I am well aware that no one to whom I am related likes French Toast as much as I do. My attempts to share this special breakfast dish with my children were viewed suspiciously as indoctrination into the foul and horrid. Even before I married and had children, breakfast was a meal one made for one's self, not a group event (my mother worked outside the home from the time I was about nine or ten). I developed French Toast for One when I was in college.
In France, FT is called pain perdu, or lost bread. It's an excellent way to use up stale bread that would otherwise go to the ducks or the landfill. But if you have plain old fresh bread, you can use that, too. Texas Toast is wonderful for the hearty eater, and just this morning I made FT using sliced Italian bread leftover from Sunday dinner. But sandwich bread suits just as well. Be aware that if your bread is thick, you will maybe have to double your recipe if you want more than two slices.
There are lots of ways to make FT, and I confess I really love the breakfast casserole style, letting the bread soak up the egg mixture overnight and then popping it into the oven--yum! But unless we're hosting a bunch of guests on holiday, how many of us know the night before that we want FT for breakfast, and can eat an entire 9x13 pan? Not me, kiddo. So this is an easier, smaller way to get that fried-egg-and-fried-bread goodness.
INGREDIENTS
1 large or extra-large egg, or 2 medium eggs
2-3 Tablespoons milk or cream (or more for thick bread)
1-2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 - 1 teaspoon vanilla
Cinnamon to taste (or spices of your choice, like nutmeg)
2-4 pieces of bread of your choice
Syrup, fruit, powdered sugar, or other toppings of your choice
METHOD
If you are using an iron skillet, start your preheating now. Remember you are not making eggs-over-easy, and cooking through is important here, so your skillet needs to be hot but not SuperHot.
Whisk together egg, milk, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon until well combined. I like to use a larger bowl so that the bread can sit flat in the batter, but a friend in college mixed her batter in a dinner plate with a fork. (Cinnamon floats. Be aware that the first piece of bread in the batter will grab a lot of it, and you may wish to add more cinnamon if you have more than two pieces.)
Dip slices of bread into the batter one or two at a time, depending on how wide your dish is and the size of your bread. Also depending on the thickness of the bread, give it a few seconds to soak in; then flip it over to coat and soak the other side. Thicker bread takes longer. However, you don't want to wait too long. The more batter a piece soaks in, the longer it takes to cook, and your outsides could be blackening while the insides are still mushy raw. When in doubt, keep the soaking time short.
In a greased skillet (I use Pam, but you can use butter, it tastes yummy that way), fry each piece until brown on brown on both sides and cooked through. This is a slower process than one thinks. Medium heat is what you want. Telling it's cooked through can be tricky. Sometimes the bread is just firm again, where it was a little mushy. Sometimes it puffs up. Stick a fork in it to check--you aren't making this for company, you're making it for you, and looks aren't everything. Sometimes I use the spatula to cut the slices in half while they're cooking, to make sure I get the middle just right.
Plate it and smother it with the toppings of your choice. My mother, in ancient days when she still made us breakfast, always served this with powdered sugar. This is not because it's the best way; it's because she hated maple flavoring. Personally, I love maple syrup. But it's good with cherries or peaches (toppings like what you'd put on top of cheesecake) and whipped cream, butter and syrup, powdered sugar and fresh strawberries, or whatever floats your boat.
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Homemade Chicken Soup, even if you didn't roast a whole chicken yesterday
So sometimes you have to have chicken soup, and you don't have a carcass to render meat and broth for the endeavor. OR you are too sick to be doing major cooking. This is the case for me today. Olivia came over and made chicken soup for us, because we have the flu and can't do it ourselves. This is what she did:
* 3 boneless-skinless chicken breasts, still frozen
* 3 boneless-skinless chicken thighs, still frozen
* water to cover
* chicken bouillon cubes to make 4 cups (I use those 2-cup cubes, so 2)
a bag of frozen mise-en-place vegetable mix, or 1.5 cups each of diced frozen onions, celery, and carrots. You can really use any kind of soup veg mix, but I think carrots/celery/onion are indispensable to good chicken soup.
