Moo's Cheese-Mushroom Crepe Filling

1 cup cottage cheese (or 8 oz. cream cheese)
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
1/4 lb. fresh mushrooms, minced
1 T scallions or shallots, minced
1 T butter
1/2 T olive oil

Mash cheese in a bowl with salt and pepper. Sometimes I add a little chili powder for an extra zip. Beat in the egg. Saute mushrooms and scallions in butter and olive oil for 5 minutes. Stir sauted vegetables into the cheese mixture. Put some of the mixture down the center of each crepe, roll. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes. Serve with a white cheese sauce topping.

Moo's Noodles Baked Like a Cake

Noodles, while delicious any time, are real comfort food in winter. When it was cold outside, Moo loved to cook noodles, which we usually made from scratch. This is a great palate pleaser and quite unusual.

Pasta
1 pound rigatoni, cooked and drained
3 heaping T parmesan cheese
3 T sweet butter

Crust
2 T sweet butter, softened
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Filling
8 oz. mozzarella cheese, coarsely grated
1/4 pound Italian ham (prosciutto), sliced thin

Cook rigatoni, drain and return to the pot. Add butter and parmesan cheese. Toss to coat the pasta. Set aside. Grease a round 1-quart baking dish (about cake height). In a bowl, combine breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. Add about 1/4 cup of the crumb/cheese mix to the greased dish and shake dish to spread a thin coating of the mix across the bottom of the dish. Shake out the excess mixture that is not adhering to the bottom of the baking dish (reserve it). In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg and pour this in the baking dish. Tilt and move dish around until egg evenly coats the bottom. Again add about 1/4 cup crumb/cheese mix and shake around to coat bottom of dish again. Pour off excess (reserve it).

Layer 1/3 of the pasta into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/3 mozzarella and 1/2 of the ham strips and 1/3 of the remaining crumb/cheese mix. Repeat these layers twice over and top with crumb/cheese mix. You can refrigerate now until you are ready to cook and serve.

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 20-30 minutes (if room temperature) or 45 minutes if coming directly from the oven. Cool about 10 minutes. Loosen around the edges and turn out like a cake onto a serving platter.

Moo's Stuffed Peapods

Here's another of Moo's favorite, holiday appetizers. They're easy to make, but to make a large batch will take you some time. Be patient, put on some music or a favorite movie while you work. The results of this palate pleaser are worth the time.

3/4 pound snow peapods
2 8-oz. packages cream cheese, cut in bits for easier blending
1/2 cup chives, chopped
Worcestershire sauce to taste
Salt and white pepper to taste

Blend in batches, cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce, salt and white pepper. This is really a personal taste thing and how spicy you want the peapods. Blend all the mixture until it is smooth. Put it in the refrigerator to chill. Now prepare the peapods by breaking off the ends and removing the strings. Wash then toss into boiling salted water for about 1 minute (until bright green). Drain peapods and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Pat dry. Slit open each peapod to within 1/4 inch of each end. Once all peapods are prepared, get ready to fill. Apply a decorative tip to your pastry bag, fill bag with cream cheese mixture. Pipe cheese filling into each peapod and arrange on serving plate. Chill, loosely covered, for at least an hour.

3/4 of a pound of peapods should yield about 50 appetizers.

Moo's Brie Quiche

1 pound of brie
4 egg, separated
1 1/2 cup light cream
1/8 t. salt

Take out brie ahead of time to soften. Shave off the crust. When soft you can beat egg yolks and cream. Add brie to yolk mixture in chunks. Blend thoroughly. Add salt. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold into cheese mixture. Pour the entire mixture into a shallow baking pan or dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (until custard is set). Cool slightly before serving.

Moo's Cheese Pie

This is a Fifties vintage recipe of Moo's. I've found some of these older recipes are fun to bring back and enjoy. An old palate pleaser is now new again.

