - 10-ounce jar apricot preserves
Preheat oven to 350°. Cream butter and sugar until very fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time and mix well. Fold in sour cream and almond extract. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold into mixture. Place about a third of the mixture in a well-greased bunt pan (I use Baker’s Joy.)
Sprinkle with half the almonds and spoon over half apricot preserves over the batter. Spoon on the rest of the batter. Add the remaining preserves and top with remaining almonds.
Bake at 350° for one hour or until dawn. Cool on a rack.
Hamburger Quiche
This was a staple meal when my kids were growing up. We served it with pickles and mustard on the side. May sound odd but I guess my kids never understood that they were eating quiche instead of some type of odd hamburger.
1 9-inch pastry shell, partially cooked
1 pound hamburger meat
1/3 cup minced onion
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
3 eggs
1 cup whipping cream (I always use to half & half or milk)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
To prepare pie shell: Preheat oven to 425°. Bake empty pie shell for about five minutes. Removed from oven and set aside.
In a large skillet brown hamburger meat and chopped onions. Drain off excess fat. Reserve a small amount of meat mixture and place remaining mixture in pie shell. Sprinkle cheese ever meat. Mix eggs, cream, and seasonings and pour over meat and cheese. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300° and bake 30 minutes longer.
Sprinkle remaining meat on top and bake five minutes more. Let pie stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with pickles and mustard, if desired.
Lemon Dill Rice Mix
One of my very first JLJ meetings, I was given a little bag of this rice mix. I followed the recipe instructions and couldn’t believe how easy it was to prepare.
1 tablespoon dried grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
4 chicken bouillon cubes
2 teaspoons dill weed
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups raw rice
Combine all ingredients together a store in a jar until ready to use.
When ready to prepare: mix one cup portion of rice mixture with two cups of water and one tablespoon olive oil or margarine. Bring to a boil and cover. Simmer over very low heat until all liquid is absorbed, about 25 minutes.
Lisbon Lemon Crepes
No one really serves crepes anymore, but we should. Occasionally, I will make homemade crepes for our family and they are really easy to prepare. However, premade packs of crepes can be found in the refrigerator vegetable section of the grocery store.
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons butter for the sauce
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup brandy
1/4 cup orange flavored liqueur
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Prepared crepes
To prepare crêpes: fold crepes in half and then in half again. Arrange in overlapping layers in a buttered shallow flameproof dish. Sprinkle the crepes with sugar, lemon zest and dot with butter.
Broil crêpes until sugar is melted and bubbly.
While crêpes are baking, make the sauce. In a saucepan, melt butter and add Brandy, liqueur, and lemon juice. Stir until well blended. Serve crepes with sauce poured over them.
Be careful in case the dish flames.
Chunky Chili
Kathryn McCraney served me this dish years ago and it has remained one of the best and easiest chili recipes that I have found. I had never seen chili that was served with lime, sour cream, and rice. This is such a delicious in different version of traditional ground meat chili.
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 pounds of boneless chuck cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 - 13 3/4-ounce cans of beef broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 - 15 1/2-ounce can jalapeño pinto beans, drained
4 cups cooked rice
1 cup sour cream
2 limes, cut into wedges for garnish
Cilantro for garnish
Heat oil in a heavy duty four-quart pot. Cook meat, stirring frequently until meat changes color but does not burn. Lower heat and stir in garlic. Combine chili powder, cumin, and flour. Sprinkle meat with the chili mixture. Stirring until it is evenly coated. Crumble dried oregano over meat. Add broth and stir until liquid is well blended. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer covered for two hours, until meat is tender.
Cool thoroughly, cover and refrigerate overnight. Reheat chili slowly. Add beans and heat.
When ready to serve, place a couple of tablespoons of rice in individual serving bowl bowls. Spoon chili over rice and add sour cream and cilantro to the top. Garnish with the lime wedge.
Florence’s Toffee – Chocolate Squares
Graham crackers
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 - 11 3/4-ounce package milk chocolate chips
1 cup ground pecans or sliced almonds
Line a 10 x 15” pan with foil on bottoms and up sides. Line pans with separated rectangular graham crackers, side-by-side. Simmer together the sugar and the butter for about three minutes. Pour mixture quickly over crackers and bake and in a preheated 400° oven for five minutes.
Remove from the oven. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top and spread evenly to cover as they melt. Sprinkle pecans or almonds over the top the chocolate.
Chill and cut or break into squares.
