We were pleased recently,  with the resurgence of interest in some of the traditional homemade recipes. Some long time favorites appear high on the list, including the most iconic classic, Beef Stroganoff! A French chef, who worked for a wealthy St. Petersburg, Russia family, created the dish for a cooking contest in 1891, and in the custom of the day, he named the prize-winning dish for his employer, Count Pavel Stroganov.

Number 1: Beef Stroganoff

This is a long time favorite recipe that has stood the test of time over many generations, and is still a favorite after all these years! A delicious combination of beef broth, fragrant veggies and earthy mushrooms, served over hot egg noodles or rice, this meal always delights! Get our simple 3-step recipe

2. Apple Crisp

This quick and easy dessert was a hit with the family! Our version of the apple crisp resulted from combining the contrasting sweetness of an apple pie filling and a lemon pie filling, combined with the Crumb Topping. The two together made for a festival of flavors going on with every bite. It was fun to make, and fun to eat! And, if you have little ones that like to help, this goes together quickly, keeping their interest, and the short cooking time gives them almost instant rewards. Enjoy! Here’s the recipe

3. Corn Casserole

Corn Casseroles are one of our favorite side dishes. In fact, we like this we like corn in all kinds of dishes, and you’ll find them scattered throughout our recipe pages. This recipe, however, comes from Larry mother, who often served it as a side dish with hearty meat entrees. Her recipe calls for whole kernel corn and cream-style corn combined with flavorings. The key to her recipe is using crispy (not Premium) saltine crackers for that extra crunch. Here’s the recipe.

4. Brined Turkey

How to brine turkey was one of the favorites last year. Turkey is particularly vulnerable to overcooking because it is so lean. The simple solution (pun intended) to combat drying out your turkeys . . . brine . . . soaking them in a solution of salt and water before cooking. Check out our recipe for brining the spatchcocked turkey shown above.

5. Zucchini recipe

The flexibility of zucchini to be so many things from “zoodles” to “boats” and “lasagnas” has catapulted this understated green squash into one of most-popular dishes in 2017. We developed this recipe one evening while we were visiting my sister’s family in the Midwest. A neighbor had given them 5 gallon buckets of huge zucchini squash, and there was a lot of discussion about what to do with all of them. Larry went to my sister’s pantry, found most ingredients needed to make this recipe, so he pulled out some of the largest zucchini specimens to make this Italian flavored dish you can eat right out of the shell. Here’s the step-by-step recipe.

6. Chicken Parmesan

This is such a delicious dish! It’s no wonder it is a classic! It has mouth-watering eye appeal, and always delivers on flavor! A quick dish to prepare if you have a tomato sauce you can use. You can also take it to the next level by developing your sauce for a few hours, reducing it to a chunky sauce with deeper flavors. Get our recipe here.
Olive Garden’s Chicken Parmigiana was the recipe most searched for, and they actually published a copy cat version you can find here.

7. Pork Chops

The other white meat can be just as versatile as chicken as long as you don’t overcook it. Fresh pork should be cooked to 145 F and rested 3 minutes. Ground meats should be cooked to 160F. Remember, you can’t tell whether meat is safely cooked by looking at it. Any cooked, uncured red meats – including pork – can be pink, even when the meat has reached a safe internal temperature. Here are 5 of our most requested recipes that celebrate the lovely chop. You;ll also find recipes for roulades and roasts in our archives.

8. Hard Boiled Eggs

Most of us have mastered hard boiling eggs with some version of put eggs in water and heat until they arrive at the doneness you prefer. Whether you desire the yolks hard, medium, soft, or liquid, it’s good to know how to time your boil. Still, there’s a lot of waste when boiling eggs due to thin spots in shells that crack during the boil, and those that just refuse to peel. We prefer an alternative to boiling that delivers wonderful, easy-to-peel eggs without all the mess. Check out our recipe for Steamed Hard Eggs.

9. Yams

Yams and sweet potatoes are not the same thing, even though U.S. grocers are allowed to use the terms interchangeably. A sweet potato is not a yam. A yam is not a sweet potato. They don’t even look alike, and at a typical supermarket, whether labeled sweet potato or yam, what you’re buying is an American-grown sweet potato. True yams are imported and are a rare find outside of specialty grocery stores. Yams, as sold in the U.S., are usually soft sweet potatoes with a copper skin and deep orange flesh. And we just can’t resist them in a delicious casserole. Here is a recipe for our colorful Orange and Gold Casserole

10. Hashbrown Casserole

This is the ultimate Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole. We don’t remember who gave us this recipe, but have made it for many years, both at home, and when cooking large pans full for dinners at the church. We call it “Good Potatoes”. It can be prepared the night before you need it, covered and refrigerated until morning. This dish makes a regular appearance at our Christmas morning family breakfasts. Here’s the recipe.

It’s fun pulling out some of the old favorite recipes and preparing them, perhaps, for the first time in a long time, and recalling the wonderful combinations of flavor. That’s the reason they are classics, and why it is so much fun to get back in the kitchen to cook up a dish that was made in the same way by our pioneer ancestors. Enjoy!