Get new posts by email:

Archives

Currently Reading

Here are the tastingspoons players. I’m in the middle (Carolyn). Daughter Sara on the right, and daughter-in-law Karen on the left. I started the blog in 2007, as a way to share recipes with my family. I’m still doing 99% of the blogging and holding out hope that these two lovely and excellent cooks will participate. They both lead very busy lives, so we’ll see.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

BOOK READING (from Carolyn):

Music of Bees, Eileen Garvin. Absolutely charming book about a woman in midlife, lonely, who raises bees, also makes unlikely friends. Heart-warming and very interesting about beekeeping.

A Postcard from Paris, Alex Brown. Really cute story. Dual time line, 1940s and present day about renovating an old apartment in Paris, things discovered.

Time of the Child, Niall Williams. Oh such a good book. Very small village in Ireland, 1960s. A baby is left on the doorstep. The town all whispers and helps. I listened to an interview of the author, which made me like him and his books even more.

Sipsworth, Simon Van Booy. If you like animals you’ll swoon. An old woman who really wants to die finds a tiny mouse in her house and befriends it and finds a reason to live. Utterly charming book.

The Forger’s Spell, Edward Dolnick. True story. For seven years a no-account painter named Han van Meegeren managed to pass off his paintings as those of Johannes Vermeer.

If You Lived Here, You’d be Home by Now, Christopher Ingraham. Could hardly put it down – about a journalist who takes on a challenge to move to small town in Minnesota and write about it. He expects to hate it and the people and place, but he doesn’t. Absolutely wonderful true story.

The River We Remember, William Kent Kreuger. 1950s, Minnesota. A murder and the aftermath. Could hardly put it down. Kreuger has such a vivid imagination and writing style.

How the Lights Gets In, Joyce Maynard. An older woman returns to New Hampshire to help care for her brain-injured son. Siblings and family, lots of angst and resentments.

The Filling Station, Vanessa Miller. Every American should read this book. A novelized retelling of the Tulsa massacre in 1921. Absolutely riveting.

The Story She Left Behind, Patti Callahan Henry. Love this author. Based on a true story. A famous author simply vanishes, leaving her husband and daughter behind. She had invented a mystical language no one could translate. Present day, someone thinks he’s solved the riddle, contacts the family. Really interesting read.

The Girl from Berlin, Ronald Balson. Love anything about Tuscany. An elderly woman is being evicted from a villa there, with odd deed provenance. Two young folks go there to help unravel the mystery. Loved it.

The Island of the Colorblind, Oliver Sacks, M.D. Nonfiction. The dr is intrigued by a remote Pacific island where most of the inhabitants are colorblind. He also unravels a mystery on Guam of people born with a strange neurological problem. Medical mysteries unveiled. Very interesting.

The Bookbinder, Pip Williams. Post 1914 London. Two sisters work at a bookbindery. They’re told to not read the books. One does and one doesn’t. One has visions beyond her narrow world; the other does not. Eventually the one gets into Oxford. Lovely story.

The Paris Express, Emma Donoghue. 1895 on a train to Paris, a disaster happens. You’ll delve into the lives of many people who survived and died in the crash.

A Race to the Bottom of Crazy, Richard Grant. This is about Arizona. Author, wife and child move back to Arizona where they once lived. Part memoir, research, and reporting in a quest to understand what makes Arizona such a confounding and irresistible place.

The Scarlet Thread, Francine Rivers. A woman’s life turned upside down when she discovers the handcrafted quilt and journal of her ancestor Mary Kathryn McMurray, a young woman who was uprooted from her home only to endure harsh frontier conditions on the Oregon Trail.

A Place to Hide, Ronald Balson. 1939 Amsterdam, an ambassador has the ability to save the lives of many Jewish children. Heartwarming.

Homeseeking, Karissa Chen. Two young Chinese teens are deeply in love, but in China. Then their families are separated. Jump to current day and the two meet again in Los Angeles.

North River, Pete Hammill. He always writes such a good story. A doctor works diligently healing people from all walks of life. His wife and daughter left him years before. One day his 3-yr old grandson arrives on his doorstep.

A Very Typical Family, Sierra Godfrey. A very messed-up family. Three adult children are given a home in Santa Cruz, Calif, but only if the siblings meet up and live in the house together. A very untypical scenario but makes for lots of messes.

Three Days in June, Anne Tyler. The usual Anne Tyler grit. Family angst. This wasn’t one of my favorites, but it was entertaining and very short.

Saved, Benjamin Hall. Author is a veteran war reporter. Ukraine, 2022, he nearly loses his life to a Russian strike. Riveting story – he survives, barely.

Grey Wolf, Louise Penny. Another Inspector Gamache mystery in Quebec. She is such an incredible mystery writer.

All the Colors of the Dark, Chris Whitaker. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each. Could hardly put it down.

Orbital, Samantha Harvey. Winner of 2024 Booker Prize. I don’t usually like those, but I heard the author interviewed and she hooked me. This is not a normal book with a beginning, a story and an end. It’s several chapters of the day in the life of various astronauts at the ISS (Int’l Space Station). All fictional. She’s been praised by several real astronauts for “getting it” about space station everyday life.

The Blue Hour, Paula Hawkins. An island off Scotland. Inaccessible except when the tide is out. Weird goings on. An artist. A present day mystery too.

Iron Lake, William Kent Krueger. A judge is murdered and a boy is missing. Riveting mystery.

Tell the Wolves I’m Home, Carol Ricks Brunt. 1980s. A 14-yr old girl loses her beloved uncle. Yet a new friendship arises, someone she never knew about.

Four Treasures of the Sky, Jenny Zhang. 1880s, a young girl is kidnapped in China and brought to the United States. She survives with many hurdles in the path.

The Boy Who Fell out of the Sky, Ken Dornstein. Memoir, 1988. The author’s brother died in the PanAm flight that went down in Lockerbie, Scotland. A decade later he tries to solve “the riddle of his older brother’s life.”

Worse Care Scenario, T.J. Newman. Oh my. Interesting analysis of what could/might happen if a jet crashed into a nuclear plant. Un-put-downable.

Song of the Lark, Willa Cather. Complicated weave of a story about a young woman in about 1900, who has a gifted voice (singing) and about her journey to success, not without its ups and downs.

