Meatless Main Dishes

Hungarian Vegetable Marrow

Hungarian Vegetable Marrow (Tökfözelék)

Recipe from Az Inyesmester Szakacskonyve (The Expert’s Cookbook)

Ingredient for Hungarian Vegetable Marrow recipe

  • 5 lbs vegetable marrow
  • Salt
  • Vinegar
  • Lard or oil
  • Chopped dill
  • Paprika
  • Brown flour roué
  • Sour cream or buttermilk

Peel and grate vegetable marrow. Salt and sprinkle with vinegar. Let soak 1/2 hour. Squeeze out the moisture. Cook in a little lard or oil. Add chopped dill and a little paprika. When tender, prepare a browned flour roué and add to marrow. Cook until thickened. Add sour cream or buttermilk. Can add dill pickle juice for added flavor.

squash

A marrow is a vegetable, the mature fruit of certain Cucurbita pepo cultivars. The immature fruit of the same or similar cultivars is called courgette (in Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands and New Zealand) or zucchini (in North America, Australia, Germany and Austria). Like courgettes, marrows are oblong, green squash, but marrows have a firm rind and a neutral flavour (“overgrown when picked and insipid when cooked…”), making them useful as edible casings for mincemeat and other stuffings.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first mention of vegetable marrows dates to 1822, zucchini to 1929, and courgettes to 1931. Before the introduction of Cucurbita species from the New World, marrow signified the immature, edible fruits of Lagenaria, a cucurbit gourd of African origin widely grown since Antiquity for eating when immature and for drying as watertight receptacles when grown to maturity.

Marrow (vegetable). (2016, December 12). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 06:11, December 12, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marrow_(vegetable)&oldid=754357847

Breads and Pancakes

Carrot Bread

No one in our family was terribly inclined toward overly sweet desserts. Sweets were luxuries, not to be regularly partaken of. Mom’s and Grandma’s cakes and cookies were made more often of nutritious rather than decadent ingredients, with plenty of  nuts, poppy seeds, cottage cheese, and dried fruits rather than just sugar and flour.

It’s not surprising, then, that we  often opted for carrot bread  when we wanted a comforting snack or a satisfying breakfast: moist carrot bread with a touch of cinnamon, never too sweet, and laden with grated carrots and chopped nuts.

Carrots for carrot bread

Ingredients for Carrot Bread

  • 1-1/2 cups flour
  • 1 t baking powder
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 1/4 t salt
  • 1 t cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup oil
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup finely grated carrots
  • 1/4 cup chopped nuts

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Combine the oil and the sugar. Add the eggs and beat till fluffy. Add dry ingredients. Stir in grated carrots and nuts. Bake in oiled loaf pan at 350 F (180 C) for 55 to 60 minutes.

Desserts and Sweets

Wheat Germ Squares

This is a fabulous recipe using pure wheat germ and no regular flour at all. The taste is nutty and delicious.

This recipe is originally from the New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook by Jean Hewitt and became one of our favorites in the 1970s. Carob is not a common ingredient in Mexico and the recipe in our hands suffered ingredient adaptations. Cocoa was used in place of carob, sunflower and sesame seeds were often mixed in with the nuts, toasted wheat germ used instead of raw, and vegetable oil used interchangeably with the melted butter.

Ingredients for Wheat Germ Squares

  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups raw sugar
  • 2 T carob or cocoa
  • 1 T melted butter
  • 2-1/2 cups raw wheat germ
  • 1 cups chopped nuts (or combined with sunflower and/or sesame seeds)
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 2 t vanilla

Beat eggs until thick and fluffy. Beat in sugar. Dissolve carob/cocoa powder in butter and add to eggs. Stir in wheat germ, nuts, salt and vanilla. Pour into a buttered 13 by 9″ pan.

Bake 20 to 30 minutes at 375 F.

Allow to cool in pan. Cut while warm.

Carob or chocolate is used in these wheat germ squares

Desserts and Sweets

Apple Crisp

  • 4 cups peeled apples, sliced
  • 2 T lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 6 T butter
  • 1 t cinnamon
  • 1/8 t nutmeg

Place apples in a deep oven pan. Sprinkle with lemon juice and bake at 325 for 10 to 15 minutes. to soften. Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, salt, butter and spices. Sprinkle on top of applies. Bake for about 20 minutes. or until softened and browned.

Desserts and Sweets

Banana or Coconut Cream Pie

Easy-to-make banana and/or coconut cream pie in an unbaked Graham cracker crust.

Cream pie filling

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/4 t salt
  • 3 cups milk
  • 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
  • 2 T butter
  • 1 t vanilla
  • 1/2 cup shredded coconut and/or 1 or more sliced bananas

In double boiler top, mix sugar, flour and salt. Stir in milk and cook 15 minutes over hot water until thickened. Add egg yolks. Cook 3 minutes. Add butter. Cool. Add vanilla and 1/2 cup coconut for coconut cream pie, or line pie plate with sliced bananas before pouring in filling for banana cream pie. Fill graham wafer pie crust.

