Page 10 | THE LAKER April 2022
‘Cue The Grill
Family Easter Dinner Ideas By Chef Kelly Ross Hello Lakes Region Friends. It’s great to have you back for another batch of fun recipes to keep your friends and family happy. The weather keeps getting better, the layering of clothes keeps getting thinner, and all in all, our attitudes are getting better as a result. Winter is ok in my book, just a little long. So as the snowbanks shrink, the smile on my face gets bigger and bigger by the day. Our days are longer, and we are well on our way to the weather we all crave. Today’s theme of food is a sentimental one to me. Admittedly, I was never brought up a religious guy, and I really haven’t looked in that direction as an adult, but the holidays did mean a lot to my grandmother in the respect of getting everybody to her house for the most outstanding dinners of the year. My Gram on my dad’s side of the family, to this day and forever, will always be the most outstanding chef I have ever known, and I have worked for some worldwide renowned chefs. If you read my articles somewhat regularly you know how much my Gram meant, and still means to me. The big three meals were Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, and yup, Easter is right in our face in a couple of weeks, so this article is dedicated to Grammy Judy. We will start off with a great coffee cake that she would have ready for any of us who got there the night before to stay the night, and then we’ll share a wide array of fun, some from Gram, some from me and others. They will help provide you with the makings for
a stellar Easter dinner for all of your family and guests. Besides the coffee cake, I have a fun soup, an appetizer, a slow cooker ham recipe, a cheesy stuffed potato casserole, lemon garlic mushrooms, and a chocolate pecan cobbler to finish off the meal. I am by no means expecting any of you to prepare all these dishes on Easter Sunday, but maybe you will pick and choose a few of them, and then from there, add the rest to your repertoire down the line. It’s all about fun choices my friends, and that’s my job to provide to you. OK, so who doesn’t like homemade coffee cake? I doubt any hands went up for that question. Good ‘ole Gram had to cook for 25-30 people for the big Easter dinner and she got up at the crack of dawn and cranked out a few of these Streusel Topped Coffee Cakes for those staying the night and for those who showed up fashionably late. We needed no alarm clock as the aroma from the kitchen climbing up the stairs was as good as it gets. This
recipe is for 15 pieces. It takes about 20 minutes to prep and 40 minutes to cook. One whiff of this and your family is going to be lining up in the kitchen! This Streusel Topped Coffee Cake features a buttery, cinnamon crumb topping that’s simply irresistible. Plus, this coffee cake doesn’t just taste great, it’s easy too! Not just on a special occasion, you can make this on a busy weekend and serve it alongside a pot of coffee, milk, or tea. There is no bad time for this yummy treat. Streusel Topped Coffee Cake For the Streusel 1 cup all purpose flour ½ cup packed light brown sugar 2 tsp ground cinnamon 1 stick butter, cut into pieces For the Coffee Cake 3 cups pancake/biscuit mix ½ cup granulated sugar 1 tsp baking powder 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon salt 1 ½ cups milk 2 eggs
½ stick butter, melted 2 tsp vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9- x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, combine Streusel ingredients; mix with a fork until crumbly, and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk pancake mix, granulated sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk milk, eggs, butter, and vanilla. Add egg mixture to pancake mix mixture and stir until combined. Pour batter into baking dish and sprinkle evenly with streusel. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. What a great start to the day this will give you! For any soup lover, and is there really anyone out there who isn’t, this one is sure to please. It’s got a hearty and rich tomato-based broth, chock full of cheese filled tortellini which makes this very tough not to fall in love with This is truly irresistible and like so many of my favorite delicious recipes that I like to share, this one again is so quick and easy. You can put this together in 15 minutes, will cook in 30 minutes, although letting it simmer longer is never a bad thing, and it will serve 8. Keep in mind this works great as a main course on a weeknight coming home from work, although as a main course, it will feed more like 4-5. Like all soups, it’s always better the following day or two, so it’s never bad to have leftovers, so maybe it’s worth doubling up the recipe. Nana’s Tortellini Soup • ‘Cue The Grill continued on page 11
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