* a bay leaf
* seasoned salt and black pepper to taste
* more water if needed, or premade chicken stock
* 1-2 Tablespoons cornstarch mixed with about 1/4 cup cold water
Put the chicken into a 4-quart saucepan with enough water to mostly cover it up, throw 2 bouillon cubes in there, put a lid on it and bring it to a boil. Cook it until the chicken is done, and can be easily shredded. Remove the chicken from the broth, reserving it, and shred the chicken up or dice it into small bite-sized pieces. (If you like the shred, and have a stand-mixer, the easiest way to shred cooked chicken is to toss it in the mixing bowl and use the white paddle attachment [not the whisk] on low-medium speed. Done in a minute. Otherwise, two forks will do the job, longer but more cost-effective than buying a Kitchenaid.)
Return the shredded chicken to the broth, add in your vegetables and the bay leaf, and evaluate whether you have enough broth for this soup. We had to add more water and bouillon cubes. I didn't think about the quart of frozen homemade chicken broth I have in the freezer, or we would have used that. (I'll put it in tomorrow when I heat up leftovers.) Bring it back to a boil. By using frozen vegetables, you reduce the length of time you need for this part of the soup. Basically you have to cook it until the veggies are done, which is basically heating it through.
At this point, evaluate whether you want a clear(ish)-broth soup, or a thicker, creamier soup. The cornstarch doesn't make it creamy, but it does make the broth more like a gravy. The amount listed up there doesn't make a HUGE difference in the broth, only enough to give it a little more body. You can do flour/water slurry, whisked into the broth, if you want a thicker broth.
Notes: So the broth of this soup lacks the depth that comes from boiling a whole carcass, because the bones and fat really add a lot of flavor. That said, this soup is still SO MUCH BETTER than canned, you will not be sorry you took the time here. It is still an acceptable level of quality, without the bones and fat.
* 3 boneless-skinless chicken breasts, still frozen
* 3 boneless-skinless chicken thighs, still frozen
* water to cover
* chicken bouillon cubes to make 4 cups (I use those 2-cup cubes, so 2)
a bag of frozen mise-en-place vegetable mix, or 1.5 cups each of diced frozen onions, celery, and carrots. You can really use any kind of soup veg mix, but I think carrots/celery/onion are indispensable to good chicken soup.
* a bay leaf
* seasoned salt and black pepper to taste
* more water if needed, or premade chicken stock
* 1-2 Tablespoons cornstarch mixed with about 1/4 cup cold water
Put the chicken into a 4-quart saucepan with enough water to mostly cover it up, throw 2 bouillon cubes in there, put a lid on it and bring it to a boil. Cook it until the chicken is done, and can be easily shredded. Remove the chicken from the broth, reserving it, and shred the chicken up or dice it into small bite-sized pieces. (If you like the shred, and have a stand-mixer, the easiest way to shred cooked chicken is to toss it in the mixing bowl and use the white paddle attachment [not the whisk] on low-medium speed. Done in a minute. Otherwise, two forks will do the job, longer but more cost-effective than buying a Kitchenaid.)
Return the shredded chicken to the broth, add in your vegetables and the bay leaf, and evaluate whether you have enough broth for this soup. We had to add more water and bouillon cubes. I didn't think about the quart of frozen homemade chicken broth I have in the freezer, or we would have used that. (I'll put it in tomorrow when I heat up leftovers.) Bring it back to a boil. By using frozen vegetables, you reduce the length of time you need for this part of the soup. Basically you have to cook it until the veggies are done, which is basically heating it through.
At this point, evaluate whether you want a clear(ish)-broth soup, or a thicker, creamier soup. The cornstarch doesn't make it creamy, but it does make the broth more like a gravy. The amount listed up there doesn't make a HUGE difference in the broth, only enough to give it a little more body. You can do flour/water slurry, whisked into the broth, if you want a thicker broth.
