So for my cooking class, we are supposed to collect family recipes and the history and traditions that go with the recipes.
My family has many recipes, but there's no way in heck I will be sharing some of them--like my Mom's roast beef in the crock-pot, or my cousin's broccoli cheese soup. But there are some I wouldn't get in massive amounts of trouble for sharing.
Soups
Crock-pot Chili
{From Left: Manda, Scarlet, Carrera, and Lance Taylor}
My cousin Manda gave me this recipe. She's actually my cousin Lance's wife if one wants to get truly technical, but in reality she is my confidant, an older sister I was never allowed to grow up with. The salon chair has all the sanctity of the confessional, and I have bared my soul to her many times. I consider myself very lucky that, more than once, I have opened a present from my Mom, found a book, and heard "Manda said you'd probably like this."
Once upon a time, that book was 101 Things to do with a Crock-pot and came with the phrase "Manda said the chili recipe in there was very good, she said you'd like it." The first time I made it was for the Super Bowl in 2011, and it was a HIT. I've adapted it since then, and here is how it cooks now.
1 lb ground turkey, browned and drained
1/2 a medium white onion, chopped
One large can of diced tomatoes
One normal can each black beans, pinto beans, and dark red kidney beans
Three small cans tomato paste
One small can green chiles
One clove garlic, pressed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon Chili Powder
1/2 cup water
Grease or line a crock-pot. Dump all ingredients in and stir well. Cook on high for four hours or on low for 6-8 hours. Dish up and enjoy!
My Chicken Enchilada soup
This recipe is my own. I made it up to replicate my favorite soup from Zupa's.
You just take all the cans pictured here, dump the contents into the crock-pot, make the bouillon cube into a cup of broth and dump that in too.
Now you add your spices. I eyeballed it, but it comes out to
about:
·
2 T chopped dried onion
(you could also use ½ of a small white onion, diced)
·
1t garlic powder (you
could also press a small clove of garlic)
·
1 t chili powder
·
1 t cayenne powder
·
¼ t paprika
·
1 pinch each salt and
pepper
·
A generous smattering
of hot sauce (I like sriracha, personally)
Stir it all up, put on the lid, and turn the crockpot on low
for 6-8 hours.
Salads
I'm Mad Pasta Salad
My mother is terrified that I'm going to get Diabetes. Two or three incidents of obesity in the family history on my adoption file combined with my love of sweets and creamy things convinced her before my first day of high school. This caused us some arguments between us when I was in high school. We didn't argue more than any other mother and daughter argued, but we did argue. And truth be told, she has reason to worry; I have a sedentary career choice and interest field, asthma that means I have to really try to work out, a love of good food, and the bad genes to just make that a recipe for poor health. But in high school, all I could hear was "no." It was sort of silly, but then everyone has the occasional arguments about silly things with their parents, especially in high school.
The odd thing is, there have been many productive things that came out of me being mad at my mom. This recipe is one of them. The only other thing she likes that came from her ticking me off more than this one is a manuscript for a children's book.
But the big reason it's here is that, the first time I made it, my Mom and I were able to realize that the fight we were having was silly. She apologized, I apologized, she asked to try a little, and we still make it on summer days when we can't decide what to eat. Because with the carbs from the pasta, the endorphin-releasing crunch of the celery, and Italian flavors, it's the perfect low-guilt comfort food.
4-6 cups of bowtie pasta
5 T olive oil
1/2 c of your favorite Italian dressing
4 celery ribs, chopped
Half a normal can of black olives, sliced
One 12.5 oz. can of chicken, drained and chopped
Cook and drain pasta, place in serving bowl. Toss pasta with dressing and oil. Add all remaining ingredients and toss again
Potato Salad
For whatever reason, the Taylor family eats potato salad for just about every holiday but Thanksgiving. We make and eat it at all times of the year, summery as it is. The one time my cousin Lacey was ever asked if she had any requests for the Christmas party buffet table, she said she wanted "The one with sliced hard-boiled eggs on top" which is how we serve it at official parties.
