The Irish Mother

Dublin Coddle

2012-02-21T20:12:00.002-05:00

"Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy."

~William Butler Yeats

I love the name of this dish. It sounds like a snuggle with an Irish hunk, like that guy from P.S., I Love You; Gerard something-or-other.

Yah, him

I did some research and the recipe I came up with is a conglomerate of suggestions and tweaks, but was closest to one found on Food.com, even though the author lifted the description word for word from a European Cuisines post.

Coddle is traditionally associated with Dublin and dates back at least to the eighteenth century. It was apparently a favorite of Jonathan Swift, Sean O'Casey and is mentioned in the works of James Joyce. Considered comfort food and a convenience dish, it is also inexpensive, easy to make, and can be left on a low stove or warming in the oven for a quite a while without suffering too much. Sounds like the precurser to crock-pot cooking!

It is important to use the very best pork sausage you can get your hands on. It was suggested that good American breakfast sausage could be used, but I opted for my favorite local pork sausage, Orsini's Sweet Fennel Garlic Italian sausage. I used hard sparkling cider (Cortland apple) from a local orchard. The bottle has been in the fridge since the fall and this was a great excuse to pop the cork!

While researching the recipe, I noticed a remark left by a reader suggested to add a packet of chicken noodle soup mix, that in addition to the flavor it adds, the noodles would help thicken the broth. That made sense to me and since I had some handy, I tossed it in there. Maybe not eighteenth century authentic, but we all agreed we liked the dish that way. The broth did in fact thicken up and it plated nicely. We loved it and I see plenty of Dublin Coddle in our future. After all, it starts with bacon and ends with hard cider - what's not to love? Sláinte!

Sources: A Little Irish Cookbook, Appletree, 1986
Wikipedia and European Cuisines websites.

Dublin Coddle
Adapted from a recipe on Food.com
Serves 4

1/2 pound bacon
1 pound good quality pork sausage (I used sweet Italian sausage)
2 large onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
4 large potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 packet Lipton chicken noodle soup mix
1 small bunch fresh herbs, tied together with string (I used thyme and parsley)
Black pepper
1 bottle hard cider (some for the pot, some for you)
Fresh parsley for garnish
Special equipment: I large heavy pot with a tight fitting lid

Brown bacon until crisp. Place in cooking pot. Brown sausages in bacon fat. Add to cooking pot. Sprinkle packet of soup mix over meats. Add two cups water. Soften sliced onions in the bacon fat and a minute or two before they're done, add the garlic and stir around. Add to cooking pot layering carrots next and then potatoes. Add the bundle of herbs and push down into the middle. Add hard cider just to reach the potatoes (should only be another cup or two). Sprinkle potatoes with freshly ground black pepper. Cover tightly and bring JUST to a simmer then turn heat down. It should not boil. Cook on low like this for 2-3 hours. Half an hour before you want to eat, check and make sure the carrots are done. If they aren't, raise the heat a bit until they are cooked through. By now, broth should have thickened enough that you can serve this on a plate. Taste broth right before serving and add salt or pepper, if needed. Great served with Irish soda bread or spotted dog.

Lime Mousse Cake (No-Bake)

2012-02-15T16:38:00.000-05:00

"Have it jest as you've a mind to, but I've proved it time on time; if you want to change her nature, you have got to give her lime."

~Rudyard Kipling

This was our dessert of choice for Valentine's Day. Traditionally, I would make chocolate mousse or red velvet cake, but we wanted something lighter this year. Besides, the Mister and I have Florida on the brain since we head down there next month, and I've just plain been looking for an excuse to make this dessert. The recipe is from Epicurious 2006, and was described as having originated at a restaurant called Addie's, of Rockville, Maryland. It's a fantastic dessert for entertaining since it should be made a day (or two!) ahead, freeing up your time to focus on the main meal during party day.

Since then I've made changes to lighten it up a bit and tailor it to our palates. We all prefer our citrus on the tart side with the fruit flavor really shining through, and it took doubling the lime juice to achieve that in this recipe. The texture is light and fluffy, providing a nice treat without weighing you down. A great way to end a special meal. It was a hit at our dinner party last night.

Lime Mousse Cake
Serves 12

Crust:
2 cups ground gingersnap cookies (about 38 small cookies)
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons melted butter

Filling:
3/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice or key lime juice
1 envelope unflavored gelatin (Knox)
2 cups chilled whipping cream
9 ounces good-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt), chopped or chips
2 packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons grated lime peel
2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar

For the crust:
Grind cookies in a food processor. Add sugar and melted butter and process, pulsing, until clumps form. Press into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

For filling:
Place lime juice in a bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over to soften. Bring 1/2 cup cream to simmer in a heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add white chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Stir in gelatin mixture. Cool slightly. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, granulated sugar and lime peel in a large bowl to blend. Slowly beat white chocolate mixture into cream cheese mixture. Using clean, dry beaters, beat remaining 1 1/2 cups chilled heavy cream with 2 tablespoons of confectioner's sugar. Fold into white chocolate mixture. Pour filling into prepared crust. Cover and refrigerate overnight. (Can be prepared up to two days ahead. Keep refrigerated.) Release pan sides and transfer to a cake platter and serve.

Spotted Dog AKA Fruited Irish Soda Bread

2012-02-10T08:01:00.000-05:00

"No matter where the name comes from, this is an old-fashioned recipe that stands the test of time."

~Serious Eats

Being two generations removed from my native Irish relatives, I can hardly call myself an expert on Irish food, but from what I gather, much of what America refers to as Irish soda bread is actually called spotted dog in Ireland. The only difference being the fruit. You can read more about the origin of the name here (look at last paragraph).

This is my favorite version of the beloved bread. Very simple to throw together, it can upgrade even the most humble of meals. Whatever you name it, you'll claim it delicious! It is best eaten warm out of the oven and slathered with fresh butter, but even the leftovers (if you have any!) are divine toasted and buttered or spread with marmalade.

My favorite version of the bread was adapted from a recipe originally published in Better Homes and Gardens as currant-orange Irish soda bread.

Spotted Dog
Serves 6

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
the zested peel from two oranges (about 2 tablespoons)
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup raisins
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a large cookie sheet and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and orange zest. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in raisins. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

2. In a small mixing bowl combine the egg and buttermilk. Add all at once to the flour mixture. Stir just until moistened.

3. On a lightly floured surface, gently knead to form a dough. A few turns, just until it comes together (only 4-5 times). Shape into a 7-inch round loaf. Transfer dough to prepared cookie sheet. With a sharp knife, make two slashes across the center of the loaf to form and X, going all the way to the edge. Bake 30 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.

Granola Bars and An Award

2012-02-09T10:31:00.002-05:00

"Cereal eating is almost a marker for a healthy lifestyle. It sets you up for the day, so you don't overeat."

~Alexandra Ripley

Granola recipes abound on the internet, but I thought this one was worth sharing, since it has been my favorite for 30 years. Hard to believe, but true. Don't laugh, but the original recipe dates back to home economics class in high school (you can find it, here). Over the years I've tweaked it and added ingredients as it is very versatile, but the bones of it are still WHS circa 1983. It was a two part recipe. How to make granola, then how to turn it into bars. A batch of granola is in order here about every two weeks. I have yet to find a commercial brand that compares.

Recently, enough confidence has been garnered to revisit and rework the granola bar recipe, as the first attempts (20 years ago) were categorical failures. The results being overly sweet, sticky bars, and the term is used loosely, as they fell apart more than they held together. Originally the recipe called for completed granola to be mixed with honey syrup and baked, which means the oat mixture was tossed with honey syrup twice; once to make the granola, and again to form the bars.

In this version, the oats, nuts and coconut were lightly browned dry before being tossed with the honey syrup and then pressed into the pan and baked. After baking, I placed a piece of parchment paper over and weighed it down with books and let the bars cool that way. They came out nice and crunchy with just the right amount of sweetness. It's something you can feel really good about feeding to your family.

Granola Bars

4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cups shredded sweetened coconut
1 cup whole toasted almonds
1/2 cup chopped dates
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
1/3 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup multiple grain hot cereal mix (or wheat germ, oat bran or flaxseed)
1/3 teaspoon salt

Stir all of these ingredients together in a large bowl. Spread on a cookie sheet and roast in a 350 degree F oven for 10 minutes, stirring twice. Watch carefully, because it can become too dark very quickly. Place toasted oat mixture back in large bowl.

Honey syrup:
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Place ingredients in a small saucepan on medium heat and stir until butter melts and sugar is dissolved.

To assemble bars:
Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
Butter a 13x9 inch baking dish, then line with tin foil or parchment paper and butter again.
Pour syrup over toasted oat mixture and stir together completely. Immediately spread oat mixture into prepared pan. Place a piece of parchment or wax paper over and press down as hard as you can. Remove paper and bake for 30 minutes. Immediately after removing pan from oven, replace paper, press down again and then place some heavy books on the paper as a pressing weight and allow the bars to cool completely like that. Remove from pan, carefully cut into bars with a very sharp knife and store in an airtight container.

If you would prefer to make regular old granola, stir together dry ingredients, the only change being that in this case I chop the nuts and add a cup of dried cranberries. Make the syrup minus the brown sugar and vanilla, then stir into dry ingredients. Dump mixture onto a buttered cookie sheet and press lightly. Bake for 10 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F oven. Stir well, press down again and return to oven for ten minutes. Remove from oven to cooling rack and let cool completely before breaking up and transferring to airtight containers.

Recently a fellow blogger chose me to receive the Liebster Blog award! Kathy writes Bakeaway with Me, a blog with mouthwatering recipes and photos. A big thank you to her. Please stop by and visit her blog. She’s very sweet and engaging and has been an encouragement to me. The rules of the award are that I have to link back to her (the presenter) and then give the award to 5 other bloggers with less than 200 followers and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog. The ones I chose are folks I would love to have as neighbors.

Here I go with my 5 choices:

AMY: “Meh”

This is one of the first blogs I followed and the only one that is not a food blog. I love to read Amy's posts because she makes me laugh. She is real, down to earth and FUNNY. Her short, sweet (and sometimes sarcastic) posts are always entertaining.

Di: Di's Kitchen Notebook

I met Di over a year ago. She's very generous of spirit and "adopted" my blog when I first started and we became fast friends. She's a busy gal with a job, husband, two beautiful girls and a very active baking blog. If you like to bake, you'll want to check her out. The recipes are inspiring!

Hester: Alchemy in the Kitchen

I've been following this Irish blog for several months now. The recipes are truly "magical" and the writer, Hester has an engaging style and is a talented photographer, usually including "step by step" photo instructions. Pop by and say "Hey!" from me!

Hannah: Eat, Drink and Save Money

I just found this blog recently, but I love her style! Dedicated to stretching a dollar and making good food on a budget. Since I will soon be sending another child off to college, I look forward to seeing what she comes up with. These days, every penny counts! Check her out for some tips if you're in that boat too!

Richard: What's Cooking at Richard's

Another blog I only recently discovered. I enjoy Richard's every day, family style recipes. As I mentioned earlier, his is a family you would love to have next door! I look forward to his posts and getting some dinner inspiration in the upcoming months!

Irish Beef and Guinness Stew

2012-02-06T20:12:00.002-05:00

"One Cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well"

~Virginia Woolf

It's that time again! I love this time of year when I can highlight some good Irish recipes. This wonderfully simple, yet delicious stew is a great company meal for Saint Patrick's Day if corned beef isn't your thing. This was one of the choices at the recent wedding rehearsal dinner of my son, Curtis. It was by far the most popular choice.

Guinness gravy is so flavorful. Any time I cook savory dishes with beer, I always use a bit of mustard, as I find the combination irresistible, and it does not disappoint here. The beer contributes to tenderizing the beef and adds a depth of flavors with it's malty and tangy notes and the mustard adds a spicy sharpness that you can't quite put your finger on. My daughter claims it is the best stew she's ever had. As it is meant to be served over mashed potatoes or champ (mashed potatoes and scallions), there are no potatoes cooked in it. You can if you must, but I strongly suggest you try it the traditional way first!

Irish Beef and Guinness Stew

Adapted from a Guinness Recipe

2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1-inch chunks

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 large onions, chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 1/2 cups Guinness stout

1 cup beef stock

4 large carrots, chopped

1 sprig fresh thyme

fresh parsley for garnish

Place beef cubes in a bowl and massage on 1 tablespoon of the oil. In another bowl, stir together the flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika. Dredge beef in this flour mixture until every side of all the beef pieces are coated and there is no loose flour in the bowl.

Heat remaining oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook the beef in a single layer. If, due to the size of your pot, you need to do this in batches, take the time. The beef will steam instead of brown if you pile it all on top of itself. Browning it properly is the key to a good stew. After all the beef is browned, make sure it is all in the pot (if you did it in batches) and add the garlic and onions. Stir in for a minute or two (without letting the garlic brown). Add tomato paste, beer and beef broth and thyme. Add carrots, bay leaf, mustard and Worcestershire. Cover and cook for 3 1/2-4 hours at 325 degrees F until beef is tender. During second half of cooking check liquid level a couple times and add a little more beer or broth if too much has evaporated. If you like, you can make mashed potatoes ahead of time, place in a buttered casserole dish, cover with foil and keep warm in the oven with the stew during the last 20 minutes of it's cooking.

Right before serving, remove the bay leaf, taste the gravy and add more salt and pepper, if needed.

Place a generous dollop of mashed potatoes or champ in a bowl, ladle stew over and sprinkle with parsley.

Crock-Pot method:

Brown beef as described above, then deglaze pan with beer and broth. Add all ingredients to your crock pot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Towards end of cooking check liquid level. Add more if needed.

Homemade Nutter Butters

2012-01-31T22:15:00.002-05:00

"There's nothing better than good sex. But bad sex? A peanut butter and jelly sandwich is better than bad sex."

~ Billy Joel

Sorry, but that quote just made me laugh. We all love our peanut butter way too much for it to be compared to bad sex though. That's just not right. My son Curtis loved peanut butter so much that every day of his first twelve years of school he had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch. No jelly, just peanut butter. Every. Single. Day. As for me, I crave a peanut butter and jelly on a toasted bagel about once a week. And when the craving hits, I'd pretty much turn down lobster thermidor for a good bagel, perfectly toasted with Skippy peanut butter all melted and dripping. But I digress. We're talking cookies here. Homemade Nutter-butters. I started with a recipe from All Recipes, combined it with my peanut butter cookie recipe, and tweaked it here and there til I reached peanut butter nirvana.