Crow Talk, Eileen Garvin. Charming story which takes place at a remote lake in Washington State, about a few people who inhabit it, the friendships made, but also revolving around the rescue of a baby crow.

The Story Collector, Evie Woods. Sweet story about some dark secrets from an area in Ireland, a bit magical, faerie life, but solving a mystery too.

A Sea of Unspoken Things, Adrienne Young. A woman investigates her twin brother’s mysterious death. She goes to a small town in California to figure it out, to figure HIM out.

The King’s Messenger, Susanna Kearsley. 1600s England, King James. About one of his trusted “messengers,” and his relationship with a young woman also of “the court.” Lots of intrigue.

In the Shadow of the Greenbrier, Emily Matchar. Interesting mystery in/around the area of the famous resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Isola, Allegra Goodman. Hard to describe, survival story on an island in the 1600s.

Save the Date, Allison Raskin. Rom-com, witty, LOL funny. Clever.

The Sirens, Emilia Hart. Numerous time-lines, Australia. Mysteries abound, nightmares, abandoned baby, weird allergies.

Red Clay, Charles Fancher. LOVED this book. Mostly post-Civil War story about the lives of slaves in Alabama during Reconstruction.

Stars in an Italian Sky, Jill Santopolo. Dual time line, 1946 and recent time. Love stories and a mystery.

Battle Mountain, C.J. Box. Another one of Box’s riveting mysteries. Love his descriptions of the land.

Something Beautiful Happened, Yvette Corporon. A memoir of sorts in Greece, tiny island of Erikousa, where the locals hid Jews during WWII. All elusive stories told by the author’s grandmother.

The Jackal’s Mistress, Chris Bohjalian. 1860s Virginia, about a woman who saves the life of a Union soldier. Really good story.

Song of the Magpie, Louise Mayberry. Really interesting story about Australia back in the days when it was mostly a penal colony. Gritty strength of a woman trying to thrive with her farm.

The Boomerang, Robert Bailey. A thriller that will have you gripping the book. About a lot of secrets surrounding the president (fictional novel, remember) and his chief of staff and about cancer. A cure. Such a good story.

Care and Feeding, Laurie Woolever. Really interesting memoir of a woman driven to succeed in the restaurant business. She worked for Mario Batali and then Anthony Bourdain. Gritty stories.

Everything is Tuberculosis, John Green. Maybe not a book for everyone. A real deep dive into the deadly tuberculosis infection, its history. I heard the author interviewed and found the book very interesting.

The Book Lovers Library, Madeline Martin. Fascinating read about Boots’ drug stores’ lending library. And the people who worked in them.

The Arrivals, Meg Mitchell Moore. LOL funny, about a middle-aged couple whose children (and their various family members) return to the family home and the chaos that ensues.

My Life as a Silent Movie, Jesse Lee Kercheval. About grief. A big move to Paris, finding herself a new life with a new set of real blood family.

Escape, Carolyn Jessop. Another memoir about a woman really in bondage in Utah, Mormon plural marriage.

 

Tasting Spoons

My blog's namesake - small, old and some very dented engraved silver plated tea spoons that belonged to my mother-in-law, and I use them to taste my food as I'm cooking.

Scroll down to the bottom to view my Blogroll

Posted in Miscellaneous, on December 12th, 2012.

lemon_orange_salsa

What do you do when you need something to go on top of fish, but you lack anything to make it with? Well, if you just happen to have an orange, a lemon and a lime on hand, you can whip up an easy salsa. Then what do you do when you don’t have any fresh jalapeno or serrano pepper on hand? You use some chipotle chile in adobo sauce to heat up the juices!

Going online, I saw a few recipes and the inspiration for this one came from Martha Stewart’s website. I didn’t stray too far from that online recipe, although I changed proportions and the type of heat used. I wasn’t about to make a trip to the grocery store, so I made do with what I had. The orange was almost over the hill. The lemons were fresh from our tree, and the limes were a gift from friends who have a tree. I had cilantro, fortunately. And a shallot – I almost always keep a shallot or two in a little bowl on my kitchen counter. They come in handy, and when you need them, well, you really need them.

lemon_orange_salsa_on_salmonUse all of the orange and lemon segments. First, though, zest part of the lemon and orange (using all of the zest would have been too much) and also zest a little bit of the lime, and use the juice from half of it. Add finely minced shallot, a little tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil, some salt and pepper, and a little tetch of the chipotle chile in adobo sauce. Use your own judgment about how much – it’s hot, so be careful. Add and taste, add and taste! The recipe calls for a little sugar – honey is nice, although I used a substitute so my DH wouldn’t have a problem with the carbs in it – honey or agave would be the ideal sweeteners for this. Or sugar. Finally, add cilantro, and you’re done. I let it sit for about 20-30 minutes while I finished up the salmon in the Sous Vide (20 minutes at 140°) and made some corn to go with. It was an easy dinner and very tasty. Very healthy.

Easily this could be a salsa for chicken too. I’d make more of it, that’s all. The chipotle chile adds heat, of course (you don’t have to use it, though), and it also tinted the liquid just a little bit on the brown side – you can see it in the top photo. Rice would be a good side for this as it would soak up some of those liquids that spread all over the plate. Nothing wrong with those juices, but we wasted them as they floated around on the full plate.

What’s good: it’s very easy; healthy; tasty; just a little bit spicy. Yes, I’d make it again.
What’s not: really nothing at all. I liked it.

printer-friendly (Cute PDFWriter) PDF
MasterCook 5+ import file – right click to save file, run MC, then File|Import

* Exported from MasterCook *

Spicy Orange Lemon Salsa

Recipe By: inspired by a recipe at Martha Stewart’s website
Serving Size: 2
NOTES: If you don’t have chipotle chile in adobo, you can substitute fresh minced chile peppers (jalapeno, serrano, or?).

