Mom's Creamed Tuna

First published here in 2005, it's time for a reprint! Especially during Lent!

I don't know where my mother got this recipe but it is the touch of nutmeg and the walnuts that make it shine. I often leave the nuts out so don't let those stop you in making this. It was one of our favorites growing up and my kids love it too.

Step 1:
2 tablespoons shortening
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
2 dashes Tabasco
2 cups milk
Make a white sauce. Stir over low heat until thickened. (For instructions on making a white sauce, take a look at the recipe for Pasta Baked with Bechamel and Parmigiano ... bechamel is Italian for white sauce.)

Step 2:
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
12 ounces tuna
Sautéed sliced mushrooms (optional)
1/3 cup broken walnuts (optional)
Add cheese, stir until melted. Add remaining and heat to serving temperature. Serve over rice or noodles.

Sour Cream Pound Cake

From Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri; I edited these instructions for simplicity's sake.  

I first ran this recipe in 2004 and all these years later it is still my go-to pound cake. It isn't fussy but it is simply delicious.

It never fails, it lasts a long time and my husband has found that a thin slice is almost as good as a donut with his breakfast. Plus you will impress your friends who didn't know people made pound cake anymore.

Sour Cream Pound Cake

Step 1:
3 cups flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter and flour 12-cup tube or Bundt pan. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Step 2:
½ pound butter, softened
2¾ cups sugar
Beat on medium speed until very light, about 5 minutes.

Step 3:
½ t. lemon extract
½ t. orange extract
½ t. vanilla
Beat into batter (I also have used 1½ t. vanilla instead of the above combination).

Step 4:
6 large eggs
Beat into batter, one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition.

Step 5:
8 ounces sour cream
On low, alternately beat in flour mixture and sour cream, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape into pan and bake for 1¼ to 1½ hours or until cake tester comes out clean. Let sit in pan 10 minutes and then turn out on rack to cool completely.

Linguine with Chickpeas and Zucchini

 This is perfect for a meatless meal anytime. It was on one of those handy, dandy recipe cards in Cook's Country way back in 2018. The photo isn't preposessing but it is simply delicious. AND inexpensive!

• Don't skip the parsley. For me, that makes the dish. 
• This is mildly flavored so it might be good for kids. Also, since the zucchini is shredded and the chickpeas are mashed up some, it might be easy to slip past kids who might otherwise balk at such ingredients. 
• This is also good without the red pepper flakes if you have people who can't eat those.
• They designed this recipe to be made sequentially in one pan. I'd rather make two and have the rest done at about the time the pasta is. If fewer pans matters more, then cook and drain the pasta. Use the Dutch oven to make the "sauce."

Linguine with Chickpeas and Zucchini
1 pound linguine
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving
4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 medium zucchini, shredded on large holes of a box grater and patted dry
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed
2 ounces (1 cup) grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice, plus lemon wedges for serving

INSTRUCTIONS
Bring 4 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Reserve (1/2) cup cooking water, then drain pasta. (I don't add any pasta water to the final dish.)

Meanwhile, heat oil, garlic, pepper flakes, salt, and pepper over medium heat until garlic is lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Add zucchini and chickpeas and cook until zucchini is wilted and most of its excess moisture has cooked off, about 6 minutes. Using potato masher, lightly mash chickpeas.

Off heat, stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan, parsley, lemon juice, pasta, and reserved cooking water. Serve, passing lemon wedges, extra oil, and remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan separately. (I often stir in a glug or two of olive oil at the end if the pasta seems dry, since I don't use the reserved pasta water.)

Classic King Cake

Taste of the South photo (in a few days I'll put my own photo in here)

Traditional for Mardi Gras, this is worth spending the time on. 

A few years ago Taste of the South magazine published this recipe. I'd only had store-bought King Cakes and they were no treat, believe me. So I gave this a whirl. Not only was it easier than I thought it would be, but it was absolutely delicious. In fact, my friend Patsy, who grew up in Dallas, said she'd never had one that tasted so good. 

 I hereby pass it along to anyone who wants the real reason to celebrate right before Lent begins.

 I didn't have the traditional purple colored sugar to go along with the green and yellow, but red makes a nice display also! After all, it all tastes the same.

Leftovers freeze well. Or you can look at it as the perfect opportunity to share with friends and family. Everyone likes it when I make King Cake!

Also a 12" wreath is quite large. I always vow to make two smaller wreaths. Maybe this is the year!

