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TOM AND NECIA'S
FAVORITE RECIPES Recipes | Meat | Desserts & Breads | Salads, Soups & Appetizers | Home
Lynell's Sweet Potato Praline Casserole
Praline Topping If you are baking your sweet potatos, always place them on foil. They will drip on your oven floor and make a huge mess if you don't. Combine potatoes, butter, vanilla, sugar, eggs and milk. Pour into buttered 13 X 9" baking dish. For praline topping, combine other ingredients and spread over potatoes. It is usually too hard to actually spread, but you can drop spoonfuls on the top and it will spread during baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. This freezes well, and can also be made 2-3 days ahead and refrigerated. (Lynell Kennedy, my cousin from Houston, shared this recipe with me. It has become a tradition at our house at Thanksgiving and Christmas, as it has with my relatives in Houston.) Luscious Limas Boil about 1/2 cup water per package of limas and add the limas upon boiling. I also salt the water some. While limas are cooking, in separate pan, fry bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels, and reserve drippings. Saute chopped onions and mushrooms in bacon drippings until onions are transparent. Add onions, mushrooms and drippings to limas. Crumble bacon and add to limas. Stir in sugar and mix well. Reduce heat, cover pan and continue cooking slowly around 45 minutes. While cooking, keep bean liquid (water) about 3/4 total level of mixture. Uncover beans and allow liquid to cook down to about 1/2 level. Add additional sugar if needed to taste. (You won't believe how many people who hate limas love this recipe!) Necia's "Doctored" Turkey Dressing Begin by sauteing butter, celery and onion on low heat for about 45 minutes. Then, bring broth to a boil, take pan off the stove and add Stove Top dressing from the box. Stir and cover immediately and let sit around 5 minutes. Stir in butter, celery and onion mixture plus the toasted pecans. Toss and serve. This is incredibly easy and delicious! (Go to my Chocolate Delight recipe in Desserts to get instructions on toasting pecans.) Grandmother Turner's Boston Baked Beans Soak beans overnight in plenty water. In morning boil in fresh water with the generous pinch soda. Cook till the skin cracks when blown upon. Put beans in bean pot, with onion in bottom of pot. Cover with water in which beans were cooked. Score the pork across top and push down into the beans till only about 1/3 of it is in sight. Cook all day in 225 degree oven, adding water as needed to keep it just in sight on top of the beans. The last 1 1/2 hours do not add water. And it is optional whether you cook the beans covered during the first half of the cooking period or not. They are really better if they are placed in a 200 degree oven at night, allowed to cook all night and then all of the next day. Warm them over as often as desired. (These are my Grandmother Turner's instructions as printed in the old Holdenville Guild Cook Book. She got this recipe from a lady in Salem, Massachusetts who wrote these detailed instructions. We had these every Christmas Eve with ham or ham loaf. The molasses is supposed to turn the beans brown if that is your desire. I remember Grandmother using navy beans, but my Mother said great northern beans worked if you couldn't find navy beans. When I cooked these, I was not patient enough to monitor the liquid in the beans while slow-cooking. Since I cook a lot of my beans in the oven at night, I plan to try these again using the overnight instructions.) Tom's Fried Rice
Cook rice, spread it out on foil on a cookie sheet and refrigerate until cold. Scramble eggs in 1/2 T butter and set aside. Saute carrots, white onion, peas and garlic in 1 T butter with salt and pepper (5 min). Increase heat to high and add 1 1/2 T butter. As soon as butter is melted, immediately add rice, green onions, and oyster sauce. Cook 3 minutes to fry the rice. Reduce heat, add the eggs and stir to combine. Remove from heat, stir in sesame oil, and enjoy. Note: It is important to use chilled rice!
