February 26th, 2010
These rich cookie bars are so simple to make and you can vary the toppings to suit your family tastes. Just add your own magic to this very old recipe for Magic Cookie Bars. Instead of coconut flakes, add dried cranberries, chopped figs or dates. Grated orange zest and a few grinds of black pepper are super delicious with chocolate chips and shaved almonds. The sweetened condensed milk caramelizes in the baking and gives them a warm golden brown top. Use pecans, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts or try pistachio nuts with caramel chips or chocolate mint chips. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper for a Mexican flare.
Just start with graham cracker crumbs on the bottom and top everything with sweetened condensed milk before baking. The ingredients in the middle are all your choice. There won’t be one left to put in a cookie jar after the family starts into them.
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cup graham cracker crumbs
- ½ cup melted butter
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup chopped hazelnuts (toasting and removing skins is optional)
- 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Line a 9×13 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- Mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter and pat into prepared baking pan.
- In a bowl, mix chocolate chips, and hazelnuts.
- Spread mixture over graham cracker crust evenly. With a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap on top, press down on chocolate chip mixture. Remove paper.
- Pour sweetened condensed milk over the entire surface to cover completely.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and set.
- Remove from oven. Invert pan over a cake rack, remove parchment paper, invert again.
- When completely cooled cut into 3×2 inch bars. Store in an air-tight container at room temperature.
Donate to My Coffee Kitty and help a senior pay for cataract surgery. 70% of seniors are afficted with cataracts. It's a simple surgery to remove cataracts but very expensive...about $3000 per eye. If you're not old enough to qualify for medicare, and you're uninsured, can't find a job, can't get a driver's license, or read a good book because of cataracts, your world is impoverished. Help save someone's sight!
Tags: chocolate cookies, cookie bars, cookie recipes, magic cookie bars, recipes with sweetened condensed milk
Posted in Pies, Cakes & Cookies | No Comments »
February 25th, 2010
This French country dish from the Savoie region is reminiscent of gratin with the heavy cream, potatoes, bacon and cheese. It is perfect for warming up after an afternoon on the ski slopes. Make ahead, omitting the cream, until ready to bake. Serve it with a green salad and a white wine like Apremont. (Let’s not get too pretentious here… red wine is also acceptable.)
Traditionally, tartiflette is made with Roblochon cheese which is made from cow’s milk. Dairy farmers in the Aravis Valley of the Savoie region made this cheese for decades as a result of avoiding all the tariff imposed on milk. Instead of milking their cows dry they would milk them for just enough quantity to satisfy the taxman. After the taxman left, they would finish the milking and use that milk for Roblochon cheese and other home purposes.
Roblochon is similar to Brie or Camembert and melts beautifully into the potatoes, onions and bacon in this dish. A true tartiflette casserole dish is greased with goose or duck fat and rubbed with raw garlic before the layers of cooked potatoes, onion and bacon are assembled. As with every French dish butter, cream and cheese are added for richness, flavor and comfort…it’s not low cal that’s for sure. However, drinking wine, especially red wine, will help to eliminate fatty solids from your digestive system. That’s why the French have less heart disease than the English or Americans. Cooking with wine enhances flavors and tenderizes too. Any wine you’d drink is appropriate for cooking. However those little bottles of cooking wine on grocers’ shelves are way too salty and overpriced so avoid them.
Enjoy this French country dish.
Ingredients:
- 2 large waxy potatoes, scrubbed clean
- 8 strips of bacon, diced
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1/4 cup of dry white wine
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 1 sprig of fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp of dried thyme
- 1 Tbsp butter plus enough to grease casserole dish
- 1 clove garlic to season casserole dish
- 6 ounces of Roblochon cheese ( Brie or Camembert if Roblochon style cheese not available)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- salt and fresh ground black pepper
Method:
- In a sauce pan of salted water, boil potatoes for 20 minutes. Drain and cool enough to handle. Peel and slice into 1/4-inch discs.
- Saute bacon over medium heat until fat is rendered. Add onions and saute until translucent. Transfer to a strainer to remove excess fat. Return to skillet.
- Add wine, thyme and season with salt and pepper. Cook until wine is nearly dissipated. Remove skillet from heat.