We always make it the same way, I'll never forget how shocked I was when I learned Cherie's family made hers with Mayo and celery, of all the odd things! So we each brought our family's version of potato salad to the bonfire that started us talking about it, and while I do like hers and she likes mine after all, nothing will replace the Taylor way.
{Mine is the one on the left}
5-6 peeled and boiled potatoes, cubed
Minced onion
4 boiled eggs, chopped
1 c Miracle whip
1 T pickle relish
2 t yellow mustard
Mix ingredients, garnish with paprika, and serve!
Poultry
Creamy Italian Chicken
When my uncle was made a bishop, my aunt found some amazing fix-and-forget crock-pot meals. This one is by far my favorite. She shared it with us.
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cans cream of chicken soup
One packet Italian salad dressing
8 oz. Cream Cheese
Combine first three ingredients in crock-pot, cook on high for three hours, add cream cheese and stir. Serve over noodles or rice.
Oven-Fried Chicken Parmesan
Mom and I love this, but it's on here because Dad loves it.
Dad's enthusiastic about Elvis, not much else.
But he does enjoy this chicken!
4-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 c flour
1 t paprika
1/2 t salt
dash pepper
1/4 c melted butter
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 T milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix egg and milk, set aside. Mix flour, cheese, and seasonings; set aside. Melt butter. Dip chicken breasts first in egg-and-milk mixture, then in Parmesan breading, then place in 13"-x-9" baking dish. Drizzle with the melted butter and bake for one hour.
Chicken Pillows
I got this recipe from my junior high cooking class. My mother loves it, and miracle of miracles, every boy I have ever dated just adores it. It is cheap, may be served with anything, and is filling.
One 12.5 oz. can chicken
8 oz. Cream Cheese
1 can of Crescent roll dough
I packet of chicken gravy mix
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix chicken and cream cheese. Put spoonfuls of chicken mixture on each piece of dough, roll up. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minute, or until golden brown. Mix up gravy packet according to directions, add leftover filling, and serve over chicken pillows like dumplings.
Fish
Salmon Patties
We are the Salmon Ladies.
That's what everyone started calling us. We order salmon everywhere we go out to eat, and my Mom, Grandma (pictured above), and Aunt Sue were given the nickname by waiters at the Layton Lonestar.
Grandma made these for Mom, and we sort of think of them as a salmon-lover's comfort food.
One large can red salmon
1 slice of bread, torn to pieces
1 egg
A splash of milk
Pick all the skin & bones out of the salmon. Mix other ingredients with salmon. shape into patties and fry in a lightly oiled skillet. Serve plain or with ketchup.
Bread
Our Zucchini Bread
This is a fun recipe, and the hardest part is grating the Zucchini. I got it from Mom, who got it from my Aunt Sue. She got it when, between my aunt and Dad's best friend, we had an abundance of Zucchini. I got it when my roommates experienced a similar abundance. I still have the slip of paper I took it down on in our freshman apartment.
2 c sugar
3 eggs
1 c oil
3 c flour
3 t vanilla
1/2 t ground cloves
2 c grated zucchini
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
3 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t baking powder
Mix all ingredients. Seriously, just dump them in and mix it together. Grease & flour 2 large loaf pans. Bake @ 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Maddox Rolls
Maddox is one of our favorite restaurants, in no small part due to these little beauties. My cousin Maddie and I do not doubt we could live on them, and the heavenly raspberry butter that accompanies them.
2 Tablespoons of yeast (not rapid rise)
1/2 cup of warm water
1 1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup (or 4 ounces) of butter
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
3 large eggs
5 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
In a saucepan, melt the butter and add the milk and salt. Scald but do not boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
In a measuring cup, mix the yeast and warm water. Add a pinch of sugar from the 1/2 cup measure and stir. Let the yeast sit and proof for a few minutes.
In a large bowl, mix the yeast mixture, eggs, sugar, milk mixture and flour just until blended and no lumps of flour remain. Do not over mix. The dough will be sticky and very loose.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spoon it into greased muffin tins and let it raise again until doubled in size.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown. I'd go a little more on the underdone side.
Cool on a wire rack. Serve with honey or raspberry butter.
This recipe makes about 24 dinner sized rolls.
