Family Recipe Friday - Halupkie

Halupkie....Mmmmmmm

My mom would make Halupkie when I was little.  Halupkie is another one of those family dishes that my mom made that had nothing (that I'm aware of) that had anything to do with my family history.  Or perhaps I should say it had nothing to do with her family history.  My mom's 100% Irish.  Halupkie (as we spelled it) or Halupki (as I found on the inter-tubes) is apparently a dish of eastern European origins and is quite popular in northeastern Pennsylvania.  

Get a cabbage leaf ready for stuffing

My father's side of the family was from Lithuania so perhaps this was a recipe that my mother made for him because he had it growing up.  My father referred to them as "Polish hand grenades." As I mentioned he wasn't Polish, he was Lithuanian, but I should still give my mom a call in the morning and check to be sure if she learned to make them for him.

She loved collecting recipes from her friend Linda Moyer's mom and would make them for us.  Perhaps this was one of the Moyer recipes if it wasn't from my dad's side of the family.  We grew up with family recipes that had nothing to do with our Irish heritage.  I tried corned beef once...perhaps that's why she branched out...YUCK!

Either way, this is a lovely family recipe that reminds me of happy times with my mom when I have it. She would make a much larger batch than this and would cook it in one of those large blue or black roasting pans...you know the ones with the little white flecks on them.  I wish I still had mine.  I'd post a picture.  Either way, any large roasting pan with a lid will suffice.  I altered the recipe to fit my crockpot.  It worked too.  Same taste and I love crockpot recipes (especially the ones that don't burn and this didn't).

Add a good scoop of meat (how much depends on the leaf)

One bad thing that happened was that the liquid started spitting out of my crockpot.  It was about 1/2-inch from the top when I started cooking, but it all expanded during cooking which resulted in tomato soup on my hardwood floor and on seat of a nearby chair.  Oh well.  You live, you learn.  Less liquid next time!


Halupkie

1 large onion, diced 
4 stalks celery, diced
2 lbs ground beef
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
1-1/2 c cooked rice
1 large head of cabbage
1 (50 oz) can tomato soup
Olive oil

Fold the sides over the meat mixture and roll up

Place the beef in a large bowl.  In a pan with some olive oil, saute the onion and celery.  Add to the bowl with the beef.  Add salt and pepper.  Generously shake Worchestershire sauce over the meat (this is not a precise measurement.  Shake enough in until it smells good and Worcestershire-y).  Add the rice and mix well with hands.

Boil cabbage until bendy.  Carefully remove cabbage from pot and remove the outer leaves of the cabbages to line the bottom of a large roasting pan (reserve some of the leaves from the center of the head of cabbage that are too small to use to cover the top of the halupkie in the roasting pan).  Continue removing leaves from the cabbage.  When this becomes difficult you can return the cabbage to the hot water and boil until it softens.  I brought my cabbage to a boil, let it boil for about 5 minutes and then turned it off and just let it sit for about 30 minutes in the pot.  It worked wonderfully!

Fill the cabbage leaves (not the ones reserved for the bottom and top of the pan) with about ½ cup of the meat mixture on the leaf and roll.  To roll the cabbage, place the meat in the center of the leaf then fold the left and right sides in, then bring the bottom of the leaf up over the meat and roll up.  Place seam-side down over the layer of cabbage that is lining the roasting pan.  Continue to make the halupkie in this manner until done.  Place the second half of the reserved leaves over the top of the halupkie and tuck the sides into the pan.

A nice cabbage roll

Pour the tomato soup into a large bowl.  Fill the empty can with water and mix with the soup.  Pour the mixture over the halupkie being careful not to overflow the roasting pan.  Cover with the lid and bake at 350 degrees (F) for about 2 hours.

NOTE:  You need to get really good sized cabbage for this recipe otherwise the leaves will not be large enough to roll the meat in.

Crockpot variation - Make the halupkie as directed above, but when adding the tomato soup/water mixture stop pouring when you get about an inch from the top of the crockpot.  Make sure the crockpot is not near anything of value or that would stain if it starts to splatter.  Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did.  As an adult I enjoy cabbage.  As a kid...not so much, but I'd always eat this cabbage!

Remember to put cabbage leaves on the bottom!

More cabbage leaves on top

Pour the tomato soup mixture leaving space at the top

Family Recipe Friday - Fish and Chips

From Parade (date unknown)

OK...my mom didn't make the chips...at least not as far as I can remember.  While I was home this summer I was looking through mom's recipe books and we talked food.  She made her beer batter dipped fish and showed me the clipping that she had originally gotten the recipe from.  I hated fish when I was a kid.  Always afraid of finding a bone and just all-around not enjoying it much.  The only fish I would eat was this recipe and tuna.  My mom would always use her fingers to feel for bones so I knew eating her fish would be a bone-free experience...thanks, mom!

