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Grilled Sweet Corn

It looks a little gross on the outside, but on the inside, the corn is perfectly done!

Fresh corn on the cob is a favorite treat in upstate New York this time of year. I purchased some at Twin Orchards Farms in New Hartford yesterday and it was absolutely a delight! What I love about the grilling method is that nothing at all is added or taken away – the corn is just roasted in it’s own husk. I just peeled back the husk to remove the silky strands and then pulled the leaves back over the kernels. I used a strip of foil to wrap around the narrow end to hold the husk together during cooking (can see the foil in the picture above). The corn was placed on a rack over medium coals (Weber Grill)  and turned occasionally until done. I didn’t time the process, but I’m guessing 10-15 minutes. Peel back the husk and devour. We didn’t need to add salt or butter – the corn was super sweet, crunchy and delicious! 

Warning: Use caution when using this method as the leaves may start burning. Some recommend soaking the corn in their husks before grilling to prevent this.

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Dinner on Wedded Perfection Film Nights

Chicken Polonaise and Buttery, Pearl Couscous
Susan’s Cooking School is catering the Dinner on Wedded Perfection Film Nights at Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. These dinners are pared with great movies related to a wedding theme in association with the Wedded Perfection Exhibit at the Institute. Diners enjoy a great meal beginning on the beautiful Fountain Elms Terrace at 5:30 pm and then head over to the auditorium for the film at 7:30 pm. This Thursday, July 28, we’ll be serving chicken Polonaise, pearl couscous, cream filled profiteroles along with my signature garden fresh salad, homemade red wine vinaigrette dressing and crusty rolls. Coffee, tea and our special blend iced tea are also served.

Dinner is only $20 for MWPAI members, $25 for non-members. The movie is $6 for members and $8 for non-members, $4 for students. This week’s movie is the well loved, Four Weddings and a Funeral.  People can choose to enjoy the dinner or movie on their own, also.

Profiteroles
Hope to see you there!
Please contact the Museum
Education Department at
315.797.0000, ext. 2158 to make reservations.
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Susan’s Old Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake


Well, is strawberry season in upstate NY and it’s been a family tradition to head out to the fields and start picking! Today I went to Tassleberry Farm in Westmoreland, NY, where there was plenty of ripe, beautiful strawberries to pick.  What better to do with fresh strawberries than to make strawberry shortcake. (I’ll hopefully make some jam later today…) I decided to make mine with Amaretto for a little extra zing, but vanilla extract is great too, but a teaspoon would probably be enough for the following recipe. Enjoy!

Prepare Strawberries (about 6 servings)

4 cups Fresh sliced strawberries
6 tablespoons Sugar
2 tablespoons Amaretto
  1. Mix all ingredients and let sit until the sugar is dissolved and juice has exuded from the berries
  2. For a more liquid/juicy version, process or mash half of the berries and mix with the sliced berries before mixing with the sugar and Amaretto.

Make the Shortcake
This is my favorite Shortcake recipe, but it makes much more than you need for the above strawberries. You can freeze the extra or halve the recipe.

2/3 cup Half and half
1 large Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
9 oz. (~2 1/2 cups*) Pastry flour
1/4 cup Sugar
1 tablespoon Baking powder**
4 oz.(8 tablespoons) Cold butter, cut into pieces

* Stir before measuring if not using a scale
**Make sure that your baking powder is fresh (not lumpy or over 6 months old)

  1. In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix the first three ingredients with a fork and set aside.
  2. In a food processor with a chopping blade, process the flour, sugar and baking powder until the butter is dispersed into small bits. If you don’t have a food processor, use a pastry blender or fork to break down the butter into the flour. Don’t let the butter get too warm and melt into the mixture.
  3. Place the flour mixture into a large bowl and add the liquid mixture all at once, while stirring gently with a fork. Mix only enough to moisten all ingredients. Over mixing will make the biscuits tough.
  4. Drop in mounds on greased or parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes at 450ºF. Be careful, they burn easily.

Assemble Shortcakes

  1. Need: Whipped Cream – homemade or a good quality, canned version
  2. Cut warm shortcakes in half and top with berries and whipped cream.
  3. Simply delicious!

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Honey Balsamic Squash and Tomatoes


Try my new recipe for yellow squash and cherry tomatoes. My garden is on the down side now, but I still had some yellow squash, cherry tomatoes and basil. I created this dish yesterday and thought it would be a good one to share, especially because it’s so seasonal. The balsamic vinegar, honey and sauteed garlic give the squash and tomatoes a lot of flavor with a slight tang and a gentle sweetness.

Happy Cooking!
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Instructions for baking a traditional pizza

In response to my Pizza Dough video, here are some instructions for baking a pizza using the dough prepared as per my recipe.

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. If using a pizza stone let it preheat in the oven as per instructions.

2 .Stretch one piece of dough into a 12 inch circle. Place the dough on a peel sprinkled with cornmeal or flour. For a traditional pizza, top with tomato sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese. Other toppings may be added at this point. If using fresh sausage, make sure that it is fully cooked before using as a pizza topping.

3. Slide the pizza onto the pre-heated pizza stone and bake for 20-30 minutes.

4. If not using a pizza stone: place dough on a large oiled baking sheet and apply toppings. Bake as above. (Repeat the process for each pizza.)

5. The pizza is ready when the bottom is nicely browned and the sauce is bubbling through the melted cheese on the top.

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Baking on a pizza stone


Here’s a couple of videos demonstrating the stretching, topping and baking of pizza dough on a stone. The first video shows the baking of a simple cheese pizza and the second video shows a baked pizza that has been topped with slices of fried Genoa salami.
Cheese pizza going in and salami pizza coming out! Both videos shot on the same day, but using different pizzas.

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Homemade Flour Tortillas – no preservatives!

Update: This recipe is now available on my website.

In our next class on March 2, we’ll be hand rolling flour tortillas to accompany tangy chicken fajitas. The best thing about homemade tortillas is that there is no preservative taste or odor. Simple ingredients result in great tortillas! Next time you’re in the supermarket, look at the ingredient label on any brand of flour tortillas – most of it does not sound very appetizing. Ours will be made with butter, flour, salt, baking powder and water!