Review of last recipe (photo above) - Delicious!  And my buttermilk salad was excellent as a side course!

TODAY'S RECIPE - OYSTER STEW ALA JULIA CHILD

1 serving

3 or more tbsp butter
1/4 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp celery salt
6-8 oysters with their juice
1 1/2 cup light cream (or use half and half and heavy cream)
salt and pepper
paprika

Melt the butter until bubbling then add worcestershire sauce, celery salt and oysters.  Cook, swirling the pan, for 3 minutes or until the edges of the oysters curl.  Add oyster juice and cream and bring just to a simmer.  Add salt and pepper.  Bon appetit!

Review of last recipe (photo above) - Well, they are just ok.  But the benefit out of buying the Bran Buds cereal needed for the last two dessert/bread etc. recipes is that I am now a huge fan of Bran Buds (and I don't consider myself a really big cereal fan to begin with, but Bran Buds are tasty, healthy and filling).

TODAY'S RECIPE - CHICKEN FRICASSEE
Handwritten so I know it's old ... was hoping that it might be my grandmother's famous recipe (that I don't remember tasting), but I really doubt that it is.  Still, I'm excited to make this and will have on the side, my grandmother's famous buttermilk salad (recipe also below).

Serves 4 (which seems crazy since the recipe calls for a 3 lb. chicken)

3 lb chicken
12 small onions
salt and pepper
4 tbsp lard or chicken fat (I will be substituting oil)
4 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
3 cups chicken stock
1 sprig parsley
1 pinch thyme
1/2 bay leaf
12 mushrooms
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 tbsp butter

Cut the chicken into pieces.  Brown them in hot butter and fat in heavy saucepan.  Remove to plate.

Lightly brown onions in same pan and add chicken back in.  Sprinkle flour over chicken and onions.  Toss until flour is absorbed.

Add stock and herbs. Bring to a boil, cover and cook gently for 35 minutes or until chicken is tender.

Add mushrooms and lemon juice.  Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Remove chicken, onions and mushrooms from sauce and pick out bay leaf and parsley, and discard.

Mix egg yolks with cream in bowl.  Slowly ladle small amount of hot sauce into the yolks and cream.  Stir.  Pour this into the rest of the sauce and heat to boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Once it starts to boil, take the pan off the heat and whip in last 4 tbsp of butter.  Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

Memere's Buttermilk Salad (Great on a hot day!)
bibb lettuce (My Memere would have used iceberg...but it was great
                     iceberg lettuce right from the farm.)
buttermilk
onions , sliced thin
salt and pepper

Pour enough buttermilk into a bowl (I can't even give any amounts ... just the amount of dressing that you would think you might need).  Add a few slices of onions and let sit so that the flavors meld (30 minutes?).

Pour over the lettuce, season with lots of salt and pepper, and ENJOY!

Review of last recipe (photo above) - Unbelievably good!  It took me 20 minutes to shuck the 6 oysters I bought (they were stubborn), which could have made the decision to keep or toss the recipe easy, but they were so good, I can't wait to struggle again!

TODAY'S RECIPE - BRAN MUFFINS

Makes 12

1 1/4 cup flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cup Kellogg's All Bran or Bran Buds cereal
1 egg
1/3 cup shortening or vegetable oil

Stir together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  Set aside.  Stir together cereal and milk and let stand for 2 minutes.

Add egg and shortening (or oil).  Add flour mixture, stirring only until combined. 

Fill 12 greased 2 1/2: muffin pan cups.  Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Review of last recipe (photo above) - It certainly had potential, and was good enough, but not great.  The cheese in the sauce curdled in the oven so it wasn't very visually pleasing.

TODAY'S RECIPE - OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER
Introduced at Antoine's in New Orleans in the late 1800s ...this should really be in the appetizer section.

Serves 6 as a first course

1/2 10 oz pkg frozen chopped spinach (I will be using fresh)
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp minced onion
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1/8 tsp ground red pepper or hot pepper sauce
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
18 large or 24 small oysters on the half shell
2 bacon slices, diced
grated parmesan cheese
lemon wedges for garnish

About 30 minutes before serving:

Remove frozen spinach from package.  With serrated knife, cut spinach crosswise in half and wrap the half tightly and return to the freezer.  Since I'm using fresh, I'm just going to wing it.  I will be chopping it up so it will be suitable for a stuffing.