I've posted about this recipe before, but now that I have a copy of the clipping I wanted to share the whole thing (including its origins).

"From London With Love
by Beth Merriman
Parade Food Editor

Our British cousins have discovered the joys of hot dogs and hamburgers.  American tourists have returned from London with equal enthusiasm for fish and chips.  We think a kitchen party featuring this fare would be a hit with everyone.

To make the 'cornets,' as the English call the newspaper cornucopias in which they serve the fish and chips, we found it amusing to use comic strip pages.  Line them with aluminum foil, roll into cones and secure with transparent tape or staples.  With a little practice you'll discover the right size for individual portions.  Stuff a little paper toweling into the bottom of each before putting in the hot fish and chips.

Serve hot malt vinegar from a sprinkle bottle, salt and - to please American palates - catchup.  Beer for adults, root beer for the younger crowd, fun for everyone.

2 packages (about 12 ounces each) frozen fish fillets
or
1-1/2 pounds fresh fish fillets*
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup beer
1/4 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon seasoned pepper
1 bag (2 pounds) frozen french fried potatoes

*Any firm white fish, such as sole, flounder, haddock, cod, whiting, etc

Partially defrost fillets so they can be separated.  Cut into pieces about 3" x 1-1/2".  Place on paper towels to dry.  Beat egg yolks until thick and light.  Blend in beer, milk, flour and seasonings.  Mix until smooth.  Beat egg whites stiff but not dry; fold in.  Pat fillets dry.  Dip into batter, a few pieces at a time; lift out and drain slightly with fork or slotted spoon.

Fry in deep fat heated to 375 degrees for two to three minutes, or until golden brown and puffed.  Drain on absorbent paper.  Meanwhile heat french fried potatoes as directed on package.  Serve fish and french fries together in 'cornets,' as described above.

Makes six servings.

From Parade' test kitchen"

Hmmm...I don't think I'd use staples to secure anything that my food was going in.  Perhaps that's just me.  I don't remember mom making the "cornets" either, but it's not too surprising because such a detail would have gone completely unappreciated by my dad and us kids.  I'm familiar with seasoned salt (I use Lawry's all the time, but I think mom just used regular salt), but I'm not so much familiar with seasoned pepper.  Not really a crisis or anything.  Use what you prefer and they'll be just as yummy!

I found the references to food sharing between Americans and the Brits insulting amusing.  Seriously, if the only thing we get from such an ancient culture is fish and chips, and the only thing we have to offer are hot dogs and hamburgers we're definitely missing out!  And using the funnies for the "cornets"?  Puh-leez.  Cute idea?  Yes, but hardly a requirement.

I've matured since then and really enjoy fish.  I can only hope that my kids learn to enjoy things that they don't appreciate now.

And I hope the next time you get a craving for some good fish, you'll give this recipe a try.

Family Recipe Friday - Wontons

My mother was the General Manager at the local Holiday Inn when I was little and as such she had a restaurant to oversee. I fondly remember helping dye Easter eggs for the restaurant when I was little. Talk about a kid's dream! Hundreds upon hundreds of eggs that needed dying and me and my sisters to do it.

I remember the summers when my mom was at work and we would call the number for the "Time and Temperature" repeatedly because we weren't allowed to swim unless it was 80 degrees outside.  Then we'd call my mom at work and ask for her to come and get us so we could go to the pool.

I remember the arcade that was in the hallway of the main building with the candy vending machine that we would always bug our mom for money for, and the Ms PacMan game that we would all play (and my sister, Aimee, would kick everyone's butts at....including the adults!)

While I have those memories one of the things that I remember so fondly (but didn't know it was even connected to my mom's time at the Holiday Inn) were her wontons.  Yummy, yummy, wontons!

My mother taught me how to make these wontons when I was a teenager.  It was after I went to live with her so that would be sometime in the Fall of 1989 or later.  I asked her how she learned to make wontons and she told me that she was taught during her time at the Holiday Inn.

These little hors d'eouvres are very addictive and are great hot or cold (I love them cold, personally). My mother used to get the powdered chinese mustard, mix up some of it and dip them in, but you can use regular mustard, you just won't get the spicy kick.

