Monitor Readers Share Their Recipes

Awhile ago we asked you to dig through your recipe boxes and clippings and share some of your family food favorites. Here is the first taste of what you have shared with us. The recipes have been tested and edited where necessary, and put in Monitor format for consistency. We can't possibly run them all, but we will publish others from time to time. Thank you for participating, keep them coming, and bon apptit.

From Frances Price Cook, Portland, Ore.: "You asked for family favorites? Do I have one for you! It was clipped from the Monitor of Nov. 16, 1964 and ... frequently used ever since then. Maybe hundreds of times...."

Cowboy Cookies

Cream together:

1 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

Add sifted together:

2 scant cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Add the following one at a time:

2 cups rolled oats

1 package chocolate bits

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

With your hands, roll cookie mixture into 1-inch diameter balls, place on ungreased cookie sheet, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

Elaine Squeri sends us this recipe for "Cipollpiang, Italian dialect for 'stuffed onions' " from Arlington, Va. She says the stuffing, "can be used to fill ravioli, cannelloni or other pasta, or in other vegetables like peppers or zucchini, or alone baked in a casserole dish to accompany baked ham." She suggests these be served as an hors d'oeuvre.

CiPollpiang -

Stuffed Onions

5 small yellow onions or 10 large pearl onions

1 3-ounce package of cream cheese, at room temperature

1 egg, at room temperature

1/2 cup soft bread crumbs

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano- Reggiano, if possible)

1/4 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (or minced fresh garlic)

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Dash of pepper

1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, cooked, thoroughly drained, and allowed to cool

Olive oil

Peel onions and cut in half so they can be separated out into small "cups" after cooking. Par-boil onions in salted water until cooked but firm. Drain, and separate into cups. Set aside. Beat together cream cheese and egg until light.

Add remaining ingredients except olive oil. Be sure spinach is cool so as not to "cook" the egg. Taste stuffing to be sure there is enough "zip" in it before filling onions. If any of the cups have holes in the bottom, fill in with smaller piece of onion to keep stuffing from leaking out. Drizzle tops with olive oil.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes, or until browned. Serve immediately.

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Robert McFadden of Southeastern Oklahoma State University sent this family recipe for beets in orange sauce. He writes: "Here is a recipe of my grandmother's. I can pickled beets each year just for this recipe."

Beets In

Orange Sauce

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup orange juice

2 teaspoons orange zest

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 cups sliced or diced beets

Combine all ingredients, except beets, in a saucepan. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Add beets and boil an additional 5 minutes.

Wanzie Walley of San Diego, Calif., sent her recipe for Shrimp Gumbo which she found in 1945 when she "was 17, married and pregnant with [my] husband away serving in the US Army Air Force." She adds, "As it turned out, my husband's work has caused us to move all over the United States as well as England, Norway, Scotland, and Canada. I soon had to devise a way to make gumbo without fresh seafood. I found a brand of canned shrimp available almost everywhere, and canned crab and frozen okra. So by adding canned tomatoes and canned broth, I was in the business for gumbo anywhere."

Shrimp Gumbo

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped celery

4 green onions (scallions) chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 pound boiled ham, chopped

1/2 pound chopped okra

1 or 2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 large can tomatoes, chopped

3 cans chicken stock

1 pound fresh shrimp, or 2 cans medium shrimp

1 cup fresh crab meat, or one can crab meat.

1/2 cup chopped parsley

Heat oil in a large pan and saute onions until translucent. Add bell pepper, celery, green onions, and garlic. Saute for a few minutes before adding ham and okra. Stir until well blended. Add bay leaves, thyme, tomatoes, chicken stock and simmer 20 minutes. Add shrimp, crab meat, and parsley. Serves 8 to 10.

Alice Jean Small of Monterey, Calif., sent us several recipes including this one. She says, "I ate [this onion pie] in Europe and then made it for the culinary academy classes at our local community college. It was a success!"

Tarte a L' Onion

3 tablespoons butter

5 large onions (3 to 4 cups)

4 large slices of bacon, cooked crisp, and crumbled

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 cup light cream

4 eggs, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Saute onions in butter until golden brown. Place onions in a large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients and pour into a prepared pie crust.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let set for about 5 minutes before serving.