Preheat oven to 435 degrees.  Prepare spinach topping:  In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and add spinach, onion, parsley and ground red pepper.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is heated.  Add bread crumbs.

Place oysters* in a baking pan and spoon on spinach mixture.  Sprinkle with bacon and cheese.  Bake 10 minutes or until bacon is crisp.  Garnish with lemon wedges.

* - I'm a terrible shucker, so will be placing the oysters in the freezer, where the joint loosens a bit making it easier to use your oyster knife to pry them open.

Review of last recipe (photo above) - Ok, so I didn't have dry milk (and didn't want to buy any) and googled for a substitute which stated 1/4 cup dry milk = 1 cup milk (and use the liquid milk for the liquid needed in the recipe).  I only used 1 1/2 cups milk even though 1/2 cup dry should have been 2 cups of milk, but I didn't want to increase the total liquid.  Then, after typing up the recipe for the blog saw that 2 packages of yeast were needed, and I had only used one (in error).  The bread hadn't doubled in size, but I went ahead anyway.  It, obviously, tastes terrible, and I thought I might re-try the recipe using the correct ingredients, but I am moving on.  It also looks pretty funky.  Oh well ...

TODAY'S RECIPE - CHICKEN ELIZABETH

Serves 6

6 tbsp butter (3/4 stick)
6 boneless chicken breast halves, skinned
1 pint sour cream
8 oz blue cheese
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
3 small garlic cloves, crushed
chopped parsley
cooked rice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9" x 13" baking dish.

Melt butter in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add chicken and brown well; about 4 minutes per side.  Transfer to prepared dish.

Combine sour cream, blue cheese, worcestershire and garlic in a small bowl.  Spoon mixture evenly over chicken.  Bake uncovered until juices run clear when the chicken is pricked with a fork; about 50 minutes.

Garnish with parsley and serve over rice.

Review of last recipe (photo above) - Didn't have fresh dill and substituted dried, and was trying to get a shot of the salmon, so the angle is a bit strange.  I also didn't mention that this recipe was from Family Circle Magazine (mainly because I'm a food snob), and I should have said this because it was easy to make and absolutely delicious!

TODAY'S RECIPE - BRAN BREAD (even better, no-knead bran bread)

Yield:  1 loaf

3 cups flour
1/2 cup instant nonfat dry milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 pkgs active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
2 cups Kellogg's All Bran or Bran Buds cereal
1 egg
1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened

Stir together flour, dry milk and salt.  Combine yeast, sugar, warm water and cereal in large bowl of electric mixer.  Let stand for 2 minutes.  Add egg, margarine and 1 cup of the flour mixture.  Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.  Gradually mix in remaining flour mixture by hand to form a stiff, sticky dough.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until it doubles in volume.  Spoon into greased 9" x 5" x 3" loaf pan. 

Bake at 375 degrees about 40 minutes or until browned.  Remove from pan and brush with melted butter.

Review of last recipe (photo above) - Delicious!  Although they look abit pasty here, the skin was golden and the sauce so yummy!

TODAY'S RECIPE - FLOUNDER AND SALMON ROULADE

Serves 8

1 lb salmon steak
4 flounder or sole fillets (about 8 oz each)
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp leaf  tarragon
lobster or crab sauce (recipe follows)

Skin and bone salmon and halve crosswise.  Cut each half into 4 strips

Halve each flounder fillet lengthwise and sprinkle with lemon juice and pepper.  Place a strip of salmon on each fillet.  Rollup and secure with wooden picks.

Combine water, wine, shallots and salt in a large skillet.  Tie tarragon in a small piece of cheesecloth and drop into the skillet.  Stand fish rolls in skillet.

Heat to boiling, then lower heat.  Cover and simmer for 5 minutes or just until fish loses its translucency and becomes white and feels firm.  Remove rolls to a warm platter.  Cook pan liquid rapidly until reduced to 1/2 cup and reserve.

Prepare lobster or crab sauce, spoon over fish and garnish with fresh dill.

Lobster or Crab Sauce:  Cook 1 1/2 cups heavy cream rapidly in a large saucepan until reduced to 1 cup.  Add reserved fish liquid, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp paprika and 6 oz. lobster or crab.  Heat, stirring until hot.