Behind the Recipe: LINK’s family recipes

I have been going behind the scenes at NKY restaurants for a few months now, and one thing I have noticed is that almost every chef has been inspired by a family recipe. 

People’s faces light up when they talk about something that they’ve eaten since childhood, or something that has become a recent addition to their family recipe lexicon. Something that’s brought to every party and always gets compliments, or something that only one person loves but HAS to have at every family gathering. 

So, leading up to the holiday season, I asked the LINK team about their family recipes, many of which will be made and enjoyed around a lively table in the coming weeks. 

Let’s get into it! 

Maggy’s family pizza party 

I’ll start with myself (as I am the most important, duh). When thinking about a family recipe, I didn’t even consider for a moment anything other than my mom’s pizza dough. 

No, we are not Italian; this recipe has not been passed down for generations from the old country, and it’s not even from anywhere other than my mom’s brain. It’s not written down, and whenever I want to make it, I have to call her and have her tell it to me over the phone (yes, I know I could write it down, but I always forget, but now it’s written down here). 

My mom is truly the hostess with the mostess. You don’t leave my parents’ house without being stuffed full of good food and probably too much alcohol. As such, every party is always at their house, and what is there better party food than pizza? 

This recipe has been developed over years of trial and error. My parents cook their pies in their pizza oven, but I’ve made this with fantastic results in a standard home oven. It works with toppings of all sorts. 

Homemade pizza dough sounds intimidating, but I promise, anyone can do it! Without further ado, here is the recipe:

Pizza dough recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water (about 100°F)
• 2 ¼ teaspoons yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar (you can also use brown sugar or honey)
• 14 ounces flour
• 1 big pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions:

• In a bowl, mix the warm water with the yeast and sugar. Let it sit until the yeast proves (bubbles and foams).
• Once proved, add the flour, salt, and olive oil.
• Knead the dough until it becomes smooth.
• Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover it, and let it rise until it doubles in size — but make sure there are no bubbles on the surface.
• Roll out the dough, add your desired toppings, and bake at 450°F until done.
• (Optional) For a crispier crust, you can par-bake the uncooked crust for about 3 minutes before adding toppings.

Meghan “O’Goth’s” taste of Ireland 

Our executive editor, Meghan Goth, comes from a “very Irish” family. And, here is what she has to say about her family’s Shepherd’s Pie tradition:

My family is very Irish. 

So Irish that my name was almost Meghan O’Goth (a combination of my mother’s last name, O’Donnell, and my dad’s last name, Goth). Most of the year, I’m glad they went with just Goth, but it’s a good example of how our Irish heritage finds its way into most things we do.

Like all good Irish families, we love potatoes. All potatoes. Mashed, baked, fried – there’s not a way to cook a potato that we don’t love. 

Every year on St. Patrick’s Day, I make rainbow pancakes for the kids and Shepherd’s Pie for the adults. We love it so much that I should really consider making it more often. 

The spices in this recipe give the basic meat and potatoes a fancier feel while still offering a comforting, warm dinner on a cold winter night. 

Shepherd’s Pie recipe 

Meghan didn’t have an official family recipe, but she found one online that she said resembles what they’ve always made. Check it out here! 

Haley’s Christmas morning coffee cake

Campbell County Reporter Haley Parnell loves holiday traditions, and she especially loves Christmas, so her family recipe is, of course, something she eats every Christmas morning. Here’s what she has to say about it: 

My aunt Kim’s cream cheese coffee cake, which, to be honest, I just call “the cinnamon coffee cake” (I didn’t realize it even had cream cheese in it), is something I have had every Christmas morning for as long as I can remember.

My family knows I’m big on holiday traditions (there’s an inside joke there that I won’t go into), and one of my favorites is my aunt cooking breakfast for everyone on Christmas morning. I’m talking at least four different kinds of casseroles, and my beloved cinnamon coffee cake, topped with loads of butter, especially if you’re my uncle Rusty.

As if this part of the family doesn’t get enough of us on Christmas Eve, because we do spend the evening of Dec. 24 eating dinner and opening presents at said aunt and uncle’s house. Then, proceed to come right back over the next morning to have breakfast before the Christmas festivities begin with other parts of the family. I should explain that, growing up on Eight Mile Road in Melbourne, my aunt and uncle’s home was just right up the gravel driveway, and even when they moved…two doors down the street, it was always a convenient little trip, especially when Christmas breakfast is involved.

Now that I’m married and no longer live right down the street, you better believe I wake my husband up every Christmas morning to make the drive to Melbourne to have that cinnamon coffee cake.