Notes: So the broth of this soup lacks the depth that comes from boiling a whole carcass, because the bones and fat really add a lot of flavor. That said, this soup is still SO MUCH BETTER than canned, you will not be sorry you took the time here. It is still an acceptable level of quality, without the bones and fat.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Polynesian Chicken
This recipe came into my life at a church group for young couples called Ceiling 70 (the name meant that your combined ages as a couple should be 70 or less, although there were exceptions in the latter part of our membership). The lady who brought the recipe to the cooking committee had learned it at Weight Watchers. It's low in fat, but it isn't low in sugar or carbs (since it's served over rice). However, it IS delicious. The first half is the original recipe, and at the end is a version modified for the stove-top or campfire.
Polynesian Chicken (Baked)
Serves 8.
Prep-time: less than 10 minutes; cooking time: 1 hour.
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts, thawed
1 packet onion soup mix
8 oz. Russian dressing
6 oz. peach preserves
1 regular-sized can of pineapple tidbits, mostly drained (a little juice or syrup is okay)
1 medium onion, halved and sliced thin
cooked rice
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Arrange the chicken breasts in a 9x13 casserole. In a mixing bowl, combine the onion soup mix, dressing, preserves, pineapple, and onions thoroughly. Break the onion slices up a little bit.
Pour the mixture over the chicken. There's plenty to cover all of the chicken completely, so take the time to do that.
Bake for 1 hour. There's no skimping on this. If you crank up the heat, you'll burn the sauce before the chicken cooks through.
Serve over rice.
Polynesian Chicken (Stove-top)
Serves 8
Prep-time: less than 10 minutes; cooking time: 15-20 minutes
2 (12.5 oz) cans of white meat chicken, drained
1 packet onion soup mix
8 oz. Russian dressing
6 oz. peach preserves
1 regular-sized can of pineapple tidbits, mostly drained (a little juice or syrup is okay)
1 medium onion, halved and sliced thin
cooked rice
Polynesian Chicken (Baked)
Serves 8.
Prep-time: less than 10 minutes; cooking time: 1 hour.
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts, thawed
1 packet onion soup mix
8 oz. Russian dressing
6 oz. peach preserves
1 regular-sized can of pineapple tidbits, mostly drained (a little juice or syrup is okay)
1 medium onion, halved and sliced thin
cooked rice
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Arrange the chicken breasts in a 9x13 casserole. In a mixing bowl, combine the onion soup mix, dressing, preserves, pineapple, and onions thoroughly. Break the onion slices up a little bit.
Pour the mixture over the chicken. There's plenty to cover all of the chicken completely, so take the time to do that.
Bake for 1 hour. There's no skimping on this. If you crank up the heat, you'll burn the sauce before the chicken cooks through.
Serve over rice.
Polynesian Chicken (Stove-top)
Serves 8
Prep-time: less than 10 minutes; cooking time: 15-20 minutes
2 (12.5 oz) cans of white meat chicken, drained
1 packet onion soup mix
8 oz. Russian dressing
6 oz. peach preserves
1 regular-sized can of pineapple tidbits, mostly drained (a little juice or syrup is okay)
1 medium onion, halved and sliced thin
cooked rice
In a saucepan, combine the onion soup mix, dressing, preserves, pineapple, and onions thoroughly. Break the onion slices up a little bit. Heat and cook until the onions turn translucent and limp. Stir in the chicken, and continue heating until everything is hot.
Serve over rice.
Notes:
The main difference between the two versions: What you save in time, you sacrifice in taste--at least a little. I don't particularly like canned chicken, but it works in this recipe well enough to make it a camp-out possibility. I prefer the portion-controlled whole piece of chicken, but if all I have is a propane stove or a campfire, canned chicken is great.
I haven't found Russian dressing in less than 16 oz bottles, nor peach preserves in smaller than 18 oz jars, so of course it's half of the dressing and one third of the preserves.
You can use regular-sized pineapple bits rather than the smaller tidbits (the size of the can is the same), but don't try to use crushed pineapple.
