Not-My-Mama’s Macaroni and Tomatoes

Macaroni and canned tomatoes are the basis for this classic West Texas comfort food. 



Macaroni and Tomatoes - more tasty than showy.

 

Simple Ingredients

The dish is cheap, filling, easy to prepare.  Cornbread was usually served with macaroni and tomatoes.  My mother didn’t care for cooked tomatoes, but my father liked the dish well enough that she cooked it often.  It took some maturity for me to learn to like it.  Typically, the macaroni was cooked first, then drained.  A can of tomatoes and some bacon drippings were added to the macaroni and heated through and through.  Our family never put onions in the dish, although some did.  I grew up in a home without garlic, but we just didn't know any better.  Here’s my updated version reflecting my love for onions and garlic. 

2-3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (14.5) ounce can crushed tomatoes (plain or Mexican style or Italian style, your choice)

1 (14.5) can water

1-1/4 cups elbow macaroni (or other pasta)

Pepper and salt to taste (I don’t add extra salt)

Sauté onions in olive oil until tender; add garlic and sauté, taking care not to burn the garlic. 

 

Add the can of tomatoes and a can of water; add uncooked macaroni.  Bring to a boil and cook 8-10 minutes or until pasta reaches desired tenderness.  Add pepper and salt to taste.  Serves 6-8.

Variations:  Instead of using olive oil, cook 2 or 3 pieces chopped bacon until almost done; add onions and garlic to sauté.  Add a finely chopped jalapeno to the onion and garlic for a little heat.

Irish Soda Bread

Irish soda bread is hard to describe.  It is moist, but slightly dry because of the relatively small amount of fat used.  It is just about the right amount of sweet; it goes well with a cup of hot tea or coffee.  Slathering a bit of butter on it doesn't hurt anything.  This recipe came to me from a friend with direct Irish ancestry.  Like any "heritage food," there are likely dozens of ways to make it and arguments to be had as to which way is the best.  The soda bread featured here was made with fresh blueberries, only because there were some blueberries in the fridge that needed to be used.  Raisins or dried cranberries are better, I think.

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

2/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons butter, margarine, or cooking oil

1 cup raisins

1-1/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease a 9 or 10 inch cake pan, pie pan, or cast iron skillet.

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and nutmeg.  Add sugar.  Using a pastry blender, mix butter, margarine, or oil into flour mixture until it is evenly dispersed.  Add caraway seeds and raisins.  Add buttermilk and stir until the dough forms a ball; batter will be very stiff.

 Pat into prepared pan using the back of a knife or spatula.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until golden brown.  After baking, remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Variations:  Other kinds of dried fruit may be substituted for raisins.  Salt can be omitted or reduced.  Substitute 1 cup wheat flour for 1 cup of the white flour.

Jam Cake

Taste testing at knitting group.




You've heard about making lemonade when life hands you a lemon?  Well, I made applesauce by accident, and I had to figure out what to do with the applesauce.  Part of it went into some banana bread, and the rest prompted me to dig into my mother's recipe box for my grandmother Hale's jam cake recipe.  Like most of my family recipes, there are no instructions because anyone should know how to make a cake.  I figured that sweetened applesauce should be a decent substitute for jam.  It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.

 

Well worn cards from my mother's recipe box.



Jam Cake

2/3 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup jam or applesauce
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease and flour three (9 inch) cake pans or one tube or Bundt cake pan.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and spices.  Spoon about ¼ cup of this mixture over the raisins and toss to coat the raisins; set aside.

Dredging raisins in flour keeps them from all sinking to the bottom of the batter.

Cream softened butter and sugar until the mixture is light and airy. 

Creamed butter and sugar mixture.

 Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly. 

Add flour and buttermilk alternately, mixing well but not over beating.

Add flour and buttermilk alternately, ending with flour, blending ingredients very well.  Stir in the raisins, pecans, and jam or applesauce.  Mix well. 

Batter will be very thick with raisins, nuts, and jam or applesauce.

 Pour into cake pans and bake until a toothpick or tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean; the crust should be nicely browned.  For a tube cake, it takes 1 hour and 10 minutes in my oven.  Cool thoroughly before adding frosting.




Golden brown crust, yummy!
 

Ready to bake.
 

Cooled and ready for the icing.

Icing:

½ cup butter

1 cup cream
2 cups sugar

Place ingredients in a heavy 2 quart saucepan. 



Bring to a boil and boil without stirring until the mixture reaches 235°F-245°F, or forms a soft ball when dropped in cold water.  Remove from heat and beat until cooled. 


Half batch for Bundt cake, using a smaller saucepan.

Frost cake layers, working quickly.  If making a tube or Bundt cake, make only half a recipe of icing and drizzle on the cake.

Place sheets of waxed paper beneath cake to catch drips, then remove after adding icing.

A wise friend of mine, who is also a good bake show judge, says you don't have to use all the icing.  Use just enough.

Eating the leftover icing from the pan was the best part when I was a child!

 



Tea Cakes

Plain but delicious!

Tea cakes fall into the category of "heritage foods."  These slightly thick, not-too-sweet, cookies are definitely not showy and are not something you will see in the supermarket bakery.

My late mother, who was born in 1911, remembered tea cakes as a childhood staple in her West Texas home.  Using simple ingredients and tools, her mother and other cooks of her generation were masters at making tea cakes.  My grandmother's recipe was never committed to paper, and my mother tried lots of tea cake recipes in search of one that produced tea cakes like she remembered.  Finally, she was given the perfect recipe from a  Nancy Ray of Ackerly, Texas. 

