Salmon Croquettes over French Lentil Ragout with Horseradish Cream Sauce

It seems like “forever ago” that I was getting on a plane in sunny Florida to attend a cooking school in snow-covered West Virginia, at The Greenbrier. It was 1993 and it was February and very cold there, but I thought the “winter” time would be a nice change for me.

The hotel was incredibly large and beautiful.

One of my favorite events while staying at the hotel was tea time, which was held every afternoon at 5 pm. There was a harpist, or a pianist in the gallery where tea was served. It was a time to sit and listen and just be quiet before attending a later dinner in the beautiful Greenbrier dining room. I sure could use just one of those days this week.

During my stay at the hotel I attended a Gold Service dinner which was very formal. The Gold Service dinners are usually held for presidents, ceo’s or royalty. I remember that evening like yesterday. I was wearing an Ellen Tracy, long navy blue satin skirt that had tiny pleats and a sequined top, and matching satin shoes. I wore that same dress to an evening wedding on Long Island a few months later.

The late Walter Scheib was The Greenbrier chef at the time I was there and he sat next to me at the Gold Service dinner. In 1994, he became the White House chef. He was hired by Hillary Clinton, worked through the Clinton administration and into part of the Bush administration. I am so happy that I had the opportunity to know him, but sorry to say that he died in 2015 at age 61. I thought that he was a brilliant American chef.

The guest chef who also attended the Gold Service dinner that evening was Michael Chiarello, and I’ll save those stories and recipes of Michael cooking for us one evening at  Dorothy Draper’s Café for my next blog. I can tell you that he was as nice then as he appears to be now.

Speaking of Dorothy Draper’s Cafe, we had a wine tasting one morning with Werner Stoessel. I had more wine than I should have and by the time the morning was over, I had to go to Dorothy Draper’s Cafe and have a bowl of French onion soup for lunch. I was not the only one there, either.

The Greenbrier had then, and still does have a wonderful kitchen shop, and I took full advantage of it. I bought a French rolling pin, and many other things to take home.

Just before I arrived for my stay, The Greenbrier Cookbook was published and available, and I’ve used and enjoyed it for many years now. The recipe for the lentil ragout is from the cookbook, but I’ve used croquettes instead of fresh salmon.

There is so much more I’d like to tell you about my stay there, but I must get to the recipes, otherwise this will be a book.

Enjoy!

Salmon Croquettes

Sarah, our cook used to make these at least once a week. I love them. Every time I see these on the menu in a restaurant, which is rare these days, I order them. This truly is one of the oldest Southern foods I remember. Fresh salmon was not available in South Alabama back in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Canned salmon is available as a product of the US.

1 (14.5 ounce) can good quality red or pink salmon

1 cup crushed Club Crackers

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/4 cup finely chopped green, red or orange bell pepper

1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion

1/4 cup capers (drained) or 1/4 cup finely chopped bread and butter pickles

1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Remove any skin and bones from the salmon and discard. (Back in the “old days”, some people would leave the bones in for the calcium.) Drain half the liquid into a bowl and add the salmon and remaining ingredients. Mix well. Refrigerate until the mixture has chilled at least an hour.

Use a cast iron skillet if available. Preheat the skillet over medium heat and add enough olive or vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the skillet.

Using a regular size ice cream scoop or 1/3 cup measuring cup, make the patties. This will usually make 5-6 patties. Brown the patties on both sides, making sure the patties are cooked through, and keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.

Lentil Ragout

2 slices (about 1 ounce) bacon, cut crosswise into thin strips

3/4 cup finely diced leeks (1 medium leek, white part only- I didn’t have a leek, so I used sweet onion and it worked just fine)

1/2 cup finely diced carrot (1 medium carrot)

1/4 cup finely diced celery

6 tablespoons minced shallot

1 medium clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 sprig fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried

1 bay leaf

1 cup (6 ounces) green lentils

2 cups chicken stock

1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)

In a large sauté pan or skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until it is crisp and brown and has rendered its fat, 2-3 minutes (my bacon did not render enough fat so I added 2 teaspoons olive oil). Add the leeks, carrots and celery and cook until soft but not brown, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Add the shallots, the garlic, white wine, thyme and bay leaf. Cook a few minutes more until the wine has evaporated.

