Jicama Orange Salad

From: Gold’n Delicious – Junior League of Spokane, page 95

Dressing

1/3 cup vegetable oil

¼ cup white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1½ teaspoons caraway seeds, crushed

½ teaspoons orange peel, grated

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salad

2 cups jicama, peeled and cut into julienne strips

2 cups red, green and/or orange bell peppers, cut into julienne strips

8 cups mixed greens, rinsed and torn

2 medium oranges, peeled and sliced crosswise

4 or 5 chives, snipped, optional

Combine dressing ingredients and mix well. Place jicama and peppers in a bowl and toss with half the dressing. Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours. Refrigerate remaining dressing.

Place greens in a large bowl. Drizzle desired amount of remaining dressing over the greens and toss. Arrange orange slices around the edge of the bowl. Add chives to jicama mixture, if desired, and spoon into the center of the salad. Serve immediately. Serves 10.

Jicama is a legume that grows underground. It is sweet, crisp and low in calories. If you’ve never tried it, you are missing a real treat!

Nancy’s Notes: Made January 4, 2010 – We all liked, interesting combination of flavors. Caraway seeds added to the dressing flavor but I don’t know how you crush them. I got out my mortar and pestle and ground away, never able to break any down.

Brandied Orange Ice

From: Colorado Cache – Junior League of Denver, page 359

1 2-inch square orange peel

4 cups freshly squeezed orange juice

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons apricot brandy or Grand Marnier

Juice of 1 lemon

With the metal blade of food processor in place, put orange peel, 1 cup orange juice, sugar, apricot brandy and lemon juice into feed tube. Process until mixed, about 15 seconds. Add processed ingredients to remaining 3 cups orange juice and mix well. Pour into 2 ice cube trays and freeze. Just before serving, with the metal blade in place, add frozen cubes, 1 tray at a time, to feed tube of food processor. Process, turning on and off rapidly, until a fine ice, free of all lumps, forms – about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve immediately. 4-6 servings.

Nancy’s Notes: Light and refreshing. I’ve served this as a dessert after a dinner of Chinese food.

Apple Cranberry Streusel Custard Pie

From: An old Denver Post newspaper article

1 ½ cups fresh or dry-pack frozen cranberries

2 medium all-purpose apples, pared, peeled and sliced

¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar

¼ cup unsifted flour

2 tablespoons cold margarine or butter

¼ cup chopped nuts

Place rack in lowest position in oven; preheat oven to 425°. In large mixing bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk and cinnamon. Add eggs, water and fruits; mix well. Pour into pastry shell. In medium mixing bowl, combine sugar and flour; cut in margarine until crumbly. Stir in nuts. Sprinkle over pie. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°; bake 30-40 minutes or until golden. Cool. Refrigerate leftovers.

Nancy’s Notes: Everyone always seems to like this each pie. Michael really like it this year.

Nancy’s Fresh Cranberry Relish

 

2 bags fresh cranberries

2 navel oranges

1 large Jonagold apple

¾-1 cup sugar

Rinse cranberries, discarding any bad ones. Cut apple and oranges into chunks – do not peel. Using a food processor, turned on, drop handfuls of fruit through feed tube. Stop a couple of times to scrap down the sides of the bowl. Empty into mixing bowl. Repeat until all the fruit is ground. Add ¾ – 1 cup sugar. Stir to dissolved. Chill. Store in covered container.

Nancy’s Notes: My mother always made a fresh cranberry relish for the Cutright family Thanksgiving dinner. I much prefer fresh to cooked. This keeps well in the frig or freezer. I like to keep this on hand during the fresh cranberry season, goes well with many dinner dishes, not just turkey. Think of all the good vitamin A.

Fresh Peach Upside Down Pie

From: A Brochure published by Colorado Peaches about 40-years ago

Line 9-inch pie pan with a 12-inch square of foil. Let excess foil overhang edge. Spread with 2 tablespoons soft butter. Press 2/3 cup chopped pecans and 1/3 cup brown sugar into butter. Fit bottom crust into pan over nuts. Mix 5 cups sliced fresh Colorado peaches, ¾ cup sugar, ¼ cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons tapioca, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon. Pour into crust, cover with top crust. Seal crust edges. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes, then at 375° for 35-40 minutes. Cool. Turn upside down on serving place. Remove foil.

Nancy’s Notes: Yum, my favorite peach pie. The original recipe calls for unpeeled peaches but I prefer peeled. I like to use freshly ground nutmeg and dot the peaches with small pats of butter before covering with the top crust. Let cool for about 10 minutes, don’t wait too long. The pecan topping needs to still be warm to slide off the foil. I use Reynolds Wrap® Non-Stick Aluminum Foil for this dish.

Bavarian Apple Torte

From: Colorado Classique – Junior League of Denver, page 232

Crust

½ cup unsalted butter; softened

1/3 cup sugar

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup flour

Filling

8 ounces cream cheese

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup sugar

1 egg

Topping

4 cups peeled and sliced Granny Smith apples (about 4 apples)

1/3 cup sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ cup slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350°. Cream butter with sugar. Mix in vanilla and flour. Press dough into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. (Line bottom of pan with parchment paper if bottom will eventually be removed.)

For filling, mix cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, and egg; mixture will resemble pudding. Pour filling over crust.

To prepare topping, mix apple slices with sugar and cinnamon. Arrange slices over filling. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 300° and bake for 45 minutes longer. Cool before removing side of pan.

Nancy’s Notes: Made Nov. 2, 2009 – A winner, good crust, attractive and easy to assemble.

