FIVE GENERATIONS OF

PLATH  FAMILY  RECIPES

• Fifth Generation Recipes (Great Great-grandmother's Blutwurst & Gristwurst, Sweet Sour Red Cabbage, and Lebkuchen)
• Fourth Generation Recipes (Great-grandmothers' Kroppah, Stuffed Pork Tenderloin, and Danish Petals)
• Third Generation Recipes (Grandmothers' Ox-Tail Soup, Rice Pudding, Russian Fluff, German Potato Salad, Blitz Torte, and Kolatchskis)
• Second Generation Recipes (Mother's Holiday Snowballs, Apple Cake, Parmesan Chicken, and Sweet-Sour Cucumber Salad)
• First Generation Recipes (My Scallops ala Degener, Turkey Stuffing, Spicy Meat Loaf, Shrimp Dip and my wife's Prize-winning Pumpkin & Apple Bread and Veggie Samosas with Chutney Dip)

FIFTH GENERATION RECIPES

Great Great-Grandma Stein's Specialties:

BLUTWURST & GRISTWURST

Photographs show Louise Koslowski Stein, who came to the U.S. from Belschwitz, Germany in the late 1881, to be a stern woman who always kept her hair in a bun and wore long peasant-style house dresses. Family legend has it that she used to work in the potato fields in the old country and returned to the fields three hours after giving birth. She and her husband, Friedrich Stein, a laborer, worked hard enough to own a three-flat brownstone on Chicago's Near-North Side. All of her cooking happened before my time, but my grandmother told me that making sausage was a family tradition for the women, and a kind of rite of passage for young girls. Grandma, as a teenager, was taught how to cut properly, how to work with casings, how to function in the kitchen as part of a "team." Sausage-making was an all-day project that began the night before and resumed at first light, three generations working together. Those recipes are offered mostly as a historical artifact, since many of the ingredients are hard to find and they're not exactly "wellness" foods. Then too, directions were never written down. Only passed on orally. Other recipes below are more easily duplicated and have been family favorites for years.

BLUTWURST (Blood Sausage) ingredients:

10 lbs. pork shoulder

4 1/2 tbs. salt

2 qts. of beef blood

2 lbs. of coarse barley

5 large onions

3 heaping tbs. pepper

3 not-quite heaping tbs. allspice

7 heaping tbs. myron

6 heaping tbs. pfeffer-kraut

4lbs. sausage casing

The night before, cut pork shoulder into pieces. Next morning, cook pork in water with chopped onion until tender. Strain liquid. Cook barley in beef blood about 20 minutes. Grind meat and mix with cooked barley. Mix remaining spices together with meat and cooked barley and stuff ONE casing. Cook by dropping in boiling water and boiling until done. Taste. If not spicy enough, add more spices before cooking up entire batch of sausage. Family lore has it that all the relatives would wait for this sausage.

GRISTWURST ingredients:

2 cups steel-cut oatmeal

6 lbs. beef chuck

2 large onions

6 heaping tbs. allspice

salt and papper to taste

Cook chuck in water with sliced onion, allspice and salt, until tender. Strain liquid. Cook steel-cut oatmeal in liquid about 20 minutes. Grind meat and mix with oatmeat. Stuff into casings.

Great Great-Grandma Stein's

SWEET SOUR RED CABBAGE

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium-sized red cabbage (2 lbs)

3 tbs. granulated sugar

1 tbs. flour

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

1/4 cup cider vinegar or wine vinegar

1/4 cup butter or shortening

1 green apple

1 tsp. salt

2 cups water

Wash cabbage well and shred. Slice green apple. Melt shortening, then add hot water, sugar, seasonings, flour. Blend well. Add vinegar. When it comes to boiling point add cabbage and apple. Cover and cook over low flame approximately 20 minutes. Mix and turn after first 10 minutes.

Great Great-Grandma Stein's

LEBKUCHEN

Sift together:

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Stir together:

4 beaten eggs

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup citron

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine with sifted ingredients and spread 1/4" thick in oblong pan. Bake in 300 oven for 15 minutes. Remove, let cool slightly, and cover with plain icing.