Add the lentils and chicken stock, reduce the heat, cover and cook until the lentils are very tender and almost all the liquid is absorbed, about 35 minutes. (Add a  little more stock or liquid if the lentils get too dry during cooking.) Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove and discard the thyme sprig and the bay leaf. Keep warm. (The lentil ragout may be made up to a day ahead.) After the ragout cooked and I removed the thyme and bay leaf, I squeezed in about a tablespoon of lemon juice for acid. This is optional.

Horseradish Cream

3/4 cup heavy cream (or to taste)

2-3 tablespoons prepared horseradish (or to taste)

Mix cream and horseradish.

To serve. Place the lentils in the center of each plate. Put the croquettes on top of the lentils. Drizzle the horseradish cream around the edge of the plate, and top with finely chopped parsley. Serves 5, depending on size of salmon croquettes.

Anne Willian on the left facing.  A much younger me on the right.

Delicate Pea & Potato Salad

Today is one of those hot August days that calls for some cool food. I made a salad with peas and potatoes and believe me, the vegetables do the talking in this one. I picked the peas at Charpia Farms in the spring. I blanched and froze them, and today, the peas were just perfect! Instructions will be below on how to use frozen peas. The potatoes are the Sunlite brand.

The salad has a delicate flavor and you really taste the freshness of the peas and the creaminess of the Sunlite potatoes. Hope the Sunlite company won’t mind me saying that. These new lower carb potatoes are being grown by select farmers, and I love, love the flavor.

Another salad that I made and dearly love is Broccoli Salad. You’ve all had it, I know. I’m sure you have the recipe in your file, but for those that don’t, I’d love to share. Today was one of those days that I didn’t have the usual ingredients so I made it with sliced toasted almonds and grapes. The problem with this salad is that I can’t stop eating it!

I also roasted chicken breast and sliced it to serve with the salads. The recipe is below. Enjoy your Southern Sunday Dinner. You’ll remember the occasion with your family a lot of years from now.

The Recipe-

Pea & Potato Salad

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 cups green peas, fresh or frozen

3 tablespoons finely chopped light green inner celery stalks including leaves

2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion, plus 1/2 tablespoon for garnish

1/2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill, plus 1 teaspoon for garnish

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon Country Dijon Mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

Place potato cubes in a sauce pan and cover with salted water. Cook the potatoes until tender. Drain potatoes and set aside in a bowl large enough to mix the potatoes and peas with the sauce. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and add the peas. Cook for 5 minutes. Drain the peas and place into the bowl with the potatoes. Add the celery and onion. In a small bowl, add the dill, sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and mustard. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with the remaining dill and red onion.

Broccoli Salad with Toasted Almonds & Red Grapes

Words can’t express how much I enjoy this salad. Okay, I really enjoy it. I’ll say it no more. I change this salad around every once in a while. Today, for example, I didn’t have raisins which I usually use in the salad, so I used red grapes. I think I liked it with the grapes even better because of the sweetness. I also didn’t have sunflower seeds so I used toasted almonds. I liked those better as well.

I was working at Disney right after culinary school as an “on call” chef. I was in the kitchen in one of the restaurants and was told that we were out of salad and was asked to make one as fast as I could. So, I gathered the ingredients and made a lot of this salad. It was gone in a flash. I didn’t have any recipes with me that day and this was one of my personal, at home recipes, but in spite of not having amounts, the salad was still really good.

The Recipe-

Broccoli Salad with Toasted Almonds & Red Grapes

12 ounce of fresh broccoli florets, cut into bite size pieces

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

1/2 cup toasted, sliced almonds (toast in microwave for one minute)

1/2 cup grapes, halved

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoon cider vinegar (or, rice wine vinegar which has a more delicate flavor)

Place broccoli, onion, almonds, and grapes into a large bowl. In another bowl, mix mayonnaise, sugar, and vinegar. Pour the mayonnaise mixture over the broccoli mixture and toss to coat the florets. Chill before serving. Serves 8.

The Recipe-

Chicken Breasts with Olive Oil, Lemon Juice, Paprika

The chicken breasts are easy to cook. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking pan with foil. Place the desired number of chicken breast in the pan. Make a mixture of 2 parts oil to one part lemon juice, and sprinkle in paprika, salt and pepper. Pour it over the chicken breasts and bake until done, basting with the liquid as it cooks. The chicken breasts temperature when done should be about 170-177 degrees on a meat thermometer. I’ve been using this same recipe since 1964 and it has served me well. Serve with horseradish sauce.

