Author: Dave the Hubby

Mixed Berry Sauce

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Another sauce. Margie created this to go over cheesecakes. It would also be great on ice cream, bread pudding or pound cake. Fresh and fruity – decidedly easy.

Ingredients:
1 pound Frozen Mixed Berries
½ cup Sugar
2 tablespoons Vanilla Coffee Syrup
2 tablespoons Port Wine

Directions:
Mix Everything in a bowl and let set for at least 1 hour.

Note: If you are in a rush, you can defrost the Berries in the microwave, before adding the other ingredients and let sit for 30 minutes.

Serves: 10-12

Prep time:1:00 but only 5 minutes work.

Source: MLK

Brown Sugar Praline Sauce

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This is so tasty you will be tempted to eat it straight from the pan. Margie created this to go over cheesecake, but it would be great on ice cream, bread pudding or pound cake. I say, “Sweet, rich, decadently perfect.”
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar, packed (1/2 pound)
2 tablespoons Maple Syrup
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 tablespoons Rum
1/2 cup Pecans, coarsely chopped
Directions:
In a heavy saucepan heat Butter, Brown Sugar, and Maple Syrup over low heat. Stir occasionally until sugar is dissolved. (This will take longer if the sugar is hard)
Remove from heat and stir in Cream, Vanilla, and Rum. Add pecans.
Serve hot or at room temperature.
Note: For a thinner sauce – add 1/2 milk.
Can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Margie uses Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum
Dave adds: Great for dipping cookies into as well. Oh, mama …
Serves: 10-12
Prep time:0:20
Source: MLK

Harvest Wines

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Margie and I spent a couple of weeks struggling through the horrors of taste-testing wines for the various courses of the Fancy Dinner. It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it.
(We actually brought the “rejects” along with us for hors d’oevres, which everyone enjoyed.)
The wines, per course:

  • Appetizer: Coppola Bianco ($8) – a full-bodied white, slightly fruity, that stood up well to the Supreme Sauce.
  • Soup: Conde de Valdemar Rioja 1997 ($13) – spicy, and a match for the tomato-pepper soup.
  • Dessert: I Vignaioli di S. Stefano Moscato d’Asti ($11) – flowery, slightly effervescent, and a fine complement to the various sweets.

As you can see, the prices were highly reasonable. While I’m sure that more expensive wines would have added greater subtlety and flavor, they were not, in fact, missed in what we presented.
For the eight people, we went through about a bottle and a half per course. The entree course was a nice Bordeaux provided by the host (two bottles worth). Had they not provided one, I would probably have suggested a Cab or a Zin for that installment.

Glög

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This recipe is a classic in Margie’s family, a mulled wine recipe put together by her Dad before she was born, based on old Swedish family recipes.
It’s such a family secret, I had to promise that only Kleerup family members who have been pre-cleared will be able to see the recipe here. Ready?
Ingredients:

ACCESS DENIED

Cinnamon Marmalade Morsels

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These are very moist cookies, and the hint of orange gives them a flavor that makes them stand out from most.
Ingredients:
2 c Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Nutmeg
½ tsp Salt
—
½ c Shortening
1 c Orange Marmelade
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla
6 oz Chocolate Chips
1 c Walnuts, chopped
Directions:

  1. Sit together dry ingredients. Set aside.
  2. Beat together shortening and marmelade.
  3. Beat in egg and vanilla.
  4. Add dry ingredients.
  5. Stir in chips and walnuts.
  6. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 8-10 min.

Servings: Depends on how many it takes to eat about 6 dozen cookies.
Source: The 47 Best Chocolate Chip Cookies in the World

Macaroni Monterey

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Another intensely easy, filling (and cheap) dish. You can serve it as a side or as a main dish.

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz Macaroni
  • ½ lb Monterey Jack Cheese, cubed
  • 1 c Sour Cream
  • ¼ c Butter
  • ¾ tsp Salt
  • ¼ tsp Pepper

Directions:

  1. Cook and drain macaroni.
  2. Put macaroni and other ingredients into a greased 2 qt casserole. Mix well.
  3. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

You can also microwave the dish for however long it takes to get to that state.

The dish can easily be multiplied or expanded into other size dishes.

Other types of pasta can be used, of course. Ideally you want something that can hold the melted cheese and sour cream inside of it. Margie’s radical addition is substituting garlic salt for plain salt.

Prep time: 45 min.
Serves: 6
Source: Gloria Hill

Lasagna

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Make sure you use teaspoons, not tablespoons, of fennel, otherwise you’ll end up with “Dave’s Infamous Fennel Lasagna.”

