Broccoli Salad

BROCCOLI SALAD

Salad ingredients: 

1 head broccoli (cut into bite size pieces – tops only) 

1 cup white or golden raisins 

1 cup crushed CRISP bacon 

½ cup sunflower nuts/seeds 

½ cup red onion – chopped fine 

Dressing: 

1 cup mayonnaise (regular or low-fat version)

 2 tablespoons vinegar 

¼ cup sugar

Mix the three ingredients thoroughly, and incorporate the mixture with the salad ingredients. 

Refrigerate salad after preparing and before serving

Janice's Flourless Chocolate Cookies

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE COOKIES   Janice  8/2017

1 ½ cups Powdered Sugar

1/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Pinch Salt

1 or 2 Egg Whites at room temperature

1 tsp. Vanilla

½ cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

½ cup Toasted Pecans finely chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 355 degrees.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper. (not greased)

In large bowl, whisk together sugar, cocoa powder, and salt.

Add vanilla, egg white, and whisk/mix till you get a (very) thick/stiff but moist batter. If batter seems too thick, add another egg white.

Fold in chocolate chips. Fold in pecans. (Dough is stiff).

Scoop batter onto prepared baking sheet.

Bake 12 to 14 minutes or till tops are glossy and they begin to crack. (I baked about 16 minutes in my oven).

Let cookies cool completely before removing them from baking sheet with a spatula.

Store in airtight container for up to 3 days.

Makes 12 good size cookies.

NOTES: I also made a batch using dark chocolate cocoa. Different texture and took longer to bake (about 20 minutes). Still good, but chewier and flatter.

Good way to use left over egg whites that you have in the frig.

Good for friends who can’t digest flour.

Great cookies. Light as air. Crunchy.

Italian Bolognese with Tagliatelle

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)

1 celery stalk, finely chopped (1/2 cup)

2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped (3/4 cup)

fresh basil (2-3 leaves, finely chopped)

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Meat:  choices -

*          1 pound ground Italian sausage - or

*          1 pound ground chicken - or

*          1 pound ground turkey - or

*          combination of sausage and other ground meat

3-4 Tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 cup dry white wine

3/4 cup whole milk (or half and half)

1 can (14.5 ounces) finely diced tomatoes in juices, pureed

1 pound pasta:  tagliatelle, fettucine, or pappardelle

Freshly ground Parmesan and tiny pinch of nutmeg for serving

1.  Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.  Swirl in oil.  Add onion, celery and carrots; season with salt/pepper.  Cook, stirring until softened - 5 to 7 minutes. 

Add meat.  Cook, breaking into bite-size pieces, until no longer pink - 3-4 minutes.  Stir in tomato paste, cook 2 minutes.  Add wine, boil until almost evaporated, 1-2 minutes.  Add milk and tomatoes; reduce heat and simmer until thickened, 12-15 minutes. 

2.  Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water.  Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta water.  Return pasta to pot.  Add sauce, then pasta water a little at a time, until sauce evenly coats pasta.  (May need very little pasta water, if any.)  Drizzle with a little olive oil and top with finely chopped basil or celery leaves, cheese, and pinch of nutmeg.  Serve.  This freezes nicely.  It's easy to double the recipe and freeze it as a casserole. 

Enjoy!

Rainbow Cake

Every Saint Patty's day, my office throws a big party. Normally, I wuss out and buy the requisite green cupcakes, or something similar, but NOT this year. This year, I wanted to kick it up a notch.

When searching online for possible food options, I came across a recipe that I absolutely had to recreate: a rainbow "Leprechaun Trap" cake.

This cake is so colorful, so creative, and perfect for a Saint Patty's day celebration. I knew I was setting myself up for a baking challenge, but was willing to take the chance.

Luckily, my cake turned out great! I didn't know how the rainbow would look until I cut into it, but I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't an easy cake to make, but I followed the instructions almost exactly and had very good results, so I would recommend this recipe to anyone with a creative flair, patience, and a steady hand!!

With out further ado, the recipe for this marvelous cake (taken from the website Not Martha, with a few alterations by me).

Rainbow Leprechaun Trap Cake

I started by whipping up one box of white cake batter, mixing as directed. I added one teaspon of almond extract to my batter, 'cause that's how I roll.

To form the rainbow in this cake, you have to separate your cake batter, color each section, then pour it into your cake pan one color on top of the next.

Separate the batter into eight bowls and use food coloring to dye the desired colors:

• 6 ounces – red
• 5 ounces – orange
• 4 ounces – yellow
• 3 ounces – green
• 2 ounces – blue
• 1 ounce – purple
• 1 ounce – to be kept white
• the rest of the batter, also kept white

To make pouring the batter easier, I filled plastic bags with each color then snipped the corner just before I needed it. I think this gave me a bit more control than scraping it from a bowl, but be aware that it’s difficult to stop the batter once it’s started so get a good hold on the bag before you start — one hand should be on top to squeeze the batter.

First, pour the larger amount of white batter into the pan. Then pour the red batter in, making it a wide ring of batter. Then pour the orange over that, keeping it inside the red.

Pour in each color, creating narrower and narrower rings. As you go along snip smaller corners off the bags, it will help you control the narrower shape you are trying to make.

Last, pour the remaining ounce of white batter on top

Put the cake in the oven, you might consider baking it at 325 instead of the usual 350 as it will dome a bit less when baked at a lower temperature. I set it at 325 and it turned out okay. As for timing, I can't remember how long mine was in the oven, but follow the box instructions and watch it.

After it's finished baking and has cooled completely, level off what will be the bottom of your cake, this will also help shape the base of the rainbow arch as the batter will curve under itself creating more of a rainbow horseshoe. My cake turned out to be very soft, so a piece of of broke when I was cutting the top off. No worries though, if that happens, you can "glue" it back with icing.

