Title: Vinegar Taffy
Categories: Candies
Yield: 6 servings

1 c Sugar
1/2 c Water
1/4 c Light corn syrup
1/2 ts Salt
2 tb Vinegar
1 ts Vanilla or other flavoring
-such as orange or lemon, or
-use:
1/2 ts Peppermint or:
1 oz Bitter chocolate, grated

From Grandma Ruby’s recipe file: newspaper clipping

Cook sugar, water, corn syrup, salt and vinegar until a few drops of
the mixture will make a hard ball in cold water, 260 degrees on a
candy thermometer. Pour onto a greased dish or platter, sprinkle
flavoring over top and turn the outer edges of the candy in toward
the center until cool and firm enough to handle.

Best results are obtained in pulling if the tips of the thumbs and
fingers are dipped in cornstarch or fat. Use only the fingertips to
pull taffy. When mixture can be handled, take up and pull out with
both hands. Fold over and pull out again.

As the mixture becomes cooler and the longer it is pulled, it will
become stiffer and can be pulled out in a longer strand. Pull until
it is difficult to pull out and the mixture seems quite firm.

Pull into long thin strips and cut immediately with greased scissors
and roll each piece in powdered sugar or wrap in wax paper. Store
cooled taffy in an air tight container in a cool dry place.

If the taffy sugars, it can be recooked by putting it in a pan with 2
Tablespoons corn syrup and 1/4 cup water. Stir until dissolved and
then recook according to original directions.

Finely chopped nuts or fruit, as well as other flavorings, are added
as the taffy is being pulled.

I wish I had a date for this…I’d say recipe is at _least_ 30 years
old…possibly 40, maybe even more… This is a lesson to all of you
to date your recipes, including newspaper clippings!

From Florence “Ruby” Williams’ files.

Valerie Whittle

MMMMM

Title: Fern Tips Vinaigrette
Categories: Harned 1994, Salads, Side dish, Wild foods
Yield: 4 servings

2 tb Vinegar or lemon juice
6 tb Melted butter or salad oil
1/2 ts Prepared mustard
1/2 ts Each paprika and salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 ts Chopped chives or
1 ts Grated onion
2 Hard-boiled eggs; chopped
2 c Fiddlehead ferns
— cooked and chilled

Combine all ingredients except the last two; mix well. Arrange
hard-boiled eggs over top of the chilled, cooked fiddleheads and pour
vinaigrette sauce over all.

The author wrote: “Fiddleheads, the coiled tips of young fern
fronds, are a springtime delicacy especially prized by New Englanders
and wild foods enthusiasts. Their season lasts only two weeks or so
in May. Three kinds of the curled crosiers are gathered: those of the
ostrich fern, the cinnamon fern, and the common bracken fern.

”The fiddlehead is ready to pick when it is pushing up swiftly
through the ground with its tightly coiled tip, shaped like the head
of a fiddle. Fiddleheads are picked in the morning when they are
woodsy-smelling and fresh flavored and snap off crisply into the hand
of the picker. By afternoon the glowing green-coiled crosiers can
have outgrown the edible stage, becoming unfurled fern fronds.

“The cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) fiddlehead is gathered when
it is about eight inches tall. The crosiers and one-half inch to two
inches of the stem are eaten. A grayish-yellow woolly covering on
the stems and tips must be removed (sometimes with difficulty) before
the fiddleheads are cooked. They are washed and then rubbed to
remove the fuzz. Fiddleheads will keep for a couple of days in the
refrigerator after picking, but wild flavors and freshness are
transitory. Better to pick fiddleheads in the morning and eat them
before night – or freeze them.”

“The ostrich fern (Pteris nodulosa)…is the tall, graceful plant that
grows on stream and river banks where the water comes up in the early
spring. So abundant are the ostrich ferns in the lush natural
ferneries of the Winooski valley near Waterbury, Vermont, that
quantities of the fiddleheads are harvested, packed in snow, and
transported to Maine where they are canned for sale in specialty food
stores.

