Easy Family Recipes
Amaretti
- 2 egg whites
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup chopped blanched almonds
- 3/4 tsp almond extract
- Add salt to the egg whites and beat until frothy. Slowly add sugar and beat until stiff. Fold in almonds and extract and drop teaspoonfulls of the mixture on a buttered, floured baking sheet by the teaspoon. Shape into small mounds.
- Stand for 2 hours and then bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes
Butterscotch (ideal to soothe sore throats)
- 1 lb brown sugar
- 1/4 lb butter
- 1/2 oz powdered ginger
- Cream the butter and place in pan over moderate heat. Add the brown sugar and stir until it sets when a drop is poured onto a buttered dish. Add the powdered ginger.
Damper
- 2 cups of self-raising flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 cup milk or water (enough to make a medium or soft dough)
- 1 tsp bicarbonate soda (baking soda)
- Rub the butter into the flour and then knead. Mould into a ball. Bake in a moderately hot oven (or the ashes if you are cooking it in a fire as is traditional) for 20 minutes until brown. It should sound hollow when the base is rapped with a knuckle. Serve with butter and jam, honey, or golden syrup.
Date Bread and Butter Pudding
- 8 slices white bread, crusts removed
- 1 oz butter
- 1 cup pitted dates, chopped
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup caster sugar
- 3 cups milk
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- Grease deep dish. Butter bread and slice in half diagonally. Place half the bread, buttered side up, in the dish. Sprinkle with dates and top with remaining bread. Whisk eggs, sugar, milk, and essence and pour over bread. Let stand 10 minutes and sprinkle with nutmeg. Place dish in a baking dish, pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up side of dish. Bake, uncovered, at 320 degrees for 1 1/4 hours, until custard is set.
Green Beans with Lemon Brown Butter
Makes 4-8 servings
~ submitted by Bill W.
- 1 lb green beans, trimmed and washed
- 2 tsp salt
- 8 tsp unsalted butter
- 6-7 tsp fresh lemon juice
- Boil the beans in salted water until bright green and tender. Drain. Melt the butter, stir in the lemon juice. Remove from heat, add the beans, and toss well.
Limerick Ham
- One cooked ham, unsalted
- 1/4 cup dried juniper berries, soaked
- 1 1/2 cups stone ground mustard
- 1 cup Gin
- 1 cup brown sugar
- Make 1/2 inch cuts all over the hams. Rub the juniper berries into the cuts. Mix the remaining ingredients and coat the ham. Bake in a hot oven covered with foil until heated through then remove the foil and bake until skin crisps. Baste with liquid from bottom of pan periodically.
Mulled Cider
- 2 cinnamon quills
- 1 fresh nutmeg split in two
- 5 whole cloves
- peel from an orange
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 bottle of apple cider
- Place all ingredients in a pot and simmer, covered, for 1/2 hour. Remove and strain. Serve warm with a slice of orange.
Mushroom Appetizers
- 16 oz whole fresh mushrooms
- 8 oz bottle of vinaigrette or vinegar-based salad dressing
- 1/4 large mild onion sliced in wedges with layers separated
- Rinse mushrooms and trim stalks. Place in a ziploc bag with onion and dressing. Shake, seal, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, shaking periodically. Serve and eat!
Piklets
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp butter, melted
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp bi-carbonate soda (baking soda)
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 egg pinch salt
- Sift the flour, and then add the salt, soda, sugar, and milk. Stir until well mixed and then whisk briefly and fold in the butter.
- Dollop large spoonfuls in a heated pan and cook until golden, flipping once.
Pwdin Reis - Rice Pudding
- 5 tbsp medium grain rice
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 5 oz can evaporated milk
- 5 oz can cold water
- 2 1/4 cup whole milk
- Place everything in a baking dish and stir. Bake at 325 degrees in the middle of the oven for 1 hour. Stir well and bake for a further hour. Cool and serve
Rosemary Mashed Potatoes
- 3 lb russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 8 oz crumbled fresh blue cheese
- 1/2 cup or more of whole milk, warmed
- 2 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
- Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until very tender. Drain and return to the pot with cheese and warm milk. Mash until almost smooth. Add more milk until the desired consistency is reached and then stir in the chopped rosemary. Season to taste.
Taffy
- 1 lb powdered sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 lb butter
- 6 drops lemon essence
- Dissolve the sugar in the water over a moderate heat. Cream the butter and add to the sugar water. Continue stirring until it sets when a drop is poured onto a buttered dish. Add lemon essence.
- Butter a plate, pour the mixture onto it and let cool. It will peel free when set.
- Sufficient to make 1lb. of toffee
Welsh Wassail
Fill a large bowl with mixed dried fruit, fresh sliced apples, and berries. Add mulling spices, honey to taste, and top with warm beer. Pass around the group, drinking and well wishing until all the beer is gone, and then divide up the fruit and eat. It's especially nice with whipped cream.
Yuletide Porridge
A warming breakfast on Yule morning
- 4 cups of milk
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 cup of washed white rice
- 1/2 cup of thick cream
- 1 almond
- 1/4 cup of sugar mixed with 1 pinch of cinnamon powder
- Bring milk to a boil, add butter and rice and reduce to a simmer, covered, for an hour. Pour into a bowl, fold in cream and the almond. Dish up in small bowls sprinkled with the cinnamon sugar. The person who finds the almond will have luck for the year.
Zucchini with Tomatoes and Basil
Makes 4 servings
~ submitted by Iphegenia
- 4 small zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
- 1 cup tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp fresh Parmesan cheese, shredded
- Cook zucchini in 1/4 cup of water until just tender. Drain well and add tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Cook, stirring, until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with cheese and serve.
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