Light and Airy Biscuits for a crowd

I"m back to volunteering at the Senior Center and in fact, I'm kinda in charge of the kitchen. 
We are striving to make healthy, tasty and good food for our people.  

Yesterday's menu was:
Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy and Applesauce
Rice
Cooked Carrots
Cabbage with Hog Jowls
Biscuits
Dessert

I do cook a little differently when I'm planning a meal for an unknown number of people.  I had thought we'd feed about 60 yesterday, but planned for about 90, and we ended up with just over 70.    Which meant that we had leftover Pork Chops, some leftover carrots as well as rice.   But that's OK, I have plans for them.

I did do something fun, I made some biscuits using a recipe I found on Facebook of all places, and when I googled the recipe elsewhere, all I could find were rave reviews on it.
So, I decided I'd make the biscuits.
I'm not brave, but sometimes I wonder about myself.
Not just making biscuits from a recipe I found online, but making it for a lot of people for the first time,

I guess I'm just a little nuts.
I usually don't use prepared mixes, but this recipe called for Bisquick mix, so I used it.   And it's a simple 4 ingredient recipe.   I did have to increase the amounts, cause, I was making them for a crowd.    Following is the family size recipe.   I think it would make about a dozen or so.

Recipe:
4 cups Bisquick + 1/2 cup mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup 7 UP
1/2 cup butter

Melt butter in a baking pan, set aside.
Cut the sour cream into the Bisquick mixture, using your hands and mix together gently.   Add the soda and mix until just combined.  This will be sticky.  Dump out of bowl onto counter with a half cup of mix.  Pat it out gently until the whole mass comes together.  Cut out rounds or just cut squares.  Place into the pan containing the melted butter and bake in a 400 deg. oven for about 12-15 minutes or until browned.   You can also drizzle a little butter on top if you like. 

Now, since I was feeding a bunch of people, I had to increase the total amount.   Here's my recipe.
3 1/4 boxes of Bisquick  (each box contains 8 cups)
3 pints Sour Cream
4-5 cups 7 UP
3/4 lb. Margarine + 1/4 lb. melted margarine.

I mixed the sour cream into the mix until it was just combined, then added the 7 UP and mixed it together, decided it was a little dry, so I added a little more soda.  Dumped it out onto a sheet pan with some more mix on it, and kneaded it just a little, just until it came together and I could pat it out and cut them into squares.   I ended up with just over 80 biscuits. 
Melt the butter and divide it between the baking sheets.  I used three pans, as well as a half sheet pan.    I melted an additional 1/4 lb, (1 stick) of margarine and drizzled it over the tops.  
They were baked at 400 degrees in a convection oven for about 12-15 minutes or until I decided they were done. 

And they were very good.  Light, airy and yet substantial. 











And now for the rest of the meal.

Carrots

 Cabbage  and there was a small pot of Collards as well, but the steam rising up from them, fogged the camera lens.
So, you'll just have to take my word for it.   It was there. 

 I made some semi-homemade applesauce to go with the pork chops.

And when I say semi-home made, I mean I peeled and cooked down some apples, sweetened them a little, and added them to some commercial applesauce.   There was also a little cinnamon added for taste, about a tablespoon or so. 

As you can see, the steam was rising and the shot isn't that good, but the chops were. 


I also didn't bother taking a picture of the rice, cause gee, you probably know what rice looks like.







And we had desserts as well.

It was all good.  

 And I was tired after it all.   But thanks to a great group of volunteers who helped cook, and best of all, clean up, we had a great meal.

And I don't know about them, but I had fun.

I get to do them again next week.  
So far the menu plan involves Baked Chicken, Seasoned Potatoes, Green Beans and dessert.    But it is also subject to change without notice.

I'll update you next week...   Just as soon as I rest up a little.   

Senior Center Lunch

I'm excited.

I get to cook for lots and lots of people this week.

