Really Important Recipes by Victoria Rushton

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Victoria Rushton

YOU SHOULD KNOW, in the earliest days of my parents’ marriage, my dad’s schedule would consist of weeks at a time living and working on an oil rig and then weeks off at home. So when he’d be home alone during the day, he would give himself crash-course cooking lessons. Sometimes, my mother says, he’d call her at work just to ask things like, “Hey, what’s a Dutch oven?”

The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook (© 1980) was given to my parents by my grandmother as a gift for their first married Christmas in 1986. Anything about cooking that isn’t in there, you probably don’t need to know. Since then, it’s become a family book - my dad’s learned the recipe for pancakes so well that he doesn’t use measuring cups, let alone the book, and I learned that it’s on page 426 along with a permanent light coating of flour. When the binding on it began to go, my mother bought at least four more copies on eBay and stashed them various places in the world, and I received my own last year when I got my first kitchen that wasn’t hers.

It’s an indispensable guide for anyone that doesn’t know what they’re doing. Five hundred and twelve pages of over nine hundred recipes, illustrated step by step. I can’t say I’ve ever read the page about Teriyaki Beef Kabobs (198) or Cranberry Chutney (306), but if I want to make apple pie, I’ll never look anywhere else. This little book has the Saturday pastimes, the heavy-hitters, the holiday favorites, the recipes we always made together, the ones that I think I remember but always get the book out to make sure, the ones where the page is crinkly from the ingredients listed on it. This book is for those recipes.

CONTENTS Pasta • 7 Homemade Pasta Dough • 8 Homemade Egg Noodles • 10 Pie • 13 Pastry for 2 Crust Pie • 14 Apple Pie • 18 Blackberry Pie • 22 Banana Cream Pie • 24 Cakes • 27 Yellow Cake • 28 Butter-Cream Frosting • 31 Cookies • 33 Peanut-Butter Cookies • 34 Sugar Cookies • 36 Gingerbread-Men Cookies • 39 Ornamental Cookie Frosting • 41 Quick Breads • 43 Pancakes • 44 Yeast Breads • 47 Cheese Pizza • 48

2 ¼ to 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour ⅓ cup water (if using pasta machine, follow manufacturer’s directions)

1 2 3

2 eggs 1 egg yolk 1 tablespoon olive or salad oil 1 teaspoon salt

In large bowl, combine 1 cup flour and remaining ingredients. With mixer at low speed, beat 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl. With wooden spoon, stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface, knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Cover dough and let rest 30 minutes. Kneading the dough: On a lightly floured board with floured hands, fold furthest edge of dough toward you; then push the dough away in a rolling motion with heels of hands. Give dough a quarter turn and repeat. makes 1 pound dough

Homemade Pasta Dough 3 quarts water 1 tablespoon butter or margarine 1 teaspoon salt

1 2 3 4

9 chicken or beef-flavor bouillon cubes or envelopes, or 3 tablespoons beef-flavor stock base, or 1 tablespoon salt

Prepare Homemade Pasta Dough and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Wrap in waxed paper and let stand 30 minutes as directed; cut dough in half.

On floured surface with floured rolling pin, roll half a dough into 20'' by 14'' rectangle, then fold in half crosswise and in half again crosswise to form 5'' by 14'' rectangle. Cut into ⅛-inch strips for narrow noodles, ¼-inch strips for medium noodles, or ½-inch strips for wide noodles. Open dough strips and place them in a single layer on clean cloth towels. Repeat with remaining dough. Let the strips dry at least two hours before cooking them.

About 20 minutes before serving: In 8-quart saucepot over high heat, heat to boiling water, bouillon and butter or margarine. Break noodles in smaller lengths, if desired, and add to saucepot; heat to boiling and cook 12 to 15 minutes until tender, then drain in colander. Serve the noodles with more butter or margarine, if you like. begin 3Â˝ hours ahead makes 6 accompaniment servings

2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Âž cup shortening 5 to 6 tablespoons cold water

In medium bowl with fork, lightly stir together flour and salt. With pastry blender or 2 knives used scissor-fashion, cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle in cold water, a tablespoon at a time, mixing lightly with a fork after each addition until pastry just holds together. With hands, shape pastry into a ball. (If it is a hot day, wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate 30 minutes.)

