Are you hungry yet?

For this issue of the Outlook, we asked the cooks among us to share their favorite recipes. Some of these are good year-round; others are best for the cooler months. They are all yummy. And we noticed a theme: many of our favorite recipes are ones we learned from our grandmothers. How lovely is that!

Because it’s almost family gathering season, we have several variations of chilis and cakes.

How Sweet It Is! 

Harold’s Coconut Cake and Icing From Sharon Core (Outlook board member)

Harold Core loved being in the kitchen. Recipes were suggestions, a place to begin. Of all his culinary accomplishments, none was more celebrated than his coconut cake. Hand-grated coconut. An icing that required four hours of stirring — during which time Harold read, and stirred, and read some more. That cake graced many a Thanksgiving table and served as the groom’s cake at more than one wedding, including Sharon’s and Nick’s. The recipe has been passed along, and some family members are valiantly carrying the tradition forward. Even so, it will always simply be Harold’s Coconut Cake.

Cake:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 heaping cooking spoon of Crisco
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 2 eggs and 2 yolks, room temperature
• ½ tsp. baking powder + dash of salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda and 1 T vinegar
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups sifted plain flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Sift flour, salt and baking powder twice. 

Cream butter, Crisco and sugar. Add and beat in eggs and egg yolks one at a time. 

Add soda and vinegar to buttermilk. 

Add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately. Add vanilla and beat for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl with a spatula. 

Pour batter into 3 greased and floured cake pans. 

Bake for 25 minutes at 325-350° (depending on your oven).

When the cakes are done, place on racks to cool.

When icing is completely cool, ice the cake!

Icing:

• 1 large coconut, grated
• Use all coconut juice and enough half-and-half to make 2 cups
• 2 ½ cups sugar
• 2 egg whites and added sugar

Put sugar in a heavy pot. Add half-and-half milk/coconut juice. Stir constantly over medium heat. Bring to a boil. 

Add coconut (save some for the top), cover and raise heat. Slow boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

Beat the egg whites; add sugar until shiny. 

Add to cooled icing, gently folding in egg whites.

Ice the cake and top with saved coconut.

Note: Best made at least one day ahead to give the flavors time to meld.

Let Them Eat Cake

Caramel Cake From Anne Apple (Outlook board member):

Icing (the best part)

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 1/3 cups whole milk
• 2 vanilla bean pods
• 1 ½ sticks cold butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Cake

• 2 sticks butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (she made her own)
• 3 cups flour, pre-sifted
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup whole milk (sometimes I use 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream plus 1/2 cup skim milk)
• 6 eggs (separated) — beat the egg whites until stiff; save 3 yolks.

Directions: 

Combine the following ingredients in a saucepan and heat over medium heat:  

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 1/3 cups whole milk
• 2 vanilla bean pods

After 20 minutes, slice the vanilla pods open lengthwise and scrape the insides into the heated milk/sugar mixture.  

While the above heats, place 5 T sugar in a black cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until sugar liquefies. It becomes all bubbly and turns a caramel-like color.  

Pour this bubbling, liquefied sugar goodness into the saucepan with warm milk, sugar, and vanilla bean pod scrapings. Whisk together and cook for about 25 minutes.

The goal is to get this mixture to a soft-tac stage. Test it by dropping a bit into a bowl of cold water and seeing if it forms a small ball — that means it is ready. You can “sense” this, test a small ball formation in cold water, or use a candy thermometer.  

When it is ready, drop the 1 ½ sticks of cold butter (I keep mine in the refrigerator until I am ready to put in the saucepan) and the vanilla into the saucepan.

Once you have that all together, use an electric mixer to beat the mixture until it cools and reaches a spreading consistency (I have often gotten it a little too thick; you can add a bit of milk to thin it out). 

Now you are ready to ice the cake. (The icing delivery device.) Sometimes I cheat and use a cake mix. AND … the way I like to do it is my Gram’s recipe, which is a simple old-fashioned cake from her Pennsylvania Eastern Star days (ingredients above).

Preheat oven to 350°.

Grease and flour two 9-inch rounds (I use butter to grease.)

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. 

Cream butter and sugar. When white and fluffy, add 3 egg yolks, 1 at a time. After adding the egg yolks, add the vanilla extract to the butter-sugar mixture. Now, alternate adding the dry ingredients (dry flour mixture) with the butter, sugar, egg yolks (wet sugary mixture). When mixed, lightly fold in the stiff egg whites. Distribute the cake batter into two rounds. Once in the pan, bang it once on the counter to bring air bubbles to the surface. 

Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake pan comes out clean.  

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then take the cakes out onto a rack. Allow the cake to cool completely.  

Ice the cake layers.

You can sprinkle sea salt, chocolate shavings or colorful sprinkles over the top layer.

