Chicken Francais

Firstly, let me appologize for such an ugly photo of the dish. I only took one last night, and the cauliflower sitting next to it, doesn't look half as tasty as it actually was.

Secondly, I am a little troubled by the name of this dish. This comes from my Grandma Melusine, and she was a stickler for spelling things correctly. I cannot figure out what a Chicken Francais is. At first I thought maybe she just forgot the E in Fracaise, but the ingredients aren't what you would find in Fricasise. There is no lemon, no bread crumbs...

Irregardless, this is a damn good recipe. It's also one of a kind I suppose. This one is written in my grandmother's hand. It's printed, and it's very neat, which tells me that it's very old. My grandma Mel, had horrible arthritis by the time I came long (mid 70's) and her hand writting was not this neat then. She also opted for cursive later in life, because it was easier for her to continue the flow of the pen. anywho, just alittle aside to the history of the recipe.

Chicken Francais

1/4 cup butter

1 frying chicken cut up

1 medium onion, minced

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp basil

3/4 cup apple cider or juice

2 cups half and half

2 tbsp cornstarch

heat butter, add chicken and onions and brown slowly for 20 minutes. Add seasonings and apple juice. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Remove chicken to headed platter. add cornstarch mixed with 4 tbsp of half and half. Stir in remaining half and half and cook until thick.

Add chicken back in and cover in sauce, then serve.

First let me just say the Chief Commentator's eyes lit up when he walked into the house and smelled dinner. He rushed right over to the pan and stuck his nose in it. Perhaps that's because Chief Commentator thinks that pan cooked chicken is a gift from the gods. Until we started this project neither of us had really cooked chicken in a pan, but rather relinquished it to the oven or a fryer. the Chief Commentator loves the color on the skin, and how it seals in all the juices.

This recipe was no exception. Great flavors, tender chicken. He ate a good 3/4 of the entire pan last night - picking every morsal he could find from the bones, and enjoying the sauce. I loved the texture of everything. I think the chicken really is showcased nicely in the sauce. I think next time I make it, I may double the seasonings and add a hint of black pepper, but that is just how I like my sauces.

Pumpkin Bread -1

First let me say, I didn't actually make this one. I did stand over and supervise the making of it though. Chief Commentator's daughter asked to make some pumpkin bread, so I dug up a recipe in my Grandma Melusines cookbook, and the two of us hit the kitchen for a little baking time. Again a recipe that was cut out of a newspaper with no credits.

Also, much like my cranberry dilema, it seems that myself, and both Grandma's have a think for pumpkin bread too (and zucchini bread, and carrot cake... ) so I have resorted to the numbering system.

2 cups cooked pumpkin
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups oil
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
1 cup walnuts,finely chopped (thank you food processor)

Blend pumpkin, sugar, eggs and oil, add baking powder, soda, salt, allspice, cinnamon and flour. Mix well and fold in nuts. Bake at 325 for 1 hour or until done when tested with toothpick. Makes 3 small loaves.

Delishes. Everyone who tried some loved it. No one could believe that a 10 year old made it. One friend commented that she is officially 'out baked' by a 10 year old. The recipe is pretty fool proof, and the loaf comes out with a beautiful texture and pumpkin flavor. Not overwhelming with too many spices, or faux pumpkin like some of the boxed mixes - this is really a treat to behold.

Cranberry Caramel Drops

In continuing with my love of everything cranberry, I have decided to make a cookie that involves them, to break up the monotony of all the bread recipes.

This one comes from my Grandma Melusines binder, they are called Cranberry Carmel drops, and the recipe is a cut out from a newspaper, no credit is given to the original creator.

Makes 4 dozen cookies

3/4 cup butter

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup evaporated milk

1 package (small 3 3/4oz) butterscotch instant pudding

5 cups quick cooking oatmeal

2 cups fresh cranberries

In a large saucepan, combine butter, sugar, and milk. Cook while stirring until miture comes to a full rolling boil. Remove from heat and stir in pudding, otameal and cranberries. Stir until well blended. Cook 15 minutes. then drop by teaspoonfuls on waxed paper. Let set several hours befor paking into airtight container and storing in a cool dry place.

