V-8 Vegetable Juice

V-8 Vegetable Juice

You said you had a lot of tomatoes... I'm thinking that this recipe from Recipe Goldmine would eat up quite a few...

Here's how it starts:
15 pounds fully ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 cups celery, chopped
3 large onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced/mashed

Try searching for homemade vegetable juice instead of V8.

Annie (who didn't realize that the juice was "cooked" in any way)
Source: Sunset magazine - 1974
(posted 9/22/04)

Read More

Dreamsicle Fudge (two recipes)

There was Dreamsicle Fudge at a event, and I fell head over heels in love with it. It's delicious. Therefore, of prime importance today was finding the recipe. Here 'tis if anyone else has a taste for dreamsicles. don't know which recipe is best, so here are two I found on the same page:
http://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/m102501.htm

Dreamsicle Fudge I

3 cups sugar
1-1/2 sticks butter or margarine
2/3 cup cream
7 oz. marshmallow creme
1 pkg. (12 oz.) vanilla chips
3 tsp. orange flavoring
12 drops yellow food color
9 drops red food color

Mix sugar, cream and butter into heavy pan and boil until it reaches the soft ball stage on candy thermometer, about 5 minutes. Add marshmallow creme and chips. Mix well. Remove 1 cup of mixture and set aside. Add orange flavoring and food colors to mixture in pot. Stir well and pour into greased 11" x 13" or 9" dish. Stir in white mixture and pour on top, then swirl with knife. Chill to cool.

---

Dreamsicle Fudge II

1-1/2 tsp plus 3/4 cup butter (no substitutes), divided
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 pkg (10-12 oz) vanilla or white chips
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme
3 tsp orange extract
12 drops yellow food coloring
5 drops red food coloring

Grease 13" x 9" x 2" pan with 1-1/2 tsp butter.

In heavy saucepan, combine sugar, cream and remaining butter. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 4 minutes.

Remove from heat; stir in chips and marshmallow creme until smooth. Remove 1 cup and set aside.

Add orange extract and food coloring to remaining mixture; stir until blended. Pour into prepared pan. Drop the reserved marshmallow mixture by tablespoonfuls over top; cut through mixture with a knife to swirl. Cover and refrigerate until set. Cut into squares. About 2-1/2 lbs.

Enjoy!
Jola Gayle
(9/13/04)

Read More

Gnocchi

Gnocchi

I have made awesome gnocchi from the Italian cookbooks of Biba Caggiano.  I have all her books, and *love* her restaurant in Sacramento.  The key is to used baked potatoes.  Here is the basic Potato Gnocchi from Trattoria Cooking:

Gnocchi de Patate
4 medium sized russet or Idaho potatoes (about 2 lbs)
1 tbsp salt
1 lg egg yolk, lightly beaten, or a whole beaten egg
1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 375°.

Wash and dry the potatoes.  With a knife, make a long incision in the potatoes lengthwise, about 1/2" deep.  Put the potatoes in the oven and bake until they are tender, 45-55 min.

When cool enough to handle, peel the potatoes and puree them through a food mill or a potato ricer, directly into a large bowl.  Add the salt, egg yolk, and 1-1/2 cups of the flour.  Mix it all together with your hands until the dough begins to stick together

Transfer the mixture to a wooden board and knead lightly, gradually adding the remaining flour if the dough sticks heavily to the board and to your hands.  (The making of the dough should take no longer than 4-5 minutes). The dough is ready when it is soft, pliable, and just a bit sticky.

Cut the dough into pieces the size of an orange.  Flour your hands lightly. Using both your hands, roll out each piece of dough with a light back-and-forth motion into a roll about the thickness of your thumb.  Cut each roll into 1" pieces.

Hold a fork with its tines against your work board,the curved part away from you.  Starting from the outside bottom of the curve, press each piece of dough with your index finger firmly upward along the length of the tines. Let the gnocchi fall back onto the surface. Roll out the remaining pieces of
dough.  Place the gnocchi on a lightly floured platter or baking sheet.

They can be cooked immediately or be kept in the refrigerator uncovered for several hours or overnight, until ready to cook.

Makes 4 servings.

Katie H.
(9/9/04)

Read More

In Praise of Leeks (and other alliums)

In Praise of Leeks (and other alliums)

I had some leeks and didn't know what to do with them, since I only had two. So I followed a recipe from Nourishing Traditions, except I didn't have any broth of any kind. I improvised a braising liquid, added some onions to pad out the leeks and ended up with this, which is frickin' fantastic:

Heat your oven to 350°F about a half-hour before you plan on eating.

Clean your leeks:
Cut off the root end and the green tops where they get really kinda coarse looking.

Slice them in half lengthwise and clean them well; often they're quite gritty. If you're using onions instead, cut off root and top, peel, and slice in half. You can do it either lengthwise or width-wise.

In a baking pan, place leeks and/or onions to fill the bottom of the pan, single layer. This is about 6 leeks or 3 big onions, depending.

Make up a braising liquid:
Bring 1-1/2 cups of water to boil in your kettle. While it's boiling, in a 4 cup pyrex mixing cup put 1/2 stick of butter (or more), 1/2 cup red wine, 1/4 cup soy sauce, and a good dollop of Worcester sauce. When the water's boiling, pour it over the butter mixture and stir till the butter melts. Pour over the contents of the pan. (You can also use 2 cups of good beef broth, but this braising liquid was tasty enough to drink once the dish was done.)

Into the oven for a half hour. With broth the liquid will thicken, but it's not likely nor necessary with the substitute liquid. When it's clear the onions/leeks are tender, take a cup of shredded good Swiss-style cheese--Emmenthaler, or Irish Madrigal, for instance. Sprinkle over the top and under the broiler it goes until the cheese is bubbly and brown.

Serve! Eat! Praise the gods for making onions and leeks!

Lynn S.
full of leeks
(9/4/04)

Read More