Jamaican Coconut Pie with Warm Rum Sauce

• We ate at Bonefish Grill last night.
• I had this pie for dessert and I loved it.
• It instantly became one of my Best of the Best recipes.
• I'm looking forward to making this and serving it at a family gathering.
• This is the second on my series of Coconut recipes. I have one more favorite that I will post.
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• Pie:
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 6 eggs
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups coconut, shredded
• Sauce:
• 1 cup brown sugar, light or dark
• 1 cup butter, unsalted
• 1 cup dark rum

DIRECTIONS

• 1
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• 2
  Place milk, cream, sugar, flour, eggs and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Mix with a hand mixer for 2 minutes at medium speed.
• 3
  Add coconut and mix together until completely incorporated.
• 4
  Place in a greased pie pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.
• 5
  In a small sauce pan, heat butter over medium heat until melted.
• 6
  Add brown sugar and mix together until sugar dissolves.
• 7
  Add rum and cook for 1 minute on medium heat.
• 8
  Slice pie and serve with rum sauce.

Raspberry Coconut Pie

This recipe is adapted from a vintage Mennonite Recipe Book that I purchased at the Relief Sale.
I would put this in the category of an All American Recipe.

Raspberry Dessert:

2 C Flaked Coconut
2 TBS Sugar
1 TBS Flour
3 TBS Butter, melted
1 - 10 oz. package of frozen Raspberries, thawed
1 TBS Cornstarch
1/3 C Water
1 - 8oz. package of Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 C Powdered Sugar
3 TBS Milk
1 - 8 oz. carton of Cool Whip ( for my European Friends this is Whipped Cream)  For this recipe you're asked to top the dessert with whipped cream, so you can make enough for that , if you don't have Cool Whip...... We could all do this!

1/3 C Chopped Pecans


Combine:
Coconut
Sugar
Flour
Butter
Mix well

Press into the bottom of a 9" Pie pan, preferably glass for presentation.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes
Cool completely

Cook Raspberries
Thicken with Cornstarch mixed with the Water
Continue cooking until thick, stirring often
Remove from heat and cool completely

Spread the Raspberries over the crust

In a bowl, mix together with an electric mixer:
Cream Cheese
Powdered Sugar
Milk
Spread this over the Raspberries

Top the dessert with Cool Whip or Whipped Cream.
Sprinkle with Pecans

Holiday Potato Casserole

This is another Mennonite recipe.

Even though the title is Holiday, I think these can be made for any family gathering throughout the year.

4 lbs. Potatoes
1 C chopped Onion
1/4 C Butter
1 can of Cream of Celery Soup
1 1/2 C Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 pint of Sour Cream
1/2 C Crushed Corn Flakes
3 TBS Butter, melted

Boil the potatoes with skins on, until tender
Remove the skins and shred the potatoes into a large bowl.
Saute the Onions in 1/4 C Butter.
Remove from heat and add Soup, Sour Cream, and Cheese.
Pour over the Potatoes and mix well.
Place in a buttered 9"X13" Casserole dish.
Sprinkle with the Corn Flakes and melted Butter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Rhubarb Dessert

Here's another great Rhubarb dessert.
I found this in a vintage Mennonite Recipe Book.

Rhubarb Dessert:

Place 5 C cut up rhubarb in the bottom of a buttered 9"X13" casserole .
Over the rhubarb, sprinkle 1 C Sugar and 1 6oz. box of strawberry jello.
Top with 3 C miniature marshmallows.
Mix a white cake mix according to package directions and pour the batter over the rhubarb mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.
Do not frost.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Sweet Potato Soufflé / Trisha Yearwood's Recipe

Another great recipe re posted from Trisha Yearwood's Food Network Show.


Ingredients
Soufflé

:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), at room temperature, plus more to grease pan
5 medium sweet potatoes
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
Pinch of salt
Topping:
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), softened
Directions
For the souffle: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 2 1/2-quart baking dish with butter.

Poke the sweet potatoes with a fork and bake on a foil-covered baking sheet until they are soft, 1 hour. When cool enough to handle, peel the potatoes, place the flesh in a large mixing bowl and mash until very smooth. Add the eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, milk and salt. Combine well with an electric mixer or hand mixer. Turn the mixture into the baking dish.

For the topping: In a medium bowl, stir together the pecans, brown sugar, flour and butter until thoroughly combined. Spoon the mixture over the sweet potatoes, making an even layer. Bake the casserole until slightly browned, 40 minutes. Let the casserole sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Trisha Yearwood's Tofu Black Bean Lasagna

It's not easy to find a Tofu recipe that non vegetarians like.
This just may be the one!
This seemed like the perfect recipe for the "Hippy" Blog.

