Donna Doon's corn pudding

Corn pudding...the show stealer!

The reason we had any leftover this year was because my son was in KY.

3 cans of 17 0z. creamed corn
1 can of regular corn--smushed in the processor
5 eggs--beaten
1 large can of evaporated milk
2 heaping (as in "abondante") abundant tablespoons of sugar
1 tablespoon of corn starch dissolved in a shot glass of water

Flip it altogether into a deep bow, mix and then toss into a buttered high-sided Pyrex dish.

If desired add: chopped red pepper and onions
Also: nutmeg--a dash or as much as you like...in the mix or on top...

Hot oven...for as long as it takes to make mixture to "pudding."

Tuna steaks in lemon and white wine

Happy Thanksgiving!

May everyone feel lighthearted and blessed--because despite all of our troubles, we have much to be thankful for.

No turkey recipe but I have a few others...My friend Lauren wrote after she read the cod cakes recipe and asked for a tuna recipe...

So here is: Tuna with lemon and wine. Use steak-cuts of tuna...yellow fin is very nice for this.

tuna
a little olive oil
or butter or combination of both
some white wine
lemon juice
onions
garlic
parsley
capers
olives
red hot pepper, if desired
(may use a little paprika for color, or finish the dish with some diced sweet pimento)

On high heat pour the olive oil into a heavy fry pan, add sliced onions and garlic--when bubbling add the tuna and cook 2-3 minutes on each side.

Add white wine and lemon juice and lower heat. Cook for a few more minutes and then add parsley, capers, olives. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot. (Nice on a bed of rice with some of the juice...)

Enyoy your turkey. Here's our menu for the day:

Brunch:
deboned spiral ham
tomato pie
spinach pie with saausage
water cress salad

Dinner:
penne alla vodka
turkey
stuffing
cranberries
corn pudding
green beans

pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream

Pinot Noir
Cabernet Saugvignon
Pinot Grigio

Cod Cakes Antipasto

Cod Cakes Antipasto

½ lb cooked cod, cooled and shredded
1 cup of sifted flour
2 eggs
1 ½ to 2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 pressed garlic clove (garlic powder, if desired)
1/4 onion minced
1 to 2 tablespoons of parsley or cilantro minced
Salt and black pepper to taste1 tablespoon of white wine

Mix together all the ingredients. Let it rest in fridge ½ -1 hr.
Take out of fridge and let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.
Fry by a tablespoon at a time. Drop into very hot corn oil to fry.

Serve piping hot. May serve with lemon wedges.

Stuffed Yellow Squash

November 4th Election Day


A quick announcement:
Screw Iowa is giving a presentation/ panel discussion at the Writer’s Room in NYC on Thursday, November 6th

Stuffed Yellow Squash

A good cook will always use what’s on hand, or what the season gives us…
Yellow squash is on tonight’s menu.

Wash and bake the squash for about 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven
in a baking dish with a little water on the bottom.

When cooled, cut them and take out all the seeds.

Stuff them anyway you like. Here’s what I did.

Mix ¼ lb of chopped beef and ¼ lb of chopped pork. Cook these together without fat or oil. Set aside. In a mixing bowl use about ½ cup of ricotta, ½ mozzarella chopped, and ½ Parmigiano grated. You may want to add some tomato sauce to the mix also—it’s lovely and moist this way.

Chop 1/2 onion and add together the meat, onion and cheeses … (this of course, is not Kosher…) You can substitute the meat with chopped mushrooms, and it’ll be good also. Season to taste

Stuff the squash, top with seasoned grated breadcrumbs and a dollop of tomato sauce. Arrange in a baking pan with a little bit of olive oil smeared on the bottom. Bake for 15 minutes in a high over (400 degrees.)

In Memory of Carolyn Winer

Our friend Carolyn Winer passed away. She was a vibrant and beautiful lady, and she did not let anyone know she was dying of a rare lung illness. She lived her last year to the very end, enjoying the gift and beauty that is this life. She now rests with her wonderful husband Jack, a dear friend of my husband, brother and friend Jerry from high school fraternity days at NYMA. She was and still is Jack's "Princess."

Here is the poem that was read at her funeral.

DO NOT STAND AT MY GRAVE AND WEEP

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow

I am the sun on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there, I did not die.

I am the song that will never end.
I am the love of family and friend
I am the child who has come to rest
In the arms of the Father who knows him best.

Whey you see the sunset fair
I am the scented evening air
I am the joy of a task well done,
I am the glow of the setting sun.

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there, I did not die.

~Author unknown~

La rustichenella

Nov 2, 2008

The party last night at my brother's was wonderful...a million Gators cheering on UF, who slaughtered GA., while eating like as though the sun would not rise on the morrow.

My nephew Stefan cooked a whole pig in the back yard! And also 10 lbs of chicken, 5 lbs of eggplant and 5 lbs of zucchini all on the grill. He made 5 lbs of yucca, seasoned with lime juice and garlic fried in hot olive oil. He also oven roasted a 22 lb leg of pork--Cuban style—just in case there wasn’t enough to feed the crowd and one of Broward’s finest, the cop who came to tell me to move my car.

I brought avocados for 3 huge salads and then made 1 &1/2 lbs of black beans and 2 lbs of rice and about 20 sweet fried plantains...

There was also dessert which I won't go into...suffice it to say, some people actually ate it.

If I tell you there was barely enough pork to scrape together a sandwich today, would you believe me? You’d be foolish not to. It's true. And there weren't even 50 guests.

The mojitos were made by the pitchersful, not to mention a keg of beer and several cases…and of course, vino.

Everyone had either a designated driver, slept over, or called a cab.

Today I'm making a pasta dish that I haven't made in over 20 years...
pasta alla rustichenella—pasta a little rustic style

In a large as in really big fry pan cook:

2 lbs of mushrooms thin sliced
one onion, sliced
3 tablespoons of olive oil
hot pepper to taste
salt to taste

Cook for a few minutes and then add:

¼ cup of white wine. (I usually cheat here and eye it…and my eye is generous, because I like wine).

Next, when the alcohol burns off, add:
3-4 artichoke hearts, marinated or not, quartered
2 ounces of flat anchovies with the olive oil from the tin
3 cloves of garlic.

On a high flame swoosh and smoosh around till the anchovies dissolve. Add 8 ounces of tomato sauce.

Bring to almost a boil and then reduce heat to LOW…cook for 5 minutes.

Let cool and them plop it into the blender and mix away to a creamy blend.

Cook linguine and top with this delice de Dieux! and a smattering of bread crumbs.