What Recipes Should I Contribute for a Cookbook?

My last post was about sewing.  Since then I made a pair of pajamas for my granddaughter and have the fabric ready to make pajamas for my grandson as well.  I love sewing pajamas; they are easy to fit and comfortable to wear.  But right now, my focus is on a different home skill - cooking and baking!

I received an email about a week ago, saying that someone at our church decided to take on the project of compiling a cookbook and requested recipes.  After a lifetime of cooking, where does one start?  

Christmas baking

Some of my favourites are a bit out of date, even though I still love them.  I'm thinking of summer jellied salads, tomato aspic, that sort of thing.  Some of the things I make frequently are not really recipes, but more of a compilation of what I have on hand.  Broccoli Salad with bacon and raisins is in this category and so is Pulled Pork.  I mean, really, I can hardly state "cover pork roast with bottle of some sort of sauce and cook in crock pot".  

Another category of recipes I won't be submitting is the "just read the label" type.  Yes, I know the raisin and chocolate chip cookies are homemade, but the recipe came from the package.  It doesn't seem right to copy it and put my name on it, even if I credit the source.  

On the other hand, I have some lovely but complicated recipes that require careful measuring and direction following skills.  I have a great recipe, given to me by an elderly woman over 40 years ago, for homemade filo pastry and apple strudel.  It's a lot of work stretching the dough, and I don't know if anyone would bother to try it.

 I once submitted a recipe for a baked self-saucing raisin pudding cake to a cookbook project at work.  Someone decided to launch the cookbook -- it was being used to raise money for a charity -- with a "tea" where the organizers baked some of the recipes for everyone to sample.  Yep, my pudding cake recipe was chosen, and it did NOT turn out right.  It was more of a gooey mess.  The person who made it asked me if that was how it was supposed to turn out.  What do you say?  I could have said, no, you obviously didn't follow the recipe.  But that might have offended her.  The other option was to say, yes, it is supposed to be a gooey mess.  I just did not know how to answer that question!  I considered submitting a recipe for a super smooth not-too-sweet cooked icing for our church cookbook, but it sometimes curdles unless you follow the recipe and cooking directions very precisely.  

I am a bit torn about submitting some of my go-to recipes like peanut butter cornflake rice krispie squares or carrot cake.  I mean, doesn't everyone have these recipes?  Or should I worry that no one will write these down to pass on to the next generation because they are so well known today?  I guess one can always google these online, but 30 years from now, will those recipe sites still exist or will tomorrow's homemaker be using some totally different technology?

I took time yesterday to look through my mother's recipe box.  I promised myself that someday soon I would make a few of her dessert recipes that I remember and love.  Often my mom would sit down and write out the recipes that my aunt served for dinner, and my aunt would do the same when she visited our house.  Great memories and great food.

In recent years, my youngest son has traveled the world and brought home many new recipes.  Last night he cooked rice with Lemon Dahl.   We have enjoyed Paneer Butter Masala and Tandoori Chicken in the past month when he cooked.  But those are his recipes, not mine!

Lemon Dahl

Ultimately I decided to submit some of my current go-to recipes, the ones that I make when I need to contribute to a potluck supper.  

 Meanwhile, please let me know ... what are your go-to recipes, and what would you contribute if you were asked to help with a cookbook of your favourites?  Feel free to post entire recipes in response, or convo me.  I am always happy to try something new.

So here are three of the recipes I submitted to the cookbook collection.  I'm not sure when it will be ready to purchase.  If you are interested, let me know, and I will be sure to let you know when and how you can purchase it.  There are some awesome cooks at our church, so it will be a great addition to your cookbook collection.

PEANUT SAUCE

Excellent in Thai Salad or as a dipping sauce.

3 tbsp chopped cilantro stems and leaves

2  or 3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 ½  tsp sweet chili paste

1 tbsp fish sauce

2 tsp sesame oil

½ cup peanut butter, smooth or crunchy

4 tbsp corn syrup

3 tbsp rice vinegar

¾ cup canned coconut milk,  or fresh coconut milk

2 – 3 tbsp lime juice or lemon juice.

4 tbsp peanuts, finely chopped

Use mortar and pestle to grind cilantro, garlic, chili paste and fish sauce together, or crush with back of large spoon and mix until thick, paste-like consistency.  Heat oil in small pan, and cook the paste until hot and fragrant.  Add peanut butter, syrup, vinegar, coconut milk, and lime juice.  Heat on low to medium heat until bubbles form.  Remove from heat.  When mixture has cooled, garnish with chopped peanuts.

THAI SALAD

½ cup chopped cilantro leaves and stems

1 red sweet pepper, chopped

1 yellow sweet pepper, chopped

1 bunch green onion, chopped

1 cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped

1 bottle peanut sauce plus extra peanut sauce (below)

1 package rice noodles

Boil water and add rice noodles.  Wait for a few minutes; they cook very quickly.  Drain water when noodles are soft.   In a large bowl, mix cooked noodles, cilantro, peppers, most of the peanuts and onions.  Save some of the peanuts for garnishing salad. Make extra peanut sauce as follows:

3 tbsp fresh ginger, minced

¼ cup chopped peanuts

¼ tsp lemon juice

¼ cup water

2 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp sugar

Simmer above ingredients for peanut sauce in 1 tsp sesame seed oil until fragrant and mixture is bubbling.  Pour this freshly made peanut sauce plus the bottle of peanut sauce over the rice noodle mixture and mix well.  Garnish with reserved chopped peanuts. 

Options:  Snow peas, green peas, green pepper, and other vegetables make good additions to this salad.

WHEAT SALAD

¾ cup clean wheat kernels

8 oz package cream cheese, softened

1 large can crushed pineapple, approximately 19 oz

1 large pkg instant vanilla pudding

1 large Cool Whip topping

Rinse wheat, then soak in 1 ½ cups of water overnight.  Next day, bring to boil and simmer approximately 1 ½ hours until wheat is tender and has absorbed most of the water.  Rinse and cool.

When wheat has cooled, mix together all ingredients.  Put in serving bowl and refrigerate.  Serve well chilled.