In the Kitchen with Cheryl's Friends and Family



Share the Love of Home Cooking


With all our venues of techno-media enrichment taking center stage at Bluffs & Bayous, several months have passed since we’ve run “From Cheryl’s Friends and Family,” but February is the perfect month for us to resume this monthly column and “share the love” of these favorite recipes with all our readers. As we prepared this issue, Adam Blackwell, our Media Coordinator, was instrumental in gathering recipes from his mom, Debbie Blackwell, and her co-worker and friend Linda Futrell along with a favorite recipe from one of our long-time readers Shelia Porch. Close friend and former professional colleague Andrée Gamberi offers some of her family’s treasured recipes while dear friend Eileen Ball shares selections of the ethnic dishes that filled her childhood and still inform her family meals and entertaining today. With tremendous gratitude, we salute Adam, who made appointments with all these contributors, enjoyed visiting them in their kitchens, and snapped a shot or two for all of you to see the luscious dishes that result from these recipes, tempting you to try them as well.
  We hope to share additional recipes from the Bluffs area in the following months. During January, I tried out several new recipes on my two daughters’ families in the New Orleans area and will test these dishes again on my husband before I share them with you in March. While my visits with them included these cooking ventures, my reason for being there was the arrival of two new granddaughters, born to my daughters three days apart. Cooking, cleaning, and washing along with cradling, singing and dancing with babies have filled my agenda lately….and I’m loving it! Till March….enjoy!

Sheila Porch
This dish started showing up at different parties a few months ago. My friend Cindy Hughes, made it for our Pokeno group, and Debra Tillman brought it to our Sunday School party. I made it for some of my Christmas parties and everyone loved it, especially the guys! I travel a lot with my job and usually work 12 hours a day, so this dish is great because it’s quick and easy to make. It’s best eaten warm from the oven. Hope you enjoy it! 

Sopapilla Cheesecake
2 cans crescent dinner rolls
1 stick butter (melted)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 (8 oz.) blocks cream cheese (softened)
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9x13-inch glass baking dish. In a large bowl, mix together all 3 packages of cream cheese, 1½ cups sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Set aside – this is the filling.
Roll out one can of crescent roll dough as a sheet into the bottom of 9x13-baking dish. Press together any gaps so that the dough does not come apart at the seams. Spread the filling out evenly on top of the bottom layer of dough. Roll out second can of crescent roll as a sheet and carefully lay on top of the filling. Again, press together any gaps at the seams so the filling does not ooze out. Brush 1 stick of melted butter over the top with a pastry brush.
Mix ½ cup sugar and 1½ teaspoon cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly across the top. Bake for 30 minutes in 350-degree oven.
Serve plain or topped with cinnamon Cool Whip.

Debbie Blackwell
In our family, we enjoy trying new recipes—sometimes they are great, and other times we have to order pizza! We love sharing our recipes with others, and I hope you enjoy these!

Honey-Garlic Pork Tenderloin
This recipe is one that I use often when entertaining. It’s easy to make and is delicious as an entrée or on a sandwich at lunch!
1 cup Creole mustard, divided
¾ cup honey, divided
3 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
8 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons salt
2½ teaspoons pepper, divided.
2 pounds pork tenderloin
1/3 cup mayonnaise
Stir together ½ cup mustard, ½ cup honey, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, garlic, salt, and 2 teaspoons pepper in a large shallow dish or heavy-duty, zip-top plastic bag; add pork, turning to coat. Cover, or seal, and chill 3 hours. Place pork on a lightly greased rack in an aluminum, foil-lined roasting pan.
Broil 6 inches from heat 5 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees, and bake 15 minutes. Cover loosely with foil, and bake 15 more minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 160 degrees. Yield: 6 servings

HONEY-GARLIC DIPPING SAUCE:
Stir together remaining ½ cup mustard, remaining ¼ cup honey, remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice, remaining ½ teaspoon pepper, and mayonnaise. Serve mixture with pork.

Wild Rice Crab Cakes
This recipe comes from my dear friend Linda Warren, who found the recipe through Cooking Light Magazine. www.cookinglight.com *Minnesota Wild Rice can be found in your local grocery store. It is preferable to your normal wild rice mix because it helps to hold together the Crab Cakes. Enjoy!
1½ cups water
½ cup uncooked Minnesota wild rice
1 pound lump crabmeat, drained and shell pieces removed
¾ cup dry breadcrumbs
½ cup finely chopped red bell pepper
¼ cup minced shallots
¼ cup light mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add wild rice; cover; reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour or until tender. Combine cooked wild rice, crab, and next 11 ingredients (crab through egg whites) in a large bowl. Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions, shaping each into a 1-inch-thick patty.
Heat two teaspoons oil in a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add 4 patties; cook 4 minutes. Carefully turn patties over; cook 4 minutes or until golden. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and patties. Yield: 8 servings.

