Home Cooking Sampler

When he was living alone, my father bought himself 2 or 3 cookbooks. One of these was the Home Cooking Sampler: Family Favorites from A to Z by Peggy K. Glass. It is filled with midwest staples like beef stroganoff, macaroni and cheese, pot roast and strawberry shortcake, all arranged alphabetically by recipe name. Last night I made the Shepherd’s Pie; it’s one of the places that the book automatically flips open to. The author says she “should call this Cowboy’s Pie since I usually use ground beef instead of lamb.”

Cowboy’s Pie

2 lb ground beef
.5 c onion, finely chopped
28-oz can tomatoes in puree
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
.25 tsp paprika
1 tsp orange zest, grated
pepper, freshly ground
.5 c parsley, finely chopped
.33 c dry bread crumbs
5 c mashed potatoes
1 c Colby or Monterey Jack cheese, grated

In a large saute pan, saute the beef and onions until the beef is no longer pink and the onions are soft. Drain off any accumulated fat

Stir in the tomatoes, breaking them up. Stir in the salt, cumin, chili powder, paprika, orange zest, and pepper. Simmer, stirring often, until the juices are thickened and most of teh liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes. Sitr in the parsley and bread crumbs and season to taste.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spread the hot mixture in a 9 x 13-in or a 10 x 12-in shallow baking dish.

Transfer the mashed potatoes to a pastry bag with a star tip and pipe puffy rosettes or a crisscross pattern over the meat. [Or pretend you have a life and plop them on and spread them around with a fork. -j13] Sprinkle with the cheese.

Bake until the cheese has melted and the potatoes begin to color, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

I omitted the orange zest though I can see that it would have added a bright note. I wonder if a few tablespoons of orange juice would brighten it up? I also added some sliced button mushrooms and peas to the meat mixture when I added the bread crumbs.

It was a very satisfying meal.

Buttermilk pancakes

Ever since I stopped eating dairy, I have been looking for pancakes that I can eat. There are some gluten-free pancakes in the freezer at Trader Joe’s that are okay but they don’t really compare with the nice, puffy homemade pancakes I make for my husband and daughter. Recently, I checked out a book from the library, The Kid-Friendly Food Allergy Cookbook, and found it difficult to return. We tried a few of the recipes and the were all very good; it is a book I will be buying. My favorite recipe was for Buttermilk Pancakes. As for many of the recipes, there are variations and the dairy-free variation used a buttermilk substitute.

Buttermilk Pancakes
2 eggs, beaten until foamy
2 c rice flour
2 T sugar, optional
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c soy yogurt
1 c rice milk
2 T lemon juice
.25 c butter* or margarine
2 tsp vanilla

The pancake batter requires low, slow cooking on a griddle or skillet. The first time I made them I had the heat set too high and they burned without cooking all the way through. I am used to quick-cooking pancake mixes and had to find patience while waiting when I made them the second time. Everyone in the family liked them.

*Since my daughter cannot have corn or nuts, we use butter for cooking. It doesn’t seem to bother me too much. I have not found a margarine or butter substitute that does not have either milk or corn in it.

The best part about the buttermilk substitute of soy yogurt, rice milk and lemon juice is that it can easily be used in other recipes. I have a cake recipe I am going to try it in.

Buttermilk Substitute
.5 c soy yogurt
.5 c rice milk
1 T lemon juice

use in place of 1 c buttermilk.