# Please share your family favorite recipes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2017, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-family-favorite-recipes/781821 "2017-03-10T00:57:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-family-favorite-recipes/781821/41 "2017-03-15T02:30:39Z")
Sounds delicious! This is also delicious, but butt-easy. Takes some time but nearly no work. It’s a New Orleans area Italian-American thing called **Creole Daube**. If something is both Italian and from New Orleans, you know it’s good. Take a 2 pound beef chuck steak or roast (the difference between them is a matter of thickness vs. area. In this case either works fine) and lay it naked and defenseless in the bottom of your pot. (If you want to feed more than just a few people, use a bigger piece of beef. Increase other ingredients proportionally) Put a 28-oz can of good tomatoes in the blender or processor along with a chopped onion and four or five garlic cloves. Add salt and black pepper to taste and blend until absolutely smooth. No herbs at all. Pour over the beef, bring to a boil, and cook at a low simmer for 3 or 4 hours. Push the meat around once in a while so it doesn’t stick. Soon it will start smelling so delicious you won’t be able to even stand it. Slice the meat (or just pull it into pieces). Serve the sauce over spaghetti and pass the Parmesan. The beauty of this is that it’s just the beef and tomato and garlic…very simple, really more of a “gravy” than a sauce. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-family-favorite-recipes/781821/42 "2017-03-15T03:36:40Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > Hey **koeeoaddi** , have you ever used sodium citrate to create a cheese sauce instead of cheesing up a bechamel? I only ask because I’ve found sharp cheddars tend to “break” the sauce much easier than younger cheddars when going the bechamel route. Using sodium citrate pretty much allows you to use any cheese without the worry, it’s completely changed the way I do Mac N Cheese. > > Side note: why a Vermont or New York Cheddar? Our recent [sweep at the US. Cheese Championships](http://host.madison.com/wsj/business/it-s-a-wisconsin-sweep-at-the-u-s-championship/article_f0f609ea-470f-526a-aa63-dc175cba7773.html) and being home to the [Best Cheese In The World](http://www.cntraveler.com/story/wisconsin-cheese-roth-grand-cru-surchoix-is-best-in-the-world) would suggest a Wisconsin Cheddar might also be acceptable. 😃 Thanks, **August West**! I’ve never heard of using sodium citrate until your post. I will absolutely try it. …and I insisted on Vermont or New York Sharp white cheddars to avoid the possibility of some pilgrim defiling it with Kraft pre-shedded orange junk, though any _good_ cheddar would work. It’s been around 50 years, so I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure Horn & Hardart’s used white cheddar. So white cheddar for the purist. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-family-favorite-recipes/781821/43 "2017-03-15T03:59:31Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > I’m going to share one that is memorable, but not exotic or difficult to make. This is a baked macaroni and cheese. > > Boil a small package of spaghettit. Yes, spaghetti. Standard, normal, cheap spaghetti. > > Boil to just short of al dente. Drain and return to pot. > > Add a tablespoon of butter and toss. Add salt, if desired. (I don’t. There’s enough salt in the cheese.) Add about a teaspoon of ground pepper. > > Sprinkle on some grated parmesan and toss. I use about two tablespoons. If you stop right here you have the classic Italian pasta dish [Cacio e pepe](http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/cacio-e-pepe-365162) ---
**Author:** ![JuliaSqueezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@JuliaSqueezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JuliaSqueezer)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-family-favorite-recipes/781821/44 "2017-03-15T15:50:17Z")
Mom’s Hershey Bar Pie 6 regular size Hershey Bars (with or without almonds. We prefer the almonds) 1 pint whipping cream 1 pre-made graham cracker or oreo cookie pie crust Melt the Hershey Bars in the microwave. Only takes 45 to 60 seconds. Stir and let sit to cool off. While chocolate is cooling to room temp, whip the cream til fairly stiff, adding 1 tsp of vanilla at the end. Carefully FOLD the chocolate into the whipping cream, stopping when it’s marbled. Don’t keep mixing! Place filling into pie crust and chill at least 2 hours. Topping can be shaved chocolate or toasted almonds. So easy, so good. Very rich, so slices need to be small. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-family-favorite-recipes/781821/45 "2017-03-16T19:12:57Z")
Under the Sea Salad (Kraft Recipes) - it’s right there online. A layer of green jello, (made with the drained 'pear juice) - let it cool. On top, mix some of the reserved green jello with a whipped up 6 oz. of cream cheese, a dash of cinnamon, and add the chopped up pears. Pour that over the green jello layer, 4-5 hours later turn out onto a dish and top with whipped cream or cool whip. HEAVENLY! It just tastes so much better than you might think. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-family-favorite-recipes/781821.md?page=2)