A Trunk Full of Recipes

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Custard Sauce

What an easy custard recipe. I remember when I was in baking class at school and we had to make custard for eclairs and pies and many other baked goods. It was fun but it was a longer, more difficult process than this custard was. This was simply mixing two dry ingredients, adding a couple mixed wet ingredients then stirring over a double boiler until thickened.

My biggest dilemma with this was how to serve it. Marjorie suggested mixed berries. Which sounded great, but I didn't have time to run to the store this morning so that was out of the question. I decided maybe popovers would be good so that is what I made.

We will be serving this delicious custard sauce over fresh homemade popovers. 1.75 each. You don't want to miss this so come in and give it a try!

Blue Elephant Cafe

12 Pepperell Square

Saco, Maine 04072

207-281-3070

Monday, December 12, 2011

Lemon Delicacy

Lemon Delicacy... a light and fluffy dessert; simply described as a cake batter with egg whites folded into it. I followed this recipe to the "T" as per usual. It is delicious in its basic form, and when it is done baking it has the texture similar to that of a custard or meringue. If I were to make this recipe again I would be sure to add more lemon for a stronger flavor.

It has more steps in it than some of the other desserts. Still very simple and only takes about 20 minutes to pull together and then 45 minutes in the oven. Come in to the Blue Elephant Cafe today to give this recipe a try. You might just like it!

Blue Elephant Cafe

12 Pepperell Square

Saco, Maine 04072

207-281-3070

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Favorite Chicken Casserole

"This recipe happens to be my favorite chicken casserole. It has a special sort of flavor and is easily prepared, even a day or so ahead, if you wish." Marjorie Standish

I have conquered two major hurdles in the last couple of weeks. First and foremost, it has officially been one year since starting to cook my way through the Cooking Down East cook book. While I had hopes of wrapping the project up in a year it wasn't necessarily a goal. I'm still chipping away at it, and by my calculations I have less than 100 recipes to go!

The second hurdle is that, as of today, I have completed another section in the cook book. The poultry section is now... finis! Looking back, this was a good section. A lot of delicious recipes came out of it. If I had to choose a favorite I think I would have to go with the Imperial Chicken. Not only is it easy to pull together but it is also versatile. It can be served as a sandwich or stand alone with some sides. It is a recipe that has not let me down! Perhaps the worst recipe so far, though, has also come out of this section! Does anyone remember the Pressed Chicken Salad?! This is definitely one that I will not be revisiting (unless a practical joke is needed!)

Today's dish completes "Poultry," and by a stroke of luck it happened to be Marjorie's favorite chicken casserole. Which is probably where it got its title: Favorite Chicken Casserole. It reminds me a lot of Chicken a la King. The casserole consists of layers of rice, chicken, and gravy all topped with delicious buttered crumbs.

We will be serving Favorite Chicken Casserole today with a side of greens and toast. You won't want to miss this yummy dish, so come on in to the Blue Elephant Cafe and give it a try!

Blue Elephant Cafe

12 Pepperell Square

Saco, Maine 04072

207-281-3070

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Easiest Chicken Casserole

I thoroughly enjoyed making this recipe. Every time I read this recipe it makes me smile. It goes a little something like this: 5oz jar chicken, 1 NO. 2 can Chinese noodles, 1 can evaporated milk, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can chicken and rice soup, and 1 cup diced celery.

No wonder this is the easiest chicken casserole! Everything is in a can! I have never heard of jarred chicken, though, and I was unable to find it at the store. Also I was unable to find the can of Chinese noodles. Therefore I had to cook some chicken and boil some noodles. Because of this I'm sure I put more effort into this recipe than Marjorie Standish did.

Everything is mixed together and baked in the oven. Today it will be served warm with a delicious side salad for 4.99.

Blue Elephant Cafe

12 Pepperell Square

Saco, Maine 04072

207-281-3070

Monday, December 5, 2011

Oatmeal Muffins

I needed an easy recipe this morning, and then I came across this one. The only thing I wasn't sure of was the length of time that it was going to take for the oats to soak in the milk - 2 hours. In the end, though, it ended up not being that bad, because I was able to prepare the other ingredients. At the end of the 2 hours I was able to whip everything together and pour it in the muffin tins.

It took a mere 20 minutes in the oven, and I had a couple dozen delicious oatmeal muffins. They were not your typical muffin. They were not sweet but rather savory. I would recommend this muffin for a brunch or a tea. They were surprisingly delicious!