Can make a meringue by beating the 3 egg whites stiff with about 6 T of sugar and a pinch of salt. Mound on top and place until broiler for a few minutes until the peaks begin to turn golden.

Graham wafer pie crust

  • 1 cup graham wafer crumbs
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 2 tbsp sugar (optional)

Combine all ingredients and press into a pie plate. Chill 5 minutes before filling.

Meat and Poultry

Meatballs with Sour Cream

Klopsk w Smietanie

  • 4 slices bread, crusts removed
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 1 large, minces onion
  • 2 eggs, separated
  • 2 pounds ground beef
  • 1 T dill
  • 1/2 t tarragon
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 pound sliced mushrooms
  • butter for frying
  • 1-1/2 cups sour cream

Soak the bread in milk. Saute the onion in the butter until soft. Combine the ground beef, lightly beaten egg yolks, soaked bread mixture, sauteed onion, dill, tarragon, salt and pepper. Beat 2 egg whites into soft peaks and fold into beef. Form into small balls and roll in a bit of flour. Brown meatballs in butter in a large skillet over medium heat. In another pan saute mushrooms in 3 T butter until browned. Add to meatballs and stir in sour cream, coating the meatballs well. Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally. Season to taste.

Serves 8

Meat and Poultry

Paella Valenciana: Spanish Rice with Chicken and Rabbit

Spanish rice with chicken and rabbit

Ingredients

Katalina
The Cat That Went to Spain–Katalina, circa 1988
  • 1/2 chicken, cut up
  • 1/2 rabbit, cut up
  • 2 or 3 ripe tomatoes
  • 1 artichoke, cooked and separated
  • 1/4 cup peas
  • 2 cups rice
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • salt and 2 or 3 filaments of saffron
  • 4 cups water or broth

Preparation

Heat oil in a paella pan or shallow skillet. Throw in cut chicken and rabbit. Reduce heat and sauté until golden.

Add the tomatoes, chopped finely, and the artichoke. Cook 5 minutes. Add water. When it breaks into a boil, add the rice, salt, and saffron.

Lower flame gradually as rice cooks. Cook for about 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

Remove from flame and let sit for a few minutes before serving. Servings: 6

Note: This is the true Valencia-style dish–made without seafood–as opposed to paella from Alicante, which does contain seafood. This little fact could cause dissension amongst the ranks of those who believe paella is synonymous with a seafood dish. The word paella, in fact, is the name of the wide, flat-bottomed pan in which the rice dish, whether seafood based or otherwise, is made.

 

Desserts and Sweets

Walnut Squares

  • 2 cups flour
  • 3/4 cup margarine
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1-1/2 cups brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup coconut
  • 2 T flour
  • 1 t baking powder
  • 1 t vanilla
  • pinch salt

Cream together the margarine and sugar. Add the flour. Press into lightly buttered 8″ pan and bake at 300F for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Beat eggs with sugar. Add walnuts and coconut.

Mix flour with baking powder and salt and add to egg mix with vanilla.

Pour on top of base and bake at 300 F for 40 minutes more.

Breads and Pancakes

Basic Wholewheat Sourdough

Sourdough starter

  • 1 cake yeast ( or 1 pkg dry)
  • 1 t sugar
  • 2 cups warm potato water

Combine all ingredients and place in a glass or pottery jar. Cover with cloth and let stand at room temperature for 48 hours. Stir down occasionally.

To make sponge starter: Add equal parts of flour and water (usually 2 cups per recipe) and let stand in warm place for at least 8 hours. Take 1 cup of starter to store, covered, in the fridge. Use rest for recipe.

Basic wholewheat sourdough bread

  • 1 recipe starter (4 cups)
  • 3 T honey
  • 2 t salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 6-1/2 to 7-1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Prepare starter 10 hours ahead of time, adding 2-1/2 cups warm water and 4 cups flour to sponge. In a large bowl mix starter, honey, salt and milk. Stir in flour until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Knead until elastic. Divide into 2 parts, shape in 3″ diameter rolls. Sprinkle cornmeal on a cookie sheet. Put loaves on top, brush with cream or oil, and cover. Allow to double. Bake at 374F for 40 minutes. Servings: 2 loaves

Pickles, Salsas, and Miscellaneous

Pickled Beets

We grew up on beets from the garden in the summer and pickled beets in the winter. Mom’s canning cellar always had an array of Mason jars stuffed with rich, red beetroot.

This particular recipe is for quick refrigerator pickled beets. A sliver of cinnamon bark and few cloves can also be added to the pickling liquid for spiced pickled beets.

Ingredients for Pickled Beets

  • 1/2 cup vinegar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp pepper
  • 2 cups thinly sliced cooked beets

Combine vinegar, water, sugar, salt and pepper. Boil for 2 minutes. Place in a glass bowl with beets and let cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate 12 hours.

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