Recipes 10/97

Recipes 10/97

The Braille Monitor_______

October 1997

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Linda Mentink

Mary Brunoli

Recipes

This month's recipes come from the

National Federation of the Blind's Music Division.

Skillet Beef and Noodle Dinner

by Linda Mentink

Linda Mentink lives in Wisconsin and

serves as President of the NFB Music Division. She is a singer with several

albums to her credit.

Ingredients:

2 cups (1/4 pound) wide noodles, cooked and drained

3 tablespoons bacon drippings

1 cup onion, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

1 pound uncooked ground beef

1 cup diced carrots

2 1/4 cups (1 #2 can tomatoes)

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon Worcester sauce

Method: Scrape, dice, and cook carrots

until tender-crisp. Set aside. In bacon drippings saute onion and celery about

five minutes. Add ground beef, breaking up pieces with the back of the spoon.

Cook, stirring until beef is done. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer

about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Serves six.

O'Henry Bars

by Linda Mentink

Ingredients:

1 cup melted butter or margarine

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

4 cups oatmeal

Method: Mix all ingredients well and

press into a lightly-greased cookie sheet with sides. (Mine measures about 10

by 14 inches.) Bake at 350 degrees for ten to twelve minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Pour over topping made of one cup crunchy peanut butter and one cup chocolate

chips melted and stirred together well. Spread topping and chill bars. Cut before

serving.

$250 Cookies

by Mary Brunoli

Mary Brunoli is the First Vice President

of the Music Division. She writes as follows:

My daughter and I had finished a salad

at the Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas and decided to have a small dessert. Because

our family are such cookie monsters, we decided to try the Neiman-Marcus cookie.

It was so good that I asked if they would give me the recipe. The server said

with a frown, "I'm afraid not."

"Well," I said, "Would

you let me buy the recipe?" With a cute smile, she agreed.

I asked how much, and she responded,

"Two fifty."

I said with approval, "Just add

it to my tab."

Thirty days later I received my statement

from Neiman-Marcus, and it was $285. I looked again and remembered I had only

spent $9.95 for two salads and about $20 for a scarf. When I glanced at the

bottom of the statement, it said "Cookie recipe $250." Boy, was I

upset. I called Neiman's accounting office and told them that I had understood

the waitress to say the cost would be $2.50. I did not realize she meant $250

for the recipe. I asked them to take back the recipe and reduce my bill, but

they said they were sorry, but all the recipes were that expensive so that not

just anyone could duplicate the bakery recipes. The bill would stand.

I thought about how I could get even

or try to get my money back. I just said, "okay, you folks got my $250,

and now I'm going to have $250 worth of fun. I told the accountant that I was

going to see to it that every cookie lover would have the $250 recipe from Neiman-Marcus

for nothing. She replied, "I wish you wouldn't do this."

I said, "I'm sorry, but this is

the only way I feel I can get even, and I will." So here it is. Please

enjoy it and pass it on to someone else. I paid for it; now you can have it

for free.

Ingredients:

2 cups butter

2 cups sugar

2 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 cups flour

5 cups blended oatmeal or quick oats

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons soda

24 ounces chocolate chips

1 8-ounce Hershey bar, grated

3 cups chopped nuts

Method: Measure oats and blend in a food processor to produce a fine powder.

Cream butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix together with flour,

oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey bar, and

nuts.

Roll into balls and place two inches

apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for ten minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies

(recipe may be halved).

Lemon-Dilly Sole

by Mary Brunoli

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup chopped celery

1 cup herb seasoned stuffing mix

1 tablespoon parsley

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 pound fillet of sole or other fish fillets (4 medium slices)

1/3 cup butter

1/2 teaspoon dill weed

Method: Melt 1/3 cup of butter over medium

heat. Add celery and onion; saute until tender. Stir in stuffing mix, parsley,

lemon juice, lemon peel, salt and pepper; set aside. Cut each fillet to make

eight 3-by-4-inch fillet halves. Place four halves in ungreased 9-inch square

baking pan. Top each with 1/4 cup stuffing mixture, then remaining filet halves.

Melt another 1/3 cup butter; stir in dill weed. Pour dill-butter over fillets.

Bake near center of 350-degree oven for twenty to thirty minutes or until fish

flakes with a fork. Spoon sauce over fillets. Return to oven for five minutes.

Yields four servings.

Summer Squash Casserole

by Mary Brunoli

Ingredients:

6 cups summer or zucchini squash (or

both)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 can condensed cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1 carrot, grated

1 small package herb stuffing

1/2 cup butter or margarine

Method: Boil squash and onions ten minutes,

then drain. Mix soup and sour cream, and add grated carrot. Add squash and onion

mixture. Mix stuffing with melted butter. Place half of mixture of crumbs in

13-by-9-inch pan. Add squash mixture and then add rest of bread crumbs on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for thirty minutes.

Crabmeat Quiche

by Mary Brunoli

Ingredients:

1 9-inch unbaked pie crust

1 tablespoon butter

8 ounces king crabmeat

1 teaspoon paprika

2 tablespoons sherry

1 cup heavy cream

salt & pepper to taste

1 tablespoon parmesan cheese

2 eggs

1/4 pound gruyere cheese, grated

Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in pan; add crabmeat; sprinkle with paprika. Saute. Add sherry.

Beat eggs in medium-to-large bowl. Add cream to eggs along with salt, pepper,

and cheeses. Fold in crabmeat. Pour into pie shell. Bake till quiche is set.

Choco-Nut Dainties

by Mary Brunoli

Serve this log-shaped cookie with coffee

as the perfect ending to a company dinner.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) margarine, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 6-ounce package semisweet chocolate pieces

1 recipe chocolate coating, recipe below

2 cups chopped walnuts

Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift flour and salt onto wax paper. Beat together margarine, sugar, egg and

vanilla in large bowl until well mixed. Blend in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate

pieces. Shape dough on lightly floured surface into 2-inch logs 1/2-inch in

diameter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven for twelve

to fifteen minutes, or until cookies are set. Cool on wire racks. Dip ends of

cookies into chocolate coating; roll ends in chopped nuts. Place on wax paper

until set.

Chocolate Coating

Melt together one 12-ounce package semisweet

chocolate pieces and 1/4 cup margarine in top of double boiler over hot water.

Stir until blended and smooth. If mixture is too thick, add more margarine,

1 tablespoon at a time, until mixture is a good coating consistency.