FOURTH GENERATION RECIPES

Great-Grandma Mosser's Specialty:

KROPPAH (Potato Dumplings)

Great-Grandma Elizabeth Zwitter Mosser was born in Austria on 13 November 1884 and married in Iron Mountain, Michigan in 1903. She and husband John Mosser, a laborer, settled in Milwaukee where they raised ten children. One of my earliest childhood memories is of Great Grandma cooking her specialty in the kitchen of her northside bungalow--a dumpling so special that none of her children even attempted to make it until years after she had died in 1977. This short, devout Catholic Roman with stocky legs would shoo everyone out of the kitchen and preside over great pots of cooking potatoes and frying bacon. When she was done, the kroppah was brought into the dining room for all of the generations to savor. When Great Grandma made kroppah, it felt like a holiday, though the dumplings were really simple, hearty Austrian fare. The leftover dumplings were sliced and fried golden brown in butter the next day for breakfast--a way some preferred them. It can be a dinner in itself, or a potato substitute with a pork roast or another German favorite, sauerbraten. Kroppah is still a big favorite with my children.

KROPPAH FILLING:

8 or 9 medium potatoes, boiled with jackets on. Peel while warm and then mash

1 medium onion--chopped and sauteed in 1/4 cup margarine until transparent

Blend onion mix with potatoes and THEN salt to taste. Experiment with amount of onion to suit your tastes. I prefer a large onion and I'll often add some fresh garlic paste or garlic powder as well.

KROPPAH DOUGH:

1 egg, beaten

1 tbs. shortening

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups flour

Beat egg in measuring cup and add enough water to make 1 cup. Add salt and beat well. Blend shortening with flour, then add to above and mix well. Add enough more flour to make a dough which won't stick to hands when kneaded. Form into a roll about 3" in diameter and let rest 10 minutes. Divide roll into 10 pieces. Roll out each piece to about a thin 6" diameter round. Place enough potato (or apple) filling in the center of circle so dough can be pulled over it and pinched together without the dough stretching to breaking point. It helps to moiston the edges with water. Be sure to seal them tightly so they don't break open when boiled. They seem to turn out better when they are made ahead of time and placed on a floured towel.

Heat a large kettle about 2/3 full of water, salted to taste (about 1 tbs.). Bring to full rolling boil. Drop dumplings gently into the water and stir so they don't stick to the bottom of the pan or to each other. They will rise to the top. Boil gently about 20 minutes or until dough appears cooked. Drain into collander.

Serve with melted butter and crumbled bacon.

Great-Grandma Ericksen's

STUFFED PORK TENDERLOIN

Great-Grandma Minnie Stein Ericksen worked in one of Chicago's sewing sweatshops until her eyes went bad, and then she did intricate embroidery by touch. Born 3 April 1876 in Belschwitz, Germany, she was typical of women on the block who cooked for blue-collar men that more often than not came home drunk and demanded to be served first. What was left was given to the children, who ate separately, and what was left after that could be eaten by the woman who cooked it. Shopping was all done with metal pullcarts, the women walking blocks to get to the butcher's and baker's and produce markets. These recipes were written in her daughter's hand, attributed to "mother." Her husband, Alfred "Jim" Ericksen, was a tailor then a painter who, according to family lore, never touched a drop until he fell ill and a doctor prescribed a glass of wine per day. After that day, be became like most of the other men in the neighborhood. Holidays and special meals, as a kind of oasis, became even more special.

STUFFED PORK TENDERLOIN ingredients:

2 large pork tenderloins

5 slices toasted bread

1/3 cup butter or shortening

1 large onion

1 cup celery

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. meat seasoning

2 tbs. parsley

1/4 tsp. monosodium glutinate (does this date the recipe, or what?)

1 egg

butter, salt, pepper

Place toasted bread in cold water. Saute chopped onion and celery in butter. Cover pan and leave on flame about 5 minutes. Drain bread and break in bits. Split pork tenderloin so it can be opened. Do not cut through all the way. Add cooked vegetables to the bread, then parsley, seasonings, and egg. Season tenderloin with salt and pepper and brush with butter. Place dressing in center of pork tenderloin, press down with fingers, and close. Tie tenderloin together with string. Turn bottom side up and place in 10x6x2" casserole Brush entire tenderloin with butter and cover with tin foil. Bake 350 oven for 1 hour. Then remove tinfoil and place under broiler about 3 minutes to turn it golden brown. Then back in oven for about 40-50 more minutes. (I never could understand soaking toasted crumbs!)

