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Recipes


Thai Butternut Squash Soup
Billy's Brownies
Salsa con Polpettine
Memphis Corn Puddin'
Blue Cheese Pasta Salad
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Best Blueberry Pie


Penny Mitchell has begun a recipe corner in the Park Bell. Here are the recipes that have been published so far. If you'd like to submit a recipe, please email it to 4penny@gmail.com along with your contact info for inclusion in the Park Bell and on this very page.

THAI BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
Via Anne Lowell, originally from Catherine Newman at Wondertime.go.com

Makes 9 cups

1 large butternut squash
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 shallot, finely diced (about 1 TBSP) or equal amount minced onion
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon thai red curry paste
3-4 kaffir lime leaves (available at whole foods, jarred in the thai section)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (or half as much table salt)
1 tablespoon sugar
3 cups chicken broth
1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
1 to 2 tablespoons lime juice
Naam pla (fish sauce) to taste
Coarsely chopped cilantro (optional)

Heat oven to 400. Halve squash lengthwise and scrape out all the seeds and stringy gunk. Line a baking sheet with foil, grease it with 1 tablespoon of the oil, and roast squash, cut sides down, until it is very soft, 45 minutes to an hour. Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a soup pot over medium-low heat for 2 minutes. Add the shallot, red curry paste and 3 to 4 Kaffir lime leaves. Stir briskly until it's sizzling and fragrant, 30 seconds or so. Add salt, sugar, broth, and coconut milk, and bring to a simmer. If the squash isn't done, cover broth mixture and turn off heat; otherwise, add the squash (after scraping or scooping it out of the peel), and simmer for 15 minutes. Purée soup with a hand blender (or in batches in a blender or food processor). Add 1 cup water if soup seems too thick, then stir in lime juice and a dash or two of fish sauce. Taste. It should be lively -- a mix of sweet, tart, and salty -- so add more lime juice, salt, or sugar if needed. Garnish with cilantro, if using, and serve. 


BILLY’S BROWNIES
By Billy Hirsh

1 stick (½ cup) butter
4 oz unsweetened bakers chocolate
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup flour
1 generous teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Over a very low flame, stirring constantly (some folks might use a double boiler, but I don't) melt the butter and chocolate together. Beat eggs, add in the sugar and vanilla to the eggs and stir together.

Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and mix together. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt until smooth. You can add chocolate chips, peanut butter or nuts.   Simply fold them into the batter.

Pour into a greased (I use butter) and floured 8x8 inch pan.

Bake for 23 minutes. This may sound funny, and surely ovens differ. But I have found that you don't want them to overcook or they will be too dry. So, after years of working on this, I have found that 23 minutes works well. 

* These brownies freeze really well and taste great right out of the freezer.

SALSA CON POLPETTINE
(Tomato Sauce with Tiny Meatballs)
By Pam Rex

Sauce
32 oz Fresh or good quality canned tomatoes, coursely chopped, with liquid reserved
1/4 cup Chopped onion
2 Garlic cloves finely chopped
1/4 cup Fresh parsley finely chopped
1/4 cup Fresh basil finely chopped
3 tb Olive oil
1 tb Fresh hot chili finely chopped (Optional)
salt & pepper

Tiny Meatballs
1 lb Lean ground beef
1 lb Lean ground veal
1/2 cup Chopped onion
1/2 cup Grated Romano cheese
1 Garlic clove finely chopped
1/4 cup Fresh parsley finely chopped
1/4 cup Fresh basil finely chopped
2 Eggs
2 cups Bread crumbs
1-1/2 cups stock (Either a good chicken or beef stock)

In a large kettle, sauté the 1/4 of chopped onion & 2 garlic gloves, parsley, & basil in the oil. When the onion & garlic turn brown, add the other ingredients, stir well, & let the sauce cook slowly while preparing the tiny meatballs.

Mix together the beef & veal, the 1/2 cup of chopped onion, Romano cheese, garlic clove, parsley, basil, eggs, bread crumbs, stock, & salt/pepper to taste. Occasionally wetting the palms of your hands, roll the meat mixture into marble-sized balls. Carefully drop the meatballs into the cooking sauce & continue cooking slowly for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Best served over freshmade pasta.

 

MEMPHIS CORN PUDDIN’
by Penny Mitchell

1 box Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
1 15 oz can whole kernel corn
1 15 oz can cream corn
8 oz cream cheese (I prefer the whipped version)
4 Tbsp melted butter

Preheat oven to 375o

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl.  Mix until creamy.  An electric mixer works best but a thorough stir will work in a pinch.

