Loaded Refried Rice Recipe by Ruth Paget

Loaded Refried Rice Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Serves 6 

Ingredients: 

-3 tablespoons vegetable oil 

-2 chopped scallions 

-3 tablespoons soy sauce 

-1/4 cup cooked or drained canned peas 

-1/4 cup cooked and cubed ham 

-1 (3-ounce) can drained, canned mushrooms 

-1/4 cup chopped, cooked chicken 

-1/4 cup chopped, cooked shrimp 

-1 (5-ounce) can drained and cooked bamboo shoots 

-4 cups cooked rice 

-2 beaten eggs 

Steps: 

1-Heat oil in a large pan and add scallions. Add soy sauce, peas, ham, mushrooms, chicken, shrimp, bamboo shoots, and rice. Turn until the ingredients are steaming for at least 5 minutes. 

 2-Add beaten eggs and turn until eggs are scrambled throughout the rice. Serve steaming hot with soy sauce on the side. 

(A Royal Oak, Michigan Recipe)

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Spice Cake Recipe by Ruth Paget

Spice Cake Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Serves 6 

Ingredients: 

-2 ½ cups sifted flour 

-1 ¼ cups sugar 

-1 teaspoon salt 

-1 teaspoon cinnamon 

-1 teaspoon crushed cloves 

-1 teaspoon nutmeg 

-1 teaspoon allspice

 

 -1 1/3 cup molasses 

-2/3 cup milk 

-2/3 cup softened butter

  

-2 ½ teaspoons baking powder 

-1 teaspoon baking soda

 

-3 beaten eggs 

-1/2 cup milk 

Steps: 

1-Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2-Combine flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice together. 

3-Mix molasses and milk together. Add softened butter to molasses mixture. Stir molasses mixture into the flour-spice mixture and blend well. 

4-Add baking powder and baking soda to the molasses mixture. 

5-Mix eggs and milk together. Blend the milk and eggs into the molasses mixture. 

6-Pour the mixture into two deep 9-inch round baking cake pans. 

7-Bake for 35 minutes. 

Cool thoroughly on a rack. Frost the top of one cake and place the other on top of the bottom cake. With a long, flat spatula, frost the sides. Frost the top last. 

Serve with coffee or tea.

(A Royal Oak, Michigan Recipe) 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books

Tuna Hot Dish Recipe by Ruth Paget

Tuna Hot Dish Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Serves 6 

Ingredients: 

-2 (5-ounce) cans tuna in water 

-2 (10.5-ounce) cans mushroom soup 

-1 (15-ounce) can drained peas 

-1 cup dry shell pasta 

-4 tablespoons butter 

-1 cup bread crumbs 

-Butter to dab as desired 

Steps: 

1-Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2-Combine the tuna in water with the mushroom soup in a pot. Heat until bubbly and remove from heat. 

3-Cook pasta according to directions and drain. Add pasta to tuna-mushroom soup mixture. Add drained peas to tuna-pasta mixture. 

4-Butter a casserole dish. Pour tuna-pasta mixture into the casserole. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top of the tuna-pasta mixture. 

5-Bake for 30 minutes. 

(A Royal Oak, Michigan Recipe) 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books

Berry Dumplings Recipe by Ruth Paget

Berry Dumplings Recipe by Ruth Paget 

These dumplings freeze well for homeworkers who are organizing their weekly meals ahead of time.

Serves 6 

Ingredients: 

-4 tablespoons butter 

-1 (5-pound) bag frozen mixed berries 

-1/4 cup flour 

-1/2 cup sugar 

-1 (16.5-ounce) ready-to-bake refrigerated canister of biscuits 

-1/4 cup sugar to roll biscuits in 

Steps: 

1-Melt butter in a pot with a tight fitting lid. 

2-Place berries in the pot and cover. Cook until the berries are thawed and liquid. 

