Kentucky Derbe Pie (Chocolate Pecan)

 

A friend gave me this recipe many years ago and it's proven to be a great favourite with family and friends. It's a rich pie, and a small piece goes a long ways. It's also very easy to put together.

Kentucky Derbe Pie

1 unbaked pie crust (9 inch)

1 cup sugar

2 unbeaten eggs

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans

1 teasponn vanilla

Mix together all of the filling ingredients. Pour into the pie shell. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes. 

Let cool completely before serving. It keeps well for several days. 

Serve with whipped cream. Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. 

Dinner Buns with Oats and Seeds

 

We don't often have bread with our dinners any more, but for special occasions I like to have a basket of them on the table. This is a small recipe, making about 20 small-ish buns. The dough looks a bit heavy, but the buns rise well in the oven and are light. 

Dinner Buns

1/2 cup lukewarm water

1 Tablespoon instant yeast 

1 cup lukewarm milk

1/2 cup melted or very soft butter

1 egg

1 1/2 cups whole wheat or spelt flour 

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup sunflower or pumpkin seeds

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 teaspoon honey or sugar

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Additional all-purpose flour to make a soft dough (maybe 3 cups).

Combine the yeast and water in a large bowl. Add the milk and soft butter.

Stir in the egg, 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, oats, seeds, salt, honey, and lemon juice. Beat well until the mixture is smooth.

Add regular flour one cup at a time, beating well after each addition, until the dough is sticky. Turn onto a floured board and knead until the dough is soft and elastic, adding more flour as needed. 

Place in a greased bowl and cover with a tea towel. Let rise until almost double, 2-3 hours. 

Form dough into small balls and place in greased pans. I use pie plates to get a round dish of pull apart buns. 

Let rise until almost double, about an hour. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake buns for 20 minutes. Let cool completely. Freeze, if desired. 

When ready to serve, let the buns thaw on the countertop, then bake again for 10 minutes at 375. 

They can be fully baked, then frozen, if desired. 

Aimee's Frozen Lemon Dessert

 

When I was very very young, my mother became close friends with the pastor's wife of our church. I think the older woman, Hulda, took my mother under her wing and encouraged her when she had two, then three little ones. After Hulda passed, her husband married Aimee, and the pair stayed in contact with our family for many years.  

Aimee served us this recipe on a very hot summer day. It's sweet and tart and icy cold, just the refreshment needed when the temperatures soar. I made it last weekend when we had a house full of company. It's handy to have something waiting in the freezer when things get busy. I've adapted it somewhat.

Aimee's Frozen Lemon Dessert

A. Crust

1 cup graham wafer crumbs

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons melted butter

Mix the above and press the mixture into the bottom of an 8 x 8 pan. 

Note: I made it with a combination of almonds and pecans chopped in the food processor to make a gluten-free crust for a family member with celiac disease. I think I prefer the nuts to the cookie crumbs. 

Set aside.

B. Custard

1/2 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 Tablespoon grated lemon rind

Cook above mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until slightly thickened. Set aside to cool.

C. Meringue

2 egg whites

1/4 cup sugar

Beat the egg whites to form soft peaks, then add the sugar and beat until stiff and shiny. Fold the mixture into the cooled lemon custard mixture.

D. Whipped Cream

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

Whip until soft peaks form. Fold the meringue/custard mixture into the whipped cream. 

Turn mixture into the prepared pan. Cover and freeze. Serve frozen. 

Note: Before freezing the mixture, I dropped spoonfuls of leftover raspberry sauce on top and swirled them in. 

Rhubarb Muffins

 

Cooking seasonally is best, don't you think? Now that Spring is here, I look over my back fence and admire my neighbour's enormous rhubarb plant with its huge leaves and red stalks. And then I wonder at my own paltry plant. It's not done very well this year. Fortunately, rhubarb growers are happy to share and I received a dozen or so fat stalks from my son. It only took one of them to fill a 1-cup measure, which is all that's needed for this recipe that's not too sweet.

Rhubarb Muffins

1/2 cup (125 ml) plain yogurt

1/4 cup (60 ml) melted butter

1 large egg

1 1/3 cups (325 ml) plain flour 

1 cup (250 ml) diced rhubarb (Dice to 1/4-1/2 inch - 1 - 1.5cm)

2/3 cup (150 ml) pack brown sugar

1/2 tsp (2 ml) baking soda

1/4 (1 ml) salt

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Topping

1/4 cup (60 ml) brown sugar

1/2 tsp (2 ml) ground cinnamon

1 Tablespoon (15 ml) melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (180 C). 

Mix together the yogurt, butter, and egg. Add the brown sugar and mix well. Add the rhubarb. Stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt, then add to the liquid mixture. Stir just until moistened. 