To frost the cake I made a half batch of the Magnolia Bakery buttercream frosting recipe found at MarthaStewart.com. First I did a crumb layer, followed by a few minutes in the freezer.

I used a star decorating tip and make various patterns on the cake. You can get creative here and use different tips, or just smooth the icing on with a knife.  

Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, 4 cups sugar, milk, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy, 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually add remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating for about 2 minutes after each addition, until icing reaches desired consistency; you may not need to add all the sugar. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

There you have it! A cake that looks awesome and tastes great (as evidenced by the last lonely piece...)

MUSHROOM   STUFFED  MUSHROOMS

 

I lost this tasty recipe for about 20 years (really) but, recently, found it, again, filed under "fungus." (Joke :) Now that I have your attention, I hope you enjoy this recipe as a great appetizer or addition to dinner.

 

3 dozen medium sized mushrooms

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter (or slightly less, as preferred)

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup light cream

2 teaspoons minced chives (or green onion tops - finely chopped)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

 

Wipe mushrooms with a damp cloth. Remove stems, reserving caps. Finely chop the stems to make about 2 cups. Sauté the chopped stems in butter in a large skillet. Stir in the flour and salt. Add cream and cook, stirring until thick. (As you add the cream, ensure that the mixture remains thick. Stop adding cream if the mixture seems to be too thin. If the stuffing is too thin, the baked mushroom will lose its form.) Stir in the chives and lemon juice. Stuff caps with the cooked filling. Place the stuffed caps on a cookie sheet. (This may be refrigerated for a few hours before baking.) Bake the stuffed caps in a preheated, 400 degree oven for approximately 8 minutes until the filling begins to bubble and the mushrooms are just crisp-tender.

 

FIX-AHEAD MASHED POTATO CASSEROLE

This recipe is as popular with my family as Lola Hahn's Chocolate Chocolate Cake.  (Okay, that might be a stretch.) However, it has "served" many for many years...and it's, always, delicious.  (My favorite combination is meat loaf and these potatoes. Savory, hot, comfort food!)  You'll find that this casserole travels well, too.  Take it prebaked or bake until hot when you arrive at your destination. 

Ingredients:

3 pounds potatoes (about 4 large)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

2,  3-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

2/3 cups commercial sour cream

1/4 cup milk

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Clean the potatoes.  Place potatoes in a saucepan.  Add water to cover and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Bring to boil; cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer approximately 25 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  Drain.  Peel potatoes; place in a large mixing bowl, and mash with a potato masher. Add 2 tablespoons butter and the next  4 ingredients, mixing until all ingredients are blended.  Spoon the mixture into a lightly greased 12 X 8 X 2 inch baking dish.  Brush top of mixture with melted butter; sprinkle with paprika.  Bake immediately, or cover and refrigerate.  If refrigerated, let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before baking.  Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until hot and a little bubbly.  (Yield:  6-8 servings.)

Note:  The above "whole" potato cooking process is per the original recipe.  When I make this dish, I seldom cook the whole potato but choose, instead, to chop the potato into 1 to 1 1/2 inch chunks before boiling.  This reduces the cooking time.  Also, most often, I prefer pealing the potatoes for this recipe.  However, leave the peel on the potatoes, if you want more color and texture in the dish. 

La Madeleine Potato Soup

(I love this soup and know you will, too!)

3 large leeks

1 med-large onion

3 tablespoons butter or vegetable oil

3 ribs celery

6-8 medium potatoes (or a few more, as needed)

dried parsley (2 tablespoons)

garlic powder (2 tablespoons)

dried thyme (1teaspoon +)

Caraway (optional)

Chicken bouillon or broth  (liquid 48 ounces; add more broth as needed)

Chicken bouillon cube (or two +, as needed for flavor)

Black pepper

Salt (to taste at end of cooking time)

Milk (not fat free) – quantity determined by soup consistency you prefer (2-4 cups??)

½ pint half and half 

Leeks:  Trim off the wilted end of the green  stalks and the white bulbs.  Using a knife, carefully slice each leek, lengthwise – almost all the way through.  Using your hands, pry the leek apart at the split and run water into the split area in order to wash any sand from the leeks.  Chop the leeks into small chunks/slices.  Onion:  Dice medium to fine. 

Celery:  Pull the “strings” from the celery.  Chop the celery into fairly small pieces.

 

 Scrub each potato under water until clean.  Chop each potato into ¾ inch to 1 inch pieces. 

(I like to leave the skin on the potato, but you can peal it off, as you prefer.) Put potatoes in medium sized soup pot.  Cover potatoes with water and boil on medium until fork tender.  Drain potatoes.  Set aside.  

Using the same soup pot, combine the butter/oil, leeks, onion, and celery.  On simmer, cook these ingredients until they are soft.  Add the potatoes, parsley, garlic powder, thyme, pepper.  Add enough liquid chicken bouillon to cover the potatoes and vegetables.Simmer these ingredients for approximately 1 hour.  Stir the bottom occasionally.  Add more liquid (chicken broth) to allow the mixture to simmer and cook. 

When the above ingredients are thoroughly cooked/tender, mash the ingredients in the pot.  I leave the potatoes fairly chunky.  You can do this or puree, as you prefer.   

Add milk and the half-and-half to the mixture until it reaches the consistency you like.  (Turn down the heat a little so the mixture won't burn on the bottom of the pan.) Taste for needed salt, pepper for flavor and/or other spice to enhance flavor, as you like it to taste.   (Sometimes, I add a splash of Worchestershire...just because.)