Recipes

The recipes are listed in alphabetical order.

A B C D E FGHIJK L MNO P QRSTUVWX Y Z

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A

Apple Cake
By: Nette

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs, room temp
4 cups apples (3 to 4 large apples), peeled, cored, cut into small cubes
1 teaspoon cinnamon mixed with 1 tablespoon sugar (topping)

Mixing Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 10-inch tube pan (with removable bottom)
2. Sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt into small bowl
3. Cream butter, oil, sugar, and vanilla in medium bowl until blended.
4. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.
5. Add half the dry ingredients, blend.  Scrape bowl, add the rest of the dry ingredients, blend.
6. Fold in apples with a spoon.
7.  Spoon batter into pan.  Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar over top.

Cooking Directions:
Bake until top is firm and golden and tester inserted comes out dry. (Original directions say 1 hour 5 minutes; it's only 50 minutes in my oven.)

Number of Servings: 12-16

Serving size and nutrient info: Because this contains apples, you actually LOSE weight when you eat it.  So I'd estimate minus 300 calories per serving.


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B

Buttermilk Pancakes
By: Pat Z

1 3/4 cups flour
1 teasp. baking powder
1 teasp. baking soda
1/2 teasp. salt
2 cups buttermilk
1/3 cup salad oil
2 eggs

Mix dry ingredients in bowl.  Add milk, oil , and eggs.  Beat until smooth. Makes about 12 medium size pancakes.

Don't know calorie stuff.
Enjoy!


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C

Cheesecake - Spirited Pumpkin
By: Dorothy

(This is the conventional recipe. Do consider using my solid-pan method. You can use gingersnap crumbs to coat the pan, if you do it that way. If you bake it in a spring-form pan, be sure to put a pan of water in the oven on the shelf under the cheesecake to minimize cracking.)
Pecan Crust:
1 T softened butter
1-1/4 C finely chopped pecans
1/4 C fine dry bread crumbs
2 T sugar
2 T butter, melted and cooled to room temp

Coat bottom and sides of 10" spring-form pan evenly with softened butter. Mix pecans, bread crumbs and sugar in bowl and drizzle with melted butter. Stir and toss mixture vigorously with fork until slightly darkened and uniform. Press pecan mixture evenly on sides and bottom of pan and refrigerate for 5 minutes. Bake at 350F until slightly dry (about 8-10 minutes). Cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes) before filling.

Pumpkin Filling:
2-1/4 pounds cream cheese at room temperature
1/4 C cognac or brandy
3/4 C pureed cooked pumpkin
1-1/2 C packed light brown sugar
1/3 C granulated sugar
1-1/2 to 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 to 1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. ground mace
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature

Baking Directions: Heat oven to 350F. Cut cream cheese into 1" cubes; place in large mixer bowl and beat at medium speed until completely smooth. Continue beating slowly while adding cognac. Add pumpkin and blend well. Continue beating while very slowly adding sugars; beat until smooth. Add spices to taste; blend well. Beat whole eggs with the yolks in small bowl at medium speed until blended. Add eggs, about 1/4 C at a time, to cheese mixture. Pour batter into baked cooled pecan crust; spread top to smooth. Gently rotate pan several quarter-turns to settle the batter. Bake until sides of cake are well set and the center is just set, about 2 hour 25 minutes. Turn oven off. Let cake stand in oven with door propped open (8 inches) for 30 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack away from drafts. Let cool undisturbed until sides and bottom of pan are completely cooled to room temp. Remove sides of pan. Refrigerate cake uncovered overnight or at least 8 hours. Cover cake loosely with plastic wrap; refrigerate until serving time.

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Cheesecake Technique
By: Dorothy

Here is how I get my cheesecakes to not crack. This method is not for the faint hearted, but it works well. Once you get used to it you will never bake a cheesecake the old way because the texture is so good with this process. One of these days I need to write an article about some of my cheescake techniques, because I've actually developed some of them myself.

