Sicilain Cannoli

My husband found cannoli tubes at the Italian store and decided he would make cannoli for Sunday dinner! 

Looking at three different recipes, two from cookbooks, the "Friends of Don Orione Cookbook" and the other from "Good Housekeeping Around the world cookbook" along with a youtube video found that the recipes are very similar. Today, I saw this recipe on Facebook

Sicilian Cannoli 

Pastry

• 1 1/2 to 2 cups 
• 4 T lard
• 1 tsp icing sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cocoa
• pinch of salt
• 30 ml vinegar 
• 30 ml marsala 
• 1 egg 

Filling

• Creamy Ricotta 
• sugar to taste
• garnish; chocolate chips, pistachio, glazed oranges, maraschino cherries etc

Method

• Sift dry ingredients
• Add the lard
• Mix in beaten egg
• Add vinegar and Marsala gradually to form a soft dough, did need another oz of marsala  for a soft dough
• Wrap and chill for an hour or overnight

The process is very much like making pasta dough.

• For the filling, drain the ricotta overnight
• then add your chosen garnish
• Roll out small pieces using a rolling pan
• Cut out circles using a cookie cutter or a glass
• Wrap the circles around the cannoli tubes
• Seal the ends with beaten egg
• Heat the oil to 325 to 350 degrees F 
•  Cook for about 2 minutes 

Fill the shells just before serving to keep the shells crisp!

Family style serving is the best!  Roasted garden fresh Potato Salad, Beet Rolls simmered in a creamy dill sauce, Bourdin marinated Rib Steak.  For the girls; mozzarella, bing cherry, apple and pork tenderloin Stuffed Buns.  

Bourdin marinated rib steak!

The cannoli were delicious but the ricotta needed to be drained first or whipped cream could have corrected those ends!

The grandkids enjoyed the cannoli.  Yes, finger licking good!

Dark Fruitcake, 1846

This is a recipe that has been handed down many generation in my hubby's family.  According to my husband 's Aunt Kay, the recipe was brought to Canada from Ireland in 1846.   Not sure how many modification there would have been over the years as not sure how available the spices would have been or the vanilla extract.  The mixed peel would have been made as I did this year.  

My husband and I both spent an enjoyable time putting this cake together that had so many memories for both of us! 

These were my notes that I made the first time I made this recipe with great success.  I love this cake as my Grandmother also made a similar cake for Christmas and covered it in Marzipan, decorating with almond half to form a flower.  As a young child, I loved the look of this cake, the dark cake covered in the white marzipan.  I made a similar cake for my daughter's wedding dessert table. 

The fruit and peel were marinated in Appleton Estate Rum for 3 days, something that Aunt Kay would not have done.  

Setting out all the ingredients in the recipe makes it easier and quicker to make the cake.

The richness in colour is due to the very dark raisins, seedless and regular and the dark molasses.  The seedless raisins were very plump and twice the size of the Thompson Raisins 

A step that must always be done in making a fruitcake is to dust completely the raisins or fruit in some of  the flour before mixing up the cake  This prevents the fruit from settling and stay mixed in the batter.

I did use the 4 pounds of raisins but only 1/4 pound of mixed peel.  Since I used two small Wilton springform pans, I was not sure how many other pans I needed to prepare.  The pans were greased and lined with parchment before stating the cake.

The cakes, wrapped tightly in aluminum foil, were all steamed in pots over a rack at a medium boil.  Keep an eye on the water level. 
The cakes were then baked at a low temperature- 325F

Brandy was poured over the hot cakes that had been first poked with a fork and left to cool before taking out of the pans, then left to completely cool before wrapping.

When the cakes are fully cool, wrap in muslin or wax paper and then in aluminum foil. The cakes were stored in tin cans and refrigerator to age. The cakes will be checked as they age.

Coconut Custard Pie, aka Impossible Pie

Impossible pies were popular years ago, either savoury or sweet.  The magic of these pies was that it formed it's own base and filling.  I had made a Broccoli and Cheese impossible pie, but since the recipe required Bisquick or one could make this mix, but the recipe yielded a large amount.  

In following a food page on Facebook where handwritten recipes are posted, I came across the two recipes posted below that I used to compare.  I like the name of Coconut Custard  Pie better. 

The third recipe, is what I modified and filled a very large nine inch pie plate.  It really didn't need to be done in a Food Processor, as one could easily whisk the ingredients.  It did need to be baked at a lower temperature.  Also half way through the baking temperature, cover with foil.