2 cups cheese-flavored crackers, finely crushed
2 cups sour cream
1 green pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup stuffed olives, chopped
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
2 T lemon juice
1 small onion, minced
1 t. salt
1/4 t. paprika
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
Dash of Tabasco

Brush sides and bottom of 8" cake pan with butter (or spray with Pam). Cut a circular piece of wax paper to fit in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle about 1/4 of the crackers in the bottom of the pan. Mix remaining ingredients together thoroughly. Spread layer of cream mixture on top of crackers. Alternate layers and finish with crackers on top. Store in refrigerator for 24 hours. Turn on to a plate shortly before serving. Garnish with crisp greens and olives.

Blue Cheese Dressing

This is a delicious blue cheese dressing for any salad. But while I like it on greens, I adore it on cold pear slices (either fresh or canned). An unusual palate pleaser.

1/4 cup wine vinegar
1/8 t. pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/4 t. salt
3/4 and 2 T. olive oil
1/2 cup apple sauce

Combine vinegar, salt and pepper in blender. Slowly add oil while running blender at low speed. Add sour cream, apple sauce and blue cheese. Blend until smooth.

Blue Cheese and Pear Mousse

Okay, at first glance this may not seem too exciting, but let me give you a little context. Moo would often make a quick salad for dinner consisting of cold, canned pear halves covered with a little blue cheese dressing and a little crumbled blue cheese sprinkled on top. It's a terrific combination. Also Moo was an active cook during the hayday of gelatin mold salads. My sister, brother and I grew up on those things. And while I was never a big fan of the molded salad in general, I do have some favorites. This is one. Personaly I think the gelatin mold is about due to make a great reappearance on the cooking scene...everything old is new again. This one is worth trying...a real palate pleaser. Enjoy!

Lightly oil and chill a 5 cup ring or mold
1 envelope gelatin
1 1 lb. can of pears
6 oz. Blue cheese, room temperature
3 oz. Cream cheese, room temperature
Pinch of salt
Reserved gelatin
½ cup sugar
1 cup cream, whipped

Soften the gelatin for 5 minutes in the liquid from the pears. Then dissolve it over simmering water. Set aside for the moment. Drain pears, pat dry, dice and set aside.
In a bowl, beat blue and cream cheese, salt, and gelatin. Whip until light. Gradually add the sugar so you can control sweetness to your taste. Continue beating until the sugar is dissolved. Chill until it just begins to set. Whip cream, then fold into cheese mixture. Mix thoroughly. Arrange diced pears in the bottom of the chilled mold. Then transfer the cheese mixture to mold, covering pears. Chill thoroughly.

Moo's Curried Cheese Pate

Moo loved appetizers. Growing up my sister, brother and I recall many dinner parties that were exclusively appetizers. In fact as a kid, Moo wouldn't bother to fix dinner for us on party nights (even when we weren't invited to join the guests) she'd just fix a plate of tasty treats for us. How I loved appetizer parties. As I grew older, I was allowed to help Moo prepare appetizers.

3 packages (8 oz.) cream cheese at room temperature
2 packages (10 oz. size) longhorn cheese, grated
2 t. curry powder
Mixture of ginger marmalade and Rose’s lime marmalade
Chopped scallions
½ t. salt, or to taste
¼ c. sherry

Line a 1 ½ quart loaf pan with saran wrap. Put cream cheese in processor and beat until smooth. Add cheddar cheese, curry, salt, and sherry and beat until smooth. Create a mixture of ginger marmalade and Rose’s lime marmalade.

To build pate, put in a layer of the cheese mixture, followed by the marmalade. Follow with another layer of cheese.

When ready to serve, let stand at room temperature at least an hour. Unmold then add a final layer of marmalade on top. Dress with scallions all around the edge. Surround with crackers.

Moo's Texas Fudge

This is a palate pleasing appetizer our whole family loves. What can be better than something that tastes good, is easy to make and stores well.

1 lb. Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1 lb. Colby Cheddar cheese, grated
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1 c. (5 oz.) evaporated milk
2 cans (4 oz. each) Ortega chopped green chilies, drained

Preheat your oven to 350°. Then in a bowl, combine Jack and Colby Cheddar cheeses with eggs and milk. Add chopped chilies.

Bake for 40 minutes. Cool slightly before cutting into desired-size servings. Serve warm or room temperature.

It's good the next day even after being in the refrigerator!