Cherry Snowballs: Best Cookie of 2013 Paloozer

Cherry Snowballs: Best Cookie of 2013 Paloozer

Original recipe makes 18 cookies

• 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup quick cooking oats

• 1/4 cup finely chopped sweetened coconut
• 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1 pinch salt
• 15 maraschino cherries, finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Beat 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar and butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Add flour; beat for 5 seconds. Add oats; beat for 5 seconds. Add coconut; beat for 5 seconds. Add walnuts; beat for 5 seconds. Add salt; beat for 5 seconds.
3. Mix cherries into the butter mixture, beating until dough comes together and turns light pink from cherries, about 25 seconds.
4. Drop spoonfuls of the dough 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets.
5. Bake in preheated oven until slightly golden, 18 minutes. Remove from oven. Pour remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar into a shallow dish; roll warm cookies in sugar to coat. After rolling all of the cookies once, roll again in confectioners' sugar to coat. Pretty with some sparkly sugar in 2nd roll.
6. Debrief of 2013: think about intensifying the cherry flavor

Cold Cucumber Yogurt Avocado Soup

1-2 English cucumbers, peeled and diced or  lemon cukes if you can get them

• 1 avocado, (pitted & peeled please) and diced 
• 1 tbspn lemon juice (helps keep avocado from going off-color) add zest if like the lemony taste
• 1 tbspn coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 sweet onion chopped (I ike Walla Wallas)
• 1-2 cloves minced garlic (to taste) or shallot
• 1 1/2  cup plain yogurt (I like to use 1/2 nonfat Greek and 1/2 whole fat something creamy)
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• freshly ground cumin to taste, or nutmeg if you're not a fan of cumin
• for a kick: 1 jalapeno or medium hot pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

garnishes:

 pretty with peppery nasturtium blossoms & leaf  or  mint, scallion, pepitas, za'atyr, lemon zest

Directions

Process or blend until very smooth.  Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Garnish & serve cold (nice to refrigerate bowls ahead)

Pasta with Kale & Parsnips

Pasta with Black Kale, Caramelized Onions, and Parsnips

Black kale—sometimes called cavolo nero—is dark green and becomes very tender when cooked. If black kale is unavailable, use regular kale.

Cooking Light OCTOBER 2010

• Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 2/3 cups)
• Total:45 Minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 3 cups (1/3-inch) diagonally cut parsnip (about 1 pound)
• 2 1/2 cups sliced onion (about 1 large)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine

• 8 cups trimmed chopped black kale (about 3 bunches)
• 1/2 cup organic vegetable broth
• 8 ounces uncooked penne pasta
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Sue adds hot peppers or chili flakes

Preparation

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add parsnip to pan; cook 12 minutes or until tender and browned, stirring occasionally. Place in a large bowl; keep warm.

2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in pan over medium-low heat. Add onion to pan; cook 20 minutes or until tender and golden brown, stirring occasionally. Stir in thyme and garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add wine; cook 3 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Stir in kale and broth; cook, covered, 5 minutes or until kale is tender. Uncover; cook 4 minutes or until kale is very tender, stirring occasionally.

3. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain pasta in a sieve over a bowl, reserving 3/4 cup cooking liquid. Add drained pasta to kale mixture. Stir in parsnips, 1/2 cup reserved cooking liquid, 1/4 cup cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; cook for 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Add remaining 1/4 cup cooking liquid if needed to moisten. Top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.

Sue's note: instead of veg broth and salt, use FISH SAUCE!!!

Carol's Lemon Chiffon Pie

Bake a pie shell and cool. 4 eggs 3/4 c sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 c lemon juice and zest of 1 lemon 2 tsp gelatin, dissolved in 1/4 c of cold water Separate the eggs and beat the yolks. Add 1/2 cup of sugar and salt and stir. Add lemon juice and zest Cook in a double boiler, stirring, until it starts to thicken Remove from heat and add gelatin. Cool this mixture in fridge until it starts to set, about 1/2 hour Beat egg whites with 1/4 c of sugar until stiff - fold into lemon mixture and pour into pie shell. Chill.