Well, I hope it's lots and lots of people, cause I'm back to cooking at the Senior Center this week.   I used to do it, and had such fun.  It is a lot of hard work, and I do need a nap after I'm done, but I love to do it.

I have no idea how many people will come this week, but am planning for a minimum of at least 60 people, but it could be more, it could be less.  

I'll be taking pictures along the way,  and will let you all know about my misadventures adventures in the kitchen.

Here are a few from my past cooking adventures there.

 Biscuits and pulled pork.
Biscuits are always popular and if you have any leftover, you can always make a good bread pudding. 

Creamed Corn and Baked Beans for one of our lunches. 

 Desserts, desserts, desserts

 Haluska for a crowd.   As I remember this the main complaint for this dish, not enough cabbage in there.  Our seniors do like their cabbage.

I will do better in the future.  






 

I can't wait...

Deviled Ham Spread

If you're like me, and maybe you're not, but if you are...

You still have ham left over from Christmas and you may even be sick and tired of eating it.

I'm not, but I still have a lot of ham to get through.   I did make some lovely Split Pea soup the other day from the ham bone, and we've had Hot Ham and Cheese Sandwiches and Ham and Eggs for breakfast and a couple of sandwiches along the way as well.

Gosh it kinda feels like the everlasting leftover turkey at this point.


Which leaves me approximately 6 pounds to go through.

I'm kidding, we've only got 2.8 lbs left.

And even less after today.

At any rate, there are a bunch of us who gather together most Sundays and I subjected them to some of my leftover ham last weekend.

But not just leftover Ham, I wanted to have fun with it, and since I love that spread you can buy in the can.
OK, I've been known to buy a can and eat it all.

So I went down to the kitchen and ...

I played with the leftover ham and this is what I came up with.

I swear sometimes you shouldn't let me loose in the kitchen.   I have way too much fun.

Here's my take on Deviled Ham

Recipe:

2 cups cubed cooked ham
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup Creme Fraiche or Sour Cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Grey Poupon Mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons Yellow Mustard
2 shallots, finely minced
2 garlic scapes, or one small garlic clove minced

Put the ham into the food processor, and process until it's all broken up.  I actually tried just chopping it with my knife, but decided to try my little processor and it worked.  Yay!!!!

Place the softened cream cheese into a bowl and add the mustard, mayonnaise and creme fraiche. 

Add the minced garlic and shallots  (you can also let them have a quick whirl in food processor if you like).
Mix together and then add the ham.   Mix until all the ingredients are combined.   Taste at this point and add more mustard or creme fraiche if you like.

Put the ham mixture into the fridge and let it set there for a couple of hours, let the shallots and garlic get acquainted with the ham.   

Serve with crackers.

And get out of the way, you don't want to get trampled. 

I'll be making this again soon, or at least the next time I make a large baked ham.  

Gul Ærtesuppe (Split Pea Soup)

I'll admit it, I've been indulging, maybe a little too much?  Nah, just enough.

But with all the rich food, and well,  all the food that I've been making and eating and serving, I wanted a little comfort food.

So I made some Gul Ærtesuppe, my take on my mom's recipe for Split Pea soup.

Comfort food to the max.

I had a hambone from the ham I made for Christmas Eve, and decided to go ahead and simmer it in my crock pot for a few hours.
After it had simmered away, without any additions, just the water, I took it out, strained the soup, and placed the soup liquid into another pot.
I got about 10 cups of ham juice.   I'm so proud of myself, I actually measured it.

I put yellow split peas into the broth and let it simmer until the peas were soft.    While they were simmering away, I pulled a celery root aka celeriac, out of the fridge, peeled it, and cut it into fine dice.   I did the same with 4 small carrots and two shallots.

