Prison commissary peanut butter fudge

I made this last July 14 on vacation in Massachusetts. The plan had been to go to Maine, but Covid derailed that. We made some Maine recipes anyway. This is from the Maine Bicentennial Community Cookbook and is credited to "State Prisoner Matthew." The recipe uses ingredients and tools available to the inmates. I thought it was delicious and had a fascinating texture (was it supposed to? I don't know, but ours did)-- soft/chewy fudge, but also kind of like a butterfinger with ribbons of crystallized sugar.

1 1/2 jars peanut butter

1/2 jar Fluff

1 - 1 1/2 c sugar 

1 bag M&Ms (maybe we used peanut butter M&Ms?)

Empty peanut butter and Fluff into a large bowl. Microwave until it starts to rise. Take it out and stir. Let sit. When cooler, mix in M&Ms, if using.

Pour a small amount of water in a separate bowl with the sugar. Mix. It should be thick. Microwave until it begins to boil. Take it out and stir for 10 seconds. Put it back in the microwave and let the sugar boil until it turns a golden brown sugar-- it should be at the point of crystallizing. I suppose you could also do this on the stove unless you're in prison.

Pour the sugar mixture into the PB/Fluff mixture. Quickly!! stir-- the fudge will begin to harden fast. After mixing well, pour into a greased pan (or if, in prison, a box lined with a trash bag). spread it out evenly with a spoon and press it down with a gloved hand. Let sit for 1.5-2 hours.

Sausage rolls

The inclusion of onion is not unusual in posted recipes, including those from Britain, but always seems controversial in the comments. ("There is NEVER onion in a sausage roll!"next to comments like "English person here. Feel free to mix it up with MANGO.") I like onion, so I'm keeping it.

1/2 large onion or 1 small onion, finely chopped

oil

1 lb sausage meat (such as Jimmy Dean sage flavored sausage)

2 eggs

salt, pepper

flour

sesame seeds or poppy seeds or everything bagel seasoning

1 sheet puff pastry 

Brown onion in a little glug of oil over medium heat. Let it cool, then mix with sausage meat and 1 egg in a large bowl. Season-- but remember the meat is already seasoned, you're just making up for 1 egg and the onion. So not much. I cooked off a bit to test it.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry to 8x12 inches. Cut into two long strips and lay them on a parchment paper-lined baking tray. Rest them in the fridge at least 10 min.

Dampen your hands. In the center of each strip of pastry, form the meat into a long cylinder right down the center, all the way to the edge. Lightly beat the other egg and paint it down the sides of each strip of pastry, off to the side of the meat. Fold the pastry over the top of the meat to form long rolls, and then turn it so it's seam-side down. Lightly brush the top surface with egg and sprinkle with seeds. You may chill them a bit to make them cleaner to cut. Cut the rolls into 1.5 inch lengths, or whatever suits your fancy. If you cut them longer, score the tops. Even if the cuts look messy they'll puff up when baked and be ok.

Bake in the preheated oven about 20 minutes, or until attractively browned.

Serve alone or with mustard, brown sauce/HP sauce, A1, ketchup, gravy, applesauce, beans, whatever.

Can mix it up by adding veg or strong cheese (like blue cheese) to sausage or painting pastry with mustard, hoisin, etc. Put torn sage over the top of the meat cylinder; we're told it fries and crisps up?

Do not re-heat in a microwave. Use the oven, toaster oven, or air fryer, or eat them cold or at room temperature like the Brits do on picnics, I'm told.

Tomato chutney and brie fried hand pies

 A friend hosting a post-vaccination tea party assigned me to make these, sausage rolls, and beans on toast. They were all good, though I don't think I'll make the bean recipe again. 

When I first ate one of these, I was a bit disappointed, and surprised that in all the process of making them I hadn't considered that they would taste like pizza hot pockets. But it is a sweet tomato sauce and melted cheese with bread, so OF COURSE it tastes like that. When I had my second, knowing what to expect, I enjoyed it much more and on its own terms. 

The recipe comes from the Hairy Bikers and the chutney is from James Martin.

For the chutney

1 T olive oil

1/2 shallot, chopped

1.5 tomatoes, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 T balsamic vinegar

1 t brown sugar

For the pastry

375g/13 oz self-raising flour

1/4 t salt

75g/2.5oz cold butter, in cubes

8 fl oz whole milk

To assemble

6 oz wheel brie (I could only find 8 oz, so I just snacked on what didn't fit)

oil for frying

Make the chutney: heat oil. Fry off shallots, tomato, and garlic 5-8+ min, till softened. Add vinegar & sugar and cook out for a further 3-5+ min or until the chutney has caramelized somewhat. (I might have cooked each step longer.)

Make the pastry: Add salt to flour in large bowl. Rub in butter with fingers to the texture of course breadcrumbs. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly until mix comes together and forms a soft, spongy dough. Knead lightly and form into a ball. 

Roll half of the dough on a lightly floured surface to ~3mm. Cut three 5.5in diameter circles. (Dough can be re-rolled if you want). Repeat with other half to make six circles total.