1 whole lemon
1 whole orange
1 whole lime
1 1/2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon shallot — finely minced
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chile canned in adobo — or more if needed
1 tablespoon cilantro — minced
2 dashes salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar — or honey, or sugar substitute
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. LEMON: Zest about half of the peel and add to a bowl. Cut off ends, cut away all peel and pith. Remove segments and cut each into 2-3 small pieces.
2. ORANGE: Zest about half of the peel and add to the bowl. Cut off ends, cut away all peel and pith. Remove segments and cut each into 2-3 small pieces.
3. LIME: Zest about 1/3 of the lime and add to the bowl. Squeeze a lime half and add juice into the bowl.
4. Add the oil, minced shallot, salt, sugar, pepper, cilantro and chipotle chile (to taste). Allow to rest for 15 minutes. Serve on fish or chicken.
Per Serving: 87 Calories; 4g Fat (30.9% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; trace Cholesterol; 273mg Sodium.

Posted in Sous Vide, on December 10th, 2012.

salmon_sous_vide_130_dill_sauce

You really don’t need a SousVide Supreme Water Oven in order to make this salmon dish. It’s just poached salmon,  served with an easy dill sour cream-mayo sauce on top.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Soups, on December 8th, 2012.

chicken_noodle_soup

You don’t need to have a friend who’s ill in order to make this delicious soup. My friend Cherrie was recovering (and still is) from major breast cancer surgery and her first day home from the hospital I took this big batch of soup. It was a cool day (for California anyway), overcast, almost foggy. A perfect day for heart-warming soup.

Knowing I wanted to make chicken noodle soup. . . well, there are just a few (ha) recipes out there by that name. If you do a google search, it comes up with 6.2 million hits. Oh my. Originally I was going to use a Tyler Florence recipe, but then I saw this one from Anne Burrell (she has the Food Network show  Secrets of a Restaurant Chef). Reading the comments from people gave me all I needed to know that I would try her recipe. What makes it different is the addition of a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg. When I read that, I thought whoa!  Gee, cinnamon and nutmeg? Really? And she makes use of more lemon (a whole one). It adds a brightness to the flavors. It also used orzo (she suggested it as one of the possible pastas to choose). I liked that option. And the comments from people who had made it contained lots of superlatives like fantastic, awesome, fabulous. Those words speak volumes to me when I’m researching for a recipe to try. It’s nice that some of the big food websites allow people to comment.

Pasta Tip:

Cook the pasta separately and spoon it into each bowl – that way you control exactly how much pasta each person gets – and there’s no chance of it getting over cooked!

One of the more unusual things about this recipe is cooking the pasta separately. I really like this little tidbit of advice. I didn’t do that step when I made it, but I will in the future – for just that reason – orzo is tiny and it gets lost in the soup. When I served myself there wasn’t any orzo left – I mean, it was still good, but I’d have liked a few little pieces at least! The other nice thing is that if you put the pasta IN the soup, it may get very over cooked.

As usual, I did make a few minor changes: (1) I used chicken breasts and thighs (no legs); (2) I added peas and carrots to the soup; (3) I added in about a quart of gelatinous turkey stock I had left over from our Thanksgiving turkey as well as a little plop of Penzey’s chicken soup base (and I would absolutely guarantee you that if you made this soup – one with the Penzey’s soup base and one without, well, you’d for sure know the one with it tastes better – if you don’t have any turkey stock, that’s fine – I had it and wanted to use it up, that’s all – it was super-flavorful); (4) no white beans were added – didn’t think it needed it; and (5) I halved the amount of orzo (or pasta) indicated. I wanted it to be more about the chicken, veggies and the broth, rather than the carbs.

The report I got back was that the soup was wonderful. Actually I scooped out just enough for us to have a dinner with it, and I concur – it was really delicious. You can’t TASTE the cinnamon or nutmeg – there isn’t enough of it in there – but I’m certain it adds something.

What’s good: the overall good-ness of it – great flavored broth – and all the simple vegetables in it. I also really loved the lemon in it – add more in at the end even – it truly does just brighten the flavors. It’s not hard to make, and it will definitely keep for a few days in the refrigerator. Or freeze it for a later date.
What’s not: really nothing at all. It was altogether delicious.

printer-friendly (Cute PDFWriter) PDF
MasterCook 5+ import file – right click to save file, run MC, then File|Import

* Exported from MasterCook *

Chicken Noodle Soup (Anne Burrell)

Recipe By: adapted from Anne Burrell (Food Network)
Serving Size: 7
NOTES: I used chicken thighs and chicken breasts. And I had some turkey stock left over from Thanksgiving dinner, so that was added in as well. I halved the amount of pasta in it – if you want more, by all means add more. And I didn’t add the beans, either, but that was just a personal choice as I wanted a lower carb meal.

Extra-virgin olive oil — as needed
1 large onion — coarsely chopped
4 ribs celery — cut in 2-inch chunks
3 carrots — cut in 2-3 large pieces
Kosher salt
2 cloves garlic — smashed
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1 bunch thyme — or 2 teaspoons dried
1 1/2 pounds chicken legs — bone-in, skin and excess fat removed (I used chicken breasts instead)
1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs — bone-in, skin and excess fat removed
Water — as needed
2 whole bay leaves
1 whole lemon — halved
1 teaspoon Penzey’s chicken soup base — or chicken granules
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup pasta — preferably small shells such as orecchiette, or orzo (add more if desired)
15 1/2 ounces canned white beans — drained, rinsed, or chickpeas (optional)
2 cups frozen peas
1 1/2 cups carrots — cut into coins
1 bunch cilantro — leaves coarsely chopped

1. Coat a large stock pot with olive oil and add the onions, celery and carrots. Season with salt, to taste, and bring the pot to medium-high heat. Cook the vegetables until they start to soften and are very aromatic, about 10 minutes.
2. Add in the garlic, crushed red pepper and thyme and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Add the chicken and fill the pot with enough water to cover the chicken. Add the bay leaves, bring the ingredients to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes and skim off any particles that accumulate on the surface. Squeeze the juice of the 2 lemon halves into the soup and drop in the lemon halves. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg and taste for seasoning. Adjust the flavors with salt and pepper, if needed. Simmer the soup for an additional hour. During the last 15 minutes add the carrots coins.
4. While the soup is simmering, bring another pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until “al dente,” firm but not crunchy. Drain the pasta and transfer to a medium bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil and toss. Reserve.
5. After the soup has finished, switch the heat off and remove the chicken to a cutting board. Discard the celery ribs, carrot chunks, lemon halves, thyme and bay leaves. (Leave in the onion.) Let the chicken cool, then remove the bones and discard. Pull the meat into bite-sized pieces and return them to the pot. Add the peas. Taste the soup for seasoning. If using, rinse the beans and add them to the pot. Add more lemon juice if desired – it really does brighten up the flavor of the soup.
6. Spoon some of the reserved pasta into the bottom of each serving bowl and ladle the hot soup over the pasta. Garnish with the chopped cilantro and serve.
Per Serving: 497 Calories; 21g Fat (38.3% calories from fat); 36g Protein; 41g Carbohydrate; 8g Dietary Fiber; 124mg Cholesterol; 207mg Sodium.

