This Dame Cooks A Collection of Recipes from Alaska to the South Pacific and Caribbean

Necessity is the mother of invention or so they say.  This cheesecake with thin apple slices, cinnamon and walnuts was a spur of the moment creation for Sunday dinner.  The only fruit on hand was bananas, apples and a green canteloupe.  Glad I grabbed the apples and walnuts to spiff up this dessert.  Wow! was it ever a hit!  Dinner was bouef bourguingnon over egg noodles, fresh sourdough bread, and a spinach salad.  Dark roasted Puerto Rican coffee and this cheesecake was the perfect ending.   It’s a no-fail recipe that goes together in a snap specially if you use a store-bought graham cracker crust. 

Ingredients:

• 1 graham cracker pie crust (homemade or store-bought)
• 2 pkg cream cheese (16 oz)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)
• 3 whole eggs
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 2 small apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375° F.
2. In a food processor cream the cheese and condensed milk.  Add the eggs, one at a time, and the lemon zest.  Pour into the pie crust.
3. Toss the apple slices with the lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and walnuts.  Spoon the apple mixture over the cheesecake batter.
4. Place pie in a pan large enough to hold water half way up the side of the pie plate.
5. Bake for 60 minutes or until top is just starting to crack and looks dry.
6. Remove to a rack and cool for 30 minutes then refrigerate 5 or 6 hours before serving.

The best sourdough starter I have ever used was made with green grapes.  The natural yeast in the air and the sugar in the grapes produces the perfect super-sour-sponge, just like they make in San Francisco. Its so easy and fast to make this starter for bread, pancakes, and crepes.  Simply wash and stem 1-pound of seedless green grapes, crush the grapes with a potato masher and place in a bowl.  Cover with a muslin cloth or cheesecloth and let set on your kitchen counter for 2 days.  Strain the liquid into a 2-cup measuring cup and add water up to the 2-cup level.  Add 1-cup of flour and 1-cup of luke-warm water.  Mix with a wooden spoon, pour into a quart jar or a large container with a lid.  Loosely cover container with the lid and set out on kitchen counter for 24 hours.  Feed the sponge again with 1-cup of flour and 1-cup of luke-warm milk (1%, 2% or whole milk is fine) and let set for another 24 hours.  If the sponge is bubbly, its ready to use in your favorite recipe. 

Tips:

1. Replace the sponge used with same amount of flour and water.  If your recipe calls for 1 cup of starter.  Add 1 cup flour and 1 cup water or milk to the remaining starter and let set in a warm place for 24 hours.
2. Feed your sponge at least once a week.  Remove a cup of starter and replace with 1-cup flour and 1-cup luke-warm water or milk. 
3. Refrigerate if not using sponge within 24 hours of feeding.

Watch this video recipe from Harvest Eating: Sourdough Crepes

This is last night’s dinner:  small chicken stuffed with limes, rosemary and onion roasted over chunks of sweet potato and wedges of more onion.  Gravy from the pan drippings had all the flavors of the lime, rosemary and onion.  The side dish was buttered peas with hazelnuts and tarragon.  What a treat for a mid-week meal and it only took a few minutes to prepare, the oven did the rest.  The chicken was juicy and tender, the sweet potatoes caramelized just slightly on the bottom as were the onions on the bottom of the pan.  The 90 minutes of roasting was enough time to have a drink, put my feet up and relax.  I love simple and tasty meals that are fabulous and comforting the first night and yield leftovers for soup, pasta or quiche the next day.  Do try this one, you won’t be disappointed.

Ingredients:

• 3 pound whole chicken, rinsed under cold running water, and drained on paper toweling
• 1 lime, rinsed and halved
• 1/2 onion, peeled and sliced in half
• 1/2 onion, peeled and sliced into 4 wedges
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• salt and pepper
• 1 large sweet potato, scrubbed and cut crosswise into 4 thick rounds (or 2 small potatoes cut lengthwise)

Method:

1. Place 4 wedges of onion in the center of a shallow roasting pan.
2. Top onion wedges with the sweet potato rounds.
3. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. With the chicken breast-side up, stuff the chicken with the lime halves, rosemary sprigs and the remaining onion half.
4. Fold the skin flaps over the opening and skewer or tie the legs together.
5. Tuck the wings under the back and place the chicken ontop of the sweet potatoes.
6. Liberally salt and pepper the outside of the chicken.
7. Place in 350° F. oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown on outside.  Tent with foil and continue roasting for 1 hour.  Check for doneness with a thermometer or prick the skin between the leg and breast and if the juices run clear, its done.
8. Remove the chicken to a platter and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes.  Place the vegetables on a serving platter. 
9.  Pour any juices not absorbed by the chicken back into the roasting pan for gravy if desired.  Move the chicken to the craving block or serving platter for presentation.

