The Homestyle Amish Kitchen Cookbook (6 page)

In a large saucepan, combine 3½ cups of the grape juice and the sugar and heat until boiling.

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch with the remaining ½ cup grape juice. Whisk into the grape juice and sugar and continue to whisk and cook until the mixture thickens. Cool to room temperature. Serve over pancakes or waffles.

Homemade Graham “Nuts” Cereal

3½ cups whole wheat flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 cups buttermilk

2 tsp. vanilla

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour out onto an oiled 12 × 16-inch flat, low-sided baking pan and spread evenly with a spatula. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until the batter is firm, medium-brown in color, and has begun to shrink away slightly from the sides of the pan. With a metal spatula, completely loosen the hot patty and allow to cool on a rack for several hours.

Preheat oven to 275°. Break patty into chunks and put through a meat grinder or a food processor until coarse crumbs are formed. Divide crumbs between two 12 × 16-inch pans.

Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Let cool and then store in airtight containers.

Serve as a cold cereal with milk.

An excellent breakfast treat. Eat this and you’ll never want to buy store-bought cereal again
.

Homemade Maple Syrup

1 lb. brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

1 cup water

⅔ cup light Karo syrup

2 tsp. maple flavoring

Combine all ingredients and heat until dissolved. Keep leftover syrup in refrigerator. If it crystallizes in the refrigerator, heat gently to dissolve the sugar when next used.

Hush Puppies

1 cup stone ground cornmeal

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 egg

½ cup milk (may need a bit more)

4 slices bacon

Mix together dry ingredients.

Beat together the egg and milk. Combine with dry ingredients and mix well. Cut up and fry bacon. Add cooked bacon to the rest of ingredients.

Fry hush puppies in bacon grease or vegetable oil until golden brown.

Serve with syrup or eat plain.

Hush Puppies are a very old recipe, guaranteed to fill you up for pennies. On cold winter mornings, you can make Coffee Soup (another old-time favorite) to go along with your Hush Puppies. Simply tear bread into pieces and place in a bowl. Pour hot coffee over the bread, and add sugar and a bit of milk or cream to taste
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Oatmeal Muffins

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

⅓ cup sugar

1 T. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 egg, well beaten

¼ cup oil

Combine the oats and milk and let stand for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, sift together into a large bowl the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Combine egg, oil, and oatmeal mixture. Add all at once to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.

Fill muffin tins
⅔
full and bake at 425° for 20-25 minutes.

Oatmeal Pancakes

2 cups rolled oats

2 cups buttermilk

½ cup unbleached white flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp. sugar

1½ tsp. baking powder

1½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

2 T. butter, melted and cooled slightly

These pancakes are started the night before. In a mixing bowl combine the oats and buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, in another mixing bowl, sift together the flours, sugar, baking powder and soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until they are light and frothy. Add the melted butter and mix together. Next, add the oatmeal/buttermilk mixture and mix well. Blend in the flour mixture; you will need to stir with a wooden spoon at this point because the mixture will be very thick. If it appears too dry, you can add a few more tablespoons of buttermilk.

Fry the pancakes in a small amount of vegetable oil, cooking well on both sides. These pancakes really puff up.

Serve them hot from the griddle with butter and maple syrup, but they are also excellent plain.

Peanut Butter Granola

1¼ cups honey

⅔ cup oil

1 cup peanut butter

1 T. salt

1 T. cinnamon

½ cup water

10 cups rolled oats

1 cup raw peanuts or other nuts, chopped

1 cup wheat germ

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup coconut

2 cups raisins

Combine the honey, oil, peanut butter, salt, cinnamon, and water in a saucepan and stir over low heat until peanut butter melts.

In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats, peanuts or other nuts, wheat germ, cornmeal, and coconut. Then add the peanut butter mixture and mix well.

Spread granola out in 2 large shallow greased pans and bake about 30 minutes at 325°, stirring often to prevent overbrowning, until crunchy and golden brown. When cool, add raisins.

Store in airtight container.

Poached Eggs

eggs

toast

In a shallow pan or skillet, bring water (about 1 inch deep) to a boil. Reduce heat slightly. Break each egg into a saucer and quickly slip the egg into boiling water. Cook, covered, 3 to 5 minutes. Lift the poached eggs out of the water with a slotted spoon. Drain them before putting them on buttered toast. Salt and pepper to taste.

For a quick and easy breakfast, try good old-fashioned poached eggs on toast
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Potato Crust Pie

2 cups potatoes, shredded (raw)

¼ cup onion, diced

½ cup bell pepper, diced (a combination of green and red bell peppers looks nice)

3 eggs

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup evaporated milk

½ tsp. paprika

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

1 cup cooked ham (leftovers work great), cubed in small pieces

1½ cups Cheddar cheese, shredded

Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate.

In a medium bowl, mix the potatoes, onion, bell pepper, 1 of the eggs (beaten), and salt and pepper to taste. Press potato mixture evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pie plate. Brush potato mixture with oil or melted butter and bake at 375° for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat together the evaporated milk, remaining 2 eggs, paprika, salt, and pepper.

At the end of the first 15 minutes of baking, remove the crust from oven and layer the ham first and then the cheese. Pour the egg-and-milk mixture over the top of cheese and return pie to oven. Bake another 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the pie comes out clean. Let stand about 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Potato Pancakes I

4 large potatoes, peeled, enough to measure 3 cups of grated potato

¼ cup onion, very finely chopped

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2 T. flour

¾ tsp. salt

pepper to taste

Grate potatoes using a large-sized grater. Pat dry.

In a large bowl, combine grated potato, onion, eggs, flour, salt, and pepper.

In a large, heavy skillet, slowly heat oil
⅛
” deep until very hot but not smoking. Drop potato mixture into hot oil in 2-tablespoon increments. With a spatula, flatten pancakes against bottom of skillet. Fry 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Drain well on paper towels.

Potato Pancakes II

3 medium cooked potatoes, grated

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp. salt

In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients together.

Shape into patties and fry in greased skillet about 2-3 minutes on each side.

Potato Pancakes III

3 cups mashed potatoes

2 eggs, slightly beaten

¼ cup flour

5 T. milk

salt and pepper to taste

Mix together all ingredients and fry in a skillet well-greased with oil or a combination of oil and butter.

This recipe is a great use for leftover mashed potatoes. You can make extra mashed potatoes for dinner so you have plenty of leftovers for breakfast in the morning
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Quick Cinnamon Breakfast Fans

3 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cream of tartar

⅓ cup sugar

¾ cup shortening

1 cup milk

Filling:

½ cup butter, melted

½ cup sugar

2 T. cinnamon

Stir together dry ingredients. Cut in shortening until the mixture is crumbled to the size of peas. Add milk and stir. Knead dough gently for ½ minute on a floured surface. Roll dough out in a rectangle about ¼-inch thick. (The rectangle should be about 8 × 24 inches.)

Spread over the top of the dough the melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon for the filling. Cut dough the long way into four 2-inch-wide strips. Then stack the four strips on top of each and cut the stack into 2-inch-wide pieces. Turn the pieces on their sides in a greased muffin tin so each treat fans out.

Bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Sausage and Egg Casserole

1 lb. bulk sausage

6 eggs

1 tsp. dry mustard

2 cups milk

1 tsp. salt

6 slices white bread, cubed

4 oz. mild cheese, cubed

Brown sausage and drain. Beat the eggs; add mustard, milk, and salt. Mix in the bread cubes, cheese, and sausage. Put in a buttered baking dish and refrigerate overnight.