From New Vision’s Feeding the Flock cookbook, we have a ham and cheese quiche recipe contributed by Toni LaPierre, who is a veritable magician in the kitchen.
Martha Wetteroft’s Baked Vegetable Risotto is shared with us by First Presbyterian of Punta Gorda’s A Taste of Heaven. I haven’t tried it, but it looks like a good dish.
Grace Picerno shares her Pineapple Muffins with the Apopka Citizen Police Alumni Association’s Sharing Our Finest Cookbook.
From the Progressive Farmer’s SOUTHERN Cookbook, we found old fashioned ChowChow. This is terrific on peas and greens.
From Cooking with Foliage La Sertoma of Apopka, we have a fancy dessert for you – Peaches Stuffed with Almonds. We thank Mary Demetree of the Sertoma Club for her lovely recipe.
From Charleston Receipts, we have Mrs. Clarence Steinhart’s recipe for Cooter Soup. It might just be pretty good if you can come up with the main ingredient.
TONI LAPIERRE’S
HAM & CHEESE QUICHE
Recipe from New Vision Community Church’s Feeding the Flock
Pastry for single-crust pie
3 beaten eggs
1-1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sliced green onions (about 2)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Dash ground nutmeg
3/4 cup chopped cooked ham
1-1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese (aged Swiss is preferred)
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Prepare pastry and line pie plate as directed. Line unbaked pastry shell with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake in 450-degree oven for five minutes. Remove foil. Bake for five to seven minutes more or until pastry is nearly done. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
Meanwhile, in bowl stir together eggs, milk, green onions, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in ham. Toss together the cheese and flour. Add to egg mixture; mix well. Pour egg mixture into hot pastry shell. To prevent overbrowning, cover edge of crust with foil. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes six servings.
MARTHA WETTEROFT’S
BAKED VEGETABLE RISOTTO
Recipe from First Presbyterian Church of Punta Gorda,
A Taste of Heaven
2 tablespoons olive oil
Chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup Arborio Rice
2 cups chicken broth (14-ounce can plus water)
1 package frozen chopped spinach, zapped in microwave
2/3 cup shredded carrot (1 medium)
3 tablespoons fresh parsley
Salt to taste and 1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
Heat oil in heavy pan. Add onion and garlic and cook until tender. Stir in rice just to coat. Add broth, spinach, carrots, parsley, salt and pepper. Pour into 1-quart casserole. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cover. Place in 400-degree oven and bake 25 minutes or until moisture is absorbed. Serve hot. Makes six servings.
GRACE PICERNO’S
PINEAPPLE MUFFINS
Recipe from Apopka Citizen Police Alumni Association,
Sharing Our Finest Cookbook
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup crushed pineapple, undrained
4 tablespoons melted shortening
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add slightly beaten egg and pineapple. Blend in shortening. Fill greased muffin pans two-thirds full. Bake in moderately hot oven (375 degrees) for 20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.
CHOWCHOW
Recipe from The Progressive
Farmer’s SOUTHERN Cookbook
1 dozen medium-sized onions
1 dozen sweet green peppers
1 dozen sweet red peppers
4 quarts chopped cabbage
2 quarts chopped green tomatoes
1/2 cup salt
5 cups sugar
4 tablespoons ground mustard
4 tablespoons mustard seed
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons celery seed
2 tablespoons whole mixed pickling spices (tied in a bag)
2-1/2 quarts vinegar
Chop onions and peppers fine. Combine all vegetables and mix with salt. Let stand overnight. The next morning drain well. Combine sugar, spices, and vinegar. Bring to boiling point and simmer about 20 minutes. Add drained vegetables, and simmer to consistency desired. Remove spice bag. Pack into hot jars and seal.
MARY DEMETREE’S PEACHES STUFFED WITH ALMONDS
Recipe from Cooking with Foliage La Sertoma of Apopka
4 large peaches
4 tablespoons minced toasted almonds
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 teaspoons chopped glazed lemon peel
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons dry white wine
Peel, pit and halve the peaches. Mix the almonds with 1-1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar and the chopped lemon peel. Fill the peach halves with the mixture; sprinkle with the remaining sugar and the cinnamon, and pour the wine over them. Bake in a moderate oven, 350 degrees, for 10 minutes. Serves 4.
MRS. CLARENCE STEINHART’S COOTER SOUP
Recipe from Charleston Receipts, America’s Oldest Junior League Cookbook in Print,
a Cookbook by The Junior League of Charleston, Inc
1 large or 2 small “yellow belly” cooters (preferably female)
1 large onion, chopped
Salt to taste
2 teaspoons allspice
Red pepper to taste
3 tablespoons dry sherry
4 quarts of water
1 small Irish potato, diced
12 whole cloves
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
Flour to thicken
Kill cooter by chopping off head. Let it stand inverted until thoroughly drained, then plunge into boiling water for five minutes. Crack the shell all around very carefully so as not to cut the eggs which are lodged near surface. The edible parts are the front and hind quarters and a strip of white meat adhering to the back of the shell, the liver and the eggs. Remove all outer skin which peels very easily if water is hot enough. Wash thoroughly and allow to stand in cold water a short while, or place in refrigerator over night.
Boil cooter meat, onion and potato in the water, and cook until meat drops from bones, about 2 hours. Remove all bones and skin and cut meat up with scissors. Return meat to stock, add spices and simmer. Brown flour in skillet, mix with 1 cup of stock to smooth paste and thicken soup. Twenty minutes before serving, add cooter eggs. Add sherry and garnish with thin slices of lemon. Serves six to eight people.
