Pop Luck Club Recipes
What makes our monthly meetings at The Pop Luck Club so special? It's the food! We Dads and Dads 2B have unwittingly become more and more renowned for our famous dishes that we prepare with pride. And fortunately, we delight in sharing these recipes with each other and with you.
Here are some of our favorites. Go ahead and try 'em at home. Fill your tummies with a little magic from Pop Luck. And if you're a member with a recipe that you've shared with the group, send it to us at plcinfo@popluckclub.org!
Roast Chicken
Recipe courtesy of Jeff H.
Prep time 15 minutes, cooking time appx. 90 minutes.
This is a Sunday specialty in our family – I usually cook two at once, one for dinner and one for sandwiches/leftovers later in the week. The key to a moist, fully cooked bird is to have an instant read thermometer – you don’t need anything fancy – you can buy a perfectly adequate one for $6 at the grocery store. I tend to stock up on whole birds when they’re on special at Ralphs or Vons, usually $.59 or $.69 a pound, and freeze them.
Ingredients
2 whole frying chickens about 4 lbs each
McCormick’s Season-All salt
4 bay leaves
Several sprigs of fresh rosemary
4 stalks of celery, cut to a length that will fit in the chicken cavity
A few cloves of garlic, peeled and cut in half
A small to medium onion, peeled and quartered
Any other fresh herbs you might have on hand (thyme, oregano, dill, etc.)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (olive works fine) in a bowl for brushing or in a sprayer can if you have one
Fresh pepper
Set oven to 450.
If you want to simplify clean up, line a medium to large roasting pan (big enough to hold both birds) with aluminum foil.
Remove and discard giblets, rinse both birds inside and out under running water and dry inside and out with paper towel.
Shake seasoned salt liberally into the cavity of each bird. I close the openings at either end of the bird with my hands and shake each to distribute the seasoning. Then divide the bay leaves, rosemary, celery, garlic, and onion (and any other fresh herbs) and place into the cavity.
Put the birds in the roasting pan. Spray or brush liberally with the oil. Shake seasoned salt liberally over both birds, covering as much of the surface as possible. Sprinkle fresh pepper to taste.
Slide the birds into the oven on a medium to high rack and immediately reduce temperature to 350. After 1 hour fifteen minutes, check for doneness by inserting the instant read thermometer into the thigh, avoiding the bone. It should read 170. If not, return to the oven for ten or fifteen minutes more. Another sign that they are done is that there should be a fair amount of liquid in the pan – enough that you have to be careful taking it out of the oven.
Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes, move birds to a carving board, carve and enjoy!
Some notes:
I like McCormick season-all since it contains Annatto, which gives the chicken a beautiful golden color and tastes great. Any reasonably fresh seasoned salt should work fine. If you’re not sure when you bought it, get a new canister!
You can experiment with the ingredients – if I have a lot of fresh lemons or oranges, it’s fun to put lemon or orange peel in with the herbs.
Once the birds have cooled off, I pour the drippings into a glass container, cover and refrigerate. Once it cools, you can scrape off and discard the fat on top and use the remaining liquid (it will be a jelly) as a base for stock. Delicious in steamed white or brown rice, for chicken noodle soup, and other recipes that call for stock.
Pecan Pie
Recipe courtesy of Jeff H.
This is my mother in law’s recipe and is a Christmas favorite.
Ingredients
1/4 cup butter (half a stick), softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup white corn syrup
1 cup whole pecans (see note)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a medium to large mixing bowl, cream the butter in an electric mixer,. Add sugar and corn syrup, creaming constantly. Add salt to eggs in a (separate) medium bowl and beat until frothy. Add to first mixture. Stir in pecans and vanilla. Bake in an unbaked pie shell for 50 minutes.
NOTE: I think 1 cup of pecans is a little light – I tried two cups and that was definitely too much – adjust depending on your attachment to pecans.
World Famous (you think I'm kidding) Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
Recipe courtesy of Jeff H.
