Waks Family Cookbook

This is a collection of recipes from anyone in the family who cares to contribute.  The basic notion is to share our knowledge around, since most everyone in the family is into cooking as a general art.  To contribute, copy the recipe template file, fill it all in appropriately with your recipe (using whatever HTML editor makes you happy), and mail it to us at cookbook@waks.org. We will incorporate it into the cookbook as soon as we can.
The cookbook is broken down into relatively arbitrary categories, chosen mostly for convenience.  Feel free to ask us to add a new category.
"Justin" refers to Mark -- it is his "Net handle", and generally pervades the book.
 
Appetizers
 
Entrees
 
Side Dishes/Soups
 
Sauces
 
Desserts
 
Drinks
 
Historical Period Dishes
 
Experiments
 
Links

Appetizers and Breads

Boursin Cheese
Marieke's Marinated Veggies
Smoked Salmon
Cheddar-Blue Spread
Candy Bread
Monkey Bread
Apple Cinnamon Bread (dessert bread)
Cheddar/Garlic Bread
Banana Nut Bread
Aunt Muriel's Hungarian Coffee Cake


Entrees

Beef

Beefy Macaroni Skillet
Swedish Meatballs (Breen)
Count Fernando's Beef Stew
Susan's Gourmet Sirloin Tips
Grilled Southwestern Sirloin Tips
Grilled Asian Sirloin Tips

Seafood

Lemon Pepper Scallops
Fish Marsala
Pan Seared Tuna
Fried Soft-shell Crabs
Pan Seared Trout with Bacon Vinaigrette (excellent)
Stockfish Pie

Ground Beef or Turkey

Stacked Enchiladas
Imitation Wick Fowler's Chili
Lasagne al Forno
Another Lasagna

Vegetarian

Spicy Szechuan Noodles
Penne with Roasted Peppers
Ma Po Tofu
Thai Noodles with Basil
Pesto With Pasta
Veggies in Mushroom Sauce
Cold Asian Noodles
Veggie-ish Chili

Poultry

Chicken a la Riviera
Assamee Chicken Curry
Chicken Cacciatore
Grilled Chicken Breasts
Chicken and Lemon Salad
"Return from Vacation" Chicken
Pat's Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo
Indian Style Chicken Fricassee
Roast Turkey (High Temp. Method)
Cock-a-Leekie
Quick Chicken Fajitas
Cordon Bleu Sandwiches
Chicken & Pasta in Tomato-Cream Sauce
Spicy Tomato Chicken and Pasta

Miscellaneous

Fidaush (Lamb with Pasta)
Duchess Sedalia's Sausage Pie
Jambalaya
Pork a la Riviera
Grilled Veal Chops Florentine
Grilled Veal Chops with Bitter Greens
Charley's Chili
Garlic Carbonara
Quick Mu Shu
Easy Vindaloo
Southwestern Chicken (or other) Bake
Eggplant Parmesan

Pizza

Basic Pizza Recipe
Thai Shrimp Pizza
Pesto Pizza
Pizza Faux Venezia
Pizza Faux Nolio
Peking Duck Pizza


Side Dishes, Vegetables and Soups

Soups

Autumn Root Soup
Tuscan Tomato Soup (Pappa col Pomodoro)

Salads

Cranberry Waldorf Jello Salad
Caesar Salad
Cucumber Salad with Spicy Wasabi Dressing
Cucumber Salad with Dill
Spicy Cucumber Salad
Wild Rice Salad
Spicy Cabbage Salad

Sides

Marlborough Tarts
Rice Dissolved With Sugar
Green Bean Casserole
Caramelized Onion Stuffing
Classic Sage and Onion Stuffing
Raisin Bread, Cranberry, and Rosemary Stuffing
Couscous Stuffing
Indian Rice with Raisins and Cinnamon
Red Bliss Potatoes
Vampire Spuds (Mashed Potatoes with Garlic and Saffron)
Sauteed Shiitake Mushrooms
Spanish Rice Pronto
Glazed Carrots
Creamed Onions
Mushroom Pie
Sweet Potato Bake
Squash Casserole