Ok - first of all, the recipe does not say how to cook for the final 15 minutes. Cook high? cook low? I just put it on medium, and stirred it a bunch of times and hoped that counted. I am guessing it didn't, because the drops came out a bit soggy. The flavor was incredible, and I loved the idea behind them, but I really need to figure out how to make them a little less limp.

Kids loved them. Chief commentator loved them. But we'd all like them to be a little firmer.

Cranberry Bread - 2

Yes. Here we have another recipe for Cranberry Bread. This one also comes from my grandma Melusine. This one is a cut out from a newspaper clipping. The clipping credits Eleanor Madigan, so cheers to you Eleanor, thank you for sharing your recipe.

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon soda
3/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg
1 cup fresh cranberries - chopped (I threw them in whole, and let the mixer chop them)
1 cup nuts (ditto on the chopping)

Combine all ingredietns except cranberries and nuts, mix well, stir in cranberries and nuts, pour into pan which is well greased and bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes.

Yes, you can see this one earned the distinction of Easy - mostly because I took it upon myself to make the chopping of the nuts and cranberries easier. A little something I learned, if you just toss them in and let them whip themselves with the dough - the crack and chop all on their.

Chief commentator liked this one a lot. He said he could really taste the orange coming through in the recipe and loved how the cranberries left little tart pockets in the orangy flavored bread. We both liked the consistancy better than the first batch, although I still feel like there is a recipe out there with a slightly better texture. Good thing I seriously have like 29 more cranberry bread recipes to try...

Cranberry Bread - 1

First off my darling readers, I must make a confession. I love cranberries. LOVE them. The day that fresh cranberries hit the supermarket shelves, I am buying bags by the armfuls and throwing them into any and every recipe I can. I'm also freezing them like crazy so I can have cranberries year around. I think one of the reasons the Chief Commentator is so hesitant to buy a deep freeze is because he secretly knows I would devote a solid 1/2 of it to cranberries.

Apparently this obsession of mine with the fruit runs in both sides of the family. Not only do the cook books I've put together have pages upon pages of recipes with the lovely little red berries being showcased, both of my grandmothers fill their books with recipes requiring them.

So for simplicity sake of keeping track of the volumes of Cranberry recipes, I've added Cranberries to my sortable list (on the right side of the blog) and because there are so many Cranberry Bread (and also Cranberry sauces, etc) I am going to number them so not to confuse myself or hopefully you. Many of them do not differ by much, although I am hoping in those small subtle differences, I will find what truely makes one better than the other.

This one comes from a recipe card from my Grandma Melusine's small cardex box. I found it the same day I found the beef bourguigon and made it the following.

3 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon soda

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

3 tablespoons melted butter

juice of 1 lemon , juice of 1 orange plus water for 1 cup total liquid

1 1/2 cups cranberries cut in half

nuts

bake one hour at 325.

Ok - my first kevetch of this recipe... I do not like standing there slicing cranberries in half. Especially for a fruit that when exposed to heat pop on their own.. but I did it (patiently). It's for that reason, the recipe got a Moderate rating rather than easy. It takes a lot of time to cut those suckers. Not that it's necessarily "hard" work.

I also kinda felt like I was wasting the lemon and the orange by not grating the rind into the recipe.. but maybe that is just me.

First off, the bread came out looking beautiful. It had a very nice light color to it, it smelled amazing. The dough consistance had good flavor of oranges, and cranberries, but the texture was a little moist. Cheif commentator wondered if maybe we should have cooked it longer (although the tester came out clean) to make the texture a little firmer. Or perhaps that is just how it was supposed to be?

All in all a good recipe. Little more work than most, but tasty.

