Dad's Perch

Spray Cooking Sheet with Pam

Coat fish with mayo (HELLMANS)

Dip in Bread Crumbs, season with salt, pepper and paprika.

Bake 8 - 10 minutes at 450 degrees.

Low Sodium Vegetable Broth

Low sodium cooking takes some practice but once you "get it" - it become much easier.  This recipe came from combining a few different ones and trial and error.... tweak it until it pleases you. I often double the garlic in this.

1 Lb. celery, whole, with leaves, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces

1 lb.carrots- cleaned and cut in 1 inch pieces

1.5  lb. onions  -quartered

1 lb. tomatoes (if in season) Cored

3 cloves garlic,

1 teaspoon thyme

1  bay leaf removed after simmering

1 teaspoon  sweet basil bl

8 black peppercorns

1 gallon water

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).

Remove leaves and tender inner parts of celery and set aside.

Toss onions, carrots, tomatoes, with olive oil. Place vegetables in a roasting pan and place them in the 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) oven. Stir the vegetable every 15 minutes. Cook until all of the vegetables have browned and the onions start to caramelize, this will take over one hour.

Put the browned vegetables, celery, garlic, cloves, bay leaf, pepper corns, Italian parsley and water into a large stock pot. Bring to a full boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook uncovered until liquid is reduced by half.

Pour the broth through a colander, catching the broth in a large bowl or pot. The liquid caught in the bowl or pot is your vegetable broth it can be used immediately or stored for later use. Although the vegetables are no longer necessary for your broth they are delicious to eat hot or cold, don't waste them

Place all the ingredients into a stockpot and simmer, partially covered, for 8 hours or overnight. Stir occasionally. Skim off any scum that appears. Cook it this way for 45 minutes. (If using a crockpot, cook on LOW for 8-12 hours and skim scum when done.).

Remove the ingredients from the pot and strain the stock through cheesecloth or a cheesecloth-lined vegetable strainer or sieve. Throw out the solids.

Simmer the strained stock until it reduces to about 8 cups.

If making ahead, let cool and store in 2-cup freezer containers to approximate the volume of one can of soup.

Tips:
Add dried herbs at the beginning of the cooking time, and fresh herbs right before serving.
 

If your recipe calls for a heavy cream, use pureed cooked potatoes instead. Or remove about two cups of your cooked soup and blend until smooth. (Use a stick hand blender for best results, or puree it one cup at a time in a blender. Hold the lid on tight with a kitchen towel to protect yourself from burns.) Stir the puree back into the soup to thicken it. 

To add real cream flavor, stir in a few tablespoons of heavy cream when the recipe calls for 1 cup--a little cream will go a long way.Note: because cream is an emulsion, it doesn't "break" or curdle--like milk or sour cream can do--if the soup starts to boil. Use the real thing, but in small amounts, if you're watching your saturated fat intake.

If low sodium is NOT  a concern  you can add Miso--fermented soybean paste--adds savor to soup stocks, especially vegetarian broths. Add a tablespoon or so per quart of water, or to taste. Miso is high in salt.

Gramp's Split Pea Soup

This is my dad's split pea soup recipe, it is wonderful... great comfort food.

1 # ( about 2.5 cups) split peas
3 Qts water
1 3/4 – 2# smoked ham hocks or a large ham bone
1 large onion, minced
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 bay leaf
1 TBSP lemon juice
2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Rinse and sort peas.
In a large soup kettle, combine peas, water, and bone –Simmer covered 2 – 2.5 hours.
Add remaining ingredients, simmer covered 45 minutes. Remove bone from soup, cut meat from bone; dice and add to soup.

For a thicker soup – simmer UNCOVERED 20 – 30 minutes longer.

Season to taste.

Serves 10 -12

Schwanitz Family Chili Recipe

We loved chili,especially on a cold winter day - we topped it with Oyster Crackers.... now my oldest eats this on top of spaghetti - with shredded cheese and chopped onions.

2 large onions, chopped
2 stalks of celery finely chopped
2 pound ground beef
1 pound bulk pork sausage ( if I don't have this I just use ground beef)
2 cans light red chili beans – drained
3 large cans of tomatoes ( or a mix of 1 whole tomatoes, 1 crushed tomatoes, 1 tomato sauce)
1 – 2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
4 -6 TBSP chili powder

Brown meats well with onion and celery. Drain. Add the other ingredients and simmer for a few hours.

Serves 8

Poppy Seed Cookies

Another Christmas cookie at our house - this is from my mother's cookie collection and it's a favorite with my dad and brothers.... very pretty cookie, really dresses up a plate of cookies.

1 cup butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 egg yolks
3 TBSP poppy seeds
2 cups sifted flour

To decorate after the cookies are cool -
1 jar cinnamon jelly
1 jar mint jelly

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and the eggs - one at a time and beat well. Add flour and salt - blend well. Stir in poppy seeds and mix well.