Flambe Christmas Pudding

Here is my Mom’s Christmas pudding for Christmas Day dinner that she made every year and served with a brown sugar sauce. I continue to do so, but have varied the fruit I put in, ie figs, dried fruit like apricots, then this is Flambé to the wows of the kids not to mention the adults!   It is always so festive! 

This recipe was written in my brother's unused old Science Notebook and the stains in the corner have made the recipe difficult to read.  Most of all if not all of my Mom's recipe were written with little instruction or details.  

Christmas Pudding

1 c Bread crumbs, 1 c dates, 1 c suet* , 1/2 c Brown sugar, 1/2 c citron peel, 1 c raisins, 1/2 c chopped nuts

Spices; 1Tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp allspice.

1 c flour, 1/4 tsp Baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs, 1 c Milk, 1/3 c molasses

Mix, cover double foil, steam 3 hours.

*Suet is ground beef fat used in many classic old recipes like savoury pies and puddings. One can use butter in place of the suet.  Suet is found in the meat frozen section.

Steps in mixing the pudding


Combine bread crumbs, suet, dates, raisins, citron peel, sugar, nuts
Mix spices, baking soda and baking powder with flour
Whisk eggs, milk and molasses together
Mix flour mixture into egg mixture, then mix in the fruit mixture. Very thick batter!
Grease well your moulds, fill and smooth the top, double foil the pans.

 Since I tend to add more fruit to my batter I have an assortment of moulds ready to go. This is a rich pudding and a little goes a long way when served!  Marilyn's recipe

Before you beginning, you need to plan out your moulds and steaming pots which need water with a rack to steam the puddings ready to go. I use my canner with the rack insert and I can get two moulds in it. Making sure your water level doesn't drop during the cooking time. steam for 3 hours.

Let cool on a rack, rewrap and freeze.

Big Boy Strawberry Pie

This is a recipe from Big Boy American chain restaurant which originated in California  starting as Bob's Pantry in 1936 Glendale, California.

This recipe was especially popular in June during strawberry season

I though the name was a great name for a pie to make for Father's Day!

 The recipe used cornstarch and jello as as a glaze that thickens so that the pie can be sliced once it has been chilled! 

The glaze was mixed with the prepared strawberries and poured in to the pie.  I think a nicer presentation would be to arrange the strawberries first and then pour the glaze over the berries.  One would have better control of the glaze not flowing over the crust.  I probably would also use only total of 1 1/2 cups of water.  The almond oatmeal bases is delicious with this pie!

Pineapple Pie

This is my version of Pineapple pie 

The handwritten recipe was posted on a Facebook site, which said the recipe was seventy years old.

I love the old recipes that are easy to make, ingredients easily found and usually available in one's pantry

I only had to buy a can of crushed pineapple.  

This is what the pie looked like after an hour in the oven at 350.  I was happy that I decided to put a meringue topping on it at the beginning of making the recipe.

The meringue really dresses up this pie without adding any toppings.

The eggs had been separated and the whites were whisked with 1/4 tsp of Cream of Tartar until soft peaks, then 1/3 C of sugar was added and whisked until stiff peaks. 

Make sure the meringue is spread right to the edge of the pie plate so it doesn't shrink. 

These are my modification to the recipe;

I reduced the sugar to 1/2 c, separated the eggs to make a meringue, used 1/2 c of pineapple juice in place of the water.  I also baked the pie at a lower temperature. 

Baked Fried Rice Casserole

Revisited an old recipe that was given to me by a colleague when I was first married and learning to cook.  This "Fried Rice" casserole as it was called is baked.  It is easily put together and then baked covered for an hour at 350 degrees. 

This casserole uses ingredients that are easily found in one's kitchen or pantry.  Variation in this casserole are endless, good way to clean out your refrigerator and a recipe that is very quick to assemble, yet great taste!

 

This recipe has been updated and I must say the appearance and taste is much improved. 

One cup of uncooked long grain rice is covered with twice the amount of water.  To this, my hubby chopped one onion, 2 carrots and 2 stacks of celery.  I also did add the 2 T soya sauce to this.  The mushrooms were tossed in melted butter, Olive oil can also be use, along with a minced garlic clove, hot chili flakes, salt and pepper    

The mushrooms were layered over the rice mixture.  The layer of mushroom were to act as a lid in steaming the uncooked rice, but half way through the cooking, foil was added as the rice was not absorbing any of the liquid. 

This dish served with BBQ pork ribs was a hit at the Sunday Family Dinner.