Normally, I follow recipes by precise measurements.  That's more of a baker's habit and I know that in cooking you need to be able to estimate.  I'm not really the best estimator and I still like my measurements, but I'm getting better at simply cooking from memory.  This recipe has some estimations, and some of them are quite odd, but you'll get the hang of it quick enough.

WONTONS


1 lb ground pork
1 egg
8 scallions, chopped
Soy sauce
1 pkg wonton wrappers

In a bowl add the ground pork, egg, and scallions.  Generously shake soy sauce over the ingredients in the bowl.  When the ingredients look lightly coated, mix it all together with your hands.  Now here's the odd part...smell the mixture...if it has a pretty good soy sauce smell, you've put in enough.  Otherwise, add more and mix again.

Put some water in a small bowl and place your wonton wrappers on a small plate.  Grab a wrapper and place it on your plate so it looks like diamond (not a square) then place a small amount of the meat mixture (it's about 1/3 of a teaspoon...the kind you use for coffee, not for measuring) in the center of the wrapper.  Dip your finger in the water and wet the top left and right corners of the wrapper.  Bring the bottom half of the diamond over the meat and seal the edges by pressing down.  Wet the bottom corner of the wonton and wrap both bottom edges around your finger, pressing to seal.  Fold down the tip of the top of the wonton and then place on a dish (my explanation is rubbish so check out the pictures and video below).

Heat canola oil in a large pan.  Deep fry the wontons until golden brown, attempting to turn once during the cooking.  Wontons will float a few seconds after placing them in the oil.  If they don't use a slotted metal spoon or tongs to dislodge them from the bottom of the pan so they don't burn.  Once they are golden, remove to a plate or bowl with paper towels to drain.

OK, now I said, "attempting to turn once" and there's a reason.  If there's any air in your wonton when you wrapped it, you're not going to be able to turn it.  It'll just flop back over.  Don't worry though.  The wontons will still cook, they just won't look as pretty.  I've been making these for over 20 years and I still get wontons in every batch that have air in them.

I don't really know what the temperature of the oil is when I deep fry the wontons.  I heat the oil over medium-high heat and I wet my hand and flick a drop of water in the pan [gasp].  I do stand back when I do it (and all throughout the deep frying), but this was how my mom taught me to tell if the oil was hot enough.

Also, if you put too much meat in the wonton it will bust open when you try to fold it.  It still happens to me, I just squeeze the meat mixture out back into the bowl and start with another wrapper.  Wonton wrappers will dry out so don't let them sit out until you're ready to use them!

It all sounds complicated, but it really isn't and they are so yummy!  Whenever I make them for a party they disappear FAST.

Good luck trying them and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!

Family Recipe Friday - Beer Batter-Dipped Fish

I hated fish growing up.  Well, not those gross, processed fish sticks dipped in loads of ketchup (I still actually like those gross fish sticks!) and my mom's Beer Batter-Dipped Fish.  I make it for my family and since today is Good Friday I figured this was a good family recipe to share.

Beer Batter-Dipped Fish

2 eggs, separated
1/2 c. beer (light beer is best)
1/4 c. milk
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Fish (I use cod)

Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form.  In another bowl beat the yolks; add the flour, beer, milk, salt and pepper and beat together.  Fold in the egg whites.

Heat canola oil until thermometer reaches 375 degrees (F).  Dip fish into batter and drop into hot oil in batches.  Deep fry until golden.  Remove to paper towel-lined plate to drain.

There isn't a lot of salt in this recipe.  You may want to increase the salt in the batter to your taste after the first time you make the recipe.

Family Recipe Friday - Getting Ready for Easter

 

(This is a post from last year, but I wanted to share it again.  These little sweetbreads are so yummy and perfect for the season!)

Since Easter is just around the corner, I figured I'd share a recipe that my mom used to make each Easter when my sisters and I were little kids.  It's from the "Better Homes & Gardens Holiday Cook Book".  I managed to get a copy of it on eBay and look forward to making some of the other breads and treats that my mom used to make each year!

These bunny buns are so yummy and my kids love them!  I've only ever made the twist bunnies, but perhaps I'll make the curlicue bunnies this year as well so I can get a picture!

Bunny Buns

1 pkg active dry yeast                                                                       

1 tsp salt

¼ c. warm water (110 – 115 degrees (F))                           

5 ½ c flour

1 c milk                                                                                                      

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 c. sugar                                                                                              

¼ c. orange juice

½ c. shortening                                                                                      

2 tbsp orange peel, grated

In a small bowl, soften the yeast in the warm water.  Heat together the milk, sugar, salt, and shortening until the shortening melts.  Cool to lukewarm (110 to 115 degrees (F)), then stir in 2 cups of the flour.  Beat well.  Add the eggs; mix well.  Stir in the yeast mixture.  Add the orange juice, peel, and enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough.  Rest 10 minutes.