Melted Brie with Winter Fruit

From: Glitter to Gourmet – Junior League of Las Vegas, page 27

¾ cup chopped pitted dates

1 small apple, peeled, cored, chopped

1 small firm pear, peeled, cored, chopped

½ cup currants or raisins

½ cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup rose wine or apple juice

1 (16-ounce) wheel of Brie cheese, well chilled

Thin baguette slices

Combine the dates, apple, pear, currents, pecans and wine in a small bowl and mix well. Let stand for 2 hours.

Place the Brie on a cutting surface. Slice into halves horizontally. Place the bottom half cut side up in a shallow round 10-inch baking dish. Spread with 2 ½ cups of the fruit mixture. Cover with the top half of the Brie, cut side down. Spoon the remaining fruit onto the center of the Brie.

Bake at 350° degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cheese melts at the edges and the center is warm. Place on a hot place to keep warm. Cover and chill. Yield: 16 servings.

Nancy’s Notes: Made Christmas 2007 and 2008 – Wonderful! A five-star winner.

Cranberry and Pineapple Bread

From: Beyond the Rim – Junior League of Amarillo, page 152

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup raisins

½ cup chopped nuts

1 cup coarsely chopped cranberries

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon melted butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup crushed pineapple

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Add the raisins, nuts and cranberries and mix well. Combine the egg, melted butter and vanilla in a small bowl. Add to the flour mixture. Dissolve the baking soda in the undrained pineapple in a small bowl. Add the pineapple mixture to the batter. Stir until blended. Pour the batter into a loaf pan. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Yield: 10 servings.

Nancy’s Notes: Made Nov. 9, 2009 – This bread is very good. I under cooked so middles were a little soft but the flavor is great. I used golden raisins. I made a recipe and a half which yielded three of my mid-sized loaf pans. This would make a nice Christmas food gift.

When dealing with fresh cranberries I cut them in half and then rinse in a colander. This gets rid of those pesky, gritty seeds.

Pineapple Carpaccio

From: Bon Appetit – December 2009, page 26

1 2-inch-long piece fresh ginger, peeled

3 ½ cups water

1 cup sugar

1 4-pound pineapple, peeled, cored, cut into very thin rounds

Place small strainer over small bowl. Using coarse grater, grate ginger over strainer. Press on solids with back of spoon to release 1 tablespoon ginger juice.

Bring 3 ½ cups water and sugar to boil in heavy medium saucepan. Boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Add ginger juice. Do Ahead Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover and chill.

Place pineapple slices in large bowl. Pour ginger syrup over. Cover; chill about 5 hours, turning pineapple occasionally with slotted spoon, transfer pineapple to plates. Drizzle with some of syrup and serve.

Nancy’s Notes: Made Nov. 9, 2009 – Good, not very strong with ginger flavor, perhaps I didn’t get enough of the juice. I think I grated too fine. A week later I used the leftovers in a fruit salad.

Pecan Apple Pear Pie

 

From: Colorado Collage – Junior League of Denver, page 362

Pastry:

2 ½ cups flour ½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar (opitonal)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

¼ cup or more very cold water

Filling:

¼ cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, very soft, divided

¾ cup pecan halves

1/3 cup pecan halves

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¾ cup sugar

3 medium, firm, ripe pears, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Butter Rum Sauce:

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup water

½ teaspoon rum extract

2 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter

In food processor, combine 2 ½ cups flour, salt, and 1 teaspoon sugar, if desired. Add 1 cup butter pieces and process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually add ¼ cup cold water and process just until dough holds together. Divide dough in half. Press dough into flat disks, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450°. Line 9-inch pie pan with foil, allowing a 1-inch overhang. Spread 2 tablespoons of the butter on foil. Press pecans, round side down, in butter. Pat 1/3 cup brown sugar into butter. Using floured rolling pin, roll out disk of dough on floured surface. Press into bottom and sides of pan but do not trim. Arrange apple slices over crust.

In small bowl, combine 3 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, and ¾ cup sugar. Sprinkle half over apples. Top with pears, arranging evenly so top crust will lay flat. Sprinkle with remaining half of the flour mixture. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter and add lemon juice. Pour over pears. Roll out remaining crust and place on top of pears. Trim edges closely and seal crusts together. Gently push crust edges toward center of pie. Bake 10 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 375°, and continue baking 40 minutes.

In small sauce pan, combine ½ cup brown sugar, cornstarch, and 1 cup water. Cook, over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened and clear. Stir in rum extract and 2 ½ tablespoons butter. Remove pie from oven, cool 5 minutes, and invert onto large serving plate. Serve with hot Butter Rum Sauce and vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Nancy’s Notes: Made Nov. 15, 2009 – excellent. This turned out so perfect I intended to take a picture but were more eager to eat. The way this recipe is written makes it looks like a days work. Here are my simplified instructions:

Line 9-inch pie pan with easy release foil – this is a great product!

Smear 2 tablespoons soften butter on bottom of foil.

Arrange pecan halves, sprinkle with 1/3 cup brown sugar.

Top with one Pillsbury pie crust.

Slice apples into crust, spread evenly.

Mix flour, cinnamon, sugar – sprinkle half over apples.

Slice pears atop the apples – sprinkle with remaining flour mixture.

Top with another Pillsbury pie crust.

Tightly seal the two crusts, trim, gently push edges toward pie center.

Bake as directed.

Slice and savor!

I did not make the Butter Rum Sauce, didn’t really need it but no doubt it would be good – except for the hips.