Hen Sauce Piquante

Ingredients for Hen Sauce Piquante:

1 hen
1/4 cup steak seasoning
4 cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped bell pepper
1/3 cup minced garlic
4 bay leaves
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon rosemary
6 (12 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 cup roux (see below for recipe)
1 (12 ounce) can tomatoes
1 (10 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
Water
2 cups chopped green onion
Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for Basic Roux:

2/3 cup flour
3/4 cup oil

To Prepare Hen Piquante:

Cut hen into small pieces. Sprinkle with steak seasoning and brown completely in large pot. Remove hen. Leave drippings and add onions and bell pepper, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary. Saute until tender. Add chicken broth and bring to boil. Add roux and stir constantly. Add tomatoes and can of cream of mushroom soup. Add water and stir well. Allow to cook in oven at 325 degrees for three hours. Remove and add green onions and let sit for ten minutes. Serve over rice.

To Prepare Basic Roux:

Mix the flour and oil in a heavy iron pot until it is thoroughly mixed before you turn on the fire under the pot. After it is mixed, turn the fire on to medium to low, stirring constantly. Stir all over the bottom of the pot to be sure that no particles stick to the bottom. As you stir, the roux browns slowly. Don't cook your roux fast, because as it reaches the done point, it will be too hot and burn. When your roux is a rich dark brown, turn off the heat immediately, continuing to stir. Add water to lower the temperature slightly so the roux will stop browning. Or, you can add chopped onions and/or bell peppers to lower temperature. Continue stirring, return to heat and add the remainder of the ingredients for your stew or gumbo.
A heavy pot is a must to make a pretty roux. The heavier the pot, the easier your job will be. Before you start your roux, start heating water in kettle, the amount depending on whether you are making a gumbo or a stew. You must always add hot water to a roux. It is very important not to change the temperature of the roux by adding cold water to it. The measurements given above make a roux large enough for a stew with 1 hen, or a gumbo with two pounds of shrimp.

Note: If you wish to make a larger recipe, enlarge the recipe in the same proportions given. We feel it to be important to use more oil than flour.

Tostados (Tortilla Chips)

Ingredients

Shortening
Garlic Powder
12 Corn Tortillas
Red Chili Powder (optional)
Salt (optional)

Directions

Heat 2-inches of shortening in a heavy pan at medium-high heat. Cut tortillas into quarters to within 1/2 inch from center of tortilla. Fry tortillas until crist and drain well on absorbent towels. Separate each tortilla into four tostados. Tostados may be sprinkled with salt, garlic powder, or chili powder.

Yield: 4 dozen

Lemonade Pie with Blueberry Sauce

Ingredients for Crust:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 40 graham crackers)
6 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 Tablespoon sugar

Ingredients for Lemonade Pie:

4 cups vanilla frozen yogurt, slightly thawed
1/2 cup lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Ingredients for Blueberry Sauce:

1-1/2 cups fresh blueberries
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions:

For the crust, combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Pat the crumb mixture over the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Freeze for 20 minutes.

For the pie, combine the yogurt, lemonade concentrate and lemon juice in a bowl and mix well. Spread the yogurt mixture evenly in the prepared springform pan. Freeze, covered with foil or plastic wrap, for 6 hours or until firm.

For the sauce, combine the blueberries, sugar and lemon juice in a food processor. Process until pureed. Press the puree through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Taste and add additional sugar and/or lemon juice if desired.

To serve, allow pie to soften slightly at room temperature. Spoon 1 Tablespoon of the sauce over each serving. Serve immediately.

To save time and energy use a commercially prepared graham cracker pie shell.

Serves: 6 - 8

Lemon Custard Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons softened butter or margarine
2 eggs, separated
1-1/2 cups milk
5 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. While preheating, place a pan of water with six medium or eight small custard cups in it into the oven. In bowl, mix all ingredients except egg whites. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into mixture. Pour mixture evenly into warm custard cups. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until knife inserted into center returns clean. Turn out onto individual plates. The top will be baked custard and the bottom will be cake. Serve hot or cold. May garnish with whipped cream and a cherry.

Servings: 6 - 8

Awesome Spaghetti

Ingredients:

2 pounds mild sausage
1 medium onion, copped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 (12-ounce) cans tomato paste
1 (8-ounce) package sliced pepperoni
3 cups water
1 (4-ounce) can chopped black olives
4 ounces canned or fresh sliced mushrooms
2 envelopes spaghetti mix with mushrooms
1 teaspoon oregano
1 bay leaf
12 ounces spaghetti, penne or pasta of choice,
cooked, drained

Directions:

Brown the sausage with the onion, bell pepper and garlic powder in a large saucepan, stirring until the sausage is crumbly; drain. Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, pepperoni, water, olives. mushrooms, spaghetti mix, oregano and bay leaf. Bring to a boil; reduce heat.
Simmer 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until of the desired consistency, stirring occasionally. Discard the bay leaf. Spoon the sauce over hot cooked spaghetti on a platter.

Serves: 8

Acquacotta - Tuscan Soup

Ingredients

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
2 medium carrots, scraped
2 large celery stalks
1 medium red onion, cleaned
1 small clove garlic, peeled
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 pounds ripe fresh tomatoes, or 1 1/2 pounds canned tomatoes, preferably Italian
1 tablespoon tomato paste, preferably imported Italian
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pinch hot red pepper flakes
2 quarts cold water
2 extra large eggs
8 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano
Plus 2 cups croutons, small bread pieces fried in olive oil, or 8 slices Tuscan bread, toasted .

Directions

Soak the mushrooms in a bowl of lukewarm water for 1/2 hour. Drain and be sure that no sand remains attached to the stems. Finely chop carrots, celery, onion, garlic and the soaked mushrooms all together on a board. Heat the oil in a heavy casserole over medium heat. When the oil is warm, add the chopped ingredients and saute for 10 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon as needed. Meanwhile, pass the tomatoes through a food mill, using the disc with the smallest holes, into a small bowl. Add the strained tomatoes along with the tomato paste, then salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Let simmer for 15 minutes, mixing every so often. Add the cold water, mix very well, and when the broth returns to a boil, let simmer for 55 minutes. Place the two eggs in a crockery or china soup tureen and mix them verywell with the Parmigiano. When the soup is ready, ladle it into the tureen, and using a wooden spoon, mix each addition very well with the egg-cheese combination, in order to avoid curdling. When the both is very smooth and the eggs completely amalgamated, add the croutons and serve immediately. If using bread slices instead, place a slice in each bowl and ladle the broth over it.
Serve immediately.

Yield: 8-10 servings