Posted in Soups, on December 6th, 2012.

poblano_albondigas_soup

See those little meatballs in that soup? Oh gosh were they good! Enhanced with poblano chiles, they gave the meatballs SO much flavor. I love poblano chiles (also known as pasilla), and these were broiled in the oven, then I removed the skins. The soup itself is just a background, although it’s good. But the stars of the show are the meatballs.

If you don’t live in a part of the world where Mexican food is an everyday staple, you might not have heard of albondigas (all-bon-dee-gahs). Usually albondigas is a broth, a few veggies (usually carrots and onions, maybe green pepper) and meatballs. This, however, is a much more high class version. I changed the recipe around just a little bit because I wanted more substance to the soup part. The original recipe came from Bon Appetit, back in 2010. I wanted a soup type dinner to serve to our families who were driving out to Palm Desert to stay with us for the Thanksgiving weekend. They were coming from different directions and at different times, so I thought I should have a soup that could be just heated up and served. I made it a couple of days before since I knew I’d be crazy-busy working on side dishes for Thanksgiving that day.

The original recipe used ground beef (all albondigas does), but I lightened it up by combining equal parts ground turkey and ground beef. The meatballs also contain some grated zucchini (which also gives the meatballs a lighter texture) and then the roasted poblano chiles. And some Mexican type seasoning. I baked them in the oven rather than cooking them in the soup (so I could drain off any fat and because I was transporting the soup and thought it would be easier that way).

The broth/soup part was fairly bland according to many commenters at epicurious, so that’s why I decided to make some changes to the soup. I added more beefy flavor by using penzey’s soup base. Because the soup contains Ancho Chili Powder (and you DO need that if you want this soup to taste really good), the color was very brown (see photo). So, I changed around the recipe some so you don’t add the ancho chile powder until the very last. That way all the veggies in the soup (the rice, the corn and zucchini) all stay bright colored. Once those veggies dwell in the soup for awhile, everything turns a brown color because the fine dust of the chile powder nestles in all the crevices of the corn and zucchini particularly (not at all appetizing). If you cook the rice in this broth it also turns brown. But the ancho chile powder is very flavorful and a needed component. I also took some hints from a similar recipe by Rachel Ray and added corn and more toppings. They add wonderful texture and crunch. Also needed.

We ate nearly all of it at that one meal (I doubled the recipe) and left the remainder in the freezer at our desert house, so we’ll have more of it next time we visit. I’m looking forward to those meatballs – they have really great flavor.

What’s good: particularly the poblano-enhanced meatballs – they’re definitely the highlight. The soup part is good too – hearty and with lots of textures.
What’s not: there is a lot of sous-chef stuff to do (chopping, roasting, mincing) but it’s worth it. I’d definitely make it again, but if you’re making it ahead I recommend you keep the ancho chile out until just before serving – that way it won’t discolor all the veggies.

printer-friendly (Cute PDFWriter) PDF
MasterCook 5+ import file – right click to save file, run MC, then File|Import

* Exported from MasterCook *

Poblano Albondigas with Ancho Chile Soup

Recipe By: Adapted from Bon Appetit, Jan. 2010
Serving Size: 6
NOTES: This will serve 6 people if using moderate portions. If smaller cup-sized bowls are used you could easily serve 10-12 people.

MEATBALLS:
10 ounces poblano peppers — (about 2 or 3)
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground turkey
1/2 cup zucchini — coarsely grated
1/4 cup onion — finely grated
1/4 cup panko
1 large egg — beaten to blend
2 whole garlic cloves — pressed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano — crumbled (preferably Mexican oregano)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
SOUP:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 small onion — coarsely grated
2 garlic cloves — minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
9 cups low sodium beef broth
1 teaspoon chicken broth cubes — (Penzey’s soup base)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
1 cup zucchini — coarsely grated (use more if desired)
1/4 cup long-grain white rice
1 cup carrots — cut into 1/4 inch coins
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice — (or more)
3 tablespoons pure ancho chile powder or pasilla chile powder*** (do not use blended chile powder)
3 cups frozen corn — (fire-roasted from Trader Joe’s, if available)
TOPPINGS:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil — (or more)
4 corn tortillas — cut into 1/4-inch-wide strips
4 whole green onions — sliced (including some of the dark green parts)
Chopped fresh cilantro

1. MEATBALLS: Line large rimmed baking sheet with Silpat or foil. Char chiles under the broiler until blackened on all sides. Enclose in paper bag and steam 10 minutes. Stem, seed, and peel chiles, then chop finely (should yield about 3/4 cup).
2. Place chiles in large bowl. Gently mix in turkey, beef and all remaining ingredients. Using moistened hands and scant tablespoonful for each, roll meat mixture into 1-inch meatballs. Arrange meatballs on sheet.
3. SOUP: Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion with any juices and garlic. Sauté until onion is tender, about 3 minutes. Add cumin; stir 1 minute. Add broth and Penzey’s soup base and oregano; bring to rolling boil. Reduce heat to very low, just below bare simmer, and cook 10 minutes.
4. Stir zucchini, carrots and rice into broth. Increase heat to medium and drop in meatballs, 1 at a time. Return soup to simmer. Cover and cook gently until meatballs and rice are cooked through, stirring occasionally and adjusting heat to avoid boiling, about 20 minutes. Add corn and continue cooking for 3-4 minutes. Then add cilantro, 1 tablespoon lime juice and ancho chile powder. Season soup with salt and add more lime juice by teaspoonfuls, if desired.
5. TOPPINGS: Heat 3 tablespoons oil in heavy medium skillet over medium heat 1 minute. Add half of tortilla strips. Cook until crisp, gently separating strips with tongs, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer strips to paper towels to drain. Repeat with remaining tortilla strips, adding more oil if needed.
6. Ladle soup and meatballs into bowls. Top with tortilla strips, green onions and cilantro.
Per Serving: 540 Calories; 25g Fat (39.8% calories from fat); 37g Protein; 47g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 97mg Cholesterol; 540mg Sodium.

