Old Fashioned Living Recipes

Featuring Lor from Canada

CHICKEN CURRY

My husband is from England and my family is from Ireland and since I began cooking with curry, it is something we look forward to. No...not restaurant style but homemade. I have a great recipe I would like to share with you and thought if you are grasping for ideas...here's one. Here is just one recipe I have. ~Lor

This recipe can be served in a clay pot or Pyrex. Clay pot cooking is very popular because the clay pots retain heat and can go straight from the oven to the dinner table. This recipe for chicken curry is very adaptable -you can substitute canned tomatoes or alter the amount of curry and other seasonings according to your own personal taste.

Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

2 pounds skinless, and boneless chicken breast or thighs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger

1 tablespoon cornstarch

6 new potatoes, cut into chunks

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into small chunks

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2-3 teaspoons minced garlic

1 large onion, sliced

2 tablespoons good quality curry powder

1 large tomato, cut into 1/2-inch wedges

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

2 green onions, with top, cut into 1-inch pieces

Directions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a 2-quart clay pot or heavy casserole with a cover in the oven to heat. Trim the fat from the chicken and cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes. In a bowl, combine the salt, pepper, ginger, and cornstarch. Toss the chicken with the cornstarch mixture and set aside. Bring 2 cups water (I add a packet of chicken OXO) to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Add the potatoes and carrot, cover, and cook 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Heat a nonstick skillet or wok over high heat until hot. Add the vegetable oil and the chicken; stir and cook until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Add the garlic, onion, curry powder, and tomato and stir-fry 1 minute. Add the potatoes, carrot, soy sauce, and sugar and continue to stir until well mixed. Turn off the heat and transfer the mixture to the preheated clay pot. Cover the clay pot and return to the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot. To hold the finished dish, turn the oven off and keep warm until ready to serve. Stir in the green onion just before serving.

Ginger Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup plus 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons (1-1/4 sticks) butter, softened

1/2 cup (lightly packed) light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1/4 cup grated fresh ginger

1/4 cup molasses

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together into a bowl and set aside. At medium speed, cream the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, lemon zest, and ginger together in a bowl until light and fluffy, 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula while mixing. Add the molasses and mix on low speed for several seconds. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until the mixture is fluffy again. Scrape the bowl. Divide the dough in half. Form logs of each half and wrap tightly in waxed paper. Chill the dough for 2 hours. After 2 hours gently roll the wrapped dough back and forth on the work surface to smooth out the cylinder. Refrigerate again for 4 to 6 hours or overnight. Fifteen minutes before baking preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper, or leave them ungreased. Cut the rolls into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place the cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until they are crisp and firm, with brown edges, 14 to 16 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets. Store covered, or freeze for up to two weeks. Makes 40 cookies.

Polish Sausage and Cabbage

(I increase according to number of people I'm serving.)

1/2 Cabbage ~ course sliced

2 Onions ~ large, cut 1" slices

2 Potatoes ~ large, peeled and sliced in chunks

2 lbs. Polish sausage ~ cut 1" chunks

2 teaspoons Pepper; freshly ground

14 ounces Chicken Broth/Vegetable Stock

1/2 teaspoon Caraway seeds(optional)

1/2 cup Polish dehydrated mushrooms

(or button mushrooms~canned or fresh)

Place sliced cabbage in crockpot. Toss with potato, pepper and caraway seeds. Add sliced onion, mushrooms and Polish sausage. Pour chicken/ vegetable broth over all; stir lightly. Cover and cook on Low setting for 8 to 10 hours or on HIGH setting for 2 to 4 hours. This dish is delicious served with mustard or horseradish. Makes 4 servings(about 3 1/2 quarts). Serves: 4

Grandmother's Cheese Cake (Sernik Babci)

Dough:

1-1/4 cups flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 egg

3 Tbsp. sour cream

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar

Filling:

6 eggs

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 lb. farmers cheese or ricotta

2/3 cup melted butter

1-1/2 cups mashed potatoes (not seasoned)

(*Save mashed potatoes from the night before)

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup grated orange or lemon peel

For the dough, combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a fork. Beat egg into the sour cream. Stir into the flour mixture then stir in the sugar. Knead the dough until well mixed and smooth. Roll dough on a floured surface into a rectangle. Line a 13x9x2 inch pan with the dough and bring dough part the way up sides.

For the filling, separate 1 egg and reserve the whites, beat remaining yolk and whole eggs with the sugar for 5 minutes at high speed of a electric mixer. Add the vanilla, beat at high until the mixture is soft. Press cheese through a sieve, blend cheese with butter, add potatoes, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt. Stir in orange peel. Fold into the egg mixture. Turn into prepare crust in pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 45-55 min. or until set. Cool well before cutting.