Merry Christmas! Blessings to all or our favorite people… our readers and all the people of Apopka! We pray for you and your loved ones, not only during our celebration of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, but all through the NEW YEAR to come. This coming year is to be a transition to better times for us and our neighbors throughout the nation as well as for the world at large. We have prayed for this, and our prayers are being answered. When times get better for us, the American people, times get better for the rest of the world! It just seems to work out that way.
How about Baked Orecchiette with Bacon Breadcrumbs for a Christmas Eve treat? This is a pasta dish from thepioneerwoman.com. Ree Drummond says it will take a little over an hour and a half to prepare and bake, and it will make 6 to 8 servings.
We have a recipe from Emily Meggett for Okra Gumbo. This comes from her book, Gullah Geechee Home Cooking. This might also be a festive dish for your family and friends during the Christmas season. You can serve the gumbo alone or over a bed of white rice. She recommends using small shrimp in this recipe.
From Cooking with Foliage La Sertoma of Apopka, we have French-Fried Shrimp. Shrimp, which is a favorite recipe for many of us, will be a special treat for our Christmas festivities.
Try Zellwood Station Club Car’s recipe for Overnight Coffee-Cake. This recipe comes from Pot-Pourri of Zellwood, Recipes & Reflections 1983, published by The Zellwood Community Center.
And from our friend at First Presbyterian Church of Apopka, Treasures and Pleasures, we have Sis Pitman’s recipe for Peanut Butter Fudge Dreams. Sis passed a while back, but she lives on in our hearts.
Good for picnics or brown bag lunches, Bryan Kilgore of Houston, Texas, contributed this recipe for Scotch Eggs to Treasures and Pleasures. This may be a special treat for Christmas get-togethers.
BAKED ORECCHIETTE WITH
BACON BREADCRUMBS
Recipe from THEPIONEERWOMAN.COM
PASTA AND SAUCE:
4 tablespoons salted butter, plus more for the baking dish
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 pound orecchiette pasta
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 ounces cream cheese
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk
2 cups Monterey jack cheese, grated
BACON BREADCRUMBS:
4 slices bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons salted butter
1-1/2 cups panko
1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1) For the pasta: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13-inch or other 3-quart baking dish. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions, then drain and set aside. 2) Meanwhile for the bacon breadcrumbs: Cook the bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat until crispy, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a medium bowl, leaving the fat in the pan. Add the butter to the pan and let melt, then add the panko and salt and stir to coat. Cook, stirring, until the panko is a light golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and add to the bowl with the bacon. Let cool slightly, then toss with the parmesan. Set aside. 3) Make the sauce: Melt 2 tablespoons butter in the empty pasta pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened and starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and spinach and cook until the spinach has released any remaining liquid, about 5 minutes. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2-teaspoon pepper. 4) Add the cream cheese and remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the pot and stir until melted. Sprinkle in the flour and stir, then reduce the heat to medium and cook until the flour is golden brown, about 1 minute. Add the milk, 1 cup at a time, stirring until slightly thickened between each addition, 2 to 3 minutes total. Fold in the Monterey jack until melted, about 2 minutes. Season the sauce with the remaining 1/2-teaspoon each salt and pepper, if needed, then add the pasta, stirring until coated. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with the bacon breadcrumbs.
Bake until the breadcrumbs are crispy and the sauce is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes.
EMILY MEGGETT’S OKRA GUMBO
Recipe from Gullah Geechee
Home Cooking by Emily Meggett
3/4 pound salt pork, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 28-ounce can crushed or diced
tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
3 pounds okra, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, or 2 pounds frozen cut okra
Crushed red pepper
Gold Medal seasoning salt
1 tablespoon sugar, plus more to taste
1 15-1/4 ounce can corn, drained, or kens cut from 2 ears fresh corn
1-1/2 pounds small shrimp, peeled and deveined (optional but recommended)
1) In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, fry the salt pork over medium heat until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the onion and bell pepper and sauté together for 5 to 7 minutes, until translucent. 2) Add the tomatoes and tomato paste. Rinse out the tomato paste can and refill the can with water. Pour the water into the pot. Repeat this process two more times. Bring to a boil over high heat. 3) Turn down the heat to medium and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more water. Add the okra, crushed red pepper, seasoning salt to taste, and the sugar. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes. 4) Finally, add the corn and shrimp, stir, and cook the gumbo over low heat for about 10 more minutes. Serve with rice or eat plain.
FRENCH-FRIED SHRIMP
Recipe from Cooking with
Foliage La Sertoma of Apopka
1-1/2 pounds raw, peeled, deveined shrimp, fresh or frozen
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Fat for deep frying
Thaw shrimp if frozen. Combine eggs and salt. Combine flour, dry bread crumbs and paprika. Dip each shrimp in egg, then roll in crumb mixture. Fry in a basket in deep fat, 350 degrees, for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper. Makes 6 servings.
ZELLWOOD STATION CLUB CAR’S OVERNIGHT COFFEE-CAKE
Recipe from
POT-POURRI OF ZELLWOOD
3/4 cup softened butter or oleo
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 8-oz carton sour cream
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Combine butter (or oleo) and sugar. Cream until fluffy. Add eggs and sour cream; mix well. Combine next 5 ingredients and add to batter. Mix. Pour batter into greased and floured 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts. Sprinkle over top of batter. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Uncover and bake in 350-degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until cake tests done.
SIS PITMAN’S
PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE DREAMS
Recipe from
First Presbyterian Church of Apopka, Treasures and Pleasures
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup milk
Few grains of salt
1 cup marshmallows
1/4 pound peanut butter
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cook sugar, milk and salt to the soft-ball stage. Add marshmallows, peanut butter and butter just before removing from the stove. Cool, add vanilla and beat, then pour into a buttered pan.
NOTE: Peanut butter weight is: 1 pound = 1.89 cups, divided by 4 = 0.4725 cups, so you can probably do 1/2 cup (or little less) of peanut butter and be just fine. Or 1/4 pound peanut butter = 7-1/2 tablespoons.
BRYAN KILGORE’S
SCOTCH EGGS
Recipe from Treasures and Pleasures, published 1990 Presbyterian Women,
First Presbyterian Church of Apopka
4 medium hard cooked eggs
12 ounces bulk breakfast sausage
1 tablespoon flour
Sprinkling of salt and pepper
1 beaten egg
3 ounces dry bread crumbs (plain or herbed)
Shell eggs, rinse, and dry with paper towel. Mix flour, salt and pepper in small bowl. Roll eggs in seasoned flour. With your hands, mold 3 ounces of sausage around each egg, coating evenly. Dip each coated egg into beaten egg, then roll in bread crumbs.
Deep-fry eggs in 350 degree oil until golden brown, making certain that sausage is completely cooked, about 3 minutes per egg. May be eaten warm but are better cold. When cooked eggs cool, wrap in foil.
Good for picnics or brown lunches.