Hand written card from my mother's recipe box.

TEA CAKES

1 cup lard (or shortening)

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour milk (or buttermilk)

1 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla or nutmeg

6-1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease 4 or 5 baking sheets.

Using a mixer on low speed, cream sugar and lard.  Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla and mix well. 

Yes, lard.  Crisco will do in a pinch.

Buttermilk makes everything better!

 

Sift flour, baking powder, and baking soda.  Add about half the flour to the existing mixture and, using wooden spoon, blend in flour.  Add remaining flour, working in gradually.  The dough will be very stiff. 

 

Mix flour with a heavy spoon.

Finally, use your hands!

 

Working with about one fourth of the dough at a time, place dough on a floured surface; and using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough to ¼ inch thickness.  Cut dough in circles using a cookie cutter whose edges have been dipped in flour. 

I like to use a plastic pastry mat.

Roll to 1/4 inch thickness.

Don't try to work with too much dough at one time.

 

Bake on greased cookie sheets approximately 16-18 minutes or until only slightly browned.  Yield:  6-1/2 dozen cookies, using a 2.5 inch cookie cutter.

Baking time varies, watch the first pan carefully.

 

Mexican Turkey Soup



Mexican Turkey Soup

Serving turkey at Thanksgiving is a tradition I follow, but using the leftovers is far more entertaining than cooking turkey for the big day.  The possibilities are endless:  turkey spaghetti, turkey and dumplings, turkey pot pie, turkey soup, you get the picture. 

The minute Thanksgiving lunch was over this year, a day or so of leftover bird was kept in the refrigerator; and the remainder was removed from the bones and packaged for freezing.  The carcass was boiled for broth, and the broth was frozen for later use.  

Homemade broth is more tasty than the canned variety, and it is nice to be in control of the salt (or lack of it) and other seasonings.

Turkey carcass ready to be turned into broth. 

 

1 large onion, chopped

4-6 cloves garlic, minced

1 large jalapeno, seeded and minced

1 green pepper, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes (no salt added)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (4 oz.) can chopped green chiles

Kernels from 2 ears of fresh corn

2 tablespoons cumin

2 tablespoons oregano

4 cups chopped turkey

8 cups turkey broth

Additional water as needed

Garnishes:  grated cheddar or Mexican blend cheese; cilantro leaves; chopped onions; crumbled tortilla chips; lime wedges.



The garnishes make the difference between a good soup and a great soup.

In a 4 quart pan, sauté onion, garlic, jalapeno, and green pepper in olive oil.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer until flavors are well blended and vegetables are tender, at least 30 minutes.  Serve with garnishes. 

Preparation tip:  There is no need to thoroughly defrost the turkey or the broth.  I usually place the turkey in the fridge the night before using it so that it is thawed enough to cut into piecees.  It will thaw quickly when added to the soup.  As for the broth, it can be added to the pot frozen like a big old popsicle; it also thaws quickly.

 

Posole



Posole with pork and sausage.



Frozen posole (hominy) is one of two key ingredients in this dish; canned hominy is just barely acceptable compared to the frozen product.  Frozen posole is not always easy to find; some grocery store chains do not carry it.  WalMart in my area has it.  The other key ingredient is roasted Hatch chiles; when they were in season, I roasted and froze several pounds.  Frozen or canned green chiles may be substituted, but the flavor isn't quite as intense.  Adding potatoes, carrots, and celery, and German sausage to posole may be unconventional, but it tastes good.






1 lb. cubed pork

German link sausage

2 lbs. cubed lean pork (or 1 lb. cubed pork and 1 lb. German-type sausage, sliced)

6 cups vegetables (a combination of any of the following, or others of your choosing; this is a total of 6 cups, not 6 cups of each)!

Onions, garlic, jalapeno, potatoes, carrots, and celery

• Cubed potatoes
• Sliced carrots
• Sliced celery

2 cups chopped onions

1 jalapeno, finely chopped

3 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

16 cups water or vegetable broth

Posole that has been soaked and rinsed

Additional water as needed

2 lbs. frozen posole, soaked and rinsed according to package directions

1 tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon dried green chile,(to taste, in case you need more heat)

1-1/2 cups chopped Hatch chiles (roasted)

Salt to taste

Sauté onions, garlic, and jalapeno in olive oil.  Add pork and brown slightly.  Add broth or water, posole, vegetables, and seasonings.  Bring to a boil and simmer until the posole and vegetables are tender and the meat is done.  Add additional water as needed during cooking process.  Adjust seasonings to taste.

Lots of good ingredients!

To serve, garnish with chopped green cabbage, thinly sliced radishes, cilantro leaves, and juice from lime wedges.  This makes a large batch; eat half now and freeze the rest for later; posole freezes very well.

Posole with pork.

Butterscotch Glaze

Pound type cakes with little or no frosting are my favorites.  This glaze is quick and easy, and it doesn't overpower the cake.  I have used this glaze on apple cake, carrot cake, and chocolate chip pound cake.  Adding finely ground pecans might be nice.

Butterscotch Glaze

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons milk or buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Add milk or buttermilk and brown sugar, dissolving brown sugar.  Bring to a boil and boil vigorously without stirring for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Stir in powdered sugar and beat until smooth, 3 to 5 minutes.  Drizzle over Bundt type cake or use to frost a 9x13 inch sheet cake.