My daughter got home from school just as I was finishing them up. She grabbed one.

I said "let me know how you like them."

She mumbled "I'll text you" as she trotted upstairs to her room.

(Yes, she and I text each other while we're in the same house, and sometimes even chat on Facebook. Don't judge me. It's better than yelling through the house.)

This was the text I received: "Holy crap way better than real nutter butters."

Nuff said.

Homemade Nutter Butters

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

3 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup peanut butter, white sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Add egg and beat well. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat well. Add oatmeal and stir.

Drop by teaspoons onto cookie sheet, and press each mound down with a fork to form 1/4 inch thick. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until the cookies are light brown.

To make filling: Cream the confectioner's sugar with 1/2 cup peanut butter and the cream. Add a little more cream if needed for good spreading consistency. It should be on the thick side. Spread filling onto half of the cooled cookies, then top with the half to form sandwiches.

Italian Meatball Soup with Tortellini and Kale

2012-01-25T09:25:00.002-05:00

"Good manners: The noise you don't make when you're eating soup."

~ Bennett Cerf, Humorist (1898-1971)

Here is one of my favorite soups. I could eat it for days and not tire of it. The light broth is just a perfect vehicle for heavier elements, like meatballs and tortellini (YUM!). There are plenty of hearty Italian soup recipes that have tomatoes in them, but what makes this soup interesting, is that it doesn't. Once you have the meatballs done it comes together very quickly and doesn't require a long simmer, making it a nice workday choice. I made it the other night as a light dinner so we could have Banana Cream Pie as a side dish, I mean...erm...dessert.

Do what I do, and next time you find yourself making meatballs for a spaghetti dinner, increase the recipe a bit (make sure you start with fresh, not previously frozen meat) and then roll 3/4 pound worth of smaller meatballs. Bake them on a cookie sheet for a 20-30 mins (depending on size), cool, place in a Ziploc bag and throw them in the freezer. Then, when you feel like making this soup, it's cake!

Italian Meatball Soup with Tortellini and Kale

A recipe by The Irish Mother

Meatballs:

1 1/2 ounces Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 slices white bread

1 small onion, peeled

3 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

12 ounces ground meat, either all beef, or a combination of beef, pork and veal.
garlic powder and onion powder (for dusting meatballs before baking)

Soup:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 small onions, peeled and diced

2 small carrots, peeled and sliced

2 stalks celery, preferably with leaves attached

1 clove garlic

6 cups chicken stock

1 cup fresh or frozen cheese tortellini

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 small zucchini

3 ounces chopped kale

1. For the meatballs: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mince the cheese, bread and onion in a food processor. Add the milk, salt, egg and the meat. Mix just until combined. Roll into small meatballs. Should make about 20. Place meatballs on a cookie sheet and dust all over with garlic powder and onion powder. Bake for 20 minutes.

2. For the soup: Heat the olive oil to med-high in a large heavy stockpot. Add the onion, celery and carrot and cook for 5 minutes, stirring so they don't burn. Add garlic and stir for one minute, until fragrant. Immediately add chicken stock, seasonings, zucchini and kale. Taste broth and add salt and pepper, if needed. Simmer 15 minutes. Add meatballs and tortellini and simmer 15 minutes or until heated through.

This soup can be made up to 3 days in advance and reheated. Add more chicken stock or water if needed.

Banana Cream Pie with Bourbon Caramel Sauce

2012-01-24T14:03:00.000-05:00

"The fine arts are 5 in number, namely: painting, sculpture, poetry, music and architecture, the principle branch of the latter being pastry"

~ Antonin Careme (1783-1833)

We used to visit my maternal grandmother once a year in Binghamton. She never failed to have a homemade banana cream pie in the fridge. At that time I thought that cold, creamy pie was just about the best thing ever to cross my palate.

During my high school years I used to make one every couple of weeks and would get ticked if I went to buy bananas and none of them were ripe enough. In that regard, you do need to think ahead to be sure your bananas are ripe and sweet. You could also make the pasty cream a day or two ahead to spread out the work involved.

The new issue of Bon Appetit, coupled with the bunch of ripe bananas on my counter were the catalyst for launching into this pie project. The February issue of BA has a recipe for banana cream pie with salty bourbon caramel. I used elements of the recipe, but did not follow it completely. Theirs used a peanut shortbread crust, but that didn't appeal to me, my preference being a buttery graham cracker crust.

My nostalgic attachment to this old fashioned dessert dictates not to stray too much from tradition, but their bourbon caramel sauce did launch it into the stratosphere. I actually considered having pie for dinner, then decided on the more balanced approach of having a light soup dinner so we wouldn't have to feel too guilty about the indulgence. It was crazy-good!!!

Banana Cream Pie with Bourbon Caramel Sauce
Pastry cream and sauce recipes from Feb '12 issue of Bon Appetit

Graham Cracker Crust:
2 cups finely crushed graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted butter

Vanilla Pastry Cream:
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 large egg yolks
1/4 cup butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whipped Cream:
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar

Bourbon Caramel Sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons bourbon, divided
1/2 teaspoon corn syrup
3 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie plate. In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs with sugar and melted butter. Reserve 2 tablespoons of crumbs. Press remaining crumbs into and up sides of the prepared pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes, then set aside to cool completely.

Vanilla Pastry Cream: Bring milk and cream to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Meanwhile, whisk sugar, cornstarch, flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add egg yolks; whisk until smooth (mixture will be very thick). Whisking constantly, gradually add milk mixture to yolk mixture. Return to saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until thick, 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a blender with butter and vanilla, Puree until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl; press plastic wrap directly onto surface of pastry cream. Chill until set, at least 2 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made up to 2 days ahead.

Bourbon Caramel Sauce:
Stir sugar, 1 tablespoon bourbon, corn syrup and 1 tablespoon water in a medium deep saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat, bring to a boil without stirring, and cook, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush, until sugar is deep amber in color, about 6-8 minutes. Remove from heat, whisk in 1/4 cup cream, butter and salt. Let cool 5 minutes. Stir in 1/2 tablespoon bourbon and vanilla. Keep at room temperature until serving time. You want to be able to drizzle it from a spoon, so you may need to heat it slightly just before serving if it has thickened too much.

Whipped Cream: In a deep medium bowl pour 3/4 cup very cold heavy cream, vanilla and 2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar. Beat with electric beaters set on high until stiff.

Assembly:
Peel and slice bananas. Spread 1/3 of the cold pastry cream over bottom of crust. Place half of the banana slices over pastry cream. Spread 1/3 of pastry cream over banana layer. Repeat, ending in a layer of pastry cream. Having the banana slices encased in the cream keeps them from browning. Spread all of whipped on pie, leaving a little pastry cream showing around the edge. Sprinkle with some of the reserved graham cracker crumbs.

Drizzle a spoonful of caramel sauce over each slice immediately before serving.

Kickin Kale

2012-01-17T11:34:00.001-05:00

"Kale is my best friend. I eat Kale salad. I put it in my smoothies, kale in my soup. Kale, kale, kale! I feel like Popeye. I love it!"

~Alanis Morrissette (explaining her kale obsession to Runner's World)

I know, I know....a big pile of green stuff doesn't photograph as well as say, a cupcake, but HEY!...we got excited about these greens, therefore they qualify for a post. Besides, they're incredibly good for you and are perfect this time of year when garden fresh veggies are but a faint memory. We went crazy for them. After our first experience last week, they were so good we had to have them again, asap.

In our market they sell big bags of pre-washed and chopped kale and collard greens which make it really easy. I bought the big bag of kale with the thought of making kale chips, but when it was evident that wasn't going to happen, I looked up a recipe to cook them. Not discovering anything appealing, I decided to cook them like good 'ole southern collard greens. That means long and slow, and with bacon! I found the recipe on Allrecipes.com. The original recipe, although delicious, was WAY too salty, so I've adjusted it. The huge one pound bag cooks down much more than you would imagine. I was shocked that the Mister and I polished it all off by ourselves. By the way, just a little tip; they go great with garlicky mashed potatoes and any hearty meat, and if that meat has gravy, EVEN BETTER!

Kickin Kale
Inspired by a recipe for collard greens found on Allrecipes.com

1 tablespoon olive
3 slices bacon
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt (taste towards end of cooking, and add more if needed)
1 teaspoon pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 pound fresh kale, washed and chopped into 2-inch pieces

Heat oil in a large pot over med-high heat. Add bacon and cook until crisp. Remove bacon, crumble and return to pan. Add onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and stir around just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add kale and cook until it starts to wilt.
Pour in chicken broth, and add salt, pepper and pepper flakes. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 45-55 minutes until broth is mostly boiled off and greens are tender. ENJOY!

White Chicken Tortilla Soup

2012-01-06T22:05:00.000-05:00

"Soup is a lot like a family. Each ingredient enhances the others; each batch has its own characteristics; and it needs time to simmer to reach full flavor."

~Marge Kennedy

This is basically a hybrid of white chicken chili and tortilla soup. The result was delicious and satisfying. Warm and fresh at the same time. Take the time to make the garnishes. The fresh bite, color and flavor are a tantalizing foil to the creamy broth, chicken and white beans. They take the soup from really good, to fantastic! We all agreed on that. This soup is easy enough for a weeknight, but good enough to share with friends. A nice winter meal to warm you up without weighing you down!

At serving time, place a small pile of 5-6 tortilla chips in the bottom of each bowl, top with shredded sharp white cheddar cheese, ladle the hot soup over all then garnish with fresh avocado, chopped tomato and chopped red onion or scallions and a couple more crushed tortilla chips, if you wish.

White Chicken Tortilla Soup
A recipe from The Irish Mother

3 boneless chicken breast halves (approx 1 pound) or 1 small rotisserie chicken, meat removed and shredded
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 14 ounce cans chicken broth
2 15 ounce cans cannellini or northern white beans, drained
1 cup frozen corn
1 4.5 ounce can chopped green chilies, do NOT drain
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
8 ounces cream cheese, softened

Garnish:

1 medium size bag of good tortilla chips
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp white cheddar
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion or sliced scallions
1/2 cup finely diced tomato
1 ripe avocado, diced
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (sprinkle on avocado, to prevent browning)

Cut chicken into small, bite-size pieces. In a large skillet on med-high, saute chicken in one tablespoon olive oil. towards end of cooking, add onion and celery. For last minute or two, add garlic. Remove from heat.

Pour chicken broth into a large stockpot. Add cooked chicken. Simmer for 1/2 hour to tenderize the chicken (unless you used rotisserie, then you can skip this step.) Add remaining ingredients except for cream cheese and garnishes, bring to a boil, then simmer for 1/2 hour. A few minutes before serving, place cream cheese in a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds to melt it. Whisk melted cream cheese into soup. Heat for a few more minutes.

Place a small pile of tortilla chips in the bottom of each bowl. Top with a small handful of the cheddar cheese. Prepare garnishes. Ladle soup into bowls. If desired, crush a couple more tortilla chips over soup then sprinkle on some tomato, avocado and onion. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Swirl Scones

2012-01-04T18:44:00.001-05:00

"Cinnamon bites and kisses simultaneously."

~Vanna Bonta

You know, some days I just wake up jonesing for scones. Nothing else will do. Thank goodness they're so quick to make. Easy to carry, not as messy as a sticky-bun, not greasy like a doughnut, light and flaky (if made right,) and not too sweet. Equally great for grab-and-go breakfasts on the way to work as for leisurely Sundays while working the NY Times crossword. During my travels last week, I brought scones in my carry-on and that delicious portable treat just about made me feel like I was in first class...then my knees bumped into the seat in front of me and I woke up, but that's another story.

This is a recipe I came up with after being unable to decide between making biscuit cinnamon rolls and scones dusted with cinnamon sugar. Rolling the scone dough with a cinnamon sugar filling elevated them from OK, to Oh Yeah! Feel free to shape these the night before, keep covered in the fridge, and bake in the morning. They are best super-fresh! These are not my absolute favorite scones, but they are the easiest and I always have the ingredients on hand. But come 6 months, when local blueberries ripen, Make-Ahead Blueberry Scones are tops!

Cinnamon Swirl Scones

A recipe from The Irish Mother

makes 6-8 scones

2 cups sifted flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons white sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup cold butter

1 egg

½ cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons softened butter

¼ cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. Cut in cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

In a small bowl, beat egg with buttermilk; add to flour mixture folding just until mixture clings together (the key to a tender scone is to avoid over mixing the dough).

Turn dough out onto a floured board and with floured hands pat into a 12-inch circle. Spread with the 2 tablespoons of softened butter. Mix brown sugar with cinnamon and sprinkle all of this over the butter. Roll dough from the outer edge (all the way around) towards the middle (you will end up with a ball of dough). Turn dough over on the floured board and pat into an approx 8-inch circle that is about an inch thick. With a large sharp knife, cut into 6 – 8 wedges.

Brush with milk and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Serve warm.

Crispy Garlic Chickpeas

2012-01-03T15:55:00.003-05:00

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man."

~Benjamin Franklin

Whoa.....I'm having a hard time getting back in the swing of things. The holidays were an awesome sprint of family, friends, food and celebrations, culminating with the beautiful wedding of my son Curtis and his sweet and gorgeous bride, Noelle. We had an amazing time in Milwaukee with his new in-laws. I saw wee hours on the clock I haven't seen since my college days and kept going on pure adrenaline for the last few days of 2011!

Excuse my absence, but WOOOO! I needed a couple days to recover before jumping back on the blog-horse. Here's a quick recipe that I've wanted to try for months now. It was perfect to ease back into things. Yes, I'm late to this party, having spotted these on half a dozen other blogs, but they were still worth sharing because most of the people I know haven't gotten into them yet. YET being the operative word. I wish I hadn't waited so long. SO EASY - SO GOOD - SO GOOD FOR YOU! Okay, I'll stop yelling now....but this is a snack to get excited about. Put down the cookie and pick up the chickpea. You won't regret it.

Thanks to Jaden Hair of the blog, Steamy Kitchen for my introduction to them. My first guinea-pig to try them, Audrey, loved them and she and I polished off 2/3 of the batch in about 5 mins. They shrink when you roast them, so one 15-ounce can of beans yielded a bowl-full that would be a good snack for 2 or 3 people. You could roast 30 ounces of beans on a cookie sheet. They would make a great snack for the Super-bowl and your guests would appreciate the healthy alternative.

