New England Whoopie Pies

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk
Whoopie Pie Filling (see recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets.

In a large bowl, cream together shortening, sugar, and egg. In another bowl, combine cocoa, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a small bowl, stir the vanilla extract into the milk. Add the dry ingredients to the shortening mixture, alternating with the milk mixture; beating until smooth.

Drop batter by the 1/4 cup (to make 18 cakes) onto prepared baking sheets. With the back of a spoon spread batter into 4-inch circles, leaving approximately 2 inches between each cake. Bake 15 minutes or until they are firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Make Whoopie Pie Filling. When the cakes are completely cool, spread the flat side (bottom) of one chocolate cake with a generous amount of filling. Top with another cake, pressing down gently to distribute the filling evenly. Repeat with all cookies to make 9 pies. Wrap whoopie pies individually in plastic wrap, or place them in a single layer on a platter (do not stack them, as they tend to stick).

To freeze, wrap each whoopie pie in plastic wrap. Loosely pack them in a plastic freezer container and cover. To serve, defrost the wrapped whoopie pies in the refrigerator.

Makes 9 large whoopie pies.

Whoopie Pie Filling:
Some people prefer just using the Marshmallow Fluff right out of the jar and not making the below filling. Your choice.

1 cup solid vegetable shortening*
1 1/2 cups powdered (confectioner's) sugar
2 cups Marshmallow Fluff**
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

* Butter may be substituted for all or part of the vegetable shortening, although traditional Whoopie Pies are made with vegetable shortening only

** Marshmallow Creme may be substituted.

In a medium bow, beat together shortening, sugar, and Marshmallow fluff; stir in vanilla extract until well blended.

According to whatscookingamerica.net:

Whoopie pies are considered a New England phenomenon and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition. They're one of Maine's best known and most loved comfort foods. Mainers will even claim that they were weaned on whoopie pies. In Maine, these treats are more like a cake than a pie or a cookie, as they are very generously sized (about hamburger size). they're so hug that you'll want to share one with a friend. A big glass of milk is almost mandatory when eating a whoopie pie.

A whoopie pie is like a sandwich, but made with two soft cookies with a fluffy white filling. Traditional whoopies pies are made with vegetable shortening, not butter. The original and most commonly made whoopie pie is chocolate. but cooks like to experiment, and today pumpkin whoopie pies are a favorite seasonal variation.

The recipe for whoopie pies has its origins with the Amish, and in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, it is not uncommon to find roadside farm stands offering these desserts. Amish cooking is about old recipes that have fed families for generations, with no trendy or cross-cultural fusions or mixtures. These cake-like whoopie pies were considered a special treat because they were originally made from leftover batter. According to Amish legend, when children would find these treats in their lunch bags, they would shout "Whoopie!"

The question of how the Amish dessert got to be so popular in New England probably is addressed in a 1930s cookbook called Yummy Book by the Durkee Mower Company, the manufacturer of Marshmallow Fluff. In this New England cookbook, a recipe for Amish Whoopie Pie was featured using Marshmallow Fluff in the filling.

According to the Marshmallow Fluff website:

The origins of Marshmallow Fluff actually go back to 1917. Before WWI, a Sommerville MA man named Archibald Query had been making it in his kitchen and selling it door to door, but wartime shortages had forced him to close down. By the time the war was over, Mr Query had other work and was uninterested in restarting his business, but he was willing to sell the formula. Durkee and Mower pooled their saving and bought it for five hundred dollars. Having just returned from France, they punningly renamed their product "Toot Sweet Marshmallow Fluff" but "Toot Sweet" didn't stay on the label for long. The situation of "no customers, but plenty of prospects" didn't last long either.

An early receipt still in the company's scrap books records the sale in April, 1920 of three one gallon cans to a vacation lodge in New Hampshire. The price at the time was $1.00 a gallon! The door to door trade gained a reputation among local housewives that eventually placed Fluff onto local grocers shelves. Retail trade spread from there to the point where in 1927 they were advertising prominently in Boston newspapers.

Durkee-Mower became a pioneer in radio advertising when in 1930 they began to sponsor the weekly "Flufferettes" radio show on the Yankee radio network, which included twenty-one stations broadcasting to all of New England. The fifteen minute show, aired on Sunday evenings just before Jack Benny, included live music and comedy skits, and served as a steppingstone to national recognition for a number of talented performers. The show continued through the late forties.

Each episode ended with a narrator reporting that Boswell had disappeared to continue work on his mysterious book, which was assumed to be a historical text of monumental importance. On the last episode the Book-of-the-Moment was revealed. It was a collection of recipes for cakes, pies, candies, frostings and other confections that could be made with Marshmallow Fluff, appropriately entitled the Yummy Book. The book has been updated many times since then, and the most recent version is thirty-two pages long.

The main difference between recipes for New England Whoopie Pie and Amish Whoopie Pie, seems to be the use of commercial Marshmallow Fluff/Creme in the New England version. Otherwise, most recipes are basically the same.

