This Sunday, we’re celebrating all the mothers in our lives! In typical Ignite2X fashion, when we started thinking about our moms, we thought about all the delicious food they’ve introduced to our lives! Below, you’ll find some of our team’s favorite mother-inspired recipes. Hopefully, this reminds you of special moments with your mothers and inspires you to get in the kitchen!
Raymond’s Mom’s Pignoli Cookie Recipe
This Pignoli cookie recipe will always scream ‘mom’ to me. These cookies are a cherished favorite in the Stivala household. Although my mom makes them during the Christmas holidays, extras are frozen and enjoyed throughout the year (Yes, she bakes that many). So no matter where I am, if I have a Pignoli cookie, I will always compare them to how my mom bakes them, and I have never come across any store-bought or restaurant that can make these cookies as good as she does. As a matter of fact, I just ate one while writing this!
Pignoli Cookies
Note: Canned almond paste works best.
Ingredients:
- ¼ Cup of granulated sugar
- ½ Cup confectioners sugar
- ¼ Cup finely ground almonds
- Pinch of salt
- 1 – 8 oz. Can of almond paste
- 2 Egg whites slightly beaten
Instructions:
Pignoli nuts can be used for topping and confectioners sugar for decoration.
- Break up almond paste in a mixer
- Add egg whites to a mixer and beat until fairly smooth
- Add sugars until blended
- Add ground almonds and blend
- Drop by teaspoonfuls on a greased waxed paper-lined cookie sheet
- Place Pignoli nuts on top and sides, pressing gently to secure nuts
- Cookies should be in 1 to ½ inch mounds on greased cookies sheet 2 inches apart
- Bake at 300 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes
- Cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheet then place on a wire rack to cool
- Dust with confectioners sugar for decoration
- Place in an airtight container to store
Diane’s Mom’s One-Stop Solution
My mom’s favorite recipe was “make a reservation!” Absolute truth!
Andy’s Greek-Style Pasta Meal
From great grandparents to my parents, my extended family was born and bred in the Bronx, NY – it was a melting pot of Jews, Italians, Greeks, and other Europeans who came to this country at the turn of the century. When my Ukrainian Jewish grandmother Silvia married a nice Greek boy named George Morfopoulos, he converted to make peace in the family. She inherited an unspoken obligation to carry forward Greek traditions. This need to carry on Greek traditions in our Jewish family continued to my mom’s generation. So how could Fran, a busy mom with a full-time job and three kids to feed, put an authentic Greek-style meal solution on the table without managing filo dough?
Greek-Style Pasta: It’s all in the sauce!
- Dice one large onion and sauté until golden (remove from skillet)
- Cook one pound of chop meat (today, you can try beyond meat, too) and drain
- Place onions back in skillet and add 2 large cans of Demonte plain tomato sauce
- Add 2-4 teaspoons of cinnamon* and salt to taste
- Cook for 20 minutes over moderate/low heat
- Pour over your favorite pasta
*The cinnamon is the secret to turning this into a Greek-style recipe, and, like many family recipes, there is no written amount ever specified. You know by tasting the sauce, plus it’s an easy 30-minute recipe that fed a lot of hungry boys!
Virginia’s Mom’s German Chocolate Cake
My mom’s German Chocolate Cake was always a birthday favorite!
German Chocolate Cake
Cake Ingredients
- 1 (4 ounce) package baker’s German sweet chocolate
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 1 cup butter or 1 cup margarine
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
Frosting Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 4 slightly beaten egg yolks
- 3/4 cup butter or 3/4 cup margarine
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups shredded coconut
- 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
Cake Instructions
- Coconut-Pecan frosting (recipe follows)
- Oven at 350ºF
- Melt chocolate in water, cool
- Cream butter and sugar
- Beat in egg yolks
- Stir in vanilla and chocolate
- Mix flour, soda, and salt
- Beat in flour mixture, alternately with buttermilk
- Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into batter
- Pour batter into three 9-inch layer pans lined on the bottoms with waxed paper.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly pressed in center.
- Cool 15 minutes; remove and cool on rack.
- Frost cake.
Frosting Instructions
- Combine evaporated milk, sugar, slightly beaten egg yolks, butter or margarine, and vanilla in a saucepan.
- Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat.
- Stir in shredded coconut and chopped pecans.
- Cool until thick enough to spread.
- Makes 4-1/4 cups.
Kevin’s Mom’s Meatloaf
My mom’s meatloaf was always made with love. It’s comfort food that fills my family and friends. Thanks, Mom!
Turkey Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter (or margarine)
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1⁄4 lbs ground turkey
- 1⁄2 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)
- 3⁄4 cup catsup
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
- Melt butter in a skillet.
- Cook onion and garlic in melted butter for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Place mixture in a large bowl to cool for 5 minutes.
- Combine turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, 1/4 cup of the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper with onion mixture.
- Press meatloaf into an 8×4-inch loaf pan.
- Spread remaining catsup on top.
- Bake in a 350-degree oven for 50-55 minutes.
- (Internal temperature should reach 165 degrees.) Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Paul’s White Chicken Chili
I like to make this for the moms in my life! They get to sit back and watch the guys (meaning me!) make the dinner (you know how hard it is for three moms to not be in the kitchen when food is cooking) for my mom, my wife, and her mother ? I make sure there is enough wine and drinks on hand and trust me then the FOOD tastes great!
White Chicken Chili
Ingredients
- 2 (14.5-ounce) cans white beans (Organic)
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 1 medium jalapeno pepper, (Separately cooked) – Not in crockpot (add as a garnish depending on who wants a little more spice. You can also add in other peppers depending on who wants it more spicy!!
- 2 medium poblano peppers, chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon organic chili powder
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth organic
- 2 limes, juiced, plus lime wedges, for serving
- 1 lb of chicken ground beef (we use 94/6)
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
We start by Chopping the peppers, onions, and garlic in a pressure cooker (to save time). Add in chicken ground beef. Cook on low heat.
Drain the white beans (we use organic). Set aside until all of the Peppers, onions, and garlic are soft, along with the Chicken ground beef. Yes, can all be at the same time ?
Add in organic white beans (drained).
Add in salt/pepper, cumin, coriander, and organic chili powder.
We cook for about 10 minutes with all ingredients in the pressure cooker.
Can serve with sour cream or tortilla chips or top with some shredded cheese
I also sometimes add Habanero Peppers (separately) for the spiciness added punch!