Fill 10-12 muffin cups (I like to line the tin with paper cups). 

Stir together topping ingredients and spoon onto each muffin. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Best enjoyed warm with a cup of tea or coffee. 

Note: If you don't have yogurt, you can use buttermilk or sour cream. Vegetable oil can be substituted for the melted butter. 

Note 2: Although I always say to mix the dry ingredients separately, more often than not I'll put them into the wet mixture all at once. I'm lazy that way. 

Chicken with Orange Sauce

 

I was inspired to create this recipe by another seen on social media. It's quick to prepare; ready in the time it takes to cook a pot of rice. We enjoyed it over rice with broccoli alongside. The addition of the butter makes a lovely unctuous sauce. 

Chicken with Orange Sauce

2 chicken breast halves

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 oranges, juiced (about 1 cup juice) I include the pulp in the sauce

1 small onion, minced

1-2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary (or dried)

1 1/2 Tablespoons honey

1 Tablespoon butter

Slice the chicken breasts in half lengthwise to create thin cutlets, removing the tenderloins, as well. Season both sides of the chicken pieces.

Heat the olive oil in a pan, then quickly sear the chicken on both sides. It will not cook all the way through. Remove chicken and set aside. 

Add the orange juice, onion, wine vinegar, rosemary and honey to the pan. Quickly scrape any bits left from searing the chicken into the sauce. Bring to a boil and let the mixture boil vigorously for 1-2 minutes. 

Add the chicken pieces back into the pan. Let simmer 5 minutes or until all the chicken is cooked through. Add the butter to the pan and stir thoroughly. Let simmer another minute or two. 

Serve over rice or mashed potatoes. 

Paska - Easter Bread

 

Every year at Easter my large extended family enjoyed Paska, an egg-rich yeast dough made only during Holy Week. They always made plenty of loaves and covered the top with buttercream and then sprinkled candy decorations on top. The loaves were delicious, but I always saved the top crust piece until last to savour the sweetness of the icing along with the bread. 

When I was a young bride someone came up with the idea of making the yeast dough into buns rather than loaves. I thought that was a great idea, and Tim said he appreciated the different dough to icing ratio - less dough, more icing. 

This recipe makes about 3 dozen buns, perfect for sharing with friends and family. The buns are best enjoyed within a day or two, and can be frozen to preserve the freshness. We just eat our fill and don't bother saving any. 

Paska Buns

2 Tablespoons yeast 

1/2 cup warm, not hot, water mixed with 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let sit for 5-10 minutes.

1 1/2 cups milk

1/3 cup butter

5 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

juice and rind of 1 small orange

juice and rind of 1 small lemon

Flour (I never measure this, but it's likely 4-5 cups)

Heat the milk and butter gently, just so the butter melts. Remove from heat and when slightly warm, add to the yeast mixture along with the salt, sugar, lemon and orange rind and juice. Beat the eggs well and add them to the mixture. 

Add 1-2 cups of flour and beat until smooth and elastic. Gradually add more flour, beating well until the dough is too hard to stir, then turn out onto a floured counter and knead until smooth and elastic. 

Place in a greased bowl and cover with a tea towel. Let rise until doubled (2 or more hours). Punch dough down, then form into buns and place on parchment lined baking sheets. Cover and let rise 40-60 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-24 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a rack.

Ice tops with buttercream and decorate as desired. 

Delicious with a cup of tea or coffee. Take time to enjoy with friends and family. 

Applesauce Cookies

 

Faced with a need to use up some of the jars of applesauce I canned last autumn, I found a recipe in my very old Betty Crocker cookbook which was given to me as a wedding shower present. The cover is held together with black book binding tape and there are many stains and notes throughout the pages. The recipe is called Jubilee Jumbles, with the applesauce included in an alternative version. 

These are cake-y cookies, quite soft, and because of that they don't stay fresh for long. But they freeze well. The browned butter glaze adds another layer of flavour that goes well with the mild spice of the cookies. 

Applesauce Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups brown sugar (packed)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 cup applesauce

1/2 cup soft butter

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Stir together the dry ingredients (flour, brown sugar, salt, soda, cinnamon, and cloves). 

Add the applesauce, butter, eggs, and vanilla and mix together thoroughly. 

Stir in the raisins.

Drop dough by level tablespoons onto parchment paper lined baking sheet. The cookies should be about 2 inches apart. Bake 10 minutes or until almost no imprint remains when touched with finger. 

Cool on a rack, then spread with butter glaze.

Browned Butter Glaze

Heat 1/4 cup butter over low heat until golden brown. Mixture will foam. Watch carefully so as not to burn. 

Remove from heat and stir in 2 cups of icing sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in 2-4 Tablespoons of hot water until of spreading consistency.

Note: As the butter cools, the mixture becomes quite stiff and more water may need to be added.