Beef Bourguignon

Ok, for all you Julia Child nuts out there, who have ever tried to make her recipe for Beef Bourguignon, you know that if you follow all the steps, the way she makes it, it's not an easy dish to do. This recipe came out of my Grandma Melusine's recipe file box. She claims there are only 156 calories per serving... and my claim to the recipe, aside from the cooking time (hands free) it's "Sunday night taste, with Tuesday night effort"

3lb lean beef
2 tsp oil
1 med onion sliced
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano crushed
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1 small bay leaf
salt
pepper
3 mushrooms

Cut beef into 1/2" cubes. In 2 quart saucepan cook meat, brown, add onion and flour stirring to coat. Add wine, chicken broth, and seasonings. co ver and cook 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Add mushrooms 5 minutes before end of cooking time. Remove bay leaf.

Perhaps one of the reasons I love this recipe so much is because it's actually written out in my grandmother's handwriting. She's clearly made it, and it's not just some recipe card that was cut out of a magazine for 'some day maybe I'll do this'... but that's the emotional side of me talking.

So really it's that simple. I have a couple of suggestions of my own for the next time I make it. I would A) double the amount of mushrooms B) Soak the mushrooms in some wine before adding, to amp up the flavor and C) Add them sooner, so they can intergrate into the sauce a little more.

Cheif commentator says that this is a "new favorite" he can't wait to have it again. He loved everything about it - his only complaint is that there wast much left. Between the two of us and the 3 kids, we gobbled it all down. The beef really cooks down, so if you are figuring this for a dinner party, I would guess more like a 1lb per person (precooked) and 2 mushrooms per lb.

Also, we served it with potatoes with rosemary and garlic (yummy) but it would have been equally delicious over rice, so that the rice could absorb some of the gravy. It was a huge hit with all three kids - so yay for a good meal, that is also kid approved.

Coffee Cake - 1973 Pillsbury Bake Off Winner

Hi There.

Forgive the sideways photo. I have no idea why it has decided to do that, but editing the picture to make it go the other way turns it wonky. I promise the photo being sideways does not affect the flavor of the coffee cake.

The Chief Commentator has often mentioned to me his love of coffee cake. There are few things that make him as happy as the idea of having a delicious slice of heavenly cake with his morning cup of joe. Lucky for him, it appears that both my grandmothers also have a thing for breakfast cakes and breads to be enjoyed with their sanka. This recipe is no exception.

This one comes from my grandma melusines cook book - it's a cut out from a Pillsbury flour bag. It is titled "one-step tropical coffee cake" and under it it says $5,000 flour winner in Pillsbury's 1973 Bake-Off"

So the recipe won $5k for someone several years before I was even born... $5k is a lot of money, especially in 1973... so this must be good right?

Oven @ 350 degrees and you are going to need a 8 or 9 inch coffee cake pan.

Using solid shortening, grease the square pan.

1 1/2 cups flour (Pillsbury of course!)

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 oz plain yogurt or sour cream (I used yogurt)

1/2 cup cooking oil

2 eggs

Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup, level off.

combine all ingredients in large bowl

stir 70-80 strokes until well blended (ugh! my arms!)

pour into greased pan

set batter aside

topping

1 cup coconut or chopped nuts (I used almonds)

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

combine in small bowl, and sprinkle over batter

bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

tip: 3/4 cup well drained crushed or chunk pineapple, fruit cocktail or mandarin oranges maybe spooned over the batter before sprinkling with streusel mixture. Bake 10-15 minutes longer.

High altitude - 5200 feet, bake basic recipe at 375 for 35-45 minutes. if adding fruit, bake 45 to 55 minutes.

Ok, so I didn't "go there" with the fruit cocktail, oranges or pineapple. It just didn't seem right (although it does seem very early 1970's)

Chief commentator liked how the cake wasn't very sweet. He said it stood up well with his coffee, although he would have liked a little butter drizzled into the topping to make it stick better.

Coffee cake isn't my forte, but I did like it, and I think in part, I liked it because it wasn't overly sweet.