Prepare a large shallow backing dish with cooking spray.  I use a 12” x 10” baking dish.  You can use smaller but your cooking time will be longer. <!--[endif]-->

Pour mix into pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes.  After about 30 minutes in the oven, periodically check the mix to make sure the top is not getting too brown.  If it is, cover with foil while continuing to cook through.  Check mix with a toothpick to see if it’s ready.  You’ll know..

BLUE CHEESE PASTA SALAD
by Lisa Cutler

1 lb small shell pasta
¾ cup slivered almonds

1 ½ cups mayonnaise (approximately)
1 bunch scallions, sliced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
4-5 oz crumbled blue cheese
1 ½ cup golden raisins


Cook pasta according to package directions. When done, immediately rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process.

While pasta cooks, spread almonds on a baking sheet and place in 350-degree oven for about 7 minutes. When you can smell them, they are done.

Once pasta has cooled, mix in mayonnaise to coat well. Do not oversaturate.

Stir in almonds and remaining 4 ingredients. For best results, chill for several hours to allow flavors to meld.


SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE
by Heather Baria

Topping - Mix together
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

First Mixture - Cream/mix together
1 stick softened butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

Second Mixture - Sift together
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add the Second Mixture to the First Mixture, alternating with the sour cream. Pour half of the mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle half of the topping mixture onto batter. Spoon remaining batter into pan (it will spread as it bakes). Add remaining topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown.


WORLD'S BEST BLUEBERRY PIE
by Mia Alioto


This great recipe is from our lovely Mia! If you haven’t met Mia by now, well, you probably haven’t been to a St. Mary’s Park event lately. She is always there helping out with a big smile and chasing around her rambunctious little ones. Thanks for everything you do Mia!

What makes it different from other blueberry pies is: it's mostly blueberries, not crust or sugar; and the combination of spices is superb! It doesn't matter if you're not a chef or have never made a pie before. Following these directions ANYONE can cook a perfect blueberry pie!

Pie filling:
3 to 4 cups of Blueberries - fresh or frozen (without syrup)
7 Tbsp corn starch
3 Tbsp water (or grape juice)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
One 9 inch pie crust OR One Graham Cracker pie crust #
1/2 tsp Cinnamon 1/4 tsp allspice
2/3 cup granulated (ordinary table) Sugar OR
1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup Splenda (Splenda works in pie recipes, but not by itself.  The pie turns out heavy and with much less flavor).

One 9 inch deep-dish Pie Plate

Topping:
Crumb topping:
1/4 cup sugar (OR 1/8 cup sugar and 1/8 cup Splenda)
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter or margarine

OR

Dough topping: One 9 inch pie crust

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Rinse the blueberries in a colander or sieve in cold water. Pick out and remove any bits of stems, leaves and soft or mushy berries. (It is easiest to do this in a large bowl of water and gently run your hands through the berries as they float.  With your fingers slightly apart, you will easily feel any soft or mushy berries get caught in your fingers.)

In a large bowl, combine the sugar (or sugar/Splenda blend), the corn starch and mix well!  Some people like 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and/or 1/4 teaspoon of allspice also. That's optional, but it is nice!

In a separate bowl, combine the liquid ingredients. Add the lemon juice, and 3 Tablespoons of water (or grape juice) and stir it up. Add to the sugar mix. (If you use Splenda, it will be pretty gloppy, rather than drier crumbs, but it still works the same!)

Add the blueberries to the pie crust.  Just pour them in!  There's lots of air space and it will cook down, so don't worry if they mound up about an inch (2.5 cm) above the edge of the plate.

Pour the liquid mix into the pie. If it is a gloppy liquid, don’t worry, just pour it somewhat evenly over the top. it will smooth itself out in the oven.  

Make and add your topping
If you want the crumb topping, just mix the ingredients above with a fork or pastry cutter until they form small crumbs and sprinkle over the pie. If you want to use the dough topping instead, roll out a circular section of dough that you made in step 1, to 1/8 inch thick, then place it over the pie.  Seal it against the edges with the pie crust, and make decorative slits with a knife.

Put the pie in the oven! Cook the pie at 375 F for 1 hour. Remove when the pie is golden and pie filling is bubbling.

Enjoy!