Mashed Potatoes for 12 Peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch cubes. Place in a 3-quart heavy saucepan and cover with 5 cups cold water and salt, bringing to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until potatoes are fork tender. (About 10-15 minutes). Drain potatoes in a colander, then return to pan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until cooking liquid is gone (about 2 minutes). Add milk and butter to the pan, reheating over moderate heat until butter is melted. Mixture should be steamy hot but not boiling. Begin mashing potatoes with potato masher, incorporating them with the hot liquid. Alternatively, use a hand mixer on low speed to blend potatoes with milk. Taste and add additional salt if desired. Cover pan to keep warm until serving time. Mashed potatoes can be made the day before and reheated in a heavy pan with 1/3 to 1/2 additional cup of milk. Cover and reheat over low heat, stirring occasionally. Keep covered. In a 300-degree oven, heat in a covered baking dish for about 30 minutes until heated through. Mashed potatoes can be reheated in a microwave in a covered dish, also. Microwave for 2 to 4 minutes, according to manufacturer's recommendations. Tom made these for Thanksgiving and they were very good. The author of the recipe also made these recommendations, which Tom did when he made them the day before: "Keep the pan of drained, cooked potatoes in the refrigerator until ready to reheat, mash and serve. The cooling of the cooked potatoes makes fluffier mashed potatoes. The starch molecules tend to explode when reheated, making a fluffier mashed potato. This way, they can be mostly made the day before. She further states that she has discovered the hard way that potatoes other than Russets or Yukon Gold tend to whip into a gloppy paste of unappetizing goo. Get out that potato masher for best results or beat minimally with a hand mixer on very low speed." Mr. Food's Mashed Potatoes Place potato chunks in a soup pot and add just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook 20-25 minutes, or until tender. Drain well and return potatoes to the pot for 1 to 2 minutes with the heat still on to make sure all of the remaining water is gone. Add remaining ingredients and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Serve immediately. Serves 4. Necia's Twice-Baked Potatoes Pierce the baking potatoes and cook (place in a pinwheel) in the microwave about 5 minutes per potato. Half-way through the cooking, reverse the ends. When you can gently squeeze the potato and it gives, then take them out and wrap in tin foil. Let sit about 5 minutes. Cut in halves. Scoop out the inside with a sharp-edged spoon (like an iced teaspoon) and leave a little to help the potato skin hold its shape. Be careful and don't cut through the skin. Mash the potatoes and add butter (probably around a half a stick-more if needed) and salt (again to taste). Use your electric beater and pour a little milk in at a time, beating it on medium. When you get a good consistency, taste again and add salt if needed. When the filling tastes right, add one cup of shredded cheese (you could also add bacon bits, onions, etc. if you wanted). Then fill the boats with the potato mixture. Place in a flat pan that can be microwaved. Sprinkle tops with additional cheese. I put them in the microwave covered with wax paper for about 3-5 minutes. This needs to be enough to reheat them and melt the cheese on top. This will vary by how big your potatoes are and how many you are heating at a time. Everyone loves these and they are great to make a day ahead of time and refrigerate. Necia's New Year's Day Black-eyed Peas Cut slices of bacon into fourths-1 1/2" in length approximately. Fry in bottom of Dutch oven until browned. Saut� onions until transparent. Add black-eyed peas to the bacon, onions and drippings, with enough chicken broth to cover the tops of the peas. Season with Nature's Seasoning to taste (at least a tablespoon), and add the sugar. Bring to boil and then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Add liquid as needed. Uncover and cook liquid down to about half before serving. If you are serving these with cornbread, you may want more liquid. These are sure to bring you good luck if eaten on New Year's Day. Necia's Green Beans I fry the bacon first and break up into pieces when I add it and the grease to the broth and snapped green beans. I make sure the broth barely comes right under the top of the beans. As I season with Nature's Seasoning, I taste the broth to make sure it doesn't get too salty. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer (slow boil) for about an hour and a half. I add baby red potatoes (peeled) the last 20 minutes and cook until tender. If fresh green beans aren't available, I use four cans of Cut Green Beans with the bacon and seasoning. I cook the fresh green beans about the same time--maybe a little less. Be sure and pour out the liquid in the cans, since you will be adding broth for your liquid. If you prefer, vegetable broth can be substituted for chicken broth and eliminate the bacon. However, the bacon grease is the key to the flavoring. They make ham flavoring now and it is very good. Remember to refrigerate it after opening. Necia's "Doctored" Green Beans Fry the bacon first and let it cool on paper towels. While doing this, I open the cans, pour out the liquid and put into a large pot. Add the chicken broth to about 3/4 the level of the beans. With 6 cans, it will probably only take 1 1/2 cans, but you can add more if it cooks down too low. Add the bacon grease and break the bacon up into pieces as you add it to the beans. As I season with Nature's Seasoning, I always taste the broth to