Knead dough 5 to 10 minutes.  cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about 2 hours).  Punch down.  Cover.  Let rest for 10 more minutes.

Shape into bunnies.  Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Let bunnies rise in a warm place until almost doubled before baking.  Bake at 375 degrees (F) for 12 to 15 minutes.  Drizzle with a mixture of confectioners’ sugar and milk.  Makes about 20 bunnies.

TO FORM BUNNIES:

TWISTED BUNNIES:  For each, you’ll need a 14-inch strip of dough.  Wrap one end of the strip over the other to form a loop; now bring the end that’s underneath up over the top end, letting the tips extend to the side for ears.  Plat the tips of the eats to shape a point.  Roll a small ball of dough and place in the middle of the loop at the bottom of the bunny for the tail.

CURLICUE BUNNIES:  For each, you’ll need a 10-inch strip of dough for the body and a 5-inch strip for the head.  Make a loose swirl of the body strip.  Swirl the strip for the head and place close to the body (they’ll “grow” together as the dough rises).  For the ears, pinch off 1 ½ inch strips and roll between hands until smooth and cigar-shaped.  Let the point make the tip of the ear; snip off the opposite end and place the ear next to the head.  Pinch off a bit of dough and roll into a ball.  Place the ball next to the back-end of the bunny for the tail.

Family Recipe Friday - Oh Cookie Recipe, How I've Been Looking for You!

And for quite some time too!  Years ago when I was a teenager (and I'm not saying how long ago that was) my sisters and I used to make these cookies.  They had two of the things we loved most in them...chocolate and peanut butter.  They came from a small, free recipe book that Hershey put out in 1979.

The dough was always tough to make though.  There aren't a lot of liquid ingredients and if we used our hand-held mixer for this recipe it would smell like it was burning.  I'm not sure whether that was the fault of an old mixer or the cookie dough, but after smelling it we immediately stopped using the mixer!  It was hand stirring only for us and one time we actually broke a wooden spoon while mixing the batter!

My father had this recipe book in his kitchen and many years ago I asked for it.  I wanted to find the recipe that made those yummy cookies and make them for my kids. He gave it to me and I eagerly looked through the pages in search of it.

I'm a visual person.  I can remember where something was on a page, although I might not remember everything it said.  I remembered that the recipe was on a left page of the cookbook, but search as I might, I couldn't find it.  I couldn't remember it's name and nothing seemed familiar.  Then the other day as I was cleaning my kitchen I picked up the book again and turned right to it.  It must have been staring me in the face and laughing at me, it just didn't register.

My oldest son made the cookies while I made salsa on Super Bowl Sunday.  Since the Packers weren't playing there wasn't a big party like last year, but salsa and cookies (not together...ick) were required for the game.

Every oven is different so take the baking time with a grain of salt.  You want the cookies to start to turn golden on the bottoms so that they don't stay soft after they cool.  Yeah...that's pretty hard to do with a chocolate cookie, but after making the whole batch (and eating many of the warm, yummy cookies) I realized that they were undercooked when they cooled.  They should be crunchy, not soft.

Also, the recipe says to drop by teaspoonfuls...use your best judgement there.  Yes, that's the only way you'll probably get 5 dozen cookies, but they will be too small for my liking!  I hope you enjoy my little piece of nostalgia!

Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate Cookies

1 c. butter
1-1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 c flour
2/3 c. cocoa
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 (12 oz) pkg Peanut Butter chips

Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in large mixing bowl.  Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; blend in.  Stir in peanut butter chips.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes.  Cool 1 minute before removing to wire rack. About 5 dozen cookies.

Family Recipe Friday - Ravioli...The Way My Irish Mom Used To Make!

So my mom's 100% Irish, but she loved cooking all kinds of food...except Irish food.  Maybe I should make her my Guinness Stew over Colcannon while I'm home!

Anyway, this is my mom's recipe for ravioli.  She made the dough from scratch, but if you're in a hurry you can always cheat by using wonton wrappers (shhh!  Don't tell mom I said that!)


Basic Noodle Dough

4 c. flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
6 tbsp cold water

In a bowl combine the flour and salt, making a well in the center.  Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing the ingredients lightly with a fork or your fingers as the dough begins to come together.  After all eggs are incorporated, gradually add the cold water.  Mix well.  Knead for several minutes.