Posted in Miscellaneous, on December 4th, 2012.

canal_house_cranberry_port_gelee

Although it’s post-Thanksgiving, and very few of you will be even slightly interested in a recipe for cranberry sauce/jelly, I didn’t really want to let it sit in my holding pen (drafts) until next year, so I’d best post it anyway! It’s SO simple – it contains nothing but fresh cranberries, port wine, sugar, juniper berries, and black pepper. It stews briefly, then you let it cool and sieve it to remove all the skins and the spices. It doesn’t catch all the seeds unless you have a really good sieve.

Cranberries have a lot of natural pectin in them. That was news to me – more food chemistry to keep in mind – not that I’ll ever need to know that again! When you make this cranberry gelée (that’s French for jelly and it’s pronounced like zhe-LEH), you know that it doesn’t have to be reduced down or any kind of thickening agent added because it just naturally “gels.”  You can see how thick it is by looking at what’s stuck to the side of the bowl in the photo above.

In our family I always make an adaptation of my mother’s old recipe for a raw cranberry relish that contains fresh cranberries, a fresh orange, an apple, sugar and powdered ginger. But we DO have a couple of family members who prefer the old-fashioned stuff – they’d probably prefer it straight out of the can – but they eat 2 T. of it and what in the world do I do with the remaining 2 cups of it? Most years it is poured down the garbage disposal once it’s languished in the refrigerator long enough to grow green stuff on it. So I just thought I’d make it this year. It’s really good. I truly canal_house_cranberry_port_gelee1liked it – most people at our Thanksgiving dinner table took some of both, and everyone seemed to like them equally. The port wine used in this isn’t so prominent that it tastes boozy. Not at all. But you can taste it.

Actually I don’t own any of the Canal House Cookbooks. I’ve read about them, though. This recipe was at Food52, which I read several times during the 2 weeks leading up to Thanksgiving in case there were some nuggets of new recipes. Under the heading of “genius recipes” I found this recipe. It looked easy enough (it was) and it sounded like it would have some really good flavor (it did). I may even make it again next year. Meanwhile, it was used in turkey sandwiches numerous days after Thanksgiving.

What’s good: the port wine-y flavor – I think I liked that the best, yet it doesn’t overwhelm it. Also how easy it was to make. Truly. Good flavor. If you go to the Food52 site (link above) you can read about all the variations people did to the recipe (like, no juniper berries? use cloves or rosemary).
What’s not: really nothing. But, it is just cranberry jelly/sauce!

printer-friendly (Cute PDFWriter) PDF
MasterCook 5+ import file – right click to save file, run MC, then File|Import

* Exported from MasterCook *

Canal House Cranberry Port Gelée

Recipe By: Food52 (but it’s from Canal House)
Serving Size: 12
NOTES: This jells up like it has a little gelatin in it, but it doesn’t.

1 cup port wine — (or red wine or Madeira)
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon juniper berries
10 whole black peppercorns
12 ounces fresh cranberries — (about 4 cups frozen can be substituted)

1. Place the port, sugar, juniper berries, and peppercorns into a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the cranberries and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the cranberries burst and are very soft, about 10 minutes more.
3. Strain the sauce into a bowl through a fine-mesh sieve, pushing the solids through the screen with a rubber spatula. Stir the thin and thick portions of the strained gelée together.
4. Transfer to a pretty serving bowl. (A funnel or liquid measuring cup with a spout can be useful for transferring without splashing the sides.)
5. Cover and refrigerate. It will firm up within a few hours, or can be made several days ahead.
Per Serving: 114 Calories; trace Fat (1.4% calories from fat); trace Protein; 24g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 1mg Sodium.

Posted in Uncategorized, on December 3rd, 2012.

I’ve gone on and on about this stuff before. I hate to beat a dead horse, but as I was making a soup the other night I was just reminded how MUCH I use these soup bases. The chicken one the most. If I had to hone down a bunch of advice to all of you cooks out there, young, old, experienced or not, I’d tell you that after having a really good set of knives, THIS product above would be #2. They’re not that expensive, and I’m telling you true – they’re worth their weight in gold. I go through about 3 of the chicken ones a year. I just opened my last one, so I’ll be due to visit the new Penzey’s store that’s opened in San Diego this  year to buy a new stash. Or I could order online (shipping applies, obviously), but I need other things from there too.

This product ISN’T just for soups, although that’s what they call it. It’s like buying bouillon cubes, or the jars of dried stuff at the grocery store. You’ll use it so often – in sauces, stews – you won’t have to fill your pantry with those quart boxes anymore. Just use this and add water. The grocery store types don’t hold a candle to the flavor in the Penzey’s brand. Here’s the LINK – just go do it, would you? You’ll be doing yourself a big favor. As I write this, they’re $10.85 each. I’d order the chicken and beef for sure. The ham one I have but rarely use. The seafood one is also such a time saver when making fish soups or sauces for fish. These do contain sodium, but not nearly as much as the other brands. Do it, would ya?

Posted in Chicken, on December 2nd, 2012.

turkey_tetrazini_casserole

After Thanksgiving, for many years, too many to count, I made Turkey Tetrazzini. I switched off between it and Turkey a la King served in puff pastry cups. Nothing all that complicated about either of those. And then Tetrazzini fell out of favor. And so did Turkey a la King too. So for a couple of decades – maybe even 3 decades – I didn’t make either of them. Tetrazzini has made a comeback – I even saw it on a restaurant menu recently. I didn’t order it because I was sure it wouldn’t be as good as home made. I’d have liked to try a bite.

So when I read about it at Pioneer Woman’s website, that it’s one of her favorite ways of using up left over turkey, well, I decided then and there, that I’d make it this year.