I don't use a springform pan. I use a solid pan the same diameter the recipe calls for - I have them in every size from 5" to 10", and they are about 2.5" deep. I got them at a cake decorating store, and I think they were designed to bake the tiers for a wedding cake. I don't mean they're a set, just that I have needed each size at one time or another. They're aluminum, and more sturdy/heavier, as well as deeper than the usual pans a home cook can buy.

Then, instead of making a crumb crust, I crush about one to one-and-a-half cups of the appropriate crumbs. The amount depends on the size of the pan; the pumpkin cheescake uses a 10" pan, so I'd use about 1.5 cups of crumbs. The type of crumb depends on the filling. I don't really like graham crackers for cheesecakes, so I would use, for example;
* Nabisco famous chocolate wafers (they're a plain chocolate cookie, rather like the outside of an OREO, and for some reason most markets put them above the ice cream freezer with the ice cream cones rather than in the cookie section). I would use these for chocolate, coconut or cappuccino cheesecakes.
* Vanilla wafer or Zweiback crumbs for a plain cheesecake
* Amaretti cookies for a amaretto cheesecake
* Gingersnaps for a pumpkin cheesecake
So any fairly crisp or dry crumb can be used.

Line the pan with a circle of waxed paper or parchment paper cut to fit the bottom. Melt about 2 tblsp of butter and pour it into the pan, then swirl the butter around and tilt the pan until it's well coated. Toss the crumbs around to cover the inside of the pan. Set the pan aside.

Make your filling. I virtually always use a food processor. Mine is pretty large and heavy duty so it makes short work of mixing a cheescake filling. Pour the filling into the prepared pan. Place the pan into a larger pan and pour a couple inches of water into the larger pan, forming a water bath for your cheesecake. Bake at the temperature specified in your recipe. It may take a bit longer than the recipe specifies because of the moderating effect of the water bath. You MUST make sure the cheesecake is thoroughly baked, but you don't want to over bake it. When it is done, turn off the oven, and leave the pans in the oven with the door proped open a couple of inches for one hour. Remove the pans, but leave the cheescake in the water bath, and cool the cheesecake COMPLETELY. DO NOT, repeat NOT, refrigerate it; if you refrigerate the cheesecake at this point, you'll never get it out of the pan. Oddly enough, I find the cheesecake cools faster sitting in the water bath, than without. It only takes about 2 hours maximum to cool this way.

Remove the cheescake from the water bath and dry the outside of the pan off. Loosen the cheesecake from the sides of the pan if necessary. Place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of the pan. Place a circle of cardboard a couple of inches bigger than the pan on top of the plastic wrap. Invert the cheesecake onto the carboard, remove the pan and IMMEDIATELY place the cheesecake in the fridge. This is the point at which it's most vulnerable: while its still soft, before it firms up in the fridge. Say a little prayer to your kitchen god at this point. Once the cheesecake has chilled for a couple hours it's safe to cover it - I usually use a mixing bowl or a pan a couple inches bigger than the cheesecake.

When you're ready to serve it, either reverse it onto the serving plate, or - my preference - reverse it onto a second cardboard, slice it, and place the slices on the serving plate. The first cardboard, since it was covered by plastic wrap, should still be good to use next time.

As you can see, it takes guts to turn a soft cheescake out of its pan. But it will never crack if you bake it this way. The reason a cheesecake cracks is that it gives off LOTS of water as it bakes and this makes it shrink. A cheesecake is essentially a custard, if you think about it. And, when it sticks to the sides of the pan, it has to crack in the middle to allow for the shrinkage.

If you can't bring yourself to try the method I've outlined, there are two other things that can help prevent cracking:
* First, keep the cheesecake from sticking to the sides of the pan. You might try buttering/greasing it well, or lining the sides with a strip of parchment (I've never tried it but it might work), or coating the sides with melted butter and dusting them with some of the same sort of crumbs you made the crust from.
* Second, place a pan of water in the oven, on lower shelf, while the cheescake bakes. This isn't as good as a water bath, but it does add some humidity to the oven.