Stuffed Peppers

This dish was invented when Secky and I (Sue) had a lot of leftovers from a mediterranean/middle east feast for a "West Wing" night. This recipe calls for a box of couscous, but you can use left over rice, lentils,etc.

4 big bell peppers
1/3 lb. ground lamb or beef
1/2 onion (sweet tastes good with pepper) minced
1/4 c mushrooms, small chopped pieces
1 eggplant; 2/3 for spread, 1/3 for chunks
1 box couscous with pine nuts OR about 2 c couscous plus 1 TBspn pine nuts
1/4 c hummus
4-6 cloves garlic
1/4 c golden raisins
small chunks of olives are also good to throw in
feta in small chunks also delish

herbs (oregano, thyme, zatyr good) & seasonings : add salt if you didn't use the boxed couscous

Turn on oven to 350degrees F-- or you can microwave the whole thing actually

Slice off the tops of the green peppers and clean out seeds, but keep the caps.

Brown meat with onions and seasonings (oregano is good) mushrooms and 1/3 of eggplant in small chopped pieces (or brown  meat & veggies separately if you're expecting some vegans for dinner). Er, expecting some vegans to HAVE dinner. Add the pine nuts to toast if you're not using the couscous box mix.

Meanwhile, cook the couscous;
wilt the the rest of eggplant with garlic in the microwave (or bake or steam). Mush up the eggplant and garlic in a blender, food processor or by hand so it's the consistency of a spread and mix it up with the hummus (or use  leftover baba ganouj and hummus).  If the eggplant is very dry,  you had very lean meat, or you're using rice instead of couscous, you may want to add a little olive oil and water to the eggplant mixture, so it creates a nice sauce inside the pepper.

Stand up the peppers in a glass or ceramic baking dish (tastes better on pepper than metal). Mix together the grain and meat mixture, (or keep separate for some veggie peppers) add other ingreds (raisins, olive, feta) fill the peppers about 4/5 and plop a big spoonful of the hummus/eggplant mush sauce on top. Put the pepper tops back on, and put in oven for about 20- 30 minutes. (or microwave for about 3 mins) I like the peppers still a little crunchy. If you don't like them al dente, put a little water in bottom of pan to steam the peppers, and cook a little longer. With smaller peppers, or pepper "boats"  you can also do these on the grill  

Vegetarian tacos

These can be made into a #vegan version by omitting the cheese, and made into breakfast by adding a fried egg. 4 6-inch tortillas 1 avocado, sliced 1 cup cooked beans -- pinto, black, whatever your favorite is 1 cup fresh corn 1 shallot, minced 2 slices of cheese or 1/4 cup shredded 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes 1/4 tsp cumin salt and pepper to taste 1 tsp cooking oil for sauteing Put a little oil in a small saute pan and heat with a medium flame. Add the shallot and sweat it for a few minutes. Add the corn and saute for about 5 minutes gently, until it softens. Add the beans and spices and continue to heat on low while you prepare the tortillas -- don't let it get too dry. taste and adjust seasoning. Lay the tortillas on a lightly-oiled griddle and heat on a medium flame for a minute, then flip over. put the cheese, if using, on the tortilla, and then the avocado. continue to heat until the bottom of the tortilla gets a little browned and crispy -- just a couple of minutes. add a quarter of the bean-corn mixture to each tortilla and serve with your favorite hot sauce. Serves 2 people -- 2 tortillas each.

Sugar Cookies

This recipe makes quite a lot of cookies -- it's a nice smooth rich dough. Make sure you chill it thoroughly before rolling out. Very pretty with icing. Don't overcook. Ingredients 1 1/2 cups butter, softened 2 cups white sugar 4 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 5 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt Directions 1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight). 2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. 3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.