”Fresh, crisp fiddleheads are steamed or boiled in salted water for
20 to 30 minutes, until just tender. Their flavor hints of asparagus
and mushrooms combined, and they are delectable served with either of
these compatibly flavored foods. But the best dish of plump
fiddleheads is simmered gently and served hot, enhanced only by the
simplest adornment of melted butters, served within hours after the
crosiers are gathered…"

From _The Wild Flavor_ by Marilyn Kluger. Los Angeles: Jeremy P.
Tarcher, Inc., 1984. Pp. 245-248. ISBN 0-87477-338-5. Typed for
you by Cathy Harned.

MMMMM

Basil cheese torta with red bell pepper strips pine nuts

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Appetizers Vegetarian
Oriental Sauces

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–
1/2 lb Cream cheese — softened
4 tb Butter — softened
3/4 c Basil pesto
1/2 lb Provolone, thinly sliced
1/4 c Toasted pine nuts
1 Red bell pepper — roasted,
— peeled, seeded, and
— cut into 3″ x 3/8″ strips
1 sm Jar sun-dried tomatoes
— (packed in olive oil)
Fresh basil for garnish

Mix cream cheese and butter with a fork; add pesto and mix well. Line
a small (3-cup) loaf pan or bowl with plastic wrap, leaving several inches
of overhang on each side. Make a thin layer of provolone slices on the
bottom and partially up the sides. Spread 1/3 of the pesto mixture over
the cheese; artistically arrange 2 or 3 sun-dried tomatoes, 4-6 bell
pepper strips, and about 1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts over the pesto.
Repeat layers until all ingredients are used (reserving some of the pine
nuts to sprinkle on top), pressing down well between layers. Chill
overnight or for several days. Serve at room temperature on a platter
wreathed with fresh basil sprigs. Additional toasted pine nuts, sun-dried
tomatoes cut into flowers, red bell pepper strips, and fresh basil sprigs
may be used as garnish. NOTE: Torta may be presented inverted or not.
Keeps several weeks refrigerated. Although best served at room
temperature, it slices best chilled. I like to serve it on a platter
adorned with grape leaves and small clusters of red and white grapes.
VARIATIONS: =========== Use lemon pesto; substitute slivered toasted
almonds for the pine nuts; omit the sun-dried tomatoes and add 1 teaspoon
lemon zest to the cream cheese mixture. Use purple pesto; omit the red
pepper if desired and increase the sun-dried tomatoes. Use cinnamon
basil pesto; omit the sun-dried tomatoes and the red peppers if desired,
and use pecans instead of pine nuts. Source: The Herb Garden Cookbook,
by Lucinda Hutson Typed for you by Karen Mintzias

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Title: XIAO LONG TANG BAO*
Categories: Chinese, Loo, Breads, Pork
Yield: 24 servings

11 oz Pork loin with some fat,
-chopped or ground coarse
2 ts Soy sauce
1 tb Sesame oil
2 tb Scallion greens, chopped
1 1/2 ts Ginger root, chopped fine
6 tb Water
1/4 c Stiff aspic
-(jellied stock)
1/4 Recipe basic yeast dough

The Chinese for this dish can be transliterated as
anything from “Show loong tong bow” to “Hsiao lung
t’ang pao” to Xiao long tang bao* Little juicy steamed
rolls …Juicy steamed buns with pork

Mix first 8 ingredients. Divide into 24 portions. Cut
aspic into 24 portions. Knead dough 5 min; roll out
into a thin baguette; cut into 24 pieces. Flatten each
piece into a 2″ round; then go around with your
fingers and squeeze the edges thin – the result should
be a medium-thin center and a thin outside. Put 1
portion (1/2 oz) filling in the center of each round;
top with 1 portion of aspic. Bring up the sides of
each round and twist up in a decorative pattern,
making sure to seal the top. If holes appear, patch
them at once!

