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Homemade Pizza Casserole
This is a recipe that was often enjoyed by Lovina's mother. It's very typical of the hearty, easy, "throw-together" casseroles that Amish cooks are famous for. Elizabeth would use her own homemade cottage cheese in this dish, as well as homemade pizza sauce and sour cream, but obviously you can use store-bought.
Pizza Casserole
Makes 6 to 8 servings
8 ounces noodles, cooked
1 pound hamburger
1 cup diced onion
1 cup fresh sour cream
1 cup pizza sauce
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup diced or shredded Colby cheese
Cook noodles until tender. Drain and place into 9-inch-by-13-inch baking
dish.
In order, layer hamburger, onion, sour cream, pizza sauce, cottage cheese
and Colby cheese on top of noodles. Do NOT stir.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until cheese on top is bubbly.
Homemade Zucchini Cookies
Okay, it is getting to be zucchini time again. This is one of the more versatile vegetables, which makes it appealing to the resourceful Amish cooks out there. Zucchinis can be used in breads, cakes, suppers, and even cookies. Try this recipe for the Amish Cook's zucchini cookies.
ZUCCHINI COOKIES
1 c. grated zucchini, undrained
1 tsp. baking soda
3 cups flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. shortening
1 egg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped nut meats
1 cup raisins
Mix wet ingredients ingredients together in large bowl. Sift together the following dry ingredients and add to first mixture: 1 tsp. cinnamon, flour, 1/2 tsp. cloves 1/2 tsp. salt. Stir well and add 1/2 cup chopped nut meats and 1 cup raisins. Drop by teaspoon on cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until light brown. Makes 3 dozen.
From the archives: Layered Lettuce Salad....
I was going through old Amish Cook letters, recipes, and paperwork today when I stumbled upon a handwritten page of recipes from Elizabeth Coblentz, Lovina's Mom. It looks like it was for a book we were working on that never came to completion. One of the recipes on the page looked especially inviting during this hot midwestern summer. How about a cool, refreshing lettuce salad? She called it "Layered Lettuce Salad" but to me this looks like a pretty typical 7 layer salad type recipe, although maybe without 7 layers. Anyway, if anyone wants to give the recipe a whirl, here it is:
LAYERED LETTUCE SALAD
1 head lettuce
1 cup celery, diced
4 eggs (hard-boiled and sliced)
10 ounces of uncooked peas
1 sweet onion
8 slices fried bacon, diced
2 cups mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sugar
4 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
Tear clean, crisp lettuce into small bite-sized pieces and place in 9 X 12 glass dish. Layer the rest of the ingredients Layer the rest of the ingredients in order given. Add sugar to mayonnaise and spread over top like frosting. Top with grated cheese and diced bacon,
Amish Cook Classic: Washday Casserole
This was one of Elizabeth Coblentz's favorite recipes, and it is truly an Amish Cook classic. If you want a hearty, simple, delicious casserole, this is a great one!
WASHDAY CASSEROLE
3 pounds of hamburger
3 onions, chopped
3 cups of potatoes, peeled and diced
3 cups of celery, diced
3 cups of cooked spaghetti
2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans of cream of mushroom soup
9 slices of bacon
32 ounces of tomato juice
1 pound of cheddar cheese, grated
Brown crumbled hamburger and onions in a pan. Drain and pour hamburger mix into large casserole or deep 9x13 inch baking pan. Add potatoes, celery, and spaghetti to casserole and mix lightly with hamburger. Pour mushroom soup on top and spread evenly. Fry bacon and lay on top. Pour tomato juice over this. Add cheese over that. Bake 1 1 /2 hours in 350 degree oven. Serves 10 to 12.
Homemade Strawberry Bars....
This is a recipe that Lovina uses for a delicious homemade strawberry bar. Most Amish cooks and bakers are going to use their own homemade strawberry jam, but you can use store-bought. I sometimes will add 1 cup of jam instead of 2/3...yum, you can't have too much strawberry flavor in my opinion!
Give this a try since we are now in the midst of strawberry season!
1 c. flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. oatmeal
1/3 c. firm butter
1 egg
1/4 c. milk
2/3 c. strawberry jam
Powdered sugar
In a mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and granulated sugar; mix in oatmeal. Cut in butter until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Beat egg and milk. Gradually add egg mixture to flour mixture, mixing until well blended. Spread about half of the dough in a greased, paper lined or non stick 8" square baking pan. Spread evenly with jam. Drop remaining dough evenly by spoonfuls over mixture. Bake at 375 degrees until well browned, 35 to 40 minutes. Cut into bars, about 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" while still warm. Sift lightly with powdered sugar. About 1 1/2 dozen.