Great-Grandma Ericksen's

DANISH PETALS

Almond Filling:

Cream 2 tbs. butter with 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar. Thin with 1-2 tsp. water until it forms a stiff paste. Blend in 1/2 cup ground almonds blanched or unblanched and 1 tsp. almond extract. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Pastry:

Soften 1 cake compressed yeast or 1 pkg. dry yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water and let stand 5 minutes.

Sift together in mixing bowl:

3 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 tsp. salt

Cut in:

1/3 cup butter or margarine until particles are fine.

Make a well in center and stir in:

1 beaten egg

1/2 cup sour cream

softened yeast

Blend well. Knead on well-floured board 8-10 minutes until smooth and satiny. Place in greased bowl and cover. Let rise in warm place (85-90 degrees) until light and doubled in bulk--about 2 hours. Divide into 4 parts. Cut each part into 9 pieces, shaping each piece into flat rounds. Place a tsp. of almond filling on each. Bring up edges of dough and pinch together to form a rough ball-shaped pastry. Roll each ball on lightly floured board to an 8" long pencil shape, then flatten into a strip 3/4" wide. Cut slits at 1/2" intervals along one side, making slits 3/4 of the way through towards the opposite side. Then begin at one end and roll up strip. Place on greased baking sheet with cut ends up. Turn ends down slightly.

Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over rolls. Let rise in warm place 15 minutes. Then bake in moderate oven (350-400) 12 to 15 minutes.

THIRD GENERATION RECIPES

Grandma Plath's Specialty:

OX-TAIL SOUP

Grandma Edna Ericksen Plath was born 6 March 1903 in Chicago, a third-generation American who was a devout Lutheran with a great sense of humor. Her faith was her amazing quality, while her husband, Arthur Plath, was amazing because he worked for Commonwealth Edison for 50 years. When they bought their northside home in Chicago there was nothing but fields, and they could see the downtown skyline from their porch. Grandma's kitchen was a small one on the top floor of a two-flat. My family occupied the lower flat. As long as I can remember, Grandma Plath was known for her ox-tail soup. It's a traditional German recipe passed down to her by her mother, but modified with frozen instead of fresh vegetables. Until she died in 1987, she continued to make this specialty whenever someone requested it.

OX-TAIL SOUP ingredients:

1 package of ox-tails

1 package of frozen vegetables for soup (carrots, peas, corn, green beans, celery, onions)

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup pearl barley

1 small can of tomato juice

salt to taste.

Wash ox-tails and place in large kettle and cover with cold water. Add salt. Heat to boiling and skim off foam. Turn heat to low, cover and cook until tender. Then remove meat and strain the soup. Add vegetables to the strained soup, then the bay leaf and barley. Simmer until vegetables are tender. When vegetables are almost done, add tomato juice. For serving she replaced some of the meat from the tails.

RICE PUDDING

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked rice (not minute)

4 cups cold water

2 tsp. salt

3 1/2-4 cups milk

1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

4 beaten eggs

Combine first three ingredients in large pot and bring to vigorous boil. Turn heat to low and cover. Simmer over low heat 14 minutes. Then add milk and cook over low heat until most of the milk is absorbed but mixture is still creamy and rice tender. Stir occasionally. Cover and allow to cool 10-15 minutes. Stir in sugar and vanilla. Cool a few minutes and add beaten eggs [this of course is before the salmonella hysteria--add raw eggs at your own risk]. Mix well. Serve warm, and refrigerate left-overs. We ate this for a meal, topped with sprinkled cinnamon or fresh or thawed-frozen raspberries.