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Chicken Hash
Chicken Hash
from We Make You Kindly
Welcome: Recipes from the Trustees’ House Daily Fare, Pleasant Hill, KY
This is one of Grace's favorites. I like it because it is made of things I normally keep in my pantry/freezer, I don't have to shop especially for it, and it can be made from shelf-stable items so I always have something I can make for dinner.
1 and 3/4 cups chicken broth (I often use bouillon
cubes, and end up with two cups of liquid. It doesn’t really make that much of
a difference, just a little more flour/water at the end)
1/4 cup chopped onion (can be fresh, frozen, or dried; if fresh, chop them fine so they cook through)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/16 teaspoon red pepper (cayenne)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon seasoning salt
3 and 1/2 cups cooked chicken, diced or shredded. (This can be a lot of chicken. If you don't have that much, don't worry about it too much. You'll just have more gravy.)
1/2 cup flour shaken with 1/2 cup cold water to make slurry
2 Tablespoons butter
Heat the broth and add the seasonings and the onions; taste
before adding the thickening and adjust accordingly.
Bring to boil; whisk in the flour slurry until the
consistency of gravy is reached. Remember it will thicken a little as it cooks,
so it’s better to add about half of it right off, see how it thickens, and then
you can add more. You may not need all your slurry, and if it’s too thick you
need to thin it with more broth or water.
Add the chicken pieces and then the butter.
Serve with corn bread or wide chow mein noodles. I usually
make corn muffins or hoe cakes. Those Jiffy cornbread mixes are great--six muffins or a mess of hoe cakes, and all you need is an egg and milk.
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Gary's Favorite Hamburger Hotdish
In Wisconsin, casseroles are often called hotdish. This is a recipe from Grandma Lorraine Loomans, but its provenance prior to her is unknown. (This is not to say that she invented it; Lorraine does not profess to be especially creative in the kitchen.) It is indeed Gary's favorite, but I have not made it for years because of the carbs. Hans likes it, too.
Hamburger Hotdish
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1/2 a medium onion, chopped (optional)
1 lb Velveeta, sliced or cubed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can of milk
8 oz wide or extra-wide noodles, cooked and drained
garnish (chow mein noodles, sliced almonds, or french-fried onions)
Process
1. Brown and drain the beef and onions (if you want them). Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare noodles as directed on package and drain.
3. While the noodles are cooking, make the sauce: over medium heat, blend milk and soups together, adding the cheese and stirring constantly until the cheese is melted.
4. Combine all into a large casserole or 9x13 baking dish. Heat in the oven for 20-30 minutes until hot through and bubbly. Sprinkle with garnish. If you go with almonds or fried onions, you can toast these an additional 5-10 minutes.
Notes
*Gary prefers chow mein noodles, and he likes them toasted on the top. I have found, however, that chow mein noodles do not make good leftovers. They get soggy. I have in the past sprinkled them over only half of the surface, since that was as much as I could plan on being eaten in one meal, and if additional cmnoodles were required, they could be added.
*You can use two cans of the same kind of soup. You can use any kind of cream soup, and the variation in flavor will only be slight.
*You can add steamed broccoli or cauliflower in the mix, if you wish to seen vegetables into your family's diet.
Hamburger Hotdish
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1/2 a medium onion, chopped (optional)
1 lb Velveeta, sliced or cubed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can of milk
8 oz wide or extra-wide noodles, cooked and drained
garnish (chow mein noodles, sliced almonds, or french-fried onions)
Process
1. Brown and drain the beef and onions (if you want them). Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare noodles as directed on package and drain.
3. While the noodles are cooking, make the sauce: over medium heat, blend milk and soups together, adding the cheese and stirring constantly until the cheese is melted.
4. Combine all into a large casserole or 9x13 baking dish. Heat in the oven for 20-30 minutes until hot through and bubbly. Sprinkle with garnish. If you go with almonds or fried onions, you can toast these an additional 5-10 minutes.
Notes
*Gary prefers chow mein noodles, and he likes them toasted on the top. I have found, however, that chow mein noodles do not make good leftovers. They get soggy. I have in the past sprinkled them over only half of the surface, since that was as much as I could plan on being eaten in one meal, and if additional cmnoodles were required, they could be added.