Crispy Garlic Chickpeas

1 15.5-ounce can of chickpeas

1 tablespoon olive oil

Garlic salt

garlic powder

onion powder

black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Pour can of beans into a colander and rinse with cold water. Pour beans onto a double layer of paper towels. Use another paper towel to roll over the beans, drying them well. Pour beans onto a cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil over them and roll them all over with your hand. Sprinkle with garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper, about 1/4 teaspoon each.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until they have shrunken and browned. Keep an eye on them at the end to make sure they don't burn. Let cool for 10 minutes, then watch them disappear!

Quick Christmas Braid

2011-12-22T20:42:00.000-05:00

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful."

~Norman Vincent Peale

This is a double recipe, shaped slightly differently than Nana's recipe indicates

A few posts back I started poking around in my Great Grandmother Hook's recipe box.

This recipe card caught my eye.

Great Grandmother Hook is the little girl on the right, circa 1894

As far back as I can remember, we used to go to my grandmother's house at 11 a.m. on a Christmas morn.

Me and Nana, Christmas '83, her last one

This Christmas braid, made by Nana Hook, was always there. It was always braided into a ring and decorated with red and green cherries and pecan halves. We would start the festivities with a slice and a teacup of eggnog. I was shocked and sort of pleased to see that it actually starts with frozen bread dough. That was rather progressive for back then, but Nana would have been in her eighties and early nineties, so I bet that convenience made all the difference. You never would have guessed. You need to let the frozen dough thaw either overnight or for 4 hours in a warm spot in your house. I wouldn't call it quick, but I sure would call it easy!

Viola (Nana) Hook 1927

The recipe called for a 1 pound piece of frozen bread dough to be thawed thoroughly, rolled out 12 inches square, cut into 3 strips, spread with filling, dough sealed over filling, then braided. I doubled the recipe and found it MUCH easier to roll the dough into a 13x9 in rectangle, spread with filling, make one big roll, seal in a ring and then cut with scissors, as shown here. I'll give you the recipe as she wrote it. It makes a small braid, which you can also shape into a ring. It's a pretty easy recipe for a Christmas tradition that will leave an impression. It sure did for me!

Quick Christmas Braid (or Wreath)
Viola Hook 1892-1984

One 1-pound loaf of frozen bread dough
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
4 or 5 tablespoons milk
red sugar
pecan halves and maraschino cherry halves for decoration

Thaw dough thoroughly [in an oiled bowl, covered with plastic wrap, either overnight or for 4 hours]. Roll

12 inches square. Cut into 3 equal strips. Spread butter down center of each strip. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped pecans. Sprinkle this mixture over butter down center of each strip. Bring dough around filling and seal edges to form 3 ropes. Place on a greased cookie sheet and loosely braid. [Either leave as a strip, or shape into a ring; your choice] Let rise until double in bulk, about 30 minutes.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes. Cover loosely with foil during last few minutes to prevent over-browning, if necessary. Cool completely.

Combine confectioner's sugar and milk, adding milk a little at a time until icing is the right consistency to drizzle. Drizzle icing over cooled braid. Decorate with pecan and cherry halves and sprinkle with red sugar. Enjoy!

Baileys Tres Leches Cake

2011-12-17T19:09:00.003-05:00

"Get off your horse and drink your milk."

~John Wayne

My son Curtis is getting married in less than 2 weeks (Ahhhhhhhhh!!!). This cake is for he and his soon-to-be bride, Noelle. I came up with something that was a blend of cultures from their heritages. Recently, my daughter and I have been talking about recipes we could invent that included Bailey's. There is always a bottle of it here during the holidays and everyone in our family loves it. I had an idea that tres leches cake would be the perfect vehicle. A cake which, as a bonus, Noelle loves, so there you have it. An idea is born!

Curtis and Noelle will be married Dec 30, 2011!

I was introduced to tres leches cake years ago by my co-worker Oscarina at the multicultural school where I worked. When she brought it in for functions it was a hit and everyone requested the recipe (which I've included at the end of the post). For my version, the topping is a light (not too rich) mocha that compliments the Baileys flavored cake.

I find it easiest to make the cake and soak it with the milk/Baileys mixture overnight. You want it to be nice and cold when you serve it, so if you make it the same day, give it at least 4 hours chilling time in the refrigerator. Don't be put off by having to separate and whip the eggs. The cake really comes out much higher and nicer because of it and only a couple of minutes are added to the prep time. The cake batter came together pretty quickly, and the quality of the finished product was well worth it.

I originally started with a combination of two standard tres leches cake recipe from Allrecipes. After considering all the reader reviews, and some trial and error, this is my version. It got a big "WOOOOWWWW!" from the Mister. I can't wait to try it out on Curtis and Noelle.

Baileys Tres Leches Cake

Cake:
1 cup sugar, divided
5 whole eggs, at room temperature and separated
1 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon melted butter

Milk Soak:
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup Baileys
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk

Topping:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 dash salt
1 teaspoon of espresso powder or instant coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking pan with shortening. Separate egg whites from yolks. Beat yolks with 3/4 cup of sugar on high for 3 minutes until they turn lemony yellow and fluffy. Measure flour into a small bowl. Stir in baking powder and salt and set aside. Stir 1/3 cup milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter and flour mixture into egg yolk mixture, creating a batter.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add cream of tartar and slowly add 1/4 cup sugar beating until they are stiff but not dry. Gently fold the whites into the batter. Bake 40 - 45 minutes or until cakes springs back to the touch. Cool cake for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, stir together 3/4 cup milk, 3/4 cup Baileys, sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk. After cake has cooled for 10 minutes, poke it all over with a wooden skewer or fork. Pour entire amount of Baileys and milk mixture slowly over cake. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, or at least 3-4 hours.

In a medium bowl, stir together topping ingredients. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. With electric beaters, set on high, whip just until stiff peaks form. Spread on cake. Dust with cocoa powder, if desired.

Three Milks Cake (Oscarina's version)

1 box white cake mix
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 cup whipping cream
1 box instant chocolate mousse mix

Prepare cake according to box directions in a 13x9 inch pan. Poke holes in it with a fork. In a bowl, stir together the 3 milks, mixing completely. Very slowly pour liquid on the cake. Refrigerate at least 3 hours. Prepare mousse according to box directions and pipe little clouds all over the cake. If you don't have a piping bag, just drop on dollops with a spoon.

Roasted Root Vegetable Salad with Horseradish Vinaigrette

2011-12-11T17:07:00.003-05:00

"The beet is the most intense of the vegetables. The radish, admittedly, is more feverish, but the fever of the radish is a cold fire, the fire of discontent, not of passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious."

~Tom Robbins

I love Thanksgiving, don't get me wrong...but after a week of turkey, turkey leftovers and an enormous vat of turkey soup, the Mister and I were ready for some bold flavors. This salad fit the bill perfectly. We had it alone on a bed of chopped romaine (in lieu of arugula) as a light supper, but it would make a nice accompaniment to a roast beef dinner. That the vegetables can be roasted hours ahead of time makes it a wonderful side dish during the holidays when oven space is at a premium. We were crazy for this, but had a disagreement regarding the addition of pears. The Mister loved them, but I thought I may have preferred the dish solidly savory. You can decide for yourself.

This recipe is inspired by one that appeared in Southern Living a year ago. That one used sweet potatoes, parsnips and beets. My version uses beets, turnip, carrot and cipollini onions, along with chopped pears, chopped smoked almonds and Gorgonzola cheese. Their horseradish vinaigrette was brilliant though, and my only tampering was to add a teaspoon of honey.

If you are unused to handling fresh beets, here is a tip. You should prepare them separately and roast them on their own baking sheet. You may want to wear dish-washing gloves while you peel them and chop them, and keep them away from the other vegetables or they will bleed all over everything and make all a homogeneous red, which takes away from the pleasing colorful look of the dish.

The other vegetables can all be roasted together on a second baking sheet. Set them aside at room temperature for up to 3 hours and assemble the right before serving. We really loved this dish. Even though I made it last week, we are ready to have it again. It is a symphony of flavors that all make sense together (with or without the pears) and make your palate sing!

Roasted Root Vegetable Salad with Horseradish Vinaigrette

Serves 2-3 as a main dish salad, or 6-8 as a side dish

1 medium turnip (about 1 pound) peeled and chopped into bite-size cubes

3 large carrots (about 3/4 pound) sliced into 1/2 pieces. If they are very big, slice them in half.

3 or 4 large fresh beets, peeled and chopped into bite-size cubes

12 - 15 small cipollini onions, peeled

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 chopped pear

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

1/3 cup smoked toasted almonds, roughly chopped

1 small bag of arugula, mescalin greens or 1 head of romaine, chopped

Horseradish Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil. Peel and chop the beets, then toss in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, half the salt and half the pepper. Spread on one of the baking sheets. Clean surfaces and bowl, then toss the remaining vegetables in the bowl with the remainder of the olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread on the second baking sheet. Place both in the oven and bake for 50 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through roasting time. Test one of the larger chunks to make sure the vegetables are tender before you remove them. Set aside and let cool completely and for up to 3 hours.

Assemble salad:

Right before serving, slice or chop unpeeled, cored pear as desired. Toss with lemon juice.

Place vegetables in a large bowl, add pears. Drizzle with desired amount of dressing and toss carefully. To serve family style, spread chilled greens in the bottom of a large serving platter or shallow bowl. Pile vegetables (with pear) on top in a mound. Sprinkle with Gorgonzola and then nuts. Serve at room temperature immediately with any additional dressing.

Horseradish Vinaigrette

1/2 cup bottled olive oil and vinegar dressing

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon honey

Whisk together all ingredients.

If you like this, you might also be interested in:

Fresh Cranberry Salad

Pistachio Cookies

2011-12-08T14:56:00.002-05:00

"You must crack the nuts before you can eat the kernel"

~Irish Proverb

I'm excited to share these quick and delicious treats with you! For the return you get on these cookies in the form of joyous appreciation, their ease of preparation is truly criminal. From start to finish you can have the entire batch baked and cleaned up in half an hour. Not kidding. But when your family and friends taste them and then proceed to inhale them, you may want to double your efforts so you actually have some left for your Christmas cookie tray!

About 6 years ago, in a bout of crazed organization, I decided to type up my mess of a lifetime of collected recipe cards and clippings into a binder. But last year, when I wanted to make these cookies, I couldn't find the recipe. Probably because it was under B, for Best Ever, instead of P for Pistachio. So much for being organized :-/. Unfortunately, I've had this recipe so long I have no recollection of where it originated. Over the years, a little tweaking has improved them with the addition of toasted nuts, green food color and almond extract. Soft and chewy with that adored pistachio ice cream flavor, they are sure to please. I hope you get a chance to try them. And if you have an extra minute or two, check out this virtual cookie swap at The Farmer's Wife: http://www.the-farmers-wife.net/2011/12/cookie-swap-party.html

Best Ever Pistachio Cookies
Makes about 30 cookies

1 box white cake mix
1 box instant pistachio pudding mix
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup nuts (almond or pistachio), toasted and roughly chopped
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
6 drops green food coloring.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place first four ingredients into a large bowl. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients. Pour contents of the small bowl into the large bowl and stir together until combined. Batter will be stiff. Drop tablespoons size dollops of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 11-12 minutes, until lightly browned.

Fennel Stuffed Pork Loin

2011-12-07T18:46:00.000-05:00

"All great change in America begins at the dinner table."

~Ronald Reagan

Talk about food to get excited about. This delicious dinner first ended up on our table several years ago after I'd been inspired by an episode of The Barefoot Contessa. It is a fabulous roast that looks more complicated than it actually is. I tweaked it a tiny bit and added a rub on the pork and some gravy that we all decided is essential. Even though this is just a regular weekday and no company was expected, we noshed on it tonight. The Mister was in hog heaven...get it?...heh heh. All the ingredients were inexpensive (the loin only cost $6.00), and in fifteen minutes I had the stuffing made and the pork loin butterflied, stuffed and trussed. Generally, I would serve this on a holiday, or as a Sunday dinner, but I thought I'd toss it out there in case any of you were looking for holiday dinner ideas. The nice thing about it is, any leftovers can be chopped up and tossed in a slow cooker with some cream of celery soup and a splash of sherry. We liked that as much as the original dinner!

Fennel Stuffed Pork Loin
serves 6

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa Family Style, 2006

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 cups sliced onion

2 cups sliced fennel (1 large bulb)

salt and pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves (I used 1/2 teaspoon dried)

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon white wine
1 small can chicken broth (about 1 1/2 to 2 cups)
1/3 cup flour

3 cups fresh bread crumbs

1 (3-1/2 to 4 pound) loin of pork, butterflied

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

For the stuffing, heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet. Add the onions and fennel with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook over low to medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring constantly, until the onions and fennel are tender and lightly browned. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for 1 more minute. Add the white wine and bread crumbs. Cool slightly.

Butterfly the roast. Using a very sharp knife, with the loin lengthwise, make a cut just less than 1/3 of the way down and cut straight across to within about an inch of slicing straight through. Then cut down about an inch and back the opposite way. You can open the roast as you go.

Spread the stuffing evenly over the pork and roll up lengthwise, ending with the fat on the top of the roll.

Tie with kitchen string.

Rub roast with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. [I make a rub with 1 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder and rub the entire roast with this.]

Place in a roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes. Lower heat to 350 degrees F and roast for another 30-35 minutes [add 1/2 cup white wine and can of chicken broth to roasting pan when there is 20 minutes left of cooking time], until the interior of the pork is 137 degrees F on a meat thermometer (if the thermometer hits stuffing rather than pork, it will register a higher temperature, so test the meat in several places.) Remove from the oven, transfer roast to carving board and cover tightly with aluminum foil. allow to rest for 15 minutes. In the meantime, make the gravy. Place roasting pan (unless it is ceramic) on range over med-high heat. Bring drippings to a boil and boil, scraping pan with spatula. Strain drippings if needed. In a small bowl, whisk flour with 3/4 cup ice cold water. Slowly add to pan drippings (on med-high), adding slowly and whisking constantly until gravy is the desired thickness. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the strings from roast, slice thickly, and serve.

Candy Cane Cookies, Our Very First Tradition

2011-12-04T12:22:00.001-05:00

"Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold."