Breakfast of Champions

The Perfect Crisp From Rose Schrott Taylor (The Outlook’s digital content editor)

I first encountered this recipe in Shauna Niequist’s Bread and Wine, a collection of recipes and essays I turned to time and again in my early 20s as I figured out how to “adult.” This crisp has stuck with me through the years, mostly for its versatility. 

I always use whatever I have on hand. Sometimes I throw in a couple of tablespoons of chia seeds with the fruit for added fiber. Are you out of maple syrup? Use honey. Do you have a bag of pumpkin seeds you don’t know what to do with? Throw them in the topping. Three bags of half-used, frost-bitten berries in the back corner of your freezer? Perfect. 

Mostly, I bake this crisp on Sundays and eat it with plain Greek yogurt and honey for breakfast throughout the week, but you can also serve it warm with ice cream for an easy dessert. I find the fruit doesn’t need much added sugar, but if you have a sweet tooth, bump up the maple syrup to 1/3 cup. 

My favorite thing about this recipe is that it’s both gluten-free (double-check the oats you’re using before publicly promising this) and vegan, so it’s an easy win when you’re hosting people at your house with a variety of eating preferences and needs. It’s perfect for breakfast or dessert. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 4 cups of any fruit that cooks well. (I’ve tried it all. Cut up apples with cinnamon? Yep. Frozen blueberries? So easy. The peaches you froze this summer? What a treat.)
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 3/4 cup of the raw nuts you have on hand. I recommend either walnuts or almonds.
• 1/4 cup maple syrup 
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. Salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Mix the crisp ingredients. 

Pour your fruit into an 8×8 pan, and then layer the crisp topping over it. 

Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes, up to 10 minutes longer if the fruit was frozen. The fruit should be bubbling and the topping crisp and golden.

Side Kick

24-hour Slaw From Elizabeth Link (Outlook board member) 

Original recipe by my grandmother, Inez Hay James (I got my mom’s permission!)

Ingredients:

• 1 head of cabbage
• 1 large white or yellow onion
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 cup vinegar
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. dry mustard
• 1 tsp. celery seed
• 1 tsp. garlic salt
• 1 T salt 

Directions:

Slice cabbage and onion very thin (I use a mandolin) and layer alternately in a large rectangular container with a lid.

Add all remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil to make dressing.

Pour the dressing over the cabbage and onion, cover tightly, and refrigerate.

Stir after at least 4 hours. Serve after 24 hours.

Savory and Satisfying

Buttery Shrimp Pasta From Alfred Walker (The Outlook’s office manager)

It’s my humble homage to a delicious dish from our favorite New York/Italian home-cooking restaurant in Richmond. It’s good any season, offering flavor, comfort, texture and calories.

Tip: Shelled, deveined shrimp (I watch for grocery store specials) will save a lot of prep time. With peeling and dicing garlic as the main labor, you can get this meal on the table pretty quickly.

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. box spaghetti or capellini (we use gluten-free) 
• 8-10 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely diced 
• 1 pound or more shrimp, shelled and deveined.
• 1/2 stick butter (or to taste)
• 3 T olive oil
• 1/2 cup pasta water

Seasonings: see bottom of next column

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente. (You will have time for shrimp and garlic prep as you wait for the water to boil.)

Combine butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When butter has melted, add garlic and sauté until garlic begins to turn brown, 3 minutes or so. Add shrimp and stir. Watch for pink color, 5 minutes or so. 

When the pasta is cooked, add 1/2 cup water from the pot to the skillet and drain the pasta. Add pasta to skillet and stir to combine.

Serve and season: your choice of salt, pepper, oregano, basil, nutritional yeast, parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes (the last two are my go-tos). Add a salad if you’re feeling virtuous.

Hearty, But Light

White Chili From Anne Walker (the Outlook’s magazine designer) 

I’ve been cooking up this favorite winter recipe for decades and share it at home, potlucks and family gatherings.

Ingredients:

• 2 poblano peppers, remove seeds
• 2 jalapeño peppers, remove seeds
• 1 large onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3-4 T olive oil
• 2 T cumin
• 2 tsp. ground coriander
• 2 tsp. coarse black pepper
• Salt to taste
• 2 T chili powder 
• 6 cups chicken stock (I prefer homemade)
• 1 lb or more cooked chicken (pulled & shredded)
• 4 cans cannellini beans — smash 1 can into mush
• 2 bay leaves

Directions:

Dice the poblano peppers, jalapeño peppers, onion and garlic. Sauté for five minutes in a large skillet with the olive oil. Add cumin, ground coriander, pepper, salt, chili powder. Sauté for a few more minutes. 

Transfer to a large pot and add chicken stock, cooked chicken, cannellini beans (including the smashed beans) and bay leaves. Simmer for one hour.