CLASSIC KING CAKE

 

Yields: 1 (12-inch) wreath

 

Ingredients

• 4 to 4¼ cups bread flour, divided
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 (0.25-ounce) package instant yeast
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon water, divided
• ½ cup whole milk
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs, divided
• 1 egg yolk
• Almond Cream (recipe follows)
• Cream Cheese Icing (recipe follows)
• Garnish: colored sanding sugar
  
  Almond Cream
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup sugar
• 1⅓ cups almond meal
• 1 large egg
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon almond extract
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  
  Cream Cheese Icing (I myself prefer a simple medium frosting made from confectioner's sugar and milk. Suit your own taste.)

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1½ cups confectioners’ sugar

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine 2 cups flour, granulated sugar, yeast, and salt. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat ½ cup water, milk, and butter over medium heat until an instant-read thermometer registers 120° to 130°. Add warm milk mixture to flour mixture, beating at medium speed until combined and cooled slightly, about 2 minutes. Add 1 egg and egg yolk, beating at medium speed until combined. With mixer on low speed, gradually add 2 cups flour, beating just until combined and stopping to scrape sides of bowl as needed.
3. Switch to the dough hook attachment. Beat at low speed until a soft, somewhat sticky dough forms, about 6 to 7 minutes, stopping to scrape dough hook and sides of bowl as needed. (Add up to remaining ¼ cup flour, adding 1 tablespoon at a time, if dough is too sticky.)
4. On a lightly floured surface, shape dough into a smooth ball. Place dough in prepared bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place (75°) until doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together remaining 1 egg and remaining 1 tablespoon water.
6. Lightly punch down dough. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and roll into a 24×2-inch rectangle. Spread Almond Cream onto dough, leaving a ½-inch border on one long side. Brush border with egg wash. Starting with other long side, roll up dough, jelly roll style; pinch seam to seal. Using a serrated knife dipped in flour, trim ½-inch off each end of log. Form into a circle. Brush ends with egg wash and press together, pinching dough to seal. Carefully place wreath on a piece of parchment paper.
7. Using a serrated knife or kitchen scissors, makes cuts three-fourths of the way through the dough, 1 inch apart, leaving the center of wreath intact. Gently pull and turn each slice onto its side, slightly overlapping with the previous piece. Slide parchment onto a rimless baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place (75°) until puffed, 20 to 30 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 350°.
9. Brush dough with egg wash. Bake until lightly golden and an instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 190°, 30 to 35 minutes, loosely covering with foil to prevent excess browning, if necessary. Let cool on pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Spread with Cream Cheese Icing. Garnish with colored sanding sugar, if desired.

For Almond Cream

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in almond meal until combined. Add egg and almond extract, beating on low until combined. Beat in flour and salt. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For Cream Cheese Icing

1. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, milk, vanilla, and salt on medium speed until smooth. Slowly add confectioners’ sugar, beating on low until smooth.

Bacon, Pea, and Goat Cheese Frittata

This is absolutely delicious and makes a simple but taste-filled dinner. It's also darned good when heated up in the morning for a flavorful breakfast if your taste runs to goat cheese early in the day. It's from Gordon Ramsay's Home Cooking although you also can find the recipe at his website.

The recipe has you broil it until the top is cooked but we don't have an oven-proof nonstick pan. We simply cover the pan and cook it for a while on a low heat until it is set all the way through. I'm leaving the broiler instructions if you've a mind to go that route.

If we have basil we use it. If we don't, it is still delicious. Bacon, Pea, and Goat Cheese Frittata
Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS
Olive oil, for frying
8 rashers of smoked bacon, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 red pepper, seeded and sliced
3 scallions, trimmed and sliced diagonally
1 cup frozen peas
Handful of basil, leaves roughly chopped
4 ounces goat’s cheese
8 eggs, beaten
3–4 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350.

Heat a glug of oil in a 10-inch, non-stick frying pan and fry the bacon for 2–3 minutes. Add the red pepper and continue to cook for another few minutes until the bacon is golden brown and crisp. Add the scallions and sweat for 4-5 minutes until everything is tender. Stir in the peas and heat through. Sprinkle in the basil, roughly mixing it through the vegetables. Cut half of the goat cheese into chunks and scatter on top.

Preheat broiler to highest setting.

Put the beaten eggs in a bowl, add the Parmesan and season generously with pepper. Pour into the pan over the vegetables and gently shake over a medium heat. As the omelette begins to set at the bottom, grate the remaining goat’s cheese on top and season with pepper.

Place the pan under the broiler for 4–5 minutes until cooked through and golden on top.

Slide the frittata out of the pan and cut into wedges to serve.