Hamburger Steak Smothered in Onion Gravy

This is bringing back a meal that you don’t see much anymore. An old Southern dinner or supper with hamburger steak. This one back in the old days, would have been called hamburger steak smothered in onion gravy. In our house, this was served with rice and gravy, two seasonal vegetables, and always sliced tomatoes in summer. Cornbread or rolls would be on a plate in the middle of the table.

Hamburger steak was never served for Sunday dinner but it was served for weekday  dinner which was our mid-day meal, or it was served at evening supper. It was one of our favorites. Today, I would not hesitate to serve it for Sunday dinner, just like I did yesterday.

After reading my comment about our big mid-day meals, I know what you must be thinking. Yes, many households like ours had a big dinner around noon everyday. In the summer when school was out, my sister and I would go to the table and daddy would come in and sit with us and we’d eat together. Another plate was always set in case someone stopped by, and my dad would invite them to “dinner”. It would happen often and a meal at our house was rarely turned down, especially by daddy’s cousin, Sam Lewis. Remember, there were no restaurants in the country, so someone could be caught away from home at “dinnertime” and have no place to eat.

That evening for supper, there might be another meat, and part of the dinner that was served earlier at noon. I remember the days when some people didn’t refrigerate their food. They’d leave the food on the table and cover it with a white tablecloth. At night they’d uncover the food, reset the table and eat.

I’d better stop writing about old memories, otherwise I’ll have a book, and you might be bored to death. The recipe is below, and I hope you’ll give my version of this old Southern recipe a try. I think you’ll like it. Let me know. I hope if you grew up eating hamburger steak, that you will enjoy the food and the memory.  Hugs!

As you can see, I had two large and one small steak. I made the small one because I’m dieting this week. What a heck of a time to diet, right? Just remember that you can add or subtract from this recipe. If you need 6-8 ounce steaks then buy the appropriate pounds of ground sirloin.

Hamburger Steak, Smothered in Onion Gravy

Steak

1 pound ground sirloin

1 cup chopped Vidalia onion

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon Sweet Baby Ray’s Vidalia Onion Barbecue Sauce

Salt and pepper to taste (I added a teaspoon salt and less freshly ground pepper)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Place the first 5 ingredients together in a bowl. Mix well. Divide sirloin into any size and shape you like. Add the oil to a hot iron skillet. Sear steaks until brown on each side. Remove steaks to a plate. Turn the heat to medium.

Gravy

One large Vidalia Onion, thinly sliced

Olive oil as needed

3 tablespoons flour

1 (14.5 ounce) can low-sodium beef broth

Salt and pepper to season, if needed

Add enough oil to the pan drippings to make 2-3 tablespoons fat (you will have some drippings from the meat) and then add 3 tablespoons flour. Keep stirring the flour in the oil until the flour  browns. Add the beef broth. Use a fork or whisk to blend the liquid and flour. Place the steaks back into the liquid and add the onions. Cook until onions are tender, gravy is thickened and steaks are done.

You know I’m not Italian, but I like Italian food. So, this Southern cook set out to make an easy Italian meal that taste really good. And, here it is.

Easy Italian dinner for four starts with frozen turkey meatballs, but by all means use your favorite store-bought meatballs, or make your own. The sauce is from a jar, yes, I know I ought to be ashamed of myself, but hey, it’s good. And, the polenta recipe came from my cookbook that was published in 2007. I have tried to figure out where this easy polenta recipe came from originally, and I think it might have been from Michael Chiarello when  I took a class from him at The Greenbrier, but I’m not sure because Michael’s recipe for roasted polenta is across from this one. At any rate, this is really good polenta. The green peas were my idea, and I love them in this dish. Put them on the plate separately, and oh wow, what a nice sweetness to contrast with the tomato sauce.  Enjoy!

Meatballs and Sauce

12 turkey meatballs, unthawed (I used Cooked Perfect brand, dinner size)

1 (24 ounce) jar Traditional Sweet Basil  Pasta Sauce

Put the meatballs in a heavy pan. Add the sauce, and simmer for about 25 minutes on medium-low until meatballs are hot.