Grandma Plath's

RUSSIAN FLUFF

Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground beef

1 qt. tomatoes

1 sm. can peas

4 medium onions

2 carrots

2 stalks celery

1 can mushrooms

2 green peppers

1 1/2 cup raw minute rice

Fry meat until discolored; remove from pan and saute chopped celery, peppers and onions. Mix meat and vegetables together with 1 cup of rice. Place in casserole and sprinkle 1/2 cup rice over the top, then pour tomatoes over all. Cover and bake 325 oven for about 1 1/2 hours. May use 32oz. bottle of tomato juice instead of tomatoes. My grandparents lived in the flat above ours, and I remember our family gathering around the table for this low-cost main dish.

Grandma Kuester's

GERMAN POTATO SALAD

Grandma Marie Mosser Kuester was born in Milwaukee on 23 March 1904, and married the man who turned out to be the big practical joker in our family, Edwin Gottfried Joseph Kuester.As a young man, Grandpa Kuester used to wear full-head masks while driving in downtown Chicago's rush-hour traffic, and once shot off the rungs of a ladder his brother was climbing, one by one, forcing his brother to scamper up to the rooftop (where he became stranded). Grandpa Kuester's family came from Hanover, Germany, and it's no surprise that one of his (and everyone else's) favorites was Grandma's German-style potato salad. It's still a big family favorite, especially at summer picnics or with cooked sausage.

GERMAN POTATO SALAD ingredients:

1 lb. bacon

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

4 tbs. flour

4 tbs. sugar

3 tsp. salt

2 1/2 tsp. celery seed

1 cup vinegar

12 cups sliced cooked potatoes

4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced

parsley, pimento and bacon curls for garnish

Cook bacon till crisp. Drain, crumble and set aside, saving 1/2 cup fat. Cook chopped onions in bacon fat until tender; blend in flour, sugar, salt, celery seed and a dash of pepper. Add vinegar and 2 cups water. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Add crumbled bacon, potatoes and eggs. Heat thoroughly, tossing lightly. Garnish. Serve warm first time, cold thereafter.

Grandma Kuester's

BLITZ TORTE

Cake ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

4 egg yolks

1 cup cake flour

1 tsp. baking powder

dash salt (original recipe called for 1/2 tsp.)

3 tbs. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Meringue ingredients:

4 egg whites

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup ground nuts (pecans or walnuts)

To make cake, cream butter, adding sugar gradually, then egg yolk. Mix flour, baking powder and salt together and add to creamed mixture. Add milk, then vanilla. Pour into two 9" greased round cake pans.

To make meringue, beat egg whites until they hold a peak. Add sugar and mix well. Add vanilla. Spread over cake batter in pan and sprinkle tops with nuts. Bake in 350 oven for 40 minutes (taking care to watch it so it doesn't overcook).

When cooled, spread cooked pudding or custard (Grandma preferred lemon, others vanilla) in between the two cake layers.

Grandma Kuester's

KOLATCHSKIS

KOLATCHSKI ingredients:

2 pkg. cream cheese

1/2 lb. butter

2 cups flour

FILLING ingredients:

cooked mashed apricots or pie fillings, any flavor. Our family preferred a mixture of apricot and red raspberry.

Knead through, until smooth, cream cheese, butter and flour. Chill for 2 hours. Roll out on board and cut into 3-4" squares. In center, put one tsp. mashed fruit or filling and fold over the corners. Do not worry about sealing the dough as you would with a dumpling. Bake in 350 oven for 15-20 minutes. When cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

SECOND GENERATION RECIPES

Mom Plath's Specialties:

HOLIDAY SNOWBALLS

Born 3 July 1928, my mother, Audrey Kuester Plath, grew up in a house near Chicago's fabled Riverview Amusement Park. Still a big kid, she now lives near Disney World and goes there at least every two weeks. She managed the household and worked as a manufacturer's rep, while my father, Norman Plath, put in incredible hours managing a lumber yard. My mother's generation got many recipes from cookbooks and magazines and friends, who got them from cookbooks and magazines and friends. "Family" recipes often had their roots in versions published by product manufacturers like Kraft, Pillsbury and Jell-O. Nevertheless, certain recipes became specialties that, no matter how many times anyone else tried to duplicate them, they never turned out the same. My mom made two things that fell into this category: a dessert called "snowballs" and an apple pan coffee cake no one but her could ever seem to get right. Apple cake was a year-round breakfast and snack request, but as the name implies, snowballs were strictly seasonal--as much a part of our Christmas and New Years celebrations as decorated trees and Guy Lombardo. Be forewarned: the snowballs must be prepared 4-5 days in advance!

