Brunch Menu

I served this for Jan and Maggie in March 2015. It would be great for a Mother's Day brunch as well.

Quiche Lorraine (from Gourmet by Ruth Reichel)
Asparagus Salad (from Old Rittenhouse Cookbook)
Fresh Fruit with Strawberry Vinaigrette (from Vegetarian International Cuisine)
Banana Bread
Ginger Tea (from Moosewood Cookbook)
Mimosa

Wisconsin Poppycock

Wisconsin Poppycock

This recipe is via Beth Kost.  It pairs beautifully with a buttery Chardonnay!!!

4 C popped kettle corn

2 C Corn Chex® cereal

2 C Rice Chex® cereal

1 C lightly salted peanuts

½ C butter, cut up

¾ C packed brown sugar

½ C light corn syrup

1. Heat oven to 250^o. Remove and discard any unpopped kernels from popcorn. In ungreased large roasting pan, mix popcorn, cereal, and nuts. Set aside.
2. In 1 ½ quart saucepan, heat butter, brown sugar and corn syrup to boiling over medium heat, stirring frequently. Pour over cereal mixture, stirring until evenly coated.
3. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on waxed paper or foil to cool, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up.

Christmas Eve Tapas menu, 2014

Claire, Mike and I had so much fun celebrating Christmas with Jan and Mike Pitzo!

Some old favorites made it to the menu again:

• Hot Spiced Meatballs
• Blue Cheese Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Dates
• Shrimp-Cilantro Lime
• Veggies with herb dip

Some new winners:

• Crab Cakes via chef Patrick (Thanks Pat for sharing your recipe and coaching me from afar. I hope you are with us next Christmas.) served with corn relish.
• Fig Empanadas (Thanks Katie, for the recipe. Love, love love these)
• Caprese skewers
• Manchengo cheese slice topped with a doplup of Dianne's pepper jelly and an almond
• Jan's corn and bean relish served with chips

For dessert we had my mom's  Pecan Lazers with fresh raspberries.  Absolutely delicious with White Port from Prager.

We started the night with bubbles, of course.  Mike started with Miner Wild Yeast Chardonnay.  We also served Miner Grenache and Biale Black Chicken Zin. Yum.

Christmas Potpourri

1/2 cup dried apples slices cut into small pieces

1/2 cup whole cranberries

4 cinnamon sticks

1 whole nutmeg broken into smaller pieces

2 Tablespoons whole cloves

2 Tablespoons whole allspice

Allow the apples and cranberries to air dry for several days.

Mix all ingredients together. Place 1/2 cup mixture and 2 cups water in a small sauce pans. Place over low heat and simmer for several hours.  As more water as needed.

I allowed to simmer while Claire and I watched movies, sipped wine and knitted.   Ahhh the magic of Christams.

Fig Empanadas

Mike's sister Katie made these for The Dailey family Christmas celebration, December 2014 at her home in Oregon, WI. The theme was Mediterranean.  I added these to our Christmas Eve tapas menu and will keep them as a regular.

This recipe makes 36 - 48 empanadas or 4 large meat pies.  I cut the recipe in half and had more than enough.

I suggest making your own empanada dough. Link to a recipe from Salina's Kitchen. You can make the dough ahead of time.

INGREDENTS
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds ground turkey
2 Tablespoons paprika
2 teaspoons cumin
Salt and pepper
5 ounces chopped dried figs (about 3/4 cup)
4 tablespoons chopped pickled peppers. (I used corn relish based on Katie's rec. perfect!!!!)
1 cup flat leaf parsley chopped
pie dough ( about 4-6 crusts)
Egg wash ( 2 eggs whisked with salt and a Tablespoon of water)

DIRECTIONS
NOTE: If you are making the empanada dough, this can be done in advance and kept in refrigerator)

In a medium pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat.  Add ground turkey and cook. Stir in the paprika and cumin, season with salt and pepper.

Remove from heat and add the figs, corn relish, and parsley. Transfer to a separate bowl and allow to cool to room temperature.

After the filling has cooled, preheat the over to 350 - 450 degrees F. Roll out your pie dough until it is 1/8 inch think. Use a 4 1/2 inch round cutter or similar size bowl, cut our circles of pastry.

Fill the circles with about 2 heaping Tablespoons of the filling on half of the dough leaving about a 3/8 inch border from the edge of the pastry. Egg wash that border and fold over the pastry to create a half moon shaped empanada. Press gently along the edge to seal using the egg wash as glue.  Use a fork and make tiny indentations (crimp) around the edges. Repeat until all the filling is used up or you run out of pie crust.  Reroll the pie dough scraps, being careful not to overwork the pie dough.  NOTE:  this is a long tedious process. Enlist helpers whenever possible..

Bring empanadas to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and place 3 thin slits on the top with a knife to allow steam to vent during baking.  Egg wash the empanadas and bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until the empanadas are golden.

Serve as an appetizer or as an entrée along side fresh chunky tomato salsa.

These can be made ahead of time and frozen.

You can also make large empanadas using the same approach as above.

Pork Empanadas with Corn Relish

Pecan Lazers

This recipe is from my mom's recipe box. She made these at Christmas time. You will need small muffin pans.

First the Crust
1/2# butter
6 oz cream cheese
2 cups flour

Mix above ingredients like a pie crust. I use one of those pie crust utensils. Then add a few Tablespoons of water until you can shape the mixture into small balls.  Don;t get it too wet. Put balls into small muffin pans and press on the bottom and side until you get a nice indentation.

Second the Filling
2 1/4 brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup pecans, chopped (Save 1/4 cup to sprinkle on top)

Beat eggs slightly, add other ingredients and nuts. Pour into crust shells ( I use a teaspoon.), sprinkle with a few chopped pecans on top. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.

Stir Fry Vegetables

This recipes comes via my Aunt Jayne
I think you can use any combination of vegetables.  This is what Aunt Jayne recommends.

4 oz broccoli
1/2 # cauliflower
1 med. carrot, sliced on a diagonal

1 can bamboo shoots
20 fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup celery, sliced on diagonal
4 oz snow peas
4 T oil

1/2 cup chicken stock
1 T rice wine (any white wine will do)
1 t. salt
1/2 t. sugar

1 T cornstarch
2 T water

Heat 4 T oil in a wok or large fry pan. Stir fry sliced carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, bamboo shoots, celery, fresh mushrooms and pea pods.  Add chicken stock, white wine, salt and sugar. Cover for 2 minutes and add cornstarch and water mixture and stir until thickened.

Serve with cooked rice or noodles.