Molasses for the Masses - February 10, 2013

Lots of local farmers have honey and molasses to sell in the Fall.  We bought both and used the molasses to sweeten pots of greens, but then started looking for other ways to take advantage of this natural sweetener.  Molasses have a strong flavor that I would describe as from a previous time.  We’re so used to refined sugars, many of us have lost or never acquired a taste for this rich flavor.  I decided to try one old time recipe that would really highlight the molasses taste.  I had heard about shoo fly pie, but never tried it.  The Wood Brothers have a song called “Shoo Fly Pie” that often gets stuck in my head.  Maybe the pie taste will as well.

ShooFly Pie 

1 9 inch pie shell

1 cup molasses

3/4 cup hot water

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup shortening

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a medium bowl combine molasses, hot water, and baking soda. Stir well. Whisk in beaten egg. Pour mixture into pie shell.

Then, in a medium bowl combine flour and brown sugar.  Mix well and cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle on top of molasses layer.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.  Lower temperature to 350 degrees.  Bake an additional 30 minutes.

Another great way to use molasses is gingerbread cookies.  These are the chewy ones.  They are all supposed to be great with milk before bed to help you sleep.

Gingerbread Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. ground ginger

1 teaspoon baking soda

¾ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground cloves

¼ tsp. salt

3/4 cup margarine, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 T. water

¼ cup molasses

2 T. sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside. 

In a large bowl, cream the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses.  Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture.  Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar.  Place the cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven.  Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.  Store in an airtight container.

One year ago - Shrimp Shell Stock and Thai Shrimp Soup

Now We’re Smokin! – February 1, 2013

My wonderful mother-in-law, Mary Ellen, bought me a beautiful cookbook for Christmas called Home Made by Yvette Van Boven.  It is beautiful and has the best simple recipes for making almost anything at home.  I was checking it out during the holidays and saw that it had a whole section on smoking.  I considered buying a kitchen smoker you put in your oven, but my husband, John, said we could do it on the gas grill – and he was right.

We had some frozen salmon in a bag in the freezer that was too thin to be very good just cooked as a main course, so we thought this would be the perfect way to use it.  We also had some walnut wood in the basement shop that John cut into chips and some Rum left over from Derby when we made mojitos.  Here is what we did:

Smoked Salmon

1 lb. skinned thin salmon

½ c. dark rum

½ c. brown sugar

¼ c. or less of coarse sea salt

freshly ground pepper to taste

wood chips

Place salmon in shallow dish and soak in rum for 30 minutes.  Pour off liquid and let sit to dry.  You may have to pour liquid off again and/or pat dry with a paper towel.  Mix sugar, salt and pepper and place half in pan covering with fish and placing the remaining mixture over.  Cover with plastic and place in refrigerator 3 – 4 hours.  Soak chips.  Place chips in bottom of grill and heat.  Wipe all the salt mixture off the fish, rinse it off thoroughly with water (or it will be too salty), pat dry with paper towel or allow to sit to dry and place on grill.  Smoke for 15 minutes or longer if desired.  I liked it at 15 minutes.  We did again later for 20 minutes or longer and it was a bit too dry for me.

 I had salmon on salads and on a bagel with cream cheese.  Both were fabulous.  Then, I tried a warm pasta recipe that really showed off the salmon.

Amandari Smoked Salmon Pasta

4 chopped tomatoes

2 chopped shallots

2 T. chopped capers

zest of one orange

2 T. chopped basil

4 oz. shredded smoked salmon

¼ c. olive oil

1/8 tsp. pepper.

8 oz. angel hair pasta

2 boiled and chopped eggs

Parmesan cheese to taste

Mix tomatoes, shallots and capers.  Add next five ingredients.  Cook pasta and mix in sauce.  Top with eggs and cheese.

One Year Ago – Sugared Orange Rinds and Tangerine Chess Pie