Kim’s cream cheese coffee cake recipe

Ingredients

For cake batter

• 1 stick of butter
• 8 oz. pack of cream cheese
• 1 ¼ cups sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ⅓ cup milk

For topping

• 8 tablespoons softened butter
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tablespoons of cinnamon  

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees 
• In a medium bowl, cream butter and cream cheese 
• Blend in sugar, beat well
• Add eggs and vanilla
• In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients
• Add dry and wet ingredients alternately, add milk in between adds 
• In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients, mix well
• Pour batter into a greased 13×9-inch pan, sprinkle with topping
• Bake for 34-40 minutes

Shelly’s generations of gastronomy 

LINK’s office manager, Shelly Braun, has two family recipes: one is “Grandma Rita’s Snow Ice Cream Recipe,” and the other is her mom’s carrot cake recipe. 

The snow ice cream is written on a hand towel in her grandmother’s handwriting, one her sister made for the family. 

Shelly said that “My mom was a nurse and my dad was the director of highways (no work from home for them), so we always went to grandma’s for snow days and she always made us snow ice cream.”

About her mom’s carrot cake recipe, Shelly said that her mom is “known for it in the Melbourne community.”

Grandma Rita’s Snow Ice Cream recipe 

Ingredients:

• Two cups of clean snow 
• ½ cup milk 
• 2 tablespoons sugar 
• 1 teaspoon 

Instructions:

• Mix and freeze

Carrot cake recipe 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups grated carrot
• 1 1/2 cups salad oil
• 3/4 cup chopped nuts
• 1 cup coconut (optional)
• 1 cup chopped dates (optional)

Instructions:

• Mix flour, baking powder, soda, salt and cinnamon. Sift if desired.
• Add sugar, salad oil, eggs one at a time and mix well.
• Blend in thoroughly remaining ingredients.
• Bake at 350° for 35–45 minutes or longer if needed in greased and floured large Bundt pan or 3-layer or loaf pans.
• Use cream cheese icing.

Nathan’s seasonal seafood family tradition 

Our Kenton County Reporter, Nathan Granger, said that his dad makes these every Thanksgiving and some Christmases. Here’s what he has to say about his family’s scalloped oyster recipe:

My grandma Kay used to make scalloped oysters over the holidays, but her original recipe has been lost, unfortunately, so my dad defers to an old recipe from a ‘Good Housekeeping.’ The cookbook itself is ancient; the spine is splitting, and the pages are wrinkled and discolored, but we’ve never gotten rid of it because it’s full of family favorites like this one!

Scalloped oysters recipe 

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup butter or margarine
• 1 1/2 cups finely crushed saltines
• 1 pint shucked “standard” oysters
• 1/4 cup half-and-half
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• In a 1-quart saucepan over low heat, melt the butter or margarine; stir in the saltines until well mixed.
• In a 10” by 6” baking dish, arrange half of the saltine mixture; top with undrained oysters.
• In a small bowl, mix the half-and-half, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire, and pour over oysters.
• Sprinkle the top with parsley, then with remaining saltine mixture.
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes until lightly browned and bubbly.

Kenton’s modern tradition

Business reporter Kenton Hornbeck is making new traditions by baking with his girlfriend. Here’s what he has to say about baking a Dutch apple pie:

My family didn’t have a specific recipe when I was growing up. However, my girlfriend and I chose to create our own tradition by baking Dutch apple pies. This recipe is from
simplyrecipes.com. The first time we baked it together was for this Thanksgiving, which my family enjoyed. We followed up by baking another pie for a later Friendsgiving. It also garnered positive feedback.

When I first went to buy ingredients at Kroger, I bought way too many apples—like double what I actually needed. I used a potato peeler and a small kitchen knife to peel apples for hours. Rookie mistake. Luckily, the time I spent peeling apples was worth it.

Find the Dutch apple pie recipe Kenton uses here.

Ethan’s family barbecue rice recipe 

Our videographer, Ethan Bloomfield, has loved this recipe since childhood. Here’s what he has to say about it:

“Heavenly rice” is my great grandma’s recipe that I ate at every family barbecue (or “weenie roast”) and holiday growing up. It takes me back to summertime at my aunt’s house — my brother and I would beg my mom to make this for events, and it always got eaten. It’s served cold after sitting overnight, and it’s definitely an interesting texture for those not used to the idea of dessert rice. I love it though, to this day!

Heavenly Rice recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rice
• 1 can crushed pineapple
• 1 drained jar maraschino cherries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 container whipped cream
• 2 cups mini marshmallows

Instructions:

• Cook rice, drain, rinse w/ cold water. 
• Mix all ingredients together and let sit overnight in the fridge.