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2005

TODAY's CASES:

Applejack

On 1 Nov 2005 at 10:23, Kevin wrote:

> Uncle,
>
>  Is there a site that I can find out the recipe to make "applejack"
>  the old fashion way such as how much raisins etc?
> 
> Kevin
> 

Hello Kevin,

The "Mother Earth News" has an applejack recipe in the September/October, 1976 issue.:

Bottom of the page, below the instructions for making a cider press.

Phaed

Applejack is distilled hard apple cider.

I read several places that you can make applejack from hard apple cider by freezing rather than distilling it. You freeze the cider - the water freezes, and you pour off the applejack, which is mostly alcohol and doesn't freeze. Seems to me that it would be hard to get the alcohol content just right, but here's a recipe:
E-How

There's another applejack recipe here:
Goodwine


Blueberry Dumplings

On 31 Oct 2005 at 20:25, Trent wrote:

> My grandmother used to make blueberry dumplings.  She would make a 
> sweet dough.  She would take a small handful of fresh blueberries
> (they had  to be fresh!) and put these in the center of a piece of
> dough that she had  rolled out.  She would pull the dough up over the
> blueberries and make sure  they were fully covered.  She would gently
> squeeze the ball of dough and  berries until it made a slight popping
> sound.   These balls of dough  were dropped into boiling water (Don't
> really know how long).  When removed  from the water, she would place
> one in a saucer, add a little sugar on the top,  and put milk over it.
>  So good!  Too bad that I did not watch her more  closely.
> 

Hello Trent,

Most of the blueberry dumplings recipes that I found were just dough dumplings cooked in hot blueberry sauce. However, the one below is more like what you describe.

Phaed

Blueberry  Dumplings

 Ingredients :
 3 c. flour
 2 tsp. baking powder
 3/4 c. milk
 1/2 stick butter
 1 tsp. salt
 1 egg
 1 pt. blueberries

 Preparation :
    Knead all ingredients except blueberries together.  Take 1/2 of
 dough, roll out to about 1/4 inch thick.  Cut into 2 inch squares.
 Fill with blueberries and seal tightly by forming round balls.  Drop
 into boiling water.  Let cook a short while after they float to the
 top of the water.  Serve with brown butter sugar and cinnamon poured
 over the top.

Russian Honey Cake

Hi. You have a request on one of your web pages from Ashley asking 
for a recipe for a Russian Honey Cake. I have a quite different 
recipe for one which may be the one he/she was looking for.

Quite some time ago I tried a cake by that name. It was the nicest 
cake I have had for a long time and I spent ages searching for a 
recipe of the same name, and eventually found it.  It took me about 
6 months searching the net (on websites mostly in Russian, which I
definitely don't read or speak) translating from Russian using
AltaVista's Babelfish translator, and trying different recipes before 
I found it. It has produced a result at least as nice as the one I 
tried.

I owe huge thanks to solarlion from the Ruscuisine website for the 
clear and accurate translation of the recipe I eventually found.  

15 Layer Russian Honey Cake

2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon honey
100g margarine or butter
2 cups flour

Cream Filling & Coating

750g sour cream
1/2 cup sugar (more or less depending on your own taste)
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 – 1 packet (approx.) crushed biscuit crumbs for coating
Ground walnuts for coating (may be omitted if you want - I don't 
like them much so I usually leave them out)  

Preheat oven to 180°C.
1. Beat eggs well with sugar; add baking soda and liquid honey (warm). 
2. Melt the margarine/butter in a casserole or pot; add the mixture
(margarine should not be too hot). 
3. Put the casserole on a low heat, add the flour while mixing and mix
until the mass is without lumps (the mixture will be very thick and 
very hard to stir). Remove from heat and cool. 
4. Dip the dough in flour, divide, roll each layer very thin (1 – 2mm),
cut circles as round as possible (approx. 18cm diameter), and bake at
180°C for 2 – 4 minutes or until golden brown in colour. Repeat with
remaining dough. Allow to cool before assembling.

    I baked 2 pieces at a time on baking paper on an oven tray. Each
batch took just long enough to cook, that I had two more ready to swap
when the first ones were done.

The cream filling is made from sour cream and sugar. The sour cream 
is simply whipped with the sugar until it becomes thicker. 

    The original recipe said to add sugar ‘by intuition’; I think 
you’re supposed to keep adding more until it thickens, but the time 
I tried that it was too sickly sweet, so I just beat it until the 
sugar dissolved – the sour cream mixture was still fairly liquid.

5. Coat each layer with a generous layer of cream; assemble the cake,
coat the sides with cream and sprinkle with crumbs and ground walnuts.

Allow to set at least 6 hours before eating.

I have posted the recipe on both the Ruscuisine website and my own geocities page.

Thanks

Peter 

Chow Mein Pickles

On 3 Nov 2005 at 4:29, Tom wrote:

> Chow Mein Pickles
> 
> 3 small pickling cucumbers, sliced
> 3 green peppers, julienne cut
> 2 red peppers, julienne cut
> 1 onion, sliced
> 1/3 cup pickling salt
> 6 cups white sugar
> 3 1/2 cups white vinegar
> 2 tsp turmeric
> 2 tsp mustard seed
> 1 tsp celery seed
> 
> Layer vegetables with salt, and leave 8 hours or
> overnight.
> 
> Drain well. Place in a preserving kettle and add
> sugar, vinegar, and spices. Bring to a boil.
> 
> Lift vegetables from syrup with a slotted spoon, and
> pack into 1 pint preserving jars. Ladle syrup over
> top, leaving 1/8 inch head space, seal.
> 
> Process in boiling water bath 15 minutes.

Marrow Chutney

On 3 Nov 2005 at 9:44, Margaret wrote:

> Hullo, my name is Margaret, and it is the first time for me to use
> this  site.
> 
> I remember my mother making a marrow chutney about forty years ago.  I
>  know she used turmeric as the chutney was yellow.  It was loved by all
> and  sundry, and I wonder if you could come up with a similar recipe
> for me.  
> 
> Many thanks, Margaret    
> 
> ps. I live in South Wales in UK.  Money used to very short at the time
>  my mother made the Chutney, and spices etc. would have been
> difficult, if not  impossible to get hold of.
> 

Hello Margaret,

Below is a very simple one with not too many spices and with turmeric. It's the only one that I could locate with turmeric.

Phaed

Marrow Chutney

Ingredients
3lbs marrow
1.5 lbs Shallots.
1.75 lbs sugar
1 large apple
1.5 pints vinegar.
2 desert spoons flour
1 desert spoon turmeric
1 teaspoon mustard powder
Method

Cut marrow into cubes. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons
of salt and allow to stand overnight. Drain, then add
vinegar and sugar. Mix in flour, turmeric and
mustard powder mixed with a little vinegar. Boil for
approximately 10 minutes until set.

""


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