Put each dumpling on a square of waxed paper or a
piece of bok choy leaf and steam, preferably in a
bamboo steamer, for 8 min. Serve hot.

Note on aspic:

If you don’t have any on hand, use about 1 1/2 c of
homemade chicken broth (or good-quality canned
low-salt broth): boil 1 c of broth, uncovered, for
about 2 min (reducing it quite a bit) while dissolving
1 envelope gelatin in the other 1/2 c. Mix together
and stir over low heat until all gelatin is dissolved.
Chill. This will make a hard aspic, enough for 3
recipes of this dim sum.

—–

Title: HAMANTACHEN COOKIE FILLING #1**BGMB90B
Categories: Jewish, Frostings, Cookies, Desserts, Holiday
Yield: 12 servings

1 c Nuts; chopped
1 lb Prunes; stewed
1 tb Lemon juice
1/4 ts Cinnamon; mixed w/
1 tb Sugar

Remove pits from prunes. Chop prunes and nuts very
fine (a few zaps in the FP will work here). Add lemon
juice and cinnamon-sugar. Recipe from LOVE AND
KNISHES, Sara Kasdan (and my Bubbie)

—–

Title: GRITS CASSEROLE
Categories: Vegetables
Yield: 6 servings

4 c Milk
1 c Hominy grits
1/2 c Butter or margarine
1 Roll garlic cheese
2 Eggs, well beaten
1/2 c Cheese, grated

Bring 3-1/2 c milk to boiling in medium saucepan.
Gradually stir in grits. Gook over medium heat ,
stirring constantly, until thick (about 10 minutes).
Remove from heat. Add butter and garlic cheese; stir
until melted. Stir in eggs and remaining milk. Pour
into 2 quart casserole. Bake in preheated 375 degree
oven uncovered for 30 minutes. Sprinkle grated cheese
over top. Bake 15 minutes longer. Mrs. Harold T. Cook

—–

TEMPURA ,JAPANESE WAY

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Ethnic Appetizers

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–
Koromo ( batter )
1 Egg beaten
1 c “cold” water
2 tb Dry white wine
1 c Flour
Tentsuyu (dipping sauce)
1 tb Dashi no moto ( fish stock)
1 c Water
2 tb Mirin ( sweet rice wine )
Or 1 tbs sugar
2 tb Sake ( or dry white wine )
1/4 c Soy sauce
Ginger root to taste
Vegetables fish: EX:
Carrots, onions, mushrooms
Peppers, zucchini, snow pea,
Squash, eggplant etc. etc.
“okra ”
Shrimps, crab, scallops,
Squid, cod. etc. etc.

Before you begin here a few essential tips to
remember: youUll need a deep thick wall pan ( wok o.k.
), filled with 1 inch of peanut oil preferred ( Never
lard or shortening ),slice vegetables thin enough for
even cooking, fry in small batches and never crowd,
and have the temperature of the oil from 340 for
vegetables or 360 degrees for fish. Cold water in
batter is a must to keep the flour from being sticky
.Do a trial try of frying so youUll know how long
vegetables or fish need to cook. Author did not
mention poultry but I surmise it would be cooked as
the fish is. Vegetables and fish were the initial
things cooked this way in the history of tempura due
to their trade with the Portuguese and Dutch
merchants. Make the batter: Beat egg with water. Mix
in flour and whisk quickly. Set aside. Make the
tempura dip: Boil the dashi no moto ( this is a dried
soup stock from fish or poultry usually contained in
tea bag type of packing )in the water for 2 or 3
minutes. Turn off the heat and add all the remaining
ingredients. Prepare the vegetables or fish but
cutting into rings, strips, cubes etc. For fish,
dredge in flour before dipping in batter. Vegetables
are just dipped into the batter. Let excess batter
drip off with either fish or vegetables.( meanwhile
you will have had the oil preheated in the pan to the
right temperature for either fish or vegetables Drop
into oil by hand or use a tbs for vegetable cubes.
Take the vegetables or fish out of the oil when
slightly browned. Serve the tempura with the Tentsuyu
dip along with rice.Place rice in a bowl, top with
tempura and a few tbs. of the tentsuyu dip. Or serve
tempura over Japanese noodles ( soba ).

