Creamed Onions

 Recipe from Susan Scherer

Creamed Onions

Serves 6

1 pound small yellow onions (larger than pearl onions)

2 cups chicken stock

1 tablespoon butter

6 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 cup half and half

¼ cup dry sherry

Salt and freshy ground white pepper to taste

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Trim the ends of onions and peel. Place the onions in a saucepan and add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 10 minutes, or until just tender. Strain, reserving the stock, and set the onions aside. Return the stock to the pan and bring to a simmer.

In a small frying pan, melt the butter and add the flour. Cook together to make a roux. Do not brown. Add the roux to the hot stock and whisk until smooth and thickened.

Stir in the half and half and sherry and simmer 2 minutes more. Add salt and white pepper to taste, the nutmeg and parsley. Combine the cream sauce with the onion and place in a small round ovenproof casserole. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes until hot and bubble. Brown the top under the broiler, if you wish.

Simple Syrup Recipe

 There is a basic unflavored simple syrup, used when making lemonade from fresh lemons, limes and other such items.

There are two ingredients in simple syrup:

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

Combine the sugar and water in a pot. Bring to a boil, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Store in a clean jar in the refrigerator for up to a month. 

Note: some recipes call for two cups of sugar to one cup of water. It makes a thicker syrup.

Pickles

 Yoos Pickle Recipe

On the bottom of quart jars:

1 large and 1 small head of dill

1 clove of garlic

2 teaspoons mustard seed

2 slices onion.

Pack 1/2 full with cucumbers

Add 1 more large dill and fill the jar to the top with pickles. Do not crowd them.

Brine

3 cups vinegar

3 cups water

6 tablespoons salt (1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons)

Fill jars to within ½ inch of the top with boiling liquid. Wipe the jar top with a cloth. Put caps on the jar, screwing bands tight.

Process 5 minutes (+ 8 minutes for high altitude, such as Colorado).

 Easiest Bread Recipe Ever

1.5 c warm water 1 tablespoon yeast

Let set for 5 minutes, until yeast blooms. 1 tablespoon salt

3 cups your choice flour. Stir, cover and let rise Bake at 350 degrees in preheated round Dutch oven until barely brown. Remove lid and let bake additional 5-10 min until golden and crisp on top.

Red Beans and Rice

Source of recipe is unknown. I would like to give credit where it is due. Someone sent me an image of this recipe.

Red Beans and Rice

This is the way red beans and rice were cooked in the old days—loaded with meat and steeped in a rich, natural gravy. You must include a large ham bone, whose marrow gives the beans that creamy texture and distinctive smoky flavor. Many supermarkets now carry only preboned hams, and you may have difficulty finding ham bones. Ask your local butcher for a bone. Ham bones freeze well.

If you have any red beans left over, they freeze beautifully. Just add a little water and perhaps a pinch of salt when you reheat them.

Baked ham is preferred over country or smoked ham in this and all other New Orleans bean dishes. Smoked ham is too salty and will unbalance the seasonings. Pickled pork is pork shoulder marinated in brine for over a week. New Orleans markets regularly carry it, but elsewhere you probably will not find it. A good substitute for pickled pork is salt pork; with salt pork eliminate all other salt in the recipe.

Recipe feeds 8 or more.

 Ingredients:

2 pounds dried red (kidney) beans, soaked overnight in cold water to cover.

2 cups chopped onion

½ cup thinly sliced green scallion tops

½ cup chopped green pepper

1 1/3 Tablespoon finely minced garlic

2 Tablespoons finely minced fresh parsley

1 pound seasoned (baked) ham, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 pound pickled pork cut into large chunks*

1 large ham bone with some meat on it, sawed into 4 to 5 inch lengths

1 Tablespoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper pods

2 whole bay leaves, broken into quarters

½ teaspoon dried thyme

1/8 teaspoon dried basil

2 quarts cold water or chicken broth, approximately

Boiled Rice

Drain the soaked beans in a colander and put them, along with all the other ingredients into a heavy 8 to 10 quart pot or kettle, adding just enough of the cold water or broth to cover. Bring to a oil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer on low heat for 2 1/3 to 3 hours, or until the beans are tender and a thick natural gravy has formed. Add about 1 cup of water toward the end of cooking if the mixture appears too dry. During cooking, stir frequently and scrape down the sides and across the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon or spatula to prevent scorching. (If you use a heavy pot and very low heat—just high enough to keep the barest simmer going—you should have no problem with beans sticking to the pot during cooking.) Stir the entire mixture thoroughly just once about every half hour.

When the beans are cooked, turn off the heat. To serve, ladle about 1 ½ cups of beans, with meat and gravy, over a portion (about 2/3 cup) of boiled rice.

 Notes

·        **Substitute ham hocks for pickled pork, as desired. I was unable to find pickled pork and used ham hocks instead. I didn't use a ham bone. I wish I had had one, but I didn't.

   This recipe was so delicious! I will want to make it again and again!