Bakersfield Life

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Dining Divas - Home Cooking

Penny - When we were approached to do our own recipes, cook and serve them, my first thought was, “What shall we serve?”  Since we are a diverse group we decided to cook by regions. Tracy, being Italian, chose to serve stuffed shells with homemade marinara sauce. Lydia is from Maryland and decided on creamy crab soup and crab cakes. Katie is from Alabama and chose Macaroni and Cheese and cheese sticks. I am from South Dakota, so I chose a salad that my mom served on special occasions and homemade ice cream.
 
Tracy - Stuffed shells are great by themselves as an entrée or served as a side dish with some breaded chicken cutlets. They are surprisingly easy to make and would be lots of fun for your kids to prepare.
     The biscotti cookies I made are an Italian favorite.  These hard cookies are great in the mornings with rich coffee or late in the evenings with ice cream or a nightcap.  The cookies have a licorice taste, which can easily be adapted by changing out some of your liqueurs and extracts to more orange or lemon flavorings.
 
Penny - I always loved the salad that I made since it conjures up special occasions. My mom served most of the holiday and special meals so preparing food for guests was one more way to show our hospitality. My favorite part of the salad is the dressing – it is sweet and then the Tabasco sauce gives it a kick.
     My parents serve homemade ice cream for all birthdays. The machine that they have is the “old fashioned” kind that takes ice and rock salt. The debate raged when I called for the recipe and I explained that I was not using the same type of machine. They then proclaimed that it would not taste as good. They were wrong; it was superb. When we paired it with Tracy’s biscotti, it was a hit. The crunch of the biscotti was perfect for the creaminess of the ice cream.
 
Lydia - Making Maryland crab cakes is actually pretty easy. The key is getting good crab. I use Phillips Crab Meat. It comes in one-pound cans that you can get at Costco.
     The second key is Old Bay seasoning. Maryland loves Old Bay. They put it on everything. You can find this mixture of seasonings by the seafood counter. It comes in a yellow rectangular tin with a red lid.
     Once you have your crab and your Old Bay, the final is your technique. Make sure you mix all your fillers first. That way you can gently fold in your crab last without risk of breaking up the lumps of meat. Once you have your mixture, form your crab cakes by shaping them into medium sized balls (they’ll flatten into cakes when you fry them). You should get about six cakes per pound of meat. Finally, be sure to refrigerate your cakes for at least an hour before cooking – overnight is even better. This helps ensure they won’t fall apart during cooking.
            There are as many recipes for cream of crab soup as there are for crab cakes. Again, I recommend using good, quality crab meat. Also, instead of thickening with just flour, a friend told me she added richness to her cream of broccoli soup by thickening it with hollandaise sauce mix. I tried it and was sold. Other than that, there’s really no trick to this soup. Just mix it up and serve with some warm, crusty bread.
 
Katie - When Brian and I were engaged my Grandmother and Mother threw us a small family brunch. Along with the casseroles and cake she, of course, prepared a basket of cheese straws. After the family arrived I noticed Nanny was in a fuss and I didn’t understand why; until I saw the uninvited basket of Cheese Straws on the buffet. Nanny’s sister, Rose decided to make her Cheese Straws and brought them to the party.
     Midway through Nanny and Rose literally cornered Brian with plates of Cheese Straws. Nanny said, “Brian, please do try Rose’s too, then you can tell us all which ones are better.” The room went silent and all eyes fell sympathetically on Brian as he sampled from both plates. I felt sorry for him. Luckily, Uncle Walter was quick on his feet and came to the rescue. “Ladies don’t ask Brian about food, he’s from California, he thinks seaweed tastes good.” Everyone let out a nervous laugh and the engagement brunch went on without further incident.
     Along with the Cheese Straws, I make this Macaroni and Cheese for special occasions. It is always a crowd pleaser. This recipe is a compilation of various recipes I have tried over the years.
Casseroles are one of my favorite things to make. The base of this Mac and Cheese Casserole is a Béchamel sauce, which is made by whisking scalded milk into a roux (butter and flour). Béchamel sauce is a basic white sauce used in French (and Cajun) cooking that can be adapted in many ways. The other unusual aspect to this Mac and Cheese is that I don’t actually use macaroni. I use penne, for no other reason than the fact that I just like it better.
     While this Mac and Cheese may take more time to prepare than the old stand-by, it is well worth the effort. Trust me, you will become a hero after making this for your family and friends.
 
