by Joanne Fluke
Spread this mixture on top of the Brie, replace the top slice of bread, and wrap the entire loaf in aluminum foil.
Bake at 375 degrees F. for 30 minutes.
Serve with cubed bread or crackers.
Busy Day Pâté
This recipe is from Mike Kingston (Actually, it’s from his sister but she said Mike could use it.)
8-ounce package of braunschweiger (liver sausage—I used Farmer John’s)
¼ cup horseradish sauce (4 Tablespoons—I used Heinz)***
*** If you can’t find horseradish sauce where you live, mix 1 Tablespoon of horseradish with 3 Tablespoons of mayonnaise, and it should work just fine.
Cut the braunschweiger into chunks and place it in the bottom of a microwave-safe bowl. Heat it on HIGH for 45 seconds. Stir it around a bit, and if it’s still cold, heat it on HIGH for another 10 to 15 seconds, or until it’s soft enough to be mashed with a fork.
Mash up the braunschweiger and add the horseradish sauce. Mix until it’s blended.
Transfer the warm pâté to a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours before serving.
A half-hour before you’re ready to serve, take the pâté out of the refrigerator and let it warm to spreading consistency.
Serve with a basket of assorted fancy crackers.
Caviar Pie
Carrie Rhodes got this recipe when she went to Los Angeles on vacation and stopped off at an estate sale. A lady named June Pierce kept her from spending too much money on a silver vase that wasn’t really silver and gave her this recipe to boot.
8-ounce or larger jar of lumpfish caviar (you can also use red caviar)
1 ½ teaspoons good olive oil
4 hardboiled eggs, finely diced
1/3 cup finely diced sweet onion (or green onions)
½ to one cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons mayonnaise (1/8 cup)
1 teaspoon salt
Put lumpfish in a small bowl. Pour in olive oil, stir, and refrigerate while you make the rest of the recipe.
Boil the eggs. Cool them, peel them, and dice them. (If you have a food processor, use the steel blade—if you don’t have one, use a sharp knife to chop them finely.)
Put the diced eggs in the bottom of a 9-inch glass pie plate or shallow glass dish. Press them down with a metal spatula.
Dice the onions and sprinkle them over the diced eggs. Press them down.
Mix the sour cream with the mayonnaise and the salt. Put dollops of the mixture on top and carefully spread them together. Use as much as it takes to make a nice layer.
Drop the lumpfish on top of the sour cream by spoonfuls, spreading it out carefully. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 4 to 6 hours.
Serve with toast points or crackers for an elegant appetizer.
Deviled Eggs
Claire Rodgers got this recipe from her best friend Jayni Bailey who used to teach second grade in Lake Eden before she moved away to California. When Claire started dating Reverend Knudson, she felt uncomfortable bringing “deviled” anything to the parsonage, but Reverend Knudson said it didn’t matter what she called anything that tasted so heavenly.
When Claire asked for tips on boiling perfect eggs, Jayni said she put rubber bands around the egg cartons and tipped them on their sides in the refrigerator the night before she planned to boil them because that kept the yolks in the center of the eggs. After they were boiled, Jayni cooled them, put them in a covered bowl and refrigerated them for 24 hours before she peeled them.
To make six eggs:
Hard boil the eggs, using your favorite method. Peel the eggs. Cut the eggs in half from top to bottom. Remove the yolks and put them in a small bowl.
Mash the yolks with a fork until they’re crumbled. Then add:
¼ cup mayonnaise
½ teaspoon minced onion
½ teaspoon parsley flakes
¼ teaspoon celery salt
¼ teaspoon dry mustard (MUST be the dry kind)
Mix thoroughly and then fill the yolk cavity, mounding the mixture a bit in the center. Place on a small platter. If you want to garnish the eggs, sprinkle them with a bit of paprika or parsley. You can also garnish them with a slice of ripe or stuffed olive.
Yield: Makes 12 halves
Fiesta Dip Platter
Sally Laughlin serves this out at the Lake Eden Inn when her customers watch football games in the bar.
16-ounce can spicy refried beans (I used Rosarita Spicy)
3 large ripe mashed avocados
1/3 cup salsa ranchero (I used La Victoria Salsa Ranchero labeled “hot”)
1 finely chopped onion
1 cup sour cream (½ pint)
1 can (4 ¼-ounces) chopped black olives, drained
1 cup finely grated cheddar cheese
1 cup finely chopped lettuce
1 cup finely chopped tomatoes
You can layer this in a 9 x 13 inch glass cake pan, or on a round platter.
Spread the beans on the bottom of the dish you’ve chosen.
Peel and mash the avocados. Blend in the hot salsa ranchero and layer it over the beans.
Sprinkle the chopped onion over the avocado mixture.
Mix the black olives with the sour cream and spread it over the chopped onions.
Sprinkle on the grated cheddar cheese.
Sprinkle the chopped lettuce on top of the cheese.
Sprinkle the tomatoes on the very top.
