MEALS WITH MARGE

July 14, 2009

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After enjoying a wonderful weekend “up north,” I’m ready to get back to cooking, cleaning and organizing, which seem to be my main tasks when I am home. We couldn’t have asked for a nicer weekend. We enjoyed a different type of cookout at the home of one of our nieces, Becky Sparks, and her husband Donald in Jennings, Wis.

Donny and Becky are wonderful and very-organized hosts. Their home and yard were ready for a crowd. They had a large striped canopy tent and a huge number of tables, all with matching tablecloths, and enough food to feed an army, which they did. Thank you, Becky and Donny! We’ll be back!

I don’t think you could find Jennings on the map and I can’t say I would be able to drive there without map quest, but I know it’s near Pelican Lake – two places I would describe as being “in the middle of nowhere.” It’s hard to take the city out of a city girl. I totally lose my sense of direction once I’m off the beaten path, but I must say it was worth the trip.

Donny prepared the best fish I’ve ever tasted. He said the secret to his fish is that he uses restaurant quality cooking oil that he gets from a relative who owns a restaurant. I was able to talk him into giving me his recipe for breading. First he salts, peppers and flours the fish, then dips it into egg and cracker crumbs before frying. Thank you for sharing your secret with us, Donny.

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I decided I needed to dig out some recipes that I haven’t made for awhile. The following is one of those. It’s an easy, economical and something-different dish that has great taste.

• • •

Franks ‘n Beans Casserole

Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
9 slices bacon

8 wieners
8 slices cheddar or American
cheese, cut in half diagonally
1 16-ounce can pork and beans
plus
1 21-ounce can pork and beans
½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard
2-3 teaspoons Worcestershire
sauce

Directions: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook whole bacon slices until almost crisp. Drain and set aside.

Slit wieners lengthwise and place a half-slice of cheese in each wiener.

In large bowl, stir together beans, brown sugar, mustard and Worcestershire sauce until brown sugar is dissolved.

Pour half of the bean mixture into a round casserole (about 1½- quart size). Arrange 4 stuffed wieners in a row on top of beans; place 3 strips of bacon between wieners. Over that, pour remaining bean mixture; add row of remaining 4 wieners; place 3 strips bacon between wieners. Place the last 3 slices of bacon across the row of wieners.

Bake about 30 minutes or until cheese has melted and beans are bubbly.

• • •

The next three recipes are from Sue Mohr of The Review staff. Sue has been promising to give me some of her favorite recipes for a long time, so I was thankful to find these on my desk. I know she is very busy, so I especially appreciate the work she put into writing these out by hand.

• • •

Wiener Casserole

Ingredients:
3 or 4 potatoes, sliced
1 package wieners, sliced into
half-inch chunks
1 can cream of celery or cream of
mushroom soup
½ soup can (or more) of milk
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/8 cup diced onions

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix soup with milk and onions. Layer wieners and potatoes, adding soup mixture on top of each layer. Bake for 1 hour or until potatoes are tender.

• • •

This next recipe makes a nice light dessert for summer. In fact, Sue says, “When I was a child I’d beg my mother to make this tort instead of a birthday cake.”

• • • Jell-O Torte

Ingredients: Crust:
1-2/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup butter, softened
Filling:
1 large box of cherry or strawberry
Jell-O
1 8-ounce container of Cool Whip

Directions: Make Jell-O according to package directions. Place in refrigerator, letting it partially stiffen.

Meanwhile, roll graham crackers between two sheets of waxed paper. Pour crumbs into bowl and add sugar and butter. Mix well. (Set aside a small amount of the crust mix.) Press into the bottom and 1-inch up the sides of a sprayed 9x13-inch pan. Bake crust at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool.

When Jell-O is partially stiffened, add Cool Whip, mixing gently and thoroughly.

Pour on top of cooled crust. Smooth out. Sprinkle leftover crumbs on top. Add a dab of Cool Whip in the center to garnish. Store in refrigerator.

• • • Cherry Jell-O

Ingredients:
1 3-ounce package cherry Jell-O
1 cup water
1 can cherry pie filling

Directions: Stir boiling water into Jell-O until completely dissolved. Stir in pie filling. Pour into 1-quart bowl. Place in refrigerator to set.

• • •

Those sound like great recipes, Sue. Thank you for sharing them with us!

• • •

Your favorite recipes are always welcome. Send them to The Review, P.O. Box 317, Plymouth, WI 53073.

I am available on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 920-893-6411, ext.32, for questions or comments about the recipes in this column.