Recipe(tried): Gina's Easter 2009 Menu

Hello!

Spring is in the air and Easter is around the corner! This year's Easter menu is filled with all my "tried and trues" and family favorites that make for a quintessential old fashioned meal.

Happy Easter to all my family and friends!

THE MENU:
Granny's Deviled Eggs
Fruit and Cheese Platter

Greens Beans and Feta Salad (cold and crunchy salad, very, very good)

Pineapple Brown Sugar Baked Ham
Spring Vegetable Quiche

Sweet Potato Crunch
Spinach Noodle Pudding
Sister Schubert's Yeast Rolls

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Rugelach

Iced Apple Turkish Tea
Wine
Coffee

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THE RECIPES:

GRANNY'S DEVILED EGGS
Makes 12 servings

1 dozen eggs
mayonnaise
a few drops of hot sauce
mustard
relish
salt and pepper
paprika (for garnish)

Boil eggs. When cool enough to handle, peel and slice in half. Scoop out yolks, put them in a bowl and mash fine. Set aside egg white halves.

Add enough mayo to yolks to bind, add about 1 teaspoon mustard. Add about 1 Tbsp. relish, a few drops of hot sauce, salt and pepper and blend well. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Pipe into egg whites and arrange on egg platter, sprinkle paprika and refrigerate til ready to serve.

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FRESH GREEN BEAN SALAD WITH DILL AND FETA
Cool and crunchy salad.

FOR THE DRESSING:
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup vinegar
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. dried dill
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. dried mustard
1 clove garlic, minced

Combine dressing ingredients in a glass jar and shake well. Refrigerate for later use.

FOR THE SALAD:
2 lbs. whole green beans, trimmed
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 sliced onion
1/2 lb. bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled
3 stalks green onions, chopped
4 oz. feta cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. sour cream

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook beans til tender with salt, garlic and onion slice. Drain and cool.

Toss beans with bacon, green onions, cheese, 1/4 cup dressing, mayo and sour cream. Chill before serving. Use more dressing if needed before serving.

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SPRING VEGETABLE QUICHE
Source: Jane and Michael Stern's Real American Food
Makes 6-8 servings

1 cup sliced and halved zucchini
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
3/4 cup chopped onions
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. olive oil
6 eggs
1/4 cup cream
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
2 cups cubed white bread, crusts removed
1 1/2 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Saute zucchini, mushrooms, bell pepper, onion and garlic in oil till barely soft. Cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter well a 10-inch springform pan.

Beat eggs and cream together in a large bowl. Add cream cheese in pinches. Add bread, cheddar, and cooled veggies. Add salt and pepper. Pour mixture into prepared pan.

Bake 55 minutes. Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving.

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PINEAPPLE BROWN SUGAR BAKED HAM

1 whole or half pre-cooked ham (such as Smithfield)
1 cup pineapple juice
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar, packed
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
peel of 1 orange
peel of 1 lemon
whole cloves
pineapple slices
candied cherries

Combine pineapple juice, dark brown sugar, mustard, and peels in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Remove peels and set aside.

Wash ham and score in a diamond pattern and stud with cloves. Put into an oven proof roasting pan, brush some of the sauce on ham.

Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees F. Baste occasionally. Lower heat to 300 degree F, arrange pineapple slices with toothpicks on ham and cherries too. Continue basting and cook for 1 more hour. Use all the sauce on the ham.

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SWEET POTATO CRUNCH

3 sweet potatoes
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 stick butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
CRUNCH TOPPING:
1/3 cup melted butter
1/3 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1 tbsp. Ground cinnamon

Bake potatoes til tender. Take skin off when cooled and able to handle.

Put potoatoes in a large bowl and whip them til fluffy adding all other ingredients. Pour into a buttered casserole and top with the crunch topping.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.

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SPINACH NOODLE PUDDING
Makes 8 servings (This recipe easily doubles to serve 16)

1 onion, chopped
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, divided use
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (8 oz.) pkg. noodles (fine or medium)
1 pkg Birds Eye Creamed Spinach, thawed
8 oz. sour cream
2 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper (to taste)
bread crumbs (to sprinkle on top)

Saute onions until golden in 1/2 stick butter.

Add the minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Don't let the garlic burn or turn brown.

Cook noodles according to directions on pkg. Drain noodles and toss with the remaining 1/2 stick of butter. Combine with the spinach, sour cream, sauteed onions, garlic and eggs. Salt and pepper to your taste. Stir together well. Pour into a buttered casserole dish and sprinkle with the bread crumbs.

Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 45-60 minutes. YUMMY!!!

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RUTH'S RUGELACH
Makes 32 delicious cookies. These freeze well also.

FOR THE COOKIE DOUGH:
1/2 lb. (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar (for topping)
FOR THE FILLING:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup seedless raisins
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup finely chopped walnuts

Cream butter and cream cheese together. Beat in flour little by little. Knead dough till all flour is incorporated. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour.

WHEN READY TO BAKE: (click here for step-by-step photos)
Divide dough into two balls. Wrap up 1 ball and refrigerate and roll out the other ball into a circle about 1/16 thick on a lightly floured surface.

Cut into 16 pie shaped wedges. Sprinkle filling onto the top and roll up each wedge starting at wide end. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake on cookie sheet for 15-18 minutes at 375 degrees F.

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CARROT CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
Source: The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups corn oil [or canola or safflower]
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
1 1/3 cups pureed cooked carrots
3/4 cups drained crushed pineapple
Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9-inch layer cake pans and line with wax paper.

Sift dry ingredients into a bowl. Add oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat well. Fold in walnuts, coconut, carrots, and pineapple. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Set in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until edges have pulled away from the sides and a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on a cake rack for 3 hours.

Fill cooled cake and frost sides with Cream-Cheese Frosting. Dust top with confectioners' sugar

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons sweet [aka unsalted] butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
juice of 1/2 lemon

Cream together cream cheese and butter in mixing bowl. Slowly sift in confectioner's sugar and continue beating until fully incorporated. Mixture should be free of lumps. Stir in vanilla and lemon juice. (Frosting for a 2-layer cake.)