I went hunting for my recipe, but could not find it. Oh well, there are plenty of them out there. So I did use Ree Drummond’s version. And now that I’ve made that one, I’ve also made a few little alterations to her recipe too. You can do that with a casserole. Put your own spin on things (I added peas for one thing). I also think it could have handled even more than 1 1/2 pounds of mushrooms. Yes, really. We added more turkey than hers called for anyway, and I think it could have done with yet more of that too. And just a little less pasta – I want more meat and veggies in proportion to pasta, but that’s just me! Her recipe calls for 1 1/2 pounds of pasta. I’ve changed the recipe to 1 1/4 pounds – not a whole lot. So my recipe below is my adaptation of her recipe.

turkey_tetrazini_pan

I liked all the mushrooms – they were quartered, not sliced. That gave this casserole some additional texture. I also liked the panko crumbs on top. I do love panko crumbs. I use them all the time, don’t you?

turkey tettraziniIf your family doesn’t like peas, well, take ‘em out. Add carrots. Or green onion. Or chopped green beans. It’s nice to give it some green color from something. Don’t use green pepper – that would ruin it for me. But green beans are fairly neutral tasting so they’d work. This version also has bacon in it – just a bit of added richness and pork flavor.

You can’t quite tell from the photo, but the Tetrazzini was almost too dry. So I’ve altered the recipe a bit to make sure that doesn’t happen to you. The mixture needs to be almost like creamy soup when you roll it into the casserole dish – it needs LOTS of brothy liquid to soak into those noodles.

My daughter Sara and daughter-in-law Karen both helped make this. We all took on different tasks to get the casserole made and while it baked, a salad was composed using up most of the produce we had left from the weekend of eating.

What’s good: it’s as simple as can be – spaghetti (or some kind of pasta), turkey, some veggies, and a rich, tasty soupy sauce, plus cheese. It’s comfort food. Don’t expect it to be highly seasoned – there’s no heat in it. And very few herbs, either. Sometimes plain pasta is “just right.” Do season it well with salt and pepper – it needs it.
What’s not: perhaps I’d have to say this isn’t a “wow” dinner entrée. It’s good for family, and it was delicious after a weekend of plenty of eating at every meal.

printer-friendly (Cute PDFWriter) PDF
MasterCook 5+ import file – right click to save file, run MC, then File|Import

* Exported from MasterCook *

Turkey Tetrazzini

Recipe By: adapted from Pioneer Woman’s recipe, on her website.
Serving Size: 12

1 1/4 pounds spaghetti — thin type, broken in half
4 tablespoons butter
4 cloves garlic — minced
2 pounds button mushrooms — cleaned, stem trimmed, quartered
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup white wine
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups turkey stock — or chicken broth
8 ounces cream cheese
4 1/2 cups turkey, diced — or shredded
1 cup black olives — sliced
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
6 slices bacon — friend, drained and crumbled
2 cups monterey jack cheese — grated
1 1/2 cups Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese — grated
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cups turkey stock — or chicken stock, for thinning the sauce
1 cup panko bread crumbs

1. Cook pasta in boiling, salted water until not quite done – al dente according to package instructions (it will finish cooking in the oven). Drain, rinse, and set aside.
2. In a large pot, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute for a couple of minutes. Add mushrooms and salt, then saute for a couple more minutes. Pour in the wine and allow it to cook with the mushrooms for several minutes, or until the liquid reduces by half.
3. Sprinkle in flour, then stir the mushrooms around for another minute. Pour in the broth and stir, cooking for another few minutes until the roux thickens. The mixture will not be very thick (that’s okay).
4. Reduce heat to medium low. Cut cream cheese into pieces and add it to the pot. Stir it to melt (don’t be concerned if the cream cheese remains in little bits for awhile; it’ll melt eventually!) Add the leftover turkey, the olives, the peas, the bacon, and the cheeses. Stir to combine, adding salt and pepper as needed. It will probably need additional salt. Be a “critical” taster – there’s nothing like pasta that’s under-salted.
5. Add the cooked spaghetti and stir it to combine. This makes a LOT, so it’s important that you dig in (even with your hands) to mix all the ingredients. You want the turkey and mushrooms to be evenly mixed in everywhere. Add in the additional broth – you want the mixture to have a lot of extra moisture since it will cook off in the oven. If it’s a medium-soupy, that’s fine!
6. Pour the mixture into a large baking dish and sprinkle the top with Panko crumbs. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes, or until the casserole is bubbly and the crumbs are golden brown. If you mix this up and put it directly in the oven, it will take about 20 minutes, but if made about an hour ahead, it might take 30-35 minutes. Don’t let it over cook, though – then it WILL be too dry.
Per Serving: 594 Calories; 27g Fat (41.8% calories from fat); 33g Protein; 50g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 92mg Cholesterol; 1972mg Sodium.

Posted in Beverages, on November 30th, 2012.

alton_browns_grape_juice_cocktail

Last week, before Thanksgiving, I turned on the Food Network and watched a little of  the 3-hour Thanksgiving show, whatever it was called, with about 7-8 of the Network show’s stars. Pioneer Woman mentioned it on her blog, so I recorded it and watched about 15 minutes of it. I actually wasn’t all that intrigued. Not necessarily because of the stars themselves, but with the silliness of the way they were not acting in the beginning. It was too ad lib, and it says to me that the Food Network chefs/stars don’t know how to do that. Seemed to me like it was mostly the stars teasing one another, with a few suggestions thrown in now and then about turkey hints or side dishes, etc.

I did stick with it long enough, though, to watch Alton Brown make this cocktail. I went online to find it – nothing there that day anyway – so I had to go back on my recorded show to scribble down notes about it. Alton didn’t even give it a name, so I’ve made one up. He explained that in his house he needs to serve a “cocktail” that can do double duty – for adults and children, so he came up with this drink that can be mixed with sparkling wine (I used Prosecco) or with club soda. The young ‘uns in our household weren’t all that excited about it – I think it was the color (kind of brown) rather than the taste, but that’s just my take.

