Ms. Susan Dunn's Sweet & Sour Sauce

This is another recipe from Simpson-Fletcher's Soul Food Recipes.  I am making homemade Egg Rolls today. I buy the Egg Roll Skins at local Asian Market. I am going to make this Sauce. So good for anything one would find on a PuPu Platter extravaganza. I like it on Crackers with Cheese. 

I produce this recipe verbatim. I use a small can of Crushed Pineapple. 

SWEET & SOUR SAUCE.

1 (1 lb.) can of Apricots
1/2 (1 lb.) can of Pineapple
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 teaspoon White Pepper
1/2 cup Honey
4 tablespoons Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Force Apricots through a sieve. Put into a saucepan and add all the remaining ingredients except the Vinegar. Cook the mixture over high heat until the Sugar is dissolved and the mixture boils. Reduce heat and cook 10 minutes longer. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly and then stir in the Vinegar.

June is the Month of Roses - or - Sweet Honey in the Jar

The Old Design Shop provides the illustration from Flower Children, The Little Cousins of The Field and Garden by Elizabeth Gordon published in 1910. My title is a hat tip to Sweet Honey in Rock. One of their songs below.

I am off on a quest only a Mad Gardener and dedicated Foody would attempt. I am going to make this Rose Honey. My quest? Find a good source of unsprayed Pink Roses. I will make and taste this. I must.

This recipe comes from Gourmets for McGovern. I reproduce it verbatim. The Colophon reads "This cookbook has been peacefully and lovingly put together by volunteers for McGovern." I wrote the article at dkos. That article gave birth to this article. 

"According to The Pittsburgh Press Sept. 16, 1972: "Philadelphian Joan Cantor has written a cookbook 'Gourmets for McGovern,' to raise money for the senator's presidential campaign. The 46 page book contains such recipes as 'Mexican Drunken Chicken' and 'peaches poached in apricot sauce' -- all composed by local ladies. The national campaign headquarters has ordered 100,000 copies which it hopes to sell at $2 each." Printed on multi-colored cardstock and illustrated throughout with line drawings presumably done by the same "local ladies," the book includes Cantor's excellent recipe for Banana Cake re-blogged by Cooking with Kos May 31, 2015." - description Abe Books.

HONEY

from Kathy Weinerman

5 pounds Sugar

1-1/2 pints hot water (sic)

alum (about the size of a cherry)

20 red clover blossoms

12 white clover blossoms

8 pink roses

Melt sugar in the water. Add alum and boil 2 minutes. Remove pot from the flame and immediately add the petals of the blossoms and the roses and let stand 10 minutes. Strain and bottle. Try it, you'll like it!

 

Green Sauce (Sauce Verte)

I made Salsa Criolla yesterday to accompany a roast.  It started me thinking about Fresh or Uncooked Sauces and how good and easy they are. I did the Green Sauce below in a food processor.

I served this Green Sauce from Silvana Franco's cookbook Salsas and Ketchups with Grilled Shrimp and Filet Mignon at a dinner party I catered. I always make it fresh before service. I discovered I had no lemon and substituted a small Tangerine. Such an inspired-by-emergency solution. So good. I believe this cookbook, published in 1995, is out of print. It is worth searching for, if only for the Banana Ketchup recipe.

Green Sauce (Salsa Verde)

6 Scallions, finely chopped
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 Green Chilies, finely chopped
6 tablespoons chopped fresh Cilantro
6 tablespoons chopped fresh Parsley
1 tablespoon capers, well drained and finely chopped
4 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Lemon, freshly squeezed juice and grated peel (or one Tangerine)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a large serving bowl and toss together. Season to taste and serve immediately.

Banana Ketchup

This condiment is a piquant accompaniment to any sharp Cheese and broiled or grilled Chicken or Fish.

The recipe comes from Silvana Franco's excellent out of print cookbook Salsas and Ketchups copyright 1995. I found my copy at the Library Book Sale. You also will find another sauce by this esteemed Lady HERE.

Illustration by Ulisse Aldrovandi. It comes from this collection of vintage illustrations. 

Banana Ketchup

Makes about 3 3/4 cups.

10 ripe Bananas, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 Onions, finely chopped
2 inch piece of Ginger Root, finely ground
2 1/2 cup Cider Vinegar
2 cups soft Brown Sugar
2 tsp. Black Peppercorns
1 tsp. Allspice Berries
1 tsp Salt

Place all ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Cover and simmer gently for one hour, stirring occasionally, until thick and pulpy.

Strain the mixture through a fine nonmetallic strainer, then pour immediately into hot sterilized bottles. Seal and store for up to 6 months.