Lumpless gravy everytime:

1. To 1 cup of cold water, add 2 heaping Tbsp of flour and whisk until smooth.
2. Add stock, water or wine to pan drippings, scraping the bottom of the pan.
3. Bring to a boil and whisk in the cold flour water.  Cook until thickened. 
4. For thicker gravy, increase the amount of flour in step 1. 
5. Be sure to check your gravy for salt and pepper before serving.

The year is winding down and will be highlighted with crowd pleasing party nibbles to go with popular drinks.  Try these out this New Year’s Eve.  What resolutions will you make for the coming year?  After all this feasting and drinking I’ll be going on a diet – this one is guaranteed to make you lose 10 pounds a week.  After 60 I fear that”s optimistic but we shall see.  Salsa dancing and walking helps take pounds off too and I’ll be dancing up a storm on New Year’s Eve.  Hope you do too.

Its time to break out the heirloom candy and cookie recipes for the holidays and add one or two new ones to your repetoire.  One of my favorite Christmas cookies is a Spritz.  The flavor varieties (lemon, almond, peppermint, orange, banana, chocolate, etc.) and decorating options have no limits.   I’ve actually made heirloom vintage hatboxes filled with Spritz cookies in years past.  Everyone loved the novelty of the hatboxes and of-course the cookies.  This year I’m giving boxes with a variety of cookies… Spritz, Rum Balls, Pecan Sandies and Chinese Sesame Buttons.

My Rum Ball recipe is from Katy Custer, an old friend from my years in Alaska.  She made these every year and had to hide them under her bed so her boys wouldn’t eat them all before they aged the appropriate time.  Pecan Sandies are from my childhood.  They just melt in your mouth and since they have no eggs they’re fairly close to being a tender bite of shortbread.  Chinese Sesame Buttons were my stand-by cookies in Tonga because they held up so well to the humidity in the islands and all the ingredients were easy to come by.  They’re nutty, crisp and buttery.  The local Chinese use lard in their cookies for Chinese New Year but I like the taste of butter in mine.

Spritz Cookies

Ingredients for 40 cookies:

•  1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2-1/2 cups flour

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add egg, vanilla extract and salt, beat until smooth.
3. Add flour gradually until all is incorporated. 
4. Fill cookie press or pastry bag with dough.  Press onto ungreased cookie sheet 1-inch apart.  Decorate with sprinkles, jam, etc.
5. Bake 10 to 12 minutes just until the edges turn barely brown and the dough has set.
6. Remove from sheet pan to cooling rack.  Ice as desired.
7. Store in airtight tin.  May be frozen.

Notes:

1. Substitute cardamon seeds or vanilla seeds,  or extracts such as peppermint, almond, orange, banana, or lemon or liqueur of choice for the vanilla extract.
2. Add 2 Tbsp cocoa powder and 1 tsp Kahlua to the dough for moca spritz, omit the vanilla extract.
3. To color dough add 3 or 4 drops of food coloring to the finished dough. 
4. Divide dough in half or more then color and flavor each portion separately. 

Katy’s No-Bake Rum Balls

Ingredients for 2 dozen:

• 2–1/2 cups crushed vanilla wafers
• 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder plus more for coating
• 1 cup powdered sugar plus more for coating
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 3 Tbsp. white corn syrup (Karo brand)
• 1/4 cup dark rum (bourbon or brandy if desired)

Method:

1. Mix all dry ingredients together.  Add wet ingredients and stir until combined.
2. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. 
3. Roll each ball into powdered sugar or cocoa powder.
4. Place balls in a ziplock bag or plastic storage box with tight lid.
5. Let age in a cool, dark place for 1 week.  Re-roll in powdered sugar or cocoa powder before serving if desired. 

Pecan Sandies

Ingredients for 3 dozen:

• 1 cup butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp water
• 2 tsp vanilla extract 
• 2 cups sifted flour
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325° F.
2. Cream together the butter, sugar, water and vanilla.
3. Mix in the flour and pecans.
4. Chill dough for 3 or 4 hours.  Shape into balls, crescents or fingers.
5. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 20 minutes. Remove to cooling rack.
6. When completely cool roll in powdered sugar.
7. Store in airtight tin.  May be frozen.  Roll in additional powdered sugar before serving.

Chinese Sesame Buttons

Ingredients for 100 cookies:

• 1 pound butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1-1/2 Tbsp powdered milk (low-fat or skim milk works well)
• 1 Tbsp ice water
• 2 eggs
• 3 tsp baking soda
• 5 tsp cream of tartar
• 5-1/2 cups flour
• 2 cups raw sesame seeds

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Cream butter, sugars, milk powder, water and eggs until fluffy.
3. Mix together flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar.  Gradually add flour mixture to creamed mixture just until dough holds together.
4. Roll dough into walnut sized balls then roll each ball in sesame seeds.
5. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet 2-inches apart.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until cookies have cracks on the surface.
7. Remove to cooking rack.  Store in airtight tin.  May be frozen.