*You can use two cans of the same kind of soup. You can use any kind of cream soup, and the variation in flavor will only be slight.
*You can add steamed broccoli or cauliflower in the mix, if you wish to seen vegetables into your family's diet.
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Grandma Fish's Barbecue Chips 'n Chicken
This is one of my husband's favorites. To him, this is birthday-dinner stuff. Fancier than Hamburger Hot-dish, and a little healthier. I believe it was a special-occasion dish because the original recipe had a LOT more prep work and pre-cooking before you ever got to mixing up the casserole, and my mother in law was a good cook, but ain't nobody got time for that. I don't think she made up this recipe. I'm pretty sure that it came out of a magazine, or someone brought it to a potluck and she asked for it, or it was one of her sisters' specialties. Anyway, I'm going to write it out (mostly) as I was given it, and in parentheses I'm going to write what I actually DO. It's slightly different because we live in a more convenient world than my mother in law did when she was making this casserole for her hungry teenagers. I have left out ingredients that pertain solely to cooking bone-in chicken breasts. If you want the WHOLE shooting match, leave a comment, and I'll put the rest in.
Ingredients
5 (boneless-skinless) chicken breasts, cooked. (You can substitute canned chicken or the meat from a rotisserie bird. In the original recipe, there's a long and detailed set of directions for cooking and boning the chicken breasts, because it used to be that you couldn't buy boneless chicken. See how far we've come? In any case, you need about 3 or 4 cups, give or take. The vegetables and chips don't take up much space, so you need more chicken, rather than less.)
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion (if you can find frozen, this makes life really easy here)
1/3 cup finely chopped celery (ditto)
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 and 1/2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup crushed cashews
1 cup crushed potato chips
1 cup crushed barbecue potato chips (you can use all bbq if you want. Pringles do not make an acceptable substitute. Just...no. Ew.)
Procedure
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Cook the chicken if you're starting raw. Cut it into 1-inch pieces, or shred it smallish.
Melt butter in a roomy skillet or large-ish saucepan (3- or 4-quart), and cook the onion for 5 minutes, stirring. Add celery and cook until softened but not brown. Mix in the celery salt and the soup.
Add the chicken, seasoned salt, sour cream, nuts, plain chips and half the barbecue chips (reserve a half-cup of BBQ chips for topping), stir to combine. Put it in a sprayed or buttered 9x13 inch casserole dish and top with the remainder of the chips. Heat through at 375, about 20 minutes.
Ingredients
5 (boneless-skinless) chicken breasts, cooked. (You can substitute canned chicken or the meat from a rotisserie bird. In the original recipe, there's a long and detailed set of directions for cooking and boning the chicken breasts, because it used to be that you couldn't buy boneless chicken. See how far we've come? In any case, you need about 3 or 4 cups, give or take. The vegetables and chips don't take up much space, so you need more chicken, rather than less.)
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion (if you can find frozen, this makes life really easy here)
1/3 cup finely chopped celery (ditto)
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 and 1/2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup crushed cashews
1 cup crushed potato chips
1 cup crushed barbecue potato chips (you can use all bbq if you want. Pringles do not make an acceptable substitute. Just...no. Ew.)
Procedure
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Cook the chicken if you're starting raw. Cut it into 1-inch pieces, or shred it smallish.
Melt butter in a roomy skillet or large-ish saucepan (3- or 4-quart), and cook the onion for 5 minutes, stirring. Add celery and cook until softened but not brown. Mix in the celery salt and the soup.
Add the chicken, seasoned salt, sour cream, nuts, plain chips and half the barbecue chips (reserve a half-cup of BBQ chips for topping), stir to combine. Put it in a sprayed or buttered 9x13 inch casserole dish and top with the remainder of the chips. Heat through at 375, about 20 minutes.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Grandma Wendy's Fudge
For years I have held this recipe close. I showed my kids how to make it, let them help me, but I didn't write it down for them or encourage them to master it.
And today I asked myself, "What the heck is WRONG with you?"