Sauce for Roast Beast or Ducking the Turkey

We are having Thanksgiving Roast Duck. I know I am out of step. I just do not like Turkey all that much.  The children love it, so I have dutifully served it for years. The Viper Girls have become a little less traditional now in their Terrible Thirties. So I am ducking the Turkey. I love puns.

I decided I would try a new Relish to complement the richness of Roast Duck. I went looking in some of my regional cookbooks and found the recipe below. I reproduce it here in case you want to do something NEW too.

Pickle Nut Salad

2 packets Knox Gelatin
2 cups cold Water
2 cups Sugar
1 cup Vinegar
1 and 1/2 cups cubed sweet midget Pickles
1 cup chopped English Walnuts

Dissolve Knox gelatin in cold water. Boil sugar and vinegar to 250 degrees or until it spins a thread. Pour sugar syrup into gelatin water, stir. Pour into 9 inch square container and add pickles and nuts, stir. Serve when set.

Polish Dill Pickles

Is there a difference between a Polish Dill Pickle and a Kosher Dill Pickle? No difference, although I think a Polish pickle has much more garlic. I am sure pickle enthusiasts will disagree.

A Kosher or Polish pickle is made without using vinegar, uses a crock or glass jar (with a weight if necessary) to keep the cucumbers submerged in the liquid, and involves lactic acid producing fermentation. 

I was going to type the recipe and then I discovered Danny Mac's Kitchen video. Lots of good suggestions in the comments. Seeing is believing. Making Pickles is easy and you can do it even if you think you cannot cook. After four days of fermentation, you can make Pickle Soup.

There is more than one way to sour a Pickle. A charming Russian Lady gives us her system which includes Lemon and Apple Cider Vinegar. So yummy.

In my house old fashioned winter preparation starts with pickling cucumbers. So enjoy my grandmothers old fashioned Naturally Fermented Kosher Dill Pickles - Рцепт Малосольных Огурцов.

Salsa Criolla - Comida Latina

This recipe comes from a paperback cookbook Comida Latina published by Center for Latin American Studies at Stanford University.

A covered glass bowl of this condiment appears on the table of every restaurant in the Sierras. And you find it on the counter in every kitchen. This recipe came from Helene and Fredrick Kruger of the School of Earth Sciences.

Salsa Criolla from Peru

Onions, Pepper, Salt
Marjoram or Oregano
Ground Yellow Chili Pepper
Fresh Chilis
Bitter Oranges or Lemons
Olive Oil

Cut Onions in this slices and soak in heavily salted water for 10 to 15 minutes. Rub the onions lightly through the fingers to loosen the rings, then rinse in cold clear water and dry. Place onion rings in a china or glass dish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and marjoram to taste. Add a pinch or two of ground yellow chili pepper. Cut fresh chilis, without seeds and fiber, into very thin strips. Add to the onions and mix gently. Pour juice of bitter oranges or lemons to barely cover. Set aside for a couple of hours, then add a little olive oil, mix and serve with boiled potatoes, fried fish, salad, etc.

Please Note: Ingredients may be adjusted in amount to suit taste and number of servings. Some add fresh chopped Cilantro or Marjoram to this condiment.

Zucchini Bread and Butter Pickles

I love Bread and Butter Pickles. I have always made them made with Cucumber. This is the perfect recipe for those who have so many Zucchini in the garden that the neighbors refuse to take anymore and hide when they see you coming. 

The origin of the name and the spread of their popularity in the United States is attributed to Omar and Cora Fanning, a pair of Illinois cucumber farmers who started selling sweet and sour pickles in the 1920s and filed for the trademark Fanning's Bread and Butter Pickles in 1923 (though the recipe and similar ones are probably much older). The story attached to the name is that the Fannings survived rough years by making the pickles with their surplus of undersized cucumbers and bartering them with their grocer for staples such as bread and butter. - wikipedia

Zucchini Bread and Butter Pickles 

1 large Onion, sliced 1/8 inch thick
6 cups small Zucchini, sliced 1/8 inch thick
1/4 cup Salt
2 cups Cider Vinegar
1 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Turmeric
1 teaspoon Celery Seed
1 teaspoon Mustard Seed 

Place the Zucchini and Onion in a large bowl. Salt thoroughly.  Cover and leave overnight. Combine all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Add Zucchini and Onions  to the pickling brine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Pack pickles into hot sterilized pint jars. Fill jars to 1/2 inch of the top with pickling brine and seal. These pickles make excellent bread and butter sandwiches.

Pickle Soup

Polish people love pickles. We use crushed pickle puree to season dishes like sauteed mushrooms. We even make Pickle Soup.

You can find many Pickle Soup recipes on the Net. This recipe comes from Treasured Polish Recipes for Americans published in 1948 by the Polanie Club.