Eileen Ball
These recipes came from Waddad Buttross’s cookbook Waddad’s Kitchen with a bit of my own touch. When we were growing up, Mom made these recipes from memory, and this is how all of her children cook.
My mother’s family arrived in Greenville, Mississippi, from Lebanon in the late 1800s. They brought many treasures including a cutting of an original grape vine and time-honored family recipes. My seven siblings and I grew up around Lebanese cuisine. No holiday meal was complete without kibbi, rolled grape leaves, and taboolee. Everyone in my family became so proficient in mastering Lebanese food that we compete with each other. We even e-mail pictures of our dishes for “bragging rights”! I am fortunate to have my grandmother’s kibbi pan and Mom’s grape leaves pot.

Baked Kibbi
2 cups bulgur
2 pounds ground lamb or beef
2 large onions
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or to taste)
Rinse the bulgur several times in cold water. Soak bulgur in water for at least an hour. You will have to grind your meat and onions until fine or have the butcher grind your beef or lamb at the butcher counter. Take the soaked bulgur from the water; and mix with the beef and onions, adding the seasonings. The mixture needs to be mixed very thoroughly. (I often soak my hands in cold water while kneading the mixture).

FILLING:
4 tablespoons butter
½ cup pine nuts
½ pound ground lean beef or lamb
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon salt
Melt the butter over slow heat. Add the pine nuts and brown slightly. Remove the pine nuts from butter. Add the meat and seasoning to the butter. Cook until meat is brown. Add the pine nuts to mixtures.
Grease a 12x5-inch baking dish with butter. Spread ½ of kibbi mixture in the bottom of the baking dish. Spread the filling over the kibbi. Top with the other half of the kibbi. Smooth, evenly dipping your hand in cold water as needed. Score the top of the kibbi into triangles. Put ½ cup of thinly sliced butter slices over the top of the kibbi. Bake at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes or until the edges turn brown. Place under a broiler for a few minutes to brown the top.

Rolled Grape Leaves
1 pound of grape leaves 
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1½ pounds ground lamb or lean beef
Lamb bone or stew bone
3/4 cup rice (uncooked)
½ cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Rinse the grape leaves several times. If I use the grape leaves from a jar, I will rinse them at least 3 times to make sure that the taste of the packing juice is rinsed off. If using fresh grape leaves, you will need to blanche them in boiling water for about a minute before rolling the leaves. Cut off the stem of each grape leaf.
Mix together the lamb, uncooked rice, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Place each leaf on the counter with the veins of the leaf facing up and the stem toward you. Place a heaping teaspoon of the mixture on each leaf. Spread the mixture across the leaf. Make sure that you do not put too much mixture on the leaf to have room to roll the leaves. Fold the stem end of the leaf over the mixture. Fold the sides toward the mixture and roll. Do not roll too tight because the mixture will expand when cooked. Place the lamb bone or stew bone in the bottom of a soup pot. Arrange the grape leaves close together in rows facing in the same direction. Alternate each row of grape leaves in opposite directions. I put thinly sliced butter over every couple of rows. (I always end with butter on the top row). Place a saucer on top of the leaves to keep them in place while cooking. Add enough water to come to the top of the saucer. Add the lemon juice and cook for at least an hour. (I usually cook mine for several hours because I like my leaves tender. I might add some more lemon juice to taste).

Taboolee
2 cups bulgur
1 cup chopped mint leaves
6 cups water
½ cup lemon juice
1 bunch chopped green onions
½ cup olive oil
1 small bunch chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tomatoes (optional)
Wash and soak the bulgur in water for about 2 hours. Squeeze the water out of the bulgur with hands. Add chopped onions, parsley, mint, and seasonings to bulgur. Add the lemon juice and oil, and mix together. Add the tomatoes. I usually refrigerate mine overnight.

Linda Futrell
While working at Glenwood Regional Medical Center in West Monroe, Louisiana, I was among many of the staff members who contributed recipes in compiling a cookbook. Visit the center’s website at www.grmc.com. These are two of my favorite recipes that I love to cook for supper club or on a cold day. Hope you enjoy!