I need to tell you that twice when I've used my favored method, the cheesecake has collapsed when I've turned it out of the pan. When that happens, I pour the half-baked batter back into the food processor and process it smooth, wash the pan, re-do the paper lining and butter/crumb coating, put it back in the water bath, and bake it for another hour or so. Both times the rescue worked.

Sorry this is so long. It sounds more compilcated than it is. As I said, it takes some nerve, but I think it's worth it.

As mentioned in the recipe, if you use my technique for the Chocolate Cheesecake, you need an 8-inch solid (not springform) pan that's about 3 inches deep.

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E

Elvis Presley's Favorite Meatloaf
By: Nette

Ingredients:
2 green peppers, diced
2 medium onions, diced
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 pounds ground chuck
1 pound bulk pork sausage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 cup Hunt's ketchup

Mixing Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Combine all ingredients except 1/2 cup of the ketchup in large mixing bowl.  Mix well and shape into one giant loaf or two smaller loaves.  Place in pan and top with remaining ketchup.

Cooking Directions: 90 minutes or until well done

Number of Servings: 8-10


Serving size and nutrient info: (i.e. calories per serving, grams fat, protein.....)  Not listed, but since it's Elvis, I'll estimate 1 trillion calories per serving.


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L

Ludicranian Toast
By: Faldage

Ingredients:
Bread (this has to be real bread, co-op whole wheat, seven grain, whatever; no Puffyloaf or balloon bread.  If the kids don't like it tell them that's just too bad, probably they're not old enough anyway, maybe they'll like it better when they grow up.)
Eggs (should be philosophically compatible with the bread)         
Cheese (whatever kind turns you on, different types OK mix and match.)        
Spices (as above)
Anything else that seems to fit (e.g., soy sauce, hot sauce, beer, whatever)

Special Note: All ingredients to taste and according to how many people are eating and how hungry they are.

Mixing Instructions:
Gooby the eggs, cheese and spices together.  Do not homogenize.  There should be pieces of fried egg hanging off of the finished product.

Cooking Directions: 
Dip the bread in the egg um-gooey and slosh around.  Fry till the eggs look more or less cooked.  If you're worried about whatever it is you're supposed to get from uncooked eggs let it go a little longer or just skip this recipe entirely.

Number of Servings:
Enough to feed everyone till it's all gone. Depends on how much of everything you use.

Serving size and nutrient info: (ie calories per serving, grams fat, protein.....) You gotta be kidding.


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P

Pasta alla Mama
By: Dorothy
(This recipe comes from Hugo's restaurant in West Hollywood. Hugo's is a great place with wonderful, inventive food, good service, and great celebrity and people watching -- it's right in the middle of West Hollywood's Boystown. This recipe is a great way to use leftover, cooked pasta. It is infinitely variable, depending on what's in the fridge. It can be really cheap (use up leftovers) or quite luxurious (a dollop of sour cream, and a spoonful of caviar, perhaps?) You can add sauted mushrooms; crumbled, cooked bacon or sausage; chopped tomato; chopped avocado; chopped smoked salmon (my sister's fave) -- just about anything you like that you'd put in an omelet. This recipe is also great for a party. Just have the pasta pre-cooked, and a variety of the "variables" prepared. Then whip up each person's plateful with his or her choice of ingredients. You can even have the garlic and onion pre-sauteed.)

Ingredients: for each serving:
3 oz. spaghetti (or other pasta), cooked [ You can use leftover pasta, or cook it just for this recipe.]
1 Tblsp. butter or margarine
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 cup chopped red or yellow onion (optional) [Note: the recipe says optional, but I consider it vital. -D]
2-3 large eggs, lightly beaten (two is generally enough, I find)
2-4 Tblsp. grated parmesan cheese
3 Tblsp. chopped fresh parseley (or 1 Tblsp. of the dried stuff -- but fresh is great in this dish.)

Mixing Instructions: Have all your ingredients and any optional items ready to toss in.

