Graduate Division Holiday Cookbook 2020
Appetizers
Bacon Wrapped Dates Submitted by Jackie Snider
Ingredients:
Directions:
18 (1 by 1/4-inch) pieces cream 1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. cheese 2. Stuff 1 piece of cheese and 1 almond into each date, then wrap one 18 pitted dates (preferably Medjool) piece of bacon around each date and secure bacon with a toothpick if 18 salted and roasted whole almonds desired. 6 slices bacon cut crosswise into 3. Arrange dates, bacon seam down and 1 inch apart in a shallow baking thirds pan. 4. Bake 5 minutes, then turn dates over with tongs and bake until bacon is crisp, 5 to 6 minutes more. 5. Drain on a paper towel or parchment. 6. Serve immediately.
Soups
Potato Leek Soup Submitted by Carlos Nash
Ingredients:
Preparation:
6 med-large leeks 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 3 lbs Yukon or Russet potatoes 5 cups of chicken or vegetable broth 1 teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon Cayenne pepper 1 cup heavy cream 1 cup 2% or whole milk scallions for garnish
Remove and discard dark green part and root of leeks. Thinly slice leeks and soak in water to remove any soil or grit. Peel potatoes and dice into ½ inch pieces.
Directions: Over medium heat, melt butter in a stock pot. Add clean leeks and saute, stirring constantly, until leeks wilt. Add potatoes and broth to wilted leeks. Increase heat to bring to a boil. Once at a gentle boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook covered for 15 minutes or until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork. Reduce heat to low. Using an immersion blender, purée soup until smooth. Add cream and milk. Raise heat and bring to a simmer. Add salt (you can reduce salt if your broth already contains salt) and Cayenne pepper. When serving, garnish with sliced scallions.
Alternatives:
Thinly slice 6 strips of applewood smoked bacon. Fry bacon until most of the fat has rendered. Remove bacon and set aside on paper towel to remove excess grease. Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings, which can be used to substitute 2 tablespoons of butter when wilting the leeks. When plating, take bacon bits and place in soup bowl. Then add soup over bacon bits.
“In normal years, I make the long drive home for Christmas. Leaving the day before Christmas Eve at 7am and arriving around 5 or 6pm. I open the door to the scent of my Mama’s albondigas and am immediately served a large bowl with warm tortillas on the side, yum!” Ashley Bradbury
Albondigas Soup Submitted by Ashley Bradbury
Ingredients: For soup:
2-3 stalks of celery, chopped 2-3 carrots, chopped 1 yellow onion, chopped 2-3 potatoes, chopped 2 Serrano peppers, diced 2 garlic cloves, diced ½ tsp pollo bouillon (optional) ½-1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp oregano Salt and pepper to taste ½ cup cilantro, chopped 6-8 cups chicken broth 1 can (14-16 oz) Mexican stewed tomatoes 1 can (7 ¾ oz) El Pato hot tomato sauce 1 lime, cut in half Tortillas (flour or corn) for serving
For meatballs: ½ lb extra lean ground beef ½ lb chorizo 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 egg, beaten ½ cup rice ½ cup cilantro, chopped 1 tsp ground cumin ½ tsp salt ¼ tsp pepper
Directions: Make the meatballs: 1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until combined. 2. Form into about 20 meatballs and set on a plate and chill for about 20 minutes. 3. Heat some olive oil in a large soup pot and then add the meatballs in batches and cook each batch for about 6 minutes, browning all sides. Leaving the fond in the pot, transfer the cooked meatballs to a plate and set aside. Start the soup: 4. Add the onion to the pot used for the meatballs and cook, stirring occasionally for about 3 minutes. 5. Add the carrots, celery, and potatoes to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes. 6. Add the serrano and garlic to the pot and cook, stirring frequently until fragrant, about 1 minute. 7. Add the El Pato, stewed tomatoes, bouillon, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, cilantro, broth and lime juice from ½ the lime. Stir to combine and then bring to a boil. 8. Reduce to a simmer and add the meatballs to the pot. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until veggies are tender. Heat some tortillas on the stove (directly on the flame if you have a gas stove) and serve on the side to be dipped in the soup.
Breads
Verta’s Mother’s Southern Cornbread* Submitted by Leila Rupp
Ingredients:
Directions:
1 cup Martha White self-rising cornmeal mix (outside the South, I find I have to order on Amazon) ¼ cup flour ¼ tsp baking powder 1/8 tsp baking soda 1 egg 1 ¼-1 ½ cup buttermilk
Mix the dry ingredients, then stir in the egg and buttermilk. Batter should be thicker than pancake batter but thinner than biscuit batter.** Heat a small cast iron skillet on the stove, with a couple of teaspoons of olive oil. When it starts to smoke, pour in the batter. Bake around 15-20 minutes at 45, until a toothpick comes out clean.