Mexican Corn Bread
1¾ cups self-rising cornmeal (or Jiffy Mix)
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup cream-style corn
¾ cup oil
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
½ cup milk
3 eggs
1 teaspoon garlic salt (optional)
2-5 Jalapeño peppers, chopped
Mix all ingredients. Bake in greased hot skillet or 9x13-inch casserole dish at 400 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes.

Crawfish Fettuccini
3 pounds crawfish
4 tablespoons parsley flakes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 pods chopped garlic
3 medium chopped onions
3 sticks Parkay
3 celery sticks
½ pound Velveeta cheese
2 medium bell peppers
½ pound hot Velveeta cheese
1 pint half and half
Melt Parkay; then sauté onions, celery, bell peppers, parsley, and garlic (spicy seasonings to your taste). Stir in flour to thicken sauce, about ¼ cup. Add crawfish. Cook for 15 minutes. Add mushroom soup. Stir to warm. Add half and half. Stir to warm. Boil 16 ounces of fettuccini noodles. Stir ½ pound of cheese into sauce until melted. Mix in noodles. Pour into large greased dish. Put remaining cheese in chunks on top of noodles. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Andrée Gamberi

Black Bottom Pie
This pie is from a Betty Crocker cookbook but changed by adding the Oreo pie crust. My family would rather have this pie for their birthday than a cake. I often make 4 to 6 pies at a time for my house.
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 eggs, separated
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
3 tablespoons cold water
2 teaspoons rum flavoring
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1/3 cup sugar
1 Oreo cookie crumb pie crust
Stir together ½ cup sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan. Blend milk and egg yolks, and stir into sugar mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until mixture boils. Reserve 1 cup of the custard mixture; set aside.
Soften gelatin in cold water; stir into remaining hot custard mixture. Stir in rum. Place pan in refrigerator to chill, stirring occasionally, until mixture mounds slightly when dropped from a spoon. Combine chocolate and the reserved custard mixture. Pour into the cookie crumb pie shell.
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Beat in ½ cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time; continue beating until stiff and glossy. Do not under beat. Fold remaining custard mixture into meringue. Spread on chocolate mixture. Chill at least 3 hours or until set. If desired, garnish with whipped cream and sprinkle with shaved chocolate.

Chili
2 pounds ground beef or deer (I often use half ground beef and half ground deer meat.)
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cans Bush’s medium chili beans
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans tomato sauce
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups water
Salt and pepper
Brown ground beef and drain fat. Add all the other ingredients with about 2 cups of water. Cook for about 1 to 2 hours on low, adding more water as it cooks down. Salt and pepper to taste. I sometimes add more chili powder.

Tortellini Soup
Large package stew meat
Large package cheese-filled tortellini (may be meat or herb)
Bay leaves
Small can tomato paste
1-2 teaspoons nutmeg
Salt and pepper
Cook stew meat in boiling water for around 30 minutes. Add tomato paste and bay leaves, cooking another 30 minutes on low. Add water and bring soup back to a boil. Add tortellini and nutmeg; cook until tortellini is done. Add salt and pepper to taste. May be served with grated cheese

Mrs. Jessie’s 7 Up Pound Cake
This is a recipe from Mrs. Jessie Carlisle, given to me with a cook book before I was married.
2 sticks oleo
½ cup Crisco
3 cups sugar
3 cups plain flour, sifted
5 eggs
1 cup 7-Up plus a little more
2-3 teaspoons lemon juice
Cream oleo, sugar, and Crisco well. Add eggs, blending well after each egg. Add flour alternately with 7-Up. Beating well is the secret to this cake. Add flavoring, and beat well again. Pour into a Bundt pan, vegetable oil sprayed or greased and floured. Bake in preheated oven at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Mandarin Orange Salad
This is a recipe that my children loved when they were younger, and it’s easy to make.
2  20-ounce cans crushed pineapple (in its own juice), drained well
2  15-ounce cans mandarin orange slices, drained
1  24-ounce container small curd cottage cheese
¾ tub 8-ounce cool whip
1  3-ounce package orange Jell-o
Mix all ingredients together and chill in the refrigerator.

Pasta Salad
This easy and delicious recipe is great for parties or for when you need a last-minute dish!
1 box of Garden Rotini, cooked and drained
1 large bunch of fresh broccoli, cut into just the florets
1 container of grape or cherry tomatoes
1 colored bell pepper, cut into small pieces
¾ bottle of Italian dressing
Parmesan cheese
Mix all ingredients together and top with Parmesan cheese. Chill in the refrigerator.