3-Mix the flour and sugar together. Turn the heat on the pan up and add flour-sugar mixture a little at a time to the berries. 

4-When the berries thicken, turn the heat back to low. 

5-Cut 10 biscuits into fourths and roll them in the ¼ cup of sugar. Place biscuits on top of the berries. 

6-Cover pot and cook for 8 minutes. Serve warm or cold. 

(A Royal Oak, Michigan Recipe)

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books

Ravioli Hot Dish Recipe by Ruth Paget

Ravioli Hot Dish Recipe by Ruth Paget 

This dish freezes well and heats up easily in a microwave for people who are working at home.  

Serves 6 

Ingredients: 

-3 pounds frozen 5-pound bag of ravioli (40 -50 count per bag) 

-2 (28-ounce) jars Marinara sauce 

-4 tablespoons Italian seasoning 

-2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese 

Steps: 

1-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  

2-Boil ravioli as directed on package in several batches. Drain ravioli and hold while other batches are cooking. 

 3-Spread marinara sauce on the bottom of a 9-inch casserole dish. Place a layer of ravioli on top of the marinara. Place more marinara on top of the ravioli. Sprinkle ravioli with mozzarella and some Italian seasoning. Repeat twice with a final layer of mozzarella and Italian seasoning on top. 

4-Bake for 20 – 30 minutes and serve. 

(A Royal Oak, Michigan Recipe) 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books

Ambrosia Pie Recipe by Ruth Paget

Ambrosia Pie Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Serves 4 

Ingredients: 

-1 (1-ounce) envelope unflavored gelatin 

-2/3 cup water -1/2 cup sugar 

-1 teaspoon salt 

-3/4 cup orange juice 

-1/2 cup dry coconut flakes 

-1 cup cold and whipped evaporated milk 

-1 (9-inch) pre-baked graham cracker crust 

Steps: 

1-Combine gelatin, sugar, salt, and water in top of double boiler. Stir over boiling water until gelatin dissolves. 

2-Remove gelatin mixture pan from heat. Add orange juice ad coconut flakes to the gelatin mixture. 

3-Chill gelatin mixture and stir in whipped evaporated milk. 

4-Pour orange-coconut flake mixture into pie crust. Chill pie until ready to serve.

(A Royal Oak, Michigan Recipe) 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books

Yunnan China's Food as Medicine by Ruth Paget

Yunnan China’s Food as Medicine by Ruth Paget 

The people of Yunnan China are reputed to be very healthy and long- lived writes Georgia Freedman in Cooking South of the Clouds: Recipes and Stories from China’s Yunnan Province. 

This southwestern Chinese province extends from snowy, southern Tibet in the north to tropical borders in the south with Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. 

There are 24 minority groups in this province with distinct cooking styles that make use of some common ingredients including: 

-mushrooms (there are 800 varieties in this region) 

-Yunnan ham (this is similar to Spanish Serrano ham) 

-pickled vegetables (especially pickled mustard greens, which Freedman provides a recipe for) 

-spicy chili peppers -garlic 

-Yak meat (beef is a substitute) 

The following five dishes give a flavor for the types of recipes in Cooking South of the Clouds:

*mushrooms stir-fried with Thai chilies and garlic cloves that is seasoned with soy sauce 

*fried rice with ham, potato cubes, and peas 

*stir-fried beef with pickled mushroom greens and garlic chives 

*fried beef with fresh lettuce (the beef here is served on a bed of lettuce leaves with chopped spring onions on top. Raw vegetables are usually found in Thai and Vietnamese cuisine not what you typically associate with Chinese food.) 

*dried Mushroom Salad – dried mushrooms are rehydrated and drained and then seasoned with vinegar, light soy sauce, and chopped coriander. 

The complete recipes are in Cooking South of the Clouds: Recipes and Stories from China’s Yunnan Province by Georgia Freedman. 

People who like spicy foods might enjoy trying these recipes from one of China’s lesser-known provinces.  

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books