Assemble the pies: Remove rind from cheese and cut cheese into 1 cm chunks. Spoon a heaped T chutney into the middle of each round and spread it out, leaving a 1cm border all around the edge. Place ~1 oz of cheese on one side of each circle. Brush the edges of the dough with a little water. Fold over to encase the feeling, push out air, and press the edges together. Seal well with a fork.

Heat 1 cm oil in a large skillet to ~300 F. Fry two pies at a time for about 2 min on each side, or until lightly browned and somewhat puffed. The cheese should ooze when the pie is cut open. Drain on paper towels. Cover with foil to keep warm. They can be re-heated in a hot oven for 10 min.

Little rhubarb cakes

I modified this from Samantha Seneviratne's recipe in the NYTimes for "Rhubarb Quick Bread." Mostly I halved it and made some tiny tweaks from reader comments. I made it in my twinkie-shaped little cakes pan. I filled 5 twinkie molds, but should have used six more sparingly. Original recipe here

4 T melted butter

100g sugar

1.5 t freshly grated orange zest

2.5 T sour cream

1 egg

1/2 t vanilla

112g all-purpose flour

1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

pinch of salt

1 c rhubarb (about 4 oz), cut into 1/4 inch cubes; I used a slightly heaping cup

turbinado sugar

Oven to 350; grease & flour your pan (or use baking spray). 

Whisk butter, sugar, zest, and sour cream, then whisk in eggs. Separately, mix the dry ingredients. Mix rhubarb into dries and then fold dries into wets. Smooth into pan. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake until skewer comes out clean with moist crumbs attached. (25-30 min? I'm not sure I checked the time). Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out.

Quiche for a 6-inch pie plate

Modified and cut down from NYTimes recipes for quiche lorraine, including one by Gabrielle Hamilton and one by Craig Claiborne. I found this a successful way to make a smaller amount of quiche, and the leftovers are nice. Trader Joe's sells 4 oz packages of cubed pancetta, which is convenient.

Form and blind bake (with foil and weights) a pastry crust in a 6" pie plate. When it is nearly done, remove the weights and foil, brush with egg white, and bake 5 more minutes. Leave to cool.

Keep the oven on at 375.

Brown 4 oz cubed pancetta in 1 T fat; drain on paper towels. (I used bacon fat)

Then cook down 1/2 onion, diced, in 1 T fat. Set to drain with pancetta and let them both cool.

Grate about 70g gruyere.

When everything is cool, put pancetta, onion, and cheese in crust.

Combine 2 eggs and 1 yolk (I used jumbo) with 1 c heavy cream in a glass liquid measure. (Or, for large eggs, 2 eggs and 2 yolks and an extra splash of cream)

Season the dairy with a pinch of nutmeg, heaping 1/4 t salt and tabasco (if desired, I didn't this time). Beat until generally homogenous. Strain over the yummy stuff in the crust.

Set it on a baking sheet in case of spills or overrun (mine stayed nicely contained) and bake for approximately 35 minutes. Let set 10 minutes.

Finnish TikTok Feta Pasta

Would it be pandemic-era if I didn't try this?

It works, and it's superlatively easy, and it's yummy enough.

Here are proportions for half of what they usually show making (enough for three 1-person dinners):

Heat oven to 400 F and set a big pot of salted water to boil. In an 8x8 baking dish, toss a pint of cherry tomatoes with 1/4 c olive oil (yes, that much), salt, and pepper. I added a few extra tomatoes past this.

Plonk 4 oz of a block of feta in the middle and get some olive oil, salt, pepper over that too. Put it in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Cook and drain 1/2 pound of pasta. I used farfalle.

Crank up the oven to 450; bake 10 minutes more to brown the tomatoes and feta.

Remove from oven and add 1 large clove of garlic, minced, and a pinch of red pepper flakes to cook in the residual heat. Add some torn basil and the pasta and stir it all up to coat it in melty cheese sauce. At first it will look like it won't work, but it will. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

King Arthur Gingerbread Pudding Cakes

 Mom made these in cup-size mason jars, and I was delighted to take 2 home since I LOVED them. It's what I always wanted sticky toffee pudding to be (and yes, I know sticky toffee pudding has dates).

CAKE

1 1/4 c (149 g) AP flour

3/4 t baking soda

1 t ginger

1/2 t cinnamon

1/8 t nutmeg

1/8 t cloves

1/4 t salt

1/2 c (170g) molasses

1/2 c (113g) milk, at room temperature

1 large egg, at room temperature

4T (57g) butter, at room temp, at least 65 F

1/4 c (50g) sugar

PUDDING

1 c packed (213g) light brown sugar

4 t corn starch

1 1/4 c (283g) hot water

4T (57g) butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350. Butter eight 8 oz ramekins or an 8"square pan. Place ramekins on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Make cake: combine dries. In another bowl, mix molasses, milk, and eggs.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add dries and molasses mix in turns, beating on low speed, until just blended, scraping.

Pour batter into pan, or heaping 1/4 c of batter in each ramekin.

Make pudding: mix brown sugar and corn starch. Heat water and butter together just until butter melts; gradually stir into brown sugar mix.

Pour pudding mix slowly over batter in pans or a scant 1/4 c over each of the filled ramekins.

Bake 25-28 min, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake on top comes out clean. Serve warm.