Sauces

Sauce Aliper (Garlic Sauce for Beef)
Pesto
Lark's Tarragon Sauce
Buffalo Wing Sauce
Yogurt Garlic Sauce
Teriyaki Sauce
Ragł alla Bolognese (Italian Meat Sauce)
April Fool's Blizzard Spaghetti Sauce
Creamy Garlic Dressing
Green Goddess Sauce
Cilantro Tahini Yogurt Sauce "Green Sauce"
Giblet Gravy
Verde Sauce
Sauce Galentijn (Galengale Sauce)


Desserts

Pies and Cakes

Bourbon Pecan Pie
Chocolate Pecan Pie
Velvet Midnight Cake with Buttercream Frosting
Wellesley Fudge Cake
Blotzfruit Pie
Mochafruit Pie
Cheesecake
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Apples in Paste (Apple Pie)
Pear Pie
Orange Pie

Cookies and Candies (and Fruit Salad)

Sukkariyya (Almond Brittle)
Lulabiyya (Medieval Funnel Cakes)
Seven Layer Bars
Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies
Fudge Drop Cookies
Snickerdoodles Cookies
Tuscan Fruit Salad
Trivial Fudge
Period Gingerbread
Period Apple Fritters
Chewy Ginger Snaps


Drinks

Fruit Smoothies
Alabama Slammer
Hot Mulled Cider
Hypocras
Sangria
Cranberry Melomel
Iced Hoji-cha


Period and Periodish Recipes (Medieval/Renaissance)

This section overlaps with those above; all recipes in it should also be categorized separately.  This collects all of the recipes that were taken from period cookbooks and/or developed for SCA events.  Not all are actually period; some fall into the broad SCA category of "periodish" -- recipes that feel like period cooking, but aren't actually documentable.

Sauce Aliper (Garlic Sauce for Beef)
Hypocras
Marieke's Marinated Veggies
Fidaush (Lamb with Pasta)
Sukkariyya (Almond Brittle)
Lulabiyya (Medieval Funnel Cakes)
Marlborough Tarts
Rice Dissolved With Sugar
Chicken and Lemon Salad
Cock-a-Leekie
Apples in Paste (Apple Pie)
Pear Pie
Orange Pie
Stockfish Pie
Misri (Egyptian Meat Dish)
Gingerbread
Verde Sauce
Mushroom Pie
Cranberry Melomel
Apple Fritters
Sauce Galentijn (Galengale Sauce)


Dinner and Experiment Ideas

This section is not actually recipes.  Instead, it is ideas for things I want to try, and a simple list of dinner suggestions.  It is mainly here for nights when I say to myself, "What am I going to do for dinner?"

A concise page of non-stock ingredients can be found on the dinner shopping list.

Dinners

Pasta with Porcini Mushroom Sauce (Sundays at Moosewood, pg. 362).  Quite good.  Tweaks: try a less sweet wine than Marsala.  Effort: medium.  Prep time: about an hour -- half to prep the mushrooms, rest to cook.  Shopping list: 1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms; 1 sm. onion; a little Marsala wine; a little tomato paste; 1 cup heavy cream; pasta (fettucini).

Quick Carbonara.  Ragu Roasted Garlic Parmesan plus fresh crumbled bacon turns out to make a rather decent, very easy Carbonara sauce (even Jane likes it).  Serve over fettucini.

Broiled Salmon with Teriyaki Sauce.  One boneless salmon fillet, about 6-8 oz. per person.  Brush with teriyaki sauce and broil about 10 minutes.  Serve with Knorr's Mushroom Risotto.

Quick Beef Stroganoff.  Superior Touch Mushroom base; 16 oz bag noodles; 1.5 lb. stirfryish beef;  an onion;  2 sm. cans sliced mushrooms; 1/2 cup sour cream.  Reasonably quick to make and remarkably good.  (Much better as stroganoff than bourguignon.)

