Mary Anne Black's Refrigerator Muffin Mix

Benjamin asked for this one from our friend Mary Anne. You'd never know from the great taste that it is quite good for you, too! Mary Anne tells us that she keeps the mix in the fridge and cooks up a few in the morning for breakfast.

5 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 cups natural wheat bran
2 cups all bran cereal
3 Tbsp baking soda
5 cups buttermilk or sour milk
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
2 cups raisins (or chocolate chips)

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients except baking soda. In another bowl, stir baking soda and buttermilk together. Add oil, eggs and molasses and beat well with mixer. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in the liquid and mix well. Stir in raisins. Store in a sealed plastic container in the refrigerator for up to six weeks.

TO BAKE: Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease pan or use paper muffin cups. Stir mixture well and fill tins 2/3 full. Bake 20 minutes or until cooked through.

Great slow-cook Chili

Here is our perfected recipe for chili in a slow cooker. Spicy enough to be great flavor, but mild enough that all the kids like it too! We've used this for many pot-luck dinners and it is always popular and appreciated.

2 lbs ground beef
2 onions, diced and cooked with the ground beef
28 oz. can diced tomatoes
28 oz. can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed well (we often use a six-bean medley instead)
12 oz. can kernel corn, drained

14 oz can cut green beans

14 oz can cut yellow beans
20 to 24 oz can tomato sauce
1.5 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano leaves

Cook ground beef and onions, drain. Place all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 3 to 5 hours. Serve with your favorite breadrolls. Serves 6-9.

VEGAN VERSION:

Replace ground beef with 2 cans (about 15oz each) black beans which have been rinsed, drained and slightly mashed to give an appropriate texture.  Add 1/2 tsp salt to the recipe.  Caramelize onions in a small frypan, then add all ingredients to slow cooker.

Basic Three-Bean Salad

Use one or two cans (drained) total of any combination of the following:
Cut green beans
Cut yellow beans
Kernal corn

Add one or two cans (drained and rinced) of the following:
Red kidney beans
Chick-peas or garbonzo beans
Mixed bean salad beans

Chop finely and add:
Mild onion
Red or yellow pepper

Combine and pour over:
½ cup salad oil
½ cup cider vinegar (or other flavoured vinegar)
1 Tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt (optional)
Pepper
Herbs, to taste

Mix well, refrigerate before serving. Improves with marinating overnight or longer.

Cranberry Dijon Pork Roast

We have enjoyed this slow-cooker roast several times recently and it is a pleasant treat. The cranberries add a nice zing. This recipe is adapted from "The Slow Cooker Bible"

½ cup apple sauce
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 boneless pork loin roast (2-3 lbs), lean
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp grated orange peel (optional)
½ cup to 1 cup dried cranberries

Pour apple sauce into slow cooker. Combine allspice, salt and pepper; sprinkle over roast. Place meat in slow cooker. Blend mustard, honey, and orange peel and spread over roast. Sprinkle with cranberries.

Cover and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours until meat is tender.

Remove meat to serving platter. Slice meat and serve with remaining sauce. Makes about 6-8 servings.

Broccoli, feta, hazelnut and cherry tomato salad

Another favourite recipe from the Avoca Café in Ireland.

½ cup hazelnuts (or cashews or almonds), toasted
About 1 pound broccoli florets in bite-sized pieces
4 oz. feta cheese, cut into small cubes
8 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved
7 oz. dressing (see below)

To toast nuts, spread on a baking tray, in a 350° F oven for 5-10 minutes. They can burn very quickly towards the end, so be careful. Turn them onto a tea towel and rub off the skins. Allow to cool. Put the nuts in a bowl with the broccoli, cheese and cherry tomatoes. Gently toss with the dressing and season with pepper. Salt is usually not required as the feta is usually salty enough.

Dressing
Equal parts (about 300 ml each) sunflower oil, olive oil, peanut oil and red wine vinegar.
2 cloves garlic
3 Tbsp grainy mustard
2 Tbsp honey
Salt and pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients and liquefy. This dressing can be stored in a bottle and shaken vigorously before using. It will keep for several weeks in the fridge.

Jennifer’s famous apple pie

I think Jennifer has perfected the apple pie recipe with this one, modeled on variations in the Five Roses Flour Cookbook.

1 double crust pastry recipe, below.
6 medium apples (Courtland works well)
6 Tbsp brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup flour
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup butter or margarine
1/tsp grated lemon rind (optional - Jennifer usually omits it))
6 Tbsp whipping cream (can be omitted, but why would you want to?)