~Judith Olney

Today I was invited to participate in a virtual cookie exhange by the lovely Di, of Di's kitchen notebook. I'm honored to be included and will share my most special Christmas cookie for the event!

Back in the Paleolithic age, when I was first married, my sister-in-law gave me a Christmas Keepsake book that contained this recipe. I made the cookies that year, we loved them and they became the very first Christmas tradition all our own. These were the days when I was Little Miss Organization, and would make all the Christmas cookies early, when I had time, and stick them in the upright freezer downstairs. More than a few times, I caught the Mister coming up the stairs with one or two of these cookies sticking out of his shirt pocket. He liked them so much he was willing to eat them frozen...and as the kids grew up, they followed suit. Go figure.

They can be a bit of a pain to make, rolling out all those little logs of dough to put together and shape. Make sure your dough is chilled, because it can get sticky, and try to recruit someone to help you. It is best to roll them out on cold granite or marble, but you can do it on a very lightly floured cutting board, if need be. To crush the candy canes, I just put the wrapped canes in a Ziploc bag and smash them with a hammer. The plastic wrapper lifts away in one piece, leaving all the glistening crushed candy. It only takes 30 seconds. Have this done and at the ready so you can sprinkle the cookies with it immediately after removing them from the oven. They need to be hot so the candy will stick. The problem with these cookies is they taste so darn good! Just like almond shortbread. Everyone wants to snarf them down, but I'm willing to do the work but once a year! Hope I haven't scared you away from them, they really are delicious, festive and worth it!
Check out the virtual cookie swap at The Farmer's Wife: http://www.the-farmers-wife.net/2011/12/cookie-swap-party.html

Candy Cane Cookies
Makes 15-18 cookies

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 vegetable shortening, at room temperature
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
3 standard size candy canes, crushed

Blend butter and shortening; beat in confectioner's sugar, egg and flavorings. Sift flour with salt; stir into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Add red food coloring to one half. Wrap both half in plastic wrap and chill at least 45 minutes. Roll 2-teaspoon size pieces of dough into logs about 6 inches long. Place a white strip and a red strip side by side, press together lightly and twist like a rope. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, curving the top to resemble a candy cane. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 10-11 minutes until lightly browned. Remove cookies from oven and immediately sprinkle hot cookies with crushed candy canes. Let cool 5 minutes, then very carefully remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

Store in an airtight container. Cookies freeze well.

Butterscotch Haystacks, Ala My Great Grandmother

2011-12-01T07:16:00.002-05:00

"Grandmother - A wonderful mother with lots of practice."

~Unknown

When I was a child, there were a few things you could count on at my grandmother's house for Christmas. There was always ribbon candy and fudge, laughter, warmth, and haystacks. My great-grandmother, Viola Hook (aka Nana) always made haystacks.

The child is my grandmother, the woman, my great-grandmother, Viola Hook.

Nana made haystacks the old fashioned way. No peanut butter or marshmallows; just butterscotch, peanuts and chow mein noodles. I grew up on them, so it's the only way I like them. For us, they were always a part of the Christmas cookie tray, even though they are really more of a candy. In all my years, I've never seen them anywhere else, although when googled, recipes and variations abounded, and for the first time that I've ever noticed, there was a recipe for them on the back of the bag of butterscotch morsels. I've been making them for 30 years and never needed a recipe since they are so incredibly easy, but out of curiosity, I got out Nana's old file box of recipes and poked through it.

Apparently she never needed to write it down either, but there were some curiosities in there worth trying soon. My husband never had them til he met me, but he LOVES them. In fact, when we were first married, for years I would make a tin of them and give them to him for Christmas and he'd eat the whole thing. They are funny looking little things, yet addictingly good! Once the ingredients are stirred together, it is fun for kids to get involved and help shape them and drop them on the wax paper. They're pretty fool-proof and are already a bit goofy-looking, so you can't go wrong!

I am the last American without a microwave, so I'll give you the old-school recipe (the way I make them), followed by a microwave method.

Nana Hook's Haystacks

makes 18-24

One 11 ounce bag Nestle Butterscotch Morsels

One 8.5 ounce can Chow Mein Noodles (I use LaChoy brand).

1/2 cup lightly salted peanuts (I used the Planter's Sea Salt ones)

Stove-top method:

Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Place a medium saucepan half filled with water on the stove on medium high. Bring to a low simmer. Turn down heat a little and place a heat-proof bowl on top of saucepan (or use a double-boiler). Make sure the bowl is completely dry and that no water gets in it (or the candy will seize). Pour morsels in the bowl. Leave it uncovered. When most of the morsels are shiny, stir just until melted. Remove from heat and immediately stir in the chow mein noodles and peanuts. Place small blobs of the mixture on the cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Allow to cool completely and place in cookie tins. Store in a cool dry place, or the refrigerator.

Microwave method:

Microwave morsels in a large, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on medium-high (70%) power for 1 minute; stir. If necessary, microwave at additional 10 second intervals, just until melted. Stir in chow mein noodles and peanuts and toss until all ingredients are coated. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheets. Cool completely and store in airtight containers in the refrigerator.

Fleur de Sel Caramels

2011-11-30T18:12:00.000-05:00

"It was an instinct to put the world in order that powered her mending split infinitives and snipping off dangling participles, smoothing away the knots and bumps until the prose took a sheen, like perfect caramel."

~David Leavitt

These were on my to-do list last holiday season, but I never got to them. So when the cook at work recently asked for the recipe, it was a good nudge to dig it out and whip up a batch. Plus the timing is great to share it with you while you still have time to find or order the fleur de Sel (mine was ordered from My Spice Sage), and make them for gifts or parties.

The original recipe comes from Ina Garten, and you can find it here. Reading the comments after the recipe is very helpful. Taking reader's advice, I decided not to oil the parchment paper, and it was no trouble to remove the caramels. I also cooked mine a tiny bit longer because I prefer a harder caramel, and cut them into squares instead of rolling them. My dentist will love me for posting this, because these babies could pull all your crowns out (just the way I like 'em). They are really delicious. If you make the softer ones, you could dip them in chocolate to make them extra special, and sprinkle a little fleur de sel on the chocolate instead of the caramel.

Take note that you will need a candy thermometer if you decide to attempt these and you should pay close attention to the recipe and follow it exactly. Whatever you do, don't walk away from the boiling sugar, because when it starts to turn color it will go quickly and there is no remedy for burnt caramel. Have your heated cream and butter at the ready and make sure the pot you use is big enough, as it will boil up 4 or 5 inches high. Lastly, be really careful not to get any on you. It will burn you quickly...therefore, it is not an appropriate project for kids to participate in. Stay tuned and soon I'll post a candy recipe that is. One that's been a Christmas tradition in my family for decades. Enjoy the season, my friends!

Fleur de Sel Caramels

makes approximately 18 pieces

Recipe by Ina Garten

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1 cup heavy cream

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon fleur de sel, plus extra for sprinkling

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Line a 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, allowing it to drape over 2 sides. Brush the paper lightly with oil [I didn't - but I lightly butter the sides of the pan not covered with the paper].

In a deep heavy saucepan (6 inches wide and 4 1/2 inches deep), combine 1/4 cup water, the sugar and corn syrup and bring them to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil until the mixture is a warm golden brown. Don't stir - just swirl the pan.

In the meantime, in a small pot, bring the cream, butter and 1 teaspoon of fleur de sel to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat and set aside.

When the sugar mixture reaches the warm golden brown, turn off the heat and slowly add the warmed cream mixture. Be careful - it will bubble up violently. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon and cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until the mixture reaches 248 degrees F (firm ball) on a candy thermometer.

Very carefully pour the caramel into the prepared pan and refrigerate for a few hours [I sprinkled my caramel with extra fleur de sel right away and it was fine. Plus, one hour was enough for cooling - then I removed it from pan and cut into squares], until firm.

When the caramel is cold, pry the sheet from the pan onto a cutting board. Cut the square in half.

Roll it up. Starting with a long side, roll the caramel up tightly into an 8-inch log.

Cut into pieces. Sprinkle with fleur de sel, trim the ends and cut into 8 pieces. It's easier to cut the caramels if you brush the knife with a flavorless oil such as corn or canola.

Cut parchment paper into 4x5 inch pieces and wrap each caramel individually, twisting the ends.

Italian Spumoni Cookies

2011-11-24T09:20:00.000-05:00

"Cookies are made of butter and love"

~Norwegian proverb

This one is for all of my friends who work long hours, yet still want to whip up something special. You start with Pillsbury sugar cookie dough that you doctor up, shape and refrigerate overnight. The next day you have this beautiful slice and bake. It's really easy and is the last of the recipes I raided from my mother's Taste of Home magazines. Generally I have the time and inclination to cook from scratch. It's my hobby, after all...but I appreciate a good shortcut as much as anyone. The thing is, you have to be careful because shortcuts are only worthwhile if the end product doesn't suffer from it. In this case, it doesn't, and these cookies would hold their own at any cookie exchange or party.

When it comes to baked goods, I'm really picky but I LOVED these cookies, and the Mister did too! If you're a purest, by all means, make a batch of your favorite sugar cookie dough and use 2 pounds of it to complete the recipe (don't add the extra flour in that case). Knock yourself out...OR use the Pillsbury cookie dough to make it fun, easy, quick...with no sacrifice in taste or texture....and no one will ever guess....MWA-HA-HA-HA!

The recipe called for pistachios for the green dough, but I didn't have any, so I substituted chopped toasted almonds. I think a couple drops of almond extract would make them even better! A few tips: let the dough come to room temperature for a least an hour so it will be easy to work with. When dividing into three pieces, do your best to make them as equal as possible. That goes miles toward making the three pieces fit together correctly in the end steps. Remember to start these cookies the night before!

Italian Spumoni Cookies
makes 30 cookies
A Taste of Home Recipe

2 16-ounce tubes Pillsbury sugar cookie dough
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup chopped maraschino cherries
red food color
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons hazelnut liquor
1/3 cup chopped pistachios (or almonds)
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
green food color

Allow cookie dough to come to room temperature (at least an hour). Empty both rolls into a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat in 3/4 cup of flour. Divide dough into 3 equal parts.
Place one of the 1/3 portions of dough back into bowl. Beat in 1/4 cup of flour, then 6 drops red food coloring and the 1/4 cup of chopped maraschino cherries. Shape dough into a ball and set aside.

Wipe inside of bowl with paper towel, then place another 1/3 portion of dough in. Beat in 2 tablespoons of cocoa and 2 teaspoons of hazelnut liquor. Shape dough into ball and set aside.

Wipe inside of bowl with a paper towel and add last 1/3 portion of dough. Beat in 1/3 cup chopped nuts, 5 drops of green food coloring and almond flavoring (if desired).

Shape each ball of dough into an equal length log...about 15 inches long. Place log on a piece of plastic wrap and using a rolling pin, flatten into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Pat sides and end square with a spatula.

Repeat with each portion of dough, then stack them in this order; cherry, chocolate, then pistachio. Pat ends and sides with spatula to ease them to fit together.

Wrap rectangle of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove dough from fridge, cut in half, re-wrapping and returning half to fridge (or freezer to use later). Slice dough into 1/4 inch thick slices and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. Cool 2 minutes, then using a spatula, carefully place cookies on cooling rack. Cool completely, then store cookies at room temperature in an airtight container.

Veal Stuffed Jumbo Shells with Mushroom-Parmesan Bechamel

2011-11-19T19:26:00.000-05:00

"Sometimes I pray to Cod for the veal-power to stop playing with my food-words, but I fear it's too bread into me. For all I know, the wurst may be yet to come."

~Mark Morton (Gastromica '06)

When I was a kid, cheese-stuffed shells were a go-to recipe in my family. If it wasn't a holiday and family was visiting, you can bet we had stuffed shells. You can make them ahead, they freeze well, AND they're delicious. Perfect for my working mom.

The first time I had the veal-stuffed variety was over 20 years ago when my sister-in-law Joy made them for us. I've never forgotten about it and have been meaning to make the dish for years. I mean, you know something is good if you're still thinking about it 20 years later. I have her recipe somewhere, but couldn't find it, so I located one by Emiril Lagasse and played with it a little until it was sort-of as remembered. This time I made it for my sister-in-law and she (and everyone else) enthusiastically approved. They were an all-around hit. The great thing was making them the day ahead, storing them in the fridge for 24 hours, and then just popping them in the oven the night of the dinner-party (since I worked all day). For that reason alone, it's a great recipe for the busy holiday season.

Veal Stuffed Jumbo Shells with Mushroom-Parmesan Bechamel

Serves 6

Inspired by Joy Murphy and adapted from a recipe by Emeril Lagasse.

Stuffed Shells:

24 jumbo shells, about 1/2 pound

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound ground veal

1 pound ground pork

1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 large egg

Mushroom-Parmesan Bechamel:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 pound button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 teaspoon fresh)

1/2 cup diced onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 tablespoons flour

2 1/2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese

Start a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Season with salt and when it comes to a rolling boil, add dried shells. Cook until pliable, but not fully cooked, about 8 minutes. Remove the shells from the water and place shells in a single layer on a sheet pan.

While the shells cool, make the stuffing. Set a large saute pan over medium heat and add the olive oil to the pan. Add the onions and garlic and cook about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, combine the veal, pork, seasonings, bread crumbs, cheese, cooked onions and garlic, heavy cream and egg. Do not over-mix.

Grease 13x9 inch baking dish. Place 2 tablespoons of the stuffing mix into each of the jumbo shells and place open side down in baking dish. When completed, wrap the casserole with plastic wrap and set aside in fridge while you prepare the bechamel.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Set a one or two-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and add the butter. Once melted, add the mushrooms and thyme. Cook, stirring often, until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the onions and garlic to the pan and cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle flour into the pan, stirring to combine and cook the roux, stirring, for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk and wine. Season with salt and pepper. Bring bechamel to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, stirring until sauce is thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in 3/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese and pour over the shells in the baking dish. Sprinkle remaining 3/4 cup Parmesan over the top of the sauce. Cover dish with tin foil. Bake, covered for 25 minutes, then uncover and bake 20 minutes more until bubbling and browned.

If you are baking shells that have been stored in the fridge overnight, bake covered for 45 minutes, then uncover an continue baking another 20 minutes until bubbling and browned.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

2011-11-14T19:41:00.001-05:00

"You know, when you get your first asparagus, or your first acorn squash, or your first really good tomato of the season, those are the moments that define the cook's year. I get more excited by that than anything else."

