Aunt Diane's Lemon Meringue Pie

 Recipe TBA

Aunt Diane's Red Chile

This year for the holidays my sister, her boyfriend and I flew to Colorado Springs, Colorado to meet mom and visit with family. My Aunt Diane made Red Chile, Green, Chile, and Pinto Beans. Enchiladas for Christmas.

Red Chile Recipe:
TBA

Additional Toppings and Tortillas:
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- Fried Tortillas
- Shredded Lettuce
- Cubed Tomatoes
- Cubed Avocados

To Serve:
Tortilla, Chile, Cheese, Tortilla, Chile, Cheese


 Love this!

 And this...

 AND THIS!!

Rita's Russian Pickles

E-mail from Rita: Here is a recipe my grandmother makes:
4-5 flowers of cauliflower
3-4 cucumber
4-5 tomato
2-3 summer squash
2 apples
2-3 small carrot
3-4 pepper
All wash, cut the apples into quarters (core seeds), carrots, peppers and squash cut into several pieces. Carrots - along the cut. All folded into sterilized jars, add the parsley. Pour boiling brine. Leave on for 15-20 minutes. Then pour the brine into a saucepan, boil again and pour over vegetables again, add 1 tablespoonful of vinegar. Then close the lid sterilized, turn and cover jar with a blanket.
Brine - to 6 liters of water 1 cup salt to the rim, to boil.

Vegetables, in my opinion, are for a 3-liter jar, and the brine is clearly with the stock. And all our units - cups, cans), and even parsley)

Here's a recipe salted cucumbers
Wash cucumbers, folded tightly into a jar (not to swim) and add the dill, chopped garlic cloves, the leaves of cherry. Pour boiling brine (for 1 liter of water - 1 tablespoon of salt). Close the jar and leave to cool. Then remove the refrigerator.


Tori’s Pickles, trying to figure out what Rita was telling me to do:
Large Sliced English Cucumber
2 Onions, sliced lengthwise
4 Bay Leaves
Handful Peppercorns
1 1/2 Tbspn Salt
1/4 c White Wine Vinegar
1/4 c Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 c Regular Vinegar
Red Pepper Flakes, depends on how spicy you want
1-2 Cinnamon Stick

(I didn’t have enough of one type of vinegar so I mixed them, it provides a nice flavor)

Mix all of the ingredients together and put them in a jar.

Shirley's Pancit

Cabbage
Shiitake Mushrooms (not required or traditional)
Carrots- almost shredded
Celery
Green Onions
French Green Beans
Shrimp
Chicken (or any meat you want)
Garlic
Onion
Soy Sauce
Lime (Key lime best)
Rice Noodles (Asian)
Bai Hon Noodles (Asian)
Chicken Broth

Prep:
-Julienne Green Beans
-peel and defrost shrimp (if necessary)
-Put rice noodles in bowl of wate
-Chop garlic, celery, green onions
-Slice mushrooms and onions
-Cut the cabbage in half, put the half on the table and slice lengthwise.

Veggies:
In a wok or large pan, pour about 2 tbsp of canola oil and wait for it to heat. Put green beans, onions, garlic, carrots and celery in the pan and wait a few minutes. Add chicken and soy sauce and wait until chicken is about half-way cooked.  Add cabbage and break the shreds. Add mushrooms. Add more soy sauce.  Add shrimp.

Noodles + Veggies:
Take veggies, shrimp and chicken out of the pan leaving the sauce.  Add the vermicelli and mix them into the sauce.  Put the Bai Hon noodles on top and pour chicken broth on top. Mix noodles together and add more broth till noodles are soft together. Add veggies back to the pan, but only about half. Add lots of lime and more soy sauce if desired. Mix up noodles.

To serve:
Put noodles into a bowl and add the other half of the veggie mix to the top along with a few slices of lime for garnish.

Grandma's Hatch Green Chile

My grandmother on my mother's side, Bessie (Vicentita) Sanchez Darden, is from Las Vegas, New Mexico. As a New Mexican native who spoke fluent spanish and grew up in a large catholic family, she kept some of her childhood traditions as she transitioned to life with my grandfather in the deep south, Centerville, Alabama. What a wonderful woman! Anybody who walked in her home was treated to this dish and may have needed a nap before leaving.

My mom's family of course covets these peppers. Now, even my dad has picked up on this tradition and orders 50 lbs of fresh peppers each fall to go camping to roast these hatch chile peppers and drink tequila. To roast them, we turn them over on the fire until charred and place them in brown paper bags overnight so they sweat. In the morning, we peel them (dad wants to keep all of the seeds, they make the peppers hotter) and then sort them into plastic bags, label them and freeze them for the year.

