Sunday, December 11, 2011

Aunt Bertha's Pound Cake

3 cups flour (not sifted)

3 cups sugar

6 eggs

1 1/2 cup shortening

3 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla

Beat all ingredients together on high for 5 1/2 minutes. Bake at 325o in greased and floured tube pan 1 hr and 20 min, check at 1 hour. Cool upside down.

Bread Pudding

Louise Pennay

2 c milk

1⁄2 c sugar

4 c bread crumbs

2 eggs, beaten

1⁄4 c butter, melted

1⁄2 c raisins

1⁄4 tsp salt

1 tsp nutmeg


Scald milk. Pour over bread. Cool and add rest of mixture. Pour into buttered 1 1⁄2 quart casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 40-45 min.

Short Bread

Louise Pennay

2 sticks softened butter

1⁄2 c sugar

2 c flour


Put softened butter into mixing bowl. Turn oven to 300. Add sugar to butter and mix very well. Use back of spoon to press butter and sugar together. Add flour to mixture and mix well. Smear the butter through the flour and mix. Smooth mixture evenly in 13 x 9 pan. Bake 30-40 min. Use for to punch holes in shortbread.

Rice Pudding

Louise Pennay

2 eggs (or 4 egg yolks)

2 c milk

1⁄2 c sugar

2 c cooked rice

1⁄4 tsp salt


Mix eggs, sugar, and salt. Scald milk and pour into egg mixture. Mix with rice. Pour into 1 quart casserole and set in pan of water (1” deep). Sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake at 350 or 1 hr and 15 min.

Another Cookie Pie Crust (Vanilla Wafer)

1 1/3 c vanilla wafer crumbs

2 Tbsp sugar

4 Tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla or almond extract

Louise Pennay

Mix together crumbs and sugar. Stir in butter and flavoring. Press firmly and evenly against bottom and sides of 9” pie pan. Bake at 350 for 5 min. Cool and chill in freezer for cold fillings.

Guacamole

2 avocados

1 lime's juice

a pinch or so of salt

use a fork to gently mix ingredients together

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Homemade Flour Tortillas

Texas Flour Tortillas (adapted from The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison)
Ingredients:
Two cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk

Method:
Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil.
Slowly add the warm milk.
Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.
Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft.
Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.
After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.)
After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. (If you roll out pie crusts you’ll have no problem with this.) Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.
In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.
Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat.
Can be reheated in a dry iron skillet, over your gas-burner flame or in the oven wrapped in foil.
While you probably won’t have any leftovers, you can store in the fridge tightly wrapped in foil or plastic for a day or so.
Makes eight tortillas.

From http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2007/03/and-end-to-my-quest-flour-tortillas.html