~Mario Batali

Most great recipes come from our mothers, don't they? Well, this one came from my mom's house, anyway. I jotted it down along with a few others when I raided her magazines. There is a really easy stuffed zucchini recipe that I grew up on (and love!) and it is posted on this blog. I make it at least a half dozen times a year. In that sense, mom set the stage for my love of sausage-stuffed squashy things.

In this version, from Taste of Home magazine, the stuffing is loaded with vegetables and is bound by an easy, yet surprisingly elegant-tasting sauce. I tweaked a few things, including the cooking time. The recipe called to be baked 30 minutes, but from the get-go I knew that would not be enough to cook the squash, so I planned to cook it an hour, withholding the application of cheese until 20" before the end, so it wouldn't brown. Sure enough, at 30 minutes, the squash was still quite hard. Another 20 or 30 minutes did the trick and it became tender enough to scoop out of the skin and enjoy....because acorn squash is way too good to simply be a vessel for stuffing! This was really delicious and crave-worthy. I loved the croutons in it. A nice twist away from traditional bread crumbs. Easy and inexpensive enough for every day, yet good enough for company. But if you want to make it, you'll have to act fast, because (at least in CT) acorn squash is only seasonally available!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Adapted from a recipe in Taste of Home magazine

serves 4

2 fresh medium acorn squash, cut in half

1 pound uncooked bulk sausage (I used Jones's)

1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced (I used baby Portabellas)

1 onion, diced

1 celery rib, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup white wine

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup Ceasar croutons

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. After cutting acorn squash in half (lengthwise), scoop out the seeds and pulp, then slice a bit off the rounded side to create a flat "bottom" so it won't wobble. Place each half on a cookie sheet. Season squash with a little salt and pepper.

In a large skillet on medium-high, cook crumbled bulk sausage, mushrooms, onion, celery and garlic together.

After the sausage is brown and the vegetables softened, add wine, mushroom soup, croutons, Parmesan and 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese. Spoon into acorn "cups" and pile extra stuffing on top.

Bake for 30-40 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese. Place back in oven and bake an additional 20 minutes, until cheese is melted well and you are able to pierce squash easily with a knife. Serve immediately.

Cheddar Cheese Thumbprints with Hot Pepper Jelly

2011-11-09T16:01:00.001-05:00

"The smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls, ready to remind us."

~Marcel Proust

Making pepper jelly has been a tradition here for years. I always have a few jars around. So, when I purchased the book, 250 Home Preserving Favorites and saw this use for it, I got excited. Cheddar cookies are, after all, one of my most popular cocktail hors d'oeuvres and this twist on the popular thumbprint cookies marries two things simply meant for each other; sharp cheddar and sweet/spicy hot pepper jelly.

They look beautiful, are delicious, and easy to eat with one hand, making them perfect for cocktail hour. A delectable savory treat. Cheers!

As an added bonus, they also may be baked ahead and frozen for up to 3 months. The results of today's labors are in the freezer right now, awaiting their appearance on Thanksgiving. I let the fam each try one and they loved them, each asking "just one more?"

NO! No touchy! Hands-off! These are saving me valuable time on Thanksgiving day!

To crisp, heat thawed cookies on a baking sheet for 3 minutes at 350 degrees to re-crisp them. If you don't make your own pepper jelly, NO PROBLEM! It is pretty easy to find and Stonewall Kitchens has a nice one. You could also substitute wine jelly, but I like the heat of the hot pepper jelly. The sharpness of the cheddar contrasted to the sweet and spicy jelly makes a tantalizing bite.

Cheddar Cheese Thumbprints with Hot Pepper Jelly

Makes 20 cookies

Recipe from Yvonne Tremblay in 250 Home Preserving Favorites

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

pinch cayenne pepper

2/3 cup butter, softened

2 cups finely shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup hot pepper jelly

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine flour, salt and cayenne. Add butter; pulse several times to combine. Add cheese; pulse until flour is all moistened and mixture begins to stick together.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and gather together and knead a couple times to form a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls, using about 1 tablespoon of dough for each ball. Place at least 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Using a wooden spoon handle or your thumb, make an indentation in the center of each ball.

Bake in preheated oven for 6 minutes. Remove from oven, press indentation slightly again, and place a small amount of hot pepper jelly in the indentation. Not too much...you don't want it to spill over.

Return to oven and bake 6 minutes more. Transfer to wire racks and let cool completely.

Variations: If desired, roll balls of dough in finely chopped nuts, such as pecans or walnuts, or lightly toasted sesame seeds.

Add 1/2 teaspoon paprika or 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder to the flour mixture.

If you don't have a food processor: Combine the butter and cheese in a medium bowl; stir with a wooden spoon to blend well. In a small bowl, combine flour, salt and cayenne pepper; stir into cheese mixture until flour is moistened and mixture begins to stick together. Proceed to the step where you roll the dough into balls (above).

Tips: For nicely shaped, deep indentations, use the end of a wooden spoon instead of your thumb.
If you're going to freeze them, freeze them initially on a single layer in a cookie sheet. You can then place frozen cookies in a shallow container....place a piece of wax paper in-between layers.

White Chocolate-Macadamia Snowballs with a Dough Shortcut!

2011-11-07T16:14:00.000-05:00

"Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today! That way, at least you'll get one thing done."

~Little Truths

Oh my gosh...I LOVED these! This is one of the easiest, excellent cookies you will ever have. They take two minutes to mix together and they were fantastic. You can thank my mother for the recipe.

My mother has always had great magazine subscriptions. Ever since leaving home, one of the first things I do when on a visit is plop on her couch and start pouring through her magazines...many of them filled with recipes. The golf ones get tossed aside.

This is what golf does to my brain

So last week on a visit, as per the usual routine, I took a look at her Taste of Home and a few recipes jumped out and bit me. This was one of them. They start with a log of Pillsbury sugar cookie dough. A few changes and they were all that I imagined.

The original recipe called for the dough to be wrapped around a Hersey's White Chocolate Bliss candy. That was a problem. They have a "meltaway" center and I don't go for things with gooey centers. You couldn't pay me to eat a Cadbury egg, for instance.

A little substitution of white chocolate chips and they came out great. Instead of icing the cookies as the recipe dictated, I dipped them in melted white chocolate chips before dipping them in the coconut. I wanted the cookies to remain crisp on the outside and sometimes icing softens them.

For such a great result, these were amazingly easy. They look pretty and most important...they tasted GREAT! We were gobbling them up all night. Good enough to give as gifts. In fact, I left some without the topping because Mom doesn't like coconut and I want to give her some.

She loves white chocolate. Thanks, Mom!

White Chocolate Macadamia Snowballs

Inspired by a Taste of Home recipe

Makes 18 2-inch cookies

One 16 ounce log of Pillsbury sugar cookie dough

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1 cup white chocolate chips, divided (half for cookies, half for frosting)

1/2 cup shredded coconut

Let dough sit at room temperature for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Slice open log of dough and empty into a large bowl. With an electric mixer, beat in 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in chopped nuts and 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips. Dough may look crumbly. With your hands, gather it together a little, but don't overwork it.

Shape tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and place 2 inches apart on the parchment lined cookie sheets.

Bake at 350 for 10 - 12 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks.

Melt remaining 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips in a glass bowl over a small pot of simmering water.

Pour 1/2 cup coconut into a small shallow bowl. Spread tops of cookies with a little white chocolate and then press tops into loose coconut. Let set for 10 minutes.

Gratin of Leeks and Lentils

2011-11-02T18:54:00.000-04:00

"Better to eat vegetables and fear no creditors, than to eat duck and hide from them."

~Hebrew Proverb

No matter how funky a dish sounds, if it comes recommended highly enough, it's worth a try. This is one of those recipes. Lentils and leeks...huh? But the dish, conceived at the Old Mill restaurant at the Temple Bar in Dublin, has gotten such raving accolades that it piqued my interest. The fact that I had a half a bag of lentils left over from the soup I made last week was just the little nudge I needed to give it a try.

The original recipe was posted on Too Many Chefs, by Barrett Bus of Chicago nearly 8 years ago. It's remarkably tasty with great texture. A wonderful and interesting vegetarian meal or a nice side dish for fish, pork or veal. We loved it, and I can't wait for an excuse to make it for guests!

Gratin of Leeks and Lentils

dinner for two, or side dish for 4-6

Adapted from a recipe by The Old Mill Restaurant at the Temple Bar in Dublin

1/2 cup dry lentils

2 cups water

3 leeks, trimmed and rinsed

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons butter

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

For sauce:

4 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

1/2 cup chicken broth (Barret's version uses clam juice; original uses broth from poaching mussels)

1/2 cup white wine

1/4 cup heavy cream

Place lentils in a medium saucepan and cover with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover and lower to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes or until tender, but not mushy.

Meanwhile, cut leeks into 1-inch bands, then cut bands in half so you can separate the layers and wash them thoroughly. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet. Add leeks and cook 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until leeks become limp. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.

Check lentils. If they are tender, drain and add to the leeks and mix well. If not, let them cook a few more minutes until they soften.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prepare sauce: In a small saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Add 1 tablespoon flour, salt and pepper and cook 2 minutes, stirring continuously. Whisk in wine, chicken broth and cream, then reduce heat to simmer and thicken sauce, stirring continuously.

Butter a small, shallow baking or gratin dish. Add lentil and leek mixture. Pour sauce over. Bake for 15 minutes, then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, return to oven and bake 10 minutes more until bubbly and golden.

Cranberry Orange White Chocolate Snack Cake

2011-11-01T20:55:00.000-04:00

"Marmalade in the morning has the same effect on taste buds as that a cold shower has on the body."

~Noel Coward (1899-1973)

You can thank the Mister for this post. Even though the cake came out delicious, the pic didn't, so I was going to skip it. Trying to snap the shot before the sun set was behind the decision to cut the cake while it was still warm, leading to a messy cut and a sloppy shot.

But then a funny thing happened. Scott had a piece after dinner and went on and on about how good it was. This led to quickly dismissed professions of guilt before diving into a second and almost a third piece, all the while proclaiming it's merits.

"It's friggin delicious!"

"It reminds me of pineapple-upside down cake, with the chewy topping and moist cake."

"The cross-hatched icing is perfect and the tang of the berries makes it."

"What is that crunch? Is that white chocolate? OMG."

"You gotta blog it...it's that good."

Okay, so he talked me into it. Here's how it came about. Despite the fact that I had cranberry muffins on the brain, I was looking for recipes to use some of the orange marmalade I made back in March. I came across this recipe for white chocolate orange cake on About.com and decided to throw cranberries in it.

There you have it. And since you were nice enough to stop by, I'll give you this little bonus gem. A great little appetizer that takes seconds to put together. Might be nice at Thanksgiving, 'eh?

Marmalade-Almond Baked Brie. Slice the rind off one flat of an 8-ounce round of brie. Place in small baking dish. Top with 1/3 cup of orange marmalade and sprinkle with 1/3 cup of sliced almonds. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Serve with crackers.

My Sister-in-Law, Joy Murphy, made this last Easter

Cranberry Orange White Chocolate Snack Cake

1 large navel orange

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1/4 cup orange juice

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup fresh cranberries

1 tablespoon orange zest

Glaze:

1/4 cup orange marmalade

2 tablespoons butter

Icing:

1 cup confectioner's sugar

2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

orange juice

orange zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13x9 inch pan.

Using a microplane, remove zest from the orange and set aside. Juice the orange and set aside, reserving for use in the recipe.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Beat in 1/4 cup of the juice (if there's any left, reserve it for icing) and buttermilk.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add 1/2 the orange zest (save the rest for icing) and beat for 2 minutes.

Pour into prepared baking pan. Sprinkle white chocolate chips and then cranberries evenly over the batter. Tap pan gently on the counter once or twice to settle them in a little. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until cake tests done in center.

Glaze:

While cake is baking, melt orange marmalade and butter together, either on stove or in microwave. Stir to combine. Brush glaze over the top of the warm cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. Let cake cool to room temperature before adding the icing.

Icing:

Combine confectioner's sugar with cream cheese, remaining orange zest and about 1 teaspoon of orange juice until smooth. Add a little more orange juice or milk if too stiff. Scrape into a zip-top bag. Cut a small corner from the bottom of the bag and squeeze glaze over the cooled cake in a zig-zag pattern one way and then back the opposite way to form a cross-hatch pattern.

Sausage and Lentil Soup with a Vegetarian Option

2011-10-26T12:56:00.002-04:00

"Lentils are friendly-the Miss Congeniality of the bean world."

~Laurie Colwin

Here's one for The Mister. It's his favorite, and the belated cool weather here in New England was calling for something warm and hearty. This is a basic and fun soup to throw together that makes a thoroughly satisfying meal, requiring only some good bread to mop up juices. It is easily adaptable to vegetarian palates as well. Simply substitute vegetable broth for the beef and chicken broth, add two teaspoons of onion powder and 1/2 teaspoon of hot pepper flakes for a flavor boost, and substitute cubed roasted root vegetables or butternut squash for the sausage. The addition of some chopped fresh spinach half an hour before serving is great too.

Since we get at least two meals out of this, on the second night I add some cooked mini egg bows (or other tiny soup pasta) to the reheated soup for variety. It really is delicious. Everyone loves it, even those who are not enthusiastic about soup.

Sausage and Lentil Soup

Serves 6-8

1 pound hot Italian sausage (or cubed root vegetables or butternut squash)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion

1 shallot

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

16 ounces dry lentils, any variety

3 14.5 ounce cans chicken broth

1 14.5 ounce can beef broth

4 cups water

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning - or a blend of parsley, oregano, basil and thyme to equal 1 teaspoon dry or 1 tablespoon fresh

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup dry small egg bows (cook before adding) - optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Poke each sausage a few times with a fork. Place in baking pan and bake for 30 minutes (if you are making the vegetarian version, toss cubed root vegetables or butternut squash with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake 25 minutes). Set aside.

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add shallot, onion, celery and carrot. Cook until onion softens. Add garlic and cook about 2 more minutes, being careful not to let garlic brown. Stir in lentils, broths, tomatoes, water, sliced sausages and seasonings. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for at least an hour, until lentils are tender. At this point, the soup is ready, but can tolerate simmering a couple more hours if that would be convenient, or hanging out in a crock pot on low for a few hours. A half hour before serving, add the chopped spinach if you are using it (or roasted root vegetables for vegetarian version), and ten minutes before serving, add the cooked pasta.

