The Homestyle Amish Kitchen Cookbook (20 page)
Read The Homestyle Amish Kitchen Cookbook Online
Authors: Georgia Varozza
Take the bag of frozen hash browns and give it a good whack on a hard surface to loosen the hash browns; you don’t want any clumps of frozen potatoes. Add the potatoes, salt, pepper, and parsley and mix. Take a spatula and press the potato mixture firmly into the bottom of the skillet, making a dense patty.
Increase heat to medium-high, cover, and cook potatoes for 5-8 minutes or until they turn a deep golden brown on the bottom. Don’t stir while they are cooking. Turn potatoes, in sections at a time, pat down again firmly, cover, and continue cooking until the bottom is a deep golden brown. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and continue cooking, uncovered, until cheese is melted. Cut into wedges and serve.
3 T. butter
2 large onions, thinly sliced
6 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste
In a large pan or skillet, melt the butter. Add the onions and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until onions begin to color. Add the apples on top of the onions; do not stir. Sprinkle on brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt and pepper; again, do not stir.
Cover the pan and cook on low heat, simmering without stirring for 10 minutes. Uncover, turn up heat slightly, and stir lightly to combine the layers. Continue cooking until the apples are completely tender and the juices have been reduced somewhat.
This can be eaten as a vegetable side dish or spooned over pork chops or roast.
If you have your own asparagus patch, when harvesting, cut all asparagus tops off below the ground, making sure the cut ends are covered with a bit of loose dirt. This will help the stalk to not “bleed,” which takes the strength out of the roots, and next year’s crop will be heartier.
12 carrots, skinned and sliced
4 T. butter
5 T. flour
2 cups milk
½ cup Velveeta cheese, diced
1 small onion, diced
¼ tsp. salt
⅛ tsp. pepper
1 tsp. prepared mustard
crushed potato chips or bread crumbs
Cook carrots in boiling water until tender but not too soft; drain.
Make a white sauce by melting butter in a medium saucepan and adding the flour, stirring constantly. Gradually add the milk, continuing to stir constantly while sauce thickens. Add
the cheese and stir until cheese is completely melted. Add the onion, salt, pepper, and mustard and stir carrots into the cheese mixture.
Pour into a buttered casserole dish and top with crushed potato chips or bread crumbs. Bake at 350° for 30-45 minutes or until carrots are thoroughly cooked and casserole is bubbly and golden brown on top.
1 quart canned corn, drained, or 1 quart frozen corn, thawed and drained
1 cup cracker crumbs or bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
½ cup milk, approximately
salt and pepper to taste
Place the corn and crumbs in layers in a buttered casserole dish, keeping out a bit of the crumbs to sprinkle on top.
Mix together the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Carefully pour over the corn and crumbs; top with a sprinkling of crumbs and bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.
Velveeta cheese may not seem a likely ingredient found in Amish kitchens, but it’s used often because it doesn’t need to be refrigerated, is shelf stable, and adds a great taste to many dishes.
Scalloped Rice with Cheese Sauce
¼ cup butter
2 T. onion, diced
2 T. green bell pepper, diced
3 T. flour
½ cup evaporated milk
½ cup water
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1½ cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
3 cups cooked long-grain white rice, divided
4 slices stale bread, processed into crumbs
paprika
In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add onion and green pepper and sauté until the onion begins to color, about 5 minutes. Turn heat to low and add the flour; stirring constantly, until mixture bubbles. Gradually pour in the evaporated milk and water, whisking the entire time until smooth. Add the salt, pepper, cheese, and parsley and continue to whisk until cheese is melted. Stir in 1 cup of the cooked rice.
Put the remaining rice into a well-buttered flat casserole or baking dish and top with the cheese mixture. Sprinkle with the bread crumbs and paprika.
Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until the top is golden and the casserole is heated through.
3 eggs, beaten
6 potatoes, shredded
1 small onion, diced very fine
4 T. melted butter
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
6 cups fresh spinach, chopped very fine
To the eggs add the shredded potatoes and mix well (this will help to keep the raw potatoes from discoloring while making the pie). Add the onion, melted butter, salt, and pepper.