make sure it doesn't get too salty. Stir, cover and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer (slow boil) for about 45 minutes, adding broth if needed. The bacon grease is the key to the flavoring. Necia's Secret Corn Drain all of the cans of niblet corn and pour into a pan on the stove. Stir in creamed corn, sugar and margarine (cut into cubes). Over low heat cook for about 15 minutes. I made this for Kelsey when she was very little and we called it Grandma's Secret Ingredient Corn, which was the sugar that she wasn't supposed to have! We always have this at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter because everybody loves it. Even if I put more cans of the niblet corn in, I only use one can of creamed corn. I just add more margarine and sugar to taste. My friend, Ginger Wilson, makes something like this at her house but uses frozen corn and not the can of creamed corn. You would probably have to add a little more butter if you don't use creamed corn. Necia's 4th of July Pinto Beans & Ham Rinse and soak the beans overnight, and then drain and rinse again. Add the broth till it covers the top of the beans about an inch. Add the chopped onions (I slice and then chop the onion in large pieces 1/2"). As I season with Nature's Seasoning, I taste the broth to make sure it doesn't get too salty. I also taste the broth after adding the ham chunks (bite-size) and ham flavoring, too. Cover and bring to a boil. Then put the covered pot in a pre-heated 250 degree oven and cook for approximately 6 hours. The liquid should cook down some, leaving enough for "soupy" beans, ham and cornbread. (I cook these overnight sometimes, putting them on around 11:00 P.M.; they are ready by 6:00 A.M. For the 4th of July, I double or triple this recipe. This has become a tradition, along with Carolejean's homemade ice cream and the grilling of Bubba and Billy Joe Bob. Yummy Beans Brown hamburger meat and saute onions with meat. Drain grease. Mix in crockpot with all other ingredients. Slow cook all day. Season to taste if needed. Tom got this recipe from our friend, Toady Beaver. It is guaranteed to be easy and delicious! Carolejean's Baked Cauliflower Melt butter and add flour. Cook for 2 minutes wisking in the worcestershire sauce. Add milk slowly, and let thicken. Add cheese. For larger head of cauliflower, use 2 tablespoons each of butter and flour, and a little more milk and cheese. Trim cauliflower leaves and stem up to the base. Cut an X in the stem. Microwave cauliflower around 10 minutes on high. Put in an baking dish with sides. Pour cheese sauce over the cauliflower and bake in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Serve immediately, spooning the cheese mixture over the cauliflower. Necia's Foil Baked Potatoes Preheat oven 400 degrees. Cut potatoes in bite-size chunks. Tear long sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil and spray with Pam. Place potato chunks on foil length-wise (like a loaf). Cut onions in large chunks also and mix in with the potatoes (I toss with my hands). Coat with Morton's Nature's Seasoning and toss with Parmesan cheese. Cut margarine into chunks and distribute along the loaf. Fold foil under along the top, sealing it. Then fold and seal the ends. Place on a cookie sheet in the oven and cook for about one hour and fifteen minutes. Uncover when ready to serve. (This is great with anything and easy to do. We also love it reheated the next day or pan fried at breakfast with eggs on the side.) Broccoli Cheese Casserole Cook broccoli according to package. Drain. Saute onions, mushrooms, almonds and celery in butter. Add this to the broccoli and cooked rice; fold in the Cheeze Whiz to the hot mixture to melt and blend. Mix the two soups together with the milk. Add this to the mixture next. Pour into a 13 X 9" baking dish and bake in a pre-heated 350-degree oven for 30 minutes uncovered. (This is my step-son, Thomas's favorite dish at Christmas. He always wants to take a large portion home, along with the limas and ham loaf!) If you want to go vegetarian, use cream of celery soup and cream of mushroom soup for the two cans. My friend Lory Turner makes a variation of this now at Thanksgiving and Christmas, having taken over the duty. She likes to experiment with using wild rice instead of white rice and she doesn't use almonds. It is also very good. Potatoes au Gratin Wash and slice potatoes into disks about 1/8-inch wide. In a microwave-save dish, sprinkle potato slices with 1/4 cup water, cover with plastic wrap and microwave on High for 3-4 minutes. Remove plastic wrap from bowl and allow potatoes to cool while preparing the next step. In a saute pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat and add onions and garlic. Cook until slightly brown, about 5 minutes. Add rosemary and flour, then whisk milk into mixture. The addition of flour will cause the mixture to thicken. Remove from heat and allow to cool. In 13X9-inch baking dish, layer the potato slices layering them like roof shingles until the pan is filled. Gentle fold in eggs, yogurt and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese into the now-cooled onion mixture, combining well, and then pour over the layered potatoes. Top with remaining 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and bake for 40 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 8 servings. Since I don't like the little nettles of rosemary, I do not include it in my potatoes! Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole Combine the potatoes, 1/2 cup butter, salt, pepper, onion, soup and cheese. Pour into a 13-inch x 9-inch x 2-inch casserole dish. Top with corn flakes and remaining melted butter. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake uncovered for 1 hour. Sprinkle with paprika and serve hot. Necia's Fresh Spicy Summer Vegetables Fry bacon pieces in large, deep skillet. Drain on paper towels. Saute onion and corn in drippings. Add squash, bacon (broked in bite size pieces) and tomatoes. Season with salt, and cayenne pepper. (You may need to add more salt as you go along, so taste the liquid periodically). Cover and simmer over low heat until squash begins to cook down. Keep folding the mixture over every so often. It will start to get transparent looking. This usually takes about 30 minutes. Squash has a lot of water in it, and you want this to cook down almost completely. Uncover after about 20 minutes, and keep cooking to allow this to happen. I skim off any grease and spoon out the last bit of liquid before adding the cheese to the vegetables. Serve hot. This is especially good warmed-over the next day. In the winter when I don't have fresh garden vegetables, I use two cans diced tomatoes (juice and all), 3/4 pkg. frozen corn, and zucchini or yellow squash with the rest of the recipe. The artist in me likes zucchini, because the mixture needs the green to go with the yellow corn and red tomatoes. Vegetarian Spaghetti Saute the onion or shallots in olive oil. You could add other ingredients like fresh mushrooms and bell peppers at this time. Add the chopped tomatoes and season to taste (use juice and all from the can). Let juice cook down and add sauce as needed to keep a nice thickened consistency. Cook and drain spaghetti according to recipe after preparing the sauce. Toss together right before serving. It is excellent the next day as well. I got this recipe from my cousins Nancy and Sarah. It never is the same because I change it up a lot. We also like to pick up homemade spaghetti in Tontitown, Arkansas and use it in this recipe. You can get this at the Venesian Inn or Mama Z's on highway 412. Tom's Famous Rice Use a medium or 2 1/2 quart saucepan. Saute onion in butter till transparent. Add chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Add rice and bring to boil again. Cover and put in a preheated 325-degree oven for 20 minutes. This is so easy and comes out perfect everytime. We have added a can of stewed tomatoes, as well as sliced fresh mushrooms to the onions sometimes for a variety. Cheese Grits Grease 9 X 13" baking dish. Bring water and milk to boil (watch carefully, or it will overflow) and add grits. Stir and cook according to package (about 5 minutes stirring constantly, I think). Cube or grate cheese and add with butter to the hot grits to melt. Take pan off fire. Mix rest of ingredients together and pour into dish. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 1 hour, or until set in center. Sprinkle the remaining cheese and paprika over grits and return to the oven for the last 15 minutes. Company Potatoes Grease 9 X 13" baking dish and preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine hash browns, potato soup, celery soup, sour cream, milk and onion. Mix well and then season with salt and pepper. Spoon into prepared dish and sprinkle with cheese and paprika. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour. or until well browned and bubbly. Sugar Snap Peas and Almonds Melt margarine in skillet. Brown (toast) almonds in the margarine. Add the can of Chicken Broth and bring to a boil. Add the Sugar Snap Peas and saute until liquid has cooked down. This takes about 8 to 10 minutes, depending on how crisp you want the peas. (I like mine a little more cooked.) Aunt Rozanne's Scalloped Eggplant or Asparagus Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Blend in flour, salt and dash white pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook quickly, stirring constantly, till mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove sauce from heat when it bubbles stirring till smooth. If sauce cooks too long, it becomes too thick and butter separates out. To repair, stir in a little more milk. Cook quickly, stirring constantly till sauce bubbles. A wooden spoon or rubber spatula is handy for preparing sauces and use a heavy saucepan. (This is too much work for me; so next time, I may just use two of those prepared white sauces in envelopes!) Next: Finally: Prepare the white sauce as directed. Put layer of it in bottom of an 8 X 8" baking dish. Have the eggplant diced and soaked for 30 minutes in salt water, and well drained. Put a layer of the eggplant on the white sauce layer, a layer of chopped hard cooked eggs, butter and grated cheese. Continue with layers in the same order till all is used, and top with buttered breadcrumbs sprinkled generously with paprika. Asparagus may be used instead of the eggplant. (I personally like the asparagus.) Bake for 30 minutes in a preheated 350-degree oven uncovered. Serve hot. I remember this at Christmas and Easter dinners at my grandmother's house in Holdenville, Oklahoma. Green Bean Casserole Non-Traditional Stir soup, milk, cheese, red pepper, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cup onions in a 1 1/2 quart casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until bean mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir bean mixture. Sprinkle with almonds and remaining onions. Bake for 5 minutes or until onions are golden brown. I'm wondering how pimentoes would be in place of the roasted red peppers, or maybe Hatch's chopped green chillis? Ginger Wilson's Easy Mashed Potatoes Mound in 2 quart round bowl (sprayed with Pam). Refrigerate up to 2 days-- bake at 350 for 30 minutes--fluff with spoon(do not brown) **I make this WAY ahead and freeze. If frozen, thaw in refrigerator for 2 days-bake as above. Recipes | Meat | Desserts & Breads | Salads, Soups & Appetizers | Home |