HOLIDAY SNOWBALL ingredients:

Vanilla wafers (4-5 for each snowball)

Whipping cream

Black Raspberry Jam (seedless is best)

Coconut and/or chopped pecans/walnuts

Invert first cookie for each snowball and spread with jam. Add next cookie "upright" then more jam, next cookie, and so on, making a little tower of 4-5 cookies with jam between each. Do this about 3-4 days ahead of serving time. Cover and place in refrigerator to soften. When soft, frost sides and top with whipped cream and sprinkle with coconut or (though it doesn't look as snowballish) chopped nuts.

Mom Plath's

APPLE CAKE

ingredients:

Peel and slice apples into thin wedges (quarter apples, peel, core, and then slice). Amount varies according to how they are arranged atop the cake batter mixture. It is usually 6-8 medium apples.

Sift into bowl:

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Work in:

1/2 cup margarine.

Beat 1 egg in measuring cup and fill with milk to make 1 cup. Add to above dry ingredients, mix until reasonably smooth, and spread in flat pan--best is a cookie sheet with sides.

Arrange apple slices in rows so that they overlap each other like shingles.

Topping:

Sift 3/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup flour into bowl. Cut in 2 oz. butter to create a crumb mixture. Sprinkle over sliced apples. Bake in 425 oven for 20 minutes, then 375 oven for 15 minutes.

Mom Plath's

PARMESAN CHICKEN

This one I suspect originated from Campbell's soups but made it to my mother's kitchen via a nameless friend. But from the day she made it, this quick and easy casserole-style chicken dish became such a favorite that my own children still request it. Don't be misled by the name. The only thing "parmesan" about it is the sprinkle on top of the casserole.

ingredients:

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of celery soup

1/4 cup melted margarine

1/4 cup French dressing

1/4 cup milk

1 1/4 cup regular rice (uncooked)

about 3 oz. parmesan cheese

1 whole chicken, cut up, or (as we now prefer) 6-8 skinless chicken breasts

Combine three soups in large bowl. Melt margarine (easiest is to microwave the margarine in a pyrex measuring cup and then add French dressing to make 1/2 cup and milk to the 3/4 cup mark). Add to soup mixture, then add rice and blend thoroughly. Grease 11x9" pan (may use glass baking casserole instead) and pour 1/2 mixture in. Spread evenly and lay chicken pieces on top of mixture. Cover chicken with remaining mixture, and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Too little cheese and a nice crust never forms; too much cheese and there's excess dried parmesan. Experiment. Bake in 275 oven for 2 1/2 hours. Serve with cranberry relish.

Mom Plath's

SWEET-SOUR CUCUMBER SALAD

A great complement to the German potato salad and picnic fare, but also a good side dish with pork roasts--and a family favorite. How much simpler can a recipe be?

Slice 2 cucumbers and set aside. Combine equal amounts of water and vinegar (usually 1 cup of each). Add sugar to taste (1 cup or 1 1/2 cups). Mix well and then pour over sliced cukes. Add sliced onion (1 large), 1/2 tsp. pepper and a dash of salt. For larger amounts, Mom notes that she always figures on equal amounts of vinegar and water but about 1/4 more sugar.

FIRST GENERATION RECIPES

My specialty:

SCALLOPS ALA DEGENER

There's more than enough James Plath bio on this site, but for the sake of consistency I'll include a Christmas photo of me as a little tyke that should make antique toy collectors drool. My own specialty, one frequently requested by my children and one which won the Main Dish category in the Oconomowoc (Wis.) Bake-Off one year and made it into the Wisconsin Mensa Cookbook that same year, is a recipe I modified from an original creation. The basic premise of combining pork and macaroni and scallops came from Dr. Degener, an old Latin professor I had at Utah State University. I added spices over the years and played with the concept until it seemed to work well. People who normally don't eat scallops rave about it.