Cooking Directions:
In a 10- to 12-inch frying pan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion. Stir until garlic is limp, about 1 minute. Don't let garlic and onion brown. Add pasta and mix well until it's hot and coated with the butter. Add eggs, cheese and parsely; mix just until eggs are softly set and cling to noodles, about 1 minute. Toss in any additional ingredients if desired. Spoon onto a plate. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with additional parsely and cheese if desired. Serve. Number of Servings: 1, but make successive batches to serve whomever is hanging around.

Serving size and nutrient info: (i.e. calories per serving, grams fat, protein.....) Dunno, and it depends on what you add, but the basic recipe is pretty healthy if you can afford a couple eggs.

Buon Appetito!

Pasta with Clam Sauce
By: Dorothy
(This is one of my very favorite pasta dishes. One of its advantages is that the sauce takes less time to make than it takes to cook the pasta. Serve this with a nice salad, and dinner will be on the table in about 20 minutes. Some people like to add a little white wine to this sauce, and you certainly have my permission to do so; I prefer it without.)

Ingredients:
1 can chopped or minced clams with their liquid
6 oz. dried pasta. (Linguine is traditional, but I prefer shells or elbow macaroni which seem to hold the sauce better. If I use shells or elbow mac, I serve this in bowls with soup spoons.)
2 Tbl. olive oil, butter or a combination of the two
2-3 cloves of garlic
2 Tblsp. dried parsely
Salt & pepper to taste (Use freshly-ground pepper if at all possible. It makes a REAL difference in this recipe.)

Mixing Instructions:
Mince garlic. Open can of clams; if you wash the top of the can, then leave the lid attached to the can, you can use the lid as a "strainer" to drain the liquid into your pan.

Cooking Directions:
Start a pot of water boiling for the pasta. When the water comes to a boil, cook the pasta until it's al dente. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan or frying pan, heat the butter and/or oil. Gently saute the garlic until it's limp; don't let it get brown. Add the liquid from the clams. Keep warm on a very low flame until the pasta is ready. When the pasta is done, drain it and place it in a serving bowl. Add the sauce, the chopped clams from the can, the dried parsely, a dash of salt to taste and a generous amount of pepper. Toss and serve.

Number of Servings: 2 -- recipe may be multipled -- just use 1 can of clams and about 6 oz. of pasta for every two people. If you have an un-even number of people, round up. This is pretty tasty.

Serving size and nutrient info: (i.e. calories per serving, grams fat, protein.....) This analysis is for the WHOLE amount of the recipe. If you have people with dainty, bird-like appetites, three of them can share this amount. But, I must confess, naming no names, of course, that I've seen a single person eat the whole thing.
Calories: 920
Protein: 32g
Carbs: 120g
Fat: 28g -- note that you can cut down on the butter or oil if that's a concern. But all the fat in the recipe is in the butter or oil, so try not to fret too much!

Pasta with Greens and Feta Cheese (originally from Mollie Katzen's TV cooking show)
By: kristina
Notes: This recipe is endlessly adaptable. I've made it with bacon and/or Italian sausage sauteed with the onions, I've added corn to it, and I almost always use LOTS more garlic. And it's delicious cold for lunch the next day -- just add some good balsamic vinegar and toss.

Ingredients:(with measurements as best I can remember--I never measure anything for this recipe, and it always works...)
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped fine
- 3 (or more) cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 large bunch of greens. Swiss Chard, kale, spinach, and collard greens are all good -- I usually use a combination of chard and kale, but that's because it's what's in the garden...Separate the leaves from the stems; cut stems into 1" pieces, and roughly chop the leaves.
- 1/2 pound dry pasta. The curly kind, or shells, are the best
- 1/2 pound feta cheese (or more, to taste), crumbled
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmasean cheese
- olive oil
- salt and fresh ground pepper
- sugar (optional, seems to help if the greens are bitter)

Cooking Directions:
- cook pasta in salted water
- chop veggies
- heat olive oil in the largest frying pan you've got; gently sauté onions and garlic 'til they're translucent. Do not brown.
- add greens to onions, starting with the ones requiring the longest cooking; collard and kale, followed by chard, the spinach last. Another tip -- add the chopped stems first, and let them cook for a bit, the add leaves. For example, when I use kale and chard, it goes in this order:
kale stems -- cook 4-5 minutes
add chard stems and kale leaves -- cook another 3-4 minutes
add chard leaves -- continue cooking until greens are tender
- taste the greens; if they're too bitter for your taste, add a few pinches of sugar
- by now the pasta should be cooked and drained and in a collander; combine it with the cooked greens (in the frying pan if there's room, in a large bowl otherwise)
- add feta cheese and fresh ground balck pepper to taste
-serve and garnish with parmasean cheese.