It would be silly to publish a Pickle Soup recipe without publishing a recipe for Polish Dill Pickles. They are delicious and easy to make. So look for that to be posted next. I have three volunteer cucumber plants. So I will be making lots of pickles.

Babcia is translated as GrandMother.  My Babcia made Pickle Soup at Easter with the broth left from cooking the kielbasa for the cold breakfast that breaks the Easter fast. I wondered for years how she got that unique savory flavor. And then I found my vintage Polish cookbook.

I have to make this. If you, Cher Reader, make it before I do, let me know how it goes. I will update.

DILL PICKLE SOUP

3 large Dill Pickles
3 tablespoons Butter
Meat or Vegetable Stock
1 cup Sour Cream
2 tablespoons Flour

Slice the Pickles and saute in Butter and Flour until thoroughly wilted. Add the Stock and simmer slowly for half an hour. Strain and add the Sour Cream. Serve with Pierozki.

Ms. Mary Giblin's Old Fashioned Sweet Chili Sauce

Bill Giblin, Mary Giblin's son, did the technical drawings in 1938 for my Father's model airplane The Trenton Terror. People are still building the model all these years later.

Bill also played a Munchkin Soldier in the film The Wizard of Oz. He once showed me an autographed studio photograph of Margaret Hamilton he kept as a souvenir.

I used to go with my Dad to visit the Giblin's. They would make us Creamed Chicken and Waffles. Mrs. Giblin would send some Chili Sauce home with us. It is delicious with Cheese. It is savory but not hot.

Mary Giblin's Chili Sauce

6 Onions
3 green Peppers
18 medium ripe Tomatoes
1 cup Brown Sugar
2 1/2 cups strong Vinegar
2 level teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon each Cinnamon, Allspice, Nutmeg, and Mace (if you can find it)

1/2 teaspoon Cloves

Chop or grind the Onions and Peppers finely. Cut up the Tomatoes into small pieces. Cook all together slowly for 2 1/2 hours. Watch closely and stir often. Sugar makes things burn easily. Makes about 5 pints.

Ms. Mary Walker's Green Tomato Chutney

I know that I am not the only gardener in Pennsylvania gazing at a bumper crop of tomatoes. Ms. Walker has been kind enough to share her recipe for Green Tomato Chutney with me.

You can learn more about Ms. Walker, British expatriate HERE. 

Unconditional surrender of Europe occurred on my 11^th birthday and, in the evening my dad suggested that we ‘go for a walk’. My sister warned that we would be late for the curfew. My Dad simply answered – “It’s such a nice evening, I don’t think we’re going to worry about that tonight”. Cat’s Whisker receivers WORKED! 

Mi casa su casa. So I am sharing it with you, Cher Reader. I give it to you as she gave it to me. Stay tuned for her recipe for Garlic Jam. When Ms. Mary said Garlic Jam, I began to salivate immediately.

GREEN TOMATO CHUTNEY

5 lbs chopped green tomatoes
1 lb chopped onions
1 tsp whole peppercorns
1 tsp salt
1 lb sugar
1-1/2 cups vinegar (I use either white wine vinegar or cider vinegar)
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup sultanas

Mix tomatoes, onions and peppercorns in a large bowl and let sit overnight (covered)
Bring vinegar and sugar to a boil (until sugar is melted) 
Add sultanas and raisins and simmer for 5 minutes
Add tomatoes and onion mixture and simmer till thick (about 40 to 45 minutes).
Put into 8 oz jars - leaving about 1/4inch head-space - and can for 15 minutes.

Ms. Sadie Dell's English Pickled Red Cabbage

Click Me!

"We always had a jar of Pickled Red Cabbage to go with any meat at a meal sitting on the dining room table. Makes 3 one pound jars.

Red Cabbage Pickle

1 large Red Cabbage

Salt

2 1/2 cups Vinegar

1 tablespoon Pickling Spice

2 teaspoons Dry Mustard Powder

Quarter the Cabbage and rinse. Cut out the thick centre stalk. Shred the Cabbage finely, place in a very large flat dish and sprinkle with Salt. Leave to stand in a cool place for at least 24 hours. Drain the Cabbage in a colander thoroughly, then pack it into clean jars. Boil the Vinegar, Spice and Mustard for 5 minutes, then leave until cold and remove the Spices. Pour over the Cabbage in the jars and seal or cover." - Sadie the Brit. 

Editor's Note: Sadie the Brit has her own LABEL. Look in the LABELS in the left margin to find more of her recipes. I think you could add a tablespoon of Mustard Seed instead of the Dry Mustard Powder.
COMING SOON: Sadie's Almond Cake, Chicken Curry and English Cottage Pie. Stay tuned.