Serve with sour cream, cilantro and/or shredded cheese.

Snack Food

Somebody’s Lebanese Grandma’s Pickled Turnips From Dartinia Hull (The Outlook’s managing editor)

My college bestie and I were in Paris in this empty (except for us) Lebanese café on a rainy night, and the server brought a small bowl of pinkish rectangles that turned out to be the goodness known as pickled turnips. I ate three bowls before the server said she’d be happy to call her grandma and get the recipe. 

I keep these pickles on rotation during turnip season. They’re delicious with lamb lollipops and mint, or as a snack. And, of course, as a kabob side. Or on a shawarma pita. Don’t get me started.

Tips:

Use kosher salt and fresh beets. 

Distilled water works best. If you use tap water, boil it and add the vinegar and salt while it’s boiling. Add the water to the jars after it cools. Wait for the water to cool before you slice the turnips and beets.

Fewer turnips in the jars means they absorb more salt. Adjust the recipe to your liking.

Eat within a month and keep them in the fridge, especially if you use sugar. They aren’t technically canned/sealed. 

Ingredients: 

• ¼ – 1/3 cup kosher salt 
• 3 cups distilled water
• (see directions above for tap water)
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 3 (ish) turnips, firm.
• 1-2 fresh beets, depending on size
• Dash of sugar (optional)
• Lebanese bay leaves (best flavor for this recipe)
• Garlic cloves
• Whole peppercorns (black or multicolored)

Directions: 

Combine the water and salt, and stir until the salt has dissolved. Add the vinegar. Stir.

Peel the turnips and slice them into ½ inch-thick sticks. 

Drop a garlic clove and a couple of bay leaves into your jars. Stuff the jars with the turnips. Drop some peppercorns in. Slice the beet and add a few to the tops of the jars.

Fill the jars with the water, and close the lids tightly. 

Refrigerate for about a week. Watch them turn pink!

Yield: About four small mason jars

Comfort Food

Grandma’s Chili From Barbara Chaapel (Outlook board member)

This is a sweeter chili, not red hot and spicy. 

It is comfort food par excellence, and when I cook it, I immediately am the girl sitting at the table in my grandmother’s cozy kitchen.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef or turkey (my grandmother always used beef, but turkey works well)
• 1 can dark red kidney beans, partly drained
• 1 can Campbell’s tomato soup
• 1 small sweet onion, diced 
• 1 small green bell pepper, diced
• Ground chili powder to taste

Directions:

Sauté the pepper and onions in olive oil. Add the ground beef or turkey and brown it. Add the kidney beans and tomato soup. Stir well. Sprinkle chili powder to taste and stir. 

Simmer on low heat, covered, for an hour or two.

I sometimes add a can of cannellini beans (partly drained) or cubes of cut butternut squash.

The Main Event

Izmir Kufta From Christine Chakoian (Outlook board member)

Here are some easy Armenian recipes. I can’t make a lot of things as well as my Grandma did, so I’m not including them! 

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb. ground lamb (or, if preferred, 1 lb. ground beef, or a mix of the two)
• 2 T bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 1 clove garlic, finely mashed
• 1/3 tsp. cumin
• 1/3 tsp. chaimen (aka fenugreek), if available
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 T butter
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce

Directions: 

Beat the egg; stir in breadcrumbs and spices. 

Add the meat and mix very well. Shape into meatballs (I prefer oval, but any shape is fine!). 

Fry in butter until brown. Gently stir in tomato sauce.

Serve the kufta and sauce immediately, or refrigerate overnight and reheat. Serve on top of or next to pilaf.

Pilaf

From Christine Chakoian (Outlook board member)

This was the first recipe I learned from my Grandma when I was 6 years old! 

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups water
• 4 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 cup long-grain rice
• 2 T butter
• (Optional: 1/2 cup vermicelli noodles and 1 T butter)

Directions: 

Bring water to a boil; add bouillon and butter and stir until fully blended. Reduce heat to a simmer; stir in rice. Cover the pot and cook for 20 minutes.

If desired, melt additional butter in a separate skillet; break vermicelli noodles into pieces and fry until slightly browned. Stir into the cooked rice.

Jajik

From Christine Chakoian (Outlook board member)

Ingredients: 

• 1 quart madzoon (a.k.a. Greek yogurt or labneh)
• 1 cucumber, finely diced (remove any large seeds)
• 1/4 onion, finely diced
• 1 tsp. garlic
• 1 tsp. dried mint
• Salt to taste
• (Optional: 1 tsp. olive oil for garnish)

Directions: 

Stir cucumber, onion, garlic and mint into the yogurt. Stir in salt to taste. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or overnight if you’d like!). 

Dollop a portion next to the kufta and pilaf; drizzle a smidge of olive oil on top if desired.