Flavors of the Northeast

If you find yourself back in the kitchen making some of your favorite recipes more often now that colder weather is here, send in one of them to be eligible to win a $100 ShopRite gift card, or to see your recipe published here in the Northeast Times.

There is a lot of good cooking taking place in and around Philly, judging from the recipes sent into the Northeast Times food column. The following recipe submissions were not randomly drawn in the ongoing gift-card contest. However, so many of the submitted recipes really are winners, culinarily speaking, that I plan to share more of them with you in future columns. If you entered a recipe, it could be published, so please check back in the months ahead.

Here are a variety of recipes our readers have shared.

JEAN ELIA’S PIZZELLES

2¼ cups flour

1½ tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

1 stick butter, softened

1¼ cups sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

1 Tbsp. orange zest

1 Tbsp. almond extract

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, blend together the sugar and butter.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and blend.

Add the orange zest and extract.

Add the flour mixture, and mix well until blended.

Grease the pizzelle maker’s plates and preheat the iron.

Use a teaspoon size of batter/dough.

The finished product takes only about 30 seconds to cook, according to color or taste.

HELENE KIRSH’S IRISH SUGAR CREAM PIE

1 graham cracker pie shell

12 oz. cream cheese (softened)

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1 cup sugar

1 large egg, beaten

Beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and egg together until mixture is smooth. Pour into pie shell.

Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until top is slightly brown.

Optional — Dust with cinnamon.

PAT KUHN’S LAYERED MINI LASAGNA

1 lb. lean ground beef

½ cup onion, copped

3 cups pasta sauce (24 oz.)

1 package (12 oz. box) San Giorgio Mafalda, uncooked

3¾ cups ricotta cheese (2 lbs.)

1 egg

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley or 1 Tbsp. dried

¼ tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. salt

2 cups (8 oz. package) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Cook pasta according to package directions.

In a large skillet, cook meat and onion until meat browns. Drain.

Stir in pasta sauce. Heat to boiling, then reduce to low and simmer 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, stir together the ricotta cheese, egg, parsley, pepper and salt.

In a 13×9-inch baking dish, spread 1 cup of meat sauce.

Evenly layer one-half of the pasta over the sauce.

Spread ricotta cheese mixture over the pasta.

Sprinkle 1 cup of the mozzarella over the pasta.

Repeat with a layer of meat sauce and pasta, spreading remaining meat sauce over pasta to cover pasta completely.

Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Cover with foil.

Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake 5 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

PRISCILLA RATAJ’S GRATIN OF VEGETABLES

1 lb. of cabbage

1 lb. of Brussel sprouts

1 onion, chopped

3 Tbsp. olive oil

4 oz. Cheddar cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Cut cabbage into thin wedges and halve Brussel sprouts.

Add cabbage, Brussel sprouts and onions to the pot. Cook 3 minutes. Drain.

Spread the vegetables on a baking dish.

Drizzle with oil. Salt and Pepper.

Bake until tender (about 20 minutes).

Sprinkle with cheese, and return to the oven until cheese melts (3-5 minutes).

Eat well, live long, enjoy!

(Ques­tions or tips can be sent to Donna Zit­ter Bor­de­lon at WhatscookinNEPhilly@gmail.com or in care of the North­east Times, 2 Executive Campus, Suite 400, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002)