 One quick note about Celery Root or Celeriac. See the picture above, this is a piece of the peel from the Celeriac. 
I forgot to take a picture of the root before I started cutting the peel off.  It really doesn't look like something you would want to eat.   But if you can get past the exterior, the interior smells so wonderfully of celery.  It's kind of a concentrated celery flavour.   The interior should be a milky white, but the one I had was a little, well, almost past its prime, but still edible. 

   I would have used leeks but gee, the store didn't have any so I used shallots, as I wanted an oniony flavour, but not too much onion flavour. 
Added them all into the broth and peas and then put in a small bunch of thyme from the plant which resides on my office windowsill, and needs to be repotted, but it will have to wait.   I also added a bay leaf to the soup.   I hadn't tasted the soup yet at that point, but decided to give it a taste and then I added about 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a few grinds of fresh black pepper.
I simmered the soup for about another half hour, until the veggies were tender and then fished out the thyme and bay leaf.
Then I had fun.   I pulled out my immersion blender and blended it into a lovely creamy soup.   You can use a potato masher for this as well, or just leave the veggies whole.  Any way you want to eat this is just fine.   But I like having a mug of soup that I can sip on while I'm working.

 

My soup came out really thick, but I like it thick.   If it's too thick for your taste, go ahead and thin it out with a little water.    Serve with a little ham on the side if you like, or do like me, a couple slices of my nice home made rye bread.
Lunch or dinner fit for a Dane.
Well for this Dane at least. 

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking (adapted from many recipes, mostly my mother's)print recipe

Gul Ærtesuppe (Split Pea Soup)

prep time: 15 MINScook time: 2 hourtotal time: 2 hours and 14 mins

INGREDIENTS:

• 10 cups ham broth or low sodium chicken stock
• 1 1/2- 2 cups yellow split peas
• 1 celery root, or 3 stalks celery, chopped or diced
• 4 small carrots,diced
• 1-2 shallots, diced   (can also use the white parts of 2 leeks here, rinsed and diced or sliced)
• 1 small bunch fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper to taste.
• 1 teaspoon white or wine vinegar (opt.) To be added after dishing up the soup into the bowls.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place the broth or stock into a large pot, add the thyme, bay leaf and yellow split peas.   
2. Simmer until the peas are tender and then add the vegetables, continue to cook until the vegetables are cooked through.   Stir it a couple of times throughout the cooking process, and when the vegetables are tender and cooked through, you can either mix it up with an immersion blender or mash the vegetables and peas together or just eat it as is.   
3.  My dad always added a soup spoon of vinegar to his soup when he ate it , and I do the same.   The vinegar adds a nice piquant note to the soup, and also thickens it up.

All recipes and their respective images are either original or adapted and credited, and are all the sole property of Sid's Sea Palm Cooking © 2011-2020, with all rights reserved thereof.

This recipe and many more Danish Recipes are in my cookbook Hygge- Danish Food and Recipes Dansk Mad og Opskrifter til et Hyggeligt Hjemme, available on Amazon. Also available as an ebook.

Created using The Recipes Generator

My favourite recipe in 2014 (aka Pick Your Poison)

And for the final entry in the Best of 2014. 

Sarah at Fantastical Recipes and the Secret Recipe Club are hosting these Countdowns.      

Well, I think my favourite thing that I made all year, was this one.

A real Kringle Wienerbrod.
 
Finding a real Danish pastry shop who knows how to make these totally over the top, rich, buttery, almondy pieces of goodness is almost impossible.  (sorry for the purple prose here) . 
At least in my particular neck of the woods.  

I'd wanted to try my hand at baking one for a long time.   My brother has perfected it, and his is so lækker, and rich and good.  Sorry, sometimes my Danish just comes out.  

At any rate, this recipe incorporates a 'lacquered dough', which can be tricky to work with.   A lacquered dough is very similar to a puff pastry dough, in which you roll it out with layers of butter.   

And I think it will require practice, practice, practice to get this recipe down pat, but that's OK, I have the patience to do so.

In the meantime we'll just have to eat the 'failures'.  

  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!