Chill dough 3 – 4 hours.
Shape in 1" balls and place on parchment covered cookie sheet one inch apart.
Bake at 375 degrees for 12 – 15 minutes until very slightly browned.
After removing from the oven, press centers of cookies with your thumb and let cool a few minutes before removing them from the cookie sheet.
Cool on racks – remove from racks and gently press again before filling the impression with jelly.
Let sit out overnight for jelly to set up.

This is a very rich cookie.

Dad & My Original Cabbage Rolls

Many years ago, my dad and I set out to make a roaster pan full of cabbage rolls. We looked at several different recipes, then decided to wing it... we started with some ingredients that were scribbled on a brown paper bag by a Lithuanian woman I knew who made cabbage rolls for her church bazaar... and added our own touch as we went along. We think WE make the best cabbage rolls!

*ALL ingredients are estimated

Sauce:
2 cans condensed tomato soup
1 lg. can tomato sauce
lemon juice
sugar (a little to cut the acid in the tomato soup)
2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lg. jar sauerkraut-- for bottom of pan

3 lg. heads of cabbage

FILLING:
2# ground beef or a little more
1# ground pork
2 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups “cooled” cooked rice
2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1 TBSP salt
1 tsp. black pepper
few healthy shakes oregano
3 lg. onions, finely chopped
1 tsp. celery salt

Topping for sauce
1/2 pound partially cooked bacon

Cook whole heads of cabbage in boiling water about 20 minutes. When cool enough to handle separate leaves. Mix all remaining ingredients for filling. Start to roll cabbage rolls from the outside of leaf--roll towards stem.

Line roaster pan with 1 jar sauerkraut. Place rolls on top of kraut seam side down.

Sauce: Combine 2 cans tomato soup with 1 can tomato sauce. Add 1/4 cup water, 4 tsp. sugar and a splash of lemon juice. Mince garlic and add to sauce. Pour over rolls.

Lay partially cooked bacon across the top of the roaster pan of cabbage rolls
Bake covered at about 350 for 1 hour 45 mins. Baste often.

Double Orange Refrigerator Sheet Cake

This is a quick, moist and yummy cake. My Dad loves it. I discovered it in the March 1990 issue of Home Cooking and it has been a family favorite ever since. Enjoy!

CAKE:
1 (4-Serving size) Orange Jello
1 package Orange Cake mix ( Or lemon or yellow)

TOPPING:
1 envelope whipped topping mix ( 2 – 2.5 cups)
1 package (4-serving) Vanilla INSTANT pudding mix
1 ½ cups cold milk
1 tsp. Orange extract

Dissolve jello in ¾ cup boiling water. Add ½ cup cold water; set aside at room temperature. Mix and bake cake according the package directions for a 13 x 9” pan. Cool cake for 20-25 minutes. Poke deep holes through the top of the warm cake, about 1-inch apart. With a measuring cup with a lip on it, slowly and evenly pour the jello mixture into the holes. Refrigerate cake while preparing topping.

Topping:
In a chilled bowl, blend and whip topping mix, instant pudding, cold milk and orange extract until stiff ( 3- 8 minutes – mine never gets stiff). Immediately frost the top of the cake. Cake must be stored in the refrigerator and served chilled. Frosted cake may also be frozen.

* To garnish, if you so desire – cut thin slices of orange and make a slit half way through it so it will twist. Use these along with a few springs of mint as a garnish. Enjoy!

Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole

26 oz. frozen shredded hash brown potatoes (thawed)
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cup grated colby cheese

Preheat oven to 350
Spray a 9x13 pan.
Combine soup, butter, salt, pepper, onion, milk and cheese.
Gently mix in potatoes,. Pour into a prepared pan.
Bake uncovered 1 hour.

Dad's Dieter's Delight

Looking for a GREAT diet dish or a spectacular brunch dish? This is it. My dad made this for us when we were kids and even today it is one of my all-time favorite dishes.... the gingerale just makes it. I use the Diet Vernors.

Pink or Red grapefruit
Navel Oranges
Fresh pineapple or canned tidbits or chunks in its own juice
Vernor's Gingerale - nothing else will do

Section grapefruit (remove the membrane) and oranges.
Add pineapple (tidbits or chunks)canned in it’s own juice, (juice too).
Mix gently.

Serve with a little gingerale poured over indivigual servings.

Hint: Put oranges in boiling water for about 5 minutes and the white pulp will come off easily. Grapefruit will not need it because you will remove the membrane from them.

Dad's Turkey Rice Soup for a Crowd

6 cups turkey 4 cups carrots chopped
4 cups celery chopped 1 huge onion- diced
3 TBSP chicken soup base 2 TBSP salt
Liquid:--1 qt. turkey broth + 4 lg. cans chicken broth

Combine all of the above EXCEPT the turkey and simmer 2 1/2 hours.

3 cups long grain rice
1 large can chicken broth


Add: 3 cups long grain reg. rice and cook as directed, it will be very thick---add turkey and lg. can of broth before serving.

One 21# turkey will make 3 batches.

77 4oz. servings.