Press everything down with a metal spatula, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for at least 4 hours so the flavors will marry.
Serve with a basket of tortilla chips and let everyone scoop up the dip.
Herring Appetizer
***THIS DISH MUST BE MADE 3 DAYS IN ADVANCE***
Priscilla Knudson, Reverend Knudson’s grandmother, brings this herring appetizer to every potluck dinner. The one time she decided to bring something else, twenty-six people, including her grandson, made her promise never to do it again.
Glass jar that will hold one quart
2 twelve-ounce jars marinated herring fillets
¾ cup crinkle-cut frozen carrots
2 small red onions
2 teaspoons whole allspice
2 teaspoons whole yellow mustard seeds
6 to 9 small sprigs of fresh dill
Pickling Liquid:
¾ cup white vinegar
½ cup water
½ cup white (granulated) sugar
Bring the vinegar, water, and sugar to a boil in a saucepan, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Take the saucepan off the heat and set the liquid aside to cool to room temperature.
Open the jars of herring and drain them in a strainer. Pick out the herring fillets, rinse them in cold water, and throw everything else away.
Cook the carrots according to the package instructions, but make sure they’re still firm and not soft.
Peel the red onions and cut them into thin slices.
Arrange one-fourth of the onions in a thin layer in the bottom of the 1-quart glass jar. Top them with a third of the herring. Top the herring with a third of the carrots. Place 2 or 3 dill sprigs on the top and scatter on a third of the allspice and a third of the mustard seeds. Repeat this sequence until all the ingredients have been used, ending with a top layer of onions.
Pour the cooled pickling liquid into the jar. It should just cover the contents. If there’s not enough pickling liquid, top off the jar with a little white vinegar right out of the bottle.
If the jar has a cover, put it on. If it doesn’t, put a double layer of plastic wrap on the top and secure it with a sturdy rubber band.
Refrigerate the herring for 3 days before serving.
Yield: Makes about 4 cups and is perfect to take to a potluck dinner. An average serving is 1/3 cup, so it will serve at least 12 people (maybe half that if they’re Scandinavian.)
Mrs. Knudson says to tell you that she found a pretty straight-sided gla
ss jar at a yard sale for a dime, and it’s perfect for her herring. She also says to tell you that when she brings herring to a potluck, she makes a triple batch.
Misdemeanor Mushrooms
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F., rack in the middle position
This recipe is from Bill Jessup, Charlie Jessup’s cousin and he’s a detective. Charlie says he calls these “Misdemeanor Mushrooms,” because they’re so good they ought to be illegal.
2 pounds pork sausage
3 cloves of finely chopped garlic
2 Tablespoons ground sage
8-ounce package cream cheese
1 Tablespoon parsley
1 ounce Marsala wine (optional)
1 pound medium to large mushrooms
Parmesan cheese (to sprinkle)
In a large, non-stick skillet, combine sausage, garlic and sage. Sauté until sausage is browned and garlic is translucent. Drain fat from skillet and add softened, cubed cream cheese and parsley. Simmer for 10 minutes, stir in the wine (if you want to use it,) remove from heat, and cover.
Wash mushrooms. Remove stems and set caps aside. Chop the stems very fine and stir into the sausage/ cheese mixture. Brush caps with melted butter and arrange cap-down on a non-stick baking sheet. (Bill says if you shave just a bit from the bottom of the cap to make them flat, they’ll sit on the pan a lot better.) Fill each cap with a heaping mound of warm sausage mixture and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake in a 325-degree F. oven for 15 minutes.
Yield: Serves 15 to 20 people as an appetizer (unless Charlie is there and makes a whole meal out of them.)
Seafood Bread Dip
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F., rack in the middle position
This is a recipe from Carrie Rhodes. She loves to make appetizers.
4 eight-ounce bars of softened cream cheese (32 ounces in all)
½ pound chopped crab meat and/or chopped shrimp
4 green onions, cleaned, peeled and chopped, including 3 inches of the stems
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup dried chopped onions
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Round loaf of bread, unsliced, 10 to 12 inches in diameter (I used squaw bread)
1 egg, beaten
Unwrap cream cheese, put it in a large microwave-safe bowl, and heat it for 40 seconds on HIGH in the microwave. Turn the bowl and keep heating it in 20-second increments until it’s soft and you can stir it.
Add the remaining ingredients and stir it all up.
Cut the top off the loaf of bread and set it aside to use later. Hollow out the bread with a spoon, but be careful to leave at least a half-inch of bread on the bottom and the sides. Brush the inside of the loaf with the beaten egg and pop it in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes until the egg has dried. Then fill the loaf with the seafood mixture and put the top back on.
Wrap the loaf tightly in two layers of foil, keeping the top up. Set the loaf on a cookie sheet and bake for 2 hours at 300 degrees F. (This can hold in the oven for an hour if your guests are late.)
To serve, take off the top and invite your guests to dip bread squares, crackers, or vegetable sticks.