Polenta

2 cups milk

1/2 cup Quaker yellow cornmeal (as recommended by Michael Chiarello, this is the round container)

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

2 tablespoon butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

Bring the milk and salt to a boil. Add cornmeal while whisking. Reduce heat to medium. Stir constantly while cornmeal is thickening. When the mixture starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, add the cheese and the butter. Stir to mix all ingredients. Line a small deep pan with plastic wrap. Pour in the polenta. Refrigerate. When sauce is almost ready, take the polenta out and slice into about 1-inch slices and fry in hot olive oil on one side and then the other. Divide between four plates.

Peas

1 cup green peas, fresh or frozen

1 tablespoon olive oil

When you have removed the polenta to the serving plates, add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the same skillet. Add the peas to the hot skillet and toss until heated through.

Serving

Top the polenta with meatballs and sauce to taste among the four plates. Add the peas around the plates. Add a sprig of basil, and grated Parmigiano, to each serving and present to your happy guests or family.

This was so easy that I feel like I’ve forgotten something, but this is really all there is to it.

Serve with a salad, and fruit dessert.

 

 

 

So Fresh Gazpacho with Avocado and Shrimp

Serves 4 

This soup is not spicy, but light and clean on the palate. Adding fresh corn, and cutting the vegetables into small dice gives great texture to this salsa style soup. The avocado and seasoned shrimp add another dimension of flavor. 

Soup:

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 cup fresh corn kernels

1 cup peeled, seeded cucumber, cut into small dice

¼ cup finely diced mixed green and red bell pepper

2 tablespoons finely chopped red or spring onion

½ jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped, or to taste

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 cup peeled, seeded, chopped black or red tomatoes

1 ½ cups tomato juice

1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon chili powder

1-2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro, to taste

1 lime wedge

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Add 1 teaspoon of oil to a small skillet over medium high heat. Add corn and sauté until tender. Add a dash of salt and pepper. Set corn aside to cool.

In a large bowl, add the cucumber, bell pepper, jalapeño pepper, onion, garlic, tomatoes, tomato juice, cumin, chili powder, and cilantro together in a large bowl. Add the corn. Mix well.

Squeeze the lime wedge into the soup mixture, and add the 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. At this point, taste and adjust with seasonings if needed. If you need to add more cumin, chili powder, or salt then by all means adjust the recipe to your taste. Chill for at least 2 hours so that flavors can blend. Garnish with shrimp, avocado and cilantro.

Shrimp Garnish:

4-8 medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

Dash of salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large, ripe avocado

Cilantro

Shrimp: Just before serving the soup, make a small mixture of 1 tablespoon chili powder and 1 tablespoon cumin with a dash of salt. Dip the shrimp into the mixture and fry in 1 tablespoon olive oil until pink and cooked through.

When ready to serve: Divide the soup into 4 (1-cup) servings. Peel the avocado and cut into small chunks. Divide avocado into 4 portions and add to top of the soup. Add one or two cooked shrimp to the top of each avocado, top with a sprig of cilantro. Serve chilled.

(I created this recipe for the PBS Television show website, Garden Smart, in 2011)

Baked Ham with Mustard-Brown Sugar Glaze

I’m been making this same delicious ham recipe for more years than I can count. It’s so simple and easy. Choose any size ham you want. Follow directions on the package for cooking time based on the size of the ham.

Now, this is what I do. Cut off the thin layer of skin or fat from the ham. Score if you like. Put the ham in a large baking pan. Pour the juice from one large can of pineapple over the ham, and cover the ham with foil. Place in a 350 degree oven. Make a paste of brown sugar and yellow or spicy brown mustard. About and hour prior to the ham being done, coat with the paste. Add pineapple, and cherries studded with cloves around the ham. Put the ham back in the oven and every 15 minutes, baste the ham and pineapple with the mixture surrounding the ham. This mixture will cook down as the ham cooks and will get thicker and thicker and just make this ham more delicious.

Come Spring….Creamed Potatoes & English Peas

(My mother’s silver serving dish)

Oh Glory, my mother made the most delicious creamed potatoes and English peas. Come spring, when the peas were ready, we were too and could not wait for Sunday dinner because we knew this would be on the table.

In anticipation of making this favorite dish, I went out to a local farm a few days ago and picked fresh peas. I sat on my porch that same afternoon and shelled them. Today, I have finally made a recipe for the potatoes and peas that mother would be proud of. The difference in this recipe and her recipe is the potatoes. She would have used fresh new potatoes that she had cut a band around, whereas I have used Yukon Gold that I cut into cubes.

I hope that you will enjoy the creamed potatoes and peas as much as I have over the years.