This is the recipe that my grandmother taught me:

1/2 cup chopped Roasted and Peeled Hatch Green Chiles (make sure you use gloves depending on the heat of the peppers)
1/2 chopped onion
1 package Ground Turkey, Beef, Pork, Venison or Chicken
2 potatoes, diced (not too small)
1 cup flour
2 cloves garlic
1 cup water
1 tbsp. salt
1 tsp. olive oil


Optional Toppings:
Sour Cream
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Grated Cheddar Cheese
Tortillas (heat on stove)
Pinto Beans
1 tsp Red Chile powder, to taste

1. Saute garlic and meat together with olive oil until meat is browned.
2. Add chiles, potatoes, onions, water, salt and red chile to taste, leaving the stove on medium-high
*These measurements are estimates.  The water should be above the surface by about a fingertip.  Feel free to add or subtract chile depending on the spice you want.
3. On a separate burner, using a small pan, heat the flour making sure it doesnt burn.  Then, take the flour in a separate bowl and mix it with water.  It should dissolve completely, without any clumps left. Pour the flour mixture into the chile while stirring.  Put a little bit in at a time to make sure it doesnt get too thick. If you need more, then use more.
4. Leave the pot on simmer for as long as you want.
5. Cook pinto beans on a separate pot.
6. Serve Chile, leaving the Sour Cream, Cheese, Tomatoes (diced), Tortillas, Lettuce, and Pinto Beans in separate bowls for those enjoying the chile to experiment with.

ENJOY THE CHILE!!!!!

Zmira Sabbah's Honey Cake (Rosh Hashanah)

On Rosh Hashanah, we eat honey to welcome the sweetness of the new year.

3 cups sifted flour                    1 1/2 cups orange juice
1/2 tsp. salt                              1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 tsp. cinamon                         1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1/8 tsp. ground cloves             1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp. nutmeg                        1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp. baking soda                    1/2 cup slivered almonds
2 cups honey

1. Grease two 9x5 loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In large bowl mix together dry ingredients.
3. In another bowl, mix together honey, orange juice, shelled                    pistachios, walnuts, apricots & raisins.
4. Add the orange juice-honey mixture to dry ingredients; mix well.
5. Pour batter evenly between two loaf pans.
6. Sprinkle the almonds on top of batter.
7. Reduce oven temperature to 325 & bake for one hour, or until a toothpick insterted in center comes out clean.
8. Cool cakes on a rack. ENJOY! B’TEAVON!!

Shirley's Adobo

Red wine vinegar
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 onion
Ginger
1-2 garlic cloves
Chicken/Ribs/Short Ribs

Chop up onions, ginger and garlic and place them in a pan with a little bit of olive oil.  Sautee together until brown.  Add red wine vinegar and soy sauce.  Add meat and make sure the sauce is above it.  If not, add more vinegar and soy sauce or water. Simmer on low for 3-4 hours.  Serve whenever!

This very close family friend is originally from the Phillipines. This is a childhood food of hers and she happily shared this recipe!

Nana's Matzah Brie

Matzah
Eggs
Water
Sugar

Step 1
Put a few eggs in a bowl and mix it with pepper.
Step 2
Break up the Matzah and soak it in a bowl of water.  Then, drain the water and soak the Matzah in the bowl of mixed eggs.
Step 3
“Sauté” it in a pan
Step 4
Transfer to a plate, sprinkle with sugar and serve.

Brisket (Sweet)

1 large beef brisket (or Tri-Tip if you absolutely cant fin'd a brisket)
Carrots quartered
Onions chopped
Garlic minced
Dried figs quartered
Dried prunes quartered
Pearl onions whole
Small red skinned potatoes quartered
1 bottle of dry red wine (cabernet sauvignon)
1 cup brown sugar
Rosemary
1 stick soy butter

Step 1
Turn stove on medium high. Mix carrots, onions, figs, prunes, garlic, rosemary and butter in a pot. Once they are sautéd for about 10 minutes, mix in the brown sugar and most of the bottle of wine.  Leave for about 10 more minutes on medium.
Step 2
Grab the pan you will cook the brisket with.  Pour the rest of the wine and some water in with the brisket.  Braise it on both sides until it’s brown.
Step 3
Pour mixture from the other pot on top of the brisket.  Put a lid on it and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.  After that hour, pour the potatoes and pearl onions on top.  Salt and pepper them.
Step 4
Put the oven on at 350°F and place the pan in the oven.  Leave for 4 hours… 5 if at all possible.  The longer it cooks for, the more tender it will be!

Antoniou Spaghetti

A recipe I picked up from a good friend's Cypriot/French mother! Not sure how, but the cinnamon and nutmeg is key.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Garlic
Onion
1 tbpsn Tomato Paste
1 can Tomato Sauce
1 can/ 4 tomatoes Tomato Cubes (fresh or canned)
Nutmeg, to taste (1 tsp)
Cinnamon, to taste (1 tsp)
Wine
Ground Beef
Basil (dried and/or fresh)
Oregano
Salt
Pepper


Finely chop garlic and onions.  Put pan on medium high. Sautee garlic and onions in the pot with olive oil. Add ground beef and tomato paste.   Add salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, basil, oregano. Add tomato sauce and wine. Add tomato cubes. Taste, adjust salt and pepper. Add red peppers if you would like spice.




Make your pasta. Add some sauce to the pasta. Serve!