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Shepherd's Pie Recipes

John and I combined these two shepherd's pie recipes and made two wonderful casseroles. One we had for supper that night. The other is in the freezer. I can’t tell you exactly what we did. But we did not use sour cream. We used lots and lots of vegetables. Play with these yourself and have a great supper!

 

30 Minute Shepherd's Pie

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

Prep Time:
    15 min
Inactive Prep Time:
    --
Cook Time:
    25 min

Level:
    Easy

Serves:
    4 servings

Ingredients

    * 2 pounds potatoes, such as russet, peeled and cubed
    * 2 tablespoons sour cream or softened cream cheese
    * 1 large egg yolk
    * 1/2 cup cream, for a lighter version substitute vegetable or chicken broth
    * Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    * 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
    * 1 3/4 pounds ground beef or ground lamb
    * 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
    * 1 onion, chopped
    * 2 tablespoons butter
    * 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
    * 1 cup beef stock or broth
    * 2 teaspoons Worcestershire, eyeball it
    * 1/2 cup frozen peas, a couple of handfuls
    * 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
    * 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain potatoes and pour them into a bowl. Combine sour cream, egg yolk and cream. Add the cream mixture into potatoes and mash until potatoes are almost smooth.

While potatoes boil, preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil to hot pan with beef or lamb. Season meat with salt and pepper. Brown and crumble meat for 3 or 4 minutes. If you are using lamb and the pan is fatty, spoon away some of the drippings. Add chopped carrot and onion to the meat. Cook veggies with meat 5 minutes, stirring frequently. In a second small skillet over medium heat cook butter and flour together 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and Worcestershire sauce. Thicken gravy 1 minute. Add gravy to meat and vegetables. Stir in peas.

Preheat broiler to high. Fill a small rectangular casserole with meat and vegetable mixture. Spoon potatoes over meat evenly. Top potatoes with paprika and broil 6 to 8 inches from the heat until potatoes are evenly browned. Top casserole dish with chopped parsley and serve.

Printed from FoodNetwork.com on Wed Nov 04 2009

© 2009 Scripps Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved

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Mummy Boome's Traditional Shepherds Pie

Danny Boome, Ltd 2008

Prep Time:
    25 min
Inactive Prep Time:
    --
Cook Time:
    1 hr 10 min

Level:
    Easy

Serves:
    8 servings

Ingredients

    * 1 tablespoon butter
    * 1 tablespoon olive oil
    * 1 onion, diced
    * 2 carrots, diced
    * 2 stalks celery, diced
    * 2 cloves garlic, crushed
    * Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    * 1 tablespoon tomato paste
    * 2 pounds lean ground beef or lamb
    * 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
    * 1/2 cup beef stock
    * 1 1/2 cups garden peas
    * Cheesy Mashed Potatoes, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat oven at 400 degrees F.

Add butter and oil to a large skillet on medium heat. Saute onions, carrots, celery and garlic until tender for about 7 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Once the vegetables have softened and start to brown a little add the tomato paste and mix evenly. Add the ground beef and cook until beef is no longer pink about 10 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce and beef stock. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook and simmer for another 10 minutes. Mix in peas. Transfer mixture to an oven-proof baking dish and spread evenly. Place potato on top of ground beef mixture and spread out evenly, once the top surface has been covered, rake through with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely. Place the dish into the preheated oven and cook until browned about 20 minutes. Spoon out the shepherd's pie and serve.

    * Mashed Potatoes
    * 4 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled, quartered
    * 4 tablespoons butter
    * 1/4 cup heavy cream
    * 1 cup grated mature white Cheddar
    * Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fill a large saucepan with cold water and a tablespoon of salt. Add potatoes to the water and bring to a boil. Let potatoes cook until soft about 20 minutes. Once the potatoes are at a desired density, drain the potatoes and place them back into the saucepan for mashing. Add butter and cream and begin to mash potatoes into a semi smooth consistency. Once at desired texture add cheese and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.

Printed from FoodNetwork.com on Wed Nov 04 2009

© 2009 Scripps Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved

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Blackberry Peach Cobbler

I didn't like this recipe because of the blackberries. John, who is more accustomed to that blackberry bitterness, enjoyed it. This recipe was printed from YankeeMagazine.com. You can call up this recipe in your Web browser again at the following address:
http://www.YankeeMagazine.com/getrecipe/71

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

* Fruit mixture:
* 4 large or 6 medium peaches; 2 cans; or 2 cups frozen
* 2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 1/4 cup flour
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
* butter for greasing

* Oatmeal scone mix:
* 1-1/2 cup flour
* 1/2 cup quick oats
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 1 egg slightly beaten
* 1/3 cup milk
* 1/3 cup melted butter
* cinnamon sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Peel fresh peaches with a vegetable peeler and slice into medium-size bowl. Add berries, then brown sugar, flour, and ginger; toss to coat. Stir in Grand Marnier. Pour fruit into greased 1-1/2 quart baking dish. Place in oven for about 10 minutes.