Blue Elephant Cafe

12 Pepperell Square

Saco, Maine 04072

207-281-3070

Bean Pot Chicken Breasts

Every time I turn to the "poultry" section of this cook book I think, "There can't possibly be any more in this section to do!" I have marked off dates next to almost all of the recipes. However, they must multiply while I sleep, because I always seem to have two left to do.

I decided to make Bean Pot Chicken Breasts last week. I can officially say that I only have two more recipes in the poultry section! I've checked, and double checked, and yes - only two more, and I'll have a whole section down!

But back to the Bean Pot Chicken Breasts. I really liked this recipe. It was sooo easy! The bean pot is kind of like an old fashioned version of a crockpot. Simply place butter, onions and chicken breasts into a bean pot, and place the pot in the oven to bake. Marjorie suggests serving the dish with rice. I decided salad would be a good option for serving it here at the cafe.

It only took about an hour and a half in the oven (which is a much shorter cooking time than Marjorie suggests). Every time I lifted the lid and smelled the dish, memories of childhood dinners at my Grandmother's house flooded back. It was very cool.

Give this recipe a try sometime if you're in a time crunch and looking for something delicious for dinner. You won't be disappointed!

Blue Elephant Cafe

12 Pepperell Square

Saco, Maine 04072

207-281-3070

Banana Cream Pie

Sadly I have to say that before this banana cream pie I had never made one before. It was effortless and reminded me a lot of my days at school in baking class. We used to have to make a lot of custard based pies for dining room service. In fact, not just pies but we were always making custard! It's an easy thing to make, versatile and lasts for a while too.

This recipe involved layering a baked pie crust with bananas, making a custard and filling the aforementioned pie shell with the custard. Adding another layer of bananas then topping it all with a meringue. Once all assembled the pie is placed in the oven, just to brown the meringue.

It was creamy and delicious. Though some customers said they wanted to taste more banana... others thought it had just enough banana and they liked the fact that it wasn't overwhelming. As far as I'm concerned this is a recipe to hang on to. It will reappear at the Blue Elephant you can be sure!

Blue Elephant Cafe

12 Pepperell Square

Saco, Maine 04072

207-281-3070

Friday, December 2, 2011

Lemon Sponge Pie

Lemon Sponge Pie. This is a fabulous recipe, so delicious and so easy to make! It is very similar to a lemon meringue pie but similar to the other "sponge pie" I made not to long ago it had egg whites folded into the batter.

The consistency of the pie was light and fluffy. I will most definitely be making the pie again! And if you too are looking for an easy and delicious dessert for your family or perhaps some company, give this one a try!

Blue Elephant Cafe

12 Pepperell Square

Saco, Maine 04072

207-281-3070

Province Pudding

Pudding? Not so much. I had a really difficult time describing this one to our customers because it wasn't anything like pudding! It was more like a cake with a caramel sauce underneath. I am told it was yummy and fairly sweet.

Has anyone out there made this recipe before? I'm still stumped with this one and I don't really get it.

Blue Elephant Cafe

12 Pepperell Square

Saco, Maine 04072

207-281-3070

Baked Halibut

My apologies, it has been a while since my last posting. I now have a few moments and will catch up on the recipes that I've been creating from Mrs. Marjorie Standish's Cooking Down East Cook Book!

When I was growing up a dinner my mom used to make all the time was baked haddock. Her method was always to top the fish with breadcrumbs and lemon juice. It was one of our favorite meals, and if we were lucky she would make the egg sauce that Marjorie mentions frequently!

I decided earlier this month to make Baked Halibut and was expecting the recipes to be quite similar. I wasn't let down. In addition to the bread crumbs and fish though Marjorie had me prepare a delicious mustard and butter sauce that gets poured over the fish. The bread crumbs are added on top of this and the fish is baked in the oven.

One little note... Marjorie says bake in the oven at 350 for 40 minutes. I have never cooked fish for 40 minutes. It would most likely kill it... again. It's funny, her cooking times are often much longer than they actually need to be. Most likely a sign of the times, as back in the day everybody was very worried about food poisoning and food borne illness. So they cooked everything until it couldn't be cooked anymore. As evidence by most of these recipes!

The Baked Halibut was delicious, the added flavor of the mustard was a great idea. The dish was served warm with a side of fresh greens. I will definitely be keeping this one in the repertoire!

Blue Elephant Cafe

12 Pepperell Square

Saco, Maine 04072

207-281-3070