SCALLOPS ALA DEGENER ingredients:

1 lb. fresh scallops (smaller and cheaper bay scallops work fine)

1 lb.+ pork chops (fat trimmed, cubed so that it makes an amount equal to the scallops)

mushrooms (8-10 medium, cut small--may substitute a can of mushrooms)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 1/4 cup (measured uncooked) macaroni

1 1/2 to 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 tbs. chopped fresh corriander (may substitute dried)

1 tsp. dried tarragon

salt and pepper to taste

Saute scallops first in margarine. Be sure to wash thoroughly to remove sand, and pat dry or the scallops will lose their flavor in the pan. Next, lightly brown pork cubes, tossing often so that they become almost cooked, and set aside. Cook macaroni as you would, then grate cheese.

In covered 1 1/2 qt. casserole layer in the following order:

• scallops
• mushrooms
• soup (undiluted, right from can--stirred a bit and "glopped" as evenly as possible)
• pork cubes
• cooked macaroni

Bake in moderate (350 degree) oven for 30 minutes. Then top with shredded cheese, and serve when melted. Cranberry relish is an outstanding complement, as are warm buttered rolls. And of course other cheeses can be used instead of cheddar to vary the taste.

My version of the Plath family

TURKEY STUFFING

Because I've changed it enough, and because no one's sure where it came from or how long it's been a family tradition, I'm including the family stuffing recipe here. Chicago Cubs announcer Steve Stone once said that "Puns are like children. You love your own, but can't stand anyone else's." Sometimes stuffings are the same way, and our family has a strict allegiance to this one.

ingredients:

ground beef (1 lb. for a 14 lb. turkey, or 1 1/2 lbs. for a 21 pounder)

turkey giblets (chopped-fine heart, kidneys, liver, gizzard)

white bread (1 1/2 large loaves or 3 large loaves)

diced celery (2 1/2 cups or 5 cups)

diced onions (2 large or 4 large)

cubed, peeled apples (1 1/2 cup or 3cups)

marjoram (2 tsp. or 4 tsp.)

sage (2 tsp. or 4 tsp.)

salt (1 tsp. or 2 tsp.)

pepper (1/4 tsp. or 1/2 tsp.)

eggs (2 or 4, beaten lightly--another salmonella alert)

Pull bread into small pieces the night before and cover. We usually have the kids do this in paper grocery sacks and roll the sacks closed and store atop the refrigerator, tossing frequently throughout the night. Then it's a family affair for a holiday morning. One group chops onions and celery while another is browning the meat, draining, and adding crumbled ground beef to the bread. Here too, we leave the stuffing in the sacks and add ingredients and mix as we go. Saute celery and onions until transparent in 3/4 cup or 1 cup margarine (depending on turkey size), and add to bread and beef mixture--margarine and all. Fry up turkey giblets in more margarine (enough to keep them from burning or sticking to pan) and salt, then add to stuffing mixture. Boil 3/4 or 1 1/2 cup water (or microwave) and add all seasonings and stir. Pour over stuffing mixture, and as with every addition toss well. Add diced apple, then beaten eggs, and pack lightly into salted cavity of turkey. Horror of horrors: our family enjoys eating the raw stuffing [major salmonella alert!] after it's made. For serving, I always combine the stuffing that's been inside the turkey with extra stuffing cooked in an oven or microwaved casserole.

SPICY MEAT LOAF

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 lbs. pork or Italian sausage

1 1/4 lbs. lean ground beef

1 large onion, chopped fine

2 slices bread (prefer whole grain), crumbed

1 egg

beer

dash of salt, pepper

creole seasoning to taste (I use about 1 tsp. creole seasoning, but you might want to start out with less; for an interesting variation, try Indian spices like garum massala, cumin, and curry powder--inspired by my Indian wife)

Knead sausage and beef together in bowl and then knead in onion and bread. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and creole seasoning and knead; repeat twice, with more seasoning. Add beaten egg and mix well. Shape into loaf, top with blended mixture and spread mixture of A-1 Bold, ketchup, Miracle Whip salad dressing, and celery seed (to taste) on top of loaf. Bake in loaf pan for 1 hour at 400 degrees. Drain grease at least once during baking cycle. I usually bake a few potatoes in the same oven for the same amount of time.