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 3-4 quart casserole dish. Rub with raw garlic clove.
- Layer half the potato slices on the bottom, cover with half the onions and bacon.
- Slice the cheese in half horizontally so you have 2 round discs. Place one disc, cut side down, on top of the onions and bacon.
- Repeat layers ending with cheese on top. Dot with butter. Pour cream over the top surface and season with salt and pepper.
- Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until top is golden brown and bubbly. Remove to a cooling rack for 15-20 minutes before serving.
Donate to My Coffee Kitty and help a senior pay for cataract surgery. 70% of seniors are afficted with cataracts. It's a simple surgery to remove cataracts but very expensive...about $3000 per eye. If you're not old enough to qualify for medicare, and you're uninsured, can't find a job, can't get a driver's license, or read a good book because of cataracts, your world is impoverished. Help save someone's sight!
Tags: benefits of drinking wine, brie, camenbert, French cooking, Gratin, potato recipes, Roblocho cheese, tartiflette
Posted in Main Dishes | No Comments »
February 23rd, 2010
Manila clams are similar to “steamer clams” of the Pacific Northwest and “little neck clams” of New England’s Atlantic coast. They are common fare in the South Pacific where Polynesians gather them daily and sell them in coconut-leaf baskets for about USD $2.50 a kilo (2.2 pounds). Manila clams have a slightly thinner shell and usually measure 1 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter. They are tender sweet morsels that cook up quickly and make a perfectly light starter dish for dinner or a main-course for lunch. The broth made with dry white wine or vermouth plus aromatics should be mellow enough not to overpower the delicate flavor of the clams yet the aroma should be enticing enough that you’ll want to slurp it from a shell and dip into it with chunks of warm crusty bread.
Check out WholeFoods, better fish mongers or Asian/Fillipino markets. Buy the freshest clams you can get. They should be already cleaned but it doesn’t hurt to give them a good rinse in cold water and soak in cold water with sea salt while you prepare the rest of the meal. Iodized salt will kill the poor creatures before they’re cooked so be sure to use sea salt. Discard any clams that are open and do not close on their own when tapped.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound fresh manilla clams (littlenecks or steamers)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
- 2 small shallots, minced
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 scallions, leaves and bulbs, sliced thin
- sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 2 Tbsp chopped parsley
- pinch of dried tarragon or few fresh leaves
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme or 1 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 2-3 dashes of Tabasco sauce or pinch of hot red pepper flakes
- 1 cup of dry white wine
- 2 cups of water
- 1 lemon, cut in wedges
Method:
- In a large sauce pan over medium heat, quickly saute the shallots, garlic, and scallions in olive oil just until soft.
- Add parsley, tarragon, thyme, Tabasco, wine and water. Over medium high heat, bring to a boil.
- Toss in the prepared clams and cover. Cook for 5-8 minutes or just until the clams open.
- Remove clams from broth to serving bowl(s), stir broth with 1 Tbsp olive oil and pour over clams. Serve with crusty bread and lemon wedges.
Variations:
- Add 2 Tbsp of basil pesto butter in place of tarragon and thyme. Omit second Tbsp of olive oil.
- For a spicier version, add minced habanero, serano or jalepeno pepper to the saute. Omit Tabasco sauce.
Donate to My Coffee Kitty and help a senior pay for cataract surgery. 70% of seniors are afficted with cataracts. It's a simple surgery to remove cataracts but very expensive...about $3000 per eye. If you're not old enough to qualify for medicare, and you're uninsured, can't find a job, can't get a driver's license, or read a good book because of cataracts, your world is impoverished. Help save someone's sight!
Tags: clam recipes, littleneck clams, manilla clams, preparing clams, shell fish recipes, steamed clams
Posted in Hors d'oeuvres, Main Dishes | 2 Comments »
February 21st, 2010
Sorbet is the answer for ice-cream lovers who are watching their fat in-take, want to eat healthier, and find it impossible to give up desserts. And since sorbets are made without dairy, vegans and those with lactose intolerance can also enjoy these treats.