Ravioli

1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 lbs ground beef (no idea what fat/lean ratio it would be today)
1/2 c Parmesan cheese, grated
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp dried oregano

Saute the onion in the olive oil.  When the onion is just about done (almost clear) add the garlic and continue sauteing until the onion is clear.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the meat to the hot pan and brown, breaking up with a wooden spoon as it cooks.  Drain the fat from the pan.  Return the onion and garlic to the pan and combine.  Add the cheese, oregano and egg.

To assemble the ravioli

Roll the dough out on a floured surface.  It should be very thin but not falling apart.  Cut into squares, circles or whatever shape you want the ravioli to be (When my mom would roll the dough it was more round than a rectangle so they weren't all perfect squares, but that just made them special!).  Place some meat mixture on one half of the dough.  Dip your finger into some egg wash (beaten egg mixed with water) and put on the edges of the dough.  Fold the dough over the meat and press to seal.  After all ravioli are made use a fork to crimp the edges closed.

Bring water to a boil and drop ravioli in batches into the boiling water.  They don't need to cook long because the meat is already cooked.  You're just warming them up!  Serve with your favorite pasta sauce or pesto.  Mom always topped with her spaghetti sauce.  That'll be another Family Recipe Friday!

If you'd like to save the uncooked ravioli for cooking at a later date, just place them in one layer on cookie sheets and freeze for a few hours.  If you don't have a big freezer and you need to stack the ravioli, remember to put waxed paper between layers.

I love mom's ravioli.  Just typing this makes me want to run into the kitchen and start making them.  I'm going to be bad (mom may throw something at me when she reads this), but I'm going to make a little change to the recipe and see how it turns out.  Because the meat in this recipe is already cooked completely it seems to just roll out of the center of the ravioli after that first bite.  The egg binder never really kept everything together.  So I'm going to not cook...or maybe par-cook the meat.  It'll cook when boiling, it's just you'll have to cook longer.  I'll have to post an update after I try it...if mom lets me live long enough to try it!

I'll be sure to post pictures too!

Family Recipe Friday - Bunny Buns

 

Since Easter is just around the corner, I figured I'd share a recipe that my mom used to make each Easter when my sisters and I were little kids.  It's from the "Better Homes & Gardens Holiday Cook Book".  I managed to get a copy of it on eBay and look forward to making some of the other breads and treats that my mom used to make each year!

These bunny buns are so yummy and my kids love them!  I've only ever made the twist bunnies, but perhaps I'll make the curlicue bunnies this year as well so I can get a picture!

Bunny Buns

1 pkg active dry yeast                                                                       

1 tsp salt

¼ c. warm water (110 – 115 degrees (F))                           

5 ½ c flour

1 c milk                                                                                                      

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 c. sugar                                                                                              

¼ c. orange juice

½ c. shortening                                                                                      

2 tbsp orange peel, grated

In a small bowl, soften the yeast in the warm water.  Heat together the milk, sugar, salt, and shortening until the shortening melts.  Cool to lukewarm (110 to 115 degrees (F)), then stir in 2 cups of the flour.  Beat well.  Add the eggs; mix well.  Stir in the yeast mixture.  Add the orange juice, peel, and enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough.  Rest 10 minutes.

Knead dough 5 to 10 minutes.  cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about 2 hours).  Punch down.  Cover.  Let rest for 10 more minutes.

Shape into bunnies.  Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Let bunnies rise in a warm place until almost doubled before baking.  Bake at 375 degrees (F) for 12 to 15 minutes.  Drizzle with a mixture of confectioners’ sugar and milk.  Makes about 20 bunnies.

TO FORM BUNNIES:

TWISTED BUNNIES:  For each, you’ll need a 14-inch strip of dough.  Wrap one end of the strip over the other to form a loop; now bring the end that’s underneath up over the top end, letting the tips extend to the side for ears.  Plat the tips of the eats to shape a point.  Roll a small ball of dough and place in the middle of the loop at the bottom of the bunny for the tail.

CURLICUE BUNNIES:  For each, you’ll need a 10-inch strip of dough for the body and a 5-inch strip for the head.  Make a loose swirl of the body strip.  Swirl the strip for the head and place close to the body (they’ll “grow” together as the dough rises).  For the ears, pinch off 1 ½ inch strips and roll between hands until smooth and cigar-shaped.  Let the point make the tip of the ear; snip off the opposite end and place the ear next to the head.  Pinch off a bit of dough and roll into a ball.  Place the ball next to the back-end of the bunny for the tail.