Recipe:

3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

2 cups fresh English or small green peas

1/4 cup butter

1/4 flour

2 teaspoon salt

Pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

green onions, thinly sliced, including stems

Cook potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain. Cook peas in boiling salted water until just ready to change color, drain. Make the cream sauce by melting butter in a large skillet. Add flour, whisking until smooth, and cook for about two minutes. Do not brown flour. Gradually whisk in the milk and cream. Cook over low heat while whisking. When thickened, add the cooked potatoes and peas, as well as the 2 teaspoons salt(or to taste). Mix well. Put into a serving dish and add sliced green onions to the top. Serves 6.

My Apple Pie

This is another one of those recipes that I’ve been making for many years. There is not much else I can say other than this is a good apple pie. I promise!

 I used store bought crusts, cut the top crust into strips and twisted it for a lattice effect.

Recipe:

1 (15-ounce) package ready made pie crust

8 cups of peeled, thinly sliced apples

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Dash of salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place one pie crust into a 9 or 10-inch, deep dish pie plate. In a large bowl, add the apples, sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice. Mix well and pour the apples into the pie crust. Roll out the second pie crust and cut into thin strips. Twist the strips and place them on top of the pie going across one way and then the next for a lattice effect. Use any leftover dough to roll out, cut into strips, twist and go around the inside edge of the pie crust. This will help anchor the lattice strips. Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until the pie is bubbly and the apples are tender. Check for tenderness of the apples with a small knife or skewer. If there is any resistance, keep cooking the pie. If the crust starts to get dark, cover it with foil. Cool before slicing.

                    

  Oven Roasted Carrots with Orange-Honey Glaze

Serves 4

Watch out for the rabbits!

8 fresh carrots with tops

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400º. Cut the tops from the carrots leaving about ½-inch of the green stems. Wash the carrot tops and dry the tops to use for garnish.

Brush the carrots clean under running water, dry. Place the carrots on a foil-lined baking sheet. Pour the olive oil over the carrots until each carrot is coated.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake for 15 to 25 minutes depending on the thickness of the carrots. Carrots are cooked when fork tender at the thickest part.

Place the carrots on a platter, and set the carrot tops back on the stem end of the carrots so that it appears that you have a fresh bunch of carrots on the plate (see photo above). Pour the dressing over the carrots, and serve. 

Dressing:

1 tablespoon warm honey

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon oil

1 teaspoon of orange zest

Mix all ingredients together with a wire whisk and pour over the carrots.

(Seasoned in the Kitchen by Linda Rogers Weiss, available on Amazon)

Mother’s Lemon Ice-box Pie

My mother would begin serving lemon ice-box pie in spring, and continue all through summer. This is one dessert that is definitely satisfying. It’s my absolute favorite pie. I’ve reduced the number of egg yolks and it’s still smooth, silky and lemon tart.

1 (10-inch) glass pie plate

vanilla wafers

3 egg yolks

2 (14-ounce) cans regular or fat-free sweetened CONDENSED milk

1 cup fresh lemon juice

Topping:

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray the pie plate with a non-stick cooking spray. Line the plate on the bottom and around the sides with whole vanilla wafers. In a large bowl, using a mixer or wire whisk, mix the egg yolks, condensed milk and lemon juice until thoroughly blended. Carefully pour the mixture into the pie plate. Bake until the pie is set. It can take as long as 40 minutes in a regular oven or as short as 20-25 minutes in a convection oven. When the center of the pie is set, remove from the oven to cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate when cooled. When ready to serve, add whipped cream.

Topping: Add the heavy cream and sugar to a mixing bowl and beat until soft peaks form. Spoon over each serving of pie.

 (Memories From Home, Cooking with Family & Friends by Linda rogers Weiss, Amazon)

 

 

The menu for Sunday dinner. Tender red lettuce with mandarin oranges, sliced green onions and poppy seed dressing. Chicken Charleston, made with chicken breast, onions, a touch of garlic, curry, cream and brandy over basmati rice, and a side of steamed broccoli with toasted almonds. For dessert, baby cakes with fudge sauce and caramel gelato.

This very old recipe for the wonderfully delicious Chicken Charleston that I made today, is an adaption of one by the late Ronald Johnson, author of The American Table. It might sound a little heavy but it’s not at all. The chicken with its rich, golden sauce will make you feel so nourished and satisfied that you will leave the table thinking that all is right with the world.