 Penny - We all deemed this meal a success. It was fun to work together and learn more about each other and our backgrounds and heritage. This article and gather was about more than food – it was about friendship, camaraderie and mutual respect. While it was hard to come up with a recipe, shop for the food, prepare and serve the food and then clean up, the task reinforced to me some of the things that we miss out on during our busy lives by not taking the time to connect over the preparation of food for a family meal. I hope that the lesson I learned will enable me to spend more time cooking for my family and involve my family in the kitchen to foster a closer relationship.

Exclusive Online Recipes!!!!

Tracy's Exclusive Online Biscotti Recipe!!

½ lb. butter
4 ½ cups sugar
8 eggs
4 tablespoons whiskey
3 tablespoons rum
5 tablespoons anisette
6 teaspoons almond extract
6 teaspoons anise extract
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons orange extract
2 teaspoons lemon extract
1 package anise seeds
½ teaspoon salt
8 teaspoons baking powder
8 cups all purpose flour
2 cups of raisins (optional)
2 cups of chopped walnuts or sliced almonds

Blend together butter and sugar on medium speed and than gradually add eggs.  Slowly add all liquids until well mixed.  On slow speed slowly add flour, baking powder and salt.  Blend thoroughly together.  By hand, stir in raisins and either walnuts or almonds.  Batter should be very thick and sticky.

Preheat oven to 325°
On parchment lined cookie sheets, form 2 long loafs (approximately 3 inches wide and 1 inch thick) per sheet of cookie dough.    Loafs will rise and spread while baking.  Bake for 30 minutes or until loafs turn slightly golden.  Remove from oven and transfer loafs to wire racks for cooling. 

Once cool, diagonally slice loafs into desire cookie width (approximately1 inch) and place on cookie sheet for browning on interior of cookies.  Bake 10 minutes or until slightly golden and than turn over and repeat process.

Biscotti are hard cookies good in the mornings or late evenings as a dunking cookie.  Recipe will make approximately 7 loafs.

Tracy's Stuffed Shells

1 (12 ounce) package jumbo shells
2 pounds ricotta cheese
8 ounces mozzarella cheese shredded
¼ cup jack cheese shredded
½ cup parmesan cheese grated
2 eggs slightly beaten
2 tablespoons fresh parsley finely chopped
 ½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Cook pasta according to box and drain.  Preheat oven to 350°.  Lightly cover bottom of baking dish with sauce.  Combine cheeses, eggs, parsley, salt, pepper and nutmeg in a bowl blend well.  Spoon cheese mixture into shells and place into baking dish.  Cover shells with desire amount of sauce and bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Sprinkle with Parmesan before serving.

Tracy's Meat Sauce

9 tablespoons olive oil
3 large onions chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 ½ cups green bell pepper finely chopped
1 ½ cups carrot finely chopped
¾ pound fresh mushrooms sliced
¾ cup fresh parsley chopped
1 ¼ pound ground beef
½ pound Italian sausage
3 (16 ounce) cans tomato purée
6 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 ½ cups dry red wine
3 teaspoons dried oregano
¾ teaspoon dried leaf thyme
1 ½ teaspoons dried basil
3 tablespoons salt
1 ½ teaspoon pepper
3 bay leaves

In a large stock pot, heat oil on medium heat.  Add onions and garlic, stir until golden.  Add bell peppers, carrots, mushrooms and parsley.  Sauté until vegetables are wilted.  Add ground beef and sausage and cook until meat is lightly browned.  Add all remaining ingredients, stirring occasionally until sauce begins to bubble.  Lower heat to simmer, cover with lid and cook for 2 hours occasionally stirring.  Remove cover and adjust seasoning if necessary and continue to cook for 20 minutes.  Remove from stove and let cool.  Remove bay leaves and transfer to 6 quart containers.


Penny's Exclusive Online Homemade Ice Cream Recipe

7 eggs    beaten
2 cups sugar add after eggs are beaten
2 pints heavy whipping cream; add to above mixture
3 tablespoons vanilla, add next
Dash of salt
1 quart ½ and ½

This recipe is for a 1 gallon machine. Add milk if you need more liquid to “fill to line”. Put mixture in your ice cream machine and follow the ice cream machine directions for freezing.

