Fran's Favorite Links
www.randallhyltonshow.com
The Winning Cookie Recipes from
These placed first and second. In book four,
you'll learn who wins first place and what she does with the money!
Phyllis Counts's wedding cookies. (She borrowed this recipe from Hillis Lundin.)
1 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp water
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Cream butter and non-confectioners' sugar. Stir in vanilla and water. Mix in flour and nuts until well blended. Cover and chill for three hours or more.
Shape dough into balls about 3/4 inch in diameter (about the size of an ordinary strawberry). Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Place cookies on wire rack to cool.
Roll in confectioners' sugar and store in an airtight container at room temperature with an extra helping of confectioners' sugar which some cooks claim extends their longevity though these cookies are too good to stay in the container very long!)
Jane Baker's Benne Wafers
1 cup sesame seeds
3/4 cup softened butter
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spread benne (sesame) seeds on ungreased baking sheet and toast 12 minutes until light brown. (You may also buy toasted sesame seeds in some Asian food stores.)
Mix all ingredients until combined in a large bowl.
Drop dough by 1/2 teaspoonfuls about 1 1/2 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheet.
Bake 4 to 6 minutes until light brown. Remove from oven and let cookies cool 2 or 3 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
Store in airtight container.
Rizzie's Gullah recipes from
Hey Diddle, Diddle, the Corpse & the Fiddle
FRESH TOMATO PIE
1 unbaked pie shell - homemade, frozen, or
refrigerated roll-out
evaporated milk
4 cups firm ripe tomatoes, sliced
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
¼ to ½ teaspoon dried tarragon
1/3 cup mayonnaise**
1/3 cup Parmesan grated cheese
**After several phone calls and e-mails, I am giving in and stating officially that the mayonnaise should be Dukes even though I'm not being paid for the promotion. Many southerners don't consider anything but Dukes as "real" mayonnaise, while northerners praise Hellman's, and those of us on budgets buy whatever is on sale that weekend..
Line pie plate with shell; flute edges and brush pastry with evaporated milk. Bake shell for five minutes at 450 degrees.
Sprinkle sliced tomatoes with salt, pepper, and tarragon. Lay tomatoes in pie shell.
Stir cheese and mayonnaise together and spoon over tomatoes. Spread out as much as possible.
Bake 35 to 45 minutes at 350 degrees or until tomatoes are cooked and top is light brown.
SWEET POTATO PONE
3 cups peeled, grated raw sweet potatoes
2 cups sugar
½ cup soft margarine or butter
2 eggs
¼ cup cream or evaporated milk
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla and cream or milk. Beat lightly.
Add sweet potatoes and flour. Do not beat, just blend. Bake for 35 minutes
until lightly browned on top and not squiggly in the middle. Cool before
cutting into squares.
a very delicious surprise recipe!!!
As everyone knows, Callie is not a great cook like Jane and Rizzie, so she looks for easy, fool-proof recipes. This one has been around for ages and goes by different names, but Callie calls it
Angel Pie
3 egg whites at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar or Splenda
20 Ritz crackers
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped coarsely
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 pint Cool Whip or real whipped cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray eight-inch pie plate very lightly with Pam.
Put Ritz crackers in zip-lock bag and crush. Beat egg whites in bowl until they peak.
Gently fold crushed crackers, chopped nuts, and vanilla into stiff egg whites. . Spread
mixture in pie pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool in pan. Refrigerate, preferably
overnight. Spread with Cool Whip or whipped cream before slicing and serving.
Note: Callie sometimes doubles this recipe and bakes it in a 9 x 13 inch pan.
Even Better Moon Pies
Just when you think something can't get any better, you find out it can!!!
Tom, at the Happy Bookseller, says he loves Moon Pies just as much
as Callie does. He suggested that barely warming the Moon Pie makes
it even more delish. Tom recommends eight seconds in the microwave
for one regular sized Moon Pie.
I like minis, and five to six seconds makes a Mini Moon Pie a perfect
delight! (I wrap mine loosely in a paper towel before putting it in the
microwave.)
Jane's Killer Meatball Stew
Thanks to Jan, who pointed out that the list of ingredients didn't mention sugar, but the directions said, "Add sugar." The recipe has been slightly revised to indicate that a spoonful of sugar is optional in the sauce. Taste after stirring in tomato paste. If the chef prefers a sweeter taste, add the sugar.