Yield: About two cups of dressing
Ingredients
1 cup loosely packed washed, dried and trimmed fresh basil leaves
3 medium cloves garlic
1 1/2 cups olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup honey
Juice of 1/2 fresh lime
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Pepper to taste
If you have a mini cuisinart, place the basil and garlic into the unit and process until the garlic is all chopped. Add the other ingredients and pulse until smooth.
If you don't have a mini cuisinart, chop the basil and garlic together until they form a green paste. Scrape into a medium sized jar with a well-fitting lid. Add the other ingredients and shake until well-mixed. Doing it by hand produces a better result, in my opinion. However, it is a lot more work.
Store unused portion in an airtight glass jar.
Tips
* Only use fresh basil. Don't buy if the leaves have black spots, since this will spoil the result.
* Three cloves of garlic will produce a pleasantly garlicky result. Use less if you're timid about garlic.
* When I'm done mixing, I dip a lettuce leaf into the dressing to sample. If it doesn't quite taste right, 90% of the time it needs more honey and more salt.
* This dressing is great on any salad. For a tossed salad I especially like a combination of arugula, butter lettuce, and red leaf lettuce along with tomatoes, ripe avocado and scallions.
Master this and you too will be famous.
Not So Frugal Noodle Kugel
I was going to call this "Rich's Not So Frugal Noodle Kugel", but the truth is, I conveniently borrowed this recipe from my good PLC buddy Russell. And despite our differences over the nuances of the topping, our friendship basically remains strong.
Russ actually claims his phone rings off the hook from all the Tel Aviv women clamoring for this recipe. It's an easy dish that's guaranteed to impress the heck out of your guests. Add it to any holiday party (or PLC meeting) for a touch of Jewish soul.
Ingredients
1 Lb. Wide Egg Noodles
12 oz. Cream Cheese
5 Eggs - beaten
¾ Cup of Sugar
1 Stick Margarine or Butter - melted
1 ½ Cup Milk
12 oz. Can Apricot Nectar (the secret ingredient!)
Topping
3 Cups Corn Flakes - chopped (I've also used chopped graham crackers and even chopped Golden Grahams…Not exactly traditional, but extremely high YUM factor.)
2 Tblsp Sugar
½ Stick Margarine or Butter - melted
½ Tsp. Cinnamon
Making the Kugel
Preheat oven to 350.
Prepare noodles as directed on package, drain and place in 13" X 9" baking pan.
Creme together in medium bowl - Cream Cheese and Sugar.
Add Eggs and Margarine - continue to mix.
Add Milk and Nectar - continue to mix. (If your arm gets tired, get back to the gym.)
Pour mixture over noodles.
Making the Topping
In separate bowl mix 2 Tblsp Sugar, Cinnamon and ½ Stick Margarine or Butter.
Stir in 3 cups of Corn Flakes until they are all coated in the mixture.
Spread topping evenly over the Kugel and bake for about 1 hour or until the center is firm. If your oven runs very hot, you may want to place foil over the pan and remove it in about 30 minutes to avoid burning the Corn Flakes.
For a little variety, try mixing in ¾ cup of raisins before you add the topping.
Bob's Burly Black-Eyed Pea Poppin' Salad
"It just wouldn't be Pop Luck without Mark and Bob's burly pea salad!"
Anonymous PLC Diner
Ingredients
1 cup dried black eyed peas
5 cups of water
1 carrot
1 onion
4 whole scallions
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil
1/4 cup of parsley chopped
The Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons whole-grained mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 to 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup of olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon shoyu or tamari (soy sauce)
Soak the beans for a few hours, then drain them. In a 3 to 4 quart saucepan, combine the black eyed peas with water, add salt, carrot and quartered onion. Bring to a boil. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface and cook, covered, over low heat, until tender but not mushy (Approx. 50 minutes.) Drain the beans well and discard the carrot and onions. Let beans cool to room temperature.