Amish....Cornbread?
Today's news entry concerned the increasing Amish population in the South. Even though the South has never had a huge Amish presence, there have been southern influences on Amish cooking for generations. Some of this has to do with the Amish settlements in Kentucky and rural Virginia. Local favorites from the surrounding non-Amish areas will find their way into Amish kitchens, the recipes will be tried, modified, and then passed on to family and friends in church districts elsewhere. That is how recipes "spread" among the Amish. One doesn't typically think of cornbread as "Amish", but the simple ingredients have made this southern staple an Amish favorite for a long time now. This recipe is typical of "Amish cornbread"
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
4 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1 egg beaten
1 cup milk
2 tbsp shortening, melted
Grease a square baking pan and preheat the oven at 400F. Mix cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the egg, milk and melted shortening. Beat very well until the ingredients are thoroughly blended. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake until risen and golden brown on top.As a variation, add 1/4 cup grated sharp cheese. Cut into squares to serve.
Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Amish Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
This cookie recipe makes a large batch of large chocolate chip cookies with fewer chocolate chips than the traditional "toll-house" cookies. If you want a more chocolately cookie, feel free to add more chips. This recipe comes from Elizabeth Coblentz, the original Amish Cook columnist....
- 2 cups (4 sticks) butter, softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons hot water
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 (12-ounce) package chocolate chips
-
- Position one of the oven's racks in the center and preheat the oven to 375F degrees.Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease them.
- In a large bowl beat the butter and sugars together until smooth and creamy.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until well blended.
- In a small bowl, dissolve the baking soda in the hot water.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the flour and salt.
- Add the baking soda mixture to the butter and sugar mixture, alternating with the flour and stir just until combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Drop the cookie dough by teaspoonfuls, spaced 3 inches apart, onto the prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake, one cookie sheet at a time in the center of the oven, for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheets and then transfer them with a spatula to wire racks to cool completely.
Got....Buttermilk?
Buttermilk cookies are common in Amish communities throughout northern Indiana, where they use their own buttermilk for baking. These delicious cookies will last for several days in a sealed cookie jar, if they last that long! The recipe below is great as is, but look further down for an interesting twist that one of our readers in Ireland came up with!
2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening
4 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
Position one of the oven racks in the center and preheat the oven to 425F degrees. Either line your cookie sheets with parchment or lightly grease them.
In a large bowl beat together the sugar and shortening until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Stir in the vanilla.
In another large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well blended.
Add the dry mixture to the shortening mixture a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk.
Drop cookie dough by rounded teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto prepared cookie sheets.
Bake one cookie sheet at a time on the center rack for 6 to 8 minutes, until cookies are set.
Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes and then transfer them with a spatula to wire racks to cool completely.
A yummy twist from Mona in Ireland:" Buttermilk Cookies turned out well. We added a cup full of Dark Chocolate Chips and used them to make ice-cream sandwiches."
Rhubarb Pancakes??
This is a neat recipe. I actually tried it once years ago in an Amish home, and it was good. I had these with maple syrup, which made for a bit of a flavor balancing, the sweet syrup against the tart rhubarb.
2 c. sifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
3/4 cups finely diced rhubarb
1/2 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
4 tbsp. melted butter
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the sugar, beat eggs and add to milk and beat again. Pour into dry mixture gradually and beat thoroughly to remove lumps. Add rhubarb, applesauce, cinnamon, and ginger. Stir in the melted butter and bake on prepared griddle until golden brown on both sides. Makes about 12 pancakes
Delicious Homemade Soft Pretzels
I have posted this recipe before, but since pretzels are today's "news" topic, I thought this would be timely. This is Lovina's homemade pretzel recipe from our baking book. If you have never made a homemade pretzel before, I encourage you to try this recipe. It's easy and delicious!
Soft Pretzels Adapted from The Amish Cook's Baking Book, by Lovina Eicher with Kevin Williams.
Makes: 6 medium pretzels.
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup warm but not hot water
1 3/4 cups bread flour
1 egg, lightly beaten coarse salt for sprinkling
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the yeast, sugar, salt and warm water. Stir in the flour until a rough ball forms.
3. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead with lightly floured hands until smooth (about 5 to 8 minutes).
4. Divide the dough into 6 equal balls. Roll each into a rope about 10 inches long. Shape into pretzel forms (see photo above). Brush the pretzels with the egg and sprinkle with the salt. Bake until barely light golden, about 10 minutes.