The mandarin orange salad recipe is included below, although it is so simple, you won’t need a recipe. It just adds that extra touch that is needed to balance out the curry in the chicken and sauce.

Serve the Chicken Charleston over your favorite cooked rice, and for the perfect side dish, steam some broccoli, and add butter and almonds.

Oh, my goodness gracious. Don’t forget this decadent chocolate dessert recipe below. I can’t wait for you to try this. Too easy with a mix. Shhhh! Nobody will know.

Enjoy!

Chicken Charleston

4 boneless-skinless chicken breast (or, you can use 1 cut-up chicken)
4 tablespoons butter
4 cups finely chopped sweet onion
1 garlic clove, minced
2 1/2 teaspoons curry
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup rum or brandy

Melt the butter in a large skillet and sauté the chicken lightly. Lift the pieces onto a plate. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook over medium heat until straw colored. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the chicken pieces back in the pan and into the onion. Cover, and cook slowly on top of the stove for 15 minutes.
Remove the cover, turn the chicken, and cook slowly, uncovered for 10-15 minutes for chicken breasts, 20 minutes or more for chicken pieces. Add water if it gets too dry. Remove from the pan when its juices run golden when pierced with a fork, and keep warm.
Sprinkle curry powder over the onion and cook a few minutes, stirring, then add the cream and rum or brandy. Boil down, stirring, until the sauce is slightly thickened. Taste for seasoning. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and pour the sauce over the chicken. Serve with fluffy rice. Before serving, slice green onion tops or chop fresh parsley and sprinkle over the sauce.* This is a full recipe for sauce. If you are not a heavy sauce eater, then by all means just cut the sauce recipe in half. Serves 4.

Mandarin Orange Salad

1 small head of baby red lettuce, washed and torn or cut into serving size pieces
1 (14.5 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
sliced green onions to taste
Poppy seed dressing of your choice

Mix all ingredients together except poppy seed dressing. Add dressing to taste. If not making the broccoli side dish, add a half cup of toasted almonds to the salad.

Baby Cakes with Fudge Sauce & Caramel Gelato

 I admit that when I’m in a hurry, I don’t always make home-made. This is one of those times that I took a box of brand name mix called, “Chocolate Lover’s Cupcakes”, and made it even more “decadent “by adding fudge sauce and caramel gelato. Yikes. It’s a wonder I can walk after all this taste testing today.

So here you go. One 19.4 ounce box of a famous brand chocolate cupcake mix that has icing in the box. Follow the recipe for the cupcakes, but instead of the oil, add one stick of softened butter. You can continue on and make cupcakes, which are delicious, or you can use a small porcelain dish with scallops or a Brûlée dish instead and make baby cakes. Just make sure the dishes are about the same size as the cupcake pan. It will take about the same amount of time to bake the baby cakes as it will the cupcakes.

When finished baking, cool and follow instructions for frosting the “baby cakes” as you would frost the cupcakes. Add the cakes to the serving dishes, garnish with hot fudge sauce and caramel gelato. Serve right away. Makes 12 cakes.

Sunday Dinner Menu– Grape Salad over Greens, Brown Sugar-mustard glazed Pork Tenderloin with Applesauce-mustard-horseradish Sauce, Squash Soufflé, English Peas with Potatoes & Cream, Hot Rolls, Strawberries in Amaretto Syrup over Lemon Pound Cake.

Yesterday, was Sunday. My husband and I had a delicious dinner, served around noon. For me, the dinner was not about what I cooked so much as it was a reminder of my late mother, dad and my old home. I loved those long Sundays in the South, the feeling of peace in our family, and the sense of belonging that came with us all being together, and sharing a meal.

Sunday dinners were more elaborate meals than weekdays or Sunday suppers with a table full of pretty dishes to put that delicious food on. My mother loved to cook, and she was great at it too. It helped that our vegetables were local, seasonal and produced from dirt that was the color of pure coal, in a region known as the “Alabama Black Belt”. Everybody knew, even way back then, that we had the best tasting food on the planet, partly because of the richness of the dirt.

After dinner, depending on the weather, we’d leave the dining room for the front lawn. Sitting in twig chairs, under giant pecan trees, our mother would serve us desserts of banana splits or strawberry shortcakes, as a breeze was gently blowing away the Alabama heat.