While the beans are cooking, place all the vinaigrette ingredients in a screw top jar or mixing bowl. Shake or whisk to blend well.
Slice the scallions thinly. Drain the tomatoes and slice them into thin strips. Combine the scallions and parsley in a large serving bowl.
Add the drained beans to the scallions and tomatoes in serving bowl. Add the vinaigrette. Toss gently. Taste and correct the seasoning, if needed. Marinate for at least one hour before serving. Serve at room temperature.
Great Grandma Hathaway's Bodacious Berry Pie
"This is our son's great grandmother's recipe for berry pie with homemade crust. I learned it from my mother in law, who learned it from her mother in law. The pie crust works for any pie calling for an unbaked pie crust."
Crust
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Crisco
Ice water
Extra flour for rolling dough - (I would keep about a cup handy in a small bowl with a spoon.)
Filling
4-5 cups fresh berries cut up
2-3 tablespoons butter
pinch salt
about 1 cup sugar
about quarter cup of flour
Preheat oven to 450.
Prepare the crust…
Whisk salt into flour until well blended.
Cut the Crisco into the flour using a fork until it's the approximate consistency of corn meal and preferably before you're bored to tears - 3-4 minutes tops.
Add about five tablespoons of the ice water to the flour mixture and blend. Add more ice water one tablespoon at a time until it forms a fairly firm ball. Divide in two.
On a flat reasonably smooth counter or extremely large cutting board (I use my counter) make a dusty circle out of several tablespoons of the extra flour and put half the dough in the middle. Sprinkle the top with flour and press to form a circle. Flip the dough a few times sprinkling the top with more flour, pressing into a pancake shape. It should not be sticky - if it is sprinkle more flour and flip and press again. Sprinkle more flour around the dough. Roll out using the rolling pin. Roll in only one direction at a time, trying to roll the dough into something approximating a circle. Use the pie tin as a proxy for the shape - the dough should be about two inches bigger all around than the pie tin. Trim the pie crust using a sharp knife to form a circle two inches bigger than the pie tin. Peel away the extra dough from around the edge and carefully peel the crust back from one edge about half way. Carefully pick the dough up off the counter, folded in half, and lay in pie tin. Unfold the dough and press into the pie tin, letting the excess hang over the edge. If the crust tears, don't panic! Take a piece from the trimmed crust and press to fill in the tear.
And now the filling…
Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons flour evenly over the bottom of the pie crust. Fill most of the way with the berries, then sprinkle with pinch or two of salt, then cover with a couple of tablespoons of flour. Spread sugar evenly on top. If the berries are very tart use more sugar, if very sweet, use less. Dot with a pat or two of butter cut into small pieces.
Top Crust…
Roll out top crust using same procedure only crust should be cut to be only slightly larger than the tin. Cut three slits across the middle of the crust, peel back carefully again, and lay over the top of the pie. Flip edge of top crust under edge of bottom crust, and then crimp the edge into a stylish pucker. Put the pie onto the middle of a baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes in 450 degree oven, then reduce to 350 and bake for 45 minutes or more, until filling is bubbly and crust is brown.
Geert's Succulent Salmon with White Wine
"This one's a real hit with our family - It'll be a hit with yours, too."
Place about 1 ½ pounds of fresh salmon in an oven proof dish.
Add 1/2 cup of white wine, preferably dry. If you're feeling glamorous, use champagne. If there's any left over, uh, drink it.
Sprinkle freely with fresh dill, pepper and salt. Use the coarse sea salt. It tastes better and it looks like you know what you're doing.
Preheat the oven to 300. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 20-25 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Serve with veggies and rice...
For those who are not time challenged, try this sour cream dill sauce:
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon mustard
Lemon juice
Chopped chives (you can use the dry kind)
Sprinkle of dill
Mix well and drizzle over the salmon. It's a good thing.
For us, it lasts about two days. On day 1, I usually make a bechamel sauce with the juice of the fish. On day 2, I serve the fish chilled with the sour cream dill sauce.
