Cooking Tips from Effie's Cookbook

As promised, here are some cool cooking tips from my new cookbook dedicated to Effie. You can read more about her in my post "Effie Cooks Pecan Chess Pie". Rumor has it Effie is the best cook in North Carolina.

1. Keep a recipe card upright by placing it in the tines of a fork and putting the fork handle in a glass.

2. Put cold oil in a hot pan so food won't stick.

3. When you boil water, place a lid on the pot and the water will come to a boil in a shorter period of time.

4. Use dental floss to cut cakes, especially delicate, sticky ones that tend to adhere to the knife.

5. Applesauce is a great fat substitute for low fat baking. Simply substitute half the fat in a recipe with an equal measure of applesauce.

6. To keep a recipe card clean, place it under an upside-down glass pie plate. Also, the curved bottom magnifies the print.

Effie Cooks Pecan Chess Pie

I know a very special woman named Effie who is 96 and bakes pies several times a week. Effie lives in North Carolina and her church recently dedicated their cookbook to her. Effie has been an active member of her church for over 65 years and in 1945 held the founding meeting of the church's women's group at her home--how cool is that? I was one of the fortunate recipients to receive a copy of this special cookbook, signed by Effie, which includes some of her recipes. I will be posting some of Effie's recipes along with some great cooking tips from the cookbook in upcoming posts...so stay tuned.

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 stick margarine
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
2 eggs
1 cup chopped pecans

Mix together sugar and flour. Add melted margarine, milk, vanilla, eggs, and pecans. Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Keep on cookin' Effie!

Black Pepper Shrimp

I have never forgotten this "fancy" and delicious black pepper shrimp recipe my Mom made for me as a special birthday treat when I turned 18. Remember how shrimp scampi was the "in" seafood dish back in the day? This isn't exactly scampi, but it is similar, and this particular recipe comes from Paula Deen. I would squeeze some lemon over the shrimp before serving with a nice sourdough bread and a salad.

3 pounds fresh shrimp, unpeeled
8 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
4 tablespoons freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Wash and drain shrimp and place in shallow baking pan. In a saucepan, melt the butter, add the garlic, and saute for 3-4 minutes. Pour the butter mixture over the shrimp and toss to coat. Pepper shrimp until well covered. Bake in oven at 450 until pink, about 5 minutes, turn, bake a few minutes longer and pepper again. You must use a heavy hand with the pepper.

Pumpkin-Cheese Bread (Makes 2 Loaves)

I've been making this bread every holiday season for many years. It's moist and delicious, and the flavors of pumpkin, clove, and cinnamon give it that autumn/holiday season taste. Another great thing about this recipe is that it makes two 9 x 5 loaves. This post is dedicated to a nice young lady I met yesterday who loves anything pumpkin!

2 ½ cups sugar

1 8 oz package cream cheese (you can use low-fat)

½ cup margarine

4 eggs

1 16 oz can pumpkin

3 ½ cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup chopped walnuts

Combine sugar, softened cream cheese, and margarine, mixing until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in pumpkin. Add combined dry ingredients, mixing just until moistened. Fold in nuts.

Pour into two greased and floured 9"x 5” loaf pans. Bake at 350, 1 hour and 10 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans.

Coconut Nutella Macaroons

The other day I was having a coconut craving so I bought a package of coconut at the grocery store. I wasn't sure what type of coconut recipe I was going to make but then I saw the macaroon recipe on the back of the package of coconut. It looked easy and didn't require many ingredients so I decided to make them. Then I thought--what's even better than coconut macaroons? Coconut Nutella macaroons! If you are not familiar with Nutella, it's a thick, smooth, hazelnut-chocolate spread. I made 30 macaroons with this recipe but you may get more if you follow the directions. (I think mine were bigger than a tablespoon.) Macaroons freeze well. 

Ingredients:
1 package (14 oz.) Baker's Angel Flake Coconut
2/3 cup sugar
6 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 egg whites
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 325. Grease baking sheets; set aside. Combine coconut, sugar, flour and salt in large bowl. Stir in egg whites and almond extract until well blended.

Drop coconut mixture into 36 mounds, 2 inches apart, on prepared baking sheets, using about 1 tablespoon of the coconut mixture for each mound. 

Bake 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Immediately remove from baking sheets to wire racks. Cool completely. 

Warm 1/2 cup of Nutella in a shallow bowl in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. Dip the top half of the macaroons into the bowl and let cool for another 30 minutes.

Lime-Cilantro Chicken

This is very possibly the best chicken dish I've ever had. The flavors are fabulous together. I made this recipe twice last week and have been trying to come up with words to describe just how tasty it is. The flavor of lime is so prominent this dish could be called lime-lime-lime-cilantro chicken. After the taste of lime, you taste cilantro and some heat from the jalapenos. The soy sauce and sugar make a slightly sweet sauce for a great finish for the chicken. Do your taste buds a favor and cook this up in your kitchen. 

Ingredients:
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 small white onions
1 large lime
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 small jalapeno peppers, seeded & sliced, or you can use pickled from a jar
1 piece fresh ginger about 1" long, peeled & thinly sliced 
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar

Cut each chicken breast half into 8 pieces. Cut each onion into 8 wedges. Zest and juice the lime and measure 2 tablespoons of juice. Set aside. Heat wok or large skillet over medium-high heat 1 minute or until hot. Drizzle oil into wok/skillet and heat 30 seconds. Add chicken, jalapeno and ginger; stir-fry about 3 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center. Reduce heat to medium. Add onions and stir-fry 5 minutes. Add lime zest, juice, and chopped cilantro and stir-fry 1 minute. Add soy sauce and sugar and stir-fry until well mixed and heated through.

-Revised February 2022

Summer Vegetable Casserole

In Abruzzo, Italy, the Sextantio Hotel serves centuries-old recipes like this one, a simple dish of summer vegetables. This recipe is from www.foodandwine.com. My suggestion: don't peel the potatoes, life's too short. (:

Ingredients:
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1/2 pound yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4" thick
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 pound plum tomatoes, sliced 1/4" thick
2 small zucchini, sliced 1/4" thick
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preheat the oven to 350. Coat a 9" baking dish with olive oil. Spread the potatoes in the dish in an even layer; drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. In a bowl, combine the bell pepper, onion, garlic and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Arrange two-thirds of the bell pepper mixture over the potatoes and drizzle with oil. Top with the tomatoes and the zucchini; drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover with the remaining bell pepper mixture and sprinkle with the cheese.

Cover the casserole with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 425°. Uncover the casserole and bake for about 20 minutes longer, until the vegetables are tender and glazed on top. Let stand for 10 minutes. Serve warm.