Penny's Dandelion Salad

Dressing:
2 cup salad oil
4 Tablespoons Sugar
4 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
2 teaspoon Parsley
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 teaspoon salt
2 Dash of pepper
4 dashes Tabasco sauce
Shake well.

Salad:
4 strips cooked bacon
¼ head lettuce
¼ head Romaine Lettuce
¼ head Red Leaf Lettuce
1 cup celery
3 green onions with tips
1 11oz can mandarin oranges, drained
Radishes, slice
Fresh mushrooms

½ cup almonds slivered
Cook in a non-stick pan with some sugar and butter, until warmed. Add to salad prior to serving.

Lydia's Exclusive Online Maryland Cream of Crab Soup

3 T. flour
1 envelope dry hollandaise sauce mix
1 quart half-and-half
1 pint heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
4 t. Old Bay seasoning
1/2 t. dry mustard
1 T. fresh parsley, snipped
1 lb. Phillip’s Crab Meat
1 T. sherry (optional)

In a medium sized bowl, mix flour and hollandaise mix with 2 cups of the half and half. Melt butter in a large heavy saucepan over medium head. Slowly add hollandaise mixture whisking constantly until thickened. Add remaining half-and-half, cream, Old Bay and dry mustard. Bring to a simmer and until thickened. Once thickened, reduce heat to low. Add crab, parsley and sherry (if desired). Stir gently until warmed through. Serve immediately with good crusty bread.

Lydia's Maryland Crab Cakes

1 egg slightly beaten
1/4 c. dry bread crumbs
1 t. dry mustard powder
1 T. fresh parsley, snipped
2 t. Old Bay seasoning
1 T. mayonnaise
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. butter, melted
1 lb. Phillip’s Crab Meat

Mix first eight ingredients in a medium bowl. Gently fold in crab taking care not break the lumps. Form into approximately six medium-sized balls and refrigerate at least an hour (preferably overnight). Melt 2 T. butter in large frying pan over medium heat. Fry cakes till golden brown crust forms on one side. Carefully flip cakes and fry second side till golden. Serve on a plate with cocktail and/or tartar sauce, lettuce and sliced tomato.



Katie's Exclusive Online Mac and Cheese

10 tbsp butter plus more for dish.
4 ¾ cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated.
1 ¼ cups Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
½ cup all purpose flour
5 ½ cups whole milk
½ French baguette, torn into small pieces
2 tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ lbs Penne

Preheat oven to 375º.

Reserve ½ cup of the grated cheese mixture for the top of the casserole.

Butter your casserole dish (3 quart).

Melt 2 tbsp butter and pour over French bread pieces. Toss to coat and set aside.

Making Béchamel:

In a medium saucepan over medium low heat, heat the milk. In a LARGE high-sided skillet melt 8 tbsp butter (1 stick) over medium heat. When the butter is completely melted and starts to bubble, start slowly whisking in ½ cup flour. Cook the flour whisking continuously for about a minute. You have made a roux!

Use a ladle to transfer the scalded (not boiled) milk to the roux, about a cup at time, whisking continuously. Watch your heat. Turn the heat down if things are moving too fast. Whisk until the sauce thickens. When the sauce is done it will bubble and stick in a thick layer to the back of a spoon.

Remove the sauce from heat and add salt, cayenne, nutmeg, and pepper. Stir in your cheese one handful at a time until smooth. Taste and add more cayenne if you desire.

Boil your pasta in salted water for at least 2 minutes under the time on the package.

Drain the pasta very well and add to the cheese sauce. Mix well and transfer to your buttered casserole dish.

Sprinkle the reserved cheese on top and then arrange the French bread on top of that.

Bake in preheated 375º oven for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.


Katie's Cheese Straws
 
1 lb sharp American cheddar (the orange kind), shredded, at room temperature.
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature.
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you want them really spicy)
1 tsp baking powder
 
Grate the cheese and set out with the butter to soften. Add the flour sifted with salt, pepper and baking powder. Mix until dough comes together. Place the dough in a cookie press and press out onto a cookie sheet. The straws should be about the size of fat pencils. (If you don’t have a cookie press try placing the dough in a Ziploc baggie with the end snipped off. The dough has to be very soft for this to work. You can also roll the dough into straws, but be careful not to overwork the dough.) Bake at 325° for 18 – 20 minutes or until golden brown.