Ingredients:
½ lb Lasagna Noodles, Cooked
1 lb Mozzarella Cheese, grated
¾ c Parmesan Cheese, grated

Meat Sauce
1 lb Italian Sausage
½ lb Ground Beef
2 c Onion, chopped
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1 tsp Sugar
2 tsp Salt
1½ tsp Basil
½ tsp Fennel Seed
¼ tsp Pepper
28 oz Tomatoes, canned
12 oz Tomato Paste
1/4 c red wine

Ricotta Mixture
1 Egg, beaten
15 oz Ricotta Cheese
1 tbsp Parsley Flakes
1 tsp Salt

Directions:

  1. Brown meat.
  2. Saute onions, garlic
  3. Combine Meat Sauce ingredients and simmer to taste.
  4. Mix up Ricotta Mixture.
  5. In a 9×13 baking pan, put a thin coat of meat sauce on the bottom, then layer 3x (i.e., use 1/3 of ingredients in each layer) the following:
    • Lasagna noodles
    • Meat Sauce
    • Ricotta Mixture
    • Mozzarella
    • Parmesan
  6. Cover with foil; bake at 375° for 25 minutes.
  7. Uncover, bake another 25 minutes.
  8. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Prep Time: 2 hrs
Serves: 8
Source: “Mama Creamette” (modified)

Italian Chicken Stew

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This is an old favorite of Dave’s, and great for company. Upping the pepper in the flour mixture makes it spicier. As with most stews, it’s better the second day.
Ingredients:
6 lbs. Chicken Breasts
¼ c Flour
2 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Pepper
6 tbsp Olive Oil
—
12 small Carrots, cut into strips
2 c Celery, cut diagonally
4 mdm Onions, cut in eights
6 cloves Garlic, minced
4 Green Peppers, chopped
2 lbs Stewed Tomatoes
2 c White Wine
1 tsp Basil, crushed
½ Bay Leaf
Salt, to taste
Directions:

  1. If using whole chicken, cut into serving pieces.
  2. Combine flour, salt, pepper, and dredge chicken in mix.
  3. Heat oil in Dutch Oven, and brown chicken.
  4. Drain (leaving in little crispy bits), then add the rest of the ingredients.
  5. Simmer 1-1½ hours, until chicken is tender.

Serve over buttered noodles or rice.
Prep Time: 2 hrs.
Servings: 8
Source: LA Times

Game Stuffing

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Ingredients:
½ c Wild rice, uncooked
1 dash Salt to taste
1 dash Pepper to taste
½ lb Mushrooms
½ tsp Sage
1 dash Thyme
1 tbsp Fat, melted
1 Egg Yolk, beaten
Directions:

  1. Cook rice until tender. Drain and rince.
  2. Sautee mushrooms.
  3. Add in ingredients and blend well.

Fills a 2 lb. bird. Should that be 20? Not sure. This is a game bird (like duck) recipe, after all.
Source: LA Times

Long Island Ice Tea

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The Long Island Iced Tea is a popular mixed drink that, despite its name, contains no tea. It is one of those mixed drinks that tastes good going down but can quickly sneak up on you. It’s best to take it easy with this one.  The ingredient list is long, but the recipe is very easy to remember: five white distilled spirits (including orange liqueur), a shot of sour mix, topped with cola and served over ice  Essentially, the majority of the bar’s well goes into the drink and some drinkers love it while others despise it. The problem with the Long Island is that it is often made too strong. Many bartenders (professional and amateur alike) will over-pour the liquors. This not only makes the drink stronger, it also knocks the taste out of balance and reaches that point of too much booze (yes, there is such a thing).  On the other hand, if this drink is treated with respect and the person pouring keeps in mind that taste is more important than potency, the Long Island Iced Tea is a good drink.

Ingredients:
½ oz Vodka
½ oz Rum
½ oz Tequila
½ oz Gin
½ oz Triple Sec
4 oz Sour Mix
2 oz Coke
Proportions of 5:8:4

Instructions: Mix ingredients in a large glass filled with cracked ice.

Note that the Coke is essentially to color the combination to a “tea” color. Note also that the first five ingredients can be mixed and stored together in an empty booze bottle.

Variations:

 

  • Long Beach Tea – Everything in the Long Island, but the ​Cola is replaced with cranberry juice.
  • Miami Iced Tea – Peach schnapps is added to the Long Beach, the tequila is dropped, and lemon-lime soda adds a bit of sparkle.
  • Hawaiian Iced Tea – Using the Long Island recipe, top this drink with pineapple juice and skip the cola.
  • Electric Cowboy Iced Tea – Blue curacao replaces the triple sec and the soda is switched out to lemon-lime soda. It’s a brilliant blue drink.
  • Texas Tea – Simply add bourbon to the Long Island for an even more potent mix.
  • Western Sunset –  Whidby Island Loganberry Liquor replaces Triple Sec and Cranberry Juice replaces Coke .
  • Golden Spike – The Rum becomes Spiced Rum and Coke is replaced by  Pineapple Juice; float coconut rum on top.
  • Tokyo Iced Tea  – Add 7-up instead of dark cola, and Midori (kiwi liqueur) instead of triple sec.
  • California Ice Tea – The cola is replaced with orange juice.
  • Beverly Hills Ice Tea – Add sparkling white wine to the glass in place of the cola.

Source: “Kins” (Andy March), The Spruce Eats and lots of fun research.