Note all Japanese ingredients may be found readily in
most supermarkets or gourmet grocers today. Also,
there are other variations in frying tempura;
this is one basic historic method. Prior to using
peanut oil, sesame seed oil was used mainly when
tempura first became popular in Japan, over 400 years
ago.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Title: Walnut Dainties
Categories: Cookies
Yield: 1 servings

3/4 c Soft butter
1 1/2 c Packed brown sugar
1 Egg, beaten
1 ts Vanilla
1 1/2 c Flour
1 ts Baking powder
1/2 ts Rum flavoring
1 c Finely chopped walnuts

Recipe by: riacmt@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Carol Miller-Tutzauer)
Cream butter with brown sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix in
flour, baking powder and flavoring. Add walnuts. Spread in greased 8″
square cake pan. Bake at 350F for 35 minutes and cut into squares. Serve
hot or cold, plain or with whipped cream or ice cream. Store in tin.

—–

Title: EL CHICO SALSA VERDE (VTJS99B)
Categories: Condiments, Sauces, Dips, Mexican, Tex-mex
Yield: 4 servings

2 tb Pumpkin seeds; pureed
2 tb Green chiles; minced
1/4 c Parsley; chopped
2 c Chicken stock
1/4 c Cooking oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tb Roux (1 part cooking oil
To 2 parts flour)

Toast pumpkin seeds until brown, or use pumpkin seeds
called Pepitas (This I’d prefer. I think you can get
these at the spice rack in the store). Grind, with the
chiles and parsley, very fine. In a skillet, with 1/4
C cooking oil, add a little of the chicken stock. Add
the green chile mixture and stir well, then add the
remaining chicken stock. Salt and pepper, to taste,
and cook for a few minutes on medium heat. Add roux,
and stir, cooking until it thickens then remove from
fire. If not to be used immediately, then store in
‘fridge. Heat only when you need to use it.

—–

Title: SMØRREBRØD (DENMARK)
Categories: Seafood, Cheese/eggs, Ethnic
Yield: 12 servings

8 lg Lettuce leaves
6 Eggs, hard-cooked and cut
-into quarters
12 Shelled and deveined cooked
-small shrimp
3 oz Each smoked salmon and
-smoked herring or
-whitefish, thinly
Sliced
2 oz Each sliced boiled ham and
-rare roast beef
2 oz Each Danish blue cheese and
-Danish hard cheese, cut
-into cubes
3 md Tomatoes, cut into wedges or
-sliced
3 sm Apples, cored, cut into
-wedges, and dipped in lemon
-juice
3 sm Oranges, peeled and
-sectioned
1/2 c Sliced onion
24 Pimiento-stuffed green
-olives
6 Dill pickles, cut lengthwise
-into quarters
1/3 c Plus 2 teaspoons each
-mayonnaise, prepared
-mustard, prepared
Horseradish, and seafood
-cocktail sauce
12 Thin slices rye bread (1/2
-ounce each)
4 1/2 oz Crispbread

Line 2 large wooden serving boards or 2 trays with 4
lettuce leaves each. On each board (or tray)
decoratively arrange 12 egg quarters, 6 shrimp, 1 1/2
ounces each salmon, and herring (or whitefish), 1
ounce each ham, roast beef, and cheeses, half each of
the tomatoes and fruits, 1/4 cup onion slices, 12
olives, and 12 pickle spears. Spoon mayonnaise,
mustard, horseradish, and cocktail sauce into
individual serving dishes and set out near serving
boards. Serve bread slices and crispbread in
napkin-lined basket. Makes 12 servings.

—–