Serve with some good crusty bread and Parmesan cheese.

Brown Butter, Ginger, and Sour Cream Coffee Cake

2011-10-24T20:15:00.001-04:00

"If toast always lands butter-side down, and cats always land on their feet, what happens if you strap toast on the back of a cat and drop it?"

~Stephen Wright

I'm a sucker for coffee cake. So when the November Bon Appetit arrived in the mail two days ago, I did not get past page 56, where this recipe resided. It was a "must make" find. This is unlike me. Usually the recipes I see in magazines sit around for months or years until I stumble across them again. The really, really good ones get ripped out of the magazine and placed in a file folder in the kitchen. Those are the short-list ones that I might actually get to before I forget about them.

In this case, the recipe pushed all the right buttons. It's COFFEE-CAKE, with brown butter, actually done on purpose, haha.....and toasted almonds, my favorite. There is wheat flour in it (fits my new whole grain kick), and I had all the ingredients on hand, including a large bag of crystallized ginger that I need to use up before it becomes petrified ginger (if you have a recipe for that, let me know).

I ran into a couple minor problems with this cake. First, the batter was a bit loose, so the filling sank and the topping started to get swallowed up by the batter as it baked. Half an hour before it was done I sprinkled a little more chopped nuts and sugar on it, so it would still look good. Next time, I'll omit the half cup of milk so that the batter is a bit thicker. Second, it called for a 10-inch tube pan with a removable bottom. I only have a 9-inch one, so I used it and crossed my fingers. The batter filled it right up so I put a cookie sheet under to catch any spillover, which by the way, baked into cookie/muffin-top-like things that the Mister ate the minute he walked into the house after work and said "OMG, this is so friggin good, I could chew the (burnt) stuff off the pan."

The problems were not insurmountable and the resulting cake was really delicious and different, reminding me of salted caramel with a kick of ginger. It's a keeper.

Brown Butter, Ginger, and Sour Cream Coffee Cake

from Nov '11 issue of Bon Appetit

Brown Butter

2 cups plus 2 T unsalted butter [I used salted butter and liked the result]

Topping

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger

Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1/2 cup milk [next time I will omit this]

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup almonds with skins, coarsely chopped [I used roasted almonds]

Special equipment: A 10" tube pan with removable bottom.

Brown Butter: Simmer 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned bits form, 6-8 minutes. Pour into a 2-cup measuring cup. If needed, add more butter to measure 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons.

Topping: Whisk flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in 3/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons brown butter (reserve remaining butter for cake); stir until moist clumps form. Stir in ginger. Set aside.

Cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter pan generously. In a medium bowl, whisk all-purpose flour and next 7 ingredients together. Set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat remaining 1 cup browned butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and thick, 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions. Beat in sour cream, milk, and vanilla. Stir in flour just to blend.

Spoon half of the batter into prepared pan; smooth top. Scatter 1 cup of topping over. Spoon remaining batter in dollops over; smooth. Add almonds to remaining topping. Sprinkle evenly over batter in pan.

Bake until a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around pan to release cake. Remove side pans; let cool completely.

Multigrain Bread

2011-10-16T06:55:00.006-04:00

Alte brot is nicht hart. Keine brot, das is hart.

Translated: "Old bread is not hard. No bread. That is hard."

Old German Proverb

I started this blog to share recipes I'm excited about and I am very excited about this one! When the invite arrived to participate in a "Handmade Loaves" blog event, I knew this was the one to share.

The idea to develop a multigrain bread recipe was spawned when my favorite loaf went up to $5.99 at the market. Initial investigation revealed that trying to buy all the grains separately could really add up. For a home cook like me, it made more sense to pick up a good hot cereal mix that contains all the elements. Not instant, and no sugar or additives. There were many out there, all different combinations, but I settled for Bob's Red Mill Organic Whole Grain Hot Cereal mix. You can pick one with a combination that you like.

I also add this to my granola now too!

It contains whole grain oats, wheat bran, flaxseed meal, oat bran and wheat germ. Now, if you have these things in your pantry, feel free to make and use your own mix. To my local friends, I found this at Ocean State Job Lot, but they have it at the Natural Food Store in Niantic, too. Right before the kneading stage, I added roasted unsalted sunflower seeds, but you could add wheat berries, sesame seeds or even raisins if you wanted.

If you've never made bread before, this may not be the recipe to start with. Not that it's difficult, just that whole grain breads are less forgiving then their white counterparts. There are a couple steps that can't be skipped. Trust me, my first attempt resulted in two inedible bricks that I had to toss. When you put a loaf of white bread in the oven, it continues to rise, but a whole grain loaf stays put, so you have to let it rise completely before you bake it.

Also, after the grains and liquids are combined, they need to sit for 20 minutes to thoroughly absorb the moisture, otherwise you risk adding too much flour, resulting in a dry, crumbly loaf. Lastly, it takes a lot more effort to develop the gluten in whole grain dough, so I found it needs a full 15 minute vigorous knead. I'm a proponent of hand kneading, but for this bread I used my electric mixer with the dough hook attachments. If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook, that would be the easiest. You can hand knead it, but it may not rise as high. I also drew elements from two of my favorite bread recipes, challah and my Grandma's rolls, to add richness and flavor that was lacking.

The effort is worth it. The bread turned out delicious and was great straight up, toasted or for sandwiches; a delicious, just slightly sweet and nutty flavor with a soft texture. Audrey said it was better than our store-bought favorite. I will now be making it weekly. One loaf to eat, one to freeze for later. Bread baking is really satisfying. One of my son's house-mates has taken to it, and once in a while turns out some artisan bread that Curt says they literally could cry with joy while they eat it. You really can't ask for more than that! I hope I can convince you to give it a try!

Multigrain Bread
A recipe by The Irish Mother

1 1/4 cup mixed grain hot cereal mix
2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup evaporated milk
4 cups bread flour (plus another 1 or 2 cups for kneading)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten
6 tablespoons butter, melted
2 packets fast-rise instant yeast (2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1 egg white
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Measure cereal mix into a large bowl (or bowl for stand mixer). Pour boiling water over, then let it sit about 15 mins. Add evaporated milk, honey, molasses, butter, salt and vital wheat gluten. Touch mixture. If it is very warm, but not hot (not over 115 degrees), add yeast. If it's too hot, wait a few minutes and do the touch test again. Set aside for 5-10 minutes to proof the yeast. It should begin to bubble in a few minutes. In the meantime, in a medium bowl, stir together 4 cups bread flour and 1 1/2 cups wheat flour.

By hand, stir 2 cups of the flour mixture into the wet yeast mixture. At this point, attach dough hooks to your mixer and start adding flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough starts to separate from the sides of the bowl and forms a rough dough. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 20 minutes. This is important; it allows the dough to absorb moisture.

Using your mixer with dough hook(s), start kneading dough, adding the sunflower seeds (or wheatberries, sesame seeds, or raisins). Add 1-2 tablespoons of flour mixture (or extra bread flour) if it looks ragged, or is sticking to the sides of the bowl. Knead like this 10 minutes. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead five minutes more.

Pour 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil into a large bowl. Place dough in bowl, turning to coat with oil. Cover bowl and place in a warm, draft-free room. Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 to 2 hours.

Grease 2 loaf pans. Cut dough in half and shape into loaves. If you've never done this before, you pat it into a rectangle and then roll up, tucking ends under. Lightly beat egg white with a fork. Using your fingers, rub egg white on loaves. Sprinkle oats onto a clean cutting board. Roll loaves in oats. Place seam side down in the pans. Cover pans with a damp tea towel.

Let rise until double in bulk, about 1 to 2 hours.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes, then remove from pans onto cooling racks. Cool completely before slicing (if you can wait that long!) This bread freezes well.

Artichoke and Mushroom Lasagna

2011-10-12T10:55:00.000-04:00

"When the lasagna content in my blood gets low, I get mean."

~Garfield

I'm always thrilled to meet someone who loves to cook. I get all excited to talk cooking, share tips and swap recipes and ideas, so when I met Curt's future Mother-in-Law and she presented me with a cookbook she made from this blog and shared that she had one of her own (which I promptly purchased,) I knew I did not just meet a new family member, but a friend as well.

She sent me this recipe a few weeks ago. It was really scrumptious and we all loved it. I was delighted to have another meatless dinner I could serve to the resident vegetarian, without leaving the carnivores wanting.

Have you ever had hot artichoke cheese dip? It reminded me a little of that. Rich and cheesy, yet elegant, with layers of earthy, meaty mushrooms, for substance. I loved the addition of dry white vermouth to the filling, it elevated the whole dish. Since there are only 3 of us these days, I cut the recipe in half and made it in a casserole dish.

The recipe calls for the no-boil noodles, but since I had the old fashioned ones on hand, I par-cooked them and used them instead. Will definitely add this one to the rotation for those times I need a lasagna fix. Thanks Deb!

nom nom nom

Artichoke and Mushroom Lasagna

8 servings

from Deb Hilmer, by way of Epicurious

Filling:

2 Tablespoons butter

1 pound mushrooms, sliced

3 garlic cloves

2 8-ounce packages frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, coarsely chopped

1 cup dry vermouth

Bechamel Sauce

4 1/2 tablespoons butter

4 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour

4 1/2 cups whole milk

2 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 7 1/2 ounces)

ground nutmeg

1 9-ounce package oven-ready (no-boil) lasagna noodles

1 pound whole-milk mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

For filling:

Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and garlic; saute until mushrooms release juices and begin to brown, about 7 minutes. Add artichokes and vermouth. Cook until liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

For bechamel sauce:

Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour; stir 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce thickens and lightly coats spoon, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Stir in 1 1/2 cups Parmesan. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and ground nutmeg.

Spread 2/3 cup bechamel sauce over bottom of 13x9x2 inch baking dish. Top with enough noodles to cover bottom of dish. Spread 1/4 of artichoke mixture over. Spoon 2/3 cup bechamel sauce over. Top bechamel with 1/4 of the mozzarella.

Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons Parmesan. Top with enough noodles to cover. Repeat layering 3 more times, finishing with a layer of noodles, then remaining bechamel. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover with foil and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake lasagna covered with foil 1 hour (or 1 hour 15 minutes, if chilled). Remove foil. Increase temperature to 450 degrees. Bake lasagna until golden on top, about 10 minutes longer.

Favorite Old Fashioned Gingerbread

2011-10-08T18:27:00.000-04:00

"And had I but one penny in the world. Thou shoud'st have it to buy gingerbread."

~William Shakespeare, Love's Labours Lost

This treat was a last minute thought. I brought salads home for dinner and figured a dessert was in order. Can't be TOO good, after all. These first few chilly days of fall have got me thinking of comfort food, and gingerbread came to mind as it was something my mother often made. Always, and this is important, served with home-made whipped cream, which I had a ritual of spreading down all sides of my square of cake, until it was fluffy white cloud.

Some habits die hard

This cake is really, really easy and comes together quick. I even switched out half the all purpose flour with wheat pastry flour and you couldn't tell at all. This recipe came from Allrecipes and it was perfect.

Favorite Old Fashioned Gingerbread

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup molasses

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-inch square pan. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in egg and molasses. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and spices. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in hot water. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cheddar Chive Souffle

2011-10-04T15:42:00.000-04:00

"The only thing that will make a souffle fall is if it knows you are afraid of it."

~James Beard

With the ranks of vegetarians growing in my family, I've found the need to dust off my Moosewood cookbook and get creative in my offerings. After all, I want everyone's bellies to be happy!

The first time I made cheese souffle was in 1977. I was eleven years old and had been reading my mother's Fanny Farmer cookbook. Yes, even as a kid I was a little dork who read cookbooks cover to cover. The souffle was a success; savory and ethereal...one of the confidence boosters that launched my love of cooking.

This makes a great dinner. Three of us split it with a salad and bread and there was nothing left. If you serve it to guests, you just need to make sure that everyone is seated at the table before the oven timer dings. You only have about one and a half minutes before it starts to fall. Of course, it's just as delicious fallen, but visually, much more appetizing to serve in full "poof."

This time I used the recipe from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook and added chopped fresh chives from the garden. There are a few steps involved, but it is not difficult and success is assured if you just keep in mind a few things:

1. Follow the directions exactly.
2. Make sure your eggs are at room temperature.
3. Beat the egg whites until they are stiff, but not dry.
4. Fold beaten egg whites carefully into batter with a rubber spatula.
5. Use a straight-sided souffle dish and butter the inside thoroughly.
6. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN TO PEEK AT IT!
7. DO NOT JUMP ROPE OR GRECO-ROMAN WRESTLE IN THE KITCHEN while the souffle is baking!

Cheddar and Chive Souffle

6 eggs, separated
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 1/4 cups milk, brought to a boil and still hot
1 1/2 packed cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Separate the eggs; put both yolks and whites in large bowls, cover them and let them come to room temperature.

2. In a medium-sized saucepan, melt the butter. Sprinkle in the flour and dry mustard, whisking constantly as you sprinkle. Cook over low heat - still whisking - for a solid minute.

3. Slowly pour the hot milk in, whisking vigorously as you do, so that the mixture stays smooth and uniform. Keep this mixture over low heat, stirring constantly. As soon as it starts to bubble, remove from heat, stir in the grated cheese, and season with salt and peppers. Let this mixture cool to room temperature.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat the egg yolks, then beat them into the cooled sauce, then return the mixture back to the egg yolk bowl.

5. Beat the whites until stiff. Fold them swiftly and adeptly into the first mixture. Transfer batter to prepared souffle dish and place it in the preheated oven. Bake for 40 minutes, undisturbed, and serve it posthaste to your already seated guests!

Coconut Pie with Warm Rum Fig Caramel Sauce

2011-09-28T20:54:00.000-04:00

"Hunger is the best sauce in the world."

~Cervantes

The fresh fig season here is so short that there are years I don't even see them at the market. When I spotted some today, I had to buy them even though no recipe was in mind. Think...think...think....AHA! Back in March, to conclude dinner at Bonefish in Tampa, the Mister and I had the most wonderful warm coconut pie with rum raisin sauce. We decided to share since we both love coconut, but then each raced to get the most bites because the rum raisin sauce was so darn good with it!