Chicken Marsala.  (America's Test Kitchen)  4 boneless chicken breasts; 2 1/2 oz. pancetta; 8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced; 1 1/2 cups sweet Marsala wine.

Black Bean Stir-Fry.  Page 160 in High Flavor, Low Fat Cooking.  Requires 4+ scallions, 1lb protein unit (fish works), 2-4 cups veggies.  Flounder turns into a sort of black bean fish sauce; tasty, but try something with a little more spine.  Needs about 1/2 hour prep.  Serve with rice.

Ginger and Scallion Stir-Fry.  Page 158 in High Flavor, Low Fat.  Requires a bunch of scallions, 6" or so of fresh ginger, 2 cups of veggies, and 1 lb. of seafood.  Utterly magnificent with scallops; the strong ginger flavor goes perfectly with them.

Spaghetti.  The easy and generic, but spiced up with some extra herbs, some sliced-up peppers and/or some portobelli sauteed in garlic can make this more interesting with minimal extra effort.

Grilled Chicken Sandwiches.  Quick and easy.  Two sandwiches: 5 oz. pre-grilled chicken; fresh bread; 6 oz. brie; lots of fresh basil; thin-sliced tomato.  If bread is soft, toast it slightly.  Spread brie on; lay on chicken, tomato and basil.  Oil (Pam) grill; grill on high until nicely browned.

Catfish Sandwiches.  Another quick and easy. Two thin catfish filets, rye bread, maybe some lettuce.  Top with something like honey mustard or horseradish.

Tacos. Ground beef or turkey, taco seasoning packet, taco shells, chopped lettuce and ripe tomatoes from the salad bar. Salsa and olives we should have in the pantry.

Stir-Fried Pork with Asparagus and Lemon Grass. (Cook's Illustrated, Feb. '03, pg. 19)  12 oz. pork tenderloin, 1lb. asparagus, 1 onion, preferably some fresh basil.  Really quite excellent.  Need to semi-freeze the pork for cutting, 45 to 60 minutes.  Otherwise, about an hour of prep and cooking.

Experiments to Try

Quick Custard Tarts (Joy of Cooking, pg 655).  We tried a version of this from Star Market in July '98, and were thoroughly unimpressed.  I'm pretty sure that I can do better myself, by choosing better and fresher fruit.  Make a slightly sweetened custard, to counterpoint tart fruit.  Have fun with the fruit -- blueberries, clementine slices, kiwi, and other interesting stuff.

Cold Cucumber Salad.  Peel and thinly slice cucumbers, marinate with rice vinegar and a little sugar.  (Jennifer Kobayashi)

Sea Delico Pizza  Store bought crust, with garlic, mozzarella, shrimp, "sea legs" etc.

Nutella things.  (saw this on some cooking show).  1 pkg. Pepperidge Farm phyllo dough, nutella, powdered sugar.  Thaw dough, spread out flat.  Make a stripe of Nutella. Fold the dough over ~1 inch, to cover.  Cut strip into slices.  Bake. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve warm.


Experimental Notebook

This section is notes on various culinary experiments. These are not yet final recipes in good enough shape to simply recommend.
This section also includes recipes we've clipped from various sources and not yet had a chance to try.

Mushroom Oil
Rhode Island Calamari
Imitation Tygart Red
Apple Syrup
Mustard-Sugar Salmon
Peking Duck Pizza


Links to Other Cooking Sites We Enjoy

A Booke of Cookrye, a 16th century cookbook that we transcribed from the original.  Some reconstructions are above.
Cariadoc's Miscellany
Alia's translation of Das Buch von Guter Spise
Greg Lindahl's Medieval and Renaissance Food page
Tauna AElswith's Medieval Recipes
Bon Appetit/Epicurious
RecipeLink
Aoife Finn's "How to Eat Like a King"
Terry Nutter's Culinary History page
The Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook, which Justin considers the finest cookbook from period.
America's Test Kitchen
Eliz's Cookbook
Luke Knowlton's work on Casteau's Kitchen
The Online Culinary History Network, which contains pointers to a number of online cookbooks.

Last update: 13 Jan 2008