Apple Pound Cake for Autumnal Equinox...

Fresh Apple Pound Cake for Autumnal Equinox...

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 3 cups firm apples, diced
• 3 cups plain flour
• 1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix together sugar and oil. Add eggs and beat well. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to oil mixture. Stir in vanilla, apples, nuts, and mix well. Pour batter into a greased 9 inch tube pan
38. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until cake is done.

Icing:

• 1 stick margarine
• 1/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat margarine and sugar together over low heat. Add milk and let come to a full boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Drizzle over the cake.

buttermilk biscuits...brilliant...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLo6r65pNss

southern heritage...

my god-parents, my aunt was a great chef, learned on a wood-stove and kept a hospital-like kitchen...
she worked and cooked in the family cafe, as well as, for the military on a grand scale...

more family chefs and restauranteurs...

 in our family everyone learned and cooked...

i'll be sharing some of their recipes with you all later...

fondant mats...

i think these mats are brilliant...and food safe...how smart is she, a new business...

http://youtu.be/nu6QpimDDDQ


if the link doesn't work, just copy and paste...

Texas potato salad...Bread and butter jalapeno pickles...

Texas potato salad 
Ingredients:
2 pounds of red new potatoes, cubed
2 celery stalks, diced
2 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup of bread and butter jalapenos, diced (recipe follows or you can use store bought)
1/4 cup of yellow mustard
1/4 cup of mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon bread and butter jalapeno pickle juice
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method:
In a large pot, cover potatoes with cold water, bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Should be tender but not mushy.

Drain potatoes and rinse in cold water. Toss with vinegar and salt, and let cool in the refrigerator for half an hour.

After the potatoes have cooled, gently stir in the mustard and mayonnaise into the potatoes and then add the rest of the ingredients.

Serves four to six.

Notes: Lots of people like to also add dill pickles and sliced eggs and it always tastes good. And I used red new potatoes because that’s what my grandmother grows on her farm, but you can also use Yukon gold or any other potato that you prefer. I also leave my potatoes unpeeled because I like the texture and flavor of the skins, but feel free to peel your potatoes if that’s how you like them.

Bread and butter jalapeno pickles
Ingredients:
1/2 pound jalapenos (about four)
1 cup of apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
1 cinnamon stick

Method:
Pack into a pint-sized jar the sliced jalapenos
Bring the vinegar, sugar and spices to a boil, and pour over the jalapenos.
Let cool (about half an hour) and then cover and refrigerate.
Will be ready in a couple of hours, but I like to let them pickle overnight.

Vietnamese-style Spring Rolls with Korean-style Beef...

MAKES 12 SPRING ROLLS

Spring Rolls:

• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 piece ginger, about the size of your thumb, peeled
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup Mexi Coke
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, including seeds and ribs
• 1 pound flank steak
• 24 rice spring roll wrappers
• 12 small leaves red or green leaf lettuce
• 4 ounces maifun rice stick, cooked and cut after cooking
• 18 medium shrimp, cooked and halved lengthwise

1. For the marinade, process garlic, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, Coke, vinegar and jalapeno until smooth.
2. Trim fat from steak. Pour marinade over steak. Cover and refrigerate for four to 12 hours. Remove from refrigerator 30-60 minutes prior to cooking. Rub off marinade.
3. Heat oil in iron pan on medium-high heat. Place steak on pan and cook for four to six minutes, depending on thickness. Turn and cook for another three or four minutes. Let steak cool considerably. Slice against grain into fairly thin slices.
4. Bring four cups of water to a near boil and pour into wide, shallow bowl. Immerse rice wrapper into hot water and lay onto large plate. Repeat and place one more sheet onto same plate directly over first rice wrapper. Set plate aside and repeat with two more rice wrappers. Always prep one plate ahead to allow wrappers time to absorb water and to cool slightly.
5. Arrange ingredients in prepped wrapper on the third that's closest to you. 3 shrimp halves (they look pretty when the shrimp shows through), 1 lettuce leaf, 1 small handful of maifun and 1-2 slices of steak. Roll into a snug log, tucking ends in, like a San Francisco-style burrito. Repeat til you're done. Serve on the same day. Do not refrigerate.

Scallion Ginger Dipping Sauce:

• 1 piece ginger, peeled and minced (double the size of your thumb)
• 5 green onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon gochukaru (Korean crushed red pepper)
• 1/2 cup neutral oil such as grapeseed
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce (or to taste ... all ingredients are to taste)

1. Mix all ingredients together and serve with assembled spring rolls.

Lughnasadh Recipes...

Beef Barley Soup
2 quarts water
soup bone with the meat on
1/2 cup celery tops
1TBSP salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup uncooked barley
3 cups coursely chopped cabbage
1 cup sliced celery
2 cups sliced parsnips
2 cups thinly slice onions
1 can 12 oz tomato paste


Combine water, bone and celery tops
Bring to boil and cover lightly.  Simmer for 2 hours
Remove bone and chop meat
Stir in barley and chopped meat. Cook 30 minutes
Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes or until veggies are tender


Perfect Corn Bread

• 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour                      
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder                          
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup yellow corn meal                              
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk                                          
• 1/4 cup shortening

Sift flour with sugar, baking powder, and salt; stir in cornmeal. Add eggs, milk, and shortening. Beat with rotary or electric beater till just smooth. (Do not overbeat.) Pour into greased 9x9x2 inch pan. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.