Recipes Collected by Sil

Master Quick-bread Recipe This recipe comes by way of my mother but i've no idea who originated it.

It can be increased by multiples, you can substitute ingredients (within reason), and you can change proportions to some extent. Changing proportions and ingredients will give you cookies, coffeecake, pancakes, biscuits, dumplings, muffins, ... you name it!!!
This quantity will make 50 cookies, 24 biscuits, or a 1 to 1 & 1/2 inch-thick quickbread/cake baked in a 9"x 13" pan. Preheat oven to 375^o F. / 190^o C.

3 cups flour [can substitute 2 c. cornmeal for 2c. flour to make "Johnny Cake," or 1 c. oatmeal, or 2 c. whole wheat flr, or 1/3 c. bran, just remember to decrease your regular flour by that much]

3 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teasp. salt

Depending on how sweet you want the finished product, you can add 3 Tablespoons to 1 & 1/2 cups sugar [white, brown,...] to the dry ingredients. ***If you choose to use honey, some kind of syrup, or molasses, measure it with the other wet ingredients.

Depending on how "short" you want it, you can add 1/3 - 1 cup veg. oil, shortening, margarine, or even applesauce (for coffecake, use at least 2 eggs with applesauce, so your cake will not fall apart into crumbs). ***"Short" dough cooks up flaky. 3/4-1 cup makes good biscuits. ***If you choose shortening or margarine, let it come to room temp., or zap it in the microwave in a pyrex measuring cup for 10 seconds at a time until it softens enough to stir into a mush. [We're not making pie crust here...lol]

For wet ingredients, you may use milk and/or water, or if you want a citrus taste, use one of the juices. The softer [more wet] your dough or batter, the more fluffy or cake-like will be your finished product.
For very soft batter, the wet ingredients should add up to nearly 3 cups. For stiffer dough, (biscuits) the wet ingredients can be a bit under 2 cups.

For flavorings, I enjoy cookies with 1/2 cup raisins and/or 2 small apples, cored and diced, 2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 2 tsp cinnamon, & 1 tsp nutmeg.
Sometimes, I substitute frozen wild blueberries for the raisins [reducing spices by about half, to compensate for the more delicate taste].

The less sweet and/or more dry you choose to make your mixture will change the oven heat to use for cooking. If you are making less-sweet, drier quick breads, like biscuits, cook them hotter, and reduce cooking time. Biscuits = 400^oF./205^oC., 12-15 minutes. Cookies = 375^o F / 190^o C., 8-12 mins. Pan-baked, about 30 mins. [I go by smell, when they smell "done."] The longer time is if you open the oven and test them, because you let out so much heat from the oven.

Pea Soup and Johnny Cake

This combination is my favorite comfort food. There's nothing like the smell of the baking cornbread mingling with the scent of the simmering soup. [Note: I start making the cornbread when i add the chopped and grated veggies (see my variant) to the soup.] This soup is a natural for a crock pot, too.

This original recipe is from Kennebec Bean Co., here in Vassalboro, Maine. It comes right off the package of "A-1" Green Split Peas.

"Wash peas. To one pound of peas, add two quarts of hot water, bring to a boil and boil two minutes, then set aside to soak for 1 hour. Do NOT Drain. Add a meaty ham bone or one or two smoked ham hocks. Cover and simmer about three hours or until very tender. Add a {big}chopped onion during last hour of cooking. Take out ham, cut meat from bone in bite size pieces and put back in soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste and reheat."

My variation on this is:
Leave out the ham, add 2 or 3 grated carrots with the onion, and add Tamari soy sauce or Miso to taste {instead of salt} just before serving. I also like to add an extra quart of water, to make a "lighter" soup (one that does not solidify when it cools to room temperature).

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		It can be increased by multiples, you can substitute ingredients (within reason), and you can change proportions to some extent. Changing proportions and ingredients will give you cookies, coffeecake, pancakes, biscuits, dumplings, muffins, ... you name it!!! This quantity will make 50 cookies, 24 biscuits, or a 1 to 1 & 1/2 inch-thick quickbread/cake baked in a 9"x 13" pan. Preheat oven to 375^o F. / 190^o C.
		3 cups flour [can substitute 2 c. cornmeal for 2c. flour to make "Johnny Cake," or 1 c. oatmeal, or 2 c. whole wheat flr, or 1/3 c. bran, just remember to decrease your regular flour by that much]
		3 teaspoons baking powder
		3/4 teasp. salt

		Depending on how sweet you want the finished product, you can add 3 Tablespoons to 1 & 1/2 cups sugar [white, brown,...] to the dry ingredients. ***If you choose to use honey, some kind of syrup, or molasses, measure it with the other wet ingredients.

		Depending on how "short" you want it, you can add 1/3 - 1 cup veg. oil, shortening, margarine, or even applesauce (for coffecake, use at least 2 eggs with applesauce, so your cake will not fall apart into crumbs). *"Short" dough cooks up flaky. 3/4-1 cup makes good biscuits. *If you choose shortening or margarine, let it come to room temp., or zap it in the microwave in a pyrex measuring cup for 10 seconds at a time until it softens enough to stir into a mush. [We're not making pie crust here...lol]

		For wet ingredients, you may use milk and/or water, or if you want a citrus taste, use one of the juices. The softer [more wet] your dough or batter, the more fluffy or cake-like will be your finished product. For very soft batter, the wet ingredients should add up to nearly 3 cups. For stiffer dough, (biscuits) the wet ingredients can be a bit under 2 cups.
		For flavorings, I enjoy cookies with 1/2 cup raisins and/or 2 small apples, cored and diced, 2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 2 tsp cinnamon, & 1 tsp nutmeg. Sometimes, I substitute frozen wild blueberries for the raisins [reducing spices by about half, to compensate for the more delicate taste].
		The less sweet and/or more dry you choose to make your mixture will change the oven heat to use for cooking. If you are making less-sweet, drier quick breads, like biscuits, cook them hotter, and reduce cooking time. Biscuits = 400^oF./205^oC., 12-15 minutes. Cookies = 375^o F / 190^o C., 8-12 mins. Pan-baked, about 30 mins. [I go by smell, when they smell "done."] The longer time is if you open the oven and test them, because you let out so much heat from the oven.

		Pea Soup and Johnny Cake
		This combination is my favorite comfort food. There's nothing like the smell of the baking cornbread mingling with the scent of the simmering soup. [Note: I start making the cornbread when i add the chopped and grated veggies (see my variant) to the soup.] This soup is a natural for a crock pot, too.
		This original recipe is from Kennebec Bean Co., here in Vassalboro, Maine. It comes right off the package of "A-1" Green Split Peas. "Wash peas. To one pound of peas, add two quarts of hot water, bring to a boil and boil two minutes, then set aside to soak for 1 hour. Do NOT Drain. Add a meaty ham bone or one or two smoked ham hocks. Cover and simmer about three hours or until very tender. Add a {big}chopped onion during last hour of cooking. Take out ham, cut meat from bone in bite size pieces and put back in soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste and reheat." My variation on this is: Leave out the ham, add 2 or 3 grated carrots with the onion, and add Tamari soy sauce or Miso to taste {instead of salt} just before serving. I also like to add an extra quart of water, to make a "lighter" soup (one that does not solidify when it cools to room temperature).