Place half of the potato mixture into the bottom of a buttered baking dish and gently press down. Place the spinach in next and then cover with the remaining potato mixture, pressing down gently again.
Bake at 350° for 30-45 minutes or until done.
The three main sources of energy that the Amish use are waterwheels, windmills, and diesel engines. For those more conservative congregations that do not allow diesel engines to be used for milking machines, the famers sell their milk to cheese plants. Because the milk is boiled during the cheese-making process, they are allowed to milk by hand. But many congregations have allowed the switch because selling grade-A milk is more lucrative than selling milk used in making cheese.
Stewed Tomatoes
¼ cup butter
½ cup onion, finely chopped
¼ cup celery, chopped
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped, with juice
2 tsp. brown sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. dried basil
¼ tsp. pepper
Dumplings
1 cup flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 T. butter
1 egg, beaten
6 T. milk
1 T. fresh parsley, minced
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and sauté the onion and celery about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and juice, and the brown sugar and seasonings, and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered for several minutes.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt for the dumplings. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Add the egg, milk, and parsley and blend lightly. Do not overmix. Drop dumplings by tablespoonfuls on top of the simmering tomato mixture. Cover tightly and cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes. Do not lift the cover during the cooking period. Serve in bowls, topped with butter if desired.
You can also use 2 quarts of home-canned stewed tomatoes for this recipe instead of the 28-oz. can. It yields more sauce, which works just fine in this recipe
.
6 cups cubed squash (zucchini, pattypan, crookneck, etc.)
¼ cup onion, chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 cup carrots, shredded
1 8-oz. package herbed stuffing mix
½ cup butter, melted
Cook squash and onion in enough water to cover for 5 minutes; drain.
Mix together the soup, sour cream, and carrots. Gently fold into the squash mixture.
Stir together the stuffing and butter; spoon half of the stuffing in a 12 × 7-inch baking dish. Spread squash mixture over the stuffing and then cover squash with the other half of the stuffing.
Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.
1 T. butter
1 T. oil
6 small zucchini, sliced
3 large ears corn, cooked and cut from cob
1 tsp. sugar
salt and pepper to taste
½ tsp. dill weed (optional)
In a large frying pan or skillet, melt butter and oil until hot, being careful not to let the butter burn. Add the zucchini and fry until golden, 5-6 minutes. Add the corn, sugar, salt, and pepper and cook until corn is heated through. Sprinkle with dill weed if using and serve immediately.
1½ lb. small zucchini
1 onion, finely chopped
6 T. butter, divided
1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
2 eggs, beaten
1½ cups soft bread crumbs
Scrub zucchini; cook whole in small amount of water until crisp-tender. Cool. Sauté onion in 4 T. butter until golden in color. Cut squash into cubes and add to onion. Stir in cheese, salt, and pepper. Cool slightly. Mix zucchini mixture with the beaten eggs and then spoon into a buttered 1-quart baking dish. Melt remaining 2 T. butter and add to bread crumbs, tossing to coat. Sprinkle crumbs over the top of the zucchini. Bake at 350° for 30-45 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
T
here is so much to do each day—cleaning the house, weeding the vegetable patch, taking food to an elderly widow or a sister who has recently been ill, or harvesting and canning summer’s produce. Casseroles are a good answer for what to feed the family on those busy days. Simply mix together the ingredients and pop the dish into a slow-burning oven to simmer and bake for hours. When the family returns from their day, the aroma from the kitchen beckons them to hurry and sit at their places at the table. The family waits for Father to bow his head and lead the family in silent prayer—then it’s time to enjoy what Mother and the girls have prepared.
A typical dinner might consist of Yum-a-Setta, potatoes and carrots from the garden, sliced fresh tomatoes, home-canned applesauce, and cookies and pie for dessert. Water and coffee are often the beverages of choice.