You start with a quart of grape juice. A disclaimer here – I bought light grape juice – and I’m sure it was a mistake. To make a syrup you need the sugar. So buy the real sugar-loaded type. He said to add an 8-inch sprig of fresh rosemary and a 3-inch piece of crystallized ginger. I didn’t have the right kind of ginger, so I used fresh ginger – about 4 inches worth. I cut it up into large chunks (don’t do small as it needs to be strained out later). You bring that mixture to a boil and reduce it by half. It might help if you did this in the microwave, actually, in a big glass measuring cup so you could see how much it’s reduced. I did it on the stovetop and had a hard time measuring the darned thing – it almost burned at the end! Strain out the herbs and ginger. Then add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, and continue reducing it again by half. Cool and chill. You should end up with about 1 cup of syrup. That would make about 16 servings if you used a tablespoon per person.

To make the cocktail, pour about a tablespoon of the syrup into a glass and add either sparkling wine or prosecco. Or the club soda for a non-alcoholic version. You may want to test the proportions. We started with using less than a tablespoon and found that adding more provided a much better flavor.

Just be sure to not boil down the juice too low – because then it will begin to taste like raisins, not grapes. It was different. Almost unusual. I liked it, but only if it was mixed in the right proportion. And I didn’t measure it, otherwise I would tell you exactly. It’s definitely grape juice – so if you’re not a grape juice fan, you might want to give this a pass. Will I make it again? Uhm. Maybe. Maybe not. It wasn’t a wow, but then it was supposed to be something we could use for both the kids and adults. It did fit that bill.

Posted in Veggies/sides, on November 28th, 2012.

brussels_sprouts_slaw_mustard_butter1

Are you ready to hear about how fantastic this dish is? OM Gosh!! It was – truthfully – the star of our Thanksgiving dinner. I asked, while we were finishing up our meal, what was everyone’s favorite – and of course, the children said pumpkin pie – but the adults all said “the Brussels sprouts!” And yes, these are COOKED Brussels sprouts, not raw, even though it’s called a slaw.

This is where the recipe came from . . .

NYTcookbookwithpostits

I told you about this cookbook, The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century in mid-2011. My friend Linda gave it to me for Christmas, 2010. To say that I treasure it . . . well, that’s an understatement. It has no photos in it hardly. A few for decoration, but it’s a huge tome of just recipes. With headnotes (I love those headnotes that tell me why I should try the recipe just below it). Compiled by Amanda Hesser, who has her own website, along with her culinary journalist partner Merrill Stubbs, they run Food52, an online treasure of a website if I ever saw one! And the book, in case you live in Timbuktu and haven’t heard about what it is, contains Amanda’s favorite recipes from the archives of the New York Times going back to the dawn of its known printed history!

So impressed with how the book was written and how it was researched that I wrote up 3 posts about it last year, 3 posts over 3 days – here, here and here. At that time I’d really just started reading it – that was mostly the pink post-it notes you see above. In between times I inserted some more of the yellow hue. And recently I’ve been trying to go through the rest of it (I’m not done) and I’m on to purple post-its. The bookmark at the back is where I am (obviously). When I read a recipe I think I want to try, I write an upside-down post it (meaning the sticky part is at the bottom) and I write on it a quick title then attach it as a flag. So if I’m in a hurry, I can sort-of scan the flags to see if anything suits my fancy.

NYTcookbookwithpostits1There’s another view. Maybe 20% to go, do you think? And part of that back part is an index, so maybe I’m closer to the end than I think! Sometimes I do breeze on by a few recipes – at the moment I’m in the candy section, and I just about never make candy, so there aren’t many flags in this chapter. But invariably I find something every few pages.

So, when I was planning dinner for Thanksgiving Day this year, I did go look at the flags. I’d already decided to do asparagus (the crumbled asparagus – that’s not in this book – brussels_sprouts_slicedthat my whole family loves) and I wanted something new for Brussels sprouts. I found it here. And oh, am I glad I tried this recipe. It is SUCH A KEEPER!

Until a few years ago I really only prepared Brussels sprouts one way – a cold Marinated Brussels Sprouts Salad. But I’ve been ever so glad that chefs ‘round the world have begun giving B.S. their just due. I love the things, and I think one of the ways I’ve made it (with cranberries) is on my “Favs” list. This one is going on there too.

Truthfully, though, my daughter-in-law, Karen and our daughter, Sara, made the recipe. I can’t take any credit other than selecting it, bringing along the cookbook (we were at our Palm Desert house for the weekend), providing the herbs, butter and mustard. Karen brought 2 pounds of Brussels, and we in the kitchen contemplated that perhaps 2 pounds was too much for one dinner (there were 9 of us including 3 children). Am I glad we didn’t listen to that nonsense. There’s about 2 tablespoons of it left over, and I can’t wait to eat it! We did make one change – we used half of the butter called for. Amanda Hesser wrote a note about it –  she halved it also, so that’s the recipe I’m including below. We used all the seasonings, but half the butter.

mustard_butterThe most complex (read: time consuming) part was finely slicing up the Brussels sprouts. We could have used a mandoline, but many hands made fairly quick work of the pile of cleaned and trimmed little cabbages. Karen mixed up the butter – with the herbs and mustard (good, imported Dijon style) and the lot of it is cooked briefly (about 5-7 minutes) and it’s done. Do cook it to your desired done-ness. Some folks prefer a really truly cooked Brussels sprout – if so, cook it a bit longer. The recipe is a bit vague, suggesting you start with 5 minutes and cook just until it’s “done.” You can add caraway seed if you want, but we used celery seed and I thought it was a fabulous counter-taste in it. The lemon slices are also an important element – DO squeeze some of it onto each serving or serve the lemon wedges in the bowl.

What’s good: everything about it. The just mild crunchiness of the leaves. The celery seed. Well, the butter of course. The mustard, you might think, would overpower the Brussels sprouts, but it truly does not. The herbs are lovely too, and the lemon juice squeeze over the top. I loved every single bite I had, and I’ll definitely be making this again. For guests or not.
What’s not: nothing, whatsoever. DO make this dish!

printer-friendly (Cute PDFWriter) PDF
MasterCook 5+ import file – right click to save file, run MC, then File|Import

* Exported from MasterCook *

Brussels Sprouts ‘Slaw’ With Mustard Butter

Recipe By: adapted slightly (less butter) from The Essential New York Times Cookbook (from Julia Reed, Oct. 2002)
Serving Size: 5
NOTES: If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, place the celery or caraway seeds in a small plastic bag and pound the bag until the seeds have more-or-less gone to powder.