Here is my attempt to duplicate it, substituting fresh figs for the raisins. The warm, sweet, buttery, boozy sauce goes so deliciously with the coconut pie. Either one could stand on it's own as well. You could use the sauce on pound cake or ice cream and this pie is delicious warm or cold; as is, or with a dollop of whipped cream.

I found the pie recipe on Allrecipes and after reading the reviews, made a few changes of my own. It was easy and came out perfect. The custard filling didn't run at all. It was really delicious and will be my go-to coconut pie from now on! For the fig sauce, I started with a recipe from Food and Wine but used stewed fresh figs instead of plumped raisins. A little tweaking with butter and salt and I was transported right back to Florida...Ah, food memories.

Coconut Pie

4 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon coconut extract

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup cream

1 1/2 cups coconut

1 (9-inch) pie shell [I'll include my pie crust recipe at end of post if you need it]

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter, softened

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Beat eggs slightly, stir in white sugar, salt and extracts. Gradually stir in milk and cream. Add 1 cup of the coconut to the filling, and reserve remaining 1/2 cup for the top. Pour filling into unbaked pie shell. Bake pie for 35-40 minutes, or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool pie completely. Before serving, mix 1/2 cup coconut with soft butter and brown sugar. Sprinkle on top of pie. Broil 3 or 4 inches away from the heat, for 2 - 4 minutes. Keep your eye on it, because it will burn quickly.

Warm Rum Fig Caramel Sauce

9 fresh figs, stems removed and halved

1 cup water (for stewing figs)

3/4 cup dark rum

3 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

Combine figs and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes; drain.

Pour rum over figs, bring JUST to the boiling point, then remove from heat and set aside.

In a heavy medium saucepan, combine the sugar and 1/2 cup water and cook over moderate heat until a deep amber caramel forms. Remove from the heat. Slowly and carefully add a little of the heavy cream to stop the cooking. Add the remaining heavy cream and stir in the figs (and rum) salt and butter. Serve warm.

Sauce can be refrigerated for 1 week. Reheat gently, stirring occasionally, before serving.

In case you are interested, here is my pastry crust recipe for the 9-inch pie shell.

PASTRY for 9-inch PIE

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup Crisco (shortening)

5-6 tablespoons ice cold club soda (or gingerale, or water)

In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt. Using two knives (or pastry blender), cut in shortening until particles are the size of small peas. Sprinkle flour mixture with water, 1 tablespoon at a time, while tossing and mixing lightly with a fork. Add water until dough is just moist enough to hold together. Too much water causes dough to be sticky and tough. Not enough water and it is difficult to roll out and edges crack.

Form dough first into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Place on well floured surface. Sprinkle top of dough with a little flour. With a rolling pin, roll dough out into a circle 1 inch larger than your inverted pie plate. Fold dough in half. Lift carefully, place in pie plate and unfold. Trim dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of plate. Turn dough under at edge and flute using two fingers.

German Crumb Cake, Brooklyn Style

2011-09-21T16:17:00.000-04:00

"For a really good crumb cake, you need to have yeast dough."

~Carla (ask.com)

Almost every week growing up, we would have an Entenmann's crumb cake. I loved those things, and it wouldn't last long in our house. We made sour cream coffee cake all the time, but it's not the same (although I love that, too!). Well, years ago, while reading a women's magazine in a doctor's office, there it was. A crumb cake recipe of German origin, typically made by emigrants in the Brooklyn section of New York. And guess what? That little baked-good company my family helped keep in business was a German bakery opened in yes, Brooklyn N.Y. in 1898. I found what I was searching for! A couple years ago, I couldn't locate the clipping, and had to do some research to duplicate it, because, although I could remember the ingredients and procedure, I could not remember the exact amounts. Cook's Illustrated had a recipe that was close, I just had to change an ingredient and tweak the procedure.

When you read through the recipe, don't be thwarted by using the lemon juice to curdle the buttermilk, that is the magic element that gives it that distinct flavor. Don't worry, it doesn't end up tasting like lemon or sour or anything like that. It is just fabulously delicious, moist, buttery and perfectly crumbed. The cake I made this morning is already gone, except for the one piece I hid for myself for tomorrow morning (don't judge me).

Also, although it is a yeast dough, it requires no kneading and is just as easy as any sour cream coffee cake, it simply needs time to raise. Conveniently enough, you can do the second rising in the fridge overnight, and bake it fresh in the morning. That's what I did!

German Crumb Cake

Adapted from a Cook's Illustrated recipe

Batter:

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup, plus 1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 large eggs, at room temperature (this is very important)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3/4 cup butter, melted

Crumb Topping:

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cut into small pieces

1 teaspoon vanilla

Confectioner's sugar for dusting

In a small saucepan, heat buttermilk until warm to the touch. Be careful not to let it boil, or get too hot (over 115 degrees) or it will kill the yeast. Stir in sugar and yeast. Set aside for about 5 minutes to proof the yeast. It should start to get foamy, which means the yeast is working.

Add lemon juice to yeast mixture and let stand until curdled, about 1 minute. In a large bowl, add 3 3/4 cups of flour and salt. Add yeast mixture, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer on low until just combined, then continue beating on medium until dough is silky and elastic, about 5 minutes. Dough will be very sticky. Leave dough in bowl and sprinkle with two tablespoons flour. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Pulse together topping ingredients in a a food processor until many large clumps form. Transfer to a bowl and chill, covered, until ready to use.

Grease a 13x9-inch baking dish. Stir down dough, then spread evenly in the prepared baking dish.

Sprinkle dough with half the crumb mixture, then cover dish with plastic wrap and let rise in a draft free place at warm room temperature until almost doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (OR place in the fridge to do this second rising overnight.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle remaining topping evenly over the cake and bake 50-60 minutes, until topping is golden brown. Cool cake in pan on a rack until barely warm, then dust lightly with confectioner's sugar and cut into squares.

Pierogies with Fried Cabbage and Bacon

2011-09-20T16:25:00.000-04:00

"If you lived on cabbage, you would not be obliged to flatter the powerful." To which the courtier replied, "If you flattered the powerful, you would not be obliged to live upon cabbage."

~Diogenes, ancient Greek philosopher's advice to a young courtier

A few weeks ago, we caught an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives where they were cooking cabbage with bacon and onion. It was filmed so vividly we could practically smell it and the Mister and I looked at each other like "oh yeah....we've gotta have some of that." The bug was planted. He and I love cabbage. I usually stir-fry it with some garlic salt, fennel seed and a little balsamic vinegar, but this looked even better. I fished around online until I found something from All Recipes that sounded about right.

Now, Audrey loves pierogies so that was my choice to round out the dinner. Little did I think she would eat the cabbage, and I was greatly surprised when she poked her head in the pot and mentioned how good it smelled and that she would try it, and later, that she liked the cabbage dish better than the pierogies. That it was the first time she ever enjoyed vegetables so much. There you have it. The best endorsement I can give you.

I purchased the potato and cheese pierogies fresh at the market, boiled them for one minute, then sauteed them in a little butter for a few minutes on each side, until they were lightly browned, then set them in the oven to keep warm while I made the cabbage.

Fried Cabbage with Bacon

From All Recipes.com

6 slices bacon, chopped

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

I large head cabbage, cored and sliced

2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon paprika

Place the bacon in a large stock and cook over medium-high heat until crispy, about 10 minutes. Add the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion caramelizes; about 10 minutes. Immediately stir in the cabbage and continue to cook and stir another 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Great served with pierogies and sour cream.

Serves 4.

The Irish Mother: Raisin Bran Granola Cinnamon Buns

2011-09-15T10:28:00.000-04:00

The Irish Mother: Raisin Bran Granola Cinnamon Buns: "Now for the tea of our host, now for the rollicking bun, now for the muffin and toast, now for the gay Sally Lunn!" ~William Shakespeare ...

Raisin Bran Granola Cinnamon Buns

2011-09-15T10:27:00.001-04:00

"Now for the tea of our host, now for the rollicking bun, now for the muffin and toast, now for the gay Sally Lunn!"

~William Shakespeare

In June, Gale Collier (of Oregon) won the 2011 Festival of Breads amateur bread baking contest in Kansas with a recipe for quick raisin granola breakfast rolls, in the quick and easy category. I set the recipe aside to try in the fall since it reminded me of something you would find at a Bed and Breakfast in Vermont.

Well, yesterday I started to make them and only then noticed it was a bread machine recipe, so I had to play with it since I don't use a bread machine. While converting it, a thought occurred to use the dough for a more wholesome cinnamon bun. They came out great and were especially delicious sliced, toasted and buttered. Although they reminded me of a cross between a bowl of oatmeal and a cinnamon roll, Audrey wasn't buying it. She clearly prefers the original, old fashioned cinnamon roll.

I liken it to comparing ice cream to frozen yogurt. Is frozen yogurt good? Yes. Is it as good as ice cream....um...no. A classic cinnamon bun from Cinnabon has about 880 calories. One of these raisin bran granola cinnamon buns would be about *500. That's a significant difference, but for me it was the whole-grain boost that got my attention. I liked them enough that I would make them again for sure and thought they were worth sharing with you. The sinful ones will be reserved for special occasions, such as Christmas breakfast or brunch, where they are a tradition.
If you have a bread machine, feel free to follow the link to the original directions.

Raisin Bran Granola Cinnamon Buns

Dough:

1 cup raisin bran cereal

1 cup cinnamon raisin granola

2 tablespoons butter, softened

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon honey

2 cups buttermilk, at room temp, or warmed gently

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups bread flour

1 1/3 cups wheat pastry flour

1 package active dry yeast

Filling:

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Topping:

1 cup granola, crushed

1 egg white, beaten

Place raisin bran and granola in a large plastic bag. Using a rolling pin or meat mallet, finely crush cereal.

If your buttermilk is cold, place in a saucepan on low and gently warm it (not to exceed 110 degrees), just til it is warm to the touch. Do not let it get too hot or boil! Stir in butter, brown sugar and honey and yeast; set aside.

In a large bowl, add crushed cereals, 2 1/2 cups bread flour, 1 1/3 cups wheat pastry flour and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir in wet ingredients. On a large cutting board or kneading surface, add 1 cup of bread flour, spread out a bit. Turn dough onto the flour. Sprinkle more flour on top of dough and knead for 5 minutes, adding more bread flour as needed. Place dough in an oiled bowl and turn to coat all sides. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free room. Let rise for one hour or until doubled in bulk.

Grease a 13x9 inch baking pan. Punch down dough and pat 12x12 inch square. Spread square evenly with butter and then sprinkle on the brown sugar and cinnamon, distributing evenly. Roll dough up and pinch end to seal. Slice roll into eight equal pieces.

Beat egg white in a shallow bowl. Placed crushed granola in another shallow bowl. Dip each roll top and side in egg white and then in crushed granola. Place in prepared pan. Cover pan with plastic wrap and let rise for an hour or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake rolls for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.

*caloric data calculated thusly: One batch of original rolls makes 16 rolls at 194 calories each. The same amount of dough made 8 cinnamon buns, so they would be 388 each, plus an extra 112 for the butter and sugar filling.

Beef Empanadas with Black Bean Dipping Sauce

2011-09-14T08:03:00.002-04:00

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song over hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

~J. R.R. Tolkien

I'm a little behind. I seem to be making a lot of recipes that I discovered in June. I suppose it could be worse. They could be the recipes I discovered in 1996 and have been meaning to get to. Seriously... I have a big backlog. This one was a great discovery. It was in the June edition of Bon Apetit.

Football season caught me by surprise last weekend, but this Saturday, I'll be prepared! We love to have little gatherings on game days, and food always plays a part in the good times.

I was skeptical of the bean dipping sauce, but went with it anyway. It was surprisingly good. Even Audrey, who begged off while I was serving it, dipped her finger in for a taste and changed her mind.

For something that looked rather plain, these empanadas evoked quite a response from my two dinner co-horts. The Mister exclaimed "DAMN!" or rather, "daaay-yum." When I said I thought they'd be great for game day, he responded "you'll have to make dozens." Audrey was equally effusive in her comments, even regarding the bean dip, concluding with "These are a new favorite. You need to make them again." And I just might...this Saturday for the Notre Dame vs. Michigan State game (go Irish!).

Beef Empanadas with Black Bean Dipping Sauce

Recipe from Grace Bay Club in Turks and Caicos, as presented by Bon Apetit

Makes 12.

Beef Empanadas

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1/2 pound ground beef

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/3 cup fresh cilantro (I didn't have any, so I used parsley)

[I added 1/2 cup finely shredded cheddar to mine]

Salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 17.3 ounce packages frozen puff pastry (3 sheets) thawed

3 large egg yolks, beaten (for glaze)

Dipping Sauce
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup sour cream

2 Roma tomatoes, seeded, chopped and divided

2 large scallions, chopped, divided

salt and pepper

Beef Empanadas: Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and garlic; cook, stirring often and breaking into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until beef is cooked, about 3 minutes. Add tomato paste, cumin, and cayenne. Reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring often, to let flavors meld, about 4 minutes. Add cilantro; season to taste with salt and pepper. Let filling cool to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut each pastry sheet into 4 squares, for a total of 12. Lightly brush edges of squares with glaze. Spoon filling into the center of each [I chose to add a little grated cheddar at this step], dividing equally. Fold edges over, forming triangles, and press to seal. Crimp edges with a fork. Divide triangles between sheets. Brush tops with glaze. DO AHEAD: Can be prepared 6 hours in advance. Cover and chill.

Bake until tops are puffed and golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Dipping Sauce

Meanwhile, puree beans and sour cream in blender until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in half of tomatoes and half of scallions. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle remaining tomatoes and scallions over.

Pumpkin Spice Cake, Made Healthier

2011-09-08T16:08:00.001-04:00

"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion."

~Henry David Thoreau

If you stop here often, you'll probably notice a couple recurring themes. They both happened to come together for this recipe. One is that I hate to waste anything, the other is that I'm updating recipes to include more whole grains. Last weekend, when I cleaned out the pantry and spice cupboards I found a can of pumpkin about to expire. I left it out to remind myself to use it and handling all the spices brought this cake to mind. My recipe is nearly 25 years old. It's a spoon cake that is so moist and delicious you can't believe how easy it is. At the bottom of this post, I'll give you the circa 1987 recipe, but first I'll give you the healthier version of it. I added half wheat pastry flour and cut the white sugar by adding some honey and molasses, giving it a slight gingerbread undertone.