Spinach Quiche
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position
This is my recipe. It can be served as an appetizer if you cut it into thin slices and arrange them on a platter. It can also be served as an entrée.
One 9-inch unbaked pastry shell
1 beaten egg yolk (reserve the white in a small dish)
10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper (freshly ground is best)
3 Tablespoons horseradish sauce
2 ounces shredded Jarlsberg (or good Swiss cheese)
4 eggs
1½ cups Half & Half (or light cream)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly ground is best)
Beat the egg yolk in a glass with a fork. Brush the inside of the unbaked pastry shell with the yolk. Set the shell aside to dry.
Cook and drain the spinach. Squeeze out as much moisture as you can and then blot with a paper towel.
In a bowl, combine the spinach with the salt, pepper, and horseradish sauce. Spread it in the bottom of the pastry shell.
Sprinkle the top with the grated cheese.
Beat the 4 whole eggs with the reserved egg white. Add the Half & Half, salt, and cayenne pepper. Mix well and pour on top of cheese.
Sprinkle the top with nutmeg.
Bake at 375 degrees F. for 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted one inch from the center comes out clean.
Let cool for ten minutes and then cut into wedges and serve.
This quiche can be served warm or at room temperature. I’ve even been known to eat it cold, straight out of the refrigerator. It’s perfect for a fancy brunch or a lazy, relaxed breakfast on the weekend.
Yield: Serves from 12 to 18 as an appetizer. Serves six as an entrée if they only have one piece.
Spinach Rollups
This recipe is from my friend Susan Zilber. Susan moved away to New York, but I bet she still makes these.
5 to 8 flour tortillas (the large burrito size)
16-ounce package frozen chopped spinach
¼ cup mayonnaise
½ cup softened cream cheese
¼ cup sour cream
1/8 cup dried chopped onion
¼ cup bacon bits
1 Tablespoon Tabasco sauce
Cook the spinach and drain it, squeezing out all the moisture. (Cheesecloth inside a strainer works well for this.) Mix together all ingredients except the tortillas.
Spread small amount of spinach mixture out on the face of a tortilla. Roll it up and place it in a plastic freezer bag. Continue spreading and rolling tortillas until the spinach mixture is gone.
Fold the plastic bag over when all the rollups are inside to make sure they stay tightly rolled. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. (Overnight is best.) Slice with a sharp knife, arrange on a platter, and serve as appetizers.
Susan says to tell you that once she started to make these and found that she was out of sour cream. She used all cream cheese instead, and they were delicious.
Hannah’s Addition to Susan’s Rollups
5 to 8 flour tortillas (the large burrito size)
6 ounces chopped smoked salmon (or lox)
1 cup (8 ounces) softened cream cheese
¼ cup dried chopped onions
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dill weed (of course fresh is best)
Mix all the ingredients except the tortillas together in a bowl.
Spread small amount of the salmon mixture out on the face of a tortilla. Roll it up and place it in a plastic freezer bag. Continue spreading and rolling tortillas until the salmon mixture is gone.
Fold the plastic bag over when all the rollups are inside to make sure they stay tightly rolled. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. (Overnight is best.) Slice with a sharp knife, arrange on a platter, and serve as appetizers.
I made Susan’s Spinach Rollups too, and after I cut them the next day, I arranged both kinds on the platter in contrasting rings. It looked gorgeous.
Soups
Corn Chowder
This recipe is from Marjorie Hanks. She used to make it on the stove, but now that Luanne got her a slow cooker, she makes it this way.
½ cup diced cooked ham (or 6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled)
2 cups peeled, diced potatoes
½ cup chopped onion
2 ten-ounce packages frozen whole-kernel corn
1 can (16-ounces) cream-style corn
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon Season Salt (see Mrs. Knudson’s recipe on backmatter)
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup chicken b
roth
Spray the crock of a 4-quart slow cooker with Pam. Combine all ingredients in the crock-pot and stir well.
Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 7 hours.
Yield: Makes 4 hearty servings.
Cream of Cheat Mushroom Soup
(This is one of Edna Ferguson’s recipes and she named it herself.)
2 cups chicken broth
8-ounce package sliced mushrooms (fresh, from the grocery store) with 12 perfect slices reserved for garnish
1 can (10 ¾ ounces) condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (undiluted)
2 cans (10 ¾ ounces each) condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (undiluted)
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz. shredded Gruyere (or any good Swiss cheese, or even Monterey Jack)
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Combine the chicken broth and the package of mushrooms (remember to reserve those 12 perfect slices for the garnish) in a blender. Zoop them up.
Add the can of Cream of Chicken soup to the blender. Zoop it all up.
Spray the inside of a 4-quart slow cooker with Pam.
Add the contents of the blender to the crock-pot.
Add the cans of Cream of Mushroom soup to the crock-pot. Stir. Add the heavy cream, shredded cheese, and ground black pepper. Stir again.
Cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours.
Ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with parsley and float several mushroom slices on top as a garnish.