For a 2-crust pie, divide pastry into 2 pieces, one slightly larger, and then gently shape each piece into a ball.

On lightly floured surface with lightly floured stockinette-covered rolling pin, roll larger ball into a â&#x2026;&#x203A;-inch-thick circle, 2 inches larger all around than pie plate. Roll half of circle onto rolling pin; transfer pastry to pie plate and unroll, easing into bottom and side of plate. Fill as recipe directs.

8 9 10

For top crust, roll smaller ball as for bottom crust; with sharp knife, cut a few slashes or a design in center of circle; center over filling in the bottom crust. With scissors or a sharp knife, trim the pastry edges, leaving 1-inch overhang all around the pie plate rim.

Fold overhang under; pinch a high edge; make a decorative edge. Bake pie as recipe directs. makes pastry for one 2-crust pie or two 8- or 9-inch piecrusts Unbaked Piecrust:

Prepare as steps 1 to 3 of Pastry but use only 1 cup all-purpose flour, Â˝ teaspoon salt, Âź cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening and 2 to 3 tablespoons water. Shape all of pastry into one ball. On lightly floured surface with lightly floured stockinette-covered rolling pin, roll pastry into circle â&#x2026;&#x203A; inch thick and about 2 inches larger all around than pie plate. Roll pastry circle gently onto rolling pin; transfer to pie plate and unroll, easing into bottom and side of plate. With kitchen scissors or sharp knife, trim pastry edges, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold overhang under; pinch to form a high edge, then make a decorative edge.

Baked Piecrust:

Preheat oven to 425째F. Prepare as above for one Unbaked Piecrust. With 4-tined fork, prick bottom and side of crust in many places to prevent puffing during baking. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Cool. (Makes one 8- or 9-inch piecrust.)

Pastry for 2 Crust Pie ⅔ to ¾ cup sugar 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon cinnamon ¼ teaspoon nutmeg ½ teaspoon grated lemon peel

1 2 3 4 5

1 to 2 teaspoons lemon juice 6 to 7 cups thinly sliced, peeled and cored cooking apples (2 pounds) 1 tablespoon butter or margarine milk

Prepare pastry. Roll out half of pastry and line 9-inch pie plate. In small bowl, combine sugar (amount depends on tartness of apples) and next 5 ingredients.

Place half of thinly sliced apples in piecrust; sprinkle with half of sugar mixture. Top with rest of apples, then rest of sugar mixture. Dot the filling with butter or margarine. Preheat oven to 425°F.

Roll out remaining pastry for top crust and using a floured leaf shaped cookie cutter, cut out design. Place crust over pie; trim edges.

6 7

Fold pastry overhang under then bring up over pie-plate rim. Pinch to form a high edge then make your choice of decorative edge.

For a golden glaze, brush the top crust (not the edge) lightly with some milk. Bake pie for 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is golden. begin 2 hours ahead or early in day makes 6 servings

Pastry for 2 Crust Pie ⅔ to ¾ cup sugar ¼ cup all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 2 3

½ teaspoon grated lemon peel ⅛ teaspoon salt 5 cups blackberries 1 tablespoon butter

Prepare pastry. Roll out half of pastry and line 9-inch pie plate. Preheat oven to 425°F.

For filling, toss together sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon peel and salt with blackberries. Place filling in piecrust; dot with butter.