SHRIMP DIP

ingredients:

2 pkgs. cream cheese (I prefer neufchatel)

1 green pepper, washed and diced small

1 large onion, peeled and diced small

1 can small shrimp or shrimp pieces, drained and rinsed

creole seasoning to taste

A quick toss-together dip for chips and crackers that's always been popular with family and guests--and a bit of a tradition for the Plath family New Year's Eve celebration.

My wife's specialties:

ZARINA'S PRIZE-WINNING PUMPKIN APPLE BREAD

Zarina Mullan Plath married into the family in August of 1995. In addition to being a great poet (Zarina was one of two graduate students nationwide awarded the Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship for 1996), she is also a great cook. Zarina's mother, Linda Osborne, comes from an American family with an English ancestry, while her father, Sohrab Mullan, comes from India. It's no surprise that Zarina's cooking tends to reflect that mixed heritage. The pumpkin apple bread also reflects Zarina's tendency to cut the fat out of her cooking. It won first prize in the Twin City Community News Reader's Holiday Bests Recipe Contest one year:

ZARINA'S PUMPKIN & APPLE BREAD
                   
                 ingredients:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

2 eggs

scant 1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 15 oz. can pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mixture, just pure pumpkin)

3 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced

2/3 cup "sour milk" (2 tsp. vinegar plus skim milk to make 2/3 cup)

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmet

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease & flour two loaf pans. Mix all ingredients well in a large bowl; pour into two prepared loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour. Cool pans on wire racks for a few minutes, then remove from pans to cool directly on racks. Best eaten a day later, or wrap well and freeze for some other time.

ZARINA'S VEGGIE SAMOSAS & CHUTNEY DIP

These flavorful Indian treats are always a success at parties. They're often the first appetizers to disappear.

ingredients:

1-2 pkgs. wontons (20 per pkg.) sliced in half, lengthwise

3 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

2-3 green chilies (use more or less if you want samosas hotter/milder)

1 lg. onion, chopped fine

3/4 bag frozen mixed vegetables, cooked according to directions

1/4 cup fresh coriander (cilantro) chopped fine

1 tbs. garam masala (available at Asian/Indian food stores or gourmet food stores)

1 tsp. amchur (mango powder, also available at above stores)

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. coriander seed

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

salt to taste

1 tbs. lime juice

small dish of water

vegetable oil for frying

Chutney Dip (recipe follows)

Boil the potatoes; while potatoes are boiling, put onions & chilies in large bowl. Add cooked mixed vegetables. When potatoes are done, drain well & add to bowl. Mash until potatoes are well broken but not mashed to a paste, then stir to mix with other vegetables in bowl. Add coriander, seasonings and lime juice; mix well.

Moisten the perimeter of a wonton strip with a pastry brush dipped in water. Place rounded spoonful of samosa filling at one end of wonton strip, moistened side up, folding wonton end over end until it forms a tight triangular package (the way soldiers fold American flags). Pinch along the edges to seal, adding more water if needed to moisten. Repeat for remaining wontons. Heat enough oil for shallow frying pan in a large pan over medium-high heat. Working in small batches, fry samosas on each side until golden brown (they brown quickly, so work fast!). Stack on paper towels to drain. Best served warm, although they're also delicious when cooled. If making ahead of time, you can reheat in the oven just before serving. Arrange on a platter with a dish of Chutney Dip in the center.

Chutney Dip


ingredients:

Miracle Whip

Indian pickle/chutney (available at Asian/Indian food stores or at gourmet food stores)

2 tsp. coriander (cilantro), chopped

Mix equal parts Miracle Whip and pickle/chutney until well blended. (I like to use brinjal pickle, which is a dark, sweet and spicy eggplant chutney, but experiment with different flavors to find one you like). Put in a nice bowl and chill until ready to serve. Before serving, sprinkle with coriander to garnish.

If you have leftover samosa filling and run out of wontons, the filling makes an excellent breakfast or brunch. Refrigerate leftover filling and the next morning fry some up in a little oil until potatoes are slightly crispy. Serve with eggs, toast and jam, orange juice and coffee/tea.