* Now made by a decidedly non-Southern me. We always spent the holidays in Key West, where our dinners featured stone crab claws or lobster, slaw, corn, cornbread, and key lime pie. **Alice’s description, which is useless if you’ve never made pancake or biscuit batter. Thankfully I have.
Pandesal (Filipino Bread Rolls) Submitted by Marge Perko
Ingredients:
Directions:
2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast 1 1/4 cup (285 g) whole milk, warmed to 100-105 degrees F 3 cups (390 g) all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups (195 g) bread flour 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal kosher salt) 3 Tablespoons (43 g) unsalted butter, room temperature 1/3 cup (70 g) granulated sugar 2 large eggs, lightly whisked breadcrumbs, as needed
1. Dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add 2 teaspoons of sugar. Stir to combine. Let stand for 5-10 minutes until yeast has activated and mixture is foamy. 2. In a large bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, bread flour, and salt. Set aside. 3. Pour yeast mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment. Add remaining sugar, butter, and lightly whisked eggs. 4. With the mixer running on low speed, add the flour mixture in three additions. Once all the flour has been added, increase speed to medium. Continue to knead until dough comes together to form a smooth ball. 5. Remove from mixing bowl and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rise at room temperature for 1 hour, until dough has doubled in volume*. Punch dough down and divide into 24 equal parts.
6. Roll dough into balls and dip the top of the bread roll into breadcrumbs. Place rolls breadcrumb side up on a parchment lined 18x13-inch baking sheet. Cover dough with plastic wrap to prevent from drying out. Allow bread rolls to rise for 20-30 minutes, until bread rolls have puffed up. 7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove plastic wrap and bake for 20-25 minutes until fragrant and golden brown. Eat bread rolls warm or at room temperature.
Recipe Notes: Dough Notes: • Listed times for dough resting/rising is based on standard 72 degree F room temperature. Dough may need more time to rise if ambient temperature of room is too cold. • Keep dough covered with plastic wrap at all times to prevent dough from drying out. • Dough may be a bit sticky or tacky after kneading. Do not add more flour. Too much flour will dry out the dough. The resulting dough will be dense. • For best results, use a scale to weigh out ingredients. • If you don’t have bread flour, sub in all-purpose flour.
Desserts
Almond Roca Bars Submitted by Carol Genetti
Ingredients:
Directions:
1 cup butter ½ cup white sugar ½ cup brown sugar 1 cup flour ½ tsp salt 10 oz. Hershey’s chocolate bars ½ cup ground nuts 1 egg yolk
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Cream butter, sugar, and egg yolk. Add flour and salt, and spread on a greased 11x15” pan. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes. While the base is baking, melt chocolate. Remove from oven, and let stand 5 minutes. Spread on the chocolate, and sprinkle with nuts. Let cool before cutting.
Tip: Save time by mixing up first set of ingredients in the Cuisinart.
Crowell Boys Perfect Sugar Cookie Submitted by Kelly Crowell
Ingredients:
Directions:
4 sticks salted butter room temperature 2 Cups sugar 2 eggs 6 Cups all purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (we sub peppermint extract for Christmas cookies)
1. In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. 2. In a stand mixer cream butter and sugar together, add eggs one at a time, mixing in between additions. 3. On low speed, add the flour mixture. 4. Add vanilla and 1-2 teaspoons water and mix until just combined. 5. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes (can leave in the fridge overnight, just make sure to take it out to warm up slightly if so) 6. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness, and bake for 10 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees.
*Recipe makes a large amount of dough. For cooking with littles, we recommend halving the recipe
Martha Pewsey’s Fudge Submitted by Jackie Snider
Ingredients:
Directions:
4 ½ cups sugar 1 can evaporated milk (8oz) 2 tsp vanilla 3 pkg chocolate chips ½ lb butter 1 jar marshmallow fluff (8oz) 1 cup nuts (optional)
1. Combine the sugar, evaporated milk and vanilla and boil together for 12 minutes. Be careful sugar will rise. 2. Place chocolate chips, butter, and marshmallow fluff in a bowl 3. Pour hot sugar mixture over marshmallow mixture and beat about 12 minutes 4. Add nuts into mixture 5. Spread mixture onto a sheet pan to harden
This recipe dates back to 12/23/1958
Rum or Burbon Balls Submitted by Carol Genetti
Ingredients: 1 cup fine vanilla wafer crumbs 1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans 1 cup powdered sugar 2 tb cocoa 1 ½ tb white corn syrup ¼ cup rum, brandy, or bourbon
Directions: 1. Combine crumbs, nuts, sugar, and cocoa. 2. Blend in corn syrup and liquor. 3. Form into balls and roll in powdered sugar. 4. After the sugar soaks in, roll them a second time. Tip: The longer you let them “age” the better they will taste
No cooking required!
2020 Publication of UCSB Graduate Division Only. Not for resale