Rocky Road

I wish I would have taken a better photo of this before it was all wrapped. I made a huge batch and gave out a bunch of it for the chief commentator's kids teacher gifts. I also wrapped up a bunch and gave it out as gifts to my girlfriends.

Effortless item to make. It was from a Borden Eagle Brand Magazine Ad, that had a recipe for foolproof fudge or Rockey road. The page was cut out of Better Homes and Garden's Magazine April 1982.

Eagle Brand Rocky Road

12 oz semi-sweet chips
1 (14oz) can Sweetened Condensed Milk - NOT EVAPORATED MILK
Dash Salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used almonds)
2 tablespoons butter
10 1/2 oz marshmallow minis

in heavy saucepan, over low heat melt chocolate with milk, remove from heat and mix in: butter, salt and vanilla.

place marshmallows & nuts in greased 13x9 lined pan. pour chocolate mix over top and mix well. Press into pan. Chill 2 hours before cutting.

Technical stuff: makes a large pan or 1 3/4 pounds of candy.

Difficulty: easy, just make sure to pay attention to the chocolate and don't burn it.

Served with: what ever you choose. I like mine with some port or coffee

Reheat Well?: refridgerates well, and lasts.

Comments: The Chief commentator liked it a lot. He wishes I would have poured ribbons of carmel in it as well. maybe next time. Both of the teachers and all my recipients loved it too.

Holiday House Cranberry Salad

I will start off this note by saying the Chief Commentator was not available to do my photo, therefore forgive me for the image above, it certainly doesn't put the dish in any better light.. pun intended.

This one is yet another from the magical envelope of jello dishes out of Grandma Melusines Largest Index box... I love fresh cranberries, and since they are in season, I figured I would knock out a bunch of recipes using them, while the getting is good.

Let's consider this recipe "down for the count"

Holiday House Cranberry Salad

1 (6oz) pack orange jello

2 2/3 c boiling water

2 Tabs Sugar

1 1/4 c cranberries, ground

1/2 c celery, finely chopped

1 cup crushed pineapple

2/3 cup chopped pecans

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water in large bowl. Stirl in sugar, cranberries, celery, pineapple and pecans. Mix well. Pour into an 8" square pan. Chill until set. Cut into squares. Makes 12 servings.

Technical stuff: makes 12 servings

Difficulty: it's jello with a bunch of junk in it.. what do you think?

Served with: some hot tea

Reheat Well?: Didn't heat it, but consistance gets better over time

Comments: Cheif Commentators words: Not his favorite. He didn't like how tart the cranberries were. I LOVED the cranberries, but couldn't stand the celery in it. The orange jellow with pineapple proved to be a great base tho. The half pint commentators weren't overly thrilled by this one either, mostly saying they prefer the kind with marshmallows and whipped cream... well - don't you agree?

Giant Snickerdoodles

Another one from Grandma Melusine. There is a whole envelope of recipes that are dessert or jello and this one is one of them!

Giant Snickerdoodles

1 cup butter - softened

1 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

2 2/3 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinammon

On medium speed cream butter with 1 1/2 cups sugar, eggs beat til fluffly. Use another bowl for flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Add creamed mix, stir. Refrigerate for 30 mins.

Preheat oven to 375, mix 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. Shape dough 1" balls. Place 3" apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 mins. put on wire racks, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Technical stuff: makes quite a few. (sorry I didn't count)

Difficulty: easy

Served with: Hot tea.

Reheat Well?: They last for a long time.

Comments: The Chief commentator and the kids rolled them out. Some of the easiest batter to work with that I have ever seen. smelled amazing. tasted amazing. Way better than anything you can buy in the store. I am not a huge snickerdoodle fan, but the 'experts' all adored them.

Beet Jello Salad

First off let me just say that my friends are really awesome, and really tolerant to try some of the stuff that I am proposing making. I brought this one to Thanksgiving Dinner, in an attempt to make a root veggie more, um, welcome? and add a little zip to the traditional foods.

um. ya.

