This week, we have a pot pourri of recipes for you.
We have a wonderful recipe for Pasta E Fagioli from Michele Boudalis, a friend of my daughter, whom we thank for her lovely authentic recipes. This one is a traditional Italian soup whose main ingredients are pasta and beans.
Mrs. Thomas Myers’ Fried Oysters from Charleston Receipts calls for a quart of fresh oysters.
A cocktail sauce recipe follows. We found this sauce in Savannah Style and it will go very well with the fried oysters above.
From Cooking with Foliage La Sertoma of Apopka, we have Mary Demetree’s Chicken Cacciatora, which (according to Wikipedia) refers to a meal prepared “hunter-style” with onions, herbs, usually tomatoes, often bell peppers, and sometimes wine.
Mince meat… I remember mince meat from when I was a child. Our grocer/butcher would make and sell it in the colder months of the year. Mama made mince meat pies. They are wonderful! This recipe comes from The Original Country Cookbook, a dandy little softback cookbook published in 1976 by Paragon Products, Inc., in Pompano Beach. Our wild life hunting readers will appreciate this recipe because mince meat can be made from venison. The recipe calls for “2 numegs, coarsely ground.” For those of us who buy their spice in jars at the grocery store (probably all of us), one nutmeg equals 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg. We will need 4 teaspoons ground nutmeg for this recipe.
Also from Savannah Style is Spinach Pie. It calls for two 10-ounce packages of frozen spinach, eggs, sour cream, cheese, a pie shell, and a few other items.
Shirley Keck, the wonderful wife of our fishing expert, Jim Keck, who writes the weekly article, Goin’ Fishin’, treats us to her Dump Cake. This is very simple, and it is delicious, too! We know because she brought this dessert to one of our celebrations here at The Apopka Chief and The Planter newspapers. (And we didn’t let her have her cake-taker back until she promised us the recipe, which follows below. Ha ha ha!)
MICHELE BOUDALIS’
PASTA E FAGIOLI
Recipe from reader of The Apopka Chief and The Planter newspapers
2 pounds ground beef
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-1/2 cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups diced celery
28 ounces canned diced tomatoes
2 cups canned red kidney beans
2 cups canned white kidney beans
  (or any other white bean)
96 ounces (or 3 quarts) beef broth
  (3 boxes)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons Tabasco or hot sauce
48 ounces marinara sauce
8 ounces Ditalini pasta (or shell pasta)
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons parsley
1. Sauté the beef in oil in 10-quart or larger pot until the beef starts to brown. 2. Add the onions, carrots, celery and tomatoes. Simmer for about 10 minutes. 3. Drain and rinse the beans and add to the pot along with the beef broth, oregano, pepper, tabasco sauce, marinara and pasta. 4. Add the chopped parsley. 5. Simmer until the celery and carrots are tender. 6. Takes about an hour.
MRS. THOMAS E. MYERS’
(ELIZABETH NORCROSS)
FRIED OYSTERS
Recipe from Charleston Receipts, America’s Oldest Junior League
Cookbook in Print,
a Cookbook by The Junior League
of Charleston, Inc.
1 quart oysters
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons milk
Salt and pepper
1 cup bread crumbs, cracker crumbs
  or corn meal
Drain oysters; mix eggs, milk, seasonings. Dip oysters in egg mixture and roll in crumbs. Fry in deep fat (375 degrees) about 2 minutes or until brown. Or fry in shallow fat about 2 minutes on one side, turn and brown on other side. Serves 6.
COCKTAIL SAUCE
Recipe from Savannah Style,
a Cookbook by The Junior League of Savannah, Inc.
1 cup catsup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
Salt to taste
A few drops of Tabasco if not hot enough!
Mix all ingredients. Keep in refrigerator at least one hour before serving.
MARY DEMETREE’S
CHICKEN CACCIATORA
Recipe from Cooking with
Foliage La Sertoma of Apopka
3-1/2 pound broiler/fryer cut into
  serving pieces
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 carrot, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 bay leaf, crushed
3 cans canned Italian tomatoes
Pepper
3 anchovies, mashed
1 cup Chianti wine
Dredge chicken in flour and brown in olive oil in a skillet. Remove the chicken and, in the remaining oil, sauté onion, garlic, carrot, parsley, and bay leaf until the onion is golden. Strain the tomatoes and add the tomato pulp to the skillet. Add pepper and anchovies. Bring the sauce to a boil. Add the chicken and Chianti and simmer for 45 minutes, or until the chicken is tender. Serves 4.
MINCE MEAT A LA COUNTRY
Recipe from Paragon Products, Inc., The Original Country Cookbook
Boil and chop fine:
3 pounds of venison tongue or
  beef tongue.
Add:
4 pounds of suet, also chopped fine.
Then add:
4 pounds brown sugar
4 pounds raisins
4 pounds apples, chopped fine
1 pound finely sliced citron
3 pounds currants
1 tablespoon each: Mace, cloves,  and cinnamon
2 nutmegs (coarsely ground)
Mix with enough brandy to wet well. Keep moist and it will keep all winter.
SPINACH PIE
Recipe from Savannah Style, a Cookbook by The Junior League of Savannah, Inc.
1 pastry pie shell
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen    chopped spinach
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1-1/2 cups coarse bread crumbs
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup cheese, shredded
Precook pie shell until lightly browned. Cook spinach according to instructions on package. Drain well and add salt to spinach. Place drained spinach in pie shell and cover with eggs. Lightly whip sour cream to make it spreadable and cover the eggs with it. Toss bread crumbs in butter and shredded cheese and sprinkle over sour cream. Bake in a preheated 350-degree Fahrenheit oven 20 to 30 minutes. The eggs should be set like poached eggs. Do not overcook.
Use one package of spinach for a deep dish pie shell. Use two packages for a quiche pan.
SHIRLEY KECK’S DUMP CAKE
Recipe from Reader of The Apopka Chief and The Planter newspapers
1 15-ounce can crushed pineapple,  undrained
1 15-ounce can cherry pie filling
1 package yellow cake mix, plain
1 cup pecan pieces
2 sticks of butter
1 13 x 9-inch baking pan
Pour one large can of crushed pineapple (undrained) in pan. Cover pineapple with one large can of cherry pie filling. Crumble dry cake mix over the top of pie filling evenly. Sprinkle top with pecan pieces. Pour melted butter over cake mix evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes, until brown.
This easy take-along cake is delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream or just plain. Yield: 12 servings.
