Waiting for Spring! Heartwarming Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes with Fresh Dill, and Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick's Day, plus an elegant side dish of Mother's Asparagus with Sunshine Sauce and Pineapple Cake with White Caramel Icing for Easter.

Spring is around the corner, and I know that most of us are looking forward to the warm weather it brings us here in South Carolina. Spring also brings us St. Patrick's Day and Easter Sunday. So get ready to cook something good.

My late mother loved spring vegetables. She was also a wonderful cook, and very traditional when it came to holiday cooking. For example, she wouldn't have an Easter dinner that didn't include asparagus with sunshine sauce.

Would you like to know something? It didn't matter what other side dishes she prepared on Easter Sunday, because this one would out shine them all, so I thought you might like to try it.

It's the perfect time too, because the produce section of the grocery stores and curb markets seem to have an abundance of fresh asparagus. It's such a versatile vegetable and it's easy to find ways to cook it. Steamed with hollandaise sauce, roasted with olive oil and lemon, in casseroles, or in the wonderful way that my mother prepared it. I think that you'll love the taste of this wonderful old side dish without all the work of hollandaise sauce. It's good, pretty and not a lot of work, which is what I am all about these days.

St. Patrick's Day is before Easter this year, and potatoes are always in season. Who doesn't love them? In the recipe below, adding fresh dill to the  potatoes after cooking and mashing is a great way to serve them for St. Patrick's Day.

If you're making corned beef and cabbage, please do me a favor, and don't add the bag of seasoning that comes with the corned beef. You can make your own seasoning by tying sprigs of fresh parsley and thyme together. According to Chef Rory O'Connell, this is the way it's done in Ireland.

Irish Soda bread is on the menu too, and although this bread is great anytime, it is especially delicious served with the potatoes and fresh dill for a holiday celebration. Don't forget how good the soda bread is toasted and served with fried eggs and ham. With these two dishes you'll feel like you just landed at the Shannon Airport.

We never have a meal without dessert in the South, and this delicious and easy Pineapple Torte with White Caramel Icing is the perfect way to end an Easter Sunday meal. This recipe has been around for a long time, but making it in layers elevates it to another level. Oh so good.

I'm pretty hungry from looking at this food, so I think I'd better get back to the kitchen. Enjoy!

Mashed Potatoes with Sour Cream & Fresh Dill

 

 

2 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cooked

1 to 1-1/2 cups sour cream

1/2 stick butter, melted

2-4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill

salt and pepper to taste

 

You'll need to do a little tasting with this recipe and see what suits you.

Place the drained potatoes in a mixing bowl with a wire whisk attachment. Mix the potatoes for about 30 seconds. Add the sour cream, dill and 1/2 the butter to the potatoes, whisk until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Put potatoes in serving dish, and pour remaining butter on top. Add fresh dill for garnish. Serves 4.

 

 

Irish Soda Bread
 

I've been making this recipe for over 40 years. It's the best recipe I've made so far. This recipe makes one round of soda bread. 

  

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/8 teaspoons salt

1 3/4 cups buttermilk
 

Preheat the oven to 425. Spray 2 (8 or 9-inch cake pans or an iron skillet, and cake pan of the same size) with non-stick cooking spray.
Add the flour, soda and salt to a large mixing bowl and whisk with a fork. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the buttermilk.
Bring the flour into the buttermilk with the fork. Mix well. When the mixture starts to come together, knead it in the bowl. It will look ragged, and that is okay. Form it into a round and place a cross in the top of the dough. Place the dough round into the cake pan. Cover the top with the other cake pan turned upside down (like a dome). Bake covered for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove the top cake pan. When you take the top cake pan off, the dough will have risen and it will be golden brown. Bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool.
 

My Mother's Asparagus with Sunshine Sauce  

  

Prepare the asparagus:

1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed of the woody stems

 

Asparagus is cut at or below ground level when harvested. Rinse the spears to remove any remaining dirt. Trim one stem by holding the asparagus spear in your left hand with the tip end pointed away from you, and with your right hand bend the spear until it snaps off the tough end, discard the tough end, and use the spear as a guide to cut the remaining spears.

Cook the asparagus by putting it into a skillet, then pour in enough cold water to cover. Set the skillet on a burner set to high and cook for 7 minutes from start to finish. Test the asparagus with a fork to make sure it is tender.