I found the recipe in Grandma Melusines Largest (of 3) Recipe indexs, it was had written, so at some point in time, she thought it was good enough to write down and include in her collection...

anyway - Here I give you:

Beet Jello Salad

6oz Raspberry Jello

1 1/2 c beet juice - add hot water to make 1 1/2 c.

1 1/2 c pineapple juice

Lemon juice (it does not say how much)

2 tbs sugar

1/4 c cider vinegar (add all to jello cool)

2 c crushed pineapple

2 cups juliene beats

chopped nuts

9x9 mold

There weren't a lot of directions, so Ibasically dumped it all together, squirted in some lemon juice and hoped for the best.

I am not sure ANYTHING would make this actually taste good. It didn't really thicken either and the pecans just sorta floated on the top. Tri Anything girl said it wasn't THAT bad.. so I left the entire dish at her house. I hope her dog doesn't hate me.

Technical stuff: makes 12 or so servings

Difficulty: If you can boil water...

Served with: anything?

Reheat Well?: i wouldn't recomment

Comments: I like beets. Alot, I wouldn't torture beets by putting them in this dish again.

Lime Jello with Marshmallows

This one is a blast from the past. I definately remember my Grandma Melusine making this one all the time. It was a staple Sunday dessert.

Lime Jello with Marshmallows

1 pk lime gelatin

1 cup boiling water

1 cup minature marshmallows

1 cup crushed pineapple

1 cup pecans

1/2 pint whipping cream

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Stir in marshmallows until dissolved. Cool but not set. Stir in pineapple, nuts & whipped cream. Pour into mold, chill until set.

Technical stuff: makes a goodsized pan full.

Difficulty: moderate, ya, jello should be easy, but really, mixing everything in evenly, it falls more into the moderate catagory.

Served with: nothing. but I bet some sparkingling wine would be yummy.

Reheat Well?: Lets not go there, but once it's set, you can have it over several meals.

Comments: Chief Commentator says: Whipped limey cool childhood delight with a nutty attitude. He liked it so much, he wants to make it for Thanksgiving Dinner. For me it too was a walk down memory lane.

Next time, I would add more pineapple, cause I like it.

Raisin Banana Bread

This one is actually written out in my Grandma Melusine’s handwriting, which means either she made it a whole bunch, or she thought about making it ?? Maybe?? Who knows. I do remember her making banana bread when I was a kid, but I wouldn’t touch a banana until I was about 30, so I can’t say that I remember eating it.

Raisin Banana Bread

1/3 c Butter or Margarine softened.
2/3 c Sugar
2 Eggs
3 Tablespoons of milk
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed banana
1 cup chopped raisins
½ cup chopped nuts

Beat together butter, sugar & eggs. Add milk. Sift flour with baking powder, salt and soda. Stir into wet mixture just until moistened. Then blend in bananas, raisins and nuts.

Turn into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

** I did make one change to the recipe, I like a sugar crust on the top of my breads, so before baking, I sprinkled raw sugar on the top to give it that nice crunchy coat.

Technical stuff:
Makes 1 loaf.

Difficulty: easy, although the dough is really thick, so have some arm power for the blending of the final ingredients by hand.

Served with: honey butter & hot coffee

Reheat Well?: yes. Nuked with honey butter, it’s amazing.

Comments: Chief Commentator: Good banana flavor, little dry but nice outside crust. Canadian Tri Anything Girl: It’s “comfort food dry” which means you know it’s not from a commercial producer because it doesn’t have that weird oily texture. CTAG also hearts the top sugared crust and says that it’s a good addition. Me: I like the nuts and raisins, of course like the crust. I am ok with the dry texture,

Things I'd do differently next time: I might try adding some chocolate chips to make it a little different.

The technical stuff

Recipes can be sorted by the following tags

Me; Grandma Mary; Grandma Melusine (this may be handy if family starts reading this, and wants a particular recipie from a certain Grandma)

Cost; Nutritional info