Vol II, 2008

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Stamford is located at the intersection of New York State routes 10 and 23 in northern Delaware County.
We are on the northern edge of the Catskill Mountains and are overlooked by beautiful 3214 ft Mt Utsayantha.

The Voice of Stamford
News, Views, Photos and Connections
For Stamford, New York (Delaware County)

 Here in Stamford, we find a mixture of cultures and backgrounds.  Each family brings their own traditions and of course, favorite recipes. Send your traditions and recipes in with a little background information and they will be included: Click on EMAIL and send.

Submitted by Anne Marie Lauharn

 I am an American of Italian decent. Though both sides of the family were Italian, each had their own specialties and holiday “musts”

For my father’s family, Easter Sunday morning meant we had fresh basket cheese made by Grandpa. The cheese was made the night before.

   Ingredients

1 gallon milk
1 tsp rennet
2 pinches salt

Heat the milk to luke warm (86-90F) and add the rennet. Turn off heat and let set for about 40 minutes.

After the milk has set turn the heat back on to low and heat again for about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon pull the curds to the side of the pot. Keep moving the curds for about 10 minutes with the slotted spoon. (This breaks up the curd)

Remove the curds from the pot with your slotted spoon and place into a basket. Return the basket with the curds in it back into the whey and cover the curds with the whey pressing the curds into the basket with your hands.

Remove the basket from the whey and set another mold inside of the first one and put a 6-8oz. glass of water on top of it. (this is used as a weight for pressing the cheese). Press this way for 2 hours.

Take out the cheese and turn over, salt to taste, return to the basket and continue pressing for 1 and a half hours longer. Remove the cheese from the press and refrigerate.

Once set and cooled, remove the cheese from the basket, slicing into ½ inch pieces.  In a cast iron or heavy skillet, melt 1 tblsp.  of butter and add enough olive oil to completely cover the bottom.  When the butter and oil mixture begins to ripple, turn heat up to medium and place pieces in skillet.  The object is to get a golden color on each side. After all the pieces are browned, place them on a platter, and fry eggs in the same skillet for the top of each slice, seasoning them with salt and pepper. Serve with warmed sliced Italian bread.

The cheese itself will have a 3 day shelf life.

 Many people today enjoy an Italian cookie called Biscotti (pronounced Bizcawtti). It means “little biscuit”, as in sweet bisquit or cookie. The ones bought in the stores are only one form of Biscotti.  My mom’s side of the family is from the Naples area of Italy, and a wedding, baptism or reunion, was not complete without

   Biscotti Limone

1 dozen eggs (less 3 whites reserved for icing)
12 tsps. baking powder (level)
12 tsps. sugar (rounded)
1 cup Crisco, melted (can use Crisco oil)
1 teasp. Vanilla extract or lemon
2 lbs flour (start with 1 ½ lbs.)

Beat eggs and sugar until well mixed. Add cooled off shortening and flavoring. Mix well again. Sift together flour and baking powder.  Add the flour mixture in 2 parts, mixing well. This can be done on a floured pastry board, or folding and mixing in a bowl. Dough will be soft but not sticky, almost like Play Dough, but not crumbly. Pull a small piece off and see if it will stretch without falling apart. You will need to form the cookies by hand. Stretch the pulled piece of dough into a 5 inch “rope”.  DO NOT ROLL IN YOUR HANDS, JUST PULL.  Form a knotted round cookie and place on a cookie sheet allowing some increase in size during baking. Bake @ 350* for about 20 minutes, or until slightly golden.  Allow to cool completely. This should yield 6-7 dozen.

             Icing

In a deep, large bowl, beat the reserved egg whites until slightly fluffy.  Add 2 tblsp. lemon juice. Beat again to integrate.  Add enough confectionery sugar to make a very thick icing, NOT a glaze. (buy the large bag. Icing cannot be thin enough to run off) Should be as thick as a heavy pancake batter. Time to get sticky and assistance is helpful here. Place about 6 or 7 cookies at a time in the bowl and move around and thru the icing with your hands, removing a completely covered cookie to a  cookie rack which will allow excess icing to run off and the cookies to completely dry. While they are still wet, your assistant can lightly sprinkle the tops with the round, confetti,  colored sprinkles (not the softer sprinkles used on ice cream).  When completely dry, mound up on a tray. To keep these, you will need to cover them well. Not all cookies have to be iced at one time. These keep well in a pot with a dishtowel inside of it, pulling the cloth around and over and covering with the top. Ice a few at a time. They will keep for a week this way. Make these more than once, and you will find the method for perfection. They are not hard to make and worth the effort. These dunk real nicely!

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