 

Sunshine Sauce

¼ cup sauterne or other white wine

1 tablespoon instant minced onion (use a finely minced shallot if you like)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¾ cup mayonnaise

2 hard cooked eggs, chopped

In a small saucepan pour wine over the onions. Stir in lemon juice, and mayonnaise and heat just to boiling. Gently stir in the eggs. Serve the sauce hot over the asparagus spears.  Serves 4.
 

 

Old Fashioned Pineapple Cake with White Caramel Icing

I love this old fashioned pineapple cake. It can be made in a 9 x 12 glass pan, or it can be made in layers. I get compliments galore when I make it in layers, and add the white caramel icing with pecans.
 

 

Cake:

2 cups sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup vegetable   oil

2 eggs

1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice, undrained

1 teaspoon baking soda 

 

In a medium bowl combine all of the ingredients. Mix well. Pour into three greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Set aside to cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pans. After cake has cooled, divide icing into 3 equal portions to cover 2 layers and the top of the cake.

 

White Caramel Icing:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, cut into small cubes

2/3 cup evaporated milk

pinch of salt

1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans

1/2 cup coconut

 

In a saucepan combine the sugar, butter, milk and salt. Bring to a boil, and then lower the heat. Cook and stire for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the pecans and coconut.

Toasting pecans: Place the pecans on a microwave safe dish, and microwave on high for 60-90 seconds depending on the power of the microwave.

 

 

 

 

Southern Sweet & Savory, Southern Belle Cake & Lulu Paste



I was cooking from an old cookbook this week, so I can share some good memories along with some wonderful recipes. You'll find an amazing cake that is perfect for winter, and a delicious heirloom cheese spread that can be stored in a jar in the fridge. I hope you'll take the time to make the recipes, and enjoy them as much as I did.

Southern Belle Cake from Recipes From The Old South

 

When I was a child, I loved walking through the front door of my grandmother's big old house, because from there, at the threshold, I could see the dining room table and the cake that she'd baked sitting proudly on the edge. I never really knew what kind of cake I'd find on a particular day, but one of my favorites was a tall Lemon Jelly Cake, also known in the south as a Lemon Cheese Cake.

This cake was good year round, but especially in the winter, because on those chilly winter days in Alabama, the dining room stayed cold, and the cake on the tall, pretty pedestal that sat on the long, dark table stayed as fresh, and as beautiful as if it had been made the hour before.

This very southern cake had several layers of yellow or white cake with what my grandmother called a "filling", which was a cooked mixture of fresh lemon juice, zest, egg, and sugar. It was much like a lemon curd. The "filling" would drip out from between the sandwiched cake layers and puddle on the edge of the cake pedestal where we could scoop it up with a spoon to get a little more sweetness on the cake.

I was reminded of this wonderful cake again this week when I was reading an old cookbook that I've had for many years. This wonderful old book with the recipe so similar to my grandmother's, is Recipes From the Old South, by Margaret L. Meade. Instead of lemons, Miss Meade used oranges and mace in her cake called the Southern Belle Cake.

I made the cake yesterday and after tasting it, thought that she could not have chosen a more appropriate name. To me, a Southern Belle is sweet, soft, tender and very elegant, but on the other hand she can verbally kick some behind if she needs to. This cake was all of that, wonderfully sweet, a little kick with the mace, and a very tender texture. My husband and I loved the cake, and thought it extraordinary.

I made a couple of changes to my cake, and I will tell you what they are and let you decide if you want to follow the recipe as it was written, or go in my direction. I hope you'll make this recipe, so that you can enjoy this cake as much as we did. If you make it as a gift, be prepared to have new best friends. Because I tell you my good friends, it is scrumptious!

Southern Belle Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mace (this should have been 1/2 teaspoon for the cake and 1/2 for the whipped cream, but I used 1 teaspoon mace for the cake)
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs, separated
2/3 cup fresh orange juice
Rind of 1 orange
Whipped cream, sweetened (I used a mock clotted cream, find recipe below)
Grated orange peel

Sift flour, baking powder, salt and 1/2 teaspoon mace together three times. Cream butter and sugar together well; add well beaten egg yolks to butter-sugar mixture. Next add dry ingredients, orange juice, and grated rind and beat well. Then fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Bake in three greased 8-inch pans in 350 degree oven about 30 minutes. ( I used 3 greased and floured 8-inch cake pans, and the cakes only took 20 minutes to cook, so do watch the time). Allow the cakes to cool, and then spread orange filling between and on top of cake and cover with sweetened whipped cream into which 1/2 teaspoon mace has been blended. Sprinkle with grated orange peel.