Thanks again, Jan. It's good to know someone out there is reading (and I hope cooking as well!)
1 lb. Prepared cocktail sized meatballs (frozen are fine)
1 ½ cups Diced onions, preferably red
3 or 4 Chopped large cloves of garlic
2 TBSP Olive oil
2 cups Zucchini, sliced and halved into crescents
½ cup Thinly sliced carrots
3 cups Canned diced tomatoes in juice
4 cups Broth (Jane uses 2 cups ham and 2 cups chicken; can also use beef)
5 TBSP Tomato paste (may use Italian seasoned)
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tbsp. Parsley
3 TBSP. Sweet basil
1 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Pepper
Optional: 1 tsp sugar, shredded mozzarella and/or grated parmesan cheese and/or fresh chopped parsley
*Make or buy meatballs. If using homemade meatballs, cook per recipe. Jane uses frozen Italian bite sized meatballs, which may be used directly from the freezer.
In a large soup pot with a lid, put the olive oil, onions, and garlic and saute on low to medium low heat until soft – about fifteen to twenty minutes. Be careful not to burn.
Add the canned tomatoes, broth, and seasonings to the pot and bring to a low boil/simmer. Add the carrots and zucchini. Stir in the tomato paste. Taste and add a teaspoon of sugar if desired.
Cut the heat to low or medium low and add the meatballs. Cover and simmer twenty minutes or more. May add salt if necessary.
Spoon into soup bowls or cups. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella and/or grated parmesan cheese and fresh parsley if desired! Killer!
Jane's To Die For Lasagna
8 ounces Lasagna noodles
1 pound Sweet or hot Italian sausage*
1 cup Chopped onion
1 tsp. Garlic, chopped
1 jar 26 oz ( 1 lb. 10 oz) prepared spaghetti sauce**
1 cup Ricotta cheese
1 cup Small curd cottage cheese
2 Eggs, beaten
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded
* Callie and Jane like sweet Italian sausage removed from casings or you may
use hot Italian sausage or substitute hamburger, ground turkey, spinach, or zucchini.
** Jane prefers a three to six-cheese prepared sauce straight from the grocer's shelf.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Prepare lasagna noodles by directions on container.
Cook sausage or its substitute with onions and garlic over medium heat, stirring to mix as it cooks. When meat or substitute is done, drain off fat, then stir in spaghetti sauce, cover, and simmer ten minutes. Drain with colander, saving juice.
Pour enough sauce juice to cover bottom of 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Layer one-half of drained sauce mix. This will be thick. In separate bowl, mix Ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, and beaten eggs. Spoon half of cheese mixture over sauce.
Sprinkle with one-half of Parmesan cheese, then layer one-half of mozzarella cheese over Parmesan. Repeat layers beginning with noodles. Bake 30 minutes covered with aluminum foil. Remove foil and bake 15 more minutes. Allow to stand 10 to 15 minutes to set before serving.
The Boys' Fried Fish
Fish - as many as you caught or froze and defrosted to feed your crowd. Pan fish about the size of a man's hand are fried whole. Great big, bragging-sized fish are filleted.
Oil - enough to just about fill up approximately 3/4 depth of black, cast-iron Dutch oven. The Boys use vegetable or canola oil.
Brown paper grocery bags - what you get if you say, "Paper" when the grocery attendant asks, "Paper or plastic?"
Corn meal - a little for a few fish, a lot for many fish - The Boys use self-rising yellow corn meal.
Salt and pepper
Directions:
Step 1 - Catch or thaw fish
Step 2 - Scale, gut, decapitate and cut fish, then wash. (If these are catfish, skin instead of scaling.)
Step 3 - Heat oil to HOT. (To test heat, drop a big pinch of corn meal in oil If hot enough, the oil will bubble around it immediately.)
Step 4 - Dump a couple cups of corn meal into a paper sack. To corn meal, add salt and pepper to taste..
Step 5 - Drop two or three fish into sack of corn meal. Hold top closed and shake.
Step 6 - Remove fish from corn meal and drop carefully into hot oil so the oil doesn't splatter onto cook. Oil should be hot enough to bubble around fish. Remove and lay on spread out paper bags (or paper towels if you're fussy) when fish are golden brown. Repeat until enough fish are fried.
Serve with hush puppies and hot grits with butter.