- 2 ½ cups boiling water
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- ½ cup Tia Maria, Kahlua or Homemade Coffee Liqueur
Stir sugar into boiling water to dissolve, add cocoa powder and whisk until well incorporated. Add chopped chocolate and stir until melted. Add Coffee Liqueur and stir. Chill thoroughly and freeze in an ice-cream machine according to manufacture’s instructions. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours. If frozen longer, let ripened at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before scooping.
Donate to My Coffee Kitty and help a senior pay for cataract surgery. 70% of seniors are afficted with cataracts. It's a simple surgery to remove cataracts but very expensive...about $3000 per eye. If you're not old enough to qualify for medicare, and you're uninsured, can't find a job, can't get a driver's license, or read a good book because of cataracts, your world is impoverished. Help save someone's sight!
Tags: chocolate sorbet, eggless desserts, Iced Desserts, Making Sorbets, milkless desserts
Posted in Desserts | No Comments »
February 18th, 2010
One of my favorite vegetables is eggplant…those big beautiful dark purple globes…sliced thin, breaded and fried then slathered with butter. When I was a kid my Auntie Babe made eggplant just like that and I would stand next to the counter waiting for a crispy disc to land on my plate. She didn’t salt the eggplant before breading and I can’t remember it tasting bitter. Consequently I’ve never salted eggplant before preparing it. Whether in ratatouille, minestrone, baba ganoush or eggplant parmesan my customers at Coco’s never complained of bitterness and always enjoyed these dishes.
This Eggplant dish is similar to lasagna without the pasta or meat but with a generous amount of ricotta cheese, a chiffonade of fresh basil and a simple tomato sauce. I make myown ricotta cheese…its so easy and inexpensive. Just bring 2 quarts of whole milk to a boil, add 1/3 cup of white vinegar and stir gently until the curds separate. Remove curds with a slotted spoon to a fine mesh sieve and let drain for 5 or 10 minutes. Add 1 tsp of salt and combine with 1 egg to make the filling for this eggplant dish.
Serve with a green salad, crusty bread and a glass of red wine.
Eggplant Parmigiano Ingredients: 4 servings
- 1 large purple eggplant, washed and sliced into 1/4-inch thick discs
- 1 egg beaten with 1/4-cup milk
- 1/2 cup flour with 1/2-tsp salt and 1/4-tsp pepper
- olive oil for frying
- 1 cup ricotta cheese (commercial or homemade) beaten with 1 whole egg and 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups shredded fresh mozarella cheese (buy fresh mozarella packaged in water)
- 4-5 Tbsp thinly sliced fresh basil
- 3 cups basic Italian tomato sauce (recipe follows)
- 1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese (please don’t use the stuff in a can)
Method:
- Dip eggplant into egg wash, dredge in seasoned flour and fry batches of breaded eggplant in oil over medium high heat until golden brown on both sides. Add additional oil to skillet as needed.
- Spread 1/2 cup of tomato sauce on bottom of a deep casserole dish.
- Layer fried eggplant over sauce, overlapping slices slightly.
- Add another 1/2 cup of tomato sauce, spoon over 1/2 the ricotta cheese and egg mixture, sprinkle 1/2 cup of mozarella cheese and top with 2 Tbsp of basil chiffonade.
- Repeat layers ending with eggplant topped with remaining tomato sauce, remaining basil and sprinkle entire top with parmigiano reggiano cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes at 350° F. for 45 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 15 minutes to brown top.
- Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before cutting.
Basic Tomato Sauce Ingredients:
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, minced
- 1 carrot, shredded
- 1 rib celery, minced
- 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes (or 5 large beef-steak tomatoes, skinned and diced)
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes (or few dashes of Tabasco sauce)
Donate to My Coffee Kitty and help a senior pay for cataract surgery. 70% of seniors are afficted with cataracts. It's a simple surgery to remove cataracts but very expensive...about $3000 per eye. If you're not old enough to qualify for medicare, and you're uninsured, can't find a job, can't get a driver's license, or read a good book because of cataracts, your world is impoverished. Help save someone's sight!
Tags: basic tomato sauce, basil, cooking with wine, eggplant, homemade ricotta cheese, parmesan dishes, parmigiano reggiano, ricotta cheese
Posted in Main Dishes | No Comments »