Orange Filling

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons orange juice (fresh)
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated orange rind
1 egg
1 tablespoon butter

Sift sugar, flour, and salt together. Add orange and lemon juice and orange rind. Add slightly beaten egg and butter. Mix well in top of double boiler and cook until thick and smooth (about 10 minutes), stirring frequently. Cool partially before frosting cake. (This made about 3/4 cup, I cooled it and divided it by 3 or 1/4 cup per layer, which includes the top).

Mock Clotted Cream

I used this instead of the whipped cream with mace.

1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons whipped cream cheese
mace

Mix all ingredients except mace. Using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, whip until mixture is light and fluffy. Place this in a pretty bowl, sprinkle the top with mace, and place the bowl at the edge of the cake plate.  Serve a heaping tablespoonful on the edge of the cake plate.

  Lulu Paste 

 

So please tell me, have you ever heard of Lulu Paste?  Neither had I, until again, I was reading Recipes From the Old South. According to Miss Meade, this pimiento cheese type recipe, "is considered an heirloom recipe in Richmond".

 

Although it's very much like our pimiento cheese, it has other ingredients and when you see what they are, you'll be surprised. I must tell you that I thought it was delicious on crackers.

 

I always use Cabot cheese when I make anything, so this is made with Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar.

 

The recipe as written by Miss Meade:

 

1 pound sharp Cheddar cheese

1 small onion

1 (4-ounce) can pimientos (we get this in jars now, and I believe this is intended to be drained)

1/2 cup tomato catsup

1 pinch dry mustard

A little chili sauce (optional)

1 cup mayonnaise

 

"Grind cheese, onion, and pimientos in food grinder. Add other ingredients and stir until well mixed. Store in screw-top jar in icebox. This is considered an heirloom recipe in Richmond. It is a very delicious spread."

 

I grated the cheese in my food processor, and made it just like I would make pimiento cheese, except for adding the other ingredients. Delicious.

See you next time. Have a wonderful, and flavorful week!

 

                                             

 Sunday Dinner

 

    

 

                             

Squash is a "mainstay" vegetable in the south. The most popular kind of squash is the summer squash or "crookneck". No matter what time of the year it is, we eat it if we can find it. In fact, there's squash in the fresh food section of your local grocery store or market right now, so maybe you can use this wonderful recipe to enjoy squash in a different way.    
                                      
Mother's Squash Patties
  
My mother was a wonderful cook. She died eight years ago, and I really miss her. She loved holidays and celebrations, and was the happiest when she was cooking something for us to share over the table, or sharing a new recipe with us. This is one of those recipes. Delicious.
 

2 cups grated yellow squash

2 eggs (slightly beaten)

2 teaspoons grated onion

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons sugar

Add all ingredients into a bowl, and mix well. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a heavy skillet, over medium heat. Drop squash by tablespoons into the hot butter. Fry until brown on each side.(I had to add a little more butter to finish frying the squash. I had 12 small patties when finished).

 

 

Italian Mozzarella Sausage with Potatoes and Herbs

I found something really good this week. It Kiolbassa (brand) Sausage from a company in San Antonio, Texas. This large link sausage is Italian Mozzarella, and it has just the perfect amount of spice. If you pair it with potatoes, and fresh herbs, then you've got a great meal. Just add a salad and dessert. This is the easiest but tastiest dish that you'll make this week. Serves 2-3.

3 Yukon Gold potatoes

2 Kiolbassa (brand) Italian Mozzarella sausages

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

spigs of fresh thyme

chopped fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 380 degrees. Wash potatoes, and cut them into bited size chunks. Cut the sausage links into 3 or 4 diagonal cuts per link. Add a drizzle of olive oil to a cast iron skillet. Add the potatoes and sausage, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the thyme sprigs. Stir. Place the iron skillet in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes have crisped on the outside and are tender inside. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the fresh, chopped parsley.