White flour uses only the endosperm of the wheat grain, whereas whole wheat pastry flour uses the entire wheat grain, so you're not exactly making it whole grain, but it does increase the nutritional value of the cake. It darkened up the crumb a little, but didn't make it heavy or grainy. Next time I'll try it using all wheat pastry flour. This cake is really packed with pumpkin and when you consider how rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals pumpkin is, you may want to have it as a snack more often. After all, it's almost guilt-free cake. It would be great with raisins and nuts, but I left them out, so Audrey would eat it. You could omit the cream cheese frosting and simply give it a dusting of confectioner's sugar. That would make it easier to pack in lunches and more acceptable as breakfast treat too, although the frosting wouldn't stop me at breakfast.

Pumpkin Spice Cake, Made Healthier, a recipe by Margaret Murphy Tripp

1 large bundt cake or 13x9 inch pan

1 29-ounce can of plain pumpkin

1 cup oil

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup honey

2 tablespoons molasses

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups wheat pastry flour

1 1/4 cups white flour

1/4 cup crystalized ginger, chopped fine

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large bundt pan, tube pan or 13x9 inch pan. Set aside. In a large bowl, add the first 8 ingredients and whisk together. In a medium size bowl, add the remaining ingredients and stir together. Add dry ingredients to wet and stir together just until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Make sure you have 1/2 inch room at top of pan. If there is extra batter, use it for mini-loaf or a couple muffins. Bake cake for 60-75 minutes or until a knife or cake tester comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then turn out of pan (if bundt cake). Cool completely. Dust with confectioner's sugar or spread with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 tablespoons butter, softened

1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened

3/4 of a one-pound box of confectioner's sugar

In a medium bowl, cream together butter and cheese. Beat in confectioner's sugar.

Original Pumpkin Spice Cake, circa 1987

3 cups pumpkin

3 cups sugar

1 cup oil

2/3 cup water

4 eggs

3 1/2 cups flour

1 cup walnuts

1 tablespoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl stir together first four ingredients. In a medium bowl, stir together remaining dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, stir just until moistened. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for one hour and 15 minutes to one hour and 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes, turn out of pan (if bundt cake) and let cool completely. Dust with confectioner's sugar or frost with cream cheese frosting.

Salmon Cakes with Garlic Chili Aioli

2011-09-04T20:33:00.001-04:00

"When you feel neglected, think of the female salmon, who lays 3,000,000 eggs but no one remembers her on Mother's Day."

~Sam Ewing

Three weeks ago, I had some company for one of our favorite dinners, salmon steaks with teriyaki barbeque glaze. A couple people couldn't make it, therefore, at the end of the night I had two beautiful, one-inch thick salmon steaks. I hate to waste anything these days, so this recipe for salmon cakes immediately sprang to mind. I remembered seeing it on the wonderful blog, One Perfect Bite in July. Mary, the blog author, has great recipes and is extremely prolific. I don't know how she does it! The garlic chili aioli sauce is my own recipe that I threw together that night just to go with the cakes and it was so good, I had to write it down.

Crab cakes are something I love to order in a good restaurant, but I've never had salmon cakes before. Put aside all preconceived notions (I had bad ones). These were amazing. There were only two things I did differently from Mary's recipe. One was that I used salmon steaks that had been grilled (instead of poached) and refrigerated overnight. The other was to coat the patty in bread crumbs before pan-searing them. If you do this, be sure to use homemade or plain panko breadcrumbs. The batter for these is very wet, and it's supposed to be. They firm up as you cook them. The key is always to use as little breadcrumbs in the batter as possible, so don't be tempted to add more. The salmon should be the star. I stirred them very, very gently so there would be big flakes in them and they came out, well, I know I said this before, but amazing. Everybody loved them, and the garlic chili aioli, too. After dinner, the Mister exclaimed they were better than crab cakes and said "note to self: BUY EXCESS SALMON." Last week, a few days before we lost power, we did just that. Only this time we grilled the salmon specifically so we could have these the next night. That's how good they are. Definitely NOT leftovers....way too good for that!!! But if find yourself with extra salmon...hey...treat yourself. You deserve it.

Please visit Mary's blog here for the recipe for salmon cakes.

Here is my recipe for garlic chili aioli:

Garlic Chili Aioli

a recipe by Margaret Murphy Tripp

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 cloves of garlic, minced or run through press

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic chili sauce (found in the asian food aisle)

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

Stir together all ingredients in a bowl. Serve with salmon cakes, crab cakes or in place of mayo on a sandwich. Heck, live on the edge...dip your fries in it.

Welcome to the Dark Side

2011-09-02T22:10:00.000-04:00

"Anyone who says they're not afraid at the time of a hurricane is either a fool or a liar, or a little bit of both. "

~Anderson Cooper

Life at our house for 5 days

Hurricane Irene slams into the East Coast, Aug 28 2011
Photo by NASA

If you're wondering why the blog has stalled in silence this past week, you can blame Irene. Hurricane Irene.

Sunday morning, August 28th, we were expecting her and lost power about 6 a.m. just as we were getting up, curious to watch the storm the media had hyped all week. Watching out the window, it didn't seem too bad, really. The action seemed to wrap up mid-afternoon, so we went for a walk around the neighborhood.

Tree down

Tree down across the road (one of many!)

Snapped telephone pole

Ka-POW! This tree looks like it exploded!

Tree on a power line, (the bugger!!!)

Now that's torque, Baby!

Still windy by the ocean

We lost power at 6 a.m. on Sunday, and it was not restored until 2 a.m. Friday. FIVE WHOLE DAYS....Lordy. Wandered into Panera on Monday morning for coffee, because of all things....I NEED coffee....real-good-coffee, or I get cranky, I admit it. But when I read in the paper what the folks in upstate New York and Vermont were going through with all the flooding, I knew we had it easy comparatively and that we should just suck it up and not complain. I tried really hard to stay positive, but by Wednesday I was starting to lose it. SO happy to be back with you :-).

Baked Stuffed Poached Pears with Gorgonzola, Dried Cranberries and Pecans

2011-08-25T20:01:00.000-04:00

"There are only ten minutes in the life of a pear when it is perfect to eat."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

This recipe is the marriage of two by Ina Garten. I've always loved blue cheese, but the Mister has just in recent months developed a taste for it, freeing me to try things I've passed over for years. For the previous 23 years he would only tolerate it if it hitched a ride on a buffalo wing.

These pears present so beautifully as a salad. For a light luncheon, it would be as lovely as healthful. I don't think I'd go through the trouble for an ordinary or weeknight meal though. It would be easier just to toss a salad with chopped pear, cranberries nuts and blue cheese, but it gets aces for presentation and I would definitely recommend it as a company dish.

Baked Stuffed Poached Pears with Gorgonzola, Dried Cranberries and Pecans

Serves 4

Adapted from a recipe by Ina Garten

2 pears, either Bosc or Anjou

1/2 fresh lemon, juiced

1 1/2 cups white or port wine

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 whole star anise (optional)

1 lemon peel

1/2 cup Gorgonzola cheese

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup roughly chopped roasted pecans

Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup poaching liquid

1/4 cup walnut or canola oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast your pecans lightly at this time. It shouldn't take more than 5 minutes.

Peel pears, coring seed area and leaving stems intact and slicing rounded "bottom" off so they won't roll around in the baking dish. Place in a shallow baking dish just big enough to hold them.

Pour lemon juice all over the pears and coat all sides. In a small bowl, mix cheese, berries and nuts. Stuff each of the 4 pear halves using all of this mixture. In a small bowl, stir together the wine, sugar, star anise and lemon peel. Pour this mixture over the pears. Bake for 30 minutes. Spoon or baste some of the poaching juices over the pears once during baking.

Remove from oven. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients. Divide head of lettuce equally between 4 plates. Place one stuffed pear on each and drizzle vinaigrette over. Serve immediately.

Blueberry Pie with Wheat Crust...Health Food Disguised as Dessert

2011-08-23T08:34:00.000-04:00

"A boy doesn't have to go to war to be a hero; he can say he doesn't like pie when he sees there isn't enough to go around."

~ E.W. Howe

The Mister wanted me to call this "Friggin Awesome Blueberry Pie" but I opted to tout it's healthful qualities instead. Maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better since he and I polished it off by ourselves in 3 days. And this was a big ten-inch pie. In case you don't have a pie plate that big, at the end of the recipe I included the ingredient list for the more standard 9-inch plate. If you are averse to the filling running, just refrigerate the pie. The above photo was shot while it was still warm and juicy. When cold, it holds it's shape very nicely without being gummy and the blueberries still burst with juice. Between the antioxidant qualities of the berries and the enriched crust, this is a pie you don't have to feel guilty about.

I've been experimenting with adding more whole grain flours to my recipes and this one was no exception. The resulting crust was really delicious. The wheat pastry flour didn't weigh it down...it was flaky and tender as always with a great flavor. Remember your New Year's resolution to eat healthier? Here you go. Glad to help ;-)

Blueberry Pie with Wheat Crust
Makes one 10-inch pie

6 cups fresh blueberries

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons butter

Wheat Pastry Crust

for a 10-inch pie

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups wheat PASTRY flour

1 mounded tablespoon sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 cup cold butter (or Crisco)

7-9 tablespoons ice water (humidity and altitude affect how much water the dough will need to come together)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. See above ingredient list for Wheat Pastry Crust. Mix flours, sugar and salt in a large bowl. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle with ice water, one tablespoon at a time, while tossing the mixture up from the bottom of the bowl with a fork. With your hands, gather the dough to form a ball; divide in half. Sprinkle your working surface with flour. Pat one of the halves into a disk. Place on floured working surface and roll out with a floured rolling pin until it is at least 12 inches in diameter. Line pie plate with dough, letting excess hang over edge.

Place second half of dough in the fridge. In a large bowl, toss berries with flour, sugar and lemon juice. Pour onto bottom crust. Dot with butter. Roll out second half of dough and cover the pie. Using scissors, trim crusts together, just outside of rim of pie plate. Turn under the edge and crimp it. Cut four slits to vent steam. Brush top with milk and sprinkle liberally with granulated sugar. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, then turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 25 - 35 minutes longer. Makes one 10-inch pie.

Just in case you don't have a 10-inch pie plate, here is the ingredient list to make a 9-inch pie:

4 cups blueberries

3/4 cup sugar

1 heaping tablespoon flour

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons butter

Wheat Pastry Crust:

for a 9-inch pie

1 cup flour

1 cup wheat PASTRY flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup cold butter (or Crisco)

5 - 6 tablespoons ice water

A Tip for Grilled Swordfish

2011-08-20T17:52:00.001-04:00

"It has always been my private conviction that any man that puts his intelligence up against a fish and loses had it coming."

~John Steinbeck

This is just a suggestion, not a recipe. Right now is a great time to find fresh swordfish. If you're lucky enough to get your hands on some, try this before you grill it, to ensure it stays really moist and tasty.

Mix 1/3 cup mayonnaise with 3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Massage this on all sides of the swordfish fillets before you grill it. My brother-in-law prepared it for us this way 20 years ago and now it's the only way we like it. Thought it was worth sharing.

Old Fashioned Buttermilk Chocolate Cake

2011-08-19T16:24:00.000-04:00

"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."

~Charles M. Schulz

Last week while we were at the lake, I was craving this cake. Keep in mind, I have at least 50 cookbooks, tons of food magazines and if you include access to the internet, the ability to find thousands of chocolate cake recipes. But THIS is the one I go back to the most. Beside the fact that it is impossibly moist and has that old fashioned dense crumb that cannot be duplicated by a box mix, it is just as easy, requiring only a wooden spoon to whip it together.

The recipe has a dual origin. You see, one of my oldest and closest friends, Marlene, and my sister-in-law, Joy, share a grandmother. They are cousins and grew up next door to each other (the world really is small and getting smaller). This recipe is hers. Gram Carlson's buttermilk chocolate cake. I scribbled it down nearly 20 years ago and it's so used and stained now I can barely read it.

There's something about it. So moist, yet not too rich. Fluffy frosting that is not overly sweet. Flavored lightly with cocoa, it has almost a mocha taste, reminding me of the chocolate frosting my own grandmother used to make. Sometimes simple really is best, and a recipe that stands the test of time is worth noting. This has been a family favorite for years. Hope you get a chance to try it. As for me, it was the first thing I baked when we got back from the lake. The craving wouldn't quit. Consider yourself warned.

Gram Carlson's Buttermilk Chocolate Cake

One 13x9 inch cake

Cake:

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 sticks (1 cup) of butter

4 tablespoons cocoa (I use a rounded 1/4 cup)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup water

Frosting:

4 tablespoons butter, softened

4 tablespoons Crisco (shortening)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup cocoa

1 box confectioner's sugar (10x sugar - 1 lb box)

milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9 inch pan. In a large mixing bowl, measure flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup water, 2 sticks of butter and 4 tablespoons of cocoa, just til butter melts. Let cool slightly. Add wet ingredients to dry, stirring together. Whisk in 2 eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan. Batter will be wet. Bake for 30 mins.

For frosting: In a large bowl, beat together butter, Crisco and vanilla. A handheld electric mixture works best, but you could do it with a spoon. Beat in cocoa, then powdered sugar. Add two tablespoons milk, then beat in one tablespoon at a time until it reaches a nice spreading consistency where it will hold peaks.

Spread onto completely cooled cake.

The Best Gift Ever: My Blog Made into a Cookbook!

2011-08-17T11:41:00.000-04:00

"A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

~Margaret Mead

The past couple of weeks have been quite eventful. Please forgive my blog-neglect! The prodigal son returned from Uganda. We went to our annual vacation at the lake. Same son got engaged. Yes, you read correctly. The young man popped the question.

It's a joyful and exciting time!

We had the pleasure of meeting the parents of the Bride-to-Be when they joined us at the lake for a few days and I was suprised when her mom presented me with one of the most thoughtful gifts I've ever received.
My blog made into a cookbook!

This unexpected gift floored me and I LOVED it! It is hardcover, includes the color photos from the blog and is organised into categories. Tastebook, I learned, was the tool that helped make the task a little easier. I wanted to share this with you because I'm certain many of you have family recipe collections you would probably love to organize in such a beautiful way. I know how I felt when this was handed to me. My daughter immediately said "I want a copy!" I've already used it a couple of times. So much easier than having my laptop in the kitchen. It's a useful treasure, but most of all I'll never forget the gesture of friendship and thoughtfulness with which it was compiled and given.