I got this recipe from Trisha Yearwood:

Tofu Black Bean Lasagna
Ingredients
One 28-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
One 12-ounce can tomato paste
1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves
2 teaspoons salt, plus more for pasta
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 small onion, finely chopped
Two 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained
8 ounces lasagna noodles
1 recipe Tofu Ricotta, recipe follows
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large saucepan, combine the tomatoes and their juices, tomato paste, garlic powder, salt, pepper, oregano, onions and black beans. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the lasagna noodles and cook to al dente according to package directions. Drain the noodles well.

Spread 1 cup of the prepared sauce in a 9- by 13- by 2-inch baking pan. Make three layers each of noodles, sauce and Tofu Ricotta. End with the sauce and make sure the noodles are completely covered or they will dry out during baking. Bake for 45 minutes, uncovered. Allow the dish to stand for 15 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

Tofu Ricotta:
1/4 cup raw cashews, finely ground
14 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil, or 1 tablespoon dried basil
Salt and pepper
Add the cashews to a food processor and grind them. Then crumble in the tofu, and add the yeast, olive oil and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use. Keeps well for at least a week. Yield: about 2 1/2 cups.

Notes
Cook's Note: To press tofu, drain any liquid from the block of tofu. Fold paper towels around the tofu and then set a big cast iron skillet on top of it to press out the excess moisture. Allow to sit for about an hour to press.


Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Asparagus Bread Pudding

Asparagus Bread Pudding

It's Spring......
For me that means Asparagus.
I grow it in my garden along with every possible herb I can.

We live in Texas and It's difficult to grow "food".
I can't seem to grow tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, etc.
Either the extreme heat takes it all or the birds and squirrels eat it before it matures.

However, I can grow Asparagus. It took several years to get a crop going, but it's doing well now.

Spring also takes me back to the South of France.
We have many friends in France and we try to get there every two years.
We stay with our amazing friends Jean and Irene in Provence and I've learned so much from Irene's style of cooking.

In Provence summer means fresh vegetables and fresh herbs.
Food goes from garden to table!
Recipes are filled with the essential flavors of the garden that are fresh and seasonal.

Every village has it's weekly outdoor market.
The stalls are filled with Spring Vegetables and Fruits.

My wife and I have a lifetime of memories with our family in France when we've packed the car, including a portable picnic table and headed off to the countryside, visiting village after village, stopping along the way to pick cherries along the side of the road or stopping to set up the table in a field, to enjoy a picnic in the Provencal Sun.

Here's one of my favorite recipes utilizing garden fresh asparagus.

Asparagus Bread Pudding:

12 or more thick pieces of sliced day old artisan French Bread. Pain de Campagne Francaise is a good choice. This is not a recipe for Baguettes.
3 C Whole Milk
1 Pound of Asparagus
5 Eggs
1 tsp Fleur de Sel
1 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/4 C Freshly Grated Romano Cheese
1/4 C Freshly Shredded Fontina Cheese
1/2 C Freshly Shredded Swiss or Emmenthal Cheese
1/2 C Freshly chopped and mixed Herbs:
Chives
Parsley
Tarragon
Thyme
Rosemary
1 TBS Butter, cut into pieces.

Put the bread in a single layer in a shallow dish.
Pour 2 1/2 C of the MIlk in the pan and let the bread soak up the milk., about 30 minutes.
Press the bread to extract the milk. There should be 1/2 C of milk left.
If not, make up the difference with remaining 1/2 C of milk.

Trim the Asparagus.
Cut the stalks into 2" pieces.
Steam the Asparagus for a few minutes until tender.
Immediately cool the Asparagus in ice water, drain and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Butter a 10" Cast Iron Skillet, a Bram or a Souffle Dish can be used .

In a bowl, beat:
Eggs
Salt
Pepper
The reserved 1/2 C of Milk.
Blend well

Layer 1/3 of the Bread in the Skillet.
Reserve about 6 pieces of Asparagus for later and top the bread with 1/2 of the remaining pieces.
Top with 1/2 of the Herbs.
Sprinkle with 1/3 of each of the Cheeses

Repeat using:
1/2 of the remaining bread
The rest of the Asparagus, except the 6 reserved pieces .
The rest of the Herbs
1/2 of the remaining Cheese

Place the final pieces of Bread on top.
Cover with remaining Cheese
Garnish with the 6 remaining pieces of Asparagus

Stir the Egg mixture and pour it over the layers.
Dot the entire surface with pieces of the Butter.

Bake for 45 minutes.
The top should be crusty and golden brown.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!