Number of Servings: 2 with enough for lunch the next day

Serving size and nutrient info: (i.e. calories per serving, grams fat, protein.....)
I haven't a clue and the nutritional info; I'm sure it's fairly high on the sodium scale, and not too bad on the fat.


Philadelphia Sticky Buns
By: Pat Z

Yeast Dough:
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teasp. salt
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1 pkg active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups unsifted all purpose flour

Filling:
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 teasp.  ground cinnamon

Topping:
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup light brown sugar
Pecan or walnut halves

In a small pan heat milk until small bubbles form around edge of pan: remove from heat. Add granulated sugar, salt and 1/4 cup butter; stir to melt butter. Cool to lukewarm (drop on wrist is not hot).  Check temp of warm water with thermometer.

Sprinkle yeast over water in large bowl; stir to dissolve.  Stir in luke warm milk mixture.  Add the egg and 2 cups of flour; beat with electric mixer until smooth.  Add the remaining flour and mix by hand to incorporate and dough is smooth and leaves side of bowl.  Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and blisters appear on surface.  You will probably need to add more flour during the kneading process.  Grease a bowl and place dough in the bowl, turn to grease top. Cover with cloth and put in warm (85 F) place to rise free from drafts, at least 1 -1 1/2 hours or longer depending on how warm it is.

Meanwhile, make topping: in a small bowl with a wooden spoon, combine 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Spread on bottom of 9 x 9x 2 pan. Place pecans on top of butter, sugar mixture.

Turn risen dough out onto lightly floured surface.  Roll into 16 x 12 inch rectangle.  Spread with 1/4 cup butter and sprinkle with 1/4 cup brown sugar, the raisins, and chopped nuts, and cinnamon. Roll up jelly roll style, ending with 16 inch long log.  Slice into 12 pieces. Place into pan with butter, sugar on bottom and let rise again until double in size. About 1 to 1 1/2 hours, covered. Will rise to top of pan.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375F. Bake 25 to 30 mins. or until golden brown. Place heavy duty foil on cutting board large enough to hold buns and turn buns out of pan. Let cool slightly.  Makes 12.

Again, I don't know the calories in this either, but I'm sure it's a lot with all the butter and sugar.
Enjoy!

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Y

Yellow Squash Parmesan
Cafe Handle: Chica

Ingredients:
A couple of pounds (or more) of yellow squash, washed and sliced into rounds.
Salt , to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste
Celery seed, very little…….it is powerful stuff
Butter, 3 tablespoons
Parmesan cheese, the real stuff, coarsely grated, at least 3 ounces
Bread crumbs, as needed

Mixing Instructions: Cook squash in boiling salted water until skin is fork tender. Drain well. Turn into mixing bowl and dice into small chunks. Add pepper, celery seed, 2 tablespoons of butter and ¾ of the cheese. Mix well. Place mixture into a greased baking dish and top with remainder of cheese, dots of butter and bread crumbs.

Cooking Directions: Bake at 375 degrees or so until bubbly and brown on top. Maybe 20 to 30 minutes.

Number of Servings: Depends on what else you are serving, how hungry you are and how all your guests really feel about squash.

Serving size and nutrient info: (i.e. calories per serving, grams fat, protein.....)Pulease. Let’s not even go there.


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Do you have a recipe you want added or removed. Simply e-mail me the "recipe name", a list of "ingredients" (measurements would be helpful), "mixing instructions", "cooking directions", and if you know them the following "number of servings" and "serving size and nutrient info (i.e. calories, fat grams ........)" and most importantly your "Cafe Handle".

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