Preheat oven to 450° F. Prepare pastry and line a 9” deep dish pie plate, reserving some for top crust. Core, peel and slice apples. Combine brown sugar, sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt together, and then mix with apples (we layer the apples in the pie crust and alternate with sprinkling the sugar-cinnamon mixture as we go, it saves time). Spread apple mixture into unbaked pastry shell. Dot with butter; sprinkle with lemon rind. Pour whipping cream over the top. Cover with top crust, sealing carefully and making slits to allow steam to escape. Bake at 450° F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° F and bake until apples are cooked, about 30 – 35 minutes.

Double Crust pastry recipe

2 cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup lard
8-9 Tbsp ice-cold water

Stir flour, sugar, salt and baking powder together. Cut in lard and butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture is crumbly. Add water, a little at a time, using just enough to bind the mixture so that dough can be patted lightly to form a ball. Handle as little as possible. Split dough roughly in two. Roll dough from center outward, with a light, even pressure to form a circle, 1/16” thick and 1” larger than inverted pie plate. Fold double and lift gently into pie plate. Unfold and fit loosely in place. Do not stretch. Bake as directed for filling.

Potato Latkes

From "Second Helpings, Please" published by Montreal B'nai B'rith 1968:

6 potatoes, peeled and grated
1 small onion, grated
3 eggs
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ cup flour
1 Tbsp oil
2 tsp baking powder
(Oil for frying)

Grate potatoes and drain well. Blend in remaining ingredients. Drop from a spoon into hot oil in a frying pan and brown on both sides, turning only once. Yield: about 2 dozen latkes of 3” diameter, depending on the size of the potatoes.

Serve with your favourite toppings (sour cream, yogurt, fruit) or enjoy plain with butter as a side dish. Our kids prefer these if the onions are 'invisible' - you can put the onions and potatoes through the food processer if you wish.

Easy Cheese Blintz Puff

This recipe is from "Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant." It is one of Angela's favorites.

Preheat the oven to 350°. With a blender or mixer, combine:
4 large eggs
1 ¼ cups milk
2 Tablespoons sour cream or plain yogurt
¼ cup melted butter or margarine
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups unbleached white flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 ¼ Tablespoon baking powder

Blend until very smooth. Pour 1 ½ cups of the batter into a buttered 9x13 baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes or until set. Meanwhile, shred into a large bowl:
1 pound farmer cheese
1 pound ricotta cheese (or other combination of flavourful cheeses)

In a small bowl, beat together:
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Mix the beaten egg mixture into the shredded cheese mixture. When the bottom layer of batter has set, remove the baking pan from the oven and spread the cheese filling over it. Briefly remix the remaining batter and then gently pour it over the filling, covering it completely. Return the pan to the oven and continue to bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the top is puffed, set and browned. Remove the Blintz Puff from the oven and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before cutting it into squares. Serve as an entrée or as a dessert topped with yogurt, applesauce, fresh fruit or fruit conserve. Serves 6 – 8.

The Best Iced Tea

This is a most refreshing Tracy family secret, perfected over the years. We are a tea-drinking family and when it gets too hot for Earl Grey, we make the switch to our summer staple. We have a large covered jug with a built-in, dedicated stirring spoon, as the lemon pulp needs a quick stir before each pour. Wonderfully thirst quenching on a hot summer day!

For the tea: Place 4 Tetley orange pekoe teabags in a large teapot. Pour 1.5 litres of boiling water into the teapot, and allow to steep for 6 - 8 hours (or overnight or until you get around to the next step).

In a large jug, mix one 355 ml can Minute Maid frozen lemonaide concentrate and three cans cold water (NOT four cans of water as it says on the label!). Add the steeped tea to the lemonaide, stir, refridgerate and enjoy.

Note: I don't usually do the brand-name thing, but in this case, we have tried cheap brands and they just don't cut it.

The Night Before Breakfast

Prepare this Ham & Egg bake the night before, and bake it fresh in the morning. It's easy and our kids love it! All measures are approximate, you can add more stuff as you wish.

6 slices bread
1 lb or more ham cubes or pieces or slices
(or your favorite pre-cooked breakfast meat)
12 eggs
1 ¼ cups milk
1 cup shredded cheese

Beat eggs well and add milk. In a 9 x 13 pan, layer bread and ham. Sprinkle on the cheese. Pour egg & milk mixture over top. Cover and let stand overnight in the fridge. Bake for one hour in oven preheated to 350°. Serves 6.

Adapted from Renaissance Cuisine published by Fontbonne Auxiliary of the Saint John Hospital, Detroit.