Friday, September 7, 2012

Rice

Recipe From: Ruthanne Hassing

Preheat Oven to: 350 degrees

Ingredients

2 cups rice
4 cups water

Instructions

Put rice and water into a casserole dish.  Bake for 45 minutes.

Variations

Use chicken broth instead of water.
Add a little butter and salt to the water.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Pepperkaker

Recipe From: Ruth Hassing (Kirsten's grandmother)

Notes

This is a Norwegian recipe translated by my aunt Åse Blake, Ruth's daughter.

Preheat Oven to:  375 degrees

Ingredients

1 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 Tbl dark corn syrup
2 tsp baking soda, dissolved in a little warm water
3 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cardamon

Instructions

Sift together dry ingredients, except soda; set aside.  Cream butter and sugars.  Add egg and syrup and mix well.  Dissolve the soda in a little warm water; add to egg mixture and stir thoroughly.  Add sifted dry ingredients and stir until blended.  Chill several hours.  Roll quite thin and cut into shapes with cookie cutter.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 7 minutes.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Baked Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole

Recipe From: Åse Blake (Kirsten's aunt).  We had this at Christmas in Atlanta one year when I was in high school, so I got this recipe sometime in the mid-1980's.

Preheat Oven to: 375 degrees

Ingredients

1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 lb sweet potatoes, cooked (can use canned or fresh)
2 cups thinly sliced peeled apple
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup slivered almonds

Instructions

Mix brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.  Peel potatoes and cut into 1 inch thick slices.  Arrange a layer of sweet potatoes in a 2 qt shallow baking dish.  Cover with a layer of apples, half sugar mixture & half the raisins.  Repeat layers.  Dot with butter and sprinkle with almonds.  Cover and bake 35 minutes.  Remove cover and bake for 10 more minutes.  If dinner is delayed, reduce heat to 225.  Cover and keep warm up to 30 minutes.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Cucumber Salad

Recipe From: Ruth Hassing (Kirsten's grandmother)

Notes
This is a Norwegian recipe translated by Åse Blake, Ruth's daughter.

Ingredients

1 large cucumber
1/3 cup cider vinegar
3 Tbl water
3 Tbl sugar
1/2 tsp salt
few grains white pepper
1 Tbl chopped parsley

Instructions

Pare cucumber; cut into very thin slices.  Mix other ingredients except parsley.  Pour over the cucumber slices and toss lightly to coat evenly.  Cover and put in refrigerator for several hours to chill and allow flabors to blend.  Garnish with finely chopped parsley.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Dip for Shrimp or Veggies

Recipe From:  Unknown, but probably my mother (I have it written in pencil on a piece of notebook paper. No idea where I got it from.)

Ingredients

mayo
plain yogurt
lemon zest + juice
dill

Instructions

Mix ingredients together in proportions that taste good to you.  Serve with shrimp or vegetables for dipping.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Rescue Squad Chicken

Recipe From: Jon Howard (Kirsten's husband).  Jon says he had this during a shift at the Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad, so now it's Rescue Squad Chicken in our house.

Ingredients

Chicken breast
Italian dressing

Instructions

Place a chicken breast in the middle of a piece of aluminum foil.  Cover with Italian dressing.  Fold up chicken and dressing in the foil to make a foil packet.  Grill 12-15 minutes or bake at 450 for approx 20 minutes.

Can includes vegetables in the packet if desired.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

White Sauce for Fish Balls (Fiskeboller)

Recipe From: Ruthanne Hassing (Kirsten's mom)

Notes:  Fishballs are a Norwegian food.  They're ground up fish mixed with flour into a smooth round cake.  They make them in baby sizes.  Fishballs are often served in a white sauce with steamed vegetables, often carrots and baby potatoes.  You can make them yourself but the canned ones are just as good.

This also makes a good basic white sauce.  The basic formula for white sauce is 2 Tbl fat + 2 Tbl thickener (usually flour) for every cup of liquid.

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk OR
fishball liquid drained from the fishball can + powdered milk

Instructions

Melt margarine in skillet.
Slowly mix in flour.
Take skillet off heat and slowly stir in milk.  Can use the liquid from the fishball can mixed with powdered milk instead, if desired.

Put fishballs in liquid sauce until hot.