Rungaitis Enchilada Sauce

 2 8oz cans no-salt-added tomato sauce

1 4oz can chopped green chilis, undrained

1 clove garlic, minced

3/4c chopped green onions

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp dried whole oregano

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, simmer uncovered 5 min

For enchiladas- put a little sauce in a baking dish, lightly cook corn shell in a little oil. Put refried beans in shell along with meat, chopped black olives, cheese, and a little sauce. Put folded side down. Fill the pan then top with more sauce and cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and Bake for ~20min @350°F and remove foil, bake additional 10min. Garnish with green onion.

Candied Yams

 

The original recipe is passed down from Family.

• 4 yams (orange sweet potatoes)
• 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
• 3/4c brown sugar
• ~1/2c Karo syrup
• 1/3c white vinegar
• 1/2c orange juice
• 1 can pineapple rounds, reserve juice.
• Lemon juice
• Steam yams until fork tender and peel.
• In a large, heavy skillet, melt butter and add brown sugar. Stir and let bubble.
• Once bubbling, add Karo syrup and reduce until it adheres to a spoon (like making candy).
• Add white vinegar, a few squeezes of lemon juice, orange juice, and a splash of pineapple juice from the can.
• Cut yams lengthwise and add to pan, turning them after 20 min. Allow to simmer for another 20 min.
• Top with pineapple slices and turn off the heat. Spoon liquid over slices of pineapple and allow to sit.
• Can transfer to a separate dish to serve, or serve right out of pan.

Rungaitis Eggs Mornay

The original recipe is passed down by family.

• 2 oz butter
• 1c milk, warm
• 1 Tbsp heavy cream
• 2-3 Tbsp Gruyere cheese, freshly shredded
• 2 Tbsp flour
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 4-5 eggs, poached
• 2-3 English muffins, toasted and buttered
• Melt butter over med-high heat and add flour to form roux. Stir constantly until it is pale yellow and frothy (~1min), do not allow to brown.
• Slowly add warm milk, continuously whisking, until sauce thickens and comes to boil. Note: using cold milk can risk your milk curdling when it hits the hot pan, make sure it's warmed.
• Stir in cheese and cream and allow to melt. Reduce heat to low.
• Salt and Pepper to taste - adjust the amount of cheese as needed.
• Pour sauce over poached eggs on toasted English muffins and enjoy.

Note: The sauce can sit on low while you poach the eggs and toast the muffins.

Note: If sauce gets too thick from simmering, you can simply add more milk and whisk to combine. Add more cheese/salt/pepper as needed after diluting with milk. If sauce is too thin, simply continue to allow to reduce.

Sausage Strata

 

The original recipe is credited to my Aunt Lisa in my cookbook.

• 2 1/2c herbed croutons
• 2c sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2lb breakfast sausage (1 regular, 1 hot is the standard recipe, adjust for your personal spice tolerance)
• 6 eggs, large
• 2 1/2c milk
• 3/4 Tbsp dry mustard
• 1 16oz can Cream of Mushroom
• 1 small can of sliced mushrooms, drained
• Preheat oven to 300*F.
• Grease a 9x13" casserole dish and add croutons, top with cheese.
• In a large pan, brown the sausage and drain. Add sausage to the casserole dish.
• In a bowl, combine the eggs, milk, mustard, Cream of Mushroom, and mushrooms and mix. Note: I find it easier to combine eggs, mustard, and milk first, then mix in the rest.
• Pour egg mixture over the croutons, cheese, and sausage gently. Do your best to keep it even. Do not mix once it's in the casserole dish. If the mixture is not settling evenly, tilt the casserole dish side to side to help it disperse.
• At this point, you can cover the dish and freeze or keep in fridge overnight. Adjust bake time to account for fridge chilled or frozen.
• Otherwise, bake immediately at 300*F for 1hr 15min.

Note: Sometimes I skip the extra can of mushrooms, I'm not a big mushroom fan. I did not need to adjust any other ingredients when doing that.

Note: If you're prepping this in advance and freezing expect the bake time to be closer to 2 hours or more. I just poke a hole in the middle when checking for doneness.