The History Book Club discussion

This is a thread to add those great recipes that we all must share. Are there some special recipes that your grandmother made that will knock everybody's socks off or are there just some things that you just like to have and think we would like too.

Folks with all of the global members from around the world - if everybody posted one great recipe from their country - think how much fun that would be.

Everybody - post your best global recipe that you think that we would like. Or more than one to improve your chances.

And we will all try them and have a poll - I think this would be fun if we had a bunch of contributors.

THREE CHEESE SHRIMP

This has been a favorite recipe in my family for years. Make sure you have some good crusty bread for dipping up the cheesy sauce. Hope you enjoy as much as we do.

Ingredients:

3 lbs shrimp
1 bay leaf
1 celery stalk
2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 carrot slice
1 tbsp parsley
1 onion, quartered
pinch of salt and pepper
2/3 cup dry Vermouth
1 1/3 cup water
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 lb cheddar, shredded
1/8 lb swiss, shredded
1/8 lb mozzarella, shredded


INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Combine first 10 ingredients and boil for 7 minutes. Remove shrimp, cool, and peel. Strain liquid and reserve. (you can throw away the bay leaf, celery, carrot, and onion)

2. In a 2-qt saucepan, melt better. Add flour slowly to make a roue. Gradually mix in reserved liquid beating well to remove lumps. Add whipping cream. At this stage, sauce should be on the thick side.

3. Add cheeses to sauce and stir over low heat until melted. Add shrimp. Pour shrimp mixture into a casserole dish, top with Parmesan cheese, and bake at 400 degrees for approximately 10 minutes or until brown.

Note: I have to admit that I tend to add more Vermouth and less water and I also add a little bit of crushed red pepper to the thickened sauce for a little kick. I'm not much on measuring when I cook; just go by taste and preference, so just go with what you feel comfortable with.

Look forward to comments when you try it.

BONNIE BUTTER CAKE

This is my favorite cake recipe (it's an old Betty Crocker recipe). It's called Bonnie Butter Cake.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter or margerine, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 3/4 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups milk
French Silk Frosting (follows)

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour 3 round layer pans, 8x11 1/2 in. In large mixer bowl, mix butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until fluffy. Beat 5 minutes on high speed, scraping bowl occasionally.

On low speed, mix in flour, baking powder, and salt alternately with milk. Pour batter into pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake. Fronst with French Silk Frosting.

FRENCH SILK FROSTING

2 2/3 cups confectioner's sugar
2/3 cups soft butter
2 oz. melted unsweetened chocolate (cool)
3/4 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp milk

In small mixer bowl, blend sugar, butter, chocolate, and vanilla on low speed. Slowly add milk. Beat until smooth.

Enjoy!

Both of those sound great - in terms of crusty bread - do you mean like Italian bread or French bread?

Also at the top of each Recipe - put name for each one. So when we vote - if we get a few and I hope we do - we can name it.

Done. You could use either French or Italian. I like a French Boule.

Ah good I will try that then. And thank you for kicking this off and for adding the titles

You're welcome. Hope you try and like them.

I do not know the exact recipe for Chicken Paprkash. But found this it woulnd't let me copy and paste at all but I'll provide the link.
http://qconline.com/recipes/cgi/recip...
This not how my mother does it, she learned from her mother so there is no specific recipe it's done by memory. When you've prepared a recipe for so long, you just know how to make it without directions.

Again I can not copy and paste recipe: http://www.cooks.com/recipe/my1ue1bj/...
My fave dessert in the whole wide world. Made this for grade 7 cookbook great success.

all other recipes that I have in my Evernote are basically from Pinterest. In grade 10 food I had to make a cookbook and used a lot of family known recipes. oh another recipe I can't live without is my grandma's chicken soup(pileća juha). I'm not sure where she gets the noodles from but there very thin when she makes the soup and the spices are really what makes the recipe. Found this thread by chance in one of the game threads where you state the 3 things the person posts.

Yum! I'm definitely going to try the shrimp and the cake both.

That is great Krystal and KC but you should add your recipes too so we all can share.

This is a dish that I grew up eating. Every year when its Texas 1015 sweet onion season, we would load up on these large sweet onions and make this dish. Its good as a side dish or all by itself.

1015 Surprise Casserole

1/4 cup butter
3 medium 1015 sweet onions, chopped
2 cups grated Swiss cheese
1 cup crushed saltine crackers
2 eggs
3/4 cup light cream
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 tbsp melted butter

Melt 1/4 cup butter in large skillet and saute onions until tender. Place 1/2 the onions in 1 1/2 quart deep dish pie pan or casserole dish. Sprinkle 1 cup Swiss cheese and 1/2 cup cracker crumbs over onions. Repeat layers of onions and cheese. beat eggs with cream, salt and pepper. Pour evenly over onion mixture. Melt 2 tbsp butter in a skillet and stir in remaining cracker crumbs. lightly brown, then sprinkle crumbs over casserole. Bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 25 minutes.

Notes: This recipe calls for 1015 Texas sweet but any sweet onions will do. Also I never follow this recipe exactly i usually use more onions and cheese and crackers. I usually end up with a lot of left overs. Leftovers are good on hamburgers, hotdogs, or any kind a sandwich in which you would top with cooked onions.

Sweet Potato Casserole

We make this dish every Thanksgiving and Christmas

3 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs beaten
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1/2 stick butter

Mix cooked and mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, milk and butter. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray and add mixture to the casserole dish. Spread topping over potatoes. Bake 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30-40 minutes.

Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans)
Mix brown sugar, butter, flour and nuts

I couldn't copy and paste the recipes so I provided the links. best I could do. I also do not know the exact recipes becasue they aren't shared with me. My mom basically had to tell me from memory some of the recipes for the cook book, otherwise I had to find them on my own. It's been years since I've looked at my cookbook but I'm sure I have it somewhere.

You should try to find it Krystal - that is a treasure.

I have got to try these Carly - which one is your favorite?

Bentley wrote: "I have got to try these Carly - which one is your favorite?"

Well I love both of these recipes. I would say that the onion casserole is my favorite. The sweet potato casserole is very sweet so it might not be for everyone. I always tell people if they do not like sweet potatoes they should try this recipe.

Really - interesting - I am going to give these a try

This dish makes a great main course and is a favorite of vegetarians. It is yummy.

Zucchini Casserole

2 medium size zucchinis - sliced
1 green pepper - sliced
2 onions - sliced
2 stalks of celery - chopped
2 large tomatoes - sliced
1/2 cup uncooked rice (not instant)
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp butter

Season with salt, pepper, and Morton's seasoning.

Bake in covered greased casserole at 375 for 1hr and 15 minutes.

That sounds great Jill - I will have to try it.

A great side dish with beef.

Crisp Onion Roasted Potatoes

1 envelope of dried onion soup mix
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of melted butter
1 tsp thyme (optional)
1 tsp marjoram (optional)
dash of pepper
2 lbs. potatoes, quartered

Oven 450
Blend all ingredients except potatoes. Add potatoes and turn to coat thoroughly. Bake 1 hour or until potatoes are tender. Stir occasionally.

Sounds good

I am still trying to make up for that terrible cook book I put up one time. Remember?...it made you queasy. (Can't say I blame you)

by Buck Peterson (no photo)

I do remember.