Tag Archives: eggs

Desserts and Sweets

Nanaimo Bars

Nanaimo is a city on Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. It touts itself as the city so beautiful that it’s all right to stare.

The Nanaimo bar, said to be the product of local culinary ingenuity, is a no-bake chocolate-based bar that bridges the gap between a cookie and candy. Nanaimo bars are a typically Canadian dessert and incredibly decadent.  You can read about the possible origin of Nanaimo bars at Wikipedia: Nanaimo Bar.

  • 3/4 cups butter
  • 10 T cocoa
  • 2 cups coconut, unsweetened
  • 1/2 to 1 cup walnuts, chopped
  • 10 T sugar
  • 4 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 t vanilla

For custard layer:

  • 5 T butter
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 pkg. instant vanilla custard or pudding powder
  • 2 cups icing sugar

For chocolate topping

  • 5 squares semi-sweet chocolate

Melt butter and add cocoa powder. Beat eggs with sugar, add cocoa butter mix, vanilla, coconut, walnuts, and cracker crumbs. Press into bottom of greased pans.

Mix vanilla custard powder with 1/4 cup milk, 2 cups icing sugar, and 5 T butter to make a pasty thick custard. Spread on top of graham cracker base.

Melt semi-sweet chocolate squares and spread evenly on top.

Servings:  two 8×8″ pans

For vegans, here’s a vegan version of the Nanaimo bar:  http://about.spud.com/blog-nanaimo-bars/

Nanaimo, B.C., Canada: Nanaimo Bars
Nanaimo, B.C., Canada
Breads and Pancakes

Grandma Pancakes

  • 6 eggs
  • 1/4 t salt
  • 2 T water
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 3 T icing sugar (optional)

Combine eggs, salt and water and beat thoroughly Sift flour adn sugar and beat into eggs until smooth. Allow to stand for at least 2 hours.

Heat griddle with a little oil. Pour small quantities of pancake mix onto griddle and swirl to disperse as thinly as possible. When dry on top, flip and fry other side until golden. Sprinkle with icing sugar if desired.

Cat. Kati.
Cat. Kati.
Meat and Poultry

Pastel de Choclo: Corn and Chicken Casserole

Pastel de Choclo is a typical corn and chicken casserole from Chile, with a sweet corn crust hiding a savory mixture of chicken, olives, raisins, and hard-cooked eggs.

Ingredients for Pastel de Choclo

  • 1 lb. boneless chicken breast
  • 3 large onions, chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • salt and cumin to taste
  • raisins
  • black olives
  • 2 hard cooked eggs, quartered
  • oil

Corn layer:

  • 6 medium cobs of corn, or 2 cans of sweet corn
  • 1 large sprig of basil
  • sugar

Saute the onion and garlic in oil. Add the chicken and cook over low flame until done. Season with salt and cumin.

Scrape corn from the cobs and grind in a blender or food processor with the basil. Cook a few minutes over low flame to thicken. If it is too thick add a little milk and if too thin, thicken with some cornstarch.

Spread the chicken in one layer in the bottom of an oven-proof casserole.  Sprinkle with raisins  and olives and then a layer of the quartered hard-cooked eggs. Spread the ground corn over top. Sprinkle sugar over the top of the corn layer.

Place in a 350 F oven until crust is golden

White corn

Beverages

Eggnog

Always wonderful at Christmas in the north. When we moved to Mexico we were surprised to find how similar the traditional Mexican  Rompope is to our northern eggnog.

Ingredients for Eggnog

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 cups heated milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon
  • rum or brandy

Preparing Eggnog

With an electric beater at high speed, beat egg yolks until pale. Beat in sugar gradually unyil thickened and smooth. At low speed beat milk and cream. Beat egg whites stiff in a small bowl. Fold into eggnog. Sprinkle with nutmeg and cinnamon. If desired cold, use cold milk and chill well. Add rum or brandy if desired.

 

 

Breads and Pancakes

Kifli

Rich crescent rolls filled with nuts or cheese, very similar to Hungarian beigli.

  • 1/2 cup warm milk
  • 2 T yeast
  • 1 T sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 6 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 lb. butter
  • 1 t salt
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1-1/2 cups sour cream

Dissolve yeast in warm milk with 1 tbsp sugar. Mix 1/2 cup sugar, flour, butter and salt until crumbly.

Form a well in center and add the yolks, sour cream and yeast mixture. Knead lightly.

Refrigerate overnight, covered. Roll into tennis-sized balls. Roll each ball into a circle. Fill and roll into crescents (see fillings, below). Let rise.

Bake at 350F until golden.

Nut Filling:

Beat 1 egg. Add 1 cup ground nuts, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar and 1 T cinnamon.

Cheese Filling:

Combine 1/2 lb. cottage cheese, 2 to 4 T sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp lemon peel, 1/2 cup raisins

Breads and Pancakes

Butterhorns

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1-1/2 t sugar
  • 1/4 t salt
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 t sugar
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 1 pkg. dry yeast
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 egg yolk

Mix flour, salt and 1-1/2 tsp sugar. Cut in butter. Dissolve sugar in water and add yeast. Add beaten egg yolk to milk. Add this to flour, blend well. Add yeast and water mix. Cover and chill 2 hours.

Roll sticky dough 1/3″ thick and cut into 6×1/2″ strips. Twist into spirals on greased baking sheet. Cover and let double. Bake at 400ºF for 10 minutes. While still warm, ice with thin icing sugar/ butter/ vanilla topping and sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

Meatless Main Dishes

Zucchini and Eggs

Calabacitas con huevo

  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 2 cups chopped zucchini or summer squash
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 cup fresh grated Parmesan, Gruyere or Manchego cheese

Heat butter, add zucchini, cover and cook 10 minutes. Drain. Season with salt and pepper. Place in a skillet. Beat eggs with water and combine with cheese. Pour over the zucchini, mix gently, and cook until eggs are set. This can also be done in the oven.

Appetizers

Chopped Liver

Okay, so a bunch of chicken fat and livers and eggs might not sound healthy, but it’s what we used to eat all the time when we devoured chopped liver sandwiches on rye with a pickle on the side…

Ingredients for Chopped Beef or Chicken Livers

  • 1 lb beef and/or chicken livers
  • 2 T chicken fat
  • 2 sliced onions
  • 2 hard cooked eggs
  • 1 T chicken fat
  • salt and pepper

Saute liver in 2 T chicken fat for 10 minutes. Chop liver coarsely with onions and hard-cooked eggs. Blend in 2 T chicken fat, salt and pepper to taste. Chill. Serve with crackers or toast.