My mother never intended this to be a secret. I'm sure it isn't an original recipe. (I think it's a Hershey's recipe from maybe the 30s. Or 50s.) I do in fact enjoy my status as maker of excellent fudge, but maybe I'm feeling my age (in my knees, principally) today. So in recognition of my own mortality, I am sharing Wendy's Fudge.
This isn't a straight-forward-any-idiot-can-make-it recipe. You can follow the directions and it will taste fine, but it probably won't set up right. It will either NEVER become solid (so you'll end up with a delicious ice-cream sauce), or it will set before you can get the peanut butter stirred in (and it will be hard and grainy as well).
But. You do not have to be a candy-savant to make it, either. A little information about candy-making in general, and a commitment to be single-minded in the making of this fudge, and you should be able to produce a reasonably delicious product.
A Word about Ingredients
The ingredients are simple, and there aren't that many of them. But you should be aware that not all sugar is equal. And for candy-making (and for creme brulee, too, for that matter), it is NECESSARY to have cane sugar. Do not use sugar from beets. (There is a minuscule difference in the chemical composition between the two, and that difference is the make-or-break of candy-making.) (On a side note, there is not currently any laws requiring producers to label the source of their sugar, but for purposes of purchasing, the rule is that if it doesn't SAY "cane," it probably isn't. Store brands which are not marked are most likely beet, so for the purpose of making candy, pony up and buy the national brand.) Sugar made from beets tends to burn at higher temperatures, rather than caramelize.
I have used non-Hershey cocoa powder with good results, so I don't believe that the name-brands are required here. If you have had bad luck with a certain brand, by all means, go with your heart and avoid it. I have used whole milk, 2%, and 1%, all with good results, and have used reconstituted evaporated milk as well (NOT to be confused with sweetened condensed milk, which would be a completely different recipe). If you use something besides table salt, be aware that measurements differ, and adjust accordingly. I use creamy store-brand peanut butter, not the natural or organic styles, nor do I use crunchy. It might confuse the issue at the end, when you're beating it to get it to set. But you could try it. In recent years I've turned into a little bit of a vanilla snob, so I don't buy imitation V anymore, but I did for ages and it works just as well.
Equipment
a 4-quart saucepan (anything smaller risks overflow during cooking)
a sturdy spoon with a comfortable grip
an accurate thermometer (you can test the accuracy of your thermometer by measuring boiling water, which is 212 degrees F) (If you don't have a thermometer for candy-making, you can approximate the correct cooking temperature by using the soft-ball test)
a saucer for soft-ball testing (optional)
a large pan or basin (for water or ice, to cool the candy more quickly) (you CAN do this in the sink, but you MUST be careful not to get water into the syrup)
waxed paper or parchment paper
a cake pan or brownie pan (to contain it while it sets)
Sursum ad summum, then.
Ingredients:
And today I asked myself, "What the heck is WRONG with you?"
My mother never intended this to be a secret. I'm sure it isn't an original recipe. (I think it's a Hershey's recipe from maybe the 30s. Or 50s.) I do in fact enjoy my status as maker of excellent fudge, but maybe I'm feeling my age (in my knees, principally) today. So in recognition of my own mortality, I am sharing Wendy's Fudge.
This isn't a straight-forward-any-idiot-can-make-it recipe. You can follow the directions and it will taste fine, but it probably won't set up right. It will either NEVER become solid (so you'll end up with a delicious ice-cream sauce), or it will set before you can get the peanut butter stirred in (and it will be hard and grainy as well).
But. You do not have to be a candy-savant to make it, either. A little information about candy-making in general, and a commitment to be single-minded in the making of this fudge, and you should be able to produce a reasonably delicious product.
A Word about Ingredients
The ingredients are simple, and there aren't that many of them. But you should be aware that not all sugar is equal. And for candy-making (and for creme brulee, too, for that matter), it is NECESSARY to have cane sugar. Do not use sugar from beets. (There is a minuscule difference in the chemical composition between the two, and that difference is the make-or-break of candy-making.) (On a side note, there is not currently any laws requiring producers to label the source of their sugar, but for purposes of purchasing, the rule is that if it doesn't SAY "cane," it probably isn't. Store brands which are not marked are most likely beet, so for the purpose of making candy, pony up and buy the national brand.) Sugar made from beets tends to burn at higher temperatures, rather than caramelize.
