Something Good for Saturday

Ethyl Underwood Meeker - "Auntie"

My mother never liked to cook but at this time of year she did like to make candy. So in her honor I am going to post some candy recipes from now until Christmas. Here is a recipe she did not make but I remember "pulling the taffy" at the place North of town one time when my grandmother made it.  The recipe is from my great-aunt Ethyl Underwood Meeker who is pictured   in these two pictures one from 1896 and the other from 1973.  I remember when the "Twist" was popular we got her to dance it and she was in her 80's.  She also drove across country in her 80s. She mad the statement "Intelligence is at the wheel." What a woman!  A lifelong Christian Scientist she lived to be in her 90's.

Vinegar "Taffy" candy

"I don't remember ever eating or seeing this candy. The instructions have me thinking it was taffy;" Ginny

2  T.      Butter 2  Cups  Sugar

½  Cup  Cider vinegar

Procedure

1   Grease plates.

2   Melt butter in heavy saucepan over medium heat.

3   Add sugar and vinegar.

4   Stir until sugar is dissolved.

5   Wash down sides of pan periodically with pastry brush dipped in cold water.

6   Continue cooking until mixture reached 256° F on candy thermometer.

7   Remove from heat.

8   Pour onto well greased counter.

9   As mixture cools fold over itself into the center using a greased spatula.

10 When mixture is cooled enough to handle, grease hands with butter.

11 Pull candy until it is creamy white.

12 Pull into long strips and into inch long pieces with scissors.

13 Put on greased plates to cool.

14 Wrap pieces in waxed paper.

Source: Ethel Underwood Meeker 

Ruth Cole Jackson "Mom"

Mom liked to make this fudge - (and we loved it) You can read Ginny's explanation from the cook-book. 

Penuche Fudge

"Mom didn't really like to cook but she loved making candy. She was a wizard making candy annually for Christmas. I never tried to make candy until the Christmas after she died in 1995. The first 2 batches I made were like concrete. The third time I succeeded and I felt like mom was with me again!" Ginny

2  Cups  Sugar (or 3 cups) 2  Cups  Brown sugar  (or 3 cups) 1  Cup    Half and Half cream (or 1½ cups)

3        T      Butter or (4½ tablespoons) 1 1/2  tsp    Vanilla (or 2¼ teaspoons) 1        Cup  Chopped pecans (or 1½ cups)

Procedure

1   Grease pan.

2   Put sugar and half and half in pan.

3   Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until mixture begins to boil.

4   Continue cooking without stirring until mixture reaches "soft ball" stage.

5   Remove from heat.

6   Cool to lukewarm.

7   Add butter and vanilla.

8   Beat until mixture loses it's gloss.

9   Add nuts.

10 Pour quickly into pan

Yield: 9" x 9"

Source: Ruth Cole Jackson

Something for Saturday

This recipe is from my friend John who says it is easy to make and very tasty...Now I shall have to find my cauldron..

CHICKEN ADOBO

OK, so this isn’t an authentic Filipino Adobo, but it’s tasty! Once you get all the stuff organized, it goes together pretty

quickly. It makes a LOT, so invite your buddies over. Serve it up with some couscous. That’s ridiculously easy to make.

Ingredients:

• ±5 lbs. chicken thighs, bone in and skin on (The bones and skin add a lot of flavor. Pitch them later if you don’t

want them.) Or use half chicken thighs and half boneless chunks of pork. I used a 6-lb. package of thighs from

Sam’s last time around, and there were 11 nice, meaty thighs in there.

• 1-1/2 cups low-sodium light soy sauce (yes, that’s a lot)

• 1-1/2 cups rice vinegar (ditto)

• Some nice olive oil

• 2 Tablespoons pickling spices (it’s on the rack there in the store with the other spices)

• About 5 Tablespoons finely peeled and chopped fresh ginger (YUM!) Look in the produce section.

• About 1/4 c. Sriracha sauce (That’ll be somewhere near the soy sauce in the store—try a few drops with your eggs)

• 2 Spanish onions (the ones with the brown hide), thinly sliced

• ±8 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

• 32 oz. chicken stock—one of those cartons of Swanson’s from the store.

• 1 Tablespoon anchovy paste (try adding a little of this to ALL stews, or even to meatloaf. NOT too much, though.)

• 15-20 baby red potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half (leave these out if you want to cut down on starch, or are serving

this with rice—but they DO add some nice flavor, and taste good, too.)

• 1/2-1 lb. sliced fresh mushrooms (I usually use a pound, and buy ’em pre-sliced at the store.)

_________________

OK. So here’s what you do.

1. Find a cauldron. Non-stick is even better. But it has to be a cauldron. At least 12 quarts at the SMALLEST. No puny

little saucepans allowed.

2. Film the bottom of the cauldron with olive oil, and add a little more.

3. Brown the chicken thighs in batches on both sides in the oil over medium-high heat. As they are browned, put them in

a big bowl somewhere nearby.

4. Dump the excess fat from the cauldron. Otherwise everything will be too greasy.

5. Whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, chicken broth, garlic, ginger, pickling spices, anchovy paste, and Sriracha

in a BIG bowl until combined.

6. Return the chicken to the cauldron, dump in any accumulated juices from the bowl, add the onions, and pour the liquid

over the chicken. It should come close to covering the meat. Stir it to mix stuff together.

7. Reduce the heat, and bring the whole mess to a simmer. Just for fun, stir it from time to time.

8. Cover, and simmer for about an hour.

9. Add the shrooms and the spuds. Stir them in.

10. Cover again, and simmer for about another half hour or so. The meat will fall off the bones, and that’s the idea.

11. Serve it up with some nice steamed rice and a salad. Maybe some French bread to sop up the gravy. Or make a mess

of couscous and serve the chicken with the couscous. (that’s my own fave)

12. This makes a LOT, but the leftovers are probably even better than the stuff was the first day.

13. There will be some peppercorns and the like from the spices, but they get all nice and soft, and taste good when you

bite into them.

Sumptuous Saturday

Don Mosier's Beef Stew Recipe

3 lbs bonelesss beef ribs, cut into 1” pieces. Leave in all the connective tissue.
2 onions, chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
3 Tbl flour
1 C red wine (I used Cabernet Sauvignon)
32 oz Chicken Broth (I used Swansons)
1 tsp ground thyme
3 bay leaves
4 carrots, chopped
8 red potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
1C frozen peas
3 tsp olive oil

Heat the oven to 250 degrees. Stir the salt and pepper into the meat. Brown the meat in the olive oil (2 batches) in a heavy stock pot over medium high heat. Remove to a bowl. Put the onions, celery in the pot with a dab more oil, and cook for about 5 minutes until soft. Add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds or so. Dump in the flour and cook for about 5 minutes or until slightly browned. Add the wine, broth, thyme, and bay leaves. Add the browned meat. Stir up. Put in the oven for 1 hour. Add the potatoes and carrots. Stir. Bake for another 2 hours. You may want to stir after 1 hour. Remove from oven. Add the peas and wait 5 minutes. Enjoy.

This was the beefiest tasting broth I have ever made. Meat was very tender. Next time, I think I would add _ C of frozen corn about 30 minutes before it is done. I thought I had made good beef stew before, and I have. But this is, by far, the best I have ever made. Totally recommended.

Used with permission.