Roll out remaining pastry for top crust; cut a few slashes and cover filling with slashed top crust; make a decorative edge. Bake 50 minutes or until the piecrust is golden brown. begin 2 hours ahead or early in day makes 6 servings

1 9-inch baked Piecrust ½ cup sugar ⅓ cup all-purpose flour ¼ teaspoon salt 2 ¼ cups milk

1 2 3 4

4 egg yolks 1 tablespoon butter 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3 medium bananas 1 cup heavy cream

Prepare piecrust; cool. In 2-quart saucepan with spoon, mix sugar, flour and salt. Stir in milk until smooth. Over medium heat, cook mixture, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and begins to boil (about 10 minutes). Boil 1 minute. Remove immediately from heat and set aside.

In cup with wire whisk, beat egg yolks with small amount of hot milk mixture. Slowly pour egg mixture into saucepan, stirring rapidly to prevent lumping. Over low heat, cook, stirring constantly, until very thick (do not boil) and mixture mounds when dropped from spoon. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Cover surface of filling with plastic wrap; refrigerate until cool, about 2 hours. Peel and slice bananas over bottom of piecrust; top with filling; chill until set, about 2 hours.

Just before serving: In small bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat cream until stiff peaks form. Spread cream on pie. begin 5Â˝ hours ahead or early in day makes 8 servings

2 ¼ cups cake flour 1 ½ cups sugar ¾ cup shortening ¾ cup milk 3 eggs

1 2 3 4 5

2 ½ teaspoons double-acting baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ teaspoon almond extract Butter-Cream Frosting

Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare pans: First grease and then flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Into large bowl, measure all ingredients except frosting.

With mixer at low speed, beat until well mixed, constantly scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Increase speed to medium; beat 5 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl. Pour batter into prepared cake pans, smoothing top with rubber spatula. Cut through batter with knife to remove any air bubbles. Bake layers 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted deep into center comes out clean.

6 7

Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes then remove from pans and cool completely on racks.

Meanwhile, prepare frosting. When layers are completely cooled, fill and frost cake. begin early in day makes 8 to 10 servings

1 16-ounce package of confectioners’ sugar 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

3 to 4 tablespoons milk or half-and-half 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract ⅛ teaspoon salt

In large bowl with spoon or with mixer at medium speed, beat all ingredients until very smooth, adding more milk if necessary to make the icing of good spreading consistency. begin 15 minutes ahead

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour 1 cup creamy peanut butter ⅔ cup honey ½ cup sugar

1 2 3 4

½ cup butter or margarine, softened 2 eggs ½ teaspoon double-acting baking powder

Preheat oven to 350°F. Into large bowl, measure all ingredients. With mixer at medium speed, beat until well mixed, occasionally scraping bowl.

With hands, shape dough into 1 ½-inch balls; place 3 inches apart on cookie sheets.

Dip a fork into flour and press deeply across top of each cookie; repeat in opposite direction. Bake in oven 15 minutes or just until cookies are lightly browned.

With pancake turner, immediately remove cookies to wire racks; allow to cool. Store in tightly covered container. begin 2 ½ hours or up to 2 weeks ahead makes 36 cookies

3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour 1 ½ cups sugar ⅔ cup shortening 2 eggs 2 ½ teaspoons double-acting baking powder 2 tablespoons milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 2 3 4

½ teaspoon salt heavy or whipping cream or 1 egg white slightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water Decorative toppings: nonpareils, sugar, chopped nuts, shredded coconut, cut-up gumdrops or butterscotch pieces

Into large bowl, measure first 8 ingredients. With mixer at medium speed, beat until well mixed, occasionally scraping bowl.

Shape dough into ball; wrap with waxed paper; refrigerate 2 to 3 hours until easy to handle. Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease cookie sheets. On lightly floured surface, roll half of dough at a time, keeping rest refrigerated. For crisp cookies, roll paper thin. For softer cookies, roll ⅛ to ¼ inch thick.

With floured cookie cutters, cut dough into various shapes. Reroll dough trimmings and continue to cut shapes.