A walk in the cemetery or a quick ride out to my great grandmother’s “old place”, were rituals, a right of passage. Something to look forward to. By the time we had arrived back home, my sister and I were hungry again. Since my dad didn’t like to eat the same food for dinner and supper, there were no leftovers served on Sunday evening. A meal for the evening was more like breakfast than supper. (Southernsundaymornings.wordpress.com).

On hot summer days, our Sunday dinners moved to the Tombigbee River. My daddy loved his boat, and my mother loved a good picnic. The menu changed from something more elaborate and seasonal, to a deep South picnic menu of pimiento cheese, fresh sliced pineapple, baked ham, cold fried chicken, stuffed eggs, sliced tomatoes and lots of iced tea. That was even better as far as we were concerned, because my sister and I could ski, eat, and ski again. To this very day, the idea of that picnic makes me feel excited and when I am really down about something, I have fried chicken with a  pimiento cheese sandwich. Two of my favorites.

Like I had done so long ago, my children have “flown the coop”, so to speak. So, it’s just the two of us now, unless we can coerce them into coming over to eat with us. We do understand that they are busy with their children, even though I wish they had been here. I loved cooking dinner yesterday, and thinking and feeling the past.

I hope you enjoy this dinner. I have to admit that I couldn’t stop eating the squash soufflé. I’ve included the recipe for the salad, pork tenderloin and sauce, squash soufflé and strawberries. I’m still working on peas with potatoes. I’ve never been able to make them quite like my mother could.

Make some Sunday Dinner memories with your food. More to come, including the Sunday picnic foods.

Grape Salad

Green, red or purple grapes, about 1/2 cup per serving
equal parts of mayonnaise and sour cream
brown sugar to taste
toasted, chopped pecans to taste

Wash and dry grapes. Add to a bowl. Mix equal amounts of mayonnaise and sour cream. Add brown sugar to taste. Add toasted chopped pecans. Mix well. Serve on fancy, fresh greens.

Squash Soufflé

I gave mother a soufflé dish as a birthday gift in 1969. I used it to make her beautiful squash soufflé yesterday. It was a little big, but it didn’t matter. You can half this recipe for 4 people. This recipe makes about 8 servings. It freezes well if you have leftovers.

2 pounds squash, washed and cut into small cubes
20 Club crackers, crushed
4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 large onions, finely chopped
2 cups grated sharp cheddar
1 cup milk
1 1/2-2 teaspoons salt or to taste
pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook squash and onions together in a small amount of water until very tender. Drain the water from the squash, and mash the squash until it is pureed. Add salt, pepper, cheese, butter, egg yolks, milk and crackers. Beat egg whites until stiff; fold into squash mixture. Bake in a buttered casserole, or soufflé dish until brown, about 30 minutes, depending on what kind of baking dish is used. * I put this in the oven to bake after the tenderloin was removed. When it’s done, there will be no jiggling in the center and the top will be slightly brown.

Brown Sugar, Mustard Glazed Pork Tenderloin
Serves 4

1 (1.5 pound) pork tenderloin
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons yellow mustard

Prepare the tenderloin for roasting by slipping a knife under any sliver skin and removing it. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and mustard. Place a piece of foil on a baking sheet. Put the tenderloin on the baking sheet and smear it with half of the brown sugar mustard mixture. Bake for about 15 minutes and add the remaining brown sugar mixture. Baste every 10 minutes until the internal temperature of the tenderloin reaches 160-165 degrees. About 35-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and wrap the foil over the top of and around the tenderloin. Let it rest for at least 10-15 minutes before slicing. After slicing and plating, spoon some of the pan juices over the tenderloin. Serve with sauce.

Applesauce-Dijon Mustard-Horseradish Sauce

1 cup “original” applesauce
1 tablespoon horseradish sauce, or to taste
1/2-1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard, or to taste

Mix ingredients together, serve on side of pork tenderloin.

Strawberries in Amaretto Syrup

4 cup strawberries, washed, hulled and cut into slices
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 overflowing tablespoon of amaretto, or to taste

Bring the sugar and water to a boil, reduce heat and cook until the sugar is melted and syrup has thickened. Remove from the heat and add the amaretto.
Place prepared strawberries in containers such as glass canning jars, or plastic storage containers. Fill with the syrup, and freeze until ready to use. Thaw quickly by taking the top off the container and putting in the microwave for 20 seconds at a time. Serve over cake and add whipped cream, or over ice cream as a sundae.