While fruit is heating up, combine dry ingredients of oatmeal scone mix in medium bowl. Add beaten egg, milk, and melted butter, stirring just until moist. Don't overmix.

Remove fruit from oven and drop scone mix onto fruit mixture, forming about 8 mounds. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon sugar. Bake for about 15 minutes.
Copyright ©2009, Yankee Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.





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King Arthur Sugar Cookie Bars

I found a bag of King Arthur Vanilla Sugar Cookie Mix in the pantry awhile back. Being naturally lazy, I didn't want to chill the dough, then roll it and then cut it. So I poured it into the mixing bowl, added the things the bag told me to add, then I added 2 eggs, chocolate chips and walnuts. I mixed this up and then added milk until it was the consistancy I wanted. Not too thick and not too thin. I baked it as directed on the bag and then continued baking until I thought it was done but not too dry. Another favorite of John's.

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Fannie Farmer's Butterscotch Brownies

John loves these brownies with walnuts. I always make a double batch. This is a single batch.

Butter a shallow 8" square pan. Heat your oven to 350°

Mix all of these ingredients. The order doesn't matter, just toss it all in a mixer bowl and turn on the beaters:

1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
walnuts

Bake about 25 minutes . Let them cool a little bit before cutting.

from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook Eleventh Edition

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Sautéed Chantarelles

This recipe is similar to John’s. I got this from The Encyclopedia of Mushrooms. The photo is of chantarelles that we saw (and picked) in August.

These fungi have a very strong flavor and can therefore be mixed with vegetables of other pronounced flavors, such as onions. They are, however, easily spoilt by being cooked at high temperatures, when they become tough and almost inedible. This recipe can be used to prepare them to eat by themselves or as an accompaniment to steak.

Sautee about 4 oz of onions or shallots in a good supply of butter until they are softened.

Slice 8 oz washed chantarelles lengthwise and add them to the onions, together with the juice of half a lemon and salt and pepper.

Cover the pan and cook over a very low heat for 15 minutes. Serve with steak or on toast.

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Baked Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

1/2 lb ground chicken
or 1 large chicken breast - ground in the food processor
1 small onion minced
1 garlic clove
1 c panko crumbs (see meeyauw’s previous post to make your own panko crumbs)
1 Tbsp paprika
salt
pepper
hot sauce:
2 Tbsp melted butter
1-2 tsp hot sauce (add more or less - to your preference)

Preheat your oven to 400˚F
In a large mixing bowl, add the ground chicken, onion, garlic, panko crumbs, paprika and sprinkle of some salt and pepper. Mix together until thoroughly combined.
Divide the mixture into 12 individual balls and place on a lightly greased 2- to 3-inch deep baking or cake pan. Cover the top with foil and put into the oven.
Bake for 30 min.
While the chicken bakes, combine the melted butter and hot sauce in a new bowl.
After the 30 min baking, remove the chicken from the oven and put them into the bowl of the hot sauce. Toss the chicken until all are coated and transfer to a serving plate.
Add some carrot slices and/or celery and some of the ranch, bleu cheese, or yogurt dip on the side and serve warm.

Makes about 12 meatballs.

Yogurt Dipping Sauce
3 Tbsp plain Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp water
Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl and serve.

from Bread + Butter

Panko Crumbs

3 cups of ground saltine or oyster crackers

2 Tbs dried thyme

2 Tbs dried basil

1 Tbs chili powder

2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Chocolate Cake

For the Cake
Sugar-1cup
Cocoa powder- 1/3cup [unsweetened]
All purpose flour - 1/3cup + 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp + 1/4 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp + 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Milk - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1/4 cup
Egg - 1
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Walnuts - 1/2 cup [optional]

For the Chocolate Sauce
cocoa powder - 2/3 cup
sugar - 1 2/3 cup
water - 1 1/4 cup
vanilla extract - 1 tsp

For cake

1. Heat the oven at 350 degree Fahrenheit
2. Grease the 9'x9' baking pan and put it aside
3. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, baking soda at least 2 times
4. In a mixing bowl add milk, oil, vanilla essence, sugar and egg and beat with a mixer at medium speed for 1 minute
5. Slowly fold in the dry powder and beat for another 1 minute
6. In the end stir in the boiling water and mix gently
7. Add chopped walnut to add crunch to the cake
8. Pour the mix into the greased baking pan
9. Bake the cake for 30 minutes or until the wooden pick inserted comes out clean
10. cool the cake on cooling rack for at least 30 minutes before you take out the cake from the pan
11. cut them into pieces and its ready to eat alone or with chocolate sauce

Chocolate Sauce

1. Combine all the ingredient except vanilla and bring it to boil over medium heat
2. Boil for one minute and let it cool
3. Stir in the vanilla extract

From Renu's Kitchen

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Cooking Chantarelle Mushrooms

When we hiked out to Butterfield Pond, John collected chantarelle mushrooms for supper. After cleaning and slicing the mushrooms, he sauteed them in a lot of butter until soft. Then he sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top to his taste and we ate!

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