Place cookies Â˝ inch apart apart on greased cookie sheets. To glaze: Brush tops of cookies with heavy or whipping cream or with the beaten egg white and water mixture. Sprinkle cookies with your choice of toppings; bake 8 minutes or until very light brown. With pancake turner remove cookies to racks; cool completely. begin 6 hours ahead makes 72 cookies

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour ½ cup sugar ½ cup shortening ½ cup light molasses 1 egg 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder

1 2

1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon ground cloves ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt dried currants Ornamental Cookie Frosting

Into large bowl measure all ingredients except currants and frosting. With mixer at medium speed, beat ingredients until well mixed. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll chilled dough ⅛ inch thick. Preheat oven to 350°F. 39

3 4 5 6

With 5-inch long cutter, cut out men. Reroll trimmings and cut more cookies. With pancake turner, place Â˝ inch apart on cookie sheets.

On each cut out, place currants to represent buttons, eyes and mouth. (Or, omit currants and mark with frosting after cookies have been baked.) Bake 8 minutes or until browned, then, with pancake turner, remove cookies to racks. Cool before decorating.

With paper cone or cake decorator and frosting, outline feet, sleeves and other features as you wish. begin 6 hours ahead makes 24 cookies

Into small bowl, sift 1 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar and ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar through very fine sieve; add 1 egg white. With mixer at high speed, beat mixture so stiff that knife drawn through leaves clean path. (On humid days you may need to beat in more confectioners’ sugar.)

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder ¾ teaspoon salt 1 egg

1 2 3 4 5

1 ⅓ cups milk (for thicker pancakes, use only 1 cup milk) salad oil butter or margarine maple or maple-flavor syrup, honey, preserves, marmalade, apple butter as desired

In large bowl, mix first 4 ingredients. In small bowl, beat egg slightly; stir in milk and 3 tablespoons oil; add to flour mixture and stir just until flour is moistened.

Heat skillet or griddle over medium-high heat until drop of water sizzles. Brush lightly with oil. Pour batter by scant ¼ cupfuls onto hot skillet or griddle, making a few pancakes at a time.

Cook until bubbly and bubbles burst; edges will look dry. With pancake turner, turn and cook until underside is golden. Place on heated platter; keep warm. Repeat, brushing skillet with more oil, if needed. Serve with butter and syrup. begin 30 minutes ahead makes twelve 4-inch pancakes or 8 thick pancakes

1 package active dry yeast about 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour salt 1 ½ cups water olive or salad oil 1 medium onion, diced 1 garlic clove, minced

1 2 3

1 16-ounce can tomatoes 1 6-ounce can tomato paste 1 ½ teaspoons sugar 1 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning mix ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper 1 16-ounce package mozzarella cheese, shredded

In large bowl, combine yeast, 2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt. In 1-quart saucepan over low heat, heat water until very warm (120° to 130°F.). With mixer at low speed, just blend water into dry ingredients. At medium speed, beat 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Beat in ½ cup flour to make a thick batter; beat 2 minutes more. Stir in about 1 ½ cups flour to make a soft dough.

On floured surface, knead dough for about 8 minutes, adding more flour if needed. Shape into ball; place in greased large bowl; cover; let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. In 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, in 1 tablespoon hot oil, cook onion and garlic until tender. Add tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir to break up tomatoes.

4 5

Add sugar, herb seasoning mix, red pepper and 1 teaspoon salt; heat to boiling, stirring. Reduce heat to low; cover partially; simmer sauce 20 minutes.

Punch down dough; cut in half; turn onto lightly floured surface. Cover 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 450Â°F. Grease 2 large cookie sheets or 12inch pizza pans.

6 With floured rolling pin, roll each dough half into a 13-inch circle 7 Fold circles of dough into quarters, lift onto cookie sheets and unfold up edges of dough circle to form rim; brush circle with olive or 8 Pinch salad oil. dough circles with half of shredded mozzarella cheese. Top with 9 Sprinkle tomato sauce. with rest of cheese. Bake 20 minutes or until crust is golden. 10 Sprinkle Cut into wedges. Begin 2 Â˝ hours ahead makes 8 main-dish servings