I have used non-Hershey cocoa powder with good results, so I don't believe that the name-brands are required here. If you have had bad luck with a certain brand, by all means, go with your heart and avoid it. I have used whole milk, 2%, and 1%, all with good results, and have used reconstituted evaporated milk as well (NOT to be confused with sweetened condensed milk, which would be a completely different recipe). If you use something besides table salt, be aware that measurements differ, and adjust accordingly. I use creamy store-brand peanut butter, not the natural or organic styles, nor do I use crunchy. It might confuse the issue at the end, when you're beating it to get it to set. But you could try it. In recent years I've turned into a little bit of a vanilla snob, so I don't buy imitation V anymore, but I did for ages and it works just as well.
Equipment
a 4-quart saucepan (anything smaller risks overflow during cooking)
a sturdy spoon with a comfortable grip
an accurate thermometer (you can test the accuracy of your thermometer by measuring boiling water, which is 212 degrees F) (If you don't have a thermometer for candy-making, you can approximate the correct cooking temperature by using the soft-ball test)
a saucer for soft-ball testing (optional)
a large pan or basin (for water or ice, to cool the candy more quickly) (you CAN do this in the sink, but you MUST be careful not to get water into the syrup)
waxed paper or parchment paper
a cake pan or brownie pan (to contain it while it sets)
Sursum ad summum, then.
Ingredients:
- 3 cups granulated cane sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup peanut butter (my mom said "3 globs" or "3 forkfuls", so I'm estimating)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Line the brownie pan with waxed or parchment paper and set aside.
- Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly.
- Stir in the milk, and cook over medium high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, and continue to cook until the boiling level drops about an inch from its highest level.
- As the level nears this point, start testing the temperature. The syrup needs to be between 235 and 245 degrees F. From personal experience, I can tell you that it works better for all involved if you aim for the lower end of the range. (Alternately, you can use the soft-ball test by dropping a small amount of the boiling syrup into a saucer of cold water. Push the syrup together with your fingers and try to pick it up. The candy is the right temperature when the syrup can be pinched into a soft ball and picked up from the water. It holds together but is still squishy. If you need to repeat the test, get fresh water. Be very careful not to get water into the syrup.)
- Remove the pan from the heat and set it in a shallow pan of cold water or ice, once again being careful not to get water into the syrup. Add the peanut butter and the vanilla now.
- When the pan is cool enough to handle, remove it from the water and dry the bottom, and using your sturdy spoon, start beating the fudge. You want to mix the peanut butter and vanilla in, and to start beating air in. If you've overcooked it, the fudge will set immediately, and will be hard and grainy. If you haven't cooked it enough, it will never set completely. On days of high humidity, the window between too much and not enough is even narrower. The longer you beat it, the smoother it will be. Beat the fudge until it loses its glossy appearance, and the trail of the spoon through the mix holds its shape and doesn't disappear. If you want to add nuts, this is the place to do it, but you have to be quick.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth it out a little if possible. Let it cool. (You do not need to refrigerate it.) Lick the spoon and scrape out the pan while waiting for it to set.
Notes:
- I have, on occasion, tried beating it with an electric mixer. If the humidity is high and the fudge does not want to set, this can help you get it to a more solid state, though it may never set completely and might need to be refrigerated.
- My mother spoke of listening to the syrup while it cooked, and being able to hear a change in its pitch when it was ready. In 45 years of observing and making this candy, I have heard it change pitch twice. I believe this is because I am unaccustomed to listening to the tone of something not overtly musical, so I have a harder time. Also, there's a lot of noise in the kitchen in the winter.
- The pan I use and have always used is a Revere Ware copper-bottom 4 quart stainless steel saucepan. I do not recommend making this in an iron pot, simply because it would be very difficult to cool down quickly.
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