4 tablespoons unsalted butter — at room temperature (this amount is halved from the original)
1 large clove garlic — put through a press
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard — or whole-grain Meaux
3 tablespoons minced green onions
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound brussels sprouts
1 teaspoon celery seeds — or caraway seeds, bruised in a mortar
Lemon wedges to squeeze on each serving (IMPORTANT)

1. Place the softened butter in a medium bowl and add the garlic, mustard, green onions and parsley. Mix well. Add more mustard (we didn’t) and salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
2. Trim the root ends of the sprouts and remove loose or discolored leaves. Cut the sprouts in half and then crosswise into fine shreds. (Do not use a food processor; the leaves will be too fine.) Melt the mustard butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the sprouts until tender, about 5 minutes. Lower the heat and stir in the celery (or caraway) seeds, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the Brussels sprouts are cooked to your desire of crispness. (We cooked it another 2-3 minutes, but the leaves were still just barely crunchy.) Serve with lemon wedges. The lemon adds an important counterpoint to the dish – don’t eliminate that if at all possible.
3. NOTE: If you don’t use all the mustard butter, it may be stored, covered, in the refrigerator or rolled into a cylinder and frozen until needed.
Per Serving: 125 Calories; 10g Fat (65.2% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 25mg Cholesterol; 99mg Sodium.

Posted in Cookies, on November 26th, 2012.

ginger_snaps_ginger_punch

It’s the season for ginger snaps. Yet there was a special reason I made something with ginger . . .

My best friend has breast cancer. It’s been several months and she’s been through chemo hell. Her surgery is this week, then she’ll have radiation next year. After she had her first chemo infusion she felt great for the first couple of days, other than a bit of fatigue. But then she got really sick. The doctors have ways to help the nausea – everyone is different – so what happens for one person may not happen for the next. Let’s just say she was awfully sick. She said a neighbor had mentioned eating ginger in different forms helped with the nausea (tea, cookies, candy or even nibbling on crystallized ginger). Ginger has that property – it helps with seasickness too. So I told her right away that I would make some ginger cookies for her. (That’s the link to the original ginger cookies.) Her only request was that they needed to be crisp. No problem – I had just the recipe. My friend ate them all. I did make some other cookies too – for her husband – because I knew if he knew there were cookies in the freezer – he’d eat them. He was forbidden to eat her ginger cookies. During the most difficult part of her chemo (4 times, 3 weeks apart) she was down hard for almost a week. Couldn’t eat. She ate some spoons of vanilla instant pudding, which seems to keep the metallic taste out of her mouth (caused by the chemicals), and every day she tried to get down something – and some days it was just a cookie and some hot tea or iced tea.

It was nice to dig out the Kitchen Aid from the cupboard and cream some butter and sugar since I hadn’t made any cookies in quite awhile!  I turned to the crispest ginger cookies I know, from a good friend – Ann N – and thought I’d tweak the recipe just a little bit – to make it more gingery. It’s a very simple, ginger_spread_jamstraight-forward recipe as it is – some brown and white sugar, molasses, powdered ginger plus the usual butter, flour, leavening, etc. I knew right away what I would do to make it even more gingery. I had a jar of Trader Joe’s Ginger Spread in the refrigerator, with just about a tablespoon of the jam left. That went into the batter. It’s a delish jam – very spicy, gingery if you eat it straight away. It’s thick – it’s not like the Sainsbury’s ginger preserves I buy in England every time we visit – that has a thick syrupy quality and chunks of ginger. This Trader Joe’s stuff is smooth and thick – sort of soft homogenous peanut butter. You need but a thin layer on a piece of toast to give it a lovely covering. But I also wanted to add some crystallized ginger to it too – it’s so perfect in crystallized_ginger_mincedcookies. So, I poured out about 3 T. of crystallized ginger onto my cutting board, sprinkled about a T. of sugar on top and chopped and minced and minced some more until it was about as tiny as I could make it (see photo at left). I used the sugar because otherwise the sticky ginger pieces cling to any knife you’d use, and the pieces stick to each other too. If you add the sugar IT sticks to those sticky edges and it’s ever so much easier to chop. You can remove a T. of sugar from the creaming batter if you want. I didn’t, but am sure it would be fine if you’d like to make it less sweet.

Anyway, the dough is shaped into small balls, rolled in granulated sugar and you can press them down with the a fork, or the bottom of a glass if you want – I just used my hand – or you can skip that step since the cookies spread out in the oven anyway. They’re very very thin cookies – I like them this way. If you’re expecting some chewy consistency – well, there is a little bit. But I freeze all of my cookies and when eaten from a frozen state they’re very crispy. If you defrost them, they have a little bit of chewiness rather than so much of the crispy.

What I liked: well, I like – no, love – these cookies already – and adding the ginger spread and the minced crystallized ginger just made them better yet! They’re very spicy (I like that part). And very, very crisp.

What I didn’t like: nothing at all.

printer-friendly (Cute PDF Writer) PDF
MasterCook 5+ import file – right click to save file, run MC, then File|Import

Ginger Cookies with a Ginger Kick

Recipe By: Adapted from my good friend Ann N.
Serving Size: 36
NOTES: If you crack the egg into a measuring cup, once you pour it into the mixing bowl, measure the molasses in the same measuring cup – the molasses mostly will slide right out rather than sticking to all sides.

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter — (1 1/2 cubes)
1 large egg
1/4 cup dark molasses
1 1/2 tablespoons Trader Joe’s Ginger Spread — optional (like a ginger jam)
3 tablespoons crystallized ginger — very finely minced with about 1 T. sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
more sugar for rolling cookie balls

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Very finely mince the crystallized ginger with sugar sprinkled all over the top, which will keep the sticky ginger from adhering to the knife.
3. Cream butter and sugar. Mix well, then add egg, ginger jam (if using), crystallized ginger and molasses.
4. Combine the flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger and soda (stir it together) then add to the butter/sugar mixture.
5, Make small balls and roll in granulated sugar.
6. Place on a greased cookie sheet (I used Silpats instead), leaving room for expansion. Use a fork or your palm to flatten the balls (you won’t see the fork marks – it flattens out to a very flat cookie).
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes.
Per Serving: 94 Calories; 4g Fat (38.3% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 14g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 16mg Cholesterol; 104mg Sodium.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...