OUR READERS CAN COOK!
Some of the best recipes that have been printed in the Herald-Leader are from our readers. Here are three of them.
When Gail Rogers of Frankfort had out-of-town guests one Christmas, her friend Dana Hodgin brought her a Cajun rice casserole.
“It was so delicious and colorful that I had to have the recipe, which was surprisingly easy. It's a big favorite with my family. I usually double the recipe to have leftovers,” Rogers said.
Cajun rice casserole
• 1 pound hot sausage
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1 yellow pepper, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can French onion soup
• Cayenne pepper to taste
Brown sausage and drain. Cook rice according to package directions. Combine sausage, rice and remaining ingredients. Pour into 9-inch-by-13-inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Makes 4 servings.
When Robyn Reynolds of Berea was 12, she was making cookies for her brother and his friends when she misread her mother’s recipe. “I added too much of some things. I added a little more of some other ingredients to make up for it, but wasn’t sure how the cookies would turn out. Much to my surprise, they were better than the original recipe,” she said.
Robyn’s chocolate chip cookies
• 3/4 cup shortening
• 1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate pieces
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for 2 minutes. Scrape sides of bowl frequently. Add eggs. Beat until blended.
Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Beat into creamed mixture at low speed of electric mixer or by hand with a large spoon until blended.
Stir in chocolate pieces. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 3 inches apart, onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 9 minutes. Cookies will appear moist. Cool on baking sheet 2 minutes. Remove to cooling racks.
Edna H. Caywood of Lexington shared a cake recipe that belonged to her late aunt, Bess Craig.
It was just after the beginning of World War II that Craig retired from a position in the Irvine post office and began baking cookies. She sent them to the young servicemen from her neighborhood.
“Her talent for baking grew like the proverbial Topsy cupcakes,” Caywood said. Craig baked holiday cakes and wedding cakes, and people from surrounding states, having tasted her delicacies while visiting Kentucky, began ordering her cakes.
One of her specialities was a yellow cake with lemon cream filling and caramel icing. Craig sometimes used a chocolate icing.
“Although she had a fine mixer, she made cakes, cookies and icings by hand-beating,” Caywood said.
Yellow cake (3 layers)
• 1 1/2 cups shortening
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 12 egg yolks
• 3/4 teaspoon soda
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 1/4 cups cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Grease and flour 3 round cake pans. Combine shortening, sugar and egg yolks and blend well. Dissolve soda in milk and set aside. Combine cake flour, salt and cream of tartar. Add milk mixture alternately with dry ingredients, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Add lemon and vanilla flavorings. Pour into prepared cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until done.
Lemon filling
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1 tablespoon butter
Beat eggs. Add sugar and flour. Add lemon juice. Stir well and pour into a small saucepan. Cook over low heat. Add butter and continue stirring until mixture thickens. Cool completely before spreading between layers of cake. Spread to within 1 inch of outside of layers.
Caramel icing
• 1 stick margarine
• 3 cups light brown sugar
• 1 cup cream or evaporated milk
In a saucepan, melt margarine. Add other ingredients, stirring well. Cook over low heat until mixture reaches medium-hard ball stage when tested in ice water. Spread over cake before mixture hardens.
Chocolate icing
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 squares unsweetened chocolate
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons white syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine milk and chocolate in saucepan. Place over low heat and stir until chocolate is melted and mixture thickens. Remove from heat and add sugar, syrup and salt. Continue cooking until mixture reaches medium-hard ball stage when tested in ice water. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Let cool. Then beat until mixture is of spreading consistency.
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